cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fear and Loathing in Neurology Residency Night-Float, a Pilot Study (P2.362)

Objective: To improve quality and educational opportunities of Neurology night-float rotations. Background: To accommodate recent changes to residency work hours, workload, and attending supervision requirements mandated by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Eduction, many Neurology residency programs have adopted night-float systems. The night-float model has traditionally entailed blocks of night shifts where residents manage inpatient services and consultations. This system has created concerns over the paucity of academic opportunities during these rotations despite acknowledgement of its importance in resident training. To address these concerns, we have created a rotating twenty-four hour call system involving our Neuroscience faculty—termed “super-call”—with the intent of improving continuity of patient care and optimizing development of neurological skills. We propose this system will also eliminate any hesitancy among residents in taking advantage of the experience of our on-call teaching faculty. Methods: To address the first leg of our retrospective study, we surveyed Neurology residents of a tertiary academic medical center regarding their perceptions of the pre-existing night-float system. The second leg of the study will involve re-surveying residents four months after implementing our “super-call” system. Results will be compared utilizing a t-test. Results: Mean scoring of surveyed responses were reviewed. Despite many viewing night-float as a valuable clinical rotation, few felt that the overall quality of education, in comparison to workload, was adequate. Residents valued their autonomy, but believed that overnight attending supervision would improve patient outcomes. There was minimal concern over revealing gaps in knowledge, but many appear to fear disturbing on-call attendings. Conclusions: The conventional night-float model doesn’t provide an adequate balance between workload, supervision, and education. This has created apprehension regarding clinical decision-making among Neurology residents, ultimately affecting patient care. We propose that our “super-call” system will provide a viable solution to the shortcomings of night-float rotations. Disclosure: Dr. Pulakanti has nothing to disclose.
Remote Sensing of the Polar Oceans

Remote sensing employs the logic of inference to determine how much of what is where from measurements of force fields at locations removed from the materials of interest. The force field then forms the communication link between the material of interest and the remotely located
Praying for America: The Constitutional Ban on Animus-Based and Theocratic Reasoning in the Establishment, Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses

In this essay I argue that the Constitution’s Equal Protection, Establishment, and Free Exercise clauses share a common principle prohibiting state action that is based on “theocratic” reasoning. Drawing on the free-exercise case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, I propose the “anti-theocracy principle” to describe the ban on theocratic state reasoning. According to the anti-theocracy principle, state action must meet two requirements. The first, “secular independence” requirement is that in addition to any religious reasons for laws, the state must have secular reasons available that can appeal to non-religious citizens. The second, “equal status” requirement is that state speech or reasoning must respect the equal status of citizens regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. Although I develop and defend the anti-theocracy principle with reference to free exercise jurisprudence, I also argue that the anti-theocracy principle should be made explicit in the Court’s Equal Protection gay rights jurisprudence. Laws restricting gay rights are sometimes motivated by theocratic reasons. But laws discriminating against gays, like laws based in racial animus, lack a legitimate purpose. Having grounded the anti-theocracy principle in two fundamental constitutional provisions, I then extend it to recent controversies over the Establishment of religion. I argue that the anti-theocracy principle rightly constrains state expression, and not just state coercive action. It is therefore a more restrictive account of the Establishment Clause than Justice Kennedy’s “coercion test” from Lee v. Weisman, and it offers a way of clarifying and refining Justice O’Conner’s “endorsement test” from Lynch v. Donnelly.
The CD8+ T Lymphocyte Response during Primary SIVmac Infection

Defining the primary CD8+ T lymphocyte response to HIV is of central importance in clarifying how the host’s immune system contains the spread of the virus. It is extremely difficult to study this immune response in HIV-infected humans, since infected individuals rarely come to the attention of clinicians until weeks or months following initial exposure to the virus. The SIVmac-infected rhesus monkey provides a powerful model to study AIDS immunopathogenesis. SIVmac has substantial sequence homology with HIV and induces an AIDS-like disease in these monkeys characterized by CD4+ lymphocyte loss, wasting and death due to opportunistic infections and lymphomas. The CD8+ T lymphocyte response to SIVmac was studied during primary infection in rhesus monkeys to characterize its temporal evolution, anatomic distribution, clonality and magnitude.
Distributed Computer Systems for Control

