cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Building a Global Sense of Place: The Community Networking Movement in the United States

Community networks help build place-based community by offering individual citizens and organizations access to the Internet, the ability to post information online, and opportunities to discuss community affairs. Community networks are inspired by a dynamic vision of community that incorporates a global sense of place. A global sense of place is valuable because it helps to illuminate a place's connections with the world and may therefore enable scale-jumping forms of activism. This article analyzes interviews with participants in four U.S. community networks to explore how networks combine a politics of mobility, a politics of access, and a politics of place to construct a global sense of place. The degree to which each network emphasizes mobility, access, and place varies. This variation has implications for both community activism and issues of diversity in community. Networks that fail to link mobility, access, and place may increase, rather than decrease, inequalities in access to electronic communi...
Thailand. The lovelorn ghost and the magical monk: Practicing Buddhism in modern Thailand . By McDaniel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011. Pp. 384. Halftones, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

The lovelorn ghost and the magical monk: Practicing Buddhism in modern Thailand By JUSTIN THOMAS MCDANIEL New York: Columbia University Press, 2011. Pp. 384. Halftones, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Justin McDaniel, already a winner of the prestigious Harry Bender Prize for Best First Book in Southeast Asian Studies (see Gathering leaves and lifting words; Histories of monastic education in Laos and Thailand, University of Washington Press, 2008), has now produced a second very different kind of book that clearly solidifies his position at the forefront of Thai and Lao Buddhist studies. This new book includes seven distinct but well-integrated components. The first is McDaniel's story of his own personal ethnographic practice and discovery (a story which he describes as one of surprising experiences leading to 'unexpected consequences'). The second component is his focus on aspects of the history and character of 'modern Thai Buddhism' that have been largely either ignored or disparaged by Western-trained scholars. He makes a convincing case that these aspects of Thai Buddhist life have been and remain 'mainstream' phenomena that involve rich and poor, urbanites and villagers, the highly educated and the less educated, monks and the laity. The third is his astute decision to focus attention on two closely interacting 'figures' who have played/are playing crucial roles in the religious life of modern Thai Buddhists--one a mid-nineteenth-century 'magical monk' (Somdet To), whom he identifies as a (perhaps the) dominant locus of Buddhist interest in modern Thailand; the other a closely related 'lovelorn ghost' whose very traditional story has become a framework for important components in contemporary Buddhist practice on the one hand and Buddhist-oriented popular cinema on the other. The fourth component is his insistence on the importance of local Thai histories, traditions, and practices that need to be identified and interpreted in specifically local terms. In this connection he develops a strong critique of the kind of scholarship that interprets Thai Buddhism as a 'syncretic' amalgam that includes 'Buddhist, Brahmanic, and indigenous components). And, especially in that context, he highlights the crucial importance of a growing corpus of excellent studies written in the Thai language by Thai scholars that have been (and are being) ignored by most scholars trained in the Western tradition of Buddhist scholarship. The fifth component is his ongoing argument that the tradition of Buddhist practice on which he is focusing constitutes a 'mainstream' element that does not focus on 'other worldly' (lokottara) ideals or concerns. …
Three-dimensional modelling of upper mantle structure under the Pacific Ocean and surrounding area

SUMMARY Long-period (75-250 s) fundamental-mode Love and Rayleigh waves are inverted for the seismic velocity variations in the upper mantle under the Pacific Ocean and surrounding area. The data are inverted to map the regional variation of phase velocity, and then the velocity structure of the upper mantle. No a priori regionalization is used in this study, and the lateral heterogeneity is expanded horizontally into blocks (lo' X 10'). To estimate the reliability of the velocity distribution, we have calculated the resolving kernels. In the central, NW, NE and SW regions, the resolving kernels have fairly sharp peaks. In the SE region, however, resolution is not so good. The results show good correlation with surface tectonics. In the velocity map, shields and ridges are the major features in the depth interval 50-100km. Anomalies associated with the East Pacific Rise and the shields persist to 300 km. At 400 and 500 km, high-velocity anomalies appear under the eastern and southern Pacific ridges, and a low-velocity anomaly appears beneath Australia. The present study provides better resolution than previous studies because of the better path coverage. For example, a large low-velocity anomaly emerges under Hawaii down to the depth of 200 km for SH velocity. The horizontal extent of this anomaly is comparable to the sue of the Hawaiian swell. This feature supports that the Hawaii hotspot is an isolated, truly anomalous feature in the Pacific Ocean.
Fixed point theorems for partially outward mappings

