cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing Kinesiology Students' Learning in Higher Education.

Student learning in higher education is traditionally assessed and compared using institution statistics (e.g., graduation rate, students' entrance examinations scores and percent of students with jobs or plans to enter graduate or professional schools after graduation). This practice is no longer adequate to meet the needs of workforce preparation for the 21st century's knowledge-based, global economy. There is a call for significant improvement in assessing student learning in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of assessing kinesiology student learning in higher education. After explaining why there is strong interest in assessment reform, a new four-dimension student learning construct is introduced. Conventional assessment practice in kinesiology and its limitation is then reviewed under this new student learning construct. The new assessment reform movement and attempts for reform in the field of kinesiology are then reviewed. Finally, major areas in assessing student ...
Looking At Supreme Court Impact in Context The Case of Reapportionment and State Spending

The field of judicial impact research has been aptly described as atheoretical. But recently a framework has been proposed for organizing this research and for giving direction to future research efforts in this area. As this insightful framework suggests, investigations concerning the indirect policy consequences of court decisions are best seen as rooted not only in earlier judicial impact studies but also in previous research in the particular policy arena of interest. In this article, this insight is employed in an attempt to explain the well-documented state-to-state variation in the impact on state spending of the Supreme Court reapportionment decisions of the 1960s. Using the states as units of analysis, multiple regression analysis is used to explain the extent of impact on two areas of state government spending: aid to local education and public welfare. The same multiple regression equation is found to fit both areas of reapportionment impact surprisingly well.
The effect of pelvic irradiation on lactose absorption.

Abstract Twenty-four patients undergoing pelvic irradiation for gynecologic malignancies had 14 C lactose breath tests performed in the first and fifth weeks of their treatment. The 14 C lactose breath test was performed by administering 2 μCi of 14 C lactose by mouth along with 50g of lactose. Breath samples were collected in ethanolic hyamine 1, 2 and 3 hr later; the radioactivity of the trapped 14 C0 2 was determined by liquid scintillation spectroscopy. In the first week of treatment the percentage of administered 14 C excreted as 14 C0 2 at 1, 2 and 3 hr was 1.7 ± 0.8% (mean ± SD), 4.5 ± 1.6% and 5.8 ± 1.4%, respectively. In the fifth week of treatment the 1-hr, 2-hr and 3-hr values were 1.2 ± 0.9%, 3.6 ± 2.0% and 4.7 ± 1.9%, respectively. The difference between the first week and fifth week test results at 1, 2, and 3 hr was statistically significant ( t = 2.64, p t = 2.24, p t = 2.95, p 14 C lactose breath test results in the fifth week and the stool frequency at that time ( r = −0.44, p 14 C lactose breath test results in the fifth week were below normal (
Soybean disease loss estimates for the United States from 1996 to 1998

Soybean disease loss estimates were compiled for the 1996 to 1998 harvested crops from all soybean-producing states in the United States. Scientists from each state provided estimates of losses based on field surveys, information from field workers and university extension staff, and research plot data. Total yield losses caused by soybean cyst [Heterodera glycines Ichinohe] in the United States were greater than those caused by any other disease. Next in importance were phytophthora root and stem rot [Phytophthora sojae (Kaufman & Gerdemann)], brown stem rot [Phialophora gregata (Allington & Chamberlain) Gams], sclerotinia stem rot [Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary], and seedling diseases. Yield loss estimates due to particular diseases varied by region and among years. The estimated soybean yield losses to diseases in the United States were 10.9 × 106 t in 1996, 11.9 × 106 t in 1997, and 14.0 × 106 t in 1998.
Towards friction and adhesion from high modulus microfiber arrays

Unlike traditional pressure sensitive adhesives, the natural setal arrays of gecko lizards achieve dry adhesion with stiff, keratinous material. This remarkable property has inspired a new class of adhesive and high friction microstructures composed of stiff materials that, like natural setae, have an elastic modulus greater than 1 GPa. In contrast to softer materials, such as rubber and low molecular weight acrylates, stiff materials have the advantage of wear and creep resistance and represent a wide range of polymers, metals, and ceramics that include materials that are also temperature resistant and biocompatible. This work presents progress in the design and fabrication of synthetic gecko adhesives with particular attention to the principles of contact mechanics and elasticity that are essential in formulating accurate design criteria.
Image splitting and remapping method for radiological image compression

