cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fixed Costs and Labor Supply

This study is a theoretical and empirical analysis of the effects of time and money costs of labor market participation on married women's supply behavior. The existence of fixed costs implies that individuals are not willing to work less than some minimum number of hours, termed reservation hours. The theoretical analysis of the properties of the reservation hours function are derived. The empirical analysis develops and estimates labor supply functions when fixed costs are present, but cannot be observed in the data. The likelihood function developed to estimate the model is an extension of the statistical model of Heckman (1974) that allows the minimum number of hours supplied to be nonzero and differ randomly among individuals. The empirical results indicate that fixed costs of work are of prime importance in determining the labor supply behavior of married women. At the sample means, the minimum number of hours a woman is willing to work is about 1300per year. The estimated fixed costs an average woman incurs upon entry into the labor market is $920 in 1966 dollars. This represents 28 percent of her yearly earnings. Finally, labor supply parameters estimated with the fixed cost model are compared to those estimated under the conventional assumption of no fixed costs. Large differences in estimated parameters are found, suggesting that the conventional model is seriously misspecified.
Loss of balance during balance beam walking elicits a multifocal theta band electrocortical response

Determining the neural correlates of loss of balance during walking could lead to improved clinical assessment and treatment for individuals predisposed to falls. We used high-density electroencephalography (EEG) combined with independent component analysis (ICA) to study loss of balance during human walking. We examined 26 healthy young subjects performing heel-to-toe walking on a treadmill-mounted balance beam as well as walking on the treadmill belt (both at 0.22 m/s). ICA identified clusters of electrocortical EEG sources located in or near anterior cingulate, anterior parietal, superior dorsolateral-prefrontal, and medial sensorimotor cortex that exhibited significantly larger mean spectral power in the theta band (4–7 Hz) during walking on the balance beam compared with treadmill walking. Left and right sensorimotor cortex clusters produced significantly less power in the beta band (12–30 Hz) during walking on the balance beam compared with treadmill walking. For each source cluster, we also computed a normalized mean time/frequency spectrogram time locked to the gait cycle during loss of balance (i.e., when subjects stepped off the balance beam). All clusters except the medial sensorimotor cluster exhibited a transient increase in theta band power during loss of balance. Cluster spectrograms demonstrated that the first electrocortical indication of impending loss of balance occurred in the left sensorimotor cortex at the transition from single support to double support prior to stepping off the beam. These findings provide new insight into the neural correlates of walking balance control and could aid future studies on elderly individuals and others with balance impairments.
Reproducibility in research

Progress in biomedical research depends in part on being able to build on the findings of other researchers – and thereby on being able to apply others’ methods to your own research. However, most of us have struggled to understand how to repeat or adapt another researcher’s study because of minimal or missing details in the Methods section of a published paper. In expensive and complex experiments involving animal models, clear descriptions of the methods are particularly important. In this and the accompanying Editorial in this issue, we discuss how crucial the Methods section is to the integrity and utility of a biomedical research paper, and encourage researchers working with animal models to follow the recently released ARRIVE guidelines when preparing their studies for publication.
Development and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of pegylated interferon alfa-2a (40 kD)

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties can be attached to proteins to improve their pharmacological properties. Variables such as the molecular weight and conformation of PEG chains have a bearing on the conjugate's properties and should be considered when developing pegylated proteins with desired characteristics. Recombinant interferon (IFN) alfa has been used, with limited success, to treat patients infected with hepatitis C virus. The recommended thrice-weekly administration of IFN alfa does not maintain sustained plasma concentrations of the drug, thereby adversely affecting the potential virological response. Pegylation alters the pharmacokinetic properties of IFN alfa and allows for once-weekly administration. Pegylated IFNs contain either linear PEG chains of small molecular weight, as is pegylated IFN alfa-2b (12 kD), or larger branched moieties, as in pegylated IFN alfa-2a (40 kD). There are pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences between the two IFNs. The much-increased sustained virological response rates observed with pegylated IFN alfa-2a (40 kD) and pegylated IFN alfa-2b (12 kD) support the rationale for pegylation of IFN.
Socioeconomic predictors of smoking and smoking frequency in urban China: evidence of smoking as a social function.

