cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Constraints on communication and electronic mail

How information flows through an organization is important to many organizational processes. The information people receive influences the perceptions they have of the organization they work for and the tasks they are assigned. Electronic mail constitutes a new medium in organizational communication. It may alter some of the information flow in the organizations in which it is used. My analysis suggests that some new communication occurs in large organizations that have electronic mail. I suggest that this new communication occurs because the way electronic mail is organized allows people to find other people with common interests at a low cost to either party. This new communication creates links between people who would otherwise not share information. Granovetter's work on the significance of weak ties suggests that such connections may have substantial influence on the way in which behavior is shaped and constrained by one's network and in the manipulation of networks to achieve specific goals (1973, 1974). These processes are important to organizational socialization and problem solving, respectively. Other functions of large formal organizations may also be affected.
Hydrologic Connections and Overland Dispersal in An Exotic Freshwater Crustacean

Organisms living in lakes face the problem of dispersing through an uninhabitable matrix in order to reach suitable habitat. One possible mechanism for moving between lakes is by surface water connections. We used a seven-year data set to investigate the spread of the exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi among Missouri reservoirs with respect to stream connections. Reservoirs that were downstream of known populations of D. lumholtzi were more likely to become invaded than those that were not. However, invasion likelihood was only weakly related to the presence of upstream source populations, and reservoirs without potential upstream sources were colonized at a rate of 7.3% per year. The difference in invasion rate between lakes with and without upstream sources varied among years, and was significant in only two of the six years of study. In addition, the higher invasion rate of downstream lakes could be explained by their greater surface area. These patterns suggest that surface water connections may form one means of dispersal for D. lumholtzi, although overland movement is also important. The ability to utilize several modes of dispersal may explain the rapid expansion of this species' range since its arrival in North America.
The binding site of human adenosine deaminase for CD26/Dipeptidyl peptidase IV: the Arg142Gln mutation impairs binding to cd26 but does not cause immune deficiency.

Human, but not murine, adenosine deaminase (ADA) forms a complex with the cell membrane protein CD26/dipeptidyl peptidase IV. CD26-bound ADA has been postulated to regulate extracellular adenosine levels and to modulate the costimulatory function of CD26 on T lymphocytes. Absence of ADA–CD26 binding has been implicated in causing severe combined immunodeficiency due to ADA deficiency. Using human–mouse ADA hybrids and ADA point mutants, we have localized the amino acids critical for CD26 binding to the helical segment 126–143. Arg142 in human ADA and Gln142 in mouse ADA largely determine the capacity to bind CD26. Recombinant human ADA bearing the R142Q mutation had normal catalytic activity per molecule, but markedly impaired binding to a CD26+ ADA-deficient human T cell line. Reduced CD26 binding was also found with ADA from red cells and T cells of a healthy individual whose only expressed ADA has the R142Q mutation. Conversely, ADA with the E217K active site mutation, the only ADA expressed by a severely immunodeficient patient, showed normal CD26 binding. These findings argue that ADA binding to CD26 is not essential for immune function in humans.
Family-based treatment for adolescents with bulimia nervosa.

Family-based treatment has for at least two decades now come to be seen as the treatment of choice for adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). Yet, involving the parents in the treatment for adolescents with bulimia nervosa (BN) have remained largely unexplored. We have recently adapted manualised family-based treatment for adolescent AN (FBT-AN) to a large group of adolescents with BN (FBT-BN). This manuscript will highlight the key tenets of manualised FBT-BN, briefly describe the three treatment phases, and summarise the main differences of this model in its application for AN versus BN. Finally, reference will be made to the first randomised controlled trial of FBT-BN showing preliminary support for the parents' involvement in the treatment of adolescent BN.
An Aggregate Model of Technical Change

A simple aggregate growth model is presented in which technology is described by a probability distribution from which new plants are drawn. Especially good draws are viewed as technological innovations that shift the mean of the following period's plant distribution function. The resulting technical change is endogenous, random, and cumulative. In contrast to conventional growth models, the model's growth path displays nonstationary drift rather than deterministic trend, and the long-run per capita growth rate has positive rather than zero sensitivity to the model's saving parameter.
Psychopathology and temporal lobe epilepsy in adolescents.

