cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Statistical model for intergranular corrosion growth kinetics

A statistical model has been developed to predict the anisotropy of intergranular corrosion (IGC) kinetics and effect of microstructure on IGC kinetics in high strength AA2024-T3 alloys. The methodology is to estimate the statistical distribution of minimum IGC path length that will be found through the thickness of a given thickness ST sample using the principle of order statistics. A brick-wall model is adopted for wrought Al alloy microstructure and different distributions of grain dimension are assumed for the purpose of the estimation of total IGC path length. Numerical stimulation using a gamma distribution model stimulated the anisotropy of localized corrosion in AA2024-T3 alloys, which quite agrees with the growth rate anisotropy experimentally determined by the foil penetration technique. Some limitations regarding the statistical model are discussed. The statistical model provides a new approach to predicting and quantifying localized corrosion kinetics on basis of the alloy microstructure.
Are AIDS Patients at Risk for Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis

It is surprising how few cases of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis have been observed in the AIDS population. We reviewed the diagnostic criteria, pathogenesis, therapy, and complications of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
Finding the Niche Friendship Formation of Immigrant Adolescents

Minority adolescents have shown preferences for friends of the same ethnicity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two Chinese immigrant adolescent girls, one who preferred same ethnicit...
Intra-articular Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears Analysis of Injured and Repaired Strain Behavior

Background:There are few biomechanical studies regarding partial-thickness rotator cuff tears and subsequent repair.Hypothesis:Partial-thickness intra-articular supraspinatus tendon tears increase articular-sided tendon strain as they increase in size. Repair of these tears will return strain to the intact state.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Methods:Twenty fresh-frozen human cadaveric shoulders were prepared by dissecting to the supraspinatus tendon and leaving the native footprint intact. The tendon footprint was measured with digital calipers and divided into thirds (anterior, middle, and posterior). The middle third was the area where a consistent partial tear was created based on the thickness of the specimens' particular footprint. Created were 25%, 50%, and 75% tears. Image analysis software and differential variable reluctance transducers strain gauges were used to measure strain. A 100 N load at 1 Hz for 30 cycles was conducted for glenohumeral angles of 45°, 60°, and 90°. This was comp...
Spectroscopy and kinetics of ionic alkali halide excimers excited by a laser-produced plasma

Vapors of five alkali halides, CsF, RbF, KF, CsCl, and NaI, have been excited by soft x rays from a laser-produced plasma. In the cases of heavy alkalis and light halogens (CsF, RbF, and CsCl), the emission of ionic excimer continua is observed. The upper state of the alkali halide molecule (AX) is a bound state correlating to A2+ and X−, which decays by emission of photons to a weakly bound state correlating to A+ and X. For lighter alkalis or heavier halogens the alkali halide bound states A2+X− predissociate, and the fluorescence yield decreases dramatically. No ionic excimer emission is observed for KF and NaI; however, their emission spectra are characterized by molecular halogen and atomic and ionic emission lines. The qualitative trends in fluorescence yield and ionic excimer predissociation are predicted correctly by molecular potential-curve calculations based on modified Rittner and Born–Mayer potentials. The ionic alkali halide excimer states are produced by direct photoionization by the soft x rays from the laser-produced plasma. For sufficiently small differences in the equilibrium internuclear distance of the upper and the lower electronic states, the vibrational distribution in the excited state remains, to a good approximation, Maxwellian after excitation even on a time scale for which collisions with the ambient gas can be neglected. In a harmonic approximation the vibrational temperature in the upper ionized state, Tν′, depends only on the lower-state vibrational temperature, Tν″, the vibrational quanta of the upper state, ωe′, and of the lower state, ωe″, and the relative equilibrium internuclear distance. If the upper and the lower states are at the same equilibrium internuclear distance, the simple relation Tν′ = (ωe′/ωe″)Tν″ is obtained.
Life events as precursors of coronary heart disease

Abstract A vast literature has developed regarding the relationship of life events and coronary heartdisease. This article is an assessment of the most commonly reported generalizations from this body of work. A model or conceptual scheme is offered which links these disparate generalizations.
Self-checking safety interlock system

A more reliable electrical self-checking interlock system is discussed that meets the desired goals of safety shutdown systems. The design, operating principles, and performance characteristics of the microprocessor-based, self-checking, safety interlock system are described. The system was designed and implemented in a large plant. The system has substantially improved safety and environmental control of the processes, in addition to its inherent advantages of process analysis and optimization over conventional systems. With some modification the system can be programmed to verify functionality of the final interlock elements for additional safety improvement. >
Maternal transmission of retroviral disease and strategies for preventing infection of the neonate.

