cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficiency of Lossless Compression of a Binary Tree via its Minimal Directed Acyclic Graph Representation

We consider the minimal directed acyclyc graph (DAG) lossless compression strategy introduced in Kieffer et. al [3], with the aim of testing its asymptotic effectiveness on binary trees of size n. We have four models for studying the compression strategy: two ways of measuring size (either the number of leaves or the depth of the tree), and two types of probability distributions (all planar trees are equally likely, or all nonplanar trees are equally likely). We calculate the average compression achieved by Kieffer et. al’s strategy for some specific example classes of binary trees, and then more generally, averaging over all (either nonplanar, or planar) binary trees of a fixed size n. We use the results to draw conclusions about the kinds of trees for which the strategy is effective. An ultimate goal is to determine the extent to which the size of the DAG is correlated with the information embodied in the associated tree. Acknowledgements: The author extends a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Mark Daniel Ward for his help and guidance in this project. We heartily thank Jie Zhang, En-hui Yang, and John C. Kieffer for the paper that inspired this investigation. We also appreciate Wojciech Szpankowski bringing this paper to our attention. This work is supported by the Center for Science of Information (CSoI), an NSF Science and Technology Center, under grant agreement CCF-0939370. We would like to thank the Center for their support. We also heartily thank Doug Crabill (Senior Academic IT Specialist, Department of Statistics at Purdue University) for providing computational facilities to make this work possible. Page 2 RHIT Undergrad. Math. J., Vol. 15, No. 2
Relating Atrial Appendage Flow Stasis Risk from Computational Fluid Dynamics to Imaging Based Appearance Paradigms for Cardioembolic Risk.

Emboli originating from the left atrial appendage are a major cause of transient ischemic attack and cardioembolic stroke. Whereas this risk has been shown to be correlated with left atrial appendage morphology (Cactus, Chicken Wing, Windsock, and Cauliflower shapes) determined from 3D imaging, this clinical correlation is found wanting with regard to a biomechanically grounded underlying basis for thrombosis based on intra-atrial hemodynamics. We define a novel probabilistic risk stratification paradigm for intra-atrial flow stasis based on personalized computational fluid dynamics.
The Dangerous Divide: Between Weak Thought and Practical Politics

Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala’s Hermeneutic Communism: From Heidegger to Marx presents itself as a book offering political guidance to the world’s downtrodden and as an antidote to the forms of thought and power that repress and exclude the weak. We take hermeneutic communism to be the more overtly political program corresponding to Vattimo’s so-called weak thought, and argue (a) that weak thought is a potentially powerful form of thinking, whose contributions should be seen as primarily ethical, and (b) that the jump from the ethical (weak thought) to the political (hermeneutic communism) within the book is an awkward one at best. If we adopt a proper conception of the political as a tragic sphere perpetually demanding decisions from us on the ground, then we must hold serious doubts as to the potential contribution to politics as a form of thinking operating at such a high level of generality. Furthermore, the existing political movements and institutions praised by Vattimo and Zabala (including e.g. the regime of Hugo Chavez) seem to have little discernible connection with the basic thrust of the books’ more philosophical claims. In general, we seek to cast doubt upon the potential political contributions not only of weak thought but also of all similarly-rooted forms of epochal thinking, but also to argue that those forms of thinking might be of great value to our understanding of ethics in a post-modern age.
Local Inactivation of the Sensorimotor Territories of the Internal Segment of the Globus Pallidus and the Subthalamic Nucleus Alleviates Parkinsonian Motor Signs in MPTP Treated Monkeys

Recent physiological and anatomical studies have yielded considerable insight into the role of the basal ganglia in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease. Experiments in monkeys before and after treatment with the neurotoxin l-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) have revealed that in parkinsonism, the inhibitory basal ganglia output, emanating from the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi), and directed at the ventrolateral thalamus (VL), as well as the brainstem, is increased (see Albin et al, 1989, DeLong, 1990). Both phenomena have been directly linked to the development of parkinsonian motor signs. These observations have allowed the formulation of a unified scheme of parkinsonian pathophysiology, in which all parkinsonian motor signs result from abnormalities of basal ganglia output.
Social Networks and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in a Pediatric Urban Academic Practice.

