cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An all-CMOS architecture for a low-power frequency-hopped 900 MHz spread spectrum transceiver

An all-CMOS single chip architecture of a frequency-hopped spread spectrum (FH/SS) transceiver is presented. The transceiver implements complete modem functions spanning a tuned RF front-end to a digital binary frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulator/demodulator, all operating from a 3-V supply. This FH/SS transceiver is intended for use in a wide variety of indoor/outdoor portable wireless applications in the 902-928 MHz ISM band [1]. System features such as dual antenna/branch diversity, fast frequency hopping, and adaptive power control are incorporated into the transceiver architecture to achieve robust wireless digital data transmission over multipath fading channels. This paper describes the architectural features of the transceiver and surveys several of the key building blocks which have been completed to date. >
Accuracy of parent-reported information for estimating prevalence of overweight and obesity in a race-ethnically diverse pediatric clinic population aged 3 to 12

There is conflicting evidence about the accuracy of estimates of childhood obesity based on parent-reported data. We assessed accuracy of child height, weight, and overweight/obesity classification in a pediatric clinic population based on parent data to learn whether accuracy differs by child age and race/ethnicity. Parents of patients ages 3–12 (n = 1,119) completed a waiting room questionnaire that asked about their child’s height and weight. Child’s height and weight was then measured and entered into the electronic health record (EHR) by clinic staff. The child’s EHR and questionnaire data were subsequently linked. Accuracy of parent-reported height, weight, overweight/obesity classification, and parent perception of child’s weight status were assessed using EHR data as the gold standard. Statistics were calculated for the full sample, two age groups (3–5, 6–12), and four racial/ethnic groups (nonHispanic White, Black, Latino, Asian). A parent-reported height was available for 59.1% of the children, weight for 75.6%, and weight classification for 53.0%. Data availability differed by race/ethnicity but not age group. Parent-reported height was accurate for 49.2% of children and weight for 58.2%. Latino children were less likely than nonHispanic Whites to have accurate height and weight data, and weight data were less accurate for 6–12 year than 3–5 year olds. Concordance of parent- and EHR-based classifications of the child as overweight/obese and obese was approximately 80% for all subgroups, with kappa statistics indicating moderate agreement. Parent-reported data significantly overestimated prevalence of overweight/obesity (50.2% vs. 35.2%) and obesity (32.1% vs. 19.4%) in the full sample and across all age and racial/ethnic subgroups. However, the percentages of parents who perceived their child to be overweight or very overweight greatly underestimated actual prevalence of overweight/obesity and obesity. Missing data did not bias parent-based overweight/obesity estimates and was not associated with child’s EHR weight classification or parental perception of child’s weight. While the majority of parents of overweight or obese children tend to be unaware that their child is overweight, use of parent-reported height and weight data for young children and pre-teens will likely result in overestimates of prevalence of youth overweight and obesity.
School-based smoking prevention programs with the promise of long-term effects

I provide a systematic review of trials of school-based smoking prevention programs that had at least 15 sessions, preferably with some in high school, that reported significant short-term effects, and that included long-term follow-up. This is supplemented with a description of some other programs that produce short-term effects that portend large long-term effects. I conclude that school-based programs can have long-term effects of practical importance it they: include 15 or more sessions over multiple years, including some in high school; use the social influence model and interactive delivery methods; include components on norms, commitment not to use, intentions not to use, and training and practice in the use of refusal and other life skills; and use peer leaders in some role. School-based programs of this type can reduce smoking onset by 25–30%, and school plus community programs can reduce smoking onset by 35–40% by the end of high school. Some early childhood programs that do not have smoking prevention as their main aim, including home nursing, the Good Behavior Game, the Positive Action program and others, seem to change the developmental trajectories of children so that they are less likely to engage in multiple problem behaviors, including smoking, as adolescents. This review makes it clear that effective school-based smoking prevention programs exist and can be adopted, adapted and deployed with success – and should be.
Cascading Spatio-Temporal Pattern Discovery

