cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Large-Eddy Simulation of Rotor Tip-Clearance Flows: Computational Challenges and Accomplishments

The tip-leakage flow dynamics in axial turbomachines has been studied using large-eddy simulation (LES) with particular emphasis on understanding the underlying mechanisms for viscous losses, low-pressure fluctuations, and tip-leakage vortex oscillations. Such an understanding is essential to predicting and eventually controlling cavitation, noise, and vibration in liquid handling systems such as pumps and ducted propellers, and improving their performance. An overview of the computational challenges and major accomplishments of this Challenge Project is presented. These include: (i) improvements of parallel performance, optimization, and portability of the LES code, (ii) LES of the tip-leakage flow in a linear cascade, (iii) detailed analysis of flow statistics, vortex dynamics, and pressure fluctuations, (iv) exploration of tip-leakage flow control strategies by modifying the tip-gap size and end-wall shape, and (v) extension of the flow solver for multiphase simulations of cavitating flow in a rotating twisted blade.
Management Options and Outcomes for Neonatal Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in the Early Twenty-First Century

Without surgical treatment, neonatal hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) mortality in the first year of life exceeds 90 % and, in spite of improved surgical outcomes, many families still opt for non-surgical management. The purpose of this study was to investigate trends in neonatal HLHS management and to identify characteristics of patients who did not undergo surgical palliation. Neonates with HLHS were identified from a serial cross-sectional analysis using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Kids' Inpatient Database from 2000 to 2012. The primary analysis compared children undergoing surgical palliation to those discharged alive without surgery using a binary logistic regression model. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to determine factors associated with treatment choice. A total of 1750 patients underwent analysis. Overall hospital mortality decreased from 35.3 % in 2000 to 22.9 % in 2012. The percentage of patients undergoing comfort care discharge without surgery also decreased from 21.2 to 14.8 %. After controlling for demographics and comorbidities, older patients at presentation were less likely to undergo surgery (OR 0.93, 0.91-0.96), and patients in 2012 were more likely to undergo surgery compared to those in prior years (OR 1.5, 1.1-2.1). Discharge without surgical intervention is decreasing with a 30 % reduction between 2000 and 2012. Given the improvement in surgical outcomes, further dialogue about ethical justification of non-operative comfort or palliative care is warranted. In the meantime, clinicians should present families with surgical outcome data and recommend intervention, while supporting their option to refuse.
A Probabilistic Approach to Model the Nonisothermal Nucleation of Triacylglycerol Melts

Crystallization studies are usually performed under isothermal conditions. Kinetic parameters characterizing the isothermal nucleation and growth processes can be obtained using classical nucleation and growth models. However, crystallization regimes found in nature, as well as those used in food and pharmaceutical processing, are rarely isothermal. Focusing on the nucleation stage, the approach followed in this work was to define a new parameter to characterize the driving force of nucleation, the supercooling-time exposure (β), which not only depends on the difference between the melting temperature (Tm) and the onset temperature of nucleation (Tc) ΔTc but also on the induction time of nucleation, tc, and therefore the cooling rate (φ), namely, β = (1/2)ΔTctc = ΔTc2/2φ. An exponential probability density function of the values of β was utilized to model changes in nucleation rate as a function of β in the form J/Jmax = . From this parametrization procedure, the energy of activation for the nucleation pr...
Students with Chronic Diseases: Nature of School Physician Support.

Background: To educate children with chronic diseases in the least restrictive environment, schools must prevent, recognize, and react appropriately to symptom exacerbations. Schools are often pushed to their limits of knowledge, resources, and comfort level. This study determined the health conditions of students for whom districts seek school physician consultation and the nature of school physician consultants’ involvement. Methods: A retrospective record review was performed on 250 of the most recent records of school-elicited referrals from an academic center that provides physician consultation to school districts. Referrals were sent from 8 school districts in southern California (July 1996 to October 2006). Data collected were nature of student’s special health need, the school physician consultant’s intervention required to satisfy schools’ needs, student grade level, enrollment in special education, and health-related excessive absenteeism. Results: No single chronic condition, symptom, or special health care need predominated. Six types of school physician consultant activities were used to overcome hurdles schools faced when accommodating students with special health care needs. The 3 most common were direct communication with students’ own physicians (70% of students), recommending an appropriate level of school health services when this was a matter of controversy (42%), and formulating portions of students’ individualized school health plans (38%). Conclusions: A portion of students with special health care needs benefited from district referral to a school physician consultant. Whether some of these referrals can be avoided if school personnel and students’ own physicians are supported and trained to communicate more effectively with one another needs to be explored.
GROWTH OF Vibro parahaemolyticus AT LOW SALT LEVELS AND IN NONMARINE FOODS

