cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Undergraduate agribusiness programs: Focus or falter?

Summary of the Current State Agribusiness programs have evolved over the past forty years. However,looking forward, several issues must be considered in positioning agribusinessprograms for the future:(1) Communications and critical thinking skills are valued far more thanindustry-speciﬁc knowledge. The implication is that industry-speciﬁcknowledge is not enough to remain a preferred supplier of employees to thefood and agribusiness industries and that building critical thinking andcommunications capabilities is even more important.(2) The majority of agribusiness management programs have not differentiatedthemselves from management or agricultural economics programs. Whilegraduates from no speciﬁc program stood out in the Steering Committeeinterviews, this lack of differentiation is a source of concern for programswith an industry focus.(3) Diversity of thought and cultural sensitivity are increasingly important tofood and agribusiness leaders. This issue is problematic for programs thatfocus on a speciﬁc industry, and have traditionally drawn from a relativelyhomogeneous pool of students.The ﬁrst issue is not new, and the third is certainly not speciﬁc to agribusinessprograms. However, that does not make these points any less relevant as futureconcerns. The next part of our paper offers some suggestions for programleaders as they determine how to best position their programs for futuresuccess.
Commentary: Why the reservations about medical technology?

Medical technologies could improve patient care in at least three ways by: decreasing costs, increasing quality of care, and increasing accessibility or convenience. Yet, they have come under increasing criticism. First of all, they tend to raise rather than lower costs at a time of much concern about rising costs of medical care. Forces leading to increased costs from medical technology use are numerous and include: 1) protechnology reimbursement biases; 2)medical manpower trends; 3) patterns of technology use; 4) changes in patient characteristics; 5) excess supply of hospital beds; 6) methods of hospital reimbursement and insurance coverage; 7) ethical issues; 8) incentives in medical academia; 9) difficulties in broad technology assessment; 10) malpractice fears; and 11) the news media. While evidence is strong that medical technologies increase cost, it is less clear how much they improve quality, especially if one distinguishes technical improvements from improvements in patient outcomes. There is also increasing concern that medical technologies can "dehumanize" patient care as well as cause direct harm. Finally, it is not clear that medical technologies have as yet improved access to care. The current era of constrained resources means that both developers and users of medical technologies will be held accountable for demonstrating their benefits and justifying their costs.
Antigen-specific H1N1 influenza antibody responses in acute respiratory tract infections and their relation to influenza infection and disease course

Background Early antibody responses to influenza infection are important in both clearance of virus and fighting the disease. Acute influenza antibody titers directed toward H1-antigens and their relation to infection type and patient outcomes have not been well investigated.
A graphical analysis of interest capitalization

Abstract The lack of specific implementation guidelines in SFAS No. 34 has resulted in inconsistencies between Intermediate Accounting textbooks in the presentation of interest capitalization problems. In addition, the relative complexity of these problems makes this topic a rather difficult one for Intermediate Accounting students This paper illustrates a graphical approach to analyzing interest capitalization problems, based on graphing the patterns of expenditures and borrowings arising from the construction of an asset. One advantage of a graphical analysis is that it can be applied consistently and logically in a variety of situations and can be adapted to reflect most of the techniques illustrated in current Intermediate Accounting textbooks. The graphical approach, by permitting the student to visualize the problem, should facilitate the teaching of interest capitalization in Intermediate Accounting.
Performance advances in ion mobility spectrometry through combination with high speed vapor sampling, preconcentration and separation techniques

Abstract Rugged, low weight, hand-held ion mobility spectrometry devices, initially developed for chemical warfare detection purposes, possess attractive characteristics as field-portable instruments for paramilitary (treaty verification, chemical demilitarization, drug interdiction, counterterrorism operations) and civilian (environmental monitoring, forensic characterization, process control) applications. Generally, however, such devices tend to exhibit limited resolution, narrow dynamic range, nonlinear response and long clearance times which severely limit their usefulness for qualitative and quantitative analysis of mixtures. To overcome these restrictions a prototype combined gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) unit was constructed by replacing the membrane inlet of a military IMS device known as the CAM (chemical agent monitor) with suitable front-end modules. These modules enable high speed automated vapor sampling (AVS), microvolume preconcentration/thermal desorption, and isothermal GC preseparation of analytes using a short capillary column while operating the IMS source and cell at subambient pressures as low as 0.5 atm. The AVS-GC-IMS methodology sharply reduces competitive ionization and facilitates identification of mixture components, thereby enabling quantitation of volatile and semivolatile compounds over a broad range of concentration in air. At higher concentration levels (e.g. > 1 ppm) using the AVS inlet in automatic attenuation control (AAC) mode maintains excellent linear response. At ultralow concentration levels, e.g.
Arachidonic acid activation of a new family of K+ channels in cultured rat neuronal cells.

