cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A big boost from rocket assist for the Boeing B47 intercontinental bomber

The Boeing B47 Stratojet first flown in 1947 was the first jet powered bomber, using air to air refueling, with the resulting intercontinental capability. Equipped with six General Electric J47-GE-11 jet engines that produced a total of 32,700 Ibs. static thrust not installed on the aircraft or 27,600 Ib. installed as well as the J47-GE-25 jet engine which produced 36,360 Ibs. static thrust not installed. The B47 fell short of being able to take off fully loaded (fuel and "the bomb") from most of the conventional runways in use at the time. Although this paper will concentrate primarily on the liquid rocket YLR45-AJ-1 installation, the solid rocket installations will be of interest for the purpose of comparison of performance. One configuration employed for the solid rocket installation was comprised of eighteen solid rockets mounted internally in the fuselage just above the aft tandem landing gear. These solid propellant rockets provided a total assist thrust of 18000 Ibs. A second solid rocket configuration consisted of thirty three units mounted on a jettisonable horsecollar yoke just aft of the rear tandem landing gear. This installation produced 33,000 Ibs. thrust. A third installation was comprised of thirty solid rockets mounted on a modified frame which when jettisoned would be more positively guided away from the aft fuselage. The solid rockets provided thrust for only 15 seconds and had a very smoky exhaust hi that they utilized potassium perchlorate and asphalt based propellants. As a result, on a still day the smoke would obscure the vision of the following airplanes during take-off. Additionally the solid rockets did not permit the execution of an aborted take-off as they would continue to produce full thrust until the propellants were expended. These three major shortcomings, the very short duration of the assist thrust and the generation of a large smoke cloud and failure to accommodate an aborted take-off made the relatively smokeless and longer duration (60 sec. duration) liquid rocket installation look more attractive as a long term solution. Contracts were awarded to Aerojet Engineering Corporation and the W. M. Kellogg Co. hi 1948 to develop a liquid rocket ATO utilizing white fuming nitric acid (WFNA) and JP-3 as propellants. The Kellogg effort was terminated hi 1951. The Aerojet program continued to the completion of development of a prototype unit that was qualified for flight and ultimately flight tested. The program was terminated at the completion of the flight test program on the B-47 airplane at Edwards AhForce Base in August 1954.
Arteriolar and Systemic Autoregulatory Responses during the Development of Hypertension in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

Pressure-flow curves were constructed to determine whether acute autoregulation in rat skeletal muscle was altered during the development of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Under chloralose:urethane anesthesia, hindlimb blood flow and pressure, plus diameter changes of gracilis muscle arterioles, were simultaneously measured in the 6- and 9-week Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and SHR. Femoral blood flow was measured by electromagnetic flowmetry and hindlimb pressure controlled with an hydraulic occluder. Arteriolar diameters were measured using image shearing techniques. Acute autoregulatory capacity was assessed by comparing the closed-loop gain and the regression lines over the regulated and passive pressure ranges of the pressure-flow curves. The lower pressure limit of autoregulation (LPLAR) shifted upward as the blood pressure increased in the SHR with age; it did not shift in the WKY. Resting hindlimb flow, elevated in the SHR at 6 weeks, was also elevated at the LPLAR. At 9 weeks hindlimb blood flow was comparable in the WKY and SHR. As blood pressure was increased autoregulation was accompanied by vasoconstriction of gracilis arterioles. However, neither the gain of the autoregulatory system nor the regression lines describing the pressure-flow curves were different between the hypertensive and normotensive animals at either age. These results indicate that the acute autoregulatory response mechanism was not affected by the developing hypertension in the SHR, and is consistent with a structural basis for the chronic maintenance of the elevated peripheral vascular resistance.
Hand Rejuvenation Using a Combination Approach.

BACKGROUNDHand rejuvenation has been recognized to play a key role in complementing and restoring an overall youthful look.OBJECTIVEAging hands present specific characteristics that require a carefully designed combinational treatment for a successful clinical outcome from a practitioner's and patie
Trend analysis of cancer incidence and mortality in Chongqing City(2009-2013)

Objective To analyze the trend of cancer incidence and mortality in Chongqing and provide suggestions for cancer prevention and control. Methods To collect and sort cancer cases on the basis of cancer registry sites and cancer death cases. The indicators,such as: cancer incidence,mortality rate,proportion,potential years of life lost,rate of potential years of life lost and its trend were calculated by Excel and SPSS 16. 0. Results The incidence of cancer reported increased from 203. 29 /100 000 in 2009 to 241. 65 /100 000 in 2013. The incidence of cancer among female increased from 151. 79 /100 000 in 2009 to 203. 18 /100 000 in2013 with significant difference( P = 0. 03). The mortality rate of cancer increased from 144. 43 /100 000 in 2009 to 169. 84 /100 000 in 2013 with significant difference( P = 0. 01). The top six cancers were lung cancer,liver cancer,gastric cancer,breast cancer,esophageal cancer,colo-rectal cancer. Cancer was the largest number of disease causing potential years of life lost from 2009 to 2013 in Chongqing. The most potential years of life lost was between 8. 41 to 16. 23 years. Conclusion The incidence and mortality rate of cancer increased year by year. Cancer was the first disease causing the potential years of life lost. Cancer prevention and control should attract great attention by all levels of the government
Input Voltage Ripple-Based Sensorless Current Sharing Autotuning Controller for Multiphase DC–DC Converters

