cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Can social protection schemes contribute toward drought resilience? Evidence from rural Ethiopia

Abstract Ethiopia has introduced a number of policies and strategies toward tackling food insecurity, combating drought emergencies, and assisting vulnerable rural households, maintaining their livelihoods in the face of frequent drought disasters. As part of the long-term rural development program, the country has pursued a country-wide social protection scheme, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), with substantial support from development partners. The aim of the program is to assist chronically food-insecure households bridge their food gaps while providing long-term solutions through the creation of community assets and (to a lesser degree) household assets. A number of studies have documented the achievements of the program over the years. However, very few of these studies had explicit focus on the role of the program in drought resilience. Motivated by some of PSNP's past success stories and the existing knowledge gap with respect to the potential contribution of the program toward drought resilience, this chapter primarily aims to assess Ethiopia's PSNP against some of the key lessons that can be learned from the 2015/16 drought in the country. The study finds that a “stand-alone” approach to drought resilience can hardly succeed in the face of frequent droughts and its associated multifaceted negative impacts. The study proposes, PSNP should continue to improve its internal implementation capacity while enhancing its linkage with other drought resilience programs to bring a stronger and meaningful impact on drought resilience at national, subnational, and community levels.
Phonetic investigation of metrical structure orally produced poetry

The paper describes a new project designed to analyze the metrical structure of orally produced poetry in various languages, using acoustic phonetic techniques. A basic assumption in this project is the notion that the suprasegmental structure of a language is crystallized, as it were, in the metric structure of its traditional poetry: it is no accident that the Kalevala meter arose in Finland, or the deseterac in Serbia. To understand better the rhythm of spoken language, one should look at the rhythmic structure of poetry developed in that language over the years; patterns that may be imperfectly realized in prose may be manifested in a more regular fashion in poetry. Examples are presented from Estonian, Latvian, Finnish, and Japanese.
Human Resource Development: Why It Matters in the National Context of Afghanistan:

AbstractAfghanistan’s recent history has been shaped largely by conflict. As a developing country transitioning away from its heavy reliance on foreign aid, Afghanistan is facing unprecedented chal...
Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) represents an effective clinical treatment for movement disorders and shows promise for a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. The fundamental components of a DBS system include permanently implanted electrodes in the thalamus or basal ganglia that are subcutaneously connected to an implanted pulse generator. In general, high-frequency (∼100 Hz) DBS generates therapeutic outcomes that are similar to lesions of the same brain structures. However, the effects of DBS are reversible and can be customized to the clinical needs of the patient by adjusting the various stimulation parameters. The clinical efficacy of DBS has preceded scientific understanding of its therapeutic mechanisms of action and a number of conflicting hypotheses are currently under investigation.
E-Cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury: A Review for Pathologists.

Context.— Vaping is the inhalation of heated aerosol from a small battery-powered device as a method to deliver nicotine or other substances. A recent outbreak of severe respiratory illness primari...
State-level impact of social distancing and testing on COVID-19 in the United States

Social distancing measures have been implemented in the United States (US) since March 2020, to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. However, by mid-May most states began relaxing these measures to support the resumption of economic activity, even as disease incidence continued to increase in many states. To evaluate the impact of relaxing social distancing restrictions on COVID-19 dynamics and control in the US, we developed a transmission dynamic model and calibrated it to US state-level COVID-19 cases and deaths from March to June 20th, 2020, using Bayesian methods. We used this model to evaluate the impact of reopening, social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and case isolation on the COVID-19 epidemic in each state. We found that using stay-at-home orders, most states were able to curtail their COVID-19 epidemic curve by reducing and achieving an effective reproductive number below 1. But by June 20th, 2020, only 19 states and the District of Columbia were on track to curtail their epidemic curve with a 75% confidence, at current levels of reopening. Of the remaining 31 states, 24 may have to double their current testing and/or contact tracing rate to curtail their epidemic curve, and seven need to further restrict social contact by 25% in addition to doubling their testing and contact tracing rates. When social distancing restrictions are being eased, greater state-level testing and contact tracing capacity remains paramount for mitigating the risk of large-scale increases in cases and deaths.
Social Determinants Associated with COVID-19 Mortality in the United States

This study examines social determinants associated with disparities in COVID-19 mortality rates in the United States.Using county-level data, 42 negative binomial mixed models were used to evaluate the impact of social determinants on COVID-19 outcome. First, to identify proper controls, the effect of 24 high-risk factors on COVID-19 mortality rate was quantified. Then, the high-risk terms found to be significant were controlled for in an association study between 41 social determinants and COVID-19 mortality rates. The results describe that ethnic minorities, immigrants, socioeconomic inequalities, and early exposure to COVID-19 are associated with increased COVID-19 mortality, while the prevalence of asthma, suicide, and excessive drinking is associated with decreased mortality. Overall, we recognize that social inequality places disadvantaged groups at risk, which must be addressed through future policies and pro-grams. Additionally, we reveal possible relationships between lung disease, mental health, and COVID-19 that need to be explored on a clinical level.
Cross Cultural Perspectives on Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, edited by Dara Tafazoli, M. Elena Gomez Parra, and Cristina A. Huertas-Abril

