cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of 101 antimicrobials and other agents on the development of Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro.

An in-situ ELISA was used as a primary screen to test the effects of 101 antimicrobials and other agents on the development of Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro. Over 40 of the compounds displayed some form of anticryptosporidial activity, and dose-response curves were generated for 40 of these. The in-situ ELISA makes a highly effective primary, pharmaceutical screen for C. parvum, to be used prior to more detailed microscopical, toxicological or in-vivo assays.
Influence of wholesale lamb marketing options and merchandising styles on retail yield and fabrication time

Lamb carcasses (n = 94) from five packing plants, selected to vary in weight class and fat thickness, were used to determine retail yield and labor requirements of wholesale lamb fabrication. Carcasses were allotted randomly according to weight class to be fabricated as whole carcasses (n = 20), three-piece boxes (n = 22), or subprimals (n = 52). Processing times (seconds) were recorded and wholesale and retail weights (kilograms) were obtained to calculate retail yield. Subprimals were fabricated into bone-in retail cuts or boneless or semi-boneless retail cuts. Retail yield for subprimal lamb legs decreased from 85.3 ±.6% for bone-in to 68.0 ±.7% for a completely boneless retail product. Correspondingly, processing times increased from 126.1 ± 5.4 s to 542.0 ± 19.2 s for bone-in and boneless legs, respectively. For all subprimals, retail yield percentage tended to decrease and total processing time increase as cuts were fabricated to boneless or semi-boneless end points compared with a bone-in end point. Percentage retail yield did not differ (P >.05) among whole carcass, three-piece box, and subprimal marketing methods. Total processing time was shorter for subprimals ( P <.05) than for the other two marketing methods.
Human understanding of Controlled Natural Language in simulated tactical environments

Computational platforms with natural language interfaces have become commonplace, but they present limitations that make them less than ideal for military and other safety-critical environments. Controlled Natural Languages (languages built from a subset of natural language, which are both computer- and human-readable) hold promise for Human-Computer Collaboration via these platforms, especially when the human user needs to add information to a knowledgebase or make queries, as they provide a transparent, shared representation. Controlled Natural Languages, however, are typically not optimized for human use and understanding. This paper presents the development and implementation of a framework to test the relative ease of comprehension of different Controlled Natural Language statements. The experiments presented in this paper show an advantage for one particular Controlled Natural Language statement over another, but only when responses are made under strict time pressure. These types of experiments allow researchers to make recommendations on how to improve the use and design of a Controlled Natural Language for more robust comprehension, particularly in tactical environments.
Commercially Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Minors: Our Hidden and Forgotten Children

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Globally, an estimated 20.9 million persons are exploited for their labor in a multitude of industries, including the commercial sex industry. In the United States, the prevalence of human trafficking is unknown and published figures vary widely based on definitional criteria and data sources used. This chapter focuses specifically on the commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States. Minors under the age of 18 years account for one of the groups most vulnerable to exploitation in the commercial sex industry. In the United States, 100,000–300,000 minors are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation each year. Minors who have experienced complex trauma in their childhood are particularly vulnerable to these forms of polyvictimization. Their complex traumatic experiences as young children not only elevate their risk for re-victimization through commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking but also give rise to a destructive cycle of stigmatization that permeates their lives before, during, and well beyond their exploitation. The short- and long-term physical and mental health effects of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking are profound, and the cumulative effects of complex trauma and stigma place victims and survivors at a disadvantage in a number of health metrics. Trafficked minors are challenged by unfavorable social determinants of health, high-risk health behaviors, poor health outcomes, numerous barriers to health care, and retraumatization in the health care setting. Indeed, sex trafficking of minors is thought to be the most underreported form of child abuse. Through education and training, health care providers who are knowledgeable about the experiences of trafficked minors and trained to provide trauma-informed care can help break the cycle of trauma and stigmatization, lessen health care disparities, and contribute to their healing and recovery.
Monetizing Autonomous Control

Somewhere in the intersection between networked software (the Internet of Things) and artificial intelligence lies an impressive opportunity for Internet Computing professionals. Here, Editor-in-Chief Brian Blake explores how the culmination of the two will create a new economy for monetized control software.
Optical coherence tomography angiography of non-exudative choroidal neovascularization

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been classified in two groups, neovascular and non-neovascular, which historically has been synonymous with exudative and non-exudative, respectively. Neovascular AMD occurs when pathologic blood vessels, choroidal neovascularization (CNV), arise from the choroid and extend above Bruch’s membrane toward the outer retina. Often these vessels are exudative in nature, resulting in leakage of fluid, lipid exudate, or blood causing vision loss. The exudation from CNV allows detection as leakage with dye based angiography and as fluid with structural optical coherence tomography (OCT). In 2013, Querques et al . used multimodel imaging to detect treatment naive quiescent CNV (1). This diagnosis requires presence of (I) moderate reflective material between an elevated retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch’s membrane on spectral domain OCT; (II) absence of fluid on OCT; (III) staining with fluorescein angiography; and (IV) a plaque identified with indocyanine green angiography. This study confirmed the existence of non-exudative neovascular AMD, and that exudation is not required for the presence of CNV. OCT angiography (OCTA), which can detect CNV as moving blood cells in the outer retinal slab (2) rather than relying on the presence of leakage on FA or fluid on OCT, is an ideal imaging modality to further study non-exudative CNV.
Inferior Rectus Transposition: A Novel Procedure for Abducens Palsy

