cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pore Pressure Generation Models for Sands and Silty Soils Subjected to Cyclic Loading

This paper discusses the applicability of two simple models for predicting pore water pressure generation in nonplastic silty soil during cyclic loading. The first model was developed by Seed et al. in the 1970s and relates the pore pressure generated to the cycle ratio, which is the ratio of the number of applied cycles of loading to the number of cycles required to cause liquefaction. The second model is the Green-Mitchell-Polito model proposed by Green et al. in 2000, which relates pore pressure generation to the energy dissipated within the soil. Based upon the results of approximately 150 cyclic triaxial tests, the writers show that both models are applicable to silty soils. A nonlinear mixed effects model was used for regression analyses to develop correlations for the necessary calibration parameters. The results show that the trends in both α and pseudoenergy capacity calibration parameters for the Seed et al. and Green et al. pore pressure generation models, respectively, differ significantly for...
Safety Profile of Treatment in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain

New treatment options for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) have recently been developed, including two Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved agents, duloxetine and pregabalin. As clinicians face a broader spectrum of efficacious treatments, side-effect profiles play an increasingly important role in the development of a pain management regimen. In this article we review the safety profile of agents commonly used in the treatment of DPNP.
Recovering latent time-series from their observed sums: network tomography with particle filters.

Hidden variables, evolving over time, appear in multiple settings, where it is valuable to recover them, typically from observed sums. Our driving application is 'network tomography', where we need to estimate the origin-destination (OD) traffic flows to determine, e.g., who is communicating with whom in a local area network. This information allows network engineers and managers to solve problems in design, routing, configuration debugging, monitoring and pricing. Unfortunately the direct measurement of the OD traffic is usually difficult, or even impossible; instead, we can easily measure the loads on every link, that is, sums of desirable OD flows.In this paper we propose i-FILTER, a method to solve this problem, which improves the state-of-the-art by (a) introducing explicit time dependence, and by (b) using realistic, non-Gaussian marginals in the statistical models for the traffic flows, as never attempted before. We give experiments on real data, where i-FILTER scales linearly with new observations and out-performs the best existing solutions, in a wide variety of settings. Specifically, on real network traffic measured at CMU, and at AT&T, i-FILTER reduced the estimation errors between 15% and 46% in all cases.
Surgical Ventricular Restoration Versus Cardiac Transplantation: A Comparison of Cost, Outcomes, and Survival

Abstract Background Cardiac transplantation is the accepted standard treatment for end-stage heart disease but is donor limited. Surgical ventricular remodeling is an established treatment for patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. We sought to compare charges, outcomes, and survival in patients undergoing surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) versus cardiac transplantation (CTx). Methods and Results We retrospectively analyzed hospital charges, length of stay (LOS), and survival for 69 SVR and 53 CTx patients at our institution between January 2002 and June 2005. We also compared New York Heart Association (NYHA) status and Kaplan-Meier survival of our SVR patients with CTx patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy from the International Society of Heart & Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) registry. Median total LOS (12 days vs. 17 days, P = .01) and median postoperative LOS (10 days vs. 15 days, P = .02) were shorter for SVR patients than our CTx patients. Median total hospital charges ($45,506 vs. $137,679, P P P P Conclusions SVR patients demonstrate cost-effective clinical improvements that lead to good overall survival. SVR is an excellent surgical option for CHF patients who are not transplant candidates, and should be considered for ischemic cardiomyopathy patients who qualify for transplantation. This strategy may help relieve donor shortage and improve allocation of donor organs.
Concerning the relative non-toxicity of silacrown ionophores

Silacrowns, ionophoric materials in which an ethylene bridge of a normal crown ether has been replaced by a R2Si group, facilitate ion transport across liquid membranes. A major aspect of their properties is their nontoxicity when compared to these crown ethers. This is probably due to their ready hydrolysis to the corresponding polyethylene glycols. The glycols also exhibit ion transport properties, even with an efficiency close to the silacrowns but the silacrowns stay intact long enough to partition into the hydrophobic phase of a liquid membrane whereas their hydrolysis products preferentially partition into the aqueous phases. Ready removal from the hydrophobic phase of a membrane will reduce the long term transporting effectiveness of the glycols. Thus, in vivo hydrolysis of the silacrowns will result in the loss of transmembrane carriers. Similar removal will not occur for normal crown ionophores which are both hydrolytically stable and partition into the hydrophobic phase, and remain there for long time periods.
Screening Concepts and Designs for Experiments with Mixtures

