cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3154: Outcomes after progression of disease with anti-PD-1/PDL1 therapy for advanced melanoma

Purpose:Antibodies blocking programmed death-1 receptor (anti-PD-1) produce durable responses in patients with metastatic melanoma, although >50% of patients ultimately experience disease progression. We aimed to identify prognostic factors and outcomes to subsequent therapies in patients with metastatic melanoma that progressed on anti-PD-1. Materials and methods:We evaluated 383 patients who received anti-PD-1 (alone or in combination with ipilimumab [ipi]) for advanced melanoma between 2009 and 2019. Patient and disease characteristics at baseline and progression, factors correlating with survival after progression (SaP), subsequent therapies, objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and progression free survival (PFS) were assessed. Results:Of 383 patients, 247 experienced progression. At progression, most patients were stage IV M1c (49.0%), symptomatic from their disease (66.8%), and had progression at both new and existing lesions (39.3%). The median SaP was 206 days. There was no difference in SaP based on primary tumor subtype (cutaneous vs. non-cutaneous), receipt of prior therapy, prior ipi, or therapy type (anti-PD-1 vs. combination). However, significantly improved SaP correlated with clinical features at progression, including normal LDH (p 2-5cm, >5-8cm, and >8cm respectively; p Conclusions:We identified multiple clinical factors that correlated with SaP in patients with melanoma progressing on anti-PD-1. Further, we identified improved outcomes for subsequent BRAFi/MEKi or ipi + nivolumab vs. ipi alone. Finally, we identified a subgroup of patients with long-term SaP, potentially explaining the gap between PFS and OS demonstrated in many anti-PD-1 trials. Citation Format: James R. Patrinely, Laura X. Wang, Elizabeth J. Davis, Douglas B. Johnson. Outcomes after progression of disease with anti-PD-1/PDL1 therapy for advanced melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3154.
Parametric Model Identification of Axisymmetric MEMS Resonators

This paper proposes a technique for developing parametric models of modally degenerate resonators from stimulus-response data. The technique complements traditional empirical frequency response estimates that are commonly used for testing MEMS resonators, however, the parametric models have distinct advantages when the modal frequency differences are close enough to frustrate estimates of quality factors, natural frequencies and mode orientations. The proposed technique also completely rejects parasitic coupling between the stimulus and pick-off electrodes. It is shown how a modification of the algorithm using demodulated measurement signals greatly reduces storage and computational requirements. [2020-0281]
Efficacy of Arm Care Programs for Injury Prevention.

Arm care programs for baseball players are an increasingly popular area of interest for players, parents, coaches, sports performance staff, and team physicians. Once a general afterthought, the design of arm care programs is now heavily scrutinized in order to maximize performance and help reduce injury risk. Given the recent spike in interest for arm care programs for baseball players of all ages, the purpose of this work is to review the relevant literature regarding the efficacy of arm care programs and to discuss the authors’ preferred, evidence-based principles for arm care programs. Arm care programs appear to provide favorable results for performance, maintenance of strength and flexibility, and reduced injury risk. These programs should be tailored to the demands of the athlete, which can change based on the time of year and physical demands of the player’s position. A good program will incorporate flexibility, strengthening, proprioception, and joint mobility for the entire kinetic chain. Appropriate warm-up and cool-down periods are also important. Arm care programs should start with basic movement patterns before progressing to more advanced, coordinated exercises. Arm care programs are an important piece of a holistic approach to caring for the throwing arm of baseball athletes. In general, they appear to be a safe and efficacious way to help prevent a portion of throwing arm injuries. Further research is needed to determine the optimal arm care program for each athlete.
The Hazing Triangle: Reconceiving the Crime of Fraternity Hazing

