cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Designing and Implementing an HR Scorecard

Verizon HR has effectively designed and implemented a strategic management system, which is based upon the balanced scorecard model of Dr. David Norton and Dr. Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School. The HR Balanced Scorecard was conceived with New Economy organizational dynamics in mind. The scorecard uses a broad range of “leading and lagging” indicators—overall strategy, operational processes, customer perceptions, and financials to evaluate the effectiveness of HR initiatives to the bottom line. The HR Balanced Scorecard provides the means to monitor workforce indicators, analyze workforce statistics, diagnose workforce issues, calculate the negative financial impact, prescribe solutions, and track improvements. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Inhomgeneous spectral broadening in pentacene doped paraterphenyl crystals at high pressure and low temperature

Abstract The effect of pentacene impurity concentration and non-hydrostatic high pressure (0-15 kbar) on the low temperature (15 K) absorption and emission spectrum of pentance in p-terphenyl is reported. The broad pentacene band observed in monoclinic p-terphenyl suggests a frozen distribution of molecular twist angles in the low temperature monoclinic phase. Tehcniques are also presented for characterizing and minimizing inhomogeneous spectral broadening of pentacene doped p-terphenyl crystals at high pressure.
An Application Of Focused Ion Beams To Electron Beam Testing Of Integrated Circuits

One of the applications of high current density, focused ion beams (FIB) that has been made possible by the advent of the liquid metal ion source (LMIS) is milling of micron sized structures. In this study we examine the prospect of using a FIB system to selectively remove the passivation layer from IC's in order to carry out quantitative voltage contrast measurements on the conductors thus exposed.
Effect of Precocene and Benzyl-1,3-Benzodioxole Derivatives on Sex Attractancy in the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Two chromene, one related isopentenylphenol, and 20 benzyl-1,3-benzodioxole derivatives, reported to possess potential or documented anti-allatin/anti-juvenile hormone properties, were tested for their effectiveness in reducing sex attractancy when topically applied to virgin males of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Only precocene II among the chromene derivatives and five of the benzyl-1,3-benzodioxole analogs were significantly active ( P = 0.05) against sex attractancy when bioassayed in a Y-choice olfactometer system. Ninety percent of virgin females treated with precocene II, and 28 to 73% of females treated with the five most active benzodioxole analogs, exhibited ovarian abnormalities when examined on day 7 posttreatment. The isopentenylphenol, one chromene, and two benzyl-1,3-benzodioxole derivatives, inactive in our bioassays, were also ineffective in hindering ovarian development. Structure-activity relationships of the tested benzodioxole derivatives are discussed.
The Steepest Descent Method for Forward-Backward SDEs

This paper aims to open a door to Monte-Carlo methods for numerically solving Forward-Backward SDEs, without computing over all Cartesian grids as usually done in the literature. We transform the FBSDE to a control problem and propose the steepest descent method to solve the latter one. We show that the original (coupled) FBSDE can be approximated by {it decoupled} FBSDEs, which further comes down to computing a sequence of conditional expectations. The rate of convergence is obtained, and the key to its proof is a new well-posedness result for FBSDEs. However, the approximating decoupled FBSDEs are non-Markovian. Some Markovian type of modification is needed in order to make the algorithm efficiently implementable.
Analysis of Minoan white pigments used on pottery from Palaikastro

Abstract Previous analyses of Early Minoan (ca. 2200–2000 BC) and Middle Minoan (ca. 2000–1700 BC) white pigments from Crete have revealed a complex situation in which several different substances were used for the ornament on pottery. The technological situation and the nature of these pigments is still not fully understood. A high-magnesium paint has been tentatively identified as talc, and a high-calcium paint has been tentatively identified as calcium silicate, but the distribution of these pigments is still not known. A new program of analysis by PIXE at the Bartol Research Institute of the University of Delaware has examined several white pigments from Palaikastro, a site in Eastern Crete, with interesting results. Three different materials or mixtures of materials can be identified. None of the pigments is rich in magnesium. All of the paints tested contain substantial amounts of aluminum and silica, with a variable calcium content. One class is high in calcium, and the second is substantially lower in calcium, but both contain appreciable amounts of iron. The third substance is an iron free white pigment. The materials can be tentatively identified as mixtures of calcium silicates and aluminosilicates, probably with admixed quartz.
Pricing and Indirect Cost Allocation — A Note

: Companies that use cost-based pricing usually allocate indirect costs to their products. An inherent problem with this is that, while product prices are a function of the total cost, indirect cost allocation methods based on revenues depend on the product prices. This paper shows how to simultaneously determine unique product prices (with unequal markup rates) and cost allocations using the relative revenue method.
Combined tachykinin receptor antagonists for the treatment of respiratory diseases.

