cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integrated Summer Insolation Forcing and 40,000-Year Glacial Cycles: The Perspective from an Ice-Sheet/Energy-Balance Model

Although the origins of the 40,000-year glacial cycles during the early Pleistocene are readily attributed to changes in Earth's obliquity (also having a 40,000-year period), the lack of ice-volume variability at precession periods (20,000 years) is difficult to reconcile with most parameterizations of the insolation forcing. It was recently proposed that precession's influence on glaciation is muted because variations in the intensity of summer insolation are counterbalanced by changes in the duration of the summertime, but no climate model has yet been shown to generate obliquity period glacial cycles in response to the seasonal insolation forcing. Here we present a coupled ice-sheet/energy-balance model that reproduces the seasonal cycle and, when run over long time periods, generates glacial variability in response to changes in Earth's orbital configuration. The model is forced by the full seasonal cycle in insolation, and its response can be understood within the context of the integrated summer insolation forcing. The simple fact that obliquity's period is roughly twice as long as that of precession results in a larger amplitude glacial response to obliquity. However, for the model to generate almost exclusively obliquity period glacial variability, two other conditions must be met. First, the ice sheet's ablation zone must reside poleward of ∼60°N because insolation intensity is more sensitive to changes in Earth's obliquity at high latitudes. Second, the ablation season must be long enough for precession's opposing influences on summer and fall insolation intensity to counterbalance one another. These conditions are consistent with a warm climate and a thin ice sheet, where the latter is simulated as a response to subglacial sediment deformation. If a colder climate is prescribed, or in the absence of basal motion, ice sheets tend to be larger and undergo greater precession period variability, in keeping with proxy observations of late Pleistocene glaciation.
Complete power concentration into a single waveguide in large-scale waveguide array lenses

Waveguide array lenses are waveguide arrays that focus light incident on all waveguides at the input side into a small number of waveguides at the output side. Ideal waveguide array lenses provide complete (100%) power concentration of incident light into a single waveguide. While of great interest for several applications, ideal waveguide array lenses have not been demonstrated for practical arrays with large numbers of waveguides. The only waveguide arrays that have sufficient degrees of freedom to allow for the design of an ideal waveguide array lens are those where both the propagation constants of the individual waveguides and the coupling constants between the waveguides vary as a function of space. Here, we use state-of-the-art numerical methods to demonstrate complete power transfer into a single waveguide for waveguide array lenses with large numbers of waveguides. We verify this capability for more than a thousand waveguides using a spatial coupled mode theory. We hereby extend the state-of-art by more than two orders of magnitude. We also demonstrate for the first time a physical design for an ideal waveguide array lens. The design is based on an aperiodic metallic waveguide array and focuses ~100% of the incident light into a deep-subwavelength focal spot.
Calculations of protein volumes: sensitivity analysis and parameter database

Motivation: The precise sizes of protein atoms in terms of occupied packing volume are of great importance. We have previously presented standard volumes for protein residues based on calculations with Voronoi-like polyhedra. To understand the applicability and limitations of our set, we investigated, in detail, the sensitivity of the volume calculations to a number of factors: (i) the van der Waals radii set, (ii) the criteria for including buried atoms in the calculations or atom selection, (iii) the method of positioning the dividing plane in polyhedra construction, and (iv) the set of structures used in the averaging. Results: We find that different radii sets have only moderate affects to the distribution and mean of volumes. Atom selection and dividing plane methods cause larger changes in protein atoms volumes. More significantly, we show how the variation in volumes appears to be clearly related to the quality of the structures analyzed, with higher quality structures giving consistently smaller average volumes with less variance.
Genotypes and haplotypes of matrix metalloproteinase 1, 3 and 12 genes and the risk of lung cancer

The MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) are a family of secreted zinc metalloproteases that degrade the collagens of the extracellular matrix important in tissue remodeling and repair during development and inflammation. We investigated the associations between polymorphisms of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G, rs1799750), MMP-3 (-1171 5A/6A, rs3025058), and MMP-12 (-82AG, rs2276109, and 1082A/G, rs652438) and the risk of lung cancer in 2014 Caucasian lung cancer patients and 1323 healthy controls. The results were analyzed using logistic regression models, adjusting for covariates. The four polymorphisms were in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium. Except for the 1G-1082A, the other linkage disequilibrium tests between the four MMP polymorphisms were statistically significant (P < 0.001). There was no overall association between individual MMP polymorphism and the risk of lung cancer. The MMP polymorphisms jointly were associated with a non-statistically significant higher risk of lung cancer, with the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of subjects with 5+ variant alleles versus zero variant allele of 1.31 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.92-1.88]. Stronger associations were observed in never-smokers and males, with the corresponding AORs of 2.44 (95%CI, 1.10-5.43, P(trend) = 0.04) in never smokers and 1.35 (95%CI, 0.79-2.30, P(trend) = 0.04) in men. In haplotype analysis, the 1G-6A-82A-1082G haplotype was associated with higher risk of lung cancer among never smokers, with the AOR of 3.65 (95%CI, 1.62-8.20) when compared with the most common 1G-5A-82A-1082A haplotype. In conclusion, the combined MMP genotypes and associated haplotypes may be associated with higher risk of lung cancer, particularly among never smokers and men.
Investigation of Foaming in Liquid‐Fed Melting of Simulated Nuclear Waste Glass

