cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In Situ Measurements of Nonlinear and Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Shallow, Unconsolidated Sediments

Abstract We present results and in situ measurements from a field experiment in which a large seismic shaker truck is used to induce nonlinear and nonequilibrium dynamics in shallow, unconsolidated sediments. An array of accelerometers was deployed adjacent to the shaker truck to record strong ground motions exceeding 1 g . We determined high-strain Rayleigh-wave dispersion across the array in the band from 5 to 60 Hz. Rayleigh-wave phase velocities at frequencies above ∼10 Hz are wave amplitude-dependent and a function of the driving-force amplitude; as driving force was increased phase velocity decreased, consistent with nonlinear dynamics. We demonstrate the existence of a temporary, nonequilibrium state occurring in the near-surface soils during and after the induced nonlinear behavior. Nonlinear conditioning is demonstrated by measuring changes in Rayleigh-wave phase velocity for input signals with the same applied driving-force amplitude. A logarithmic slow dynamic recovery process is observed by analyzing the temporal variation in velocity of the noise field produced by the shaker truck when sitting idle. Measurements from weak-motion seismic surveys taken before and after shaking show compelling evidence that induced nonlinear behavior in the shallow sediments is reversible. We demonstrate that an active source, field-based approach has the potential to expand our knowledge of how sediments respond to strong ground motions, provide additional insight into the poorly understood slow dynamic recovery process, and possibly even lead to a new, site-specific, and noninvasive technique for characterizing the nonlinear properties of sedimentary deposits.
Efficient identification of (critical) testable path delay faults using decision diagrams

We present a novel framework to identify all the testable and untestable path delay faults (PDFs) in a circuit. The method uses a combination of decision diagrams for manipulating PDFs as well as Boolean functions. The approach benefits from processing partial paths or fanout-free segments in the circuit rather than the entire path. The methodology is modified to identify all testable critical PDFs under the bounded delay fault model. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated experimentally. It is observed that the methodology outperforms any existing method for identifying testable PDFs. Its scalability by focusing on critical PDFs is demonstrated by experimenting on very path-intensive benchmarks.
Vascular endothelial growth factor-induced secretion of fibronectin is ERK dependent

In severe asthma, cytokines and growth factors contribute to the proliferation of smooth muscle cells and blood vessels, and to the increased extracellular matrix deposition that constitutes the pr...
SIRPIDS: An unusual EEG pattern in a critically ill patient

A 61-year-old woman presented with acute onset of severe headache and loss of consciousness. She had a history of hypertension and end-stage renal disease. Neuroimaging showed severe diffuse subarachnoid haemorrhage (Hunt and Hess score 5, Fisher score 3). We undertook video-EEG monitoring to rule out …
Choice and Change of Measures in Performance Measurement Models

This paper uses management control, resource-based systems-based and contingency-based strategy theories to describe a large U.S. manufacturing company's efforts to improve profitability by designing and using a performance measurement model (PMM). This PMM includes multiple performance measures relevant to its distribution channel for products, repair parts and maintenance services. The PMM is intended to reflect the company's understanding of performance relations among strategic resources, operational capabilities, and desired financial outcomes. The PMM also reflects its intended distribution strategy, the types of performance necessary to achieve that strategy by its distributors, and its desired financial outcomes. Furthermore, the company uses the model to evaluate its North American distributors and intends to use these evaluations as a partial basis for annual and long-term rewards. Thus, the PMM embodies the measurable portion of the firm's management control system of its distribution channel. The study addresses four research questions: (1) Are measure attributes important considerations for performance measure choice? (2) Does the importance of attributes differ according to firm strategy? (3) Does the importance of attributes for design and use differ according to firm strategy? (4) Does a company trade-off some individual attributes for others? The questions are investigated using qualitative and quantitative analyses of archival documents and interviews with top managers and distributors. Principal findings are that measure attributes are important considerations for choice and change of performance measures, design attributes are more important than use attributes, the importance of attributes does not appear to differ according to strategy, and some individual attributes are traded-off for other attributes.
Looking Up Explaining Police Promotional Aspirations

Organizations benefit when employees are motivated and aspiring. Within policing, this is especially important given contemporary philosophies asking officers to take ownership and be proactive. A ...
Intelligent Controllers which can Adapt to Changing Environments: Anticipatory Neuro-Fuzzy Control

An anticipatory neuro-fuzzy controller has been developed which combines traditional fuzzy logic with feedback concepts and a neural network to predict system behavior. Fuzzy rules in the system are 'nested' so that it is not necessary to evaluate all rules at each time step if some smaller subset of rules will produce acceptable system behavior. Anticipatory neuro-fuzzy control does not require that any mathematical model exist for the system to be controlled, and can therefore be applied to many real world systems for which other, more traditional control methods cannot be used.
Improved prospects for IVUS in identifying vulnerable plaques

