cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Viscous deformation of unconsolidated reservoir sands—Part 1: Time‐dependent deformation, frequency dispersion, and attenuation

Laboratory experiments on dry, unconsolidated reservoir sands from the Wilmington field, California, reveal significant viscous creep strain under a variety of loading conditions. In hydrostatic compression tests, following initial loading to 10 MPa, the creep strain that accompanies 5‐MPa loading steps to 15, 20, 25, and 30 MPa exceeds the magnitude of the instantaneous strain (∼3 × 10−3). We observed a two‐fold increase in bulk modulus with frequency over the range of frequencies tested (10−6 to 10−2 Hz), which is consistent with a viscoelastic rheology of unconsolidated sand. The data demonstrate that the effective static bulk modulus is approximately one‐third of that at seismic frequencies. By measuring the phase lag between stress and strain during the loading cycles, we were also able to show that inelastic attenuation is nearly constant (Q ≈ 5) over the four‐decade range of frequencies tested at a strain amplitude of 10−3. Interestingly, the viscous effects only appear when loading a sample beyond...
Prevalence and Characterization of Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli on Carcasses in Commercial Beef Cattle Processing Plants

Beef carcass sponge samples collected from July to August 1999 at four large processing plants in the United States were surveyed for the presence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Twenty-eight (93%) of 30 single-source lots surveyed included at least one sample containing non-O157 STEC. Of 334 carcasses sampled prior to evisceration, 180 (54%) were found to harbor non-O157 STEC. Non-O157 STEC isolates were also recovered from 27 (8%) of 326 carcasses sampled after the application of antimicrobial interventions. Altogether, 361 non-O157 STEC isolates, comprising 41 different O serogroups, were recovered. O serogroups that previously have been associated with human disease accounted for 178 (49%) of 361 isolates. Although 40 isolates (11%) carried a combination of virulence factor genes (enterohemorrhagic E. coli hlyA, eae, and at least one stx gene) frequently associated with STEC strains causing severe human disease, only 12 of these isolates also belonged to an O serogroup previously associated with human disease. Combining previously reported data on O157-positive samples (R. O. Elder, J. E. Keen, G. R. Siragusa, G. A. Barkocy-Gallagher, M. Koohmaraie, and W. W. Laegreid, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:2999-3003, 2000) with these data regarding non-O157-positive samples indicated total STEC prevalences of 72 and 10% in preevisceration and postprocessing beef carcass samples, respectively, showing that the interventions used by the beef-processing industry effected a sevenfold reduction in carcass contamination by STEC.
Nonreciprocal and magnetically scanned miniaturized leaky-wave antennas using coupled transmission lines

This paper presents a new class of magnetically scanned leaky wave antennas (LWAs), incorporating ferrite (or possibly magnetoelectric composite), for wide angle beamsteering. Using the ferrite’s tunable permeability beamsteering is achieved by controlling the external bias field. This is unlike most leaky-wave antennas requiring frequency modulation to steer the beam. Our first design is based on coupled microstrip lines on a biased ferrite substrate with nonreciprocal radiation properties, specifically a 5 dB contrast between the measured transmit and receive gain in the E -plane was achieved. However, it was found that inhomogeneities in the bias field limited its scanning performance. To alleviate this issue, a new class of miniaturized metamaterial based LWA was considered and presented here. This new design is based on coupled composite right left handed (CRLH) transmission lines (TLs) and has a unit-cell length of only λ 0 /20. For validation, a 15-unit-cell prototype was manufactured and its TX/RX beams were scanned in the E -plane 80° by changing the bias field within a range of ±50 Oe. We found that the associated antenna gain varied between 3.5 dB and 5 dB at 1.79 GHz as the beam was scanned. In the above design, scanning was realized by changing the distance between the bias source and the LWA. Thus, future work will be focused on LWAs tuned by biasing a magnetodielectric layer placed below the ferrite substrate.
Children’s perceptions of other people: mentalistic versus behavioristic descriptions of peers and adults

Are 3-year-old children capable of making mentalistic ascriptions to describe the actions of adults as well as peers? Forty-four children (21 girls) aged 3–0 to 3–11 viewed picture sets of adults and peers performing various activities. Children’s descriptions of the pictures were coded as either mentalistic or behavioristic. Children on average preferred mentalistic descriptions of adults as well as peers. Preference for mentalistic descriptions was unrelated to verbal ability or age. Meta-analytic techniques showed the consistency of present results with past findings based upon both similar methods and natural language observations of linguistic production. Meta-analysis also revealed a strong effect of situational context on children’s preferences for mentalistic versus behavioristic descriptions of others, with item content accounting for up to 70% of variance in child responses.
Alternative treatments for myelodysplastic syndromes.

