cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On efficient on-line grouping of flows with shared bottlenecks at loaded servers

We design an efficient on-line approach, FlowMate, for partitioning flows at a busy server into flow groups that share bottlenecks. These groups are periodically input to congestion coordination, aggregation, load balancing, admission control, or pricing modules. FlowMate uses in-band packet delay measurements to the receivers to determine shared bottlenecks among flows. Packet delay information is piggybacked on returning feedback, or, if impossible, flow (e.g., TCP) round trip time estimates are used. We simulate FlowMate to examine the effect of network load, traffic burstiness, network buffer sizes, and packet drop policies on partitioning correctness. Our results demonstrate accurate partitioning of medium to long-lived flows even under heavy load and self-similar background traffic. Experiments with HTTP/1.1 flows demonstrate difficulties in partitioning bursty foreground traffic. We also study fairness of coordinated congestion management when integrated with FlowMate.
Modeling flume transport of broiler offal to predict the environmental effect on poultry processing wastewater: I. Feathers

SUMMARY Two experiments were conducted to model and predict the environmental effect of flume transport of broiler offal feathers on poultry processing wastewater (PPW) under controlled laboratory conditions. In experiment 1 (Exp1; 24 experimental flock broilers) and experiment 2 (Exp2; 120 commercial flock broilers), birds were randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups: short bleed (60 s), soft scald (50°C); short bleed, hard scald (60°C); long bleed (120 s), soft scald; and long bleed, hard scald. Birds were processed individually (Exp1) or in groups of 5 (Exp2). Each broiler was electrically stunned, decapitated, and bled for either 60 or 120 s. Carcasses were then scalded for 2 min individually (Exp1) or as a 5-bird group in succession (Exp2) in a water-filled container at either 50 or 60°C. A representative volume of feathers was removed from each carcass (Exp1) or group of 5 carcasses (Exp2) and agitated for 2 min in either 2 (Exp1) or 4 L (Exp2) of potable water. The resulting feather rinse PPW was sieved (500 µm) to remove feathers and analyzed for concentration (mg/L) of chemical oxygen demand (COD; Exp1 and Exp2), total solids (TS; Exp1 and Exp2), total suspended solids (TSS; Exp1 and Exp2), total volatile solids (TVS; Exp1), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN; Exp1). A PPW load in grams per kilogram of live weight (g/kg lwt ) was calculated for each concentration (mg/L) data point. Mean loadings (g/kg lwt ) for experimental flock broilers (Exp1) were 0.908 for COD, 0.640 for TS, 0.513 for TVS, 0.291 for TSS, and 0.088 for TKN. Mean loadings (g/ kg lwt ) for commercial flock broilers (Exp2) were 2.040 for TS, 1.033 for COD, and 0.344 for TSS.
The Anisotropy of Time

Just as we can coordinatize one of the dimensions of space by means of real numbers without being committed to the anisotropy of that spatial dimension, so also we can coordinatize a topologically open time-continuum without prejudice to whether there exist irreversible processes which render that continuum anisotropic. For so long as the states of the world (as defined by some one simultaneity criterion) are ordered by a relation of temporal betweenness having the same formal properties as the spatial betweenness on a Euclidean straight line, there will be two senses which are opposite to each other. And we can then assign increasing real number coordinates in one of these senses and decreasing ones in the other by convention without assuming that these two senses are further distinguished by the structural property that some kinds of sequences of states encountered along one of them are never encountered along the other.
Identifying and Tracking the number of independent clusters of functionally interdependent neurons from biophysical models of population activity

Clustering analysis is an important tool to study the functional interdependency among large ensembles of neurons from the observed spiking activity. An important question is how to determine the number of independent clusters when neuronal ensembles are dynamically recruited to process and store information, for e.g. during learning and behavior. In this paper, we propose a new approach based on graph theory to determine the number of clusters of functionally interdependent neurons from spontaneous spiking activity resulting from a dynamic biophysical model of the population. We show that the approach is capable of detecting the dynamic change in connectivity between otherwise independent clusters of neurons subject to distinct firing thresholds, resting potentials, post-spike potentials, and membrane voltage noise statistics
Tattoo Removal Using Serial Tangential Excision and Polyurethane Membrane Dressing

Abstract. A technique using serial split-thickness tangential excisions and polyurethane membrane dressings for removal of decorative tattoos is described.
The Dark Side of Humanity: The Work of Robert Hertz and its Legacy

The Dark Side of Humanity: The Work of Robert Hertz and its Legacy. Robert Parkin. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996. xi. 226 pp., notes, bibliography, Indexes.
Progress made in studying variations of Earth's gravity

