cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Die Auswahl der Zusammenstellung von Stichproben

In diesem Kapitel werden verschiedene Methoden dafur vorgestellt, wie man Versuchspersonen auswahlt und wie man insbesondere systematische Stichproben fur wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zusammenstellt. In der Forschung ist die Anwendung von Methoden der systematischen Stichprobenziehung nicht auf Menschen oder Tiere beschrankt; z. ?. wird im Bereich der Archivforschung, der Dokumenten- oder Inhaltsanalyse (s. hierzu auch Kap. 10) haufig eine Stichprobe aus einer groseren Anzahl von Dokumenten, Akten und Aufzeichnungen gezogen. Wollte man z.B. eine Untersuchung uber die Leitartikel der New York Times der Jahre 1900 bis 1950 durchfuhren, dann durfte es wohl sinnvoller und okonomischer sein, mit einer Stichprobe von Artikeln zu arbeiten, anstatt alle Ausgaben zur Analyse heranzuziehen. Bei einer kulturvergleichenden Studie uber Erziehungspraktiken ware es entsprechend angebracht, eine Stichprobe aus Nationen oder Kulturen zu ziehen.
Parasitism and Disease Incidence in the Green Cloverworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Strip-Intercropped Soybean Agroecosystems

We examined the effects of strip-intercropping soybean, Glycine max , and sorghum, Sorghum bicolor , on rates of insect parasitism and fungal disease incidence in larvae of the green cloverworm, Plathypena scabra (F.), a widespread and occasionally serious pest of soybeans, during an endemic year. A completely randomized design with two cropping systems (monocropped soybean and soybean intercropped with sorghum), two sorghum heights (dwarf sorghum ≈1 m in height; tall sorghum ≈2 m in height), and two row patterns (2 rows of sorghum alternating with 10 rows of soybean; 6 rows of sorghum alternating with 6 rows of soybean) was used. Abundance (number per row-meter) of P. scabra larvae, rates of larval parasitism and incidence of the entomopathogenic fungus, Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) Sampson did not differ significantly among treatments or their interaction. Soybean yield (grams dry weight of beans per row-meter) did not differ significantly among treatments but sorghum grain yield and biomass (grams dry weight per row-meter) were significantly lower in dwarf sorghum planted in wide rows because of competing weed populations. Results suggest that neither the accrual of P. scabra larvae in soybean nor the impact of the parasitoid-pathogen complex on P. scabra mortality is affected by structural or taxonomic agroecosystem diversification at the scale studied. n
Schools as Venues for Prevention Programming

Schools are often the venue for prevention programs and offer the opportunity for researchers and schools to partner in the shared agenda of preventing problem behaviors such as substance use, violence, and early school leaving. Prevention programs may target individual student, classroom, or school environment levels, with some targeting multiple levels. The implementation of prevention programs in schools is a complex process, and in this chapter we use the health promotion intervention life cycle (Bopp et al., J Prim Prev 34:193–207, 2013) as the framework for discussing several efforts, described in case studies, related to partnering with schools as venues for prevention programs. First, during the adoption phase, we highlight the importance of identifying the needs of the school, selecting the most appropriate program, and addressing the school’s capacity or readiness for the program. Second, during the implementation phase, we highlight the benefits of obtaining the school’s full support and cooperation, ensuring the implementation and ownership of programs by school staff, providing quality training, and achieving a balance between treatment fidelity and program adaptations that may enhance sustainability. Finally, we highlight factors that enhance the sustainability of prevention programs in school settings.
Surveillance of atibody lvel of measles among healthy population in Huaihua City

[Objective] To understand the measles antibody level of healthy population in Huaihua City and immunization status of people,and provide a scientific basis for the effective implementation of measles prevention and control strategies.[Methods]In 2010,venous blood samples of 347 healthy people from 7 age groups were collected for the detection of specific IgG antibody levels of measles by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method.[Results] The positive rate of measles antibody was 86.74%.The positive rate of measles antibody was significantly different between different districts(counties)(χ2=3.47,P0.05);the positive rate of measles antibody between different age groups was significantly different(χ2=41.64,P≤0.05);measles antibody positive rate was not significantly different genders(χ2=0.37,P0.05);and that was not significantly different between urban and rural area(χ2=0.49,P0.05).[Conclusion]The measles antibody level in healthy population is less than 95%in this city.In order to achieve the goal of measles elimination,measles vaccination should be implemented in the older age group of children,women of childbearing age and adult so as to enhance and sustain high measles antibody level in the whole population.
Effect of Complex Treatment of Zinc-Chromium Coating by Organic Silicon Sol on the Corrosion Resistance

