cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Club Sport Legal Liability Practices at NIRSA Institutions

Current legal practices in collegiate club sport programs were studied. A 23-item questionnaire consisting primarily of close-ended questions was mailed to 563 campus recreation directors representing all six National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) regions. Data obtained showed that mean club sport budgets ranged from $51,657 in Region 4 to $135,657 in Region 6, with an overall mean of $69,138 across all regions. Signing a waiver before participating was required by 91% of the directors. Lack of consistency in waiver language and font size was reported. Only 9% of campus recreation directors always require that an institutional employee travel with a club sport team. The most frequent modes of approved travel for club sport participants were students driving personal cars (94%), renting vans from outside vendors (95%), and the use of private transportation such as a chartered bus (70%). Paid coaches were used by 15% of the directors.
Costimulation couture: a designer approach to regulating autoimmunity

Negative or inhibitory costimulatory pathways regulate T cell activation and play a role in peripheral tolerance. Targeting these pathways harnesses the physiologic mechanisms of regulating autoimmunity and could prove beneficial for the therapy of autoimmune diseases. However, attempts at targeting these pathways have been fraught with difficulties. In this issue of the JCI, Fife et al. describe a creative approach for targeting CTL-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) on activated T cells via genetically engineered B cells to prevent autoimmune diabetes in the NOD mouse (see the related article beginning on page 2252). Novel "designer" strategies targeting negative costimulatory pathways provide reasons for optimism in the search for a cure for devastating autoimmune diseases.
On Common–Base Avalanche Instabilities in SiGe HBTs

This paper presents a detailed investigation of the key device-level factors that contribute to the bias-dependent features observed in common-base (CB) dc instability characteristics of advanced SiGe HBTs. Parameters that are relevant to CB avalanche instabilities are identified, extracted from measured data, and carefully analyzed to yield improved physical insight, a straightforward estimation methodology, and a practical approach to quantify and compare CB avalanche instabilities. The results presented support our simple theory and show that CB-instability characteristics are strongly correlated with the parasitic base and emitter resistances. The influence of weak quasi-pinch-in effects are shown to contribute additional complexity to the bias dependence of the CB-instability threshold. Measured data from several technology nodes, including next-generation (300-GHz) SiGe HBTs, are presented and compared. Experimental analysis comparing different device geometries and layouts shows that while device size plays an important role in CB avalanche instabilities across bias, these parameters are not sensitive to standard transistor layout variations. However, novel measurements on emitter-ring tetrode transistor structures demonstrate the influence of perimeter-to-area ratio on CB stability and highlight opportunities for novel transistor layouts to increase .
An array of diverse microbial genomes

Methods for comparing gene frequencies across large, epidemiologically defined bacterial collections are limited. A novel microarray technology has been developed called 'library on a slide'. In this technology, hundreds of entire microbial genomes are arrayed, rather than sequences of a single genome or sets of genes. These slides can then be probed for the presence of specific genes allowing researchers to draw inferences regarding important differences between related strains that differ in their pathogenic potential.
High molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 15-20) maintains mucosal microbial barrier function during intestinal graft preservation.

Abstract Background During organ transplantation, it is inevitable that tissues undergo cold ischemia during harvest and transport before implantation. Polyethylene-based polymers have been proposed and tested as preservation agents, with promising results. We have previously reported that a high molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) (15–20,000 MW; PEG 15-20) protects the intestinal epithelium against a variety of cellular stresses, including radiation injury and microbial invasion, by mechanisms that appear to involve lipid rafts. The aim of this study was to determine the preservation effect of PEG 15-20 on the integrity of intestine grafts harvested for subsequent transplantation. Materials and methods We harvested intestinal grafts from mice using a complete surgical technique for intestinal transplantation and assessed them for the effect of PEG on graft tissue integrity. We preserved half of the grafts in histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution (HTK) alone and half in HTK-PEG 15-20 solution at 4°C for 24 h. We examined gross morphology, wet to dry ratios, histology, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated 2′-deoxyuridine, 5′-triphosphate nick end labeling assay for apoptosis, goblet cell numbers, and bacterial localization studies to evaluate the effect of PEG on tissue integrity. Results Results demonstrated that PEG 15-20 had a superior preservation effect over HTK alone in all parameters tested. The effect of PEG was notable on attenuation of epithelial apoptosis, preservation of mucus-producing cells, and bacterial adherence to the epithelium. Conclusions Taken together, these studies suggest that use of PEG 15-20 as a potential adjuvant during intestinal transplant may offer significant promise to prolong graft survival during organ harvest.
Timing and site selection of spawning in a landlocked population of rainbow smelt in Wisconsin

