cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial modeling cannot currently differentiate SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and human distributions on the basis of climate in the United States

Abstract The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is wreaking havoc globally, yet knowledge of its biology is limited. Climate and seasonality influence the distributions of many diseases, and studies suggest a link between SARS-CoV-2 and cool weather. One such study, building species distribution models (SDMs), predicted SARS-CoV-2 risk may remain concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, shifting northward in summer months. Others have highlighted issues with SARS-CoV-2 SDMs, notably: the primary niche of the virus is the host it infects, climate may be a weak distributional predictor, global prevalence data have issues, and the virus is not in a population equilibrium. While these issues should be considered, climate still may be important for predicting the future distribution of SARS-CoV-2. To further examine if there is a link, we model with raw cases and population scaled cases for SARS-CoV-2 county-level data from the United States. We show that SDMs built from population scaled cases data cannot be distinguished from control models built from raw human population data, while SDMs built on raw data fail to predict the current known distribution of cases in the US. The population scaled analyses indicate that climate may not play a central role in current US viral distribution and that human population density is likely a primary driver. Still, we do find slightly more population scaled viral cases in cooler areas. This coupled with our geographically constrained focus make it so we cannot rule out climate as a partial driver of the US SARS-CoV-2 distribution. Climate’s role on SARS-CoV-2 should continue to be cautiously examined, but at this time we should assume that SARS-CoV-2 can spread anywhere in the US.
Pressure from the Pandemic: Pedagogical Dissatisfaction Reveals Faculty Beliefs

Adapting to remote laboratory instruction as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic put chemistry instructors under a great deal of pressure. This extraordinary context may have forced instructors ...
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Prenatal and Postnatal Counseling About Maternal and Infant Health-Promoting Practices Among Teen Mothers.

Abstract Study Objective Disparities in perinatal counseling among all pregnant women exist, yet teen data are lacking. We evaluated racial/ethnic differences in (1) prenatal and (2) postnatal counseling of teen mothers. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cross-sectional study included Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from 2012-2016 and included mothers 19 years of age and younger. Interventions and Main Outcome Measures Counseling measures included tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, weight gain, HIV testing, influenza vaccination, breastfeeding, infant safe sleep, postpartum depression, and contraception. Bivariate associations of maternal/infant characteristics and counseling were estimated using χ 2 tests. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the independent relationship between race/ethnicity and counseling. Results A weighted sample of 544,930 teen mothers was analyzed. Compared with non-Hispanic white (NHW) teens, non-Hispanic black teens were more likely to receive counseling on tobacco (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.77), alcohol (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.28-2.46), illicit drugs (aOR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.33-2.41), and HIV testing (aOR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.26-2.09). Compared with NHW teens, Hispanic teens were less likely to receive tobacco counseling (aOR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64-0.97) and more likely to receive influenza vaccine counseling (aOR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.18-1.76). No difference was found in receipt of postnatal counseling. Conclusion Racial/ethnic differences in receipt of perinatal counseling exist, with non-Hispanic black teens being more likely to receive counseling on substance use and HIV testing and Hispanic teens being more likely to receive influenza vaccine recommendations compared with NHW teens. Ongoing investigation is needed to understand drivers of these differences.
Nonparametric Bayes subject to overidentified moment conditions

Abstract Nonparametric Bayesian estimation subject to overidentified moment equations is a challenge because the support of the posterior is a manifold of lower dimension than the number of model parameters. The manifold therefore has Lebesgue measure zero thus inhibiting the use of the most commonly used Bayesian estimation method: MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo). This study proposes an effective MCMC algorithm and algorithms for estimating scale and the normalizing constant. The algorithms are illustrated with two illustrative applications.
Designing and Implementing the Use of VR in Graduate Social Work Education for Clinical Practice

While higher education research supports the use of virtual reality in the classroom, literature on its use in social work education is limited. This article discusses the implementation of virtual...
Intention to receive influenza vaccine after an acute respiratory illness.

Objective To determine the effects of symptoms and presence of confirmed influenza on intention to receive an influenza vaccine, specifically in patients recovering from a medically-attended acute (≤ 7 days’ duration) respiratory illness (ARI).
Modeling and simulation of the post-impact trajectories of particles in oblique precision shot-peening

The use of targeted particulate jets for surface modification in advanced manufacturing processes such as shot-peening are now becoming widespread. The degree of precision now demanded, in tightly confined workspaces, dictates that these processes undergo deeper scrutiny, refinement and optimization, in particular to avoid unintended excessive normal and tangential impact forces and re-impact from the rebounding jet on secondary surfaces. This work focuses on the building block of a particulate jet, namely the inelastic impact of a particle with a surface. The governing equations for a general three-dimensional inelastic impact with unilateral stick-slip conditions are derived, with the objective being to extract the particle and target characteristics which control the forces induced on impact and the resulting post-impact trajectories. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are performed for different types of surfaces and allows analysts to make informed decisions on the choices of parameters in jets, in order to reduce trial and error procedures.
The role of estrogen in atrazine-mediated inhibition of CD4+ T cell function and induction of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (IRC4P.479)

