cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical bayesian modeling with elicited prior information

Conditionally independent hierarchical models (CIHMs) have proven useful in problems where modest numbers of observations are made on a collection of k similar experimental units. In CIHMs, the observation vector Y i for the i-th unit has a distribution indexed by a unit-specific parameter vector θi,. The unit-specific parameter vectors are i.i.d. with distributions indexed by a common hyperparameter vector λ This paper presents a general methodology for subjective Bayesian inference in CIHMs. An analyst (e.g., a statistician) specifies a pre-elicitation prior distribution for the parameter vector ξ at the final stage of the hierarchy. “Data”, in the form of elicited probability statements, are then collected from a substantive expert and are used to obtain an estimate , yielding a fitted hyperprior for λ. This hyperprior can then be updated subsequent to observing the sample data in order to conduct Bayesian posterior inference about the first and second-stage parameter vectors and λ. The approach is ill...
Nitric Oxide Primes Pancreatic β Cells for Fas-mediated Destruction in Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Fas is an apoptosis-inducing surface receptor involved in controlling tissue homeostasis and function at multiple sites. Here we show that β cells from the pancreata of newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients express Fas and show extensive apoptosis among those cells located in proximity to Fas ligand–expressing T lymphocytes infiltrating the IDDM islets. Normal human pancreatic β cells that do not constitutively express Fas, become strongly Fas positive after interleuken (IL)-1β exposure, and are then susceptible to Fas-mediated apoptosis. NG-monomethyl-l-arginine, an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, prevents IL-1β–induced Fas expression, whereas the NO donors sodium nitroprusside and nitric oxide releasing compound (NOC)-18, induce functional Fas expression in normal pancreatic β cells. These findings suggest that NO-mediated upregulation of Fas contributes to pancreatic β cell damage in IDDM.
Isothermal Vitrification Methodology Development for Non-Cryogenic Storage of Archival Human Sera

Biorepositories worldwide collect human serum samples and store them for future research. Currently, hundreds of biorepositories across the world store human serum samples in refrigerators, freezers, or liquid nitrogen without following any specific cryopreservation protocol. This method of storage is both expensive and potentially detrimental to the biospecimens. To decrease both cost of storage and the freeze/thaw stresses, we explored the feasibility of storing archival human serum samples at non-cryogenic temperatures using isothermal vitrification. When biospecimens are vitrified, biochemical reactions can be stopped, the specimen ceases to degrade, and macromolecules can be stabilized without requiring cryogenic storage. In this study, 0.2, 0.4, or 0.8 M trehalose; 0, 0.005 or 0.01 M dextran; and 0 or 10% (v/v) glycerol was added to human serum samples. The samples were either dried diffusively as sessile droplets or desiccated under vacuum after they are adsorbed onto glass microfiber filters. The glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the desiccated samples were measured by temperature-ramp Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Sera samples vitrified at 4 ± 2 °C when 0.8 M trehalose and 0.01 M dextran were added and the samples were vacuum dried for two hours. Western immunoblotting showed that vitrified serum proteins were minimally degraded when stored for up to one month at 4 °C. About 80% of all proteins were recovered after storage at 4 °C on glass microfiber filters, and recovery did not decrease with storage time. These results demonstrated the feasibility of long-term storage of vitrified serum at hypothermic (and non-cryogenic) temperatures.
Increased extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center case volume is associated with improved extracorporeal membrane oxygenation survival among pediatric patients

Objective We sought to examine the relationship between extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center case volume and survival in pediatric patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Methods Pediatric patients (≤20 years) undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation were identified using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids' Inpatient Database for 2000 to 2009. Annual hospital extracorporeal membrane oxygenation volume tertiles were 30 patients/year (high volume). Cases of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were segregated by indication into cardiac and noncardiac groups. Cases of cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were mapped to Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery categories to adjust for case complexity. Weighted multivariable logistic and linear regression models identified determinants of in-hospital mortality. Results Overall, 3867 cases of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were identified, yielding a national estimate of 6333 ± 495 cases. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used with nearly equivalent prevalence across volume tertiles for all Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery categories, suggesting that patient selection for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was fairly uniform. A higher annual extracorporeal membrane oxygenation volume tertile was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality ( P = .01) within nearly all Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery categories. After adjustment for Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery category and other patient variables, lower extracorporeal membrane oxygenation volume remained an important determinant of in-hospital death (odds ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-2.94; P = .03). Conclusions Higher extracorporeal membrane oxygenation case volume is associated with improved hospital survival in pediatric cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients. The results of this study may support the paradigm of regionalized centers of excellence for managing pediatric cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients.
Predicting the composition of acidic, ionic liquids in contact with HCl gas