For decades, legislators have struggled to deter fraternity hazing. In 2017, the hazing death of a Penn State sophomore garnered national attention and prompted legislators to amend Pennsylvania's existing antihazing law. In response, the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law made hazing punishable as a felony offense and instituted reporting guidelines for educational institutions across Pennsylvania. However, despite the Piazza Law’s enhanced criminal penalties against individual hazers, college administrators have pushed back against its institutional reporting requirements. Even more troubling, the Piazza Law’s penalties fail to acknowledge the immense power colleges and fraternities possess in propagating and concealing hazing. Consistent findings from legal, sociological, and psychological scholarship suggest that for legislation to best deter future hazing injuries and deaths, greater criminal and civil penalties must be placed upon schools and fraternities. Drawing on an extended case study and scholarship from numerous disciplines, this note posits that host institutions, fraternities, and individual hazers form a “triangle” of hazing culpability that has been neglected or misconstrued by legislatures, leading to laws that fail to deter fraternity hazing. To rectify this issue, this note provides a blueprint for states to restructure their antihazing statutes to impose more meaningful penalties upon fraternities and their host institutions while maintaining criminal sanctions against individual hazers.
Observation of suppressed diffuson and propagon thermal conductivity of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) has drawn keen interest as a thin-film semiconductor and superb passivation layer in high-efficiency silicon solar cells due to its low cost, low processing temperature, high compatibility with substrates, and scalable manufacturing. Although the impact of hydrogenation on the structural, optical, and electronic properties of a-Si:H has been extensively studied, the underlying physics of its impact on the thermal properties is still unclear. Here, we synthesize a-Si:H films with well-controlled hydrogen concentrations using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and systematically study the thermal conductivity of these a-Si:H films using time-domain thermoreflectance. We find that the reduction of thermal conductivity of a-Si:H films is attributed to the suppression of diffuson and propagon contributions as the hydrogen concentration increases. At the maximum hydrogen concentration of 25.4 atomic percentage, the contributions from diffusons and propagons to the thermal conductivity are decreased by 40% (from 1.10 to 0.67 W m−1 K−1) and 64% (from 0.61 to 0.22 W m−1 K−1), respectively. Such a significant reduction in the thermal conductivity of a-Si:H originates from the hydrogen induced material softening, the decrease in density, and phonon-defect scattering. The results of this work provide fundamental insights into the thermal transport properties of a-Si:H thin films, which is beneficial for the design and optimization of amorphous silicon-based technologies including photovoltaics, large-area electronics, and thermoelectric devices.
Health and Economic Factors in Health Insurance

Government insurance was first established in 1883 in Germany, where Bismarck introduced a national health insurance program for industrial workers; other European countries followed and today most industrialized countries have some form of universal public health insurance program. In countries where publicly funded universal insurance does not exist, a combination of private and public sources makes health insurance almost universal, as in the United States where over 90% of the population has some form of coverage (Aday, Fleming, and Anderson, 1984) (though the comprehensiveness and quality of such coverage varies widely), and over 90% of hospital expenditures and approximately 68% of all health-service expenditures are paid by a third party (Gibson, Waldo, and Levit, 1983:8–9). Despite the apparent growing popularity of health insurance, it has long been controversial and in recent years has been severely criticized.
Geochemical Characterization of Bolivian Formative Earthen Architecture by Wavelength‐Dispersive X‐ray Fluorescence

In this study, we employ wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) to characterize construction materials from Formative civic architecture (1000 B.C.E.–C.E. 400), ethnographic mudbricks, and off-site controls from the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia. The preparation of earthen construction materials for civic buildings can shed light on aspects of community development such as labor organization, resource management, and architectural technologies. We apply geochemical results to reconstructing how public buildings were made as communities moved toward socio-political complexity in this region. However, there are few geochemical studies in the Andes, and little prior scientific analysis of earthen architecture. We therefore tested the efficacy of WDXRF for this region, and developed control materials. Our archaeological samples were selected from two Formative villages, Chiripa and Kala Uyuni. In this study, we performed WDXRF analyses on 63 archaeological and control samples including archaeological floors, walling, plasters, and mortars, as well as contemporary ethnographic walling and topsoils. Elemental signatures for 28 elements clearly distinguished the archaeological flooring, walling, plaster, and mortars from ethnographic and off-site controls. More subtle variations were detected that distinguish study sites and the different material types. Laboratory-calibrated multi-element XRF effectively supports efforts to reconstruct the pathways to social complexity in the Titicaca Basin.
Effects of transformation with the v-src oncogene on inositol phosphate metabolism in rat-1 fibroblasts. D-myo-inositol 1,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate is increased in v-src-transformed rat-1 fibroblasts and can be synthesized from D-myo-inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate in cytosolic extracts.

Rat-1 fibroblasts transformed with the v-src oncogene show a 6-fold increase in the apparent amount of an inositol polyphosphate which has a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) elution characteristic of the D/L-myo-inositol 1,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate enantiomeric pair (Johnson, R.M., Wasilenko, W.J., Mattingly, R.R., Weber, M.J., and Garrison, J.C. (1989) Science 246, 121-124). By chemical and enzymatic analysis, the structure of this compound produced in both normal and v-src-transformed rat-1 fibroblasts has been determined to be principally D-myoinositol 1,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate (D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4). Chronic stimulation with endothelin-1 in the presence of Li+ significantly increased the amount of D/L-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4 only in the v-src-transformed rat-1 cells, suggesting that production of this compound may be remotely coupled to long term agonist-induced phosphatidylinositol turnover. Further evidence for such a link is provided by the progressive loss of D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4 from the normal cells deprived of serum stimulation. To define a possible synthetic pathway for D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4, cytosolic extracts of normal and v-src-transformed cells were incubated with [3H]inositol polyphosphates, and the reaction products were identified by HPLC elution and chemical analysis. Although inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 6-kinase activity was prominent in extracts of both normal and transformed cells, only the cytosol from v-src-transformed cells ultimately formed measurable amounts of D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4 from [3H]inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate. Approximately 6% of 0.1 microM inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate was converted to D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4 during a 2-h incubation at 37 degrees C. Inositol pentakisphosphate was identified as a likely intermediate in this conversion, and extracts of both normal and transformed cells converted [3H]inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate to D-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4. The synthetic pathway described is consistent with the long term regulation of D/L-Ins(1,4,5,6)P4 levels in rat-1 fibroblasts seen in response to src transformation, serum withdrawal, and chronic endothelin treatment, and identifies several new potential interactions between the pathways of inositol polyphosphate metabolism and those of src transformation.
Evaluating the Impact of Seed Money Grants in Stimulating Growth of Community-Based Research and Service-Learning at a Major Public Research University

