cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the chromatic number of some geometric hypergraphs

A finite family R of simple Jordan regions in the plane defines a hypergraph H = H(R) where the vertex set of H is R and the hyperedges are all subsets S ⊂ R for which there is a point p such that S = {r ∈ R|p ∈ r. The chromatic number of H(R) is the minimum number of colors needed to color the members of R such that no hyperedge is monochromatic. In this paper we initiate the study of the chromatic number of such hypergraphs. We obtain the following results:(i) any hypergraph that is induced by a family of n simple Jordan regions (not necessarily convex) such that the union complexity of any m of them is given by u(m) and u(m)/m is non-decreasing is O(u(n)/n)-colorable. Thus, for example we prove that any finite family of pseudodiscs can be colored with a constant number of colors.(ii) any hypergraph induced by a finite family of planar discs is four-colorable. This bound is tight. In fact, we prove that this statement is equivalent to the Four-Color Theorem.(iii) any hypergraph induced by n axis-parallel rectangles is O(log n)-colorable. This bound is asymptotically tight.Our proofs are constructive. Namely, we provide deterministic polynomial-time algorithms for coloring such hypergraphs with only "few" colors (that is, the number of colors used by these algorithms is upper bounded by the same bounds we obtain on the chromatic number of the given hypergraphs)As an application of (i) and (ii) we obtain simple constructive proofs for the following:(iv) Any set of n Jordan regions with near linear union complexity admits a conflict-free (CF) coloring with polylogarithmic number of colors.(v) Any set of n axis-parallel rectangles admits a CF-coloring with O(log2(n)) colors.
Patient Safety: Reduce the Risk of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Abstract ISSUE: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common complication in the intensive care unit (ICU) in ventilated patients. PROJECT: To reduce the risk of healthcare-acquired, ventilator-associated pneumonia with nursing practice improvements and a comprehensive oral care program. A multidisciplinary team reviewed infection rates and current patient-care practices of ventilated patients in the ICU. Actions were taken and evaluated during a 6-month period. Intubated patients were provided oral care every 2 hours and more often as needed. Teeth were brushed every 12 hours and the mouth swabbed every 2 hours. Patients were assessed to determine the need for removal of subglottic secretions every 6- 8 hours as well as prior to repositioning the tube or deflation of the cuff. Head of bed was raised to 30 degrees at all times. A dedicated oral suction line was used. Oral-care supplies were packaged and placed in easily obtained location in patient room. The contents included one covered yankauer tip, suction handle, and y-connector; suction toothbrush with sodium bicarbonate; mouth moisturizer; and applicator swabs. The products were packaged with quantity needed for 24-hour period, with a team member reviewing products remaining in package daily and documentation of oral care. Literature review supports that frequent and aggressive oral care may reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia. RESULTS: VAP rate decreased from 6.9/1000 ventilator days to 1.9/1000. LESSONS LEARNED: Importance of involving and training staff. Best benefit was family members and an administrator noticing reduction of patient oral odor.
Insects and plants: engaging undergraduates in authentic research through citizen science

Many citizen-science programs – including the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project and the Great Sunflower Project – are managed by university researchers, and this connection has facilitated the involvement of undergraduate students in project design, data collection and management, and independent research. Here, we describe the benefits of undergraduate involvement, and encourage citizen-science coordinators and college faculty to increase the use of citizen science and citizen-science data in undergraduate training.
A two-stage analysis of the effects of familiarization instructions on learning

This experiment investigates the effects of familiarization instructions (Spell/Pronounce) on the two stages of a serial learning task. Significant differences in learning were found which favored the P instructions and which could not be accounted for in terms of differences in response acquisition. The results agree with the hypothesis that the facilitation which results from the use of P instructions extends to the associative stage of the serial learning task.
Service Needs and Utilization for Dual-Diagnosis Patients

The authors examined treatment patterns for two groups of dually diagnosed psychiatric inpatients, those with a) co-occurring, but independent mental and substance use disorders (IMD + PSUD); and b) substance-induced organic mental disorders (PSUD-OMD). Assessments included the Addiction Severity Index for perceived service needs, discharge records for recommended treatments, and the Quality of Life Interview for follow-up treatment utilization. As expected, the groups differed on treatment patterns. Both received fewer services than needed during the 1-year follow-up. In particular, the IMD + PSUD patients utilized few substance abuse services and the PSUD-OMD utilized few psychiatric services.
Design of Cellular Self-Organizing Systems

