cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using a fully coupled flow and geomechanical simulator to model injection into heavy oil reservoirs

SUMMARY In this paper, the geomechanical factors that may affect injection processes in heavy oil recovery are investigated. To accurately capture the geomechanical effects, we employed a numerical formulation that allows fully coupling of nonlinear geomechanical deformation and multicomponent porous media flows. Two salient features of this new coupling formulation are the following: (1) all flow and geomechanical equations are solved implicitly in one single matrix equation, and (2) it allows reuse of matrices from both a traditional fully implicit multicomponent reservoir simulator and a nonlinear geomechanics simulator. The former feature ensures stable coupling between the reservoir flow and geomechanics, and the latter significantly reduces the programming work. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and convergence performance of the new formulation. The proposed formulation is then applied to model injection into heavy oil reservoirs. The numerical investigation revealed that geomechanical factors, such as in situ stress anisotropy and the uneven deformation of reservoir rock and attached impermeable rock, can result in skewed or nonuniform plastic strain and, hence, alter the sweep of the injected fluid. Coupled geomechanics simulation also gives rather different transient pressure response from that of uncoupled simulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Coping strategies and perceived effectiveness in fourth through eighth grade victims of bullying

Victimization resulting from bullying affects millions of school children worldwide each year (e.g. Nansel et al., 2001; Sapouna, 2008; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005). These children face the fear and h...
Theory of Mind and Self-Concept: A Comparison of Korean and American Children

Preschool participants from Korea (N = 56, mean age = 5 years, 4 months) and the United States (N = 56, mean age = 5 years, 1 month) responded to tasks assessing self-concept and understanding of false belief. Korean children scored higher on the self-dimension of Traditionalism and lower on the dimension of Social Potency than did American children, a finding in accord with the hypothesis that the Korean culture fosters a relatively interdependent conception of the self. Korean children also outperformed American children on the measure of false belief. In contrast to previous research with Western samples, the nature of the false belief problem (inanimate object, voluntary person movement, involuntary person movement) did not significantly affect performance in either culture. Finally, variations in self-concept showed some but limited relations to false belief performance; in general, relatively interdependent self-responses were predictive of good false belief performance.
The Molecular and Cellular Origins of Hodgkin's Disease

Hodgkin's disease is divulging its secrets at last. Despite the fact that Hodgkin's disease was the first lymphoma to be recognized as a distinct clinical entity ([1][1]), it has proved to be one of the most difficult lymphomas to approach molecularly. The clonal, malignant Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (H
Hierarchical quorum consensus: a new algorithm for managing replicated data

A novel algorithm for managing replicated data is presented. The proposed method is based on organizing the copies of an object into a logical, multilevel hierarchy, and extending the quorum consensus algorithm to such an environment. Several properties of the method are derived and optimality conditions are given for minimizing the quorum size. It is shown that, given a collection of n copies of an object, the method allows a quorum to be formed with n/sup 0.63/ copies versus ((n+1)/2) copies in the case of the majority voting algorithm. Tradeoffs between the proposed method and three other quorum-based methods are discussed, and the main features of each method are highlighted. >
Selective bowel decontamination in hospitalized patients awaiting liver transplantation

Background Infection remains a major contributor to morbidity and mortality following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Selective bowel decontamination (SBD) in hospitalized patients is one strategy for prophylaxis. Methods A retrospective case-control study was performed using 18 consecutive hospitalized patients receiving SBD prior to OLT during the period September 1995 to September 1996. Eighteen consecutive hospitalized patients without SBD transplanted during the period March 1995 to September 1995 served as a historical control group. Results Selective bowel decontamination was associated with a significantly decreased prevalence of positive cultures for gram-negative bacteria and fungi and reduced overall hospital charges. Conclusion In hospitalized patients awaiting OLT, SBD is an effective prophylactic measure against infectious morbidity associated with gram-negative bacteria and fungi.
Pharmacotherapy of kidney stones

Background: Kidney stones are associated with various biochemical disturbances in urine. Various drugs and dietary changes have been recommended to halt stone recurrence. Objective: To determine whether a correction of urinary abnormalities by appropriate pharmacological agents and dietary modification may ameliorate stone disease. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted on the role of diet, metabolic disorders and drugs for stone prevention. Results/conclusion: Metabolic risk factors are hypercalciuria, hypocitraturia, hyperoxaluria, hyperuricosuria, and abnormally low urinary pH. Dietary–environmental risk factors include high urinary sodium and low urine volume. Rare or less commonly encountered risk factors are high urinary cystine, and alkaline urine from an infection with urea-splitting organisms. To ameliorate or correct the above disturbances, all patients should be offered dietary modification, including restricted intake of sodium, oxalate and animal proteins. Useful drugs include thia...
Class, Race, Credibility, and Authenticity within the Hip-Hop Music Genre