A new decomposition method using image splitting and gray-level remapping has been proposed for image compression, particularly for images with high contrast resolution. The effects of this method are especially evident in our radiological image compression study. In our experiments, we tested the impact of this decomposition method on image compression by employing it with two coding techniques on a set of clinically used CT images and several laser film digitized chest radiographs. One of the compression techniques used was full-frame bit-allocation in the discrete cosine transform domain, which has been proven to be an effective technique for radiological image compression. The other compression technique used was vector quantization with pruned tree-structured encoding, which through recent research has also been found to produce a low mean-square-error and a high compression ratio. The parameters we used in this study were mean-square-error and the bit rate required for the compressed file. In addition to these parameters, the difference between the original and reconstructed images will be presented so that the specific artifacts generated by both techniques can be discerned by visual perception.
Addressing Challenges in Web Accessibility for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Searching for relevant information on the web is an important aspect of distance learning. This activity is a challenge for visually impaired distance learners. While sighted people have the ability to filter information in a fast and non sequential way, blind persons rely on tools that process the information in a sequential way. Learning is slowed by screen readers which do not interact well with web pages. This paper introduces WAVES, a tool for the fast retrieval of information in a web page for blind and visually impaired people. The paper describes the WAVES prototype, a system that performs a page restructuring of webpages. The system analyzes webpages, identifies elements of interests from a webpage, evaluates their importance by using semantic information and visual cues, sorts them by importance and uses them to restructure the webpage so that data from the original webpage are presented to the reader in a concise format. A preliminary evaluation test of the prototype system has been performed with a sample set of users. The results of the preliminary test show an increase in speed and accuracy when the WAVES system has been used.
High resolution absorption cross-section measurements of ozone at 195 K in the wavelength region 240–350 nm

Cross-sections of the Hartley-Huggins bands of 03 at the temperature 195 K have been obtained from photoabsorption measurements at column densities in the range 2 × 1017−1 × 1021 cm−2 throughout the wavelength region 240–350 nm with a 6.65 m photoelectric scanning spectrometer equipped with a 2400 lines mm−1 grating and operated at an instrumental width (FWHM) of 0.003 nm. The assumptions made in putting the measured relative cross-sections on an absolute basis are discussed. Fine structure in the cross-section observed in the Huggins bands is illustrated in the region 323–327 nm where shallow features of width 0.01–0.02 nm occur superposed on a stronger apparent continuum exhibiting broader wavy structure.
Overexpression of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene associated with a pyrethroid resistant strain of German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.).

A cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COXI) was identified and isolated as a differentially expressed gene between insecticide susceptible ACY and resistant Apyr-R German cockroach strains using PCR-selected subtractive hybridization and cDNA array techniques. The cDNA sequence of COXI has an open reading frame of 1533 nucleotides encoding a putative protein of 511 amino acid residues. Northern blot analysis indicated that levels of COXI expression were similar in three life stages (eggs, nymphs, and adults) of the susceptible ACY strain. The expression of COXI in the resistant Apyr-R strain was developmentally regulated, with low expression in eggs, an increase (approximately 1.4-fold) in nymphs, and rose to a maximum (approximately 3-fold) in both adult females and males. Comparison of COXI expression between ACY and Apyr-R strains indicated that there was no difference in the eggs of the two strains, but expression was higher (approximately 1.5-fold) in nymphs and much higher (approximately 3- to 4-fold) in adult males and females of the Apyr-R strain. The levels of COXI mRNA showed about 1.4- and 1.7-fold increase in the abdomen tissues compared with the head+thorax tissues of ACY and Apyr-R strains, respectively. Although expression patterns of COXI in head+thorax and abdomen tissues were similar (i.e. lower in the head+thorax tissues and higher in the abdomen tissues) in both the ACY and Apyr-R strains, the expression of COXI was about 2.5-fold higher in the head+thorax and approximately 3-fold higher in the abdomen tissues of the Apyr-R strain compared with the corresponding ACY samples. The overexpression of COXI in resistant German cockroaches merits the investigation of the importance of the gene in insecticide resistant German cockroaches.
Identification of a functional homolog of the Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium cysM gene encoding O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase B in Campylobacter jejuni

The final step of L-cysteine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium consists of the formation of L-cysteine from O-acetylserine and sulfide. This reaction can be catalyzed by two enzymes, O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase A and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase B, the former of which has been more rigorously characterized. In contrast to O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase A, O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase B is preferentially used for cysteine biosynthesis during anaerobic growth and is able to utilize thiosulfate as a substrate. Campylobacter jejuni is a micro-aerophilic, Gram-negative bacterium, and a member of the epsilon subdivision of eubacteria. We have cloned, sequenced, and expressed a gene from C. jejuni that encodes a protein of 299 aa with a calculated molecular mass of 32,367 Da. Complementation analysis of an E. coli cysteine auxotroph with the pMEK34-14 recombinant plasmid containing a 1.2-kb insert of chromosomal DNA from C. jejuni revealed that transformants were capable of growth in medium containing either sulfide or thiosulfate as sole sulfur sources. These data indicate that the cloned C. jejuni gene is a functional homolog of the cysM gene that codes for O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase B in E. coli and S. typhimurium.
A new microprocessor testing method

