cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pricing the Defeasance Option in Securitized Commercial Mortgages

To protect the interests of investors, commercial mortgage loans pooled for the issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) have restrictive covenants that discourage the borrower from refinancing. Such restrictions limit the borrower's ability to access any accumulated equity. The predominant means of accessing this equity today is defeasance. By defeasing a loan, the borrower substitutes the commercial mortgage with U.S. Treasury or agency obligations whose payments match those of the defeased mortgage. Therefore, defeasance is an exchange option whereby the borrower gives up the portfolio of Treasury or agency securities and in return receives the market value of the commercial mortgage plus the liquidity benefits arising from accessing the accumulated equity in the underlying property. The value of the option to defease is shown to depend critically on the rate of return that can be earned on the released equity, prevailing interest rate conditions, as well as the option's contractual features.
Effect of intra-arterial papaverine on cerebral blood flow in vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage: A study using single-photon emission computed tomography

Cerebral vasospasm is an important cause of delayed stroke after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of regional cerebral blood flow with 99m Tc-hexamethyl propylenenamine oxime (HMPAO) was performed before and after intra-arterial papaverine treatment in 10 patients with symptomatic cerebral vasospasm. Two patients were treated twice. The ultimate clinical outcome was improved due to papaverine in 5 of the 10 patients. SPECT imaging correlated with clinical course in 10 of 12 treatments. One of the discordant cases had significant residual mesial frontal lobe perfusion defects on SPECT despite improvement in blood flow in the lateral aspects of the frontal lobes and did not improve clinically. The other was stable but required definitive treatment with balloon angioplasty on the following day before clinical improvement was noted. Papaverine has effectiveness in pharmacologically dilating constricted cerebral arteries and is preferred for distal vasospasm and in vessels that may be difficult to dilate via balloon angioplasty. Technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT imaging detects cerebral perfusion deficits associated with vasospasm and monitors the effect of intra-arterial papaverine on regional cerebral blood flow.
K/sub u/-band ocean backscatter functions for surface wind retrieval

The accuracy of wind measurements with scatterometer techniques depends on the particular geophysical model function used in the retrieval algorithm. Discrepancies among existing model functions, developed based on a mixture of aircraft and satellite backscatter data acquired previously, will result in differences in retrieved wind fields. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory airborne K/sub u/-band NUSCAT scatterometer was used to obtain an extensive data set over a wide range of wind conditions to provide a more accurate study of ocean radar backscatter signatures. Backscatter was measured during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment in an oceanic area off the US east coast. Backscatter data were obtained for both horizontal and vertical polarizations, incidence angles from 100 to 600, and wind speeds up to 15 m s/sup -1/. The measured results are compared with calculated values to assess the existing geophysical model functions for applications to ocean surface wind retrieval.
Monitoring insecticide resistance in house flies (Diptera : Muscidae) from New York dairies

House flies were collected from dairies across New York state and the levels of resistance to seven insecticides were measured using standard laboratory assays with three to five diagnostic concentrations. The highest levels of resistance were found for tetrachlorvinphos, permethrin and cyfluthrin. Although levels of resistance to methomyl were somewhat lower, they were among the highest ever reported for field-collected house flies. Resistance to pyrethrins was limited primarily to the lowest diagnostic concentration. House flies were susceptible to fipronil at all dairies, suggesting that this material would be highly effective for fly control. The levels of resistance were similar at all the dairies, irrespective of their insecticide use, suggesting substantial movement of flies between facilities. Relative to resistance levels found at New York dairies in 1987, resistance levels had increased for permethrin, were unchanged for tetrachlorvinphos and had decreased for dimethoate. To identify a single diagnostic concentration that could be used in the laboratory assays to assess accurately resistance levels in future studies, we carried out a 'simulated' field bioassay using formulated materials. A diagnostic concentration for each insecticide is proposed on the basis of a comparison of our bioassays.
Bringing in the Target Audience in Bystander Social Marketing Materials for Communities: Suggestions for Practitioners

The Know Your Power TM social marketing campaign images model active bystander behaviors that target audience members can use in situations where sexual and relationship violence and stalking are occurring, have occurred, or have the potential to occur. In this practitioner note, we describe strategies that we have used to engage target audience members in the development of the social marketing campaign that we hope can be used by practitioners. We give examples from the development and evaluation of the Know Your PowerTM social marketing campaign that used focus group and other types of feedback from the target audience to inform the direction of the campaign.
Interspecies Predation Between Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Culex quinquefasciatus Larvae

