cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Co-Movements of US and Asian Equity Markets: Evidence from Asymmetric and Time-Varying Coefficients

We examine co-movements of nine Asian equity markets with both the US and Japan with special interest in distinguishing co-movements during periods of positive returns from those during periods of negative returns. A discrete asymmetric piecewise linear conditional mean returns specification is adopted to generate asymmetric co-movement parameters for periods of positive and negative returns. Conditional heteroskedasticity is modeled using GARCH and EGARCH specifications. Predicted conditional volatilities are used to generate alternative estimates of asymmetric and time-varying co-movement parameters. Conditional mean returns from asymmetric and symmetric conditional mean return models along with GARCH and EGARCH volatilities are used to generate estimates of asymmetric and symmetric conditional (ex-ante) Sharpe ratios. Asian markets returns and volatilities show a clear tendency to move more with the US than with Japan; and their co-movements with negative US returns far exceed their co-movements with positive US returns, thereby suggesting that any diversification benefits into Asian equities are likely to manifest themselves more during periods of positive than negative US returns. Conditional asymmetric Sharpe ratios exceed conditional symmetric Sharpe ratios; however, and more importantly, performance-ranking differs depending on whether asymmetric versus symmetric conditional Sharpe ratios are used. Asymmetric conditional Sharpe ratios suggest that India (followed by Malaysia) offers the best return/risk tradeoff, with the least favorable market is South Korea (using GARCH) and Philippines (using EGARCH).
Controller Design of Power Quality-Improving Appliances

This paper presents an innovative solution to power quality problems using power quality-improving (PQI) appliances. PQI appliances conduct currents that supplement and correct the sum of the other load currents within a premise. From the utility side, the premise housing a PQI appliance thus becomes an improved, if not ideal, utility customer. The PQI appliance improves both harmonic power quality and power factor while performing its normal function, such as heating water. In this paper, the water heater PQI appliance is used as an example to demonstrate the control circuit design and function. Both computer simulation results and laboratory experiment results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. The estimated costs of the PQI controller and of harmonic compensating filters are compared to show that the PQI appliance may be an economic way to provide power quality improvement at the building level.
Identification of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100 Bd0714 as a Nudix dGTPase

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus bacteria are predatory organisms that attack other gram-negative bacteria. Here, we report that Bd0714 is a Nudix dGTPase from B. bacteriovorus HD100 with a substrate specificity similar to that of Escherichia coli MutT and complements an E. coli mutT-deficient strain. We observed different transcription levels of the gene throughout the predator life cycle.
In Vitro Investigations Into Enhancement of tPA Bioavailability in Whole Blood Clots Using Pulsed–High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Exposures

Investigations were carried out on the manner by which pulsed-high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) enhances the effectiveness of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in whole blood clots, in vitro. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) of the surface of the clots showed that the exposures increased exposed fibrin, as well as the number of openings to more interior regions. These findings were supported by fluorescent antibody labeling of tPA in frozen sections of clots treated post-HIFU. Here, improved accumulation at the surface and penetration of the tPA into the clots were observed in those treated with HIFU. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching was also performed, indicating that the diffusion coefficient increased 6.3-fold for fluorescently labeled dextrans, comparable in size to tPA, in the HIFU-treated clots. Improved understanding of the manner by which pulsed-HIFU exposures can improve the effectiveness of thrombolytics will help optimize the exposures for this application and potentially facilitate translation to the clinic.
Multilevel Effects of Student and Classroom Factors on Elementary Science Achievement in Five Countries

This study examined the effects of individual student factors and classroom factors on elementary science achievement within and across five countries. The student‐level factors included gender, self‐confidence in science and home resources. The classroom‐level factors included teacher characteristics, instructional variables and classroom composition. Results for the USA and four other countries, Singapore, Japan, Australia and Scotland, were reported. Multilevel effects were examined through Hierarchical Linear Modelling, using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2003 fourth grade dataset. Overall, the results showed that selected student background characteristics were consistently related to elementary science achievement in countries investigated. At the student level, higher levels of home resources and self‐confidence and at the classroom level, higher levels of class mean home resources yielded higher science scores on the TIMSS 2003. In general, teacher and instructional var...
Identity processes and coping strategies in college students: short-term longitudinal dynamics and the role of personality.