Zinc-chromium coating was complex treated using an organic silicon sol so as to improve its performance and extend its application filed. Thus the effect of the complex treatment of the coating by the organic silicon sol was investigated, based on a comparative study of the performance of the Zn-Cr coatings before and after the complex treatment using neutral salt-fog corrosion test, sulfur dioxide corrosion test, acidic medium corrosion test, flowing water spraying erosion test, and measurement of the coating hardness and adhesion strength. It was found that the complex treatment of the coating contributed to greatly increasing its corrosion resistance in neutral and acidic mediums, the resistance to flowing water erosion, and the hardness of the Zn-Cr coating. This makes it feasible to extend the application field of the Zn-Cr coating.
Interaction of Staphylococcus aureus persister cells with the host when in a persister state and following awakening

Persister cells, a tolerant cell sub-population, are commonly associated with chronic and recurrent infections. However, little is known about their ability to actually initiate or establish an infection, become virulent and cause pathogenicity within a host. Here we investigated whether Staphylococcus aureus persister cells initiate an infection and are recognized by macrophages, while in a persister cell status, and upon awakening due to exposure to cis-2-decenoic acid (cis-DA). Our results show that S. aureus persister cells are not able to initiate infections in A. thaliana and present significantly reduced virulence towards C. elegans compared to total populations. In contrast, awakened S. aureus persister cells are able to initiate infections in A. thaliana and in C. elegans albeit, with lower mortality than total population. Furthermore, exposure of S. aureus persister cells to cis-DA led to a loss of tolerance to ciprofloxacin, and an increase of the bacterial fluorescence to levels found in total population. In addition, macrophage engulfment of persister cells was significantly lower than engulfment of total population, both before and following awakening. Overall our findings indicate that upon awakening of a persister population the cells regain their ability to infect hosts despite the absence of an increased immune response.
Potatoes for Human Life Support in Space

Publisher Summary Potatoes are highly productive, rich in digestible carbohydrate, a significant source of protein, and are easily propagated. They do not require extensive processing steps for consumption, as do crops like soybean and some grains, and when potatoes are strongly induced to tuberize, their harvest index can exceed 80%, which is nearly double that of grain crops. The physiological controlled studies of potatoes revealed some interesting phenomena, including physiological intolerance of some cvs. (Cultivars for Space) to continuous light, increased stomatal conductance at super-elevated CO2 concentrations, ethylene production by whole canopies, and yields approaching 200 t ha-1 under high light and CO2 enrichment. Small-scale space flight experiments showed that tubers can form and sprout in weightlessness.
Love? What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Perhaps the most difficult dynamic to see clearly in any classroom is the pulsing of love. When I say that teaching will not work without love, I realize that I am making a controversial claim. Some people’s gut response, and I hardly blame them, will be to instantly reject this claim, but I hope that by the time I have explained what I mean, even my most skeptical readers will grant that I have a legitimate case.
Kinetics of Charge Carrier Confinement in Thin Dielectrics

The trapping of charge carriers in thin dielectric films is discussed in the present section. Mechanisms affecting electron confinement are studied in order to gain insight into the interplay between the various charged species contributing to dielectric failure (i.e., electrons, traps, and ions). A novel detection method for identifying ion drift in interconnect devices is presented. This technique is based on the change in charge fluence as a result of ionic drift during BTS. Leakage current relaxation is described as originating from the trapping of charge carriers into defects (i.e., traps and ions). A model is proposed for describing the kinetics of charge trapping at very early stages of field and temperature stress. This section concludes with a mathematical representation of electron trapping that will serve as the premise for the theory of dielectric breakdown in nano-porous films.
Needs of well logging industry in new nuclear detectors

In this paper we discuss some challenges of nuclear well logging related to the lack of the gamma ray and neutron detection technologies capable of operating reliably in the down-hole hostile environment. Different nuclear well logging techniques are described, the parameters of nuclear detectors which would satisfy the requirements imposed by these techniques are considered, and the results of the analysis in the well logging industry demand's for different types of nuclear detectors is presented. The impact of several technological innovations introduced recently in nuclear well logging, including detectors based on LnBr 3 :Ce and GYSO scintillation materials, are discussed. The possibility of replacing He3 ionization detectors with Li6 glass scintillation detectors is considered. Also some of the reliability problems of well logging nuclear detectors are analysed and their possible solutions are discussed.
Is Research on Entrepreneurial Intentions Growing? Or…Just Getting Bigger?

