cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Academic Processing Speed Mediates the Influence of Both Externalizing Behavior and Language Skills on the Academic Skills of Students with Emotional Disturbance

The results from previous research suggest that there is a relatively small (albeit statistically significant) relationship between the externalizing behavior and academic skills of students with emotional disturbance (ED). Researchers have also found that the majority of these students have language deficits that hinder their academic performance. The purposes of this study were to investigate the mediating role of academic processing speed (i.e., academic fluency) on the relationship between: (a) The externalizing behavior and academic skills of K-12 students with ED; and (b) language skills and academic skills of students with ED. Results indicate that academic processing speed mediated the influence of both language skills and externalizing behavior on academic skills of this population. The findings, limitations, and implications were discussed.
High P–T Nano-Mechanics of Polycrystalline Nickel

We have conducted highP–Tsynchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments as well as indentation measurements to study equation of state, constitutive properties, and hardness of nanocrystalline and bulk nickel. Our lattice volume–pressure data present a clear evidence of elastic softening in nanocrystalline Ni as compared with the bulk nickel. We show that the enhanced overall compressibility of nanocrystalline Ni is a consequence of the higher compressibility of the surface shell of Ni nanocrystals, which supports the results of molecular dynamics simulation and a generalized model of a nanocrystal with expanded surface layer. The analytical methods we developed based on the peak-profile of diffraction data allow us to identify “micro/local” yield due to high stress concentration at the grain-to-grain contacts and “macro/bulk” yield due to deviatoric stress over the entire sample. The graphic approach of our strain/stress analyses can also reveal the corresponding yield strength, grain crushing/growth, work hardening/softening, and thermal relaxation under highP–Tconditions, as well as the intrinsic residual/surface strains in the polycrystalline bulks. From micro-indentation measurements, we found that a low-temperature annealing (T < 0.4 Tm) hardens nanocrystalline Ni, leading to an inverse Hall–Petch relationship. We explain this abnormal Hall–Petch effect in terms of impurity segregation to the grain boundaries of the nanocrystalline Ni.
Overview of high-temperature batteries for geothermal and oil/gas borehole power sources

Batteries currently used as power supplies for measurement while drilling (MWD) equipment in boreholes for oil and gas exploration use a modified lithium/thionyl chloride technology. These batteries are limited to operating temperatures below 200 °C. At higher temperatures, the batteries and the associated electronics must be protected by a dewar. Sandia National Laboratories has been actively engaged in developing suitable alternative technologies for geothermal and oil/gas borehole power sources that are based on both ionic liquid and solid-state electrolytes. In this paper, we present the results of our studies to date and the directions of future efforts.
THE MISCONCEIVED PROBLEM OF INTERNATIONAL LIQUIDITY

INTERNATIONAL monetary specialists have long warned countries against disturbing the international economy by devaluing their currencies or imposing controls to cope with merely temporary balanceof-payments deficits. Instead, countries should "ride out" deficits until they disappear, meanwhile drawing on previously accumulated reserves of gold and foreign exchange. To forestall speculation based on fears of devaluation, the reserves should be more than ample.' This idea was embodied in the International Monetary Fund, the European Payments Union, and the European Fund, all designed to supplement national reserves with international drawing rights. Nowadays, worries about a shortage of international liquidity are commonly documented with statistics showing that total gold and foreign-exchange reserves have grown less than in proportion to world trade since some earlier period. Suggestions abound for remedying this shortage by raising the price of gold, by increasing the resources of the International Monetary Fund, or by other measures.2 The present paper is concerned neither with whether the sup-
DNA sequence analysis, gene product identification, and localization of flagellar motor components of Escherichia coli.

Abstract The Escherichia coli operon designated flaA contains seven flagellar genes; among them are two switch protein genes whose products are believed to interface with the motility and chemotaxis machinery of the cell. Complementation analysis using several plasmids carrying different portions of the flaA operon and analysis of expression of these plasmids in minicells allowed the identification of two flagellar gene products. The MotD (now called FliN) protein, a flagellar switch protein, was determined to have an apparent molecular weight of 16,000, and the FlaAI (FliL) protein, encoded by a previously unidentified gene, had an apparent molecular weight of 17,000. DNA sequence analysis of the motD gene revealed an open reading frame of 414 base pairs. There were two possible initiation codons (ATG) for motD translation, the first of which overlapped with the termination codon of the upstream gene, flaAII (fliN). The wild-type flaAI gene on the chromosome was replaced with a flaAI gene mutated in vitro. Loss of the flaAI gene product resulted in a nonmotile and nonflagellated phenotype. The subcellular location for both the MotD and FlaAI proteins was determined; the FlaAI protein partitioned exclusively in the insoluble fraction of a whole minicell sonic extract, whereas the MotD protein remained in both the soluble and insoluble fractions. In addition, we subcloned a 2.2-kilobase-pair DNA fragment capable of complementing the remaining four genes of the flaA operon (flbD [fliO], flaR [fliP], flaQ [fliQ], and flaP [fliR]).
Developing academic library decision support systems