1. The presence and properties of K+ channels activated by arachidonic acid were studied in neuronal cells cultured from the mesencephalic and hypothalamic areas of rat brain. 2. Arachidonic acid produced a concentration-dependent (5-50 microM) and reversible activation of whole-cell currents. 3. In excised membrane patches, arachidonic acid applied to the cytoplasmic or extracellular side of the membrane caused opening of three types of channels whose current-voltage relationships were slightly outwardly rectifying, inwardly rectifying and linear, and whose single channel slope conductances at +60 mV were 143, 45 and 52 pS, respectively. 4. All three currents were K+ selective and blocked by 2 mM Ba2+ but not by other K+ channel blockers such as tetraethylammonium chloride, 4-aminopyridine and quinidine. The outwardly and inwardly rectifying currents were slightly voltage dependent with higher channel activity at more depolarized potentials. 5. Arachidonic acid activated the K+ channels in cells treated with cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase inhibitors (indomethacin and nordihydroguaiaretic acid), indicating that arachidonic acid itself can directly activate the channels. Alcohol and methyl ester derivatives of arachidonic acid failed to activate the K+ channels, indicating that the charged carboxyl group is important for activation. 6. Certain unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and docosahexaenoic acids), but not saturated fatty acids (myristic, palmitic, stearic acids), also reversibly activated all three types of K+ channel. 7. All three K+ channels were activated by pressure applied to the membrane (i.e. channels were stretch sensitive) with a half-maximal pressure of approximately 18 mmHg. The K+ channels were not blocked by 100 microM GdCl3. 8. A decrease in intracellular pH (over the range 5.6-7.2) caused a reversible, pH-dependent increase in channel activity whether the channel was initially activated by arachidonic acid or stretch. 9. Glutamate, a neurotransmitter reported to generate arachidonic acid in striatal neurons, did not cause activation of the K+ channels when applied extracellularly in cell-attached patches. 10. It is suggested that the K+ channels described here belong to a distinct family of ion channels that are activated by either fatty acids or membrane stretch. Although the physiological roles of these K+ channels are not yet known, they may be involved in cellular processes such as cell volume regulation and ischaemia-induced elevation of K+ loss.
Hypoglycemic Hemiplegic Syndrome

Hypoglycemia must be considered in any patient with an acute change of mental status or in a patient who shows a focal neurological deficit. Treatment with high IV glucose concentrations can save the patient from grave irreversible neurological sequelae and death.
Female Conduct Disorder: Health Status in Young Adulthood

Abstract Purpose One of the risk factors for poor adult health may be adolescent antisocial behavior, especially in girls. This study was conducted to determine if negative young adult health outcomes in girls who previously had adolescent antisocial behavior could be explained by demographic factors and pre-existing health problems. Methods This 3-year longitudinal study recruited 93 girls, ages 15–17 years (52 with conduct disorder [CD]; 41 with no psychiatric illness [normal controls; NC]) from the community. Baseline interviews of girls and parents collected demographic, psychiatric, and medical history data. Three annual interviews collected data about medical problems, health care service utilization, and reproductive health. In addition, the final follow-up included a standardized self-report questionnaire about young adult health status. Results CD and NC groups did not differ in age, racial composition, social class, proportion of smokers, or drug and alcohol experimentation. They were qualitatively different in baseline medical histories. Controlling for age at follow-up and baseline medical problems, the CD group as young adults had worse overall health, more discomfort, higher rates of unhealthy habits, lower rates of healthy behaviors, and more pregnancies at earlier ages. There were no group differences in rates of disorders, injuries, or health care usage. Conclusions Adolescent girls with CD as young adults have poorer overall health, more discomfort, more health risk behaviors, and earlier onset of adult reproductive behaviors, even when controlling for demographic factors and pre-existing health history. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Development of a calibration to predict maize seed composition using single kernel near infrared spectroscopy

The relative composition of protein, oil, and starch in the maize kernel has a large genetic component. Predictions of kernel composition based on single-kernel near infrared spectroscopy would enable rapid selection of individual seed with desired traits. To determine if single-kernel near infrared spectroscopy can be used to accurately predict internal kernel composition, near infrared reflectance (NIR) and near infrared transmittance (NIT) spectra were collected from 2160 maize kernels of different genotypes grown in several environments. A validation set of an additional 480 kernels was analyzed in parallel. Constituents were determined analytically by pooling kernels of the same genotype grown in the same environment. The NIT spectra had high levels of noise and were not suitable for predicting kernel composition. Partial least squares regression was used to develop predictive models from the NIR spectra for the composition results. Calibrations developed from the absolute amount of each constituent on a per kernel basis gave good predictive power, while models based on the percent composition of constituents in the meal gave poor predictions. These data suggest that single kernel NIR spectra are reporting an absolute amount of each component in the kernel.
Feather-chewing lice and Tree Swallow biology

