cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do conservative solutes migrate at average pore-water velocity?

According to common understanding, the advective velocity of a conservative solute equals the average linear pore-water velocity. Yet direct monitoring indicates that the two velocities may be different in heterogeneous media. For example, at the Camp Dodge, Iowa, site the advective velocity of discrete Cl ‐ plumes was less than one tenth of the average pore-water velocity calculated from Darcy’s law using the measured hydraulic gradient, effective porosity, and hydraulic conductivity (K) from large-scale three-dimensional (3D) techniques, e.g., pumping tests. Possibly, this difference reflects the influence of different pore systems, if the K relevant to transient solute flux is influenced more by lower-K heterogeneity than a steady or quasi-steady water flux. To test this idea, tracer tests were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Under one-dimensional flow conditions, the advective velocity of discrete conservative solutes equaled the average pore-water velocity determined from volumetric flow rates and Darcy’s law. In a larger 3D flow system, however, the same solutes migrated at ~65% of the average pore-water velocity. These results, coupled with direct observation of dye tracers and their velocities as they migrated through both homogeneous and heterogeneous sections of the same model, demonstrate that heterogeneity can slow the advective velocity of discrete solute plumes relative to the average pore-water velocity within heterogeneous 3D flow sytems.
Two-photon imaging with 15-fs pulses and third-harmonic microscopy imaging techniques

Summary form only given. We have shown that it is possible to produce very short pulses at the focus of a high-NA system. These pulses have been used to produce real-time two-photon images, without the aid of an additional amplifier. The third harmonic is shown to be a useful tool for characterizing the pulse within these systems and to be of sufficient strength that it can be used as an imaging tool as well. The characteristics of the third-harmonic imaging are undergoing further investigation so that this method can be exploited as efficiently as possible.
Integrating Literature Circles into a Cotaught Inclusive Classroom.

Literature circles or book clubs are small, heterogeneous groups of students who have chosen to read and discuss the same book together. The research on literature circles suggests that they hold g...
Methicillin resistant staphyloccus pseudintermedius do not develop resistance to atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharges

Summary form only given. The object of this work was to continue the study of sterilization of antibiotic resistant bacteria using the atmospheric pressure cold plasma apparatus used so successfully in St. Jude Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. The new feature in this work is reusing the surving bacteria in further tests to determine if they have acquired resistance to the plasma discharge. Acquired resistance has obviously occured during antibiotic treatment. In our plasma experiments, acquired resistance does not appear. The work was carried out in The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is the bacterium most frequently associated with canine pyoderma. The isolate used in this study, 06-3187, was obtained from a canine skin culture. It was characterized using standard biochemical methods and antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The isolate was determined to be resistant to oxacillin (methicillin resistant), erythromycin, penicillin, and tetracycline. It was propagated on trypticase soy agar containing 5% sheep blood (TSA) at 37 C. To determine their susceptibility to killing with atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharges, bacteria were diluted in saline tenfold from 1:10 through 1:100,000. Bacteria were added to TSA and treated in an atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharge for various periods of time. The number of surviving bacteria at each time point was: 0 min, 2.2×106; 1 min, 7×104; 2.5 min, 2.5×104; 5 min, 2.9×103; and 7.5 min, 3.8×102. In a separate experiment bacteria were treated for 7.5 min and surviving organisms were retested using the same conditions. Bacteria surviving the various treatments were: untreated/untreated, 3.5×107; treated/untreated, 2.9×107; untreated/treated, 1.2×102; and treated/treated, 2.0×102. The reduction in viable bacteria was essentially the same whether or not bacteria were previously exposed to the atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharge treatment.
“The Idea of Accessibility and the Reality of Accessibility are Very Different!” Using a Wheelchair Experience to Teach Preservice Special Educators about Accessibility

P-12 students who have mobility limitations often face environmental and social barriers that can impact their educational performance; thus, teachers who work with these students need to have an understanding of these barriers. Provision of “disability simulation” experiences that can provide first-hand perspective of barriers through the usage of mobility devices during university training programs is somewhat controversial. The authors of the current study do not feel it is possible to simulate the experience of having a disability; however, they feel that providing a wheelchair-usage accessibility assessment experience can provide preservice special educators with a unique perspective of barriers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of such an assignment. Study findings regarding specific accessibility barriers have applicability to teachers who work with students who have limited mobility while data related to the assignment’s effect have applicability to teacher educators in special education.
Asymmetric Ordering Behavior in Newsvendor Inventory Decisions: Customer Service and Cognitive Dissonance

