cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Female Urinary Incontinence: Preoperatiye Selection, Surgical Complications and Results

AbstractA total of 98 women with stress urinary incontinence underwent surgical repair via 3 different techniques: 38 patients underwent a Burch colposuspension (group 1), 25 underwent a Stamey procedure (group 2) and 35 had a modified Pereyra operation (group 3). The main indication for an operation was clinically unacceptable incontinence, and urodynamic studies were done on all patients with associated stress and urge incontinence or who underwent reoperation. Subtracted bladder pressure recording was an important preoperative screening tool, since patients with high pressure instability did worse surgically than those with a stable bladder or low pressure instability. In patients with detrusor stability similar results were achieved for initial surgery and reoperations.Among the patients with a stable bladder with and without a previous anti-incontinence operation the over-all results were better in groups 1 and 3 than in group 2. Complications were of lesser magnitude in groups 2 and 3 than in group 1.
Common Organisms and Probiotics: Saccharomyces boulardii

Abstract Saccharomyces boulardii is one of the most studied types of probiotics and has been found to be effective for a wide diversity of infections. From 1976 to 2015, 90 randomized controlled trials covering 15 different types of disease conditions have been conducted with S. boulardii. The most robust evidence-based efficacy is for the treatment of acute pediatric diarrhea, for the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections and the prevention of side effects associated with H. pylori eradication treatments. Strong evidence is also found for S. boulardii efficacy for the treatment of acute adult diarrhea and the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, but these findings are supported with a fewer number of trials. Other disease indications (Clostridium difficile infections, giardiasis, traveler’s diarrhea, enteral nutrition-related diarrhea) show promise, but need more studies. S. boulardii was well tolerated by study participants, regardless of age, or disease condition.
On the nature of oceanic seismic surface waves with predominant periods of 6 to 8 seconds

Abstract The train of normally-dispersed, short-period, oceanic surface waves, commonly identified by the near-sinusoidal nature of all three components of ground motion in the period range of about 6 to 8 seconds, is shown to correspond to propagation in the first Love and first shear normal modes. Theoretical dispersion curves which agree with the observed dispersion of these short-period waves, as well as with dispersion of Rayleigh waves and Love waves of longer periods, are obtained for layered models of the oceanic crust which are consistent with results of seismic refraction studies. In order to obtain good quantitative agreement between theory and observation, it is essential that the effect of the small but finite rigidity of the deep-sea sedimentary layer be included in the calculations.
TRAF3/CYLD mutations identify a distinct subset of human papillomavirus-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated (HPV-positive) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) of the oropharynx has dramatically increased over the last decade and continues to rise. Newly diagnosed HPV-positive HNSCCs in the United States currently outnumber any other HPV-associated cancers, including cervical cancer. Despite introduction of the HPV vaccine, the epidemic of HPV-positive HNSCC is expected to continue for approximately 60 years. Compared with patients who have tobacco-associated HNSCC, those who have HPV-positive HNSCC have better overall survival and response to treatment. Current treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy, is associated with lifelong morbidity, and there are limited treatments and no curative options for patients who develop recurrent metastatic disease. Therapeutic de-escalation (decreased radiation dose) is being tested through clinical trials; however, those studies select patients based solely on tumor and patient smoking characteristics. Mechanisms of HPV-driven carcinogenesis in HNSCC are not well understood, which limits new therapeutic strategies and hinders the appropriate selection of patients for de-escalation therapy. METHODS The authors analyzed HNSCC data from The Cancer Genome Atlas to identify molecular characteristics that correlate with outcomes and integration status of the HPV genome. RESULTS The current investigations identified a subset of HPV-positive HNSCCs with mutations in the genes TRAF3 (tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 3) and CYLD (cylindromatosis lysine 63 deubiquitinase). Defects in TRAF3 and CYLD correlated with the activation of transcriptional factor nuclear factor κB, episomal HPV status of tumors, and improved patient survival. CONCLUSIONS Defects in TRAF3/CYLD were accompanied with the activation of nuclear factor κB signaling and maintenance of episomal HPV in tumors, suggesting that these mutations may support an alternative mechanism of HPV tumorigenesis in head and neck tumors. Cancer 2017;123:1778–1790. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Differences of Partition Functions: The Anti-telescoping Method

The late Leon Ehrenpreis originally posed the problem of showing that the difference of the two Rogers–Ramanujan products had positive coefficients without invoking the Rogers–Ramanujan identities. We first solve the problem generalized to the partial products and subsequently solve several related problems. The object is to introduce the anti-telescoping method which is capable of wide generalization.
DESIGN OF HIGH EFFICIENCY SURFACE AERATORS PART 2. RATING OF SURFACE AERATOR ROTORS

