cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Corporate Finance from the Perspective of Bondholders: A Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Rational Financial Contracting

This paper presents a theory of corporate finance from the perspective of bondholders. Towards this end an equilibrium model of a debt and equity financed firm is developed that motivates the need for an upfront bond contract that solves an agency problem between bondholders and stockholders. This bond contract guides the firm towards a no arbitrage equilibrium by directing managers to make investment decisions conforming to the risk aversion of their shareholders and then make financing decisions that preserve the investment quality of their bonds. Empirical evidence on the investment and financing of nonfinancial corporations conform to the predictions of the model.
High-spin states in A ≃ 40 nuclei: Data for Ar 38 and K 39

Previous results for high-spin decay schemes in $^{38}\mathrm{Ar}$ and $^{39}\mathrm{K}$ obtained by the Brook-haven group from heavy-ion fusion-evaporation $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy are revised and some new results are given. In particular, guided by recently published particle-$\ensuremath{\gamma}$ coincidence measurements, we find that in both nuclei the time sequences of two $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ transitions in cascade were wrongly ordered. Thus, in $^{38}\mathrm{Ar}$ a 7609-keV level is replaced by a ${J}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}=({7}^{\ensuremath{-}})$ 8972-keV level, while in $^{39}\mathrm{K}$ a 4831-keV level is replaced by a 7142-keV level. In addition, new mean lives of 17 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 3 and 20 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 1.5 ps were extracted for the $^{39}\mathrm{K}$ 6476- and 8029-keV levels, respectively.NUCLEAR REACTIONS ($\mathrm{HI},xn,yp,z\ensuremath{\alpha}$) studies for $A\ensuremath{\sim}40$ nuclei, $^{14}\mathrm{N}$ projectile, $^{27}\mathrm{Al}$ target, $E=40$ MeV, measured $\ensuremath{\sigma}({E}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}},\ensuremath{\theta})$ and $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ coin; deduced $^{38}\mathrm{Ar}$ and $^{39}\mathrm{K}$ levels; measured recoil distance; deduced ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{m}$.
“Tax” and “Fee” Message Frames as Inhibitors of Plastic Bag Usage Among Shoppers: A Social Marketing Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

In response to the plastic bag pandemic, many studies have indicated that penalties can lower consumption of plastic bags but are only effective in the short term. For long-term impact, shoppers’ intrinsic motivations need to be explored. Using framing and the theory of planned behavior, the current study looked at how advertising messages framed as “avoiding a fee” (gain) and “paying a tax” (loss) can impact shoppers’ behavior to bring reusable bags. Findings from a hierarchical and multiple regression analysis showed differences in how both frames were interpreted. For the fee frame, attitude toward compliance and perceived control were important to intentions, while attitudes toward bringing reusable bags, control, and subjective norms impacted intentions for the tax frame. Behavioral intention was the main predictor of behavior for both frames. The findings suggest that a penalty framed as a tax maybe more effective in motivating shoppers to bring reusable bags. Theoretical and practical implications ...
Oneiric Film Sound and Human Brain

The focus of this paper is to connect an area of film studies (related to film sound) and recent findings in neuroscience. Since 1929 and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail” subjective film sound has been introduced and after that significantly “tweaked” and redefined. However, it is quite interesting to observe that even though the filmmakers “intuitively” arrived at the sort of “formula” for creating the oneiric sound experience, there is actually neuroscientific evidence that supports this “formula”.
Rationale, design and methods for the RIGHT Track Health Study: pathways from childhood self-regulation to cardiovascular risk in adolescence.

Cardiovascular risk factors during adolescence—including obesity, elevated lipids, altered glucose metabolism, hypertension, and elevated low-grade inflammation—is cause for serious concern and potentially impacts subsequent morbidity and mortality. Despite the importance of these cardiovascular risk factors, very little is known about their developmental origins in childhood. In addition, since adolescence is a time when individuals are navigating major life changes and gaining increasing autonomy from their parents or parental figures, it is a period when control over their own health behaviors (e.g. drug use, sleep, nutrition) also increases. The primary aim of this paper is to describe the rationale, design and methods for the RIGHT Track Health Study. This study examines self-regulation as a key factor in the development of cardiovascular risk, and further explores health behaviors as an explanatory mechanism of this association. We also examine potential moderators (e.g. psychosocial adversities such as harsh parenting) of this association. RIGHT Track is a longitudinal study that investigates social and emotional development. The RIGHT Track Health Study prospectively follows participants from age 2 through young adulthood in an effort to understand how self-regulatory behavior throughout childhood alters the trajectories of various cardiovascular risk factors during late adolescence via health behaviors. Individuals from RIGHT Track were re-contacted and invited to participate in adolescent data collection (~16.5, 17.5 and 18+ years old). Individuals completed assessments of body composition, anthropometric indicators, fitness testing (via peak oxygen consumption), heart rate variability during orthostatic challenge, 7-day accelerometry for physical activity and sleep, 24-h dietary recalls, and blood analysis for biomarkers related to metabolic syndrome, inflammatory status and various hormones and cytokines. Individuals also completed extensive self-report measures on diet and eating regulation, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, sleep, substance use, medical history, medication use and a laboratory-day checklist, which chronicled previous day activities and menstrual information for female participants. Insights emerging from this analysis can help researchers and public health policy administrators target intervention efforts in early childhood, when preventing chronic disease is most cost-effective and behavior is more malleable.
Incorporation of halogenated substances into humic material