Given a collection of Boolean spatiotemporal (ST) event-types, the cascading spatiotemporal pattern (CSTP) discovery process finds partially ordered subsets of these event-types whose instances are located together and occur serially. For example, analysis of crime data sets may reveal frequent occurrence of misdemeanors and drunk driving after and near bar closings on weekends, as well as after and near large gatherings such as football games. Discovering CSTPs from ST data sets is important for application domains such as public safety (e.g., identifying crime attractors and generators) and natural disaster planning, (e.g., preparing for hurricanes). However, CSTP discovery presents multiple challenges; three important ones are 1) the exponential cardinality of candidate patterns with respect to the number of event types, 2) computationally complex ST neighborhood enumeration required to evaluate the interest measure and 3) the difficulty of balancing computational complexity and statistical interpretation. Current approaches for ST data mining focus on mining totally ordered sequences or unordered subsets. In contrast, our recent work explores partially ordered patterns. Recently, we represented CSTPs as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs); proposed a new interest measure, the cascade participation index (CPI); outlined the general structure of a cascading spatiotemporal pattern miner (CSTPM); evaluated filtering strategies to enhance computational savings using a real-world crime data set and proposed a nested loop-based CSTPM to address the challenge posed by exponential cardinality of candidate patterns. This paper adds to our recent work by offering a new computational insight, namely, that the computational bottleneck for CSTP discovery lies in the interest measure evaluation. With this insight, we propose a new CSTPM based on spatiotemporal partitioning that significantly lowers the cost of interest measure evaluation. Analytical evaluation shows that our new CSTPM is correct and complete. Results from significant amount of new experimental evaluation with both synthetic and real data show that our new ST partitioning-based CSTPM outperforms the CSTPM from our previous work. We also present a case study that verifies the applicability of CSTP discovery process.
Enhancement of IFTP for transmission over wireless access networks

This paper presents a new end-to-end transport protocol designed to enhance the performance of Internet friendly multimedia applications transmitted over a wireless network. This protocol is an enhancement of Internet friendly transport protocol (IFTP) that we designed to alleviate the TCP-friendly problem. Similar to IFTP, the proposed protocol is designed to avoid congestion, as indicated by either retransmission timer expiration or the receipt of multiple duplicate ACKs, by reducing the transmission flow. However, due to the relatively high bit error rate of most wireless mediums, packet drops are often not the result of network congestion. Hence, they result in unnecessary reduction of throughput. The proposed protocol differentiates between packet loss due to congestion and wireless errors and so maintains higher throughput in such environments. In addition, it still maintains its fairness and TCP-friendliness properties.
Representations of semisimple Lie algebras in prime characteristic and the noncommutative Springer resolution

We prove most of Lusztig’s conjectures on the canonical basis in homology of a Springer ber. The conjectures predict that this basis controls numerics of representations of the Lie algebra of a semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed eld of positive characteristic. We check this for almost all characteristics. To this end we construct a noncommutative resolution of the nilpotent cone which is derived equivalent to the Springer resolution. On the one hand, this noncommutative resolution is closely related to the positive characteristic derived localization equivalences obtained earlier by the present authors and Rumynin. On the other hand, it is compatible with the t-structure arising from an equivalence with the derived category of perverse sheaves on the ane ag variety of the Langlands dual group. This equivalence established by Arkhipov and the rst author ts the framework of local geometric Langlands duality. The latter compatibility allows one to apply Frobenius purity theorem to deduce the desired properties of the basis. We expect the noncommutative counterpart of the Springer resolution to be of independent interest from the perspectives of algebraic geometry and geometric Langlands duality.
Microwave tumor detection using a flexible UWB elliptical slot antenna with a tuning uneven U-shape stub on LCP

In this paper, we investigate tumor detection capabilities of the CPW-fed elliptical slot antenna with a tuning uneven U-shape stub on flexible liquid crystal polymer (LCP) in the UWB Microwave range of frequencies. The software "Microstripes" (based on FDTD) is used in our work to develop a realistic breast model and to analyze the tumor response of several tumors with different sizes and orientations.
Computational issues in optimization-based design

In this paper we consider certain features of optimization-based design, wherein the physical laws, expressed as boundary value problems, are incorporated as constraints. One such idea is a modification of the optimization algorithm to include a linearized constraint which effectively reduces the dimensionality. A second approach exploits domain decomposition ideas to analyze the physics on separate domains with compatibility being enforced by the optimization algorithm. Both cases suggest computational approaches that provide significant savings over methods that do not exploit problem structure.
The use of personal protective equipment for control of influenza among critical care clinicians: A survey study.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Identify appropriate personal protective equipment for control of influenza in the intensive care unit. 2. Identify barriers for use of appropriate protective equipment for influenza. 3. Use this information in a clinical setting. Dr. Perl has disclosed that she was the recipient of grants/research funds from Sage, Astellus, and 3M Company; was a consultant/advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement; was/is a stockholder for TheraDoc; received honoraria from TheraDoc, 3M, and Baxter; is the recipient of grants/research funds from Sage; and is a consultant/advisor for Covance. Dr. Rubinson has disclosed that he was the recipient of salary support from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Interagency Positron Agreement. The remaining authors have disclosed that they have no financial relationships with or interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.
A Privacy Assessment Approach for Serviced Oriented Architecture Application