Abstract This paper is the second part of a three part work about surface aerator design for aquaculture. In this work, the rotors for oxygen mass transfer developed in the first part were tested. Tests were conducted on 23 different rotor configurations defined by the type of propeller, the inlet and exit angles of the blades and the percentage of immersion. The “Kinetic 3” propeller—designed using the criteria of an axial flow pump with a diameter of 94 mm, an inlet angle of 11° and an exit angle of 25°—yielded the highest aeration efficiency at 10 °C: 1.769 kg O2/kWh (SAE=1.805 kg O2/kWh). The Conrad propeller—designed using other criteria—with a diameter of 104 mm, an inlet angle of 25° and an exit angle of 12°, yielded the highest value for the global mass transfer coefficient at 10 °C: 3.249 h−1.
Oxidation of GaAs substrates to enable β-Ga2O3 films for sensors and optoelectronic devices

A very simple and inexpensive method for growing β-Ga2O3 films by heating GaAs wafers at high temperature in a furnace was found to contribute to large-area, high-quality β-Ga2O3 nanoscale thin films as well as nanowires depending on the growth conditions. We present the material characterization results including the optical band gap, Schottky barrier height with metal (gold), field ionization and photoconductance of β-Ga2O3 film and nanowires.
Telomere Dynamics in Immune Senescence and Exhaustion Triggered by Chronic Viral Infection

The progressive loss of immunological memory during aging correlates with a reduced proliferative capacity and shortened telomeres of T cells. Growing evidence suggests that this phenotype is recapitulated during chronic viral infection. The antigenic volume imposed by persistent and latent viruses exposes the immune system to unique challenges that lead to host T-cell exhaustion, characterized by impaired T-cell functions. These dysfunctional memory T cells lack telomerase, the protein capable of extending and stabilizing chromosome ends, imposing constraints on telomere dynamics. A deleterious consequence of this excessive telomere shortening is the premature induction of replicative senescence of viral-specific CD8+ memory T cells. While senescent cells are unable to expand, they can survive for extended periods of time and are more resistant to apoptotic signals. This review takes a closer look at T-cell exhaustion in chronic viruses known to cause human disease: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Hepatitis B/C/D virus (HBV/HCV/HDV), human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes simplex virus-1/2(HSV-1/2), and Varicella–Zoster virus (VZV). Current literature linking T-cell exhaustion with critical telomere lengths and immune senescence are discussed. The concept that enduring antigen stimulation leads to T-cell exhaustion that favors telomere attrition and a cell fate marked by enhanced T-cell senescence appears to be a common endpoint to chronic viral infections.
Design and Fabrication of a Hierarchically Structured Scaffold for Tendon‐to‐Bone Repair

A hierarchically structured scaffold is designed and fabricated for facilitating tendon-to-bone repair. The scaffold is composed of three regions with distinct functions: (i) an array of channels to guide the in-growth of cells and aligned deposition of collagen fibers, as well as integration of the scaffold with the tendon side, (ii) a region with a gradient in mineral composition to facilitate stress transfer between tendon and bone, and (iii) a mineralized inverse opal region to promote the integration of the scaffold with the underlying bone. Cell culture experiments confirm that adipose-derived stromal cells are able to infiltrate and proliferate through the entire thickness of the scaffold without compromised cell viability. The seeded stem cells exhibit directed differentiation into tenocytes and osteoblasts along the mineral gradient as a response to the gradient in Young's modulus. This novel scaffold holds great promise to promote the formation of a functional tendon-to-bone attachment by offering a structurally and compositionally appropriate microenvironment for healing.
Corrosion of coupled steels with different microstructures in concrete environment

Abstract This study investigated the electrochemical behavior of two carbon steels with different microstructures, i.e. thermomechanical treated (TMT) steel and conventional steel, and the influence of galvanic coupling between them on their corrosion performance in simulated concrete pore solution. The specimens were immersed in the chloride-free pore solution for 30 days and then 3% by weight of NaCl was added to the solution. The specimens were then kept in the chloride-contaminated solution for 50 days. The corrosion resistance of the specimens were assessed by different electrochemical measurement techniques. An increase in the overall corrosion was observed in the coupled specimens compared to the individual specimens. The results of the electrochemical experiments showed that while the individual thermomechanical treated steel specimens showed superior corrosion resistance compared to the conventional steel specimens when coupled, they became the anode and their corrosion activity increased compared to the conventional steel.
Social Capital in Organizations

Social capital represents the set of interpersonal relationships which provide resources that create value for individuals in organizations. The most studied forms of social capital describe social relationships in terms of the tie characteristics and the position an individual occupies in the network structure of relationships. Social capital provides resources such as information, control, trust, and support. It affects attitudinal and behavioral outcomes and it is affected by individual dispositions and contextual factors. Social capital can be used to study intra-organizational and inter-organizational relationships.
Query Concept Learning