Selecting the most appropriate treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) requires careful consideration of several factors. Most patients with MDS are in the 7th or later decade of life and often have comorbid health problems influencing treatment tolerance. Poor-prognosis MDS, as indicated by unfavorable cytogenetics or an increased percentage of myeloblasts, warrants more aggressive interventions than more indolent forms, which might remain stable for many years without treatment. The only curative treatment for MDS is allogeneic stem cell transplantion; however, only a small percentage of patients are candidates for this aggressive treatment. Traditional management for most patients with MDS is supportive care with red blood cell and platelet transfusions or hematopoietic growth factor support and antibiotics for infections. More detailed scrutiny of the processes involved in the MDS phenotype has stimulated investigation into identifying alternate therapeutic options that are effective and better tolerated. Herein, we summarize an array of novel treatments in development for the management of MDS.
Space efficient parallel buddy memory management

Shared memory multiprocessor systems need efficient dynamic storage allocators, both for system purposes and to support parallel programs. Memory managers are often based on the buddy system, which provides fast allocation and release. Previous parallel buddy memory managers made no attempt to coordinate the allocation, splitting and release of blocks, and as a result needlessly fragment memory. The authors present fast, and simple parallel buddy memory manager that is also as space efficient as a serial buddy memory manager. They test their algorithms using memory allocation/deallocation traces their collected from a parallel sparse matrix algorithm. >
Wide-line proton magnetic resonance spectra of some celluloses†

Characteristic wide-line proton magnetic resonance absorption spectra of a number of representative cellulose preparations have been obtained in the dry state and after addition of about 7% water. Line widths, second moments, spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation times have been determined. The second moment of the absorption curve of dry cellulose was found to correlate well with the crystalline fraction for most specimens. A technique is described for determining the number of water-cellulose protons exchanging relative to the number of cellulose protons not exchanging. The reduction in absorption line width observed when water is added to cellulose is shown to be quantitatively consistent with such a proton exchange phenomenon.
TLR9 and MyD88 Are Crucial for the Development of Protective Immunity to Malaria

Effective resolution of malaria infection by avoiding pathogenesis requires regulated pro- to anti-inflammatory responses and the development of protective immunity. TLRs are known to be critical for initiating innate immune responses, but their roles in the regulation of immune responses and development of protective immunity to malaria remain poorly understood. In this study, using wild-type, TLR2(-/-), TLR4(-/-), TLR9(-/-), and MyD88(-/-) mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii, we show that TLR9 and MyD88 regulate pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines, Th1/Th2 development, and cellular and humoral responses. Dendritic cells from TLR9(-/-) and MyD88(-/-) mice produced significantly lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines and higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines than dendritic cells from wild-type mice. NK and CD8(+) T cells from TLR9(-/-) and MyD88(-/-) mice showed markedly impaired cytotoxic activity. Furthermore, mice deficient in TLR9 and MyD88 showed higher Th2-type and lower Th1-type IgGs. Consequently, TLR9(-/-) and MyD88(-/-) mice exhibited compromised ability to control parasitemia and were susceptible to death. Our data also show that TLR9 and MyD88 distinctively regulate immune responses to malaria infection. TLR9(-/-) but not MyD88(-/-) mice produced significant levels of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β and IL-18, by other TLRs/inflammasome- and/or IL-1R/IL-18R-mediated signaling. Thus, whereas MyD88(-/-) mice completely lacked cell-mediated immunity, TLR9(-/-) mice showed low levels of cell-mediated immunity and were slightly more resistant to malaria infection than MyD88(-/-) mice. Overall, our findings demonstrate that TLR9 and MyD88 play central roles in the immune regulation and development of protective immunity to malaria, and have implications in understanding immune responses to other pathogens.
Sensory Adaptation within a Bayesian Framework for Perception

We extend a previously developed Bayesian framework for perception to account for sensory adaptation. We first note that the perceptual effects of adaptation seems inconsistent with an adjustment of the internally represented prior distribution. Instead, we postulate that adaptation increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements by adapting the operational range of the measurement stage to the input range. We show that this changes the likelihood function in such a way that the Bayesian estimator model can account for reported perceptual behavior. In particular, we compare the model's predictions to human motion discrimination data and demonstrate that the model accounts for the commonly observed perceptual adaptation effects of repulsion and enhanced discriminability.
Unraveling the structural complexity in a single-stranded RNA tail: implications for efficient ligand binding in the prequeuosine riboswitch

