cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Traumatic injury risk and agricultural transitions: A view from the American Southeast and beyond.

OBJECTIVES: Bioarchaeological research has documented a general decline in health with the transition from foraging to farming, primarily with respect to changing patterns of morbidity. Less is known about changes in injury risk, an aspect of health more obviously tied to particular landscapes and behaviors associated with different subsistence regimes. The purpose of this research is to evaluate several hypotheses emerging from the ideal free distribution model (Fretwell & Lucas, ) that predict injury risk based on subsistence-specific practices and land use patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Postcranial fracture frequencies for long bones and clavicles in human skeletal remains from three Southeast U.S. regions permit examination of variability in injury risk among low-intensity (floodplain) farmers. Published data on six hunter-gatherer samples, four low-intensity agriculturalist samples, and six high-intensity agriculturalist samples comprise a comparative sample for examining variability in injury risk across three distinct subsistence traditions. Differences are evaluated using Z scores and the Fisher Exact test, Chi-Square test, and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: While statistically significant differences are apparent among low-intensity farming groups in the Southeast sample, in the global comparison postcranial fractures are significantly less common in low-intensity agriculturalists than in hunter-gatherers or high-intensity agriculturalists. DISCUSSION: The results of this study support the hypothesis that, with respect to traumatic injury risk, low-intensity farming is a risk-averse subsistence strategy in comparison with full-time foraging or high-intensity agriculture. These data suggest that it is not agriculture per se that predicts an increase in this health risk, but rather the mode and intensity of agricultural production, findings that have important ramifications for our understanding of the health consequences of major subsistence transitions.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Language: en
Technology versus teachers in the early literacy classroom: an investigation of the effectiveness of the Istation integrated learning system

Guided by Vygotsky’s social learning theory, this study reports a 24-week investigation on whether regular use of Istation®, an integrated learning system used by approximately 4 million students in the United States, had an effect on the early literacy achievement of children in twelve kindergarten classrooms. A mixed-method, quasi-experimental design was constructed using propensity scores. Also investigated were the effects of the level of teacher literacy support on early literacy achievement and the interaction between Istation® use and the level of teacher literacy support. A descriptive discriminant analysis was performed to determine the main effect of Istation®. The level of teacher support and the interaction effect was then tested using a multivariate between-subject analysis. Results indicated that Istation® did have a statistically significant effect on the early literacy skills of the kindergarten students studied and could explain 17.7% of the variance in group differences. Teacher literacy support and the interaction between teacher support and Istation® were not significant. This study considers the relationship between technology and early literacy and concludes that Istation® can serve as a more knowledgeable other as students develop some early literacy skills; however, teachers are still needed to provide complete literacy instruction for young students.
Real time optical Biopsy: Time-resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy instrumentation and validation

The Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TR-FS) has the potential to differentiate tumor and normal tissue in real time during surgical excision. In this manuscript, we describe the design of a novel TR-FS device, along with preliminary data on detection accuracy for fluorophores in a mixture. The instrument is capable of near real-time fluorescence lifetime acquisition in multiple spectral bands and analysis. It is also able to recover fluorescence lifetime with sub-20ps accuracy as validated with individual organic fluorescence dyes and dye mixtures yielding lifetime values for standard fluorescence dyes that closely match with published data. We also show that TR-FS is able to quantify the relative concentration of fluorescence dyes in a mixture by the unmixing of lifetime decays. We show that the TR-FS prototype is able to identify in near-real time the concentrations of dyes in a complex mixture based on previously trained data. As a result, we demonstrate that in complex mixtures of fluorophores, the relative concentration information is encoded in the fluorescence lifetime across multiple spectral bands. We show for the first time the temporal and spectral measurements of a mixture of fluorochromes and the ability to differentiate relative concentrations of each fluorochrome mixture in real time.
Positive Youth Development Among Minority Youth: A Relational Developmental Systems Model

We present an overview of the positive youth development (PYD) perspective and the relational developmental systems (RDS) metatheory that frames this perspective. We describe the Lerner and Lerner model of PYD, and some of the findings from the 4-H Study of PYD regarding how thriving can be promoted among America’s diverse youth. We also address limitations of this research, including the lack of a representative sample of minority youth participants in this study. We discuss how further RDS-based PYD research may be designed with the explicit goal of addressing some of the limitations of past work. We present implications for applying what we have learned from PYD research to programs that aim to promote thriving among minority youth in the U.S. and internationally.
Litigation Risk and the Regulation of Non-GAAP Reporting