Reflecting on this chapter written in 2009, it is gratifying that research published on entrepreneurial intentions has exploded. It is nearly impossible to pick up an issue of an entrepreneurship journal and not find a study that involves entrepreneurial intentions.
An adaptive collaboration script for learning with multiple visual representations in chemistry

Undergraduate STEM instruction increasingly uses educational technologies to support problem-solving activities. Educational technologies offer two key features that may make them particularly effective. First, most problem-solving activities involve multiple visual representations, and many students have difficulties in understanding, constructing, and connecting these representations. Educational technologies can provide adaptive support that helps students make sense of visual representations. Second, many problems with visual representations involve collaboration. However, students often do not collaborate effectively. Educational technologies can provide collaboration scripts that adaptively react to student actions to prompt them to engage in specific effective collaborative behaviors. These observations lead to the hypothesis we tested: that an adaptive collaboration script enhances students' learning of content knowledge from visual representations. We conducted a quasi-experiment with 61 undergraduate students in an introductory chemistry course. A control condition worked on a traditional worksheet that asked students to collaboratively make sense of connections among multiple visual representations. An experimental condition worked on the same problems embedded in an educational technology that provided an adaptive collaboration script. The experimental condition showed significantly higher learning gains on a transfer test immediately after the intervention and on complex concepts on a midterm exam three weeks later. Educational technologies can enhance collaborative learning with visual representations.A quasi-experiment with 61 students tests effects of an adaptive collaboration script.The collaboration script yields higher learning outcomes than traditional instruction.The effects were more pronounced for learning of complex concepts.Adaptive collaboration scripts can help students connect visual representations.
Saying otherwise: speech and allegory in W.H. Auden’s WWII lectures

By focusing on the work of lecturing – a practice not often considered within literary studies – this essay makes an argument for how Auden’s public speaking during the WWII period impacts and alte...
On the climate policy implications of substitutability and flexibility in the economy: An in-depth integrated assessment model diagnostic

Abstract This paper conducts an in-depth model diagnostic exercise for two parameters, 1) the elasticity of substitution between the capital/labour aggregate and the energy aggregate in the Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) MERGE's production function and 2) the rate at which new technologies can be deployed within the energy system. We show that in a more complementary world the model's ability to adjust the carbon intensity of its energy sector is more important whereas in a more substitutable world the ability to expand carbon free technologies is of lesser relative importance. The uncertainty in the literature surrounding the elasticity of substitution parameter, its interaction with the mechanisms of technical change, and the associated danger of grounding forward-looking analyses in historically based parameters lend support to the importance of such a diagnostic exercise. Building on work from model intercomparison studies, we investigate whether a given model's choice of strategy is primarily a function of the choice of its parameter values or its structure. A deeper understanding of what drives model behaviour is beneficial to both modellers and the policymakers who utilise their insights and output.
Portrayal of Alcohol Brands Popular Among Underage Youth on YouTube: A Content Analysis.

Objective:We characterized leading YouTube videos featuring alcohol brand references and examined video characteristics associated with each brand and video category.Method:We systematically captured the 137 most relevant and popular videos on YouTube portraying alcohol brands that are popular among underage youth. We used an iterative process to codebook development. We coded variables within domains of video type, character sociodemographics, production quality, and negative and positive associations with alcohol use. All variables were double coded, and Cohen’s kappa was greater than .80 for all variables except age, which was eliminated.Results:There were 96,860,936 combined views for all videos. The most common video type was “traditional advertisements,” which comprised 40% of videos. Of the videos, 20% were “guides” and 10% focused on chugging a bottle of distilled spirits. While 95% of videos featured males, 40% featured females. Alcohol intoxication was present in 19% of videos. Aggression, addic...
Historical perspectives on ideological and legal challenges to labor-management participation efforts

Labor-management participation efforts have grown dramatically under such forms as quality circles, total quality management, participation teams, and employee councils. Employers promote participation efforts as a means to increase employee commitment, product quality, customer satisfaction and company profitability. Nonetheless participation efforts are under assault both legally and ideologically. Segments of the labor movement challenge participation efforts as subterfuges for union busting and violations of existing labor laws. This article constructs an historical framework against which to cast the current debate over participation efforts. It traces the roots of differing ideological perspectives on participation efforts by examining the rise of the industrial democracy movement in the 1920s and the use of representation plans and company unions. The historical roots of differing legal perspectives on participation efforts are also examined. The article discusses the historical reasons why contemporary labor statutes were written with such strong circumscription of employee-employer participation efforts.
What is an open mind

In this article, I suggest that an open mind wholly unburdened by preconceptions and prejudgments is a mistaken ideal. Not only is it unrealistic; it deprives us of context and background knowledge...
Consumer-Centered Transition and Supported Employment

Upon leaving school, the majority of young adults with learning and behavior problems experience unemployment, social isolation, and economic dependence. Recent follow-up studies of special education graduates suggest that little more than one third are employed full-time, live independently, and are self-supporting. The consistency of this pattern across several statewide studies leaves little doubt about the magnitude of the problem (Fardig, Algozzine, Schwartz, Hensel, & Westling, 1985; Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985; Mithaug, Horiuchi, & Fanning, 1985; Mithaug, Horiuchi, & McNulty, 1987).
Binding versus biological activity of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin in Vero cells.

