cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reporting of Child Abuse by Prehospital Personnel

INTRODUCTION: Prehospital (EMS) personnel routinely enter patient's homes and often are the first trained persons to evaluate an ill or injured child. Therefore, it is vital for these individuals to recognize child abuse (CA), and to understand the proper procedures for reporting suspected cases. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to prehospital care-givers participating in a seminar on pediatric emergencies. Questions were designed to test factual knowledge of CA and the correct reporting procedures, as well as to evaluate attitudes toward CA. RESULTS: There were 48 responses to the questionnaire; 34 (71%) were paramedics, the remainder were emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and/or registered nurses (RNs). Thirty-three (69%) practiced either in a rural or suburban setting. Subjects had an average of 10.8 years of prehospital emergency-care experience. Twenty-eight (58%) reported no previous training in CA. All participants understood the nature of CA, were able to identify the various forms of CA, and believed CA to be a significant problem. However, 33 (69%) did not understand the legislation that mandates reporter status, and while 27 (56%) claimed to have reported CA, only 16 (33%) had made a report either to police or to children's services workers. Of the 21 who never had reported a case of CA, 14 (67%) believed that they never had encountered an abused child. The remainder were not certain, and therefore, did not report, or thought that the hospital staff would report. CONCLUSIONS: While this subject deserves further study, it seems that many EMTs and paramedics lack a complete understanding of their role in the identification and reporting of CA. This information should be emphasized further in EMT and paramedic education, and should be reinforced through continuing education. Language: en
Radio frequency and linearity performance of transistors using high-purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes.

This paper reports the radio frequency (RF) and linearity performance of transistors using high-purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes. High-density, uniform semiconducting nanotube networks are de...
The bird's ear view of space physics: Audification as a tool for the spectral analysis of time series data

The effective navigation, mining, and analysis of large time series data sets presents a recurring challenge throughout heliophysics. Audification, a specific form of auditory analysis commonly used in other fields of research (such as geoseismology), provides a promising technique for the evaluation of spectral features in long heliospheric time series data sets. Following a standard research methodology for the development of new analysis techniques, this paper presents a detailed case study in which audification was introduced into the working process of an experienced heliophysics research scientist and used for the identification and classification of features in high-resolution magnetometer data during a structured analysis task. Auditory evaluation successfully led to the detection of artificial, instrument-induced noise that was not previously observed by the scientist and also the identification of wave activity embedded within turbulent solar wind data. A follow-up interview indicated that the scientist continued using these auditory analysis methods in the assessment of every large data set during the 2 months after the study was completed. These findings indicate that audification can be valuable and enabling for researchers in forming a deeper understanding of both microstructures and macrostructures within large time series. Additionally, as both a standalone methodology and a supplement to visual analysis methods, audification can expedite certain stages of the data survey, analysis, and mining process and provide new qualitative insight into the spectral content of time-varying signals.
Sex Differences in Time Perception During Smoking Abstinence

Introduction: Nicotine withdrawal leads to impulsive decision-making, which reflects a preference for smaller, immediate rewards and often prompts a relapse to smoking. The mechanism by which nicotine withdrawal leads to impulsive decision-making is not well known. An essential dimension of decision-making is time perception. Impulsive decisions reflect intolerance of temporal delays and the perception that time is passing more slowly. Sex may be an important factor in impulsive decision-making and time perception, but no studies have investigated whether sex moderates the effects of nicotine withdrawal on impulsive decision-making and time perception. Methods: Thirty-three (12 female) adult smokers completed 2 laboratory sessions: following 24-hr abstinence and once smoking-as-usual (order counterbalanced, abstinence biochemically verified). Participants completed 2 time perception tasks, a decision-making task, and self-report measures of craving, withdrawal, and mood. Results: During time reproduction, males overestimated time during abstinence compared to smok- ing, whereas there was no session effect for females. On the time discrimination task, smokers were less accurate during abstinence, and this effect tended to be stronger among females. In general, males had higher discounting rates compared with females, but there was no effect of abstinence. Conclusions: The current data suggest that the effect of abstinence on time perception may be stronger in males and that males generally exhibit steeper delay discounting rates. Time percep- tion may be an important mechanism in smoking abstinence. Our future work will investigate the role of time perception in smoking relapse and whether this is moderated by sex.
New Technical and Educational Directions for Managing Product Quality

Abstract Product quality has high visibility in today's economic environment. It is now widely acknowledged that most quality problems are “management” or “systems” problems requiring “statistics” in their solution. This article explores the respective roles of • business philosophy • management systems • technology systems in the attainment of consistently high product quality. To meet today's needs, greater attention will have to be given to the balance and the interrelationships of these three facets. The quality technology systems require new directions and new emphases in statistics, software engineering, and other disciplines in order to be cost-effective. Most important is widespread education in the statistical tools needed for these new directions—education by industry, universities, and technical societies. For the universities there is the promise of increased student enrollments because of the recognized economic importance of quality management and the promise of challenging research problems...
Structural design optimization and comparative analysis of a new high-performance robot arm via finite element analysis