Cross Cultural Perspectives on Technology-Enhanced Language Learning Edited by Dara Tafazoli, M. Elena Gomez Parra, and Cristina A. Huertas-Abril Hershey, PA: IGA US $ 195 ISBN 9781522554639 (Hardback) 436 pages 2018
Restorative Justice Liability: School Discipline Reform and Right to Safe Schools

This article considers the relationship between school discipline reform and student rights. Traditionally student claims against school officials for injuries sustained on campus confront a tangible constraint in the form of a presumption that second-guessing education policy sits uncomfortably outside the judicial role. Under the current wave of school discipline reform, judicial review previously considered perfunctory is becoming more rigorous. Courts are finding educators liable in student injury cases, disregarding judicial deference and traditional immunities. In this changing legal environment, educators unwittingly find themselves holding the sharp end of the stick as they take up the task of revising school discipline policies around elements of restorative justice. Court decisions over the last decade suggest that school-based restorative justice policies take on variations of “excessive tolerance,” in which discipline outcomes function under the weight of an expectation to keep students in school, emphasizing forbearance and minimal sanctions. A review of cases, studies, and scholarship connects school-based restorative justice outcomes to the most important evidence of the changing judicial attitude: criminal and civil liability against educators who fail to protect students. This article argues that school disciplinary policies characterized by (a) minimal sanction severity for serious offences, (b) apathy to the probability of recurrence, and (c) disinterest for collaborative assessments, are associated with an increased risk of campus disorder and violence for which educators are culpable.
Incidence and Risk of Various Types of Arterial Thromboembolism in Patients With Cancer

Abstract Objective To describe the temporal association and identify risk factors between cancer diagnosis and various types of arterial thromboembolism (ATE). Patients and Methods We inquired an aggregated electronic health record database (Explorys, IBM Corp., Armonk, New York) and identified patients with cancer from January 1999 to October 2019, with various types of ATE, including myocardial infarction, acute ischemic stroke, acute limb ischemia, acute mesenteric ischemia, acute renal infarction, and retinal artery occlusion. We investigated the temporal relationship between cancer diagnosis and ATE events by examining the incidence ratio (IR) of ATE before and after diagnosis of cancer. Results We identified 305,384 patients with cancer and ATE. The 30-day interval IR of total ATE was elevated shortly before and after cancer diagnosis, which was consistent among different ATE and cancer types. The incidence was highest within a 330-day window (90 days before and 240 days after cancer diagnosis), and IR peaked at 13.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.6 to 14.2) in the first 30 days following diagnosis of cancer. Compared with patients with cancer who never developed ATE, patients with ATE had more cardiovascular risk factors at baseline. Patients with brain cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer had the highest risk of developing ATE, whereas ATE type was anatomically associated with cancer type. Conclusion In this observational study of an aggregated US patient population, those with newly diagnosed cancer had increased risk of ATE events. This risk was most elevated in a 330-day window around cancer diagnosis and was consistent across different types of ATE and cancer.
The Holy Grail of Tax Simplification

Calls for simplification of our tax system have come from all directions, from taxpayers themselves, from legislators and from legal scholars. But what then explains our tax system's persisting complexity? In this Article, Professor McCaffery provides a framework for addressing this fundamental question. First, the author examines the most common arguments posited in support of a complex tax system-that a complex tax system is both more equitable and efficient than a simple one. The author concludes that these arguments, collectively the "trade-off arguments," are misguided and overly simplistic. The author then turns to consider whether our political system is responsible for complex tax laws and identifies and attempts to counter four arguments that complex tax laws may be a preferred outcome of our political process. Finally, the author concludes that, at a minimum, any meaningful discussion of tax simplification must both transcend the familiar terrain of the trade-off arguments and acknowledge the political dimension of tax simplification.
Thresholds of touch: revisiting the mat(t)er of the body in the work of Luce Irigaray

