cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Presidential Administration Under Trump

In an enormously influential 2001 article about the increasingly dominant role of the President in regulation, then-Professor Elena Kagan celebrated the rise of what she called presidential administration. Recognizing the unpredictability of future developments, however, she observed that “the practice of presidential control over administration likely will continue to evolve in ways that raise new issues and cast doubt on old conclusions.” In that spirit, this Essay reexamines her thesis in light of experience under subsequent presidents, with a particular focus on the Trump Administration. Though the Trump Administration is still less than a year old, it is not too early to start drawing conclusions about its institutional structure and decision-making processes. These seem to be at odds with Kagan’s assumptions about the implementation of presidential administration. Doctrines must be designed with a range of possible executive behavior in mind, not on the basis of one presidency. But that range has turned out to be broader than many scholars had assumed. The Trump Presidency has highlighted risks to presidential administration that were less evident previously. As a result, we need to recalibrate our expectations about presidential behavior and correspondingly our understanding of the functioning of the executive branch. Thus, we may gain a newfound appreciation for some of the institutions and doctrines such as State Farm that may blunt presidential power and strengthen the role of agencies and their professional staffs.
The importance of factorial design in tissue engineering and biomaterials science: Optimisation of cell seeding efficiency on dermal scaffolds as a case study.

This article presents a case study to show the usefulness and importance of using factorial design in tissue engineering and biomaterials science. We used a full factorial experimental design (2 × ...
Introduction and Overview: Sex Steroids in the Mammary Gland

This issue of the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia is entitled, ‘‘Sex Steroid Receptors,’’ a subject of central importance in the biology of both normal and neoplastic mammary tissues. Since several issues of this journal would be required to deal with the topic in depth, the current issue primarily focuses on the essential roles of the naturally occurring estrogens and progesterone and their receptors. The nonovarian biosynthesis of estrogens is reviewed, as is the relative importance of estrogen receptors, coregulators of ER action, and the utility of ER in directing therapy in the breast cancers of both women and men. The issue concludes with a discussion of the role of progesterone and its receptors in the mammary gland. In the mammary gland, estrogens can influence growth, development and function, responses reflecting their ability to influence the choice of mammary epithelial cells to proliferate, differentiate or die. These effects are induced by estrogenic exposures that occur either naturally, and/or because of environmental exposures, throughout life (1–5). Several of the factors affecting breast cancer risk in humans, and that implicate altered sex steroid exposures, are shown in Table I. While the relative risk conferred by each factor is small, i.e., generally less than two-fold, several factors are relatively common, and many women have more than one risk factor. While the exact risk factors may vary, each endocrine factor that increases risk has an approximate relative risk (RR) 1.1–2.0. Ovariectomy before thirty-five years of age reduces breast cancer risk (RR 2.1–
Conjugation of foreign chemicals by animals.

Since the industrial revolution, and especially during this century, man and his environment have been exposed to an ever-increasing number of synthetic organic compounds. In many cases the compounds produced by our techology are, in a biological sense, “foreign chemicals” or “xenobiotics.” That is, they are not synthesized by any known biological systems. The use of many of these compounds, which include a variety of drugs and pesticides, has had positive and far-reaching effects, both socially and economically. However, use of some of these foreign chemicals has had unexpected and, in some cases, undesirable effects. The awareness that the production and use of these compounds may have adverse effects on man and the environment has generated a great deal of interest concerning the fate of these compounds in biological systems. Because of this interest and because of the efforts of many investigators (particularly during the past 2 decades) there is now a large amount of published information concerning the metabolic fate of foreign chemicals in animals, including man (Fishman 1970; Lee et al. 1977; Williams 1947, 1959, and 1967; Hathway 1970, 1972, and 1975; Ladu et al. 1971; Parke 1968; Brodie and Gillette 1971; Parke and Smith 1977).
Fireplaces, Furnaces and Vehicles as Emission Sources of Particulate Carbon

Particulate carbon in the atmosphere results from the incomplete combustion of fossil and contemporary fuels. Fuel-specific emission rates of elemental and organic carbon are presented for residential wood-burning fireplaces and gas furnaces as well as precatalyst, catalyst, and diesel automobiles. The fireplace emissions from several types of wood were collected from residential chimneys using standard EPA source-sampling procedures. Furnace emissions were collected with a laboratory setup and the effects of variations in stoichiometry and cycling rate were evaluated. Automotive emissions were collected from a dilution tunnel using two driving cycles both at sea level and high altitude. Carbon analysis was performed by several methods, including temperature programming, combustion analysis, and solvent extraction. Organic carbon associated with the particulate emissions was also tested for benzo(a)pyrene content. The emission rates and annual fuel consumption data were used to estimate the relative strength of these particulate carbon sources on a national basis.
Histiocyte-rich Discoid Lupus Erythematosus: A Peculiar Perifollicular Distribution Histologically Mimicking an Acneiform Disorder.