The acidic, chloroaluminate ionic liquid (IL) derived from the combination of 1-ethyl-3-methyl-1H-imidazolium chloride (EMIM-Cl) and aluminum chloride complex (AlCl3) in contact with HCl gas was modeled using the principles of equilibrium thermodynamics of chemically reacting systems as a means to understand better the reactivity of arene formylations in these IL's. The concentration of an HCl-chloroaluminate species, ClHAl2Cl that has been characterized as a super acidic Bronsted species, increases with increasing HCl partial pressure. Another chloroaluminate species Al2Cl, which has been characterized as a strong Lewis acid, showed concentrations that decreased with increasing HCl gas phase partial pressures. The ultimate conversion of toluene to tolualdehyde could be correlated with the sum of the predicted molar amounts of ClHAl2Cl and Al2Cl, by assuming that each ClHAl2Cl combined with 1 tolualdehyde and each Al2Cl sequestered a single tolualdehyde molecule. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005
An Exploratory Study of Levels of Interaction Occurring with Graduate Students in an Online Literacy Course.

This study surveyed graduate students prior to, and immediately following, a literacy course offered online to determine their interactions with the content, interactions with the instructor, and interactions with peers throughout the semester. The study also examined graduate students’ opinions about the convenience and perceived benefits of taking this course in an online format. Findings indicated that, prior to the course, less than one quarter of the graduate students (22%) expected the online experience to enhance their understanding of course content at a high level. Prior to the course more than half of the students (52%) also expected a high level of frequent and meaningful interactions with the instructor. When asked about their expectations of meaningful interactions with peers, more than half (52%) of the students indicated high-level expectations on this item. Following the course, students were again asked to rate their interactions with course content, with the instructor, and with peers. In all instances interactions were described as high level and increased following the course. This exploratory study provides interesting insight into the importance of aligning course content and instruction with student expectations when taking online courses. More research is needed to evaluate the impact interactions with content, instructors, and peers has on the learning experience for graduate students enrolled in online courses.
When the Passive Voice is Used

Do you know what the passive voice is? Some lawyers don't. Some think it is any verb that is not "strong," or any form of the verb be, or any past-tense verb. It is none of those, though all might be labeled "passive" in some sense. Using the passive voice is fine, but it can create some problems.
Section 2036 Hurdle Raised for Family Limited Partnerships

Family Limited Partnerships ("FLPs") and Limited Liability Companies ("LLCs") are commonly used in estate planning to transfer real estate, marketable securities or other assets to family members with valuation discounting used in determining the gift or estate tax consequences. Parents retain control over their assets under the terms of the FLP or LLC agreement while reducing the potential estate tax applicable thereto through the use of valuation discounts attributable to the FLP or LLC interests. Recently, the IRS has been aggressively using Section 2036 in estate tax cases to attack the FLP and LLC strategy for valuation adjustment. A new decision overshadows all the former decisions in its expansive interpretation of Section 2036 (a) (2). This article will look at that decision Estate of A. Strangi TC Memo 2003-145 (May 20, 2003) (i.e. "Strangi II") and identify possible practitioner responses. These possible responses will address current estate planning as well as what the practitioner might do with existing FLPs/LLCs and in the event of a gift or estate tax return examination. Lee Iacocca has been quoted as saying - "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluable problems." This article is directed to identifying those available opportunities. The FLP/LLC Technique has been around for more than eight years and now the retention of control may avoid any possibility of a valuation discount. Should bad facts be allowed to make bad law? What is the effect of Strangi II on future estate planning? Those parents who already have existing FLPs/LLCs have available alternatives to choose from. What does the new Strangi II decision mean prospectively to the practitioner and his or her clients?
A Note on Division Algorithms in Imaginary quadratic Number fields

An integral domain E is said to be Euclidean if there exists a non-negative, integer-valued function g denned on the non-zero elements of E such that for every non-zero x and y in E, (1) g(xy) ⩾ g(x); (2) (division algorithm) if x does not divide y then there exists an element q in E, depending on x and y, with .
Reactive hyper-reninaemia to angiotensin blockade identifies renovascular hypertension.

