cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent Advances in Orthotic Therapy: Improving Clinical Outcomes with a Pathology-Specific Approach

It has been quite some time since any book has approached the practice of orthotic management of common foot problems. Dr. Scherer is one of the most respected acamedicians as well as clinicians and brings to the reader a text that is both intellectually enlightening as well as hands-on practical. Many have criticized publicly and privately the use of custom foot orthotics, noting that there is very little evidence that custom orthotic therapy is firmly rooted in scientific literature. Dr. Scherer shows how this criticism is no longer valid. He explains how some of the most quoted anti–custommade-orthotics literature is quite flawed in its methodology and cannot be relied on. In this book, Dr. Scherer brings to the reader important biomechanics theory that has been added to the literature since the basic Root theory that markedly aids the clinician in prescribing orthotics. Most literature that proposes surgical interventions for foot problems briefly mentions that orthotic therapy was unsuccessful. There is almost never any description of the prescription variables built into the failed orthotic therapy. Dr. Scherer brings into focus how important the small variables are in creating successful outcomes for various foot pathologies. The book has many pearls for differentiating various degrees of common diagnosis, and then shows how various therapies are needed for various severities of these problems. This concept is highlighted in the second chapter, which shows the proper uses of functional foot orthotics, Richie braces, and gauntlets for posterior tibial dysfunction. Other important therapy modifications are also presented in the other sections on plantar fasciitis, hallux valgus, pediatric flatfoot, cavus foot, tarsal tunnel syndrome, and knee pain. This book is directed to the clinician who already has a basic foundation of foot biomechanics theory and who has had some initial experience in prescribing orthotics. It assumes that the reader has a grasp of orthotic terminology and the Root theory of neutral orthotic casting. It has excellent illustrations to explain the solutions that it discusses. In summary, the book demonstrates that the clinician—and not the orthotic laboratory—needs to be in charge of the orthotic prescription. The reviewer strongly recommends that it be incorporated into the library of every clinician who prescribes orthotics, and that it should also be mandatory reading for all podiatric medical residents.
Surface Complexation Modeling of Eu(III) and U(VI) Interactions with Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) has great potential for actinide removal due to its extremely high sorption capacity, but the mechanism of sorption remains unclear. In this study, the carboxylic functional group and an unexpected sulfonate functional group on GO were characterized as the reactive surface sites and quantified via diffuse layer modeling of the GO acid/base titrations. The presence of sulfonate functional group on GO was confirmed using elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Batch experiments of Eu(III) and U(VI) sorption to GO as the function of pH (1–8) and as the function of analyte concentration (10–100, 000 ppb) at a constant pH ≈ 5 were conducted; the batch sorption results were modeled simultaneously using surface complexation modeling (SCM). The SCM indicated that Eu(III) and U(VI) complexation to carboxylate functional group is the main mechanism for their sorption to GO; their complexation to the sulfonate site occurred at the lower pH range and the complexation of Eu(III) to...
The Decay Scheme of Cu 66

The decay scheme of ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{66}$ has been investigated using scintillation detectors. The half-life of ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{66}$ was found to be 5.17\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.07 min. The main beta-ray spectrum has an end point of 2.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 Mev. 5\textonehalf{}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1\textonehalf{} percent of the beta-rays lead to an excited state of 1.05\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03 Mev in ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{66}$. The half-life of this excited state is less than 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec. These results agree with the recent investigations of Friedlander and Alburger, but imply the necessity for further study of the decay scheme of ${\mathrm{Ga}}^{66}$, which also decays to ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{66}$. Spin, parity and shell model assignments of the pertinent states of ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{66}$, ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{66}$, and ${\mathrm{Ga}}^{66}$ are proposed.
Early supportive medication use and end-of-life care among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced breast cancer

Purpose A randomized controlled trial of cancer patients has linked early supportive care with improved hospice use and less-aggressive end-of-life care. In practice, the early use of supportive interventions and potential impact on end-of-life care are poorly understood. We sought to describe early use of medications to treat common breast cancer symptoms (pain, insomnia, anxiety, and depression) and to assess the relationship between early use of these treatments and end-of-life care.
Effects of mycoparasitism on an aquatic hyphomycete growing on leaf litter.