The tachykinins, substance P (SP) and neurokinin A (NK-A), are thought to be key players in the process of neurogenic inflammation, which is believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of various respiratory diseases. Due to the additive nature of the respiratory effects of these sensory neuropeptides, inhibiting the effects of tachykinins at both NK1 and NK2 receptors may represent a therapeutic advantage for the treatment of asthma, as opposed to receptor-selective antagonists, which have demonstrated only minimal efficacy to date. A number of companies are pursuing small molecule approaches yielding compounds with potent, balanced NK1 and NK2 receptor antagonist activities. In allergic rhinitis, NK1receptor antagonism may complement the actions of antihistamines by addressing nasal congestion, which is largely unrelieved by these otherwise highly efficacious agents. Novel combined H1/NK1 receptor antagonists have been developed and may represent a therapeutic option for the treatment of this disease.
Notch Signaling Is Antagonized by SAO-1, a Novel GYF-Domain Protein That Interacts with the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase SEL-10 in Caenorhabditis elegans

Notch signaling pathways can be regulated through a variety of cellular mechanisms, and genetically compromised systems provide useful platforms from which to search for the responsible modulators. The Caenorhabditis elegans gene aph-1 encodes a component of γ-secretase, which is essential for Notch signaling events throughout development. By looking for suppressors of the incompletely penetrant aph-1(zu147) mutation, we identify a new gene, sao-1 (suppressor of aph-one), that negatively regulates aph-1(zu147) activity in the early embryo. The sao-1 gene encodes a novel protein that contains a GYF protein–protein interaction domain and interacts specifically with SEL-10, an Fbw7 component of SCF E3 ubiquitin ligases. We demonstrate that the embryonic lethality of aph-1(zu147) mutants can be suppressed by removing sao-1 activity or by mutations that disrupt the SAO-1–SEL-10 protein interaction. Decreased sao-1 activity also influences Notch signaling events when they are compromised at different molecular steps of the pathway, such as at the level of the Notch receptor GLP-1 or the downstream transcription factor LAG-1. Combined analysis of the SAO-1–SEL-10 protein interaction and comparisons of sao-1 and sel-10 genetic interactions suggest a possible role for SAO-1 as an accessory protein that participates with SEL-10 in downregulation of Notch signaling. This work provides the first mutant analysis of a GYF-domain protein in either C. elegans or Drosophila and introduces a new type of Fbw7-interacting protein that acts in a subset of Fbw7 functions.
Use of pressors in the management of septic shock

In their study comparing the eff ect of norepinephrine plus dobutamine versus epinephrine alone in the management of septic shock (Aug 25, p 676), Djillali Annane and colleagues conclude that there is no evidence for a diff erence in effi cacy between the two groups. The primary endpoint, 28-day all-cause mortality, was not statistically diff erent (40% in the epinephrine group vs 34% in the norepinephrine plus dobutamine group, p=0·31). When doing a power analysis, the sample size is inversely proportional to the desired detectable diff erence in outcome between groups. In this study, it seems that the investigators grossly overestimated the mortality rates (60% vs 40%), as well as the diff erence in outcome (an absolute reduction in mortality of 20%). Such an absolute diff erence, if confi rmed, would have meant a number needed to treat (NNT) of fi ve. These estimates led to the study being underpowered to detect a more realistic, but still clinically important, diff erence. On the basis of the number of patients enrolled, the study had only around 18% power to detect an absolute reduction in mortality of 6%, such as the one actually seen. This diff erence would mean an NNT of 17, a number comparable to the NNT found in other critical care trials, such as the ARDSnetwork low tidal volume study (NNT of 12), or the PROWESS trial (NNT of 17). Therefore, we believe that Annane and colleagues’ trial was not powered enough to confi rm a diff erence in the primary endpoint between the two groups. To answer this question, a larger study would be needed.
The management of acute liver failure

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare clinical syndrome which often leads to a rapidly spiralling cascade of multi-system organ failure which without liver transplantation can have a mortality rate of up to 80%. The central precipitating insult is that of sudden massive hepatocyte injury to a previously normal liver. The three cardinal features of ALF are hepatic encephalopathy, jaundice and coagulopathy in the absence of pre-existing liver disease (Tables 1 and 2). In addition, patients are at risk of developing cerebral oedema, raised intracranial pressure, cardiovascular collapse, acute renal failure, metabolic acidosis, pancreatitis, sepsis, and respiratory failure. Patients with ALF therefore represent a major management challenge to the combined intensive care team. A number of liver centres have defined ALF, each with a slightly different emphasis. Initially Trey and Davidson from the USA defined Fulminant Hepatic Failure (FHF) as occurring when the period between the first symptoms and the onset of ...
Health for People With a Terminal Diagnosis

