cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modes in diffused optical waveguides of arbitrary index profile

A method is presented for numerical calculation of the phase constants of the modes of diffused optical waveguides of arbitrary index profile. For a given bulk and surface index, the phase constants can be plotted against diffusion depth. Graphs giving the number of modes supported by a guide with a particular diffusion depth and index change can also be calculated. Examples are given for complementary error function, Gaussian, and exponential profiles, with indices representative of metal-diffused LiNbO 3 guides. It is also shown that, by making certain approximations, the modes of a diffused waveguide may be described by just two quantities, a normalized diffusion depth and a normalized mode index. A single universal chart of these two quantities can be made for any diffusion shape, and all diffused guides with this diffusion shape are described by this chart. Charts are given for complementary error function, Gaussian, and exponential shapes. Careful measurement of effective mode indices of Ni-diffused LiNbO 3 guides fit the universal chart for a complementary error-function shape. A second type of universal chart for each shape relates the number of modes to the diffusion depth and indices of refraction.
Wire-Assisted Access Sphincterotomy of the Minor Papilla

Background Recommended techniques for minor papilla sphincterotomy include performing a standard pull-type sphincterotomy (PTS) or using a needle-knife over a stent. A wire-assisted access sphincterotomy (WAAS) technique may hold some technical advantages over these accepted methods, but has not been robustly described. Objective To describe the safety and efficacy of WAAS compared with PTS in a series of patients from our institution. Design Retrospective audit of initial minor papilla sphincterotomies over a 6-year period. Demographic and procedural data were abstracted, and the medical record was reviewed for clinical follow-up. Setting A large tertiary referral center. Patients One hundred twenty-eight consecutive patients with pancreas divisum who underwent ERCPs between April 2001 and April 2007, 64 of whom underwent an initial minor papilla sphincterotomy. Interventions WAAS was performed by deeply cannulating the dorsal duct with a guidewire and then passing a needle-knife sphincterotome alongside the wire and cutting the minor papilla by inserting the needle-knife beside the wire and cutting away from the wire. Main Outcome Measurements Clinical procedural success and reported adverse events. Results Thirty-two patients had recurrent acute pancreatitis, 15 had pain only, and 13 had chronic pancreatitis. Thirty-two underwent WAAS, 24 had PTS, and 8 had other types of sphincterotomies. Patients undergoing WAAS (32) versus PTS (24) were similar in age, sex, and procedural indication. Mild post-ERCP pancreatitis and mild intraprocedural bleeding occurred more commonly in the WAAS group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Limitations Retrospective, nonrandomized study. Conclusions WAAS is an effective technique that may be used either to begin a minor papilla sphincterotomy or to perform the entire sphincterotomy. Complications appear similar to those seen with conventional methods but require a larger patient sample to fully evaluate.
Challenges and methods in testing the remote agent planner

The Remote Agent Experiment (RAX) on the Deep Space 1 (DS1) mission was the first time that an artificially intelligent agent controlled a NASA spacecraft. One of the key components of the remote agent is an on-board planner. Since there was no opportunity for human intervention between plan generation and execution, extensive testing was required to ensure that the planner would not endanger the spacecraft by producing an incorrect plan, or by not producing a plan at all. The testing process raised many challenging issues, several of which remain open. The planner and domain model are complex, with billions of possible inputs and outputs. How does one obtain adequate coverage with a reasonable number of test cases? How does one even measure coverage for a planner? How does one determine plan correctness? Other issues arise from developing a planner in the context of a larger operations-oriented project, such as limited workforce and changing domain models, interfaces and requirements. As planning systems are fielded in mission-critical applications, it becomes increasingly important to address these issues. This paper describes the major issues that we encountered while testing the Remote Agent planner, how we addressed them, and what issues remain open.
Three Kinds of Race‐Related Solidarity

Solidarity is akin to community. “Community,” of course, is a slippery notion that may be used in several different senses. It can name simply any collectivity— workers at Wal-Mart, sociologists, and students and faculty at a university. I will use it in a more restricted sense to mean a collectivity animated by a “sense of community” among its members. In this sense, both community and solidarity involve the following—meaningful bonds between members (of the solidarity group, and the community, respectively); a sense of belonging to a collectivity that is important to its individual members; some degree of mutual concern among the members greater than concern for human beings as such; a sense of mutual support among members; and a sense of linked fate, at least to some extent, or with respect to some specific characteristic. These features not only characterize communities and solidarity groups, but constitute goods realized by them; it is a human good to have meaningful relations with one’s fellow X’s, to have and receive support and concern, to have a sense of belonging to and mutually identify with a good collectivity. However, these goods can be put to bad uses (solidarity among pedophiles) and in some such contexts may not be goods at all. But solidarity and community are not the same. Solidarity seems political in a way that community need not be, in the sense that solidarity is something that responds to adversity, or at least perceived adversity, while community does not necessarily involve adversity. Solidarity is a kind of pulling together of a group in the face of perceived adversity, generally but not necessarily human-created adversity. Communities may exist entirely without a sense of adversity. Suppose a neighborhood is a community in the required sense; that is, it is not simply people living within a few blocks of each other, but the people who have a sense of community with one another. Such a community can go for long stretches without feeling a sense of adversity. The neighbors may help one another in various ways, and respond as a group to certain challenges to the neighborhood, for example, by pressing the city to put up a traffic light on a particular corner. Ethnic communities (whether geographically localized or not) may function similarly. The AsianAmerican students on a college campus, for example, may form a social grouping, a community whose members give one another support and which provides a
Immunotherapy against angiogenesis-associated targets: evidence and implications for the treatment of malignant glioma

Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from previously existing vasculature, is a requirement for tumor growth and metastasis. The first US FDA-approved drugs targeting angiogenesis have shown potential in the treatment of malignant gliomas. Immunotherapy as a treatment modality lends itself well to specifically targeting angiogenesis in tumors and may represent a powerful tool in the treatment of malignant gliomas. This review focuses on developments in immunotherapy targeting angiogenesis and tumor-vascular-specific endothelial cells using a variety of immunotherapeutic strategies including monoclonal antibodies and conjugated immunotoxins, as well as cellular, peptide, DNA and dendritic cell vaccines.
Low-cycle fatigue of dissimilar friction stir welded aluminum alloys

Abstract In this work, experiments were conducted to quantify structure-property relations of low-cycle fatigue behavior of dissimilar friction stir welding (FSW) of AA6061-to-AA7050 high strength aluminum alloys. In addition, a microstructure-sensitive fatigue model is employed to further elucidate cause-effect relationships. Experimental strain-controlled fatigue testing revealed an increase in the cyclic strain hardening and the number-of cycles to failure as the tool rotational speed was increased. At higher applied strain amplitudes (>0.3%), the corresponding stress amplitude increased and the plastic strain amplitude decreased, as the number of cycles increased. However, at 0.2% strain amplitude, the plastic strain decreased until it was almost negligible. Inspection of the hysteresis loops demonstrated that at low strain amplitudes, there was an initial stage of strain hardening that increased until it reached a maximum strain hardening level, afterwards a nearly perfect elastic behavior was observed. Under fully-reversed fatigue loading, all samples failed at the region between the heat-affected and thermomechanically-affected zones. Inspection of the fractured surfaces under scanning electron microscopy revealed that the cracks initiated at either the crown or the root surface of the weld, and from secondary intermetallic particles located near the free surface of the weld. Lastly, a microstructure-sensitive multistage fatigue model was employed to correlate the fatigue life of the dissimilar FSW of AA6061-to-AA7050 considering microstructural features such as grain size, intermetallic particles and mechanical properties.
Discussion on Credibility Estimation of Distribution Functions with Applications to Experience Rating in General Insurance

Here we make several comments concerning the full nonparametric Bayesian approach that motivated the new techniques in the paper "Credibility estimation of distribution functions with applications to experience rating and general insurance,'' by Cai, Wen, Wu, and Zhou, published in the North American Actuarial Journal, 2015.
Decomposition of an autoregressive process into first order processes

Let Y n be an autoregressive process of order p . With p distinct characteristic roots, Y n can be decomposed into or expressed as a linear combination of p first order autoregressive processes. For the case of multiple characteristic roots, Y n with s < p distinct characteristic roots can be expressed as a linear combination of s first order autoregressive processes and the derivatives with respect to the parameter of the s first order processes. The parameters of the first order processes are the characteristic roots of Y n . Using this decomposition, for general stationary and unstable characteristic roots, the limiting distribution of appropriately normalized maximum likelihood estimators for the parameters of Y n are obtained. These results are new to the literature.
Stability enhancement by state feedback

Etude de l'augmentation de la stabilite d'un systeme a parametres repartis en utilisant une reaction d'etat lineaire. Demonstration de la stabilisabilite approximee au moyen de l'equation de Riccati en regime permanent
Improved Isolation of Purified Siderophilin from Individual Sera.

SummaryA method for isolation of over 95% of siderophilin from individual serum samples was described. The final product is contaminated with only small quantities of γ globulin of β mobility.
Macromolecular growth requirements of human cells in continuous culture.

SummaryThe essential growth factors associated with serum proteins are present in cold ethanol fraction IV-4 for most human serum pools and in fraction II + III for 2 individual equine serums. Cytotoxic activity has been found in fraction II + III from most human serum pools. Further subfractionation of IV-4 and II + III by the established cold ethanol methods fails to yield active subfractions. The significance of this finding is discussed.
Waiver of consent in noninterventional, observational emergency research: the PROMMTT experience.