Abstract We generalize some classical theorems related to dimension. We extend Brouwer's fixed point theorem to a class of mappings whose images are not necessarily a subset of the domain. These results also generalize theorems of B.R. Halpern and G.M. Bergman. As applications, we prove some theorems for maps that pull absolute retracts outward into attached sphere collars. We note relationships to the relative Nielsen theory and show that certain of our applications can also be obtained using results of H. Schirmer.
The Adaptive Brain: Aging and Neurocognitive Scaffolding

There are declines with age in speed of processing, working memory, inhibitory function, and long-term memory, as well as decreases in brain structure size and white matter integrity. In the face of these decreases, functional imaging studies have demonstrated, somewhat surprisingly, reliable increases in prefrontal activation. To account for these joint phenomena, we propose the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC). STAC provides an integrative view of the aging mind, suggesting that pervasive increased frontal activation with age is a marker of an adaptive brain that engages in compensatory scaffolding in response to the challenges posed by declining neural structures and function. Scaffolding is a normal process present across the lifespan that involves use and development of complementary, alternative neural circuits to achieve a particular cognitive goal. Scaffolding is protective of cognitive function in the aging brain, and available evidence suggests that the ability to use this mechanism is strengthened by cognitive engagement, exercise, and low levels of default network engagement.
Experiences with a wide area gigabit network

The Blanca gigabit testbed is one of the national, high speed networking testbeds coordinated by the Corporation for National Research Initiative. After two years of continuous development, the Blanca high speed trunk now consists of two local-area HIPPI networks bridged by a wide-area OC-12 ATM link. Because there are many elements involved in the proper operation of the experimental network, application level testing often requires the coordination of multiple parties at different sites to monitor the hardware and systems software involved. In short, gathering application level performance data has been a real challenge. We describe and analyze the application level performance data gathered from the Blanca gigabit network. We have developed a high-speed networking library and a distributed image server application to help us understand the behavior of high speed network. Our measurements over Blanca showed that large TCP window sizes are crucial to achieving high bandwidth utilization. In addition, the host operating system idiosyncrasies significantly affect the networking performance. Using a variety of optimization techniques, we were able to improve the throughput by as much as 65 percent. The techniques described should prove useful to application developers who wish to exploit the bandwidth of high speed networks.
Challenges in spacer process development for leading‐edge high‐k metal gate technology

Transistor performance is a key enabler for state-of-theart electronic devices. Besides fast switching performance, low power consumption is a critical parameter for mobile products. The implementation of HfO2 as a gate dielectric with a high permittivity reduces leakage current and power consumption drastically. Metal gates and work function materials are required to adjust Fermi levels and are essential for device performance. In addition to these key elements of high-k metal gate (HKMG) technology, encapsulation liners and spacers are found to have a significant impact. We show that the performance of HKMG transistors has a strong dependency on the film quality and growth conditions of the SiN spacers. A good conformality and excellent step coverage at low deposition temperature is achieved with an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process using dichlorosilane and ionized radicals of ammonia. This ALD process is superior to standard LPCVD and PECVD processes with regards to thickness control, within-wafer-uniformity and matching of the thickness values between dense and isolated transistors. ALD SiN is applied as a spacer to define the implant profiles. The impact of the ALD SiN spacers on transistor universal curve, miller capacitance and Vt is demonstrated. Further application is a hard mask for selective epitaxy of SiGe.
Lutetium effects on the UV absorption spectra of Nd:YAG

Spectroscopic observations were made on Lu:Nd:YAG and Nd:YAG laser materials. Variations in the UV absorption strengths are described and related to the presence of Lu3+. These results indicate that an optimum Lu/Nd ion ratio exists that will yield minimum absorption by the host over the wavelength range 0.4-0.24 \mu m. The reduction in absorption will minimize nonuniform heating effects that should lead to better laser performance under certain conditions.
Principal component analysis enhances SNR for dynamic electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imaging of cycling hypoxia in vivo.

Purpose Low oxygen concentration (hypoxia) in tumors strongly affects their malignant state and resistance to therapy. These effects may be more deleterious in regions undergoing cycling hypoxia. Electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) has provided a noninvasive, quantitative imaging modality to investigate static pO2 in vivo. However, to image changing hypoxia, EPRI images with better temporal resolution may be required. The tradeoff between temporal resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) results in lower SNR for EPRI images with imaging time short enough to resolve cycling hypoxia. Methods Principal component analysis allows for accelerated image acquisition with acceptable SNR by filtering noise in projection data, from which pO2 images are reconstructed. Principal component analysis is used as a denoising technique by including only low-order components to approximate the EPRI projection data. Results Simulated and experimental studies show that principal component analysis filtering increases SNR, particularly for small numbers of sub-volumes with changing pO2, enabling an order of magnitude increase in temporal resolution with minimal deterioration in spatial resolution or image quality. Conclusion The SNR necessary for dynamic EPRI studies with temporal resolution required to investigate cycling hypoxia and its physiological implications is enabled by principal component analysis filtering. Magn Reson Med 71:440–450, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Hemoglobin Arlington Park: A New Hemoglobin Variant witb two Amino Acid Substitutions in the β Chain