A strategy for determining the most important components in a mixture system is developed. The proposed screening designs are usefrd in those situations where the number of candidate components, q, is large. Our simplex screening designs, which contain 2q + 1 or 3q + 1 points, are recommended when it is possible to experiment over the total composition range of all components (0–100%) or the experimental region can be expressed as a simplex in terms of pseudocomponents. We recommend extreme vertices screening designs, which contain approximately q + 10 points, when some or all of the components are subject to upper and lower constraints. Examples are included to illustrate the proposed designs and associated analyses.
Reply to “No Clinical Association of Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine with Nasal Carriage of Bacteria or Acute Otitis Media”: Specific Recommendations for Future Studies

Recently, we reported that vaccinating mice with a live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) led to substantial increases in the dynamics of nasal colonization by important and common bacterial respiratory pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus (1). However, as Coelingh and Belshe point out (2) and as we emphasize both in that paper and again here, in contrast to what occurred when mice were vaccinated against seasonal influenza viruses, mice vaccinated with LAIV did not exhibit increased susceptibility to bacterial disease in the lower respiratory tract, which is of particular concern when considering what is known about interactions between influenza viruses and bacterial pathogens (3). Our investigation received considerable attention, but unfortunately, a large portion of it came from the antivaccine movement. This is not surprising, as our results—the first to demonstrate an increased level of one pathogen as a result of a vaccine targeted against an unrelated pathogen—can easily, perhaps intentionally, be misinterpreted to seem as though our data advocate against the use of live attenuated influenza vaccines. This is not the case, and we agree firmly with the overwhelming data demonstrating that both LAIV and inactivated influenza vaccines are beneficial in reducing influenza-related disease (4), including from bacterial infections (5, 6). What we demonstrated in our report (1) is that an LAIV induced excess replication of multiple bacterial pathogens in the upper respiratory tracts of mice without causing consequent lower respiratory tract disease. What do the clinical data show? Citing the abstract (7) of a randomized placebo-controlled study of LAIV ( n = 151 children) by Thors et al. submitted for presentation …
Trends and Variability in U.S. Corn Yields Over the Twentieth Century

The United States is currently responsible for 40%-45% of the world's corn supply and 70% of total global exports (the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS)). There- fore, analyses of the spatial and temporal patterns of historical U.S. corn yields might provide insight into future crop-production potential and food security. In this study, county-level maize yield data from 1910 to 2001 were used to characterize the spatial heterogeneity of yield growth rates and interannual yield variability across the U.S. Corn Belt. Widespread decadal-scale changes in corn yield variability and yield growth rates have occurred since the 1930s across the Corn Belt, but the response has varied substantially with geographic location. Northern portions of the Great Plains have experienced consistently high interannual corn yield variability, averaging 30%-40% relative to the mean. Increasing usage of irrigation in Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas, since the 1950s, has helped boost yields by 75%-90% over rain-fed corn, creating a yield gap of 2-4 T ha �1 between irrigated and nonirrigated corn that could potentially be exploited in other regions. Furthermore, irrigation has reduced interannual variability by a factor of 3 in these same regions. A small region from eastern Iowa into northern
Therapeutic potential of green tea in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a constellation of progressive liver disorders that are closely related to obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance and may afflict over 70 million Americans. NAFLD may occur as relatively benign, nonprogressive liver steatosis, but in many individuals it may progress in severity to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. No validated treatments currently exist for NAFLD except for weight loss, which has a poor long-term success rate. Thus, dietary strategies that prevent the development of liver steatosis or its progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis are critically needed. Green tea is rich in polyphenolic catechins that have hypolipidemic, thermogenic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities that may mitigate the occurrence and progression of NAFLD. This review presents the experimental evidence demonstrating the hepatoprotective properties of green tea and its catechins and the proposed mechanisms by which these targeted dietary agents protect against NAFLD.
Equal Access to Healthcare Does Not Eliminate Disparities in the Management of Adults with Appendicitis

Background Race and socioeconomic status have led to inequality in access to surgical care, leading to differences in appendiceal perforation rates. However, in a setting of equal health care access, these disparities were not evident. Currently, disparities exist with use of laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in the treatment of appendicitis. This study determines whether equal health care access eliminates differences in the management and outcomes of appendicitis. Methods A retrospective review from 1998 to 2007 was performed. All members in this single-provider system have equal healthcare access. Socioeconomic data were extracted from the US Census database. Study outcome was use of LA and postoperative morbidity. Independent variables included age (18–44 y, 45–65 y, and >65 y), gender, race, annual mean household income ( 65 K), and education level. Univariate and multivariable (controlling for age, gender, perforation, race/ethnicity, income, and education level) analyses were performed. Results A total of 16,196 patients were identified (mean age = 41 y, 54% male). Sixty percent of patients underwent LA. On multivariable analysis, male gender was associated with a decreased use of LA (OR 0.84, CI 0.79–0.89, P 65 y) and patients age 45–65 y compared with younger patients (18–44 y). There was a lower use of LA in Blacks and a higher rate in Hispanics compared with Whites. Use of LA was higher in high income and middle income patients compared with low income patients. The use of LA was similar across all education levels. Postoperative morbidity was higher in males, older patients (age > 65 y), and patients age 45–65 y. However, postoperative morbidity was similar across all race/ethnic groups and all income levels and education levels. Conclusion In a setting of equal health care access, there is evidence of gender, racial, age, and socioeconomic disparities for use of LA and worse outcomes for males and older patients. These data suggest that despite equal healthcare access, disparities continue to exist with respect to race and income level for the management of adults with appendicitis.
The Design of Periodic Beam Transport Systems