This article describes an approach to designing decision support systems (DSSs) for academic library management. A DSS should be tailored to the unique task environment and individual preferences of a particular manager. Such a system extends the decision-making capabilities of a manager by supplementing judgment and experience with computer technology. The development of a DSS for academic libraries, which enables a manager to retrieve profiles of user productivity, resource utilization, and resource availability is explored. A database schema is presented which relates various database components for management reporting. Finally, consideration is given to implementing the user productivity, resource utilization, and resource availability subsystems in progressive stages.
Prompting patron safety belt use at a supermarket.

We used a reversal (ABAB) design to assess the effects of a personal prompt on safety belt usage by grocery store patrons. A personal prompt delivered by grocery carriers resulted in a 12% increase in the number of patrons exiting the parking lot with their safety belts buckled. This simple, low-cost intervention offers potential savings to society from increased safety belt use.
Institution-wide reform of undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering and technology

Rensselaer has been engaged in the development of innovative approaches to undergraduate education over the past five years with faculty leadership, often from very senior faculty members. These innovations have led to the introduction of the Studio courses to replace the large introductory lecture-based courses in science and engineering with a format that is far more integrated, incorporates technology, and is a better learning environment for students and a better teaching environment for faculty. Lecture, recitation, and laboratory are combined into one facility, the studio, where hands-on interactive learning sessions are conducted by the faculty. We have undertaken a systematic restructuring of our curriculum that has involved collaborations with many other campuses and educational and industrial leaders. The campus-wide process team on the introductory curriculum, "The Crossing the Threshold Team", recommended that all introductory courses move into these interactive formats over the next few years. We are now implementing the Comprehensive Curriculum Reform program that will lead to the reanalysis of each undergraduate major. This is often referred to as the 4/spl times/4 program since the goal is a flexible program of four courses of four contact hours each as the standard student load. This program was proposed by the campus-wide process team on "The Design and Delivery of Curriculum", and was approved unanimously by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee and ratified by the entire Senate.
Bone mineral content in girls perinatally infected with HIV

Background: Early diagnostic efforts and advances in multidrug therapy have considerably prolonged the survival time of children infected perinatally with HIV. Despite these advances, few studies have addressed calcium status and bone growth in HIV-infected children. Objective: Our objective was to examine the effect of HIV infection on calcium status and bone growth in children. Design: We measured calcitropic hormones, urinary calcium excretion, bone mineral content, and body composition in 19 young girls aged 9.2 ± 2.6 y (range: 5.9-15.2 y) who were infected perinatally with HIV. Results: Serum concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH) 2 D] and parathyroid hormone concentrations were elevated above normal ranges in 25% and 12% of these girls, respectively, Urinary calcium excretion normalized for creatinine excretion was also elevated (Ca/Cr >0.18) in 17% of these children despite suboptimal calcium intakes (679 ± 437 mg/d) Total-body bone mineral content, measured with the use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, averaged 845.1 ± 279.0 g and was on average 2.7 z scores below age- and race-matched values reported in non-HIV-infected healthy girls. Significant positive correlations were found between an indirect marker of bone resorption in urine (N-telopeptide) and 1,25(OH) 2 D (P < 0.02, r 2 = 0.586, n = 9), and between serum N-telopeptide and total alkaline phosphatase (P < 0.001, r2 = 0.541, n = 17), suggesting that calcium insufficiency may be increasing bone resorption in this group. Conclusions: Young girls with HIV infection had low bone mass and evidence of calcium insufficiency. Nutritional counseling of children with HIV infection should emphasize adequate calcium intakes because of the importance of this age period in bone mineral acquisition.
Facial feature detection with optimal pixel reduction SVM

Automatic facial feature localization has been a long-standing challenge in the field of computer vision for several decades. This can be explained by the large variation a face in an image can have due to factors such as position, facial expression, pose, illumination, and background clutter. Support Vector Machines (SVMs) have been a popular statistical tool for facial feature detection. Traditional SVM approaches to facial feature detection typically extract features from images (e.g. multiband filter, SIFT features) and learn the SVM parameters. Independently learning features and SVM parameters might result in a loss of information related to the classification process. This paper proposes an energy-based framework to jointly perform relevant feature weighting and SVM parameter learning. Preliminary experiments on standard face databases have shown significant improvement in speed with our approach.
Three dimensional computer animation of kinematic data

The authors describe a 3-D computer animation of kinematic data with superimposed center of gravity and force vectors on a wire-like figure. This animation is used to provide ease in visualizing kinematic and kinetic data obtained by the motion analysis system at the Biomotion Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. The animation permits qualitative assessment of data validity. In conjunction with the time histories of calculated parameters, the occurrence of events of interest can be detected, and the validity of the parameters can be checked. >
Solid-phase nano-extraction and laser-excited time-resolved Shpol’skii spectroscopy for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in drinking water samples

