cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mass transfer on and within a frost layer

Abstract This paper investigates fundamental phenomena related to understanding of frost deposition and growth. The water vapor mass transfer rate from the air stream to a frost surface was tested and the results analyzed. The water vapor pressure at the frost surface was found to be supersaturated, and this phenomenon is explained using laminar concentration boundary layer analysis. A simple equation for calculating the supersaturated water vapor density at the frost surface was developed using boundary layer analysis, and it was compared to the experimental data. The comparison showed that the proposed equation for the water vapor supersaturation degree at the frost surface agrees well with the experimental data. The physical meaning of the tortuosity factor, which is related to mass diffusion within the frost layer, is mathematically explained, and published correlations were reviewed. It was found that some existing correlations are basically empirical curve fits that force agreement of the frost growth rate with the measured values. Further, these empirical curve fits do not satisfy the known physical bounds on the tortuosity factor. This deficiency further supports the existence of supersaturation at the frost surface. The effect of uncertainty in tortuosity factor on the heat transfer rate through a frost layer was quantitatively analyzed, and it was found that its uncertainty does not significantly affect the heat transfer rate through the frost layer in typical frosting conditions.
Optimal source coding, removable noise elimination, and natural coordinate system construction for general vector sources using replicator neural networks

A new universal one-chart smooth manifold model for vector information sources is introduced. Natural coordinates (a particular type of chart) for such data manifolds are then defined. Uniformly quantized natural coordinates form an optimal vector quantization code for a general vector source. Replicator neural networks (a specialized type of multilayer perceptron with three hidden layers) are the introduced. As properly configured examples of replicator networks approach minimum mean squared error (e.g., via training and architecture adjustment using randomly chosen vectors from the source), these networks automatically develop a mapping which, in the limit, produces natural coordinates for arbitrary source vectors. The new concept of removable noise (a noise model applicable to a wide variety of real-world noise processes) is then discussed. Replicator neural networks, when configured to approach minimum mean squared reconstruction error (e.g., via training and architecture adjustment on randomly chosen examples from a vector source, each with randomly chosen additive removable noise contamination), in the limit eliminate removable noise and produce natural coordinates for the data vector portions of the noise-corrupted source vectors. Consideration regarding selection of the dimension of a data manifold source model and the training/configuration of replicator neural networks are discussed.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Decision rules to specify the extent of division of labor

Abstract At least since Adam Smith, it has been generally accepted in economics and organization theory that for large volumes of production, division of labor reduces unit costs. Despite this, there does not seem to be any clear statement of why the division of labor produces the results attributed to it. Attempts to explain these results with the gains in productivity due to specialization do not seem to have much analytical proof or empirical verification, in particular because specialization is just a counterpart of division of labor. Operational rules to specify how large the division of labor should be in order to be beneficial do not seem to be available, either. The object of this paper is to analyse these questions in a way that could help in the solution of real problems.
Reaction of tetrahydrofuran with sodium—cesium alloy: a model for lithium electrode surface reactions

Abstract Sodium—cesium alloy was permitted to react with tetrahydrofuran as a model for the lithium electrode. The products of this reaction were treated with methyl bromide. The NMR of the final products gives evidence that cleaved tetrahydrofuran reacts with more tetrahydrofuran to form derivatives of itself.
Social network influences on initiation and maintenance of reduced drinking among college students.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether (a) social networks influence the extent to which college students initiate and/or maintain reductions in drinking following an alcohol intervention and (b) students with riskier networks respond better to a counselor-delivered, vs. a computer-delivered, intervention. METHOD: Mandated students (N = 316; 63% male) provided their perceptions of peer network members' drinking statuses (e.g., heavy drinker) and how accepting each friend would be if the participant reduced his or her drinking. Next, they were randomized to receive a brief motivational intervention (BMI) or Alcohol Edu for Sanctions (EDU). In latent growth models controlling for baseline levels on outcomes, influences of social networks on 2 phases of intervention response were examined: initiation of reductions in drinks per heaviest week, peak blood alcohol content (BAC), and consequences at 1 month (model intercepts) and maintenance of reductions between 1 and 12 months (model slopes). RESULTS: Peer drinking status predicted initiation of reductions in drinks per heaviest week and peak BAC; peer acceptability predicted initial reductions in consequences. Peer Acceptability × Condition interactions were significant or marginal for all outcomes in the maintenance phase. In networks with higher perceived acceptability of decreasing use, BMI and EDU exhibited similar growth rates. In less accepting networks, growth rates were significantly steeper among EDU than BMI participants. For consumption outcomes, lower perceived peer acceptability predicted steeper rates of growth in drinking among EDU but not BMI participants. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding how social networks influence behavior change and how interventions mitigate their influence is important for optimizing efficacy of alcohol interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Deserted histories: The Lumière Brothers, the pyramids and early film form

