cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toward a dependability case language and workflow for a radiation therapy system

We present a near-future research agenda for bringing a suite of modern programming-languages verification tools - specifically interactive theorem proving, solver-aided languages, and formally defined domain-specific languages - to the development of a specific safety-critical system, a radiotherapy medical device. We sketch how we believe recent programming-languages research advances can merge with existing best practices for safety-critical systems to increase system assurance and developer productivity. We motivate hypotheses central to our agenda: That we should start with a single specific system and that we need to integrate a variety of complementary verification and synthesis tools into system development.
Patriarchal Family Ideology and Female Homicide Victimization in Fiji

Despite the burgeoning scholarship on femicide, there has been surprisingly little empirical investigation of the phenomenon in non-Western societies. This study addresses this empirical lacuna by ...
Fatigue Strength of Ribbon Bonds

Ribbon or wire bonding is a common manufacturing process used in the microelectronic industry to make interconnections between electronic components. This process is used because it can make up for misalignment and inconsistent spacing between the components due to tolerance stack ups. In addition, since the ribbons are not rigid they will flex and absorb any stresses that develop when the components expand and contract in the field due to temperature changes. This paper investigates the use of a mechanical method to exercise ribbons in this fashion until they failed. Ribbons of a constant profile but different sizes were exercised at different levels of stress to develop a fatigue life model. It is found that ribbons exercised only a small percentage of their overall span survive exponentially longer than the same ribbons exercised at a higher percentage of their overall span. In addition, at short span lengths relative to the thickness, the ribbon becomes less ‘thread like’ and more stiff. The model developed in this study can be used for designing ribbon size and shape based upon expected thermal expansion cycling and necessary life or reliability.© 2010 ASME
Terahertz-induced field-free orientation of rotationally excited molecules.

Preferential orientation of polar molecules can be induced by irradiating excited molecules with a terahertz laser pulse.
Effect of Zedoary Turmeric Oil on Proliferation in Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Line A549

Objective To explore the inhibiting effect of Zedoary turmeric oil on the proliferation of A549 cell line.Methods Lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 was cultured in vitro.The inhibition rate of Zedoary turmeric oil on the proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 for 24,48,72 h were determined by MTT colorimetric assay.The cell cycle of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 stimulated by Zedoary turmeric oil for 24 h was analyzed by flow cytometry.The apoptosis and necrosis of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 stimulated by Zedoary turmeric oil for 24 h was tested by Annexin Ⅴ-FITC/PI assay.Results MTT assay indicated that the inhibition rate of Zedoary turmeric oil on the proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 increased significantly with the growing of time and concentration.Further analysis by flow cytometry indicated that Zedoary turmeric oil stimulating the A549 cells for 24 h led to G0/G1 phase arrest and blocked S phase entry.Meanwhile cells in early apoptosis,late apoptosis and necrosis were increased,and the percentage of necrotic cells was more than apoptotic cells with the increase of the concentration of Zedoary turmeric oil.Conclusion Zedoary turmeric oil can markedly inhibit the proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 in time-dependent and dose-dependent manners,and its role was achieved through preventing cell-cycle progression and inducing apoptosis and necrosis.
Protein and nitrogen metabolism in gestational diabetes

Metabolic perturbations associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have been shown to result in significant clinical morbidity, both for the mother and the neonate. Although a number of studies have documented the changes in glucose metabolism in GDM, the data on nitrogen and protein metabolism remain scant. Recent data in GDM show that 1) the rate of irreversible nitrogen loss as measured by the rate of urea synthesis in GDM is similar to that in normal pregnancy and is less than that in nonpregnant women; and 2) possibly related to the magnitude of metabolic decompensation as assessed by the nature of therapeutic intervention (diet or diet plus insulin), the rate of protein turnover measured by leucine kinetics is increased in insulin-treated GDM. Whether the decompensation in protein turnover contributes to the persistent fetal macrosomia, even in rigorously managed GDM, remains speculative.
Acting and Enacting: A Case Study in the Evolution of Theatrical Performance

Acting in the theatre involves complex psychological processes, commented upon since antiquity by philosophers, and more recently by theatrical theorists. In the early 1990s, the author entered graduate school in drama with the explicit aim of studying the psychology of the theatrical process in vivo.Based on his experiences in three productions, he developed a hypothesis: As actors and their director inhabit a play's text, the play's text inhabits them.The habitation of the play's text becomes manifest in the day-to-day interactions of the actors with each other, and with the director. These interactions often involve transference enactments(Nuetzel, 1995). Unfortunately, those who had been most open with the author requested that he suppress the most compelling data. In this report, the author describes his own experience playing Father Dewis in Sam Shepard's (1981) Buried Childin order to demonstrate the central role of transference enactments in the evolution of theatrical performance.
Preprocedural Assessment for Sedation in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

