cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance Analysis of Excess Mean Square Error of Adjusting Log-Based Stepsize for LMS Algorithm with High Variance Input

A high variance input excitation adversely impacts the performance of an adaptive filter for system identification problems. This occurs due to an increase in steady-state excess mean square error (EMSE) and consequently, an increase in the miss-adjustment value of the adaptive system. Reducing the miss-adjustment value at high variances of input excitation while maintaining fast convergence rate is being proposed by utilizing a new time-varying stepsize in this paper. A per tap time adjusting stepsize framework using a logarithmic function of the input to the adaptive filter is proposed. In the context of adaptive noise cancellation application, we present simulation results using various variances of AWGN input. We also present the statistical analysis of EMSE and miss-adjustment of the proposed technique. Simulation results show that this technique has the ability to terminate with a very small miss-adjustment for high variances of input excitation compared with others.
Evolution of Cryptosporidium.

A large-scale comparative genomic survey of Cryptosporidium species and subtypes reveals a cryptic anthroponotic Cryptosporidium parvum branch and a large, recent superclade of species and subtypes that undergo genetic exchange, potentially facilitating host associations.
Response to Comment on Evron et al. Changes in Screening Practices for Prediabetes and Diabetes Since the Recommendation for Hemoglobin A1c Testing. Diabetes Care 2019;42:576-584.

Stankevich et al. (1) demonstrate that between 69% and 89% of first HbA1c analyses performed in the southwest region of France are performed as screening tests: only 11% to 31% are performed to monitor patients with known diabetes. Of the screening tests performed, 4.1% were diagnostic of diabetes (HbA1c ≥6.5%) and 21.3% were diagnostic of prediabetes (HbA1c 5.7–6.4%) (1). The prevalence of treated diabetes in the …
Multi-Wavelength Polarimetry of Isolated Pulsars

Isolated pulsars are ideal sources for polarisation studies since the radiation from pulsars generally covers a wide range of wavelengths from radio to very-high-energy γ-rays and the pulsed emission is closely tied to the local magnetic field direction. Although radio polarisation data exist for many pulsars, polarisation measurements at higher energies exist for only six sources. All six of these have optical polarisation measurements while only the Crab pulsar has measured polarisation in the X-ray band. One member of a small group of pulsars only visible at optical and X-ray wavelengths, thought to be powered by thermal emission from the cooling neutron star surface, has detected optical polarisation. This chapter will review the current multi-wavelength polarisation observations and the theoretical modelling by which we can probe the pulsar magnetosphere structure and emission mechanisms.
Effects of a Class-Wide Positive Peer Reporting Intervention on Middle School Student Behavior:

Class-wide behavioral interventions are a feasible and effective method to support the behavior of all students. In six peer-reviewed studies, Tootling, a class-wide intervention that combines posi...
Use of Closed Incision Negative Pressure Therapy for Massive Subcutaneous Emphysema.

Subcutaneous emphysema is typically due to an air leak through the parietal pleura, allowing air to escape from the lung parenchyma into the adjacent soft tissue. Most cases are benign and self-limiting; however, when enough air is forced into the subcutaneous tissues allowing the air to spread into the neck, tracheal compression and respiratory distress can occur. Tube thoracotomy and endotracheal intubation are generally sufficient to overcome this respiratory compromise. However, occasionally other invasive measures are required to allow the air leak to resolve. Traditionally, this would involve placement of an incision or two into the anterior chest wall to allow decompression to the outside environment. Limited evidence exists regarding negative pressure wound therapy devices being used successfully with open incisions for the management of massive subcutaneous emphysema. We present the initial case of successful use of a loosely closed incision negative pressure therapy for massive subcutaneous emphysema. In this instance, the patient's thoracic injury was successfully stabilized and use of the negative pressure therapy device allowed the incisions to be closed with a much more cosmetically pleasing result.
Sublethal concentrations of clothianidin affect honey bee colony behavior and interact with landscapes to affect colony growth

Honey bee colonies were exposed to sublethal concentrations (5 and 20 ppb) of clothianidin in sugar syrup, while control colonies were fed syrup with no pesticide. In addition to standard colony assessments of adult bees and brood, hive weight and internal temperature were monitored on a continuous basis at all sites. Experiments were conducted twice in Arizona, in successive years at the same site, and once in Mississippi, to examine the concomitant effects of weather and landscape. Adult bee masses at the Arizona site were significantly affected by clothianidin concentration. Newly-emerged bee dry weights, measured only at the Arizona site, were significantly lower for colonies fed 5 ppb clothianidin compared to the other groups. CO2 concentration, also only measured at the Arizona site, was higher in colonies fed 20 ppb clothianidin. Neither daily hive weight change nor colony thermoregulation were affected by clothianidin exposure. The Mississippi site had higher rainfall, more diverse land use, and a different temperature regime, and bee colonies there did not show any effects of clothianidin. These results suggest that bee colonies in more stressful environments, such as the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, are affected more by clothianidin exposure than colonies at sites with higher rainfall and more forage. Clothianidin was also found to be, like imidacloprid, highly stable in honey in the hive environment at least over several months. These results also showed that CO2 concentration within the hive is potentially valuable in measuring the effects of stressors on bee health.
Designing and validation of an automated ex-vivo bioreactor system for long term culture of bone.