After its advent in the 1970s, the rap music genre was represented almost exclusively by male black artists who honestly and realistically embodied a poor urban image. Images of black urban poverty in music videos and rap lyrics were consistently used by black artists to emphasize and authenticate who they were and where they came from. With the upsurge of white rap acts starting in the early 90s and continuing through the early 21 st century, the means by which rap authenticity is measured have been permanently renegotiated. Before the emergence of white rappers, race was the primary signifier of rapper authenticity. After the success of white rappers such as Eminem new parameters of what constitute credibility and authenticity in the rap genre have been forged. This article discusses the significance of the continued presence of white rappers in hip-hop in terms of class and race in relation to artistic credibility within the rap genre. On a larger scale, this article considers questions related to cultural interloping upon a racially concentrated art form. It is concluded that class has generally emerged as the premier indicator or variable of authenticity throughout rap.
Alkaloids of Scopolia carniolica

The alkaloid composition of the rhizomes of Scopolia carniolica Jacq. has been investigated and the identification of six alkaloids is reported. Three of these alkaloids have been reported previously and are confirmed in this report. Moreover, the authors report here for the first time the presence of 3- α -tigloyloxytropane in the genus Scopolia; in addition, pseudotropine and cuscohygrine are reported in this plant for the first time. One other alkaloid could not be identified at this time.
Adaptive tuning for vibrational gyroscopes

We propose an adaptive control scheme to tune the natural frequency of a microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonator for a vibrational gyroscope to a desired frequency. This is an attractive alternative to the phase locked loop, since it introduces feedback, which can reduce the effects of imprecise fabrication. In particular, we use adaptive control to set the natural frequency of the drive axis.
Network Memory Among Mobile Devices

In a community of mobile devices, resource pooling and resource sharing can be an effective means of improving the utilization and availability of the unique resources. This paper presents a peer to peer approach to device and resource discovery, resource pooling and resource management in mobile device communities. A peer to peer resource discovery and resource sharing algorithm that pools memory on mobile devices and presents it to the mobile device community as network memory is developed. The cost of uniform and nonuniform memory access in mobile device communities is explored and presented.
Automated modeling of the guidance of a K-9

This paper attempts to automate and replace human guidance in the control of a K-9 unit by modeling that guidance from observation. The ultimate research goal seeks to contribute toward the autonomous command of a trained K-9 unit by analyzing the movement and the behavior of the dog as it responds to command tones. Specifically, GPS and command signal information (from a human trainer) is recorded as a canine follows (or fails to follow) instructions as it moves toward a destination. The data is then processed into training instances and used as training data for a general regression neural network (GRNN). Then, the network is used to classify previously unseen test instances to determine if the behavior at that moment is normal or anomalous (in need of correcting tones). Both representation of training instances and the system parameters of the GRNN are optimized using a simple evolutionary hill-climber (EHC). Given even fairly limited initial data for training, the system performs well, producing relatively few false positives and false negatives in classification.
A Quantitative Basis for Strong-Motion Instrumentation Specifications

Abstract A quantitative basis for key strong-motion instrumentation specifications is established by analyzing signal distortions and errors associated with data acquisition processes and then performing sensitivity analyses with respect to important parameters. The digital acquisition of 30 digitally enhanced earthquake histories is simulated to gain insight into how specific sources of error, namely clock jitter, randomness in initial sampling instant, and differential nonlinearity, accumulate and influence overall data quality. Sensitivity analyses with respect to several measures of shaking-strength (an engineer’s intensity measure) such as instrumental intensity, peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and peak response spectral pseudoaccelerations are performed. Results from these studies are used to assess potential updates to current strong-motion instrumentation specifications of major strong-motion instrumentation programs. The simulations and analyses detailed here are also groundwork for future sensitivity studies of structural response parameters of peak floor acceleration and peak interstory drift.
While on the Way to Universal Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease

The report by Laurie McWilliams et al in this issue of the journal reviews 172 patients with a diagnosis of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) at Duke University 1 . The authors report the age of presentation, clinical characteristics, the absence of a thymic shadow on chest x-ray, and low lymphocyte counts as “key diagnostic clues” in the identification of infants with genetically defined causes of SCID. In keeping with previous reports from this center at Duke, a diagnosis of SCID should be suspected from the combination of clinical symptoms and the physical examination that they describe. A low absolute lymphocyte count and an absent thymic shadow, which is often overlooked or the significance of this finding unappreciated by clinicians, are “key diagnostic clues” that should alert clinicians that a patient may indeed have SCID. The historic value of this report and the importance of these clinical and laboratory findings in identifying infants with genetically defined forms of SCID and other T-cell defects are important, especially for clinicians practicing in states that do not yet universally screen infants for these diseases using Q-PCR detection of T-cell restriction excision circles (TRECs) in DNA from dried blood spots on Guthrie cards. The value of this review
Differential relationships among discharges of postganglionic sympathetic nerves.