At a major research university, community engagement must intersect with research productivity and attract external funding to be well-regarded. At USF, community engagement increased its value to the institution by using seed grants for community-based research and service-learning projects. Between 1998 and 2006, 132 projects received $1.65 million in seed money from general revenue and local government funds, bringing over $9 million in grants to USF, a return on investment of approximately 6-to-1.
Human Freedom “Emergence”

Whether free will is a reality is an increasingly urgent problem, both from a scientific and a social point of view. An ability to make judgments and take actions that are “free” in some meaningful sense would seem a prerequisite for the process of scientific reasoning and for our ability to behave morally. How are we to reconcile the “autonomy” of a reasoning intellect with our scientific conviction that all behavior is mediated by mechanistic interactions between cells of the central nervous system? It seems that answers will ultimately lie in a deeper understanding of emergent phenomena in complex systems. This will help enrich our impoverished standard notions of causation in physical systems.
A fully-integrated CMOS-MEMS audio microphone

We report on the construction of a microphone and associated electronics fabricated entirely within a standard CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) die. An A-weighted noise level of 46 dB SPL was achieved with a total diaphragm area of 0.61 mm/sup 2/. Because the microphone uses the same processing sequence as CMOS-MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microspeakers it is now possible to create acoustic systems-on-chip for applications in such areas as hearing aids, in-ear translators, and active noise cancellation. Because electret materials are not used, the microphone can withstand temperatures up to 250/spl deg/C with no degradation in performance. The frequency-modulated output provides a convenient, low-noise way to transmit the signal off chip, and is directly compatible with digital circuitry and FM radios.
Tris(2‐chloroethyl) Phosphate Pharmacokinetics in the Fischer 344 Rat: A Comparison of Conventional Methods and in Vivo Microdialysis Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The pharmacokinetics of tris(2‐chloroethyl) phosphate (TRCP, 20 mg/kg, iv) were investigated in awake male and female and anesthetized male Fischer 344 (F344) rats by conventional (CONV) sampling/detection methods (blood withdrawal with sample workup and analysis for TRCP). TRCP pharmacokinetics were also investigated in anesthetized male F344 rats using a new sampling/detection technique, in vivo microdialysis coupled with tandem mass spectrometry1 (MD/MS/MS). The concentration of free TRCP in plasma versus time profiles were analyzed using noncompartmental methods to estimate pharmacokinetic parameters. Comparisons of mean parameter estimates were made for (1) awake males versus females in CONV studies (t test, no significant differences, p < 0.05) and (2) awake and anesthetized males in CONV studies and anesthetized males in MD/MS/MS studies. There were significant differences (Scheffe's test) for the three groups of male rats, most notably the free TRCP concentration in plasma at early time points in CONV versus MD/MS/MS studies. The contributions of an indwelling jugular cannula, the blood sampling regimen, and the in vitro MD/MS/MS standard calibration curve were investigated. It appears that quantitation of TRCP by mass spectrometry using an in vitro standard calibration is responsible for the difference.
Demonstration of UAG as a nonsense codon in bakers' yeast by amino-acid replacements in iso-1-cytochrome c.

Abstract Lysine 9 was replaced by serine, glutamine, tyrosine, leucine or tryptophan in iso-1-cytochrome c from 39 out of 42 intragenic revertants of cy1-179 . No other sequence changes were found in these 39 proteins. It is concluded that the defect in cy1-179 is UAG coding position 9. Less than 0.5% of the normal amount of iso-1-cytochrome c is present in the cy1-179 strain, but the known replacements at position 9 and at neighboring positions strongly suggest that any amino acid at position 9 would permit the formation of at least 75% of the normal amount of iso-1-cytochrome c , having at least 10% of the normal specific activity. It is concluded that UAG is a termination signal in yeast. Since, in addition, cy1-179 is known to be suppressed by a super-suppressor that does not act on UAA, apparently UAG is a translation termination codon in yeast. It is concluded also that only single base-pair substitutions occurred in 39 of the 42 reversion mutations, which arose spontaneously and which were induced by X-ray and ultraviolet irradiation, and by treatments with diethylsulfate and nitrous acid. For all these mutagens and spontaneous events, the frequencies and proportions of G·C, C·G and T·A replacements of A·T base-pairs strongly depend on the local base sequence. The other 3 intragenic revertants, which were induced by X-rays and nitrous acid, registered multiple base-pair substitutions. The sites of multiple change were restricted to the region coding residues 6 through 10. It is suggested that inaccurate repair processes caused the multiplicity of substitutions.
Distributed decision fusion under unknown distributions

