cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conceptual Model of a Self-Organizing Traffic Management Hazard Response System

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have sparked renewed interest in developing effective policies and strategies for evacuating densely populated areas. The current analytical tools for dealing with such evacuations are sorely lacking in both theory and practice. The conceptual model presented joins the technical areas of cellular automatons, evolutionary computation, and transportation science with some recent research on infrastructure security to make significant progress in traffic management and hazard response systems. The overall goal of this research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the evolutionary and emergent behavior of transportation systems that are operating under emergency evacuation conditions. This new knowledge can be used to develop more effective operational strategies and consequently more robust hazard response systems. Furthermore, the specific research objective is to investigate the formulation and application of cellular automaton models of metropolitan transportation systems, with a focus on systems operating under emergency evacuation conditions. The basic context is evacuation of a defined urban area, such as the urban core of Washington, D.C., under terrorist attacks. The conceptual model proposes the use of evolutionary algorithms to search the space of the evacuation control strategies and determine the most successful strategies for a given urban area.
Simulation of oxidation in textile composites

Modeling strategies were developed in order to reduce the computational effort required to simulate oxidation in textile composites. The oxidation behavior in heterogeneous configurations was found to be complex and dependent on a number of factors. A decoupled subdomain strategy for analyzing textile composites was evaluated and used to simulate the oxidation behavior in a graphite/PMR-15 plain-weave composite.
Alterations of Nucleic Acid and Protein Syntheses in Vivo in the Chick Embryo Mediated by Captan

1. The objective of this investigation was to measure the effects of captan on DNA, RNA and protein biosyntheses in limbs of developing chick embryo, in vivo. 2. Captan (12p.p.m.) was injected into the egg on day 4 of incubation and macromolecular syntheses were measured on days 8--14. 3. Total DNA content was unaffected by captan, but incorporation of [3H]thymidine was inhibited over the entire time range; the period of peak specific activity (day 11) was inhibited in treated samples to 67% of control. 4. Total RNA content was reduced in the earlier days but returned to normal by day 14, whereas incorporation of [3H]uridine was lowered throughout the period. The timing of peak specific activity for RNA synthesis was delayed by 2 days in treated eggs and was inhibited by 32% when peak days were compared. 5. Total protein concentration was slightly lowered by captan treatment in the mid-range of the days measured and the incorporation of [3H]valine was retarded in the early days; peak periods of synthesis were similar in magnitude but were shifted from days 9--10 in control to day 11 in treated embryos.
Clinical significance and technical assessment of stent cell geometry in carotid artery stenting

Carotid artery stenting has gained popularity due to its minimally invasive approach. However, several design concerns preclude the successful use of carotid stents. Technical issues, such as open versus closed cells, scaffolding, trackability, foreshortening, and changes in local geometry and hemodynamics, affect stent performance. Previous clinical and experimental studies have evaluated current stent models while proposing and testing novel stent designs. This review focuses on the technical aspects of carotid stent design and the clinical significance of key design parameters identified via computational and experimental modeling.
Eye movements and spoken language comprehension: effects of visual context on syntactic ambiguity resolution.

Abstract When participants follow spoken instructions to pick up and move objects in a visual workspace, their eye movements to the objects are closely time-locked to referential expressions in the instructions. Two experiments used this methodology to investigate the processing of the temporary ambiguities that arise because spoken language unfolds over time. Experiment 1 examined the processing of sentences with a temporarily ambiguous prepositional phrase (e.g., “Put the apple on the towel in the box”) using visual contexts that supported either the normally preferred initial interpretation (the apple should be put on the towel) or the less-preferred interpretation (the apple is already on the towel and should be put in the box). Eye movement patterns clearly established that the initial interpretation of the ambiguous phrase was the one consistent with the context. Experiment 2 replicated these results using prerecorded digitized speech to eliminate any possibility of prosodic differences across conditions or experimenter demand. Overall, the findings are consistent with a broad theoretical framework in which real-time language comprehension immediately takes into account a rich array of relevant nonlinguistic context.
The Future of Historical Family Demography

An explosion of new data sources describing historical family composition is opening unprecedented opportunities for discovery and analysis. The new data will allow comparative multilevel analysis of spatial patterns and will support studies of the transformation of living arrangements over the past 200 years. Using measurement methods that assess family choices at the individual level and analytic strategies that assess variations across space and time, we can dissect the decline of patriarchal family forms in the developed world and place Northwest Europe and North America in global comparative context.
An Improvement of the Doerner-Nix Function for Substrate Effects in Ultrathin Films

