cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Single-stream processing technique for in situ polymerization of glass fiber/polyamide-6 laminates:

Ring-opening polymerization of anionic polyamide-6 (APA-6) requires both an activator and an initiator for the reaction to occur. Typical processing techniques for liquid-molded thermoplastic compo...
A panoramic video and acoustic beamforming sensor for videoconferencing

Videoconferencing systems in use today typically rely on either fixed or pan/tilt/zoom cameras for image acquisition, and close-talking microphones for good quality audio capture. These sensors are unsuitable for scenarios involving multiple users seated at a meeting table, or non-stationary users. In these situations, the focus of attention should change from one talker to the next, and if possible track moving users. This work describes a multi-modal perception system using both video and audio signals for such a videoconferencing system. An omnidirectional video camera and an audio beamforming array are combined into a device placed in the center of a meeting table. The video and audio is processed to determine the direction of who is talking, a virtual perspective view and directional audio beam is then created. Computer vision algorithms are used to find people by motion and by face and marker detection. The audio beamformer merges the signals from a circular array of microphones to provide audio power measurements in different directions simultaneously. The video and audio cues are combined to make a decision as to the location of the talker. The system has been integrated with OpenH.323 and serves as a node using Microsoft NetMeeting.
Disturbed CXCR4/CXCL12 Axis In Pediatric Precursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Malignant cells that infiltrate the bone marrow (BM) interfere with the normal cellular behavior of supporting cells, thereby creating an alternative malignant niche. This intercellular communication is mostly mediated by cytokines and their receptors. In this study, we find that expression of the CXCR4 receptor is significantly increased in pediatric precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) cells compared with normal mononuclear hematopoietic cells derived of the bone marrow (p=0.016). Furthermore, we show that high CXCR4 expression is correlated with an unfavorable clinical outcome in BCP-ALL (5-yr CIR ±SE: 38.4% ±6.9% in CXCR4-high versus 12.0% ±4.6% in CXCR4-low expressing patients, p The data presented here suggest that interference with the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis (for instance by using Plerixafor) may be an effective way to mobilize BCP-ALL cells; the more ALL cells become mobilized, the less ALL cells may escape from combination chemotherapy. In proof-of concept studies, this hypothesis needs to be validated to pave the way for implementation in future treatment protocols for children with ALL. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Fingertip forces and completion time for index finger and thumb touchscreen gestures

Users actuate touchscreen computers by applying forces with their fingers to the touchscreen, although the amount and direction of the force is unknown. Our aim was to characterize the magnitude, direction and impulse of the force applied during single finger (tapping and sliding in four directions) and two finger gestures (stretch and pinch). Thirteen subjects performed repeated trials of each gesture. Mean(±SD) resultant force was 0.50(0.09)N for tap, 0.79(0.32)N to 1.18(0.47)N for sliding gestures, 1.47(0.63)N for pinch and 2.05(1.13)N for stretch. Mean resultant force was significantly less (p<0.04) for tap than for all gestures except slide right. The direction of force application was more vertical for the two-finger gestures as compared to the single- finger gestures. Tap was the fastest gesture to complete at 133(83)ms, followed by slide right at 421(181)ms. On average, participants took the longest to complete the stretch gesture at 920(398)ms. Overall, there are differences in forces, force direction, and completion times among touchscreen gestures that could be used to estimate musculoskeletal exposure and help forge guidelines to reduce risk of musculoskeletal injury.
Adverse drug reactions triggered by the common HLA-B*57:01 variant: a molecular docking study

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) surface proteins are directly involved in idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions. Herein, we present a structure-based analysis of the common HLA-B*57:01 variant known to be responsible for several HLA-linked adverse effects such as the abacavir hypersensitivity syndrome. First, we analyzed three X-ray crystal structures involving the HLA-B*57:01 protein variant, the anti-HIV drug abacavir, and different co-binding peptides present in the antigen-binding cleft. We superimposed the three complexes and showed that abacavir had no significant conformational variation whatever the co-binding peptide. Second, we self-docked abacavir in the HLA-B*57:01 antigen binding cleft with and without peptide using Glide. Third, we docked a small test set of 13 drugs with known ADRs and suspected HLA associations. In the presence of an endogenous co-binding peptide, we found a significant stabilization (~2 kcal/mol) of the docking scores and identified several modified abacavir–peptide interactions indicating that the peptide does play a role in stabilizing the HLA–abacavir complex. Next, our model was used to dock a test set of 13 drugs at HLA-B*57:01 and measured their predicted binding affinities. Drug-specific interactions were observed at the antigen-binding cleft and we were able to discriminate the compounds with known HLA-B*57:01 liability from inactives. Overall, our study highlights the relevance of molecular docking for evaluating and analyzing complex HLA–drug interactions. This is particularly important for virtual drug screening over thousands of HLA variants as other experimental techniques (e.g., in vitro HTS) and computational approaches (e.g., molecular dynamics) are more time consuming and expensive to conduct. As the attention for drugs’ HLA liability is on the rise, we believe this work participates in encouraging the use of molecular modeling for reliably studying and predicting HLA–drug interactions.
Survival Disparities by Hospital Volume Among American Women With Gynecologic Cancers

