cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Randomized, Controlled Trial of Atomoxetine for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adolescents with Substance Use Disorder.

Objective To evaluate the effect of atomoxetine hydrochloride versus placebo on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substance use disorder (SUD) in adolescents receiving motivational interviewing/cognitive behavioral therapy (MI/CBT) for SUD. Method This single-site, randomized, controlled trial was conducted between December 2005 and February 2008. Seventy adolescents (13 through 19 years of age) with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) (DSM-IV) ADHD, a DSM-IV ADHD checklist score greater than or equal to 22, and at least one nontobacco SUD were recruited from the community. All subjects received 12 weeks of atomoxetine hydrochloride + MI/CBT versus placebo + MI/CBT. The main outcome measure for ADHD was self-report DSM-IV ADHD checklist score. For SUD, the main outcome was self-report number of days used nontobacco substances in the past 28 days using the Timeline Followback interview. Results Change in ADHD scores did not differ between atomoxetine + MI/CBT and placebo + MI/CBT (F4,191 = 1.23, p=.2975). Change in days used nonnicotine substances in the last 28 days did not differ between groups (F3,100 = 2.06, p=.1103). Conclusions There was no significant difference between the atomoxetine + MI/CBT and placebo + MI/CBT groups in ADHD or substance use change. The MI/CBT and/or a placebo effect may have contributed to a large treatment response in the placebo group. Clinical Trials Registry Information—A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Atomoxetine for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adolescents with Substance Use Disorder. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00399763.
Love-wave-based ice sensor

This paper presents the conceptual design, fabrication and experimentation of a Love wave based acoustic ice sensor for sensing the phase change from liquid water to solid ice. The sensing of this transition is made possible by the shear horizontal nature of Love waves, utilizing it's damped to undamped nature during the transition from water to ice respectively.
Atomic Force Microscope Mediated Chromatography

An atomic force microscope (AFM) is presented as an instrument for rapid, miniaturized chromatography. The AFM is used to inject a sample, provide shear driven liquid flow over a functionalized substrate, and detect separated components. The components are then analyzed with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy using AFM deposition of gold nanoparticles on the separated bands. This AFM mediated chromatography (AFM-MC) is demonstrated using lipophilic dyes and normal phase chemistry. A significant reduction in both size and separation time scales is achieved with 25 μm length scale and 1 s separation times. AFM-MC has general applications to trace chemical analysis and microfluidics.
Developing pulsatile flow in a deployed coronary stent.

A major consequence of stent implantation is restenosis that occurs due to neointimal formation. This patho-physiologic process of tissue growth may not be completely eliminated. Recent evidence suggests that there are several factors such as geometry and size of vessel, and stent design that alter hemodynamic parameters, including local wall shear stress distributions, all of which influence the restenosis process. The present three-dimensional analysis of developing pulsatile flow in a deployed coronary stent quantifies hemodynamic parameters and illustrates the changes in local wall shear stress distributions and their impact on restenosis. The present model evaluates the effect of entrance flow, where the stent is placed at the entrance region of a branched coronary artery. Stent geometry showed a complex three-dimensional variation of wall shear stress distributions within the stented region. Higher order of magnitude of wall shear stress of 530 dyn/cm 2 is observed on the surface of cross-link intersections at the entrance of the stent. A low positive wall shear stress of 10 dyn/cm 2 and a negative wall shear stress of - 10 dyn/cm 2 are seen at the immediate upstream and downstream regions of strut intersections, respectively. Modified oscillatory shear index is calculated which showed persistent recirculation at the downstream region of each strut intersection. The portions of the vessel where there is low and negative wall shear stress may represent locations of thrombus formation and platelet accumulation. The present results indicate that the immediate downstream regions of strut intersections are areas highly susceptible to restenosis, whereas a high shear stress at the strut intersection may cause platelet activation and free emboli formation.
Genetic Haemoglobin Abnormalities in about 9000 Black and 7000 White Newborns; Haemoglobin F Dickinson (Aγ97 HisÅg), a New Variant

Summary. Electrophoretically detectable haemoglobin abnormalities are readily identified in umbilical cord blood haemolysates by cellulose acetate electrophoresis, followed by citrate agar electrophoresis of those samples exhibiting an abnormality, and, if necessary, by globin electrophoresis. In samples from 9224 Black newborns, the prevalence of all such abnormalities was about 13%, with 12 cases of sickle-cell anaemia, seven of Hb-SC disease and five of Hb-S β thalassaemia. Clinical and haematologic manifestations of these conditions usually appeared in the first few years of life. The prevalence of sickle-cell trait was about 7%, Hb-C trait 2%, and Hb Bart's 5%. Several new or rare haemoglobins, both adult and foetal, were found in individual families. Of 7006 White newborns, 76 or 1.1% had electrophoretically detectable haemoglobin abnormalities, all in the simple trait condition. Sixty-one of these (0.8% of the total) had Hb-Bart's and 10 had adult variants—four Hb S, four Hb C, one Hasharon and one unidentified α chain variant. Five samples contained structural γ chain abnormalities. One new variant—Hb-F Dickinson (Aγ97 HisAg), was found in two siblings.
INHERITED BREAST CANCER