Purpose Superior rectus transposition has been popularized for the treatment of abduction deficiencies. Potential complications include induced vertical deviation and torsion. A new procedure, the inferior rectus transposition (IRT), may be similarly beneficial for patients at risk for postoperative vertical deviation or incyclotropia. The purpose of this study is to describe the outcomes of patients undergoing IRT. Design Prospective, interventional case series. Methods Five patients in an academic pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus practice with a complete lateral rectus palsy who underwent IRT were studied. Changes in anomalous head posture, ocular rotations, ocular alignment, and torsion preoperatively to postoperatively were compared. Results The patients ranged in age from 19–89 years. There was a significant correction in the angle of esotropia (ET) from 39±17Δ (14–55Δ) to 12 ± 9.8Δ (0–22Δ) postoperatively ( P = .02). Two of 5 patients had preoperative hypertropia of the affected eye (1.4 ± 2.2Δ; range, 2–5Δ). One of those had no vertical deviation postoperatively and 1 patient resulted in 2Δ hypotropia. One patient without vertical misalignment preoperatively developed a small postoperative vertical deviation. Torticollis significantly improved from 31.4 ± 11.6° to 5 ± 5.8° ( P = .004). All patients improved abduction, with a mean of −4.4 ± 0.5 preoperatively to −3.4 ± 0.9 postoperatively ( P = .07). Conclusion Initial postoperative follow-up in patients with abducens palsy undergoing IRT shows a significant improvement in ocular alignment and torticollis. In patients with preoperative hypertropia, IRT resulted in a downward shifting effect on the operated eye. IRT may be a beneficial procedure for patients with preoperative hypertropia or intorsion requiring transposition procedures. Future studies with larger populations and longer durations of follow-up will be required before this procedure can be recommended.
Substrate-Specific Amino Acid Sensing Using a Molecular d / l -Cysteine Probe for Comprehensive Stereochemical Analysis in Aqueous Solution

The appearance of d-amino acids in mammals and humans has important implications in the life sciences. d/l-Amino acid mixtures play a key role in human physiology and pathology; thus, the introduction of artificial receptors for the real-time quantification of both the concentration and d/l composition of amino acids is very promising for the study of biological processes and for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. We now report a sensing assay that is compatible with aqueous solutions and allows fast determination of the absolute configuration, enantiomeric composition, and overall amount of cysteine at micromolar concentrations. The method relies on fast UV and CD measurements, which provide accurate stereochemical information on samples covering a wide concentration range and drastically different d/l-cysteine ratios in simulated body fluids. Competition experiments show that other amino acids and biothiols do not interfere with the cysteine-targeted sensing.
Silencing of the NF-kB p65 subunit inhibits HIF1-alpha expression during hypoxia and sensitizes HCT116 colon cancer cells to CPT11 but not TRAIL

1598 While investigating sensitivity of hypoxic cells to various therapeutic agents we observed that HIF1-alpha mRNA expression is increased during hypoxia. We hypothesized that NF-kB may transcriptionally upregulate HIF1-alpha during hypoxia. We performed ChIP assays and found that hypoxia induces recruitment of NF-kB p65 to the HIF1-alpha promoter. Following exposure to hypoxia, there was increased p65 localization in the nucleus. Using real-time PCR we found that Jurkat mutant IkB-expressing cells that overexpress p65 in the cytoplasm have decreased levels of HIF1-alpha as compared to wild-type Jurkat cells, either during normoxia or hypoxia. We tested the influence of p65 knockdown on cell survival after treatment of wild-type p53-expressing or p53-null HCT116 colon cancer cells by CPT11 or TRAIL and exposure to hypoxia. While both p53+/+ and p53-/- HCT116 cells showed sensitivity to TRAIL, the cells were relatively resistant to CPT11 under normoxic conditions. Under hypoxia, as we previously observed (Mayes et al., Cancer Biology and Therapy 4:1068-1074, 2005), p53-null HCT116 (and not p53+/+ cells) exhibit greatly reduced TRAIL-induced apoptosis. p65 knockdown did not enhance TRAIL sensitivity under normoxic or hypoxic conditions. Strikingly, inhibition of p65 in CPT11-resistant p53+/+ HCT116 cells significantly increased their sensitivity to CPT11 during hypoxia. This effect was diminished in p53-null HCT116 cells. Our results indicate that wild-type p53-expressing HCT116 cells are resistant to CPT11 in normoxia as well as hypoxia and that p65 knockdown results in increased CPT11-sensitivity in hypoxic HCT116 cells. From these findings we postulate that one of the mechanisms by which hypoxic p53-wild-type HCT116 cells become resistant to CPT11 may involve the expression of HIF1-alpha via transcriptional upregulation by NF-kB, and that this may lead to chemoresistance to CPT11. Further studies are ongoing to establish the potentially important role of NF-kB-mediated regulation of HIF1-alpha in CPT11-resistance under hypoxia.
Subjective versus objective evening chronotypes in bipolar disorder.

