cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Richter scale: its development and use for determining earthquake source parameters

Abstract The M L scale, introduced by Richter in 1935, is the antecedent of every magnitude scale in use today. The scale is defined such that a magnitude-3 earthquake recorded on a Wood-Anderson torsion seismometer at a distance of 100 km would write a record with a peak excursion of 1 mm. To be useful, some means are needed to correct recordings to the standard distance of 100 km. Richter provides a table of correction values, which he terms −log A o , the latest of which is contained in his 1958 textbook. A new analysis of over 9000 readings from almost 1000 earthquakes in the southern California region was recently completed to redetermine the −log A o values. Although some systematic differences were found between this analysis and Richter's values (such that using Richter's values would lead to underand overestimates of M L at distances less than 40 km and greater than 200 km, respectively), the accuracy of his values is remarkable in view of the small number of data used in their determination. Richter's corrections for the distance attenuation of the peak amplitudes on Wood-Anderson seismographs apply only to the southern California region, of course, and should not be used in other areas without first checking to make sure that they are applicable. Often in the past this has not been done, but recently a number of papers have been published determining the corrections for other areas. If there are significant differences in the attenuation within 100 km between regions, then the definition of the magnitude at 100 km could lead to difficulty in comparing the sizes of earthquakes in various parts of the world. To alleviate this, it is proposed that the scale be defined such that a magnitude 3 corresponds to 10 mm of motion at 17 km. This is consistent both with Richter's definition of M L at 100 km and with the newly determined distance corrections in the southern California region. Aside from the obvious (and original) use as a means of cataloguing earthquakes according to size, M L has been used in predictions of ground shaking as a function of distance and magnitude; it has also been used in estimating energy and seismic moment. There is a good correlation of peak ground velocity and the peak motion on a Wood-Anderson instrument at the same location, as well as an observationally defined (and theoretically predicted) nonlinear relation between M L and seismic moment. An important byproduct of the establishment of the M L scale is the continuous operation of the network of Wood-Anderson seismographs on which the scale is based. The records from these instruments can be used to make relative comparisons of amplitudes and waveforms of recent and historic earthquakes; furthermore, because of the moderate gain, the instruments can write onscale records from great earthquakes at teleseismic distances and thus can provide important information about the energy radiated from such earthquakes at frequencies where many instruments have saturated.
Commentary on “Hierarchy Theory in Sociology, Ecology, and Resource Management: A Conceptual Model for Natural Resource or Environmental Sociology and Socioecological Systems” by W. Warren

Have you ever tried to see the picture within the picture of a stereogram drawing? Your friends say, “Look at this book…keep looking…what do you see?…keep looking!” But all you see is the abstract ...
Nonextraction Treatment in Early Interception of Malocclusion: Report of Cases

Nonextraction treatment in which the upper and lower first molars are moved distally produced good results in patients with closed bite discrepancies. In use of the technique, advantage is taken of the space created by the difference in size between the mandibular deciduous molars and the permanent premolars. Reports of five cases illustrate the effectiveness of the treatment.
Overview and Assessment of Unity Toolkits for Rapid Development of an Educational VR Application

As the interest in Virtual Reality (VR) increases, so does the number of software toolkits available for various VR applications. Given that more games are being made with the Unity game engine than any other game technology, several of these toolkits are developed to be directly imported into Unity. A feature and interaction comparison of the toolkits is needed by Unity developers to properly suit one for a specific application. This paper presents an overview and comparison of several virtual reality toolkits available for developers using the Unity game engine. getReal3D, MiddleVR, and Reality-based User Interface System (RUIS) are analysed for VR interaction and display on multi-projection immersive environments like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE)s. MiddleVR was found to have the highest performance and most versatile toolkit for CAVE display and interaction. However, taking cost into account, RUIS is the clear winner as it is available for free under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 3 license.
Regulation of Chorusing in the Vibrational Communication System of the Leafhopper Graminella nigrifrons

Male Graminella nigrifrons participate in alternating choruses. Vibrational calls emitted by males consist of three sections (S1, S2, and S3) that differ in pattern of amplitude modulation. In this study we examined the response of single males to synthetic choruses and to isolated call components to gain insight into the regulation of chorus structure. Males initiated calls primarily during the silent periods within synthetic choruses. In all 15 trials the number of overlapping calls and the duration of overlap was significantly less than expected if males call at random. Playback of S2, S3, or random noise while males emitted S1 caused males to interrupt calling, whereas males continued to call when S1 or no signal was played. In a related experiment, we played S2 or no signal while males were beginning to emit the S1, S2, or S3 phase of their calls. In response to this playback the duration of S1 and S3 was reduced, but the duration of S2 was not affected. These results suggest that an inhibitory-resetting mechanism may result in alternation of calls in this leafhopper.
Application of robotics to stereotactic neurosurgery