Recent advances are shedding new light on the causes of variations in the Earth's gravitational field. In particular, the atmosphere is now known to be a major player generating those variations. Governed by Newton's gravitational law, temporal variations of the Earth's gravitational field are caused by a variety of complex phenomena including luni-solar tides, atmospheric and oceanic mass redistribution, variations in groundwater storage and snow cover/ice thickness, earthquakes, post-glacial rebound in the Earth's mantle, long-term mantle convection and core activities, and other geophysical phenomena. Understanding these variations can aid in the analysis and monitoring of global climatic and geophysical change, Earth's rotation, and sea level change.
Development and verification of a new wind speed forecasting system using an ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation technique in a fully coupled hydrologic and atmospheric model

[1] Wind power is rapidly gaining prominence as a major source of renewable energy. Harnessing this promising energy source is challenging because of the chaotic nature of wind and its inherently intermittent nature. Accurate forecasting tools are critical to support the integration of wind energy into power grids and to maximize its impact on renewable energy portfolios. We have adapted the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART), a community software facility which includes the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) algorithm, to expand our capability to use observational data to improve forecasts produced with a fully coupled hydrologic and atmospheric modeling system, the ParFlow (PF) hydrologic model and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale atmospheric model, coupled via mass and energy fluxes across the land surface, and resulting in the PF.WRF model. Numerous studies have shown that soil moisture distribution and land surface vegetative processes profoundly influence atmospheric boundary layer development and weather processes on local and regional scales. We have used the PF.WRF model to explore the connections between the land surface and the atmosphere in terms of land surface energy flux partitioning and coupled variable fields including hydraulic conductivity, soil moisture, and wind speed and demonstrated that reductions in uncertainty in these coupled fields realized through assimilation of soil moisture observations propagate through the hydrologic and atmospheric system. The sensitivities found in this study will enable further studies to optimize observation strategies to maximize the utility of the PF.WRF-DART forecasting system.
The secret life of α-catenin: Moonlighting in morphogenesis

Cadherin-based intercellular adhesions are important determinants of proper tissue architecture. These adhesions must be both stable and dynamic to maintain tissue integrity as cells undergo morphogenetic movements during development. The role of α-catenin in this process has been vigorously debated due to conflicting in vitro and in vivo evidence regarding its molecular mechanism of action. Recent data supports the classical view that α-catenin facilitates actin attachments at adherens junctions, but also suggests that α-catenin may act as a force transducer, and may have additional roles in the cytoplasm. These multiple functions for α-catenin converge on the regulation of adhesion and may help to explain its stable yet dynamic nature.
The inverse relationship between quality factor and bandwidth in multiple resonant antennas

Exact and approximate expressions for the quality factor (Q) and bandwidth of a general, tuned antenna were derived and presented in a previous article. An approximate, inverse relationship between Q and matched VSWR bandwidth was presented and was shown to be valid over a wide range of frequencies, encompassing many successive regions of resonances and antiresonances. Numerical results validating the inverse relationship between Q and matched VSWR bandwidth have been presented for a number of antennas including the electric dipole, the magnetic dipole (loop), and several electrically small designs. These antennas exhibit relatively narrow operating bandwidths and a single natural resonance or antiresonance within the defined bandwidth. Here, we seek to examine the limitations on the inverse relationship between Q and matched VSWR bandwidth for antennas that have relatively large operating bandwidths and that exhibit multiple resonances within the defined bandwidth. Specifically, we examine the inverse relationship between Q, defined in terms of the antenna's impedance properties, and the exact matched VSWR bandwidth for VSWRs ranging from 1.25 to 4.0.
A unified open-circuit-voltage model of lithium-ion batteries for state-of-charge estimation and state-of-health monitoring

Abstract Open-circuit-voltage (OCV) data is widely used for characterizing battery properties under different conditions. It contains important information that can help to identify battery state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH). While various OCV models have been developed for battery SOC estimation, few have been designed for SOH monitoring. In this paper, we propose a unified OCV model that can be applied for both SOC estimation and SOH monitoring. Improvements in SOC estimation using the new model compared to other existing models are demonstrated. Moreover, it is shown that the proposed OCV model can be used to perform battery SOH monitoring as it effectively captures aging information based on incremental capacity analysis (ICA). Parametric analysis and model complexity reduction are also addressed. Experimental data is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the model and its simplified version in the application context of SOC estimation and SOH monitoring.
Short‐Term Wind Speed Forecasting for Power System Operations