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal study (N = 458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) and coping strategies (i.e., problem solving, social support seeking, and avoidance) predicted one another over time. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that processes of identity exploration seemed especially to be intertwined with different coping strategies over time, suggesting that identity exploration may resemble problem-solving behavior on the pathway to an achieved identity. Commitment processes were found to be influenced by certain coping strategies, although identification with commitment also negatively influenced avoidance coping. These temporal sequences remained significant when controlling for baseline levels of Big Five personality traits. Hence, evidence was obtained for reciprocal pathways indicating that coping strategies and identity processes reinforce one another over time in college students.
Whistler’s Mother : Devotional Center of Male Melancholic Religion

In previous writings, I have argued that the 3-to-5-year-old boy’s emotional separation from his mother is the key experience in his development of a melancholic orientation to life (Capps, Men, religion, and melancholia: James, Otto, Jung, and Erikson, 1997) and that men’s religious proclivities (based on honor, hope, and humor) reflect this emotional separation (Capps, Male melancholia: Guilt, separation, and repressed rage, 2001). In an earlier article published in Pastoral Psychology (Capps, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa: Iconic center of male melancholic religion, 2004), I argued that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is the iconic center of the male melancholic religion, that it displaces the Virgin Mother Mary of traditional Christianity in this regard, and that the painting aids in the difficult task of transforming melancholia into the mourning of the lost maternal object. In this article, I argue that James McNeill Whistler’s painting of his mother plays a similar role in male melancholic religion, but with an important variation: I use Ernst Troeltsch’s classic church-sect typology to show that Leonardo’s Mona Lisa is the iconic center of the churchly form of male melancholic religion, while Whistler’s mother is the devotional center of its sectarian form.
RNA polymerase II subunit RPB3 is an essential component of the mRNA transcription apparatus.

Abstract To improve our understanding of RNA polymerase II, the gene that encodes its third-largest subunit, RPB3, was isolated from a lambda gt11 DNA library by using antibody probes. The RPB3 DNA sequence predicts a 318-amino-acid protein whose sequence was confirmed, in part, by microsequence analysis of the gel-purified RNA polymerase II subunit. RPB3 was found to be an essential single-copy gene that is tightly linked to HIS6 on chromosome IX. An RPB3 temperature-sensitive mutant that arrested growth after three to four generations at the restrictive temperature was isolated. When the mutant was shifted to the restrictive temperature, RNA polymerase II could no longer assemble, previously assembled functional enzyme was depleted, and mRNA levels were consequently reduced. These results demonstrate that RPB3 is an essential component of the mRNA transcription apparatus. Finally, the RPB3 protein is similar in sequence and length to RPC5, a subunit common to RNA polymerases I and III, suggesting that these subunits may play similar roles in RNA polymerases I, II, and III.
Jaguar Attack on a Child: Case Report and Literature Review

Jaguar attacks on humans rarely occur in the wild. When they do, they are often fatal. We describe a jaguar attack on a three-year-old girl near her home deep in a remote area of the Guyanese jungle. The patient had a complex but, relatively, rapid transport to a medical treatment facility for her life-threatening injuries. The child, who suffered typical jaguar-inflicted injury patterns and survived, is highlighted. We review jaguar anatomy, environmental status, hunting and killing behaviors, and discuss optimal medical management, given the resource-limited treatment environment of this international emergency medicine case.
The English perfective and 'still'/'anymore'

Traugott and Waterhouse (I968: 302) have made the interesting suggestion that the adverbials already and yet should be generated from a set of semantic features associated with the perfective, and that still may be related to the progressive in a similar way. The present paper hopes to show that still and anymore are actually more related to the PERFECTIVE than previously supposed, and that a description of these forms in structural semantic terms, particularly with respect to what Chafe (I970) calls the distribution of new information, helps to clarify the meaning of the perfective inflection. The traditional distinction between 'resultative' and 'continuative' perfects
Dispossession is Nine-tenths of the Law Right-to-work and the Making of the American Precariat

Anti-union right-to-work (RTW) laws are key tools in the reproduction of insecure or precarious workers. This article uses a comparison of the passage of RTW laws in Indiana in 1957 and 2012 to examine the process that sociologist Guy Standing and others have termed precariatization, the formation of a new type of insecure labor force. Through a comparison of the passage of the laws and the resistance of organized labor in both cases, the article charts the processes by which American workers in general, and Indiana workers in particular, have been dispossessed of rights in the workplace. This process of dispossession, along with the climate of neoliberal austerity, contributed to the inability of organized labor in Indiana to stop the implementation of an RTW law in 2012. By placing each set of events in the wider historical and national context, this article provides a framework for understanding the short- and long-term effects of dispossession in this key industrial state.
Language policies in education: Critical issues

