cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Posttreatment Imaging in Orthopedic Oncology

Abstract The complex nature of orthopaedic oncologic disease and the requisite multidisciplinary approach to treatment necessitates a multimodality approach to imaging in the post treatment setting. In the following chapter, both standard and advanced imaging techniques are discussed, with accompanying useful pattern recognition tools for image interpretation. The chapter is subdivided based on both tumor type and method of treatment, emphasizing unique post treatment imaging attributes in each category.
Elementary Preservice Teacher Field Supervision: A Survey of Teacher Education Programs

ABSTRACTThere is a heightened focus within teacher education to centralize clinical experiences and develop strong partnerships between schools and universities. University field supervisors fulfill a critical role within clinical experiences because they are uniquely situated in spaces where they can help preservice teachers and school-based partners integrate theory and practice. However, historically, field supervision has been devalued within teacher education programs. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into how various teacher education programs are actualizing field experiences and specifically field supervision within this time of reform in teacher education. This survey explored the question, “What is the state of preservice teacher field supervision within elementary teacher education programs?” Findings from this study suggest teacher education programs surveyed are positioned to respond to reforms in the areas of enacting multiple field experiences as well as conceptualizing fiel...
Margin of Safety: Life History Strategies and the Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Macroeconomic Conditions on Self-Selection into Accounting

We use experimental and archival evidence to show that people who had low socioeconomic status (SES) as children participate in the U.S. accounting labor market in distinctive and consequential ways. Drawing on life history theory, we predict and show that low SES individuals select into accounting at disproportionately high rates relative to other fields, an effect driven by accounting’s relatively high job security. Supplemental tests are consistent with these low SES individuals being a source of high quality human capital for the accounting profession, as low SES individuals selecting into accounting possess desirable attributes at relatively high rates. From a social perspective, we provide theory and evidence consistent with accounting being an important and secure source of upward social mobility in comparison to other fields. However, recessions cause selection into accounting by low SES individuals to decrease at a higher rate than in other fields, compromising these professional and social benefits. For example, our evidence is consistent with the “low SES effect” improving gender diversity among entrants into the accounting labor market during good economic times. However, lower self-selection rates during recessions are particularly pronounced among low SES females, who may thus bear the brunt of lost professional and social benefits.
Can't live with them, can't live without them? Balancing mating and competition in two-sex populations.

Two-sex populations are usually studied through frequency-dependent models that describe how sex ratio affects mating, recruitment and population growth. However, in two-sex populations, mating and...
Turkish Organised Crime: From Tradition to Business

Turkish organised crime has traditionally been defined in terms of its cultural legacies, ethnic and clan loyalties and the failings of a state still going through a difficult transition to modernity and all-too-willing to co-opt gangsters into the ‘deep state’ dominating politics behind the facade of democracy. However, a colourful and increasingly mythologized underworld of ‘old men’, feuds and blood oaths is being swept away by the pressures and opportunities of the contemporary world, especially one in which Turkey’s location makes it an ideal bridge to and from the European Union. While Turkish-based gangs have been involved in trafficking a wide range of illegal commodities, from human beings to stolen cars, they are above all connected with the narcotics business, especially Afghan heroin. Having become Europe’s wholesale suppliers of heroin, they have diversified into a range of associated activities, from money laundering to other drugs, including methamphetamine, cannabis and Latin American cocaine. In the process, the pursuit of profit has eroded old loyalties and clan- and family-based forms of organisation, leading to the rise of a business-minded criminal elite willing and able to forge alliances across ethnic and national divides (including old splits between Kurds and ethnic Turks). While still powerful, the Turkish gangs are thus much less distinctive in the modern, globalised underworld.
Avoided crossings and band sorting in two-dimensional phononic crystals

We consider the problem of avoided crossings (level repulsion) in phononic crystals and suggest a computationally efficient strategy to distinguish them from normal cross points. This process is essential for the correct sorting of the phononic bands and, subsequently, for the accurate determination of mode continuation, group velocities, and emergent properties which depend on them such as thermal conductivity. Through explicit phononic calculations using generalized Rayleigh quotient, we identify exact locations of exceptional points in the complex wavenumber domain which results in level repulsion in the real domain. We show that in the vicinity of the exceptional point the relevant phononic eigenvalue surfaces resemble the surfaces of a 2 by 2 parameter-dependent matrix. Along a closed loop encircling the exceptional point we show that the phononic eigenvalues are exchanged, just as they are for the 2 by 2 matrix case. However, the behavior of the associated eigenvectors is shown to be more complex in the phononic case. Along a closed loop around an exceptional point, we show that the eigenvectors can flip signs multiple times unlike a 2 by 2 matrix where the flip of sign occurs only once. Finally, we exploit these eigenvector sign flips around exceptional points to propose a simple and efficient method of distinguishing them from normal crosses and of correctly sorting the band-structure. Our proposed method is roughly an order-of-magnitude faster than the zoom-in method and correctly identifies > 96% of the cases considered. Both its speed and accuracy can be further improved and we suggest some ways of achieving this. Our method is general and, as such, would be directly applicable to other eigenvalue problems where the eigenspectrum needs to be correctly sorted.
Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals

Acuity, the fineness with which sensory systems perceive and parse information, limits the information that organisms can extract from stimuli. Here, we focus on visual acuity (the ability to perceive static spatial detail) to discuss relationships between acuity and signal form and evolution. Research suggests that acuity varies by orders of magnitude across species, and that most animals have much lower acuity than humans. Thus, hypotheses regarding the function of spatial patterns must account for the acuity of relevant viewers. New data quantifying acuity in a range of taxa allow us to examine correlations between acuity and ecology, elucidate the selective forces that receiver acuity places on signal evolution, and examine how signals might appear to viewers with different acuities.
Software Development for Quantitative Proteomics Using Stable Isotope Labeling

Stable isotope labeling (SIL) coupled with liquid chromatography and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MS) are increasingly useful for elucidation of the proteome-wide differences between multiple biological samples. Developments of more effective programs for the relative peptide/protein abundance measurements are essential for quantitative proteomic analysis. In this chapter, we present a quantification program, termed UNiquant, for analyzing quantitative proteomic data using SIL. The common steps in a quantitative proteomic software, such as MS data preprocessing, peptide identification, peptide quantification, and protein quantification, were dissected in this chapter, using UNiquant as an example. UNiquant was used to analyze the SILAC-labeled proteome mixtures with known heavy/light ratios (H/L = 1:1, 1:5, and 1:10). The pros and cons of the quantification results of UNiquant from two different MS acquisition modes, data-dependent acquisition and data-independent acquisition, were also evaluated and compared.
CHAPTER 7 – Predation and Competition in Salamander Communities

A description of the natural history of salamanders serves to dispel some common misconceptions about them. All salamanders are predacious, whether as adults or as larvae. Like most predators, they are unselective with regard to their prey, except for size. Analysis of their stomach contents and general observations show that salamanders feed on any animal that moves, if it is of a size that can be swallowed. Populations of terrestrial and stream bank forms are unusually stable. It is more difficult to establish the population size of pond-dwelling species because of the wide fluctuations in the number coming to breed. The fluctuations are caused by variation in rainfall just before and during the short breeding season. Different kinds of inter-specific interactions have been found to be the characteristic of the different habitats. Although five comparative studies of the forest floor have revealed nothing conclusive (morphological and ecological differences between species can always be found), two sets of experiments have produced convincing evidence of inter-specific competition. Like comparative studies of salamanders in other habitats, the focus of pond studies has been on searching for ecological differences in the expectation that they could account for the coexistence of the different species. Differences are found, but the conclusions are reached by weak inference and are not easily defendable.
Evaluation of a New Cutaneous Topical Anesthesia Preparation

Topical anesthetic agents are usually not effective on intact skin because of poor penetration. EMLA is a new topical anesthetic formulation consisting of a eutectic mixture of the local anesthetics lidocaine 5% and prilocaine 5%. We evaluated the ability of this preparation to prevent or ameliorate the pain associated with the percutaneous placement of large IV catheters. Under double-blind randomized conditions, either EMLA or placebo was applied to the dorsum of both hands and an occlusive bandage then placed over each application site. The creams were placed 30, 45 or 60 minutes prior to IV cannulation. A 16-gauge catheter was inserted through each application area. Patients were asked to evaluate the relative degree of pain at each venous puncture site. The EMLA site was preferred when the formulation was applied for 45 to 60 minutes prior to cannula placement (p
Dizziness and fainting in the elderly.