The role of the anesthesia service in sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) has been steadily increasing. The goals of preprocedural assessment are determined by the specific details of the procedure, the issues related to the illness that requires the endoscopy, comorbidities, the goals for sedation, and the risk of complications from the sedation and the endoscopic procedure. Rather than consider these issues as separate entities, they should be considered as part of a continuum of preparation for GIE. This is told from the perspective of an anesthesiologist who regularly participates in the full range of sedation for GIE.
Taking China’s anticorruption campaign seriously

AbstractThis article draws on a rich empirical literature on comparative corruption and rich theoretical literatures on the related topics of institutions and credible commitment to analyze China’s newest anticorruption campaign, ongoing today. It argues that the campaign differs notably from previous efforts. In addition to its most obvious features of longer duration and higher reach, the campaign has significantly changed the structure of Party and government incentives so as to reduce bureaucratic opportunities for corruption and structural obstacles to anticorruption enforcement. These features constitute important steps toward anticorruption institutionalisation and credible commitment to good governance. The article concludes by proposing some strategic policy choices to promote and protect anticorruption gains.
Smalholders’ Market Inclusion through Improved Eco-management – The Case of Bulgaria

Abstract. Enhancing environmental performance is a prospective way for increasing market inclusion, effectiveness and sustainability of small-scale farms around the globe. With a very few exceptions, there are no studies on forms, factors and efficiency of “eco-driven” market inclusion of smallholders in modern supply chains in Bulgaria. This paper presents findings of a first large-scale study on state, driving forces, and efficiency of market inclusion of farms through enhanced eco-management in Bulgaria. First, diverse forms of eco-management in farms with different size, market orientation, product specialization, and location are identified. Second, costs, effects, and efficiency of eco-management are assessed, including the extent the improve eco-performance contributes to increased market inclusion of farms. Third, critical personal, economic, contractual, institutional, etc. factors of managerial choice in the eco-active farms are specified. Forth, perspectives of expansion of this particular mode of market inclusion of Bulgarian smallholdes are estimated. Finaly, directions for improving public policies and business strategies of smallholders in Bulgaria and other countries with similar conditions are suggested. Keywords. Farm sustainability, Governance, Economic, Social, Ecological aspects, Framework for assessment. JEL. Q10, Q56, R33.
Cooperation and Competition Among New Ventures: The Role of Genealogical Cohorts

Past research has examined generational links between parent and progeny firms, demonstrating how founders of progeny firms utilize knowledge and routines obtained during their tenure with the pare...
Multi-sensor Platform for Detection of Anomalies in Human Sleep Patterns

This work describes a multi-sensor platform for anomalies detection in human sleep patterns. The inputs of the platform are sequences of human postures, extensively used for analysis of activities of daily living and, more in general, for human behaviour understanding. The postures are acquired by using both ambient and wearable sensors that are time-of-flight 3D vision sensor, ultra-wideband radar sensor, and three-axial accelerometer. The suggested platform aims to provide an abstraction layer with respect to the underlying sensing technologies, exploiting the postural information in common to all involved sensors (i.e., Standing, Bending, Sitting, Lying down). Furthermore, in order to fill the lack of datasets containing long-term postural sequences, which are required in human sleep analysis, a simulator of activities of daily living/postures has been proposed. The capability of the platform in providing a sensing invariant interface (i.e., abstracted from any specific sensing technology) was demonstrated by preliminary results, exhibiting high accuracy in sleep anomalies detection using the three aforementioned sensors.
On Vernacular Rationality: Gadamer and Eze in Conversation

In this chapter, Amato explores the concept of “vernacular rationality” introduced by Emmanuel Chukwude Eze in his On Reason: Rationality in a World of Cultural Conflict and Racism. Amato interrogates the different ways this idea can be unfolded, expanded, and developed in the spirit if not the letter of Eze’s employment in relation to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics—in particular, its conception of the role tradition plays in the pursuit of understanding and the idea of hermeneutics as practical philosophy. A more hermeneutical conception of vernacular rationality would have the benefit of embracing the linguisticality of our circumstance, and reorienting our rationality toward one another in conversation and dialogue. From the standpoint of Philosophical Hermeneutics this requires us to engage in a critical-constitutive relation toward our tradition(s), emphasizing the work of listening within and between tradition(s), and broadening the circle of listening so as to strengthen the practical connections that allow conversation and dialogue to overcome the irrational and inhumane.
Energy Storage Technologies and Their Role in Renewable Integration

Today’s world is at a turning point. Resources are running low, pollution is increasing, and the climate is changing. As we are about to run out of fossil fuels in the next few decades, we are keen to find substitutes that will guarantee our acquired wealth and further growth on a long-term basis. Modern technology is already providing us with such alternatives like wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, biomass plants, and more. But these technologies have flaws. Compared to traditional power plants, they produce much smaller amounts of electricity, and even more problematic is the inconsistency of the production. The global demand for electricity is huge, and it’s growing by approximately 3.6% annually, but the sun isn’t always shining nor is the wind always blowing. For technical reasons, however, the amount of electricity fed into the power grid must always remain on the same level as demanded by the consumers to prevent blackouts and damage to the grid. It leads to situations where the production is higher than the consumption or vice versa. This is where storage technologies come into play—they are the key element to balance out these flaws [1].
Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: Synopsis of the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Hypertension Guideline.