SUMMARY A number of previous studies have documented the worsening smoking problems in China. This paper identifies several key socioeconomic variables associated with smoking among urban working adults and calls researchers’ attention to the important function of cigarette smoking as a social connection builder in China. This study argues that a smoking prevention and education program should place more emphasis on making smoking socially unnecessary and/or unacceptable because of the continuing increase in the number of smokers and the low desire to quit among smokers. The findings also suggest that while socioeconomic characteristics are excellent in predicting whether a person smokes or not, they are dismal in predicting smoking frequency among working adults.
Primal and Dual Capacity Utilization: An Application to Productivity Measurement in the U.S. Automobile Industry

Capacity utilization measures have traditionally been constructed as indexes of actual, as compared to “potential,” output. This potential or capacity output (Y*) can be represented within an economic model of the firm as the tangency between the short- and long-run average cost curves. Economic theoretical measures of capacity utilization (CU) can then be characterized as Y/Y* where Y is the realized level of output. These quantity or primal CU measures allow for economic interpretation; they provide explicit inference as to how changes in exogenous variables affect CU. Additional information for analyzing deviations from capacity production can be obtained by assessing the “dual” cost of the gap. In this article the definitions and representations of primal-output and dual-cost CU measures are formalized within a dynamic model of a monopolistic firm. As an illustration of this approach to characterizing CU measures, a model is estimated for the U.S. automobile industry, 1959–1980, and primal and dual CU...
God and the ontological foundation of morality

In recent years, William Lane Craig has vigorously championed a moral argument for God's existence. The backbone of Craig's argument is the claim that only God can provide a ‘sound foundation in reality’ for morality. The present article has three principal aims. The first is to interpret and clarify the account of the ontological foundation of morality proposed by Craig. The second is to press home an important objection to that account. The third is to expose the weakness of Craig's case for saying that without God morality would be groundless and illusory.
Prediction of Micro and Nano Indentation Size Effects from Spherical Indenters

In the present work, a micromechanical model based on dislocation mechanics for predicting indentation size effect from spherical indenters is developed and compared with the most widely used Swadener et al. (2002) model. The key idea proposed here while deriving the model is that a nonlinear coupling between the geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) and the statistically necessary dislocations (SSDs) can largely correct the deviation of the Swadener et al. model's prediction from hardness results for small diameter indents. Furthermore, the model can be used in identifying the material length scale from micro- and nano-indentation data.
A distributed quadtree dictionary approach to multi-resolution compression

We have developed a distributed quadtree dictionary (DQTD) algorithm, which allows lossless, multiresolution compression of single-crystal diffractometer (SCD) datasets from the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, IL. This is of prime importance to high-energy physicists who need to manipulate and visualize SCD datasets, but cannot due to their overwhelming memory requirements. Distributing a quadtree dictionary necessarily introduces redundancy to what was previously a minimal QTD. We have developed a method to reduce the tree redundancy in the QTD, thereby providing a tighter upper bound on the size of our QTD. We compare the DQTD algorithm with a distributed square wavelet transform (SWT). Experimental results on three sample 1GB SCD datasets show that, on a level-by-level basis, our algorithm performs no worse than SWT in terms of energy conservation and adjusted energy conservation, while providing 59:1 overall compression in the average case.
Oblique scattering from lossy periodic surfaces with applications to anechoic chamber absorbers

Plane wave scattering from lossy, periodic surfaces with periodicity in one direction is considered for arbitrary polarization and incidence angles. The material is assumed to be homogeneous and characterized by complex values of permittivity and permeability. Muller-type coupled integral equations are derived for the surface electric and magnetic currents. The power reflection coefficient is defined in terms of the scattered far fields. The integral equations are solved by the boundary element method (BEM) with constant elements. Arbitrary surfaces are accommodated by approximating the actual profile by means of linear segments. Other speed-up techniques are utilized to generate a numerically efficient solution. Substantial comparison is made for special cases to verify the formulation. The reflection coefficient is calculated for a variety of surface shapes. A new profile shape is presented that results in a lower reflection coefficient than the commonly used triangular shape. >
Smooth conjugacy of centre manifolds

In this paper, we prove that for a system of ordinary differential equations of class Cr+1,1, r≧0 and two arbitrary Cr+1, 1 local centre manifolds of a given equilibrium point, the equations when restricted to the centre manifolds are Cr conjugate. The same result is proved for similinear parabolic equations. The method is based on the geometric theory of invariant foliations for centre-stable and centre-unstable manifolds.
One-way traffic in the western Atlantic: causes and consequences of Miocene to early Pleistocene molluscan invasions in Florida and the Caribbean