PurposeWe describe survival disparities among women with uterine, ovarian, or cervical cancer by cancer-specific mean annual hospital volume.MethodsNational Cancer Database 1998-2011 uterine (n = 441,863), ovarian (n = 223,017), and cervical (n = 146,698) cancer data sets were used. Cancer-specific mean annual hospital volumes were calculated. Overall survival (OS) was plotted by hospital volume using restricted mean OS times from Cox regression.ResultsUterine, ovarian, and cervical cancers were reported from 1,651, 1,633, and 1,600 hospitals, respectively. Median values of mean annual hospital volumes among hospitals were 8.6 (interquartile range [IQR], 2.6 to 20.8), 4.4 (IQR, 1.4 to 10.3), and 2.4 (IQR, 0.6 to 6.6) for uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancers, respectively. Increased hospital volume was associated with increased OS among women with stage III to IV high-grade serous ovarian cancer, stage II to IV squamous or adenocarcinoma cervical cancer, and stage I to IV endometrioid, clear cell, serous...
Language Ability of Students with Emotional Disturbance: Discrepancies between Teacher Ratings and Direct Assessment.

Language impairment often goes unidentified in students with behavioral disorders, perhaps in part because different forms of problem behavior deflect adult attention from more subtle language defi...
Ode to the case report

Although many medical journals routinely shun publication of case reports, these communications still can play a major educational role. Unexpected presentations, heretofore unreported adverse events and new associations may be illuminated. Although not as rigorous as placebo-controlled, double-blind studies, case reports do have a high degree of sensitivity for detecting novelty. Thus, they may also serve a useful purpose in directing future investigation.
Method Products: Sustainability Innovation as Entrepreneurial Strategy

A young company distinguishes itself in an industry dominated by manufacturing giants, then must determine what products to pursue next. Suitable for MBA and undergraduate learners, this case demonstrates how new innovations present new challenges. Determined to develop a green laundry detergent, Method capitalized on its creative corporate culture. With a collaborative work environment established, innovation had become a habit on which to build further success. Excerpt UVA-ENT-0159 Rev. Sept. 27, 2010 Method Products: Sustainability Innovation as Entrepreneurial Strategy Introduction Method Products, Inc., had hit a sweet spot for its buyers by 2010. Since its founding in 2000, the privately held Method had had a clear mission: Make good-smelling, high-performing household cleaners that were healthy throughout their material life spans and packaged in attractive, eye-catching, and eco-designed containers. Said Adam Lowry, cofounder and chief “greenskeeper”: . . .
Structure in chaos: entrepreneurial reputation effects on performance during volatility

This research examines labor market broker transactions to understand the influence of entrepreneurial reputation on performance during environmental shocks. One way entrepreneurs operate in complex industries is to reduce uncertainty through reputation building. We studied individual reputation with 11,079 labor broker/quarter observations, to measure individual performance during environmental volatility using regression analysis of time series. After comparing labor broker performance with and without industry volatility, we found that when volatility is high, entrepreneurial performance is lower. We also found that entrepreneurial reputation enhances performance but fails during high volatility periods, indicating the need to protect reputation during volatility. This research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by understanding reputation as a performance factor. This study contributes to the reputation literature by providing evidence as to how individual reputation operates at different ...
Acute Type A Aortic Dissection and Successful Surgical Repair in a Woman at 21 Weeks Gestational Pregnancy With Maternal and Fetal Survival: A Case Report

Type A aortic dissection during pregnancy is a rare, catastrophic event that is associated with high maternal and fetal mortality. We report the successful management of acute type A aortic dissection in a woman at 21 weeks gestation. The patient underwent aortic valve and aortic root replacement utilizing deep hypothermic circulatory arrest complicated by the need for coronary artery bypass grafting due to a kinked/thrombosed right coronary artery. The patient’s postoperative recovery and remaining gestation were otherwise uncomplicated, and included a vaginal delivery of a healthy baby at 39 weeks gestation.
Estimating Fault-Detection and Fail-Over Times for Nested Real-Time CORBA Applications.

