cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trigonometric functions representing annual winter coat shedding and regrowth in Angus cows

Abstract Subjective scores (n=2603) representing (1) the shedding and regrowth of winter coat and (2) total quantity of hair were recorded monthly for 2 yr for 135 Angus cows. Shedding scores of 1 indicated summer coats (all winter coat shed) and 5 indicated complete winter coats. Quantity scores of 1 and 5 indicated minimal and maximal amounts of hair in the coat, respectively. Scores of 2 through 4 for respective traits indicated intermediate conditions. A trigonometric function representing a sinusoid process was fitted to the residuals of scores across time: A sin [ B ( t − C ) ] + D , where A represents the height of peaks in the oscillatory function above a centralized baseline in the Cartesian plane; B represents the angular frequency, that is, the rate of change of scores across a complete fundamental cycle of the process; C represents the horizontal shift in the cycle; D represents the vertical offset of the function. The time dimension in months is represented as t. Parameters for this function were estimated for the two traits using least squares nonlinear regression procedures (1) across all data, (2) within cow age categories, and (3) within groups of cows representing distinct maternal lineages. In all cases, parameters representing amplitude (A) and angular frequency (B) seemed to be estimated most reliably (as indicated by magnitude of SE) and the parameter representing the vertical offset seemed to be estimated least reliably. The numerically larger estimate of the amplitude parameter (A) for winter coat shedding and regrowth score relative to the quantity of hair score suggested that it better characterized the process, as well as differences among cow age groups or maternal lineages. For both traits within all groupings of records the parameter representing the horizontal phase shift (C) appeared to be most informative: curves for younger cows were shifted to the right in the time space, indicating later shedding of winter coat. The phase shift parameter also best characterized differences in the process for cows in different maternal lineages; however, numerical differences in the parameter estimates representing amplitude (A) and angular frequency (B) also appeared to be responsible for the distinctiveness of group curves. Curves visually represented the shedding of winter coats (April–July in the time parameter space) better than the winter regrowth process. There may be value in considering parameters of such curves in some genetic improvement strategies for enhancing cow adaptability to local environmental conditions.
Killing the Innocent in Self‐Defense

I presented an earlier version of this paper to the Law and Philosophy Discussion Group in Los Angeles, whose members I would like to thank for their comments. In addition, I would also like to thank the following people for reading and providing written or verbal commentary on earlier drafts: Robert Mams, Rogers Albritton, G. A. Cohen, David Copp, Matthew Hanser, Craig Ihara, Brian Lee, Marc Lange, Derk Pereboom, Carol Voeller, and the Editors of Philosophy & Public Affairs. I owe special thanks to Timothy Hall and Seana Shiffnn for their insightful and helpful comments.
Decentralized supervisory control with conditional decisions: supervisor existence

Most of the results on decentralized supervisory control are based on supervisors that make unconditional decisions: "enable" and "disable." In this paper, we introduce and study the properties of decentralized supervisory control architectures where supervisors are allowed to make conditional decisions in addition to unconditional decisions. The conditional decisions we consider are of the form: "enable if nobody disables" and "disable if nobody enables." We characterize the notion of conditional coobservability that appears in the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of supervisors in the context of such control architectures. This condition relaxes the previous notions of coobservability for unconditional architectures. The key properties of conditional coobservability are studied. We develop a polynomial-time algorithm for verifying the notion of conditional coobservability. A polynomial-time method of partitioning the controllable events between "enable by default" and "disable by default" is presented.
Deep‐sea bacteria enriched by oil and dispersant from the Deepwater Horizon spill

Deep-sea bacteria enriched by oil and dispersant from the Deepwater Horizon spill Jacob Baelum 1,2 , Sharon Borglin 1 , Romy Chakraborty 1 , Julian L. Fortney 1 , Regina Lamendella 1 , Olivia U. Mason 1 , Manfred Auer 1 , Marcin Zemla 1 , Markus Bill 1 , Mark E. Conrad 1 , Stephanie A. Malfatti 3 , Susannah G. Tringe 3 , Hoi-Ying Holman 1 , Terry C. Hazen 1 , and Janet K. Jansson 1,3* MS 70A-3317, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Oster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, USA Corresponding author phone: 1-510-486-7487; e-mail: jrjansson@lbl.gov; fax: 1-510- Running title: Enrichment of oil degraders from Gulf of Mexico
Combined effects of water temperature and salinity on growth and feed utilization of juvenile Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linneaus)

Juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linneaus) (average weight 4.60 to 4.83 g) were raised in 36 75-1 glass tanks at a stocking density of 15 fish per tank and fed a 50% protein diet for 56 days. Combined effects of temperature (24, 28, and 32 °C) and salinity (0, 8, 12, and 16 g l−1) on growth and feed utilization under a 12L:12D photoperiod were studied. Significant (P < 0.05) effects of temperature, salinity, and their interaction on growth were observed. Final mean weights were significantly (P < 0.05) higher at 32 and 28 °C than 24 °C at 12 g l−1 salinity, where fish increased their weights seven-fold and four-fold, respectively. Feed conversion efficiencies and protein efficiency ratios were highest at 32 °C and 8 g l−1 salinity, and lowest at 28 °C and 16 g l−1 salinity. At all salinities, growth increased with temperature, but at all temperatures an increase in salinity generally inhibited growth. At 32 °C and 16 g l−1 salinity, fish developed body lesions. The study suggested that growth rates of juvenile O. niloticus may be comparably high at 28 or 32 °C in waters of 0 and 8 g l−1 salinity.
Motion Induced Antenna Pointing Errors in Satellite Communications On-The-Move Systems

Satellite communications on-the-move systems that operate at the Ku-band (11-14 GHz band) and higher frequencies play a significant role in military and civilian communication systems. In order to limit interference to adjacent satellites, regulatory and standards bodies have established strict limits on the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) at a particular terminal in its off-axis direction. In communications on-the-move systems, because of the frequent motion of the antenna platform, antenna pointing errors are unavoidable. In this paper we demonstrate that such antenna errors will result in the EIRP exceeding the limit imposed by the standards and regulatory bodies. Also, in order to support mobile antenna terminals, a modification to the existing EIRP spectral density is suggested.
Partial liquid ventilation provides effective gas exchange in a large animal model

Abstract Purpose :The purpose of this study was to show the ability of partial liquid ventilation (PLV) to sustain gas exchange in normal large (50 to 70 kg) adult animals. Methods :Ten adult sheep (53.7 ± 2.8 kg) were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. Sequential dosing of perflubron (LiquiVent, Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp, San Diego, CA) was performed to cumulative doses of 10 mL/kg, 20 mL/kg, 40 mL/kg, and 60 mL/kg. Physiological data were assessed at baseline and after each dose. Five animals were rotated through the left decubitus, right decubitus, supine, and prone positions while five animals remained prone throughout the experiment. Results :PaO 2 and PaCO 2 did not change significantly from baseline during administration of perflubron except for the PaO 2 in rotated animals when supine (rotated-supine PaO 2 : baseline = 519 ± 64 mm Hg; 60 mL/kg = 380 ± 109 mm Hg, P = .0131). In both groups, static lung compliance (C T ) decreased steadily with each successive perflubron instillation (nonrotated C T : baseline = 1.55 ± 0.22 mL/cm H 2 O/kg; 60 mL/kg = 0.52 ± 0.10 ml/cmH 2 O/kg, P =.0003). Conclusions :These data show that during PLV in this normal animal model, effective gas exchange is sustained and C T decreases with increasing perflubron dose.
Polyamine Metabolism II: N-(Monoaminoalkyl)- and N-(Polyaminoalkyl)acetamides in Human Urine

TLC and high-pressure liquid chromatographic examination of the dansyl derivatives obtained from human urine indicated the presence of N-[3-[4-aminobutyl)amino]propyl]acetamide (N1-acetylspermidine), N-[4-](3-aminopropyl)amino]buryl]acetamide (N8-acetylspermidine), N-(4-aminobutyl)acetamide (N-acetylputrescine), and N-(5-aminopentyl)acetamide (N-acetylcadaverine). The ratio of N1- to N8-acetylspermidine ranged from 10.3 in the urine of a patient with hepatoma to 1.1 in the urine of a normal subject. The three cancer patients had a considerably higher ratio of N1- to N8-acetylspermidine than did the three normal subjects. These findings indicate the ratio of N1- to N8-acetylspermidine in the 24-hr urine may serve as a biochemical marker for cancer.
Efficient Web Page Main Text Extraction towards Online News Analysis

We propose a simple approach to fast extract the main text content from web pages, especially online news pages. Most existing approaches need to construct the DOM tree structure from the HTML source of the web page first, and then, extract the important content by pruning/merge the DOM branches/sub-trees. Such DOM tree processing tasks are very time-consuming. Our solution processes the HTML source as a paragraphed text string directly and extracts the main text content by only analyzing the word count of text paragraphs. Compared with the existing DOM based approaches, the proposed approach is simple and fast, but not loses the accuracy. The proposed solution can be applied into practical applications with critical requirement on the efficiency, such as online news analysis. The experimental results show that our solution can efficiently and effectively extract the news content from online news pages for further analysis.
Efficiency of the Leggett Trap in Capturing Responding Boll Weevils