Abstract Understanding the patterns, causes, and consequences of biotic interchange—the movement of species between neighboring biotas—is crucial for evaluating the effects of human-introduced species in the modern biosphere. Since at least the early Miocene, the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic has comprised two biogeographic provinces, the Gatunian (including the Caribbean) and the Caloosahatchian (North Carolina to Florida and the Yucatan peninsula). Although these adjacent provinces are not separated by a land barrier, exchange of species between them has been limited and intermittent. A synthesis of taxonomic, phylogenetic, stratigraphic, and biogeographic data on six gastropod and two bivalve groups reveals a dramatic shift in the pattern of interchange between these provinces. About 31% of early Miocene Caloosahatchian subgenus- and species-group-level taxa invaded the Gatunian Province by the late Miocene, but no taxa extended their ranges in the opposite direction. Beginning in the early...
Gene Cuisine or Frankenfood? The Theory of Reasoned Action as an Audience Segmentation Strategy for Messages About Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically modified (GM) foods are currently a controversial topic about which the lay public in the United States knows little. Formative research has demonstrated that the lay public is uncertain and concerned about GM foods. This study (N = 858) extends focus group research by using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to examine attitudes and subjective norms related to GM foods as a theoretical strategy for audience segmentation. A hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four unique audiences based on their attitude and subjective norm toward GM foods (ambivalent-biotech, antibiotech, biotech-normer, and biotech individual). Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and practical significance for audience segmentation.
Federalism and Central Bank Independence: The Politics of German Monetary Policy, 1957-92

Two channels of political control allow elected politicians to influence monetary policy. First, political threats to the status, structure, or very existence of the central bank may force central bankers to comply with politically motivated demands on monetary policy. Second, politicians may use their powers of appointment to ensure that central bank appointees share their electoral and party-political goals. This paper derives the monetary policy outcomes obtained as a function of the degree of central bank independence (zero, partial, or full) and central bankers' types (partisans or technocrats). Based on a case study of the 1957 and 1992 institutional changes to the German central banking system and a regression analysis covering the period in between, I argue that the formal independence of the system is protected by its embeddedness in the institutions of German federalism and by the federalist components of its decentralized organizational structure. The behavioral independence of the German central bank fluctuates over time with the party control of federalist veto points. The Bundesbank is staffed with nonpartisan technocrats who are partially insulated from political pressures.
Risk Factors for Dental Implant Failure: A Strategy for the Analysis of Clustered Failure-time Observations

This study’s objective was to identify, in a statistically valid and efficient manner, the risk factors associated with dental implant failure. We hypothesize that factors exist which can be modified by clinicians to enhance outcome. A retrospective cohort study design was used. Cohort members had ≥ one implant placed. Risk factors were classified as demographic, health status, implant-, anatomic-, or prosthetic-specific, and reconstructive variables. The outcome variable was implant failure. The cohort was composed of 677 patients who had 2349 implants placed. Based on the adjusted multivariate model, factors associated with implant failure were tobacco use, implant length, staging, well size, and immediate implants (p ≤ 0.05). In the setting of correlated survival observations, we recommend adjusting for the correlation of the observations to provide statistically valid and efficient results. Three of the identified factors—tobacco use, immediate implants, and implant staging—potentially may be modified...
Biological nitrogen fixation and biomass accumulation within poplar clones as a result of inoculations with diazotrophic endophyte consortia

Sustainable production of biomass for bioenergy relies on low-input crop production. Inoculation of bioenergy crops with plant growth-promoting endophytes has the potential to reduce fertilizer inputs through the enhancement of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). Endophytes isolated from native poplar growing in nutrient-poor conditions were selected for a series of glasshouse and field trials designed to test the overall hypothesis that naturally occurring diazotrophic endophytes impart growth promotion of the host plants. Endophyte inoculations contributed to increased biomass over uninoculated control plants. This growth promotion was more pronounced with multi-strain consortia than with single-strain inocula. Biological nitrogen fixation was estimated through (15)N isotope dilution to be 65% nitrogen derived from air (Ndfa). Phenotypic plasticity in biomass allocation and branch production observed as a result of endophyte inoculations may be useful in bioenergy crop breeding and engineering programs.
Biophysical and size-dependent perspectives on plant evolution

Physical laws and processes have profoundly influenced plant evolution. Their effects are invariably size dependent and thus subject to scaling as well as biophysical analyses even though these effects differ depending upon the fluid (water or air) in which plants evolve. Although organisms cannot obviate the effects of physical laws and processes, the consequences of these effects can be altered by ontogenetic or phylogenetic alterations in geometry, shape, or orientation as well as in body size. These assertions are examined using theoretical insights and empirical data drawn from extant and fossil plants pertinent to four evolutionary transitions: (1) the evolution of multicellularity, (2) the transition from an aquatic to an aerial habitat, (3) the evolution of vascular tissues, and (4) the evolution of secondary growth by the independent acquisition of cambia. This examination shows how physical laws limit phenotypic expression, but how they also simultaneously provide alternative, potentially adaptive possibilities.
Some Magnetic First-Order Transitions