A naturalistic study was designed to investigate how people with terminal diseases describe health. Three domains emerged. The mental/emotional domain included hope, love, and control. The spiritual domain contained belief in a higher power, recognition of mortality, and self-actualization. The physical domain consisted of health promotion activities, feeling good, and relationship with a physician. This investigation suggested many similarities with Newman's model. One area of agreement was in the informants' belief that their disease was a part of their health. The emergence of the disease pattern allowed health to unfold. Many informants believed they became healthier because of their diagnoses.
On the Utility of Laguerre Series for the Envelope PDF in Multipath Fading Channels

It is well known that multipath fading significantly affects the performance of communication systems. In order to incorporate the impact of this random phenomenon on system analysis and design, in many cases, we need to calculate the probability density function (pdf) of the received signal envelope in multipath fading channels. In this paper, we consider a general multipath fading channel with arbitrary number of paths, where the amplitudes of multipath components are arbitrary correlated positive random variables, independent of phases, whereas the phases are independent and identically distributed random variables with uniform distributions. Since the integral form of the envelope pdf for such a general channel model is too complicated to be used for analytic calculations, we propose two infinite expansions for the pdf: a Laguerre series and a power series. Based on the tight uniform upper bounds on the truncation error of these two infinite series, we show that the Laguerre series is superior to the power series due to the fact that for a fixed number of terms, it yields a smaller truncation error. This Laguerre series with a finite number of terms, which expresses the envelope pdf just in terms of simple polynomial-exponential kernels, is particularly useful for mathematical performance prediction of communication systems in those indoor and outdoor multipath propagation environments, where the number of strong multipath components is small.
Results of a survey of hospital coagulation laboratories in the United States, 2001.

Abstract Context.—Coagulation and bleeding problems are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, and inappropriate testing practices may lead to bleeding or thrombotic complications. Objective.—To evaluate practices reported by hospital coagulation laboratories in the United States and to determine if the number of beds in a hospital was associated with different practices. Design.—From a sampling frame of institutions listed in the 1999 directory of the American Hospital Association, stratified into hospitals with 200 or more beds (“large hospitals”) and those with fewer than 200 beds (“small hospitals”), we randomly selected 425 large hospitals (sampling rate, 25.6%) and 375 small hospitals (sampling rate, 8.8%) and sent a survey to them between June and October 2001. Of these, 321 large hospitals (75.5%) and 311 small hospitals (82.9%) responded. Results.—An estimated 97.1% of respondents reported performing some coagulation laboratory tests. Of these, 71.6% reported using 3.2% sodium citra...
Height Optimization for a Medium-Voltage Planar Package

Due to the thin structure employed in planar packaging, the high electric field intensity may occur inside the power module, leading to degradation of the dielectric performance. To resolve this issue, the Metal-Posts-Interconnected Parallel Plate Structure (MPIPPS) is used to reduce the high field concentration in the power module. However, the high bonding joint in MPIPPS will cause high thermo-mechanical stress in the solder layers. In this paper, a methodology to optimize the joint height based on the trade-off between thermo-mechanical performance and dielectric performance of the power module is proposed. The impact of the joint height on thermo-mechanical stress and dielectric performance of the module is investigated quantitatively using ANSYS and Maxwell simulations. The results show that with 0.4 mm joint height and Nusil R-2188 encapsulation, the power module can achieve 3 kV breakdown voltage. The experimental results agree with the simulation results.
Optimum power allocation for selective transmit-diversity systems over Nakagami fading channels

Optimum power loading algorithms for selective transmitter diversity systems over flat Nakagami fading channels are considered. Both power limited and interference limited systems are studied. It is shown that the diversity links statistics can be exploited to optimally allocate the power among the transmitter antennas. The performance criterion used in optimizing the power allocation is the outage probability which is the probability that the link quality falls below an acceptable level. As an illustration of the mathematical formalism some numerical results for particular cases of interests are plotted and discussed.
Integrating Classroom Supervision, School Improvement:

Supervision is the essence of instructional leadership, say these writers. In addition, they warn, effective supervisory leadership requires constant searching for ways to integrate and align the core elements of school improvement.
Within- and Between-Person Variation in Nutrient Intakes of Russian and U.S. Children Differs by Sex and Age