Background In the PRospective Observational Multicenter Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) study, waiver of consent was used because previous literature reported low response rates and subsequent bias. The goal of this article was to examine the rationale and tradeoffs of using waiver of consent in PROMMTT. Methods PROMMTT enrolled trauma patients receiving at least 1 U of red blood cells within 6 hours after admission at 10 US Level 1 trauma centers. Local institutional review boards (IRBs) from all sites approved the study. Site 8 was required by their IRB to attempt consent but was allowed to retain data on patients unable to be consented. Results Of 121 subjects enrolled at Site 8, 55 consents were obtained (46%), and no patient or legally authorized representative refused to give consent. Of the patients, 36 (30%) died, and 6 (5%) were discharged before consent could be attempted. Consent was attempted but not possible among 24 patients (20%). Of the 10 clinical sites, 6 of the local IRBs approved collection of residual blood samples, 1 had previous approval to collect timed blood samples under a separate protocol, and 3 reported that their local IRBs would not approve collection of residual blood under a waiver of consent. Conclusion Waiver of consent was used in PROMMTT because of the potential adverse impact of consent refusals; however, there were no refusals. If the IRB for Site 8 had required withdrawal of patients unable to consent and destruction of their data, a serious bias would likely have been introduced. Other tradeoffs included a reduction in sites participating in residual blood collection and a smaller than expected amount of residual blood collected among sites operating under a waiver of consent. Noninterventional emergency research studies should consider these potential tradeoffs carefully before deciding whether waiver of consent would best achieve the goals of a study.
The application of 3D window to seismic wavelet estimation based on trispectrum

The seismic wavelet phase spectrum has been recovered from the trispectrum of seismic data directly without any assumptions,and then the seismic wavelet has been reconstructed.In order to eliminate the influence of various factors on estimating the four-order cumulants of the seismic wavelet from the four-order cumulants of the seismic data,a three-dimensional window is constructed to remove the interference,and improve the reliability and accuracy in estimating wavelet.The correctness and validity of this approach are verified by processing the theoretical model and the actual data.
Commentary: Lessons from Tobacco Control for the Obesity Control Movement

HE paper by Yach et al. in this issue celebrates WHO's T extraordinary accomplishment in fostering the development and adoption by the World Health Assembly of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control P c) (FCTC) and investigates the possibility of applying *'5M policies and mechanisms similar to those in the FCTC to the developing epidemic of obesity. The FCTC requires parties to adopt strong measures in a number of areas, including protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke; requiring manufacturers to disclose the contents and emissions of tobacco products and to place large health warnings on the packages; restricting and, if constitutionally permissible, banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; impeding smuggling; and banning tobacco product sales to minors. In addition, the FCTC urges parties to consider tax increases to reduce demand; banning deceptive or misleading terms such as "low tar," "light," and "mild;" including pictures or pictograms on the mandated package warnings; enacting legislation or applying existing laws to "deal with criminal and civil liability, including compensation where appropriate;" and generally to exceed the minimum requirements of the treaty so as to best control the spread of tobacco-related addiction, disease, and death.
The mechanism of action of methotrexate. III. Requirement of free intracellular methotrexate for maximal suppression of (14C)formate incorporation into nucleic acids and protein.

Recent studies from this laboratory suggest that association of methotrexate with high-affinity intracellular binding sites has little effect upon the incorporation of [3H]deoxyuridine into DNA, while relatively high intracellular levels of methotrexate in excess of the tightly bound fraction are required for inhibition. In this report the effects of different components of intracellular methotrexate on [14C]formate uptake and incorporation into nucleic acids and proteins in cultured L-cell mouse fibroblasts are evaluated. [14C]Formate is rapidly taken up by these cells and metabolized to molecular forms which do not penetrate the cell membrane. After 30 min about 60% of the 14C remains in the acid-soluble fraction. Of the radiolabel in the acid precipitate approximately 55% is associated with RNA, 11% with DNA, and 33% with protein. Intracellular methotrexate sufficient only to saturate high-affinity sites causes only slight inhibition of [14C]formate uptake by intact cells or of [14C]formate incorporation into RNA, DNA, and protein. However, intracellular methotrexate in excess of this fraction markedly inhibits these processes, with 50% inhibition of [14C]formate incorporation into DNA, RNA, and protein at intracellular methotrexate levels of 0.3, 1.0, and 3 µM, respectively. These data suggest that intracellular methotrexate in excess of that necessary to saturate high-affinity sites is required to suppress nucleic acid and protein synthesis—an effect that may be related to an interaction between methotrexate and a dihydrofolate reductase form with a low affinity for this agent.
Domsats (COMSTAR and SBS)