The histologic profile of discoid lupus erythematosus typically involves a vacuolar interface reaction with an associated superficial and deep perivascular infiltrate composed of lymphoplasmacytes. We present a unique case of discoid lupus erythematosus in which cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68) immunochemistry identified widely dispersed histiocytes. Few reports of histiocyte-rich cutaneous lupus erythematosus exist in the literature, and these lymphohistiocytic infiltrates, when present on the H-zone of the face, could be misconstrued as acne/rosacea. Our case demonstrates that cutaneous lupus erythematosus can present with a predominantly histiocytic infiltrate, a pattern dermatopathologists should be aware of to avoid non-recognition or misdiagnosis.
Investigating the Enduring Impact of a Community-Based Health Education Program to Promote African American Elders’ Use of Technology Designed to Support Chronic Disease Self-Management

Elders experience chronic disease disparities and barriers to access technology designed to support recommended self-management behaviors. Elders from racial minority groups are among those who experience particular disparities in chronic disease incidence, outcomes, and barriers to technology use. In order to investigate strategies to address barriers, the study team recruited elder African Americans with diabetes and young adults connected to the elders through naturally occurring familial or social networks. Participants attended a community-based health education session focused on enhancing self-efficacy for recommended self-management and using consumer-oriented technology accessible on their smartphones for self-management support. To assess enduring impact, the study team conducted a pilot study to investigate perceptions and use one month following the health education session. Both elders and young adults offered perspectives on what was effective in teaching elders how to use technology. Both age groups stressed that having patience was crucial, as is providing encouragement for the elders to try tasks on their own. Both elders and young adults also showed a statistically significant increase in aspirations to work together for additional intergenerational health and technology knowledge exchange. Several elder participants continued using technology that they first used during the session. This novel, pilot study describes how to promote self-management and technology use for individuals plagued by persistent chronic disease and technology use disparities.
Outcomes after Pancreatectomy with Routine Pasireotide Use

Background Morbidity after pancreatectomy is commonly due to leakage of exocrine secretions resulting in abscess or pancreatic fistula (PF). Previously, we authored a double-blind randomized controlled trial demonstrating that perioperative pasireotide administration lowers abscess or PF formation by >50%. Accordingly, we adopted pasireotide use as standard practice after pancreatectomy in October 2014 and hypothesized a similar PF/abscess rate reduction would be observed. Study Design A prospectively maintained database was queried for all patients who underwent pancreatectomy between October 2014 and July 2017. Pasireotide was administered preoperatively and twice daily for 7 days postoperatively or until discharge. The primary end point was clinically relevant PF/abscess requiring procedural intervention, identical to the earlier trial outcomes. Logistic regression was used to compare outcomes with the placebo arm of the earlier randomized trial and to control known PF risk factors. Results During the 34-month study period, 652 patients underwent pancreatectomy (211 distal pancreatectomy, 441 pancreaticoduodenectomy). Compared with the historical placebo group (n = 148), the observational group had an increased prevalence of higher American Society of Anesthesiologists scores (69% vs 54%; p Conclusions At our center, adoption of pasireotide has allowed us to achieve a clinically significant abscess or pancreatic leak rate of 13.3%, approximating the effect observed in the randomized trial of pasireotide during routine surgical practice.
The Black Tent (1956) and Bengazi (1955): The Image of Arabs in Two post-Empire Journeys into the Deserts of Libya

These two little known films are both part of the cycle of post-imperial films dealing with the decline of the British Empire. They are perhaps the only films set in or near the historical period of the British Military Administration of Libya after 1945. The Black Tent frequently gets lumped in with the genre of World War II British war films. Bengazi marks the cinematic journey of the actor Victor McLaglen from The Lost Patrol (1934) to Bengazi (1955), his career encapsulating the beginning and end of the Hollywood British Empire film genre. Both films contain redemptive dramatic journeys into the deserts of Libya involving the loss of British imperial male power. The case studies of The Black Tent and Bengazi show the beginnings of new post-empire film genres and new mentalities toward the Arab “Other” that partially promotes a decolonization of western cinema.
Adverse Events and Modes of Failure Related to Impella RP: Insights from the Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) Database.