Abstract Background Disturbed sleep timing is common in bipolar disorder (BD). However, most research is based upon self-reports. We examined relationships between subjective versus objective assessments of sleep timing in BD patients versus controls. Methods We studied 61 individuals with bipolar I or II disorder and 61 healthy controls. Structured clinical interviews assessed psychiatric diagnoses, and clinician-administered scales assessed current mood symptom severity. For subjective chronotype, we used the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) questionnaire, using original and modified (1, ¾, ⅔, and ½ SD below mean CSM score) thresholds to define evening chronotype. Objective chronotype was calculated as the percentage of nights (50%, 66.7%, 75%, or 90% of all nights) with sleep interval midpoints at or before (non-evening chronotype) vs. after (evening chronotype) 04:15:00 (4:15:00 a.m.), based on 25–50 days of continuous actigraph data. Results BD participants and controls differed significantly with respect to CSM mean scores and CSM evening chronotypes using modified, but not original, thresholds. Groups also differed significantly with respect to chronotype based on sleep interval midpoint means, and based on the threshold of 75% of sleep intervals with midpoints after 04:15:00. Subjective and objective chronotypes correlated significantly with one another. Twenty-one consecutive intervals were needed to yield an evening chronotype classification match of ≥ 95% with that made using the 75% of sleep intervals threshold. Limitations Limited sample size/generalizability. Conclusions Subjective and objective chronotype measurements were correlated with one another in participants with BD. Using population-specific thresholds, participants with BD had a later chronotype than controls.
Secure Blockchains for Dynamic Spectrum Access: A Decentralized Database in Moving Cognitive Radio Networks Enhances Security and User Access

In this article, we propose a blockchain verification protocol as a method for enabling and securing spectrum sharing in moving cognitive radio (CR) networks. The spectrum-sharing mechanism is used as a medium-access protocol for accessing wireless bandwidth among competing CRs. We introduce a virtual currency, called Specoins, for payment to access the spectrum. An auction mechanism based on a first-come-first-served queue is used, with the price for the spectrum advertised by each primary user in a decentralized fashion. The blockchain protocol facilitates the transactions between primary and secondary users and is used to validate and save each user's virtual wallet. Also important for mobile networks, the blockchain serves as a distributed database that is visible by all participating parties, and any node can volunteer to update the blockchain. The volunteer nodes are called miners, and they are awarded with Specoins. We propose diverse methods to exchange the Specoins to make leasing possible even by CRs that are not miners. We show the improvement of the proposed algorithm compared with the conventional Aloha medium-access protocol in terms of spectrum usage. This difference is investigated using small-scale fading variation in the wireless channel to compare the performance of our secure method with the conventional medium access used in vehicular communications. The secure blockchain verification protocol is not only secure but also outperforms the conventional system in moderate cases of small-scale fading. In the case of severe small-scale fading, the blockchain protocol will outperform the conventional system if multipath diversity is not used.
Design for Six Sigma in Technology and Product Development

(2003). Design for Six Sigma in Technology and Product Development. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 427-428.
Incorporating theology and philosophy of science into the physics classroom

This article is a small empirical study based on two assignments, both involving reading and writing, in two physics courses at a Christian college. Students read theological, philosophical, and sc...
Soft Tissue Injuries of the Finger and Thumb

Soft tissue digital injury of the hand is a common presenting complaint in the emergency setting. Although initial work-up requires physical examination and radiographs, many of these entities may be radiographically occult and solely appreciated on ultrasound (US) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If undiagnosed, these conditions may lead to sequela of untreated disease including early osteoarthritis, pain, permanent deformity, and immobility. Soft tissue finger injuries that may not be readily apparent without the use of MRI or US are discussed. The key imaging features of radiolucent foreign bodies in addition to tendon, collateral ligament, sagittal band, and pulley injuries on MRI and US are discussed.
Developing a Biased Unmatched Bivalent Ligand (BUmBL) Design Strategy to Target the GPCR Homodimer Allosteric Signaling (cAMP over β-Arrestin 2 Recruitment) Within the Melanocortin Receptors