Single-stranded RNAs (ssRNAs) are ubiquitous RNA elements that serve diverse functional roles. Much of our understanding of ssRNA conformational behavior is limited to structures in which ssRNA directly engages in tertiary interactions or is recognized by proteins. Little is known about the structural and dynamic behavior of free ssRNAs at atomic resolution. Here, we report the collaborative application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations to characterize the 12 nt ssRNA tail derived from the prequeuosine riboswitch. NMR carbon spin relaxation data and residual dipolar coupling measurements reveal a flexible yet stacked core adopting an A-form-like conformation, with the level of order decreasing toward the terminal ends. An A-to-C mutation within the polyadenine tract alters the observed dynamics consistent with the introduction of a dynamic kink. Pre-ordering of the tail may increase the efficacy of ligand binding above that achieved by a random-coil ssRNA. The REMD simulations recapitulate important trends in the NMR data, but suggest more internal motions than inferred from the NMR analysis. Our study unmasks a previously unappreciated level of complexity in ssRNA, which we believe will also serve as an excellent model system for testing and developing computational force fields.
Gas Chromatography of Amino Acids

Amino acid gas chromatography procedures were reviewed in 1962 by Burchfield and Storrs [7] and by Littlewood [28]. Since that time additional procedures have been developed, and several workers have used these procedures to analyze the amino acid composition of proteins, blood, and nerve tissue and to resolve optical isomers.
Performance of DS/CDMA UWB communication systems in the presence of narrow-band interference and imperfect channel estimation

This work considers the performance of a DS/CDMA system in the presence of narrow-band interference and imperfect channel estimation. A receiver based on MMSE channel estimation and maximum-likelihood data detection is assumed. An adaptive MMSE receiver, based on the LMS algorithm, is also explored. The performance of the DS/CDMA system is compared with that of a recently proposed UWB spectral-encoded system. The formulation and numerical results presented allow for a better understanding of the spectral overlay effects for UWB communication systems.
Dispersive chiral frequency selective surfaces simulated via FEBI and FDTD

This paper will discuss the simulation of dispersive chiral frequency selective surfaces (FSS) through the use of a periodic finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and a periodic finite-element boundary-integral (FEBI) method. The periodic numerical methods will be used to model a dispersive chiral polarizer with a FSS embedded within. This device will be designed to convert a linearly polarized wave of arbitrary polarization into a circularly polarized wave over a finite bandwidth. The two numerical methods will be compared and contrasted in reference to the design of the chiral polarizer.
Norms of principal axis realizations: Application of abstract realization theory

Principal axis realizations are an important class of implementations, associated with good numerical properties. The spectral (l/sub 2/) norm of the principal axis realization matrices of arbitrary transfer functions is studied. In particular, it is shown that if the transfer function is contractive, then its principal axis realization matrices have a norm less than square root 2, while the internally balanced realization is conjectured to have a norm of less than 1. Furthermore, if the transfer function is an all-pass transfer function, then the three principal axis realizations become identical and equal to an orthogonal matrix. Abstract realization theory is used to prove these results. >
Analysis of Critical Incidents and Shifting Perspectives: Transitions in Illness Careers Among Adolescents With ADHD

Adolescence represents a developmental period during which the severity of mental health problems for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might change. It is a time when teens are consolidating their self-identity and possibly questioning the label of an ADHD diagnosis, treatment, and types of interventions. In this study we investigated the shared critical events related to help seeking reported by 8 teenagers with ADHD, their mothers, and their teachers and how the reported events and constructed shared focus on specific problems might explain teenagers' transitions in their illness careers. Data collected through a qualitative application of the experience sampling method illuminated diverse illness career transitions, including continuing treatment, transitioning from being treated to untreated or from being untreated to treated, and remaining untreated. Our findings support a model of shifting perspectives on illness and wellness among adolescents with ADHD, rather than a pr...
Tactical bandwidth exhaustion in ad hoc networks

Bandwidth exhaustion in an ad hoc network can seriously downgrade communication quality and cause denial of service (DoS). This paper studies a set of attack approaches to exhaust bandwidth, which follow protocols and are hard to detect. From early researches, it is clear that an attacker can misuse media access control (MAC) and routing protocols to cause DoS. However, we find that an attacker can steal or seize bandwidth from others while being a "good" node. This paper also clarifies some misunderstandings about the nature of bandwidth exhaustion. For example, some people believe that nodes can get the same amount of bandwidth if they demand the same, and attackers can always cause serious DoS by demanding more bandwidth. This study results in a family of intriguing findings. For example, this study finds that in IEEE 802.11 networks (a) nodes demanding the same amount of bandwidth may get very different bandwidth, and (b) demanding more bandwidth does not always enable the attacker to steal more bandwidth from the legitimate nodes. These findings not only show that attackers can take advantage over legitimate nodes via a deliberate selection of attack parameters, but also provide insights on how to effectively counteract bandwidth exhaustion in ad hoc networks.
Dynamic Cost Allocation for Economic Lot Sizing Games

Abstract We consider a cooperative game defined by an economic lot sizing problem with concave ordering costs over a finite time horizon, in which each player faces demand for a single product in each period and coalitions can pool orders. We show how to compute a dynamic cost allocation in the strong sequential core of this game, i.e. an allocation over time that exactly distributes costs and is stable against coalitional defections at every period of the time horizon.
A Holocene record of climate‐driven shifts in coastal carbon sequestration

