cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tracing the evolution of the aggregate U.S. milk supply elasticity using a herd dynamics model

: The U.S. dairy sector is characterized by increasing volatility of milk prices, and consolidation in production as evidenced by declining number of dairy farms with an increasingly larger share of milk supplied from a small number of very large farms. Using aggregate national data, we build a mixed-frequency herd dynamics econometric model of the U.S. milk supply that updates and substantially amends the model first proposed by Chavas and Klemme. We implement a dynamic residual-based bootstrap technique that can be used in testing for changes in nonmarginal simulated long-run supply responsiveness, and trace the evolution of long-run milk supply elasticity from 1975 through 2010. Several papers in the past have suggested that long-run supply elasticity increases with dairy farm size, which implies that increased importance of large farms would increase aggregate long-run supply responsiveness. Contrary to this conclusion, we find a declining trend in long-run supply elasticity from 1975 through 2005. Persistence of such a decline would be a major cause for worry, as ever larger price swings would be needed to equilibrate the market in face of demand shocks. However, we find that milk supply is becoming more responsive since 2005 both to milk and feed price changes. Increasing responsiveness to feed prices further justifies focusing the next generation of the dairy policy instruments on managing dairy profit margins rather than just revenue streams.
Fast Kids, Slow Kids, Lazy Kids: Framing the Mismatch Problem in Mathematics Teachers' Conversations

Abstract This article examines the social nature of teachers' conceptions by showing how teachers frame the “mismatch” of students' perceived abilities and the intended school curriculum through conversational category systems. This study compares the conversations of 2 groups of high school mathematics teachers addressing the Mismatch Problem when implementing equity-geared reforms. Although East High teachers challenged conceptions that were not aligned with a reform, South High teachers reworked a reform mandate to align with their existing conceptions. This research found that the teachers' conversational category systems modeled problems of practice; communicated assumptions about students, subject, and teaching; and were ultimately reflected in the curriculum. Because East High teachers supported greater numbers of students' success in advanced mathematics, this study considers the relation between teachers' understandings of student learning and the success of equity-geared math reforms. In additio...
The Nuclear Family versus the Men's House? A re-examination of Mundurucú Sociality

It has been posited that in communities with residential men's houses there is perforce no nuclear family. This position is examined with reference to the published data on the Mundurucu of Central Brazil. Comparative data are also examined from Oceania and elsewhere. The conclusion is that the two institutions do indeed co-exist in the Mundurucu case.
Multidimensional Analysis of Roll Call Data via Bayesian Simulation: Identification, Estimation, Inference, and Model Checking

Vote-specific parameters are often by-products of roll call analysis, the primary goal being the measurement of legislators’ ideal points. But these vote-specific parameters are more important in higher-dimensional settings: prior restrictions on vote parameters help identify the model, and researchers often have prior beliefs about the nature of the dimensions underlying the proposal space. Bayesian methods provide a straightforward and rigorous way for incorporating these prior beliefs into roll call analysis. I demonstrate this by exploiting the close connections among roll call analysis, item‐response models, and “full-information” factor analysis. Vote-specific discrimination parameters are equivalent to factor loadings, and as in factor analysis, they (1) enable researchers to discern the substantive content of the recovered dimensions, (2) can be used for assessing dimensionality and model checking, and (3) are an obvious vehicle for introducing and testing researchers’ prior beliefs about the dimensions. Bayesian simulation facilitates these uses of discrimination parameters, by simplifying estimation and inference for the massive number of parameters generated by roll call analysis.
American culture and neuro-cognitive enhancing drugs.

Edited byJacquelyn H. Flaskerud, RN, PhD, FAANSchool of Nursing, University of California—Los Angeles, California, USAThe popular media has been giving increased attention recently to the use of ne...
METHOPYRAPONE TESTS IN HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY DISEASE.

This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of the methopyrapone test in disclosing possible abnormalities in ACTH release in patients with central nervous system or pituitary disease who exhibited little or no endocrine impairment. Methopyrapone tests were carried out in 10 patients with primarily hypothalamic disease, and in 14 patients with sellar tumors presenting with primarily visual symptoms. Positive (normal) responses were obtained in 8 of 10 patients with hypothalamic disease and in 10 of 14 patients with pituitary disease. The findings in the patients with hypothalamic disease are in general agreement with other reported series. In contrast, the proportion of positive responses in the pituitary cases is higher than that in previously reported studies. This difference may reflect the absence of prior therapy (surgery or irradiation) to the pituitary area, and /or the lower incidence of endocrinopathy in our patients. In view of these findings, the value of the methopyrapone test in asses...
Anterolateral Thigh (ALT) Free Flap Reconstruction in Western Populations