Increased sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is linked to childhood obesity. The risk of increased SSB consumption is multifactorial. Limited studies have examined children’s SSB consumptio...
The Create-ive Nature of the Create-ed

Where do ideas come from? Sometimes as I listen to a research presentation or read a research article I find myself thinking, “This is brilliant!” Often I ask myself, “Where did researcher get the ...
My Year of Citation Studies, Part 1

Scholars have studied the citation patterns for law journal articles from many angles. This year, I'm jumping into the fray, using Law Library Journal's "Practicing Reference" column as a forum to share findings from several modest investigations. I got started when a professor who was teaching seminars for law journal students asked if I could give him lists of often-cited student pieces in environmental law and in IP and tech law (the topics of the two journals). Here I discuss the process for that project and its results. I also take a look at articles. I list the most-cited articles from 2012 and discuss some challenges of studying what each cites—a question I wanted to answer but wasn't able to. I compare the results from HeinOnline's ScholarCheck, Westlaw's KeyCite, Lexis's Shepard's, and Web of Science. There's overlap, but not as much as you might think.
400G and Beyond: Coherent Evolution to High-Capacity Inter Data Center Links

Coherent data transmission applications to the data center interconnect space are presented. We discuss methods of increasing the data rate beyond 400Gb/s, and the improvements in signal-to-noise ratio requirements when Ethernet optimized transport is used.
What higher education can bring to resilience: reports from Pace University’s water resilience conference

Resilience is commonly understood as a way to characterize the ability of a system to absorb shocks and maintain functions, as well as the capacity for renewal, reorganization, and development. Higher education is clearly at the center of these conversations, guiding training, theory, research, and practice. In this introduction to the special symposium on Pace University’s water resilience conference, we consider the role of academia in bringing new knowledge to resilience discourses and the responsibility these institutions have in examining and critiquing the politics of resilience governance. Our goal for this introduction is to link manuscripts written by professors, researchers, and collaborators to the broader literature while making the argument that colleges and universities must not only contribute to resilience studies, but we must also help reimagine these ideas and the systems we deem to make more resilient.
Search Media and Elections: A Longitudinal Investigation of Political Search Results

Concern about algorithmically-curated content and its impact on democracy is reaching a fever pitch worldwide. But relative to the role of social media in electoral processes, the role of search results has received less public attention. We develop a theoretical conceptualization of search results as a form of media-search media-and analyze search media in the context of political partisanship in the six months leading up to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Our empirical analyses use a total of over 4 million URLs, scraped daily from Google search queries for all candidates running for federal office in the United States in 2018. In our first set of analyses we characterize the nature of search media from the data collected in terms of the types of URLs present and the stability of search results over time. In our second, we annotate URLs' top-level domains with existing measures of political partisanship, examining trends by incumbency, election outcome, and other election characteristics. Among other findings, we note that partisanship trends in search media are largely similar for content about candidates from the two major political parties, whereas there are substantial differences in search media for incumbent versus challenger candidates. This work suggests that longitudinal, systematic audits of search media can reflect real-world political trends. We conclude with implications for web search designers and consumers of political content online.
Changes in the molecular structure and stability of β-lactoglobulin induced by heating with sugar beet pectin in the dry-state

Abstract We have shown previously that dry-heating whey protein isolate (WPI) and sugar beet pectin (SBP) leads to a noticeable improvement in the physical, chemical, and emulsion stabilization capacity of WPI. To discern the role of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG), the major protein of WPI, played at the molecular level in the observed functional properties, we investigated, in detail, the changes that occurred in the molecular structure and thermal stability of β-LG as a result of heating with SBP in the dry state. Far-UV CD spectroscopy analysis revealed that nearly all secondary structural elements of β-LG were affected slightly by dry-heating alone. Varying mass ratios of SBP, 1:0, 5:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, and 0:1 β-LG:SBP did not significantly impair the structural integrity and thermal stability of β-LG. The tertiary structure of β-LG, however, experienced considerable disruption as probed by near-UV CD and Trp intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy. Despite the non-radiative nature of the FRET complexes formed between β-LG and SBP, a donor-acceptor relationship was established by the detection of fluorescence lifetimes corresponding to their distinctive excited states. Unlike the case of dry-heated WPI and SBP mixtures, the protection of the tertiary structure of β-LG was insufficient by reacting with SBP. Such deficiency suggested that the presence and involvement of other proteins in WPI are essential in developing the interacting complexes and conjugates with the remarkable stability as determined.
Producing high yield of levoglucosan by pyrolyzing nonthermal plasma-pretreated cellulose.

Atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma treatment can be a novel, green and low energy method to convert biomass to biobased chemicals. The unique physiochemistry of plasma discharge enables reactions within biomass that otherwise could not possibly occur under traditional conditions. In this study, we present a simple method of producing a high yield of levoglucosan from cellulose without using any catalysts, chemicals, solvents or vacuum, but by using plasma treatment to control the depolymerization mechanism of cellulose. Cellulose was first pretreated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor operating in ambient air or argon for 10–60 s, followed by pyrolysis at 350–450 °C to produce up to 78.6% of levoglucosan. Without the plasma pretreatment, the maximum yield of levoglucosan from cellulose pyrolysis was 58.2%. The results of this study showed that the plasma pretreatment led to homolytic cleavage of glycosidic bonds. The resulting free radicals were then trapped within the cellulose structure when the plasma discharge stopped, allowing subsequent pyrolysis of the plasma-pretreated cellulose to proceed through a radical-based mechanism. The present results also revealed that although the radical-based mechanism is highly selective to levoglucosan formation, this pathway is usually discouraged when the untreated cellulose is pyrolyzed due to the high energy barrier for homolytic cleavage. Initiating homolytic cleavage during the plasma pretreatment also helped the pretreated cellulose to produce higher yields of levoglucosan using lower pyrolysis temperatures. At 375 °C, the levoglucosan yield was only 53.2% for the untreated cellulose, whereas the yield reached 77.6% for the argon-plasma pretreated cellulose.
Novel Safety Management for Current Industry Revolution-Dynamic Risk Assessment

