cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of transient behavior of vertical interconnects in stacked circuit board layers using quasi-static techniques

Fuzz-buttons can interconnect up to fifty circuit board substrate layers in conjunction with metallic vias. As a result, the use of three-dimensional multichip modules (MCM's) with fuzz-buttons may be able to achieve very high packaging densities. On the other hand, the vertical interconnects, surrounded by different dielectric materials and passing through many ground mesh holes, are three-dimensional nonuniform transmission lines. Therefore, the electromagnetic analysis of fuzz-button interconnects is not straightforward. In this paper, we propose a method to analyze fuzz-buttons under quasistatic assumptions. We apply the electrostatic method to find the charge distribution and the distributed capacitance of the fuzz-buttons, and a quasimagnetostatic approach to calculate the inductance. By using image theory, a free space Green's function is formulated. The effect of the via holes is taken into account by utilizing the equivalence principle. A set of integral equations is established and solved by a combination of the point-matching method and Galerkin's method. An iterative algorithm is imposed to solve the matrix equations. After the equivalent nonuniform transmission line model is established, we then apply the transmission (ABCD) matrix method, allowing the propagation parameters to be obtained easily. Finally, we employ the fast fourier transform (FFT) to convert the frequency results into the tine domain. Waveform distortion, time delay, and crosstalk values for a 60 ps risetime input signal are evaluated. The quasistatic approach is compared against the finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithms and good agreement is observed. >
The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health.

A primary interest of the field of infant mental health is in the early conditions that place infants at riskfor less than optimal development. The fundamental problem of what constitutes normal and abnormal development is now a focus of developmental psychology, infant psychiatry, and devel- opmental neuroscience. In the second part of this sequential work, I present interdisciplinary data to more deeply forge the theoretical links between severe attachment failures, impairments of the early develop- ment of the right brain's stress coping systems, and maladaptive infant mental health. In the following, I offer thoughts on the negative impact of traumatic attachments on brain development and infant mental health, the neurobiology of infant trauma, the neuropsychology of a disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern associated with abuse and neglect, trauma-induced impairments of a regulatory system in the orbitofrontal cortex, the links between orbitofrontal dysfunction and a predisposition to posttraumatic stress disorders, the neurobiology of the dissociative defense, the etiology of dissociation and body- mind psychopathology, the effects of early relational trauma on enduring right hemispheric function, and some implications for models of early intervention. These findings suggest direct connections between traumatic attachment, inefficient right brain regulatory functions, and both maladaptive infant and adult mental health.
Anglo-Indian Identity, Knowledge, and Power Western Ballroom Music in Lucknow

From the 1920s to the 1940s, Anglo-Indians relished Western popular music. For this marginalized group, this music was a way of promoting respectability. And though the music mimicked styles from America and Europe, its celebration was distinctly local
Embedded librarianship in branch settings: customizing liaison services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present analysis of the role of the branch librarian as a valuable paradigm for embedded librarianship. Branch librarians develop strong connections to specialized client groups and build programs and services in response to their unique environments. Design/methodology/approach – A review of research in embedded librarianship was conducted with particular emphasis on branch librarians. This article provides critique of research on embedded librarianship from the perspectives of branch management and an overview of strategies typically employed. Findings – In important ways, branch librarians present an ideal model for embedded librarianship. They work toward close communication with the faculty and students of their academic unit, and are on location, identifying the specific needs and customizing services for patron groups in their academic settings. Originality/value – The authors are Coordinators of Branch Library Services at Mississippi State University for t...
Optimal Pricing That Coordinates Queues with Customer-Chosen Service Requirements

This article considers the problem of coordinating the admission rates and service requirements of a multiclass queue when these decisions are made on a decentralized basis. The customer classes are characterized by different demand patterns, delay costs, and service costs. Customers make individual decisions on whether to join the queue and, if so, their service requirements. Their class identities and service requirements are private information not known to the system manager. We develop a two-stage decision framework to analyze the problem and characterize the optimal admission rates and service requirements under both centralized and decentralized assumptions. We distinguish admission and service externality costs that lead to suboptimal performance under decentralized control. For a given service discipline, we derive optimal class-specific pricing schemes that can coordinate the system when only service requirements but not class identities are unobservable. When customer class identities are also unobservable, we consider two common service disciplines that offer undifferentiated service: processor sharing and first-come-first-served. Based on the general framework, for the M/G/s processor sharing queue, we show that a single variable fee payment per unit of time in the system can induce the optimal admission rates and service requirements for all customer classes. For the M/G/1 first-come-first-served queue, we show that a single pricing scheme that is quadratic in time in service can induce the optimal admission rates and service requirements for all customer classes. Our result demonstrates that, under suitable conditions, simple and undifferentiated pricing can coordinate complex queueing systems with heterogeneous customer classes.
A simple mapping between Mth-band FIR filters using cosine modulation