Five to ten percent of breast cancer is attributable to the autosomal dominant inheritance of a high-risk susceptibility gene. There are a number of known inherited cancer syndromes that confer a higher risk of breast cancer. Recently, the BRCA1 gene, which is responsible for 45% of hereditary early-onset breast cancer and for the majority of co-inheritance of breast and ovarian cancer, has been cloned. Another gene that confers an increased risk of breast cancer is the BRCA2 gene, which maps to the long arm of chromosome 13 by linkage analysis. Mutations in BRCA2 account for approximately 40% of hereditary early-onset breast cancer. In addition, at least 7% of breast cancer may occur in women who are heterozygous for mutations in a gene for ataxia-telangiectasia, an autosomal recessive chromosome instability syndrome. Predictive testing for some predisposing conditions is possible through indirect or direct mutation testing. In this article, the genetics of breast cancer are reviewed, and practical concerns for the surgeon in counseling high-risk patients are addressed.
Non-isothermal pyrolysis of vacuum residue (VR) in a thermogravimetric analyzer

Abstract Compared to heavy oil, vacuum residue (VR) is extremely viscous and contains high percentages of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon residue and heavy metals. For utilization of it as a fuel for a commercial boiler, several issues derived from the above features have been investigated. The non-isothermal pyrolysis of VR in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was performed at heating rates of 2, 5, 10 and 20 °C/min up to 800 °C under a N2 atmosphere. The product yields were analyzed in terms of gaseous volatiles, carbon residue and liquid phase. The consecutive, two step, first-order reaction model described the VR pyrolysis well. The kinetic parameters obtained with the integral method showed that the activation energy of the second stage was about two times higher than that of the first stage.
New approach to the investigation of the existence of periodic solutions of systems of differential equations and their construction

Methods developed for the solution of general equations with restrictions are applied to the construction of periodic solutions of systems of differential equations.
Eoq with limited backorder delays

Abstract This note extends the standard EOQ model to cover the situation when the firm is allowed, at no backorder cost, a certain delay time before the order must be filled. This situation is met in practice when the customer doesn't expect or insist on immediate receipt of an order from on-the-shelf inventory, but only a certain reasonable delay time is allowed.
Development of the reasons for living inventory for young adults.

Assessment of the reliability, validity, and predictive power of a new measure, the Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults (RFL-YA) is described. A series of three studies was conducted at two Midwestern universities to develop initial items for this new measure, refine item selection, and demonstrate the psychometric properties of the RFL-YA. The theoretical differences between the RFL-YA and the College Student Reasons for Living Inventory (CS-RFL) are discussed. Although the two measures were not directly compared, it appears that the RFL-YA has greater specificity for exploring aspects of the protective construct and may be more parsimonious than the CS-RFL. Principal-axis factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution for the RFL-YA accounting for 61.5% of the variance. This five-factor oblique model was confirmed in the final phase of investigation. Alpha estimates for the five subscales ranged from.89 to.94. Concurrent, convergent-discriminant, and criterion validity also were demonstrated. The importance of assessing protective factors in addition to negative risk factors for suicidality is discussed. Directions for future research with the RFL-YA also are discussed.
Algorithms for sparse stable systems.

We deal with the problem of designing stable sparse decentralized systems. Whether the communication structure of a decentralized system can sustain stable dynamics can be reduced to the study of whether a given vector space of sparse matrices contains stable (Hurwitz) matrices. In this paper, after a brief overview the main known results in the area, we derive methods to create sparse stable vector space (that is, vector spaces that contain stable matrices) recursively and in polynomial time in the dimension of the space. The approach relies on perturbation theory to prove stability and on graph theory to derive polynomial time algorithms.
Diffusion of entitlement: An inhibitory effect of scarcity on consumption

Abstract Four studies demonstrated that increasing a desirable commodity's scarcity (i.e., decreasing its supply or increasing demand for it) can inhibit people from claiming the commodity for themselves, thereby delaying its consumption. In Study 1, participants were slower to claim a commodity when its supply was limited versus unlimited. In Study 2, participants expressed more disapproval of someone who took the last commodity compared to the second-last commodity. Participants in Study 3 anticipated that increased demand for a commodity would make them less likely to claim it despite wanting it more. Study 4 showed that the more participants there were who could claim a commodity, the longer it went unclaimed. The inhibitory effect of scarcity was mediated by diminished entitlement to the commodity (Study 3), and increasing entitlement reduced the inhibition against taking scarce commodities (Studies 1 and 2). These findings are discussed in the context of individuals' concern with equality.
Constraints on the utilisation of the invasive Chinese tallow tree Sapium sebiferum by generalist native herbivores in coastal prairies

