cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
School Vouchers: A Critical View

This paper marshals available evidence from both the U.S. and other countries on the effects of private schools, peer effects, and competition to demonstrate that that any gains in overall student achievement from a large scale voucher program are at best likely to be small. Moreover, given the tendency of parents to judge schools in part by the characteristics of a school's students, a universal voucher system would undoubtedly harm large numbers of disadvantaged students. Although the case for a small means tested voucher program is somewhat stronger, it will do little to improve education for low-performing students.
Modelling the meteorology and traffic pollutant dispersion in highly complex terrain: the ALPNAP Alpine Space Project

An integrated methodology was applied, within the framework of the ALPNAP Project, to study the meteorology and traffic pollutant dispersion in highly complex topography, the Frejus Alpine transect area. Three episodes, characterised by strongly critical dispersive conditions, were considered in the year 2004. The atmospheric circulation and pollutant dispersion were simulated using RMS prognostic modelling system, then downscaling to the local scale from 1 km to 100 m resolution with the diagnostic model MINERVE. Ground level concentrations of NOx and PM10 were calculated for the 2004 emission dataset and a 'future' emissive scenario. The methodology and main results are discussed.
An Extended Cavity Method to Analyze Slot Coupling Between Printed Circuit Board Cavities

In high-speed multilayer printed circuit boards, gaps are commonly used in planes, where different areas are utilized for different logic levels or where noise isolation from one area to another is necessary. However, these gap structures could present serious signal integrity and electromagnetic interference issues. In this paper, an extended cavity method is developed to characterize noise coupling caused by slots or gaps in the middle plane of a three-plane structure. According to the equivalence principle, the entire structure can be divided into two plane pairs without any slot in the middle plane, and then, equivalent magnetic currents are needed in both plane pairs in the slot region to retain the same field distributions. Dyadic Green's functions of a rectangular cavity with perfect electric conductor top and bottom surfaces and perfect magnetic conductor sidewalls are derived for both electric and magnetic current excitations. Magnetic auxiliary ports with “magnetic voltage” and “magnetic current” are defined in the slot region to enable vertical connections of two plane pair. The conventional cavity model and segmentation technique are extended in this paper to handle such magnetic auxiliary ports. The proposed method can be used to effectively analyze the apertures with arbitrary shapes and is validated by full-wave simulations.
Target detection with spatio-spectral data via concordance learning

In challenging environments, in order to uniquely define a sample as a target, multiple representations of the samples might be required. As a case study, we consider cars in the parking lots of an urban imagery as targets. What makes this problem challenging is the copresence of several parking garages and parking lots in the same imagery. Both the cars in the parking lots and in the parking garages present with similar spectral characteristics. Spectral representation alone is not sufficient to uniquely define a pixel as a car in the parking lot. In this example, before a pixel is confirmed as a target or rejected as not being a target, classifiers corresponding to spectral and spatial representations of the samples has to concord. The current study discusses some possible ways these classifiers can be trained so that the rate of true concordance is maximized. We consider independent training and feature concatenation first and then propose a joint optimization scheme. The proposed approach aims to optimize multiple classifiers at once so as to maximize concordance among the classifiers while minimizing the classification error.
Inherited Variation in the Androgen Pathway Is Associated With the Efficacy of Androgen-Deprivation Therapy in Men With Prostate Cancer

Purpose Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the most common and effective systemic therapy for advanced prostate cancer. We hypothesized that germline genetic variation in the androgen axis would improve the efficacy of ADT. Patients and Methods A cohort of 529 men with advanced prostate cancer treated with ADT was genotyped for 129 DNA polymorphisms distributed across 20 genes involved in androgen metabolism. Results Three polymorphisms in separate genes (CYP19A1, HSD3B1, and HSD17B4) were significantly (P < .01) associated with time to progression (TTP) during ADT, remaining so in multivariate analyses and after correcting for the number of hypotheses tested. Individuals carrying more than one of the polymorphisms associated with improved TTP demonstrated a better response to therapy than individuals carrying zero or one (P < .0001). Conclusion This report is the first to examine the influence of inherited variation in the androgen metabolic pathway on the efficacy of ADT, establishing the importance ...
Size-frequency analysis of atresia in cycling rats.