[1] A sediment core collected in the mesohaline portion of Chesapeake Bay was found to contain periods of increased delivery of refractory black carbon (BC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The BC was most likely produced by biomass combustion during four centennial-scale dry periods as indicated by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), beginning in the late Medieval Warm Period of 1100 CE. In contrast, wetter periods were associated with increased non-BC organic matter influx into the bay, likely due to greater runoff and associated nutrient delivery. In addition, an overall increase in both BC and non-BC organic matter deposition during the past millennium may reflect a shift in climate regime. The finding that carbon sequestration in the coastal zone responds to climate fluctuations at both centennial and millennial scales through fire occurrence and nutrient delivery has implications for past and future climate predictions. Drought-induced fires may lead, on longer timescales, to greater carbon sequestration and, therefore, represent a negative climate feedback.
The Growth and Development of a Specialty: The History of Pediatrics

Spanning less than two centuries, pediatrics is a relatively young medical specialty. Prior to the development of pediatrics, the medical needs of infants and children were provided by families, friends, and midwives; physicians rarely contributed to the health of this population. However, events beginning in the 19th century resulted in the development of physicians who specifically addressed the medical problems of infancy and childhood; thus the pediatric specialty was born. This article presents a summary of the cumulative forces responsible for the development of pediatrics as a distinct branch of medical practice.
Thoracoscopic Lobectomy Facilitates the Delivery of Chemotherapy after Resection for Lung Cancer

Background We conducted a study of patients who underwent anatomic resection with adjuvant chemotherapy to determine if thoracoscopic lobectomy enables more effective administration of adjuvant chemotherapy than lobectomy by thoracotomy. Methods We reviewed the outcomes of 100 consecutive patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent lobectomy and received adjuvant chemotherapy (1999 to 2004). The variables analyzed were time to initiation of chemotherapy, percentage of planned regimen received, number of delayed or reduced chemotherapy doses, toxicity grade, length of hospitalization, chest tube duration, 30-day mortality, and major complications (pneumonia, respiratory failure, atrial fibrillation). The χ 2 test and Student t test were used to compare dichotomous and continuous variables, respectively. Results Complete resection was performed by thoracotomy in 43 patients and by thoracoscopy in 57 (no conversions). All patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, and 20 (20%) received adjuvant radiation therapy: 13 (30%) of 43 in the thoracotomy group and 7 (12%) of 57 in the thoracoscopy group ( p = 0.04). Patients undergoing thoracoscopic lobectomy had significantly fewer delayed (18% versus 58%, p p = 0.02) chemotherapy doses. A higher percentage of patients undergoing thoracoscopic resection received 75% or more of their planned adjuvant regimen without delayed or reduced doses (61% versus 40%, p = 0.03). There were no significant differences in time to initiation of chemotherapy or toxicity. Patients undergoing a thoracoscopic lobectomy had a shorter median length of hospitalization (4 days versus 5 days, p = 0.02). Conclusions Thoracoscopy was associated with an overall higher compliance rate and fewer delayed or reduced doses of chemotherapy in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.
Mobile Contagion: Simulation of Infection and Defense

For worms with known signatures, properly configured firewalls can prevent infection of a network from the outside. However, as several recent worms have shown, portable computers provide worms with an entry point into such networks, since these computers are connected behind the firewall. Once inside, the firewall provides no protection against the worm's further spread. Wireless networks are particularly dangerous in this regard, as the act of connection is often invisible, and improperly configured wireless networks will allow anyone within radio range to connect. In this paper, we use real data on a large-scale wireless deployment to analyze the speed with which a worm could spread if it used only this propagation vector. We discuss several possible solutions and provide analysis on how much protection those solutions would provide.
Examination of soluble integrin resistant mutants of foot-and-mouth disease virus