Results: An ALT flap was explored in 80 of our free flap patients for reconstruction of defects caused by cancers of the head and neck. A total of 71 flaps (89%) were successfully raised without incident. Unilateral ALT exploration using perforators from the descending branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery (LCFA) was less successful compared to bilateral exploration using both descending LCF and alternative flap perforators (89% v 96%, p=0.02). A total of 18 cases required an alternate flap, most commonly the radial forearm (67%) or the rectus (28%) free flaps. Long-term survival of all ALT flaps was 98.7%.
The emergence of content strategy work and recommended resources

In my last column, I wrote about the need for a more integrated view of the field of technical communication. I suggested that the more our field is able to collaborate and integrate with other fields that have a stake in content management (CM), the more our field's unique perspectives, knowledge, and strategies will be recognized for the value they add to the CM discourse. This discourse, which includes a collective of industry conferences, publications, blogs, online discussions and workshops and Webinars, focuses a great deal on how best to integrate organizational and user generated content as well as disciplines and departments, expertise and roles, and business processes and tools.
TRNSHD - A PROGRAM FOR SHADING AND INSOLATION CALCULATIONS

Abstract For analyzing systems with high solar gains it is important that design tools have a reliable and accurate means of predicting the solar radiation on surfaces. Since solar radiation on a surface is often greatly influenced by self-associated facade obstructions, neighbor buildings and the surrounding landscape, a prerequisite of solar modeling is the ability to predict shaded and unshaded building parts as a function of solar position and geometry. This paper introduces a new simulation program called TRNSHD for external shading and internal insolation calculations of buildings. Although TRNSHD was developed for building simulations with TRNSYS, it is a stand-alone tool that is not restricted to either buildings or TRNSYS and thus can be used to solve other shading problems. The program can handle a large variety of surface shapes as well as beam and diffuse radiation. TRNSHD calculations were compared with other algorithms, measurements and proposed European Standard. The validation shows that TRNSHD functions correctly and that the results of TRNSHD are in good agreement with expected values. A complex shading case study of a building with an atrium has been performed by using TRNSHD. The study gives an example of the use of the program and demonstrates its capabilities.
The Neural Basis of Decision Making

The study of decision making spans such varied fields as neuroscience, psychology, economics, statistics, political science, and computer science. Despite this diversity of applications, most decisions share common elements including deliberation and commitment. Here we evaluate recent progress in understanding how these basic elements of decision formation are implemented in the brain. We focus on simple decisions that can be studied in the laboratory but emphasize general principles likely to extend to other settings.
To abolish the law of castes: merit, manhood and the problem of colour in the Puerto Rican liberal movement, 1873–92

Abstract This article traces the involvement of three men of low social rank and partial African ancestry in the evolution of liberal politics in Puerto Rico during the final decades of Spanish colonial rule. In both literary and political writings Ramon Marin, Sotero Figueroa and Francisco Gonzalo Marin argued that social equality should be at the centre of colonial reforms. Yet they construed the question of equality as a matter of unfettered manhood – all men to be judged on their merit not on their rank – rather than as a politics of racial solidarity. Rather than characterize this emphasis as ‘silence’ on matters of race imposed by elite liberalism, this article seeks to understand this egalitarian variant of Puerto Rican liberalism on its own terms. It situates these authors within three overlapping contexts: a colonial state that was ambivalent about race; a liberal movement built on fragile alliances that included artisans and men of lower-middle status; and complex local systems of social accepta...
Electrification of New Mexico Thunderstorms

Abstract The authors use a numerical model of early electrification in thunderstorms, together with observations of a series of summer thunderstorms in New Mexico, to understand the roles of certain environmental factors in determining thunderstorm electrification. The results suggest that development of lightning depends sensitively on τcz, the duration of significant updrafts in the charging zone between −10deg; and −25°C. Model tests suggest that τcz is maximized for moderate cloud-base forcing and that τcz depends on environmental parameters in predictable ways. These results are used to investigate the relationships between lightning evolution and several functions of environmental quantities that have been suggested as lightning predictors.
Unraveling the complexity of iron oxides at high pressure and temperature: Synthesis of Fe5O6

The iron-oxygen system is the most important reference of rocks' redox state. Even as minor components, iron oxides can play a critical role in redox equilibria, which affect the speciation of the fluid phases chemical differentiation, melting, and physical properties. Until our recent finding of Fe4O5, iron oxides were assumed to comprise only the polymorphs of FeO, Fe3O4, and Fe2O3. Combining synthesis at high pressure and temperature with microdiffraction mapping, we have identified yet another distinct iron oxide, Fe5O6. The new compound, which has an orthorhombic structure, was obtained in the pressure range from 10 to 20 GPa upon laser heating mixtures of iron and hematite at ~2000 K, and is recoverable to ambient conditions. The high-pressure orthorhombic iron oxides Fe5O6, Fe4O5, and h-Fe3O4 display similar iron coordination geometries and structural arrangements, and indeed exhibit coherent systematic behavior of crystallographic parameters and compressibility. Fe5O6, along with FeO and Fe4O5, is a candidate key minor phase of planetary interiors; as such, it is of major petrological and geochemical importance. We are revealing an unforeseen complexity in the Fe-O system with four different compounds-FeO, Fe5O6, Fe4O5, and h-Fe3O4-in a narrow compositional range (0.75 < Fe/O < 1.0). New, finely spaced oxygen buffers at conditions of the Earth's mantle can be defined.
Effect of fungicide seed treatments on Fusarium virguliforme infection of soybean and development of sudden death syndrome

