cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Human Knowledge as the Foundation of Science

In the introduction to his book Quantum Theory and Reality the philosopher of science Mario Bunge (1967, p. 4) said: The physicist of the latest generation is operationalist all right, but usually he does not know, and refuses to believe, that the original Copenhagen interpretation – which he thinks he supports – was squarely subjectivist, i.e., nonphysical.
Laparoscopic Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh Repair

Different types of hernia repairs have been used in the past century; however, modern hernia repair begins with Edoardo Bassini in the late nineteenth century. Many variations were developed following his original contribution, all of which were anterior approaches for the solution of this old problem. Posterior or preperitoneal approaches by Cheatle and Henry appeared later and were popularized by Nyhus et al. Nonabsorbable prosthetic mesh now plays a major role in hernia repair, allowing a tension-free result and providing a matrix for tissue ingrowth and replacement.
Characterization of the nestin-driven-GFP (ND-GFP) nude mouse and its uses in cancer research

1071 In stress responses induced by a wide variety of DNA-damaging treatments and other cellular stressors, transcription of the bZip transcription factor ATF3 is robustly induced. Transgenic overexpression of the human ATF3 gene in keratin 5 (K5)-expressing murine epithelia led to a sparse-hair phenotype and aberrantly large hair follicles, but no skin tumors were observed in female BK5.ATF3 mice monitored for 15 months. However, when female BK5.ATF3 mice were bred and allowed to raise progeny, mammary carcinomas arose after one or two litters; mammary tumor incidence reached about 80% by 15 months of age. At the same age, mammary tumor incidence was less than 5% in non-transgenic, biparous littermates and in virgin BK5.ATF3 females. The majority of mammary tumors were carcinomas with prominent squamous metaplasia. Both K5 and ATF3 were expressed in myoepithelial cells of the transgenic mammary gland; by immunohistochemistry the majority of the transgenic ATF3 was confined to the nucleus. Mammary tumor cells expressed keratins K5, K6 and K8, suggesting that the target cells for tumorigenesis were either myoepithelial cells which subsequently exhibited transdifferentiation, or that relatively undifferentiated “stem-like” cells were the targets for malignant conversion. In addition, immunohistochemistry demonstrated overexpression of the tumor suppressor protein p53 in all BK5.ATF3 mammary carcinomas. Global gene expression analyses in human breast tumor samples have demonstrated substantial overexpression of ATF3. Taken together, these results suggest the possibility that ATF3 acts as an oncogene in the genesis of human breast cancer.
Exosome labeling by lipophilic dye PKH26 results in significant increase in vesicle size

Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane vesicles secreted by cells and distributed widely in all biofluids. EVs can modulate the biological activities of cells in a paracrine or endocrine manner, in part by transferring their content, such as miRNA, following uptake in recipient cells. Fluorescent labelling of EVs is a commonly used technique for understanding their cellular targeting and biodistribution. Lipophilic fluorescent dyes such as those in the PKH family have been widely used for EV labelling. One concern with the use of lipophilic dyes is an increase in the EV size. This size shift alone may undermine the validity of EVs tracing studies as small changes in the size of inorganic nanoparticles are known to affect their cellular uptake and biodistribution. Here, the possibility of minimizing the size shift of PKH labelled EVs was systematically studied by changing the labelling condition. Unfortunately, the size shift towards larger particles was observed in all the PKH labelling conditions, including those where the labelled EVs were below the fluorescent detection limit. As opposed to lipophilic dyes, no significant shift in the size of labelled EVs was detected with protein binding dyes. Since the size shifts identified in all the PKH labelling conditions are likely to affect the cellular uptake and biodistribution, PKH may not be a reliable technique for EVs tracking.
Temporal Logic Optimal Control for Large-Scale Multi-Robot Systems: 10 400 States and Beyond

This paper proposes a new optimal control synthesis algorithm for multi-robot systems with Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) specifications. Existing planning approaches with LTL specifications rely on graph search techniques applied to a product automaton constructed among the robots. In our previous work, we have proposed a more tractable sampling-based algorithm that builds incrementally trees that approximate the state-space and transitions of the synchronous product automaton and does not require sophisticated graph search techniques. Here, we extend our previous work by introducing bias in the sampling process which is guided by transitions in the Buchi automaton that belong to the shortest path to the accepting states. This allows us to synthesize optimal motion plans from product automata with hundreds of orders more states than those that state-of-the-art methods can manipulate. We also show that the proposed algorithm is probabilistically complete and asymptotically optimal.
The Generalized Lasso for Sub-gaussian Observations with Dithered Quantization