The SEC has recently raised renewed concerns about firms’ reporting of adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings metrics. Regulators have significant interest in understanding the factors that help constrain non-GAAP reporting. We first provide evidence on the relation between securities litigation risk and firms’ propensity to report non-GAAP earnings. We then provide evidence on how this relation is moderated by the regulation of non-GAAP disclosure under Reg G. Using a plausibly exogenous litigation shock based on a U.S. circuit court ruling, we find a robust negative relation between litigation risk and non-GAAP reporting prior to the passage of Reg G. This negative relation suggests that, in the absence of rules-based regulation of non-GAAP reporting, litigation risk helps to constrain non-GAAP disclosure. However, our evidence suggests that the subsequent regulation of non-GAAP disclosure has decreased the sensitivity of non-GAAP disclosure to litigation risk. Specifically, we find that differences in non-GAAP reporting across judicial circuits are diminished and the negative association between litigation risk and non-GAAP reporting is significantly attenuated following the implementation of Reg G. Our results are consistent with claims that Reg G has had the unintended consequence of shielding firms’ non-GAAP disclosures from litigation risk by creating a de facto “safe harbor” for non-GAAP disclosure. Finally, we use our quasi-natural-experimental setting to validate a new proxy for circuit-specific litigation risk that future researchers can employ in any setting.
Dosimetric impacts of endorectal balloon in CyberKnife stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early‐stage prostate cancer

Purpose In SBRT for prostate cancer, higher fractional dose to the rectum is a major toxicity concern due to using smaller PTV margin and hypofractionation. We investigate the dosimetric impact on rectum using endorectal balloon (ERB) in prostate SBRT. Materials and methods Twenty prostate cancer patients were included in a retrospective study, ten with ERB and 10 without ERB. Optimized SBRT plans were generated on CyberKnife MultiPlan for 5 × 7.25 Gy to PTV under RTOG-0938 protocol for early-stage prostate cancer. For the rectum and the anterior half rectum, mean dose and percentage of volumes receiving 50%, 80%, 90%, and 100% prescription dose were compared. Results Using ERB, mean dose to the rectum was 62 cGy (P = 0.001) lower per fraction, and 50 cGy (P = 0.024) lower per fraction for the anterior half rectum. The average V50% , V80% , V90% , and V100% were lower by 9.9% (P = 0.001), 5.3% (P = 0.0002), 3.4% (P = 0.0002), and 1.2% (P = 0.005) for the rectum, and lower by 10.4% (P = 0.009), 8.3% (P = 0.0004), 5.4% (P = 0.0003), and 2.1% (P = 0.003) for the anterior half rectum. Conclusions Significant reductions of dose to the rectum using ERB were observed. This may lead to improvement of the rectal toxicity profiles in prostate SBRT.
Waltz of the flowers macabre

In her larger-than-life floral paintings, Georgia O’Keeffe explored the human emotions evoked by flowers, which she painted at the scale of skyscrapers to compel people to look more closely. Her success is reflected by the staying power of these paintings, which continue to provoke debate about beauty, sensuality and the subjective nature of human aesthetics [1]. An unintended consequence of O’Keefe’s art was to present flowers in the frame of reference of insect pollinators, for whom flowers exist at the scale of houses or billboards.
Plasmonic nanoantenna based ultrafast and broadband graphene photodetectors

We present broadband photodetection from 800 nm to 20 μm with operation speeds exceeding 50 GHz and responsivity levels as high as 0.6 A/W at 0.8 μm and 11.5 A/W at 20 μm by using plasmonic nanoantennas as photodetector contact electrodes on graphene.
Efficient computation of the Fisher information matrix in the EM algorithm

The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is an iterative computational method to calculate the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) from the sample data. When the MLE is available, we naturally want the Fisher information matrix (FIM) of unknown parameters. However, one of the limitations of the EM algorithm is that the FIM is not an automatic by-product of the algorithm. In this paper, we construct a simple Monte Carlo-based method requiring only the gradient values of the function we obtain from the E step and basic operations. The key part of our method is to utilize the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation method to estimate the Hessian matrix from the gradient of the conditional expectation of the complete-data log-likelihood function.
Privacy-preserving detection of anomalous phenomena in crowdsourced environmental sensing using fine-grained weighted voting

This article addresses the problem of preserving privacy of individuals who participate in collaborative environmental sensing. We observe that in many applications of societal importance, one is interested in constructing a map of the spatial distribution of a given phenomenon (e.g., temperature, CO2 concentration, water polluting agents, etc.) and mobile users can contribute with providing measurements data. However, contributing data may leak sensitive private details, as an adversary could infer the presence of a person in a certain location at a given time. This, in turn, may reveal information about other contexts (e.g., health, lifestyle choices), and may even impact an individual’s physical safety. We introduce a technique for privacy-preserving detection of anomalous phenomena, where the privacy of the individuals participating in collaborative environmental sensing is protected according to the powerful semantic model of differential privacy. We propose a differentially-private index structure to address the specific needs of anomalous phenomenon detection and derive privacy preserving query strategies that judiciously allocate the privacy budget to maintain high data accuracy. In addition, we construct an analytical model to characterize the sensed value inaccuracy introduced by the differentially-private noise injection, derive error bounds, and perform a statistical analysis that allows us to improve accuracy by using custom weights for measurements in each cell of the index structure. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves high precision in identifying anomalies, and incurs low computational overhead.
Association of Self-Report Measures with PTSD and Depression in Veterans