Halogenated phenols and anilines are chemical analogues of aromatic compounds that naturally occur in soil and that, likewise, may be incorporated into humus. The incorporation may result from an oxidative coupling reaction mediated by enzymes or abiotic catalysts. Experiments with model humic substances such as syringic acid indicated that covalent bonds may be formed during oxidative coupling of the halogenated compounds to humus. In experiments with natural humic acids, the occurrence of covalent binding was confirmed by the use of 13C NMR for the detection of the bound 13C-2,4-dichlorophenol. It was found that the release of 14C-labeled chlorophenols from their complexes with humic acid by microbial activity was very limited (maximum 2.2% of initially bound radioactivity) and unlikely to cause any delayed pollution problem. In addition it was also determined that the covalent binding of chlorophenols to humic acid is accompanied by an extensive release of chloride ions (up to 41.4% of chlorine initially attached to the benzene ring). At the present time, it is not yet known if the chloride ions released in terrestrial systems could be of environmental concern.
Historic and Contemporary Status of Sea Otters in the North Pacific

Once numbering perhaps 300,000 throughout nearshore habitats around the Pacific Rim, sea otters were exploited in a 170-year commercial fur harvest that ended early in the twentieth century. Although the average annual harvest was less than about 1.5%, a process of serial depletion resulted in extirpation throughout nearly their entire historic range. By late in the nineteenth century fewer than 2000 animals remained in 13 isolated areas. Subsequent conservation efforts including protection from harvest and translocations resulted in eventual recovery of the species, although large gaps in distribution remain today along western North America, south of Alaska. Currently, about 125,000 individuals occupy their truncated range and most sea otter populations being monitored are experiencing growth rates that are less than rates observed a few decades ago. Despite large tracts of unoccupied habitat there has been little recent change in the overall abundance of sea otters. Behavior and physiology appear to constrain the sea otter to small individual home ranges and result in population structuring at relatively small scales. Varying population trajectories over spatial scales on the order of hundreds of square kilometers or less imply differences in demographic rates at these same scales. Effective conservation will benefit from consideration of those biological attributes specific to individual species that collectively result in unique population structuring properties.
Lagrangian Field Formalism for Dressed Charges

In this chapter the Lagrangian field formalism is applied to the particular case of interacting dressed charges.
Resource Sharing Controls Gene Expression Bursting

Episodic gene expression, with periods of high expression separated by periods of no expression, is a pervasive biological phenomenon. This bursty pattern of expression draws from a finite reservoir of expression machinery in a highly time variant way, i.e., requiring no resources most of the time but drawing heavily on them during short intense bursts, that intimately links expression bursting and resource sharing. Yet, most recent investigations have focused on specific molecular mechanisms intrinsic to the bursty behavior of individual genes, while little is known about the interplay between resource sharing and global expression bursting behavior. Here, we confine Escherichia coli cell extract in both cell-sized microfluidic chambers and lipid-based vesicles to explore how resource sharing influences expression bursting. Interestingly, expression burst size, but not burst frequency, is highly sensitive to the size of the shared transcription and translation resource pools. The intriguing implication o...
A Probabilistic Programming Approach To Probabilistic Data Analysis

Probabilistic techniques are central to data analysis, but different approaches can be challenging to apply, combine, and compare. This paper introduces composable generative population models (CGPMs), a computational abstraction that extends directed graphical models and can be used to describe and compose a broad class of probabilistic data analysis techniques. Examples include discriminative machine learning, hierarchical Bayesian models, multivariate kernel methods, clustering algorithms, and arbitrary probabilistic programs. We demonstrate the integration of CGPMs into BayesDB, a probabilistic programming platform that can express data analysis tasks using a modeling definition language and structured query language. The practical value is illustrated in two ways. First, the paper describes an analysis on a database of Earth satellites, which identifies records that probably violate Kepler’s Third Law by composing causal probabilistic programs with non-parametric Bayes in 50 lines of probabilistic code. Second, it reports the lines of code and accuracy of CGPMs compared with baseline solutions from standard machine learning libraries.
Intramolecular water-splitting reaction in single collisions of water ions with surfaces