Two strains of V. parahaemolyticus were studied with respect to salt requirements in Nutrient Broth, effects of freezing and heat stresses on salt requirements, and growth in nonmarine foods. Nutrient Broth containing 0.0235M Na plus K ions was supplemented with NaCl, KCl, Na2SO4 and K2SO4 in concentrations from 0.0342M–0.5132M. V. parahaemolyticus did not grow without supplementation. Both strains grew at a mimimum total NaCl concentration of 0.0855M (0.5%) and maintained viability at 0.0513M (0.3%) NaCl. Strain 17802 could utilize KCl, Na2SO4 and K2SO4 as alternate ion sources and gave essentially the same growth patterns as with equimolar concentrations of cation from NaCl. Strain 27519 required slightly higher concentrations of KC1 and Na2SO4 than strain 17802 but did not grow at any level of K2SO4 supplementation. NaCl requirements in Nutrient Broth were only very slightly changed by stresses of frozen storage at −18°C up to 30 days and were esentially unchanged by heating at 50°C for 15 min. Both strains grew profusely in beef, turkey, pudding, milk and egg at 37°C and 25°C, reaching levels within 12 hr, in most cases, sufficient to cause food poisoning by pathogenic strains. To a more moderate degree growth also occurred at 9°C, reaching viable counts of 105/ml in 12 hr in all of these foods except egg. At 9°C none of the foods exhibited visual or odor changes indicative of spoilage even after 72 hr, while at the higher temperatures such signs of spoilage were absent in several cases where counts exceeded 107−108/ml. Green beans of pH 4.95 did not support growth or maintain viability of either strain. The levels of NaCl in the Nutrient Broth and foods that supported growth of V. parahaemolyticus in these studies were lower than generally reported in the literature.
Use of Aggregates Producing High Shrinkage with Shrinkage-Compensating Cements

Coarse aggregate has a large influence on drying shrinkage which is one of the major causes of cracking in concrete structures. The stiffer an aggregate, the lower is the drying shinkage of concrete. Since it is not possible to alter the stiffness characteristic of an aggregate, a practical method of minimizing cracking of concrete when high-absorption or low-modulus aggregates must be used can be the application of a shrinkage-compensating cement in combination with these aggregates of marginal quality. Data are presented showing that the use of high-absorption aggregates in combination with a Type K shrinkage-compensating cement produced concretes whose net contraction due to drying was equal to or lower than the drying shrinkage of a portland cement concrete made with a low-absorption aggregate. The shrinkage-compensating cement concretes developed higher strength than the corresponding portland cement concretes. High-absorption or low-modulus aggregates when used in appropriately proportioned shrinkage-compensating concretes can meet even the most rigid shrinkage limitations specified to minimize cracking and deflections in concrete structures.
Localization, with Monoclonal Antibodies and by Detection of Autonomous Fluorescence, of Blood Cells in the Tissues of the Vanadium-Rich Ascidian, Ascidia sydneiensis samea

Abstract Ascidians have several types of blood cells which have been reported to be involved in various functions. However, it is still unclear what type of blood cell participates in each of various functions and in which tissue each type of blood cell localize in ascidians. As a necessary step to make clear the important and intractable problems, the localization of four different types of blood cells was examined using two kinds of cell marker, monoclonal antibodies and autonomous fluorescence. Consequently, it was revealed that signet ring cells were the only blood cells that were localized in the connective tissues around the alimentary canal and the amoebocytes were mainly distributed in the transverse vessels of the branchial basket. The morula cells and compartment cells were distributed under the epidermis of the mantle around the visceral region.
Modeling reverse-phi motion-selective neurons in cortex: double synaptic-veto mechanism

Reverse-phi motion is the illusory reversal of perceived direction of movement when the stimulus contrast is reversed in successive frames. Living-stone, Tsao, and Conway (2000) showed that direction-selective cells in striate cortex of the alert macaque monkey showed reversed excitatory and inhibitory regions when two different contrast bars were flashed sequentially during a two-bar interaction analysis. While correlation or motion energy models predict the reverse-phi response, it is unclear how neurons can accomplish this. We carried out detailed biophysical simulations of a direction-selective cell model implementing a synaptic shunting scheme. Our results suggest that a simple synaptic-veto mechanism with strong direction selectivity for normal motion cannot account for the observed reverse-phi motion effect. Given the nature of reverse-phi motion, a direct interaction between the ON and OFF pathway, missing in the original shunting-inhibition model, it is essential to account for the reversal of response. We here propose a double synaptic-veto mechanism in which ON excitatory synapses are gated by both delayed ON inhibition at their null side and delayed OFF inhibition at their preferred side. The converse applies to OFF excitatory synapses. Mapping this scheme onto the dendrites of a direction-selective neuron permits the model to respond best to normal motion in its preferred direction and to reverse-phi motion in its null direction. Two-bar interaction maps showed reversed excitation and inhibition regions when two different contrast bars are presented.
Some cis- and trans-acting mutants for splicing target pre-mRNA to the cytoplasm