Abstract Cells resistant to Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin were selected from cultures of highly sensitive Vero (African green monkey kidney) cells. Studies were done with the sensitive and resistant cells to determine the relationship between binding and biological activity. Binding studies using 125I-enterotoxin revealed the apparent existence of high and low affinity binding sites for the enterotoxin on both cell types. The binding site density on resistant cells was found to be 1 10 that of sensitive cells. It was found that, even with high doses of enterotoxin, only partial affect upon DNA synthesis, membrane permeability, and plating efficiency was noted in resistant cells. It is concluded that without specific binding there is little or no ability of the enterotoxin to effect biological activity in cells.
Temporal factors in peripheral nerve reconstruction with suture scaffolds: an experimental study in rodents.

PURPOSE This study investigated nerve regeneration following nerve repair with longitudinally oriented sutures, with emphasis on timing. Prior work in rodents has shown that suture scaffolds are comparable to nerve grafting when assessments are made at late time points. However, rodents have exceptional regenerative capacity, making it difficult to detect key differences at late time points. This study therefore investigated regeneration across suture scaffolds both at early (4 week) and late (12 week) endpoints. METHODS Rodents were randomized to nerve gap, transection and repair, nerve grafting, and suture scaffold groups. Nerve regeneration was evaluated at 4 and 12 weeks. Histomorphometry parameters were evaluated using binary image analysis of toluidine blue-stained nerve cross sections. RESULTS Compared to nerve grafts, suture scaffolds were associated with significantly decreased neural density (4208 +/- 3546 vs. 193 +/- 416, fibers/mm;2, p<0.05) and fiber width (1.92 +/- 1.21 vs. 0.75+/- 1.16, microm, p<0.05). At 12 weeks, differences between groups were no longer detectable. CONCLUSION When evaluated at optimal time points for rodents, suture scaffolds fail to support regeneration comparable to the existing gold standard of nerve grafting. This finding raises significant concerns regarding the clinical application of suture scaffolds.
Spatially Explicit Analysis in Environmental Studies

This article focuses on the interface between the social sciences and environmental studies via spatially explicit analysis. This interface is motivated by the existence of many human-induced environmental problems, where the location and spatial configuration of the natural and human features of the landscape, their interaction and the scale of analysis are crucial to the understanding of the problem, as well as to the design of the potential policy responses to the problem. The specific examples included are: the management of fisheries; tropical and temperate forestry; urban land use and the dynamic process of suburbanization. In each example, an emphasis is placed on the implications of how spatially explicit problem solving makes a critical difference in the outcome of the analysis and policy response to the interaction between human systems and natural systems.
Instances of Agency: Julio Cordero’s Archive and Photographic Portraits

In this article, I discuss the notion of agency in relationship to Julio Cordero’s photographs. Julio Cordero (1879-1961) owned a photography studio in La Paz in the first half of the twentieth century and produced an array of images both inside and outside of the studio. I also offer a sense of the rich documentation that exists in the complete Cordero archive as well as the insights that it opens up concerning the interventions in self-representation made possible by photographic portraiture. Essentially, these interventions lead us to conceptualize image culture as a prime space for enacting agency in Bolivia and Latin American more broadly.
Modulating absorption and charge transfer in bodipy-carbazole donor–acceptor dyads through molecular design

Three bodipy-based (BDP = 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) donor–acceptor dyads were designed and synthesized, and their ground-state and photophysical properties were systematically characterized. The electronic coupling between the BDP chromophore and an electron-donating carbazole (Carb) moiety was tuned by attachment via the meso and the beta positions on the BDP core, and through the use of various chemical linkers (phenyl and alkynyl) to afford mesoBDP-Carb, mesoBDP-phen-Carb, and betaBDP-alk-Carb. meso-Substituted dyads were found to retain ground-state absorption features of the unsubstituted BDP. However, variation of the linkage between the donor and acceptor moieties modulated the photophysical behavior of excited-state deactivation by controlling the rate of photoinduced internal charge transfer (ICT). The beta-substituted dyad dramatically tuned (red shifted) the absorption spectrum, while retaining desired features of the BDP, specifically stability and high extinction coefficients, however the ICT kinetics were accelerated compared to the meso-substituted dyads. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) were carried out on the six potential dyads formed between BDP and Carb (attachment using the beta and meso positions for all three connections: direct, phenyl and alkynyl) to support the experimental observations. DFT and TDDFT showed molecular orbital density spread across the HOMO level only when attachment occurred through the beta position of BDP. In the meso-substituted BDP-Carb dyads, the molecular orbitals resembled those of the unsubstituted BDP. This work reveals several possible synthetic paradigms to tune photophysical properties with directed synthetic modifications and provides a mechanistic understanding of the ground- and excited- state behavior in these small-molecule donor–acceptor dyads.
Investigating Factors of Twitter Use among Municipal Governments

This study investigates predictors of Twitter adoption and use by municipalities for citizen communication, considering both the level of municipal Twitter presence and the level of Twitter activit...
Tunable 3D-Printed Coaxial-Cavity Filters with Mixed Electromagnetic Coupling

