cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chlorination of Cooling Tower and the Control of Legionella

Objective To evaluate the bactericidal effect of chlorine in killing Legionella in water cooling towers. Methods A large cooling tower was selected in this study. Two different protocols of disinfection were evaluated: (1) by keep on adding the disinfectant chlorine and (2) by adding chlorine once a week. The number of Legionella in the cooling water was determined daily. Results In the first protocol, when the concentration of available chlorine was kept at(0.38±0.23)mg/L,the number of Legionella did not change obviously (0.85±1.52～0.81±1.56)cfu/ml. In the second protocol,when chlorine was added once a week, the number of Legionella was increasing. The concentration of Legionella was found to increase 100～1 000 times(0.12±0.11～322.22±130.17) cfu/ml at 1 week after the experiment. Conclusion Maintaining the concentration of chlorine in water cooling tower is essential in controlling the growth Legionella.
Single Axioms and Axiom-Pairs for the Implicational Fragments of \(\mathbf {R}\), R-Mingle, and Some Related Systems

Various axiom sets for the implicational fragments \(\mathbf {R}_\rightarrow \) and \(\mathbf {RM}_\rightarrow \) of \(\mathbf {R}\) and of R-Mingle have appeared in the literature over the last six-and-a-half decades, some of them in other guises well before the full systems with \(\sim \), &, and \(\vee \) were even introduced. Most such sets are comprised of three or four axioms. For other logics of pure implication, the historical progression has typically been from longer axiom sets to the discovery of deductively equivalent two- and one-axiom bases. This paper continues in that pattern, presenting such bases for \(\mathbf {R}_\rightarrow \) and \(\mathbf {RM}_\rightarrow \). Along the way, new axiom pairs and new single axioms are given for a number of other implicational logics as well, some in the paper itself and many in the Appendix attached to it. Prominent among these is C.A. Meredith’s system \(\mathbf {BCI}\). Though single axioms for \(\mathbf {BCI}\) are of independent interest, one of them in particular also plays an invaluable role in the construction of those provided here for implicational \(\mathbf {R}\) and R-Mingle.
The International System and Recognition of Governments

In the Westphalian system of independent states that was spread from Europe to the rest of the world, recognition of governments is the legal institution through which the human agents with authority to act on behalf of each state are identified. It is one area in which international law is closely linked to national law. A government succeeding to power according to the constitution, basic law, or established domestic custom is assumed to succeed as well to its predecessor’s status as international agent of the state. Only if there is legal discontinuity at the domestic level because a new government comes to power in some other way, as by coup d’etat or revolution, is its status as international agent of the state open to question. The main features of the process by which questions of agentship are settled — individual decision by the government of every other state and legal rules permitting choice not only of the moment but of the criteria for deciding whether to recognize the new government as international agent — flow directly from the basic organizing principles of the Westphalian system of states. There is no world government, so no single agency or office registering changes of government and issuing globally-valid certificates of agentship.
A quantitative damage imaging technique based on enhanced CCRTM for composite plates using 2D scan

A two-dimensional (2D) non-contact areal scan system was developed to image and quantify impact damage in a composite plate using an enhanced zero-lag cross-correlation reverse-time migration (E-CCRTM) technique. The system comprises a single piezoelectric wafer mounted on the composite plate and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) for scanning a region in the vicinity of the PZT to capture the scattered wavefield. The proposed damage imaging technique takes into account the amplitude, phase, geometric spreading, and all of the frequency content of the Lamb waves propagating in the plate; thus, a reflectivity coefficients of the delamination is calculated and potentially related to damage severity. Comparisons are made in terms of damage imaging quality between 2D areal scans and 1D line scans as well as between the proposed and existing imaging conditions. The experimental results show that the 2D E-CCRTM performs robustly when imaging and quantifying impact damage in large-scale composites using a single PZT actuator with a nearby areal scan using LDV.
New Statistical Methods in Public Policy. Part I: Experimentation

As quantitative methods have been applied more and more to public policy work, the whole panoply of statistical devices becomes appropriate for the policy student. Fairley and Mosteller (1977) have recently provided a book illustrating the applications of many statistical methods to problems in public policy. We cannot treat all of these here. We choose to discuss two areas in some detail. The first deals with data gathering—more specifically experimentation and its importance in policy work. We do not discuss how to do it, but we do try to give an empirical base for understanding the need as well as limitations.
On the action of the $$U_p$$ U p operator on the local (at p ) representation attached to congruence level Siegel modular forms

In this article, we study the action of the $$U_p$$ Hecke operator on the normalized spherical vector $$\phi $$ in the representation of $${{\mathrm{GSp}}}_4(\mathbf {Q}_p)$$ induced from a character on the Borel subgroup. We compute the Petersson norm of $$U_p \phi $$ in terms of certain local L-values associated with $$\phi $$ .
Implementation of a monophonic note tracking algorithm on Android