Interaction of aquatic stages of coexisting mosquito species may have significant influence on resulting adult mosquito populations. We used two coexisting species, Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Culex quinquefasciatus to investigate whether third instars of one species consumed first instars of the other. First instars of one species were readily consumed by a third instar of the other species irrespective food quantity. DNA of Cx. quinquefasciatus was detected in the eight An. gambiae s.s. third instars presumed to have consumed at least one Cx. quinquefasciatus first instar. Likewise, DNA of An. gambiae s.s. was detected in five of eight Cx. quinquefasciatus third instars presumed to have consumed at least one An. gambiae s.s. first instar. A small number of dead first instars was found in the controls indicating that some larvae in the treatment group may have been consumed after they had died. These findings suggest that intraguild predation between the two species may be common in nature and that it is a facultative process that is not induced by food shortage. The findings further suggest that polymerase chain reaction could be a useful technique in the study of this phenomenon in natural habitats.
Transitioning from Print to Electronic Information Delivery: An Update from the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information

Canada's national science library, the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, is in the process of transforming its traditional document delivery services to meet the emerging needs of users. As such, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information has developed a suite of Web-based services, partnerships, and collaborations to better serve its users. These components have been brought together to create new service offerings such as Discover, and the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information Standards Store. Quicker, more flexible and convenient access to the world's scientific, technical, and medical information from the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information and from sites where users congregate across the Web is the goal of Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information's new breed of information delivery services.
Analysis of composite synchronization

Composite synchronization is a new algorithm that combines localized asynchronous coordination, with a global synchronization window. It was developed to simultaneously address the vulnerability of local synchronization to high model connectivity, and the vulnerability that a global window approach has to a very small minimal channel delay. Under composite synchronization, every channel is classified as being either synchronous or asynchronous; the behavior of the algorithm is then determined by the assignment. In an earlier work we proposed the algorithm, and showed that the channel assignment which minimizes the sum of all synchronization overhead, on an architecture with uniform memory access costs, has a threshold structure. The current paper extends that work, showing how speedup depends upon model topology, and that the assignment which maximizes speedup on a multi-cost memory system likewise has a threshold structure, but need not be exactly the same policy as that which minimizes total overhead.
Development of Meishan and Yorkshire littermate conceptuses in either a Meishan or Yorkshire uterine environment to day 90 of gestation and to term.

To investigate the impacts of uterine type and conceptus genotype on development through late gestation, Meishan and Yorkshire embryos were co-transferred into the uteri of either Meishan or Yorkshire recipients that were subsequently slaughtered on Day 90 of gestation. At slaughter, regardless of conceptus genotype, fetuses and placentae were markedly smaller when recovered from Meishan than from Yorkshire recipients. Whereas Meishan and Yorkshire fetuses recovered from Meishan uteri were similar in weight, Meishan fetuses were markedly lighter than littermate Yorkshire fetuses when recovered from Yorkshire uteri. Because of the marked differences between fetal weights observed in Yorkshire recipients on Day 90 of gestation, Meishan and Yorkshire embryos were co-transferred to Yorkshire recipients that were allowed to farrow. Surprisingly, Meishan and Yorkshire fetuses cogestated in Yorkshire recipients were born at similar weights, whereas Meishan placentae were markedly smaller. The weight of Meishan placentae were similar on Day 90 and at term, whereas the weight of Yorkshire placentae were markedly larger (-70%) at term than on Day 90. The constant weight of Meishan placentae from Day 90 to farrowing appears to result from an ability to increase their vascularity during this interval. In contrast, Yorkshire placentae may be forced to increase their weight to keep pace with fetal growth during this period. Because uterine capacity sets the upper limit on litter size, the decreased endometrial surface area required per conceptus in the Meishan pig seems to explain its greater potential for increased litter size.
An Investigation of Factors Affecting the Degree of Naive Impetus Theory Application.

This study investigates factors affecting the degree of novice physics students’ application of the naive impetus theory. Six hundred and fourteen first-year university engineering physics students answered the Force Concept Inventory as a pre-test for their calculus-based course. We examined the degree to which students consistently applied the naive impetus theory across different items. We used a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA and linear regression to analyze data coded from incorrect student responses. It was found that there were statistically significant main effects for item familiarity and item requirement for explanation vs. prediction on the measured degree of impetus theory application. Student course grades had no significant effect on impetus theory application. When faced with items that were unfamiliar and predictive, students appeared to rely on non-theoretical, knowledge-in-pieces reasoning. Reasoning characteristic of naive theories was more frequently applied when students were completing familiar problem tasks that required explanation. When considering all the above factors simultaneously, we found that the degree of naive impetus theory application by students is attributable to variables in the following order: familiarity, prediction, and explanation.
Explicit Concern-Driven Development with ArchEvol