— Although high rates of psychopathology in children and adolescents suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have been reported in the literature, the subject remains controversial. In this investigation we made a psychiatric study of 26 adolescents with TLE using a detailed structure interview and rigorous diagnostic criteria. These were compared to 26 matched controls suffering from chronic bronchial asthma (BA). In neither group was there a high rate of specific psychiatric illness, although many adolescents in both samples showed moderate to severe depression. We conclude that TLE may not be a specific cause of psychopathology in adolescence, and that the depression might result from the suffering involved in chronic illness.
Developmental Expression of Violaxanthin De-Epoxidase in Leaves of Tobacco Growing under High and Low Light

Violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) is a lumen-localized enzyme that catalyzes the de-epoxidation of violaxanthin in the thylakoid membrane upon formation of a transthylakoid pH gradient. We investigated the developmental expression of VDE in leaves of mature tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants grown under high-light conditions (in the field) and low-light conditions (in a growth chamber). The difference in light conditions was evident by the increased pool size (violaxanthin + antheraxanthin + zeaxanthin, VAZ) throughout leaf development in field-grown plants. VDE activity based on chlorophyll or leaf area was low in the youngest leaves, with the levels increasing with increasing leaf age in both high- and low-light-grown plants. However, in high-light-grown plants, the younger leaves in early leaf expansion showed a more rapid increase in VDE activity and maintained higher levels of VDE transcript in more leaves, indicating that high light may induce greater levels of VDE. VDE transcript levels decreased substantially in leaves of mid-leaf expansion, while the levels of enzyme continued to increase, suggesting that the VDE enzyme does not turn over rapidly. The level of VDE changed in an inverse, nonlinear relationship with respect to the VAZ pool, suggesting that enzyme levels could be indirectly regulated by the VAZ pool.
Development of Erysiphe pulchra, the causal agent of powdery mildew, on leaf disks of susceptible and resistant flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

Understanding the relative contribution of the different resistance components is necessary to develop selection schemes and accelerate resistant-cultivar development. This study was conducted to investigate spore germination, infection-structure formation, and fungal development of Erysiphe pulchra, the causal agent of powdery mildew, on leaf disks of six cultivars or lines of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) with different levels of resistance. The cultivars and lines tested were grouped into the following three resistance categories: highly susceptible (‘Cherokee Daybreak’ and MW 94-60), moderately susceptible (‘Cherokee Princess’ and MW 95-25), and resistant (‘Cherokee Brave’ and ‘Karen’s Appalachian Blush’). Percentages of spore germination and secondary-appressoria formation were not significantly different among the cultivars and lines. Significantly less percent germinated conidia with branched hyphae were observed on resistant cultivars than on the moderately susceptible cultivar or line, which...
Enhancing Source-Location Privacy in Sensor Network Routing

One of the most notable challenges threatening the successful deployment of sensor systems is privacy. Although many privacy-related issues can be addressed by security mechanisms, one sensor network privacy issue that cannot be adequately addressed by network security is source-location privacy. Adversaries may use RF localization techniques to perform hop-by-hop traceback to the source sensor's location. This paper provides a formal model for the source-location privacy problem in sensor networks and examines the privacy characteristics of different sensor routing protocols. We examine two popular classes of routing protocols: the class of flooding protocols, and the class of routing protocols involving only a single path from the source to the sink. While investigating the privacy performance of routing protocols, we considered the tradeoffs between location-privacy and energy consumption. We found that most of the current protocols cannot provide efficient source-location privacy while maintaining desirable system performance. In order to provide efficient and private sensor communications, we devised new techniques to enhance source-location privacy that augment these routing protocols. One of our strategies, a technique we have called phantom routing, has proven flexible and capable of protecting the source's location, while not incurring a noticeable increase in energy overhead. Further, we examined the effect of source mobility on location privacy. We showed that, even with the natural privacy amplification resulting from source mobility, our phantom routing techniques yield improved source-location privacy relative to other routing methods
Age at Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnosis by Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Household Language Among Children with Special Health Care Needs, United States, 2009–2010

We examined prevalence of diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age at diagnosis according to child’s race/ethnicity and primary household language. From the 2009–2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, we identified 2729 3–17-year-old US children whose parent reported a current ASD diagnosis. We compared ASD prevalence, mean diagnosis age, and percentage with later diagnoses (≥5 years) across racial/ethnic/primary household language groups: non-Hispanic-white, any language (NHW); non-Hispanic-black, any language (NHB); Hispanic-any-race, English (Hispanic-English); and Hispanic-any-race, other language (Hispanic-Other). We assessed findings by parent-reported ASD severity level and adjusted for family sociodemographics. ASD prevalence estimates were 15.3 (NHW), 10.4 (NHB), 14.1 (Hispanic-English), and 5.2 (Hispanic-Other) per 1000 children. Mean diagnosis age was comparable across racial/ethnic/language groups for 3–4-year-olds. For 5–17-year-olds, diagnosis age varied by race/ethnicity/language and also by ASD severity. In this group, NHW children with mild/moderate ASD had a significantly higher proportion (50.8 %) of later diagnoses than NHB (33.5 %) or Hispanic-Other children (18.0 %). However, NHW children with severe ASD had a comparable or lower (albeit non-significant) proportion (16.4 %) of later diagnoses than NHB (37.8 %), Hispanic-English (30.8 %), and Hispanic-Other children (12.0 %). While NHW children have comparable ASD prevalence and diagnosis age distributions as Hispanic-English children, they have both higher prevalence and proportion of later diagnoses than NHB and Hispanic-Other children. The diagnosis age findings were limited to mild/moderate cases only. Thus, the prevalence disparity might be primarily driven by under-representation (potentially under-identification) of older children with mild/moderate ASD in the two minority groups.
Coding of Real-Number Sequences for Error Correction: A Digital Signal Processing Problem