Leggett traps watched continuously during daylight hours were observed in 2 tests involving different techniques to capture 51 and 59% of responding Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman. Capture efficiency was greatly affected by the trap part on which boll weevils landed; 53.4% of those landing on the trap liners were captured compared with only 28.6% of those landing on other trap parts. Boll weevils remained on the traps an avg of 18.47 min before they were captured; those not captured remained on traps an avg of 14.58 min before leaving.
The Very Idea of Non-Reductionist Science

Throughout the previous chapters we have talked about a non-reductionist science. In this chapter, we want to clarify what that means. We first look at the very successful notion of scientific reductionism as it gets used in the natural and social sciences. We then focus on some complications for the reductionist project in cognitive science that derive from embodied approaches to cognition, and ask we how it’s possible to do science in this context.
Method for morphophysiological study of specific pial microvessels

A method is described whereby specific segments of the pial vasculature of cats can be both physiologically and morphologically studied. This is accomplished by the insertion of a cranial window through which specific pial vessels can be visualized, illustrated, numbered in a simple sketch, and physiologically evaluated under both control and experimental conditions. Following these procedures, perfusion of aldehydes is initiated and the pia and associated vasculature are stripped from the cortical mantle. The thin velum of pia so obtained permits the direct visualization of the pial vasculature whose unchanged configuration can be matched to the appropriate previously sketched vessels whose individual physiological status is known. In turn these vessels are divided into alternate segments and are prepared for either scanning or transmission electron microscopy. The advantages of this methodology is exemplified by the fact that it provides the physiological status and morphological characteristics of the same microvascular segment. Although designed for the pial vasculature, this protocol may also prove of use in the study of other superficially coursing microvascular beds.
A phase I study of CD25/regulatory T-cell-depleted donor lymphocyte infusion for relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Donor lymphocyte infusions are used to treat relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but responses are inadequate. In addition to effector cells, infusions contain CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) that may suppress graft-versus-tumor responses. We undertook a phase I study of donor lymphocyte infusions depleted of CD25+ T cells in patients with hematologic malignancies who had relapsed after transplantation. Twenty-one subjects received CD25/Treg-depleted infusions following removal of CD25+ cells using antibody-conjugated magnetic beads. Sixteen subjects received prior cytoreductive therapy. Four were in complete remission at the time of infusion. Two dose levels were administered: 1×107 (n=6) and 3×107 CD3+ cells/kg (n=15). A median 2.3 log-depletion of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Treg was achieved. Seven subjects (33%) developed clinically significant graft-versus-host disease by 1 year, including one patient who died. At dose level 1, five subjects had progressive disease and one had stable disease. At dose level 2, nine subjects (60%) achieved or maintained responses (8 complete responses, 1 partial response), including seven with active disease at the time of infusion. A shorter period between relapse and infusion was associated with response at dose level 2 (P=0.016). The 1-year survival rate was 53% among patients treated with dose level 2. Four of eight subjects with acute myeloid leukemia remained in remission at 1 year. When compared to unmodified donor lymphocyte infusions in 14 contemporaneous patients meeting study eligibility, CD25/Treg depletion was associated with a better response rate and improved event-free survival. Circulating naive and central memory CD4+ T cells increased after CD25/Treg-depleted infusion, but no immunophenotypic signature for response was noted. CD25/Treg-depleted donor infusion appears feasible and capable of inducing graft-versus-tumor responses without excessive graft-versus-host disease. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT#00675831).
Imaging Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of current imaging technologies and their scientific bases, with emphasis on those technologies that are applicable to gene therapy. The current imaging literature is also reviewed with respect to imaging gene therapy vectors, especially adenoviral (Ad) vectors. Noninvasive imaging in its various forms represents an expanding endeavor that will positively impact gene therapy. It provides critical information in three general areas: anatomy/blood flow, metabolism, and receptor expression. All imaging technologies require the use of electromagnetic energy. Each imaging modality exploits a different part of the electromagnetic energy spectrum. The spectrum includes gamma rays, X-rays, visible light, ultrasonic waves, and radiowaves. Gamma-ray imaging modalities have an established track record for imaging gene transfer in animal models.
New Theory of the Earth: The bowels of the Earth