Abstract Background/purpose Right ventricular (RV) mechanical circulatory support remains an important adjunctive therapy for RV failure refractory to medical therapy. Impella RP (Abiomed, Danvers, MA) is approved for providing temporary RV support for patients with acute right heart failure or decompensation following left ventricular assist device implantation, myocardial infarction, heart transplant, or open-heart surgery. Robust data on the most commonly reported complications and failure modes for the Impella RP are lacking. We analyzed the post-marketing surveillance data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database to assess these endpoints. Materials/methods The MAUDE database was queried for the time period January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2018, for Impella devices by Searching for the following event types: “injury”, “malfunction”, “death”, and “other”. The search yielded 436 device reports. Impella RP medical device reports were screened, and 35 reports were included for the final analysis. Results In cases of reported complications, Impella RP was placed most commonly for right ventricular failure (RVF) developing in postcardiotomy patients (20%). The most commonly reported complications included bleeding (42.9%) and vascular complications (22.8%). The modes of failure included damage or fracture of the device elements (34.2%); thrombus, or clot in the system (17.1%); and device detachment (8.6%). Conclusions Findings from the MAUDE database highlight the failure modes of the Impella RP device that should be addressed in order to improve the device performance and obtain improved clinical outcomes when utilized for RVF.
Partially Singular Control Problems as Singular Singular-Perturbation Problems

Abstract This paper demonstrates how solutions to partially singular control problems can be obtained as the limit of nearly singular problems. The asymptotic analysis involved relates to a developing theory of singular singular-perturbation problems and is of independent practical interest. The results obtained are related to other current literature.
Toward Fingertip Non-Contact Material Recognition and Near-Distance Ranging for Robotic Grasping

We report the feasibility study of a new acoustic and optical bi-modal distance & material sensor for robotic grasping. The new sensor is designed to be mounted on the robot fingertip to provide last-moment perception before contact happens. It is based on both pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic effects enabled by single-element air-coupled transducers. In contrast to conventional contact-based and recent pre-touch approaches, this new method overcomes their disadvantages and provides robotic fingers with the capability to detect the distance and material type of the target at a near distance before contact occurs, which is crucial for robust and nimble grasping. The proposed sensor has been tested with different materials, shapes, and porous properties. The experimental results show that this sensor design is functional and practical.
Corynespora cassiicola Isolates from Soybean in Alabama Detected with G143A Mutation in the Cytochrome b Gene

Corynespora cassiicola C.T. Wei is a widespread plant pathogenic fungus that causes target-shaped necrotic spots on plant leaves and on stems, roots, flowers, and fruits and has been recorded world...
Returns to Seeking Political Influence: Early Evidence from the COVID-19 Stimulus

Measuring various ways of seeking political influence and potential monetary return from such an endeavor is difficult. To address that challenge, we collect data on four mechanisms of acquiring political influence: lobbying spending, PAC contributions, lobbying through trade associations, and an invitation to testify in Congress for 10 years spanning 2010-2020. We investigate associations between these four mechanisms benefits from the largest stimulus package passed by Congress to address COVID-19. The odds of receiving governmental assistance for publicly listed firms that seek political influence are 94.2% for those who lobby directly, 170.7% higher for those who give PAC contributions, and 77.3% higher for those that lobby through a trade association. Beneficiary organizations of all stripes received from $3.26 (for lobbying) to $51.28 (for PAC contributions) of additional COVID-19 stimulus for each dollar they spent on political influence. Government organizations, which are usually not studied in the literature, earned larger returns to their political influence spending relative to public companies. Generally, a dollar spent on political influence by 2,758 unique firms on COMPUSTAT is associated with $20.67 of higher annual earnings in the future. This return is orders of magnitude larger than the payoff to R&D or advertising. Our work highlights how lucrative political influence can be for firm value.
Aqueous systems at high temperature—VI: Investigations on the system NiOSO3H2O and its D2O analogue from 10−4 to 3 m SO3, 150–450° C

Abstract The condensed system NiOSO3H2O and its D2O analogue were investigated at concentrations of SO3 from 10−4 to 3 molal and at temperatures from 150 to 450° C. Liquid phase compositions and temperatures were established over which NiSO4·H2O or its D2O analogue, some partially identified nickel-oxy-sulphates, and Ni(OH)2 were stable solids. Concentrations of NiO as high as 0·2 molal in 2·0 molal SO3 were observed at temperatures above 374° in the super-critical fluid SO3H2O. Combined results showed that all solids increased in solubility upon increasing the concentration of SO3 in the liquid phase but exhibited negative temperature-coefficients of solubility at constant molality of SO3. Stoicheiometric solutions of NiSO4 were unstable. These solutions precipitated either one or two solids—nickel-oxy-sulphates, Ni(OH)2, or NiSO4·H2O—in order to reach equilibrium conditions. At temperatures between 250° and 350°, NiSO4·D2O showed between 5 and 25 per cent higher solubilities in D2SO4D2O solutions of moderately high acid concentrations than the corresponding hydrate in H2SO4H2O solutions. To the best of our knowledge, the reverse relation always has been observed for stoicheiometric salts dissolved only in the solvent.
Incremental node extraction algorithms for incremental layout system

