cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blockchain in humanitarian operations management: A review of research and practice

Abstract Humanitarian operations management (HOM) defines the broad domain that deals with the management of crisis events and human suffering, and a plethora of research has contributed to this field. Over the recent years, blockchain technology has been signaled throughout the literature as a tool that can support HOM as a result of the technology's enhanced features such as security and auditability. In a bid to explore the application of blockchain technology in HOM, we systematically review the current literature and deployed practices. Our review covers 64 articles that provide contributions which we categorize into four focus areas: (i) overview of blockchain in HOM, (ii) identity and personal data management, (iii) humanitarian logistics, and (iv) humanitarian communications. The majority of the articles that we surveyed focus on the potential benefits of blockchain in HOM, and the enablers and barriers to its adoption. A limited number of theoretical frameworks provide insights into how blockchain can be utilized in HOM to improve operational efficiency, promote trust, and foster collaborations among relief agencies. With the exception of a few pilot programs that have been deployed in the humanitarian setting, we find that the majority of the work addressing the use of blockchain in HOM has not yet been tested in the field, and therefore, little empirical evidence exists to prove blockchain's capabilities in HOM. This paper reports on the major scientific advancements and practical applications for blockchain technology in HOM, as well as promising future research directions on the use of blockchain technology for HOM practitioners and researchers.
Addressing Social Determinants While Social Distancing: The Development of an Evidence-Based Social Needs Screening for a Telehealth Setting

Effectively addressing social determinants of health in clinical care can be challenging, and screening for such social needs is often overlooked. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health disparities and the impacts of social determinants of health, increasing the importance of both effective screening and intervention to address social needs. In response, the student-run free clinics at Stanford University sought to meet this need amongst our patient population by developing an evidence-based social needs screening (SNS) and referral protocol and integrating it into our novel telehealth model. The new protocol was implemented significantly more consistently compared to our previous checklist-based SNS, and more need was identified amongst our patient population than with the checklist-based, pre-pandemic screen. The new screening and referral protocol facilitated comprehensive patient care that addresses the social determinants of health in the clinical setting by improving our ability to identify patient social needs and refer such patients to community organizations. In describing the development, design, and implementation of this SNS, we hope to provide an example strategy for addressing social determinants of health within a student-run free clinic setting, and to encourage other student-run clinics and/or free clinics to similarly expand locally relevant social needs services.
ANALYSIS OF SLAMMING STRESSES ON SS WOLVERINE STATE

A study has been made of slam-induced midship hull stresses on a general cargo ship in North Atlantic service. The slam-induced stresses superimposed on wave stresses were treated statistically for different Beaufort numbers in the range of 4-10. It was found that although the percentage of records with slamming increases with Beaufort number, the overall frequency of slamming first increases and then decreases with Beaufort number. This is because the higher Beaufort numbers occur less often than lower numbers. As for the magnitude of slamming stresses, it was found that the statistics are relatively insensitive to Beaufort number and hence to sea condition. It is shown that this finding is accounted for by the reduction in speed and/or change of course that is normally adopted by the master as weather becomes more severe.
ErbB3: EGF receptor-related PTK (vertebrates) (HER3)

The chapter discusses the ErbB3, which was isolated by reduced stringency hybridization as a third member of the human EGFR family. It is normally expressed in cells of epithelial and neuroectodermal origin. The ERBB3 product was characterized as a membrane-associated glycoprotein, gp180, whose signaling ability is subjected to ligand-dependent regulation. Overexpression of the ErbB3 protein and its chronic tyrosine phosphorylation in certain breast tumour cell lines implicates constitutive activation of the ErbB3 signaling function in human neoplasia. The predicted ErbB3 structure shares closest overall similarity with that of the EGFR, ErbB2, and ErbB4 proteins.
Ruggedized Instrumentation Package For Marine Mammal Evoked Potential Hearing Measurements (DURIP)

Abstract : The long-term goals of this research are as follows: (1) to examine the hearing of as many marine mammals and species as possible to develop an understanding of the normal hearing capabilities of these mammals, and (2) to advance the technology for testing hearing in the laboratory and the field. The specific goal of this project is to build a rugged, field-ready, portable battery-operated system to use to measure the hearing capabilities of marine mammals in the lab, on ships, on the beach, or wherever we have the opportunity. The investigators intend to assemble equipment into a field-ready system, test the system in the laboratory, improve it with use, deploy it to stranded animal and field situations as they become available, and test the hearing of those marine mammals. Work completed: new suction cups and other electrodes were built and field-tested; combined equipment was taken to Portugal and tested on the Pilot whale; combined equipment was tested on the beach on the Pygmy killer whale and the striped dolphin; multiple equipment pieces were purchased, assembled, and reconfigured; new computer programs were written and tested; and audiograms were obtained for the long-finned pilot whale, the pygmy killer whale, and the striped dolphin. Of the 85 species of whales and dolphins, we now have basic hearing measurements on 16 species. The new equipment was used to gather hearing data on two new species in the past year. Many of our audiograms come from a single animal. This equipment will greatly assist in gathering information on what marine mammals hear. If Navy operations are stopped because of the effects of noise on whales, it is imperative that we have baseline information on marine mammal hearing.
Validating optical motion capture assessments of the dynamic aspects of work