For many physicians, the holy grail of prevention is to identify thrombosis-prone “vulnerable” plaques before they rupture or become destabilized. Several observations underlie this quest. First, most heart attacks occur in people with average levels of risk factors who would not be considered
Simultaneous streak and frame interferometry for electron density measurements of laser produced plasmas

A system of two collinear probe beams with different wavelengths and pulse durations was used to capture simultaneously snapshot interferograms and streaked interferograms of laser produced plasmas. The snapshots measured the two dimensional, path-integrated, electron density on a charge-coupled device while the radial temporal evolution of a one dimensional plasma slice was recorded by a streak camera. This dual-probe combination allowed us to select plasmas that were uniform and axisymmetric along the laser direction suitable for retrieving the continuous evolution of the radial electron density of homogeneous plasmas. Demonstration of this double probe system was done by measuring rapidly evolving plasmas on time scales less than 1 ns produced by the interaction of femtosecond, high intensity, laser pulses with argon gas clusters. Experiments aimed at studying homogeneous plasmas from high intensity laser-gas or laser-cluster interaction could benefit from the use of this probing scheme.
A self-organizing neural network for neuromuscular control

Adaptive technology holds great promise for sensorimotor rehabilitation in people suffering from spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disease and stroke. With a long-term goal of developing adaptive technology for diagnosis and rehabilitation of neuromuscular dysfunction, we begin the development of a self-organizing neural network (SNN) that compensates for reduced neural drive. We suggest that the self-organizing architecture that adds or deletes nodes online to generate suitable compensatory muscle excitation (Figure ​(Figure1A)1A) is an apt mechanism to emulate the motor pool behavior of recruitment and de-recruitment of motor units during muscle force generation. Using a virtual muscle [1] resembling the human biceps brachii, we demonstrate the augmentation of neural excitation by the SNN to compensate for abnormal muscle force due to change in the number of motor units. Figure 1 A. Schematic showing the virtual muscle-SNN system; Φ1, Φ2, .. Φn are radial basis functions and w1, w2, ..wn are weights for summation. B. Simulation of normal (Slow-Fast motor unit ratio - 2:4), abnormal (Slow-Fast motor unit ...
Direct Synthesis of Bimetallic Pd3Ag Nanoalloys from Bulk Pd3Ag Alloy

We report a transformative, all inorganic synthesis method of preparing supported bimetallic Pd3Ag alloy nanoparticles. The method involves breaking down bulk Pd3Ag alloy into the nanoparticles in liquid lithium, converting metallic Li to LiOH, and transferring Pd3Ag nanoparticles/LiOH mixture onto non-water-soluble supports, followed by leaching off the LiOH with water under ambient conditions. The size of the resulting Pd3Ag nanoparticles was found narrowly distributed around 2.3 nm characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM). In addition, studies by X-ray diffraction (XRD), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy showed that the resulting Pd3Ag nanoparticles inherited similar atomic ratio and alloy structure as the starting material. The synthesized Pd3Ag nanoparticles exhibited excellent catalytic activity toward hydrogenation of acrolein to propanal.
Nanocolumnar Germanium Thin Films as a High-Rate Sodium-Ion Battery Anode Material

Both nanocolumnar and dense germanium thin films, synthesized by evaporative deposition, were tested as a potential anode material for sodium-ion batteries. The reversible capacity of the nanocolumnar films was found to be 430 mAh/g, which is higher than the theoretical capacity of 369 mAh/g. The nanocolumnar films retained 88% of their initial capacity after 100 cycles at C/5, whereas the dense films began to deteriorate after ∼15 cycles. Additionally, the nanocolumnar films were stable at charge/discharge rates up to 27C (10 A/g). The diffusion coefficient for sodium in germanium was estimated, from impedance analysis of the dense films, to be ∼10–13 cm2 s–1. Modeling of diffusion in the sodium- germanium system predicts that sodium diffusion in the near-surface layers of the material is significantly faster than in the bulk. These results show that small feature sizes are critical for rapid, reversible electrochemical sodiation of germanium.
Transversus abdominis plane block as the primary anesthetic for peritoneal dialysis catheter surgery