This article introduces Irigaray’s notion of sexual difference as a pre-discursive, irreducible difference that is the possibility of desire and the condition of relation to the world. Couching Irigaray’s bodily language within her linguistic psychoanalytic and ethical frameworks for critiquing metaphysics, this article revisits the question of ‘body’ in Irigaray’s work in relation to the pre-discursive ‘materiality’ of sexual difference. By holding Irigaray’s theory of sexual difference together with her critique of metaphysics, the author asserts that beyond the language of immanence and transcendence, the materiality of Irigaray’s pre-discursive sexual difference constitutes the ‘stuff’ of radical alterity.
The Evolution of Quality Benchmarks for Bronchiolitis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Evidence suggests that average performance on quality measures for bronchiolitis has been improving over time, but it is unknown whether optimal performance, as defined by Achievable Benchmarks of Care (ABCs), has also changed. Thus, we aimed to compare ABCs for established bronchiolitis quality measures between 2 consecutive time periods. As a secondary aim, we evaluated performance gaps, defined as the difference between median performance and ABCs, to identify measures that may benefit most from targeted quality initiatives. METHODS We used hospital administrative data from the Pediatric Health Information System database to calculate ABCs and performance gaps for nonrecommended bronchiolitis tests and treatments in 2 groups (patients discharged from the emergency department [ED] and those hospitalized) over 2 time periods (2006–2014 and 2014–2019) corresponding to publication of national bronchiolitis guidelines. RESULTS Substantial improvements were identified in ABCs for chest radiography (ED −8.8% [confidence interval (CI) −8.3% to −9.4%]; hospitalized −17.5% [CI −16.3% to −18.7%]), viral testing (hospitalized −14.6% [CI −13.5% to −15.7%]), antibiotic use (hospitalized −10.4% [CI −8.9% to −11.1%]), and bronchodilator use (ED −9.0% [CI −8.4% to −9.6%]). Viral testing (ED 11.5% [CI 10.9% to 12.1%]; hospitalized 21.5% [CI 19.6% to 23.4%]) and bronchodilator use (ED 13.8% [CI 12.8% to 14.8%]; hospitalized 22.8% [CI 20.6% to 25.1%]) demonstrated the largest performance gaps. CONCLUSIONS Marked changes in ABCs over time for some bronchiolitis quality measures highlight the need to reevaluate improvement targets as practice patterns evolve. Measures with large performance gaps, such as bronchodilator use and viral testing, are recommended as targets for ongoing quality improvement initiatives.
Signaling Overlap between the Golgi Stress Response and Cysteine Metabolism in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by expansion of polyglutamine repeats in the protein huntingtin, which affects the corpus striatum of the brain. The polyglutamine repeats in mutant huntingtin cause its aggregation and elicit toxicity by affecting several cellular processes, which include dysregulated organellar stress responses. The Golgi apparatus not only plays key roles in the transport, processing, and targeting of proteins, but also functions as a sensor of stress, signaling through the Golgi stress response. Unlike the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, the Golgi stress response is relatively unexplored. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the Golgi stress response and its intersection with cysteine metabolism in HD.
An Empirical Study of Developing Automated Scoring Engine Using Supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation

The use of constructed-response and performance-oriented items is becoming increasingly more common in educational measurement. These items may be in the form of written essays or short answers and may appear in both high- and low-stakes assessments. Constructed responses may be scored by human raters or through an automated scoring engine. Topic modeling provides a tool for mining textual data in an effort to detect the latent semantic structures. The supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation model (sLDA) is widely used in text analysis. In this study, we examine and compare the utility of different sLDA models for detecting the latent topic structure and scoring on a test of English and language arts.
Oral manifestations of IgA deficiency.

The IgA system is viewed as a major local defense mechanism of mucous membranes, and IgA deficiency seems to be a significant predisposing factor to a variety of sino-pulmonary infections and intestinal disorders (1–6). Since IgA is the predominant immunoglobulin in secretions (7–10), including saliva, a protective role for this class of immunoglobulins in dental caries and periodontal disease has been suggested. Indeed, results of one investigation suggested that a deficient secretion of IgA in saliva might be associated with increased caries incidence (11). At present, however, the concept of immunity in dental caries is speculative and no conclusive evidence is available regarding the capacity of the IgA system to protect the periodontium (12–14). In addition, no description of the oral status of IgA deficient patients is available in the literature.
Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Mode of Action of Parathyroid Hormone

The impact of molecular and cell biology on endocrinology, as on many other fields of biomedical science, has been immense over the last decade. Genes for most of the peptide hormones have been cloned and analyzed over the last three years; more recently, the difficult task of cloning hormone receptors has been accomplished at least for several hormonal systems. Development of bacterial or mammalian cell systems to express the cDNA and genes for hormones and receptors, coupled with oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis, is permitting wide exploration of structure/activity relations for peptide hormones in endocrine signaling. The techniques of peptide chemistry can now be combined with those of molecular biology to investigate in detail the contribution of primary structure to endocrine function.
ANATOMIC AND THERAPEUTIC AIDS OF LYMPHANGIOGRAPHY IN PELVIC MALIGNANCY.

