cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fluent Speakers’ Management of Prospective Communication Breakdowns: The Case of Stuttering

Stuttering is a disorder of verbal fluency that is often associated with such negative stereotypes as shyness and anxiety. This study investigates typically fluent speakers’ advice to both people who stutter (PWS) and other fluent speakers as they interact with each other. A written, open-ended, qualitative survey was administered to 135 members of the general public and analyzed thematically. Results indicate that stuttering is a disorder which engenders cognitive and emotional reactions in fluent speakers as well as proscribed communication strategies designed to prevent and manage communicative breakdowns. Fluent speakers appear to engage in high-level metalinguistic and metacognitive strategies as they interact with someone who stutters and believe that PWS should do the same. Research implications for those who work with people who have communication disorders in educational and healthcare settings are discussed.
Development of virtual environments for training skills and reducing errors in laparoscopic surgery

In every surgical procedure there are key steps and skills that, if performed incorrectly, can lead to complications. In conjunction with efforts, based on task and error analysis, in the Videoscopic Training Center at UCSF to identify these key elements in laparoscopic surgical procedures, the authors are developing virtual environments and modeling methods to train the elements. Laparoscopic surgery is particularly demanding of the surgeon's spatial skills, requiring the ability to create 3D mental models and plans while viewing a 2D image. For example, operating a laparoscope with the objective lens angled from the scope axis is a skill that some surgeons have difficulty mastering, even after using the instrument in many procedures. Virtual environments are a promising medium for teaching spatial skills. A kinematically accurate model of an angled laparoscope in an environment of simple targets is being tested in courses for novice and experienced surgeons. Errors in surgery are often due to a misinterpretation of local anatomy compounded with inadequate procedural knowledge. Methods to avoid bile duct injuries in cholecystectomy are being integrated into a deformable environment consisting of the liver, gallbladder, and biliary tree. Novel deformable tissue modeling algorithms based on finite element methods will be used to improve the response of the anatomical models.
Structural and electronic properties of the high-pressure hexagonal phases of Si

The pseudopotential method is used to examine the structural transitions of Si from $\ensuremath{\beta}$- Sn to simple hexagonal to hexagonal close packed. The calculated transition pressures, transition volumes, and $\frac{c}{a}$ ratios are in good agreement with the measured values. For the simple hexagonal phase, a soft-phonon mode and a high density of states at the Fermi level are found. These properties and the strong covalent interlayer bonding suggest the existence of superconductivity in this system. Investigation of the band structure reveals parallel bands separated by about 3 eV along the $\mathrm{LH}$ axis of the Brillouin zone; these are the likely origin of the main peak in the optical spectrum.
TURBULENT WAKE OF A FLAT PLATE

Resolution numerique des equations de Navier Stokes et des equations du modele de turbulence k-e dans le domaine environnant le bord de fuite d'une plaque plane
Automated particle electrophoresis: modeling and control of adverse chamber surface properties.

Electrophoretic analysis of colloidal particles is adversely affected by a host of surface phenomena, including electroosmosis, phase wall wetting, and sample or air bubble adsorption. Neutral, hydrophilic polymer coatings control such phenomena on a variety of surfaces. Poly(ethylene glycol)−poly(ethylene imine) (PEG−PEI) conjugates significantly reduce electroosmosis and positively control adsorption and wetting in the glass sample chambers (5 mm × 3 mm × 1 mm i.d.) employed in a representative commercial electrophoresis apparatus (Coulter DELSA 440). The reduction in electroosmosis (e.g., 80% in 7.5 mM solution at pH 11) was similar to that exhibited by coated 2-mm-i.d. quartz capillaries in a Rank MK I manual apparatus. PEG−PEI coatings significantly reduce electroosmosis over a wide range of pH (2−11) and ionic strength (1−100 mM) and can be stable for weeks under normal laboratory conditions. They greatly enhance ease of operation and accuracy (sample mean electrophoretic mobility ± SD) of the DELSA...
Intelligent assistive communication and the web as a social medium

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) describes strategies and technologies commonly used by people for whom spoken interaction is extremely difficult or infeasible. AAC includes facial expressions, sign languages, and picture cards, as well as high-tech devices. Most AAC systems present users with hierarchical arrays of symbols that are sequentially selected to construct messages. Although speed of message construction and ease of use are critical, these systems are often slow and require fatiguing physical movements. Our work challenges three main assumptions common to AAC that influence design decisions and place increased demands on the user rather than the system. We leverage natural language processing and machine learning to design intelligent communication interfaces that shift the cognitive and physical burden from the user to the system to allow for faster, less fatiguing communication. This work has implications for both face-to-face and Web-based communication. AAC users are increasingly turning to the Web for social interaction, and W4A provides a unique opportunity to explore how to leverage intelligent interfaces to lower the barriers to active participation in the World Wide Web.
Sympathetic Responses to Central Hypovolemia: New Insights from Microneurographic Recordings

