cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electrostrictive properties of nanosize PbTiO/sub 3/

Properties of nanosize PbTiO/sub 3/ are discussed from the standpoint of the effects of crystallite size on electrostrictive behavior. Experimental results based on crystallite size-dependent primary and secondary order parameters (spontaneous polarization and strain) show that the critical crystallite size (CCS) for the stabilization of the cubic paraelectric phase at 298 K is around 15 nm. The CCS inversely scales with the cubic-tetragonal transition temperature (T/sub tr/). Electrostrictive coefficients exhibit an order of magnitude increase at 28 nm, which is attributed to the anharmonicity of the perovskite lattice. First order calculations indicate that the increase in the electrostrictive coefficients offsets the decrease in spontaneous polarization and results in an increase in piezoelectric moduli suggesting that piezoelectric activity could, in principle, be observed in the nanosize regime.
Troubled Banks: Why Don't They All Fail?

A wealth of literature examines the determinants of bank failures and of bank mergers or consolidations. Also numerous are studies that develop failure- prediction models and early-warning systems. But both groups of studies use samples of all banks, and therefore most of this research focuses on pairs of outcomes: failure versus nonfailure, merger versus consolidation,1 or problem bank versus nonproblem bank. But in reality, future status is more than a binary choice. Here we study only troubled banks - banks that receive a composite CAMELS rating of either 4 or 5 when examined.2 A focus on troubled banks is valuable to the FDIC and bank researchers for four reasons. First, when a bank is troubled, failure is but one possible outcome; alternative outcomes are recovery, merger, or continuation as a problem. Second, between 1990 and 2002, 96 percent of all banks that failed had first been troubled banks. Including nonproblem banks would add bias towards non-failure as a possible outcome since a vast majority of nonproblem banks do not fail. Third, if the FDIC can better predict the number of troubled banks that will not fail, it will be better able to estimate the size of its contingent loss reserve. Finally, development of a multistate model identifying financial characteristics that contribute to recovery as well as to failure is important for the FDIC's long-term strategic planning: accurate predictions of the future states of problem banks would affect the resources applied to these banks.
Engineering design calculations with fuzzy parameters

Uncertainty in engineering analysis usually pertains to stochastic uncertainty, i.e. ,v ariance in product or process parameters characterized by probability (uncertainty in truth). Methods for calculating under stochastic uncertainty are well documented. It has been proposed by the authors that other forms of uncertainty exist in engineering design. Imprecision, or the concept of uncertainty in choice, is one such form. This paper considers real-time techniques for calculating with imprecise parameters. These techniques utilize interval mathematics and the notion of -cuts from the fuzzy calculus. The extremes or anomalies of the techniques are also investigated, particularly the evaluation of singular or multi-valued functions. It will be shown that realistic engineering functions can be used in imprecision calculations, with reasonable computational performance.
Prevalence of Botrytis spp. in Onion Seed Crops in the Columbia Basin of Washington

Of 12 onion seed lots harvested in the semi-arid Columbia Basin of Washington in 1999 or 2000, 8 were infected and 10 infested with Botrytis aclada at incidences of 1 to 10% and 2 to 26%, respectively. Twenty to forty plants were sampled from each of nine direct-seeded, biennial seed crops in April, June, and July 2001 and assayed for Botrytis spp. Six direct-seeded crops were sampled in October and November 2001 and April, June, and July 2002. One bulb-to-seed crop was sampled in April, June, and July 2002. The incidence of B. aclada increased through each season, reaching 100% in most fields by July. Infections were primarily asymptomatic, with no apparent relationship between plant infection and infection of harvested seed. B, cinerea, B. squamosa, and B. porri were detected in 16, 4, and 4% of the fields, respectively, at lower incidences than B. aclada. Harvested seed from 15 of the fields were infected with B. aclada at <1 to 28%. B, cinerea, B. porri, and B. squamosa were detected in three, three, and none of the harvested lots, respectively.
Changes in the Incidence of End-stage Renal Disease Due to Lupus Nephritis, 1982-1995

Background The availability of more effective treatments for severe lupus nephritis may have influenced the rate at which end-stage renal disease (ESRD) develops in these patients. Objective To examine changes in the incidence of ESRD due to lupus nephritis from 1982 to 1995. Methods All patients with incident ESRD included in the US Renal Data System from 1982 to 1995 were studied. The US Renal Data System includes information on all patients who receive Medicare-reimbursed renal replacement therapy, who constitute approximately 94% of all patients with ESRD in the United States. The incidence of ESRD due to lupus nephritis in each year, standardized to the age-sex-ethnicity composition of the US general population in 1990, was computed in this serial cross-sectional study. Results The standardized incidence rate of ESRD due to lupus nephritis increased steadily from 1.16 cases per million person-years in 1982 to 3.08 cases per million person-years in 1995. The rate of increase was comparable to that of ESRD due to all other primary renal diseases. Conclusion The incidence of ESRD due to lupus nephritis increased steadily over the 14-year study period, despite the introduction of efficacious new treatment regimens for lupus nephritis during this time.
RFID design using EM analysis