When Alexandre Promio reached the shores of Alexandria in 1897, he began a voyage to capture Egyptian sites cinematically for the Lumiere Brothers' film company. Among a number of these early films, his 50‐second shot of the pyramids at Giza, Les Pyramides (vue generale), is now understood as a monument within early film history and a testament to the international spread of the new medium. What the film offers, however, is less the novelty of seeing the pyramids, which were often depicted in paintings, lithographs and photography, than the novelty of seeing them in time. The article argues that Les Pyramides (vue generale) transforms the pyramids from mythologized and abstracted objects into a temporal event seen over a 50‐second duration. Juxtaposing the film alongside David Roberts' Approach of the Simoon, the article first explores how the film shifts the relation to the historical past located in the distinction between restoration and preservation. Then, turning to Andre Bazin's ‘The Ontology of the...
A potential experiment for in-situ measurement of atmospheric temperature and atomic oxygen density in the 90-150 km altitude range by a Raman Lidar

The Raman backscatter cross sections for a 355 nm light source for the three fine-structure components are calculated. The signal-to-noise considerations show that the determination of the densities of the three fine-structure components separately is a feasible experiment. Since these fine-structure components are calculated to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium up to at least 350 km altitude, this experiment also gives atmospheric temperature. It is pointed out that this experiment does not suffer from the drawbacks of the previous efforts to determine atomic oxygen density and should yield reliable results for this density as well as temperature.
Food-Related Neural Circuitry in Prader-Willi Syndrome: Response to High- versus Low-Calorie Foods.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by hyperphagia and food preoccupations. Although dysfunction of the hypothalamus likely has a critical role in hyperphagia, it is only one of several regions involved in the regulation of eating. The purpose of this research was to examine food-related neural circuitry using functional magnetic resonance imaging in individuals with PWS and matched controls. Individuals with PWS showed increased activation in neural circuitry known to mediate hunger and motivation (hypothalamus, OFC) in response to high- versus low-calorie foods and in comparison to controls. This suggests neural circuitry for PWS is abnormally activated during hunger, particularly for high-calorie foods, and may mediate abnormally strong hunger states, therefore playing a significant role in PWS-induced hyperphagia.
Residual Risk Accounting: A Pilot Study of the Coastal Sector

Risks continue near the coasts such as flooding, oil spills, deaths and unemployment despite numerous policies to prevent and mitigate their effects. Such policies are typically analyzed in their natural units, such as jobs, and so comparisons are difficult across risk categories. An approach similar to supplemental national income and product accounting allows direct comparison of the relative importance and variability of these residual risks. Results for the coastal sector highlight the stability and large expected annual costs associated with some activities such as recreational boating fatalities. In contrast, other categories such as oil spills and flooding exhibit high variability and in the case of flooding, a high level of damages. The results are useful in the strategic development of regulations, causal models and policy design.
HopDock: a probabilistic search algorithm for decoy sampling in protein-protein docking

Background: Elucidating the three-dimensional structure of a higher-order molecular assembly formed by interacting molecular units, a problem commonly known as docking, is central to unraveling the molecular basis of cellular activities. Though protein assemblies are ubiquitous in the cell, it is currently challenging to predict the native structure of a protein assembly in silico. Methods: This work proposes HopDock, a novel search algorithm for protein-protein docking. HopDock efficiently obtains an ensemble of low-energy dimeric configurations, also known as decoys, that can be effectively used by ab-initio docking protocols. HopDock is based on the Basin Hopping (BH) framework which perturbs the structure of a dimeric configuration and then follows it up with an energy minimization to explicitly sample a local minimum of a chosen energy function. This process is repeated in order to sample consecutive energy minima in a trajectory-like fashion. HopDock employs both geometry and evolutionary conservation analysis to narrow down the interaction search space of interest for the purpose of efficiently obtaining a diverse decoy ensemble. Results and conclusions: A detailed analysis and a comparative study on seventeen different dimers shows HopDock obtains a broad view of the energy surface near the native dimeric structure and samples many nearnative configurations. The results show that HopDock has high sampling capability and can be employed to effectively obtain a large and diverse ensemble of decoy configurations that can then be further refined in greater structural detail in ab-initio docking protocols.
The Challenge of the Epidemiologic Evidence for Excess Mortality and Morbidity Associated with Atmospheric Aerosols