James W. Tollefson (ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002. Pp. 350. Pb $39.95.Language policies in education brings together a wide-ranging collection of essays from the United States, Canada, Australia, Yugoslavia, India and East Asia, Eastern Africa, and the Solomon Islands. Editor James Tollefson frames the discussion in his introduction and conclusion on language conflict and language rights in a way that calls our attention to the central questions. How have educational language policies maintained unequal access to teaching and learning resources for language minorities and indigenous language (IL) speakers? What affirmative measures in the realm of language policy can chart the clearest course toward redressing these inequalities? And for political entities in multilingual states in a position of language policy-making authority, what are the guiding principles of a responsible democratic approach to resolving ethnolinguistic conflicts? Though few of the authors take up the questions directly, the editor reminds readers that all discussions of educational language policy must keep in the foreground considerations of effective pedagogical practice and constraints on language learners. These more narrowly circumscribed educational, developmental, and psycholinguistic determinants are subordinated to political-ideological impositions at the risk of undermining basic democratic principles. Multilingual and multicultural accord at the nation-state level is eroded by attempts to utilize official language teaching programs as tools of national or political unification if these programs are not conceived as complementary to individuals' language learning rights and as consistent with sound first and second language pedagogy. Particularly instructive on this point are the chapters by Mary McGroarty, Terrance Wiley, Thomas Donahue, and Teresa McCarty on the current struggle between the forces of pluralism and exclusion in the United States, and surveys of political-language conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and India by Tollefson and Selma Sonntag, respectively.
Efficient parallelizations of a competitive learning algorithm for text retrieval on the MasPar

In this paper, we present parallel implementations of a connectionist model for text retrieval on the MasPar MP-1, an SIMD machine with up to 16 K processors. The connectionist model was originally developed on a SUN SparcStation 1+ for a sequential implementation. In our parallel implementations, we consider three strategies for mapping the network onto the MasPar: one-to-one, many-to-one, and one-to-many, depending on the ratio of the network size to the number of processors, in order to reduce the computation time. We also consider load balancing among processors for further improvement in performance. Our experimental results demonstrate noticeable speedups in our parallel implementations. >
Two new soleid flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes: Soleidae: Soleichthys) from Australian waters, with a re-description of Soleichthys microcephalus (Günther)

Soleichthys microcephalus (Gunther, 1862) occurring in warm temperate waters off New South Wales, Australia, is re-described based on examination of a syntype and additional non-type material. This species differs from congeners in its combination of: low meristic features (43-45 vertebrae, 71-84 dorsal-fin rays, 61-71 anal-fin rays, and 81-89 lateral-line scales); in having two elongated ocular-side pectoral-fin rays of nearly equal length; with small scales present on the ocular-side pectoral- fin base and proximal halves of elongated pectoral-fin rays; in its ocular-side pigmentation consisting of a series of 8-10 mostly complete, bold, wide, dark-brown or blackish crossbands of nearly uniform width throughout their lengths and noticeably wider than the alternating lighter-coloured crossbands; and with two, conspicuous, mid-lateral white spots arranged in horizontal series. Two new species phenotypically most similar to, and with meristic features that largely overlap those of S. microcephalus, are described from specimens collected in tropical waters of northern Australia. Soleichthys serpenpellis n.sp., known from the Gulf of Carpentaria and Delambre Island, Dampier Archipelago, northwestern Australia, is easily distinguished from S. microcephalus and other congeners by its ocular-side head and body pigmentation featuring incomplete, diamond-shaped crossbands broadest in their mid-sections, fewer (about 6) ocular-side body crossbands, and with small, brown spots scattered in the interspaces between the crossbands. Soleichthys oculofasciatus n.sp. occurs off northeast Australia and is distinguished from congeners in its combination of a first elongate ocular-side pectoral-fin ray longer than the second, in lacking scales on the ocular-side pectoral-fin base and elongate pectoral-fin rays, in having a longitudinal series of crossbands (usually 11) on the ocular-side head and body, and with four conspicuous white spots on the body, two of which are arranged in a vertical series at mid-body. The new species differs further from both S. microcephalus and S. serpenpellis in having a longer and narrower head and a longer caudal fin.
Metastatic Bone Disease: Foot

Metastatic bone disease involving the foot (acrometastasis) is rare. Nevertheless, even small foci of disease can cause significant morbidity limiting patient function and quality of life. Colorectal, genito-urinary, lung, and breast are among the most common sites of primary disease. Surgical management is aimed at providing osseous support to impending or realized fractures while providing pain relief and allowing early weight bearing activity.
Characterization of CMOS Process Variations by Measuring Subthreshold Current

Analog integrated circuit performance depends on the matching characteristics of individual components; transistors, resistors or capacitors. For example, in a current mirror, two identically biased transistors that are designed to have the same geometry, are said to be matched if their drain currents are equal. Transistor mismatch is one of the more acute problems in the advancement of analog VLSI collective computational systems [1].
Developing a web service security framework

in the book''Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Second Edition (8 Volumes)", edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, Chapter 170
Output Feedback Control For Trajectory Tracking Of Wheeled Mobile Robot

