cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Environmental Pollution and Endogenous Growth

This paper develops a model of endogenous growth with environmental pollution. Firms create, through R&D, new products and also design the “cleanness” of these products by choosing their output-emission ratios. Cleaner products are assumed to be more costly to develop than dirty products. Using an extension of the expanding variety product of Helpman and Grossman, we investigate and compare the effects of emission taxes and technological standards. In particular, in the second best context where R&D subsidies are not possible, we make a welfare comparison of the two instruments for a given pollution target that the policymaker wants to implement in the economy. Under certain conditions, we show that an emission tax, acting as an implicit R&D subsidy, may induce too much growth of the polluting industry compared to what is socially optimal. This effect can then counteract the usual cost-effectiveness of taxes over technological standards.
Factitious Conducted Electrical Weapon Wounds: Injuries and Considerations

Conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) are used in situations where force is necessary to control resisting or potentially violent subjects. These situations are often emotionally charged and physically dynamic and can lead to allegations of law enforcement misconduct or civil rights violations. Sometimes these allegations are not found to be valid. In some situations, the allegations may be due to an incomplete understanding of the CEW and how it operates. In others, they may be purposefully inaccurate and based on uneducated “expert” opinion or unrelated skin findings.
Seven fears and the science of how mobile technologies may be influencing adolescents in the digital age

Close to 90% of U.S. adolescents now own or have access to a mobile phone, and they are using them frequently. Adolescents send and receive an average of over 60 text messages per day from their devices, and over 90% of adolescents now access the Internet from a mobile device at least occasionally. Many adults are asking how this constant connectivity is influencing adolescents' development. In this article, we examine seven commonly voiced fears about the influence of mobile technologies on adolescents' safety (e.g., cyberbullying and online solicitation), social development (e.g., peer relationships, parent-child relationships, and identity development), cognitive performance, and sleep. Three sets of findings emerge. First, with some notable exceptions (e.g., sleep disruption and new tools for bullying), most online behaviors and threats to well-being are mirrored in the offline world, such that offline factors predict negative online experiences and effects. Second, the effects of mobile technologies are not uniform, in that benefits appear to be conferred for some adolescents (e.g., skill building among shy adolescents), whereas risk is exacerbated among others (e.g., worsening existing mental health problems). Third, experimental and quasi-experimental studies that go beyond a reliance on self-reported information are required to understand how, for whom, and under what conditions adolescents' interactions with mobile technologies influence their still developing social relationships, brains, and bodies.
Location of radioactively labelled extracellular fluid indicators in nervous tissue by autoradiography.

The location of three radioactively labelled extracellular-space indicators ([ 3 H]methoxyinulin, [ 3 H]-D-mannitol and sodium [ 35 S]sulphate) in the superior cervical sympatmhetic and nodose ganglia of cats was studied using an autoradiographic technique. The technique was designed to eliminate movement of soluble, diffusible substances in tissues after excision, and to provide high autoradiographic resolution. Ganglia were rapidly excised after administration of the radioactive compounds in vivo , and frozen in liquid propane. Frozen sections were cut at -60°C at a thickness of 0.7-0. µ. The frozen sections were freeze-dried, dry-mounted on dried, photographic emulsion-coated microscope slides, and exposed at -15°C until development. The highest densities of silver grains in the autoradiographs were associated with regions of the tissue containing the greatest amounts of connective tissue. Lowest densities occurred beneath neurons and myelinated nerve fibres. The silver grain density beneath neuron perikarya was between 10% and 15% of that associated with plasma. Attempts were made to determine the source of these subneuronal silver grains. The results suggested that they could not be ascribed to the following: background; chemographs and pressure artefacts; spread of radiation from radioactive material outside the perikarya; and in vitro translocation of radioactive material into the neurons or into the emulsion beneath the neurons. It was concluded that the subneuronal grains reflected a small amount of intraneuronal penetration of the compounds in vivo . There was very little difference between inulin, mannitol and sulphate with regard to the proportion of intracellular activity. Except for this small amount of intracellular radioactivity, the findings accord with the view that inulin, mannitol and sulphate are confined predominantly to the extracellular fluid.
Prospective benefits analysis of the DOE Nuclear Energy portfolio: NE R&D program data assumptions, approach, & results

The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) leads the U.S. Government’s efforts to develop new nuclear energy generation technologies to meet energy and climate goals, and to develop advanced proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies that maximize energy from nuclear fuel; contributes to the RD and maintains and enhances the national nuclear technology infrastructure. NE serves the present and future energy needs of the Nation by managing the safe operation and maintenance of the Department of Energy (DOE) critical nuclear in frastructure, providing nuclear technology goods and services, and conducting R&D.
PSEA-Quant: A Protein Set Enrichment Analysis on Label-Free and Label-Based Protein Quantification Data