A rapidly growing body of epidemiological data has shown statistically significant associations between the concentrations of particles in the ambient air and rates of mortality and morbidity in populations exposed to concentrations below current USEPA standards and WHO-EURO air quality guidelines. When other known risk factors have been taken into account in regression analyses, it has been possible to show that daily changes of ambient particulate matter (PM) are associated with: 1) changes in daily mortality; 2) hospital admissions for respiratory diseases; 3) emergency room visits for respiratory diseases; 4) respiratory symptoms; and 5) lung function. For these various responses, there is sometimes a lag or one to a few days between exposure and response.
Cryptoramorphus floridanus, New Genus, New Species (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), with Generic Reassignments

CRYPTORAMORPHUS and its type-species, C. floridanus , from Florida and South Carolina, are described and the latter is illustrated. A table of the differences between this genus and Mirosternus Sharp, its nearest relative, is presented; and M. gressitti Ford, M. boninensis Ford, M. excisipalpis Scott, and M. alluaudi Scott are reassigned to Cryptoramorphus .
Nonlinear dynamic effects at the head disk interface

The contact dynamics of pico sliders is investigated using a high bandwidth laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) and a high bandwidth acoustic emission (AE) sensor. Sliding contact of the slider near the glide avalanche point is analyzed for a lubricant thickness of 1.5 nm, 2.5 nm, and 3.5 nm, respectively. Slider airbearing modes as well as torsional and bending mode vibrations are investigated as a function of disk velocity and lubricant thickness. Damping of the airbearing pitch and roll frequency is found to increase with increased lubricant thickness. Nonlinear slider/lubricant interactions are observed leading to additional peaks in the LDV spectrum near the bending mode frequency. Nonlinear effects due to slider/lubricant interactions are modeled using a nonlinear stiffness term in the equation of motion. The numerical and experimental results are found to be in good agreement.
Transformative Concepts in Scientific Convergence

UNLABELLED This article suggests eight high-level concepts that can promote convergence by identifying analogies across fields of science and engineering. CONSERVATION: Many properties are conserved, through symmetries, parity laws, and feedback-regulated stabilities in complex adaptive systems. INDECISION: Inconsistency, undecidability, uncertainty, chance, deterministic chaos, and similar concepts are fundamental principles in the dynamics of systems over time. CONFIGURATION: Detailed, dynamic structures of objects determine their properties, notably the unity of nature at the nanoscale. INTERACTION: Elements of a system influence each other, generating higher-level dynamics and other emergent phenomena. VARIATION: Statistical distributions of properties are caused by the combination of chance and divergent processes of interaction. EVOLUTION Marked by drift, natural selection, and a trend toward greater complexity, evolution exploits variation to develop new configurations that compete through interactions. INFORMATION Scientific laws can be analyzed in terms of information content, and flow, while the doing of any science today relies heavily upon information technology. COGNITION: Mental or computational process is the dynamic aspect of information, fundamental to the human practice of science.
Theory of oblique and grazing incidence Talbot‑Lau interferometers and demonstration in a compact source x‑ray reflective interferometer

With the advent of Talbot-Lau interferometers for x-ray phase-contrast imaging, oblique and grazing incidence configurations are now used in the pursuit of sub-micron grating periods and high sensitivity. Here we address the question whether interferometers having oblique incident beams behave in the same way as the well-understood normal incidence ones, particularly when the grating planes are non-parallel. We derive the normal incidence equivalence of oblique incidence geometries from wave propagation modeling. Based on the theory, we propose a practical method to correct for non-parallelism of the grating planes, and demonstrate its effectiveness with a polychromatic hard x-ray reflective interferometer.
Effect of Cytokine Interplay on Macrophage Polarization during Chronic Pulmonary Infection with Cryptococcus neoformans

The immune response to Cryptococcus neoformans following pulmonary infection of C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice results in the development of persistent infection with characteristics of allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis (ABPM). To further clarify the role of Th1/Th2 polarizing cytokines in this model, we performed kinetic analysis of cytokine responses and compared cytokine profiles, pathologies, and macrophage (Mac) polarization status in C. neoformans-infected WT, interleukin-4-deficient (IL-4(-/-)), and gamma interferon-deficient (IFN-γ(-/-)) C57BL/6 mice. Results show that cytokine expression in the infected WT mice is not permanently Th2 biased but changes dynamically over time. Using multiple Mac activation markers, we further demonstrate that IL-4 and IFN-γ regulate the polarization state of Macs in this model. A higher IL-4/IFN-γ ratio leads to the development of alternatively activated Macs (aaMacs), whereas a higher IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio leads to the generation of classically activated Macs (caMacs). WT mice that coexpress IL-4 and IFN-γ during fungal infection concurrently display both types of Mac polarization markers. Concurrent stimulation of Macs with IFN-γ and IL-4 results in an upregulation of both sets of markers within the same cells, i.e., formation of an intermediate aaMac/caMac phenotype. These cells express both inducible nitric oxide synthase (important for clearance) and arginase (associated with chronic/progressive infection). Together, our data demonstrate that the interplay between Th1 and Th2 cytokines supports chronic infection, chronic inflammation, and the development of ABPM pathology in C. neoformans-infected lungs. This cytokine interplay modulates Mac differentiation, including generation of an intermediate caMac/aaMac phenotype, which in turn may support chronic "steady-state" fungal infection and the resultant ABPM pathology.
Characterization of a spontaneously polarizing HT-29 cell line, HT-29/cl.f8.