Advances in the field of stereotactic neurosurgery have depended on improvements in brain-imaging techniques, as well as development of new stereotactic frame systems. This paper describes the development of a stereotactic system based on a robotics model. The system employs the Unimation Puma Mark II Robotic System, specifically modified for use in stereotactic surgery. The robotic CT stereotactic system is mounted in a dedicated operating suite, containing a CT scanning gantry and adjacent computer room. Stereotactic coordinates are derived from CT scan data obtained intraoperatively and transferred by computer link to the robotic stereotactic system. The robotic arm is driven into place to align with predetermined coordinates. A variety of stereotactic procedures may then be carried out using the robotic 'hand' as a guide to the target. So far, the device has been used, only for lesion biopsy. However, future applications to functional neurosurgery are anticipated.
Rapid Eradication of Human Breast Cancer Cells through Trackable Light-Triggered CO Delivery by Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Packed with a Designed photoCORM

The surprising discovery of salutary effects of low doses of carbon monoxide (CO) in mammalian physiology has raised intense research interest in CO delivery to biological targets under controlled conditions. In recent attempts, photoactive metal carbonyl complexes (photoCORMs) have been employed to trigger CO release at the target sites. In this work, a designed photoCORM namely, fac-[Re(CO)3(pbt) (PPh3)](CF3SO3) (1, pbt =2-(2-pyridyl)benzothiazole) has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods and crystallography. This photoCORM not only releases CO upon illumination with low-power UV light (305 nm, 5 mW cm–2) but also exhibits a “turn-off” of its orange luminescence (λem = 605 nm) upon release of one CO ligand. The latter property provides a convenient way to track the CO release event. The photoCORM 1 has been entrapped within the pores of the narrow channels of 100 nm mesoporous Al-MCM-41 nanoparticles and the loaded {Re-CO}@Al-MCM-41 MSNs have been characterized by powder X-ray dif...
Thermal Transport across Surfactant Layers on Gold Nanorods in Aqueous Solution.

Ultrafast transient absorption experiments and molecular dynamics simulations are utilized to investigate the thermal transport between aqueous solutions and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)- or polyethylene glycol (PEG)-functionalized gold nanorods (GNRs). The transient absorption measurement data are interpreted with a multiscale heat diffusion model, which incorporates the interfacial thermal conductances predicted by molecular dynamics. According to our observations, the effective thermal conductance of the GNR/PEG/water system is higher than that of the GNR/CTAB/water system with a surfactant layer of the same length. We attribute the enhancement of thermal transport to the larger thermal conductance at the GNR/PEG interface as compared with that at the GNR/CTAB interface, in addition to the water penetration into the hydrophilic PEG layer. Our results highlight the role of the GNR/polymer thermal interfaces in designing biological and composite-based heat transfer applications of GNRs, and the ...
Validation of Geometric Mistuning Reduced-Order Models for Single and Dual Flow-Path Integrally Bladed Rotors

This efforts validates the utilization of tuned secondary modal reductions in building approximate, highly reduced-order models of geometrically mistuned single and dual flowpath integrally bladed rotors (IBRs). The blades of each IBR are geometrically mistuned according to physical measurements taken from industrial hardware. A probabilistic study is conducted on a population of single and dual flow-path IBRs with random blade geometry perturbations; the mistuned forced response levels are calculated from different fidelity models, including: full finite element models, lower fidelity Craig-Bampton component mode synthesis models, and the lowest fidelity models reduced with tuned-secondary modal reductions. Statistical comparisons of the mistuned forced response distributions are carried out to show any differences in the lowest fidelity models’ ability to capture the forced response levels of a fleet of single and dual flow-path IBRs. Results indicate the lowest fidelity, highly-reduced models provide accurate forced response predictions for a population of rotors. Lastly, correlations between mistuned response prediction error for the single flow-path IBR and error metrics composed of secondary modes used in the lowfidelity models are investigated to determine if there are linkages between model accuracies and secondary modes used in model creation.
Estimating the contribution of Brownian and Néel relaxation in a magnetic fluid through dynamic magnetic susceptibility measurements

Abstract We demonstrate how dynamic magnetic susceptibility measurements (DMS) can be used to estimate the relative contributions of Brownian and Neel relaxation to the dynamic magnetic response of a magnetic fluid, a suspension of magnetic nanoparticles. The method applies to suspensions with particles that respond through Brownian or Neel relaxation and for which the characteristic Brownian and Neel relaxation times are widely separated. First, we illustrate this using magnetic fluids consisting of mixtures of particles that relax solely by the Brownian or Neel mechanisms. Then, it is shown how the same approach can be applied to estimate the relative contributions of Brownian and Neel relaxation in a suspension consisting of particles obtained from a single synthesis and whose size distribution straddles the transition from Neel to Brownian relaxation.
Improving Event Detection with Dependency Regularization

Event Detection (ED) is an Information Extraction task which involves identifying instances of specified types of events in text. Most recent research on Event Detection relies on pattern-based or featurebased approaches, trained on annotated corpora, to recognize combinations of event triggers, arguments, and other contextual information. These combinations may each appear in a variety of linguistic forms. Not all of these event expressions will have appeared in the training data, thus adversely affecting ED performance. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of Dependency Regularization techniques to generalize the patterns extracted from the training data to boost ED performance. The experimental results on the ACE 2005 corpus show that our pattern-based system with the expanded patterns can achieve 70.49% (with 2.57% absolute improvement) F-measure over the baseline, which advances the state-of-the-art for such systems.
Lansoprazole was not effective in young dyspeptic patients without Helicobacter pylori.