The purpose of this study was to delineate when, during follicular growth, the alternative developmental pathways leading to ovulation or atresia diverge. By using computerized image analysis techniques, random samples of healthy and atretic follicles in ovaries of cycling rats were subjected to size-frequency analysis. The vast preponderance of atretic follicles were of the early antral size class (approximately 300-350 �m diameter, 800-1000 granulosa cells in the largest cross-section); atretic small follicles (<250 granulosa cells in the largest cross-section) were rare. Follicles in early stages of atresia were uncommon in ovaries of animals killed at estrus, but were found with great frequency in ovaries of animals killed the following day (metestrus). These results suggest that, under normal cyclic conditions, there may be only one major branching point during follicular development when growing follicles become susceptible to atresia. The alternative developmental pathways leading to ovulation and atresia may not diverge until the penultimate stage of growth, immediately preceding the final transformation into a preovulatory follicle.
Acetate and Butyrate Are the Major Substrates for De Novo Lipogenesis in Rat Colonic Epithelial Cells

The objective of these experiments was to investigate the source of substrates used for lipid synthesis and the pathways of substrate incorporation into lipids by epithelial cells of the colon. Within replicates, cells were exposed to all treatments evaluated in that experiment. By comparing the relative incorporation rates of several 14C-labeled substrates into lipids, acetate made a significantly larger carbon contribution to lipids than propionate, butyrate, glucose or glutamine under the in vitro conditions utilized in this study. Other major carbon contributors were butyrate and 3-hydroxybutyrate. Glucose, glutamine and propionate made only minor contributions. (-)-Hydroxycitrate did not affect the incorporation of acetate or butyrate carbon into lipids, even though it inhibited colonic ATP-citrate lyase. These data suggest that SCFA carbon used in the synthesis of lipids by colonocytes is not likely transported to the cytosol as citrate. Competition experiments suggest that ketone bodies and butyrate contribute to a single precursor pool for lipogenesis. Ketone bodies did not significantly suppress acetate incorporation into lipid, however. Incorporation of 3H2O and 14C-acetate was significantly greater into phospholipids than into free fatty acids and triacylglycerides, suggesting that the major role of lipogenesis is for membrane synthesis. In conclusion, colonocytes appear to synthesize lipids using a pathway distinct from the liver by incorporating mainly SCFA and ketone bodies into lipids, and by using citrate to a limited extent, if at all, to transport acetyl units from the mitochondria to the cytosol.
The Drosophila melanogaster Cajal body

Cajal bodies (CBs) are nuclear organelles that are usually identified by the marker protein p80-coilin. Because no orthologue of coilin is known in Drosophila melanogaster, we identified D. melanogaster CBs using probes for other components that are relatively diagnostic for CBs in vertebrate cells. U85 small CB–specific RNA, U2 small nuclear RNA, the survival of motor neurons protein, and fibrillarin occur together in a nuclear body that is closely associated with the nucleolus. Based on its similarity to CBs in other organisms, we refer to this structure as the D. melanogaster CB. Surprisingly, the D. melanogaster U7 small nuclear RNP resides in a separate nuclear body, which we call the histone locus body (HLB). The HLB is invariably colocalized with the histone gene locus. Thus, canonical CB components are distributed into at least two nuclear bodies in D. melanogaster. The identification of these nuclear bodies now permits a broad range of questions to be asked about CB structure and function in a genetically tractable organism.
Kosovo Public Expenditure Review

During most of the 2000s, Kosovo has pursued a highly conservative fiscal policy, restraining expenditures as revenues continued to climb. The Government has now shifted toward an expansionary expenditure policy. In the short term, the Government intends to finance the resulting budget deficits from accumulated savings and borrowing, as well as through the sale of assets and donor support. Neither solution is sustainable. In principle, there is room to increase revenues - Kosovo’s tax burden is low by regional standards. But the weakness of domestic tax instruments makes this difficult. Restraint on the expenditure side will be required. Given the well-documented shortcomings of public services in Kosovo, this will require an improvement in the quality of public expenditure - an improvement in the efficiency of public service delivery - rather than a reduction in the quantity or quality of services. This report looks for such opportunities in the major programs of Government expenditure: education, health, social assistance, transport and energy.
Development of Two-photon excitation time-resolved photoluminescence microscopy for lifetime and defect imaging in thin film photovoltaic materials and devices

Two-photon excitation time resolved photoluminescence (2PE TRPL) is a powerful photovoltaic material analysis technique. It provides a rapid, contactless, and nondestructive method of determining semiconductor parameters such as surface and bulk carrier lifetime, which are indicative of overall device performance. We present a novel 2PE TRPL microscopy system of high spatial and temporal resolution, capable of detailed 3D analysis for PL emission intensity and minority carrier lifetime. Initial data shows PL intensity, lifetime, and diffusion length imaging in polycrystalline CdTe and indicates variations of diffusion coefficient and bulk lifetime in a polycrystalline CdTe sample.
Solving Multiscale Linear Programs Using the Simplex Method in Quadruple Precision

