cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genome Sequences of Lactobacillus sp. Strains wkB8 and wkB10, Members of the Firm-5 Clade, from Honey Bee Guts

We sequenced two strains from the Lactobacillus Firm-5 clade, a dominant group of symbionts in the guts of honey bees and other social bees. The genome of strain wkB8, comprising a 1.93-Mb chromosome and a 6.4-kb plasmid, was fully closed, while strain wkB10 was assembled into 32 contigs. These genomes will provide insights into how gut symbionts evolve and interact with their host species.
Fault detection in multiple valued logic circuits

There are k=p/sup n/ different canonical representations for a given multiple-valued-logic (MVL) function, where k is called the polarity, and p and n denote the radix and the number of variables of a function, respectively. The coefficients in a canonical representation are called spectral coefficients. Relationships between the functional values of a function and the spectral coefficients are given. A relation between the number of spectral coefficients that a fault may distort and the number of test patterns required to detect the fault is given. It is also shown that the test patterns can be generated systematically. >
Chronic forced exercise during adolescence decreases cocaine conditioned place preference in Lewis rats.

Chronic physical activity (exercise) may be beneficial in the prevention of substance use disorders; however, the extent to which physical activity can interfere with the reinforcing effects of drugs during the adolescent period, which is one of great vulnerability for drug experimentation, has not been fully evaluated. Here, we assess the effects of chronic forced exercise during adolescence on preference for cocaine using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm in male and female Lewis rats. The group of rats exposed to exercise ran on a treadmill for 6 weeks on a progressive time-increased schedule for up to 1 h of exercise per day, while the groups of sedentary rats remained in their home cage. Following the 6 weeks of exercise exposure, rats were tested for cocaine CPP. Results showed that chronic exercise significantly attenuated cocaine CPP in both males and females compared to a sedentary environment. Furthermore, male exercise rats failed to show significant cocaine CPP. In contrast, female exercise rats still showed cocaine CPP but it was significantly reduced compared to the female sedentary rats. Females also exhibited greater cocaine CPP than males overall. These findings suggest that strategies to promote physical activity during adolescence may be protective against cocaine abuse in both males and females, and these findings merit further investigation. We also corroborate a gender-specific sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of cocaine, highlighting the need to consider gender-tailored exercise interventions for drug abuse prevention.
Visualizing and exploring Picasso's world

We discuss the preliminary use of a visualization tool called Interactive Timeline Viewer (ItLv) in visualizing and exploring a collection of art works by Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Our data set is composed of a subset of the On-line Picasso Project, a significantly-sized on-line art repository of the renowned Spanish artist. We also include a brief discussion about how this visualization tool can help art scholars to study and analyze an artist's life and works.
The Effect of Reduced Water Potential on Soybean Mitochondria

The respiration of excised hypocotyls and of isolated hypocotyl mitochondria from soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr., var. Wayne] was determined in various concentrations of sucrose and potassium chloride. Hypocotyl oxygen uptake declined with increasing solute concentration; no specific effects of either solute were apparent. Mitochondrial state III respiration was strongly inhibited as the solute concentrations were raised and there was in addition a specific inhibitory effect of the salt. State IV respiration, however, was unaffected by the presence of osmoticum. ADP/O ratios were also unaffected, except at high potassium chloride concentrations (470 mm). The primary effect of solutes was thus to limit the rate of substrate oxidation. Hydrostatic pressure did not reverse the decline in net phosphorylation accompanying reduced oxidation. It was inferred therefore that the inhibition was not due to lower water potential per se, but rather to some other effect of water or solute concentration. The effect of solutes on a mitochondrial enzyme, malate dehydrogenase, was also examined. Sucrose inhibited malate oxidation by both the mitochondria and the isolated enzyme in parallel, while potassium chloride was more inhibitory on the isolated enzyme. It was concluded that although the addition of solute lowers the water potential, the primary effects are exerted through specific effects of the solute on enzyme activity.
Optimal hop-by-hop flow control policies in computer networks with multiple transmitters: convexity and monotonicity properties. I. linear and equal holding costs

The problem of flow control between one receiving node and its adjacent transmitting nodes in a computer network is modeled as a Markov decision problem. Given that the control action is to allocate a fixed number of time slots among M>or=2 transmitters, the objective is to characterize policies that minimize the total number of messages awaiting service at the transmitting nodes subject to the evolution of the state. The authors partially characterize a set of optimal policies and show that this characterization reduces the problem of finding all the state-dependent optimal policies to one of finding a finite number. Moreover, the number of policy computations required to find the optimal ones is reduced significantly. For M=2 the optimal policy is a monotone function of the state and the total cost is convex. This convexity property of the total cost makes it possible to characterize the optimal control policy further when the process of message generation at one transmitter is stochastically larger than at the other. When the processes of message generation at the M transmitters are independent and identically distributed, the explicit form of the optimal control is found. >
Maintaining Integrity Constraints among Distributed Ontologies