Technology development is facing increased challenges as engineers begin to tackle the problem domains with greater uncertainty. Future engineered systems must be able to function in unpredictable environments such as deep ocean, rough terrain, and outer space while performing uncertain tasks like hazardous waste cleanup and search-and-rescue missions. Furthermore, the increasing size of engineered systems introduces unplanned interdependencies of components. Complex systems can provide the adaptability in order to manage uncertainties that traditional systems cannot. As the uncertainty of the problem domain increases, engineering design methods must be advanced in order to properly address the changing needs and constraints. This paper proposes a new approach inspired by natural phenomena in order to extend the design envelope towards an artificial nature. This approach broadens the traditional design and re-design methods by utilizing the self-organization process exhibited in natural systems. From a design point of view, the critical question is: how can system adaptability be designed into complex systems based only on local interactions between (many) simple cells? The goal is to design systems that excel in hostile and unpredictable environments where it is impossible for the designer to conceptualize every possible contingency. The key is to focus on the interactions and behaviors of the system. In this paper, we suggest a meta-behavior model for cellular self-organization systems that can be used as a design approach to guide emergent function capacities.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Detection of particle sources with directional detector arrays and a mean-difference test

In this paper, the problem of detecting far-field particle sources, such as nuclear, radioactive, optical, or cosmic, is considered. This problem arises in applications including security, surveillance, visual systems, and astronomy. The authors propose a mean-difference test (MDT) with cubic and spherical detector arrays, assuming Poisson distributed measurement models. Through performance analysis, including computing the probability of detection for a given probability of false alarm, the authors show that the MDT has a number of advantages over the generalized likelihood-ratio test (GLRT), such as computational efficiency, higher probability of detection, asymptotic constant false-alarm rate (CFAR), and applicability to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). For each array, the authors also present an estimator to find the source direction. Finally, Monte Carlo numerical examples are conducted that confirm the analytical results.
The parenting-crime connection.

There are many factors, we think, that interact with one another to produce delinquency and crime, and among them is a cluster of family-related antecedents (Dryfoos, 1990, pp. 38-39). Evidence that parenting factors may play a critical role in determining whether or not people misbehave as children and even later as adults is one of the most replicated findings in the deviance literature. Most of this research focuses on parenting factors as a cause of delinquency, and a good part of that relates specifically to the child maltreatment-delinquency connection. Despite this sizeable body of research extending across various academic disciplines, the empirical and causal connections between parenting and delinquency/crime remain ambiguous and equivocal. The sources of this ambiguity lie with several considerations. One relates to the complex and multidimensional nature of both crime and delinquency and also of parenting. There are many different kinds of delinquency and crime and many dimensions of parenting. The study of parenting outcomes has focused on variation in terms of genetic considerations; demographic, social and structural factors such as race, class, drug abuse, criminal background, maternal employment and family type
Treatment of advanced uterine leiomyosarcoma with aromatase inhibitors.

Background Aromatase inhibitors are sometimes used in the treatment of selected patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS), but there are few data assessing the efficacy of aromatase inhibitors in this setting.
Frederick Wells Leavitt: a pioneer in adsorption technology

Fred was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1928. He attended Union Junior College from 1946 to 1948 and Newark College of Engineering from 1948 to 1950 (both in New Jersey) where he obtained his B.S. Ch.E. He then served in the US Army from 1950 to 1952, with subsequent employment with the US Army Chemical Corps. Fred was admitted to the Chemical Engineering Graduate Study Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1954 and completed a M.S. Ch. E. in 1955 and his Ph.D. in June 1957 (Leavitt 1957). On his application for admission to graduate study at RPI, Fred indicated interests in ‘‘heterogeneous systems, especially those containing dispersions of small particles .... study of solid–liquid–vapor equilibria, heat and mass transfer mechanisms, reaction kinetics, and the motion of small particles in resisting media.’’ In the career that followed, Fred made significant contributions in all of these areas. Fred joined the Molecular Sieve Group at Linde Air Products Company (Division of Union Carbide Corporation) in 1957. This timing is particularly significant to the field of adsorption due to the following events of the 1950s:
CO-Coverage-Dependent Oxygen Dissociation on Pt(111) Surface

Oxygen dissociation is one of the most critical steps in the CO oxidation reaction on transition metal surfaces. It has been shown both experimentally and theoretically that oxygen dissociation on clean platinum (Pt) surface proceeds via a precursor-mediated reaction path, with negligible activation barrier. On the other hand, the oxygen dissociation pathway under diesel engine operating conditions, where the metal surface is packed with CO molecules, is understood less clearly. In this paper, we report density functional theory calculations for O2 dissociation on Pt(111) in the presence of varying CO coverage. Classical Monte Carlo simulations have been used to get an estimate of coadsorbed CO and O2 configurations. Oxygen molecular precursor states binding energies were found to shift up in energy with increasing CO coverage, with transition state energies and final product energies following the same trend. The dissociated product state becomes endothermic beyond a critical CO coverage of 0.44 monolaye...
Domain reduction method for atomistic simulations

