cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining factors impacting online survey response rates in educational research: Perceptions of graduate students.

Background: In educational research, online survey has become one of the most popular methods of data collection. Academic researchers, including faculty and students, expect and require a good response rate to their research projects for reliable results. Purpose: In this paper, the authors examine a wide range of factors related to survey response rates in academic research. Examples include email checking habits, survey design, and attitudes toward research. Setting: An online survey environment Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: A cross-sectional quantitative research method was used to analyze the factors that influence participants’ email survey response rate. Data were collected at a single point in time. The authors did not directly measure changes that come over time in this study. Data Collection and Analysis: After receiving the Institutional Research Board’s approval, the researchers distributed the survey via the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Graduate Student Discussion List subscribers. A sample of 454 responses was used in the final analysis-- with a 78.9 % response rate. The authors used descriptive statistics (percentage, average mean) and inferential statistics (chi-square and correlations) to report the data analysis and findings. Findings: Results indicated that research survey response rate was highly influenced by interests of participants, survey structure, communication methods, and assurance of privacy and confidentiality. The findings also suggested that male participants were more likely to respond to surveys if they received a reminder, and older participants were more likely to respond if they were promised a reward. Keywords: academic research; education graduate students; online surveys; postal surveys; survey response rate
In (Cyber)Space Bots Can Hear You Speak: Breaking Audio CAPTCHAs Using OTS Speech Recognition

Captchas have become almost ubiquitous as they are commonly deployed by websites as part of their defenses against fraudsters. However visual captchas pose a considerable obstacle to certain groups of users, such as the visually impaired, and that has necessitated the inclusion of more accessible captcha schemes. As a result, many captcha services also offer audio challenges as an alternative. In this paper we conduct an extensive exploration of the audio captcha ecosystem, and present effective low-cost attacks against the audio challenges offered by seven major captcha services. Motivated by the recent advancements in deep learning, we demonstrate how off-the-shelf (OTS) speech recognition services can be misused by attackers for trivially bypassing the most popular audio captchas. Our experimental evaluation highlights the effectiveness of our approach as our AudioBreaker system is able to break all captcha schemes, achieving accuracies of up to 98.3% against Google's ReCaptcha. The broader implications of our study are twofold. First, we find that the wide availability of advanced speech recognition services has severely lowered the technical capabilities required by fraudsters for deploying effective attacks, as there is no longer a need to build sophisticated custom classifiers. Second, we find that the availability of audio captchas poses a significant risk to services, as our attacks against ReCaptcha's audio challenges are 13.1%-27.5% more accurate than state-of-the-art attacks against the corresponding image-based challenges. Overall, we argue that it is necessary to explore alternative captcha designs that fulfill the accessibility properties of audio captchas without undermining the security offered by their visual counterparts.
Consumers’ Perception of Price Premiums for Greenwashed Products: An Abstract

These days’ markets are flooded with products that manufacturers promote as green by adding one or two green attributes to a conventional product. They do so take advantage of consumers’ willingness to pay higher for green products. We examine consumers’ perceptions of such products through a theoretical lens. From a theoretical grounding we predict that: H 1a: When consumers’ motivation to process information is high, both high-priced green and greenwashed products will be perceived high in monetary sacrifice. H 1b: When consumers’ motivation to process information is low, in comparison to a green product, the high price of a greenwashed product will be perceived high in monetary sacrifice. H 2 : Perceptions of ethicality will mediate the evaluation of green and greenwashed products.
Workshop Report: Theory and Practice in Computer Chess

The moderator opened the workshop with a summary of the good and bad points in a simple computer chess model. At present most chess programs use a progressively deepening full-width search to some fixed depth, say N-ply, following it with a selective search for the next K-ply to reach a horizon. From the horizon nodes, a narrow quiescence search to arbitrary depth assesses tactically threatening captures. The quality of the quiescence search ultimately controls the calibre of play, so in that phase some programs also consider checking and pass pawn moves. Unfortunately quiescence searches are expensive, and yet studies of their failure always show that even more moves should have been included, for example, those that threaten check mate[5]. As an alternative, some programs use an exchange analyzer at the horizon. These two methods can also work effectively in conjunction, since an exchange analysis can identify those cases when a quiescence search is vital. Some programs, conventionally using brute force, have no selective layers, and a few have no initial full-width layer. The latter, the truly selective search programs, are now uncommon, perhaps because in the past they have been less successful. Since selective search is one of the few ways to limit the exponential growth of the tree, from time to time it enjoys a revival in popularity. But since there is always some non-zero probability that the correct move in a key position is not examined deeply enough, these programs tend to make at least one critical error in the course of every game. One purpose of the workshop is to determine from the participants their experience with this model, keeping in mind that perhaps a major aim in the field of computer chess is to develop variable-depth search algorithms. Another aim is to assess the effectiveness of various memory tables. All competitive programs incorporate a number of memory functions or tables to help them speed their search. Most popular is the transposition table which allows search reduction by not examining again positions that have occurred before. Another function is the refutation table[1], which is used to guide an iteratively deepening search. Other tables account for the values of pawn structures, king safety, and the history heuristic identifies frequently successful moves. From transposition tables, the best available move entry is used frequently, since taking it often saves an expensive move generation[14]. Transposition tables are fundamentally sound and are invaluable in endgames, where they allow the effective depth of search to be extended, perhaps to as much as twice the horizon distance. They are
Reducing field work time using fleet routing optimization