ABSTRACT Feather-chewing lice (Order Phthiraptera, Suborder Ischnocera) commonly infest birds and may affect their survival and reproduction. From 1993 to 2005, we examined several aspects of the biology of breeding Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) potentially associated with holes in wing and tail feathers caused by feather-chewing lice. Most individuals had <10 feather holes, but 90% of second-year (SY) females, 68% of after-second-year (ASY) females, and 80% of males had ≥1 feather hole. ASY females had significantly fewer feather holes than SY females and males. There was evidence of positive assortative mating for feather hole number between ASY females and their mates. SY females and their mates did not differ significantly in the number of feather holes, but ASY females had significantly fewer holes than their mates. Males with fewer feather holes were heavier and had longer right wings. Feather hole abundance was not significantly associated with reproductive performance. Feather hole abundance...
Sensory transduction of weak electromagnetic fields: Role of glutamate neurotransmission mediated by NMDA receptors

Subliminal electromagnetic fields (EMFs) triggered nonlinear evoked potentials in awake but not anesthetized animals, and increased glucose metabolism in the hindbrain. Field detection occurred somewhere in the head and possibly was an unrecognized function of sensory neurons in facial skin, which synapse in the trigeminal nucleus and project to the thalamus via glutamate-dependent pathways. If so, anesthetic agents that antagonize glutamate neurotransmission would be expected to degrade EMF-evoked potentials (EEPs) to a greater extent than agents having different pharmacological effects. We tested the hypothesis using ketamine which blocks N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDARs), and xylazine which is an α₂-adrenoreceptor agonist. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) of rats were examined using recurrence analysis to observe EEPs in the presence and absence of ketamine and/or xylazine anesthesia. Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) served as positive controls. The frequency of observation of evoked potentials in a given condition (wake or anesthesia) was compared with that due to chance using the Fisher's exact test. EEPs were observed in awake rats but not while they were under anesthesia produced using a cocktail of xylazine and ketamine. In another experiment each rat was measured while awake and while under anesthesia produced using either xylazine or ketamine. EEPs and AEPs were detected during wake and under xylazine (P<0.05 in each of the four measurements). In contrast, neither EEPs nor AEPs were observed when anesthesia was produced partly or wholly using ketamine. The duration and latency of the EEPs was unaltered by xylazine anesthesia. The afferent signal triggered by the transduction of weak EMFs was likely mediated by NMDAR-mediated glutamate neurotransmission.
MODELING TRANSPORT OF GASEOUS OZONE IN UNSATURATED SOILS

The use of in situ ozone venting is an effective and economic technology to remediate soils contaminated with organic chemicals. A model was developed in this study to describe the transport of gaseous ozone in unsaturated soils. Mass balance equations for soil organic matter, phenanthrene, and ozone were incorporated into the model. The model was found to fit the experimental data obtained from one-dimensional columns, using the previously published rate expressions for the reactions of ozone with soil organic matter and phenanthrene. However, it was observed that the initial unsteady-state conditions for the gas pressure resulted in minor deviations between the simulated and experimental results. Based on the simulated results, the reactions of ozone with phenanthrene and organic matter can be modeled as either parallel or serial reactions. As the initial distribution of contaminant would be nonuniform and some contaminant would be sorbed or trapped in immobile regions, it is recommended that in situ ozonation be ceased no sooner than when the effluent ozone concentrations begins to stabilize.
On the Detection of Symmetries in Compositional Markov Models

A model-based evaluation of a system’s design often considers to what degree components need to be available multiple times in order to reach a desired level of availability, reliability or dependability. Multiple components of the same kind then lead to models with regular structures and symmetries. In stochastic models, especially Markovian models, such regularities have been used to establish lumpability results. In this paper, we propose a procedure to detect symmetries in a Markovian model that is built in a compositional manner by sharing state variables. The symmetries give insight into a model and help to achieve a significant state space reduction, which alleviates the effects of the infamous state space explosion problem. The results extend existing work of Obal, McQuinn, and Sanders; in particular, we focus on variables in functional transition rates that commute in order to take additional symmetries into account. The overall approach contributes to Mobius, a multi-paradigm, multi-solution framework for the model-based dependability and performance assessment of systems.
Environmental regulation case study: thermal pollution and the Paradise power plant

Over the past thirty years the United States has developed a very strong opposition to environmental pollution. One of the first signs of this growing movement was the 1970 addition of cooling towers to the Tennessee Valley Authority's Paradise Power Plant. By focusing on thermal pollution, this paper traces the evolution of one type of environmental regulation and its impact on the Paradise Plant. The Paradise story provides an image of the social motivations for the environmental protection movement, as well as an indicator of the economic and technological consequences of a distinctly political response to public outcry.
Completely Automated Segmentation Approach for Breast Ultrasound Images Using Multiple-Domain Features