Source Citation Leung WK, Wu JC, Chan FK, et al. Initial treatment with lansoprazole in young dyspeptic patients with negative urea breath test result: a randomized controlled trial with 12-month f...
Who is interested in personality? The Interest in Personality Scale and its correlates

Abstract This research introduces the Interest in Personality Scale (IPS), a self-report measure assessing individual differences in interest in, and attentiveness to, others' personalities. Seven studies were meta-analyzed to examine the correlates of the IPS, and participants (N = 1004) were drawn from student and online population. The IPS demonstrated good internal reliability, and it correlated significantly with a number of traits and demographic characteristics. People who scored higher on the IPS were more likely to be women and to be younger; described themselves as more agreeable, conscientious, extraverted, open to experience, dominant, empathic, masculine, feminine, agentic, communal, and narcissistic; and reported more positive relations with others. Emotion recognition and humanitarianism correlated positively with IPS marginally. Neuroticism, a bipolar femininity-masculinity scale, personal distress, and Machiavellianism were unrelated to the IPS.
Hemangioendothelioma of the Testis

A case of hemangioendothelioma of the testis is reported. Although the tumor has been reported in almost all organs and tissues, this is the first case involving the testis to be found in the literature. A distinction is made between the benign and the malignant form of the tumor. Hemangioendothelioma of the corpus cavernosum is discussed.
Analysis of Human Spermatozoal Fertilizing Ability Using Zona-Free Ova

An in vitro fertilization assay employing zona-free hamster eggs was used to analyze human spermatozoal fertilizing ability. Human spermatozoa were preincubated for 18 to 20 hours in Biggers, Whitten, and Whittingham's medium (1971) at a concentration of 1 X 10(7) sperm/ml prior to the addition of zona-free superovulated hamster eggs. Eggs were examined microscopically 2 hours later for evidence of swelling or decondensing sperm heads in the cytoplasm. A total of 6266 eggs were examined in assays for both suspected fertile and infertile donors; 50 eggs/sample were examined. The percentage fertilization was found to range from 14% to 100% in the suspected fertile group with an average of 56.3%. The sperm concentration in this fertile group ranged from 22 to 303 million/ml with an average of 114. The suspected infertile samples yielded fertilization rates of 10% or less and an average count of 50.6 million/ml. These data suggest that human spermatozoa fuse with the vitelline membrane of zona-free hamster eggs and decondense with varying efficiencies. The percentage of fertilization in this cross-species system did not show a significant correlation with sperm concentration or motility. However, suspected infertile samples always yielded 10% or less fertilization in this assay. This method may have potential value as a diagnostic tool in evaluating human spermatozoal fertilizing capacity which avoids the ethical and logistcal problems associated with fertilization of human eggs in vitro.
Could Isidore's Chronicle Have Delighted Cicero? Using the Concept of Genre to Compare Ancient and Medieval Chronicles

Richard W. Burgess and Michael Kulikowski’s A Historical Introduction to the Chronicle Genre from its Origins to the High Middle Ages (Volume I in the authors’ planned series Mosaics of Time: The Latin Chronicle Traditions from the First Century BC to the Sixth Century AD) posits that medieval studies has neglected to engage in a systematic, historically-informed reflection on the genre of chronicles. The present article asserts that this challenge to the field presents a unique opportunity for an interdisciplinary discussion of wide scope and lasting duration. I thus argue that Burgess and Kulikowski’s larger points may be reconciled with current scholarship on medieval chronicles by updating the theoretical premises that underlie our identification of historical genres. I aim to contribute to the discussion by turning to a consensus in current theoretical work, that genre is best discussed as a description of the way texts and their readers communicated. The article concludes by applying this hypothesis to an experiment in comparison: if it is not the differences but the similarities that stand out when Cicero and Isidore of Seville’s respective meditations upon chronicles are set side by side, then what are the implications for our methods of reconstructing the significance of chronicles in their own milieus?
Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates trophoblast folate uptake by modulating the cell surface expression of FR-α and the RFC