Abstract Study objective The primary goal of this study was to determine whether transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks were effective as the primary anesthetic technique for insertion and/or removal of peritoneal dialysis catheters. Design This study is a descriptive case series investigation. Setting Operating rooms at a tertiary care academic medical center. Patients Twenty-four patients, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status 3 and 4, were included in this study. Interventions Patients who had received a TAP block preoperatively for open surgical insertion or removal of a peritoneal dialysis catheter over a 26-month period with the intent of the block to serve as the primary anesthetic were included in this study. Measurements Preoperative and intraoperative sedative medications and local anesthetic medications were analyzed. The primary outcome of the study was the ability of the TAP block to provide surgical anesthesia as determined by a lack of need to convert to general anesthesia (defined by placement of an airway device, use of volatile anesthetics, intraoperative propofol infusion dose equal to or greater than 100 μ g kg −1 min −1 ). Secondary outcomes included analysis of any complications from the higher concentrations of local anesthetics required for surgical block. Mani results Of 24 patients, 21 underwent the procedure without conversion to general anesthesia as defined above. No complications related to local anesthetics were found. Conclusion Transversus abdominis plane blockade can be successful at serving as the primary anesthetic modality for the insertion and/or removal of a peritoneal dialysis catheter by open-surgical approach. There were no systemic toxic effects or other complications recorded.
A smartphone app framework for segmented cancer care coordination

Complex cancer care requires careful coordination, but resource limitations result in lack of effective coordinated follow-up services. Recent advances in smartphones offer great opportunities for better segmentation of patient populations for cost-effective, targeted care coordination and monitoring or surveillance of cancer patients. This paper presents a framework of a smartphone app that provides such risk assessment and follow-up care monitoring services. This mHealth app framework includes three functional modules: a natural language processing module based on Bayesian model to extract relevant information from free text or medical reports; a cancer risk calculator that uses support vector machine classification to assess the medical risks of cancer patients based on the information extracted; and a health care monitor that provides timely care coordination to high risk cancer patients. The experimental results validate mHealth as a reliable medical risk assessment for post-surgical cancer patients and an effective health care monitoring service for cancer care coordination.
Bretylium tosylate: a review.

The chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical uses, adverse effects, drug interactions and dosage of bretylium tosylate, a recently approved antiarrhythmic agent, are reviewed. Bretylium tosylate is used to treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, principally ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, that have not responded to treatment with first-line antiarrhythmic agents. The drug has a direct positive inotropic effect on the myocardium and blocking effect on postganglionic sympathetic nerve transmission. The drug is poorly absorbed orally, requiring either i.m. or i.v. administration. Drug excretion occurs primarily through the kidney, necessitating dosage modification in renal disease. Hypotension is the most commonly observed adverse reaction to bretylium tosylate. Rapid i.v. administration may cause severe nausea and vomiting, and i.m. injection at the same site may cause atrophy and necrosis of muscle tissue. Quinidine and procainamide may potentiate the hypotensive effects of bretylium. Bretylium will aggravate digitalis-induced arrhythmias. Bretylium's use in resistant ventricular tachyarrhythmias requires close clinical monitoring.
Tolerance setting process in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for setting tolerances for pesticide residues in food, under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The residue chemistry data required to set tolerances include metabolism in plants and animals, analytical methods, magnitude of the residue, and concentration in processed foods. A key aspect of tolerance-setting procedures is the identity of the residue in the matrix of concern; without knowledge of the chemical moieties that occur as residues, it is impossible to develop suitable methods or generate meaningful residue data. For new chemicals, EPA carries out a single-laboratory validation of the analytical method needed to generate residue data and to enforce tolerances. Tolerance enforcement methods need to be rapid and inexpensive and to use commercially available equipment and reagents. Methods are more complex for many newer pesticides, which are polar compounds that leave low levels of residue. EPA now requires that the registrants of older pesticides, for which methods are not acceptable by today's standards, must develop better methods.
Left ventricular-coronary sinus fistula after mitral valve replacement

One of the more rare complications after mitral valve replacement is the development of a left ventricular-coronary sinus fistula, which has been reported only twice before. In the reported cases a common feature has been multiple valve replacements. Our case was one of the late development (8 years) of a fistula in a patient who had only one previous replacement but in whom a murmur was detected 3 months after the operation.
Nestin-Based Reporter Transgenic Mouse Lines

Nestin expression marks stem and progenitor cells of the neural lineage. Transgenic mouse lines, originally generated to identify neural stem cells, can also help to identify, track, and isolate stem and progenitor cells in a range of tissues of the ectodermal, endodermal, and mesodermal origin. Here, we describe the generation of transgenic mouse lines expressing fluorescent proteins (FP) under the control of critical regulatory elements of the nestin gene and their use for identifying and analyzing adult stem and progenitor cells in various tissues.
Remaking IO: Semiotic Remediation in the Design Process