Supporting developers in examining and evolving a software system in terms of concerns is considered a critical capability in the face of the scale and complexity of today’s software. A number of existing approaches make an inroad to providing this support, but they fall short in key ways. This paper introduces ArchEvol, a new programming environment that embodies a new kind of approach, one we term explicit concern-driven development. The vision is threefold: (1) a fine-grained concern model maps concerns to code, (2) concerns are visualized at both the code level, to assist in the actual act of making changes, and the architectural level, to assist in gauging levels of scattering and tangling, and (3) automated support assists developers in maintaining the concern mapping over time. Developers, then, continuously examine, structure, and modify the software they produce in terms of concerns. We introduce our approach, discuss how we have realized it in ArchEvol, and present the results of a first set of evaluations that demonstrate its potential.
Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographc and economic outcomes: a note of dissent

In this note, I use as a peg a recent publication by Lutz et al. (2009) because it summarises, develops and supports many of the main arguments for the policy focus on mass universal schooling that has become the mantra in development planning during the last quarter century or so. I also use this paper because it is so comprehensive, so clearly written and firm in its general conclusions even as it recognises that there is much more research to be done. But most of all, I use it because I wish I could have plagiarised the title of one of its references—an essay Lutz wrote and published as a 15 year old schoolboy— not only because it is a charming title but because it (the title, I don’t have access to the actual essay) seems to say what I too want to say (albeit much more hesitantly than an impetuous schoolboy) in this cautionary note. Lutz’s boyhood essay was entitled “Elementary School: A Crime on Children”. Before I make that lament the subject of my own essay here, there are some clarifications and caveats to underline what my short paper is not. It is not a rabble rouser’s attempt to discredit the huge investments in public schooling toward which the international development community, including the international research community, has been pressurising national governments so as to make universal and compulsory primary schooling a national commitment, contrary to Lutz’s (2009) apprehension. Goal 2 of the Millennium Development Goals—all children to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015— is only one natural outcome of the consensus that such a commitment will lead to a better world economically, socially and politically. I agree that acting on such a commitment will be a welcome first step, but that is all it can be—only a first step towards a much more ambitious agenda of giving everyone a much higher level of education than the four or five years that primary school requires. I say this in spite of the evidence that the old adage—that a little learning is a dangerous thing—seems to be contradicted for most development outcomes. I concede that primary school attainment rates are strong predictors of national income and productivity as well as of improvements in infant and child mortality
A Review of: “Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect Your Family”

Organized into 10 chapters, Paul Bocij's Cyberstalking covers a wide range of topics associated with stalking activities in both on- and offline contexts. Each chapter begins with an appropriate ca...
GST pi modulates JNK activity through a direct interaction with JNK substrate, ATF2.

Human GSTpi, an important detoxification enzyme, has been shown to modulate the activity of JNKs by inhibiting apoptosis and by causing cell proliferation and tumor growth. In this work, we describe a detailed analysis of the interaction in vitro between GSTpi and JNK isoforms (both in their inactive and active, phosphorylated forms). The ability of active JNK1 or JNK2 to phosphorylate their substrate, ATF2, is inhibited by two naturally occurring GSTpi haplotypes (Ile105/Ala114, WT or haplotype A, and Val105/Val114, haplotype C). Haplotype C of GSTpi is a more potent inhibitor of JNK activity than haplotype A, yielding 75–80% and 25–45% inhibition, respectively. We show that GSTpi is not a substrate of JNK, as was earlier suggested by others. Through binding studies, we demonstrate that the interaction between GSTpi and phosphorylated, active JNKs is isoform specific, with JNK1 being the preferred isoform. In contrast, GSTpi does not interact with unphosphorylated, inactive JNKs unless a JNK substrate, ATF2, is present. We also demonstrate, for the first time, a direct interaction: between GSTpi and ATF2. GSTpi binds with similar affinity to active JNK + ATF2 and to ATF2 alone. Direct binding experiments between ATF2 and GSTpi, either alone or in the presence of glutathione analogs or phosphorylated ATF2, indicate that the xenobiotic portion of the GSTpi active site and the JNK binding domain of ATF2 are involved in this interaction. Competition between GSTpi and active JNK for the substrate ATF2 may be responsible for the inhibition of JNK catalysis by GSTpi.
Viral and Cellular FLICE-Inhibitory Proteins: a Comparison of Their Roles in Regulating Intrinsic Immune Responses

FLICE-inhibitory proteins (FLIPs) are a family of viral (poxvirus and herpesvirus) and cellular proteins. The hallmark of this family is the presence of tandem death-effector domains (DEDs). Despite this shared motif, each protein possesses different abilities to modulate apoptosis, NF-κB, and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3). These similarities and differences are discussed and highlighted here. The comparative study of FLIPs provides a unique basis to understand virus-host interactions, viral pathogenesis, and cellular regulation of immune system signal transduction pathways.
Conjoined Pipeline: Enhancing Hardware Reliability and Performance through Organized Pipeline Redundancy