Within- and between-person variation in nutrient intake has been characterized in different adult populations, but little is known of country, age, or sex differences among children. The objectives of this study were as follows: 1) to describe the mean intake, within- and between-individual CV and variance ratios of nutrient intake among children ages 9-18 y old in Russia and the United States in 1996; 2) to compare the age and sex-related differences in nutrient intake variance within and between countries; and 3) to hypothesize about the feasibility of using within-individual variance estimates from one nationally representative sample to adjust the usual intake distributions in another nationally representative sample. Mean intakes of all nutrients except magnesium were significantly higher among U.S. children (P < 0.001); within-person variation was higher among the U.S. children, possibly indicating greater access to a wide array of foods. Strong differentials existed in variance components by sex in both countries, although not in the same direction, and differed by age in U.S. girls. Ratios of within- to between-person variance in 8 of 11 nutrients were lower among Russian (range: 0.9-1.6) than U.S. children (range: 1.4-1.7), suggesting that day-to-day bias may not affect Russian dietary recalls as strongly as in the United States. Researchers are encouraged to use these estimates to conduct sensitivity analyses of usual intake distributions in their own data when multiple days of data collection are not feasible.
Dexamethasone enhances 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 effects by increasing vitamin D receptor transcription

Calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, in combination with the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex) has been shown to increase the antitumor effects of calcitriol in squamous cell carcinoma. In this study we found that pretreatment with Dex potentiates calcitriol effects by inhibiting cell growth and increasing vitamin D receptor (VDR) and VDR-mediated transcription. Treatment with actinomycin D inhibits Vdr mRNA synthesis, indicating that Dex regulates VDR expression at transcriptional level. Real time PCR shows that treatment with Dex increases Vdr transcripts in a time- and a dose-dependent manner, indicating that Dex directly regulates expression of Vdr. RU486, an inhibitor of glucocorticoids, inhibits Dex-induced Vdr expression. In addition, the silencing of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) abolishes the induction of Vdr by Dex, indicating that Dex increases Vdr transcripts in a GR-dependent manner. A fragment located 5.2 kb upstream of Vdr transcription start site containing two putative glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) was evaluated using a luciferase-based reporter assay. Treatment with 100 nm Dex induces transcription of luciferase driven by the fragment. Deletion of the GRE distal to transcription start site was sufficient to abolish Dex induction of luciferase. Also, chromatin immunoprecipitation reveals recruitment of GR to distal GRE with Dex treatment. We conclude that Dex increases VDR and vitamin D effects by increasing Vdr de novo transcription in a GR-dependent manner.
CONTEXTUAL AGE AND TELEVISION USE

The aims of the investigation were to initiate the development of “contextual age” as an alternative life-position concept to chronological age in communication and aging research, and to examine the relationships between contextual age and socio-demographic characteristics, television viewing patterns, and viewing motivations. The sample consisted of 340 non-confined respondents, aged 55 to 92. Factor analysis located four contextual age dimensions: interaction, life satisfaction, economic security, and self-reliance. The results of the Pearson and canonical correlation analyses suggest: the importance of an individual's degree of interpersonal interaction, social activity, life satisfaction, economic security, mobility, and physical health for indicating television usage; a series of interactant associations among contextual age, socio-demographic, viewing pattern, and viewing motivation variables; and the heuristic potential of the contextual age concept for assessing life-position and communication behavior.
Malaysia’s National Expressway

A transient site like an expressway raises questions about modern forms of power and the shifting role of the state in regulating space. Since 1994, an 850-kilometer expressway has linked peninsular Malaysia north and south. As both a stunning infrastructural achievement and a heavily used traffic artery, the expressway has reworked the Malaysian experience of travel. This article examines the myriad social effects of such a roadway, focusing on issues of speed and power. First, a brief history of roads and motorized transportation in Malaysia contextualizes the country’s contemporary dependence on road travel. The heart of the article explores the “life” of the expressway, including the road’s effects for Malaysian nationalism, the implications for the Malaysian state in privatizing such an important project, the danger and disposition of high-speed accidents, and the changing relationship between local and rural space wrought by the expressway’s limited-access design. The article contributes to a growin...
World Christianity: Its Implications for History, Religious Studies, and Theology

The paper traces the emergence of the concept of “World Christianity” to designate a new academic discipline beyond ecumenical and missiological discussions. It then elaborates the implications of “World Christianity” for the History of Christianity in contrast to Church History and for the study of Christianity as a “world religion.” The paper argues for an expansion of the “cartography” and “topography” of Church History to take into account the contributions of ecclesiastically marginalized groups and neglected charismatic/pentecostal activities. Furthermore, it is urged that in the study of Christianity as a world religion greater attention be given to how local communities have received and transformed the imported Christianities, the role of popular religiosity, and the presence of Evangelical/Pentecostal Churches. Finally, it is suggested that “World Christianity” requires the expansion of theological method and reformulation of some key Christian doctrines.
Catalytic hydroprocessing of chlorobenzene and 1,2-dichlorobenzene

The hydrodechlorination reactions of chlorobenzene and 1,2-dichlorobenzene on a NiMo/γAl2O3 catalyst were examined in a differential microflow reactor. The NiMo catalyst had high activity and selectivity for dechlorination; no hydrogenation of the aromatic ring was detected. The dechlorination reactions were examined at temperatures ranging from 275 to 375°C. In this temperature range the rates of adsorption and surface reaction are comparable and neither controls the overall reaction rate. A kinetic model, incorporating adsorption, desorption and surface reaction rates, has been used to model the data.
Investigation of National Highway System Roadways in the Highway Safety Information System States