The objective of this study is to validate two three-dimensional motion systems used capture human movement; the Lumbar Motion Monitor (LMM) and optical motion capture. Marras et al. captured the accuracy and reliability of optical motion capture and the LMM in a 1992 validation study, and found several benefits of using the LMM for ergonomic evaluations. However, since 1992, several advances have been made in the field of digital human modeling and optical motion capture, and it is believed that a modern validation of the two systems could serve others in academic and industry alike when choosing a methodology toward capturing ergonomic data. The purpose of this research is to validate the methods of collecting dynamic data and predicting injury risk in humans during lifting procedures.
Dimensionality reduction in hyperspectral image classification

Hyperspectral images provide a vast amount of information about a scene. However, much of that information is redundant as the bands are highly correlated. For computational and data compression reasons, it is desired to reduce the dimensionality of the data set while maintaining good performance in image analysis tasks. This work presents a method of dimensionality reduction based on neural networks. A novel penalty function is presented and shown to successfully reduce the number of active neurons, which corresponds to the dimensionality of the data for the task of interest.
Chapter 3 Intelligence augmentation: The vision inside virtual reality

Publisher Summary The claim that virtual reality may augment human intelligence is based on the increasingly compelling, sensory fidelity of virtual worlds. Computer graphics and kinematics capture more and more of the physical and sensory characteristics of natural environments. Immersive VR simulations increasingly perfect the way the virtual environments respond to user actions: the link of physical movement to sensory feedback increasingly simulates human action in a natural environment. The designers' confidence in the cognitive potency of these environments results—in part from the very experience of the medium—the deep gut level reaction that designers and users feel when immersed in high-end VR systems. This experience suggests to some that VR has crossed a threshold never reached by older media. More than any other medium, virtual reality gives the user a strong sense of “being there” inside the virtual world. The senses are immersed in an illusion. The mind is swathed in a cocoon of its own creation. The word, “presence,” has come to mean the perceptual and cognitive sensation of being physically present in a compelling virtual world. This chapter considers the design agenda that motivates VR designers' claims that virtual reality is a cognitive technology. More specifically this chapter discusses the goal of intelligence augmentation that beats in the heart of VR.
Functionally selective neurochemical afferents and efferents of the mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine system.

Publisher Summary The limbic structures (nucleus accumbens, amygdala) as well as the striatum receive afferents from the two main dopaminergic systems of the CNS (the mesocorticolimbic and the nigrostriatal pathways, respectively) and form an interface between cortical inputs and thalamic, limbic, and hypothalamic outputs. These structures are the locus of neuronal activities integrating sensory information in order to perform motor acts, involving either unconditioned or conditioned behaviors. A considerable body of evidence now exists showing that the forebrain dopamine pathways play a crucial role in the expression of conditioned as well as unconditioned responding. It was thus of interest to try to compare the different functional involvement of these pathways in behavioral control. In fact, both the nucleus accumbens (N. Acc.) and the striatum (dorsal part) receive dopaminergic inputs from the mesencephalon and glutamate afferents from a large number of cortical areas. Furthermore, efferent outputs containing mainly GABAergic neurons are known to project respectively to the ventral and dorsal parts of the globus pallidus.
Analysis of compact cylindrical wire array implosions with brass and also by alternating brass and Al wires on the 1-MA COBRA generator

Implosions from compact cylindrical wire arrays (CCWA) with mid‐Z and low‐Z wires were carried out on the 1‐MA COBRA generator at Cornell University. In particular, the CCWA used either Brass 310 (70% Cu, 30% Zn) wires or a combination of Brass 310 and Al 5056 (95% Al, 5% Mg) wires arranged in an alternating pattern. A total of 16 wires were used on either a 6 or 4 mm diameter array. The diagnostic suite included a bolometer, fast x‐ray detectors, a time‐integrated spectrometer, and a streak camera. A higher energy output was observed from bolometer measurements when alternating the brass and Al wires compared to using only the brass wires. This study will focus mainly on the spectroscopy of the brass and alternating brass and Al CCWA by applying the non‐LTE kinetic models of Cu and Zn to account for the L‐shell radiation. The resulting plasma parameters, electron density and electron temperature, will be discussed and compared for the CCWA with only brass wires and alternating brass and Al wires. The sim...
The unique influence of mothers' and fathers' negative parental practices on adolescent anti-social behavior: Mediating effects of adolescent psychological resources and deviant peer relationships