With multimedia databases it is difficult to specify queries directly and explicitly. Relevance feedback interactively learns a user’s desired output or query concept by asking the user whether certain proposed multimedia objects (e.g., images, videos, and songs) are relevant or not. For a learning algorithm to be effective, it must learn a user’s query concept accurately and quickly, while also asking the user to label only a small number of data instances. In addition, the concept-learning algorithm should consider the complexity of a concept in determining its learning strategies. This chapter\(^\dagger\) presents the use of support vector machines active learning in a concept-dependent way (\(\hbox{SVM}^{\rm CD}_{\rm Active}\) for conducting relevance feedback. A concept’s complexity is characterized using three measures: hit-rate, isolation and diversity. To reduce concept complexity so as to improve concept learnability, a multimodal learning approach is designed to use the semantic labels of data instances to intelligently adjust the sampling strategy and the sampling pool of \(\hbox{SVM}^{\rm CD}_{\rm Active}.\) Empirical study on several datasets shows that active learning outperforms traditional passive learning, and concept-dependent learning is superior to concept-independent relevance-feedback schemes.
Traditional Quantum Mechanics

This chapter presents a brief survey of traditional quantum mechanics. The theory is based upon the structure of Hilbert space and its self-adjoint operators. Although quantum mechanics generalizes classical mechanics, to motivate and understand traditional quantum mechanics, it is helpful to have some knowledge of classic quantum mechanics. A technique called the path integral formalism is also considered. Although this formalism is closely related to traditional quantum mechanics, it places special emphasis upon the role of transition amplitudes. To understand the basic principles of classical mechanics, suppose a mechanical system has N degrees of freedom if its configuration at time t can be completely described by N continuous real-valued functions of t called coordinate functions or coordinates, but not by N –1 continuous real-valued functions.
AppSeer: discovering flawed interactions among Android components

We identify several reliability issues arising from interactions between components of system-defined Android apps and components of third-party apps. These issues are generally caused by incorrect assumptions that system apps make about the behavior of third-party apps, resulting in significant vulnerabilities in system apps. For instance, it is possible for a third-party app to make many system applications to crash, including the Phone app used to make and receive phone calls, the Settings app used to configure a mobile device, and several other apps that expose a so-called started service. Our findings indicate that additional automated tools for integration testing and static analysis of Android apps are in order. Here we discuss AppSeer, a toolset that automatically detects vulnerabilities of system apps and third-party apps. Preliminary precision and recall results for AppSeer are quite encouraging.
Long-term renal function after treatment for Wilms tumor: A report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) study.

10566Background: The impact of specific treatment modalities on long-term renal function among adult survivors of Wilms tumor (WT) has not been well-documented. Methods: We clinically evaluated 40 ...
Single-Center Longitudinal Implementation of Lecture Series Based on the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria for Emergency Medicine Provider Education.

Abstract Rationale and Objectives The purpose of our study was to improve awareness and knowledge of the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AC) among Emergency Medicine (EM) residents and to assess the long-term effectiveness of this ACR-AC lecture-based series. Materials and Methods Ten lectures-based on the ACR-AC were given to EM residents at an academic medical center. Four of these lectures were subsequently repeated in the subsequent academic year. A prelecture quiz was given to all participants prior to each lecture and the same quiz was given after each lecture. Participants were instructed to select the most appropriate imaging study for each question. Results were analyzed with a 2-tailed paired sample t-test for the means. Results A total of 28 residents from three EM resident classes participated in the lecture-based series over the course of this 2-year study. In phase I of the study, there was statistically significant improvement in mean postlecture quiz scores compared to prelecture quiz scores (55.7% vs 80.5%, P Conclusions This work revealed that lecture-based education on the ACR-AC, relevant to EM residents, significantly increased the participant knowledge for ordering appropriate imaging. In addition, it was evident participants retained the knowledge they acquired from these lectures during phase II 1 year later.
Linear downscaling from MODIS to landsat: connecting landscape composition with ecosystem functions

The open and free access to Landsat and MODIS products have greatly promoted scientific investigations on spatiotemporal change in land mosaics and ecosystem functions at landscape to regional scales. Unfortunately, there is a major mismatch in spatial resolution between MODIS products at coarser resolution (≥ 250 m) and landscape structure based on classified Landsat scenes at finer resolution (30 m). Based on practical needs for downscaling popular MODIS products at 500 m resolution to match classified land cover at Landsat 30 m resolution, we proposed an innovative modelling approach so that landscape structure and ecosystem functions can be directly studied for their interconnections. As a proof-of-concept of our downscaling approach, we selected the watershed of the Kalamazoo River in southwestern Michigan, USA as the testbed. MODIS products for three fundamental variables of ecosystem function are downscaled to ensure the approach can be extrapolated to multiple functional measurements. They are blue-sky albedo (0–1), evapotranspiration (ET, mm), and gross primary production (GPP, Mg C ha−1 year−1). An object-oriented classification of Landsat images in 2011 was processed to generate a land cover map for landscape structure. The downscaling model was tested for the five Level IV ecoregions within the watershed. We achieved satisfactory downscaling models for albedo, ET, and GPP for all five ecoregions. The adjusted R2 was > 0.995 for albedo, 0.915–0.997 for ET, and 0.902–0.962 for GPP. The estimated albedo, ET, and GPP values appear different in the region. The estimated albedo was the lowest for water (0.076–0.107) and the highest for cropland (0.166–0.172). Estimated ET was the highest for the built-up cover type (525.6–687.1 mm) and the lowest for forest (209.7–459.7 mm). The estimated GPP was the highest for the build-up cover type (8.65–9.85 Mg C ha−1 year−1) and the lowest for forest. Estimated values for albedo, ET, and GPP appear reasonable for their ranges in the Kalamazoo River region and are consistent with values reported in the literature. Despite these promising results, the downscaling approach relies on strong assumptions and can carry substantial uncertainty. It is only valid at a spatial scale where similar climate, soil, and landforms exist (i.e., values in isolated patches of the same cover type are similar). Plausibly, the uncertainties associated with each estimation, as well as the model residuals, can be explored for other pattern-process relationships within the landscape.
Vicarious Consumption: Wartime Fashion in Film and the Press, 1939–44