This article presents a novel approach in linear-phase finite-impulse response filter design based on cosine modulation. It is shown that the proposed technique is equivalent to a simple mapping between Mth-band filters, i.e., given an Lth-band filter, an Mth-band filter can be obtained by simple calculation where L and M are different integers.
Randomized Trial of Once-Weekly Parathyroid Hormone (1-84) on Bone Mineral Density and Remodeling

Context: Daily PTH administration increases bone mineral density (BMD) and reduces fracture risk. However, cost and compliance significantly limit clinical use. Objective: Our objective was to determine whether less frequent PTH administration increases lumbar spine BMD. Participants, Design, and Setting: Fifty postmenopausal women ages 45–70 yr with femoral neck BMD T-score between −1.0 and −2.0 participated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial at St. Joseph Hospital, Bangor, ME. Intervention: Subjects received sc injections of daily PTH(1-84) (100 μg) or placebo for 1 month, followed by weekly injections (PTH or placebo) for 11 months. Outcomes: Change in lumbar spine dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry areal BMD (primary) was assessed. Secondary outcomes included volumetric BMD at spine and hip by quantitative computed tomography, trabecular bone microarchitecture by magnetic resonance imaging of distal radius, and biochemical bone turnover markers. Results: At 12 months, lumbar spine areal BMD increased 2.1% in PTH-treated women compared with placebo (P = 0.03). Vertebral trabecular volumetric BMD increased 3.8% in PTH-treated women compared with placebo group (P = 0.08). PTH-treated women also had higher distal radial trabecular bone volume, number, and thickness compared with placebo-treated women (P < 0.04). After 1 month of daily PTH, N-terminal propeptide of type I collagen (P1NP) was markedly increased compared with placebo (P < 0 .0001), and a difference persisted, although lessened, throughout the study. Bone resorption indices were unchanged in PTH-treated women and were reduced in the placebo group. Conclusion: Once-weekly PTH after 1 month of daily treatment increases spine BMD, radial trabecular bone, and bone formation markers in postmenopausal women. These results suggest that less frequent alternatives to daily PTH dosing for 2 yr could be effective. Additional studies are required to define the optimal frequency of PTH administration.
Spectroscopic constants and potential energy curves of PF

Spectroscopic constants of low-lying bound electronic states and potential energy curves of 19 electronic states of PF arising from the valence dissociation limits are computed using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) followed by first- and second-order configuration interaction (FOCI, SOCI) methods, which included up to 0.9 million configurations.
Effect of ethanol consumption and vitamin E supplementation on in vivo lipid peroxidation in rats

Abstract This study investigated the effects of short and long term vitamin E supplementation on ethanol induced lipid peroxidation in rats. Groups of rats were fed liquid diets in which ethanol provided 36% of the total calories (v/v) for 28 days or 18 months. The 28-day fed rats received supplemental alpha tocopherol 142 IU/kg of diet while those fed ethanol for 18 months were injected i.p. with 528 IU alpha tocopherol/kg body weight/day for 2 days prior to termination. At the end of the feeding period, ethane exhalation, conjugated dienes and lipid fluorescence were estimated as indices of free radical mediated products. Rats fed the ethanol diets for 28 days and 18 months exhaled more ethane than pair-fed controls. Increases in conjugated dienes and lipid fluorescence were observed in both the 28 day and 18 month groups of alcohol fed rats (p
Architecture specifications for complex real-time dependable systems

We discuss the use of architecture specification languages to drive both automated analytic modeling and automated system implementation. We "co-generate" various formal models and an implementation from an architecture specification in a way that provides high assurance that the analysis results accurately predict implementation behavior. This approach enables improved system quality and functionality due to early and reliable design trade-off studies, rapid and low-cost system development and evolution, and increased assurance of correctness.
Activity recognition by learning structural and pairwise mid-level features using random forest

This paper presents a novel random forest based method to build mid-level features describing spatial and temporal structure information for activity recognition. Our model consists of two separate parts, spatial part and temporal part, which are employed to capture the distinctive characteristics in spatial and temporal domains of activity analysis. In the spatial part, densely sampled low level features are passed through the first level random forest and concatenated structurally to form spatial mid-level features. In the temporal part, we use results from the first level random forest on sparsely sampled interest points to build pairwise mid-level features. The second level random forests operate on all the mid-level features and compute scores for these two parts. Then final recognition is based on the weighted sum of these two parts. Our method smoothly fuses both spatial and temporal information and builds more descriptive models, which can better represent human activities in large variations. Experimental results show that our method achieves promising performance on three available action and facial expression datasets.
Exploring Potential Antecedents of Job Involvement An Exploratory Study Among Jail Staff