The majority of large-scale proteomics quantification methods yield long lists of quantified proteins that are often difficult to interpret and poorly reproduced. Computational approaches are required to analyze such intricate quantitative proteomics data sets. We propose a statistical approach to computationally identify protein sets (e.g., Gene Ontology (GO) terms) that are significantly enriched with abundant proteins with reproducible quantification measurements across a set of replicates. To this end, we developed PSEA-Quant, a protein set enrichment analysis algorithm for label-free and label-based protein quantification data sets. It offers an alternative approach to classic GO analyses, models protein annotation biases, and allows the analysis of samples originating from a single condition, unlike analogous approaches such as GSEA and PSEA. We demonstrate that PSEA-Quant produces results complementary to GO analyses. We also show that PSEA-Quant provides valuable information about the biological processes involved in cystic fibrosis using label-free protein quantification of a cell line expressing a CFTR mutant. Finally, PSEA-Quant highlights the differences in the mechanisms taking place in the human, rat, and mouse brain frontal cortices based on tandem mass tag quantification. Our approach, which is available online, will thus improve the analysis of proteomics quantification data sets by providing meaningful biological insights.
Improving the yield of psychotherapy research.

AbstractObjective: Although the effectiveness of psychotherapy is well documented, little progress has been made in elucidating mechanisms of change. Major impediments to progress are the homogeneity assumptions evident in many psychotherapy studies. Case-specific research strategies avoid treating patients, therapists, and treatments as homogeneous variables and such studies are more successful at elucidating the link between psychotherapy processes and treatment outcome. Method: A case-specific, process-outcome study comprised of 39 patients treated by experienced therapists is presented. We did not focus on a supposedly homogeneous diagnostic group of patients (e.g., depressed patients) or particular manualized brands of therapy. Instead, we identified each patient's particular problems and conflicts (plan formulation) and then determined the degree to which therapists effectively addressed the patient's problems—that is, the degree to which therapists' interventions were compatible with (i.e., respons...
Role of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus in the physiological regulation of cerebral blood flow.

Local cerebral blood flow (lCBF) was measured with [14C]iodoantipyrine in conscious, unrestrained rats during electrical stimulation of the fastigial nucleus (FN). Electrode position in the FN was determined by blood pressure (MABP) responses to stimulation under anesthesia. In nine rats in which MABP responses had been variable under anesthesia, bipolar stimulation (50 Hz, 0.5 ms, 1 s on/1 s off) with currents of 30–100 μA after recovery from anesthesia produced stereotypic behavior but little effect on MABP and lCBF. In seven other conscious rats currents could be raised to 75–200 μA without inducing seizures, resulting in sustained MABP elevations during the lCBF measurement and significantly increased lCBF in the sensory-motor (+ 45%), parietal (+ 31%), and frontal cortices (+ 56%) and the caudate-putamen (+ 27%) above control values (n = 9). Glucose utilization, measured with [14C]deoxyglucose, in rats similarly stimulated was significantly increased in six structures, including some of the above, in...
Gas-Phase Bond Strength and Atomic Connectivity Studies of the Unsymmetrical Two-Center Three-Electron Ion, [Et2S∴SMe2]+

A computational and experimental study of the unsymmetrical 2c−3e bond in [Et2S∴SMe2]+ is presented. For the first time, MS/MS collision-induced dissociation experiments provide strong experimental support of the atomic connectivity in a gas-phase S∴S 2c−3e association adduct. The strongest peak in the collision-induced dissociation spectrum corresponds to Et2S+, consistent with the lower ionization potential of Et2S compared to Me2S and the proposed structure. High-pressure equilibrium mass spectrometry experiments yield a reaction enthalpy of −104 kJ/mol for the equilibrium reaction Et2S+ + Me2S ⇄ [Et2S∴SMe2]+ at 506 K. Correcting this value to 0 K using ab initio molecular parameters results in a bond energy of 107 kJ/mol which can be compared to a calculated value of 107.9 kJ/mol at the B3LYP/6-31G(d)//B3LYP/6-31G(d)+ZPC level. Studies on a competing reaction, Et2S+ + Et2S ⇄ [Et2S∴SEt2]+, yield an experimental bond enthalpy of 119 kJ/mol at 506 K and a calculated bond energy of 121.3 kJ/mol, in excell...
Demand for fishery regulations: Effects of angler heterogeneity and catch improvements on preferences for gear and harvest restrictions

Abstract Allocating limited funds across competing management actions to generate the fisheries improvements most desired by anglers requires in-depth knowledge of angler preferences for aspects of the fishing experience. Characterizing angler preferences in terms of a probability distribution, rather than simply a population mean, provides fisheries managers with insights into how preferences vary across the population of anglers. This is particularly important with respect to fishing regulations, for which anglers may have strong yet diverse preferences. To examine angler preferences and how these preferences vary across the population of trout anglers, we estimated a random parameters logit model of trout fishing site choice using data from a mail and internet administered choice experiment of Michigan trout anglers (response rate—44.6%). We found that, even though on average trout anglers do not prefer fishing at sites with the most strict fishing regulations (Catch and Release Only and Artificial Flies Only; p
The Principle of Rock Porosity Invariability in Primary Deformation