AbstractSudden death syndrome (SDS), caused by Fusarium virguliforme (Fv), is a major yield-limiting disease of soybean in North America. Infection of soybean seedling roots by Fv results in severe root damage; therefore, fungicide seed treatments could potentially reduce these early-season infections and reduce severity of foliar symptoms that typically occur later in the season. Multiple fungicide seed treatment combinations were evaluated for their effects on Fv infection, DNA concentrations in roots, soybean root development, and SDS development in the field, greenhouse and laboratory trials. Several seed treatments decreased root disease symptoms compared with the non-treated inoculated control in the laboratory assay, and the biological seed treatment, Bacillus pumilus, significantly decreased seedling development and increased SDS root disease compared with the non-treated inoculated control. In the greenhouse, Fv DNA concentrations in roots were reduced by a treatment combining mefenoxam + thiopha...
Blood, Land, and Sex: Legal Pluralism in Eritrea

In their ethnography Blood, Land and Sex: Legal and Political Pluralism in Eritrea, Lyda Favali and Roy Pateman analyze legal pluralism and its practical feasibility in Eritrea. They do this by examining the customary Eritrean codes of blood feud and vengeance, land dispute, and gender relations. However, Blood, Land and Sex advocates a pluralistic system in a country that, until recently, was exceedingly distorted by Ethiopia’s colonization. This condition is ignored in the work, except as simplified within a discussion of land disputes. The authors thus fail to acknowledge that the newly independent Eritrea lacks procedural resources such as lawyers, judges, and systems for trial, all necessary for the effective creation and application of law. These shortages may not only create gaps between Eritrea’s legal aspirations and their implementation, but may hinder the development of those ideals themselves.
Hydraulic Capacity of an ADA Compliant Street Drain Grate

Resurfacing of urban roads with concurrent repairs and replacement of sections of curb and sidewalk may require pedestrian ramps that are compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and when street drains are in close proximity to the walkway, ADA compliant street grates may also be required. The Minnesota Department of Transportation ADA Operations Unit identified a foundry with an available grate that meets ADA requirements. Argonne National Laboratory’s Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center used full scale three dimensional computational fluid dynamics to determine the performance of the ADA compliant grate and compared it to that of a standard vane grate. Analysis of a parametric set of cases was carried out, including variation in longitudinal, gutter, and cross street slopes and the water spread from the curb. The performance of the grates was characterized by the fraction of the total volume flow approaching the grate from the upstream that was captured by the grate and diverted into the catch basin. The fraction of the total flow entering over the grate from the side and the fraction of flow directly over a grate diverted into the catch basin were also quantities of interest that aid in understanding the differences in more » performance of the grates. The ADA compliant grate performance lagged that of the vane grate, increasingly so as upstream Reynolds number increased. The major factor leading to the performance difference between the two grates was the fraction of flow directly over the grates that is captured by the grates. « less
Fast: a flexible architecture for simulation and testing of multiprocessor and cmp systems

Empowered by the virtually endless supply of transistors provided by today's leading-edge silicon process technology, computer architects seem to have an infinite number of design possibilities at their disposal. At the same time, the diminishing returns of instruction level parallelism (ILP) have forced designers to utilize designs embracing thread level parallelism (TLP). As a result, new CMP designs try to connect multiple processors using novel memory system designs instead of making larger and more complex uniprocessors. Unfortunately, these CMPs cannot be easily explored and evaluated using existing software-only simulations tools. Historically, software simulation has been the vehicle of choice for studying computer architecture because of its flexibility and low cost. Regrettably, designers of software simulators must choose between building simulators that provide either high performance or detailed hardware emulation. Building actual hardware, in contrast, provides high performance and accurate results, but lacks the flexibility to explore multiple designs and is very expensive. These tradeoffs have impeded our ability to thoroughly explore and evaluate new computer architectures. This dissertation describes the architecture, implementation and evaluation of a simple prototype. This proof of concept is implemented on a new hybrid hardware prototyping platform enabled by integrating a variety of hardware components on a printed circuit board (PCB) to implement Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) or Multiprocessor (MP) systems. The Flexible Architecture for Simulation and Testing (FAST) combines the flexibility of software simulation with the accuracy and speed of a hardware implementation enabling computer architects to implement new multithreaded, multiprocessor, or CMP architectures for in-depth evaluation and software development. This is accomplished by combining dedicated microprocessor chips and SRAMs with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), enabling FAST to operate at hardware speeds, yet still have the ability to emulate the latency and bandwidth characteristics of a modern CMP architecture. FAST provides the foundation for future TLP-focused computer architecture research and software development that is currently not possible or practical using software-only or hardware-only solutions.
Magnetically‐Channeled SIEC Array (MCSA) Fusion Device for Interplanetary Missions