Abstract 1. 1. The use of lymphangiography as an adjunct to the therapy of pelvic malignancy in 43 cases is presented. 2. 2. The addition of chlorophyl in conjunction with a radiopaque medium results in pelvic nodes being stained green at surgery. In addition, the nodes and lymphatic channels are involved in a mild inflammatory reaction. 3. 3. A radical and thorough lymph node dissection appears to be facilitated in patients who have undergone lymphangiography. An interval of approximately one week should elapse prior to undertaking the dissection. 4. 4. At laparotomy following lymphadenectomy a repeat lymphangiogram may reveal incomplete excision and residual nodal distribution. 5. 5. The technique provides the opportunity for an in vivo evaluation of the surgical anatomy of the lymphatic syste.
A Domain Decomposition Based Parallel Inexact Newton's Method with Subspace Correction for Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

There are two major types of approaches for solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. One of them is the so-called projection method, in which the velocity field and the pressure field are solved separately. This method is very efficient, but is difficult to be extended to another multi-physics problem when an appropriate splitting is not available. The other approach is the fully coupled method in which the velocity and pressure fields stay together throughout the computation. The coupled approach can be easily extended to other multi-physics problems, but it requires the solution of some rather difficult linear and nonlinear algebraic systems of equations. The paper focuses on a fully coupled domain decomposition based parallel inexact Newton's method with subspace correction for incompressible Navier-Stokes equations at high Reynolds numbers. The discussion is restricted to the velocity-vorticity formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations, but the idea can be generalized to other multi-physics problems.
Hierarchical Wavelet Controller

This paper introduces a new control architecture and its design for feedback control systems. Our goal is to develop an architecture that will exploit the opportunities given by modern computational advances and create a structure that will eventually embrace intelligence features. Nested feedback loops are derived from the multiresolutional representation of control variables and hierarchical prediction of the next sample error vector. Method leads to a simple design process and demonstrates the advantages over other approaches.
Co-Creator or Creative Predator?: James Nash’s Contributions to Catholic Social Teaching on Ecological Ethics

While the Catholic Church’s official teaching on the environment presents a hopeful and comprehensive ecological ethic rooted in the goodness of creation and humanity’s privileged role as co-creator, it does not sufficiently account for the violence of predation and humanity’s necessary participation in it. James Nash’s understanding of humans as altruistic, creative predators can further Catholic ecological ethics because it strikes a better balance between humanity’s call to love creation and the moral ambiguity of the evolutionary process. Humans as creative predators suggests three new understandings of what ecological sacrifice could entail: 1) to see the death of every creature, even if a morally justifiable death, as a kind of sacrifice; 2) to recognize that ecological sustainability may demand dramatic and subversive shifts in behavior; and 3) to sacrifice our tendency to view nonhumans instrumentally by advocating a Biotic Bill of Rights.
Educational Success in High-Risk Settings: Contributions of the Chicago Longitudinal Study.

Abstract I provide an overview of the Chicago Longitudinal Study. This prospective study traces the educational and social success of a large sample of low-income children (over 90% of whom are African American) from high-poverty neighborhoods in the Chicago Public Schools. In 1985–1986, the sample participated in the Child–Parent Centers and other early childhood programs. The four studies reported in this special issue highlight the contributions of school mobility, parent involvement, educational expectations, and other family and school experiences in preventing learning problems and promoting educational success.
Learning from Examples and Membership Queries with Structured Determinations

It is well known that prior knowledge or bias can speed up learning, at least in theory. It has proved difficult to make constructive use of prior knowledge, so that approximately correct hypotheses can be learned efficiently. In this paper, we consider a particular form of bias which consists of a set of “determinations.” A set of attributes is said to determine a given attribute if the latter is purely a function of the former. The bias is tree-structured if there is a tree of attributes such that the attribute at any node is determined by its children, where the leaves correspond to input attributes and the root corresponds to the target attribute for the learning problem. The set of allowed functions at each node is called the basis. The tree-structured bias restricts the target functions to those representable by a read-once formula (a Boolean formula in which each variable occurs at most once) of a given structure over the basis functions. We show that efficient learning is possible using a given tree-structured bias from random examples and membership queries, provided that the basis class itself is learnable and obeys some mild closure conditions. The algorithm uses a form of controlled experimentation in order to learn each part of the overall function, fixing the inputs to the other parts of the function at appropriate values. We present empirical results showing that when a tree-structured bias is available, our method significantly improves upon knowledge-free induction. We also show that there are hard cryptographic limitations to generalizing these positive results to structured determinations in the form of a directed acyclic graph.
Peripheral vascular function in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (1156.4)

While peripheral vascular dysfunction is well-described in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction, disease-related changes in vascular function in heart failure patients with preserv...
ROLE OF MARINE FUNGI IN THE BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE OCEANS. IV. GROWTH RESPONSES TO SEAWATER INORGANIC MACROCONSTITUENTS.