There exist two typical deformations for rocks: primary deformation and structural one. Tight media mainly perform primary deformation in stress process with constant porosity, while loose rocks mainly perform structural deformation with porosity changing. Reservoir rocks are tight media, which deformation process obeys the principle of constant porosity in primary deformation.
Clinical application of emergency bedside-echocardiography in pediatric intensive care unit

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of emergency bedside- echocardiography(EB-Echo) in the examination of pediatric intensive care unit(PICU). Methods SonoSite Micromax and Philips iE 33 ultrasonic systems were employed for EB-Echo in 1028 children. Results The positive rate of EB-Echo examination was 60.7%(624/1028). Five hundred and eleven children were correctly diagnosed and received treatment. The diagnostic accordance rate was 81.9%. Conclusion EB-Echo echocardiography can be used to evaluate and monitor cardiac structure and function, test the therapeutic effect of drugs and judge the prognosis.
Thermochemical Properties of 1,10-Phenanthroline Hydrate

A precision rotating-bomb combustion calorimeter in which thermistors were used as the elements of temperature control,and temperature measurement was constructed in the laboratory. The calorimeter was calibrated with benzoic acid with purity of 99.999%. The energy equivalent of standard calorimeter system is 18604.99±8.14 J/K. The combustion energy of 1,10-Phenanthroline hydrate determined in the precision rotating-bomb calorimeter is -5757.45 ±2.53 kJ/mol and the standard enthalpy of combustion is -5759.93±2.53 kJ/mol. The standard enthalpy of formation of phen·H2O calculated is -391.34±2.98 kJ/mol.
QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF FORMATION DAMAGE

Skin factor is the most important parameter that diagnoses and identifies formation damage, and also reflects loss of oil well production. According to well testing assumption, the paper suggests skin factor from well testing that will be recollected and annualized, also give out calculation formulation. By examples, quantitative evaluation of formation damage is very good. It is feasible method that is evaluation of formation damage in drilling, completion and stimulation.
Philadelphia Dental Rooms' "Gas" Trade Card: Dangling Racial Stereotypes☆

a Medical Student, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX, 77555-0144 b Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, CaseWestern Reserve University School of Medicine, 11100 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA c Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, 2124 Cornell Rd, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA d Honorary Curator, American Society of Anesthesiologists', Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, 1061 American Ln, Schaumburg, IL, 60173-4973, USA
Filipino-American Nurses' Knowledge, Perceptions, Beliefs and Practice of Genetics and Genomics.

There is limited information on the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice, about genetics and genomics among Filipino-American nurses. The National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Organizations (NCEMNA), in which the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) is a member organization, conducted an online survey to describe the genomic knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice of minority nurses. This study reports on responses from Filipino-American survey participants, which is a subset analysis of the larger NCEMNA survey.The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, practice and genomic education of Filipino-American nurses.An online survey of 112 Filipino-American nurses was conducted to describe the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, and practice of genetics/genomics. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Most (94%) Filipino-American nurses wanted to learn more about genetics. Although 41% of the respondents indicated good understanding of genetics of common diseases, 60% had not attended any related continuing education courses since RN licensure, and 73% reported unavailability of genetic courses to take. The majority (83%) of PNAA respondents indicated that they would attend genetics/genomics awareness training if it was offered by their national organization during their annual conference, and 86% reported that the national organization should have a visible role in genetics/genomics initiatives in their community.Filipino-American nurses wanted to learn more about genetics and were willing to attend genetics/genomics trainings if offered by PNAA. The study findings can assist PNAA in planning future educational programs that incorporates genetics and genomics information.
Hormonal Contraceptive Use Among HIV-Positive Women and HIV Transmission Risk to Male Partners, Zambia, 1994–2012

Background. Evidence on the association between female-to-male human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission risk and hormonal contraception is sparse and conflicting. Methods. Heterosexual HIV-discordant couples from Lusaka, Zambia, were followed longitudinally at 3 month-intervals from 1994 to 2012. The impact of hormonal contraception on time to HIV transmission from HIV-positive women to their HIV-negative male partners (M−F+) was evaluated. Results. Among 1601 M−F+ couples, 171 genetically linked HIV transmissions occurred in men over 3216 couple-years (5.3 transmissions/100 couple-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5–6.2). In multivariable Cox models, neither injectable (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.6; 95% CI, .4–1.2), oral contraceptive pill (aHR, 0.8; 95% CI, .3–2.1), nor implant (aHR, 0.8; 95% CI, .5–1.4) use was associated with HIV transmission, relative to nonhormonal methods, after controlling for the man's age at baseline and time-varying measures of pregnancy, self-reported unprotected sex with the study partner, sperm present on a vaginal swab wet mount, genital inflammation of either partner, genital ulceration of the man, and first follow-up interval. Sensitivity analyses, including marginal structural modeling and controlling for viral load and fertility intentions available in a subset of couples, led to similar conclusions. Conclusions. Our findings suggest null associations between hormonal contraception and risk of female-to-male HIV transmission. We support efforts to increase the contraceptive method mix for all women, regardless of HIV serostatus, along with reinforced condom counseling for HIV-serodiscordant couples.
Construction of close-to-convex harmonic polynomials