In this paper, we propose incremental node extraction algorithms for incremental layout system. The algorithms are based on corner stitching data structure. The algorithm for insertion visits each connected tile the recursively with depth-first search while the algorithm for deletion uses the expanded area enumeration. To warrant the local searching space for the incremental constraint generation, planes are generated from the given design rules and used for incremental node extraction.
Infection of an Insect Vector with a Bacterial Plant Pathogen Increases Its Propensity for Dispersal

The spread of vector-transmitted pathogens relies on complex interactions between host, vector and pathogen. In sessile plant pathosystems, the spread of a pathogen highly depends on the movement and mobility of the vector. However, questions remain as to whether and how pathogen-induced vector manipulations may affect the spread of a plant pathogen. Here we report for the first time that infection with a bacterial plant pathogen increases the probability of vector dispersal, and that such movement of vectors is likely manipulated by a bacterial plant pathogen. We investigated how Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) affects dispersal behavior, flight capacity, and the sexual attraction of its vector, the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama). CLas is the putative causal agent of huanglongbing (HLB), which is a disease that threatens the viability of commercial citrus production worldwide. When D. citri developed on CLas-infected plants, short distance dispersal of male D. citri was greater compared to counterparts reared on uninfected plants. Flight by CLas-infected D. citri was initiated earlier and long flight events were more common than by uninfected psyllids, as measured by a flight mill apparatus. Additionally, CLas titers were higher among psyllids that performed long flights than psyllid that performed short flights. Finally, attractiveness of female D. citri that developed on infected plants to male conspecifics increased proportionally with increasing CLas bacterial titers measured within female psyllids. Our study indicates that the phytopathogen, CLas, may manipulate movement and mate selection behavior of their vectors, which is a possible evolved mechanism to promote their own spread. These results have global implications for both current HLB models of disease spread and control strategies.
Ceratobasidium Root Rot: A New Disease of Watermelon in Arizona

To our knowledge, Ceratobasidium species have never been previously reported as a pathogen of watermelon anywhere in the United States. Because of the recent reports in Italy and confirmed incidenc...
Dominant negative mutation of the hematopoietic-specific Rho GTPase, Rac2, is associated with a human phagocyte immunodeficiency

Rho GTPases control a variety of cellular processes, including actin polymerization, integrin complex formation, cell adhesion, gene transcription, cell cycle progression, and cell proliferation. A patient is described who has recurrent infections and defective neutrophil cellular functions similar to those found in Rac2-deficient mice. Molecular methods were used to clone the expressed Rac2 cDNA from this patient, and a single base pair change (G→A at nucleotide 169) in the coding sequence was identified. This results in an asparagine for aspartic acid mutation at amino acid 57 (D57N), a residue that is involved in nucleotide binding and is conserved in all mammalian Rho GTPases. The cloned cDNA was then introduced into normal bone marrow cells through retrovirus vectors, and neutrophils expressing this mutant exhibited decreased cell movement and production of superoxide in response to fMLP. The expressed recombinant protein was also analyzed biochemically and exhibited defective binding to GTP. Functional studies demonstrated that the D57N mutant behaves in a dominant-negative fashion at the cellular level. The syndrome of Rac2 dysfunction represents a human condition associated with mutation of a Rho GTPase and is another example of human disease associated with abnormalities of small G protein signaling pathways.
Adolescent problem behavior and depressed mood: Risk and protection within and across social contexts

This study examined risk and protection for adolescent problem behavior and depressive symptoma- tology in an average-risk sample of 11th graders. Using a socioecological perspective, we aggregated risk factors for adolescent problem behavior and depressed mood by 3 social contexts: i.e., family and peer contexts, and a context comprising the most important nonparental adult ("VIP") in respondents' lives. Protective factors associated with these 3 contexts were also included in the analyses. We tested separate models (including outcome-specific risk and protective factors) for predicting problem be- haviors and depressive symptoms; the models demonstrated divergent validity. Risk and protective factors accounted for 49% of the variance in problem behavior and 49% in depressive symptoms. Tests of interactions between risk-aggregates and protective factors yielded several significant cross- context buffering effects in the problem behavior model, but none in the depressive symptoms model. Parents' and VIP's perceived sanctions buffered adolescents against high risk for problem behavior emanating from the peer context. Additionally, perceived peers' sanctions buffered youths against risk emanating from each of the 3 contexts.
Doctoral Students’ Perceived Barriers that Slow the Progress toward Completing a Doctoral Dissertation: A Mixed Analysis