To study the site selection and timing of spawning by rainbow smelt, Osmerus modax, in a freshwater system, smelt were sampled with fyke nets during the spawning run in spring 2002 and 2003. The sex ratio of smelt favored males in the early and late segments of the run, with over 90% of smelt caught being male. At the peak in the catch, females comprised 57% of the smelt collected. The gonadosomatic index of males and females declined significantly on the day of peak catch, signaling the peak in spawning activity. Higher catches of smelt occurred on cobble-dominated substrates during the peak of the run, but no site selection was apparent earlier or later. Groundwater outflow did not appear to affect catches. Our study suggests that smelt come inshore but do not select specific spawning substrates prior to or after the peak in spawning. Smelt do select cobble sites during the highest rates of spawning. The relation between the peak in spawning and site selection could have application in planning removal strategies for the species.
Counter proliferation, conventional counterforce and Nuclear War

(2000). Counter proliferation, conventional counterforce and Nuclear War. Journal of Strategic Studies: Vol. 23, Preventing the Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, pp. 5-24.
Uterine and placenta characteristics during early vascular development in the pig from day 22 to 42 of gestation.

Insufficient placenta development is one of the primary causes of fetal death and reduced fetal growth after 35 days of gestation. Between day 22 and 42 the placenta consists of a central highly vascular placenta (HVP), adjacent to the fetus, a less vascular placenta (LVP), on either side of the fetus, and necrotic tips (NT). The objective of this study was to comprehensively evaluate uterine–placenta characteristics during early gestation in the gilt and determine time points and physiological changes. Gilts (n = 25) were artificially inseminated at first detection of estrus (day 0) and 24 h later, and harvested at 22, 27, 32, 37 or 42 days of gestation. Litter size, 12.1 ± 3.4, was similar for all days of gestation. Fetal and placenta weight increased with day of gestation. The greatest increase in placenta weight occurred between 37 and 42 days of gestation. The LVP zones had no measurable fold formation until day 27. Necrotic tips became apparent after 27 days of gestation. Unoccupied areas of the uterus developed folds with changes in endometrial cell size and morphology from day 32 to 42 of gestation. Limited changes occurred in either fetal growth or placenta weight from day 27 through 32 of gestation; however, significant morphological changes occur at the maternal–fetal interface, demonstrating the dynamic architecture of the developing porcine placenta during early gestation. This work establishes fundamental time points in placenta development corresponding to fetal growth and microfold formation that may influence fetal growth and impact fetal survival.
A quantitative theory of affinity-driven T cell repertoire selection.

Binding of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) to peptides presented on molecules encoded by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes is the key event driving T cell development and activation. Selection of the T cell repertoire in the thymus involves two steps. First, positive selection promotes the survival of cells binding thymic self-MHC-peptide complexes with sufficient affinity. The resulting repertoire is self-MHC restricted: it recognizes foreign peptides presented on self, but not foreign MHC. Second, negative selection deletes cells which may be potentially harmful because their receptors interact with self-MHC-peptide complexes with too high an affinity. The mature repertoire is also highly alloreactive: a large fraction of T cells respond to tissues harboring foreign MHC. We derive mathematical expressions giving the frequency of alloreactivity, the level of self-MHC restriction, and the fraction of the repertoire activated by a foreign peptide, as a function of the parameters driving the generation and selection of the repertoire: self-MHC and self-peptide diversity, the stringencies of positive and negative selection, and the number of peptide and MHC polymorphic residues that contribute to T cell receptor binding. Although the model is based on a simplified digit string representation of receptors, all the parameters but one relate directly to experimentally determined quantities. The only parameter without a biological counterpart has no effect on the model's behavior besides a trivial and easily preventable discretization effect. We further analyse the role of the MHC and peptide contribution to TCR binding, and find that their relative, rather than absolute value, is important in shaping the mature repertoire. This result makes it possible to adopt different physical interpretations for the digit string formalism. We also find that the alloreactivity level can be inferred directly from data on the stringency of selection, and that, in agreement with recent experiments, it is not affected by thymic selection.
Mixed explicit-implicit iterative finite element scheme for diffusion-type problems: I. Theory

A Galerkin finite element formulation of diffusion processes based on a diagonal capacity matrix is analysed from the standpoint of local stability and convergence. The theoretical analysis assumes that the conductance matrix is locally diagonally dominant, and it is shown that one can always construct a finite element network of linear triangles satisfying this condition. Time derivatives are replaced by finite differences, leading to a mixed explicit-implicit system of algebraic equations which can be efficiently solved by a point iterative technique. In this work the accelerated point iterative method is adopted and is shown to converge when the conductance matrix is locally diagonally dominant. Several examples are included in Part II of this paper to demonstrate the efficiency of the new approach.
Radio Frequency Post-Harvest Quarantine and Phytosanitary Treatments to Control Insect Pest in Fruits and Nuts