When solving a newsvendor problem, individuals systematically and persistently deviate from the profit maximizing order quantity. Previous research has shown that individuals tend to order too much in a low margin setting and too little in a high margin setting. This “pull to center” effect is asymmetric relative to the mean of the demand distribution and is typically about twice as strong in low margin contexts relative to high margin contexts. This research posits that cognitive dissonance surrounding customer service expectations is a cause of this behavioral anomaly as individuals act to mitigate dissonance. Order quantities below the mean correspond with planning a priori to disappoint customers, and this appears to cause cognitive dissonance even though doing so maximizes expected profit in a low-margin setting. We test this proposition in a behavioral experiment with 176 participants, showing that the amount of dissonance mitigation differs based on margin condition. These results suggest that cognitive dissonance based on customer service expectations explains a portion of the observed asymmetry in ordering behavior in low margin conditions. This insight into how cognitive dissonance impacts supply chain decision making contributes to behavioral operations management theory. These results inform managerial decisions regarding employee selection, training, task design and reward structures.
Balancing Selection: Walking a Tightrope

Combining modern transgenic techniques with fitness measurements and enzyme activity assays, a new study demonstrates a habitat-dependent tradeoff between two alleles of a key detoxification enzyme in fruit flies. The elegant findings provide concrete, elusive evidence supporting a foundational and controversial theory about the maintenance of genetic variation.
We can do better: unlocking the club house through our classroom practices

This interactive session will explore how gender differences are portrayed in learning and using technology and why even subtle changes in language and images could foster more positive attitudes about technology use. Participants will first consider their own stereotypes regarding gender differences in learning and using digital technologies. We will then discuss the implications of these perspectives for the learning environments we create, and will share strategies for promoting positive influences to help address a significant underrepresentation of women in STEM based disciplines. Strategies discussed in this session can be applied to disciplines outside of STEM.
Agnosia for head tremor in essential tremor: prevalence and clinical correlates

Lack of awareness of involuntary movements is a curious phenomenon in patients with certain movement disorders. An interesting anecdotal observation is that patients with essential tremor (ET) often seem unaware of their own head tremor. In the current study, we asked ET patients whether they were aware of head tremor while it was occurring on examination, thereby allowing us to gauge real-time awareness of their involuntary movement. ET cases enrolled in an ongoing clinical research study at the Columbia University Medical Center (2009–2014). During a videotaped tremor examination, they were questioned about the presence of head tremor. True positives were cases who exhibited head tremor on examination and were aware of it; false negatives were cases who exhibited head tremor but were unaware of it. The 126 ET cases had a mean age of 72.6 ± 12.4 years. Nineteen (48.7 %) of 39 cases with head tremor on examination did not report having head tremor at that moment. Even among cases with moderate or severe head tremor on examination, unawareness of head tremor was 45.5 %. We assessed the clinical correlates of unawareness of head tremor, comparing true positives to false negatives, and unawareness was correlated with older age, lower mental status test scores and several other clinical variables. Nearly one-half of ET cases with head tremor on examination were acutely unaware of their tremor. Whether such agnosia for tremor may be leveraged as a diagnostic feature of ET is a question for future clinical studies.
The Female of Aeshna Biliosa (Odonata: Aeshnidae)

In a recent issue of this journal (Vol. XXXI (4): 573-577, figs. 1-7, 1938) I described the male of the new species, Aeshna biliosa Kennedy, from Ecuador and Peru. In April, 1939, I received from Mr. William Clarke-Macintyre, Esq., of Bafios, the first female of this species. There is no doubt that this specimen is the female of biliosa because it was collected near Bafios, Prov. Tungurahua, at an elevation of 2,000 meters, which is the general locality and elevation at which the male holotype was taken: because of the size of the female and the clear lemon-yellow face, black T-spot and general color pattern.
An iterative and re-weighting framework for rejection and uncertainty resolution in crowdsourcing

In practical applications of crowdsourcing, labelers may be uncertain or refuse to label a particular instance (or reject) due to the inherent difficulty, and each labeler may be given a different set of instances for big dataset applications. These various issues lead to missing and uncertain labels. Existing crowdsourcing methods have limited capabilities when these two problems exist. In this paper, we propose an Iterative Re-weighted Consensus Maximization framework to address the missing and uncertain label problem. The intuitive idea is to use an iterated framework to estimate each labeler’s hidden competence and formulate it as a spectral clustering problem in the functional space, in order to minimize the overall loss given missing and uncertain information. One main advantage of the proposed method from stateof-the-art Bayesian model averaging based approaches is that it uncovers the intrinsic consistency among different set of answers and mines the best possible ground truth. Formal analysis demonstrates that the proposed framework has lower generalization error than widely adopted majority voting techniques for crowdsourcing. Experimental studies show that the proposed framework outperforms state-of-the-art baselines on several benchmark datasets.
Militarization and water: a cross-national analysis of militarism and freshwater withdrawals