Researchers investigating delinquent and anti-social behavior have documented that negative parental practices is linked to psychological resources (mastery), deviant relationships, and anti-social behaviors. However, there is a gap in the current literature on how these variables combine to influence an adolescent’s anti-social behavior, specifically the causal effects of deviant relationships on anti-social behavior. The purpose of this thesis is to include all of these pathways in one succinct causal model that is founded by empirical research. The current study used structural equation model (SEM) analyses to estimate the comprehensive model in order to take measurement error into account. The current study utilizes a sample of 424 adolescents and their families from 8 rural counties in North Central Iowa. This dataset, the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP), includes a unique sample of dual parents. The current study uses Wave 2 (1990) and Wave 3 (1991) of the IYFP data to predict an adolescent’s deviant relationships with peers and their anti-social behavior. The current study found that mothers’ and fathers’ negative parental practices are unique constructs that independently influence an adolescent’s’s psychological resources, deviant relationships, and anti-social behavior. The current study found a direct relationship between fathers’ and mothers’ negative parental practices and an adolescent’s psychological resources (Mastery). The current study also found a significant relationship between an adolescent’s psychological resources and deviant relationships, and a significant relationship between an adolescent’s deviant relationships and their anti-social behavior. Thus, negative parental practices of fathers and mothers uniquely and indirectly influenced an adolescent’s deviant relationships and anti-social behavior through mastery. The current study discusses a synthesis of Family Stress Models, Social Control Theory, and Social (In)ability Theory as longitudinal processes governing the operationalized model.
Psychosocial Interventions with Cancer Patients

This article reviews the literature on the psychosocial problems of cancer patients, defined within the four areas of affect, physical symptoms, social support, and cognition, and describes a process of group treatment used in a one-year study of women who had metastatic carcinoma of the breast. These women met weekly in group sessions led by therapists in a manner designed to address, directly or indirectly, each category of psychosocial problems. The major outcome variables measured were affect and pain. As compared with women who did not receive intervention, group members experienced significant reductions in mood disturbance and in the reactive component of pain, although the frequency and duration of pain attacks were similar in both groups. The author also discusses the directions required for future research on group treatment as a means of providing psychosocial support for cancer patients.
Olfaction: Central Processing

Olfactory receptor neurons in the nasal epithelium detect a huge variety of airborne chemicals (termed ‘odourants’) and encode information about these stimuli in the form of action potentials. This code is then transmitted to the brain, where spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity represent the identity, concentration and temporal dynamics of the odourants. Neural processing of olfactory information at multiple levels in the brain mediates odour recognition, synthetic olfactory perceptions and provides feedback control to the initial stages of the olfactory pathway. This article presents some of the challenges in olfactory information processing and then reviews our current knowledge of the mechanisms by which the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex represent odours and analyse olfactory information. Key Concepts: The chemical identity of an odourant is represented by the set of ORNs it stimulates and determines the odour's perceived quality. The concentration of an odourant is represented jointly by the amplitude of the ORN response and the recruitment of ORNs expressing lower affinity receptors; this determines the odour's perceived intensity. Each olfactory bulb glomerulus receives axonal projections from a set of ORNs expressing the same odour receptor. An odour stimulates a subset of ORNs (based on their odour receptor expression) and thus drives activity in a corresponding subset of olfactory bulb glomeruli – this odour-to-glomerulus mapping is one of the most accessible codes in the nervous system. Activity in olfactory bulb glomeruli is determined by a complex set of interactions among ORN sensory inputs, interneurons within and between glomeruli and modulatory inputs from other brain regions. The set of mitral cells responding during odour presentation represents the chemical identity of the odour, whereas their firing frequency and timing provides additional information about the odour concentration. Activity in mitral cells is shaped by complex interactions with inhibitory granule cells that interconnect mitral cells receiving disparate sensory input. Neurons in piriform cortex respond to specific combinations of input from mitral cells in the olfactory bulb, thus selectively responding to certain odours or combinations of odours. Keywords: odour coding; sensory coding; olfactory bulb; olfactory cortex; smell; piriform cortex
Microcirculation of Intestinal Lymphoid Follicles in Rat Peyer's Patches