Lesion segmentation is a challenging task for computer aided diagnosis systems. In this article, we propose a novel and fully automated segmentation approach for breast ultrasound (BUS) images. The major contributions of this work are: an efficient region-of-interest (ROI) generation method is developed and new features to characterize lesion boundaries are proposed. After a ROI is located automatically, two newly proposed lesion features (phase in max-energy orientation and radial distance), combined with a traditional intensity-and-texture feature, are utilized to detect the lesion by a trained artificial neural network. The proposed features are tested on a database of 120 images and the experimental results prove their strong distinguishing ability. Compared with other breast ultrasound segmentation methods, the proposed method improves the TP rate from 84.9% to 92.8%, similarity rate from 79.0% to 83.1% and reduces the FP rate from 14.1% to 12.0%, using the same database. In addition, sensitivity analysis demonstrates the robustness of the proposed method.
3D-soule: A fabrication process for large scale integration and micromachining of spherical structures

This paper reports a method for integrating and micromachining spherical structures made from materials such as fused quartz that are not amenable to melting or reflow. The 3D-SOULE process combines batch-mode micro ultrasonic machining (µUSM), lapping, and micro electro-discharge machining (µEDM) for creating spherical structures. Micro electro discharge machining is used for creating the stainless steel tool, which is then used for µUSM of the glass spheres. Stainless steel 440 which provides tool wear &#60;5% is used for µUSM. A machining rate of 24 µm/sec is achieved for fabrication of concave and mushroom-shaped spherical structures from 1 mm-diameter glass spheres.
Prevalence of Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Infants With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Objective. Neonates with fever gener- ally undergo a full, invasive septic evaluation to exclude serious bacterial infection (SBI). The risk of SBI in fe- brile older infants and children with documented respi- ratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection has been found to be negligible. The purpose of this study was to investi- gate the prevalence of SBI in febrile infants who were younger than 8 weeks and had documented RSV infec- tion and to compare the risk of SBI with control subjects who were febrile and RSV-negative. Methods. This was a retrospective cohort study of infants who were age 8 weeks or less and presented with documented fever to the emergency department at an urban children's hospital in October through April dur- ing a 4-year period. RSV-positive cases were gender- and age-matched to febrile RSV-negative control subjects. Clinical characteristics and the rate of SBI were com- pared between the 2 groups. Results. A total of 174 previously healthy infants with fever and a positive RSV antigen test were identi- fied and matched with 174 previously healthy infants with fever and a negative RSV test. Infants with RSV infection were more likely to present with upper respi- ratory infection symptoms, increased work of breathing, and apnea. Overall, 2 patients in the RSV group had SBI (both with urinary tract infections), compared with 22 in the control group (relative risk: 0.009), 17 of which were urinary tract infections. Conclusions. The risk of SBI in febrile infants with RSV infection seems to be very low, particularly in com- parison with a control group of RSV-negative infants. These data suggest that full septic evaluations are not necessary in nontoxic-appearing infants with a positive RSV test. It seems to be prudent to examine the urine in these infants, as there is a clinically relevant rate of urinary tract infection. Pediatrics 2003;112:282-284; fever, infants, respiratory syncytial virus, septic evaluations.
Transvaginal sonographic findings of endometrial metastases of mammary ductal carcinoma.

Metastases to the uterus are rare and account for less than 10% of all metastases to the female genital tract from extragenital cancers. 1 The endometrium is even less frequently affected by metastases. 1 The most common type of breast cancer that metastasizes to the uterus is infiltrating lobular carcinoma. 1 Other histologic types of breast carcinoma that may metastasize to the endometrium include infiltrating ductal carcinoma and signet ring breast carcinoma. 1-5 We report an unusual case in which a postmenopausal patient with infiltrating mammary ductal carcinoma receiving tamoxifen presented because of recent mild uterine bleeding. Transvaginal sonography depicted a symmetrically thickened endometrium and a small hydrometra. Tissue obtained at curettage confirmed metastatic carcinoma consistent with mammary ductal carcinoma.
Use of Prescription Weight Loss Pills among U.S. Adults in 1996–1998

According to the results of a telephone survey, nearly 5 million U.S. adults used prescription weight loss pills in 1996–1998. However, one quarter of users were not overweight, suggesting that wei...
Relationship of the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillations to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