Abstract A unique method for screening polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in drinking water samples is reported. Water samples (500 μl) are mixed and centrifuged with 950 μl of a commercial solution of 20 nm gold nanoparticles for pollutants extraction. The precipitate is treated with 2 μl of 1-pentanethiol and 48 μl of n -octane, and the supernatant is then analyzed via laser-excited time-resolved Shpol’skii spectroscopy. Fifteen priority pollutants are directly determined at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K) with the aid of a cryogenic fiber-optic probe. Unambiguous pollutant determination is carried out via spectral and lifetime analysis. Limits of detection are at the parts-per-trillion level. Analytical recoveries are similar to those obtained via high-performance liquid chromatography. The simplicity of the experimental procedure, use of microliters of organic solvent, short analysis time, selectivity, and excellent analytical figures of merit demonstrate the advantages of this environmentally friendly approach for routine analysis of numerous samples.
Improved performance in CuInSe/sub 2/ and surface-modified CuGaSe/sub 2/ solar cells

In this paper, we present an update and review on the progress made in the development of low-bandgap CuInSe/sub 2/ (CIS) and wide-bandgap CuGaSe/sub 2/ (CGS) solar cells. Our research project is primarily concerned with the optimization of the bottom and top cells of the tandem solar cell. This past year, we established new record total-area efficiencies of 15.0% and 10.2% for CIS and surface-modified CGS solar cells, respectively. These achievements were possible by modifying the growth process for CIS and CGS absorbers. We attempt to modify the surface region of the CGS absorber to be CIGS-like in composition. We also have designed a mechanical-stacked tandem solar cell where the 15% CIS cell serves as the bottom cell and transparent CdTe cell serves as the top cell. The NREL-confirmed total-area efficiency for this CdTe/CIS tandem device is 15.31%.
In-situ μ-raman spectroscopy in femtosecond irradiated material

An in-situ μ-Raman spectroscope is presented. The possibilities of obtaining Raman spectra at various pump frequencies without an expensive ultra-notch filter is discussed, including measurements of various materials like chalcogenide glasses, telluride glasses and semiconductors.
A block-based evolutionary optimization strategy to investigate gene-gene interactions in genetic association studies

Multi-locus interactions in genetic association studies are believed to influence the heritability of a number of common diseases. In this study, we propose a discrete optimization strategy to improve the power and computational efficiency of multi-locus association analysis. We implemented an adaptive evolutionary algorithm in combination with a linkage disequilibrium-based discretization approach to reduce the need for exhaustive search for combinations by taking advantage of inherent genomic structure. The method was applied to several simulated disease models as well as to a real genome-wide association study. The results indicate that our method performs as well as or better than the most powerful competing methods for detecting true interactions, and it achieves this performance with improved computational efficiency.
Is Choice Important in Distance Learning? A Study of Student Motives for Taking Internet-Based Courses at the High School and Community College Levels

AbstractAs distance learning (DL) delivery systems become more popular, institutions must make decisions about the extent to which face-to face (FTF) courses and degree programs can and should be replaced by DL. To begin examining the implications of removing the variable of choice and offering DL-only programs, this study gathered data on factors that motivate community college and virtual high school students to choose online or traditional course formats. Findings indicatt that, for students who chose DL, control over pace and timing of learning was more important; for students who chose FTF courses, interaction with instructor and students was paramount.
Modulation instability of continuous wave optical parametric oscillators

Optical parametric oscillators exhibit a temporal modulation instability which can prevent single-longitudinal-mode operation above a certain pumping ratio. We analyze this instability and show how it can be suppressed with an intracavity etalon.
Sensing phosphatase activity by using gold nanoparticles

Asensitiveassaytoreportchangeofthephosphorylationstatewillbeextremely valuable for biomedical applications. As thechemical difference in the process is only a phosphategroup,developingasimpleandsensitiveassayischallenging.Hereinwepresentanoveldesignofagold-nanoparticle-basedcolorimetricassaytodetectphosphataseactivity.Goldnanoparticles(Au-NP)haveinterestingopticalandelectronicproperties,thatis,astrongsurfaceplasmonresonanceataround520nminaqueoussolutions,whichisattributedtocollectiveoscillationsofsurfaceelectronsinducedbyincom-ingvisiblelight.
Effect of Colloidal Carriers on the Disposition and Tissue Uptake of Doxorubicin: I. Conjugation with Oxidized Dextran Particles