The herbicide Atrazine (ATR) is the most common drinking water contaminant in the US. Biochemically, ATR is a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor and also elevates estrogen via induction of aromatase. Based upon these biochemical activities and several previous studies, ATR is considered potentially immunotoxic. We have previously shown that when activated in the presence of ATR CD4+ T cell proliferation and expression of CD25 and CD69 are significantly reduced. This is accompanied by a 2-5 fold increase in the frequency of Foxp3+ CD25+ Treg. While this phenotype is partially mimicked by treatment with the PDE inhibitor pentoxifylline, the ATR phenotype is more pronounced in cells derived from male mice. This suggests the possibility that estrogen is playing an important role in the observed CD4+ T cell phenotype. To examine the potential role of estrogen in the ATR-associated phenotype, we have investigated the role of the G-protein coupled estrogen receptor, GPER1/GPR-30, in the ATR-mediated inhibition of CD4+ T cell activation and induction of Treg. Treatment with estrogen and the GPER1 agonist G1 mimic the effects of low ATR concentrations. Studies to further define the role of estrogen and GPER1 in the ATR inhibition of T cell activation and iTreg conversion are currently underway.
Differences in Interferon α and β Signaling INTERFERON β SELECTIVELY INDUCES THE INTERACTION OF THE α AND βL SUBUNITS OF THE TYPE I INTERFERON RECEPTOR

All Type I interferons (IFNα, IFNβ, IFNω) bind to the Type I IFN receptor (IFNR) and elicit a common set of signaling events, including activation of the Jak/Stat and IRS pathways. However, IFNβ selectively induces the association of the α subunit of the Type I IFNR with p100, a tyrosyl phosphoprotein, to transduce IFNβ-specific signals. Using antibodies raised against the different components of the Type I IFNR, we identified p100 as the long form of the β subunit (βL subunit) of the Type I IFNR. This was also confirmed in experiments with mouse L-929 cells transfected with truncated forms of βL. Thus, IFNβ stimulation of human cells or mouse L-929 transfectants expressing the human α and βL subunits, selectively induces the formation of a signaling complex containing the α and βL subunits of the receptor. The IFNβ-regulated interaction of the α and βL chains is rapid and transient and follows a similar time course with the tyrosine phosphorylation of these receptor components. These data demonstrate that the signaling specificity for different Type I IFNs is established early in the signaling cascade, at the receptor level, and results from distinct interactions between components of the Type I IFNR.
Rapid fall of serum phosphorus secondary to antacid therapy

Abstract Two patients with marked hypophosphatemia secondary to antacid therapy are described, 1 asymptomatic and the other symptomatic. In contrast to previous reports, these 2 patients were on aluminum hydroxide-containing antacids for relatively short periods of time before the hypophosphatemia occurred. Hypophosphatemia developed after only moderate doses of antacid in the symptomatic patient who was on a low phosphorus diet. An adequate intake of dietary phosphorus or phosphorus-containing antacids may be necessary to avoid a low serum phosphorus in patients taking aluminum hydroxide antacids even when the duration of therapy is as short as 2 weeks and the dose of antacids is not large.
Naked amoebae (Protozoa) of the Salton Sea, California

The Salton Sea is an inland lake in California with an average salinity of ca. 44 g 1−1. This productive water body, which supports substantial fish and migratory bird populations, is under threat because of increasing salinity levels. The present study was the first to examine the naked amoeboid protozoa of the Salton Sea and provide a first estimate of their numerical importance. Over a six-month sampling period (June–December, 1999), 45 different morphospecies (considered to be species) of amoebae were isolated. Wherever possible, isolates were identified to species or genus using diagnostic features recognizable by light microscopy. For each isolate, illustrations and brier notes on the diagnostic characters used in the identifications are given. These will allow this paper to be used as an identification guide to amoebae of the Salton Sea in future studies. Of the 45 taxa, around 18 of the isolates (i.e. 40%) are probably new to Science. Preliminary counts, based on enrichment cultivation methods, showed that amoebae in shoreline waters ranged from 14 560 to 237 120 cells 1−1 (mean 117 312 ± 86 075 S.D.). The ecological importance of high numbers and high diversity of amoebae is unknown. But it should be noted that several of the amoebae were actively grazing cyanobacterial and algal filaments and filaments of the bacterium Beg giatoa. Others were predominately associated with suspended particulates. As such, amoebae may be important in the cycling of carbon and nutrients in the Salton Sea.
Two-dimensional material photonics

We discuss optical properties of two-dimensional materials ranging from insulating hexagonal boron nitride, semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulfide and black phosphorus, to semi-metallic graphene. We also cover their potential applications in photonics.
The communications revolution in Italian science.