Nowadays it is said that current society is the era of industrial revolution in Europe and Japan. It means new society and/or product system which man, machine and environment are connected each other with information such as cloud and internet. In such societies, usage of ICT or IoT devices are promoted for development of the system. However, safety management adapted to the new system has not been well-organized yet. So far, man-machine safety was protected by the principles of isolation and stopping and was evaluated by prior and static risk assessment. However, new society system needs a novel and dynamic risk assessment system. Here, we present and provide a concept of novel safety management system named dynamic risk assessment.
Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine for COVID-19: A systematic review [preprint]

BACKGROUND Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are widely used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients primarily based on antiviral activity in in vitro studies. Our objective was to systematically evaluate their efficacy and safety in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. METHODS We systematically reviewed PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Medrxviv for studies of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19 hospitalized patients on April 26, 2020. We evaluated the quality of trials and observational studies using the Jadad criteria and Newcastle Ottawa Scale, respectively. RESULTS After a review of 175 citations, we included 5 clinical trials (total of 345 patients), 9 observational studies (n = 2529), and 6 additional studies (n = 775) reporting on the QT interval. Three studies reported treatment benefits including two studies reporting benefit on virologic outcomes, which was statistically significant in one study, and another reported significant improvement on cough symptoms. Three studies reported that treatment was potentially harmful, including an significantly increased risk of mortality in two studies and increased need for respiratory support in another. Eight studies were unable to detect improvements on virologic outcomes (n = 3) or pneumonia or transfer to ICU/death (n = 5). The proportion of participants with critical QTc intervals of ≥ 500 ms or an increase of ≥ 60 ms from baseline ranged from 8.3% to 36% (n = 8). One clinical trial and six observational studies were of good quality. The remaining studies were of poor quality. CONCLUSIONS Our systematic review of reported clinical studies did not identify substantial evidence to support the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and raises questions about potential harm from QT prolongation and increased mortality. Key Points We conducted a systematic review of the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and identified 14 studies reporting on clinical or virologic outcomes and 6 additional studies reporting on the QT interval. We conducted a systematic review of the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and identified 14 studies reporting on clinical or virologic outcomes and 6 additional studies reporting on the QT interval. Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine improved virologic outcomes in 2 clinical studies and cough in another study. We conducted a systematic review of the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and identified 14 studies reporting on clinical or virologic outcomes and 6 additional studies reporting on the QT interval. Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine improved virologic outcomes in 2 clinical studies and cough in another study.
Recurrent and reversible bilateral palmar blue discoloration following administration of liposomal daunorubicin-cytarabine (Vyxeos®) for acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes:

IntroductionWith novel treatment strategies for acute myeloid leukemia becoming more readily utilized in the clinical practice setting, new data on potential treatment-related adverse events also h...
Automated Methods and Systems for Construction Planning and Scheduling: Critical Review of Three Decades of Research

AbstractOver the last 3 decades, a large body of research focused on automated construction planning and scheduling. Some of these efforts introduced methods to use design information to automatica...
The use of scripts by children with autism spectrum disorder: a puzzle and an opportunity

Abstract Many children on the autism spectrum use forms of language, such as echolalia and scripting, that are more imitative than self-generated. Nonetheless, these unconventional forms of language can have semantic meaning and/or pragmatic intent and thus are best viewed as attempts to communicate and relate. Two paradigms will be used to discuss scripting and its role in language and communication development and use. A developmental language model and a linguistic-conversational analysis will serve as the perspectives from which scripting will be addressed. When scripting is embedded in these paradigms, intervention takes a well-defined direction. The dynamic role of scripts in the language acquisition process and in communication interactions will be considered from three reference points: why children use scripts, how the child’s communicative partners can respond to scripts, and how parents and clinicians can facilitate the child’s use of more conventional forms of language.
Recent Applications of Dual-Stimuli Responsive Chitosan Hydrogel Nanocomposites as Drug Delivery Tools.