Many fresh agricultural commodities serve as hosts for insects that are categorised as quarantine pests because of their threat to local agriculture. These insects can be found either on the surface or in the interior of harvested commodities. Because infested commodities are often not easily detectable by external inspection, regulatory agencies in many countries have established phytosanitary quarantine protocols intended to prevent the introduction of exotic pests. Quarantine protocols may include pre-harvest treatments and postharvest measures using commodity treatments. In the absence of effective preor post-harvest techniques to meet quarantine security, the presence of a restricted insect pest in a growing region presents a major non-tariff barrier to international and domestic trades (USEPA, 2001). Tree fruits and nuts are major commodities for foreign and domestic markets in the United States. About 70% of fresh apples, 95% of winter pears, and 70% of sweet cherries are produced in the Pacific Northwest of the USA in 1997. Exports accounted for about 30% market for the Pacific Northwest apple, 35% for the winter pear, and 32% for the sweet cherry (USDA, 1999). The value of these commodities increased from $850 million in 1980 to $1.6 billion in 1997, with an increase of more than 88%. In addition, the state of Washington contributes 90 to 95% of the fresh apples exported by the US. Japan and South Korea require that the imported commodities should be free from codling moth. Over 970,000 tons of grapefruit were produced in Texas for the fresh market during the 1995–1996 crop year with an estimated value of over $95 million in on-the-tree value. Citrus shipments destined for other citrus producing states in the US, e.g. California, Arizona, and Florida, as well as for export markets including Japan and other Pacific Rim countries, require quarantine treatments against fruit flies. Potential quarantine treatments include establishment of fly free production methods, such as fumigation of fruits with methyl bromide (MeBr), cold storage, and hot forced air (Mangan et al., 1998). California produced about half of the US production of fruits and tree nuts, providing nearly 39 million tons of commodities in 1997. The value of almonds, walnuts, dates, figs, pistachios, prunes, and raisins in 1997 was more than $2.5 billion. Most tree nuts are hosts of codling moth, Indianmeal moth and navel orange-
Application-layer multicasting with Delaunay triangulation overlays

Application-layer multicast supports group applications without the need for a network-layer multicast protocol. Here, applications arrange themselves in a logical overlay network and transfer data within the overlay. We present an application-layer multicast solution that uses a Delaunay triangulation as an overlay network topology. An advantage of using a Delaunay triangulation is that it allows each application to locally derive next-hop routing information without requiring a routing protocol in the overlay. A disadvantage of using a Delaunay triangulation is that the mapping of the overlay to the network topology at the network and data link layer may be suboptimal. We present a protocol, called Delaunay triangulation (DT protocol), which constructs Delaunay triangulation overlay networks. We present measurement experiments of the DT protocol for overlay networks with up to 10 000 members, that are running on a local PC cluster with 100 Linux PCs. The results show that the protocol stabilizes quickly, e.g., an overlay network with 10 000 nodes can be built in just over 30 s. The traffic measurements indicate that the average overhead of a node is only a few kilobits per second if the overlay network is in a steady state. Results of throughput experiments of multicast transmissions (using TCP unicast connections between neighbors in the overlay network) show an achievable throughput of approximately 15 Mb/s in an overlay with 100 nodes and 2 Mb/s in an overlay with 1000 nodes.
Recurrent neural network training with feedforward complexity

This paper presents a training method that is of no more than feedforward complexity for fully recurrent networks. The method is not approximate, but rather depends on an exact transformation that reveals an embedded feedforward structure in every recurrent network. It turns out that given any unambiguous training data set, such as samples of the state variables and their derivatives, we need only to train this embedded feedforward structure. The necessary recurrent network parameters are then obtained by an inverse transformation that consists only of linear operators. As an example of modeling a representative nonlinear dynamical system, the method is applied to learn Bessel's differential equation, thereby generating Bessel functions within, as well as outside the training set. >
Comparison of the Effects of Energy Drink Versus Caffeine Supplementation on Indices of 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure:

Background:Cardiovascular events associated with energy drink consumption have been reported, but few data exist to delineate the hemodynamic effects of energy drinks.Objective:To compare the effects of an energy drink versus caffeine supplementation on blood pressure (BP) Indices as measured by 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM).Methods:Healthy, nonsmoking, normotensive volunteers (aged 18-45 years) taking no medications were enrolled in a single-center, open-label, 2-period crossover pilot study. During each study period, subjects received either an energy drink (Red Bull Energy Drink, each dose containing 80 mg of caffeine and 1000 mg of taurine in an 8.3-oz serving) or a control (compounded caffeine solution, each dose containing 80 mg of caffeine solution in 8 oz of bottled water) at 0800,1100, 1500, and 1900 hours and underwent 24-hour ABPM. The study periods were separated by a washout period (4-30 days). Mean 24-hour, daytime, and nighttime systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), and mean arterial (...
Disparities in visual impairment by immigrant status in the United States.

