cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tolerance limits of the toad, Bufo marinus, in South Florida.

Abstract 1. 1. The desiccation tolerance of the introduced tropical toad Bufo marinus is similar to other terrestrial anuran amphibians (52·6 per cent of total body water), while the resistance to the hydration stress of distilled water is that of an aquatic anuran. 2. 2. The critical thermal maxima of ca . 40°C for adults and 42°C for larvae are high enough so that high ambient temperatures are not limiting. 3. 3. The lower temperature limit (below 10°C) permits continued survival in its present South Florida range, but shifting of this limit must occur before the range can expand into temperate Florida.
Metabolic and cellular plasticity in white adipose tissue II: role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α

Chronic activation of adipocyte β-adrenergic receptors induces remodeling of white adipose tissue (WAT) that includes a transient inflammatory response followed by mitochondrial biogenesis, inducti...
Fishery Management by Harvester Cooperatives

AbstractManaging fisheries by delegating authority to an association of users, often organized as a cooperative, is gaining increased attention as a strategy for implementing rights-based reform. A...
Cultivation of Pasteurella haemolytica in a Chemically Defined Medium

Abstract A chemically defined medium was developed for the aerobic cultivation of Pasteurella haemolytica. Studies on the growth of strain H44L were conducted in a medium consisting of 15 amino acids, inorganic salts, citrate, nicotinamide, pantothenate, thiamine or thiamine monophosphate, and carbon sources. The amino acids were provided as l isomers, because racemic mixtures of some amino acids inhibited growth. The carbon source consisted of a mixture of 1.0% d-galactose and 0.1% d-glucose. Culture populations of strain H44L reached 2 × 1010 cells per milliliter after 16 hr of incubation at 37.5 C. Other strains of P. haemolytica, from a wide variety of sources, were tested for growth in the medium, and 23 of 24 strains grew well. Five strains of P. haemolytica var. ureae failed to grow in the medium.
One particle CPA and exciton-phonon interactions in molecular crystals☆

Abstract The intersite correlation function of scattering potentials for the exciton-acoustic phonon interaction in molecular crystals is calculated. It shows a complicated dependnece on the intersite distance and the temperature. The existence of such cross correlation clearly points out that one has to go beyond the one particle CPA in order to treat properly the problem of exciton-delocalized phonon interactions.
Replicating Vaiṣṇava worlds: organizing devotional space through the architectonics of the maṇḍala

The community in Bengal, Orissa and Braj that coalesced around Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533) identified themselves as part of his maṇḍalī, as these Vaiṣṇava communities today are called. Devotees saw Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa, svayaṃ bhagavān, who appeared replete with his dhāma, his entire entourage and environment. Consequently, every historical devotee was identified with one of Kṛṣṇa's entourage in the mythical ancient time of Kṛṣṇa's life. To organize these relations, individuals were mapped onto a maṇḍala, which provided the meditative yogapīṭha. All five of the original lineages were marked, so that even today any devotee can trace his or her place in the structure. The architectonics of the maṇḍala is very frequently deployed within the tradition, although never formally addressed. These architectonics structured spiritual lineages, established social hierarchies, organized ritual cycles and pilgrimages and even structured historical narratives. Nostalgia for the mythic time of Kṛṣṇa himself, and subsequentl...
Characterization of an alternative superantigen binding site expressed on a renal fibroblast cell line

It is well established that the bacterial superantigens bind to both TCR beta-chain and, with moderate affinity, to MHC class II molecules. Class II-bearing cells bind the superantigen and present the superantigen to T cells expressing certain TCR beta-chain variable region alleles. We have observed that the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) B binds to COS-1, an African green monkey kidney fibroblast-like cell line. This cell line fails to express class II and the binding of SEB is saturable. Scatchard analysis of radiolabeled ligand binding data reveals a binding affinity for COS of 51 nM, while binding to DR1-transfected L cells is measured at 150 nM. Further analysis shows that SEB bound to COS cells, unlike SEB bound to DR1-bearing L cells, is not recognized by T cells in the presence or absence of accessory cytokines or anti-CD28. Studies carried out with chemical cross-linking agents show that radiolabeled SEB associates with a membrane protein of approximately 85 kDa. These studies suggest that the alternative superantigen binding molecule (p85) binds SEB with an affinity roughly equivalent to SEB binding by class II molecules, but at a site which does not permit recognition by the TCR.
A Synthetic Peptide Corresponding to the Extracellular Domain of Occludin Perturbs the Tight Junction Permeability Barrier