Jail staff are the heart and soul of any jail. Jails rely on staff to complete a myriad of tasks and duties in order to maintain a safe, secure, and humane jail facility. One area of importance is job involvement (i.e., the psychosocial bond between the staff member with his or her job). The current study examined the job characteristics model to explain job involvement among staff at a large county correctional system in Orlando, Florida. The job characteristic variables were formalization, instrumental communication, relations with coworkers, input into decision making, job variety, perceived dangerousness of the job, role strain, and administrative support. It was found that formalization, input into decision making, and administrative support all had positive associations with job involvement. The implications of these findings for correctional researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Nanomaterial-incorporated blown bubble films for large-area, aligned nanostructures

Developing flexible and scalable methods for controlled assembly of nanomaterials remains a critical challenge in nanotechnology. In this article, we review the progress in assembly of nanostructures with a focus on the recently reported method utilizing a bubble expansion process to align one-dimensional nanostructures embedded in blown bubble films. This approach is general and enables efficient assembly of a variety of nanomaterials over large areas on both rigid and flexible substrates, with good control on the orientation and density. The basic blown bubble film process, generality, mechanism, unique characteristics, and potential applications are discussed.
is the construct for human affiliation too narrow

the construct for affiliation in depue & morrone-strupinsky's (d&m-s's) study is restricted to the interpersonal domain. this restriction is not found in other disciplines. it may be necessary in early stages of trait research. but the construct will need to be expanded to speak to the more complex, second-order affiliations of which humans are capable.
Herbicide Transport in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed: II. Long-Term Research on Acetochlor, Alachlor, Metolachlor, and Metribuzin1

Lerch, R.N., E.J. Sadler, C. Baffaut, N.R. Kitchen, and K.A. Sudduth, 2010. Herbicide Transport in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed: II. Long-Term Research on Acetochlor, Alachlor, Metolachlor, and Metribuzin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00504.x Abstract: Farmers in the Midwestern United States continue to be reliant on soil-applied herbicides for weed control in crop production, and herbicide contamination of streams remains an environmental problem. The main objective of this study was to analyze trends in concentration and load of acetochlor, alachlor, metolachlor, and metribuzin in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed (GCEW) from 1992 to 2006. A secondary objective was to document the effects of best management practices (BMPs) implemented within GCEW on herbicide transport trends. Median relative herbicide loads, as a percent of applied, were 3.7% for metolachlor, 1.3% for metribuzin, 0.36% for acetochlor, and 0.18% for alachlor. The major decrease in alachlor use and increase in acetochlor use caused shifts in flow-weighted concentrations that were observed over the entire concentration range. The smaller decrease in metolachlor use led to a consistent decreasing time trend only for the upper end of the concentration distribution. Metribuzin also showed moderate decreases in concentration with time since 1998. Annual loads were generally correlated to second quarter discharge. Despite extensive education efforts in the watershed, conservation BMPs within GCEW were mainly implemented to control erosion, and therefore had no discernable impact on reducing herbicide transport. Overall, changes in herbicide use and second quarter discharge had the greatest effect on trends in flow-weighted concentration and annual load.
Paenibacillus dendritiformis Bacterial Colony Growth Depends on Surfactant but Not on Bacterial Motion

Most research on growing bacterial colonies on agar plates has concerned the effect of genetic or morphotype variation. Some studies have indicated that there is a correlation between microscopic bacterial motion and macroscopic colonial expansion, especially for swarming strains, but no measurements have been obtained for a single strain to relate the microscopic scale to the macroscopic scale. We examined here a single strain (Paenibacillus dendritiformis type T; tip splitting) to determine both the macroscopic growth of colonies and the microscopic bacterial motion within the colonies. Our multiscale measurements for a variety of growth conditions revealed that motion on the microscopic scale and colonial growth are largely independent. Instead, the growth of the colony is strongly affected by the availability of a surfactant that reduces surface tension.
New In Vitro Screening Model for the Discovery of Antileukemic Anticancer Agents

(1996). New In Vitro Screening Model for the Discovery of Antileukemic Anticancer Agents. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 124-141.
Dietary effects on carotenoid composition in the marine harpacticoid copepod Nitokra lacustris