Substrate effects continue to be the key issue in interrogating thin films by nanoindentation. In this study, we studies amorphous thin films of several different materials deposited onto a silicon wafer. These materials span from being considerable softer than the substrate to films significantly harder than the substrate. The thin film Young's modulus Ef was measured with a MTS Nanoindenter XP system using the continuous stiffness measurement (CSM). The so-called “flat region” was observed in the early stage of nearly every CSM modulus-displacement curve for all materials studied. The depth of this region (hcr ) was found to vary with the material. Based on the experimental data, we were able to modify the Doerner & Nix model for thin film indentation on a substrate, particularly their parameter alpha (α). The modified relation was found to be adept at closely matching all experimental data collected, which spanned both soft films on hard substrates and hard films on soft substrates.
Control system synthesis through inductive learning of Boolean concepts

In control, learning is often used to identify a single controller satisfying a particular performance measure. In certain cases, however, it is desirable to identify the set of all controllers which ensure that the controlled plant satisfies a control property such as Lyapunov stability, robust stability, or robust performance. A set of procedures identifying such sets of admissible solutions can be devised using Boolean concept learning algorithms. This type of learning procedure is applicable to computational learning. The objective of this article is to provide some examples illustrating how Boolean concept learning can be used in control systems. The first example examined in this article uses concept learning to identify the set of stabilizing controllers for certain classes of linear time-invariant plants. Another example illustrates the use of concept learning in the identification of discrete event system (DES) controllers. >
The VICEX Fund: Recent Shortcomings of a Long-Run Success Story

In this article, we empirically test the extent to which the VICEX fund, a portfolio of companies benefiting from human vices (i.e., alcohol, gambling, and smoking), outperforms a variety of benchmarks. One pair of benchmarks consist of Vanguard’s 500 Index Fund and a portfolio of all funds in the same Morningstar style category based on company size. On a more focused basis we compare the performance of the VICEX fund to two popular dividend-oriented mutual funds, because of the propensity of several VICEX fund components to offer large dividend yields. Using a wide array of return, risk, and risk-adjusted measures we find limited support for human vice-based investing over an extended period of time. Over the recent 2008-2009 period, the VICEX fund has underperformed these alternatives.
A Cross-species Transcriptional Profile Analysis of Heartwood Formation in Black Walnut

The value of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) is determined by the quality and quantity of darkly colored heartwood in its stem. We are exploring the regulation of heartwood production by identifying genes associated with the transition from sapwood to heartwood. We analyzed microarray data from a cross-species hybridization where black walnut cDNA was probed using a 7K gene aspen array. Results showed that only about 17% (1,253 vs 7K) of the probes in the microarray hybridized with genes from black walnut. Genes showing differential abundance in response to time change and developmental stage in the stem were identified and investigated. Eleven genes were identified as upregulated only in the transition zone (TZ) or interior sapwood of a tree harvested in fall; 55 genes were upregulated only in the TZs of trees harvested in summer; 74 genes were upregulated in the TZ of trees harvested in summer and in fall. Most of these genes were classified as “no hits”, but some, such as the orthologs of Arabidopsis genes At2g14900 and At3g04710, were putatively related to cell rescue and defense. Genes related to other functional classifications such as signal transduction, metabolism, and protein fate and synthesis were also identified in this experiment. Overall, these analyses provide insight into the mechanism regulating heartwood formation in black walnut.
Amalgamated sums of groups

Groups called amalgamated sums that arise as inductive limits of systems of groups and injective homomorphisms are studied. The problem is to find conditions under which the groups in the system do not collapse in the limit. Such a condition is given by J. Tits when certain subsystems are associated to buildings. This condition can be phrased to apply to certain systems of abstract groups and injective homomorphisms. It is shown to imply that no collapse occurs in the limit in a strong sense; namely the natural homomorphism of the amalgamated sum of any subsystem into the amalgamated sum of the full system is injective. This answers a question of S. J. Pride.
Achievement of African American and Caucasian Students Referred and Placed or Not Placed in Gifted Programs.

The identification of students who are gifted traditionally has been grounded in criteria with an emphasis on unitary measures of intellectual ability. The purpose of this research was to evaluate ...
APU: an automatic programmer for UNIX

The authors present a paradigm for automating programming based on how humans program. The paradigm involves top-down decomposition of a given problem into smaller problems using, if possible, programming cliches and analogies from previously solved problems till a primitive level is reached; at the primitive level the problem is solved by making calls to a library of pre-existing sub-routines that encode specific knowledge about the domain. The authors describe APU, which uses the above paradigm to automate UNIX programming, and focus on the knowledge structure and the problem-solving capability without the use of analogy. >
Hypothermia, radiation, and the immune response