(1993). Effects of Mycoparasitism on an Aquatic Hyphomycete Growing on Leaf Litter. Mycologia: Vol. 85, No. 6, pp. 898-901.
Fine Structure of Conidia and Conidium Formation in Verticillium Albo-Atrum and V. Nigrescens

The fine structure of hyphae and conidia of 2 isolates of Verticillium albo-atrum and one isolate of V. nigrescens, all pathogens of cotton, was generally similar to that of other fungi. The presen...
Optimal Control with Multiple Criteria and Time Lags: Some Economic Applications

Consider a system where the motion is given by $$ x\left( t \right)\, = \,f\left( {t,\;x\left( {t - {z_{r}}} \right), \ldots ,\;x\left( {t - {z_{1}}} \right),\;x\left( t \right),\;u\left( {t - {\alpha _{3}}} \right)\;,\; \ldots ,u\left( {t - {\alpha _{1}}} \right),\;u\left( t \right)} \right) = f\left( {t,x,v} \right) $$ (1) where x(t) ∈ En and u(t) ∈ Em for any given t, where X represents all state variables-current and delayed- and where U represents all control variables.
Topic Community Mining in Blogosphere Based on LDA

Aiming at the shortage of traditional community discovery which only focus on links between users and ignore the lack of information content in the network,the concept of topic community is introduced.The correlation between the blogs in latent topic space is calculated using Latent Dirichlet allocation topic model,then the link between bloggers is re-defined,and finally the method of topic community discovery is proposed.The experimental results show that the clustering of community is improved with the proposed method.
A Curriculum for Future Information Technology

Computer science, information systems, information technology and other related programs have been evolving over the years to prepare students for the ever changing work force or to become research scientists. These program structures and curriculum gets updated rapidly even before a student had a chance to complete a four year cycle. When a student graduates, there may be a daunting challenge to find a right fit for a right job in todayâ??s global market. This paper proposes a revolutionary curriculum paradigm that is based on sound engineering principles and need for applied education. The curriculum proposed here is based on student needs and industry outlook. It reduces educational cost for students, administrative cost for teaching institutions and training cost for industry. It also provides a first cut of curriculum that integrates a variety of disciplines under the information technology umbrella. The curriculum taxonomies are shown to illustrate the proposed concept. An initial road map and time schedules are shown to demonstrate the feasibility of this concept. The roles of students, faculty and industry supervisors are discussed. The approach proposed here will have a broader positive impact in information technology when adopted. Further research is needed to fully exploit the proposed concept
Clostridia-Associated Enterocolitis in Adult Horses and Foals

A review of the literature describing clostridia-associated enterocolitis is presented. The bacteria, their toxins, and possible factors that interact to contribute to the pathogenesis of enterocolitis are described. Clinical signs associated with clostridia-associated enterocolitis, methods of diagnosis, treatments, and preventive strategies are discussed.
Naturalizing Heidegger: A Review

ABSTRACTAn essay discussing David E. Storey's book on Heidegger's contributions to environmental philosophy.
Fusion in the Context of Information Theory

ion of the flow of information in the system. In a distributed network of sensors, the sensing system may be comprised of multiple sensors that are physically disjoint or distributed in time or space, and that work cooperatively. Compared to a single sensor platform, a network has the advantages of diversity (different sensors offer complementary 3.9. FUSION IN THE CONTEXT OF INFORMATION THEORY 5 viewpoints), and redundancy (reliability and increased resolution of the measured quantity) [24]. In fact, it has been rigorously established from the theory of distributed detection that higher reliability and lower probability of detection error can be achieved when observation data from multiple, distributed sources is intelligently fused in a decision making algorithm, rather than using a single observation data set [44]. Intuitively, any practical sensing device has limitations on its sensing capabilities (e.g. resolution, bandwidth, efficiency, etc.). Thus, descriptions built on the data sensed by a single device are only approximations of the true state of nature. Such approximations are often made worse by incomplete knowledge and understanding of the environment that is being sensed and its interaction with the sensor. These uncertainties, coupled with the practical reality of occasional sensor failure greatly compromises reliability and reduces confidence in sensor measurements. Also, the spatial and physical limitations of sensor devices often means that only partial information can be provided by a single sensor. A network of sensors overcomes many of the shortcomings of a single sensor. However new problems in efficient information management arise. These may be categorized into two broad areas [30]: 1. Data Fusion: This is the problem of combining diverse and sometimes conflicting information provided by sensors in a multi-sensor system, in a consistent and coherent manner. The objective is to infer the relevant states of the system that is being observed or activity being performed. 2. Resource Administration: This relates to the task of optimally configuring, coordinating and utilizing the available sensor resources, often in a dynamic, adaptive environment. The objective is to ensure efficient use of the sensor platform for the task at hand. In comparison to lumped-parameter sensor systems (Figure 3.9.1), the issues mentioned Efficiency, in this context, is very general and can refer to power, bandwidth, overhead, throughput, or a variety of other performance metrics, depending upon the particular application. 6 CHAPTER 3. INFORMATION FUSION above for multi-sensor systems can be diagrammed as shown in Figure 3.9.2 [24].
Labor Politics in a Democratic Republic