In this paper, a quasi-static formulation of the method of multi-scale boundary conditions (MSBCs) is derived and applied to atomistic simulations of carbon nano-structures, namely single graphene sheets and multi-layered graphite. This domain reduction method allows for the simulation of deformable boundaries in periodic atomic lattice structures, reduces the effective size of the computational domain, and consequently decreases the cost of computations. The size of the reduced domain is determined by the value of the domain reduction parameter. This parameter is related to the distance between the boundary of the reduced domain, where MSBCs are applied, and the boundary of the full domain, where the standard displacement boundary conditions are prescribed. Two types of multi-scale boundary conditions are derived: one for simulating in-layer multi-scale boundaries in a single graphene sheet and the other for simulating inter-layer multi-scale boundaries in multi-layered graphite. The method is tested on benchmark nano-indentation problems and the results are consistent with the full domain solutions.
Oral glucosamine in doses used to treat osteoarthritis worsens insulin resistance.

ABSTRACT Background Glucosamine is used to treat osteoarthritis. In animals, the compound is known to cause insulin resistance, the underlying abnormality in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Insulin resistance in humans taking oral glucosamine in doses used for osteoarthritis has not been studied. Methods Volunteer human subjects (n = 38) without known abnormality of glucose homeostasis had fasting serum glucose, insulin, and lipids determined before and after taking 1500 mg glucosamine by mouth every day for 6 weeks. Fasting insulin and glucose were used to calculate homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). Vascular elasticity was measured by pulse wave analysis. The paired Student's t test was used to compare baseline with posttreatment values. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the relation of baseline HOMA-IR with changes in other variables. Results We found a rise in HOMA-IR after 6 weeks of glucosamine (2.8 versus 3.2, P P Conclusions Notwithstanding its efficacy remaining in question, glucosamine is widely used as treatment for osteoarthritis, which is a condition associated with both obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our data indicate that persons with underlying poorer insulin sensitivity are at risk for worsening insulin resistance and vascular function with the use of glucosamine in doses used to treat osteoarthritis.
Finite Sets in Quine's New Foundations

In this paper we consider some axiomatic systems of set theory related to the system NF (New Foundations) of Quine. In particular we discuss the possible relations of cardinality between a finite set x and its subset class SC(x) = {y | y ∩ x} and also between x and its unit set class USC(x) = {{y} | y e x}. Specker [5] has shown that in NF the cardinal of a finite set x can never be the same as the cardinal of SC(x).
Analytical study of crossed atom-laser beam plasma diagnostics

A new method using crossed laser and atom beams within a plasma is capable of determining the electron density with a spatial resolution of 1 mm and a time resolution of 2–5 nsec. The measurement is done in the forward direction of the atom beam and is to a first approximation independent of electric and magnetic fields inside and outside the plasma region. A calculation is carried out for a neutral cesium beam probing a fully ionized hydrogen plasma. It is pointed out that a laser beam can also be combined with available ion beam diagnostics.
Back to the Future: Recapturing the Vision of REA in the 21st Century

In The Next Christendom, Phillip Jenkins (2002) in a broad stroke, cogently demonstrates how the center of Christianity has been shifting from the North (and the West) to South (and the East) in th...
Quality of life in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: The importance of patient-reported outcomes

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer worldwide, and is associated with poor survival. Approximately a third of patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma present with metastatic disease and a further third experience recurrence following treatment for localized disease. Until recently, the cytokines interferon-alpha and interleukin-2 were the only effective treatments available for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and were associated with a modest increase in survival in a limited subset of patients. The prognosis for metastatic renal cell carcinoma has dramatically improved with the development of novel targeted agents including the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors, sunitinib and sorafenib. However, renal cell carcinoma and the therapies used to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma are associated with a range of symptoms and treatment-related adverse events which contribute to the burden of disease. Common adverse events associated with targeted agents include fatigue, gastrointestinal and skin-associated toxicities. These adverse events, while mostly mild and manageable, affect the patients' health-related quality of life. As this review of the available quality of life data shows, assessment of the impact of the disease and its treatment on health-related quality of life may influence the choice of treatment and highlights the importance of incorporating patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials.
By the Numbers &#x2014; A Researcher's Bonanza of ICT Policy-Level Information

Many valuable sources for detailed analyses of international information and communications technology policy data are available at low or no cost from various organizations, but most have a policy agenda, too.
Thrombospondin-1 plus irinotecan: a novel antiangiogenic-chemotherapeutic combination that inhibits the growth of advanced human colon tumor xenografts in mice.

Chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced or metastatic colon cancer, utilizing agents such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and irinotecan (CPT-11), produce a 5-year survival of about 10%. Thus, the identification of new, effective, therapeutic regimens to treat this disease remains critically important. To this end, selected antiangiogenic agents, compounds that inhibit neovascularization, have been shown to produce a modest tumor growth-inhibitory effect with little systemic toxicity. Thus these agents are attractive candidates for use with conventional chemotherapeutic agents to treat this disease. To evaluate this approach, experiments were undertaken to assess the cytotoxic and antineoplastic activity of CPT-11 and the antiangiogenic agent thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in the HT-29 model of human colon cancer. These agents were chosen since CPT-11 is a camptothecin analogue efficacious in the treatment of colon cancer and TSP-1 is a human glycoprotein that possess antiangiogenic activity. As expected, in vitro studies revealed that a 5-day exposure to TSP-1 at concentrations up to 130 μg/ml was not cytotoxic alone and did not affect the cytotoxicity of CPT-11, or of its active metabolite SN38, in HT-29 cells. Similarly, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, TSP-1 alone induced only a slight cell growth-inhibitory effect and did not significantly increase the cytotoxicity of either CPT-11 or SN38. The antineoplastic activities of TSP-1 and CPT-11 were assessed in athymic (nude) female mice bearing advanced subcutaneous xenografts of HT-29 cells. Mice received TSP-1 alone (5–40 mg/kg per day) intraperitoneally (i.p.), CPT-11 alone (100–300 mg/kg, i.p.), TSP-1 (10 mg/kg per day) plus CPT-11 (125 mg/kg), or TSP-1 (20 mg/kg per day) plus CPT-11 (150 mg/kg). TSP-1 was injected daily (Monday through Friday) for 4 weeks (20 injections in total) whereas CPT-11 was administered once weekly on days 0, 7, 14 and 21. By day 28, treatment with TSP-1 alone (5, 10 or 20 mg/kg per day) induced a dose-dependent inhibition of xenograft growth. Further, treatment with 10 or 20 mg/kg per day resulted in an average treated tumor size/control tumor size (T/C) on day 28 of 0.68 (range 0.64–0.71) or 0.58 (range 0.54–0.60), respectively. CPT-11 at all doses significantly inhibited tumor growth with an average T/C value of 0.21 (range 0.15–0.27). However, the 250 and 300 mg/kg regimens induced significant toxicity and mortality. When TSP-1 was combined with CPT-11, a significant (P≤0.05) inhibition of tumor growth also was observed (T/C ≤0.17, range 0.11–0.20). Importantly, this enhanced tumor growth inhibition was obtained without significant toxicity. The therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.
A potential clinical application of the end systolic pressure volume relationship to the treatment of heart failure

Abstract The linear nature of the end systolic pressure volume relationship and the reduced compliance of the ventricle in failure are used to write an equation that predicts the end systolic pressure needed to achieve a desired cardiac index and to write an equation that predicts what the cardiac index will be at a given end systolic pressure. This would be useful both in guiding afterload reduction therapy and in prospectively assessing its potential.
Defeating transnational insurgencies: The best offense is a good fence

Transnational insurgencies’ unique challenges are not amenable to the offensive strategies that the Bush Doctrine emphasizes against terrorism. History strongly suggests that embracing a containment strategy, combining border defenses with aggressive propaganda and international intelligence cooperation, would be more successful in Iraq and beyond.
Grayscale optical correlator

A compact (Camcorder size), ultrahigh-speed, grayscale optical correlator capable of using grayscale input and real-valued correlation filter is reported. The unique bipolar-amplitude correlation filter modulation capability has enabled the direct implementation of composite filter algorithm such as MACH[8]. The direct usage of grayscale input also eliminated the need of image preprocessing (e.g. Sobel filtering used for binary optical correlator). System architecture of this grayscale optical correlator will be described. Experimental results obtained using optically implemented MACH filter, for the first time, will also be provided.
The DIRECTIONS nonprofit resource assessment model: A tool for small nonprofit organizations

Rapid growth in the number of nonprofits has created a shortage of trained staff and experienced volunteer leadership for nonprofit organizations. The Nonprofit Education Initiative (NEI) in South Carolina developed the DIRECTIONS nonprofit resource assessment model to provide tools to help nonprofits better meet the challenges facing our communities - tools that will help nonprofits develop effective plans, integrate resources, diversify revenue, communicate effective messages, and motivate constituents. These tools are also inexpensive and available close to home. The research and development process was a cooperative effort between the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management and Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, with funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Cooperative Extension is a component of the land grant university system, the largest educational delivery system in the world. Cooperative Extension's role is to plan, execute, deliver, and evaluate learning programs consistent with locally identified needs. It helps people acquire the understanding, capabilities, attitudes, and skills essential to solving farm, home, and community problems. This article gives a background of the challenges facing nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, the steps taken to develop this new assessment model, and results of research conducted throughout the development process.
FORMULATION AND SOLUTION OF A COMBINED TRAIN ROUTING AND MAKEUP, AND EMPTY CAR DISTRIBUTION MODEL