The Intelsat Definitive Agreements of 1971 effectively ended (by 1979) Comsat’s management of the consortium. Intelsat transformed itself over the next few years into a fully formed independent international organization. Comsat had earlier tried to extend its US monopoly on international satellite communications—granted to Comsat by the Communications Satellite Act of 1962—to military satellite communications and domestic satellite communications. Both efforts were rejected. A year after a filing by ABC TV for a television Domsat (domestic satellite), the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry (Docket 16495) into the matter of “Establishment of Domestic Non-Common Carrier Communications Satellite Facilities by NonGovernmental Entities” (short form: Domsat) on March 6, 1966.1 By 1969, after years of study, and no FCC action, a new administration was ready to make things happen.
Cell Microencapsulation for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Cell encapsulation was originally envisioned decades ago as a way to protect cells from the host’s immune system to facilitate transplantation therapies and now serves additional roles such as localization of cells to a desired site in the body. In recent years, the pace of progress has increased as novel techniques for fabricating microcapsules have dovetailed with a growing number of biocompatible natural and synthetic polymers suitable for supporting cell growth, proliferation, and secretion of growth factors. This chapter provides an overview of general design parameters important for encapsulation, which include the size of the capsule and permeability to allow or exclude the passage of nutrients, small molecules, and larger proteins, and then discusses various biocompatible materials now used for cell encapsulation. Finally, an overview of emerging therapies—several of which are already in clinical trials—is given including those designed for the treatment of diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, and liver disease.
Vision & Change: Why it Matters

Abstract The AAAS “Vision and Change” report (2011) has been inspiring undergraduate biology educators nationwide to rethink their educational approach, favoring active-learning strategies to better prepare today's students for a complex, data-rich future. Here, we consider the history of the movement, its place in the greater arena of STEM education, and the reasons why this new approach has never been more critical. We encourage all biology educators to consider becoming agents of change, and we focus on helpful resources and practical suggestions to help ABT readers take the plunge into (or at least get their feet wet in) the welcoming waters of Vision and Change.
Cuerpos anfibios: metamorfosis y anfientidad sexual en XXY (2007) de Lucía Puenzo

Analizo la pelicula XXY de Lucia Puenzo (Argentina, 2007) desde el punto de vista de la relacion entre la materia viviente de la zona costera uruguaya y la propuesta del film con respecto a la diversidad sexual. Sugiero la expresion “anfientidad sexual” para distinguir la manera en que el film representa la relacion entre cuerpo, sexo y genero al ficcionalizar un caso intersex a traves de asociaciones entre los animales humanos y los anfibios y reptiles del ambiente costero, en especial las tortugas marinas que migran cruzando el Atlantico y que se encuentran en peligro de extincion. En tanto las tortugas determinan su sexo dependiendo de la temperatura del ambiente, representan un dinamismo relacional singular de la materia viviente, que corre peligro de extinguirse en nuestra era y que el film asocia con la variacion sexual.
Improved Denoising via Poisson Mixture Modeling of Image Sensor Noise

This paper describes a study aimed at comparing the real image sensor noise distribution to the models of noise often assumed in image denoising designs. A quantile analysis in pixel, wavelet transform, and variance stabilization domains reveal that the tails of Poisson, signal-dependent Gaussian, and Poisson–Gaussian models are too short to capture real sensor noise behavior. A new Poisson mixture noise model is proposed to correct the mismatch of tail behavior. Based on the fact that noise model mismatch results in image denoising that undersmoothes real sensor data, we propose a mixture of Poisson denoising method to remove the denoising artifacts without affecting image details, such as edge and textures. Experiments with real sensor data verify that denoising for real image sensor data is indeed improved by this new technique.
Empirical Approach to Evaluating the Tornado Fragility of Residential Structures

AbstractTornado-induced wind load modeling has advanced significantly in recent years, but comparison of the experimental or numerical models to observed tornado damage is limited. This paper descr...
Reviving Massive Neutrinos for Large-Scale Structure

Although cold dark matter is currently favored for the formation of large-scale structure, neutrinos are the only presently observed particle which could serve as dark matter, and massive neutrinos act as hot dark matter, rather than cold dark matter. We present the results of our seeded hot dark matter model, in which the universe is dominated by massive neutrinos (m V ~ 25 eV), and relic compact objects produce the density perturbations. The simplest such model, with randomly-distributed static point seed masses, produces results in good agreement with the observations, suggesting that massive neutrinos can be revived as a candidate for the dark matter. When combined with inflation, seeded hot dark matter produces a model in which perturbations on large and small scales are completely decoupled.
Potential use of low-cost data loggers for groundwater temperature in a regulatory program for public water supply: impact of measurement frequency at a karst spring