Introduced plants generally have lower generalist herbivore loads than native plants. Herbivores may be avoiding a potentially edible food source (Behavioural Constraint Hypothesis) or defences of introduced plants may be unusually toxic (Novel Defence Hypothesis). 2. To examine these hypotheses, acridid grasshoppers (Melanoplus angustipennis and Orphullela pelidna) were enclosed in a Texas grassland. Each enclosure contained native prairie vegetation and a seedling of either introduced Sapium sebiferum (Chinese tallow tree) or native Celtis laevigata (hackberry). Sapium invades many ecosystems in the south-east U.S.A. Celtis seedlings also establish in these ecosystems. 3. Although grasshoppers usually feed sparingly on Sapium, in field enclosures they fed heavily on this introduced tree species, supporting a role for behavioural avoidance. In laboratory feeding trials, M. angustipennis grasshoppers preferred Sapium foliage over the foliage of three native tree species. In a greenhouse experiment, M. angustipennis individuals fed more on Sapium in prairie meso- cosms if they were conditioned on Sapium. 4. In another field experiment with single seedlings in enclosures, grasshoppers consumed similar amounts of Sapium from its introduced (Texas, U.S.A.) and native (China) ranges, suggesting that Sapium may have been a suitable host plant since it was introduced. Behavioural avoidance by generalist herbivores may contribute to Sapium's low herbivore load in its introduced range.
Adaptive robust observers for non-linear uncertain systems

A new class of observers for non-linear uncertain dynamical systems is proposed. The non-linearity and uncertainty in the systems are assumed to be bounded. The bound is however unknown. Adaptive schemes are designed for the estimation of the bound. The observer, based on this estimation, is then able to estimate the system's state regardless of the realization of the uncertainty.
A new nine-coordination system: Pentagonal interpenetrating tetrahedral polyhedron

Abstract A new nine-coordination geometry has been discovered. Monazite-type compounds, such as LnPO4 (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd), LnAsO4 (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, and Nd), α-PbSeO4 (Rooseveltite), BiPO4, PbCrO4 (Crocoite), α-PbSeO4, PuPO4, LaVO4, SrCrO4, SrSeO4, and ThSiO4, exhibit this new nine-coordination geometry. The new geometric form is best described as a pentagonal interpenetrating tetrahedral polyhedron (PITP).
Cercosporin-deficient mutants by plasmid tagging in the asexual fungus Cercospora nicotianae

We have successfully adapted plasmid insertion and restriction enzyme-mediated integration (REMI) to produce cercosporin toxin-deficient mutants in the asexual phytopathogenic fungus Cercospora nicotianae. The use of pre-linearized plasmid or restriction enzymes in the transformation procedure significantly decreased the transformation frequency, but promoted a complicated and undefined mode of plasmid integration that leads to mutations in the C. nicotianae genome. Vector DNA generally integrated in multiple copies, and no increase in single-copy insertion was observed when enzymes were added to the transformation mixture. Out of 1873 transformants tested, 39 putative cercosporin toxin biosynthesis ( ctb) mutants were recovered that showed altered levels of cercosporin production. Seven ctb mutants were recovered using pre-linearized plasmids without the addition of enzymes, and these were considered to be non-REMI mutants. The correlation between a specific insertion and a mutant phenotype was confirmed using rescued plasmids as gene disruption vectors in the wild-type strain. Six out of fifteen rescued plasmids tested yielded cercosporin-deficient transformants when re-introduced into the wild-type strain, suggesting a link between the insertion site and the cercosporin-deficient phenotype. Sequence analysis of a fragment flanking the insert site recovered from one insertion mutant showed it to be disrupted in sequences with high homology to the acyl transferase domain of polyketide synthases from other fungi. Disruption of this polyketide synthase gene ( CTB1) using a rescued plasmid resulted in mutants that were defective in cercosporin production. Thus, we provide the first molecular evidence that cercosporin is synthesized via a polyketide pathway as previously hypothesized.
Combining Partial Redundancy and Checkpointing for HPC

Today's largest High Performance Computing (HPC) systems exceed one Petaflops (10^15) floating point operations per second) and exascale systems are projected within seven years. But reliability is becoming one of the major challenges faced by exascale computing. With billion-core parallelism, the mean time to failure is projected to be in the range of minutes or hours instead of days. Failures are becoming the norm rather than the exception during execution of HPC applications. Current fault tolerance techniques in HPC focus on reactive ways to mitigate faults, namely via checkpoint and restart (C/R). Apart from storage overheads, C/R-based fault recovery comes at an additional cost in terms of application performance because normal execution is disrupted when checkpoints are taken. Studies have shown that applications running at a large scale spend more than 50% of their total time saving checkpoints, restarting and redoing lost work. Redundancy is another fault tolerance technique, which employs redundant processes performing the same task. If a process fails, a replica of it can take over its execution. Thus, redundant copies can decrease the overall failure rate. The downside of redundancy is that extra resources are required and there is an additional overhead on communication and synchronization. This work contributes a model and analyzes the benefit of C/R in coordination with redundancy at different degrees to minimize the total wall clock time and resources utilization of HPC applications. We further conduct experiments with an implementation of redundancy within the MPI layer on a cluster. Our experimental results confirm the benefit of dual and triple redundancy -- but not for partial redundancy -- and show a close fit to the model. At ~80,000 processes, dual redundancy requires twice the number of processing resources for an application but allows two jobs of 128hours wall clock time to finish within the time of just one job without redundancy. For narrow ranges of processor counts, partial redundancy results in the lowest time. Once the count exceeds ~770,000, triple redundancy has the lowest overall cost. Thus, redundancy allows one to trade-off additional resource requirements against wall clock time, which provides a tuning knob for users to adapt to resource availabilities.
Measurement of bubble dynamics on an enhanced boiling surface