Abstract With the advene of the microprocessor, the trend for the implementation of control strategies is shifting from che previously highly centralized systems to ones that are made up of smaller units distributed throughout the plant. Such distributed systems are highly coat attacciva wich high availability. It appears possible to obtain the reliability inherent in analog systems with the greater functional capability and lower cost of digital implementation. In this paper, the current state of the art of handling multiprocessor distributed systems will be examined. The various possible structures and examples of existing systems will be discussed. Methods of communication and snaring of resources are also given. Finally the structures and procedures necessary for fault tolerance and high availability will be discussed. Although no claim is made to cover all of the applicable literature, an extensive bibliography has been compiled.
A Semiannual Macroeconometric Model of the Philippines, 1967-76*

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a semiannual macroeconometric model of the Philippines. The Philippines has recorded an impressive growth rate beginning from 1965. Gross national product at constant prices increased in this period at a compound rate of growth of around 6%. Despite the fact that population also rose at a compound rate of 3%, per capita real income and employment showed an annual compound increase of 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively. Economic growth has been facilitated, among other factors such as growth in productivity and technical change, by a sharp step-up in the rate of gross investment in the economy between 1965 and 1975. The ratio of gross investment to GNP rose from around 22 to 31%. The chapter discusses the salient features of the Philippine economy in relation to the various policy instruments available to the authorities. It presents the econometric model and its results. The macroeconomic effects of changes in the policy instruments and other exogenous disturbances are simulated over time.
Hierarchical Cooperative Discovery of Personal Places from Location Traces

It is becoming increasingly important to accurately detect a user's presence at certain locations during certain times of the day, e.g., to study the user's patterns with respect to mobility, behavior, or social interactions and to enable the delivery of targeted services. However, instead of geographic locations, it is often more important to determine a locale that is relevant to the user, e.g., the place of work, home, homes of family and friends, social gathering places, etc. These significant personal places can be determined through analysis, e.g., via segmentation of location traces into a discrete sequence of places. However, segmentation of traces with many gaps (e.g., due to loss of network connectivity or GPS signal) results in a large number of small segments, where many of these segments actually belong together. This work proposes a novel segmentation approach that opportunistically fills gaps in a user's location trace by borrowing location data from other co-located users utilizing the power of mobile crowd sensing and computing (MCSC) paradigm. Through our analysis of four separate large-scale crowd sensing study datasets, we show that our approach yields more and larger segments than the state-of-the-art, where each segment accurately represents the presence of a user at a significant personal place.
Minimal Incision/Minimally Invasive Medializing Displacement Calcaneal Osteotomy.

Minimally invasive techniques are readily applicable to calcaneal osteotomies and have the potential to accomplish hindfoot correction equivalent to open procedures with less morbidity and pain. Use of a guidance jig makes the procedure more predictable. While most anatomic features of the procedure are the same as those with open techniques, special care must be taken to avoid neurovascular injury because there is no open exposure. Anatomic guidelines have been established for appropriately localizing the osteotomy.Level of Evidence: Level V, expert opinion.
The Engineering Properties of Rock Masses

This chapter discusses the engineering properties of rock masses. The extent to which the strength properties and load-deformation characteristics of a rock mass may coincide with the results of tests made on laboratory specimens of the rock material is a matter of major concern in geotechnology. As with rock materials in the laboratory, so with rock masses in the field, the engineering strength properties must be evaluated in terms of measured, deduced, or assumed changes in load, stress, and strain. While mass deformations can be measured with relative ease, and loads may sometimes be imposed by controlled increments, or sometimes fairly accurately deduced, on other occasions the applied loads may only be crudely estimated. Measurements and qualitative observation together must provide the evidence from which analytical and intuitive deductions must be made. But measurements in themselves do not provide solutions to practical problems in geotechnology. The measurements must be interpreted and assessed in relation to all other available evidence and they must then be applied in the light of the engineer's own background, education, training, practical experience, and expertise in the particular field concerned.
Cross-cultural issues in CRM training.

The author presents six stages of intercultural awareness and relates them to cockpit resource management training. A case study examines cultural differences between South American and United States flight crews and the problems that can occur when pilots minimize differences. Differences in leadership styles are highlighted and strategies for training South American pilots are provided.
Quality of life in hospice patients. A pilot study.