La conquete de la publicite scientifique a revolutionne les communications scientifiques en Italie au XVII e siecle
The unwell child with a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt

A ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (VPS) is a device which diverts cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the ventricles to the abdomen and passes from there to the bloodstream. It consists of a silicon tube with a valve able to control the rate of drainage (regulated either by pressure or flow) and prevent back-flow. In a paediatric neurosurgical practice, shunting can account for half the operative caseload. Continued improvements in both materials and techniques have improved the rates of revision and infection. However, nearly half of the children with a VPS will experience a shunt revision at some point in their life. A blocked shunt is potentially life-threatening and it is important to for general paediatricians to understand some key principles when assessing a child with a VPS.
Response by United States Financial Managers to Financial Accounting Standard No. 8

This study reports the response of 103 financial managers of United States multinational corporations to the Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement #8 with regard to foreign currency translation. A sizable majority of financial managers felt that FAS #8 was inferior to their prior translation method and should be modified or eliminated. The article examines reported reasons for these responses.
Speech and the community college

Abstract The main purpose of the educational program at the two‐year college is to facilitate the upward social, economic and educational mobility of its students. Therefore, the speech program should be consonant with that purpose. To achieve that purpose under Open Admissions in the City University of New York seems increasingly to require remediation of the students’ communication skills in English. Oral language skills make a preferred vehicle for introducing remediation in all the communication skills. Beyond that, the student should learn those skills important to his everyday situations: interpersonal and small group.
Extending Association Rule Summarization Techniques to Assess Risk of Diabetes Mellitus

Early detection of patients with elevated risk of developing diabetes mellitus is critical to the improved prevention and overall clinical management of these patients. We aim to apply association rule mining to electronic medical records (EMR) to discover sets of risk factors and their corresponding subpopulations that represent patients at particularly high risk of developing diabetes. Given the high dimensionality of EMRs, association rule mining generates a very large set of rules which we need to summarize for easy clinical use. We reviewed four association rule set summarization techniques and conducted a comparative evaluation to provide guidance regarding their applicability, strengths and weaknesses. We proposed extensions to incorporate risk of diabetes into the process of finding an optimal summary. We evaluated these modified techniques on a real-world prediabetic patient cohort. We found that all four methods produced summaries that described subpopulations at high risk of diabetes with each method having its clear strength. For our purpose, our extension to the Buttom-Up Summarization (BUS) algorithm produced the most suitable summary. The subpopulations identified by this summary covered most high-risk patients, had low overlap and were at very high risk of diabetes.
The Cosmic Background Radiation in a Cold Big Bang

In the context of a cold big bang (CBB) cosmological model, I estimate the temperature, calculate the evolution, and discuss the anisotropies of a homogeneous radiation background emitted at high redshift by Population III objects and thermalized by a mixture of carbon/silicate dust and iron or carbon whiskers. Assuming that Population III objects supply dark matter remnants and produce the universal helium abundance of ~24%, the resulting radiation, if thermal, should have temperature 0.5 K T0 9 K. To calculate its thermalization I limit standard dust density using constraints from maximum allowed metallicity, quasar reddening, Type Ia supernova observations, and high-redshift object visibility and assume a small mass ratio of whiskers to standard dust. For high redshift of generation (zi 100) and highly conducting, high aspect ratio (length/diameter 1000) iron whiskers, the final spectrum meets the FIRAS spectral distortion limits and does not exceed limits on IR-background light. Energetic considerations probably require zi 40Ωb if the observed cosmic microwave background (CMB) is star generated. Such a model is marginally viable with baryon density Ωb = 1, but probably ruled out if Ωb 0.5. I comment briefly on possible other thermalization mechanisms. In whisker-thermalized models, CMB anisotropies are imprinted at lower redshift and through somewhat different physical processes than in the hot big bang (HBB). Nonlocal thermal equilibrium of the dust causes the Sachs-Wolfe effect to disappear on small angular scales. Radiation pressure probably ejects whiskers from luminous regions such as galaxies. If significant intergalactic magnetic fields are absent, CMB radiation drag probably fixes whiskers in the CMB frame, hence large-scale Doppler anisotropies (other than the dipole) do not exist. Intrinsic temperature fluctuations and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect operate essentially as in the HBB. Numerical results for the horizon, diffusion, and other length scales relevant to CMB anisotropies for fiducial thermalization models are provided. Finally, I note that CMB polarization may be higher in the whisker model than in the HBB and that acoustic oscillations should not appear in the CBB power spectrum, and I comment on the amplitude and possible frequency dependence of the anisotropies.
Time Delay Detection Utilizing A Bragg Cell In A Joint Transform Correlator

A system is described which consists of an acousto-optic Bragg cell, a Fourier transform lens, a vidicon detector, and a digital Fourier transform. This simple system has potential for processing wide bandwidth signals with significant time-bandwidth capability. Time delays were observed between two nearly identical signals of arbitrary wave shape and found to conform with the theory. Experimental results for three types of signals are presented: narrow pulse, FM chirp, and white noise; the results of which conform with the theory.
Factors predicting patient perception of dysphonia caused by benign vocal fold lesions.

