cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Introduction to Models of Online Peer-to-Peer Social Networking

This book concerns peer-to-peer applications and mechanisms operating on the Internet, particularly those that are not fully automated and involve significant human interaction. So, the realm of interest is the intersection of distributed systems and online social networking. Generally, simple models are described to clarify the ideas. Beginning with short overviews of caching, graph theory and game theory, we cover the basic ideas of structured and unstructured search. We then describe a simple framework for reputations and for iterated referrals and consensus. This framework is applied to a problem of sybil identity management. The fundamental result for iterated Byzantine consensus for a relatively important issue is also given. Finally, a straight-forward epidemic model is used to describe the propagation of malware on-line and for BitTorrent-style file-sharing. This short book can be used as a preliminary orientation to this subject matter. References are given for the interested student to papers with good survey and tutorial content and to those with more advanced treatments of specific topics. For an instructor, this book is suitable for a one-semester seminar course. Alternatively, it could be the framework for a semester's worth of lectures where the instructor would supplement each chapter with additional lectures on related or more advanced subject matter. A basic background is required in the areas of computer networking, probability theory, stochastic processes, and queueing. Table of Contents: Networking overview / Graphs / Games / Search in structured networks / Search in unstructured networks / Transactions, reputations, and referrals / False Referrals / Peer-to-peer file sharing / Consensus in dynamical belief systems / Byzantine consensus / Epidemics
Why Urban Parents Resist Involvement in Their Children’s Elementary Education

We examined the perceptions of teachers and parents about family involvement in urban schools. The study generated from several others that we have been conducting about teaching in high poverty, urban schools. Using focus groups, our purpose was to learn how we could better prepare teachers for urban schools. The data revealed that teachers are frustrated with a lack of parental involvement in literacy activities at home and at school. Parents, however, expressed distrust toward the local elementary school because they felt the faculty has been biased against African American and Latino children and their families. Consequently, the parents said they deliberately decided not to participate in school activities. Parents explained they would only work with teachers who respected and valued their children. Results of our study point to the importance of helping new teachers learn strategies for developing strong trusting relationships and effective communication strategies when working with urban families. Experienced teachers are well aware of the benefits of family involvement in children's education. In the past, parental support was always thought to be a critical component of education, and teachers assumed, whether accurately or not, that families supported their efforts and expectations for children's learning. Yet in contemporary society issues about parental support and involvement are complicated by diverse family arrangements and vast socio-cultural differences among classroom teachers, children and families. In particular, urban families are often marginalized from everyday school life by poverty, racism, language and cultural differences, and the parents often perceive that public education is designed for children from middle class, white families at the expense of others (Oakes & Lipton, 1999).
Responsible agents and the “truth” about their future states

Abstract In the posthumously published Behind the eye, the late D.M. MacKay gave the definitive statement of his position on determinism and responsibility. This position relies heavily on two basic insights: first, a prediction of a human being's future states is not accurate if the subject of the prediction believes it; second, a proposition is true only if some agent's ability to exert control depends upon the accuracy of the proposition. In this essay, I develop an argument for the incompatibility of determinism and responsibility, as well as a counter argument which takes advantage of the preceding two insights. Next, I clarify MacKay's conception of truth and apply it to these arguments. Lastly, I defend MacKay's position against three possible criticisms.
Fast Intra Mode Decision In High Efficiency Video Coding

In this paper a coding unit early termination algorithm resulting in a fast intra prediction is proposed that terminates complete full search prediction for the coding unit. This is followed by a prediction unit mode decision to find the optimal modes HEVC encoder 35 prediction modes. This includes a two-step process: firstly calculating the Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) of all the modes by down sampling method and secondly applying a three-step search algorithm to remove unnecessary modes. This is followed by early RDOQ (Rate Distortion Optimization Quantization) termination algorithm to further reduce the encoding time. Experimental results based on several video test sequences for 30 frames from each test sequence show for HEVC a decrease of about 35%-48% in encoding, with negligible degradation in peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). Metrics such as BD-bitrate (Bjontegaard Delta bitrate), BD-PSNR (Bjontegaard Delta Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) and RD plots (Rate Distortion) are also used.
Long-term GIS-based records of habitat changes in a Lake Erie coastal marsh