We report the direct formation of H2 and O pair ions through single collisions of water ions with metal surfaces at hyperthermal energies. This unusual intramolecular reaction proceeds also for heavy and semi-heavy water, producing molecular D2 and HD ions. The selectivity of this water splitting channel is estimated at being between 9 and 13% versus complete dissociation. The collision kinematics support the hypothesis of a water molecule colliding with a single surface atom, thereby forming an excited precursor (Rydberg?) state, which dissociates subsequently to form the molecular hydrogen ion with high kinetic energy. Inelastic energy loss considerations yield an estimate for the energy of the excited precursor state of ∼7 eV and ∼11 eV at low and high incidence energies. These energies are close to the A state (1B1, 7.5 eV) and B state (1A1, 9.7 eV) of excited water (Rydberg states).
Approaches to Carcinoma In Situ (CIS)

Despite its traditional categorization as “superficial,” Carcinoma in situ (CIS) is a high grade, flat, noninvasive bladder cancer confined to the urothelium. Bladder biopsy is required to establish a diagnosis. Cytology to examine voided or bladder wash urine can allow identification of malignant cells, but failure to recognize such cells does not rule out CIS. Options to improve cystoscopic recognition of malignant areas such as fluorescence cystoscopy and narrow band imaging are promising developments. A number of tumor markers have been developed. Most have high sensitivity, but these tests have varying specificity. The urologist must understand the implications of a negative or positive test in order to successfully integrate these tests into clinical practice.
A Fast Incremental Cycle Ratio Algorithm

In this paper, we propose an algorithm to quickly find the maximum cycle ratio (MCR) on an incrementally changing directed cyclic graph. Compared with traditional MCR algorithms which have to recalculate everything from scratch at each incremental change, our algorithm efficiently finds the MCR by just leveraging the previous MCR and the corresponding largest cycle before the change. In particular, the previous MCR allows us to safely break the graph at the changed node. Then, we can detect the changing direction of the MCR by solving a single source longest path problem on a graph without positive cycle. A distance bucket approach is proposed to speed up the process of finding the longest paths. Our algorithm continues to search upward or downward based on whether the MCR is detected as increased or decreased. The downward search is quickly performed by a modified Karp-Orlin algorithm reusing the longest paths found during the cycle detection. In addition, a cost shifting idea is proposed to avoid calculating MCR on certain type of incremental changes. We evaluated our algorithm on both random graphs and circuit benchmarks. A timing-driven detailed placement approach which applies our algorithm is also proposed. Compared with Howard's and Karp-Orlin MCR algorithm, our algorithm shows much more efficiency on finding the MCR in both random graphs and circuit benchmarks.
The Material Imagination: Making the Immaterial Matter in Information Technology Innovation

In light of the information-systems discipline’s recent interest in socio-materiality, this essay explores the question of how materiality relates to information-technology innovation beyond situat...
Generation of First Heart Field-like Cardiac Progenitors and Ventricular-like Cardiomyocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

The generation of large amounts of functional human pluripotent stem cells-derived cardiac progenitors and cardiomyocytes of defined heart field origin is a pre-requisite for cell-based cardiac therapies and disease modeling. We have recently shown that Id genes are both necessary and sufficient to specify first heart field progenitors during vertebrate development. This differentiation protocol leverages these findings and uses Id1 overexpression in combination with Activin A as potent specifying cues to produce first heart field-like (FHF-L) progenitors. Importantly, resulting progenitors efficiently differentiate (~70–90%) into ventricular-like cardiomyocytes. Here we describe a detailed method to 1) generate Id1-overexpressing hPSCs and 2) differentiate scalable quantities of cryopreservable FHF-L progenitors and ventricular-like cardiomyocytes.
Open maps between Knaster continua

We investigate the set of open maps from one Knaster continuum to another. A structure theorem for the semigroup of open induced maps on a Knaster continuum is obtained. Homeomorphisms which are not induced are constructed, and it is shown that the induced open maps are dense in the space of open maps between two Knaster continua. Results about the structure of the semigroup of open maps on a Knaster continuum are obtained and two questions about the structure are posed.
Dynamic class initialization semantics: a Jinja extension

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) postpones running class initialization methods until their classes are first referenced, such as by a new or static instruction. This process is called dynamic class initialization. Jinja is a semantic framework for Java and JVM developed in the theorem prover Isabelle that includes several semantics: Java-level big-step and small-step semantics, JVM-level small-step semantics, and an intermediate compilation step, J1, between these two levels. In this paper, we extend Jinja to include support for static instructions and dynamic class initialization. We also extend and re-prove related proofs, including Java-level type safety, equivalence between Java-level big-step and small-step semantics, and the correctness of a compilation from the Java level to the JVM level through J1. This work is based on the Java SE 8 specification.
Gender Bias in LVAD Referral Patterns - A Survey of Patients and Providers