Purpose of review Self-report measures are common in clinical and research practice. These questionnaires permit fast evaluation of symptom severity and change over time and are sometimes used to identify the presence of possible psychiatric disorders. However, these measures may be less syndrome-specific than previously believed. In Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the PTSD Checklist (PCL) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) are commonly used both clinically and in research due to high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Clarity regarding the presumed specificity of such measures becomes important to interpretation of research results and application of psychiatric interventions. The current review intends to further this conversation. Recent findings A recent paper found that the PCL-Military version and BDI-II were equally correlated to a diagnosis of PTSD per the gold standard clinician-administered PTSD scale. Using a research sample of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, we found similar moderate to large correlations between both self-report measures and both diagnoses. A diagnosis of a depressive disorder was equally correlated with both the BDI-II and PCL. Summary Results suggest that a third, underlying factor of general distress may be the target of each presumed syndrome-specific measure. Clinicians and researchers are encouraged to use such measures to assess distress or improvement following interventions rather than for diagnostic purposes.
Advocacy Through Education

Nurses are one of the largest groups of policy stakeholders in the health-care workforce, yet their influence on policy is not necessarily commensurate with their numbers. Since 2011, grassroots action coalitions have emerged to advance the profession’s impact on health-care policy. In one state, a partnership among professional nursing organizations, policy stakeholders, and academics resulted in educational presentations focused on political advocacy knowledge and skills. The goal of this project was to bring awareness to nurses and nursing students about their potential contributions to the political and advocacy processes that shape health policy. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of focused educational presentations in correcting misconceptions, increasing awareness, and providing clarification of the roles of advanced practice registered nurses, and identifying related policy implications. This quasi-experiment used a retrospective pre–post intervention self-evaluation too...
An FPGA-based data acquisition system for directional dark matter detection

Directional dark matter detection seeks to reconstruct the angular distribution of dark matter particles traveling through the laboratory. A directional detector with high spatial resolution has the potential to increase the sensitivity per unit volume by over two orders of magnitude, but requires the development of a high-channel-count, high-speed readout system. This paper describes an FPGA-based digital back-end system to handle a 16Gbps data stream from 103 independent detector channels sampled at 1 MHz. Results of an implementation of this system are presented, along with plans for future development.
Finding Better Wide Baseline Stereo Solutions Using Feature Quality

Many robotic applications that involve relocalization or 3D scene reconstruction, have a need of finding geometry between camera images captured from widely different viewpoints. Computing epipolar geometry between wide baseline image pairs is difficult because often there are many more outliers than inliers computed at the feature correspondence stage. Abundant outliers require the naive approach to compute a huge number of random solutions to give a suitable probability that the correct solution is found. Furthermore, large numbers of outliers can also cause false solutions to appear like true solutions. We present a new method called UNIQSAC for ng weights for features to guide the random solutions towards high quality features, helping find good solutions. We also present a new method to evaluate geometry solutions that is more likely to find correct solutions. We demonstrate in a variety of different outdoor environments using both monocular and stereo image-pairs that our method produces better estimates than existing robust estimation approaches.
The influence of early intervention, informal support and the family environment on trajectories of competence for fathers raising children with developmental disabilities.

Abstract Background Scant research disentangles the relationship between parenting competence, early intervention (EI) services, the family environment and informal support among fathers of children with developmental disabilities. Aims (1) To determine the trajectory of parental competence for fathers of children with DD from age 3 to age 15. (2) Controlling for child and family characteristics, determine the main effects of the family environment, informal support, and EI services on paternal competence when their child with a developmental disability was age 3. (3) To determine whether there were lasting effects of the family environment, informal support, and the EI service system on differences in paternal competence over time. Methods This study used multilevel modeling to analyze longitudinal data from 93 American fathers from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study. Results There was no significant change over time in paternal competence after controlling for various covariates. Fathers who initially reported low levels of competence when their child was three reported continuously lower competence over time. Family relationships, positive supports, and perceived helpfulness of home visits were significant predictors of paternal competence at age three. Conclusion Implications for programs and policy include developing and adopting rigorous ways to measure and carefully monitor service provision, including assessments of paternal competence, family relationships and informal supports at the start of early intervention, and fostering continuous collaborations between providers, researchers and clinicians to address challenges in data collection.
Wetlands of Large Lakes