This paper reports the structural design of a new high-performance robot arm. Design objectives for the new arm include large (1-2m) workspace, low weight, 5 kg payload capacity, high stiffness, high structural vibration frequencies, precise joint-level torque control, a total of three degrees-of-freedom, and mechanical simplicity. A comparative analysis is reported for four very different two degree-of-freedom linkage candidates using the finite element method.
A Note on Hierarchical Income Flows

The Beckmann and McPherson model formulates city sizes according to Christaller's hierarchical principles. The following paper investigates the income flows and balance of payments equilibria which are characteristic of this model. It is demonstrated that the flow patterns in a Christaller-type city system are at variance with those in a Tinbergen-type city system.
Bringing Industrial Methods to the Classroom

Effective, professional quality work is expected of software engineering graduates, but may be difficult to teach via normal academic programs. This paper postulates that, in order to effectively prepare students for professional work, several key elements from the industrial world are beneficial: teamwork rather than a focus on individual accomplishments; setting an expectation for professional grade student work products; fairly rigorous guidelines for the format and general content of work products; knowledge of up-to-date work practices, and opportunities for rigorous review of interim work products. Although teamwork has frequently been discussed in software engineering education forums, the others have generally not been. They can be greatly enhanced by industry involvement.
INFERRING POPULATION HISTORY AND DEMOGRAPHY USING MICROSATELLITES, MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, AND MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX (MHC) GENES

Microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have traditionally been used in population genetics because of their variability and presumed neutrality, whereas genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are increasingly of interest because strong selective pressures shape their standing variation. Despite the potential for MHC genes, microsatellites, and mtDNA sequences to complement one another in deciphering population history and demography, the three are rarely used in tandem. Here we report on MHC, microsatellite, and mtDNA variability in a single large population of the eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum). We use the mtDNA mismatch distribution and, on microsatellite data, the imbalance index and bottleneck tests to infer aspects of population history and demography. Haplotype and allelic variation was high at all loci surveyed, and heterozygosity was high at the nuclear loci. We find concordance among neutral molecular markers that suggests our study population originated from post-Pleistocene expansions of multiple, fragmented sources that shared few migrants. Differences in Ne estimates derived from haploid and diploid genetic markers are potentially attributable to secondary contact among source populations that experienced rapid mtDNA divergence and comparatively low levels of nuclear DNA divergence. We find strong evidence of natural selection acting on MHC genes and estimate long-term effective population sizes (Ne) that are very large, making small selection intensities significant evolutionary forces in this population.
SET‐LRP of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide and of N‐isopropylacrylamide at 25 °C in protic and in dipolar aprotic solvents

The single-electron transfer living radical polymerization (SET-LRP) of water-soluble monomers, N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), initiated with 2-methylchloropropionate (MCP) in dipolar aprotic and protie solvents is reported. The radical polymerization of acrylamides is characterized by higher rate constants of propagation and bimolecular termination than acrylates. Therefore, the addition of CuCl Is required to mediate deactivation in the early stages of the reaction. Through the use of Cu(0)-wire/Me-TREN catalysis, conditions were optimized to minimize the amount of externally added CuCl required to maintain a linear evolution of molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution. By using less CuCl additive, the amount of soluble copper species that must ultimately be removed from the reaction mixture is reduced.
Multiple-objective optimization by a multiplier method of proper equality constraints--Part I: Theory

Lin [1] has shown that general multiple-objective (MO) optimization problems can be solved by transforming them into single-objective (SO) optimization problems with all but one of the multiple objectives converted to proper equality constraints. This paper continues the development of such a general-purpose MO optimization method. It is shown here that Lagrange multipliers, which are intermediate by-products in the process of solving SO constrained optimization problems (by analytical or numerical methods), can be effectively utilized for testing/verifying whether the objective-converted equality constraints are proper or not. Several useful necessary and sufficient conditions for properness are derived and expressed in terms of Lagrange multipliers. These necessary and sufficient conditions are derived using no convexity or concavity assumptions. They are suitable for general analytical characterization of Pareto-optimal solutions, as well as for numerical generation of Pareto-optimal solutions by penalty methods, primal-dual methods, and Hestenes-Powell-Rockafellar methods of multipliers.
The Mystery of the Battle of la-tzu-k'ou in the Long March