Great Lakes wetlands have lost much of their historical extent, structure and function. Their transformation was influenced by a number of factors acting over a period of decades including modifications in the basin’s hydrology (watershed drainage, dikes, lake levels), biology (exotic species), geology (sediment transport and composition), and chemistry (water quality). The relative importance of each of these catalysts likely varied from region to region and depended on pre-settlement conditions and natural variability in the marshes, both generally unknown. We applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to a 120-year record (1872‐1991) of images of a 2 000-ha marsh system along the southwestern shore of Lake Erie, Ohio, USA. Long-term variability in aggregate characteristics of wetland vegetation was linked with environmental changes and human impact in three regions representing (1) a naturally existing open marsh with the lowest relative topograhical elevation, (2) an open marsh with a protected exposure to the lake and higher elevation, and (3) a diked marsh with manipulated water levels. The deep, open marsh lost half of its emergents, and a third of its patchiness and edge habitat in the early 1900s, when severe watershed degradations accompanied relatively low Lake Erie water levels. Nearly all remaining emergents were eliminated between 1940 and 1991 in this open marsh, following progressively higher lake levels. In the protected open marsh, the extent of emergents fluctuated with lake levels until 1977, and declined severely since then during sustained high lake levels. Habitat parameters varied little until recent decades, but declined markedly thereafter. The diked marsh maintained pre-1900 conditions for emergent plants, patchiness, and habitat edge; variability was linked to breached dikes and the presence/absence of marsh management. No landward re-establishment of the entire marsh complex since 1873 was evident on the 10 images studied. We propose the interaction of three forcing functions as the principal mechanism controlling the historical and current distribution of aquatic plants in southwestern Lake Erie marshes. These factors, collectively referred to as the Landward Advance Paradigm (LAP), include (1) the restricted ability of the marshes to advance landward, (2) sustained above-average lake levels, and (3) the presence of carp (Cyprinus carpio) in wetlands with silt and clay sediments. Management focused on enhancing the role of Lake Erie wetlands should consider these landscape-level alterations and attempt to maximize wetland functions within the context of the LAP.
Dynamic load management for NG IPS ships

A simplified notional Next Generation Integrated Shipboard Power System (NG IPS) model is introduced. Based on the simplified system model, dynamic load management method is presented considering equality and inequality constraints of the system. The problem is formulated as a dynamic optimization problem to maximize the energized loads in the system without violating any constraint of the system. A simplified NG IPS model is simulated in PSCAD, and three scenarios are presented to illustrate the dynamic load management method. The simulation results indicate that the dynamic performance of the shipboard power system model with load management is much better than its performance without load management.
Polymerisation von styrol mit diacetoxy-diphenyl-azoäthan

Bei der mit Diacetoxy-diphenyl-azoathan gestarteten Polymerisation treten der Abbruch durch Primarradikale sowie gewisse Anomalien bei Reaktion in benzolischer Losung in demselben Mase auf wie bei Verwendung von Azodiisobutyronitril (AIBN) als Initiator. Dadurch kann das Ketenimin, welches bekanntlich beim Zerfall des AIBN entsteht, als Ursache fur diese Erscheinungen ausgeschieden werden. Quantitative Ubereinstimmung des Benzoleinflusses bei Verwendung der beiden verschiedenen Katalysatoren fuhrt zu dem Schlus, das der Losungsmitteleffekt nicht durch eine Nebenreaktion des Benzols mit dem Initiator erklart werden kann. Diacetoxydiphenylazoethane was used as initiator for the polymerization of styrene. Termination by primary radicals as well as certain anomalies in the kinetics, if polymerization is carried out in benzene, occur in the same manner as in polymerization with azosisobutyronitrile (AIBN). These findings exclude, as a cause for the cited phenomena, the ketenimine which is formed during the decomposition of AIBN. A quantitative agreement of the influence of the benzene on kinetics, using these two different catalysts, leads to the conclusion that the solvent effect on radical polymerization can not be explained by a side reaction between the initiator and the solvent.
Fellowship and career path preferences in residents of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

Objectives/Hypothesis: Assess fellowship and academic/private practice career track preferences in residents of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: A total of 1,364 U.S. otolaryngology residents were surveyed. Questions addressed demographics, work hours and sleep, fellowship preference, and career track preference (academic/private practice). Trends in fellowship and career track preference were analyzed by year of clinical otolaryngology training. Data were additionally analyzed after stratification by sex. Results: The response rate was 50%. The desire to complete a fellowship declined from 62% (year 2) to 58% (year 5), whereas the desire to not complete a fellowship increased from 31% (year 2) to 41% (year 5). Fellowship interest increased for rhinology and head and neck surgery by training year, whereas interest declined for neurotology and facial plastics. Expectation of an academic path increased from 29% (year 2) to 38% (year 5), whereas expectation of private practice declined slightly from 59% (year 2) to 57% (year 5). Women were initially more interested in both completing a fellowship (69% women, 60% men) and academics (40% women, 27% men). At the end of training, these sex differences were eliminated or reversed (59% men, 54% women for fellowship; 39% men, 35% women for academics). Residents interested in pursuing fellowship or academics reported working 2 hr/week more than those interested in no fellowship or private practice, respectively (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Fellowship and career track preferences suggest trends that may be useful to residency/fellowship program directors and residents making career choices. Inequalities producing differences according to sex should be addressed. Laryngoscope, 2011
TRANSPORT TERMINALS: NEW PERSPECTIVES.