THE YEAR 1928 had come and gone, and with it departed another of the Presidential Elections required every four years by the Constitution of the United States. At every level of government during the year, vast arrays of elective officials in office had been forced to offer themselves up to the judgment of the electorate at the ballot box, for there were other citizens who challenged their right to continue to govern; these also appealed to the electorate to help them achieve their objective. In most instances both the incumbent candidates and those who contested their future right to the administration of government office were nominees of political parties. Those parties were normally the Republican Party, born on the eve of the nation’s Civil War, and the Democratic Party, descended from Jefferson and Jackson. Also contesting at the presidential level were a Socialist Party in existence since the turn of the century, and a Communist Party in its second campaign —both organized bodies with aspirations for power. All four would live on after the ballots were counted.
Steerable Robot-assisted Micromanipulation in the Middle Ear: Preliminary Feasibility Evaluation.

Hypothesis The use of a robotic manipulator with a dexterously orientable gripper will expand the ability of middle ear surgeons to perform precise tasks and access otherwise challenging anatomic regions. Background Middle ear surgery presents unique challenges because of the constrained operative space and limited access to certain anatomic regions. Methods A custom-designed robot with a sideways-reaching gripper was used to evaluate feasibility of manipulation tasks in different middle-ear anatomical zones. Reachable workspace within the middle ear, accuracy of free-space path following, and tool steadiness were compared between robotic telemanipulation and manual control. Preliminarily assessments of the robot's clinical utility included: 1) touching the round window niche, Eustachian tube orifice, and sinus tympani; 2) placing a stapes prosthesis; 3) removal of mockup diseased tissue in the sinus tympani. Results The reachable workspace in the middle ear was considerably greater with the robot as compared with manual manipulation using a Rosen needle. In a simple path-tracing task outside the ear, robotic telemanipulation was associated with significantly reduced error. Within the middle ear, the robot contributed to steadier movement, but longer task completion time. The gripper successfully placed a 4.5 mm piston prosthesis, accessed the round window niche, Eustachian tube orifice, and removed mockup disease from the sinus tympani. Conclusion This study demonstrates that robotic assistance using steerable tools allows surgeons to access challenging anatomic regions of the middle ear. Coordinated and accurate manipulation is evidenced by motion analyses and completion of feasibility tasks within the middle ear.
Optimal Model-Based 6-D Object Pose Estimation With Structured-Light Depth Sensors

Structured-light (SL) depth sensors are widely used because of their simplicity in design and ability to process depth data with minimal computational expense. Certain SL light coding methods can, however, lead to a loss of information, as well as inhomogeneous depth errors that depend on the composition and properties of the scene. This results in a reduction of potential accuracy for model-based pose estimation methods that operate on the depth images or subsequently transformed three-dimensional point clouds, such as the popular class of point set registration (PSR) methods. We therefore formulate an asymptotically optimal maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method that operates directly on the raw SL infrared (IR) images. The proposed SLIR-MLE method maximizes the likelihood of the measured IR image over the pose region given the object model, sensor model, and calibrated speckle and thermal noise distributions. We also formulate a method to compute the Fisher information contained in the IR image and resulting Cramer–Rao bound (CRB) of any unbiased pose estimator for unique SL sensor measurement data. SLIR-MLE is shown to nearly achieve the calculated CRB for the Kinect sensor by operating on the more informative raw IR images. Furthermore, our method is shown to outperform two cutting edge PSR methods by an order of magnitude in the respective mean square errors.
Open Distal Pancreatectomy

Historically, references to distal pancreatectomy (DP) date back to the late 1800s. Billroth is said to have performed resections of both the head and tail of the pancreas in 1884, but Trendelenburg supposedly preceded this feat by 2 years when he performed a DP with splenectomy for a sarcoma. However, the patient did not survive past the first postoperative day [1]. Still, DP was not performed with regularity for nearly a century thereafter. Among the many reasons were the paucity of obvious presenting symptoms for conditions of the distal pancreas, the inaccuracy of staging malignancies, difficulty in exposing the retroperitoneum, and excessively high morbidity and mortality rates. Interestingly, neuroendocrine diseases presented early opportunities for advancement, and Finney and Mayo published some of the first successful case reports [2, 3].
Chemical Vapor Deposition of Thin, Conductive, and Fouling-Resistant Polymeric Films

Fouling has been a persistent issue within applications ranging from membrane separation to biomedical implantation. Research to date focuses on fouling-resistant coatings, where electrical conductivity is unnecessary. In this study, we report the synthesis of multifunctional thin films with both fouling resistance and electrical conductivity for their potential applications in the electrolysis-based self-cleaning of separation membranes and in the field of bioelectronics. This unique combination of properties results in multifunctional coatings that are a zwitterionic derivative of intrinsically conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) synthesized via oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD). Their fouling resistance is shown to be comparable to that of known dielectric fouling-resistant surfaces, such as a poly(4-vinylpyridine)-co-divinylbenzene (p4VP-DVB)-derived zwitterionic coating, an amphiphilic poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pPFDA-HEM...
Assessing Dangerousness: Domestic Violence Offenders and Child Abusers (3rd ed.)

