cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Technology-Rich Ethnography for Examining the Transition to Authentic Problem-Solving in a High School Computer Programming Class:

This study utilized elements of technology-rich ethnography to create a rich description of a multi-user virtual environment in a high school computer programming class. Of particular interest was the transition that took place in classroom culture from one characterized by a well-defined problem solving approach to one more indicative of open learning environment. Using technology, high school students created learning activities and resources for use by younger students in the virtual environment. Evidence supported that high school students initially benefitted from the new open environment; however, some immutable elements of the classroom environment presented barriers to peer collaboration and motivation for high-level, creative work. Our findings lend support to the argument that teachers in high school computer programming classes should incorporate the following features in their curricula: open-ended problem solving, real-world clients, group work, student autonomy and ample opportunities for st...
Age-associated differences in triceps surae muscle composition and strength - an MRI-based cross-sectional comparison of contractile, adipose and connective tissue

In human skeletal muscles, the aging process causes a decrease of contractile and a concomitant increase of intramuscular adipose (IMAT) and connective (IMCT) tissues. The accumulation of non-contractile tissues may contribute to the significant loss of intrinsic muscle strength typically observed at older age but their in vivo quantification is challenging. The purpose of this study was to establish MR imaging-based methods to quantify the relative amounts of IMCT, IMAT and contractile tissues in young and older human cohorts, and investigate their roles in determining age-associated changes in skeletal muscle strength. Five young (31.6 ± 7.0 yrs) and five older (83.4 ± 3.2 yrs) Japanese women were subject to a detailed MR imaging protocol, including Fast Gradient Echo, Quantitative Fat/Water (IDEAL) and Ultra-short Echo Time (UTE) sequences, to determine contractile muscle tissue and IMAT within the entire Triceps Surae complex, and IMCT within both heads of the Gastrocnemius muscle. Specific force was calculated as the ratio of isometric plantarflexor force and the physiological cross-sectional area of the Triceps Surae complex. In the older cohort, total Triceps Surae volume was smaller by 17.5%, while the relative amounts of Triceps Surae IMAT and Gastrocnemius IMCT were larger by 55.1% and 48.9%, respectively. Differences of 38.6% and 42.1% in plantarflexor force and specific force were observed. After subtraction of IMAT and IMCT from total muscle volume, differences in intrinsic strength decreased to 29.6%. Our data establishes that aging causes significant changes in skeletal muscle composition, with marked increases in non-contractile tissues. Such quantification of the remodeling process is likely to be of functional and clinical importance in elucidating the causes of the disproportionate age-associated decrease of force compared to that of muscle volume.
Environmental Factors Influencing Summer Angler Effort on the Jordan Dam Tailwater, Alabama

Abstract The Coosa River below Jordan Dam, Alabama, supports a multispecies, warmwater, tailwater fishery. A principal concern has focused on maintaining sufficient flow to protect this fishery while simultaneously allowing substantial portions of water to be diverted from Jordan Lake through a new hydroelectric facility, from which the water is returned via a canal to the Coosa River 21 km below Jordan Dam, thus bypassing the Jordan Dam tailwater. To identify management options for the tailwater fishery during early and late summer fishing seasons, multipleregression models were generated with streamflow and climatic variables. In downstream reaches of the tailwater, water temperature and streamflow were the most important independent variables during early and late summer, respectively. The two most important variables identified for the stilling basin during these two seasons were secchi disc visibility and barometric pressure. In all reaches, angler effort was positively correlated with wind velocity ...
The energetic savings of sleep versus temperature in the Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis) at three ecologically relevant temperatures.

One of the proposed ecological functions of sleep is to conserve energy. The majority of studies that support this theory have been done on endothermic animals whose body temperatures drop during sleep due to the reduced neurological control of thermoregulation. In the present study, we examined typical temperatures to which the Desert Iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, is exposed to in the field and found that mean high temperatures ranged from 24–58 °C throughout the active portion of the year. We also examined the ecological savings that sleep could provide for this ectothermic iguana using a closed system respirometer. We found that laboratory-acclimated iguanas are able to save significantly more (27.6%) energy by sleeping than by being awake and that field iguanas also had significant savings of energy (69.1%) while asleep. However, iguanas could save more energy by remaining awake at cooler temperatures than by sleeping at warmer temperatures. In addition, we found no correlation for time of night with metabolic rate. Our study supports the hypothesis that one potential function of sleep is to conserve energy.
Cross-polarization photorefractive two-beam coupling in gallium arsenide

