cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness of Low-Level Light Therapy in Attenuating Vocal Fatigue.

Summary Objectives Low-level light therapy (LLLT) is effective in reducing inflammation, promoting wound healing, and preventing tissue damage, but has not yet been studied in the treatment of voice disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible effectiveness of LLLT in attenuating symptoms of vocal fatigue created by a vocal loading task as measured by acoustic, aerodynamic, and self-reported vocal effort. Methods In a randomized, prospective study, 16 vocally healthy adults divided into four groups underwent a 1-hour vocal loading procedure, followed by infrared wavelength LLLT (828 nm), red wavelength LLLT (628 nm), heat, or no heat–light (control) treatment targeting the laryngeal region of the ventral neck surface. Phonation threshold pressure (PTP), relative fundamental frequency (RFF), and the inability to produce soft voice (IPSV) self-perceptual rating scale were recorded (1) at baseline, (2) immediately after vocal loading, (3) after treatment, and (4) 1 hour after treatment. Results Vocal loading significantly increased PTP and IPSV and decreased onset and offset RFFs, consistent with a shift toward vocal dysfunction. Red light significantly normalized the combination of PTP, IPSV, and RFF measures compared to other conditions. Conclusions RFF is sensitive to a vocal loading task in conjunction with PTP and IPSV, and red LLLT may have a normalizing effect on objective and subjective measures of vocal fatigue. The results of this study lay the groundwork and rationale for future research to optimize LLLT wavelength combinations and overall dose.
Being cheerfully enlightened

L'A. montre combien Roy Porter a joue un role preponderant sur la decouverte et la connaissance du siecle des lumieres tant en geologie, qu'en philosophie, en anthropologie et en botanique aux Etats-Unis
Vitex agnus castus bij premenstrueel syndroom

Vraagstelling Bij een patiente met een moeilijk behandelbaar premenstrueel syndroom (PMS) raadpleegden wij een gynaecoloog van een UMC.
Pediatric solid tumors in Africa: different biology?

Purpose of review To review the recent literature regarding biologic characteristics of pediatric solid tumors in African children. Recent findings Data regarding pediatric solid tumors in Africa, while increasing, remain sparse when considering the ethnic and geographic diversity of the continent. Recent work, especially regarding nephroblastoma in Kenya, has identified some biologic variability among local tribes but also when compared with North American tumors. In general, reports from across the continent reveal markedly poorer survival for pediatric patients with solid tumors when compared with high-resourced regions. Summary Multiple resource-related and infrastructure-related challenges contribute to poorer outcomes, and these require systematic, multidisciplinary, and structured solutions. Socioeconomic factors and limited access to care currently seem to drive the survival outcomes in children with solid cancers in Africa.
Teófilo Tabanera, Father of the Argentine Space Program☆☆☆☆☆☆

Abstract No other figure was able to organize and catalyze the seminal interest of space exploration in Argentina more than Teofilo Tabanera. Born in 1909, Tabanera showed an early interest in the possibilities of space travel and dedicated most of his life to popularize it in his country. He created the Sociedad Argentina Interplanetaria (1949), which was the first space enthusiast's organization in Latin America. Present in the first meeting of representatives of various space societies, which led to the creation of the International Astronautical Federation, Tabanera was able to bring his enthusiasm to this new organization. A prolific writer, Tabanera wrote the first books about space exploration in Spanish, and organized many courses and conferences on the subject. When the Comision Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales (the Argentine Space Agency) was created in 1960 by a decree of President Arturo Frondizi, Tabanera was appointed as its first administrator. There, with meager funds, he organized launch campaigns and international projects on sounding rockets. Thanks to his knowledge of the international space sector, Tabanera invited many experts to Argentina, among them Wernher von Braun and even the Apollo XI crew, just a few months after their return from the Moon. He continued his activities in the IAF (International Astronautical Federation) serving as vice president for seven terms, and was a cofounder of the International Academy of Astronautics (I.A.A.). His many contributions, both to the Argentine and international space sector, are a testimony to his undying enthusiasm and interest in space as a way of advancing humankind.
Resources for integrating computer vision into the computer science curriculum

Open source computer vision and image processing libraries such as OpenCV make it possible to incorporate sophisticated computer vision algorithms into simple prototypes suitable as projects within CS1, CS2 and other courses in the curriculum. The library can be used for teaching object-oriented programming concepts, bitwise data representation and logic, illustrating control and data structures, and developing problem solving skills. This paper provides sample lab assignments suitable for students in first and second year CS courses.
Differential Control of Responding Following Beak Injury