Summary Syncope, vertigo, and related conditions are common in the elderly and must be evaluated carefully. There is major potential for treatable life-threatening conditions, falls with injury, and simply a fearful, confining, and unpleasant existence. The ability to evaluate and manage comfortably and confidently the elderly patient with dizziness and fainting is a major measure of the skill and maturity of an emergency physician.
A Novel Framework Short-Term Load Forecasting for Micro-grid Energy Management System

Short-term Electricity Load forecasting (STLF) is one of the most important technologies for Energy Management System (EMS) in various aspects, such as peak-load shaving application, demand response, or net-zero energy technology. This paper presented a novel Short-term Electricity Load forecasting (STLF) framework with four strategies—a Variable selection of input parameters processing method, Modified Time Series - Exponential Smoothing model, Peak-load, and Temperature correction factors. The testing results showed that the proposed framework of forecasting indeed improves the accuracy of day-ahead STLF, especially on the cases with limited historical information and data loss conditions.
Accurate flow in augmented networks (AFAN): an approach to generating three-dimensional biomimetic microfluidic networks with controlled flow

In vivo, microvasculature provides oxygen, nutrients, and soluble factors necessary for cell survival and function. The highly tortuous, densely-packed, and interconnected three-dimensional (3D) architecture of microvasculature ensures that cells receive these crucial components. The ability to duplicate microvascular architecture in tissue-engineered models could provide a means to generate large-volume constructs as well as advanced microphysiological systems. Similarly, the ability to induce realistic flow in engineered microvasculature is crucial to recapitulating in vivo-like flow and transport. Advanced biofabrication techniques are capable of generating 3D, biomimetic microfluidic networks in hydrogels, however, these models can exhibit systemic aberrations in flow due to incorrect boundary conditions. To overcome this problem, we developed an automated method for generating synthetic augmented channels that induce the desired flow properties within three-dimensional microfluidic networks. These augmented inlets and outlets enforce the appropriate boundary conditions for achieving specified flow properties and create a three-dimensional output useful for image-guided fabrication techniques to create biomimetic microvascular networks.
Robotic Applications to the Mediastinum

The mediastinum can present a surgical challenge for patients and their surgeons. In some situations, to obtain sufficient diagnostic tissue or to completely resect relatively small lesions requires sizeable incisions that can result in unnecessary pain and debility. Minimally invasive techniques have not consistently provided the needed angles of approach, dexterity within the confined space of the mediastinum, and the surgeon-directed visibility necessary to perform a thorough and safe procedure. The robotic surgery platform meets those demands. The special considerations for an efficient procedure are reviewed.
Spanish Colonial Networks of Production: Earthenware Storage Vessels from The Peruvian Wine Industry

Following Spanish conquest, wine and brandy production flourished in the Moquegua Valley in southern Peru. Alcohol products both served local demand and were shipped to high altitude mining centers. Wine was fermented and stored in tinajas, large earthenware ceramic vessels. Reporting analyses of paste composition of 70 tinajas using portable XRF technology, we examine the production of these vessels. Our results suggest that tinaja manufacture was localized in Moquegua but that valley wineries participated in varied production systems. Our analysis indicates that more sophisticated sourcing methods would refine the relationship among tinaja pastes, locally available clays, and production networks.
Police Interactions and the Mental Health of Black Americans: a Systematic Review

Black Americans comprise 13% of the US population, yet data suggests that they represent 23% of those fatally shot by police officers. Data on non-lethal encounters with police in the Black community is less available but can understandably result in emotional trauma, stress responses, and depressive symptoms. The aim of this systematic literature review is to assess if interactions with the police are associated with mental health outcomes among Black Americans. Following pre-defined inclusion criteria, 11 articles were reviewed. Using a quality assessment tool, eight studies received a fair quality rating, two studies a poor rating, and one study received a good rating. The types of police interaction reported among study participants included police use of force during arrest, police stops, police searches, exposure to police killings, and interactions with police in the court system and varied mental health outcomes. Most of the studies (6 of 11) reviewed found statistically significant associations between police interactions and mental health (psychotic experiences, psychological distress, depression, PTSD, anxiety, suicidal ideation and attempts), indicating a nearly twofold higher prevalence of poor mental health among those reporting a prior police interaction compared to those with no interaction. Although better quality studies are needed, findings suggest an association between police interactions and negative mental health outcomes. Changes in law enforcement policy, development and implementation of a validated instrument for police experiences, improved community outreach, a federally mandated review of policy and practice in police departments, and expanded police training initiatives could reduce the potential negative mental health impact of police interactions on Black Americans.
Digital Biomarkers of Social Anxiety Severity: Digital Phenotyping Using Passive Smartphone Sensors.