In November 2017, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released the guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pre...
Leading for Change: School Leader Advocacy for Undocumented Immigrant Students

School leaders can ally with other educational stakeholders to encourage undocumented student persistence in Pk-12 schools. We explore (1) how school leaders create systems of support for undocumen...
Android based exam paper generator (Android based E-PAGE)

Exam Paper Generator provides a solution to choose challenging, well framed questions and make it easy for the instructor to generate it within a short period of time. This can be done in a few taps of the hand as it is an Android application, therefore accessible at any time and place. It contains various modules which enables the system to deal with all questions easily. The modules like admin module, user module, and question entry and question management makes it an effortless task. From the entered input the paper is generated and saved as a .pdf file which can be kept for own or distributed as per the user or admin requirements.
The Behavioral Effects of Opiates

This chapter will examine the effects of opiates on behavior, which immediately raises the questions of what are “opiates” and what constitutes “behavior.” Although both these terms can encompass widely varying domains, for the purpose of this chapter, they will not be very rigidly defined. Opiate will be used to denote chemicals with opium or morphine-like effects regardless of whether they are derived from plant or animal sources or whether they are synthetic. The term opioid will be used in a more restrictive sense, being reserved for substances endogenous to the mammalian central nervous system and synthetic analogs of them that have opiate like properties. Behavior will be used in a broad sense of the word, including any response of striated, smooth, or cardiac muscle, as well as secretion of glands. This approach will allow the examination of topics that are relatively simple and about which an instructive amount is known and may provide useful models for the examination of the role of opiates in more complex behaviors.
Preparing nurses for the acute care case manager role: educational needs identified by existing case managers.

Background There is little in the literature about how best to prepare nurses for case manager roles. Method Twenty acute care case managers were asked to identify skills and knowledge that would be of value to nurses new to case manager roles. Results Community resources, discharge planning, and third party reimbursement were the top three educational needs identified by all case managers. Baccalaureate prepared case managers identified clinical issues to be of value, such as family coping, patient education, quality of life, and social support, while master's prepared nurses identified only system-related issues. Conclusion Educational programs preparing baccalaureate prepared case managers could focus on both clinical and system issues, while programs preparing master's educated case managers could focus primarily on managing system issues. Staff development professionals may also call on experts inside and outside the institution to assist in teaching about health care finance and reimbursement issues.
Adolescent English Learners' Use of Digital Technology in the Classroom.

This study looked at how five adolescent English Learners (ELs) in an English as a second language class use the available digital technology. Data collected consisted of classroom observations, st...
Force on an electric dipole near an ENZ interface

An electric dipole near a surface is subject to the electromagnetic force by its own reflected field. We have derived a closed-form expression for this force for the case of an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) medium. This force is perpendicular to the surface, and it is repulsive. We show that this force is due to the evanescent reflected field. For a rotating dipole moment, there is also a lateral force, which, in the ENZ limit, is vanishing small. However, when a small amount of damping is present in the material, this force becomes comparable with the force component perpendicular to the surface.
The Scattering of Atoms and Molecules from Solid Surfaces

The ill-defined nature of the solid surfaces being studied (and the subsequent nonreproducibility of many experimental results) has in the past made gas-solid processes an unattractive area for theoretical studies. Recently, however, the experimental situation has improved considerably. Various techniques involving electron diffraction [particularly low-energy electron diffraction (LEED)] have emerged as useful tools for monitoring the geometry of the surface; for a review, see Estrup and McRae.(1) Because, in the case of LEED, the energy of the incident electrons is small, the beam probes only the uppermost surface layers of the solid (i.e., electron penetration depths of 3–10 A). Therefore, structural changes in the uppermost layer due to adsorption or rearrangement of the surface itself are often visible. Auger electron spectroscopy has become a useful tool for identifying surface atoms at very low concentrations.(2) High-energy electrons are used to ionize inner shells of target atoms. The resulting positive ion is often in an excited state and returns to the ground state with emission of a second (Auger) electron. The energy spectrum of the Auger electrons is rather sensitive to the detailed electronic environment these electrons encounter on their way out of the solid. This, in effect, identifies the species encountered. Auger spectroscopy has been perhaps the most widely used of the various techniques based on detection of emitted electrons.
Factores socioeconómicos que influyen en la formalidad tributaria de restaurantes en los distritos de Santa Anita y Miraflores de Lima-Perú

