cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An overview of parallel hardware architectures for computer vision

The sheer complexity of the visual task and the need for robust behavior provide a unifying theme for computer vision — what can be accomplished is constrained by relatively limited computational resources, but the resulting performance must be robust. As a consequence parallel computation over space and time becomes essential for machine vision systems. Parallel computation is all encompassing and includes both image representations and processing. We give an overview in this paper of a taxonomy of parallel hardware architectures which includes pipelining, Single instruction multiple data (SIMD), multiple instruction multiple data (MIMD), data-flow, and neurocomputing. Specific applications and the relevance of parallel hardware architectures for computer vision tasks are discussed as well.
Characterization of Minor N-linked Glycans on Antibodies Using Endo H Release and MALDI–Mass Spectrometry

Abstract A MALDI mass spectrometry method using Bruker Daltonic's LIFT technology for MS/MS analysis has been developed for profiling and characterizing low abundant N-glycans from recombinant immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. In this method, Endoglycosidase H (Endo H) released N-glycans are derivatized at their reducing end with 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB) and separated by normal phase chromatography. Endo H hydrolyses the bond between the two GlcNAc residues of the trimannosyl core of high mannose and hybrid N-linked glycans, leaving the core GlcNAc attached to the protein. High mannose and hybrid type N-glycans are released from the glycoprotein whereas the more abundant, complex biantennary type oligosaccharide structures are unaffected. Analysis of Endo H treated glycan moieties by MALDI mass spectrometry identified several minor species of high mannose and hybrid type glycans. Subsequent MALDI TOF MS/MS analysis of the resulting products yielded information about structural features of the high mannose...
Changes in weight and body mass index during treatment with melperone, clozapine and typical neuroleptics.

Abstract Melperone is an atypical antipsychotic drug that has been reported to be effective in treatment-resistant schizophrenia and L -DOPA psychosis. There are limited data concerning its effect on weight or body mass index (BMI). Weight and BMI were retrospectively compared in patients with schizophrenia treated with melperone (n = 34), clozapine (n = 225), or typical neuroleptics (n = 74) for up to 3 months. Clozapine resulted in significant increases in weight and BMI from baseline to 6 weeks and 3 months. Neither melperone nor typical neuroleptics resulted in significant weight gain at either time point. Melperone did not result in significant increases in BMI. Weight and BMI were significantly lower with melperone compared with clozapine, but similar to typical neuroleptics. The proportion of melperone patients who experienced a ≥ 7% weight increase was lower than that in patients treated with clozapine and similar to that in patients treated with typical neuroleptics. Percent change in weight and BMI predicted improvement in BPRS total scores at 3 months in the clozapine group, but not in the melperone or typical neuroleptic groups. Because of the relationship between BMI and cardiovascular risk, melperone deserves further study as both a first line treatment and as an alternative to clozapine in refractory schizophrenia.
Quality Care in a Medicaid Managed Care Program: Adequacy of Prenatal Care for Teens in Chicago

This study considers whether obstetricians offer less adequate care to teen prenatal patients in the Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids (HMHK) Medicaid managed care program in Chicago than to non-Medicaid patients. Telephone surveys of obstetricians offices (n = 101) were conducted to determine the content of care in the first prenatal visit. These survey data are combined with demographic and practice background data from The American Medical Association's Physician Master File. Analysis indicates there were no significant differences between groups for receiving: (1) medical histories, (2) physical exam and tests, (3) health promotion counseling, and (4) availability of birthing education materials. Analysis further indicates, however, that teen Medicaid patients are less likely to receive blood tests and some urinalysis-related tests. Not receiving these tests is especially problematic because pregnant teens are more likely to drop out of the prenatal care regimen after their first visit, and teens are more likely to have poorer birth outcomes.
Spatial and morphological change on Eliot Glacier, Mount Hood, Oregon, USA

Eliot Glacier is a small (1.6 km 2 ) glacier on Mount Hood, Oregon, USA, and its ablation zone is largely covered with rock debris. We examine the interrelated processes of ablation rates, ice thickness and surface velocities to understand the retreat rate of this glacier. Since measurements began in 1901, the glacier has retreated 680 m, lost 19% of its area and thinned by about 50 m at the lower glacier profile before the terminus retreated past that point. The upper profile, 800 m up-glacier, has shown thinning and thickening due to a kinematic wave resulting from a cool period during the 1940s-70s, and is currently about the same thickness as in 1940. Overall, the glacier has retreated at a slower rate than other glaciers on Mount Hood. We hypothesize that the rock debris covering the ablation zone reduces Eliot Glacier's sensitivity to global warming and slows its retreat rate compared to other glaciers on Mount Hood. Spatial variations in debris thickness are the primary factor in controlling spatial variations in melt. A continuity model of debris thickness shows the rate of debris thickening down-glacier is roughly constant and is a result of the compensating effects of strain thickening and debris melt-out from the ice.
Preliminary determination of Pacfic‐North America relative motion in the southern Gulf of Calfornia using the Global Positioning System