Current sharing controller/functionality is commonly utilized for multiphase converters to achieve current balancing between converter phases. Conventional current sharing control schemes generally require sensing the current of each phase, leading to increased size and cost in addition to issues associated with current sensing inaccuracies. A sensorless current sharing control scheme is proposed in this paper that utilizes the difference between the input capacitor voltage ripple values to indicate the phases' current distribution status. The duty-cycle value of each phase is autotuned in a way to minimize the difference between the input capacitor voltage ripple values based on a single voltage sensing point, which results in equal current sharing with no need for current sensing. In addition, the input capacitor voltage ripple sensing does not need to be very accurate, and the sinusoidal frequency component of interest of the ripple is obtained by using a low-cost bandpass filter for improved ripple sensing resolution and noise immunity. Experimental results obtained from a digitally controlled two-phase synchronous buck converter prototype are presented to validate the feasibility of the proposed concept.
Do Sustainable Buildings Inspire More Sustainable Buildings

Abstract Sustainable buildings offer numerous social benefits including improved health and productivity for occupants. This study adds to this growing body of knowledge to suggest benefits extend to influence occupant consideration for sustainability. In an undergraduate civil engineering senior “capstone” course, students were given a mock request for proposal to design a new campus building. Over the course of a semester students (n=120) worked in groups of four to develop detailed drawings including documentation for Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of Silver or better. Class sections were randomly selected to work within a newly constructed LEED Gold building or a 60-year-old engineering building. Among these groups, students who worked in the LEED building were more likely to achieve a higher LEED score on their final project (p=0.04). Scores were less varied, more likely to meet the Gold standard and likely to include similar features as the building they were designing within. Students’ final grades were compared and found not significant (p=0.3). These results suggest working within sustainable buildings can influence design considerations for more sustainable buildings.
Speaker identification enhancement under cochannel conditions using sinusoidal model-based usable speech detection

The accuracy of present day speaker identification systems (SID) is degraded in adverse acoustical environments. The idea of usable speech is to identify and extract those portions of degraded speech which are considered useful for SID. Recently, a usable speech extraction system was proposed to classify cochannel speech as usable speech and unusable speech for SID. Speech segments can be declared usable based upon a target-to-interferer energy ratio (TIR). By considering only usable speech for SID instead of the corrupted cochannel speech, it is seen that there is an increase in the accuracy. A novel usable speech detection measure using the sinusoidal model of speech and ESPRIT (estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique), spectral estimation is proposed and investigated, which resulted in 82% correct detection of usable speech segments based on TIR. The usable speech frames extracted using ESPRIT when tested with the SID system, resulted in 84% accuracy in detecting speaker identity as compared to using entire co-channel speech which resulted in only 45% accuracy.
INTERCULTURAL AND GENDER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSUMERS IN INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSUMER AWARENESS OF MATERIAL FLOW IN SUPPLY CHAINS

This exploratory research represents a first attempt to measure consumer awareness of supply chain material flows. To the extent that consumers become more aware of supply chain flows they will develop a better understanding of how the supply chain adds value to their purchases. A survey was administered to a sample of U.S. and Indian consumers to determine whether there was a cultural impact on consumer awareness of supply chain material flows. While the samples differed by gender, a significant culture/gender interaction was found. Specifically, Indian females demonstrated a higher level of awareness of supply chain material flow than Indian men and the opposite was true for the U.S. sample. This result supports the effect of cultural differences on awareness of supply chain materials flows.
Risk of Expectant Management and Optimal Timing of Delivery in Low-Risk Term Pregnancies: A Population-Based Study.

