cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Power controller design for maximum power tracking in solar installations

A state space approach to the design of a maximum power point (MPP) tracking system for photovoltaic energy conversion is presented. The problem of optimal-power control of a nonlinear time-varying system is reduced to an ordinary problem of dynamic system stability in state space by applying MPP conditions in controller design. The resulting tracking system searches for the reference point and tunes the converter for maximum power delivery to a load that may represent an end-user, or an energy-storage element, or a power grid-interface. The proposed design procedure for the MPP tracking system ensures a global asymptotic stability under certain conditions, and a minimum degree of the dynamic feedback. The design is verified using the virtual test bed, demonstrating accurate MPP tracking capability under unpredictable weather change, parameter variation, and load disturbance. The tracking system can be applied either to a stand-alone or grid-connected photovoltaic installations, and can be implemented in either analog circuitry or a digital microcontroller.
Ethics and micromanaged care.

The ethical foundation on which my medical practice is based was recently shaken by an episode involving the intrusion of managed care into my practice. With the patient's informed consent, I prescribed a medication that I knew would not work. REPORT OF A CASE A 46-year-old man presented for evaluation of his thickened, dystrophic toenails, which had caused him pain whenever he jogged. Physical examination revealed dry, moccasin-type scaling of his feet and yellowing, subungual hyperkeratosis, dystrophy, and distal onycholysis involving all 10 toenails. A potassium hydroxide preparation was obtained from the subungual debris, which showed septate hyphae, confirming the diagnosis of tinea pedis and onychomycosis. A prescription for oral itraconazole (200 mg twice a day for 1 week) was written, with 1 refill, and the patient was instructed to take the medication for 1 week each month following a pulse therapy protocol. Risks and benefits were discussed. Two hours
Peer and Family Support in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: To examine social support and peer and family involvement in relation to diabetes management within a developmental context. Methods: Sixty-eight youths ages 8 to 17 diagnosed with type 1 diabetes participated. This study represents the phase 1 data from a multisystemic, home-based intervention. Data included parent and youth report of disease management and conflict, youth-reported perceptions of support, peer participation in the intervention, and HbA1c. Results: Adolescents perceived greater diabetes-related peer support than did school-age children. Perceived peer and family support were not correlated with metabolic control. Peer participation in the intervention was correlated with metabolic control. Conclusions: There is a developmental shift in perceptions of peer support. Increased perceptions of peer and family support overall may not result in improved metabolic control. Social support interventions should focus on the types of support that are most highly associated with positive health outcomes.
A 16-bit, 20MSPS CMOS pipeline ADC with direct INL detection algorithm

A 16-bit, 20 MSPS, 5 V pipeline ADC is implemented on a double poly, triple metal 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS process with a digital calibration algorithm that directly detects INL of MDACs. The measured INL and DNL are +3.5/-2.0 LSBs and /spl plusmn/0.6 LSBs, respectively. For a 5 MHz full scale input at 20 MSPS, it achieves 78 dB SNR and 91dB SFDR, consuming 750 mW. The die size is 6.23 mm/spl times/7.22 mm.
Sensing the Image: Roland Barthes and the Affect of the Visual

There is a well-worn narrative, perhaps even a “mythology,” according to which Roland Barthes undergoes two distinct phases as a theorist. In the first phase, he is the mythologist-semiologist who crusades against the “pseudo-physis” of culture, unmasking its myths and decoding its signs. In the second phase, he retreats to the immediacy of his moods and passions, more interested in desire than demystification, in pleasure than politics. At first glance, these opposing tendencies play out nowhere more emphatically than in Barthes’s writings on cinematic and photographic images. While his early semiological texts strive to demystify the apparent immediacy of images by showing how they operate as signs, his later writings celebrate precisely those elements of the image that elude signification—the punctum of the photograph, the “obtuse meaning” of the film—dimensions of the image that can be seen but not described, sensed but not linguistically signified. It is perhaps not surprising that Barthes’s later writings have been
Negative pressure wound therapy limits downgrowth in percutaneous devices.

Maintenance of a soft tissue seal around percutaneous devices is challenged by the downgrowth of periprosthetic tissues-a gateway to potential infection. As negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is used clinically to facilitate healing of complex soft tissue pathologies, it was hypothesized that NPWT could limit downgrowth of periprosthetic tissues. To test this hypothesis, 20 hairless guinea pigs were randomly assigned into four groups (n = 5/group). Using a One-Stage (Groups 1 and 3) or a Two-Stage (Groups 2 and 4) surgical procedure, each animal was implanted with a titanium-alloy subdermal device porous-coated with commercially pure, medical grade titanium. Each subdermal device had a smooth titanium-alloy percutaneous post. The One-Stage procedure encompassed insertion of a fully assembled device during a single surgery. The Two-Stage procedure involved the implantation of a subdermal device during the first surgery, and then three weeks later, insertion of a percutaneous post. Groups 1 and 2 served as untreated controls and Groups 3 and 4 received NPWT. Four weeks postimplantation of the post, the devices and surrounding tissues were harvested, and histologically evaluated for downgrowth. Within the untreated control groups, the Two-Stage surgical procedure significantly decreased downgrowth (p = 0.027) when compared with the One-Stage procedure. Independent of the surgical procedures performed, NPWT significantly limited downgrowth (p ≤ 0.05) when compared with the untreated controls.
Endosymbioses: Cyclical and Permanent in Evolution