Some transitions between ordered and disordered magnetic states that take place via transitions of first order are tabulated. Among these transitions are some of the order-disorder type. The theoretical basis for such a transition to occur is indicated using a simple physical model that assumes: (1) a strain dependent exchange interaction and (2) a compressible lattice. The necessary condition for first-order behavior is determined, and the theory is compared to the behavior of a real material, MnAs. It is found to be in substantial agreement with the behavior of that compound. The system represented by the simple model employed here possesses ferro-, antiferro-, and paramagnetic states. The equilibrium boundaries between these states are determined in the pressure-temperature plane as an illustration of the possible transitions that may be observed with this model.
Steady State Analysis Of The Variable Speed Switched Reluctance Motor Drive

The switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive has recently received attention mainly because of its simple motor construction and unidirectional converter requirement. The principle of operation of the motor drive demands that the motor and converter be treated as one unit. Little has been done to develop a complete analysis of this motor-converter combination 1'2. This paper presents an approach to the steady state analysis of the SRM drive including the effects of stator winding resistance, input filter dynamics and snubber circuits which are often neglected. The analysis yields phase current waveforms providing guidelines to the optimal design of the converter and motor. A novel single-switch-per phase converter developed by one of the authors is used. The approach can be used for any other motor-converter combination.
Gender differences in adolescent birth narratives

Abstract Birth stories are a crucial autobiographical narrative for anchoring the life story. Yet they are not personally recalled, but received knowledge, and are therefore unique in that they occupy an intermediary role between family history and stories of self. Despite this theoretical significance, they have remained largely unexamined, especially from the perspective of the child. In this study, we examined birth narratives from 61 mostly white, broadly middle class adolescents from two-parent, opposite gender families, between the ages of 13 and 16. Based on previous research on gender differences in autobiographical narratives, the birth narratives were coded for elaboration, coherence, internal states, and connectedness. As predicted, females’ narratives were higher on all of these variables than were males’ narratives. We further examined relations between adolescents’ birth narratives and measures of family expressiveness and knowledge of family history. Adolescents with more connected stories containing more thoughts and emotions showed higher family expressiveness, and more elaborated, contextually coherent birth stories were related to more knowledge of family history. Limitations, applications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
The Relational Geography of Peri-urban Farmer Adaptation

Agricultural geographers have long focused on farm adaptation to changing conditions. One frame for examining these adaptations is the modified political economy approach, which attempts to reconcile the conceptual tension between farmers as individual agents found within broader industry structures by focusing on adjustment strategies on the farm which recognize the power farmers can exercise in response to broader economic pressures. We build on this approach by conceptualizing and visualizing the relational geography of four peri-urban farm cases in the United States based off of farm household interviews. We focus on the emergent positioning of peri-urban farmers within the structural conditions of local development pressure and global industrial agricultural markets, and the resultant ability of farmers to adapt in the future. An immediate application of this framework, given the interest in food systems, would be to better target policies and programs in peri-urban areas for the purpose of regional food system development or community-based agricultural economic development. Keywords: farmer adaptation, agriculture, relational economic geography, periurban, political economy
Validity and Calibration of the Youth Activity Profile.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to calibrate and cross-validate the Youth Activity Profile (YAP), a self-report tool designed to capture physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) in youth. Methods Eight schools in the Midwest part of the U.S. were involved and a total of 291 participants from grades 4–12 agreed to wear an accelerometer (SWA Armband) and complete the YAP in two separate weeks (5–7 days apart). Individual YAP items capture PA behavior during specific segments of the week and these items were combined with temporally matched estimates of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time from the SWA to enable calibration. Quantile regression procedures yielded YAP prediction algorithms that estimated MVPA at School, MVPA at Out-of-School, MVPA on Weekend, as well as time spent in SB. The YAP estimates of time spent in MVPA and SB were cross-validated using Pearson product correlations and limits of agreement, as indicative of individual error and, equivalence testing techniques as indicative of group-level error. Result Following calibration, the correlations between YAP and SWA estimates of MVPA were low to moderate (rrange = .19 to .58) and individual-level YAP estimates of MVPA ranged from -134.9% to +110.0% of SWA MVPA values. Differences between aggregated YAP and SWA MVPA ranged from -3.4 to 21.7 minutes of MVPA at the group-level and predicted YAP MVPA estimates were within 15%, 20%, and 30%, of values from the SWA for the School, Out-of-School, and Weekend time periods, respectively. Estimates of time spent in SB were highly correlated with each other (r = .75). The individual estimates of SB ranged from -54.0% to +44.0% of SWA sedentary time, and the aggregated group-level estimates differed by 49.7 minutes (within 10% of the SWA aggregated estimates). Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that the calibration procedures enabled the YAP to provide estimates of MVPA and SB that approximated values from an objective monitor. The YAP provides a simple, low-cost and educationally sound method to accurately estimate children’s MVPA and SB at the group level.
CXCR4-CXCL12 axis: Pivotal role as a metastatic mediator in small cell sarcoma