The first impression most geographers may have about the study of transport terminals is that their relevance outside of the transportation field would be very limited. To the contrary, transport terminals are at the very center of critical issues in economic, political, urban, and other geographic subfields, and deserve much more attention. One cannot fully appreciate how globalization works without understanding how seaports, airports, rail terminals, and truck terminals operate as the linchpins of the global economy. Transport terminals represent some of the most critical parts of the physical infrastructure that makes possible the increased volume of passenger and freight movements around the world. As such, funding for new and expanded infrastructure is a central concern for local, regional, national, and supranational authorities. Since much of this infrastructure must be in or near major urban areas, issues involving the positive and negative externalities of port and terminal location can come to dominate public discourse at the local level.
Recommendations for Accommodations: Implications of (In)consistency

When accurately assigned and administered appropriately, testing accommodations help ameliorate the effects of personal characteristics that limit access to critical information and prevent a person from demonstrating his or her true abilities in the tested domain. Inaccurate assignment or misuse of accommodations may counteract the benefits of accommodations and introduce sources of measurement error. In this study, we investigated the consistency of accommodation assignments across 38 third-grade students' Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), teacher recommendations, and student performance data. We found inconsistencies between the accommodations listed on the IEP and the teachers' recommendations. Similar results were observed when comparing either IEP or teacher recommendations with students' performance. These inconsistencies are interpreted in light of federal mandates and best practices.
Hospital stockpiling for influenza pandemics with pre-determined response levels

This paper explores the problem of hospital stock-piling of critical medical supplies in preparation for a possible influenza pandemic.We consider a regional network of hospitals that have mutual aid agreements in place such that they may borrow or lend supplies from each other during medical emergencies. We assume that the attack rate is a random variable with known distribution and that the demand surge due to the pandemic is a function of the attack rate, and is thus stochastic. We further assume that each hospital in the network pre-determines its targeted pandemic response level, and that any demand beyond this pre-determined level is reallocated to other hospitals. Each hospital in the network must decide the stockpile level that minimizes its expected overall cost, including purchasing cost, holding cost, cost (revenue) for borrowing (lending), penalty for setting a too low targeted level, and shortage penalty. To capture the mutual aid relationships of hospitals in the network, we formulate the problem as a game theoretic model. We show that the response sets are nested and we provide an algorithm to obtain numerically the Nash Equilibrium solution of this game. We illustrate the structure of the model on a two-hospital example and perform sensitivity analysis with respect to parameters of our model.
Functional evidence for a second tumor suppressor gene on human chromosome 17.

Abstract The development and progression of human tumors often involves inactivation of tumor suppressor gene function. Observations that specific chromosome deletions correlate with distinct groups of cancer suggest that some types of tumors may share common defective tumor suppressor genes. In support of this notion, our initial studies showed that four human carcinoma cell lines belong to the same complementation group for tumorigenic potential. In this investigation, we have extended these studies to six human soft tissue sarcoma cell lines. Our data showed that hybrid cells between a peripheral neuroepithelioma (PNET) cell line and normal human fibroblasts or HeLa cells were nontumorigenic. However, hybrid cells between the PNET cell line and five other soft tissue sarcoma cell lines remained highly tumorigenic, suggesting at least one common genetic defect in the control of tumorigenic potential in these cells. To determine the location of this common tumor suppressor gene, we examined biochemical and molecular polymorphic markers in matched pairs of tumorigenic and nontumorigenic hybrid cells between the PNET cell line and a normal human fibroblast. The data showed that loss of the fibroblast-derived chromosome 17 correlated with the conversion from nontumorigenic to tumorigenic cells. Transfer of two different chromosome 17s containing a mutant form of the p53 gene into the PNET cell line caused suppression of tumorigenic potential, implying the presence of a second tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 17.
Properties of the Arctic 2-Meter Air Temperature Field for 1979 to the Present Derived from a New Gridded Dataset