Summary 1. Saralasin and converting enzyme inhibitors SQ 20881 and captopril induced increases in plasma renin activity to greater than 14 ng h-I ml-I in 43 out of 44 patients with untreated renovascular hypertension when studied in the seated position and on normal sodium intake. This degree of response was absent in patients with normal-renin essential hypertension and present in only three out of 26 with high-renin essential hypertension. 2. Reductions of greater than approximately 9% in diastolic pressure in response to these three drugs occurred regularly in renovascular hypertension (95%) but also frequently in high-renin (65%) and normal-renin (26%) essential hypertension. 3. Prior sodium depletion abolished the specificity of the renin and depressor responses to angiotensin blockage for renovascular hypertension. 4. Some patients with bilateral renovascular and all with malignant hypertension also exhibited these responses to angiotensin blockade that are characteristic of unilateral renovascular hypertension.
Role of Knowledge and Opinion in Promoting Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Eradication

Although the economic benefits of boll weevil eradication programs have been theoretically and empirically documented, a history of failed initial referendums can be attributed to concerns about relative program costs and benefits, changes in the pest management property rights of producers, and the lack of landowner cooperation with producers. Because little is known about the role of knowledge, opinion, and landowners in the success or failure of any cooperative pest management program, problems arise when attempting to design and promote a boll weevil eradication program. This study examined the factors that played a role in the defeat of the March 1995 Louisiana boll weevil eradication referendum and characterizes the actions that could be taken to successfully promote coordinated pest management programs like boll weevil eradication. Accurate knowledge of past program successes was important to developing support for boll weevil eradication, but knowledge of program specifics led to opposition, particularly in production regions with relatively low boll weevil infestations. These results suggest that program development, education, and promotion need to address regional differences in pest control demand. Although landowners were not different from producers in terms of their willingness to support the boll weevil eradication program, they appear more open to targeted education programs that increase their level of knowledge concerning the boll weevil eradication program and the concept of coordinated pest management. Overall, this study suggests that the development of a clientele knowledge base is important to the successful implementation of coordinated pest management, but that this task may require long-term, broadly targeted educational efforts.
Attitude control system synthesis for the Hoop/Column antenna using the LQG/LTR method

This paper investigates the application of the linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG)/loop transfer recovery (LTR) method to the problem of synthesizing a fine-pointing control system for a large flexible space anenna. The study is based on an antenna, which consists of three rigid-body rotational modes and the first ten elastic modes. A robust compensator design for achieving the required pointing performance in the presence of modeling uncertainties is obtained using the LQG/LTR method. For the Hoop/Column antenna, a satisfactory controller design meeting a desired bandwidth of .1 rad/sec and ensuring stability with unmodelled high frequency modes is obtained using only a collocated pair of 3-axis attitude sensors and torque actuators. This study also indicates that to achieve the desired performance bandwidth of 0.1 rad/sec. and to ensure stability in the presence of higher frequency elastic modes, the design model should include at least the first three flexible modes together with the rigid body modes.
Geochemistry of basalts from small eruptive centers near Villarrica stratovolcano, Chile: Evidence for lithospheric mantle components in continental arc magmas

Abstract In the Central Southern Volcanic Zone (CSVZ) of the Andes, the location of stratovolcanoes and monogenetic small eruptive centers (SEC) is controlled by the Liquine-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ), a trench-parallel strike-slip feature of over 1000 km length. The geochemistry of basalts from SEC is different from those of stratovolcanoes, and are termed Type 2 and Type 1 basalts, respectively. In the region of Villarrica stratovolcano, contemporaneous SEC are more MgO-rich, and have greater light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, lower 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd, and lower ratios of large ion lithophile elements (LILE) to LREE and high field strength elements (HFSE). A unique finding in this region is that basalts from one SEC, San Jorge, has Type 1 character, similar to basalts from Villarrica stratovolcano. Type 1 basalts from Villarrica and San Jorge SEC have strong signals from time-sensitive tracers of subduction input, such as high 10Be/9Be and high (238U/230Th), while Type 2 SEC have low 10Be/9Be and (238U/230Th) near secular equilibrium. Based on new trace element, radiogenic isotope and mineral analyses, we propose that Type 1 basaltic magma erupted at San Jorge SEC and Villarrica stratovolcano forms by melting of the ambient actively subduction-modified asthenosphere, while Type 2 SEC incorporate melts of pyroxenite residing in the supra-subduction zone mantle lithosphere. This scenario is consistent with the close proximity of the volcanic features and their inferred depths of magma separation. The pyroxenite forms from arc magma produced during earlier episodes of subduction modification and magmatism, which extend back >300 Ma along this segment of the western South American margin. Type 2 basaltic magmas may reach the surface during LOFZ-related decompression events, and they may also be a normal but episodic part of the magma supply to large stratovolcanoes, resulting in cryptic geochemical variations over time. The presence and mobilization of stored and aged subduction-related pyroxenite in the mantle lithosphere complicates the identification of subducted, mantle and crustal inputs to magma erupted in continental arcs.
Application Research of Support Vector Machine in the Synthetic Evaluation of Power Quality

In the environment of electricity marketization,synthetic quantified evaluation of power quality is an important basis for power quality appraisal and electricity energy pricing.This paper presents a new and more precise standard for the power quality evaluation index.Targeted at the disadvantage of existing evaluation methods,proposed a power quality synthetic evaluation method based on support vector machine(SVM) model.Calculation results show that the synthetic evaluation result of reflecting power quality from the proposed model is objective and authentic,and the structure of the model is simple.
Application and development of groundwater heat pump technology