The data of Semantic Web exist in machine readable format called RDF, in order to promote data exchange on the web based on their semantics. As an expressive knowledge representation language for the Semantic Web, Web Ontology Language (OWL) plays an important role in modeling information in a semantic way. However, due to the nature of knowledge bases, ontologies tend to be very large, distributed, and interconnected. Thus, maintaining constraints and enforcing data consistency for a group of ontologies become very challenging. In addition, frequent updates on ontologies necessitate an automatic approach to checking for potential constraint violations before any change takes place. In this study, we conducted a pioneer study and presented a framework for checking global constraints and ensuring integrity on data that span multiple ontologies. As an update is issued to a single site, global constraints that can be potentially violated are broken down into sub constraints that only involve a very small subset of ontologies. The checking of sub-constraints runs effectively in parallel and returns results about each subset. The collection of these results determines the violation of global constraints.
Attribute vector guided groupwise registration.

Abstract Groupwise registration has been recently introduced to simultaneously register a group of images by avoiding the selection of a particular template. To achieve this, several methods have been proposed to take advantage of information-theoretic entropy measures based on image intensity. However, simplistic utilization of voxelwise image intensity is not sufficient to establish reliable correspondences, since it lacks important contextual information. Therefore, we explore the notion of attribute vector as the voxel signature, instead of image intensity, to guide the correspondence detection in groupwise registration. In particular, for each voxel, the attribute vector is computed from its multi-scale neighborhoods, in order to capture the geometric information at different scales. The probability density function (PDF) of each element in the attribute vector is then estimated from the local neighborhood, providing a statistical summary of the underlying anatomical structure in that local pattern. Eventually, with the help of Jensen–Shannon (JS) divergence, a group of subjects can be aligned simultaneously by minimizing the sum of JS divergences across the image domain and all attributes. We have employed our groupwise registration algorithm on both real (NIREP NA0 data set) and simulated data (12 pairs of normal control and simulated atrophic data set). The experimental results demonstrate that our method yields better registration accuracy, compared with a popular groupwise registration method.
A 1.5 V class AB output buffer

Most class AB push-pull output buffers have been developed for supply voltages /spl ges/3.0 V. Recently developed class AB buffers, which operate at a voltage supply lower than 3.0 V, use sophisticated feedback circuits to control the quiescent current. In this paper, a simple class AB buffer is proposed. It can be used at 1.5 V power supply and has the capability to drive small resistive loads (<100 /spl Omega/). The circuit has been fabricated using a 1.2 /spl mu/ digital CMOS process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed circuit provides good control over the quiescent current. The standard deviation of the quiescent current is 17%. Combined with a floating gate input stage, a rail-to-rail input/output op amp has been fabricated and tested.
Nucleus rotundus in a snake, Thamnophis sirtalis: an analysis of a nonretinotopic projection.

Nucleus rotundus, a tectorecipient thalamic nucleus in reptiles and birds, is described for the first time in a snake. The morphology of rotunda neurons and tectorotundal axons was studied at the light microscopic level by using anterograde and retrograde filling with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) Injections of HRP in the dorsal ventricular ridge retrogradely fill neurons in rotundus. Rotundus is situated centrally in the caudal diencephalon medial to the cell plate of the retinorecipient geniculate complex and ventrolateral to the lentiform thalamic nucleus. The dendrites of rotundal neurons are long and radiate, but are confined within the cytoarchitectonically defined borders of the nucleus. Injections of HRP into the optic tectum anterogradely fill axons that project to rotundus bilaterally via the tectothalamic tract. Small injections show that axons arising from a single tectal locus distribute to all sectors of rotundus. Thus, this projection may not be retinotopically organized. However, single axons reconstructed through serial sections form spatially restricted, sheetlike terminal fields that pass caudorostrally through the entire extent of rotundus. Several hypotheses on the functional significance of such organized but nonretinotopic visual projections are discussed.
Mixed-species malaria infections in travelers.

Lehky Hagen and colleogues have provided an interesting and informative analysis of malaria cases detected among Swiss residents returning from trips to Kenya between …
Swift Foxes and Ideal Free Distribution: Relative Influence of Vegetation and Rodent Prey Base on Swift Fox Survival, Density, and Home Range Size