The lower mantle I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down. I think- Alice The traditional lower mantle starts near 800–1000 km where the radial gradient of the seismic velocities becomes small and smooth. This is Bullen's Region D. The 1000-km depth region appears to be a fundamental geodynamic interface, perhaps a major-element chemical and a viscosity interface. Some authors take the lower mantle to start just below the major mantle discontinuity near 650 km. The depth of this discontinuity varies, perhaps by as much as 40 km and is variously referred to as the ‘660 km discontinuity’ or ‘670 km discontinuity’; the average depth is 650 km. In detailed Earth models there is a region of high velocity gradient for another 50–100 km below the discontinuity. This is probably due to phase changes, but it could represent a chemical gradient. Plate reconstructions show that past subduction zones correlate with high-velocity regions of the mantle near 800–1000 km depth. The ‘lower mantle proper’ therefore does not start until a depth well below the 650 km boundary, more in agreement with the classical definition. Below this depth the lower mantle is relatively homogenous until about 300 km above the core-mantle boundary. If there are chemical discontinuities in the mantle the boundaries will not be at fixed depths.
"Are Rising College Premiums Capitalized into House Prices? Evidence from China"

Many areas in China experienced steeply rising house prices beginning in 2003. We test whether a change in local residency requirements may have played a role in driving up house prices in some places by tying access to Chinese universities to local homeownership status in the presence of a rising college premium. We generate a novel dataset that combines China housing market and neighborhood data with household and university admission data. We find evidence of capitalization effects and a sizable increase in the likelihood of homeownership post policy change in places with the greatest preferential access to China's elite universities. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
“It’s kind of like an assault, you know”: media resisters’ meta-decoding practices of media culture

ABSTRACTStuart Hall’s “Encoding/decoding” essay sparked an on-going focus in media studies on reception and audience studies that remains theoretically robust today. Hall’s insight that audience members decode media content in multiple ways, some in line with the dominant cultural ideology and some resistant to that ideology, illuminates the phenomenon of media resistance. Media resisters significantly limit their media consumption and they do so based on their decodings of media culture—decodings, or readings, that resist normative messages about commercialism and consumption, about the natural diffusion and inherent benefits of mobile technologies and social media, and about the political landscape depicted and generated by news media. Hall’s encoding/decoding model is expanded here to include not only audiences’ decodings of specific content, but of media culture broadly. Concerns about media culture in the aggregate lead to media resisters’ practices of limiting media engagement, practices themselves ...
Analog Method for Radiographic Assessment of Heterotopic Bone in Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.

Rationale and Objectives Severe progressive multifocal heterotopic ossification (HO) is a rare occurrence seen predominantly in patients who have fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and is difficult to quantitate owing to patient-, disease-, logistical-, and radiation-related issues. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scoring system based on plain radiographs for quantitative assessment of HO lesions in patients with FOP. Materials and Methods Institutional review board approval was obtained from the University of Pennsylvania, and all data comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations. The University of Pennsylvania Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approved the use of mice in this study. First, we used a mouse model of FOP-like HO to validate a semiquantitative analog scale for estimating relative heterotopic bone volume. Second, we used this validated scale to estimate the relative amount of HO from a retrospective analysis of plain radiographs from 63 patients with classic FOP. Finally, the scale was applied to a retrospective analysis of computed tomographic images from three patients with FOP. Results In the FOP-mouse model, the observed rating on the analog scale is highly correlated to heterotopic bone volumes measured by microcomputed tomography ( R 2 = 0.89). The scoring system that was applied to radiographs of patients with FOP captured the clinical range of HO typically present at all axial and appendicular sites. Analysis of computed tomographic scans of patients with FOP found that observed radiograph ratings were highly correlated with HO volume ( R 2 = 0.80). Conclusions The scoring system described here could enable practical, quantitative assessment of HO in clinical trials to evaluate new treatment modalities, especially for FOP. The development of the six-point analog scale described here provides and validates a much-needed, reproducible, and quantifiable method for describing and assessing HO in patients with FOP. This scale has the potential to be a key descriptor that can inform patients with FOP and clinicians about disease progression and response of HO lesions to interventions and treatments.
Evaluating color performance of whole-slide imaging devices by multispectral-imaging of biological tissues

The color reproducibility of two whole-slide imaging (WSI) devices was evaluated with biological tissue slides. Three tissue slides (human colon, skin, and kidney) were used to test a modern and a legacy WSI devices. The color truth of the tissue slides was obtained using a multispectral imaging system. The output WSI images were compared with the color truth to calculate the color difference for each pixel. A psychophysical experiment was also conducted to measure the perceptual color reproducibility (PCR) of the same slides with four subjects. The experiment results show that the mean color differences of the modern, legacy, and monochrome WSI devices are 10.94±4.19, 22.35±8.99, and 42.74±2.96 uE00, while their mean PCRs are 70.35±7.64%, 23.06±14.68%, and 0.91±1.01%, respectively.
Compensatory changes in CYP expression in three different toxicology mouse models: CAR-null, Cyp3a-null, and Cyp2b9/10/13-null mice