SummaryAn adverse effect of hypothermia for 18 hr to the immune response was observed in hamster sera up to 10 days after primary immunization with Influenza A virus vaccine. Hypothermia caused less inhibition to the secondary response than did radiation, while 2000 R completely destroyed the primary response of both active and hypothermic hamsters. Hypothermia under the conditions described did not afford any protection to the radiosensitivity of either the primary or the secondary immune response. The combination of hypothermia and radiation seemed to act synergistically in lowering the immune response. The presence of both IgG and IgM was shown in the sera of all the groups used in the primary response studies. IgM seemed to be the predominant immunoglobulin in the HI test.
Kinematics synthesis of linkage mechanisms with cam integrated joints for controlled harmonic content of the output motion

A new method is presented for the modification of the output motion of linkage mechanisms with closed-loop chains using cams positioned at one or more of its joints. As an example and to present the basic concept, the method is applied to a four-bar linkage mechanism that is synthesized for function generation for the purpose of eliminating the high harmonic component of the output link motion. By eliminating the high harmonic component of the output motion of a mechanism, the potential vibrational excitation that the mechanism can impart on the overall system, including its own structure, is greatly reduced. The resulting system should therefore be capable of operating at higher speeds and with increased precision. For mechanisms with rigid links, the primary source of high harmonics in the output motion is the nonlinearity of the kinematics of their closed-loop chains. With the present method, a selected range or ranges of high harmonic motions generated due to such nonlinearities may be eliminated by integrating appropriately designed cams that are used to vary the effective length of one or more of the links during the motion. A numerical example is provided together with a discussion of the related topics of interest.
Associations Between Long-Term Gang Membership and Informal Social Control Processes, Drug Use, and Delinquent Behavior Among Mexican American Youth:

Research has found that among juveniles weak ties to informal social control entities such as parents, school, and conventional peers increase the probability of the initiation and continuation of deviant behaviors such as drug use and crime. Given the weak ties of formal social control mechanisms in highly disadvantaged communities, informal social control mechanisms are often an important deterrent that reduce or moderate engagement in deviant behaviors among serious and persistent offenders. This analysis examines the association between long-term gang membership and adolescent informal social control processes, drug use, and delinquency. This research is based on data from a study of 160 Mexican American male gang members between the ages of 16 and 20. Findings suggest that among gang members in this context, commonly studied informal control mechanisms such as the family and schools do not function to deter long-term gang membership that is associated with serious criminal and violent behavior and drug use. The implications for future research on desistance or continuation of antisocial behavior across the life course are discussed.
Development of a polyvalent cellular vaccine against ovarian cancer using ascites-derived antigen presenting cells

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 4992 Objective: To determine whether antigen presenting cells in malignant ascites (aAPC) can elicit an anti-tumor immune response after ex vivio stimulation with Toll-like receptor agonists (TLR-a) in a mouse model of ovarian cancer. Methods: C57/b6 mice were injected with murine ovarian cancer cell lines, ID8-Vegf-β-defensin and ID8-E7. Both aAPC and T cells harvested from ascites were subjected to flow cytometric characterization using antibodies to CD3, CD4, CD8, FoxP3, CD11c, CD14, CD80, CD86,CD123, B7-H1, and MHC II. Adherent CD45+ cells from ascites were considered candidate aAPC and stimulated with TLR-a, including LPS, CpG, and Poly I:C along with a blocking antibody to the IL-10 receptor (IL-10Rab) or to MHC-I. After 48 hours, treated aAPC were incubated with T cells harvested from autologous ascites specimens, and IFN-γ production was assessed by ELISA. Peripheral T cells from a second group of mice vaccinated with E7/E8 DNA were used as controls. To study the therapeutic potential of these cells, healthy mice were injected subcutaneously with a cellular vaccine composed of stimulated aAPC. After two weeks, peripheral T cells from vaccinated mice were incubated with stimulated aAPC in vitro . IFN-γ production was measured by ELISA. Vaccinated mice were then injected with tumor to evaluate for survival differences after immunization. Results: Cells from fresh ascites expressed CD80, CD86, and high levels of MHC II. After 48 hours in culture, stimulated cells expressed more CD14, CD80, CD86, B7-H1, and CD11c, but less CD123, than unstimulated cells. Functional studies showed high levels of IFN-γ production by T cells after incubation with aAPC treated with LPS, CpG, and IL-10Rab. Autologous ascites-derived T cells consistently produced more IFN-γ than control T cells. Addition of an anti-MHC I antibody blocked this effect, suggesting that CD8 cells were primarily responsible for IFN-γ production. Finally, peripheral T cells derived from healthy mice vaccinated with stimulated aAPC produced IFN-γ following exposure to stimulated aAPC in vitro. No IFN-γ was produced by T cells from mice vaccinated with unstimulated aAPC. Mice vaccinated with treated aAPC were less likely to develop tumor. Conclusions: APC present in malignant ascites have engulfed tumor antigen in vivo , and can be stimulated to elicit a polyclonal anti-tumor cellular immune response in a mouse model. This immunity is transferable as a cellular vaccine and confers protection from tumor challenge. This finding has significant translational potential as a rapid protocol for immunotherapy for select patients with ovarian cancer.
Toward a Framework for Behavioral Strategy: What We Can Learn from Austrian Economics