The treadmill of destruction theory identifies the military as a major contributor to environmental problems. Water resources exploitation is one major problem that has been insufficiently studied by sociologists. Utilizing the treadmill of destruction framework here, I aim to assess how the military influences water use in nations. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, I utilize the treadmill of destruction theory to explain how the military interacts with water resources through combat and civilian operations. Second, I empirically demonstrate militarization influences on freshwater withdrawals through a fixed-effect analysis of 126 countries between 1997 and 2011. Militarization is measured as the number of military personnel relative to the population and military spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. My results show that as military personnel and spending increases, there is a corresponding increase in freshwater withdrawals. My analysis suggests militarization is an important ...
Performance of periodically operated-gas phase biofilters during transient loading conditions

Most industrial processes and environmental remediation activities generate large volumes of air contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In conventional biofilter operation, gaseous emissions contaminated with low concentrations of biodegradable VOCs are remediated by being passed continuously through packed beds. This paper describes how periodically operated biofilters can be designed as controlled, unsteady-state systems that destroy gas-phase contaminants. Periodic operation, previously limited to applications in wastewater treatment and soil remediation, increases an operator's ability to control the spatial distribution, physiological state, and “robustness” of the microbial communities established within a biofilter while minimizing uncertainties that often accompany design and operation of biological systems. Results are presented from toluene degrading biofilters that used a novel polyurethane foam packing medium. These studies demonstrate how controlled periodic operations can enhance contaminant removal during transient periods of elevated contaminant load.
‘The Author Makes the Reader Acquainted with His Abode’: Hawthorne as Transatlantic Tour Guide in The Marble Faun and ‘The Old Manse’

Here the volume continues its reflections on Hawthorne’s career but turns to his place in the literature of ‘homes and haunts’, taking up the question of how literary geography and its localization of authors helped construct an authorial presence for Americans and a tangible transatlantic literary canon. (It turns out that having a home on the literary itinerary was crucial to nineteenth-century reception.) Baraw demonstrates that the poetics of literary tourism provided Hawthorne with both a means of self-canonization as a tourist attraction and a tool for cultivating the ideal ‘English’ reader for his books. This essay begins a strand of chapters related to literary tourism and the construction of international heritage landscapes.
Additive effects on the tribological performance of WC/a-C:H and TiC/a-C:H coatings in boundary lubrication

Although diamondlike carbon coatings like WC/a-C:H have a proven history of tribological performance in many mechanical applications, studies have reported that these coatings can sometimes experience high wear rates when operating in lubricants with large concentrations of phosphorous- and sulfur-based additives. In this study, WC/a-C:H and TiC/a-C:H coatings have been tribologically tested against AISI 52100 steel and Si3N4 counter faces under boundary lubrication in ISO 320 mineral oil, mineral oil with 1% aryl zinc dithiophosphate and 1% molybdenum dithiocarbamate, and a fully formulated wind turbine gear box oil. Results revealed that the wear coefficients of TiC/a-C:H were much smaller than those of WC/a-C:H in testing performed in lubricants with additives. A thionization wear mechanism was proposed to explain these results.
Rare Malignant Tumor (Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma, Transitional Cell Carcinoma, Malignant Brenner Tumor) (Clinical Setting and US)

Clear cell carcinomas and transitional cell tumors represent rare histotypes of epithelial ovarian tumors. Two clinicopathologic types of malignant transitional cell tumor have been described: malignant Brenner tumor, in which a benign or atypical proliferative (borderline) Brenner component is identified within or contiguous with the tumor, and transitional cells carcinoma (TCC), in which no benign or borderline Brenner is identified.
Dysregulation of cytokine pathways in chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis

ABSTRACTBackground: Cytokine studies in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have yielded mixed findings.Purpose: This investigation evaluated whether network analysis of cytokine production differs between patients with CFS and multiple sclerosis (MS) as compared to a reference group of healthy controls.Methods: Three subgroups (N = 109) were included: 15 participants who met diagnostic criteria for CFS, 57 participants meeting criteria for MS, and 37 controls. Peripheral blood was obtained and production of a select cytokine profile was determined from stimulated and unstimulated mononuclear cells. Data were generated through the use of a multi-analyte bead suspension array. Pairwise associations were determined for each group, and these associations were used to create a graphical representation of the data. The graph was clustered using an eigenvector community algorithm and results visualized using edges to model the correlations by color and thickness to show direction and strength.Results: The control an...
Correlates of HIV Risks Among Women on Probation and Parole.