Reliability has become a serious concern as systems embrace nanometer technologies. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for organizing redundancy that provides high degree of fault tolerance and enhances performance. We replicate both the pipeline registers and the pipeline stage combinational logic. The replicated logic receives its inputs from the primary pipeline registers while writing its output to the replicated pipeline registers. The organization of redundancy in the proposed conjoined pipeline system supports overclocking, provides concurrent error detection and recovery capability for soft errors, intermittent faults and timing errors, and flags permanent silicon defects. The fast recovery process requires no checkpointing and takes three cycles. Back annotated post-layout gate level timing simulations, using 45 nm technology, of a conjoined two stage arithmetic pipeline and a conjoined five stage DLX pipeline processor, with forwarding logic, show that our approach achieves near 100% fault coverage, under a severe fault injection campaign, while enhancing performance, on an average by about 20%, when dynamically overclocked and 35%, when maximally overclocked.
Expansion and growth in Chinese cities, 1978?2010

It has long been recognized that compact versus more sprawling urban forms can have very different environmental impacts. As the Chinese population continues to rapidly urbanize, the size, shape, and configuration of cities in China will undoubtedly change to accommodate expansion of housing, industry, and commerce, causing direct and indirect environmental impacts at multiple scales. It is therefore imperative to understand how urban areas are evolving as socio-economic reforms in China are implemented across different regions. This paper compares trends in 142 Chinese cities (including 17 agglomerations) to understand urban expansion and population growth following reforms, 1978?2010. The results show that cities tripled in size, while doubling in population over the same period. In coastal areas targeted by early policies, urban land increased 4?5 times since 1978, for all city sizes. Large agglomerations are the primary consumers of land in coastal and western regions, each adding an average of 450?km2 during the study period, while small-medium cities consumed an average 20?km2. Although populations in these agglomerations increased an average 1.3 million, 2000?2010, cities within 100?km of each agglomeration grew >1.8 million collectively. Proximity to large agglomerations contributed to the growth of small-medium cities, especially in western regions.
Social Capital in the City: Community and Civic Life in Philadelphia edited by Richardson Dilworth

Richardson Dilworth (Ed.), Social Capital in the City: Community and Civic Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006).Richardson Dilworth effectively compiles works by over ...
Applying time-division multiplexing in star-based optical networks

Time-division-multiplexing (TDM) technique provides good granularity and response in high-speed networks. This paper presents the recent work of CCNR Lab in the study of TDM design and implementation in a star-based network. Node and network architectures are considered for the support of both the centralized and distributed algorithms. Performance evaluations have been carried out, and optimization is considered
The physiological and evolutionary background of maternal responsiveness.

Among mammals, the onset of maternal behavior is stimulated by hormones, and it is likely that this is true for humans as well.
Validation of complex designs through hardware prototyping

Functional validation of complex designs by means of hardware prototyping (emulation) is a major tool used by industry to improve the validation quality at the different chip design program phases. However, fitting a design into emulation is not a simple task. Lots of elements collide in orthogonal domains, while trying to get emulation going. This paper goes through selected topics in ramping up a large emulation program, emphasizing items that worth looking into, in order to render the emulation program feasible and effective. This paper does not involve specific project numbers and statistics. However, it is based on the experience from complex design emulation programs.
Timing and prognosis of surgery for spinal epidural abscess: A review.

Background: The nonsurgical versus surgical management of spinal epidural abscesses (SEAs) remains controversial. Even with the best preoperative screening for multiple risk factors, high nonoperative failure rates are attended by considerable morbidity (e.g., irreversible paralysis) and mortality. Therefore, the focus remains on early surgery.
Do microorganisms influence seed-bank dynamics?

Abstract Reduction of seed-bank persistence is an important goal for weed management systems. Recent interest in more biological-based weed management strategies has led to closer examination of the role of soil microorganisms. Incidences of seed decay with certain weed species occur in the laboratory; however, their persistence in soil indicates the presence of yet-unknown factors in natural systems that regulate biological mechanisms of seed antagonism by soil microorganisms. A fundamental understanding of interactions between seeds and microorganisms will have important implications for future weed management systems targeting seed banks. Laboratory studies demonstrate susceptibility to seed decay among weed species, ranging from high (velvetleaf) to very low (giant ragweed). Microscopic examinations revealed dense microbial assemblages formed whenever seeds were exposed to soil microorganisms, regardless of whether the outcome was decay. Microbial communities associated with seeds of four weed species...
The Effect of Employee and CEO Participation on the Success of Six-and-One Stock Option Exchanges

Firms can reprice employee stock options to realign performance and retention incentives when stock price declines cause options to have insignificant expected values. Six-and-one option exchanges allow firms to avoid recognizing compensation expenses when repricing options, but appear unable to improve firm performance and employee retention. Employee turnover is higher during and after exchanges when employee participation in exchanges is low. Stock returns are negative prior to exchanges, especially when CEOs do not participate, yet no significant improvement is observed after. Finally, accounting performance is lower both during and after option exchanges when CEOs do not participate.
Tediously Spun Out: The Human Enterprise Process and its Administration

(1955). Tediously Spun Out: The Human Enterprise Process and its Administration. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 110-111.
GENETIC DIVERGENCE AND MORPHOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE IN THE PRAIRIE DOGS. CYNOMYS GUNNISONI AND CYNOMYS LEUCURUS II. GENETIC ANALYSES.