Background: Social anxiety disorder is a highly prevalent and burdensome condition. Persons with social anxiety frequently avoid seeking physician support and rarely receive treatment. Social anxiety symptoms are frequently underreported and underrecognized, creating a barrier to the accurate assessment of these symptoms. Consequently, more research is needed to identify passive biomarkers of social anxiety symptom severity. Digital phenotyping, the use of passive sensor data to inform health care decisions, offers a possible method of addressing this assessment barrier. Objective: This study aims to determine whether passive sensor data acquired from smartphone data can accurately predict social anxiety symptom severity using a publicly available dataset. Methods: In this study, participants (n=59) completed self-report assessments of their social anxiety symptom severity, depressive symptom severity, positive affect, and negative affect. Next, participants installed an app, which passively collected data about their movement (accelerometers) and social contact (incoming and outgoing calls and texts) over 2 weeks. Afterward, these passive sensor data were used to form digital biomarkers, which were paired with machine learning models to predict participants’ social anxiety symptom severity. Results: The results suggested that these passive sensor data could be utilized to accurately predict participants’ social anxiety symptom severity (r=0.702 between predicted and observed symptom severity) and demonstrated discriminant validity between depression, negative affect, and positive affect. Conclusions: These results suggest that smartphone sensor data may be utilized to accurately detect social anxiety symptom severity and discriminate social anxiety symptom severity from depressive symptoms, negative affect, and positive affect.
Four-Corner Arthrodesis versus Proximal Row Carpectomy: Risk Factors and Complications Associated with Prolonged Postoperative Opioid Use

Introduction This article compares opioid use patterns following four-corner arthrodesis (FCA) and proximal row carpectomy (PRC) and identifies risk factors and complications associated with prolonged opioid consumption. Materials and Methods The PearlDiver Research Program was used to identify patients undergoing primary FCA (Current Procedural Terminology [CPT] codes 25820, 25825) or PRC (CPT 25215) from 2007 to 2017. Patient demographics, comorbidities, perioperative opioid use, and postoperative complications were assessed. Opioids were identified through generic drug codes while complications were defined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revisions, Clinical Modification codes. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed with p Results A total of 888 patients underwent FCA and 835 underwent PRC. Three months postoperatively, more FCA patients (18.0%) continued to use opioids than PRC patients (14.7%) (p = 0.033). Preoperative opioid use was the strongest risk factor for prolonged opioid use for both FCA (odds ratio [OR]: 4.91; p Conclusion Prolonged postoperative opioid use is more frequent in patients undergoing FCA than PRC. Understanding the prevalence, risk factors, and complications associated with prolonged postoperative opioid use after these procedures may help physicians counsel patients and implement opioid minimization strategies preoperatively.
Natural Language-based Integration of Online Review Datasets for Identification of Sex Trafficking Businesses

There is increasing interest in automatically identifying advertisements related to sex trafficking in online review sites. The main challenge is to identify the changing patterns in text reviews that are used to indicate illegal businesses. This work describes a novel means of identifying illegal business advertisements using natural language processing and machine learning. The method relies on building a training set of reviews of known illegal businesses. This training data is created by integrating a small high precision set of known illegal businesses (Rubmaps) with a large collection of online reviews from a general purpose review site (Yelp). Standard natural language pre-processing techniques are then applied to the text reviews and converted into a bag-of-words model with Term frequency-inverse document weighting. The resulting Document-Term matrix is used to train a classifier and then to identify suspicious activity from the remaining reviews. This approach therefore leverages a high-precision, low-recall dataset to identify relevant instances from the large low-precision, high-recall dataset. The approach was evaluated on a collection of 456,050 reviews from the Yelp online forum with a variety of machine learning algorithms and different number of text features. The method achieved a f1-score of 0.77 with a random forests classifier. The number of text features could also be reduced from 1,473 to 447 for a compact classifier with only a small drop in accuracy.
Versatile supercontinuum generation in parabolic multimode optical fibers

We demonstrate that the pump's spatial input profile can provide additional degrees of freedom in tailoring at will the nonlinear dynamics and the ensuing spectral content of supercontinuum generation in highly multimoded optical fibers. Experiments and simulations carried out at 1550 nm indicate that the modal composition of the input beam can substantially alter the soliton fission process as well as the resulting Raman and dispersive wave generation that eventually lead to supercontinuum in such a multimode environment. Given the multitude of conceivable initial conditions, our results suggest that it is possible to pre-engineer the supercontinuum spectral content in a versatile manner.
Intimacy in the Time of COVID-19