Abstract This paper discusses the necessity of testing a microprocessor to guarantee it meets certain standards prior to end product incorporation. It then analizes the test requirements and provides a solution to the most complex testing problem: how are the data necessary to exercise the microprocessor defined and generated. To determine the necessity of testing a microprocessor quality and reliability are defined followed by an analysis of the extent to which a microprocessor manufacturer tests — compared to the degree of testing required by the microprocessor user. A very brief discussion of the shortcommings of the classic computer and LSI testing methods is made. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of a totally new approach to microprocessor test generation and response diagnostic. A patented software package LEAD for Learning And Diagnostic methods is described. LEAD turns a general purpose tester into the naural environment of a micro-computer system. Here, a reference microprocessor in the test socket, coupled with the natural OUT environment created by the tester, allows the reference device to execute any microprocessor program. Hence, the system user can describe his microprocessor function test in the microprocessor language. The reference microprocessor executes the user written diagnostic exercise, and the tester “learns” all pin activity and saves it as the resultant truth table for future comparison to the device-under-test microprocessor. The paper concludes with a description of some additional advantages realized by the LEAD test method for the microprocessor manufacturer, user, and programmer.
Tracking microdomain dynamics in cell membranes

Studies of the diffusion of proteins and lipids in the plasma membrane of cells have long pointed to the presence of membrane domains. A major challenge in the field of membrane biology has been to characterize the various cellular structures and mechanisms that impede free diffusion in cell membranes and determine the consequences that membrane compartmentalization has on cellular biology. In this review, we will provide a brief summary of the classes of domains that have been characterized to date, focusing on recent efforts to identify the properties of lipid rafts in cells through measurements of protein and lipid diffusion.
P-211 - Ethical concerns about psychiatric genetic studies: item functioning and bias of the questionnaire about genetic risk

Objective High level of perceived concerns surrounding unethical use of genetic data could hinder participation in psychiatric genetic studies. We investigated the quality of Questionnaire about Genetic Research (QGR) for measuring the extent of perceived concern in a population with Bipolar disorder, and examined the robustness of the response items to differential bias by ethnic status. Method Six questions measured the degree of concerns about negative consequences from psychiatric genetic studies in the QGR. Each question has 5 response categories corresponding to increasing degree of concern, ranging from “not at all” concerned to “very concerned” We coded responses from 0 to 4, with larger scores indicating greater concerns. We used polytomous item response models (IRM) with latent constructs for analysis of complete responses by respondents. Results Most items of the QGR provided reliable measure of the extent of concerns. The instrument also validated the findings of greater concern about genetic studies among American Blacks compared to Whites. Item bias was observed for concerns about racism, procreation and privacy, but adjusting for these latter 3 items in a sensitivity analysis did not substantially change the association between Blacks and level of concern. Conclusions For the most part, the QGR is a reliable measure of the extent of perceived concern, based on response patterns to its six items. However, cautious interpretations of some items are warranted when the ethnicity of the study sample is diverse, due to vulnerability to response bias.
Structural basis for heterogeneous kinetics: Reengineering the hairpin ribozyme

The RNA cleavage reaction catalyzed by the hairpin ribozyme shows biphasic kinetics, and chase experiments show that the slow phase of the reaction results from reversible substrate binding to an inactive conformational isomer. To investigate the structural basis for the heterogeneous kinetics, we have developed an enzymatic RNA modification method that selectively traps substrate bound to the inactive conformer and allows the two forms of the ribozyme-substrate complex to be separated and analyzed by using both physical and kinetic strategies. The inactive form of the complex was trapped by the addition of T4 RNA ligase to a cleavage reaction, resulting in covalent linkage of the 5′ end of the substrate to the 3′ end of the ribozyme and in selective and quantitative ablation of the slow kinetic phase of the reaction. This result indicates that the inactive form of the ribozyme-substrate complex can adopt a conformation in which helices 2 and 3 are coaxially stacked, whereas the active form does not have access to this conformation, because of a sharp bend at the helical junction that presumably is stabilized by inter-domain tertiary contacts required for catalytic activity. These results were used to improve the activity of the hairpin ribozyme by designing new interfaces between the two domains, one containing a non-nucleotidic orthobenzene linkage and the other replacing the two-way junction with a three-way junction. Each of these modified ribozymes preferentially adopts the active conformation and displays improved catalytic efficiency.
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: The Influence of a Late-Life Transition on Occupational Engagement