Experimental investigations are presented of cross-polarization two-beam coupling in a photorefractive GaAs crystal, in which two mutually coherent laser beams with the same polarization state (e.g., s waves) interact to generate and couple energy into an orthogonally polarized beam (p wave). We demonstrate cross-polarization coupling of 1.06-μm YAG laser beams (both cw and pulsed) in a semi-insulating single crystal of GaAs and show that the coupling coefficient is ∼0.4 cm−1. The experimental data are shown to be in good agreement with the theoretical results for the weak-coupling regime; the theoretical results are calculated from a set of coupled equations describing generalized two-beam coupling in cubic photorefractive crystals. The photorefractive response time of our crystal is also determined using nondegenerate cross-polarization two-beam coupling and is shown to be approximately 0.5 msec at the total intensity of 1 W/cm2.
Low Aspect Ratio Aerodynamics at Low Reynolds Numbers

The recent interest in the development of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles has revealed a need for a more thorough understanding of the aerodynamics of small airplanes flying at low speeds. In response to this need, a study of the lift, drag, and pitching moment characteristics of wings of low aspect ratio operating at low Reynolds numbers are presented. Wind-tunnel tests of wings with aspect ratios between 0.5 and 2.0, four distinct planforms, thickness-to-chord ratios of ≈ 2%, and 5-to-1 elliptical leading edges have been conducted as part of this research. The Reynolds numbers considered were in the range of 7 × × 10 4 to 2 × × 10 5 . Analysis of the data includes comparison of lift-curve slope, nonlinear equation approximations, maximum lift coefficient, and center of lift.
Hybrid optimal control for load balancing in a cluster of computer nodes

This paper develops a hybrid optimal control technique and resulting experimental data using a previously reported deterministic dynamic nonlinear system model for load balancing in a cluster of computer nodes used for parallel computations in the presence of time delays and resource constraints. The model accounts for the trade-off between using processor resources to process tasks and transferring tasks to distribute the load evenly between the nodes to reduce overall processing time. The desired performance is achieved using hybrid optimal control techniques in a model predictive control context. Results demonstrate superior performance.
Changing Patterns of Treatment and Survival in Neonates With Meconium Ileus

• This report describes 51 neonates with meconium ileus and emphasizes a changing pattern of treatment and improved survival. Twenty-four neonates had uncomplicated meconium ileus due to inspissated meconium obstructing the distal ileum. Twenty-seven neonates had 41 complications of meconium ileus including volvulus (18), bowel atresia (13), perforation (5), and giant cystic meconium peritonitis (5). Nine patients with uncomplicated cases responded to nonoperative clearing of meconium using a meglumine diatrizoate (Gastrografin) enema. Six of 7 patients with enema failures underwent laparotomy, purse-string enterotomy, and intraluminal irrigation. The remaining 9 patients with uncomplicated meconium ileus had resection and enterostomy. Complicated cases were managed by resection and anastomosis (13) or enterostomy (14). Survival at 1 year was 92% in patients with uncomplicated meconium ileus and 85% for those with complicated meconium ileus. Nonoperative Gastrografin enema or enterotomy-irrigation can relieve obstruction in uncomplicated meconium ileus and avoid an enterostomy in most cases. ( Arch Surg. 1989;142:837-840
Pursuit-evasion games with multi-pursuer vs. one fast evader

In a pursuit-evasion (PE) game, each pursuer attempts to minimize the distance between the pursuer (P) and the evader (E) and capture it in the shortest time, whereas the evader tries to maximize the distance to escape from being captured. In this paper, we deal with PE games with a fast evader which can match the speed of or outrun the pursuers. We apply the well-known Apollonius circles formed by the evader and each pursuer to analyze how the evader can find a better strategy to escape or prolong the capture time whenever a successful escape is not possible. Conversely, by observing the changing states of the evader, the pursuers cooperatively contain the evader by enclosing the evader inside a convex polygon, with its vertices being the pursuers' positions. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed strategies as well as the limitations of a successful pursuit of an intelligent evader.
Applications and Challenges of Multi-band Gigabit Mesh Networks

60 GHz has attracted a lot of commercial interest due to its abundance of unlicensed bandwidth and the recent advances in building inexpensive transceivers. Multiple research and standardization efforts have touted the potential of 60 GHz for a wide range of applications across WPANs and WLANs. However, the link characteristics at 60 GHz make it very challenging to provide the range and robustness similar to what most users have experienced with Wi-Fi at 2.4 and 5 GHz. In this paper, we propose the system design concept of multi-band gigabit mesh networks and articulate why it would help meet some of these challenges. We first examine the applications and usage scenarios with a critical focus on range, channel condition and the impact on user experience. We present a comparative study of range versus data rate tradeoff at 5 and 60 GHz to show that a multi-hop 60 GHz link can potentially provide the range that is comparable to 5 GHz and still outperform a single-hop 5 GHz link in terms of end-to-end throughput. Simulation results are provided to show the potential of the multi-band mesh design for effective spatial reuse. We discuss the key design issues for the multi-band gigabit mesh and point out some of the open research questions for future work.
The impact of performance budgeting on the role of the legislature: a four-country study:

Performance budgeting initiatives are often partly justified as improving accountability to the legislature. However, it is not always clear whether this is the case. In this article we describe and explain the effects of performance budgeting on the role of the legislature in the budget process. We compare performance budgeting initiatives in the Australian Commonwealth government, the central government of the Netherlands, the Swedish central government and the Canadian federal government. The conclusion of this study is that the performance budgeting initiatives that we studied have a dominant focus on changing the budget structure, but do not seem very successful in altering the budget functions.
Quantum Dot Nanoarrays: Self-Assembly With Single- Particle Control and Resolution

The develpoment of a highly selective immobilization strategy for the self-assembly of quantum dots (QDs) from solution on lithographically defined, biochemically functionalized metal nanopatterns is presented. Nanosale control is achieved for the formation of predominantly single-particle structures consisting of a QD coupled to a metal nanoparticle, and assembled into an ordered nanoarray.
Pulmonary arteriopathy and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in six dogs.

Pulmonary arteriopathy (PA) is the pathologic hallmark in human medicine of diffuse constrictive (medial and intimal remodeling) or multifocal complex (plexiform and dilatative lesions) arterial lesions, or both, that lead to irreversible obliteration of the arterial lumen. Clinically, PA leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), of which idiopathic (IPAH) is one of the 5 subsets, and ultimately, to right-sided heart failure (RHF). Clinical and pathologic findings from 6 dogs with diagnosis of IPAH and PA were reviewed. These dogs were of various pure (5/6, 83%) and mixed (1/6, 17%) breeding, 5 months to 9 years (mean 5.2 years) old, and predominantly female (4/6, 67%) and reproductively intact (4/6, 67%). Doppler echocardiography (n 5 5) indicated increased pulmonary arterial pressures during systole (70–135 mm Hg, mean 98 mm Hg) and diastole (35–80 mm Hg, mean 58 mm Hg). All 6 dogs had right ventricular pressure overload, right ventricular eccentric hypertrophy, and RHF. Histologic examination confirmed the clinical diagnosis of IPAH in all dogs, revealing PA characterized by 1 of the 4 main human histologic subsets: 1) isolated medial hypertrophy (1/6, 17%); 2) medial hypertrophy-intimal thickening without the plexiform lesion (1/6, 17%); 3) medial hypertrophyintimal thickening concurrent with the plexiform lesion, which often was regionally clustered and situated near branching points of the respiratory artery, the poststenotic dilatation lesion, and vasculitis (4/6, 66%); and 4) isolated arteritis (1/6, 17%). Ancillary lesions similar to those in humans also complicated the PA (5/6, 83%). The complex lesions and ancillary exudative alveolitis seemed to be important indicators of severe, likely rapidly progressive and fatal, IPAH.
The Relation between Family Structure and Young Adolescents' Appraisals of Family Climate and Parenting Behavior.

Young adolescents (mean age = 11.99 years) who lived with both biological parents (BP), a single divorced mother (DM), a single divorced father (DF), a mother and stepfather (SF), a father and a stepmother (SM), or a multiply divorced parent (MD) (ns = 681, 78, 21, 146, 36, and 55, respectively) appraised dimensions of family climate (supervision, warmth, conflict, and order) and dimensions of parenting (permissive, authoritatian, and authoritative). Differences among these six family structures were found on warmth (BP > SF), conflict (BP < SM, SF; DM < SM), permissive parenting (BP < DF, MD; SM < DM, DF, SF, MD), and authoritarian parenting (DM, SF, MD < DF). Gender did not moderate family structure differences. The findings are consistent with the view that different family structures vary on dimensions of family process.
Catchlike-inducing train activation of human muscle during isotonic contractions: burst modulation

Stimulation trains that exploit the catchlike property [catchlike-inducing trains (CITs)] produce greater forces and rates of rise of force than do constant-frequency trains (CFTs) during isometric contractions and isovelocity movements. This study examined the effect of CITs during isotonic contractions in healthy subjects. Knee extension was electrically elicited against a load of 10% of maximum voluntary isometric contraction. The stimulation intensity was set to produce 20% of maximum voluntary isometric contraction. The muscle was tested before and after fatigue with a 6-pulse CFT and 6-pulse CITs that contained an initial doublet, triplet, or quadruplet. For prefatigue responses, the greatest isotonic performance was produced by CITs with initial doublets. When the muscles were fatigued, triplet CITs were best. CITs produce greater excursion, work, peak power, and average power than do CFTs, because CITs produced more rapid rates of rise of force. Faster rates of rise of force enabled the preload on the muscle to be exceeded earlier during the stimulation train.
Optical bistability in lead magnesium niobate ceramics: An integrated photonic flow-rate/pressure gauge based upon thermal focussing and convection