Abstract We designed a strategy to identify splicing factors that act by preventing pre-mRNA transport into the cytoplasm. A yeast synthetic intron was inserted into a lacZ gene so that only the pre-mRNA could be translated to produce β-galactosidase activity. Deletion of either of the 5′ splice junction sequence GUAUGU and the branchpoint sequence UACUAAC resulted in a dramatic increase in pre-mRNA translation, indicating its cytoplasmic localization. In rna6 and rna9 mutant strains assayed at the nonpermissive temperature, splicing inhibition occurred simultaneously with a large increase in pre-mRNA translation. Similarly, a point mutation in U1 snRNA decreased splicing efficiency and increased pre-mRNA translation. From these results, we conclude that early acting factors, probably including U1 snRNA, and the RNA6 and RNA9 gene products, interact in vivo with the 5′ splice junction and the branchpoint sequence to commit the pre-mRNA to the splicing pathway, thereby preventing its transport to the cytoplasm.
Die Entdeckung und Synthese von marinen Polyethern

Die beispiellose Struktur des marinen Naturstoffs Brevetoxin B wurde 1981 von den Arbeitsgruppen um Nakanishi und Clardy aufgeklart. Das leiterformige Molekulgerust dieses kondensierten Polyethers, die starke Toxizitat und der faszinierende Wirkmechanismus durch Angriff am spannungsgesteuerten Natriumkanal sorgten fur Aufmerksamkeit. Syntheseversuche fuhrten zur Entwicklung zahlreicher neuer Methoden und Strategien zum Aufbau von Etherringen und wurden schlieslich durch die Totalsynthesen von Brevetoxin B und einigen verwandten, ahnlich anspruchsvollen Zielverbindungen gekront. Unter den marinen Polyethern nimmt Maitotoxin als kompliziertester und giftigster Vertreter eine Sonderstellung ein; die Verbindung ist der groste bekannte nichtpolymere Naturstoff uberhaupt. Dieser Aufsatz beginnt mit einer kurzen Geschichte zur Isolierung der Biotoxine und beleuchtet ihre biologischen Eigenschaften und Wirkmechanismen. Dann werden Syntheseversuche beschrieben, wobei besonders neue Methoden berucksichtigt werden, die im Laufe dieser Studien entwickelt wurden. Den Abschluss bilden eine Diskussion der noch nicht abgeschlossenen Totalsynthese von Maitotoxin sowie ein Ausblick auf die weitere Entwicklung des Forschungsgebiets.
Systolic Blood Pressure Response During Exercise Stress Testing: The Henry Ford ExercIse Testing (FIT) Project

Background The prognostic significance of modest elevations in exercise systolic blood pressure response has not been extensively examined. Methods and Results We examined the association between systolic blood pressure response and all‐cause death and incident myocardial infarction (MI) in 44 089 (mean age 53±13 years, 45% female, 26% black) patients who underwent exercise treadmill stress testing from the Henry Ford ExercIse Testing (FIT) Project (1991–2010). Exercise systolic blood pressure response was examined as a categorical variable (>20 mm Hg: referent; 1 to 20 mm Hg, and ≤0 mm Hg) and per 1 SD decrease. Cox regression was used to compute hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CI for the association between systolic blood pressure response and all‐cause death and incident MI. Over a median follow‐up of 10 years, a total of 4782 (11%) deaths occurred and over 5.2 years, a total of 1188 (2.7%) MIs occurred. In a Cox regression analysis adjusted for demographics, physical fitness, and cardiovascular risk factors, an increased risk of death was observed with decreasing systolic blood pressure response (>20 mm Hg: HR=1.0, referent; 1 to 20 mm Hg: HR=1.13, 95% CI=1.05, 1.22; ≤0 mm Hg: HR=1.21, 95% CI=1.09, 1.34). A trend for increased MI risk was observed (>20 mm Hg: HR=1.0, referent; 1 to 20 mm Hg: HR=1.09, 95% CI=0.93, 1.27; ≤0 mm Hg: HR=1.19, 95% CI=0.95, 1.50). Decreases in systolic blood pressure response per 1 SD were associated with an increased risk for all‐cause death (HR=1.08, 95% CI=1.05, 1.11) and incident MI (HR=1.09, 95% CI=1.03, 1.16). Conclusions Our results suggest that modest increases in exercise systolic blood pressure response are associated with adverse outcomes.
Radiation Preservation of Milk and Milk Products. V. Precursors to the Radiation-Induced Oxidation Flavor of Milk Fat

Summary Oxidation flavor produced upon irradiation of milk fat is derived from certain of its component fatty acids. One of these acids has been identified as linolenic acid. Other acids required for production of irradiation-induced oxidation flavor have been isolated in an unidentified mixture. This unknown isolate is believed to contain the vinyl group and branched chains. Linolenic acid produced a fishy flavor upon irradiation, while the mixture of fatty acids containing the vinyl group and branched chains gave rise to a flavor characterized as candle-like. These two flavors blended upon mixing to give the typical tallowy oxidation flavor of irradiated milk fat.
Wave height estimation in stratified gas‐liquid flows