The non-completion of doctoral degrees has been a concern due to its economic, social, and personal consequences. In the current study, the researchers investigated perceived barriers of select doctoral students in completing their doctoral degrees by utilizing a fully mixed sequential mixed research design. The quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently collected using identical samples ( n = 205) via a Reading Interest Survey questionnaire. A sequential mixed analysis revealed 6 emergent themes: external obligations (36%), challenges to doctoral-level researchers (34%), practical/logistical constraints (23%), emotional concerns (15%), program structure (9%), and support for completion (8%). Also, 3 meta-themes were identified (i.e., dissociation , external/internal barriers , and institutional/personal barriers ), which aided in explaining the relationships among the 6 primary themes. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Effect of Milk Pricing Systems on Income over Feed and Variable Costs of Dairy Cattle Breeds

Abstract An electronic spreadsheet program using a budgeting procedure was used to compare the effect of protein pricing differentials and cheese yield pricing systems on income over feed and variable costs of the six major dairy breeds. Increasing the protein differentials from $ .03 to .22/45.4 kg milk per .1 unit increase in protein percent above 3.2% decreased the difference in income over feed and variable costs between non-Holstein and Holstein breeds. With the prices and assumptions used, the income over feed and variable costs of non-Holstein breeds never equaled or surpassed that of Holsteins. With current milk, feed, and cheese prices, using a cheese pricing system caused a substantial decrease in income over feed costs for Holsteins and decreased the differences between Holsteins and non-Holsteins. Increased cheese prices, increased feed prices, and lowered milk prices also narrowed the differences in income over feed and variable costs between Holstein and non-Holstein breeds. Although changes in the milk pricing system make the non-Holstein breeds more competitive with Holsteins, non-Holstein breeds must produce between 224 and 1539 kg more milk with the various milk and feed price scenarios used for the income over feed and variable costs to equal that of Holsteins.
Olfactory conditioning in the honey bee, Apis mellifera: Effects of odor intensity

Any odor-guided behavior might require generalization and/or discrimination over a wide range of odorant intensities. Proboscis extension conditioning (PEC) and electroantennogram (EAG) assays were used to investigate stimulus-intensity dynamics during olfactory processing in the honey bee. Experiments that tested generalization involved conditioning to one odorant concentration and either testing with a different odorant or with different concentrations of the same odorant. At low training concentrations, responses to either a novel odorant or to higher concentrations of the same odorant resulted in strong generalization. At higher training concentrations, significantly less generalization was observed to a novel odorant or to lower concentrations of the same odor. EAG analyses indicate that asymmetric generalization could arise due to long-term adaptation of peripheral receptor neurons. Discrimination experiments showed that relatively higher odorant concentrations associated with an appetitive reinforcer could usually be discriminated from a lower concentration that was associated with punishment, but not vice versa. Although sensory modulation in peripheral (sensory) processes might be sufficient to account for discrimination of a high from a low concentration, discrimination of low from high concentrations point to the involvement of central processes.
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor activation blocks long-term potentiation at cerebellar parallel fiber–Purkinje cell synapses via cannabinoid signaling

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) are known to modulate synaptic plasticity in various brain areas. A signaling pathway triggered by mAChR activation is the production and release of endocannabinoids that bind to type 1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1R) located on synaptic terminals. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from rat cerebellar slices, we have demonstrated that the muscarinic agonist oxotremorine-m (oxo-m) blocks the induction of presynaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) at parallel fiber (PF)–Purkinje cell synapses in a CB1R-dependent manner. Under control conditions, LTP was induced by delivering 120 PF stimuli at 8 Hz. In contrast, no LTP was observed when oxo-m was present during tetanization. PF-LTP was restored when the CB1R antagonist N-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-4-methyl-N-1-piperidinyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (AM251) was coapplied with oxo-m. Furthermore, the suppressive effect of oxo-m on PF-LTP was abrogated by the GDP analog GDP-β-S (applied intracellularly), the phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122, and the diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor tetrahydrolipstatin (THL), suggesting that cannabinoid synthesis results from the activation of Gq-coupled mAChRs present on Purkinje cells. The oxo-m–mediated suppression of LTP was also prevented in the presence of the M3 receptor antagonist DAU 5884, and was absent in M1/M3 receptor double-KO mice, identifying M3 receptors as primary oxo-m targets. Our findings allow for the possibility that cholinergic signaling in the cerebellum—which may result from long-term depression (LTD)-related disinhibition of cholinergic neurons in the vestibular nuclei—suppresses presynaptic LTP to prevent an up-regulation of transmitter release that opposes the reduction of postsynaptic responsiveness. This modulatory capacity of mAChR signaling could promote the functional penetrance of LTD.
Permanent bedforms in a theoretical model of wave-sea-bed interactions