Abstract We have discovered an unusual form of optical bistability in hot-pressed ceramic PMN (PbMg0.3Nb0.5Ti0.1O3) in which the thermal focussing of laser light at very low power densities (<1 kW/cm2) oscillates between two metastable states. At low laser powers P the phenomenon is highly aperiodic but extremely reproducible; the oscillation events occur at times tN empirically given by the equation tN = A/(P-PN ), where the threshold power PN for the N-th switching event is found to be NPo , with P o = 45 mW [i.e., 3.6 W/cm2]. At higher laser power the switching events become periodic, ca. 8 Hz, and resemble the phenomenon reported by Vasnetsov in thin films of thermotropic liquids. One of the two metastable spatial light patterns is doughnut-shaped; the other resembles a Bessel function, with large intensity in the center. Therefore by setting a Si-diode detector in the center of the pattern, we can monitor the oscillation. The oscillation event times (or frequency) are strongly dependent upon convecti...
Precision measurement of the scattering amplitude of 235U

The thermal neutron coherent scattering amplitude b c for bound atoms of the isotope 235 U has been measured with the neutron interferometer at two different wavelengths. The results, an average of two independent measurements using two samples with different thicknesses and corrected for impurities, are: b c = ( 10.50 ± 0.03 ) fm for λ = 1.261 A ( E ≃ 0.051 eV ) , b c = ( 10.39 ± 0.03 ) fm for λ = 1.045 A ( E ≃ 0.075 eV ) Comparison with the Breit-Wigner formalism shows that, by adjusting the neutron width Γ n for the first resonance at resonance energy E 0 = -1.4 eV, reasonable agreement between calculated and measured b c values can be obtained.
Changes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae ascospore proteins during early germination

Proteins present in Saccharomyces cerevisiae ascospores and in germinating ascospores were compared using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Yeast ascospores incorporated labeled methionine efficiently facilitating the electrophoretic analysis. Proteins synthesized in the yeast ascospores differed significantly from those proteins found 15 min after the initiation of germination in the ascospores. An immediate transition from ascospore proteins to proteins required for ascospore germination appears likely.
Within-District Resource Allocation and the Marginal Costs of Providing Equal Educational Opportunity: Evidence from Texas and Ohio

This study explores within-district fiscal resource allocation across elementary schools in Texas and Ohio large city school districts and in their surrounding metropolitan areas. Specifically, I ask whether districts widely reported as achieving greater resource equity through adoption of Weighted Student Funding (WSF) have in fact done so. I compare Houston Independent School District (a WSF district) to other large Texas cities and Cincinnati (also using WSF) to other large Ohio cities. Using a conventional expenditure function approach, I evaluate the sensitivity of elementary school budgets to special education populations, poverty rates, and school size. Next, I estimate two-stage least squares cost functions across schools to evaluate the relative costs of achieving average outcomes with respect to varied poverty rates within and across school districts within metropolitan areas. I use these estimates to evaluate whether urban core schools on average spend sufficient resources to compete with neighboring schools in other districts in the same Core Based Statistical Area. I find first that widely reported WSF success stories provide no more predictable funding with respect to student needs than other large urban districts in the same state. I also find that in some cases, resource levels in urban core elementary schools are relatively insufficient for competing with schools in neighboring districts to achieve comparable outcomes.
Physician-prescribed physical activity in older adults

Physicians are accustomed to prescribing multiple prescriptions to adults of all ages, but particularly to the older adult population. In 2010, US retail pharmacies filled out on average 31.1 prescriptions for adults aged 65 years and older compared with 11.3 prescriptions to adults aged 19–64 years. Older adults find themselves at the pharmacy counter more often than younger generations due to an increase in chronic diseases and disabling conditions. Many of these diseases and conditions are often well treated and controlled via prescription drugs. However, a different type of prescription should be written on physicians’ prescription pads worldwide, one that could potentially lower the risk of diseases and disabling conditions altogether. This prescription is commonly referred to as an ‘exercise prescription’. The overall intent of this paper is to discuss successful strategies implemented by physicians who have prescribed physical activity/exercise to their older adult patients and to help healthcare providers better understand and establish successful exercise prescription counseling habits. It is also aimed to shed light on the barriers facing primary care providers in an effort to help physicians overcome these barriers. Information regarding Exercise is Medicine ® and the Exercise is Medicine ® Credential program for exercise specialists is provided. Older adult and public health advocates will also find this paper valuable in that they too will learn the recommended physical activity guidelines, associated benefits of engaging in the recommended dose of physical activity, and perhaps how to promote exercise prescription by their physician, physician organizations, or engage other members of the medical team, including health and fitness professionals, to strive for a common goal of patients receiving this ‘new’ medicine called exercise.
MR Assessment of Pituitary Gland Morphology in Healthy Volunteers: Age- and Gender-Related Differences