AbstractIn this paper, output feedback control for trajectory tracking of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is proposed using a high gain observer. Kinematic and dynamic models of the WMR are described, and an output feedback controller is proposed using adaptive sliding mode controller. High gain observer is designed for velocity estimation of WMR trajectory tracking. It is shown that using high gain observer and a globally bounded state feedback stabilizing controller, the close-loop system performance can be recovered in the presence of un-modeled dynamics and disturbances. Stability analysis of the proposed observer is shown using Lyapunov methods. The effectiveness of the proposed system is shown using simulation.
Effect of Substitution for Cu Site in Y-Ba-Cu-O System

The crystal structures and magnetic characteristics of the superconducting substance in YBa2(Cu1-xMx)3Oy, where M is 3 dtransition element and x=0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.10, were investigated. Substitution of Ni and Zn left the orthorhombic structure at x=0.10, whereas substitution of Fe and Co induced an orthorhombic to tetragonal transition at x=0.03. The valency of substituted Co ion was divalence, whereas the valency of other substituted magnetic ions was not determined for certain.
A Fully Automated Distributed Multiple-Target Tracking and Identity Management Algorithm

In this paper, we consider the problem of tracking multiple targets and managing their identities in sensor networks. Each sensor is assumed to be able to track multiple targets, manage the identities of targets within its surveillance region, and communicate with its neighboring sensors. The problem is complicated by the fact that the number of targets within the surveillance region of a sensor changes over time. We propose a scalable distributed multiple-target tracking and identity management (DMTIM) algorithm that can track multiple targets and manage their identities efficiently in a distributed sensor network environment. DMTIM finds a globally consistent solution by maintaining local consistency among neighboring sensors. DMTIM consists of data association, multiple-target tracking, identity management, and information fusion. The data association and multiple-target tracking problems are efficiently solved by Markov chain Monte Carlo data association (MCMCDA) which can track an unknown number of targets. DMTIM manages identities of targets by incorporating local information and maintains local consistency among neighboring sensors via information fusion.
Direct localization and visualization of hyaluronate lyase activity by agar gel electrophoresis.

SummaryA rapid agar slide method for localization and visualization of hyaluronate lyase (hyaluronidase) has been described. This procedure is based on enzymophoretic techniques developed for local...
Cultural and Chemical Control Strategies for Three Plant Bug (Heteroptera: Miridae) Pests of Birdsfoot Trefoil in Northern Wisconsin

Several cultural and chemical control methods were evaluated for reducing population levels of the plant bugs Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze), Lygus Lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), and Plagiognathus chrysanthemi (Wolff) in birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.) grown in northern Wisconsin. In insecticide efficacy trials, all insecticides (malathion, dimethoate, trichlorfon, and fluvalinate) significantly reduced populations of plant bugs. Fluvalinate was slightly less effective than the other insecticides, particularly against L. Lineolaris . Insecticides applied in June provided a longer period of control (before adult plant bugs dispersed into the sprayed areas) than did applications made in July. Spring burning of the previous fall’s trefoil regrowth also significantly reduced populations of plant bugs but was slightly less effective than insecticide applications. Removal of plant material following seed harvest during late summer did not provide significant control of plant bugs for the following year.
Development Time and Mortality of Dendroctonus frontalis in Relation to Changes in Tree Moisture and Xylem Water Potential

Development time and observed mortality of Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm. in relation to changes in host-tree condition were studied in east Texas during the summer of 1977. Four indices of host condition were monitored: bark, phloem, and xylem moisture and twig xylem water potential. Successful attack initiated predictable patterns of drying and rehydration in the phloem and xylem, and increasingly negative water potentials at the branch tips. These patterns were described mathematically and correlated to beetle development time. Eggs and 1st stage larvae were not affected by changes in phloem moisture in individual trees. However, development of 2nd- and 3rd-stage larvae was slowed when phloem moisture stayed above ca. 170% oven dry weight prior to those stages. Development of 2nd- and 3rd-stage larvae was also slowed in trees exhibiting large decreases in phloem moisture during those stages. Larval mortality was greater than mortality to other life stages. Concurrently, changes in phloem moisture were greatest when larvae were developing. Bark moisture remained at ca. 30% oven dry weight throughout beetle development. Development of 4th stage larvae and pupae was slower in trees with high average bark moisture during those stages.
Erratum to: Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) of the Thyroid Gland

Erratum to: S. Scholz, M. D. Jarboe (eds.), Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound in Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21699-7_20
Study on the Intervention of Dietary Calcium Intake Among Middle and Old Age Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Xuhui District,Shanghai