Web services are middle-tier technologies used to access backend applications to perform various operations. Their usage has significantly increased in e-commerce applications since their introduction. Because of their wide usage, security in Web services has become an important point of interest for many. User data provided by users during their transactions with online Web services can be stolen and illegally used. Thus Web service providers have started to strengthen security. This can lead to lack of user privacy. Privacy has received relatively less attention during the growth of information technology. User privacy management needs to be both from the user side and from Web application side. User awareness about information security is the factor for user side privacy management. On the application side, the Web applications must be compliant to privacy policies. In this paper, an approach is designed and implemented for a privacy policy checker engine that automatically verifies and certifies a Web service application based on the levels of overall privacy principle compliance and privacy statement compliance
Advances in Energy Systems Modeling and Control

This paper gives an overview of dynamic modeling for energy systems related to vapor compression cycles. Basic components of these systems are described and equations of state are developed. For the heat exchangers, these equations of state are based on a moving boundary models. A reduction of system model order, and insight into primary dynamic modes, is presented. These reduced order models are an aid to control and diagnostic approaches. After developing the models, a software simulation environment, termed Thermosys, is introduced and used to validate the modeling efforts using a benchtop experimental system. Finally, a brief overview of control strategies is given. The intent is to present the typical controls engineer with a starting point for understanding and controlling these types of systems.
Learning to perform a new movement with robotic assistance: comparison of haptic guidance and visual demonstration

Background: Mechanical guidance with a robotic device is a candidate technique for teaching people desired movement patterns during motor rehabilitation, surgery, and sports training, but it is unclear how effective this approach is as compared to visual demonstration alone. Further, little is known about motor learning and retention involved with either robot-mediated mechanical guidance or visual demonstration alone. Methods: Healthy subjects (n = 20) attempted to reproduce a novel three-dimensional path after practicing it with mechanical guidance from a robot. Subjects viewed their arm as the robot guided it, so this "haptic guidance" training condition provided both somatosensory and visual input. Learning was compared to reproducing the movement following only visual observation of the robot moving along the path, with the hand in the lap (the "visual demonstration" training condition). Retention was assessed periodically by instructing the subjects to reproduce the path without robotic demonstration. Results: Subjects improved in ability to reproduce the path following practice in the haptic guidance or visual demonstration training conditions, as evidenced by a 30–40% decrease in spatial error across 126 movement attempts in each condition. Performance gains were not significantly different between the two techniques, but there was a nearly significant trend for the visual demonstration condition to be better than the haptic guidance condition (p = 0.09). The 95% confidence interval of the mean difference between the techniques was at most 25% of the absolute error in the last cycle. When asked to reproduce the path repeatedly following either training condition, the subjects' performance degraded significantly over the course of a few trials. The tracing errors were not random, but instead were consistent with a systematic evolution toward another path, as if being drawn to an "attractor path". Conclusion: These results indicate that both forms of robotic demonstration can improve shortterm performance of a novel desired path. The availability of both haptic and visual input during the haptic guidance condition did not significantly improve performance compared to visual input alone in the visual demonstration condition. Further, the motor system is inclined to repeat its previous mistakes following just a few movements without robotic demonstration, but these systematic errors can be reduced with periodic training.
The mental health of US Black women: the roles of social context and severe intimate partner violence

Objective Black women continue to have rates of mental health conditions that can be negative for their well-being. This study examined the contribution of social and contextual factors and severe physical intimate partner violence on the mental health of US Black women (African-American and Caribbean Black). Setting Data were largely collected via in-person community interviews at participants’ homes. Participants We studied 3277 African-American and Black Caribbean women from the 2001–2003 National Survey of American Life (NSAL), the largest and most complete sample of Blacks residing in the USA. Primary and secondary outcomes Key outcomes included an array of psychiatric disorders based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Results Bivariate results revealed noticeably high rates of any anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, any substance disorder, alcohol abuse disorder, suicide ideation and attempts, and any overall mental disorder among African-American women relative to Caribbean Black women. Multiple social and contextual factors were associated with various mental disorders among both sets of Black women in multivariate models, with the most consistent associations found for severe physical intimate partner violence. Everyday discrimination was associated with anxiety disorders (95% AOR=2.08 CI 1.23 to 3.51), eating disorders (95% AOR=2.69 CI 1.38 to 5.22), and any disorder (95% AOR=2.18 CI 1.40 to 3.40), while neighbourhood drug problems contributed to mood (95% AOR=1.19 CI 1.04 to 1.36), substance disorders (95% AOR=1.37 CI 1.11 to 1.69) and any disorder (95% AOR=1.18 CI 1.03 to 1.34). Conclusions Severe physical intimate partner violence, discrimination, and to a lesser extent, neighbourhood problems are important predictors of Black women9s health, findings that inform intervention and clinical services tailored to meet the needs of Black women from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Tensor Algebras and Harmonic Analysis

Let U and W be Banach spaces. The complete tensor product with greatest cross norm U \( \hat{ \otimes } \) W is the space obtained as follows. The usual tensor product U ⊗ W is given the norm $$ \left\| {\sum\limits_{{j = 1}}^{m} {{g_{j}}} \otimes{h_{j}}} \right\| = \inf \left\{ {\sum\limits_{{k = 1}}^{P} {{{\left\| {{r_{j}}} \right\|}_{U}}\left\|{{S_{j}}} \right\|} w:\sum\limits_{1}^{P} {{r_{j}}} \otimes {s_{j}} = \sum\limits_{1}^{m}{{g_{j}}} \otimes {h_{{j,}}}1 \leqslant p < \infty } \right\}, $$ , and U \( \hat{\otimes } \) W is the completion of U ⊗ W with respect to that norm.
Light-activated tandem catalysis driven by multicomponent nanomaterials.