Abstract Moloney murine leukemia virus is efficiently transmitted from viremic mothers to offspring, primarily via virus-containing milk. To determine the level in the infectious process at which an antiviral agent can interfere most effectively with perinatal viral transmission, we examined the effect of the drug 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) on transmission of Moloney murine leukemia virus from viremic mothers to offspring. Although AZT treatment did not affect the titer of virus in milk, it did suppress the development of viremia in all offspring. AZT, however, did not prevent transmission of virus from viremic mothers to 25% of the offspring, but did lead to a marked reduction in virus load in these infected mice. These results provide evidence for effective antiretroviral therapy during gestation and in the perinatal period and are of potential significance for the management of maternal transmission of human retroviruses.
Gamma-ray bursts, QSOs and active galaxies

The similarity of the absorption spectra of gamma-ray burst (GRB) sources or afterglows with the absorption spectra of quasars (QSOs) suggests that QSOs and GRB sources are very closely related. Si...
Serre’s theorem and the Nill filtration of Lionel Schwartz

We give three different cohomological characterizations of classifying spaces of p-compact toral groups amongst finite Postnikov systems satisfying mild conditions. This leads to a unifying generalization of previous versions of Serre’s theorem on the homotopy groups of a finite complex.
Review of "Getting the Word Out: Academic Libraries as Scholarly Publishers"

This is the published version, made available under a CC-BY Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Class Certification as a Prerequisite for Cafa Jurisdiction

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) expands federal diversity jurisdiction to include many class actions asserting only state law claims; however, the statute fails to spell out if its jurisdiction continues after a court denies class certification, thereby determining that the putative class is not, in fact, a class within Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Courts interpreting the statute have reached varied and conflicting conclusions when confronted with the issue of what effect, if any, the denial of class certification has on CAFA jurisdiction. The only federal appellate courts to address the issue have concluded that class certification has no effect on CAFA jurisdiction, but their reasons for reaching that conclusion include a misplaced focus on ambiguous text and a misapplication of jurisdictional principles. The Note explains why those reasons cannot support continued CAFA jurisdiction, argues that such cases removed to federal court through CAFA must be remanded, and considers the effects of such an approach. In light of the Supreme Court’s conclusion in Smith v. Bayer Corp. - that denial of class certification in federal court does not preclude certification in state court - the most dramatic effect may be that denial of class certification, which had been considered the death knell of a class action, could instead breathe new life into the class in state courts.
Protection of Stored Woolens from Insect Damage

Various control techniques were evaluated as methods of protecting stored woolens. The use of tightly sealed plastic containers us barriers prevented larvae of the black carpet beetle ( Attagenus piceus (Oliv.)) and larvae of the webbing clothes moth ( Tineola bisselliella (Hum.)) from attacking stored woolens. Formalin and paradichlorobenzene (PDB) fumigants were effective against clothes moth adults, but both were ineffective against the carpet beetle larvae. The residual spray technique, employing 5% DDT, 5% methoxychlor, 1.25% lindane, 2% chlordane, 0.5% dieldrin, or 0.5% Diazinon, did not give satisfactory kill of the carpet beetle larvae. The hazards involved in using DDT, chlordane and other impregnants were considered. For the homemaker, the barrier technique using tightly scaled plastic containers is recommended as an easy and effective control measure.
A Mechanism to Open Insect Cages at a Set Time

When the behavior of released nocturnally active insects, especially moths, is to be studied, they must be retained in the holding cage until the desired hour. Premature escape, as in daylight, can result in high mortality from predators; for example, at the laboratory on St. Croix more than 50% of small moths released in daylight are probably lost to predators, principally the gray kingbird and the anole lizard. Also, in studies using female pheromone, if the released male moths are not responsive to pheromone until late at night, as was the cabbage lopper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) (Shorey and Gaston 1965), early releases can result in poor recovery in nearby pheromone-baited traps. For both reasons, during our tests on St. Croix, we wished to delay the release of cabbage lopper males until around midnight. To avoid working at inconvenient hours and to reduce our reliance on cooperators who would have to open cages located at distant sites, we designed a device to open holding cages automatically.
Ripple II: faster communication through physical vibration

We envision physical vibration as a new modality of data communication. In NSDI 2015, our paper reported the feasibility of modulating the vibration of a smartphone's vibra-motor. When in physical contact with another smartphone, the accelerometer of the second phone was able to decode the vibrations at around 200 bits/s. This paper builds on our first prototype, but redesigns the entire radio stack to now achieve 30 kbps. The core redesign includes (1) a new OFDM-based physical layer that uses the microphone as a receiver (instead of the accelerometer), and (2) a MAC layer that detects collision at the transmitter and performs proactive symbol retransmissions. We also develop two example applications on top of the vibratory radio: (1) a finger ring that transmits vibratory passwords through the finger bone to enable touch based authentication, and (2) surface communication between devices placed on the same table. The overall system entails unique challenges and opportunities, including ambient sound cancellation, OFDM over vibrations, back-EMF based carrier sensing, predictive retransmissions, bone conduction, etc. We call our system Ripple II to suggest the continuity from the NSDI 2015 paper. We close the paper with a video demo that streams music as OFDM packets through vibrations and plays it in real time through the receiver's speaker.
Smart Grid Information Security Risk Analysis and Reflection