This paper presents the formulation and solution of a combined train routing and makeup, and empty car distribution model. This formulation results in a large scale mixed-integer programming problem with nonlinear objective function and linear constraints. A heuristic decomposition technique is developed to solve the model. This solution procedure exploits the special structure of the problem and decomposes it into smaller subproblems based on the type of decision variables. Model testing results are also presented.
Abnormal diurnal variation of B lymphocyte circulation patterns in major depression

With the exception of the function of natural killer (NK) cells, few reproducible immune correlates of the syndrome of major depression have been described (for review see Stein et al 1991), Circa(,ian ,nythl~S ,u¢ often dist upted in major depression. These depression.related rhythm abnormalities include neurobiological parameters that have been implicated in central nervous system mediation of immune function, such as levels of cortisol and melatonin and estimates of noradrenergic activity (Halaris 1987). Subsets of circulating lymphocytes exhibit different circadian (or ultradian) rhythms, and it is believed that immunologic rhythms may be entrained to rhythms of central nervous system origin (for review see Ottaway and Husband 1992). Recently, we demonstrated that the diurnal variation of NK cell measures is dismpted in patients with major depression, with the differences observed between depressed and control subjects being pronounced in the morning (Petitto et al 1992). Like NK cells, circulating B cells--antibody-producing lymphocytes that express surface immunogiobulins (lg).--also exhibit normal patterns of diurnal variation, with blood levels increasing from early morning to late afternoon in healthy volunteers (Abo and Kumagi 1978; Abo et al 1981). To explore further the hypothesis that the diurnal variation of other parameters of cellular immune physiology may be dysregulated in major depression, we compared the diurnal variation of surface-lg-positive B lymphocytes of inpatients with major depression with normal comparison subjects (on a schedule of diurnal activity and nocturnal rest) at 8 AM and 4 PM on the same day. Here we report that the diurnal variation in B-lymphocyte circulation patterns in peripheral blood are disrupted in patients with major depression.
Fluid flow in the interline region of an evaporating non-zero contact angle meniscus

Abstract The transport processes in the interline region of a stationary evaporating meniscus with a non-zero contact angle are qualitatively described. Previously published data on evaporating drops are then discussed. A change in the thickness of the adsorbed thin film in the interline region resulting from evaporation can cause both contact angle hysteresis and fluid flow.
Unit of measurement used and parent medication dosing errors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adopting the milliliter as the preferred unit of measurement has been suggested as a strategy to improve the clarity of medication instructions; teaspoon and tablespoon units may inadvertently endorse nonstandard kitchen spoon use. We examined the association between unit used and parent medication errors and whether nonstandard instruments mediate this relationship. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a larger study of provider communication and medication errors. English- or Spanish-speaking parents ( n = 287) whose children were prescribed liquid medications in 2 emergency departments were enrolled. Medication error defined as: error in knowledge of prescribed dose, error in observed dose measurement (compared to intended or prescribed dose); >20% deviation threshold for error. Multiple logistic regression performed adjusting for parent age, language, country, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education, health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults); child age, chronic disease; site. RESULTS: Medication errors were common: 39.4% of parents made an error in measurement of the intended dose, 41.1% made an error in the prescribed dose. Furthermore, 16.7% used a nonstandard instrument. Compared with parents who used milliliter-only, parents who used teaspoon or tablespoon units had twice the odds of making an error with the intended (42.5% vs 27.6%, P = .02; adjusted odds ratio=2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–4.4) and prescribed (45.1% vs 31.4%, P = .04; adjusted odds ratio=1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–3.5) dose; associations greater for parents with low health literacy and non–English speakers. Nonstandard instrument use partially mediated teaspoon and tablespoon–associated measurement errors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support a milliliter-only standard to reduce medication errors.
“I was not Invited to be a [CHW] … I asked to be one”: Motives for Community Mobilization among Women Community Health Workers in Mexico

Despite health educators’ revitalized interest in community mobilization for health, little attention has been given to participants’ motives for mobilizing. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the understanding of community mobilizing by analyzing the motives for mobilization among a group of women community health workers (CHWs), members of a community-based organization in Mexico. The study is guided by critical feminist and social constructivist theories. It aims at identifying the categories of motives used by women CHWs and exploring how these motives are created while presenting women’s own voices. Women’s motives fall into four categories: getting out, serving, learning, and women’s betterment. These motives blend personal and public motives. The analysis suggests that mobilization for health may be enhanced by addressing both the personal satisfaction of individuals and the accomplishment of public goods. The study of motives may be useful for the recruitment and retention of particip...
Status Epilepticus Treatment and Outcome in Children: What Might the Future Hold?