Nitokra lacustris, a euryhaline harpacticoid copepod, was reared on two diets, which varied in composition and relative quantities of carotenoid pigments, and analyzed for differences in tissue carotenoid composition. Carotenoid compositions were analyzed by means of reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Total amounts of unesterified astaxanthin were quantified in the two populations by means of an isocratic HPLC procedure. Carotenoid composition and total astaxanthin content for adult copepods differed between the two diets. Copepod populations fed the live microalga Tetraselmis suesica averaged 696 mg carotenoids (g dry weight) and 185 mg astaxanthin (g dry weight) while copepod populations fed a formulated diet with high levels of lycopene, beta-carotene and alpha-carotene averaged 24.3 mg carotenoids (g dry weight) and 650 mg astaxanthin (g dry weight). Neither diet contained canthaxanthin or astaxanthin, suggesting that the copepods were synthesizing the astaxanthin from precursor pigments. The absence of canthaxanthin and echinenone coupled with the presence of other intermediary carotenoid pigments suggests that the carotenoid conversion pathway of N. lacustris differs from that described for calanoid copepods and other marine crustaceans. N. lacustris may utilize the b-carotene ! zeaxanthin ! b-doradexanthin (adonixanthin) ! astaxanthin pathway of conversion rather than the b-carotene ! echninenone ! canthaxanthin ! astaxanthin pathway proposed for other copepods. Thus, diets containing higher amounts of b-carotene and zeaxanthin would be more likely to produce high levels of astaxanthin in this species.
Behavioral network graph: unifying the domains of high-level and logic synthesis

High-level synthesis operates on internal models known as control/data flow graphs (CDFG) and produces a register-transfer-level (RTL) model of the hardware implementation for a given schedule. For high-level synthesis to be efficient it has to estimate the effect that a given algorithmic decision (e.g., scheduling, allocation) will have on the final hardware implementation (after logic synthesis). Currently, this effect cannot be measured accurately because the CDFGs are very distinct from the RTL/gate-level models used by logic synthesis, precluding interaction between high-level and logic synthesis. This paper presents a solution to this problem consisting of a novel internal model for synthesis which spans the domains of high-level and logic synthesis. This model is an RTL/gate-level network capable of representing all possible schedules that a given behavior may assume. This representation allows high-level synthesis algorithms to be formulated as logic transformations and effectively interleaved with logic synthesis.
Design of Thin Film Solar Cell Material Structures for Reliability and Performance Robustness

Although a continued exponential growth of solar power generation over the world paves a path to a future in sustainable energy, development of photovoltaic (PV) technologies with low-cost and high-stability materials remains a challenge and has attracted tremendous attention to solar energy research. The prevalence of thin film solar cells substantially reduces the material costs. However, even in the presence of their band gap properties, a major issue faced by most thin film solar cells is the low output efficiency due to manufacturing variability and uncertain operating conditions. Thus, to ensure the reliability and performance robustness of thin film PV technologies, the design of the solar cell is studied. To represent the thin film PV technologies, a copper gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) solar cell model is developed and optimized with the Reliability-based Robust Design Optimization (RBRDO) method. The main contribution of this research is the development of a probabilistic thin film solar cell model that considers the presence of the uncertainties in the PV system. This model takes into account the variability of the structure and the material properties of the CIGS solar cells, and assumes operation in ideal-weather conditions. A general reliability-based methodology to optimize the design of the CIGS PV technologies is presented in this research and this approach also could be used to facilitate the development and assessment of new PV technologies with more robust performance in efficiency and stability.
Characteristics of Serial Title Changes and Recognition of New Serial Works: Theoretical and Practical Implications

The paper reports findings from a study to identify characteristics of serials with title changes and then make recommendations for recognizing new works for these serials. Findings show title changes occur due to underlying subject, function, corporate, geographic, frequency, or format changes, with 80.8% of the changes being subject or function changes. It is recommended that reasons for title changes be determined from clear statements in text or elsewhere, and that new works be recognized based upon the requirements of a definition of a work. With the FRBR definition, a new work would be recognized only for a significant subject or function change.
Pediatric gastrointestinal foreign body ingestions

One hundred twenty-five consecutive emergency department cases of pediatric gastrointestinal foreign body ingestions were analyzed retrospectively to tabulate data, identify high risk ingestions, and draw conclusions regarding the standard of care. Eleven patients (9%) were admitted for endoscopy or observation of high risk situations. Twenty patients (16%) were managed invasively, 19 with esophageal foreign bodies; 17 of 20 attempts at invasive management were successful. There was a 2% incidence of minor complications; no major complications (perforation, obstruction, bleeding, or mediastinal infection) or complications of invasive procedures were observed. High risk factors identified included the following: 1) the ingestion of rounded objects (esophageal impaction); 2) the presence of social, developmental, or psychiatric risk factors (29.6% incidence); and 3) esophageal disease (significantly associated with recurrent foreign bodies and frequent endoscopy or other surgical procedures). We conclude that, while asymptomatic gastric and intestinal foreign bodies can be managed with outpatient observation, hospitalization is indicated for endoscopic management and for symptom complexes suggestive of complication. Immediate endoscopy is recommended for removal of esophageal foreign bodies and for direct evaluation of the esophagus.
Rice Vinegar Through Acetification of Rice Wine