A family of sense–preserving complex valued harmonic polynomials that are close-to-convex on the open unit disk is introduced. By taking limits as the degree of the polynomials tends to infinity, a famiiy of close-to-convex harmonic mappings is also obtained. Similar results are considered for mappings of the punctured disk.
Bacterial bloodstream infections in the allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant patient: new considerations for a persistent nemesis

Bacterial bloodstream infections (BSI) cause significant transplant-related morbidity and mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). This manuscript reviews the risk factors for and the bacterial pathogens causing BSIs in allo-HCT recipients in the contemporary transplant period. In addition, it offers insight into emerging resistant pathogens and reviews clinical management considerations to treat and strategies to prevent BSIs in allo-HCT patients.
Methane recovery from anaerobic digestion of urea-pretreated wheat straw

Abstract Pretreatment is necessary to improve methane production from lignocellulosic biomass. Urea was adopted to pretreat wheat straw with the advantages of structure deconstruction, its nitrogen source, and prevention of pH drop in subsequent anaerobic digestion (AD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra measurements indicated that urea pretreatment is able to degrade the lignocellulosic structure, which was beneficial for the improvement of methane production. Urea pretreatment led to the satisfactory performance of AD with wheat straw as substrate. The maximum methane production of 305.5 L/kg volatile solids (VS) was obtained using 1% (w/w) urea loading, which was 45.2% higher than the untreatment. After 1%- and 3%-urea treatment, time used for achieving stable status (≥50%) was 2 days earlier compared to untreatment. Reductions of total solids (49.4%), VS (54.5%), cellulose (50.4%) and hemicelluloses (47.3%) on the optimal condition were the highest, which were 36.8%, 46.5%, 33.3% and 47.4% higher compared to untreatment. Higher levels of urea pretreatment (3% and 5%) were less efficient and resulted in the formation of pseudo-lignin according to FTIR. These results indicate that wheat straw can be used to produce methane significantly with urea pretreatment.
Age, Year-Class Strength Variability, and Partial Age Validation of Kiyis from Lake Superior

AbstractAge estimates of Lake Superior Kiyis Coregonus kiyi from scales and otoliths were compared and 12 years (2003–2014) of length frequency data were examined to assess year-class strength and validate age estimates. Ages estimated from otoliths were precise and were consistently older than ages estimated from scales. Maximum otolith-derived ages were 20 years for females and 12 years for males. Age estimates showed high numbers of fish of ages 5, 6, and 11 in 2014, corresponding to the 2009, 2008, and 2003 year-classes, respectively. Strong 2003 and 2009 year-classes, along with the 2005 year-class, were also evident based on distinct modes of age-1 fish (<110 mm) in the length frequency distributions from 2004, 2010, and 2006, respectively. Modes from these year-classes were present as progressively larger fish in subsequent years. Few to no age-1 fish (<110 mm) were present in all other years. Ages estimated from otoliths were generally within 1 year of the ages corresponding to strong year-classes...
DYNAMICS OF SMALL-SCALE VORTICITY AND STRAIN-RATE STRUCTURES IN THE TRANSITION FROM ISOTROPIC TO SHEAR TURBULENCE

Local topological and statistical measures of enstrophy and strain-rate structures are compared with global statistics to determine the effects of mean shear on the interactions between fluctuating vorticity and strain rate in DNS of transition- ing isotropic to shear turbulence. "Structures" are extracted as concentrations of turbulence fluctuations, allowing quantitative with visual analysis. We find that mean shear adjusts the alignment of fluctuating vorticity and strain rate so as to (1) enhance global and local alignments between vorticity and the second eigenvector of fluctuating strain rate, (2) two-dimensionalize fluctuating strain rate, and (3) align the compressional components of fluctuating and mean strain rate. Shear causes amalgamation of structures and suppresses strain-rate structures between enstrophy structures. Shear enhances "passive" strain-rate fluctuations—strain rate kinematically induced by local vorticity concentrations with negligible en- strophy production—relative to "active," or vorticity-generating, strain-rate fluc- tuations. Enstrophy structures separate into "active" and "passive" based on the second eigenvalue of fluctuating strain rate. The time evolution of a shear- induced hairpin enstrophy structure was analyzed. The structure originated in the initial isotropic state as a vortex sheet, evolved into a vortex tube during a transitional period, and developed into a well-defined horseshoe vortex in the
Evaluating and Optimizing OpenCL Base64 Data Unpacking Kernel with FPGA