Pitch tracking algorithms have been proposed in many digital speech processing literature. Among the practical use of pitch tracking are: improved recognition, improved speech synthesis, and semantic disambiguation. A similar problem to pitch tracking when applied to music input signals, is note tracking, i.e. detecting all the notes in the perceived music. The general problem of music recognition seems to be beyond the techniques that have been accomplished by the advances in digital speech processing. A “real music” signal is composed of multiple sound from several instruments, and digitally separating the mix into individual channels/tracks is a hard problem to solve. The algorithm described in this paper assumes that the input signal is produced by a single source and further it focuses on monophonic sound, as opposed to polyphonic sound where two or more notes are played at the same time. The algorithm described below has been implemented on an Android device using proper building blocks (Activity and Service) that comply with the Android design guidelines to achieve the best performance. In addition to the standard Android libraries from the latest Android SDK, the application also relies on a third-party library for digital signal processing routines. The Android implementation of the algorithm has been tested using input sources from human voice and musical instruments. The paper also shows the experimental results of handling these input sources.
The effects of time-varying observation errors on semi-empirical sea-level projections

Sea-level rise is a key driver of projected flooding risks. The design of strategies to manage these risks often hinges on projections that inform decision-makers about the surrounding uncertainties. Producing semi-empirical sea-level projections is difficult, for example, due to the complexity of the error structure of the observations, such as time-varying (heteroskedastic) observation errors and autocorrelation of the data-model residuals. This raises the question of how neglecting the error structure impacts hindcasts and projections. Here, we quantify this effect on sea-level projections and parameter distributions by using a simple semi-empirical sea-level model. Specifically, we compare three model-fitting methods: a frequentist bootstrap as well as a Bayesian inversion with and without considering heteroskedastic residuals. All methods produce comparable hindcasts, but the parametric distributions and projections differ considerably based on methodological choices. Our results show that the differences based on the methodological choices are enhanced in the upper tail projections. For example, the Bayesian inversion accounting for heteroskedasticity increases the sea-level anomaly with a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in the year 2050 by about 34% and about 40% in the year 2100 compared to a frequentist bootstrap. These results indicate that neglecting known properties of the observation errors and the data-model residuals can lead to low-biased sea-level projections.
Impact of collaborative learning on student perception of virtual computer laboratories

In the last decade, virtual computer laboratories have been successfully used to provide students with hands-on experimentation in information technology fields in a cost effective and secure manner. In this paper, we study the effect of collaborative learning on student perception and acceptance of virtual computing as a learning medium. Virtual computing is a relatively new technology and can be intimidating for students at times with limited information technology background. Students can feel overwhelmed as they follow voluminous and tedious step-by-step information technology activities that are not very familiar to them. Collaborative learning can help to alleviate such problems and enhance the student experience of using a virtual computer laboratory in different ways. To investigate the effect of collaborative work on student experience in virtual computer laboratories and their acceptance of this new technology, we conducted empirical studies where two groups of students (with technology and non-technology backgrounds) performed two types of hands-on activities. These types were individual and collaborative in nature and were conducted in a virtual computer laboratory. Then, we compared the experiences of the two groups across the types of hands-on exercises. The preliminary findings show that novice students benefited more from collaborative learning when compared to more experienced, and probably more technologically competent, students.
A compressive sensing framework for the analysis of solar Photo-Voltaic power

In this paper we propose a new stochastic model for solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) power that explicitly models the effect of cloud coverage as an attenuation of the two components that make up the deterministic solar irradiation pattern. Relying on compressive sensing methods we are able to fit a set of solar PV power data from California with the components of this stochastic model and extract the parameters of such a process thus effectively capturing the variability of solar power production. One can leverage the rich information coming from this parametric model for stochastic optimization and decision making.
Innovation in Publishing: This is not an Oxymoron!

While many pundits claim that publishers are not innovative, this paper cites dozens of recent examples of innovation in the publishing industry. The main models reviewed are: innovative projects/partnerships, investment, accelerators/incubators, public/private partnership, and grass-roots programs. Case studies are presented from HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Penguin Random House, and many others, based on research and the author’s own experience. By following the lead of these innovative accomplishments, publishers can foster innovation at their own companies.
The PrpF protein of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 catalyzes the isomerization of 2-methyl- cis -aconitate during the catabolism of propionate via the AcnD-dependent 2-methylcitric acid cycle