To determine the main socioeconomical factors that influence on the fiscal duties observance in Restaurants from Santa Anita and Miraflores districts, this study was performed. 150 restaurants per district were studied. A validated survey by Cornbach´s alpha was applied. Frequencies were calculated and the socioeconomical factors influence was determined using Xi2 test. Santa Anita showed higher dispersion than Miraflores and male gender was prevalent. There were differences in education, tributary training, the kind of business, importance of team work, the most affecting tax, citizenship security and vial access importance, supervisionand control and tributary encouragement by SUNAT, influence of bank credit, or mortgage and generated incomes over lifestyle; and the fiscal duties observance. They agree about considering fiscal responsibilities as the main problem and the monthly average income. Finally, all the factors significatively influenced on the observance of task duties
An Exploration of the D-FACTS Influence in the Mho Ground Distance Elements in Presence of Fault Resistance and Parallel Lines Mutual Coupling

This paper reports on an examination of the effect of inductive Distributed Flexible AC Transmission System (D-FACTS) devices on the performance of mho ground distance elements. D-FACTS devices supply a distributed solution to avoid transmission bottlenecks, but their operation may contribute in adding more complexity for ground distance elements in cases with fault resistance in the fault path or induced mutual coupling between parallel lines. This work focuses on the influence of these devices on the fault resistance coverage of the ground distance elements. The study analyzes the response of ground distance function in presence of fault resistance for a ground fault and how the power flow direction affects this response. Also, this work explores how D-FACTS impact the mutual coupling degree between the parallel lines and how that may affect the performance of their protection system.
‘They say they don’t see color, but maybe they should!’ Authoritarian populism and colorblind liberal political culture

While easy to empirically document the explicit bias underlying authoritarian populism, most of the individuals animating the movement are driven by sentiments harder to detect, such as implicit bi...
Existence Zones for Multipactor Discharge

The first theories [2, 3] of multipactor discharge in a planar gap were based on an assumption that is not entirely consistent with available data on the energy distribution of secondary electrons. Specifically, to simplify the analysis, it was assumed that the velocity v1 of secondary electrons is less than the velocity vk of primary electrons by a constant factor k = vk∕v1. The theory was later refined and a comparison was carried out with experimental results [4, 5]; however, this same assumption was used to calculate boundaries of zones in which discharge can exist.
Abstract 5812: FOXD1 mediates G2/M transition in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

The forkhead family of transcription factors are highly conserved and essential during embryonic development. There have been reports showing increased expression of forkheads in various cancers, but little is known about the role of these proteins in the disease context. Analysis of 500 clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) transcriptomes in The Cancer Genome Database revealed that FOXD1 is overexpressed in ccRCC and correlates with poor patient outcomes (median survival FOXD1-low=2830 days; FOXD1-high=1913 days). Immunohistochemistry of 46 patient tumors showed that FOXD1 is expressed the majority of tumor cells (95% CI [50.6%, 79.4%]). To understand the biological role of FOXD1, we generated FOXD1-null variants of the 786-O ccRCC cell line. Using an in vivo xenograft model, FOXD1-null cells had smaller initiating tumor sizes (parent=71.05mm3; FOXD1-null=36.39mm3) and stunted tumor growth. In vitro, FOXD1-null lines had significantly reduced growth rates compared to the parental line, and showed increased cell size. Cell cycle analysis revealed that FOXD1-null cells had an increased number of cells in G2 compared to the parental line (parent=21.1%; FOXD1-null=37.1%). After G1 synchronization, all lines progressed through G1, S, and G2 at similar rates (parent=10 hours; FOXD1-null=10 hours). However, FOXD1-null clones spent increased time in G2 compared to the parental line (parent= 4 hours; FOXD1-null= 8 hours). Western blot analysis revealed decreased levels of Cyclin B1 and p-H3, as well as increased levels of p27 10 hours post-synchronization in FOXD1-null cells compared to the parent line. Staining with yH2AX did not indicate any significant change in the number of double strand breaks at any phase. These findings suggest that FOXD1 is a mediator of the transition between G2 and M, and that its loss initializes the G2/M checkpoint. Extrapolating back to our clinical observation, we propose that increased FOXD1 expression in tumor cells accelerates the transition between G2 and M, a point that is normally critical for survey and repair of DNA damage. This could result in greater tolerance for DNA damage, accelerating tumor evolution. Citation Format: Kyle Henry Bond, Ryan Jaikaran, Suizhen Qiu, Leif Oxburgh. FOXD1 mediates G2/M transition in clear cell renal cell carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5812.
Surface modification of titanium and titanium alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation process for biomedical applications: A review