Jacqueline C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN & Jill Theresa Messing, PhD, MSW, New York, NYSpringer Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-8261-3326-7Edited by Lora Humphrey Beebe, PhD, PMHNP-BC, professor, University o...
A novel synthetic route for high-index faceted iron oxide concave nanocubes with high T 2 relaxivity for in vivo MRI applications

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) with high-index facets have shown great potential as high performance T2 contrast agents for MRI. Previous synthetic approaches focused mainly on ion-directed or oxidative etching methods. Herein, we report a new synthetic route for preparing high-index faceted iron oxide concave nanocubes using a bulky coordinating solvent. Through the systematic replacement of a non-coordinating solvent, 1-octadecene, with trioctylamine, the solvent interaction with the nanoparticle surface is modified, thereby, promoting the growth evolution of the IONPs from spherical to concave cubic morphology. The presence of the bulky trioctylamine solvent results in particle size increase and the formation of nanoparticles with enhanced shape anisotropy. A well-defined concave nanocube structure was evident from the early stages of particle growth, further confirming the important role of bulky coordinating solvents in nanoparticle structural development. The unique concave nanocube morphology has a direct influence on the magnetic properties of the IONPs, ultimately leading to an ultra-high T2 relaxivity (862.2 mM-1 s-1), and a 2-fold enhancement in T2*-weighted in vivo MRI contrast compared to spherical IONP analogs.
Mitigating airborne bacteria generations from cage-free layer litter by spraying acidic electrolysed water

Cage-free (CF) hen housing has an inherent air quality challenge of high airborne bacteria (AB) concentrations arising from hens' activities (e.g., scratching, dustbathing, and social interactions) on the litter floor. Acidic electrolysed water (AEW) is an effective disinfectant that has been widely used in the food industry. Information on AEW application to mitigate AB and litter bacteria (LB) in CF housing is lacking. This lab-scale study evaluated reduction of AB and LB by spraying AEW at three dosages (25, 50, and 75 mL [kg dry litter]−1 d−1, or designated as D25, D50, and D75, respectively), three pH values (3, 5, and 7) and two free-chlorine (FC) concentrations (100 and 200 mg L−1, or FC100 and FC200). Treatment combinations were compared with control (no spray). Three replicates were conducted for testing the effect of spray dosage and pH and four replicates for testing the effect of FC on AB and LB reduction. The results showed that a lower pH AEW yielded a greater AB and LB reduction efficiency. Spraying a lower-dosage AEW (e.g., D25) at pH of 3, 5, or 7 significantly reduced airborne total bacteria (P
Sampling community structure in dynamic social networks

When studying dynamic networks, it is often of interest to understand how the community structure of the network changes. However, before studying the community structure of dynamic social networks, one must first collect appropriate network data. In this paper we present a network sampling technique to crawl the community structure of dynamic networks when there is a limitation on the number of nodes that can be queried. The process begins by obtaining a sample for the first time step. In subsequent time steps, the crawling process is guided by community structure discoveries made in the past. Experiments conducted on the proposed approach and certain baseline techniques reveal the proposed approach has at least 35% performance increase in cases when the total query budget is fixed over the entire period and at least 8% increase in cases when the query budget is fixed per time step.
Transformation and Mutagenic Effects Induced by Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2

Compelling evidence indicates that cancer is a multistep process resulting from the accumulation of many genetic defects in the tumor progenitor cell. Malignant transformation, also mediated by DNA and RNA viruses, is an in vitro model of carcinogenesis in animals. The events triggering transformation often result from the transcription of genes, called oncogenes. These are part of a virus or are altered cellular genes, called protooncogenes, that transmit growth signals from the extracellular environment to the cell nucleus. The oncogenes of animal DNA tumor viruses are integral parts of the viral genome. Those of the retroviruses are normal or slightly modified cellular genes that were appropriated from the cell or were activated in the host cell by virus infection. Here we briefly review the available evidence on transformation by the human herpes simplex viruses (HSV), with particular emphasis on the various functions with which it is associated.
Pronuclear transplantation reveals progressive imprinting of the genome during gametogenesis