The relationships among the simultaneously recorded discharges of as many as four postganglionic sympathetic nerves were studied with coherence and phase spectral analyses in baroreceptor-denervated cats. Discharges were recorded from the inferior cardiac (CN), vertebral (VN), and renal (RN) nerves. Most of the power in sympathetic nerve discharge was less than 6 Hz, and the discharges of any two nerves coherred over a frequency band generally between 0 and 15 Hz. Peak coherence occurred between 2 and 6 Hz in most cases. Our most important observations are as follows. 1) Coherence values were significantly higher in chloralose-anesthetized than in unanesthetized decerebrate cats. 2) Coherence values were higher for near ipsilateral nerves (e.g., CN and VN) than for widely separated ipsilateral nerves (e.g., CN and RN). 3) Coherence values for most pairs were higher when the nerves were located on the same side (ipsilateral nerves) rather than on opposite sides (contralateral nerves) of the body. 4) Coherence values were higher for some functionally complementary nerves (e.g., CN and RN) than for noncomplementary nerves (e.g., VN and RN). These results support the hypothesis that the central circuits responsible for the basal discharges of different postganglionic sympathetic nerves are selectively coupled.
Lepine v. Canada Post: Ironing Out the Wrinkles in the Inter-Provincial Enforcement of Class Judgments

Later this year, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear argument in the case of Lepine v. Canada Post, on appeal from the Quebec Court of Appeal. The case raises several pivotal issues surrounding the enforceability of national or multi-jurisdictional class judgments. First, on what basis can a court assert jurisdiction over a purported member of the plaintiff class who does not reside in the adjudicating forum? Second, how do the doctrines of lis pendens and forum non conveniens affect the recognition of class judgments? Finally, when can recognition of a judgment be refused on the basis that the plaintiff class has been denied natural justice or procedural fairness owing to inadequate notice? The Supreme Court will have the additional challenge of answering these questions within the framework of the Quebec Civil Code (C.C.Q.), while appreciating that the decision will have implications for class action practice across the country. This comment does not aim to provide a thorough academic discussion of the intricate issues of the case, but rather to highlight the relevant considerations that may inform the Court’s thinking. The issue of the interprovincial enforceability of class judgments is of critical significance to litigants. It is hoped that the Supreme Court uses Lepine as an opportunity to sort out some of the vexing questions posed by the existence of multi-jurisdictional classes.
Steel Corrosion in Submerged Concrete Structures—Part 1: Field Observations and Corrosion Distribution Modeling

Reinforcing steel in submerged marine concrete structures has generally been regarded as less susceptible to corrosion than reinforcing steel in atmospheric concrete, in part as a result of the lim...
Receiver reactor concept and model development for a solar steam redox reformer

Abstract As concern over the CO 2 emissions associated with power production from traditional fossil fuels grows, there has been more interest in using renewable energy sources such as solar energy. However, there are many issues with using solar energy on a large scale including dispatchability and economically viable storage methods. A potential solution to these problems is using a hybrid solar-fossil fuel power generation system. Within such systems, solar reforming has been shown to be a promising integration method with steam redox reforming as an effective reforming process. In this article, a receiver reactor concept for a solar steam redox reformer is presented. The receiver-reactor consists of a dumbbell shape absorber system that has two distinct absorbers. This absorber system setup allows for the switching between reduction and oxidation steps without having to constantly change inlet streams to the reactor and is designed such that the inlet connections do not interfere with the solar window. In addition, at any point in time only one solar absorber is irradiated by the solar energy (during the reduction step). A computational model is developed to assess its performance. Simulations show that the receiver-reactor strongly absorbs the solar radiation and most of the radiative heat transfer occurs in the front half of the reactor. Moreover, results show that higher conductivity absorber materials yield smaller temperature variations not only within the reactor but also with time, and therefore are more suitable for long term reactor operation.
Finite Axisymmetric Deformations of Initially Cylindrical Reinforced Membranes

Abstract We consider the axisymmetrie deformations of an initially cylindrical membrane composed of an elastic, homogeneous, isotropic and incompressible material reinforced with a two-parameter system of perfectly flexible and inextensible helicoidal cords of variable pitch. The undeformed configuration is determined so that the deformed membrane has a given axial section under specified internal pressure. The corresponding stress field and cord tensions are obtained. The solution given is exact and valid for the general form of the strain—energy function.
Measurement of Salivary Cortisone to Assess the Adequacy of Hydrocortisone Replacement.