A radical new Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) concept, the Magnetically‐Channeled Spherical‐IEC Array (MCSA) fusion propulsion system, was proposed earlier for use in the high performance Space Ship II fusion propulsion ship (Burton, 2003). This ship was designed for a fast manned round trip mission to Jupiter. The MCSA fusion power plant represents a key enabling technology needed for this mission. The details of the proposed MCSA design are presented here, along with a discussion of some possible experiments that could be performed to confirm key physics aspects.
DO IMAGE-FORMING EYES PROMOTE EVOLUTIONARY DIVERSIFICATION?

It has been suggested that image-forming eyes promote the evolutionary diversification (measured by species richness) of the groups that possess them. Several different processes could give rise to this effect, including diversifying selection in a new adaptive zone (or zones) and a reduced rate of extinction due to enhanced competitive abilities. I tested the generality of the hypothesis that imaging eyes increase net speciation by comparing extant species numbers of 12 groups that have such eyes (as categorized by Land and Fernald 1992) with those of their cladistic sister groups that lack such organs. Even assuming the published hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships that most favor increased net speciation of visual groups, these comparisons show no significant association between imaging eyes and species richness. Increased activity, as indicated by published accounts of locomotory speed, is significantly associated with the evolution of image-forming eyes. This suggests that a large "visual adaptive zone" might be characterized by relatively high activity. However, when diversity comparisons are limited to eight cases in which the evolution of imaging eyes is associated with increased activity, there is still no significant association between such eyes and species richness. The fossil record indicates that the only visual groups that have undergone major evolutionary radiations evolved imaging eyes early in the history of metazoans (before the Silurian). The radiations of these early groups may have largely filled up niches for visual animals and thus prevented the subsequent proliferation of other groups with image-forming eyes. Alternatively, it may be that image-forming eyes have no exceptional effect on diversification or that their effects are obscured by other factors in the long run.
Ab initio based model for high temperature nitrogen rovibrational excitation and dissociation

We present DMS calculations to investigate vibrational excitation and dissociation in molecular nitrogen, including both N 3 and N 4 processes and under strong nonequilibrium conditions. A preliminary constitutive model is also described and parameterized with the available DMS results. The analysis of vibrational energy distributions obtained with DMS shows that high vibrational energy states are immediately populated in the initial stages of the dissociation process, due to the very energetic nature of the molecular collisions. Throughout the excitation process, distributions remain highly nonequilibrium and generally have a strong bimodal character. Quite interestingly, the pre-collision distributions of molecules undergoing dissociation rapidly converge toward the QSS distribution, even in the early portion of the excitation. This may suggest that, once high-v states become sufficiently populated, the dissociation process is effectively initiated. Hence, we introduce the idea of a critical vibrational incubation temperature Tc,v to account for the excitation of the high energy tails of the system distribution f(v). If Tv < Tc,v, little to no dissociation occurs, even at very high translational temperatures. Once high-v states are sufficiently populated (Tv ≃ Tc,v), then dissociation proceeds at a rate controlled by a combination of Tt and Tv (and, in principle, Tr). A preliminary model for nitrogen vibrational excitation and dissociation is proposed here based on the analysis of the DMS results. The new model reproduces particularly well both energy and composition history, including the slower initial dissociation (incubation period), for the vibrational excitation and dissociation process simulated with DMS from several initial conditions. Furthermore, it also describes the QSS state, characterized by Tv < Tt.
Hegemony, instabilities, and interventions: a special issue on discourses of war and peace

ABSTRACTThe special issue of the Journal of Multicultural Discourses on discourses of war and peace, 70 years after the end of World War II, is introduced by discussing war culture as resilient but also unstable and subject to transformation. The special issue features six papers, each a distinct discursive intervention on topics that range from the mythic narrative of US insecurity to strategies of rhetorical bypassing, British colonial nostalgia, marginalized veterans of the Malvinas war, US military veterans waging peace, and characterizations of peace in Israeli children's periodicals. Together these six papers reveal the artificiality of naturalized discourses of war.
Magnetic exchange interaction in topological insulators