The use of genetic data in neontological studies of populations, species, and higher taxa of vertebrates has become commonplace in recent years (e.g., Selander et al., 1974). Data from chromosomes and protein electrophoresis are often compared with evidence from more classical methods of analysis such as morphology, zoogeography, and behavior. Such holistic approaches (e.g., Baker et al., 1975; Pizzimenti, 1975) generally provide a clearer (although not necessarily simpler) picture of probable evolutionary events than can be obtained using only a single data base. An earlier study of the prairie dogs, Cynomys leucurus and C. gunnisoni suggested possible hybridization in a zone of contact in western Colorado (Lechleitner, 1969). A subsequent and more detailed analysis of variation in these populations indicates that convergence, not gene exchange, is responsible for the observed phenotypes in the zone of contact (Pizzimenti, 1976). The primary purpose of this investigation is to augment and reinforce the model of convergence based on morphological and ecological data (op. cit.) by determining present-day patterns of gene flow among Cynomys populations in western Colorado. Genetic data, in the form of karyotypes and protein zymograms, were collected from the same populations that were morphometrically analyzed. This approach
Determination of creatinine in human urine with online dilution spectrophotometry

A spectrophotometric method coupled to sequential injection online dilution for the determination of creatinine in human urine samples was proposed,based on the classical Jaffe reaction of creatinine with alkaline picrate. Under optimized conditions,the linear range was 10 ~ 1000 mg/L with a correlation coefficient of0. 9991. The relative standard deviation( n = 11) was 1. 2% for 200 mg/L creatinine. The method was successfully applied to the determination of creatinine in human urine samples,and the results obtained for online dilution procedure were in agreement with those of manual standard procedure.
Stationäre Einrichtungen der Behindertenhilfe für Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung und dementielle Erkrankung

Laut WHO lassen die Pravalenz- und Inzidenzraten darauf schliesen, dass die Zahl der Demenzfalle weiter ansteigt. Betroffen davon sind auch Menschen mit einer geistigen Behinderung, die spezieller Versorgungsmodelle bedurfen. Im Fokus steht die optimale gemeinschaftliche Versorgung, welche sich neben der demenzfreundlichen Umweltgestaltung auch durch individualisierte und personenzentrierte Betreuung auszeichnet. Die Betreuung in kleinen Wohngruppen ist die haufigste gemeinschaftliche Versorgungsform. Die meisten solcher Wohneinrichtungen bieten zwei Modelle an, die man als linear und sequentiell bezeichnen kann. Beiden Modellen gemeinsam ist die Betonung der Notwendigkeit einer demenzgerechten Umweltgestaltung und einer umfassenden Weiterbildung des Betreuungspersonals.
Inferior vena caval involvement by renal cell carcinoma. Use of venovenous bypass as adjunct during resection.

SUMMARY Venovenous bypass allows the safe conduct of operation during resection of renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena caval involvement by allowing venous return when the inferior vena cava is clamped, thus preventing hypotension. It obviates the heparin required for full cardiopulmonary bypass and therefore decreases postoperative bleeding. A blood retrieval system decreases the volume of banked blood required. A Moretz clip placed early on the intrapericardial inferior vena cava allows adequate venous return and prevents a massive pulmonary tumor embolism.
Beneficial effect of post-deposition treatment in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells through reduced potential fluctuations

World-record power conversion efficiencies for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells have been achieved via a post-deposition treatment with alkaline metals, which increases the open-circuit voltage and fill factor. We explore the role of the potassium fluoride (KF) post-deposition treatment in CIGS by employing energy- and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and electrical characterization combined with numerical modeling. The bulk carrier lifetime is found to increase with post-deposition treatment from 255 ns to 388 ns, which is the longest charge carrier lifetime reported for CIGS, and within ∼40% of the radiative limit. We find evidence that the post-deposition treatment causes a decrease in the electronic potential fluctuations. These potential fluctuations have previously been shown to reduce the open-circuit voltage and the device efficiency in CIGS. Additionally, numerical simulations based on the measured carrier lifetimes and mobilities show a diffusion length of ∼10 μm, which is ∼4 times la...
Fathers’ Representation in Observational Studies on Parenting and Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis

Background. The involvement of fathers in caregiving has increased substantially over the past 30 years. Yet in child and adolescent psychopathology, few studies include fathers as research participants and few present results for fathers separate from those for mothers. We test for the first time whether a similar pattern exists in research on parenting and childhood obesity.Objectives. To conduct a systematic review and quantitative content analysis of observational studies on parenting and childhood obesity to (1) document the inclusion of fathers, relative to mothers, as research participants and (2) examine characteristics of studies that did and did not include fathers. This study presents new data on the number and gender of parent research participants.Search methods. We searched title, abstract, and Medical Subject Headings term fields in 5 research databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) using terms combining parents or parenting (e.g., mother, father, caregiver...
Fringing field effects in short-circuited volume-charged dielectrics

Kerr electro-optic field and charge mapping measurements in electron beam irradiated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) in air have shown interesting two-dimensional fringing field effects near the sample edges [1–3]. This is because positive ions in the air, ionized by the electron beam, are attracted to the electrons trapped in the sample. This attraction forms a zero potential surface with zero electric field outside the sample. Because the sample surface is an equi-potential, the electric field must terminate perpendicularly. Far from the sample edge the electric field points in the direction of the electron beam. However, the electric field must be perpendicular to the beam near the sample edge to terminate perpendicularly to the side surface.
The impact of wildfire on baseflow recession rates in California

The effect of wildfire on peak streamflow and annual water yield has been investigated empirically in numerous studies. The effect of wildfire on baseflow recession rates, in contrast, is not well documented. The objective of this paper was to quantify the effect of wildfire on baseflow recession rates in California for both individual watersheds and for all the study watersheds collectively. Two additional variables, antecedent groundwater storage and potential evapotranspiration, were also investigated for their effect on baseflow recession rates and postfire baseflow recession rate response. Differences between prefire and postfire baseflow recession rates were modeled statistically in 8 watersheds using a mixed statistical model that accounted for fixed and random effects. For the all-watershed model, antecedent groundwater storage, potential evapotranspiration, and wildfire were each found to be significant controls on baseflow recession rates. Wildfire decreased baseflow recession rates 52.5% (37.6% to 66.0%), implying that postfire reductions in above-ground vegetation (e.g., decreased interception, decreased evapotranspiration) were a stronger control on baseflow recession rate change than hydrophobicity. At an individual watershed scale, baseflow recession rate response to wildfire was found to be sensitive to intraannual differences in antecedent groundwater storage in 2 watersheds, with the effect of wildfire on baseflow recession rates being greater with lower levels of antecedent groundwater storage. Examination of burn severity for a subset of the study watersheds pointed to riparian zone burn severity as a potential primary control on postfire recession rate change. This study demonstrates that wildfire may have a substantial impact on fluxes to and from groundwater storages, altering the rate at which baseflow recedes.
Predictors of arterial desaturation during intubation: a nested case-control study of airway management-part I.

Background: Arterial desaturations experienced during endotracheal intubation (ETI) may lead to poor outcomes. Thus, our primary aim was to identify predictors of arterial desaturation (pulse oximetry Methods: Adult patients admitted to a medical and/or surgical intensive care unit (ICU) over the time period of January 1st 2013 through December 31st 2014 who required ETI were included. Only the first intubation was captured. Arterial desaturation was defined as pulse oximetry readings of Results: The final cohort included 420 patients. Arterial desaturations occurred in 74 (18%) patients. When adjusting for significant predictors on univariate analysis and known predictors of a difficult airway, only acute respiratory failure (OR 2.38; 95% CI: 1.15–4.93; P=0.02) and provider training level (OR 7.12; 95% CI: 1.65–30.67; P=0.016) remained significant. Higher pulse oximetry readings prior to intubation was found to be protective on multivariate analysis (OR 0.92; 95% CI: 0.89–0.96; P Conclusions: Patients who were intubated for acute respiratory failure and those who were intubated by junior level trainees had increased odds of experiencing arterial desaturation in the peri-intubation period. Patients experiencing arterial desaturation had lower pulse oximetry readings prior to intubation suggesting a possible delay at intubation.
Overlooking the coast: Limited local planning for coastal area management along Michigan's Great Lakes.