Error-correcting codes defined over the real-number and complex-number fields are introduced. The possibility of utilizing realnumber arithmetic permits the codes to be implemented with operations normally available in standard programmable digital signal processors by methods which are discussed. Hadamard and discrete Fourier transform codes are presented for block coding, and the latter are seen to be cyclic and to include the class of BCH codes. It is shown that maximum distance separable real-number BCH ( N, K ) codes exist for all nontrivial values of N and K . A large class of block and convolutional real-number single-error-correcting codes, derived from similar codes over GF(p) , are presented. Both block and convolutional codes are seen to be describable by the z -transform in a manner which emphasizes their similarities to conventional digital signal processing structures such as digital filters and digital filter banks. Methods for correcting weight t and t + 1 errors in a t error-correcting code are demonstrated and interpreted; in particular, the use of a VLSI digital signal processor for implementation of an algorithm for correcting almost all double adjacent error patterns in a single-error-correcting convolutional code is discussed.
Overexpression of a FAD3 desaturase increases synthesis of a polymethylene-interrupted dienoic fatty acid in seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana L.

A cDNA encoding the Arabidopsis extraplastidic linoleate desaturase (FAD3) was overexpressed in the seeds of wild-type Arabidopsis and in a mutant line that accumulates high levels of oleic acid. In the transformed wild-type plants, linolenic acid (18:3Δ9,12,15) increased from 19% to nearly 40% of total seed fatty acids, with a corresponding decrease in linoleate content (18:2Δ9,12). In the high oleate mutant, a large increase in the level of a fatty acid identified by gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry as mangiferic acid (18:2Δ9,15) was observed. The results demonstrate that the polymethylene-interrupted dienoic fatty acid, mangiferic acid, can be produced in seed oil through the overexpression of a fatty acid n-3 desaturase.
Data assimilation in a sparsely observed one-dimensional modeled MHD system

Abstract. A one dimensional non-linear magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) system has been introduced to test a sequential optimal interpolation assimilation technique that uses a Monte-Carlo method to calculate the forecast error covariance. An ensemble of 100 model runs with perturbed initial conditions are used to construct the covariance, and the assimilation algorithm is tested using Observation Simulation Experiments (OSE's). The system is run with a variety of observation types (magnetic and/or velocity fields) and a range of observation densities. The impact of cross covariances between velocity and magnetic fields is investigated by running the assimilation with and without these terms. Sets of twin experiments show that while observing both velocity and magnetic fields has the greatest positive impact on the system, observing the magnetic field alone can also effectively constrain the system. Observations of the velocity field are ineffective as a constraint on the magnetic field, even when observations are made at every point. The implications for geomagnetic data assimilation are discussed.
One-step optimal measurement selection for linear gaussian estimation problems

This paper considers the problem of choosing the optimal linear measurement for the estimation of a state vector X in a Bayesian context where the prior distribution for X is multivariate Gaussian. The motivation for this comes from waveform-agile active sensing systems that have the capability of choosing transmit or illumination waveforms in real time. The measurement is characterized by a measurement matrix B with an energy constraint along each row. Qualitatively, the optimal solution applies the available transmit energy to each of the eigenmodes of the prior covariance of X, such that more energy is applied to modes with higher prior variance, in an attempt to bring the posterior variances down to a small common value. The allocation of the energy along the various eigenmodes requires the solution of a straightforward waterfilling problem.
Frequency-Independent Phase Noise in a Dual-Wavelength Brillouin Fiber Laser

An in-depth analysis of the phase noise of a microwave oscillator based on dual-wavelength stimulated Brillouin scattering is presented. The system is investigated under the influence of injection-locking and also in a regenerative-frequency configuration. Measurements from 1 to 25 GHz demonstrate the invariance of the phase-noise spectrum with respect to carrier frequency. Phase noise of -90 dBc/Hz at 1-kHz offset is shown, and is compared to the best reported performance of optical heterodyne sources. The frequency stability of the oscillator is also discussed.
Control of an air siphon nozzle using hydrogen and gases other than air