The 2-methylcitric acid cycle (2-MCC) is a common route of propionate catabolism in microorganisms. In Salmonella enterica, the prpBCDE operon encodes most of the 2-MCC enzymes. In other organisms, e.g., Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, two genes, acnD and prpF replace prpD, which encodes 2-methylcitrate dehydratase. We showed that together, S. oneidensis AcnD and PrpF (SoAcnD, SoPrpF) compensated for the absence of PrpD in a S. enterica prpD strain. We also showed that SoAcnD had 2-methylcitrate dehydratase activity and that PrpF has aconitate isomerase activity. Here we report in vitro evidence that the product of the SoAcnD reaction is an isomer of 2-methyl-cis-aconitate (2-MCA], the product of the SePrpD reaction. We show that the SoPrpF protein isomerizes the product of the AcnD reaction into the PrpD product (2-MCA], a known substrate of the housekeeping aconitase (AcnB]. Given that SoPrpF is an isomerase, that SoAcnD is a dehydratase, and the results from in vivo and in vitro experiments reported here, it is likely that 4-methylaconitate is the product of the AcnD enzyme. Results from in vivo studies using a S. enterica prpD strain show that SoPrpF variants with substitutions of residues K73 or C107 failed to support growth with propionate as the sole source of carbon and energy. High-resolution (1.22 A) three-dimensional crystal structures of PrpFK73E in complex with trans-aconitate or malonate provide insights into the mechanism of catalysis of the wild-type protein.
Volumetric modulated arc therapy based total body irradiation: Workflow and clinical experience with an indexed rotational immobilization system

Abstract An indexed rotational immobilization system was developed for supine total body irradiation (TBI). Treatment plans had multi-isocentric volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) beams to the upper body and parallel-opposed fields to the lower body, with a 12 Gy prescription dose to >90% of the body and mean lung dose ∼8 Gy. In the end-to-end test, point dose measurements had
Turn-by-Turn Matching and Compensation in Talk and Silence: New Methods and New Explanations

ABSTRACT Research into the temporal structure of communicative interchanges in informal conversations has observed that partners influence one another's expressive behaviours in pause duration, latency duration, loudness, vocalisation duration, nonverbal immediacy behaviours, verbal aggression, verbal intimacy, verbal intensity and lexical diversity. A number of different explanations have been put forward to explain processes of mutual influence, and a number of different methodologies have been employed to establish the existence of mutual influence. The present paper focuses exclusively on the objectively defined talk and silence variables, vocalisation, pause and switching pause duration. Mutual influence between conversational partners on each of these variables has been observed typically in the mean and typically as positive, so that partners match one another. These mean similarities have not been satisfactorily explained. Using time-series procedures commonly employed in econometrics and in engineering, turn-by-turn mutual influence is studied on a dyad-by-dyad basis. If the data series are stationary, one can employ time-series procedures to establish for each person in each dyad the size and direction of the person's influence on the other. Turn-by-turn influence, if present, can account for similarity in the mean response level and can detect compensatory as well as matching processes. Explanations of mutual influence in talk and silence variables must be offered which have the possibility of explaining matching, and compensation not only in talk and silence variables but also for other expressive behaviours. Competing explanations of mutual influence processes are described and evaluated relative to the criteria (1) that the explanation be capable of accounting for both matching and compensation processes and (2) that the explanation be capable of accounting for mutual influence in expressive behaviours other than talk and silence.
Surgical Management of Asymptomatic Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Operative management of primary hyperparathyroidism began in 1925 when Felix Mendl performed the first successful parathyroidectomy for a patient with Von Recklinghousen Disease. This landmark operation initiated the practice of parathyroidectomy for patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and osteitis fibrosa cystica between 1925 and 1932. In 1932, Dr. Fuller Albright noted that 80% of patients treated with parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism and osteitis fibrosa cystica also had either nephrolithiasis or nephrocalcinosis. This observation widened the criteria for operative intervention to include patients with hyperparathyroidism and nephrolithiasis and less severe bone disease. Thus, over the subsequent 30 years, the major indication for parathyroidectomy became renal stones without overt bone disease.
Abstract 3363: Quantitative In Vivo T2 Measurements Differentiate Both Infarcted and Peri-Infarct from Normal Myocardium