A cloned cell line that spontaneously polarizes in standard glucose-containing media was derived from a single cell of the adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29. The cloned line, designated HT-29/cl.f8, has remained stable over 2 yr in culture, maintained high transepithelial resistance (300 ohm cm2 or higher), and correctly sorted influenza virus and vesicular stomatitis virus to apical or basolateral domains, respectively. The newly cloned cells also displayed apical microvilli, tight junctions, and desmosomes, the morphological characteristics of mature epithelia. The cloned HT-29/cl.f8 cells function as epithelial enterocytes as shown by the apical expression of intestinal alkaline phosphatase, the expression of vimentin and cytokeratin, and lack of expression of mucin. We propose that the newly cloned HT-29/cl.f8 cells offer a viable alternative for studies of enterocyte function that will readily yield interpretable data not complicated by cell alterations due to the presence of drugs or chemicals that induce differentiation.
Use of Local Anesthesia for Office Diagnostic and Operative Hysteroscopy

Abstract Background There is a variety of potential advantages to performing hysteroscopically-directed procedures on an awake patient in an office procedure room setting that include increased safety, reduced utilization of resources, and improved patient satisfaction. However, the ideal approach to local uterine anesthesia has/have yet to be determined. Objective Identification, categorization, and evaluation of published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing local anesthesia to placebo or no treatment for the performance of hysteroscopy. Methods The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, MEDLINE, and ACP Journal Club were queried for related RCTs. In addition, we located a number of additional studies by identifying and reviewing references in selected papers. These were then reviewed for appropriateness and categorized by allocating them to one of the following types of local anesthesia: Intracervical, paracervical, topical intracavitary, topical cervical, and combined approaches. Each were evaluated for patient factors as well as anesthetic location, anesthetic agent, time from application to procedure, instrument features, and the procedures performed. Results A total of 36 studies were identified of which 19 met the criteria for our review; 6 paracervical, 4 intracervical, 7 topical intracavitary, 2 topical cervical; there was also one systematic review of RCTs. Overall, there was substantial heterogeneity in technique in all groups and only with paracervical anesthesia was there a consistent anesthetic effect demonstrated. Many studies were performed with application to procedure times that were less than the time required for maximal anesthetic effect. There were no studies identified where more than one technique was used. Conclusions It appears that paracervical anesthesia is useful but the value of other techniques is difficult to evaluate because of limitations of technique and research design. Future investigation should be designed to evaluate longer application to procedure times, a variety of anesthetic agents, concentrations and volumes, and, given the complex innervation of the uterus, strategies that target more than one site. Pain outcomes should be stratified to identify the impact on various components of the procedure. Published studies have largely been limited to diagnostic hysteroscopy so there is also a need to evaluate a greater variety of hysteroscopic procedures.
Increasing optical security with OCDMA using optical XOR

We designed, built, and demonstrated scalable incoherent Optical CDMA testbed with One-time Pad security which enables users to communicate with each other at the OC-24 rate per user with raw BER of less than 10-12.
A New Reconfigurable Antenna Design for Cognitive Radio

This letter presents a new antenna design suitable for cognitive radio communication. It consists of two structures incorporated together into the same substrate. The first structure is an ultrawideband (UWB) antenna covering the spectrum from 3.1-11 GHz for channel sensing. The second structure is a frequency reconfigurable triangular-shaped patch for establishing communication with another RF device. The antenna reconfigurability is achieved via a rotational motion. A prototype antenna was fabricated and tested in order to validate the suggested method.
Journey of a molecular biologist.