The historical experience of the Chinese Communist Party before 1949 has often assumed the dimension of a myth. As in any myth, what actually happens is not as important as the significant lesson to be learned. A case in point is the battle of “the last and the most strategic pass” of La-tzu-k'ou in the Long March. The Chinese annals contain at least five differing versions of this encounter on September 17–18, 1935. This may be attributed, inter alia, to the desire of the authors to glorify their own part in the Long March as much as that the battle of La-tzu-k'ou is of greater political than military significance. By publishing these accounts, the Chinese authorities hope to prove the correctness of Mao Tse-tung's policy of the northward march in mid-1935. Indeed Lin Piao's role was largely a magniloquent account of relevant events at La-tzu-k'ou, following his appointment as Minister of National Defense to succeed the disgraced P'eng Te-huao in 1959—notwithstanding the fact that Mao Tse-tung had in 1935 composed a well-known poem praising only P'eng's valor during the battle. True, history is historiography and historiography is politics in the People's Republic of China.
Why integrating purchasing with marketing is both inevitable and beneficial

article i nfo The shift away from manufacturing in Western developed economies has resulted in economies in which service industries are dominant. Marketing itself has undergone a paradigmatic shift from a focus on the exchange of goods to the provision of capabilities. This paper examines the relationship between marketing and purchasing as a result of the shift from product- to capability-focused commerce. We suggest that the marketing and purchasing departments will become closer due to two major reasons. First, as marketers increasingly become solution-oriented rather than product-focused, they will need to source products and services from third-party vendors and will require deeper involvement of the purchasing department. Second, with the emergence of customer-centric marketing coupled with build-to-order manufacturing, marketing and purchasing will have to be better aligned to deliver solutions to customers. These new dimensions in the marketing-purchasing interaction will also lead to changes in the selection, training, and recruitment of marketers and purchasers as well as their roles in the supply chain. We elaborate on these changes likely to occur in business-to-business organizations and along with implications for managers.
The cubical ring connected cycles: a fault tolerant parallel computation network

The cube-connected cycles network is suitable for realization in VLSI, since it satisfies the properties of degree boundedness of the nodes (=3), and regularity of layout. Another network called the cubical ring-connected cycles (CRCC) is proposed that has all the desirable features of the cube-connected cycle (CCC) and is single-cycle fault tolerant as well. The degree of each processor is less than or equal to four, the number of processors increases from 2/sup r+s/ to 2/sup r/(2/sup 2/+1), for integers r and s, and the number of links increases by a factor of one-third over the corresponding CCC. Reliability improvements of the CRCC network over the CCC are studied. A regular layout scheme suitable for VLSI implementation of the CRCC is presented. Reconfiguration techniques under failures of processors in the CRCC are discussed. >
Application-specific thread schedulers for internet server applications

This paper describes CATAPULTS (Creating And Testing APplication-specific User Level Thread Schedulers), a domain-specific language for creating and testing application-specific user-level thread schedulers. Using a domain-specific language to write user-level thread schedulers provides three advantages. First, doing so modularizes the thread scheduler, making it easy to plug in and experiment with different thread scheduling strategies. Second, using a domain-specific language for scheduling code helps prevent several of the common programming mistakes that are easy to make when developing thread schedulers. Finally, the CATAPULTS translator has multiple backends that generate code for different languages and libraries. This makes it easy to prototype an application in a high-level language and then later port it to a low-level language; the CATAPULTS translator will take care of generating the appropriate code for both the prototype and the final version of the program from a single scheduler specification. This paper describes how we have used CATAPULTS to improve the performance of two important and representative Internet server applications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Climate Forcing by Changing Solar Radiation

Abstract By how much does changing radiation from the sun influence the earth’s climate, presently and in the recent past, compared with other natural and anthropogenic processes? Current knowledge of the amplitudes and timescales of solar radiative output variability needed to address this question is described from contemporary solar monitoring and historical reconstructions. The 17-yr observational database of space-based solar monitoring exhibits an 11-yr irradiance cycle with amplitude of about 0.1%. Larger amplitude solar total radiative output changes—of 0.24% relative to present levels—are estimated for the seventeenth-century Maunder Minimum by parameterizing the variability mechanisms identified for the 11-yr cycle, using proxies of solar and stellar variability. The 11- and 22-yr periods evident in solar activity proxies appear in many climate and paleoclimate records, and some solar and climate time series correlate strongly over multidecadal and centennial timescales. These statistical relati...
A role for F-BAR protein Rga7p during cytokinesis in S. pombe