Summary The emphasis on renewable energy and concerns about the environment have led to large-scale wind energy penetration worldwide. However, there are also significant challenges associated with the use of wind energy due to the intermittent and unstable nature of wind. High-quality short-term wind speed forecasting is critical to reliable and secure power system operations. This article begins with an overview of the current status of worldwide wind power developments and future trends. It then reviews some statistical short-term wind speed forecasting models, including traditional time series approaches and more advanced space–time statistical models. It also discusses the evaluation of forecast accuracy, in particular, the need for realistic loss functions. New challenges in wind speed forecasting regarding ramp events and offshore wind farms are also presented.
GPU Resource Sharing and Virtualization on High Performance Computing Systems

Modern Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) are widely used as application accelerators in the High Performance Computing (HPC) field due to their massive floating-point computational capabilities and highly data-parallel computing architecture. Contemporary high performance computers equipped with co-processors such as GPUs primarily execute parallel applications using the Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) model, which requires balanced computing resources of both microprocessor and co-processors to ensure full system utilization. While the inclusion of GPUs in HPC systems provides more computing resources and significant performance improvements, the asymmetrical distribution of the number of GPUs relative to the microprocessors can result in an underutilization of overall system computing resources. In this paper, we propose a GPU resource virtualization approach to allow underutilized microprocessors to share the GPUs. We analyze factors affecting the parallel execution performance on GPUs and conduct a theoretical performance estimation based on the most recent GPU architectures as well as the SPMD model. Then we present the implementation details of the virtualization infrastructure, followed by an experimental verification of the proposed concepts using an NVIDIA Fermi GPU computing node. The results demonstrate a considerable performance gain over the traditional SPMD execution without virtualization. Furthermore, the proposed solution enables full utilization of the asymmetrical system resources, through the sharing of the GPUs among microprocessors, while incurring low overheads due to the virtualization layer.
Roots: black return migration to the South.

The authors analyze the characteristics of older black migrants in the United States using data from the 1980 census public use microdata sample. Particular emphasis is placed on return migration to place of birth in the South. (ANNOTATION)
Galvanic Isolation for High-Frequency Applications Using an Integrated Dielectric Structure

This paper presents a new design for an integrated, multilayer dielectric ceramic device that is suitable for isolated high frequency ( $>$ 100 kHz) power transfer. The multilayer capacitive isolation device (MLCID) is a four terminal multilayer ceramic structure consisting of barium strontium titanate and alumina layers. Some key advantages of the MLCID are a reduction in the losses achieved in comparison with conventional decoupling techniques and the ease of manufacturing due to the planar design. The paper focuses on the MLCID design details, its characterization, and its performance.
Disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis improved with fractional 1927-nm laser treatments

Disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP) is an inherited disorder of keratinization readily diagnosed through clinical and histologic examination. While generally benign in nature, the lesions can have profound psychosocial implications for patients. Although no cure exists, a number of treatment modalities, from topical medications to laser and light devices, have been reported with variable success. The authors report two cases of DSAP treated with the 1927-nm thulium fiber fractional laser along with a review of the treatment literature for DSAP. This therapy is convenient and safe with nearly no downtime or morbidity associated with pigment or textural changes.
“How to Do It”: Hybrid Stent Placement for Pulmonary Vein Stenosis

Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is often progressive and severe. Surgical and percutaneous angioplasty are acutely successful; however, restenosis is common and many patients require multiple reinterventions. We perform intraoperative “hybrid” stent placement to deliver larger, stronger stents. Hybrid stent placement is well described for pulmonary arterial stenosis (PAS). The PAS data demonstrate that smaller stents are associated with rapid in-stent restenosis. Data from PVS in adults demonstrate superior outcomes with larger stents. Hybrid stent placement requires a strong collaborative effort between congenital heart surgeons and interventional cardiologists.
Businessmen and the Political Economy: The Railroad Rate Controversy of 1905

A T A Denver Chamber of Commerce dinner in May 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt announced that the pending railroad legislation should include "the policy of extending the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission, of giving them the power to fix rates and to have rates that they fix go into effect practically immediately."' At nearly the same time, James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway system and customarily a supporter of the Republican party, stated flatly: "I can not imagine a greater misfortune than to attempt to fix [future] rates by law . . . to give any power to a commission . . . to fix future rates . . . would arrest the progress of the commerce of the whole country."' Meanwhile, before a Senate committee, fruit growers from California and lumber manufacturers from Mississippi testified heatedly in support of such legislation, while Pittsburgh coal merchants and Pacific coast lumber manufacturers spoke sharply against any legislation of that sort. In Congress, the railroad rate issue teamed midwestern Republican senators with southern Democrats in a bitter fight against eastern Republicans. About a political situation as complex as this appears to have been, it is not accurate to label the resulting legislation-the Hepburn Act-simply as a progressive reform, nor for that matter, exclusively as a conservative triumph. Revisionist interpretations of the Progressive era have sought, with limited success, to explain the role of businessmen in the major legislative achievements between 1900 and 1917. Gabriel Kolko, Robert Wiebe, and James Weinstein have written accounts in which business interests appear as the moving force behind legislation that had traditionally been viewed as the work of well-intentioned progressive
Territorial Variables in American Local Government