Objectives/Hypothesis: To assess factors that may be predictive of patient perception of dysphonia severity, as quantified by the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) score. We hypothesize that 1) level of vocal demand; 2) auditory-perceptual evaluation of dysphonia severity; and 3) vocal function, as defined by phonatory glottal closure and mucosal wave vibration, are the most significant predictors of VHI score. Study Design: Retrospective review of 100 patients with benign vocal fold lesions. Methods: Variables assessed for predictive value to VHI score are level of vocal demands, auditory-perceptual evaluation of dysphonia severity, integrity of mucosal wave vibration and phonatory glottal closure, lesion type, duration of current complaint, smoking, age, and sex. Harmonic to noise ratio was assessed in a subset of 50 patients. Results: Patients with routine voice use had significantly lower VHI scores than those with more intensive (nonsinging/acting) vocal demands. Patients who quit smoking had greater VHI scores than those who currently smoke or never started. Patients with long-standing dysphonia tended to have lower VHI scores than those with shorter duration vocal complaints. Auditory-perceptual assessment of dysphonia severity and harmonic to noise ratio were weak predictors of VHI score. Age, sex, lesion type, phonatory glottal closure, and mucosal wave vibration were not significant predictors of VHI score. Conclusions: Patient perception of dysphonia severity is independent of many factors commonly assessed during the evaluation of voice disorders. It appears to be an important independent element in the assessment of the effect of a benign vocal fold lesion and critical to therapeutic decision-making.
Identity and democracy in the Baltics

The purpose of this essay is to consider the probable impact of issues related to ethnic and cultural identity on democratization in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Particular attention will be given to the demographic make‐up of the Baltic states, which are home to a high percentage of Slavs (mostly Russians but also Belarusians, Poles, and Ukrainians), and to those factors which affect how these Slavs and the majority Baits: (1) identify themselves; and (2) identify with the new states in which they find themselves. The key question is the degree to which civic democracy can prosper in a newly emerging multi‐ethnic state. The answer is important not only for the Baltic states but also for the other new multinational states that have emerged from the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe in the past few years.
Blood Loss Reduction During Surgical Correction of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Utilizing an Ultrasonic Bone Scalpel.

Abstract Study Design Retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Objectives To evaluate blood loss associated with posterior spinal fusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients performed with and without the use of an ultrasonic bone scalpel (UBS). Summary of Background Information After using an ultrasonic-powered bone-cutting device with recent Food and Drug Administration approval for use in the spine, the authors perceived a reduction in bone bleeding associated with the cut boney surfaces. Methods The first 20 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who underwent posterior spinal fusion using the UBS by a single surgeon were compared with 2 control groups: 1) the 20 most recent prior cases of the same surgeon before beginning use of the bone scalpel; and 2) 20 cases of the same surgeon before using the bone scalpel matched based on Cobb angle magnitudes. Both cases and controls had Ponte-type posterior apical releases; none had an anterior procedure. Patient demographic and surgical data were analyzed using analysis of variance (p Results Preoperatively, the UBS group was similar to both control groups in terms of primary and secondary curve magnitudes, number of levels fused, number of levels with Ponte release, antifibrinolytic use, and patient age (p > .05). The UBS group had significantly less estimated blood loss (EBL) (550 ± 359 mL), Cell Saver blood transfused (94 ± 146 mL), and EBL per level fused (48 ± 30 mL) than the most recent controls (EBL: 799 ± 376 mL; Cell Saver: 184 ± 122 mL; EBL/level fused: 72 ± 28 mL) and Cobb-matched controls (EBL: 886 ± 383 mL; Cell Saver: 198 ± 115 mL; EBL/level fused: 78 ± 30 mL) (p Conclusions The use of an ultrasonic bone scalpel to perform the bone cuts associated with facetectomies and apical Ponte-type posterior releases resulted in significantly less bleeding compared with cuts made with standard osteotomes and rongeurs, limiting overall blood loss by 30% to 40%.
Campylobacter spp. in Broilers on the Farm and After Transport

