cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Nanoparticle-Enhanced Oil on the Efficiencies of Internal Combustion Engines

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of nanoparticle-enhanced oil on the state variables of internal combustion engines not limited to gas turbine engines. Two samples of nano-oil were tested: one sample contained AeroShell 560 with diamond nanoparticles additives while the other constituted of zinc sulfide, boron nitride, and graphene nanoparticles. The lubricating oils were tested in a UH-60 Blackhawk Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to examine the influence of such oils on the operating temperature and efficiency of the engine. Experimental results from the nano-oil study suggest that the use of nanoparticle-enhanced oils could provide significant improvements in engine efficiency by reducing vibration and temperature of the engine. To further characterize the effects of nano-oils, a supplementary oil study was conducted on a small 4-stroke engine. The same oil samples were tested in the experiment with the addition of a conventional Pennzoil High Mileage 5 W-30 and a diamond nanoparticle-enhanced Pennzoil High Mileage 5 W-30. This supplementary investigation confirmed that nano-oils improve fuel efficiency of combustion engines by reducing engine temperature and vibration. However, some oil samples yielded anomalous results, discussed in later sections of this article.
Prognostic factors for metastatic colorectal cancer with and without bevacizumab therapy.

e14163 Background: Metastatic colorectal disease is generally incurable and treatment is palliative with the intent to balance toxicity with quality of life. Coin 3 trial showed that pre-chemothera...
Embedding Sn into Rn+1 with given integral Gauss curvature and optimal mass transport on Sn

In [A.D. Aleksandrov, Convex Polyhedra, GITTL, Moscow, USSR, 1950 (in Russian); English translation: A.D. Aleksandrov, Convex Polyhedra, Springer, Berlin-New York, 2005] A.D. Aleksandrov raised a general question of finding variational statements and proofs of existence of polytopes with given geometric data. The first goal of this paper is to give a variational solution to the problem of existence and uniqueness of a closed convex hypersurface in Euclidean space with prescribed integral Gauss curvature. Our solution includes the case of a convex polytope. This problem was also first considered by Aleksandrov and below it is referred to as Aleksandrov's problem. The second goal of this paper is to show that in variational form the Aleksandrov problem is closely connected with the theory of optimal mass transport on a sphere with cost function and constraints arising naturally from geometric considerations.
Phytofables: Tales of the Amazon

The Amazon has been the repository of myriad stories created as a means to make sense of the proliferation of life in the forest. In this article, I trace some of the narratives—which I call phytofables —that explorers, scientists, activists and governments have superimposed upon the region, from the green hell/earthly Paradise dichotomy to more recent discourses of economic progress and protectionism. In the final section of the article, I turn to literary texts that have attempted to listen to and interpret the voice of the forest, in particular Alberto Rangel’s Inferno Verde and Jose Maria Ferreira de Castro’s A Selva .
Triad resonant wave interactions in electrically charged jets

Nonlinear instability in electrically charged jets is studied using the governing electro-hydrodynamic equations describing stretching and thinning of a liquid jet. A jet flow system subject to both space and time evolving disturbances is considered. At the linear stage, the Rayleigh and conducting jet flow instability modes are uncovered. Nonlinear instability in the flow is explored via triad resonant waves which uncover fa- vorable operating modes not previously detected in the linear study of the problem. In particular, the jet radius is significantly reduced, and the electric field of the jet is properly oriented under the nonlinear study. It is found that taking into account the resonance triad modes provides a better mathematical description of a jet that stretches and thins due to tangential electric field effects. Both linear and nonlinear instability results in the jet flow system are presented and discussed.
Control of Binary High-Purity Distillation Columns

Abstract A continuum model which accurately describes the dynamic behavior of minimum reflux distillation columns is used to investigate high-purity control. A modification (HPC) of the conventional single feed column is proposed for high-purity separations. This HPC configuration is shown to have the same boilup requirements as a conventional column and to exhibit superior dynamic behavior. Two control algorithms are proposed for the HPC. The first is a model-based feedforward algorithm. The second is a feedforward/feedback algorithm that does not require an accurate dynamic model. Both control algorithms are shown to produce robust high-purity regulation even with 50 % fluctuations in the composition of the feed entering the column.
Potential impact of accident tolerant fuel cladding critical heat flux characteristics on the high temperature phase of reactivity initiated accidents