Introduction: T2-weighted MRI, which reflects water content and mobility, has been recently shown to delineate the area at risk (AAR). However, in-vivo T2 measurements within the viable and infarcted regions of the AAR have not been presented to date. We hypothesized that state-of-the-art T2 methods could discriminate different T2 relaxation constants not only between the AAR and remote myocardium but also between viable and infarcted tissue within the AAR. Methods: Acute myocardial infarction was created by coronary occlusion (90 min N = 9, 180 min N = 5) followed by reperfusion in canines. In-vivo imaging was performed 3 days post-infarction at 1.5T. T2-prepared steady-state free-precession (T2P-SSFP) was used to measure T2 prior to Gd-DTPA infusion. Infarct size was determined by delayed contrast enhancement. Results: T2 Bright regions within the left anterior descending coronary artery were detected in all experiments and were larger and generally of greater transmural extent than the regions of delayed enhancement. Using regions of interest determined by the delayed enhancement, T2 showed step-wise abnormalities from normal to peri-infarct and infarcted myocardium (45 +/−4 vs 60 +/−5 vs 67 +/−5 ms; all pairwise comparisons significant). A threshold T2 of 54 ms distinguished normal from abnormal in all but one region. Conclusions: The degree of edema or mobility of water varies between infarcted myocardium and the peri-infarct zone and both are significantly different from normal. Due to the subtlety of T2 abnormalities in the heart, parametric maps can display T2 in an objective manner and could improve the diagnostic value of T2 weighted MRI of infarction and myocarditis.
An ‘alternative framework for development:’ state-citizen relations, urban revitalization, and Downtown Cairo’s passageways

In the years since the ‘January 25th Revolution’ of 2011, Egypt has fallen on hard times, wracked by ongoing state instability and the unraveling of its economy. Against the backdrop of this politi...
Efficient Aircraft Multidisciplinary Design Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis via Signomial Programming

This paper proposes a new methodology for physics-based aircraft multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) and sensitivity analysis. The proposed architecture uses signomial programming (SP), a t...
Assessing ontogenetic change in acoustic pressure sensitivity in larval fishes through modelling

Detecting acoustic pressure can improve a fish’s survival and fitness through increased sensitivity to environmental sounds. Pressure detection results from the interactions between the swim bladder and otoliths. In larval fishes, those interactions change rapidly as growth and development alter bladder dimensions and otolith-bladder distances. We used computed tomography imagery of lab-reared larval red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in a finite-element model to assess ontogenetic change in acoustic pressure sensitivity in response to a plane wave at frequencies within the range of detection by fishes. We compared the acceleration at points on the sagitta, asteriscus, and lapillus when the bladder was air-filled to results from models using a water-filled bladder. For larvae of 8.5–18 mm, the air-filled bladder amplified otolith motion by a factor of 54–3485 times that of a water-filled bladder at 100 Hz. Otolith-bladder distances increased with standard length, which decreased amplification. The concomitant rapid increase in bladder volume partially compensated for the effect of increasing otolith-bladder distances. Using idealized geometry, we found that the backbone and ribs have a negligible influence on bladder motion. Our results help clarify the auditory consequences of ontogenetic changes in swim bladder morphology and otolith-bladder relationships during larval stages.
Dynamics between brand diversification and segment diversification on firm value

Developing a thick portfolio of multiple brands across different levels of services is unique to the lodging industry. Therefore, consideration of brand diversification necessitates thoughts of seg...
Whole-body metabolism during and after abdominal surgery.

Oxygen, acid-base components, electrolytes, and energy-producing metabolites were measured in arterial and mixed venous blood before, during, and for three days after abdominal operations in 11 patients. A respiratory alkalosis without a metabolic component was present throughout most of the study interval. Predictably, arteriovenous differences were not found for any electrolyte or metabolite. Arterial and venous oxygen tensions were satisfactory throughout anaesthesia, but the postoperative Pao2 indicated considerable persisting atelectasis. Arterial concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies were increased before anaesthesia and throughout the operation. Blood sugar increased during the operation and remained above normal postoperatively, probably from intravenous solutions. Mean concentrations of immunoreactive insulin remained in the normal range in spite of this increase in blood sugar. Fat metabolism appeared to predominate, and ketosis occurred in the presence of increased blood sugar. Lactate and pyruvate levels increased steadily throughout the operation and decreased postoperatively.
Using minimally invasive techniques adds to the value equation for select patients

Conditions of the spine are one of the most prevalent causes of global disability, and result in a considerable portion of total health expenditures. Surgical treatment of the spine has been demonstrated in multiple studies to be a cost-effective treatment option for many patients, especially with continuing improvements in surgical technique and instrumentation. Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS), in particular, has evolved as a valuable option in treating certain patients. Numerous studies have analyzed minimally invasive techniques in regards to cost-effectiveness and other purported advantages. These advantages include conduciveness to outpatient settings, better perioperative and immediate post-operative benefits, and faster time to recovery. This article will describe the current literature on the advantages of MISS, specifically in regards to value and cost savings.
The 'Cri de Jessup' Sixty Years Later: Transnational Law’s Intangible Objects and Abstracted Frameworks Beyond Nation, Enterprise, and Law