Folate deficiency in fetal life is strongly associated with structural malformations and linked to intrauterine growth restriction. In addition, limited availability of methyl donors, such as folate, during pregnancy may result in abnormal gene methylation patterns and contribute to developmental programming. The fetus is dependent on placental transfer of folate, however the molecular mechanisms regulating placental folate transport are unknown. We used cultured primary human trophoblast cells to test the hypothesis that mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and 2 (mTORC2) regulate folate transport by post-translational mechanisms. Silencing raptor (inhibits mTORC1) or rictor (inhibits mTORC2) markedly decreased basal folate uptake. Folate uptake stimulated by insulin + IGF-1 was mediated by mTORC2 but did not involve mTORC1. mTORC1 or mTORC2 silencing markedly decreased the plasma membrane expression of FR-α and RFC transporter isoforms without affecting global protein expression. Inhibition of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2 had no effect on folate transport. In conclusion, we report for the first time that mTORC1/C2 are positive regulators of cellular folate uptake by modulating the cell surface abundance of specific transporter isoforms. We propose that regulation of placental folate transport by mTOR signaling provide a direct link between placental function, gene methylation and fetal programming.
PTEN Signaling in the Postnatal Perivascular Progenitor Niche Drives Medulloblastoma Formation

Loss of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN exerts diverse outcomes on cancer in different developmental contexts. To gain insight into the effect of its loss on outcomes in the brain, we conditionally inactivated the murine Pten gene in neonatal neural stem/progenitor cells. Pten inactivation created an abnormal perivascular proliferative niche in the cerebellum that persisted in adult animals but did not progress to malignancy. Proliferating cells showed undifferentiated morphology and expressed the progenitor marker Nestin but not Math1, a marker of committed granule neuron progenitors. Codeletion of Pten and Trp53 resulted in fully penetrant medulloblastoma originating from the perivascular niche, which exhibited abnormal blood vessel networks and advanced neuronal differentiation of tumor cells. EdU pulse-chase experiments demonstrated a perivascular cancer stem cell population in Pten/Trp53 double mutant medulloblastomas. Genetic analyses revealed recurrent somatic inactivations of the tumor suppressor gene Ptch1 and a recapitulation of the sonic hedgehog subgroup of human medulloblastomas. Overall, our results showed that PTEN acts to prevent the proliferation of a progenitor niche in postnatal cerebellum predisposed to oncogenic induction of medulloblastoma. Cancer Res; 77(1); 123-33. ©2016 AACR.
Choice architecture to promote fruit and vegetable purchases by families participating in the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): randomized corner store pilot study.

Objective To conduct a pilot study to determine if improving the visibility and quality of fresh produce (choice architecture) in corner stores would increase fruit/vegetable purchases by families participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Design Six stores were randomly assigned to choice architecture intervention or control. Store-level WIC sales data were provided by the state. Primary outcomes were WIC fruit/vegetable voucher and non-fruit/vegetable voucher sales, comparing trends from baseline (December 2012-October 2013) with the five-month intervention period (December 2013-April 2014). Secondary outcomes were differences in customer self-reported fruit/vegetable purchases between baseline and end of the intervention. Setting Chelsea, MA, USA, a low-income urban community. Subjects Adult customers (n 575) completing store exit interviews. Results During baseline, WIC fruit/vegetable and non-fruit/vegetable sales decreased in both intervention and control stores by $US 16/month. During the intervention period, WIC fruit/vegetable sales increased in intervention stores by $US 40/month but decreased in control stores by $US 23/month (difference in trends: $US 63/month; 95 % CI 4, 121 $US/month; P=0·036); WIC non-fruit/vegetable sales were not different (P=0·45). Comparing baseline and intervention-period exit interview responses by customers participating in WIC (n 134), intervention store customers reported increased fruit/vegetable purchases compared with control store customers (18 v. -2 %), but this did not achieve statistical significance (P=0·11). Conclusions Placement of fruits/vegetables near the front of corner stores increased purchase of produce by customers using WIC. New policies that incentivize stores to stock and prominently display good-quality produce could promote healthier food choices of low-income families.
A Review of Clinical and Imaging Findings in Eosinophilic Lung Diseases.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to review the clinical and imaging findings associated with eosinophilic lung diseases. CONCLUSION. The spectrum of eosinophilic lung diseases comprises a diverse group of pulmonary disorders that have an association with tissue or peripheral eosinophilia. These diseases have varied clinical presentations and may be associated with several other abnormalities. Characteristic imaging findings are often detected with chest radiography, and CT best shows parenchymal abnormalities. The integration of clinical, radiologic, and pathologic findings facilitates diagnosis and directs appropriate treatment.
Newlywed Couple Leisure: Couple Identity Formation Through Leisure Time

An interpretative phenomenological study of newlywed couple leisure was conducted to understand the role of leisure in the development of relationship dynamics and couple identity. Nine couples wer...
A Re-Examination of the Asymmetry between Interest Rates and Stock Returns

The purpose of this paper is to reconcile previous findings of prolonged asymmetrical relationships between interest rates and stock returns, where a reduction in interest rates in one month was shown to produce positive stock returns over a twelve-month period. This study provides evidence that the puzzling relationships suggested by a previous study are sample-dependent and cannot withstand further scrutiny. Test results presented in this study show that investors are not likely to earn abnormal returns through an investment strategy constructed on the expectation of long-term positivie returns following a reduction in interest rates.
Compositional and surface characterization of HULIS by UV-Vis, FTIR, NMR and XPS: Wintertime study in Northern India