In this essay, we tell a story with data about how our relationship with technology has transformed our collective notion of intimacy and rituals of connecting with others. Framed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our starting point is that technology is neither good, bad, nor neutral. The goal of this study is to step back and have conversations with people –from all over the United States of various ages, occupations, and relationship statuses– about how they define intimacy and understand these practices in a mediated environment. In this essay, we discuss technology as more than a performative platform. It is an ambient architecture that sets the tone for interactions meant to preserve social ties and sustain social capital potentially depleted through pandemic conditions of seclusion. Through the voices of our participants, we conceptualize how intimacy is experienced and understood, and how this relational quality is amplified in a mediated environment during moments of disruption. In the end, what COVID-19 has revealed as we reflect on our relationship with technology is the fluidity of intimacy in moments of change.
Some Useful Notes on Simple Random Sampling

Some useful results about simple random samples are given which are not generally known or are often assumed to be true but with some uncertainty by the experimenter. Such results, when called to the attention of users of sampling techniques, should lea..
Introduction: The End of an Era

We are entering a new era in which biophysical limits related to natural resource extraction rates and the biosphere's waste assimilation capacity are becoming binding constraints on mature economies. Unfortunately, the data needed for policy-makers to understand and manage economic growth in the new era are not universally available. In this chapter, we discuss the problems that arise from relying solely on the Solow growth model to describe an economy that is, in reality, deeply interconnected with the biosphere. We point out that mainstream economists forecast low growth rates for mature economies for the foreseeable future, because traditional drivers of economic growth (growth rates of capital and labor productivity) have plateaued. Unfortunately, mainstream policy recommendations to reinvigorate growth, based on the Solow growth model, ignore three critical realities: the economy is tightly coupled to the biosphere, there exist real and binding physical and technological limits to the rate at which materials and energy can be extracted from the biosphere, and today’s emplacement of manufactured capital locks in tomorrow’s material and energy demands from the biosphere. As such, mainstream policy recommendations are likely to fail in the long run: today’s expansion of the stock of capital in the economy in the hopes of enhancing consumption can contribute to the slowdown of economic growth by bringing us ever-closer to biophysical limits. The chapter ends by noting that we need a new way to understand our economy, and we suggest that detailed information about materials, energy, embodied energy, and energy intensity be routinely gathered and analyzed and disseminated from a centralized location to provide markets and policymakers with more-complete knowledge of the biophysical economy.
Martensitic transformation and mechanical properties of Ni49+xMn36–xIn15 (x=0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0) alloys

Abstract Five polycrystalline Ni49+xMn36–xIn15 (x=0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2) alloys were prepared by triple arc-melting and examined to understand their martensitic transformation and mechanical properties. Martensitic transformation temperatures were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and observed to increase with increasing Ni content. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that Ni49Mn36In15 is austenitic at room temperature while modulated 7M martensitic structure was observed in other alloys. Different twinning relationships between martensitic variants were revealed by TEM. Reduced elastic modulus and hardness were measured by nanoindentation. For the martensites, the reduced elastic modulus increased as the e/a increases, while hardness did not vary. The austenitic phase exhibited a lower reduced elastic modulus and hardness. A larger scatter in the reduced elastic modulus and hardness was observed for the martensitic phase in conjunction with variants of different orientation. The martensitic transformation behavior and nanoindentation results were also compared with Ni53+xMn22–xGa25 (x=0.5, 1.0, 1.8 and 2.5) alloys. For both Ni–Mn–In and Ni–Mn–Ga alloys, the martensitic transformation temperature and reduced elastic modulus increased as the e/a ratio increased.
The Metaphysics of Logical Positivism

In this chapter as the title suggests, we propose to examine some aspects of logical positivism, or, as it is known more precisely logical empiricism, for the purpose of endeavoring to discover the metaphysics it allows or requires. But before we can undertake even the first step in such a constructive task, we are placed under attack and obliged to defend ourselves. A contradiction confronts us, for, as is well known, logical positivism holds to the doctrine that metaphysics is nonsense.
How Persistent is Armed Conflict

We assess the degree of persistence in armed conflict in particular places over the last two centuries, asking in addition if conflict-ridden places have durable features – social, demographic or geographical – that explain persistence, or whether armed conflict at one time has a causal effect on propensity for armed conflict at later times. For all types of war in the Correlates of War data, we code the territories on which the armed conflict occurred. The data reveal significant levels of persistence in territories that experienced extra-state (imperial and colonial) and non-state wars in an earlier era. Exogenous features such as geography and pre-1800 demography are important in explaining where conflicts persist. However there remains significant persistence controlling for geographic and demographic features. In particular, extra-state wars before 1945 are strongly related to civil war after 1945. This persistence does not appear to arise from the long-run enmity of particular groups that fight repeatedly over centuries. We conjecture that imperial and colonial wars may have been more likely in territories where there were more and/or more developed pre-colonial state structures, and that either the persistence of these structures or changes in them brought about by the violent encounters raised civil war risks after 1945.
Detection of Anomalous Sodium Chloride Concentrations in Perspiration Using Microsensors