F-BAR proteins are known to participate in cytokinesis, but their mechanisms are not well understood. Here we investigated Rga7p, an Schizosaccharomyces pombe F-BAR protein with a RhoGAP domain. Localization of Rga7p to the cytokinetic cleavage furrow depends on its F-BAR domain, actin filaments, the formins Cdc12p and For3p, and the presence of a contractile ring. Rga7p is not required for the constriction of the contractile ring but does participate in the transport of a β-glucan synthetase (Bgs4p) from the late Golgi compartments to plasma membrane that is adjacent to the contractile ring. Cells without Rga7p moved Bgs4p normally from the poles to the Golgi complex near to the cell center, but Bgs4p then moved slowly from the late Golgi compartments to the cleavage site. The late arrival and lower than normal numbers of Bgs4p result in septal defects late in cytokinesis, and in the lysis of separating cells, similar to that in cells with mutations in the cwg1+ gene (which encodes Bgs4p).
Transport characteristics of multichannel transistors made from densely aligned sub-10 nm half-pitch graphene nanoribbons

Densely aligned sub-10 nm graphene nanoribbons are desirable for scale-up applications in nanoelectronics. We implemented directed self-assembly of block-copolymers in combination with nanoimprint lithography to pattern sub-10 nm half-pitch nanoribbons over large areas. These graphene nanoribbons have the highest density and uniformity to date. Multichannel field-effect transistors were made from such nanoribbons, and the transport characteristics of transistors were studied. Our work indicates that a large ribbon-to-ribbon width variation in a multichannel FET can lead to nonsynchronized switching characters of multiple graphene channels and thus a poor ON/OFF current ratio. Through process optimization, we have created 8 nm half-pitch graphene nanoribbons with the minimal ribbon-to-ribbon width variation of ∼2.4 nm (3σ value). The corresponding transistors exhibit an ON/OFF current ratio >10, which is among the highest values ever reported for transistors consisting of densely arranged graphene nanoribbons. This work provides important insights for optimizing the uniformity and transport properties of lithographically patterned graphene nanostructures. In addition, the presented fabrication route could be further developed for the scalable nanomanufacturing of graphene-based nanoelectronic devices over large areas.
Solar Probe Plus Mission Overview

Solar Probe Plus will be the first mission to pass into the solar corona to study how the corona is heated and the solar wind is accelerated. Solving these two fundamental mysteries has been a top-priority science goal for over five decades. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, is managing the mission for NASA’s Living with a Star Program, including the development, build, and operation of the spacecraft. SPP will launch in 2018, performing 24 orbits of the Sun over a 7-year duration. The mission design utilizes seven Venus gravity assists to gradually reduce perihelion from 35 solar radii in the first orbit down to 9.86 solar radii for the final three orbits. Science data are collected during each perihelion pass and transmitted to Earth between passes. The SPP spacecraft is 665-kg at launch, almost 3 meters in height and 2.3 meters in diameter. A thermal protection system composed of Carbon-Carbon and carbon foam protects the spacecraft from the extreme solar environment near perihelion. At 9.86Rs, the solar intensity is 475 times that at 1AU. Hiding behind the thermal protection system provides the spacecraft a benign thermal environment while the TPS experiences temperatures of 1400°C on its sun-facing surface. Solar Probe Plus is solar powered with water cooled solar arrays for power generation that maintain the solar cell assemblies within their required temperature limits. This paper presents the science overview, mission concept, and spacecraft description as the mission approaches its Preliminary Design Review.
Patient considerations in the management of menopausal symptoms: role of conjugated estrogens with bazedoxifene

Menopausal symptoms (eg, hot flushes and vaginal symptoms) are common, often bothersome, and can adversely impact women's sexual functioning, relationships, and quality of life. Estrogen-progestin therapy was previously considered the standard care for hormone therapy (HT) for managing these symptoms in nonhysterectomized women, but has a number of safety and tolerability concerns (eg, breast cancer, stroke, pulmonary embolism, breast pain/tenderness, and vaginal bleeding) and its use has declined dramatically in the past decade since the release of the Women's Health Initiative trial results. Conjugated estrogens paired with bazedoxifene (CE/BZA) represent a newer progestin-free alternative to traditional HT for nonhysterectomized women. CE/BZA has demonstrated efficacy in reducing the frequency and severity of vasomotor symptoms and preventing loss of bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. CE/BZA provides an acceptable level of protection against endometrial hyperplasia and does not increase mammographic breast density. Compared with traditional estrogen-progestin therapy, it is associated with lower rates of breast pain/tenderness and vaginal bleeding. Patient-reported outcomes indicate that CE/BZA improves menopause-specific quality of life, sleep, some measures of sexual function (especially ease of lubrication), and treatment satisfaction. This review looks at the rationale for selection and combination of CE with BZA at the dose ratio in the approved product and provides a detailed look at the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and patient-reported outcomes from the five Phase III trials. Patient considerations in the choice between CE/BZA and traditional HT (eg, tolerability, individual symptoms, and preferences for route of administration) are also considered.
Highly sensitive focus monitoring technique based on illumination and target co-optimization