Polysaccharides are a versatile class of macromolecules that are involved in many biological interactions critical to life. They can be further modified for added functionality. Once derivatized, these polymers can exhibit new chemical properties that can be further optimized for applications in drug delivery, wound healing, sensor development and others. Chitosan, derived from the N-deacetylation of chitin, is one example of a polysaccharide that has been functionalized and used as a major component of polysaccharide biomaterials. In this brief review, we focus on one aspect of chitosan’s utility, namely we discuss recent advances in dual-responsive chitosan hydrogel nanomaterials.
How well can inverse analyses of high-resolution satellite data resolve heterogeneous methane fluxes? Observation System Simulation Experiments with the GEOS-Chem adjoint model (v35)

Abstract. We perform Observation System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) with the GEOS-Chem adjoint model to test how well methane emissions over North America can be resolved using measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and similar high-resolution satellite sensors. We focus analysis on the impacts of i) spatial errors in the prior emissions, and ii) model transport errors. Along with a standard scale-factor (SF) optimization we conduct a set of inversions using alternative formalisms that aim to overcome limitations in the SF-based approach that arise for missing sources. We show that 4D-Var analysis of the TROPOMI data can improve monthly emission estimates at 25 km even with a spatially biased prior or model transport errors (42–93 % domain-wide bias reduction; R increases from 0.51 up to 0.73). However, when both errors are present, no single inversion framework can successfully improve both the overall bias and spatial distribution of fluxes relative to the prior on the 25 km model grid. In that case, the ensemble-mean optimized fluxes have a domain-wide bias of 77 Gg/d (comparable to that in the prior), with spurious source adjustments compensating for the transport errors. Increasing observational coverage through longer-timeframe inversions does not significantly change this picture. An inversion formalism that optimizes emission enhancements rather than scale factors exhibits the best performance for identifying missing sources, while an approach combining a uniform background emission with the prior inventory yields the best performance in terms of overall spatial fidelity—even in the presence of model transport errors. However, the standard SF optimization outperforms both of these for the magnitude of the domain-wide flux. For the common scenario in which prior errors are non-random, approximate posterior error reduction calculations for the inversions reflect the sensitivity to observations but have no spatial correlation with the actual emission improvements. This demonstrates that such information content analysis can be used for general observing system characterization but does not describe the spatial accuracy of the posterior emissions or of the actual emission improvements. Findings here highlight the need for careful evaluation of potential missing sources in prior emission datasets and for robust accounting of model transport errors in inverse analyses of the methane budget.
Quantification of the Life Time Flight Capabilities of the South American Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

The life time flight capabilities of an invasive palm pest, Rhynchophorus palmarum, were assessed using flight mill assays under controlled conditions in the laboratory. A total of 101 weevils were used for experiments and subjected to repeat flight assays. A total of 17 flight trials were run, of which the first 14 provided useful data prior to weevil death. Male and female weevils exhibited a strong capacity for repeat long distance flights. Flight metrics of interest were not affected by weevil sex or mating status. Cumulative lifetime flight distances for male and female R. palmarum averaged ~268 km and ~220 km, respectively. A maximum lifetime cumulative flight distance of ~758 km and ~806 km was recorded for one male of unknown mating status and one unmated female weevil, respectively. Dispersal data for individual flights (i.e., trials 1 through 9, 10–14 combined) and all flight trial data (i.e., flights 1–14 combined) exhibited platykurtic distributions. The results presented here may have important implications for modeling the spread of this invasive pest and for the development of monitoring and management plans.
Learning Automated Agents from Historical Game Data via Tensor Decomposition

War games and military war games, in general, are extensively played throughout the world to help train people and see the effects of policies. Currently, these games are played by humans at great expense and logistically require many people to be physically present. In this work, we describe how to automatically create agents from historical data to replace some of the human players. We discuss why game-theoretic approaches are inappropriate for this task and the benefits of learning such agents. We formulate a tensor decomposition formulation to this problem that is efficiently solvable in polynomial time. We discuss preliminary results on real world data and future directions.
Moderate activation of IKK2-NF-kB in unstressed adult mouse liver induces cytoprotective genes and lipogenesis without apparent signs of inflammation or fibrosis