Abstract Titanium (Ti) and its alloys are mostly utilized for orthopedic and dental applications on account of its excellent corrosion resistance, good formability, excellent fatigue strength and lower modulus of elasticity. As Ti is bioinert, it’s not satisfactory for long-term clinical applications and can't attach to living bone straightforwardly at the beginning phase after implantation into a human body. With an end goal to improve implant-cell connection, many surface alterations techniques have been examined in the recent past to quicken osseointegration process and upgrade surface topography with the tissue of host. Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process likewise called micro-arc oxidation (MAO) can be utilized successfully for surface alteration of Ti and its alloys. PEO is an electrochemical surface modification technique to create defensive oxide coatings on light metal, for example, titanium, aluminum and magnesium. PEO is a basic, single-step surface modification strategy used to create coatings on Ti and its alloys for orthopedic and dental applications. Desired coating properties can be obtained by changing process parameters of PEO process, for example, electrolyte composition, frequency, processing time, duty cycle and applied voltage. Electrolyte concentrations is a significant factor to impact growth mechanism of coating. It has been observed that, porosity decreases as the PEO current density increases due to the higher rate of ionic current and sealing effect on the micro size pores. It was seen that for better wear resistance, temperature during coating should be kept at lower values. It was likewise seen that the safest coating to erosion was acquired in the oxidized titanium alloy specimen deposited at 500 Hz with 30% duty cycle by PEO. This review article is focusing on surface modification of Ti and its alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation process and process parameters effects on substrate characteristics.
A mechanistic model for predicting erosion in churn flow

Abstract Sand particles, which are regularly entrained with the production fluids while transporting from a reservoir to surface facilities, can cause severe erosion and erosion-corrosion damage to production equipment. A crucial parameter for studying erosion in multiphase flows is the flow pattern. The particle motion characteristics will change drastically with changes in the flow pattern in the pipelines. In vertical upward gas-liquid flow, a widely accepted flow pattern classification is bubble, slug, churn and annular flow. Churn flow is a chaotic flow pattern consisting of Taylor bubbles and liquid slugs that are distorted in shape and it is characterized by the presence of periodic large interfacial waves called flooding-type waves. Studying the erosion due to sand particles entrained in churn flows is extremely difficult, since the solid particle erosion magnitudes are coupled with several multiphase flow parameters such as phase distribution and velocities. This work focuses on improvement of a multiphase churn flow erosion model for elbows in vertical pipes. In this investigation, a drift-flux model is proposed to better predict the flow behavior and the characteristic initial particle velocity for churn gas-liquid flow. Based on the drift-flux model, the actual gas velocity is calculated as a function of mixture and drift velocities. The coefficients of the drift flux expression under churn flow conditions are determined from datasets available in literature. The model predictions are compared with the erosion data bank at the Erosion/Corrosion Research Center and other published papers. The data comprises effects of pipe diameter, particle characteristics, flow velocities, and liquid viscosity. The results show that the new approach provides much better predictions for the maximum erosion in bends when compared with the original mixture based model and other models available in literature.
Frequency-Division Multiplexing With Graphene Active Electrodes for Neurosensor Applications

Multielectrode arrays are used broadly for neural recording, both in vivo and for ex vivo cultured neurons. In most cases, recording sites are passive electrodes wired to external read-out circuitry, and the number of wires is at least equal to the number of recording sites. We present an approach to break the conventional N-wire, N-electrode array architecture using graphene active electrodes, which allow signal upconversion at the recording site and sharing of each interface wire among multiple active electrodes using frequency-division multiplexing (FDM). The presented work includes the design and implementation of a frequency modulation and readout architecture using graphene FET electrodes, a custom integrated circuit (IC) analog front-end (AFE), and digital demodulation. The AFE was fabricated in 0.18 $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS; electrical characterization and multi-channel FDM results are provided, including GFET-based signal modulation and IC/DSP demodulation. Long-term, this approach can simultaneously enable high signal count, high spatial resolution, and high temporal precision to infer functional interactions between neurons while markedly decreasing access wires.
Disease severity and ecophysiology of rootstock/scion combinations of different avocado (Persea americana Mill.) genotypes in response to laurel wilt