Attempts to clone mammals by nuclear transplantation or to create homozygotes by diploidizing haploid eggs produced by parthenogenesis or by microsurgical removal of one pronucleus have failed because of prior nuclear differentiation. Moreover, pronuclear transplantation into enucleated eggs has in several laboratories resulted in the construction of eggs equipped with 2 male pronuclei, 2 female pronuclei, or one male and one female pronucleus. Only eggs equipped with both a male and a female pronucleus develop to term. The initial genetic makeup of the gamete nuclei is irrelevant. At least three different microsurgical techniques have been used, and the results all point to the same conclusion: nuclei are “imprinted” during gametogenesis so that male and female pronuclei are functionally different and this difference is required for normal development. This imprinting may be the earliest expression of the nuclear differentiation that occurs during normal cell differentiation and that progressively restricts the developmental capacity of nuclei. The biological behavior of male and female genomes suggests that chromosomal interactions are essential to generating specific patterns of gene function and that members of a homologous pair of chromosomes differ in function in accord with the sex of origin. This difference is replicable, changeable, and erasable, but normally persists until a new cycle of gametogenesis occurs.
Stability Analysis of Synthetic Acceleration Methods with Anisotropic Scattering

A study of the spectral radius for the continuous form of the source iteration, diffusion synthetic acceleration, and various P/sub L/ acceleration methods (L greater than or equal to 1) for anisotropically scattering neutron transport is carried out via a Fourier stability analysis. The purpose of the study is to determine which acceleration scheme is optimum. The problem is formulated as a matrix eigenvalue problem with, in general, N + 1 iteration eigenvalues ..omega.. where N denotes the degree of anisotropy. The P/sub 1/ acceleration method is determined as the most efficient P/sub L/ approach for the cases of linearly and quadratically anisotropic scattering.
Ten simple rules when considering retirement.

This is an article submitted to the Ten Simple Rules series of professional development articles published by PLOS Computational Biology.
The Effect of Deposition Stoichiometry and Post-deposition Treatments on Deep Defects in CdTe

Polycrystalline Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) with different gas phase stoichiometry was deposited by the Elemental Vapor Transport (EVT) technique. CdTe solar cells were fabricated with different post deposition processing, such as Cd'Clz heat treatment (HT) and Cu doping. The devices were characterized by standard Current-Voltage (JV) and Capacitance-Voltage (CV) measurements. Deep defect distribution was investigated with Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS). Majority carrier traps with an activation energy of 0.4 eV were identified in devices at all deposition stoichiometry, and could be related to cadmium vacancy (V cd ). Cl treated samples exhibited a deep minority carrier electron trap (~0.5 eV). Deep majority carrier traps were identified in various samples, possibly responsible for limiting the minority carrier lifetime. Samples with Cl and Cu showed a relatively shallower (~0.24 eV) electron trap with concentration up to 1014cm−3; this defect could be responsible for dopant compensation in CdTe.
Long Term Hand Tracking with Proposal Selection

Hand tracking and hand trajectory analysis play important roles for the task of understanding human actions in videos. In this paper, we present a hand tracking method using proposal selection based on temporal information, hand detection and human pose estimation. We use color and motion features for hand tracker, and obtain hand detection proposals using Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network(RCNN). Stacked-hour-glasses network is used for human pose estimation to provide possible hand regions based on the spatial relationship between wrist and other joints. We use a selection method to re-initialize hand tracker based on the detected hand and wrist positions to correct the tracker error. The proposed method is evaluated on on a public dataset and on our own human interaction dataset. We achieve improved tracking accuracy for both datasets.
The value of introducing cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) versus umbilical artery (UA) Doppler alone for the prediction of neonatal small for gestational age (SGA) and short-term adverse outcomes.

To compare the role of umbilical artery (UA) Doppler versus CPR in the prediction of neonatal SGA and short-term adverse neonatal outcome in a high-risk population.We conducted a prospective study ...
The molecular interplay between progenitors and immune cells in tissue regeneration and homeostasis

Abstract Objectives Some vertebrates in the animal kingdom including salamanders and teleost fish have the astonishing ability to fully regenerate many appendages and organs throughout their lifespan. In contrast, most mammals exhibit limited regenerative capabilities that decline with age. Over the last decade, cells in both the innate and adaptive immune system have emerged as key players that direct successful appendage and organ regenerative outcomes. Furthermore, recent studies have highlighted the importance of communication between damaged tissues and the immune system for orchestration of a pro-regenerative response. Understanding the differences in immune response to tissue injury between regenerative and non-regenerative organisms may therefore help inform efforts to stimulate regenerative abilities in humans. Key findings This review summarizes present knowledge of the known roles of both the innate and adaptive immune system in the regeneration of organs and appendages in highly regenerative species, with a particular focus on macrophages and T-cells. Furthermore, recent studies showing the importance of communication between the immune system and stem or progenitor cells during tissue homeostasis and regeneration are highlighted. Finally, as cells in the immune system have highly plastic phenotypes depending on their micro-environment, this review sheds light on the possibility that intrinsic differences in tissue damage responses may be the main driver of divergent immune responses in regenerative vs. non-regenerative systems. Conclusions Altogether, insights from these studies illustrate the need to fully examine not only the immune cells, but also the micro-environment to which they are exposed, as there may be both important cues from non-immune cells and intrinsic differences in how damaged tissues respond to injury between regenerative and non-regenerative organisms.
The unplanned city: Public space and the spatial character of urban informality