Occludin, the putative tight junction integral membrane protein, is an attractive candidate for a protein that forms the actual sealing element of the tight junction. To study the role of occludin in the formation of the tight junction seal, synthetic peptides (OCC1 and OCC2) corresponding to the two putative extracellular domains of occludin were assayed for their ability to alter tight junctions in Xenopus kidney epithelial cell line A6. Transepithelial electrical resistance and paracellular tracer flux measurements indicated that the second extracellular domain peptide (OCC2) reversibly disrupted the transepithelial permeability barrier at concentrations of < 5 μM. Despite the increased paracellular permeability, there were no changes in gross epithelial cell morphology as determined by scanning EM. The OCC2 peptide decreased the amount of occludin present at the tight junction, as assessed by indirect immunofluorescence, as well as decreased total cellular content of occludin, as assessed by Western blot analysis. Pulse-labeling and metabolic chase analysis suggested that this decrease in occludin level could be attributed to an increase in turnover of cellular occludin rather than a decrease in occludin synthesis. The effect on occludin was specific because other tight junction components, ZO-1, ZO-2, cingulin, and the adherens junction protein E-cadherin, were unaltered by OCC2 treatment. Therefore, the peptide corresponding to the second extracellular domain of occludin perturbs the tight junction permeability barrier in a very specific manner. The correlation between a decrease in occludin levels and the perturbation of the tight junction permeability barrier provides evidence for a role of occludin in the formation of the tight junction seal.
Measurement of electron beam polarization at the SLC

The polarimeters needed to monitor and measure electron beam polarization at the Stanford Linear Collider are discussed. Two types of polarimeters, are to be used. The first is based on the spin dependent elastic scattering of photons from high energy electrons. The second utilizes the spin dependence of elastic electron-electron scattering. The plans of the SLC polarization group to measure and monitor electron beam polarization are discussed. A brief discussion of the physics and the demands it imposes on beam polarization measurements is presented. The Compton polarimeter and the essential characteristics of two Moeller polarimeters are presented. (LEW)
Range-angle coupling in target tracking

For preliminary prediction of track accuracy in exoatmospheric applications, a common approach is to apply simple constant-velocity solutions separately in the range direction and two perpendicular crossrange directions. In typical radar applications, however, the range measurement errors are much smaller than the crossrange errors, and this approach neglects the important coupling effect by which the crossrange tracking accuracy, in the plane of motion of the line of sight, may be greatly improved due to the highly accurate range measurements. This paper demonstrates the extent of this effect by developing analytic solutions for the applicable Cramer-Rao bounds in the continuous- measurement case, which are then verified by numerical propagation of covariance matrices for the more realistic discrete-measurement case. A set of simple approximate expressions are presented, which are useful for prediction of tracking performance.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Antimicrobial therapy and aerobic bacteriologic culture patterns in canine intensive care unit patients: 74 dogs (January-June 2006).

Objective – Describe antimicrobial therapy and aerobic bacteriologic culture patterns in canine intensive care unit (ICU) patients in a university hospital. Design – Retrospective descriptive. Setting – A tertiary university referral hospital. Animals – Seventy-four canine ICU patients. Interventions – From January to June 2006 patient antimicrobial use, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results, and clinical data were recorded. Appropriate antimicrobial use was analyzed relative to the time of culture submission and MIC results. Measurements and Main Results – Mean±SD age was 7.2±4.2 years. Median (range) length of ICU and hospital stays were 3 days (1–25 d) and 4 days (1–27 d), respectively. A total of 106 cultures were submitted; 47 of 106 (44%) cultures were positive for 70 isolates, including Escherichia coli (16/70 [23%]), Staphylococcus intermedius (7/70 [10%]), and Acinetobacter baumannii (5/70 [7%]). A multidrug resistant pattern occurred in 19 of 70 (27%) isolates, and was significantly more likely after 48 hours of hospitalization (P<0.001). Antimicrobials were administered before culture submission in 42 of 74 dogs (57%) and included enrofloxacin (23/42 [55%]), ampicillin (20/42 [48%]), and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (8/42 [19%]). Antimicrobial choices were appropriate 19% of the time. While pending culture results, antimicrobials were administered to 67 of 72 (94%) dogs remaining alive, and were appropriate 75% of the time. The most common antimicrobials administered while awaiting culture results were ampicillin (52/67 [78%]), enrofloxacin (49/67 [73%]), and amikacin (9/67 [13%]). Post-MIC antimicrobials were appropriate 89% of the time. Of 45 dogs remaining alive, 17 (37%) continued to receive antimicrobials despite negative cultures. Conclusions – Antimicrobial use was extensive in this patient population, but when available, MIC results were used to guide antimicrobial therapy. Many patients with negative cultures continued to receive antimicrobial therapy. Multidrug resistant bacteria were more likely in cultures taken after 48 hours of hospitalization.
Impact of workload and system parameters on next generation cluster scheduling mechanisms