Andritsos and Hanratty (1978b) have shown that the increase in interfacial drag caused by waves in stratified gas-liquid flows is related to the wave steepness. Recent analyses of finite amplitude Kelvin-Helmholtz waves are used to develop a correlation for the ratio of the wave height to wavelength.
Abstract C22: Telomere length variation and frequency of short telomeres in blood lymphocytes: Novel biomarkers for lung cancer risk

Background: Although it is widely recognized that telomere dysfunction plays an important role in cancer, the relationship between telomere function in somatic cells and lung cancer risk is not well defined. In a case-control study of non-small cell lung cancer, we examined relationship between several key telomere features and lung cancer risk. Method: Telomere fluorescent in situ hybridization was used to measure telomere features using short-term cultured blood lymphocytes. Logistic regression was used to estimate the strength of association between telomere features and lung cancer risk. Results: Telomere length variation across all chromosomal ends was significantly associated with lung cancer risk, with adjusted odds ratios of 4.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.46 – 14.9] and 0.46 (95% CI = 0.25 – 0.84) for young (age 60) individuals, respectively. Similar strength and direction of associations between percentage of short telomeres and lung cancer risk were also observed. Telomere length variation and average telomere length jointly affect lung cancer risk. When comparing individuals with short telomere and high telomere length variation to those with long telomere and low telomere length variation, adjusted odd ratios were 8.21 (95% CI = 1.71 – 39.5) and 0.33 (95% CI = 0.15 – 0.72) for young and old individuals, respectively. Conclusion: Telomere length variation and percentage of short telomeres in blood lymphocytes are significantly associated with lung cancer risk and the associations are modulated by age. Telomere length variation in combination with average telomere length may be a promising tool for lung cancer risk assessment. Citation Format: Bing Sun, Ying Wang, Krishna Kota, Yaru Shi, Salaam Motlek, Kepher Makambi, Christopher A. Loffredo, Peter G. Shields, Qin Yang, Curtis C. Harris, Yun-Ling Zheng. Telomere length variation and frequency of short telomeres in blood lymphocytes: Novel biomarkers for lung cancer risk. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr C22.
Asset recovery in corruption cases

Purpose – Asset recovery proceedings increasingly target corrupt foreign officials who acquire lavish assets as a result of capital gained through criminal acts. One extremely difficult issue arising in asset recovery proceedings is whether the capital used to acquire the assets can be traced to a criminal act. The purpose of this paper is to critique US tracing procedure through comparative analysis. Design/methodology/approach – A prominent series of cases brought by the USA and France against assets owned by Teodoro “Teodorin” Nguema Obiang, second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, produced mixed results on the tracing element. This paper utilizes a qualitative comparative case analysis to examine the US and French cases. Findings – The US results reflect serious weaknesses in the US law as compared to more effective French asset recovery procedure. Originality/value – Though this paper is certainly a comparative case study analysis, nearly identical facts and two different jurisdict...
Direct chemical reduction of neptunium oxide to neptunium metal using calcium and calcium chloride

Abstract A process of direct reduction of neptunium oxide to neptunium metal using calcium metal as the reducing agent is discussed. After reduction of the oxide to metal, the metal is separated by density from the other components of the reaction mixture and can be easily removed upon cooling. The direct reduction technique consistently produces high purity (98%–99% pure) neptunium metal.
U.S. Hospital Use of Echocardiography: Insights From the Nationwide Inpatient Sample

Abstract Background Increased use of echocardiography (echo) raises questions of whether echo is an overused diagnostic procedure in the United States. Objectives This study investigated national trends, practice patterns, and patient outcomes associated with inpatient echo use reported in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Methods We identified admission diagnoses most commonly associated with echo use and performed multivariate logistic regression within each diagnosis cohort to assess whether echo use was associated with all-cause inpatient mortality. Secondary analysis was performed within our institution to validate use trends identified in the NIS database. Results Between 2001 and 2011, the absolute volume and incidence of echo steadily increased at average annual rates of 3.41% and 3.04%, respectively. In 2010, the use of echo was associated with lower odds of inpatient mortality among hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.63 to 0.86; p Conclusions Despite increasing rates of performance, echo may be underused during critical cardiovascular hospitalizations.
The Case for Concurrent Veterans Benefits: Duplicative but Not Duplicitous

“Dual-eligible” individuals are veterans and other qualified individuals (such as the veteran's children, spouse, or parents) who are eligible for more than one similar or identical benefit. The first group of dual-eligible individuals consists of persons eligible for the same benefit via two separate causes, both of which would separately qualify for the allowance. The second major category of dual-eligible individuals consists of persons eligible for two or more distinct types of benefits that Congress prohibits from being received concurrently (such as the veteran who must choose either Dependents' Educational Assistance or Dependency and Indemnity Compensation).This Article argues why concurrent or duplicative receipt of various military and veteran benefits should be allowed. Even in cases where the veteran or his or her beneficiaries seek multiple receipts of the same benefit, if distinct and independent bases for receiving the benefit exist, the VA should dispense dual compensation.
Keep Your Friends Close but Your Auditors Closer: Corporations Risk Waiver When Independent Auditors Request Work Product