Development of applications using OpenCL targeting FPGAs is an emerging approach on heterogeneous computing systems. This paper uses the data unpacking algorithm in Base64 encoding as a case study to present programming and optimization techniques, and experimental results of the OpenCL-based implementations on an FPGA. We explain the algorithm and evaluate the performance of the kernel implementations with Intel's FPGA OpenCL SDK. The experimental results show kernel vectorization and duplication are two optimization techniques that can improve the kernel performance. The performance of kernel duplication is also closely related to the local work size. Our experiment shows 16-lane vectorization increases the bandwidth by a factor of 2 to 10 for large input data sizes. Moreover, the performance of kernel duplication using 16 compute units is 40% to 1.5% less than that of kernel vectorization depending on the input size. Tuning the local work size can improve the kernel performance by a factor of 3 to 23. For this kernel, using local memory is not an effective technique to improve the kernel performance because input data is not reused. A combination of vectorization and duplication achieves the highest performance of 12.3 GiB/s. Compared to an Intel Xeon E5 CPU and an Nvidia Tesla K80 GPU, the performance of the kernel on the Arria 10 FPGA is 6.7X faster than the CPU and 3X slower than the GPU. The performance per watt on the FPGA is 20.5X higher than the CPU and 1.19X lower than the GPU.
Mechanism of hepatocellular dysfunction during hyperdynamic sepsis

Because of its central role in metabolism and host defense mechanisms, the liver is thought to be a major organ responsible for the initiation of multiple organ failure during sepsis. It is, therefore, important to discuss whether hepatocellular dysfunction occurs during early sepsis and, if so, whether this occurs prior to hepatocellular damage as evidenced by elevation in serum enzyme levels. Because indocyanine green clearance has been demonstrated to be an early and extremely sensitive measure of active hepatocyte transport function, a technique for repeated measurement of hepatocellular function by in vivo indocyanine green clearance was developed in small animals, such as the rat. Studies have indicated that hepatocellular function is markedly depressed during early stages of polymicrobial sepsis despite the increased cardiac output and hepatic blood flow and decreased peripheral vascular resistance. The depression in hepatocellular function in early, hyperdynamic stages of sepsis does not appear to be due to any reduction in hepatic profusion but is associated with elevated levels of circulating proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-6. Furthermore, administration of recombinant murine TNF-alpha at a dose that does not reduce cardiac output and hepatic perfusion produces hepatocellular dysfunction and increases plasma levels of IL-6. Thus upregulation of TNF and/or IL-6 may be responsible for producing hepatocellular dysfunction during early, hyperdynamic stages of sepsis.
COMPUTING IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The significant changes in computer technology during the past 15 years are having a major impact on how chemical engineering undergraduates are trained. In response to accreditation guidelines, chemical engineering curriculum should now include use of computation and solution of open-ended problems in all courses, not just in the traditional process design and control courses. This paper discusses recent trends in formulation and implementation of degree requirements which impact on computing; it also covers several activities in new software development for use by undergraduates in chemical engineering.
Data-driven precision agricultural applications using field sensors and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs) and crop sensors are the most widely used remote sensing tool in precision agriculture.Â Use of UAVs in precision agriculture is attracting increasing interest due to its unique non-destructive approach.Â In recent years, dramatic evolution of precision agriculture technology has been driven by technologies such as sensors and controllers, telematics, and UAVs.Â An intriguing area in the field of precision agriculture and UAVs is big volume of data and its analysis that have not been dealt with in depth.Â The objective of this study was to validate the crop data acquisition procedure and the crop relationship with different type of data acquisition technique.Â In particular, this paper will compare ground based active optical sensor data collection with UAVs imagery for site-specificnitrogen management.Â To accomplish these objectives randomized complete block plantation experimental design was used with four treatments and four replicates.Â The plots were 12 rows wide at 38â€ spacing and were 125 ft. in length.Â GreenSeeker field sensor and Micasense sensor for UAVs was used to evaluate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.Â The software used to analyze the data were Microsoft Â® Excel Â® Â 2013, Statistical Analysis Software (ver.9.4) and ESRI ArcGIS (ver. 10.3).Â The results showed that UAVs assessed NDVI are good indicator of crop nutrition along with the ground based crop sensors.Â The result of the statistical data analysis showed that NDVI values are dependent on nitrogen application rate.Â The average NDVI value for no nitrogen application was recorded 0.54 whereas for240 lb./acre nitrogen application it was noted to be 0.76.Â Crucially, this correlation holds true for definite extent of nitrogen application rate.Â Because there was not any significant change in NDVI for 160 lb./acre and240 lb./acre.Â The NDVI values being 0.74 and 0.76 respectively.Â The results are significant because it shows the potential of further validating the use of aerial imagery derived NDVI for real time application of crop nutrient.Â This research has also proven that UAVs are reliable platform for nutrient assessment and making crop management decisions. Keywords: Digital image, NDVI, Nitrogen, ground based sensor, crop DOI: 10.33440/j.ijpaa.20180101.0004 Citation: Pathak R, Barzin R, Bora G C. Data-driven precision agricultural applications using field sensors and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs). Int J Precis Agric Aviat, 2018; 1(1): 19 â€“23.
Students as digital producers of Shakespeare: a group Staging/Filming Project case study