Periodic beam-transport systems have several advantages including insensitivity to errors, minimum magnet apertures, and use of standardized components. A simple procedure is given for the design of modules, with and without bending magnets, that have the same matched beam properties. These modules can be combined in certain ways to produce systems that are achromatic and require a minimum number of matching elements.
Anti-Social Personality Disorder in a Sample of Imprisoned Non-Sex, Non-Arson Adult Male Offenders

Abstract A sample of male inmates from a medium security prison were scored on a checklist for symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). Psychopathy, measured by the PCL-R, was also scored by examin ing prison records. Although the ASPD and PCL-R scores were positively correlated, a four-part classification scheme is presented, with case examples from each of the four quadrants. Treatment implications are drawn for cases in each quadrant.
The role of spatial and classification operations in young children's memory for an organized environment

Memory for a room-sized spatial arrangement was examined in relation to spatial operations and classification operations. Sixty first grade children were asked to remember the location of eight cardboard houses clustered by physical characteristics (i.e., color and texture) into four groups on the floor of a room. Euclidean spatial operations as assessed with two Piagetian spatial tasks, the representation of an invariant vertical (i.e., a tree on the side of a hill) and a two-dimensional point duplication problem, were expected to predict memory for exact spatial location of individual items on the floor of the room. Since items were clustered according to a logical system, it was also hypothesized that classification operations would predict memory for the more general location in which individual items belonged. Results of a multiple regression showed that Euclidean knowledge, as measured by verticality, along with age in months, predicted memory for exact spatial location. While classification knowled...
The Crystal Structure of Triuranyl Diphosphate Tetrahydrate

Abstract The hydrated neutral uranyl phosphate, (UO2)3(PO4)2(H2O)4, was synthesized by hydrothermal methods. Intensity data were collected using MoKα radiation and a CCD-based area detector. The crystal structure was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques to agreement indices wR2=0.116 for all data, and R1=0.040, calculated for the 2764 unique observed reflections (∣Fo∣≥4σF). The compound is orthorhombic, space group Pnma, Z=4, a=7.063(1) A, b=17.022(3) A, c=13.172(3) A, V=1583.5(5) A3. The structure consists of sheets of phosphate tetrahedra and uranyl pentagonal bipyramids, with composition [(UO2)(PO4)]− and the uranophane sheet anion topology. The sheets are connected by a uranyl pentagonal bipyramid in the interlayer that shares corners with a phosphate tetrahedron on each of two adjacent sheets, resulting in an open framework with isolated H2O groups in the larger cavities of the structure.
Identification of a novel bacteriocin regulatory system in Streptococcus mutans

Recently, we described the function of an uncharacterized two-gene regulatory system consisting of a LytTR family transcription regulator and a putative membrane protein, which we referred to as the hdrRM operon. In this study, we determined that the HdrRM system controls the expression of an analogous uncharacterized regulatory system annotated as SMU.2080 and SMU.2081. Like hdrRM, the SMU.2080-2081 operon encodes a LytTR family transcription regulator and putative membrane protein, which we now refer to as BrsR and BrsM respectively. Examination of the regulatory mechanism of the BrsRM system suggests that BrsM serves to antagonize the function of the transcription regulator BrsR. Further analyses of the regulatory role of BrsR determined that it functions as a transcription activator for a variety of bacteriocins and bacteriocin-related genes. In vitro electromobility shift assays confirmed that BrsR binds to the promoter regions of several bacteriocin genes and requires the presence of a LytTR family consensus direct repeat in order to stably bind DNA. In addition, we identified a novel regulatory scheme in which both the HdrRM and BrsRM systems coregulate each other and ultimately determine whether bacteriocin production will inhibit competitor organisms or result in lethality to the producer.
An update on microstrip antenna theory and design including some novel feeding techniques