Our experiences with, and understandings of, literacy are rapidly shifting as new technologies reorganize our inscriptional tools and practices and alter our semiotic landscape. A growing body of research (for example, Baldry and Thibault, 2006; Bolter and Grusin, 1999; Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2001; Lemke, 2002; Manovich, 2001) has begun exploring ways to understand multimodal artifacts. However, the situated and mediated practices of producing new media have received limited attention (see, however, Johnson-Eilola, 2005). This chapter examines multimedia production in an Art and Design program at the University of Illinois, focusing on two Art and Design professors and two of their graduate student research assistants in the process of remediating (in Bolter and Grusin’s, 1999, sense) a web-based art object called IO, an interactive website mixing words, sounds, and images. Extending earlier analyses of the design process (Suchman and Trigg, 1993; Tang, 1988) and metapragmatic work on gestures and talk (for example, Goodwin, 2000; Hanks, 1990; Haviland, 2000, 2007; LeBaron and Streeck, 2000; Ochs, Jacoby, and Gonzales, 1994), the analysis in this chapter focuses on the semiotic remediation involved in the design production work of this group as they engaged in talk, drawing, listing, data entry, programming, and gesturing (especially over screens and paper).
Oxidative stress in prostate hyperplasia and carcinogenesis

Prostatic hyperplasia (PH) is a common urologic disease that affects mostly elderly men. PH can be classified as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or prostate cancer (PCa) based on its severity. Oxidative stress (OS) is known to influence the activities of inflammatory mediators and other cellular processes involved in the initiation, promotion and progression of human neoplasms including prostate cancer. Scientific evidence also suggests that micronutrient supplementation may restore the antioxidant status and hence improve the clinical outcomes for patients with BPH and PCa. This review highlights the recent studies on prostate hyperplasia and carcinogenesis, and examines the role of OS on the molecular pathology of prostate cancer progression and treatment.
Health care and the wayman A.M.E. church

Research conducted at the Wayman African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Bloomington, Illinois, underscores the multifaceted role of the black church. Although the Wayman A.M.E. Church served as a religious center, medical artifacts from excavation suggest the church as an institution provided health care to segments of the congregation and local community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Historical information in combination with archaeological data illustrate a dual health care strategy was practiced by the congregation. This dual strategy was based on the use of both traditional, or folk, healing practices and formal medical care. More importantly, the health care artifacts highlight the inequality that blacks have experienced in obtaining adequate medical care. Corresponding temporally to a series of epidemics in Bloomington, the health care artifacts suggest the church congregation did not passively accept the inequality characteristic of the period.
Adaptive planar curve tracking control and robustness analysis under state constraints and unknown curvature

We provide adaptive controllers for curve tracking in the plane, under unknown curvatures and control uncertainty, which is a central problem in robotics. The system dynamics include a nonlinear dependence on the curvature, and are coupled with an estimator for the unknown curvature, to form the augmented error dynamics. We prove input-to-state stability of the augmented error dynamics with respect to an input that is represented by additive uncertainty on the control, under polygonal state constraints and under suitable known bounds on the curvature and on the control uncertainty. When the uncertainty is zero, this gives tracking of the curve and convergence of the curvature estimate to the unknown curvature. Our curvature identification result is a significant improvement over earlier results, which do not ensure parameter identification, or which identify the control gain but not the curvature.
SIW design considerations for mmWave applications

This paper presents issues and practical solutions for SIW designs with very thin substrate with high profile metal roughness at mmWave frequencies.
A Comparison of Two Dosing Regimens of ASA Following Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to compare short-term side effects of aspirin (ASA) 325 mg vs ASA 81 mg orally twice daily (PO BID) when used as thromboembolic prophylaxis following primary total joint arthroplasty. Methods A 1-year prospective cohort study was performed on 643 primary unilateral total joint arthroplasty patients operated on by a single surgeon. Two hundred eighty-two patients were administered ASA 325 mg PO BID and 361 patients were administered ASA 81 mg PO BID for 1 month. A questionnaire assessing the side effects of ASA intake was administered 1 month postoperatively. Results The overall rate of gastrointestinal side effects (GI upset and nausea) was 1.9%, but ASA 325 mg had a higher rate 9/282 (3.2%) than ASA 81 mg 3/361 (0.8%), P = .04. Overall GI bleeding was 0.9%, with 2/282 (0.7%) in the ASA 325 mg group, vs 4/361 (1.1%) in the ASA 81 mg group, P = .70. One patient in the ASA 81 mg group (0.3%) developed a deep vein thrombosis. No patient developed pulmonary embolism, periprosthetic joint infection, tinnitus, wheezing and/or shortness of breath, chest pain, or headaches. In the ASA 325 mg group, 9/282 (3.2%) discontinued ASA and in the ASA 81 mg group, 8/361 (2.2%) discontinued ASA, P = .47. Four patients in the ASA 325 group (1.4%) changed to ASA 81 mg. Conclusion ASA 81 mg is associated with significantly less GI distress and nausea compared with ASA 325 mg. GI bleeding was equally prevalent between the 2 dosing regimens, so patients need to be informed of this risk regardless of the ASA dose.
Phototherapy for the Pediatric Population