Purpose LVADs offer survival benefit to pts with advanced heart failure (HF). Though HF rates are higher in women, female (F) pts remain underrepresented as LVAD recipients and participants in clinical trials. We aimed to evaluate the role of gender bias in referral patterns for LVAD. Methods Separate questionnaires were administered to F and male (M) LVAD pts and to cardiologists. The pt questionnaire consisted of 7 questions about satisfaction with LVAD and perception of gender bias in LVAD referral. The physician questionnaire tested knowledge of gender specific outcomes after LVAD and individual referral practices. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Score (ESAS) was measured in pts prior to LVAD to assess levels of pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, well-being, and shortness of breath, with higher scores indicating greater symptom burden. Results 28 pts participated; 14 (50%) were F. Indication was bridge to transplant in 18 pts (64.3%), including 9 F and 9 M. Average time on support was 19.1±2.9 mo, which was similar between F and M. Average ESAS prior to LVAD was 16.5±2.9; 19.3±4.0 in F and 13.9±4.1 in M. The majority of F and M did not perceive a gender bias in LVAD referral. However, F overall were less satisfied with the LVAD and were less likely to recommend the procedure to others, with 64.3% reporting that they would recommend LVAD compared to 92.9% of M. F expressed greater improvement in relationships with their partners after LVAD: 36% vs. 25% respectively. Of the 7 cardiologists who participated in the study, none identified a gender difference in eligibility for or mortality after LVAD. However, more cardiologists were “unsure” about complication rates in F than in M (Fig). Conclusion Patients and cardiologists alike do not identify a gender bias in referral patterns for LVADs. However, gender differences exist in patient satisfaction with LVAD therapy and in physicians’ knowledge of complication rates after LVADs. Future studies should continue to explore gender differences in LVAD therapy.
Evaluation of the effects of some insecticides based on neonicotinoids on entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema feltiae and S. carpocapsae

Used of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are one biological control way against some insect pests, which especially pass one stage of their life in the soil. There have been a lot of developments and new discoveries in the field of entomopathogenic nematology. In spite of developments in the field of biological control, pesticides are still widely used for plant protection. These pesticides have side effects on soil biotop such as EPN species. In this study, we evaluated the effects of two insecticides (acetamiprid and imidacloprid) belong to neonicotinoid group on two EPNs (Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema feltiae). The present experiments were carried out in the laboratory. Mortality rate of the EPN species was performed at 24, 48 and 96 h, after treatment. Inspired by the compatibility observed between the neonicotinoid insecticides and EPNs against insect pest larvae, it was evaluated the direct effects of those insecticides on EPNs. Our results showed less mortality by imidacloprid and mortality rates are a little higher by acetamiprid. These results confirm the high compatibility of imidacloprid with EPNs and the low synergism with acetamiprid. Despite their effects on pollinators and other useful organisms of the biotop, these insecticides can be used effectively against soil dwelling insect pests without high risk on EPNs.
Noise Performance of Filtered Optical Frequency Combs

We determined the key parameters in low phase noise performance in filtered optical frequency combs. Laser frequency fluctuation and filter passband width as well as spectral phase play a role in obtaining low timing jitter.
Advertencias desde la tierra de la libertad

espanolEn esta entrevista, Felicity D. Scott argumenta que en lugar de libertad, deberiamos hablar de libertades. Tomando su libro Outlaw Territories como punto de partida para esta conversacion, Scott nos advierte sobre el cinismo o la ambivalencia inherentes a una nocion de libertad que, en los EE .UU., ha sido planteada como un argumento central por casi todos: desde los hippies a las corporaciones o incluso desde los desertores a los libertarios. EnglishInstead of freedom, we should talk about freedoms, Felicity D. Scott argues in this interview. With the book Outlaw Territories as a starting point for this conversation, Scott warns us about the cynicism or ambivalence inherent in the notion of freedom which, in the USA, has been raised a flagship argument by almost everyone: from hippies to corporations, or even from drop-outs to libertarians.
A review of flash evaporation phenomena and resulting shock waves

Abstract Flash evaporation or flashing is an evaporation phenomenon caused by a sudden pressure drop sufficiently below the saturation pressure. Due to this sudden drop in pressure, the liquid undergoes a quick phase transition and the sensible heat of the liquid converts into latent heat of evaporation. An accidental release of pressurized liquid from supply pipelines or liquid storage tanks can generate a flashing jet with violent phase change. This fast phase change can cause rapid mixture with an oxidant like air and if the liquid is flammable, disastrous effects such as explosions, fires, and damage to industrial equipment can occur. On the other side, flash evaporation can be beneficially employed in industrial applications. It can have a significant effect on the performance of many devices (i.e. injectors and reactors). This work reviews studies devoted to understanding flashing processes. The review includes experimental, theoretical, and numerical studies related to flashing phenomena, their applications and consequences. Furthermore, the review presents shock waves as one of significant consequences that can be produced by flashing evaporation. The understanding of the fluid behavior of the flash evaporation and the resultant shock waves can help to prevent disastrous consequences that may occur due to accidental fluid release as well as can be useful to further develop the phenomena’s industrial and technological applications such as utilize resulting shock waves in creating useful compression.
Privacy Is The Best Policy: A Framework for BLE Beacon Privacy Management