Hemorrhage remains a major cause of mortality following traumatic injury in both military and civilian settings. Lower body negative pressure (LBNP) has been used as an experimental model to study the compensatory phase of hemorrhage in conscious humans, as it elicits central hypovolemia like that induced by hemorrhage. One physiological compensatory mechanism that changes during the course of central hypovolemia induced by both LBNP and hemorrhage is a baroreflex-mediated increase in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), as assessed with microneurography. The purpose of this review is to describe recent results obtained using microneurography in our laboratory as well as those of others that have revealed new insights into mechanisms underlying compensatory increases in MSNA during progressive reductions in central blood volume and how MSNA is altered at the point of hemodynamic decompensation. We will also review recent work that has compared direct MSNA recordings with non-invasive surrogates of MSNA to determine the appropriateness of using such surrogates in assessing the clinical status of hemorrhaging patients.
Constraint-based Text Generation Using Local Constraints and Argumentation to Generate a Turn in Conversation

In this paper, I present a natural language generation system aimed at constructing a turn within an ongoing conversation. Three main points are advanced: (1) previous discourse determines the production of a new turn; this paper describes techniques to take the influence of previous discourse into account when generating text. (2) the connection between previous discourse and a new turn is described as the interaction between five local constraints; local constraints are viewed as relations between one discourse segment of the previous discourse and the new turn. (3) argumentation is one class of local constraints which has important effects on the form of the language produced and interacts closely with the other types of local constraints used in this work. The approach is applied to the implementation of an explanation module for the ADVISOR expert system.
Children with Minimal/Mild Hearing Loss: Do We Have a Consensus and is that Important?

Children with minimal/mild hearing loss make up approximately 5% of the school-age population. While there is considerable research indicating that these children experience difficulties in a numbe...
Bringing in the Bystander in-person prevention program to a U.S. military installation: results from a pilot study.

ABSTRACTObjectives: This pilot study describes an evaluation of the Bringing in the Bystander (BITB) in-person program conducted with United States Army Europe personnel. Methods: The sample was comprised of 394 soldiers (29% participated in and 71% had not participated in the BITB program). Data were analyzed 4½ months after the program was presented. Results: Compared to the soldiers who did not participate in the program, soldiers who participated in the program were significantly more likely to report that they had engaged in one or more of the 117 behaviors, that they had helped an acquaintance or a stranger, and that they had taken action when they saw sexual assault or stalking occurring, about to occur or after it had occurred. Conclusions: The results indicate that with thoughtful and appropriate modifications, the BITB in-person prevention program, initially developed for a college audience, can be transferred to a military audience.
Direct Measurement Sensor of the Boundary Shear Stress in Fluid Flow

The flow fields and boundary erosion that are associated with scour at bridge piers are very complex. Direct measurement of the boundary shear stress and boundary pressure fluctuations in experimental scour research has always been a challenge and high spatial resolution and fidelity have been almost impossible. Most researchers have applied an indirect process to determine shear stress using precise measured velocity profiles. Laser Doppler Anemometry and Particle Image Velocimetry are common techniques used to accurately measure velocity profiles. These methods are based on theoretical assumptions to estimate boundary shear stress. In addition, available turbulence models cannot very well account for the effect of bed roughness which is fundamentally important for any CFD simulation. The authors have taken on the challenge to advance the magnitude level to which direct measurements of the shear stress in water flow can be performed. This paper covered the challenges and the efforts to develop a higher accuracy and small spatial resolution sensor. Also, preliminary sensor designs and test results are presented.
CAD-based CMM dimensional inspection path planning – a generic algorithm

This paper describes a newly developed algorithm for CAD-based dimensional inspection path planning utilizing coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). The algorithm guarantees to provide optimum collision-free inspection probe paths by using the topological structure of the boundary representation (B-rep) solid CAD models of the inspected parts. A concept of automatic generation of optimum and collision free path in three dimensional space using available CAD database is proposed. The algorithm is generic for generating probe path over prismatic polyhedral parts. It serves as a principal part of the inspection path planning system. It is based on the modified ray tracing technique which uses a B-Rep data from any geometric modeling systems. Between start point and target point, an imaginary ray is established and if an intersection with part is encountered, an optimal detour path is created avoiding interference of the probe with the part. The generated path consists of linear segments joining start point and target point by various intermediate points. To locate these intermediate points in the consideration space, topological and geometrical structures of the part models are used at the time of decision making. To examine and implement the algorithm, a user-friendly application is developed employing AutoCAD Runtime Extension (ARX) development environment with object oriented programming (OOP) techniques, running on a Windows NT workstation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified by the results of the implementation demonstrating optimum collision-free dimensional inspection path generation for four representative prismatic part models. All in all, this work contributes to the knowledge-base formation of automated dimensional inspection research area and paves a way for the integration of CMMs into a CAD/CAM environment, thus automate the process of design, manufacturing and quality assurance.
Large-Scale Mapping of Transposable Element Insertion Sites Using Digital Encoding of Sample Identity