Abstract Colonization of the ceca and contamination on carcasses of chickens by Campylobacter spp. was investigated. Samples were taken on the farm and after transport and holding. In the first set of experiments, 20 chickens, obtained from each of 10 broiler farms, were collected from houses containing 6- to 7-wk-old birds. Half of the birds were slaughtered at the farm; the other half were transported (10 birds per chicken coop) to a holding facility and killed within 16 to 18 h. The levels of Campylobacter spp. on the carcass and in the ceca were assessed. Ceca from birds in 9 of the 10 farms sampled were positive for Campylobacter spp. Colonization levels ranged from 104.11 to 107.28 cfu Campylobacter spp./g cecal matter, except on one farm, where the organism was not isolated. The mean count on the farm was 105.44 cfu Campylobacter spp./g cecal material, and after transport the mean was 106.15 cfu/g. Significant increases (P = .0085) in levels of Campylobacter spp. on the chicken carcasses occurred after transport. Levels of Campylobacter spp. enumerated from unprocessed chicken carcasses after transport averaged 107.11 per carcass, up from an average of 103.66 cfu per carcass on the farm. To further verify this observation, field trials were conducted to assess levels on carcasses before and after commercial transport. Employing five farms and 200 6-wk-old chickens, the above observations were confirmed: prior to transport 12.1% of the chickens harbored an average of 102.71 cfu per carcass, but after transport 56.0% of the chicken exteriors harbored an average of 105.15 cfu per carcass. The results of this study indicate that transport and holding prior to processing contributes to the Campylobacter spp. of >104 cfu normally found on processed poultry carcasses.
Role of coronary vasospasm in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia and angina pectoris

Abstract Spasm, either of heart muscle or of coronary arteries, has long been postulated as a possible cause of anginal pain. Yet early necropsy observations of obstructed coronary arteries in cases of cardiac death so focused attention on the fixed obstruction as the source of myocardial ischemia that the role of vasospasm is only now becoming evident. Further, the fact that spasm most commonly occurs together with a fixed obstruction has obscured its presence and its role in producing myocardial ischemia. In classic angina, ischemia results when increased oxygen demand is placed on the heart; the variant form of angina results from a restriction in myocardial oxygen supply , frequently even at rest. The mechanisms of coronary vasospaem are unclear, although such factors as excessive alpha-adrenergic activity, imbalances in prostaglandin synthesis, and increased CA ++ entry into myocytes through alterations in pH and blood gas tensions have been implicated.
Gastric malignancy: Ten year experience at a community teaching hospital

A ten-year review of gastric malignancy was undertaken and several factors examined. The degree of organ involvement played a significant role in determination of survival. Surgical resection, either palliative or curative, was associated with a more favorable short-term survival and bypass alone appeared to add nothing to patient survival time. The general lack of symptoms in early gastric cancer appears to be a majority determinant of the advanced state of malignancy in these patients. Early screening may represent a partial solution to this dilemma.
Formulaton of a general technique for predicting pneumatic attenuation errors in airborne pressure sensing devices

Presented is a mathematical model derived from the Navier-Stokes equations of momentum and continuity, which may be accurately used to predict the behavior of conventionally mounted pneumatic sensing systems subject to arbitrary pressure inputs. Numerical techniques for solving the general model are developed. Both step and frequency response lab tests were performed. These data are compared with solutions of the mathematical model and show excellent agreement. The procedures used to obtain the lab data are described. In-flight step and frequency response data were obtained. Comparisons with numerical solutions of the math model show good agreement. Procedures used to obtain the flight data are described. Difficulties encountered with obtaining the flight data are discussed.
Isotope shift in 151,153Eu+ from high-precision hyperfine structure measurements

Isotope shift in the two stable isotopes of Eu/sup +/ has been obtained for four optical transitions between the states 4f/sup 7/(/sup 8/S/sup 0/)5d /sup 9/D/sub J//sup 0/ and 4f/sup 7/(/sup 8/S/sub 7/2//sup 0/)6p/sub 3/2/;J' using high-precision hyperfine structure measurements in a collinear laser and slow ion beam (1.35 keV) apparatus. 5 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.
Latent inhibition in honeybees

Aversive conditioning was studied in individual honeybees flying back and forth between the hive and the sill of an open laboratory window, where they took sucrose solution from a target so constructed that shock could be delivered while the proboscis was in contact with the solution. During feeding, a conditioned stimulus—substrate vibration or airstream—was paired with brief shock avoidable by interruption of feeding. In Experiment 1, unreinforced preexposure of the conditioned stimulus was found to retard acquisition (latent inhibition). In Experiment 2, which was designed to inquire into the stimulus specificity of the effect, differential conditioning was found to be impaired by unreinforced preexposure of the positive stimulus and facilitated by unreinforced preexposure of the negative stimulus. In Experiment 3, a summation experiment designed to test various alternative explanations of the effect, a preexposed stimulus was found to suppress response to an excitatory conditioned stimulus when the two stimuli were presented together.
Automated 4D lung computed tomography reconstruction during free breathing for conformal radiation therapy