In fashion, film is both dictator and captive. —Review of Frischer Wind aus Kanada , Der Silberspiegel , 1935 WHEN GROSSSTADTMELODIE (Melody of a Great City, 1943, directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner) premiered on October 4, 1943, in Berlin's Gloria-Palast cinema, at the beginning of the fourth year of war, the German home front was already suffering severely. City dwellers endured heavy bombardments and were getting used to decreasing rations of food and clothing. Berlin itself, the metropolis that is also a character in this film and a subject of cinematic adoration and exploration—the most popular song from the film was “Berlin, ich bin verliebt in dich bei Tag und Nacht”—would soon be destroyed beyond recognition. Yet it seemed that the prevailing wartime difficulties made the film all the more popular with audiences, especially women on the home front, because it was lavishly produced and offered an opportunity for escapist diversion. Apart from a short sequence in which an enthusiastic Nazi rally is featured, the film's plot consciously transports the viewers back to the carefree prewar years, 1937 to 1939, when Berliners flocked en masse to various sites of entertainment: in-door bicycle races, beaches, ballrooms, and dazzling fashion shows. Reproduced on the screen, partly by means of documentary footage shot previously by Leo de Laforgue and Richard Angst, these spectacles created an almost deja vu impression of the heyday of the Weimar years, with the only difference that the various venues in the film are reassuringly in Aryan ownership: The publishing house Ullstein has become Deutscher Verlag and the fashion salons, previously the domain of the mostly Jewish-owned Berlin Konfektion sector, are now Aryanized and carry bland names such as “Elegante Herren-Moden” (Elegant Men's Fashion) and “Elegante Damen-Moden” (Elegant Ladies’ Fashion). Rather than being coded as trivial, frivolous, and self-indulgent, the consumption of fashion in this popular 1943 production was actually celebrated within the film. Grosstadtmelodie foregrounds prominently two visually attractive events. First is the striking sartorial transformation of its magnetic female protagonist, the photographer Renate Heiberg (played by a young Viennese actress, Hilde Krahl, soon the wife of the director, Liebeneiner).
The COVID-19 Pandemic: Supply Chain Disruption, Wealth Effects, and Corporate Responses

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect firm-supplier-customer relationships? We find that, by the end of 2020q1, U.S. firms lost as many as 10.3% of their Chinese suppliers, suffering market value losses of up to $1.4 trillion. Affected U.S. firms were unable to relocate their supply chains, leading to lower inventory, sales, and operating performance. In response, these firms tapped the debt market, and partly built cash reserves. Employment decreased by 5.2%. Chinese suppliers suffered milder consequences. Sourcing from a single manufacturing hub has drawbacks, but policymakers should avoid trade tensions because firms face constraints trying to relocate their supply chains.
Preface to the special grouping of papers from the 18th Annual Conference of the Center for Community Modeling and Analysis System.

An estimated 4.2 million premature deaths globally are influenced by ambient air pollution, mainly from heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, besides attribu...
Computational Assessment of Protein-Protein Binding Affinity by Reverse Engineering the Energetics in Protein Complexes.

The cellular functions of proteins are maintained by forming diverse complexes. The stability of these complexes is quantified by the measurement of binding affinity, while mutations that alter the binding affinity can cause various diseases such as cancer and diabetes. As a result, the accurate estimation of binding stability and the effects of mutations on changes of binding affinity is a crucial step to understanding the biological functions of proteins and their dysfunctional consequences. Based on the hypothesis that the stability of protein complexes is dependent on both the pairwise interactions of residues at its binding interface and all other remaining residues that do not appear at the binding interface, here we computationally reconstruct the binding affinity by decomposing it into the contribution of interfacial residues and the energetic component of other non-interface residues in a protein complex. We further assume that the contributions of both interfacial and non-interfacial residues to the binding affinity depend on their local structural environments such as solvent-accessible surfaces and secondary structural types. The weights of all corresponding parameters are optimized by Monte-Carlo simulations. After cross-validation against a large-scale dataset, we showed that the model not only shows a strong correlation between the absolute values of the experimental and calculated binding affinity but can also be an effective approach to predicting the relative changes of binding affinity from mutations. Moreover, we have found that the optimized weights of many parameters can capture the first-principle chemical and physical features of molecular recognition, therefore reversely engineering the energetics of protein complexes. These results suggest that our method can serve as a useful addition to current computational approaches for predicting binding affinity and understanding the molecular mechanism of protein-protein interactions.
Управление На Аграрната Устойчивост в Българияm (Governance of Agrarian Sustainability in Bulgaria)