Context: This Commentary discusses the study of Debono et al (19) and focuses on the potential use of multiple salivary cortisone measurements to evaluate the adequacy of hydrocortisone replacement therapy. Salivary cortisone, typically measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, accurately reflects plasma free cortisol because of the expression of 11-β -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in the salivary gland. Debono et al showed that multiple, sequential salivary cortisone measurements obtained over a 12-hour period correlated with plasma free cortisol in subjects receiving intravenous or oral hydrocortisone (authentic cortisol). Conclusions: Hopefully, these studies will lead to a simplified protocol with fewer samples for the measurement of salivary cortisone that can reliably assess the adequacy of hydrocortisone replacement in patients with adrenal insufficiency. This protocol has to be cost-effective and be feasible to obtain timed salivary samples accurately at home. It would be a sig...
Effects of method of conditioning on behavior of Boer and Spanish goats in pens with barbed wire and electric fence strands

Abstract In the first experiment, 40 Boer (B) and 40 Spanish (S) does were used to evaluate effects of treatments in the interval (IT) between periods of a Latin square design on behavior when exposed to fences with barbed wire strands for cattle and added electric fence strands for goats. The desire was to determine if an IT would eliminate period or carryover effects so that a Latin square could be used for consistent and accurate evaluation of different electric fence strand treatments. Breeds were split into two sets with five groups of four does. Evaluation pens (5; 2.4 × 3.7 m) had one side of barbed wire strands at 30, 56, 81, 107, and 132 cm from the ground. Fence treatments (FT) were electrified strands (6.0 kV) at 15 and 43 (LowHigh), 15 and 23 (LowMed), 15 (Low), 23 (Med), and 43 cm (High). Behavior was assessed once every 2 week with different FT in the five periods of a 5 × 5 Latin square experiment. In the week between measurements, one set of each breed was exposed to a pen with no electric strands as IT-Yes and other sets were not (IT-No). There were interactions (P
Heterogeneous Segmental Dynamics during Creep and Constant Strain Rate Deformations of Rod-Containing Polymer Nanocomposites

The state of a glassy material can be altered considerably through the application of stress. The origins of this effect, and its relation to molecular mobility, are not well understood. Recent exp...
Behavior of Adult Alfalfa Weevils (Hypera postica) on Resistant and Susceptible Medicago Species in Free-Choice Preference Tests

Behavior of adult alfalfa weevils, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), was observed in free-choice arenas containing 1) Medicago sativa L. and glandular-haired M. rugosa Desr. and 2) 4 glandular-haired annual Medicago species: M. blancheana Boiss., M. disciformis DC., M. rugosa , and M. scutellata (L.) Mill. The weevils made significantly fewer contacts with M. rugosa than with M. sativa in the first 30 minutes of the test. Also, the mean duration of the visits on M. rugosa was significantly shorter than that on M. sativa . Both pre-contact cues (olfactory or visual) and contact cues (chemotactic or mechanical) appeared to be used by the adults in rejecting M. rugosa in favor of M. sativa . The number of initial weevil contacts with each species did not differ significantly in a free-choice test with 4 glandular-haired species. However, significantly more weevils stayed on M. disciformis than on M. blancheana and M. rugosa . Differences between M. disciformis and M. scutellata were nonsignificant. Contact cues (unlike pre-contact cues) appeared important to the weevils since these four nonpreferred species differed in the mean number of weevils visiting plants.
Approach and Avoidance as Organizing Structures for Motivated Distance Perception

Emerging demonstrations of the malleability of distance perception in affective situations require an organizing structure. These effects can be predicted by approach and avoidance orientation. App...
Difference of Cold Tolerance for Japonica Rice Varieties from Different Places of the World under Cold Water Irrigation

Difference of cold tolerance traits and the similarity of japonica varieties between different countries and provinces were studied,by using 399 japonica rice varieties from nine countries and senven provinces of China.The performance values and CRI of growth rate per day,plant height,panicle length and seed setting rate for varieties from Bulgaria and Hungary whose latitude were higher than others showed higher cold tolerance in field than those from other countries;seed setting rate of varieties from Democratic People′s Republic of Korea and Japan were higher,showed higher cold tolerance than those from other countries at the booting stage;the performance value and its CRI of japonica rice from Yunnan province were more than those from other countries and provinces,showed the highest cold tolerance at the booting stage.The mean CRI of growth rate per day,plant height,panicle length,panicles per plant,spikelets per panicle and seed setting rate were all less than 100%,while the mean CRI of heading day and tillers per plant were all more than 100%.Among them,the seed setting rate and growth rate per day were more sensitive to cold water than other traits.The cluster result of japonica rice varieties from some countries or some provinces between natural condition and cold water irriagion showed different.The cluster result of japonica rice varieties under cold water irrigation was more associated with origin of varieties than that of natural condition.
Impact of a pharmacist on medication discontinuation in a hospital-based geriatric clinic