Abstract Several different bioreactors have been developed to study bone biology. Keeping a bone viable for long-term studies is still a challenge. We have developed an ex-vivo bone bioreactor that can keep the ex-vivo live bone viable for more than 4 weeks. Keeping a bone viable for over a month can be used as an alternative model for in-vivo experiments in animals. We hypothesize that the perfusion flow and mechanical load on the bone provide a real-time environment for the bone to survive. Cancellous bones were harvested from the bovine metatarsals and were placed in the dynamic culture with cyclic loading at regular intervals. After a period of week 4, the bone cores were retrieved from the bioreactor and tested for viability using calcein-AM and ethidium homodimer −1 fluorescent dyes and were compared with the cores that were placed in static culture with and without any loads on them and Day 0 bone core that acted as a positive control. The bone blocks were then fixed in 10% formalin, and bone mineral density was evaluated using a DXA scanner before staining them for H&E to study the morphological changes. Results revealed that the bone cultured in the bioreactor was viable as compared to the one in the static culture with and without constant load. Bone cores cultured in our ex-vivo bioreactor system also maintained their morphology and no statistical difference was found in the bone mineral density compared to positive controls and the statistical difference was found when compared with the cores cultured in static culture. This tool can be used to study bone biology for various applications such as bone ingrowth studies, to study the effect of drugs, hormones, or any growth factors, and much more.
The Curious Case of Trusted IC Provisioning in Untrusted Testing Facilities

Asset provisioning is a crucial step in present-day IC manufacturing process. The nature of on-chip assets can range from crypto keys, IC configurations, and manufacturer firmware to target specific security specifications, policies, and chip debugging information. Given the criticality of the assets, a major part of IC security research is targeted towards the development of their protection mechanisms, especially in post-fabrication deployment phase. However, in this work our curious observation is that a series of novel attack surfaces can stem from asset provisioning at untrusted testing sites and colluding foundries which are not covered by existing threat models and defense schemes. To that end, we study the state-of-the-art protection mechanisms adopted for secure IC provisioning at untrusted testing facilities and highlight their security vulnerabilities. In particular, we show the inadequacy of existing authentication and design obfuscation-based defense mechanisms during asset provisioning through a secure root of trust.
ReviewR: A Lightweight and Portable Tool For Manual Review of Clinical Records

OBJECTIVESManual record review is a crucial step for electronic health record (EHR)-based research, but it has poor workflows and is error prone. We sought to build a tool that provides a unified environment for data review and chart abstraction data entry. MATERIALS AND METHODSReviewR is an open-source R Shiny application that can be deployed on a single machine or made available to multiple users. It supports multiple data models and database systems, and integrates with the REDCap API for storing abstraction results. RESULTSWe describe two real-world uses and extensions of ReviewR. Since its release in April 2021 as a package on CRAN it has been downloaded 2,204 times. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONReviewR provides an easily accessible review interface for clinical data warehouses. Its modular, extensible, and open source nature afford future expansion by other researchers. LAY SUMMARYWhen doing research using data from electronic health records (EHRs), data may need to be extracted by hand, either to perform the study or to ensure its accuracy. However many researchers cant access the EHR for this purpose. Even when researchers have access, they must flip between their review list, the EHR, and the location they are recording the results of their review, which is difficult and can cause errors. We developed a software application, ReviewR, to make this process easier and less error prone and have used it in two real-world projects.
Comment on Stafford, “Early Education of Children by Families and Schools”

Frank Stafford has prepared a thoughtful and fascinating survey of a difficult topic that we economists have too often blissfully ignored. It merits the usual encomiums for its wide-ranging approach and its dredging up of studies not usually within our purview. More important, though, it shows how we can shed light on interesting economic issues if we are willing to think more broadly. The discussion of empirical work shows the gains to a willingness to expand beyond such standard very tired data sets as the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Surveys to examine these issues.
Transplanting the Great Society: Lyndon Johnson and Food for Peace – By Kristin L. Ahlberg

In the 1960s, the salad days of foreign aid, most U.S. assistance went overseas in the form of food. By 1966, the biggest recipient, India, was importing eleven million tons of donated American gra...
Quantum Destructive Interference

An apparent paradox for unitarity non-conservation is investigated for the case of destructive quantum interference.
Violence, Conflict, and Community Service-Learning: Measuring Impact on Students and Community