The ‘unplannable’ is a welcomed exception to the formal order of urban planning. This opinion article explores some examples of informal urbanism and discusses its ambiguous relationship to public space and unplanned activities in the city. The informal sector offers important lessons about the adaptive use of space and its social role. The article examines the ways specific groups appropriate informal spaces and how this can add to a city’s entrepreneurship and success. The characteristics of informal, interstitial spaces within the contemporary city, and the numerous creative ways in which these temporarily used spaces are appropriated, challenge the prevalent critical discourse about our understanding of authorised public space, formal place-making and social order within the city in relation to these informal spaces. The text discusses various cases from Chile, the US and China that illustrate the dilemma of the relationship between informality and public/private space today. One could say that informality is a deregulated self-help system that redefines relationships with the formal. Temporary or permanent spatial appropriation has behavioural, economic and cultural dimensions, and forms of the informal are not always immediately obvious: they are not mentioned in building codes and can often be subversive or unexpected, emerging in the grey area between legal and illegal activities.
Exceptional Point of Degeneracy in Linear-Beam Tubes for High Power Backward-Wave Oscillators.

Abstract An exceptional point of degeneracy (EPD) is induced in a system made of an electron beam interacting with an electromagnetic (EM) guided mode. This enables a degenerate synchronous regime in backward wave oscillators (BWOs) where the electron beams provides distributed gain to the EM mode with distributed power extraction. Current particle-in-cell simulation results demonstrate that BWOs operating at an EPD have a starting-oscillation current that scales quadratically to a non-vanishing value for long interaction lengths and therefore have higher power conversion efficiency at arbitrarily higher level of power generation compared to standard BWOs.
Pediatric Quality Improvement (QI) Virtual Practicum: Adapting a QI Simulator.

Introduction Pediatric residencies are expected to arm trainees with skills in quality improvement (QI) that allow trainees to systematically enhance their own practice. Simulation has been shown t...
Using Meta-Analysis of Technique and Timing to Optimize Corrective Feedback for Specific Grammatical Features.

Grammar varies in semantic, morphosyntactic, and phonological complexity, which may influence what type of Corrective Feedback (CF) is effective. The present study was designed to investigate the best form of CF for each grammatical feature, in conjunction with associated variables such as learner proficiency level and L1 influence. Fifteen studies, all of which had English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with a Korean L1 and productive measures of speech or writing, were selected for study. Results suggest that grammatical features which are very similar to the L1 may benefit more from implicit reformulations (recasts). Explicit CF (direct and metalinguistic feedback) appears more useful for semantically and syntactically complex features such as the English article and past hypothetical conditional. Finally, research of proficiency level suggests that timely emphasis of specific grammatical features is needed in order for CF to be effective.
Silica Fume, Bond Strength, and the Compressive Strength of Mortar

The strength and strain–rate sensitivity of cement paste and mortar is studied as a function of water–cementitious material ratio (W/C) and silica fume content. W/C’s of 0.30 and 0.35 are used for materials without silica fume, while W/C’s ranging from 0.336 to 0.436 are used for material containing silica fume. The volume fractions of cement paste matrix and sand are held at 63 and 37 percent, respectively, for all mortars. Strain rates of 30, 3000, and 300,000 microstrain per second are used. The results indicate that materials with silica fume are less strain–rate sensitive of than materials without silica fume. The replacement of cement by silica fume appears to (1) reduce rather than increase the bond strength between cement paste and sand and (2) increase the compressive strength of mortar primarily by increasing the strength of the cement paste matrix.
The Selden Map Rediscovered: A Chinese Map of East Asian Shipping Routes, c.1619

ABSTRACT The rediscovery of the Selden Map of China (MS Selden Supra 105) in the Bodleian Library in 2008 provides an opportunity to reassess the history of Chinese cartography and debates about maritime dimensions of the Ming Empire. The map depicts a network of Chinese shipping routes, reaching from Japan to Aceh, Sumatra, and suggests previously unknown map-making techniques. In this article I draw attention to the map's unique components, notably its portrayal of shipping routes and vegetation, consider its sources, and suggest a possible patron and location of composition.
Some scaling properties of large distributed control systems