In the current transparency-driven regulatory environment, corporations’ efforts at compliance are rife with uncertainty. The work product doctrine is a core safeguard of a lawyer’s work, which may contain sensitive information that corporations would not want disclosed to opposing parties. Meanwhile, independent auditors serve in a perilous capacity as they provide necessary services to their corporate clients while risking potentially adverse exposure of the information these clients and their counsel disclose to them.The work product doctrine is a time-honored and rule-driven protection that guards the mental impressions and work efforts of lawyers from discovery by opposing parties. Public accounting regulations and securities laws increasingly pressure corporations to disclose as much information as possible, sometimes risking waiver of this invaluable protection. Determining whether disclosure of attorney work product to an independent auditor waives work product protection has led to divergent outcomes, most recently with the D.C. Circuit’s interpretation of this issue- the first court at the circuit level to directly weigh in on this debate.If future courts that wrestle with this issue do not recognize the appropriate balance between this well-established protection and the goals of financial transparency, the common law waiver rule will be at odds with government goals to discover and prosecute corporate fraud. This Article describes the uncertainty that continues to plague this area of the law and highlights the risks that corporations face. It also critiques recent decisions in this area, offers a comprehensive case-by-case approach that reconciles competing concerns of fairness and transparency, and alternatively proposes a bright-line test to provide much-needed certainty.
Magnetization dynamics in a dual free-layer spin-torque nano-oscillator

We report micromagnetic simulations of magnetization dynamics in a spin-torque nano-oscillator (STNO) that consists of two in-plane free-layers located between two fixed out-of-plane polarizers. In the optimal regime of the STNO operation, the free-layers precess opposite one another on large-amplitude out-of-plane trajectories and generate large microwave power at the sum of their precession frequencies. Our simulations reveal that the frequency band of the STNO operation can be severely limited by formation of a static magnetic vortex in the free-layers, and that the bandwidth can vanish in commonly used free-layer materials such as Permalloy. We show that the vortex formation can be suppressed and the bandwidth significantly extended by increasing Gilbert damping in the free-layers and minimizing coupling between the free-layers by means of interlayer exchange interaction. We explore the operation of the STNO with and without the inclusion of the spin-torque coupling between the two free-layers. Our simulations demonstrate that an STNO with dual free-layers is a promising candidate for the development of high-power high-frequency STNOs operating in the absence of an external magnetic field.
Control of Charge-Carrier Mobility via In-Chain Spacer Length Variation in Sequenced Triarylamine Functionalized Polyolefins

A set of six perfectly regioregular pendant 2,7-bis(phenyl-m-toluylamino)fluorene (TPF) functionalized polyolefins for use as charge transporting materials in polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs) were prepared and characterized. Synthesis of these materials is straightforward, requiring only three or four steps, depending on the polymer, and final isolated yields over all steps combined were greater than 40% in all but one case. Most notably, these materials exhibit charge-carrier mobilities that can be controlled over 3 orders of magnitude by variation of the number of intermediary carbons (spacer length) between the pendant TPF groups. The range of hole mobilities encompasses the electron mobilities of common electron transport materials/emitters such as Alq3 and PBD, thus, affording the opportunity to fabricate electroactive polyolefin based PLEDs with well matched charge-carrier mobilities and improved performance. We believe this approach to charge-carrier mobility control in electroactive materials...
Measuring Students' Motivation: Validity Evidence for the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory.

This study provides validity evidence for the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MUSIC Inventory; Jones, 2012), which measures college students’ beliefs related to the five components of the MUSIC Model of Motivation (MUSIC model; Jones, 2009). The MUSIC model is a conceptual framework for five categories of teaching strategies (i.e., eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring) that were derived from research and theory as ones that are critical to students’ motivation ( Jones, 2009). Participants included 338 undergraduate students who provided questionnaire responses in reference to 221 different courses at a large public U.S. university. Our analyses included classical item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, the calculation of Rasch measurement scales, and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Results support the validity of scores produced by the MUSIC Inventory for use with college students. This inventory could be useful to instructors and researchers interested in assessing the effects of instruction on students’ motivational beliefs.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DYNAMIC MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE

For the safety analysis of concrete structures under impulsive loading is i. e. stress wave effects and strain-rate effects. Moreover, the characteristics of stress waves propagating in concrete structures are essentially dependet on the rate-dependent constitutive relation of concrete materials under high stratin rates. In the paper, impact compression test on concrete is performed with a modified right cone vareable cross-section SHPB,and come to the stress-strain rate in 100/S strain rate. The experiment results show that the concrete manifests itself in two aspects.
Novices Who Focused or Experts Who Didn't?