Transitioning energy-intensive and environmentally intensive processes toward sustainable conditions is necessary in light of the current global condition. To this end, photocatalytic processes represent new approaches for H2 generation; however, their application toward tandem catalytic reactivity remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that metal oxide materials decorated with noble metal nanoparticles advance visible light photocatalytic activity toward new reactions not typically driven by light. For this, Pd nanoparticles were deposited onto Cu2O cubes to generate a composite structure. Once characterized, their hydrodehalogenation activity was studied via the reductive dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls. To this end, tandem catalytic reactivity was observed with H2 generation via H2O reduction at the Cu2O surface, followed by dehalogenation at the Pd using the in situ generated H2. Such results present methods to achieve sustainable catalytic technologies by advancing photocatalytic appro...
Implications of Vp/Vs ratio on shallow P and S reflection correlation and lithology discrimination

Summary Knowledge of subsurface material response to seismic energy can be important in developing an accurate siteresponse model. Seismic velocities can give insight into ground response and therefore construction requirements. An important aspect of this study is the accurate calculation of Vp/Vs ratio using P-wave and S-wave reflections from the same reflector. Accurate Vp/Vs ratios can give insight into lithology, pore fluid pressure and porosity, as well as engineering characteristics. However, correlating different reflection modes can be difficult due to changes in the bulk modulus not consistent with changes in the shear modulus for the same reflector. This can lead to inaccurate reflection correlation and incorrect Vp/Vs ratios. By utilizing multiple data types in the very near-surface, this study attempts to accurately correlate P-wave and S-wave reflections with reflectors, giving reflector specific rather than interval based calculations for Vp/Vs ratios, which can be used for lithologic interpretation, thus improving site response models.
Differences in Cellular Abnormalities Induced by the Probing Behaviors of Empoasca kraemeri (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) on Tolerant and Susceptible Common Beans

Cellular abnormalities induced by the feeding behavior of Empoasca kraemeri Ross & Moore were studied in 2 tolerant lines ('EMP 84' and 'EMP 392'), an intermediate ('Porrillo sintetico') and a susceptible ('Calima') cultivar of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Groups of two 3- to 4-d-old Female leafhoppers were placed for 3 h in l clip cage per plant, each covering 1cm2 of fully expanded primary laeves, 1 5 dafter planting. Leaf tissues were fixed 48 h after this access period and prepared for light and confocal microscopy. Damage to the leaf lamina in all genotypes included cell emptying and breakage of cell walls, as well as enlarged intercellular spaces in the palisade and spongy parenchyma. In the main vascular bundle, hypertrophied parenchyma cells plus cells with enlarged nuclei and stained nucleoli were observed. In general, cellular damage was less severe in the tolerant lines than in the susceptible genotypes, although more so for EMP 84 than for EMP 392. Morphometry of autofluorescent tracheary elements showed what seems to be a compensatory response to leafhopper attack in the tolerant lines. Although control leaves from tolerant lines had fewer tracheary elements per vascular bundle after leafhopper feeding, EMP 84 had more tracheary elements in damaged tissues. Both tolerant genotypes had tracheary elements with larger internal radii, which increased their estimated relative flow rates. The implications of cellular damage for the onset of hopperburn, in bean as well as other host plants such as alfalfa and potato, and the mechanisms of tolerance are discussed.
Do β-Blockers Really Work for Prevention of Aortic Aneurysms?: Time for Reassessment.

Since 1994, when a small 70-patient study seemed to demonstrate that β-blocker treatment could help prevent aortic aneurysms in patients with Marfan syndrome, β-adrenergic–blocking drugs have been increasingly believed to reduce the progression of aortic aneurysms in the general population with aortic disease. This literature review examines the scientific evidence of this treatment and questions whether β-blocker treatment for aortic aneurysms should continue to be uniformly recommended. Five separate clinical trials studying the effects of β-blockade therapy in patients with Marfan syndrome are analyzed, in addition to four other clinical trials studying the effects of β-blockade therapy in patients without Marfan syndrome. The analysis suggests that the scientific evidence for β-blocker treatment is unconvincing, because β-blockade therapy fails to consistently reduce aortic aneurysm growth in patients with or without Marfan syndrome. It is alarmingly clear that prospective, multicenter clinical trials are greatly needed to test the efficacy of this now conventional therapy in a more robust scientific fashion.
Research on Visualization for Sea Warfare Simulation