Purpose and methods High-field MR images at 1.5 T were used to characterize the effects of age and gender on pituitary size and shape in a sample of 71 adult volunteers (40 females), aged 21 to 82 years. Findings For all subjects, age was inversely correlated with pituitary height (r = -.43, P less than .0002) and cross-sectional area (r = -.35, P less than .0028). Age-specific gender differences were also present in pituitary height and area. A convex upper pituitary margin was more common in females (P = .002) and younger subjects (P = .009). Conclusions This study confirms that aging is accompanied by gender-specific changes in pituitary size and shape, and provides normative data that may facilitate evaluation of the pituitary gland in neuroendocrine disorders.
Family Researchers' Perceptions of Online Research Methods

This study examined 374 family researchers' perceptions of Internet research methods as an appropriate alternative or additional method to traditional research. Diffusion of innovation theory was used to guide the research. Participants answered an in-depth online survey, including open-ended questions for exploratory purposes. Findings indicate online researchers were most likely to have taken a current workshop about technology and have worked with a computer mentor. Online researchers perceived greater access to supportive resources compared to researchers not using online methods. Results indicate online surveys are the most used method, although there is interest in using a variety of online methods in the future. Given the high interest and acceptance of online research methods (ORMs), future scholarly work will be needed to determine (a) how to expand the use of ORMs beyond surveys, and (b) which adaptations or innovations researchers will create for ORMs to best suit their needs.
Unilateral thickening of fetal arteries on the placenta resembling arteriosclerosis

Abstract Unilateral thickening was observed in the lower wall of fetal arteries on the placental surface adjacent to the intervillous space. The unilateral muscular growth seemed to have its onset at 12 weeks' gestation increasing in frequency with increments of gestational age, mid later being associated with intimal thickening in the term placenta. Out of 202 consec utive term placentas, 170 (84.1 per cent) showed this peculiar thickening of the lower arterial wall by single cross section. In contrast to arteriosclerosis, the medial muscular growth was more pronounced than the intimal thickening, and there was no remarkable lipid deposition. The etiology of such unilateral lesion is discussed in relation to the pathogenesis of art eriosclerosis.
Changes in the Skeletal Cell Proliferative Response to Trauma Concomitant with Aging

An autoradiographic study of femoral-fracture repair using tritiated thymidine was made on thirty-five female mice, eighteen months of age. Assessment of the periosteal labeling index was obtaibed from eight hours to fourteen days after fracture. Results showed that the intial proliferative response to trauma occurs after eight hours and that the response extends throughout the shaft. After forty-eight hours the periosteal response away from the fracture site, having reached a maximum labeling index of 0.110, decreases rapidly so that the non-fractured level (0.005) is reached by the fourth day. At the fracture site the labeling index continues to increase to a maximum labeling index of 0.180 at four days, then decreases rapidly, reaching a plateau of approximately 0.045. In comparing the present results with those of young mice it is apparent that the difference in fracture healing is quantitative and not qualitative. Some old-looking, flat periosteal osteogenic cells are still capable of desoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and respond to trauma at the same time as similar cells in five-week-old mice. Flat, elongated periosteal cells, in response to trauma, altered their morphological characteristics so that in many instances they were indistinguishable from cells of younger mice. In older mice the formation of the internal callus progresses more rapidly than the formation of the external callus. This appears to be largely due to the proliferative response of the osteogenic cells within the intertrabecular spaces near the fractured ends. The over-all labeling of periosteal cells in older mice is less than that encountered in young mice.
Consumer Installment Credit: Identifying a Multiplicative Seasonal Model

Box-Jenkins models are subject to errors of identification, which makes caution advisable when interpreting articles that rely heavily on estimates from these models. This article provides a case study of one such instance, the modeling of consumer installment credit. The paper provides some guidance in identifying multiplicative seasonal Box-Jenkins models.
Consider the Context How State Policy Environments Shape Interest Group Advocacy

How are the disadvantaged represented in politics? Using an original survey of 204 advocacy groups in fourteen U.S. states, this research considers how state legislative and lobbying conditions sha...
An International Welfare Analysis of Inflation-Indexed Government Bonds

We analyze the introduction of an inflation-indexed government bond in a Markowitz framework of individual agent portfolio optimization. Our theoretical metric for the welfare gain is the percent increase in wealth required to make the investor indifferent between holding the benchmark set of risky assets only vs. the expanded set of assets, which includes the inflation-indexed government bond. This metric is estimated using data on real monthly rates of return on domestic and international assets from 1993-2003. Optimal portfolios are calculated for hypothetical investors in four developed countries (Canada, France, Sweden, and the United States) and two developing countries (Brazil and Mexico) before and after introduction of an inflation-indexed government bond. We find that risk averse investors based in Brazil and Mexico benefit more than risk tolerant investors from the introduction of inflation-indexed government bonds due to the high variability of real returns on existing nominal return assets. High inflation and exchange rate risk leads to less favorable investment opportunities when indexed debt is not present. In contrast, we find that gains in the four developed economies are largest when risk tolerance is highest, but these gains are dependent on the ability to engage in short-selling which may not be allowable or feasible if inflation-indexed debt is not sufficiently liquid. Otherwise, the developed country examples indicate that demand for indexed bonds will likely be low when inflation and exchange rate risk is low, and may explain why the main holders of such debt are insurance companies and pension plans.
Inhibiton of Furosemide Induced Increase in Renal Blood Flow by Indomethacin