The problem of distributed decision fusion is studied in the case when the probability distributions of the individual detectors are not available. The detector system is available so that a training sample can be generated by sensing objects with known parameters or classification. Earlier solutions to this problem required some knowledge of the error distributions of the detectors, for example, either in a parametric form or in a closed analytical form. Here we present three methods that, given a sufficiently large training sample, yield an approximation to the optimal fusion rule with an arbitrary level of confidence. These methods are based on (i) empirical estimation, (ii) approximate decision rule, and (iii) nearest-neighbor rule. We show that a nearest-neighbor rule provides a computationally viable solution, which approximates a neural network-based one while ensuring fast computation. {copyright} {ital 1996 Society of Photo{minus}Optical Instrumentation Engineers.}
Persistence and replication of the human cytomegalovirus genome in lymphoblastoid cells of B and T origin.

Abstract Human lymphoblastoid cells infected in vitro with human cytomegalovirus (CMV) were examined by DNA-DNA reassociation kinetics at various times after virus infection. The results indicate that CMV DNA replicates in two B lymphoblastoid cell lines (Raji and Simpson) and one T-cell line (Molt-4). Multiple copies of the entire CMV genome were found in each cell line. After an initial round of CMV DNA replication, the number of CMV DNA copies per cell gradually decreased with time in Raji and Molt-4 cells. In contrast, Simpson cells maintained a fairly constant number of CMV DNA copies throughout the 15-day experiments.
ELECTRO-OPTICAL SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS OF VOLUME HOLOGRAMS IN POLYMER DISPERSED LIQUID CRYSTALS

Electrically switchable volume holograms lead to the possiblity of real-time electro-optical control of diffractive optic components. We report here on the development of a novel photopolymer-liquid crystal composite material system for writing in a fast single step, high diffraction efficiency volume holograms, capable of switching in applied electric fields of low voltage. Switching of a first-order Bragg diffracted beam into the zero-order with an applied field of ~10 V/µm was observed. With the addition of a surfactant to our pre-polymer syrup, we observed lowering of the switching fields to ~5 V/µm. We report response times for switching and relaxation in the order of microseconds. Low voltage, high resolution scanning electron microscopy studies show that the Bragg gratings formed consist of periodic polymer dispersed liquid crystal planes. The addition of surfactant leads to formation of very uniform small (20–40 nm) nematic droplets. A simple model based on the shape of the liquid crystal droplets...
Urban residential density and income

Abstract Spatial variations in income have not been adequately accounted for in urban density regressions. Estimating equations incorporating household income are derived in a monocentric urban model. The technique used also yields an estimate of the income elasticity of demand for housing, found to be less than one.
Sporogenesis in Bryophytes: Patterns and Diversity in Meiosis

Meiosis in bryophytes retains unusual features that provide clues to the innovation of sporogenesis in early land plants. Sporocytes are typically quadrilobed before nuclear division and the meiotic spindle is quadripolar with poles in the four future spore domains. Whereas seed plants consistently have anastral spindles arising from γ-tubulin in the perinuclear area, bryophytes have spindles organized at POs, plastids, or nuclear envelope. All of these MTOCs are significantly different from centrosomes of the algal ancestors. Mosses and hornworts have quadrilobed sporocytes with meiotic spindles organized at plastids. Meiosis in liverworts is extremely varied. Sporocytes of Jungermanniopsida are deeply quadrilobed and have microtubule bands marking division planes prior to cytoplasmic shaping. Spindles are organized at POs or nuclear envelope. Sporocytes of Marchantiopsida are quadrilobed to apolar with spindles organized at plastids, POs, or nuclear envelope. Pre-meiotic bands have been reported in only one marchantiod, the early divergent Blasia. An atlas of cytological data on 13 liverworts, 3 mosses and 2 hornworts is presented and analyzed.
Simulation of lean premixed turbulent combustion

There is considerable technological interest in developingnew fuel-flexible combustion systems that can burn fuels such ashydrogenor syngas. Lean premixed systems have the potential to burn thesetypes of fuels with high efficiency and low NOx emissions due to reducedburnt gas temperatures. Although traditional scientific approaches basedon theory and laboratory experiment have played essential roles indeveloping our current understanding of premixed combustion, they areunable to meet the challenges of designing fuel-flexible lean premixedcombustion devices. Computation, with itsability to deal with complexityand its unlimited access to data, hasthe potential for addressing thesechallenges. Realizing this potential requires the ability to perform highfidelity simulations of turbulent lean premixed flames under realisticconditions. In this paper, we examine the specialized mathematicalstructure of these combustion problems and discuss simulation approachesthat exploit this structure. Using these ideas we can dramatically reducecomputational cost, making it possible to perform high-fidelitysimulations of realistic flames. We illustrate this methodology byconsidering ultra-lean hydrogen flames and discuss how this type ofsimulation is changing the way researchers study combustion.
Differential effects of intermittent or continuous exposure to cocaine on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and c-fos expression.