The features of smart grid, such as good interactivity, openness, intelligence and complex communication environment, improve information security risk in the power generation, power transmission, power transformation, power distribution, electricity consumption and scheduling. This paper not only analyzes the importance of information security management, but also analyzes three critical factors of smart grid information security risk, further proposes a solution of smart grid information security management.
Spatially resolved Thomson scattering measurements of the transition from the collective to the non-collective regime in a laser-produced plasma

We present optical Thomson scattering results that image for the first time in a single measurement the spatial transition from collective to non-collective scattering. Data were taken in the Phoenix laser laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles. The Raptor laser was used to ablate a carbon plasma, which was diagnosed with the frequency-doubled Phoenix laser serving as a Thomson scattering probe. Scattered light was collected from the laser plasma up to 10 cm from the target surface and up to 10 us after ablation, and imaged with high spatial and spectral resolutions. The results show a strong Thomson collective feature close to the target surface that smoothly transitions to a non-collective feature over several mm.
Law, Politics, and Judicial Review: A Comment on Hansen;Symposium

It has been over forty years since the Supreme Court entered the political thicket with the landmark reapportionment case Baker v. Carr. The Court’s decision in Baker ushered in an era of unparalleled judicial involvement in democratic politics. Forty years after Baker, scholars of law and politics are engaged in a vigorous evaluation of the merits and limits of judicial review of democratic politics. Into the throes of this debate enter Richard L. Hasen and his book, The Supreme Court and Election Law: Judging Equality from Baker v. Carr to Bush v. Gore. Professor Hasen is a leader in the burgeoning field of law and politics. He is a coauthor of one of the leading casebooks in the field, a co-editor of the field’s leading journal, and a co-manager of the field’s listserve. Professor Hasen is also an extremely prolific and engaging scholar. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that Professor Hasen offers the first book and the first coherent account from election law scholars assessing the last forty years of judicial supervision of the democratic process. The Supreme Court and Election Law is an easy read. Professor Hasen is a superb and lucid writer. The core of Professor Hasen’s claims is advanced in the first three chapters of his five chapter book. Each chapter is relatively short and self-contained. Professor Hasen offers many important contributions in his book, but his central point is that the fundamental role of the Supreme Court—and presumably of the federal courts more generally—is to protect what he calls “core political equality rights.” Professor Hasen identifies his core political equality rights from his “view of the few basic rights essential to a contemporary democracy as well as from [his] observation of social consensus” in the United States today. Professor Hasen recognizes that this formulation is disputable, but that is exactly the point. His aim is to start “a dialogue about
Formulation of Surrogate Fuel Mixtures Based on Physical and Chemical Analysis of Hydrodepolymerized Cellulosic Diesel Fuel

Surrogate fuel mixtures for a hydrodepolymerized cellulosic diesel (HDCD) fuel were formulated based on HDCD’s physical properties and chemical composition. HDCD was found to contain alicylic, cyclic, and aromatic compounds. Surrogate mixtures composed of trans-decahydronaphthalene (trans-decalin) and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin) matched HDCD’s speed of sound, density, and bulk modulus. Diesel engine experiments were conducted on mixtures containing petroleum diesel fuel (60 and 80% volume fraction) mixed with HDCD, tetralin, trans-decalin, or a mixture with 0.42 mass fraction of tetralin in trans-decalin. At both volume fractions, the start-up performance of the two-component surrogate/petroleum fuel mixtures matched that of HDCD/petroleum mixtures. The trans-decalin/petroleum fuel mixtures started faster while the tetralin/petroleum fuel mixtures started more slowly than those containing HDCD. These results show that speed of sound, density, and bulk modulus can be used as metrics to design ...
Aerosol jet fog (ajFOG) deposition of aluminum oxide phosphate thin films from an aqueous fog

A new lab-based aerosol jet fog (ajFOG) deposition system with an atomizer consisting of two opposing jets located within the deposition chamber is introduced and its capabilities are examined. The unique opposing configuration of the atomizer enables the formation of a highly uniform fog even from low volatility precursors. Aluminum oxide phosphate (AlPO) thin films were deposited onto Si wafers at room temperature and sub-atmospheric pressure by using an aqueous precursor. Films were characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray diffraction and reflectivity, scanning electron microscopy, and metal/oxide/semiconductor (MOS) capacitor electrical measurements. Film thickness uniformity, density, surface roughness, and charge transport mechanisms were found to be comparable to spin-coated thin films deposited using the same precursor, demonstrating the effectiveness of this aerosol technique. A process model was developed to predict film thickness as a function of precursor concentration, exposure time, fog settling time, and number of exposures.
The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What it Means for American Schools by Thomas A. DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann

The book, The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What it Means for American Schools by Thomas DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann, is a timely overview of the dramatic changes in gende...
Energy-positive wastewater treatment and desalination in an integrated microbial desalination cell (MDC)-microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)

Abstract Simultaneous removal of nitrogen in municipal wastewater, metal in industrial wastewater and saline in seawater was achieved in an integrated microbial desalination cell-microbial electrolysis cell (MDC-MEC) system. Batch tests showed that more than 95.1% of nitrogen was oxidized by nitrification in the cathode of MDC and reduced by heterotrophic denitrification in the anode of MDC within 48 h, leading to the total nitrogen removal rate of 4.07 mg L −1 h −1 . Combining of nitrogen removal and desalination in MDC effectively solved the problem of pH fluctuation in anode and cathode, and led to 63.7% of desalination. Power generation of MDC (293.7 mW m −2 ) was 2.9 times higher than the one without salt solution. The electric power of MDC was harvested by a capacitor circuit to supply metal reduction in a MEC, and 99.5% of lead (II) was removed within 48 h. A kinetic MDC model was developed to elucidate the correlation of voltage output and desalination efficiency. Ratio of wastewater and sea water was calculated for MDC optimal operation. Energy balance of nutrient removal, metal removal and desalination in the MDC-MEC system was positive (0.0267 kW h m −3 ), demonstrating the promise of utilizing low power output of MDCs.
Interaction in Groups

In this chapter we explore people’s experiences in groups—in families, in friendship and work circles, and in other organizations. For the purpose of our discussion, a group can be defined as two or more people who interact or communicate (Shaw, 1976). Typically this interaction takes place on a face-to-face basis. Groups are composed of people who perceive themselves as forming a unit that endures through time and space. Members of a group typically share at least one common goal. In fact, many groups are organized to achieve something—win an election, decide the fate of a criminal, create and sell a new product, and so forth.
13.8 A 24dBm 2-to-4.3GHz wideband digital Power Amplifier with built-in AM-PM distortion self-compensation

Modern wireless systems often support multi-standards with spectrum-efficient modulation schemes such as 64QAM and 256QAM and high data-rates. This poses stringent requirements on RF Power Amplifiers (PAs) for their carrier bandwidth, linearity, modulation rate, and efficiency. Several multiband Analog PAs (APAs) and Digital PAs (DPAs) are recently reported. However, multiband APAs often suffer from low power efficiency [1]. Although current-mode DPAs achieve high efficiency, high output power (P out ), and compact designs [2], they typically exhibit excessive AM-PM distortions intrinsically due to the digital power cell operations. Thus, current-mode DPAs often need frequency-dependent AM-PM look-up-tables for pre-distortion and/or real-time phase cancellation, resulting in additional overhead and difficult implementation for high modulation rates [3,4].
Real-Time and Label-Free Chemical Sensor-on-a-chip using Monolithic Si-on-BaTiO 3 Mid-Infrared waveguides

Chip-scale chemical detection is demonstrated by using mid-Infrared (mid-IR) photonic circuits consisting of amorphous silicon (a-Si) waveguides on an epitaxial barium titanate (BaTiO3, BTO) thin film. The highly c-axis oriented BTO film was grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method and it exhibits a broad transparent window from λ = 2.5 μm up to 7 μm. The waveguide structure was fabricated by the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process and a sharp fundamental waveguide mode has been observed. By scanning the spectrum within the characteristic absorption regime, our mid-IR waveguide successfully perform label-free monitoring of various organic solvents. The real-time heptane detection is accomplished by measuring the intensity attenuation at λ = 3.0–3.2 μm, which is associated with -CH absorption. While for methanol detection, we track the -OH absorption at λ = 2.8–2.9 μm. Our monolithic Si-on-BTO waveguides establish a new sensor platform that enables integrated photonic device for label-free chemical detection.
Fitting It All In: An Interactive Workshop for Clinician-Educators to Improve Medical Education in the Ambulatory Setting.

Introduction Despite the demonstrated benefits that ambulatory teaching has for patients, learners, and preceptors, there have recently been significant reductions in time allocated to bedside teac...
The native-exotic species richness relationship varies with spatial grain of measurement and environmental conditions.