This article will review the development of microstrip antennas and arrays. Early design and analysis work will be discussed, along with the advantages and limitations of microstrip antennas. Characteristics such as bandwidth, mutual coupling, and polarization will be addressed, and some of the recent work related to these characteristics will be noted. The current state of analytical techniques will be discussed, as will the concepts of a monolithic phased array. Finally, some new ways of feeding microstrip antennas will be presented.
Prostaglandin F2α Treatment In Vivo, but Not In Vitro, Stimulates Protein Kinase C-Activated Superoxide Production by Nonsteroidogenic Cells of the Rat Corpus Luteum

Luteal regression is associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To determine the nature of the ROS generator, cells isolated from luteinized rat ovaries were examined for ROS production using luminol-amplified chemiluminescence (LCL). Cells cultured for 2-48 h exhibited minimal LCL, but there was a significant (30- to 50-fold), rapid (maximum at 3-5 min), and dose-dependent increase in LCL in response to phorbol ester (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate; TPA; ED50 = 0.03 microM) and diacylglycerol (1,2-dioctanoyl-glycerol; ED50 = 30 microM). The TPA-induced response was cell number dependent and was virtually abolished by superoxide dismutase, freezing, or heating (95 degrees C for 5 min). Zymosan, known to induce a phagocytic response in leukocytes, stimulated a superoxide (O2-.) response with a slow onset (maximum at 40 to 60 min) and a maximum about one third of that observed for TPA. The response to TPA and zymosan was inhibited by the NADPH/NADH-oxidase inhibitor, diphenylene iodonium (ID50 = 5 microM for TPA), but not by the mitochondrial inhibitors, potassium cyanide, rotenone, or sodium azide. Fractionation of cells by centrifugal elutriation showed that TPA-stimulated O2-. production coeluted with the nonsteroidogenic cells and that little, if any, O2-. generation coeluted with the steroidogenic cells. Cells isolated 1, 2, and 4 h after in vivo treatment with a luteolytic dose of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) showed a significant increase in TPA-stimulated O2-. production at 2 h, whereas luteal cells or corpora lutea incubated directly with 1 microM PGF2alpha did not show any increase in response. Corpora lutea isolated from naturally regressed ovaries (18 days after ovulation) showed a significantly elevated level of TPA-stimulated O2-. production. In conclusion, there is a superoxide generator in luteinized ovaries that is activated through a protein kinase C pathway, localized in nonsteroidogenic cells, transiently increased during PGF2alpha-induced luteolysis in vivo, and elevated during natural luteal regression.
The free shear layer tone phenomenon and probe interference

The reported investigation shows that the hot-wire probe induces stable upstream oscillations in a free shear layer, similar to the jet edge tone mechanism. This effect can be significant also in measurements involving large-scale organized structure, conditional sampling, space-time correlation, and convection velocity, when a reference or indicator probe may be used near the origin of the free shear layer. It appears that even in a free shear layer without any wedge, an object in the flow sufficiently downstream can also provide feedback to the flow upstream. A description is given of the edge-tone phenomenon which is observed when a thin slit jet impinges on a plane wedge. Attention is given to the free shear layer tone induced by a hot-wire probe, the free shear layer tone phenomenon, and shear layer tone eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.
Learning classifiers from linked data

The emergence of many interlinked, physically distributed, and autonomously maintained linked data sources amounts to the rapid growth of Linked Open Data (LOD) cloud, which offers unprecedented opportunities for predictive modeling and knowledge discovery from such data. However existing machine learning approaches are limited in their applicability because it is neither desirable nor feasible to gather all of the data in a centralized location for analysis due to access, memory, bandwidth, or computational restrictions. In some applications additional schema such as subclass hierarchies may be available and exploited by the learner. Furthermore, in other applications, the attributes that are relevant for specific prediction tasks are not known a priori and hence need to be discovered by the algorithm. Against this background, we present a series of approaches that attempt to address such scenarios. First, we show how to learn Relational Bayesian Classifiers (RBCs) from a single but remote data store using statistical queries, and we extend to the setting where the attributes that are relevant for prediction are not known a priori, by selectively crawling the data store for attributes of interest. Next, we introduce an algorithm for learning classifiers from a remote data store enriched with subclass hierarchies. Our algorithm encodes the constraints specified in a subclass hierarchy using latent variables in a directed graphical model, and adopts the Variational Bayesian EM approach to efficiently learn parameters. In retrospect, we observe that in learning from linked data it is often useful to represent an instance as tuples of bags of attribute values. With this inspiration, we introduce, formulate, and present solutions for a novel type of learning problem which we call distributional instance classification. Finally, building up from the foundations, we consider the problem of learning predictive models from multiple interlinked data stores. We introduce a distributed learning framework, and identify three special cases of linked data fragmentation then describe effective strategies for learning predictive models in each case. Further, we consider a novel application of a matrix reconstruction technique from the field of Computerized Tomography to approximate the statistics needed by the learning algorithm from projections using count queries, thus dramatically reducing the amount of information transmitted from the remote data sources to the learner.
CDKN2A/p16 Genetic Test Reporting Improves Early Detection Intentions and Practices in High-Risk Melanoma Families