This paper reports on 3D-printed coaxial-cavity bandpass filters (BPFs) with multiple levels of transfer function tunability. These include: i) center frequency tuning, ii) bandwidth (BW) tuning and iii) intrinsic switching-off. They are based on a new type of mixed electromagnetic coupling that facilitates the realization of a tunable transmission zero (TZ) that is exploited for the tuning of the BPF’s BW and its out-of-band isolation. Center frequency adaptivity is obtained by incorporating linear actuators on top of the cavity walls. A proof-of-concept two-pole/one-TZ BPF with tunable frequency between 1.3-2.2 GHz and BW between 59-98 MHz was manufactured and measured.
Public companies' cybersecurity risk disclosures

Abstract Though cybersecurity risks are significant and could materially affect business operations and the integrity of financial reporting, there is limited empirical research on the cybersecurity risk disclosure trends and practices of public companies. In this study, we conduct a longitudinal study of the content and linguistic characteristics of public companies' cybersecurity risk disclosure practices as well as factors that may drive disclosure trends. The results show that the two most commonly disclosed cybersecurity risks are risks of service/operation disruption and risks of data breach. Item 1A of the 10-K Report is the most commonly used disclosure location, but some companies also use Items 1 and 7 to disclose regulation risks and cyber incidents, respectively. The length of cybersecurity risk disclosures increases linearly during the period of our study. This increase is associated with the issuance of SEC guidance (2011 and 2018), industry, overall cybersecurity risks in the general environment, company size, and prior cybersecurity breach incidents. Disclosures have also become more difficult to read in general. They are more difficult to read as firm size increases and are easier to read as the proportion of intangible assets increases or after an executive change. Firms have increased their usage of litigious words in their disclosures. Bigger firms, on average, tend to use less litigious language, but companies in industries with high business information technology intensity (e.g., consumer services, software and services, and banking) tend to use more litigious language than other companies.
Aerosol generation during chest compression and defibrillation in a swine cardiac arrest model.

Abstract Aim It remains unclear whether cardiac arrest (CA) resuscitation generates aerosols that can transmit respiratory pathogens. We hypothesize that chest compression and defibrillation generate aerosols that could contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a swine CA model. Methods To simulate witnessed CA with bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 3 female non-intubated swine underwent 4 min of ventricular fibrillation without chest compression or defibrillation (no-flow) followed by ten 2-min cycles of mechanical chest compression and defibrillation without ventilation. The diameter (0.3–10 μm) and quantity of aerosols generated during 45-s intervals of no-flow and chest compression before and after defibrillation were analyzed by a particle analyzer. Aerosols generated from the coughs of 4 healthy human subjects were also compared to aerosols generated by swine. Results There was no significant difference between the total aerosols generated during chest compression before defibrillation compared to no-flow. In contrast, chest compression after defibrillation generated significantly more aerosols than chest compression before defibrillation or no-flow (72.4 ± 41.6 × 104 vs 12.3 ± 8.3 × 104 vs 10.5 ± 11.2 × 104; p Conclusions Chest compressions alone did not cause significant aerosol generation in this swine model. However, increased aerosol generation was detected during chest compression immediately following defibrillation. Additional research is needed to elucidate the clinical significance and mechanisms by which aerosol generation during chest compression is modified by defibrillation.
Long-term Follow-up of Patients Undergoing Endoscopic Intervention for Abdominal Pain with Minimal Biliary Ductal Dilation, Stone Disease, or Malignancy

BackgroundSafety and efficacy of endoscopic methods in management of biliary colic after cholecystectomy in patients with minimal biliary ductal dilation and no evidence of biliary stones or malign...
Limits of Three-Dimensional Resolution and Dose for Aberration-Corrected Electron Tomography

Author(s): Yalisove, R; Sung, SH; Ercius, P; Hovden, R | Abstract: Aberration-corrected electron microscopy can resolve the smallest atomic bond lengths in nature. However, the high-convergence angles that enable spectacular resolution in two dimensions have unknown three-dimensional (3D) resolution limits for all but the smallest objects (l∼8 nm). We show aberration-corrected electron tomography offers new limits for 3D imaging by measuring several focal planes at each specimen tilt. We present a theoretical foundation for aberration-corrected electron tomography by establishing analytic descriptions for resolution, sampling, object size, and dose - with direct analogy to the Crowther-Klug criterion. Remarkably, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron tomography can measure complete 3D specimen structure of unbounded object sizes up to a specified cutoff resolution. This breaks the established Crowther limit when tilt increments are twice the convergence angle or smaller. Unprecedented 3D resolution is achievable across large objects. Atomic 3D imaging (1 A) is allowed across extended objects larger than depth of focus (e.g., g20 nm) using available microscopes and modest specimen tilting (l3°). Furthermore, aberration-corrected tomography follows the rule of dose fractionation where a specified total dose can be divided among tilts and defoci.
Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) for flexible energy storage