University students were involved in the design, implementation,and assessment of a program in local schools onconflict and violence in the media and in one’s own life. Thecommunity partners were sixth graders in five area classroomsin the community surrounding the university. This studyassesses the impact of a project-based community servicelearning(CSL) partnership on both the university studentsinvolved and the sixth graders for whom the project wasdesigned. The data suggest that both the sixth graders/communitymembers and the university students learned valuableinformation and developed critical thinking skills from participationin the project. The analysis of the data gives us importantinsights into the ways such work can and does make animpact on all parties involved.
Imogen: Focusing the Polarized Inverse Method for Intuitionistic Propositional Logic

In this paper we describe Imogen, a theorem prover for intuitionistic propositional logic using the focused inverse method. We represent fine-grained control of the search behavior by polarizing the input formula. In manipulating the polarity of atoms and subformulas, we can often improve the search time by several orders of magnitude. We tested our method against seven other systems on the propositional fragment of the ILTP library. We found that our prover outperforms all other provers on a substantial subset of the library.
Role of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in pulmonary clearance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vivo.

Cystic fibrosis (CF)2 is a fatal genetic disease caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) that is commonly associated with chronic pulmonary infections with mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). To test the hypothesis that CFTR plays a direct role in PA adhesion and clearance, we have used mouse lines expressing varying levels of human (h) or mouse (m) CFTR. A subacute intratracheal dose of 3 × 106 bacteria was cleared with similar kinetics in control wild-type (WT) and transgenic mice overexpressing hCFTR in the lung from the surfactant protein C (SP-C) promoter (SP-C-hCFTR+/−). In a second series of experiments, the clearance of an acute intratracheal dose of 1.5 × 107 PA bacteria was also similar in WT, hemizygous SP-C-hCFTR+/−, and bitransgenic gut-corrected FABP-hCFTR+/+-mCFTR−/−, the latter lacking expression of mCFTR in the lung. However, a small but significant decrease in bacterial killing was observed in lungs of homozygote SP-C-hCFTR+/+ mice. Lung pathology in both WT and SP-C-hCFTR+/+ mice was marked by neutrophilic inflammation and bacterial invasion of perivascular and subepithelial compartments. Bacteria were associated primarily with leukocytes and were not associated with alveolar type II or bronchiolar epithelial cells, the cellular sites of SP-C-hCFTR+/+ transgene expression. The results indicate that there is no direct correlation between levels of CFTR expression and bacterial clearance or association of bacteria with epithelial cells in vivo.
A Comprehensive Review of Breast Cancer in Young Women

This issue of Breast Disease is dedicated to a comprehensive overview of breast cancer in young women for all members of the healthcare team who treat women with breast cancer. Breast cancer requires multidisciplinary management, and as such this book provides input from epidemiology, basic science, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, genetics, reproductive endocrinology, psychology, and nursing. Because breast cancer in young women occurs during the reproductive years, additional emphasis is placed on managing breast cancer in pregnant patients, as well as reproductive options for breast cancer survivors. The contributors to this issue of Breast Disease comprise 30 experts from 6 academic institutions across 10 disciplines. My hope is that such diversity in authorship will expand the depth and scope of this book. Bonnie Yankaskas opens this issue by discussing epidemiology of breast cancer in young women, which provides a critical starting point for all other topics. I review the basic science literature pertaining to differences in expression of traditional biomarkers in breast cancers in young women compared to older women, as well as key advances that have expanded molecular classification of human breast cancer that transcends traditional tumor marker approaches. James Evans and
The diffusion of ions in polyethylene

It was demonstrated that inorganic ions dissolved in water which is in contact with polyethylene will diffuse into the polyethylene. Not all ions were found to diffuse at the same rate. It was also found that polyethylene in contact with salt solutions will absorb water, with more water being absorbed as the salt concentration is increased. The diffusion was found to be accelerated under basic conditions and inhibited under acidic conditions. Cross-linking of the polyethylene was found to slow diffusion. It is proposed that ions enter the polyethylene via certain 'trapping' sites without or with only a portion of their hydration sphere. These ions would then diffuse through the polyethylene film by hopping from one trapping site to another. All the results observed are compatible with the observations made on water treeing and advance the understanding of water tree formation. >
Ritual Commensality between Human and Non-Human Persons: Investigating Native Ontologies in the Late Pre-Columbian Andean World