Understanding the role of communication in networked control systems has become an important topic of study. In this paper we examine conditions on a communication network that insure observability and stabilizability of a control system. We examine both wired networks and wireless networks. For the wired network we give general necessary and sufficient conditions on the link capacities to insure the control objectives can be achieved. For the wireless network we discuss scaling properties and their effects on large control systems.
How are Recent Technology Developments Affecting Retail Banking Business

By the beginning of the 21 century, banks and thrifts have provided only 19% of the economy's credit, compared to 26% in 1990 and 40% in 1980. The increase in the role of nonblank credit is coinciding with the technological innovations that transformed the financial services industry in the last 20 years and some studies have suggested a causality effect from technology to the transformation of the latter. While enabling a greater variety of services and improved productivity, technology poses challenges to society since nonblank are often less regulated, compared to depository institutions. As noted in recent studies, despite the free spillovers of information, technology has the potential to increase monopolistic powers of institutions that develop advantages in the use of propriety information and technology.
Learning how to be normal online [college newspaper comment boards and the college student identity]

Adolescents do not come to understand the world on their own. Rather, as products of particular environments, young people exist within certain spheres of influence that shape what they expect and know of the world. Much has been written about the role of family, school, and peers in young people' development of expectations and world-view. An additional vast literature examines the ways in which social media communications contribute to youth's conceptualization of the unfamiliar, as well as how repeated external messages often succeed in overriding the lessons of personal experience. However, the contribution of comment board involvement to this area of social and personal understanding has been much overlooked. Indeed, few studies have explored how participation in online comment boards inform young users' offline understandings and expectations of both themselves and of the larger world they are increasingly becoming involved in. Additionally, very little of this research asks how social norms might be involved in the incorporeal exchanges young people take part in online. 􀍒􀍒 This research utilized in-depth qualitative interviews, content analysis, and grounded theory methodology to study how college students' involvement in a campus-specific sociotechnical space created by the online comment board forums of their university's student newspaper informed offline expectations regarding “normal” student identity. Findings suggest that the repeated patterns of exchange encountered within this space worked to affirm the existence of specific “normal” student behaviors and social processes related to involvements and interactions on campus. Analysis indicates that these patterns strongly influenced online participants' offline expectations of descriptive and injunctive campus-specific student norms, as well as their understanding both of actions that would be seen as transgressing normality and the responses such transgressions would evoke. Implications of these findings upon society and technology will be discussed.
Should the cytologic diagnosis of "atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance" be qualified? An assessment including comparison between conventional and liquid-based technologies.

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) remains an enigma for the treating physician, because it encompasses both benign, reactive, as well as preneoplastic and possibly neoplastic conditions. To address this problem, The Bethesda System recommends qualifying the ASCUS diagnosis. This study analyzes the difference in the follow-up results between the various groups of patients with an ASCUS diagnosis as outlined by the Criteria Committee: favor premalignant (ASCUS-P), favor reactive (ASCUS-R), and unqualified (ASCUS-C). The outcome, based on follow-up biopsies and/or cytologies, for both the conventional Papanicolaou smear (CS) and liquid-based (LB) methodologies is compared. METHODS The CS and LB biopsies and/or cytologies included 590 patients and 137 patients, respectively, who had an initial diagnosis of ASCUS. The final outcome after subsequent biopsy and cytology within a 1-year period for each methodology was tabulated. Furthermore, the addition of qualifiers for each diagnosis was tabulated for both cytology and biopsy follow-up and compared between CS and LB technologies. RESULTS For CS, 29 patients (8.6%) were found to have squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) on subsequent cytologic smears, and 176 patients (63.7%) had SIL on biopsy follow-up. For LB, these numbers were 17 patients (19.1%) and 56 patients (65.1%), respectively. Regardless of the qualification used in the initial CS biopsy or cytology, over 90% of the subsequent smears resulted in a benign diagnosis. Biopsy outcomes after CS diagnoses of ASCUS-P, ASCUS-R, and ASCUS-C showed SIL in 80%, 53%, and 66% of patients, respectively. For LB diagnoses, subsequent smears detected SIL in 33% of patients with a diagnosis of ASCUS-P, 22% of patients with a diagnosis of ASCUS-R, and 12% of patients with a diagnosis of ASCUS-C. Biopsy outcomes after LB diagnoses of ASCUS-P, ASCUS-R, and ASCUS-C showed SIL in 68%, 64%, and 66% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS There appears to be no statistically valid benefit from a clinical point of view in qualifying an ASCUS interpretation by either CS or LB, except for CS evaluation of patients with a diagnosis of ASCUS-P. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2001;93:93–99. © 2001 American Cancer Society.
Regulation of B-cell responses by Toll-like receptors.