Agricultural producers seek to complete their field work operations as quickly as possible. This is achievable through the simultaneous use of multiple vehicles for an operation. However, path allocation and scheduling then must be considered. Transforming the field work problem into a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) and using optimization procedures designed for this problem provides a method of allocating paths. In this work, the accuracy of a VRP representation of field work is confirmed and the ability of this optimization system to reduce field work times is verified. Experiments were conducted using three tractors during a rotary mowing operation. First, the traditional routes used by human drivers were recorded. Then, a VRP representation of this operation was created, and new routes generated by a Tabu Search optimization procedure. Finally, the field operation was repeated using the optimized routes. Using these routes, the time to complete the field work was reduced by 17.3% and the total operating time for all tractors was reduced by 11.5%. The predictions by the VRP representation for completion time and total time were both within 2% of the actual times recorded when the tractors followed the computer-generated routes in the field. These reductions illustrated the ability of the route optimization procedure to improve effective field efficiency.
Degradation of Organophosphorus and Pyrethroid Insecticides in Beverages: Implications for Risk Assessment.

Since urinary insecticide metabolites are commonly used as biomarkers of exposure, it is important that we quantify whether insecticides degrade in food and beverages in order to better perform risk assessment. This study was designed to quantify degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides in beverages. Purified water, white grape juice, orange juice, and red wine were fortified with 500 ng/mL diazinon, malathion, chlorpyrifos, permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin, and aliquots were extracted several times over a 15-day storage period at 2.5 °C. Overall, statistically significant loss of at least one insecticide was observed in each matrix, and at least five out of seven insecticides demonstrated a statistically significant loss in all matrices except orange juice. An investigation of an alternative mechanism of insecticide loss—adsorption onto the glass surface of the storage jars—was carried out, which indicated that this mechanism of loss is insignificant. Results of this work suggest that insecticides degrade in these beverages, and this degradation may lead to pre-existing insecticide degradates in the beverages, suggesting that caution should be exercised when using urinary insecticide metabolites to assess exposure and risk.
Pennsylvania's Sales and Use Tax: Has Nearly $1 Billion Been 'Zapped' Away in Fraud?

The Sales and Use Tax is an essential part of Pennsylvania’s revenue profile. Not only is it the State’s second largest revenue source, it has historically played a critical role in reducing the volatility of Pennsylvania’s overall tax collections. The sales tax is also critical to the city of Philadelphia, and Allegheny County. During the current economic downturn both the revenue and structural attributes of this levy should be pushing it to the front of the tax policy line. The two topics that should rest atop Pennsylvania’s tax policy agenda should be: (1) joining the Streamlined Sales Tax initiative and (2) stemming revenue losses from automated sales suppression software (Zappers). The first initiative would yield additional revenue of $220-$384 million (from e-commerce alone); the second effort (based on the author’s estimates) would yield additional $922 million in revenue (in the restaurant industry alone). One of the more attractive aspects of both of these efforts is that neither involves changing rates. Both provide additional revenue primarily by improving enforcement.This paper is about the threat that Zappers pose to the strength and stability of the sales and use tax, and how Pennsylvania can move against them by borrowing from experiences in other jurisdictions - some international, some domestic. Importantly, one of the places that Pennsylvania can look is to the certification provisions of the SSUTA. It is not necessary to join SSUTA to learn from it - although joining it might not be such a bad idea eventually.
Effect of Separating Giant Foxtail (Setaria faberi) Seeds from Soil Using Potassium Carbonate and Centrifugation on Viability and Germination