Bulgarian Abstract: В тази разработка се прилага интердисциплинарен подход на Новата институционална икономика и се прави оценка на системата за управление на аграрната устойчивост в България. Прави се задълбочен анализ на системата за управление на аграрната устойчивост като се оценява ефективността на институционалната среда и многообразните пазарни, частни, колективни, обществени и хибридни форми. Идентифицират се и факторите за повишаване на аграрната устойчивост и дават насоките за подобряване на системата за управление. English Abstract: This paper incorporates interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics and assesses the system of governance of agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria. The system of governance of agrarian sustainability is comprehensively analyzed, and the efficiency of institutional environment and diverse market, private, collective, public and hybrid modes assessed. Factors for increasing agrarian sustainability in the country are identified, and directions for improving the governing system suggested.
Correlation and responsiveness of global health, upper extremity-specific, and shoulder-specific functional outcome measures following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for proximal humerus fracture

Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) is effective and increasingly utilized for the management of proximal humerus fracture (PHF). However, the optimal patient-reported outcome metrics (PROMs) for the evaluation of patient outcomes after this surgery are unclear. We investigated the correlation among global, upper extremity-specific, and shoulder-specific PROMs in patients undergoing rTSA for PHF as well as the responsiveness of these PROMs as assessed by floor and ceiling effects. We hypothesized that patients’ post-operative outcome would be best reflected by a combination of these metrics. Thirty patients with a history of rTSA for ipsilateral PHF filled out the following outcomes questionnaires at a minimum of 3 years post-op: EQ-5D, EQ-5D VAS, PROMIS physical function, DASH, SSV, SPADI, and ASES. Correlation between metrics was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Responsiveness was assessed by comparing the proportion of patients reaching floor or ceiling values using McNemar’s test. Global health metrics (EQ-5D and PROMIS physical function) were strongly correlated with the upper extremity-specific metric (DASH). Shoulder-specific outcomes (SPADI, ASES, and ASES) were moderately correlated with both the global metrics and DASH. There was no significant difference between PROMs with regards to floor and ceiling effects. The DASH score has been shown to be valid and responsive for shoulder interventions, and our data demonstrate that it correlates strongly with overall quality of life. Shoulder-specific metrics are valid and responsive for shoulder interventions but correlate less with global quality of life. An optimal PROM strategy in rTSA for PHF might involve both DASH and a shoulder-specific score. Based on our assessment of floor and ceiling effects, none of these metrics should be excluded for poor responsiveness.
Gender essentialism and the mental representation of transgender women and men: A multimethod investigation of stereotype content.

Abstract The growing visibility of transgender women and men in the US challenges a dominant cultural model of gender in which dichotomous sex assigned at birth gives rise to dichotomous gender identity in adulthood. How are these groups – verbally marked as atypical relative to their cisgender counterparts – stereotyped? Moreover, how do gender essentialist beliefs predict the content of such stereotypes? Across four studies with diverse methods of stereotype measurement, we assessed characteristics that cisgender people associate with transgender women and men, comparing these to their stereotypes of cisgender women and men. In our final study, we directly assessed how cisgender people mentally position transgender groups relative to cisgender groups. Across these studies, transgender categories were characterized in less positive ways than cisgender ones, and there was as a lower level of consensus about transgender than cisgender stereotypes. On average, transgender groups were de-gendered relative to cisgender groups, such that transgender women and men were not strongly differentiated on traditionally-gendered stereotype dimensions. Finally, we showed that participants higher in gender essentialism (relative to participants lower in gender essentialism) evaluated cisgender groups more positively and were more likely to stereotype transgender groups based on their sex assigned at birth.
Fröhlich condensate of phonons in optomechanical systems

We propose that the Fr\"ohlich condensate of phonons can be realized in optomechanical systems. The system consists of a one-dimensional array of membranes coupled to the cavity field via a quadratic interaction, and the cavity is pumped by an external laser. Analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the high phonon occupancy of the lowest or highest mechanical mode is achievable depending on the detuning of the driving laser, the optomechanical strength, and the temperature. The feasibility of experimental implementation is discussed. Our results shed light on energy conversion and transfer, heat control, and multimode cooling using optomechanical systems.
Antecedents and Consequences of the Gap Between Perceived and Actual Quality of Brands