Objective The benefits of the 39-week rule have been questioned and concerns of increased stillbirth after adoption of this rule have been raised. Whether expectant management risks outweigh the benefits of awaiting 39 weeks has not been studied. We analyze the risks of expectant management at term and the optimal timing for delivery. Study Design All U.S. nonanomalous singleton term deliveries in 2013 were selected, excluding diabetes/hypertension, and low birth weight. Maternal/neonatal complications and stillbirth/infant death were compared among expectant management versus deliveries at each term gestational age. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjust odds ratios of complications according to delivery plan at each gestational age. Results From approximately 3 million deliveries, maternal complications during expectant management were lower at early term, and became higher at 39 weeks, relative risk [RR] (95% confidence interval [CI]) = 1.18 (1.16–1.19). Neonatal complications during expectant management were lower during early term, and became higher at ≥39 weeks, RR (95% CI) = 1.09 (1.08–1.09). The risk of perinatal mortality in the expectant management group was lower during early term, and became higher at ≥39 weeks, 18.93 (17.83–20.10) versus 17.37 (16.61–18.16), p = 0.010. Conclusion Complications during expectant management occurring while awaiting full term do not outweigh the benefits of better outcomes from reaching 39 weeks. However, extending beyond 39 weeks may put these pregnancies at an increased risk.
Automated software for the analysis and reporting of Xenon-133 (Xe-133) pulmonary ventilation studies in children

806 Learning Objectives Automated software for analysis and reporting Xe-133 lung ventilation imaging Workflow and methods of image processing and analysis for quantitatively measuring lung ventilation. Summary: This presentation demonstrates novel software for the quantitative evaluation and report generation of pulmonary Xe-133 ventilation in children. Xe-133 ventilation imaging is a non-invasive method to determine regional lung function in young children. The dynamics of Xe-133 gas wash-in, equilibrium and wash-out can be used to calculate quantitative maps of lung ventilation. However, traditional software of Xe-133 ventilation analysis depends on many manual operations to define the appropriate dynamic phases of ventilation and to draw lung regions of interest (ROI). We developed specific software (LUNG_VQ), to automate lung ROI generation, define xenon gas equilibrium and provide, lung function analysis and visualization. The software provides a friendly and intuitive graphic user interfaces for interactive quality control of image processing and analysis. This software has been applied in clinical lung Xenon ventilation studies at Children’s Hospital Boston.
The impact of NaCl replacement with KCl and CaCl2 on cottage cheese cream dressing rheological behavior and consumer acceptance

Abstract In this study, we determined the effects of KCl and CaCl2 substitution for NaCl on cottage cheese cream dressing rheological, tribological, and sensory behaviors. Samples contained 2.2% (w/w) total salt, with substitution ratios of 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1 NaCl:KCl or CaCl2 and pH levels of 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5. Shear rate (0.1–100 s−1), strain (0.1–100% strain), and frequency sweeps (0.1–100 Hz) were conducted at 8 °C and 25 °C 48 h and 14 days following acidification. Tribometry was performed on selected samples (0.01–20 rad s−1) at the same time points. NaCl-substituted dressings were compared with a full salt control in a consumer sensory panel. All samples were shear thinning, viscoelastic solids with frequency-dependent behavior. Lower pH and temperature and increased time led to higher rheological and tribological values. Samples prepared with more NaCl typically had higher viscosities and stronger internal network. KCl-substituted dressing samples were more accepted by consumers.
The Evolutionary Psychology of Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Are There Universal Adaptations in Search, Aversion, and Signaling?

To understand the possible forms of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), we need not only astrobiology theories about how life evolves given habitable planets, but also evolutionary psychology theories about how intelligence emerges given life. Wherever intelligent organisms evolve, they are likely to face similar behavioral challenges in their physical and social worlds. The cognitive mechanisms that arise to meet these challenges may then be copied, repurposed, and shaped by further evolutionary selection to deal with more abstract, higher-level cognitive tasks such as conceptual reasoning, symbolic communication, and technological innovation, while retaining traces of the earlier adaptations for solving physical and social problems. These traces of evolutionary pathways may be leveraged to gain insight into the likely cognitive processes of ETIs. We demonstrate such analysis in the domain of search strategies and show its application in the domains of emotional aversions and social/sexual signaling. Knowing the likely evolutionary pathways to intelligence will help us to better search for and process any alien signals from the search for ETIs (SETI) and to assess the likely benefits, costs, and risks of humans actively messaging ETIs (METI).
Translational medical research: present and future.

Translational medicine is one of the oldest medical practices during the evolution of human society, although its importance has just been increasingly recognized by more and more medical investigators and practicing physicians since the time entered the 21st century.
Crystal structure of hexa-kis-(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)cobalt(II) bis-[tri-chlorido-(quinoline-κN)cobaltate(II)].