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons are an emerging type of technology in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) realm, which use BLE signals to broadcast a unique identifier that is detected by a compatible device to determine the location of nearby users. Beacons can be used to provide a tailored user experience with each encounter, yet can also constitute an invasion of privacy, due to their covertness and ability to track user behavior. Therefore, we hypothesize that user-driven privacy policy configuration is key to enabling effective and trustworthy privacy management during beacon encounters. We developed a framework for beacon privacy management that provides a policy configuration platform. Through an empirical analysis with 90 users, we evaluated this framework through a proof-of-concept app called Beacon Privacy Manager (BPM), which focused on the user experience of such a tool. Using BPM, we provided users with the ability to create privacy policies for beacons, testing different configuration schemes to refine the framework and then offer recommendations for future research.
Biohybrid nanofibers containing manganese oxide–forming fungi for heavy metal removal from water:

Manganese-oxidizing fungi support bioremediation through the conversion of manganese ions into manganese oxide deposits that in turn adsorb manganese and other heavy metal ions from the environment...
A semi-Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin (DG) – local DG method for solving convection-diffusion equations

Abstract In this paper, we propose an efficient high order semi-Lagrangian (SL) discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for solving linear convection-diffusion equations. The method generalizes our previous work on developing the SLDG method for transport equations [5] , making it capable of handling additional diffusion and source terms. Within the DG framework, the solution is evolved along the characteristics; while the diffusion term is discretized by the local DG (LDG) method and integrated along characteristics by implicit Runge-Kutta methods together with source terms. The proposed method is named the ‘SLDG-LDG’ method and enjoys many attractive features of the DG and SL methods. These include the uniformly high order accuracy (e.g. third order) in space and in time, compact, mass conservative, and stability under large time stepping size. An L 2 stability analysis is provided when the method is coupled with the first order backward Euler discretization. Effectiveness of the method are demonstrated by a group of numerical tests in one and two dimensions.
Constraining the Charge-Sign and Rigidity-Dependence of Solar Modulation

Our ability to identify the sources of cosmic rays and understand how these particles propagate through the interstellar medium is hindered by the combined effects of the solar wind and its embedded magnetic field, collectively known as solar modulation. In this paper, we build upon our previous work to model and constrain the effects of solar modulation on the cosmic-ray spectrum, using data from AMS-02 and BESS Polar II collected between 2007 and 2012, during which the heliospheric magnetic field was in a state of negative polarity. Our model uses measurements of the heliospheric magnetic field and the tilt angle of the heliospheric current sheet to accurately predict the effects of solar modulation as a function of time, charge, and rigidity. By incorporating data from a period of negative polarity, we have been able to robustly observe and constrain the charge-dependent effects of solar modulation.
The dielectric resonator antenna

There is, today, strong interest on the part of both military and commercial users, in antenna systems which can operate efficiently in the millimeter wave region (100–300 GHz) and above. Reducing the size of currently-used microwave frequency antennas to obtain higher resonant frequencies will usually be unsuccessful, either because the small size prohibits economical fabrication or because the inherently larger conduction losses at the higher frequencies result in inefficient operation.
Bounds on mutual information of mixture data for classification tasks

The data for many classification problems, such as pattern and speech recognition, follow mixture distributions. To quantify the optimum performance for classification tasks, the Shannon mutual information is a natural information-theoretic metric, as it is directly related to the probability of error. The mutual information between mixture data and the class label does not have an analytical expression, nor any efficient computational algorithms. We introduce a variational upper bound, a lower bound, and three estimators, all employing pair-wise divergences between mixture components. We compare the new bounds and estimators with Monte Carlo stochastic sampling and bounds derived from entropy bounds. To conclude, we evaluate the performance of the bounds and estimators through numerical simulations.
An Analysis of Information Types and Cognitive Activities Involved in Cross-session Search

Previous studies found that cross-session search tasks are often complex due to the uncertainty of task features, users' perception of the tasks, and the challenges (e.g., time limitation, interruptions) that users encounter during the process. Using Anderson & Krathwohl's taxonomy of learning, we analyzed the complexity of real-life cross-session search tasks reported by 110 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We found that cross-session search tasks often require different types of information (i.e., factual and conceptual information, procedure information, opinions, and information for helping metacognition) and are frequently associated with higher-level cognitive activities, including: applying analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Our findings add knowledge about cross-session search, and have insights for future research related to system design and studying cross-session search.
US Childhood Asthma Incidence Rate Patterns From the ECHO Consortium to Identify High-risk Groups for Primary Prevention.