The NF-kB signaling, regulated by IKK1-p52/RelB and IKK2-p65, is activated by various stresses to protect or damage the liver, in context-specific manners. Two previous studies of liver-specific expression of constitutive active IKK2 (IKK2ca) showed that strong activation of IKK2-NF-kB in mouse livers caused inflammation, insulin resistance, and/or fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to understand how moderate activation of IKK2-NF-kB in adult mouse livers alters hepatic gene expression and pathophysiology. We generated mice with adult hepatocyte-specific activation of Ikk2 (Liv-Ikk2ca) using Alb-cre mice and Ikk2ca Rosa26 knockin mice in which a moderate expression of Ikk2ca transgene was driven by the endogenous Rosa26 promoter. Surprisingly, compared to wild-type mice, adult male Liv-Ikk2ca mice had higher hepatic mRNA expression of Ikk2 and classical NF-kB targets (e.g. Lcn2 and A20), as well as IKK1, NIK, and RelB, but no changes in markers of inflammation or fibrosis. Blood levels of IL-6 and MCP-1 remained unchanged, and histology analysis showed a lack of injury or infiltration of inflammatory cells in livers of Liv-Ikk2ca mice. Moreover, Liv-Ikk2ca mice had lower mRNA expression of prooxidative enzymes Cyp2e1 and Cyp4a14, higher expression of antioxidative enzymes Sod2, Gpx1, and Nqo1, without changes in key enzymes for fatty acid oxidation, glucose utilization, or gluconeogenesis. In parallel, Liv-Ikk2ca mice and wild-type mice had similar levels of hepatic reduced glutathione, endogenous reactive oxygen species, and lipid peroxidation. Additionally, Liv-Ikk2ca mice had higher Cyp3a11 without down-regulation of most drug processing genes. Regarding nuclear proteins of NF-kB subunits, Liv-Ikk2ca mice had moderately higher p65 and p50 but much higher RelB. Results of ChIP-qPCR showed that the binding of p50 to multiple NF-kB-target genes was markedly increased in Liv-Ikk2ca mice. Additionally, Liv-Ikk2ca mice had moderate increase in triglycerides in liver, which was associated with higher lipogenic factors Pparγ, Lxr, Fasn, Scd1, and CD36. In summary, moderate activation of IKK2-NF-kB in unstressed adult mouse hepatocytes produces a cytoprotective gene expression profile and induces lipogenesis without apparent signs of inflammation or fibrosis, likely due to strong activation of the anti-inflammatory IKK1-RelB alternative NF-kB pathway as well as the Lxr.
Modeling, simulation, and analysis of active filter systems using generalized state space averaging method

In this paper, modeling and analysis of active filter systems based on the generalized state space averaging method is presented. The non-linear equations of the system are converted to a linear state space model. A fast and reliable approximation of the system is achieved in this method. Long execution time, divergence problem, and huge produced files, which are difficulties associated with the conventional modeling techniques of active filter systems, are not present in the proposed method. In addition, the developed models can be used for the purpose of control and stability assessment. The method is applicable to different topologies and control techniques. In this paper, modeling and simulation results are presented for typical single-phase shunt, single-phase series, and three-phase shunt active filter systems. Experimental results are also provided for the verification of the proposed approach.
Genetic interactions between REG1/HEX2 and GLC7, the gene encoding the protein phosphatase type 1 catalytic subunit in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Mutations in GLC7, the gene encoding the type 1 protein phosphatase catalytic subunit, cause a variety of abberrant phenotypes in yeast, such as impaired glycogen synthesis and relief of glucose repression of the expression of some genes. Loss of function of the REG1/HEX2 gene, necessary for glucose repression of several genes, was found to suppress the glycogen-deficient phenotype of the glc7-1 allele. Deletion of REG1 in a wild-type background led to overaccumulation of glycogen as well as slow growth and an enlarged cell size. However, loss of REG1 did not suppress other phenotypes associated with GLC7 mutations, such as inability to sporulate or, in cells bearing the glc7(Y-170) allele, lack of growth at 14°. The effect of REG1 deletion on glycogen accumulation is not simply due to derepression of glucose-repressed genes, although it does require the presence of SNF1, which encodes a protein kinase essential for expression of glucose-repressed genes and for glycogen accumulation. We propose that REG1 has a role in controlling glycogen accumulation.
Virtual stewardship in the age of new media: have nonprofit organizations' moved beyond Web 1.0 strategies?

Stewardship has been identified as an important relationship cultivation strategy. The four dimensions of stewardship—reciprocity, responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing—consist of one-way and two-way messaging strategies that can be carried out in a variety of manners on the Internet using both Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 technologies. Through a content analysis of the Nonprofit Times 100 organizations, this study found that nonprofit organizations overwhelmingly prefer to use their website to cultivate relationships with their stakeholders with stewardship strategies. Despite the hype of social media technologies, including Facebook, there remain many significant questions and obstacles to seeing nonprofits truly embrace social media communication. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Microdecompression and uninstrumented single-level fusion for spinal canal stenosis with degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Study Design. A retrospective review was completed on 21 patients who had a "least invasive" (one or two level) microdecompression and uninstrumented single-segment lumbar fusion for spinal canal stenosis with degenerative spondylolisthesis. Objective. To determine whether a "least invasive" approach to lumbar spinal canal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis would yield acceptable results. Summary of Background Data. The prevailing surgical technique for symptomatic spinal canal stenosis with degenerative spondylolisthesis is a wide midline decompression and instrumented fusion. Methods. On an average of 38 months postoperatively, 21 patients were personally assessed on four scores: 1) their overall satisfaction with the outcome of surgery, 2) an analog back and leg pain scale, 3) a functional evaluation scale, and 4) Ferguson (upshot) anterior-posterior lumbosacral and lateral flexion-extension radiographs. Results. The overall satisfactory outcome on all four scales was 16 (76%) of 21. Twenty of twenty-one patients had relief of their claudicant leg pain; the overall fusion rate was 18 (86%) of 21. Two of three patients with a pseudarthrosis had a successful outcome on the patient-oriented outcome (1, 2, and 3) scales (excluding the radiograph scale), and one was a failure. One patient with a solid fusion was a failure because of continuing back pain. One patient with a solid fusion was a failure because of continuing leg pain. The overall satisfactory outcome on the nonradiographic scales was 18 of 21, for an 86% patient satisfaction rate. Conclusions. In this retrospective study, a "least invasive" surgical approach to lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with spinal canal stenosis causing claudicant leg pain produced acceptable results.
Monte Carlo simulation of radiative heat transfer in arrays of fixed discrete surfaces using cell-to-cell photon transport