Hemoglobin Arlington Park was detected accidentally as result of the use of a tiemolysate which contained hemoglobin with normal electrophoretic mobility as a control for peptide mapping. Peptide maps of this hemolysate revealed 3 new peptldes resulting from 2 amino acid substitutions to give a new variant with the composition (B6 GlwLys, 95 Lys→Clu).
Focal-plane processing architectures for real-time hyperspectral image processing

Real-time image processing requires high computational and I/O throughputs obtained by use of optoelectronic system solutions. A novel architecture that uses focal-plane optoelectronic-area I/O with a fine-grain, low-memory, single-instruction–multiple-data (SIMD) processor array is presented as an efficient computational solution for real-time hyperspectral image processing. The architecture is evaluated by use of realistic workloads to determine data throughputs, processing demands, and storage requirements. We show that traditional store-and-process system performance is inadequate for this application domain, whereas the focal-plane SIMD architecture is capable of supporting real-time performances with sustained operation throughputs of 500–1500 gigaoperations/s. The focal-plane architecture exploits the direct coupling between sensor and parallel-processor arrays to alleviate data-bandwidth requirements, allowing computation to be performed in a stream-parallel computation model, while data arrive from the sensors.
On the Accuracy of Ad Hoc Distributed Simulations for Open Queueing Network

Ad hoc distributed simulations are constructed by embedding online simulations into a network of sensors. Recent work examining the effectiveness of ad hoc distributed simulations in modeling open queueing networks has been limited to a specific network configuration. This paper examines the accuracy of the ad hoc approach more broadly for open queueing networks. First, we identify conditions where the ad hoc approach will yield accuracy comparable to traditional replicated simulations. For cases where these conditions do not apply, we propose a "buffered-area" mechanism to improve the accuracy of system performance estimates. Empirical evidence is presented showing that this mechanism helps achieve a substantial bias reduction with a moderate increase in execution time.
A high-performance analog front-end for an intraoral tongue-operated assistive technology

Tongue Drive System (TDS) is a tongue-operated, wireless assistive technology that infers its users' intentions by detecting their voluntary tongue motions, and translating them into user-defined commands. In this paper, we present the design of a low-power analog front-end (AFE) with configurable characteristics that tracks the tongue motion by reading four intraoral 3-D magnetic sensors to indicate the position of a small magnet attached to the tongue. Duty cycling is employed as a key feature in this system to reduce power consumption in the sensors and in the low-noise interfacing circuits, allowing for energy savings as much as 92%, which greatly extends the battery life. The AFE has been implemented in a 0.5-µm CMOS process and consumes 7.1 µA per sensor readout from a 1.8/4.2 V supply at a minimum duty cycle of 2%. Post-layout simulations show that the readout channels typically feature a noise density of 57 nV/vHz and a CMRR above 120 dB within the frequency band of interest (DC-2.5 kHz). Moreover, it presents a typical THD of 0.025%, a maximum input-referred offset of 5 µV, and a gain that is independent of temperature and process variations.
Characteristics of Ground Granular Activated Carbon for Rapid Small-Scale Column Tests

The rapid small-scale column test (RSSCT) has become a popular method for sizing granulated activated carbon (GAC) systems and columns for water treatment facilities. In this procedure, the GAC is ground and a specific size fraction is used for the RSSCT. Since GAC is produced and activated using different processes from different starting materials (e.g., bituminous, lignite, wood, etc.), the possibility exists that the extent of activation and, hence, the adsorptive capacity and surface reactivity may vary throughout the GAC particles. This would be the case if there were less activated inner cores in the GAC particles. If there is a variation in the sorption properties throughout the GAC particles, then grinding the GAC may result in smaller particles that have different properties than the bulk GAC. This study was carried out to test this commonly assumed hypothesis that the limited-sized ground particles represent the same adsorptive properties as the bulk GAC. Four activated carbons (manufactured fr...
Evidence for Unique Calmodulin-Dependent Nuclear Factor-κB Regulation in WEHI-231 B Cells