Sguros, Peter L. (University of Miami, Miami, Fla.), and Jacqueline Simms. Role of marine fungi in the biochemistry of the oceans. IV. Growth responses to seawater inorganic macroconstituents. J. Bacteriol. 88:346–355. 1964.—The filamentous ascomycete Halosphaeria mediosetigera and the deuteromycete Culcitalna achraspora were gravimetrically characterized by growth curves in natural and artificial seawater media. Response to growth media employing these diluents was very similar, and stationary phases of both cultures showed autolysis. The organisms grew at all concentrations of seawater, but growth maxima were observed between 20 and 60%. Neither seawater was able to reduce the requirement for yeast extract. Glass-distilled water was slightly better than artificial seawater for the survival of homogenized, washed, resting mycelia over long periods at 4 C. Regardless of suspending medium, this treatment did not appreciably alter the regenerative vigor of inocula. Qualitative and quantitative variations of artificial seawater, without rigid exclusion of inorganic traces from experimental media, demonstrated separate growth requirements for Na, K, Mg, Ca, and SO4. Only K and Ca appeared nontoxic at seawater concentrations, however. Some evidence of Na antagonism by Mg was obtained. Responses to test ions were best observed in the absence of seawater amounts of NaCl. Reactions of these generically distinct fungi to most experimental manipulations were markedly alike. Both fungi appeared to be appropriately labeled “marine,” judging by criteria currently in general use.
An integrated approach to design and engineering of intelligent buildings—The Intelligent Workplace at Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract In the past few years, there have been significant advances made in the design and engineering of “intelligent” workplaces, buildings that not only accommodate major advances in office technology but provide better physical and environmental settings for the occupants. This paper will briefly present recent approaches to the creation of innovative environments for the advanced workplace. The architectural and engineering advances demonstrated in Japan, Germany, North America, the United Kingdom, and France can be summarized in four major system categories: (1) enclosure innovations including approaches to load balancing, natural ventilation and daylighting; (2) heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system innovations including approaches to local control and improved environmental contact; (3) data/voice/power “connectivity” innovations; and (4) interior system innovations, including approaches to workstation and workgroup design for improved spatial, thermal, acoustic, visual and air quality. In-depth international field studies of over 20 intelligent office buildings have been carried out by a multidisciplinary expert team of the Advanced Building Systems Integration Consortium (ABSIC) based at Carnegie Mellon University. ABSIC is a university-industry-government partnership focused on the definition and development of the advanced workplace. The ABSIC field team evaluated the component and integrated system innovations for their multidimensional performance qualities, through expert analysis, occupancy assessments and field diagnostics. Based on the results of the case studies and building on the most recent technological advances, the ABSIC team developed the concepts for the Intelligent Workplace, a 7000 square foot living laboratory of office environments and innovations. This project is now under construction at Carnegie Mellon University and its features are discussed in the second section of this paper.
Evaluation of Effects of Recycled Concrete Aggregate on Volumetrics of Hot-Mix Asphalt:

Each year around 200 million tons of demolition wastes are produced from aging U.S. infrastructures. Of that amount, 100 million tons are portland cement concrete debris. Disposal of these wastes in landfills has been a traditional solution, but environmental regulations, costs, and a lack of landfill areas have hindered safe disposal. These problems have led to a search for alternate ways of reusing demolition wastes by recycling. Recycling the concrete waste not only reduces the waste disposal problem but also reduces the quarrying of virgin aggregate. The incorporation of recycled concrete as a hot-mix asphalt (HMA) aggregate can be a viable option in terms of costs and environmental considerations. This use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as an HMA aggregate can be beneficial for constructing low-volume roads. RCA differs from virgin aggregates in that there is cement paste on the surface of the recycled concrete. In this study, 5% RCA was evaluated as an HMA aggregate. Mix designs were conducted...
Lef3a: Pupil segmentation using Viterbi search algorithm

A non-circular pupil segmentation approach using Viterbi path research is presented. Around the circle approximation of the pupil, a large region of gradient is produced radially. An enhancement step is used in order to remove outliers from the gradient image. A Viterbi algorithm is applied to find the contour that maximizes the gradient value along a connex contour. Our method which we called Lef3a (a snake that lives in Tunisian desert) is compared to three state of the art methods: a circular detector, an elliptical detector and a Snake detector. The two first methods are developed by our team; the last method is an external work based on Daugman's published method. We will show some segmentation results on non circular pupils, and we will compare the performance of all segmentation methods coupled with a standard iris coding and matching process on Notre Dame Database and our private database. Finally all methods are compared in terms of time processing.
Patient genotypes impact survival after surgery for isolated congenital heart disease.