Biological invasions can have dramatic impacts on communities and biodiversity, and are critical considerations in conservation and management decisions. We present a novel analysis to determine how exotic species success varies with community richness and scale of measurement. Using 5,022 plots representing natural vegetation of the Carolinas, we calculated native and exotic species richness of all vascular plants at five grain sizes. To avoid spatial pseudoreplication, we randomly selected unique subplots from each larger plot, re-selecting 100 times to develop an empirical distribution of the native-exotic richness relationship (NERR). Because observed NERRs vary with spatial scale, we developed separate scale-specific null-model distributions to compare to the empirical data. For each spatial scale, we compared the empirical distribution of 100 slopes to the null distribution containing 99 permutations of species origin per empirical slope. We also analyzed the dataset according to broad assignments corresponding to environmental conditions, using the formation type assigned to each community. The plots followed across most scales the general trend that exotic richness increases with native richness. At the smallest scale, however, the NERR was negative. The slope of the NERR is significantly higher than the null model at the largest observed scale and significantly lower than the null model at the smallest two observed scales. The NERR for most formations follows the general pattern with scale for the entire dataset. Warm temperate forests expressed essentially 0 slope at the largest spatial grain, decreasing to a negative relationship at 1 m2 and smaller. Temperate freshwater marshes and wet meadows and shrublands expressed a positive relationship at all spatial grains, demonstrating that unique environmental and biogeographic conditions differentially affect exotic species. Further, these results indicate that exotic species are unevenly distributed across natural communities and that community assembly processes vary with scale.
How to Enhance Student Motivations by Borrowing from Ancient Tradition: Russian Peasant Multiplication Algorithm

In the previous chapter, we showed how to use ideas from ancient Egyptian, Mayan and Babylonian mathematics when teaching math. In this chapter, we consider the use of a more recent computational tradition, namely, of a Russian peasant multiplication algorithm.
External beam radiation therapy combined with airway stenting leads to better survival in patients with malignant airway obstruction

Background and objective Malignant airway obstruction (MAO), a common complication of patients with advanced lung cancer, causes debilitating dyspnoea and poor quality of life. Two common interventions used in the treatment of MAO include bronchoscopy with airway stenting and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Data are limited regarding their clinical effectiveness and overall effect on survival. Methods A retrospective chart review of patients treated with airway stenting and/or EBRT at the Johns Hopkins Hospital for MAO between July 2010 and January 2017 was reviewed. Demographics, performance status, cancer histology, therapeutic intervention and date of death were recorded. Survival was calculated using cox regression analysis. Results Of the 606 patients who were treated for MAO, 237 were identified as having MAO and included in the study. Sixty-eight patients underwent rigid bronchoscopy and stenting, 102 EBRT and 67 a combined approach. Patients who underwent stenting hand an increased hazard ratio (HR) of death in comparison to those who received combination therapy (HR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.39), while there was a trend towards significance in the EBRT alone group in comparison to the combination therapy group (HR: 1.62, 95% CI: 0.93, 2.83). Conclusion In this retrospective analysis, combination therapy with stenting and EBRT led to better survival in comparison to stenting or EBRT alone. Prospective cohort trials are needed to confirm these results.
Pushed out of a tough crowd: centrosome aberrations promote invasiveness

Centrosome defects are observed in a broad array of solid and liquid tumors and are associated with advanced disease and poor patient prognosis. Unexpectedly, centrosome aberrations are present in only a subset of cells within a tumor and are poorly tolerated in non‐transformed cells, raising the conundrum of why centrosome aberrations are maintained during tumor evolution. New work by Ganier et al published in The EMBO Journal shows that centrosome defects can function in a non‐cell‐autonomous manner to force mitotic cells out of an epithelium, providing a plausible mechanism to promote dissemination of metastatic cells.
Insulin mediators and their control of metabolism through protein phosphorylation.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents insulin mediators and their control of metabolism through protein phosphorylation. Insulin initiates three types of actions: (1)a rapid set of actions at the cell membrane which increases hexose transport, ion transport, and the transport of other monomeric metabolites including amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleosides, (2) a slower direction of metabolism into an anabolic mode both by enhancing anabolic pathways and by decreasing catabolic pathways including lipolysis, proteolysis, glycogenolysis, and gluconeogenesis, and (3) a still slower stimulation of cell growth. Two general biochemical mechanisms can be devised to understand the interaction of the insulin molecule with its receptor. In the first, there is a separation of the binding domain from the biological activity domain; in the second, there is no separation and these functions coexist in the same portions of the molecule.
The Linearity of Nonlinear Soliton Equations and the Three Wave Resonance Interaction

The purpose of a school such as this is to provide a background of information for those interested in a given particular subject. The basic fundamentals of solitons have already been well expanded on by the previous talks, and in general, the most that I could add without excessive duplication is simply additional references [Kaup, 1977; Kaup and Newell, 1978a, b; Kaup et al, 1979], which describe my viewpoint on these basics. However, there is one basic point that still has not been emphasized here, and which I have always considered to be striking and important. That is the fact that although these systems are indeed nonlinear, their behavior so closely mocks or imitates linear systems, that one is frequently ahead if he simply forgets that it is nonlinear, and looks upon the system as being essentially linear. For example, Professor Newell [Kaup and Newell, 1978b] has demonstrated a striking representation of the general solution for q in terms of the squared eigenstates.
The WREASN Typology of Student Involvement Activities