ABSTRACTAim: Participation in social, leisure, and instrumental activities is associated with better physical and mental health in later life; however, unlike other older adults, grandparents raising grandchildren may replace previously enjoyed activities with child-rearing responsibilities. In light of poor health status among custodial grandparents, this paper focuses on the way raising a child influences grandparent engagement in occupation and perceptions of health and well-being. Methods: Ten grandparents age 60 and older responded to the SF-36v2 Health Survey, Activity Card Sort, demographic questionnaire, and interview. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics and comparison to national norms, and a descriptive qualitative method of coding was followed to identify themes. Results: Grandfathers retained an appreciably higher level of activity involvement than grandmothers; most notably for social activities. Four grandmothers identified that raising a grandchild had a negative impact on their p...
Real-time X-ray diffraction investigation of metal deformation

A description of the current state-of-the-art of real-time X-ray diffraction systems for investigation of metal deformation processes is presented. Among the systems discussed are conventional, flash, and synchrotron X-ray sources and electro-optical X-ray detectors for rapid display and recording of X-ray diffraction patterns and topographic images. Applications considered are dynamic measurement of crystal deformation and lattice rotation accompanying tensile elongation, mechanical deformation of explosively loaded metal, and plastic deformation caused by high power ultrasound. Comments will be made as to the influence of the results of these measurements on presently accepted mechanical theories regarding these processes.
Variance-constrained control of maneuvering helicopters with sensor failure

This article presents the novel results obtained using variance-constrained controllers and maneuvering helicopters also when some helicopter sensors fail. For this purpose, complex, control oriented, and physics-based helicopter models are used. A nonlinear model of the helicopter, which includes blade flexibility, is first linearized around specific maneuvering flight conditions (i.e. level banked turn and helical turn). The resulting linearized models are used for the design of variance-constrained controllers (i.e. output and input variance-constrained controllers). Then, the robustness of the closed-loop systems with respect to modeling uncertainties (i.e. flight conditions and helicopter inertial parameters variations) is studied. Next, variance-constrained controllers are designed for these maneuvering helicopter models when some helicopter sensors fail. Several sensor failure cases are examined and robustness properties of the closed-loop systems with respect to modeling uncertainties are also examined. Limitations of the control design process due to the number and type of failed sensors are investigated as well. Finally, the possibility to adaptively switch between controllers in order to mitigate sensor failure is studied.
The effects of emotion and encoding strategy on associative memory

Research has demonstrated that when discrete pieces of information are integrated together at encoding—imagining two items together as a single entity, for example—there is a mnemonic benefit for their relationship. A separate body of literature has indicated that the presence of emotional information can have an impact on the binding of associated neutral details, in some cases facilitating associative binding (MacKay et al. Memory and Cognition 32:474–488, 2004; Mather, Perspectives on Psychological Science 2:33–52, 2007), and in other cases impeding the processing of associated details (Easterbrook, Psychological Review 66:183–201, 1959; Kensinger, Emotion Review 1:99–113, 2009). In the present experiments, we investigated how memory for neutral words is affected by the emotionality of the information with which they are presented (whether with an emotional word or a second neutral word) and the encoding context (integrated or nonintegrated strategy). Participants viewed word pairs and were instructed to visualize the items as an integrated unit or to visualize them separately from one another. The results of Experiment 1 showed a disproportionate mnemonic benefit for neutral items that were integrated with other neutral items over those integrated with emotional items. The results of Experiments 2A and 2B showed that this effect interacted with encoding time: When given 2 s to encode, participants showed no effect of integration on memory for neutral–neutral pairs, but showed a significant mnemonic benefit for integrating emotional–neutral pairs. When given 4 or 6 s, the integrative benefit increased significantly for neutral–neutral pairs but decreased for emotional–neutral pairs. These results suggest that creating an integrated mental image of two neutral items requires a more time-consuming process than integrating an emotional and a neutral item, but that extra effort may result in a downstream mnemonic benefit.
CALIFORNIA AND THE SEARCH FOR THE IDEAL

ABSTRACT Throughout American history city men have looked upon the countryside as a place for a specialized form of urban settlement. Initially interest centered on the physically therapeutic qualities of the countryside, followed, in turn, by the mental recruitment to be experienced there. At the end of the last century this outward migration focussed into two attitudes, the Hudsonian search for the primitive and socially pristine and the Concordian seeking of urban pastorialism. The Concordian led to the shaping of a new settlement form, located largely in Megalopolis, which can be called exurbia, whereas the Hudsonian search encouraged the migration to California as the heartland of “the geography of the ideal'’expressed in social detachment and the cult of the wilderness. There arcadia became the settlement form. In the years since the Second World War the social and intellectual thought of the California arcadia has gained worldwide attention suggesting the importance of an analysis of the urban form...
High efficiency L-band variable output power amplifiers for use in communication systems

A pair of high efficiency low distortion L-band power amplifiers operating over variable drain voltages with a fixed gate voltage were developed. High efficiency and low distortion are maintained for drain voltages over the range of 2-8 V, while providing 12 dB of output power variation. The two amplifiers are single stage reactively matched hybrids that utilize discrete 0.5 /spl mu/m PHEMT devices consisting of 4.8 mm and 17.6 mm peripheries. These amplifiers are ideally suited for L-band transmitters in communication systems.
Anti-tumor Activity in Regression Fluid

