cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sleep Slow Oscillations and Cortical Maturation

Slow wave activity (SWA) in non-rapid-eye-movement sleep represents a well-established marker for the homeostatic decline of sleep pressure. Evidence is accumulating that SWA plays a role in synaptic changes. Moreover, sleep SWA seems to reflect developmental changes of the cerebral cortex, which occur during childhood and adolescence. Specifically, the SWA time course in the first two decades of life resembles anatomical (e.g., synapse density) and behavioral (e.g., visual, motor or cognitive skills) maturation. In addition, established measures of slow wave characteristics like slow wave amplitude (or SWA) and coherence in the slow wave frequency range parallel gray and white matter changes, respectively.
The Wills Eye Glaucoma App: Interest of Patients and Their Caregivers in a Smartphone-based and Tablet-based Glaucoma Application.

PURPOSE To evaluate the interest of glaucoma patients and their caregivers in a smartphone-based and tablet-based glaucoma application (App), developed by the Wills Eye Glaucoma Research Center in collaboration with Drexel University. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cross-sectional survey of patients with glaucoma and their caregivers. Main outcome measures are answers to survey questions regarding how receptive participants are to using the Glaucoma App. RESULTS Fifty subjects completed the survey. The mean age (SD) was 59.5 (±17.3) years. A total of 88.6% of the participants lived in a household with access to a smartphone or tablet. The majority (72.3%) of participants would consider downloading the Glaucoma App, and younger participants (<65 y) were more likely to do so compared with their older (≥65 y) counterparts, P=0.025. Participants were more likely to download the App if it was free of charge, compared with a version that costs $3, P=0.018. Although only about one third (37.8%) of participants used eye drop reminders, nearly 3 of 4 (72.9%) participants were receptive to using the automated reminder feature of the Glaucoma App. CONCLUSIONS Glaucoma patients and their caregivers were very interested in using a Glaucoma App; however, many were not willing to spend $3 for an App they seem to value. The free Wills Eye Glaucoma App currently available on the Apple store, includes educational videos, eye drop and appointment reminders, medical and ocular data storage, visual field tutorial, and intraocular pressure tracker. These features aim to increase patients' level of knowledge about glaucoma and improve their adherence to medication and follow-up appointment recommendations.
Neuropeptide Physiology in Helminths

Parasitic worms come from two distinct, distant phyla, Nematoda (roundworms) and Platyhelminthes (flatworms). The nervous systems of worms from both phyla are replete with neuropeptides and there is ample physiological evidence that these neuropeptides control vital aspects of worm biology. In each phyla, the physiological evidence for critical roles for helminth neuropeptides is derived from both parasitic and free-living members. In the nematodes, the intestinal parasite Ascaris suum and the free-living Caenorhabditis elegans have yielded most of the data; in the platyhelminths, the most physiological data has come from the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs) have many varied effects (excitation, relaxation, or a combination) on somatic musculature, reproductive musculature, the pharynx and motor neurons in nematodes. Insulin-like peptides (INSs) play an essential role in nematode dauer formation and other developmental processes. There is also some evidence for a role in somatic muscle control for the somewhat heterogeneous grouping of peptides known as neuropeptide-like proteins (NLPs). In platyhelminths, as in nematodes, FLPs have a central role in somatic muscle function. Reports of FLP physiological action in platyhelminths are limited to a potent excitation of the somatic musculature. Platyhelminths are also abundantly endowed with neuropeptide Fs (NPFs), which appear absent from nematodes. There is not yet any data linking platyhelminth NPF to any particular physiological outcome, but this neuropeptide does potently and specifically inhibit cAMP accumulation in schistosomes. In nematodes and platyhelminths, there is an abundance of physiological evidence demonstrating that neuropeptides play critical roles in the biology of both free-living and parasitic helminths. While it is certainly true that there remains a great deal to learn about the biology of neuropeptides in both phyla, physiological evidence presently available points to neuropeptidergic signaling as a very promising field from which to harvest future drug targets.
Ethical Dilemmas in the Engineering Writing Classroom