Sixty years ago, Philip Jessup produced a cri de guerre whose ramifications continue to unfold. The original Cri de Jessup gave the transnational within law the means to distinguish itself from other legal orders. Yet even sixty years after the Cri de Jessup the transnational remains tied from its moorings in ancient conceptions of nation, of enterprise, and of law. This contribution considers the possibilities inherent in Jessup’s vision liberated from its grounding in the assumption that the transnational arises only to deal with the ad hoc situation when all other efforts at resolving the issue under the law of a state, any state, fails. It is divided into three sections. Section II’s “Transnational Law as Manifesto” explores the contemporary approach to transnational law and its more radical possibilities. These possibilities are radical not in the sense of requiring a substantial break with the past but in the sense of suggesting the ways in which Jessup’s vision ultimately requires a shifting of perspectives about the relationship of law to the state, the state to the societal sphere, and both to transnational law and the multinational enterprise. Section III, “Jessup’s Big Bang and Beyond,” starts with Jessup’s core premise and then attempts to move beyond it. The power of this template and its multiple current manifestations is particularly acute when speaking to the transnational enterprise. The last section, “From Transnational Law to the Law of Transnational Spaces,” considers the parallel development of the problem of transnational law and of the transnational enterprise. To that end, it applies an actor-network (norm) process framework inward within and to the enterprise. Both transnational law and enterprise serve as a complement to domestic legal orders and its territorial boundaries. Both (transnational business) enterprises and transnational law have been constructed and used as a complementary means by which states might extend legal regimes to cover governance gaps. That construction and use, however, have been based on ad hoc and situational methodologies. They are together the embodiment for the law and space of the “in-between;” and absent the reorientation of perspective suggested in the opening section, will remain at the margins of law and institutional governance.But that is no longer enough. Thus, this contribution ends with a question that still is in search of an answer: have we come far but not moved very much? The answer may lie not in process and method but in the institutionalization of a normative ordering of rule producing entities.’’
Kant, coercion, and the legitimation of inequality

Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy has enjoyed renewed attention as an egalitarian alternative to contemporary inequality since it seems to uncompromisingly reassert the primacy of the state over...
Outcomes of right colon continent urinary pouch using standardized reporting methods.

AIMS Studies of right colon pouch urinary diversion estimate risk of perioperative complications, 1%-50%, and reoperation, 1%-69%. This wide range is due to variable outcome measurements and reporting methods; it is also unclear which factors increase the risk of complications and reoperation. We sought to characterize the impact of patient-specific factors on risk of complications, readmission, and reoperation after right colon pouch urinary diversion. METHODS Patients undergoing right colon pouch urinary diversion from January 2010 to April 2017 were analyzed. Outcomes included: high-grade complications within 90 days (Clavien-Dindo grade ≥3), readmission within 90 days, and reoperation at any time during follow-up. Patient-specific factors were analyzed to establish any associations with these outcomes. RESULTS During the study period, 53 patients underwent the procedure and the average follow-up was 30 (standard deviation [SD] 21.5) months; 90-day high-grade complications were 22% and readmission was 45%. The cumulative rate of any reoperation was 53% and major reoperation was 32%. Diabetes was associated with an increased risk of both postoperative complications and reoperation. Larger body mass index and prior abdominal surgery were associated with increased risk of readmission. CONCLUSIONS Overall the rate of postoperative complications, readmissions, and reoperation was high, but in agreement with other contemporary series. This study helps to further characterize surgical outcomes after right colon pouch urinary diversion, however, similar to other studies in the literature, the rarity of the procedure limits the power to establish a link between preoperative patient factors and outcomes.
Cracking the Snapcode: Understanding the Organizational and Technological Influences of Strategic Social Media Adoption

The strategic communication literature mainly focuses on questions of how brands use social media. Scholars, however, have not thoroughly examined the reasons why organizations choose to adopt new ...
Financial and Relationship Satisfaction as a Function of Harsh Start-Up and Shared Goals and Values

A path model was developed to test hypothesized associations among financial satisfaction, harsh start-up, shared goals and values, and relationship satisfaction. It was noted that a partner’s perceived financial satisfaction was directly associated with engaging less in harsh start-up discussions and sharing goals and values with the other partner. Harsh start-up discussions were directly associated with having fewer shared goals and values and decreased relationship satisfaction. The association between financial satisfaction and relationship satisfaction in the model was mediated by harsh start-up and shared goals and values. Implications for both practitioners and researchers are discussed.
A tripartite cooperative mechanism confers resistance of the protein kinase A catalytic subunit to dephosphorylation