This article examines HIV risks among a sample of 406 women on probation and parole with lifetime histories of victimization who were recruited from an urban community in the southern U.S. Guided by the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm, we analyze the significance of sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social support in relationship to three sexual risks and one drug use risk using multivariable regression. Findings indicate that substance use is a significant correlate of nearly all HIV risks examined, including lifetime sexual partners and sexual partners during the past 12 months. Age, race/ethnicity, homelessness, lifetime traumatic event exposure, regular use of alcohol to intoxication and other drugs, functional social support, and substance use treatment in the past 12 months are associated with specific HIV risks. The findings identify potential targets to address in HIV prevention with women on probation and parole who have experienc...
Letter by Gross et al Regarding Article, “Immediate Vascular Imaging Needed for Efficient Triage of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke Initially Admitted to Nonthrombectomy Centers”

We read with interest, the article by Boulouis et al,1 “Immediate vascular imaging needed for efficient triage of patients with acute ischemic stroke initially admitted to nonthrombectomy centers.” We are concerned with the policies advocated by the authors because they reinforce an intuitive finding that patients with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores >8 and pretransfer vascular imaging are more likely to undergo endovascular thrombectomy. Given the trajectory of modern research in endovascular thrombectomy to include, rather than exclude, more patients, we are unsure how these results are to influence current practice. A policy requiring pretransfer vascular imaging only provides a means for inefficient triage and unnecessary delay in an era where time is brain. The majority of patients referred from nonthrombectomy centers undergo …
Historic and Emerging Applications of BCG in Prevention and Treatment of Disease

Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) was introduced 100 years ago for vaccination against tuberculosis and 40 years ago for treatment of bladder cancer. Yet the last decade has witnessed a surge of new uses of BCG in the prevention or treatment of autoimmune disease, allergy and respiratory disease unrelated to tuberculosis. This article reviews the efficacy and safety of the two main uses of BCG, tuberculosis prevention and bladder cancer treatment. It discusses the animal and human studies underlying the new uses of BCG. Finally, it covers the two avenues of basic science propelling the new uses of BCG, both of which rely on BCG role as an inducer of the cytokine Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF): the selective destruction of autoreactive T-lymphocytes and the induction of T-regulatory cells.
Migration and Mental Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Objective: Rural-to-urban migration within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and migration from one LMIC to another, are prevalent forms of international migration. Migration may be associated with adverse mental health outcomes. The aim of the current study is to systematically review the literature on migration and mental health between and within LMICs. Methods: This systematic review of PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science, and PILOTS, identified 2,818 total records published between 1991 and 2016, with 139 of these assessed for eligibility. Two authors reviewed full text to assess if they met inclusion criteria, extracted data, and applied a quality assessment to all included studies. Results: The search identified 37 articles that met the inclusion criteria, based on 28 separate studies. All studies apart from one were cross-sectional studies, and studies utilized a range of sampling methods. In all, 19 of these studies were conducted in China. Studies addressed a range of mental health ...
The Evolution of the Cellular Slime Molds

The cellular slime molds have existed for a very long time; they have an ancient history. It is surprising that the early morphological species have not been supplanted and gone extinct, as is the case for larger organisms; a sizable number of ancient cellular slime molds still exist today—they are living fossils. This unusual phenomenon can be explained if one assumes that their morphology is only weakly affected by natural selection leading to a modest variation of morphology among the different species. I argue that the reason for their apparent relative immunity to the effects of natural selection can be explained by their small size; this is a general rule among all microorganisms.
Inequality and adolescent violence: an exploration of community, family, and individual factors.

PURPOSE: The study seeks to examine whether the relationships among community, family, individual factors, and violent behavior are parallel across race- and gender-specific segments of the adolescent population. METHODS: Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health are analyzed to highlight the complex relationships between inequality, community, family, individual behavior, and violence. RESULTS: The results from robust regression analysis provide evidence that social environmental factors can influence adolescent violence in race- and gender-specific ways. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study establish the plausibility of multidimensional models that specify a complex relationship between inequality and adolescent violence. Language: en
Cytogenetic Comparison between Prader-Willi and Angelman Syndromes

The Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) was recognized as a clinical entity (Prader et al, 1956) over 30 years prior to the finding of the deletion that is now observed in the majority of cases (Ledbetter et al, 1981). The clinical features, which include hypotonia and feeding problems with failure to thrive in infancy, followed by rapid weight gain, evidence of global developmental delay, behavior difficulties in early childhood and the characteristic facial features, appeared to be the same whether a deletion of chromosome 15 was present or not. The facial features of PWS and typical obesity level are illustrated in Fig. 1.
A simple, sensitive and reliable LC-MS/MS method for the determination of 7-bromo-5-chloroquinolin-8-ol (CLBQ14), a potent and selective inhibitor of methionine aminopeptidases: Application to pharmacokinetic studies.