The effect of a pharmacist on drug prescribing in a hospital-based geriatric clinic was studied. On July 1, 1987, a geriatric clinical pharmacist began participating in a geriatric ambulatory-care clinic at a Veterans Administration medical center. In this retrospective study, patients who had been seen at the clinic a minimum of every two months during both the control period (January 1 through June 30) and the study period (July 1 through December 31) were included. During the study period, the pharmacist reviewed each patient's medication profile and assessed whether drug dosages should be adjusted or medications should be discontinued. The pharmacist and the geriatrician who coordinated care at the clinic reviewed the cases before changes were made. The total number of prescription and nonprescription medications (excluding one-time orders for short-term therapy) was determined for each time period, as well as the average number of prescriptions per patient. Those drugs most frequently associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the elderly were analyzed separately. During the control period, the 72 patients in the study group received 414 prescriptions, 246 of which were for medications associated with ADRs in the elderly. During the study period, there was a 32% reduction in the total number of prescriptions; the number of medications associated with ADRs in the elderly was reduced by 42%. A direct cost savings of +3872, or +53.75 per patient, was realized over the six-month study period. The addition of a pharmacist to the staff of a hospital-based geriatric clinic resulted in a 32% reduction in the total number of medications prescribed.
Micro-Community detection and vulnerability identification for large critical networks

In this work we put forward our novel approach using graph partitioning and Micro-Community detection techniques. We firstly use algebraic connectivity or Fiedler Eigenvector and spectral partitioning for community detection. We then used modularity maximization and micro level clustering for detecting micro-communities with concept of community energy. We run micro-community clustering algorithm recursively with modularity maximization which helps us identify dense, deeper and hidden community structures. We experimented our MicroCommunity Clustering (MCC) algorithm for various types of complex technological and social community networks such as directed weighted, directed unweighted, undirected weighted, undirected unweighted. A novel fact about this algorithm is that it is scalable in nature.
Marketing Soviet Nostalgia: The Many Faces of Buratino

Nostalgia for the foods consumed in childhood is a phenomenon extensively documented by food studies scholars and exploited by marketers around the world. This article traces the evolution of the Soviet children9s soft drink Buratino from its origins in the Brezhnev era through a variety of post-Soviet incarnations. The character featured on the label, drawn from A. N. Tolstoy9s 1935 book based on Carlo Collodi9s Adventures of Pinocchio , is both instantly recognizable and remarkably protean in nature, combining the archetype of the trickster from the original literary text with a more benign representative of Soviet values depicted in a 1975 film adaptation. Using Douglas Holt9s premises in his book How Brands Become Icons (2004), I argue that what would seem like an easy transition from literary character to advertising icon is complicated by the limitations of nostalgia-based marketing, changing consumer perceptions, and lack of clarity in trademark law. The article concludes with an analysis of the marketing strategy of the Kazakh company Caspian Beverage Holding, which has been singularly successful in recognizing the potential power of the brand and adapting it to a new, post-Soviet market.
EFFECT OF RANOLAZINE ON SYMPTOMS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH ANGINA IN THE ABSENCE OF OBSTRUCTIVE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE: A RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

More than 20% of patients presenting to the cath lab have no significant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) despite having angina. Several occult coronary abnormalities, including endothelial dysfunction, microvascular dysfunction (MVD), and/or a myocardial bridge (MB), may explain their
Alcoholism and Affective Disorders

The association between alcoholism and affective disorders has been written about extensively from many perspectives, yet there remain many questions unanswered. Several reasons have been suggested for this ambiguity. For example, part of the difficulity in establishing a clear-cut relationship can be based upon the lack of uniform and precisely defined terminology.
The Affective Filter and Pronunciation Proficiency — Attitudes and Variables in Second Language Acquisition

In developing his theory of second language acquisition, Krashen (1982) suggests five hypotheses: the acquisition-learning hypothesis; the natural order hypothesis; the input hypothesis; and the affective filter hypothesis. The first three of these hypotheses are central to the organization of a language program using the natural approach (Krashen and Terrell 1983); that is, they form the underlying bases for a program whose purpose it is to develop in beginning students as much communicative competency as possible in a beginning language course or series of courses. The latter two, the input and affective filter hypotheses, however, determine on a day-to-day basis what actually takes place in the second language classroom. In very general terms, the input hypothesis states that we must provide as much comprehensible input as possible for a student in the second language classroom, since within Krashen’s theoretical framework, it is claimed that it is through and only through comprehensible input becoming comprehended input that language is acquired (not learned). The notion of the affective filter, originally presented in Dulay and Burt (1977), which is much less controversial, and valid for almost all language teaching methodologies, states that the affective variables of motivation, self-confidence and anxiety (Krashen 1982) have a profound influence on language acquisition (not learning). The claim of the natural approach is that students will acquire second languages best when they are in an environment which provides a maximally low (weak) affective filter, and a maximally high amount of comprehensible input.
Biodegradable Metals and Responsive Biosensors for Musculoskeletal Applications