The interaction between sea waves and a deformable sea-bed is studied with a simple two-layer model in which the upper-layer fluid is inviscid and the lower-layer fluid is bi-viscous to account for non-Newtonian behaviour of sand and sediments. The nonlinear response of the system to periodic forcing by an external surface pressure is determined. It is shown that a simple bi-viscous rheology allows small wavelength morphology in the lower layer to be generated from large wavelength surface waves in the upper inviscid layer, although the morphology is not permanent. For a bi-viscous rheology with a pressure-dependent yield stress (which accounts for the fact that sand yields less readily under loading than unloading), however, small wavelength and permanent features are formed in the seabed.
Phase transitions in a spring-block model of earthquakes

Abstract We investigate the nature of the phase transitions that occur in one version of the Burridge-Knopoff spring-block model, which has been used to simulate tectonic motion along a fault. We find that by adjusting the parameters of the model, a variety of qualitatively different behaviors can be observed. As we vary one of the parameters, the system goes from a region where all the blocks are continuously moving to a region where the motion occurs in short, but violent, ruptures. We investigate the properties of the dynamics in these two regimes and the nature of the transition that occurs when the system is tuned from one regime into the other.
Hierarchical regression with misaligned spatial data: relating ambient ozone and pediatric asthma ER visits in Atlanta

Recent work by the authors enabled a hierarchical modeling solution to the general change of support problem (COSP), where they seek to make inferences about the values of a variable at either points or regions different from those at which it has been observed. The approach presumes an underlying continuous stationary spatial process X (s) for locations s ∈ D, a region of interest. It is straightforwardly extended to the spatio-temporal setting by assuming a space–time separable covariance function for the X (s, t) process, t ∈ T and again s ∈ D. In this article they take up the associated misaligned regression problem, where, for example, the explanatory variable is envisioned from the X (s, t) process, while the response is available only as areal summaries over a particular grid at particular times. They illustrate using a dataset relating several air quality indicators (ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, etc.) and a range of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race, and a socioeconomic status surrogate) to the response, pediatric emergency room (ER) visit counts for asthma in Atlanta, Georgia. Here the air quality data is collected at fixed monitoring stations (point locations) while the sociodemographic covariates and response variable is collected by zip code (areal summaries). In fact, the air quality data are available as daily averages at each monitoring station, and the response is available as daily counts of visits in each zip code. As is now common in hierarchical Bayesian spatial applications, computing is implemented via a carefully tailored Metropolis–Hastings algorithm, with map summaries created using a geographic information system (GIS). Like many recent investigations of the ozone–asthma link, our results suggest a small positive association, though our data can permit this conclusion only for those children living in the city of Atlanta who use the ER to manage their asthma. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impact of Obesity on Development and Progression of Mammary Tumors in Preclinical Models of Breast Cancer

Overweight and/or obesity are known risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. More recently increased body weight has also been associated with poor prognosis for premenopausal breast cancer. This relationship has primarily been identified through epidemiological studies. Additional information from in vitro studies has also been produced in attempts to delineate mechanisms of action for the association of obesity and body weight and breast cancer. This approach has identified potential growth factors such as insulin, leptin, estrogen and IGF-I which are reported to be modulated by body weight changes. However, in vitro studies are limited in scope and frequently use non-physiological concentrations of growth factors, while long follow-up is needed for human studies. Preclinical animal models provide an intermediary approach to investigate the impact of body weight and potential growth factors on mammary/breast tumor development and progression. Here results of a number of studies addressing this issue are presented. In the majority of the studies either genetically-obese or diet-induced obese rodent models have been used to investigate spontaneous, transgenic and carcinogen-induced mammary tumor development. To study tumor progression the major focus has been allograft studies in mice with either genetic or dietary-induced obesity. In general, obesity has been demonstrated to shorten mammary tumor latency and to impact tumor pathology. However, in rodents with defects in leptin and other growth factors the impact of obesity is not as straightforward. Future studies using more physiologically relevant obesity models and clearly distinguishing diet composition from body weight effects will be important in continuing to understand the factors associated with body weight’s impact on mammary/breast cancer development and progression.
An in vitro comparison of different providers to deliver four proton pump inhibitor products through a feeding tube