10569 Background: The chemokine CXCL12, and its receptor CXCR4, are expressed in over 23 different types of cancers, and have been associated with the metastatic phenotype and inferior clinical out...
Beyond the American Colonization Society

This article offers a critical review of scholarship on black colonization and emigration beyond the United States between the 1770s and the 1850s. In 1816, a group of elite white men founded the American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization committed to sending free African Americans outside the bounds of the nation. By 1821, the ACS had secured federal funding for the project and purchased land for the new black colony of Liberia in West Africa. Historians have long disagreed about the aims of the ACS beyond its prejudicial presumption that African Americans did not belong within the nation. This founding debate has obscured the much longer and more diffuse history of colonization thought across the American colonies and the new United States. Well before and after 1816, both black and white activists planned alternative black colonies outside the bounds of the United States in West Africa, Florida, Haiti, Canada, Texas, Mexico, and the American West. This essay briefly reviews the major arguments in the scholarship on the ACS before turning to examine work that has looked beyond Liberia to embrace creative approaches to the scattered field of black colonization and emigration across the Anglo-Atlantic world. This growing body of scholarship demonstrates ever more forcefully that removal and migration were at the center of conceptions of race, citizenship, and freedom in the early United States.
Peace Agreement, Intractable Conflict, Escalation Trajectory: A Psychological Laboratory Experiment

Psychological theory suggests that international events influence foreign policy action choices through differential cognitive schemata held by political actors. The actions and schemata are, in turn, affected by underlying actor attributes. In this tradition, the present study administered a mixture of peaceful and conflictual priming cues, testing for a "peace treaty" effect. A sample of laboratory subjects was primed with a vignette describing the signing of a peace treaty between fictional warring nations. Control subjects were given no prime. Next, all subjects were given a news flash that indicated continuing conflictual action between the countries. Subjects were then asked to specify a reactive foreign policy action choice from an inventory of possible conflictual acts. Subjects were again given a news flash that indicated continuing conflictual action between the two countries. After this event, subjects made another action choice. This procedure was repeated another three times. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, the presence or absence of an initial peace treaty made little overall difference in subjects' action choices. There was, however, an important gender-differentiated peace treaty effect in the pattern of a crossover interaction. When confronted with subsequent violence, women and men reacted differently, depending on whether or not they had read of a prior peace treaty. Women without the prior treaty and men with it were most conflictual; women with the treaty and men without it were most cooperative. The experiment further illuminated a complex dynamic of action and reaction, including an important "reciprocity" effect, with subordinate "forgiveness" and "boundary" effects. Continuing intransigent conflict produced a gradual conflictual escalation. Subjects were relatively slow to anger; they tended to reciprocate conflict at a discount. After several conflict events, however, subjects fully returned what they received. But they stayed within the limits of the interaction; they gave back no more. The research also replicated a previously obtained "personality" effect; subjects with dominant personality traits made more conflictual choices than subjects with submissive personality traits. We conclude that different decisionmakers and publics must take account of varying levels and sequences of international cooperation and conflict, of the psychologies of the multiple actors, and of their own complex psychological dynamics in the fragmented environment of the emerging post-Cold War world.
Identification of Host Micro RNAs That Differentiate HIV-1 and HIV-2 Infection Using Genome Expression Profiling Techniques