A simple low-cost procedure for data collection and evaluation was developed to investigate the utility of continuous data loggers and the impact of measurement frequency on a water-quality monitoring method for use in a regulatory program for public water supply and groundwater under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI). Data loggers were utilized to continuously measure groundwater temperature, descriptive statistics and the coefficient of variation to demonstrate rapid and significant variations. Temperature data were collected from a karst spring located in the Great Valley section of Pennsylvania and reported on daily and 15-min measurement frequencies. In response to five summer rain events, thermographs constructed with the 15-min measurements indicated rapid large-magnitude temperature variations. The average magnitude of change across the five events was 5.3 °C, but the shifts operated on quick timescales; thus, variations were not captured when data were reported on the daily frequency. This resulted in a distorted evaluation on how significant the groundwater temperature variations were, because results were dependent on measurement frequency. The average coefficient of variation percentage for the 15-min datasets was 12%, compared to 3% for the dataset of daily measurements. These findings could have important implications to a public water-supply regulatory program, because the regulatory definition for GWUDI includes those groundwater sources that display rapid and significant variations in water quality. Without high-frequency measurements, one alarming result could be that GWUDI sources, particularly those located in fast-acting hydrogeologic settings, are misevaluated when maximum or minimum water-quality variations are not included in the evaluation. Advancement in science and technology has resulted in data loggers for groundwater temperature that are economical, robust, and easy to install. Thus, their application in regulatory programs should no longer be underutilized, especially in karst spring settings where source construction deficiencies and focused recharge features can result in rain-induced rapid infiltration and water-quality variations on the minute-to-hour timescale.
Arts graduates in a changing economy

The articles in this special issue contribute to a burgeoning literature on the role of higher education in the creative economy and offer an engaging entry point to a better understanding of recen...
Genetic algorithms for reformulation of large-scale KDD problems with many irrelevant attributes

The goal of this research is to apply genetic implementations of algorithms for selection, partitioning, and synthesis of attributes in large-scale data mining problems. Domain knowledge about these operators has been shown to reduce the number of fitness evaluations for candidate attributes. We report results on genetic optimization of attribute selection problems and current work on attribute partitioning, synthesis specifications, and the encoding of domain knowledge about operators in a fitness function. The purpose of this approach is to reduce overfitting in inductive learning and produce more general genetic versions of existing search-based algorithms (or wrappers) for KDD performance tuning [KS98, HG00]. Several GA implementations of alternative attribute synthesis algorithms are applied to concept learning problems in military and commercial KDD applications. One of these, Jenesis, is deployed on several network-of-workstation clusters. It is shown to achieve strongly improved test set accuracy, compared to unwrapped decision tree learning and search-based wrappers [KS98].
Influence of tempering on the feeding value of rolled corn in finishing diets for feedlot cattle.

Crossbred yearling steers (n = 125; 372 kg) were used in a 109-d finishing trial. Steers were fed an 88% concentrate diet containing 65% corn (DM basis) as 1 ) dry rolled corn (DRC); 2 ) tempered rolled corn (TRC), 43 mg surfactant (SarTemp® )/kg corn; 3 ) TRC, 172 mg surfactant/kg corn; 4 ) TRC, 430 mg surfactant/kg corn; and 5 ) steam-flaked corn (SFC). Corn moisture was greater (3.5%, P .10) for TRC and SFC. Feed efficiency ( P .10) between DRC and TRC in ruminal and total tract digestion of OM, N, and starch, and in ruminal microbial effi- ciency. Ruminal digestion of OM decreased (linear effect, P < .05) and ruminal microbial efficiency increased (linear effect, P < .05) with increasing surfactant concentration. Ruminal digestion of OM and starch, and flow of nonammonia N to the small intestine were greater (31, 56, and 14%, respectively, P < .01) for SFC than for TRC. Postruminal and total tract digestion of OM, N, and starch, and dietary DE were greater ( P < .01) for SFC than for TRC. We concluded that tempering corn will enhance animal performance. Increasing the concentration of surfac- tant used in tempering may enhance ruminal microbial efficiency and lean tissue growth.
Emerging Fungal Pathogen Candida auris Evades Neutrophil Attack.

ABSTRACT Candida auris has recently emerged as the first fungal pathogen to cause a global public health threat. The reason this species is causing hospital-associated outbreaks of invasive candidiasis with high mortality is unknown. In this study, we examine the interaction of C. auris with neutrophils, leukocytes critical for control of invasive fungal infections. We show that human neutrophils do not effectively kill C. auris. Compared to Candida albicans, neutrophils poorly recruited to C. auris and failed to form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are structures of DNA, histones, and proteins with antimicrobial activity. In mixed cultures, neutrophils preferentially engaged and killed C. albicans over C. auris. Imaging of neutrophils in a zebrafish larval model of invasive candidiasis revealed the recruitment of approximately 50% fewer neutrophils in response to C. auris compared to C. albicans. Upon encounter with C. albicans in the zebrafish hindbrain, neutrophils produced clouds of histones, suggesting the formation of NETs. These structures were not observed in C. auris infection. Evasion of neutrophil attack and innate immunity offers an explanation for the virulence of this pathogen. IMPORTANCE The emerging fungal pathogen Candida auris has produced numerous outbreaks of invasive disease in hospitals worldwide. Why this species causes deadly disease is unknown. Our findings reveal a failure of neutrophils to kill C. auris compared to the most commonly encountered Candida species, C. albicans. While neutrophils produce neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) upon encounter with C. albicans, these antimicrobial structures are not formed in response to C. auris. Using human neutrophils and a zebrafish model of invasive candidiasis, we show that C. auris poorly recruits neutrophils and evades immune attack. Identification of this impaired innate immune response to C. auris sheds light on the dismal outcomes for patients with invasive disease.
“About Face” for Delinquent Youth: Military Service as a Turning Point Across the Life Course