major cities would show quite significant differences between the more well-to-do areas and those inhabited by the lower and middle income groups. Jones most likely had his strongholds in the former, Long in the latter. In the rural areas, the most significant difference is between the plantation parishes along the Mississippi and Red Rivers and the Upland parishes where small farmers predominate. However, the former parishes contain large proportions of small farmers, even poor farmers in the swamps and backwater areas. Consequently, one would have to use ward data in order to obtain true differentials between the voting behavior of the rural upper and lower classes. Time and again the resentment of the latter has expressed itself in Southern States in sweeping election victories of politicians who had the reputation of being true friends of the common people, while on the other hand the fear of such popular uprisings has led to the coming into power of factions supported by the dominant business interests. The latter, usually determined to keep public expenditure at a minimum, are bound to refrain from spectacular activity and are therefore likely to be overthrown when the masses begin to demand more action. These factors are, however, likely to be overshadowed or blurred by quite irrational considerations of personalities. Especially those social strata which have not had a long tradition of active and leading participation in public affairs are likely to set their faith blindly in some magnetic personality, who cleverly capitalizes on some traditional belief with emotional values.
Trace Impurities and Metastable States in a-Si:H

The effect of trace amounts of impurities such as carbon and nitrogen on the density of states in undoped a-Si:H has been investigated using drive-level capacitance profiling and transient photocurrent methods. The results indicate a significant correlation between impurity levels and the susceptibility to metastable state creation after light-soaking. We found this correlation to be independent of bandtail broadening and hydrogen content in the material.
Electrochromic graphene molecules.

Polyclic aromatic hydrocarbons also called Graphene Molecules (GMs), with chemical composition C132H36(COOH)2 were synthesized in situ on the surface of transparent nanocrystalline indium tin oxide (nc-ITO) electrodes and their electronic structure was studied electrochemically and spectro-electrochemically. Variations in the potential applied onto the nc-ITO/GM electrodes induce only small changes in the observed current, but they produce dramatic changes in the absorption of the GMs, which are associated with their oxidation and reduction. Analysis of the absorption changes using a modified Nernst equation is used to determine standard potentials associated with the individual charge transfer processes. For the GMs prepared here, these were found to be E1,ox0 = 0.77 ± 0.01 V and E2,ox0 = 1.24 ± 0.02 V vs NHE for the first and second oxidation and E1,red0 = −1.50 ± 0.04 V for the first reduction. The charge transfer processes are found to be nonideal. The nonideality factors associated with the oxidation...
Making Space for Bicultural Identity: Herodes Atticus Commemorates Regilla

Herodes and Regilla built a number of installations during their marriage, some of which represented their union in spatial terms. After Regilla died, Herodes reconfigured two of these structures, altering their meanings with inscriptions to represent the marriage retrospectively. This paper considers the implications of these commemorative installations for Herodes’ sense of cultural identity.
Psychosomatic aspects of respiratory disorders.

The major psychophysiologic respiratory disorder is bronchial asthma. Many asthmatics seem to have an exaggerated need for mother love. A sensitivity of some asthmatics to perceptual cues is seen i...
STAAR: improving the reliability of care coordination and reducing hospital readmissions in an academic medical centre

Setting Massachusetts General Hospital embarked on a 4-year project to reduce readmissions in a high volume general medicine unit (November 2009 to September 2013). Objective To reduce 30-day readmissions to 10% through improved care coordination. Design As a before–after study, a total of 7586 patients admitted to the medicine unit during the intervention period included 2620 inpatients meeting high risk for readmission criteria. Of those, 2620 patients received nursing interventions and 539 patients received pharmacy interventions. Intervention The introduction of a Discharge Nurse (D/C RN) for patient/family coaching and a Transitional Care Pharmacist (TC PharmD) for predischarge medication reconciliation and postdischarge patient phone calls. Other interventions included modifications to multidisciplinary care rounds and electronic medication reconciliation. Main outcome measure All-cause 30-day readmission rates. Results Readmission rates decreased by 30% (21% preintervention to 14.5% postintervention) (p Conclusions A multidisciplinary approach to improving care coordination reduced avoidable readmissions both among those who received interventions and those who did not. This further demonstrated the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration.
Therapeutic methods of gastric bezoar in 32 patients by gastroscope