This paper expatiates the principles and characteristics of groundwater heat pump air-conditioning system,analyzes the measuring data of a typical system project,points out the existing problems of underground water recharge and unreasonable design of water cycle system in the technical application of underground heat pump system,and brings forward advices that can improve the application development of the system.The advices consist of building perfect standard system,building recharge well information monitoring network,and so on.
The Experimental Study on the Fire Resistance Performance of Methane Adsorption Tower Simulated Equipment

In order to study the safety during the working process of methane purified adsorption equipment,a set of adsorption tower simulated equipment is designed.Through alerting the thickness of adsorption layer,the height of gas layer and initial pressure and pressure and temperature after the inigiting and explosion,the law of explosion flame propagated adsorption layer can be obtained.A index assessment model has been established based on the influences of every factors on flame propagating performance and the possibility of flame propagating in adsorption tower can be judged by this model.
Cancer of the stomach.

Attention is called to the important differences between malignant gastric ulcer and the proliferative tumor. Likewise the great difficulty in differentiation between malignant and benign ulcer is emphasized. The operability rate in carcinoma of the stomach still remains only 50 per cent or less. The five year survival in patients having resection of the stomach for malignant ulcer is 45 to 50 per cent, whereas it is only 25 per cent in patients having “curative” operation for the proliferative tumor.
Joan Didion's Style: A Revisionist Western

The character of Joan Didion's style developed out of its intimate relationship with what I will term the genres of political experience in the post-war period. The West, with its carnival of polit...
Cyberbullying and Cyber Abuse Intervention: The Three-Tiered Model for Schools

ABSTRACTThis article describes a three-tiered model that school personnel can implement to address cyberbullying, sexting, and other abusive social media behavior prevalent in schools. This model addresses prevention, intervention, and monitoring at multiple levels in a school community. It is designed to provide preventative services to all stakeholders in a school community, and to target those with moderate or significant problems.
Compliance in guideline-based management of febrile neutropenia.

e17667 Background: Neutropenic Fever (NF) is a prevalent complication of myelosuppressive chemotherapy with significant morbidity, mortality, and cost. Despite clear treatment guidelines by the Inf...
Experimental evaluation of a diesel engine running on the blends of diesel and pentanol as a next generation higher alcohol

Abstract Alcohols are effective alternatives for use in diesel engines. Higher alcohols, as opposed to lower-chain alcohols (methanol and ethanol) have a promising future for diesel engines. 1-Pentanol, a higher-chain alcohol, has better fuel characteristics and can be made of biomass. Thus, it is important to examine it, as well as, its blends with diesel fuel in internal combustion engines for the characteristics of emissions and power generation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the engine performance and exhaust emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with diesel-1-pentanol blends. For experimental use, fuel blends were prepared by adding 1-pentanol (5%, 10%, 20%, 25% and 35% by volume) into diesel to achieve blends of D95Pen5, D90Pen10, D80Pen20, D75Pen25 and D65Pen35. In order to determine engine characteristics, engine tests were performed at four engine loads (0, 1.5, 2.25 and 3 kW) with a constant engine speed (2000 rpm). The addition of 1-pentanol to diesel decreased lower heating value and cetane number (CN) of the blends. As compared to diesel fuel, the blends increased brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) but also had a positive impact on exhaust gas temperature (EGT). The higher latent heat of evaporation of 1-pentanol caused a cooling effect in-cylinder, reduction in combustion efficiency and increase in carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Also, the addition of 1-pentanol to diesel had a significant impact on the increase of oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions. However, the D95Pen5 blend does hold potential as a promising candidate for decreasing exhaust gas temperature, CO and NO x emissions, but at the expense of increasing HC emissions.
Self-control stability and change for incarcerated juvenile offenders

Abstract Purpose Few studies have examined self-control stability with samples of serious offenders. This study examined incarcerated juvenile offenders to determine (1) if changes in self-control occur during confinement and (2) whether self-control changes affect functioning inside the facility and reoffending after release. Methods The analysis used data from a sample of male and female juvenile offenders in Florida who were released from a residential program in 2010–11. Self-control and functioning inside the facility were measured with risk assessment data collected at the beginning and end of the residential confinement. Reoffending was assessed for the 12 months after release. Results Absolute and relative changes in self-control were common, and the absolute changes overwhelmingly involved improvement. This led to improved functioning inside the facility and decreased odds of adjudication for a new offense. Follow-up analyses revealed a key difference between males and females—for reoffending in particular, effects of self-control change were observed only among females. Conclusions Juvenile confinement in settings with evidence-based rehabilitation programming can produce self-control improvement. These improvements, in turn, are associated with contemporaneous improvements in behavior during confinement. These shifts also may lower recidivism after release, but this pattern appears less likely among males.
Dynamic neural network based algorithm for context awareness in mobile computing