Phosphorylation of specific residues in the activation loops of AGC kinase group (protein kinase A, G, and C families) is required for activity of most of these kinases, including the catalytic subunit of PKA (PKAc). Although many phosphorylated AGC kinases are sensitive to phosphatase-mediated dephosphorylation, the PKAc activation loop uniquely resists dephosphorylation, rendering it "constitutively" phosphorylated in cells. Previous biophysical experiments and structural modeling have suggested that the N-terminal myristoylation signal and the C-terminal FXXF motif in PKAc regulate its thermal stability and catalysis. Here, using site-directed mutagenesis, molecular modeling, and in cell-free and cell-based systems, we demonstrate that substitutions of either the PKAc myristoylation signal or the FXXF motif only modestly reduce phosphorylation and fail to affect PKAc function in cells. However, we observed that these two sites cooperate with an N-terminal FXXW motif to cooperatively establish phosphatase resistance of PKAc while not affecting kinase-dependent phosphorylation of the activation loop. We noted that this tripartite cooperative mechanism of phosphatase resistance is functionally relevant, as demonstrated by changes in morphology, adhesion, and migration of human airway smooth muscle cells transfected with PKAc variants containing amino acid substitutions in these three sites. These findings establish that three allosteric sites located at the PKAc N and C termini coordinately regulate the phosphatase sensitivity of this enzyme. This cooperative mechanism of phosphatase resistance of AGC kinase opens new perspectives toward therapeutic manipulation of kinase signaling in disease.
Interstate Telehealth Policy and Provider Incentives: Recommendations to Combat Historically Low Physician Acceptance of Medicaid Patients

Methods: A holistic, mixed-methods approach is used to investigate the research goal. Primary source telehealth reimbursement data obtained from the Medicaid offices of Florida and Nebraska, extensive literature review on Medicaid and telehealth policy, as well as secondary source data from online databases and previously published research were used to highlight the improvements needed to better implement telehealth programs across the country, as well as identifying precedential cases of policy changes regarding telemedicine. Results: The primary and secondary source data analyzed in this article demonstrate the need for policy changes to address historically low physician acceptance of new patients through state Medicaid. Data obtained from Florida and Nebraska in Table 1 corroborate with the data in Table 2 – both demonstrating how Florida reimburses at a much lower rate (0.79 to national Medicaid average) as compared to Nebraska (1.14 to national Medicaid average). Table 3 exhibits how national averages for Medicaid reimbursement, as well as Florida’s and Nebraska’s averages, fall below the national averages for Medicare reimbursement in all categories except obstetric care, showing that Medicaid services are reimbursed at a lower rate than Medicare in most circumstances. Conclusions: Nationally, Medicaid reimbursement rates are among the lowest reimbursement rates of any insurer. Additionally, new Medicaid patients witness the lowest rates of acceptance by physicians, in large part due to low reimbursement rates. Medicaid policies and reimbursement rates vary across each state, making it difficult to enact any broad-sweeping policies to improve the access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries in the United States. However, by drawing reference to several policy changes involving Medicare, Medicaid, and telehealth, this paper presents recommendations for an incentivized cross-state telehealth policy aimed toward increasing Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to care. With nation-wide policy changes like those during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are historical examples and precedence to support policies focused on decreasing the limitations and barriers needed to practice telemedicine across state lines. This paper offers a potential, but limited framework for states to consider implementing in their Medicaid programs after conducting further research on the state-by-state level.
Depressive symptoms do not discriminate: racial and economic influences between time-varying depressive symptoms and mortality among REGARDS participants.

Abstract Purpose Depressive symptoms relapse and remit over time, perhaps differentially by race and income. Few studies have examined whether time-varying depressive symptoms (TVDS) differentially predict mortality. We sought to determine whether race (white/black) and income ( Methods The REGARDS study is a prospective cohort study among community-dwelling U.S. adults aged 45 years or older. Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to separately analyze the association between mortality (all cause, cardiovascular death, noncardiovascular death, and cancer death) and TVDS in race and income stratified models. Results Point estimates were similar and statistically significant for white (aHR = 1.24 [95% CI: 1.10, 1.41]), black (aHR = 1.26 [95% CI: 1.11, 1.42]), and low-income participants (aHR = 1.28 [95% CI: 1.16, 1.43]) for the association between TVDS and mortality. High-income participants had a lower hazard (aHR = 1.19 [95% CI: 1.02, 1.38]). Baseline depressive symptoms predicted mortality in blacks only (aHR = 1.17, 95% CI: [1.00, 1.35]). Conclusions We found that TVDS significantly increased the immediate hazard of mortality similarly across race and income strata. TVDS may provide more robust evaluations of depression impact compared with the baseline measures, making apparent racial disparities cited in the extant literature a reflection of the imperfection of using baseline measures.
Amyloid PET Imaging in Self-Identified Non-Hispanic Black Participants of the Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) Study