Today’s middleware applications tend to be complicated, and consist of tiers that form a nested chain of objects or processes. For a real-time nested application, predictability is crucial, even when faults and restarts occur. Nested applications make it challenging to predict the processing time when faults occurs. The fault-detection and recovery times are influenced by the number of tiers, the tier in which the fault occurs, the state of the end-to-end processing when the fault occurs, and the processing time of each tier. We investigate the behavior of nested CORBA applications when faults occur in different tiers, and at different stages of the nested processing. We present a model for predicting the worst-case fault-detection and fail-over times for such nested applications.
Bioethical communication: shared decision-making and relational empathy

Background: Theoretical tensions in shared decision-making (SDM) exist among bioethical principles, patient autonomy, and evidence-based medicine. Scholars in biomedicine have looked to empathy as ...
Neurovascular regulation of the anterior hypophysis.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses neurovascular regulation of the anterior hypophysis. It explains some of the characteristics of the vascular link connecting the brain and the anterior pituitary to examine the role of the portal vessels as vehicles for the transference of hormones from the brain to the anterior pituitary and to evaluate the primary capillary plexus as a possible site of exchange of neurohormones. Moreover, there is very little data available concerning the flow of blood through the anterior pituitary of any species with the exception of the rat. The anterior pituitary of the rat receives blood through portal vessels only, and such a vascular arrangement appears to be typical of mammals. Two portal systems deliver blood to the anterior pituitary. One of these two systems consists of the primary capillaries in the median eminence of the hypothalamus and in the pituitary stalk plus the veins—the long portal vessels—which drain these capillary beds. The long portal vessels lie on the surface of the pituitary stalk. The other system consists of primary capillaries in the infundibular process of the posterior pituitary plus the veins—the short portal vessels—which drain these particular capillaries. The short portal vessels lie on the dorsal and anterior surfaces of the pituitary. The long portal vessels as well as the short portal vessels empty into the sinusoids of the anterior pituitary. These sinusoids constitute the secondary capillary plexus of the hypophysial portal vasculature. The chapter also discusses how the ventromedial region of the hypothalamus is a thin structure that forms the floor of the third ventricle.
An Art Educator for All Seasons: The Many Roles of Eugenia Eckford Rhoads

This study examines the many art education contributions of Eugenia Eckford Rhoads. Although Rhoads began her professional career as a college-level art educator, she chose to pursue alternative art education roles. The positive nature of these contributions is stressed, and the question is raised as to possible sexism in art educators' judgments of success or failure in a professional career.
Problem Set 3.2 – Neuromuscular Transmission, Muscle Force, and Energetics

Publisher Summary This chapter presents various problem sets related to neuromuscular transmission, muscle force, and energetics, which include the overlap between the thick and thin filaments when the sarcomere length is 2.8 μm; the fraction of the force generators on the thick filament that do not overlap with the thin filament when the sarcomere length is 2.8 μm; and the amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) split by the SERCA pumps to return activating Ca2+ to the SR per g tissue, if the troponin C (TnC) binds 2 Ca2+.
Motion Aftereffects From Moving Illusions

Lines in the cafe wall illusion, and motion trajectories in the furrow illusion, appear to be tilted away from their true orientations. We adapted to moving versions of both illusions and found tha...
MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION IN A LATENT VARIABLE PROBLEM

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the maximum likelihood estimation in a latent variable problem. Latent variates are random variables, which cannot be measured directly, but play essential roles in the description of observable quantities. They occur in a broad range of statistical problems. In the case that the dependent variate y is discrete, latent structure models play an important role, arising in connection with ability tests. Computing uniform residuals is an effective general means to proceed in latent variable problems. In some cases, the subject's ability can be eliminated by conditioning on an appropriate statistic. Maximum likelihood estimation is a viable approach to a broad class of latent variable problems. Generalized linear interactive modeling (GLIM) is an effective tool for carrying out the needed computations. GLIM also contains a high-level syntax for handling variables with factorial structure, vectors, and nonfull rank models. Its powerful directives shorten the length of the program considerably and allow simple simulation of the whole situation for checking programs and logic.
Left-digit pricing effects in a high-resolution examination of hypothetical operant demand for alcohol

Behavioral economic measures have demonstrated marked success in the evaluation of consumer choice. Field-standard operant demand curve analyses provide a valuable model of resource allocation via responses to maintain "free-rate" commodity use or consumption. This demand analysis thereby provides a behavioral complement to consumer science techniques. Despite apparent congruence of operant behavioral economics and consumer science, the left-digit effect represents one area of research predominantly untouched by behavioral economic investigation. Previous efforts have applied the hypothetical purchase task to map the effect of a changing left-digit on subsequent purchase decisions. The current study extends investigation of the phenomenon to responding on the validated Alcohol Purchase Task. Introduction of a high-density price structure revealed evidence of digit sensitivity, wherein demand elasticity was disproportionately affected at and around whole-dollar changes. That responses were influenced by small shifts in pricing implies a possibility for policy-level modulation of alcohol ingestion without need to increase commodity price beyond unit elasticity. Capture of digit preference in a self-report framework speaks to the sensitivity of purchase task methodology to detect small, aberrant changes in consumer product perception. Behavioral economic researchers should consider this extent of sensitivity when interpreting results of hypothetical purchase task investigations.
Listening in from afar: the BBC Arabic service and the Bahrain radio listeners’ committee, 1938–1943