We are developing 4D-CT to provide breathing motion information (trajectories) for radiation therapy treatment planning of lung cancer. Potential applications include optimization of intensity-modulated beams in the presence of breathing motion and intra-fraction target volume margin determination for conformal therapy. The images are acquired using a multi-slice CT scanner while the patient undergoes simultaneous quantitative spirometry. At each couch position, the CT scanner is operated in cine mode and acquires up to 15 scans of 12 slices each. Each CT scan is associated with the measured tidal volume for retrospective reconstruction of 3D CT scans at arbitrary tidal volumes. The specific tasks of this project involves the development of automated registration of internal organ motion (trajectories) during breathing. A modified least-squares based optical flow algorithm tracks specific features of interest by modifying the eigenvalues of gradient matrix (gradient structural tensor). Good correlations between the measured motion and spirometry-based tidal volume are observed and evidence of internal hysteresis is also detected.
Designing Research to Meet Service Needs: An Evaluation of Single-Session Groups for Families of Psychiatric Inpatients

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a social group work intervention for families of psychiatric inpatients, with the goal of enhancing coping, social support, and information. The sample consisted of 55 clients who participated in the groups during a 3-month period and completed pre- and posttest measures designed for this project. Outcome measures focused on family members' perceptions in three different domains: the amount of information they had regarding their family member's illness and selected aspects of treatment, their ability to cope with their family member's illness and hospitalization, and the amount of support both from the group and outside the hospital setting. Student t tests were used to examine the change in scores from respondents' initial response before the group session to their scores immediately following the intervention. Results indicate that the groups were effective overall in these three areas.
Immigrant suburbanisation and the shifting geographic structure of metropolitan segregation in the United States

This study investigates immigrant suburbanisation trends over the past decade in the metropolitan USA, focusing on how suburbanisation affects the residential segregation of foreign-born population...
Transparency, participation, cooperation: a case study evaluating Twitter as a social media interaction tool in the US open government initiative

The first official order of business carried out by US President Obama in 2008 was presenting a memorandum entitled the Open Government Initiative. The three pillars of transparency, participation and collaboration form the foundation for the initiative. Our study analyzed the use of social media as one of the means being employed to achieve these goals by conducting a case-study of one government agency, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). While most of the agencies who are officially participating in the Initiative provide links to some sort of social media on their homepages, we question whether this actually results in increased transparency, participation and collaboration. We used a mixed-methods approach based in grounded theory, content analysis and discourse analysis. Early findings suggest that although the USDA is explicitly mentioned in the tweets there is no clear evidence of discourse, in the sense of exchange of tweets between the USDA and other Twitterers. This is assuming that anyone who may post from the USDA would do so overtly via the auspices of the organization and not as an individual with a unique user name. Our research indicates that traditional definitions of these terms may need to be expanded to account for the types of interactions occurring via social media. In this paper, we report on our research plan and initial observations.
Complications of definitive radiotherapy for carcinoma of the prostate

Abstract Treatment morbidity associated with definitive radiotherapy is analyzed in a group of 267 patients treated between 1967 and 1978. Minimum follow-up is 2 years, median is 4 years. The majority (82%) of the patients were treated with 22 MV photon beam to a pelvic dose of approximately 5000 rad followed by a boost to gradually reduced fields to a total of 6500–7000 rad to the prostate. The most frequent complications were urethral stricture (5.2% of the patients), proctitis (4.5%), bladder injuries (3.4%) and leg edema (3.0%). The incidence of radiation-induced complications did not correlate with the total dose, previous transurethral resection or patients' age. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was associated with a 25% incidence of leg and genital edema. Small bowel obstruction developed in 2 of 3 patients who had transperitoneal laparotomy prior to treatment. Symptoms secondary to bladder and rectal injuries were reversible in over 50% of patients within the first year after the onset.
Decision support issues using a physiology based score