Abstract This study (first attempt) characterizes HULIS (Humic Like Substances) in wintertime aerosols (n = 12 during day and nighttime each) from Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP, at Kanpur) by using various state-of-the art techniques such as UV-VIS, FTIR, 1H NMR and XPS. Based on UV-Vis analysis the absorption coefficient at 365 nm (babs-365) of HULIS was found to average at 13.6 and 28.8 Mm−1 during day and nighttime, respectively. Relatively high babs-365 of HULIS during the nighttime is attributed to influence of fog-processing. However, the power fit of UV-Vis spectrum provided near similar AAE (absorption Angstrom exponent) value of HULIS centering at 4.9 ± 1.4 and 5.1 ± 1.3 during daytime and nighttime, respectively. FTIR spectra and its double derivative revealed the presence of various functional groups viz. alcohols, ketones aldehydes, carboxylic acids as well as unsaturated and saturated carbon bonds. 1H NMR spectroscopy was applied to quantify relative percentage of various types of hydrogen atoms contained in HULIS, whereas XPS technique provided information on surface composition and oxidation states of various elements present. A significantly high abundance of H‒C‒O group has been observed in HULIS (based on 1H NMR); 41.4± 2.7% and 30.9± 2.4% in day and nighttime, respectively. However, aromatic protons (Ar-H) were higher in nighttime samples (19.3± 1.8%) as compared to that in daytime samples (7.5 ± 1.9). XPS studies revealed presence of various species on the surface of HULIS samples. Carbon existed in 7 different chemical states while total nitrogen and sulfur exhibited 3 and 2 different oxidation states (respectively) on the surface of HULIS. This study reports structural information and absorption properties of HULIS which has implications to their role as cloud condensation nuclei and atmospheric direct radiative forcing.
Influence of renal biopsy results on the management of small kidney cancers in older patients: Results from a population-based cohort

Abstract Background and objective Small kidney cancers are a heterogeneous group with varying malignant potential. Pathologic information obtained from a renal biopsy may guide decision-making for small kidney cancers. We sought to assess the effect of pathologic information from renal biopsy on the nonsurgical management of small kidney cancers in a population-based cohort of patients over 65 years of age. Methods In the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare dataset, we identified patients ≥66 years diagnosed with a kidney cancer Results From 8,933 patients, 2,782 (31%) had a diagnostic renal biopsy of whom 616 (22%) were managed nonsurgically. Controlling for patient, disease, and provider specialty, biopsy was associated with nonsurgical management (adjusted odds ratio = 1.61, 95% Cl: 1.43–1.82) in patients with low-grade tumors but also with more aggressive histology (clear cell renal cell carcinoma). Older age (85+) and geographic region were significantly associated with greater odds of diagnostic biopsy. Patients whose initial renal tumor diagnosis was made by a urologist (vs. other type of provider) were less likely to receive a biopsy (adjust odds ratio = 0.73, 95% Cl: 0.60–0.89). Conclusions Although the use of renal biopsy has increased over time and is associated with the use of nonsurgical management of small kidney cancers, the use of the pathologic findings remains limited. Further advances, particularly with prognostic markers, are necessary before renal biopsy can be routinely implemented for treatment decision-making for small kidney cancers.
Front end Signal Processing Electronics for the SDC Straw Tracking System

The SDC tracker poses significant competing requirements for short measurement time (≈5ns), good double pulse resolution (≈ 20ns), low power (≈I5mW/channel), low operational threshold (≈lfC) and good radiation resistance. Borrowing from existing signal processing techniques, we have designed a custom integrated circuit to address these signal processing issues on a single monolithic substrate. The ASD-8 contains eight channels of amplifier, shaper and discriminator. It was intended as a prototype to study the feasibility of including amplifier, detector tail compensation and comparator functions on the same chip. Threshold control with lockout for each channel and a programmable current output allows easy interfacing to a variety of triggering and time measurement devices. Tests with fabricated parts indicate excellent yield and stable operation with less than 3% crosstalk between adjacent channels.
Stochastically simulated mode interactions of thin-walled cold-formed steel members using modal identification

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the geometric imperfection on the interaction of buckling modes for thin-walled cold-formed steel members with a quantitative modal identification approach. Previous studies showed that the interaction of buckling modes varies during the loading process and how buckling interacts depends not only on the section itself but also on the geometric imperfections in the member. This interaction could change the failure modes of the member and its strength accordingly. This paper integrates a modal identification approach based on constrained finite strip method to track this interaction out of the shell finite element model for nonlinear collapse analyses. The geometric imperfections are included in the computational shell finite element model using the traditional modal approach with stochastically simulated magnitudes. The simulations are performed on five specially selected cold-formed steel sections that are deemed to be local-dominant, distortional-dominant, local-distortional interacted, Pcr-equal interacted, and Pn-equal interacted. The deformations of the analyses are categorized into the fundamental deformation modes commonly available to cold-formed members: local, distortional, and global. Sensitivity of imperfection is studied by tracing the variation of mode interaction, in particular, for the failure mode. Peak load and associated mode participations are investigated. In addition, a statistical study of the impact of imperfections on the potential failure mode at peak is provided. The potential correlation of the member strength with mode participation is explored, which will shed light on the coupled instability of cold-formed steel member, in particular on investigating the impact of mode participations to member strength.
Selective excitation of window and buffer layers in chalcopyrite devices and modules