Abstract Portions of growing tumors were ground in a Waring blender and mixed with Hanks’ balanced salt solution. This tumor homogenate was highly infectious and produced a large proportion of progressive tumors upon inoculation into the wing webs of susceptible birds. However, upon mixing fluid taken from the site of regressing tumors with tumor homogenate and holding it at refrigerator temperature, there was a slight reduction in the ability of the homogenate to produce tumors. A greater reduction of infectivity was obtained when tumor homogenate was mixed with fluid and stored in vivo at the site of regression of a tumor for 24 hours. Mixing regression fluid with Rous sarcoma virus, before inoculation into susceptible White Leghorns, greatly reduced the tumor inducing capacity of the virus. These results suggest the presence of anti-tumor activity in regression fluid. This activity was demonstrated in vitro against Rous sarcoma virus and in vivo against tumor homogenate.
Large‐scale bias and stochasticity of haloes and dark matter

On large scales, galaxies and their haloes are usually assumed to trace the dark matter with a constant bias and dark matter is assumed to trace the linear density field. We test these assumption using several large N-body simulations with 384 3 ‐1024 3 particles and box sizes of 96‐1152 h −1 Mpc, which can both resolve the small galactic-size haloes and sample the large-scale fluctuations. We explore the average halo bias relation as a function of halo mass and show that existing fitting formulae overestimate the halo bias by up to 20 per cent in the regime just below the non-linear mass. We propose a new expression that fits our simulations well. We find that the halo bias is nearly constant, b ∼ 0.65‐0.7, for masses below one-tenth of the non-linear mass. We next explore the relation between the initial and final dark matter in individual Fourier modes and show that there are significant fluctuations in their ratio, ranging from 10 per cent rms at k ∼ 0.03 h Mpc −1 to 50 per cent rms at k ∼ 0.1 h Mpc −1 .W e a rgue that these large fluctuations are caused by perturbative effects beyond the linear theory, which are dominated by long-wavelength modes with large random fluctuations. Similar or larger fluctuations exist between haloes and dark matter and between haloes of different mass. These fluctuations must be included in attempts to determine the relative bias of two populations from their maps, which would otherwise be immune to sampling variance. Ke yw ords: cosmology: theory ‐ dark matter ‐ large-scale structure of Universe.
The Effect of Model Granularity on Student Performance Prediction Using Bayesian Networks

A standing question in the field of Intelligent Tutoring Systems and User Modeling in general is what is the appropriate level of model granularity (how many skills to model) and how is that granularity derived? In this paper we will explore models with varying levels of skill generality (1, 5, 39 and 106 skill models) and measure the accuracy of these models by predicting student performance within our tutoring system called ASSISTment as well as their performance on a state standardized test. We employ the use of Bayes nets to model user knowledge and to use for prediction of student responses. Our results show that the finer the granularity of the skill model, the better we can predict student performance for our online data. However, for the standardized test data we received, it was the 39 skill model that performed the best. We view this as support for fine-grained skill models despite the finest grain model not predicting the state test scores the best.
Remodeling of the Intestinal Brush Border Underlies Adhesion and Virulence of an Enteric Pathogen

Intestinal colonization by Vibrio parahaemolyticus—the most common cause of seafood-borne bacterial enteritis worldwide—induces extensive disruption of intestinal microvilli. In orogastrically infected infant rabbits, reorganization of the apical brush border membrane includes effacement of some microvilli and marked elongation of others. All diarrhea, inflamma- tion, and intestinal pathology associated with V. parahaemolyticus infection are dependent upon one of its type 3 secretion sys- tems (T3SS2); however, translocated effectors that directly mediate brush border restructuring and bacterial adhesion are not known. Here, we demonstrate that the effector VopV is essential for V. parahaemolyticus intestinal colonization and therefore its pathogenicity, that it induces effacement of brush border microvilli, and that this effacement is required for adhesion of V. parahaemolyticus to enterocytes. VopV contains multiple functionally independent and mechanistically distinct domains through which it disrupts microvilli. We show that interaction between VopV and filamin, as well as VopV's previously noted interaction with actin, mediates enterocyte cytoskeletal reorganization. VopV's multipronged approach to epithelial restructur- ing, coupled with its impact on colonization, suggests that remodeling of the epithelial brush border is a critical step in patho- genesis. IMPORTANCE Colonization of the small bowel by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the most common bacterial agent of seafood-borne enteric disease, induces extensive structural changes in the intestinal epithelium. Here, we show that this diarrheal pathogen's colonization and virulence depend upon VopV, a bacterial protein that is transferred into host epithelial cells. VopV induces marked rearrangement of the apical epithelial cell membrane, including elimination of microvilli, by two means: through inter- action with actin and through a previously unrecognized interaction with the actin-cross-linking protein filamin. VopV- mediated "effacement" of microvilli enables V. parahaemolyticus to adhere to host cells, although VopV may not directly medi- ate adhesion. VopV's effects on microvillus structure and bacterial adhesion likely account for its essential role in V. parahaemolyticus intestinal pathogenesis. Our findings suggest a new role for filamin in brush border maintenance and raise the possibility that microvillus effacement is a common strategy among enteric pathogens for enhancing adhesion to host cells.
Radar observations of MJO and Kelvin wave interactions during DYNAMO/CINDY2011/AMIE