Lacustrine wetlands are those associated with lakes. The wetland area associated with lakes is often delineated as the outer most edge of emergent or submergent vegetation in the lake, and upland from waters edge to the point where hydric soils are no longer prevalent. The underlying geology, glacial land formation, lake currents, and fetch are some contributing factors that determine the type of wetland that will form in a given area. Variation in these factors results in the formation of a wide variety of wetlands that differ spatially, structurally, and functionally. To be considered a wetland of a large lake, a surface water connection between the wetland and lake is not necessary. Instead, wetland hydrology must be, to some extent, controlled by the lake. Groundwater linkages often play an important role in coupling lake and wetland processes. Hydrologic factors of large lakes are central to the structure and function of associated wetlands. However, wetlands only form where there is sufficient protection from hydrologic energy to allow rooted macrophytes to establish. Where wetlands do form, waves, long shore currents, and storm surges create distinct plant zonation while washing away and depositing organics. The amount of energy reaching the outer portion of the wetland is related to fetch and bathymetry. Specialized vegetation can withstand relatively high energy shorelines. The cumulative influence of stems creates drag which dampens energy to some extent shoreward. Therefore, wetlands associated with large lakes often contain predictable gradients of chemical and physical conditions from open water toward shore. Dense vegetation dampens the wave impacts, but pelagic water is forced into the outer edge of the wetland, creating a chemical or physical signature comparable to that of the open water. At the other extreme, areas of the wetland closest to shore receive little pelagic water, but instead receive a groundwater component that creates a very different chemical or physical environment. These two extremes in chemical or physical conditions merge along a natural gradient perpendicular to the shoreline, and the biota respond to this gradient. These systems are extremely complex, and therefore, understanding the processes taking place within these systems is currently a discipline of its own.
Control of isoleucine-valine biosynthesis in a valine-resistant mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 that simultaneously acquired azaleucine-resistance.

A mutant of Escherichiacoli K-12 isolated as being growth resistant to L-valine (Valr) was shown also to exhibit growth resistance to 4-azaleucine (Azlr). Transductional analysis indicated that Azlr is cotrasduced with Valr at a frequency of 100% and both are linked to leu, ara, and carA. This mutation conferring valine and azaleucine growth resistance resulted in increased levels of isoleucine and valine biosynthetic enzymes as well as those of valyl- and isoleucyl-tRNA synthetases during growth in minimal and enriched media. Acquisition of Vals/Azls results in the restoration of normal regulation of both classes of ilv enzymes and normal patterns of the tRNAIle species. The overall regulatory patterns observed for individual isoleucine and valine gene products suggest differential participation of isoleucine and valine and/or isoleucyl- and valyl-tRNA's in control of expression of the respective structural genes.
Analysis of residual stresses in Al-Li repair welds and mitigation techniques

In this paper, the recent results based on a comprehensive study on repair weld residual stresses are presented. Advanced finite element techniques were used to characterize the residual stress evolution in Al-Li alloy weldments, particularly under repair welding conditions. The present analysis procedures considered three-dimensional residual stress characteristics in the repair welds using a shell element model. Local residual stress details were analyzed by a generalized plane-strain model with prescribed translation and rotation conditions established from the global shell element model. Experimental residual stress measurements were conducted using X-ray diffraction methods. A good agreement between the finite element results and experimental measurements was obtained. Finally, a novel welding repair procedure (termed as a thermal stretching technique) was proposed to mitigate the weld residual stresses in repair.
Posttraumatic stress disorder in an urban population of young adults: risk factors for chronicity.

Objective Despite progress in epidemiologic research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little is known about factors that distinguish chronic from nonchronic PTSD. In a previous report, the authors identified a set of personal predispositions associated with PTSD following traumatic events in a general population sample of young adults. The purpose of this analysis was to identify characteristics of chronic PTSD and examine whether any of the suspected risk factors for PTSD was associated specifically with chronic PTSD. Method A random sample of 1,007 21- to 30-year-old members of a large health maintenance organization in the Detroit area was interviewed, using the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), revised for DSM-III-R. The analysis was performed on data from 394 respondents who reported traumatic events, of whom 93 met criteria for PTSD. Chronic PTSD was defined as duration of symptoms for 1 year or more. Results Persons with chronic PTSD (N = 53) had, on the average, a significantly higher total number of PTSD symptoms and higher rates of overreactivity to stimuli that symbolized the stressor and interpersonal numbing than persons with nonchronic PTSD. The rates of one or more additional anxiety or affective disorders and a variety of medical conditions were higher in persons with chronic than nonchronic PTSD. Family history of antisocial behavior and female sex were associated specifically with chronic PTSD. Conclusions The findings suggest that chronic PTSD may be associated with specific risk factors and clinical features. Longitudinal data on the course of PTSD are needed to determine whether the distinct features and the medical and psychiatric histories of persons with chronic PTSD are complications attendant on a chronic course or coexisting disturbances that inhibit recovery.
EPR STUDIES OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AT MOLYBDENUM OXIDE SURFACES