Scheduling of processes onto processors of a parallel machine has always been an important and challenging area of research. The issue becomes even more crucial and difficult as we gradually progress to the use of off-the-shelf workstations, operating systems, and high bandwidth networks to build cost-effective clusters for demanding applications. Clusters are gaining acceptance not just in scientific applications that need supercomputing power, but also in domains such as databases, web service, and multimedia which place diverse Quality-of-Service (QoS) demands on the underlying system. Further, these applications have diverse characteristics in terms of their computation, communication, and I/O requirements, making conventional parallel scheduling solutions, such as space sharing or gang scheduling, unattractive. At the same time, leaving it to the native operating system of each node to make decisions independently can lead to ineffective use of system resources whenever there is communication. Instead, an emerging class of dynamic coscheduling mechanisms that attempt to take remedial actions to guide the system toward coscheduled execution without requiring explicit synchronization offers a lot of promise for cluster scheduling. Using a detailed simulator, this paper evaluates the pros and cons of different dynamic coscheduling alternatives while comparing their advantages over traditional gang scheduling (and not performing any coordinated scheduling at all). The impact of dynamic job arrivals, job characteristics, and different system parameters on these alternatives is evaluated in terms of several performance criteria. In addition, heuristics to enhance one of the alternatives even further are identified, classified, and evaluated. It is shown that these heuristics can significantly outperform the other alternatives over a spectrum of workload and system parameters and is thus a much better option for clusters than conventional gang scheduling.
Optogalvanic isotope enrichment of Cu ions in Cu-Ne positive column discharges

The isotopic enrichment of copper ions in a positive column Cu–Ne discharge using optogalvanic excitation is analyzed with a rate equation model. With excitation at 510.6 nm, the fraction of the ions belonging to the 63-amu isotope of copper is enriched relative to the neutral abundance. Enrichment as large as 10% is calculated when the initial abundance of the neutral isotope is small (≤0.1) and the discharge current density is large (≥75 mA/cm2). The degree of enrichment is examined as a function of the initial abundance, discharge current, the rate of charge exchange, and the diameter of the discharge tube.
Variation Estimation and Compensation Technique in Scaled LTPS TFT Circuits for Low-Power Low-Cost Applications

Low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistor (LTPS TFT) has emerged as one of the promising candidates for low-power low-cost applications on flexible substrates. In this paper, we propose a statistical simulation methodology to estimate parametric variations in scaled LTPS TFT due to the inherent properties [such as the number, location, and orientation of grain boundaries (GBs)] of the polycrystalline material. Our simulation technique employs the response surface method (RSM) to consider multiple process parameters which affect the performance distribution of LTPS TFT devices/circuits. Simulation results show that inherent GB variations result in multimodal delay distributions in basic logic building blocks (inv, nand, and nor) in scaled LTPS TFT technology, contrary to unimodal distributions in conventional bulk CMOS technology. We also observed that with increasing logic depth, the multimodal distribution converges to a unimodal distribution. Hence, to ensure robust and stable functionality of TFT technology under inherent process variations, we propose a multifinger (MF) design technique to improve the reliability of TFT circuits and to reduce the impact of GB-induced variations on TFT performance. Simulation results obtained from a 20-stage inverter chain show that by applying the proposed MF-based design, one can achieve 28% and 61% reductions in delay variations using two- and four-finger structures, respectively.
The Bicentralizer Nearrings of R

Let Γ be an additive (not necessarily abelian) topological group. As is customary, an automorphism of Γ will be assumed to be a homeomorphism as well and endomorphisms will be assumed to be continuous. For any group G, of automorphisms of Γ, we will denote by N G (Γ) the bicentralizer nearring of Γ, with respect to G, which consists of all continuous selfmaps of F which commute with all elements of G. In this paper, we take Γ = R, the additive group of real numbers and we determine all the bicentralizer nearrings of R. It is well known that any automorphism t of R is of the form t(x) = ax for some a ≠ 0 and we will denote this map by t a We will denote by Aut(R) and End(R), the automorphism group and the endomorphism ring, respectively, of R. Finally, it is known that the only endomorphism of R which is not an automorphism is the map which sends everything into zero so that End(R) = {t0} ⋃ Aut(R). Moreover, the mapping which sends a into t a is an isomorphism from R ? , the multiplicative group of nonzero real numbers, onto Aut(R). We will adhere to the convention that if G is any subgroup of R ? , then [G] is the subgroup of Aut(R) which corresponds to G. That is [G] = {ta : a ∈ G}. For our first result, we choose the smallest (with respect to cardinality) nontrivial subgroup of R ? Its proof consists of one line and even that is probably not necessary.
Application and reliability analysis of sintered silver preforms for die attachment of wide bandgap devices