the cohabitation of organisms of different species, whereas endosymbiosis is a topological condition: one organism lives inside another. Understanding endosymbioses, which may be intraor extracellular, is of extraordinary importance for medical microbiology. Ironically, although most of the disease conditions described in Trends Microbiol. are, in fact, variations on the general theme of cyclical endosymbioses, very few medical microbiologists are familiar with the insightful, burgeoning literature that demonstrates these widespread associations1–3. Symbioses usually, if not always, have environmentally contingent outcomes (Box 1). Symbiosis, which is not an evolutionary process per se, refers to physiological, temporal or topological associations with environmentally determined fates. Symbiogenesis, however, is a type of evolutionary innovation that describes the appearance of new tissues, new organs, physiologies or other new features resulting from protracted symbiotic association4,5. Unfortunately, evolutionary analysis, especially of endosymbiogeneses, is seldom applied to the study of infectious disease, and such relationships are obscured by dismissive, oversimplified and often meaningless labels; for example, ‘parasite’, ‘pathogen’ and ‘disease agent’. Note that the symbiotic relationships in Box 1 may use any of these labels. These obfuscating and overused terms tend to be applied as though they are explanatory. Here, we aim to point the reader towards pertinent literature rather than make amends. The cells of all large organisms, such as vertebrates, are the products of symbiogenesis. At the beginning of any symbiotic association, the free-living organism is restricted by a membrane of its own making; it contains DNA as genes, proteins, RNA and all other accoutrements characteristic of the free-living condition. The former free-living entities (purple nonsulfur bacteria and cyanobacteria) that became organelles (mitochondria and plastids) must therefore have started with features characteristic of all free-living organisms. Such permanent acquisition of symbionts contrasts sharply with cyclical symbiotic associations, in which each new generation must reacquire symbionts. For mitochondria and plastids, the story has an end: organelles permanently lose their ability to live outside cells, whose dependence on organellar functions becomes equally absolute (Table 1). L. Margulis* and M.J. Chapman are in the Dept of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-5820, USA. *tel: 11 413 545 3244, fax: 11 413 545 1200 Endosymbioses: cyclical and permanent in evolution
Institutions in International Relations: Understanding the Effects of the GATT and the WTO on World Trade

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been touted as premier examples of international institutions, but few studies have offered empirical proof. This article comprehensively evaluates the effects of the GATT/WTO and other trade agreements since World War II. Our analysis is organized around two factors: institutional standing and institutional embeddedness. We show that many countries had rights and obligations, or institutional standing, in the GATT/WTO even though they were not formal members of the agreement. We also expand the analysis to include a range of other commercial agreements that were embedded with the GATT/WTO. Using data on dyadic trade since 1946, we demonstrate that the GATT/WTO substantially increased trade for countries with institutional standing, and that other embedded agreements had similarly positive effects. Moreover, our evidence suggests that international trade agreements have complemented, rather than undercut, each other.An earlier version of this article was presented at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, August 28–31, 2003. We thank Tim Buthe, Joanne Gowa, Miles Kahler, Andrew Rose, Arthur Stein, Richard Steinberg, and seminar participants at Stanford University, the University of Chicago (PIPES), the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Virginia, for many helpful comments. We especially thank Claire Adida, Ashley Conner, Moonhawk Kim, Erin Krampetz, James Morrison, Mike Nardis, Natan Sachs, Rachel Rubinfeld, and Jessica Weeks for excellent research assistance. We are grateful for financial support from the National Science Foundation (CAREER grant SES-0548285 to Tomz), the Stanford Center for International Development, and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford.
GENETIC MARKERS IN PLANT EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY

Genetic markers have provided plant ecologists with a method of assessing levels of genetic relatedness among individuals and populations. In recent years a number of techniques based on DNA sequence variation have been developed to complement allo- zyme methods that are already widely used. Some of these new markers are more variable than protein-based markers, allowing more precise estimates of genetic differences among individuals and populations. Other DNA-based markers are based on organelle genomes that are inherited uniparentally. These cytoplasmic markers can provide a method for as- sessing the separate effects of seed and pollen dispersal on gene flow within and among populations and species. Studies of hybrid populations have been facilitated by the devel- opment of inferential techniques for assessing levels of selection and patterns of intro- gression between species. Genetic markers have also been used to describe mating patterns within populations and to examine the ecological and genetic mechanisms that contribute to variation in selfing and reproductive success. Integration of ecological methods with genetic marker techniques continues to provide novel approaches to the study of evolu- tionary processes in plant populations.
Breast Cancer Survivorship and Cardiovascular Disease: Emerging Approaches in Cardio-Oncology