Radar and sounding data collected during the Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO), the Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in the Year 2011 (CINDY2011), and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Madden-Julian Oscillation Investigation Experiment (AMIE) field campaigns in the equatorial Indian Ocean to study the initiation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) are used to examine the precipitation, cloud, and moisture characteristics during the MJO and convectively coupled Kelvin waves (KWs). Three MJO events and 10 KWs were identified from satellite data using different wave number frequency filters, although event identification varied based on the chosen range of latitude, frequency, and outgoing longwave radiation threshold. Radar and sounding data were composited for the three MJO events, four KWs during the active MJO, five KWs during the suppressed MJO, and one KW during the developing MJO. The MJO composite was generally consistent with past studies, although an increase in convective rain appeared to precede relative humidity increases at low- to middle-levels. The active and developing MJO KWs produced more rain and cloud than suppressed MJO KWs and had a secondary peak in stratiform rain potentially associated with subsynoptic-scale cloud clusters. The suppressed MJO KW composite displayed previously documented structure of vertical moisture buildup prior to the KW passage, whereas the developing MJO KW did not. The KW moisture signature during the active MJO was somewhat overwhelmed by the moist environment associated with the active MJO. Upper level moisture was enhanced after KW passage, regardless of MJO phase. However, upper level moisture was most enhanced after the developing MJO KW passage, providing deep tropospheric moisture that may have assisted MJO onset. Nonprecipitating upper level cloud and midlevel altocumulus/altostratus also persisted after most KW passages.
Identification and overexpression of gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox) in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) for improved plant architecture and reduced biomass recalcitrance

Gibberellin 2-oxidases (GA2oxs) are a group of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that catalyse the deactivation of bioactive GA or its precursors through 2β-hydroxylation reaction. In this study, putatively novel switchgrass C20 GA2ox genes were identified with the aim of genetically engineering switchgrass for improved architecture and reduced biomass recalcitrance for biofuel. Three C20 GA2ox genes showed differential regulation patterns among tissues including roots, seedlings and reproductive parts. Using a transgenic approach, we showed that overexpression of two C20 GA2ox genes, that is PvGA2ox5 and PvGA2ox9, resulted in characteristic GA-deficient phenotypes with dark-green leaves and modified plant architecture. The changes in plant morphology appeared to be associated with GA2ox transcript abundance. Exogenous application of GA rescued the GA-deficient phenotypes in transgenic lines. Transgenic semi-dwarf lines displayed increased tillering and reduced lignin content, and the syringyl/guaiacyl lignin monomer ratio accompanied by the reduced expression of lignin biosynthetic genes compared to nontransgenic plants. A moderate increase in the level of glucose release in these transgenic lines might be attributed to reduced biomass recalcitrance as a result of reduced lignin content and lignin composition. Our results suggest that overexpression of GA2ox genes in switchgrass is a feasible strategy to improve plant architecture and reduce biomass recalcitrance for biofuel.
The Underrepresentation of Minority Students in Gifted Education Problems and Promises in Recruitment and Retention

Concerns over recruiting and retaining minority students in gifted education programs have persisted for several decades, and, although many educators, policymakers, and researchers have deliberated about the underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education, few articles, reports, or studies exist on this topic. This article seeks to fill this void, describing factors that inhibit the recruitment and retention of minority students in gifted education programs. These factors include screening and identification issues (e.g., definitions and instrumentation); educational issues (e.g., quality of students' education); and personnel issues (e.g., lack of teacher training in gifted and urban education, low teacher referral). Also discussed are retention issues, namely, factors that may affect the decision of minority students to remain in gifted education programs. Finally, recommendations for recruiting and retaining minority students are offered.
Brain gene expression changes elicited by peripheral vitellogenin knockdown in the honey bee