The manufacturing of vinegar is of such ancient origin that the oldest records are merely brief hints of, or allusions to, the methods and applications used. Vinegar is a word derived from the French vinaigre meaning “sour wine.” Although it was originally applied to the product obtained by acetification of wine, it lost this original meaning long ago. Vinegar may be prepared from almost any watery substance that contains sugar and other nutrients to provide an alcoholic fermentation followed by an acetic fermentation. Malt vinegar, called alegar, was prepared in England from ale or beer that had soured. Wine vinegar is prepared in many of the wine-producing areas of the world, and rice vinegar is a staple condiment in the orient.
Predictors and characteristics of seizures in survivors of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

This study aims to determine the risk factors for epileptogenesis and characteristics of seizures in patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) who survive more than 1 year from onset of neurological symptoms (PML survivors). We reviewed clinical data including seizure history and MR imaging studies from PML survivors evaluated at our institution between 1997 and 2014. PML progressors who passed away within 1 year and patients with a history of seizures prior to PML diagnosis were excluded from the analysis. Of 64 PML survivors, 28 (44 %) developed seizures. The median time from the onset of PML symptoms to the first seizure was 5.4 months (range 0–159) and 64 % of patients with seizures had them within the first year. The presence of juxtacortical PML lesions was associated with a relative risk of seizures of 3.5 (p < 0.02; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.3–9.4) in multivariate analyses. Of all seizure types, 86 % were focal and 60 % most likely originated from the frontal lobes. Among seizure patients, 89 % required treatment, including one (54 %), two (25 %), or three (10.5 %) antiepileptic drugs. Seizures are a frequent complication in PML and can develop throughout the entire course of the disease. However, late onset seizures did not signify PML relapse. Seizures may require treatment with multiple antiepileptic medications and are a significant co-morbidity in PML.
Two-Dimensional Autonomous Systems

This chapter presents two-dimensional autonomous systems. It also discusses the use of phase plane techniques to examine some special linear systems. These systems are in a form that makes the computation of the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors and the conversion to polar coordinates easy. Analysis of these simple systems provides guidelines as to what sorts of behavior are possible. The simple systems comprise all possible behaviors for two-dimensional linear systems of differential equations. The chapter also describes a set as an attractor if it contains an omega limit set of the orbit through every point of a neighborhood of itself. A periodic trajectory can be an attractor. The set of initial conditions where trajectories have the given set as an omega limit set is called the basin of attraction. If the basin of attraction is the entire set where equations are being studied, then the attractor is said to be a global attractor.
Somaclonal Variation in Triticale

Triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) is a man-made cereal grain developed through the hybridization of wheat (Triticum aestivum or Triticum durum) and rye (Secale cereale) The first fertile hybrid was developed by Rimpau in 1891 but interest in developing triticale as a potential crop species did not occur until after the discovery of the chromosome doubling property of colchicine in the 1930’s (Bushuk and Larter 1980). It was hoped that triticale would combine the quality and productivity of wheat with the vigor and hardiness of rye.
Positive and Negative Joint Quantum Distributions

There have been many attempts to write a proper joint quantum probability distribution that is positive and gives the correct individual quantum distributions of position and momentum (marginals). The general impression that has prevailed is that there is something in quantum mechanics which prevents the writing of such a distribution. The two most common reasons given why proper distributions cannot exist is the uncertainty principle and the fact that position and momentum do not commute. None the less we shall show that positive distributions do exist, are easy to obtain, and an infinite number of them can be generated readily.
Preliminary assessment of variable geometry stair ascent and descent with a powered lower limb orthosis for individuals with paraplegia

This paper describes a controller for a lower-limb exoskeleton that enables variable-geometry stair ascent and descent for persons with lower limb paralysis. The controller was evaluated on a subject with T10 complete spinal cord injury (SCI) on two staircases, one with a riser height and tread depth of 18.4 × 27.9 cm (7.25 × 11 in) and the other 17.8 × 29.8 cm (7 × 11.75 in). The controller enabled ascent and descent of both staircases without explicit tuning for each, and with an average step rate of 12.9 step/min during ascent and 14.6 step/min during descent.
For the Fun of It: Harnessing Immediate Rewards to Increase Persistence in Long-Term Goals

Pursuing personal goals for delayed rewards (e.g., exercising to improve health) often provides consumers with immediate rewards (e.g., a fun workout) in addition to the delayed rewards they receive. With regard to health and academic goals, we find that attending to the immediate rewards of health and academic activities increases persistence in these activities to a greater extent than attending to delayed rewards, even though these activities are selected for the delayed rewards they provide. Specifically, bringing immediate rewards into activity choice—for example, having participants choose the most enjoyable rather than the most useful exercise or the tastier rather than healthier bag of carrots—increases persistence and consumption. Similarly, adding external immediate rewards to activity pursuit—for example, playing music in a high school classroom—increases persistence. Across these studies, immediate rewards are stronger predictors of activity persistence than delayed rewards. This research suggests that marketers and consumers can harness immediate rewards to increase persistence in long-term goals.
Moving ahead in the study of the development of emotion regulation