We report an EPR investigation of paramagnetic species produced on MoO3-SiO2 catalysts by irradiation with uv light at low temperatures in H2 and O2. In H2 alone, the catalyst is photoreduced, giving Mo5+ species and adsorbed H atoms. In the presence of both H2 and O2, adsorbed O2 − and OH radicals are formed. These react on warming above 77 K to produce O− and HO2, which subsequently decay on warming to room temperature.
The effects of role models on college graduation rates

Many believe that the presence of role models positively influences the behavior and success of students. We test one aspect of this contention by focusing upon the impact that Black, Asian, Hispanic, White and women role models have upon graduation rates at 176 four-year, public colleges. We find only limited evidence in favor of role model hypotheses as they relate to individual institutional graduation rates. A 1% increase in full-time Black faculty on a campus is associated with a .59% increase in the graduation rate of Black students on that campus, but we do not find strong results for any other student group. This suggests that we should be less sweeping and more evidence-based in our approaches to questions involving campus diversity.
Wearable Devices for Precision Medicine and Health State Monitoring

Wearable technologies will play an important role in advancing precision medicine by enabling measurement of clinically-relevant parameters describing an individual's health state. The lifestyle and fitness markets have provided the driving force for the development of a broad range of wearable technologies that can be adapted for use in healthcare. Here we review existing technologies currently used for measurement of the four primary vital signs: temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure, along with physical activity, sweat, and emotion. We review the relevant physiology that defines the measurement needs and evaluate the different methods of signal transduction and measurement modalities for the use of wearables in healthcare.
Distinct driven steady states emerge from diverse initial textures in rolled nanocomposites

Abstract Severe plastic deformation is a widespread method of making high-performance metallic materials. Single-phase polycrystalline metals undergoing severe plastic deformation develop steady-state textures that are characteristic of the mode of deformation. By contrast, we show that two-phase, Cu-Nb nano-laminate composites reach a variety of different steady-state textures under a single mode of deformation. Using molecular statics simulations and a novel algorithm for crystal rotation analysis, we observe that the final, steady state texture and interface character in these materials depends on the initial texture of the composite. This finding suggests that the range of bulk Cu-Nb nano-composite textures that may be made by severe plastic deformation is larger than previously demonstrated, with multiple plastically-driven steady states accessible, depending on initial texture. We propose a modification of accumulative roll bonding with highly textured seed layers as a means of accessing different driven steady states in layered composites.
Parenchymal-Sparing Surgery: What Is Behind It?

Approximately 50% of patients with colorectal cancer ultimately develop liver metastases. Treatment strategy for colorectal liver metastases has evolved during the last two decades with increase in the use of liver resection and advancements in medical therapy. As hepatectomy is considered the cornerstone of treatment for patients with colorectal liver metastases, the use of parenchymal-sparing hepatectomy has played an increasingly important role in expanding the patient population eligible for surgery. A number of studies have demonstrated the oncologic and technical benefits of parenchymal-sparing surgery in comparison with major hepatectomy. This chapter reviews the rationale and indications for a parenchymal-sparing approach, and the functional and oncologic benefits and techniques particularly applicable to this approach.
Partial Discharge Growth Characteristics of Transformer Insulation Board Under AC-DC Compound Electric Field

One of the most prominent problems under operation condition of converter transformer is that the oil-paper insulation is bearing superposition of AC-DC voltage. However, there are only pure DC and AC Voltage test in the delivery test. There is large difference between test and operation condition. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out research on oil-paper insulation system partial discharge and breakdown voltage characteristics and mechanism under AC-DC compound voltage. This research set the superposition of AC-DC power and the test system. Some tests had been carried out to research the influence of initial voltage of partial discharge under different AC and DC component and summarize the law of initial partial discharge. Explored the transformer board partial discharge characteristics and mechanism under AC-DC compound voltage.
Integrated concurrent engineering teams for increased efficiency in flight projects

A highly integrated Concurrent Engineering Team (CET) within a flight project evolves in its function and has the potential to provide many benefits through the project lifecycle. The benefits include superior systems-oriented design products, as well as overall improved project efficiency and higher-performing interpersonal relationships within the project. If physically integrated, this can manifest as a Concurrent Engineering Center (CEC) centrally located within a project’s physical office space. Here we discuss the process to establish and maintain a tightly integrated engineering and design team for providing highly streamlined service to the project, including a cost/benefits analysis discussion.
Abstract 13180: Ultrasound Jugular Venous Pressure Collapse Point Predicts Elevated Right Atrial Pressure on Right Heart Catheterization in Obese and Nonobese Patients