In the problem of structured signal recovery from high-dimensional linear observations, it is commonly assumed that full-precision measurements are available. Under this assumption, the recovery performance of the popular Generalized Lasso (G-Lasso) is by now well-established. In this paper, we extend these types of results to the practically relevant settings with quantized measurements. We study two extremes of the quantization schemes, namely, uniform and one-bit quantization; the former imposes no limit on the number of quantization bits, while the second only allows for one bit. In the presence of a uniform dithering signal and when measurement vectors are sub-gaussian, we show that the same algorithm (i.e., the G-Lasso) has favorable recovery guarantees for both uniform and one-bit quantization schemes. Our theoretical results, shed light on the appropriate choice of the range of values of the dithering signal and accurately capture the error dependence on the problem parameters. For example, our error analysis shows that the G-Lasso with one-bit uniformly dithered measurements leads to only a logarithmic rate loss compared to the full- precision measurements.
Differential MicroRNA Expression of miR-21 and miR-155 within Oral Cancer Extracellular Vesicles in Response to Melatonin.

Objective: Extracellular vesicles derived from oral cancer cells, which include Exosomes and Oncosomes, are membranous vesicles secreted into the surrounding extracellular environment. These extracellular vesicles can regulate and modulate oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression through the horizontal transfer of bioactive molecules including proteins, lipids and microRNA (miRNA). The primary objective of this study was to examine the potential to isolate and evaluate extracellular vesicles (including exosomes) from various oral cancer cell lines and to explore potential differences in miRNA content. Methods: The OSCC cell lines SCC9, SCC25 and CAL27 were cultured in DMEM containing 10% exosome-free fetal bovine serum. Cell-culture conditioned media was collected for exosome and extracellular vesicle isolation after 72 h. Isolation was completed using the Total Exosome Isolation reagent (Invitrogen) and extracellular vesicle RNA was purified using the Total Exosome RNA isolation kit (Invitrogen). Extracellular vesicle miRNA content was evaluated using primers specific for miR-16, -21, -133a and -155. Results: Extracellular vesicles were successfully isolated from all three OSCC cell lines and total extracellular vesicle RNA was isolated. Molecular screening using primers specific for several miRNA revealed differential baseline expression among the different cell lines. The addition of melatonin significantly reduced the expression of miR-155 in all of the OSCC extracellular vesicles. However, miR-21 was significantly increased in each of the three OSCC isolates. No significant changes in miR-133a expression were observed under melatonin administration. Conclusions: Although many studies have documented changes in gene expression among various cancers under melatonin administration, few studies have evaluated these effects on microRNAs. These results may be among the first to evaluate the effects of melatonin on microRNA expression in oral cancers, which suggests the differential modulation of specific microRNAs, such as miR-21, miR-133a and miR-155, may be of significant importance when evaluating the mechanisms and pathways involved in melatonin-associated anti-tumor effects.
Long-term emission sampling validation for PCDD/Fs control of compliance to permitted Emission Limit Values at a large sinter plant.

Abstract Continuous sampling of emission into air of dioxins has been one of the targets of Directive 2010/75/EU Of The European Parliament And Of The Council on industrial emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, IED Directive) since year 2010. The present research was aimed at verifying the applicability of a long-term sampling system at the sinter plant of a large steel works in Taranto, Southern Italy, and to perform its validation compared to the standard reference method. Automated long-term samplings of 15 and 30 d were performed in parallel with manual short-term sampling, the latter with a frequency of two per week. Concentrations range was 0.05–0.20 ng I-TEQ/N m3 thus ensuring good coverage around the level of interest of 0.1 ng I-TEQ/N m3, as a typical Emission Limit Value for combustion plants. In addition the long-term device was used for short-time sampling in parallel with manual sampling showing an external variability between ± 0.05 ng I-TEQ/N m3 thus proving to be acceptable. As a result of the successful validation trial the long term emission sampling was enforced as Emission Limit Value official control technique.
Neurospect in Neurotoxic Chemical Exposure Demonstration of Long-Term Functional Abnormalities:

Patients who had experienced well-documented neurotoxic exposure months or years earlier were evaluated. Seventy-two right-handed adults who claimed continuing abnormalities of cognitive and memory function were examined after Xenon-133 inhalation and i.v. HMPAO. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) results were statistically compared with age-matched controls. Bilateral, often asymmetrical, impairment of perfusion was found, mostly in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. This hypoperfusion was predominantly left-sided in young patients and predominantly right-sided in the elderly. Abnormalities were found months and years after neurotoxic exposure had ceased. Our findings suggest that NeuroSPECT can provide evidence of impaired cerebral function and may therefore help to further define neurotoxic exposure and its chronic effects.
Green-Synthesized Nanoparticles Enhanced Seedling Growth, Yield, and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa L.)