ABSTRACTThis paper examines a group Staging/Filming Assignment that required Junior/Senior level English majors/minors in a 300-level Shakespeare class to collaboratively stage and produce their ow...
Equity and Diversity in Behavior Analysis: Lessons From Skinner (1945)

Several authors have written about the disparity between our values statements concerning gender equity and diversity and the behavior of our professional organizations. In this article, I argue that this is a predictable by-product of our collective cultural learning histories, that we have access to the variables that must be manipulated to alter this behavioral trajectory, and that now is the time to apply the principles of behavior toward changing our current repertoire. As a case in point, I provide evidence regarding the current state of the efforts within psychology and behavior analysis to ensure gender equity, and end with a series of recommendations for institutions and individual leaders to enact toward the presumably valued outcomes of equity and, more broadly speaking, diversity.
Suite of methods for assessing inner retinal temporal dynamics across spatial and temporal scales in the living human eye

Significance: There are no label-free imaging descriptors related to physiological activity of inner retinal cells in the living human eye. A major reason is that inner retinal neurons are highly transparent and reflect little light, making them extremely difficult to visualize and quantify. Aim: To measure physiologically-induced optical changes of inner retinal cells despite their challenging optical properties. Approach: We developed an imaging method based on adaptive optics and optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) and a suite of postprocessing algorithms, most notably a new temporal correlation method. Results: We captured the temporal dynamics of entire inner retinal layers, of specific tissue types, and of individual cells across three different timescales from fast (seconds) to extremely slow (one year). Time correlation analysis revealed significant differences in time constant (up to 0.4 s) between the principal layers of the inner retina with the ganglion cell layer (GCL) being the most dynamic. At the cellular level, significant differences were found between individual GCL somas. The mean time constant of the GCL somas (0.69 ± 0.17 s) was ∼ 30 % smaller than that of nerve fiber bundles and inner plexiform layer synapses and processes. Across longer durations, temporal speckle contrast and time-lapse imaging revealed motion of macrophage-like cells (over minutes) and GCL neuron loss and remodeling (over one year). Conclusions: Physiological activity of inner retinal cells is now measurable in the living human eye.
Early Effects of COVID-19 on Programs Providing Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Jails and Prisons.

OBJECTIVES: To describe how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programs in jails and prisons. METHODS: In May 2020, we conducted an online survey of 19 carceral systems that provided methadone and/or buprenorphine treatment for incarcerated populations before COVID-19. Eleven survey items examined challenges and changes to these programs as a result of the pandemic. Sixteen of 19 programs (84%) responded to the survey. RESULTS: Ten out of 16 systems reported downsizing their OAT programs. Seven of 16 systems made changes to medication dispensation processes. Half of systems report challenges implementing physical distancing (nâ=â8), and/or obtaining personal protective equipment (nâ=â8). In 13 out of 16 systems some OAT program participants were released early due to COVID-19 infection risk. CONCLUSIONS: Jails and prisons with existing OAT programs have curtailed their operations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the robust evidence base around OAT for treating opioid use disorder and averting overdose deaths, guidance is needed on maintaining and ramping up medication access as carceral facilities grapple with implementing COVID-19 mitigation.
The problem of experimental design in temperate agroforestry

The design and execution of temperate agroforestry experiments has many problems. Difficulties include the selection of measurement criteria, proper randomization of treatments, and issues of timing and scale of experiments. A major problem facing most experimenters is the proper randomization of treatments to insure independence: few properly designed temperate agroforestry plots currently exist, and it will be many years before recently established plots become available for study. We touch upon statistical methods for designing plots and give examples illustrating some of the problems inherent in agroforestry experiments.
Beyond toilet decisions: Tracing sanitation journeys among women in informal housing in India