Management of inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and vitiligo can be difficult for the pediatric patient. Unfortunately, randomized controlled trial data comparing the efficacy and safety of various phototherapy modalities against each other and against other standards of treatment is lacking. However, current data suggest that phototherapy is an effective treatment for children and should be a therapeutic option when disease is widespread or refractory to topical therapies. When thinking about initiating phototherapy in a pediatric patient, the time commitment required on the part of both the child’s and the accompanying guardian’s schedules should be considered, as well as the patient’s maturity level to ensure safety.
Financing Long-Term Care: Examining Decision Outcomes and Systemic Influences from the Perspective of Family Members

This study examined financing long-term care from a micro-level family perspective. Qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 45 families coping with paying for an elder's long-term care provided insight into what decisions were made as well as what factors influenced those decisions. Family members articulate systemic factors within and outside of the family system influencing three decision making outcomes: (a) using and preserving private resources, (b) Medicaid estate planning and (c) deciding not to decide. Case examples and a discussion of the emerging framework provide insight for researchers working to inform long-term care issues and for educational focused practitioners.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ enhances human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell apoptosis through microRNA-21 and programmed cell death 4

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive disorder whose cellular pathogenesis involves enhanced smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and resistance to apoptosis signals. Existing evidence dem...
Consequences of Undocumented Medication Use

Obtaining complete medication histories is imperative to treating patients effectively and avoiding unintended medication consequences. Health care providers (HCPs) receive training and learn skills to help elicit complete medical information, including but not limited to medication use, but the system falls short in some instances (1,2). In these instances, undocumented medication use can complicate patients’ treatment. Examples encompass confounding of the differential diagnosis and unforeseen medication interactions. The potential for unintended medication consequences can be increased by omissions in reporting usage of herbal, homeopathic, or over-the-counter (OTC) treatments. Although warnings about the risks of self-medicating, such as possible variability of medication effects from one person to another, date back for decades, this practice has become increasingly common (3,4). Self-medication through the use of old prescriptions or OTC products has the potential to pose problems, but self-medication via prescription sharing with other individuals—often family members or friends—is especially problematic. This practice can be dangerous because it can remain undetected for long periods of time and may be accompanied by a wide range of effects. Prescription medications are intended to be used under the supervision of licensed HCPs. The sharing of prescription medications among individuals removes pharmacists and other HCPs from the medication use process, resulting in the loss of education and instruction regarding the safe use of medications and increasing the potential for adverse effects (5,6). A survey distributed to patients in community pharmacies in New Zealand showed that, among prescription sharers, about half of prescription borrowers received written instructions with the medication, and about half of prescription lenders gave verbal instructions with the medication (7). That leaves many individuals with no instructions at all, and those who do receive instructions cannot be certain that they have received correct information because the source is not …
Details and dynamics: Mental models of complex systems in game-based learning

Background. Although the effectiveness of game-based learning (GBL) is well-supported, much less is known about the process underlying it. Nevertheless, developing a mental model that matches the g...
A system for vector measurement of aerodynamic wall shear stress

This paper describes a sensor system designed for vector measurement of aerodynamic wall shear stress. The microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) prototype utilizes a serpentine tether flexure for dual-axis in-plane motion. Capacitive gap pairs coupled to a multi-frequency modulation/demodulation system allow for independent transduction across both axes. Sensor performance includes an average dynamic/mean shear stress sensitivity of 0.16 mV/Pa, corresponding to a minimum detectable signal of 0.3 mPa at 1.128 kHz. Pressure rejection is calibrated at 74 dB, with in-plane cross-axis isolation in excess of 24 dB.
35 Using an immersive virtual environment to study parent-child safety conversations in vivo

Statement of Purpose Although recent work has begun to examine parent-child safety conversations as a means of preventing unintentional childhood injuries, no past work has examined what these conversations look like while families are engaged in a risky activity. The current study examined these conversations in vivo when children crossed roads with parents in an immersive virtual environment. Method Seventy-two 6–8-, 10-, and 12-year-old children crossed a single lane of traffic with a parent in an immersive pedestrian simulator 20 times. A comparison group of same-age children crossed alone (n=64). Traffic approached at 25 MPH from the left-hand side with randomly ordered gaps ranging from 2–5 s with half-second intervals. Results Children crossing with a parent were more discriminating than children crossing alone, choosing fewer small gaps and more large gaps. Increased odds of gap acceptance with each 0.5 s gap size increase was 34.83 for solo children compared to 13.94 for children in dyads (Figure 1). Children in dyads also had more time to spare upon exit than children crossing alone, F(1, 135)=4.30, p=0.04. Parents of 6-year-olds talked more about the crossing than parents of older children. Conversations centred on asking or telling children when it was safe to cross, referencing the size of gaps in traffic, and providing feedback on completed crossings. For children of all ages, parents recruited non-verbal communication (e.g., holding out a hand to prevent crossing) on more than half of all trials (M=0.57) to influence safety. Conclusions We found that parents influence the safety of road crossing in terms of gap choices and safety margins. Significance Parents are teaching children to safely navigate the road-crossing environment via verbal and non-verbal communication. These findings will lead to future unintentional injury prevention work capitalising on those who are best positioned to teach children ‘“ their parents.
Comparative effectiveness trials in asthma - How will i recognize one?