The effective Hamiltonian that describes magnetic exchange interaction in a topological insulator is calculated, projecting bulk contact $s$-$d$ interaction onto surface electron states. This model consistently describes the indirect exchange between magnetic atoms mediated either by massless Dirac fermions in thick films or by massive excitations in a thin slab with tunneling between opposite surfaces. It is shown that an effective $s$-$d$ exchange is sensitive to the symmetry of surface wave functions and depends on the position of an impurity spin relative to slab surfaces. Under a vertical bias the indirect exchange between localized spins is switchable between opposite surfaces, and the oscillating range function reveals zero magnetic field beating as a signature of Rashba spin splitting.
Systematic Review of Engagement in Culturally Adapted Parent Training for Disruptive Behavior

This article reviews the literature reporting engagement (enrollment, attendance, and attrition) in culturally adapted parent training for disruptive behavior among racial/ethnic minority parents of children ages 2-7 years. The review describes the reported rates of engagement in adapted interventions and how engagement is analyzed in studies, methods to develop adaptations, and adaptations that have been implemented. Seven studies were identified. Parental engagement varied across and within studies. Only one study examined whether adaptations improved engagement compared to non-adapted intervention. Frequent methods to develop adaptations were building partnerships or conducting interviews/focus groups with minority parents or community members. Adaptations included addressing cultural beliefs (perceptions of parenting skills), values (interdependence), or experiences (immigration) that affect parenting or receptivity to interventions; ensuring racial/ethnic diversity of interventionists; and addressing cultural relevancy and literacy level of materials. Future research should examine engagement in adapted interventions compared to non-adapted interventions and examine factors (e.g., immigration status) that may moderate impact on engagement.
Reinventing Baccalaureate Social Work Program Assessment and Curriculum Mapping Under the 2008 EPAS: A Conceptual and Quantitative Model

The Council on Social Work Education's 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) significantly changed how social work programs should assess student competencies and practice behaviors across the curriculum. Responding to these changes, a new assessment logic and practice model was created to assess baccalaureate social work student competencies using an information feedback model that included curricular mapping horizontally and vertically. Through this model, the program can effectively and efficiently assess student competencies, identify areas of strength and weakness, seek improvements in competency-based learning over time, and pinpoint areas of concern deep within the curriculum at both the syllabus and course content levels. Initial data suggest that as students are more exposed to a competency-based curriculum, mastery of competencies increases.
Characteristics of back-up protection for generator-transformer-circuit unit wiring

The paper analyzed some problems,such as breaker failure protection,non-whole phase protection,configuration of reclosing and five-protection lockout focusing on the characteristics of generator-transformer-circuit unit wiring,and proposed suggestions how to solve these problems in its design and operation.
Design of Mine-used LCD Display Platform Based on Embedded System

To solve problems of large dimensions,high cost and non-uniform programming interface existed in mine-used display,the paper introduced design of a mine-used LCD display platform based on embedded system.The hardware system of the platform adopts ARM9 and integrates many functions of display,communication and A/D sampling;software system uses operation system of embedded Windows CE as platform and adopts embedded LabVIEW as user interaction software to edit display interface,and has advantages of convenient extend,efficient and beautiful interface.The platform can also match with electrical control devices through some communication methods to display state,alarm message of tunneling machine.The practical application showed that the platform has faster communication and display speed and good display effect.
Male Sexual Function and Smoking

Abstract Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common disorder that has many potential etiologies, including hormonal imbalances, psychogenic factors, neurologic disorders, vascular insufficiency, and other risk factors. Cigarette smoking has been well established as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke, but the relation between smoking and ED is less frequently considered. Aim To review the current literature that analyzes the association between cigarette smoking and ED. Methods The PubMed database was searched using the terms erectile dysfunction and smoking and erectile dysfunction and tobacco through December 2015. Main Outcome Measures Main outcome measures were significant changes in erectile function in relation to smoking status. Results Eighty-three studies and articles were reviewed. Multiple human studies, animal studies, case series, cross-sectional, and cohort studies analyzed the relation between smoking or nicotine and ED. Conclusion There is substantial evidence showing that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for ED. Multiple human, animal, case series, cross-sectional, and cohort studies support this conclusion. A positive dose-response relation also is suggested such that increased quantity and duration of smoking correlate with a higher risk of ED. Smoking cessation can lead to recovery of erectile function, but only if limited lifetime smoking exposure exists. Smoking contributes to ED in different ways, especially by causing penile vasospasm and increased sympathetic nervous system tone.
Calm Abiding: The Lived Experience of the Practice of Long-Term Meditation

Various aspects of meditation have been studied for more than 50 years, but little research has explored the lived experience of meditation in long-term meditators and examined what meaning this pr...
Stiffened and Continuous Annular Sector Plates