Abstract This work is a continuation of a major study performed by the authors to understand the mechanism of boiling heat transfer in structured boiling surfaces. The tests were performed on a tubular surface composed of an integral-fin tube [1575 fins/m (40 fins/in.) and 0.8 mm fin height] having a copper foil wrapped over the fin tips. Pores of known diameter and pitch are pierced in the foil cover. The resulting surface is similar to the Hitachi Thermoexcel-E tube. The tests were conducted using R-123 at 26.7°C on foil covers having 0.18 or 0.23 mm pore diameter and 0.75 or 1.5 mm pore pitch. The present study reports bubble dynamics data (bubble diameter, bubble frequency and nucleation site density). The data were obtained using a high speed video camera at 30 × magnification. The bubble growth mechanism on the enhanced surface is different from that on plain surfaces. A significant fraction of the vaporization occurs at menisci in the corners of the tunnels. This evaporation process controls the bubble frequency and nucleation site density. Further, evaporation and bubble growth occur after the bubbles emerge from the surface pores. Smaller bubbles are generated on the enhanced surface and at a greater frequency than on a plain surface for the same heat flux. The enhanced surface has a greater nucleation site density than on a plain surface.
Pituitary FSH content in female rats at various ages.

In order to determine whether there are variations in pituitary FSH content that can be correlated with sexual maturation, female Sprague-Dawley rats were sacrificed at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 days of age and the FSH content of their pituitaries measured by the Steelman-Pohley assay. The values for total FSH content per pituitary in terms of standard NIH-FSH-S-3 for each of the respective ages were: 43.4, 61.7, 163.8, 124.0, 86.0, 30.1 and 23.0 μg. The FSH concentrations per mg of wet tissues were 31.0, 34.3, 77.1, 45.6, 22.3, 7.0 and 4.0 μg, respectively. The vaginas were open in 27% of the 35-day-old rats and in 87% of the 40-day-old rats. In a group of 38-day-old rats, the mean pituitary FSH content was 54.3 μg in those with closed vaginas and 51.3 μg in those with open vaginas. Thus, FSH content of the pituitary rises to a peak prepuberally at the age of 20 days and declines thereafter without any significant acute change at the time of vaginal opening. (Endocrinology 82: 1241, 1968)
The non-neutrality of educational computer software

Abstract This article questions the non-neutrality of technology, as represented by educational computer software used in American schools. It first analyzes database programs to illustrate their selection-amplification function, and then discusses how educational software, like textbooks, are forms of knowledge control that transmit selected values and role models to students. The article then analyzes the treatment of gender, ethnicity and multicultural perspectives in 30 randomly selected educational software programs currently used in U.S. schools. It concludes, based on the programs analyzed, that educational software is at least, if not more biased than the printed page it may one day replace.
Dispersion–orientation effects of fulleropyrrolidine in zone annealed block-copolymer films toward optimizing OPV interfaces

Abstract Introduction of an insulating polystyrene block (BCP) polymethylmethacrylate copolymer (PS-b-PMMA) layer between the poly poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and the photoactive layer (fullerene or functionalized fullerene/poly-3-hexylthiophene) has been reported to improve solar cell performance. We explore how the morphological structure of this ordered interfacial BCP layer may be modified with novel synthesized electron accepting fulleropyrrolidine nanoparticles (f-NP), processed via a novel dynamic zone-annealing (ZA) method. N -methyl-2-(4-nitro phenyl) fulleropyrrolidine and N -methyl-2-(4-cyano phenyl) fulleropyrrolidine were synthesized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethineylides to fullerene and characterized by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, MALDI-TOFMS, cyclic voltammetry, and thermogravimetry. The newly synthesized f-NP's exhibited higher thermal stability and equivalent electronic properties compared to conventionally used [6,6]-phenyl-C 61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) for photoactive layer. f-NP filled PS-b-PMMA thin films processed using uniform oven annealing promoted phase segregation driven aggregation of f-NP located at the defect junction points of the block copolymer films. In contrast, ZA of f-NP filled BCP films led to the homogeneous dispersion of f-NPs within the films, however the f-NP had a synergistic orientation effect on BCP films, switching PMMA cylinders from vertical to parallel orientation in the ZA films. This effect is presumably due to a lowering of thermal conductivity of the BCP film by nanoparticles that scatter the phonons thereby decreasing the mean free path length of phonon propagation. These results may be important for the self-assembly of thermally stable and interfacially insulating BCP films for improved solar cell devices.
Analysis of the GaAs/GaAsBi Material System for Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors

This paper reports on the simulation of a double heterojunction bipolar transistor using the novel GaAs/GaAsBi material system. Published material parameters were used to simulate the device performance using an analytic drift-diffusion device model. DC and RF parameters were calculated as a function of emitter current density, base thickness and doping, and emitter stripe width and doping. Current gain is predicted to be between 102 and 103 at a current density of >; 105 A/cm2 and a bismuth concentration of 1.5%-3%. RF performance was calculated to range from 10 to 30 GHz for fT and from 100 to 120 GHz for fmax at a current density of 105 A/cm2, base thickness of 100-200 nm, and emitter stripe width of 0.1-1 μm.
Extrapolation of Time and Frequency Responses of Resonant Antennas Using Damped Sinusoids and Orthogonal Polynomials

An extrapolation technique is presented which reduces the computational demands of obtaining a wideband electromagnetic response from a resonant antenna using traditional computational electromagnetic methods. It has been shown that a wideband response can be extrapolated by fitting early-time and low-frequency data with a summation of orthogonal polynomials. However, representing responses characteristic of resonant structures in practice proves computationally inefficient and can lead to numerical instabilities. This paper outlines the incorporation of damped sinusoids to efficiently, accurately, and reliably extrapolate both time- and frequency-domain responses of resonant antennas due to a wideband source. A genetic algorithm is used to select the necessary extrapolation parameters. The wideband driving-point current response of several resonant antennas is accurately extrapolated. The transmission-line matrix method and the method of moments are used to compute early-time and low-frequency data, respectively. Fundamentally different discretizations of the structure of interest are used, illustrating in principle the independence of the technique and the choice of computational methods used to provide the directly-computed data.
Genetic variation of Japanese encephalitis virus in nature

Forty-six strains of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus from a variety of geographic areas in Asia were examined by primer-extension sequencing of the RNA template. A 240 nucleotide sequence from the pre-M gene region was selected for study because it provided sufficient information for determining genetic relationships among the virus isolates. Using 12% divergence as a cutoff point for virus relationships, the 46 isolates fell into three distinct genotypic groups. One genotypic group consisted of JE virus isolates from northern Thailand and Cambodia. A second group was composed of isolates from southern Thailand, Malaysia, Sarawak and Indonesia. The remainder of the isolates, from Japan, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal, made up a third group. The implications of these findings in relation to the epidemiology of JE are discussed. Results of this study demonstrate that the comparison of short nucleotide sequences can provide insight into JE virus evolution, transmission and, possibly, pathogenesis.
Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Stimulates Heme Oxygenase-1 Gene Expression and Carbon Monoxide Production in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Abstract —Recent studies indicate that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) generate CO from the degradation of heme by the enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Because platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) modulates various responses of VSMCs, we examined whether this peptide regulates the expression of HO-1 and the production of CO by rat aortic SMCs. Treatment of SMCs with PDGF resulted in a time- and concentration-dependent increase in the levels of HO-1 mRNA and protein. Both actinomycin D and cycloheximide blocked PDGF-stimulated HO-1 mRNA and protein. In addition, PDGF stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species by SMCs. Both the PDGF-mediated generation of reactive oxygen species and the induction of HO-1 protein was inhibited by the antioxidant N -acetyl-l-cysteine. Incubation of platelets with PDGF-treated SMCs resulted in a significant increase in platelet cGMP concentration that was reversed by treatment of SMCs with the HO-1 inhibitor tin protoporphyrin-IX or by addition of the CO scavenger hemoglobin to platelets. In contrast, the nitric oxide inhibitor methyl-l-arginine did not block the stimulatory effect of PDGF-treated SMCs on platelet cGMP. Finally, incubation of SMCs with the releasate from collagen-activated platelets induced HO-1 protein expression that was blocked by a neutralizing antibody to PDGF. These results demonstrate that either administered exogenously or released by platelets, PDGF stimulates HO-1 gene expression and CO synthesis in vascular smooth muscle. The ability of PDGF to induce HO-1–catalyzed CO release by VSMCs may represent a novel mechanism by which this growth factor regulates vascular cell and platelet function.
Modeling and control design of a camless valve actuation system