Jack H. Dekker Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 Changes in weed seedbank composition are often monitored by removing seeds from soil samples. One extraction method accomplishes this by creating a slurry of soil and a concentrated inorganic salt solution. Centrifugation is then used to separate constituents of differing densities. We have found that centrifugation of giant foxtail seeds in 3.2 M potassium carbonate solution as conducted in a centrifugation/flotation extraction method can reduce viability as measured by germination and tetrazolium tests. In one experiment, centrifugation/flotation separation reduced germination of giant foxtail seeds from 94 to 52%. The likely cause of seed damage was the high pH of the potassium carbonate solution in conjunction with the increased hydrostatic pressure due to centrifugation. While centrifugation affected quantitative measures of seed viability, it did not alter qualitative viability estimates using a pressure test.
Constituent Structure: Syntactic

The words of the sentences of many, if not all, natural languages are grouped into phrases, and it is this phrasing, called constituent structure, to which virtually all grammatical processes pay attention, rather than simply the sequences of words in the sentences. The set of word sequences that a grammar creates is called its weak generative capacity, and the set of phrasings a grammar generates is called its strong generative capacity. Sentence comprehension and meaning are determined by constituent structure. There is no direct evidence for constituent structure in the sentences that people hear, and hence its principles are assumed to be innate and ideally universal.
Commitment Problems, Bargaining Power, and the Choice of International Arbitration and Adjudication

We model the choice to pursue international arbitration and adjudication as part of a political bargaining process. We find that disputants are more likely to pursue legally binding mechanisms when commitment problems plague bilateral bargaining and when the costs of failed negotiations are high. However, states weigh their concerns about commitment problems against the costs of giving up decision control to a third party. Thus, they are more motivated to seek arbitration and adjudication when the ruling is likely to result in a policy similar to what they states would agree to in bilateral negotiations. In short, states value legally binding mechanisms for the commitment advantage they give to settlements over issue disputes, but states will only pursue this avenue if they can expect to receive a politically acceptable outcome. We conclude the paper with a proposed experimental design to investigate how commitment problems a ect the choice of arbitration, as well as case illustrations to show how an expected ruling influences the chosen mechanism of conflict management.
G Protein Oncogenes

This review will describe experiments aimed at answering two questions raised by the recent convergence of research on signal-transducing G proteins and oncogenes: What roles do individual G proteins play in normal regulation of cell proliferation? How do dominantly acting G protein oncogenes contribute to tumorigenesis, in experimental systems and in human cancer?
Matrix adhesion characteristics of corneal myofibroblasts.

PURPOSE To investigate the adhesion characteristics of corneal myofibroblasts in a cell culture model. METHODS Immunocytochemistry, immunoprecipitation, western blot analysis, and attachment assays were used to evaluate matrix adhesion characteristics of myofibroblasts. RESULTS Myofibroblasts, defined by their expression of the smooth muscle isoform of alpha-actin, were evaluated and compared with fibroblasts. Myofibroblasts had larger vinculin-containing focal adhesions and expressed more of the classic fibronectin receptor (FNR) alpha5beta1 per cell. However, myofibroblasts had less surface expression of the higher molecular weight alpha4 subunit of another FNR, alpha4beta1, than did fibroblasts. Myofibroblasts adhered more avidly in an integrin-dependent manner to fibronectin than did fibroblasts. The attachment to fibronectin was actin-dependent for both phenotypes, but the myofibroblasts' adhesion was more resistant to disruption by cytochalasin than were fibroblasts'. In addition to the previously described expression of a 135-kDa classic cadherin, myofibroblasts also expressed a 115-kDa mesenchymal cadherin, cadherin-11. CONCLUSIONS Differentiation of corneal fibroblasts into myofibroblasts is associated with characteristics that would indicate that the latter have a special role in wound closure. The increase in focal and cell adhesion molecules that accompanies smooth muscle-specific actin expression provides the basis for the myofibroblasts' enhanced cell-fibronectin and cell-cell adhesion.
Interim Analysis of a Two-Institution, Prospective Clinical Trial of 4DCT-Ventilation-based Functional Avoidance Radiation Therapy.

Purpose Functional imaging has been proposed that uses 4DCT images to calculate 4DCT-based lung ventilation (4DCT-ventilation). We have started a 2-institution, phase 2 prospective trial evaluating the feasibility, safety, and preliminary efficacy of 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance. The trial hypothesis is that the rate of grade ≥2 radiation pneumonitis could be reduced to 12% with functional avoidance, compared with a 25% rate of pneumonitis with a historical control. The trial employed a Simon 2-stage design with a planned futility analysis after 17 evaluable patients. The purpose of this work is to present the trial design and implementation, dosimetric data, and clinical results for the planned futility analysis. Methods and Materials Eligible patients were patients with lung cancer who were prescribed doses of 45 to 75 Gy. For each patient, the 4DCT data were used to generate a 4DCT-ventilation image using the Hounsfield unit technique along with a compressible flow-based image registration algorithm. Two intensity modulated radiation therapy treatment plans were generated: (1) a standard lung plan and (2) a functional avoidance treatment plan that aimed to reduce dose to functional lung while meeting target and normal tissue constraints. Patients were treated with the functional avoidance plan and evaluated for thoracic toxicity (presented as rate and 95% confidence intervals [CI]) with a 1-year follow-up. Results The V20 to functional lung was 21.6% ± 9.5% (mean ± standard deviation) with functional avoidance, representing a decrease of 3.2% (P Conclusions Dosimetrically, functional avoidance achieved reduction in doses to functional lung while meeting target and organ at risk constraints. On the basis of Simon's 2-stage design and the 17.6% grade ≥2 pneumonitis rate, the trial met its futility criteria and has continued accrual.
Which Factors Affect Length of Stay and Readmission Rate in Mandibular Distraction Osteogenesis