Abstract While several mechanisms have been suggested to account for the association of the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillations (AO/AAO) with atmospheric parameters, this paper focuses on the relationship with the atmospheric outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate through AO/AAO composite analysis that the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis OLR agrees with the independent observations of the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) broadband satellite instruments both in zonal averages and in geographically mapped space, and to verify AO/AAO characterized general circulations derived from models and analyses. The results indicate several pronounced areas of storminess that are AO/AAO dependent. One is the well-known variation over the North Atlantic Ocean toward Europe. Also, several major areas are indicated in the tropical region—one in the Indian Ocean and the others in the west and central Pacific Ocean. In addition to demonstrating that the signals are statisticall...
Using issues to teach diversity: an interactive learning approach

This paper discusses how to teach students about diversity in the workplace and how to develop the multicultural leadership skills necessary to manage a diverse workforce. Based on my research, and experience as a teacher, consultant and affirmative action officer, the twelve critical diversity issues that students need to be aware of and understand if they are going to be effective multicultural leaders have been identified. Under each issue are several articles related to that issue. Because the twelve diversity issues are relevant, contemporary and controversial, students have responded well to this learning method. Using an issues based approach is an alternative and effective way to introduce, discuss and learn about diversity management. The issues can stand alone as complete learning modules, are adaptable to the experience and expertise of the instructor, and have been used successfully with traditional classroom courses, distance learning courses and training workshops for industry.
Alternative Water Sources in Earthwork Construction

During periods of drought, good-quality water becomes a precious commodity, especially in those parts of the United States that receive little rainfall. One way to reduce the demand for drinking water is to substitute non-drinking-quality water in earthwork construction. If nonpotable water from local sources can be used in construction, then the need for hauling in good-quality water from distant sources and the potential for construction delays because of water rationing can be avoided. A research study investigated the feasibility of using alternative water sources in earthwork construction. As a part of this study, alternative water supplies in Texas were identified and characterized for quality and volume availability. In addition, each proposed water source was evaluated to determine whether there were any adverse environmental impacts from its use in earthwork construction. Potential impact from the use of low-quality water on constructability, material behavior, and performance also were evaluated. Of special interest were the effects on corrosive potential, sulfate heave, and dispersion potential of the soil. Simple predictive models are presented to help when decisions are made regarding acceptance or rejection of water obtained from a specific source.
Feed-forward transient compensation control for DFIG wind generators during both balanced and unbalanced grid disturbances

A feed-forward transient compensation (FFTC) control scheme with proportional-integral-resonant current regulators is proposed to enhance the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability of doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) during both balanced and unbalanced grid faults. FFTC terms are injected into both the inner current control loop and the outer power control loop. The FFTC current controller improves the transient rotor current control capability, and minimizes the DFIG control interruptions during both balanced and unbalanced grid faults. Furthermore, without the need of sequence component decomposition, the torque ripples are reduced by injecting 60 Hz and 120 Hz rotor current components during unbalanced stator voltage conditions. The proposed FFTC control introduces minimal additional complexity to a regular DFIG vector control scheme, and shows promising enhancements in the LVRT capability of DFIGs. A 4 MW DFIG wind turbine system is simulated to demonstrate the proposed FFTC control scheme.
FDI and human capital in the USA: is FDI in different industries created equal?

We use data in the USA to study the effect of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in different sectors/industries on the state-level human capital, measured by the average years of tertiary schooling. We find that inward manufacturing FDI tends to lower the tertiary schooling in a host state while information FDI increases the tertiary schooling in a host state.
Prey Consumption of Insectivorous Bats in Coniferous Forests of North-Central Idaho

A considerable body of work has emerged on the ecology of insectivorous bats in forests of the Pacific Northwest, including dietary studies. Existing research in the Pacific Northwest on bat diets and prey consumption has emphasized populations of bats in Oregon. There are limited data for species inhabiting forests elsewhere in the region. We collected fecal samples from bats captured in mist nets set during May through August, 2004-05, in two watersheds in north-central Idaho that supported forests which were actively managed for timber production. We analyzed fecal samples of 183 bats of five species and compared the results to previously published data for these same species inhabiting forest habitats in the Pacific Northwest. Remains of 12 orders or classes of prey, along with 18 taxonomic families of insects, were identified in the diet of these bats. Prey items included Acari, Arachnida, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, and Trich...
Overview of Structural Interventions to Increase Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART)

Detecting HIV became possible in 1985, with the advent of a blood test that measures antibodies to HIV. Most commonly used for diagnosing infection with HIV, the test, referred to as an ELISA, must be confirmed typically by a test called a Western blot. Recently, saliva tests have become available, some providing results within 1–20min of testing, and a new test approved measures both HIV antibodies and p24 antigen, shrinking the duration of the “window period” from infection to diagnosis (MedicineNet, 2012).
Extremely large freeform optics manufacturing and testing