AbstractDextrans are water soluble polymers of glucose, with varying molecular weights. The free hydroxyl groups offer attractive sites for conjugation of drugs with the potential for altering the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug. Doxorubicin is a useful anticancer drug with cardiotoxicity as its most serious side effect. This drug was conjugated to dextran in the following manner. A Schiffs base was formed by incubating oxidized dextran (generated using sodium periodate) with doxorubicin. This mixture was then reduced using sodium borohydride. The conjugates, in the size range of 20 nm, were studied in vitro for the maximum uptake and the release of the drug. In vivo, the conjugates showed a markedly altered disposition profile from the control group. The total body clearance of the drug associated with the conjugate decreased. Additionally, lower concentrations of the drug were found in the heart of animals treated with the conjugates indicating the possibility of reduced cardiotoxicity.
Striation Formation in Ti-doped Y3Al5O12 Fibers Grown by the Laser Heated Floating Zone Method

Microscopic dopant distribution has been investigated in 1 mm-diameter single crystal fibers of Ti-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) grown by a laser heated floating zone (LHFZ) method. In the fibers, a periodic fluctuation in the Ti dopant concentration has been observed along the growth direction, and striations, attributed to variation in dopant concentration, were seen across the diameter of the fiber by two dimensional mapping using an electron probe microanalyser. The dopant concentration was found to vary by as much as 30% from average levels with a spacing of the order of 20 μm. Microscopic inhomogeneities of Ti are discussed in relation to growth conditions with emphasis on crystal/feed rotation. Effects to minimize segregation effects by annealing are reported.
An Analysis of Communication-Related Occupations in Alabama

Nine communication-related occupations in Alabama are analyzed in terms of employment, wages, and location for 2007 and 2012. The communication occupations examined are public relations managers, post-secondary communication teachers, radio and television announcers, broadcast news analysts, reporters and correspondents, public relations specialists, editors, technical writers, and writers and authors. Employment analysis found employment in the field declined 9 percent in Alabama over the study period, three metropolitan areas account for 54 percent of employment, and technical writers are the fastest growing occupation. Wage analysis found Alabama wages 55 to 86 percent of the national average, with Huntsville having the highest and fastest growing wages. Location analysis found technical writers and broadcast news analysts the dominant communication occupations in the state. An economic base analysis found that the 6,090 Alabama-based communication jobs produced total annual wages of $299 million in 2012, of which 583 job are in excess of local needs generating $23 million in additional wages.
The Electrical Behavior of Grain Boundaries in Silicon

Despite the fact that lattice imaging studies have shown that grain boundaries in group IV semiconductors often have structures which are complicated and inhomogeneous on the scale of tens-tohundreds of angstroms, simple theories assuming uniform double depletion layers have recently been shown to successfully predict many of the majority carrier transport properties of these defects. On the other hand our knowledge of the interaction of grain boundaries with minority carriers is in a considerably more primitive state. I will describe recent attempts to understand the effects of illumination on grain boundary potential barrier heights and the influence of these defects on the optically generated minority carrier population. Quantifying this latter interaction is particularly important in estimating the performance of polycrystalline solar cells. Simple but elegant scanned excitation measurements for measuring s, the minority carrier recombination velocity at grain boundaries, will be reviewed. I will discuss recent measurements of s as a function of temperature and illumination intensity and show how these data can be correlated with zero-bias impedance measurements.
Ultra-low-Volume Insecticide Trials For Diapause Boll Weevil Control

Trials with insecticides applied at ultra-low-volume rates were conducted during 1968 and 1969 in Kent County, Texas, and during 1970 in Lawrence County, Mississippi, to evaluate the effectiveness of 9 different insecticides or formulations for diapause Anthonomus grandis Boheman control. Malathion was used as the standard material since it is widely used in reproductive-diapause boll weevil Control programs. The differences between boll weevil populations among treatments were not significant in the 1968 and 1970 trials. In the 1969 test, azinphosmethyl ULV and LC applied undiluted reduced adult populations significantly below that of other materials.
Humanity, Teamwork, and Art in Post-Earthquake Nepal

After the earthquake, when a three-bed clinic in Pheriche, Nepal, received the wounded from Everest Base Camp, the community joined together to care for them as well as possible, without subspecialty care, blood products, and most imaging diagnostics.
Nostra Aetate in Boston