The Austrian school of economics has recently made inroads into and appears may become an important perspective in the study of strategic management and entrepreneurship. Yet we see little of the prediction two decades ago that a specifically "Austrian school of strategy" would emerge (Jacobson, Academy of Management Review, 1992). This chapter summarizes the measurable influence of "Austrian economics" in strategy to date, and notes core insights from the Austrian school that are yet to be discovered by strategy and entrepreneurship scholars. I argue that our field has much to gain from looking closer at the uniquely integrated framework, perspective, and approach of the Austrian school, rather than just incorporate individual Austrian concepts, and illustrate the argument with a discussion on the distinctively Austrian conception of time and implications thereof for strategy and entrepreneurship.
Simulating atomic-scale defects with atomic methods and extended finite elements

A finite element method is developed for dislocations in arbitrary, three-dimensional bodies, including micro-/nano-devices, and layered materials, such as thin films. The method is also compatible with anisotropic materials, and can readily be applied to nonlinear media. In this method, dislocations are modeled by adding discontinuities to extend the conventional finite element basis. Two approaches for adding discontinuities to the conventional finite element basis are proposed. In the first, a simple discontinuous enrichment imposes a constant jump in displacement across dislocation glide planes. In the second approach, the enrichments more accurately approximate the dislocations by capture the singular asymptotic behavior near the dislocation core. A basis of singular enrichments is formed from analytical solutions of straight dislocation lines, which are shown to be applicable for more general, curved dislocation configurations. Methods for computing the configurational forces on dislocation lines wi...
The Preparation of Thermo-responsive Polymer Particles for Enzyme Immobilization and Their Characteristics

In order to use them as carriers of enzyme immobilization, copolymers of methacrylic acid (MAA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) were synthesized as a thermo-responsive polymer which changes its water solubility in response to the temperature of the solution.The phase separation temperature of MAA-NIPAM copolymer increased with increase in the MAA contents. The phase separation temperature of the copolymer was also sensitive to pH, while that of NIPAM homopolymer was not.Invertase immobilized covalently on the thermo-responsive polymer (weight ratio 1:4), was soluble below 40°C, and insoluble above 61°C in 0.1M acetate buffer (pH 5.0). The phase separation temperature also depended on the pH of the solution. The invertase immobilized on the thermo-responsive polymer maintained its activity at pH 3-7, and its stability on pH was improved comparing with free enzymes. The ratio of the activity of the immobilized enzyme to that of the free one was continuous around the phase separation temperature. This result should be regarded as important because it means that it is not necessary to strictly control the temperatures of the reaction and phase separation.
Combinations of colors and species of containerized edible flowers: Effect on consumer preferences

Do consumers prefer certain combinations of edible-flower species and colors over other assortments? Two hundred and sixteen people were self-selected for a survey at a Michigan flower show to rate 15 photographs of edible flowers arranged in 0.24-L, clear, plastic containers. Each container had either an individual species or combinations of Viola tricolor L. 'Helen Mount' (viola), Borago officinalis L. (borage), and Tropaeolum majus L. 'Jewel Mix' and 'Tip Top Apricot' (nasturtium). To determine what color(s) of nasturtium participants would prefer, containers held either orange and crimson, peach and cream, or a combination of all four flower colors. Participants rated photographs using a semantic differential on a 7-point Likert scale (7 being the highest rating) based on their likelihood to purchase each container of edible flowers to serve to family and friends in a meal. Participants were asked an additional 21 questions regarding their attitudes about edible flowers, gardening habits, dining habits, and several demographic questions. Responses were subjected to conjoint analysis (SPSS Inc., Chicago). The addition of other species to nasturtium (viola, borage, viola, and borage) had a greater relative importance (53%) than the color of the nasturtium (47%). A mixture of all four nasturtium colors (peach, cream, orange, and crimson) was awarded the highest utility (0.091). Peach and cream nasturtiums or containers that did not contain any nasturtium flowers at all were least preferred (-0.070 and -0.083 utilities, respectively). Mean ratings that participants assigned to containers of edible flowers supported these utilities. The container assigned the highest mean rating included nasturtiums of all four colors, yet 66% were unlikely to purchase any container with 10% insect damage. Differences in preferences were noted using selected demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and income.
Characteristic of Agricultural Policy in Africa

agriculture is the basic industry in Africa,and suitable agricultural policy is very important for the food security in Africa. The author conclude the characteristic of the agicultural policy in Africa. The first is that the first task is to develop production. The second is to support the development of biomass energy. The third is to promote the development of agricultural science and technology. And the last is to improve the investment environment.
Office Social: Presentation Interactivity for Nearby Devices