Ethical engagements in engineering education typically take on a form where students approach and write about ethics with the assumption that ethics is a realm apart from engineering. What would it mean to ask engineering students to consider ethics an essential part of all of their work, and to think of engineering creativity as an implicitly ethical field? This study begins by returning to Steven B. Katz’s (1992) influential essay “The Ethic of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology, and the Holocaust,” offering an alternate, rhetorical model for how to approach ethics with engineers as an urgent necessity. It then analyzes, as an instructive example, the pitfalls of a commonly used engineering writing textbook, David F. Beer and David A. McMurrey’s A guide to writing as an engineer (4th ed.) (2014), showing how ethics can become supplemental priority for engineering pedagogy despite institutional calls to prioritize ethics in engineering education. It also explores the larger theoretical issue of why this is so, citing warnings by Erin A. Cech (Science, Technology, and Human Values 39:42-72, 2014), Olivia Walling (2015), and a new study by Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog (Engineers of jihad: The curious connection between violent extremism and education, 2016) that limited ethical training may be a serious professional and personal liability for engineers. Finally, presenting student work produced in an engineering writing course at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) involving creative “devil’s advocate” ethics assignments, it shows how defending potentially problematic technologies can help students develop an awareness of how ethical considerations can generate legitimate ideas for new engineering solutions.
Three-Dimensional (3D) Printers in Libraries: Perspective and Preliminary Safety Analysis

As an emerging technology, three-dimensional (3D) printing has gained much attention as a rapid prototyping and small-scale manufacturing technology around the world. In the changing scenario of library inclusion, Makerspaces are becoming a part of most public and academic libraries, and 3D printing is one of the technologies included in Makerspaces. Owing to the ease of availability and cost effectiveness, most libraries use fused-deposition-modeling-based 3D printers compatible with plastic printing materials, such as polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). During the printing, PLA and ABS emit ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may deteriorate the indoor air quality. In this article, first, we have discussed the background of 3D printing, the most common technologies used for 3D printing and printing materials, its applications in chemical education and sciences, as well as 3D printing health and safety concerns. Second, we measured and analyz...
Augur: Internet-Wide Detection of Connectivity Disruptions

Anecdotes, news reports, and policy briefings collectively suggest that Internet censorship practices are pervasive. The scale and diversity of Internet censorship practices makes it difficult to precisely monitor where, when, and how censorship occurs, as well as what is censored. The potential risks in performing the measurements make this problem even more challenging. As a result, many accounts of censorship begin—and end—with anecdotes or short-term studies from only a handful of vantage points. We seek to instead continuously monitor information about Internet reachability, to capture the onset or termination of censorship across regions and ISPs. To achieve this goal, we introduce Augur, a method and accompanying system that utilizes TCP/IP side channels to measure reachability between two Internet locations without directly controlling a measurement vantage point at either location. Using these side channels, coupled with techniques to ensure safety by not implicating individual users, we develop scalable, statistically robust methods to infer network-layer filtering, and implement a corresponding system capable of performing continuous monitoring of global censorship. We validate our measurements of Internet-wide disruption in nearly 180 countries over 17 days against sites known to be frequently blocked, we also identify the countries where connectivity disruption is most prevalent.
What Determines Capital Structure of Listed Firms in India?: Some Empirical Evidences from The Indian Capital Market

This paper examines the relative importance of six factors in the capital structure decisions of publicly traded Indian firms. Existing empirical research on capital structure has been largely confined to developed countries. The papers related to emerging economies usually group several countries together. The Indian Financial Market has been developing at an exponential rate and dedicated research in the field in required. The paper utilises a larger data set in comparison to the earlier studies on India and examines additional factors. We use over 135 firms in the period of 1990-2009 listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (aka as Mumbai Stock Exchange). The objective of this paper is to build on previous studies on the Indian capital market and model all the important factors affecting capital structure decisions of Indian firms post liberalization policy by Govt of India. I find that factors such as tangibility of assets, growth, firm size, business risk, liquidity, and profitability have significant influences on the leverage structure chosen by firms in the Indian context.
CFD simulation of corn drying in a natural convection solar dryer

A computational fluid dynamics model was developed to simulate the corn drying process in a solar cabinet dryer. Incident solar radiation was modeled using a dual-band spectrum to simulate the abso...
Sustainability of utility‐scale solar energy – critical ecological concepts

Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists – including those from academia, industry, and government agencies – have only recently begun to quantify trade-offs in this arena, often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil-fuel-generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.
Parallel Reconstruction of Three Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibria in Plasma Confinement Devices

Fast, accurate three dimensional reconstructions of plasma equilibria, crucial for physics interpretation of fusion data generated within confinement devices like stellarators/ tokamaks, are computationally very expensive and routinely require days, even weeks, to complete using serial approaches. Here, we present a parallel implementation of the three dimensional plasma reconstruction code, V3FIT. A formal analysis to identify the performance bottlenecks and scalability limits of this new parallel implementation, which combines both task and data parallelism, is presented. The theoretical findings are supported by empirical performance results on several thousands of processor cores of a Cray XC30 supercomputer. Parallel V3FIT is shown to deliver over 40X speedup, enabling fusion scientists to carry out three dimensional plasma equilibrium reconstructions at unprecedented scales in only a few hours (instead of in days/weeks) for the first time.
A Screening Rule for l1-Regularized Ising Model Estimation