Swift foxes (Vulpes velox) are an endemic mesocarnivore of North America subject to resource and predation-based pressures. While swift fox demographics have been documented, there is little information on the importance of top-down versus bottom-up pressures or the effect of landscape heterogeneity. Using a consumable resource-based ideal free distribution model as a conceptual framework, we isolated the effects of resource-based habitat selection on fox population ecology. We hypothesized if swift fox ecology is predominantly resource dependant, distribution, survival, and space use would match predictions made under ideal free distribution theory. We monitored survival and home range use of 47 swift foxes in southeastern Colorado from 2001 to 2004. Annual home range size was 15.4 km2, and seasonal home range size was 10.1 km2. At the individual level, annual home range size was unrelated to survival. Estimates of fox density ranged from 0.03 to 0.18 foxes/km2. Seasonal survival rates were 0.73 and 1.0 and did not differ seasonally. Foxes conformed to the predictions of the ideal free distribution model during winter, indicating foxes are food stressed and their behavior governed by resource acquisition. During the rest of the year, behavior was not resource driven and was governed by security from intraguild predation.
Hardware implementation of wideband time domain Robust Capon Beamforming

Capon Beamforming algorithm is an optimal spatial filtering algorithm used in various signal processing applications where excellent interference rejection performance is required, such as Radar and Sonar systems, Smart Antenna systems for wireless communications. Its lack of robustness, however, means that it is vulnerable to array calibration errors and other model errors. To overcome this problem, numerous Robust Capon beamforming algorithms have been proposed, which are much more promising for practical applications. In this paper, an FPGA implementation of a Robust Capon Beamforming algorithm is investigated and presented, which deals with wideband real-valued signals in time domain. This realization takes an array input with 8 channels, computes the adaptive weight vectors for beamforming with an 18 bit fixed-point representation and runs at an 80 MHz clock on Xilinx V4 FPGA. The outcomes will be applied to a medical imaging project.
Immigrant-Serving Non-profit Voter Mobilization in Off-Cycle Elections: An Institutional Explanation of Differential Political Participation Patterns

AbstractImmigrants in the USA tend to vote less than other groups, and immigrants vote at even lower levels during off-cycle elections. The aim of this article is to analyse whether these same patterns can be observed in the electoral activities of non-profit organizations that represent immigrants. I argue for a theory of reflective non-profit representation to explain how immigrant-serving organizations make decisions about electoral activities. By analysing original survey data collected in 2012 and 2013, the article finds that immigrant-serving non-profits are less likely to mobilize immigrants in off-cycle compared to on-cycle elections, and less likely to mobilize voters than organizations serving other communities. These findings suggest that immigrant voting could increase if non-profits increased their political involvement, reimagined their identities to include politics as a part of their mission, and generated new revenues to support these activities.
Adding the “Stochastic Hill-Climber” Learning Algorithm

In this chapter we discuss the functionality of an optimization method called the Stochastic Hill Climber, and the Stochastic Hill Climber With Random Restarts. We then implement this optimization algorithm, allowing the exoself process to train and optimize the neural network it is overlooking. Afterwards, we implement a new problem interfacing method through the use of public and private scapes, which are simulated environments, not necessarily physical. We apply the new system to the XOR emulation problem, testing its performance on it. Finally, looking to the future and the need for us to be able to test and benchmark our neuroevolutionary system as we add new features to it, we create the benchmarker process, which summons the trainer and the NN it trains, applying it to some specified problem X number of times. Once the benchmarker has applied the trainer to the problem X number of times and accumulated the resulting statistics, it calculates the averages and the associated standard deviations for the important performance parameters of the benchmark.
The Development of the Castes of Bumblebees (Bremidæ: Hym.)

Published statements regarding the development of the workers, queens, and males of bumblebees are almost as varied as the total number of articles in which mention is made of this phase of their biology. Many investigators have touched upon this subject, but the writings of Reaumur (1742), Huber (1801), Lepeletier (1836) and Hoffer (1881-82) have exerted the greatest influence upon ideas which have attained more or less general acceptance. The most recent publications which give information concerning this subject are those of Sladen (1912) and Armbruster (1914). A review of this existing literature shows that many of the statements represent that which is purely inferred by analogy with the honeybee. Some statements are given which are based upon studies of bumblebee colonies, but unfortunately in most instances the observations were not thorough or frequent enough to prove the facts as they are stated.
Shock-induced phase transformations in gallium single crystals by atomistic methods

Utilizing a modified embedded atom method potential, we performed large-scale classical molecular dynamics simulations (with up to 50 million atoms) to investigate the response of Ga single crystals to shock compression along the three major orientations of the orthorhombic A11 ground state, i.e., $[001]$, $[010]$, and $[100]$. For weak shocks with particle velocity ${u}_{p}l30$0 m/s, these defect-free single crystals respond elastically, but for stronger shocks, they undergo a structural phase transformation and then (for even stronger shocks) melt. For intermediate shock strengths ($300\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}\text{m/s}l{u}_{p}l1.2$ km/s) a split shock wave is formed, with an elastic precursor (uniaxial compression wave) leading the slower transformation wave. The transformed region consists of a mixed phase, with stripes of the product phase embedded into the uniaxially compressed parent phase, with the ratio of product to parent phase increasing with increasing shock strength, much like in martensitic phase transformations. Upon shock release from the free surface at the end of the sample, the transformation is reversed, leaving only some defects behind, which makes it difficult to experimentally investigate the structural transformation in shock-recovered samples. We investigated the structure produced by the shock and found it to be similar to the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ phase of Ga which is obtained by supercooling from the liquid state. However, the product phase shows only half the period along $[100]$ in the calculated diffraction pattern. Further investigation showed that this is due to a different stacking sequence in this direction, namely ABCD instead of AB for the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ phase.
TGFα is Associated with the Milk Fat Globule Membrane