Wireless network carriers are motivated to offer more services tailored to mobile users' needs. Context awareness is one of the value-added services that have attention from both mobile users and network carriers. However, context awareness requires collecting, analyzing, and understanding of mobile user characteristics, activities, location, surrounding environment, and so on. The objective of this paper is to design a dynamic neural network based algorithm updating the context cache weights. The context cache weights are generated to reflect the mobile user's context change. In addition, a data cache scheme is proposed to handle mobile user context. Particularly, we introduce the concept of virtual frame and reference frame on which the data cache scheme is based. The user context profiles that consist of mobile user characteristics, wireless device configuration, activities, and surrounding environment classify the context entities in the cache. As such, a systematic approach can be used to handle context awareness at the client site.
StreamVane Turbofan Inlet Swirl Distortion Generator: Mean Flow and Turbulence Structure

Engine/airframe integration in advanced aircraft concepts must account for nonuniform flows ingested by turbofan engines. In this work, flow details from a vane-based distortion generator were anal...
ESTIMATION AND DESIGN FOR NON-SAMPLING ERRORS OF SURVEYS

A general methodology to estimate the total variance of an estimator of population total is provided. The variance formulae include all relevant sampling and nonsampling variance components and these are estimated directly from the survey data. The optimization of the interviewer assignment is also investigated.
Histopathology of Cutaneous Inflammatory Disorders in Children.

Inflammatory dermatoses encompass a variety of histologic patterns that affect different portions of the skin. In spongiotic, psoriasiform, lichenoid, pityriasiform, and blistering disorders, there...
Response characteristics of lamb trigeminal neurons to stimulation of the oral cavity and epiglottis with different sensory modalities.

Abstract A region of the trigeminal complex located at the border of the subnucleus interpolaris and subnucleus caudalis receives not only trigeminal nerve inputs from the face, tongue and palate, but also afferent terminations from other nerves which innervate the oral cavity and upper airway. To increase our understanding of the types of sensory information relayed to this region of the trigeminal nucleus, we investigated the response characteristics of single neurons to stimulation of the tongue, palate and epiglottis. Receptive field size and location of 83 trigeminal neurons were mapped, and responses to mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli were recorded. About 90% of the neurons had one receptive field and no convergence between the oral cavity and epiglottis was observed. Furthermore, only about 15% of the trigeminal neurons responded to more than one stimulus modality. A moving mechanical stimulus elicited responses in over 90% of the cells, and 84% responded to moving and punctate mechanical stimuli. These mechanosensitive neurons generally exhibited rapidly adapting responses. Thermal and chemical stimuli were relatively ineffective. Cooling a receptor surface most often produced excitation, and warning inhibition. Responses to chemical stimuli were only observed for salts at high concentrations. These results suggest that, like oral cavity information relayed by the trigeminal nerve, afferent terminations in the trigeminal nucleus from other nerves subserving the oral cavity and upper airway function to relay mechanical sensory information. This information may be important in the elicitation of mechanically evoked oral and upper airway reflexes, or may provide a pathway to the thalamus for qualitative and quantitative sensory information about these areas.
Thalamotomy for control of chronic pain.

For the past several years I have attempted to develop a stereotaxic procedure at the level of the thalamus for control of chronic pain. A stereotaxic operation has several theoretical advantages over older procedures such as rhizotomy, tractotomy, and prefrontal lobotomy for pain. Firstly, procedures at this level would control pain over the entire contralateral half of the body and would not be limited to anatomical segments, which would be helpful in difficult areas of pain control such as craniocervical pain. Secondly, stereotaxic procedures can be performed easily under local anesthesia, obviating the use of general anesthesia and prolonged open operations on patients who are often debilitated with advanced cancer. Thirdly, on theoretical grounds, at the level of the thalamus sensation should be segregated into its different components of touch, proprioception, temperature, and pain; allowing preferential destruction of pain in the conducting system without the associated loss of sensation of other types. Fourth, anatomical separation from the motor and other systems reduce the complications of weakness, ataxia, and incontinence, that are not uncommonly seen after tractotomy in the spinal cord or brain stem. Lastly, it should not have the destructive effect on personality associated with prefrontal lobotomy.
Cosmology and Quantum Theory