Genetic testing for melanoma has yet to enter routine clinical use because of the scarcity of available data on the effect of test reporting. A prospective study of 59 members of Utah CDKN2A/p16 mutation-positive pedigrees was conducted to establish the effect of CDKN2A/p16 genetic test reporting on melanoma early detection intentions and behaviors (total body skin examination and skin self-examination) in a high-risk population. Behavioral assessments were made at baseline, immediately after CDKN2A/p16 test reporting and counseling, and at 1-month follow-up (42 participants). Baseline screening practices were poor relative to current recommendations, especially among participants without a personal history of melanoma. Changes from baseline practice were evaluated in three groups of participants (CDKN2A/p16+ with history of melanoma, CDKN2A/p16+ without melanoma history, and CDKN2A/p16-). Across multiple measures, test reporting caused CDKN2A/p16 mutation carriers without a melanoma history to improve to the level of adherence reported by participants with a melanoma history, without decreasing compliance of the CDKN2A/p16- group. Compared with baseline, CDKN2A/p16+ participants without a melanoma history reported greater intention to obtain total body skin examinations (P < 0.0001), increased intentions and adherence to skin self-examination recommendations (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively), and increased number of body sites examined at 1 month (P < 0.002); further, 55% reported adopting a new screening behavior at follow-up. Test reporting also improved skin self-examination adherence among CDKN2A/p16- participants (P < 0.03). The finding that CDKN2A/p16 test reporting enhances compliance with early detection measures among CDKN2A/p16+ participants without diminishing the compliance of CDKN2A/p16- participants suggests a favorable risk-benefit ratio for melanoma genetic testing in high-risk patients.
Transmit/receive modules

This paper begins with a discussion of the microwave functions performed by transmit/receive (T/R) modules for phased-array antenna applications. The paper then addresses performance and cost aspects of semiconductor, packaging, and assembly technologies associated with T/R modules.
A Review and Synthesis of Research Evidence for Self-Efficacy-Enhancing Interventions for Reducing Chronic Disability: Implications for Health Education Practice (Part I)

Disability and poor quality of life attributable to chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease constitute challenging public health problems for American society. In the absence of any effective cure for these conditions, the secondary prevention of complications and improving quality of life and functional capacity through better disease self-management becomes critical and are key objectives of Healthy People 2010. The organizing focus of such disease self-management should be on improving coping, communication, and control by enhancing self-efficacy. Part I of this two-part article describes the common clinical features of chronic diseases and the diverse disease management strategies used for alleviating pain and preventing disability associated with these and reviews the role of self-efficacy as a theoretical framework for successful self-management interventions. Part II identifies and synthesizes the key research evidence for educational interventions designed to enhance individual self-efficacy perceptions and presents implications for practice in patient education.
An incremental algorithm for updating betweenness centrality and k-betweenness centrality and its performance on realistic dynamic social network data

The increasing availability of dynamically changing digital data that can be used for extracting social networks over time has led to an upsurge of interest in the analysis of dynamic social networks. One key aspect of dynamic social network analysis is finding the central nodes in a network. However, dynamic calculation of centrality values for rapidly changing networks can be computationally expensive, with the result that data are frequently aggregated over many time periods and only intermittently analyzed for centrality measures. This paper presents an incremental betweenness centrality algorithm that efficiently updates betweenness centralities or k-betweenness centralities of nodes in dynamic social networks by avoiding re-computations through the efficient storage of information from earlier computations. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms for incremental betweenness centrality and k-betweenness centrality on both synthetic social network data sets and on several real-world social network data sets. The presented incremental algorithm can achieve substantial performance speedup (3–4 orders of magnitude faster for some data sets) when compared to the state of the art. And, incremental k-betweenness centrality, which is a good predictor of betweenness centrality, can be carried out on social network data sets with millions of nodes.
Two New Species and a New Record of Protoptila from Bolivia (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae: Protoptilinae)