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are suitable materials for the growth of flexible and compact supercapacitors. Flexible Ionic Polymer Metal Composites fabricated utilizing platinum (Pt) or Gold (Au), are studied for their applicability as Solid Polymer Electrolyte membranes for high--power supercapacitors, as they have shown improved performance as electronic devices. In this study, the fabrication of an all-solid-state supercapacitor which uses a Nafion membrane is investigated for its capacity and cycle life. In order to verify the reliability and properties of the all-solid-state supercapacitor, cyclic voltammetry and charge-discharge tests are performed.
Best Practices in Robotics Education: Perspectives from an IEEE RAS Women in Engineering Panel [Women in Engineering

Presents a panel discussion of IEEE RAS society Women in Engineering (WIE) who explore best practices in robotics education.
A Fast and Fully Parallel Analog CMOS Solver for Nonlinear PDEs

A general-purpose analog computing method is proposed to compute the continuous-time solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). The discrete-time difference operator in the standard finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is replaced by continuous-time delay operators that can be realized using analog all-pass filters. The resulting spatially discrete time-continuous (SDTC) update equations are realized using analog circuits which compute continuous-time solutions of the PDE with prescribed initial and boundary conditions. The proposed concept is demonstrated in simulation via an integrated circuit (IC) design of a nonlinear acoustic wave equation solver in 180 nm CMOS technology. Analog arithmetic operations (multiply, scale, and add) are realized in parallel using fully differential op-amps and analog multipliers. The proposed IC computes the PDE solution in parallel at 33 discrete spatial points and has a simulated bandwidth and power consumption of approximately 2 MHz and 3 W, respectively. The performance of the IC is simulated using foundry-supplied device models and quantified using i) the mean squared difference between the circuit simulation results and FDTD simulations, and ii) the noise to signal energy ratio. Acceptable accuracy is obtained, with error metric values varying between −7 and −30 dB for various configurations of the problem. Comparison of the custom analog IC simulations with MATLAB- and C-based FDTD code running on a modern workstation shows an expected average speedup of $205\times $ and $140\times $ , respectively.
"I pretty much followed the law, and there weren't any decisions to make": A qualitative study of self-advocacy experiences of men with cancer.

Current conceptualizations of patient self-advocacy focus on women with cancer, leaving knowledge of male self-advocacy deficient. The purpose of this study is to describe the key components of self-advocacy among men with cancer. Adult (≥ 18 years old) men with a history of invasive cancer were recruited from cancer clinics and registries. Trained researchers led individual semi-structured interviews regarding participants' challenges, how they overcame those challenges, and barriers and facilitators to their self-advocacy. All interviews were analyzed using descriptive content analysis methods and synthesized into major themes. These themes were refined after receiving feedback from key stakeholders. Participants (N=28) reported three major self-advocacy themes: (1) managing through information and planning; (2) finding the best team and falling in line; and (3) strategic social connections. These themes are richly described with representative quotations for each theme and sub-theme. Based on these findings, existing models of patient self-advocacy should be adjusted to encompass how men self-advocate. Clinicians should consider how gender may impact how and why patients with cancer self-advocate so that they can best support their patients in achieving patient-centered care.
Lanthanide Markers in a Single Sample for Nutrient Studies in Humans

Multiple Lanthanide markers were used to develop procedures for determinations of intake and apparent utilization of four nutrients using data from fecal analysis and known concentrations of markers in nutrients. Terbium oxide was given as the intake marker. All foods contained the other non-absorbed markers, each marker in direct proportion to the amount of a specific nutrient in each food. Nutrient markers were oxides of samarium, scandium, ytterbium, and europium. Fecal collection and subsequent analysis of nutrients and markers were completed. Fecal marker concentration stabilized 2 days following initiation of the marker regime. Thus, after 3 days, a single grab sample could be utilized to analyze for nutrient utilization. The ratio of nutrient marker proportional to nutrient and intake to nutrient excretion provides the data for the calculation of apparent utilization for as many nutrients as nutrient markers incorporated into the food. When direct and marker methods of determining nutrient intake and apparent utilization were compared, no significant differences were found for gross energy, fat, protein, and calcium.
Numerical Computation of Transition to Turbulence

The extreme application of numerical techniques to transition problems involves the direct solution of the full nonlinear, three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations for prescribed initial and boundary conditions. All spatial and temporal scales are intended to be resolved, i.e., no modeling is employed. This position paper addresses the current and prospective uses of direct numerical simulation of transition to turbulence.
Verdauung und Resorption