Next to flat Minkowski space, the simplest solutions of general relativity are given by isotropic Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) universe models. Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) model Thanks to spatial isotropy, there is just a single parameter, the scale factor \(a(\hbox {t})\) scale factor determining the spatial scale via the line element $$ {\text{d}}s^2=-N(t)^2{\text{d}}t^2+a(t)^2{\text{d}}\sigma_k^2 $$ (2.1) with $$ {\text{d}}\sigma_k^2={\frac{{\text{d}}r^2}{1-kr^2}}+r^2({\text{d}}\vartheta^2+ \sin^2\vartheta{\text{d}}\varphi^2) .$$ (2.2)
On the masking effect

Machine learning approaches to knowledge compilation seek to improve the perfonnance of problem-solvers by storing solutions to previously solved problems in an efficient, generalized fonn. The problem-solver retrieves these learned solutions in appropriate later situations to obtain results more efficiently. However, by relying on its learned knowledge to provide a solution, the problem-solver may miss an alternative solution of higher quality - one that could have been generated using the original (non-learned) problem-solving knowledge. This phenomenon is referred to as the ITUlSking effect of learning. In this paper, we examine a sequence of possible solutions for the masking effect. Each solution refines and builds on the previous one. The fmal solution is based on cascaded filters. When learned knowledge is retrieved, these filters alert the system about the inappropriateness of this knowledge so that the system can then derive a better alternative solution. We analyze conditions under which this solution will perfonn better than the others, and present experimental data supportivt: of the analysis. This investigation is based on a simulated robot domain called Groundworld.
Probing Charge on Cu in Oxide Superconductors

The non-destructive measurement of charge on an ion in a solid has always been a source of great controversy. In this chapter, we will review how x-ray absorption spectroscopy addresses this issue. We will describe the underlying principles of the technique, list some recent experiments, and try to explain the controversial aspects. A new method of evaluation of the position of the absorption edge will be introduced, and its relation to the Mulliken populations determined by discrete variational method for calculating orbital states of a molecular cluster will be discussed. We will then show how x-ray absorption spectroscopy can probe variations in effective charge on atoms as a result of chemical doping. Finally, we will point out some newer developments as a result of using polarized x-rays and oriented crystals.
Implementing Science-Based Invasive Plant Management

Invasive nonnative plants impact landscapes worldwide through changes in the structure, composition, and succession pathways of plant communities. Whether and where new and existing exotic plant populations will expand influences decisions and willingness of land managers to expend resources on proactive management. Thus, land managers generally prefer to contain existing patches of invasive plants rather than find and eradicate new ones. Although preventive strategies are an effective way to limit plant invasions, they are difficult to achieve because adequate descriptions of biological and environmental characteristics are often lacking, and predictive models of invasive plant expansion have been elusive. Studies of invasive plant management usually focus on tools to control weeds or competition in simplified natural production systems. It is difficult to determine with such studies how practices to control nonnative invasive plants influence naturally occurring control mechanisms. This paper examines the theories and practices of integrated pest management for exotic invasive plant containment. We also explore the development and use of invasive plant expansion models. Both approaches are needed to manage weeds in increasingly complex agricultural and natural production systems.
Iran's Tortuous Path Toward “Islamic Liberalism”

This article provides an overview of the intellectual and sociopolitical roots of Iran's tortuous path toward “Islamic liberalism” and reform. It analyzes the shift in the ideological orientation of a major faction within the political elite from a radical to a relatively moderate and liberal interpretation of Islam. The authors trace the roots of this ideological shift to a series of political developments since the triumph of the Islamic revolution in 1979, including various failures of the revolutionary regime to fulfill its populist and egalitarian promises; a considerable erosion in the legitimacy of the ruling clerics; the successful (though largely silent) resistance of the youth and women against the culturally restrictive policies of the Islamic Republic; the rise of a distinctly anti-fundamentalist, liberal-reformist interpretation of Islam by a number of Iranian theologians and religious intellectuals; and the precipitous decline in the popularity of revolutionary ideas in the 1990s. In spite of the increasing appeal of liberal-democratic ideas of individual freedom, pluralism, and political tolerance in the new reform movement and the overwhelming endorsement of these ideas in four recent national elections, including two presidential polls, the authors argue that the movement has had but a limited and, for the most part symbolic, influence on Iran's objective, and still repressive, political conditions.
Resonances in the 13C(13C, alpha )22Ne reaction for Ec.m.=10.3-13.4 MeV.