The 4.2m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) primary mirror has about 9 mm freeform aspheric departure. Actively controlled stressed lap and infrared deflectometry system have been developed to manufacture the extremely large freeform optics.
Radar Rain-Rate Estimators and Their Variability due to Rainfall Type: An Assessment Based on Hydrometeorology Testbed Data from the Southeastern United States

AbstractS-band profiling (S-PROF) radar measurements from different southeastern U.S. Hydrometeorology Testbed sites indicated a frequent occurrence of rain that did not exhibit radar bright band (BB) and was observed outside the periods of deep-convective precipitation. This common nonbrightband (NBB) rain contributes ~15%–20% of total accumulation and is not considered as a separate rain type by current precipitation-segregation operational radar-based schemes, which separate rain into stratiform, convective, and, sometimes, tropical types. Collocated with S-PROF, disdrometer measurements showed that drop size distributions (DSDs) of NBB rain have much larger relative fractions of smaller drops when compared with those of BB and convective rains. Data from a year of combined DSD and rain-type observations were used to derive S-band-radar estimators of rain rate R, including those based on traditional reflectivity Ze and ones that also use differential reflectivity ZDR and specific differential phase KDP...
Optically-Trapped Particle Temperature Extraction with Hot Brownian Dynamics

Combining hot Brownian motion theory with forward-scattered light analysis, we show a method for determining temperatures of optically-trapped nanoparticles in nonisothermal solvents. Results for trapped silica microspheres in D2O show heating to 35.9 °C.
Enhanced HSV recovery from neuronal tissues of latently infected rabbit.

SummaryThe classical minced tissue method and enzymatic cell dispersion methods were compared for isolating HSV from neural tissues of 48 latently infected and 5 acutely infected rabbits. The ECD method resulted in a 62% HSV isolation rate from 106 trigeminal ganglia samples and the minced tissue method resulted in a 21% HSV isolation rate from the same samples. Thirty-one percent of the 106 midbrain samples were positive for HSV by the ECD method as compared to 6% by the minced method. There were 64 instances when the ECD method detected HSV and the minced method did not. There were no instances in which the minced method alone was positive. The ECD method was faster than or equally as fast as the minced method in HSV detection in 97% of samples tested.
Butterfly Thin Films Serve as Solar Collectors

Thin film structures in butterfly wing and body scales cause optical interference that results in colorful iridescence. This reflected sunlight serves a variety of known functions, including coloration for camouflage and signaling for courtship. As a complementary function, our findings demonstrate that by absorbing the noniridescent wavelengths these film structures capture a significant amount of the total solar radiation. Butterflies can absorb as much as 96% of the incident solar radiation, or as little as 65%, depending on minute variations in film thicknesses. These results suggest that the specialization of these films includes the known reflective functions, as well as absorptive functions such as thermoregulation.
Two-terminal Net Routing Method Based on Genetic Algorithm

For a given routing plane, grid of the routing plane is performed for two-terminal net routing method based on a genetic algorithm according to the obstacle conditions, and then the grid is numbered . a group of ordered numbers are used to denote the routing paths of the terminals. and a population consisted of multiple routing paths is used as a search base. Genetic operation is conducted on the population by using the genetic algorithm, with which the shortest paths are obtained for the terminals.
Application of Barbour's Two-host Model in Surveillance Data of Schistosomiasis in Sichuan

Objective To reveal the epidemiological characteristics of schistosomiasis and the differences among the surveillance sites.Method In four surveillance sites of Sichuan Province,Barbour's two-host model was used to estimate the indices of the transmission dynamics.Result In each schistosomiasis surveillance site,the net reproductive number was much less.The cattles' transmission capacity was much higher than human's indicated that cattle was much more important in the transmission of schistosmiasis.In addition,each site had different epidemiological characteristics.Conclusion Barbour's two-host model is more complicated than other single-host models and can further demonstrate the situation of schistosmiasis japonica.
The pharmacy student and social responsibility.

Abstract Revolution or evolution! By either process, patterns of health care are changing and the professions are being challenged to change. Griffenhagen in a recent JAPhA editorial has thrown open the challenge to phannacy, and Jacobs and Froh2 have clearly pointed out a major direction that health care will take in the future. In this time of change, the pharm1acy student sits immobilized in his traditional professional curriculum. What are his responsibilities?
Digital Summaries of Pedon Descriptions

Soil scientists have been describing and analyzing pedons for over a hundred years. In the USA, a small portion of this data has been captured in the National Soil Information System (NASIS). While NASIS serves as a data repository, its analytical capabilities are limited, and the data are underutilized. In order to facilitate the analysis of soil horizon data in NASIS, we have used R to develop R Markdown (Rmd) reports. These Rmd reports are designed to provide numerical and graphical summaries of soil horizon data used for soil survey activities, such as the development of Official Series Descriptions and soil map unit components.
Urinary Excretion of Commonly Abused Drugs Following Uncommon Means of Administration.