In der Kulturanthropologie gilt es mittlerweile als selbstverstandlich, dass soziale Beziehungen zum einen durch Praktiken konstruiert werden, die im Zusammenhang mit Nahrungsmitteln und Ernahrung stehen, und zum anderen in Lebensmitteln verkorpert sind. In diesem Beitrag wird vorgeschlagen, dass sowohl rituelle als auch alltagliche Kommensalitat, die Gestaltung spezifischer sozialer Beziehungen als Ziel oder Konsequenz haben. In dieser Hinsicht unterscheiden sie sich nicht sehr voneinander. Dagegen ergeben sich Differenzen im Bereich der Kommensalitat aufgrund der in den Akt des gemeinsamen Essens eingebundenen Personen. Rituelle Kommensalitat wird als Moglichkeit gesehen, das soziale Universum und die Ontologie indigener Gruppen in den Anden zu untersuchen, dabei werden archaologische und ethnohistorische Daten herangezogen. Ebenso wird die Rolle untersucht, die diese kommensalen Aktivitaten in der Konstruktion und Auseinandersetzung mit nicht-menschlichen Personen in der spaten prakolumbianischen Zeit in den Anden spielten. Archaologie der Anden; Kommensalitat; Feste; huaca; prakolumbianische Anden; Ontologie; Gestaltung von sozialen Beziehungen
Testing inverse kinematic models of paleocrustal thickness in extensional systems with high‐resolution forward thermo‐mechanical models

[1] Reconstructing continental paleocrustal thickness is important for estimating tectonic accommodation, constraining three-dimensional basin geometry during early rifting phases of extensional margins and predicting the distribution of thick crustal sills that may block the global ocean and create restricted basins. We test an inverse kinematic method for modeling paleocrustal thickness by inverting the final bulk crustal structure produced from high-resolution thermo-mechanical models of lithospheric extension. The inverse kinematic method assumes pure shear, includes simple rules based on geodynamic models and field observations and requires displacement boundary conditions and the prescription of a transition from rigid to nonrigid deformation. The inverse pure-shear method produces a history of bulk crustal thickness that closely matches the forward models provided that the width of the rift zone is narrow during the later phases of continental extension when crust undergoes hyper-extension. We also observe that the width and surface trace of large-scale (LS) shear zones observed in the thermo-mechanical models coincide with inflection points and large gradients in inverted nonrigid velocity field. Our results demonstrate that if displacement boundary conditions can be constrained and the transition from rigid to nonrigid deformation defines a narrow rift zone during hyper-extension then relatively simple kinematic rules can be used to invert present-day bulk crustal structure for paleocrustal thickness, bulk lateral strain and aspects of upper crustal shear zone geometry from extensional systems with nonlinear rheology, structures dominated by simple shear in the upper crust, depth-dependent extension and asymmetric crustal thinning.
Efficient Schemes for Monte Carlo Markov Chain Algorithms in Global Illumination

Current MCMC algorithms are limited from achieving high rendering efficiency due to possibly high failure rates in caustics perturbations and stratified exploration of the image plane. In this paper we improve the MCMC approach significantly by introducing new lens perturbation and new path-generation methods. The new lens perturbation method simplifies the computation and control of caustics perturbation and can increase the perturbation success rate. The new path-generation methods aim to concentrate more computation on "high perceptual variance" regions and "hard-to-find-but-important" paths. We implement these schemes in the Population Monte Carlo Energy Redistribution framework to demonstrate the effectiveness of these improvements. In addition., we discuss how to add these new schemes into the Energy Redistribution Path Tracing and Metropolis Light Transport algorithms. Our results show that rendering efficiency is improved with these new schemes.
A Recursive Method for Solving Assignment Problems

Abstract : The recursive algorithm is a polynomially bounded nonsimplex method for solving assignment problems. It begins by finding the optimum solution for a problem defined from the first row, then finding the optimum for a problem defined from rows one and two, etc., continuing until it solves the problem consisting of all the rows. It is thus a dimension expanding rather than an improvement method such as as the simplex. During the method the row duals are non-increasing and the column duals non-decreasing. Best and worst case behavior is analyzed. It is shown that some problems can be solved in one pass through the data, while others may require many passes. The number of zero shifts (comparable to degenerate pivots in the primal method) is shown to be at most n-squared/2. Extensive computational experience on the DEC-20 computer shows the method to be competitive for at least some kinds of assignment problems. Further tests on other computers are planned. (Author)
Striped nanoscale friction and edge rigidity of MoS2 layers

Lateral force microscopy (LFM) is used to probe the nanoscale elastic and frictional characteristics of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). We find that MoS2 edges are effectively flexed over a region of about 10 nm when scanned with sharp single asperity LFM probes, with energies consistent with out-of-plane bending and being slightly stiffer than those of graphene. Additionally, we report the first observation of a striped nanoscale frictional phase on the surface of MoS2. This frictional phase is fixed to the underlying MoS2 with a modulation length of ∼4 nm that is insensitive to scan parameters and has domain sizes that exceed 100 nm. The amplitude of these features is found to be relatively independent of the geometry of the tip asperity and the applied load within the ranges we investigate. Experimental results suggest this periodic friction can be explained by variations in the local strain in the underlying MoS2. These results could have general applicability to understanding the nanomechanical properties of the growing array of laminar materials that are of potential use as atomically-thin coatings to future nanoscale machines.
Re-evaluation of Compton scattering method in characterization of radiation therapy beams