Objective To investigate the calcium intake of middle and old age patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Xuhui district,Shanghai,and to investigate the relationship between calcium intake and plasma glucose level,so as to explore the risk factors and intervention measures. Methods Totally,311 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited by two- stage stratified random sampling from the diabetic patients aged 60- 75 years registered in 4 community health service centers in Xuhui district,Shanghai. Health questionnaire survey and related laboratory examination were conducted. The patients in the intervention group accepted nutrition intervention. The questionnaire survey included items like general condition,education,social economic status,medical history and 24- hours dietary recall for 3 days' meals. Their heights and weights were measured,and plasma glucose levels were detected. SPSS 16. 0 was used to make statistical analysis. Results The median of the calcium intake of the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus was 524. 6( P25 ~ P75 : 375. 5 ~ 733. 7) mg /day. Only 13. 2% of them had qualified calcium intake. The calcium intake of the males was significantly higher than that of the females( P 0. 05). The distribution of the population with various levels of calcium intake and the calcium intake level of the intervention group improved greatly( P 0. 01). The calcium intake and plasma glucose level did not show statistical correlation( P 0. 05). After nutrition intervention, the calcium intake of the group with poorly controlled plasma glucose were higher than that of the group with well controlled plasma glucose( P 0. 05). Conclusions The calcium intake of the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Xuhui district,Shanghai is generally inadequate. After the nutrition intervention,their calcium intake is more reasonable. Dietary intervention should be strengthened especially for female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus older than 60 years.
Epidemiological and etiological characteristics of HFMD in Pingyuan district of Meizhou city from 2009 to 2013

Objective To analyze the epidemiology and etiology characteristics of hand-foot-and-mouth disease(HFMD)in Pingyuan county from 2009 to 2013 and provide evidence for effectively preventing and controlling HFMD. Methods Descriptive epidemiology method was used to analyze the data obtained from the state "report disease monitoring information management system ". Real-time fluorescence RT-PCR was used to identify pathogens. Results A total of2 349 HFMD cases were reported in Pingyuan county from 2009 to 2013, with the average incidence of 180.16 / 105.3 severe cases were reported in 2011, no deaths documented. The male to female ratio of cases was 1.62∶1(1 451 /898).The children under 6 years old accounted for 93.36% of the total reported cases,of which scattered children accounted for 81.74%. The reported cases reached the peak during May to July, accounting for 60.46% of the total.The average annual morbidity of HFMD in Shizheng town was 267.08 / 105,significantly higher than that of other towns. 21 out of 55 samples were tested EV positive(38.18%). EV71 caused the majority of reported cases during 2010-2011, while other non-EV71 and non-CA16 enteroviruses were responsible for most of reported cases in 2013. Conclusions The scattered children under 5 years old were high-risk populations of HFMD. The incidence peak was observed during May to July. HFMD caused by the non-EV71 and non-CA16 enteroviruses should be given more attentions. Parents and staff in childcare institutions should improve the knowledge of HFMD.
Can Conflict Be Healthy

This paper describes the use of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument as it applies to Christian churches.
Altered expression of histocompatibility antigens on "B" large cell lymphomas

We describe three malignant lymphomas of the diffuse “histiocytic” (large noncleaved) type in which most of the large lymphoid cells express monoclonal surface immunoglobulin and HLA-DR antigens but do not express HLA-A,B,C, or beta-2-microglobulin as assessed by indirect immunofluorescence.
Introduction: Part 2

From a contemporary French point of view, all of the outlandish, paradoxical, and contradictory ‘images of America’ in Part 1 of this Introduction are, in some way, shape, or form, evidence of the exceptional nature of homo americanus’s turn toward an alternative, ‘hyper’-fictional reality in which, and through which, everyday reality has become indistinguishable from its mediated, commodified representations. The French scrutinize the United States as a complex (un)cultural model, one catalyzed and characterized by the postmodern turn toward the ‘hyper.’ Unculture is equally a cause and effect of the fiction of hyperreality. In his postmodernist discussion of America’s self-invention as an ‘achieved utopia,’ Baudrillard claimed that it is necessary to ‘enter the fiction of America, enter America as fiction,’ since it is ‘on this fictive basis that it dominates the world.’ He makes it clear that Americans cannot fully apprehend the magnitude of their hyperreal way of life — the depth of the fiction which they live — because ‘they are themselves simulation in its most developed state’ (America 28—9). While all postmodern cultures — including the generalized culture of postmodern globalization — are to some degree affected or characterized by hyperreality, the United States has been the late (or neo-)capitalist epicenter and it remains the global point of reference.
Tensor-product preconditioners for higher-order space-time discontinuous Galerkin methods

A space-time discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element discretization is presented for direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. An efficient solution technique based on a matrix-free Newton-Krylov method is developed in order to overcome the stiffness associated with high solution order. The use of tensor-product basis functions is key to maintaining efficiency at high-order. Efficient preconditioning methods are presented which can take advantage of the tensor-product formulation. A diagonalized Alternating-Direction-Implicit (ADI) scheme is extended to the space-time discontinuous Galerkin discretization. A new preconditioner for the compressible Euler/Navier-Stokes equations based on the fast-diagonalization method is also presented. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of these preconditioners for the direct numerical simulation of subsonic turbulent flows.
Girls in Traditional and Gender-Responsive Juvenile Justice Placements