Melt foaming in alkali-iron borosilicate glasses considered for nuclear waste disposal was investigated to identify the causative reactions and stabilizing mechanisms. Foaming is attributed to the release of oxygen and water vapor from the melt. The oxygen is suggested to originate from oxidation-reduction reactions of species other than iron. Foaming problems are largely solved under reducing conditions, which result in less stable foams. The results suggest that a greater proportion of water vapor is released into the foam under more reducing conditions. The water destabilizes the foam by viscosity or surface tension effects and causes the bubbles to rupture on the melt surface.
Characterization of Multiple Phosphorylation Sites on the AMPA Receptor GluR1 Subunit

We have characterized the phosphorylation of the glutamate receptor subunit GluR1, using biochemical and electrophysiological techniques. GluR1 is phosphorylated on multiple sites that are all located on the C-terminus of the protein. Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase specifically phosphorylates SER-845 of GluR1 in transfected HEK cells and in neurons in culture. Phosphorylation of this residue results in a 40% potentiation of the peak current through GluR1 homomeric channels. In addition, protein kinase C specifically phosphorylates Ser-831 of GluR1 in HEK-293 cells and in cultured neurons. These results are consistent with the recently proposed transmembrane topology models of glutamate receptors, in which the C-terminus is intracellular. In addition, the modulation of GluR1 by PKA phosphorylation of Ser-845 suggests that phosphorylation of this residue may underlie the PKA-induced potentiation of AMPA receptors in neurons.
Assessing the Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae population in Batang Gadis National Park, a new protected area in Indonesia

The 1,080 km2 Batang Gadis National Park in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia was established in December 2004 by the regional government of Mandailing Natal district. The Park has the potential to make an important contribution to tiger conservation but lacks scientific data on the occurrence of the species. This study aimed to assess the tiger population of the Park, using camera trapping conducted between December 2005 and July 2006. We recorded a mean tiger density of 1.8 tigers per 100 km2 (95% CI 1.8–6.4) and, based on this, estimated the tiger population in and adjacent to the Park to be 29–103 adults. We found that tiger presence was negatively correlated with altitude and positively correlated with distance from forest edge to the interior, and < 18% of the total suitable habitat occupied by tigers was of high quality. This study indicates that Batang Gadis National Park potentially serves as a natural corridor betwen the Angkola and Barumun-Rokan ecosystems, areas totalling c. 6,500 km2, and that this landscape could serve as a stronghold for tiger populations in northern Sumatra.
Characterizing the Performance and Energy Efficiency of Lock-Free Data Structures

Accesses to shared data structures in multithreaded programs must be correctly synchronized to ensure data consistency and integrity. However, this synchronization between threads is a common source of performance problems in multithreaded applications. Lock-free data structures are an alternative to traditional synchronization methods that have potential for not only better performance and scalability, but better energy efficiency as well.This paper presents a study of the relationship between the performance and energy consumption of various lock-free data structures based on the compare-and-swap primitive. We give a head-to-head comparison of lock-free and locking implementations of three data structures executing a set of highly contentious workloads. We compare the execution time, peak power and total energy consumption of each and explain these results with the help of hardware performance counters. Our results show that under these workloads, the lock-free variants often perform better and use less energy then their traditional locking implementations.
THE I.R. SPECTRA OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE ADSORBED ON SEVERAL CATION-SUBSTITUTED MONTMORILLONITES*

The i.r. spectra (4000-1200 cm 1) are obtained for several homoionic montmorillonite films on which various amounts of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were adsorbed. Analyses of these spectra indicate that H- and natural-montmo- rillonite-DMSO complexes contain an intercalated layer of physisorbed DMSO while transition metal cation substituted- montmorillonite-DMSO complexes possess both physi- and chemisorbed DMSO in their interlamellar spaces. The latter species involve coordination of DMSO molecules with the exchangeable cations by their oxygen atoms. Most of the interlamellar water is replaced by DMSO as the latter molecules penetrate the interlameUar spaces. Heat-treating transition metal cation substituted-montmorillonite-DMSO complexes at 120~ for 48 hr results in both the desorption of physisorbed DMSO and the retention of intercalated monolayers involving DMSO-transition metal cation coordination. A water-sen- sitive, reversible color change (tan to light purple) is produced by either desiccating over P~O.~ or heat-treating at 120~ the cobalt-montmorillonite-DMSO complex. Interpretation of the visible spectra suggests that Co2+-cations undergo changes from octahedral to tetrahedral coordination during desiccation or heating. Band assignments are made for the clay complexes using the assignments for related gases, liquids, and crystals. Key Wordr~---Chemisorption, Dimethylsulfoxide, Montmorillonite, Physisorption.
Implementation of lipid screening guidelines in children by primary pediatric providers.