Abstract The present paper details scoping RELAP5-3D simulations to assess the potential impact of boiling heat transfer coefficients and critical heat flux (CHF) on peak cladding temperature (PCT) of key accident tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding types in a design basis accident (DBA). The accident event studied is a Hot Zero Power (HZP) Reactivity-Initiated Accident (RIA) in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), so the present study is focused on bubble crowding CHF. Results are presented for the sensitivity of PCT and the duration time of film boiling to the key parameters in the boiling curve: nucleate, transition, and film boiling heat transfer coefficient, and CHF. This included a generic study of perturbations in boiling heat transfer characteristics for Zircaloy-4 cladding as well as a study which focused on the key candidate ATF cladding types. For Zircaloy-4 cladding, the simulation results show that both PCT and duration of film boiling are particularly sensitive to the value of CHF. We also compared the performance of FeCrAl claddings and SiC/SiC claddings with Zircaloy-4 cladding under the same RIA scenario. A 10% CHF enhancement for FeCrAl cladding can significantly reduce the PCT of FeCrAl claddings. Lower irradiated thermal conductivity of SiC/SiC claddings does cause a high temperature gradient in the radial direction.
Diptilomiopus floridanus (Acari: Eriophyoidea: Diptilomiopidae): Its Distribution and Relative Abundance with Other Eriophyoid Species on Dooryard, Varietal Block, and Commercial Citrus in Florida

Abstract We sampled 526 dooryard, 18 varietal block, and 784 commercial citrus trees in Florida between May 2009 and Apr 2014 for eriophyoid mites including Diptilomiopus floridanus Craemer & Amrine, Aceria sheldoni (Ewing), Aculops pelekassi (Keifer), and Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead). In total, 1,423 D. floridanus individuals were collected from dooryard citrus trees and 1 each from the lemon cultivar ‘Bearss’ and sweet lime trees from the Florida Citrus Arboretum in Winter Haven. Diptilomiopus floridanus was collected from dooryard citrus in the following counties in Florida: Broward, Collier, Dade, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and St. Lucie. The mite was not observed in Charlotte, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Manatee, or Okeechobee counties (Florida). Percentages of the eriophyoid mite species collected from dooryard citrus trees and varietal blocks were: A. pelekassi 3.2%, A. sheldoni 9.1%, D. floridanus 17.3%, and P. oleivora 84.2%. The 6 counties with the highe...
An angular biasing method using arbitrary convex polyhedra for Monte Carlo radiation transport calculations

Abstract This paper presents a new method for performing angular biasing in Monte Carlo radiation transport codes using arbitrary convex polyhedra to define regions of interest toward which to project particles (DXTRAN regions). The method is derived and is implemented using axis-aligned right parallelepipeds (AARPPs) and arbitrary convex polyhedra. Attention is paid to possible numerical complications and areas for future refinement. A series of test problems are executed with void, purely absorbing, purely scattering, and 50% absorbing/50% scattering materials. For all test problems tally results using AARPP and polyhedral DXTRAN regions agree with analog and/or spherical DXTRAN results within statistical uncertainties. In cases with significant scattering the figure of merit (FOM) using AARPP or polyhedral DXTRAN regions is lower than with spherical regions despite the ability to closely fit the tally region. This is because spherical DXTRAN processing is computationally less expensive than AARPP or polyhedral DXTRAN processing. Thus, it is recommended that the speed of spherical regions be considered versus the ability to closely fit the tally region with an AARPP or arbitrary polyhedral region. It is also recommended that short calculations be made prior to final calculations to compare the FOM for the various DXTRAN geometries because of the influence of the scattering behavior.
Mid-Infrared Dual-Comb Spectroscopy of Liquid-Phase Samples using Attenuated Total Reflectance

Mid-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) is performed on liquid isopropanol from 3.0-3.75 μm with a 1.5-second acquisition time. This experiment is a first step towards viewing liquid-phase reactions in real time using DCS.
Canalicular Anion Transport, Pathogenetic Mechanisms and a Steady State Distributed Model for Measuring Kinetics

The purposes of this review are two-fold: 1) to present a brief overview of organic anion transport at the canalicular boundary of liver cells, emphasizing the kinds of mechanisms which might be important in the pathogenesis of defective anion transport, 2) To point out the importance of standing intralobular concentration profiles to the measurement of transport kinetics at this locus and to present a distributed model which takes this difficulty into account.
WHEN DOES SOCIAL NETWORK-BASED PREDICTION WORK? A LARGE SCALE ANALYSIS OF BRAND AND TV AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT BY TWITTER USERS

Social network-based prediction, more specifically targeting friends and contacts of existing customers, has proven successful in various domains like retail banking, telecommunications, and online advertising. However, little is known about for what types of product categories and brands social network-based marketing is especially effective at predicting brand engagement, both in absolute terms and compared to demographic targeting or collaborative filtering. In this work, we compare the performance of a social network-based recommendation engine against a product network-based recommendation engine of the kind used in collaborative filtering. We do so over 700 brands and 223,000 consumers a novel data set collected from Twitter. We compare the performance of the two approaches by product and user features. Preliminary results indicate that the variance in performance within and across methods is related to differences in brand and user popularity as well as brand audience. We believe that this is the first study to compare the effectiveness of social network-based marketing with traditional approaches to predict brand engagement over a large number of brands and product types.
Ig gene expression and regulation in lg transgenic mice