Complete angular distributions (${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.=9\mathrm{\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}}--}$90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}) have been measured for the reaction $^{13}\mathrm{C}$${(}^{13}$C,\ensuremath{\alpha}${)}^{22}$Ne in the energy range ${E}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.=10.38--}$13.38 MeV. The data exhibit significant nonstatistical behavior and have been fitted to a linear sum of Legendre polynomials using a least-squares procedure. An ${11}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ resonance is identified at ${E}_{x}$${(}^{26}$Mg)=34.21 MeV and a possible ${10}^{+}$ at ${E}_{x}$${(}^{26}$Mg)=33.71 MeV.
Consumer Information and Advertising

Economists have long believed that product differentiation is an important determinant of market behavior (e.g., Chamberlin, 1950; Bain, 1956), but economists have not been very successful in giving this concept operational meaning.1 One reason for this lack of success is that economists have not focused on one of the key elements of product differentiation: the consumer’s acquisition of information about product quality. I show in this paper that product differentiation will have quite different consequences on market behavior given different ways in which consumers obtain their information. These theoretical results are then supported by substantial empirical evidence.
A Design-for-Test Solution Based on Dedicated Test Layers and Test Scheduling for Monolithic 3-D Integrated Circuits

Monolithic 3-D (M3D) integration has the potential to achieve significantly higher device density compared to 3-D integration based on through-silicon vias. We propose a test solution for M3D ICs based on dedicated test layers, which are inserted between functional layers. We evaluate the cost associated with the proposed design-for-test (DfT) solution and compare it with that for a potential DfT solution based on the IEEE Std. P1838. Our results show that the proposed DfT solution is more cost-efficient than the P1838-based DfT solution for a wide range of interlayer via density. We also present a test scheduling and optimization technique for wafer-level testing of M3D ICs. The proposed technique provides test schedules with minimum test time under power consumption and probe pad constraints.
Overview of Oncology and Hematology Drug Approvals at US Food and Drug Administration Between 2008 and 2016

Background We previously conducted an overview of oncology products reviewed by the Office of Oncology Drug Products in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the US Food and Drug Administration for marketing approval and the regulatory actions taken during July 2005 to December 2007. There is a need to understand if the changes in the laws, regulations, and the organization that occurred after 2007 had any impact on the regulatory drug approvals. We present a detailed overview of hematology and oncology products reviewed by Office of Oncology Drug Products and Office of Hematology and Oncology Drug Products. Methods We identified all oncology-hematology applications that were submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2016, and reviewed the approval actions taken. Results During the study period, the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products approved 239 applications that supported 260 new indications. Of the 239 applications approved, 141 were approved via priority review and 98 were approved via standard review. Fifty-three of these applications were granted accelerated approval, 29 were converted from accelerated approval to regular approval, and 157 received regular approval. Since its promulgation in 2013, breakthrough designation status has been granted to 25.7% of applications. A variety of endpoints were used to support these approvals. Conclusion During the study period, despite changes in the regulations and organization, the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products consistently utilized regulatory mechanisms that expedite the development and approval of promising oncology and hematology drug products resulting in the approval of 260 new indications.
Keeping it Simple: Impact of a Restrictive Antibiotic Policy for Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Trauma Patients on Incidence and Sensitivities of Causative Pathogens

Abstract Background: An integral part of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) therapy is the appropriate choice of empiric antibiotics. Our previous experience demonstrated adherence to an empiric...
Pastor Paulo vs. Doctor Carlos: Professional Titles as Voting Heuristics in Brazil:

In low-information elections, voters are likely to rely on heuristics when choosing candidates. Based on survey experiments conducted prior to Brazil’s 2012 municipal elections, I examine the effect of candidates’ professional titles, such as “doctor” and “pastor,” on voting behavior. Using the “pastor” title in one’s electoral name tends to decrease vote intention, although evangelical Christians respond positively while members of other religious groups are repelled. The broader at-mosphere of political competition between Brazilian evangelicals and Catholics helps explain the presence of both out-group and in-group cueing effects. The “doctor” title has a positive effect on vote intention that appears to be mediated by the positive stereotypes, such as intelligence and competence, associated with members of this profession.
Last Words in Volume 18:2

Marchand has a preview of the new library (Alexander Library) with the University Librarian before it opens.
Difference limens for noise bandwidth discrimination in listeners with normal and impaired hearing