This special section on the development of emotion regulation highlights several important new directions for research. Specifically, the findings of these studies indicate that: (1) emotion regula...
Testing cloud computing for customer satisfaction and loyalty

Cloud computing promises to provide quicker, easier and less expensive computing support for e–commerce. Will this new computing environment maintain or enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty? The study's two main goals are: test if what experts are recommending to improve user satisfaction with SaaS applications and test if user satisfaction translates into customer loyalty. Data from a total of 1257 customers using the order entry systems of 176 client organisations available through four SaaS providers were analysed. Results confirm the importance of the proposed success factors and the relationship between SaaS user satisfaction and customer loyalty. The results enabled the formulation of recommendations for managers responsible for customer relations in e–commerce environments.
Becoming Adults: One-Year Impact Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation

This study evaluated a program, called YVLifeSet, that offers individualized services to young people who are making the transition from foster care or juvenile justice custody to independent adulthood. After one year, the program increased earnings, reduced homelessness and material hardship, and improved outcomes related to health and safety.
Characteristics of Civically Engaged Nonprofit Arts Organizations: The Results of a National Survey

Nonprofits face increasing pressure to compete in the market, while they must maintain their civic commitment. Focusing on the arts and cultural sector, this study conducts the first large-scale, c...
An Improvement on Electric Furnace in Laboratory

It can reduce the accumulation of heat and increase the rate of temperature gone up and save electric energy,improve the precision of temperature control and easy service the furnace and circuit,by an improvement on the fireproofing materials and temperature control in electric furnace of laboratory.
Analysis of network traffic based on MPLS label scheme

By varying the IP packet rate the paper analyzes MPLS label scheme's effect on the network traffic.When network happens to congest,labeled IP packet traffic is lower in respect to unlabeled IP packet traffic due to label overload.In order to reduce label overloading,a new shim label header allocation format and algorithm,the result of simulations shows that the allocation algorithm can always get the label IP packet to perform than unlabeled IP packet whether there is network congestion or not.
DIMSUM : an expert system for multiexponential model discrimination

DIMSUM is a highly automated, rule-based expert system designed to fit multiexponential models of increasing dimension to time series data, followed by selection of the best candidate model based on a user-modifiable and weighted decision tree of statistical criteria for model discrimination. The major features of DIMSUM are 1) an interactive and friendly user interface; 2) options for incorporating prior information about the parameters, the data, and/or the system from which the data were collected, in the form of equality and inequality constraints; 3) a built-in algorithm for automatically obtaining starting values for parameter estimation; 4) a robust weighted least-squares parameter estimation algorithm operating in an adaptive, user-adjustable search space; 5) comprehensive statistical results comparing different order candidate models fitted to the data; and 6) a novel, user-modifiable (learning) rule-based advisory subsystem providing an "expert's" interpretation of these statistical results and an explanation of all advice.
Through the looking glass—Understanding informed consent

The ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy is essential for balanced doctor–patient relationship. Understanding and following proper procedure for informed consent is the goal for a heal...
Developmental windows of susceptibility to inorganic arsenic: a survey of current toxicologic and epidemiologic data

Globally, millions of people are exposed to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic (iAs) via drinking water. Exposure to iAs is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes, including cancers, skin lesions, neurological impairment, cardiovascular diseases, and an increased susceptibility to infection. Among those exposed to iAs, the developing fetus and young children represent particularly sensitive subpopulations. Specifically, it has been noted in animal models and human populations that prenatal and early life iAs exposures are associated with diseases occurring during childhood and later in life. Recent epidemiologic and toxicologic studies have also demonstrated that epigenetic alterations may play a key mechanistic role underlying many of the iAs-associated health outcomes, including the carcinogenic and immunologic effects of exposure. This review summarizes some of the key studies related to prenatal and early life iAs exposure and highlights the complexities in isolating the precise developmental windows of exposure associated with these health outcomes.
Clinical Isolates of Human Coronavirus 229E Bypass the Endosome for Cell Entry.