Abstract Laurel wilt, caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola, is a lethal vascular disease that affects many members of the Lauraceae family, including avocado (Persea americana Mill.) trees. Previous studies have shown differences in laurel wilt susceptibility among genotypes, with cultivars of the West Indian (WI) race generally more susceptible to laurel wilt than Guatemalan (G) or Mexican (M) race cultivars. We conducted four experiments to compare susceptibility and ecophysiological responses to laurel wilt among scion/rootstock combinations from the different botanical races. In the first two experiments, clonally propagated ‘Simmonds’ (WI) scion grafted on ‘Waldin’ (WI), ‘Reed’ (G) or ‘Duke 7’ (M) rootstock (Experiment 1), or grafted on ‘Waldin’, ‘Nabal’ (G) or ‘Zutano’ (M) rootstock (Experiment 2) were compared. In the other two experiments, ‘Waldin’, ‘Reed’ or ‘Duke 7’ scion grafted on ‘Duke 7’ rootstock (Experiment 3), or ‘Reed’ rootstock (Experiment 4) were compared. For each scion/rootstock combination, trees were divided into two treatments: inoculated with R. lauricola, or 2) inoculated with deionized water as a control. Disease severity in all trees was determined daily using a rating scale based on the percentage of visible symptoms. Net CO2 assimilation (A), stomatal conductance of water vapor (gs), the daily xylem sap flow rate, and the ratio of variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) in leaves were determined three times per week until one or more scion/rootstock combination in the laurel wilt treatment showed severe symptoms. Trees from each treatment were then harvested and stem sections observed for browning of the sapwood (a characteristic laurel wilt symptom), and plated on a selective medium to recover the fungus if present. Raffaelea lauricola was recovered in all trees in the laurel wilt treatment and no trees in the control treatment. Laurel wilt susceptibility varied among the scion/rootstock combinations. Trees in the laurel wilt treatment with ‘Simmonds’ as the scion developed more symptoms and exhibited a greater reduction in physiological variables than the control trees, regardless of the genotype of the rootstock. ‘Duke 7’, either as the scion or rootstock, inoculated with the laurel wilt pathogen had less disease development and less of a reduction in physiological variables than the other genotypes. The results indicate that there are differences in laurel wilt susceptibility among grafted avocado cultivars of different genotypes. These difference may be related to the botanical race of the scion and/or the rootstock.
Progress on the 4-cavity BLUE LTD System at the University of Michigan

BLUE is a 4-cavity Linear Transformer Driver (LTD) system that, in the past, was a part of the Ursa Minor Experiment at Sandia National Laboratories and, currently, is under construction in the University of Michigan’s Plasma, Pulsed Power and Microwave Laboratory. The first LTD cavity was successfully assembled and tested in 2020 [1] . The second cavity is presently being assembled. When complete, the 4-cavity BLUE system will store up to 8 kJ of initial energy, which can be released as an 800-kV (open circuit), 100-ns pulse. This pulse can be coupled with different loads, including high-power microwave (HPM) loads (e.g., magnetrons) and high-energy-density physics (HEDP) loads (e.g., x pinches, z pinches, and dense plasma focuses). Of particular interest is the HPM load called the magnetically insulated line oscillator (MILO) [2] . Due to its low impedance (< 10 Ω) and high current requirements, the MILO may be well suited to use with and LTD driver. We will provide updates on the BLUE system construction and present recent experimental data from a MILO driven by BLUE.
Photoconductivity Measurements in Nanostructured ZnO and ZnO:Al Films

Abstract ZnO is a versatile material used in numerous applications, such as antireflective coatings, transparent electrodes for solar cells, gas sensors, varistors and electro and photoluminescent devices. One of the most important properties of ZnO is the photoconductivity in the UV, due to the band-gap energy. In this work, nanostructured pure and aluminium doped ZnO films were grown by sol-gel method. The precursor solutions were deposited with a different quantity of layers by spin-coating technique on SiO 2 substrates. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Photoconductivity study of prepared films showed that layers also exhibit sensitivity in the visible spectrum besides a remarkable and usual sensitivity to UV. Performance of pure and doped ZnO films was compared. The UV sensitivity related to the film thickness was also studied.
Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl derivatives of transition metals : V. Some pentamethylcyclopentadienyl and isopropenyl-tetramethylcyclopentadienyliron carbonyl derivatives

Abstract Acetylpentamethylcyclopentadiene, although it reacts with Fe2(CO)9 to give [(CH3)5C5Fe(CO)2]2 as previously reported, has now been shown to react with Fe(CO)5 in boiling 2,2,5-trimethylhexane to give the isopropenyltetramethylcyclopentadienyl derivative [(CH3CCH2)(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2]2 contaminated with about 35% of the corresponding isopropyl derivative [(CH3CHCH3)(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2]2. The compounds [R(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2]2 (R = CH3 and isopropenyl) react with sodium amalgam to form the corresponding sodium salts Na[R(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2] which react with appropriate halides to form the corresponding R(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2R′ derivatives (R = methyl or isopropenyl; R′ = CH3, Sn(C6H5)3, and C(O)CH3). Halogenation of the compounds [R(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2]2 (R = CH3 and isopropenyl) by various methods gives the corresponding halides R(CH3)4C5Fe(CO)2 X (R = CH3, X = Br; R = isopropenyl, X = Cl and I).
Sarbanes‐Oxley and audit failure