GPS data from experiments conducted in 1985 and 1989 in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico, allow a determination of relative motion between the Pacific and North American plates. The data indicate motion by Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific plate relative to North America at a rate of 47 + or - 7 mm/yr and azimuth of 57 + or - 6 deg west of north, equivalent within uncertainties to the NUVEL-1 global plate motion model.
Interpreter-mediated physician-patient communication: opportunities for multimodal healthcare interfaces

Patient-centered health care and increased efficency are major goals of modern medicine. Research has shown that higher patient health literacy is linked to more successful health outcomes and the shift to electronic medical records (EMR) is hoped to increase efficency. Although EMR systems are designed to support physicians' clinical decision making, they can also hamper physician-patient communication, especially in the challenging conditions associated with interpreter-mediated interaction with low English proficiency patients. This paper examines EMR interaction and interpreter-mediated physician-patient communication. Based on a distributed cognition perspective that employs a novel methodology to simultaneously capture multiple data streams, we analyze multiparty and multimodal activity. The goal is to inform design of new multimodal healthcare interfaces.
Critical age-dependent branching processes with sibling correlation

Abstract Asymptotic moments of a one dimensional critical age-dependent branching process with symmetric lifetime and offspring dependence among siblings are found. An application is to show that the number alive at time t divided by bt, given that the population has survived, is exponentially distributed for t → ∞, where b is explicitly obtained. Various extensions are indicated.
Genetic effects on alcohol dependence risk: re-evaluating the importance of psychiatric and other heritable risk factors.

Background. Genetic influences have been shown to play a major role in determining the risk of alcohol dependence (AD) in both women and men; however, little attention has been directed to identifying the major sources of genetic variation in AD risk. Method. Diagnostic telephone interview data from young adult Australian twin pairs born between 1964 and 1971 were analyzed. Cox regression models were fitted to interview data from a total of 2708 complete twin pairs (690 MZ female, 485 MZ male, 500 DZ female, 384 DZ male, and 649 DZ female/male pairs). Structural equation models were fitted to determine the extent of residual genetic and environmental influences on AD risk while controlling for effects of sociodemographic and psychiatric predictors on risk. Results. Risk of AD was increased in males, in Roman Catholics, in those reporting a history of major depression, social anxiety problems, and conduct disorder, or (in females only) a history of suicide attempt and childhood sexual abuse; but was decreased in those reporting Baptist, Methodist, or Orthodox religion, in those who reported weekly church attendance, and in university-educated males. After allowing for the effects of sociodemographic and psychiatric predictors, 47 % (95 % CI 28-55) of the residual variance in alcoholism risk was attributable to additive genetic effects, 0 % (95 % CI 0-14) to shared environmental factors, and 53 % (95 % CI 45-63) to non-shared environmental influences. Conclusions. Controlling for other risk factors, substantial residual heritability of AD was observed, suggesting that psychiatric and other risk factors play a minor role in the inheritance of AD.
The Truth of Verdicts? A Social Psychological Examination of A Theory of the Trial

Robert Bums's A Theory of the Trial illustrates, quite masterfully, the many ways that the American trial is a much more dynamic and psychologically complex event in practice than its idealized legal version would suggest. Bums argues against what he calls the "Received View" of the trial, which can be characterized as the prevailing legal myth of how cases are structured, presented, and decided on in trial. This traditional legal model of the trial imagines the process following a very simple path to judgment: Reliable evidence is presented, the finders of fact assess credibility of witnesses and strength of evidence, that body then constructs a value-free narrative of the most likely scenario, and that narrative is then placed in one of the legal categories available, which determines the final verdict. While Bums suggests that there are some truths to the Received View, he illustrates the ways that trial practices diverge from this linear model, relying substantially on his own observations and experiences from his years as a trial lawyer. In particular, his discussion of how attomeys approach their task at trial-from argument and presentation of evidence to crossexamination and closing-to best reach their audience is richly nuanced and quite illuminating. Successful trial attomeys, in his view, have a knack for narrating their case, ordering and presenting their evidence, and zeroing in on the weaknesses of their opponent's case, so that their trial "package" will at least give jurors (or judges in bench trials) pause and make them consider more than the easy or obvious when deciding on facts, meanings, and judgments.
Group Affect: Its Influence on Individual and Group Outcomes