We discover a screening rule for l1-regularized Ising model estimation. The simple closed-form screening rule is a necessary and sufficient condition for exactly recovering the blockwise structure of a solution under any given regularization parameters. With enough sparsity, the screening rule can be combined with various optimization procedures to deliver solutions efficiently in practice. The screening rule is especially suitable for large-scale exploratory data analysis, where the number of variables in the dataset can be thousands while we are only interested in the relationship among a handful of variables within moderate-size clusters for interpretability. Experimental results on various datasets demonstrate the efficiency and insights gained from the introduction of the screening rule.
Students’ Perceptions of Service-Learning in an Advanced Research Course

Social work students are often anxious, apathetic, or resistant to learning research knowledge and skills. They may view research courses as irrelevant and disconnected from social work practice. Studies suggest that service-learning improves learning outcomes in social work research courses, but less is known about the processes through which these outcomes are achieved. This study explored the perceptions of 70 Masters-level social work students enrolled in an advanced research course that included a pro bono program evaluation of a shelter serving homeless men. Content analysis of students’ narratives revealed three main themes. First, students perceived that they had changed their thinking about homelessness in positive ways. Second, students made connections between their research experience and the social work curriculum. Finally, an unanticipated theme of curriculum integration emerged. Critical reflection about a meaningful experience—an integral aspect of service-learning—supported students in developing metacognitive insight. This helped students to develop and apply social work research skills. The service-learning project supported students’ mastery of other social work competencies and improved their integrated practice abilities. Because this approach is effective in helping students to embrace research and integrate it with social work practice, application and evaluation of service-learning are recommended for social work education.
A multimode 76-to-81GHz automotive radar transceiver with autonomous monitoring

Radar is a key sensing technology for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles due to its strong detection capability, long range, and robustness to environmental variations such as inclement weather and lighting extremes. As these radars demonstrate increased levels of integration and performance [1,3], it is desired to have a single multimode radar transceiver that can address the stringent form factor constraints of corner radars and the wide and narrow field-of-view requirements of front radars used in urban and highway driving, respectively. This paper presents a single-chip 76-to-81 GHz radar transceiver, which utilizes frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) synthesis, 3 transmitters, and 4 receivers with integrated ADCs, built in a 45nm CMOS technology. It achieves high resolution and flexible multimode operation to address all classes of short, medium, and long range. The design also features autonomous fault monitoring of the RF chain to support system-level functional safety.
The Enemy of My Enemy: The Soviet Union, East Germany, and the Iranian Tudeh Party's Support for Ayatollah Khomeini

This article examines the strategy of the Iranian Tudeh Party in concert with its Soviet and East German patrons and allies during and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. The article assesses the...
Mediating the Complexity of Teaching and Learning

Self-knowledge is kind of funny thing because the less you have of it you have, the more you think you have. You see, that’s it's a twisted blessing. When I was 22 or 23 I had … self-knowledge but I lost it along the way somewhere … I think it's hard to lose your old habits, even the ones that have led you wrong or come close to killing you.
From Social Movement to Clinical Medicine — The Role of Law and the Medical Profession in Regulating Applied Human Genetics

The role of law and medicine in controlling applied human genetics has been and continues to be complex in our society. It is not the intention of this discussion to analyze the multifaceted nature of the relationships among law, medicine, and genetics, but rather to select for purposes of discussion a limited facet of this large topic. Since the early 1900’s the institutional base of applied human genetics has changed significantly. With these changes the role of law and medicine has varied in terms of controlling the uses of, or limiting access to human genetics in the solution of a large number of problems. It is the intent of this discussion to examine some of the major changes in the institutional base of applied human genetics, comparing the period from 1900 to 1930 with the period from the late 1950’s up to the present. Our specific interest will be to analyze the manner in which law and medicine have acted as regulatory vehicles over applied human genetics during these two periods. It should be noted that in the following discussion attention is given primarily to control of the application of genetic knowledge and technologies. We are not concerned with the role of law and medicine as regulatory vehicles encouraging or imposing constraints on the discovery of genetic knowledge.
Consumer Diversity and Secondary Production

Thirty years of ecosystem research have demonstrated unequivocally that certain species of plants, microbes, or animals can have dramatic effects on such ecosystem processes and properties as primary productivity, soil chemistry and structure, evapotranspiration, leaf area and fluxes of trace gases. However, the significance of having a particular number of species participating in a particular ecosystem process or continuum of ecosystem processes is less obvious. Apparently well-functioning natural ecosystems can be found in which most of the biomass is composed of one or two species of plants or other functional groups. Likewise, many ecosystems apparently maintain full functionality despite major changes in the identities and total number of species over time. Thus it is difficult to conclude that biodiversity per se has any particular significance for ecosystem processes. Many species are not necessarily better than few species for carrying out or maintaining a particular ecosystem process.
Holomorphic correspondences of bounded domains in ℂ n