Objective To assess the awareness and implementation of lipid guidelines among primary pediatric providers. Study design An online survey was administered to primary pediatric providers (n = 1488): pediatricians, family medicine/general practitioners, and advanced practitioners (nurse practitioners/physician assistants) in Minnesota. The survey was conducted over 12 weeks in 2012-2013. A multiple-choice questionnaire was used to evaluate the participants' knowledge, screening, and management attitudes regarding pediatric lipid guidelines. Results The overall response rate was 39% (n = 548 of 1402 successful e-mails). Respondents were primarily pediatricians and family medicine practitioners (37% each), followed by general practitioners (11%) and advanced practitioners (nurse practitioners, 5.5%; physician assistants, 1.6%). Although 74% of providers reportedly believed that lipid screening and treatment would reduce future cardiovascular risk, 34% performed no screening, 50% screened selectively, and only 16% performed universal screening. Pediatricians were more likely to screen, with 30% performing universal screening and 41% performing selective screening. Among perceived barriers to screening, providers reported uneasiness addressing lipid disorders (43%), and unfamiliarity with screening guidelines (31%). The majority (83%) were uncomfortable managing lipid disorders, and 57% were opposed to the use of lipid-lowering medications in children. Conclusion These findings underscore the need to further educate providers and supply easily accessible information on the screening and treatment of childhood lipid disorders.
DEIMOS rotation control system software

The Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS)was delivered to the Keck II telescope during February 2002, and has been commissioned in the several months since then. Most of the instrument is in a barrel that rests on a cradle at the Nasmyth focus, and rotates to track field rotation. This paper describes the architecture of the rotator control software, including the communications protocols, time synchronization with the telescope control software, methods adopted for meeting the real-time control requirements, safety issues for a multi-ton rotating mass, and unusual position encoder challenges.
Improving low-performing schools through external assistance: Lessons from Chicago and California.

This article describes the design and implementation of external support to lowperforming schools using data from Chicago and California. Using the literature on external support, instructional capacity, and policy strength, the study gathered data from interviews, observations, document review, and surveys. The findings suggest that the model of assistance employed in both Chicago and California was inadequate to the task. While the policies examined demonstrate recognition that low-performing schools need additional capacity if they are to substantially improve student outcomes, external support providers used limited and haphazard approaches, and as a result, the support component had little influence on teaching and learning. In addition, because the external supports relied on a market-like support structure with few other mechanisms to ensure quality, and because there was limited quantity (intensity) of support, the benefit that external assistance might otherwise have provided was limited. This was particularly problematic for the lowest capacity schools, many of which experienced limited change despite increased educator effort and involvement of external providers. In essence,
Maternal Distress and Women's Reentry into Family and Community Life

This paper advances conceptualization of maternal distress following incarceration. We utilized a multiple case study methodology based on interviews with 10 mothers who demonstrated various permutations of "the triple threat" (depression, domestic violence, and substance abuse; Arditti & Few, 2006). Findings suggest that depressive symptomology persisted and worsened for mothers in our study and that maternal distress was indicative not only of women's psychological state, but also a relational and situational construct that embodied women's core experience. Maternal distress was largely characterized by health challenges, dysfunctional intimate relationships, loss related trauma, guilt and worry over children, and economic inadequacy. Further, maternal distress seemed to be intensified by the punitive traumatic context of prison and lessened by rehabilitation opportunities as well as support by kin and probation officers after reentry. Recommendations for clinicians and professionals who work with reentry mothers center around the need to alleviate maternal distress and better address women's emotional and physical health needs during incarceration and reentry.
Many disease-associated variants of hTERT retain high telomerase enzymatic activity

Mutations in the gene for telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) are associated with diseases including dyskeratosis congenita, aplastic anemia, pulmonary fibrosis and cancer. Understanding the molecular basis of these telomerase-associated diseases requires dependable quantitative measurements of telomerase enzyme activity. Furthermore, recent findings that the human POT1-TPP1 chromosome end-binding protein complex stimulates telomerase activity and processivity provide incentive for testing variant telomerases in the presence of these factors. In the present work, we compare multiple disease-associated hTERT variants reconstituted with the RNA subunit hTR in two systems (rabbit reticulocyte lysates and human cell lines) with respect to telomerase enzymatic activity, processivity and activation by telomere proteins. Surprisingly, many of the previously reported disease-associated hTERT alleles give near-normal telomerase enzyme activity. It is possible that a small deficit in telomerase activity is sufficient to cause telomere shortening over many years. Alternatively, mutations may perturb functions such as the recruitment of telomerase to telomeres, which are essential in vivo but not revealed by simple enzyme assays.
Imperial designs: the Royal Bank of Canada in the Caribbean

Canada’s role in international affairs is generally cast in a favourable light, especially in contrast with the United States. Yet at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a brief period...
Dynamical one-dimensional models of passive piezoelectric sensors