Abstract CLBQ14 is an 8-hydroxyquinoline analogue that inhibits methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP), an enzyme responsible for the post-translational modification of several proteins and polypeptides. MetAP has been validated as druggable target for some infectious diseases, and its inhibitors have been investigated as potential therapeutic agents. In this study, we developed and validated a liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of CLBQ14 in solution, and in rat plasma and urine. This method was applied to the pharmacokinetic evaluation of CLBQ14 in adult male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system equipped with Waters XTerra MS C18 column (3.5 μm, 125 A, 2.1 × 50 mm) using 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile/water gradient system as mobile phase. Chromatographic analysis was performed with a 4000 QTRAP® mass spectrometer using MRM in positive mode for CLBQ14 transition [M + H]+ m/z 257.919 → m/z 151.005, and IS (clioquinol) transition [M + H]+ m/z 305.783 → m/z 178.917. CLBQ14 was extracted from plasma and urine samples by protein precipitation. The retention times for CLBQ14 and IS were 1.31 and 1.40 min respectively. The standard curves were linear for CLBQ14 concentration ranging from 1 to 1000 ng/mL. The intra-day and inter-day accuracy and precision were found to be within 15% of the nominal concentration. Extraction recoveries were >96.3% and 96.6% from rat plasma and urine respectively, and there was no significant matrix effect from the biological matrices. CLBQ14 is stable in samples subjected to expected storage, preparation, and handling conditions. Pharmacokinetic studies revealed that CLBQ14 has a bi-exponential disposition in SD rats, is extensively distributed with a long plasma half-life and is eliminated primarily by liver metabolism.
Self-healing of thermal cracks in asphalt pavements

Abstract As an intrinsic property of asphalt material, self-healing could reverse the cracking process in asphalt pavements and extend their service life. This study provides quantitative assessment of self-healing of thermally induced damage in asphalt concrete materials using Acoustic Emission (AE) as well as Disk-shaped Compact Tension (DCT) tests. Asphalt concrete specimens were subjected to eight cooling cycles and the effects of resting time between cooling cycles on self-healing were investigated. The AE test results showed gradual degradation in self-healing capability of asphalt mixtures as the material was exposed to increasing number of cooling cycles. In addition, AE results indicated that the 12 h resting time between cooling cycles significantly improved the self-healing by more than 30% and allowed the material to regain most of its self-healing capability. DC(T) results also showed that the fracture energies of asphalt mixtures were increased on the average by 13% due to the 12 h of resting time. DC(T) test results were consistent with the findings from the AE tests indicating that both approaches could successfully capture the effect of resting times on the material fracture properties.
"We have to do a lot of healing": LGBTQ migrant Latinas resisting and healing from systemic violence

Using narratives from oral histories of LGBTQ migrant Latinas in Los Angeles, California, and Mexico City, Mexico, this article argues that, despite experiences of oppression, the narrators practice resistance in their daily lives. The article first addresses how the narrators confront conditions of detainability and deportability, making survival a constant struggle. It then presents different ways in which the narrators engage in resistance, from survival to community building and activism. Finally, it argues that healing is a key factor in the narrators' resistance-healing functions as both a tool for and outcome of resistance.
Impact of estrogens on hypothalamic nerve cells: ultrastructural, chemical, and electrical effects.

Publisher Summary Studies of steroid hormone binding cells in the brain have proven their existence and revealed their exact locations and some of their quantitative properties. This chapter describes the impact of estrogens on the hypothalamic nerve cell. Combination of immunocytochemistry with steroid hormone autoradiography in the same tissue allows the classification of hormone-binding cells according to the amount of a specific immunologically recognized substance. The neurophysins are carrier proteins for oxytocin and vasopressin. Estrogen can induce the release of one class of neurophysins, which are contained in cells of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus as well as the supraoptic nucleus. The paraventricular nucleus has some estrogen-concentrating cells. The locations to which a hormone-binding cell sends its hormone-influenced information can be determined by discovering where its axons terminate. The estradiol binds to a receptor in the cytoplasm—after being taken up by cell—thus activating it to a form which can be translocated to the cell nucleus where, in turn, the estrogen-receptor complex finds an acceptor site.
CSrram: Area-Efficient Low-Power Ex-Situ Training Framework for Memristive Neuromorphic Circuits Based on Clustered Sparsity