My journey into a research career began in fermentation biochemistry in an applied science department during the difficult post-World War II time in Japan. Subsequently, my desire to do research in basic science developed. I was fortunate to be a postdoctoral fellow in the United States during the early days of molecular biology. From 1957 to 1960, I worked with three pioneers of molecular biology, Sol Spiegelman, James Watson, and Seymour Benzer. These experiences helped me develop into a basic research scientist. My initial research projects at Osaka University, and subsequently at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, were on the mode of action of colicins as well as on mRNA and ribosomes. Following success in the reconstitution of ribosomal subunits, my efforts focused more on ribosomes, initially on the aspects of structure, function, and in vitro assembly, such as the construction of the 30S subunit assembly map. After this, my laboratory studied the regulation of the synthesis of ribosomes and ribo...
Landau-Khalatnikov Switching Kinetics in the Ferroelectric Copolymer Nanostructures

In 1994 the first ultrathin Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) ferroelectric films were prepared from ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) [1]. It was shown that ferroelectricity exists even in two monolayers [2]. Later was shown, that these LB ferroelectric films do not reveal the critical size and ferroelectricity and polarization switching exist even in one monolayer with thickness 5 A [3]. These films show typical phase transition of the first order with Curie temperature and phase transition temperature, which do not depend on the film thickness in the interval 1–30 ML [2, 3, 4, 5]. In contrast with usual well-known thick ferroelectric copolymer films, prepared by the spinning method, the Langmuir-Blodgett films do not contain amorphous phase and show perfect crystal structure of orthorhombic (or monoclinic) symmetry. Recently were obtained the experimental evidence of the existence of ferroelectricity in the perovskite films with thickness 1.2–5 nm [6, 7]. In this paper ...
Evolution and early evidence of the impact of consumer-driven health plans: from e-commerce venture to health savings accounts.

Using results from peer-reviewed empirical analyses we describe the development and impact of the consumer-driven health plan market over the last 5 years. The results of these analyses show that consumers are responding to the financial incentives of these new health insurance benefits. Although the results may not always be what the consumer-driven health plan developers intended, there is clear evidence of ‘consumerism’, where individuals act in a way that generally increases their access to healthcare or investments, if the opportunity is present. Just as Medicare Part D enrollment demonstrated consumers could identify differences in prescription drug plans and make rational choices, so too are prospective patients able to function as consumers in the medical marketplace when give the opportunity.
The CERCLA Contribution Protection Racket: EPA Can Only Settle Its Own Claims, Not Private Party Claims

Since 1986, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act has contained an express right of contribution. One key feature of the provision has become known as “contribution protection.” That provision states, “A person who has resolved its liability to the United States or a State in an administrative or judicially approved settlement shall not be liable for claims for contribution regarding matters addressed in the settlement. Such settlement does not discharge any of the other potentially liable persons unless its terms so provide, but it reduces the potential liability of the others by the amount of the settlement.” This paper focuses on one particular feature of this language — What are the “claims for contribution” which are extinguished by operation of law when a person has resolved its liability to the United States or a State? In its internal policy guidance, EPA takes the position that it may extinguish any claim for “all response actions taken or to be taken and all response costs incurred or to be incurred, at or in connection with the Site, by the United States or any other person.” By addressing in the settlement claims asserted by other plaintiffs seeking response costs, the United States would extinguish those claims even though they are not part of the claim of the United States in connection with the site. Congress is unlikely to have intended this in 1986, and even if it did, such a provision is likely unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment. Cf. Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940) (“It is a principle of general application in Anglo-American jurisprudence that one is not bound by a judgment in personam in a litigation in which he has not been designated as a party or to which he has not been made a party by service of process.”) Courts should instruct the United States regarding the concept of derivative liability at the core of the definition of “contribution” and correct this misunderstanding.
Do Anesthetic Techniques Influence the Threshold for Glomerular Capillary Hemorrhage Induced in Rats by Contrast-Enhanced Diagnostic Ultrasound?

OBJECTIVES Glomerular capillary hemorrhage can be induced by ultrasonic cavitation during contrast-enhanced diagnostic ultrasound (US) exposure, an important nonthermal US bioeffect. Recent studies of pulmonary US exposure have shown that thresholds for another nonthermal bioeffect of US, pulmonary capillary hemorrhage, is strongly influenced by whether xylazine is included in the specific anesthetic technique. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of xylazine on contrast-enhanced diagnostic US-induced glomerular capillary hemorrhage. METHODS In this study, anesthesia with ketamine only was compared to ketamine plus xylazine for induction of glomerular capillary hemorrhage in rats by 1.6-MHz intermittent diagnostic US with a microsphere contrast agent (similar to Definity; Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc, North Billerica, MA). Glomerular capillary hemorrhage was measured as a percentage of glomeruli with hemorrhage found in histologic sections for groups of rats scanned at different peak rarefactional pressure amplitudes. RESULTS There was a significant difference between the magnitude of the glomerular capillary hemorrhage between the anesthetics at 2.3 MPa, with 45.6% hemorrhage for ketamine only, increasing to 63.2% hemorrhage for ketamine plus xylazine (P < .001). However, the thresholds for the two anesthetic methods were virtually identical at 1.0 MPa, based on linear regression of the exposure response data. CONCLUSIONS Thresholds for contrast-enhanced diagnostic US-induced injury of the microvasculature appear to be minimally affected by anesthetic methods.
Rationales of the Space Program