Although abused drugs are administered most often by preferred routes, unconventional routes also may be employed. In addition, unsuspected drug exposure can occur by "unusual" routes, e.g., oral ingestion, passive inhalation, transcutaneous absorption, and in utero exposure. Urine testing is often used to document recent drug exposure. Much of the scientific literature on urine testing concerns studies of conventional routes of drug administration. This article reviews current data on urine testing following unconventional means of administration of drugs of abuse. In each section, a brief review of the principles involved in each unusual route is followed by a discussion of studies and case reports in which urine was tested for drugs of abuse. Special mention is made of the danger of passive inhalation to small children and in utero exposure to fetuses. It is hoped that this review will sensitize those involved in interpretation of urine test data to the many possible ways drugs can enter the human organism.
STAPHYLOCOCCAL SKIN INFECTIONS: TREATMENT OF IMPETIGO AND OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC FURUNCULOSIS.

Treatment of impetigo consists primarily of topical use of an antibiotic ointment; the combination of neomycin, bacitracin and polymyxin B is preferred. Systemic antibiotic therapy is seldom indicated.In cases of furunculosis, a program of home hygiene will lessen the likelihood of auto-inoculation and of spread to other persons. Chronic furunculosis may resist all therapeutic efforts. A neomycin-containing ointment is applied intranasally. Autogenous vaccine has produced good results.
Two-dimensional regular C -fractions

We consider one of the types of functional two-dimensional continued fractions corresponding to a formal double power series. Using estimates for the remainders of a two-dimensional continued fraction, the relation for the difference between two approximants of a two-dimensional continued fraction in terms of these remainders, and the correspondence principle, we investigate properties of these fractions.
Design of an Awareness Smartphone Platform Based on Direct and Indirect Persuasion for Energy Conservation

Direct and indirect persuasions are well known routes for delivering persuasive messages. However, designing and building IS&T artifacts that deliver a persuasion message indirectly is not explored enough yet. This DSR study reports the design, building and evaluation of an indirect persuasion technology. We focus on energy conservation application. Four principles of direct and indirect persuasive design are presented. In addition, these principles are utilized to design and build two different IS&T artifacts: an e-fotonovela application as an indirect persuasion route and the text messaging system as a direct persuasion route. A field study was conducted to evaluate each route. The immediate route effectiveness was measured by a post-survey. Furthermore, results from a longitudinal survey after one year showed that indirect persuasion is better remembered than the direct persuasion. This is a significant finding with important implications.
The Effect of Egg Temperature on Attentiveness in the Belding's Savannah Sparrow

On manipule la temperature des œufs dans le nid de Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi. Le soin manifeste par la femelle pour sa couvee est accru de 22,0% lorsque les œufs sont refroidis et diminue de 78,4% lorsqu'on les rechauffe
Two lost airways and one unexpected problem: undiagnosed tracheal stenosis in a morbidly obese patient

Anesthetic care of the morbidly obese is complex due to anatomic and physiologic alterations. Airway management in particular can be challenging. High body mass index is predictive of difficult ventilation and possibly difficult intubation. Other airway anomalies, such as tracheal stenosis, add to the complexity of airway management. Tracheal stenosis, a form of central airway obstruction, may be challenging to diagnose, especially in the obese. Comorbidities can mask the diagnosis and routine imaging may fail to identify the pathology. We present the case of a morbidly obese patient with 2 failed intubations due to difficult anatomy compounded with undiagnosed tracheal stenosis.
Prosodic factors for predicting local pitch shape

In this paper, we investigate the predictive power of different prosodic factorization schemes with respect to pitch movement. We use this to propose an extension of a standard diphone database with diphones that have been recorded in different prosodic contexts. The goal of this research is to reduce the amount of pitch modification required, thereby improving the segmental quality of the synthetic voice. We present a factorization scheme based on the foot structure of utterances and show that this efficient scheme results in a fairly small number of additional diphones that need to be recorded.
Before Dred Scott: Slavery and Legal Culture in the American Confluence, 1787–1857