Human milk plays a significant role in postnatal gut maturation, and may serve as a vehicle for transmitting developmental signals from mother to neonate. Various growth factors, cytokines, and gut peptides have been isolated from human milk, often in quantities that exceed maternal serum levels. There exists an interrelated system in which compailisientation of milk’s components lead to controlled release of nutrients and metabolites to the breastfed infant. Various proteins are differentially sequestered within the compaitrnents of human milk. These proteins become equentially processed within the gastrointestinal tract. The majority of studies on human milk have focused on the aqueous (defatted) fraction of whole milk rather than the various compartments that include fat. Yet, the fat compartment composed of the milk fat globule with its associated plasma membrane appears to provide a unique delivery system of bioactive substances to the newborn gut. A growth factor that is present in all compartments of human milk is transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFα), a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family. TGFα has biological activity in its transmembrane as well as its mature, cleaved form. As a gut peptide, TGFa contributes to the growth-promoting properties of human milk through activation of EGF receptors (EGFr) of human fetal small intestinal cells in vitro. Higher concentrations of TGFα are present in the fat compartment of human milk. It is unknown if TGFa in human milk fat is associated with the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). Based on the transmembrane structure of TGFα, we hypothesized that TGFα would be present in the milk fat globule (MFG), and with further isolation, associated with the MFGM.
Assessing chemical communication in elephants

The study of chemical communication in elephants has resulted in startling and exciting new discoveries in the past decade (Rasmussen and Schulte, 1998; Rasmussen et al., 2003). To date, the highlight of this research has been the identification of two compounds that serve as pheromones (as defined by Karlson and Luscher, 1959). Rasmussen et al. (1996, 1997) identified (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate (Z7-12:Ac) in female Asian elephant urine collected during the pre-ovulatory period. This estrous pheromone signals approaching ovulation to conspecific males but elicits little interest from female conspecifics. The compound is not unique to elephants; Z7-12:Ac is a component of the mating pheromones for numerous lepidopteran species. More recently, Rasmussen and Greenwood (2003) isolated frontalin, a known aggregation pheromone in bark beetles (Kinzer et al., 1969), from male Asian elephant temporal gland secretion. Male and female Asian elephants exhibit a range of behaviors when exposed to frontalin. The responses depend on the age, sex, and status of the receiver. Male Asian elephants release temporal gland secretion profusely only during musth (Jainudeen et al., 1972a,b), suggesting that frontalin carries a musth-alerting message. Thus, two single compounds, likely acting in conjunction with other chemical components such as proteins (Lazar et al., 2002), mediate sexual and social interactions among Asian elephants.
Regulation of intracellular enzyme proteolysis by small-molecule cofactors

For the past five years our laboratory has studied the regulation of synthesis and degradation of phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase, dopamine β-hydroxylase, and hydroxyindole O-methyltransferase, three enzymes involved in biogenic amine metabolism. Certain features of the regulation of these enzymes have been strikingly similar, despite the different metabolic functions they carry out. This has led us to speculate about common modes of turnover regulation which the enzymes might share.
Forschungslücken und Lösungskonzept

Dieses Kapitel beschaftigt sich mit der existierenden Forschungslucke, wofur zuerst auf den Stand der Technik fur biometrische Authentifizierung am Smartphone eingegangen wird. Danach erfolgen die Abgrenzung des Untersuchungsbereiches und eine Einordnung der Forschungsarbeiten sowie eine Vorstellung des Konzeptes der Authentifizierung mittels des Tippverhaltens.
A new spider species, Heser stoevi sp. nov., from Turkmenistan (Araneae: Gnaphosidae).

BACKGROUND The genus Heser (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) belongs to the Zelotes group, and is currently known to comprise 10 species distributed in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The type species is Heser malefactor Tuneva, 2004 from Kazakhstan. NEW INFORMATION A new spider species, Heser stoevi sp. nov. (male and female) found in Koytendag Mountains, southeastern Turkmenistan is described and illustrated. It is morphologically close to H. aradensis (Levy, 1998) from Israel but can be readily distinguished by the longer embolus, the smaller and flattened conductor, the lack of retrolateral tibial apophysis, all this coupled with very distinctive female copulatory organs. The new species was found under stones in arid grassland habitats.
Cost of Acute Kidney Injury in Hospitalized Patients.