Das gastrointestinale System ist die Pforte, durch die Nahrstoffe, Vitamine, Mineralstoffe und Flussigkeiten in den Organismus aufgenommen werden. Vor allem im Dunndarm werden Eiweiskorper, Fette und hochmolekulare Kohlenhydrate in ihre resorbierbaren Bruchstucke aufgespalten (verdaut). Unter Resorption versteht man die Aufnahme der Verdauungsendprodukte sowie Vitamine, Mineralstoffe und Flussigkeiten durch die Intestinalschleimhaut hindurch in Lymphe bzw. Blut. Die Verdauung der Hauptnahrstoffe ist ein geordnet ablaufender Vorgang unter Mitwirkung einer grosen Zahl von Verdauungsenzy men (Tabelle 25–1); diese werden von Speicheldrusen, Magen- und Darmschleimhaut sowie dem exokrinen Anteil des Pankreas produziert.
Reconsidering Undergraduate Music History: Some Introductory Thoughts

Discussions of music history curricula in various colleague organizations – the American Musicological Society, the National Association of Schools of Music, and The College Music Society – have raised questions about the efficacy of the traditional multi-semester, chronological music history course sequence. Consideration of the appropriateness of such survey sequences in the twenty-first century might consider a number of questions about the discipline itself, about the needs of students, and about the practicalities that affect curricular change. Is the postmodern rejection of historical narrative compelling, or is it misguided? After “the end of history,” might we see new reasons to justify the writing of history? Is history something that our students should learn? Is a survey sequence an effective way to teach it? Should our emphasis be on teaching historical knowledge or on skills? What kind of curriculum options make best sense to a postmodern and digital generation? To what extent do we owe it to our students to help them to meet national norms, expectations of them when they arrive at graduate schools, or accreditation standards? What are the administrative resources or obstacles we face in either continuing or abandoning the sequential music history survey course?
Frequency-dependent space-interleaving for MIMO OFDM systems

We propose the application of optimal space interleaving of symbols, which modulate OFDM subcarriers in the general category of layered MIMO OFDM architectures. This interleaving is frequency-dependent as it differs for each OFDM subcarrier and is time-varying in the sense that the interleaving scheme adapts to channel variations over time. Both optimal and suboptimal methods are developed to this end. Computer simulations show the merit of the proposed methods for different configurations.
Detailed potential energy surfaces from MNDO semiempirical molecular orbital theory: Part 1. The interconversion of the 2-fluoroethyl and ethylene fluoronium ions

Abstract MNDO calculations, involving the precise location of all stationary points, predict the cyclic ethylene fluoronium ion to exist in a shallow (3.8 kcal mol −1 ) minimum, 18.7 kcal mol −1 above the classical 2-fluoroethyl cation. In the stable conformation of the latter, the CF bond is perpendicular to the empty p orbital of the methylene group, rotation of which is hindered by a barrier of 7.4 kcal mol −1 . A three-dimensional energy surface for these interconversions is generated and discussed.
Patterns of Interobserver Error in the Scoring of Entheseal Changes

Although the interpretation of entheses has undergone considerable discussion recently, the role of interobserver error, especially in comparative contexts, has been only sporadically addressed. Using standards developed by Hawkey and Merbs, currently the most widely used system, rates of reproducibility were evaluated in two prehistoric North American skeletal series. Eight observers of varying experience levels scored 17 long bone entheses, representing both fibrous and fibrocartilaginous attachment types, on 58 individuals. Results showed rates of reproducibility to be only marginally higher than what would be expected by chance alone. Observer experience level did not appear to be a factor nor was attachment type. As might be predicted, those entheses enjoying the highest rates of reproducibility exhibited relatively smooth attachment morphology and/or less defined boundaries whereas those with the lowest rates displayed the greatest range of surface morphology expression. Possible explanations for the levels of interobserver error observed include difficulties in reducing the highly variable enthesis morphology to a few discrete categories, categories that encompass too many criteria, and use of vague terminology in describing morphological features. Consequently, comparison of data across studies by different observers, especially those not trained by the developer of a given scoring method, must be undertaken with great caution. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation of the entire range of daily precipitation using a hybrid probability distribution

[1] Underestimation of extreme values is a widely acknowledged issue in daily precipitation simulation. Nonparametric precipitation generators have inherent limitations in representing extremes. Parametric generators can realistically model the full spectrum of precipitation amount through compound distributions. Nevertheless, fitting these distributions suffers from numerical instability, supervised learning, and computational demand. This study presents an easy-to-implement hybrid probability distribution to model the full spectrum of precipitation amount. The basic idea for the hybrid distribution lies in synthesizing low to moderate precipitation by an exponential distribution and extreme precipitation by a generalized Pareto distribution. By forcing the two distributions to be continuous at the junction point, the threshold of the generalized Pareto distribution can be implicitly learned in an unsupervised manner. Monte Carlo simulation shows that the hybrid distribution is capable of modeling heavy tailed data. Performance of the distribution is further evaluated using 49 daily precipitation records across Texas. Results show that the model is able to capture both the bulk and the tail of daily precipitation amount. The maximum goodness-of-fit and penalized maximum likelihood methods are found to be reliable complements to the maximum likelihood method, in that generally they can provide adequate goodness-of-fit. The proposed distribution can be incorporated into precipitation generators and downscaling models in order to realistically simulate the entire range of precipitation without losing extreme values.
Coblation total tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy versus coblation partial intracapsular tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy in children.