Abstract Urban political ecology shows how fractured power dynamics mutually shape urban built environments, formulating everyday negotiations around accessing needed sanitation infrastructure in the Global South. However, given critiques of the effectiveness of state health interventions to promote household toilet uptake and gender equity in sanitation, less attention has been paid to how or why urban poor women might gravitate towards a household toilet at all. I address this by drawing on mixed-methods and ethnographic fieldwork among women from two urban informal settlements in Maharashtra, India. My findings center on sanitation journeys, which I consider to be daily determinations around accessing different forms of sanitation infrastructure. I find that sanitation journeys go beyond what is usually considered a binary decision about “whether” to build a toilet to uncover an active, gendered timeline of connected events which may be sped up, slowed down, or reversed. Second, sanitation journeys occur within the space of tension between local residents of informal housing and municipal governing actors, thus elucidating ways in which the physical environment of sanitation relates to the social environment of gendered conflict, support, and competition. Lastly, a household toilet carries a dual role within these sanitation journeys; it is embedded within imaginaries of upward mobility and home-making, but is also complicated by the threat of eviction. In characterizing these trends and contradictions, I highlight how constrained choice behind sanitation journeys can illuminate ways women juggle the confluence of urban precarities amidst state efforts to change the sanitation environment.
Bar Passage: GPA and LSAT, not Bar Reviews

Probit regressions of bar passage on law GPA, undergraduate GPA (uGPA) and LSAT show GPA to have a very strong relation, LSAT a weaker one, and uGPA not to have any relation. 1L and upperclass GPA both have strong predictive power, favoring an interpretation of significant learning in small and elective courses compared to the mandated large ones of the first year. Linear regressions of GPA on uGPA and LSAT show a noisy relation to exist only for first-time bar exam takers, none for 2nd time takers. Analysis of bar review courses does not show the choice among them to have consequence. Possible interpretations favor legal education over innate skill and the training in legal analysis over memorization.
Human Rights at the Time of a Global Pandemic: The Case of Muslim Tatars

How are the human rights pertaining to the freedom of conscience/religion, health, and distinct culture intersect in the context of a global pandemic in the Muslim-minority areas? How do Russia's Muslims make sense of the challenges to those rights caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic? In this paper, I focus on diverse Muslim Tatar communities, primarily of the Middle Volga region, who have recently witnessed numerous political and socioeconomic challenges infringing on their human rights. Attending on the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in this paper I gauge the nature of human rights in the areas of health and religion by interrogating how the general Muslim publics and elites understand, justify, and explain those challenges in an environment of creeping authoritarianism. I call for a conceptual shift from the elite-driven traditional security perspectives to those of human rights as quotidian/everyday experiences while considering these vital issues. I use the Tatar-language Internet forums for the empirical analysis, offering and delineating the discursive repertoires and categorizing the areas of public concern in the new pandemic world. © 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2021.
Structure characteristics and functionality of water-soluble fraction from high-intensity ultrasound treated pea protein isolate

Abstract High-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) has been widely utilized as an emerging technique to modify the functionality of proteins. However, those findings exclusively pertained to the whole protein after the treatment of HIUS. Such protein consists of not only water-soluble proteins but other insoluble constituents, which cannot reflect the role of HIUS on the protein functionality. The objective of this study is to understand the influences of ultrasonic treatment (20 kHz) at varying power (200, 300 or 500 W) and time (5, 10 or 20 min) exclusively on structural and functional properties of water-soluble fraction (WPPI) harvested from HIUS treated pea protein isolate (PPI). Relevant parameters of ultrasound including ultrasonic intensity and ultrasonic density were determined. No significant changes on the primary structure of WPPI were observed from electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography analysis. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis as well as intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy showed that HIUS was able to change the secondary and tertiary structure of WPPI. HIUS treatment drastically improved protein content and absolute solubility of pea protein. The underlying mechanism lies in the roles of HIUS to change the secondary and tertiary structure and to increase the magnitude of surface charge of WPPI, as well as to facilitate the coexistence of both smaller particle size pea protein and soluble aggregates. HIUS exerted an adverse effect on emulsification properties but improved foaming stability. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis to unravel the essential role of HIUS on modifying the structure of plant protein and the corresponding functionality.
Long-term variation of octocoral populations in St. John, US Virgin Islands

The decline in abundance of scleractinian corals over the past three decades in the Caribbean has raised the possibility that other important benthic taxa, such as octocorals, are also changing in abundance. We used photoquadrats taken over 20 yr from reefs (7–9 m depth) at six sites on the south coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands, to test the hypothesis that octocorals have changed in abundance since 1992. Octocorals were counted in 0.25 m2 photoquadrats at 2- to 3-yr intervals and identified to genus or family. Overall, there was variation over time in population density of octocorals (pooled among taxa, and also separately for Antillogorgia spp., Gorgonia spp., and plexaurids) at each site, and densities remained unchanged or increased over 20 yr; where increases in density occurred, the effects were accentuated after 2002. The local-scale analysis was expanded to the Caribbean (including the Florida Keys) by compiling data for octocoral densities from 31 studies for reefs at ≤25 m depth between 1968 and 2013. At this scale, analyses were limited by the paucity of historical data, and despite a weak trend of higher octocoral densities in recent decades, statistically, there was no change in octocoral abundance over time. Together with data from the whole Caribbean, the present analysis suggests that octocorals have not experienced a decadal-scale decline in population density, which has occurred for many scleractinian corals.
An ultra-compact electron-beam column