We review and synthesize the research literature examining group affect and its consequences, focusing on groups who interact together to accomplish a task. We use a definition of group affect that incorporates the mutual influence of a group’s affective context and affective composition (the amalgamation of group members’ state and trait affect). Our focus is on the influence of group affect on individual members’ behaviors and attitudes and on group-level outcomes. We call for more research in this area, including the study of more specific discrete group emotions and a broadening of the types of groups studied in this research area.
Noise effects in polarization maintaining optical amplifiers

Excessive noise generation in optically amplified analog fiber optic systems due to different polarization-maintaining EDFA configurations is investigated. Increases in the effective RIN level of more than 20 dB are predicted and experimentally observed for double-pass configurations.
Efficient Infection Mediated by Viral Receptors Incorporated into Retroviral Particles

Many host cell surface proteins, including viral receptors, are incorporated into enveloped viruses. To address the functional significance of these host proteins, murine leukemia viruses containing the cellular receptors for Rous sarcoma virus (Tva) or ecotropic murine leukemia virus (MCAT-1) were produced. These receptor-pseudotyped viruses efficiently infect cells expressing the cognate viral envelope glycoproteins, with titers of up to 105 infectious units per milliliter for the Tva pseudotypes. Receptor and viral glycoprotein specificity and functional requirements are maintained, suggesting that receptor pseudotype infection recapitulates events of normal viral entry. The ability of the Tva and MCAT-1 pseudotypes to infect cells efficiently suggests that, in contrast to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 entry, neither of these retroviral receptors requires a coreceptor for membrane fusion. In addition, the ability of receptor pseudotypes to target infected cells suggests that they may be useful therapeutic reagents for directing infection of viral vectors. Receptor-pseudotyped viruses may be useful for identifying new viral receptors or for defining functional requirements of known receptors. Moreover, this work suggests that the production of receptor pseudotypes in vivo could provide a mechanism for expanded viral tropism with potential effects on the pathogenesis and evolution of the virus.
Feature extraction using random matrix theory approach

Feature extraction involves simplifying the amount of resources required to describe a large set of data accurately. In this paper, we propose to broaden the feature extraction algorithms with Random Matrix Theory methodology. Testing the cross-correlation matrix of variables against the null hypothesis of random correlations, we can derive characteristic parameters of the system, such as boundaries of eigenvalue spectra of random correlations, distribution of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of random correlations, inverse participation ratio and stability of eigenvectors of non-random correlations. We demonstrate the usefullness of these parameters for network traffic application, in particular, for network congestion control and for detection of any changes in the stable traffic dynamics.
Mass nouns, vagueness and semantic variation

The mass/count distinction attracts a lot of attention among cognitive scientists, possibly because it involves in fundamental ways the relation between language (i.e. grammar), thought (i.e. extralinguistic conceptual systems) and reality (i.e. the physical world). In the present paper, I explore the view that the mass/count distinction is a matter of vagueness. While every noun/concept may in a sense be vague, mass nouns/concepts are vague in a way that systematically impairs their use in counting. This idea has never been systematically pursued, to the best of my knowledge. I make it precise relying on supervaluations (more specifically, ‘data semantics’) to model it. I identify a number of universals pertaining to how the mass/count contrast is encoded in the languages of the world, along with some of the major dimensions along which languages may vary on this score. I argue that the vagueness based model developed here provides a useful perspective on both. The outcome (besides shedding light on semantic variation) seems to suggest that vagueness is not just an interface phenomenon that arises in the interaction of Universal Grammar (UG) with the Conceptual/Intentional System (to adopt Chomsky’s terminology), but it is actually part of the architecture of UG.
Complexity of some geometric and topological problems

We show that recognizing intersection graphs of convex sets has the same complexity as deciding truth in the existential theory of the reals. Comparing this to similar results on the rectilinear crossing number and intersection graphs of line segments, we argue that there is a need to recognize this level of complexity as its own class.
Mach number effects on the global mixing modes induced by ramp injectors in supersonic flows