Historians and theologians are just now concluding observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. As that event begins to cross over the invisible line that separates the present from the past, it is entirely appropriate that scholars take stock of its meaning. Few would deny its significance for the Catholic Church itself, an importance that derives in part from the fact that it was a rare and unusual occurrence. When it convened in the fall of 1962, the last general council of the church had been held almost one hundred years before, and the last general council before that had been three hundred years earlier. When an event happens only a couple of times over the course of four hundred years, something big is likely to come of it. Within the Catholic Church, Vatican II obviously had tremendous impact, initiating major changes in religious practice and also in some important understandings of theology. In practice, the changes were evident for all Catholics to see, every time they went to Mass on Sunday. The altar had been pulled away from the back wall of the church, and the priest stood behind it, facing the congregation and speaking in their own language, rather than the Latin of centuries. The people were expected to respond aloud to his invitations to prayer and, alarmingly to some, they were even expected to sing, though many stoutly resisted all encouragement that they do so. In theology, the Council brought the reformulation of some traditional concepts and understandings. Others are more qualified to speak of this than I am (I am a historian, not a theologian), but the council’s adoption of the “People of God” as the governing metaphor for the church had tremendous significance. Here was a fundamentally democratic rather than hierarchical definition, a new way in which the church talked about itself. Words and images really do matter. The premier American historian of the Council, John O’Malley, S.J., has written that the real “revolution” of Vatican II was as much rhetorical as anything else. The pastoral language of the Council’s documents and their “soft” style conveyed deep meaning. The use of “horizontalwords,” of “humility-words,” of “interiority-words”—here was the key to grasping the real meaning of the gathering for Catholics. 1
The Ethics of Immersive Journalism: A rhetorical analysis of news storytelling with virtual reality technology

This paper provides background on and raises ethical challenges in regard to virtual reality technology as a journalistic tool. The realistic and empathy-generating nature of 360-degree filmed news story experiences arguably changes the role and responsibilities of both the journalist and the viewer participating in the story. Using Clouds Over Sidra, an award-winning long-form VR documentary as the model for analysis, this paper examines how VR may change cultural communication. The influence and impact this new medium may have are important to examine for its impact on the way that subjects portray, journalists capture, and consumers learn about news.
TNF, BCG, and the Proteasome in Autoimmunity: An Overview of the Pathways & Results of a Phase I Study in Type 1 Diabetes

The success of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) in a recent clinical trial of patients with established type 1 diabetes was the result of a 20-year quest to understand the pathophysiology of this disease. BCG, which acts by inducing tumor necrosis factor (TNF), is a targeted therapy that selectively kills the autoreactive CD8 T cells responsible for the underlying immune attack against insulin-secreting pancreatic islet cells. BCG also expands beneficial regulatory T cells (Tregs). TNF selectively kills autoreactive cells because they cannot mobilize the pro-survival transcription factor NF-κB. This is due to a series of signaling defects, including a defective proteasome in some models of autoimmunity. The defective proteasome and deficient expression of other major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I assembly genes prevent cleavage of self-peptides and their assembly onto class I structures for T cell education. The failure of class I self-peptide presentation during T cell education allows escape of autoreactive T cells into the circulation. BCG, the first immunotherapy to be tested in patients with advanced diabetes, is responsible for a transient rise in insulin production in a pancreas that was long presumed dead. This reveals that the pancreas still retains some regenerative capacity long after disease onset.
Stakeholders' Perspectives on Stakeholder-engaged Research (SER): Strategies to Operationalize Patient-centered Outcomes Research Principles for SER.

Background:US federal funding agencies increasingly incentivize stakeholder-engaged research which represents a paradigm shift toward incorporating a range of stakeholders in research design, conduct, and dissemination.Objectives:We use qualitative methods to capture experience-based recommendations
Performance characterization of a whole body PET system designed for dynamic cardiac imaging

Specifications were developed for a PET (positron emission tomography) system that emphasizes high-count-rate performance and is specifically designed for the estimation of myocardial perfusion using oxygen-15 water and dynamic imaging protocols. The seven-slice CsF detector array is a one-on-one configuration, and has a reconstructed FOV (field of view) of 52 cm and an axial FOV of 10.7 cm. Wobble and axial translation are used. The gantry and associated electronics were interfaced to a new computer system, data collection and image reconstruction software was developed and the performance of the system was characterized with phantom, animal, and human studies. The system sensitivity is 136000 cts/s/ mu Ci/cm/sup 3/ and the reconstructed resolution is better than 9 mm. Imaging a 20-cm uniform phantom with 4.3 mu Ci/cm/sup 3/, the system collects a total rate of 1.57 Mcts/s with a loss fraction of 0.72 and a ratio of randoms/trues of 0.64. >
Traumas of Belonging: Imagined Communities of Nation, Religion, and Gender in Modernity

What is the trauma of belonging? Arguing that the trauma of belonging is fruitfully explored in non-Western contexts, I argue that postcolonial nations such as India experienced originary trauma as the emergence of two nations followed a colonial framework for national identity based on religious and communitarian difference. Belonging to a postcolonial nation, however, continues the originary trauma. Thus, “independence” from the colonial master created different channels for continuing trauma, including the trauma of belonging as a minority in one or the other nation. This essay adds to the burgeoning literature that tracks historical trauma and its present emanations to critique contemporary Eurocentric trauma studies. The essay also advances a proposal for an interdisciplinary engagement for trauma studies and theology.
Perspectives on the Meaning of Community