Purpose Because Robin sequence (RS) is clinically heterogeneous, there is uncertainty as to whether different presentations yield different perioperative outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors associated with postoperative length of stay and readmission rate after mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO) for RS. Materials and Methods This was a 10-year retrospective cohort of patients with RS who had MDO performed from 2007 through 2017 at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York, NY). Predictor variables were the presence of multiple anomalies, airway intervention used before MDO, and feeding method used before MDO. Outcome variables were postoperative day (POD) of discharge and number of readmissions from the period of discharge to hardware removal. Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared within predictors using Fisher’s exact and 2-tailed Student’s t tests. Multiple regression models were calculated for each outcome variable using univariate predictors with P values less than or equal to .25. Results Twenty-four patients who had MDO performed at a mean age of 18.1 weeks were included in this study. On average, patients were extubated on POD 6.6 and distracted to 13.9 mm. Seven patients (29.2%) were readmitted from the period of discharge to hardware removal. Patients receiving an invasive airway intervention before MDO were significantly older at the time of the operation (55.0 vs 8.4 weeks; P = .01). In addition, these patients had a significantly higher readmission rate (80.0 vs 15.8%; P = .01) with a trend toward longer postoperative stays (45.0 vs 21.6 days; P = .06). Feeding status and presence of multiple anomalies did not appear to influence these outcomes. Conclusions Baseline airway intervention may be useful for predicting length of stay and readmission rate after MDO.
Draft Genomic Sequences of Campylobacter coli Isolates from Chicken Carcasses.

ABSTRACT Campylobacter bacteria are one of the leading causes of bacterial foodborne illnesses in the United States. Here, we report the draft genomic sequences of eight Campylobacter coli isolates from chicken carcasses, including virulence factors and antibiotic resistance.
Comparing groups of time dependent data using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing alpha-adjusted serial T-tests

Abstract Background In statistical analysis of time series researchers often pick key points from curves and run the venerable analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine if a difference exists between groups. However, this approach fails to compare most of the data across time and thereby may throw out potentially valuable inferences. Research question This study illustrates a novel method termed LOESS alpha-adjusted serial t-testing (LAAST). LAAST employs locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) on the data, serial correlation to make alpha adjustments, and point-wise Welch's t-tests to determine regional significance when comparing groups of time dependent data. It was expected that LAAST gives similar results to random field theory (RFT) based inferences while overcoming its shortcomings with respect to longitudinal data analysis. Methods Two data sets were analyzed with LAAST and RFT. The first contained two groups of five simulated random sinusoidal waveforms such that both inline time-series and equivalent time-offset longitudinal conditions were represented. The second data set was comprised of publicly available medial gastrocnemius forces from individuals with (N = 27) and without (N = 16) pain. Results Results for both data sets indicated similar corrected alpha levels regardless of analysis type, but the applied alpha level corrections were less conservative for LAAST than RFT or Holm-Bonferroni corrections, but often more conservative than Hochberg corrections. Significance Analysis methods employing functional ANOVA and RFT have enabled researchers to effectively run comparisons between groups at all points within the time series and are gaining popularity. However, in some correction methods for multiple comparisons the alpha level correction can in turn lead to inflation of type II error. These results suggest that LAAST is comparable to RFT while also being appropriate for longitudinal type time series data analysis. Additionally, its use of Welch’s t-tests improves its validity on non-normally distributed data.
Concentric Precurved Bellows: New Bending Actuators for Soft Robots