Objective: As physiology based assessments of mortality risk become more accurate, their potential utility in clinical decision support and resource rationing decisions increases. Before these prediction models can be used, however, their performance must be statistically evaluated and interpreted in a clinical context. We examine the issues of confidence intervals (as estimates of survival ranges) and confidence levels (as estimates of clinical certainty) by applying Pediatric Risk of Mortality III (PRISM III) in two scenarios: (1) survival prediction for individual patients and (2) resource rationing. Design: A non-concurrent cohort study. Setting: 32 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Patients: 10 608 consecutive patients (571 deaths). Interventions: None. Measurements and results: For the individual patient application, we investigated the observed survival rates for patients with low survival predictions and the confidence intervals associated with these predictions. For the resource rationing application, we investigated the maximum error rate of a policy which would limit therapy for patients with scores exceeding a very high threshold. For both applications, we also investigated how the confidence intervals change as the confidence levels change. The observed survival in the PRISM III groups > 28, > 35, and > 42 were 6.3, 5.3, and 0 %, with 95 % upper confidence interval bounds of 10.5, 13.0, and 13.3 %, respectively. Changing the confidence level altered the survival range by more than 300 % in the highest risk group, indicating the importance of clinical certainty provisions in prognostic estimates. The maximum error rates for resource allocation decisions were low (e. g., 29 per 100 000 at a 95 % certainty level), equivalent to many of the risks of daily living. Changes in confidence level had relatively little effect on this result. Conclusions: Predictions for an individual patient's risk of death with a high PRISM score are statistically not precise by virtue of the small number of patients in these groups and the resulting wide confidence intervals. Clinical certainty (confidence level) issues substantially influence outcome ranges for individual patients, directly affecting the utility of scores for individual patient use. However, sample sizes are sufficient for rationing decisions for many groups with higher certainty levels. Before there can be widespread acceptance of this type of decision support, physicians and families must confront what they believe is adequate certainty.
Municipal Fiscal Health and Tax Abatement Policy

Much attention in the urban economic development literature has focused on the relative merits of various economic development techniques and incentives. Less work has been done regarding why certain techniques are favored over others. In a study of 87 Michigan cities, this article explores the determinants of municipal tax abatement policy. Findings support the hypothesis that cities with growing economies tend to offer higher levels of tax abatements to promote further growth. Political factors such as governmental structure and competitiveness of elections are also important. The findings also suggest that commercial and industrial tax abatement policies are different, with commercial abatement levels being less easily explained
Information transfer between neurons in the motor cortex triggered by visual cues

It was previously shown that beta oscillations of local field potentials in the arm area of the primary motor cortex (MI) of nonhuman primates propagate as travelling waves across MI of monkeys during movement preparation and execution and are believed to subserve cortical information transfer. To investigate the information transfer and its change over time at the single-cell level, we analyzed simultaneously recorded multiple MI neural spike trains of a monkey using a Granger causality measure for point process models before and after visual cues instructing the onset of reaching movements. In this analysis, we found that more pairs of neurons showed information transfer between them after appearances of upcoming movement targets than before, and the directions of the information transfer across neurons in MI were coincident with the directions of the propagating waves. These results suggest that the neuron pairs identified in the current study are the candidates of neurons that travel with spatiotemporal dynamics of beta oscillations in the MI.
Exchange rate, price, and output inter-relationships in Ghana: evidence from vector autoregressions

This paper explores the dynamic inter-relationships among the currency exchange rate, consumer price inflation, and real output growth, as well as the roles of money and interest rates in output and price determination. Time series data and vector autoregression models are used. Results suggest that there are significant inter-relationships between the exchange rate and inflation, monetary shocks matter only when explaining money itself and the price level, and interest rate-dependent monetary policies in the absence of financial modernization are ineffective
Optimal Camera Placement for Automated Surveillance Tasks

Camera placement has an enormous impact on the performance of vision systems, but the best placement to maximize performance depends on the purpose of the system. As a result, this paper focuses largely on the problem of task-specific camera placement. We propose a new camera placement method that optimizes views to provide the highest resolution images of objects and motions in the scene that are critical for the performance of some specified task (e.g. motion recognition, visual metrology, part identification, etc.). A general analytical formulation of the observation problem is developed in terms of motion statistics of a scene and resolution of observed actions resulting in an aggregate observability measure. The goal of this system is to optimize across multiple cameras the aggregate observability of the set of actions performed in a defined area. The method considers dynamic and unpredictable environments, where the subject of interest changes in time. It does not attempt to measure or reconstruct surfaces or objects, and does not use an internal model of the subjects for reference. As a result, this method differs significantly in its core formulation from camera placement solutions applied to problems such as inspection, reconstruction or the Art Gallery class of problems. We present tests of the system's optimized camera placement solutions using real-world data in both indoor and outdoor situations and robot-based experimentation using an all terrain robot vehicle-Jr robot in an indoor setting.
A combined Faraday cup and beam stop for an en tandem accelerator

Abstract A Faraday cup which is also used as a beam stop has been constructed in the instrument shop of the Department of Physics, Kansas State University, and has been in use in our accelerator laboratory since August 1970. It is mounted just prior to the switching magnet and can be actuated from the control room of our tandem facility. The uniqueness of this unit lies in the fact that although ultra high vacuum techniques were employed, eliminating all organic materials, the use of long-stroke expensive metal bellows was avoided.
On the mechanism of crustal block rotations in the central Andes