The caddisfly genus Protoptila (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae: Protoptilinae) has never before been recorded from Bolivia. Protoptila dubitans Mosely 1939 is now reported from Bolivia for the first time. Additionally, two new species from Bolivia, P. diablita and P. julieta are described. Protoptila julieta is most closely related to P. misionensis Flint 1972. Protoptila diablita is the first known species in the genus to possess scale-like setae. These scales are hypothesized to aid in the dispersal of male sex pheromones.
The Importance of Winter Floods to Mallards in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Winter flooding of bottomland hardwood (BLH) floodplains in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) causes dynamic availability of resources to wintering mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). The effect of changing resource availability on mallard body condition and timing of life-cycle events are important considerations for waterfowl habitat conservation planning in the MAV. During a study of mallards wintering in the Mingo Basin of southeastern Missouri, USA, I collected data on population size, habitat use, behavior, food habits, body composition, and chronology of the prebasic molt during 2 major flood events in 1982. I also analyzed winter (Dec–Feb) hydrological data for 14 rivers in the MAV from 1939–1940 to 1998–1999 to provide a perspective on variation of winter flooding in this ecosystem. Winter floods in the Mingo Basin precipitated ecological events that benefited mallards. During floods, mallards redistributed to shallowly flooded ( 5 and >10 days/winter, respectively. Mallards increased daily food consumption by 33–39% over daily existence energy (DEE) levels during floods. These data suggest that previous estimates of foraging carrying capacity in MAV habitats (and other wintering and migration areas where significant fat deposition occurs) using only DEE-based daily food consumption estimates may be overestimated. Consequently, habitat and acre goals set by North American Waterfowl Management Plan Joint Ventures for these areas may be greatly underestimated. The evolutionary adaptations of mallards seem influenced by timing, duration, and extent of winter flooding in the MAV. Efforts to protect the integrity of MAV rivers, associated floodplain habitats, and their winter flow and flooding regimes are critical for sustaining local, regional, and continental mallard populations.
The design of parallel solid voxelization based on multi-processor pipeline by program slicing

This paper presents a new design for parallel solid voxelization using the multi-processor pipeline by slicing the program by forced interrupts. The proposed system provides a simple and effective solution to the on-the-fly parallel solid voxelization by relocating the portions of incoming data from processor to processor. It does not need conventional complicated parallel computing methods, such as load balancing, scheduling etc. This is exactly the advantage of this proposed system. Furthermore, the system only requires practically the same software as ordinary sequential solid voxelization algorithm. In this paper, the general parallel solid voxelization algorithm is summarized as apposed to the general sequential solid voxelization algorithm. The proposed system and the principle of parallel solid voxelization by multi-processor pipeline will be described and discussed in detail. In the end, the conclusions and future work are addressed.
Effective Leadership of Social Enterprise

Educational Objectives The goal of this course is to engage students in exploring the key determinants of superior performance in established nonprofit social enterprises through the prism of the top management and/or the leadership of the governing boards of these institutions. Students will examine the experiences of established nonprofits to determine common themes and approaches. The objective is to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to build and lead high performing enterprises, which are dealing with some of the most challenging problems facing societies around the globe. As with studying the management of complex for-profit businesses, students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge acquired in other MBA courses in an interdisciplinary fashion. However, because the nonprofit operating environment is so different, and most would agree more complex than the business environment, students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a creative and unfamiliar way. Students will be encouraged to think outside of their traditional comfort zone. Previous ELSE enrollees have observed that applying their knowledge to the nonprofit sector has actually sharpened their for-profit management skills.
Evidence-Based Update to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee Guideline for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection: Developmental Process

Recommendations in the "Guideline for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection, 1999" were based on experts' selective interpretation of the scientific evidence. Effective 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) updated their guideline development process. This is a narrative summary of the updated process focusing on key changes and challenges specific to the Guideline for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection. The guideline development process now incorporates evidence-based methodology and provides explicit links between the evidence and the recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. There is also participation by professional surgical societies, an updated guideline structure (core and procedure-specific sections), additional planned related manuscripts (introductions to the guideline and research opportunities), and new proposed venues for publication. The new CDC and HICPAC "Guideline for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection" represents a substantial advancement from recommendations for infection control practices based on expert opinion to evidence-based practices. The new structure is meant to facilitate future updates, in particular, those addressing specialty or procedure-specific surgical site infection prevention questions. Increased presence by the surgical community through the professional surgical societies' engagement in the guideline development process, lead authorship of related manuscripts, and proposed publication in the surgical literature not only increase adherence by the surgical community, but also promote an ongoing collaboration with public health and other partners in a multidisciplinary approach to SSI prevention.
The Characterization of Linear Polyethylene SRM's 1482, 1483, and 1484. II. Number-Average Molecular Weights by Membrane Osmometry.

Linear polyethylene Standard Reference Materials SRM 1482, 1483, and 1484 are certified for number-average molecular weight Mn . In this paper the experimental procedures employed for the determination of Mn for these materials by membrane osmometry are described, and the techniques used to analyze the data and to estimate limits of systematic error are discussed.
Drumming behavior of six North American Perlidae (Plecoptera) species.