We present a new mechanical bending actuator for soft and continuum robots based on a pair of concentric precurved bellows. Each bellows is rotated axially at its base, allowing independent control of the curvature and bending plane of the concentric bellows pair. Rotation of precurved nested tubes is a well-known principle by which needle-sized concentric-tube robots operate, but the concept has never been scaled up to large diameters due to the trade-offs of increased actuation forces, decreased range of motion, strain limits, and torsional windup. In this letter, we show that using bellows structures instead of tubes allows two important breakthroughs: (1) actuation by rotation of precurved concentric elements can be achieved at much larger scales, and (2) torsional lag (i.e. when the relative tube angle at the tip differs from that at the base) and torsional instability are virtually eliminated due to the high ratio of torsional rigidity to flexural rigidity endowed by the bellows geometry. We discuss the development of two types of 3D printed concentric precurved bellows prototypes (revolute and helical), perform model parameter identification, and experimentally verify a torsionless mechanics model which accounts for direction-dependent rigidities.
Developing a Rating Score for Out-of-Sequence Construction

AbstractOut-of-sequence (OOS) construction takes place when an activity or series of activities is not performed according to baseline planned logical productive sequencing. A previous expert-based...
An unusual variant of Zinner syndrome with ureteral ectopia from an atrophied supernumerary kidney

This case presents an unusual variation of Zinner syndrome with a patient found to have an ectopic ureteral insertion of the seminal vesicle from a supernumerary pelvic kidney and complete duplication of the ipsilateral, otherwise normal renal unit. The case offers an interesting variant of a previously established syndrome with successful treatment involving robotic resection of an ectopic ureter and seminal vesiculectomy, resulting in resolution of the patient's symptoms.
Selectivity and Variability in the Diet of Milne-Edwards' Sifakas ( Propithecus diadema edwardsi ): Implications for Folivory and Seed-Eating

Propithecus diadema edwardsi combines a strategy of high selectivity for many food items with the use of more readily available and abundant foods. Selectivity is seen in relation to taxonomic affiliations of plants eaten, forest composition, and phenological patterns. Feeding time is concentrated on relatively uncommon species as indicated by high selection ratios. Annual and monthly dietary diversity is low, with food choices restricted to a relatively narrow set of species: a total of 82 and 73 plant species were eaten by the two groups of which, only 22 and 16% contributed >1% feeding time, however, these values fall with commonly reported ranges. Plant parts eaten varied widely from month to month, with overall variance in seed-eating higher than variance in young or mature leaf feeding. No correlation between percentage feeding time and food availability is significant; instead, monthly feeding patterns are better explained by the availability of particular plant species, which also supports a view of high selectivity in food choice. In contrast to selectivity for many seed, whole fruit, and new leaf sources, reliably abundant food sources appear to be leaves from lianas, epiphytes, and parasites, which were eaten in all focal months. While dramatic interannual differences in dietary composition in response to the absence of a preferred seed source highlight the interpretation of folivores as surviving food crunches by turning to readily available, poor quality resources, this strategy is not unique to folivores.
Current Issues and Future Implications

Throughout this book, the various authors have described the use of Flipped Learning processes through the prism of their own learner contexts and content areas. Through this process, they have highlighted the relative strengths and weaknesses of the pedagogy in terms of specific learning objectives and goals.
A combined numerical and experimental study to elucidate primary breakup dynamics in liquid metal droplet-on-demand printing

Droplet-on-demand liquid metal jetting is emerging as a powerful technology for the additive manufacturing of metallic parts. The success of this method hinges on overcoming several technological challenges. The principal one among these challenges is the controlled repeatable ejection of single uniform droplets. Due to the high density and surface tension of liquid metals, the droplet ejection process occurs near the minimal extremes of the printability phase diagram, defined by acceptable ranges for the Weber (We) and Ohnesorge (Oh) numbers. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the satellite-free ejection of pneumatically actuated molten tin droplets in this extreme corner of printability and use a combination of high-speed video analysis and volume-of-fluid modeling to elucidate the droplet dynamics. While the simulations at low Oh and We can correctly describe several aspects of the breakup process, such as an increasing tail and pinch-point near the nozzle, no single parameter set can completely capture the droplet shape at breakup. Instead, the experimental droplet dynamics appear to include features from both high and low Oh breakup. This disagreement is ascribed to the incomplete description of the droplet ejection process including wetting and exit effects near the nozzle opening and surface effects such as transient cooling and oxide formation.
Sex and Body Circumferences Associated with Serum Leptin in African American Adults

Objective: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be a leading cause of death for U.S. adults, especially African Americans (AA). Yet, few studies have examined a comprehensive set of metabolic ...
A Contactless Approach to Monitor Rail Vibrations