The current study explores how military service can influence later criminal offending, as informed by the age-graded theory of informal social control. Specifically, the current study is testing whether military service in adulthood acts as a turning point for delinquent youths. We build off previous literature by implementing a research design that addresses important gaps in this literature, such as a more recent military population and comparing self-reported criminal offending to police contacts. Both include overall crime measures and specific crime categories. This study also examines differences in self-reported offending and arrests for different the types of service within the military. The current study uses a nationally representative sample of delinquent youths from the Add Health. We employ propensity score matching and logistic regression to test the effects of military service on self-reported criminal offending and arrests. Our results suggest that military service reduces future overall self-reported criminal offending for delinquent youths. However, the only specific category of crime influenced is drug arrests. Additionally, we find that those in the military reserves are substantially more likely to engage in drug crime than those with active duty service. The findings of the current study not only address many gaps in the current literature but also postulate a reason for the mixed findings in the literature. In addition, the results indicate that the criminal justice system may treat military servicemen and servicewomen differently than those with no military service on minor forms of crime. Limitations and policy implications are also discussed.
Ion exchange in dimethyl sulfoxide media. IV

Selective separations of beryllium from other metal ions (Cu, Cd, Zn, Ni, Fe, Co, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al, and Pb) were achieved by means of cation exchange in an aqueous 20% v/v DMSO medium containing 0.25 mol/l of thiocyanate. The observed improvements of separation factors in the presence of DMSO were attributed mainly to enhanced complex formation with thiocyanate for a number of heavy metal ions, and for increased differentiation of solvation tendencies in the binary medium. From a semi-quantitative study of species distribution it was concluded that strongly solvated BeSCN+ and Be++ species predominate under conditions of the described column elutions, although traces of Be(SCN)2 may be present. The simplicity and convenience of the described procedure suggest wide applicability for isolation or separation ofμg to mg amounts of beryllium from concomitant cations, particularly in the presence of large quantities of aluminum and the alkaline earth metals.
Synthesis of substituted 2-amino-3-(alkyl or aryl)sulfonylpyrroles

A general route for the synthesis of 2-amino-3-(alkyl or aryl)sulfonyl pyrroles is reported.
Retrospective Multicenter Assessment of Rod Fracture After Anterior Column Realignment in Minimally Invasive Adult Spinal Deformity Correction.

Background Anterior column realignment (ACR) was developed as a minimally invasive method for treating sagittal imbalance. However, rod fracture (RF) rates associated with ACR are not known. Our objective was to assess the rate of and risk factors for RF following ACR in deformity correction surgery. Methods We conducted a retrospective multicenter review of patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) who underwent ACR for deformity correction. ASD was defined as coronal Cobb angle ≥20°, pelvic incidence–lumbar lordosis >10°, sagittal vertical axis ≥5 cm, pelvic tilt ≥25°, or thoracic kyphosis ≥60°. Inclusion criteria were ASD, age >18 years, use of ACR, and development of RF or full radiographs obtained at least 1 year after surgery that did not demonstrate RF. Results Ninety patients were identified, with mean follow-up of 2.3 ± 1.4 years (age, 64.1 ± 9.4; 54 [60%] women). The most common ACR location was L3/4 (42 cases; 47%). Mean fusion length was 7.5 ± 3.6 levels. Four (4.4%) of 90 patients developed RF within 12 months of surgery. RF occurred adjacent to ACR in all cases; RF was not associated with focal correction (P = 0.49), rod material (P = 0.8), degree of correction (P > 0.07), or interbody at L5/S1 (P = 0.06). RF was associated with longer fusion constructs in univariate (P = 0.002) and multivariate (P = 0.03) analyses. Conclusions RF occurred in 4.4% of patients with ASD who underwent ACR with a minimum of 1-year follow-up. RF was not associated with focal correction but appears to be associated with global correction and extent of fixation.
OKAPI: In Support of Application Correctness in Smart Home Environments

Typical Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home environments are composed of smart devices that are controlled and orchestrated by applications developed and run in the cloud. Correctness is important for these applications, since they control the home’s physical security (i.e. door locks) and systems (i.e. HVAC). Unfortunately, many smart home applications and systems exhibit poor security characteristics and insufficient system support. Instead they force application developers to reason about a combination of complicated scenarios—asynchronous events and distributed devices. This paper demonstrates that existing cloud-based smart home platforms provide insufficient support for applications to correctly deal with concurrency and data consistency issues. These weaknesses expose platform vulnerabilities that affect system correctness and security (e.g. a smart lock erroneously unlocked). To address this, we present OKAPI, an application-level API that provides strict atomicity and event ordering. We evaluate our work using the Samsung SmartThings smart home devices, hub, and cloud infrastructure. In addition to identifying shortfalls of cloud-based smart home platforms, we propose design guidelines to make application developers oblivious of smart home platforms’ consistency and concurrency intricacies.
Surgical management of Bertolotti's syndrome in two adolescents and literature review.