The way consumers perceive brand quality has a significant impact on performance measures such as customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and product sales (e.g., Aaker and Jacobson; Rust et al. 1999). Prior research has addressed that perceived quality generally does not match with the actual quality of a product (Bolton and Drew 1991; Mitra and Golder 2006). The gap between perceived and actual quality is a fundamental yet scarcely addressed issue in marketing. Prior research on the quality gaps is either conceptual or based on simulations or lab experiments (Kopalle and Assuncao 2000; Kopalle and Lehmann 1995). One study examines the product quality divergence between firm and customer with cross-sectional field data (Morgan and Vorhies 2001). Another study analyzes consequences of the gap between advertised and objective quality at two different time periods (Kopalle and Lehmann 2006). Although the impact of perceived quality on consumer behavior and firm performance measures has been well established, there is little attention paid to performance impacts of a possible gap between perceived and actual quality of a brand. Despite being equally important, also little is known about the marketing factors that cause this gap. To explore these issues, we empirically examine antecedents and consequences of the gap between perceived and objective quality of a brand in the context of auto industry.
Restrictions in Integrated Econometric+Input-Output Modeling

Working with regional time-series on employment at the industry level often results in short time-series containing quarterly observations. Attempts to introduce interindustry and interregional variation into an econometric model produce serious degrees of freedom problems. The problem takes the form of a model containing a large number of parameters relating interregional and interindustry entities in the model relative to the amount of sample data available to estimate these parameters. For this reason researchers have attempted to use restrictions on parameters in these models.
The Role of Anticoagulation in the Measurement of Platelet Volumes.

The effect of anticoagulation on platelet size stability was studied using blood collected in seven different anticoagulants and stored at room temperature for up to eight hours. The mean platelet volume (MPV) value was most stable in blood collected in 15% ACD and ACD/Na2EDTA. In blood collected in Na2EDTA, K3EDTA, or 11.9% ACD, there was an increase in MPV in the first two hours, after which the MPVs remained stable up to eight hours. Sodium citrate and heparin proved unreliable for the measurement of platelet volume. Platelet counts were stable (less than 5% variation) in all anticoagulants except heparin, which had 16% variation for the eight hours of study. Simultaneously, RBC counts and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) measurements were stable in all seven anticoagulants, with sodium citrate producing the most variation. A negative correlation was observed between MCV and pH of the anticoagulated blood. WBC counts showed less than 3% variation in all anticoagulants except sodium citrate and heparin. Separate experiments demonstrated that electrolyte composition, pH, tonicity, and method of calcium chelation all influenced the stability of the MPV. Of the anticoagulants studied, ACD/Na2 EDTA appeared to provide the best conditions of anticoagulation for both routine clinical and research laboratory measurement of the MPV. It inhibited platelet activation but left the platelets in their normal discoid shape. Platelets could be removed from the anticoagulant and studied in functional assays for up to eight hours after blood drawing. Both platelet counts and MPVs remained stable in blood collected in ACD/Na2 EDTA anticoagulant for up to eight hours at room temperature. In 52 volunteers studied, an inverse correlation (r = -0.72, P less than 0.001) was observed between platelet count and MPV, suggesting that the circulating platelet mass may be a more important indicator of platelet homeostasis than either the platelet count or the mean platelet volume alone.
Who are the complaint-prone officers?: An examination of the relationship between police officers' attributes, arrest activity, assignment, and citizens' complaints about excessive force

This article identifies the characteristics of police officers (officers' background attributes, arrest activity, and assignment) who most frequently receive complaints from citizens regarding the use of excessive force. The data for the study were obtained from a large mid-western municipal police department. The results show that arrest activity, officer age, and officer gender are most strongly related to the receipt of citizen's complaints about excessive force and differentiate high-complaint officers from low-complaint officers. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Index Selection and Feed Intake Restriction in Swine. II. Effect on Energy Utilization

Summary Fifty-three index select and control line barrows were randomly assigned to three feeding levels at 83 d of age. They were slaughtered at approximately 188 d of age to determine the effects of index selection (for increased average daily gain and decreased backfat) and level of feed intake on energy utilization. During the trial, the feed intake levels were twice daily to appetite (AP), once daily feeding of 91% of appetite (AP91) or once daily feeding of 82% of appetite (AP82) intake. The metabolizable energy intake required per kilogram of edible lean deposited (Mcal/kg) was reduced (P<.05) by restricting intake and was lower (P<.01) for index than for control barrows [index: 25.6 (AP), 23.3 (AP91) and 25.3 (AP82) vs control: 31.1 (AP), 27.5 (AP91) and 28.1 (AP82)]. However, intake restriction and index selection increased (P<.05) the energy lost per unit of retained energy (index: 1.33, 1.45 and 1.53 vs control: 1.24, 1.29 and 1.34). The index line had a higher (P<.05) maintenance requirement than the control line when expressed'unit of weight (kg'TS) -1" day -I, but the difference was less when expressed'unit of lean (kg'S3)-l'day -I. The energy cost of protein deposition varied from 9.02 to 11.25 kcal/g, while the energy cost of fat deposition ranged from 12.73 to 12.86 kcal/g. Variation among animals in metabolizable energy intake was explained by variation in lean mass maintained and the quantity of
Accumulation of Ribonucleoprotein Particles in a Relaxed Mutant of Escherichia coli