Summary Background It is unclear how delivery through a feeding tube compares between esomeprazole in water, lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet in water, omeprazole/NaHCO3 in water and simplified lansoprazole suspension. Aim This in vitro study compared delivery through a narrow calibre (8F) feeding tube among four proton pump inhibitors when given by skilled [nurse; (n = 8)] or unskilled [lay; (n = 8)] providers. Methods Following standard instruction, subjects were observed delivering each proton pump inhibitor in a sequential, but random, fashion to evaluate administration quality and time. Delivery was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography methods and subject preferences were evaluated. Results Delivery (%), similar between lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet (95.7 ± 3.2) and omeprazole/NaHCO3 (96.1 ± 3.0), was both greater for lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet than esomeprazole in water (88.9 ± 8.6; P = 0.006) or simplified lansoprazole suspension (86.1 ± 9.5; P = 0.0001) and omeprazole/NaHCO3 than esomeprazole in water (P = 0.004) or simplified lansoprazole suspension (P < 0.001), and was not affected by prior subject experience. Quality was higher with both omeprazole/NaHCO3 and lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet than simplified lansoprazole suspension. Administration was quicker for lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet than esomeprazole in water. Subjects preferred lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet and omeprazole/NaHCO3. Conclusions When given through an in vitro feeding tube, omeprazole/NaHCO3 and lansoprazole oral disintegrating tablet lead to greater drug delivery, improved administration quality and higher user satisfaction, than either esomeprazole in water or simplified lansoprazole suspension.
Rheology of silica-filled polystyrene: From microcomposites to nanocomposites

Rheology and viscoelastic behavior of polystyrene (PS)/silica microcomposites and nanocomposites were studied. The apparent viscosity, transient shear stress growth after startup shear flow and stress relaxation after cessation of flow at various shear rates, the complex dynamic viscosity, the storage and loss moduli at small and large strain amplitudes and various frequencies were performed. The effect of size, shape and volume concentration of silica was discussed. The maximum volume concentration, corresponding to the concentration at which the relative viscosity of mixtures goes to infinity, with respect to the hydrodynamic contribution of the particles and to polymer-filler interactions was obtained. The difference between the yield stress and residual stress is shown. The domain of equivalence between the apparent viscosity as a function of the shear rate in steady state flow and the complex dynamic viscosity as a function of the strain rate amplitude in highly nonlinear region of oscillatory flow was established. The viscoelastic behavior was interpreted based on the morphology of microcomposites and nanocomposites observed by SEM.
A procedure for embedding effluent plumes into LWIR imagery

Longwave Infrared (LWIR) data sets collected from airborne platforms provide opportunities for study of atmospheric and surface features in the emissive spectral regime. The transfer of radiation for LWIR scenes can be formulated in a manner that allows recovery of the surface-leaving radiance (a result of atmospheric compensation). Using a forward radiative transfer model, a number of modifications to the atmospheric component of the scene can be made and applied to the surface-leaving radiance to predict sensor radiance that reflects a desired scenario. One such modification is the inclusion of a layer of effluent, the structure of which can be simulated by a plume model. Additionally, a different set of atmospheric conditions can be modeled and used to replace the conditions present in the scene. The resultant scene radiance field can be used to test algorithms for effluent characterization since the composition of the effluent layer and the intervening atmosphere is known. This approach allows for the embedding of a plume layer containing any combination of effluents from a set of over 400 gas spectra, the dispersion of which can be simulated using various plume models. Examples of simulated plume scenes are given, one of which contains an existing plume which is replicated using known emission information. Comparison of the real and simulated plume brightness temperatures yielded differences on the order of 0.2 K.
Comparative Effectiveness Research and Outcomes of Diabetes Treatment

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for advancing the science of medicine. However, many important clinical questions probably will never be answered by RCTs simply because many trials are extraordinarily expensive and RCTs might not always be appropriate for addressing some research questions. In fact, most clinical trials do not enroll typical patients; trial participants are volunteers who agree to be studied with limited compensation and often do so primarily to benefit other patients. Clinical trials are designed to answer questions about whether something works (efficacy), but usually are poorly suited to answer questions about how well something works on usual patients seen in clinical practice (effectiveness). Numerous studies have shown that the effect sizes reported in clinical trials are rarely achieved in practice, raising concerns that more generalizable results are needed to better inform real-world clinical decisions.1- 5
From color glass condensate to quark–gluon plasma through the event horizon

Abstract We propose a new thermalization scenario for heavy ion collisions which at sufficiently high energies implies the phase transition to the quark–gluon plasma. The key ingredient of our approach is the Hawking–Unruh effect: an observer moving with an acceleration a experiences the influence of a thermal bath with an effective temperature T = a / 2 π , similar to the one present in the vicinity of a black hole horizon. For electric charges moving in external electromagnetic fields of realistic strength, the resulting temperature appears too small to be detected. However for partons in strong color fields the effect should be observable: in the color glass condensate picture, the strength of the color-electric field is E ∼ Q s 2 / g ( Q s is the saturation scale, and g is the strong coupling), the typical acceleration is a ∼ Q s , and the heat bath temperature is T = Q s / 2 π ∼ 200 MeV . In nuclear collisions at sufficiently high energies the effect can induce a rapid thermalization over the time period of τ ≃ 2 π / Q s ≃ 1 fm accompanied by phase transitions. We consider a specific example of chiral symmetry restoration induced by a rapid deceleration of the colliding nuclei. We argue that parton saturation in the initial nuclear wave functions is a necessary precondition for the formation of quark–gluon plasma. We discuss the implications of our “black hole thermalization” scenario for various observables in relativistic heavy ion collisions.
PARTNERSHIPS IN ARCHAEOTOURISM: THE FUTURE OF CUEVA BORBÓN, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Resumen en: Tourism management is increasingly coming under fire from anthropologists concerned about issues of social representation and accelerated cultural change...
Hierarchies and priorities in regional energy-environmental planning