This article uses the case study of the Bahrain listeners’ committee, a radio listening group formed in 1938 in response to the establishment of the BBC’s Arabic broadcasting service, to argue that...
Discovery of a Large-Scale Filament Connected to the Massive Galaxy Cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 at z = 0.55* ** ** *

We report the detection of a 4 h Mpc long large-scale filament leading into the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745. The extent of this object well beyond the cluster's nominal virial radius (~2.3 Mpc) rules out prior interaction between its constituent galaxies and the cluster and makes it a prime candidate for a genuine filament as opposed to a merger remnant or a double cluster. The structure was discovered as a pronounced overdensity of galaxies selected to have V-R colors close to the cluster red sequence. Extensive spectroscopic follow-up of over 300 of these galaxies in a region covering the filament and the cluster confirms that the entire structure is located at the cluster redshift of z = 0.545. Featuring galaxy surface densities of typically 15 Mpc-2 down to luminosities of 0.13L, the most diffuse parts of the filament are comparable in density to the clumps of red galaxies found around A851 in the only similar study carried out to date (Kodama et al.). Our direct detection of an extended large-scale filament funneling matter onto a massive distant cluster provides a superb target for in-depth studies of the evolution of galaxies in environments of greatly varying density and supports the predictions from theoretical models and numerical simulations of structure formation in a hierarchical picture.
Minimally invasive pulmonary valve replacement via left anterior minithoracotomy

ABSTRACT Pulmonary valve replacement is one of the most common indications for reoperation in adults with congenital heart disease. Finding an alternative to repeat median sternotomy may facilitate recovery and shorten hospital stay. We present our technique of left anterior minithoracotomy for pulmonary valve replacement.
The Experiences of Marriage and Family Therapists Working in Incarcerated Settings

The prison incarceration rate in the United States is the highest in the world with 650 people incarcerated per 100,000. Unfortunately, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are rarely employed in ...
Family Instability and Adolescent Relationships: The Role of Parental Relationship Churning:

Parental relationship histories are associated with adolescents’ romantic and sexual relationships. However, no research examines the association between parents’ being in an on-again/off-again rel...
Latency-Energy Tradeoff with Realistic Hardware Models

Latency and energy are two fundamental parameters that characterize communications systems performance. In this paper we investigate the fundamental relationship between these quantities using finite blocklengh information theory. We take into account realistic models of hardware, including overhead power, power amplifier inefficiency and the receiver noise factor. With these models we find that energy and latency behaves quite different from the ideal case.
Performance and Modernity: Enacting Change on the Globalizing Stage

How do ideas take shape? How do concepts emerge into form? This book argues that they take shape quite literally in the human body, often appearing on stage in new styles of performance. Focusing on the historical period of modernity, Performance and Modernity: Enacting Change on the Globalizing Stage demonstrates how the unforeseen impact of economic, industrial, political, social, and psychological change was registered in bodily metaphors that took shape on stage. In new styles of performance-acting, dance, music, pageantry, avant-garde provocations, film, video and networked media-this book finds fresh evidence for how modernity has been understood and lived, both by stage actors, who, in modelling new habits, gave emerging experiences an epistemological shape, and by their audiences, who, in borrowing the strategies performers enacted, learned to adapt to a modernizing world.
Hydrophobic mismatch effect is a key factor in protein transport on the Tat pathway

Abstract The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway transports folded proteins across membranes in bacteria, thylakoid, plant mitochondria, and archaea. In most species, the active Tat machinery consists of three independent subunits, TatA, TatB and TatC. TatA and TatB from all bacterial species possess short transmembrane alpha-helices (TMHs), both of which are only fifteen residues long in E. coli. Such short TMHs cause a hydrophobic mismatch between Tat subunits and the membrane bilayer. Here, by modifying the length of the TMHs of E. coli TatA and TatB, we access the functional importance of the hydrophobic mismatch in the Tat transport mechanism. Surprisingly, both TatA and TatB with as few as 11 residues in their respective TMHs are still able to insert into the membrane bilayer, albeit with a decline in membrane integrity. Three different assays, both qualitative and quantitative, were conducted to evaluate the Tat activity of the TMH length mutants. Our experiments indicate that the TMHs of TatA and TatB appear to be evolutionarily tuned to 15 amino acids, with activity dropping off with any modification of this length. We believe our study supports a model of Tat transport utilizing localized toroidal pores that form when the membrane bilayer is thinned to a critical threshold. In this context, the 15-residue length of the TatA and TatB TMHs can be seen as a compromise between the need for some hydrophobic mismatch to allow the membrane to reversibly reach the threshold thinness required for toroidal pore formation, and the permanently destabilizing effect of placing even shorter helices into these energy-transducing membranes.
Convective forcing of the North American Monsoon anticyclone at intraseasonal and interannual time scales.