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a very widely used technology and is still rapidly developing. RFID uses include tracking equipment, goods, animals, etc. Tracking helps a business optimize their processes thus reducing operating cost. As a result, there is an increased need for accurate and fast design of the RF portion of RFID systems. In this tutorial overview we show how easily it can be to design the key RF portions of an RFID system by using EM analysis. This paper starts with a brief overview of antenna design and performance criteria and different kinds of EM (electromagnetic) analyses appropriate for RFID design. Two design examples will be illustrated. Due to paper length limitations, descriptions are necessarily brief.
Analysis of Complex Carbohydrate Primary and Secondary Structure via Two-Dimensional Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The growing interest in the biological function of cell surface complex carbohydrates has stimulated the constant search for new methods for analyzing their primary and secondary structures. To determine the primary structure of a complex carbohydrate, it is necessary to establish the composition and configuration of its sugar residues, and the sequence and linkage sites of its oligosaccharide chain. This information has traditionally been obtained by application of a combination of such procedures as compositional analysis by gas-liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, permethylation studies, Smith degradation, partial acid or enzyme hydrolysis, optical rotation measurements, etc. However, these techniques are time-consuming, require elaborate derivatization of the substance, and access to many different instruments. Furthermore, these procedures do not afford secondary structural information (conformation) which is important in understanding the biological activities of these compounds.
Sensorineural Deafness, Distinctive Facial Features and Abnormal Cranial Bones: a New Variant of Waardenburg Syndrome?

The Waardenburg syndromes (WS) account for approximately 2% of congenital sensorineural deafness. This heterogeneous group of diseases currently can be categorized into four major subtypes (WS types 1-4) on the basis of characteristic clinical features. Multiple genes have been implicated in WS, and mutations in some genes can cause more than one WS subtype. In addition to eye, hair, and skin pigmentary abnormalities, dystopia canthorum and broad nasal bridge are seen in WS type 1. Mutations in the PAX3 gene are responsible for the condition in the majority of these patients. In addition, mutations in PAX3 have been found in WS type 3 that is distinguished by musculoskeletal abnormalities, and in a family with a rare subtype of WS, craniofacial-deafness-hand syndrome (CDHS), characterized by dysmorphic facial features, hand abnormalities, and absent or hypoplastic nasal and wrist bones. Here we describe a woman who shares some, but not all features of WS type 3 and CDHS, and who also has abnormal cranial bones. All sinuses were hypoplastic, and the cochlea were small. No sequence alteration in PAX3 was found. These observations broaden the clinical range of WS and suggest there may be genetic heterogeneity even within the CDHS subtype.
Gating of Human Theta Oscillations by a Working Memory Task

Electrode grids on the cortical surface of epileptic patients provide a unique opportunity to observe brain activity with high temporal-spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio during a cognitive task. Previous work showed that large-amplitude theta frequency oscillations occurred intermittently during a maze navigation task, but it was unclear whether theta related to the spatial or working memory components of the task. To determine whether theta occurs during a nonspatial task, we made recordings while subjects performed the Sternberg working memory task. Our results show event-related theta and reveal a new phenomenon, the cognitive "gating" of a brain oscillation: at many cortical sites, the amplitude of theta oscillations increased dramatically at the start of the trial, continued through all phases of the trial, including the delay period, and decreased sharply at the end. Gating could be seen in individual trials and varying the duration of the trial systematically varied the period of gating. These results suggest that theta oscillations could have an important role in organizing multi-item working memory.
Reply: A Dream Test of the Time Bind

In "Stress at Home, Peace at Work: A Test of the Time Bind Hypothesis," Susan Brown and Alan Booth make claims in the realm of both theory and methods. In our companion replies, Leo Goodman and I question each in turn. Among other things, I ask why the authors say the glass is half empty when they show it to be half full. Leo Goodman asks why the authors use this particular glass in the first place, since another would serve far better. Based on the findings they offer, and the "glass" they chose to use, Professors Susan Brown and Alan Booth could have concluded, I think, something like this.
The Public Conception of Autonomy and Critical Self-reflection

Critique de l'affirmation commune selon laquelle le critere de l'auto-reflexivite definit l'autonomie d'une personne. Soulignant l'importance des differents concepts d'autonomie dans la theorie morale et la theorie politique, l'A. montre que dans certains contextes theoriques les principes liberaux imposent des contraintes sur le contenu de la notion d'autonomie. S'inscrivant dans la perspective meta-epistemique d'une politique de l'epistemologie, l'A. defend une conception publique de l'autonomie fondee sur l'auto-legislation et le respect des personnes
Stability and robustness of slowly time-varying linear systems