The highly publicized accounting scandals of the recent past seriously damaged the credibility of the accounting profession. In an effort to restore public confidence in the capital markets, the US Congress passed the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002. A central theme of this new law is the attempted reduction of major audit failure by stricter governmental regulation of the accounting profession and the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This paper discusses the likely effectiveness of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act in the reduction of major audit failures. Four root causes of audit failure are identified, and issues not addressed by the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act that may have audit failure implications are discussed. Recommendations for improvements that potentially further reduce the likelihood of audit failure are presented.
On the problem of granulometry for a degraded Boolean image model

We consider a geometric coverage process consisting of a random number of disks, or grains, having random radii and positions in the plane. Our objective is granulometry: estimation of a parameter of the disk radius distribution, which is important in diverse applications such bio-assay, ballistics, and numerical taxonomy. These disks are only incompletely observed due to mutual occlusion, spatial blurring and additive noise. We use a measurement channel paradigm to derive an expectation-maximization (EM) type estimation algorithm and a distortion-rate lower bound on estimation error.
Dynamic estimation of family relations from photos

In this paper, we present an approach to estimate dynamic relations among major characters in family photo collections. This is a fully automated procedure which first identifies major characters in photo collections through face clustering. Then, based on demographic estimation, facial similarity, coappearance information and people's positions in photos, social relations of people such as husband/wife, parents/kids, siblings, relatives and friends can be derived. A workflow is proposed to integrate the information from different aspects in order to give the optimal result. Especially, based on timestamps of photos, dynamic relation trees are displayed to show the evolution of people's relations over time.
Topology of the Real Part of the Hyperelliptic Jacobian Associated with the Periodic Toda Lattice

We study the topology of the isospectral real manifold of the \(sl(N)\) periodic Toda lattice consisting of 2N−1 different systems. The solutions of these systems contain blow-ups, and the set of these singular points defines a divisor of the manifold. With the divisor added, the manifold is compactified as the real part of the (N−1)-dimensional Jacobi variety associated with a hyperelliptic Riemann surface of genus g=N−1. We also study the real structure of the divisor and provide conjectures on the topology of the affine part of the real Jacobian and on the gluing rule over the divisor to compactify the manifold based on the sign representation of the Weyl group of \(sl(N)\).
Do Minimum Quality Standards Improve Quality of Care? A Case Study of the Nursing Home Industry

This paper examines minimum staffing requirements in the nursing home market using a unique national panel over the period from 1996-2005. It allows staffing requirements for licensed nurses and direct-care nurses to have differential impacts on the supply and quality of patient care. It finds that, given a half-hour increase in the minimum nursing hours per resident day for licensed nurses (double the average staffing requirement in the data), the quality of patient care increases by 25 percent. This quality-increasing effect is mainly driven by low-quality nursing homes increasing their quality of care to meet the new standards. In contrast, minimum staffing requirements for direct-care nurses do not have any significant impact on quality. This lack of impact may be explained by nursing home providers circumventing this regulation by hiring less expensive and less skilled laborers as substitutes for direct-care nurses.
Symptom clusters in women with breast cancer: an analysis of data from social media and a research study

User-generated content on social media sites, such as health-related online forums, offers researchers a tantalizing amount of information, but concerns regarding scientific application of such data remain. This paper compares and contrasts symptom cluster patterns derived from messages on a breast cancer forum with those from a symptom checklist completed by breast cancer survivors participating in a research study. Over 50,000 messages generated by 12,991 users of the breast cancer forum on MedHelp.org were transformed into a standard form and examined for the co-occurrence of 25 symptoms. The k-medoid clustering method was used to determine appropriate placement of symptoms within clusters. Findings were compared with a similar analysis of a symptom checklist administered to 653 breast cancer survivors participating in a research study. The following clusters were identified using forum data: menopausal/psychological, pain/fatigue, gastrointestinal, and miscellaneous. Study data generated the clusters: menopausal, pain, fatigue/sleep/gastrointestinal, psychological, and increased weight/appetite. Although the clusters are somewhat different, many symptoms that clustered together in the social media analysis remained together in the analysis of the study participants. Density of connections between symptoms, as reflected by rates of co-occurrence and similarity, was higher in the study data. The copious amount of data generated by social media outlets can augment findings from traditional data sources. When different sources of information are combined, areas of overlap and discrepancy can be detected, perhaps giving researchers a more accurate picture of reality. However, data derived from social media must be used carefully and with understanding of its limitations.
Generalized Levinson algorithms and Ladder filters for nonstationary signal processing