This paper presents the modeling and control design of a new fully flexible engine valve actuation system which is an enabler for camless engines. Unlike existing electromechanical or servo actuated electro-hydraulic valve actuation systems, precise valve motion control is achieved with a hydromechanical internal feedback mechanism. This feedback mechanism can be turned on or off in real-time using simple two state valves which helps reduce the system cost and enables mass production. Since the external control only activates or deactivates the internal feedback mechanism, the trajectory of the entire closed-loop system is purely dependent on the design parameters of the internal feedback system. A mathematical model of the system is developed to evaluate the effect of each of the design parameters. The “Area-schedule” is identified as the key design feature which affects the trajectory of the closed-loop system. It needs to be designed systematically to optimize the performance of the system as well as improve its robustness. By treating this feature as the feedback control variable, the design problem is transformed into a nonlinear optimal control problem which is later solved using the numerical dynamic programming method. The effectiveness of the designed area-schedules is verified with simulations.
Effects of Twenty Years of Deer Exclusion on Woody Vegetation at Three Life-History Stages in a Mid-Atlantic Temperate Deciduous Forest

Chronic browsing by Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) has poten- tial to alter the life history of trees within Mid-Atlantic forests, including seedling size and abundance in the short term to overstory composition in the long term. Most studies quantify the effects of deer browse using small plots (<1 ha) and short time frames (<10 years), which may misrepresent larger-scale and longer-term impacts. We maintained a 4-ha deer exclusion plot for 20 years in a mesic northern Virginia temperate deciduous forest to examine the impacts of browsing on forest trees at multiple life-history stages. We compared the abundance and species composition, as well as seedling height, of woody stems across the seedling, small-sapling, and large-sapling size classes inside the deer exclosure and within an adjacent reference area. There were no significant dif- ferences in seedling abundance or community composition, but seedling height was on average 2.25 times greater in the exclosure than the reference plot. Small-sapling (1-5 cm DBH) stem count was 4.1 times greater inside the exclosure, with all species more abun- dant in the exclosure except Asimina triloba (Pawpaw) and Carya tomentosa (Mockernut Hickory). Differences were smaller in the large-sapling size class (5-10 cm DBH), with relative total large-sapling stem count only 1.25 times greater in the exclosure. Brows- ing pressure appeared to influence the composition and size structure of smaller stems in the past 20 years, but has had little effect on larger stems. While the lack of replica- tion limited the scope of inference of our study, our findings suggest that natural delays in mature tree recruitment in a closed-canopy forest may mask the full impact of deer herbivory for decades.
Posterior capsular opacification in phacotrabeculectomy: A long-term comparative study of silicone versus acrylic intraocular lens

Abstract Purpose To investigate the long-term outcomes of silicone versus acrylic intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in phacotrabeculectomy (PT) with special emphasis on posterior capsular opacification. Design Long-term follow-up on prior 1-year prospective, randomized study. Participants A total of 200 eyes of 200 consecutive primary open-angle glaucoma patients who had undergone primary PT with capsular bag implantation of either a silicone IOL (102 eyes) or an acrylic IOL (98 eyes) according to the initial short-term prospective, randomized study protocol. Intervention The study eyes underwent primary trabeculectomy, phacoemulsification, and posterior chamber IOL implantation. Adjunctive mitomycin C was used selectively, primarily in patients with one or more risk factors for filtration failure. Main outcome measures Incidence of posterior capsular opacification (PCO), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), number of pressure-lowering medications, and filtration success rates, defined as maintenance of target IOP while on one (criteria 1) or zero (criteria 2) pressure-lowering medications without further surgical intervention. Results At 3-year follow-up, the PCO rate and BCVA did not differ significantly between the two groups ( P > 0.05 for both). In addition, there were no significant differences in IOP, number of medications, and filtration success rate between the two groups ( P > 0.05 for each). Conclusions There were no significant long-term differences between the silicone and acrylic IOL groups in PCO, BCVA, IOP, number of medications, and success of filtration surgery after PT. Both groups attained significant improvement in BCVA and IOP control after surgery.
AN EVALUATION OF PROCEDURES TO INCREASE COOPERATION RELATED TO HOARDING IN AN OLDER ADULT WITH DEMENTIA

The prevalence of hoarding (collection of and refusal to discard unneeded items) is higher in older adults than the general population and has been correlated with dementia. Treatments to increase cooperation with discarding hoarded items have not been systematically evaluated. This study evaluated two procedures for increasing cooperation with handing over hoarded items in an older adult with dementia. The antecedent-based intervention effectively increased cooperation.
Analysis and reduction of memory inefficiencies in Java strings

This paper describes a novel approach to reduce the memory consumption of Java programs, by focusing on their "string memory inefficiencies". In recent Java applications, string data occupies a large amount of the heap area. For example, about 40% of the live heap area is used for string data when a production J2EE application server is running. By investigating the string data in the live heap, we identified two types of memory inefficiencies -- "duplication" and "unused literals". In the heap, there are many string objects that have the same values. There also exist many string literals whose values are not actually used by the application. Since these inefficiencies exist as live objects, they cannot be eliminated by existing garbage collection techniques, which only remove dead objects. Quantitative analysis of Java heaps in real applications revealed that more than 50% of the string data in the live heap is wasted by these inefficiencies. To reduce the string memory inefficiencies, this paper proposes two techniques at the Java virtual machine level, "StringGC" for eliminating duplicated strings at the time of garbage collection, and "Lazy Body Creation" for delaying part of the literal instantiation until the literal's value is actually used. We also present an interesting technique at the Java program level, which we call "BundleConverter", for preventing unused message literals from being instantiated. Prototype implementations on a production Java virtual machine have achieved about 18% reduction of the live heap in the production application server. The proposed techniques could also reduce the live heap of standard Java benchmarks by 11.6% on average, without noticeable performance degradation.
Management of a Patient with Post‐polio Syndrome