A well known result for finite-dimensional time-varying linear systems is that if each 'frozen time' system is stable, then the time-varying system is stable for sufficiently slow time-variations. These results are reviewed and extended to a class of Volterra integrodifferential equations, specifically, differential equations with a convolution operator in the right-hand-side. The results are interpreted in the context of robustness of time-varying linear systems with a special emphasis on analysis of gain-scheduled control systems.
Immunometabolism within the tuberculosis granuloma: amino acids, hypoxia, and cellular respiration

Tuberculosis (TB) granulomas are compact, organized agglomerations of infected and uninfected macrophages, T cells, neutrophils, and other immune cells. Within the granuloma, several unique metabolic adaptations occur to modify the behavior of immune cells, potentially favoring bacterial persistence balanced with protection against immunopathology. These include the induction of arginase-1 in macrophages to temper nitric oxide (NO) production and block T cell proliferation, inhibition of oxygen-requiring NO production in hypoxic regions, and induction of tryptophan-degrading enzymes that modify T cell proliferation and function. The spatial and time-dependent organization of granulomas further influences immunometabolism, for example through lactate production by activated macrophages, which can induce arginase-1. Although complex, the metabolic changes in and around TB granulomas can be potentially modified by host-directed therapies. While elimination of the TB bacilli is often the goal of any anti-TB therapy, host-directed approaches must also account for the possibility of immunopathologic damage to the lung.
Bubbles, Busts, and Blame

I argue that financial asset price bubbles and busts, such as those we have recently experienced in the mortgage and securities markets, are compatible with market efficiency, individual rationality, and even ethically unobjectionable behavior. The reason is that they constitute classic recursively self-amplifying collective action problems, the hallmark of which is the efficient aggregation of individually rational behaviors into collectively calamitous outcomes. In the present case, individuals rationally "legged the spread" between cheap borrowing costs and credit-fueled capital gains rates, neither of which market actors could affect in their individual capacities even when knowing that credit would have eventually to run out at some indefinite point in future. The upshot was a continuous series of self-reinforcing credit-fueled asset price rises, followed by a symmetrical series of hoarding-induced asset price drops once credit was exhausted. It is important to emphasize the rationality- and efficiency-compatability side of this story because prescribing a proper cure to our ills presupposes a proper diagnosis. The solution to a collective action problem, of course, is a collective agent. In the present context, that is a macroprudential financial regulator cognizant of her requisite role in tightening credit-money supplies when positive feedback loops emerge in asset markets.
How to Better Target and Incent Paid Endorsers in Social Advertising Campaigns: A Field Experiment

We investigate paid endorsement as a crowd-sourcing social advertising mechanism that allows advertisers to bypass publishers (e.g., Facebook) and recruit individual endorsers of their own choice at affordable prices. Specifically, we investigate (i) how incentives affect endorsers’ participation and effectiveness, (ii) what types of endorsers are most effective in generating online engagement (likes, comments, and retweets), and (iii) the potential differences between generating different types of engagements. We conduct a large scale field experiment in which we manipulate exogenously pay rates and eligibility to participate. Our findings suggest that increasing financial incentive doesn’t necessarily improve participation rate. In addition, endorsers who are effective are often not responsive. Further, it can be misleading to assess the attractiveness of endorsers simply based on observed engagements. Our findings provide new insights on how marketers can improve the effectiveness of paid endorsement by identifying and incentivizing high potential endorsers.
Skull of the Eocene Primate Omomys carteri from Western North America

ABSTRACT The description of a skull of the omomyid primate Omomys carteri from the middle Eocene Bridger Formation of southwestern Wyoming provides important new information relevant to our understanding of Eocene primate systematics and evolution. More specifically, Omomys carteri exhibits a long and wide nasal region and lacks the forward orientation of the orbits found in other omomyid primates. Furthermore, other features such as an unreduced cranial arterial system, primitive auditory bulla, expanded internal choanae, and an unreduced canine indicate that the cranium of Omomys carteri is primitive. Phylogenetic analysis of 52 cranial, 194 dental, and 56 postcranial characters, including the new characteristics of Omomys carteri discussed here, suggests that omomyiforms belong to a monophyletic tarsiiform clade exclusive of anthropoids. Anthropoids are still viewed as a sister group to tarsiiforms, forming a haplorhine clade, with an uncertain position for the problematic fossil primate Rooneyia. The ...
Is Marriage a Political Institution? Sixties Debates on Gender, Race and Marriage

Is Marriage a Political Institution? Sixties Debates on Gender, Race and Marriage - This paper uses the tools of American political development to explore marriage as a political institution. The 1960s inaugurated a long period of crisis in American national identity, as questions of race, gender, and sexuality came to the fore to contest prior orderings of power. This paper examines the right/obligation role of the institution of marriage within the upheavals of the decade and its immediate aftermath. Marriage figures centrally as a symbol of civil rights victory in the Supreme Court's striking down of anti-miscegenation law in the case Loving v. Virginia (1967). Marriage also becomes controversial remedy for poverty and unrest in the black community for policymakers such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan. And it was contested as a fundamental structure of patriarchal oppression for the emerging women's movement. In this paper I explore the relationship between identity and institutions in shaping the politics of the sixties.
Patient Experiences With MedlinePlus.gov: A Survey of Internal Medicine Patients