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and breast cancer cause substantial morbidity and mortality in women and are major public health concerns in the USA. While aggressive screening and targeted, advanced treatment for breast cancer have had a measurable impact on breast cancer survival, treatment is not without significant cardiotoxic effects. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy can lead to left ventricular dysfunction and failure, as well as a decline in exercise tolerance and cardio-pulmonary reserve despite preserved ejection fraction. Trastuzumab, a newer monoclonal antibody targeting the Her2 receptor used in the treatment of Her2+ cancer, is also linked to left ventricular dysfunction, although the long-term cardiac effects are presently unclear. Radiation treatment particularly for left-sided breast cancer has been associated with increased rates of ischemic heart disease. As women have increasing survival and cure rates from early breast cancer, long-term consequences on the heart that are secondary to therapy are a major concern. These need to be identified, treated, and avoided when possible. Further research and clear surveillance guidelines are needed to aid the practicing clinician in CVD prevention in breast cancer survivors.
Intramuscular botulinum toxin in complex regional pain syndrome: case series and literature review.

BACKGROUND Pain associated with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is frequently excruciating and intractable. The use of botulinum toxin for relief of CRPS-associated pain has not been well described. OBJECTIVES To assess whether intramuscular botulinum toxin injections cause relief of pain caused by CRPS, and to assess the risks of this treatment. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Outpatient clinic. METHODS 37 patients with spasm/dystonia in the neck and/or upper limb girdle muscles. INTERVENTION EMG-guided injection of Botulinum Toxin - A (BtxA), 10-20 units per muscle. Total dose used was 100 units in each patient. Local pain score was measured on an 11-point Likert scale, 4 weeks after BtxA injections. RESULTS Mean pain score decreased by 43% (8.2 ± 0.8 to 4.5 ± 1.1, P < 0.001). 97% patients had significant pain relief. One patient had transient neck drop after the injections. LIMITATIONS This is a retrospective study, it lacks a control group and hence the placebo effect cannot be eliminated. This study does not provide information on the efficacy of this treatment after 4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS Intramuscular injection of botulinum toxin in the upper limb girdle muscles was beneficial for short term relief of pain caused by CRPS. The incidence of complications was low (2.7%).
Cattle as a Reservoir of Shiga-Like Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Including O157:H7—Pre- and Post-Harvest Control Measures to Assure Beef Safety

Abstract The number of outbreaks of human illnesses caused by consumption of undercooked beef contaminated with Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli (SLTEC) such as O157:H7 has increased in recent years. As a result, cattle have been considered as reservoirs of such pathogens. The social fear and economic impact associated with this problem have prompted global research to understand the epidemiology of such pathogens with the goal to develop strategies that can be implemented at the farm and during slaughter and processing to assure beef safety. Several on-farm factors that may be manipulated to decrease the risk of sending cattle harboring SLTEC to slaughter include animal, manure handling, drinking water, feed additives, probiotics, management, feeding regime, and dietary ingredients. Several off-farm (during slaughter and processing) factors that can be improved or adapted to produce safer beef include trimming, spraying with sanitizers, hot-water washing, irradiation, using dips, and using food additives. Adaptation of several off-farm practices has been useful in removing the pathogens from beef or its products after they have been contaminated. Recently, attention has been given to those factors that can be altered before sending cattle to slaughter (e.g., on-farm). Because of the complexity of the problem, the on-farm and off-farm factors affecting beef safety should be elucidated, their roles clearly defined, and their additive impacts determined. Upon elucidation of these roles/impacts, the best pre- and post-harvest control measures can be implemented to support a competitive beef industry.
Dennett on Qualia and Consciousness: A Critique

L'A. defend la these de l'existence des qualia contre la critique methodologique entreprise par D. Dennett dans le cadre d'une theorie des proprietes phenomenales de l'information (pips), telles que l'intrinsecalite, l'ineffabilite et le prive, d'une part, et contre la conception du courant de la conscience developpee par ce dernier a partir d'une distinction entre le verificationnisme de village et le verificationnisme urbain, d'autre part
The Role of Professional Advertising Associations in Russia