There is no shortage of policy, research, or practice recommendations for implementing gender-responsive programming. There is, however, substantial variation in the way in which gender-responsive has been defined and operationalized in practice. This exploratory study represents an examination of girls’ lived experiences in traditional and gender-responsive juvenile justice programs from an insider’s perspective. Participants’ narratives were overwhelmingly positive about gender-responsive programming; however, the findings in this study also suggest that it is critical to incorporate important gender-neutral skills into gender-responsive programming to enable girls to succeed economically and interdependently as they attempt to maintain themselves and their families once they are released from custody.
Russian Regional Media: Fragmented community, fragmented online practices

This study uses Bourdieu’s field theory to examine differences and similarities in digital practices among regional news organizations. Findings from interviews and field observations indicate that online journalism is fragmented in the region, with newsrooms operating on their own beliefs and interpretations. The variance can be explained by such factors as differences in managerial approaches, organizational culture, external factors, and history of the field. In addition, respondents saw online news as simplified journalism, or as a first draft of a story that has the potential to be published in the print edition. In the language of field theory, reporters do not perceive online journalism as providing cultural or symbolic capital, and there is little evidence that it offers economic capital.
Trash or Treasure! Opportunities and Challenges for Artisan Enterprise from Recycled Waste

Scavenging, or informal recycling, represents a significant global economic activity (Medina, 2007) allowing certain groups to survive while providing raw materials to various industries including agriculture, housing, industry, and artisan enterprise. In developing areas, artisans use scavenged raw materials to create a wide variety of products including pottery, sandals, lamps, fashion accessories, and textiles. This paper uses two cases in Guatemala as evidence of the informal recycling system. Data were collected in Guatemala through participant observation, interviews with artisans and organizational leaders, and photo documentation of production processes and finished products. Data were analyzed through constant comparison, and resolution of themes, issues, and challenges emerging from the data. In Project #1, artisans wove strips cut from plastic bags into household products and accessories for export. In Project #2 artisans hooked rugs for the U.S. market from used clothing purchased at pacas. Both projects have contributed significantly to economic sustainability for families and communities in Guatemala.
Take this personally: pollution attacks on personalized services

Modern Web services routinely personalize content to appeal to the specific interests, viewpoints, and contexts of individual users. Ideally, personalization allows sites to highlight information uniquely relevant to each of their users, thereby increasing user satisfaction--and, eventually, the service's bottom line. Unfortunately, as we demonstrate in this paper, the personalization mechanisms currently employed by popular services have not been hardened against attack. We show that third parties can manipulate them to increase the visibility of arbitrary content--whether it be a new YouTube video, an unpopular product on Amazon, or a low-ranking website in Google search returns. In particular, we demonstrate that attackers can inject information into users' profiles on these services, thereby perturbing the results of the services' personalization algorithms. While the details of our exploits are tailored to each service, the general approach is likely to apply quite broadly. By demonstrating the attack against three popular Web services, we highlight a new class of vulnerability that allows an attacker to affect a user's experience with a service, unbeknownst to the user or the service provider.
‘It’. Dead Place’. Qualitative Exploration of Violence Survivors’ Perceptions of Justice Architecture

AbstractEach year, thousands of victims of violence enter the Canadian criminal justice system and, by extension, justice buildings, such as police stations and courthouses. The architecture and design of these buildings communicate symbolic messages about justice and may influence the emotions, behaviors, and well-being of survivors. This qualitative study explored survivors’ emotional experiences with justice architecture. Findings reveal that survivors experience justice architecture as cold and hard; a facilitator of feelings of insignificance; lacking in privacy and; representative of their raw emotional state. The author discusses implications of these findings for victim engagement in the context of justice spaces.
Fabrication of Durably Superhydrophobic Cotton Fabrics by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment with a Siloxane Precursor