Motor vehicle crash rates and roadway characteristics for National Highway System (NHS) and non-NHS roads in seven states—California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Washington— are presented. Accident and roadway data were extracted from the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Safety Information System. Overall, crash rates on NHS roads were approximately 10 percent lower than those on non-NHS roads, perhaps the result of higher design standards. Crash rates on urban roadways were considerably higher than on the corresponding rural roadways in each state. For rural roadways, fixed-object crash rates were higher on NHS roads than on non-NHS roads. The distribution of crashes by severity was quite similar on NHS and non-NHS roads. For urban freeways, NHS Interstates usually had lower crash rates than NHS non-Interstates. The majority of NHS roads had lane widths of 3.4 m (11 ft) or more, and many had shoulder widths of 1.5 m (5 ft) or more. Compared to NHS non-Interstate road...
Efficient counting of k-mers in DNA sequences using a bloom filter

Counting k-mers (substrings of length k in DNA sequence data) is an essential component of many methods in bioinformatics, including for genome and transcriptome assembly, for metagenomic sequencing, and for error correction of sequence reads. Although simple in principle, counting k-mers in large modern sequence data sets can easily overwhelm the memory capacity of standard computers. In current data sets, a large fraction-often more than 50%-of the storage capacity may be spent on storing k-mers that contain sequencing errors and which are typically observed only a single time in the data. These singleton k-mers are uninformative for many algorithms without some kind of error correction. We present a new method that identifies all the k-mers that occur more than once in a DNA sequence data set. Our method does this using a Bloom filter, a probabilistic data structure that stores all the observed k-mers implicitly in memory with greatly reduced memory requirements. We then make a second sweep through the data to provide exact counts of all nonunique k-mers. For example data sets, we report up to 50% savings in memory usage compared to current software, with modest costs in computational speed. This approach may reduce memory requirements for any algorithm that starts by counting k-mers in sequence data with errors. A reference implementation for this methodology, BFCounter, is written in C++ and is GPL licensed. It is available for free download at http://pritch.bsd.uchicago.edu/bfcounter.html
Summarizing procedures in concurrent programs

The ability to summarize procedures is fundamental to building scalable interprocedural analyses. For sequential programs, procedure summarization is well-understood and used routinely in a variety of compiler optimizations and software defect-detection tools. However, the benefit of summarization is not available to multithreaded programs, for which a clear notion of summaries has so far remained unarticulated in the research literature.In this paper, we present an intuitive and novel notion of procedure summaries for multithreaded programs. We also present a model checking algorithm for these programs that uses procedure summarization as an essential component. Our algorithm can also be viewed as a precise interprocedural dataflow analysis for multithreaded programs. Our method for procedure summarization is based on the insight that in well-synchronized programs, any computation of a thread can be viewed as a sequence of transactions, each of which appears to execute atomically to other threads. We summarize within each transaction; the summary of a procedure comprises the summaries of all transactions within the procedure. We leverage the theory of reduction [17] to infer boundaries of these transactions.The procedure summaries computed by our algorithm allow reuse of analysis results across different call sites in a multithreaded program, a benefit that has hitherto been available only to sequential programs. Although our algorithm is not guaranteed to terminate on multithreaded programs that use recursion (reachability analysis for multithreaded programs with recursive procedures is undecidable [18]), there is a large class of programs for which our algorithm does terminate. We give a formal characterization of this class, which includes programs that use shared variables, synchronization, and recursion.
Triptan use in pediatric migraine: focus on rizatriptan

Migraines are a common complaint in children and can cause a significant burden to both the child and their families, with a substantial loss in both school and work days, as well as having negative effects on the child’s self-esteem and peer relations. It has become clear that migraine-specific medications are needed in this population of patients and their use may result in a significant improvement of the child’s headaches and quality of life. Rizatriptan benzoate (Maxalt®) is a selective 5-hydroxytryptamine/serotonin1B/1D (5-HT1B/1D ) agonist that was approved by the US FDA in 1998 for the acute treatment of migraine attacks in adults. Despite having been widely used in the pediatric population, rizatriptan was most recently approved in December 2011 for pediatric use in children aged 6–17 years. The advantage of rizatriptan over some other triptans is its rapid onset of action, which is thought to be beneficial in the generally shorter migraine attacks of children when compared with adults. It may al...
Cancer immunotherapy: Strategies for personalization and combinatorial approaches