Objective To examine whether amyloid PET in cognitively normal (CN) individuals screened for the Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimer9s Disease (A4) study differed across self-identified non-Hispanic White and Black (NHW and NHB) groups. Methods We examined 3,689 NHW and 144 NHB participants who passed initial screening for the A4 study and underwent amyloid PET. The effect of race on amyloid PET was examined using logistic (dichotomous groups) and linear (continuous values) regression controlling for age, sex, and number of APOE e4 and APOE e2 alleles. Associations between amyloid and genetically determined ancestry (reflecting African, South Asian, East Asian, American, and European populations) were tested within the NHB group. Potential interactions with APOE were assessed. Results NHB participants had lower rates of amyloid positivity and lower continuous amyloid levels compared to NHW participants. This race effect on amyloid was strongest in the APOE e4 group. Within NHB participants, those with a lower percentage of African ancestry had higher amyloid. A greater proportion of NHB participants did not pass initial screening compared to NHW participants, suggesting potential sources of bias related to race in the A4 PET data. Conclusion Reduced amyloid was observed in self-identified NHB participants who passed initial eligibility criteria for the A4 study. This work stresses the importance of investigating AD biomarkers in ancestrally diverse samples as well as the need for careful consideration regarding study eligibility criteria in AD prevention trials.
Tenets of Operational Effectiveness

The many activities comprising “development” may be overwhelming to the newly-appointed academic leader or other faculty members contemplating moving into administration. This chapter hones in on select operational tenets that are most important for academic leaders to understand. This includes staffing and the roles of various development positions within academic units or central development offices. Core policies and procedures are also identified in reference to managing existing and prospective donor relationships across an institution. And ethics is addressed through the professional resources development staff use for guidance in complex situations. This chapter provides core information to build a productive working relationship with academic development professionals.
Crawling Support Using Wearable SuperLimbs: Human-Robot Synchronization and Metabolic Cost Assessment

A pair of Supernumerary Robotic Limbs (Super-Limbs) can brace the wearer’s upper body while they work at floor level, and support them during crawling. The SuperLimbs’ motion is synchronized with the operator to mimic natural human crawling. This synchronization relies on experimental data from the operator’s observed crawl. A method for predicting the phase difference between the SuperLimbs’ hand placement and the operators desired hand placement is developed and used to coordinate the SuperLimbs’ motion with the operator’s. The experimental data is also used to design the structure of the SuperLimbs to minimize their energy consumption during crawling and regulate their actuator’s temperatures.The SuperLimbs are designed to mimic the operator’s arms while they crawl, however factors such as their limited number of degrees of freedom (DoF), compared to natural limbs, and the compliance of the connection between the SuperLimbs and the operator means that the SuperLimbs’s may dynamically interact with the wearer differently from how their natural limbs do. A simple dynamic model is constructed to assess the energy consumed by the operator as they crawl with the SuperLimbs under different coordination patterns. An optimal coordination pattern is obtained from this assessment.
Statistical characteristics of some Indian hydrologic time series

Extensive literature exists on the analysis and construction of models of stream-flows in the temperate regions, whereas the hydrology of tropical monsoon affected rivers have not received much attention. An analysis of the monthly and annual rainfall and runoff data from the Krishna and Godavari river basins in India and the Wabash river basin in the United States are presented in this paper. The Krishna and Godavari rivers are in the tropical, monsoon region whereas the Wabash river is in the temperate zone. The basic statistics, and the spectral analysis of the data are presented and compared. The implications of the data structure to modeling these flow sequences are discussed.
Monoclonal Antibodies to Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) Immunoglobulin: Production and Preliminary Characterization

The predominant humoral immunoglobulin (Ig) of teleosts is a high molecular weight tetrameric IgM-like molecular (Cobel, 1975). Limited studies with certain species suggest that some molecular weight (MW) size heterogeneity may be present. One report suggests that rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) may have two species of high molecular weight Ig (Hodgkins et al., 1967) and several reports support the presence of size heterogeneity in goldfish immunoglobulin (Trumps, 1970; Everhart, 1972). Moreover, some species of fish have been reported to possess a low molecular weight humoral Ig which may be an IgM-like monomer (Clem and McClean, 1975). Despite reports that fish have lymphocyte populations analogous to the T and B cells of homeothermic vertebrates (Etlinger et al., 1976), other reports have demonstrated abundant surface Ig on most, if not all, lymphocytes of fish by membrane immunofluorescence using polyclonal antisera to fish Ig (Warr et al., 1979). As perhaps the most primitive vertebrate to possess an adaptive immune system, it is of some phylogenetic interest to determine the complexity of cell types and humoral components involved in fish immune responses.
Acceleration of opacity correction mechanisms for over-sampled volume ray casting

Techniques for accelerated opacity correction for over-sampled volume ray casting on commodity hardware are described. The techniques exploit processing capabilities of programmable GPUs and cluster computers. The GPU-based technique follows a fine-grained parallel approach that exposes to the GPU the inherent parallelism in the opacity correction process. The cluster computation techniques follow less finely-granular data parallel approaches that allow exploitation of computational resources with minimal inter-CPU communication. The performance improvements offered by the accelerated approaches over opacity correction on a single CPU are also exhibited for real volumetric datasets.
Impacts of Religion on Environmental Worldviews: The Teton Valley Case