In four separate studies from May 1991 to July 1994, the author audiotaped interviews with business and industry advertising professionals, academicians and government in what is now Russia. Symbolic interactionism was the theoretical basis for analysis of the audiotapes. The analysis identified two key themes related to professional advertising associations: (1) lack of advertising industry regulation, and (2) a need for social responsibility in advertising. Findings suggest that the formation of advertising associations in Russia represents an interaction between social, economic and legislative realities in a semi-unregulated advertising industry.
Subcellular Compartmentalization and Trafficking of the Biosynthetic Machinery for Fungal Melanin

Summary Protection by melanin depends on its subcellular location. Although most filamentous fungi synthesize melanin via a polyketide synthase pathway, where and how melanin biosynthesis occurs and how it is deposited as extracellular granules remain elusive. Using a forward genetic screen in the pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus , we find that mutations in an endosomal sorting nexin abolish melanin cell-wall deposition. We find that all enzymes involved in the early steps of melanin biosynthesis are recruited to endosomes through a non-conventional secretory pathway. In contrast, late melanin enzymes accumulate in the cell wall. Such subcellular compartmentalization of the melanin biosynthetic machinery occurs in both A. fumigatus and A. nidulans . Thus, fungal melanin biosynthesis appears to be initiated in endosomes with exocytosis leading to melanin extracellular deposition, much like the synthesis and trafficking of mammalian melanin in endosomally derived melanosomes.
A Graph-Based Framework for Video Object Segmentation and Extraction in Feature Space

Video segmentation is the task of grouping pixels in successive video frames into perceptually coherent regions. It is a preliminary step to solve higher level problems such as automated surveillance, object tracking, video summarization, video indexing and retrieval. For consumer videos, video segmentation is a useful tool for extracting relevant and interesting content from such video sequence for further analysis or re-purposing of the visual content. Given an unannotated video sequence captured by either a static or hand-held camera, our graph-based approach first effectively models the data in a high dimensional feature space, which emphasizes the correlation between similar pixels while reducing the inter-class connectivity between different objects. The graph model fuses appearance, spatial, and temporal information to break a volumetric video sequence into semantic spatiotemporal key-segments. By further grouping the key-segments, a binary segmentation is able to extract a moving object of interest from a video sequence based on its unique and distinguishable regional properties. Experiment results show the robustness of our approach, which has achieved comparable or better performance when compared to several unsupervised methods.
WWII, MINERALOGY AND ME: A MEMOIR

F. Donald Bloss (2012) i–xxvi + 322 pages. $25.00 paperback. ISBN 978-0-939950-89-8; 0-939950-89-8. Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia. When this book appeared in the MSA office, where I am the Assistant Editor for American Mineralogist , it immediately appealed to me. I have always loved biographies and memoirs, and eventually I volunteered to review the book for American Mineralogist . As a memoir, the book didn’t let me down. It contains all the elements of a moving life story: humble beginnings, a mischievous childhood, followed by love and life lessons, including heartbreak. Dr. Bloss takes a few paragraphs here and there to set the scene with fascinating historical information and context, interspersed with humorous and authentic stories—there is even …
Identifying new lignin bioengineering targets: impact of epicatechin, quercetin glycoside, and gallate derivatives on the lignification and fermentation of maize cell walls.

Apoplastic targeting of secondary metabolites compatible with monolignol polymerization may provide new avenues for designing lignins that are less inhibitory toward fiber fermentation. To identify...
A double-blind comparison of empirical oral and intravenous antibiotic therapy for low-risk febrile patients with neutropenia during cancer chemotherapy.

Background Among patients with fever and neutropenia during cancer chemotherapy who have a low risk of complications, oral administration of empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics may be an acceptable alternative to intravenous treatment. Methods We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of patients (age, 5 to 74 years) who had fever and neutropenia during chemotherapy for cancer. Neutropenia was expected to be present for no more than 10 days in these patients, and they had to have no other underlying conditions. Patients were assigned to receive either oral ciprofloxacin plus amoxicillin–clavulanate or intravenous ceftazidime. They were hospitalized until fever and neutropenia resolved. Results A total of 116 episodes were included in each group (84 patients in the oral-therapy group and 79 patients in the intravenous-therapy group). The mean neutrophil counts at admission were 81 per cubic millimeter and 84 per cubic millimeter, respectively; the mean duration of neutropenia was 3...
Predicting the Chiral Enrichment of Metallic SWCNTs on Ni–Cu Bimetallic Surfaces

Previous modeling and experimental studies have suggested that Cu-based metal catalysts can preferentially produce metallic carbon nanotubes. Here, we explain this selectivity by separately modeling nanotube cap nucleation and nanotube growth on Cu and NixCu1–x surfaces. Cap nucleation is modeled by invoking an epitaxial lattice matching criterion and comparing the binding strengths of different cap chiralities. Nanotube growth on various catalyst surfaces was studied by calculating differences in armchair and zigzag dangling bond energies, relative chemical activity ratios, and nanotube growth rates of different nanotube chiralities. All energies associated with nanotube cap nucleation and armchair and zigzag dangling bond energies were obtained using density functional theory (DFT). We find that certain armchair and zigzag nanotube caps exhibit higher binding strengths than chiral caps, and the stability of the caps on the various surfaces decreases as Ni > Ni0.5Cu0.5 > Cu, in accordance with the respec...
Algorithms are Not Enough