To counter the requirement of visualization research for sea warfare simulation system,the key techniques based on Vega Prime and Multi Gren Creator are researched including three-dimensional object modeling sea furface generation,collide detection of OBB hierarchical surrounding tree techniques and electromagnetic information ect.in the article.The visualization system of sea warfare simulation consisted of ship formation,weapon entities of missile etc,space and sea surface environments as well as battlefied effects is constructed.
Sonic hedgehog: a key mediator of anterior-posterior patterning of the limb and dorso-ventral patterning of axial embryonic structures

Sonic hedgehog is expressed in several sites during embryogenesis which are known to be important in directing the development of neighbouring tissues, including Hensen's node, the notochord, the floor plate of the neural tube, and the posterior of the limb bud. A unity in signalling mechanisms utilized by these inducers was first indicated because they all can provide a source of limb polarizing activity, assayed by grafting into the anterior of a limb bud. The hypothesis that they share a common signal is substantiated by the fact that they all express Sonic. Moreover, ectopic expression of Sonic in vivo suggests that it is responsible for the polarizing activity of the ZPA and plays an important role in dorso-ventral patterning of the spinal cord. The isolation of Sonic heralds a new era in the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of these key inductive interactions in vertebrate development.
Effects of sulfate and chloride on three separate oxalate transporters reconstituted from rabbit renal cortex

Understanding the mechanism of sulfate-dependent, oxalate-stimulated chloride reabsorption in the mammalian proximal tubule is complicated by the presence of multiple oxalate and sulfate transport ...
Beating Swords into Swords

Nuclear warheads from Pershing 2 missiles eliminated under INF were converted and scheduled to return to air bases in Europe. The reuse question returned in the strategic arms reduction (START) talks in Geneva, which upon completion will eliminate thousands of weapons over a seven-year period. The US is aware that Soviet warheads are more generic in design than their US counterparts and could be reused to an even greater extent. While defense planners may concoct esoteric needs and characteristics to justify new nuclear weapons requirements, no justification has been offered for these new nuclear bombs entering the stockpile. The hard truth is that the Energy Department needs the work.
Eaves’ First Algorithm

The first algorithms for u.s.c. mappings were developed by Hansen and Scarf [29]. However, it is more natural for us to use triangulations rather than primitive sets, and hence we will describe Eaves’ algorithm [10,12]. Section 1 introduces the crucial notions of vector labelling and complete simplices. Section 2 describes how the problem to be solved, based on V.3.1, is set up. In Section 3 we define a graph Γ similar to the graph Γn of Chapter III. Eaves’ algorithm is presented in Section 4.
The Wauseon Clovis fluted point preform, Northwest Ohio, U.S.A.: Observations, geometric morphometrics, microwear, and toolstone procurement distance

Abstract A Clovis fluted projectile point preform was discovered in 2006 from a freshly plowed farm field northwest of Wauseon in Fulton County, Ohio. We present here observations of the specimen's flake-scar patterning and production, geometric morphometrics, microwear, as well as visual raw material identifications and straight-line and least-cost stone source distances. Overall, our examination is consistent with two hypotheses. First, central Ohio toolstones served as an important Clovis raw material for the northwesterly tri-state area of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, more than 230 km away. Second, Clovis colonizers of the Lower Great Lakes geared up and prepared well enough that they could afford to discard an unbroken, sizable specimen such as the Wauseon Clovis preform. We conclude with a possible explanation for why the preform was discarded.
Assessing a 10-Year Experiment in Community Journalism Education:

This study assesses the degree to which graduates of a 10-year-old master’s program in community journalism have been aiding the “process of community” by helping citizens negotiate community struc...
NEW ANALYTICAL FORMULA FOR DANCOFF CORRECTION FOR CYLINDRICAL FUEL LATTICES

The Dancoff correction has an important role in the calr moderated lattices. By use of the method of Dancoff and Ginsburg, it is shown how to take account of the shadowing of distant neighbors by near neighbors. Although these results are in good agreement with Monte Carlo calculations, the method is very complicated and laborious. A new approximate analytical formula for the Dancoff correction is developed which is much simpler and which gives good agreement with the Monte Carlo results. (auth)
Enhanced atrazine degradation is widespread across the United States

Background Atrazine (ATZ) has been a key herbicide for annual weed control in corn, with both a soil and post-emergence vegetation application period. Although enhanced ATZ degradation in soil with a history of ATZ use has been reported, the extent and rate of degradation in the US Corn Belt is uncertain. We show that enhanced ATZ degradation exists across much of the country. Results Soils from 15 of 16 surveyed states had enhanced ATZ degradation. The average ATZ half-life was only 2.3 days in ATZ history soils, compared with an average 14.5 days in soils with no previous ATZ use, meaning that ATZ degrades an average 6 times faster in soils with previous ATZ use. Conclusion When ATZ is used for several years, enhanced degradation will undoubtedly change the way ATZ is used in agronomic crops and also its ultimate environmental fate. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Design Levels for Distance and Online Learning