Immature B cells express constitutive nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity and inhibition of this activity is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death. Previous studies have implicated a calcium-dependent proteolysis of the NF-κB inhibitory protein IκBα as critical in the maintenance of constitutive NF-κB activity in these cells. We tested whether modulation of diverse calcium-dependent processes affects the maintenance of constitutive NF-κB activity in the WEHI-231 immature B cell line. Calmodulin inhibitors, but not calcineurin inhibition, blocked both IκBα turnover and the maintenance of constitutive NF-κB activity. Inhibition of NF-κB DNA binding activity by the calmodulin antagonist W13 also resulted in a loss of the expression of the NF-κB target gene, IκBα. However, prolonged inhibition of NF-κB activity for up to 8 h did not lead to apoptotic induction in the WEHI-231 cells. Moreover, removal of calmodulin inhibitors resulted in the reappearance of constitutive NF-κB activity and the renewed expression of the IκBα gene. Thus, calmodulin activity is a requirement for the continual turnover of IκBα and the maintenance of constitutive NF-κB function in WEHI-231 cells. In addition, our findings suggest that inhibition of NF-κB activity does not lead to the immediate onset of apoptosis, indicating that prolonged inhibition of NF-κB–dependent gene expression is required to cause apoptosis of WEHI-231 B cells.
A Critical Role for Amino-Terminal Glutamine/Asparagine Repeats in the Formation and Propagation of a Yeast Prion

The yeast [PSI+] factor propagates by a prion-like mechanism involving self-replicating Sup35p amyloids. We identified multiple Sup35p mutants that either are poorly recruited into, or cause curing of, wildtype amyloids in vivo. In vitro, these mutants showed markedly decreased rates of amyloid formation, strongly supporting the protein-only prion hypothesis. Kinetic analysis suggests that the prion state replicates by accelerating slow conformational changes rather than by providing stable nuclei. Strikingly, our mutations map exclusively within a short glutamine/asparagine-rich region of Sup35p, and all but one occur at polar residues. Even after replacement of this region with polyglutamine, Sup35p retains its ability to form amyloids. These and other considerations suggest similarities between the prion-like propagation of [PSI+] and polyglutamine-mediated pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases.
Slit scanning of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells : quantification of asymmetric cell division and cell cycle progression in asynchronous culture

Slit scanning flow cytometry has been applied to the analysis of the cell cycle and cellcycle-dependent events in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yielding information on the low-resolution spatial distribution of cellular components in single cells of unperturbed cell populations. Because this process is rapid, large numbers of cells can be analyzed to give distributions of parameters in a given population. To study asymmetric cell division and cell cycle progression, forward-angle light scattering (FALS) signals together with fluorescence signals from acriflavine-stained nuclei have been measured in cells from exponentially growing yeast populations. An algorithm has been developed that assigns the position of the bud neck in the FALS signals so that both FALS and DNA signals can be analyzed in terms of the contributions from the mother cell and the cell bud. The data indicate that mother cell FALS, on average, remains constant while FALS due to the cell bud increases as a cell progresses through the cell cycle. By identifying mitotic cells and measuring their properties, we have found that the coefficient of variation for the distribution of FALS is smallest within the dividing cell population and largest within the newborn cell population, in accordance with the critical size control mechanism of yeast cell growth. The use of this experimental approach to provide data for statistical population models is discussed.
Modeling K/sup +/ channels for a ventricular cell model

The recent experimental data demonstrated the significance of the cardiac K/sup +/ currents in the rat ventricular myocytes under different pathological (normal, diabetic, altered thyroid, and hypertrophied) conditions. A computer model of the rat ventricular cell is being developed from both voltage clamp and action potential data to determine the contribution of the outward K/sup +/ currents to the action potential variation in normal and diseased rat ventricular myocytes. The ventricular cell model has two major components: a Hodgkin-Huxley type membrane model and a fluid compartment model. The membrane model of the ventricular cell is described by the membrane capacitance, the ionic currents, and the membrane pumps and exchanger. The main objective of this study was to develop mathematical equations to model the two prominent K/sup +/ channels (I/sub t/ and I/sub K1/). The results conclude that (i) the voltage and time dependencies of the 4AP sensitive transient outward current (I/sub t/) can be represented by the Hodgkin-Huxley type descriptions, (ii) the voltage and K/sub 0//sup +/ dependencies of the instantaneous rectifier current (I/sub K1/) can be formulated by a simple nonlinear equation, and (iii) the voltage clamp simulations for I/sub t/ and I/sub K1/ match the experimental data well.
Ensuring healthy American Indian generations for tomorrow through safe and healthy indoor environments.