Publisher Summary The transgenic mouse model provides an opportunity for the study of the control of expression of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. While in the normal mouse, B lymphocytes that produce one particular identical Ig are rare, one among thousands of different B-cells, whereas, in transgenic mice, almost all of the B-cells express the transgene. This chapter describes the importance of the analysis of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Ig gene rearrangement, B cell development, feedback inhibition of heavy chain gene rearrangement, and V(D)J recombinase production, and somatic hypermutation. Transgenic mice can be produced in several ways—most common method is micro-injection of DNA into the male pronucleus of a zygote. Ig transgenes are expressed as expected from the transcriptional promoters and enhancers included in the transgene. Increased levels of B-cells with a single specificity of serum antibodies of a particular idiotype may lead to unexpected responses. Transgenic mice will be helpful in the investigation of the developmental signals and the molecular mechanisms leading to the establishment of a B-cell repertoire.
Quorum Sensing Mechanisms in Gram Positive Bacteria

Quorum sensing (QS) is a form of intercellular communication that enables bacteria to coordinate gene expression in a density-dependent fashion. Bacterial signaling molecules called autoinducers are central to this process. When released into the surrounding environment they bind to signaling receptors on the surface of neighboring bacteria, and upon reaching a threshold level activate quorum sensing genes. Gram-positive bacteria employ small post-translationally modified peptides called autoinducing peptides (AIPs) as signaling molecules. AIPs are often integral elements of a histidine kinase two-component signal transduction system. In certain cases the secreted AIPs may be imported back into the cell after release. They are then identified by cytoplasmic transcription factors. In this system, extracellular proteases process the secreted precursor-AIP into mature AIP. Upon return to the cell, the mature AIPs bind to, and alter the activity of the corresponding transcription factors. Some examples of such transport are know to be critical in sporulation, competence, and enzyme production in Bacillus subtilis. A large gamut of peptides is secreted from bacteria by de novo biosynthesis and proteolytic degradation. These peptides include pheromones that modulate expression of specific genes of Gram positive bacteria to regulate biosynthesis of quorum dependent proteins such as virulence factors in addition to serving critical roles in a myriad of bacterial life processes such as regulation of the bacterial competence, bacterial conjugation and bacterial virulence. Interestingly, bacterial cells can respond to the AIPs secreted by itself as well. The physiological effects of this ‘self-sensing’ have been studied rather recently in Bacillus subtilis.
HIV-1 and SIV Infection Are Associated with Early Loss of Lung Interstitial CD4+ T Cells and Dissemination of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Lung interstitial CD4+ T cells are critical for protection against pulmonary infections, but the fate of this population during HIV-1 infection is not well described. We studied CD4+ T cells in the setting of HIV-1 infection in human lung tissue, humanized mice, and a Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)/simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) nonhuman primate co-infection model. Infection with a CCR5-tropic strain of HIV-1 or SIV results in severe and rapid loss of lung interstitial CD4+ T cells but not blood or lung alveolar CD4+ T cells. This is accompanied by high HIV-1 production in these cells in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, during early SIV infection, loss of lung interstitial CD4+ T cells is associated with increased dissemination of pulmonary Mtb infection. We show that lung interstitial CD4+ T cells serve as an efficient target for HIV-1 and SIV infection that leads to their early depletion and an increased risk of disseminated tuberculosis.
Spatial Planning of Marine Aquaculture Under Climate Decadal Variability: A Case Study for Mussel Farms in Southern California

The growth of marine aquaculture over the 21st century is a promising venture for food security because of its potential to fulfill the seafood deficit in the future. However, to maximize the use of marine space and its resources, the spatial planning of marine aquaculture needs to consider the regimes of climate variability in the oceanic environment, which are characterized by large-amplitude interannual to decadal fluctuations. It is common to see aquaculture spatial planning schemes that do not take variability into consideration. This assumption may be critical for management and for the expansion of marine aquaculture, because projects require investments of capital and need to be profitable to establish and thrive. We analyze the effect of climate variability on the profitability of hypothetical mussel aquaculture systems in the Southern California Bight. Using historical environmental data from 1981 to 2008, we combine mussel production and economics models at different sites along the coast to estimate the Net Present Value as an economic indicator of profitability. We find that productivity of the farms exhibits a strong coherent behavior with marketed decadal fluctuations that are connected to climate of the North Pacific Basin, in particular linked to the phases of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO). This decadal variability has a strong impact on profitability both temporally and spatially, and emerges because of the mussels’ dependence on multiple oceanic environmental variables. Depending on the trend of the decadal regimes in mussel productivity and the location of the farms, these climate fluctuations will affect cost recovery horizon and profitability for a given farm. These results suggest that climate variability should be taken into consideration by managers and investors on decision making to maximize profitability.
Systematic review of technology-based interventions to improve anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life among patients with prostate cancer