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) play a key role in many machine learning (ML) applications but poses arduous challenges in terms of storage and computation of network parameters. Memristive crossbar arrays (MCAs) are capable of both computation and storage, making them promising for in-memory computing enabled neural network accelerators. At the same time, the presence of a significant amount of zero weights in ANNs has motivated research in a variety of parameter reduction techniques. However, for crossbar based architectures, the study of efficient methods to take advantage of network sparsity is still in the early stage. This paper presents CSrram, an efficient ex-situ training framework for hybrid CMOS-memristive neuromorphic circuits. CSrram includes a pre-defined block diagonal clustered (BDC) sparsity algorithm to significantly reduce area and power consumption. The proposed framework is verified on a wide range of datasets including MNIST handwritten recognition, fashion MNIST, breast cancer prediction (BCW), IRIS, and mobile health monitoring. Compared to state of the art fully connected memristive neuromorphic circuits, our CSrram with only 25% density of weights in the first junction, provides a power and area efficiency of 1.5x and 2.6x (averaged over five datasets), respectively, without any significant test accuracy loss.
Symposium on Teaching of Materials: Structures and the Teaching of Materials

Analogies are made between the teaching of structural design and the teaching of materials of engineering on the basis of (1) instructional procedures, (2) basic principles, (3) instructional examples, and (4) engineering requirements. General principles are developed for both structural design and materials. Simple examples are analyzed and complex situations are studied.
The effect of acute alcohol ingestion on systemic hemodynamics and sleep architecture in young, healthy men.

Objective: Heightened nocturnal blood pressure (BP) may be attributed to the disruption of sleep, a condition worsened by alcohol ingestion. This study investigated the effects of acute alcohol ing...
Non-human-papillomavirus-related malignancies of the vulva: A clinicopathological study.

Background Malignant tumor of the vulva is the fourth gynecological malignancy in frequency. Close to 70% of all vulvar malignancies are related to high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Methods A search for non-HPV-related malignant tumors of the vulva was performed in the last 20 years (2000-2020) in the pathology database of a single tertiary institution. We aim to estimate the prevalence of non-HPV-related malignancies in our population, describe clinicopathological features of these tumors and investigate the expression of some potential therapeutic targets. Results A total of 71 patients were recovered; 26 patients (36%) had the diagnosis of extramammary Paget disease, 17 patients (24%) had basal cell carcinomas, 17 patients (24%) had primary melanomas, 10 patients (14%) had metastatic disease to the vulva and one patient (1%) had a primary dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Fifty-four percent of patients with extramammary Paget disease had a secondary malignancy and 12.5% had invasive disease. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL-1) was positive in seven out of nine primary melanomas and Her2/neu was overexpressed in six out of seven extramammary Paget disease. Conclusion Non-HPV-related malignancies are important differential diagnoses in patient with vulvar lesions. Additional research is necessary to further understand these complex malignancies and potential new therapeutic targets.
Breaking the Accessibility Barrier in Non-Visual Interaction with PDF Forms

PDF forms are ubiquitous. Businesses big and small, government agencies, health and educational institutions and many others have all embraced PDF forms. People use PDF forms for providing information to these entities. But people who are blind frequently find it very difficult to fill out PDF forms with screen readers, the standard assistive software that they use for interacting with computer applications. Firstly, many of the them are not even accessible as they are non-interactive and hence not editable on a computer. Secondly, even if they are interactive, it is not always easy to associate the correct labels with the form fields, either because the labels are not meaningful or the sequential reading order of the screen reader misses the visual cues that associate the correct labels with the fields. In this paper we present a solution to the accessibility problem of PDF forms. We leverage the fact that many people with visual impairments are familiar with web browsing and are proficient at filling out web forms. Thus, we create a web form layer over the PDF form via a high fidelity transformation process that attempts to preserve all the spatial relationships of the PDF elements including forms, their labels and the textual content. Blind people only interact with the web forms, and the filled out web form fields are transparently transferred to the corresponding fields in the PDF form. An optimization algorithm automatically adjusts the length and width of the PDF fields to accommodate arbitrary size field data. This ensures that the filled out PDF document does not have any truncated form-field values, and additionally, it is readable. A user study with fourteen users with visual impairments revealed that they were able to populate more form fields than the status quo and the self-reported user experience with the proposed interface was superior compared to the status quo.
Tracing magnetism and pairing in FeTe-based systems

Magnetism in the Fe-chalcogenide FeTe, under various modulations, provides important clues with regard to possible precursors to superconductivity. In this study, we monitor the non-superconducting chalcogenide FeTe and follow its transitions under insertion of oxygen, Fe, doping with Se, and vacancies of Fe using spin-polarized band structure methods (utilizing GGA) originating from the collinear and bicollinear magnetic arrangements. We use a supercell of Fe8Te8 as our starting point, so that it can capture local changes in magnetic moments. For the most part, the calculated values of magnetic moments agree well with available experimental data prior to superconducting transitions with some of the modulations leading to significant changes in the bicollinear or collinear magnetic moments/arrangements. The total energies of these systems indicate that the collinear-derived structure is the more favorable one prior to a possible superconducting transition. Using the Hubbard model on a 8-site Betts-cluster-based lattice, we show why these systems favor electron or hole pairing under appropriate modulations and could lead to a common understanding of charge and spin pairing in the cuprates, pnictides, and chalcogenides.
Cardiac pathologies in mouse loss of imprinting models are due to misexpression of H19 long noncoding RNA