Expenditures in musculoskeletal injuries and diseases are projected to continuously increase due to the aging population and the change of lifestyles. The development of effective biomaterials and novel devices for musculoskeletal applications are one of the most important tasks of biomedical research. This chapter will introduce hard and soft tissues in the human musculoskeletal system. The physiochemical and mechanical properties of natural bone and ligaments will be reviewed so as to design novel biomaterials and devices to repair or regenerate these tissues. Biomaterials, including metals, ceramics and polymers, used for the repair and regeneration of bone and ligament tissues will be discussed. Recent research efforts and renewed interests in developing resorbable metallic biomaterials such as magnesium (Mg) alloys for orthopedic and craniofacial applications will be highlighted. Lastly, growing clinical interests in the development of responsive biosensors for orthopedic/craniofacial applications will be discussed.
Microscopic Moiré Interferometry: Very High Sensitivity

Many fields of study require deformation measurements of tiny specimens or tiny regions of larger specimens. The mechanics of microelectronic assemblies is an example, where the ever increasing demand for closer packing exacerbates the problems of thermal stresses. Other fields include crack-tip analyses in fracture mechanics; grain and intragranular deformations of metals and ceramics; interface problems; etc. Moire interferometry adapted for such micromechanics studies is the subject of this chapter.
Taxation and Tax Policy in the E-World

Governments can regulate the economy and encourage or discourage particular forms of social behavior, by manipulating the incidence of taxation. Tax incentives in a particular area will promote expenditure: for example, tax deductions allowed to farmers will prompt them towards greater productivity. The reverse also applies: a heavy sales tax on luxury goods will reduce public demand and shift productive resources to other areas. By such means, taxation can be used to control and direct economic development. Taxation and tax policy are playing important role in the economic development in the last decades. As the principal means by which governments fund their expenditures, taxes are at the foundation of public finances. Taxes have been used throughout the world in the most of their role of regulating the economic issues. A properly designed tax system implies readier taxpayer acceptance of that expenditure burden. It should promote the maintenance of a high and sustainable level of output by minimizing both distortions to market-set prices and disincentives to work, saving and investment. But optimal tax policy goes beyond mere efficiency and funding considerations to encompass inevitable normative judgments about the amount of redistribution. The regulative role of taxation is one of the most pronounced roles from the monetarist economists. The last years we are examining a rapid development of new realities - the technological progress and e-economic development. The introduction of e-everything requires new theory and new practice for tax policy. The major goal of this paper is to outline the problems that tax policy and taxation are facing the development of the e-world. The new technologies started to ease the tax compliances and tax payments but the e-trade and other e-things at the end of the day will erode the tax base and will increase the tax avoidance and tax evasion and in that way lower the state revenues and the social welfare function.
Transplantation of Lungs Procured From a Donor With an Atrioesophageal Fistula

Lung transplantation continues to be limited by a shortage of donor organs. We report the case of procurement and transplantation of lungs from a young donor who died from an atrioesophageal fistula, complicating catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. Our case illustrates that structural damage to the left atrium is not an absolute contraindication to lung donation. As atrioesophageal fistulas are being increasingly recognized as a rare but often lethal complication of catheter ablation, such donors can contribute to the expansion of the donor pool.
Adaptation to Divorce: The Impact of Role Orientation on Family-Life-Cycle Perspectives:

Identifying the role orientation of recently divorced women holds promise for further understanding the divorce process and the family life cycle of nonnuclear families. The authors describe how 30...
El programa indigenista andino 1951-1973: las mujeres en los ensambles del desarrollo de Mercedes Prieto, compiladora

Review of "El programa indigenista andino 1951-1973: las mujeres en los ensambles del desarrollo"
Voice Outcomes Following Multiple Surgeries for Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis.