Slide presentations have long been stuck in a one-to-many paradigm, limiting audience engagement. Based on the concept of smartphone-based remote control of slide navigation, we present Office Social-a PowerPoint plugin and companion smartphone app that allows audience members qualified access to slides for personal review and, when the presenter enables it, public control over slide navigation. We studied the longitudinal use of Office Social across four meetings of a workgroup. We found that shared access and regulated control facilitated various forms of public and personal audience engagement. We discuss how enabling ad-hoc aggregation of co-proximate devices reduces 'interaction costs' and leads to both opportunities and challenges for presentation situations.
ES/9370 System Overview

The IBM ES/9370 model 30 and 50 machines were the first users of the Capitol chip set. They differ among others in the machine cycle time (80 ns for the model 30 and 62.5 ns for the model 50). Other realizations are the IBM 3092 Processor Controller Models 004 and 005, and the IBM ES/9370 model 25. In the ES/9370 system, the CPU, main store, I/O bus, input/output controllers, as well as tape and disk devices all mount into a single, or multiple, 19″rack. Figure 197 provides a logical overview of the ES/9370 system.
Hybrid routing in wireless networks with diverse connectivity

Real world wireless networks usually have diverse connectivity characteristics. Although existing works have identified replication as the key to the successful design of routing protocols for these networks, the questions of when the replication should be used, by how much, and how to distribute packet copies are still not satisfactorily answered. In this paper, we investigate the above questions and present the design of the Hybrid Routing Protocol (HRP). We make a key observation that delay correlations can significantly impact performance improvements gained from packet replication. Thus, we propose a novel model to capture the correlations of inter-contact times among a group of nodes. HRP utilizes both direct delays feedback and the proposed model to estimate the replication gain, which is then fed into a novel regret-minimization algorithm to dynamically decide the amount of packet replication under unknown network conditions. We evaluate HRP through extensive simulations. We show that HRP achieves up to 3.5x delivery ratio improvement and up to 50% delay reduction, with comparable and even lower overhead than state-of-art routing protocols.
Political Interference in Higher Education Quality Assurance. The Swedish Case

T his paper presents the Swedish national Quality Assurance system for Higher Education introduced in 2011 . The system was created by officials at the Ministry of Education and introduced by the Government in spite of a) widespread criticism from the Swedish Higher Education sector, students, national and international expertise, and b) the existence of a well accepted proposal for a new system created by the Higher Education Agency in collaboration with academia and students. The system caused Sweden to be excluded from the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education ( ENQA ). The article reflects on the need for organisations as ENQA not only to guarantee quality but also to guard the border between the Higher Education Institutions and the political powers.
Performance comparison and device analysis Between Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET

The paper presents the characteristics of the latest commercial 1200V 300A SiC MOSFET module and compares it's performance with Si IGBT with the same rating using experimental results and the saber software environment. Our SiC MOSFET model in SABER gives accurate results across a wide range of temperatures. The results show that the 1200V SiC MOSFET has faster switching speed and significantly less switching loss compared to the Si IGBT. Moreover, the Si IGBT switching loss will increase significantly for higher operation temperature, while the SiC MOSFET switching loss has little variation over different temperatures. This paper will also investigates the stray inductance effect on the gate, drain, and source side and verifies its performance with Si IGBT. The double pulse test circuit has been implemented in SABER to simulate the dynamic losses and a brief review of the various applications for automotive industry of the SiC MOSFET has been also presented in the paper.
The Computer as Powerful Tool for Understanding Science

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on three uses of a computer: microcomputer-based laboratories (MBLs), simulations, and Internet or World Wide Web applications. The MBL couples sensors to measure properties such as temperature, light intensity, and pH to digital analyzers that can display immediate representations in tabular, graphic, and other forms. Thus, the MBL allows a student to collect very large amounts of data that are quickly transformed into graphic representations more compatible to pattern analysis by human inspection. Models of human cognition describe a short-term working memory system with certain characteristics that can determine whether information is stored in long-term memory and how it is stored. The dynamic simulation of physical phenomena is an extremely promising use of the computer environment for science education. The Internet is a worldwide network of thousands of smaller networks, all using a common language that computers use to transfer information to one another. The Internet uses phone lines and modems, digital data lines, and communication satellite systems to link computers together, which is sometimes called the Information Superhighway.
Evaluating the service quality of airports in Thailand using fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method