In this paper, an electron optical system with an array of columns was developed for an electron-beam addressable data storage device that has the form factor of compact flash and capacity > 10 GB. The columns were analyzed with a single Spindt emitter and a three-aperture focusing structure that focuses the beam into a 40 nm core that contains /spl sim/ 60% of the beam current and a tail that spreads to several hundred nanometers. The focusing structure and the emission characteristics for Spindt emitters were presented. An extended electron source that consists of an array of regularly or randomly distributed point emitters which consists of a randomly distributed hemi-spherical poly-silicon nodules (NPS) with 20 /spl plusmn/ 5 nm radius. The physical and electron emission characteristics of NPS were also presented. A novel electron optical column to focus the emission from the NPS extended electron source into a diameter < 30 nm was developed.
A FIELD TEST OF AN ELECTRICAL-CAPACITANCE METHOD FOR MEASURING SOIL-WATER CONTENT

Several studies have compared gravimetric sampling to the neutron-attenuation method of soil-water measurement. However, less is known of the relationship between these two methods and a more recently developed technique based on electrical capacitance. Our field experiment allowed us to: (1) determine the accuracy of the neutron-moderation and electrical-capacitance methods by comparison to gravimetric sampling; (2) establish a relationship between the three methods; and (3) determine the field effectiveness, applicability, and ease of operation of the methods. The principal hypotheses are that we can establish the relationship between the three methods using simple regression, and that the three methods give statistically equivalent measures of soil-water content and thus can be used interchangeably. An alternative hypothesis is that no valid relationship exists between the three methods, with each giving a statistically different measure of soil-water content. We found that the electrical-capacitance m...
International Real Estate Review

I would like to begin by thanking the organizers of what I believe is the largest real estate conference ever assembled for giving me the honor to address this esteemed group which includes academics like myself, policymakers and officials from the government, and individuals from the world of business who are involved one way or another with the development of real property. In other words, the thinkers, the doers, and those who set the rules and provide a partnership with the business community to hopefully develop their communities as efficiently as possible. This partnership between the public and private sectors, and how their roles change as an economy and its financial markets develop, is the principal focus of this talk.
Help-Seeking Behavior for Depression in Japanese Schoolteachers

AbstractThis correlational field study investigated the relationship between depression and help-seeking behavior in Japanese schoolteachers. Thirty-four primary schoolteachers from a rural area of Japan were surveyed using both quantitative and qualitative measures related to help-seeking and depression. Survey packets included a demographic questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies depression scale (CES-D), the help-seeking scale for depression (HSSD), and a modified version of Kleinman’s (1980) explanatory model of help-seeking behavior. Findings from the study indicate a gap between participants’ awareness of depression and help-seeking behavior; participants had good awareness of depression and its severity, but they were not likely to seek professional help. We propose that social stigma may be one of the major deterrents to seeking such help. Furthermore, we found evidence that participants would seek professional help if motivated by family and friends and that family and friends could b...
The pathomechanics, pathophysiology and prevention of cervical spinal cord and brachial plexus injuries in athletics.

Cervical spinal cord injuries may occur with catastrophic sequelae (e.g. quadriplegia) in collision sport activities. The discovery was made that the head-down tackling technique in football straightens the spine into a position vulnerable for compression and, thus, is responsible for these incidents. This led to rule changes requiring head-up tackling, which in turn resulted in the reduction of the incidence of these injuries. However, the dramatic initial reduction in the occurrence — from 32 and 34 catastrophic injuries in 1975 and 1976, respectively, down to 12 in 1977 — has levelled off with ten and eight reported cases in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The football community has increased their efforts to prevent head-down tackling with additional rule changes. Brachial plexus injury prevention must rely on properly fitted shoulder pads and use of equipment such as ‘cowboy’ collars. Furthermore, physicians must take into consideration cervical cord neurapraxia, congenital stenosis and other risk factors in patients who wish to return to contact sports.
Semantic analytics on social networks: experiences in addressing the problem of conflict of interest detection

In this paper, we describe a Semantic Web application that detects Conflict of Interest (COI) relationships among potential reviewers and authors of scientific papers. This application discovers various 'semantic associations' between the reviewers and authors in a populated ontology to determine a degree of Conflict of Interest. This ontology was created by integrating entities and relationships from two social networks, namely "knows," from a FOAF (Friend-of-a-Friend) social network and "co-author," from the underlying co-authorship network of the DBLP bibliography. We describe our experiences developing this application in the context of a class of Semantic Web applications, which have important research and engineering challenges in common. In addition, we present an evaluation of our approach for real-life COI detection.