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) initiates infection via recognition of one of at least four cell-surface integrin molecules αvβ1, αvβ3, αvβ6, or αvβ8 by a highly conserved Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) amino acid sequence motif located in the G-H loop of VP1. Within the animal host, the αvβ6 interaction is believed to be the most relevant. Sub-neutralizing levels of soluble secreted αvβ6 (ssαvβ6) was used as a selective pressure during passages in vitro to explore the plasticity of that interaction. Genetically stable soluble integrin resistant (SIR) FMDV mutants derived from A24 Cruzeiro were selected after just 3 passages in cell culture in the presence of sub-neutralizing levels of ssαvβ6. SIR mutants were characterized by: replication on selective cell lines, plaque morphology, relative sensitivity to ssαvβ6 neutralization, relative ability to utilize αvβ6 for infection, as well as sequence and structural changes. All SIR mutants maintained an affinity for αvβ6. Some developed the ability to attach to cells expressing heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan, while others appear to have developed affinity for a still unknown third receptor. Two classes of SIR mutants were selected that were highly or moderately resistant to neutralization by ssαvβ6. Highly resistant mutants displayed a G145D substitution (RGD to RDD), while moderately resistant viruses exhibited a L150P/R substitution at the conserved RGD + 4 position. VP1 G-H loop homology models for the A-type SIR mutants illustrated potential structural changes within the integrin-binding motif by these 2 groups of mutations. Treatment of O1 Campos with ssαvβ6 resulted in 3 SIR mutants with a positively charged VP3 mutation allowing for HS binding. These findings illustrate how FMDV particles rapidly gain resistance to soluble receptor prophylactic measures in vitro. Two different serotypes developed distinct capsid mutations to circumvent the presence of sub-neutralizing levels of the soluble cognate receptor, all of which resulted in a modified receptor tropism that expanded the cell types susceptible to FMDV. The identification of some of these adaptive mutations in known FMDV isolates suggests these findings have implications beyond the cell culture system explored in these studies.
Mus spicilegus Endogenous Retrovirus HEMV Uses Murine Sodium-Dependent Myo-Inositol Transporter 1 as a Receptor

We sought to determine the relationship between two recent additions to the murine leukemia virus (MLV) ecotropic subgroup: Mus cervicolor isolate M813 and Mus spicilegus endogenous retrovirus HEMV. Though divergent in sequence, the two viruses share an Env protein with similarly curtailed VRA and VRB regions, and infection by both is restricted to mouse cells. HEMV and M813 displayed reciprocal receptor interference, suggesting that they share a receptor. Expression of the M813 receptor murine sodium-dependent myo-inositol transporter 1 (mSMIT1) allowed previously nonpermissive cells to be infected by HEMV, indicating that mSMIT1 also serves as a receptor for HEMV. Our findings add HEMV as a second member to the MLV subgroup that uses mSMIT1 to gain entry into cells.
Development of a Temperature-Mediated Functional Response Equation

An equation based on enzyme kinetics was used to describe the effects of temperature on poikilothermic activity rates. This equation successfully described change in activity rates for both a variety of poikilotherms and rates including: photosynthetic, O2 consumption, glucose oxidation, handling, search, and generation rates. All of the data sets tested had r2 values greater than 0.92. This equation was the major component of a model predicting the interaction of temperature and a limiting nutrient on an activity rate. The model was developed from the case, where Km is considered to be the product of two temperature dependent rates and allowed Km is to be a simple or complex function of temperature. The model successfully described the interaction of temperature and limiting nutrient on rates from two data sets.
Roads and Landscape Pattern in Northern Wisconsin Based on a Comparison of Four Road Data Sources

Roads are important components of landscapes; they fragment habitat, facilitate invasive species spread, alter hydrology, and influence patterns of land use. Previous research on the ecological impacts of roads may have underestimated their effect because currently available sources of road data do not include the full road network. We compared differences in road density and landscape pattern among U.S. Census Bureau TIGER line files, U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital line graphs, and U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale digital raster graphics in northern Wisconsin to road data derived from 1:40,000-scale digital orthophotos. Road density measured from digital orthophotos (2.82 km/km 2 )w as significantly greater than that of digital raster graphics (1.62 km/km 2 ) and more than double that of digital line graphs (1.21 km/km 2 ) and TIGER (1.27 km/km 2 ) data. The increased road densities in raster graphics and orthophoto data were mainly due to the addition of minor roads. When all roads were used to define patch boundaries, landscape metrics produced with orthophoto data showed significantly greater levels of fragmentation than those based on line or raster graphics. For example, maximum patch size was 1074 ha and total edge was 109 km for line graphs, compared with 686 ha and 211 km for orthophoto data. Roads are missing in commonly used data, primarily because mapping standards systematically exclude minor roads. These standards are not ecologically based and may result in false assumptions about the ecological effects of roads. We recommend that future studies take special consideration of the completeness of road data and consider whether all ecologically relevant roads are included.
The effect of a percolation threshold in the Kozeny‐Carman relation

One of the most important properties of reservoir rocks, and perhaps the most difficult to predict, is permeability. Laboratory studies have shown that permeability depends on a long list of parameters: porosity, pore size and shape, clay content, stress, pore pressure, fluid type, saturation—a nearly overwhelming complexity. In spite of this, the essential behavior can often be expressed successfully using the remarkably simple Kozeny‐Carman (Kozeny, 1927; Carman, 1937, 1956; Bear, 1972; Scheidegger, 1974) relation κ=Bϕ3S2,where κ is the permeability, ϕ is the porosity, S is the specific surface area (pore surface area per volume of rock), and B is a geometric factor.
Characterization of laser-driven shock waves in solids using a fiber optic pressure probe