Abstract The results of 62 paleomagnetic studies of Jurassic and younger rock units from the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru are examined for indications of the timing and mechanism of crustal block rotations. Rotations and their 95% confidence intervals are recalculated in pole space, using a new South American reference APW path. As observed by many investigators, the Arica deflection (the change in topographic and tectonic trends located near Arica, northernmost Chile) divides the data into a counterclockwise-rotated set north of the deflection and a clockwise-rotated set to the south. Rotations range from 75° counterclockwise to nearly 50° clockwise, and show substantial differences between neighboring crustal blocks. South of Arica there is a weak indication of a decrease in amount of rotation with distance from the plate margin, but no such correlation is observed north of Arica. Rotation increases with age both north and south of Arica for rock units of ≤90 Ma. For older rock units no correlation between age and amount of rotation exists. Unlike the western margin of North America, no significant margin-parallel displacements accompany the rotations. Several models for rotation are examined. It is concluded that a combination of late Cenozoic oroclinal bending and post-mid-Cretaceous local block rotations in response to shear-driven sub-crustal ductile flow can explain most of the paleomagnetic and geologic observations.
LSAView: A tool for visual exploration of latent semantic modeling

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is a commonly-used method for automated processing, modeling, and analysis of unstructured text data. One of the biggest challenges in using LSA is determining the appropriate model parameters to use for different data domains and types of analyses. Although automated methods have been developed to make rank and scaling parameter choices, these approaches often make choices with respect to noise in the data, without an understanding of how those choices impact analysis and problem solving. Further, no tools currently exist to explore the relationships between an LSA model and analysis methods. Our work focuses on how parameter choices impact analysis and problem solving. In this paper, we present LSAView, a system for interactively exploring parameter choices for LSA models. We illustrate the use of LSAView's small multiple views, linked matrix-graph views, and data views to analyze parameter selection and application in the context of graph layout and clustering.
An alternative test method for assessing consistency limits

Experiments were conducted to assess simpler alternatives for estimating the Atterberg (liquid and plastic) limits as needed during military field reconnaissance and combat engineering exercises. Eight non-ASTM test methods were compared to the Casagrande cup liquid limit method and ten non-ASTM alternatives were compared to the rolled-bead plastic limit method for three cohesive soils having wide plasticity index ranges. Only one non-ASTM method yielded results within 10 % of the ASTM liquid and plastic limit values. This unique test method was created from a unified (dual-weight) fall cone apparatus and procedure to enable simple assessment of soil consistency limits.
Within-session spacing improves delayed recall in children

Multiple retrievals of a memory over a spaced manner improve long-term memory performance in infants, children, younger and older adults; however, few studies have examined spacing effects with young school-age children. To expand the understanding of the spacing benefit in children, the current study presented weakly associated English word-pairs to children aged 7–11 and cued their recall two times immediately (massed), after a delay of 5 or 10 items (spaced) or not at all (control). After this encoding session with or without two retrievals, participants were tested two times for memory of all word-pairs: immediately and 30 minutes after the encoding session. Multiple retrievals significantly improved memory on the tests. However, words repeated in a spaced design were remembered at higher rates than those that were massed, while gap size between repetitions (5 or 10) did not differentially impact performance. The data show that a within-session spacing strategy can benefit children's ability to rememb...
Glycine Decarboxylase Mediates a Postbinding Step in Duck Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Envelope protein precursors of many viruses are processed by a basic endopeptidase to generate two molecules, one for receptor binding and the other for membrane fusion. Such a cleavage event has not been demonstrated for the hepatitis B virus family. Two binding partners for duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) pre-S envelope protein have been identified. Duck carboxypeptidase D (DCPD) interacts with the full-length pre-S protein and is the DHBV docking receptor, while duck glycine decarboxylase (DGD) has the potential to bind several deletion constructs of the pre-S protein in vitro. Interestingly, DGD but not DCPD expression was diminished following prolonged culture of primary duck hepatocytes (PDH), which impaired productive DHBV infection. Introduction of exogenous DGD promoted formation of protein-free viral genome, suggesting restoration of several early events in viral life cycle. Conversely, blocking DGD expression in fresh PDH by antisense RNA abolished DHBV infection. Moreover, addition of DGD antibodies soon after virus binding reduced endogenous DGD protein levels and impaired production of covalently closed circular DNA, the template for DHBV gene expression and genome replication. Our findings implicate this second pre-S binding protein as a critical cellular factor for productive DHBV infection. We hypothesize that DCPD, a molecule cycling between the cell surface and the trans-Golgi network, targets DHBV particles to the secretary pathway for proteolytic cleavage of viral envelope protein. DGD represents the functional equivalent of other virus receptors in its interaction with processed viral particles.