The Levinson algorithm, implemented via a ladder filter, has been widely used in seismic signal processing and more recently in speech analysis. This algorithm was originally developed (in 1947) for prediction of stationary stochastic processes. It has been adapted to applications where only a single sample function (time-series) is available by the use of appropriate "window functions" to "simulate stationarity". Such windowing is often somewhat artificial and can introduce undesirable artefacts in situations where only a limited amount of data is available. However, more realistic "windowing" will destroy the analogy to the stationary stochastic process case and thus apparently prohibit use of the Levinson-ladder- filter implementations. In this talk, we shall first show how by using a concept of how close a given process is to being stationary, we can develop generalized Levinson algorithms and generalized ladder filters applicable to any stochastic process, stationary or not. The complexity of the algorithm and the filter is proportional to the distance from stationarity of the given process. We shall then show that this structure can include analyses of several windowing strategies for applications where only a single observed record is available, thus including results obtained earlier for such problems by Morf, Vieira and Lee. The present results are based on work with D. Lee and H. Lev-Ari.
Sex Differences in Effects of Testing Medium and Response Format on a Visuospatial Task

Sex differences on visuospatial tests are among the most reliably replicated. It is unclear to what extent these performance differences reflect underlying differences in skills or testing factors. To assess whether testing medium and response format affect visuospatial sex differences, performances of introductory psychology students (100 men, 104 women) were examined on a visuospatial task presented in paper-and-pencil and tablet computer forms. Both sexes performed better when tested on paper, although men outperformed women. The introduction of an open-ended component to the visuospatial task eliminated sex differences when prior spatial experiences were controlled, but men outperformed women when prior spatial experiences were not considered. In general, the open-ended version and computerized format of the test diminished performance, suggesting that response format and medium are testing factors that influence visuospatial abilities.
Glutaric, 3-hydroxypropionic, and lactic aciduria with metabolic acidemia, following extensive small bowel resection

Abstract A patient with extensive small bowel resection as a neonate excretes glutaric, 3-hydroxypropionic, and lactic acids in a manner atypical for any recognized genetic metabolic disease. The organic aciduria varies with dietary intake: lactic acid predominates when he takes a high-carbohydrate, low-protein diet, and glutaric acid and products of aromatic amino acid catabolism dominate when protein intake increases. The association of 3-hydroxypropionic acid excretion with dietary intake is less clear. The available evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the organic aciduria results from rapid transit and decreased absorption of ingested nutrients in his shortened small intestine, followed by bacterial metabolism of these substances in the colon, absorption of the metabolic products, and urinary excretion of those bacterial products which do not serve as intermediates in human metabolism.
The metatheoretical bases of social psychological theory

The present article deals with theory concerning interpersonal interactions of systems at the levels of individual human organisms, groups, and organizations. It involves all subsystems of these systems. It examines a number of metatheoretical constraints that may limit the development of social psychology as an empirical science. It begins by describing the sentences of one of the more classical languages used to define the structure of scientific theory, as well as criteria that are employed to evaluate these sentences. It then reviews and evaluates a number of epistemological constraints that limit the development and formulation of theories. For example, it considers the issue of complexity as a constraint, and briefly notes three possible ways to overcome complexity: (1) the construction of minitheories, (2) the use of systems theory, and (3) the development of ‘fuzzy models.’ Finally, the paper considers, given these various constraints, whether it is indeed possible for social psychologists to formulate and test sentences in a manner more or less consistent with the positivistic goals of science.
Regulation of fibronectin matrix assembly by activated Ras in transformed cells.

Fibronectin extracellular matrix plays a critical role in the microenvironment of cells. Loss of this matrix frequently accompanies oncogenic transformation, allowing changes in cell growth, morphology, and tissue organization. The HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cell line is deficient in formation of fibronectin matrix fibrils but assembly can be induced by the glucocorticoid dexamethasone. Here we show that fibronectin assembly can also be restored by stimulation of α5β1 integrin with activating antibody or with Mn2+ suggesting that integrin activity is reduced in these cells. While dexamethasone promoted actin stress fiber formation, actin filaments remained cortical following Mn2+ treatment showing that the dexamethasone effect is not due solely to cytoskeletal changes. HT1080 cells have one activated allele of N-ras and PD98059 inhibition of signaling from Ras through ERK increased fibronectin matrix accumulation. Conversely, the p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580 blocked induction of matrix and increased ERK phosphorylation. Thus, two MAP kinase pathways contribute to the control of integrin-mediated fibronectin assembly. ERK activity and fibronectin assembly were linked in three different ras-transformed cell lines but not in SV40- or RSV-transformed cells indicating that oncogenic Ras uses a distinct mechanism to down-regulate cell-fibronectin interactions.
Use of the Children's Communication Checklist-2 for classification of language impairment risk in young school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Purpose Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk for language impairment (LI). This study examined the feasibility of using the Children's Communication Ch...