Purpose To describe the current understanding of the management of patients with post-polio syn-drome (PPS) and relate the research to a case study. Data Sources Standard neurology textbooks, current review and research articles, and a case study. Conclusions More than 15 years following a diagnosis of poliomyelitis, a new onset of weakness, fatigue, joint pain, decreased endurance, muscle atrophy, gait disturbance, respiratory and swallowing problems, cold intolerance, and difficulties with activities of daily living might indicate a neurologic disorder called PPS. Implications for Practice Non-post-polio causes of weakness, fatigue or pain must be excluded before making a diag-nosis of PPS. Approaches to management vary depending on the symptoms and level of disability. Reducing physical and emotional stress, energy conservation, adequate rest, modification of work and home environments, joint protection, and the use of orthoses, adaptive equipment, or mobility aids can reduce fatigue and preserve function.
Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy is as effective as Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy for distressed couples.

Christensen A, Atkins DC, Berns S, et al . Traditional versus integrative behavioral couple therapy for significantly and chronically distressed married couples. J Consult Clin Psychol 2004;72:176–91. [OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3][Web of Science][4] Q How does Integrative Behavioural Couple Therapy (IBCT) compare with Traditional Behavioural Couple Therapy (TBCT) for significantly and chronically distressed married couples? ### ![Graphic][5] Design: Randomised controlled trial. ### ![Graphic][6] Allocation: Unconcealed. ### ![Graphic][7] Blinding: Unblinded. ### ![Graphic][8] Follow up period: 36 weeks (mean length of time until final session). ### ![Graphic][9] Setting: Community based therapy practices, Los Angeles and Seattle; November 1997 to February 2001. ### ![Graphic][10] Patients: Seriously and chronically distressed married couples repeatedly reporting substantial relationship distress (n = 134 couples). Inclusion criteria: average score of less than 100 in the Marital Adjustment Test in a phone interview; at least one of the partners with a T score of ⩾59 on the Global Distress Scale at two subsequent screenings by questionnaire and one partner scoring one standard deviation below the population mean (<98) in the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Participants were 18–65 years, fluent in English, and educated to at least high school level. Exclusions: mildly distressed or unstably distressed … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJournal%2Bof%2Bconsulting%2Band%2Bclinical%2Bpsychology%26rft.stitle%253DJ%2BConsult%2BClin%2BPsychol%26rft.aulast%253DChristensen%26rft.auinit1%253DA.%26rft.volume%253D72%26rft.issue%253D2%26rft.spage%253D176%26rft.epage%253D191%26rft.atitle%253DTraditional%2Bversus%2Bintegrative%2Bbehavioral%2Bcouple%2Btherapy%2Bfor%2Bsignificantly%2Band%2Bchronically%2Bdistressed%2Bmarried%2Bcouples.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1037%252F0022-006X.72.2.176%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F15065953%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1037/0022-006X.72.2.176&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=15065953&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febmental%2F7%2F4%2F117.atom [4]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000220442400004&link_type=ISI [5]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [6]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [7]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [8]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif [9]: /embed/inline-graphic-5.gif [10]: /embed/inline-graphic-6.gif
Firm size distributions through the lens of functional principal components analysis

We explore the dynamics of firm size distributions through the lens of Functional Principal Component Analysis as proposed by Kneip and Utikal (2001). Using samples of UK firms from Geroski et al. (2003) we apply the methodology to their balanced panel sample, present in the sample for all 31 years. We extend the analysis to an unbalanced panel sample (minimum and maximum spell of five and 31 years). For the unbalanced panel, we reject the null hypothesis that the densities are the same, while we fail to reject the null hypothesis for the balanced panel. These results suggest that inclusion of young firms that non-randomly exit will affect the firm size distribution. The difference in the results is due to the presence of survivorship bias. These results highlight the attractiveness of this methodology and its ability to succinctly describe the time dynamics of distributions without the need for explicit parametric specification of the growth and exit processes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Review: Therapies for interstitial lung disease: past, present and future