Abstract This paper discusses the behavior of the Arctic Ocean surface air temperature field for 1979–93. Temperatures are derived from a new gridded 6-h, 2-m air temperature dataset called POLES. These gridded air temperatures are estimated from optimal interpolation of temperature inputs from drifting buoys, manned Soviet North Pole (NP) drifting ice stations, coastal land weather stations, and ship reports. In processing the POLES data, the winter and summer properties of the mean NP temperatures are used to discard inaccurate or snow-covered buoys and to remove a summer warm bias. Comparison of the POLES and specific NP temperatures shows that the POLES temperature behaves well and gives better results than other gridded temperature datasets. Maps of the mean seasonal temperatures give realistic results consistent with other published estimates, and plots of the summer advance and retreat of the 0°C isotherm show the expected asymmetry between advance and retreat associated with the open water formati...
Viewpoint: Stochastic research, management implications, and the Journal of Range Management

Abstract This viewpoint paper examines criteria for preparing and evaluating manuscripts that involve stochastic approaches. Increasing use of stochastic mathematics to address inherent uncertainty in natural systems has meant increasing challenges to write and evaluate the manuscripts reporting such research. The paper provides a set of criteria directed at aiding authors, referees and associate editors in writing and evaluating this research. The paper asserts that for research papers to be acceptable to a management science journal such as the Journal of Range Management, they should at least be mathematically appropriate, functionally valid, pragmatically justified, technically comprehensible, and generally readable. It then examines the relationship of the concept of synthesis to the management implications sections of journal articles. The paper advocates increased attention to the concept of synthesis in making papers that report stochastic research in particular, and technical research in general,...
Economic Aspects of Space Access

Costs of previous manned spaceflight programs like Apollo and the Space Shuttle are discussed. Assessment of the general cost of spaceflight measured in terms of payload mass in orbit is carried out. The cost of manned spaceflight is evaluated on a component basis including development, production, flight operations, refurbishment, recovery, and insurance. General characteristics of the cost of various launch vehicle components are described.
Two-thirds of female smokers aged over 50 die from smoking-related causes, but quitting before 40 decreases this by 90%

Commentary on: Pirie K, Peto R, Reeves GK, et al. Million Women Study Collaborators. The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: a prospective study of one million women in the UK. Lancet 2013;381:133–41.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3][Web of Science][4] Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Given that women born after 1940 smoked throughout their lifespan, studies of mortality during the 21st century are needed to understand the hazards associated with prolonged smoking and cessation. In this prospective cohort study, participants completed mailed questionnaires about lifestyle, medical history and demographic factors; surveys were repeated 3 and 8 years later.1 Dates and causes of death were assessed through national records. At entry, women were asked if they were a current or ex-smoker and how many cigarettes they smoked. At … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DLancet%26rft.volume%253D381%26rft.spage%253D133%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS0140-6736%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F23107252%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S0140-6736&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=23107252&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febmed%2F19%2F1%2F24.atom [4]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000313420900029&link_type=ISI
Solvothermal annealing of block copolymer thin films.

A two-stage annealing process for block copolymer films was introduced consisting of a solvent vapor exposure followed by a thermal cycle. By heating the film but not the chamber, changes in the ambient vapor pressure of the solvent were avoided. Films of block copolymers and homopolymers showed transient nonmonotonic swelling behavior immediately after solvent exposure that was dependent on how the thin film was cast before the anneal. Thermal cycling of the solvent-swelled block copolymer films during the solvent vapor anneal (SVA) caused the films to deswell in 1–10 s and produced well-ordered microdomains in templated 45.5 and 51.5 kg/mol polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane films annealed in toluene and n-heptane vapors for total process times of 30 s to 5 min.
A laboratory exposure system to study the effects of aging on super-micron aerosol particles

A laboratory system was constructed that allows the super-micron particles to be aged for long periods of time under conditions that can simulate a range of natural environments and conditions, including relative humidity, oxidizing chemicals, organics and simulated solar radiation. Two proof-of-concept experiments using a non-biological simulant for biological particles and a biological simulant demonstrate the utility of these types of aging experiments. Green Visolite®, which is often used as a tracer material for model validation experiments, does not degrade with exposure to simulated solar radiation, the actual biological material does. This would indicate that Visolite® should be a good tracer compound for mapping the extent of a biological release using fluorescence as an indicator, but that it should not be used to simulate the decay of a biological particle when exposed to sunlight. The decay in the fluorescence measured for B. thurengiensis is similar to what has been previously observed in outdoor environments.
Visualization of patient prescription history data in emergency care.

Interpreting patient’s medication history from long textual data can be unwieldy especially in emergency care. We developed a real-time software application that converts one-year-long patient prescription history data into a visually appealing and information-rich timeline chart. The chart can be digested by healthcare providers quickly; hence, it could be an invaluable clinical tool when the rapid response time is crucial as in stroke or severe trauma cases. Furthermore, the visual clarity of the displayed information may help providers minimize medication errors. The tool has been deployed at the emergency department of a trauma center. Due to its popularity, we developed another version of this tool. It provides more granular drug dispensation information, which clinical pharmacists find very useful in their routine medication-reconciliation efforts.
Ultrasonography Significantly Overestimates Stone Size When Compared to Low-dose, Noncontrast Computed Tomography.