Vitellogenin (Vg) is best known as a yolk protein precursor. Vg also functions to regulate behavioural maturation in adult honey bee workers, but the underlying molecular mechanisms by which it exerts this novel effect are largely unknown. We used abdominal vitellogenin (vg) knockdown with RNA interference (RNAi) and brain transcriptomic profiling to gain insights into how Vg influences honey bee behavioural maturation. We found that vg knockdown caused extensive gene expression changes in the bee brain, with much of this transcriptional response involving changes in central biological functions such as energy metabolism. vg knockdown targeted many of the same genes that show natural, maturation-related differences, but the direction of change for the genes in these two contrasts was not correlated. By contrast, vg knockdown targeted many of the same genes that are regulated by juvenile hormone (JH) and there was a significant correlation for the direction of change for the genes in these two contrasts. These results indicate that the tight coregulatory relationship that exists between JH and Vg in the regulation of honey bee behavioural maturation is manifest at the genomic level and suggest that these two physiological factors act through common pathways to regulate brain gene expression and behaviour.
Stage-dependent feeding behavior by western tarnished plant bugs influences flower bud abscission in cotton

Unexplained variability in the relationship between the number of herbivores in a field and the amount of crop damage can arise if there is a large amount of variation among herbivore individuals in the amount of feeding damage each generates. In California, populations of the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae), produce highly variable levels of damage to cotton plants ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) (Malvaceae), even when found at low densities. Because L. hesperus populations are also highly variable in their overall stage structure, we hypothesize that differences in crop damage might result from varying impact by each L. hesperus stage on cotton flower buds (termed squares). Laboratory measurements of L. hesperus mouth-parts and distance to anther sacs, a preferred feeding site, revealed that 1st − 3rd instar L. hesperus nymphs will not be able to feed on anther sacs of larger squares (over 8 mm in length) but will be able to feed on squares that are most sensitive to L. hesperus damage (< 7 mm). Because even the 1st instars can feed on the most sensitive ‘pinhead’ squares, size constraints do not rule out damaging effects from the youngest L. hesperus . Laboratory observations revealed that later developmental stages, and adults, spend more time feeding on cotton squares relative to 2nd and 3rd instars. In addition, a field experiment revealed no effect of 2nd instars on square retention (relative to control cages) but did reveal a significant decrease in square retention generated by adult L. hesperus (4th instar L. hesperus resulted in an intermediate level of square retention). In a final study we sampled L. hesperus stage structure and density across 38 cotton fields. Multiple regression revealed that the densities of 1st − 3rd instars of L. hesperus are not correlated with anther sac damage or square retention. However, in 2 years 4th and 5th instars were positively correlated with anther sac damage and negatively correlated with square retention. In the a third year, adult L. hesperus showed correlations in the same direction, across fields and across sites within fields. Overall, these results suggest that the adults and the largest nymphs of L. hesperus (4th and 5th instars) are particularly damaging to cotton squares, with the 1st − 3rd instars of L. hesperus causing little damage to plants.
Personality Through Metaphor: Optimism, Pessimism, Locus of Control, and Sensation Seeking

In two experiments, several personality attributes evident in metaphors people use to describe everyday experiences were examined. Subjects either generated (Experiment 1) or endorsed (Experiment 2) a metaphor that represented their views about six facets of their lives (e.g., work, relationships, graduating). In self-generated metaphors, content analyses of the metaphors revealed that attributes of optimism (e.g., looking forward to the future) and pessimism (e.g., cynicism) were significant components of metaphor content. Also, modest relationships were found between the themes of optimism contained within their metaphors and scores on an optimism scale of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the optimistic and pessimistic orientations. In a second study, subjects endorsed how strongly preselected metaphors represented important aspects of their lives. These preferences were significantly related to their scores on an optimism/pessimism instrument and a locus of control inventory. These results support the notion that metaphors, like other creative productions, may prove a useful vehicle for studying personality characteristics. They also provide evidence for the construct validity of the optimism and pessimism questionnaire.
Validation of a Fuzzy Model for the Assessment of Human Operator Responses to Manual Lifting Tasks

A fuzzy model for the assessment of lifting stresses imposed on the human operator was validated based on the experimental data collected on experienced male workers. Conditions were re-examined for which acceptabilities of the combined physiological and biomechanical stresses were similar to the psychophysical stress. It was shown that the ‘standard’ fuzzy model can be effectively extended to the industrial population.
Video coding using compressed reference frames

Handheld battery-operated consumer electronics video devices such as camera phones, digital still cameras, digital camcorders, and personal media players have limited system memory bandwidth available because of cost and power consumption constraints. Video coding consumes a significant amount of this limited system memory bandwidth especially at high-definition (HD) resolution. Techniques that reduce memory bandwidth in video coding are crucial for implementing video coding at HD resolutions in portable video devices. Memory bandwidth reduction is also desirable from a power consumption point of view since memory accesses consume a significant amount of power. In this paper we present our technique - in-loop compression of reference frames - for reducing memory bandwidth in video coding.
High-Accuracy Finite Difference Equations for Simulation of Photonic Structures