Sintered nanosilver paste has been demonstrated to have superior electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties as compared to other state-of-the-art die attach materials available today. However, prior to sintering, the material has to be applied on the substrate surface in the form of a wet paste. In order to ensure adequate wetting of the die bonding surface, a manual "scrub-in" step is typically performed using mild pressure. The consistency of the paste and the scrub-in procedure poses a challenge in obtaining a bond line with uniform thickness. A sloping bond line makes it susceptible to fracture at the narrow end as a result of temperature cycling. Moreover, for any applications involving a stacked or 3D architecture, near flat die surfaces are a necessary requirement. Nanosilver preforms are proposed as a solution to address this issue. Die shear test results and cross section observations collected before and after thermal shock testing of die attached using nanosilver preforms is presented.
A survey of US and Canadian hospitals' paediatric massive transfusion protocol policies

SUMMARYBackground Trauma is the leading cause of death in children >1 year of age, with haemorrhage as the most common cause of medically preventable deaths. While massive transfusion protocols (MTPs) have been investigated and used in adults to reduce death from haemorrhage, there are a paucity of published data on MTP practices and outcomes in children. This study aimed to survey current MTP policies and the frequency of activation at paediatric care centres. Study design and methods We conducted a survey of MTPs at hospitals in the United States and Canada, including children's general hospitals, children's specialty hospitals and children's units in general hospitals. We collected information on how the MTP is activated, what therapeutics are given, frequency of its use, and how it is audited for compliance. Results Forty-six survey responses were analysed. Physician discretion was the most common activation criteria (89%). A majority of sites (78%) targeted a ‘high’ (≥1 : 2) ratio of plasma to red blood cells (RBC). Fifteen percent of sites use antifibrinolytics in their MTPs. Eighty nine percent of sites have type-O RBC units and 48% of sites had thawed plasma units stored in an immediately available location. Conclusion There is a wide variation in MTPs among paediatric hospitals with regard to both activation criteria and products administered. This underscores the need for future prospective studies to determine the most effective resuscitation methods for paediatric populations to improve outcomes and therapeutic safety for massive bleeding.
Pressure-controlled polytypism in hydrous layered materials

An isosymmetric displacive structural transformation in the hydrous layer silicate dickite [Al 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 , monoclinic Cc , a = 5.161(3), b = 8.960(6), c = 14.459(10) A, β = 96.77(1)° ], occurring under hydrostatic compression above 2.0 GPa, has been studied using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and diamond-anvil cell techniques. The structure of the high-pressure phase, determined in situ, is monoclinic with space group Cc with unit-cell parameters a = 5.082(3), b = 8.757(6), c = 13.771(9) A, and β = 89.60(2)° at 4.1 GPa. The positions of all hydrogen atoms at both ambient and high pressure have been determined by a combination of simulated annealing and energy minimization. The mechanism of the transformation, which may be general for other hydrous layered materials, involves a shift of the 1:1 layers with respect to each other by the vector [1/6, 1/6, 0] and is accompanied by the formation of new hydrogen bonds.
Allelochemical Content of Selected Popcorn Silks: Effects on Growth of Corn Earworm Larvae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Silks of popcorn, Zea mays L., in the Eldredge collection were evaluated for effects on growth of larvae of the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and assayed for content of maysin, chlorogenic acid, apimaysin, and 3’-methoxymaysin. The weights of 9-d-old larvae ranged from 8 mg on ‘PI340856’ to 952 mg on ‘PI340855’. Silks from about one-third of the popcorn collection produced corn earworm larvae equal to or smaller than larvae that fed on silks of the resistant standard, ‘Zapalote Chico’. Content of maysin, a luteolin-C-glycoside, ranged from zero for eighteen PIs to 1.128% for ‘PI340856’. Significant negative correlations were found between contents of all four allelochemicals assayed and larval weights. Silks of ‘PI340853’ had no detectable levels of any of the allelochemicals assayed, yet they produced larvae with an average weight of only 37 mg. Silks of several introductions had higher concentrations of chlorogenic acid, apimaysin, and 3’-methoxymaysin than silks of ‘Zapalote Chico’.
Leading- and Trailing-Edge Reversal of a Cambered Airfoil for Stopped Rotors

For helicopters in very high-speed flight there is interest in stopping the rotor and having it operate as a fixed-wing. However, with conventional airfoils, one half of the stopped rotor/wing would be in reverse flow. To overcome this challenge, this paper focuses on airfoil reversal, where the sharp trailing-edge morphs into the rounded leading-edge, and vice-versa. Extending on a previous study that reversed symmetric airfoils, the current paper presents a design methodology and solution for reversal of a cambered airfoil. Navier Stokes CFD simulation results show that rather than using straight links to approximate a reference airfoil profile, curved links that exactly represent the nose to mid-chord section reduce aerodynamic penalties considerably despite the “bumps” they produce over the trailing-edge region. The aerodynamic performance of a curved-link reversible NACA 23012 was seen to be close to that of the reference NACA 23012. A curved-link reversible NACA 4-digit airfoil, with the same thickness and camber as the Fairchild Reverse Velocity Rotor (RVR) airfoil performed significantly better, aerodynamically, than the RVR airfoil in reverse flow. The study examined actuator force requirement, and showed that both the magnitude and direction of the actuator force required to resist the aerodynamic loads vary depending on the airfoil angle of attack and the internal mechanism design.
A Fundamental Approach to Turbulence Modelling