In the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), large-scale anticyclones associated with monsoons play major roles in tropospheric and stratospheric transport and mixing. To understand the forcing of the North American monsoon anticyclone (NAMA), this study examines the connection between precipitation over the tropics and subtropics of the North American longitude sector and the variability of the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Using ERA5 reanalysis and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data from 1979âĂS2019, we assess the relationship at the intraseasonal time scale using pentad-mean time series. We show that OLR anomalies are correlated with circulation anomalies northwest and northeast of the region of precipitation. Decreased OLR (increased precipitation) corresponds to increased geopotential heights and anticyclonic circulation anomalies in the 300 - 100 hPa layer and an opposite response in the lower tropospheric 850 - 600 hPa layer. The results are consistent with the established theory of the Rossby wave response to latent heating. The increase in height, which is strongest near 150 hPa, indicates that increased precipitation is associated with a strengthened NAMA. UTLS temperatures also have significant correlations with OLR, with cold (warm) anomalies occurring above (below) the core of the anticyclonic anomaly consistent with large-scale balance. The vertical structure of geopotential and temperature anomalies is compared to simulations using an idealized general circulation model, which shows that such a vertical structure is a consistent response to diabatic heating. Correlations at the interannual time scale resemble those at the intraseasonal time scale, demonstrating that precipitation is related to the NAMA at both time scales.
Heterozygous Mutation of Vegfr3 Reduces Renal Lymphatics without Renal Dysfunction.

Background Lymphatic abnormalities are observed in several types of kidney disease, but the relationship between the renal lymphatic system and renal function is unclear. The discovery of lymphatic-specific proteins, advances in microscopy, and available genetic mouse models provide the tools to help elucidate the role of renal lymphatics in physiology and disease. Methods We utilized a mouse model containing a missense mutation in Vegfr3 (dubbed Chy) that abrogates its kinase ability. Vegfr3Chy/+ mice were examined for developmental abnormalities and kidney-specific outcomes. Control and Vegfr3Chy/+ mice were subjected to cisplatin-mediated injury. We characterized renal lymphatics using tissue-clearing, light-sheet microscopy, and computational analyses. Results In the kidney, VEGFR3 is expressed not only in lymphatic vessels but also, in various blood capillaries. Vegfr3Chy/+ mice had severely reduced renal lymphatics with 100% penetrance, but we found no abnormalities in BP, serum creatinine, BUN, albuminuria, and histology. There was no difference in the degree of renal injury after low-dose cisplatin (5 mg/kg), although Vegfr3Chy/+ mice developed perivascular inflammation. Cisplatin-treated controls had no difference in total cortical lymphatic volume and length but showed increased lymphatic density due to decreased cortical volume. Conclusions We demonstrate that VEGFR3 is required for development of renal lymphatics. Our studies reveal that reduced lymphatic density does not impair renal function at baseline and induces only modest histologic changes after mild injury. We introduce a novel quantification method to evaluate renal lymphatics in 3D and demonstrate that accurate measurement of lymphatic density in CKD requires assessment of changes to cortical volume.
OFDM-guided Deep Joint Source Channel Coding for Wireless Multipath Fading Channels

We investigate joint source channel coding (JSCC) for wireless image transmission over multipath fading channels. Inspired by recent works on deep learning based JSCC and model-based learning methods, we combine an autoencoder with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to cope with multipath fading. The proposed encoder and decoder use convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and directly map the source images to complex-valued baseband samples for OFDM transmission. The multipath channel and OFDM are represented by non-trainable (deterministic) but differentiable layers so that the system can be trained end-to-end. Furthermore, our JSCC decoder further incorporates explicit channel estimation, equalization, and additional subnets to enhance the performance. The proposed method exhibits 2.5 -- 4 dB SNR gain for the equivalent image quality compared to conventional schemes that employ state-of-the-art but separate source and channel coding such as BPG and LDPC. The performance further improves when the system incorporates the channel state information (CSI) feedback. The proposed scheme is robust against OFDM signal clipping and parameter mismatch for the channel model used in training and evaluation.
Robotic Approach to Characterize Ankle Stiffness in Multiple Sclerosis Patients During Standing and Walking

This paper presents a pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of a new robotic approach to characterize altered ankle stiffness in multiple sclerosis (MS) population during standing and walking. The approach utilizing a dual-axis robotic platform could accurately quantify ankle stiffness of the pilot MS patient, with reliability as high as that observed in unimpaired individuals. Further, investigation of the quantified ankle stiffness together with sensor measurements of ankle muscle activation and ankle torque enabled understanding of the mechanisms contributing to ankle stiffness modulation. For the pilot MS subject, muscle contracture, weakness, and reduced range of motion were identified as potential contributors to the modulation of ankle stiffness during standing and walking. Upon successful validation of a future study on a larger group of MS patients, this robotic approach is expected to help clinicians better understand a patient’s altered ankle mechanics, identify the underlying neuromuscular deficiencies, and prescribe patient-specific rehabilitation exercises.
Defending Syringe Services Programs