To explore the possibility of using Compton scattering method to characterize the energy spectra of clinical beams. This method is experimentally tested on a Co/sup 60/ radiation therapy machine and independently verified using Monte Carlo (MCNP4B) simulation. Measured spectrum and MCNP simulated spectrum including detector response for 90/spl deg/ scattered beam show good agreement.
Aortic root and valve relationships: Impact on surgical repair

A surgical procedure has recently been described for patients with aortic incompetence caused by annular dilation, but with normal aortic leaflets. The dilated aortic root is replaced with a Dacron graft, and the native aortic valve is resuspended within the graft. Matching the size and shape of the graft to the size of the leaflets may have significant effects on valve closure and leaflet stress and thus on the longevity of the repair. To define the relationship of native aortic root structure to leaflet size, we morphologically examined normal human aortic roots (n = 10) and valve leaflets and applied mathematic analyses to the results. Our data show that the root has a consistent shape with varying size and that there is a definable mathematic relationship between root diameter and clinically measurable leaflet dimensions. We derived an equation that allows calculation of the appropriate diameter of the root at the sinus of Valsalva level from leaflet heights and perimeters. The diameter of the graft at the sinotubular junction and base should follow the relationship of the normalized root dimensions, either by tailoring of the graft or by new graft design. The current data imply that the graft should incorporate sinuses for proper valve closure and for sharing stress with the leaflets. Application of these results will allow prosthetic graft design to more closely resemble the native aorta. These new grafts should improve physiologic function of the valve, reduce leaflet stress, and increase the durability of the repair.
Experimental estimation of thermal expansion and vorticity distribution in a buoyant diffusion flame

The flow induced by buoyant diffusion flames results from thermal expansion caused by heat release and vorticity generated because of density gradients in the flame. The thermal expansion source induces a potential velocity field, and the vorticity induces a solenoidal velocity field. Baum and McCaffrey's technique for the calculation of fire-induced flow field requires specifications of thermal expansion and vorticity source terms. We estimate the thermal expansion using the laminar flamelet method in conjunction with measurements of major gas species concentrations. Mixture fractions are calculated based on the major species concentration data, and gradients of mixture fraction are obtained from the curve fits to the radial profiles of mixture fractions. The temperature, density, and mass diffusivity of the gases are determined using laminar flamelet state relationships from OPPDIF simulations of a natural gas/air diffusion flame. These quantities are needed for estimating the source term for thermal expansion. The mean velocity field is measured using particle imaging velocimetry. The mean vorticity is obtained by differentiating this field using a finite difference. Near the burner surface, the vorticity components based on the axial and radial velocity gradients are approximately equal. A few centimeters from the burner surface, the component involving the axial velocity becomes dominant. We have computed the fire-induced flow field using the method of Baum and McCaffrey in conjunction with the present source term measurements. The results of these computations agree reasonably well with experimental data.
Low-Frequency Climate Response and Fluctuation–Dissipation Theorems: Theory and Practice

Abstract The low-frequency response to changes in external forcing or other parameters for various components of the climate system is a central problem of contemporary climate change science. The fluctuation–dissipation theorem (FDT) is an attractive way to assess climate change by utilizing statistics of the present climate; with systematic approximations, it has been shown recently to have high skill for suitable regimes of an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). Further applications of FDT to low-frequency climate response require improved approximations for FDT on a reduced subspace of resolved variables. Here, systematic mathematical principles are utilized to develop new FDT approximations on reduced subspaces and to assess the small yet significant departures from Gaussianity in low-frequency variables on the FDT response. Simplified test models mimicking crucial features in GCMs are utilized here to elucidate these issues and various FDT approximations in an unambiguous fashion. Also, the...
Proximity effects between singlet and triplet superconductors

Abstract It is argued that proximity effects between singlet (S) and triplet (T) superconductors are qualitatively different from S-S proximity effects, and that this permits an experimental test of the spin-pairing state of a given superconductor. The applicability of these results to the study of heavy fermion superconductivity is discussed.
A process model for the compaction and saturation of partially impregnated thermoset prepreg tapes

Abstract Automated manufacturing of composite materials is key to reducing cost and improving consistency in part quality. Modeling of manufacturing processes can identify influential material, geometric, and process variables, while providing a framework for their optimization and control. A process model has been formulated to describe the compaction and saturation of partially impregnated thermoset prepreg tapes during their placement, using a roller compaction and vacuum consolidation. The roles of various parameters that characterize the initial prepreg tape state and the final prepreg tape state are investigated. The model yields the degree of resin saturation in the tape with changes in its thickness after being compacted, due to an external pressure. The results estimate the degree of dry fiber region within the tape, which can provide vacuum pathways for air or volatile removal before consolidation and cure. The model can be adapted for different material constitutive relationships of tape compaction and saturation.
Reaction diffusion kinetics in deep-UV positive-tone resist systems