American Indians (AI) have the highest rate of severe physical housing problems in the U.S. (3.9%). Little information exists about the environmental hazards in AI homes. The purposes of this paper are to discuss challenges that were encountered when recruiting AI for a home-and employment-based environmental health assessments, highlight major successes, and propose recommendations for future indoor environmental health studies. The Center for American Indian Community Health (CAICH) and Children’s Mercy Hospital’s Center for Environmental Health and Allergy and Immunology Research Lab collaborated to provide educational sessions and healthy home assessments for AI. Through educational trainings, more than 240 AI were trained on the primary causes of health problems in homes. A total of 72 homes and places of employment were assessed by AI environmental health specialists. The top three categories with the most concerns observed in the homes/places of employment were allergens/dust (98%), safety/injury (89%) and chemical exposure (82%). While some information on smoking inside the home was collected, these numbers may have been underreported due to stigma. This was CAICH’s first endeavor in environmental health and although challenges arose, many more successes were achieved.
Neural network application to high performance electric drives systems

With the introduction of improved training algorithms and new network topologies, neural networks (NN) have demonstrated their feasibility and practicality in several applications including electric drives. An artificial neural network using parallel and distributed processing units can achieve the functions of system modeling and control. NN have several key features that make them highly suitable for high power drive (HPD) applications. There are several issues that must be addressed before the NN is used for practical applications. Among them are the selection of the NN structure, the proper training algorithm, the memorization and saturation of the NN, the correlation of the training data, the size and range of the training data, the distribution of the training data in the operation space, the inversion of the NN for contour tracking and the implementation of query techniques. The application and implementation of the neural network in HPD are becoming more complex and sophisticated, the open-loop black-box approach to the design, training and verification can no longer be effective or reliable. This paper shows that any NN design can be greatly enhanced when ancillary techniques are used before, during and after training. An application to a brushless DC motor is discussed.
Coat protein gene sequences of two cucumber mosaic virus strains reveal a single amino acid change correlating with chlorosis induction

The coat protein genes of two chlorosis-inducing strains of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) were compared by nucleotide sequence analysis. The predicted amino acid sequences of the encoded coat proteins were compared with those of two other chlorosis-inducing and four mosaic-inducing CMV strains. Overall, the sequences were highly conserved, with more than 95% amino acid sequence identity between any two strains. However, a proline is present at amino acid 129 of all the mosaic-inducing strains, whereas that position is occupied by either a serine or a leucine in the coat proteins of all the chlorosis-inducing strains. The correlation of chlorosis induction and a substitution for proline with leucine or serine at amino acid 129 suggests that this residue is the determinant of chlorosis induction.
Autonomously measuring an atomic clock's allan variance

In this work, we demonstrate that an atomic clock can autonomously assess its own frequency stability and integrity by comparing the phase of its output signal to a delayed version of itself in what is essentially an interferometric technique. Using a high-quality crystal oscillator as a surrogate delay line, we demonstrate that fractional frequency variations at the level of 10−12 are detectable, and that a Cs clock's short-term Allan deviation can be measured without reference to another standard. The paper concludes with a discussion of how an ambiguity in the method might be resolved, and how the method might be employed in the optical domain.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia associated with deficiency of steroid 21-hydroxylase is the most common inborn error in adrenal function and the most common cause of adrenal insufficiency in the pediatric age group. As patients now survive into adulthood, adult health-care providers must also be familiar with this condition. Over the past several years, F1000 has published numerous commentaries updating research and practical guidelines for this condition. The purposes of this review are to summarize basic information defining congenital adrenal hyperplasia and to highlight current knowledge and controversies in management.
Alzheimer's - Looking beyond plaques.

Mounting evidence shows that inflammation plays a critical role in causing Alzheimer’s disease. Over the last few decades we have gone from a situation where inflammation was generally believed to have no role in the disease to the current picture where chronic activation of IL-1 inflammation has been shown to account for many of the hallmarks of the disease. This review is a personal account of the quest to prove that inflammation plays a critical role in causing Alzheimer’s disease.
Introduction to Chaotic Behavior in Nonlinear Dynamics

Newtonian dynamics, until recently, twice foundered in assuming something which was not infinite to be infinite: the speed of light, c, and the reciprocal of Planck’s constant, 1/h. Reformulations remedying these assumptions led first to special relativity and then to quantum mechanics. Special relativity set to rest the Newtonian illusion of absolute space and time while quantum theory ended the Newtonian illusion of absolute objectivity in a measurement process. It was further realized that Newtonian dynamics entails a third tacitly assumed infinity, namely, one of infinite computational and observational precision. Reformulation of Newtonian dynamics remedying this assumption has led to chaos theory. The impact of chaos theory on science may be as significant as the first two, particularly since the concepts and results of chaos theory are applicable to a wide variety of physical, chemical and biological systems.
Qualitative Characterization of the Aqueous Fraction from Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Algae Using 2D Gas Chromatography with Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