SSPs are community-based prevention programs that provide a range of social, medical, and mental health services—often including, but not limited to the provision of sterile syringes, screening and treatment for infectious diseases and substance use disorders, and naloxone distribution—for individuals who inject drugs. Notwithstanding their positive public health impacts, SSPs have long-faced significant political opposition. SSPs have been under attack this year even in locales with concerning blood-borne infectious disease rates. In April 2021, West Virginia—a state that struggles with high HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) transmission—enacted a law that severely restricts the operation of SSPs. Driven by gentrification and economic development concerns, Atlantic City, New Jersey, followed suit in July by enacting an ordinance that outlaws SSPs within municipal limits and, therefore, will shut down its sole SSP. Perhaps most astonishingly, Scott County recently voted to end its successful program on the grounds of stigma-driven suppositions, including the unfounded contention that SSPs increase the presence of discarded needles and encourage risky drug use. As a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial critical of the Atlantic City ordinance recently asked, “What happened to ‘trust science’?”
Why Driving Performance Measures Are Sometimes Not Accurate (and Methods to Check Accuracy)

This paper identifies common sources of inconsistency and error in measurements of driving performance and describes methods to determine the size of these errors. Major sources of inconsistency and error discussed include (1) the lack of zeroing procedures (which affects measurements of steering wheel angle), (2) unknown input and output mapping (which affects measurements of throttle position), (3) the failure to control critical factors such as tire pressure, traffic, and wind (which affects measurements of speed), (4) uncertainty about where the lane boundary actually is (which affect measurements of lane position and counts of lane departures), and (5) the failure to define or use consistent definitions for measures such as headway/gap, time to line crossing, and time to collision. The lack of or inconsistency of definitions can lead to multiple interpretations of what could have been measured, and differences between interpretations are of practical significance. The types and magnitude of these inconsistencies and errors vary with the measurement platform, complicating the comparison of driving studies and interfering with building a body of knowledge of driving. By making the driving research community aware of these problems, they can be identified, assessed, and minimized in the future, and published research can be read with a more critical eye.
Competitive Signal Clustering Networks

In this chapter, I apply the basic framework introduced in Chapter 2 to construct a multi-level competitive signal clustering network—SPAN. SPAN belongs to the category of Lattice Neural Networks (LNN) (see Definition 2.4 for the general definition), in which each neuron is assigned a position in a lattice. The lattice is useful for containing the information about the structural relation between neurons in the network. Through the competitive mechanisms between neurons in the network, the network can partition the input pattern space into regions and each region is assigned to a neuron which is most sensitive to that region. The neurons can also order themselves on the lattice in such a way that the structural relationships between regions in the pattern space are captured by the lattice structure.
Cancer and venous thromboembolism: scope of the problem.

Patients with cancer are at high risk for venous thromboembolism so surveillance and monitoring for this complication are keys to good oncologic practice.
Family Empowerment: One Outcome of Parental Participation in Cooperative Preschool Education

Preschool education first became popular and prevalent in the United States during the 1960s when it was considered the most effective weapon in the war against poverty. Educators and researchers maintained that early childhood education could eradicate the social problems associated with poverty. Although preschool education did not achieve this ambitious goal, long-term positive effects of preschool education on children have been well documented. In preschool programs for disadvantaged families, parents are often required to participate with their children. Parent programs have evolved from individual training sessions to total family support; however, there has been little investigation into the long-term impact on adults and families. This study examined family empowerment as one outcome of parental participation in cooperative preschool education. The setting for the investigation was a small, private preschool serving one of the oldest, most economically deprived public housing projects in a major, southern, metropolitan city. In order for children to participate in the preschool, caregivers had to fulfill specified requirements, including regular attendance at parent meetings scheduled at least twice each month during the academic year. The researcher spent eighteen months attending these parent meetings as a participant-observer. At the conclusion of the academic year, she conducted focus groups with the fifteen caregivers in the 1992-1993 cohort. Using home interviews, she also developed case studies of nine adults who were involved in the adult component of the program between 1989 and 1992. Conclusions about the impact of the program were drawn from this extensive base of qualitative data. The stated goal of the caregivers program was to promote self-sufficiency. The investigation indicated that caregivers gained cultural capital through their participation. This process constituted empowerment, which was observed to proceed through six stages. Although the stages were not rigid or invariant, they appeared to be sequential. All of the participants moved from isolation to affiliation. Most gained confidence in their own abilities and capacities and were able to set goals leading to self-sufficiency. While in the program, caregivers began acquiring the skills they needed to accomplish their goals. This process continued after required participation with the preschool ended. Graduates of the program were able to translate cultural capital into employment and economic security, or human capital. A number of program factors facilitated this transfer, including staff characteristics, program design, curriculum, and linkages with others on the preschool board and in the wider community. These elements are described in detail This study concluded that participation in the adult component of a preschool for disadvantaged children promoted empowerment and resulted in substantial benefits for caregivers and their families
T2 and the Spin-Echo Pulse Cycle

In preceding chapters, we glibly referred to the T2 decay of the Bl vector after application of the RF pulse. Actually, we oversimplified the case in order not to obscure the understanding of the relationship of T1 and T2 to TR and TE. But now, it is time to delve more deeply into what T2 actually is.
State School Funding Policies and Limited English Proficient Students.