Background Survival after cardiac surgery in infancy requires adaptive responses from oxidative stress management and vascular regulation pathways. We tested the hypothesis that genetic variation in these pathways influences postoperative survival in nonsyndromic congenital heart disease children. Methods This is an analysis of a cohort of nonsyndromic congenital heart disease patients who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass before 6 months of age (n = 422). Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in six genes involved in oxidative stress and vascular response pathways, identified through a priori literature search, were tested for effects on transplant-free survival. Survival curves, adjusting for confounding covariates, were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard models. Results Long-term survival was strongly associated with vascular endothelial growth factor A gene SNP rs833069 ( p = 7.03×10 −4 ) and superoxide dismutase 2 gene SNP rs2758331 ( p = 0.019). To test for joint effects of the two SNPs on transplant-free survival, the genotypes were grouped to form a risk score reflecting the cumulative number of risk alleles (0 to 4 alleles per patient). A higher risk score based on the VEGFA and SOD2 SNP genotypes was associated with worse transplant-free survival ( p = 3.02×10 −4 ) after confounder adjustment. The total burden of risk alleles was additive; subjects with the highest risk score of 4 (n = 59 subjects, 14.2% of the cohort) had a total covariate-adjusted hazard ratio of 15.64 for worse transplant-free survival. Conclusions After cardiac surgery, infants who are homozygous for the high-risk alleles for both the VEGFA and SOD2 SNPs have an approximately 16-fold increased risk of death or heart transplant, suggesting that genetic variants are important modifiers of survival after surgery for congenital heart disease.
DISINFECTANT RESIDUAL CONTROL OF MULTIPLE NODES IN WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

Abstract Based on investigating the spatially distributed input-output relationship of disinfectant residual in water distribution networks this paper formulates the water quality control problem of multiple nodes in an adaptive optimal control framework with special consideration on the periodic variation of parameter uncertainty and imposed bounds on the control input. The periodic parametric uncertainty which arises due to varying consumer demands is represented by a Fourier series with online parameter estimation of the unknown coefficients. A modified indirect adaptive control scheme for a single-input is studied and then is extended to the case of multiple disinfectant boosters. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the performance of the algorithm in a real water distribution network.
Model Updating Using Constrained Eigenstructure Assignment

Abstract A technique of constrained eigenstructure assignment (CEA) is presented. The technique can update small order finite element models by using experimental modal analysis data or assign analytical eigenstructure to dynamic models for purposes of simulation and design. The CEA technique forms symmetric damping and stiffness correction matrices that mirror the form of the existing model. Non-zero entries in the upper triangular parts of the correction matrices become design variables and are optimized to assign the desired eigenstructure. A common problem in updating methods is the loss of physical connectivity and matrix symmetry. The method proposed here retains matrix symmetry and banding, and the signs of the diagonal and off-diagonal elements, and can bound the magnitude of any entries of the coefficient matrices. Furthermore, the method can maintain the identities between repetitive entries in the matrices that occur due to symmetries in the geometry of the model. This is important when identical sections of a model should have identical stiffness and damping in the updated model. Also, this repetitiveness can substantially reduce the computational time of the solution. The CEA technique also incorporates an optional eigenvector iteration feature that minimizes shifting of unassigned eigenvalues. This is important for design purposes and when assigning only a few measured eigenvalues to the analytical model. A computer algorithm completely contained within the framework of the MATLAB software system has been developed to implement the method. Simple example problems are presented to exhibit the utility of the technique. Note that the method presented here is most applicable to small or reduced order dynamic models, as large dimensions render the computations very slow.
Pacifiers: An Update on Use and Misuse

PURPOSE. The use of pacifiers is a controversial topic; this article looks at the subject from both a historical and cultural perspective, with a review of current research. CONCLUSIONS. The use of pacifiers in infants older than 1 month is currently recommended by multiple researchers to prevent sudden infant death syndrome, and is associated with other benefits for premature infants. However, pacifier use has also been associated with higher risk of otitis media. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. Knowledge of the most recent evidence will enable providers to communicate appropriate guidelines on pacifier use to families.
Gender Disparity in Failure Rate for Arterial Catheter Attempts

We examined risk factors associated with failure of arterial catheterization in the medical intensive care unit of a large urban teaching hospital. We analyzed 92 consecutive arterial catheterizati...
SCALES, REGIMES, AND THE URBAN GOVERNANCE OF GLASGOW