A pigeon that injured its beak pecking a response key subsequently exhibited an aversion to continuous key pecking even though near 70% of free feeding weight and its beak was healed. When placed in the chamber, it would peck the key once but would not respond again for sessions of 1½ hours. Key pecking was then shaped using a procedure consisting of removing the bird after one reinforced key peck. This operation was continued for 7 “in/out” trials. On the 8th trial the bird continued responding with an interresponse time of less than 30 sec. The schedule was then faded to a terminal value. The results suggest that stimuli associated with the beginning of the session controlled the initial key peck, whereas those occurring during the session were paired with injury and inhibited continuous responding.
Supplementary reference catalog

In addition to the people and maps described in the main text, the collector may run across additional antiquarian sources of relevance for collection or background research. For reference purposes, it is useful to briefly mention some of the involved individuals and their contributions, which is done below. Although I have directly seen examples of some of these works, I am dependent upon other sources of information for many others.
Mental Illness Prevention and Promotion

There has been a remarkable growth of high quality empirical studies in the prevention of mental illness and the promotion of mental health over the past three decades. A series of reports (Institute of Medicine (IOM), Reducing risks for mental disorders: Frontiers for preventive intervention research, 1994; National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup, Blueprint for change: Research on child and adolescent psychiatry, 2001; Beardslee and Gladstone, Facilitating pathways: Care, treatment and prevention in child and adolescent mental health, 2004) has documented progress in the prevention of mental illness. More recently, the Institute of Medicine issued two new reports, one focused entirely on the prevention of emotional and behavioral disorders in youth (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities, 2009) and another with a specific focus on parental depression (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Depression in parents, parenting, and children, 2009). This progress has occurred through the definition of a set of rigorous standards for the conduct of research in prevention (e.g., testing of theoretically driven hypotheses, use of valid assessment instruments, blind assessment of subjects separate from intervention delivery, evaluation of outcomes over the long term, etc.), primarily using randomized trial designs. Yet, against the backdrop of successfully conducted prevention trials and efforts to promote mental health, virtually nothing has been written about the needs of caregivers who engage in prevention and health promotion and, in particular, what kinds of special supports they need. Caring for caregivers in prevention settings is absolutely essential to the success of preventive intervention efforts to date and will be even more important if such efforts are to be widely implemented in large-scale programs.
Abstract TP156: Race, Age and Other Differences in the Perceived Harm of Having a Stroke: The REGARDS Study

Background: Consequences of stroke can be devastating and long-term, impacting physical and mental functioning, quality of life, and other activities of daily living. Based on fear appeal research,...
The role of graphene as an overlayer on nanostructured hematite photoanodes for improved solar water oxidation

Abstract Photocatalysis is a clean, sustainable method of producing hydrogen fuel . Hematite (α-Fe 2O3 ) is a promising photocatalytic material due to its favorable band gap, earth abundance and low cost. However, overcoming hematite's poor surface and electrical properties is crucial for reaching its theoretical potential. To this end, we show that single layer graphene transferred to the surface of nanostructured, titanium doped hematite results in a photocurrent density 1.6 times greater than bare hematite. Understanding the mechanism behind this enhancement is important for optimizing graphene coatings on photocatalysts . Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy reveals that graphene affects the surface-electrolyte interface without modifying the bulk of the hematite. Kinetic studies were performed using Intensity Modulated Photocurrent Spectroscopy, revealing that hematite with the graphene overlayer is able to transfer charge more efficiently due to a decrease in the surface recombination rate. Therefore, the main contribution of graphene on hematite is reduced surface recombination, resulting in a higher yield of charge carriers on the catalytic surface to participate in the oxygen evolution reaction. Single layer graphene overlayers have the potential to act as a general surface-modification technique to improve the photocurrent density of other metal oxide photocatalysts.
Impact of Hypothyroidism and Heart Failure on Hospitalization Risk.

Background: Prior studies suggest that the relationship between hypothyroidism and mortality is dependent on underlying cardiovascular risk. Little is known about the association of hypothyroidism ...
Shape or substance? Children’s strategy when labeling a food and its healthfulness

Abstract The goal of this research was to examine which properties children use to identify a food and its healthfulness when its appearance and substance do not match. In Study 1 (N = 40), 3- to 6-year-olds saw a drawing of a food (its shape, e.g., apple) with a flap that opened to a different food (its substance, e.g., candy). Participants were asked the name of the food, whether it was healthy, and to explain their responses. Study (N = 46) demonstrated the transformation of the food’s substance into its shape. For both studies, older children were consistent in identifying a food and its healthfulness by its substance and did so more than younger children. These results fit into the existing literature on children’s categorization strategies within core knowledge areas and provide insight into initiatives aimed at promoting children’s health and safety.
Computational Redesign of PD-1 Interface for PD-L1 Ligand Selectivity