Modern injectors for supersonic combustors (hypermixers) augment the fuel–air mixing rate by energizing the perturbation in the mixing layer. From an instability point of view, the increased perturbation growth is linked to the increased complexity of the equilibrium base flow when compared to the axisymmetric mixing layer. Common added features are streamwise vortex streaks, oblique recompression shocks and Prandtl–Meyer expansions. One of the main effects of such distortions of the mean flow is to transform the instability responsible for the creation of fine scales from a local amplified mode to a global self-sustained fluctuation. The focus of the present research is on the flow distortion induced by flushed ramps for free-stream Mach numbers in the range 2.5–3.5. The principal mean flow features are the recirculation region due to the recompression of the flow after the ramp, the shear layer over the recirculation region and the vortex streaks propagating from the ramp corners. A global three-dimensional stability analysis and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of small perturbations of the mean flow are performed. The growth and energy distribution of the dominant and subdominant fluctuations supported by the three-dimensional steady laminar base flow are computed. The main results are the growth rates of the self-sustained varicose and sinuous modes and their correlation to the variation in the free-stream Mach number. The complex three-dimensional wavemaker is investigated by evaluating the three-dimensional eigenfunctions of the direct and adjoint modes, and the effects of the axial vorticity generated by the ramp corners are discussed.
The biological basis of severe outcomes in Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes granulocytic anaplasmosis, an acute disease in humans that is also often subclinical. However, 36% are hospitalized, 7% need intensive care, and the case fatality rate is 0.6%. The biological basis for severe disease is not understood. Despite A. phagocytophilum’s mechanisms to subvert neutrophil antimicrobial responses, whether these mechanisms lead to disease is unclear. In animals, inflammatory lesions track with IFNγ and IL-10 expression, and infection of Ifng −/− mice leads to increased pathogen load but inhibition of inflammation. Suppression of STAT signaling in horses impacts IL-10 and IFN-γ expression, and also suppresses disease severity. Similar inhibition of inflammation with infection of NKT-deficient mice suggests that innate immune responses are key for disease. With severe disease, tissues can demonstrate hemophagocytosis, and measures of macrophage activation/hemophagocytic syndromes (MAS/HPS) support the concept of HGA as an immunopathologic disease. MAS/HPS are related to defective cytotoxic lymphocytes that ordinarily diminish inflammation. Pilot studies in mice show cytotoxic lymphocyte activation with A. phagocytophilum infection, yet suppression of cytotoxic responses from both NKT and CD8 cells, consistent with the development of MAS/HPS. Whether severity relates to microbial factors or genetically-determined diversity in human immune and inflammatory response needs more investigation.
Assembly, Maturation, and Turnover of KATP Channel Subunits

ATP-sensitive K(+), or K(ATP), channels are comprised of K(IR)6.x and sulfonylurea receptor (SUR) subunits that assemble as octamers, (K(IR)/SUR)(4). The assembly pathway is unknown. Pulse-labeling studies show that when K(IR)6.2 is expressed individually, its turnover is biphasic; approximately 60% is lost with t((1/2)) approximately 36 min. The remainder converts to a long-lived species (t((1/2)) approximately 26 h) with an estimated half-time of 1.2 h. Expressed alone, SUR1 has a long half-life, approximately 25.5 h. When K(IR)6.2 and SUR1 are co-expressed, they associate rapidly and the fast degradation of K(IR)6.2 is eliminated. Based on changes in the glycosylation state of SUR1, the half-time for the maturation of K(ATP) channels, including completion of assembly, transit to the Golgi, and glycosylation, is approximately 2.2 h. Estimation of the turnover rates of mature, fully glycosylated SUR1 associated with K(IR)6.2 and of K(IR)6.2 associated with Myc-tagged SUR1 gave similar values for the half-life of K(ATP) channels, a mean value of approximately 7.3 h. K(ATP) channel subunits in INS-1 beta-cells displayed qualitatively similar kinetics. The results imply the octameric channels are stable. Two mutations, K(IR)6.2 W91R and SUR1 DeltaF1388, identified in patients with the severe form of familial hyperinsulinism, profoundly alter the rate of K(IR)6.2 and SUR1 turnover, respectively. Both mutant subunits associate with their respective partners but dissociate freely and degrade rapidly. The data support models of channel formation in which K(IR)6.2-SUR1 heteromers assemble functional channels and are inconsistent with models where SUR1 can only assemble with K(IR)6.2 tetramers.
Environmental data collection in near-real time along the entire coast of Texas

This paper describes communications techniques used for remote-access, near-real time data-collection systems, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each. The paper summarizes 6 years of experience, now with 45 monitoring stations located along 800 km of coast.
Thermoelectricity in polymer composites due to fluctuation-induced tunneling

Transport in heavily-doped polymer composites, characterized by localized charge regions, is examined in light of the recent interest in polymers for thermoelectric applications. The developed fundamental transport theory describes carrier tunneling between charged localizations by taking into account thermally induced fluctuations of the applied potential. A range of characteristic behaviors corresponding to experimental data are described. Deviations from the Wiedemann-Franz law are also identified. This novel theory enables the determination of factors dominating the transport in polymers and a comparison to tunneling without thermal fluctuations is also provided. The obtained asymptotic expressions for the conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and carrier thermal conductivity are particularly useful for elucidating possible routes for thermoelectric transport control and optimization.
Estimator for Charge Acceptance of Lead Acid Batteries