Abstract Air siphon nozzles are a simple device commonly used to transport liquid fuel to a combustor. Recent research in dual fuel combustion demonstrates benefits to using gas and liquid phase fuels in the same system. This paper demonstrates the use of hydrogen and other gases other than air to control liquid fuel flow through the siphon nozzle. It is shown mathematically that the two major variables controlling liquid flow rate are the specific heat ratio and upstream pressure of the gas. Since diatomic gases have similar specific heat ratios (k = 1.4 at 300 K), a mixture of hydrogen and air can control liquid flow using only pressure, regardless of mixture composition. At relevant gas pressures, it is analytically shown that the error from changing k is small for 1.1
Protecting superconducting qubits with a?universal quantum degeneracy point

Low-frequency noise can induce serious decoherence in superconducting qubits. Due to its diverse physical origins, such noise can couple with the qubits either as transverse or as longitudinal noise. Here we present a universal quantum degeneracy point approach that can protect an encoded qubit from arbitrary low-frequency noise. We further show that universal quantum logic gates can be performed on the encoded qubits with high fidelity. The proposed scheme can be readily implemented with superconducting flux qubits or with a qubit coupling with a superconducting resonator. Meanwhile, the scheme is also robust against small parameter spreads due to errors of fabrication in the superconducting systems.
Endovascular management of iliac vein compression (May-Thurner) syndrome.

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility of endovascular techniques in treating venous outflow obstruction resulting from compression of the iliac vein by the iliac artery of the left lower extremity (MayThurner syndrome). MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of 39 patients (29 women, 10 men; median age, 46 years) with iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS) was performed. Nineteen patients presented with acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and 20 patients presented with chronic symptoms. All patients presented with leg edema or pain. In the acute group, patients were treated with catheter-directed thrombolysis (120,000–180,000 IU urokinase/h) and angioplasty followed by stent placement. In the chronic group, patients were treated with use of angioplasty and stent placement alone ( n = 8), or in combination with thrombolysis ( n = 12). Patients were then followed-up with duplex ultrasound and a quality-of-life assessment. RESULTS Initial technical success was achieved in 34 of 39 patients (87%). The overall patency rate at 1 year was 79%. Symptomatically, 85% of patients were completely or partially improved compared with findings before treatment. Thirty-five of 39 patients received stents. The 1-year patency rate for patients with acute symptoms who received stents was 91.6%; for patients with chronic symptoms who received stents, the 1-year patency rate was 93.9%. Five technical failures occurred. Major complications included acute iliac vein rethrombosis ( n = 2). Minor complications included perisheath hematomas ( n = 4) and minor bleeding ( n = 1). There were no deaths, pulmonary embolus, cerebral hemorrhage, or major bleeding complications. CONCLUSION Endovascular reconstruction of occluded iliac veins secondary to IVCS (May-Thurner) appears to be safe and effective.
Instruction packing: reducing power and delay of the dynamic scheduling logic

The instruction scheduling logic used in modern superscalar microprocessors often relies on associative searching of the issue queue entries to dynamically wakeup instructions for the execution. Traditional designs use one issue queue entry for each instruction, regardless of the actual number of operands actively used in the wakeup process. In this paper we propose Instruction Packing - a novel microarchitectural technique that reduces both the delay and the power consumption of the issue queue by sharing the associative part of an issue queue entry between two instructions, each with at most one non-ready register source operand at the time of dispatch. Our results show that Instruction Packing provides a 39% reduction of the whole issue queue power and 21.6% reduction in the wakeup delay with as little as 0.4% IPC degradation on the average across the simulated SPEC benchmarks
Bioarchaeological Ethics: A Historical Perspective on the Value of Human Remains

The rapidity of technological and cultural change in current times is forcing us to confront a myriad of moral dilemmas over issues as wide ranging as the ethics of cloning humans, the ownership of our genetic material, and the rights of animals relative to those of humans. These ethical issues concern the very nature of what it means to be human and our relationships, not only to other people, but also to the plants and animals that sustain us. The enormous strides we have taken toward human equality during this century mean that formerly disenfranchised and enslaved members of minority groups are beginning to gain power and control over their lives. In many countries there has been a decline in the political dominance and moral authority of organized religions. Notions of multiculturalism and a growing acceptance of the moral principle of not discriminating against people based on gender, ethnicity, or religious beliefs mean that there is no longer a shared set of cultural values we can use for guidance in dealing with moral issues (Cottingham, 1994). This increased tolerance of cultural diversity poses ethical dilemmas because, as the
DNA excision repair