The clinical data of 32 cases with gastric bezoar confirmed by endoscopy was analyzed retrospectively.The patients were treated under gastroscope by means of penta-claw grasping forceps,polypectomy snare,or multipoint injection of 5% Sodium Bicarbonate solution.We found that all 32 patients had tannic acid-rich-food,and food types were the major affecting factors for gastric bezoar.All bezoars were broken into pieces,28 and 4 cases were negative endoscopy in 1 and 2 weeks respectively,without complications.It is one of most effective and safe manipulation of gastric bezoar with injection of 5% Sodium Bicarbonate solution,combination with the forceps and snare.
Children Without Health Insurance Coverage

The number of nonelderly Americans without any form of health insurance increased by 1.1 million individuals — from 39.8 million to 40.9 million — between 1992 and 1993, according to Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) analysis of the March 1992 and March 1993 supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Further analysis indicates that over 900,000 of the newly uninsured population were under age 18, an increase from 10.2 million in 1992 to 11.1 million in 1993. This finding has significant policy implications. Beginning in 1990, all states were required to extend Medicaid coverage to pregnant women and children up to age 6 if their family income was below 133 percent of the poverty level. In addition, states must cover children born after September 30, 1983 in families with income below the poverty level. These requirements should result in most poor children under age 18 being covered by 2002.
Striatal tyrosine hydroxylase: the role of cofactor concentration in the scaling of enzyme periodicity and behavioral stereotypy

The myriad of effectors and reaction conditions modifying brain tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH) activity has been reviewed elsewhere (Mandell, 1978). Kinetic mechanisms associated with such alterations in catalytic velocity include changes in the shape of nonlinearities in cosubstrate-velocity functions and in affinity for the cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4; Kuczenski & Mandell, 1972; Mandell & Bullard, 1977). The dynamical character of cofactor interactions with pharmacological ligands with respect to TOH activity is suggested by a greater sensitivity to ligand-induced changes in TOH conformation with low BH4 concentrations and, in turn, by the effects on brain BH4 levels of drugs that alter TOH activity, e.g. amphetamine (Bullard et al., 1978; Mandell et al., 1980). Consistent with the behavior of dynamical systems, we obtained two time-dependent dose-response functions for an amphetamine-induced reduction in rat striatal BH4 levels; one an inverted U, the other a hysteretic hyperbolic function (Bullard et al., 1979), which when taken together as a time-independent integral curve would be circular in the phase plane (Minorsky, 1962).
Robot Planning in the Real World: Research Challenges and Opportunities

Recent years have seen significant technical progress on robot planning, enabling robots to compute actions and motions to accomplish challenging tasks involving driving, flying, walking, or manipulating objects. However, robots that have been commercially deployed in the real world typically have no or minimal planning capability. These robots are often manually programmed, teleoperated, or programmed to follow simple rules. Although these robots are highly successful in their respective niches, a lack of planning capabilities limits the range of tasks for which currently deployed robots can be used. In this article, we highlight key conclusions from a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation in October 2013 that summarize opportunities and key challenges in robot planning and include challenge problems identified in the workshop that can help guide future research towards making robot planning more deployable in the real world.
This Bard’s for You(th), or “Get over Yourself, Ophelia!”

Alvin Kernan in The Death of Literature argues that universities are now forced to consider both classic literature, as represented by the canon of so-called dead white males, and “the literature of the present,” defined by both its contemporariness and its multicultural nature, despite the fact that the more recent titles have not proven their endurance.2 Youth culture-mediated Shakespeare seeks to move Shakespeare from Kernan’s former category into his latter.
Hybrid On-demand greedy routing protocol with backtracking for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