Targeted mutant models are common in mechanistic toxicology experiments investigating the absorption, metabolism, distribution, or elimination (ADME) of chemicals from individuals. Key models include those for xenosensing transcription factors and cytochrome P450s (CYP). Here we investigated changes in transcript levels, protein expression, and steroid hydroxylation of several xenobiotic detoxifying CYPs in constitutive androstane receptor (CAR)-null and two CYP-null mouse models that have subfamily members regulated by CAR; the Cyp3a-null and a newly described Cyp2b9/10/13-null mouse model. Compensatory changes in CYP expression that occur in these models may also occur in polymorphic humans, or may complicate interpretation of ADME studies performed using these models. The loss of CAR causes significant changes in several CYPs probably due to loss of CAR-mediated constitutive regulation of these CYPs. Expression and activity changes include significant repression of Cyp2a and Cyp2b members with corresponding drops in 6α- and 16β-testosterone hydroxylase activity. Further, the ratio of 6α-/15α-hydroxylase activity, a biomarker of sexual dimorphism in the liver, indicates masculinization of female CAR-null mice, suggesting a role for CAR in the regulation of sexually dimorphic liver CYP profiles. The loss of Cyp3a causes fewer changes than CAR. Nevertheless, there are compensatory changes including gender-specific increases in Cyp2a and Cyp2b. Cyp2a and Cyp2b were down-regulated in CAR-null mice, suggesting activation of CAR and potentially PXR following loss of the Cyp3a members. However, the loss of Cyp2b causes few changes in hepatic CYP transcript levels and almost no significant compensatory changes in protein expression or activity with the possible exception of 6α-hydroxylase activity. This lack of a compensatory response in the Cyp2b9/10/13-null mice is probably due to low CYP2B hepatic expression, especially in male mice. Overall, compensatory and regulatory CYP changes followed the order CAR-null > Cyp3a-null > Cyp2b-null mice.
Subsurface Characterization Using Geophysical and Geohydrological Data Fusion

We are introducing a novel technology applicable to the robust interpretation of the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity in heterogenous formations. The evidence theory approach is based on a combination of directly measured hydrogeological and geophysical data together with expert opinion. The approach first utilizes fuzzy-set based approximate reasoning to quantify subjective expert opinion, especially when data are scarce, to create a fuzzy prior characterization of the hydraulic conductivity field. Subjective information includes, but is not limited to opinions of groundwater professionals regarding the relationship between soil type and grain size or on the grain size to hydraulic conductivity relationship. Utilization of qualitative insights into the effects of geological processes as interpreted by the groundwater professional on hydraulic conductivity properties at a site is also a good example. Secondly, we propose to provide a new framework for integrating available kriged borehole data as well as geophysical information with the prior estimated conductivity field. The resulting evidence theory based approach has its core strengths in 1) enabling the simultaneous use of probabilistic uncertainty and other (non-additive) representations of uncertainty (e.g., fuzzy or possibilistic), 2) integrating expert opinion with objective information, 3) solving the delicate problem of choosing an appropriate prior estimate of hydraulic conductivity for the conditioning process, and 4) enabling a complementary (rather than sequential) use of geophysical data during the characterization process. The framework described herein allows a sensitivity analysis of the resultant characterization with respect to available data which makes it possible to assess the value (in the sense of consistency or conflict) of information. A site application demonstrates the approach.
Metrics for individual differences in EEG response to cognitive workload: Optimizing performance prediction

Abstract Robert Stelmack's distinguished contributions to differential psychology demonstrated the importance of appropriate choice of electroencephalographic (EEG) metrics, and of establishing the functional significance of EEG. This article reports a study of individual differences in EEG that developed these themes. 150 participants performed two signal detection tasks, requiring threat and change detection, in a complex, simulated operational environment. EEG was recorded together with subjective stress and additional psychophysiological workload measures. Results showed that five different absolute-level and reactivity EEG metrics differed in psychometric properties, including correlations with subjective stress and task performance. Prediction of performance was optimized with a multivariate model that included subjective stress, heart rate variability, and eye fixation duration, as well as baseline EEG measures. Findings point to the need for more sophisticated interpretation of EEG metrics in individual differences research.
The Association between the Anatomic Landmarks of the Pulp Chamber Floor and the Prevalence of Middle Mesial Canals in Mandibular First Molars: An In Vivo Analysis