Peyer's patch microvasculature carries recirculating lymphoid cells into lymphoid follicles and supports vigorous metabolic demands of crypts and replicating germinal centers. Scanning electron microscopy of methyl methacrylate casts of blood vessels in rat intestinal Peyer's patches revealed that ascending arterioles pierce follicles and feed to a subepithelial capillary network beneath the follicle surface. These capillaries interconnect with baskets of capillaries beneath adjacent crypts and flow into postcapillary venules in thymus-dependent areas around the follicle perimeters. This pattern is a modification of the fountain pattern in villi and reflects the secondary development of germinal centers of B lymphocytes between central ascending arterioles and peripheral postcapillary venules. Sections of glycol methacrylate-embedded follicles injected with India ink revealed multiple fine capillaries in germinal centers not detected by previous techniques. Capillary flow from follicle apex to adjacent crypts provides a route for feedback control of replenishment of the specialized antigen-trapping epithelium covering follicles, and it is an opportunity for absorbed materials and cellular products beneath the epithelium to modify migration of lymphocytes out of postcapillary venules into follicles.
A 27 bp cis-acting sequence is essential for L-type calcium channel α1C subunit expression in vascular smooth muscle cells

Abstract Expression of L-type calcium channels in cardiac myocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) critically regulates the contractile state of these cells. In order to discover the elements in the promoter region of the Ca v 1.2 gene encoding the vascular/cardiac calcium channel α 1C subunit that are important for the basal gene expression, ∼2 kb of the 5′-flanking sequence of the Ca v 1.2 gene has been cloned in our lab. In this study, using various lengths of the 5′-flanking DNA fused with a luciferase gene as a reporter, we have defined a 493-bp fragment of the cis-regulatory DNA which carries the majority of promoter activity in pulmonary artery smooth muscle (PAC1) cells. DNase I footprinting analysis of this 493-bp DNA using nuclear extracts from PAC1 cells revealed a 27-bp DNA sequence that contains a c-Ets like motif (CAGGATGC). Mutation of the Ets-like site and the respective flanking sequence within the DNase I footprinting protection region induced a marked change in the promoter activity in PAC1 cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) confirmed the presence of specific binding factor(s) in PAC1 cells' nuclear extracts for this 27-bp DNA. Competition studies with the wild-type and mutated DNA fragments established the importance of the 27 bp DNA sequence for high-affinity binding of the nuclear proteins to the promoter. We conclude that there is a 27 bp region in the promoter of the Ca v 1.2 gene to which nuclear proteins from VSMC bind and strongly regulate the basal promoter activity.
Survival Among Mexican-Americans, Non-Hispanic Whites, and African-Americans With End-Stage Renal Disease: The Emergence of a Minority Pattern of Increased Incidence and Prolonged Survival

We undertook this study to determine whether there is a significant difference in survival on treatment for endstage renal disease between Mexican-Americans, non-Hispanic whites, and African-Americans. A database covering the years 1975 to 1986 was obtained from the Texas Kidney Health Program. Eight-eight percent to 90% of patients starting renal replacement therapy in Texas were included in this database. The patients were followed until death, for 3 years after successful transplantation, or until they were lost to follow-up. Life table analysis as well as ageadjusted analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model were performed comparing ethnic/racial groups, disease etiology, and treatment type. In life-table analyses, African-Americans and Mexican-Americans had a survival advantage in most age, disease, and treatment groups. With age adjustment, this survival advantage remained for all etiologies combined, for diabetes and hypertension cases, and for patients receiving hemodialysis in a center. Multivariate analysis revealed a persistent survival advantage for Mexican-Americans independent of traditional predictor variables, such as age, disease etiology, treatment type, or size of the center in which they received treatment. In this same analysis, African-Americans showed an advantage in the older age groups. Both African-Americans and MexicanAmericans on renal replacement therapy have an increased survival advantage compared with non-Hispanic whites. Given the additional burden of increased incidence of end-stage renal disease in these groups, the cost of renal replacement therapy for these minorities is disproportionately high. Further study should be aimed at elucidation of the mechanisms by which minorities achieve their survival advantage.
SPARCL: Efficient and Effective Shape-Based Clustering

Clustering is one of the fundamental data mining tasks. Many different clustering paradigms have been developed over the years, which include partitional, hierarchical, mixture model based, density-based, spectral, subspace, and so on. The focus of this paper is on full-dimensional, arbitrary shaped clusters. Existing methods for this problem suffer either in terms of the memory or time complexity (quadratic or even cubic). This shortcoming has restricted these algorithms to datasets of moderate sizes. In this paper we propose SPARCL, a simple and scalable algorithm for finding clusters with arbitrary shapes and sizes, and it has linear space and time complexity. SPARCL consists of two stages - the first stage runs a carefully initialized version of the K-means algorithm to generate many small seed clusters. The second stage iteratively merges the generated clusters to obtain the final shape-based clusters. Experiments were conducted on a variety of datasets to highlight the effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability of our approach. On the large datasets SPARCL is an order of magnitude faster than the best existing approaches.
The regulatory bottleneck for biotech specialty crops

Specialty crops, which include fruits, vegetables, nuts, turf and ornamental crops, are important components of human diets and provide environmental amenities1. In 2007, such crops represented ~40% of the $140 billion in total agricultural receipts, despite being cultivated on just 4% of the total cropped area.
Governmental policies to reduce tax evasion: coerced behavior versus services and values development