(1985). Algorithms are Not Enough. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 8-9.
What’s Old is New: Recognition of New Fungal Pathogens in the Era of Phylogenetics and Changing Taxonomy and Implications for Medical Mycology

Despite the availability of new diagnostic assays and broad-spectrum antifungal agents, invasive fungal infections remain a significant challenge to clinicians and are associated with marked morbidity and mortality. In addition, the number of etiologic agents of invasive mycoses has increased with the expansion of immunocompromised patients’ populations, and the use of molecular tools for fungal identification and characterization has resulted in the discovery of several cryptic species. Correct identification of the infecting organism is important to help make treatment decisions, as fungal species that are similar morphologically and phylogenetically may have different antifungal susceptibility patterns, thus affecting patient outcomes. This chapter reviews the methods used to identify fungi in the clinical laboratory and discusses issues associated with changes in fungal taxonomy and nomenclature of some clinically relevant fungi.
Large deformation finite element analysis of planar carbon fiber wound composite pressure vessel

Based on the structural and technical characteristics of the filament wound composite pressure vessel,two different finite element models were established by means of software ANSYS.The model includes variation of thickness and wrapping angles in dome.The strain distribution of the pressure vessel subjected to internal pressure was analyzed.Because the large displacement is caused by the internal pressure,the large deformation effects should be taken into account.The nonlinear analysis indicates that under internal pressure,fibers in the cylinder part of the vessel are in tension;partial region structure of the ellipsoid dome is bended and the fibers are in compression.The stress in the balanced planar wounded dome change more smoothly,and the structure is expanded.The calculated results also show a good agreement with the experimental results,and the finite element model and analysis technique can simulate the actual loading condition of pressure vessel perfectly.
Materials and process for multilayer circuits

Although they have been in use only a few years, multilayer circuits have found a place of great importance in electronic packaging because they uniquely fill a need. Perhaps in their beginning, multilayer circuits were thought of as a convenient answer to the requirements for making connections into and within compact circuits, but today they are finding application as circuit components themselves.
Epidemic of HIV/AIDS in YingTan,2002-2010

Objective To provide scientific evidence for developing the HIV/AIDS preventive measures by analyzing the epidemic situation of HIV/AIDS in Yingtan city.Methods Descriptive epidemiological method was conducted to analyze the epidemic situation of HIV/AIDS in Yingtan.Results Totally 97 HIV infected cases were reported in Yingtan,were mainly transmitted through unprotected sex.Cases aged above 50 years accounted for 58.76% all of,and 38.14% of the cases were peasantry.Most of them were found by VCT and PITC.Conclusion The HIV/AIDS epidemic situation in Yingtan has entered a period of rapid growth,the proportion of cases in the elderly is too large.Targeted prevention and control of HIV/AIDS should be carried out.
Application of Modified BP Model to Basin Daily-runoff Forecasting

Artificial neural network (ANN) is an excellent tool processing nonlinear function. A few of key problems at application of ANN model are discussed in this paper. A monitor sample increase method is put forward to prevent overfitting phenomenon, and enhanced expansion ability of the ANN model. A modified BP model is applied to dailyrunoff forecasting for Huai river, and good precision is obtained.
Modeling of forest canopy BRDF using DIRSIG

The characterization and temporal analysis of multispectral and hyperspectral data to extract the biophysical information of the Earth's surface can be significantly improved by understanding its aniosotropic reflectance properties, which are best described by a Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF). The advancements in the field of remote sensing techniques and instrumentation have made hyperspectral BRDF measurements in the field possible using sophisticated goniometers. However, natural surfaces such as forest canopies impose limitations on both the data collection techniques, as well as, the range of illumination angles that can be collected from the field. These limitations can be mitigated by measuring BRDF in a virtual environment. This paper presents an approach to model the spectral BRDF of a forest canopy using the Digital Image and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model. A synthetic forest canopy scene is constructed by modeling the 3D geometries of different tree species using OnyxTree software. The field collected spectra from the Harvard forest is used to represent the optical properties of the tree elements. The canopy radiative transfer is estimated using the DIRSIG model for specific view and illumination angles to generate BRDF measurements. A full hemispherical BRDF is generated by fitting the measured BRDF to a semi-empirical BRDF model. The results from fitting the model to the measurement indicates a root mean square error of less than 5% (2 reflectance units) relative to the forest's reflectance in the VIS-NIR-SWIR region. The process can be easily extended to generate a spectral BRDF library for various biomes.
Parallel-kinematics XYZ MEMS part 2: Fabrication and experimental characterization