For the believer in outer space as the next human frontier, the “why space” question, the rationale for exploring space, is self-contradictory. The very existence of space as an unexplored and, until recently, an inaccessible physical location justifies the cause for exploring space. One view holds that humans, being curious and adventurous as a species, naturally reach out to explore, exploit, and utilize new and unknown frontiers. Another view is that exploration is not necessarily natural to the human experience. Space as an object of interest fascinates the public; however, the public when asked to choose between expanding the United States (US) national space exploration effort and doing other socially relevant tasks, most citizens consistently choose the latter category. Space has remained ancillary US public policy for most of its history. This reality means that continued pursuit of a viable US civil space program must incorporate a number of goals and rationales. What has occurred historically is that the US, usually through NASA, has expounded a rationale for the exploration of space within which are nested several diverse and complementary facets. Those various facets rise and fall in importance and intensity with which they are pursued across the decades as US space policy responds to dramatic changes in the international and domestic political climates. This chapter sketches out that evolutionary path, focusing upon the past and present as a prelude to the future. Individuals often disagree as to the relative weight that should be assigned each facet at a particular time. The public disagreements usually reflect differences not in desired goals but in the intensity with which each are being pursued. For example, disputes have arisen over the relative importance assigned human spaceflight in comparison to space science undertaken by robotic probes. One must also acknowledge that there also exist those whose viewpoints reflect continual rejection of any significant governmental civil space program. Given the increasing ubiquity of space applications directly applicable to daily life, such a perspective might be more supportable today as
Coupling antibody to cyanogen bromide-activated sepharose.

Antibodies will be immobilized on a cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose for subsequent use in pull-down assays or immunoaffinity purification (see Immunoaffinity purification of proteins).
Omega-3 Fatty Acids From Fish, Other Nutrient Intake, and Lifestyle Factors: Exploring the Relationship in Children

The omega-3 fatty acids found mostly in seafood are essential nutrients that may help prevent or control a number of diseases; however, the evidence for this is not conclusive. The positive effects may be because of other dietary and lifestyle factors. Therefore, we investigated the association between fish intake and other nutrition indicators and lifestyle and demographic factors among children. The study employed grade-4 student data of the 2000-2004 Hawaii Nutrition Education Needs Assessment Survey. In a sample 666 children (mean age = 9.57 ± 0.06 years, 55.6% female, 62.4% Asian/Pacific Islander), analysis indicated that fish consumption is positively associated with healthy lifestyle indicators, such as physical activity and a healthy body mass index. Fish consumption is also positively associated with protein and kilocalories intake but not with fruits and vegetables consumption. Findings suggest that the positive health behaviors linked to fish consumption may lie more in physical activity than in diet behaviors. Given that fish consumption is important for children, interventions promoting fish consumption in a balanced diet with fruit and vegetable, as well as other positive lifestyle behaviors are warranted.
Efficacy of Fonofos Band Treatments and a Sampling Plan for Estimating Wireworm Populations on Potatoes1

Data from 5 experiments with band treatments of granular fonofos were combined to elucidate the efficacy of the treatment against various densities of Limonius spp. The fonofos band treatment was more effective and less variable than other band treatments and was nearly as effective as broadcast treatments of nonpersistant insecticides. Sequential sampling can efficiently classify infestations against which band treatments may be used with confidence.
Manifold alignment preserving global geometry

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for manifold alignment preserving global geometry. This approach constructs mapping functions that project data instances from different input domains to a new lower-dimensional space, simultaneously matching the instances in correspondence and preserving global distances between instances within the original domains. In contrast to previous approaches, which are largely based on preserving local geometry, the proposed approach is suited to applications where the global manifold geometry needs to be respected. We evaluate the effectiveness of our algorithm for transfer learning in two real-world cross-lingual information retrieval tasks.
The Interpretation of Risk and Sensitivity Under the Peak-of-the-Mean Concept

In quantitative performance assessment (PA) for nuclear waste repositories, probabilistic (e.g., Monte Carlo) calculations are frequently used to estimate dose and risk [1], Each Monte Carlo realization represents the uncertain estimate of the future effect of the repository. There are at least two ways to interpret the model output; (1) take the peak doses from the Monte Carlo realizations and draw conclusions from their ensemble, e.g., the mean of the peak doses; and (2) at each instant of time, look at the ensemble of all realizations, and synthesize a representative dose-versus-time curve, e.g., the mean. Method 1 is easy to understand and explain. However, the calculation of the mean of the peak doses allows an additional degree of freedom that may inadvertently overestimate risk, because the peaks occur at different times and therefore the mean may include contributions from peaks outside of a single person’s life span. This dilemma has been discussed previously in connection with the definition of the critical group, e.g., Corbett [2]. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has adapted Method 2, taking the peak value of the mean curve to represent the dose that the Reasonably Maximally Exposed Individual (RMEI) could receive during the regulatory time period for the purpose of defining risk. We call this the “peak-of-the-mean (POM)” approach, and believe that it is the clearest and fairest definition of risk. However, calculations and sensitivity analyses with the POM must proceed thoughtfully, since there are computational pitfalls and results are sometimes counterintuitive.
Remembering Versus Imagining: When Does Episodic Retrospection and Episodic Prospection Aid Decision Making?