Abstract This article is devoted to an analysis of hierarchies and priorities in energy-environmental policy making. The approach to dealing with conflicting issues in regional energy-environmental planning centers around selection of activities, according to a set of derived priorities subject to constraints reflecting interdependence of these activities. After an exposition of the prioritization problem, a method of accounting for the interdependence of activities is discussed.
ZnO growth on Si with low-temperature ZnO buffer layers by ECR-assisted MBE

Abstract High-quality ZnO films were grown on Si(1 0 0) substrates with low-temperature (LT) ZnO buffer layers by an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR)-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). In order to investigate the optimized buffer layer temperature, ZnO buffer layers of about 1.1 μm were grown at different growth temperatures of 350, 450 and 550 °C, followed by identical high-temperature (HT) ZnO films with the thickness of 0.7 μm at 550 °C. A ZnO buffer layer with a growth temperature of 450 °C (450 °C-buffer sample) was found to greatly enhance the crystalline quality of the top ZnO film compared to others. The root mean square (RMS) roughness (3.3 nm) of its surface is the smallest, compared to the 350 °C-buffer sample (6.7 nm), the 550 °C-buffer sample (7.4 nm), and the sample without a buffer layer (6.8 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering measurements were carried out on these samples at room temperature (RT) in order to characterize the crystalline quality of ZnO films. The preferential c -axis orientations of (0 0 2) ZnO were observed in the XRD spectra. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) value of the 450 °C-buffer sample was the narrowest as 0.209°, which indicated that the ZnO film with a buffer layer grown at this temperature was better for the subsequent ZnO growth at elevated temperature of 550 °C. Consistent with these results, the 450 °C-buffer sample exhibits the highest intensity and the smallest FWHM (130 meV) of the ultraviolet (UV) emission at 375 nm in the PL spectrum. The ZnO characteristic peak at 438.6 cm −1 was found in Raman scattering spectra for all films with buffers, which is corresponding to the E 2 mode.
An Assessment of the Impact of Emerging High-Temperature Materials on Engine Cycle Performance

Rising concerns about air quality and climate change have made environmental protection one of the most critical issues in aviation today. To achieve environmental protection that allows sustained long-term aviation growth, NASA Glenn (GRC) has been engaged in the development of advanced high-temperature materials and thermal and environmental barrier coatings under its Fundamental Aeronautics and Environmentally Responsible Aviation Programs, with specific objectives to increase engine operating temperature and efficiency, reduce cooling requirements, reduce engine weight, reduce fuel consumption, and increase engine reliability. A parametric study was performed to assess the impact of these advanced materials and coatings on engine performance, with thrust-specific fuel consumption (TSFC) and LTO (landing-and-takeoff) NOx emissions as the key metrics. An ultra-high bypass ratio (UHB) separate flow turbofan engine for an advanced twin-engine single-aisle transport (B737/A320 class aircraft), with a sea-level static thrust of 107-kN thrust (23,000-pound), was chosen for the study. This paper presents the engine performance benefits from these advanced materials and coatings.
Professional resources to implement the “smart grid”

A widely supported effort to modernize the United States power system has led to an engineering initiative variously known as ‘smart grid’, ‘intelligrid’, “gridwise”, “modern grid”, “perfect grid”, “future grid”, and similarly denominated programs. These efforts generally include features of: self-healing from power disturbance events, enabling active participation by consumers, assuring resilient operation against physical and cyber attack, delivering power quality for digital economy, accommodating all generation and storage options, enabling new products, and optimizing the use of assets. This paper addresses the question as to where engineers needed to address the smart grid will be educated, how they should be trained, and to what levels of comprehension in integrative fields they must be educated.
adaptive controller for systems with unknown time-varying parameters and disturbances in the presence of non-zero trajectory initialization error

This paper presents a novel adaptive control methodology for uncertain systems with time-varying unknown parameters and time-varying bounded disturbances. The adaptive controller ensures uniformly bounded transient and asymptotic tracking for both the system's input and output signals, simultaneously. The performance bounds can be systematically improved by increasing the adaptation gain. Robustness of the adaptive controller to non-zero trajectory initialization error is addressed. Simulations of a robotic arm with time-varying friction verify the theoretical findings.