While human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2) share many similar traits, major differences in pathogenesis and clinical outcomes exist between the two viruses. The differential expression of host factors like microRNAs (miRNAs) in response to HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections are thought to influence the clinical outcomes presented by the two viruses. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules which function in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. MiRNAs play a critical role in many key biological processes and could serve as putative biomarker(s) for infection. Identification of miRNAs that modulate viral life cycle, disease progression, and cellular responses to infection with HIV-1 and HIV-2 could reveal important insights into viral pathogenesis and provide new tools that could serve as prognostic markers and targets for therapeutic intervention. The aim of this study was to elucidate the differential expression profiles of host miRNAs in cells infected with HIV-1 and HIV-2 in order to identify potential differences in virus-host interactions between HIV-1 and HIV-2. Differential expression of host miRNA expression profiles was analyzed using the miRNA profiling polymerase chain reaction (PCR) arrays. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified and their putative functional targets identified. The results indicate that hsa-miR 541-3p, hsa-miR 518f-3p, and hsa-miR 195-3p were consistently up-regulated only in HIV-1 infected cells. The expression of hsa-miR 1225-5p, hsa-miR 18a* and hsa-miR 335 were down modulated in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infected cells. Putative functional targets of these miRNAs include genes involved in signal transduction, metabolism, development and cell death.
Analysis of training and requirement about infectious disease knowledge among healthcare teachers in primary and middle school of Songjiang District, Shanghai

Objective To analyze the training and acquirement about infectious disease knowledge among healthcare teachers in primary and middle schools of Songjiang district, to provide baseline information for infectious disease knowledge training among school healthcare teachers. Methods All 83 primary and middle schools in Songjiang district were selected as study field, 83 healthcare teachers were investigated face to face by using questionnaires, SAS 9.1 software was used to do the analysis work. Results 79.52% of healthcare teachers received pre-work training on infectious disease knowledge and 86.75% of them received on-duty training on infectious disease knowledge, 62.50% of them received the training in each semester. And part-time healthcare teachers, healthcare teachers in private schools or primary schools had lower training rate of infectious disease knowledge. 96% of the school healthcare teachers wished to learn more infectious disease knowledge, and health lecture, health knowledge training and brochure were their acquirement channels of knowledge. Conclusion Educational agencies and healthcare institutions should pay more attention to infectious disease knowledge training. Carrying out infectious disease knowledge training program according to healthcare teachers' requirement and expectation to boost their knowledge, and to assure that they can aware of infectious disease among school students in their routine work and report infectious disease cases in time, finally prevent outbreak or epidemic.
Window Shopping: A Study of Desktop Window Switching

Desktop users frequently open and switch between multiple windows. Here we present an experiment comparing 3 window switching interfaces: the Cards interface spreads windows out like a vertical stack of cards with the most recent window at the front; the Mosaic interface places each window in a grid ordered by recency; and, the Expose interface provides an map-like overview based on the relative size and position of windows. Experimental results suggest that the Mosaic interface scales, enabling faster window selection than the Cards interface and less erroneous window selection than the Expose interface.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Birth: A Metaphor Analysis.

Purpose Nine percent of mothers screened positive for meeting the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to childbirth in a recent study of childbearing women in the United States. The purpose of this study was to analyze the language used by mothers experiencing PTSD after traumatic birth for metaphors as a rich source of insight into this mental illness for maternal-child nurses. Study design and methods A secondary analysis was conducted of the corpus of 124 typed pages from the primary qualitative study of women's experiences of PTSD following traumatic childbirth. The Pragglejaz Group's metaphor identification procedure was the method used for identifying metaphorically used words in the mothers' discourse. Results Nine metaphors emerged. These metaphors portray PTSD due to childbirth as a mechanical robot, a ticking time bomb, an invisible wall, a video on constant reply, enveloping darkness, a dangerous ocean, a thief in the night, a bottomless abyss, and suffocating layers of trauma. Clinical implications Metaphors that mothers used to describe their experiences of PTSD following a traumatic birth provide rich insight for maternal-child nurses. These metaphors give a new voice to women's experiences of PTSD and are a perfect match for a valuable source for nurses' evidence-based practice.
Alfred Schütz, Progenitor of Social Phenomenology

The most venerated progenitor, central, and unifying figure in the emergence of social phenomenology is Alfred Schutz (1899–1959). Here a brief academic biography is followed by an outline of key conceptual distinctions in his investigations of the social world. Discussion is limited to the early foundation for sociology based on the Bergsonian investigations of experiential time; the nature of intersubjectivity; the stratifications of the social world; spatial and temporal stratifications; knowledge of the social world; and the methodology of the social sciences.1
Other Regions Modulating Waking