Crowd feedback services offer a new method for acquiring feedback during design. A key problem is that the services only return the feedback without any cues about the people who provided it. In this paper, we investigate two cues of a feedback provider -- the effort invested in a feedback task and expertise in the domain. First, we tested how positive and negative cues of a provider's effort and expertise affected perceived quality of the feedback. Results showed both cues affected perceived quality, but primarily when the cues were negative. The results also showed that effort cues affected perceived quality as much as expertise. In a second study, we explored the use of behavioral data for modeling effort for feedback tasks. For a binary classification, the models achieved up to 92% accuracy relative to human raters. This result validates the feasibility of implementing effort cues in crowd services. The contributions of this work will enable increased transparency in crowd feedback services, benefiting both designers and feedback providers.
Management of the Clitically Ill Asthmatic Patient

Status asthmaticus is a life-threatening condition characterized by rapid or inexorable progression of airflow obstruction that may lead to respiratory failure. It must be distinguished from other causes of dyspnea with signs of airflow limitation, and therapy must then be directed at relief of bronchospasm and airway inflammation, with use of multiple pharmacologic agents. Patients require moment-to-moment assessment until airway disease reverses. During this early portion of their course, intubation and mechanical ventilation may be required. Successful management on the ventilator requires an understanding of underlying abnormalities of lung mechanics and the interaction of the lungs and circulation.
“I’ve Tried and I’ve Died This Year”: First-Year Teachers Reflect on Literacy Reform

ABSTRACTThis article describes the challenges associated with outcomes-based education reform as experienced by two novice elementary teachers. Interviews with the teachers provide insights into the tensions between their teaching beliefs and the practices employed in their local contexts. Specifically, pressures to both focus on standardized measures of student achievement and to conform to the social norms of the schools are explored. The authors advocate for the need for situated discussions about these tensions during the first year of teaching and recognition of the complexity of teaching and learning by all stakeholders.
Characterizing Imaging Data

Imaging represents a frequent, non-invasive, longitudinal, in vivo sampling technique for acquiring objective insight into normal and disease phenomenon. Imaging is increasingly used to document complex patient conditions, for diagnostic purposes as well as for assessment of therapeutic interventions (e.g., drug, surgery, radiation therapy) [81]. Imaging can capture structural, compositional, and functional information across multiple scales of evidence, including manifestations of disease processes at the molecular, genetic, cellular, tissue, and organ level [47]. Imaging allows both global assessment of disease extent as well as the characterization of disease micro-environments. Advances in imaging during the past decade have provided an unparalleled view into the human body; and in all likelihood these advances will continue in the foreseeable future. There has been considerable research directed to developing imaging biomarkers, defined as, “…anatomic, physiologic, biochemical, or molecular parameters detectable with imaging methods used to establish the presence or severity of disease which offers the prospect of improved early medical product development and preclinical testing” [188]. Yet the full utility of image data is not realized, with prevailing interpretation methods that almost entirely rely on conventional subjective interpretation of images. Quantitative methods to extract the underlying tissue specific parameters that change with pathology will provide a better understanding of pathological processes. The interdisciplinary field of imaging informatics addresses many issues that have prevented the systematic, scientific understanding of radiological evidence and the creation of comprehensive diagnostic models from which the most plausible explanation can be considered for decision making tasks.
Distal humerus nonunion

Abstract Nonunion of the distal humerus is a relatively uncommon complex elbow problem. Recovery from a distal humerus fracture is prolonged and painful; therefore, nonunion may only be distinguished by loosening or breakage of the implants or instability of the elbow. Unstable nonunions are treated with open reduction and internal fixation with autogenous bone graft, release of contracted elbow capsule, and release of the ulnar nerve. Total elbow arthroplasty may be used in relatively infirm, older patients.
Psychophysical Assessment of the Sensory and Affective Components of Touch

In this chapter, we address two issues. Initially, we consider how to assess the sensations and emotions that occur through touch. This is not a trivial problem, for there exists a wealth of potentially relevant language that one might use to construct appropriate psychometric instruments. After reviewing the limited number of prior tactile lexicons, we illustrate a method by which we have developed a new lexicon for touch. This ‘Touch Perception Task’ allows the assessment of relevant sensory and emotional components of perception. In the subsequent part of the chapter, we review two classes of devices for the study of touch. These devices either allow tactile stimuli to be delivered in a highly controlled manner, or allow the assessment of the physical interactions between skin and stimulus during tactile perception. The former robotic stimulators are of particular relevance to the study of C-tactile afferents, because they allow stimuli to be presented to hairy skin with velocities that are well- or ill-suited to stimulate such afferents. The other class of force-plate devices tends to be limited to assessing finger−surface interactions, which do not involve C-tactile afferents. However, active touch using the fingers is an important human behavior, which can certainly be replete with emotion. As such, it is important to reconcile C-tactile mediated affect, and the affect that derives from touch devoid of these afferents. Robotic and force-plate devices will both be of utility in this respect.
Cost-Effectiveness and Formulary Evaluation: Imaginary Worlds and Entresto Claims in Heart Failure