Introduction: Accurate intravascular volume status assessment is central to heart failure management, but current non-invasive bedside techniques remain a challenge. Visual inspection of jugular ve...
Human and Machine Interpretation of Expressions in Formal Systems

This paper uses a proof of Godels theorem, implemented on a computer, to explore how a person or a computer can examine such a proof, understand it, and evaluate its validity. It is argued that, in order to recognize it (1) as Godel's theorem, and (2) as a proof that there is an undecidable statement in the language of PM, a person must possess a suitable semantics. As our analysis reveals no differences between the processes required by people and machines to understand Godel's theorem and manipulate it symbolically, an effective way to characterize this semantics is to model the human cognitive system as a Turing Machine with sensory inputs. La logistique n'est plus sterile: elle engendre la contradicion! – Henri Poincare ‘Les mathematiques et la logique’
Rocket Testing and Integrated System Health Management

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) describes a set of system capabilities that in aggregate perform: determination of condition for each system element, detection of anomalies, diagnosis of causes for anomalies, and prognostics for future anomalies and system behavior. The ISHM should also provide operators with situational awareness of the system by integrating contextual and timely data, information, and knowledge (DIaK) as needed. ISHM capabilities can be implemented using a variety of technologies and tools. This chapter provides an overview of ISHM contributing technologies and describes in further detail a novel implementation architecture along with associated taxonomy, ontology, and standards. The operational ISHM testbed is based on a subsystem of a rocket engine test stand. Such test stands contain many elements that are common to manufacturing systems, and thereby serve to illustrate the potential benefits and methodologies of the ISHM approach for intelligent manufacturing.
Lack of effect of tofacitinib (CP-690,550) on the pharmacokinetics of the CYP3A4 substrate midazolam in healthy volunteers: confirmation of in vitro data

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT • Tofacitinib (CP-690,550) is a novel, oral Janus kinase inhibitor being investigated as a targeted immunomodulator and disease-modifying therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. • Non-renal elimination accounts for 70% of the total clearance of tofacitinib and the metabolism is primarily mediated by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4. • This study was required to determine the effect of tofacitinib on the in vivo pharmacokinetics of a sensitive CYP3A4 substrate. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS • The pharmacokinetics of midazolam, a sensitive CYP3A4 substrate, are not altered when co-administered with tofacitinib in healthy subjects. • Tofacitinib is unlikely to affect the clearance of drugs metabolized by CYP enzymes. • There is no need for dose adjustments of CYP substrates when co-administered with tofacitinib. AIMS To investigate inhibitive and inductive effects of tofacitinib (CP-690,550), a Janus kinase inhibitor, on CYP3A4 function via in vitro and in vivo studies. METHODS In vitro experiments were conducted to assess the inhibition and induction potential of tofacitinib for major drug metabolizing enzymes (CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6 and CYP3A4). A phase 1, randomized, open-label, two-way crossover study (NCT00902460) was conducted to confirm the lack of inhibitive/inductive effect on a sensitive CYP3A4 substrate, midazolam, in healthy subjects. Midazolam pharmacokinetics were assessed over 24 h following single dose 2 mg administration prior to administering tofacitinib and after twice daily dosing of tofacitinib 30 mg for 6 days. The primary endpoint was midazolam area under the concentration–time profile, from time 0 to infinity (AUC(0,∞)). RESULTS In vitro studies demonstrated low potential for CYP inhibition (IC50 estimates tofacitinib >30 µm), CYP3A4 mRNA induction (observed at tofacitinib concentrations ≥25 µm) and no effect on enzymatic activity of CYP substrates. In the human study, AUC(0,∞) adjusted geometric mean ratio for midazolam plus tofacitinib to midazolam alone was 103.97% [90% confidence interval (CI) 95.57, 113.12], wholly within the pre-specified acceptance region (80, 125). The 90% CI for the ratio of adjusted geometric means of maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) (95.98, 108.87) was also wholly within this acceptance region. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm a lack of an inhibitive or inductive effect of tofacitinib on CYP3A activity in humans and, in conjunction with in vitro data, support the conclusion that tofacitinib is unlikely to influence the CYP enzyme system as a whole.
A Review of “Enacting Brittany: tourism and culture in provincial France, 1871–1939”

In Enacting Brittany: Tourism and Culture in Provincial France, 1871–1939, Patrick Young's main objective is to explain the role tourism has had in the development and expression of modern Breton c...
Percutaneous Retrieval of Permanent Inferior Vena Cava Filters.