We present a cost-effective focus monitoring technique based on the illumination and the target co-optimization. An advanced immersion scanner can provide the freeform illumination that enables the use of any kind of custom source shape by using a programmable array of thousands of individually adjustable micro-mirrors. Therefore, one can produce non-telecentricity using the asymmetric illumination in the scanner with the optimized focus target on the cost-effective binary OMOG mask. Then, the scanner focus variations directly translate into easily measurable overlay shifts in the printed pattern with high sensitivity (ΔShift/Δfocus = 60nm/100nm). In addition, the capability of using the freeform illumination allows us to computationally co-optimize the source and the focus target, simultaneously, generating not only vertical or horizontal shifts, but also introducing diagonal pattern shifts. The focus-induced pattern shifts can be accurately measured by standard wafer metrology tools such as CD-SEM and overlay metrology tools.
From Head to Toe: Embodiment Through Statistical Linguistic Frequencies

Recent literature in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that cognition is fundamentally embodied. For instance, various studies have shown that semantic knowledge about the human body correlates with spatial body representations, suggesting that such knowledge is embodied in nature. An alternative explanation for this finding comes from the Symbol Interdependency Hypothesis, which argues that perceptual information is encoded in language. We demonstrated that the findings that can be explained by an embodied cognition account can also be explained through statistical linguistic frequencies. Co-occurrence frequencies of names for common body parts correlated with experimental findings from adults and children. Moreover, the position of the body parts was predicted on the basis of statistical linguistic frequencies. These findings suggest that language encodes embodied information.
Towards Autonomous Aviation Operations: What Can We Learn from Other Areas of Automation?

Rapid advances in automation has disrupted and transformed several industries in the past 25 years. Automation has evolved from regulation and control of simple systems like controlling the temperature in a room to the autonomous control of complex systems involving network of systems. The reason for automation varies from industry to industry depending on the complexity and benefits resulting from increased levels of automation. Automation may be needed to either reduce costs or deal with hazardous environment or make real-time decisions without the availability of humans. Space autonomy, Internet, robotic vehicles, intelligent systems, wireless networks and power systems provide successful examples of various levels of automation. NASA is conducting research in autonomy and developing plans to increase the levels of automation in aviation operations. This paper provides a brief review of levels of automation, previous efforts to increase levels of automation in aviation operations and current level of automation in the various tasks involved in aviation operations. It develops a methodology to assess the research and development in modeling, sensing and actuation needed to advance the level of automation and the benefits associated with higher levels of automation. Section II describes provides an overview of automation and previous attempts at automation in aviation. Section III provides the role of automation and lessons learned in Space Autonomy. Section IV describes the success of automation in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Section V provides a comparison between the development of automation in other areas and the needs of aviation. Section VI provides an approach to achieve increased automation in aviation operations based on the progress in other areas. The final paper will provide a detailed analysis of the benefits of increased automation for the Traffic Flow Management (TFM) function in aviation operations.
Perfil de uso del teléfono móvil e Internet en una muestra de universitarios españoles: ¿Usan o abusan?

INTRODUCCION. En los ultimos tiempos, el uso del telefono movil y de Internet se ha vuelto cotidiano entre los jovenes y no tan jovenes. Con este trabajo se pretende conocer el perfil de usuarios de movil e Internet que ponen de manifiesto los universitarios espanoles, identificando asi posibles usos problematicos y tratando de establecer posibles diferencias en el uso (y posible abuso) entre hombres y mujeres, asi como entre las diferentes edades de los sujetos participantes. METODO. El estudio es no experimental con diseno ex post facto, y muestreo intencional de N=775 sujetos que cursan sus estudios en la Facultad de Educacion de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Se elaboro un cuestionario ad hoc con diferentes bloques de preguntas que se aplico en el mes de marzo de 2015. Los datos fueron analizados con los programas SPSS 20.0 y Excel. Se han realizado tanto analisis descriptivos como inferenciales, con un a = 0,05. RESULTADOS. Los resultados obtenidos tras el analisis de los datos ponen de manifiesto que, si bien el telefono movil e Internet se han abierto paso y ocupan hoy en dia un lugar muy importante para los jovenes, no podemos hablar en la muestra analizada de usos patologicos de estas tecnologias. DISCUSION. Se han encontrado diferencias significativas que apuntan a usos diferentes entre hombres y mujeres, y un uso mas frecuente de estas tecnologias entre los sujetos mas jovenes. Los resultados indican que los jovenes aprovechan las posibilidades que les ofrecen los dispositivos analizados, sin caer en una utilizacion patologica.
Synaptic plasticity in kindling.