Background Bertolotti's syndrome is defined by back pain and/or radicular symptoms attributed to a congenital lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV). There are few studies that discuss the surgical management of Bertolotti's syndrome. Here, we report long-term outcomes after resecting a pseudoarthrosis between the sacrum and L5 in two teenage patients, along with a review of literature. Case descriptions Surgical resection of a lumbosacral bridging articulation (LSTV type IIa) was performed in two patients, 15 and 16 years of age who presented with intractable back pain. The adequacy of surgery was confirmed with postoperative studies. In both patients, pain and functional status improved within 6 weeks and have remained improved at last follow-up. Conclusion Surgical removal of a pathologic L5 transverse process fused to the sacral ala in two young patients with Bertolotti's syndrome improved postoperative pain and increased overall function. Given the progressive nature of Bertolotti's syndrome, surgical intervention in young patients should be considered to mitigate years of chronic pain and attendant morbidity.
Collocations in Student Academic Presentations

Usage-based research has consistently shown that language use is largely formulaic and a competent use of formulaic language, including collocations, is an important aspect of fluent language production and comprehension. Given that the sub-register of student academic presentations has not been researched from a collocation usage point of view, the focus of this chapter is on student presenters’ use of noun-noun and adjective-noun collocations in their presentations. Realizing that the prevalence of formulaic expressions (including collocations as a type of formulaic language) is driven by both speaker-related and listener-oriented motivations, the discussion of the findings links the functions of collocations found in student presentations to the benefits they bring for listeners from a communication accommodation perspective.
Review of High Impact Practices in Online Education: Research and Best Practices

George Kuh’s (2008) seminal work identified several High Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) that increase student success, retention, and engagement: first-year seminars, common intellectual exper...
Intestinal stem cell-derived enteroids from morbidly obese patients preserve obesity-related phenotypes: Elevated glucose absorption and gluconeogenesis

Abstract Objective The mechanisms behind the efficacy of bariatric surgery (BS) for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, particularly with respect to the influence of the small bowel, remain poorly understood. In vitro and animal models are suboptimal with respect to their ability to replicate the human intestinal epithelium under conditions induced by obesity. Human enteroids have the potential to accelerate the development of less invasive anti-obesity therapeutics if they can recapitulate the pathophysiology of obesity. Our aim was to determine whether adult stem cell-derived enteroids preserve obesity-characteristic patient-specific abnormalities in carbohydrate absorption and metabolism. Methods We established 24 enteroid lines representing 19 lean, overweight, or morbidly obese patients, including post-BS cases. Dietary glucose absorption and gluconeogenesis in enteroids were measured. The expression of carbohydrate transporters and gluconeogenic enzymes was assessed and a pharmacological approach was used to dissect the specific contribution of each transporter or enzyme to carbohydrate absorption and metabolism, respectively. Results Four phenotypes representing the relationship between patients’ BMI and intestinal dietary sugar absorption were found, suggesting that human enteroids retain obese patient phenotype heterogeneity. Intestinal glucose absorption and gluconeogenesis were significantly elevated in enteroids from a cohort of obese patients. Elevated glucose absorption was associated with increased expression of SGLT1 and GLUT2, whereas elevated gluconeogenesis was related to increased expression of GLUT5, PEPCK1, and G6Pase. Conclusions Obesity phenotypes preserved in human enteroids provide a mechanistic link to aberrant dietary carbohydrate absorption and metabolism. Enteroids can be used as a preclinical platform to understand the pathophysiology of obesity, study the heterogeneity of obesity mechanisms, and identify novel therapeutics.
Spacecraft Compatibility of Cryogenic Refrigerators

Certain types of spacecraft payloads, especially infrared equipment, must have critical components cooled to cryogenic temperatures in order to obtain adequate sensitivity. As the cryogenic temperature is lowered or the needed cooling capacity is increased, the refrigerators that produce the cooling become larger, and their operation may significantly influence the spacecraft design.
Epic Allies: A Gamified Mobile App to Improve Engagement in HIV Care and Antiretroviral Adherence among Young Men Who have Sex with Men

HIV incidence among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) is disproportionally high. Youth living with HIV demonstrate low rates of sustained virologic suppression (VS). Epic Allies, a theory-based behavioral intervention mobile app, utilizes self-management tools, gamification, and social support to improve engagement in care and antiretroviral adherence among YMSM living with HIV. A two-arm individually randomized-controlled trial enrolled 146 participants aged 16 to 24 years old to test the efficacy of Epic Allies to achieve VS. Both study arms showed improved VS at 26-weeks (62.9% intervention; 73.5% control; ARR = 0.93 (95% CI 0.73, 1.18)) and antiretroviral adherence; intervention effects were amplified in regular app users. Issues with recruitment and app usage metrics limit the ability to definitively say that the app was effective in causing behavior changes resulting in improved health outcomes. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02782130).
Simulations and projections of the western Pacific subtropical high in CMIP5 models