Objectives This review aimed to systematically evaluate the characteristics of technology-based interventions (TBIs) and their effectiveness on anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with prostate cancer. Methods We identified eligible research reports published in English language between January 1, 2000, and September 15, 2018, from CINAHL; Embase; "Library and Information Science Abstracts"; "Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts"; "Library and Information Science Source"; PsychINFO; and PubMed. We abstracted randomized control trials and quasi-experimental studies that measured the outcomes related to anxiety, depression, or HRQoL. We extracted the data using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions guideline. Results Among the six randomized control trials and four quasi-experimental studies that met our inclusion criteria, the TBIs aimed to provide informational, psychosocial, self-care management, and communication support. About 60-92% of the participants in six studies completed all required contents and 77-94% of the participants in four studies logged onto the TBI platform. Compared with the patients in usual care, the TBI users reported a significant reduction in anxiety (N=1 study) and depression (N=2 studies) and improvement in HRQoL (N=2 studies). We also identified the limitations of the existing TBI trials. Conclusions We found insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of TBIs in improving health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and HRQOL) among patients with prostate cancer. Future research needs to (1) use rigorous randomized control trials, (2) be sufficiently powered to examine the effects of TBIs, and (3) examine how the effect of TBIs on health outcomes vary by actual intervention use, intervention components, and duration.
Nutrition Labeling—A New Educational Tool

(1974). Nutrition Labeling—A New Educational Tool. School Health Review: Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 12-15.
Cervical, Vaginal, and Vulvar Cancer Costs Incurred by the Medicaid Program in Publicly Insured Patients in Texas.

ObjectivesTo determine from the perspective of the State of Texas, the direct medical care costs associated with cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancers in Texas Medicaid enrollees.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a case-control study and searched Texas Medicaid databases between 2008 and 2012 for el
Analytical modeling of solution-phase diffusion in porous composite electrodes under time-dependent flux boundary conditions using Green’s function method

Mathematical modeling of species transport in a Li-ion cell is important for understanding and optimizing the performance of Li-ion cells in a wide variety of energy conversion and storage processes. Specifically, solid- and liquid-phase diffusion in the electrodes is an important process that governs cell performance. Most analytical and numerical models developed in the past have focused on a constant current boundary condition. However, time-dependent boundary conditions may be important in many applications, where the applied charging or discharging current changes with time. This paper presents an analytical solution for the solution-phase diffusion limitation problem for a composite electrode operating under time-dependent flux boundary condition and arbitrary initial conditions using the Green’s function approach. Results based on the analytical solution show good agreement with past work for constant current boundary conditions, as well as numerical simulation results. The results are used to predict the concentration distribution for linear, periodic, and step-function variations in current density as a function of time. Results from the step-function boundary condition address practical applications where sudden changes in the magnitude and direction of the imposed current may occur. Results derived for periodic functions are also of practical significance since other current profiles can be represented by series comprising periodic functions. This work expands the theoretical understanding of diffusion in Li-ion cells, and provides the basis for understanding and optimizing important charge/discharge processes in Li-ion cells.
Gender Inclusivity as a Quality Requirement: Practices and Pitfalls

Gender inclusivity in software is gaining attention from researchers and practitioners, with some seeing it as a nonfunctional requirement. To investigate how gender inclusivity can be incorporated into creating software, we gathered data during periods ranging from 5 months to 3.5 years from 10 software teams that used the Gender Inclusiveness Magnifier (GenderMag) to achieve the gender inclusivity quality attribute. GenderMag is a method for detecting and fixing gender inclusivity issues in software. In this article, we summarize several practices the teams devised and pitfalls they encountered.
Authorship Trends in the Rheumatology Literature, 1990–2020

To the Editor: The number of cited authors per publication has increased substantially over time in the field of medicine.1,2 This trend of “authorship inflation” has been observed in high-impact medical journals1 and multiple medical subspecialties,2 but to our knowledge has yet to be assessed in the field of rheumatology. In this analysis, we describe the number of cited authors in rheumatology publications over a 30-year period. A search of PubMed (NLM) MEDLINE-indexed rheumatology publications from January 1, 1990, to January 11, 2020, was designed by an experienced research librarian and conducted to identify rheumatology clinical practice guidelines, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews and metaanalyses (SRMAs), non-SRMA review articles, and case reports (see Supplementary Data for search terms and strategy, …
Bringing to Birth