Green nanotechnology is rapidly expanding in sustainable precision agriculture that promises to revolutionize food production. In the present study, nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a gre...
Advance Care Planning in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: A Survey of Providers in a Blood & Marrow Transplant Program

Advance care planning (ACP) includes having conversations with loved ones and health care providers regarding health care wishes in various circumstances. It also includes completing advance directives such as a health care power of attorney and living will as well as preparing a will for finances and estate planning. This process helps patients make plans for their future health care goals and is particularly useful when they are unable to make their own medical decisions. ACP in hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) recipients can be particularly challenging, given the treatment's significant morbidity and mortality yet curative potential. (Wang, W. S. et al, 2017). Recognizing this challenge, the Cleveland Clinic Blood and Marrow Transplant Program created a multi-disciplinary committee of social workers, physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), nurse coordinators and nurses to address the gap in ACP for HSCT recipients to improve the overall quality of care provided to patients and families. As part of this initiative, we created a survey to assess perceptions of ACP within the program and comfort level. A confidential, fourteen question survey was created and administered to providers. The survey included questions on: 1) perceptions of the current approach to ACP in our program, 2)the comfort level of the provider in discussing goals of care, prognosis, and code status, 3) provider's current knowledge base and prior training. Open-ended feedback was also elicited. A total of 38 responded to the survey including 15 physicians, 7 APPs, 8 nurse coordinators, 3 social workers, and 3 inpatient nurses. The years of experience ranged from 0.5 to 21 plus years. The majority of providers felt our current approach to ACP was very good (n=11) or good (n=16). While the perception was overall favorable, less than half of the providers (n=14) felt we had adequate training to have goals of care discussions. Only 7 providers report having formal training in goals of care. Despite not having formal training, nearly all (n=37) thought it was important. The survey also assessed comfort level of initiating goals of care discussions, prognosis, and code status. The majority of providers reported feeling comfortable in all these areas: initiating goals of care n=25 (Figure 1), prognosis n=20 (Figure 2), and code status n=22 (Figure 3). Of the 21 who were comfortable initiating goals of care discussions 21 reported initiating these conversations in their clinical practice. Many providers (n= 37) also felt it was appropriate for all members of the team to initiate these discussions. ACP is an important part of HSCT multi-disciplinary care of patients and their families. This survey demonstrates our institution's perceptions of ACP, need for formal training to improve comfort levels, and highlights the need for ACP in HSCT to be approached by a multi-disciplinary team effort.
Firn Properties Affecting Gas Exchange at Summit, Greenland: Ventilation Possibilities

The processes by which chemical species in the atmosphere become incorporated in the firn depend both upon the nature of the forcing from the atmosphere and upon the properties of the firn itself. These processes include both diffusion and advection (the transport of heat, vapor, and chemical species by air flow within the snow and firn). In this paper we present recent field measurements of firn properties relevant to the transport processes, and use simplified model calculations to investigate the possibility of advection at Summit.
Screw Fixation Versus Hemiarthroplasty for Nondisplaced Femoral Neck Fractures in the Elderly: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Objective To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of screw fixation versus hemiarthroplasty for nondisplaced femoral neck fractures in low-demand elderly patients. Methods We constructed a Markov decision model using a low-demand, 80-year-old patient as the base case. Costs, health-state utilities, mortality rates, and transition probabilities were obtained from published literature. The simulation model was cycled until all patients were deceased to estimate lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio with a willingness-to-pay threshold set at $100,000 per QALY. We performed sensitivity analyses to assess our parameter assumptions. Results For the base case, hemiarthroplasty was associated with greater quality of life (2.96 QALYs) compared with screw fixation (2.73 QALYs) with lower cost ($23,467 vs. $25,356). Cost per QALY for hemiarthroplasty was $7925 compared with $9303 in screw fixation. Hemiarthroplasty provided better outcomes at lower cost, indicating dominance over screw fixation. Conclusions Hemiarthroplasty is a cost-effective option compared with screw fixation for the treatment of nondisplaced femoral neck fractures in the low-demand elderly. Medical comorbidities and other factors that impact perioperative mortality should also be considered in the treatment decision. Level of evidence Economic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Cell wall O-acetyl and methyl esterification patterns of leaves reflected in atmospheric emission signatures of acetic acid and methanol