Kindling is an experimental model of epilepsy resulting from progressive activity-dependent changes in neuronal structure and function. During kindling, pathologic changes occur at various levels of organization of the nervous system, ranging from altered gene-expression in individual neurons to the loss of specific neuronal populations and the rearrangement of synaptic connections. This chapter summarizes recent findings about the long-lasting (plastic) nature of the alterations at the level of single neurons with emphasis on the role of altered excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptors. The modified synaptic ligand-gated ion channels (i.e., "epileptic receptors") may ultimately be responsible for the kindling epileptogenesis.
The Hole and the Whole: Lessons from Manipulation of Nipbl Deficiency.

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) affect 2%–3% of newborns and remain challenging clinically. There is an ongoing project to elucidate the causes of CHDs, focusing primarily on genetics as dictated by the epidemiology. In a paper published in this issue, Santos and colleagues describe studies of Cornelia de Lange syndrome-associated secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) caused by NIPBL mutations, undertaken with a targeted trapping allele in mice. They show that Nipbl haploinsufficiency in either of two cell populations was sufficient to engender ASDs but that expression solely in either one of those populations was sufficient to rescue them. This work provides novel insights into incomplete penetrance and oligogenic effects underlying CHDs.
Pointing fingers across the tracks: an examination of strategic messages in the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

The oil industry transports crude oil via rail due to increasing demand. Though convenient, this can be dangerous, as many railways travel through populated regions, placing individuals in close range at risk of danger and death during a train derailment. In 2013, the deadliest rail disaster to happen in Canada in 140 years occurred when a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA) train carrying 7.7 ml of petroleum crude oil broke loose in Nantes, Quebec, and traveled towards Lac-Megantic, Quebec. The train derailed and exploded in the city’s center, instantly killed 47 people, destroyed downtown, and forced the evacuation of over 2000 residents. The disaster prompted safety and criminal investigations, and litigation for personal, economic, and ecological reparations. This study uses dialectical tensions of strategic communication decision-making to examine the crisis and post-crisis stages of the event to determine how the tensions of organizational responsibility and emotional connection intersected during the ...
Quantum multiparameter estimation with generalized balanced multimode NOON-like states

The simultaneous multiparameter estimation problem using a class of multimode entangled states is investigated in this paper. Specifically, the problem of optical phase imaging is considered, and the quantum probe is taken to be a balanced coherent superposition of components with an arbitrary quantum state in one mode and vacuum states in all the other modes, which is a generalization of the multimode NOON state. The analytical form for the quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound (QCRB) is presented, which shows the performance by providing a lower bound of the estimation uncertainty. It is shown that the NOON state has the worst performance among those in the class of the entangled states considered. We also analyze in detail four different scenarios, which are the NOON state, the entangled coherent state, the entangled squeezed coherent state, and the entangled squeezed vacuum state. From the comparison among these four states, we find that when the mean photon number is fixed, the squeezed vacuum state has the smallest QCRB, followed by the squeezed coherent state, entangled coherent state, and NOON state. Finally, we illustrate that the balanced entangled state can perform better than a more generalized unbalanced form studied in previous works for certain scenarios.
Posterior Segment Intraocular Foreign Bodies: A 10-Year Review.

Purpose To describe the characteristics of open-globe injuries with posterior segment intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs). Design Retrospective chart review study. Participants Patients treated for posterior segment IOFB injuries. Methods Retrospective analysis of all patients with posterior segment IOFBs from 2003 to 2014 was conducted. Data including demographics, mechanism of injury, type of IOFB, method of diagnosis, presenting examination, medical and surgical treatment, visual outcomes, and complications were recorded. Main Outcome Measures Visual acuity (VA); anatomically successful retinal reattachment; need for additional surgery; frequency of post-traumatic complications, such as sympathetic ophthalmia (SO), endophthalmitis, and enucleations; and accuracy of Ocular Trauma Score (OTS). Results Thirty-one patients (28 male; mean age, 36.6 years; 42% Hispanic) had posterior segment IOFB injuries, 23 (74%) of which were construction work related. Twenty-five IOFBs (81%) were metallic. Twenty-four IOFBs (77%) had Zone I entry. Computed tomography (CT) scan detected an IOFB in 21 of 22 eyes in which it was performed, with 1 scan highly suspicious for an IOFB. Average size of the IOFB was 10 mm3; size or initial VA did not have any correlation with final VA. The OTS had 60% accuracy in predicting final VA (n = 20). The majority of patients had traumatic cataract and vitreous hemorrhage (VH) on presentation (77% and 61%, respectively); 65% had a retinal tear or retinal detachment (RD), and these patients had worse final VA than those with no retinal pathology. Average time from injury to IOFB removal was 3 days because of the delay in presentation to our facility; 27 of 31 patients (87%) had IOFBs removed within 24 hours of presentation with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and either gas or silicone oil tamponade. Patients were admitted for an average of 4 days of intravenous antibiotics. The most common complication was recurrent RD in 11 patients (35%), which portended worse final VA. One patient (3%) developed SO. There were no cases of postoperative endophthalmitis or enucleation. Conclusions Open-globe injuries with posterior segment IOFBs have a guarded visual prognosis, particularly when associated with RD. Increased awareness of the importance of eye protection can help minimize the occurrence of these injuries.
Nonlinear State Feedback Regulators with Assignable Closed-Loop Dynamics