The previously unreported drumming signals of six species of Perlidae are described, and comparisons of drumming among 12 North American species are made. Claassenia, Hesperoperla, and Paragnetina display two- or three-way signals; the male call is monophasic, and male-female signals consist of 5 to 25 beats (except Paragnetina kansensis females) at moderate to slow intervals of 25 to 120 msec. Almost no overlap of major signal parameters occurs among these genera. Acroneuria species have unique, complex signals; the male call is diphasic, with 31 to 44 and 3 to 9 beats in the first and second phases, respectively. The male call of Calineuria californica has a single, prolonged beat, produced by dragging the hammer on the substrate; this clearly separates it from known Acroneuria signals. P. kansensis females have a very long signal of 495 to 605 beats, spaced at nonvariable intervals of 88 ± 0 msec.
Hydrolysis of Cellobiose over Selective and Stable Sulfonated Activated Carbon Catalysts

Activated carbon is functionalized by different treatments with sulfuric acid and hot liquid water and used as catalyst for the hydrolysis of cellobiose in a continuously operated fixed bed reactor. Characterization results reveal that the chemically treated materials are more disordered with a lower degree of graphitization, while adsorption isotherms demonstrate that van der Waals forces dominate the interaction between carbohydrates and the surface of catalysts. All catalysts are stable during the hydrolysis of cellobiose under flow conditions. Carbon catalysts with a limited fraction of sulfonic acid groups exhibit moderate cellobiose conversion but a higher and sustained glucose selectivity. The high selectivity is attributed to a higher fraction of weak acid sites, where degradation of glucose only occurs to a limited extent due to less accessibility and competitive adsorption with cellobiose. Furthermore, the strong sulfonic acid groups are more accessible for degradation reactions to occur. In con...
Involvement of regions in domain I in the opioid receptor sensitivity of alpha1B Ca(2+) channels.

The structural basis of Ca2+ channel inhibition by G proteins has received considerable attention recently, and multiple regions on Ca2+ channels that interact with G protein subunits have been identified. We have demonstrated previously that a region extending from the N terminus to the I/II loop of the Ca2+ channel is involved in determining the differences between α1B and α1E Ca2+ channels with respect to inhibition by G proteins. Here we explore this region of the channel in greater detail in an effort to further define the regions involved in determining inhibition. Chimeric Ca2+ channels constructed from α1B and α1E Ca2+ channels revealed that the N terminus, the I/II loop, and domain I all play an important role in determining inhibition. We identified a 70-amino acid fragment from domain I that mediates the effects of domain I, and a 50-amino acid fragment from the I/II loop that mediates the effects of the I/II loop. When these regions from α1B were exchanged into α1E, inhibition identical with that of α1B was observed. The differences between α1B and α1E in the identified region of domain I involve residues that are predicted to be almost exclusively extracellular. Mutations to some of the high-affinity G protein binding regions of α1B (α interaction domain, CC14, and a C-terminal Gα binding site) caused relatively little change in inhibition, which suggests that these sites are not necessary individually for G protein-mediated inhibition and may help to explain the small effects of exchanging these regions in isolation.
Contaminant Spread Forecasting and Confirmatory Sampling Location Identification in a Water-Distribution System

AbstractWhile significant emphasis has been placed on contamination warning system design, event detection, and source identification, relatively little emphasis has been placed on characterizing contaminant spread and confirmatory sampling. This study developed algorithms that utilize contamination source probabilities to forecast contaminant spread, which is then used to identify confirmatory sampling locations to maximize contaminant spread information based on entropy concepts. The algorithms were applied to simulated contamination scenarios using one small network with five-sensor locations, and one large network with 5-, 10-, 20-, or 50-sensor locations. The first step in the forecasting process was to identify the past contamination probability using existing sensor information and a probabilistic contamination source identification algorithm. In general, the past contamination status of the nodes was either correctly identified or did not have enough information to classify; incorrect classificati...
The Central Limit Problem for Infinitely Divisible Random Measures

A good reference to the technical preliminaries described below is Kallenberg’s book, [10]. We are taking the liberty of stating facts without proof as our intention is to provide the logical development which is used to get the main results.
General Heuristics for Coping with The Education Mess

As we have emphasized repeatedly, messes are not well-structured problems that admit of simple solutions. As a result, there are no algorithms, methods, or fixed, ironclad rules that guarantee exact, permanent, and stable solutions. All one gets are heuristics that allow to cope as best as one can. This chapter discusses several such heuristics. If there were no ways of coping at all, then the situation would be entirely hopeless. The fact that there are heuristics argues that while the situation is daunting, it is far from hopeless.
Risk of Lung Disease in PI MZ Heterozygotes. Current Status and Future Research Directions