As our understanding of the pathobiology and natural history of the various forms of interstitial lung disease (ILD) has evolved, so have our approaches to treating this heterogeneous group of lung disorders. The earliest pharmacologic agents used to treat various forms of ILD were corticosteroids, and corticosteroids are currently the mainstay of therapy for many forms of ILD. However, it has become clear that corticosteroids and other anti-inflammatory agents lack efficacy for many forms of ILD, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and newer therapies that are in clinical trials target the fibrogenic process and/or secondary pulmonary hypertension (PH) that is present in various forms of fibrotic lung disease. Novel therapies, such as the use of biologic agents (antibodies and cell cycle inhibitors) or stem cell therapies will undoubtedly evolve as new research is performed and clinical trials are undertaken. Lung transplantation remains an option for advanced lung disease that is progressive an...
Modeling Dynamic Violence: Integrating Events Data Analysis and Agent-Based Modeling

Which actions by governments stoke or pacify an insurgency? Scholarly research on the topic has often been relegated to the study of this question at the country level, comparing across large units and rarely looking inside the state. Our research focuses on the primary actors in a contest for authority within a state: the government, dissidents, and the population. In contrast to most previous work, we tackle the difficult question of how population dynamics affect the rise and fall of insurgency. We investigate the question in the context of India and its states and territories. India is particularly well suited to this research as it presently experiences terrorism, insurgency, ethnic conflict, riots and other actions that threaten the stability of the state. Using an agent-based model (ABM), geographic information systems (GIS), data on public sentiment, and events data, we address this question from a multidisciplinary approach. The agent-based model formalizes the interactions of states, dissidents, and the population, the GIS framework allows for actual demographic and geographic information to influence this interaction, and the events data and sentiment data allow us to test empirical implications from the model directly. As the NSF-Minerva grant is midstream, this paper reports initial work to couple the ABM and empirical analysis. We expect the results to have important implications for the study of political violence, order, and state-building. The approach is policy relevant, furthermore, and can be adapted to other regions and countries.
Perception of Opponent's Motives and Cooperation in a Mixed-Motive Game

Two studies investigated the effects of the perception of the opponent's motives and incentives to defect on cooperation in a mixed-motive game. Study I varied the perceived goal of the other (by instructions) and the incentive of the other to defect (by payoff values). Study II varied the other's incentive as well as the subject's incentive to defect, both by payoff values. The results indicated that the perceived goal of the other strongly influenced the subject's cooperation. The incentive of the other also affected cooperation, except when the other was assumed to be pursuing a benevolent goal. Finally the subject's incentive did not affect his cooperation nearly as much as did his opponent's incentive.
The stories behind the statistics

Too often, we fail to illustrate our research findings with descriptions of the circumstances of injury. These details make the subject come alive and provide insight into likely preventive measures. Often the descriptions can be gleaned from accompanying text, relevant newspaper articles, or from visits to the scene of injury. Restricting our findings to cold statistics and numerical data does a disservice to our readers and reduces the likelihood that the research results will have maximum effect.
Solid state power amplifier and travelling wave tube amplifier additive phase noise characterization at Ka-band operation

A Ka-band (31–36GHz) solid state power amplifier (SSPA) capable of producing more than 50 W of output power was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) using a novel 32-way combiner/splitter and 32 2W GaAs PHEMT MMIC modules [1]. Additionally, a 200 W travelling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) manufactured by L3 Communications was acquired and characterized. While these devices are typically not the primary sources of origin for phase noise in transponders, they will contribute phase noise and may add to system phase noise differently. Because information on Ka-band tube and solid-state amplifier additive phase noise performance was not available for these high-power Ka-band amplifiers, an investigation into the phase noise of the SSPA and TWTA was launched. Results indicate that the tested SSPA may have a lower close-in phase noise than the tested TWTA.
Developing mental health-care quality indicators: toward a common framework

Objective Inconsistent performance measurement schemes hinder attempts to make international comparisons about mental health-care quality. This report describes a project undertaken by an international collaborative group that aims to develop a common framework of measures that will allow for international comparisons of mental health system performance. Design Representatives from each country submitted reports of quality measurement initiatives in mental health. Indicators were reviewed, and all measurable indicators were compiled and organized. Sample Twenty-nine programs from 11 countries and two cross-national programs submitted reports. Methods Indicators were evaluated according to measurable inclusion criteria. Results These methods yielded 656 total measures that were organized into 17 domains and 80 subdomains. Conclusions No single program contained indicators in all domains, highlighting the need for a comprehensive, shared scheme for international measurement. By collecting and organizing measures through an inductive compilation of existing programs, the present study has generated a maximally inclusive basis for the creation of a common framework of international mental health quality indicators.
The Politics of Federal Credit Subsidy: Small Business Administration 7(a) Loan Guarantees

Policy outcomes contain important information about how public sector managers respond to economic innovation and balance electoral and policy goals of elected officials. This article examines the quarterly distribution of Small Business Administration (SBA) credit subsidies across 14 industries to test the link between loan guarantee activity and economic and political variables. Changes in the level of SBA guarantees are dependent on aggregate economic performance and the proximity of presidential elections. The analysis confirms that agency managers are compelled to balance programmatic goals with electoral goals. The results suggest that elected officials influence the timing and magnitude of credit subsidies to business but have little influence over the industry-level distribution of the subsidies.