To evaluate the feasibility, risks, and techniques of percutaneous removal of permanent TrapEase and Simon Nitinol IVC filters. Between August 2011 and August 2015, 12 patients (5 women, 7 men; age range, 26–75 years) underwent an attempt at percutaneous removal of permanent TrapEase (10) and Simon Nitinol (2) IVC filters due to a history of IVC filter complications or need for lifelong anticoagulation due to the filter. Medical records were reviewed for filter dwell time, presence of iliocaval deep venous thrombosis, procedural technique, and complications. Filter dwell times ranged from 7 days to 15 years (mean 5.1 years). Successful removal of permanent IVC filters was possible in 11 of 12 patients (91.6 %). In 1 patient, a chronically thrombosed IVC filter could not be removed despite laser sheath assistance, but was successfully recanalized with the PowerWire RF guidewire. In the failed retrieval attempt, a stent was placed through the chronically thrombosed IVC filter with restoration of in-line flow. One major complication of large venous groin hematoma was encountered. In carefully selected patients, percutaneous removal of permanent IVC filters can be performed safely despite prolonged filter dwell times. Extraction of chronically embedded permanent IVC filters may be facilitated by jugular and femoral approaches, often with laser sheath assistance. Chronic filter thrombosis and caval scarring may increase the risk of retrieval failure.
Throughput analysis of multiple input-queuing in ATM switches

In this paper we investigate various schemes of input-queueing ATM switching systems. We first give a brief description of the Odd-Even switch model which is followed by an approximate analysis for evaluating its throughput. We then introduce an extension of the Odd-Even model which employs a Multiple Input-Queueing strategy, where an input port is expanded into m queues. In fact, we consider two policies as far as arbitration among the input queues is concerned and we show how thoughput can increase as m gets larger. We also comment on the special case where m = N, for an N x N switch, and show that the achieved throughput is actually 100%. We call this last scheme Virtual Output-Queueing. The models under examination assume a uniform output destination distribution and a Bernoulli process for the cell arrivals.
Nonperturbative Pauli-Villars regularization of vacuum polarization in light-front QED

We continue the development of a nonperturbative light-front Hamiltonian method for the solution of quantum field theories by considering the one-photon eigenstate of Lorentz-gauge QED. The photon state is computed nonperturbatively for a Fock basis with a bare photon state and electron-positron pair states. The calculation is regulated by the inclusion of Pauli-Villars (PV) fermions, with one flavor to make the integrals finite and a second flavor to guarantee a zero mass for the physical photon eigenstate. We compute in detail the constraints on the PV coupling strengths that this zero mass implies. As part of this analysis, we provide the complete Lorentz-gauge light-front QED Hamiltonian with two PV fermion flavors and two PV photon flavors, which will be useful for future work. The need for two PV photons was established previously; the need for two PV fermions is established here.
Adaptive Filtering Revisited

This paper shows that the adaptive filtering and forecasting techniques proposed by Makridakis and Wheelwright can be viewed as approximations to a more precise filtering method in which the Kalman filter is applied to a dynamic autoregressive model which is a special case of the models of Harrison and Stevens. The correct "learning" or "training factors" are shown to be data-dependent matrices rather than scalar constants.
Serving men and mothers: workplace practices and workforce composition in two US restaurant chains and states

In this paper, we apply a ‘gendered lens’ to research that has sought to understand how private firm practices and public policies shape employment conditions. We report on a study of the realities facing a highly female-dominated job, that of waiter in low-end chain restaurants. Through interviews with managers at 16 sites of two international restaurant chains located in Seattle, Washington and Chicago, Illinois, we examined how the gender and family caregiver compositions of waiter workforces intersect with private employers’ practices related to waiter wages, fringe benefits, and staffing and scheduling and preferred job qualifications, on the one hand; and with mandated minimum wage regulations, on the other. Male waiters were most heavily concentrated in the chain with more generous benefits and input into scheduling, while the largest proportions of women were found in the chain offering few or no benefits and little scheduling control. Sites with the most waiter–caregivers came from both chains bu...
Model-based control of rigid-link flexible-joint robots: an experimental evaluation

In this paper, we present an experimental evaluation of several link position tracking control algorithms for rigid-link flexible-joint robot manipulators. To study the performance of the controllers, an IMI 2-link direct-drive planar robot manipulator was modified to approximate linear torsional spring couplings from the actuators to the links. Preliminary experimental results seem to indicate that reduced-order, model-based controllers with an actuator feedback loop provide relatively good link position tracking while a full-order, model-based controller offers some further improvement in link position tracking at the expense of increased computation.
Can Proton-Shared or Ion-Pair N−H−N Hydrogen Bonds Be Produced in Uncharged Complexes? A Systematic ab Initio Study of the Structures and Selected NMR and IR Properties of Complexes with N−H−N Hydrogen Bonds

Ab initio calculations are carried out to investigate the effects of external electric fields and chemical substitution on the properties of complexes stabilized by N−H−N hydrogen bonds. Two-dimens...
How I Became a Theorist

This essay tells the story of how the author became a theorist. It describes the central event—how one afternoon in the summer of 1976 the justice evaluation function jumped out of a regression equation—together with earlier theoretical influences and the new theoretical work it set in motion.
The old REH theory remains unsatisfactory and the new REH theory is problematical - a reply to Holmquist and Jukes.