Abstract Window and buffer layers in chalcopyrite devices are well known to affect junctions, conduction, and photo-absorption properties of the device. Some of these layers, particularly “buffers,” which are deposited directly on top of the absorber, exhibit metastable effects upon exposure to light. Thus, to understand device performance and/or metastability, it is sometimes desirable to selectively excite different layers in the device stack. Absorption characteristics of various window and buffer layers used in chalcopyrite devices are measured. These characteristics are compared with emission spectra of common and available light sources that might be used to optically excite such layers. Effects of the window and buffer absorption on device quantum efficiency and metastability are discussed. For the case of bath-deposited Zn(O,S) buffers, we conclude that this layer is not optically excited in research devices or modules. This provides a complimentary mechanism to the chemical differences that may cause long time constants (compared to devices with CdS buffers) associated with reaching a stable “light-soaked” state.
Predicting suicide attempts in adolescents with longitudinal clinical data and machine learning.

BACKGROUND Adolescents have high rates of nonfatal suicide attempts, but clinically practical risk prediction remains a challenge. Screening can be time consuming to implement at scale, if it is done at all. Computational algorithms may predict suicide risk using only routinely collected clinical data. We used a machine learning approach validated on longitudinal clinical data in adults to address this challenge in adolescents. METHODS This is a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study. Data were collected from the Vanderbilt Synthetic Derivative from January 1998 to December 2015 and included 974 adolescents with nonfatal suicide attempts and multiple control comparisons: 496 adolescents with other self-injury (OSI), 7,059 adolescents with depressive symptoms, and 25,081 adolescent general hospital controls. Candidate predictors included diagnostic, demographic, medication, and socioeconomic factors. Outcome was determined by multiexpert review of electronic health records. Random forests were validated with optimism adjustment at multiple time points (from 1 week to 2 years). Recalibration was done via isotonic regression. Evaluation metrics included discrimination (AUC, sensitivity/specificity, precision/recall) and calibration (calibration plots, slope/intercept, Brier score). RESULTS Computational models performed well and did not require face-to-face screening. Performance improved as suicide attempts became more imminent. Discrimination was good in comparison with OSI controls (AUC = 0.83 [0.82-0.84] at 720 days; AUC = 0.85 [0.84-0.87] at 7 days) and depressed controls (AUC = 0.87 [95% CI 0.85-0.90] at 720 days; 0.90 [0.85-0.94] at 7 days) and best in comparison with general hospital controls (AUC 0.94 [0.92-0.96] at 720 days; 0.97 [0.95-0.98] at 7 days). Random forests significantly outperformed logistic regression in every comparison. Recalibration improved performance as much as ninefold - clinical recommendations with poorly calibrated predictions can lead to decision errors. CONCLUSIONS Machine learning on longitudinal clinical data may provide a scalable approach to broaden screening for risk of nonfatal suicide attempts in adolescents.
Intelligent resource selection for sensor-task assignment: the story so far (Conference Presentation)

Today, sensing resources (both devices and processes) play a crucial role in the success of critical tasks such as border monitoring and surveillance. Although there are various types of resources available, each with different capabilities, only a subset of these resources is useful for a specific task. This is due to the dynamism in tasks' environment and the heterogeneity of the resources. Thus, an effective mechanism to select resources for tasks is needed so that the selected resources cater for the needs of the tasks whilst respecting the context of operation. When we started our research a few years back, there was a critical gap between the state-of-the-art and the need to perform context-aware resource selection for tasks. In this paper, we summaries our knowledge-based approach which introduces the context of operation to the resource selection process. First, we present a formalism to represent sensor domain. We then introduce sound and complete mechanisms through which effective resource solutions for tasks are discovered. An extension to the representation is then proposed so that the agility in resource selection is increased. Finally, we present an architecture whereby a multitude of such knowledge bases are exposed as services so that a coalition can fully benefit from its networked resources. Our approach is general in that, it can be applied in many other domains—especially in service sciences; we have provided some evidence towards this.
Anti-regular graphs with loops and their spectrum

We characterize the graphs with loops whose degree sequences have no repeated values and find their adjacency spectrum. In the case of simple graphs, such graphs are called anti-regular graphs and are examples of threshold graphs. The spectrum is found by using the known relationship between tridiagonal matrices and orthogonal polynomials.
Influence of life-prolonging food restriction on membrane lipoperoxidation and antioxidant status.