Implementing effective policies and healthy community practices requires an understanding of what we mean by the term “community.” Key characteristics include interdependence, mutual responsibility, commitment, and attachment. Community takes many forms, including communities of place, groups of living things in an ecosystem, and communities of people. It can also be analyzed from multiple perspectives, including community in contrast to individualism, bonding and bridging social capital, and race, class, and diversity.
Administrative Databases Can Yield False Conclusions—An Example of Obesity in Total Joint Arthroplasty

Abstract Background Research using large administrative databases has substantially increased in recent years. Accuracy with which comorbidities are represented in these databases has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of errors in obesity coding and its impact on arthroplasty research. Methods Eighteen thousand thirty primary total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) and 10,475 total hip arthroplasties (THAs) performed at a single healthcare system from 2004-2014 were included. Patients were classified as obese or nonobese using 2 methods: (1) body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m 2 and (2) international classification of disease, 9th edition codes. Length of stay, operative time, and 90-day complications were collected. Effect of obesity on various outcomes was analyzed separately for both BMI- and coding-based obesity. Results From 2004 to 2014, the prevalence of BMI-based obesity increased from 54% to 63% and 40% to 45% in TKA and THA, respectively. The prevalence of coding-based obesity increased from 15% to 28% and 8% to 17% in TKA and THA, respectively. Coding overestimated the growth of obesity in TKA and THA by 5.6 and 8.4 times, respectively. When obesity was defined by coding, obesity was falsely shown to be a significant risk factor for deep vein thrombosis (TKA), pulmonary embolism (THA), and longer hospital stay (TKA and THA). Conclusion The growth in obesity observed in administrative databases may be an artifact because of improvements in coding over the years. Obesity defined by coding can overestimate the actual effect of obesity on complications after arthroplasty. Therefore, studies using large databases should be interpreted with caution, especially when variables prone to coding errors are involved.
Separating key less weil-known properties of drive profiles that affect lithium-ion battery aging by applying the statistical design of experiments

This work investigates how the aging of lithium-ion batteries is influenced by several less well-known properties of different vehicle drive profiles. It is demonstrated that the RMS current value is a statistically significant aging factor for the case of dynamic drive profiles, extending the results of previous work that focused on steady-state discharge current waveforms. In addition, a quantitative analysis procedure is developed to facilitate the separation of aging factors and to analyze their individual and mutual effects. Strong statistical evidence is presented to support the importance of the interaction between the RMS current value and the battery discharge temperature on aging characteristics. The impact of these outcomes on designing battery systems that include provisions for reducing the AC content of the battery current as a function of the battery operating temperature are discussed.
On-farm conditions that compromise animal welfare that can be monitored at the slaughter plant

Handling and stunning at slaughter plants has greatly improved through the use of numerical scoring. The purpose of this paper is to encourage the use of numerical scoring systems at the slaughter plants to assess conditions that compromise welfare that occurred either during transport or on the farm. Some of the transport problems that can be assessed are bruises, death losses, and injured animals. Welfare issues that occurred on the farm that can be assessed at the abattoir are body condition, lameness, lesions, injuries, animal cleanliness and internal pathology. There are important welfare issues that cannot be assessed at slaughter. They are on-farm euthanasia methods, use of analgesics during surgeries, and the type of animal housing systems. Welfare evaluations at slaughter have the potential to greatly improve welfare.
"Asleep" Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery: A Critical Review of the Literature.

Objective Although performing deep brain stimulation (DBS) with the patient under general anesthesia without microelectrode recording (MER) or intraoperative test stimulation (ITS) for movement disorders (“asleep” DBS) has become increasingly popular, its feasibility is based on the untested assumption that stereotactic accuracy correlates with positive clinical outcomes. To investigate outcomes after asleep DBS without MER or neurophysiological testing, we reviewed the medical literature on the topic. Methods We searched PubMed to identify all studies reporting clinical outcomes for patients who underwent DBS without MER or ITS for Parkinson disease (PD) or essential tremor (ET). Results We identified 9 studies with level 3b (n = 3) or level 4 evidence (n = 6). Eight PD studies (220 patients) reported asleep placement of 431 electrodes (341 subthalamic nucleus, 90 globus pallidus interna). Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor examination−III scores for 208 patients demonstrated significant improvement (40.2%−65%) at 6–12 months. The levodopa equivalent daily dose for 115 patients was significantly reduced (14%−49.3%) at 6–12 months in 103 patients. Two studies with a comparison cohort undergoing “awake” DBS with MER found no differences in postoperative Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale−III improvement or levodopa equivalent daily dose reduction. One study of asleep DBS for ET found no difference in functional outcomes between 17 patients undergoing asleep ventral intermediate nucleus DBS and 40 patients undergoing awake placement with ITS. Conclusions Initial evidence suggests that asleep DBS can be performed safely for PD and ET with good clinical outcomes. Long-term follow-up, larger cohorts, and double-armed studies are needed to validate these initial results.
Nonlinear Fault Diagnosis of Differential/Algebraic Systems