This study concerns the mathematical modeling of anisotropic and transversely inhomogeneous slender piezoelectric bars. Such rod-like structures are employed as passive sensors aimed at measuring the displacement field on the boundary of an underlying elastic medium excited by an external source. Based on the coupled three-dimensional dynamical equations of piezoelectricity in the quasi-electrostatic approximation, a set of limit problems is derived using formal asymptotic expansions of the electric potential and elastic displacement fields. The nature of these problems depends strongly on the choice of boundary conditions, therefore, an appropriate set of constrains is introduced in order to derive one-dimensional models that are relevant to the measurement of a displacement field imposed at one end of the bar. The structure of the first-order electric and displacement fields as well as the associated coupled limit equations are determined. Moreover, the properties of the homogenized material parameters ...
Boundary effects influence velocity of transverse propagation of simulated cardiac action potentials

Background We previously demonstrated that transverse propagation of excitation (cardiac action potentials simulated with PSpice) could occur in the absence of low-resistance connections (gap – junction channels) between parallel chains of myocardial cells. The transverse transmission of excitation between the chains was strongly dependent on the longitudinal resistance of the interstitial fluid space between the chains: the higher this resistance, the closer the packing of the parallel chains within the bundle. The earlier experiments were carried out with 2-dimensional sheets of cells: 2 × 3, 3 × 4, and 5 × 5 models (where the first number is the number of parallel chains and the second is the number of cells in each chain). The purpose of the present study was to enlarge the model size to 7 × 7, thus enabling the transverse velocities to be compared in models of different sizes (where all circuit parameters are identical in all models). This procedure should enable the significance of the role of edge (boundary) effects in transverse propagation to be determined.
Conic sections and the discovery of a novel curve using differential equations

We began by observing a variety of properties related to the tangent and normal lines of three conic sections: a parabola, an ellipse, and a hyperbola. Some of these properties include specific relationships between the x- and y-intercepts of the tangent and normal lines. Using these properties, we were able to form several differential equations. Afterwards, we took an arbitrary differentiable function satisfying those differential equations and attempted to solve them in order to find whether or not the function represents a conic section. Some of these differential equations were nontrivial, but to our surprise, we were still able to solve a few of them using a combination of standard methods. The main highlight of the paper was the discovery of a brand-new closed curve, which was obtained by mimicking a certain property satisfied by a normal line of a parabola. Another highlight of the paper was the creation of a novel set of unified definitions to describe the three conic sections using differential ...
Experience and pluralist pedagogy: service learning as a means and an end

Economics teaching relies overwhelmingly on faculty lecturing, which is generally seen as a significant pedagogical problem. But this paper argues that didactic instruction is actually well-suited to the neoclassical economics that is usually taught. This approach – especially its textbook version – is typically sceptical of individual perception and inductive reasoning, relying instead on parsimonious models and deduction. Experiential learning has very limited usefulness in learning such theories. In contrast, heterodox approaches in economics typically employ both inductive and deductive reasoning. Since induction is integral to experiential learning, a pluralist curriculum offers important pedagogical advantages. Service learning exposes students to economic phenomena in their communities and challenges them to learn from that experience. This can call the instrumentalism of the textbook neoclassical approach into question and open up the classroom discussion to alternative approaches.
Paraffin dehydrocyclization. Competitive conversion of paraffins and naphthenes

Abstract The competitive conversion of several naphthene-paraffin mixtures was studied over supported metal and metal oxide dehydrocyclization catalysts. The conversion of each component was not simply the additive conversion of the pure components. Rather, it was found that for equal molar naphthene and paraffin mixtures the conversion was on a one-to-one basis. A change in paraffin-naphthene mole ratio resulted in a similar change in the relative conversion. The results at atmospheric pressure are consistent with a mechanism in which the adsorption of naphthene and paraffin are equal and the adsorption is the slow step for the reaction. It appears that the relative conversion is dependent on the hydrogen partial pressure; increasing the hydrogen pressure favors an increase in the relative naphthene conversion. The results eliminate the contribution of a gas phase naphthene in the dehydrocyclization mechanism.
Are current screening protocols for chronic hepatitis B virus infection adequate