Abstract Introduction The present study aimed to determine the incidence and anatomic variation of the middle mesial (MM) canal in mandibular permanent first molars using cone-beam computed tomographic imaging and to evaluate the association between the presence of MM canals and anatomic landmarks of the pulp chamber floor in the mesial root. Methods In this in vivo cross-sectional study, 210 CBCT scans of mandibular fist molars from 210 patients were included. CBCT scans were evaluated in 3 sections, and the following data were collected for further analysis: identification of the MM canal, the distance between the mesiobuccal (MB) and mesiolingual (ML) orifices, the presence of any isthmus between the MB and ML orifices, and the MB and ML root canal system (RCS) configurations. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the effect of pulp floor anatomic characteristics as an independent variable on the outcome variable (the presence of an MM canal). Results The overall prevalence of the identification of an MM canal regardless of age was 14.7%. Mandibular first molars with an isthmus between the MB and ML RCS configurations were almost 5 times more likely to show an MM canal (P Conclusions The suggested anatomic landmarks of the pulp chamber floor could act as a reliable predictive factor for the presence of an MM canal. This knowledge of anatomic clues may serve to better direct endodontists in locating an MM canal, which could prevent excessive removal of tooth structures.
Adolescent Peer Group Communication, Sex-Role Norms and Decisions about Occupations

Choosing an occupation is a critical part of growing up. Females, however, typically put off making this decision, and for some of them the consequence is inadequate training and the prospect of lo...
Comparative studies of low concentration SO2 and NO2 sorption by activated carbon supported [C2mim][Ac] and KOH sorbents

Abstract This work evaluated the ability of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ionic liquid and potassium hydroxide loaded activated carbon sorbents to remove SO2 and NO2 under simulated atmospheric conditions containing ≤10 ppm of gas contaminants in air at 25 °C and relative humidity of 50%. The studies indicate the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate loaded activated carbon, [C2mim][Ac] sorbent, has superior sorption performance for SO2, with breakthrough times greater than pure activated carbon, pelletized KOH activated carbon and granulated KOH loaded activated carbon. The pelletized KOH loaded activated carbon had lowest performance indicating pelletized sorbents are not ideal for use in high flow rate applications such as fuel cells. The SO2 concentration significantly impacted the breakthrough times of the [C2mim][Ac] sorbent, low SO2 concentration resulted in the longest break through times but lowest sorption capacities. The granulated KOH activated carbon and pure activated carbon had highest NO2 break through times compared to [C2mim][Ac] sorbents. The simultaneous SO2 and NO2 sorption studies indicated that the [C2mim][Ac] sorbent had greater selectivity for SO2 than NO2 compared to the KOH sorbents, as evidenced by high breakthrough times for SO2 compared to NO2. Theoretical studies using DFT-B3LYP were performed to elucidate the favored binding interactions of the [C2mim][Ac] with acidic gas contaminants. Theory indicates acidic gas contaminants preferentially interact strongly with the oxygen atoms of the acetate anion compared to the imidazole cation. The computational work also confirmed experiments showing high selectivity of the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ionic liquid sorbent for SO2 compared to NO2.
A Comparison of Planners' Site-Selection Intentions Towards a Sustainability Reward Program, Location, and Overall Costs

Previous research indicates that environmental attitudes do not always translate into environmentally sustainable behavioral intention. The current research uses sustainability reward programs as i...
Trophic Structure 2: Components and Controls in Water Column Food Webs

No topic within marine ecology and biological oceanography has changed more in the last decade than our notions about components and structure of planktonic food webs. Knowledge about marine water column food webs has been considerably enlarged, and made much more complex, by recent findings about the existence and role of smaller organisms, release and reuse of dissolved organic matter, and reassessment of the function of certain larger organisms. The changes in our understanding have been significant enough (Pomeroy, 1974) to amount to a new “paradigm”, a signal advance in understanding (Kuhn, 1970).
Global minimization of indefinite quadratic problems

A branch and bound algorithm is proposed for finding the global optimum of large-scale indefinite quadratic problems over a polytope. The algorithm uses separable programming and techniques from concave optimization to obtain approximate solutions. Results on error bounding are given and preliminary computational results using the Cray 1S supercomputer as reported.
Vascularized fibular grafts in the treatment of congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia

Free vascularized fibular bone grafts were used in nineteen children, seen consecutively, who had congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia. The average age was 5.1 years (range, 1.4 to 11.4 years). Sixteen of the patients had been treated with electrical stimulation for at least one year, and the tibia had not united. All but four patients had had at least one previous operative procedure. At an average follow-up of 6.3 years (range, 2.0 to 11.0 years), eighteen (95 per cent) of the nineteen pseudarthroses had healed. The leg-length discrepancy averaged 1.6 centimeters (range, 0 to 4.0 centimeters), but ten tibiae had residual or progressive valgus or anteroposterior malalignment despite bracing. There was minimum morbidity at the donor site.
Growth of Fungi on Three Sources of Nitrogen