Understanding the functional relevance of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) homodimerization has been limited by the insufficient tools to assess asymmetric signaling occurring within dimers comprised of the same receptor type. We present unmatched bivalent ligands (UmBLs) to study the asymmetric function of melanocortin homodimers. UmBLs contain one agonist and one antagonist pharmacophore designed to target a melanocortin homodimer such that one receptor is occupied by an agonist and the other receptor by an antagonist pharmacophore. First-in-class biased UmBLs (BUmBLs) targeting the human melanocortin-4 receptor (hMC4R) were discovered. The BUmBLs displayed biased agonism by potently stimulating cAMP signaling (EC50 ∼ 2–6 nM) but minimally activating the β-arrestin recruitment pathway (≤55% maximum signal at 10 μM). To our knowledge, we report the first single-compound strategy to pharmacologically target melanocortin receptor allosteric signaling that occurs between homodimers that can be applied stra...
Epilepsy and sleep

The interaction between epilepsy sleep and epilepsy therapy is a dynamic process. Epilepsy, sleep and its disorders and anticonvulsant therapy effect each other, impact patient functioning, and seizure control. Many types of epilepsy have diurnal variation and nocturnal seizures can lead to sleep disruption. Like wise sleep disorders can produce frequent arousal, which may be associated with increased seizures. Anticonvulsants can produce daytime sleepiness and as a by product increased seizures. This review will examine common Epilepsies affected by sleep state, effect of sleep disorders on epilepsy and the effects of anticonvulsants of sleep and daytime functioning. In addition, treatment for primary sleep disorders in children with epilepsy will be discussed.
Combined topical calcipotriene ointment 0.005% and various systemic therapies in the treatment of plaque-type psoriasis vulgaris: review of the literature and results of a survey sent to 100 dermatologists.

Background: Plaque-type psoriasis may at times require systemic therapy. There are limited data as to whether topical calcipotriene ointment 0.005% can be used to increase the efficacy and improve the risk/benefit ratio of concurrent systemic antipsoriatic therapy. Objective: We attempt to answer this question by means of a literature review and results of a written survey that was sent to 100 international psoriasis treatment experts. Methods: The survey was sent to academic and psoriasis treatment center-based dermatologists who treat approximately 3000 to 4000 patients with psoriasis per month. The survey requested that dermatologists relate their experience regarding the safety and efficacy of topical, systemic, and combined topical/systemic agents in psoriasis after 8 weeks of therapy. Results: The results of the survey support the experience in the literature regarding the favorable use of calcipotriene ointment combined with systemic therapy for the treatment of psoriasis. Conclusion: Combination therapy with calcipotriene ointment and acitretin/etretinate, cyclosporine, methotrexate, or phototherapy usually enhances efficacy while improving the risk/benefit ratio by decreasing exposure to the potentially hazardous systemic agent.
The Application of the Second Law Technique for the Prediction of Trends in the Development of a Factory of the Future

This paper is concerned with the development of a formal technique for the prediction of technology development. The production, shaping and treatment of steel is discussed in order to demonstrate the use of prediction technique.
Januensis ergo mercator: Trust and Enforcement in the Business Correspondence of the Brignole Family

This study examines the role of trust in Genoese merchant enterprises in the sixteenth century. While great merchants and international financiers could rely on the state and its bank, smaller traders were left to their own devices. With no durable centralized state institutions to regulate and bolster long-distance trade, Genoese merchants relied on informal networks consisting of a combination of close associates and transient partners. Relationships between traders were enforced by means of a variety of weak mechanisms, none of which were able to prevent cheating by partners; but together they were able to provide just enough assurance when a merchants agent "trusted well." In contrast to traders in more well studied Venice and Florence, Genoese traders used shared property rights to foster trust and to build complex activities even in an environment where neither punishment nor the threat of punishment could provide an efficient barrier to opportunistic behavior.
Index, icon, symbol: a tale of abduction

In the semiotic theories of Charles Sanders Peirce, an index is a type of sign that signifies by having a direct connection to what it signifies – smoke is an index of fire, and a pointing finger i...
Beautiful money; or, what can contemporary art teach us about the Neoliberal Economy?

In recent years, numerous scholars have called attention to the growing presence of economic rationality in every sphere of contemporary life—including those aspects of human existence portrayed by classical liberal thought as inherently removed from the realm of economic interests. In the realm of contemporary art, which is often described as an exemplary case, it is said that market expertise has replaced critical, aesthetic judgment. However, what if this mode of market expertise and, more broadly, neoliberal reason as such have more in common with aesthetic judgment than one might usually imagine? In reference to the work of visual artists such as Cildo Meireles and novelists ranging from Machado de Assis to Ricardo Lisias, and drawing upon a wide range of theoretical perspectives on contemporary cultural and economic theory, this paper investigates the aesthetic underpinnings of contemporary capitalism.
Novel Phased-Array Platform based on Directly Modulated Ultrasonic Transducers

This work proposes, for the first time, the use of Directly Modulated Ultrasonic Transducer (DMUT) array as an efficient way to drive individual sub-sections of Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (pMUTs) arrays. The system allows to implement the phased-array technique and re-configure in quasi real-time the maximum radiation of the pMUT array through a commercially available micro-controller. The results in this work show an increase of the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) of 13dB when transmitting from a 10×5 pMUT array to a commercial hydrophone through the DMUT phased-array. The achievements are promising towards the improvement of intrabody and underwater communication networks.
Probability of premature death from chronic respiratory disease in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, 1993 to 2016