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection screening usually includes only HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) testing; HBV core and surface antibody (anti-HBc, anti-HBs) assays, indicating resolved infection and immunity, are not routinely performed. Yet, serum HBV DNA is measurable in approximately 10% of HBsAg-negative/anti-HBc-positive cases, representing occult HBV infection (OBI). Patient blood samples from 2 Veterans Affairs medical center look-back investigations were screened for HBV infection using HBsAg enzyme immunoassays. Supplementary testing included anti-HBc and anti-HBs enzyme immunoassays. For anti-HBc-positive samples, HBV DNA testing was performed. Background OBI prevalence was further estimated at these 2 facilities based on HBV serology testing results from 1999-2012. Finally, a literature review was performed to determine OBI prevalence in the published literature. Of 1887 HBsAg-negative cohort patients, 98 (5.2%) were anti-HBc positive/anti-HBs negative; and 175 (9.3%), anti-HBc positive/anti-HBs positive. Six of 273 were HBV DNA positive, representing 0.3% of the total tested and 2.2% who were anti-HBc positive/anti-HBs negative or anti-HBc positive/anti-HBs positive. Among 32,229 general population veterans at these 2 sites who had any HBV testing, 4/108 (3.7%) were HBV DNA positive, none of whom were part of the cohort. In 129 publications with HBsAg-negative patients, 1817/1,209,426 (0.15%) had OBI. However, excluding blood bank studies with greater than 1000 patients, the OBI rate increased to 1800/17,893 (10%). OBI is not rare and has implications for transmission and disease detection. HBsAg testing alone is insufficient for detecting all chronic HBV infections. These findings may impact blood donation, patient HBV screening, follow-up protocols for patients assumed to have cleared the infection, and initiation of immunosuppression in patients with distant or undetected HBV.
Profitability analysis of a farming system in Africa

Abstract This analysis questions the assumptions that in a traditional farming system food production is primarily for home consumption and is not competitive with export crop (cocoa) production. Government planners and policy makers must look at the total operation of a farmer to understand the role of food crop production. In the case of Ghana in 1981 they needed to seek ways to make cocoa production relatively more profitable if the goal of increased cocoa production from small farms were to succeed. The analysis indicates why farmers were devoting scarce resources, particularly labor, to producing food crops in Ghana in 1981. Food crops were the most profitable both (1) in 1981 and (2) when the flow of income from the life of the trees was considered. Clearly, the farmers were demonstrating that they were rational economic men. In order to get an idea of what price cocoa must bring for it to be as profitable as the food crop systems, the price of cocoa was varied with all other prices held constant. The price of cocoa would have had to be approximately ¢400 per load of 30 kilograms in 1981. The government purchase price was ¢120 per load. Nor surprisingly, cocoa production in Ghana was declining steadily.
Lone star tick: laboratory tests of acaricides.

Engorged females of Amblyomma americanum (L.) were dipped in emulsions, suspensions, or solutions of 29 acaricides. The effect on estimated reproduction (ER) (ER = g eggs/g♀ × estimated % hatch × 20,000) was determined, and percentage reductions in ER afforded by several concentrations of each acaricide were analyzed by the log-probit method. Results are presented as percentage concentrations that inhibited 50% (IC50) and 90% (IC90) of ER. Rankings of IC90 and IC90 values were significantly correlated with IC50 and IC90 ran kings of the same acaricides tested by the same technique against Anocentor nitens (Neumann), Dermacentor albipictus (Packard), Boophilus annulatus (Say), and B. microplus (Canestrini).
Impacts of prescribed fire on Pinus rigida Mill. in upland forests of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

A comparative analysis of the impacts of prescribed fire on three upland forest stands in the Northeastern Atlantic Plain, NJ, USA, was conducted. Effects of prescribed fire on water use and gas exchange of overstory pines were estimated via sap-flux rates and photosynthetic measurements on Pinus rigida Mill. Each study site had two sap-flux plots, one experiencing prescribed fire and one control (unburned) plot for comparison before and after the fire. We found that photosynthetic capacity in terms of Rubisco-limited carboxylation rate and intrinsic water-use efficiency was unaffected, while light compensation point and dark respiration rate were significantly lower in the burned vs control plots post-fire. Furthermore, quantum yield in pines in the pinedominated stands was less affected than pines in the mixed oak/pine stand, as there was an increase in quantum yield in the oak/ pine stand post-fire compared with the control (unburned) plot. We attribute this to an effect of forest type but not fire per se. Average daily sap-flux rates of the pine trees increased compared with control (unburned) plots in pine-dominated stands and decreased in the oak/pine stand compared with control (unburned) plots, potentially due to differences in fuel consumption and pre-fire sap-flux rates. Finally, when reference canopy stomatal conductance was analyzed, pines in the pine-dominated stands were more sensitive to changes in vapor pressure deficit (VPD), while stomatal responses of pines in the oak/pine stand were less affected by VPD. Therefore, prescribed fire affects physiological functioning and water use of pines, but the effects may be modulated by forest stand type and fuel consumption pattern, which suggests that these factors may need to be taken into account for forest management in fire-dominated systems.
RISPERIDONE THERAPY IN TREATMENT REFRACTORY ACUTE BIPOLAR AND SCHIZOAFFECTIVE MANIA

This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of risperidone therapy in patients with bipolar I or schizoaffective mania who were treatment resistant or treatment intolerant. Patient psychopathology and involuntary movements were evaluated with a variety of scales, and risperidone was administered on an open-label basis. Five of six patients (all bipolar) discontinued risperidone therapy because of adverse drug effects (2 patients), lack of significant drug response and subjective clinical worsening (1 patient), or worsening of manic symptoms (2 patients). One patient with schizoaffective illness improved. Risperidone used without the addition of a mood stabilizer was ineffective in treating pure manic psychosis. In some vulnerable bipolar patients, risperidone monotherapy may have antidepressant activity that could exacerbate mania. If risperidone proves to have antidepressant activity, it may become an important agent in the therapy of patients with depressive symptoms and psychosis.
Management of preeclampsia