Objective To evaluate the differences between low-dose noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) and renal ultrasound (US) in the identification and measurement of urinary calculi. Materials and Methods A retrospective review was conducted at 3 institutions of patients evaluated for flank pain with both renal US and NCCT, within 1 day of one another, from 2012 to 2015. Stone presence and size were compared between imaging modalities. Stone size was determined by largest measured diameter. Stones were grouped into size categories (≤5 mm, 5.1-10 mm, and >10 mm) based on NCCT and compared with US. Statistical analysis was performed using 2-sided t tests. Results One hundred fifty-five patients received both a renal US and NCCT within 1 day. In 79 patients (51.0%), both US and NCCT identified a stone for size comparison. Fifty-eight patients (37.4%) had a stone visualized on NCCT but not on US, and 2 patients (1.3%) had a stone documented on US but not seen on NCCT. The average NCCT size of the stones missed on US was 4.5 mm. When comparing the average largest stone diameter for US (9.1 mm) vs NCCT (6.9 mm), US overestimated stone size by 2.2 mm ( P 10 mm. Conclusion US significantly overestimated stone size and this was most pronounced for small (≤5 mm) stones. The potential for systematic overestimation of stone size with standard US techniques should be taken into consideration when evaluating endourologic treatment options.
Mice with a Severe Deficiency of the Endothelial Protein C Receptor Gene Develop, Survive, and Reproduce Normally, and Do not Present with Enhanced Arterial Thrombosis after Challenge*

The endothelial cell Protein C receptor (EPCR) functions to enhance activation of anticoagulant Protein C (PC) by the thrombin/ thrombomodulin (Tm) complex on the surface of the endothelium. This overall system functions in anticoagulation, profibrinolytic, and antiinflammatory responses. Mice with a severe targeted deficiency of this receptor have been generated by integration of exogenous DNA elements into the 5’-untranslated region of the EPCR gene. Despite the retention of the entire endogenous EPCR coding sequence in the altered EPCR gene locus, only very low EPCR message contents were detected in mice by quantitative RT-PCR during embryogenesis and up to at least early adulthood. Immunohistochemical analysis of various regions of the arterial tree of mice up to 4 months of age, employing an anti-murine EPCR antibody, confirmed that undetectable levels of this protein were present in arterial regions during these periods. Despite this, these mice are not more prone to arterial thrombosis after challenge in a FeCl3 carotid artery thrombosis model. Small amounts (
Apoptosis in MDS: a new perspective.

As described in many chapters in this volume it is evident that excessive intramedullary apoptosis constitutes a salient feature of the pathobiology of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Since the first indication of increased apoptosis upon examining the bone marrow (BM) histology in 1990 by Clark and Lampert, followed by histochemical demonstration by our group in 1994–95 ([Mundle et al., 1994a] and [b]; [Raza et al., 1995a] and [b]), a number of studies using a variety of techniques in independent demographic populations around the globe have repeatedly confirmed this finding ([Yoshida & Mufti, 1999]). In spite of such an endorsement, it must be acknowledged that as pointed out by [Dar et al. (1999)], exceptions to this rule showing undetectable apoptosis are also commonly found in MDS. In cases with high apoptosis, the most striking feature is the engagement of all types of hematopoietic and stoma] cells in the apoptotic death process. As a result the presence of an apoptosis-inducing microenvironmental factor(s) with a wide range of target cells was suspected. Different studies have revealed exceedingly high levels of proinflammatory factors like tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa), interferon gamma (IFN y), interleukin (IL) 1 and 6, etc. ([Mundle et al., 1996]; [Shetty et al., 1996]; [Kitagawa et al., 1997]; [Gersuk et al., 1998]; [Deeg et al., 2000]). Subsequent studies highlighted TNFa. as probably the most apical trigger of apoptosis in MDS ([Mundle et al., 1999 a] and [b]).
A comparative study of organisational integration and NPD process proficiency in the heavy construction equipment industry: past and present

This study investigates new product market success in the heavy construction equipment industry over the past 20 years in the USA. This research examines the relationships between new product market success and (1) the proficiency with which new products are developed and (2) the degree of organisational integration among various groups of people. This study addresses three major research questions regarding the relationships among these three primary variables and whether Time Period (1993 and 2013) moderated the relationships between new product market success and (1) new product development (NPD) process proficiency and (2) organisational integration. It was found that NPD process proficiency significantly impacts new product market success in both the 2013 and the 1993 time periods. However, no moderating effects were found regarding the individual time periods but a direct effect was found regarding the lapse of time between 1993 and 2013. Study implications and recommendations are provided for NPD managers.
A Review of “Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith & Learning”