Systems biologists are developing increasingly large models of metabolism and integrated models of metabolism and macromolecular expression. These Metabolic Expression (ME) models lead to sequences of multiscale linear programs for which small solution values of order 10−6 to 10−10 are meaningful. Standard LP solvers do not give sufficiently accurate solutions, and exact simplex solvers are extremely slow. We investigate whether double-precision and quadruple-precision simplex solvers can together achieve reliability at acceptable cost.A double-precision LP solver often provides a reasonably good starting point for a Quad simplex solver. On a range of multiscale examples we find that 34-digit Quad floating-point achieves exceptionally small primal and dual infeasibilities (of order 10−30) when no more than 10−15 is requested. On a significant ME model we also observe robustness in almost all (even small) solution values following relative perturbations of order 10−6 to non-integer data values.Double and Quad Fortran 77 implementations of the linear and nonlinear optimization solver MINOS are available upon request.
“Hands up, don’t shoot” or shut up and play ball? Fan-generated media views of the Ferguson Five

ABSTRACTThis article explores the intersection of sports and social activism in the wake of the police-involved death of Michael Brown. Traditionally, professional athletes have remained silent, or at the very best color-blind, regarding domestic social issues. It is customary for sports celebrities such as Michael Jordan to avoid compromising their status in the marketplace with politics, even when the social matter impacts males who look like them and unswervingly support their craft. Yet, in the wake of the death of Brown, several professional athletes, if only briefly, engaged in their own forms of activism. This article will implore a qualitative content analysis of mainstream media accounts and user-generated content to develop a case study on how Black professional athletes responded to police-involved deaths of Black men. In particular, the author will use the “data” to develop a case study on five St. Louis Rams athletes who staged a silent, pregame protest in the wake of the civil unrest in Ferg...
Distribution of antibodies to type 4 adeno-associated satellite virus in simian and human sera.

SummaryThe HI antibody study presented suggests that the type 4 adeno-associated satellite virus is of simian rather than human origin.
Functional abdominal wall reconstruction using an innervated abdominal wall vascularized composite tissue allograft: a cadaveric study and review of the literature.

Background Large, composite abdominal wall defects represent complex problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach for reconstruction. Abdominal wall vascularized composite allotransplantation (AW-VCA) has been successfully performed in 21 patients, already receiving solid organ transplants, to provide immediate abdominal closure. The current study aims to establish a novel anatomic model for AW-VCA that retains motor and sensory function in an effort to preserve form and function while preventing complications. Methods Three fresh cadaver torsos were obtained. Dissection was started in the midaxillary line bilaterally through the skin and subcutaneous fascia until the external oblique was encountered. The thoracolumbar nerves were identified and measurements were obtained. A peritoneal dissection from the costal margin to pubic symphysis was performed and the vascular pedicle was identified for subsequent microsurgical anastomosis. Results The mean size of the abdominal wall graft harvested was 615 ± 120 cm 2 . The mean time of abdominal wall procurement was ∼150 ± 12 minutes. The mean number of thoracolumbar nerves identified was 5 ± 1.4 on each side. The mean length of the skeletonized thoracolumbar nerves was 7.8 ± 1.7 cm. The cross-sectional diameter of all nerves as they entered the rectus abdominis was greater than 2 mm. Conclusions Motor function and sensory recovery is expected in other forms of vascularized composite allotransplantation, such as the hand or face; however, this has never been tested in AW-VCA. This study demonstrates feasibility for the transplantation of large, composite abdominal wall constructs that potentially retains movement, strength, and sensation through neurotization of both sensory and motor nerves.
Sexual functioning and psychologic evaluation of in vitro fertilization couples

Couples requesting in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be sexually dysfunctional either as an etiologic factor in their infertility or because they experience decreased sexual satisfaction as a reaction to previous infertility treatment. The present study assessed the sexual functioning and psychologic status of 45 married couples who had requested IVF. The couples were given complete psychosexual evaluation by senior staff members of the Sexual Behaviors Consultation Unit and each participant completed the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI). Seven couples (15.5%) were experiencing a sexual dysfunction and 13 individuals (14.4%) were given Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III diagnoses. In total, 19 individuals (21%) of the sample were found to have either a sexual dysfunction or psychologic disorder. Couples with a sexual dysfunction were more likely (P = 0.05) to have unexplained infertility. Norms for psychologic evaluation as part of IVF are suggested and the role of such evaluation discussed.
Tinnitus: Report of Ten Cases of Perilymphatic Fistula and/or Endolymphatic Hydrops Improved by Surgery.

Presented are ten cases of patients with perilymphatic fistula and/or endolymphatic hydrops who hadJinnitus as a major complaint. Tinnitus and its degree of severity often correlate (;losely with the state of health or hydrodynamic integrity of the inner ear, as these cases illustrate.
Femtosecond nonlinear polarization evolution from cascade quadratic processes

We experimentally demonstrate strong amplitude modulation of 100 fs pulses with nonlinear polarization evolution based on type-I second-harmonic generation. Applications of this process to mode-locking of bulk and fiber lasers is promising and will be discussed.
TU-D-BRB-00: Dual Energy CT in Radiation Therapy