Purpose of review Comparative efficacy trials are designed to evaluate the harms and benefits of health care in a research environment. There is increasing interest in the results of comparative effectiveness trials, which are intended to fill gaps in evidence to inform decision-making in real-life clinical environments. The objective of this report is to review various tools to classify trials along the efficacy to effectiveness continuum. Recent findings Three tools [Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS), PRECIS-2, and PRAgmatic Clinical Trial Assessment Scale (PRACTAS)] are available that use a star diagram to illustrate where each element of a clinical trial design falls along the efficacy to effectiveness continuum (e.g., selectivity of eligibility criteria, supports to promote participant adherence). The number and type of design element to be classified varies (e.g., 10 elements for PRECIS and PRACTAS vs. nine elements for PRECIS-2; only the PRACTAS tool includes stakeholder engagement). There is substantial interrater reliability when using all three tools and interrater reliability varies across the different design elements (intraclass correlation of coefficient 0.4-0.8). Summary The PRECIS, PRECIS-2, and PRACTAS tools are options when classifying trials along the efficacy to effectiveness continuum. Researchers and decision-making stakeholders are likely to disagree about the extent to which clinical trials employ efficacy or effectiveness designs.
Quantification of impact of changes in land use-land cover on hydrology in the upper Indus Basin, Pakistan

Abstract Empirically based lumped hydrologic models have an extensive track record of use for various watershed managements and flood related studies. This study focuses on the impacts of land use land cover change for a 10 year period (2000–2010) on the stream discharge in a sub-watershed of Indus River using lumped model HEC-HMS. The input variables for model building in HEC-HMS were calculated based on the DEM, LULC, soil and precipitation data which was collected and pre-processed in HEC-GeoHMS. The model was calibrated for the year 2000 and validation was done for 2010. The statistics shows correlation coefficient = 0.96, relative Bias = −9% and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSCE) = 0.87. The validation statistics are Correlation Coefficient = 0.95, Bias = −14% and NSCE = 0.91. The model results shows that LULC change analysis using Landsat images in 10 years the overall concussion of change on discharge has been negligible in the study area. Due to decrease in forest the percent of bare soil and built up area increases. This conclusion was further supported by the LULC change analysis conducted on a local scale metropolitan district of Mansehra (16 km2). Soil and built up area in this sub-watershed increased from 69%, 8.2% in 2000 to 78%, 13.76% in 2010 respectively, whereas the corresponding river discharge increased by 33.61% from year 2000–2010, proving strong positive correlation on a local scale between the LULC and the river discharge.
Fostering development of teamwork skills in an introductory engineering course

Teamwork is cited by educators, employers and professionals as a critical skill for engineering students. Despite increasing usage of teams in engineering courses, rarely is time devoted to formal instruction and assessment of teamwork. Research has shown that to foster development of teamwork skills, activities should be carefully structured with ample opportunities for practice, constructive feedback, monitoring and reflection. This paper describes course activities designed for instruction and assessment of teamwork skills implemented in a first-semester introductory engineering course: a teamwork lecture, team building activities, projects, and informal in-class collaborative activities. To assess student performance, CATME self- and peer-evaluation scores were analyzed. A survey was also provided to students to give insight into perceptions of course activities and learning outcomes. Student performance scores suggest high participation and engagement. Survey results showed student impressions of team activities were positive. 94% felt their teamwork skills had improved as a result of course activities. Open-ended survey questions provided more details into which activities students found most effective and team practices that students felt helped or hindered their success. Results will enhance our understanding of first-year engineering students' perceptions of teamwork and provide guidance in structuring course activities that help students develop teamwork skills.
Lope in Manhattan: Hyperreality, Space, and Violence in Julián Mesri’s «Fuenteovejuna»

This analysis of Repertorio Espanol’s 2013 production of Lope de Vega’s Fuenteovejuna in New York City focuses on the elements of communication, space, and violence. In director Julian Mesri’s staging, modern media or technology at times replace the human messengers of the original text, which has the double effect of distancing the audience emotionally from the events reported while calling attention to the mediums themselves and their agendas. In this contemporary urban world of simulacra, space seems compressed and violence appears conceptual. Mesri presents Fuenteovejuna as a Baudrillardian hyperreality, in which representations eclipse “reality.” In doing so, however, he does not so much alter Lope’s original as highlight, with modern touches, a dynamic that pervades the original play, Lope’s corpus, and much of Spanish Golden Age drama. Mesri’s vision may appear strikingly contemporary, yet the mode of representation it foregrounds is classic Lope.
Writing Feminist Lives: The Biographical Battles Over Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer, Gloria Steinem, and Simone de Beauvoir