Background The economic burden of acute kidney injury (AKI) is not well understood. Objective To estimate the effects of AKI on hospitalization costs and length of stay (LOS). Design Using data from the 2012 National Inpatient Sample, we compared hospitalization costs and LOS with and without AKI. We used a generalized linear model with a gamma distribution and a log link fitted to AKI to adjust for demographics, hospital differences, and comorbidities. Setting United States. Patients 29,763,649 adult hospitalizations without endstage renal disease. Exposure AKI determined using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes.. Measurements Hospitalization costs and LOS. Results AKI was associated with an increase in hospitalization costs of $7933 (95% confidence interval [CI], $7608-$8258) and an increase in LOS of 3.2 (95% CI, 3.2-3.3) days compared to patients without AKI. When adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics, the associated increase in costs was $1795 (95% CI, $1692-$1899) and in LOS, it was 1.1 (95% CI, 1.1-1.1) days. Corresponding results among patients hospitalized with AKI requiring dialysis were $42,077 (95% CI, $39,820-$44,335) and 11.5 (95% CI, 11.2-11.8) days and $11,016 (95% CI, $10,468-$11,564) and 3.9 (95% CI, 3.8-4.1) days. AKI was associated with higher hospitalization costs than myocardial infarction and gastrointestinal bleeding, and costs were comparable to those for stroke, pancreatitis, and pneumonia.. Conclusions In the United States, AKI is associated with excess hospitalization costs and prolonged LOS. The economic burden of AKI warrants further attention from hospitals and policymakers to enhance processes of care and develop novel treatment strategies. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:70-76.
From Ideas to Social Signals: Spatiotemporal Analysis of Social Media Dynamics

Social media activity analysis can provide an open window to the inception and evolution of ideas. In this paper, we introduce a general model of spatiotemporal evolution of an arbitrary number of ideas in social media. As the main theoretical contribution, we map user messages into a latent hidden field and derive a multidimensional social signal that encapsulates an arbitrary number of ideas. We then analyze the distance (in time and space) of individual ideas when compared to a general stream of ideas, thus allowing the characterization of the spatiotemporal behavior of individual idea trajectories. Finally, using Twitter data, we observe that the spatiotemporal behavior of ideas is contents dependent, that is, different ideas evolve differently in time and space. Consequently, we identify four major patterns of behavior of ideas in space (local vs. global) and time (rare vs. pervasive), which can be used to understand the spatiotemporal nature social media dynamics.
Binarity and Focus in Prosodic Phrasing: New Evidence from Taiwan Mandarin

This paper makes novel claims and presents new evidence for the binarity of prosodic phrases, alignment of focused elements, and their interaction. Several authors have argued that there are binarity restrictions at the level of the prosodic phrase (e.g. Prince 1980, Ito & Mester 1992, Selkirk 2000). In this paper, I provide new support for this claim from Taiwan Mandarin (TM). I argue that prosodic phrases must be decomposed into Minor Phrases (MIPs) and Major Phrases (MAPs) (Selkirk et al . 2004), and that both levels can have minimal and maximal binarity restrictions. Crucially, MAPs must be binary in TM. Moreover, I argue – after Fery (2013) – that focused elements can require both left and right edge alignment of a constituent (in TM, a MIP). Finally, I show that requirements on binarity and focus can interact in striking ways – a binarity restriction on MAPs prevents alignment to the right edge of focused elements in specific environments.
Mental and Physical Health Conditions in US Combat Veterans: Results From the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.

Objective To identify sociodemographic and military characteristics of combat-exposed and non-combat-exposed veterans in the United States and to compare rates of mental and physical health conditions in these populations. Methods Data were analyzed from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS), a contemporary, nationally representative survey of 1,480 US veterans conducted September-October 2013. Poststratification weights were applied to analyses to permit generalizability of results to the US veteran population. Outcomes measured included lifetime and current psychiatric disorders and physical health conditions. Results A total 38% of US veterans reported being exposed to combat. Compared to noncombat veterans, combat veterans were younger, had greater household income, and served a greater number of years in the military; were more likely to be male, to have served in the Marine Corps, and to use the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System as their main source of health care; and reported a greater number of lifetime potentially traumatic events. After adjustment for these sociodemographic and military differences, combat veterans were more than 3 times as likely as noncombat veterans to screen positive for lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more than twice as likely for current PTSD and had 82% greater odds of screening positive for current generalized anxiety disorder. After additionally controlling for lifetime diagnoses of PTSD and depression, alcohol or drug use disorder, and nicotine dependence, combat veterans had 68% greater odds of having attempted suicide and 85% and 38% greater odds of being diagnosed with a stroke and chronic pain, respectively. Younger combat veterans were more likely than older combat veterans to screen positive for lifetime (30.6% vs 10.1%) and current PTSD (19.2% vs 4.9%) and suicidal ideation (18.6% vs 6.9%) and to have been diagnosed with migraine headaches (12.8% vs 2.1%), while older combat veterans were more likely than younger combat veterans to report having been diagnosed with heart disease (19.2% vs 2.6%) and heart attack (13.9% vs 2.5%). Conclusions Compared to noncombat veterans in the United States, combat veterans have elevated rates of PTSD, suicide attempt, stroke, and chronic pain independent of other sociodemographic, military, and mental health factors. Younger combat veterans have elevated rates of PTSD, suicidal ideation, and migraine headaches, while older combat veterans have elevated rates of heart disease and heart attack. These results characterize the population-based burden of mental and physical health conditions in combat veterans. They further underscore the importance of age- and condition-sensitive screening, monitoring, and treatment efforts in this population.
An Invariant based Approach to the Design of Hybrid Control Systems