Dual-energy CT technology is becoming increasingly available to the medical imaging community. In addition, several models of CT simulators sold for use in radiation therapy departments now feature dual-energy technology. The images provided by dual-energy CT scanners add new information to the radiation treatment planning process; multiple spectral components can be used to separate and identify material composition as well as generate virtual monoenergetic images. In turn, this information could be used to investigate pathologic processes, separate the properties of contrast agents from soft tissues, assess tissue response to therapy, and other applications of therapeutic interest. Additionally, the decomposition of materials in images could directly integrate with and impact the accuracy of dose calculation algorithms. This symposium will explore methods of generating dual-energy CT images, spectral and image analysis algorithms, current and future applications of interest in oncologic imaging, and unique considerations when using dualenergy CT images in the radiation treatment planning process. Learning Objectives: 1.Understand acquisition techniques and processing algorithms used in dual-energy CT imaging. 2.Discover current and future applications of dual-energy CT images in the radiological oncology setting. 3.Introduce some of the unique considerations and QA requirements when integrating a dual-energy CT scanner into the radiation therapy environment. N. Pelc: GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Sony; U. Schoepf: Consultant for and / or research support from Astellas, Bayer,;Bracco, GE, Guerbet, Medrad, Siemens
Principles of Hormonal Integration

This chapter summarizes the general principles of endocrine integration. Survival in a hostile environment has been made possible by the evolution of fail–safe mechanisms to govern crucial functions. Redundancy can also be seen at the molecular level. Redundant mechanisms not only assure that a critical process will take place, but they also offer opportunity for flexibility and subtle fine-tuning of a process. In accomplishing any end, most hormones act at several locales either within a single cell, or in different tissues or organs to produce separate but mutually reinforcing responses. Reinforcement can also take the form of a single hormone acting in different ways in different tissues to produce complementary effects. Many critical processes are under dual control by agents that act antagonistically either to stimulate or to inhibit. Such dual control allows for more precise regulation through negative feedback than would be possible with a single control system. The relationship between the amount of hormone available and the magnitude of the response is subject to regulation by many factors, including the actions of other hormones. Two most important determinants of the magnitude and duration of responses are the concentration of hormone present in the extracellular fluid surrounding target cells and the length of time the concentration is maintained. The capacity to respond, or the maximum response that a tissue or organ is capable of giving, depends on the number of target cells and their competence. Hormones regulate both the sensitivity and the capacity of target tissues to respond, either to themselves or to other hormones.
Impact of uncertainty from load-based reserves and renewables on dispatch costs and emissions

Aggregations of controllable loads are considered to be a fast-responding, cost-efficient, and environmental-friendly candidate for power system ancillary services. Unlike conventional service providers, the potential capacity from the aggregation is highly affected by factors like ambient conditions and load usage patterns. Previous work modeled aggregations of controllable loads (such as air conditioners) as thermal batteries, which are capable of providing reserves but with uncertain capacity. A stochastic optimal power flow problem was formulated to manage this uncertainty, as well as uncertainty in renewable generation. In this paper, we explore how the types and levels of uncertainty, generation reserve costs, and controllable load capacity affect the dispatch solution, operational costs, and CO 2 emissions. We also compare the results of two methods for solving the stochastic optimization problem, namely the probabilistically robust method and analytical reformulation assuming Gaussian distributions. Case studies are conducted on a modified IEEE 9-bus system with renewables, controllable loads, and congestion. We find that different types and levels of uncertainty have significant impacts on dispatch and emissions. More controllable loads and less conservative solution methodologies lead to lower costs and emissions.
Racial disparities in anaplastic oligodendroglioma: An analysis on 1643 patients.

Abstract The objective of our study is to determine the influence of race on overall survival (OS) for anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO). Data were extracted from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). Chi-square test, Kaplan–Meier method, and Cox regression models were employed in SPSS 22.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) for data analyses. 1643 patients with AO were identified. 1386 (84.3%) were White, 83 (5.0%) Black, 133 (8.1%) Hispanic, and 41 (2.5%) were Asian. White and Black patients were significantly older than Hispanic and Asian patients (49.3% vs. 49.4% vs. 33.1% vs. 39.0%, p = 0.003). Black patients were significantly less likely to be insured than White patients (12.8 vs. 7.2%, p p p = 0.028). Of those who received adjuvant chemoRT, Black patients still had significantly worse OS compared to White patients ( p = 0.021). On multivariate analysis, Black race, older age at diagnosis, and not receiving adjuvant chemoradiotherapy were independent prognostic factors for worse OS in anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Future studies are warranted to help determine predictors for unfavorable molecular status, ways to optimize management of comorbidities, and interventions to help ensure adequate access to medical care for all patients to better care for those who may be at more risk for poorer outcome.
Unveiling the Critical Role of Polymeric Binders for Silicon Negative Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Full Cells