Plants emit high rates of methanol (meOH), generally assumed to derive from pectin demethylation, and this increases during abiotic stress. In contrast, less is known about the emission and source of acetic acid (AA). In this study, Populus trichocarpa (California poplar) leaves in different developmental stages were desiccated and quantified for total meOH and AA emissions together with bulk cell wall acetylation and methylation content. While young leaves showed high emissions of meOH (140 μmol m-2) and AA (42 μmol m-2), emissions were reduced in mature (meOH: 69%, AA: 60%) and old (meOH: 83%, AA: 76%) leaves. In contrast, the ratio of AA/meOH emissions increased with leaf development (young: 35%, mature: 43%, old: 82%), mimicking the pattern of O-acetyl/methyl ester ratios of leaf bulk cell walls (young: 35%, mature: 38%, old: 51%), which is driven by an increase in O-acetyl and decrease in methyl ester content with age. The results are consistent with meOH and AA emission sources from cell wall de-esterification, with young expanding tissues producing highly methylated pectin that is progressively demethyl-esterified. We highlight the quantification of AA/meOH emission ratios as a potential tool for rapid phenotype screening of structural carbohydrate esterification patterns.
Intelligent Auto Technologies Are Here, and Drivers Are Losing Control

Vehicles are being embedded with advanced technological capabilities and we are headed quickly towards completely self-driving cars. These same technologies will also enhance the convenience and safety features in all types of vehicles. The era of intelligent cars is here. Most vehicles manufactured and sold in 2019, that are not economy versions, include some form of adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, collision mitigation, video monitoring of adjacent lane obstructions, heads up display (HUD), and parking assist up to and including self-parking capabilities. With the plethora of new technologies being incorporated into our vehicles that are still controlled by us, how are we managing? According to anecdotal evidence gathered from several Honda dealerships in middle Tennessee many drivers aren’t satisfied with some of these capabilities. This paper attempts to explain the technologies available and in use, and the driver’s thoughts about partial assist technologies that are currently in place. While these features are designed to enhance safety and decrease traffic accidents, are they actually increasing driver safety or simply facilitating driver distraction? NTSB standards and recommendations will be summarized, and a questionnaire developed that helps us examine driver reaction to the technologies embedded in 2019 and 2020 Honda vehicles.
Pareto-efficient acquisition functions for cost-aware Bayesian optimization

Bayesian optimization (BO) is a popular method to optimize expensive black-box functions. It efficiently tunes machine learning algorithms under the implicit assumption that hyperparameter evaluations cost approximately the same. In reality, the cost of evaluating different hyperparameters, be it in terms of time, dollars or energy, can span several orders of magnitude of difference. While a number of heuristics have been proposed to make BO cost-aware, none of these have been proven to work robustly. In this work, we reformulate cost-aware BO in terms of Pareto efficiency and introduce the cost Pareto Front, a mathematical object allowing us to highlight the shortcomings of commonly used acquisition functions. Based on this, we propose a novel Pareto-efficient adaptation of the expected improvement. On 144 real-world black-box function optimization problems we show that our Pareto-efficient acquisition functions significantly outperform previous solutions, bringing up to 50% speed-ups while providing finer control over the cost-accuracy trade-off. We also revisit the common choice of Gaussian process cost models, showing that simple, low-variance cost models predict training times effectively.
Fatal septic embolism due to Staphylococcus lugdunensis-induced bacteremia

Staphylococcus lugdunensis infective endocarditis (IE) is very rare in children. A female neonote presented with fever on the 29th postoperative day after undergoing a modified Norwood procedure (right ventricular–pulmonary artery [RV–PA] conduit). Blood cultures were positive for S. lugdunensis. Echocardiography did not demonstrate vegetation. Therefore, we made a diagnosis of catheter-related bacteremia instead of IE. Cultures were negative 3 days after treatment initiation with intravenous vancomycin. One month after discharge, she developed acute hypoxia and could not be revived because of obstruction of RV–PA conduit with large vegetation. Even in S. lugdunensis bacteremia without IE, surgical treatment should be considered early.
Reactive oxygen species, redox signaling, and regulation of vascular endothelial signaling

Abstract The vascular endothelium functions as a selective barrier between the circulation and body tissues, mediating multiple signal transduction events involved in the acute inflammatory response, angiogenesis, and the regulation of vasomotor tone. The endothelium generates and responds to a variety of signaling molecules; prominent among these are reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are oxygen-containing compounds such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide (O2•−), hydroxyl radical (•OH), and peroxynitrite (ONOO−) generated by the partial or complete reduction of molecular oxygen (O2). Historically, ROS have been described as injurious byproducts of cellular metabolism that are produced in excess in the vascular endothelium during myocardial infarction, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, ischemic stroke, and organ transplantation, contributing to cell death and tissue injury. Work in recent years, however, has begun to identify critical signaling and regulatory roles of certain ROS in the healthy endothelium. Generally, the species generated, the site (intracellular compartment, cell type, and tissue), and the scale of generation likely dictate whether ROS participate in cellular signaling or contribute to oxidative damage.
Addressing depression and behavioral health needs through a digital program at scale