Maternal loss of imprinting (LOI) at the H19/IGF2 locus results in biallelic IGF2 and reduced H19 expression and is associated with Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). We use mouse models for LOI to understand the relative importance of Igf2 and H19 mis-expression in BWS phenotypes. Here we focus on cardiovascular phenotypes and show that neonatal cardiomegaly is exclusively dependent on increased Igf2. Circulating IGF2 binds cardiomyocyte receptors to hyperactivate mTOR signaling, resulting in cellular hyperplasia and hypertrophy. These Igf2-dependent phenotypes are transient: cardiac size returns to normal once Igf2 expression is suppressed postnatally. However, reduced H19 expression is sufficient to cause progressive heart pathologies including fibrosis and reduced ventricular function. In the heart, H19 expression is concentrated predominantly in endothelial cells (ECs) and regulates EC differentiation both, in vivo and in vitro. Finally, we establish novel mouse models to show that cardiac phenotypes depend on H19 lncRNA interactions with let7 microRNA.
Joint pricing-procurement control under fluctuating raw material costs

Abstract We consider a firm that periodically procures raw material units, stores them, and processes them into finished products upon order arrivals. The raw material cost evolves in a Markovian fashion, whereas the demand process is influenced by both the raw material cost and sales prices charged by the firm. The firm controls both the raw material procurement activity and sales price in each period. We show the optimality of base-stock-list-price type of policies with the additional raw-cost dependence. Under conditions that are verifiable when the firm engages in price competition with other firms tapping into the same raw material market and when the raw material cost process has time-continuity and mean-reversion tendencies, we identify two monotone patterns in which policy parameters should follow as the raw material cost fluctuates. Cost increases are also shown to translate into price increases at low inventory levels. In other circumstances, however, there does not appear to be a clear pattern as to how the firm should pass cost increases on to end customers. Our numerical evidence unequivocally supports the adaptation of procurement and pricing controls to changing raw material costs.
Characterization of the Neutron Irradiation System for use in the Low-Dose-Rate Irradiation Facility at Sandia National Laboratories

The objective of this work was to characterize the neutron irradiation system consisting of americium-241 beryllium (241AmBe) neutron sources placed in a polyethylene shielding for use at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Low Dose Rate Irradiation Facility (LDRIF). With a total activity of 0.3 TBq (9 Ci), the source consisted of three recycled 241AmBe sources of different activities that had been combined into a single source. The source in its polyethylene shielding will be used in neutron irradiation testing of components. The characterization of the source-shielding system was necessary to evaluate the radiation environment for future experiments. Characterization of the source was also necessary because the documentation for the three component sources and their relative alignment within the Special Form Capsule (SFC) was inadequate. The system consisting of the source and shielding was modeled using Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code (MCNP). The model was validated by benchmarking it against measurements using multiple techniques. To characterize the radiation fields over the full spatial geometry of the irradiation system, it was necessary to use a number of instruments of varying sensitivities. First, the computed photon radiography assisted in determining orientation of the component sources. With the capsule properly oriented inside the shielding, themore » neutron spectra were measured using a variety of techniques. A N-probe Microspec and a neutron Bubble Dosimeter Spectrometer (BDS) set were used to characterize the neutron spectra/field in several locations. In the third technique, neutron foil activation was used to ascertain the neutron spectra. A high purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to characterize the photon spectrum. The experimentally measured spectra and the MCNP results compared well. Once the MCNP model was validated to an adequate level of confidence, parametric analyses was performed on the model to optimize for potential experimental configurations and neutron spectra for component irradiation. The final product of this work is a MCNP model validated by measurements, an overall understanding of neutron irradiation system including photon/neutron transport and effective dose rates throughout the system, and possible experimental configurations for future irradiation of components.« less
Markets, Property Rights, and Biodiversity

One of the most well-known and widely accepted ideas in resource economics is the “tragedy of the commons” (Hardin 1968). When property rights are not assigned in open access situations there is an incentive to over-exploit renewable resources. According to standard theory, if property rights are assigned in these cases the market will act to properly balance competing uses and force the socially optimal outcome. It is not so well-known that over-exploitation can also occur when common property resources are privatized. This has been referred to as the “tragedy of the enclosure” (Martinez-Alier, 1991a, 1991b).
Nanofluidic molecular filters for efficient protein separation and preconcentration