An equation is developed for the perturbations of the flow variables in the Navier— Stokes equations which will close this system of equations for turbulent flow. The development is based on three principles. First, the perturbations themselves are directly modelled. Second, the model is based on basic and general principles including the Kolmogorov cascade theory. Third, the specific mathematical form of the model is to be determined by flow field observations stemming from Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) calculations and empirical measurements. From this approach, two postulates are laid out which split the perturbations into two factors. One factor is for the local effects, and one factor is for the overall cascade effects. Once the mathematics of the two factors is refined the general form of the equation is stated. It is this final equation which must be further specified by the observations of the flow field. By taking this approach it is hoped the theory will generate general results applicable to wider ranges of flow conditions than current turbulence models.
Wound management in spinal infection.

SUMMARY Wound management in the spine-infected patient is a complex problem. Treatment is determined by the primary diagnosis, which may have bearing on wound healing. The most common site of wounds requiring plastic surgical intervention in the neurologically intact patient is in the posterior thoracic area. In spinal cord-injured patients, the most common site is in the lumbosacral area. The cause of these wounds are iatrogenic because of infection after attempted thoracic fusion in the first case. In the spinal cord-injured pa- ient it is caused either by postoperative infection or extension of a pressure ulcer in the area of insensate skin. Preoperative preparation is a prerequisite before wound closure. Muscle and myocutaneous flaps represent the best options in managing these complex wounds.
A road paved with safe intentions: Increasing intentions to use alcohol protective behavioral strategies via Deviance Regulation Theory.

OBJECTIVE: Drinking remains a problem across college campuses. Changing this behavior requires interventions that can be easily and widely dispersed. Several theories place intentions as a proximal predictor of behavior change. The current study examines the effects of a Web-based Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT) intervention on (1) intentions to use alcohol protective behavior strategies (PBS) and (2) associations between these intentions and actual behavior. METHOD: Participants (n = 76) completed a 6-week, Web-based study examining drinking behaviors. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a positive frame about individuals who use PBS or a negative frame about individuals who do not. They also reported normative perceptions of PBS use among college students. They subsequently logged onto a secure server each week to report on alcohol involvement, use of 3 types of PBS (Manner of Drinking, Stopping/Limiting, and Serious Harm Reduction), and intentions to use these PBS the following week. RESULTS: Consistent with DRT, negative frames resulted in higher PBS use intentions if individuals held high normative beliefs about PBS use. Positive frames resulted in higher Manner of Drinking PBS use intentions if individuals held low normative beliefs about PBS use, but only if individuals endorsed a high belief in the frame. In addition, there was a DRT consistent increase in intention-action associations, but only for Stopping/Limiting PBS. DISCUSSION: A brief Web-based DRT intervention was effective at increasing PBS intentions and increasing PBS intention-action associations. DRT may provide a mechanism to additively or synergistically improve other Web-based interventions for college drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record Language: en
Multifunctionality of agriculture and evaluation index

As the biggest industry in China,agricultural function is not limited to the production,but combine supply,social security,industry consecration,employment guarantee and ecology.Depended on multifunctionality of agriculture,the evaluation index system of agricultural multifunctionality are built in the paper.
Mixed Lagrangian formulation for size-dependent couple stress elastodynamic response

In this paper, a mixed Lagrangian multiplier formulation is developed for consistent size-dependent couple stress elastodynamic response. This extends previous work on quasistatic couple stress response that also requires the rotation to be one half of the curl of displacement. A Lagrange multiplier, which turns out to be related to the skew-symmetric part of the force stress, is used to constrain the relation between rotation and displacement, so that rotation becomes an independent variable and $$\hbox {C}^{1}$$ continuity is avoided in the weak form. The finite element method is applied first to obtain the matrix form of the Lagrangian formulation in space, and then, discrete variational time integration is introduced to produce the discrete action. Afterward, the variation of discrete action is applied to derive the governing equations in algebraic form, which are used, along with the initial condition relations, to obtain the solutions at finite time steps. Finally, the problems of uniaxial deformation of a square plate, transverse deformation of a cantilever, and uniform traction on a square plate with a hole are investigated under this formulation, and the results are compared to existing methods where possible.
Talk Less, Teach More: Tactics for Converting from Lecture Courses to Active Courses