In der hebraischen Bibel liegt die Kontrolle des Mutterleibes bei JHWH. Er offnet und schliest den Mutterleib, kontrolliert Schwangerschaft und Geburt, und in Ps 22,10–11 und 71,6 gibt es – wenn auch nur kurze – Beschreibungen von JHWH als Geburtshelfer. Das Bild in den Texten ist physisch. Beiden Psalmen zufolge legt JHWH dem Saugling die Hande auf, und in Ps 22,10 legt er den Saugling an die Brust seiner Mutter. Das Bild ist auch konzeptionell zu verstehen. Aus dem Mutterleib hervorgebracht zu werden, ist eine Bewegung von der Dunkelheit zum Licht, vom Eingeschlossensein zu Enthullung und Verletzlichkeit, von einem Zustand umgeben von schutzender Flussigkeit, in der JHWHs Anwesenheit garantiert ist, hinein in eine Welt, in der der Bittsteller JHWH beschuldigt, ihn verlassen zu haben (Ps 22,1–3), und bittet, ihn in seinem Alter nicht zu verlassen (Ps 71,9). Der Mutterleib ist ein Raum der Sicherheit, der im selben Raum existiert wie der absolute Zweifel. Er ist die Moglichkeit von Leben und Tod, Hoffnung und Verwustung, groser Angst und uberwaltigender Freude. Er ist Wissen und Nichtwissen zugleich. Die Offnung des Mutterleibs ist angesichts eines derartig vielfaltigen Spektrums von physischen Aspekten und konzeptionellen Parametern eines der eindrucklichsten Bilder fur die Beziehung der Menschheit zu JHWH.
Estimating the Teacher Gap and Funding Requirements in Eastern and Southern Africa (preprint)

This paper estimates the number of teachers required to meet different pupil-teacher (P-T) ratio targets in 2030 for all education levels in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). It also assesses the affordability of those targets based on different scenarios and presents detailed projections for the region as well as for 20 countries. To meet goals around education and learning, the model finds that governments in ESA will need to pay for more than five million additional teachers by 2030. When compared to affordability estimates, which reflect the latest teacher compensation spending trends, government investments will need to double. While there is variation across countries, the compounding shortage of teachers is a serious risk to improving learning across the region.These findings underscore the need to invest more resources in teachers and education systems more generally. If governments were able to progressively increase their investment in education to reach six percent of GDP in 2030, which is in line with the most ambitious target in the Incheon Declaration, it would be possible to recruit an additional three million teachers, which partially closes the gap. However, most governments will need to invest much more, including up to eight percent of GDP, to maximize learning opportunities and outcomes for all children in the region.Boosting investments in education systems is a particularly daunting task in the context of COVID-19 and the multitude of competing priorities. Nevertheless, governments are strongly encouraged to steadily increase the amount of resources allocated to the education sector each year, strengthen efforts to improve value for money and transparency in education spending processes, make the case to receive greater external support for education, and negotiate for debt relief that directly benefits the education sector, including through debt-for-education swaps.Boosting investments is particularly challenging in the context of COVID-19 and the multitude of competing priorities. However, governments can: (i) steadily increase the amount of resources allocated to the education sector in the annual budget cycle;(ii) convert some of the new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocated by the IMF to invest in the education sector;(iii) strengthen efforts to improve value for money and transparency in education spending processes;(iv) develop compelling investment cases to receive greater external support for education from donors and international financial institutions;and (v) negotiate for debt relief that directly benefits the education sector, including through debt-for-education swaps.
Receptor mediated disruption of retinal pigment epithelium function in acute glycated-albumin exposure.

Abstract Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a major cause of visual impairment. Although DME is generally believed to be a microvascular disease, dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) can also contribute to its development. Advanced glycation end-products (AGE) are thought to be one of the key factors involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes in the eye, and we have previously demonstrated a rapid breakdown of RPE function following glycated-albumin (Glyc-alb, a common AGE mimetic) administration in monolayer cultures of fetal human RPE cells. Here we present new evidence that this response is attributed to apically oriented AGE receptors (RAGE). Moreover, time-lapse optical coherence tomography in Dutch-belted rabbits 48 h post intravitreal Glyc-alb injections demonstrated a significant decrease in RPE-mediated fluid resorption in vivo. In both the animal and tissue culture models, the response to Glyc-alb was blocked by the relatively selective RAGE antagonist, FPS-ZM1 and was also inhibited by ZM323881, a relatively selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGF-R2) antagonist. Our data establish that the Glyc-alb-induced breakdown of RPE function is mediated via specific RAGE and VEGF-R2 signaling both in vitro and in vivo. These results are consistent with the notion that the RPE is a key player in the pathogenesis of DME.
Abstract 17855: Association of Echolucency of the Carotid Artery Wall with Coronary Artery Plaque Composition in HIV- infected and -uninfected men: a Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) Substudy