In nucleotide excision repair DNA damage is removed through incision of the damaged strand on both sides of the lesion, followed by repair synthesis, which fills the gap using the intact strand as a template, and finally ligation. In prokaryotes the damaged base is removed in a 12-13 nucleotide (nt)-long oligomer; in eukaryotes including humans the damage is excised in a 24-32 nt-long fragment. Excision in Escherichia coli is accomplished by three proteins designated UvrA, UvrB, and UvrC. In humans, by contrast, 16 polypeptides including seven xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) proteins, the trimeric replication protein A [RPA, human single-stranded DNA binding protein (HSSB)], and the multisubunit (7-10) general transcription factor TFIIH are required for the dual incisions. Transcribed strands are specifically targeted for excision repair by a transcription-repair coupling factor both in E. coli and in humans. In humans, excision repair is an important defense mechanism against the two major carcinogens, sunlight and cigarette smoke. Individuals defective in excision repair exhibit a high incidence of cancer while individuals with a defect in coupling transcription to repair suffer from neurological and skeletal abnormalities.
THE EFFECT OF STASIS OF BLOOD IN VARICOSE VEINS ON ERYTHROCYTE FRAGILITY, WITH ACCOMPANYING STUDIES COMPARING RED CELLS AND OTHER BLOOD ELEMENTS WITH CUBITAL VEIN BLOOD

evidence that under some conditicns, in vivo stasis produces increased red cell fragility. Waller12 and Cormick’3 fcuEd an increase in red cell fragility in capillary blood fcllcwing tourni4uet stasis, but Wailer found no increased fragility in blood removed frCm the cubital vein under conditions of stasis except after expressing capillary blood into the veins. There is evidence that concentration and stasis of red blood cells occur normally in the spleen.’1’6 Red cells obtained from the spienic vein were found to be more fragile when suspended in hypotonic salt solutions than red cells from blood in other veins.8’ 9 As further proof that in vivo stasis may cause red cells to become more fragile, Tsai and co-workers9 found that osmotic fragility ofred cells removed from both the splenic and renal veins increased progressively following stasis produced by occlusion of the veins and arteries of the spleen and kidney. Ham and Castle1’‘#{176} � have attached great importance to the effects of stasis on red cells and consider this factor to be the common denominator in many of the anemias due to hemolysis. They believe that erythrostasis in the spleen is probably the mechanism producing increased blood destruction in the hemolytic anemias with increased red cell fragility, and also, that an unusual degree of erythrostasis might account for some hemolytic anemias in which there is normal or secondarily increased red cell fragility. A number of investigators9 1924 have shown that the red cells usually become less fragile to hypotonic salt solutions
Set Notation and Quantifiers

Consider the sentence “The equation x 2+2x = 15 has a unique solution.” Thus far, we’ve approached such things intuitively. It’s time now to tackle this head on. Is it true? False? It depends on which x we have in mind, of course.We turn to a rigorous way to make our sentence x 2 +2x = 15 into a statement. But before we get to the heart of this chapter, it will be useful to have notation for the things with which we frequently work.
An Integrated Probabilistic and Fuzzy Multi-objective Method for Hazardous Waste Risk Management

Multi-objective decision making involves the selection of alternatives where the simultaneous satisfaction of two-or-more objectives dictates the decision outcome. Using this idea, risk assessment and risk management, although separate issues, can be combined in a single framework where decisions about remediation to reduce risks can be made based on an integrated approach where probabilistic methods and fuzzy methods are used to characterize both random and non-random forms of uncertainty. The ability of fuzzy logic to integrate numeric data like costs and risk, with linguistic knowledge such as political and economic sustainability is shown to be a powerful paradigm in the risk management area. A case study based on a US government facility involving a hazardous waste is used to illustrate features of the method.
Eradication of Phytophthora ramorum and Other Pathogens from Potting Medium or Soil by Treatment with Aerated Steam or Fumigation with Metam Sodium

Phytophthora ramorum survived in potting media infested with sporangia or chlamydospores, allowing the pathogen to remain undetected while disseminated geographically. Chlamydospores or oospores of P. ramorum, Pythium irregulare, Thielaviopsis basicola, and Cylindrocladium scoparium produced in vermiculite culture were used to infest potting media. Infested media in plastic plug flats were treated with aerated steam mixtures from 45 to 70°C for 30 min. In a second experiment, infested media were fumigated in polyethylene bags with a concentration series of metam sodium ranging from 0.25 to 1.0 mL·L -1. Survival of the pathogens was determined by selective baiting or direct plating the infested media on PARP selective medium. Assays indicated that all pathogens in the infested potting media were killed by aerated steam heat treatments of 50°C or higher. Metam sodium concentrations of 1.0 mL·L-1 of medium or greater also eradicated all pathogens from the potting medium and soil. These results show that aerated steam treatment or fumigation with metam sodium can effectively sanitize soil-less potting media infested with P. ramorum or other soilborne pathogens, as well as P. ramorum-infested soil beneath infected plant containers. In addition, steam treatments to 70°C did not melt plastic plug trays.
Cockroaches control strategy in Qingdao from 1998 to 2009.