Because of its natural abundance and high theoretical specific capacity (3579 mAh g–1, based on Li15Si4), silicon and its composites have been extensively studied as the negative electrode for future high energy density lithium-ion batteries. While rapid failure due to the significant volumetric strain of lithium–silicon reactions makes bulk silicon unsuitable for practical applications, silicon nanoparticles can sustain the large volume changes without fracturing. However, polymeric binders are usually required to maintain the structural integrity of electrodes made of particles. Recent lithium-ion half-cell tests have shown that lithium ion-exchanged Nafion (designated as Li–Nafion) and sodium alginate are highly promising binders for nanoparticle silicon electrodes. Nevertheless, there is scant information on the performance and durability of these electrodes in full cell tests which are likely to reveal the role of binders under more realistic conditions. This work focuses on understanding the role of...
Perioperative Management of Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients With New-Generation Drug-Eluting Metallic Stents and Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds Undergoing Elective Noncardiac Surgery

Dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is considered mandatory after new-generation drug-eluting coronary stent implantation to reduce ischemic complications such as stent thrombosis, but the need for DAPT makes the timing of elective surgery difficult. Interrupting DAPT places patients at risk for stent thrombosis, and surgery in the setting of DAPT may lead to bleeding. The 2016 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline recommends delaying elective noncardiac surgery for a minimum 6-month period to reduce ischemic risks after the implantation of a second-generation metallic drug-eluting stent (DES). However, the guideline fails to appropriately stratify surgical patients based on the indication for second-generation metallic DES implantation and other patient characteristics. The Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Abbott Vascular, Abbott Park, IL), which has a higher propensity for stent thrombosis compared with second-generation metallic DES, also produces DAPT management challenges in patients presenting for elective noncardiac surgery. Due to the novelty of bioresorbable vascular scaffold therapy, there are no guidelines available for the management of patients undergoing elective noncardiac surgery. This review addresses DAPT management in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery less than 12 months after new-generation metallic DES or bioresorbable vascular scaffold implantation and provides further guidance for anesthesiologists who encounter these challenging cases.
Experimental setup for evaluating an adaptive user interface for teleoperation control

A vital part of human interactions with a machine is the control interface, which single-handedly could define the user satisfaction and the efficiency of performing a task. This paper elaborates the implementation of an experimental setup to study an adaptive algorithm that can help the user better tele-operate the robot. The formulation of the adaptive interface and associate learning algorithms are general enough to apply when the mapping between the user controls and the robot actuators is complex and/or ambiguous. The method uses a genetic algorithm to find the optimal parameters that produce the input-output mapping for teleoperation control. In this paper, we describe the experimental setup and associated results that was used to validate the adaptive interface to a differential drive robot from two different input devices; a joystick, and a Myo gesture control armband. Results show that after the learning phase, the interface converges to an intuitive mapping that can help even inexperienced users drive the system to a goal location.
Lyapunov rank of polyhedral positive operators

AbstractIf K is a closed convex cone and if L is a linear operator having , then L is a positive operator on K and L preserves inequality with respect to K. The set of all positive operators on K is denoted by . If is the dual of K, then its complementarity set isSuch a set arises as optimality conditions in convex optimization, and a linear operator L is Lyapunov-like on K if for all . Lyapunov-like operators help us find elements of C(K), and the more linearly independent operators we can find, the better. The set of all Lyapunov-like operators on K forms a vector space and its dimension is denoted by . The number is the Lyapunov rank of K, and it has been studied for many important cones. The set is itself a cone, and it is natural to ask if can be computed, possibly in terms of itself. The problem appears difficult in general. We address the case where K is both proper and polyhedral, and show that in that case.
Essay: Cleaning Our Own House: 'Exotic' and Familiar Human Rights Violations

Women's human rights activism in the United States tend to highlight human rights violations of women outside the U.S., or on women from other cultures who enter the U.S. as immigrants or asylum-seekers, while ignoring internal human rights abuses. This Article focuses on the events surrounding a recent U.S. gender asylum case involving Fauziya Kassindja, a young asylee from Togo, in an attempt to demonstrate the irony of American complacency about the status of the United States as a haven for the protection of human rights. Ms. Kassindja, and other immigrants and asylum-seekers, were subjected to degradation and abuse - in the form of the customary brutality against poor people of color in the immigration and prison systems of this country. This Article identifies several lessons learned from the Kassindja case: human rights must address the transnational nature of FGS; mere opposition to the practice does not extend simple resolutions to effective measure of eradication; the need to exercise care in the portrayal of people who participate in unfamiliar cultural practices. This Article further emphasizes the need to clean up our own human rights house by promoting respect for international human rights within the United States.
Spondylolysis and Isthmic Spondylolisthesis

Back pain in the pediatric population is common and increases during adolescence. The incidence of back pain has been reported as high as 50 % by the age of 15 years. While in most cases the pain is due to muscular pain or inflexibility, the most common structural cause of back pain in adolescents is spondylolysis with or without spondylolisthesis, the signs and symptoms of which are exaggerated upon lumbar spine hyperextension and rotation. A thorough history and physical exam is imperative when assessing for this condition in children with back pain.
(Re)Defining the black body in the era of Black Lives Matter: the politics of blackness, old and new

As a social construction, race has been defined differently for various racial groups. The construction of the “black body,” over time, has been fraught with societal, scientific, biological, and e...
Microkinetic model for reaction and diffusion of titanium interstitial atoms near a TiO2(110) surface.