The surface treatment of fabrics in an atmospheric environment may pave the way for commercially viable plasma modifications of fibrous matters. In this paper, we demonstrate a durably superhydrophobic cotton cellulose fabric prepared in a single-step graft polymerization of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) by N2 and O2 atmospheric pressure plasma. We systematically investigated effects on contact angle (CA) and surface morphology of the cotton fabric under three operational parameters: precursor value; ionization gas flow rate; and plasma cycle time. Surface morphology, element composition, chemical structure and hydrophobic properties of the treated fabric were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), EDS, FTIR and CA on the fabrics. The results indicated that a layer of thin film and nano-particles were evenly deposited on the cotton fibers, and graft polymerization occurred between cellulose and HMDSO. The fabric treated by O2 plasma exhibited a higher CA of 162° than that treated by N2 plasma which was about 149°. Furthermore, the CA of treated fabrics decreased only 0°~10° after storing at the ambient conditions for four months, and treated fabrics could also endure the standard textile laundering procedure in AATCC 61-2006 with minimum change. Therefore, this single-step plasma treatment method is shown to be a novel and environment-friendly way to make durable and superhydrophobic cotton fabrics.
Immune checkpoint blockade in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: an update and critical review of ongoing clinical trials

Systemic treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are evolving rapidly and several multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors have demonstrated a survival advantage over best supportive care. Despite these treatment advances, the majority of HCC patients will progress on tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Preclinical data indicate that interference with immune checkpoint molecules results in HCC growth suppression. Several clinical trials applying monoclonal antibodies to immune checkpoint molecules have demonstrated durable antitumor activity in advanced HCC patients. As such, pivotal clinical trials are now in progress to assess if these agents will alter the natural history of the disease and further extend the overall survival of advanced HCC patients. This manuscript will review the current status of immune checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced HCC.
Influenza A Virus Molecular Virology Techniques

Molecular biological techniques for genomic analysis and for creation of recombinant viruses are critical tools in our efforts to understand and combat influenza A viruses. These molecular virology approaches are used in diagnostics, basic research, molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics, and vaccine development. The majority of the techniques used to study this segmented negative-sense RNA virus begin by purifying RNA from the virus, or infected cells, and converting it to cDNA, then to dsDNA, and amplifying that dsDNA using reverse transcription in combination with the polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). The RTPCR amplicons can be probed, sequenced, or cloned into a variety of vectors for further analysis and to create recombinant influenza A viruses by plasmid-based reverse genetics. To accelerate the amplification and cloning process, we developed multi-segment-RTPCR (M-RTPCR) techniques that efficiently amplify the eight genomic viral RNA segments (vRNAs) of influenza A virus in a single reaction, irrespective of the virus strain. The M-RTPCR amplicons are ideal for nucleotide sequence analysis and cloning full-length vRNAs into plasmids or other vectors designed for protein expression or reverse genetics. Therefore, we also developed modified reverse-genetics plasmids that are designed to rapidly clone M-RTPCR products, or other full-length vRNA amplicons, using recombination-based techniques. The combination of M-RTPCR and recombination-based cloning confers sensitivity, speed, fidelity, and flexibility to the analysis and rescue of any strain/subtype of influenza A virus, without the need for in vitro propagation. The specific topics described in this chapter include purification of high-quality viral RNA, genomic amplification using two different M-RTPCR schemes, sequencing vRNA amplicons, and cloning vRNA amplicons into our modified reverse-genetics plasmids, or commercially available plasmids.
Multilevel Heuristics for Rationale-Based Entity Relation Classification in Sentences

Rationale-based models provide a unique way to provide justifiable results for relation classification models by identifying rationales (key words and phrases that a person can use to justify the relation in the sentence) during the process. However, existing generative networks used to extract rationales come with a trade-off between extracting diversified rationales and achieving good classification results. In this paper, we propose a multilevel heuristic approach to regulate rationale extraction to avoid extracting monotonous rationales without compromising classification performance. In our model, rationale selection is regularized by a semi-supervised process and features from different levels: word, syntax, sentence, and corpus. We evaluate our approach on the SemEval 2010 dataset that includes 19 relation classes and the quality of extracted rationales with our manually-labeled rationales. Experiments show a significant improvement in classification performance and a 20% gain in rationale interpretability compared to state-of-the-art approaches.
Ultra-High-Q Micro-Cavity on a Silicon Chip

Optical resonators with quality factor as high as 750 million are demonstrated. These silicon-chip-based devices are fabricated without silica reflow, thereby expanding the range of integration opportunities and possible applications.
Risky Business: Harlem Pimps’ Work Decisions and Economic Returns

In this mixed methods study of 56 entry-level pimps in Harlem, NY, we explore how pimps’ choices to use violence or control differ by where they are selling sex, who their clientele are, and whethe...
New exogeneity tests and causal paths

Abstract We modify Suppes’ probabilistic causality theory by replacing inequalities among probabilities of events by unequal residuals of flipped kernel regression conditional expectation functions, E f(Xj|Xi, Xk) and E f(Xi|Xj, Xk), allowing asymmetry. Using three criteria we aggregate evidence from four orders of stochastic dominance and new asymmetric partial correlation coefficients to develop a unanimity index: UI. The index yields a decision rule for Xi to be self-driven or exogenous, based on confirming the causal paths X i → X j . Thus UI can replace Hausman–Wu's indirect exogeneity test which diagnoses endogeneity (a disease) by showing that instrumental variables (IV) estimator remedy “works.” A simulation supports our decision rules. An illustration identifies exogenous variables which can help predict US economic recession.
RAMS: Remote and automatic mammogram screening.