Progress towards the development of such algorithms as been reported for waveguide analysis'-3and vertical-cavity laser simulation. In all these cases, the higher accuracy order was obtained for a single spatial dimension. More recently, this concept was extended to differencing of the Helmholtz Equation on a 2-D grid, with uniform regions treated to 4th order and dielectric interfaces to 3'd order5. No attempt was made to treat corners properly. In this talk I will describe the extension of this concept to allow differencing of the Helmholtz Equation on a 2-D grid to 6* order in uniform regions and 5* order at dielectric interfaces. In addition, the first known derivation of a finite difference equation for a dielectric comer that allows correct satisfaction of all boundary conditions will be presented. This equation is only accurate to first order, but as will be shown, results in simulations that are third-order-accurate. In contrast to a previous approach3 that utilized a generalized Douglas scheme to increase the accuracy order of the difference second derivative, the present method invokes the Helmholtz Equation itself to convert derivatives of high order in a single direction into mixed
Use of computational and recombinant technologies for developing novel influenza vaccines

Influenza vaccine design has changed considerably with advancements in bioinformatics and computational biology. Improved surveillance efforts provide up-to-date information about influenza sequence diversity and assist with monitoring the spread of epidemics and vaccine efficacy rates. The advent of next-generation sequencing, epitope scanning and high-throughput analysis all help decipher influenza-associated protein interactions as well as predict immune responsiveness based on host genetic diversity. Computational approaches are utilized in nearly all aspects of vaccine design, from modeling, compatibility predictions, and optimization of antigens in various platforms. This overview discusses how computational techniques strengthen vaccine efforts against highly diverse influenza species.
DIFFERENTIATION OF THE FOSSIL HEXAPODIDAE MIERS, 1886 (DECAPODA: BRACHYURA) FROM SIMILAR FORMS

Abstract Distinguishing among members of the Hexapodidae Miers, 1886, the Asthenognathinae Stimpson, 1858, and the Chasmocarcininae Serene, 1964, is difficult in fossil specimens that lack preserved pereiopods or sterna. Members of the Hexapodidae are easily identified if sterna and pereiopods are present, because possession of four pairs of pereiopods and seven exposed sternites is diagnostic for the family. Several features of the dorsal carapace are useful in differentiating among genera assigned to that family and other subfamilies belonging to the Goneplacidae and Pinnotheridae; however, dorsal carapace characters are less useful in assigning taxa at the family or subfamily level. A key to the taxa discussed herein permits generic differentiation based upon the relative dimensions of the carapace, the shape and size of the orbits, the shape and size of the rostrum, carapace ornamentation, and the degree of fusion of abdominal somites in males. A new species of Palaeopinnixa Via, 1966, Palaeopinnixa r...
Estimation of fatigue and extreme load distributions from limited data with application to wind energy systems

An estimate of the distribution of fatigue ranges or extreme loads for wind turbines may be obtained by separating the problem into two uncoupled parts, (1) a turbine specific portion, independent of the site and (2) a site-specific description of environmental variables. We consider contextually appropriate probability models to describe the turbine specific response for extreme loads or fatigue. The site-specific portion is described by a joint probability distribution of a vector of environmental variables, which characterize the wind process at the hub-height of the wind turbine. Several approaches are considered for combining the two portions to obtain an estimate of the extreme load, e.g., 50-year loads or fatigue damage. We assess the efficacy of these models to obtain accurate estimates, including various levels of epistemic uncertainty, of the turbine response.
CRYSTAL CHEMICAL STUDIES OF SOME URANYL OXIDE HYDRATES

Mineralogical and crystal-chemical studies were made of the closely related uranyl oxide hydrates becquerelite, billietite, fourmarierite, masuyite, schoepite, and vandendriesscheite. An essertial feature of the work is the use of x-ray precession techniques with carefully selected single crystals to determine accurately the crystallographic constants, the symmetry, and the structural relations of these minerals. Indices of refraction and optical orientation were determined on crystals both identified and oriented by the x-ray precession method. Similarly identified crystals were used to obtain the indexed powder pattern data listed. The results obtained on the physical properties, the x-ray crysthllography, the x-ray powder data, and the optical properties are listed and compared with the work of other investigators in the 23 tables of the paper. Crystals of schoepite and of vandendriesscheite that are apparently single actually consist of several crystallographically distinct phases in parallel intergrowth. The spontaneous alteration from one phase to another that occurs in these crystals results from loss of water of hydration. All six of the minerals studied yield strikingly similar pseudohexagonal diffraction patterns. A reasonable crystal structure based on these patterns consists of UO/sub 2/(OH)/ sub 2/ layers (similar to those proved by Zachariasen to exist in UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/) parallelmore » to the perfect cleavage (OOl), with the water of hydration and any cations present in interlayer positions. (auth)« less