A computer oriented “exact” method of solution, entitled the “Analytical Strip Method” (ASM) of solution, is presented for the bending analysis of stiffened, continuous and uniformly loaded annular sector plates (truncated ring-shaped or horizontally curved). Any combination of clamped and simple supports could exist along the straight edges, while the circular edges could be clamped, simply supported or free. The sector is divided into radially supported and horizontally curved strips whose number depends on the number and location of the circular stiffeners (beams or rings) and column or point supports. The deflection of each strip is expressed in a single trigonometric series and the loads are expressed in a corresponding series. The stiffness formulation of the analytical strip method is based upon use of the displacement function for each strip, and the supporting beams and columns are incorporated in a manner mathematically consistent with the displacement function. Results are presented for stiffened and continuous plates with different edge conditions.
REGIONAL SYNCHRONIES AND AMPLITUDE CHANGES IN THE JANUARY 500-MB MIDDLE LATITUDE GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT RECORD

The relationship between middle tropospheric long wave circulation and surface weather is recognized as an important component in the middle latitude climate system. Regional variations in long wave position and temporal variations in long wave amplitude exert a considerable influence on surface temperature and precipitation. This study seeks to organize the spatial and temporal structure of the long wave system within a climate regionalization that is based upon associated trends in the middle tropospheric geopotential height record for the purpose of assessing wave amplitude variations within these regions. This regionalization is performed using January 500-mb geopotential height data over the northern hemispheric middle latitudes for the period 1946–1987 and is constructed using a cluster analysis, in which the resultant clusters represent regions of synchronous height behavior during the data record. The resultant clusters are related spatially to long wave ridge and trough positions, and are charact...
Obtaining a personal and confidential history from adolescents: an opportunity for prevention.

Fifty adolescent girls ages 12–18 years (mean 14.9 years) were asked to complete a confidential questionnaire exploring many important issues of adolescence. The responses included the following: 38 (76%) girls did not wear seatbelts while riding in a car, 23 (46%) had used alcoholic beverages (10 at age ≤ 13 years), 17 (34%) had experience with marijuana, four (8%) had used other psychoactive drugs, and 14 (28%) were having sexual intercourse, while only eight were using contraception. Of the 16 (32%) girls who smoked cigarettes ten did not want to quit. Twenty-two (44%) girls had dysmenorrhea but only four had sought medical attention for the problem. This study suggests the usefulness of a questionnaire to identify individual health care needs for which preventive counseling may be offered.
Right and left solvable extensions of an associative Leibniz algebra

A sequence of nilpotent Leibniz algebras denoted by Nn,18 is introduced. Here n denotes the dimension of the algebra defined for n≥4; the first term in the sequence is ℛ18 in the list of four-dimen...
Doing and Talking Science: Engaging ELs in the Discourse of the Science and Engineering Practices

The NGSS “implicitly demand students acquire ever-increasing command of language in order to acquire and perform the knowledge and skills articulated” (Council of Chief State School Officers, Framework for English language proficiency development standards corresponding to the common core state standards and the next generation science standards. CCSSO, Washington, DC, 2012, p. ii). Yet, at a time when the EL population continues to be the most rapidly growing segment of the K-12 student population, instruction of ELs is too often characterized by three persistent problems of practice: the frequent use of IRE patterns, group work focused primarily on procedures and tasks rather than on students’ collaborative reasoning, and language instruction that is viewed primarily as vocabulary instruction. Classroom practices such as these are not likely to foster the rich academic discourse through which students learn to reason deeply and critically, express their reasoning, and challenge and critique that of others, nor are they likely to include ELs in that critical discourse. The need for resources to support effective engagement of ELs in these essential academic discourse practices is critical. This chapter shares the successful findings and materials of an approach that offered science teachers a set of resources to support their facilitation of students’ collaborative and discourse-rich reasoning in science, along with the development of the language needed for these critical functions—all of this in ways fully inclusive of ELs as sense-makers along with their classmates.
Dielectric waveguide based multi-mode sub-THz interconnect channel for high data-rate high bandwidth-density planar chip-to-chip communications

This paper presents a dielectric waveguide based multi-mode sub-THz interconnect channel for high data-rate high bandwidth-density planar chip-to-chip communications. By using a proposed new transition of microstrip line to dielectric waveguide, the interconnect channel achieves wide bandwidth on two orthogonal modes E y11 and E x11 . To the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a multi-mode sub-THz interconnect channel. The measured minimum insertion losses for mode E y11 and mode E x11 are 8.0 dB with 21.3 GHz 3-dB bandwidth and 9.0 dB with 24.0 GHz 3-dB bandwidth, respectively.
Temporal task planning in wirelessly connected environments with unknown channel quality