Governments generally have at their disposal two types of tax compliance policies. One set of policy options coerces tax compliance by increasing risks for practicing tax evasion, while a second set of policies emphasizes development of supportive taxpaying values among citizens through service improvement and informational strategies. Tax agencies tend to favor coercive policies, but empirical research suggests that such policies are not in themselves fully adequate to fight tax evasion. Four hypotheses are offered which suggest the utility of service and values based policies and the need for increased investment in those areas of tax administration.
Bilateral representation of trade for inter- regional models

A representation of trade is given for an inter-regional model in which the origin and destination of exports and imports of each commodity traded can be tracked. This representation retains the structure of the original model (i.e. one with trade ‘pools’ undifferentiated by origin or destination) in that the same algebraic and computational tools can be used, with minor modifications. Scenarios that can be studied with this formulation but not with the original one are presented.
Dispersion Relations for Production Amplitudes. I

The question of single-variable dispersion relation is discussed in the framework of perturbation theory, for the production reactions: gamma + N yields gamma + pi + N, pi + N yields gamma + gamma + N, and pi + N yields gamma + pi +N. It is shown that the contributions from single-loop diagrams satisfy the dispersion relation which was conjectured by Logunov et al. The discussion is extended to higher orders. The amplitude associated with a certain class of diagrams are shown to satisfy the cut plane representation. For the rest of the diagrams, a plausibility argument is given. (auth)
Failure and switching mechanisms in semiconductor P-N junction devices

We use theoretical results obtained with computer models to interpret existing experimental data related to second breakdown mechanisms. We show that if you solve the complete set of transport equations for electrons, holes, and heat, you can model three kinds of second breakdown phenomena: current mode (CSB), thermal mode (TSB), and current­ thermal (CSB-TSB) mode second breakdown. We also discuss the effect of the input voltage pulse shape on the current switching time of a p-n junction device.
Ideal timing of surgery for acute uncomplicated appendicitis

Background: Early surgery for appendicitis is thought to avoid complications associated with appendiceal rupture. Aims: This study was to evaluate the effect of timing of surgery on complications, length of stay (LOS) and cost in patients undergoing appendectomy. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of 396 patients with appendectomies from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2007 was performed. Demographic data, time of presentation, physical findings, diagnostic data, operating room times, LOS, cost and complications were collected. Patients were divided into 4 groups based on time from presentation to appendectomy. Results: Pathology confirmed appendicitis in 354 (89%) patients. Most patients (90%) had surgery within 18 h of presentation. Timing of surgery did not affect the incidence of purulent peritonitis ( P = 0.883), abscess ( P = 0.841) or perforation ( P = 0.464). LOS was significantly shorter for patients with emergency department registration to operating room times less than 18 h ( P < 0.0001). Costs were significantly higher for patients with times to operating room greater than 18 h ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Timing of surgery did not affect the incidence of complications or perforated appendicitis. However, delay in surgical consultation and surgery are associated with increased LOS and increased hospital costs. The optimal timing of appendectomy for uncomplicated acute appendicitis appears to be within 18 h of emergency department presentation.
Improvement in pulmonary hypertension discrimination using multiple MRA pant-leg parameters of pulmonary artery

Background Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a potentially severe disease that can lead to exercise intolerance, venous congestion, and heart failure. As a result of increased pulmonary pressures, dilation of the pulmonary arterial vasculature occurs. The extraction of these anatomical changes from magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) may eliminate the need for invasive measurements. The aim of this study was to explore the use of volumetric imaging of the pulmonary trunk and proximal right and left arteries using MRA as an ew metric for diagnosing PAH. Methods Following IRB approval, eight PAH patients referred for right heart catheterization (RHC) for systemic sclerosis were evaluated with 3D contrast-enhanced MRA. For comparison, eight healthy volunteers underwent the same MRA protocol. All MRA exams were performed on 3.0T clinical scanners (GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) following the administration of gadolinium-based contrast agent at 1.5 ml/sec (gadobenate dimeglumine, Bracco, Milan). Scan parameters of the SPGR sequence included TR/TE of 2.9/1.0 ms, average field of view = 34 × 27 cm, slice thickness = 2.0 mm, 140-160 slices, flip angle = 28°, and true spatial resolution of 1.3 × 1.8 × 2.0 mm 3 , which was interpolated to 0.7 × 0.7 × 1.0 mm 3 by zero-filling. Approximate breath-hold time was between 15-21 seconds for each scan. These exams were not cardiac gated. Post-processing was evaluated using dynamic magnitude images in a commercial software (Mimics, Materialise, Belgium) to calculate diameter (main, left, and right pulmonary artery: MPA, LPA, RPA), volume, surface area, branch sum, and area sum pant-leg (P-L) measurements (Figure 1a). Each P-L was obtained by centerline semi-automated measurements two centimeters in each direction of bifurcation (Figure 1b). These parameters were evaluated as mean ± standard deviation. Differences in these measurements were statistically analyzed using a paired Student’s t-test. Results
SU-EE-A4-03: Contrast-Enhanced MicroCT Imaging of Rodent Brain