This paper examines the effects of latent acid formation and acid diffusion into dark regions of images in determining resist behavior during post exposure bake. Results of two new experiments, consisting of diffusion from an exposed into an unexposed resist film, the deliberate introduction of flare in patterned exposures, and re-examination of FTIR measurements of flood and patterned exposed samples show that a sharp diffusion front is the dominant mechanism determining resist image formation with post exposure bake times, and similar front velocities of 33 nm/min, 35 nm/min, and 31 nm/min were obtained for each experiment, respectively. In addition, quantitative modeling of toploss in unexposed samples due to acid diffusion from a top-to-top contact bake with an exposed sample show that Fickean diffusion cannot account for the experimental observations and suggest deprotection dependent diffusion fronts in positive DUV resists are important in modeling lithographic performance.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
WikiLeaks and Iraq body count: The sum of parts may not add up to the whole-a comparison of two tallies of Iraqi civilian deaths

Introduction The number of civilians killed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion has proven difficult to measure and contentious in recent years. The release of the Wikileaks War Logs (WL) has created the potential to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the commonly-cited Iraq Body Count's (IBC's) tally, which is based on press, government, and other public sources. Hypothesis The 66,000 deaths reported in the Wikileaks War Logs are mostly the same events as those previously reported in the press and elsewhere as tallied by iraqbodycount.org. METHODS: A systematic random sample of 2500 violent fatal War Log incidents was selected and evaluated to determine whether these incidents were also found in IBC's press-based listing. Each selected event was ranked on a scale of 0 (no match present) to 3 (almost certainly matched) with regard to the likelihood it was listed in the IBC database. RESULTS: Of the two thousand four hundred and nine War Log records, 488 (23.8%) were found to have likely matches in IBC records. Events that killed more people were far more likely to appear in both datasets, with 94.1% of events in which ≥20 people were killed being likely matches, as compared with 17.4% of singleton killings. Because of this skew towards the recording of large events in both datasets, it is estimated that 2035 (46.3%) of the 4394 deaths reported in the Wikileaks War Logs had been previously reported in IBC. CONCLUSIONS: Passive surveillance systems, widely seen as incomplete, may also be selective in the types of events detected in times of armed conflict. Bombings and other events during which many people are killed, and events in less violent areas, appear to be detected far more often, creating a skewed image of the mortality profile in Iraq. Members of the press and researchers should be hesitant to draw conclusions about the nature or extent of violence from passive surveillance systems of low or unknown sensitivity. Carpenter D , Fuller T , Roberts L . WikiLeaks and Iraq Body Count: the sum of parts may not add up to the whole-a comparison of two tallies of Iraqi civilian deaths. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(3):1-7 . Language: en
The Art of Conversation Is Coordination Common Ground and the Coupling of Eye Movements During Dialogue

When two people discuss something they can see in front of them, what is the relationship between their eye movements? We recorded the gaze of pairs of subjects engaged in live, spontaneous dialogue. Cross-recurrence analysis revealed a coupling between the eye movements of the two conversants. In the first study, we found their eye movements were coupled across several seconds. In the second, we found that this coupling increased if they both heard the same background information prior to their conversation. These results provide a direct quantification of joint attention during unscripted conversation and show that it is influenced by knowledge in the common ground.
Decreases in simple reaction time as a function of stutterers' participation in a behavioral therapy

Abstract Stutterers and fluent speakers were compared on a simple reastion time task to determine whether participation in a behaviorally based stuttering program had an effect on clients' reaction time scores. A group of fluent speakers was used to control the possibility that any changes in reaction time latency were due to practice or familiarity with the task. All participants responded with a finger-lift as quickly as possible to 25 visual stimuli presented by computer. Response latencies from the stutterers and the fluent speakers were compared. Stutterers' posttherapy reaction time latencies were significantly shorter than their pretherapy latencies. It was also observed that stutterers' reaction time scores prior to therapy did not differ significantly from fluent speakers' scores. However, stutterers' posttherapy reaction time scores did differ significantly from fluent speakers' posttest scores. The results are discussed in terms of arousal, motivation, familiarity with the environment, conditioned inhibition, and two aspects of therapy.
Beyond schema evolution to database reorganization

While the contents of databases can be easily changed, their organization is typically extremely rigid. Some databases relax the rigidity of database organization somewhat by supporting simple changes to individual schemas. As described in this paper, OTGen supports not only more complex schema changes, but also database reorganization. A database administrator uses a declarative notation to describe mappings between objects created with old versions of schemas and their corresponding representations using new versions. OTGen generates a transformer that applies the mappings to update the database to the new definitions, thus facilitating improvements in performance, functionality, and usability of the database.1
Facilitation of memory processes in aged rats by subseizure hippocampal stimulation.