Abstract This article presents an overview of state funding policies for serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and analysis of aid allocation practices across the states using data from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. The major finding of this study is that state efforts to help local districts are often poorly conceived and/or applied, and often inadequate. We conclude with three policy recommendations for enhancing the present knowledge base, including the need for (a) expanded national, state, and local awareness of policies and practices across the states regarding limited English proficient (LEP) children, and improved monitoring of the effectiveness of those policies and practices toward achieving specific objectives; (b) empirically derived cost estimates of opportunities for LEP children; and (c) a set of frameworks for developing and adapting funding policies to various state contexts aimed toward achieving the goal of adequate services for LEP children.
Effects of water depth and seed provenance on the growth of wild rice (Zizania aquatica L.)

Abstract Annual wild rice ( Zizania aquatica L.), a species of conservation concern, is an ecologically and culturally important aquatic grass found in stands in the near shore habitats of lakes and rivers in the Midwest and along the eastern coast of North America. This study examined the effects of water depth and seed provenance on the early growth of three Indiana wild rice stands (collected from two lakes) under greenhouse conditions in 2009. Plants were grown at water depths of 46 cm, 23 cm, 0 cm, or −15 cm and harvested either at the first floating leaf stage or at 48 days after transplanting. Wild rice growth was affected by both water depth and seed provenance. The dry weight of roots, stems, leaves, and inflorescences, total biomass, number of tillers, number of leaves, and total leaf area were the lowest in the −15 cm treatment. These vegetative growth parameters also decreased with increasing water depth from the 0 cm treatment. Differences in growth between seed sources were found, supporting the hypothesis that genetic differences among relatively isolated wild rice stands may influence the success of efforts to conserve this species.
Tissue Engineering und Gentherapie des Bewegungsapparates mit Muskelzellen

Musculoskeletal System. Aim: Muscle-based somatic gene therapy is a novel way to alleviate a biochemical deficiency. Method: Muscle-derived cells are very promising in the field of gene therapy and tissue engineering. First, most muscle tissue is accessible by injection. Second, muscle tissue consists of multinucleated, postmitotic myofibers, which enable a long-term expression of the transduced gene. Third, muscle tissue can be biopsied easily. It is available in abundance and the biopsy does not compromise the health and function of the patient. Finally, muscle tissue is highly vascularized, which makes systemic delivery feasible. Results: Muscle-derived cells can promote muscle healing and bone healing. Implanted cells maintain a long-term transgene expression of therapeutic proteins. Isolated, muscle-derived stem cells can differentiate in osteoblasts. Conclusion: Based on these characteristics, we present four possible applications: inherited muscular diseases, muscle injury, bone healing, and intraarticular disorders.
Calorimetric study of flammable fabrics. I. Instrumentation and measurements

A calorimeter has been designed, calibrated, and tested to measure the total amount of heat released and the rate of heat released from the combustion of fabrics in air. Calibration of the calorimeter gave a reproducibility of ±3% for total heat measurements and ±5% on rate measurements. Consideration of systematic errors gives an expected accuracy of ±7% for total heat and ±10% for combustion rate measurements. Measurements on cotton show that 90% of the standard heat of combustion is released when cotton is burned in air. The rate of heat release for cotton is independent of fabric weight. The constancy of rate of heat release as determined calorimetrically confirmed the result implied by the 45° test measurements on flame spread rate. The rate and amount of heat release of other commercial fabrics and blends were also measured.
EFFECTS OF COVERT SENSITIZATION ON FACIAL EMG: A PILOT STUDY

Two subjects currently undergoing covert sensitization treatment were asked to imagine alternately the covert scene and a pleasant imagery scene while EMGs from the corrugator and forearm extensor muscle sites were continuously monitored. Visual inspection of the data suggests that corrugator EMG can reliably discriminate the covert-sensitization scene from the pleasant imagery and from resting baseline conditions. Facial EMG may have potential for objectively studying imagery and its role in covert sensitization and other imagery-based treatments.
Nuclear criticality accident safety, near misses and classification