Purpose: To develop an in vivoimaging method with small animal computed tomography(CT) and clinical water soluble iodinated contrast agent for investigations of aneurysm formations in rat brain that could lead to hemorrhagic stroke.Method and Materials: Small animal cone‐beam CT (60 kVp/0.530 mA) was acquired for a normal Sprague‐Dawley rat (300 g) anesthetized with isoflurane. The rat was positioned with a nonmetallic stereotaxic immobilization device to minimize the motion during CT acquisition. Noncontrast CT was immediately followed by contrast‐enhanced CT with continuous administration of iopromide (300 mgI/ml) at the rate of 2.5 ml/min with 512 projections over approximately 2 min. Noncontrast CT was obtained a) to visualize the effect of contrast agent in contrast‐enhanced CT, and b) to examine the effectiveness of the immobilization device between two time points of CT acquisitions. The accuracy of registration between the noncontrast and contrast‐enhanced CTimages with the immobilization device was compared against the images registered with normalized mutual information using FMRIB's Linear Image Registration Tool (FLIRT) using 12‐parameter affine transformations. Translations and rotations were examined between the FLIRT coregistered noncontrast CTimage and the uncoregistered noncontrast CTimage.Results: Continuous administration of iopromide during the CT acquisition provided consistent vascular contrast in the CT reconstructions. Carotid arteries and major cerebral blood vessels were visible with contrast‐enhanced CT, but not with noncontrast CT. The translational and rotational differences between FLIRT‐coregistered and uncoregistered images acquired with the stereotaxic immobilization were less than 0.5 voxel (∼85 μm) and 0.5°, respectively. Conclusion: A CT‐compatible immobilization device was useful for microCT imaging vascular structures in and around rodent brain with continuous administration of a standard iodinated contrast agent (e.g., iopromide), which provides a small animal CT technique that does not require specialized small animal specific contrast agent that has comparatively long in vivo residence time.
The effect of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on pregnancy rates of white-tailed deer following fixed-timed artificial insemination

Control of the white-tailed doe's reproductive cycle is not well documented. The objective was to determine the effects of giving equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) at progesterone device removal on fixed time artificial insemination (FTAI) pregnancy rates in white-tailed does. All does (n = 74) were synchronized with a vaginal progesterone implant (CIDR; 0.3 g progesterone), inserted on Day 0 (without regard to stage of estrous cycle), removed 14 days later, and subjected to FTAI, on average, 60 h post-CIDR removal. Of these, 34 were given 200 IU (im) of eCG at CIDR removal. Overall, FTAI pregnancy rate was 50% across 2 yrs (effect of year, P = 0.35). Administration of eCG at CIDR removal did not affect (P = 0.16) pregnancy rate (eCG = 59%; no eCG = 43%). Pregnancy rates were not affected by vulva score or doe disposition. Does that were ≤ 4 yrs old were more likely (P = 0.01) to become pregnant than does > 4 yrs of age. Does inseminated ≥ 60.5 h after CIDR removal were 22 times more likely (P = 0.002) to become pregnant to FTAI than does inseminated < 60.5 h. When frozen-thawed semen was deposited in the cervix or uterus, does were 17 times more likely (P = 0.005) to become pregnant compared with those receiving intravaginal insemination. Fecundity was not different (P = 0.73) across treatment groups (1.6 ± 0.11; no eCG vs. 1.7 ± 0.10; eCG). Furthermore, fecundity of does pregnant to FTAI was not different (P = 0.72) compared with does pregnant to clean-up bucks (1.7 ± 0.08; AI does vs. 1.7 ± 0.09; clean-up bucks). In summary, white-tailed does were successfully inseminated using a 14 days FTAI protocol, eCG may not be essential for acceptable pregnancy rates, and increased pregnancy rates may result when FTAI is done ≥ 60.5 h after progesterone device removal.
A dynamic unit-demand auction supporting bid revision

We present a dynamic unit-demand auction that supports arbitrary bid revision. Each round of the dynamic auction takes a tentative allocation and pricing as part of the input, and allows each bidder --- including a tentatively allocated bidder --- to submit an arbitrary unit-demand bid. We establish strong properties of the dynamic auction related to truthfulness and efficiency. Using a certain privacy preservation property of each round of the auction, we show that the overall dynamic auction is highly resistant to shilling. We present a fast algorithm for implementing the proposed auction. Using this algorithm, the amortized cost of processing each bidding operation is upper bounded by the complexity of solving a single-source shortest paths problem on a graph with nonnegative edge weights and a node for each item in the auction. We propose a dynamic price adjustment scheme that discourages sniping by providing incentives to bid early in the auction.
SU-FF-T-425: The Potential for Dose Dumping in Normal Tissues with IMRT