The rate and amount of growth of twenty-five species of fungi were determined when they were supplied with nitrate, ammonium, and organic (asparagine) nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen was used slowly by ...
EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ATTENTIONAL MANIPULATIONS ON SECOND LANGUAGE GRAMMAR DEVELOPMENT: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

The role of attention has been central to theoretical and empirical inquiries in second language (L2) acquisition. The current eye-tracking study examined how external and internal attentional manipulations (Chun, Golomb, T (b) L2 gains were evidenced, although only the internal manipulation led to above-chance performance; and (c) L2 gains were related to attention allocated to the form under the external manipulation and to a lesser extent the internal manipulation. Overall, findings may inform theoretical perspectives on attention and elucidate cognitive processes related to L2 instruction.
A Highly Reliable and Efficient Class of Single-Stage High-Frequency AC-Link Converters

This paper proposes a new class of topologies of single-stage high-frequency ac-link power converters, which is capable of providing both voltage step up/down within a wide frequency and voltage ranges. The proposed family, which supports bidirectional power flow, can interface various single/multi-port dc and/or single/multi-phase ac systems to provide dc–dc, dc–ac, ac–dc, or ac–ac power conversion. In this family of converter, which offers a very modular structure, a small inductor that forms the link exchanges power entirely or partially between the source and load. The proposed family can function in buck, boost, and/or buck–boost modes of operation, and a combination of these modes of operation is also feasible. In comparison to the parallel inductive four-quadrant link converters, the proposed family features a significantly reduced link peak current, reduced switch ratings, and reduced total number of power switches. These features enhance the efficiency, reduce the total cost, and increase the power density of the system. In order to further improve the overall efficiency of the system, minimize the current/voltage stress over all utilized semiconductor devices, and lower electromagnetic interference (EMI), a small capacitor is placed in parallel with the link inductor to realize soft-switching operation for the proposed configurations. Moreover, the proposed converters have the potential to incorporate a lightweight single-phase high-frequency transformer for electrical isolation. The proposed circuit topologies prevent reverse recovery issues and eliminate losses corresponding to body diodes of power switching devices via utilizing power switches in conjunction with external fast recovery diodes. The proposed family offers a very high level of reliability owing to its immunity from short circuit of input and output terminals and open circuit of the link inductor, which may occur in other power converters due to commutation problem resulting from a short deadtime or an overlap time between switches, unwanted control command, delay in electronic circuits, or EMI noise's misgating on or off , in addition to the absence of electrolytic capacitors in the power circuit. A control approach is also developed to regulate input and output currents in one stage of power conversion. A detailed theoretical analysis, operation, design methodology, and control strategy of the proposed family are provided in this paper, and the effectiveness and performance of the proposed converter family are verified via simulation results and experimentally.
Uncertainty quantification framework for wavelet transformation of noise-contaminated signals

Abstract Wavelet Transform (WT) is one of the most important signal processing methods that is being widely used in structural health monitoring (SHM). The primary advantage of WT over other signal processing techniques is the ability to extract and analyze information in both time and frequency domain with adaptive resolutions. However, in most of the applications, measurements are highly contaminated with noise from numerous sources, and the noise contamination will accumulate and propagate through the wavelet transformation. The WT outcome, referred to as wavelet coefficients, will be degraded and the features extracted from the contaminated coefficients will cause misinterpretation and false decisions. In this paper, probabilistic uncertainty quantification (UQ) for wavelet coefficients is investigated to facilitate more meaningful data processing for reliable decision-making. The proposed approach is able to estimate the variance of the wavelet coefficients at different scales and shift values which leads to an estimated probability density function (PDF) that can be used later to improve decision making procedure. A probabilistic analytical framework for quantifying the uncertainty of the wavelet transform estimation is proposed in this context, and the results are validated using the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) on simulated signals and systems as well as experimental signals recorded from a vibration structure. The adopted framework is generic to all kinds of WT with different mother wavelets.
Tobacco Use in Patients with HIV