Problematic temporal discounting involves discounting the future (the inability to delay gratification) or the past (undervaluing past outcomes). Imagining future experiences (prospection) reduces future discounting, but prospection may be based on remembering the past (retrospection) through episodic memory. If both processes are similar, then retrospection may reduce temporal discounting. We tested retrospection's effect on discounting, and whether temporal orientation of memory processes (imagining the future versus remembering the past) and temporal aspects of discounting (past versus future discounting) need to be congruent. Eighty one adults were randomized to prospection, retrospection or control conditions while engaging in past and future discounting tasks. Results showed prospection reduced future discounting and retrospection reduced past discounting, suggesting that temporal congruency of episodic thinking and temporal discounting is important. Future and past discounting may also reflect different mechanisms. These results point to the potential for retrospection to help people benefit more from past experiences.
Dialogic learning and teaching across diverse contexts: Promises and challenges

A substantial body of research on classroom interaction has shown the significance of dialogic classroom talk in fostering students’ linguistic and cognitive development, mastery of content and eng...
A fair division approach to humanitarian logistics inspired by conditional value-at-risk

Organization and efficiency of relief operations are vital following a major disaster, as well as the guarantee that all of the affected population will adequately have their basic needs met. However, in a post-disaster environment, uncertainty often impacts all aspects of the relief efforts. Placement of relief distribution centers, as well as public knowledge of these locations, is crucial to the speed and efficiency of relief efforts. This research develops a formulation to choose a set of distribution centers to open from a list of available facilities and to assign every member of the population to a distribution center. While developing these assignments, the costs to the affected population are considered in the form of travel costs to reach the assigned distribution center. Incorporation of these travel costs, a form of deprivation costs, minimizes the suffering of the population, and inclusion of ideas from fair division minimizes disparities in these costs to provide each member of the affected population with a fair level of service. Further, the inclusion of a term inspired by conditional value-at-risk, or CVaR, into the formulation helps to further minimize potential disparities. Computational results for two datasets will be discussed to show the impact of including deprivation costs in this humanitarian logistics model. Additionally, theoretical results will show that optimal solutions to the formulation are guaranteed to be Pareto efficient.
Semantics-oriented language understanding with automatic adaptability

We propose a novel language understanding approach, the composition of classification, for utterances interpretation in a dialogue system. All the classification results including both the cascading information and the meaning information are composed to a nested semantic frame. This bypasses the traditional syntactic parsing and extracts semantics directly from plain text. To overcome the problem of data sparsity of dialogue systems and ease the annotation of the training data, we are the first to report to generate and annotate the training data using a finite state machine.
Pseudotemporal Ordering of Single Cells Reveals Metabolic Control of Postnatal β Cell Proliferation.

Pancreatic β cell mass for appropriate blood glucose control is established during early postnatal life. β cell proliferative capacity declines postnatally, but the extrinsic cues and intracellular signals that cause this decline remain unknown. To obtain a high-resolution map of β cell transcriptome dynamics after birth, we generated single-cell RNA-seq data of β cells from multiple postnatal time points and ordered cells based on transcriptional similarity using a new analytical tool. This analysis captured signatures of immature, proliferative β cells and established high expression of amino acid metabolic, mitochondrial, and Srf/Jun/Fos transcription factor genes as their hallmark feature. Experimental validation revealed high metabolic activity in immature β cells and a role for reactive oxygen species and Srf/Jun/Fos transcription factors in driving postnatal β cell proliferation and mass expansion. Our work provides the first high-resolution molecular characterization of state changes in postnatal β cells and paves the way for the identification of novel therapeutic targets to stimulate β cell regeneration.
Continuous cytotoxic T-cell lines.