This Research Work in Progress paper presents a typology for categorizing undergraduate extra-curricular activities. We observed that the all of the activities listed on a corpus of student resumes could be fully described by defining two levels of identifiers, the first of which describes the type of activity while the second is a descriptor of the activity. As a proof of concept, the typology was applied to resumes of participants in a program that serves underrepresented students studying engineering at a large public R1 institution. Simple descriptive findings are reported, and potential future applications are discussed.
Online Reconfigurable Antenna State Selection based on Thompson Sampling

Reconfigurable antennas (RAs) are capable of dynamically and swiftly changing their radiation patterns, which enables them to adapt to channel variations and enhance link capacity. To fully exploit the benefits of RAs, the antenna states need to be optimally selected on-the-fly. The main challenges are two-fold: uncertainty of channel over time, and a large number of candidate antenna states. Previous approaches can only deal with a small number of antenna states, or suffer from slow convergence. In this paper, we propose an optimal online antenna state selection framework for SISO and MISO wireless links, based on the Thompson sampling algorithm for general stochastic bandits. In order to enhance the convergence rate for large antenna state sets, we propose two novel antenna state pruning strategies and integrate them with Thompson sampling, which exploit the relationship between antenna radiation pattern and channel state. The first one requires knowledge of angles of departure of the channel, while guaranteeing convergence to optimality. The other one doesn’t require any prior channel information. Simulation results using a real-world reconfigurable antenna’s radiation patterns show that, both of our proposed learning algorithms can significantly improve the convergence rate and yield much lower regret compared with existing schemes.
Molecular radionuclide imaging of pancreatic neoplasms.

Summary Pancreatic neoplasms have high morbidity and dismal prognosis. Substantial progress in translational research and advances in scanner technology have resulted in rapid integration of molecular radionuclide imaging of pancreatic neoplasms into mainstream clinical practice. Metabolic imaging with 18F-FDG PET has extensive utility in the staging, assessment of treatment response, and follow-up of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Integrated PET/MRI has the potential to further expand this utility and lead to innovative applications. Somatostatin receptor PET imaging has had a profound effect on the evaluation and management of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy is a new frontier in personalised medicine because it customises treatment to the unique biological features of a patient and the molecular signature of the patient's tumour. Further investigation is needed to optimise use of advanced molecular imaging techniques and novel radiotracers to achieve better outcomes for patients with pancreatic neoplasms.
Review of Deepak Chopra’s Book: The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life

In his book, Deepak Chopra gives us his vision of spirituality and of the reality we find ourselves wedded to. Chopra (page 15) writes: "Every secret in this book goes back to the existence of an invisible intelligence that operates beneath the visible surface of life. The mystery of life is an expression not of random accidents but of one intelligence that exists everywhere." You can find this book at Amazon: The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life .
Computer programming with middle school students

Middle school students typically learn how to use the computer through various activities such as word processing, multimedia development, and internet access. This paper describes how computer programming was introduced into the fifth and sixth grades using robots and the Alice programming environment.
Dictionary front matter, yesterday, today, and tomorrow: what was it, what is it, and what will it become?

An introduction to the topic of front matter, with remarks addressing three papers that resulted from a lively round table and audience discussion on dictionary front matter that took place at the May 2019 conference of the Dictionary Society of North America, held in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. There, round table participants interacted with a large group of lexicographers in the audience, who expanded upon the participants’ remarks as they discussed dictionary front matter in different languages, from different cultural traditions, and from varying time periods. There is already a recognition among specialists that the online environment, which is often a “front-matter free zone,” has represented a significant loss of the lexicographic information traditionally provided in print dictionaries. It is hoped that the introduction (as well as the three papers included with it) will spur still more conversation in the field of lexicography.
Coulomb Excitation of States in Pt 195

Gamma rays of 99, 110, 130, 140, 210, and 240 kev have been observed from Coulomb excitation of ${\mathrm{Pt}}^{195}$ (platinum target containing 60.1% ${\mathrm{Pt}}^{195}$) with 3.0- to 5.5-Mev protons and $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles. The energy dependence of the gamma-ray yields indicates direct excitation of states at 99, 130, 210, and 240 kev. The 140-kev gamma ray is a cascade transition between states at 240 and 99 kev. These results do not agree with the conclusions of Bernstein and Lewis who measured the Coulomb excitation functions of the internal conversion electrons and found evidence for direct excitation of levels at 31 and 130 kev but no evidence for direct excitation of a level at 99 kev. The angular distributions of the 240- and 210-kev gamma rays and the 140-kev gamma ray in coincidence with $K$ x-rays from internal conversion of the 99-kev transition have been measured with respect to the incident ion beam on a thick target. These measured distributions are consistent with an assignment of $\frac{5}{2}(E2)\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{3}{2}(E2+M1)\frac{1}{2}$ with ${(\frac{E2}{M1})}^{\frac{1}{2}}=0.37\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02$, and $\frac{5}{2}(E2+M1)\frac{3}{2}$ with ${(\frac{E2}{M1})}^{\frac{1}{2}}=\ensuremath{-}(0.13\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)$ for the 240-, 210-, and 140-kev transitions, respectively. The $B(E2)$ and $B(M1)$ for decay of these states have been determined.
IT Governance in a DevOps World