In response to criticism of REH theory (Fitch 1980), Holmquist and Jukes (1981) have mostly avoided the criticism or misunderstood it. Since they themselves state in their response that “Amino acid sequence data alone cannot be used to estimate total nucleotide substitutions,” they agree with the criticism. Most of their paper treats the newer theory (here designated as the REHN theory) which attempts to use the nucleotide sequences encoding proteins to better estimate total nucleotide substitutions (Holmquist and Pearl 1980). Since I made no criticism of REHN theory, their comments are frequently beside the point of my original criticism of REH theory. Nevertheless, it is shown here that REHN theory is also unsatisfactory in that: One, the varions are now more clearly defined but in such a way as to preclude the same codon from suffering a nucleotide substitution in more than one evolutionary interval. Two, the set of codons that accepts silent substitutions is identical to the set that accepts amino acid changing nucleotide substitutions. Three, the uncertainty in the REH estimate is considerable in that alternative excellent fits to the same observatuonal data may give alternative REH values that differ significantly even before stochastic variation and selective bias are considered. Four, the fit of their model to data is an irrelevancy where there are zero degrees of freedom.
Glutaminase Immunoreactivity and Enzyme Activity Is Increased in the Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Following Peripheral Inflammation

Following inflammation, primary sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) alter the production of several proteins. Most DRG neurons are glutamatergic, using glutaminase as the enzyme for glutamate production, but little is known about glutaminase following inflammation. In the present study, adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) was produced in rats with complete Freund's adjuvant into the hindpaw. At 7 days of AIA, DRG were examined with glutaminase immunohistochemistry, Western blot immunoreactivity, and enzyme activity. Image analysis revealed that glutaminase was elevated most in small-sized neurons (21%) (P < 0.05). Western blot analysis revealed a 19% increase (P < 0.05) in total glutaminase and 21% in mitochondrial glutaminase (P < 0.05). Glutaminase enzyme activity was elevated 29% (P < 0.001) from 2.20 to 2.83 moles/kg/hr. Elevated glutaminase in primary sensory neurons could lead to increased glutamate production in spinal primary afferent terminals contributing to central sensitization or in the peripheral process contributing to peripheral sensitization.
Evolutionary models of phylogenetic trees

The most widely used evolutionary model for phylogenetic trees is the equal-rates Markov (ERM) model. A problem is that the ERM model predicts less imbalance than observed for trees inferred from real data; in fact, the observed imbalance tends to fall between the values predicted by the ERM model and those predicted by the proportional-to-distinguishable-arrangements (PDA) model. Here, a continuous multi-rate (MR) family of evolutionary models is presented which contains entire subfamilies corresponding to both the PDA and ERM models. Furthermore, this MR family covers an entire range from 'completely balanced' to 'completely unbalanced' models. In particular, the MR family contains other known evolutionary models. The MR family is very versatile and virtually free of assumptions on the character of evolution; yet it is highly susceptible to rigorous analyses. In particular, such analyses help to uncover adaptability, quasi-stabilization and prolonged stasis as major possible causes of the imbalance. However, the MR model is functionally simple and requires only three parameters to reproduce the observed imbalance.
Embedding of SLIP dynamics on underactuated bipedal robots through multi-objective quadratic program based control

This paper presents a method for achieving stable periodic walking, consisting of phases of single and double support, on underactuated walking robots by embedding Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) dynamics. Beginning with a SLIP model, the dynamics are stabilized to a constant energy level and periodic walking gaits are found; an equality constraint on torque can be used to shape the dynamics of the full-order robot to obey the corresponding SLIP dynamics. To transition these gaits to full-order robots, the essential elements of SLIP walking gaits, i.e., the swing leg touchdown angle, are utilized to synthesis control Lyapunov functions that result in inequality constraints in torque. Finally, the desired force interactions with the environment as dictated by SLIP dynamics are utilized to obtain inequality constraints in the reaction forces. Combining these equality and inequality constraints results in a multi-objective quadratic program based controller that is implemented on a multi-domain hybrid system model of an underactuated bipedal robot. The end result is stable periodic walking on the full-order model that shows remarkable similarity to the SLIP gait from which it was derived.