Objective To control the density of cockroach scientifically in Qingdao.Methods Using the question,drug irritation,night trapping method to investigate the inroads rate and density of cockroach;drug films to survey the drug resistance of cockroach;fumigation,detained sprinkling,hot smoke,poison bait and glue bait to kill and eradicate the cockroach.Results The constituent ratio of Blattella germanica ascended from 12.85% of 1998 to 100% of 2009 in Qingdao;the resistance to cypermethrin and deltamethrin decreased from 2001 to 2009;there was almost no drug resistance to sunside,acetal-methylamine,DDVP;the recent killing rate in hotels could reach more than 95% when using the simple detained sprinkling or detained sprinkling and hot smoke or detained sprinkling and fumigation plus whirlwind 2000,but the density of cockroach rose again after about 2 months.The density of cockroach could maintain lower level throughout the year using the method of poison glue bait plus complement hygiene clean,which proved by night trapping.Conclusion The inroads status,breeding environment,drug resistance of cockroach are known in Qingdao city.Thus the part cockroach can be killed regionally when using appropriate poison bait and glue bait.
The Christians in Socialism--and after: The Church in East Germany

With democratic and market-oriented systems taking shape in what used to be the German Democratic Republic (GDR), it has be come common for analysts to stress the burgeoning unity and national identity of Germany. Such arguments tend to underestimate the im portance of contrasting cultural, traditional, and contemporary exper iences of the two Germanies in the post-war period. These often aggressively competing legacies manifest themselves in various ways in the economic, political, and religious spheres. Some people of the for mer East Germany resent what has been perpetrated on them in the name of democracy, liberal-market, and new ideologies; others are still unable to adjust to the drastic changes following unification. Interviews with pastors, university professors and students, party officials, city administrators, and environmentalists in the former East Germany point to the fact that the emerging dominance of West Ger man institutions, ideas, and resources has fostered resentment among East Germans. Eastern religious leaders have become disenchanted with Western materialism and insensitivity to the former Eastern cul
Cross-Cultural Competence: The Role of Emotion Regulation Ability and Optimism

Cross-cultural competence (3C) is critical for military personnel to understand and perform effectively in complex cultural environments and to interact with individuals from other cultures. The kn...
PREWARNING INFORMATION ON DRUG ABUSEIN MAINLAND CHINA IN 2007

Objective:To understand the characteristics of prevalent drug abuse in Mainland China in 2007 and provide scientific data for drug control and management of narcotics and psychotropic drugs.Methods:An analysis was conducted on the real-time data on drug abuse collected by Information Management System of Drug Abuse Surveillance Network(IMSDASN) to learn what type of drugs cause abuse prevalence,where and when they emerged the most seriously.This time we did not include heroin and opium because the prevalence of these two drugs was fairly clear.Results:Altogether 320 pieces of prewarning information on drug abuse issued by IMSDASN.Among them,120 pieces(accounted for 37.5%) reported opioids abuse,including tramadol,pethidine,dihydroetorphine,morphine,compound licorice tables,compound diphenoxylate,which were collected mostly during July to August from the east region;amphetamine-type stimulants such as "Ice","Yaotouwan","Magu" pills and kitamine were 106 pieces(33.1%),the reports came mostly during November to December from the northeast region;60 pieces(18.8%) reported benzodiazepines including diazepam,estazolam and alprazolam,which received mostly in July from the east and southwest region.Conclusion:Many drugs are reported being abused and almost all regions are involved.Prewarning emerges most frequently during July to August and November to December.Our finding suggests drug abuse prevention should be conducted according to its drug abuse prevalent characters.
A Method for Evaluating Ontologies - Introducing the BFO-Rigidity Decision Tree Wizard.

In this paper we review the integration of BFO’s theory of types with OntoClean’s notion of Rigidity, discuss our decision tree procedure for evaluating ontologies based on the integration, while also discussing its implementation as a Protege 4 plugin, the BFO-Rigidity Decision Tree Wizard. Finally we provide a practical analysis of controversial and important ontological topics surrounding the BFO-Rigidity integration work. The decision tree approach allows our wizard plugin to implicitly perform inferences on behalf of a modeler based on answers to questions. This approach is more accessible because it does not require familiarity with BFO, OntoClean, or our first-order formal system, and does not require the modeler to make assertions that are not normally considered within the scope of a domain level ontology. Having chosen for our implementation a plugin environment that interoperates with a popular ontology editor, we expect that the principles underlying the integration work will become more accessible to both novice and expert domain modelers.
Improving the accuracy of linear pixel unmixing via appropriate endmember dimensionality reduction