Environmental worldviews are rooted in culture, and religion defines many cultures. While several studies have addressed the relationship between religion and environmental worldviews, few studies controlled for nonreligious regional culture and political affiliation. We addressed this gap with a case study in the Teton Valley of Idaho and Wyoming, USA. After controlling for demographic factors, environmental worldviews significantly related to being Mormon (member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), being Christian, not being affiliated with organized religion, political affiliation, and regional culture (n = 401, F = 22.71, R 2 = .41). Environmental worldviews, however, were not related to religiosity. Those not affiliated with organized religion were most environmentally oriented, Mormon respondents were the least environmentally oriented, and Roman Catholics and other Christians fell in the middle. Longer term residents scored significantly lower than newcomers, and Republicans scored...
Error correction through language processing

There are two fundamental approaches for error correction. One approach is to add external redundancy to data. The other approach is to use the redundancy inside data, even if it is only the residual redundancy after a data compression algorithm. The first approach, namely error-correcting codes (ECCs), has been studied actively over the past seventy years. In this work, we explore the second approach, and show that it can substantially enhance the error-correction performance. This work focuses on error correction of texts in English as a case study. It proposes a scheme that combines language-based decoding with ECC decoding. Both analysis and experimental results are presented. The scheme can be extended to contentbased decoding for more types of data with rich structures.
An Alternative Path to Becoming a Successful Middle Grades Math and Science Teacher.

(2007). An Alternative Path to Becoming a Successful Middle Grades Math and Science Teacher. Middle School Journal: Vol. 38, Celebrating Teachers and Teaching, pp. 19-24.
La nueva historia de la arqueología: Un balance crítico

In recent years, study of the history of archaeology has been transformed. With the increasing importance of postprocessual explanatory frameworks, historical studies have been professionalized and have assumed a major role in archaeological debates. This widespread concern with historiography is, however, the result of parallel evolutions of the history of archaeology in countries such as United Kingdom, United States, France and Germany. This paper examines how these national processes have converged in the creation of a new history of archaeology that has adopted a research program characterized by a numbers of traits. The article concludes with a critical examination of this new historiography.
Measuring protein interactions by optical biosensors.

This unit gives an introduction to the basic techniques of optical biosensing for measuring equilibrium and kinetics of reversible protein interactions. Emphasis is placed on description of robust approaches that will provide reliable results with few assumptions. How to avoid the most commonly encountered problems and artifacts is also discussed. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Dichlorovinylation of an Enolate: 8‐Ethynyl‐8‐Methyl‐1,4‐Dioxaspiro[4.5]Dec‐6‐Ene

Dichlorovinylation of an enolate: 8-Ethynyl-8-methyl-1,4-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-6-ene byproduct: 6-[(E)-1,2-dichlorovinyl]-3-ethoxy-6-methyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one intermediate: 4-[(E)-1,2-dichlorovinyl]-4-methyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one product: 8-[(E)-1,2-dichlorovinyl]-8-methyl-1,4-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-6-ene product: 8-ethynyl-8-methyl-1,4-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-6-ene Keywords: acetal (and thioacetal) formation; acetal (and thioacetal) formation; alkenylation, C-alkenylation; elimination, dehalogenation; reduction, miscellaneous; diisopropylamine; hexamethylphosphoric triamide (HMPA); lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), preparation of; tetrahydrofuran; trichloroethylene; hexamethylphosphoric triamide (HMPA), toxicity; trichloroethylene
Kinetic Characteristics of Glycine Transport by the Isolated Midgut of the Marine Shrimp, Penaeus Marginatus

1. Mucosal glycine influx occurred via a single carrier-mediated, active transport entry process ( K t = 0·36 mM; V max=0·42 µ moles/g.min) with an absolute Na+ requirement. 2. Glycine transport inhibition by N2 gas, NaCN, NaN3, iodoacetate, 2,4-DNP, and ouabain was more extensive at 0·1 mM than at 1·0 mM glycine, suggesting a greater proportion of energy-dependent transport at lower amino acid concentrations. 3. Aliphatic neutral amino acids and histidine were more potent inhibitors of mucosal glycine influx than were aromatic neutral, and anionic amino acids. 4. Alanine was a fully non-competitive inhibitor of mucosal glycine entry, whereas proline appeared to be a fully competitive inhibitor of luminal glycine transfer. 5. D-Fructose added to the incubation medium restored normal glycine transport in the presence of alanine, indicating that the two amino acids most likely utilized separate, energy-consuming, mucosal transport processes. 6. A tentative model of glycine transport in the penaeid shrimp intestine is presented. Contribution No. 454 from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.