Determining the genomic locations of transposable elements is a common experimental goal. When mapping large collections of transposon insertions, individualized amplification and sequencing is both time consuming and costly. We describe an approach in which large numbers of insertion lines can be simultaneously mapped in a single DNA sequencing reaction by using digital error-correcting codes to encode line identity in a unique set of barcoded pools.
Improving statistics for hybrid segmentation of high-resolution multichannel images

High-resolution multichannel textures are difficult to characterize with simple statistics and the high level of detail makes the selection of a particular contour using classical gradient-based methods not effective. We have developed a hybrid method that combines fuzzy connectedness and Voronoi diagram classification for the segmentation of color and multichannel objects. The multi-step classification process relies on homogeneity measures derived from moment statistics and histogram information. These color features have been optimized to best combine individual channel information in the classification process. The segmentation initialization requires only a set of interior and exterior seed points, minimizing user intervention and the influence of the initialization on the overall quality of the results. The method was tested on volumes from the Visible Human and on brain multi-protocol MRI data sets. The hybrid segmentation produced robust, rapid and finely detailed contours with good visual accuracy. The addition of quantized statistics and color histogram distances as classification features improved the robustness of the method with regards to initialization when compared to our original implementation.
Model Evaluation Of Top And Root Accumulation With Time By Corn

The expanded growth model provides a mathematical relationship for accumulation of biomass with time for plant tops (above-ground portion). In this article a hyperbolic relationship is shown to provide reasonable coupling between root and top accumulation with time for corn (Zea mays L.). These results suggest that the rate limiting step is biomass accumulation in the tops by photosynthesis, and that root-to-top coupling can be treated as quasi-equilibrium.
Optical Measurements of Ultrasonic Waves on Interfaces Between Bonded Solids

Abstruct-A series of direct optical measurements of ultrasonic waves which propagate along the boundaries between solids is reported in this paper. Specifically, the normal component of wave motion at the interface has been measured for several pairs of substrates which approximately satisfy the material relationships required for Stoneley wave existence. Superimposed standing and traveling interface waves have been generated on these pairs by surface and bulk acoustic wave mode conversion. Qualitatively similar wave motions have been observed on the interfaces between polished substrates 1) optically wrung together, 2) mechanically held togethzr in compression, and 3) bonded using adhesive layers which are thin compared to the thicknesses of the substrates and the wavelength of the interface waves. Additionally, interface wave attenuation with propagation distance has been measured for variations in surface roughness induced on the surface of one of the substrates prior to adhesive bonding. All of these measurements suggest potential applications of interface wave techniques in the nondestructive evaluation of bonded structural components.
Micromolded PDMS planar electrode allows patch clamp electrical recordings from cells

Abstract The patch clamp method measures membrane currents at very high resolution when a high-resistance ‘gigaseal’ is established between the glass microelectrode and the cell membrane (Pflugers Arch. 391 (1981) 85; Neuron 8 (1992) 605). Here we describe the first use of the silicone elastomer, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), for patch clamp electrodes. PDMS is an attractive material for patch clamp recordings. It has low dielectric loss and can be micromolded (Annu. Rev. Mat. Sci. 28 (1998) 153) into a shape that mimics the tip of the glass micropipette. Also, the surface chemistry of PDMS may be altered to mimic the hydrophilic nature of glass (J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 14 (1970) 2499; Annu. Rev. Mat. Sci. 28 (1998) 153), thereby allowing a high-resistance seal to a cell membrane. We present a planar electrode geometry consisting of a PDMS partition with a small aperture sealed between electrode and bath chambers. We demonstrate that a planar PDMS patch electrode, after oxidation of the elastomeric surface, permits patch clamp recording on Xenopus oocytes. Our results indicate the potential for high-throughput patch clamp recording with a planar array of PDMS electrodes.
Standards for Accurate in Vitro Characterization of Dialyzers: Test Case the Vivacell

A standard format is proposed for cataloging dialyzer transport data in order to improve communication and understanding of published results. The need for such a format is obvious from the ambiguity and lack of uniformity in published data. This report for in vitro characterization also describes an adequate experimental set-up for proper dialyzer characterization and an improved means for reporting uncertainty where curve fitting techniques are employed. The Vivacell dialyzer has been evaluated by these means as the first test case.
An ethmoid exposure (os planum) in the orbit of Indri indri (Primates, Lemuriformes).