Objective To examine the temporal trend of mortality and probability of premature death from chronic respiratory disease in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province. Methods Records of chronic respiratory disease death were derived from the vital registry system. Crude death rates, age-standardized mortality rate, and probability of premature death were calculated. Annual percent changes (APC) were estimated to examine the temporal trend. Results The crude death rate of chronic respiratory disease decreased from 129.14/105 in 1993 to 41.10/105 in 2016, and its APC was -4.1% (95% CI: -5.1%- -3.1%, P<0.01). Age-standardized mortality rate decreased from 107.85/105 in 1993 to 14.60/105 in 2016 for both sexes (APC=-7.7%, 95% CI: - 8.6%- - 6.8%, P<0.01). Moreover, the probability of premature death from chronic respiratory disease decreased from 3.96% in 1993 to 0.28% in 2016 (APC=-13.2%, 95% CI: -14.7%- - 11.7%, P<0.01). Conclusion The mortality rate of chronic respiratory disease decreased substantially from the year 1993 to 2016 in Kunshan City. Residents are less likely to die of chronic respiratory disease before 70 years of age. Key words: Respiratory disease; Mortality; Annual percentage change
On the experimental measurement of barriers to four-fold internal rotation in pentafluorosulfanyl-containing compounds: The microwave spectra of C3H5-SF5 and C4H7-SF5

Abstract Propen-1-yl sulfur pentafluoride, when examined using very high resolution spectroscopy, displays spectral effects arising from the presence of an unusual fourfold internal rotation. These observations have been recorded and anaylzed to produce a barrier height to the motion, V 4 = 260.8 cm−1. No such spectral effects were resolved for either of the two lowest energy conformers of but-1-enyl sulfur pentafluoride which is consistent with a higher barrier to internal rotation for those species. These measurements allow the first considerations regarding how the shape and size of the molecular frame can hinder this type of internal motion.
An IL-17F.S65L Knock-In Mouse Reveals Similarities and Differences in IL-17F Function in Oral Candidiasis: A New Tool to Understand IL-17F.

Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) is an opportunistic infection of the oral mucosa caused by the commensal fungus Candida albicans IL-17R signaling is essential to prevent OPC in mice and humans, but the individual roles of its ligands, IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-17AF, are less clear. A homozygous IL-17F deficiency in mice does not cause OPC susceptibility, whereas mice lacking IL-17A are moderately susceptible. In humans, a rare heterozygous mutation in IL-17F (IL-17F.S65L) was identified that causes chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, suggesting the existence of essential antifungal pathways mediated by IL-17F and/or IL-17AF. To investigate the role of IL-17F and IL-17AF in more detail, we exploited this "experiment of nature" by creating a mouse line bearing the homologous mutation in IL-17F (Ser65Leu) by CRISPR/Cas9. Unlike Il17f-/- mice that are resistant to OPC, Il17fS65L/S65L mice showed increased oral fungal burdens similar to Il17a -/- mice. In contrast to humans, however, disease was only evident in homozygous, not heterozygous, mutant mice. The mutation was linked to modestly impaired CXC chemokine expression and neutrophil recruitment to the infected tongue but not to alterations in oral antimicrobial peptide expression. These findings suggest mechanisms by which the enigmatic cytokine IL-17F contributes to host defense against fungi. Moreover, because these mice do not phenocopy Il17f-/- mice, they may provide a valuable tool to interrogate IL-17F and IL-17AF function in vivo in other settings.
Latest developments in the applications of microfluidization to modify the structure of macromolecules leading to improved physicochemical and functional properties

Microfluidization is a unique high-pressure homogenization technique combining various forces such as high-velocity impact, high-frequency vibration, instantaneous pressure drop, intense shear rate, and hydrodynamic cavitation. Even though it is mainly used on emulsion-based systems and known for its effects on particle size and surface area, it also significantly alters physicochemical and functional properties of macromolecules including hydration properties, solubility, viscosity, cation-exchange capacity, rheological properties, and bioavailability. Besides, the transformation of structure and conformation due to the combined effects of microfluidization modifies the material characteristics that can be a base for new innovative food formulations. Therefore, microfluidization is being commonly used in the food industry for various purposes including the formation of micro- and nano-sized emulsions, encapsulation of easily degradable bioactive compounds, and improvement in functional properties of proteins, polysaccharides, and dietary fibers. Although the extent of modification through microfluidization depends on processing conditions (e.g., pressure, number of passes, solvent), the nature of the material to be processed also changes the outcomes significantly. Therefore, it is important to understand the effects of microfluidization on each food component. Overall, this review paper provides an overview of microfluidization treatment, summarizes the applications on macromolecules with specific examples, and presents the existing problems.
Assessing consistency among indices to measure socioeconomic barriers to health care access