The results of recent clinical trials using novel immunotherapy strategies such as immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T-cell therapy approaches including CAR T-cell therapy have clearly established immunotherapy as an important modality for the treatment of cancer besides the traditional approaches of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy or targeted therapy. However, to date immunotherapy has been shown to induce durable clinical benefit in only a fraction of the patients. The use of combination strategies is likely to increase the number of patients that might benefit from immunotherapy. Indeed, over the last decade, the characterization of multiple immune resistance mechanisms used by the tumor to evade the immune system and the development of agents that target those mechanisms has generated a lot of enthusiasm for cancer immunotherapy. But a critical issue is to determine how best to combine such agents. This review will focus on novel immunotherapy agents currently in development and discuss strategies to develop and personalize combination cancer immunotherapy strategies.
Abstract 20563: Hyperhomocysteinemia Induces Vascular Remodeling During Atherosclerosis in Pon1 Knockout Mice

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is an independent risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis. Previous studies have reported the anti-atherogenic properties of paraoxynase1 (PON1) through its homocysteine thiolactonase activity. Studies from our lab have shown abnormal matrix remodeling due to elevated MMP-9 expression, decreased vascular connexins (37 & 40) and endothelial dysfunction during HHcy. In the current study we examine the role of homocysteine and its effect on vascular remodeling during atherosclerosis in PON1 knockout mice. We hypothesize that PON1 knockout mice develop HHcy that induces MMP-9 expression and causes decreased Akt/ eNOS expression leading to vascular remodeling in atherosclerosis. Methods: PON1 knockout mice were fed on atherogenic diet for 15 weeks as atherosclerosis disease model and compared with C57BL/6J (wild type) controls. Blood pressure was measured by tail cuff method and cardiovascular fu...
Political Drivers and Signaling in Independent Agency Voting: Evidence from the FCC

We develop a model for commissioner voting at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Our model relates the costs faced by FCC Chairs (and by extension by presidents) of effecting their agenda to commissioner voting. The model shows that divided government, with its increased cost of legislative achievement, increases partisan commissioner voting. To test the model, we use a unique and comprehensive data set, spanning 9,151 orders and 35,194 individual commissioner votes over 35 years to examine the factors driving commissioner voting. Employing logit choice models, we find significant evidence that periods of split government are correlated with more partisan voting. We also find significant evidence of signaling by commissioner voting. Specifically, the partisan composition of the D.C. Circuit drives dissenting, suggesting that commissioners use dissenting to signal sympathetic judges reviewing those orders.
Cellular design-based optimisation for manufacturing scheduling and transportation mode decisions

This paper discusses a design-based mixed integer mathematical model for concurrent optimisation of manufacturing scheduling and transportation mode decisions in a cellular manufacturing system (CMS). Cell loading is performed based on the outcome of CMS design. The CMS design is performed by considering the probabilistic demand environment and the layered cellular manufacturing system design is utilised. Cell loading is performed by using a deterministic mixed integer mathematical model. In cell loading phase, alternative manufacturing due dates of each product and a customer due date of each product are considered. Based on the availability of capacity and alternative manufacturing due dates, a product might be divided and manufactured in different points in time and these smaller lots can be dispatched to the customer by using alternative transportation methods such that the entire lot arrives to the customer before its desired due date in order to maximise the total net profit.
Two Variants of Sindbis Virus Which Differ in Interferon Induction and Serum Clearance. II. Virological Characterizations

In the previous paper [1], we described 2 variants of Sindbis virus which differed markedly in their behavior in animals. The large plaque (LP) variant was more effective than the small plaque (SP) variant in inducing interferon in the serum of rabbits and mice, and it was cleared from the blood stream of these animals at a much slower rate. To elucidate further the bases for these differences, the following studies of these 2 variants were undertaken and are reported herein: the size, density, and morphology of the 2 variants, the effect of agar inhibitor, neutralization kinetics, interferon induction and sensitivity, and pathogenicity for mice and the chick embryo.
The citrus mite named and described for the first time

The discovery which forms the text of this paper was the outcome of a study of types in the red spider collection of the Bureau of Entomology. Out of respect for previous workers in the acarid group the author wishes to state here that the anatomical studies, on which the present paper is based, were conducted with the aid of an oil-immersion lens and a camera lucida attachment. It has developed, through the studies of Mr. H. E. Ewing and the present writer, that the microscopic structures which constitute the taxonomic characters in the red spider group must be examined more critically than has been the practice with earlier workers if satisfactory specific demarcation is to be secured.
Graphene/Na carboxymethyl cellulose composite for Li-ion batteries prepared by enhanced liquid exfoliation