Evolving from a lecturer, a "sage on the stage," to an active learning guide, is hard. Especially if you've lectured for more than 25 years. Especially if you like to talk. Especially if you give "engaging and exciting" lectures. I have recently used perseverance, resilience, and more than a small dose of stubbornness to push myself to "talk less, teach more." I've made progress but I'm still working on it. In the first part of this talk, I will explain why I realized this change is necessary. I will describe many reasons why this was hard for me and may be hard for you. I will use general principles to explain how I am making this transition. During the second part of this talk, I will share specific tactics from my own classes that help "activate" problem solving courses, skills-oriented courses, design courses, and analysis courses. For example, instead of doing what I traditionally would have done (such as solving problems for them, showing them case study examples, talking for an hour), I employ tactics to engage students (such as students trying to solve problems before I share solutions, students finding their own examples). One or more of these tactics could help with almost any type of course. The session will conclude with a brainstorming session where we will discuss how active exercises could be incorporated into your classes with minimal effort. Participants will develop the ability to create interesting active exercises for their own courses.
Evaluating Multilevel User Skill Expression in a Public, Unsupervised Wiki: A Case Study

Background: This case study examines how users of varied experience levels interact with an open-access content-management system (CMS) that lacks managed leadership. In particular, this case study compared how experienced and new users performed at a variety of tasks in a nonprofit community wiki to evaluate skill acquisition and possible skill loss. Research questions: (1) Do experienced users make more use of CMS features (templates, tags, hyperlinks) than new users, even without instruction? (2) Where do experienced and new users differ in successful task completion in the wiki? Situating the case: A number of content-management evaluations have utilized usability as a key method for evaluating user experience. In addition, Wikipedia has been a frequent target of investigation. This study looks to expand the crowdsourced wikis evaluated in this manner. Methodology: This case study started with a series of interviews to determine how users expected to use the community wiki. After the interviews, 10 users (5 new and 5 experienced) were evaluated for this study, each performing 6 tasks. About the case: This study looked at the initial installation of a local community wiki system. The system is a CMS designed for use by municipal territories to create crowdsourced wikis capable of preserving knowledge that would not traditionally fit in Wikipedia entries. Conclusions: Users who maintained sufficient interest in the wiki to become experienced wiki users developed a number of core skills even without organizational support, though new users demonstrated a steep skill deficit. However, new users actually demonstrated a greater capacity to highlight incompleteness of information within the wiki than experienced users in one key task.
Readability and Suitability of Spanish Language Hypertension and Diabetes Patient Education Materials

Hispanics who speak Spanish are at risk for low health literacy. We evaluated Spanish language hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) patient education materials from U.S. federal agency public sector sources using the Suitability of Assessment (SAM) instrument. Mean readability for HTN materials was grade 7.9 and for DM materials was grade 6.6. Mean SAM score for HTN materials was 43.9 and for DM materials was 63.2. SAM scores were significantly better for DM than for HTN materials in overall score, content, graphics, layout, stimulation/motivation, and cultural appropriateness (p < .05). Clinicians should evaluate suitability of Spanish language HTN and DM materials that they use in patient teaching.
Real-time complex optical coherence tomography using graphics processing unit for surgical intervention

We implemented an ultra high-speed complex OCT system for surgical intervention using a graphics processing unit that performs, in real-time, signal processing and display up to an effective line speed of 244,000 A-scan/s.
Detecting Covert Networks in Multilingual Groups: Evidence within a Virtual World

This paper introduces an approach for the examination and organization of unstructured text to identify relationships between networks of individuals. This approach uses discourse analysis to identify information providers and recipients and determines the structure of covert organizations irrespective of the language that facilitate conversations between members. Then, this method applies social network analytics to determine the arrangement of a covert organization without any a priori knowledge of the network structure. This approach is tested and validated using communication data collected in a virtual world setting. Our analysis indicates that the proposed framework successfully detected the covert structure of three information networks, and their cliques, within an online gaming community during a simulation of a large-scale event.
Buying Data from Privacy-Aware Individuals: The Effect of Negative Payments

We study a market model where a data analyst uses monetary incentives to procure private data from strategic data subjects/individuals. To characterize individuals' privacy concerns, we consider a local model of differential privacy, where the individuals do not trust the analyst so privacy costs are incurred when the data is reported to the data analyst. We investigate a basic model where the private data are bits that represent the individuals' knowledge about an underlying state, and the analyst pays each individual according to all the reported data. The data analyst's goal is to design a payment mechanism such that at an equilibrium, she can learn the state with an accuracy goal met and the corresponding total expected payment minimized. What makes the mechanism design more challenging is that not only the data but also the privacy costs are unknown to the data analyst, where the costs reflect individuals' valuations of privacy and are modeled by "cost coefficients." To cope with the uncertainty in the cost coefficients and drive down the data analyst's cost, we utilize possible negative payments which penalize individuals with "unacceptably" high valuations of privacy and explore interim individual rationality. We design a family of payment mechanisms, each of which has a Bayesian Nash equilibrium where the individuals exhibit a threshold behavior: the individuals with cost coefficients above a threshold choose not to participate, and the individuals with cost coefficients below the threshold participate and report data with quality guarantee. By choosing appropriate parameters, we obtain a sequence of mechanisms, as the number of individuals grows large. Each mechanism in this sequence fulfills the accuracy goal at a Bayesian Nash equilibrium. The total expected payment at the equilibrium goes to zero; i.e., this sequence of mechanisms is asymptotically optimal.
Fins, fans, and form: volumetric limits to air-side heatsink performance