Background: Carotid artery echolucency may represent the deposition of lipids and is an independent predictor of coronary artery disease (CAD) events. The association of carotid echolucency with HIV and correlation with coronary artery plaque as assessed by coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is unclear. Methods: HIV-infected and -uninfected MACS participants who were 40-70 years of age with no history of cardiac intervention underwent non-contrast CT and CCTA for assessment of coronary artery atherosclerosis and high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography for assessment of carotid arterial wall echodensity determined as grey-scale median (GSM) of the far wall of the right common carotid artery. Associations between GSM and HIV serostatus, the presence of coronary artery calcium (CAC), non-calcified coronary artery plaque and coronary artery stenosis > 50% were assessed with linear regression adjusting for age and race and then for CAD risk factors. Results: Mean GSM among 324 HIV-infected and 142 uninfected men wa...
Airport Runway Slots: Limits to Growth

The United States–European Union market accounts for approximately 25% of all international tourist arrivals worldwide, and is arguably the busiest market in the world. This paper argues that landing slot policy and the manner in which airport capacity is allocated among airlines across the north Atlantic is likely to underpin the future geographic structure of the tourism industry. By analyzing the historical evolution of slot policy, this paper attempts to enhance the extant literature on how government authorities allocate scarce airport resources. The paper concludes by arguing that various slot reform proposals need to be adopted to make airports more “elastic” when managing origin-destination tourist flows.
Iterative multiregion technique for large-scale electromagnetic scattering problems: Two-dimensional case

[1] One of the methods to solve large electromagnetic problems is to divide the computational domain into smaller subregions and solve each subregion separately. Then the subregion solutions are combined to obtain a solution for the complete domain. In this paper, an iterative approach using the finite difference frequency domain method is presented to solve the problems that can be divided into separated subregions.
Physiology of Erection

Penile erection is the process by which the flaccid phallus becomes engorged and rigid, thus facilitating sexual intercourse. The mechanisms and means by which the penis becomes erect have been a source of fascination, superstition, and interest for humans throughout recorded history. It is only within the past 40 years that the physiological and molecular pathways that mediate this critically important process have been elucidated. With improvements in our understanding of the physiology of erection, the medical community has been able to potentiate and improve sexual function in ways scarcely imagined in the past.
Autism Spectrum Disorder/Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a behavioral profile present in early childhood. ASDs are defined by deficits in communication and socialization, as well as the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Among individuals with ASD, there is great heterogeneity in the severity and presentation of these symptoms. The conceptualization of ASD has changed over time. This entry provides a broad overview of the disorder's history as well as an overview of ASD's characteristics, epidemiology, etiology, assessment, and treatment. Keywords: developmental disorders; language; neurodevelopmental disorder; non-verbal communication; social skills
An intelligent control for a crawling unmanned vehicle

Describes a method to design an adaptive feedback controller for an unmanned crawling vehicle (UCV) having track style wheels. The motion of the vehicle is constrained by environmental uncertainties, which are represented by unknown friction coefficients between the tracks and ground surface. The controller, a combination of conventional PID and adaptive neural network fuzzy logic (ANNFL), is designed by using multiobjective optimization techniques from which the fixed and the adjustable control gains are obtained. Using the nonlinear motion equations of the vehicle dynamics, the PID controller is designed at a nominal operating point and establishes a desired system response pattern of feedback (closed loop) control.. The ANNFL deals with the uncertainties to compensate the PID controller for reducing the "command following error" by tuning an additional gain feedback from the system output besides the fixed gain of the PID controller. ANNFL provides an adaptability and robustness for the integrated control strategy of the PID and ANNFL. An example simulation is included.
Prediction of catalytic residues using Support Vector Machine with selected protein sequence and structural properties

The number of protein sequences deriving from genome sequencing projects is outpacing our knowledge about the function of these proteins. With the gap between experimentally characterized and uncharacterized proteins continuing to widen, it is necessary to develop new computational methods and tools for functional prediction. Knowledge of catalytic sites provides a valuable insight into protein function. Although many computational methods have been developed to predict catalytic residues and active sites, their accuracy remains low, with a significant number of false positives. In this paper, we present a novel method for the prediction of catalytic sites, using a carefully selected, supervised machine learning algorithm coupled with an optimal discriminative set of protein sequence conservation and structural properties. To determine the best machine learning algorithm, 26 classifiers in the WEKA software package were compared using a benchmarking dataset of 79 enzymes with 254 catalytic residues in a 10-fold cross-validation analysis. Each residue of the dataset was represented by a set of 24 residue properties previously shown to be of functional relevance, as well as a label {+1/-1} to indicate catalytic/non-catalytic residue. The best-performing algorithm was the Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO) algorithm, which is a Support Vector Machine (SVM). The Wrapper Subset Selection algorithm further selected seven of the 24 attributes as an optimal subset of residue properties, with sequence conservation, catalytic propensities of amino acids, and relative position on protein surface being the most important features. The SMO algorithm with 7 selected attributes correctly predicted 228 of the 254 catalytic residues, with an overall predictive accuracy of more than 86%. Missing only 10.2% of the catalytic residues, the method captures the fundamental features of catalytic residues and can be used as a "catalytic residue filter" to facilitate experimental identification of catalytic residues for proteins with known structure but unknown function.
Perdomo v. Holder : The Continuing Struggle to Define the Concept of a Particular Social Group