Let ~ , Dcc {n be open sets, and let ~T : 9 × D ÷ ~ , ~D : ~ × D + D denote projections. If V c i~ × D is a complex subvariety, then we consider the associated multiple-valued function given by f(z) : ~YD~l(z) This is a natural generalizaf ---o D tion of the usual definition of a single-valued function and V will be referred to as the graph of f , and we write V = l'f If ~ : V + ~ is proper, then f : [~ -o D is upper semicontinuous, i.e. for z 0 c 9 and 6 > 0 , there exists s > 0 so that
T-bet in Tfh cells: Now you see me, now you don’t

In this issue, Fang et al. (https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20180927) report on a subset of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells that transiently expresses T-bet yet continues to produce IFN-γ at late stages of GC reactions following immunization. They find other genes uniquely expressed in this IFN-γ-producing Tfh subset, such as NKG2D, that can be used to better distinguish these functionally distinct Tfh cells.
Effects of acute and chronic nicotine on catecholamine neurons of the nucleus of the solitary tract.

Nicotine is an addictive drug that has broad effects throughout the brain. One site of action is the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), where nicotine initiates a stress response and modulates ca...
Neuroergonomics of Simulators and Behavioral Research Methods

Abstract Simulation research is a vital component of neuroergonomics research. Simulations allow examination of physiological metrics and performance in complex systems that might be either too costly or dangerous to investigate in settings that are more naturalistic. Simulations also allow a higher degree of experimental control than naturalistic settings. As will be discussed in this chapter, key aspects to keep in mind when designing experimental studies include the need for baselines, control conditions, and adaptation time. It is also important to ensure that the simulation has an appropriate level of validity to be able to generalize from the laboratory to settings that are more naturalistic.
Dengue Virus Immunity Increases Zika Virus-Induced Damage during Pregnancy

Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently been associated with birth defects and pregnancy loss after maternal infection. Because dengue virus (DENV) and ZIKV co-circulate, understanding the role of antibody-dependent enhancement in the context of pregnancy is critical. Here, we showed that the presence of DENV-specific antibodies in ZIKV-infected pregnant mice significantly increased placental damage, fetal growth restriction, and fetal resorption. This was associated with enhanced viral replication in the placenta that coincided with an increased frequency of infected trophoblasts. ZIKV-infected human placental tissues also showed increased replication in the presence of DENV antibodies, which was reversed by FcγR blocking antibodies. Furthermore, ZIKV-mediated fetal pathogenesis was enhanced in mice in the presence of a DENV-reactive monoclonal antibody, but not in the presence of the LALA variant, indicating a dependence on FcγR engagement. Our data suggest a possible mechanism for the recent increase in severe pregnancy outcomes after ZIKV infection in DENV-endemic areas.
The financialising local growth machine in Chicago

In this article, we explore how global infrastructure investment funds and actors are financialising the local growth machine in Chicago, and how Chicago’s transforming growth machine uses its infl...
Maximum likelihood estimation for the poly-Weibull distribution

The Weibull distribution has long been a popular choice for modeling lifetime data of various mechanical and biological phenomena when the associated hazard rate function is constant or monotone in...
Glu-Glu Dipeptidase

The third edition of the Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes aims to be a comprehensive reference work for the enzymes that cleave proteins and peptides, and contains over 800 chapters. Each chapter is organized into sections describing the name and history, activity and specificity, structural chemistry, preparation, biological aspects, and distinguishing features for a specific peptidase. The subject of Chapter 829 is Glu-Glu Dipeptidase.
Assessing strengths of children with type 1 diabetes: Validation of the Diabetes Strengths and Resilience (DSTAR) measure for ages 9 to 13