Abstract A number of other regions besides the RAS modulate waking. In most cases, these regions can induce some manifestations of low-amplitude, high-frequency activity in the EEG after chronic brain stem transections. Stimulation of most of these regions typically elicits high-frequency activity in the EEG but only after long latencies, usually 10 times that of RAS stimulation. The question remains if these regions can maintain high-frequency activity for prolonged periods, especially that necessary to maintain gamma band activity, such as is required by attention, learning, and memory, in the absence of the RAS.
Gait design for a Tetrahedral Worm

Tetrahedral robots come from a family of crawling and tumbling robots. They operate by changing their shape. This could be a more functional way to move than a wheeled rover because it can crawl or tumble over rough terrain and obstacles. The current tetrahedral robot (an 8-TET), which was developed by our team, moves by tumbling or rolling. This is a problem because it constantly is changing its orientation due to the fact that it is rolling and each part is upside down at some point. A new robot was to be designed that does not change its orientation. The idea of the Tetrahedral Worm (TET Worm) came about as a possible alternative for the current robot. The TET Worm moves by crawling rather than tumbling. By doing this movement, it holds a constant orientation. The new robot could be designed, tested, and controlled using SimMechanics, which is a package of MATLAB. After the robot is designed and a control system is constructed on the program, several Gaits (the way that the robot will move) must be designed for the TET Worm. The Gaits can then be compared to one another to test which is the best for controllability, force on the struts, and speed.
The Role of Skewness in Mergers and Acquisitions

Investors prefer stocks with idiosyncratic skewness in their returns, which may be evidence of behavioral biases. Previous research suggests that skewness is related to the choice of target in corporate acquisitions, which may reflect CEOs’ behavioral biases. However, if the acquiring firms’ stock returns are also skewed, then the acquirer CEOs may rationally use their stock as currency in these deals. We investigate the skewness of the acquiring firm and the method of payment to determine if takeovers involving high skewness stocks are consistent with shareholder wealth maximization. We find that firms with high levels of skewness are more likely to become takeover targets and that takeover premiums increase with skewness, but there is no relation between the target’s skewness level and acquirer announcement returns. We also find that acquirers with high skewness are more likely to pay with stock and have higher announcement returns. We conclude that acquirer CEOs often take advantage of investor preference for skewness when undertaking mergers and acquisitions activity.
Generation of Probabilistically Optimal Paths for Nonholonomic Needle Insertion

Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) is a sampling-based algorithm which is designed for path planning problems. It is efficient to handle high-dimensional configuration space (C-space) and nonholonomic constraints. Under the nonholonomic constraints, the RRT can generate paths between an initial state and a goal state while avoiding obstacles. Since this framework assumes that a system is deterministic, more improvement should be added when the method is applied to a system with uncertainty. In robotic systems with motion uncertainty, probability for successful targeting and obstacle avoidance are more suitable measurement than the deterministic distance between the robot system and the target position. In this paper, the probabilistic targeting error is defined as a root-mean-square (RMS) distance between the system to the desired target. The proximity of the obstacle to the system is also defined as an averaged distance of obstacles to the robotic system. Then, we consider a cost function that is a sum of the targeting error and the obstacle proximity. By numerically minimizing the cost, we can obtain the optimal path. In this paper, a method for efficient evaluation and minimization of this cost function is proposed and the proposed method is applied to nonholonomic flexible medical needles for performance tests.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Radiographic extracapsular extension (ECE) and treatment outcomes in locally advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC).

6019 Background: Pathologic ECE (pECE) of tumor through lymph node (LN) is a poor prognosticator for OPC and typically diagnosed upon surgical LN removal. At our institution, experienced radiologis...
Why we should give credit to code creators

With software development becoming ever more important in physics research, Arfon Smith argues that we need to adopt better ways of recognizing those who contribute to this largely unrewarded activity.
History of radiation biology from a personal point of view.

It is exactly 50 years ago, in 1934, that I was asked by Warren Weaver, then in charge of the Natural Sciences Department at the Rockefeller Foundation, to make a survey of the biological effects of radiation. To emphasize the quantitative aspects was quite natural for me, since I came from a background in physical chemistry into biology. I evaluated about 5,000 papers, not all in-depth, of course, but I gave each paper a definite rating as to its quantitative aspects from my personal point of view. This served, for the Foundation, as a basis for their support of radiation research. No other source of support for research of this type was available during the Depression.
Financial statement comparability and segment disclosure