Over the last two decades, urban regime theory has become one of the most dominant paradigms of thought in urban studies. In particular, regime theory offers a complex account of urban governance, ...
A framework for selective query expansion

Query expansion is a well-known technique that has been shown to improve average retrieval performance. This technique has not been used in many operational systems because of the fact that it can greatly degrade the performance of some individual queries. We show how comparison between language models of the unexpanded and expanded retrieval results can be used to predict when the expanded retrieval has strayed from the original sense of the query. In these cases, the unexpanded results are used while the expanded results are used in the remaining cases (where such straying is not detected). We evaluate this method on a wide variety of TREC collections.
Tuned MEDICI simulator including inverse short channel effect for sub-0.18-μm CMOS technologies

This paper describes device simulation using a simulator (MEDICI) which is tuned to accurately predict the I-V characteristics of MOSFETS with conventional (non-pocket) channel profiles or pocket implants, and physical gate lengths from 10 micrometer to 0.16 micrometer. The key features of the simulation are, (1) the addition of a doping profile correction to the channel in NMOSFETs to model the inverse (reverse) short channel effect (ISCE/RSCE), (2) the incorporation of a new model to describe the pocket implant profile, and (3) the use of a two-step doping profile in the polysilicon gate to model gate depletion. The estimation of parameters for the profile correction and the pocket implant model, and the procedure of matching the simulated and experimental threshold voltage (V T ) as a function of gate length is described for the first time in this paper. The two- step gate doping profile, mobility parameters, external source-drain resistance R sd and saturation velocity V sat , used in the simulation, are determined by comparing the experimental and simulated C-V and I-V characteristics using the methodology discussed in reference 4. Good agreement between measured and simulated device characteristics is demonstrated for NMOS and PMOS devices with conventional profiles and pocket implants with varying doses, at supply voltages of 1 and 1.5 V.
Characterization and genetic mapping of a short, highly repeated, interspersed DNA sequence from rice (Oryza sativa L.).

A short, highly repeated, interspersed DNA sequence from rice was characterized using a combination of techniques and genetically mapped to rice chromosomes by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. A consensus sequence (GGC)n, where n varies from 13–16, for the repeated sequence family was deduced from sequence analysis. Southern blot analysis, restriction mapping of repeat element-containing genomic clones, and DNA sequence analysis indicated that the repeated sequence is interspersed in the rice genome, and is heterogeneous and divergent. About 200000 copies are present in the rice genome. Single copy sequences flanking the repeat element were used as RFLP markers to map individual repeat elements. Eleven such repeat elements were mapped to seven different chromosomes. The strategy for characterization of highly dispersed repeated DNA and its uses in genetic mapping, DNA fingerprinting, and evolutionary studies are discussed.
Visualization of five hyperplastic parathyroid glands using 99mTc-sestamibi scintigraphy in a patient with chronic renal failure.

Supernumerary parathyroid glands are found in 13% of random autopsies and 30% of patients with renal hyperparathyroidism [1]. Visualization and localization of a fifth or sixth parathyroid gland is of great important in uremic patients, requiring surgical treatment of hyperparathyroidism [2]. 99m Tc-sestamibi parathyroid scintigraphy, with its high sensitivity and specificity for detecting parathyroid adenomas, is the modality of choice for the preoperative evaluation of patients withhyperparathyroidism [3–5]. This modality isless sensitive for detecting hyperplastic parathyroid glands [5]. Ourreported case is a 55-year-old male patient with chronic renal failure on dialysis, who presented with an elevated parathyroid hormone level. 99m Tc-sestamibi scintigraphy was performed to evaluate the presence of parathyroid hyperplasia or possible parathyroid adenoma. The early image (a )s howed evidence of a small focal area with 99m Tc-sestamibi uptake within the anterior neck field above the upper pole of the right thyroid lobe (arrow), and there was homogeneous tracer uptake within the thyroid gland. Delayed images at 1 h (b) and 2 h (c) showed progressive clearance of the 99m Tcsestamibi from the thyroid gland, with evidence of five foci with 99m Tc-sestamibi retention (arrows); four of them were within the field of the thyroid gland, and one was seen in the early image above the upper pole of the right thyroid lobe. Surgical exploration of the neck and histopathology confirmed the presence of five hyperplastic parathyroid glands.
Media Concentration and Minority Ownership: The Intersection of Ellul and Habermas

Minorities comprise a tiny fraction of media owners, and continued media consolidation exacerbates existing disparities. This article examines this problem by integrating the work of Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Ellul. These theorists identify a common concern—described alternately as technicization and colonization—involving homogenization of content, loss of localism, and decreased ownership diversity. In different ways, each acknowledges the possibility that social action can make a difference. Habermas' discourse ethics provides a normative foundation for arguing on behalf of ownership diversity and policy reform. Though Ellul is skeptical of institutional reform, he offers a complementary vision of concrete action on the part of local, independent community groups. While their solutions are different, we argue that both are necessary. Media reform efforts must incorporate both Habermasian and Ellulian approaches by supplementing federal regulatory reform with independent grassroots activism. A combina...
Acoustically modulated optical transmission for low level gaseous species measurement.