Status epilepticus is a life-threatening emergency that requires urgent treatment. Over the past decade, numerous advances have been made in the management of status epilepticus. Clinical studies have now established the benefit of early, aggressive treatment of status epilepticus with benzodiazepines in both prehospital and hospital settings. Neuroscientific advances are revealing mechanisms of status epilepticus that could translate into targets for treating acute status epilepticus and even reducing epileptogenesis. This article discusses future trends in the diagnosis, neurobiology, and treatment of status epilepticus.
Evaluating the Philosophies of Theory-Building in Case Studies

The purpose of this reply to StilesA¢â‚¬â„¢ (2009) article is threefold: identify his particular philosophy of theory-building, expose some of its problems for evaluation, and describe another philosophy of theory-building as a point of comparison. The article begins by describing how StilesA¢â‚¬â„¢ philosophical approach to theory-building is ontologically dualist in nature. Dualism is evident in his view of experience, signs, meanings, knowledge, and truth. We point not only to general problems with this dualism but also to specific problems with StilesA¢â‚¬â„¢ particular formulation. We then describe a nondualist philosophy in a successful case study movement outside psychology, namely Consumer Reports car ratings. It is only in comparison with such nondualist approaches that we can begin to evaluate StilesA¢â‚¬â„¢ proposal and properly serve the important project of case study evaluation.
Ab initio calculation of the effective valence shell hamiltonian of carbon: Simultaneous treatment of neutral and ion states

Abstract The n = 2 effective valence shell hamiltonian, H v , of carbon is evaluated through second order using 3 P Hartree—Fock orbitals (5s4p) with added d functions to provide results within a few percent of the spd convergence limits. The calculated H v is employed to evaluate the n = 2 valence states of C, C − , C + , C 2+ and C 3+ with an average deviation of the 21 excitation energies, ionization potentials and electron affinity from experimental values of 0.32 eV. Three-electron parts of H v contribute substantially to a number of these excitation energies.
Surface-barrier photoconverters with graded-gap layers in the space-charge region

A novel possibility of controlling the parameters of p-Cu1.8S-n-II-VI surface-barrier structures by embedding a thin graded-gap layer into a photoconverter space-charge region (SCR) is implemented. The feature of quasi-electric fields built in the SCR, i.e., the fact that an increase in the drift field for minority carriers can be accompanied by a decrease in the potential barrier for majority carriers, is considered. The proper choice of the parameters of the Cd x Zn1 − x S graded-gap layer embedded in the Cu1.8S-ZnS structure SCR made it possible to double the quantum efficiency in the ultraviolet spectral region. For Cu1.8S-CdS photoconverters with a (CdS) x (ZnSe)1 − x intermediate layer, dark diode currents are decreased by three orders of magnitude while retaining a high quantum efficiency.
Implementing Neuronal Plasticity in NeuroAIDS: the Experience of Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor and other Neurotrophic Factors

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) causes mild or severe neurological problems, termed HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), even when HIV patients receive antiretroviral therapy. Thus, novel adjunctive therapies are necessary to reduce or abolish the neurotoxic effect of HIV. However, new therapies require a better understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of HIV-induced neurotoxicity. HAND subjects are characterized by being profoundly depressed, and they experience deficits in memory, learning and movements. Experimental evidence has also shown that HIV reduces neurogenesis. These deficits resemble those occurring in premature brain aging or in a brain with impaired neural repair properties. Thus, it appears that HIV diminishes neuronal survival, along with reduced neuronal connections. These two phenomena should not occur in the adult and developing brain when synaptic plasticity is promoted by neurotrophic factors, polypeptides that are present in adult synapses. This review will outline experimental evidence as well as present emerging concepts for the use of neurotrophic factors and in particular brain-derived neurotrophic factor as an adjunct therapy to prevent HIV-mediated neuronal degeneration and restore the loss of synaptic connections.
Modeling ISP tier design

We model how Internet Service Providers design tier rates, tier prices, and network capacity. Web browsing and video streaming are considered as the two dominant Internet applications. We propose a novel set of utility functions that depend on a user's willingness to pay for each application, the performance of each application, and the time devoted to each application. For a monopoly provider, the demand function for each tier is derived as a function of tier price and performance. We first give conditions for the tier rates, tier prices, and network capacity that maximize Internet Service Provider profit, defined as subscription revenue minus capacity cost. We then show how an Internet Service Provider may simplify tier and capacity design, by allowing their engineering department to set network capacity, their marketing department to set tier prices, and both to jointly set tier rates. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the magnitude of the decrease in profit resulting from such a simplified design.
Implementation of traffic management using transit probes

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) operates a central traffic management system used for both day-to-day surveillance as well as for traveler information. In King county real-time traffic speed information is created using virtual sensors based on tracking transit vehicles. In order for this new information source to be merged into the traffic management system, a number of questions, such as probe density in time and space, need to be resolved. This paper presents the solution developed at the University of Washington (UW).
Highly active antiretroviral therapy in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma: implications for the design of therapeutic trials in patients with advanced, symptomatic Kaposi's sarcoma.