A phenomenological model of lead acid batteries is developed that is then used to construct an estimator for short term charge acceptance. Conceptually, the model is based on a partial differential equation that is discretized for tractability. With observers for the battery current and state of charge, the prediction of the internal states is improved. Since the model is essentially linear, the short term prediction can be implemented in closed form, thus without the need for computationally intensive prediction simulations at each sampling instant. The only nonlinearity, the dependence on temperature, can be incorporated in a linear parameter-varying model.
THE EFFECT OF ALUMINA ON THE SURFACE TENSION OF MOLTEN GLASS

The maximum bubble-pressure method has been used to determine the surface tensions of molten glasses. The compositions of the glasses were those typical of certain types of commercial products. A brief summary of the theory and application of the method is presented. The surface tensions of the glasses studied were of the order of 300 dynes per centimeter and the temperature coefficients were — 0.017 dyne per centimeter per degree centigrade. It was found that A12O3 raised the surface tension of soda-lime-silica glass, the increase being almost linear between 2% Al2O3 and 8% Al2O3.
Differences between Conservatives and Liberals in Information-Seeking Behavior and Perceived Risks Associated with Climate-Driven Changes to Local Forest Conditions

AbstractIdeological value sets have the potential to shape individuals’ preferences as well as their psychological and behavioral responses to new information. Being socially constructed, ideologies are likely to be formed and modified through the exchanges individuals have in their established information and communication networks. This study examined whether or not individuals’ political ideologies and their access to climate-related information are related to several key factors influencing their perceived capacity to adapt to climate-driven changes to local forest conditions. The key factors investigated include: perceived risk; the willingness to learn about potential impacts; the willingness to plan for variable climate futures; and a general perception of self-efficacy. Data come from a mail survey completed by 420 full-time residents living in three amenity-rich forest-related communities in western North Carolina (United States). The results suggest individuals’ political ideologies are related ...
Studies on the Primary Structure of Human Secretory Component

Secretory component occurs in external secretions in two forms, bound and free. The former is an integral part of the secretory IgA molecule, the attachment being covalent in the human. Free secretory component, on the other hand, is present in secretions unattached to other protein. The bound and free forms of secretory component, in both human (1,2) and rabbit (3) have been previously compared in terms of size, amino acid composition, and antigenic determinants and found to be similar, and possibly identical. In order to extend the comparison of the bound vs. free secretory component we have done peptide mapping studies and determined their N-terminal amino acid sequences.
Integrating conventional and CAD/CAM digital techniques for establishing canine protected articulation: A clinical report

Canine protected articulation is widely accepted for patients requiring extensive oral rehabilitation. Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) restorations have been primarily designed in occlusion at the maximum intercuspal position. Designing a virtual articulator that is capable of accepting excursive occlusal records and duplicating the mandibular movements is a challenge for CAD/CAM technology. Modifying tooth shape using composite resin trial restorations to produce esthetic results and later scanning the modified teeth to create milled crowns is becoming a popular use of the CAD/CAM technology. This report describes a technique that combines conventional and CAD/CAM prosthodontic techniques for milling crowns for canine teeth that are designed to establish or improve canine protected articulation. This technique involves designing and fabricating interim restorations based on diagnostic waxing, scanning the designs intraorally, and storing them in software as pretreatment digital records. The scanned designs are then applied to the digital representation of the prepared teeth to fabricate the definitive restorations.
Engineering functional nanothin multilayers on food packaging: ice-nucleating polyethylene films.

Polyethylene is the most prevalent plastic and is commonly used as a packaging material. Despite its common use, there are not many studies on imparting functionalities to those films which can make them more desirable for frozen food packaging. Here, commercial low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films were oxidized by UV-ozone (UVO) treatment to obtain a negatively charged hydrophilic surface to allow fabrication of functional multilayers. An increase in hydrophilicity was observed when films were exposed to UVO for 4 min and longer. Thin multilayers were formed by dipping the UVO-treated films into biopolymer solutions, and extracellular ice nucleators (ECINs) were immobilized onto the film surface to form a functional top layer. Polyelectrolyte adsorption was studied and confirmed on silicon wafers by measuring the water contact angles of the layers and investigating the surface morphology via atomic force microscopy. An up to 4–5 °C increase in ice nucleation temperatures and an up to 10 min decrease in ...
Supercritical LOX/Methane Flame Stabilization and Dynamics of a Shear Coaxial Injector