Many places within rural America lack ready access to health care facilities. Barriers to access can be both spatial and non-spatial. Measurements of spatial access, such as the Enhanced Floating 2-Step Catchment Area and other floating catchment area measures, produce similar patterns of access. However, the extent to which different measurements of socioeconomic barriers to access correspond with each other has not been examined. Using West Virginia as a case study, we compute indices based upon the literature and measure the correlations among them. We find that all indices positively correlate with each other, although the strength of the correlation varies. Also, while there is broad agreement in the general spatial trends, such as fewer barriers in urban areas, and more barriers in the impoverished southwestern portion of the state, there are regions within the state that have more disagreement among the indices. These indices are to be used to support decision-making with respect to placement of rural residency students from medical schools within West Virginia to provide students with educational experiences as well as address health care inequalities within the state. The results indicate that for decisions and policies that address statewide trends, the choice of metric is not critical. However, when the decisions involve specific locations for receiving rural residents or opening clinics, the results can become more sensitive to the selection of the index. Therefore, for fine-grained policy decision-making, it is important that the chosen index best represents the processes under consideration.
Special Issue: The Science and Technology of 3D Printing.

Additive manufacturing, commonly known as three-dimensional printing (3D printing), is becoming an increasingly popular method for making components that are difficult to fabricate using traditional manufacturing processes [...]
Mergers, takeovers, and economic efficiency: Foresight vs. hindsight

Abstract This survey contrasts the favorable appraisal of mergers derived from ex ante event studies to the increasingly negative findings based on ex post evaluations. The ex ante literature recognizes managerial behavior in target firms as an inefficient deterrent to mergers, but managerial behavior by bidders at least as clearly promotes excessive mergers. Accordingly, positive ex ante valuations of selloffs and spinoffs are unsurprising.
Composite Material Shells

A shell is a thin walled body, just as a beam or plate is, whose middle surface is curved in at least one direction. For instance a cylindrical shell and a conical shell have only one direction in which the middle surface is curved. On the other hand in a spherical shell there is curvature in both directions. Such mundane shells as a front fender of a car or an egg shell are example of double curvature in shells.
Turkish Secular Muslim Identity on Display in Europe

Nasreddin Hodja1 is a popular folkloric figure in tales, anecdotes, and humor stories told and loved in many parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, Balkans, and North Africa. Hodja has a religious significance and he is considered to be a protective saint in Aksehir, Turkey and is venerated by local people. Furthermore, in the stories attributed to him, he appears as a minor cleric and plays merry pranks in some stories similar to the German trickster figure Till Eulenspiegel. Nineteenth-century French and German orientalists, such as Basset, Horn, and Wesselski, introduced him and his stories to Europe about a century ago (Basset 1987; Ozgu ). However, Nasreddin Hodja recently gained a new visibility in Europe.
Nursing home resident outcomes from the Res-Care intervention.

OBJECTIVES: To test the effectiveness of a restorative care (Res-Care) intervention on function, muscle strength, contractures, and quality of life of nursing home residents, with secondary aims focused on strengthening self-efficacy and outcome expectations. DESIGN: A randomized controlled repeated-measure design was used, and generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate status at baseline and 4 and 12 months after initiation of the Res-Care intervention. SETTING: Twelve nursing homes in Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred eighty-seven residents consented and were eligible: 256 from treatment sites and 231 from control sites. The majority were female (389, 80.1%) and white (325, 66.8%); 85 (17.4%) were married and the remaining widowed, single, or divorced/separated. Mean age was 83.8 ± 8.2, and mean Mini-Mental State Examination score was 20.4 ± 5.3. INTERVENTION: Res-Care was a two-tiered self-efficacy-based intervention focused on motivating nursing assistants and residents to engage in functional and physical activities. MEASUREMENTS: Barthel Index, Tinetti Gait and Balance, grip strength, Dementia Quality-of-Life Scale, self-efficacy, and Outcome Expectations Scales for Function. RESULTS: Significant treatment-by-time interactions (P<.05) were found for the Tinetti Mobility Score and its gait and balance subscores and for walking, bathing, and stair climbing. CONCLUSION: The findings provide some evidence for the utility and safety of a Res-Care intervention in terms of improving function in NH residents.
Beyond HYTECH: Hybrid Systems Analysis Using Interval Numerical Methods

Since hybrid embedded systems are pervasive and often safetycritical, guarantees about their correct performance are desirable. The hybrid systems model checker HyTech provides such guarantees and has successfully verified some systems. However, HyTech severely restricts the continuous dynamics of the system being analyzed and, therefore, often forces the use of prohibitively expensive discrete and polyhedral abstractions. We have designed a new algorithm, which is capable of directly verifying hybrid systems with general continuous dynamics, such as linear and nonlinear differential equations. The new algorithm conservatively overapproximates the reachable states of a hybrid automaton by using interval numerical methods. Interval numerical methods return sets of points that enclose the true result of numerical computation and, thus, avoid distortions due to the accumulation of round-off errors. We have implemented the new algorithm in a successor tool to HyTech called HyperTech. We consider three examples: a thermostat with delay, a two-tank water system, and an air-traffic collision avoidance protocol. HyperTech enables the direct, fully automatic analysis of these systems, which is also more accurate than the use of polyhedral abstractions.
Storm‐Substorm Relationships During the 4 October, 2000 Storm. IMAGE Global ENA Imaging Results