On-demand routing protocols for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) have been extensively studied. Generally, on-demand routing protocols establish routes by flooding route requests throughout the entire network, which is not a scalable approach. On the other hand, geographic routing protocols do not establish route a priory but route data packets in a greedy fashion towards the destination. When a packet encounters a void (i.e., a node that has no neighbor that is closer to the destination than itself), it is routed around the void using various strategies such as constructing a planarized network graph and then using right hand rule to route around the void. In this paper, we present an on-demand routing protocol which uses greedy approach for route request propagation during route establishment. When the route request encounters a void, it simply uses backtracking to forward the route request around the void without requiring the construction of planarized network graph to round around the void. We compare the performance of our protocol with the well known Ad-Hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol which has over twenty thousand citations. Simulation results show that our protocol has a higher packet-delivery ratio, lower control overhead, and less hop count on average than AODV.
A retrospective review of cases preoperatively diagnosed by radiologic imaging as cavernous venous malformations.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to examine orbital lesions identified on preoperative radiologic imaging as cavernous venous malformations (CVMs), identify their imaging characteristics, and determine if these may help differentiate CVMs from other intraorbital masses. An IRB–approved retrospective chart review over 30 years was undertaken identifying lesions “consistent with cavernous hemangioma” on radiologic studies, which were subsequently surgically resected with a tissue diagnosis. All radiologic images (CT and MRI) obtained preoperatively were re-reviewed by a single masked neuroradiologist. The pattern of contrast enhancement on sequential MRI views was used to determine whether the enhancing characteristics helped identify CVMs compared to other intraorbital masses. Fifty-seven orbital lesions consistent with a CVM were identified on imaging. Fourteen (25%) of them were resected, of which nine (64%) were found to be CVMs on pathologic examination. Five (36%) were found to be a different lesi...
Psychosocial and Cultural Considerations in Detecting and Treating Depression in Latina Perinatal Women in the United States

This chapter will provide a current synthesis of the literature on psychosocial and cultural factors relevant to treatment for perinatal depression among Latina women living in the United States. “Treatment” will be broadly defined to address the scope of treatment possibilities. The chapter will cover three main areas. First, we will provide an overview of the cultural understanding of and care for perinatal depression. Current data regarding prevalence, risk factors, and issues surrounding acculturation of Latina women in the United States will be reviewed.
Understanding Leopold’s Concept of “Interdependence” for Environmental Ethics and Conservation Biology

Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, an extremely influential view in environmental ethics and conservation biology, is committed to the claim that interdependence between humans, other species, and abiotic ...
Optimization of Stimulation Parameters for Targeted Activation of Multiple Neurons Using Closed-Loop Search Methods

Differential activation of neuronal populations can improve the efficacy of clinical devices such as sensory or cortical prostheses. Improving stimulus specificity will facilitate targeted neuronal activation to convey biologically realistic percepts. In order to deliver more complex stimuli to a neuronal population, stimulus optimization techniques must be developed that will enable a single electrode to activate subpopulations of neurons. However, determining the stimulus needed to evoke targeted neuronal activity is challenging. To find the most selective waveform for a particular population, we apply an optimization-based search routine, Powell’s conjugate direction method, to systematically search the stimulus waveform space. This routine utilizes a 1-D sigmoid activation model and a 2-D strength–duration curve to measure neuronal activation throughout the stimulus waveform space. We implement our search routine in both an experimental study and a simulation study to characterize potential stimulus-evoked populations and the associated selective stimulus waveform spaces. We found that for a population of five neurons, seven distinct sub-populations could be activated. The stimulus waveform space and evoked neuronal activation curves vary with each new combination of neuronal culture and electrode array, resulting in a unique selectivity space. The method presented here can be used to efficiently uncover the selectivity space, focusing experiments in regions with the desired activation pattern.
An island unmixed: European military intervention and the displacement of Crete's Muslims, 1896–1908

This article examines the displacement of the majority of Crete's Muslim population after an upheaval led to the establishment of an autonomous regime on the island in 1898, following the military ...
'No one cares in the city': how young people's gendered perceptions of the country and the city shape their educational decision making

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of a group of young rural men’s and women’s understandings of ‘the city’ and ‘the country’, and the relationship between this and their educational decision making. The analysis adds to a growing body of literature on young rural people’s experiences and the emerging research on education in a rural context. Drawing on participant observation and interviews with a group of Grade 10 students in a rural Tasmanian high school, I argue that the everyday life of the young respondents is characterised by a high degree of ambivalence towards urban living which sits at the heart of their educational choices. They depicted living in a small rural town as involving a daily trade-off between a welcome familiarity and a problematic lack of privacy. Their perception of the city was that this relationship would be reversed, and that while they might be free from the constraint of everyone knowing your business, they would struggle to negotiate the alien environment. Using Simmel’s (1950) ideas on how rural and urban environments produce different worldviews as well as Bourdieu’s (1990) concept of habitus, this analysis captures this ambivalence and the sense of risk involved in exchanging the known difficulties of the town for the unknown risks of the city. This sense of the city as ‘too risky’ informed many of the participants’ decisions to ‘not make a choice’ and remain in their familiar environment rather than moving to the city to continue their education and risk failure. The analysis also draws on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital and Connell’s (2005) theory of hegemonic masculinity to emphasise that although the young people shared common experiences, these were mediated by aspects of cultural knowledge and gender relations.
Critical Areas for Maintaining Viable Populations of Species