There are few reports that describe crystal structures of compounds containing cobalt complexed to either dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) or quinoline (C9H7N). The title compound, [Co(C2H6OS)6][CoCl3(C9H7N)]2, is a cobalt salt in which the metal ion is complexed to both Me2SO and quinoline. In particular, we observed that anhydrous cobalt(II) chloride reacts with quinoline in Me2SO to form a salt that is to be formulated as [CoII(Me2SO)6]2+{[CoIICl3quinoline]2−}. The CoII atom in the cation portion of this mol­ecule lies on a inversion center and is bound to the O atoms of six Me2SO moieties in an octa­hedral configuration, while the CoII atom in the anion is attached to three chloride ligands and one quinoline moiety in a tetra­hedral arrangement.
Control or chaos: impact of workarounds on internal controls

There have been many studies that investigated the causes of workarounds, but there is less research on their outcomes, such as the impact on internal control. This study aims to investigate the use of workarounds by a multinational organization that implemented SAP about 10 years ago, and how those workarounds affected internal controls.,A qualitative study is performed by analyzing interviews with company personnel for a multinational organization. Employees selected for interviews are primarily users of SAP’s accounting functions.,Workarounds have significant impacts on the internal controls over financial reporting. Workarounds cause compensating controls to be implemented, which are often manual in nature, and decrease the organizational efficiency and effectiveness.,Workarounds become integrated into an organization’s activities to meet its business needs. This research raises questions to determine when maintaining organizational efficiency and control outweighs the need to provide customer service and other business needs.,Companies should consider whether their business processes can be modified to ensure that they can be handled within the enterprise system. In addition, the number of compensating controls required due to workarounds may decrease the organizational efficiency expected from having an enterprise resource planning system to ensure the integrity of financial information.,This paper moves beyond finding the causes of workarounds, and expands what is known about workarounds and their impact on an organization. An important contribution of this study is to consider the intersection of workarounds, ERP systems and internal controls.
Meso-scale microstructural agglomerate quantification in boron carbide using X-ray microcomputed tomography

Abstract Failure in brittle materials is governed, in part, by the specific microstructure of that material, with heterogeneous microstructures generally leading to reduced mechanical properties and performance. In ceramics used for armor, an increase in compressive strength can be an indicator of improved ballistic performance. In hot-pressed boron carbide (B4C) ceramic plates, failure has been attributed to carbonaceous flakes observed on the fracture surfaces of failed specimens. However, this current work shows agglomerates, in addition to the carbonaceous flakes, are present in this boron carbide. The density and distribution of these agglomerates are believed to influence the ballistic performance. Therefore, it is of interest to improve the quantification of meso-scale microstructural agglomerates so that strategies can be developed to mitigate them. This work is focused on the microstructural characterization of dumbbell-shaped compression specimens that were machined from a single tile of pressure-aided densification (PAD) B4C, using high-resolution micro-computed tomography (microCT). Large clusters of non-B4C agglomerates, up to 125 μm in diameter, were observed in addition to the typical smaller carbonaceous flakes and aluminum-based phases. Agglomerate size distribution, orientation, morphology, and spacing were quantified both parallel and perpendicular to the pressing direction. This defect quantification provides valuable information for a better understanding of the material microstructure which is a critical step in improving armor materials for the future.
The influence of environmental factors on breeding system allocation at large spatial scales.

Plant breeding systems can vary widely among populations, yet few studies have investigated abiotic factors contributing to variation across a broad geographic range. Here we investigate variation in reproductive traits of Triodanis perfoliata (Campanulaceae), a species that exhibits dimorphic cleistogamy, a condition in which individual plants have both closed (selfing: cleistogamous: CL) and open (selfing or outcrossing: chasmogamous: CH) flowers. Chasmogamous production is theorized to be more costly because CH flowers have a larger exposed surface area and thus are more likely to lose more water than CL flowers. We examine relationships between abiotic conditions (temperature, precipitation and soil characteristics) and variation in breeding systems across 14 widespread populations using ordinary least squares models. We found that a large proportion of breeding system variation was described by climate and soil variables (R2 = 0.65-0.92). These results support the hypothesis that variation in the environment drives variation in breeding system allocation. Our broad geographic analyses provide a framework for mechanistic studies of cleistogamy, and employ a novel approach for examining reproductive traits and environmental variation at large scales. Given that two major components of our models were temperature and precipitation, our study further emphasizes the potential for ongoing climate change to alter plant breeding systems.
Reply to Liu et al.: Tissue specificity of SIM1 gene expression and erectile dysfunction.

In our study (1), we identify a locus in the human genome near the SIM1 gene that is significantly associated with the risk of erectile dysfunction. Through differential enhancer assays, we demonstrate that the lead single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs17185536, alters enhancer activity. Furthermore, long-range chromatin interaction experiments show that the region containing the lead variant likely interacts with the promoter of the SIM1 gene. Based on the evidence from these analyses, we hypothesize that a regulatory element harboring rs17185536 or other erectile dysfunction-associated SNPs in the locus affects SIM1 expression. Previous research found that male mice lacking the melanocortin 4 receptor ( Mc4r ) showed … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: eric.jorgenson{at}kp.org or stephen.vandeneeden{at}kp.org. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Bladder/Pelvic Pain and Neurogenic Inflammation