Background Adaptive diabetes-specific attitudes and behaviors, known as diabetes strengths, relate to positive self-management and quality of life outcomes in type 1 diabetes (T1D), but have not been studied in preadolescence. To facilitate strengths-based care and research on this topic, we developed and evaluated the psychometric properties of a measure of diabetes strengths for children age 9 to 13. Methods Participants were 187 children receiving care for T1D at a tertiary care children's hospital. They completed the 12-item self-report Diabetes Strengths and Resilience scale for children (DSTAR-Child), which we adapted from a measure validated for adolescents. Youth completed the DSTAR-Child twice, and measures of relevant constructs at baseline: general and diabetes-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, and diabetes distress. Parents rated children's engagement in self-management behaviors and general resilience. We extracted HbA1c from the medical record. Results The DSTAR-Child total score demonstrated reliability, including internal consistency and stability across two time points. The total score was significantly associated in expected directions with psychosocial measures and glycemic control but not self-management behaviors. In confirmatory factor analyses, the best-fitting structure contained two latent factors tapping intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths. Resulting subscale scores also appeared reliable and valid. Conclusions This brief, practical measure of diabetes strengths demonstrated sound psychometric properties. Diabetes strengths appeared unrelated to self-management behaviors, perhaps because of the primary role of adult caregivers in T1D management for preadolescents. As a research and clinical tool, the DSTAR-Child can facilitate greater understanding of diabetes strengths and inform strengths-based strategies to foster resilient T1D outcomes.
An Efficient Network-Coded ARQ Scheme for Two-Way Wireless Communication With Full-Duplex Relaying

There has been renewed interest in using relaying systems as a low-cost solution in next generation wireless broadband networks. In this paper, we take a fresh look at relaying and propose a new retransmission protocol for a two-way wireless network with one base-station, one full-duplex relay and multiple users exchanging messages over fading channels. In this scenario, the relay and each user may hear the message from the base-station and other users. To improve the throughput, we apply network-coded ARQ with reverse-link assistance (NC-RLA) at the relay to exploit the overheard side-information acquired from both the downlink and uplink. We analyze the throughput performance enhancements of NC-RLA and validate our mathematical derivations with Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation results show that significant throughput improvements are obtained with the NC-RLA scheme for low/moderate SNRs. We also prove that full-duplex relay increases the throughput if it is located at the optimal position. Otherwise, it is not beneficial to add a relay, especially with a large number of users using network coding.
Molecular Mechanism for Attractant Signaling to DHMA by E. coli Tsr.

Abstract The attractant chemotaxis response of Escherichia coli to norepinephrine requires that it be converted to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DHMA) by the monoamine oxidase TynA and the aromatic aldehyde dehydrogenase FeaB. DHMA is sensed by the serine chemoreceptor Tsr, and the attractant response requires that at least one subunit of the periplasmic domain of the Tsr homodimer (pTsr) has an intact serine-binding site. DHMA that is generated in vivo by E. coli is expected to be a racemic mixture of the (R) and (S) enantiomers, so it has been unclear whether one or both chiral forms are active. Here, we used a combination of state-of-the-art tools in molecular docking and simulations, including an in-house simulation-based docking protocol, to investigate the binding properties of (R)-DHMA and (S)-DHMA to E. coli pTsr. Our studies computationally predicted that (R)-DHMA should promote a stronger attractant response than (S)-DHMA because of a consistently greater-magnitude piston-like pushdown of the pTsr α-helix 4 toward the membrane upon binding of (R)-DHMA than upon binding of (S)-DHMA. This displacement is caused primarily by interaction of DHMA with Tsr residue Thr156, which has been shown by genetic studies to be critical for the attractant response to L-serine and DHMA. These findings led us to separate the two chiral species and test their effectiveness as chemoattractants. Both the tethered cell and motility migration coefficient assays validated the prediction that (R)-DHMA is a stronger attractant than (S)-DHMA. Our study demonstrates that refined computational docking and simulation studies combined with experiments can be used to investigate situations in which subtle differences between ligands may lead to diverse chemotactic responses.
Valuing Sequences of Lives Lost or Saved Over Time: Preference for Uniform Sequences

Policymakers often make decisions involving human-mortality risks and monetary outcomes that span across different time periods and horizons. Many projects or environmental-regulation policies invo...
Special Tests in the Male

The finding of a poor postcoital test, accompanied by normally estrogenized mucus and essentially normal semen parameters calls for additional testing of the male.
Intelligent materials in unconventional oil and gas recovery

Abstract The enhanced potential properties of nanoparticles as compared to respective parent materials makes them ideal candidates to be used for tackling challenges faced in the oil and gas industry. Nanoparticles display excellent performances over conventional materials in aspects such as: (1) mechanical properties, for instance, the controllable mechanical strength; (2) magnetic properties; (3) chemical properties; and (4) thermal properties. This chapter aims to provide the most up-to-date progress of nanomaterial application in unconventional reservoirs, including the heavy oil reservoirs, shale reservoirs, and gas hydrate formations. The detailed aspects include nanocatalysis and nanofluids for heavy oil recovery and upgrading, nanoparticles’ synthetic function with surfactant in shale oil enhanced oil recovery, nanoparticles for fines migration and formation damage control, wellbore strengthening, and the preliminary progress of nanoparticle application for gas hydrate recovery.
Health Related Experiences of Los Angeles County, California Residents with Chronic Lyme Disease