The biological aging processes are time-dependent deteriorative changes occurring in all living cells. Several investigators have postulated that these age-related changes are due primarily to alterations in cellular membrane structure and function.1,2 The free radical theory of aging proposed by Harman provides a molecular basis for the possible mechanisms for such ubiquitous phenomena.3
Effect of probiotic bacteria on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content and quality of yogurt

v GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 Structure of CLA 4 Biological activity of CLA 5 Sources of CLA 21 Formation of CLA 26 Analytical methods for CLA determination 42 EFFECT OF LIPID SOURCE ON PROBIOTIC BACTERIA AND CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID FORMATION IN MILK MODEL SYSTEMS 46 Abstract 47 Introduction 48 Experimental Procedures 50 Results and Discussion 53 References 60 Tables and Figures 63 PRODUCTION OF CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID IN YOGURT PRODUCTS THROUGH INCORPORATION OF PROBIOTIC BACTERIA 67 Abstract 68 Introduction 69 Materials and Methods 71 Results and Discussion 76 Conclusions 84 References 84 Tables and Figures 88 QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF YOGURT PRODUCTS WITH PROBIOTIC BACTERIA 94 Abstract 95 Introduction 96
INTERMITTENT HYPOXIA AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION : IMPLICATIONS FROM CHRONIC ANIMAL MODELS

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a frequent sleep disorder in which the upper airway collapses repeatedly during sleep, resulting in intermittent hypoxia (IH) and asphyxia, and leading also to sleep fragmentation due to the recurrent nocturnal arousals necessary to relieve the upper airway obstruction. In addition to cardiovascular and metabolic morbidities, OSAS also causes serious neurocognitive daytime dysfunction and is associated with regional alterations in brain morphology in humans. These findings suggest that the anatomical brain lesions may underlie the behavioral deficits associated with the disease. In rodents, chronic exposure to intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep, which model the hypoxia/re-oxygenation patterns observed in moderate to severe OSAS patients, replicates many of the neurocognitive features of OSAS in humans, such as learning and memory deficits and impaired vigilance. Exposure to experimentally-induced IH in the rodent is also associated with age- and time-related neurodegenerative changes in addition to alterations in brain regions and neurotransmitter systems involved in learning and memory, attention, and locomotor activity. Multiple pathophysiological processes appear to be involved in the mechanistic aspects of the behavioral and neuronal susceptibility to IH during sleep, and include pathways leading to increased oxidative stress and inflammation, altered gene regulation, and decreases in the cellular and molecular substrates of synaptic plasticity. In addition, both environmental and genetic factors modulate the end-organ susceptibility to IH-induced cognitive dysfunction in rodents. Collectively, the available data indicate that exposure to IH during sleep is associated with adverse behavioral and neuronal consequences in the rodent. Improved understanding of the determinants of IH-related susceptibility may help explain the phenotypic variance in OSAS-associated morbidities, and enable improved therapeutic approaches in the future.
State medical board attempts to censure physician communication styles.

The state medical board has limited ability to regulate rude and insensitive physician speech. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Chiral separation of diastereomers of the cyclic nonapeptides vasopressin and desmopressin by uniform field ion mobility mass spectrometry

In this study ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) is used to distinguish chiral diastereomers of the nonapeptides desmopressin and vasopressin. The differences in gas phase cross sectional area (ca. 2%) were sufficient to directly resolve the enantiomers present in a binary mixture. Results from computational modeling indicate that chiral recognition by IM-MS for nonapeptides is possible due to their diastereomer-specific conformations adopted in the gas-phase, namely a compact ring-tail conformer specific to the L-diastereomer forms.
Acoustic cues for vocal emotion recognition by normal-hearing listeners and cochlear implant users

Our recent study found that cochlear implant (CI) users’ quality of life in auditory, psychological, and social functioning were predicted by vocal emotion rather than sentence recognition scores. To eventually improve vocal emotion recognition with CIs, this study investigated the acoustic cues for vocal emotion recognition by CI users with CI alone or bimodal fitting, as compared to normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Sentence duration, mean fundamental frequency (F0), and F0 range were individually normalized for emotional utterances of each talker and sentence. In two other conditions, emotional utterances were presented backward in time and with upside-down F0 contours, respectively. Perceptual results showed significant effects of subject group, cue condition, talker, and emotion. Time-reversed utterances worsened NH listeners’ recognition of all emotions except sad, while upside-down F0 contours worsened that of angry and happy. Vocal emotion recognition with CI alone only degraded with time-reversed utterances. Time-reversed utterances worsened bimodal CI users’ recognition of angry and neutral, while upside-down F0 contours worsened that of angry and happy. Bimodal CI users and NH listeners were also affected by mean F0 and F0 range normalization when recognizing happy. We conclude that natural F0 contours should be faithfully encoded with CIs for better vocal emotion recognition.Our recent study found that cochlear implant (CI) users’ quality of life in auditory, psychological, and social functioning were predicted by vocal emotion rather than sentence recognition scores. To eventually improve vocal emotion recognition with CIs, this study investigated the acoustic cues for vocal emotion recognition by CI users with CI alone or bimodal fitting, as compared to normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Sentence duration, mean fundamental frequency (F0), and F0 range were individually normalized for emotional utterances of each talker and sentence. In two other conditions, emotional utterances were presented backward in time and with upside-down F0 contours, respectively. Perceptual results showed significant effects of subject group, cue condition, talker, and emotion. Time-reversed utterances worsened NH listeners’ recognition of all emotions except sad, while upside-down F0 contours worsened that of angry and happy. Vocal emotion recognition with CI alone only degraded with time-reversed ut...
Scalable K-Core Decomposition for Static Graphs Using a Dynamic Graph Data Structure