Purpose: To understand the potential for dose dumping in normal tissues (>85% of prescription dose) and to analyze effectiveness of techniques used in reducing dose dumping during IMRT planning. Method and Materials: We reviewed 249 IMRT plans for 53 patients with H&N, cervix and prostate cancers (6MV X‐rays, 5‐7F), to analyze in how many cases dose dumping occurred and types of techniques used to reduce dose dumping. Gantry angles, depth of beams, duration of optimization, severity of dose‐volume‐constraints (DVC) on normal structures, and spatial location of PTV were reviewed in relation to dose dumping. In addition, the effect of not contouring part of rectum in beam's path on dose dumping was studied. Results: Dose dumping occurred at Dmax depth in 16 pelvic cases (85%–129%). This was related to: 1) depth of beams, 2) narrow PTV and 3) reduced presence of rectum and bladder in beam's path. Dose dumping could be reduced to 85% by changing beam angles and/or DVC for normal structures in 4 cases and by creating phantom structures in 12 cases. Decreasing iterations also reduced dose dumping and MUs. Part of uncontoured rectum, if present in the field, received a higher dose than the contoured rectum with DVC, indicating that complete delineation of normal structures and DVC is necessary to prevent dose dumping. In H&N, when PTV extends inadvertently into air beyond the body even by a few millimeters, dose dumping occurred in beam's path (170%, 7F plan). Keeping PTV margins within body contour reduced this type of dose dumping. Conclusions: Beamlet optimization, duration of optimization, spatial location of PTV and DVC on PTV and normal structures, with the potential to cause dose dumping, are an integral part of IMRT inverse planning. Use of appropriate technique/s would reduce the dose dumping and time needed to obtain optimum plan.
Calculation of aerosol collection in fluidized filter beds

A method is proposed for calculating aerosol collection in fluidized filter beds. The method employs the bubble assembly model of fluidization and considers the bed to be a series of compartments, each of which comprises two or three phases. Aerosol collection is assumed to occur in these phases in accordance with existing theories of particle deposition. The validity of the method is tested against available experimental data.
Aortic aneurysm in childhood: report of six instances.

Six instances of aortic aneurysm in children have been observed in the past 15 years. Four children with aortic stenosis and coarctation of the aorta had aneurysmal dilatation of the, ascending aorta, and two children with coarctation of the aorta had ruptured post-stenotic dilatation of the descending aorta. Our observations suggest that aortic aneurysm can be the result of hemodynamic stress, although developmental anomaly of the aorta associated with aortic stenosis or coarctation could be responsible for the development of the aneurysm.
Unmet needs in addressing child neglect: Should we go back to the drawing board?

Abstract Intervention in child neglect faces many challenges to effectiveness, including: (a) The lack of a cohesive, agreed-upon conceptual/theoretical framework and inconsistent definition of the problem; (b) disjointed intervention in various components of the problem; and (c) the social justice issues of inequity based on class, race, and gender. These conditions have led to a situation in which the role of poverty, potentially one of the most important contextual factors in neglect, can be overlooked. This article presents an argument for the need to pay more explicit attention to the definition of neglect, with particular focus on the role of poverty, in order to improve intervention in this pervasive problem. It concludes with recommendations for research, policy, and practice in child welfare.
Linear solvation energy relationship and evaluation of mutual miscibility of polymers using inverse gas chromatography data

Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) has been widely used to determine the Flory–Huggins parameters, χ, between solutes (probes) and polymers. In a previous study a multiparameter acid–base model, which included dispersion, polarity, acidity, and basicity components, was used to correlate the Flory–Huggins parameters of a series of probes obtained from IGC measurement. Using IGC data from two polymers the parameters of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) and polyepichlorohydrin (PECH) were calculated and used to estimate the interaction parameter between them. In the present study a modified linear method was proposed to obtain the parameter differences between the two polymers directly from their chromatographic retention data. This method offers a more convenient assessment on the mutual miscibility between the two polymers. This method is also related to the linear solvation energy relationship (LESR). Correlations between the descriptors of LESR and the parameters in this acid–base model are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Electron cyclotron resonance heating of plasmas in tandem mirrors