Spectral unmixing is a quantitative analysis procedure used to recognize constituent ground cover materials (or endmembers) and obtain their mixing proportions (or abundances) from a mixed pixel. The endmember abundances may be estimated using the least squares estimation (LSE) method based on the linear mixture model. This paper investigates the use of spectral dimensionality reduction as a preprocessing tool for hyperspectral linear unmixing. Four dimensionality reduction methods are investigated and compared; these include methods based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), discrete cosine transform, principal component transform, and linear discriminant transform (LDT). Three sets of experiments are designed and implemented for evaluating the effects of the dimensionality reduction techniques on the LSE of endmember abundances. Experimental results show that the use of the DWT and LDT-based features extracted from the original hyperspectral signals can greatly improve the abundance estimation of endmembers. On average with these methods, the root-mean-square of the abundance estimation error is reduced by 20%.
Self-Presentation of Female Athletes: A Content Analysis of Athlete Avatars

Unlike traditional media, which frames female athletes in sexualized manners and in socially accepted roles such as mothers and girlfriends, user-controlled social-media Web sites allow female athletes to control the image and brand they wish to portray to the public. Using Goffman’s theory of self-presentation, the current study aimed to investigate how female athletes were portraying themselves via their Twitter avatar pictures. A total of 207 verified Twitter avatars of female athletes from 6 sports were examined through a content analysis. The avatars from each player were coded using the following themes: athlete as social being, athlete as promotional figure, “selfie,” athletic competence, ambivalence, “girl next door,” and “sexy babe.” The results revealed that athletic competence was the most common theme, followed by selfie and athlete as social being. Thus, when women have the opportunity to control their image through social media they choose to focus on their athletic identities.
GigA and GigB are Master Regulators of Antibiotic Resistance, Stress Responses, and Virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii

A critical component of bacterial pathogenesis is the ability of an invading organism to sense and adapt to the harsh environment imposed by the host's immune system. This is especially important for opportunistic pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, a nutritionally versatile environmental organism that has recently gained attention as a life-threatening human pathogen. The emergence of A. baumannii is closely linked to antibiotic resistance, and many contemporary isolates are multidrug resistant (MDR). Unlike many other MDR pathogens, the molecular mechanisms underlying A. baumannii pathogenesis remain largely unknown. We report here the characterization of two recently identified virulence determinants, GigA and GigB, which comprise a signal transduction pathway required for surviving environmental stresses, causing infection and antibiotic resistance. Through transcriptome analysis, we show that GigA and GigB coordinately regulate the expression of many genes and are required for generating an appropriate transcriptional response during antibiotic exposure. Genetic and biochemical data demonstrate a direct link between GigA and GigB and the nitrogen phosphotransferase system (PTSNtr), establishing a novel connection between a novel stress response module and a well-conserved metabolic-sensing pathway. Based on the results presented here, we propose that GigA and GigB are master regulators of a global stress response in A. baumannii, and coupling this pathway with the PTSNtr allows A. baumannii to integrate cellular metabolic status with external environmental cues.IMPORTANCE Opportunistic pathogens, including Acinetobacter baumannii, encounter many harsh environments during the infection cycle, including antibiotic exposure and the hostile environment within a host. While the development of antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii has been well studied, how this organism senses and responds to environmental cues remain largely unknown. Herein, we investigate two previously identified virulence determinants, GigA and GigB, and report that they are required for in vitro stress resistance, likely comprising upstream elements of a global stress response pathway. Additional experiments identify a connection between GigA/GigB and a widely conserved metabolic-sensing pathway, the nitrogen phosphotransferase system. We propose that coordination of these two pathways allows A. baumannii to respond appropriately to changing environmental conditions, including those encountered during infection.
Bacterial Cellulose as a Potential Bone Graft

Each year tissue engineering costs the United States $2 million dollars. Bacterial Cellulose (BC), a hydrogel with a ne ber network, is produced by the bacterium Acetobacter xylinum that can be used as a protective coating. In contrast to other polymers, BC possesses high tensile strength, high water holding capabilities, and high mechanical properties. The purpose of the current study is to determine if individual bers of BC can be functionalized with calcium by applying an electric eld. BC was grown and calcium was deposited simultaneously using Corn Steep Liquor (CSL) media, with the addition of fructose, in channels 4 cm long x 5 mm wide x 2.5 mm deep. The channels contained platinum electrodes supplying an electric eld of 3 to 7.5 volts for 72 hours in the presence of CaCl 2 . BC pellicles formed and were then examined using the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM). Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) was also used to determine the composition in each sample. Calcium was found deposited on the BC bers at 5.5 volts. Lower voltages, such as 4.0 volts, resulted in no calcium deposition on the bers. The presence of Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) is critical for the calcium deposition. Calcium deposition will occur at 5.5 volts suggesting there may be a speci c electric eld requirement for calcium deposition on BC.
Vehicle safety enhancement through a novel active yaw stabilizer