Depression and anxiety disorders are prevalent mental health conditions; yet they are often unrecognized, under-addressed and/or under-treated, and specialty treatment for these conditions is oftentimes difficult to access. By acting either as a bridge to therapy or as a form of therapy, digital tools, such as those that provide internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT), may help clinicians support their patients' mental health needs. At one academic health system, a digital mental health program was deployed in primary care and outpatient behavioral health programs to help patients meet needs identified through screening or clinical visits. Over the first two years of operation, 138 clinicians (40% of eligible clinicians) prescribed the program to 2,228 unique patients, from which 1,117 (48.9%) enrolled. Patients who enrolled tended to be younger and healthier than non-enrollees. On average, enrolled patients spent 114.6 minutes within the iCBT program. Clinical improvement was assessed using pre- and post PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores for depression and anxiety, respectively. Pre/Post scores were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. Patients with at least moderate depression had an average 23% reduction in PHQ-9 scores (median change -3(interquartile range 7), p<0.001) and those with at least moderate anxiety had a 26% reduction in GAD-7 scores (-4(7), p<0.001). Improvements were clinically and statistically significant. Future steps include performing a cost analysis to understand whether models utilizing iCBT are net cost-saving for health systems.
Early life Western diet-induced memory impairments and gut microbiome changes in female rats are long-lasting despite healthy dietary intervention

Objective: Consumption of a Western diet during adolescence results in hippocampus (HPC)- dependent memory impairments and gut microbiome dysbiosis. Whether these adverse outcomes are reversible in adulthood following intervention with a healthy diet is unknown. Here we assessed the short- and long-term effects of adolescent consumption of a Western diet enriched with either sugar alone, or sugar and fat on metabolic outcomes, HPC-dependent memory, and gut microbiota. Methods: Adolescent female rats (PN 26) were fed a standard chow diet (CTL), a chow diet with access to 11% sugar solution (SUG), or a junk food cafeteria-style diet (CAF) containing a variety of fat- and/or sugar-enriched foods. During adulthood (PN 65+), metabolic outcomes, HPC-dependent memory, and gut microbial populations were evaluated both before and after a 5-week dietary intervention period where all groups were fed a diet of water standard chow. Results: Prior to the dietary intervention both the CAF and SUG groups demonstrated impaired HPC-dependent memory, increased adiposity, and altered gut microbial populations relative to controls. However, impaired peripheral glucose regulation was only observed in the SUG group. The dietary intervention reversed the metabolic dysfunction in both the CAF and SUG groups, whereas HPC-dependent memory impairments were reversed in the SUG, but not the CAF group. The composition of the gut microbiota remained distinct from controls in both groups after dietary intervention. Conclusions: While the metabolic impairments associated with adolescent cafeteria diet consumption are reversible in adulthood with dietary intervention, the HPC-dependent memory impairments and the gut microbiome dysbiosis persist.
Real-time Machine Learning-Based CLBF-MPC of Nonlinear Systems

Abstract In this work, a real-time Control Lyapunov-Barrier Function-based model predictive control (CLBF-MPC) system using recurrent neural network (RNN) models is developed for a general class of nonlinear systems to ensure closed-loop stability and operational safety accounting for time-varying disturbances. An RNN model is first constructed for the nominal system (i.e., without disturbances) and utilized in the design of CLBF-MPC to provide state prediction. Subsequently, to improve the closed-loop performance in terms of operational safety and stability in the presence of disturbances, online learning of RNN models is incorporated within the real-time implementation of CLBF-MPC to update the RNN models using the most recent process measurement data. The proposed adaptive machine-learning-based CLBF-MPC method is evaluated using a nonlinear chemical process example.
The Changing Nature of New Employee Orientation: 'Staff Retention and Turnover Reduction' an Empirical Study in the Gambia's Public and Private Sectors

Purpose: One of the major areas on HRM is how to develop employees and get the most efficient out of them by retaining employees and reducing an organization's turnover rate. People leave organizations all the times, depending on various reasons that might be personal and out of the control of the employee, and/or either due to conflict of interest or employees seeking a change in their careers. There are various possible factors of the range of control of the organization. However, it has been observed that organizations can keep their employees longer if they are oriented and well- trained. In this paper, investigation will be on the impact of employees' orientation as a tool towards reducing high turnover rates. Methodology: Both primary and secondary data were used to gather information for this investigation. The secondary data was obtained from articles, blogs, papers online, and textbooks. The questionnaires were sent to respondents electronically via Google forms. A link was produced: Https://forms.gle/GEgBCklkmlkMXmL9 after the survey was built, it was shared amongst respondents with an attached letter of clarification explaining the process of participation which was on voluntary basis. The survey was opened for a span of one week and within a week 144 surveys were filled and submitted above the benchmark which targeted 100 participates. The targeted audience was a random selection of The Gambia’s workforce, there was no specific organization under reviewed. Findings: The Statistics of this survey shows that very few numbers of employees stayed with an organization for more than 5 years of employment which indicates a high turnover. Over 73% of the respondents received orientation prior to job engagement with little and/or less information about how to do their jobs. Whereas, over 27% of employees never received any orientation. Results also show that management does not get involved often in ensuring that their newly hired employees understand what-to-do? And how-to-do-their jobs, rather most employees ended up learning their jobs by themselves. Finally, this survey recorded 38% for employees’ feedback and 66% of the time management does not respond to staff feedback. Feedback is one of the most ideal ways of improvement but management concentrates less on it. On the side of training and development, 42% of the respondents believe that orientation helps in reducing the rate at which people leave an organization. While 36% feel neutral about this statement and 50% of the respondents believe that orientation helps in retaining employees.
Wind Speed and Direction