TO THE EDITOR: The article by Dr Krown provides very appropriate and timely considerations with regard to the management of patients with advanced, symptomatic, AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (AIDS-KS) in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and suggests, on the basis of a comprehensive review of the literature, that in T1 (according to the AIDS Clinical Trials Group [ACTG] staging classification) symptomatic KS patients, concomitant chemotherapy should be added to HAART without awaiting a response to HAART. Moreover, the author, referencing our study, states that “T1 and T0 groupings have been associated with distinct survival distribution.” In response, we would like to clarify our data as reported by Dr Krown. We believe that our data may help to better define which group of patients within the T1 category need a timely institution of chemotherapy concomitantly to HAART, and for which group it is too risky to await a possible response to HAART. In our study, we collected clinical and survival data from 211 patients with AIDS-KS enrolled in two prospective cohort studies beginning in 1996, the time when HAART became available in Italy, with the aim of validating the ACTG staging system for AIDS-KS in the HAART era. All patients received HAART. Our analysis identified two different risk categories: a good-risk group (T0S0, T1S0, and T0S1) and a poor-risk group (T1S1). The 3-year survival rate of patients with T1S1 was 53%, significantly lower than the 3-year survival rates of patients with T0S0, T1S0, and T0S1, which were 88%, 80%, and 81%, respectively (P .0001). Therefore, the T category alone does not provide an appropriate survival discrimination, as occurred in the pre-HAART period. When we considered only patients with pulmonary involvement (namely,Tp1) as compared with T1 patients without pulmonary disease (namely,Tp0), the 3-year survival rate was 46% for Tp1 and 77% for Tp0 patients (P .0002), indicating that patients with pulmonary involvement identify the group of patients with the poorest prognosis, independent of the other ACTG variables. Therefore, we believe that we were able to identify, within the T1 category, a specific subgroup of KS patients (ie, T1S1, Tp1) with an unfavorable survival rate in whom HAART and concomitant chemotherapy should be used.
Coordinate effects of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protein Tat and cellular protein Purα on DNA replication initiated at the JC virus origin

JC virus (JCV) causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a demyelinating disease in brains of individuals with AIDS. Previous work has shown that the Tat protein, encoded by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), can interact with cellular protein Purα to enhance both TAR-dependent HIV-1 transcription and JCV late gene transcription. Tat has been shown to activate JCV transcription through interaction with Purα, which binds to promoter sequence elements near the JCV origin of replication. DNA footprinting has shown that Purα and large T-antigen cooperatively interact at several binding sites in the origin and transcriptional control region. Overexpression of Purα inhibits replication initiated at the JCV origin by T-antigen. In transfected glial cells Tat reversed this inhibition and enhanced DNA replication. In an in vitro replication system maximal activation by Tat, more than sixfold the levels achieved with T-antigen alone, was achieved in the presence of Purα. Effects of mutant Tat proteins on both activation of replication and binding to Purα have revealed that Cys22 exerts a conformational effect that affects both activities. The origin of an archetypal strain of JCV was less susceptible to activation of replication by Tat relative to the rearranged Mad-1 strain. These results have revealed a previously undocumented role for Tat in DNA replication and have indicated a regulatory role for JCV origin auxiliary sequences in replication and activation by Tat.
Pulsed Micro-Undulator for Polarized Positron Production

We represent here the elements of design and results of the testing for the helical undulator with ∼ 2.5-mm period, manufactured in Cornell LEPP for polarized positron production at SLAC. At 2.3 kA undulator reaches K∼ 0.2 and operated at 30 Hz.
Introduction: the Olympic Flame Relay. Local knowledges of a global ritual form

This article introduces and contextualizes an anthropological study of the Olympic Flame Relay across 25 years, from Los Angeles 1984 through the aftermath of Beijing, punctuated by the announcemen...
Estimating Locations and Magnitudes of Earthquakes in Southern California from Modified Mercalli Intensities