Abstract Sypherd, Paul S. (University of California, San Diego). Accumulation of ribonucleoprotein particles in a relaxed mutant of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 90:403–410. 1965.—The synthesis of ribonucleic acid during amino acid deprivation of a “relaxed” mutant was investigated. Aspects of the stability of the macromolecular ribonucleic acid (RNA) were studied, and standard conditions were established to allow maximal recovery of the larger RNA's (i.e., 16S and 23S). These RNA's, representing 75% of the total RNA produced during starvation, were present in particles with nominal S-values of 20, 30, and 43. The particles are extremely sensitive to nuclease action, being completely destroyed in the presence of 2 μg/ml of pancreatic ribonuclease at 15 C for 30 min. The particles containing the bulk of the RNA were shown to be ribonucleoprotein, consisting of 26 to 28% protein by weight. It was shown that no mature 70S ribosomes were formed during the accumulation of the lighter, protein-deficient particles.
Periodic Solutions of Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations and the Nash-Moser Method

In this paper we construct time-periodic solutions of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation $$ - i{\partial _t}u = \left( { - {\partial _{xx}}u + v\left( x \right)} \right)u + g\left( {u,\bar u,x} \right),0 < x < \pi ,t \in \mathbb{R}. $$ (1.1) satisfying either periodic or Dirichlet boundary conditions. We assume that the non-linearity g is of the form \( g\left( {u,{\mkern 1mu} \bar u,{\mkern 1mu} x} \right) = {\partial _{\bar u}}\mathcal{G}\left( {u,{\mkern 1mu} \bar u,{\mkern 1mu} x} \right) \), for some real valued function G. This equation can then be viewed as a Hamiltonian system with infinitely many degrees of freedom, and the problem of time periodic solutions is related to perturbation theory in the neighborhood of elliptic stationary points of such systems. In contrast to the case of finite dimensional Hamiltonian systems, even the problem of periodic solutions for (1.1) exhibits the phenomenon of small denominators. Our results imply that the effect of these small denominators may be overcome, resulting in the construction of Cantor-like families of periodic solutions in a neighborhood of the equilibrium u = 0. We will present the details here only for the case of periodic boundary conditions, since this case is technically more difficult, allows for interesting resonances between the linear modes, and because the case of Dirichlet boundary conditions has already been treated by Kuksin (1988, 1993) using KAM methods. We note that in the special case in which g depends on u and ū only through the combination |u|2, one does not encounter small denominators, and one can construct periodic solutions with an ordinary implicit function theorem.
Early Exclusive Use of the Affected Forelimb After Moderate Transient Focal Ischemia in Rats Functional and Anatomic Outcome

Background and Purpose —Previous work by researchers in our laboratory has shown that in the rat, the exclusive use of the affected forelimb during an early critical period exaggerates lesion volume and retards functional recovery after electrolytic lesions of the forelimb sensorimotor cortex. In the present study, we examined the effects of exclusive use of the affected forelimb after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Methods —Ischemia of moderate severity was produced in male Long-Evans rats through 45 minutes of occlusion of the left middle cerebral and both common carotid arteries. Exclusive use of either the affected or unaffected forelimb was forced through immobilization of either the ipsilateral (MCAO+ipsi) or contralateral (MCAO+contra) forelimb, respectively, for 10 days in a plaster cast, or the animal was left uncasted (MCAO+nocast). Sham surgeries were performed, and animals were also casted for 10 days or left uncasted. Sensorimotor testing was performed during days 17 to 38. At the end of sensorimotor testing, cognitive performance was tested with use of the Morris water maze. In a separate experiment, temperatures and corticosterone levels were measured during the 10-day period after 45-minute ischemia and casting. Results —The MCAO+ipsi group performed worse on sensorimotor tasks than the MCAO+contra, MCAO+nocast, and sham groups. Infarct volume was significantly larger in the MCAO+ipsi group than in the sham and MCAO+contra groups but not in the MCAO+nocast group. No group differences were found with the Morris water maze, and no group differences were found in either temperature or plasma corticosterone level. Conclusions —The exclusive use of the affected forelimb immediately after focal ischemia has detrimental effects on sensorimotor function that cannot be attributed to hyperthermia or stress.
Climbing fiber representation of the renal afferent nerve in the vermal cortex of the cat cerebellum