Chronic or persistent stimulation of the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathway prevents T cells from mounting anti-tumor and anti-viral immune responses. Blockade of this inhibitory checkpoint pathway has shown therapeutic importance by rescuing T cells from their exhausted state. Cognate ligands of the PD-1 receptor include the tissue-specific PD-L1 and PD-L2 proteins. Engineering a human PD-1 interface specific for PD-L1 or PD-L2 can provide a specific reagent and therapeutic advantage for tissue-specific disruption of the PD-1 pathway. We utilized ProtLID, a computational framework, which constitutes a residue-based pharmacophore approach, to custom-design a human PD-1 interface specific to human PD-L1 without any significant affinity to PD-L2. In subsequent cell assay experiments, half of all single-point mutant designs proved to introduce a statistically significant selectivity, with nine of these maintaining a close to wild-type affinity to PD-L1. This proof-of-concept study suggests a general approach to re-engineer protein interfaces for specificity.
1218 Excision of Endometriosis: Ureterolysis with Hypogastric Nerve Sparing

Video Objective To identify and highlight preservation of the ureter and hypogastric nerve during excision of superficial endometriosis for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. Setting This is the case of a 33 y/o G1P1 with history of endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain and dysmenorrhea who failed medical management and is referred for surgical management of endometriosis due to proximity of endometriosis lesions to ureter on a prior diagnostic laparoscopy. Interventions Laparoscopic excision of superficial endometriosis with ureterolysis and skeletonization of the hypogastric nerve. Conclusion The hypogastric nerve and ureter are vital to maintain proper urinary function. These structures can be safely preserved at the time of laparoscopic excision of endometriosis with a proper technique, appreciation and understanding of their anatomic location.
Endotracheal and Tracheostomy Tubes

Endotracheal and tracheostomy tubes are defined and discussed in detail, including the nuances of each device, including atypical tubes, such as dual-lumen endotracheal tubes. Optimal positioning is emphasized, as is the evaluation for such on plain film radiography. Complications of malpositioned tubes are discussed, as well as the remediation and treatment for such sequela, including bronchial intubation and tracheal erosion.
Wildland fire reburning trends across the US West suggest only short-term negative feedback and differing climatic effects

Wildfires are a significant agent of disturbance in forests and highly sensitive to climate change. Short-interval fires and high severity (mortality-causing) fires in particular, may catalyze rapid and substantial ecosystem shifts by eliminating woody species and triggering conversions from forest to shrub or grassland ecosystems. Modeling and fine-scale observations suggest negative feedbacks between fire and fuels should limit reburn prevalence as overall fire frequency rises. However, while we have good information on reburning patterns for individual fires or small regions, the validity of scaling these conclusions to broad regions like the US West remains unknown. Both the prevalence of reburning and the strength of feedbacks on likelihood of reburning over differing timescales have not been documented at the regional scale. Here we show that while there is a strong negative feedback for very short reburning intervals throughout wildland forests of the Western US, that feedback weakens after 10-20 years. The relationship between reburning intervals and drought diverges depending on location, with coastal systems reburning quicker (e.g., shorter interval between fires) in wetter conditions and interior forests in drier. This supports the idea that vegetation productivity – primarily fine fuels that accumulate rapidly (<10 years) – is of primary importance in determining reburn intervals. Our results demonstrate that while over short time intervals increasing fires inhibits reburning at broad scales, that breaks down after a decade. This provides important insights about patterns at very broad scales and agrees with finer scale work, suggesting that lessons from those scales apply across the entire western US.
Effect of Proteasome Inhibitors on the AAV-Mediated Transduction Efficiency in Retinal Bipolar Cells.

BACKGROUND Adeno-associated Virus (AAV) vectors are the most promising vehicles for therapeutic gene delivery to the retina. To develop a practical gene delivery tool, achieving high AAV transduction efficiency in specific cell types is often required. AAV-mediated targeted expression in retinal bipolar cells is needed in certain applications such as optogenetic therapy, however, the transduction efficiency driven by endogenous cell-specific promoters is usually low. Methods that can improve AAV transduction efficiency in bipolar cells need to be developed. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to examine the effect of proteasome inhibitors on AAV-mediated transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells. METHODS Quantitative analysis of fluorescent reporter protein expression was performed to assess the effect of two proteasome inhibitors, doxorubicin and MG132, on AAV-mediated transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells in mice. RESULTS Our results showed that doxorubicin can increase the AAV transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells in a dose-dependent manner. We also observed doxorubicin-mediated cytotoxicity in retinal neurons, but the cytotoxicity could be mitigated by the coapplication of dexrazoxane. Three months after the coapplication of doxorubicin (300 μM) and dexrazoxane, the AAV transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells increased by 33.8% and no cytotoxicity was observed in all the layers of the retina. CONCLUSION Doxorubicin could enhance the AAV transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells in vivo. The potential long-term cytotoxicity caused by doxorubicin to retinal neurons could be partially mitigated by dexrazoxane. The coapplication of doxorubicin and dexrazoxane may serve as a potential adjuvant regimen for improving AAV transduction efficiency in retinal bipolar cells.
The mevalonate pathway is a crucial regulator of tendon cell specification.