Global ion distributions in the 1-200 keV energy range from the main phase of the geomagnetic storm on 4 October 2000 are presented and analyzed. Proton distributions have been obtained by inverting energetic neutral atom (ENA) images from the high energy neutral atom (HENA) instrument on board the IMAGE satellite using a constrained linear inversion technique. The storm is characterized by a 24-hour long main phase where the IMF B z steadily decreases followed by a 2 day recovery. Several substorms occured during the main phase as can be seen from in-situ measurements from geosynchronous satellites (LANL, GOES). Substorm injections during the early main phase, when the dawn to dusk electric field was weak, ocurred on closed trajectories. A strong asymmetric ring current developed as the IMF B z decreased gradually to about -10 nT. A substorm ocurred at about 17:30 UT which injected plasma onto open trajectories with no clear change in the morphology of the partial ring current. As the IMF B z increased towards zero, substorms were observed to inject ions onto closed trajectories. The peak of the ring current moved from L=5 to L=3 during the entire main phase. A preliminary inspection of ∼80-160 keV oxygen ENA fluxes reveal a one order of magnitude increase during the entire main phase, implying that O + contributed significantly to this storm. Rapid decrease followed by decay (∼1 h) was superposed on the gradual increase of the oxygen ENA. Each one of these bursts are associated with a substorm onset. No burst-like features were present in the hydrogen data. In order to quantify the variations in the ring current energy content, the equivalent magnetic disturbance D ENA is calculated for the L≤6 proton distributions using the Dessler-Parker-Sckopke relation. Our calculated D ENA suggests that substorm proton injections did not increase the ring current energy content over the main phase. Together with the fact that the proton ring current was mostly partial, this shows that the dominant ring current energy increase must have been due to increased convection. However, the long-term increase in oxygen ENA fluxes suggests that O + may have been continuously extracted from the ionosphere throughout the main phase and subsequently energized at each substorm dipolarization to give rise to the oxygen ENA bursts. We also discuss implications of strong electric fields in the inner region L<4.
Stepwise specification of a sliding-window protocol by means of process algebra

The author introduces a simple language, a subset of the formal language LOTOS, expressive enough to describe a wide range of communication behavior. He shows the applicability of this specification language to a sliding-window protocol taken from the literature. The specifications start with the definition of the service of the protocol. The underlying service is precisely defined, giving the frame into which the protocol has to fit. The first specification defines the protocol entity as a single process. Then this sequential process is decomposed into four parallel processes, taking the replication of data objects into account. In this way, the author obtains a specification that contains adequate detail for use as an implementation specification. >
EqualWrites: Reducing Intra-Set Write Variations for Enhancing Lifetime of Non-Volatile Caches

Driven by the trends of increasing core-count and bandwidth-wall problem, the size of last level caches has greatly increased, and hence the researchers have explored non-volatile memories (NVMs) that provide high density and consume low-leakage power. Since NVMs have low write endurance and the existing cache management policies are write variation (WV) unaware, effective wear-leveling techniques (WLTs) are required for achieving reasonable cache lifetimes using NVMs. We present EqualWrites, a technique for mitigating intra-set WV. Our technique works by recording the number of writes on a block and changing the cache-block location of a hot data item to redirect the future writes to a cold block to achieve wear leveling. Simulation experiments have been performed using an x86–64 simulator and benchmarks from SPEC06 and high-performance computing field. The results show that for single-, dual-, and quad-core system configurations, EqualWrites improves cache lifetime by $6.31\times $ , $8.74\times $ , and $10.54\times $ , respectively. In addition, its implementation overhead is very small and it provides larger improvement in lifetime than three other intra-set WLTs and a cache replacement policy.
Estimating Service Territory Size

This paper considers the problem of allocating personnel to provide service that involves travel to demand locations distributed over a geographical area. Assuming that each individual server will be responsible for demand in a certain territory on a first come first served basis, formulas are determined for estimating the appropriate area per person. Demands for service are assumed to be Poisson arrivals with their locations distributed uniformly over the territory. Service time consists of travel to the call location plus “on-site” service time, which can be any random variable with known mean and variance. Area per server is determined as a function of call arrival rate, desired average response time, and service time parameters. Appropriate applications for the models are identified and discussed.
Fabrication and thermal analysis of layer-by-layer micro- and nanotubes