Importance Asthma is the leading chronic illness in US children, but most descriptive epidemiological data are focused on prevalence. Objective To evaluate childhood asthma incidence rates across the nation by core demographic strata and parental history of asthma. Design, Setting, and Participants For this cohort study, a distributed meta-analysis was conducted within the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) consortium for data collected from May 1, 1980, through March 31, 2018. Birth cohort data of children from 34 gestational weeks of age or older to 18 years of age from 31 cohorts in the ECHO consortium were included. Data were analyzed from June 14, 2018, to February 18, 2020. Exposures Caregiver report of physician-diagnosed asthma with age of diagnosis. Main Outcome and Measures Asthma incidence survival tables generated by each cohort were combined for each year of age using the Kaplan-Meier method. Age-specific incidence rates for each stratum and asthma incidence rate ratios by parental family history (FH), sex, and race/ethnicity were calculated. Results Of the 11 404 children (mean [SD] age, 10.0 [0.7] years; 5836 boys [51%]; 5909 White children [53%]) included in the primary analysis, 7326 children (64%) had no FH of asthma, 4078 (36%) had an FH of asthma, and 2494 (23%) were non-Hispanic Black children. Children with an FH had a nearly 2-fold higher incidence rate through the fourth year of life (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.94; 95% CI, 1.76-2.16) after which the rates converged with the non-FH group. Regardless of FH, asthma incidence rates among non-Hispanic Black children were markedly higher than those of non-Hispanic White children during the preschool years (IRR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.31-1.86) with no FH at age 4 years and became lower than that of White children after age 9 to 10 years (IRR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50-0.89) with no FH. The rates for boys declined with age, whereas rates among girls were relatively steady across all ages, particularly among those without an FH of asthma. Conclusions and Relevance Analysis of these diverse birth cohorts suggests that asthma FH, as well as race/ethnicity and sex, were all associated with childhood asthma incidence rates. Black children had much higher incidences rates but only during the preschool years, irrespective of FH. To prevent asthma among children with an FH of asthma or among Black infants, results suggest that interventions should be developed to target early life.
Use of Simulation Technology in Transportation Training: A Systematic Literature Review

Simulators are widely used in training aircrew and seafarers as they provide a safer and more affordable alternative to training in an operational environment. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted to review their usage in air, sea, rail, and road transportation, though the information available on rail simulation is extremely limited, despite it being a vital means to transport passengers and cargo globally. With tools such as VOSviewer and CiteSpace, it is possible to identify articles with the most impact and highest relevance to simulation training. Studies show that training effectiveness is affected by both the equipment and instruction quality. Fidelity – a simulator’s ability to replicate the real world – of the equipment determines what levels of training can be achieved, and its ability to enable the suspension of disbelief directly contribute to the students’ success. Instructors must also facilitate positive training transfer by attaining the best performance possible from the student and provide them with scenarios representative of actual conditions. Effective crew training and proper human-computer interface design are critical for accident mitigation, as the increased system complexity can take away the crew’s attention and overload training needs. Despite their popularity in air and sea transportation, simulator training for land transportation is extremely underutilized. Cost and fidelity are the primary hurdles it must overcome to achieve popularity for rail and road transportation, and further studies are required to determine its effectiveness in reducing the accident rate of novice drivers.
Small Press Review

Research. Clark Coolidge. Tuumba. 1982. Unpaged. $3.00. The Sacrifice Consenting. Wil liam Dickey. The Pterodactyl Press. 1981. 51 pages. Memory. Laura Jensen. Dragon Gate. 1982. 69 pages. $5.00. Triangles in the Afternoon. Ron Padgett. SUN. 1979.46 pages. $4.00. Narratives from America. Richard Ro? an. Dragon Gate. 1982. 139 pages. $6.00. Hannah's Travels. Richard Speakes. Ahsah ta. 1982. 45 pages. Ninth Life. Deborah Tall. Ithaca House. 1982. 50 pages. $5.00. Tamsen Donner: A Woman's fourney. Ruth Whit man. Alice James Books. 1977. 75 pages. $4.95. The Valley of Minor Animals. John Woods. Dragon Gate. 1982. 88 pages. $6.00.
Mental Health Issues in Criminal Court: Collaboration among Broward County, Florida Courts, and Nova Southeastern University