Prompt hospitalization is the optimum management of all patients with preeclampsia. Expectant management is possible in most patients remote from term. The success rate of expectant management will depend on both fetal gestational age and the state to which the disease has progressed at the time of hospitalization. Maternal and perinatal complications are increased significantly in patients with severe preeclampsia and in those with the HELLP syndrome. Thus, these patients should be managed only at tertiary care centers.
In vitro Inhibitory Effects of Combinations of anti-Influenza Agents

To assess the possible interactions among candidate anti-influenza agents, dual combinations of rimantadine, ribavirin, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoroguanosine (2-FDG) and 4-guanidino-Neu5Ac2en (GG167) were te...
Earth’s Moon

Introduction Throughout the history of humankind, other than the Sun, no other planetary object has held our attention as much as the Moon. The Moon figures prominently in mythology and literature, with notions of vampires and werewolves that were driven by the phases of the Moon. The very term “lunatic” derives from the idea that mentally unstable individuals are influenced by the Moon. Aside from these aspects, scientifically, the Moon holds much for study, especially in terms of planetary geomorphology. Even with the naked eye, we can see that its surface is not uniform. Some areas are dark and circular (the “eyes” of the Man in the Moon) and other areas are very bright. These characteristics led to the terms maria (Latin for seas) for the dark areas for their fanciful resemblance to water areas and terrae (Latin for land), or highlands, for the notion that there were continents surrounding the seas. At 3,476 km, the diameter of the Moon is nearly the width of the United States; its surface area of 3.79 × 10 7 km 2 is about the same as the land area of Africa and Australia combined. In many ways, the Earth–Moon system is unique in the Solar System, and, because the Moon is comparatively so large, some planetary scientists view Earth–Moon as a “binary” planet. As is true with many natural satellites, our Moon is locked in synchronous rotation in its orbit around Earth, meaning that it always shows the same “face,” termed the near side , toward Earth and hides the far side from direct viewing ( Fig. 4.1 ). Librations, or “wobbles,” in the Moon’s movement enable slightly more than a hemisphere to be seen in both polar areas and on the eastern and western sides, or limbs , of the Moon.
Learning spatio-temporal patterns in the presence of input noise using phase-change memristors

Neuromorphic systems increasingly attract research interest owing to their ability to provide biologically inspired methods of computing, alternative to the classic von Neumann architecture. In these systems, computing relies on spike-based communication between neurons, and memory is represented by evolving states of the synaptic interconnections. In this work, we first demonstrate how spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) based synapses can be realized using the crystal-growth dynamics of phase-change memristors. Then, we present a novel learning architecture comprising an integrate-and-fire neuron and an array of phase-change synapses that is capable of detecting temporal correlations in parallel input streams. We demonstrate a continuous re-learning operation on a sequence of binary 20×20 pixel images in the presence of significant background noise. Experimental results using an array of phase-change cells as synaptic elements confirm the functionality and performance of the propos ed learning architecture.
Improving Adjuvant Hormone Therapy Use in Medicaid Managed Care-Insured Women, New York State, 2012-2014.

INTRODUCTION In 2010, national guidelines recommended that women with nonmetastatic, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer take adjuvant hormone therapy for 5 years. As results from randomized clinical trials became available, guidelines were revised in 2014 to recommend 10 years of therapy. Despite evidence of its efficacy, low initiation rates have been documented among women insured by New York State Medicaid. This article describes a coordinated quality improvement pilot conducted by a state department of health and Medicaid managed care plans to engage women in guideline-concordant adjuvant hormone therapy. METHODS Women enrolled in Medicaid managed care with nonmetastatic, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and who had surgery from May 1, 2012, through November 30, 2012, were identified using linked Medicaid and Cancer Registry data. Adjuvant hormone therapy status was determined from Medicaid pharmacy data. Contact information for nonadherent women was supplied to health plan care managers who conducted outreach activities. Adjuvant hormone therapy status in the 6 months following outreach was evaluated. RESULTS In the 6 months postoutreach, 61% of women in the contacted group filled at least 1 prescription, compared with 52% in the noncontacted group. Among those with at least 1 filled prescription, 50% of the contacted group were adherent, compared with 25% in the noncontacted group. CONCLUSION This pilot suggests outreach conducted by health plan care managers, facilitated by linked Medicaid and Cancer Registry data, is an effective method to improve adjuvant hormone therapy initiation and adherence rates in Medicaid managed care-insured women.
Third-Person Effect of ISIS's Recruitment Propaganda: Online Political Self-Efficacy and Social Media Activism