In 6 of 17 skulls of Indri indri retaining distinct sutures in the medial orbital wall, a small separate bony element intervenes between the frontal and the maxillolacrimal suture. This element is demonstrably continuous with the ethmoid on one such skull. The occurrence of an ethmoid exposure in the orbit of Indri suggests that this trait is not a simple function of orbital size and convergence. Since such an exposure is found in non-cheirogaleine lemuriforms, its distribution provides no support for the hypothesis that lorises and galagos are derived from cheirogaleines.
Tarasoff and the dangerous driver: a look at the driving cases.

In three recent cases, hereinafter referred to as the driving cases, the courts have taken up the issue of whether a psychotherapist should be held liable for negligent diagnosis and treatment and failure to warn third parties of a patient's potential danger to others in the operation of an automobile. These cases will be discussed as (1) an extension of the Tarasoff decision, which established psychotherapists' duty to protect third parties from patients' violent acts, and (2) what some commentators regard as a move toward holding the mental health professions to a standard of strict liability. How far have the courts in these cases extended the Tarasoff duty to protect and is the specter of strict liability real or imagined? This review finds the court adhering to a professional negligence standard as altered by the Tarasoff case in which the court applied the Restatement of Torts (Second) section 315 and held that the psychotherapist-patient relationship is a special relationship requiring a duty to protect or warn. And while a negligence standard ostensibly applies, the conclusions reached in these cases reveal an undeniable trend toward results one might expect to accrue under a strict liability standard. Language: en
Clinical impact of a pharmacist-managed diabetes mellitus drug therapy management service

Study Objective. To evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacist interventions, including drug therapy management, on outcomes relevant to diabetes mellitus. Design. Retrospective chart review. Setting. Ambulatory, multispecialty physician group practice within a managed care environment in suburban Chicago, Illinois. Patients. Three hundred sixteen patients aged 18 years or older, with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (89% with type 2), who were referred to a clinical pharmacy service. Intervention. Drug therapy management and education service provided by a clinical pharmacist. Measurements and Main Results. Data were collected for glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (A1C), blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglyceride concentrations. Data also were collected regarding patient adherence with American Diabetes Association guidelines for preventive care, including annual eye and foot examinations, influenza shots, and daily aspirin use at both baseline and follow-up. Mean ± SD A1C reduction was 1.4% ± 1.94% (p 40 mg/dl), and blood pressure (< 130/80 mm Hg) did not increase significantly from baseline, whereas those who reached the triglyceride level goal (< 150 mg/dl) increased from 36% to 55% (p<0.005). Frequency of annual dilated retinal examinations and monofilament foot examinations increased by 29% (p<0.05) and 12.5% (p<0.05), respectively. Daily aspirin use increased from 35% to 59% (p<0.05). Conclusion. Significant clinical improvement occurred in patients referred to the pharmacist in a diabetes drug therapy management program.
Review of "Weimar Culture Revisited," edited by John Alexander Williams, with contributions from Ofer Ashkenazi, David Imhoof, Erik Jensen, Debbie Lewer, Tom Neuhaus, Corey Ross, Nadine Rossol, Sarah Ann Sewell, Luke Springman, and the editor

New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 231 pages, ISBN 978-1-137-34718-3, $110.00 (hardback), $32.00 (paperback)In the book Weimar Culture Revisited, editor John Alexander Williams curates a satisfyin...
Photo-documentation of thumbnail regrowth after surgical avulsion: case report and literature review.

Human fingernails are an important piece of digit anatomy. They are thought of as cosmetic. They contribute to the function of the digit through tactile sensation, thermoregulation, and protection.1,2 Their functional importance and superficial location have made them a subject of study and publication for more than 100 years. While several papers have discussed the growth of nails and the influencing factors, relatively few discuss the regrowth of nails after surgical avulsion. One study by Lai et al reports on the outcomes of 33 nail avulsion procedures in subjects 27 to 86 years of age.3 The reported time to full regrowth ranged from 5 to 10 months, including fingernails and toenails. In this report, we contribute a 9-month photo record of the regrowth of a thumbnail following a surgical avulsion.
Transformation of Trade and Trade Agreements

Why have states increasingly incorporated complex trade provisions into trade agreements they form --- provisions for addressing economic exchanges at the intersection of trade and investment? I argue that trade agreements with complex trade provisions can ameliorate the market failures that arise when technological improvements expand markets and enable potentially greater trade. Changes in transportation and communication technology can lower the costs of exchange and make more industries tradable. These changes can increase economic actors' incentives to unbundle production and locate components of their production process in different countries. At the same time, however, they confront lack of governance over the markets and concomitant increases in market failures. Trade agreements with complex trade provisions provide the necessary institution for economic actors to fully exploit the expanded markets. Empirical analysis covering the period between 1964 and 2004 supports the argument advanced. To test the tradability argument, I calculate a measure of the mean trade-to-production proportion across each country's industries. A sum of this measure at the dyadic level explains countries' likelihood of including complex trade provisions into trade agreements as well as their likelihood of forming trade agreements.
Thrombocytopenia and craniotomy for tumor: A National Surgical Quality Improvement Program analysis