Abstract This paper investigates the problem of health monitoring and robust fault diagnosis in systems described by coupled Differential and Algebraic Equations (DAE). The main objective is the development of numerically feasible on-line approximation schemes for robust and stable fault diagnosis of DAE systems. The proposed fault diagnosis architecture monitors the physical system for any off-nominal behavior using nonlinear modeling techniques and learning algorithms. The on-line approximation scheme is utilized not only to detect but also to provide a model of any faults, which is useful for fault isolation, identification and accommodation. The stability and robustness properties of the fault diagnosis scheme are investigated.
Complementation Between Defective Oncogenic Viruses

Complementation involves functional interaction between two viruses which results in replication under normally inhibitory conditions. A virus which requires complementation for replication is usually defective in some portion of its genome. However, some viruses competent to grow unilaterally in one cell may be incompetent in a second cell and thus require a second virus to furnish help for some step in the replicative cycle. Though complementation has been studied extensively with bacterial viruses (2, 20, 40, 43) and with one plant virus (15, 33), relatively few such studies have been carried out with animal viruses.
Developmental patterns and variation among early theropods.

Understanding ontogenetic patterns is important in vertebrate paleontology because the assessed skeletal maturity of an individual often has implications for paleobiogeography, species synonymy, paleobiology, and body size evolution of major clades. Further, for many groups the only means of confidently determining ontogenetic status of an organism is through the destructive process of histological sampling. Although the ontogenetic patterns of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs are better understood, knowledge of the ontogeny of the earliest dinosaurs is relatively poor because most species-level growth series known from these groups are small (usually, maximum of n ~ 5) and incomplete. To investigate the morphological changes that occur during ontogeny in early dinosaurs, I used ontogenetic sequence analysis (OSA) to reconstruct developmental sequences of morphological changes in the postcranial ontogeny of the early theropods Coelophysis bauri and Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis, both of which are known from large sample sizes (n = 174 and 182, respectively). I found a large amount of sequence polymorphism (i.e. intraspecific variation in developmental patterns) in both taxa, and especially in C. bauri, which possesses this variation in every element analyzed. Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis is similar, but it possesses no variation in the sequence of development of ontogenetic characters in the tibia and tarsus. Despite the large amount of variation in development, many characters occur consistently earlier or later in ontogeny and could therefore be important morphological features for assessing the relative maturity of other early theropods. Additionally, there is a phylogenetic signal to the order in which homologous characters appear in ontogeny, with homologous characters appearing earlier or later in developmental sequences of early theropods and the close relatives of dinosaurs, silesaurids. Many of these morphological features are important characters for the reconstruction of archosaurian phylogeny (e.g. trochanteric shelf). Because these features vary in presence or appearance with ontogeny, these characters should be used with caution when undertaking phylogenetic analyses in these groups, since a specimen may possess certain character states owing to ontogenetic stage, not evolutionary relationships.
Millennials and Race in the 2016 Election

In addition to being the most racially and ethnically diverse generation, millennials comprised an equal number of the voting-eligible population as baby boomers in 2016 and are projected to become the largest share of the American voting-eligible population by 2018. Drawing from several distinct datasets, this study explores three primary topics: (1) examining how race influenced the vote choice of millennials in the 2016 presidential election; (2) comparing partisanship and vote choice among white millennials to older whites; and (3) identifying differences between white millennials who voted in 2016 to those who did not cast a ballot. The study finds that young whites are the outlier category of their age group; being white is associated with a higher probability of voting for Donald Trump, even when accounting for the effects of racial resentment, partisanship, ideology, and other factors. While white millennials appear conservative relative to their peers of color, however, the preferences of young whites are more Democratic than older whites. Non-voting white millennials are more likely than their voting counterparts to identify as independents and ideological moderates, making them a political swing bloc as white millennials age. While political observers are quick to point to the liberal-leaning preferences of young people as a whole, disaggregating the 18–30 age group by race as this study suggests that the Democratic preferences displayed by millennials in the aggregate are largely driven by the cohort's racial and ethnic diversity.
Theodore Keeler’s analysis of the early effects of deregulation of US transportation industries

Abstract This chapter examines Theodore Keeler’s views, analyses, and early predictions regarding regulation and regulatory reform of airlines, railroads, and motor carriers. It highlights the importance of Ted Keeler’s applied (as opposed to theoretical) approach, his contributions to the theory of regulation and regulatory change, and the general accuracy of his short- and long-term predictions of the impacts of regulatory change in these industries. Contrasting views on the role of regulation at the time when Keeler started studying the transportation industries are explored, as well as the role that Keeler played in more fully integrating the political support view of regulation with consumer and production theory. The chapter also briefly describes the problems in aviation and surface freight transportation during the regulatory era, the tone of regulatory change in those industries, Ted Keeler’s early assessments of deregulation, and developments in those industries since those early assessments.
Heterosexual College Students Who Hookup with Same-Sex Partners