Frequency-lowering (FL) in hearing aids is often used to move inaudible high-frequency energy from sibilant fricatives to spectral regions where hearing better. Clinically, FL settings that maximize the spectral separation between these sounds, which can be modeled as bands of noise, are assumed to maximize discrimination between them and other speech contrasts. The purpose of this study was to quantify the minimum spectral differences for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners to discriminate between bands of frozen noise. Noise bands corresponded to the average frequency and bandwidth of sibilant fricatives after undergoing FL using settings appropriate for mild-to-moderate, moderately-severe, and severely-profound hearing losses. Noise bands differed on the low- and/or the high-frequency edges. Discrimination in normal-hearing listeners was constant across presentation level and the three frequency ranges. Discrimination was also better for high-frequency edge differences. Neural excitation patterns generated from an auditory nerve model account for these findings. Neural excitation patterns generated for the three severities of hearing loss indicate that hearing-impaired listeners will rely heavily on spectral differences on the low-frequency edge and indicate that sibilant fricatives processed with FL will not be able to be discriminated solely on the basis of high-frequency edge differences. [Grant supported by Sonova USA, Inc.] Frequency-lowering (FL) in hearing aids is often used to move inaudible high-frequency energy from sibilant fricatives to spectral regions where hearing better. Clinically, FL settings that maximize the spectral separation between these sounds, which can be modeled as bands of noise, are assumed to maximize discrimination between them and other speech contrasts. The purpose of this study was to quantify the minimum spectral differences for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners to discriminate between bands of frozen noise. Noise bands corresponded to the average frequency and bandwidth of sibilant fricatives after undergoing FL using settings appropriate for mild-to-moderate, moderately-severe, and severely-profound hearing losses. Noise bands differed on the low- and/or the high-frequency edges. Discrimination in normal-hearing listeners was constant across presentation level and the three frequency ranges. Discrimination was also better for high-frequency edge differences. Neural excitation patt...
Misc-GAN: A Multi-scale Generative Model for Graphs.

Characterizing and modeling the distribution of a particular family of graphs are essential for3studying real-world networks in a broad spectrum of disciplines, ranging from market-basket4analysis to biology, from social science to neuroscience. However, it is unclear how to model5the complex graph organizations and learn generative models from an observed graph. The6key challenges come from the non-unique, high-dimensional nature of graphs, as well as the7graph community structures at different granularity levels. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale8graph generative model namedMisc-GAN, which models the underlying distribution of the graph9structures at different levels of granularity, and then ‘transfers’ such hierarchical distribution from10the graphs in the domain of interest to a unique graph representation. The empirical results on11both synthetic and real data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
Experimental Quantification of Hardware Requirements for FPGA-Based Reconfigurable PMUs

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are becoming intrinsic components of modern power systems. The synchrophasor estimation algorithms in PMUs pose stringent computational demands, which makes the application of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) highly attractive. Previous works reported the implementation of PMU algorithms on specific FPGA-targets using a particular PMU design. This paper explores the implementation of different PMU designs on multiple FPGA targets using Xilinx and NI software and hardware infrastructures and toolsets. In this process, a metric has been formulated to predict FPGA-target hardware requirements. The metric allows predicting if an FPGA-target meets the needs to deploy a given PMU design resulting in significant engineering design time savings. Since the compilation/synthesis on FPGAs is a time-consuming job, this metric can reduce the implementation time for FPGA-based PMUs drastically and can help in determining if additional functionalities can be added.
Choledocholithiasis and Cholangitis: Incidence, Initial Management, and Surgical Management

The implications of gallstone carriage range from clinically silent and asymptomatic cholelithiasis to suppurative cholangitis and subsequent sepsis, multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, and death. Given the rising burden of gallstone disease in the developed world, an increasing prevalence of choledocholithiasis and ensuing cholangitis can be expected. High clinical suspicion, early recognition, prompt initiation of therapy, and balanced endoscopic and surgical management by skilled practitioners are required to achieve optimal outcomes.
Overview of the TROPICS Flight Segment

The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission was selected by NASA in 2016 as part of the Earth Venture Instrument (EVI-3) program and is now in development with planned launch readiness in late 2019. The TROPICS constellation consists of six CubeSats, two in each of three low-Earth orbital planes with a nominal circular orbit of 550 km and inclination of 30°. Each CubeSat hosts a highperformance radiometer payload with twelve microwave channels, providing atmospheric temperature profiles, water vapor profiles, and rain rate. The TROPICS mission will produce rapid-refresh microwave measurements (median refresh rate of approximately 40 minutes for the baseline mission) over the Tropics that will enable observations of the entire tropical storm lifecycle. The radiometer design is similar to two other MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) CubeSat programs, MicroMAS and MiRaTA, with improvements to meet enhanced performance requirements and longer mission life. The CubeSat bus is under contract with a commercial vendor who will integrate the MIT LL payload and their bus, and test the complete space vehicle. This paper will describe the mission, present various aspects of the payload and bus design, and describe the assembly, integration and test flow.
Friction stir welding of high-strength steel

The feasibility of friction stir welding of 12.7-mm-thick high-strength steel plates with the martensitic microstructure of the base material has been investigated. Microstructural investigation revealed a mixture of upper bainite and martensite microstructure in the stir zone. The thermo-mechanically affected zone exhibits a unique layered microstructure of fine equiaxed ferrite, bainite, and martensite. The martensitic structure of the base material transformed into the tempered martensite in the heat-affected zone. The mechanical response of the various microstructures at the different part of the welds has been correlated with a detailed microhardness investigation across the entire cross-section of the weld.