Purpose To examine differences in visual impairment between immigrants and natives in the United States (US). Design This is a cross-sectional study of clinical vision examination data from the 2003–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods Analyses compare myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and visual acuity between noncitizens, naturalized citizens, and US natives. Visual acuity variables included having 20/40 or better corrected vision. Differences in 20/20 vision and legal blindness (20/200 or worse) were also examined. Respondents born in the United States were defined as US natives. Foreign-born respondents were categorized as either naturalized US citizens or noncitizen residents. Multivariate logistic regression of outcomes adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, poverty, insurance, diabetes, and surgical correction for eyesight. Results A smaller percentage of noncitizens than US natives had myopia (18.8% vs 30.7%) or astigmatism (22.0% vs 30.9%). However, noncitizens using corrective lenses had an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 0.65 of having 20/20 vision compared to US natives (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.48–0.88). Differences in visual acuity for 20/40 and better vision were not statistically significant for corrective lens users. Among nonusers of corrective lenses, noncitizens were significantly less likely than US natives to have 20/40 or better vision (AOR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.39–0.74). Noncitizens also had up to 3.5 times the odds of being legally blind relative to US natives after adjusting for confounding factors (95% CI 1.52–7.83). Conclusions Significant differences in visual acuity exist between immigrants and US natives. More research is necessary to identify underlying factors that may explain these disparities in visual impairment.
Cone neurite sprouting: an early onset abnormality of the cone photoreceptors in the retinal degeneration mouse.

Purpose: Mutations in many rod genes can cause inherited blinding neurodegeneration in the retina characterized by sequential death of rod and cone photoreceptors. This study was to examine the morphological changes of the cone photoreceptors in retinal degeneration (rd1) mice caused by rod-specific cGMP phosphodiesterase beta-subunit gene mutation and to gain insights into the early cellular events underlying the secondary cone death. Methods: Transgenic mice that have their living cones labeled by the green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgene and carry the homozygous rd1 mutation were generated, and identified by PCR analysis of the mouse tail DNA and PCR coupled Dde I digestion. The morphology of cone cells in live and fixed retinas from developing and adult mice was examined with fluorescence and scanning laser confocal microscopy. Some fixed mouse retinas were also examined by immunocytochemical staining. Volume images from the confocal three-dimensional (3D) data sets were processed with IMARIS software for 3D view of the detailed cone cell morphology. Results: The cone photoreceptors in the rd1 retinas exhibited a novel process of neurite sprouting, in addition to the general pathological changes of cone degeneration such as shortening and loss of cone outer and inner segments, and loss and death of the cones. The cones gave rise to prominent neurite outgrowth from their axons and synaptic pedicles as well. Most neurites had beaded varicosities along their length and some terminated as bulbous structures. Some cone pedicles showed abnormally elongating and branching processes. The degenerating cones were disorganized, and migrated into the inner nuclear layer. Some cone neurites extended horizontally and appeared to contact the rod bipolar cells, while others projected into the inner plexiform layer. The aberrant cone sprouting started from P8 when rod degeneration generally began, and became evident by P10. In contrast, this abnormal cone neurite sprouting was not observed in the examined control mice that did not carry the rd1 mutation. Double-labeling with cone cell-specific peanut agglutinin confirmed that the fluorescent cells expressing the GFP in the rd1 retinas were indeed the cone photoreceptors. Conclusions: Cone photoreceptors in the rd1 mice underwent a remarkable process of neurite sprouting that appeared to start before the onset of cone cell death and persisted throughout the course of cone degeneration. This novel process of cone neurite sprouting may be a part of the early cellular events leading to the cone photoreceptor death in retinal degeneration of the rd1 mice.
Formation of the bi-directional energy cascade in low-frequency damped wave-turbulent systems

We demonstrate that in wave-turbulent systems, an inverse energy flux can be formed in addition to the conventional direct energy flux if large-scale wave damping is present. Such a bi-directional energy cascade can be understood in terms of the wave energy transfer on the temperature wave background. The formation of the bi-directional cascade provides an effective mechanism for global coupling between the scales where the turbulent fluctuations at small scales are affected by the wave distribution at large scales due to the total energy conservation. We discuss physical systems where this scenario is realized.
Sustainable commercialization of new crops for the agricultural bioeconomy