Summary Objectives Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare disease caused by the human papilloma virus that presents as warty, exophytic growths in the upper airway. RRP in the larynx can lead to severe airway obstruction and voice changes. It is clinically known that patients with RRP frequently experience dysphonia. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of multiple surgical treatments on RRP patients’ voice outcomes, and to determine whether a higher number of repeated surgeries lead to decreased voice quality. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted of adult RRP patients (n = 23) who underwent multiple surgeries. Group 1 included patients (n = 11) who had Results There was significant improvement from the initial presurgery visit compared to each postoperative visit over time for all voice outcome measures for both Group 1 and Group 2. The results of the study indicated that the number of surgeries did not significantly affect mean postoperative voice outcomes, and there were no significant differences between patient groups for voice quality over time. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that RRP patients’ voice quality may not suffer cumulative negative effects when using modern tissue-sparing surgical techniques.
Abstract P157: Association of Rurality With Death in Patients With Heart Failure: a Community Study

Background: Previous studies have indicated that living in a rural or non-urban area may be associated with poor health outcomes. However, data on rurality and death in heart failure (HF) are scarc...
Noninvasive neuroimaging enhances continuous neural tracking for robotic device control

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) using signals acquired with intracortical implants have achieved successful high-dimensional robotic device control useful for completing daily tasks. However, the substantial amount of medical and surgical expertise required to correctly implant and operate these systems greatly limits their use beyond a few clinical cases. A noninvasive counterpart requiring less intervention that can provide high-quality control would profoundly improve the integration of BCIs into the clinical and home setting. Here, we present and validate a noninvasive framework using electroencephalography (EEG) to achieve the neural control of a robotic device for continuous random target tracking. This framework addresses and improves upon both the “brain” and “computer” components by increasing, respectively, user engagement through a continuous pursuit task and associated training paradigm and the spatial resolution of noninvasive neural data through EEG source imaging. In all, our unique framework enhanced BCI learning by nearly 60% for traditional center-out tasks and by more than 500% in the more realistic continuous pursuit task. We further demonstrated an additional enhancement in BCI control of almost 10% by using online noninvasive neuroimaging. Last, this framework was deployed in a physical task, demonstrating a near-seamless transition from the control of an unconstrained virtual cursor to the real-time control of a robotic arm. Such combined advances in the quality of neural decoding and the practical utility of noninvasive robotic arm control will have major implications for the eventual development and implementation of neurorobotics by means of noninvasive BCI.
Unique and interactive relations among posttraumatic stress, distress tolerance, and anger responding to traumatic event cues:

Experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated an association between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and anger. Expanding upon past research, the current study examined the interactive a...
Probabilistic geotechnical engineering analysis based on first order reliability method

Limit equilibrium engineering analysis needs the incorporation of probabilistic approaches for the determination of soil strength statistical measures for deterministic and probabilistic analyses. For the commonly used Mohr–Coulomb strength model, the uncertainty and the characteristic values of cohesion (c) and angle of shearing resistance (φ) determination is not straight­­forward. This paper applies the first order reliability method (FORM) to estimate these values from the direct shear and the typical triaxial tests. The method is verified with test data. Furthermore, the FORM is applied to the planar failure limit equilibrium problem to determine the statistical measures of the safety margin (SM) and safety factor (SF). It is observed that the critical slip surface for the best estimate of the mean (SMm, SFm), for a 5% probability of exceedance (SMp=5%, SFp=5%) and for the characteristic value (SMk, SFk) do not coincide. It is interesting that the maximum probability of having a SM<0 or SF<1 does not correspond to the minimum best estimate of the SM or SF. FORM can be a very useful tool for complete probabilistic analyses. Further­more, probabilistic approaches applied to soil properties estimation can set a framework for the selection of their characteristic values for deterministic analyses.
Computational Modeling of the Human Microbiome

The impact of microorganisms on human health has long been acknowledged and studied, but recent advances in research methodologies have enabled a new systems-level perspective on the collections of microorganisms associated with humans, the human microbiome. Large-scale collaborative efforts such as the NIH Human Microbiome Project have sought to kick-start research on the human microbiome by providing foundational information on microbial composition based upon specific sites across the human body. Here, we focus on the four main anatomical sites of the human microbiome: gut, oral, skin, and vaginal, and provide information on site-specific background, experimental data, and computational modeling. Each of the site-specific microbiomes has unique organisms and phenomena associated with them; there are also high-level commonalities. By providing an overview of different human microbiome sites, we hope to provide a perspective where detailed, site-specific research is needed to understand causal phenomena that impact human health, but there is equally a need for more generalized methodology improvements that would benefit all human microbiome research.
What’s the market got to do with it? Social-ecological embeddedness and environmental practices in a local food system initiative