Tendons and ligaments are crucial components of the musculoskeletal system, yet the pathways specifying these fates remain poorly defined. Through a screen of known bioactive chemicals in zebrafish, we identified a new pathway regulating tendon cell induction. We established that statin, through inhibition of the mevalonate pathway, causes an expansion of the tendon progenitor population. Co-expression and live imaging studies indicate that the expansion does not involve an increase in cell proliferation, but rather results from re-specification of cells from the neural crest-derived sox9a+/sox10+ skeletal lineage. The effect on tendon cell expansion is specific to the geranylgeranylation branch of the mevalonate pathway and is mediated by inhibition of Rac activity. This work establishes a novel role for the mevalonate pathway and Rac activity in regulating specification of the tendon lineage.
The Design of a Holistic mHealth Community Library Model and Its Impact on Empowering Rural America

Healthcare delivery in rural America poses additional challenges than its urban counterpart. Rural locations more commonly face shortage of physicians, a lack of high-paying jobs with adequate insurance benefits, transportation, health literacy, a stigma with health conditions due to lack of anonymity and difficulties accessing specialty care. Rural communities see higher rates of suicide, heart diseases, respiratory disease, stroke, social isolation, and public health crisis such as the opioid epidemic. More than 46 million Americans, or 15% of the population, live in rural areas within the United States.
Clinical profile of road traffic accident victims

Background: India is a country with very high mortality rates due to road traffic accidents (RTAs). Two-wheelers are the most common vehicle involved in the RTAs. This study aimed to describe the overall characteristics of RTAs. Objective: The objective was to study the clinical profile of trauma patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care center. Methodology: A total of 200 patients were enrolled in the study. A preorganized datasheet was prepared for each patient attending the Emergency Department of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. It contains data about sociodemographics, trauma data, clinical evaluation result, as well as treatment strategies. Results: Most (31%) of the patients were aged between 20 and 30 years. The mean age of the patients was 35.8 years. There were 156 males (78%) and 44 females (22%). More than half of the patients were from urban areas. Most patients (82%) were injured by two-wheelers. Sixteen patients did not wear helmet, in which eight patients (50%) had a head injury. Conclusion: Trauma is a major health problem, especially in the young population in our country. Two-wheelers are the most common vehicle involved in the RTAs. Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among all age groups, and injuries from RTA is the most common cause of disability in the developing world.
An fMRI Investigation of the Neurocognitive Processing of Strategies and Measures

A central feature of accounting is the use of measures to represent key elements of performance across multiple strategic objectives. In this study, we directly examine the neural processing of measures and strategic objectives. Our findings suggest that the brain processes measures (which are more concrete) and strategies (which are more abstract) differently. Consistent with context availability theory, we find a pattern of results suggesting that measures are processed more readily than strategies. We further find evidence suggesting that this difference in processing is a key determinant of surrogation, the tendency for individuals to treat measures as though they are the strategic objectives they represent as opposed to imperfect representations of those strategic objectives. Specifically, we find that greater overall fMRI activation in brain regions that differentially process measures and strategies is associated with less surrogation.
History of premorbid depression is a risk factor for COVID-related mortality: Analysis of 1,387 COVID+ patients

Abstract Background The goal of the present work was to examine risk factors for mortality in a 1,387 COVID+ patients admitted to a hospital in Suffolk County, NY. Methods Data were collated by the hospital epidemiological service for patients admitted from 3/7/2020-9/1/2020. Time until final discharge or death was the outcome. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate time until death among admitted patients. Findings In total, 99.06% of cases had resolved leading to 1,179 discharges and 211 deaths. Length of stay was significantly longer in those who died as compared to those who did not p=0.007). Of patients who had been discharged (n=1,179), 54 were readmitted and 9 subsequently died. Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression revealed that in addition to older age, male sex, and heart failure, a history of premorbid depression was a risk factor for COVI-19 mortality. Major depression was a risk factor even when adjusting for age and for neuropsychiatric conditions as well as other comorbidities including cardiovascular disease and pulmonary conditions. Sex-stratified analyses revealed that associations between mortality and depression was only evident in males. Similarly, chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were only risk factors in males. Interpretation While an increasing number of studies have shown effects linking cardiovascular risk factors with increased risk of mortality in COVID+ patients, this study reports that history of depression is a risk factor for COVID mortality. Funding No funding was received for this study.
Predictability and the Logic of Perceived Appropriateness: How Expressed Emotions Influence Trust