Individuals who identify as heterosexual but engage in same-sex sexual behavior fascinate both researchers and the media. We analyzed the Online College Social Life Survey dataset of over 24,000 undergraduate students to examine students whose last hookup was with a same-sex partner (N = 383 men and 312 women). The characteristics of a significant minority of these students (12% of men and 25% of women) who labelled their sexual orientation "heterosexual" differed from those who self-identified as "homosexual," "bisexual," or "uncertain." Differences among those who identified as heterosexual included more conservative attitudes, less prior homosexual and more prior heterosexual sexual experience, features of the hookups, and sentiments about the encounter after the fact. Latent class analysis revealed six distinctive "types" of heterosexually identified students whose last hookup was with a same-sex partner. Three types, comprising 60% of students, could be classified as mostly private sexual experimentation among those with little prior same-sex experience, including some who did not enjoy the encounter; the other two types in this group enjoyed the encounter, but differed on drunkenness and desire for a future relationship with their partner. Roughly, 12% could be classified as conforming to a "performative bisexuality" script of women publicly engaging in same-sex hookups at college parties, and the remaining 28% had strong religious practices and/or beliefs that may preclude a non-heterosexual identity, including 7% who exhibited "internalized heterosexism." Results indicate several distinctive motivations for a heterosexual identity among those who hooked up with same-sex partners; previous research focusing on selective "types" excludes many exhibiting this discordance.
Empires of Ancient Eurasia: The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE – 250 CE

The Silk Roads are the symbol of the interconnectedness of ancient Eurasian civilizations. Using challenging land and maritime routes, merchants and adventurers, diplomats and missionaries, sailors and soldiers, and camels, horses and ships, carried their commodities, ideas, languages and pathogens enormous distances across Eurasia. The result was an underlying unity that traveled the length of the routes, and which is preserved to this day, expressed in common technologies, artistic styles, cultures and religions, and even disease and immunity patterns. In words and images, Craig Benjamin explores the processes that allowed for the comingling of so many goods, ideas, and diseases around a geographical hub deep in central Eurasia. He argues that the first Silk Roads era was the catalyst for an extraordinary increase in the complexity of human relationships and collective learning, a complexity that helped drive our species inexorably along a path towards modernity.
Hit or Miss: Sensor Design via Scaled Collision Theory

AbstractThe working characteristics of targeted surface sensing systems—such as fluid velocity and concentration limits—have mostly been explored through experimental trials. Here we develop a nove...
Plant life of western North American ultramafics

In Western North America, ultramafics occur with decreasing abundance from California, Oregon, Washington, to British Columbia. All the occurrences are now considered parts of ophiolite suites, and are associated with the north-south trending cordilleras and their plate tectonics. The greatest concentrations of ultramafics, mostly as serpentinized peridotite, are in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.
A Twenty Year Summary of FDA Animal Safety Testing of Contraceptive Steroids

I think it is useful to present a little history. In 1962, the Kefauver-Harris Amendments were enacted and a new approach to the drug approval process was implemented. That approach included a formalized investigational new drug application. As part of that program there were suggestions made that certain preclinical tests be performed before the Phase I studies of the IND could be initiated.
fMPE-MAP: improved discriminative adaptation for modeling new domains.

Maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation and its discriminative variants, such as MMI-MAP (maximum mutual information MAP) and MPE-MAP (minimum phone error MAP), have been widely applied to acoustic model adaptation. This paper introduces a new adaptation approach, fMPE-MAP, which is an extension to the original fMPE (feature minimum phone error) algorithm, with the enhanced ability in porting Gaussian models and fMPE transforms to a new domain. We applied this approach to the SRI-ICSI 2007 NIST meeting recognition system, for which we ported our conversational telephone speech (CTS) and broadcast news (BN) models to the meeting domain. Experiments showed that the proposed fMPE-MAP approach has comparable or better performance than simply training the fMPE transform on combined data, in addition to the obvious speed advantage. In combination with MPE-MAP, we obtained about 20% relative word error rate reduction on a lecture meeting evaluation test set, over the models trained with the standard MAP approach.
Titanium binary alloys

Binary alloys of titanium with silver, lead, tin, nickel, copper, beryllium, boron, silicon, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, vanadium, iron, and cobalt were studied. One-half-pound ingots of the alloys were prepared in an arc furnace, employing a water-cooled copper crucible, an argon atmosphere, and a water-cooled tungsten electrode. The half-pound ingots were fabricated by forging at 1700°F in air to 1/4-in. slab, followed by hot rolling at 1450°F to 0.060-in. sheet. Tensile properties, minimum bend radii, hardnesses, response to heat treatment and aging treatment, and phase relationships were determined for these alloys.