Measurement of laser-driven shock wave pressure in solid blocks of polymethyl methacrylate is demonstrated using fiber optic pressure probes. Three probes based on a fiber Fabry–Perot, fiber Bragg grating, and interferometric fiber tip sensor are tested and compared. Shock waves are generated using a high-power laser focused onto a thin foil target placed in close proximity to the test blocks. The fiber Fabry–Perot sensor appears capable of resolving the shock front with a rise time of 91 ns. The peak pressure is estimated, using a separate shadowgraphy measurement, to be 3.4 GPa.
U.S. Child Death Review Programs Assessing Progress Toward a Standard Review Process

Background Child death review (CDR) programs examine the circumstances of children's deaths to gain information on how and why children die for the purpose of promoting the health, safety, and protection of children. Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the 50 states and District of Columbia CDR programs, with specific focus on the use of standardized procedures and best-practice recommendations. This included assessment of which deaths are reviewed, the model of review, team membership, and standardization of data collection and reporting. Methods Data were collected through semistructured phone interviews with representatives of the 50 states and District of Columbia CDR programs and online sources. Data collection and analyses were conducted in 2009. Results Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have active CDR programs at the state and/or local level, and the majority use a national data collection system. However, results revealed numerous inconsistencies across programs in policies, procedures, and data collection. Conclusions This study reflects the minimal progress that has been made in the CDR process in the U.S. since the last systematic review of the programs in 2001. The study documents substantial discrepancies among the U.S. CDR programs, affecting the consistency of data obtained by individual states and, ultimately, prevention efforts at the national level. Information from this review can inform CDR programs as they develop and refine procedures and guide future research on the effectiveness and limitations of variations in procedures.
Review of John Watson’s Book: Schelling's Transcendental Idealism: A Critical Exposition

Why do I review John Watson's 1882 classic, "Schelling's Transcendental Idealism"? I write this review in 2007, and the sad truth is that Schelling's system (with upgrades from Hegel, and others) is underappreciated in a world full of strife and dualistic thinking. It is underappreciated with some exceptions (e.g., Ken Wilber) even as Schelling's system could find its partial vindication coming from science. The buying public prefers its confusion coming from Richard Dawkins' "God Delusion." You can find this book at Amazon: Schelling's Transcendental Idealism: A Critical Exposition .
S velocities at near distances in western central California

An observational study of S from near earthquakes in western central California has been conducted. The average velocity of a single direct S arrival at Berkeley (BRK) from 25 earthquakes within 108 km is 3.60 ± .05 km/sec. At Vineyard (VIN) the clearest arrival from 12 earthquakes within 97 km has a velocity of 3.00 ± .06 km/sec. A weaker, earlier arrival is observed at VIN for 50 km < Δ < 100 km indicating a velocity of 3.51 ± .06 km/sec. The two arrivals at VIN may be due to either a lateral or vertical rustal velocity contrast. The greater attenuation of the higher velocity arrival at VIN with respect to BRK may indicate the dimension of an anelastic zone associated with regional faulting. SH arrivals identified on records from an instrument with extended long-period response have been identified as SHn with a velocity of 4.5 ± .2 km/sec. Source motions inferred from S -particle motion at BRK show a strong orientation with the trend of the regional faulting.
Descriptions of Nonpremixed Turbulent Combustion

Nonpremixed turbulent combustion is a complicated topic because of the interplay between turbulent flow and nonpremixed combustion with associated large variations in the density of the fluid. Ways to classify different regimes of these combustion processes are addressed, and various approaches to describing combustion in the different regimes are reviewed, with special attention pai d to the contributions of Gerard M. Faeth, notably concerning turbulent spray combustion. The degree of success that has been obtained is remarkable for surpassing what might have been expected in advance. A brief discussion of new directions in the anal ysis of nonpremixed turbulent combustion also is given. I. Introduction t is a pleasure to prepare this material in honor of Jerry Faeth, whose unique viewpoint on nonpremixed turbulent combustion did a great deal to broaden perspectives and to enable reaso nable predictions to be made for complex flows. The subject is of wide practical interest since it pertains to combustion in furnaces, fires, flares, diesel engines and gas turbines, for example. Rather than addressing specific applications, however, the presentations will focus on identifying and categorizing different methods for calculating processes of nonpremixed turbulent combustion and on the different combustion regimes in which the various methods may best be employed. This may help to bring som e order to this large and complicated subject and to put Jerry’s contributions in context. Achieving this objective will necessitate delving into fundamentals.
Novel Undulators for x-ray FELs

Recent developments of several x-ray FEL facilities around the world have stimulated noticeable progress in the undulator technology. The latest progress took place in the technology of superconducting undulators. These novel devices would open the way for more compact FELs with purposely tailored radiation characteristics.
A New Species of the Mealy-Bugs.