The global rise of ISIS has been attributed by many experts to the extremist group’s successful recruiting efforts online. Recognizing the need to curb the terror organization’s social media engagement, Western governments have called for greater content restrictions on social media platforms as well as the cooperation of individual citizens in countermessaging ISIS online. This study examines the third-person effect regarding ISIS online recruiting and the potential behavioral outcomes that may result from perceived self-other gaps. A survey of 1,035 U.S. adults provided support for significant relationships between third-person perceptions and support for both restrictive action and social media activism. Study results are discussed in the context of theory building and policy recommendations.
Edge preserving reconstruction using adaptive smoothing in wavelet domain

An edge preserving image reconstruction approach for emission tomography is presented, in which the image x is modeled by a space-variant prior distribution P(x) based on anisotropic diffusion. By adaptively smoothing pixels in regions with small intensity fluctuations while preserving sharp edges, anisotropic diffusion works well in extracting boundaries for images which comprise smooth regions separated by discontinuities. This boundary information is incorporated into the reconstruction algorithm by means of space-variant simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) processes. To further reduce the noise effect and to improve boundary extraction, P(a) is defined in the wavelet domain. Wavelet transform (WT) decomposes x into subbands with distinctive characteristics, and each subband is modeled by a SAR process whose coefficients are determined according to the spatial features of the subband for a more accurate prior description. An iterative algorithm similar to the EM algorithm is proposed to solve the formulated image reconstruction problem. This algorithm is stable and converges in all the experiments performed so far, and its convergence has been proven for the case where the SAR coefficients are fixed. >
Survival benefit and cost of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Auto HSCT) in elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM) using the SEER-Medicare database.

8517 Background: Medicare coverage for Auto HSCT for MM began in 10/2000. By 2009, MM was the leading indication for this treatment (CIBMTR, 2011). The survival benefit and cost implications of the...
Product Similarity and Cross-Price Elasticity

We use a spatial competition model to show how an increasing similarity between two products can monotonically increase, monotonically decrease, or have a non-monotonic effect on cross-price elasticity. We relate these results to prior research that links cross-price elasticity to product similarity, and the literature on market structure, merger analysis, and price discrimination.
On-Line Estimation of Lung Parameters Using Multiple Gases*

Abstract Lung blood perfusion, dead space, lung blood distribution, and lung ventilation/perfusion ratios can be estimated noninvasively and accurately using gases of differing solubil ities in blood. A non-invasive multiple gas method is used to obtain dynamic estimates of lung blood perfusion, dead space, lung blood distribution, and lung ventilation/perfusion ratios. Shunt can also be estimated if arterial oxygen partial pressure is measured invasively. The estimates are for use in the operating room and intensive care unit as a measure of cardiopulmonary state. The extended Kalman filter as modified by Ljung and Wiberg computes the estimates from gas measurements at the mouth. Multiple inputs and outputs make the estimation complex.
Toward Entrepreneurial Organizations: Meeting Ambiguity with Engagement

Entrepreneurial activities fit poorly with traditional organizational approaches–-the rules, procedures and structure to delimit members’ response that seek to constrain behavior to a predetermined...
How do team conflicts impact knowledge sharing

AbstractPast studies have shown that conflict in teams is inevitable and even desirable for enhancing team performance. Conflict occurs due to perceived or real differences in teams and is often ma...
Noise in the Vertebrate Segmentation Clock Is Boosted by Time Delays but Tamed by Notch Signaling

Taming cell-to-cell variability in gene expression is critical for precise pattern formation during embryonic development. To investigate the source and buffering mechanism of expression variability, we studied a biological clock, the vertebrate segmentation clock, controlling the precise spatiotemporal patterning of the vertebral column. By counting single transcripts of segmentation clock genes in zebrafish, we show that clock genes have low RNA amplitudes and expression variability is primarily driven by gene extrinsic sources, which is suppressed by Notch signaling. We further show that expression noise surprisingly increases from the posterior progenitor zone to the anterior segmentation and differentiation zone. Our computational model reproduces the spatial noise profile by incorporating spatially increasing time delays in gene expression. Our results, suggesting that expression variability is controlled by the balance of time delays and cell signaling in a vertebrate tissue, will shed light on the accuracy of natural clocks in multi-cellular systems and inspire engineering of robust synthetic oscillators.
Review of Cultural Competency for Public Administrators

(2013). Review of Cultural Competency for Public Administrators. Journal of Public Affairs Education: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 377-379.
Effect of mannan oligosaccharides on growth performance of weanling pigs.