Qualifying for asylum requires that an applicant be considered a refugee. In order to qualify, an applicant bears the burden of demonstrating persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Often, gender-based asylum claims can only proceed under the particular social group category. The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Perdomo v. Holder highlights the court’s struggle to identify a coherent and workable definition for a particular social group and the consequent adverse effect on gender-based asylum claims. This Comment explores the Ninth Circuit’s definition of a particular social group as well as the Board of Immigration Appeals’ conflicting definition. By examining Perdomo in light of these divergent definitions, this Comment demonstrates the need for clarification so that confusing and unnecessary language does not continue to create problems for deserving applicants. This Comment ultimately concludes that the Ninth Circuit should adopt the Board of Immigration Appeals’ definition in order to provide greater consistency and clarity in asylum law.
Laparoscopic pancreatectomy for malignancy

Utilization of laparoscopic techniques for resection of the pancreas has slowly gained acceptance in specific situations and is now being applied to more challenging endeavors, such as pancreaticoduodenectomy for cancer. This review provides a summary of laparoscopic applications for pancreatic malignancy, with specific attention to the most common methods of pancreatic resection and their respective oncologic outcomes, including margin status, lymph node retrieval, and survival.
Astrometric and Geodetic Properties of Earth and the Solar System

The mass, size and shape of planets and their satellites and are essential information from which one can consider the balance of gravity and tensile strength, chemical makeup and such factors as internal temperature or porosity. Orbits and planetary rotation are also useful clues concerning origin, internal structure and tidal history. The tables compiled here include some of the latest results such as detection of densities of Pluto-Charon from analysis of HST images and the latest results for Venus' shape, gravity field and pole orientation based on Magellan spacecraft data. Data concerning prominent asteroids, comets and Sun are also included. Most of the material here is presented as tables. They are preceded by brief explanations of the relevant geophysical and orbit parameters. More complete explanations can be found in any of several reference texts on geodesy, geophysics and celestial mechanics.
Development and testing of a 20 kHz component test bed

A history of the General Dynamics Space Systems Division 20 kHz breadboard, including its current configuration and its role in the SSF program, is presented. Highlights and results of a series of tests conducted on the breadboard are presented. The first test discussed is an acceptance test, which verified the operation of the delivered breadboard, and characterized the main components of the system. Next, an in-depth efficiency testing effort, which attempted to apportion all the power losses in the breadboard main inverter units, is also discussed. Distortion test data are presented, showing the distortion characteristics of a Mapham inverter. Current work on the breadboard is presented including main inverter unit paralleling tests. The results show that a 20 kHz power distribution system is feasible and can meet or exceed current requirements for the Space Station Freedom power system. >
Carbon cycling in large lakes of the world: A synthesis of production, burial, and lake-atmosphere exchange estimates

[1] We present a synthesis of available estimates of primary production, organic carbon burial, and lake-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange data for large lakes of the world. All three fluxes showed significant relationships with latitude and related climate variables, with lower production, higher evasion of carbon dioxide, and higher burial efficiency at higher latitudes. There was no relationship between raw organic carbon mass accumulation rates and latitude. Our estimates suggest that an order of magnitude more carbon is lost to the atmosphere by evasion than is buried in sediments at a global scale, with total global production, evasion, and burial fluxes of approximately 250, 90, and 7 Tg C yr−1. Finally, the data suggest a trend from autotrophy in low-latitude large lakes to heterotrophy and increasing reliance on allochthonous carbon sources in lakes at higher latitudes.
Ionic permeabilities of the frog perineurium

Abstract Ionic permeation was investigated across the perineurium of the frog sciatic nerve, under normal conditions and following treatment by hypertonic Ringer, ouabain or amiloride. A cylindrical segment of perineurium removed from the nerve and mounted in vitro on two cannulae was continuously perfused. Permeation rates of 22 Na and 42 K across the perineurium were the same in either direction and were unaffected by the drugs. The mean 22 Na permeability coefficient at the perineurium equaled 1.68 ± 0.08 (S.E.M.) × 10 −6 cm/sec . Simultaneous measurement of transperineurial fluxes of 22 Na, 42 K and 36 Cl indicated that the K/Na permeability ratio exceeded the ratio of limiting conductances of these ions in free solution, but that the Cl/K permeability ratio did not differ from the respective limiting conductance ratio. Immersion of the perineurial cylinder in Ringer, made hypertonic by addition of NaCl, increased the absolute permeability coefficients of the three ionic tracers but did not affect their permeability ratios. The flux ratio of 22 Na/[ 14 C] sucrose, however, was decreased by hypertonic treatment. It is concluded that there is no evidence of active Na or K transport across the perineurium and that the paracellular path in the perineurium exhibits size-dependent permselectivity properties. In addition, the low rates of transperineurial permeation of ions and water-soluble non-electrolytes (e.g. sucrose) are comparable to those in epithelia with tight junctions. These permeability coefficients provide quantitative estimates of the diffusion barrier properties of the perineurium.
Nonlocal Coupled Damage-Plasticity Model Incorporating Functional Forms of Hardening State Variables