Background In 2004, the American College of Physicians joined with the National Library of Medicine in an effort to help patients find reliable health information free of commercial bias at the Web site MedlinePlus.gov. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the MedlinePlus.gov site as perceived by patients who were referred to the site by their internist. Materials and Methods A 27-item questionnaire developed by the American College of Physicians Foundation was distributed between January and May 2005 to a convenience sample of 893 adult patient volunteers attending 34 internal medicine practices across the United States. Results The questionnaire revealed that although most patients (55%) routinely look up medical information, only 43% had used MedlinePlus.gov. Of those who had used the site, 95% were satisfied with the information they found there, and 94% said the information they found at MedlinePlus.gov would help them make better health decisions. Discussion Patients who used the MedlinePlus.gov site at the recommendation of their physician found it easy to use, informative, and felt it would help them make better health decisions. Directing patients to this high quality, noncommercial, educational resource online may be an important adjunct to patient education efforts by physicians.
Spread of herpes simplex virus in lymph nodes after experimental infection of mice.

Herpes simplex virus was frequently isolated from ipsilateral popliteal lymph nodes after percutaneous inoculation of the dorsal face of the footpad, and from ipsi- and contralateral submandibular lymph nodes after percutaneous inoculation of the cheek or the orofacial area of mice. Virus was detected only on very rare occasion in nondraining lymph nodes (inguinal or axillary) or in contralateral popliteal lymph nodes, but was frequently isolated in contralateral lumbar lymph nodes after footpad inoculation. The presence of virus in lymph nodes paralleled or followed the invasion of ipsilateral sensory ganglia and was associated with dissemination of virus in contralateral sensory ganglia after unilateral inoculation. In older mice virus was detected only occasionally in lymph nodes and dissemination of virus in contralateral sensory ganglia was generally not observed. The results suggest that lymphatic spread may contribute to dissemination of virus in contralateral sensory ganglia after unilateral inocu...
Experimental Approaches to Tissue Injury and Repair in Advanced Age

Cutaneous wound healing is a complex physiological process. This process can be altered by multiple physiological and pathological factors. Multiple pathophysiological disturbances act to impair resolution of cutaneous wound injury, including obesity, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and advanced age. As our longevity increases without a concomitant increase in healthy living years, it is plausible to assume that problematic wound closure will continue to consume a large portion of our health care resources. Furthermore, advanced age is associated with numerous alterations in the innate and adaptive immune responses that complicate outcomes following cutaneous injury, trauma, or infection. Thus, models that examine the impact of advanced age on cutaneous wound repair will be of great benefit to the development of potential therapeutics that target age-related aberrancies in tissue repair. Herein, we detail two animal models of tissue injury, excisional wound injury and burn injury, that can be used to evaluate wound healing in the context of advanced age. We also describe modifications of these methods to examine wound infection following either excisional or burn injury. Lastly, we discuss methods of subsequent tissue analysis following injury. Models described below can be further adapted to genetically engineered murine strains to study the effects of aging and other co-morbidities on wound healing.
Relations Between Academic Adjustment and Parental Psychological Control of Academically Gifted Chinese American and European American Students

Most studies on parenting and adolescent development address the effect of parenting on adolescent outcomes. Little research has examined how adolescent outcomes may influence parenting. Drawing on longitudinal data over a two-year period (ninth to tenth grade), this study examines the reciprocal relations between parenting and adolescent outcomes—specifically, between parental psychological control and adolescent academic adjustment. The participants were 339 academically gifted high school students from Chinese American and European American families. Our findings suggest that the reciprocal relationship between psychological control and academic adjustment is similar for academically gifted Chinese and European American students. Regarding the child’s effect, low levels of earlier academic efficacy predicted later psychological control for both groups. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find parental effects for either group, suggesting that psychological control does not bring about negative academic adjustment outcomes for either ethnicity. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.
High-power glass laser front end design: coupling of oscillators to amplifier chains

The Gaussian beam coupling of the master oscillator to large lasers like the Omega fusion laser system is of eminent importance for proper laser performance. In the past, this coupling was done without adequate attention given to beam quality. More recently, we redesigned the front end keeping in mind image relaying throughout the laser system as well as propagation of collimated beams in all amplifier sections. This idea was implemented starting right from the flat output mirror of the oscillator where the original plane phase front is established as a result of the stable oscillator configuration using a spherical mirror and a plane output coupler. To optimize the coupling to the laser system a variable magnification (zoom) spatial filter is employed before Injection into the main laser system. This optical system provides flexibility in maximizing beam fill factor without compromising beam uniformity due to diffraction effects.
Crystal structure of di-methyl-formamidium bis-(tri-fluoro-methane-sulfon-yl)amide: an ionic liquid.