Abstract About one in eight women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in life. Breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women and if it is identified at an early stage by the use of mammograms, x-ray images of the breast, then the chances of successful treatment can be high. Typically, mammograms are screened by radiologists who determine whether a biopsy is necessary to ascertain the presence of cancer. Although historical screening methods have been effective, recent advances in computer vision and web technologies may be able to improve the accuracy, speed, cost, and accessibility of mammogram screenings. We propose a total screening solution comprised of three main components: a web service for uploading images and reviewing results, a machine learning algorithm for accepting or rejecting images as valid mammograms, and an artificial neural network for locating potential malignancies. Once an image is uploaded to our web service, an image acceptor determines whether or not the image is a mammogram. The image acceptor is primarily a one-class SVM built on features derived with a variational autoencoder. If an image is accepted as a mammogram, the malignancy identifier, a ResNet-101 Faster R-CNN, will locate tumors within the mammogram. On test data, the image acceptor had only 2 misclassifications out of 410 mammograms and 2 misclassifications out of 1,640 non-mammograms while the malignancy identifier achieved 0.951 AUROC when tested on BI-RADS 1, 5, and 6 images from the INbreast dataset.
Calorimetric measurements of excess power output during the cathodic charging of deuterium into palladium

This paper reports on a Seebeck-effect calorimeter that was used to establish that generation of energy, in excess of the electrical energy input, can occur during the electrolysis of D{sub 2}O. The magnitude of the excess power is measured with respect t the electrolysis of H{sub 2}O as the baseline. The excess power levels of {gt}60 W/cm{sup 3} palladium and excess energies of 74 kJ cannot be understood in terms of recombination of D{sub 2} and O{sub 2} within the calorimeter, other chemical reactions, or a storage-and-relaxation mechanism.
The NQRN Registry Maturational Framework: Evaluating the Capability and Use of Clinical Registries

Clinical registries are increasingly used as national performance measurement platforms. In 2018, nearly 70 percent of the more than 50 specialty society registries in the United States were used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to measure the quality of clinical care. Private payers and evaluating organizations also use or desire to use registry information to inform quality improvement programs and value-based payment models. The requirements for an entity to become a CMS Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) constitute a minimum set of standards for the purpose of reporting to the CMS Quality Payment Program. Models and frameworks exist that can help classify registries by purpose and use, and maturity models are available for evaluating health IT systems generally. However, there is currently no framework that describes the capability that should be expected from a registry at different phases of its development and maturity. In response, the National Quality Registry Network (NQRN) has developed a registry maturational framework. The framework models early, intermediate and mature development phases, the capabilities anticipated during these phases and 17 domains across which registry programs support those capabilities. The framework was developed and refined by NQRN registry stewards, users and other stakeholders between 2013–2018. It is intended to be used as a developmental guide or for registry evaluation. The successful use of registry information to execute value-based payment models is a critical need in U.S. health care. The NQRN framework can help ensure that our national system of registries is rising to the occasion.
Small mammal communities in nevada's swamp cedar woodlands, a globally unique and imperiled habitat

We conducted the first assessment of small mammal diversity for three unusually low-elevation stands of Rocky Mountain juniper, known locally as swamp cedars, in White Pine County, Nevada, between 24 May and 1 June 2016. These small patches of woodland add considerable habitat diversity to the expansive low-elevation shrublands in Spring Valley and White River Valley. Spring Valley stands supported unique small mammal communities, most notably through the occurrence of pinyon mice (Peromyscus truei). In contrast, no pinyon mice were detected in the much sparser and smaller White River Valley stand. Instead, it harbored typical Great Basin shrubland mammals. Our results suggest the novel communities in Spring Valley swamp cedar habitats may be threatened by planned groundwater removal.
Quasinormal modes of charged fields in Reissner-Nordström backgrounds by Borel-Padé summation of Bender-Wu series

We extend recent work of Hatsuda on the computation of quasinormal mode frequencies via analytic continuation of bound state energies and Borel-Pad\'e resummation of the Bender-Wu perturbation series to the case of charged fields in the background of Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. We compare the quasinormal mode frequencies obtained in this manner to calculations using Leaver's method of continued fractions, and find good agreement for damped modes with the imaginary part remaining finite in the extremal limit. We also present numerical evidence that the frequencies of certain zero-damped modes with the imaginary part tending to zero in the extremal limit can be computed when constructing the Bender-Wu expansion about a peak of the potential inside the outer horizon of the black hole.