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine to what degree do individual perceptions, modifying factors, and the likelihood of action have on the lives and decision-making of people diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease (CLD) who reside in the non-endemic area of Southern California (U.S.A.). According to Ali et al. (2014), there is a need to further study the perceptions and desires of CLD patients. This is particularly true for non-endemic parts of the United States. Data were collected through in-person, semi-structured interviews of nine participants (N = 9). Five themes emerged: (i) changes in health status, (ii) difficulty getting an accurate diagnosis, (iii) effect on lives, (iv) effectiveness of treatment modalities, and (v) prevention. While our findings largely affirmed the conclusions drawn from previously conducted studies in endemic parts of the country, we made some interesting discoveries which appeared to differ from the prevailing literature.
The relationship between palatalisation and labial consonants in Castilian Spanish

In spite of the many studies devoted to the palatal outcomes of the Latin clusters PL and FL in Old Spanish, some other clusters and sequences composed of labial consonants such as -PUL-, -BVL-, -BE,I-, -VE,I- and -MI- have received little attention. The aim of this paper is to analyze the phonetic aspects of the diachronic evolution of these clusters and sequences into their Old Spanish outcomes [ʎ], [ɟ] y [ɲtʃ]. To this end, experimental, dialectal and comparative data from Old Spanish as well as from other Romance languages will be used. This will lead to the conclusion that the sound changes in both [Clabial + l] and [Clabial + j] clusters were based on the same articulatory mechanisms: a strengthening of the segment following the labial consonant and the later deletion of the labial, if it was a stop, or its assimilation to the point of articulation of the palatal, if it was a nasal. The implications of these conclusions for the evolution of pl and fl clusters in Old Spanish, as well as for the methodology in historical phonetics, will be pointed out.
Amniotic Fluid Volume Assessment: Eight Lessons Learned

Actual AFV can be determined by a dye-dilution technique or be directly measured at cesarean. This allows investigators to correlate estimated and actual AFVs. Lessons learned by assessing the relationship of estimated to actual AFVs. 1) Ultrasound estimates normal actual AFVs well, but abnormal AFVs poorly. 2) Quantile regression is a better statistical methodology to create a normal AFV curve across pregnancy. 3) There is no difference in the accuracy of the subjective (visualization without measurements) compared with the objective (visualization with measurements) technique in identifying normal and abnormal AFVs. 4) Color Doppler use leads to the over-diagnosis of oligohydramnios. 5) Intravenous hydration increases actual AFVs. 6) The estimation of AFV can be done with the transducer held perpendicular to the floor or perpendicular to the uterine contour. 7) The single deepest pocket should be used for identifying low AFVs. 8) The AFI should be used for identifying high AFVs.
Quantum Circuit Engineering for Correcting Coherent Noise.

Crosstalk and several sources of operational interference are invisible when qubit or a gate is calibrated or benchmarked in isolation. These are unlocked during the execution of full quantum circuit applying entangling gates to several qubits simultaneously. Unwanted Z-Z coupling on superconducting cross-resonance CNOT gates, is a commonly occurring unitary crosstalk noise that severely limits the state fidelity. This work presents (1) method of tracing unitary errors, which exploits their sensitivity to the arrangement of CNOT gates in the circuit and (2) correction scheme that modifies original circuit by inserting carefully chosen compensating gates (single- or two-qubit) to possibly undo unitary errors. On two vastly different types of IBMQ processors offering quantum volume 8 and 32, our experimental results show up to 25% reduction in the infidelity of [[7, 1, 3]] code |+> state. Our experiments aggressively deploy forced commutation of CNOT gates to obtain low noise state-preparation circuits. Encoded state initialized with fewer unitary errors marks an important step towards successful demonstration of fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Simulation-based methodology to assess the lattice defects creation as energy storing process

Abstract In nuclear industry, damages caused to in-core structural materials by high-energy neutrons have been studied for years. Recently, the possibility of storing energy through the creation of defects in crystalline materials via heavy particle bombardment was investigated. To evaluate the potential of the Wigner effect as energy-storing process, a graphite-moderated Molten Salt Reactor was adopted as a test case. Neutronics simulations performed with OpenMC Monte Carlo code allowed estimating the amount of energy released during fission events, the fraction that is deposited in graphite, and the fraction that has the potential to cause radiation damages. Molecular dynamics simulations were then performed to study the evolution of cascades triggered by high-energy neutrons. As a major outcome, a more accurate estimate of the radiation damage with respect to the traditional approaches was obtained, and the fraction of the deposited neutron energy that can be stored through long-lived defects was quantified.
Human Minds and Animal Stories: How Narratives Make Us Care About Other Species: Wojciech Małecki, Piotr Sorokowski, Bogusław Pawłowski, and Marcin Cieński, New York, Routledge, 2019, 200 pp., ISBN 978-0-367-14604-7