Do biographers of feminist lives agree with their subjects’ self-assessment of their contributions to the feminist movement? Is a biography on a prominent feminist necessarily a feminist biography?...
Membrane Specialization and Cytoskeletal Structures in the Synapse and Axon Revealed by the Quick-Freeze, Deep-Etch Method

According to present concepts of synaptic transmission, nerves discharge the chemical transmitter in response to the action potential propagated in the axon, by a mechanism that is activated by the entry of calcium into the presynaptic terminal. This calcium entry triggers the exocytosis of transmitter-containing vesicles at specialized release sites named the “active zone.” The chemical transmitter diffuses through the synaptic cleft to be accepted by receptor molecules in the postsynaptic membranes. In the case of synapses such as neuromuscular junctions (NMJ), the receptor molecules form receptor-ion-channel complexes. The presence of the transmitter induces conformational change of the channel molecules to open the channels and cause an endplate potential to appear at the muscle membrane, which triggers muscle contraction.
Worry and the prediction of future threatening events : Association with gender and trait anxiety

Worry and generalized anxiety have been conceptualized as being determined by beliefs that in the future, threatening events are likely to occur. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that gender differences in anxiety might be associated with this type of cognitive bias. Gender, trait anxiety, and personal control over event outcomes were treated as predictor variables for ratings of the predicted probability of threatening events. Subjects were presented a variety of ambiguous situations differing in level of personal control of outcomes and were asked to predict the probability of specific negative event outcomes for each of these situations. The results supported the hypothesis that a lower level of personal control was associated with higher probability ratings of future adverse events regardless of gender or level of trait anxiety. An interaction of level of anxiety and gender upon probability ratings was also found. Highly anxious female participants were found to respond with the highest probability ratings of threatening events. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for cognitive theories of anxiety and the etiology and maintenance of anxiety in the different genders.
A framework for service morphing and heterogeneous service discovery in smart environments

The openness and dynamicity of smart environments makes it a necessity to adopt a flexible software architecture. Service oriented architecture (SOA), and more specifically Open Service Gateway Initiative (OSGi), has emerged to be one of the most suitable choices; however, our experience using OSGi exposes its several shortcomings as an SOA platform: 1. The number of services required to be designed and implemented for each sensor, actuator and external system can be prohibitively high; 2. Cross-architecture interaction with non-OSGi software artifacts is challenging and inelegant; 3. There is a need for a more systematic approach to allow mobile devices remote access to OSGi services and enable opportunistic utilizations of local resources. We propose a framework to address these challenges by introducing a mechanism to support morphing a core service implementation of underlying communication protocols and software libraries to customized services using configuration files and a cross-architecture service directory for both OSGi and web services (WS). Our solution allows mobile devices to discover, access and adjust for local resources and results in more open, less cumbersome, and more integrative interactions among computing, communicative, sensing and actuation elements in smart environments.
ADHD: volumetry, motor, and oculomotor functions.

The use of quantitative neuroimaging (volumetry), motor, and oculomotor assessments for studying children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown dramatically in the past 20 years. Most evidence to date suggests that anomalous basal ganglia development plays an important role in early manifestation of ADHD; however, widespread cerebellar and cortical delays are also observed and are associated with the behavioral (cognitive, motor, oculomotor) phenotype in children with ADHD. These motor and “executive” control systems appear to develop in parallel, such that both systems display a similar protracted developmental trajectory, with periods of rapid growth in elementary years and continued maturation into young adulthood. Development of each system is dependent on the functional integrity and maturation of related brain regions, suggesting a shared neural circuitry that includes frontostriatal systems and the cerebellum (i.e., those identified as anomalous in studies of volumetry in ADHD). Motor and oculomotor paradigms provide unique opportunities to examine executive control processes that exist at the interface between movement and cognition in children with ADHD, also linking cognition and neurological development. The observed pattern of volumetric differences, together with the known parallel development of motor and executive control systems, appears to predict motor and oculomotor anomalies in ADHD, which are highly relevant, yet commonly overlooked in clinical settings.
Baccalaureate success of transfers and rising 4-year college juniors

Background/ContextA longstanding debate continues concerning whether community colleges democratize education by expanding enrollment or divert students from attaining a bachelor's degree. The exta...
Quantification of cyclic twinning-detwinning behavior during low-cycle fatigue of pure magnesium using high energy X-ray diffraction