SummaryThe ability of furosemide to increase RBF was found to be significantly inhibited by indomethacin. The implication of this observation is that the dilation of the renal vasculature produced by furosemide is mediated by prostaglandins. Inhibition of the synthesis of these agents by indomethacin inhibits the increase in RBF produced by furosemide.
Terahertz metamaterials: design, implementation, modeling and applications

Sub-wavelength metamaterial structures are of great fundamental and practical interest because of their ability to manipulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves. We review here our recent work on the design, simulation, implementation and equivalent circuit modeling of metamaterial devices operating at Terahertz frequencies. THz metamaterials exhibiting plasmon-induced transparency are realized through the hybridization of double split ring resonators on either silicon or flexible polymer substrates and exhibiting slow light properties. THz metamaterials perfect absorbers and stereometamaterials are realized with multifunctional specifications such as broadband absorbing, switching, and incident light polarization selectivity.
Experimental study of effects of Chinese bulbul extracts againsting Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Vitro

Objective:To observe Chinese bulbul extract againsting Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Vitro.Method:Mycobacterium Tuberculosis(H37RV),multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis and burgeoning Tuberculosis were respectively incubated in culture media with various content of the Chinese bulbul extract,blank control and positive control of TB medium The resules of growth of M.Tuberculosis were observed.Result:M.Tuberculosis was repressed in the culture medium with persisting to the end of the culture(40 d).The grain on the medium surface of 1∶10~1∶20 of Chinese bulbul extract can not be developed into bacterium.Conclusion:M.Tuberculosis could be killed in certain concentration of Chinese bulbul extract in vitro.it is unrecoverable exterminate action.
Development of Dendritic Cell-Based Genetic Vaccines for Cancer

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are an important component of the host’s immune response to cancer1,2. A number of genes encoding tumor-associated antigens (TAA) and their peptide products which are recognized by CTL in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules have recently been identified3,4. Our group has focused on the translation of these new insights into the development and application of novel immunotherapies.
Comparing International and American Students' Challenges: A Literature Review.

International student numbers have increased drastically in the past few years. International students provide benefits to universities and American students such as greater revenue, and more open-mindedness. There have been myriad studies that have examined the international student experience, but most have focused solely on international students. However, a careful examination of the current literature demonstrates that the presence of international students in the United States offers a variety of benefits to American students by improving cultural awareness, students’ self-evaluated skills, and even the American economy. This literature review highlights future research that should be performed as well as strategies that can be implemented by faculty and administration to help international students who are currently studying in the United States.
The Experiential Approach Scale: Development and Preliminary Psychometric Properties

Several measures of experiential avoidance have been developed in investigating how efforts to control unwanted private events may contribute to psychopathology. We sought to extend research on experiential control by developing and examining the psychometric properties of the Experiential Approach Scale (EAS) as a measure reflecting efforts to sustain desired affective states. An exploratory and 2 confirmatory analyses revealed a 2-factor structure comprised of Anxious Clinging and Experience Prolonging subscales. Further structural analyses supported a hierarchical model of experiential control, with experiential approach and experiential avoidance as first-order factors. Both EAS subscales demonstrated high internal reliability and temporal stability as well as sufficient convergent and divergent validity. Only Anxious Clinging was positively associated with measures of psychological distress and psychopathology and inversely related to subjective happiness and satisfaction with life. Suggestions for further research in the development of the EAS and its possible use in investigating experiential approach are discussed.
Single-Molecule Observation of a Mechanically Activated Cis-to-Trans Cyclopropane Isomerization

The mechanochemical activation of cis-gem-difluorocyclopropane (cis-gDFC) mechanophore in toluene was characterized with single-molecule force spectroscopy. Unlike previously reported behavior in methyl benzoate (MB), two transitions are observed in the force vs extension curves of cis-gDFC polymers in toluene. The first transition occurs at the same force of ∼1300 pN observed previously in MB, but a second transition is observed at forces of ∼1800 pN that reveal the partial formation of the trans-gDFC isomer. The behavior is attributed to competing reactions of the cis-gDFC at the 1300 pN plateau: addition of oxygen to a ring-opened diradicaloid intermediate, and isomerization of cis-gDFC to its trans isomer.
An Alternative Approach to Educating Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers: Meeting the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Youth