Abstract Food system localization is often advocated by academics, activists, and policy makers as a means of effectively addressing the negative social and ecological consequences of current systems of food production. Activists and academics alike point to the range of different social relations facilitated by proximity and face-to-face interactions that are defining features of some local food system initiatives (LFSI). The concept of social embeddedness, which posits that economic activity is entangled with ongoing social relations, is frequently used to interpret the social relations of LFSI and to frame overarching arguments. Social embeddedness has been used to describe the alterity of LFSI, but much of this work has yet to assess how embedded social relations affect market functioning or sustainability in these systems—particularly for environmental aspects of sustainability. In this article we utilize the lens social embeddedness to assess what we call social-ecological embeddedness (SEE), which considers how, and to what extent, environmental practices on LFSI farms are enmeshed with the ongoing social relations of the local food system initiative. After developing the SEE approach, we use it to examine how social relations in a farmers’ market network in New York City, USA, influence environmental practices on participating farms, and the implications of social-ecological embeddedness for building more sustainable food systems.
Nearly Magnitude‐Invariant Stress Drops in Simulated Crack‐Like Earthquake Sequences on Rate‐and‐State Faults with Thermal Pressurization of Pore Fluids

Stress drops, inferred to be magnitude‐invariant, are a key characteristic used to describe natural earthquakes. Theoretical studies and laboratory experiments indicate that enhanced dynamic weakening, such as thermal pressurization of pore fluids, may be present on natural faults. At first glance, magnitude invariance of stress drops and enhanced dynamic weakening seem incompatible since larger events may experience greater weakening and should thus have lower final stresses and higher stress drops. We hypothesize that enhanced dynamic weakening can be reconciled with magnitude‐invariant stress drops due to larger events having lower average prestress when compared to smaller events. We conduct numerical simulations of long‐term earthquake sequences in fault models with rate‐and‐state friction and thermal pressurization, and in the parameter regime that results mostly in crack‐like ruptures, we find that such models can explain both the observationally inferred stress drop invariance and increasing breakdown energy with event magnitude. Smaller events indeed have larger average initial stresses than medium‐sized events, and we find nearly constant stress drops for events spanning up to two orders of magnitude in average slip, comparable to approximately six orders of magnitude in seismic moment. Segment‐spanning events have more complex behavior, which depends on the properties of the arresting velocity‐strengthening region at the edges of the faults.
Realism and Anti-Realism in Davidson's Philosophy of Language, II

En este trabajo se estudia la influencia de la filosofia del lenguaje de Donald Davidson en la disputa realismo vs. antirrealismo. En la Parte I, se argumenta que la teoria del significado de Davidson no puede utilizarse en una defensa de la postura realista. En la Parte II (proxima a aparecer en el siguiente numero de Critica), se argumenta que la perspectiva del propio Davidson es una perspectiva antirrealista. En la primera parte se discute la manera como Mark Platts utiliza la obra de Davidson para desarrollar una teoria realista del significado y de la verdad (cfr. Ways of Meaning: an Introduction to a Philosophy of Language). Se argumenta que, a pesar de ciertos elementos novedosos en el tratamiento de Platts, este acepta los lineamientos fundamentales del realismo tradicional que Davidson rechaza. En la primera seccion se intenta esclarecer la distincion entre el realismo y el antirrealismo. El realismo sostiene: 1) que el significado de una oracion son sus condiciones de verdad; 2) que estas condiciones de verdad trascienden nuestra capacidad de reconocimiento; 3) que estas condiciones de verdad trascienden nuestra capacidad de reconocimiento porque las oraciones son verdaderas o falsas en virtud de objetos extralinguisticos ; 4) que, por tanto, los criterios de correccion de una traduccion son extralinguisticos. El nucleo de una posicion antirrealista lo constituye el rechazo de 3) (y, por tanto, el rechazo de 4) asi como de las interpretaciones realistas de 1) y 2)). El antirrealismo sostiene que las oraciones en un lenguaje no guardan ninguna relacion relevante para su verdad con los objetos extralinguisticos, a no ser que la mayoria de las oraciones de ese lenguaje sean ya verdaderas (de ahi que no sean verdaderas en virtud de tales objetos). En la segunda seccion se discute la divergencia mas importante del realismo tradicional en la obra de Platts: su teoria de la fuerza y su relacion con la teoria del significado. En la tercera seccion se expone la manera como Davidson empleo la teoria de la verdad de Tarski para desarrollar una teoria del significado. En la cuarta seccion se muestra como Platts interpreto esta teoria en forma realista, asumiendo para tales efectos que, al hablar de “condiciones de verdad”, Davidson se refirio a objetos extralinguisticos y, posteriormente, se argumenta que la teoria de Davidson no permite tal interpretacion. Finalmente, se argumenta que, para Davidson, el dar las condiciones de verdad de una oracion consiste en mostrar como se determina la verdad de una oracion, a saber, mediante su relacion con otras oraciones asi como por sus constituyentes relevantes para su verdad (predicados y terminos singulares) y no mediante objetos extralinguisticos. [A. Rodriguez Tirado]