For the past two decades, dialogue regarding the integration of faith and learning in Christian higher education has revolved around how Christian faith informs scholarly endeavors, neglecting to d...
The accuracy of salespersons’ perceptions of their customers: Conceptual examination and an empirical study

The accuracy of salespersons' perceptions of their customers can have a significant effect on corporate profitability. Aside From the impact on short term sales performance, inaccurate information from the sales force can adversely affect the quality of long term, strategic plans. Yet, a review o the literature uncovered only two empirical studies which examined salespersons' accuracy The current paper presents a conceptual discussion and empirical study of the antecedents and consequences of the accuracy of the salespersons perceptions. The paper emphasizes that the determination and improvement of salespersons' accuracy should be an essential part of the management of the salesforce.
TNF receptor signaling inhibits cardiomyogenic differentiation of cardiac stem cells and promotes a neuroadrenergic-like fate

Whether tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) modulates cardiac stem cell (CSC) function is unknown. We show that TNF, primarily via TNF receptor-1, inhibits cardiomyogenic commitment of CSCs, and channels...
The Judicial Craft

This article explores in depth the similarities between the law and other craft traditions such as carpentry, pottery and quilting. It's thesis is that law, and in particular adjudication, combine elements of what Aristotle described as practical wisdom, or phronesis, and craft, or techne. Craft knowledge is learned practically through experience and demonstrated through practice, and is contrasted with other concepts, including art, science, mass production, craftiness and hobby. Crafts are characterized by four simultaneous identities. First, crafts are made by hand, one at a time, and require not only talent and skill, but experience and what Karl Llewellyn called "situation sense." Second, crafts are medium specific, and are always identified with a material and the technologies invented to manipulate that material. Third, crafts are characterized by the use and usefulness of craft objects. Fourth, crafts are defined by their past. The article also considers how one becomes a craftsperson, focusing upon the role of rules and theory, the dialectic of certainty and uncertainty, tough love and exploitation in apprenticeship, and the necessity of failure and disillusionment. The author concludes that although the craft ideal is "old fashioned, even quaint and mildly embarrassing," it nevertheless provides a paradigm for understanding lawyerly work that holds the promise of both enabling lawyers to be better at their jobs, and of finding greater meaning and fulfillment in their professional lives.
Diagnostic testing methods for Clostridium difficile infection: A statewide survey of Ohio acute care hospitals

We surveyed Ohio acute care hospitals on laboratory testing used for diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Of 146 hospitals surveyed, 109 (84%) used nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) as stand-alone diagnostic assays. Only 53 (42.4%) hospitals using NAATs had a mechanism in place to prevent repeat CDI testing.
Perspectives on the Meaning of "Disability".

Disability determinations should focus on whether mitigating interventions and reasonable accommodations can create equal opportunity for the person.
Data files for ab initio calculations of the lattice parameter and elastic stiffness coefficients of bcc Fe with solutes

We present computed datasets on changes in the lattice parameter and elastic stiffness coefficients of bcc Fe due to substitutional Al, B, Cu, Mn, and Si solutes, and octahedral interstitial C and N solutes. The data is calculated using the methodology based on density functional theory (DFT) presented in Ref. (M.R. Fellinger, L.G. Hector Jr., D.R. Trinkle, 2017) [1]. All the DFT calculations were performed using the Vienna Ab initio Simulations Package (VASP) (G. Kresse, J. Furthmuller, 1996) [2]. The data is stored in the NIST dSpace repository (http://hdl.handle.net/11256/671).
Let Your Photos Talk: Generating Narrative Paragraph for Photo Stream via Bidirectional Attention Recurrent Neural Networks.

Automatic generation of natural language description for individual images (a.k.a. image captioning) has attracted extensive research attention. In this paper, we take one step further to investigate the generation of a paragraph to describe a photo stream for the purpose of storytelling. This task is even more challenging than individual image description due to the difficulty in modeling the large visual variance in an ordered photo collection and in preserving the long-term language coherence among multiple sentences. To deal with these challenges, we formulate the task as a sequence-to-sequence learning problem and propose a novel joint learning model by leveraging the semantic coherence in a photo stream. Specifically, to reduce visual variance, we learn a semantic space by jointly embedding each photo with its corresponding contextual sentence, so that the semantically related photos and their correlations are discovered. Then, to preserve language coherence in the paragraph, we learn a novel Bidirectional Attention-based Recurrent Neural Network (BARNN) model, which can attend on the discovered semantic relation to produce a sentence sequence and maintain its consistence with the photo stream. We integrate the two-step learning components into one single optimization formulation and train the network in an end-to-end manner. Experiments on three widely-used datasets (NYC/Disney/SIND) show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods with large margins for both retrieval and paragraph generation tasks. We also show the subjective preference of the machine-generated stories by the proposed approach over the baselines through a user study with 40 human subjects.
(Re)Politicizing Inequalities: Movements, Parties, and Social Citizenship in Chile