Abstract The cyclic twinning and detwinning behavior of extruded Mg was investigated using in-situ high energy X-ray diffraction (HEXD) under fully-reversed low cycle fatigue conditions. Measurements were conducted at three levels of applied strain. The initial texture was such that the c-axis in most grains was perpendicular to the loading direction, an orientation in which extension twinning is favored during compressive loading. At strain amplitudes greater than 0.5%, tension-compression asymmetry was observed during cyclic loading and related to cyclic twinning and detwinning. The twinning and detwinning behavior were characterized by monitoring the evolution of X-ray diffraction peaks associated with the basal {0 0 0 2} planes throughout selected cycle. At cyclic strains greater than 0.5%, in-situ HEXD results show that twinning occurs during the compression portion of the cycle and, at early stages of fatigue, most twins are detwinned under reversed loading during the tensile portion of the cycle. It was also observed that as the number of fatigue cycles increases the twin volume fraction increases. After 100–200 fatigue cycles, the detwinning process was observed to be incomplete and a significant fraction of residual twins remained throughout an entire cycle. Using electron back scatter diffraction imaging on the surface of interrupted fatigue tests, twinning and detwinning behavior was investigated and the presence of persistent twins, including residual twins, was observed. At a lower applied strain (0.4%), twinning and tension-compression yield asymmetries associated with twinning were not observed.
On the response of annular injectors to rotating detonation waves

A series of three-dimensional, unsteady simulations have been conducted to illuminate the behavior of annular gaseous injectors that are frequently used in rotating detonation engine combustors. The strength (detonation overpressure history) and number of detonation waves in the combustor are investigated as operational parameters along with the injector design (area ratio and length) to assess the impact on the unsteady response of the injection system to the imposed detonation model. Attenuation of the imposed overpressure and reflection off the assumed mass flow inlet boundary are features that are highlighted. The unsteady flow at the exit of the injector as a result of these interactions is found to fluctuate by $$+$$ 80 to − 200%. Strong wave attenuation in the near-exit region of the injector is observed, but acoustic perturbations are seen to propagate throughout the injector, which along with the corresponding reflections persist during the transient injection.
La República Dominicana y la privación arbitraria del derecho a la nacionalidad de las personas de origen haitiano conforme a la sentencia TC/0168/13

espanolEn la Republica Dominicana, el derecho a la nacionalidad de las personas nacidas en el pais y de origen haitiano es tratado con discriminacion. Por medio de una reinterpretacion amplia de la expresion «extranjeros “en transito”», la Sentencia TC/0168/13 del Tribunal Constitucional privo arbitrariamente de su nacionalidad a numerosas personas de origen haitiano, la cual habia sido adquirida por el principio del ius soli. El pretexto utilizado para llevar a cabo esta privacion de la nacionalidad fue que los padres de las victimas de dicha decision no poseian un estatus migratorio legal. Considerada incompatible con las normas del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos, esta decision hace prevalecer la soberania estatal sobre el derecho a la nacionalidad, lo cual ha provocado una crisis que dificilmente puede resolverse. EnglishIn the Dominican Republic, the right to nationality of individuals that are born in that country and that are of Haitian origin is treated with discrimination. By means of a large reinterpretation of the expression aliens “in transit”, the Constitutional Court judgment in case TC/0168/13 deprived arbitrarily a great number of persons of Haitian origin from their nationality, that they acquired by the principle of ius soli. They did so just because their parents did not have a legal migratory status. Considered incompatible with the standards of the international human rights law, this decision makes prevail the state sovereignty over the right to nationality. As a result, it gave rise to a crisis that is very difficult to solve.
Mechanistic Exploration of Dodecanethiol-Treated Colloidal CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals with Photoluminescence Quantum Yields Reaching Near 100%

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are attractive materials for optoelectronics. However, further improvements in stability, reproducibility, and photoluminescence quantum yield (ΦPL) are e...
Impact of the human footprint on anthropogenic mortality of North American reptiles

Abstract Human activities frequently result in reptile mortality, but how direct anthropogenic mortality compares to natural morality has not been thoroughly investigated. There has also been a limited examination of how anthropogenic reptile mortality changes as a function of the human footprint. We conducted a synthesis of cause-specific North American reptile mortality studies based on telemetry, documenting 550 mortalities of known cause among 2461 monitored individuals in 57 studies. Overall 78% of mortality was the result of direct natural causes, whereas 22% was directly caused by humans. The single largest source of mortality was predation, accounting for 62% of mortality overall. Anthropogenic mortality did not increase with the human footprint or with species body mass, though predation mortality increased with decreasing human footprint. The relatively low amount of anthropogenic mortality compared to other taxa suggests that reptiles may be more impacted by indirect than direct anthropogenic mortality. As a result, mitigating these indirect impacts, which include habitat loss and introduction of invasive species, is essential for conservation of North American reptiles.