Abstract In the present work, we report a sonication-assisted exfoliation method of graphene preparation enhanced by the use of microwave heating and “green” exfoliant – sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC). Introducing microwave heating during sonication of graphite dispersions in aqueous solutions of NaCMC results in the formation of graphene dispersions with concentration as high as 4.29 mg/ml. It is found that drying the dispersions results in the formation of graphene/NaCMC composites with graphene content up to 38.65 wt%. A study of the composite with High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy reveals the formation of few-layer graphene approximately below five layers. The as-prepared graphene/NaCMC composite shows higher capacities than commercial graphite in Li-ion half cells reaching 397 mAh/g (graphene) . Also, when the composite is used with a nanosilicon (33 wt%) in a Li-ion half cell high initial reversible capacities of 1611 mAh/g (Si) with good cyclability and rate capability have been reached.
Numerical Simulation of Ice-Phase Processes Using a Double-Moment Microphysical Scheme and a Sensitivity Test of Ice Nuclei Concentration

In the context of the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) single column model(SCM), a double-moment bulk microphysics scheme, Morrison 2-mon(MOR), is selected to simulate a case of tropical convection from the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment(TWP-ICE) field experiment. We then compare the results with observations and cloud resolution model results to evaluate the ability of the MOR scheme to describe the microphysics. The evidence shows that the MOR scheme is capable of properly reproducing the time and space distribution features of liquid and ice particles in the tropical cloud from both macro and micro points, as well as the characteristics of the temporal evolution of surface downward longwave radiation and outgoing longwave radiation(OLR) at the top of atmosphere. From our analysis of microphysical characteristics, we found that the dominant ice crystals cloud microphysical processes during the monsoon active period are the depositional growth of ice crystals, sedimentation of ice crystals, autoconversion of ice crystals to snow, and accretion of ice crystals by snow. Ice crystals occur predominantly in environmental temperatures less than ―20°C, and indirectly contribute to rain formation. The cloud microphysical processes of snow are predominantly its simultaneous sedimentation and depositional growth. Snow's strong deposition growth, which results in the consumption of much water vapor, may suppress ice crystal growth. In addition, the active melting of snow is an important factor for precipitation. During the monsoon depression, ice-phase microphysics become relatively simple and weaken, with the dominant cloud microphysical processes being sublimation, sedimentation, and depositional growth. Results from MOR scheme sensitivity tests, in which we changed the total number of ice nuclei in deposition mode and condensation freezing mode(Ndep), suggested that the responses of the macro and micro characteristics in ice-phase cloud to Ndep present marked linear features during the monsoon depression period. During this period, the Ndep increase favors the growth of ice crystals, but leads to smaller ice crystals in ice clouds and a higher cloud top. This results in reduced OLR decreases during the monsoon depression period for those microphysical processes primarily related to ice crystals, and vice versa. In the active monsoon period, the ice-phase cloud characteristics vary irregularly.
Design and Analysis of Decision Support Systems

Since their creation in the early 1960’s, decision support systems (DSSs) have evolved over the past 4 decades and continue to do so today. Although DSSs have grown substantially since its inception, improvements still need to be made. New technology has emerged and will continue to do so and, consequently, DSSs need to keep pace with it. Also, knowledge needs to play a bigger role in the form of decision making. We first discuss design and analysis methods/techniques/issues related to DSSs. Then, the three possible ways to enhance DSSs will be explored.
Agnes’s Networks of Property

Agnes’s will provides insights about her fortune in money and real property. The detailed testamentary bequests of Agnes’s will reveal significant real property holdings along with monetary gifts to grandchildren. In addition to her family mansion located in the center of town and family rental properties on the central Herbaria Square, she had two significant clusters of real property, one near a city gate and the other in the suburbs near the church of Saint Denis. Agnes chose three sets of universal heirs representing each of her daughters’ lines; she endowed them with the responsibility of funding the bequests to their individual family members. Family ties were reinforced by the distribution of these holdings to her survivors and by the topographic clustering of real property.
Application of a dynamic 4d anthropomorphic breast phantom in contrast-based imaging system optimization: dual-energy or temporal subtraction?

We previously developed a dynamic 4D anthropomorphic breast phantom, which can be used to optimize contrast-based breast imaging systems, accounting for patient variability and contrast kinetics [1]. In this study we aim to compare the performance of contrast-enhanced mammographic and tomosynthesis imaging protocols followed by temporal subtraction and dual-energy subtraction, qualitatively and quantitatively across a couple of patient models. Signal-difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) is measured for the six paradigms of contrast enhanced, temporally subtracted, and dual-energy subtracted mammography and tomosynthesis and compared. The results show how the performance is more dependent on the breast model in mammography than in tomosynthesis. Also, it is observed that dual-energy subtraction can be beneficial in mammography, whereas it is not advantageous in tomosynthesis. Lastly, the results suggest that temporal subtraction in general outperforms dual-energy subtraction.
Update on upper cervical spine injury classifications