Bladder and/or pelvic pain is prominent in patients with chronic prostatitis as well as interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). The etiology of IC/BPS remains elusive and may involve multiple causes. IC/BPS has often been described as a disease of the urothelium. Ultrastructurally, an altered vascular supply is observed in its ulcerative form with locations of moderate-to-severe redness, interspersed among a whitish discoloration. There is also evidence that the urothelium is associated with altered synthesis of a number of proteins including those involved in cellular differentiation, barrier function and bacterial defense mechanisms. In addition, neurogenic inflammation of the bladder mucosa may be present in a percentage of patients with IC/BPS in addition to those with prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain and spinal cord injury. The urothelium, which lines the inner surface of the renal pelvis, the ureters and the urinary bladder, not only forms a high-resistance barrier to ion, solute and water flux, and pathogens, but also functions as an integral part of a sensory web which receives, amplifies, and transmits information about its external milieu. Urothelial cells have the ability to sense changes in their extracellular environment, and respond to chemical, mechanical and thermal stimuli by releasing various factors such as ATP, nitric oxide and acetylcholine and impart these changes to underlying bladder nerves and the central nervous system. Changes in these signaling mechanisms associated with lower urinary tract symptoms are discussed as well as new areas for therapeutic interventions.
Impact of a Telephonic Intervention to Improve Diabetes Control on Health Care Utilization and Cost for Adults in South Bronx, New York.

OBJECTIVE Self-management education and support are essential for improved diabetes control. A 1-year randomized telephonic diabetes self-management intervention (Bronx A1C) among a predominantly Latino and African American population in New York City was found effective in improving blood glucose control. To further those findings, this current study assessed the intervention’s impact in reducing health care utilization and costs over 4 years. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured inpatient (n = 816) health care utilization for Bronx A1C participants using an administrative data set containing all hospital discharges for New York State from 2006 to 2014. Multilevel mixed modeling was used to assess changes in health care utilization and costs between the telephonic diabetes intervention (Tele/Pr) arm and print-only control (PrO) arm. RESULTS During follow-up, excess relative reductions in all-cause hospitalizations for the Tele/Pr arm compared with PrO arm were statistically significant for odds of hospital use (odds ratio [OR] 0.89; 95% CI 0.82, 0.97; P CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the impact of the Bronx A1C intervention was not just on short-term improvements in glycemic control but also on long-term health care utilization. This finding is important because it suggests the benefits of the intervention were long-lasting with the potential to not only reduce hospitalizations but also to lower hospital-associated costs.
Effect of Evolocumab on Non‐High‐Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Apolipoprotein B, and Lipoprotein(a): A Pooled Analysis of Phase 2 and Phase 3 Studies

Background Dyslipidemia guidelines recommend non‐high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (non‐HDL‐C) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) as additional targets of therapy and consider lipoprotein(a) a signific...
Assessing learning in technology-rich maker activities: A systematic review of empirical research

Abstract Maker activities are drawing increasing attention in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Researchers have developed various assessments for maker activities to examine students' learning outcomes. However, a systematic review of research on such assessments is lacking. To fill this gap, we reviewed empirical studies on maker-based assessments in education. We systematically examined 60 studies regarding the overall features of the maker activities, the learning outcomes that were measured, the assessment formats, and the psychometric evidence of the assessments. Our review results indicate that more than 20 types of maker platforms have been employed in the activities, with e-textiles and LilyPad Arduino being the most popular. Five types of assessment tools have been used prevalently to examine students' diverse learning outcomes, specifically artifact assessments, tests, surveys, interviews, and observations. Most assessments are used in STEM-related maker activities, especially technology-centric activities, to measure STEM-related learning outcomes. Only 15% of the studies provide psychometric evidence of reliability and validity for the assessments. Based on the findings, we provide suggestions for future research which include developing more low-tech maker activities for students in lower-grades and with lower technology proficiency. In addition, future studies should improve rubrics for artifact assessment and explore more assessment tools for non-STEM subjects.
Planning for Extreme Heat: A Review

Extreme heat is a growing concern for cities, with both climate change and the urban heat island (UHI) effect increasingly impacting public health, economies, urban infrastructure, and urban ecolog...
Deep fractionation of Hf in a solidifying magma ocean and its implications for tungsten isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle

Abstract Recent geochemical studies document a wide range of 182W anomalies in mantle-derived rocks, the origin of which is unknown. Here we explore the consequences of basal magma ocean crystallization while 182Hf was extant. We determine the partition coefficient of Hf between bridgmanite and silicate melt DHf throughout the pressure-temperature regime of Earth's lower mantle from first principles molecular dynamics coupled with thermodynamic integration. The calculations are based on Hf4+ entering the Mg-site, which we show is energetically preferable to the Si-site. We find that DHf increases by more than an order of magnitude from 25 GPa to 140 GPa, making Hf much more compatible with increasing pressure. The larger DHf at greater depths produces a strong fractionation of 182Hf between crystallized bridgmanite and silicate melt. We use a simple geochemical model to show that heterogeneous tungsten anomalies are a natural outcome of the formation and crystallization of a basal magma ocean, with the crystallized products enriched in 182W, while the remaining liquid is depleted by a similar amount. Our results show that the observed large variability of 182W/184W in terrestrial samples may be due to the solidification of a basal magma ocean.
Car-following behavior characteristics of adaptive cruise control vehicles based on empirical experiments

Abstract Emerging automated vehicle (AV) technologies are increasingly being deployed around the world and it is only a matter of time before the transportation landscape changes dramatically. Unfortunately, those changes cannot be well predicted due to the lack of empirical data. But adaptive cruise control (ACC) vehicles are common in the market and can be used to fill this gap. In this paper, we aim to characterize the empirical car-following behaviors of a commercial ACC system and understand how ACC behaves in different conditions and the underlying impact mechanism. It is found that for a single ACC: (i) the ACC response time is comparable to human drivers but much larger than the ACC controller time gap and it exhibits small variance, (ii) the ACC response can amplify or dampen an oscillation, (iii) after the oscillation, the stabilization process can exhibit overshooting or undershooting, and (iv) these CF behaviors depend largely on the ACC headway setting, speed level, and leader stimulus, which produce the impacts directly and/or indirectly through the mediation of earlier ACC behaviors. For a three-vehicle platoon, our main finding is that the change from one ACC vehicle to the next is progressive for oscillation growth, and regressive for deceleration, acceleration, and overshooting. This implies that in long platoons, oscillation amplitude tends to exacerbate very quickly, which forces ACC vehicles further upstream to apply very strong braking followed by a strong acceleration. This can cause significant overshooting and safety hazards.
Copolyimide membranes with improved H2S/CH4 selectivity for high-pressure sour mixed-gas separation

Abstract Natural gas purification is a challenging task due to the existing number of contaminants in the mixture. Sour natural gas, in particular, presents an even higher challenge due to the presence of the highly toxic hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas. These contaminants level must be reduced to meet the sales gas specifications. In this paper, three DAM-based random copolymers were prepared for simultaneous improvement of the acid gases (CO2 and H2S) separation properties of their corresponding membranes. While the developed membranes exhibit high CO2/CH4 selectivity in a non-sour mixed-gas, their unconventional behavior during sour gas separation is difficult to predict. Therefore, their membranes were subjected to sour mixed-gas separation tests a quinary gas mixture including 20 vol% H2S at different upstream pressures up to 34.5 bar. Each membrane demonstrated one or more improved properties in terms of acid gases permeability and selectivity coefficients. Taking into consideration the overall performance, membranes prepared from 6FDA-DAM/6FpDA (1:3) exhibited the most attractive separation properties among the series prepared. However, based on the relatively high H2S/CH4 selectivity obtained of 6FDA-DAM/CARDO (1:3) membranes, a block 6FDA-DAM/6FDA-CARDO (1:1) copolyimide was prepared, and the sour mixed-gas separation properties were evaluated. The overall block copolymer membrane demonstrated very attractive productivity and efficiency, compared to the standard industrially used glassy polymer, cellulose acetate, thereby rendering it a potential candidate for sour natural gas purification.
Reliability of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography in Differentiating Metastatic Brain Tumor Recurrence from Radiation Necrosis.

Background Clinical and/or neuroimaging changes after whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for metastatic brain tumor(s) present the clinical dilemma of differentiating tumor recurrence from radiation necrosis. Several imaging modalities attempt to answer this clinical question, including magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT). We evaluated our experience regarding the ability of MRS and PET CT to differentiate tumor recurrence from radiation necrosis in patients who have received WBRT or SRS. Methods We retrospectively reviewed records of 242 patients with previous WBRT or SRS to identify those who had MRS and/or PET CT to differentiate tumor recurrence from radiation necrosis. Patients were sorted into true-positive, false-positive, false-negative, and true-negative groups on the basis of imaging interpretation and clinical course combined with surgical pathology results or reaction to nonsurgical treatments including SRS, dexamethasone, or observation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were then calculated. Results Of 25 patients presenting such diagnostic questions, 19 were evaluated with MRS and 13 with PET CT. MRS sensitivity was 100%, specificity was 50%, and accuracy was 81.8%, whereas PET CT sensitivity was 36.4%, specificity was 66.7%, and accuracy was 42.9%. Conclusions MRS has better accuracy than PET CT and a high negative predictive value, therefore making it more useful in distinguishing recurrent tumor from radiation necrosis. We encourage correlation with symptoms at imaging to aid in clinical decision making.
Design and performance of a molten fluoride salt-compatible optical thermophysical property measurement system.