Across eight studies, we describe how emotional expressions interact with contextual cues to signal benevolent predictability and influence trust. We identify context as an important moderator of the relationship between emotional expressions and trust. Absent contextual cues, negative emotional expressions harm trust, but negative emotional expressions that are congruent with contextual cues boost trust. Similarly, happy expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by joyful contextual cues, but not by sad, angry, or neutral cues; angry expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by angry contextual cues, but by not joyful or neutral cues; sad emotional expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by sad contextual cues, but not by joyful or neutral cues. In linking emotional expressions and trust, we develop a theoretical framework that incorporates the logic of appropriateness and benevolent predictability to broaden our understanding of the antecedents of trust.
TEACh: Task-driven Embodied Agents that Chat.

Robots operating in human spaces must be able to engage in natural language interaction with people, both understanding and executing instructions, and using conversation to resolve ambiguity and recover from mistakes. To study this, we introduce TEACh, a dataset of over 3,000 human--human, interactive dialogues to complete household tasks in simulation. A Commander with access to oracle information about a task communicates in natural language with a Follower. The Follower navigates through and interacts with the environment to complete tasks varying in complexity from "Make Coffee" to "Prepare Breakfast", asking questions and getting additional information from the Commander. We propose three benchmarks using TEACh to study embodied intelligence challenges, and we evaluate initial models' abilities in dialogue understanding, language grounding, and task execution.
Beyond the Quadratic Formula

The quadratic formula for the solution of quadratic equations was discovered independently by scholars in many ancient cultures and is familiar to everyone. Less well known are formulas for solutions of cubic and quartic equations whose discovery was the high point of 16th century mathematics. Their study forms the heart of this book, as part of the broader theme that a polynomials coefficients can be used to obtain detailed information on its roots. A closing chapter offers glimpses into the theory of higher-degree polynomials, concluding with a proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra. The book also includes historical sections designed to reveal key discoveries in the study of polynomial equations as milestones in intellectual history across cultures. Beyond the Quadratic Formula is designed for self-study, with many results presented as exercises and some supplemented by outlines for solution. The intended audience includes in-service and prospective secondary mathematics teachers, high school students eager to go beyond the standard curriculum, undergraduates who desire an in-depth look at a topic they may have unwittingly skipped over, and the mathematically curious who wish to do some work to unlock the mysteries of this beautiful subject.
Hearing: Cochlear and Brainstem Implants

Cochlear and brainstem implantation technology allows many patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss the ability to perceive acoustic energy through artificial means and greatly enhances interaction with their environment. By understanding implant mechanism, device characteristics, patient indications, surgical techniques, complications and outcomes, implantation technology can be executed effectively and safely. Future advances in implantation strive to mimic normal hearing capabilities. Keywords: cochlear implant; auditory brainstem implant; sensorineural hearing loss; otologic surgical procedure
Democratic Legitimacy and the Reasoned Will of the People

The modern democratic state is a coercive legal apparatus meant to order and regulate a number of important societal activities, for the purpose of securing or advancing some notion of the general will or good of the people. There are a number of competing justificatory accounts of the state’s authority to coerce. Here I will discuss and defend a deliberative account. Deliberative accounts draw on the liberal tradition’s emphasis on the natural freedom of individuals, and, in particular, on the idea that the state’s ultimate authority derives only from the reasoned judgment of the people. Of course, deliberative theorists recognize that the exercise of political power without any basis in public consensus is unavoidable in politics. However, this does not mean that we must give up on the liberal ideal of justification or shared reason that forms the normative core of the deliberative account. I illustrate this by discussing and defending deliberative accounts generally, and then by developing and defending an interpretation of John Rawls’s “liberal principle of legitimacy” that shows it to be both normatively compelling and practically realistic.
Pheochromocytoma. Fine structural, biochemical and clinical observations.

Tumor fine structure, tumor catecholamine content, and clinical findings were correlated in 17 patients with pheochromocytoma. Tumor catecholamine content ranged from 26 to 1,800 mg, norepinephrine comprising 20 to 100 percent of the total. Normetanephrine and metanephrine concentrations averaged 1 percent or less of those of norepinephrine and epinephrine. Electron micrographic analysis showed that each tumor was composed of light and dark cells, both cell types being capable of storing norepinephrine and epinephrine granules simultaneously. The number of norepinephrine and epinephrine granules showed positive correlation with the biochemically determined quantities of tumor norepinephrine and epinephrine (r = 0.92, P <0.001). Granule population density was proportionate to tumor catecholamine concentration (r = 0.68, P <0.01). No correlation was found between the clinical symptomatology and the fine structure, the latter being similar in patients with paroxysmal and sustained hypertension as well as in 2 patients with asymptomatic pheochromocytoma. No morphologic evidence was found to substantiate the existence of functionally different types of pheochromocytoma. The morphology rather suggested catecholamine synthesis and storage as the primary function of pheochromocytes.
Inclusion of Social Values in Facility Location Planning