For 20 years following the 1989–1990 democratic transition, Chilean politics was characterized by stable forms of party-based political representation, relatively low levels of social mobilization, and a technocratic consensus around a neoliberal development model that generated rapid and sustained, albeit highly unequal, patterns of economic growth. This sociopolitical matrix was challenged, however, when hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters took to the streets to protest against educational inequalities, while smaller numbers of protestors mobilized around a plethora of other labor, environmental, and indigenous rights claims. This wave of social protest occurred in a context of growing detachment of Chilean citizens from traditional parties and representative institutions, and it punctured the aura of inevitability and consensus that surrounded the country’s economic model. The groundswell of popular protest signified the end of a posttransition political era in Chile and the dawning of a new one defined by the repoliticization of social and economic inequalities, including vigorous debates about the social pillars of the neoliberal model and the reach of social citizenship rights. The Chilean case sheds new light on the processes by which inequalities come to be politicized or depoliticized in different structural, institutional, and ideational contexts.
How Has the Corporate Takeover Market Changed Over Time

Since the boom in takeovers in the 1980s, research in both law and financial economics has debated the role of takeover impediments such as poison pills, staggered boards, and state antitakeover laws. Have these impediments entrenched target management to the detriment of shareholders? Or have they increased the bargaining power of target boards of directors and left shareholders, if not better off, then at least unharmed?. In their study published recently in the Journal of Corporate Finance, the authors provide new answers to these questions with a detailed analysis of takeover competition during the period 1981 through 2014. Using a random sample of 388 completed and withdrawn deals from this 34‐year period, the authors begin by confirming the already well‐documented increase in the use of takeover impediments over time. They then report evidence that takeover competition has not declined during this period. First of all, takeover premiums—the average percentage over market paid by acquirers to consummate transactions—have remained steady over time. Second, and the most striking of the authors' findings, is that the corporate auction process has “gone underground” since the 1980s. Although we now see fewer hostile attempts and publicly reported takeover bidding contests, the amount of competition for targets has remained largely unchanged when one takes account of “private” as well as public auctions—that is, contests that, as the authors discovered, included unidentified bidders. The authors view such a fundamental change in the takeover auction process as a response to the widespread growth of takeover impediments. In this sense, as Bill Schwert commented years ago, “hostile takeovers are less about shirking target management than about the bargaining tactics of targets and bidders.” Or as the authors put it, “the greater bargaining power provided by state laws and other takeover impediments has changed the manner in which takeover auctions are conducted,” but without greatly affecting the goal of economic efficiency that such transactions are designed to help bring about.
Impact of adolescent alcohol use across the lifespan: Long-lasting tolerance to high-dose alcohol coupled with potentiated spatial memory impairments to moderate-dose alcohol

Understanding how alcohol exposure during adolescence affects aging is a critical but understudied area. In the present study, male rats were exposed to either alcohol or saline during adolescence, then tested every 4 months following either an ethanol or saline challenge; animals were tested until postnatal day (PD) 532. It was found that long-lasting tolerance to high-dose ethanol exists through the test period, as measured by loss of righting reflex, while tolerance to lower doses of ethanol is not found. In addition, alcohol exposure during adolescence facilitated spatial memory impairments to acute ethanol challenges later in life. The current work demonstrates that exposure to ethanol during adolescent development can produce long-lasting detrimental impairments.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOTALS COLUMN ON THE COMBINED BALANCE SHEET FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE 20th CENTURY

This study examines the historical development during the 20th century of the totals column reported on the financial statement that reported assets, liabilities, and equity for all funds of state and local governments (SLGs) within the United States. This research documents the evolution of accounting standards that addressed the totals column. SLG accounting professionals and standards-setters debated whether it was appropriate for SLGs to report a combined totals column throughout the century. The totals column was optional or forbidden in some reporting standards. Other SLG standards permitted a totals column, but always with reservation. A consolidated totals column was never acceptable until Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34. Statement 34, issued in 1999, required SLGs to report all primary government funds in a single consolidated totals column on a new Statement of Net Assets. The Statement of Net Assets was the first time users were able to assess the financial position ...
Sustainable Pavement Management