Diversification of agroecological systems to enhance agrobiodiversity is likely to be critical to advancing environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture. Temperate-zone agroecological systems that are currently organized for production of summer-annual crops can be diversified by integration of fallow-season and perennial crops. Integration of such crops can improve sustainability of these agroecological systems, with minimal interference with current agricultural production. Importantly, these crops can provide feedstocks for a wide range of new bio-products that are forming a new agricultural bioeconomy, potentially providing greatly increased economic incentives for diversification. However, while there are many fallow-season and perennial crops that might be used in such a “bioeconomic” strategy for diversification, most are not yet well adapted and highly-marketable. Efforts are underway to enhance adaptation and marketability of many such crops. Critically, these efforts require a strategic approach that addresses the inherent complexity of these projects. We outline a suitable approach, which we term “sustainable commercialization”: a coordinated innovation process that integrates a new crop into the agriculture of a region, while intentionally addressing economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges via multi-stakeholder governance. This approach centers on a concerted effort to coordinate and govern innovation in three critical areas: germplasm development, multifunctional agroecosystem design and management, and development of end uses, supply chains, and markets. To exemplify the approach, we describe an ongoing effort to commercialize a new fallow-season crop, field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.).
Everything Old Is New Again: Fundamental Fairness and the Legitimacy of Criminal Justice

The Warren Court's work is justly celebrated, for who would not support the right to counsel for indigent defendants or the requirement that an arrested person be informed of her right to counsel, including appointed counsel if she could not afford one? Nonetheless, it is useful to recall the regime replaced by selective incorporation, the method by which the Warren Court established its body of constitutional criminal procedure. In the early days of constitutional criminal procedure, the Supreme Court relied upon notions of fundamental fairness in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to review state court criminal judgments. While it is true that those early decisions were too weak to engineer widespread reform of the state criminal justice processes, it is also true that fundamental fairness jurisprudence had notably positive features. In particular, fundamental fairness jurisprudence was replete with references to what I call a "public-regarding" vision of fairness. This notion importantly includes the public, as well as the defendant, in the articulation of constitutional values relevant to the fair operation of criminal justice. Moreover, the decisions articulating these views considered racial injustice as part and parcel of constitutional review. While the Warren Court's approach led to reform of state criminal justice, that reform came at a cost. The Warren Court's selective incorporation approach did not admit of the candid evaluation of various aspects and practices of the states that fundamental fairness analysis did. The focus on fundamental fairness captured society's normative aspirations and provided a primer on fair treatment of citizens. To illustrate the potential of fundamental fairness analysis to address lingering vestiges of racial injustice in the criminal justice system, I focus on two problem areas that often implicate race-petit jury composition and selective prosecution claims.
Women's Rights

This paper provides an overview of women's rights under international law. It begins by explaining why women's rights need to be addressed as a separate issue, distinct from human rights. It then sets out a justification for a rights approach and describes the development of an international legal consensus recognizing women's rights. It concludes by noting remaining problems and prospects for progress.
Discussion: From Stock to Flow Capital Inputs for Agricultural Production Functions: A Microanalytic Approach

Pan Yotopoulos' paper presents with unusual clarity an important econometric problem, its theoretical solution, and its empirical verification. Consequently, instead of dwelling on what he did not do-as one is often tempted to do when evaluating a colleague's work-I would rather review what he has accomplished and place it in a somewhat broader context. I will draw attention to some important qualifications, but unlike Mark Antony I propose not to bury but to praise. First, the basic class of econometric problems to which Yotopoulos' problem belongs involves the derivation of estimatable equations from models with variables that cannot be observed in principle or that are not usually observed in practice. Perhaps the classic example is that of inferring the unobservable structure of consumer preferences from observed consumption behavior and price patterns, a theoretical problem first definitively discussed by Samuelson [10, 11]. Readers of this journal are no doubt familiar with a second major example explored by Nerlove in his early work on dynamic supply equations for agricultural commodities [3, 4]. There the problem was one of finding observable proxies for subjec-
Eliminate Prophylactic Platelet Transfusions

Studies have clearly shown that the threshold for prophylactic platelet transfusions can be reduced from the previous guideline of 20,000 platelets per cubic millimeter to 10,000 per cubic millimeter1 and that the standard platelet-transfusion dose can be reduced by half,2 without increasing the risk of bleeding in patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia. The next logical question, addressed in the study by Stanworth et al. in this issue of the Journal, 3 is whether prophylactic transfusions are really necessary or whether patients with thrombocytopenia can be effectively supported with only therapeutic platelet transfusions given with the onset of a bleeding event of World . . .
Predictors of Prolonged Hospital Stay in Status Migrainosus.