The optimal location of a facility on a given site on the basis of construction cost contour information is presented. The identification of pertinent social considerations, such as aesthetics, conservation, recreation, pollution controls, or employment opportunities, is reviewed and the weighted objective means of quantifying an expected social benefit at a number of trial locations is derived. These data are the basis for a set of contours which identify the optimal point from purely a social benefit point-of-view. A means of achieving an overall optimal solution via a coupling of economic and social considerations in a cost-benefit context is then given.
A nested petri net framework for modeling and analyzing multi-agent systems

In the past two decades, multi-agent systems (MAS) have emerged as a new paradigm for conceptualizing large and complex distributed software systems. A multi-agent system view provides a natural abstraction for both the structure and the behavior of modern-day software systems. Although there were many conceptual frameworks for using multi-agent systems, there was no well established and widely accepted method for modeling multi-agent systems. This dissertation research addressed the representation and analysis of multi-agent systems based on model-oriented formal methods. The objective was to provide a systematic approach for studying MAS at an early stage of system development to ensure the quality of design. Given that there was no well-defined formal model directly supporting agent-oriented modeling, this study was centered on three main topics: (1) adapting a well-known formal model, predicate transition nets (PrT nets), to support MAS modeling; (2) formulating a modeling methodology to ease the construction of formal MAS models; and (3) developing a technique to support machine analysis of formal MAS models using model checking technology. PrT nets were extended to include the notions of dynamic structure, agent communication and coordination to support agent-oriented modeling. An aspect-oriented technique was developed to address the modularity of agent models and compositionality of incremental analysis. A set of translation rules were defined to systematically translate formal MAS models to concrete models that can be verified through the model checker SPIN (Simple Promela Interpreter). This dissertation presents the framework developed for modeling and analyzing MAS, including a well-defined process model based on nested PrT nets, and a comprehensive methodology to guide the construction and analysis of formal MAS models.
Cyclohexanone as an effective hydride interceptor at platinum electrodes in non-aqueous media: characterization via effects on the electrogenerated chemiluminescence of 9,10-diphenylanthracene

Abstract Cyclohexanone was examined as a possible scavenger of hydride that is eliminated electrolytically from Pt electrodes at negative potentials. This substance reacts quickly and cleanly with hydride to produce the alkoxide of cyclohexanol. Its effectiveness for electrochemical applications was tested by examining the chemiluminescence transients from the sequential generation of the anion and cation radicals of 9,10-diphenylanthracene in acetonitrile. The addition of cyclohexanone caused the light transients from the two distinct reactant generation sequences to become much more nearly equivalent, and it improved the linearity of the ECL intensity with the inverse square root of time. In addition, cyclohexanone was shown to suppress the formation of surface films formed from tris(2,2'-bipyridine)-ruthenium(II) at Pt electrodes in acetonitrile solutions. In the studies of ECL, high concentrations of cyclohexanone also caused a magnetic effect to arise in the DPA system. This was interpreted in terms of an induction by cyclohexanone of a significant T-route component to the ECL.
The commons dilemma

Whenever a short-term or local need in the exploitation of a scarce natural resource must be pitted against its long-term use or the needs of the larger community, the commons dilemma arises. The study of commons dilemmas originated in agricultural economies but has importance in all resource management areas. Psychologists have recently found it to be a useful paradigm in the study of decision-making behavior. This paper reviews the commons dilemma as it has been used in three areas of psychological research: games theory, animal and human territorial behavior, and behavior reinforcement. In the first area, results show how communication within groups operates in cooperation/competition situations. In the second, the effects of social and political ideologies are examined. In the third, the implications of the commons dilemma with regard to breaking out of “social traps” are discussed. Throughout, the relevance of this basic psychological research to rational resource management is made clear. An extensive bibliography of relevant original research is provided.
Towards A Realism-Based Metric for Quality Assurance in Ontology Matching