Continuous welded rails (CWR) are subjected to thermal effects that may lead to buckling or fracture during warm or cold seasons, respectively. The modal characteristics (frequency and mode shapes) of CWR may reveal important information about the thermal stress that can be used to prevent rail failures. The primary objective of this study is to prove a contactless method to monitor the vibration and to extract the modal characteristics of rails using a high-speed camera and advanced image processing. This study is the first step towards a general noninvasive monitoring paradigm aimed at measuring axial stress in CWR. To prove the principles of the proposed paradigm, a finite element model of an unrestrained rail segment under varying length, boundary conditions, and axial stresses was formulated. The results of the model were then used to interpret the experimental results relative to a 2.4 m-long rail subjected to compressive loading–unloading cycles. During the experiment, the rail was subjected to the impact of an instrumented hammer and the triggered vibration was recorded with a high-speed camera. The videos were then processed using the phase-based displacement extraction, motion magnification, as well as dynamic mode decomposition techniques to extract the modal characteristics of the specimen. The results show that the frequencies extracted from the images matched well those obtained with two conventional accelerometers bonded to the rail while the mode shapes extracted from the videos matched those predicted numerically. Additionally, the numerical analysis enabled the interpretation of some unexpected experimental results. The results presented here proved that the proposed method to infer axial stress in CWR requires proper modeling in order to link the modal characteristics of the rails to the axial stress. In the future, the finite element formulation presented here will be expanded to model CWR under given cross-ties and fasteners conditions in order to link the modal characteristics of the rail of interest to its axial stress.
Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on global output, employment and prices-an assessment

The effects on human health and life have been catastrophic and its adverse economic effects have been profound, as many countries are engaged in lockdowns, social distancing, mobility, and other r...
Peripheral eosinophilia and hypoalbuminemia are associated with a higher biopsy diagnostic yield for eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

Abstract Background Gastric and duodenal mucosa may appear normal in eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE). Adult gastroenterologists typically biopsy only in the setting of mucosal abnormalities or symptoms, while pediatric providers biopsy all patients. The biopsy yield of EGE has not been adequately evaluated. Aims To evaluate the biopsy yield of EGE in a pediatric cohort and assess predictors of increased biopsy yield. Methods We identified patients age 0-18 who underwent upper endoscopy. We recorded endoscopic findings, pathology, demographics, and clinical and laboratory characteristics. We identified EGE cases (>20 eosinophils per high-power field on stomach and/or duodenum biopsy). We compared characteristics between EGE and non-EGE cases, calculated biopsy diagnostic yield, and performed multivariate analysis for predictors of increased biopsy yield. Results In 509 patients (55.6% female, mean age 10.3 years, 69.7% white, 58.7% atopic), biopsy diagnostic yield for EGE was 1.2% (6/509) among all subjects, 7.7% (3/39) for those with peripheral eosinophilia (≥500 eos/uL), 9.1% (3/33) for those with hypoalbuminemia ( Conclusions The biopsy diagnostic yield for EGE is low but increases with peripheral eosinophilia and hypoalbuminemia. Patients with these features should have biopsies obtained, regardless of endoscopic appearance.
Architectures of neuronal circuits.

Although individual neurons are the basic unit of the nervous system, they process information by working together in neuronal circuits with specific patterns of synaptic connectivity. Here, I revi...
Modeling and mitigating airborne pathogen risk factors in school buses

Abstract Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were developed to simulate the impact of different ventilation scenarios on airborne exposure risks in a 72-passenger school bus. Scenarios and factors that were investigated included a moving vs. stationary bus, impacts of a heating unit within the bus, and impacts of alternative ventilation scenarios with different combinations of openings (e.g., windows, door, emergency hatch). Results of the simulations showed that when the bus was stationary, use of the heater increased receptor concentrations unless there was another opening. When the bus was moving, simulations with at least two sets of openings separated from each other in the forward and aft directions produced a through-flow condition that reduced concentrations via dilution from outside air by a factor of ten or more. A single opening in a moving bus generally increased concentrations throughout the cabin due to increased mixing with minimal ventilation. The cumulative exposure risk (time-averaged concentrations) was found to be inversely correlated to the air exchange rate. Stationary and moving-bus scenarios that yielded above ~20 air changes per hour resulted in the lowest cumulative exposures. Recommendations from this study were implemented in new safety and operating procedures by the Albuquerque Public Schools Transportation Center.
Design with microcontrollers

Design with microcontrollers , Design with microcontrollers , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی
Covert and Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy: Current Options for Diagnosis and Treatment

Overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) and covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) are two clinically distinct entities that are at the end of the spectrum of cognitive impairment due to portal hypertension. They are fraught with diagnostic and treatment challenges, but both could result in serious complications if not intervened upon in a timely fashion. CHE has been recognized as a harbinger to OHE providing an opportunity to intervene. There are numerous diagnostic strategies for CHE, and most require specialized equipment, trained personnel, and time. Diagnosis of OHE is significantly easier compared to CHE. As such, the psychometric tests have been more favored due to less dependence on specialized equipment and personnel, and their ability to be equally reliable compared to neuropsychological tests. While we have learned more about the pathophysiology of hepatic encephalopathy, our treatment modalities have not evolved as much. A collaborative approach to management, with development of easier reliable tests, will help us combat this epidemic.
The Rock Physics Handbook: Tools for Seismic Analysis of Porous Media