Tobacco use, mainly in the form of cigarette smoking, is hyper-prevalent among persons living with HIV (PLWH). In the early days of the epidemic, smoking received little attention because most patients succumbed to their disease before tobacco-related morbidities could manifest themselves. In the HAART era, patients are surviving longer with their HIV but are suffering from tobacco-related morbidity and mortality at alarming rates. Smoking is associated with a wide range of HIV-related and HIV-unrelated disease processes. Today’s HIV-infected community as a whole loses more years to tobacco use than to the virus itself.
Factors in the Building of Effective Patient-Provider Relationships in the Context of Fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE Fibromyalgia patients face particular challenges in building relationships with health care providers. In this study, we examine, from patients' perspectives, factors that influence the formation of effective patient-provider relationships. DESIGN This research employed a qualitative approach to analyze data collected from a study that employed semistructured interviews. METHODS Multiple methods were used to recruit 23 fibromyalgia patients for interviews. Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore how participants' information behaviors, including their communication with and relationships to providers, changed over time. The interview data were analyzed using a qualitative analytic method based on interpretative phenomenological analysis and constructivist grounded theory. RESULTS We identified three important factors that influenced the building of effective relationships: patients and providers' interactions involving information, identifying health care providers that fit patients' needs, and realizing shared responsibilities. With regard to information, we described three important themes: information gaps, providers as educators/facilitators, and collaborative information behavior. CONCLUSIONS Understanding of the key elements of relationship development between patients and providers can be utilized in various ways to improve clinical care. First, the knowledge gained in this study can inform the design of patient education materials that assist patients to identify providers that fit their needs, prepare for consultations, and develop realistic expectations for providers. The findings of this study can also inform the design of resources and tools to enable clinicians to communicate and relate better with their patients.
The impact of team training on perceptions of team functioning during 3rd year veterinary surgery

Introduction: Team communication is paramount for success in veterinary medicine. Methods: This qualitative study explores the impact of team communication training on students' perceptions of performance and assessment of team functioning during junior surgery by comparing two different classes. The class of 2017 was not formally trained in team communication before their participation in junior surgery, while the class of 2018 participated in training offered through a dedicated team communication course. Results: Students' experiences as described in their own words revealed qualitatively different experiences and challenges associated with being a part of a year-long surgery team for both cohorts. Team training impacted students' ability to plan and organize their work, navigate disagreement, and facilitated a high level of cohesiveness. Conclusions: These findings suggest that team training makes a difference in students' experiences and enhances perceptions of communication, coordination, and collaborative processes.
Improving Social Acceptance of Low Sociometric Status, Low Achieving Students

This study investigated factors involved in improving social acceptance of unpopular, low achieving students. A 5 week treatment was used in which low acceptance students worked with popular peers making a movie to present to the class. Variations in this treatment were designed to isolate variables involved in improvement of social acceptance. Treatments produced significant immediate gains in social acceptance; however, the gains did not endure over a 6 week followup period. No differentiation was possible among factors involved in improving social acceptance.
The Institutional Cultures of Postcolonial Studies

This essay identifies an emerging body of cultural production created in the wake of the late twentieth-century consolidation of postcolonial literary studies, and reads this work as an engagement ...
Federal Forum Provisions: Historical Development and Future Evolution

The Securities Act of 1933 provides for concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. In 2015, plaintiffs significantly increased the frequency with which they filed Securities Act claims in state court, where dismissal rates are lower and weaker claims have greater settlement value. The cost of directors and officers insurance for issuers conducting initial public offerings, the form of transaction most sensitive to Securities Act litigation risk, has increased dramatically. This increase is concurrent with plaintiffs’ shift away from federal court. Federal Forum Provisions (FFPs) appear in charters or bylaws. They require that Securities Act claims be litigated in their traditional forum, federal court. FFPs arose as a direct response to plaintiffs’ shift from federal to state court Securities Act litigation. In Sciabacucchi, Delaware Chancery held that FFPs are invalid. That opinion is currently on appeal to Delaware’s Supreme Court. Part I of this note reviews data documenting the migration of Securities Act claims from federal to state court, and shows that approximately 75% of all issuers today facing Securities Act claims face at least one complaint filed in state court. Part II analyses plaintiffs’ incentive to migrate, and focuses on the lower probability of state court dismissal, combined with an array of other procedural advantages that benefit plaintiffs in state court. Part III presents novel data documenting a rapid and significant increase in the cost of directors’ and officers’ insurance. Part IV documents the evolution and propagation of FFPs, and shows that they have been adopted primarily by Delaware-chartered issuers who face a significant risk of Securities Act IPO litigation. Part V summarizes other scholars’ findings that the stock prices of issuers with FFPs declined in a statistically and financially significant manner in response to Chancery’s decision in Sciabacucchi. Part VI concludes with observations regarding the future evolution of FFPs contingent on the pending decision by Delaware’s Supreme Court. If FFPs are upheld as valid, then Delaware will have a further advantage in the market for corporate charters. If FFPs are held invalid, issuers will face incentives to petition other states to adopt legislation affirming the validity of FFPs. If that occurs, insurers will have a rational incentive to impose a “Delaware penalty” on issuers who are likely subject to Securities Act liability and who charter in Delaware rather than in states that enforce FFPs. If this market response emerges, it will be the first instance in which there is an immediate, quantifiable reason not to charter in Delaware. This result cannot be positive for Delaware’s ability to compete in the market for corporate charters.