At 100 K, the title mol­ecular salt, C3H8NO+·C2F6NO4S2−, has ortho­rhom­bic (P212121) symmetry; the amino H atom of bis­(tri­fluoro­methane­sulfon­yl)amine (HNTf2) was transferred to the basic O atom of di­methyl­formamide (DMF) when the ionic liquid components were mixed. The structure displays an O—H⋯N hydrogen bond, which links the cation to the anion, which is reinforced by a non-conventional C—H⋯O inter­action, generating an R22(7) loop. A further very weak C—H⋯O inter­action generates an [001] chain.
Cutaneous improvement in refractory adult and juvenile dermatomyositis after treatment with rituximab

OBJECTIVE The aim was to assess the efficacy of rituximab for the cutaneous manifestations of adult DM and JDM. METHODS Patients with refractory adult DM (n = 72) and JDM (n = 48) were treated with rituximab in a randomized placebo-phase-controlled trial [either rituximab early drug (week 0/1) or rituximab late arms (week 8/9), such that all subjects received study drug]. Stable concomitant therapy was allowed. Cutaneous disease activity was assessed using the Myositis Disease Activity Assessment Tool, which grades cutaneous disease activity on a visual analog scale. A myositis damage assessment tool, termed the Myositis Damage Index, was used to assess cutaneous damage. Improvement post-rituximab was evaluated in individual rashes as well as in cutaneous disease activity and damage scores. The χ2 test, Student's paired t-test and Wilcoxon test were used for analysis. RESULTS There were significant improvements in cutaneous disease activity from baseline to the end of the trial after rituximab administration in both adult DM and JDM subsets. The cutaneous visual analog scale activity improved in adult DM (3.22-1.72, P = 0.0002) and JDM (3.26-1.56, P <0.0001), with erythroderma, erythematous rashes without secondary changes of ulceration or necrosis, heliotrope, Gottron sign and papules improving most significantly. Adult DM subjects receiving rituximab earlier in the trial demonstrated a trend for faster cutaneous response (20% relative improvement from baseline) compared with those receiving B cell depletion later (P = 0.052). CONCLUSION Refractory skin rashes in adult DM and JDM showed improvement after the addition of rituximab to the standard therapy in a clinical trial.
Digital learning activities delivered by eloquent instructor avatars: scaling with problem instance

We present an approach for achieving scalable authoring of digital learning activities, without sacrificing delivery eloquence. A computer animation character serves as an instructor avatar that not only speaks but also makes deictic, iconic and charisma gestures. The avatar is controlled via a text script, without the prerequisites of computer programming or animation expertise. Given a script for a problem, the system automatically generates scripts for additional instances of the problem, by adapting the targets of the deictic gestures, the speech, and the synchronization between speech and gestures. Starting from initial learning activities of a few minutes, the system can automatically generate hours of quality on-line learning activities. An evaluation by computer graphics, computer animation, and education research experts reveals that the automatically generated learning activities have animation quality that is comparable to that of the original activities.
Medication Overuse Headache: Pathophysiological Insights from Structural and Functional Brain MRI Research

Background Research imaging of brain structure and function has helped to elucidate the pathophysiology of medication overuse headache (MOH). Methods This is a narrative review of imaging research studies that have investigated brain structural and functional alterations associated with MOH. Studies included in this review have investigated abnormal structure and function of pain processing regions in people with MOH, functional patterns that might predispose individuals to development of MOH, similarity of brain functional patterns in patients with MOH to those found in people with addiction, brain structure that could predict headache improvement following discontinuation of the overused medication, and changes in brain structure and function after discontinuation of medication overuse. Results and Conclusions MOH is associated with atypical structure and function of brain regions responsible for pain processing as well as brain regions that are commonly implicated in addiction. Several studies have shown “normalization” of structure and function in pain processing regions following discontinuation of the overused medication and resolution of MOH. However, some of the abnormalities in regions also implicated in addiction tend to persist following discontinuation of the overused medication, suggesting that they are a brain trait that predisposes certain individuals to medication overuse and MOH.
Incentives in Third-Party Governance: Management Challenges and Accountability Implications

Contract incentives are designed to encourage contract performance and to provide public managers with a powerful tool to achieve contract accountability by motivating contractors with rewards or s...
Aortic Aneurysm Disease in the Elderly

Aortic aneurysm is a disease predominately affecting the elderly. Since Parodi revolutionized the treatment with the development of endovascular aortic aneurysm repair in the 1990s, the utilization is increasing, with the elderly representing the fastest growing segment of the population. When considering endovascular or open surgery in the aging population, the untreated aneurysm should be considered the major driving factor in late mortality rather than a patient’s other comorbidities. The goal of aneurysm repair is to reduce risk of death from rupture. Patient comorbidities factor into estimating the degree in which someone will benefit from prophylactic repair. Patients with a high risk of rupture and minimal comorbidities should be offered repair. Open repair is tolerated poorly in the elderly population. Endovascular repair offers decreased mortality; however, patients may require secondary interventions and require lifelong surveillance.
Travel as Construction of Self and Nation