A new optical technique has been developed for low level optical extinction measurements in gaseous media. It is a variation on direct light transmission where the sample gas density in a cell is modulated acoustically by a loudspeaker. The amplitude variation of the light transmission is proportional to the gas density and is insensitive to window contamination and detector instabilities. Preliminary analysis and experiments indicate that the instrument promises to measure light absorption to < 1%/m. The technique has been demonstrated through the use of an absorbing gas, namely, 200 ppm of NO2 in N2 which produces 2.5% absorption over the observed path length of 10 cm.
Pernicious anemia and giant cell myocarditis. New association

Abstract The association of pernicious anemia, an autoimmune disease, with other Immunologic disorders such as dermatitis herpetiformis, Hashimoto's thyrolditis, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, vitiligo, adrenal insufficiency, adult-onset Immunoglobulln deficiency, hypoparathyroldism, and possibly diabetes mellitus has been reported. The association of pernicious anemia with giant cell myocarditis, a rare fatal Illness believed by some to represent an autoimmune abnormality occurring with other autoimmune diseases such as thymoma, systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, thyrotoxicosis, Wegener's granulomatosis, and Sjogren's syndrome, is reported for the first time. A common underlying autoimmune abnormality is suggested.
Scientific collaboration, internationalism, and diplomacy: The case of the atomic bomb casualty commission

The "long-term study" in question commenced with the establishment of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in 1947. The ABCC was ostensibly a joint Japanese-American effort with a purely scientific goal: namely, to ascertain the long-term radiation biological effects of the bombs on survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, especially in its early years, the ABCC was much more an American effort with an additional diplomatic mission: to enlist Japan as an ally in the Cold War containment of Communism. In this paper, I am especially concerned with the role played by Japanese-American scientific collaboration (or apparent collaboration) in helping to fulfill the ABCC'S diplomatic ends. Central to this analysis is a reconstrual of the notion of scientific "collaboration," with the emphasis shifted from credit-sharing to the sharing of responsibility (or the apparent sharing of responsibility) not only between individuals, but also between scientific institutions and governments. Analysis of the diplomatic aims of the ABCC also requires some discussion of the idea that science "knows no boundaries" that science is transnational. In principle, the transnationality of science facilitates international scientific collaborations, which in turn provide evidence for that particular conception of science in principle!
The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer and the local interstellar medium

The EUV Explorer (EUVE) mission is described, with emphasis on the overall capabilities of the instrumentation and the relevance of the mission to determining parameters of the local interstellar medium. The primary purpose of the mission is to search the celestial sphere for astronomical sources of EUV radiation (100-1000 A). The search will be accomplished with the use of three EUV telescopes, sensitive to different segments of the EUV band. A fourth telescope will perform a high-sensitivity search of a limited sample of the sky in the shortest-wavelength bands. The all-sky survey will be carried out in the first six months of the mission. The second six months of the mission, conducted entirely by Guest Investigators selected by NASA, will be devoted to spectroscopic observations of selected EUV sources. The instrumentation is now well developed. The best mirror has full-width/half-energy spread of 8 arcsec and a surface finish of 20 A. Prototype thin-film bandpass filters have been flown on the Space Shuttle and their performance optimized. Prototype detectors have been developed which have 600 by 600-pixel imaging capability and up to 80-percent quantum efficiency in parts of the EUV band.
The roles of residual stress and surface topography on hardness of Ti implanted Ti6Al4V

Titanium ions were implanted into Ti6Al4V to investigate the effects of implantation-induced residual stresses on hardness. Fluences ranged from 0 to 4.0 × 1017 cm−2, at 0.5 × 1017 cm−2 increments. Hardness values were obtained on unimplanted specimens, under various levels of bending stress, for estimation of ion-induced residual stresses in implanted specimens. The results showed that hardness increased with increasing ion fluence, up to 3.5 × 1017 cm−2, to a value that correlated with a bending stress of around 400 MPa. At the 4.0 × 1017 cm−2 fluence, the hardness dropped significantly. AFM images showed ‘nodules’ at this fluence, suggestive of buckling of the over-compressed surface layer. Surface texturing due to Ti implantation was evident at all fluences, suggestive of sputtering through the native oxide layer.