Recently, it was reported that it was possible to maintain normal human T lymphocytes in continuous exponential proliferative culture with the aid of a T-cell growth factor (TCGF) derived from lectin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (Morgan et al., 1976; Ruscetti et al., 1977). Subsequently, we (Gillis and Smith, 1977; Gillis et al., 1978a; Baker et al., 1979) and others (Rosenberg et al., 1978; Strausser and Rosenberg, 1978; Nabholz et al., 1978) found that antigen-specific cytolytic T cells could be selected, maintained, and cloned in the presence of TCGF (IL2).* The discovery that such cytolytic T-lymphocyte lines (CTLL) were completely dependent upon TCGF (IL2) for their growth allowed for the development of a rapid, sensitive microassay for this mitogenic factor (Gillis et al., 1978b). This development, in turn, provided the means to perform detailed experimentation directed toward a definition of the biochemical and biological characteristics of TCGF(IL2). The results of these experiments, summarized in this chapter, suggest that the ability to culture functional monoclonal T cells will provide the means leading to an increased understanding of the T-cell immune response, in much the same way that the ability to culture immunoglobulin-secreting plasmacytoma cells has contributed to our understanding of the B-cell immune response.
Minimal mask immobilization with optical surface guidance for head and neck radiotherapy.

Purpose Full face and neck thermoplastic masks provide standard-of-care immobilization for patients receiving H&N IMRT. However, these masks are uncomfortable and increase skin dose. The purpose of this pilot trial was to investigate the feasibility and setup accuracy of minimal face and neck mask immobilization with optical surface guidance. Methods Twenty patients enrolled onto this IRB-approved protocol. Patients were immobilized with masks securing only forehead and chin. Shoulder movement was restricted by either moldable cushion or hand held strap retractors. Positional information, including isocenter location and CT skin contours, were imported to a commercial surface image guidance system. Patients typically received standard-of-care IMRT to 60–70 Gy in 30–33 fractions. Patients were first set up to surface markings with optical image guidance referenced to regions of interest (ROIs) on simulation CT images. Positioning was confirmed by in-room CBCT. Following six-dimensional robotic couch correction, a new optical real-time surface image was acquired to track intrafraction motion and to serve as a reference surface for setup at the next treatment fraction. Therapists manually recorded total treatment time as well as couch shifts based on kV imaging. Intrafractional ROI motion tracking was automatically recorded by the optical image guidance system. Patient comfort was assessed by self-administered surveys. Results Setup error was measured as six-dimensional shifts (vertical/longitudinal/lateral/rotation/pitch/roll). Mean error values were −0.51 ± 2.42 mm, −0.49 ± 3.30 mm, 0.23 ± 2.58 mm, −0.15 ± 1.01o, −0.02 ± 1.19o, and 0.06 ± 1.08o, respectively. Average treatment time was 21.6 ± 8.4 mins). Subjective comfort during surface-guided treatment was confirmed on patient surveys. Conclusion These pilot results confirm feasibility of minimal mask immobilization combined with commercially available optical image guidance. Patient acceptance of minimal mask immobilization has been encouraging. Follow-up validation, with direct comparison to standard mask immobilization, appears warranted.
Characterizations of Kumaraswamy-Laplace, McDonald Inverse Weibull and New Generalized Exponential Distributions

Nassar (2016) considers an interesting univariate continuous distribution called Kumaraswamy-Laplace which has different forms on two subintervals. He studies certain properties and applications of this distribution. Shahbaz et al. (2016) consider another interesting distribution called McDonald Inverse Weibull distribution. They present some basic properties of their distribution and study the estimations of the parameters as well as discussing its application via an illustrative example. What is lacking in both papers, in our opinion, is the characterizations of these two interesting distributions. the present work is intended to complete, in some way, the works of Nassar and Shahbaz et al. via establishing certain characterizations of these distributions in four directions. We also introduce several New generalized Exponential distributions and present their characterizations as well.
BAMBERG: The Zoological Collections at the Museum of Natural History in Bamberg

The Museum for Natural History in Bamberg dates back to 1791. It was established as a university “Naturalienkabinett.” Since then, various collections were gathered, both for exhibitions and scientific purpose. Today the zoological collections comprise about 180,000 evidences. The focus is on entomology (140,000), especially on the special collections of the regional entomofauna. The collection of mounted birds (1550) holds numerous exotic specimens which are important with regard to historic respect. Due to the shortage of staff, only a small amount of the material has been recorded digitally up to now. Currently, the scientific focus of the museum lies on paleontology.
Elementary Particles as Oscillations in Anti-de Sitter Space-Time

Using the spinor differential operator representation of U(3, 2) to explore the hidden symmetries of the complex space-time U(3, 2)/U(3, 1)x U(1) leads to an interpretation of this complex space-time as excited states of Anti-de Sitter space-time. This in turn leads to new Lie Algebraic Quantum Field Theory and a mathematical model of the internal structure of elementary particles as oscillations of complex space-time. This is a quantum theory of gravity which satisfies Einstein�s criteria for a unified field theory