Abstract This paper, the second of a set of two papers addressing parallel-kinematics MEMS stages for spatial translation, deals with fabrication, characterization and control of such devices. Double device layer SOI (silicon-on-insulator) substrates are used, providing three layers (two device layers and the handle) into which the elements of the stage can be mapped. Using the mechanism concept, realization scheme, and kinematic and dynamic models developed in the first paper of this set, this paper provides a detailed approach to fabricating these devices. The stages fabricated have a workspace cube of roughly 20 μm on the side, an in-plane stiffness of 96 N/m, and an out-of-plane stiffness of 166 N/m. Further, it characterizes the performance of the individual actuating and sensing elements, configures feedback controllers for each actuated joint, and assesses and verifies the stage’s designed performance. Finally, it demonstrates full 3-axis, closed-loop positioning of a MEMS stage.
Protein S is a cofactor for activated protein C neutralization of an inhibitor of plasminogen activation released from platelets

Platelets stimulated with thrombin release an inhibitor of plasminogen activator (PAI), which has been shown previously to be neutralized by activated protein C (APC). The requirements for optimal neutralization of PAI activity were investigated. The releasate of gel-filtered human platelets stimulated with thrombin served as a source of PAI. When 6 X 10(8) platelets/mL were incubated with thrombin (1 IU/mL), the releasate contained 18 to 26 ng/mL PAI as determined by incubation of the releasate with urokinase and measurement of residual urokinase activity on plasminogen (S2251). Preincubation of PAI with up to 4 micrograms/mL APC for two hours yielded less than 20% neutralization of PAI activity. In the presence of protein S, phospholipid, and Ca2+, neutralization of PAI activity was time-dependent with 50% neutralization occurring in two hours with 1 microgram/mL APC. The cofactor effects of protein S and phospholipid were concentration- dependent with half-maximal acceleration at approximately 3 micrograms/mL protein S and 10 micrograms/mL phospholipid when the experiments were performed at 1 microgram/mL APC. Diisopropylfluorophosphate-inactivated APC, gla-domainless APC, and thrombin-cleaved protein S had no effect on PAI activity, indicating requirement for preservation of the APC active site and of the Ca2+ binding ability of both APC and protein S. These results suggest coordinate binding of APC and protein S onto phospholipid membrane as a prerequisite for optimal expression of PAI neutralized by APC.
Unpacking the world cultural toolkit in socialist Venezuela: national sovereignty, human rights and anti-NGO legislation

AbstractThis article examines how the Venezuelan government has discursively justified passing legislation that forbids NGOs that promote political rights from receiving foreign funding. Existing theories of globalisation theory fail to fully explain this phenomenon, including world polity/society and world-systems theories. Instead, I argue that although existing cultural scripts promote the spread of democracy and human rights through NGOs, the Venezuelan government has utilised a discourse of national sovereignty to justify its anti-NGO efforts. I argue that instead of one overarching set of cultural scripts, the world polity/society contains conflicting cultural scripts. In doing so, I develop the concept of the world cultural toolkit in order help us make sense of these contradictory cultural scripts concerning state policy.
Looking Closely at Informational Texts: Considering the Role(s) of Mentor Texts for Kindergarten Children.

ABSTRACTTo fully consider the potential of informational texts to serve as mentor texts in the elementary classroom, the authors propose an inquiry about the intersections among the author’s intentions, instructional contexts, a teacher’s approaches, and students’ responses to informational texts when contemplating the roles these texts might serve. In this article, the authors investigate how the intentions of the author-illustrator, classroom teacher, and students relate and differ when introducing an informational picture book in the context of an inquiry-based kindergarten classroom. The analysis involves the perspectives of a children’s author-illustrator, a classroom teacher, and kindergarten students as they self-selected an informational picture book to use as a mentor text.
Epilepsy in Immunological Disorders

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses various aspects of epilepsy in immunological disorders. This group of disorders includes connective tissue diseases, primary systemic vasculitides, and sarcoidosis. Seizures are seldom the only manifestation in these disorders. It is found that of the connective tissue disorders, seizures are most commonly seen in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology in which tissues and cells are damaged by autoantibodies and immune complexes. Seizures are a common CNS manifestation in SLE and are regarded as a primary manifestation of the disease. Multifocal cerebral cortical microinfarcts, associated with microvascular injury constitute the predominant histopathological abnormality attributable to SLE in patients with neuropsychiatric SLE and are commonly seen in patients with seizures. Isolated CNS vasculitis involving small and intermediate size vessels, rheumatoid nodules, plaques, and meningial inflammation have been observed in rheumatoid arthritis patients with cerebral dysfunction including seizures. Classic Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN) is a multisystem disorder involving every organ except lung and spleen, with inflammatory lesions affecting bifurcation and branching of small- and medium-size muscular arteries. It is found that patients with seizures were more likely to have a progressive or relapsing course and intracranial structural lesions.
Should I Really Use or Design a Learning Game

In the field of learning technologies, there is often the idea that because technology is available, it should be used. We take the view that technologies such as games should be evaluated mindfully to determine whether they are appropriate to the instructor and students through a strong process of front-end analysis. This chapter walks readers through a quick process of audience analysis we have used with a goal of determining whether an existing game should be used or designers should move forward with developing a learning game.
Readability, content analysis, and racial/ethnic diversity of online living kidney donation information.