Abstract This paper presents an evaluation of local efforts to manage Great Lakes coastal shorelands through master plans, focusing on Michigan localities. We framed the analysis around the concepts of capacity, knowledge, and commitment. We conducted plan content evaluations, structured surveys of local officials, and multiple unstructured interviews of local officials and citizens through a participatory action research (PAR) program. We analyzed those data, along with census data, using descriptive statistics, correlations, regression analyses, and triangulation of observations. We found that Michigan’s coastal localities are largely failing to consider their coastal areas in their planning, or to adopt meaningful plan policies to manage them, for at least four reasons: damaging erosion and storm events have been relatively infrequent; localities rely on the state to address coastal issues; insurance programs effectively indemnify them when a storm does happen; and—to some extent—shoreland owners push back against proactive local management. To the extent localities are planning, higher overall plan quality is associated with having in-house planning staff (a measure of both capacity and knowledge) and development pressure (knowledge and commitment). To the extent plans address their coastal areas specifically, the adoption of plan policies advancing coastal area management is associated directly with having higher median house values (capacity), in-house planning staff (capacity and knowledge), and development pressure (knowledge and commitment). Focus on coastal management is inversely associated, however, with the use of planning consultants. Higher plan quality is correlated significantly with the adoption of more robust plan policies overall. In sum, having knowledge about coastal dynamics appears important in explaining local planning efforts, but having the capacity to act on that knowledge and the commitment to do so are equally or more important.
In situ Atmospheric Transmission Electron Microscopy of Catalytic Nanomaterials

Significant developments in micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based devices for use in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample holders have recently led to the commercialization of windowed gas cells that now enable the atomic-resolution visualization of phenomena occurring during gas-solid interactions at atmospheric pressure. In situ atmospheric TEM study provides unique information that is beneficial to correlating the structure-properties relationship of catalytic nanomaterials, particularly under realistic gaseous reaction conditions. In this paper, we illustrate the capability of this novel in situ device as applied to our study of two catalyst systems: (1) In situ kinetic growth of free standing Pt nanowires as active catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); (2) In situ observation of facet-dependent oxidation of another promising ORR catalyst, Pt3Co nanoparticles.
Dispersivity of Bidisperse Packings of Spheres and Evidence for Distinct Random Structures

The intrinsic longitudinal and transverse dispersivity of bidisperse random packings of spheres with size ratio 5∶1 was determined by pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance, in the dilute regime where small spheres occupy between 0% and 5% of the packings' volume. Small spheres plugging pores systematically raise the mechanical transverse and longitudinal dispersivity above that of reference packings of monodisperse spheres. NMR-derived porosities, widths of velocity distributions, and dispersivities reveal distinct states of structural disorder above and below a relative sphere concentration n/N=1, where n and N are the number densities of small and large spheres.
Behavioral Approaches to Prevention and Treatment of Physical Disease: Practical Applicatons

The recent upsurge of interest in behavioral medicine is due in part to the hope that application of behavior modification techniques will prove effective in modifying risk factor behaviors and lifestyles, thus improving our ability to prevent such major diseases as cancer and coronary heart disease. Additional impetus has come from the demonstration in the mid 1960s that application of instrumental conditioning techniques, or biofeedback, could be successful in directly modifying physiological functions previously thought to be beyond voluntary control. While there continues to be controversy in academic psychology regarding the precise mechanisms whereby control is achieved in humans, that early work has spawned a new clinical specialty of behavioral medicine whereby biofeedback and other behavior therapy techniques have come to be used on an ever-increasing scale in the direct treatment of a wide range of physical disorders that had previously proven resistant to traditional clinical medicine’s treatment approaches. In this chapter we shall review this burgeoning area which might be termed “applied” behavioral medicine.
SPARC and the extracellular matrix: implications for cancer and wound repair.

Complex interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix are requisite during development, wound repair, and neoplasia. Proteins that regulate cell-cell and cell-matrix contacts are likely to influence both normal responses (e.g. wound healing) and abnormal processes (e.g. malignant transformation). The glycoprotein SPARC (secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine), also termed osteonectin, BM-40, and 43 K protein, has been classified, along with tenascin and thrombospondin, as an “anti-adhesinan ” (for review see Sage and Bornstein 1991). For many cell types, this function promotes cell rounding, a decrease in focal adhesions, and diminished cell-cell and cell-surface contacts. The at¬tendant consequences for tissue remodeling and cellular migration implicate SPARC as a regulatory protein in both wound healing and cancer. The purpose of this chapter is to review the properties of this protein and the functional implications for SPARC in neoplasia and tissue repair.
The Functional and Neurobiological Properties of Bad Taste.