Semiconductor surfaces provide efficient pathways for injecting native point defects into the underlying bulk. In the case of interstitial atoms in rutile, the TiO2(110) surface exemplifies this behavior, although extended defects in the bulk such as platelets and crystallographic shear planes act as net sources or sinks depending upon specific conditions. The present work constructs a quantitative microkinetic model to describe diffusion and based upon isotopic gas–solid exchange experiments. Key activation barriers for are 0.55 eV for surface injection, 0.50 eV for site-to-site hopping diffusion, and 3.3 eV for dissociation of titanium interstitials from extended defects.
Producing juridical knowledge: “Rights of Nature” or the naturalization of rights?:

Rights of Nature, the idea of extending legal personhood to nature, is today’s most prominent alternative to mainstream environmental governance. Proponents describe Rights of Nature as a grassroot...
PROBENECID AS AN ORAL INOTROPIC THERAPY FOR END-STAGE HEART FAILURE WITH REDUCED EJECTION FRACTION DUE TO MYOTONIC DYSTROPHY

Cardiomyopathy is a consequence of myotonic dystrophy (DM) for which guided therapy is lacking. RNA expressing CUG repeats sequester muscleblind-like proteins and interfere with splicing of key sarcomere ( Tnnt2 ) and calcium regulatory ( Ryr2, Camk2 ) components. Altered cardiomyocyte calcium
High temperature oxidation behavior of silicon carbide-carbon coated nanostructured ferritic alloy composites in air + water vapor environment

Abstract Oxidation behavior of silicon carbide (SiC) - carbon coated nanostructured ferritic alloy (C@NFA) composites was investigated in an air + 45 vol% H2O atmosphere at 500–1000 °C. All the composites show an oxidation structure with an outer Fe-rich layer and an inner Cr-rich layer, as well as internal oxidation along grain boundaries. Oxidation resistance increases with SiC addition. The corresponding fundamental mechanism is proposed. The improved oxidation resistance for the higher SiC content composites is attributed to a delay in ‘breakaway oxidation’ due to improved kinetics for the formation of dense Cr2O3 and SiO2 protective layers.
Quantum Narratives and the Power of Rhetorical Omission: An Early History of the Pilot Wave Interpretation of Quantum Theory

John S. Bell openly questioned the dominance of an orthodox quantum interpretation that had seemingly raised the principle of indeterminism from an epistemological question to an ontological truth in the late 1920s. He understood the inevitability of indeterminism to be a theoretical choice made by the founding architects of quantum theory, not a fundamental principle of reality necessitated by experimental facts. As a result, Bell decried the general lull in quantum interpretation debates within the physics community, and in particular, the complete omission of Louis de Broglie’s deterministic pilot wave interpretation from all theoretical and pedagogical discourses. This paper reexamines the pilot wave’s rise, abandonment, and subsequent omission in the history of quantum theory. What emerges is not a straightforward story of victimization and hegemonic marginalization. Instead, it is a story that grapples with tensions between the polyphony of individual voices and a physics community’s evolving identity and consensus in response to particular sociopolitical and scientific contexts. At the heart of these tensions sits an international scientific community transitioning from a politically fractured and intellectually divergent community to one embracing a somewhat forced pragmatic convergence around rationally reconstructed narratives and concepts like the impossibility of determinism. The story of the pilot wave’s omission gives us a window into the inherent power that theoretical choice and a congealing rhetoric of orthodoxy have on a scientific community’s consensus, pedagogical canons, and the future development of science itself.
Framework for a conceptual query language for capturing relationship semantics in databases

The ready availability of computers has altered the profile of the typical end-user of computers from expert programmer to non-expert, or novice. This new type of end-user finds the use of computer-based database (DB) techniques which demand even a slightly extensive knowledge of DB technology cumbersome and difficult. To partly address this problem, this study proposes a conceptual query language (CQL), which allows for the logical abstraction of DB requests. This allows DB queries to be formulated in a very high declarative form which makes minimal technical demands on end-users. This renders the resulting CQL system easy to use and understand. While CQL is purposively designed to support the generality of end-users, it is sufficiently powerful for the expert user. This study discusses the underlying formal framework to the CQL approach to DB queries. The result of a comparative experimental study of CQL and SQL (Structured Query Language) is presented. A report on the implementation of a prototype for CQL is also given.
DELINEATION OF SEPARATE POPULATIONS OF PRECURSOR T AND B CELLS IN THE AVIAN EMBRYO