Objectives/Hypothesis To evaluate the postoperative course of children who underwent coblation T&A versus those who underwent coblation partial intracapsular tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (PITA). Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods Records of children undergoing consecutive tonsillectomies from July 2009 to October 2012 were analyzed. All surgeries used a coblation device. Outcomes including intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, pain, and return to preoperative diet were analyzed comparing the coblation T&A and coblation PITA patients. Results Of 415 patients evaluated, 258 (62.2%) underwent coblation T&A and 157 (37.8%) underwent coblation PITA. Seventeen (4.1%) patients experienced postoperative hemorrhage, 15 (88.2%) of whom underwent T&A and two (11.8%) of whom underwent PITA (P = 0.024). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that coblation T&A was a significant contributor to postoperative hemorrhage, with an odds ratio of 4.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–21.21) compared to coblation PITA. Patients who underwent T&A resumed normal diets significantly later (8 days, SD 4.6) than those who underwent PITA (5.4 days, standard deviation [SD]: 3.4) (P = 0.022). In terms of pain severity, more T&A patients reported “severe” pain and more PITA patients reported “moderate” pain (P = 0.047). More T&A patients experienced a “post-op dip,” defined as increased pain during postoperative days 5–9, than did PITA patients (P < 0.001). Conclusions Coblation PITA is a safe procedure that has a lower incidence of intraoperative and postoperative bleeding in children compared to coblation T&A. Patients may have less pain and return to preoperative diets sooner than those undergoing coblation T&A. Level of Evidence 4. Laryngoscope, 124:1959–1964, 2014
Need 4 Speed: Leverage New Metrics to Boost Your Velocity without Compromising on Quality

As Agile becomes the de-facto SDLC practice, it has become evident that additional practices are required to allow enterprises to realize the premise of it. In this experience report, we will share the practices learnt and exercised over the past 3 years that helped us cope with the common challenges of large scale enterprise projects. The concept of "Application Lifecycle Intelligence" discussed in this paper covers the key principles of these best practices. It shares the additional analytics and metrics that allowed HP to enable cross time zones collaboration and alignment through transparency and provides insights into quality and risk. The key principal accomplished by extracting data from various practitioners tools and surface it in an actionable format for the various stakeholders.
Effects of cortical ectopias on spatial delayed-matching-to-sample performance in BXSB mice

BXSB mice have small neocortical anomalies (ectopic collections of neurons in layer I), with an incidence of about 40-60%. Previous studies have found that ectopic mice from this strain are faster than non-ectopics in learning the Morris water maze (reference memory), but have poorer working memory for spatial learning. The current study continues the investigation of working memory by testing ectopic and non-ectopic BXSB mice on a spatial delayed-matching-to-sample test (S-DMTS; also called spatial learning sets or 'working memory' water maze). In this test, the mice must find a submerged platform in a pool of water. The platform changes location with every problem, or block of four trials. The subject has 'matched to sample' if it locates the platform in less time on the second trial of each problem than it did on the first. Of 33 subjects, 8 had cortical ectopias, one had a small neuron-free gliotic area, and 24 were normal. The normal subjects showed a decrease in time to escape over the first 2 trials of the first 5 problems, while the ectopic subjects did not show a decrease until the third trial, indicating that ectopic mice required more trials to put the platform location into working memory. The site of the ectopias is prefrontal/motor cortex, and we hypothesize that is the cause of the poorer working memory.
Beyond orality Textuality, territory, and ontology among Amazonian peoples

Drawing on narratives and images related to mythology, I explore the relationships between textuality, territory, and ontology among Amazonian cultures, and specifically the Napo Runa of Amazonian Ecuador. My argument is that the Napo Runa, as well as other indigenous peoples in the Americas, have developed their own complex theories of textuality in which cosmology is inscribed within the body, the social, and the surrounding territorial world. Drawing on the theory of Amazonian perspectivism, I analyze the Aycha Yura or “Tree of Flesh” myth and its underlying aesthetic, geographic, and ontological qualities. This macro-myth intersects with local mythologies of particular trees, species, and spirits, forming a complex shared narrative world of local differentiation, self and other transformations, and experiences of territoriality. An engagement with the ethnographic realities of so-called oral cultures shows the untranslatable ontological contours of their textual worlds, worlds that are distorted and reified by Western notions of orality and literacy. (With supplementary sound files)