DevOps is an emerging paradigm for information technology delivery. However, little research has examined the implications of DevOps on the theoretically based foundations for information technology governance. This article contributes to this new area of discourse by examining the challenges faced by institutions in reimagining their information technology governance mechanisms to accommodate DevOps. To further illustrate the profound implications of DevOps delivery models for information technology governance, we examine its theoretical impacts on the United States Department of Defense.
Patients’ preferences for occupational therapy after upper extremity fractures: a discrete choice experiment

Objective Occupational therapy is often prescribed after the acute treatment of upper extremity fractures. However, high out-of-pocket expenses and logistical constraints can reduce access to formal therapy services. We aimed to quantify preferences of patients with upper extremity fracture for attending occupational therapy, when considering possible differences in clinical outcomes. Design Discrete choice experiment. Setting Level 1 trauma centre in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Participants 134 adult patients with upper extremity fractures. Primary outcome measures The scenarios were described with five attributes: cost, duration of therapy session, location of therapy, final range of motion and pain. We report the relative importance of each attribute as a proportion of total importance, and the willingness to pay for benefits of the therapy services. Results Of the 134 study participants, the mean age was 47 years and 53% were men. Cost (32%) and range of motion (29%) were the attributes of greatest relative importance. Pain (17%), duration of therapy (13%) and location of therapy (8%) were of lesser importance. Patients were willing to pay $85 more per therapy session for a 40% improvement in their range of motion. Patients were willing to pay $43 more per therapy session to improve from severe pain to mild pain. Patients were indifferent to whether the therapy treatment was home-based or in a clinical environment. Conclusions When deciding on an upper extremity fracture therapy programme, out-of-pocket costs are a paramount consideration of patients. Improvements in range of motion are of greater importance than residual pain, the duration of therapy sessions and the location of service provision. Patients with upper extremity fracture should be prescribed occupational therapy services that align with these patients’ preferences.
Multistage Defibrillation Therapy

Cardiac defibrillation through high-energy shocks has remained the most effective life-saving intervention in ventricular arrhythmias. Historically, the pain associated with high-energy shocks has impeded its use in cardioverting atrial fibrillation (AF) through an implantable device in ambulant patients. The advent of optical mapping of arrhythmia mechanisms over the last 30 years has led to a more in-depth understanding of defibrillation mechanisms and to the discovery that low-energy shocks can generate virtual electrode polarizations (VEP) throughout the captured myocardium due to a heterogeneous spread of transmembrane potentials post-shock. VEP have been shown to generate new wavefronts that collide with and extinguish fibrillatory activity. Multiple closely coupled low-energy defibrillation shocks delivered in stages through atrial and coronary sinus defibrillation leads, the so-called multistage defibrillation therapy or multipulse therapy (MPT), have been shown to terminate AF in preclinical animal studies with energies below the pain threshold. MPT generates successive new VEP-induced wavefronts that collide with and eventually extinguishing all fibrillation wavefronts in stages. Multipulse therapy has been shown to be efficacious in reducing AF burden in preclinical animal studies and is now being tested as a potential therapeutic option in reducing AF burden in a clinical study.
Numerical Model of Seepage Analysis and Slope Stability for Horan Dam H4 in Iraq

Horan Dam H4 is an earth dam located 18 km northeast Rutba town in Anbar province in Iraq. The main objective for dam construction is to save rainfall for agriculture purposes and some household uses. In this study, a mathematical model is developed to analyze water seepage through the dam under steady state. The upstream and downstream slopes stability of the dam are also evaluated by using four methods which are: Bishop, Janbu, Morgenstern-Price, and Ordinary method. In addition, a two-dimensional finite element model was developed using GeoStudio program. The results of seepage analysis clearly show that Horan Dam H4 is safe against failure. Furthermore, the obtained factor of safety of upstream and downstream slopes stability proves that the dam body is stable based on Janbu's method of minimum value. Moreover, it was found that the soil shear strength parameters highly influence the dam stability in steady state condition.
Geographical accessibility of medicines: a systematic literature review of pharmacy mapping