This chapter seeks to describe an alternative licensure program, Aggie Prep, developed to address the needs of underrepresented students in the Southwest. The aim of the program was to prepare culturally and linguistically responsive first-year teachers seeking secondary alternative certification in science or mathematics. We discuss how this innovative alternative licensure program for secondary STEM teachers utilizes a competency-based curriculum with a practice-based approach to strategically identify opportunities to integrate science, mathematics, literacy, and language instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse youth. We specifically outline the use of ongoing professional development in the form of coursework, field coaching, mentoring and targeted professional development. The program assists beginning teachers to (1) make science, mathematics and language learning accessible; (2) elevate content rigor; (3) plan with print and non-print text in mind; and (4) build collaborative learning environments with attention to integrated content, language and literacy through a contextualized science, mathematics, and engineering approach. An integral part of this approach was the emphasis on the use of engaging inquiry-based activities. We share how we support our students’ ability to reflect on the nature of content, how adolescents learn, and implement instructional best practices of science and mathematics that accommodate the language and learning needs of students in their classrooms.
Optical Transition and Diffraction Radiation Diagnostics for Relativistic Charged Particle Beams

Transition radiation (TR) and diffraction radiation (DR) are produced by charged particles passing through or by regions of variable permitivity. The perturbation of the field surrounding the charged particle causes a radiation field to be generated. The radiation eminates from the position of the particle as it crosses through or minimally impacts the boundary. TR’s spatial, angular and frequency distributions have been well characterized both theoretically and experimentally over a wide range of charged particle energies and wavelengths — from x-ray to radio wavelengths. The properties of TR reflect those of the particle(s) producing the radiation, so it is natural that TR has been successfully employed as a diagnostic for the energy, spatial profile, divergence and emittance of charged particle beams. One of the first applications of TR, and still one that is commonly used for high energy and nuclear physics experiments, is as a particle discriminator. This is accomplished utilizing the known dependence of intensity of the radiation in the x-ray regime with energy. In recent years the applications of TR to beam diagnostics, particularly in the optical and near IR portions of the spectrum, have grown tremendously. It is now possible using incoherent and coherent TR to characterize both the transverse and longitudinal phase space of a charged particle beam with high precision. In contrast to TR, diffraction radiation, despite its long theoretical history, has been little studied experimentally and its application to beam diagnostics has only recently been investigated. We review here the diagnostic applications of incoherent optical TR and DR to the measurement of the transverse phase space of relativistic electron beams, a subject in which we have been intimately involved over the last twenty years.
Constructing a Desiring User: Discourse, Rurality, and Design in Location-Based Social Networks

A growing body of literature addresses the use of Grindr and SCRUFF, location-based networking applications for gay, bisexual, and queer men. This study builds on that work, asking whose sexuality is produced in the design and use of these applications. Drawing from ethnographic research and discourse analysis, we build on analytical frames from science and technology studies, feminist HCI, and sexuality studies, proposing what we call the desiring user: a user whose desires and sexuality are mediated through technological devices in particular ways. In doing so, we demonstrate how the discursive constructions of the user put forth by the creators of Grindr and SCRUFF clash with the lived reality of our rural interlocutors. We address emerging themes in CSCW and HCI related to the construction of sexual subjectivities and social computing in rural settings.
Perceptions and attitudes about inclusion: Findings across all grade levels and years of teaching experience

AbstractKindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms is almost exclusively inclusive instructional settings. Supports for the regular education teachers vary as time and budgets permit, placing incre...
Culturally Responsive Reading Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities

As student populations are becoming more diverse in ability and ethnicity across American classrooms, teachers are faced with instructional challenges in meeting their students’ learning needs. Cha...
Selective Heavy Element Sensing with a Simple Host–Guest Fluorescent Array

A simple three component array of host-fluorophore complexes is capable of sensitive and selective discrimination of heavy metal ions, including lanthanide and actinide salts in aqueous solution. Instead of applying optical sensors that only use "single-mode" detection, i.e., coordination of the metal to a specific ligand and monitoring the change in emission of an appended fluorophore, we exploit a series of host-fluorophore complexes that are affected by the presence of small amounts of metal ions in aqueous solution in different ways. Variable host-metal and host-guest-metal interactions lead to both turn-on and turn-off fluorescence sensing mechanisms, enhancing the discriminatory properties of the array. The limit of detection for certain metals is as low as 70 nM, and highly similar metals such as lanthanides and actinides can be easily distinguished at low micromolar concentrations in complex salt mixtures.
Counseling the patient with sickle cell disease about reproduction: Pregnancy outcome does not justify the maternal risk!