Sustainable pavement management as a business practice is about facilitating pavement investment trade-offs considering the triple bottom line of sustainability during the design, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of pavements. This chapter discusses the basic principles of pavement management and the changes necessary to help pavement manager make more sustainable decisions. It discusses the various levels of pavement management decisions, the importance of pavement management as a key asset management business process, and the data needed to support the various levels of analysis. A more sustainable decision-making pro-cess requires tools for analyzing the economic, environmental, and social impacts, as well as for comparing the pavement investment trade-offs. The chapter reviews some of these tools, provides guidelines for incorporating sustainability into the various levels pavement management decision making, and recommendations for making pavement management systems sustainable within an organization.
Horse-Sense and Sensibility

AbstractSports historians are created in many ways. My path combined both personal experience and academic passion in tracing the development of equestrianism throughout history.
Protein uptake into E. coli during Bdellovibrio infection. A process of reverse secretion

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a small bacterial parasite that infects other Gram-negative bacteria, resides in the periplasm of the host cell, and utilizes host macromolecules as a source of nutrients. Evidence is summarized suggesting that B. bacteriovorus secretes proteases and nucleases synthesized in its own cytoplasm that are targeted to the cytoplasm of the host cell. Possible mechanisms for this trans-trimembrane protein transport process are discussed.
Double Voicing and Personhood in Collaborative Life Writing about Autism: the Transformative Narrative of Carly’s Voice

Collaborative memoirs by co-writers with and without autism can enable the productive interaction of the voices of the writers in ways that can empower rather than exploit the disabled subject. Carly's Voice, co-written by Arthur Fleischmann and his autistic daughter Carly, demonstrates the capacity for such life narratives to facilitate the relational interaction between writers in the negotiation of understandings of disability. Though the text begins by focusing on the limitations of life with autism, it develops into a collaboration which helps both writers move toward new ways of understanding disability and their own and one another's life stories.
Acute loss of adipose tissue-derived adiponectin triggers immediate metabolic deterioration in mice

Adiponectin (APN), a circulating hormone secreted by mature adipocytes, has been extensively studied because it has beneficial metabolic effects. While many studies have focused on the congenital loss of APN and its effects on systemic body glucose and lipid metabolism, little is known about the effects triggered by acute loss of APN in the adult mouse. We anticipated that genetically induced acute depletion of APN in adult mice would have a more profound effect on systemic metabolic health than congenital deletion of Adipoq, the gene encoding APN, with its associated potential for adaptive responses that may mask the phenotypes. Mice carrying loxP-flanked regions of Adipoq were generated and bred to the Adipoq (APN) promoter-driven reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator (rtTA) (APN-rtTA) gene and a tet-responsive Cre line (TRE-Cre) to achieve acute depletion of APN. Upon acute removal of APN in adult mice, systemic glucose and lipid homeostasis were assessed under basal and insulinopenic conditions. The acute depletion of APN results in more severe systemic insulin resistance and hyperlipidaemia than in mice with congenital loss of APN. Furthermore, the acute depletion of APN in adult mice results in a much more dramatic reduction in survival rate, with 50% of inducible knockouts dying in the first 5 days under insulinopenic conditions compared with 0% of congenital Adipoq knockout mice under similar conditions. Acute systemic removal of APN results in a much more negative metabolic phenotype compared with congenital knockout of Adipoq. Specifically, our data demonstrate that acute depletion of APN is especially detrimental to lipid homeostasis, both under basal and insulinopenic conditions. This suggests that compensatory mechanisms exist in congenital knockout mice that offset some of the metabolic actions covered by APN.
When Bad News Arrives: Project HOPE in a Post-Factual World:

On the basis of limited empirical evidence, advocates of Project HOPE (Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) have succeeded in spreading the model to a reported 31 states and 160 locatio...
The Tinker Toy Challenge—Peeking Under the Cloak of Invisibility in Information System Design

This chapter describes an analogous learning approach to information technology systems design. The core notion is the power of experimentation–experimentation as a teaching tool to introduce students to the design of information systems and experimentation as a teacher to develop and refine a hands-on activity that engages students. Information technology systems design presents a challenge to students since the bits and bytes that must be moved though the system are hard to imagine. A decade ago I sought to develop a way to make some of the concepts of systems design more recognizable by translating bits and bytes into the physical world. Thus was born the Tinker Toy Challenge wherein students are tasked to “move a one pound load three linear feet.” This open-ended challenge forces students to ask questions to better understand the problem space and to think about the requirements of the structure. In doing so, they also explore what a “load” might be and what “three linear feet” might entail. After a decade of using this activity, the Challenge has evolved, too.