Measuring access to medicines has often been limited to assessing availability and affordability, while little is known regarding other dimensions of access including geographical accessibility. Our study aims to provide a systematic review of literature on the accessibility of medicines by studying the geographical distribution of pharmacies using Spatial Analytical methods. As systematic review of scientific peer-reviewed literature between 2000 and 2018 was carried out using PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Google and the Preferred Reporting items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Data regarding pharmacy density, distance to pharmacies in relation of pharmacy to sociodemographic factors and pharmacy characteristics were extracted from studies that meet the inclusion criteria. Twenty papers fulfilled our inclusion criteria, of which only three were from middle income countries and rest from high-income economies. Pharmacy density per population was reported in 15 studies. Although geographical information was utilized in all studies, only 14 studies reported distance to pharmacies represented as Euclidean (straight line) distance. Disparities in accessibility was reported according to population income and rural or urban location. Seven studies described additional pharmacy characteristics including opening hours, presence of a pharmacist and delivery services. Geographical accessibility is a key dimension of access to medicines. Pharmacy density per population is a relevant indicator to assess geographical accessibility which should be complemented by an equity analysis using socio-demographic information and population perception of accessibility.
Infection control practices and challenges in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicentre cross-sectional study

Background:Patient and staff safety at healthcare facilities during outbreaks hinges on a prompt infection prevention and control response. Physicians leading these programmes have encountered nume...
Multilevel Models in Demography

We introduce multilevel models in demography, reviewing random intercept and random slope models, cross-level interactions, estimation of the fixed and random parameters, and calculation of subject-specific and population-average predictions. All ideas are discussed in the context of specific applications, a two-level analysis of contraceptive use in 15 countries and a three-level hazard model of infant and child survival in Kenya, with emphasis on the interpretation of results. Throughout the article we include references to other demographic applications of interest.
Factors influencing local decisions to use habitats to protect coastal communities from hazards

Abstract Coastal hazard mitigation policy in the US has historically focused on construction of hardened, or gray, infrastructure. Recently, there is increased public interest and policy supporting the use of habitats, or natural infrastructure (NI), following decades of increasingly supportive ecological, engineering, and economic evidence. This trend suggests that behavioral and institutional factors may also be important for mainstreaming NI. To understand what factors affected decisions to use NI, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a total of 16 individuals associated with three NI cases: Ferry Point Park Living Shoreline, Maryland (MD); Surfer's Point Managed Retreat, California (CA); and Durant's Point Living Shoreline, North Carolina (NC). Our grounded theory analysis of the interview transcripts revealed four common themes across the decisions: 1) perception of benefits (N = 45) and costs (N = 31), 2) diffusion of innovation led by innovators (N = 34), 3) local champions (N = 46), and 4) social networks and norms (N = 30). This grounded theory suggests that the decisions to use NI were driven by innovators (citizens, local non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, and/or state government resource managers) who were influenced by seeing NI successes implemented by trusted experts and perceived NI benefits beyond protecting coastlines (e.g., maintaining coastal heritage and sense of place). Innovators also acted as local champions, getting others “comfortable” with NI and connecting to local interests. In addition, our analysis shows the role of regulatory permitting requirements in perpetuating or controlling biases against innovations like NI. In 2008, MD passed a policy that helped address biases against NI by changing NI from a preferred option to the required option except in places where scientific analysis suggested that gray infrastructure would be needed, while in CA and NC gray infrastructure remains only a preferred option. These results suggest an opportunity to harness heuristics, such as visual demonstrations and messaging from trusted persons, in addition to policy tools to mainstream NI in places where there is evidence that it would be effective. These results also suggest that heuristics could result in biases that not only lead to underuse but also to inappropriate use of NI; and, policies, similar to the policy in Maryland, are needed to control these biases.
Radiological assessments for the National Ignition Facility

The potential radiological impacts of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a proposed facility for fusion ignition and high energy density experiments, were assessed for five candidate sites to assist in site selection. The GENII computer program was used to model releases of radionuclides during normal NIF operations and a postulated accident and to calculate radiation doses to the public. Health risks were estimated by converting the estimated doses into health effects using a standard cancer fatality risk factor. The greatest calculated radiation dose was less than one thousandth of a percent of the dose received from natural background radiation; no cancer fatalities would be expected to occur in the public as the result of normal operations. The highest dose conservatively estimated to result from a postulated accident could lead to one in one million risk of cancer.
Popular fallacies about hypertext

Some writers on educational hypertext appear to be reinventing the wheel, and others insist on using a square or polygonal one when perfectly good round, rubber ones have been available for several years. Many dogmatic pronouncements one encounters at conferences and in published discussions of hypertext incorporate a few popular fallacies. Having taught with a hypertext system for four years, I have become convinced that some of these fallacies arise, quite understandably, because so few people have worked with growing, expanding bodies of hypertext materials that students actually use and to which they contribute.