Before Dred Scott draws on the freedom suits filed in the St Louis Circuit Court to construct a groundbreaking history of slavery and legal culture within the American Confluence, a vast region where the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers converge. Formally divided between slave and free territories and states, the American Confluence was nevertheless a site where the borders between slavery and freedom, like the borders within the region itself, were fluid. Such ambiguity produced a radical indeterminacy of status, which, in turn, gave rise to a distinctive legal culture made manifest by the prosecution of hundreds of freedom suits, including the case that ultimately culminated in the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs Sandford. Challenging dominant trends in legal history, Before Dred Scott argues that this distinctive legal culture, above all, was defined by ordinary people's remarkable understanding of and appreciation for formal law.
Clinical Outcomes After Inferior Vena Cava Filter (IVCF) Placement in Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Abstract 1076 Poster Board I-98 Purpose: Cancer patients are at increased risk for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) and bleeding during anticoagulation. Therefore, inferior vena cava filters (IVCF) are likely to be considered in VTE treatment in cancer patients. There are few data available to determine the safety and efficacy of IVCF in cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcome of patients with and without cancer after IVCF placement. Materials and Methods: After institutional review board approval was obtained, consecutive patients who received an IVCF at the Johns Hopkins Hospital were identified using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Demographic and clinical data were retrieved from the institutional electronic medical record (EMR). Clinical events including objectively-documented VTE were confirmed by an independent review of the EMR by two investigators. The outcome of patients with and without cancer was compared using compared using non-parametric and parametric statistics. Marginal structural models were used to model the impact of anticoagulation on VTE. Results: Between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006, 702 patients had an IVCF placed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 220 patients (31.3%) had cancer. The median age of the patients with and without cancer was 64 and 55 years, respectively (p Conclusions: Our retrospective cohort indicates that IVCF are commonly used to treat VTE in cancer patients. VTE was common after IVCF placement. Compared with patients without cancer, cancer patients were equally likely to suffer DVT or PE but more likely to develop IVCT post-IVCF placement. AC post-filter placement did not appear to be protective against VTE and there was a trend toward more VTE among cancer patients despite AC. These data suggest that IVCF may result in more thrombotic events in cancer patients and should be reserved for patients with acute VTE and contraindications to anticoagulation. Prospective studies are warranted to confirm these data. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Duckietown: An Innovative Way to Teach Autonomy

Teaching robotics is challenging because it is a multidisciplinary, rapidly evolving and experimental discipline that integrates cutting-edge hardware and software. This paper describes the course design and first implementation of Duckietown, a vehicle autonomy class that experiments with teaching innovations in addition to leveraging modern educational theory for improving student learning. We provide a robot to every student, thanks to a minimalist platform design, to maximize active learning; and introduce a role-play aspect to increase team spirit, by modeling the entire class as a fictional start-up (Duckietown Engineering Co.). The course formulation leverages backward design by formalizing intended learning outcomes (ILOs) enabling students to appreciate the challenges of: (a) heterogeneous disciplines converging in the design of a minimal self-driving car, (b) integrating subsystems to create complex system behaviors, and (c) allocating constrained computational resources. Students learn how to assemble, program, test and operate a self-driving car (Duckiebot) in a model urban environment (Duckietown), as well as how to implement and document new features in the system. Traditional course assessment tools are complemented by a full scale demonstration to the general public. The “duckie” theme was chosen to give a gender-neutral, friendly identity to the robots so as to improve student involvement and outreach possibilities. All of the teaching materials and code is released online in the hope that other institutions will adopt the platform and continue to evolve and improve it, so to keep pace with the fast evolution of the field.
The Fiction in Computer Science: A Qualitative Data Analysis of the ACM Digital Library for Traces of Star Trek

This exploratory study reviews the usage of Star Trek referrals in the ACM Digital Library. Our research question examines the occurrence of the search term Star Trek in the publications, proceedings and periodicals listed in the ACM Digital Library and the contextual usage of Star Trek within each individual publication. In order to do so, we first conduct a full-text search and retrieval process of publications referencing Star Trek using the ACM Digital Library advanced search interface. In a second step, we download and qualitatively open-code the retrieved publications to identify contextualized Star Trek technologies and other instances where Star Trek and computer science research intersect. In total, we identify and evaluate 232 relevant publications in the span from 1975–2017 which discuss a variety of Star Trek technologies, devices and forthcoming implications for computer science and human-computer interaction research. We classify these 232 publications into ten broad categories and then discuss the past usage of Star Trek in the ACM Digital Library. Our conclusions focus on the implications of fiction in computer science and human-computer interaction research in addition to the potential of Star Trek as a research inspiration for future visions of emerging information and communication technologies, devices, interfaces and interactions.
A linear damping scheme for higher order dc-dc converters supplying constant-power loads in a dc microgrid

A linear controller is proposed for dc microgrids with SEPIC, Cuk and Zeta power electronic converters supplying constant power loads. The controller is implemented in two stages. During the first stage, also known as active damping stage, limit cycle oscillations are damped by inserting a virtual resistance in series with the input inductor of each of the converters. In the second stage, an integral controller is added to the first stage to compensate for the voltage deviations due to the virtual resistance. The second stage, also known as voltage regulation stage maintains the microgrid voltage within acceptable limits in the event of source and load variation. Linearization and small signal analysis are used to derive stability conditions for the equilibrium points. Simulation and experiments performed on a prototype microgrid are used to verify the proposed control laws.