ABSTRACT Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), a causative agent of the common cold, enters host cells via two distinct pathways: one is mediated by cell surface proteases, particularly transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2), and the other by endosomal cathepsin L. Thus, specific inhibitors of these proteases block virus infection. However, it is unclear which of these pathways is actually utilized by HCoV-229E in the human respiratory tract. Here, we examined the mechanism of cell entry used by a pseudotyped virus bearing the HCoV-229E spike (S) protein in the presence or absence of protease inhibitors. We found that, compared with a laboratory strain isolated in 1966 and passaged for a half century, clinical isolates of HCoV-229E were less likely to utilize cathepsin L; rather, they showed a preference for TMPRSS2. Two amino acid substitutions (R642M and N714K) in the S protein of HCoV-229E clinical isolates altered their sensitivity to a cathepsin L inhibitor, suggesting that these amino acids were responsible for cathepsin L use. After 20 passages in HeLa cells, the ability of the isolate to use cathepsin increased so that it was equal to that of the laboratory strain; this increase was caused by an amino acid substitution (I577S) in the S protein. The passaged virus showed a reduced ability to replicate in differentiated airway epithelial cells cultured at an air-liquid interface. These results suggest that the endosomal pathway is disadvantageous for HCoV-229E infection of human airway epithelial cells; therefore, clinical isolates are less able to use cathepsin. IMPORTANCE Many enveloped viruses enter cells through endocytosis. Viral spike proteins drive the fusion of viral and endosomal membranes to facilitate insertion of the viral genome into the cytoplasm. Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) utilizes endosomal cathepsin L to activate the spike protein after receptor binding. Here, we found that clinical isolates of HCoV-229E preferentially utilize the cell surface protease TMPRSS2 rather than endosomal cathepsin L. The endosome is a main site of Toll-like receptor recognition, which then triggers an innate immune response; therefore, HCoV-229E presumably evolved to bypass the endosome by entering the cell via TMPRSS2. Thus, the virus uses a simple mechanism to evade the host innate immune system. Therefore, therapeutic agents for coronavirus-mediated diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), should target cell surface TMPRSS2 rather than endosomal cathepsin.
Hepatitis C Treatment in Patients With Porphyria Cutanea Tarda

Abstract Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a common susceptibility factor for porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). Experience on HCV treatment in patients with PCT is limited. Recently, HCV treatment has improved with direct-acting antivirals (DAA). We review our experience on HCV treatment in patients with PCT with older and newer regimens. Materials and Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted. HCV treatment was attempted 22 times in 13 patients with PCT (5 attempts in 1, 2 in 5 and 1 in the other 7 patients). Results Before starting HCV treatment, PCT was in complete remission in 16, partial remission in 2, unknown status in 2 and active in 2 instances. PCT relapsed during therapy 6 times (all interferon-based regimens and 2 including telaprevir), 4 requiring treatment interruption. Treatment was interrupted for reasons other than PCT relapse in 2 patients treated with interferon-based regimens. To prevent PCT recurrence, hydroxychloroquine was continued during HCV therapy 6 times (3 interferon regimens, 2 ribavirin regimens without interferon and 1 DAA alone). Twelve patients achieved sustained viral response, 3 with interferon regimens and 9 with DAA. Two patients with active PCT were treated with DAA, with reduction of plasma porphyrins in 1 and normalization in the other at the end of HCV therapy. Conclusions HCV treatment regimens including interferon or ribavirin may precipitate PCT relapse. Hydroxychloroquine may be useful to prevent such relapses. In this limited experience, DAA were not associated with PCT relapse. Studies are needed to examine DAA as a primary PCT treatment in HCV-infected patients.
Vandeleuria oleracea (Palm mouse)

The karyotypes are gifts from Drs. A. Gropp, Bonn, Germany and J. Marshall, Bangkok, Thailand. The animals come from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pathak (1) found 29 chromosomes in a specimen from the Markanda River, Himachal, Pradesh. Similar findings were made on two specimens from Varanasi, India (2).
Elevated Prevalence of Suicide Attempts among Victims of Police Violence in the USA.

Recent evidence suggests that police victimization is widespread in the USA and psychologically impactful. We hypothesized that civilian-reported police victimization, particularly assaultive victimization (i.e., physical/sexual), would be associated with a greater prevalence of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation. Data were drawn from the Survey of Police-Public Encounters, a population-based survey of adults (N = 1615) residing in four US cities. Surveys assessed lifetime exposure to police victimization based on the World Health Organization domains of violence (i.e., physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect), using the Police Practices Inventory. Logistic regression models tested for associations between police victimization and (1) past 12-month suicide attempts and (2) past 12-month suicidal ideation, adjusted for demographic factors (i.e., gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, income), crime involvement, past intimate partner and sexual victimization exposure, and lifetime mental illness. Police victimization was associated with suicide attempts but not suicidal ideation in adjusted analyses. Specifically, odds of attempts were greatly increased for respondents reporting assaultive forms of victimization, including physical victimization (odds ratio = 4.5), physical victimization with a weapon (odds ratio = 10.7), and sexual victimization (odds ratio = 10.2). Assessing for police victimization and other violence exposures may be a useful component of suicide risk screening in urban US settings. Further, community-based efforts should be made to reduce the prevalence of exposure to police victimization.
Robustness Issues in Observer-Based Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Systems