The mixing and combustion of liquid oxygen (LOX) and gaseous methane of a shear coaxial injector operating under supercritical pressures have been numerically investigated. The near field flow and flame dynamics are examined in depth, with emphasis placed on the flame stabilization mechanisms. The model accommodates the full conservation laws and real-fluid thermodynamics and transport phenomena over the entire range of fluid states of concern. Turbulence closure is achieved using a large-eddy-simulation technique. The injector flowfield is characterized by the evolution of three mixing layers originating from the trailing edges of the two concentric tubes of the injector. As a consequence of the strong inertia of the oxygen stream and light density of methane, a diffusion-dominated flame is anchored in the wake of the LOX post and propagates downstream along the boundary of the oxygen jet. The overall flow development is largely determined by the lighter methane stream. The large-scale vortices shedding from the outer rim of the LOX post engulf methane into the wake recirculation region to react with gasified oxygen. The frequencies of vortex shedding match closely those of a flow over a rear-facing step, mainly due to the large density disparity between LOX and gaseous methane. The effects of the momentum-flux ratio of the two streams are also examined. A higher-momentum methane stream enhances mixing and shortens the potential cores of both the LOX and methane jets.
Effects of Pouring Temperatures on Microstructures of A2017Aluminium Alloy during SCR Process

A ccording to the principle of Shearing/Cooling Roll Process,FEM method was adapted to calculate thermal field under different pouring temperatures during manufacturing A2017semisolid alloy by Shearing/Cooling Roll Process.Using a self-made SCR test machine a series of experiments were carried out.Effects of Pouring temperatures on microstructures of alloy were investiged.By test and analysis optimization pouring temperature scope was obtained.When cast at730℃to750℃,fine and even microstructures of A2017alloy were obtained.
Assuring a strong foundation for our nation's public health systems

Abstract Background A strong public health infrastructure is necessary to assure that every community is capable of carrying out core public health functions (assessment of population health, assurance of accessible and equitable health resources, and development of policies to address population health) to create healthy conditions. Yet, due to budget cuts and inconsistent approaches to base funding, communities are losing critical prevention and health promotion services and staff that deliver them. Purpose This article describes key components of and current threats to our public health infrastructure and suggests actions necessary to strengthen public health systems and improve population health. Discussion National nursing and public health organizations have a duty to advocate for policies supporting strong prevention systems, which are crucial for well-functioning health care systems and are fundamental goals of the nursing profession. Conclusion We propose strengthening alliances between nursing organizations and public health systems to assure that promises of a reformed health system are achieved.
Consequences of elevated temperature and pCO2 on insect folivory at the ecosystem level: perspectives from the fossil record

Paleoecological studies document the net effects of atmospheric and climate change in a natural laboratory over timescales not accessible to laboratory or ecological studies. Insect feeding damage is visible on well-preserved fossil leaves, and changes in leaf damage through time can be compared to environmental changes. We measured percent leaf area damaged on four fossil leaf assemblages from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, that range in age from 56.1 to 52.65 million years (Ma). We also include similar published data from three US sites 49.4 to ~45 Ma in our analyses. Regional climate was subtropical or warmer throughout this period, and the second oldest assemblage (56 Ma) was deposited during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a geologically abrupt global warming event caused by massive release of carbon into the atmosphere. Total and leaf-chewing damage are highest during the PETM, whether considering percent area damaged on the bulk flora, the average of individual host plants, or a single plant host that occurs at multiple sites. Another fossil assemblage in our study, the 52.65 Ma Fifteenmile Creek paleoflora, also lived during a period of globally high temperature and pCO 2, but does not have elevated herbivory. Comparison of these two sites, as well as regression analyses conducted on the entire dataset, demonstrates that, over long timescales, temperature and pCO 2 are uncorrelated with total insect consumption at the ecosystem level. Rather, the most important factor affecting herbivory is the relative abundance of plants with nitrogen-fixing symbionts. Legumes dominate the PETM site; their prevalence would have decreased nitrogen limitation across the ecosystem, buffering generalist herbivore populations against decreased leaf nutritional quality that commonly occurs at high pCO 2. We hypothesize that nitrogen concentration regulates the opposing effects of elevated temperature and CO 2 on insect abundance and thereby total insect consumption, which has important implications for agricultural practices in today's world of steadily increasing pCO 2.
Euler's Forward Method

This chapter elaborates about the Euler's forward method applicable to initial value systems of first-order ordinary differential equations. A numerical marching scheme that is first-order accurate is obtained. A forward difference approximation to a derivative can be easily manipulated into a numerical scheme. A major drawback of this technique is that the step size Δt may have to be very small for accurate numerical values. The stability properties of Euler's forward and backward methods are completely different. Ordinary differential equations of higher order can be written as a system of first-order equations.
Modeling of Time-Variant Heat Transfer in a Two-Phase System