What power do stories have to raise human consciousness about issues that concern other animals? We know all too well the range of immoral cruelty, exploitation, and anthropocentric heedlessness th...
SU-E-T-180: Clinical Implementation of Hybrid Density Override Planning for Lung SBRT

Purpose: Hybrid density override schemes have been shown to yield more accurate dose modeling for lung SBRT than plans calculated on free breathing (FB) or time average (AVG) CT scans. Before hybrid schemes are clinically implemented, comparisons are needed between dose delivered to a moving gross tumor volume (GTV) by plans calculated on hybrid scans (HP) and plans calculated on FB and AVG scans. Methods: Volumetric arc therapy plans were created on HP, FB, and AVG scans for 10 patients with FB and 4D-CT scans. Five of the cases had target volumes contained entirely in lung, 5 had target volumes that included chestwall. The HP were created by overriding the internal target volume (ITV) to GTV density, and the planning target volume minus ITV shell to a density between GTV and lung. If chestwall was in the target its density was not changed. Plans were copied to the 10 4D-CT phases and recalculated to evaluate the impact of tumor motion on each technique. The GTV doses from the initial plans were compared to mean doses over the 4D-CT phases. Doses were calculated with the anisotropic analytical algorithm. Results: The minimum GTV dose ratios from the 4D to initial plans were 0.95 +/−0.11, 0.97 +/−0.11, 0.94 +/−0.13 (2 SD), for the FB, AVG, and HP plans, respectively. The mean GTV dose ratios were 1.00 +/−0.07, 1.01 +/−0.03, 0.97 +/−0.09, for the FB, AVG, and HP plans, respectively. The individual minimum dose ratios for HP to FB or AVG were all < 10%, the mean ratios agreed < 10% for 90% of the comparisons. Conclusion: The FB, AVG, and HP plans showed consistent results when considering motion. The interpretation of the planning system dose and prescription definition with HP techniques should be similar to current practices.
Modulating Communication to Improve Multi-agent Learning Convergence

The problem of getting interacting agents to learn simultaneously to improve their joint performance has received significant attention in the literature. One of the key challenges is to manage the system-wide effects that occur due to learning in a non-stationary environment. In this paper, we look at the impact on the system-wide dynamics and the learning convergence due to communication between the agents. Specifically, we look at the problem of learning routes between locations in a graph in the case where agents using the same edge at the same time slow each other down. We implemented and empirically examined a model where the agents simply try to model each edge in the graph as being either slow, medium, or fast due to the other agents using that edge. Communication on a fixed social network occurs only when an agent changes the speed category it has for a particular link, e.g., when it changes from believing a link is slow to believing it is medium. We find that the system dynamics are very sensitive to the ratio between the influence of direct observations on local beliefs to the influence of communicated beliefs. For some values of this ratio, convergence to good behavior can occur very quickly, but for others a brief period of good performance is followed by wild oscillations.
Low-Speed Characteristics of High-Performance Lift-Engine V/STOL Aircraft

Lift engine V/STOL configurations low speed characteristics, measuring exhaust reingestion, inlet pressure, engine and airframe effects in wind tunnels
Pyro: a spatial-temporal big-data storage system

With the rapid growth of mobile devices and applications, geo-tagged data has become a major workload for big data storage systems. In order to achieve scalability, existing solutions build an additional index layer above general purpose distributed data stores. Fulfilling the semantic level need, this approach, however, leaves a lot to be desired for execution efficiency, especially when users query for moving objects within a high resolution geometric area, which we call geometry queries. Such geometry queries translate to a much larger set of range scans, forcing the backend to handle orders of magnitude more requests. Moreover, spatial-temporal applications naturally create dynamic workload hotspots, which pushes beyond the design scope of existing solutions. This paper presents Pyro, a spatial-temporal bigdata storage system tailored for high resolution geometry queries and dynamic hotspots. Pyro understands geometries internally, which allows range scans of a geometry query to be aggregately optimized. Moreover, Pyro employs a novel replica placement policy in the DFS layer that allows Pyro to split a region without losing data locality benefits. Our evaluations use NYC taxi trace data and an 80-server cluster. Results show that Pyro reduces the response time by 60× on 1km×1km rectangle geometries compared to the state-of-the-art solutions. Pyro further achieves 10× throughput improvement on 100m×100m rectangle geometries.
ANALYSIS OF DELAMINATION GROWTH FROM MATRIX CRACKS IN LAMINATES SUBJECTED TO BENDING LOADS