This chapter describes a multi-level design process for online and distance learning programs that builds on a philosophical base grounded in learning theory, instructional design, and the principles of the process of change. This chapter does the following: (1) describes a six-level design process promoting congruency and consistency at the institution, infrastructure, program, course, activity and assessment level; (2) describes a conceptual framework for designing online and distance learning programs; and (3) suggests a set of principles and questions derived from that framework. The principles are derived from the Vygotskian theory of cognition that focuses on four core elements of any teaching and learning experience — the learner, the faculty/teacher/mentor, the content /knowledge /skill to be acquired/or problem to be solved, and the environment or context within which the experience will occur. This chapter includes a set of principle-based questions for designing effective and efficient online and distance learning programs. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com INFORMATION SCIENCE PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, Distance Learning and University Effectiveness: Changing Educational Paradigms for Online Learning, edited by Caroline Howard, Karen Schenk, and Richard Discenza. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
Theodosia's ears don't lie

Alphonse Bertillon created anthropometry, an identification system based on physical measurement of various human body parts - including the ear. It is an identification system based on physical measurement of humans.
Thrombocytopenia and Neurosurgery: A Literature Review

Introduction The absence of evidence-based guidelines for platelet transfusion surrounding invasive neurosurgical procedures leads to uncertainty in management. Multiple studies have illuminated this lack of high quality data, and subsequent reliance on expert opinion. The generally accepted threshold for platelet transfusion has hovered around 100,000/μL. Methods We have conducted a review of available clinical literature to identify any evidence that may support or refute these general guidelines, in an attempt to clarify the need for platelet transfusion in the patient requiring neurosurgical intervention. Results The available evidence is sparse and of low quality, but suggests that a platelet count
Abstract IA30: CXCL1 is critical for pre-metastatic niche formation and metastasis in colorectal cancer

Emerging evidence suggests that once a primary tumor forms it can then influence the development of a supportive metastatic microenvironment, referred to as pre-metastatic niches, in certain distant organs before arrival of metastatic cells. However, the mechanisms underlying the contributions of the primary tumor to pre-metastatic niche formation are not fully understood. Here we demonstrate that colorectal carcinoma cells secrete VEGF-A that stimulates tumor-associated macrophages to produce CXCL1 in the primary tumor. Elevation of CXCL1 in pre-metastatic liver tissue recruits CXCR2-positive myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to form a pre-metastatic niche that ultimately promotes liver metastases. Importantly, we found that pre-metastatic liver-infiltrating MDSCs induce tumor cell survival without involvement of the innate or adaptive immune responses. Our study provides the first evidence we know of showing that primary malignant cell-secreted VEGF-A stimulates tumor-associated macrophages to produce CXCL1 that recruits CXCR2-positive MDSCs to form a pre-metastatic niche which promotes liver metastases. Our findings not only reveal a novel mechanism by which the interactions of malignant cells with their stromal counterparts in the primary tumor contribute to the formation of a pre-metastatic niche that favors tumor cell survival, but also provides a rational for development of CXCR2 antagonists to inhibit or prevent metastatic spread of disease. Citation Format: Raymond N. DuBois. CXCL1 is critical for pre-metastatic niche formation and metastasis in colorectal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR International Conference: New Frontiers in Cancer Research; 2017 Jan 18-22; Cape Town, South Africa. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(22 Suppl):Abstract nr IA30.
The Kullback-Leibler rate metric for comparing dynamical systems

This paper is concerned with information theoretic “metrics“ for comparing two dynamical systems. Following the recent work of Tryphon Georgiou [1], we outline a prediction (filtering) based approach to do so. Central to the considerations of this paper is the notion of uncertainty. In particular, we compare systems in terms of additional uncertainty that results for the prediction problem with an incorrect choice of the model. While [1] used variance of the prediction error, we quantify the extra uncertainty in terms of the Kullback-Leibler divergence rate. This metric is closely related to the classical Bode formula in control theory and we provide detailed comparison to the variance based metric.
Nonparametric Stopping Rules for Detecting Small Changes in Location and Scale Families