An accurate simulation of radiative heat transfer in arrays of fixed discrete surfaces is challenging because of the complicated geometries that can shade and block many surfaces. This paper presents an innovative Monte Carlo scheme using cell-to-cell photon transport developed to simulate monochromatic radiation impinging on an array of fixed discrete elements. Results of the study show that cell-to-cell photon transport is an efficient method of simulating radiation heat transfer in complicated geometries. Sample calculations demonstrate the dependence of radiation heat transfer in the array on the geometry of the array elements.
Meso-scale strain localization and failure response of an orthotropic woven glass–fiber reinforced composite

Abstract The present work focuses on studying the multi-scale deformation and failure mechanisms of an orthogonally woven glass fiber reinforced composite as a function of fiber orientation angle using digital image correlation. The full-field displacement and strain localization are effectively captured at meso-scale. At continuum scale, a remarkable change in mechanical response is observed when the loading axis diverges from principal axes. The variation in the global mechanical response is observed to be most prominent in the change of stiffness and strain at failure. At meso scale, a high degree of local deformation heterogeneity is observed and the level of inhomogeneity is found to be more prominent in case of the 45° off-axis specimens. While fiber-pull out is the major failure mode in the case of specimen loaded parallel to 0° and 90° fiber orientation, the localized shear strain developed in polymer-rich regions is the driving failure cause in the case of 45° off-axis specimen.
Evolution of semelparity in Mount Kenya lobelias

Two closely related long-lived rosette plants in the genusLobelia occur on alpine Mount Kenya.Lobelia telekii grows in drier sites and is semelparous (dies after first reproduction).Lobelia keniensis grows in wetter sites and is iteroparous (flowers repeatedly). I used long-term data to evaluate two related models of the evolution of semelparity (‘reproductive effort’ and ‘demographic’), and found evidence to support only one. Eight years of population data indicate that a simple mathematical model accurately describes the demographic conditions that have favoured the evolution of semelparity. In drier sites,Lobelia individuals flower so infrequently and suffer such high mortality between reproductive episodes that the probability of future reproduction is outweighed by the greater fecundity associated with semelparity.
Butterfly, bee and forb community composition and cross-taxon incongruence in tallgrass prairie fragments

Pollinators provide an important class of ecological services for crop plants and native species in many ecosystems, including the tallgrass prairie, and their conservation is essential to sustaining prairie remnants. In Iowa these remnants are typically either block-shaped or long, linear strips along transportation routes. In this study we examined differences in the butterfly, bee, and forb community composition in linear and block prairie remnants, determined correlations between species diversity among butterflies, bees and forbs in the 20 prairie remnants sampled, and examined correlations of community similarity among butterflies, bees and forbs. Correspondence analysis showed that distinct communities exist for butterflies and forbs in block versus linear sites and discriminant analysis showed that the bee and forb communities in block and linear sites can be distinguished on the basis of a few species. Diversity of one group was a poor predictor of diversity in another, except for a significant inverse relationship between bees and butterflies. These two pollinator taxa may be responding very differently to microhabitat components within fragmented ecosystems. Our studies show that there need to be differences in conservation strategies for bees and butterflies to maintain both pollinator communities.
Distillation stability using passivity and thermodynamics

Abstract Distillation is one of the most important unit operations in the chemical process industry. The stability of distillation systems has always been difficult to determine due to the nonlinear natural of the unit operation. Previous work in the area has had limited success and no theory has been able to show the stability criteria for a general multicomponent distillation column. With a better understanding of the stability criteria, distillation control systems can be implemented to ensure stability and greater control performance. In this work a detailed model is used to evaluate the stability criteria of multicomponent distillation. The model uses both temperature and pressure as driving forces for energy and mass flows, along with formulas for the flow of liquid between stages. The temperature and pressure driving forces are then linked to a passivity based approach to analysis using a thermodynamics based storage function. The analysis is done by algebraically decoupling the mass flows from the energy and component flows. The stability criteria for the mass flows are shown from a Eulerian, or fixed reference frame, and the energy and component flow criteria from a Lagrangian, or moving reference frame. The stability criteria for the flows within the column can be used in the design stages to ensure stable dynamic behavior. The results show that as long as the resistance to liquid flow is equal or decreases down the column the system will be stable. These results differ from work that has shown output multiplicities in open-loop distillation. The conclusions will focus on the differences between these results and why they appear.
Pollination by Ants: A Low-Energy System