More than three-fourths of adults in the US use the internet to access health-related information. Adults exploring the possibility of living donation should have access to online content that is readable and comprehensive. We simulated a search of online information about living kidney donation and evaluated readability, topics covered, and racial/ethnic diversity of 21 websites meeting inclusion criteria (e.g., hosted by a non-profit or patient advocacy organization, English content, based in US). Using standard readability metrics, 62% of sites were classified as “Difficult to read” and none achieved the recommended reading level of 6th grade. On average, websites covered 18.5 (62%) of 30 recommended information topics (range: 7 to 28) and only 2.1 (23%) of 9 racial/ethnic diversity items (range: 0 to 6). Overall, the most common non-profit or patient advocacy organization websites do not meet the readability standards established by the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association, many lack fundamental information about living kidney donation, and most are not racially/ethnically diverse. We encourage the transplant community to consider playing a more active role in improving the overall quality of online information disseminated to the general public. Further, there is a need to more critically examine the accuracy of online living donation content in future investigations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Afterword: Further Questions about the Global Care Chain

From five geographic locations and perspectives, the authors take up a question first put forth by Arlie Hochschild about the impact of globalization on care. Globalization, she argues, has resulte...
Predicting Hospital Length of Stay for Psychiatric Inpatients

Recall that under the prospective payment system (PPS), a hospital patient’s classification into a diagnostic-related group (DRG) determines the hospital’s reimbursement for inpatient treatment. The payment is prospective and focuses on an expected number of days of care. Although specialized hospitals and psychiatric units may petition for exemption, general hospitals without such units and patients treated outside the units remain under PPS (Kiesler & Morton, 1988a).
Predictable Virtualization on Memory Protection Unit-Based Microcontrollers

With the increasing penetration of embedded systems into the consumer market there is a pressure to have all of inexpensiveness, predictability, reliability, and security. As these systems are often attached to networks and execute complex code from varying sources, reliability and security become essential. To maintain low price and small power budgets, many systems use small microcontrollers with limited memory (on the order of 128KB of SRAM). Unfortunately, the isolation and protection facilities of these systems are often lackluster, making a principled treatment of reliability and security difficult. This paper details a system that provides isolation along the three dimensions of CPU, memory, and I/O on small microcontrollers. A key challenge is providing a effective means of harnessing the limited hardware memory protection facilities of microcontrollers. This is achieved through a combination of a static analysis to make the most of limited hardware protection facilities, and a run-time based on our Composite OS. On this foundation, we build a virtualization infrastructure to execute multiple embedded real-time operating systems predictably. We show that VMs based on FreeRTOS achieve reasonable efficiency and predictability, while easily enabling scaling up to 8 VMs in 512 KB SRAM.
Periodic corrugations to increase efficiency of thermophotovoltaic emitting structures

In this letter we consider the question of designing insulator/metal thermovoltaic structures with periodically corrugated interfaces that give optimal performance based on the metric of useful power density. Using a Monte Carlo approach in a robust, rapid, and high-accuracy numerical simulation strategy, we have identified such interface shapes. We searched among the class of sinusoids and found that a flat-interface configuration could be significantly improved in transverse magnetic polarization. More specifically, we found that (i.) the performance improves with increasing corrugation amplitude (ii.) up to a maximum, (iii.) the shape of the corrugation is largely irrelevant, and (iv.) the period of the corrugation should be chosen in connection to the bandgap energy of the photovoltaic cell. For the latter we provide a simple expression as a starting point for practitioners interested in fabricating such structures.
Pregnancy-specific coping and changes in emotional distress from mid- to late pregnancy.