Two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for identifying and quantifying chemical components in complex mixtures. It is often used to analyze gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, bio-diesel and the organic fraction of bio-crude/bio-oil. In most of those analyses, the first dimension of separation is non-polar, followed by a polar separation. The aqueous fractions of bio-crude and other aqueous samples from biofuels production have been examined with similar column combinations. However, sample preparation techniques such as derivatization, solvent extraction, and solid-phase extraction were necessary prior to analysis. In this study, aqueous fractions obtained from the hydrothermal liquefaction of algae were characterized by two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry without prior sample preparation techniques using a polar separation in the first dimension followed by a non-polar separation in the second. Two-dimensional plots from this analysis were compared with those obtained from the more traditional column configuration. Results from qualitative characterization of the aqueous fractions of algal bio-crude are discussed in detail. The advantages of using a polar separation followed by a non-polar separation for characterization of organics in aqueous samples by two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry are highlighted.
Synthesis and Thermal Stability of HfO2 Nanoparticles

A simple method is reported for the synthesis of monodispersed HfO 2 nanoparticles by the ammonia catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation of hafnium (IV) tert-butoxide in the presence of surfactants at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy shows faceted nanoparticles with an average diameter of 3-4 nm. As-synthesized nanoparticles are amorphous in nature and crystallize upon moderate heat treatment. The HfO 2 nanoparticles have a narrow size distribution, large specific surface area and good thermal stability. Specific surface area was about 239 m 2 /g on as-prepared nanoparticle samples while those annealed at 500 °C have specific surface area of 221 m 2 /g indicating that there was no significant increase in particle size. This result was further confirmed by TEM images of nanoparticles annealed at 300 °C and 500 °C. X-ray diffraction studies of the crystallized nanoparticles revealed that HfO 2 nanoparticles were monoclinic in structure. The synthetic procedure used in this work can be readily modified for large scale production of monodispersed HfO 2 nanoparticles.
Incidence and clinical significance of vascular encroachment resulting from freehand placement of pedicle screws in the thoracic and lumbar spine: analysis of 6816 consecutive screws.

Study Design.Retrospective case series.Objective.Evaluate the incidence and clinical significance of vascular encroachment resulting from freehand placement of pedicle screws in the thoracic and lumbosacral spine.Summary of Background Data.Pedicle screws are routinely used to effectively stabilize a
364 PEDIATRIC ASTHMA PREVALENCE AND CARE AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH IN SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA.

Objective To determine the period prevalence of asthma in youth accessing care at the Crow Service Unit in southeastern Montana during the years 1995-2005 and to evaluate adherence to national care guidelines. Setting The Crow Service Unit, an Indian Health Service area that includes one hospital and two satellite clinics and serves a user population of 11,400, approximately 5,200 of whom are less than 21 years old. Methods Retrospective electronic and manual chart review to identify pediatric patients (age less than 21 years old) with a diagnosis of asthma (ICD 493) who had at least one clinic visit during the given calendar year. Care given to pediatric patients during 2005 was evaluated by examining six discrete variables from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines. Results The prevalence rate for pediatric asthma from 1995 to 2005 was 8.3%. The period prevalence ranged from 6.94 to 10.38% (see Figure). Of the pediatric patients with asthma in 2005 (N = 454), assessment to describe the severity of the patient9s condition was performed in 29.7% (n = 135) of cases; spirometry was performed in 7.9% (n = 36) of cases; a written self-management plan was given or updated in 53.5% (n = 243) of cases; patient9s metered dose inhaler or nebulizer technique was assessed in 5.3% (n = 24) of cases; and a follow-up plan was generated in 56.2% (n = 255) of cases. Of the pediatric patients over age 5 years who had documented persistent asthma in 2005 (n = 14), 71% (n = 10) were treated with inhaled corticosteroids. Conclusion Although the prevalence rate of asthma among Native American youth at the Crow Service Unit is similar to the general US pediatric population rate for all races in 2001 (8.7%), adherence to national standards of asthma care is suboptimal.
The use of contact media for burn scar hypertrophy

An outline of the various forms of contact media used in the prevention and treatment of hypertrophic scars
Diagnosing respiratory distress in the newborn.