Abstract This study investigated the effects of posttrial bilateral subseizure electrical stimulation of the hippocampus on retention of inhibitory and active avoidance responses in young (4 months) male and old (26 months) male and female rats. In the inhibitory avoidance task hippocampal stimulation facilitated retention in both young and old male rats and was ineffective in old female rats. In the active avoidance task, hippocampal stimulation facilitated retention of young male and old female rats. Thus, posttrial hippocampal stimulation enhances retention in old animals.
Coworker and Supervisor support as moderators of associations between task characteristics and mental strain

Recently, much interest has been shown in the ability of social support to 'moderate' or 'buffer' the impact of job-related stress on physical and mental health. (For more comprehensive discussions see: Pinneau, 1975; Caplan et al., 1976; Beehr, 1976; House and Wells, 1978; LaRocco and Jones, 1978; LaRocco etal., 1980.) Previous researchers (LaRocco et al., 1980) have indicated the need to consider different types of social support in testing for the 'buffering' effects on stress/strain relationships. French et al. (1974) has made the distinction between supervisory and coworker support. Continuing in this direction, we identify several coworker and supervisory support measures and test their buffering effects by using a new model of social support buffering. Our theory builds upon an existing individual task-level model of psychological strain by adding a social level mechanism for stress coping. The task level model, not directly examined in this paper, is described in detail elsewhere (see Karasek, 1976, 1979) but can be summarized as a model of the joint effects of job stressors and job control. These two aspects of the job situation represent, respectively, the instigators of action (job demands or stressors) and the environmental constraints on alternative resulting actions (decision latitude or measures of control at work). Job demands or stressors place the individual in a motivated state of 'stress'. If no action can be taken (Zeigarnik, 1927) or if other desires of the individual must be foregone because of low decision latitude, then the unreleased stress (measured as a composite of environmental factors-task strain) may lead to adverse psychological consequences (Henry and Cassell, 1969). These consequences are measured as individual psychological strain symptoms. The implied logical structure is roughly analogous to an 'energy reservoir' model; either the energy summoned by the
The medicalization of female "circumcision": harm reduction or promotion of a dangerous practice?

In recent decades the practice of female ‘‘circumcision’’ has come under intense international scrutiny, often conceptualized as a violation of women’s basic right to health. Although the adverse health consequences of female ‘‘circumcision’’ form the basis of opposition to the practice, anti-circumcision activists, as well as many international medical associations, largely oppose measures to improve its safety. The debate over medicalization of female ‘‘circumcision’’ has, up until now, been cast as a moral dilemma: to protect women’s health at the expense of legitimating a destructive practice? Or to hasten the elimination of a dangerous practice while allowing women to die from preventable conditions? This paper seeks to re-examine this debate by conceptualizing medicalization of female ‘‘circumcision’’ as a harm-reduction strategy. Harm reduction is a new paradigm in the field of public health that aims to minimize the health hazards associated with risky behaviors, such as intravenous drug use and high-risk sexual behavior, by encouraging safer alternatives, including, but not limited to abstinence. Harm reduction considers a wide range of alternatives, and promotes the alternative that is culturally acceptable and bears the least amount of harm. This paper evaluates the applicability of harm reduction principles to medical interventions for female ‘‘circumcision,’’ and draws parallels to other harm reduction programs. In this light, arguments for opposing medicalization of female ‘‘circumcision’’, including the assertion that it counteracts eorts to eliminate the practice, are critically evaluated, revealing that there is not suAcient evidence to support staunch opposition to medicalization. Rather, it appears that medicalization, if implemented as a harm-reduction strategy, may be a sound and compassionate approach to improving women’s health in settings where abandonment of the practice of ‘‘circumcision’’ is not immediately attainable. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Implementing reticle blank inspection in a production environment

Photronics and KLA-Tencor are jointly examining several aspects of reticle blank inspection. PBS blank quality has been examined using the KLA-Tensor STARlight reticle inspection system. PBS blanks were inspected using a 500-nm pixel with the highest sensitivity settings. Data from the initial phases of this study show conclusively that blank defects with certain characteristics can, with high probability, `transfer' to the finished reticle. These conclusions were drawn from a systematic study of several test samples containing 452 blank defects. These defects were classified using three different characteristics and correlation studies were completed to determine which factors most significantly influence transfer rates. This study has now been expanded to include production reticles. The results are being used to develop a comprehensive blank inspection protocol in a commercial mask production facility. We report on all phases of the project including the trial program.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A magnesium tetraphenylaluminate battery electrolyte exhibits a wide electrochemical potential window and reduces stainless steel corrosion