Accurate knowledge of molten salt thermophysical properties is crucial to optimize the efficiency, safety, and reliability of molten salt based energy applications. For molten fluorides, currently of high interest for fission and fusion reactors, data regarding these properties are either poor or non-existent. Thermal diffusivity and sound speed in particular play important roles in the modeling of a reactor’s steady state, transient, and accident scenarios. Fluoride salt-compatible property measurement systems have thus far been the bottleneck in accurately obtaining these properties. We present the design of an optical system optimized for molten fluoride salt thermophysical property measurement, along with characterization of its thermal performance. Demonstration of system capabilities is achieved through acquisition of sound speed and thermal diffusivity in lithium chloride (LiCl), showing excellent agreement with literature data.
Palliative Care Involvement in Patients Hospitalized in the United States with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) has a high mortality rate and significantly impacts survivors' quality of life. Objective: To assess impact of specialty palliative care servic...
Reproducible Econometric Research

These notes are an informal, first installment in an ongoing project to develop a convenient template for computational experimentation in econometrics. The approach is illustrated by means of an example based on some current research with Steve Portnoy on improving the speed of quantile regression algorithms. The computations are carried out in SPLUS, but similar techniques could be adapted for any modern computing environment designed for statistical applications. The objective is to provide a reasonably automatic, almost painless, way to make experimental results self-documenting and reproducible. With minor modifications the same approach could be adapted to empirical applications.
The Neural Time Factor in Conscious and Unconscious Events

Our earlier evidence had indicated that a substantial duration of appropriate cerebral activity (up to about 0.5 s) is required for the production of a conscious sensory experience; this means the sensory world is experienced delayed with respect to real time. Subjective timing of the experience can be retroactively referred to the time of the earliest signal arriving at the cortex. Our 'time-on' theory states that the transition from an unconscious to a conscious mental function is determined, at least in part, by an increase in the duration of appropriate neural activities. Our experimental finding that conscious intention to act appears only after a delay of about 350 ms from the onset of specific cerebral activity that precedes a voluntary act provided indirect evidence for the theory. In a direct experimental test a signal (stimulus to somatosensory thalamus) was correctly detected in a forced-choice test even when the stimulus duration was too short to produce any awareness of the signal; to go from correct detection with no awareness to detection with awareness required an additional 400 ms of the repetitive identical neural volleys ascending to sensory cortex. 'Time-on' theory has important implications for a variety of unconscious-conscious interactions.
Optimization of wireless power transfer for mobile receivers using automatic digital capacitance tuning

We report on an automatic impedance tuning network for mobile receivers in magnetoquasistatic wireless power transfer (WPT). We experimentally investigate a WPT system with a mobile receiver placed over a 3 × 6 spatial grid and demonstrate that the impedance change due to spatial location can be compensated through the use of two digitally tunable capacitors. We show an improved power transfer efficiency of up to 80% using this technique.
Expert assisted, adaptive, and robust fusion architecture

A new fusion architecture is presented and some preliminary results on field data are shown. The architecture consists of a new de- cision level fusion algorithm, the piecewise level fusion algorithm (PLFA), integrated with an expert system based user assistant. The PLFA tech- nique extends a known two class fusion decision level detection tech- nique to a multiple class fusion classifier technique. The expert system assistant calculates the parameters necessary to automatically adapt the PLFA to the required performance. An interactive integration of the PLFA module with the expert system module allows for effective search for fusion parameters while shielding the user from the mathematical com- plexity of the fusion procedure. This integration enables the detection of deadlocks and the generation of guidance to the user in parameter se- lection. The overall architecture and processing required to develop the current system from a man-in-the-loop system to a fully automated fu- sion system are also described. © 1998 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. (S0091-3286(98)01802-9)
Cardiorespiratory effects of immunotherapy with interleukin-2.