Preface 1. Basic tools 2. Elasticity and Hooke's law 3. Seismic wave propagation 4. Effective media 5. Granular media 6. Fluid effects on wave propagation 7. Empirical relations 8. Flow and diffusion 9. Electrical properties Appendices.
Cloning of Large Positive-Strand RNA Viruses

Full-length, biologically active cDNA clones of the positive-strand RNA plant viruses are indispensable for investigating the functions of viral genes and control elements as well as generating virus-derived gene expression and silencing vectors. Even though engineering of such clones for 4- to 10-kb viral RNAs has become routine, it remains a challenging task for 15- to 20-kb RNA genomes of the monopartite viruses in a family Closteroviridae. This unit describes strategic considerations and techniques used to generate an infectious cDNA clone of a closterovirus. The use of agroinfection to improve specific infectivity of the resulting clone is also explained.
A one dimensional model for the prediction of stratification in horizontal pipes subjected to fluid temperature transient at inlet: Part II. Thermal model

Abstract Various thermal interactions that are of interest during stratification in horizontal pipes are analyzed in this paper. The interactions studied are those that occur between a slow and a fast moving stream or between the fluid and the pipe wall. A lumped capacity approach in the radial direction is used to model the fluid-wall and fluid-fluid interactions. However the internal resistance of the stationary layer is approximately accounted for in the model. The application of the model to sodium flowing in a 15.2 cm ID stainless steel pipe shows that fluid-fluid interaction can reduce the magnitude of maximum stratification by about 18% as compared to the case in which interaction is not considered or is of little consequence (e.g. for water). This implies that stratification predictions based on the hydrodynamical model alone tend to be conservative. It is also shown that the magnitude of the stratification based on the pipe wall temperature can be higher than that predicted from the hydrodynamic model.
Issues in Hedge Fund Analysis: What a Difference a Day, Week, Month Makes

In this analysis, we simply take a step back and remind investors and researchers alike, that there is no simple answer to the dependency of empirical results on the data, period of analysis, or methods of quantitative analysis used to address issues of academic research. Over a common time frame and data source daily data is then used to create a series of weekly (five day), and twenty day return intervals which form the basis for a series of empirical comparisons. Results indicate similar time adjusted return and risk measures (standard deviation) determined from the use of daily, weekly, and twenty day time frames, however, results also indicate that the use of the various data interval impacts measures of beta estimation and auto correlation. Lastly, in contrast to using a common model approach (e.g., robust estimators) to reduce the impact of outliers on empirical analysis we simply show the results of removing a particular time frame (e.g. October 2008) on the empirical results. Results indicate that adjusting an extreme data point (a day (October 15), a week (October 13-18) or a month (October 2008) to a simple assumption of zero has major impact on beta estimation and autocorrelation results. Researchers may simply wish to use their own knowledge of data dependency to adjust data to reflect expected conditions rather than use models of general applicability which may offer results which are not truly reflective of conditions outside of that unique data period. In short, he results in this analysis indicate that some of the empirical results based on the use of monthly data may not be reflected in the use of weekly or daily data.
The Perils of Shareholder Voting on Executive Compensation

Giving shareholders more managerial power over corporate affairs — the goal of many recent corporate reform proposals — comes with costs that commentators have failed to recognize. In general, the more involved shareholders are in a firm's managerial decisions, the more difficult it is for directors to be held accountable for the outcome of those decisions. This can weaken directors' ex ante incentives to act in the interests of shareholders. This Article argues that this phenomenon may undermine the ambitions of the recent high-profile corporate reform requiring each public company to hold periodic, nonbinding shareholder votes on its executive compensation.Supporters of the reform, known as "say on pay," predict that corporate directors will be fearful of shareholder "no" votes because they will attract embarrassing attention to directors and the firm. In other words, shareholder voting will amplify the "outrage constraint" — the threat of shame or embarrassment in the media that, according to the influential managerial power model of executive compensation, limits directors' ability to award pay packages that are too big and not sensitive enough to performance. To avoid the amplified outrage associated with a "no" vote, directors will be compelled to modify executive pay in ways amenable to shareholders.Shareholder voting on executive compensation, however, could hurt shareholders in ways supporters of the reform have overlooked. Once shareholders have approved a firm's compensation arrangements, directors will no longer bear complete responsibility for them. If any negative attention — any outrage — is directed at the firm's pay practices in the future, directors can escape a portion of the blame that otherwise would have been theirs alone. This diffusion of responsibility willpartially insulate directors' reputations from future outrage, and because directors will no longer bear all of the future costs of taking risks in the CEO's favor, they may end up taking more of those risks.By clouding the functioning of the outrage constraint, shareholder approval thus may liberate directors at some firms to offer executive pay packages that are larger and more insensitive to performance than if the board were acting alone. In view of this effect, giving shareholders a say on executive pay may injure as many firms as it helps. To eliminate this overbreadth problem, this Article proposes amending the legislation to allow firms to opt-out of the say on pay regime by shareholder vote. This preserves the benefits of say on pay for those firms where shareholders wish to retain it and allows other firms to exit the regime at little cost.
Halting the Toll of Malaria in Africa