Through encounters with “others,” travel can enable the discovery or reconstruction of oneself. Margaret R. Higonnet argues that in response to the American Revolution and the Franco-Prussian War, nineteenth-century fictions for children linked voyages to the shaping of a nation out of disparate regions and social elements. She finds that in Catharine Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie (1827, Hope Leslie: Or, Early Times in the Massachusetts. Ed. M. Kelley. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press) and G. Bruno’s Le Tour de la France par deux enfants (1877, Le Tour de la France par deux enfants: Devoir et patrie, livre de lecture courante avec 200 gravures instructives pour lecons de choses. Paris: Belin), historical conflicts and displacements traumatized children at the same time as conditions of violence enabled them to become social actors in a period of nation formation. Threads that run through these texts are the mapping of difference, the memory of the historical past, and the invention of a “national family.” The two women authors project new nations as non-violent imagined communities.
Examining Polarimetric Radar Observations of Bulk Microphysical Structures and Their Relation to Vortex Kinematics in Hurricane Arthur (2014)

AbstractDual-polarization radar observations were taken of Hurricane Arthur prior to and during landfall, providing needed insight into the microphysics of tropical cyclone precipitation. A total of 30 h of data were composited and analyzed by annuli capturing storm features (eyewall, inner rainbands, and outer rainbands) and by azimuth relative to the deep-layer environmental wind shear vector. Polarimetric radar variables displayed distinct signatures indicating a transition from convective to stratiform precipitation in the downshear-right to downshear-left quadrants, which is an organization consistent with the expected kinematic asymmetry of a sheared tropical cyclone. In the downshear-right quadrant, vertical profiles of differential reflectivity ZDR and copolar correlation coefficient ρHV were more vertically stretched within and above the melting layer at all annuli, which is attributed to convective processes. An analysis of specific differential phase KDP indicated that nonspherical ice particle...
Feasibility of on-line multiple scanning proton beam range verification with PET imaging: Monte Carlo simulation studies

We investigate the feasibility for intra-fraction online multiple scanning proton beam range verifications (BRVs) with in-situ PET imaging, which is beyond the single-beam BRV we had previously studies. We simulated various 132-MeV proton beams with 4-mm diameter and different beam-separations irradiating PMMA phantoms by GATE simulations. The generated nuclear interaction-induced positrons, which were distributed in either a planar or a curved positron activity range profile, were imaged by a PET (∼2-mm resolution, 17% sensitivity in the energy range from 350 keV to 650 keV, 250×250×128 mm3 field-of-view). We calculated the activity ranges (ARs) from reconstructed PET images and compared them with the corresponding ARs of the original positron distributions. Preliminary studies show that: 1) for two separated beams with overlapped positrons, errors of AR measurement for each beam varied from 0.2 mm to 2.3 mm as center-to-center beam separation and AR difference were in the range of 8-12 mm and 2-8 mm respectively. It is feasible to achieve ≤ 1.0-mm accuracy for two beams with a 100-second PET acquisition and 12-mm beam-separation; 2) for densely distributed beams with a continuous profile of AR distributions, PET image was blurred further at non-planar AR region than planar region which led to worsened AR measurement accuracy at non-planar region. Further studies will focus on identifying key factors that impact the AR measurement with multi-beam irradiations, such as the PET resolution model and the ways to reduce the error in non-planar regions, sensitivity, configuration, image process and enhancement, to improve beam range verifications.
Promoting Sustainability: The Role of Smart Cities

The focus on progress has prompted many questions over time, namely the defining of characteristics of the attribution. Arguably, the justification of progress has been a combination of reactive explanation and focused attainment as readily observed in the case of health care and medical technologies. Analogous to the concept of progress and an example of the same is the concept of the smart city. Like progress, smart city does not have a universal or standard definition. However, there is agreement with respect to characteristics of smart cities; the foundational attribution is that they are sustainable. Given population demands and resource constraints, a smart city would employ available means to promote both holistic efficiency and risk management, thereby implicitly incorporating sustainability as the cultural paradigm of its inhabitants (Bishop in Ambio 22:69–73, 1993). From this perspective, though technological progress is the driver of smart city infrastructure, ultimately, it is the cultural attribution of sustainability that promotes efficiency and risk management as a norm of business as usual. Therefore, smart cities provide infrastructure to support both conscious and unconscious sustainable consumption. Coincidently, inhabitants are knowledgeable with respect to their role in promoting sustainable outcomes and police sustainability through the exercise of their consumption choices. The latter is the primary differentiator between present day economic activity and envisioned smart functioning: the conscious understanding on the part of the consumer with respect to their role as the driver of the economic model. Consumers not only have significant power to determine what and how goods and services are supplied, in their role as workers and investors, they have the ability to influence the implementation of operationalized sustainability in business. This chapter will focus on the economic elements that both promote and enable sustainability consistent with the attribution of smart city. The assessment provided differs from other research and evaluation in this area, as it does not view the standard consumer model as the basis for smart city economic development (smart economic development). Instead, the establishment of a smart city is assumed to be consistent with a shift in paradigm from consumerism to sustainability. As a result economic returns and growth are not the focus, quality of life parameters along with intergenerational resource allocation and ecosystem preservation are. Following a discussion of how the deployment of classical economic theory has contributed to the distancing of consumption from sustainability, this chapter will address how deployment of consumer education programs targeted to defining responsible demand, along with the market significance of coalesced demand, are a requisite foundation for smart economic development.
Association Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Health Care Costs: The Veterans Exercise Testing Study.