Micro- and nanotubes created via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly offer many new and exciting opportunities in both nanotechnology and nanoscience. The focus in this present review is to highlight practical challenges in fabricating porous and nano-cylindrical templates used to fabricate LbL tubes and to highlight new results in the area. There are inherent difficulties in constructing well defined polymer nanotubes. The first section presents general guidelines and underlying challenges to consider in the construction of LbL tubes and will focus on the ability of polyelectrolyes to diffuse into nanopores to form tubes. The second section highlights on how thermal analysis of LbL tubes can be leveraged to identify properties previously difficult to determine for LbL assemblies and the role of confinement on the glass transition and cross-linking temperature. We envision that great advances may be made particularly in the field of energy using an LbL tube approach.
Development of Calcium Handling Defects During Aging in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Several defects in calcium handling have been identified in failing myocytes. We investigated the progression of these defects in the course of development of overt heart failure (HF). Intracellular Ca2+ transients were measured using confocal microscopy in intact hearts from age-matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) at 6, 7.5, 9 and >22 months of age. Amplitude of basal Ca2+ transients (cycle length of 700msec) in SHR increased at 7.5 and 9 months, but subsequently decreased at 22 months compared to WKY. SHR myocytes exhibited longer transient duration starting at 9 months compared to WKY. Cell-to-cell variability in transient duration increased at 7.5 months and subsequently decreased at 9 months as defects became more extensive. At 22 months, Ca2+ transients showed further increases in transient duration and intercellular variability. Restitution of Ca2+ release was slowed and was paralleled by increased Ca2+ alternans susceptibility starting at 9 months in SHR. Dyssynchronous alternans incidence increased beginning at 7.5 months in SHR compared to WKY. SHR myocytes also demonstrated an increased incidence of spontaneous Ca2+ waves at all ages, with the greatest difference at 22 months. A separate population of SHR myocytes showed Ca2+ waves that were activated during pacing (“triggered waves”) whose incidence increased at all ages but most profoundly at 22 months. We conclude that well-coupled failing myocytes demonstrate progressively increasing defects in Ca2+ cycling. Biphasic changes in calcium transient magnitude may partially account for a transient inotropic effect during compensation but ultimately reduced cardiac output in HF. The progression of Ca2+ handling defects may also account for the increasing sensitivity to alternans as well as incidence of spontaneous and triggered Ca2+ waves with age, possibly explaining increased arrhythmias during progressive HF.
Base-Catalyzed Addition and Solvolysis Reactions of N-Phenylmaleimide in Methanol

The base-catalyzed reaction of methanol with N-phenylmaleimide provides mainly methyl α-methoxysuccinanilate (III), which is formed from the intermediate methyl maleanilate (II). The course of the reaction was followed gas chromatographically, and the role of various possible intermediates is discussed. Observations concerning the relative thermal stabilities of III and its β-methoxy isomer (IV) are also presented. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were recorded for III, N-phenyl-α-methoxysuccinimide (V), and dimethyl α-methoxysuccinate (VI), all of which exhibit ABX-type patterns. Calculations carried out on the spectrum of V indicated Jax, Jbx, and Jab to be 7.85, 4.5, and 18.4 c.p.s., respectively.
Economic Evaluation of Different Stocking Densities for Various Sized in Texas

There has been a trend toward intensification of shrimp farming in the U.S. FiCteen simulated farms were used to evaluate economies of scale and to compare three Penaeus vannclmei commercial production strategies: semi-intensive, intensive, and very-intensive. Large economies of scale were associated with each production strategy. Over the range of farm sizes considered, investment cost per hectare decreased approximately 50% and production cost decreased approximately 25%. Farms' returns were measured with Internal Rate of Return (IRR). When investment was greater than $0.75 million, the intensive strategy provided slightly better returns to the investor than semi-intensive or very-intensive strategies. At investment levels less than $0.75 million, the semi-intensive strategy provided the highest IRR.
Symmetric splitting for the system S 32 + 238 U at energies near and below the barrier

The total capture cross section for the system /sup 32/S+/sup 238/U has been measured at energies from 0.93 to 1.08 times the s-wave interaction barrier by detecting coincident fission fragments following full momentum transfer reactions. The subbarrier cross section cannot be reproduced by a one-dimensional barrier penetration model. Using a quantum mechanical coupled channels model, good agreement is obtained. The measured angular distributions of fission fragments were compared to the predictions of saddle and scission point transition state theory. Saddle point transition state model calculations fail to reproduce the data, while scission point transition state calculations are in agreement with their qualitative trend. Evidence for nonequilibrium processes is presented.
Spatial distributions of mean age and higher moments in steady continuous flows

Transport equations and boundary conditions for spatial distribution of age moments in steady continuous flows are derived. Mean age is the first moment. The coefficient of variation is obtained from the second moment. Mixing-cup averaged mean age and higher moments across the exit plane are identical to the corresponding moments of the residence-time distribution. Numerical solutions for a 2-D (two-dimensional) reactor are studied and compared with those from a transient tracer equation. Agreement is excellent. Local tracer distribution function curves reveal that mean age is located on the long tail for both convection dominated short circuiting paths and diffusion dominated dead zones. Computing cost for the mean age and higher moment equations is orders of magnitude lower than that for the transient tracer concentration equation, making this mean age method an efficient tool to study mixing in steady continuous flow systems. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010