The writer collected the specimens of this mealy-bug from a nest of the ant Lasius. This nest was under a rock in an open grassy place near the Chautauqua grounds at Boulder, Colorado. Apparently it was a new species belonging to the genus Trionymus.
Abstract CN12-02: Evolution in carcinogenesis

CN12-02 Histories are inherently recorded within genomes by errors that inevitably occur during replication. Essentially, the greater the number of genome replications, on average the greater the numbers of differences between two genomes (“molecular clock hypothesis”). Recent “cancer genome projects” have revealed how a genome changes during its evolution to colorectal cancer. Interesting findings are the relatively low numbers of somatic mutations ( Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):CN12-02.
A fiber optic PCO2 sensor

The theory, construction and performance of a catheter tip optical PCO2 probe is described. The sensor, called the Opticap, is made with plastic fiber optics. One fiber carries light to the sensitive tip which is a silicone rubber tube 0.6 mm dia. X 1.0 mm long filled with a phenol red-KHCO3 solution. Ambient PCO2 controls the pH of the solution which influences the optical transmittance of the phenol red. A second fiber carries the transmitted signal to a receiver; the resulting electrical signal is linearly related to the PCO2 over the range of 2.7 to 10.7 kPa. The probe was tested as a tissue PCO2 sensor on the cerebral cortex of the cat and as an arterial PCO2 sensor. Drift over one day's use was 0.6 KPa or less and individual probes have been used as long as 12 weeks.
Institutional Responsibilities in Contamination Control for Research Animals and In Occupational Health and Safety for Animal Handlers

The mechanisms for controlling microbial contamination in research animals are similar to those for preventing exposure among animal handlers to naturally occurring pathogens, research-related biohazards, or animal allergens. Research and resource preservation are the primary goals of each approach, and an appropriate assessment of risk is their foundation. The identification of potential risks enables the implementation of relevant risk management or control measures. This article summarizes the components of an occupational health and safety program for animal handlers, including screening, training, work practices, effective use of engineering controls, selection and use of personal protective equipment, and emergency response protocols. The features of a risk assessment and risk management program and the level of interaction and training required to implement and sustain the program correlate well with programs designed to control microbial contamination in laboratory animals. This article includes an explanation of the five Ps of risk assessment and risk management. Pathogens and the proposed experimental procedures account for the first two Ps; the other three focus on training and awareness of the personnel involved in the experiment, protective equipment and work practices, and factors associated with the place (or facility) where the research will be conducted. Animal handlers comprehension and knowledge determine the success of any containment program, and so this review also includes a discussion of critical teaching points for animal handlers and of the importance of evaluating personnel to verify their proficiency and competence in required protocols.
Spectral dynamics of spatially incoherent modulation instability

To date, all experiments in nonlinear statistical optics have relied on beams whose transverse spatial statistics were Gaussian. Here, we present a new technique to generalize these studies by using a spatial light modulator to create spatially incoherent beams with arbitrary spectral distributions. As a specific example of the new dynamics possible, we consider the spatial modulation instability of a partially coherent beam. We show that, for statistical beams of uniform intensity and equal correlation length, the underlying spectral shape determines the threshold and visibility of intensity modulations as well as the spectral profile of the growing sidebands. We demonstrate the behavior using statistical light, but the results will hold for any wave-kinetic system, such as plasma, ultracold gases, and turbulent acoustic waves.
The Time of Deformation on the Kuqa Fold-and-Thrust Belt in the Southern Tianshan-Based on the Kuqa River Area

The Tianshan is one of the largest and the most active intracontinental mountain ranges in the world. Ac-tive fold-and-thrust belts flank both sides of the mountain. This paper based on the data of seismic refection profiles, wells, remote sensing, detailed surface structural survey and magnetostrati graphy focuses on the Kuqa thrust system in the central part of the southern Tianshan. In the Kuqa River area, the 60 km wide fold-and-thrust belt is characterized by four east-west-trending folds. Near the mountain front, the Northern fold and the Keyi fold involve Mesozoic and Eogene strata and make two unconformities between the Meocene Jidike Formation and the Eogene Suweiyi Formation and in the Meocene Kangcun Formation. The unconformities im-ply that the beginning of deformation in the Kuqa thrust system is around Oligocene. Toward the Tarim basin, the more recent Miocene to Pleistocene sediment is folded along the Quilitake anticline. Further south, the Yaken anticline is involving the Holocene surface that is folded. The growth strata over the Yaken anticline and the Quilitake anticline are in the lower part of the Pliocene Kuqa Formation. Combining with the magne-tostratigraphic sections on the both sides of the Qiulitake anticline we suggest that the timing of deformation on the Yaken anticline and the Quilitake anticline is the early Pliocene (5. 5 ± 0. 2 Ma), and an average slip rate of 1. 5 mm/a since Pliocene is estimated on the Quilitake anticline.
A Power Grid Concentration Method Considering the Construction and Its Operation Situations