The k-core of a graph is a metric used in a wide range of applications, including social network analytics, visualization, and graph coloring. We present two new parallel and scalable algorithms for finding the maximal k-core in a graph. Unlike past approaches, our new algorithms do not rebuild the graph in every iteration – rather, they use a dynamic graph data structure and avoid one of the largest performance penalties of k-core – pruning vertices and edges. We also show how to extend our algorithms to support k-core edge decomposition for different size k-cores found in the graph. While our new algorithms are architecture independent, our implementations target NVIDIA GPUs. When comparing our algorithms against several highly optimized algorithms, including the sequential igraph implementation and the multi-thread ParK implementation, our new algorithms are significantly faster. For finding the maximal k-core in the graph, our new algorithm can be up-to 58× faster the igraph and up-to 4× faster than ParK executed on a 36 core (72 thread) system. For the k-core decomposition algorithm, we saw even greater and more consistent speedups for our algorithm where it was up-to 130× faster than igraph and up-to 8× faster than ParK. Our algorithms were executed on an NVIDIA P100 GPU.
“Color-Blind” Leadership and Intergroup Conflict:

Educational organizations that reflect a diversity of class, gender, socioeconomic status, and nationality in their membership establish a complex set of interactions that have implications for how...
Wave focusing in pipe-like structures via gradient-index metamaterial lens toward damage detection and localization

In this paper, we explore a metamaterial lens layer integrated within the pipe design to amplify the signal energy at the positions of the receiving sensors and damage initiation position enabling the transmission of damage information long distances. The gradient-index metamaterial layer is composed of unit cells with a hyperbolic secant profile distribution of refractive index to focus the wave energy transmitted by ultrasonic wave used in guided wave. The proposed methodology is implemented on a steel pipe typically used in the distribution networks utilized in cities and wave focusing performance is verified through numerical models.
Through the Black Mirror: Innocence, Abuse, and Justice in ‘Shut Up and Dance

Constructed as needing protection and lacking agency, the figure of the child is always a potential victim in whose name political battles based in moral panics are often waged. But where does this abstract child figure leave real children, who are not as void of desire, agency, and sexuality as contemporary understandings of childhood imply? The Black Mirror episode “Shut Up and Dance” approaches this question through the story of its teenage protagonist, Kenny, who is blackmailed into committing increasingly violent and dangerous tasks so as to prevent the release of a video that shows him masturbating to pornography. Although in being sexual Kenny has fallen from the pedestal of childhood innocence, his awkwardness, vulnerability, and intense shame about the video nonetheless mark him as non-adult, and the punishments he endures seem disproportionate and abusive—until, that is, we learn that it was child pornography Kenny was masturbating to. Faced with the idea of child-as-victim that the mention of child pornography evokes, can we still also conceive of Kenny as a victimized child, or does he, in that revelatory moment, irreversibly grow up into a predatory adult? Drawing on scholarship situated at the productive intersections of childhood studies and queer theory, this chapter interrogates conceptions of the child-as-victim and analyzes how “Shut Up and Dance” complicates the dominant discourse on child abuse.
Black Women and Girls & #MeToo: Rape, Cultural Betrayal, & Healing

Created by U.S. Black female activist, Tarana Burke, the #MeToo movement gained popularity in 2017, shedding light on the pervasive sexual harassment and assault of women. Since long before Anita Hill and @RapedAtSpelman, racial trauma has complicated the post-sexual violence landscape for U.S. Black women and girls, which may inhibit their ability to say “me too.” It is within this context of racial trauma that cultural betrayal trauma theory (CBTT) was developed: a new framework for understanding how outcomes of interpersonal trauma, like rape, are impacted by both victim and perpetrator(s) being subjected to inequality. In the present article, racial trauma and its effects on Black Americans is discussed. Then, the collective sense of being in U.S. Black culture, along with the burden placed on Black females, is delineated. Next, CBTT is defined and its empirical support and implications are detailed. Finally, mechanisms to address the interwoven harm of racial trauma and cultural betrayal trauma within institutions (e.g., mental health care) and the community (e.g., in collaboration with the Black church) is elucidated to facilitate healing through #MeToo and beyond.