BACKGROUND To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first national analysis of the association between preoperative platelet count and outcomes after craniotomy. METHODS Patients who underwent craniotomy for tumor were extracted from the prospective National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry (2007-2014) and stratified by preoperative thrombocytopenia, defined as mild (125,000-149,000/μL), moderate (100,000-124,000/μL), severe (75,000-99,000/μL), or very severe (<75,000/μL). Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the association between thrombocytopenia and 30-day mortality, and multivariable logistic regression with complications and unplanned reoperation. Covariates included patient age, sex, tumor histology, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, functional status, comorbidities, and surgical time. RESULTS A total of 14,852 patients were included in the current study and thrombocytopenia was classified as mild in 4.4% (646 patients), moderate in 2.0% (290 patients), severe in 0.7% (105 patients), or very severe in 0.4% (66 patients) of patients. The adjusted hazard of 30-day death was significantly higher for patients with moderate (6.6%; hazard ratio [HR], 2.13 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.30-3.49; P = 0.003]), severe (10.5%; HR, 2.33 [95% CI, 1.18-4.60; P = 0.02]), and very severe (10.6%; HR, 3.65 [95% CI, 1.71-7.82; P = 0.001]) thrombocytopenia, compared with patients without thrombocytopenia (2.9%), with an increased effect size noted with greater thrombocytopenia. Likewise, when the platelet count was evaluated continuously, a higher platelet count was associated with a lower hazard of 30-day mortality (HR, 0.987 [95% CI, 0.981-0.993; P<.001]), developing any complication (odds ratio, 0.985 [95% CI, 0.981-0.988; P<.001]), and reoperation (odds ratio, 0.990 [95% CI, 0.983-0.994; P = .003]). Unplanned reoperation was due to intracranial hemorrhage in 53.3% of patients with moderate thrombocytopenia. CONCLUSIONS In this National Surgical Quality Improvement Program analysis, moderate and severe thrombocytopenia were associated with mortality and reoperation after craniotomy for tumor. Cancer 2016. © 2016 American Cancer Society.
"Technological diversity, dynamism and new technology development by multinational subsidiaries"

Our study examines the conditions under which multinational subsidiaries develop new technologies. We build our conceptual model by integrating insights from the behavioral literature adopting the motivation-opportunity-ability framework and research on knowledge management and creation in firms and subsidiaries. We hypothesize that MNC and host country technological diversity provide the necessary motivation as well as the opportunities for the subsidiary to develop new technologies. We also posit that subsidiary ability, reflected in its dynamism, influences the development of new technologies. We further hypothesize that subsidiary dynamism positively moderates the effects of MNC and host country technological diversity. We test our hypotheses in a sample of 288 subsidiaries of semiconductor firms over the 1986 - 2008 time period. Our results reveal support for the positive effects of technological diversity of the MNC, the host country and subsidiary dynamism on the development of new technologies by ...
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF HUMAN EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE(ETS)

Some of the lessons learned from a large study of personal exposure of non smokers to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the United Stated are reviewed.These include the need for establishing specific criteria for the sampling venues to be considered in the study, allowing adequate time to perform the recruiting,using appropriate markers for assessing ETS exposures, and the use of independent measures to confirm self reported smoking status among participants.Some of the most important conclusion from the large study of ETS exposure include:a)Concentrations of ETS to which subjects were exposed are lower than those predicted from area measurements or short duration personal exposure studies.b)The home is a more important source of ETS exposure (concentration multiplied by duration)than the workplace,by a factor of 2～10.c)Subjects misreport their current smoking status at a rate higher than that previously estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency.d)Salivary cotinine is not useful as a quantitative indicator of ETS nicotin exposure on an individual basis.
Dynamical Sampling and Systems from Iterative Actions of Operators

In this chapter, we review some of the recent developments and prove new results concerning frames and Bessel systems generated by iterations of the form {A n g: g ∈ G, n = 0, 1, 2, …}, where A is a bounded linear operator on a separable complex Hilbert space \(\mathscr{H}\) and G is a countable set of vectors in \(\mathscr{H}\). The system of iterations mentioned above was motivated from the so-called dynamical sampling problem. In dynamical sampling, an unknown function f and its future states A n f are coarsely sampled at each time level n, 0 ≤ n < L, where A is an evolution operator that drives the system. The goal is to recover f from these space-time samples.
Effects of castration and diabetes mellitus on cholinergic responsiveness and muscarinic receptors in the rat vas deferens