The word that perhaps best characterizes respiratory distress in the newborn is variability. Included in the wide range of underlying causes are congenital anomalies, infections, hyaline membrane disease, and aspiration syndromes. Differentiation often hinges on a combination of key historical points, the physical examination, the pattern of presenting symptoms, and the chest x-ray film.
Special Considerations for the Pulmonary Hypertension Patient

Practitioners who care for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are often asked to provide expert opinion concerning the optimal management of PH patients in high-risk clinical scenarios. It is imperative that the clinician anticipates the potential complications associated with these events and to provide a comprehensive treatment plan that can be implemented immediately in response to life threatening complications. In this chapter, we will discuss three clinical scenarios that require special consideration as they can be associated with rapid hemodynamic changes that may compromise the capacity of the PH patient to mount an appropriate compensatory physiological response: exercise, pregnancy and surgery. We provide information concerning the physiological changes associated with each of these scenarios and discuss relevant clinical data that will help the practitioner develop a sound treatment plan to effectively deal with specific complications potentially arising in each of these clinical scenarios. It is our goal that this information will help the practitioner institute sound guidelines that will result in improved clinical outcomes for patients with PH.
Potassium Measures and Their Associations with Glucose and Diabetes Risk: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Background Recent studies have found low-normal potassium (K) to be associated with increased diabetes risk. We sought to verify these associations in a multi-ethnic US cohort; and to determine if these associations extend to US Hispanics and Asian-Americans.
Variability in the Results of Meta-Analysis as a Function of Comparing Effect Sizes Based on Scores From Noncomparable Measures: A Simulation Study:

Meta-analysis is a significant methodological advance that is increasingly important in research synthesis. Fundamental to meta-analysis is the presumption that effect sizes, such as the standardized mean difference (SMD), based on scores from different measures are comparable. It has been argued that population observed score SMDs based on scores from different measures A and B will be equal only if the conjunction of three conditions are met: construct equivalence (CE), equal reliabilities (ER), and the absence of differential test functioning (DTF) in all subpopulations of the combined populations of interest. It has also been speculated the results of a meta-analysis of SMDs might differ between circumstances in which the SMDs included in a meta-analysis are based on measures which all met the conjunction of these conditions and that in which the conjunction of these conditions is violated. No previous studies have tested this conjecture. This Monte Carlo study investigated this hypothesis. A populati...
Inverse control for inferring intent in novice human-in-the-loop iterative learning

This article studies human-guided iterative learning control for output-trajectory tracking tasks when the controller does not have direct access to the intended output and needs to infer it from human demonstrations. Human intent (e.g., the desired trajectory) can be inferred by inverting known human-response models. However a challenge is that such human-response models are only available for limited types of controlled systems. The main contribution of this article is to enable inferring of human intent for general minimum-phase linear systems (which have a stable inverse) by using an inversion-based approach to specify that the apparent system perceived by the human user is one for which human-response models are known to exist. Then, the inferred intent (output-trajectory found by inverting the human-response model) is used to iteratively find precision output-tracking inputs. The proposed scheme is illustrated with a human-in-the-loop tracking experiment. Results show that the proposed inversion-based human-guided learning scheme allows the machine controller to learn from the human demonstrations (about 95% reduction in tracking error) with simultaneous reduction in the human control effort (about 96% reduction) as compared to the manual control by the human alone.
A Clear-headed Man of Affairs

The end-piece of our quartet of Victorian businessmen-politicians is a younger son of a prosperous Scots textile manufacturer. Like the others we have considered, John Holms was engaged in the family firm when he stood for parliament in 1868, and like them he continued to pursue an active business career thereafter. His success in the newly created east London constituency of Hackney allows us to travel again a political landscape already familiar. The perspective, however, is different, and may yield further insight into middle-class political life.
Attack-Resilient State Estimation for Noisy Dynamical Systems

Several recent incidents have clearly illustrated the susceptibility of cyberphysical systems (CPS) to attacks, raising attention to security challenges in these systems. The tight interaction between information technology and the physical world has introduced new vulnerabilities that cannot be addressed with the use of standard cryptographic security techniques. Accordingly, the problem of state estimation in the presence of sensor and actuator attacks has attracted significant attention in the past. Unlike the existing work, in this paper, we consider the problem of attack-resilient state estimation in the presence of bounded-size noise. We focus on the most general model for sensor attacks where any signal can be injected via compromised sensors. Specifically, we present an $l_0$ -based state estimator that can be formulated as a mixed-integer linear program and its convex relaxation based on the $l_1$ norm. For both attack-resilient state estimators, we derive rigorous analytic bounds on the state-estimation errors caused by the presence of noise. Our analysis shows that the worst-case error is linear with the size of the noise and, thus, the attacker cannot exploit the noise to introduce unbounded state-estimation errors. Finally, we show how the $l_0$ and $l_1$ -based attack-resilient state estimators can be used for sound attack detection and identification; we provide conditions on the size of attack vectors that ensure correct identification of compromised sensors.
E. Coli Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome

A retrospective analysis of 37 children with Escherichia coli 0157:H7-associated hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) traced to contaminated hamburger meat is reported from the University of Washington, Children’s Hospital, Seattle.
Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptors

Tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFRs) are a family of structurally similar membrane proteins that act as communication pathways that activate cell death pathways or induce the expression of genes involved in cellular differentiation and survival. These receptors operate in many organ systems and prominently in the immune system. TNFRs bind canonical cytokines related to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), but some receptors can also engage members of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily. The TNFRs regulate the development of the immune system and initiation of inflammatory reactions for effective host defenses against viral and bacterial pathogens. A crucial role for TNFR in immunobiology is evidenced by the linkage of naturally occurring mutations in TNF family genes to human disease, as well as by the targeting of TNF family members by viruses to evade or blunt immune responses. Substantial evidence from both human diseases and experimental systems has indicated that dysregulation of TNFRSF signaling can promote autoimmune diseases. Inhibitors of TNF are used to treat patients with certain autoimmune diseases. Thus, the TNFR superfamily constitutes an important molecular target for drug intervention.
Creating Inclusive Campus Communities: The Vital Role of Peer Mentorship in Inclusive Higher Education

Across the country, colleges are opening their doors to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At University of Rochester (UR), we coordinate one such initiative called “Transition Opportunities at University of Rochester (TOUR).” Inclusive higher education at UR is based on the philosophy that ACCESS + SUPPORT = SUCCESS. In order to help our campus grow in intellectual diversity, we cannot simply open our doors to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).We must also provide support to help students thrive academically and socially during their college education.At the heart of TOUR are symbiotic mentoring relationships. When traditional undergraduates mentor fellow students with IDD, they gain academic and teaching skills, greater disability/diversity awareness, and an understanding of how and why inclusive communities are valuable. In turn, students with IDD find greater inclusion on their campus and invaluable academic and social skills that will launch them into self-determined lives as contributing citizens of their community.This paper will focus especially on the growth of academic inclusion on our campus, strategies for training and supporting undergraduate academic coaches, and stories about the impact of these peer mentoring relationships on traditional UR students, their colleagues with disabilities, and our campus as a whole.
Cobalt-Catalyzed Carbonylative Cross-Coupling of Alkyl Tosylates and Dienes: Stereospecific Synthesis of Dienones at Low Pressure

Despite advances in organometallic cross-coupling of alkyl electrophiles, there are few stereoselective reactions of chiral, nonracemic substrates. Herein we report a stereospecific carbonylative coupling of alkyl tosylates and dienes producing enantioenriched dienones. This catalytic process proceeds under low pressure and mild conditions using a simple cobalt catalyst and extends to diverse tosylate and diene coupling partners. The transformation constitutes a unique, convergent approach to the asymmetric synthesis of valuable carbonyl compounds from easily accessed starting materials.
Enabling Ivan Karamazov: responding to Mark Murphy's God's Own Ethics: Norms of Divine Agency and the Argument from Evil

God's Own Ethics introduces a number of philosophical subfields into conversation with philosophy of religion and metaethics in an attempt to discern the ethics of God. While its conception of the divine being is itself controversial, I here take issue with the claim that the divine being described in God's Own Ethics would be one worthy of worship and allegiance. Specifically, I argue that a God lacking in moral perfection of the sort familiar to humans is either unrecognizable as God, or is open to the ‘Ivan Karamazov’ objection that such a God deserves neither worship nor allegiance.
Engaging Survivors of Human Trafficking: Complex Health Care Needs and Scarce Resources

Human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is an egregious human rights violation associated with wide-ranging medical and mental health consequences. Because of the extensive health problems related to trafficking, health care providers play a critical role in identifying survivors and engaging them in ongoing care. Although guidelines for recognizing affected patients and a framework for developing response protocols in health care settings have been described, survivors' ongoing engagement in health care services is very challenging. High rates of disengagement, lost contact, premature termination, and attrition are common outcomes. For interventions to be effective in this marginalized population, challenges in engaging survivors in long-term therapeutic primary and mental health care must be better understood and overcome. This article uses the socioecological model of public health to identify barriers to engagement; offers evidence- and practice-based recommendations for overcoming these barriers; and proposes an interdisciplinary call to action for developing more flexible, adaptable models of care.
Narrative intervention: Stories from the front lines of oncology health care

This study examined the experiences of health care professionals who participated in monthly narrative oncology groups. Ten professionals participated in separate, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Using a qualitative research design, the transcriptions of the interviews were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. The analysis yielded descriptive information about the professionals' positive experiences of participating in narrative oncology sessions and provides insight into the importance of such a group through five themes: (1) Shared perspectives and bearing witness, (2) Comfort in confidentiality and a safe-space, (3) Group-care becomes self-care, (4) Writing gives structure, and (5) Patient stories. Implications for incorporating narrative intervention in an oncology setting are discussed in this paper.