In June 1997 the Broward County Courts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida began an experimental new specialty court to handle mentally ill defendants who are arrested on suspicion of committing non-violent misdemeanor (lower level) crimes. Prompted by several high publicity cases where defendants spent long periods of time incarcerated in jail awaiting hearings on their charges, the Chief Judge accepted the findings of the Broward County Public Defender’s Office, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s office, the mental health community, and other concerned community leaders and formed the first Mental Health Court in the nation to deal with criminal matters. Determining that it would better serve the community interests to rehabilitate by mental health treatment rather than punish through incarceration these chronically mentally ill persons, a judge with considerable mental health training was assigned to the court along with representatives from the local mental health community.
THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS

A decade and a half of political and economic developments have reshaped traditional social work practice. Cuts in government funding, privatization, and cost containment in the human services have contributed to dramatic changes in service organization and availability. Many programs have closed or downsized and critically needed services have been reduced. These changes have altered the environments in which students learn and raise ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of current social work practice. This article examines the implications of these trends on field instruction and presents recommendations to strengthen social work education and practice.
Faster Rates for training Max-Margin Markov Networks

Structured output prediction is an important machine learning problem both in theory and practice, and the max-margin Markov network (\mcn) is an effective approach. All state-of-the-art algorithms for optimizing \mcn\ objectives take at least $O(1/\epsilon)$ number of iterations to find an $\epsilon$ accurate solution. Recent results in structured optimization suggest that faster rates are possible by exploiting the structure of the objective function. Towards this end \citet{Nesterov05} proposed an excessive gap reduction technique based on Euclidean projections which converges in $O(1/\sqrt{\epsilon})$ iterations on strongly convex functions. Unfortunately when applied to \mcn s, this approach does not admit graphical model factorization which, as in many existing algorithms, is crucial for keeping the cost per iteration tractable. In this paper, we present a new excessive gap reduction technique based on Bregman projections which admits graphical model factorization naturally, and converges in $O(1/\sqrt{\epsilon})$ iterations. Compared with existing algorithms, the convergence rate of our method has better dependence on $\epsilon$ and other parameters of the problem, and can be easily kernelized.
Polysaccharide elasticity governed by chair–boat transitions of the glucopyranose ring

Many common, biologically important polysaccharides contain pyranose rings made of five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. They occur in a variety of cellular structures, where they are often subjected to considerable tensile stress. The polysaccharides are thought to respond to this stress by elastic deformation, but the underlying molecular rearrangements allowing such a response remain poorly understood. It is typically assumed, however, that the pyranose ring structure is inelastic and locked into a chair-like conformation. Here we describe single-molecule force measurements on individual polysaccharides that identify the pyranose rings as the structural unit controlling the molecule's elasticity. In particular, we find that the enthalpic component of the polymer elasticity of amylose, dextran and pullulan is eliminated once their pyranose rings are cleaved. We interpret these observations as indicating that the elasticity of the three polysaccharides results from a force-induced elongation of the ring structure and a final transition from a chair-like to a boat-like conformation. We expect that the force-induced deformation of pyranose rings reported here plays an important role in accommodating mechanical stresses and modulating ligand binding in biological systems.
Noncoding RNAs and the borders of heterochromatin

Eukaryotic genomes contain long stretches of repetitive DNA sequences, which are the preferred sites for the assembly of heterochromatin structures. The formation of heterochromatin results in highly condensed chromosomal domains that limit the accessibility of DNA to the transcription and recombination machinery to maintain genome stability. Heterochromatin has the tendency to spread, and the formation of boundaries that block heterochromatin spreading is required to maintain stable gene expression patterns. Recent work has suggested that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in regulating boundary formation in addition to their well-established roles in chromatin regulation. Here, we present a review of our current understanding of the involvement of ncRNA at the boundaries of heterochromatin, highlighting their mechanisms of action in different settings.
Fish Assemblage Connectivity in the Monongahela River Basin

Abstract Tributary and mainstem corridors represent important fish-connectivity avenues in large riverscapes. We evaluated the connectivity of 40 Monongahela River tributaries in southwestern Pennsylvania and their respective mainstem junctions using a variety of gears. Twelve tributaries were so fragmented by physical and water-quality impediments, comparisons could not be made. Among the 28 remaining tributaries, classified as adventitious (lst–3rd order) or ordered (4th–5th order), we evaluated fish communities using the Jaccard coefficient of similarity, a cluster analysis, and a Venn diagram. Adventitious tributaries shared 82% of their total faunal complement with ordered tributaries and 29% with the mainstem, while 70% of the ordered ichthyofauna was common to the mainstem. The ichthyofauna of the adventitious tributary network was more distinct and isolated from the mainstem than that of ordered tributaries. In fragmented riverscapes such as this, islands (tributaries) of biodiversity may warrant ...
Second Paper: Lateral Helmholtz Resonator Silencer with Turbulence Absorption