Environmental assessment of wind speed and direction under field conditions require sensors that are small and rugged yet with low starting speeds and linear response to a wide range of velocities. The WMO, (1971) contains instrument guidelines for many types of routine meteorological measurements, but more sensitive sensors are often needed for air pollution monitoring and environmental measurements. For environmental measurements, the anemometers should generate an electrical signal suitable for transmission and recording. Research needs and wind tunnel studies often require sensitive anemometers with frequency responses as high as 105 Hz.
Theory of Electron-Atom Scattering in a Radiation Field Leonard Rosenberg

Publisher Summary Interest in the theory of electron-atom scattering in a radiation field has increased in recent years as a result of the important role it plays in the study of plasma heating, gas breakdown, and laser-driven fusion. The theory has been a subject of study, particularly in connection with the bremsstrahlung process. Owing to the dominance of stimulated emission and absorption, the theory of scattering in a laser field takes on a form somewhat different from the more familiar theory of spontaneous bremsstrahlung. However, the underlying physics is the same in the two cases, and it is interesting to trace the connections. The chapter emphasizes on the recent developments in the theory of multiphoton processes in electron–atom scattering. It particularly describes the connections that exist between the time-dependent and time-independent versions of the theory, the relationship between the classical and quantum descriptions in the low-frequency limit, and on the unification of the understanding of stimulated and spontaneous multiphoton processes for low-frequency radiation fields.
Exploring the Factors That Shaped the Early Adventist Mission to Jamaica

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the strongest religious organizations in the tropical paradise of Jamaica. With a population of 2.6 million, there are over 220,000 church members, making Jamaica one of the highest per capita areas in the world for Adventist membership. There are three conferences, two missions, and one university with a student body of over 5,000, which makes it the largest Adventist University in the English-speaking world. The country also boasts eight secondary schools, scores of elementary schools, 597 churches, over 112 pastors, and hundreds of other workers employed in various other capacities. By any measurement, Adventism has been tremendously successful in this small country. Such a success story calls for an explanation and an analysis, especially of the formative years, to discover some of the factors that might have contributed to this success. Not much has been published on this topic except for a small book entitled Thy Light Is Come: A Short History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, by Linette Mitchell, and a few unpublished term papers by seminarians at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. Mitchell’s book is a chronological narrative of the development of the Adventist work in Jamaica, focusing on significant people and events
Thermal footprint effect of rooftop urban cooling strategies

Abstract Simulation results indicate that urban morphology plays an important role in determining the efficacy of rooftop urban cooling strategies for improving pedestrian thermal comfort. Results suggest that a white roof has the greatest effect on near-surface air temperatures within the urban canyon when used on buildings of 1–2 stories height and almost no near-surface effect when applied to 4 story buildings. However, the near-surface effect is more substantial when complex urban morphology introduces enhanced vertical mixing. Of the cases studied the largest near-surface cooling benefit of implementing white roofs was found for the case when a taller building existed downwind from a building with a white roof. Using the Thermal Footprint Ratio it was found that by placing a tall building behind a building with a white roof in an otherwise uniform array of 2 story buildings, the cool roof would be twice as effective at reducing air temperatures at the pedestrian level. Calculations of the volumetric heat removal confirmed this result, indicating that the positioning of the tall building downwind of the modified roof would be 2.6 times as effective at cooling the pedestrian level air volume as compared to the case where all buildings were a uniform height.
Dead Reckoning with Smartphone Sensors for Emergency Rooms