Accumulating evidence indicates that acute administration of cocaine alters neuroendocrine functions. In order to ascertain the long-term effects of cocaine on the male rat's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a series of experiments were performed utilizing two different paradigms of cocaine administration for 6 days. In the first paradigm, rats received daily intravenous injections of cocaine (5 mg/kg), while in the second, they were continuously exposed to the drug (5 or 100 mg/kg/day) via osmotic pumps. We measured plasma adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone levels, as well as the brain pattern of the proto-oncogene c-fos expression in response to either mode of drug administration. Repeated, intermittent injections of cocaine caused consistent increases in ACTH and corticosterone secretion over a 30-min sampling period on days 2, 4 and 6. This paradigm of drug administration also induced considerable, short-lasting and reversible c-fos expression in the caudate putamen but not in hypothalamic regions associated with endocrine function. In contrast, we consistently failed to observe any measurable increases in ACTH or corticosterone secretion at any time during continuous exposure to the drug. Administration of cocaine by osmotic pumps also had no effect on c-fos expression in the caudate putamen, indicating that c-fos expression as well as activation of the HPA axis are dependent upon the mode and frequency in which cocaine is administered. We conclude that continuous exposure to cocaine does not appear to activate the HPA axis, while intermittent injections of the drug induce repeated increases in plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels. Whether the lack of endocrine response of rats chronically treated with cocaine represents a loss of responsiveness at the level of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) secreting neurons or pituitary corticotrophs is presently under study.
Growth of noncollagen-nitrogen concentration [NCN] in an anti-gravity muscle as influenced by body mass of mice

White mice gastrocnemius muscle wet mass, dry mass and noncollagen-nitrogen /NCN/ content, noting /NCN/ content dependence on body mass
Androgyny of physique in female track and field athletes.

SummaryAndrogyny scores (3 × biacromial breadth — bicristal breadth) were calculated for 66 female track and field athletes divided into five event categories and 76 female non-athletes. Runners (distance and sprinters) did not differ significantly from the non-athletes in androgyny. However, jumpers, discus/javelin throwers, and shotputters were significantly more androgynous in physique. Androgyny scores for participants in jumping and throwing events overlapped considerably those for college-age males.
An Investigation of the Moderating Effects of Gender on the Relationships between Mentorship Initiation and Protégé Perceptions of Mentoring Functions

Abstract Recent research has suggested that the more the mentor is involved in relationship initiation the greater the benefits that the protege may receive. No research, however, has examined the impact of protege gender on the relationship between initiation and mentoring received. The results of this study indicate that male proteges perceived more mentoring than female proteges in protege-initiated mentorships. Female proteges, however, reported receiving more mentoring than male proteges if the relationship was mentor-initiated or where both mentor and protege initiated the relationship. Proteges in informal mentorships reported receiving more mentoring than those in formal organizational programs. The findings of this study also indicate that proteges may benefit more from same-sex relationships than cross-sex relationships with respect to role modeling.
Ser para otro: Máscaras, Fresa y Chocolate y la retórica de la metáfora homosexual

En Cuba de los anos 60, la homosexualidad se convirtio en un problema politico cuyas consecuencias van desde el exilio hasta el suicidio u el homicidio de homosexuales. La pelicula de Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Fresa y chocolate (1993), y la novela de Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Mascaras (1994) abordan dichos temas. Este ensayo analiza el uso metaforico que se hace de la imagen homosexual en estas dos obras. El objetivo es explicar como el poder de la metafora homosexual reside en la capacidad de utilizar la debilitada imagen gay – i.e. sus mitos y estereotipos – para hacerlos colapsar a traves de su propia representacion. Asimismo, se sostiene que el homosexual, como un Asterion, representa cualquier tipo de disidencia o diferencia socio-politica o cultural. De esta manera, la metaforizacion de la figura homosexual permite explorar no solo la identidad interior del homosexual sino tambien su reconocimiento exterior. Este tropo traslada la subjetividad homosexual de la esfera privada a la publica, al imaginario c...
Specification-based testing with linear temporal logic

This paper considers the specification-based testing in which the requirement is given in the linear temporal logic (LTL). The required LTL property must hold on all the executions of the system, which are often infinite in size and/or in length. The central piece of our framework is a property-coverage metric. Based on requirement mutation, the metric measures how well a property has been tested by a test suite. We define a coverage criterion based on the metric that selects a finite set of tests from all the possible executions of the system. We also discuss the technique of generating a test suite for specification testing by using the counterexample mechanism of a model checker. By exploiting the special structure of a generated test, we are able to reduce a test with infinite length to an equivalent one of finite length. Our framework provides a model-checking-assisted approach that generates a test suite that is finite in size and in length for testing linear temporal properties on an implementation.
Passion, Pain, and Purpose: One Man’s Response to the Passion of the Lord