Using Al(OPh)3 rather than the typical AlCl3 with Grignard reagents affords a Mg-ion electrolyte with a reduced chloride content. A 1:4 Al(OPh)3–PhMgCl mixture gives a magnesium tetraphenylaluminate salt that exhibits anodic stability up to 5 V vs. Mg2+/0 on both platinum and stainless steel working electrodes, and shows much reduced corrosion (pitting) of stainless steel after extended electrolysis at 4.5 V.
Examination of the migratory potential of patterned cortical neurons using laser direct-write

We describe the patterning of neuronal cultures by a laser-based printing system. Embryonic chick cortical neurons were transferred into predetermined array positions with micron accuracy, enabling detailed study of neuronal migration, aggregation, and neurite outgrowth regulated by cell-cell interactions on a homogeneous surface. Images of cells were analyzed up to 14 days. Results demonstrated that increasing the spacing between neighboring groups of cells causes intra-group cells to preferentially migrate towards each other and aggregate towards the center of the printed ‘spot’. In addition, increasing the printed ‘spot’ size encouraged migration towards neighboring groups of cells.
Seasonality of arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae and glomalin in a western Montana grassland

In order to more fully understand the basic biology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and their role in natural ecosystems, it is necessary to document seasonal changes of various aspects of the life history of these fungi. Due to their unique position at the root-soil interface, AMF have been described as `keystone mutualists' in ecosystems. Despite the importance of AMF in ecosystems, few studies exist that examine the seasonality of external hyphae and their exuded products (e.g. glomalin), the AMF variables directly related to ecosystem function through their contributions to soil aggregation. This study examined seasonal dynamics of several soil variables, with a specific interest in the seasonality of external hyphae and glomalin, a glycoprotein produced by AMF, which is correlated with soil aggregate stability. Here we measured glomalin concentrations and external AMF and non-AMF hyphal length, as well as soil moisture, percent fungal root colonization (AMF and non-AMF), and root length in soil in an intermountain grassland in western Montana over one growing season (13 time points). Of the glomalin pools and hyphal lengths measured, significant seasonal changes occurred for total glomalin (TG; 24.5% change), immunoreactive easily extractable glomalin (IREEG; 53.8% change), and AM hyphal length (107% change). Prior studies on glomalin in natural systems have not considered seasonal effects. The small seasonal change in glomalin pools lends further support to the hypothesis that glomalin is relatively stable in soils, and suggests that one-time sampling may be sufficient to satisfactorily capture this response variable. However, the generality of this observation has yet to be tested in a wider range of ecosystems.
Reactivation of model cholinesterases by oximes and intermediate phosphyloximes : A computational study

Phosphyloximes (POX) are generated upon the reactivation of organophosphorus (OP)-inhibited cholinesterases (ChEs) by pyridinium oximes. These POXs are known to be potent inhibitors of the ChEs following reactivation. However, they can also decompose to give an OP derivative and a cyano derivative of the oxime when a base abstracts the benzylic proton. Using density functional theory, thermodynamic properties were calculated for the reactivation and decomposition pathways of three different oximes (2-PAM, 3-PAM and 4-PAM) with six different OPs (cyclosarin, paraoxon, sarin, tabun, VR and VX). For reactivation purposes, 2-PAM is predicted to be more efficient than 3- and 4-PAM. Based on atomic charges and relative energies, 2-POXs were found to be more inclined towards the decomposition process.
Film structure and optical constants of magnetron-sputtered fluoride films for deep ultraviolet lithography

Abstract Stoichiometric fluoride films have been fabricated by magnetron sputtering of fluoride targets with SF6 at around room temperature. Refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) of the optimal AlF3 film are 1.37 and 6×10−4 at 193 nm, and in case of the optimal LaF3 film, n and k are 1.75 and 9×10−4 at 193 nm. The two-step process, which consists of target pre-fluorination and film deposition, enables LaF3 films to grow with dense and bulky structure. An anti-reflective coating at 193 nm was fabricated, and its reflectance and transmittance are 0.03% and 99.2%, respectively.
N-Body Simulations of Late Stage Planetary Formation with a Simple Fragmentation Model

We present results of two-dimensional gravitationalN-body simulations of the late stage of planetary formation. This stage is characterized by the direct accretion of hundreds of lunar-sized planetesimals into planetary bodies. Our simulation code is based on the Hermite Individual Timestep integration algorithm, and gravitational interactions among all bodies are included throughout the simulations. We compare our simulation with earlier works that do not include all interactions, and we find very good agreement. A previously published collisional fragmentation model is included in our simulation to study the effects of the production of fragments on the subsequent evolution of the larger planetary bodies. It is found that for realistic two-body collisions that, according to this model, both bodies will suffer fragmentation, and that the outcome of the collision will be a relatively large core containing most of the mass and a few small fragments. We present the results of simulations that include this simple fragmentation model. They indicate that the presence of small fragments have only a small effect on the growth or orbital evolution of the large planet-sized bodies.