Different species require different areas of habitat in order to maintain viable populations. Thus, before one can assess whether preservation or rehabilitation of some piece of habitat will be adequate to maintain the population of a particular species, one must specify the area as well as the quality of the piece. This paper serves three purposes: to offer a method of depicting such area requirements quantitatively; to illustrate the problem of area requirements by briefly summarising 13 studies on various taxa and geographic regions; and to interpret the existence of area requirements.
Complementary and Integrative Treatments: Integrative Care Centers and Hospitals: One Center’s Perspective

This article discusses the mechanisms of aging and future areas of exploration, and addresses strategies to achieve successful aging given the current state of medical knowledge. The authors begin at the beginning, with mitochondrial function and cell growth and decline, then continue to present aspects over which humans have control over their health: nutrition, body posture, exercise, lifestyle choices, and Traditional Eastern medicine. The discussion concludes with the role of the physician in offering patient education regarding behaviors for a healthy life.
Evaluation of functions, gradients, and jacobians

Ramon E. Moore originated two fertile fields of computational mathematics, interval analysis and automatic differentiation. The first is concerned with the rigorous validation of approximately computed results, and the second with evaluation of derivatives from the computational process without derivation of formulas for them. Jointly and separately, these fields have grown into vast areas of research into theory and applications. In this paper, some simple topics are selected from each subject for illustration.
Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children

Apley (1975) defined recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) as pain that is (1) paroxysmal (i.e., unpredictable, unexpected, and self-limited) in nature, (2) frequent in occurrence (i.e., more than three episodes) over an extended period of time (i.e., more than 3 months), and (3) severe enough to interfere with social and academic functioning. RAP can therefore be classified as chronic intermittent pain. Children typically describe it in vague terms, indicating that “it hurts” or “feels funny” in the periumbilical or mid-epigastric region. Stone and Barbero (1970) noted that recurrent abdominal pain is variable in duration and intensity across patients. Usually the pain lasts for less than an hour, but it may persist throughout the day; it rarely awakens the patients at night. Typically, children with RAP are physically well between pain episodes.
Transmural migration of a retained laparotomy sponge

The most common surgically retained foreign body is the laparotomy sponge. The clinical presentation of a retained sponge can vary from an incidental finding on plain radiograph to an intense inflammatory response with obstruction or perforation. In the case described here a patient reported abdominal pain 11 months after her hysterectomy. Although two sponge counts appeared in the operative record one laparotomy sponge had been overlooked. Apparently an inflammatory response created an abscess pocket around the sponge between the abdominal wall and the ileum resulting in perforation of the ileum. Through this opening the sponge migrated into the lumen of the small bowel, from which it was surgically removed. The patient recovered without complications. The case highlights the importance of a thorough exploration of all quadrants of the abdomen at the termination of surgical cases.
FOOD PLANT EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the World but i f they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.”
Die Elementare Katastrophentheorie aus der Sicht der Qualitativen Theorie Dynamischer Systeme

In der allgemeinen Systemtheorie wird ein System als eine Menge von Elementen definiert, die miteinander in Beziehung stehen.1 Ist ein Element, oder wie man auch sagt, eine Systemvariable, unabhangig von allen anderen Elementen eines Systems, so bezeichnet man dieses Element als exogene Variable oder als Parameter. Hangt eine Systemvariable dagegen von anderen Systemvariablen ab, so heisst sie endogene Variable.
Radiation resistance and virulence of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A following starvation in physiological saline.

The influence of starvation on the resistance of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A to electron beam irradiation in 0.85% (wt/vol) NaCl (saline) and in ground pork was investigated. Exponential- or stationary-phase cells (control) were grown at 35°C in tryptic soy broth supplemented with 0.6% yeast extract. Washed cells were starved for 12 days in saline, and virulence of the pathogen was evaluated at 0, 8, and 12 days during starvation. Samples of saline and irradiation-sterilized ground pork, inoculated with control or starved cells, were irradiated at doses ranging from 0.0 to 2.5 kGy. L. monocytogenes survivors were determined by plating diluted samples of saline or pork on tryptic soy agar supplemented with 0.6% yeast extract and counting bacterial colonies following incubation (35°C, 48 h). Virulence of starved cells and control was not significantly different (P > 0.05). Cells exhibited the highest radiation resistance at 8 days of starvation. Irradiation (0.5 kGy) in saline resulted in approximately 7...
Sickle Cells Modified by an Osmotic Pulse in the Presence of Inositol Hexaphosphate Have Decreased Intracellular Hemoglobin Concentration and Decreased in Vitro Sickling without Prolonged in Vivo Survival