The highly competitive aviation industry necessitates for continuous improvement in service quality of airports. The study has attempted to investigate the service quality of two gateway airports of Thailand, Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK) and has identified the scope of improvements. The service quality of the airport was investigated using the Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Method. It also employs Improvement Performance Analysis using a fuzzy expert system which renders the managerial implications pertaining to identification of improvement areas. The findings of the study, exhibit that the service quality of both the airports, BKK and DMK, is satisfactory, however some areas require improvement which was identified and suggested. The study demonstrates and signifies that the Fuzzy MCDM method is promising and pragmatic decision making tool for the airport service quality measurements.
The eIF2A knockout mouse

Eukaryotic initiation factor 2A (eIF2A) is a 65-kDa protein that was first identified in the early 1970s as a factor capable of stimulating initiator methionyl-tRNAi (Met-tRNAMeti) binding to 40S ribosomal subunits in vitro. However, in contrast to the eIF2, which stimulates Met-tRNAMeti binding to 40S ribosomal subunits in a GTP-dependent manner, eIF2A didn't reveal any GTP-dependence, but instead was found to direct binding of the Met-tRNAMeti to 40S ribosomal subunits in a codon-dependent manner. eIF2A appears to be highly conserved across eukaryotic species, suggesting conservation of function in evolution. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae eIF2A null mutant revealed no apparent phenotype, however, it was found that in yeast eIF2A functions as a suppressor of internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation. It was thus suggested that eIF2A my act by impinging on the expression of specific mRNAs. Subsequent studies in mammalian cell systems implicated eIF2A in non-canonical (non-AUG-dependent) translation initiation events involving near cognate UUG and CUG codons. Yet, the role of eIF2A in cellular functions remains largely enigmatic. As a first step toward characterization of the eIF2A function in mammalian systems in vivo, we have obtained homozygous eIF2A-total knockout (KO) mice, in which a gene trap cassette was inserted between eIF2A exons 1 and 2 disrupting expression of all exons downstream of the insertion. The KO mice strain is viable and to date displays no apparent phenotype. We believe that the eIF2A KO mice strain will serve as a valuable tool for researchers studying non-canonical initiation of translation in vivo.
Why Certain Gifts Are Great to Give but Not to Get: A Framework for Understanding Errors in Gift Giving

We propose that many giver-recipient discrepancies in the gift-giving literature can be explained, at least partially, by the notion that when evaluating the quality of a gift, givers primarily foc...
Media format matters: users' perceptions of physical versus digital games

Despite the rapid shift in media distribution from physical to digital formats, few studies explore what this means to users with regards to perceived values, limitations, and experience with media. We investigate this problem, specifically within the context of video games, aiming to understand which formats game players prefer and for what reasons, and the implications for game content providers and digital libraries. The findings from a survey of 1,257 game players showed that more respondents preferred digital formats over physical formats. Advocates of digital games typically valued accessibility and convenience, longevity of games free of physical damage, less need for storage, and reduced cost. Advocates of physical games generally valued the ability to easily retrieve, share, and resell games, ownership and longevity of access to games, the paraphernalia and collectibles that came with physical games, and the aesthetic and tangible qualities of the physical object. We discuss the implications of these findings for content providers and libraries, with an emphasis on game preservation efforts.
Protein sorting by lipid phase-like domains supports emergent signaling function in B lymphocyte plasma membranes.

Membranes made of molecules called lipids surround every living cell to protect the cell's contents. Cells also communicate with the outside environment via their membranes. Proteins in the membrane receive information from the environment and trigger signaling pathways inside the cell to relay this information to the center of cell. The way in which proteins are organized on the membrane has a major influence on their signaling activity. Some areas of the membrane are more crowded with certain lipids and signaling proteins than others. Lipid and protein molecules of particular types can come together and form distinct areas called “ordered” and “disordered” domains. The lipids in ordered domains are more tightly packed than disordered domains and it is thought that this difference allows domains to selectively exclude or include certain proteins. Ordered domains are also known as "lipid rafts". Lipid rafts and disordered domains may help cells to control the activities of signaling pathways, however, technical limitations have made it difficult to study the roles of these domains. The membranes surrounding immune cells called B cells contain a protein called the B cell receptor, which engages with proteins from microbes and other foreign invaders. When the B cell receptor binds to a foreign protein it forms clusters with other B cell receptors and becomes active, triggering a signaling pathway that leads to immune responses. Stone, Shelby et al. examined lipid rafts and disordered domains in B cells from mice using a technique called super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. The results show that clusters of B cell receptors are present within lipid rafts. These clusters made the lipid rafts larger and more stable. A protein that is needed during the early stages of B cell receptor signaling was also found in the same lipid rafts. Another protein that terminates signaling was excluded because it prefers disordered domains. Together, this provides a local environment in certain areas of the membrane that favors receptor activity and supports the subsequent immune response. Future work is needed to understand how cells control the make-up of lipids and proteins within their membranes, and how defects in this regulation can alter signaling activity and lead to disease.
Medical Decision-Making Capacity and Ethical Considerations