The feasibility of heating tandem-mirror devices with microwaves near the electron cyclotron frequency or its harmonic is examined. Ray-tracing calculations are performed to find the optimal angle of wave launching for maximal absorption. It is found that the mirror plugs of present-day tandem-mirror devices can be heated effectively via the extraordinary mode, and that in the next generation of devices both the ordinary and the extraordinary mode of propagation can be used. Presently available gyrotrons can be used as sources of microwave energy in these experiments.
Changes in Tc-99m radionuclide bone scan images and peripheralizatioin of marrow hematopoetic activity associated with the administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor as an adjunct to dose-intensified chemotherapy for breast cancer

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is used clinically for chemotherapy-associated neutropenia. Very little is known about the manner in which pharmacologic dosing of G-CSF may affect radiologic studies in vivo. Dramatic changes on bone scan associated with the administration of G-CSF used to support dose-intensified combination chemotherapy in a patient with metastatic breast carcinoma are described. The scintigraphic findings were correlated histologically with increased hematopoietic activity in the bone marrow located in peripheral bones.
Maximizing Hadron Collider Sensitivity to Gauge-Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking Models

Abstract We consider typical hadron-collider detector signals sensitive to delayed decays of the lightest neutralino to photon plus goldstino and demonstrate the potential for substantially increasing the portion of the general parameter space of a gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking model that can be probed at the Tevatron.
WDM component requirements for bit-parallel fiber optic computer networks

The device specifications for an all optical bit-parallel WDM single fiber link for the cluster computer network community are intended for dissemination to the opto- electronic device research community to stimulate synergy between the two, ultimately leading to early availability of new devices to the computer network researchers. It is also hoped that early adoption of these devices by the research community will promote limited production of these devices by industry. Background information on our investigation of this problem will first be given. Then the detailed design of a long distance all optical bit-parallel WDM single-fiber link with 12 bit-parallel channels having 1 Gbytes/sec capacity is given. The speed-distance product for this link is 32 Gbytes/sec-km. Means to improve this speed-distance product using the pulse shepherding effect will be described. Finally, a detailed description of the BP-WDM component requirements is given.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Understanding the dynamics of software projects: an introduction to software process simulation (Abstract Only)

Static representations of development processes provide a basis for communication and coordination of work, as well as for planning work. However, they do not provide any information about the actual behavior of a project, including the effects of staffing decisions, quality-inducing activities, delays, resource contentions, and so forth. Software process simulation (SPS) has demonstrated the capability for providing insight to the dynamics of software projects and supporting project management decisions. This tutorial is a SPS introduction that emphasizes practical approaches to modeling and simulation for both researchers and practitioners. We will discuss modeling and simulation, types of simulation, an historical overview of SPS, the disciplines that contribute to successful SPS work, modeling constructs commonly used to represent software development dynamics, and methods for conducting a SPS project.
Inhibitors in Sorghum biomass during growth and processing into fuel

Abstract The presence and inhibitory activity of phenolic compounds in sorghum biomass were determined. Sorghum contains phenolic compounds at all stages of growth, with higher levels in leaves and glumes compared to stalks and caryopses. The phenolic compounds inhibited alpha- and gluco-amylase activity. Storage of sorghum resulted in increased levels of some phenolic acids. Levels of free phenolic compounds in ensiled sorghum leachate were sufficient to inhibit the hydrolysis of carbohydrates. The phenolic compounds from sorghum appeared to be detoxified during anaerobic digestion.
Diet, Weight Loss, and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.

Body weight, like cholesterol and blood pressure, are continuous variables. Overweight results when energy intake as food exceeds energy expenditure from exercise for a considerable period of time. When body weight becomes sufficiently high, it poses a risk to cardiovascular and metabolic health. The types of treatments considered by the physician and discussed with a patient should be based on this risk-benefit assessment. The body mass is the basic measurement for this assessment, and should be part of the “vital signs” when a patient is first evaluated by the medical staff. When the body mass index (BMI) is below 25 kg/m2, there is little risk from the body weight, but because obesity is a “stigmatized” condition, many patients, particularly women, desire to lose weight even within the normal range. For this purpose, a high-quality diet like the Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension (DASH) diet at a reduced-calorie intake would be our recommendation. When the BMI is above 25 kg/m2, patients deserve dietary advice, but in addition to a reduced-calorie DASH-like diet, this is a place to consider using “portion-control” strategies, such as the nutrition labels that manufacturers provide on canned and frozen foods to guide patients in reducing calorie intake. In overweight individuals at high risk (ie, those with a BMI above 30 kg/m2 or impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, or the metabolic syndrome), the use of orlistat or sibutramine along with diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and portion control should be considered. When the BMI is above 35 kg/m2, bariatric surgery should also be discussed as an option for the "at-risk" individual. Evidence reviewed here shows that modest weight losses of 5% to 10% can reduce the risk of conversion from impaired glucose tolerance to diabetes and can maintain lower blood pressure over extended periods. All of the approaches described above can produce weight losses of this magnitude.