Background:Patients with status migrainosus often need to be admitted due to the severity of their headaches. Their hospitalization is often prolonged due to poor headache control. Large sample stu...
Power-Performance Optimization of a Virtualized SMT Vector Processor via Thread Fusion and Lane Configuration

Lane-based Vector Processors (VPs) are highly scalable. However, they become less energy efficient as they scale for vector applications having insufficient data-level parallelism (DLP) to keep the extra computation lanes fully occupied. We present a scalable and yet flexible VP that is capable of dynamically deactivating some of its computing lanes in order to reduce static power with minimum performance loss. In addition, our simultaneous multi-threaded (SMT) VP can exploit identical instruction flows that may be present in different vector applications by running in a novel fused mode that increases its utilization. We introduce a power model and two optimization policies for minimizing the consumed energy, or the product of the energy and runtime for a given application. Benchmarking that involves an FPGA prototype shows up to 33.8% energy reduction in addition to 40% runtime improvement, or up to 62.7% reduction in the product of energy and runtime.
Exploring the performance benefits of heterogeneity and reconfigurable architectures in a commodity cloud

In this paper we evaluate the potential of running a compute-intensive simulation on a heterogeneous cluster built from CPU, GPU and FPGA devices. We do so by augmenting a commercially available cluster of CPUs and GPUs with an FPGA device and running a distributed n-body simulation on top of Spark for unconventional cores (SparkCL) on the three different types of computing architectures. We show that given an algorithm with a sufficiently high compute intensity, such as pairwise additive n-body, we can significantly increase performance and performance per watt in comparison to running the same algorithm on a homogeneous CPU based cluster. In addition, we show the potential of using FPGAs in future commodity heterogeneous clusters alongside CPUs and GPUs
Cerebral Vein Thrombosis and Systemic Lupus

Three girls, ages 11, 14, and 17, with systemic lupus erythematosus, who had headache and were diagosed with cerebral vein thrombosis are reported from the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, and the Children’s Hospital, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
From Multimedia Micro-University to Macro University and beyond

For this special issue of the Journal of Visual Languages and Computing in honor of Prof. Shi-Kuo Chang we review Prof. Chang's research contributions to the field of education. Always visionary and inspirational, these works reflect Prof. Chang's student-centered approach and his interest in building relationships among international educators in order to bring the benefits of such collaborations among educators to the students while keeping in mind the motto Small is beautiful.
Doppler sensitivity and its effect on transatlantic TWSTFT links

Some investigations have concluded that the diurnal pattern in the time comparison results of present two way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) links may come mainly from Doppler dependent errors in the time of arrival (TOA) measurements made by the receivers of the TWSTFT modems. In this paper, several experiments were carried out to test if there is a Doppler dependent error in the 'delay' measurements of the receivers currently used. By simulating quantitative Doppler effects in the time transfer signal both on the carrier and the code, a type of Doppler sensitivity on the code was observed in the receivers, which has about −0.49 ns offset in 'delay' measurement for a 1 × 10−9 fractional Doppler shift. This sensitivity is basically the same for modems with different serial numbers from the same manufacture. We calculated this Doppler caused diurnal pattern in the time comparison results of the transatlantic TWSTFT link between NIST and PTB and found that it is very small and negligible, because the Doppler dependent error is almost identical in the NIST and PTB measurements and therefore it is nearly canceled in the TWSTFT difference.
Multiscale identification of emergent and future conditions along corridors of transportation networks

Abstract Transportation agencies are challenged with managing large-scale networks of roads, spanning geographic areas diverse in terms of jurisdictions, topography, demographics, economy, organizations, and others. Risk management, asset management, and resource allocation must be approached from a holistic perspective without compromising specific regional needs. Agencies collect a large amount of data, the utilization of which should be transparent and consistent with their stated aims. The innovation of this paper is a corridor trace analysis, a method for identifying anomalies of hazard intensity, exposure, and vulnerability along many thousands of kilometers of a transportation network by integrating key road characteristic and performance metrics to straight-line diagrams of corridor sections. Road segments under stress are identified by searching for one or more characteristics that are outliers with respect to the contextual data. The paper includes demonstrations of this method for big-data integration on a real-world system, focusing on how the method is useful to shift among geographic scales. The demonstrations suggest the efficacy of the approach to sustain the efficient, reliable, and safe movement of passengers and freight.
Update on Allergen Immunotherapy for Allergic Rhinitis: Drops, Tablets, or Shots?