Assessment of medical decision-making capacity is challenging and especially complicated for victims of elder abuse. Given the complex nature of this work, this chapter aims to introduce concepts and ethical considerations related to decision-making for vulnerable older adults, to present the current practice for assessing capacity to make medical decisions and to consider research and future directions. Despite the goal to achieve shared decision-making with older adults and provide patient center care, capacity assessment is still needed when one suspects that an older adult cannot understand the situation and the consequences of the medical decisions which the older adult is making when the decisions may cause irreparable harm. Physicians may turn to established guidelines, standardized forms, and ethics committees to effectively utilize medical decision-making capacity assessments. Depression and dementia are common among abused older adults and can impair their abilities to appreciate decisions they are making about their medical care. These capacity assessments may influence legal guardianship or conservatorship proceedings, but are different from legal determinations to appoint a guardian or conservator due to incapacity or incompetence. Once a physician deems an older adult to lack capacity, the physician consults surrogate decision makers in order to provide the appropriate care. If there are no health care proxies assigned, surrogate decision makers are prioritized under state law, which varies from state to state. Despite ethical challenges and other barriers to understanding decision-making capacity in older adults, future developments in technology and patient-centered research may provide the tools needed to improve current practices.
Communities at High Risk in the Third Wave of Mesothelioma

In this chapter, we describe and discuss communities that have a high incidence of mesothelioma. These communities are part of a third wave of asbestos exposures and consequent asbestos-related diseases (ARD). Many of the current paradigms applied to ARD arose to address the first and second waves associated with mining and the industrial use of asbestos, respectively. We examine the lessons from a number of communities where there is an elevated risk of mesothelioma not restricted to specific occupations: Wittenoom, Western Australia, where crocidolite was mined; Libby Montana where amphibole asbestos contaminated vermiculite was mined and processed; Broni Italy, and Ambler Pennsylvania where asbestos-cement products were manufactured; and Karain in Cappadocia Turkey where the asbestiform mineral erionite occurs naturally. In these communities, in addition to occupational exposures, paraoccupational, residential, and environmental lifestyle asbestos exposures appear to contribute to the mesothelioma burden. Finally, we discuss a number of issues germane to non-occupational community mesothelioma risk: age and gender distribution of non-occupational mesothelioma; prevention appropriate to the third wave; shortcomings of the regulatory definition of asbestos; vulnerable groups in the community; diffuse administrative responsibility; diverse community attitudes to risk and prevention; difficulties in quantifying exposures and justifying remediation actions; surveillance, diagnostic and care requirements in high-risk communities; legal responsibilities and compensation for nonoccupational ARD; the application of epidemiology to third wave high-risk communities; differing expressions of ARD from community exposures; and estimating the magnitude of the third mesothelioma wave.
Wordline overdriving test: An effective predictive testing method for SRAMs against BTI aging

Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) and positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) cause SRAM stability degradation during its lifetime. Hence, some of the SRAM cells that are functional initially may fail due to aging after usage. This causes field failures of the shipped chips. In this paper we focus on screening out these SRAM cells which may fail after aging during post-fabrication testing. We propose wordline overdriving test (WODT), a novel predictive testing method for SRAMs. During the test we overdrive the SRAM wordline to simulate the effect of aging, hence we are able to detect the cells that will fail after aging over a desired lifetime. We compare our proposed method with low-VDD test, and show that WODT outperforms low-VDD test with a large margin by achieving dramatically lower quality loss.
X60: A Programmable Testbed for Wideband 60 GHz WLANs with Phased Arrays

This paper introduces X60, the first SDR-based testbed for 60 GHz WLANs, featuring fully programmable MAC/PHY/Network layers, multi-Gbps rates, and a user-configurable 12-element phased antenna array. Combined these features provide an unprecedented opportunity to re-examine the most important aspects of signal propagation and performance expected from practical 60 GHz systems. Leveraging the testbed's capabilities, we conduct an extensive measurement study, looking at different aspects of indoor 60 GHz links. We find that the presence of reflective surfaces and imperfect beams generated by practical phased arrays together can result in multiple NLoS paths supporting Gbps rates. Additionally, our comparison of different beam adaptation strategies reveals how beam steering even at one end of the link can often be sufficient to restore link quality.
Differentiated or Integrated: Capacity and Service Level Choice for Differentiated Products