A numerical analysis was performed to evaluate the convective heat transfer coefficients at the particle-liquid interface as a time-dependent function of system properties for liquid foods containing particulates. The transient energy equations for the sphere and fluid were solved by an alternating-direction implicit method to find the temperature distribution near the particle surface for near zero relative velocity, Re = 0.1. The instantaneous convective heat transfer coefficients varied over the sphere surface and heat flow reversal was observed near the rear stagnation region, which caused the displacement of the coldest point from the center to the particle surface. Lethality computations showed that the critical point was shifted from the particle center toward the rear stagnation point.
The impact of different types and amounts of guidance on the implementation of an accounting principle

Abstract Transfer of asset control is a central principle in the revenue recognition standard jointly developed and issued by the FASB and IASB (Boards) in 2014. Guidance with respect to this principle will be very important in applying the new standard. This study examines the effect of type and amount of guidance on the judgment of whether control has been transferred. Study participants receive different hypothetical standards and provide judgments with respect to the transfer of control in a construction-type contract case setting. Results indicate that adding guidance to the basic principle in the form of either key indicators or an illustrative example results in participants being more likely to judge the customer as having control during the construction period. Participants perceive indicators as being more useful than examples in forming their judgments. The nature of the example (affirmative or counter) does not have a differential impact on judgments when added to a principle-only standard. On the other hand, when an example is added to a standard that contains a principle and key indicators, judgments are significantly different when a counter example is present than when an affirmative example is part of the standard. This study provides the Boards with research results that may be useful in determining the type and amount of guidance to be provided in a principle-based standard.
From Ottoman colonial rule to nation statehood: Schooling and national identity in the early Greek school

After Ottoman colonial rule, education in Greece became an important institution for the ideological construction of a Greek national identity. This paper looks at schooling in Greece just prior to the Greek Revolution and immediately after Greek Independence, and how the Greek national school system assisted in the construction of a Greek national identity. This paper is divided into several sections. The introductory section discusses how a newly independent Greek nation-state struggled to unite the Greek people under a collective national identity. While most people at the time identified with their families, communities, and Greek Orthodox Christian religion, after Greek independence people began to see themselves as members of a broader Greek nation. The section that follows provides a discussion of Greek education during Ottoman colonial rule, and how a type of Greek identity (centered around the Greek Orthodox Christian faith) was maintained through the Greek Orthodox mileu. The Greek Church ran schools, and taught Greek children how to read and write, as well as the virtues of the Orthodox Christian faith. Section three of the article looks at Greek education during the early years of the Greek nation-state. In this section the general contours of the Greek educational system are delineated. The section also discusses how the organization of the Greek national school system was borrowed from extant school models found in Western Europe. Section four describes the Greek national curriculum and how the national curriculum would help to teach future generations of Greek citizens what it meant to be Greek. This is further reinforced in the Greek school textbook, which is part of the discussion in section five. Section five concludes with the role of education and its implications in uniting nations from around the world.
Classroom stress promotes motivated forgetting of mathematics knowledge

The ability to retain educationally relevant content in a readily accessible state in memory is critical for students at all stages in schooling. We hypothesized that a high degree of stress in mathematics courses can threaten students’ mathematics self-concept and lead to a motivation to forget course content. We tested the aforementioned hypothesis by recruiting students from a college course on multivariate calculus. Students were asked to report their ongoing stress in the course. The forgetting rate was assessed by comparing students’ final exam performance against their performance for a subset of the same final exam items 2 weeks later. We found that among students with a strong mathematics self-concept, a higher amount of ongoing weekly stress during the course was associated with increased forgetting of course content and a higher report of avoidant thinking about the course. Neither of these associations was found among students with a weaker mathematics self-concept. Our results provide evidence for a scientific account of the affective and motivational forces that shape why students forget educationally relevant content. We discuss the various educational practices that cue forgetting and make recommendations for reducing motivated forgetting in the classroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Ethical Challenges to the Design and Study of Learning Games

While authors have discussed teaching ethical concepts through the use of learning games, little attention has been paid in the field to their ethical use, design, and development. The goal of this chapter is to ask and answer some of the primary questions on this topic, guided by concerns laid out in institutional review boards that moderate the research approaches we use. This is primarily to help readers become mindful of the consequences for learners and teachers of poorly designed or used learning games and other digital tools.
Mary Mallon and Typhoid Fever

She was born in Cookstown County Tyrone, Ireland on September 23, 1869. Neither she nor her family could have known what was to be her fate. If they had, perhaps she would never have become a cook; perhaps she would never have begun a new life in the United States. But she did. Mary Mallon journeyed to the U.S. in 1883 when she was only a teenager and soon settled with her aunt and uncle in New York City. She was by most accounts a good cook and she had no trouble finding work in the kitchens of New Y ark's well to do.1 It was here that she would be dubbed "Typhoid Mary."
Psychomotor slowing is associated with anomalies in baseline and prospective large scale neural networks in youth with epilepsy.