Abstract In this paper a minimum-phase, input-output linearizable system that is represented globally by an nth order differential equation is considered. The nonlinearities of the system depend linearly on unknown parameters which belong to a known convex set. We design a semiglobal adaptive output feedback controller to ensure boundedness of all state variables and robustness to an unknown bounded disturbance. Moreover we show that the mean-square tracking error can be made arbitrarily small.
The effects of current landscape configuration on streamflow within a Yellow River HUC-10 watershed of the Atlanta Metropolitan Region

Abstract This study evaluated effects of current landscape configuration (arrangement) on streamflow within a 162.0 mi 2 (419.6 km 2 ) watershed of the Yellow River (Hydrologic Unit Code 10, HUC-10) of the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan region located within the Southeastern United States (U.S.). Monthly and daily Thornthwaite Water Balance models using landscape configuration (contagion-adjusted curve numbers, CON-adjusted CNs) derived from the most current (2011) land cover/land use (LC/LU) dataset out-performed original CN watershed simulations over the 5-year (60-month and 1826-day) period from January 2009 to December 2013. This was based upon evaluation from several statistically-based, hydrologic model performance predictors. At the reclassified level (urban; forest; and agricultural), configurational metrics related to CON known as the aggregation index (AI) and clumpiness index (CI) indicated greater landscape heterogeneity that may lead to complex flow patterns difficult to simulate within a HUC-10 streamflow model. On the other hand, these related metrics also indicated higher levels of clumping within these reclassified LC/LUs may allow for improved accuracy in simulating streamflow-generating processes across landscapes within a HUC-10 streamflow model. Results also inferred that localized landscape configuration within the largest sub-watershed (HUC-12) of a HUC-10 watershed could have a disproportionate impact on runoff and should be prioritized within regional U.S. watershed management plans.
Factors leading to the decision for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in patients with breast cancer

1528 Background: Women with breast cancer have an increased risk of developing contralateral breast cancer in their lifetime. Thus increasing numbers of women have been electing to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) at the time of their initial breast cancer treatment. The objective of this study was to identify factors that determine the decision for CPM in patients at a major cancer center. Methods: 2,544 women with Stage 0-III unilateral primary breast cancer who underwent surgery to the breast at our institution from January 2000 to August 2006 were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Patient and tumor characteristics were evaluated and comparisons were made between patients who did or did not undergo CPM using logistic regression. Results: Of the 2,544 patients, 1254 (49.3%) underwent total mastectomy for their known cancer; 282 (22.5%) of these patients underwent immediate or delayed CPM. Overall, 171 patients (6.7%) had genetic testing; and the use of testing incre...
An energy-casimir approach to underwater vehicle depth and heading regulation in short crested waves

Conventional underwater vehicle models neglect wave excitation forces and free surface effects, since the vessel is most often deeply submerged where these effects are negligible. For near-surface operations, wave excitation forces significantly affect vessel motion. This paper focuses on depth and heading regulation for a fully actuated underwater vehicle operating in the wave-affected zone. We first construct a non-canonical Hamiltonian model for the nominal system dynamics. We then employ the energy-Casimir method to construct a control law, together with a Lyapunov function, which renders the desired motion asymptotically stable. Finally, using a disturbance model developed in an earlier work, we study the effects of the Froude-Krylov excitation forces on the closed-loop system response.
Improving correctional healthcare providers' ability to care for transgender patients: Development and evaluation of a theory-driven cultural and clinical competence intervention.

Abstract Rationale Correctional healthcare providers' limited cultural and clinical competence to care for transgender patients represents a barrier to care for incarcerated transgender individuals. Objective The present study aimed to adapt, deliver, and evaluate a transgender cultural and clinical competence intervention for correctional healthcare providers. Method In the summer of 2016, a theoretically-informed, group-based intervention to improve transgender cultural and clinical competence was delivered to 34 correctional healthcare providers in New England. A confidential survey assessed providers' cultural and clinical competence to care for transgender patients, self-efficacy to provide hormone therapy, subjective norms related to transgender care, and willingness to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients before and after (immediately and 3-months) the intervention. Linear mixed effects regression models were fit to assess change in study outcomes over time. Qualitative exit interviews assessed feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Results Providers' willingness to provide gender-affirming care improved immediately post-intervention (β = 0.38; SE = 0.41, p Conclusion The intervention increased correctional healthcare providers' cultural and clinical competence, self-efficacy, subjective norms, and willingness to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients. Continued efforts should be made to train correctional healthcare providers in culturally and clinically competent gender-affirming care in order to improve the health of incarcerated transgender people. Future efficacy testing of this intervention is warranted.