Abstract Several firms across different product-focused industries, such as Dell, GM and Keurig, offer associated services along with their products. Given that firms routinely offer a portfolio of vertically differentiated products, a crucial question facing such firms is whether such differentiation should also be extended to associated services. Service differentiation lowers cannibalization of the high-quality product by the low-quality product and increases revenues, but it requires dedicated capacity which increases the cost of offering service. This tradeoff is further confounded by the potential loss of service performance due to complexity involved in single set of resources serving multiple segments. Thus, we examine this service strategy decision along the two dimensions: cannibalization concerns and complexity involved in serving multiple segments together. We consider a firm whose customers vary in their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for product quality and their sensitivity to service levels, and can self-select across offered products. We find that even when there is no complexity involved in serving multiple segments, the differentiated service strategy may be preferred purely to prevent cannibalization. With high complexity, cannibalization concerns may increase or decrease the firm’s preference for the differentiated service strategy depending on the demand mix of higher and lower WTP customers. Cannibalization also makes the role of total demand size in the service strategy decision more pronounced. Specifically, changes in capacity costs, customer heterogeneity and product differentiation may make the differentiated service strategy more or less attractive depending on the total demand size as well as the demand mix.
Implementing team huddles in small rural hospitals: How does the Kotter model of change apply?

Aims To examine how the process of change prescribed in Kotter's change model applies in implementing team huddles, and to assess the impact of the execution of early change phases on change success in later phases. Background Kotter's model can help to guide hospital leaders to implement change and potentially to improve success rates. However, the model is under studied, particularly in health care. Methods We followed eight hospitals implementing team huddles for 2 years, interviewing the change teams quarterly to inquire about implementation progress. We assessed how the hospitals performed in the three overarching phases of the Kotter model, and examined whether performance in the initial phase influenced subsequent performance. Results In half of the hospitals, change processes were congruent with Kotter's model, where performance in the initial phase influenced their success in subsequent phases. In other hospitals, change processes were incongruent with the model, and their success depended on implementation scope and the strategies employed. Conclusions We found mixed support for the Kotter model. It better fits implementation that aims to spread to multiple hospital units. When the scope is limited, changes can be successful even when steps are skipped. Implications for nursing management Kotter's model can be a useful guide for nurse managers implementing changes.
Air and Space Technology in Resource Delineation: Peace and War

The use of air and space technologies in resource delineation in Afghanistan was a product of the development of new remote-sensing technologies, coupled with favorable circumstances produced by limited vegetation because of the great aridity and human-caused removal of much of the rest. The result was a series of new satellite-image mosaics and other analytical means that enabled the use of hyperspectral remote sensing, in which the spectral signatures of particular minerals of interest can be recognized from high altitude or in space. These data sources, along with such other information as gravity and magnetic maps and other ancillary information, enable the establishment of detailed mineral assessments that can used to acquire appropriate preliminary assessments, and obtain the permits and financing to facilitate the processes necessary to mine the resources.
Advanced Experimental Techniques for Multiscale Modeling of Materials

From a scientific viewpoint, direct comparison between mechanical tests and computational simulations on a one-to-one basis has the potential to lead to substantial development in the concept of virtual testing of materials. Successful application of virtual testing methodology in our daily life basis requires the use of high-fidelity computational models that are being validated through accurate characterization techniques. The content of this chapter is prepared to cover some of the most recent developments in the area of materials characterizations with great potential for virtual testing and modeling applications. During the last decade, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has evolved into an essential tool for direct measurements of intermolecular forces that can be employed for verification of first-principle and molecular dynamic models. Novel techniques in the area of in situ electron microscopy have been developed in the last decade for investigating the structure–mechanical property relationship of advanced materials. X-ray ultra-microscopy (XuM) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are among the two newest in situ microscopy developments. These techniques provide an excellent platform for direct correlation between structure and properties of nanoscale materials. These systems contain a limited number of atoms and possible equilibrium configurations, which can be identified in real time by means of in situ electron microscopy techniques. In addition, because of the limited number of atoms, these systems can be atomistically modeled within the reach of currently available computational power. This chapter provides a comprehensive review on the above-mentioned characterization techniques that can be used to validate computational models at nanometer length scales.
Digest: Experimental evolution provides a window into the evolution of generalized pollination.

Do plants with multiple pollinators evolve unique trait combinations or intermediate phenotypes compared to plants with one pollinator? Using experimental evolution, Schiestl et al. (2018) found that plants pollinated by bumblebees and hoverflies evolved trait values not observed in plants pollinated by one taxon, which provides evidence for the existence of a unique generalized pollination phenotype.