Abstract Purpose Psychomotor slowing is a common but understudied cognitive impairment in epilepsy. Here we test the hypothesis that psychomotor slowing is associated with alterations in brain status reflected through analysis of large scale structural networks. We test the hypothesis that children with epilepsy with cognitive slowing at diagnosis will exhibit a cross-sectional and prospective pattern of altered brain development. Methods A total of 78 children (age 8–18) with new/recent onset idiopathic epilepsies underwent 1.5 T MRI with network analysis of cortical, subcortical and cerebellar volumes. Children with epilepsy were divided into slow and fast psychomotor speed groups (adjusted for age, intelligence and epilepsy syndrome). Results At baseline, slow-speed performers (SSP) presented lower modularity, lower global efficiency, higher transitivity, and lower number of hubs than fast-speed performers (FSP). Community structure in SSP exhibited poor association between cortical regions and both subcortical structures and the cerebellum while FSP presented well-defined communities. Prospectively, SSP displayed lower modularity but higher global efficiency and transitivity compared to FSP. Modules in FSP showed higher integration between and within themselves compared to SSP. SSP showed hubs mainly from frontal and temporal regions while in FSP were spread among frontal, temporal, parietal, subcortical areas and the left cerebellum. Implications Results suggest the presence of widespread alterations in large scale networks between fast- and slow-speed children with recent onset epilepsies both at baseline and 2 years later. Slower processing speed appears to be a marker of abnormal brain development antecedent to epilepsy onset as well as brain development over the 2 years following diagnosis.
Rowing jellyfish contract to maintain neutral buoyancy

ABSTRACT Jellyfish are easily carried by ocean currents, yet most studies on jellyfish focus on the kinematics in a quiescent fluid. In this experimental and theoretical study, we film six species of rowing jellyfish in a range of background flow speeds at the Georgia Aquarium. Each species has a unique contraction frequency, which is independent of both the body orientation and the background flow speed. Our mathematical model reveals that jellyfish contract to offset their sinking. This behavior is invariant: Despite the background flow conditions, jellyfish contract as if they are oriented upright in a quiescent fluid. Our study suggests that jellyfish operate in open-loop without feedback from their environment.
Comparative Studies on the Visual Cortex

This review focuses on studies about the organization of the visual cortex in the rat, rabbit and cat that my colleagues and i have carried out in the past years. The unifying theme is the definition of extrastriate visual areas based on the pattern of distribution of striate—extrastriate cortical connections and their comparison in these species. Relevant electrophysiological, anatomical and behavioral studies on the visual areas of these and other related mammalian species are also considered.
Chemical Transfer of Information

The molecular approach to the problem of learning, memory, and information processing in general has followed three main strategies: (1) detection of chemical changes in the brain that can be correlated with acquisition of information, (2) impairment of learning by inhibitors of RNA and protein metabolism and (3) transfer of information from one individual to another by purely chemical means.
Vitamin A and cancer.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the aspects of the relationship between vitamin A and cancer. The lower intake of vitamin A leads to an elevated susceptibility of the animal to cancerogenic insult. The rats receiving a vitamin A-deficient diet has a higher frequency of spontaneous gastric carcinomas. The use of chemical carcinogens to produce experimental tumors with high frequency in laboratory animals shows the existence of a relationship between vitamin A and cancer. An inadequate supply of retinol (vitamin A alcohol) or its esters brings about a higher frequency of tumors. The demonstration of hyperplastic lesions of epithelial linings in vitamin A deficiency, possible alteration of vitamin A metabolism in tumor bearing patients, the effect of carcinogens on vitamin A metabolism, and occasional experiments that the dietary vitamin A level may influence the growth and incidence of experimental cancer are evident. Many tissues in vitamin A-deficient animals develop altered states of differentiation and increased rates of proliferation, which may make any carcinogen more potent.
A plug and socket approach for tightening polyelectrolyte multilayers

A plug and socket approach for tightening polyelectrolyte multilayers is introduced based on the use pendant β-cyclodextrin groups. Prototypical multilayers derived from poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) and β-cyclodextrin-containing poly(4-vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride) are described. Evidence for tightened multilayers has been obtained from gas permeation, swelling and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) measurements.