‘Lean’ principles are being applied to healthcare to optimize the operating processes. One such tool is the development of ‘spaghetti diagrams’ to track the movement of staff to expose inefficient layouts and identify large distances traveled between key steps in a hospital department or ward. In this paper we report on an automated tool based on smart phone sensors that will record and provide reports on the movement of staff in the emergency room of the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Dead Reckoning also known as Deduced Reckoning, is a process of calculating one’s current position by using a previously determined or known position, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated measurements over elapsed time and course. Most smart phones today come equipped with all the necessary sensors that allow us to design such a system. We have built a prototype system that can track a person from a known location indoors and continue to plot the user’s position and can provide the number of strides the user has taken, the approximate length for each stride and direction of the user with each stride. The prototype system also includes a path correction module that considers the physical objects on a floor map and rules out corrects for paths that intersect physical objects. It has been successfully tested on a laboratory floor of the Computer Science Department of Old Dominion University and the emergency floor of the Children’s Hospital.
Quality of Life of Women with Ovarian Cancer

Abstract The primary objectives of this study were to determine the nature and extent of physical problems and psychological distress experienced by women with ovarian cancer and to identify medical and sociodemographic factors that were predictive of distress. Quality of life was assessed at 3-month intervals, for a maximum of 12 months in 151 ovarian cancer patients, most with advanced-stage disease (86%). Patients' pain, other physical symptoms, level of physical functioning, psychological state, and social functioning were evaluated using the following measures: a detailed pain questionnaire, Memorial Pain Assessment Card, Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, Mental Health Inventory (MHI), Functional Living Index—Cancer (FLIC), and the Karnofsky Performance Status. Upon entry, 33% of patients reported significant psychological distress, as indicated by MHI Psychological Distress scores (MHI-PD) equal or greater to 1.5 standard deviations above the mean of a nationwide community sample. Impaired physical functioning (FLIC subscale) was the most important predictor of heightened psychological distress (MHI-PD) at baseline (1.5 SD or greater above the norm) ( P = 0.0004) in a stepwise logistic regression involving medical/physical and sociodemographic variables as predictors. Further, significant differences were found in all quality of life scales between patients with Karnofsky Performance Status scores of ≤80, and those with ratings of 90 or greater ( P = 0.036 to P
An automated ozone photometer

A photometer capable of automatically measuring ozone concentration data to very high resolution during scientific research flights in the Earth's atmosphere was developed at NASA Ames Research Center. This instrument was recently deployed to study the ozone hole over Antarctica. Ozone is detected by absorbing 253.7-nm radiation from an ultraviolet lamp which shines through the sample of air and impinges on a vacuum phototube. A lower output from the phototube indicates more ozone present in the air sample. The photometer employs a CMOS Z80 microprocessor with an STD bus system for experiment control, data collection, and storage. Data are collected and stored in nonvolatile memory for experiments lasting up to 8 hr. Data are downloaded to a portable ground-support computer and processed after the aircraft lands. An independent single-board computer in the STD bus also calculates ozone concentration in real time with less resolution than the CMOS Z80 system, and sends this value to a cockpit meter to aid the pilot in navigation.
Characterization of parvalbumin and polcalcin divalent ion binding by isothermal titration calorimetry.

Abstract The elucidation of structure-affinity relationships in EF-hand proteins requires a reliable assay of divalent ion affinity. In principle, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) should be capable of furnishing estimates for Ca 2+ - and Mg 2+ -binding constants in these systems. And because the method yields the binding enthalpy directly, ITC can provide a more detailed view of binding energetics than methods that rely on 45 Ca 2+ or fluorescent indicators. For several reasons, however, it is generally not possible to extract reliable binding parameters from single ITC experiments. Ca 2+ affinity is often too high, and Mg 2+ affinity is invariably too low. Moreover, least-squares minimization of multisite systems may not afford a unique fit because of strong parameter correlations. This chapter outlines a strategy for analyzing two-site systems that overcomes these obstacles. The method—which involves simultaneous, or global, least-squares analysis of direct and competitive ITC data—yields binding parameters for both Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ . Application of the method is demonstrated for two systems. The S55D/E59D variant of rat α-parvalbumin, noteworthy for its elevated metal ion affinity, binds divalent ions noncooperatively and is amenable to analysis using an independent two-site model. On the other hand, Phl p 7, a pollen-specific EF-hand protein from timothy grass, binds Ca 2+ with positive cooperativity. Divalent ion-binding data for the protein must be analyzed using a two-site Adair model.
Learning Compressible Models.