A major source of delamination damage in laminated composite materials is from low-velocity impact. In thin composite laminates under point loads, matrix cracks develop first in the plies, and delaminations then grow from these cracks at the ply interfaces. The purpose of this study was to quantify the combined effects of bending and transverse shear loads on delamination initiation from matrix cracks. Graphite-epoxy laminates with 90 deg. plies on the outside were used to provide a two-dimensional simulation of the damage due to low-velocity impact. Three plate bending problems were considered: a 4-point bending, 3-point bending, and an end-clamped center-loaded plate. Under bending, a matrix crack will form on the tension side of the laminate, through the outer 90 deg. plies and parallel to the fibers. Delaminations will then grow in the interface between the cracked 90 deg. ply and the next adjacent ply. Laminate plate theory was used to derive simple equations relating the total strain energy release rate, G, associated with the delamination growth from a 90 deg. ply crack to the applied bending load and laminate stiffness properties. Three different lay-ups were tested and results compared. Test results verified that the delamination always formed at the interface between the cracked 90 deg. ply and the next adjacent ply. Calculated values for total G sub c from the analysis showed good agreement for all configurations. The analysis was able to predict the delamination onset load for the cases considered. The result indicated that the opening mode component (Mode I) for delamination growth from a matrix crack may be much larger than the component due to interlaminar shear (Mode II).
An Analysis of UNIX System Configuration

Management of operating system configuration files files is an essential part of UNIX systems administration. It is particularly difficult in environments with a large number of computers. This paper presents a study of UNIX configuration file management. It compares existing systems and tools from the literature, presents several case studies of configuration file management in practice, examines one site in depth, and makes numerous observations on the configuration process.
Pipelining of digital filter structures for VLSI implementation

Two pipelining techniques for VLSI implementation are presented, namely the interleaving technique and the delay technique. The techniques are based on using Z-transform and block diagram manipulation. The merits of each technique are discussed and several examples are given to illustrate their use. The interleaving technique is shown to be applicable to all filter structures; however, it decreases the speedup of processing rate due to zero-interleaving of input and output sequences. The speedup can be improved by interleaving several sequences. The delay technique has a linear increase in speedup; however, it introduces latency and is not applicable to all filter structures, especially IIR (infinite impulse response) filters. >
Energy and thermodynamic considerations involving electromagnetic zero-point radiation

There has been recent speculation and controversy regarding whether electromagnetic zero-point radiation might be the next candidate in the progression of plentiful energy sources, ranging, for example, from hydrodynamic, chemical, and nuclear energy sources. Certainly, however, extracting energy from the vacuum seems counter intuitive to most people. Here, these ideas are clarified, drawing on simple and common examples. Known properties of electromagnetic zero-point energy are qualitatively discussed. An outlook on the success of utilizing this energy source is then discussed.
Ionospheric Climatology and Weather Disturbances: A Tutorial

The ionosphere can have a detrimental effect on both civilian and military systems, including OTH radars, HF communications, surveillance, and navigation systems that use GPS satellites. In an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects, specification and forecast models are being developed that are based on sophisticated data assimilation techniques. However, the model development represents a significant challenge because the ionosphere is known to display a marked variation with altitude, latitude, longitude, universal time, season, solar cycle, and geomagnetic activity. This variation results from the couplings, time delays, and feedback mechanisms that are inherent in the system as well as from the effects of solar, interplanetary, magnetospheric, and mesospheric processes. The various processes act in concert to define both a background state (climatology) and a disturbed state (weather), which are described in this tutorial. First, a brief description of the background ionospheric state and the physical processes that are responsible for establishing this state is given. The tutorial then focuses on a discussion of weather disturbances and features, the causes of weather, and the status of weather modeling.
Whole-Blood Glucose and Lactate

Abstract Objective.—To assess the effects of 30 of the most commonly used critical care drugs on measurements obtained with trilayer electrochemical biosensors on a reference analyzer (ABL625-GL), to determine metabolic changes in glucose and lactate in vitro, and to formulate guidelines for whole-blood analysis of these 2 analytes. Design.—Serial measurements were taken of changes in glucose and lactate levels caused by metabolism in whole blood in vitro over time. A parallel control study of drug interference with measurements of glucose and lactate in whole blood and of dose-response relationships in whole-blood samples and in plasma samples also was conducted. Results.—At room temperature, whole-blood metabolism decreased glucose levels −2.3% at 15 minutes, −4.6% at 30 minutes, and −6.4% at 45 minutes. Metabolism increased lactate levels 11.4% at 15 minutes, 20.6% at 30 minutes, and 26.7% at 45 minutes in vitro. Paired differences between drug-spiked and control samples were calculated to determine in...