The potential for increased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk among PI MZ subjects was initially recognized decades ago. However, despite many studies of this topic, it has remained controversial whether such increased risk exists. Several recent studies in large populations strongly support increased risk for COPD among PI MZ subjects. This increased PI MZ risk will need to be understood in the context of other identified COPD genetic determinants and investigations of COPD phenotypic heterogeneity.
Ultraviolet Photodissociation of Native Proteins Following Proton Transfer Reactions in the Gas Phase

The growing use of mass spectrometry in the field of structural biology has catalyzed the development of many new strategies to examine intact proteins in the gas phase. Native mass spectrometry methods have further accelerated the need for methods that can manipulate proteins and protein complexes while minimizing disruption of noncovalent interactions critical for stabilizing conformations. Proton-transfer reactions (PTR) in the gas phase offer the ability to effectively modulate the charge states of proteins, allowing decongestion of mass spectra through separation of overlapping species. PTR was combined with ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) to probe the degree of structural changes that occur upon charge reduction reactions in the gas phase. For protein complexes myoglobin·heme (17.6 kDa) and dihydrofolate reductase·methotrexate (19.4 kDa), minor changes were found in the fragmentation patterns aside from some enhancement of fragmentation near the N- and C-terminal regions consistent with slight ...
“Land of Liberty”: The American Governmental Exception

Once upon a time, America was reputed to have an exceptionally small state. In the 1830s, Tocqueville could barely see it. In the decades after his visit, American government lagged in seizing central control of the country. Later observers claimed that Americans were “anti-statist” (Lipset 1996). Their liberal tradition, rooted in the Constitution, ostensibly aimed to restrain state power and free citizens to pursue their own purposes. With each branch of government checking the other two, and political power decentralized by a federalist division of labor, the United States resisted the kind of state building that became the mark of modernity across much of the globe. In the land of liberty, government was at best a necessary evil, or so conventional wisdom had it. History and law and culture combined to create a governmental exception.
A Social Work Response to the Affordable Care Act: Prevention and Early Intervention

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents a reinvestment in primary care, with a focus on prevention of illness and remediation of the impacts of chronic diseases through a behavioral health framework. Licensed social work professionals, specifically those trained in behavioral health, are a natural fit to help implement these new approaches. Though there are many evidence-based interventions that will be helpful, two that come from the field of substance abuse ought to be specifically beneficial: SAMHSA's SBIRT Model and Motivational Interviewing, developed by Miller and Rollnick. In response to the growing need for specially trained social work practitioners, the Social Work Program at Seton Hall University has developed the initial concentration of its MSW Program around these learning needs.
Preoperative next-generation sequencing of pancreatic cyst fluid is highly accurate in cyst classification and detection of advanced neoplasia.

Objective DNA-based testing of pancreatic cyst fluid (PCF) is a useful adjunct to the evaluation of pancreatic cysts (PCs). Mutations in KRAS / GNAS are highly specific for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) and mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCNs), while TP53 / PIK3CA / PTEN alterations are associated with advanced neoplasia. A prospective study was performed to evaluate preoperative PCF DNA testing. Design Over 43-months, 626 PCF specimens from 595 patients were obtained by endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-fine needle aspiration and assessed by targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). Molecular results were correlated with EUS findings, ancillary studies and follow-up. A separate cohort of 159 PCF specimens was also evaluated for KRAS / GNAS mutations by Sanger sequencing. Results KRAS/GNAS mutations were identified in 308 (49%) PCs, while alterations in TP53/PIK3CA/PTEN were present in 35 (6%) cases. Based on 102 (17%) patients with surgical follow-up, KRAS/GNAS mutations were detected in 56 (100%) IPMNs and 3 (30%) MCNs, and associated with 89% sensitivity and 100% specificity for a mucinous PC. In comparison, KRAS/GNAS mutations by Sanger sequencing had a 65% sensitivity and 100% specificity. By NGS, the combination of KRAS/GNAS mutations and alterations in TP53/PIK3CA/PTEN had an 89% sensitivity and 100% specificity for advanced neoplasia. Ductal dilatation, a mural nodule and malignant cytopathology had lower sensitivities (42%, 32% and 32%, respectively) and specificities (74%, 94% and 98%, respectively). Conclusions In contrast to Sanger sequencing, preoperative NGS of PCF for KRAS / GNAS mutations is highly sensitive for IPMNs and specific for mucinous PCs. In addition, the combination of TP53 / PIK3CA / PTEN alterations is a useful preoperative marker for advanced neoplasia.