Ontology matching is commonly defined as a matter of dealing with semantic correspondences between terms in ontologies and thus refers to more specific activities such as mapping or aligning, possibly with ontology merging in mind. However, it has been pointed out that there still prevails no common understanding of what such 'semantic correspondences' are supposed to be, and that in consequence “human experts do not agree on how ontologies should be merged, and we do not yet have a good enough metric for comparing ontologies.” In what follows we define such a metric, which is designed to allow assessment of the degree to which the integration of two ontologies yields improvements over either of the input ontologies. We start out from the thesis that if two or more ontologies are to be considered for matching, then, however much they may reflect distinct views of reality on the part of their authors, the portions of reality to which they refer must be such as to overlap. Our approach takes account of the fact that both authors and users of ontologies may make mistakes (the former in their interpretation of reality and in the formulation of their views, the latter in misinterpreting the former's intentions).To do justice to such factors, we need to draw a distinction between three levels of: (1) reality; (2) cognitive representations; and (3) publicly accessible concretizations of these representations. We can then define 'semantic correspondence' not, as is usual, in terms of (horizontal) relations of 'association' or 'synonymy' between the terms within the ontologies to be matched, but rather in terms of the (vertical) relation of reference: terms correspond semantically if they refer to the same entities in reality. One conclusion of our argument is that, when ontology matching has been used as the first step towards ontology merging, then the merged ontology can contain inconsistencies only if there are already inconsistencies in at least one of the source ontologies.
Pregnancy, Lactation, and Breast Cancer

Breast cancer accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women in the United States. This disease is the third leading cause of cancer deaths today, affecting in their lifetime, 1 out of every 13 women. When carcinoma of the breast is diagnosed in a pregnant or lactating woman, it is particularly tragic. Breast cancer coinciding with pregnancy or lactation occurs about once in every 1000 pregnancies, and represents 1% of total breast cancers. If only women of childbearing age are considered, then the reported frequencies of coincidence range from 7 to 14% of breast cancers.
Superficial venous disease and combined hormonal contraceptives: a systematic review☆

Abstract Background Superficial venous disease, which includes superficial venous thrombosis (SVT) and varicose veins, may be associated with a higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Use of combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) has been associated with an increased risk of VTE compared with nonuse. Little is known about whether use of CHCs by women with superficial venous disease may further elevate the risk of VTE. Objectives To investigate evidence regarding risk of VTE in women with SVT or varicose veins who use CHCs compared with non-CHC users. Methods We searched the PubMed database for all English-language articles published from database inception through September 2014. We included primary research studies that examined women with SVT or varicose veins who used CHCs compared to women with these conditions who did not use CHCs. Outcomes of interest included VTE (among women with SVT or varicose veins) and SVT (for those with varicose veins). Results Two studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. One fair-quality case–control study reported an odds ratio (OR) for VTE of 43.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] 15.5–119.3) among women with SVT using oral contraceptives (OCs) compared with nonusers without SVT. The OR for VTE was also increased for women with SVT not using OCs (OR 5.1; 95% CI 2.8–9.5) and for women without SVT using OCs (OR 4.0; 95% CI 3.3–4.7), compared with nonusers without SVT. One fair-quality cohort study demonstrated that women with varicose veins had an increased rate of VTE with use of OCs (1.85 per 1000 women-years [WY]), compared with users without varicose veins (0.84 per 1000 WY), nonusers with varicose veins (0.31 per 1000 WY) and nonusers without varicose veins (0.19 per 1000 WY). This study also demonstrated that women with varicose veins had an increased rate of SVT with use of OCs (10.63 per 1000 WY), compared with nonusers with varicose veins (7.59 per 1000 WY), users without varicose veins (1.89 per 1000 WY) and nonusers without varicose veins (0.77 per 1000 WY). Conclusion Two studies suggest increased risk of VTE among OC users with superficial venous disease; however, no definitive conclusions can be made due to the limited number of studies and limitations in study quality. Theoretical concerns need to be clarified with further research on whether the risk of significant sequelae from superficial venous disease among CHC users is related to clinical severity of disease and underlying factors.
Group-theoretical structure of the atomic f shell: connection with the non-Euclidean heptakisoctahedral (didodecahedral) group

This paper discusses the use of the non-Euclidean heptakisoctahedral group, 7 O, of order 168, to study the atomic f shell of interest in lanthanide and actinide chemistry. In this group only the representations of the spherical harmonics of dimensions 0, 1, or 6 (mod 7) can be reduced to sums of irreducible representations (irreps). These include the S, F, I, K, and N spherical harmonics with l values of 0, 3, 6, 7, and 10, respectively. The other spherical harmonics must be combined into pairs with total dimension a multiple of 7 in order to have representations reducible into sums of irreps of 7 O. Such pairs of interest in the atomic f shell include the PH and DG pairs of total dimension 14, the GM and HL pairs of total dimension 28, and the LQ and MO pairs of total dimension 42. If the subgroup chain SO(7) ⊃ G 2 ⊃ 7 O is used to study the atomic f shell, terms corresponding to these paired spherical harmonics, such as PH and DG pairs found in the highest spin f n configurations, appear together unde...
Recovery of forward-masked responses in ventral cochlear nucleus neurons