Abstract Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) No. 131, Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information (FASB [1997]), reestablishes standards for how public business enterprises report segment information in financial statements. A prevailing criticism of FAS 131 is that it likely reduces financial statement comparability for firms with similar lines of business. This study estimates comparability of accounting disclosures surrounding the implementation of FAS 131 to examine potential variation in comparability associated with the segment reporting regime shift. Financial statement comparability is operationalized following the De Franco et al. (2011) accounting system comparability measure as the degree that firms have similar mappings for economic performance into financial statements. Results indicate decreased comparability for firms following FAS 131 adoption. Specifically, segment information reformulated according to how companies manage their businesses marginally limits this reduction in comparability, but greater segment information disaggregation through an increase in the number of reported segments attributed to FAS 131 application diminishes comparability overall. This study contributes to the standard setting process, as the FASB has assigned comparability to an important position in its conceptual framework and has made the goal of increasing comparability a vital component of its agenda that drives the need for accounting standards.
Tracking Area Update and Paging in 5G Networks: a Survey of Problems and Solutions

The 5th Generation wireless systems (5G) is expected to accommodate exceptional services beyond current cellular systems. To achieve this goal, however, ongoing studies are still developing new schemes to provide seamless connections to the ever increasing density of high-mobility User Equipments (UEs). That means that the network needs to track all UEs while moving throughout the coverage area for the purpose of data-packet delivery. The two Mobility Management (MM) procedures that are essential to localize a specific UE and deliver data packets to that UE are known as Tracking Area Update (TAU) and Paging, which are burdensome to the system because of very high-volume traffic. Therefore, MM will become a crucial problem for 5G requirements; how to support real-time applications and provide close-to-zero latency for life-critical systems? This paper addresses a variety of problems that should be faced and discusses various solution schemes in terms of implementation complexity, latency, and computation overhead for both the TAU and Paging. Because 5G systems will work in conjunction with current Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems and the latter is retuned to use as a base design for future 5G, our discussion starts from current LTE solutions towards 5G MM improvements. In this context, this paper emphasizes a new key design for 5G and explains the challenges that impact both the network performance and UE experience (e.g., power saving). Next, we critically discuss the applicability of current LTE solution schemes (in terms of TAU and Paging costs) and evaluate them for 5G use cases. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first study that emphasizes and gives a critique on using of different types of UE mobility models (based on the given studies), which are used to analyze the network performance that interacts with the UE movements. In this context, some 5G improvement schemes are discussed.
Exploring the response of a thin, flexible panel to shock-turbulent boundary-layer interactions

Abstract The use of nonlinear, dynamic methods for the simulation of aerospace structures has increased dramatically in recent years [1]; however, very little relevant experimental data exists to properly guide these developments. An experimental campaign was initiated by the AFRL Structural Sciences Center (SSC) for three reasons: (1) to observe and measure the effect of turbulence, shock boundary-layer interactions (SBLI) and heated flow on an aircraft-like panel; (2) to explore severe structural events (dynamic instabilities and material failure); and (3) to refine full-field and non-contacting experimental measurement techniques necessary to characterize the flow environment and structural response. All of the objectives were achieved. The panel response to turbulent, heated flow and sensitivity to panel back-pressure modulation was studied, with large-deformation limit cycle behavior leading to panel failure, observed and measured. For the first time, the 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique was also used to record the panel behavior while filming through the flow and SBLI environment. Finally, fast reacting pressure sensitive paint (PSP) was used, concurrently with 3D DIC, to record the dynamic pressure across the panel surface.
Effects of sample preparation on the infrared reflectance spectra of powders

While reflectance spectroscopy is a useful tool for identifying molecular compounds, laboratory measurement of solid (particularly powder) samples often is confounded by sample preparation methods. For example, both the packing density and surface roughness can have an effect on the quantitative reflectance spectra of powdered samples. Recent efforts in our group have focused on developing standard methods for measuring reflectance spectra that accounts for sample preparation, as well as other factors such as particle size and provenance. In this work, the effect of preparation method on sample reflectivity was investigated by measuring the directional-hemispherical spectra of samples that were hand-loaded as well as pressed into pellets using an integrating sphere attached to a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The results show that the methods used to prepare the sample can have a substantial effect on the measured reflectance spectra, as do other factors such as particle size.
THE GREAT MASQUERADER: A DYSPNEIC MARATHON RUNNER

The differential diagnosis of exertional dyspnea spans cardiac and pulmonary causes. Exertional symptoms with unexpected underlying cardiac conduction abnormalities merits consideration of an infiltrative cardiomyopathy, even in the presence of preserved biventricular function. A 47-year-old
Simulation-Based Instruction in Continuing Education.

Context The results of this study will provide direction for integrating simulation into continuing professional education (CPE) for athletic trainers (ATs). Objective Compare the effects of 2 simu...