Lateral Helmholtz resonators are ineffective for fast flow because of the turbulence caused by the movement of the gas mass from the resonator neck into the main pipe flow. The absorption of this turbulence at its source is an effective method for keeping the resonator silencing ability at a high level. Experimental results on an acoustic filter formed by resonators for flow velocities up to 80 m/s, so treated, are compared with the theory. There is evidence of lateral resonance of the gas column in the exhaust pipe at high flow velocities, detected as an intense noise of a discrete frequency (1000 Hz). The excitation of this resonance was found to be due to the pseudo-acoustic wave caused by the neck jets in the resonator. The influence of the flow upon the natural frequency of the resonator is also discussed. The Reynolds number of the flow seems to play an essential role on this point.
The Notch pathway in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. It is also the third most common cancer diagnosis among men, and the second most common cancer diagnosis among women. Globally, CRC can account for nearly 694,000 annual deaths. It is widely appreciated that CRC is the result of dysregulated cellular pathways that promote an inappropriate stem-cell-like phenotype, apoptotic resistance, unchecked proliferation and metastatic spread. While no single pathway is responsible for all of these attributes, an array of recent studies suggests a pivotal role for abnormal Notch-1 signaling in CRC, in part due to interconnectivity of Notch with other pathways. This review will summarize recent evidence for a role of Notch signaling in CRC, will consider interconnectivity between Notch and other pathways involved in CRC and will discuss the possible utility of targeting Notch as a CRC therapeutic.
Secretagogue Response in Rat Pancreatic Acinar Carcinoma

The secretion of protein, like cell proliferation, is an integrated response that reflects structural organization of the cell periphery. Stimulation of protein secretion was thus utilized for comparison of integrated responses of the cell periphery in pancreatic acinar carcinoma of the rat and integrated responses in normal rat pancreas. Results of this comparison include: a) The stimulation of protein secretion in acinar carcinoma fragments by carbamylcholine chloride and cholecystokinin octapeptide, pancreatic secretagogues that interact with specific plasma membrane receptors, was only a fraction (one-fifth to one-half) of that observed in normal pancreatic minilobules. b) The Ca2+ ionophore A23187 and the cyclic nucleotide N6,O2'-dibutyryl cyclic AMP, secretagogues that act independently of specific membrane receptors, did not stimulate secretion in the acinar carcinoma. The observed quantitative and qualitative differences in protein secretion indicate fundamental differences in cell periphery organization between the normal and transformed acinar cells of pancreas.
A production planning and scheduling system at a chemical testing laboratory

Abstract There has been much interest recently in production scheduling models, where batching and sequencing issues are considered simultaneously. In this paper, we describe the development of a production planning and scheduling system in a surprisingly complicated production environment, a chemical testing laboratory. The process for testing water and soil samples in this laboratory consists of an instrument analysis stage, wherein both batching and sequencing issues must be addressed. The production control system we developed to help manage it consists of a capacity allocation module, a batching and sequencing module, a detailed sample scheduling module and various databases. We also developed a simple formula to dynamically determine batch sizes using a resource pricing approach and a priority rule to sequence these batches. The batching and sequencing procedure based on these ideas was evaluated against two alternative heuristic procedures on many randomly generated problems and was shown to perform very well. This paper describes the details of the production process, the characteristics of the new production control system, the development of the batching and sequencing heuristic and some directions for future research.
Experiments on bifurcations to chaos in a forced chemical reactor

Abstract Oscillations and bifurcations to chaos are studied experimentally in a forced, isothermal, continuous stirred reactor. The forcing is produced by varying the concentration of a feed species of the Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction. The behaviour of the system is studied as a function of two parameters, the period and amplitude of the forcing, and variations in either are shown to lead to period doubling bifurcations to chaos. By using Fourier transforms and Poincare sections we show how the behaviour varies throughout the chaotic region.
Nucleotide sequence of The yeast SUC2 gene for invertase

The yeast SUC2 gene is a structural gene for both the secreted and intracellular forms of invertase. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the coding region and the 5' and 3' flanking regions. The coding regions for the signal peptide-containing precursor to secreted invertase and for the intracellular invertase begin at different initiation codons within the SUC2 gene but share the same reading frame. The amino acid sequences predicted for the two forms of invertase from the nucleotide sequence are consistent with the properties of the purified enzymes. Potential sites for glycosylation of the secreted invertase are identified.
Experimental and theoretical study of the interfacial instability between two shear fluids in a channel Couette flow

Abstract The instabilities of a channel Couette flow composed of two layers of immiscible fluids were investigated experimentally and compared with the theoretical predictions of a linear instability analysis. The results show that in the shortwave instability regime, the experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions of the linear instability analysis. However, we can find shortwaves even in the range of the depth ratios when the linear instability predicts only longwaves are unstable. The reasons are believed to be the dimensional limitation of the experimental apparatus and the existence of the outside and inside wall. In addition, we studied the dependence of the onset of the shortwaves on the viscosity and density of the fluids.