It is common knowledge that an early diagnosis of a disease improves the treatment provided to a patient. With the advent of nanotechnology, engineers and scientists are beginning to utilize these nanoscale capabilities in the hope of - early disease detection. Viral, bacterial infections and other chronic diseases seem to alter the concentrations of some compounds present in sweat [1,2]. This project attempts to detect some of these diseases by measuring the variation in salinity of sweat that differs from the commonly accepted level [2]. By creating a low-cost, reusable and portable microsensor, it can then apply the same principles to construct a nanosensor to yield even more accurate results. The electrical signals obtained by the sensor produce data that translates into diagnostic medical results for sweat-related illnesses such as cystic fibrosis [3]. For a deeper and thorough understanding of all aspects of the sensor, multiple concepts for measuring sweat using electrical signals were considered. Ultimately, the concept chosen to measure varying sweat concentrations was through a capacitor. Multiple capacitor designs were simulated to determine the best way of maximizing performance. After the sensors were constructed, they were tested using various concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl), from 0.1 grams per liter to 5 grams per liter, dissolved in distilled water to mimic the effect of authentic human sweat [4]. The designed sensor is successfully able to determine the likelihood of a person having cystic fibrosis using a sweat sample as their sweat sodium chloride concentration will correspond to an electrical signal obtained throughout the testing process.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Estimating a Repeatable Statistical Law by Requiring Its Stability During Observation

Consider a statistically-repeatable, shift-invariant system obeying an unknown probability law p(x) ≡ q2(x): Amplitude q(x) defines a source effect that is to be found. We show that q(x) may be found by considering the flow of Fisher information J → I from source effect to observer that occurs during macroscopic observation of the system. Such an observation is irreversible and, hence, incurs a general loss I - J of the information. By requiring stability of the law q(x), as well, it is found to obey a principle I − J = min. of “extreme physical information” (EPI). Information I is the same functional of q(x) for any shift-invariant system, and J is a functional defining a physical source effect that must be known at least approximately. The minimum of EPI implies that I ≈ J or received information tends to well-approximate reality. Past applications of EPI to predicting laws of statistical physics, chemistry, biology, economics and social organization are briefly described.
Social Determinants of Health: Twenty‐First‐Century Social Work Priorities

This chapter will describe the state of health care social work as we enter the new millennium and identify the issues, challenges, and dilemmas facing social work as it develops locally, nationally, and globally and as it strives to maintain functionality in the future. A review of the issues facing social work at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries will serve as the foundation for predicting a future course for the profession during the 21st century. Four hypotheses are offered to describe the future course of the profession. Remedial approaches infused with a new knowledge about social determinants of health to meet local needs, a linkage to public health methodology and values, institutional approaches such as social development and the prediction that social determinants of health can link the professions knowledge, and practice base with global and local needs are discussed and evaluated. Social Work's current emphasis on remedial approaches in a local context will expand and include a substantive effort toward the achievement of inclusive citizenship, universal equality, freedom, and justice. Future research will include individual level and group level variables to strengthen the social emphasis of social work. Keywords: social work; social determinants of health; future states; social development; public health
The spirituality of human consciousness: a Catholic evaluation of some current neuro-scientific interpretations.

Catholic theology’s traditional understanding of the spiritual nature of the human person begins with the idea of a rational soul and human mind that is made manifest in free will—the spiritual experience of the act of consciousness and cause of all human arts. The rationale for this religion-based idea of personhood is key to understanding ethical dilemmas posed by modern research that applies a more empirical methodology in its interpretations about the cause of human consciousness. Applications of these beliefs about the body/soul composite to the theory of evolution and to discoveries in neuroscience, paleoanthropology, as well as to recent animal intelligence studies, can be interpreted from this religious and philosophical perspective, which argues for the human soul as the unifying cause of the person’s unique abilities. Free will and consciousness are at the nexus of the mutual influence of body and soul upon one another in the traditional Catholic view, that argues for a spiritual dimension to personality that is on a par with the physical metabolic processes at play. Therapies that affect consciousness are ethically problematic, because of their implications for free will and human dignity. Studies of resilience, as an example, argue for the greater, albeit limited, role of the soul’s conscious choices in healing as opposed to metabolic or physical changes to the brain alone.
Consideration of sample size for estimating contaminant load reductions using load duration curves.

In Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) programs, load duration curves are often used to estimate reduction of contaminant loads in a watershed. A popular method for calculating these load reductions involves estimation of the 90th percentiles of monitored contaminant concentrations during different hydrologic conditions. However, water quality monitoring is expensive and can pose major limitations in collecting enough data. Availability of scarce water quality data can, therefore, deteriorate the precision in the estimates of the 90th percentiles, which, in turn, affects the accuracy of estimated load reductions. This paper proposes an adaptive sampling strategy that the data collection agencies can use for not only optimizing their collection of new samples across different hydrologic conditions, but also ensuring that newly collected samples provide opportunity for best possible improvements in the precision of the estimated 90th percentile with minimum sampling costs. The sampling strategy was used to propose sampling plans for Escherichia coli monitoring in an actual stream and different sampling procedures of the strategy were tested for hypothetical stream data. Results showed that improvement in precision using the proposed distributed sampling procedure is much better and faster than that attained via the lumped sampling procedure, for the same sampling cost. Hence, it is recommended that when agencies have a fixed sampling budget, they should collect samples in consecutive monitoring cycles as proposed by the distributed sampling procedure, rather than investing all their resources in only one monitoring cycle.
Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among older Puerto Rican adults living in Massachusetts.

There remains limited research on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Puerto Rican adults. We compared lifestyle and CVD risk factors in Puerto Rican men and women with normal fasting glucose (NFG), impaired fasting glucose (IFG), or type 2 diabetes (T2D), and investigated achievement of American Diabetes Association (ADA) treatment goals in those with T2D. Baseline data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study were analyzed, which included 1,287 adults aged 45–75 years. Obesity, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia were prevalent and increased from NFG to IFG and T2D. In individuals without T2D, fasting insulin correlated significantly with body mass index. Achievement of ADA goals was poor; LDL cholesterol was most achieved (59.4%), followed by blood pressure (27.2%) and glycosylated hemoglobin (27.0%). Poverty, female sex, current alcohol use, and diabetes or anti-hypertensive medication use were associated with not meeting goals. Puerto Rican adults living in the Boston area showed several metabolic abnormalities and high CVD risk, likely due to pervasive obesity and socio-economic disparities.
Frames revisited—the coherence-inducing function of frames

Abstract The subject of this paper is the hearer's 1 application to discourse of frames – mental knowledge structures that capture the typical features of a situation – in order to secure coherence. Having established a working definition of frame, the paper will focus on the relation between text, context, world-knowledge and coherence. Different types of frames (linguistic as well as non-linguistic) and their coherence-inducing functions are discussed with reference to authentic examples. It is shown that the hearer's (re-)constructed coherence of texts is the result of a complex interplay of linguistic (con)text and non-linguistic (frame) knowledge.
Interface engineering for thermal disturb immune phase change memory technology

The Phase Change Memory (PCM) technology has followed the scaling roadmap [1] from the 180nm down to the 45nm technology node [2-4], in the last one going in volume production. In a PCM array, thermal crosstalk is referred to as a potential concern due to a temperature raise driven by the programming operation in a cell and its impact on data retention in the neighbor ones. In fact a programming operation in PCM induces a temperature raise in the cell surrounding environment [1]. Such issue has been already addressed in 54nm PCM [5] through an accurate tuning of the programming algorithm. Although effective, such an approach implies several constraints for further optimization of the PCM array performances. In this work we empirically investigate the thermal crosstalk in 45nm PCM arrays, clearly highlighting the key role of the interface thermal resistances engineering. PCM cell design rules for thermal crosstalk immune operation are discussed and implemented on silicon, leading to a fully disturb-immune qualified process.
Mortality rates among Kanyawara chimpanzees.