Regular nanofluidic channels, as thin as 20 nm, have been fabricated and used for protein separation and preconcentration. The nanochannels were fabricated by the substrate-bonding method, and the regularity of the nanochannel has been confirmed by cross-section SEM imaging. A nanofilter array device, with an array of 60-120 nm thin nanofilters, was used for separating small biomolecules (short double-stranded DNA and SDS-coated proteins) based on their size. The sieving of biomolecules (which are comparable to or smaller than the nanofilter gap size) is achieved by steric hindrance of biomolecules within nanochannels. The efficiency of this gel-free separation device is comparable to capillary gel electrophoresis, and can be made better by further optimization. In addition, we have developed a novel biomolecule concentrator using a 40 nm nanofluidic channel as a perm-selective membrane. More than a million times preconcentration of dilute protein or peptide solutions was demonstrated, which was enabled by the stability of the device.
Extending XACML to express and enforce laws and regulations privacy policies

Some software applications are developed to collect, store, and manage users' personal, medical, or financial information. In the United States, such applications are required to preserve users' privacy and to be compliant with the federal privacy laws and regulations. To formally guarantee compliance with federal regulations, it is necessary to express the privacy rules enforced by those regulations in a standard policy specification language. In this work we evaluate the eXtensible Access Control Model Language (XACML) as a formal specification language for privacy laws and regulations. Furthermore, we evaluate XACML features and attributes to extend it in order to enforce those privacy rules.
Prospect theory, discrete emotions, and freedom threats: An extension of psychological reactance theory

Consistent with earlier research supporting the use of narratives to increase message persuasiveness, this study examined the role of guilt and happiness following exposure to organ donation narratives presented in professionally produced radio ads. As hypothesized, the loss-frame narrative was significantly associated with heightened guilt, which was related to greater freedom threat perceptions and psychological reactance. Conversely, the loss-frame narrative was negatively associated (p = .06) with increased happiness. Contrary to what was hypothesized, reactance was not significantly negatively associated with favorable attitudes toward registering as an organ donor. Instead, freedom threat was directly negatively related to favorable attitudes. Our results are discussed with an emphasis on the theoretical and practical implications.
Smoking and supplement use among men in a rural population.

Background: Few studies have investigated supplement use in relation to smoking among men in a rural population. Methods: We analyzed responses about the use of supplements from a cross-sectional, population-based sample of 4,502 North Dakota men. Results: 48% of respondents reported supplement use. After adjustment for confounders, supplement users were significantly more likely to be nonsmokers or former smokers than smokers (p < .0001) and to consume five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables (p = .0003). Conclusion: Compared to nonsmoking rural men, supplement use is significantly less common among rural smokers. Rural smokers also are less likely to consume five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables and may be at greater risk of vitamin deficiency.
Simulation study on the vehicle dispatching strategies of returnable transport packaging

Returnable transport packaging plays an important role in facilitating the transfer of a large volume of products in a close-loop distribution network. To make effective use of returnable transport packaging, vehicle dispatching strategies are crucial. With an appropriate vehicle dispatching strategy, for example, a fast turnover time and a short waiting time for packaging dispatch can be achieved. However, there are some factors that directly influence vehicle dispatching strategies. These factors include the arrival demand fluctuations, the availability of serving vehicles, and the geographic proximity of the facility to the customer’s locations. In this study, authors investigate the effect of these factors on vehicle dispatching strategies for transport packaging by using a simulation modeling approach. This paper reports different performance outcomes obtained through various test cases.
A visual motion simulator for general aviation compensated within the nonlinear adaptive washout for actuator lag

A description is presented of the general aviation aircraft simulator recently acquired by the Langley Research Center, summarizing the complement of instruments, radio/navigation equipment, control loading, and other features. Emphasis is placed mainly on the two-degree-of-freedom motion drives developed for this simulator and the presentation of the dynamic response of the motion system (without washout) in terms of amplitude ratio and phase lag as a function of frequency. The nonlinear adaptive washout based on continuous steepest descent optimization presents cues in pitch rate, surge, roll rate, and sway, and allows for actuator lag compensation.
Positron atomic physics – A look to the future

This article is a brief overview of opportunities and challenges in the area of low-energy positron and positronium atomic physics. The ideas presented here come from discussion during the final, summary session of the XIII International Workshop on Low Energy Positron and Positronium Physics, Campinas Brazil, July 2005.
Sensitivity Analysis of the Fixed Point Vector of Transition Matrices

Abstract The fixed point vector of a regular or ergodic transition matrix is given for a transition matrix, P, when an entire row is changed. The computation of the fixed point vector involves only vector-matrix multiplication and addition, and is based on the initial computation of the pseudo-inverse of (P – I). Sensitivity analysis of the Markov Chain is easily performed utilizing this result.