The gustatory system serves as a critical line of defense against ingesting harmful substances. Technological advances have fostered the characterization of peripheral receptors and have created op...
Immunoassays for therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology

Abstract Immunoassays are quantitative analytical methods that make use of antibodies as reagents. The highly specific binding and large association constants (Ka) of antibodies make them useful for detection and quantitation of analytes in complex sample matrices such as body fluids including blood, urine, saliva, sweat, or vitreous humor. Methods based on immunochemical reactions are some of the most sensitive and specific assays available to laboratorians. Many formats of immunoassays have been automated and are widely used in the clinical laboratory for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).
Coordi: A Virtual Reality Application for Reasoning about Mathematics in Three Dimensions

The goal of our research has been to create software that extends the benefits of virtual reality (VR) to mathematics education. We report on the design and evaluation of a VR application meant to support students' reasoning about objects in three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems and to explore the possibilities of the application for mathematics education in high school classrooms.
Atomically Thin Polymer Layer Enhances Toughness of Graphene Oxide Monolayers

Summary During the last decade, two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as versatile building blocks for the next generation of engineered materials. However, the intrinsically brittle behavior of 2D materials has thus far delayed their adoption in applications such as sensors and structural materials. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy for toughening graphene oxide (GO) through synergistic interfacial interactions between GO monolayers and ultrathin layers of strongly interacting poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). By creating GO-PVA and PVA-GO-PVA nanolaminates, we demonstrate a 2-fold increase in GO toughness, which translates into dramatic increases in energy dissipation and piercing resistance. Atomistic simulations show that this remarkable behavior arises from a polymer chain crack-bridging mechanism, resulting from a synergistic combination of interdomain reinforcements across the GO monolayer and extensive GO-polymer interfacial hydrogen-bonding interactions. The reported findings highlight the potential for achieving engineered 2D materials with superior mechanical properties by incorporating deformation and failure-resistant mechanics arising from tailored chemical interactions between constituents.
Preparation of macrocyclic di- and tetraamides containing unsubstituted macroring nitrogen atoms, tertiary amine sidearms and/or piperazine subcyclic units

Seven new macrocyclic di- and tetramides have been prepared by the cyclization reaction of various polyamines or, in one case, a dimercaptan with a bis(α-chloroamide) or diethyl malonate. Three of the resulting macrocyclic diamides were reduced with borane to form the corresponding polyaza-crown analogs. Macrocycles prepared include two tetraaza-12-crown-4, two tetraaza-13-crown-4, two tetraaza-14-crown-4, one dithiadiaza-14-crown-4, one tetraaza-15-crown-4 with a piperazine subcyclic group, one dibenzotetraaza-24-crown-8 and one octaaza-30-crown-8 with two piperazine subcyclic groups.
Biopolymer Microparticles Prepared by Microfluidics for Biomedical Applications

Biopolymers are macromolecules that are derived from natural sources and have attractive properties for a plethora of biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, low antigenicity, and high bioactivity. Microfluidics has emerged as a powerful approach for fabricating polymeric microparticles (MPs) with designed structures and compositions through precise manipulation of multiphasic flows at the microscale. The synergistic combination of materials chemistry afforded by biopolymers and precision provided by microfluidic capabilities make it possible to design engineered biopolymer-based MPs with well-defined physicochemical properties that are capable of enabling an efficient delivery of therapeutics, 3D culture of cells, and sensing of biomolecules. Here, an overview of microfluidic approaches is provided for the design and fabrication of functional MPs from three classes of biopolymers including polysaccharides, proteins, and microbial polymers, and their advances for biomedical applications are highlighted. An outlook into the future research on microfluidically-produced biopolymer MPs for biomedical applications is also provided.
Automated plant handling and processing in a robotic workcell

Abstract Sensing and control techniques and decision strategies for effective robotic handling of greenhouse plant material have been developed. Machine vision performs the critical role of automatic plant part classification. Based on the resulting knowledge of the plant structure, a technique for determining an appropriate robotic processing strategy for each geranium cutting has been implemented. The technique includes local scene analysis for defining a non-damaging grasp tactic. An end effector controllable based upon both position and force has been developed, integrated into the workcell, and shown to be very effective in handling geranium cuttings. In general, results indicate the importance of successful fusion of sensor information, a robust decision structure, and flexible control for assisting robotic systems to accommodate nonuniformity.
Design of Monolithic All-NMOS Three-Level Three-phase Switched-Capacitor Power Converter for Industrial Environmental Sensor Conditioning

This article presents a fully integrated, high conversion ratio, three-level switched-capacitor (SC) power converter. The converter adopts a tri-mode operation in contrast to classic dual-mode operation in conventional SC converters. The unique circuit structure and operation create an inherent third power rail, which facilitates the use of low-voltage devices at high supply voltage for fast speed and low-silicon real estate. The tri-mode operation naturally matches a three-phase interleaving scheme for improved output voltage ripple and transient response. Implemented on a 0.35-μm BCD process, the design prototype accomplishes a conversion ratio greater than 4:1 and a maximum power delivery of 180 mW at 6-V input and a switching frequency of 93 MHz. With the efficient use of on-chip power switches and capacitors, it achieves a maximum power density of 125 mW/mm2.