The Program in Social and Administrative Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota recently released its proposed guidelines for formulary evaluation. The guidelines were focused on ensuring that comparative claims made for pharmaceutical products and devices rested on a credible evidence base. The argument was put forward that if value claims for clinical and cost-effectiveness outcomes were to be accepted then they had to be empirically evaluable. The purpose of this commentary is to explore alternative modeled claims for Entresto, an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, versus the standard of care with an ACE inhibitor in patients with chronic heart failure. Two models are compared: a lifetime cost-per-QALY model and a 3-year cost and budget impact model. The primary reason for this comparison is the puzzling feature that for a product which is over 120 time as expensive compared to the standard of care (Entresto $380 per month vs. ACE inhibitor $3 per month) the modeled claim can be made that the product is, in willingness to pay terms, cost-effective. The analysis illustrates that, perhaps not surprisingly, different models can generate quite different perspectives on the presumption of ‘cost-effectiveness’. In the present case the simple decision model yields a breakeven monthly cost for Entresto of only $23.74. If modeled claims are to be useful for formulary decision making, then we need to eschew ‘black box’ models with non-evaluable claims in favor of those models that yield credible, evaluable and replicable claims that can support defensible product placement and pricing decisions. Conflict of Interest None Type: Commentary
On exploiting algebraic structure in control of finite state machines

We consider finite state machines whose states evolve in a vector space defined over a finite field, and whose dynamics are linear time-invariant. For this class of systems, we show how the linear structure may be exploited to reduce the complexity of solving a class of finite horizon optimal control problems.
A Content Analysis of 3D Printing Policies at Academic Libraries

Many academic libraries are adopting 3D printing programs and researching, writing, and implementing policies for these programs. This article analyzes the content of 50 academic library 3D printin...
Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope using a micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) deformable mirror

A MEMS deformable mirror (DM)-based new generation adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) has been developed for in-vivo microscopic imaging of the living human retina. With the miniaturized optical aperture of a μDMS-MultiTM MEMS DM made by Boston Micromachines Corporation (Watertown, MA), we were able to confine a compact and robust optical system to a mobile 30"×30" breadboard while keeping the system aberrations diffraction-limited over an imaging field of view up to 3×3 degrees. A customized Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor was devised to facilitate the MEMS DM based adaptive optics (AO) system. The ocular aberration is compensated over a 6mm pupil based upon a modal wavefront correction strategy. The AO correction is done for both ingoing and outgoing paths of the scanning laser ophthalmoscope. After AO correction, the root mean square wave aberration is reduced to less than 0.1μm for most eyes. The lateral resolution is effectively enhanced and the images reveal clear cone mosaic near the foveal center. The significant increase of the throughput at the confocal pinhole allows for a confocal pinhole whose diameter is less than the Airy disc of the collection lens, thereby fully exploiting the axial resolution capabilities of the system. The MEMS DM as well as its successful application represents the most significant technological breakthrough of this new generation AOSLO.
Isoflurane modulates activation and inactivation gating of the prokaryotic Na+ channel NaChBac.

Voltage-gated Na + channels (Na v ) have emerged as important presynaptic targets for volatile anesthetic (VA) effects on synaptic transmission. However, the detailed biophysical mechanisms by which VAs modulate Na v function remain unclear. VAs alter macroscopic activation and inactivation of the prokaryotic Na + channel, NaChBac, which provides a useful structural and functional model of mammalian Na v . Here, we study the effects of the common general anesthetic isoflurane on NaChBac function by analyzing macroscopic Na + currents ( I Na ) in wild-type (WT) channels and mutants with impaired (G229A) or enhanced (G219A) inactivation. We use a previously described six-state Markov model to analyze empirical WT and mutant NaChBac channel gating data. The model reproduces the mean empirical gating manifest in I Na time courses and optimally estimates microscopic rate constants, valences ( z ), and fractional electrical distances ( x ) of forward and backward transitions. The model also reproduces gating observed for all three channels in the absence or presence of isoflurane, providing further validation. We show using this model that isoflurane increases forward activation and inactivation rate constants at 0 mV, which are associated with estimated chemical free energy changes of approximately −0.2 and −0.7 kcal/mol, respectively. Activation is voltage dependent ( z ≈ 2 e 0 , x ≈ 0.3), inactivation shows little voltage dependence, and isoflurane has no significant effect on either. Forward inactivation rate constants are more than 20-fold greater than backward rate constants in the absence or presence of isoflurane. These results indicate that isoflurane modulates NaChBac gating primarily by increasing forward activation and inactivation rate constants. These findings support accumulating evidence for multiple sites of anesthetic interaction with the channel.
Recency versus Primacy in a Complex Gross Motor Task

Abstract Two groups of male university students were given ten spaced trials to learn a large locomotor maze. The subjects were blindfolded and learning criterion was traversal time. First learned, based upon traversal speed, was the initial half of the pattern; last to be learned was the second half. Following the fourth trial, differences between first and second half traversal times, exceeded the .01 level of significance. The recency-primacy phenomena seemed independent of the complexity of the pathway, as the first half speed was always faster, regardless of the direction maze traversal occurred.
Racism Less Pervasive, More Complex