This paper presents a novel active yaw stabilizer (AYS) based on an in-wheel motor control system. Locating a controlled in-wheel motor system in the common spare tire location of a sedan vehicle, the introduced AYS is realized by moving the controlled in-wheel motor along a designed orbit. Through controlling two torques commanded for the self-rotation of the in-wheel motor and the movement along the orbit, the introduced two yaw moments can be applied to provide additional control inputs to enhance the vehicle active safety. The model of the introduced AYS is first developed and then integrated with the vehicle lateral motion model. Based on the combined nonlinear system model, a nonlinear tracking controller based on Lyapunov theory is designed. The control effects to stabilize the vehicle yaw motion on road with different friction coefficients for a double lane change maneuver are successfully demonstrated through a co-simulation with MATLAB/Simulink® and CarSim®.
Online Communication Training for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Parent training is an essential part of quality programming for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, limited research exists exploring online training approaches to support parent...
The rise of the Mosquito Kingdom in Central America's Caribbean borderlands: Sources, questions, and enduring myths

The Mosquito Kingdom was a confederation of Amerindian- and African-descended people inhabiting the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. This confederation rose to prominence in the late seventeenth century, reaching the height of its power in the 1790s. The descendants of this confederation still inhabit Central America's Mosquito Coast, though today they are more commonly referred to by the ethnic and linguistic moniker Miskitu. This paper presents a historiographical analysis of the Mosquito Kingdom, evaluating the sources and methodologies that scholars have used to study the Mosquito people and their rise to power. Ultimately, this paper argues that despite recent advances demonstrating Mosquito agency and highlighting African contributions, several influential myths have continued in the historiography, such as the notion that the confederation's rise to power depended on access to European goods.
Discussions and Notes

(1945). Discussions and Notes. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 52, No. 7, pp. 383-387.
Macrolide Resistance in Cases of Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia in the Emergency Department.

Abstract Background Emergency physicians are under pressure to prescribe an antibiotic early in the treatment course of a patient with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Macrolides are recommended first-line empirical therapy for the outpatient treatment of CAP in patients without associated comorbidities; however, resistance rates to macrolides in the United States are on the rise. Objective This review considers macrolide use for CAP in the emergency department by reviewing the microbiologic environment in the United States and whether macrolides can overcome in vitro resistance during actual clinical use. Alternatives to macrolides for CAP are briefly discussed. Discussion Resistance to macrolides is now above 25% in all regions of the United States, and resistance to other antibiotics is also on the rise. The failure of outpatient macrolide treatment for CAP because of resistance rates increases the burden of the disease both in terms of the patient and health economics. No definitive answer is available on whether macrolides will achieve treatment success despite infection with in vitro resistant strains. When selecting a therapy, a balance needs to be struck between spectrum of activity targeted against the probable etiology (including atypical pathogens) for respiratory tract infections and the need for first-time success. Conclusions Currently available macrolides are now facing resistance rates that cloud their recommendation as a first-line treatment for CAP. Clinicians need a better understanding of their own local resistance rates, while hospitals need to do a better job in describing low- and high-level resistance rates to better inform their physicians.
A Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention to Promote Retirement Saving Among Hispanics

We conducted a community-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of an intervention to promote retirement saving among low- and moderate-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking Hispanics, who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement account. Our educational intervention provided participants with key information in Spanish related to financial planning for retirement and made use of “behavioral nudges” to encourage participants to open a government-sponsored retirement saving account, my Retirement Account (myRA). Among 142 participants (70 and 72 in control and treatment groups, respectively), we found a significant Difference in Differences (DD) on the proportion of those who opened a myRA. In the treatment group 14% of participants opened myRA, while none in the control group did. Results from a DD regression showed that after controlling for observable and unobservable characteristics through our design as an RCT, the effect of our intervention was 12%. When we restricted our sample to those participants who had a bank account at some point in the study, we found that the effect of our intervention was higher (17%). We also found that our intervention was effective in increasing self-reported knowledge related to retirement saving and preparedness.
Managing Perianal Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s disease is a chronic relapsing and debilitating inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology complicated by perianal manifestations. Perianal activity often parallels abdominal disease activity but may occasionally be the primary site of active disease, and it significantly compromises the quality of life in affected patients. The surgeon plays a pivotal role in caring for these patients. A detailed history along with a thorough clinical examination provides the treating physician with invaluable information upon which to base further investigations and management decisions. Other than abscess drainage, medical management to control proximal disease often precedes any surgical attempt at disease cure. A multidisciplinary approach involving the patient, surgeon, gastroenterologist, pathologist, nutritionist, and other specialists makes the successful treatment of perianal Crohn’s disease possible.