Abstract The present work proposes a new approach to the problem of designing nonlinear state feedback regulators with assignable closed-loop dynamics. The problem under consideration is not treated within the context of feedback linearization, where restrictive conditions arise, but is conveniently formulated in the context of Lyapunov theory. In particular, the mathematical formulation of the problem is realized via a system of first-order quasi-linear PDEs for which solvability is proved using Lyapunov's auxiliary theorem. Within the proposed design framework, a prespecified rate of decay of the closed-loop system's states is enforced, and the development of a nonlinear analogue of pole-placement is illustrated.
Toward efficient manufacturing systems: A trust based human robot collaboration

Modern manufacturing systems are human robot systems that consist of human operators and intelligent robots collaborating with each other to accomplish complex tasks. The system performance of such human robot systems relies heavily on reliable and efficient human robot collaborations, which may be seriously compromised due to temporal variations in human to robot trust. This paper proposes to model the human trust as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) to capture its dynamic uncertainties on how the robot performance affects the human trust. The system performance under such trust based human robot collaboration is formulated as an optimization problem where an optimal task allocation policy is obtained to minimize the expected average cost on each cycle of the persistent tasks while maximizing the probability of satisfying Linear Temporal Logic specifications. The case study of an assembly process shows the effectiveness and benefits of our proposed trust based human robot collaboration.
It’s not just the economy: The psychological well-being of an electorate also matters for election outcomes

AbstractThe prediction of election outcomes is of widespread interest. Election outcomes are influenced by a variety of factors, but largely unexamined in past research is how psychological characteristics of the electorate influence the results of actual elections. The present study investigated whether the optimism of an electorate predicted the outcomes of the 2010 US House of Representatives elections (N = 435) from measures ascertained in 2009 for congressional districts, controlling for an incumbent’s years of service and his or her political party, as well as 2009 median household income in these districts. As expected for midterm election, Republicans and longer-serving incumbents were more likely to win re-election. Districts with higher median household incomes were also more likely to re-elect incumbents. The optimism of a congressional district additionally predicted election outcomes. Districts where people evaluated their own lives in more hopeful terms were more likely to re-elect incumbents.
Allocating provider resources to diagnose and treat restless legs syndrome: a cost-utility analysis

Abstract Objectives Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder that is frequently misdiagnosed, resulting in delays in proper treatment. The objective of this study was to analyze the cost-utility of training primary care providers (PCP) in early and accurate diagnosis of RLS. Methods We used a Markov model to compare two strategies: one where PCPs received training to diagnose RLS (informed care) and one where PCPs did not receive training (standard care). This analysis was conducted from the US societal and health sector perspectives over one-year, five-year, and lifetime (50-year) horizons. Costs were adjusted to 2016 USD, utilities measured as quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and both measures were discounted annually at 3%. Cost, utilities, and probabilities for the model were obtained through a comprehensive review of literature. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated to interpret our findings at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/QALY. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to test model uncertainty, in addition to calculating the expected value of perfect information. Results Providing training to PCPs to correctly diagnose RLS was cost-effective since it cost $2021 more and gained 0.44 QALYs per patient over the course of a lifetime, resulting in an ICER of $4593/QALY. The model was sensitive to the utility for treated and untreated RLS. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis revealed that at $100,000/QALY, informed care had a 65.5% probability of being cost-effective. Conclusion A program to train PCPs to better diagnose RLS appears to be a cost-effective strategy for improving outcomes for RLS patients.
Modified HyperCVAD Versus Bortezomib-HyperCAD in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Introduction Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy, in which aggressive relapses might require salvage cytotoxic infusional chemotherapy. Several clinical trials that reported the efficacy of bortezomib led to institutional practice changes in which vincristine was replaced with bortezomib in the modified hyperCVAD regimen, creating a new treatment regimen, named "bortezomib-hyperCAD." Patients and methods We retrospectively describe the effectiveness and tolerability of 2 chemotherapy regimens among 33 patients with relapsed and/or refractory MM. Patients who received ≥ 1 cycle of modified hyperCVAD or bortezomib-hyperCAD between 2011 and 2015 were assessed. Results The median number of cycles administered in each arm was 2. The overall response rate was 40% (6 partial responses) in the modified hyperCVAD group and 44.4% (1 complete response, 1 very good partial response, and 6 partial responses) in the bortezomib-hyperCAD group (Fisher exact P = .80). Median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) for patients in the modified hyperCVAD group was 6.3 months and 11.1 months, respectively. This was comparable with patients in the bortezomib-hyperCAD group, who had a median PFS of 6.6 months and a median OS of 13.8 months (log rank P = .54 and .66, respectively). There was no statistically significant association between treatment arm and febrile neutropenia, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or peripheral neuropathy (all Fisher exact P values > .05). Conclusion Overall effectiveness and tolerability outcomes were similar between modified hyperCVAD and bortezomib-hyperCAD, with both regimens showing an impressive response rate among refractory and heavily pretreated patients with relapsed MM.
Trauma across generations and paths to adaptation and resilience.