The administration of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells can mediate the regression of cancer. Treatment with IL-2 is associated with significant cardiorespiratory effects, as well as a leaky capillary syndrome requiring careful fluid management. A mild reversible depression of cardiac function is also associated with IL-2 treatment. All patients treated with recombinant IL-2 alone, with transfer of LAK cells, or with cyclophosphamide between December 1984 and September 1987 (total of 423 treatment courses in 317 total patients) were evaluated as to the development of significant cardiorespiratory toxicity. Of the 423 treatment courses, only 1.8% were associated with severe peripheral edema and only 2.8% and 3.1% respectively, were associated with significant ascites or pleural effusions. Thirty-nine of 423 patients (9.2%) had severe respiratory distress and 27 patients required intubation (6.4%). Cardiovascular effects included tachycardia and hypotension requiring vasopressor administration in 65% and intravenous (IV) fluid administration. Weight gain greater than or equal to 10% of body weight was noted in 32% of the 423 patients. Arrhythmias were primarily supraventricular (9.7%) and responded well to conventional medical treatments. Angina or ischemic changes were noted in 2.6% of patients and myocardial infarction in 1.2%. IL-2 caused peripheral vasodilation, with a significant decrease in peripheral vascular resistance (2,254 +/- 398 v 1,303 +/- 351 dyne.s.cm-5, P less than .0001), and an increase in heart rate (66.2 +/- 10 v 104.3 +/- 9.6 beats/min, P less than .0001). There was also evidence of mild cardiac dysfunction, with a significant decrease in the left ventricular stroke work (LVSW) index (P less than .0001) and ejection fraction (LVEF) (from 58% +/- 10% to 52% +/- 9%, P less than .03). A repeat LVEF performed after 1 to 3 months, had returned to baseline values (60% +/- 10%). A mean 64% increase in the rate of disappearance of radioactive iodine (125I) albumin (P less than .05) consistent with the development of a leaky capillary syndrome was noted. Patients with underlying cardiorespiratory diseases may be at greater risk during IL-2 administration and should not be selected to undergo this treatment.
Glint Tracking Errors in Radar

Angle glint or “glint noise” refers to fluctuations in the measured angle of arrival of backscattered electromagnetic waves transmitted from a radar device. Active sonar tracking systems are also subject to glint noise for the same physical reason: When a target consists of many point reflectors, the backscattered waves from the individual elements interfere with one another to produce fluctuations in the echo signal arriving at the receiver. As the aspect angles of the individual elements change, the relative amplitudes and phases of the scattered components also change, leading to a scintillation in the amplitude of the return signal and glint noise components in the measurement of angle. These tracking errors are most pronounced at short and intermediate target ranges: at long range the target appears to be a single point within the resolution cell of the tracking system. Glint induced measurement errors can result in a situation where the tracking point lies entirely outside the physical confines of the target.
Microtubule arrays in taxol-treated mouse dorsal root ganglion-spinal cord cultures

Exposure of organotypic dorsal root ganglion-spinal cord cultures to taxol, a potent microtubule promoting and stabilizing agent, results in an unusual abundance of microtubules in neurons, and the presence of microtubule-endoplasmic reticulum arrays in their perikarya and processes. Ordered concentric arrays of microtubules alternating with marcromolecular material are observed in dorsal root ganglion neurites. Short linear structures are discernible between some microtubules and the macromolecular material, as well as between microtubules and endoplasmic reticulum cisternae. Analyses of such unusual microtubule arrays in taxol-treated cultures may provide valuable insights into tubulin-related systems in neurons, as well as in other cells.
Aerobic fermentation of D-glucose by an evolved cytochrome oxidase-deficient Escherichia coli strain.

Fermentation of glucose to d-lactic acid under aerobic growth conditions by an evolved Escherichia coli mutant deficient in three terminal oxidases is reported in this work. Cytochrome oxidases (cydAB, cyoABCD, and cbdAB) were removed from the E. coli K12 MG1655 genome, resulting in the ECOM3 (E. coli cytochrome oxidase mutant) strain. Removal of cytochrome oxidases reduced the oxygen uptake rate of the knockout strain by nearly 85%. Moreover, the knockout strain was initially incapable of growing on M9 minimal medium. After the ECOM3 strain was subjected to adaptive evolution on glucose M9 medium for 60 days, a growth rate equivalent to that of anaerobic wild-type E. coli was achieved. Our findings demonstrate that three independently adaptively evolved ECOM3 populations acquired different phenotypes: one produced lactate as a sole fermentation product, while the other two strains exhibited a mixed-acid fermentation under oxic growth conditions with lactate remaining as the major product. The homofermenting strain showed a d-lactate yield of 0.8 g/g from glucose. Gene expression and in silico model-based analyses were employed to identify perturbed pathways and explain phenotypic behavior. Significant upregulation of ygiN and sodAB explains the remaining oxygen uptake that was observed in evolved ECOM3 strains. E. coli strains produced in this study showed the ability to produce lactate as a fermentation product from glucose and to undergo mixed-acid fermentation during aerobic growth.
Refining the Accuracy of Predicting Physics Parameters at Research Reactors due to the Limitations in the Energy Balance Method Using MCNP and the ENDF Evaluations

A detailed study at the Missouri University Research Reactor indicates that limitations in the energy balance methodology, using the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code (MCNP) and the Evaluated N...
Improve Your Image With Aspheres

The use of high precision glass aspheres is becoming viable thanks to enabling manufacturing technologies.
Responses of vegetation to a changing regime of disturbance: effects of feral pigs in a Californian coastal prairie

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