This work examined the performance of 26 coupled climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5)in the simulation of the present-day temporal variability and spatial pattern of the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH).Results show that most models are able to capture the spatial distribution and variability of the 500hPa geopotential height and zonal wind fields in the western subtropical Pacific,with the underestimation of the mean intensities of WPSH.The underestimation may be associated with the cold bias of sea surface temperature in the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans in the models.To eliminate the impact of the climatology biases,the climatology of these models is replaced by that of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis in the verification.It is noted that at interdecadal time scales,the models reproduce the shift of WPSH with enhancement and westward extension after the late 1970s.According to assessment of the simulations of the WPSH indices,it is found that some models(CNRM-CM5,FGOALS-g2,F10-ESM,MIROC-ESM and MPIESM-P)are better than others in simulating WPSH.Then the ensemble mean of these better models are used to project the future changes of WPSH under three typical Representation Concentration Pathway scenarios(RCP8.5,RCP4.5,RCP2.6).It is suggested that the WPSH enlarges and strengthens,and its position extends westward under the scenarios,with the largest linear growth trend in RCP8.5,smallest in RCP2.6,and in between in RCP4.5;while the ridge line of WPSH does not show obvious long-term trend.These results may have implications for the attribution and prediction of climate variations and changes in East Asia.
The Bronze Horseman of Justinian in Constantinople: The Cross-Cultural Biography of a Mediterranean Monument

Justinian's triumphal column was the tallest free-standing column of the pre-modern world and was crowned with arguably the largest metal equestrian sculpture created anywhere in the world before 1699. The Byzantine empire's bronze horseman towered over the heart of Constantinople, assumed new identities, spawned conflicting narratives, and acquired widespread international acclaim. Because all traces of Justinian's column were erased from the urban fabric of Istanbul in the sixteenth century, scholars have undervalued its astonishing agency and remarkable longevity. Its impact in visual and verbal culture was arguably among the most extensive of any Mediterranean monument. This book analyzes Byzantine, Islamic, Slavic, Crusader, and Renaissance historical accounts, medieval pilgrimages, geographic, apocalyptic and apocryphal narratives, vernacular poetry, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Italian, French, Latin, and Ottoman illustrated manuscripts, Florentine wedding chests, Venetian paintings, and Russian icons to provide an engrossing and pioneering biography of a contested medieval monument during the millennium of its life.
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory

Many years ago, I attended a three-day seminar organized by the young T.J. Rodgers at Stanford University. The topic on day one was how to answer a question “no.” On the second day it was how to answer a question “yes,” and on the last day how to answer a question “I do not know.” Before attending the seminar, I already knew that some people talk for a long time without communicating any usable information. The seminar taught me a very effective way to get to the root cause of any problem.
The Origin of Mind and Life

Successful retracement in the laboratory under terrestrial conditions of synthesis of the first cell from progenitor thermal protein has been recorded (Fox et al., 1995; Enger and Ross, 1997). This retracement has benefited from recognition of some reversibility in molecular evolution (Atkinson and Fox, 1951; Fox et al., 1995a; Fox et al., 1995b). A number of other new advances were also required. Sequence analysis of amino acid residues was a method needed early (Fox, 1945). (While the 1945 prospectus preceded analysis of insulin and other related developments by other workers), the evolutionary applications led to recognition of self-sequencing of amino acids into polymers when heated, self-assembly of the resultant thermal proteins to first living cells (Fox, 1971; Fox et al., 1995; Enger and Ross, 1997) and a number of other advances.
Streamlining 24-hour pH study for GERD: Use of a 3-hour postprandial test

At present, the ambulatory 24-hr pH test has been used as a diagnostic tool to assess gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in those patients with reflux symptoms and a normal endoscopy. However, patients poorly tolerate the prolonged nature of the 24-hr test. The aim of this study was to determine whether analyzing a 3-hr postprandial period from a full 24-hr study would be as sensitive as the longer test. Data were analyzed from a standard ambulatory 24-hr pH recording. A positive test was determined if the pH was <4 for more than 4% of the study period with the probe placed 5 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter for both groups. The data were then reanalyzed by determining the percent time of pH < 4 during a 3-hr postprandial period. The results of 50 patients with a positive 24-hr test were compared with 50 patients with normal tests. The meal that was used to study the 3-hr postprandial period occurred in the late afternoon or early evening. The 3-hr postprandial test had a sensitivity of 88% when compared to the 24-hour test and a specificity of 98%. The positive predictive value was 100% for the 3-hr test, and the accuracy of this shorter test when compared with the standard 24-hour test was 95%. In conclusion the 3-hr postprandial analysis is a highly sensitive and specific test for demonstrating GERD. By using the shorter test, patient discomfort may be reduced and compliance enhanced.