Nonparametric analogues of the Page-CUSUM procedure are constructed for sequential detection of location change in a distribution known to be symmetric about 0 and for detecting location change or scale change in an arbitrary unknown distribution. These stopping rules are defined on doubly-indexed stochastic processes whose weak limits are derived when there is no change and when there is a contiguous change. New fluctuation inequalities for rank sums are derived for proving tightness of these processes. In terms of these convergence properties, the nonparametric stopping rules are asymptotically equivalent to their parametric counterparts if the score functions used in both procedures are appropriate for the true density, but even otherwise, the nonparametric rules maintain their false alarm rates (due to the distribution-free property of ranks in the null case) and have good detection properties. The weak convergence results also show how the drift terms, which set in after a change occurs, and drive the underlying processes towards the decision boundary, slow down under model misspecification for both the parametric and the nonparametric procedures.
Behavioral Risk Factors and Regional Variation in Cardiovascular Health Care and Death

Introduction Reducing the burden of death from cardiovascular disease includes risk factor reduction and medical interventions. Methods This was an observational analysis at the hospital service area (HSA) level, to examine regional variation and relationships between behavioral risks, health services utilization, and cardiovascular disease mortality (the outcome of interest). HSA-level prevalence of cardiovascular disease behavioral risks (smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity) were calculated from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; HSA-level rates of stress tests, diagnostic cardiac catheterization, and revascularization from a statewide multi-payer claims data set from Maine in 2013 (with 606,260 patients aged ≥35 years), and deaths from state death certificate data. Analyses were done in 2016. Results There were marked differences across 32 Maine HSAs in behavioral risks: smoking (12.4%–28.6%); poor diet (43.6%–73.0%); and physical inactivity (16.4%–37.9%). After adjustment for behavioral risks, rates of utilization varied by HSA: stress tests (28.2–62.4 per 1,000 person-years, coefficient of variation=17.5); diagnostic cardiac catheterization (10.0–19.8 per 1,000 person-years, coefficient of variation=17.3); and revascularization (4.6–6.2 per 1,000 person-years; coefficient of variation=9.1). Strong HSA-level associations between behavioral risk factors and cardiovascular disease mortality were observed: smoking (R2=0.52); poor diet (R2=0.38); and physical inactivity (R2=0.35), and no association between revascularization and cardiovascular disease mortality after adjustment for behavioral risk factors (R2=0.02). HSA-level behavioral risk factors were also strongly associated with all-cause mortality: smoking (R2=0.57); poor diet (R2=0.49); and physical inactivity (R2=0.46). Conclusions There is substantial regional variation in behavioral risks and cardiac utilization. Behavioral risk factors are associated with cardiovascular disease mortality regionally, whereas revascularization is not. Efforts to reduce cardiovascular disease mortality in populations should focus on prevention efforts targeting modifiable risk factors.
A novel 6-axis hybrid additive-subtractive manufacturing process: Design and case studies

Abstract Additive manufacturing has been employed in numerous areas owing to its advantages of fabricating complex geometries and creating less material waste. Nevertheless, parts manufactured by additive manufacturing processes tend to have poor surface quality and low dimensional accuracy. To overcome the limitations of additive manufacturing technologies, the favorable capabilities of subtractive manufacturing, i.e., high surface quality, can be integrated to form a hybrid process. A novel 6-axis hybrid additive-subtractive manufacturing process is proposed and developed in this paper. The hybrid process is realized using a six degrees of freedom (DOF) robot arm, equipped with multiple changeable heads and an integrated manufacturing platform. Based on the obtained results from different case studies, the hybrid additive-subtractive process has shown to have potentials in reducing production time, fabricating parts with better surface quality by removing the staircase error, manufacturing high quality freeform surfaces through the dynamic adjustment of tool axis direction, and eliminating the need for support structure because of the 6-DOF flexibility.
Porous Polymeric Orthopedic Implants

The use of polymer sponges as non-weight-bearing bone prostheses has received some degree of investigation. Encouraged by reports on the successful use of polyvinyl sponge, a polymer made by treating polyvinyl alcohol with formaldehyde and sulfuric acid, Struthers [1] in 1955, tested its compatibility with soft tissue and bone. Using nine young adult dogs, he placed the material in the periosteal bed of the ribs, the sternum, and in the rectus abdominis muscle. He reported that bone ingrowth occurred within four weeks of implantation, and that the addition of chips or small particles of autogenous bone to the implant increased the extent of ingrowth. Histologic evaluation revealed that no foreign body reaction had occurred up to a period of 20 weeks after implantation.
Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis as a Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Opinions have changed many times during the past several decades as to whether experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a good model of multiple sclerosis (MS) or not. It is not likely today that everyone’s thoughts are synchronized, indeed probably quite likely that each of us has retained our first or last impression based on thoughts of several or many years ago. Since the situation has changed rapidly in the last few years, I welcome this opportunity to try to bring everyone up to speed. I hope that I can convince most of you that EAE is a good, perhaps even a perfect, model of MS (Fig. 1) — but we must be careful in defining just which form of EAE we are talking about.
Use of Oral Aprepitant for the Management of Nausea with Inpatient Intravenous Dihydroergotamine (DHE) Use (S40.006)