Abstract Single unit responses were obtained from 8 classes of cells in the ventral cochlear nucleus: Primarylike, Primarylike with characteristic frequencies below 1 kHz, Primarylike-Notch, Sustained Chopper, Transient-Chopper, Low-intensity Chopper; Onset with later activity and On-Chopper. Stimuli were paired tonebursts, a masker preceding a probe, separated by time delta t ms. The decrement in discharge rate to the probe was measured as a function of delta t and constituted the forward-masking recovery function. The recovery functions of primarylike units were similar to those reported for auditory nerve fibers, but recovered more slowly than all other classes of units in the ventral cochlear nucleus. Some units, such as onset units, were completely masked at short masker-probe intervals, while others, such as the low-intensity choppers, were less affected by the masker. More masking occurred in the first 2 ms of the response (onset rate) than in the overall response (average rate). Using shorter maskers and measuring the onset rate produced greater differences in masking functions between unit classes. Units with high spontaneous activity were more resistant to the effects of the masker than units with low and medium spontaneous activity. This was especially evident at high masker levels and short masker-probe intervals. Units other than primarylike often showed non-monotonic relationships between the firing rate evoked by the masker and the firing rate decrement in response to the probe, suggesting that both adaptation and inhibition are operating to produce the observed effects.
Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating

This article proposes a contextual-evolutionary theory of human mating strategies. Both men and women are hypothesized to have evolved distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie short-term and long-term strategies. Men and women confront different adaptive problems in short-term as opposed to long-term mating contexts. Consequently, different mate preferences become activated from their strategic repertoires. Nine key hypotheses and 22 predictions from Sexual Strategies Theory are outlined and tested empirically. Adaptive problems sensitive to context include sexual accessibility, fertility assessment, commitment seeking and avoidance, immediate and enduring resource procurement, paternity certainty, assessment of mate value, and parental investment. Discussion summarizes 6 additional sources of behavioral data, outlines adaptive problems common to both sexes, and suggests additional contexts likely to cause shifts in mating strategy.
Regions of Reduced Static Stress Drop near Fault Tips for Large Strike-Slip Earthquakes

Abstract We present a case study of slip distributions for the 1992 Landers ( M w 7.3) and the 1999 Hector Mine ( M w 7.1) earthquakes in California’s Mojave Desert. Slip distributions, as determined from geophysical inversion of geodetic, strong ground motion, and teleseismic data, are complex, heterogeneous, and often exhibit linearly tapering or concave-upward patterns toward segment tips, distinctly different from the elliptical slip distributions characteristic of uniform stress drop. Mechanical interaction of discontinuous fault segments fully explains the reduced slip near the southern termination of the Camp Rock/Emerson fault segment of the Landers rupture; however, numerical models demonstrate that such interactions are insufficient to explain slip distributions observed at other segment terminations. Numerical models demonstrate that long (5–25 km) zones of reduced stress drop in the vicinity of some rupture segment terminations can explain the slip distributions for these large earthquakes. Zones of reduced stress drop are implemented as regions of increased Coulomb strength. Slip distributions are improved 30%–70% relative to models with uniform stress drop. Regions of reduced stress drop appear to play a relatively greater role near segment tips at which rupture terminates than near segment tips at which rupture jumps to a nearby fault segment. Similar results are obtained implementing discrete stepwise and spatially linear reductions of stress drop. Plausible mechanical explanations for such zones of reduced stress drop include heterogeneous fault strength or friction, spatial or temporal changes in pore pressure, geometric complexity of the fault surface, heterogeneity of normal tractions resolved on the fault surface, inelastic deformation, and dynamic rupture effects.
Arrest history as an indicator of adolescent/young adult substance use and HIV risk

Abstract Juvenile offenders are particularly at risk for HIV because of their substantially high rates of risk behaviors, high rates of substance use disorders and psychopathology. Most studies have focused on risk behaviors among incarcerated youth. This study sought to determine if an arrest history could serve as a marker for HIV risk and substance abuse among a community-based sample of high-risk adolescents and young adults. Adolescents ( N = 1400; mean age = 18 years) who participated in a larger multi-site HIV prevention program in three states (GA, FL and RI) provided baseline data on sexual risk, substance use, attitudes and mental health history. Participants were grouped as arrestees ( N = 404) and non-arrestees ( N = 996) based on self-reported arrest history. Juvenile arrestees reported more alcohol and drug use, substance use during sex, unprotected sex acts, STI diagnoses, suicide attempts and psychiatric hospitalizations than non-arrestees. Having an arrest history may serve as a marker for adolescent HIV risk and substance abuse. Effectively screening adolescents for legal history and responding to the psychosocial and health needs of these high-risk adolescents could increase necessary engagement in substance use and mental health treatment, reduce HIV risk in the community, and reduce costs to the legal, medical and mental health systems.