The purpose of this article is to review and comment on the book The Passion of the Lord: African American Reflections. Edited by James A. Noel and Matthew V. Johnson, and published by Facets (an imprint of Fortress Press: Minneapolis), the book explores the unique perspective of African American thought in relation to the story of the Passion of Christ, and the cultural aesthetics which allow Christ’s suffering on the cross to become a powerful agent of spiritual strength, hope, love, and faith. This article records one African American man’s deep personal engagement of, and resonance to, the material as he validates, affirms the important insights of the seven theologians presented. Through personal observation and experience, poetry and relevant cultural idioms, the author honors work which, ultimately, contributes to a vitally important self-understanding of who African Americans are now, where they are now, and how they have come to be the people they are now in America.
Mathematics and Design:Yes, But Will it Fly?

Martin Davis and Matt Insall discuss a quote by Richard W. Hamming about the physical effect of Lebesgue and Riemann integrals and whether it made a difference whether one or the other was used, for example, in the design of an airplane. The gist of Hamming’s quote was that the fine points of mathematical analysis are not relevant to engineering considerations.
On the interaction of water with a Li kaolinite surface

Abstract The heat of immersion at 25°C. and adsorption isotherms at three temperatures were measured for the interaction of water with Li kaolinite. Integral and differential entropies and enthalpies were calculated. The integral values calculated from one isotherm and the immersion heats were found to be the most useful. These results indicated that at 24.8°C. the average entropy of the adsorbed moisture film drops below that of liquid water before a monolayer can be formed. There was evidence that this occurs in conjunction with the solution of Li+ ions or a related change in the clay surface properties. The average heat content of the adsorbed film was less than that of liquid water over the range studied.
Intraamniale Applikation von Prostaglandinen zum Schwangerschaftsabbruch im mittleren Trimenon

Die Studie zeigte die Zuverlassigkeit der intraamnialen Prostaglandinapplikation als Abortinjektionsmethode. Die Notwendigkeit einer kontinuierlichen Instillation wurde durch die relativ niedrige Nebenwirkungsrate bzw. Komplikationsrate bestatigt. Die Umstellung von der stundlich diskontinuierlichen Instillation auf die Motorpumpeninjektion wirkte sich vorteilhaft aus. Die Katheter-PDA reduzierte die subjektiven Beschwerden (Schmerzen) deutlich, auserdem konnte die Nachraumung ebenfalls in PDA erfolgen.
Phase transitions in grain boundaries with structural multiplicity

In the case of the model only second-order transitions have been found above. However, many other studies have looked at the effects of further-neighbor interactions, and in these cases first-order transitions into the disordered phase are also possible. It would be impossible to rule these out for grain-boundary transitions in general, since further-neighbor interactions are, in general, present. In such cases, it may also be possible to exploit previously published results on the appropriate model to determine the order of the transition as well as the transition temperature T c
Influence of Body Size on Shell Mass in the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata

Abstract The large mass of a turtle's shell presumably reflects a trade-off between its protective function and its imposition on the energy cost of locomotion. To examine this, we developed a relationship between body mass and shell linear dimensions in Ornate Box Turtles, Terrapene ornata, from north-central Nebraska. Using the relationship between body mass and plastron width, we estimated body mass of box turtles killed on roadways, and we cleaned and weighed their shells. Shell mass may be a linear function of body mass in these turtles, amounting to approximately a constant 30% of their body mass. Alternatively, shell mass may be an exponential function of body mass, increasing with body mass to approximately the 1.2 power; in this case, shell mass increases more quickly than body mass in these animals. We are unable to distinguish between these models based on our analysis, but the increase in shell mass with body mass is more consistent with the shell serving a supportive, rather than a protective...
Sources of Meaning in the Acquisition of Complex Syntax: The Sample Case of Causality

Abstract The study reported here is concerned with how children acquire complex sentences for expressing their beliefs about causally related events, in the transition in language development from simple to complex syntax. Subjects were three girls and four boys, observed longitudinally from 26 to 38 months of age in their homes. Data analysis began with those observations in which each child began to produce causally related propositions without syntactic connectives, and continued until the children were about 3 years old. Two broad categories of causal meaning were expressed in the children's causal statements. Objective meaning concerned means-end and consequence relations that were evidential and fixed in the physical world. Subjective meaning expressed causal connections concerned with personal, affective, or sociocultural beliefs. While most of the children's statements expressed subjective meaning overall, the acquisition of syntactic connectives was associated with objective meaning. These results are discussed in terms of (a) the development of these children's understanding of causality and (b) the acquisition of increasingly complex language.
O processo sucessório e a abertura de capital nas empresas brasileiras: objetivos conflitantes