Abstract The majority of known nuclear criticality accidents occurred during the 1950s and 1960s, this during a time when nuclear science was young and safety measures to deal with this new science were not fully understood. As the progression in the development of technology occurred, a new understanding for a focus on establishing a safety culture within the nuclear industry developed, this in turn has led over the decades post ceding the early years of nuclear, a decrease in the number of nuclear criticality incidents. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief summary of historical (pre 2000) criticality accident statistics and conclusions, while focusing on nuclear criticality incidents occurring after 2000. In preparing the historical overview statistics, it was found that there were several Russian submarine nuclear criticality accidents occurring before 2000 that were not previously widely presented in the public domain. Furthermore, noted were instances of Japanese power companies covering up rod withdrawal accidents, leading to unintended nuclear criticalities. To add in this other information to previously understood practices, a new method of characterizing criticality accident near misses is to be presented, followed by data analysis showing that the safety culture that has evolved since the emergence of nuclear energy on the world stage has provided the platform for the development of a strong and relevant nuclear criticality safety stance.
Developmental landmarks in cardiac morphogenesis: Comparative chronology☆

Abstract Data concerning the chronology of anatomic changes in the developing heart in a group of seven frequently studied species are presented in tabular form. Different modes of expression of levels of embryonic maturation for these species are correlated and listed. Examples of the possible significance of temporal sequences and of quantitative alterations accompanying the progression of developmental landmarks in cardiac morphogenesis are discussed.
Finding Real-Valued Single-Source Shortest Paths ino(n3) Expected Time

Given ann-vertex,m-edge directed networkGwith real costs on the edges and a designated source vertexs, we give a new algorithm to compute shortest paths froms. Our algorithm is a simple deterministic one withO(n2logn) expected running time over a large class of input distributions. This is the first strongly polynomial algorithm in over 35 years to improve upon some aspect of theO(nm) running time of the Bellman?Ford algorithm. The result extends to anO(n2logn) expected running time algorithm for finding the minimum mean cycle, an improvement over Karp'sO(nm) worst-case time bound when the underlying graph is dense. Both of our time bounds are shown to be achieved with high probability.
Evidence for epilepsy is rare in patients with psychogenic seizures.

We documented psychogenic seizures in 50 of 79 patients referred for differentiation between psychogenic and epileptic seizures. Only 5 of these 50 had, in addition, EEG evidence for epilepsy. In patients with documented psychogenic seizures, a second diagnosis of epilepsy should not be made without definite EEG support.
A Model of Hotel Defection at the Purchasing Stage

Hotel operators spend millions of dollars each year to create customer loyalty. Less attention is paid to factors that cause customers to defect. In the current study, factors that influence hotel purchasing and established loyalty-related constructs were integrated into two models of hotel defection, one for full-service brand guests and one for limited-service brand guests. For full-service hotels, the decision to defect or not is driven by affective, or emotional, commitment, as well as switching costs, which are defined as the amount of discount that an otherwise loyal customer would require to switch to a competing brand. Hotel selection factors influence defection primarily through their impact on affective commitment. For limited-service guests, value considerations play a central role. Reward program membership and hotel selection factors influence defection through commitment, based on reward program benefits. The findings emphasize the importance of tailoring hotel features and reward program be...
Exploration of fragrance categories and ambiguous odors using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis

Application de deux types d'analyse mathematique a la differenciation et a la classification de substances odoriferantes de bois ou d'agrumes individualises ou non
Heptane‐soluble homogeneous zirconocene catalyst: Synthesis of a single diastereomer, polymerization catalysis, and effect of silica supports

Bis(1-indenyl)-di[(1'S, 2'R, 5'S)-menthoxy]silane (1) was converted into a mixture of corresponding ansa-diastereomeric zirconocenes. Further purification afforded a single diastereomer, di[(1'S, 2'R, 5'S)-menthoxy]silylene-bis[η 5 -1(R, R)-(+)-indenyl]dichlorozirconium (2), which is optically active and hydrocarbon soluble. Extremely rapid ethylene, propylene, and ethylene-hexene polymerizations were observed both in toluene and n-heptane solutions ; for instance, at 50°C, activity for ethylene polymerization reaches ∼ 1.5 X 10 10 (g of PE/((mol of Zr). [C 2 H 4 ]. h). The bare zirconocenium ion generated from 2/TIBA/Ph 3 CB(C 6 F 5 ) 4 exhibits unusual polymerization behaviors ; the polymerization activity increases monotonically with temperature of polymerization (T p ) up to a conventional polymerization condition (50-70°C), and the 13 C NMR study shows that the isotactic polypropylene obtained has fairly high [mmmm] methyl pentad distributions at high T p (> 25°C with [mmmm] ∼ 0.93-0.75) and a perfect stereoregularity at low T p (≤ 0°C with [mmmm] > 0.99). The catalyst precursors 2 and Et(Ind) 2 ZrCl 2 (3) supported on silica by different approaches produced poly(olefins) of different molecular weights and stereoregularities, and a methylaluminokane and Ph 3 CB(C 6 F 5 ) 4 free silica-supported zirconocene system was found to be activated by triisobutylaluminum.