In design of high performance heatsinks, it is vital to understand how the primary constraints of volumetric footprint and hydraulic operating point limit maximum thermal performance. This paper provides a framework to establish a priori maximum attainable levels of air-side cooling performance for a given class of fin geometry over a basis of continuously varied footprint and hydraulic constraints. A model of packaging volume required for air moving devices to deliver flow and pressure is developed. It is shown how single fin thermal model results may be extrapolated to multiple fan-heatsink combinations within an open design space. A method to identify fin-fan combinations to achieve maximum system volumetric conductance levels is presented. The methodology is extendable to other volumetrically constrained heat exchanger problems.
Proton Therapy for Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma: Quantifying Treatment Responses by Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

Abstract Purpose: Proton therapy is increasingly used to treat pediatric brain tumors. However, the response of both tumors and healthy tissues to proton therapy is currently under investigation. One way of assessing this response is magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which can measure molecular mobility at the cellular level, quantified by the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). In addition, DTI may reveal axonal fiber directional information in white matter, quantified by fractional anisotropy (FA). Here we report use of DTI to assess tumor and unexposed healthy brain tissue responses in a child who received proton therapy for juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma. Materials and Methods: A 10-year-old boy with recurrent juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma of the left thalamus received proton therapy to a dose of 50.4Gy (RBE) in 28 fractions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to select beam angles for treatment planning. Over the course of the 7-year follow-up period, magnetic res...
High-Speed DIC on Inside Perma-Gel During Ballistic Peneration

Perma-Gel® is a melt-castable, reusable synthetic ballistic gelatin used as a soft tissue simulant in research, forensics, and shooting sports. It can also be used to study the temporary wound cavity that forms during a penetrating injury from a ballistic projectile such as a small arms bullet or a blast fragment. This cavity is typically imaged with high-speed video cameras and its measured manually in each video frame. The dynamic cavity size alone, however, does not directly provide data on the strain that material nearby, but outside of, the wound cavity is subject to. In a recent project, SwRI® determined that it would be feasible to embed a dot pattern inside of the Perma-Gel block and use DIC to directly measure the strain field surrounding the wound cavity. Successfully and reliably embedding a dot pattern on a flat plane in the middle of the gel block proved to be challenging, in part because casting on top of a set layer with the pattern tended to melt the bottom layer and distort the pattern. After some modifications, a successful technique was developed. The method developed and example applications of it and the resulting DIC strain fields measured from a variety of projectiles and impact speeds are presented. The data demonstrate that DIC is an effective technique for measuring dynamic response of ballistic penetration in Perma-Gel, and can provide new insights that may be difficult or impossible to achieve with other measurement techniques.
Suicide in the Mountain West Region of the United States

Abstract. Background: The Mountain West region of the United States consistently reports the highest rates of suicide in the country. This pattern could reflect a regional culture-of-suicide script in support of suicide that implicitly influences individual's behavior. Aims: The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether suicide rates are elevated in the Mountain West across a wide range of demographic groups, thereby supporting a regional cultural script. Method: Suicide rates in the Mountain West between 1999 and 2014 were compared to the rest of the country across a wide range of demographic categories and levels of population density using the Center for Disease Control Multiple Causes of Death dataset published on the WONDER online database. Results: Suicide rates are elevated in the Mountain West for men and women, all racial groups, all age groups, and at every level of population density compared to the rest of the country. Limitations: Missing and suppressed data, the use of coroner rep...
Improved Phase Retrieval on Loose Support using Successive Smoothing

We present a phase retrieval algorithm using successive window functions in Fourier space for cases when the object support is loose. It gives improved performance over the commonly used hybrid input-output (HIO) algorithm.
Control of Growth Front Evolution by Bi Additives during ZnAu Electrodeposition

The performance of many electrochemical energy storage systems can be compromised by the formation of metal dendrites during charging. Additives in the electrolyte represent a useful strategy to mitigate dendrite formation, but understanding the mechanisms involved requires knowledge of the nanoscale effects of additives during electrochemical deposition. Here we quantify the effects of an inorganic additive on the morphology of an evolving electrochemical growth front, using liquid cell electron microscopy to provide the necessary spatial and temporal resolution. We examine deposition of ZnAu on Au in the presence of Bi additive, and show that low concentrations of Bi delay but do not prevent the formation of growth front instabilities. We describe a model in which Bi segregates at the growth front and promotes the surface diffusion and relaxation of Zn, allowing better coverage of the initial Au electrode surface. A more precise knowledge of the mechanism of inorganic additive effects may help in design...
Riboflavin as a redox mediator accelerating the reduction of the azo dye mordant yellow 10 by anaerobic granular sludge.