With the large-scale wind and photovoltaic power merged in the power grid, the power system is getting larger at an unprecedented rate, lending more difficulties in the safety monitoring. In order to enhance the efficiency of the safety monitoring, this paper presents a concentration method of the power grid considering the power grid construction and its operation trends of power generation and loads. Firstly, the model of concentration is proposed. Secondly, with the shift distribution factor of the generator's output power as the weight of the transmission line, the sensitivity between the power generator and load voltage as the optimization goal of concen-tration, a reduction model of the power grid is established.Finally, the paper sets the assessment criteria for economy of the reduced grid, and the optimal concentration power grid can be chosen according to the criteria. Simulation of IEEE39 nodes has verified the effectiveness of the model.
Calculation of aerodynamic heating for the protuberances on TY-3 sounding rocket

Aerodynamic heating of the protuberances,such as the leading edge of tail fins and the air deflector,is calculated by using planeoblique shock wave theory,the conical flow theory,PrandtlMeyer expansion flow theory and the aerodynamic heating theory.Comparison of the calculated results with tested results shows that the heatprotection design is effective.
Establishment of reference intervals of peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocytes for healthy adults in Zhongshan District

Objective To establish A biological reference interval of peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocytes for the permanent resident population in Zhongshan district.Methods 140 healthy individuals in Zhongshan district were selected and divided into 5 age goups including 15-19 years old,20-29 years old,30-39 years old,40-49 years old and 50-59 years old.The Partec PAS flow cytometer was used to measure the absolute number of peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocytes.Results The absolute numbers of CD4+T lymphocytes were not significantly different between different age groups of the same gender and different genders(P 0.05);Combined results of all the individuals showed a normal distribution and the 95% reference interval determined by x±1.96s was(804.7±387.3)lymphocytes/μL.Conclusion The reference interval of peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocytes for the healthy population in this district was established successfully,which provides reference for the clinical staging diagnosis and antiviral treatment effect of AIDS patients in this district.
Hive: crowdsourcing education data

Data Driven Decision Making is a well-worn mantra in education, best personified by the enormous amount of data created by the yearly student assessments of literacy, math, and science mandated by No Child Left Behind. The U.S. Department of Education has recently begun giving states grants to create longitudinal data systems. The purpose of these grants is to help states organize and present these data in meaningful ways so that they can be used to improve student achievement. However, little research has been done on best practices on how educators should use these data. The Arkansas Department of Education initiated a year-long study on data use by educators and, based on this research, has developed an interactive data visualization application that incorporates social networking tools which allow educators to collaborate on data analysis.
Surgical Management of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in the High-Risk Patient

Surgical therapy of aortic abdominal aneurysms has progressed in recent years to the point where the presence of an aortic aneurysm greater than 4 cm is an indication for surgical repair. The high-risk patients require careful preoperative evaluation and intensive postoperative supervision if significant morbidity and mortality are to be kept to less than 6 to 7 per cent.
Emotional States vs. Emotional Words in Social Media

A number of social media studies have equated people's emotional states with the frequency with which they use affectively positive and negative words in their posts. We explore how such word frequencies relate to a ground truth measure of both positive and negative emotion for 515 Facebook users and 448 Twitter users. We find statistically significant but very weak (ρ in the 0.1 to 0.2 range) correlations between positive and negative emotion-related words from the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) dictionary and a well-validated scale of trait emotionality called the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). We test this for tweets and Facebook status updates, focus on different time slices around the completion of the survey, and consider participants who report expressing emotions frequently on social media. With rare exception, this pattern of low correlation persists, suggesting that for the typical user, dictionary-based sentiment analysis tools may not be sufficient to infer how they truly feel.
Empirical Standard Errors for Longitudinal Data Mixed Linear Models

In longitudinal data analysis, as with cross-sectional regression, correction for heteroscedasticity is important for accurate hypothesis tests and confidence intervals. Using empirical standard errors to adjust for heteroscedasticity is common practice. In this article, we investigate alternative empirical standard errors that have better finite sample properties than those commonly used. We review the properties of an estimator that is based on the deletion, or jackknife, principle. We also consider an estimator based on standardized residuals that is unbiased in many circumstances. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that both alternatives have better small-sample properties than the usual empirical standard errors, regardless as to whether heteroscedasticity is present. Both alternatives behave well in terms of size and power even when the covariance matrix is completely misspecified. We recommend the use of the alternative empirical standard errors whenever there is a reason to suspect that heteroscedasticity is present.
ICA in the UK Water Industry: Highlights of Recent Developments in the Applications of Optical Techniques

The current situation in respect of the impact of recent legislation and funding mechanisms on progress with developments in instrumentation, control and automation (ICA) in the UK Water Industry is discussed, problems with progress identified and potential solutions discussed. Recent developments in applied optical sensing are detailed, particularly those involving the use of Raman Scattering and optical fluorescence utilising non-contact laser probes and detectors and fibre-optic based sensors for use in portable and permanent station monitors.