Abstract The upper cervical spine, which extends from the occiput to C2, is a common site for trauma, with injuries populating a broad spectrum between mild to very severe. In light of this heterogeneity, and due to the potential for neurologic injury as well as the unique anatomic and biomechanical characteristics of the cervical spine, there is a need for reliable and practical classification systems to aid clinicians when diagnosing, discussing and treating injuries affecting this region. Over the years, a number of such classifications have arisen, each with their own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. In this article we provide an overview of existing upper cervical spine trauma classifications, as well as an update on the new and upcoming developments on this topic.
Dexamethasone Reduces Length of Hospitalization and Improves Postoperative Pain and Nausea After Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial

Controlling postoperative pain and nausea after total joint arthroplasty remains an important challenge. We conducted a prospective, randomized controlled trial with 120 patients to determine if the addition of perioperative dexamethasone to a multimodal regimen improves antiemetic and analgesic control, enhances mobility, and shortens hospital length of stay after total hip and knee arthroplasty. Patients administered 10 mg of intravenous dexamethasone intraoperatively consumed less daily rescue anti-emetic and analgesic medication, reported superior VAS nausea and pain scores, ambulated further distances, and had a significantly shorter length of stay compared to the control group (p
The normalized difference unit as a metric for comparing IV curves

A new quantitative measure of difference is proposed for comparing sets of transistor current-voltage (IV) curves. Conventional qualitative comparisons used, for example, to compare pulsed and static IV data are subjective. The proposed normalized difference unit (NDU) is a metric which can be used to state quantitatively the difference between two sets of IV curves. It is shown that a plot of NDU versus pulse length can be used to isolate thermal and trapping time constants. In addition, the NDU can be used to describe and compare the quality of model fits numerically.
Energy discrimination and counting electronics for Computer-Aided Radioactive Particle Tracking

Computer-Aided Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT) is a technique to study flow in fluidized beds, bubble columns, bioreactors, and other chemical processing apparatus. It is useful where the contents of the fluid (bubbles, solids, etc.) prevent the use of optical flow visualization techniques. CARPT uses a small gamma-emitting particle having the correct density and size to move with the fluid. Emitted gammas are counted with an array of NaI detectors, and the particle's track is calculated by repeatedly determining the relative count rates. We are extending the CARPT technique by using a different isotope for each of multiple particles - this makes it possible to use energy discrimination for identification. To make multi-particle CARPT practical, we have developed an octal NIM shaping amplifier and an octal pulse processing module with a Compact PCI (CPCI) interface. Each channel of the pulse processor comprises a differential receiver, discriminator, gain stage, delay line, gated integrator, a 10-bit ADC and a single FPGA that performs as eight single channel analyzers or as a 10-bit multi-channel analyzer. The FPGA has sufficient memory to store sets of data acquired over multiple time intervals. A controller FPGA handles channel busing, acquisition timing controls and interfacing to a PLX9030 IC for PCI operations. All the electronics for a 32-detector CARPT experiment can fit in two crates with data acquisition being controlled by a CPCI processor card. Details of the electronic design and illustrative experimental results are presented.
The end-to-end delay performance of a class of wireless scheduling algorithms

In this work, we are interested in designing scheduling algorithms for multihop wireless networks that can achieve good end-to-end delay performance. There has been evidence that some of the well-known queue-length-based throughput-optimal algorithms, such as the back-pressure algorithm, could have poor end-to-end delay performance [1]. In particular, the end-to-end delay of the back-pressure algorithm may increase super-linearly with the number of hops due to the queue built-up. Assuming that the arrival rate is known and is inside the capacity region, in this talk we present a class of rate-based scheduling algorithms such that the end-to-end delay of each flow has order O(# of hops).
Paradigm shift in criminal police lineups: Eyewitness identification as multicriteria decision making

Abstract This study is rooted in the recognition that multi-criteria decision analysis can contribute to the improvement of policies and procedures in police work and in the criminal justice system as a whole. More specifically, this research proposes a novel way to address police lineups for eyewitness identification purposes. Traditional methods present suspects sequentially (SEQ method) one by one using a Yes-No memory recognition approach rooted in psychology. The proposed method is a paradigm shift because it treats eyewitness identification as a prioritization rather than a memory recognition task and presents suspects, not sequentially, but in pairs (PAIR approach). The PAIR approach uses a pairwise comparison and prioritization approach, rooted in multi-criteria decision making, to identify the target culprit. This research shows that, in comparison to the Yes-No memory recognition method, the PAIR approach results in significantly fewer false identifications while keeping comparable or better correct identifications. These findings have the potential to greatly improve eyewitness testimony. This is very important because false identifications are the leading cause of wrongful conviction of innocent people. Therefore, this research has the potential to dramatically improve current police and judicial practices leading to a more just world.