Abstract Objective To determine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and annual health care costs in Veterans. Patients and Methods The sample included 9942 subjects (mean age, 59±11 years) undergoing a maximal exercise test for clinical reasons between January 2005 and December 2012. Cardiorespiratory fitness, expressed as a percentage of age-predicted peak metabolic equivalents (METs) achieved, was categorized in quartiles. Total and annualized health care costs, derived from the Veterans Administration Allocated Resource Center, were compared using multiple regression, controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics. Results A gradient for reduced health care costs was observed as CRF increased, with subjects in the least-fit quartile having approximately $14,662 ( P 2 . In a model including historical, clinical, and exercise test responses, heart failure was the strongest predictor of health care costs, followed by CRF ( P Conclusion Low CRF is associated with higher health care costs. Efforts to improve CRF may not only improve health but also result in lower health care costs.
Changes in the upper ocean mixed layer and phytoplankton productivity along the West Antarctic Peninsula

The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) has experienced significant change over the last 50 years. Using a 24 year spatial time series collected by the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research programme, we assessed long-term patterns in the sea ice, upper mixed layer depth (MLD) and phytoplankton productivity. The number of sea ice days steadily declined from the 1980s until a recent reversal that began in 2008. Results show regional differences between the northern and southern regions sampled during regional ship surveys conducted each austral summer. In the southern WAP, upper ocean MLD has shallowed by a factor of 2. Associated with the shallower mixed layer is enhanced phytoplankton carbon fixation. In the north, significant interannual variability resulted in the mixed layer showing no trended change over time and there was no significant increase in the phytoplankton productivity. Associated with the recent increases in sea ice there has been an increase in the photosynthetic efficiency (chlorophyll a -normalized carbon fixation) in the northern and southern regions of the WAP. We hypothesize the increase in sea ice results in increased micronutrient delivery to the continental shelf which in turn leads to enhanced photosynthetic performance. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress in a region of rapid change’.
The Impact of Dividend Reinvestment Plans on Firm Payout Choices—Evidence from Real Estate Investment Trusts

This study investigates whether firm dividend payout choices are influenced by the presence of a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). Given that DRIPs help retain capital, we show that dividend‐paying firms with a DRIP will tend to pay a high dividend and maintain a stable payout policy. Using a multinomial logistic model, we show that in comparison to REITs without DRIPs, REITs with DRIPs have a higher payout ratio and are less likely to: (1) pay regular dividends with extra dividends and share repurchases, (2) distribute extra dividends, repurchase shares, yet omit regular dividends and (3) omit all payouts. In addition, we find that REITs with a capital‐retaining DRIP invest more aggressively and such increased investment activities are undertaken without raising the reliance on external financing.
An Intelligent Assistant for Conceptual Design

In early stages of design, the language used is often very abstract. In architectural design, for example, architects and their clients use experiential terms such as “private” or “open” to describe spaces. The Architect’s Collaborator (TAC) is a prototype design assistant that supports iterative design refinement using abstract, experiential terms. TAC explores the space of possible designs in search of solutions satisfying specified abstract goals by employing a strategy we call dependency-directed redesign: It evaluates a design with respect to a set of goals, uses an explanation of the evaluation to guide proposal and refinement of design repair suggestions, then carries out the repair suggestions to create new designs.
Elevated Cytotoxic T Cells is Associated with Allosensitization of Patients Supported by a Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device