In this paper, we study the combination of compression and l1-norm regularization in a machine learning context: learning compressible models. By including a compression operation into the l1 regularization, the assumption on model sparsity is relaxed to compressibility: model coefficients are compressed before being penalized, and sparsity is achieved in a compressed domain rather than the original space. We focus on the design of different compression operations, by which we can encode various compressibility assumptions and inductive biases, e.g., piecewise local smoothness, compacted energy in the frequency domain, and semantic correlation. We show that use of a compression operation provides an opportunity to leverage auxiliary information from various sources, e.g., domain knowledge, coding theories, unlabeled data. We conduct extensive experiments on brain-computer interfacing, handwritten character recognition and text classification. Empirical results show clear improvements in prediction performance by including compression in l1 regularization. We also analyze the learned model coefficients under appropriate compressibility assumptions, which further demonstrate the advantages of learning compressible models instead of sparse models.
On the Correspondence Between Mirror-Twisted Sectors for N = 2 Supersymmetric Vertex Operator Superalgebras of the Form V ⊗ V and N = 1 Ramond Sectors of V

Using recent results of the author along with Vander Werf, we present the classification and construction of mirror-twisted modules for N = 2 supersymmetric vertex operator superalgebras of the form \(V \otimes V\) for the signed transposition mirror map automorphism. In particular, we show that the category of such mirror-twisted sectors for \(V \otimes V\) is isomorphic to the category of N = 1 Ramond sectors for V.
Dismal science, accounting and Newton’s second law : identifying force and rigidity in public expenditure analysis

This paper proposes a new measure of public expenditure force that policy makers and budget analysts should track in detail over time in routine fiscal monitoring. The paper suggests that adopting the measure will not only warn policy makers of possible impending fiscal pressures, but will help them to differentiate between those budgetary pressures that are temporary and those that may require reforms. The main utility of the expenditure force measure will be in country fiscal analysis. Measuring force across the entire budget allows practitioners to monitor and decompose the micro drivers of public spending pressure, watch out for rapidly expanding spending lines, and identify priorities for reform before these pressures lead to macro fiscal problems. Yet by its construct, spending force is internationally comparable, and independent of expenditure levels or spending types. This could allow global monitoring comparisons and global research into the drivers of public spending force across particular types of country characteristics and economic conditions. In time, and as more data become available, researchers can use the force measure to compare and contrast the dynamics of expenditure types across countries. For example the measure can be used to explore what gives some spending types an initial impulse; whether underlying factors cause different public spending categories to grow faster than average, or to accelerate over time; and what successful countries have done to manage rising force without damaging public services. Since force seems to be a decent predictor of fiscal episodes, it is suggested that “speed limits” for spending might be a feasible component of fiscal rules.
Tests of relativity from SN1987A.

The observation of neutrinos and light from the recent supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud has provided us with a wealth of new information, both about stellar collapse and about neutrinos. I point out that, in addition, the nearly simultaneous arrival of the photons and neutrinos after a journey of some 160 000 yr shows that the limiting velocity of electron antineutrinos is equal to that of light to an accuracy \ensuremath{\sim}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}9}$, which is a more stringent test of special relativity than previous Earth-based measurements. It also provides an important new test of relativity and probes the structure of spacetime on intergalactic scales.
Picturing Men and Women in the Chinese 1911 Revolution

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many Han Chinese, under the leadership of Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) and others sought to overthrow the Manchu Qing dynasty. This movement culminated in the Revolution which began in October 1911 and ultimately deposed the Qing imperial household, permitting the establishment of a republican government. As the Revolution progressed, the commercial popular print business, through inexpensive lithographs and woodblock prints, provided citizens with illustrations of important events in the Revolution, as well as portraits of male and female participants. Modern commentary on these prints identifies the subjects depicted, but neglects the artistic elements. To fill this gap, this study examines the artistic aspects of these prints and reveals that the source of the compositional formats lies in well-established formulae, some of which go back to the eighteenth century. For specific portraits of male participants in particular, print designers often relied on current photographs, thus melding old and new. For representations of female military participants, print designers, mostly eschewing photographs of them, provided imaginary portraits, some of which are based on depictions of anonymous women, again, already a part of the print legacy. The prints frequently feature two military women famous at the time, one real (Cao Daoxin) and one fictional (Xu Wuying); this essay explains how and why images of them were so widespread in the popular print media.
Generalized fuzzy c-shells clustering and detection of circular and elliptical boundaries

Abstract The Fuzzy c -Shells (FCS) algorithm and its adaptive generalization, called the Adaptive Fuzzy c -Shells (AFCS) algorithm, are considered for detection of curved boundaries, specifically circular and elliptical. The FCS algorithms utilize hyper-spherical-shells as cluster prototypes. Thus in two dimensions, the prototypes are circles. The AFCS algorithms consider hyper-ellipsoidal-shells as prototypes, hence the ability to characterize elliptical boundaries. The generalization is achieved by allowing the distances to be measured through a norm inducing matrix that is symmetric, positive definite. Each cluster is allowed to have a different matrix, which is made a variable of optimization. The ability of the algorithms to detect circular and elliptical boundaries in two-dimensional data is illustrated through several examples.