In this paper, a methodology for hybrid control design is presented. The hybrid systems of interest are characterized by a feedback architecture of a continuous nonlinear plant with a discrete-event controller. The natural invariants of the continuous dynamics are used to partition the state space into regions and to synthesize simple and eAEcient control laws. The paper contains a complete description of the approach including a description of the hybrid control system modeling, of the invariant based approach for the design of the partition, and of the controller synthesis methodology illustrated by examples. The implementation and optimization of the approach are also discussed. The approach presented in this paper not only describes a viable methodology to hybrid design, but also addresses fundamental issues in hybrid system theory that arise in reachability analysis and veri cation approaches that are based on partitions of the continuous state space.
After superovulation-intrauterine insemination fails: the prognosis for treatment by gamete intrafallopian transfer/pronuclear stage transfer *

Objective To determine the prognosis for gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT)/pronuclear stage transfer (PROST) treatment after prior superovulation-intrauterine insemination (IUI). Design Matched, retrospective. Setting Outpatient university endocrine-infertility program. Patients, Participants One hundred forty-four women matched for infertility factors and age were studied according to the following three treatment groups: superovulation-IUI only, GIFT/PROST only, or GIFT/PROST after superovulation-IUI. Main Outcome Measures Per cycle and cumulative pregnancy rates (PRs) were compared utilizing life table analysis. Results Cumulative PRs (0.408) for superovulation-IUI only were lower than initial (0.469) and cumulative (0.802) cycle fecundity of GIFT/PROST ( P =0.002). Per cycle and cumulative PRs did not differ between GIFT/PROST only versus GIFT/PROST after superovulation-IUI. Conclusions Gamete intrafallopian transfer/PROST may be cost-effective when compared with superovulation-IUI. The prognosis for GIFT/PROST success is not negatively affected by earlier superovulation-IUI treatment failure.
Selecting Metrics, Reflecting Norms

To thrive in the digital age, local news outlets must inform audiences and funders of civic-oriented journalism’s impact in their communities. There is little scholarly research on how journalists ...
Tabu Search Foundations: Additional Aspects of Short Term Memory

We began the discussion of short term memory for tabu search in Chapter 2 by contrasting the TS designs with those of memoryless strategies such as simple or iterated descent, and by pointing out how candidate list strategies are especially important for applying TS in the most effective ways. We have deferred the discussion of such strategies in order to provide an understanding of some of the basic roles played by memory, and to illustrate the aggressive nature of decision criteria that typically are used to reinforce these roles. In this chapter we begin by describing types of candidate list strategies that often prove valuable in tabu search implementations. Then we examine the issues of logical restructuring, which provide important bridges to longer term considerations. Finally, we describe additional short term memory structures that build on the ideas used to apply TS memory to add/drop moves. We show how these ideas can be conveniently adapted to provide related structures for many different kinds of optimization problems, and associated neighborhoods for defining moves for these problems. These structures likewise provide a basis for incorporating longer term considerations.
Rh and Rh Alloy Nanoparticles as Highly Active H2 Oxidation Catalysts for Alkaline Fuel Cells

When moving from acidic to alkaline media, non-Pt-group metal catalysts can be used as the oxygen reduction catalyst, because of their high activity and stability. However, in alkaline electrolytes...
Jefferson and Tocqueville

Although Tocqueville called Jefferson “the greatest democrat, who has yet issued from within the American democracy,” a close reading of their works suggests that Tocqueville’s assessment of Jeffer...
Visualizing Nutrient Effects on Root Pattern Formation

This lab gives students hands-on experience with visualizing the root architecture of plants exposed to varying concentrations of the vital nutrient phosphorus. By maintainingBrassicasp. seedlings in the presence of different quantities of phosphate, students can quantify changes in the number of lateral roots as an example of how the environment influences plant pattern formation. Additional variables in the experimental design, such as the use of plant mutants altered in plant regulator action or the presence of plant regulators in the plant growth medium, allow for exploration of how plant growth regulators are involved in root development. The quantitative and qualitative nature of this nine-day activity provides instructors opportunities to introduce students to various data analyses in botanical study. Additional ties to plant anatomy and the agricultural use of plant growth regulators that alter root development make this activity a rich source of exploration for broadening student exposure to plants and their development.
Screening for new macrophage therapeutics