Introduction Use of CFLVADs as a BTT continues to increase. The mechanisms of host immune system activation following implantation leading to allosensitization complicating transplantation outcomes are not well understood. Hypothesis We hypothesize that pre-implant cell profiles may predict post-implant allosensitization. Methods Plasma and PBMC samples were collected before implant (D0), 48 hours post-implant (D2) and 8 days post-implant (D8) in 12 CFLVAD patients. HLA class I and II antibody profiles were obtained pre and post-implant. Calculated panel of reactive antibodies (cPRA) were calculated using the OPTN calculator. Plasma aliquots were randomized and performed in duplicate. Lymphocyte phenotypes were analyzed by multiparameter flow cytometry across 3 randomized panels. Results Mean age of patients was 53.6±15.3 years, 50% were female and 33% had ischemic cardiomyopathy. Following implant there was a significant increase of Treg cells (CD4+Foxp3+CD25+ 1.07±0.39 p=0.005), T effector cells (CD4+Foxp3−CD25+ 13.2±2.83 p=0.0007) and B cells (CD3−CD19+ 7.17±2.93 p=0.032). This was accompanied with a decrease in CD3+ T cells (-10.1±3.69 p=0.019), cytotoxic T cells (CD3+CD8+ -3.28±1.12 p=0.014), and NK cells (CD3−CD19−CD56+ -3.86±1.72 p=0.047). Three patients had an increase in cPRA post-implant. All 3 patients had significantly increased cytotoxic T cells compared to patients with no increase (D0 18.4±2.46 vs 7.69±5.79 p=0.013); (D2 15.8±3.12 vs 6.74±3.61 p=0.012); (D8 13.9±3.64 vs 4.83±2.99 p=0.002) ( Figure 1 ). A significant increase in the plasma cytokines IL-6 (D0 79.7 D2 1320 D8 240 p Conclusion We show an impaired cellular immunity characterized by an acute rise in Treg, T-effector cells as well as B cells while the tissue aggressive response decreased. IL-6, IL-8 and G-CSF increased significantly post-implant in sensitized patients. Surprisingly, high CD8+ T cells pre-implant were associated with an increased cPRA in our cohort. CD8+ T cells in these patients decreased after implant but remained 2-fold higher than those patients with no increase in cPRA. Higher levels of cytotoxic T cells pre-implant may predict post CFLVAD implant allosensitization. Characterizing pre-implant cell profiles may be useful in identifying appropriate CFLVAD recipients.
Implementation of a Competency-Based, Interdisciplinary Pediatric Palliative Care Curriculum Using Content and Format Preferred by Pediatric Residents.

Palliative care competencies at the pediatric resident training level expand learned knowledge into behavior. The objective of this study was to investigate mode of palliative care education delivery preferred by pediatric residents and to report on participatory approach to resident palliative care curriculum design. A one-hour monthly palliative care curriculum was designed and implemented in a participatory manner with 20 pediatric residents at a free-standing Midwestern children’s hospital. Outcome measures included pediatric residents’ personal attitude and perceived training environment receptivity before and after implementation of a palliative care competency-based curriculum. An 18-item survey utilizing Social Cognitive Theory Constructs was administered at baseline and after palliative care curriculum implementation (2017–2018 curricular year). Pediatric residents prioritized real case discussions in group format (16/20) over other learning formats. Topics of highest interest at baseline were: discussing prognosis and delivering bad news (weighted average 12.9), pain control (12.3), goals of care to include code status (11.1), and integrative therapies (10.7). Summary of ordinal responses revealed improvement in self-assessment of personal attitude toward palliative care and training environment receptivity to palliative care domains after year-long curriculum implementation. Curricular approach which is attentive to pediatric residents’ preferred learning format and self-assessment of their behaviors within their care setting environment may be beneficial in competency-based primary palliative training.
The influence of depression status on weekly exercise in children ages 6 to 17 years.

Abstract Exercise has been found to be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between depression status and weekly exercise in children ages 6 to 17 years stratifying by age and sex using a large nationally representative sample. The study data (n = 65,059) came from the 2011–12 National Survey of Children's Health. Depression categories were current, former, and no history of diagnosed depression. Exercise categories were exercising ≤6 days a week and 7 days a week. Multivariable regression stratified by age and by sex was conducted on the weighted survey data. Among children age 6 to 17, 95.2% were never depressed, 2.1% were formerly depressed, and 2.8% were currently depressed and 28.0% exercised daily. Currently depressed children had 0.75 (95% CI 0.56, 1.00) times and formerly depressed children had 1.09 (95% CI 0.76, 1.57) times the adjusted odds of exercising daily compared to never depressed children. Stratified separately by sex and by age, females and children age 12 to 17 with current depression had 0.63 (95% CI 0.42, 0.94) and 0.48 (95% CI 0.35, 0.66) times the adjusted odds of exercising daily compared to their counterparts with no depression. This study indicates a significant difference in daily exercise habits between currently depressed children age 12 to 17 and females compared to their never depressed counterparts. Healthcare workers should be aware of the possible heightened risk of physical inactivity for depressed female children and children age 12 to 17.
Whither the Prosecutor? Prosecutor and County Effects on Guilty Plea Outcomes in Wisconsin

By most accounts, the prosecutor is the most powerful person in the courtroom, with discretion to dismiss cases, reduce charges, and offer noncustodial sentences in exchange for guilty pleas. Yet, ...