Modified Mercalli intensity (mmi) assignments, instrumental moment magnitudes M , and epicenter locations of thirteen 5.6 ≤ M ≤ 7.1 “training-set” events in southern California were used to obtain the attenuation relation mmi = 1.64 + 1.41 M − 0.00526 * Δ h − 2.63 * log Δ h , where Δ h is the hypocentral distance in kilometers and M is moment magnitude. Intensity magnitudes M I and locations for five 5.9 ≤ M ≤ 7.3 independent test events were consistent with the instrumental source parameters. Fourteen “historical” earthquakes between 1890 and 1927 were then analyzed. Of particular interest are the M I 7.2 9 February 1890 and M I 6.6 28 May 1892 earthquakes, which were previously assumed to have occurred near the southern San Jacinto fault; a more likely location is in the Eastern California Shear Zone (ecsz). These events, and the 1992 M 7.3 Landers and 1999 M 7.1 Hector Mine events, suggest that the ecsz has been seismically active since at least the end of the nineteenth century. The earthquake catalog completeness level in the ecsz is ∼ M 6.5 at least until the early twentieth century. Online material : Figures and table of empirical mmi site corrections.
Theoretical and experimental investigation of bias and temperature effects on high resistivity silicon substrates for RF applications

Theoretical and experimental comparisons show that the RF characteristics of a CPW in Schottky contact with a HR Si substrate are bias independent for all practical temperatures, up to 100/spl deg/C. Bias dependence on the RF characteristics of the transmission line are noticed above 100/spl deg/C when the ohmic dielectric loss of the HR Si becomes the dominant loss mechanism on the coplanar structures under study. This is a direct result of the increase of intrinsic carrier density.
Automatic selection of control points for deformable-model-based target tracking

A novel curve segmentation algorithm for determining control points for deformable-model-based target tracking is proposed. The algorithm is parameterless enabling a fully-fledged automated tracking regardless of the shape of the object being tracked. Compared with other curve segmentation algorithms, it selects a minimal number of control points that yet deliver a superior shape description. The algorithm is comparatively tested with other curve segmentation algorithms in a variety of characteristic target outlines.
Advanced technologies studios

UW Educational Partnerships and Learning Technologies (EPLT) is driving innovations in teaching and learning. One of our efforts is the creation of three advanced technologies studios. This paper introduces the suite of informal spaces, details the path from students' informal use of technology to the faculty integration of those technologies in formal learning, and discusses our research and evaluation of this process. Advanced Technologies Suite includes: Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) - This suite is a collection of hardware and software designed for recording, editing, and processing audio files. The DAW allows students to record analog instruments, vocals or musical, to the computer in a digital format, import previously recorded audio into the system, and provide clients with several audio editing environments.TeamSpot - These suites are an innovative server-driven laptop workspace that facilitates group collaboration through a 50" plasma display. The plasma display becomes the collaborators public desktop or shared workspace. We include Webster Smartboard software to present, annotate, archive, and share information, server software that permits remote control of the public desktop by all collaboration members, and software to facilitate sharing files and information easily between the public desktop or between any of the other participants.Digital Presentation Studio (DPS) - This studio contains a podium, a 50" plasma display, and seating for a small group of evaluators, a fixed camera, and two microphones to capture the presentation. A student logs in, enters a presentation title and begins recording. Everything else is handled automatically and in the background.
Demonstration of a novel hybrid silicon-resin high density interconnect (HDI) substrate

We examine the thermomechanical tradeoffs in a novel technology for high density interconnect (HDI) substrates. Fabricated from silicon (Si) wafers with planar cavities of highly-filled composite encapsulant, the technology leverages established Si photolithography but offers improved mechanical properties. Modules are subject to thermomechanical stress during encapsulant cure, assembly reflow, module fabrication, and operation. We show that improvements in junction-to-ambient sinking offset the heat density increase in such systems and low expansion encapsulants prevent failure during cure. We employ finite element modeling and materials testing to show the effect of wafer design and material selection on the stresses in the module.
Energetics of the Homolytic C-H and C-Cl Bond Cleavages in Polychlorobenzenes: The Role of Electronic and Steric Effects

Geometries of (poly)chlorosubstituted benzenes and phenyl radicals are optimized at the BLYP/6-311G** level of theory. The radicals, which are all planar and of the U-type, possess geometries that are influenced by both electronic and indirect steric effects. The total energies of the species under study are quantitatively analyzed with simple additive schemes involving the chlorine-chlorine and chlorine-trivalent carbon interactions. Comparisons with the few available experimental data reveal that the computed C-H and C-Cl bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of benzene and its chloro- derivatives are systematically too low by ca. 5 kcal/mol and that the experimental C-Cl BDE of 1,3-dichlorobenzene is most probably in error. The substituents are predicted to facilitate the homolytic C -Cl bond cleavage by up to 6.6 kcal/mol while making the C-H cleavage less favorable by as much as 3.8 kcal/mol. The trends in BDEs are readily accounted for by a superposition of electronic end steric effects. In all cases, the C -Cl bond cleavages are found to require significantly less energy than the C-H ones, implying kinetic control of the aryl radical formation in the course of pyrolysis of (poly)chlorobenzenes.