Summary The discovery of host-encoded gene products that sense molecular patterns in infectious microbes, and the demonstration of their role in triggering innate and adaptive immune responses, has been a key milestone in our understanding of immunology. Twenty-three years after Janeway first outlined the fundamental concepts of the ‘pattern recognition’ model, and 15 years since the identification of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), new insights continue to be revealed, and questions remain. For example, innate immune responses to microbes that are mediated by PRRs have historically been viewed as the domain of innate immune cell populations such as dendritic cells and macrophages. New evidence, however, has pointed to the role of B-cell-intrinsic TLR activation in shaping antibody responses. These studies have revealed that TLRs regulate a complex transcriptional network that controls multiple steps in the development of antigen-specific antibodies. This review covers these recent developments regarding the role of TLRs in B-cell gene expression and function in vitro and in vivo, and highlights the remaining challenges in the field, with particular emphasis on the role of TLRs in antibody responses to viral infection. A more complete understanding of how TLRs regulate antibody responses will lead to improved vaccine design.
Scheduling algorithms for throughput maximization in time-varying networks with reconfiguration delays

We consider the control of possibly time-varying wireless networks under reconfiguration delays. Reconfiguration delay is the time it takes to switch network resources from one subset of nodes to another and it is a widespread phenomenon observed in many practical systems. Optimal control of networks has been studied to a great extent in the literature, however, the significant effects of reconfiguration delays received limited attention. Moreover, simultaneous presence of time-varying channels and reconfiguration delays has never been considered and we show that it impacts the system fundamentally. We first consider a Delay Tolerant Network model where data messages arriving randomly in time and space are collected by mobile collectors. In this setting reconfiguration delays correspond to travel times of collectors. We utilize a combination of wireless transmission and controlled mobility to improve the system delay scaling with load ρ from Θ( 1p1-rp2 ) to Θ( 11-r ), where the former is the delay for the corresponding system without wireless transmission. We propose control algorithms that stabilize the system whenever possible and have optimal delay scaling. Next, we consider a general queuing network model under reconfiguration delays and interference constraints which includes wireless, satellite and optical networks as special cases. We characterize the impacts of reconfiguration delays on system stability and delay, and propose scheduling algorithms that persist with service schedules for durations of time based on queue lengths to minimize negative impacts of reconfiguration delays. These algorithms provide throughput-optimality without requiring knowledge of arrival rates since they dynamically adapt inter-switching durations to stochastic arrivals. Finally, we present optimal scheduling under time-varying channels and reconfiguration delays, which is the main contribution of this thesis. We show that under the simultaneous presence of these two phenomenon network stability region shrinks, previously suggested policies are unstable, and new algorithmic approaches are necessary. We propose techniques based on state-action frequencies of Markov Decision Process theory to characterize the network stability region and propose throughput-optimal algorithms. The state-action frequency technique is applicable to a broad class of systems with or without reconfiguration delays, and provides a new framework for characterizing network stability region and developing throughput-optimal scheduling policies. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, libraries.mit.edu/docs - [email protected])
The Sharp Razor: Performance Evaluation with Non-Normal Returns

Because the Sharpe ratio only takes into account the first two moments, it wrongly “translates” skewness and excess kurtosis into standard deviation.As a result: It deflates the skill measured on “well-behaved” investments (positive skewness, negative excess kurtosis). It inflates the skill measure on “badly-behaved” investments (negative skewness, positive excess kurtosis).Sharpe ratio estimates need to account for Higher Moments, even if you assume that investors only care about two moments (Markowitz framework).
Visual Inspection Reliability for Precision Manufactured Parts

Objective:Sandia National Laboratories conducted an experiment for the National Nuclear Security Administration to determine the reliability of visual inspection of precision manufactured parts used in nuclear weapons.Background:Visual inspection has been extensively researched since the early 20th century; however, the reliability of visual inspection for nuclear weapons parts has not been addressed. In addition, the efficacy of using inspector confidence ratings to guide multiple inspections in an effort to improve overall performance accuracy is unknown. Further, the workload associated with inspection has not been documented, and newer measures of stress have not been applied.Method:Eighty-two inspectors in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise inspected 140 parts for eight different defects.Results:Inspectors correctly rejected 85% of defective items and incorrectly rejected 35% of acceptable parts. Use of a phased inspection approach based on inspector confidence ratings was not an effective or effic...
Negotiated Issues in an Early College Partnership: Description and Understanding through Interorganizational Theory

Early college high schools are one solution to the college readiness challenge, but school-university partnerships are complex and difficult to negotiate. This case study took a close look an early college program between a state community college and a suburban high school and asked what were the negotiable items and how could interorganizational theory help clarify the motives and positions of the negotiators in order to better understand the process? Data included transcription and notes from four years of bimonthly planning meetings among institutional leaders along with individual interviews. The results provide a road-map of negotiable “sticking points” for early college high school partnerships and a framework of seven theories to facilitate understanding and successful negotiations.