Demographic data from wild chimpanzees are of considerable interest for understanding the evolution of the human life history. Published mortality data, however, come primarily from chimpanzee populations that have recently suffered dramatic, human-induced declines, and exhibit rates of reproduction well below replacement. Here we present a life table for chimpanzees living in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park, comprising 1129 individual risk years and 56 deaths. This community has shown modest growth over the past 25 years, avoiding some of the worst impacts of human contact. Sex differences in mortality at Kanyawara appeared similar to those reported from other sites. However, overall mortality rates were significantly lower than those reported from the long-term study sites of Gombe, Tai and Mahale. Kanyawara chimpanzees in this sample had a life expectancy at birth of 19 years, and individuals living to age 14 could expect to live for another 24 years. Life table data from Kanyawara indicate a mean mortality rate of 3.9% per year over the ages of 10-35, substantially less than the equivalent figure of 6.8% from a sample of other long-term chimpanzee study sites. The comparable adult mortality rate from a range of human foraging societies is ∼2%. The Kanyawara data thus suggest an important downward revision in adult mortality rates for wild chimpanzees, but they do not challenge the existence of an important difference in adult mortality between humans and chimpanzees.
On complete classes of experiments for certain invariant problems of linear inference

Abstract For certain non-singularly estimable full-rank appropriately invariant problems of linear inference in the setting of block designs, some complete classes of experiments have been characterized through the relation between the relevant C-matrices and their g-inverses (of the Moore-Penrose type) in regard to the specific invariance criterion discussed here. It follows that for a G -invariant non-singularly estimable full-rank problem, a complete class of experiments formally consists only of G -invariant designs.
Novel Differential Reactor for the Measurement of Overall Quantum Yields

The present study focuses on the determination of intrinsic kinetic data for photocatalytic reactions. Several powders of titania: commercial (Degussa P25, Aldrich Anatase) and that prepared by sol−gel synthesis were evaluated for the UV-induced heterogeneous degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol. It was demonstrated that kinetic data obtained from commonly used photocatalytic reactors (such as a liquid-phase annular reactor) do not correspond to the intrinsic activity of catalysts because of strong nonuniformity of the internal radiation field. The latter was determined by the measurement of local values of incident radiation at the inner and outer walls of the reactor. A photoreactor with a variable reaction zone in both thickness and length of the annulus was constructed. It was shown that by reducing the reaction volume one can minimize the radiant transfer resistances and reduce the effect of the nonuniformity of the radiation field in both radial and axial directions. As a result of the gradual redu...
Kindergarten practices and first-grade achievement for Latino Spanish-speaking, Latino English-speaking, and Anglo students.

Abstract A disproportionate number of Latino students, both immigrant and native-born, are having serious problems in the school system. Little is known about the early schooling experiences of these children, or the impact of these experiences on later school out-comes. This concern is raised in the context of escalating academic demands within kindergarten programs. This escalation has had the result that some parents hold children out of school until they are older and more ready to succeed, while schools have increasingly relied on retention in kindergarten to prevent children who are not ready from going on to first grade. This study assessed the impact of gender, ethnicity/home language, holding out, retention, and social promotion on first-grade achievement. Among the significant findings: Latino students were more likely to be “advanced” (socially promoted to first grade despite concerns about their performance) than were Anglo students, and none of the interventions employed by parents (holding out) or schools (retention and social promotion) had their intended positive effects. In order for early identification of students with academic needs to be a useful endeavor, interventions designed to promote the academic growth of these students need to follow.
An environmental scoping study in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas — II. Assessment of transboundary pollution transport and other activities by air quality monitoring

Abstract This paper examines ambient air monitoring results conducted as part of a multi-media study known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Environmental Scoping Study. Monitoring was performed at a “central” and a “border” site in the Brownsville, TX, air shed in the spring and summer of 1993. This study provided a preliminary assessment of transboundary pollution transport and possible anthropogenic activities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Overall (compared to other studies), low or comparable concentrations of trace elements, acidic gases, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found. Analysis of airborne particulate matter showed elevated coarse mass concentrations; also, the fine and coarse fractions were dominated by crustal elements associated with resuspended soil and dust. In addition, high fine- and coarse-particle chlorine levels, as well as silicates enriched with sulfur, were associated with sea salt from the nearby Gulf of Mexico. The prevailing winds during both spring and summer were predominantly from the east to the southeast of Brownsville and greatly limited the ability to assess transport of pollutants from neighboring Matamoros, Mexico. Carbon and VOC concentrations were higher in the spring phase than in the summer phase and may be the result of seasonal activities (i.e., residential heating) or waste and field burning. Although the Brownsville vicinity is dominated by agricultural activity, pesticide concentrations were low or comparable to other studies. PAHs were also comparable.
Long-term efficacy of imatinib for treatment of metastatic GIST.

Purpose Imatinib is an effective and approved treatment for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Continuous imatinib treatment is recommended by current guidelines. This review summarizes the long-term efficacy and safety of imatinib for patients with metastatic GIST.