Four decades after Dr. King's death, Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate's only black member, may become America's first black president. Today, what I call the ghosts of Jim Crow are caused by choices that result in housing isolation, inequitable school funding, criminal justice stereotyping, and health care service inadequacy that maintain inequality.
Entre tumbas y medianoche: Contextos y cambios de las representaciones sobre los “huaqueros” en el Perú

El huaqueo, entendido como la extraccion no autorizada de restos arqueologicos, es una practica popular en el Peru con origenes trazables en el siglo XVI y que tiene por finalidad obtener objetos considerados valiosos que puedan ser luego comercializados. Debido a lo singular de su posicion en el entramado cultural, entre lo tradicional y lo ilegal, quienes realizan esta actividad –los huaqueros– han sido representados en diferentes epocas y medios (i.e. prensa, literatura, etc.). Este trabajo presenta el analisis de una muestra de imagenes sobre los huaqueros correspondientes a diferentes decadas del siglo XX, la manera como estas representaciones han cambiado y los diferentes contextos culturales en que se insertan. De esta manera, podemos entender mejor los diferentes significados asignados tanto a los individuos como a la practica en general, y el proceso por el cual constituyen ahora un elemento importante en el imaginario popular.
Incorporating a Mindfulness Meditation Exercise Into a Stuttering Treatment Program

A mindfulness meditation exercise was incorporated into a stuttering treatment program for an adult male who stutters. Speech disfluencies were analyzed before and after mindfulness meditation and ...
Introduction to the Research Handbook on Fiduciary Law

Fiduciary law governs myriad relationships, including employment relationships, business organizations, and professional relationships. Fiduciary relationships characteristically have two parties, a fiduciary and a beneficiary, each of which may be an individual, an organization, or a group of individuals or organizations. The fiduciary acts on behalf of the beneficiary. Trustees are fiduciaries for the beneficiaries of the trust. People with managerial power in a business organization – partners, officers, directors, and so forth – are fiduciaries for the owners of the business organization. Professionals like doctors, lawyers, and clergy may be fiduciaries with respect to their patients, clients, and parishioners. Nations can be fiduciaries and so can government officials. Efforts to unify fiduciary law as a field have paid ample dividends, offering substantial new insights in recent years. At the same time, fiduciary law is a subject that can be viewed from many different angles. There is a reason why some scholars take an atomistic view of fiduciary obligations, or else question whether a single principle can explain fiduciary relationships. Fiduciary relationships show genuine differences from one type to another; loyalty duties vary across settings, both for specific parties and for relationship types (e.g., corporations, trusts, agency relations); and individual jurisdictions each have their own way of conceptualizing what it is to be a fiduciary. Recognizing this should not mean giving up on unity in fiduciary law, but it should encourage a close look at the ways in which the field responds to context. The chapters in this volume provide this very thing. We are hopeful that the range of ideas introduced in this volume will encourage additional research agendas in fiduciary law. Many of the puzzles addressed by these chapters are starting points for further inquiry, and some of the chapters’ more controversial arguments are sure to draw responses. The healthy debate we now see over fiduciary principles reflects the status of the field more broadly. Fiduciary law has been a fundamental component of the law for a very long time, but in recent years its significance has become increasingly evident. The chapters in this volume help to show why this subject has drawn so many distinctive points of view. Whether our concerns are public law or private law, legal duties or moral duties, fiduciary law continues to pose new and interesting questions that cut across vital legal topics. We anticipate that this volume will answer some of these questions, even as it raises new ones to consider.
Temperature-Dependent Development and Survival of Giant Whitefly Aleurodicus dugesii (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Under Constant Temperatures.

The invasive giant whitefly Aleurodicus dugesii Cockerell (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a pest of over 300 plants species in the United States, many of which are economically important ornamentals and crops. Development and survival of A. dugesii was assessed at seven constant temperatures ranging from 10 to 35°C to provide a basis for phenological forecasting and assist in enhancing current biological control strategies. Complete development occurred from 15 to 28°C, with partial development occurring at 30°C. Development time differed between sexes, with males developing 2 (at 25°C) to 6 (at 15 and 28°C) d faster than females. Adult survival was highest at 25°C (65.4%), with survival rate declining rapidly at other temperatures. The relationship between temperature and development was evaluated using five nonlinear models (Lactin-2, Briere-1 and 2, Beta, and LRF). Additionally, the simple linear regression was used to calculate developmental degree-days (DDs). While all five nonlinear models evaluated fit the data well, the Briere-1 model provided the best fit of the data and estimated the optimal (25.3°C), lower (9.9°C), and upper (30.0°C) developmental thresholds for male and female complete development. Using linear regression, DDs for complete development were calculated as 408 and 435 for males and females, respectively. The results of this study emphasize A. dugesii survival and development under varied temperature conditions.