Abstract Studies were carried out to compare the effects of diabetes mellitus and castration on the muscarinic responsiveness of rat vasa deferentia. One and two months after castration or after streptozotocin-induced diabetes, there were significant decreases in serum testosterone levels, accompanied by significant decreases in vas deferens weights, protein contents, and protein concentrations. However, contractile responses of vasa deferentia from streptozotocin-diabetic or castrated rats to carbachol were significantly increased compared to controls. These changes were accompanied by increases in Kd and decreases in Bmax (pm/tissue) for 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) binding. Contractile responses and QNB binding were also studied in the spontaneously diabetic BB/Wor rat, a less severely diabetic model than the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Ninety days after the onset of diabetes in the BB rat, there was an increase in the contractile response to carbachol. There were qualitatively similar but smaller changes in vas deferens weights, protein contents, protein concentrations, and QNB binding than in the streptozotocin-diabetic rats. The data show that diabetes and castration increased the contractile responses of vasa deferentia despite decreases in protein content and in the number of muscarinic receptors. The results suggest that muscarinic receptor-effector coupling is more efficient in vasa deferentia from castrated or diabetic rats, resulting in a greater contractile response to cholinergic agonists.
Echocardiographic Assessment of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Rats Using a Simplified Approach

To determine whether left ventricular (LV) mass could be determined relatively simply in rats, without loss of accuracy, we reanalyzed previously reported echocardiographic measurements of 41 normotensive and 17 hypertensive male Wistar rats. Rats were divided into separate learning and test series. We assumed LV weight (g) = 1.04 x 4 x tau x [(D+h)2(L+h)-D2L]/3 x 10(3), where D was the LV short axis, h was the mean thickness of posterior wall and septum, measured in mm by M-mode echocardiography, and L was the long axis. Because L was not measurable by two-dimensional echocardiography, due to the high heart rate, it was estimated to be 12.28 mm by nonlinear regression analysis in the learning series of 29 rats. Correlation between necropsy LV weight and echocardiographic LV mass was 0.91 in the learning series and 0.89 in the test series (standard error of estimate [SEE] = 0.09 and 0.11 g). Mean values in the test series were 0.77 +/- 0.28 g and 0.78 +/- 0.25 g for LV weight and LV mass, respectively. LV mass was systematically underestimated by the cube-function formula (0.59 +/- 0.23 g, P < .0001 v necropsy LV weight). Echocardiographic LV mass using the ellipsoidal model with the above constant to estimate LV long axis had 78% sensitivity and 100% specificity for anatomic LV hypertrophy, suggesting that this method may be useful for research on rat models of hypertension.
The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion: Support for Press Freedoms Across Media: Comparing Print, Electronic, and the “New Media”

When William Blackstone penned his now-classic Commentaries on the Laws of England in 1769, he spoke of the “liberty of press” as being “essential to the nature of a free state.” Among Blackstone's contemporaries, there was probably little confusion about the nature of the “press” to which he was referring. Ever since the advent of printing presses several centuries earlier, so-called “printers” had assumed their place in western Europe and elsewhere as disseminators of information. When referring to the “press,” Blackstone was speaking primarily (if not entirely) about those producers and distributors of printed materials: newspapers, pamphlets, and other written instruments that had become dominant elements of western European culture by the mid-eighteenth century. Notably, this description of the press as comprising primarily written and printed materials had not changed substantially by the time the First Amendment was ratified in 1791, as newspapers and pamphlets remained the most significant modes of mass communication in the world of the Framers (de Sola Pool, 1983:2). Nor would the character of the press change to any substantial degree during the century that followed. It was not until the growth of radio and television as news and entertainment sources in the early and middle parts of the twentieth century that the term “press” came to encompass far more than printed materials. Radio and television reporters would soon be considered members of the press as well.
Concepts and Objects

As early as The Poverty of Philosophy of 1847, Marx comments upon what he takes to be the ahistorical quality of the treatment of economic categories in classical political economy. These critical remarks - which are indeed just remarks made in passing in the midst of a critique of Proudhon’s Hegeloid appropriation of the political economists (The material of the economists is active and effective human life; the material of M. Proudhon are the dogmas of the economists’1) - have served as a rallying point for historicist interpreters of Marx. Lukάcs cites them with evident enthusiasm
Second-order rate-control based transport protocols