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of oral aprepitant in controlling nausea associated with intravenous dihydroergotamine administered for medically-refractory migraine. BACKGROUND: Intravenous DHE is an effective acute treatment for migraine. Nausea is a common side effect of DHE and its control is associated with better headache outcome. Aprepitant is a selective antagonist of the neurokinin-1 receptor that mitigates the emetic effects of substance P. It is used in the prevention of postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea, but has not been previously studied in the prevention of DHE-related nausea. DESIGN/METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with migrainous disorders who were admitted to the UCSF Headache Center for a five-day course of intravenous DHE (cumulative dose 11.25mg) and received oral aprepitant as adjunctive anti-emetic therapy due to refractory nausea. Peak and average daily nausea scores were determined pre- and post- aprepitant from patients9 hourly diaries. The efficacy of aprepitant was assessed via the following parameters: reduction in either average or peak daily nausea rating, cessation of emesis, and ≥50% reduction in the number of PRN anti-nausea medications. RESULTS: A total of fourteen cases were identified, with admission diagnoses of chronic migraine, medication overuse, and New Daily Persistent Headache of a migrainous type. In all patients, aprepitant was effective in reducing nausea in at least one of the three outcome measures. Four patients (29%) demonstrated a response in all parameters. In all patients who developed emesis (n=8), the addition of aprepitant resulted in cessation of emesis. No side effects from aprepitant were reported by any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Oral aprepitant appears to be a novel, effective, and well-tolerated treatment for controlling nausea and vomiting related to intravenous DHE. Confirmation of our findings through further prospective studies would improve current intravenous DHE protocols for the treatment of refractory headache. Disclosure: Dr. Chou has nothing to disclose. Dr. Goadsby has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Colucid, MAP pharmaceuticals, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, eNeura, Neuroaxon, Autonomic Technologies Inc, Boston Scientific, Eli-Lilly, Medtronic, Linde gases, Arteaus, AlderBio and BristolMyerSquibb. Dr. Goadsby has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Journal Watch Neurology and for developing educational materials for the American Headache Society. Dr. Goadsby has received research support from GlaxoSmithKline, MAP, MSD, eNeura, and Amgen.
Conditions of Formation and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Lower Pliocene Sediments of the Absheron–Balkhan Uplift Zone: Evidence from Geochemical Indicators

Abstract—Conditions of formation of the Lower Pliocene sediments of the South Caspian Basin (SCB)—the Productive (PS) and Red-Colored (RS) sequences—were reconstructed by the example of the Absheron–Balkhan uplift zone using a complex of widely known geochemical criteria: major oxide and trace element ratios. The common and distinctive features of the conditions of formation of PS and RS are identified. It is established that PS sediments were formed under more oxidizing conditions than RS sediments and that the brownish–red coloration of RS is of diagenetic nature. The low hydrocarbon (HC) potential of PS–RS was confirmed by the pyrolysis method. It is shown that these sediments, being formed in deltaic and coastal–marine conditions, are characterized by the low quality of organic matter (OM), which is ascribed to the type 3 and consists of redeposited remains of wood plants with insignificant admixture of amorphous and algal organics. Results obtained for the Absheron–Balkhan zone are well consistent with the existing concepts on the conditions of formation of the Lower Pliocene sediments, which are the major reservoir of the SCB HC resources.
Epigenetic modification: a regulatory mechanism in essential hypertension

Essential hypertension (EH) is a multifactorial disease of the cardiovascular system that is influenced by the interplay of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. The molecular dynamics underlying EH etiopathogenesis is unknown; however, earlier studies have revealed EH-associated genetic variants. Nevertheless, this finding alone is not sufficient to explain the variability in blood pressure, suggesting that other risk factors are involved, such as epigenetic modifications. Therefore, this review highlights the potential contribution of well-defined epigenetic mechanisms in EH, specifically, DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, and microRNAs. We further emphasize global and gene-specific DNA methylation as one of the most well-studied hallmarks among all epigenetic modifications in EH. In addition, post-translational histone modifications, such as methylation, acetylation, and phosphorylation, are described as important epigenetic markers associated with EH. Finally, we discuss microRNAs that affect blood pressure by regulating master genes such as those implicated in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. These epigenetic modifications, which appear to contribute to various cardiovascular diseases, including EH, may be a promising research area for the development of novel future strategies for EH prevention and therapeutics.
Percutaneous management of malignant biliary disease

Percutaneous biliary interventions have established their role in the management of benign and malignant biliary disease. There are limited data comparing procedures performed by gastroenterologists and interventional radiologists in managing malignant biliary obstruction. Endoscopic procedures performed by gastroenterologists are not completely benign with reported complications ranging from 2% to 15%. It is important that gastroenterologists and interventional radiologists collaborate to form algorithms for management of malignant biliary obstruction which provide safe and efficacious care to these patients.