ABSTRACTObjective: To examine whether pregnancy-specific coping predicts changes in emotional distress from mid- to late pregnancy.Background: There is a need to identify ways of coping that reduce...
Displacement Structure and H∞ Problems

The solution of H ∞ problems requires the determination of contractive operators that map certain input signals to certain output signals. Such operators, and tests for their contractiveness, arise naturally in a scattering formulation of the generalized Schur algorithm, which is an efficient procedure for the triangular factorization of matrices with displacement structure. In this paper we explain this connection and show how to reformulate H ∞ problems, both for the finite and the infinite horizon cases, in terms of equivalent factorization problems for positive-definite matrices with structure.
Finanzkapital and Consumers: How Financialization Shaped 20th Century Marketing

By tracing the history of the links of financialization to consumer behaviors and marketer actions in the 20th century, this paper aims to show that consumer market phenomena are often shaped by the imperatives of finance. The paper employs selective historical overviews, mainly focusing on the United States, of four tranches of the past century: (1) the run up to the Great Depression, (2) from post-Depression to World War II, (3) the post WW-II Bretton Woods system and its collapse in the 1970s, and (4) the increasingly risk-charged last three post-Bretton Woods decades of the 20th century. The historical review shows that financial sector’s interest in profiting from consumer markets emerged and grew fairly early in the 20th century, experienced some slowdown and forced retrenchment due to the military-industrial build up prior to and during WW-II, and re-accelerated in post-WW-II period – reaching an unsustainable risky zenith by the closing years of the century. Findings and arguments from this paper can be of value to citizen and consumer advocates seeking to bring Finanzkapital activities under popular and democratic control. Insights from this paper should motivate us to study in greater depth how established and seemingly autonomous consumer and marketer behaviors, in the ultimate, may be guided by and have to conform to the dictates of financial capital. The main contribution is an elaboration of how financial capitalism has shaped consumption styles and marketing practices in the last century.
Phenotypic variation reveals sites of evolutionary constraint in the androgenic signaling pathway

Abstract Steroid hormone systems play an important role in shaping the evolution of vertebrate sexual traits, but several aspects of this relationship remain unclear. For example, we currently know little about how steroid signaling complexes are adapted to accommodate the emergence of behavior in response to sexual selection. We use downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens) to evaluate how the machinery underlying androgen action can evolve to accommodate this bird's main territorial signal, the drum. We focus specifically on modifications to androgenic mechanisms in the primary neck muscle that actuates the hammering movements underlying this signal. Of the signaling components we examine, we find that levels of circulating testosterone (T) and androgen receptor (AR) expression are consistently increased in a way that likely enhances androgenic regulation of drumming. By contrast, the expression of nuclear receptor co-factors—the ‘molecular rheostats’ of steroid action—show no such relationship in our analyses. If anything, co-factors are expressed in directions that would presumably hinder androgenic regulation of the drum. These findings therefore collectively point to T levels and AR as the more evolutionarily labile components of the androgenic system, in that they are likely more apt to change over time to support sexual selection for territorial signaling in woodpeckers. Yet the signaling elements that fine-tune AR's functional effects on the genome—namely the receptor's transcriptional co-factors—do not change in such a manner, and thus may be under tighter evolutionary constraint.
One Leg Control Strategy in Single-Phase Five-Level Inverter

The use of power inverter technology with low harmonics content is rapidly growing. For decades, researchers have conducted investigations to minimize its harmonics content, leading to the creation of a five-level inverter. This new topology often deals with many power semiconductor switches, thereby making it difficult to control. Therefore, this paper studies a further simulation and hardware implementation of the one leg control strategy of the single-phase five-level inverter design with efficient control of switches operated in a line frequency to achieve a higher-level demand. The verification of this research is a simulation and prototype implementation carried out in the laboratory
The Dynamics of Wealth Concentration: Thoughts on Tony Atkinson’s Contributions

Following new evidence on increasing wealth concentration across several advanced countries, the topic has been attracting a great deal of attention. Estimating the size distribution of wealth and understanding its determinants is an exercise surrounded with high levels of uncertainty and substantial controversies, but remains crucial to guide policy interventions. This short note attempts to link Tony Atkinson’s body of work on wealth concentration to the fast expanding empirical research on wealth measurement as well as on the determinants of its growing concentration.
Neurosurgery Resident Wellness and Recovery from Burnout: A 39-Year Single-Institution Experience.

Objective Physician burnout in neurosurgery is highly prevalent and occurs most severely during residency. Although earlier assessments have identified stressors contributing to neurosurgery resident burnout, recovery interventions have not been studied extensively. We aimed to characterize burnout patterns and factors contributing to recovery through a single-institution assessment of neurosurgery residents across 4 decades. Methods We administered a 59-item questionnaire to all living current and former residents of a large neurosurgical training institution (n = 96). Respondents indicated the timeline of burnout or hardship during residency and evaluated burnout stressors and recovery factors through a 5-point Likert scale and free-text response. Results The survey response rate was 67% (64 of 96). The overall self-reported burnout rate was 30% (19 of 64). Recent trainees were significantly more likely to report burnout (P Conclusions Institutional support structures promoting mentorship and camaraderie are actionable methods to encourage resident burnout recovery. This study serves as a model for other programs to identify their “critical periods” of burnout and effective wellness interventions.