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only disease-modifying treatment available for allergic rhinitis (AR). Dosing considerations, efficacy, and safety of subcutaneous (SCIT), sublingual (SLIT), and intralymphatic (ILIT) immunotherapy are discussed. Patients with AR who cannot tolerate or do not wish to continue indefinite pharmacotherapy may be candidates for AIT. SCIT is the gold standard formulation but requires repeat injections over several years and may place the patient at risk for systemic allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. SLIT has been developed as an alternative formulation by which the patient can avoid multiple injections and physician visits as it is dosed at home. SLIT has been proven to be very safe but still requires prolonged treatment, and efficacy compared to SCIT has been questioned. ILIT is currently being developed with the goal of shortening length of treatment while maintaining the efficacy and safety of SCIT and SLIT. SCIT and SLIT are current options for patients wishing to undergo AIT. Further studies are required to determine if ILIT may become an effective option for patients who do not wish to undergo long-term treatments.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the NLRP3 Inflammasome

A type of microRNA known as miR-223, which inhibits a key component of the inflammasome, protects against colitis in a mouse model.
The Development of Gratitude in Guatemalan Children and Adolescents

Expressing gratitude is central to the lives of Guatemalan youth. Despite limited empirical evidence on gratitude in Guatemala, anecdotal reports and cultural values point to its importance, provid...
The world is flatter? Examining the relationship between cultural distance and international tourist flows

Geographic distance has been studied extensively as an obstructer of tourism flows, whereas another distance measure, cultural distance (CD), receives less attention in tourism demand research. Using international tourist arrival data between 94 countries for the period 1995–2012, we estimate several Poisson gravity models incorporating a CD measure based on national cultural scores from the World Values Survey (WVS). Our estimation results show a negative and significant effect of CD on international tourist flows, the elasticity of which is –0.158, and the effect appears significantly smaller between countries with historical colonial linkage. Most notably, the tourism-inhibiting effect of CD began a downward trend in 2003. In particular, we find that economic globalization and technology advancement can be used to explain the declining effect of CD. Major conclusions are substantiated in a robustness check using two alternative CD measures.
On the coupling of nonlinear macro-fiber composite piezoelectric cantilever dynamics with hydrodynamic loads

For bio-inspired, fish-like robotic propulsion, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) piezoelectric technology offers noiseless actuation with a balance between actuation force and velocity response. However, internal nonlinear- ities within the MFCs, such as piezoelectric softening, geometric hardening, inertial softening, and nonlinear dissipation, couple with the hydrodynamic loading on the structure from the surrounding fluid. In the present work, we explore nonlinear actuation of MFC cantilevers underwater and develop a mathematical framework for modeling and analysis. In vacuo resonant actuation experiments are conducted for a set of MFC cantilevers of varying length to width aspect ratios to validate the structural model in the absence of fluid loading. These MFC cantilevers are then subjected to underwater resonant actuation experiments, and model simulations are compared with nonlinear experimental frequency response functions. It is observed that semi-empirical hydro- dynamic loads obtained from quasilinear experiments have to be modified to account for amplitude dependent added mass, and additional nonlinear hydrodynamic effects might be present, yielding qualitative differences in the resulting underwater frequency respones curves with increased excitation amplitude.
An application of the dynamic knowledge creation model in big data

Abstract The recent surge in big data is unavoidable. In order to efficiently utilize voluminous data being constantly created, managers face the uphill task of having to convert this data into useful information. With increasing importance being given to actionable knowledge both from a practice as well as research perspective, a well-established framework of knowledge creation can help managers and researchers understand the conversion of big data into useful knowledge. With a focus of applying a knowledge-perspective to big data, I propose using elements of the knowledge creation model, namely Ba, the SECI process, and Knowledge Assets, to understand the conversion of big data into explicit and tacit employee knowledge. Additionally, an argument for enhancing a firm's dynamic capabilities using big data is also proposed.
Preparing Special Educators to Work With Migrant Students With Disabilities and Their Families

A major barrier in the provision of special education services to migrant students is the lack of trained personnel who understand the unique strengths and challenges of migrant students. Using the experiences of the Migrant Special Education Training Program, this article presents a teacher education curriculum and pedagogical model for preparing highly qualified, special educators to work with migrant students with disabilities and their families.
Assessment of a shortened informed consent form for pediatric research: a pilot study

Inherent to clinical research is the informed consent process, with the informed consent form (ICF), a key component of human participant protections. We wished to examine whether a shortened and simplified ICF, accompanied by an appendix, improved participant understanding of a study compared with a conventional ICF. A shortened ICF was developed from an existing conventional ICF for a neonatal study. Either the shortened or conventional ICF was randomly distributed to members of two parental advocacy groups. Participants answered survey questions about the form they received. Thirty-one out of forty-one (76%) parents in the shortened ICF and 28/41 (68%) in the conventional ICF group responded. Significantly more parents in the shortened ICF group found their form “short and to the point”. Although they also stated that the shortened ICF did not provide enough information, there were no significant differences between groups measuring the understanding of key study components. A shortened ICF did not impact the understanding of the clinical trial. It will be important to compare the shortened and conventional forms in actual clinical trials.
The Current State of Corporate Voice of the Consumer Programs: A Study of Organizational Listening Practices and Effectiveness