A renaissance in commitment to malaria control is transforming the perspectives and aspirations of the global community, prompting a consideration of goals for confronting a disease that is responsible for legendary death and suffering in Africa. The results in several countries are producing confidence that current control interventions can result in a dramatic reduction in the burden that malaria causes. However, the complexities of the challenges that must be addressed for comprehensive Africa programming are formidable in terms of the time required and the resources that will have to be mobilized. Progress toward elimination of the malaria burden in the African region in the next 5 years will be the critical benchmark for the feasibility of a comprehensive global campaign to eliminate and potentially eradicate malaria.
Common input to motor neurons innervating the same and different compartments of the human extensor digitorum muscle.

Short-term synchronization of active motor units has been attributed in part to last-order divergent projections that provide common synaptic input across motor neurons. The extent of synchrony thu...
Collaborative Interdependence: The Human Dimensions of the Conspectus

Le Conspectus, et le developpement des collections en cooperation dans les bibliotheques, sont generalement consideres comme des questions de politique, d'organisation et de protocoles. De recentes etudes dans le domaine de la psychologie du comportement suggerent que les aspects humains, culturels des comportements de petits groupes devraient etre etudies et integres dans le Conspectus et le partage des ressources pour obtenir le maximum de productivite. Des evidences du projet Conoco du Research Libraries group renforcent cette hypothese
A transformation approach for finding first integrals of motion of dynamical systems

Abstract A method for finding a first integral of the motion of a system of equations written in Hamiltonian form, for the case in which no “classical integrals” exist, is introduced and derived in this paper. The present method is based on a canonical transformation applied to the state vector of the system with the objective of obtaining a new Hamiltonian that is time-separable in the new state vector.
Perspective authors' response: Patterns of neural stem and progenitor cell division may underlie evolutionary cortical expansion

Perspective authors' response: Patterns of neural stem and progenitor cell division may underlie evolutionary cortical expansion
Is non-isotopic in situ hybridization finally coming of age?

With recent refinements in non-isotopic in situ hybridization methods a plethora of new applications are beginning to emerge.
A new method for on-screen ultrasonographic determination of fetal cardiac axis.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to develop an ultrasonographic method of using multiple electronic calipers for on-screen measurement of fetal cardiac axis. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred low-risk patients who were seen for antenatal ultrasonography were studied. Standard biometry, anatomic survey, and echocardiography were performed on all fetuses. By use of a four-chamber view fetal cardiac axis was measured with electronic calipers. A table, derived from a trigonometric formula, was created to convert the caliper measurements to cardiac axis in degrees. The results were compared with a protractor-determined fetal cardiac axis. RESULTS: All echocardiograms had normal results. Fetal cardiac axis (±2 SD) by the ultrasonographic method was 43 degrees (±16 degrees) versus 43 degrees (±14 degrees) by the protractor method. This difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: An on-screen method to determine fetal cardiac axis by use of multiple calipers is described. It is comparable to a protractor-measured fetal cardiac axis.
The Effect of Human Activity on Shorebirds in Two Coastal Bays in Northeastern United States

The effects of human activities on shorebirds migrating through Raritan and Delaware Bays (New Jersey, USA) were examined from late April to late October 1982. Less than 5% of the 471,055 shorebirds counted in the censuses were in Raritan Bay, and only eight species accounted for 95% of the total. Bird populations peaked during late May to early June, and had a secondary peak in early August. People walking accounted for 43% (Raritan Bay) and 50% (Delaware Bay) of the disturbances. Other disturbances, in descending order of abundance, were of fishermen, airplanes, dogs, clam-diggers, off-road vehicles, boats, children, and joggers.
Minimal Centroaffine Immersions of Codimension Two

In this paper we consider centroaffine immersions of codimension two. We will calculate the first and also second variational formulas of centroaffine volume integral with moving frames and then give some examples of minimal centroaffine immersions of codimension two.