Azo dyes are important persistent pollutants of textile industry effluents. Reduction of these dyes to their corresponding aromatic amines under anaerobic conditions can be used to initiate biodegradation. Since electron transfer is suggested to be rate limiting, redox mediators are being considered to improve dye reduction kinetics. This study evaluates the use of riboflavin, the redox active moiety of common occurring enzyme cofactors, as a redox mediator to accelerate the reduction of the azo dye, mordant yellow 10 (MY10). Dye reduction was found to follow zero order kinetics, the total rate constant ( V total ) could be separated into two components: the rate of reduction due to direct contact between enzymes in the sludge with the dye ( V direct ); and the rate of reduction mediated by riboflavin (V mediated ). Riboflavin increased the V total by 61% at extremely sub-stoichiometric concentrations of 9.1 μmol l -1 , which corresponded to a molar riboflavin:dye ratio of 1:60. The accelerating effect of riboflavin displayed saturation kinetics at higher concentrations, with a maximum increase of V total of approximately 2-fold. A model is presented which assumes that Vmediated depends on the activity of riboflavin reductase (RR) and thus follows Michaelis-Menton kinetics with respect to the riboflavin concentration. The half-velocity constant ( K m ) was very low (6.3 μmol l -1 ), indicating a high affinity of the sludge RR for riboflavin. Both V direct and V mediated were found to be proportional to the assay sludge concentration. The results taken as a whole indicate that vitamin levels of riboflavin can be utilized to improve the kinetics of azo dye reduction during anaerobic treatment.
On Possible Limit Functions on a Fatou Component in Non-Autonomous Iteration

The possibilities for limit functions on a Fatou component for the iteration of a single polynomial or rational function are well understood and quite restricted. In non-autonomous iteration, where one considers compositions of arbitrary polynomials with suitably bounded degrees and coefficients, one should observe a far greater range of behaviour. We show this is indeed the case and we exhibit a bounded sequence of quadratic polynomials which has a bounded Fatou component on which one obtains as limit functions every member of the classical Schlicht family of normalized univalent functions on the unit disc. The main idea behind this is to make use of dynamics on Siegel discs where high iterates of a single polynomial with a Siegel disc U approximate the identity closely on compact subsets of U.
Systems thinking and practice for alley cropping research

Systemic and reductionist methodologies were applied to explore alley cropping systems. Alder (Alnus rubra) and black locust (Robina pseudoacacia) are grown as green manure in sweet corn production systems. Our research includes the study of biological, ecological, and social interactions. The overarching approach follows the Hawkesbury systems agriculture model in which interactions are explored on four levels of research. On a basic science level, we study the soil food web composition and nitrogen cycling in the plant-soil system by using a new 15N method that involves direct injection of the tracer into xylem of the trees. Applied field research involves the response of trees and crops to various planting patterns and N equivalence trials. Optimized systems inquiry is a third level of inquiry involving modelling of alley cropping systems limited by light and nitrogen. Field data are compared with predicted tree and crop growth. Finally, human action inquiry investigates the social components of this cropping system. We use participatory appraisal techniques such as farmer-scientist focus sessions and participatory mapping to improve the farmers’ ability to deal with complexity in their farming system and to learn about farmers’ decision making.
A Compound Arm Approach to Digital Construction

We introduce a novel large-scale Digital Construction Platform (DCP) for on-site sensing, analysis, and fabrication. The DCP is an in-progress research project consisting of a compound robotic arm system comprised of a 5-axis Altec hydraulic mobile boom arm attached to a 6-axis KUKA robotic arm. Akin to the biological model of human shoulder and hand this compound system utilizes the large boom arm for gross positioning and the small robotic arm for fine positioning and oscillation correction respectively. The platform is based on a fully mobile truck vehicle with a working reach diameter of over 80 feet. It can handle a 1,500 lb lift capacity and a 20 lb manipulation capacity. We report on the progress of the DCP and speculate on potential applications including fabrication of non-standard architectural forms, integration of real-time on-site sensing data, improvements in construction efficiency, enhanced resolution, lower error rates, and increased safety. We report on a case study for platform demonstration through large-scale 3D printing of insulative formwork for castable structures. We discuss benefits and potential future applications.