We propose an efficient flow and error control scheme for high-throughput transport protocols by using a second-order rate control, called the /spl alpha/-control, and a new sliding-window scheme for error control. The /spl alpha/-control minimizes the packet retransmissions by adjusting the rate-gain parameter to the variations in the number and round-trip times (RTTs) of cross-traffic flows that share the bottleneck. Using selective retransmission, the sliding-window scheme guarantees lossless transmission. By applying the /spl alpha/-control, the proposed scheme can drive the flow-controlled system to a retransmission-less equilibrium state. Using the fluid analysis, we establish the flow-control system model, obtain the greatest lower bound for the target buffer occupancy, and derive closed-form expressions for packet losses, loss rate, and link-transmission efficiency. We prove that the /spl alpha/-control is feasible and optimal linear control in terms of efficiency and fairness. Also presented are the extensive simulation results that confirm the analytical results, and demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme to others in dealing with the variations of cross-traffic flows sharing the same bottleneck and their RTTs, controlling packet losses/retransmissions, and achieving buffer-usage fairness as well as high throughput.
A novel statistical approach for identification of the master regulator transcription factor

Transcription factors are known to play key roles in carcinogenesis and therefore, are gaining popularity as potential therapeutic targets in drug development. A ‘master regulator’ transcription factor often appears to control most of the regulatory activities of the other transcription factors and the associated genes. This ‘master regulator’ transcription factor is at the top of the hierarchy of the transcriptomic regulation. Therefore, it is important to identify and target the master regulator transcription factor for proper understanding of the associated disease process and identifying the best therapeutic option. We present a novel two-step computational approach for identification of master regulator transcription factor in a genome. At the first step of our method we test whether there exists any master regulator transcription factor in the system. We evaluate the concordance of two ranked lists of transcription factors using a statistical measure. In case the concordance measure is statistically significant, we conclude that there is a master regulator. At the second step, our method identifies the master regulator transcription factor, if there exists one. In the simulation scenario, our method performs reasonably well in validating the existence of a master regulator when the number of subjects in each treatment group is reasonably large. In application to two real datasets, our method ensures the existence of master regulators and identifies biologically meaningful master regulators. An R code for implementing our method in a sample test data can be found in http://www.somnathdatta.org/software . We have developed a screening method of identifying the ‘master regulator’ transcription factor just using only the gene expression data. Understanding the regulatory structure and finding the master regulator help narrowing the search space for identifying biomarkers for complex diseases such as cancer. In addition to identifying the master regulator our method provides an overview of the regulatory structure of the transcription factors which control the global gene expression profiles and consequently the cell functioning.
Sensitivity of the 252Cf(sf) neutron observables to the FREYA input yield functions Y(A, Z, TKE)

Within the framework of the fission event generator FREYA, we are studying the sensitivity of various neutron observables to the yield distribution Y (A ,Z ,TKE) used as input to the code. Concentrating on spontaneous fission of 252 Cf, we have sampled a large number of different input yield functions based on χ2 fits to the experimental data on Y (A ) and Y (TKE|A ). For each of these input yield distributions, we then use FREYA to generate a large sample of complete fission events from which we extract a variety of neutron observables, including the multiplicity distribution, the associated correlation coefficients, and its factorial moments, the dependence of the mean neutron multiplicity on the total fragment kinetic energy TKE and on the fragment mass number A , the neutron energy spectrum, and the two-neutron angular correlation function. In this way, we can determine the variation of these observables resulting from the uncertainties in the experimental mesurements. The imposition of a constraint on the resulting mean neutron multiplicity reduces the variation of the calculated neutron observables and provides a means for shrinking the uncertainties associated with the measured data.
Influence of substrate modulus on gecko adhesion

The gecko adhesion system fascinates biologists and materials scientists alike for its strong, reversible, glue-free, dry adhesion. Understanding the adhesion system’s performance on various surfaces can give clues as to gecko behaviour, as well as towards designing synthetic adhesive mimics. Geckos encounter a variety of surfaces in their natural habitats; tropical geckos, such as Gekko gecko, encounter hard, rough tree trunks as well as soft, flexible leaves. While gecko adhesion on hard surfaces has been extensively studied, little work has been done on soft surfaces. Here, we investigate for the first time the influence of macroscale and nanoscale substrate modulus on whole animal adhesion on two different substrates (cellulose acetate and polydimethylsiloxane) in air and find that across 5 orders of magnitude in macroscale modulus, there is no change in adhesion. On the nanoscale, however, gecko adhesion is shown to depend on substrate modulus. This suggests that low surface-layer modulus may inhibit the gecko adhesion system, independent of other influencing factors such as macroscale composite modulus and surface energy. Understanding the limits of gecko adhesion is vital for clarifying adhesive mechanisms and in the design of synthetic adhesives for soft substrates (including for biomedical applications and wearable electronics).
Micro Speckle Stamping: High Contrast, No Basecoat, Repeatable, Well-Adhered

Micro Speckle Stamping has been developed and tested whereby repeatable micro speckle patterns for DIC are applied with no basecoat. The speckle patterns are created on a stamp, and ink is applied to the stamp. The user then transfers the speckle pattern from the stamp to the specimen. Micro Speckle Stamping uses high optical contrast and high electrical contrast speckle materials and leaves no residue between speckles. This new method is more amenable to applying patterns to complex surface geometries and large surface areas and also allows investigations of the virgin surface with EDS and EBSD.
The role for sperm DNA damage testing in 2017.