Polygonum cascadense, a small, apparently self-incompatible, annual plant, is regularly cross-pollinated by the ant Formica argentea. Comparison of other purported ant-pollinated plants with traits favoring such pollination suggests that some, but not all, may be ant pollinated. Ant-pollination interactions are characterized by low expenditure of energy by both ant and plant.
Supersymmetry discovery potential of the LHC at s1/2 = 10 and 14 TeV without and with missing ET

We examine the supersymmetry (SUSY) reach of the CERN LHC operating at s1/2 = 10 and 14 TeV within the framework of the minimal supergravity model (mSUGRA). We improve upon previous reach projections by incorporating updated background calculations including a variety of 2 → n Standard Model (SM) processes. We show that SUSY discovery is possible even before the detectors are understood well enough to utilize either ETmiss or electrons in the signal. We evaluate the early SUSY reach of the LHC at s1/2 = 10 TeV by examining multi-muon plus ≥ 4 jets, and also lepton-free, acollinear dijet events with no missing ET cuts, and show that the greatest reach in terms of m1/2 occurs in the dijet channel, where it may be possible to probe m ~ m 1 TeV with just 1 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The reach in multi-muons is slightly smaller in m1/2, but extends to higher values of m0. We find that an observable multi-muon signal will first appear in the opposite-sign dimuon channel, but as the integrated luminosity increases the relatively background-free but rate-limited same-sign dimuon, and ultimately the trimuon channel yield the highest reach. The optimized reach in these channels extends to m 600 (800) GeV for an integrated luminosity of 100 pb−1 (1 fb−1). We show characteristic distributions in these channels that serve to distinguish the signal from the SM background, and also help to corroborate its SUSY origin. We then evaluate the LHC reach in various no-lepton and multi-lepton plus jets channels including missing ET cuts for s1/2 = 10 and 14 TeV, and plot the reach for integrated luminosities ranging up to 3000 fb−1 at the SLHC. For s1/2 = 10 TeV, the LHC reach extends to m = 1.9, 2.3, 2.8 and 2.9 TeV for m ~ m and integrated luminosities of 10, 100, 1000 and 3000 fb−1, respectively. For s1/2 = 14 TeV, the LHC reach for the same integrated luminosities is to m = 2.4, 3.1, 3.7 and 4.0 TeV, respectively. The reach estimates for ab−1 luminosities may be over-optimistic due to low statistics of background with very hard cuts.
Dosage and allelic restriction fragment studies and PCR analysis of the H-ras locus in giant cell tumor of bone

Several studies have shown that giant cell tumor of bone frequently exhibits telomeric associations, commonly at chromosome 11p, which is also the location of the H-ras oncogene. In addition, rare H-ras alleles are more common among cancer patients than among healthy controls and point mutations of this oncogene have also been reported in several malignancies. These data led us to investigate gene dosage, restriction fragment-length size, and point mutations for H-ras in giant cell tumor of bone. Quantitative Southern blot analysis revealed no amplification of the H-ras oncogene in tumor DNA compared with DNA from peripheral blood in the same patient or from control subjects. In addition, no point mutations were detected in codons 12, 13, or 61 (mutations of these codons have been reported in other neoplasms) of the H-ras gene. No differences were noted in restriction fragment-length polymorphisms between tumor and peripheral blood in the same patient and no loss of heterozygosity was detected. In addition, there was no increased frequency of rare H-ras alleles (8% of alleles) in giant cell tumor patients compared to controls (21% of alleles) in our study. However, large allele sizes (> 8.5 kb) were significantly overrepresented in GCT patients compared with healthy controls. In our study, three of 12 alleles were found to be rare in the healthy controls but were common among GCT patients. Our data suggest that the H-ras oncogene is unlikely to be the site of a biologically significant primary lesion in GCT tumorigenesis.
Effort of Dynamic Exercise: Influence of Load, Duration, and Task

The investigation examined the perceived effort of cycling and cranking with one and two limbs. Each task was performed at govern] loads for durations that ranged from 15 to 240 s. Magnitude estimates of effort increased as a nagatively accelerated power function of duration (exponent 1.0). The exponent of the functions for effort vs load was slightly groater than 1.4 and did not. vary systematically from one tusk to another. Effort of cycling was less than that of cranking, particularly at high loads, and grew more slowly over time. Similarly, effort of two-limb exercise was lower than that of one-li[macute]b exercise and grew more slowly over time. Local sensations from the working limbs accounted for most of the feelings of effort in all tusks. Central sensations from the cere of the body made only a relatively small contribution to overall effort. Contours of equal effort for various load-duration combinations resembled the endurance fun...
Exfoliation and intercalation of montmorillonite by small peptides