Objective There is a growing literature on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, representing approaches across psychodynamic, family systems, epidemiological, sociological, and biological levels of analysis. Embitterment has been proposed as a response to severe, but normative, stressful events, different from the life-threatening trauma that precedes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method This article reviews the potential applicability of the construct of embitterment to trauma and intergenerational effects through (a) a historical review of the intergenerational transmission of trauma literature, (b) a discussion of embitterment versus PTSD, (c) a brief review of theories of mechanisms of transmission, and (d) a discussion of biological findings and their interpretation. Results Mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of trauma, which may include psychodynamic processes, vicarious trauma, learning and modeling, parenting and family environment, and biological influences, are reviewed. Survivor coping and resilience, and specifically the presence of PTSD, has emerged as an important moderator of parental trauma effects on the second generation. A table comparing posttraumatic embitterment disorder and PTSD is provided. Conclusion The discussion emphasizes the importance of construing biological findings as flexible adaptations to stressors rather than deterministic indicators of damage, the relevance of context in interpreting such findings, and the role of community-level processes for healing. (PsycINFO Database Record
The groundwater risk index: Development and application in the Middle East and North Africa region

Abstract Overreliance on predominantly non-renewable groundwater resources and their subsequent depletion has given rise to adverse environmental, political, economic, and social effects. The high costs of groundwater depletion are exacerbated by the notable absence of tools designed to identify and diagnose areas at risk of groundwater degradation. In this study, a Groundwater Risk Index (GRI) was developed as a distributed composite index to assess and evaluate groundwater depletion risk by combining different environmental and socioeconomic datasets and models. GRI is designed to be used by end-users (e.g. governments, NGOs) as a multicriteria diagnostic tool to identify and determine the probability and severity of an entity experiencing the adverse effects of groundwater mining. Annual GRI results indicate that groundwater risk is highly dependent on governance and food security. Surprisingly, groundwater storage reserves were indeterminate of groundwater risk. Given the centrality of agricultural production in groundwater consumptive use, MENA countries are recommended to mitigate groundwater depletion by establishing reliable and secure virtual water transfers (agricultural trade) to achieve food security, as opposed to unsustainably exploiting finite water resources for short-term food sufficiency. The GRI's design choices, including adopting an equal weighting scheme and a linear additive aggregation approach, promote structural flexibility that enables the modification, application, and implementation of the index in other semi- to hyper-arid regions with a high level of dependency on groundwater resources.
Limit setting: theory, techniques, and risks.

Limit setting is a necessary aspect of clinical treatment but the professional literature on this subject is relatively sparse and does not address many of the core issues, including some countertr...
Temporal and Spectral Quantification of the ‘Crackle’ Component in Supersonic Jet Noise

Measurements of the pressure waveforms along a grid in the far-field of an unheated Mach 3 jet were conducted in order to study crackle. A detection algorithm is introduced which isolates the shock-type structures in the temporal waveform that are responsible for crackle. Ensemble averages of the structures reveal symmetric shocks at shallow angles, while they appear to be asymmetric near the Mach wave angle. Spectral quantification is achieved through time–frequency analyses and shows that crackle causes the expected high-frequency energy gain. The increase in energy due to crackle is proposed as a more reliable metric for the perception of crackle, as opposed to the Skewness of the pressure or pressure derivative.
Developmental Changes in Fetal Hemoglobin

About 100 years ago, Korber observed the resistance of cord blood to alkali denaturation when compared with blood from adults. Since that time we have gained considerable insight into the biochemistry of adult (Hb A) and fetal (Hb F) hemoglobin, as reviewed recently by Jonxis (1) and Baglioni (2).
One of us? How leaders can use subtle identity performances to build trust among ingroups and outgroups:

Leaders often face the dilemma of earning trust among different subgroups. How can leaders “reach across the aisle” to build trust among outgroup members without alienating their own ingroup in the...