Myeloid derived macrophages play a key role in many human diseases, and their therapeutic modulation via pharmacological means is receiving considerable attention. Of particular interest is the fact that these cells are i) dynamic phenotypes well suited to therapeutic manipulation and ii) phagocytic, allowing them to be efficiently targeted with nanoformulations. However, it is important to consider that macrophages represent heterogeneous populations of subtypes with often competing biological behaviors and functions. In order to develop next generation therapeutics, it is therefore essential to screen for biological effects through a combination of in vitro and in vivo assays. Here, we review the state-of-the-art techniques, including both cell based screens and in vivo imaging tools that have been developed for assessment of macrophage phenotype. We conclude with a forward-looking perspective on the growing need for noninvasive macrophage assessment and laboratory assays to be put into clinical practice and the potential broader impact of myeloid-targeted therapeutics.
Drain-Source Synchronous Rectifier Oscillation Mitigation in Light-Load Conditions

The increasing usage of LLC-type dc-dc converters in utility, automotive, and power distribution applications has led to a push for a further increase in the converter's operating load range and efficiency. The secondary-side rectifier remains one of the lossiest areas in the converter, alluring designers to synchronous rectification (SR). One method is drain-source SR for cyclically adaptive, closed loop SR. However, when utilized, a severe current oscillation can be observed. An increase in SR duty cycle results in an increase in conduction time of the SR channel over the body diode. This issue becomes increasingly prevalent due to the usage of wide band-gap MOSFETs with high reverse drops and low sensed signal strength. This results in a current oscillation effect, leading to inconsistent SR operation, output ripple, and high EMI. In this paper, the issue is root caused analyzed. A method of improving drain-source SR for light-load SR operation is proposed. The method is prototyped on an FPGA to alleviate the issue on a $600\text{-}V_{in}/ 340\text{-}V_{out}$ 2.5-kW LLC-DCX (DC transformer) power converter.
Recalled Age at Menarche: A Follow-up to the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study

Sexual maturation is one method by which researchers account for developmental timing during growth. In a longitudinal motor performance study (MPS), mothers reported their own recalled age at mena...
The Ethics of Dementia Risk Reduction

The thought of developing Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia (ADRD) is a frightening prospect for many of those aging. Little is known about the exact causes of ADRD. This creates an environment of worry, speculation, superstition, inaccurate information, and irrational fears surrounding who is at risk. Far too many people wrongly believe that developing ADRD is inevitable as you age, and all one can do is hope for the best and wait for pharmaceutical intervention. The truth is much more complicated. Certain lifestyle choices, such as physical activity and diet, may support brain health and delay onset or prevent ADRD. With few drawbacks and plenty of known benefits, why are more people not actively trying to lower their risk of Alzheimer’s disease? This chapter will outline the risk and protective factors associated with ADRD and explore the ethics of ADRD prevention from an individual and societal perspective. Fear appeals, victim blaming, government paternalism, and more will be examined.
Comparison and evaluation of state-of-the-art LSM merge policies

Modern NoSQL database systems use log-structured merge (LSM) storage architectures to support high write throughput. LSM architectures aggregate writes in a mutable MemTable (stored in memory), which is regularly flushed to disk, creating a new immutable file called an SSTable. Some of the SSTables are chosen to be periodically merged—replaced with a single SSTable containing their union. A merge policy (a.k.a. compaction policy) specifies when to do merges and which SSTables to combine. A bounded depth merge policy is one that guarantees that the number of SSTables never exceeds a given parameter k, typically in the range 3–10. Bounded depth policies are useful in applications where low read latency is crucial, but they and their underlying combinatorics are not yet well understood. This paper compares several bounded depth policies, including representative policies from industrial NoSQL databases and two new ones based on recent theoretical modeling, as well as the standard Tiered policy and Leveled policy. The results validate the proposed theoretical model and show that, compared to the existing policies, the newly proposed policies can have substantially lower write amplification with comparable read amplification.
Mechanical bistability enabled by ectodermal compression facilitates Drosophila mesoderm invagination