An osmotic pulse was used to modify red blood cells (RBC) from two patients with sickle cell disease, resulting in an increased volume and decreased hemoglobin content. This treatment yielded cells which were divided into two populations, one in which RBC had markedly decreased hemoglobin concentration and another in which the cells appeared to be unmodified. Morphological sickling at low oxygen partial pressure was markedly decreased. However, there was no evidence for increased RBC lifespan when the 51Crlabeled, modified cells were reinfused.
Gender, Ethnicity, and Transgender Embodiment: Interrogating Classification in Facial Feminization Surgery:

Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of bone and soft tissue procedures intended to feminize the faces of transgender women. In the surgical evaluation, particular facial features are identif...
Composition and property tunable ternary coacervate: branched polyethylenimine and a binary mixture of a strong and weak polyelectrolyte

The formation of a composition- and property-tunable complex ternary coacervate was achieved by combining branched polyethylenimine (BPEI) and a binary mixture of polyacrylic acid (PAA) and poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) (SPS). Presented here is a systematic study on how the ionic strength, stoichiometry, molecular weight and the presence of the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) can influence the composition and properties of the ternary coacervate. An increase in the ionization degree of PAA induced by increasing the ratio of BPEI to polyanion and by increasing the ionic strength leads to a higher incorporation of PAA into the coacervate. An increase in the molecular weight of PAA increases the proportion of SPS in the coacervate phase, likely due to reduced PAA chain mobility at high molecular weight. By introducing MB to the ternary polyelectrolyte system, the incorporation of SPS into ternary coacervate is significantly promoted, due to the interactions between MB and SPS such as π–π interactions that do not happen between MB and PAA. The hydrophobicity within the ternary coacervate is also significantly enhanced by the presence of accumulated MB. This study also shows that the ternary coacervate has promise as a material to stabilize solutes by efficiently inhibiting the complexation of solutes with transition metal ions such as copper ions. This might be applicable in retaining activity for enzymes that are sensitive to heavy metal ions. In addition, dynamic rheological measurements suggest that the rheological properties of the complex coacervates are tunable by varying polyanion composition as well as ionic strength, allowing for design of coacervates with a range of desired viscoelastic properties.
The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score and Survival after the Total Artificial Heart

Purpose Previous studies have indicated that the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score as a metric for liver congestion and right heart failure predicts survival in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The predictive value of the MELD has never been evaluated for predicting postoperative survival for patients implanted with the total artificial heart (TAH), where right heart failure does not exist. The goal was to evaluate the preoperative MELD for predicting survival after TAH. Methods This was a single center study that analyzed 100 patients who were implanted with the TAH between March 2006 and March 2017. We calculated the preoperative MELD scores using laboratory data closest to device implantation and compared a high and low MELD group using the median value as a cutoff. Results The median MELD score was 14.4 (IQR: 12.2, 19.4) and patients in the high and low MELD groups were of similar age and proportion of male gender and Caucasian race. Patients with a higher MELD score had lower eGFR (72.5 ± 20.8 vs 45.8 ± 30.8 mL/min/1.73 m², p Conclusion The MELD score was not predictive of mortality in patients undergoing TAH implantation. These data may reflect the benefits of bi-ventricular replacement in a patient population exhibiting laboratory data associated with congestive hepatopathy, however the analysis must be applied in a larger patient cohort for validation.
A contribuição da polícia das Nações Unidas para a proteção de civis no Sudão do Sul

South Sudan became an independent state in 2011 after a long civil war against Sudan. In the same year, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was established to consolidate peace, security, and development. In 2013, a bloody civil war that erupted and remains today has changed the country and also the character of the United Nations (UN) mission, which became more robust and had to shelter about 200,000 people in the protection of civilian (PoC) sites. In this complex and violent environment, the United Nations Police (UNPOL), an important component within UNMISS, face a substantial challenge in order to protect civilians in the country. Thus, this paper examines the performance of UNPOL as the law enforcement mechanism within PoC sites and how their employment has contributed to the protection of civilians in South Sudan. The research methods chosen for this study were both the qualitative and the quantitative approaches. Hence, after bibliographic research, an interview with a former Brazilian UNPOL officer, and the analysis of the crime rates within PoC sites, it was possible to verify that UNPOL play an essential role within UNMISS, ensuring a safe environment for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are under the direct protection of the UN.