The thermodynamically consistent formulation and the subsequent numerical implementation of a gradient-enhanced, continuum-coupled damage-plasticity model as a constitutive framework to model ill-posed localization problems is presented. The formulation of the elastoplastic-damage behavior of materials is introduced here within a framework that uses functional forms of hardening internal state variables in both damage and plasticity. Various exponential and power law functional forms are studied in this formulation. Gradients of hardening terms are found directly by operating on the respective hardening terms, and numerical methods are used to compute these gradients. The gradient-enhanced measure used in this work is justified by an approximation to nonlocal theory; however, through the expansion of various gradient terms in this nonlinear hardening plasticity model, gradients of both odd and even orders are introduced into the constitutive model. A multifield method is used such that the displacement field is interpolated using standard continuous elements, and higher-order elements (cubic Hermitian) are used for the plastic multiplier and for the damage multiplier to enforce continuity of the second-order gradients. The effectiveness of the model is evaluated by studying the mesh-dependence issue in localization problems through numerical examples.
On the influence of the potential on the convergence rate of expansions in root functions of the Shrödinger operator

We consider the one-dimensional Schrodinger operator with integrable potential. We analyze the rate of the uniform equiconvergence of the biorthogonal expansion of an absolutely continuous function in the root functions of this operator with its Fourier trigonometric series on a compact set. For this convergence rate, we obtain an estimate depending on the modulus of continuity of the potential. We extract subclasses of absolutely continuous functions on which these estimates can be improved.
The role of computed tomography for localization of parathyroid adenomas.

Objective/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of computed tomography (CT) for localization of parathyroid adenomas (PA) when first-line imaging is indeterminate. Study Design: Retrospective case series. Methods: A search of operating room and radiology records identified 223 surgical explorations for primary hyperparathyroidism. Adenoma locations on CT, ultrasound, and nuclear scintigraphy were correlated with an independent review of operative records. Results: The presence of adenoma in the correct side and quadrant of the neck was predicted by CT in 89% and 77% of studies, respectively. When first-line studies were indeterminate, the positive predictive value of CT for localization of PA to the correct side and quadrant of the neck was 87% and 69%, respectively. Conclusions: When first-line localization studies are indeterminate in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, CT is a valuable, rapid, and widely available imaging modality that can be used to localize PA.
Age-related functional effects linked to phosphatase activity in ventricular myocytes.

Conflicting reports exist regarding the influence of β-adrenergic stimulation on the maximum velocity of shortening (Vmax) in ventricular myocytes. This may be due to an unrecognized effect of matu...
Relationships among Self-Care Agency, Self-Efficacy, Self-Care, and Glycemic Control

Costly complications of diabetes often arise from poor glycemic control. Appropriate diabetes self-care management may improve control. This study examined whether self-care management affects glycemic control and mediates relationships between self-efficacy and self-care agency with glycemic control. In a cross-sectional correlational design, data from a prior study of 141 insulin-requiring adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were examined using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple hierarchical regression. Findings indicated that greater self-care agency and self-efficacy lead to greater self-care management, in turn leading to better glycemic control. Self-care management did not mediate between self-efficacy or self-care agency and glycemic control. Thus, beliefs or capabilities for self-care are insufficient to improve glycemic control; doing so requires self-care management.
The relationship between nitrous oxide conscious sedation and the hypnotic state

To evaluate the hypothesis that inhalation of low levels of nitrous oxide-oxygen produces an altered state of consciousness similar to hypnosis, 20 subjects were given three suggestions (analgesia, compulsive behavior, and amnesia) during double-blind administration of either nitrous oxide-oxygen or oxygen. Results suggest that administration of nitrous oxide-oxygen may be of increased clinical usefulness if it is combined with careful use of suggestion.
EMF Signature for Appliance Classification

Various intrusive and nonintrusive appliance load monitoring and classification systems have been studied; however, most of them designed so far provide group-level energy usage feedback. We present the first phase of a system with the potential to attribute energy-related events to an individual occupant of a space and provide occupant-specific energy usage feedback in an uninstrumented space (e.g., home or office). This initial phase focuses on collecting the electromagnetic field (EMF) radiated by several common appliances to determine a unique signature for each appliance. It also implements a machine learning algorithm to classify appliances from an incoming EMF data file. The proposed approach has been prototyped with hardware realization. The results obtained on tested appliances indicate the EMF sensor’s ability and potential to develop a system for providing occupant-specific energy feedback.