Abstract Apical constriction driven by non-muscle myosin II (“myosin”) provides a well-conserved mechanism to mediate epithelial folding. It remains unclear how contractile forces near the apical surface of a cell sheet drive out-of-plane bending of the sheet and whether myosin contractility is required throughout folding. By optogenetic-mediated acute inhibition of myosin, we find that during Drosophila mesoderm invagination, myosin contractility is critical to prevent tissue relaxation during the early, “priming” stage of folding but is dispensable for the actual folding step after the tissue passes through a stereotyped transitional configuration, suggesting that the mesoderm is mechanically bistable during gastrulation. Combining computer modeling and experimental measurements, we show that the observed mechanical bistability arises from an in-plane compression from the surrounding ectoderm, which promotes mesoderm invagination by facilitating a buckling transition. Our results indicate that Drosophila mesoderm invagination requires a joint action of local apical constriction and global in-plane compression to trigger epithelial buckling.
Is There a Home Field Advantage in Global Markets

International equity mutual funds increasingly hire managers from countries linked to their geographic mandate. We show that these funds with “home-linked managers” exhibit a strong bias to invest in stocks of that country and they attract more flows. Portfolios of stocks from countries in which a fund has a home-field advantage outperform those managed by funds without home-linked managers. We are unable to identify specific sources of an information advantage associated with the home-linked managers performance. But an analysis of fund flows reveals a role for investor trust in home-linked managers earned primarily through past superior performance.
A Summary and Some Implications for Public Policy

To provide a foundation for our discussion of policy implications, we begin by summarizing the work that is presented in earlier chapters. This includes discussion of the structure of the book and details regarding the content of each chapter, including general discussion of the related findings. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of several broad implications for public policy, including the need to avoid “one size fits all” policy actions, the ineffectiveness of growth-oriented macroeconomic policies as solutions for multidimensional poverty, and a number of deprivations that policy makers may wish to target.
Opposing A Spectacle of Blackness: Arap Baci , Baci Kalfa , Dadi , and the Invention of African Presence in Turkey

The imaging of Africans in Turkey is indicative of the extant register of cultural understanding in the Turkish popular imagination regarding the imaginability, knowability, and understandability of Black form represented. In Turkish popular culture, the figures of the arap baci, baci kalfa, and dadi index this register. This essay takes the representation of Africans on Turkish popular television through the combined usage of blackface-like and drag-like techniques to configure the figures of the arap baci, baci kalfa, and dadi and juxtaposes it against the material ways Turks of African descent have found to figure themselves within the public sphere. This juxtaposition demonstrates how Blackness and Black form are not perennial processes but rather constructed measures that come into relief.
Development, Validation and Standardization of Tertiary Examination Behaviour Inventory: Diagnostic Instrument for Measuring Cheating Tendency in Educational Assessments

The research focused on development, validation and standardization of a diagnostic instrument called Tertiary Examination Behaviour Inventory (TEBI) for determining the tendency of students in tertiary institutions to participate in academic cheating. Anchored on the Modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (MTPB) and Item Response Theory (IRT), the table of test blue print covered the constructs of examination anxiety, examination ethics, study habits, and attitude towards cheating in examinations in one dimension and the phases (prior, during and after examinations) on the other dimension. Initial pilot study analysis of 50 items using test-retest reliability and factor analysis led to pruning down to 35 final items. The final sample size for validation of the TEBI was 1000 students drawn from higher institutions across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria and 3500 students for the standardization (construction of the national ‘norms’). The Conbach Alpha and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to determine the psychometric properties. Standardized Cronbach Alpha (α = .78) is an acceptable index indicating internal consistency, reliability and validity. Each of the 35 items yielded scaled means above 80 and each item’s Cronbach Alpha is greater than .75. PCA yielded 13 factors from the 35 item TEBI. Those 13 factors contributed 62.73% variance in TEBI items. National ‘norms’ are 84.19% and 82.82% for male and female students respectively. Thus, TEBI is reliable, valid and standardized for use as a diagnostic instrument for identifying students who have positive dispositions towards academic dishonesty which is an educational monster.
Distiller: A Systematic Study of Model Distillation Methods in Natural Language Processing

We aim to identify how different components in the KD pipeline affect the resulting performance and how much the optimal KD pipeline varies across different datasets/tasks, such as the data augmentation policy, the loss function, and the intermediate representation for transferring the knowledge between teacher and student. To tease apart their effects, we propose Distiller, a meta KD framework that systematically combines a broad range of techniques across different stages of the KD pipeline, which enables us to quantify each component's contribution. Within Distiller, we unify commonly used objectives for distillation of intermediate representations under a universal mutual information (MI) objective and propose a class of MI-$\alpha$ objective functions with better bias/variance trade-off for estimating the MI between the teacher and the student. On a diverse set of NLP datasets, the best Distiller configurations are identified via large-scale hyperparameter optimization. Our experiments reveal the following: 1) the approach used to distill the intermediate representations is the most important factor in KD performance, 2) among different objectives for intermediate distillation, MI-$\alpha$ performs the best, and 3) data augmentation provides a large boost for small training datasets or small student networks. Moreover, we find that different datasets/tasks prefer different KD algorithms, and thus propose a simple AutoDistiller algorithm that can recommend a good KD pipeline for a new dataset.