We consider a mobile robot tasked with gathering data in an environment of interest and transmitting these data to a data center. The task is specified as a high-level Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula that captures the data to be gathered at various regions in the workspace. The robot has a limited buffer to store the data, which needs to be transmitted to the data center before the buffer overflows. Communication between the robot and the data center is through a dedicated wireless network to which the robot can upload data with rates that are uncertain and unknown. In this case, most existing methods based on dynamic programming can not be applied due to the lack of an accurate model. To address this challenge, we propose here an actor-critic reinforcement learning algorithm where the task execution, workspace exploration, and parameterized-policy learning are all performed online and simultaneously. The derived motion and communication control strategy satisfies the buffer constraints and is reactive to the uncertainty in the wireless transmission rate. The overall complexity and performance of our method is compared in simulation to static solutions that search for constrained shortest paths, and to existing learning algorithms that rely on the construction of the product automaton.
Loss, self-states, and the immigrant analyst: Exploring the “analytic fourth”

In this paper I explore how immigration impacts the experience of working as a psychoanalyst. I describe a kind of loss that can be experienced between an immigrant analyst or therapist, and certain patients. What is lost to the analyst, and what is lost on the patient? What is mourned, and what is not? I suggest that the loss has something to do with the inactivation, withdrawal, or extinction of certain self-state experiences. I use the term “analytic fourth” to refer to these relational self-states that fail to become consummated between patient and therapist.
Selecting and breeding grain legumes for enhanced nitrogen fixation

The amounts of nitrogen (N2) fixed by grain legumes vary appreciably between-and within-species, and are also influenced markedly by environment. With few exceptions, most legumes fix insufficient N2to support substantial seed yields. Deficits between the N required and the combined amounts provided by soil and fertilizer provide estimates of the improvements in N2fixation which are possible through breeding. Since the symbiosis is complex, heritability of traits is weak, and most methods which estimate fixation are destructive, a breeding method that allows selection of replicated families rather than single plants is preferred. Gains from selection should be measured in terms of: (1) total plant N from fixation; (2) proportion (%) of total N from fixation; and (3) seed yield resulting from fixed N2. The inbred backcross line method has produced lines of common bean and cowpea with increased fixation.
Pregeometry and the Trans-Temporal Object

Fundamental theoretical physics is in a seriously stalled state. An underlying cause for the quagmire of theoretical physics is a tacit adherence to the dynamical perspective (dynamism). Dynamism holds that fundamental reality includes objects with trans-temporal identity and their causal interactions mediated by the four forces carried by their respective elementary particles as modeled in a local spacetime setting. Dynamism also assumes presentism - the spacetime manifold is foliated via an equivalence relation (simultaneity) and time is a one-dimensional linearly ordered quotient set induced by simultaneity.
Special Considerations for the Elderly Patient with Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. The prevalence of AF increases with age [1–4]. In a study of 2,101 persons, mean age 81 years, the prevalence of chronic AF was 5% in persons aged 60 to 70 years, 13% in persons aged 71 to 90 years, and 22% in persons aged 91 to 103 years [2]. Chronic AF was present in 16% of older men and in 13% of older women [2]. In a study of 1,563 persons, mean age 80 years, living in the community and seen in an academic geriatrics practice, the prevalence of chronic AF was 9% [4]. AF may be paroxysmal or chronic. Episodes of paroxysmal AF may last from a few seconds to several weeks. Spontaneous conversion of paroxysmal AF to sinus rhythm occurs in 68% of persons presenting with AF of less than 72 hours duration [5].
Clinical Correlates in Nutritional Disease

Many of the nutritional disorders of infants and children such as rickets, scurvey, marasmus and kwashiorkor have been recognized by their clinical and laboratory findings. Less well appreciated are the abnormalities in growth due to major disturbances in macronutrient intake, absorption and/or utilization that result in failure-to-thrive at one end of the spectrum or obesity at the other end. The origins of these growth abnormalities related to nutrition are frequently manifest in-utero or in infancy and may be corrected by appropriate diagnosis and intervention. The purpose of this article is to highlight some clinical examples of failure-to-thrive and to contrast these with excessive growth and obesity.
Rigid valence band shift due to molecular surface counter-doping of MoS2

Abstract Adsorption of the acceptor material tetracyanoquinodimethane can control optoelectronic properties of MoS2 by accepting defect generated excess negative charge from the surface that would otherwise interfere with radiative decay processes. Angle Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy measurements show that the MoS2 band structure near the Γ point shifts rigidly upward by ∼0.2 eV for a complete surface coverage of acceptor species as expected for an upward Fermi level shift due to charge transfer to the TCNQ. The molecular adsorbate orbitals visible in photoemission are indicative of an anionic species, consistent with interfacial charge transfer but without evidence for hybrid states arising from covalent adsorbate-surface interactions. Thus, our interface studies support the notion that molecular adsorbates are a useful tool for controlling optoelectronic functionality in 2D materials without fundamentally modifying their favorable band structures.
THE ASSOCIATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE AND LIFE-SPACE MOBILITY: RESULTS FROM THE UAB STUDY OF AGING