Four experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of mannan oligosaccharides (provided by Bio-Mos [BM], a product containing a minimum of 28% glucomannoprotein from S. cereuisiae) on growth performance of nursery pigs. Treatments were replicated with five to six pens of four to five pigs each. Initial BW ranged from 4.7 to 5.4 kg, and pigs were weaned at 16 to 20 d of age. Experiments 1, 2, and 4 consisted of Phase 1 (7 to 8 d), Phase 2 (12 to 14 d), and Phase 3 (7 to 8 d) periods, but Exp. 3 consisted only of Phase 1 (7 d) and 2 (14 d) periods. The diets for Phase 1, 2, and 3 contained 1.6, 1.5, and 1.1% Lys, respectively. The treatments in Exp. 1 were 0, 0.20, and 0.30% BM, which did not affect growth performance. The treatments in Exp. 2 were two levels of excess Zn (0 and 3,000 ppm) and three levels of BM (0, 0.20, and 0.30%) in a 2 x 3 factorial. Excess Zn increased (P < 0.08) ADG and ADFI in Phase 2 and 3 and overall. The 0.20% BM addition increased ADG (Phase 3 and overall) and ADFI (Phase 2 and overall) in the absence of excess Zn but did not affect or decreased these response variables in the presence of excess Zn (Zn x BM quadratic, P < 0.08). Experiment 3 was similar to Exp. 2, but the 0.30% BM addition was not used. Excess Zn decreased (P < 0.09) ADG in Phase 1 but increased (P < 0.09) ADG and ADFI in Phase 2. The BM decreased (P < 0.03) overall ADFI but increased Phase 2 and overall ADG and gain:feed (GF) in the absence of excess Zn but not in the presence of excess Zn (Zn x BM, P < 0.07). The BM decreased ADFI during Phase 2, but the decrease was greater in pigs fed excess Zn (Zn x BM, P < 0.07). Experiment 4 evaluated the interactive effects of the antibiotic (oxytetracycline and neomycin) and BM and of Zn and BM. Antibiotic (no excess Zn) increased (P < 0.01) ADG and ADFI in Phases 2 and 3 and overall. The BM addition decreased ADG and GF in Phase 2 when the antibiotic was not in the diet but increased ADG when the antibiotic was in the diet (antibiotic x BM, P < 0.05). Excess Zn increased (P < 0.07) ADG and ADFI during Phases 2 and 3 and overall. In Phase 2, the 0.20% BM decreased GF when excess Zn was not added to the diet but increased GF when Zn was included (Zn x BM, P < 0.03). Mannan oligosaccharides improved pig performance in some instances during Phase 2 when fed in combination with an antibiotic and no excess dietary Zn, but it had no effect or negative effects in the presence of excess Zn or in the absence of an antibiotic.
Comparing Treatments, Adjusting for Competing Risks

Often some concomitant information about the experimental units in a study accompanies the usual survival time information. This information may identify the experimental units with two or more treatment groups (in which case, indicator variables are usually employed) and/or the experimental units may enter the study with certain well-defined characteristics which may need to be considered in evaluating survival functions. This paper is concerned with incorporating such information into one’s analysis when there are k(>1) competing causes of failure. The theoretical lifetimes associated with each cause are assumed to be independent. Two different approaches are considered - viz., i) assuming the hazard rates to be arbitrary and ii) assuming the underlying life distributions to be completely specified apart from unknown parameters. The methods discussed in this paper are treated in more detail in the monograph by David and Moeschberger (1978).
A modified method of radioisotopic placental localization: Follow-up report

Abstract This is a follow-up report on a dual probe method of radioisotopic placental localization which was used on suspected cases of placenta previa during the past year. All patients also had roentgenographic placentagrams that were made with three film soft tissue technique after instillation of air into the urinary bladder. When possible, actual location of the placenta was determined by direct examination during delivery. The findings in this limited number of cases are presented in tabular form. The isotopic method was 95 per cent accurate in exclusion of placenta previa, compared with 90 per cent with radiographs, but this difference is not statistically significant. However, no placenta previas were missed by combining information from the two techniques. It is pointed out that the fetal irradiation in the roentgenographic study is about ten to twenty times greater than when using the radioactive iodinated serum albumin.
Breast Cancer Detection Using Transfer Learning in Convolutional Neural Networks

In the U.S., breast cancer is diagnosed in about 12 % of women during their lifetime and it is the second leading reason for women's death. Since early diagnosis could improve treatment outcomes and longer survival times for breast cancer patients, it is significant to develop breast cancer detection techniques. The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) can extract features from images automatically and then perform classification. To train the CNN from scratch, however, requires a large number of labeled images, which is infeasible for some kinds of medical image data such as mammographic tumor images. A promising solution is to apply transfer learning in CNN. In this paper, we firstly tested three training methods on the MIAS database: 1) trained a CNN from scratch, 2) applied the pre-trained VGG-16 model to extract features from input mammograms and used these features to train a Neural Network (NN)-classifier, 3) updated the weights in several final layers of the pre-trained VGG-16 model by back-propagation (fine-tuning) to detect abnormal regions. We found that method 2) is ideal for study because the classification accuracy of fine-tuning model was just 0.008 higher than that of feature extraction model but time cost of feature extraction model was only about 5% of that of the fine-tuning model. Then, we used method 2) to classify regions: benign vs. normal, malignant vs. normal and abnormal vs. normal from the DDSM database with 10-fold cross validation. The average validation accuracy converged at about 0.905 for abnormal vs. normal cases, and there was no obvious overfitting. This study shows that applying transfer learning in CNN can detect breast cancer from mammograms, and training a NN-classifier by feature extraction is a faster method in transfer learning.