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the delineation of separate populations of precursor T (PT) and precursor B (PB) cells in the avian embryo. The chapter presents some experiments that strongly suggested the existence of separate lineages of PT and PB cells in the avian embryo. The results also showed that PB cells appear to decrease numerically during the late embryonic period and can no longer be detected in marrow or spleen within a few days after hatching. PT cells, on the other hand, are detectable at undiminished levels in these tissues during the embryonic and postembryonic period. In addition, the bursa, in contrast to the thymus, distinctly excludes additional precursor cell influx and their differentiation to B cells 1–2 days after hatching. One interpretation of the experiments with cell populations of the bursa at the 13- and 14-day stage of embryonation is that the most recently immigrated cells are no longer capable of entering the thymus and of differentiating into a detectable pool of functional T cells.
Explosives Detection by 14N Pure NQR

Pure 14N nuclear quadrupolar resonance (NQR) is quite promising as a method for detecting explosives such as RDX in quantities which are a threat to aircraft security. We have constructed a proof-of-concept NQR explosives detector which interrogates an active volume of 300 liters in 6 seconds. We first outline the basics of the NQR approach, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and then present representative results from our RDX detection system.
Automation as Part of the Solution

The articles in this symposium describe how advances in information technology present many challenges. I briefly review the other articles. I then conclude with a complementary approach to address...
Enhance employees' competences through customized learning

In modern society, competent employees are an important asset for any organization to be competitive. Employees can be competent in their jobs when they have required skills imposed by the organization to which they belong. Providing necessary skill sets to each employee can be cumbersome because their background and existing skill sets are different; so any uniform training attempt may be inefficient and costly. So in order to provide necessary skills to each employee effectively, the training must be customized. In our approach, we analyze employees' existing skill sets using their learner profile and determine necessary training by comparing organizations' required skill sets. We utilize European Skills, Competences and Occupations classification (ESCO) and Dublin Core to store available Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) courses using the concept of learning object and learning object repository. We then present required training in terms of a study plan that includes a list of MOOC courses.
Feasibility Study of Plant Health Monitoring

Continuous monitoring of crop is an essential task of agricultural practices for detection of diseases or pests, precision irrigation and fertilization. The state of the art monitoring and imaging systems use aerial imaging to obtain visual feedback and multi-spectral imagery to determine crop growth factors. The main idea is that the features can be automatically calculated and assessed after pre-processing the images. After pre-processing, then the parameters can be computed using image processing techniques. For example, key leaf function traits leaf life span, leaf mass per area can be calculated. Our findings indicate that plant health assessment could be moved from lab and expensive monitoring tools to ubiquitous silicon technology based cost effect solutions without much loss of accuracy.
SIMTOS: A Man-in-the-Loop Interactive Simulation of a Tactical Operations System

Shubik and Brewer [1] recently reported findings from a detailed survey of 132 Models, Simulations and Games (MSG) used in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Among the findings, they discovered that only ten percent of the MSG’s dealt with man-machine or manual system problems. Additionally, they found that approximately seventy-five percent of the MSG’s employed in the DOD are large and deal primarily with machine simulations or force structure, i. e., they are mainly machine (or weapons system) evaluation tools. They also found that most of the MSG’s being used were not very scientific and, consequently, rarely were the MSG’s used as research tools.
Therapeutic Impact and Complications Associated with Surgical Lung Biopsy after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Children.

ABSTRACT Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in the pediatric population is associated with pulmonary complications in 25% of recipients. The role of surgical lung biopsy (SLB) remains unclear because of concerns about both the therapeutic impact and morbidity associated with the procedure. A retrospective review of consecutive allogeneic HSCT recipients at Dana-Farber and Boston Children's Hospital Cancer and Blood Disorders Center between 2006 and 2016 was performed. All recipients who underwent SLB during the study period were identified and charts reviewed for perioperative complications, histopathologic findings, and changes in therapy delivered. Pearson's chi-square test and Student's t-test (or appropriate nonparametric test) were used to evaluate the associations between perioperative complication and categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Five hundred fifty-five HSCTs were included, among which 48 SLBs (8.6%) were identified. Median follow-up time was 24 months (range, 0 to 139). Thirty-day postoperative morbidity was 16.7% and 30-day postoperative mortality 10.4% (n = 5). The overall 30-day postoperative complication rate (including mortality) was 20.8% (n = 10). No mortalities were directly attributable to SLB. Definitive diagnoses were identified in 70.8% of SLBs (n = 34), and therapeutic changes occurred in 79.2% (n = 38). Overall, 83.3% of SLBs (n = 40) either provided a diagnosis or led to a change in therapy. SLB has an acceptable risk of perioperative complications in this medically complicated and often severely ill population. In most HSCT patients, SLB aids in defining the etiology of pulmonary infiltrates and can inform therapeutic decisions in patients where noninvasive diagnostic modalities have failed to provide a definitive diagnosis.
PROINSULIN AND INSULIN BIOSYNTHESIS