While there is a rich literature on listening in interpersonal settings, studies of organizational listening have been comparatively scarce. A growing body of recent research, however, underscores ...
Information Issues in the Coordination of Agricultural and Resource Policies

Much debate recently has focused on agricultural policy and resource policy. On the one hand, the cost of Federal farm programs has brought agricultural policy under increasing scrutiny (Cochrane 1985). On the other hand, given a growing concern for environmental issues, there is some pressure to refine natural resource policy (Bromley 1982; Batie 1984). In either case, there is a concern that much economic analysis does not provide enough guidance to policymakers, who are grappling with agricultural and resource issues. The objective of this paper is to present a broad conceptual framework that would be appropriate for the analysis of such issues. The approach is built on the work of Graham (1981, 1988) and incorporates uncertainty, information, transaction costs, and public choice in an integrated framework.
Bridging the semanitic gap in image retrieval

The emergence of multimedia technology and the rapidly expanding image and video collections on the Internet have attracted significant research efforts in providing tools for effective retrieval and management of visual data. Image retrieval is based on the availability of a representation scheme of image content. Image content descriptors may be visual features such as color, texture, shape, and spatial relationships, or semantic primitives. Conventional information retrieval was based solely on text, and those approaches to textual information retrieval have been transplanted into image retrieval in a variety of ways. However, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Image contents are much more versatile compared with text, and the amount of visual data is already enormous and still expanding very rapidly. Hoping to cope with these special characteristics of visual data, content-based image retrieval methods have been introduced. It has been widely recognized that the family of image retrieval techniques should become an integration of both low-level visual features addressing the more detailed perceptual aspects and high-level semantic features underlying the more general conceptual aspects of visual data. Neither of these two types of features is sufficient to retrieve or manage visual data in an effective or efficient way. Although efforts have been devoted to combining these two aspects of visual data, the gap between them is still a huge barrier in front of researchers. Intuitive and heuristic approaches do not provide us with satisfactory performance. Therefore, there is an urgent need of finding the latent correlation between low-level features and high-level concepts and merging them from a different perspective. How to find this new perspective and bridge the gap between visual features and semantic features has been a major challenge in this research field. This chapter addresses these issues.
Supracondylar Fractures of the Humerus in Children

Closed reduction and percutaneous pinning techniques for displaced supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children (Gartland type III) have overcome disastrous ischemic complications and long inpatient treatment. Closed reduction of those highly unstable fractures and the demanding pin placement itself are potential sources of failure for the inexperienced reflected by the rate of cubitus varus which is still about 5–15% in recent series. Rotational primary and residual displacement has to be appreciated to prevent permanent cosmetic deformity. Malrotation is the majour source of instability since bicolumnar support is lost which allows the distal fragment to tilt. Biomechanically tested better stability of crossed medial and lateral pins in comparision to two parallel lateral pins does not seem to be of practical importance.The risk of ulnar nerve injury by medial-pin fixation is not outweighed by significantly better clinical result. The rate of iatrogenic nerve injuries is 3–16% with the ulnar nerve being the most susceptible due to inadvertent pinning. Despite a high recovery rate, they are a nuisance for the patients. Fracture-related peripheral neuropathies have an incidence of 10–17%. With rare exceptions, concomitant nerve lesion recover spontaneously within a time range of 1–4 months. There is still controversy regarding the management of a post reduction pink, warm but pulseless hand with adequate capillary refill. Simple observation and conservative management lead to a favorable clinical outcome in most cases but cold intolerance or exercise-induced ischemic symptoms are a potential sequel.
Exploring ensemble classifiers for detecting attacks in the smart grids

The advent of machine learning has made it a popular tool in various areas. It has also been applied in network intrusion detection. However, machine learning hasn't been sufficiently explored in the cyberphysical domains such as smart grids. This is because a lot of factors weigh in while using these tools. This paper is about intrusion detection in smart grids and how some machine learning techniques can help achieve this goal. It considers the problems of feature and classifier selection along with other data ambiguities. The goal is to apply the machine learning ensemble classifiers on the smart grid traffic and evaluate if these methods can detect anomalies in the system.
A Bayesian Model of Grounded Color Semantics

Natural language meanings allow speakers to encode important real-world distinctions, but corpora of grounded language use also reveal that speakers categorize the world in different ways and describe situations with different terminology. To learn meanings from data, we therefore need to link underlying representations of meaning to models of speaker judgment and speaker choice. This paper describes a new approach to this problem: we model variability through uncertainty in categorization boundaries and distributions over preferred vocabulary. We apply the approach to a large data set of color descriptions, where statistical evaluation documents its accuracy. The results are available as a Lexicon of Uncertain Color Standards (LUX), which supports future efforts in grounded language understanding and generation by probabilistically mapping 829 English color descriptions to potentially context-sensitive regions in HSV color space.