To "go public" may not be an inadequate solution for the succession problems in Brazilian family companies.
Pollen Morphology of Xyridaceae Systematic (Poales) and its Potential

Xyridaceae are a predominantly tropical family of five genera that exhibit two pollen morphologies often considered to be of taxonomic importance. Xyris comprises about 95% of the species and is characterized by medium to large, elliptic, sulcate pollen grains. The other pollen class is spheroidal grains without an evident aperture. Many of the species with spheroidal grains have remarkably large and ornamented pollen found to be species specific in earlier research. A scanning electron microscopy investigation of 23 taxa representing all genera with spheroidal pollen revealed new data to further distinguish the genera based on pollen characters. Reliable specific pollen characters need to be evaluated in a statistical study.
Cardiac genomic response following preconditioning stimulus

This review focuses on the genomic response following a preconditioning stimulus. Initial studies demonstrated that classical ischemic preconditioning mediated by cyclic episodes of short durations of reversible ischemia and reperfusion could result in the reprogramming of gene expression. Some of these genes are translated into proteins during the late preconditioning or so-called "second window of protection". Subsequent studies determined a unique similarity of the expressed gene profiles between diverse varieties of preconditioning including ischemic/hypoxic, heat shock, and oxidative stress. The most common genes that are expressed by virtually any kind of stress conditioning include antioxidants like superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and heme oxygenase and heat shock proteins such as HSP70. At a later date, differential display and subtractive hybridization techniques revealed the identities of many other genes including those belonging to mitochondrial respiratory chain such as ATPases. More recently, gene array profiles using gene chips determined several other genes triggered by preconditioning including the mitochondrial genes. The results of the studies present in the literature clearly indicate the existence of a strong resemblance between the patterns of gene expression profiles induced by diverse preconditioning stimuli, oxidative stress being situated at the cross-roads of all forms of the stresses. Redox signaling appears to be responsible for the conversion of the ischemia/reperfusion-induced "death signal" into preconditioning-mediated "survival signal".
Hydrogen bubble/thymol blue water velocity meter

Water velocities in the centimeter or millimeter per second range are measurable by only a few instruments. Experimental laboratory studies frequently require such measurements. An inexpensive optical hydrogen bubble tracing device is described for velocity measurements in the range 0.5 to 8 cm/s. Modification to a thymol blue (pH) tracer method extends its applicability to the range 0.1 to 1.0 cm/s. Design and operational characteristics of the hydrogen bubble/thymol blue current meter are described. Analysis of low Reynolds number flow around a cylinder is used to explain meter calibration characteristics.
Integrating behavioral and social sciences research at the National Institutes of Health, U.S.A.

Readers of Social Science & Medicine may find it interesting to know that in 1993 the United States Congress established the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the belief that scientific research on behavioral and social factors in order to facilitate a growth in this important area of research. As is discussed in this paper, the philosophy of the OBSSR is that, although discoveries in the behavioral and social sciences are as critical for health as those from the biomedical sciences, knowledge from both areas must ultimately be integrated. Such integration will accelerate our understanding and treatment of physical and mental illnesses in both the developed and the developing world. This paper briefly presents the scientific evidence supporting this philosophy, outlines the mandated responsibilities of the OBSSR, and discusses some of its current and planned activities.
Teacher Perceptions of Division by Zero

Dividing by zero can be confusing for students at all levels. If teachers are to provide clear and understandable explanations of this topic, they must possess a strong conceptual understanding of it themselves. In this article, the authors present qualitative data on fourththrough eighth-grade teachers' perceptions of division by zero. They discuss three categories: teachers who did not know that division by zero is undefined; teachers who knew that division by zero is undefined but could not provide an explanation; and, teachers who displayed correct conceptual understanding of division by zero. The authors conclude with several explanations of dividing by zero that should help teachers understand this topic by making appropriate connections to multiplication and division of positive integers.
Persistent Neonatal Borna Disease Virus (BDV) Infection of the Brain Causes Chronic Emotional Abnormalities in Adult Rats