We applaud the authors for putting forth practical recommendations regarding the usage of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) analysis in the evaluation of the sub-fertile male. The scenarios they posit are thought-provoking and bear consideration as the clinical utility of SDF continues to be established.
Comparison of simple efficient clinical and self-reported predictors of mortality in a National United States Cohort

Purpose: To compare the relative value of simple efficient methods for predicting mortality. Methods: We compared three clinical (blood pressure, blood glucose, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL] cholesterol) and three self-reported (smoking, educational attainment and self-reported health) prospectively measured predictors of mortality in a cohort of 30,239 white and black adults who were 45 years of age or older at enrollment between 2003-2007. Survival was modeled using proportional hazards analysis and the c-statistic was used to evaluate information provided by each measure. Results: Information on all variables and follow up was available for 27,482 (91%), and among these, there were 4,409 (16%) deaths over an average of 7.6 years. The clinical measures of blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol were modestly good predictors of short-term survival (for each, p < .01). However, simple one-item self-reports provided better prediction of mortality than the clinical indicators. The Age-Sex Race (ASR) adjusted Hazard Ratios (HR) for self-reported current smoking in contrast to not smoking (2.43, CI: 2.25-2.63) self-rating of health as poor in contrast to excellent (HR = 6.26, CI: 5.42-7.23), and less than high school education versus collage graduation (HR = 2.21, CI: 2.01-2.42) were all highly significant. Conclusion: Simple one-item self-reports may be undervalued as meaningful predictors of longevity.
A Method for Examining the Equating of Psychometric Scales and Tests: An Application Using Dementia Screening Test Batteries:

Equating of psychometric scales and tests is frequently required and conducted in educational, behavioral, and clinical research. Construct comparability or equivalence between measuring instruments is a necessary condition for making decisions about linking and equating resulting scores. This article is concerned with a widely applicable method for examining if two scales or tests cannot be equated. A latent variable modeling method is discussed that can be used to evaluate whether the tests or parts thereof measure latent constructs that are distinct from each other. The approach can be routinely used before an equating procedure is undertaken, in order to assess whether equating could be meaningfully carried out to begin with. The procedure is readily applicable in empirical research using popular software. The method is illustrated with data from dementia screening test batteries administered as part of two studies designed to evaluate a wide range of biomarkers throughout the process of normal aging to dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Fixed Final Time: First Differential

First differential conditions are developed for a standard optimal control problem with fixed final time. The conditions are the Euler-Lagrange equations and the natural boundary conditions. These equations are to be solved for the optimal controls and states. For problems not explicitly containing the time, a first integral is shown to exist. Several examples are presented to illustrate the application of the theory.
Fine mapping of a dominant gene conferring resistance to spot blotch caused by a new pathotype of Bipolaris sorokiniana in barley

We fine-mapped and physically anchored a dominant gene (Rbs7) conferring resistance to spot blotch caused by a new pathotype of Bipolaris sorokiniana in a genomic interval of 304 kb on barley chromosome 6H. Spot blotch, caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana, is an economically important disease on barley in the Upper Midwest region of the USA and Prairie Provinces of Canada. A new pathotype (pathotype 7, represented by isolate ND4008) of B. sorokiniana has been identified, which is highly virulent on barley cultivars with resistance to other pathotypes of the fungus. In this study, we fine-mapped a dominant gene conferring resistance to pathotype 7 in the barley line PI 235186. Genetic analysis of the F1 and F2 plants from a cross between PI 356741 (highly susceptible to ND4008) and PI 235186 (highly resistant to ND4008) indicated that a single dominant gene (Rbs7) controls the resistance in PI 235186. This result was confirmed by genetic analysis of the F2:3 families and a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the same cross. Bulked segregant analysis using simple sequence repeat markers localized Rbs7 on the short arm of chromosome 6H. Additional DNA markers were developed from the 6H pseudomolecule sequence of barley cv. Morex and mapped to the genomic region carrying Rbs7 using the RIL population and F2 recombinants derived from the PI 356741 × PI 235186 cross. Rbs7 was fine-mapped between two markers (M13.06 and M13.37), which spans a physical distance of 304 kb on Morex chromosome 6H. These results provide a foundation for future cloning of the resistance gene and development of user-friendly molecular markers that can be used for development of spot-blotch-resistant cultivars in barley breeding programs.