AbstractThe neighborhood environments where older adults live are a critical factor in their aging process. Aging persons may experience physical impairment, limiting their ability to travel within and outside of their neighborhoods. This increases their susceptibility to risk factors in that environment. While this is a well-established concept, the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage (ND) and life-space mobility has not been previously examined. Therefore, using the UAB Study of Aging, a prospective cohort study of 1000 community-dwelling Alabama older adults age 65+, we examined the effects neighborhood disadvantage on life-space mobility. We used a two-item measure of neighborhood disadvantaged at the census tract level and included individual-level demographic factors such as poverty, measures of social isolation, and other indicators of health. Using generalized estimating equations, we found that in unadjusted models participants in both the mid and highest tertiles of ND had lower life-space mobility levels (b= -6.332 and b=-7.357, respectively) relative to those in the lowest level of ND. However, in adjusted models, accounting for individual-level poverty, the effect of neighborhoods was diminished and not significant. These findings suggest that while neighborhood disadvantage is an indicator of life-space mobility limitations, the underlying cause may be individual-level factors such as poverty. The relationship may be cyclical wherein neighborhood disadvantage limits life-space mobility, which in turn makes it difficult to overcome the effects of neighborhood disadvantage since one is not able to leave the neighborhood even temporarily. These hypothesis should be explored in future analyses.
Probabilistic Performance Assessment vs. the Safety Case Approach

The “safety case” approach has been developed to address the issue of evaluating the performance of a geologic repository in the face of the large uncertainty that results for evaluations that extend over hundreds of thousands of years. This paper reviews the concept of the safety case as it has been defined by the international community. We contrast the safety case approach with that presently used in the U.S. repository program. Especially, we focus on the role of uncertainty quantification. There are inconsistencies between the initial proposal to dealing with uncertainties in a safety case and current U.S. practice. The paper seeks to better define the safety case concept so that it can be usefully applied to the regulatory framework of the U.S. repository program.
The Facts and the Values of the Lucas Critique

In his influential 1976 paper, ‘Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique,’ Robert E. Lucas, Jr. presented the policy non-invariance argument, also known as the Lucas critique (LC). Drawing on the ...
Diagnosis and management of intramedullary spinal cord lymphoma: A case illustration and review of literature

Abstract Background Lymphoma of the spinal cord is rare and challenging to diagnose. They can be primary or metastasis. They often mimic inflammatory conditions and can have grave prognosis. Results In this article, we report a 59-year-old male who presented with severe weakness and was found to have an isolated cervical spinal cord lesion. The suspicion of lymphoma was raised after the patient had marked improvement in symptoms and a dramatic reduction of lesion size on imaging after a short course of steroid administration. The diagnosis was made after peripheral blood cytometry and bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A biopsy of the spinal cord lesion was not attempted. The patient showed significant improvement with complete resolution of the tumor after an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy. Conclusions Based on our case and a systematic review of literature, we summarize the reported cases of the spinal cord lymphoma including its clinical presentation, diagnostic strategies, and treatment responses. Finally, we propose an algorithm for the diagnosis and management of this rare entity.
Prediagnostic Circulating Levels of Sex Steroid Hormones and SHBG in Relation to Risk of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast among UK Women.

Background: Sex steroid hormones and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) have been implicated in the etiology of invasive breast cancer, but their associations with risk of the precursor lesion, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, remain unclear. Methods: We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate the associations of serum levels of estradiol (premenopausal women only), testosterone, and/or SHBG with DCIS risk among 182,935 women. After a median follow-up of 7.1 years, 186 and 531 DCIS cases were ascertained in premenopausal and postmenopausal women, respectively. Results: Total and free estradiol were positively associated with risk of DCIS among premenopausal women. The HRs for the highest versus the lowest tertiles were 1.54 (1.06–2.23) and 1.72 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15–2.57], respectively. Among postmenopausal women, elevated levels of free testosterone (FT), and to a lesser extent, total testosterone, were positively associated with DCIS risk. The HRs for the highest versus the lowest quartiles were 1.42 (95% CI, 1.09–1.85) and 1.16 (95% CI, 0.91–1.48), respectively. Serum SHBG levels were inversely associated with risk of DCIS among postmenopausal women (HRq4 vs. q1: 0.75; 95% CI, 0.56–0.99). Conclusions: This study suggests that elevated levels of estradiol are associated with increased risk of DCIS among premenopausal women, and that among postmenopausal women, elevated levels of testosterone, and particularly those of FT, are associated with increased DCIS risk, while elevated levels of SHBG are associated with reduced risk. Impact: These findings may be helpful in developing prevention strategies aimed at reducing breast cancer risk among premenopausal and postmenopausal women.