Abstract A retrospective study of 35 HbSS and 15 HbSC pregnant patients was undertaken to illustrate the hazards to both mother and child of gestations associated with these hemoglobinopathies. It was found that these patients experienced a 10 to 14 per cent maternal mortality rate and a 51 to 55 per cent perinatal mortality rate. The fact that the mother, due to her illness, cannot care for the child, coupled with the poor medical health that the offspring themselves have if they too inherit the homozygous gene, provides additional support to the concept that some form of relief should be offered these women. Based on our figures and those of others, we advocate aggressive genetic counseling to the women which includes liberal surgical sterilization and primary abortion in certain cases.
Case 3610 Phelister Marseul, 1853 (Insecta, Coleoptera, HISTERIDAE): proposed conservation of usage

The purpose of this application, under Article 70.2 of the Code, is to conserve the current usage of the generic name Phelister Marseul, 1853 for a well-established genus of histerid beetles. Modern authors cite either Phelister haemorrhous Marseul, 1853 (designated by Kryzhanovskij & Reichardt, 1976) or Paromalus rouzeti Fairmaire 1850 (designated by Mazur, 1984) as the type species of Phelister. However, the correct, long-overlooked type species is Platysoma venustum LeConte, 1844, which is currently recognized as a valid species of Baconia Lewis, 1885. Acceptance of Platysoma venustum as the type species of Phelister would change the current concept of that genus to that of Baconia, and the species currently included in Phelister would require a new genus-group name as there are no junior synonyms from which to choose the next available name. To avoid the nomenclatural instability that would result from following the Principle of Priority, it is proposed that all type fixations for Phelister Marseul, 1853 preceding that of Phelister haemorrhous Marseul, 1853 by Kryzhanovskij & Reichardt (1976) be set aside.
Model Theoretic Consequences of the Distributive Laws

There are several algebraic properties which are satisfied only by certain complete Boolean algebras B but which have important consequences for the corresponding models V (B) , e.g., by Theorem 17.1 and Corollary 17.5, cardinals are preserved if B satisfies the c.c.c. In this section we will consider certain distributive laws.
Type III Hyperlipoproteinemia: A Focus on Lipoprotein Receptor-Apolipoprotein E2 Interactions

Type III hyperlipoproteinemia is a genetic abnormality characterized by elevated levels of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides and by the presence of cholesterol-enriched β-migrating very low density lipoproteins (β-VLDL). Patients suffering from this abnormality develop tuberous xanthomas and premature atherosclerosis. The expression of the disease depends upon the interaction of a known apoprotein genotype with other genetic and/or environmental factors; thus, type III hyperlipoproteinemia is an especially good model for furthering our understanding of the interplay of genetic and environmental factors in the regulation of lipoprotein metabolism and the development of atherosclerosis.
Monte Carlo Methods for Discrete Stochastic Optimization

In this paper we discuss the application of Monte Carlo techniques to discrete stochastic optimization problems. Particularly, we study two approaches: sample path methods, where the expectation in the objective function is replaced by a sample average approximation and the resulting deterministic problem is solved, and variable-sample techniques, in which the objective function is replaced, at each iteration, by a sample average approximation. For the former approach, we discuss convergence results based on large deviations theory and use those results to estimate a sample size that is sufficiently large to ensure that an e-optimal solution is obtained with specified probability. For the second approach — variable-sample techniques — we provide general results under which this type of method yields consistent estimators as well as bounds on the estimation error. Finally, we discuss an applications of this technique to a particular algorithm, the so-called simulated annealing method.
Evaluation of the Experience of Spoke Hospitals in an Academic Telestroke Network

Abstract Background/Introduction: Implementation of telestroke has been associated with improved thrombolysis rates and clinical outcomes in remote or neurologically underserved spoke hospitals. Ye...
IsaK-Static: A Complete Static Semantics of \(\mathbb {K}\)

\(\mathbb {K}\) [1] is a rewrite-based executable semantic framework in which programming languages, type systems and formal analysis tools can be defined using configurations, computations and rules. \(\mathbb {K}\) supports a module design for programming language specifications, with different language features separated in different modules. This is supported through a subsort system and \(\mathbb {K}\) features called localization and concision. By these features and other features, language specifications can be defined in \(\mathbb {K}\) effectively. In this paper we define a complete static semantics of \(\mathbb {K}\) named IsaK-Static, in the interactive theorem prover Isabelle/HOL [2], to study these features. Specially, it defines the full static behavior of \(\mathbb {K}\) a useful sort system for \(\mathbb {K}\) and suggests several undesirable behaviors in the current \(\mathbb {K}\) implementations (\(\mathbb {K}\) 3.6 and \(\mathbb {K}\) 4.0). To the best of our knowledge, IsaK-Static is the most complete of any existing \(\mathbb {K}\) specification. We also provide an OCaml based executable full \(\mathbb {K}\) interpreter generated automatically from the \(\mathbb {K}\) specification in Isabelle.
Comparative outcomes of patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm associated cancer (IPMN-Ca) to those with pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) following resection.

e15227 Background: IPMN-Ca is thought to have a better prognosis vs. PDAC. There is limited data comparing outcomes following surgical resection for IPMN-Ca vs. PDAC. Methods: Retrospective review ...
Robotic-Assisted Transabdominal Cerclage in a Triplet Pregnancy: Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract Background: Cervical insufficiency is one cause of preterm birth and its associated neonatal outcomes. Transabdominal cerclage is an option for women with cervical insufficiency and a hist...