In order to understand how the cerebellum may participate in various autonomic functions, it is necessary to first determine the occurrence and distribution of the various visceral inputs in the cerebellar cortex and their relation to other cerebellar afferents. This study examines the organization of climbing fiber responses (complex spikes) of Purkinje cells elicited by electrical stimulation of the renal afferent nerve and their relationship to climbing fiber responses representing the body surface. Visceral and somatic afferent responses were mapped in the lateral vermal cortex of lobules V to VII in chloralose-anesthetized cats. Extracellular single-unit recordings were made from 628 Purkinje cells, of which 14% had climbing fiber responses induced by renal afferent nerve stimulation. Except for one Purkinje cell, the renal climbing fiber input converged with somatic induced climbing fiber input. Tactile stimulation also elicited 54% of cells, which were unresponsive to the renal afferent nerve stimulation. The occurrence and distribution of the climbing fiber responses elicited by renal afferent nerve stimulation varied between lobules V, VI, and VII for the proportion of responsive units, the onset latencies, and topological organization. More renal responsive units were encountered in lobules V (18%) and VII (17%) than in lobule VI (6%), the average latency of renal climbing fiber responses was significantly longer in lobule VII than in lobules V and VI, and the latencies were also different among various parasagittal planes in lobules V and VII. The proportional representation of various body areas for cells with renal and somatic convergent input was different than for cells with only somatic representation. Proportionally, the forelimb had the greatest representation in lobule V, split receptive fields were frequently represented in lobule VI, and the face was well represented in lobule VII. The results of this study, in conjunction with studies showing climbing fiber representation of the vagal and splanchnic nerves, further substantiate role of the cerebellum in autonomic functions.
Temperature and salinity tolerances of larval Californian grunion, Leuresthes tenuis (Ayres): A comparison with gulf grunion, L. Sardina (Jenkins & Evermann)

Abstract Temperature and salinity tolerances were determined for larval California grunion, Leuresthes tenuis (Ayres), and compared with previous data for Gulf of California grunion, L. sardina (Jenkins & Evermann). Larvae of similar age and acclimation history showed little interspecific difference in thermal tolerance, as measured by half-hour LT50 values for 20–30 day old late postlarvae acclimated at various temperatures, and by upper and lower incipient lethal temperatures for 18°C-acclimated prolarvae. The upper incipient lethal temperature differed by 1 deg.-C (32°C for L. tenuis, 31°C for L. sardina), while the lower incipient lethal temperature for the 18°C acclimated prolarvae of both species was 7.5°C. L. tenuis larvae were much less euryhaline than L. sardina, with incipient lethal salinities of 4.2–41 %. for prolarvae and 8.6–38 %. for 20-day-old postlarvae; comparable values for L. sardina are 4–67.5 %. and 5–57.5 %. Both species show a decrease in temperature and salinity tolerance with age. The larvae of these disjunct congeners show a significant physiological divergence in euryhalinity but not in overall temperature tolerance. These tolerances are discussed in relation to the respective geographic ranges and behavioral responses of the two species.
Synthesis of 4-Aryl(Hetaryl)Spinaceamine Thioureas

5-(N-Isopropylthiocarbamoyl)- and 5-(N-allylthiocarbamoyl)-derivatives of 4-aryl(hetaryl)spinaceamine were synthesized in order to study their biological activity. The reaction of histamine with various aryl- and hetarylaldehydes produced 4-aryl(hetaryl)spinaceamines, which were heated with isopropylisothiocyanate or allylisothiocyanate in EtOH to give 5-(N-isopropylthiocarbamoyl)- or 5-(N-allylthiocarbamoyl)-4-aryl(hetaryl) spinaceamines.
Hormonal regulation of transcription of rDNA: use of nucleoside thiotriphosphates to measure initiation in isolated nuclei

Nuclei isolated from cultured mouse and rat cell lines initiated pre-rRNA chains at the correct site and with the correct nucleotide specificity (A for mouse, G for rat). Nucleic acid filter hybridization and S1 nuclease mapping were used to analyze the RNA products initiated with nucleoside (beta-S)triphosphates. Initiation of pre-rRNA was completely resistant to alpha-amanitin but was inhibited by either actinomycin D or heparin. Experiments with P1798 mouse lymphoma cells indicated that the antiproliferative effects of glucocorticoids on lymphoid cells includes a reduction in the ability of nuclei to initiate pre-rRNA chains.
Symbols, Computation, and Intentionality: A Critique of the Computational Theory of Mind

From the Publisher: The computational theory of mindthe belief that the mind can be likened to a computer and that cognitive states possess the generative and compositional properties of natural languageshas proven enormously influential in recent philosophical studies of cognition. In this carefully argued critique, Steven Horst pronounces the theory deficient. He refutes its claims and assumptions, particularly the assertion that symbolic representations need not have conventional meaning. Horst goes on to sketch a new methodology for looking at the philosophy of psychology, one that provides a more fruitful way of comparing computational psychology with rival views emerging from connectionism and neuroscience. Original and comprehensive, his book is certain to provoke controversy and stimulate debate. Author Biography: Steven W. Horst is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University.