Proinsulin is a single polypeptide chain precursor of insulin having a molecular weight of about 9000 and containing the B and A chains of insulin linked through a connecting peptide segment of about 30 residues. Proinsulin is produced on the ribosomes of the β-cells, is transformed to insulin within the islet cells, is stored mainly as insulin in the granules, and is secreted mainly as such from the islets. The transformation of proinsulin to insulin most likely occurs in the Golgi apparatus or in the initial phases of granule maturation. The role of proinsulin appears to be to facilitate the formation of the disulfide bonds during biosynthesis. However, under some circumstances small amounts of proinsulin appear to be secreted from the islets and small amounts have been found to circulate in the plasma and to be excreted in the urine. The possible relationship of proinsulin to disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in man such as diabetes represents an interesting area for further study.
Arakanese Chittagong Became Mughal Islamabad: Buddhist–Muslim Relationship in Chittagong (Chottrogram), Bangladesh

The 2012 Ramu violence against Bangladeshi Buddhists suggests that Myanmar’s Rohingya conflict has victimized Muslim and Buddhist minorities in both countries. It has revived the anti-Buddhist sentiment expressed in the term Maga/Mog used by Bengali majority to refer to Buddhists being culturally backward, anarchists and pirates. I argue that the term Maga/Mog expresses Mughals’ negative perception of its political rival, the Arakanese, shaping the Muslim–Buddhist relationship in the region since the seventeenth century. In response to this Bengali cultural hegemony, Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have adopted the anti-Bengali “Jumma” identity while Buddhists in the Chittagong plains have embraced the Bengali cultural identity. The latter strategy ensured the Buddhist–Muslim peaceful coexistence for centuries that is now challenged by the Rohingya crisis.
Using Expectancy Violations Theory to Understand Robot Touch Interpretation

As robots are increasingly placed in direct interaction and often times in physical contact with people, understanding how touch by a robot influences interactions has become an important topic in HRI. Although prior research in HRI has shown robotic touch to elicit both positive and negative reactions, it remains an open question when and why touch is perceived as positive or negative. Here we apply expectancy violations theory (EVT) to shed light onto this question. We present an online study with N=142 participants that investigates the impact of context (touch after error vs. touch after no error) and robot appearance (social/animated face vs. non-social/blank screen) in shaping the perception of a robot's touch. We found that robot-initiated touch from a non-social robot was rated more positively after an error compared to ratings of the non-social robot touch after no error. Open-ended responses showed that people attach a wide array of meanings to the robot's touch, highlighting the importance of additional cues that are needed to ensure that people understand the intention of the touch.
Berkeley spectrometer for ORFEUS: laboratory and in-flight performance

The Berkeley spectrometer aboard the ORFEUS payload achieved a variety of 'firsts' during its inaugural mission in September 1993. The instrument utilizes spherical gratings with mechanically ruled varied line-spacing, and curved microchannel plate detectors with delay- line anode readout systems, to cover the 390 - 1200 angstrom band at a resolution of lambda/5000. The instrument is discussed, and its performance illustrated with calibration and in-flight spectra. Science highlights from the ORFEUS-I mission are presented (oral presentation only). The payload is available for use by guest investigators during the ORFEUS-II mission currently scheduled for late 1996.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Photophysical and Chiroptical Properties of the Enantiomers of N,N'-Bis(1-phenylpropyl)-2,6-pyridinecarboxamide and their Chiral 9-Coordinate Ln3+ Complexes

The R,R and S,S enantiomers of N,N'-bis(1-phenylpropyl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide, L(Et), react with Ln3+ ions (Ln = La, Eu, Gd, and Tb) to give stable [Ln((R,R)- and (S,S)-L(Et))3]3+ in anhydrous acetonitrile solution, as evidenced by various spectroscopic measurements, including NMR and luminescence titrations. In addition to the characteristic Eu3+ and Tb3+ luminescence bands, the steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectra of the aforementioned complexes show the residual ligand-centered emission of the 1ππ* to 3ππ* states, indicating an incomplete intersystem crossing (ISC) transfer from the 1ππ* to 3ππ* and ligand-to-Ln3+ energy transfer, respectively. The high circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) activity of [Eu(L(Et))3]3+ confirms that using a single enantiomer of L(Et) induces the preferential formation of one chiral [Eu(L(Et))3]3+ complex, consistent with the [EuL 3]3+ complexes formed with other ligands derived from a 2,6-pyridine dicarboxamide moiety. Furthermore, the CPL sign patterns of complexes with (R,R) or (S,S) enantiomer of L(Et) are consistent with the CPL sign pattern of related [LnL 3]3+ complexes with the (R,R) or (S,S) enantiomer of the respective ligands in this family.