Understanding structural changes in clay minerals induced by complexation with organic matter is relevant to soil science and agricultural applications. In this study, the effect of peptide storage in montmorillonite and the thermal stability of peptide-clay complexes was examined through characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy, UV absorption, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). XRD analysis of small peptide-montmorillonite clay complexes produced profiles consisting of reflections associated with the smectite 001 reflection and related peaks similar to that produced by a mixed layer clay mineral structure. Shifts in higher order diffraction maxima were attributed to disorder caused by the intercalation with the peptides. Increasing peptide concentrations resulted in greater shifts towards smaller 2θ from 6.37° (1.39 nm) to 5.45° (1.62 nm) as the interlayer space expanded. The expansion was accompanied by broadening of the 001 reflection (FWHM increases from 0.51 to 1.22° 2θ). The XRD line broadening was interpreted as caused by poorer crystallinity resulting from intercalation and tactoid exfoliation. SEM images revealed montmorillonite platelets with upwardly rolled edges that tend toward cylindrical structures with the production of tubules. High-resolution TEM images revealed bending of montmorillonite platelets, confirming exfoliation. The distribution of basal spacings in the micrographs was determined from the spatial frequencies obtained by Fourier analysis of density profiles. The distribution indicated the presence of discrete coherent crystallite domains. XRD and TGA results indicated that higher peptide concentrations resulted in a greater fraction of intercalated peptides and that surface adsorption of peptides mediated intercalation. Therefore, higher peptide concentration led to more stable organoclay complexes. However, UV absorption and TGA found that peptide adsorption onto montmorillonite had a finite limit at approximately 16% by weight.
The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson – By Michael P. Winship

Anne Hutchinson's image in the popular mind may be that of a crusader for religious freedom, a champion of feminism, a martyr to the cause of free speech, or all three. But the author of this work ...
The structure of (t,r)-regular graphs of large order

A graph is (t,r)-regular iff it has at least one independent t-set of vertices and the open neighborhood of any such set contains exactly r vertices. Our goal is to show that when t>=3 and the order is sufficiently large, then the structure of (t,r)-regular graphs is similar to, but not exactly the same as the structure of (2,r)-regular graphs as derived by Faudree and Knisley. That is, there is an ''almost'' complete kernel of order at most r surrounded by satellite cliques, all of the same order, which are ''mostly'' joined to the kernel.
Counseling and psychotherapy with Asian-Americans: Review of the literature.

This article is divided into three sections. The first section concerns the diagnosis and assessment of Asian-America ns and covers the following issues: (a) symptom expression, (b) therapist bias, (c) problems with the use of interpreters, and (d) problems with the use of clinical and personality tests. The second section, on counseling and psychotherapy, is divided into three subsections: (a) client variables, (b) therapist variables, and (c) counseling process and outcome. The subsection on client variables covers such issues as the personality of Asian-America ns, language problems, the acculturation process, and counseling expectations. The subsection on therapist variables includes discussion of therapist bias, training bias, lack of intercultural skills, and culture-specific knowledge. The therapy process and outcome subsection reviews empirical studies, clinical case studies, and articles with treatment strategies and recommendations. Research issues as well as research recommendations for each of the areas reviewed are identified and discussed in the third section.
Retrograde coronary blood flow during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in swine: Intracoronary Doppler evaluation

Abstract Cardiopulmonary resuscitation-generated coronary perfusion pressure and intracoronary flow velocity was studied with high-fidelity pressure transducers and an intracoronary Doppler catheter in 11 swine undergoing closed-chest manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Retrograde coronary blood flow in the mid left anterior descending coronary artery was documented during the compression (systolic) phase of chest compression. Techniques to enhance coronary perfusion pressure gradients, such as increasing the chest compression rate or increasing the force of compression, did not improve antegrade coronary blood flow velocity. Even when the aortic minus right atrial pressure gradient was raised throughout the cardiac cycle of closed-chest manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation, antegrade coronary flow occured only during the relaxation phase of chest compressions. This study indicates that coronary blood flow during ventricular fibrillation and closed-chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation occurs only during diastole or the release phase of chest compression and supports the use of diastolic coronary perfusion pressure as a reflection of myocardial blood flow during closed-chest manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
A New Look at the Ethics of Persuasion.

This article suggests that effects rather than motives or methods become the definitive way of measuring the ethical quality of discourse. It also suggests that the supposed dichotomy between absolutist and relativist approaches to moral judgments is mistaken. Instead, approaches to moral judgment are seen as applications of consensual rules whose application follows a quasi‐juridical model.