Neonatal Borna disease virus (BDV) brain infection results in selective developmental damage to the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the cerebellum. When mature, neonatally BDV-infected rats show extreme locomotor hyperactivity and reduced freezing behavior in novel environments. Traditional interpretation of both of these behavioral abnormalities would suggest decreased anxiety in infected rats compared to normal animals. However, it also possible that the locomotor hyperactivity in infected rats reflects higher rather than reduced anxiety, and is the result of increased escape responses to aversive stimuli. The present experiments were undertaken to test a hypothesis about elevated anxiety in neonatally BDV-infected adult Lewis rats by studying their species-specific fear-related responses. Compared to normal subjects, BDV-infected rats exhibited locomotor hyperactivity and elevated defecation in a highly aversive, brightly lit open field. As expected, in a less aversive, dimly lit open field, uninfected controls increased ambulation, whereas infected rats significantly decreased locomotor activity and defecation. Unlike uninfected rats, BDV-infected rats exhibited an attenuated freezing response immediately after loud auditory stimuli. On the contrary, immediate freezing responses following footshock were comparable in the two groups of animals indicating an intact ability to freeze in BDV-infected rats. Despite a decreased baseline startle responsiveness, BDV-infected rats demonstrated increased sensitization of the startle response by preceding footshocks, suggesting a tendency toward elevated escape responses. Compared to normal subjects, BDV-infected rats showed decreased conditional freezing and elevated conditional defecation response in the context previously paired with aversive stimulation indicating sparing of an autonomic component of fear conditioning. The findings indicate that neonatally BDV-infected adult rats are hyperreactive to aversive stimuli, possibly as a result of chronic emotional abnormalities.
The Impact of Taxes on Corporate Defined Benefit Plan Asset Allocation

This paper investigates the extent to which taxes affect a corporation’s decision to allocate its defined benefit plan’s assets between equity and bonds. Prior theoretical research shows that if a corporation integrates its financial policy and pension investment policy, differences in tax rates create an arbitrage opportunity. The firm’s tax benefits from the arbitrage should be positively related to the percentage of its pension assets allocated to bonds. Consistent with this prediction, but contrary to prior empirical work, this paper finds firms’ tax benefits are positively and significantly associated with the percentage of their pension assets invested in bonds.
Couples therapy with gay and lesbian clients: An analysis of important clinical issues

This article reviews and critiques couples therapy research that has focused on gay and lesbian relationships. In conducting our examination, we felt that it was imperative to address the sociopolitical climate that affects same-sex couples and that historically impeded this area of research. Upon addressing the therapist's role and comparing heterosexual relationships to same-sex relationships, this article presents the theoretical formulations and empirical findings that have informed gay and lesbian couples therapy research. We also present limitations of the current literature and suggestions for future research.
Automatic singularity avoidance using joint variations in robot task modification

The research community has addressed the need to improve the flexibility of robot systems. Two particular concepts that have resulted from this research are off-line programming and modular tooling. These concepts are directed at allowing the robot system to be used to perform a variety of tasks with minimal setup time and to allow easy replication of an application. Both of these concepts require that the robot system have the ability to measure the position and orientation of features in the workspace. These measurements can then be used to perform coordinate transformations on each of the task data points. These modified task data points then, theoretically, facilitate the performance of the task by the robot system without human intervention. >
The Funding of Modernization and Development of Transport Sector and its Infrastructure

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the existing approaches to the financing of transport infrastructure in the world and in Ukraine. It has been studied the model of financing of transport infrastructure in the OECD, the EU countries. The appropriate recommendations has been given to strengthen the processes of modernization in the transport infrastructure.
Uniqueness of solutions of linear nonlocal boundary value problems

Abstract For n ≥ 3 and 1 ≤ k ≤ n − 1 , conditions are established for which the nonlocal boundary value problem, y ( n ) + ∑ i = 0 n − 1 a i ( x ) y ( i ) = 0 , y ( i − 1 ) ( x j ) = 0 , 1 ≤ i ≤ m j , 1 ≤ j ≤ k , y ( x k + 1 ) − y ( x k + 2 ) = 0 , has only the trivial solution, for all positive integers m 1 , … , m k such that m 1 + ⋯ + m k = n − 1 , and all a x 1 ⋯ x k + 2 b .
The facilitated transport of carbon monoxide through cuprous chloride solution

The facilitated transport of carbon monoxide through thin, immobilized films of cuprous chloride solutions is investigated, using a tracer C14O technique. Steady-state tracer flux measurements are used to determine the second-order forward rate constant and equilibrium constant for the reversible reaction of CO with cuprous ion. The enchanced results at low CO partial pressures can be interpreted in terms of a consecutive reaction model. The cuprous ion is remarkably effective as a carrier for CO. The CO permeation rate in the presence of cuprous ion can be increased by two orders of magnitude over the nonfacilitated flux. As such, the cuprous ion is an attractive facilitating agent for use in a membrane separation system.
Physicians May Need More Than Higher Reimbursements To Expand Medicaid Participation: Findings From Washington State

The expansion of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act is expected to put considerable pressure on the capacity of the primary care workforce to meet the needs of the Medicaid population...
The future of the world-system

Global cycles of leadership and hegemony have repeated since 1492, leaving to history Dutch, British, and now declining US hegemonies. Theoretical models (Chase‐Dunn and Rubinson 1977; Hopkins and Wallerstein 1979; Arrighi 1994), historical narratives (Wallerstein 1974, 1980, 1989; Kennedy 1989), and statistical analyses (Modelski and Thompson 1988; Boswell and Sweat 1991) portray the cycle of hegemony as a fixed dynamic inherent to the world‐system. Can we expect the future to be any different?