The general public and the medical community often perceive dying patients' quality of life (QOL) as rapidly deteriorating before death. However, with appropriate palliative services, this effect may be positively modified. Objective data are lacking on the true experience of dying from the point of view of the patient that this pilot study begins to address. Patient, caregivers, and staff in our hospice program completed questionnaires evaluating the patient's QOL every 2 weeks until the patient's death. This pilot study found that patients' QOL was relatively high and stable over time. Primary caregivers rated the patient's QOL lower than patient self-ratings, whereas the hospice staff evaluated the patient's QOL similarly to the patient. Many dying patients suffer and are perceived as having no QOL in the final days by their caregivers. This perception may be modified to maintain one's QOL with the help of palliative medical services, thereby relieving the suffering of those who are actively facing death.
The UCR EPA Environmental Chamber

The UCR EPA chamber is a new large indoor environmental chamber constructed at the University of California at Riverside (UCR) under United States EPA funding for the purpose of evaluating gas-phase and secondary aerosol mechanisms for ground-level air pollution. The major characteristics of this chamber, the results of its initial characterization for gas-phase mechanism evaluation, and examples of initial gas-phase mechanism evaluation experiments, are described. It is concluded that the chamber has lower or at most comparable background effects than other chambers previously used for mechanism evaluation, and can provide useful mechanism evaluation data at NOx levels as low as 2 ppb. Future research directions to utilize the capabilities of this chamber are discussed.
Host-Specific H. pylori Inhibition of H,K-ATPase α Subunit Gene Expression

With this sentence, in a book review on the mechanisms of death, Mencken wrote a concise biography of the bacterium we now know as Helicobacter pylori. Mencken was a widely-read literary critic, but even he was unlikely to have read the Italian description 27 years earlier of gastric mucosal spiral bacteria (1). For H, pylori, life is indeed a struggle against hydrogen ions. The strategies undertaken by H. pylori against the lethal effects of low gastric pH are well known. The spiral highly motile morphology of the organism allows penetration into the gastric mucin layer where a pH gradient up to neutral pH in the immediate vicinity of the surface epithelial cells affords some measure of protection. Highly specific interactions between bacterial and epithelial apical membrane glycoproteins and gly-colipids ensure bacterial adhesion in this relatively high pH zone. Most prominently, H. pylori takes up urea through proton-regulated mechanisms elegantly described by George Sachs (14); urease activity produces CO2 and ammonia, neutralizing hydrogen ions in the immediate vicinity of the organism.
HydroSedFoam: A new parallelized two-dimensional hydrodynamic, sediment transport, and bed morphology model

Abstract Depth-averaged two-dimensional (2D) models are useful tools for understanding river morphodynamics through the computation of hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and an evolving river bed morphology. This paper presents a new parallelized 2D hydrodynamic, sediment transport, and bed morphology model, HydroSedFoam. The model uses the Message Passing Interface for code parallelization and adopts a depth-averaged k − e turbulence model. Three different case studies, including a laboratory experiment, an analytical solution, and a field-scale river reach, show good agreement with HydroSedFoam simulations. Further development and modification of the model are relatively straightforward to accomplish within the OpenFOAM framework.
Molecular signaling pathways elicited by 17α-ethinylestradiol in Japanese medaka male larvae undergoing gonadal differentiation.

Abstract Estrogenic contaminants released into water bodies are potentially affecting the reproduction of aquatic organisms. Exposure to 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen agonist commonly found in sewage effluents, has been shown to cause gonadal changes in male gonochoristic fish ranging from gonadal intersex to complete sex reversal. Although these gonadal changes have been well studied in Japanese medaka Oryzias latipes, the molecular mechanisms behind them are poorly understood. Our objective was to study the signaling pathways elicited by exposure to different concentrations of EE2 in this species. Embryos and larvae were sexed by the presence of leucophores and dmy expression (only in males). Male medaka were exposed to two EE2 concentrations (30 and 300 ng/L) during their gonadal differentiation period (7–22 dpf). The transcriptome of larvae was analyzed using RNA sequencing followed by pathway analysis. Genes involved in sex differentiation and gonadal development (e.g., cldn19, ctbp1, hsd17b4) showed a female-like expression pattern in EE2-exposed males with some genes changing in expression in an EE2 concentration-dependent manner. However, not all genes known to be involved in sex differentiation and gonadal development (e.g., wnt4b) were altered by EE2. Several of the prominently affected signaling pathways involved genes associated with steroidogenesis, steroid receptor signaling and steroid metabolism, such as cyp2b3, cyp3b40, cyp1a, hsd17b4. We also report on novel genes and pathways affected that might play a role in gonadal changes, including several genes associated with FXR/RXR and LXR/RXR activation networks. This study is the first to examine the transcriptomic changes in male fish resulting from exposure to EE2 during the gonadal differentiation period, providing new insights on the signaling pathways involved in the development of gonadal changes in gonochoristic fish.
CRF: Coexistent Routing and Flooding using WiFi Packets in Heterogeneous IoT Networks

Routing and flooding are important functions in wireless networks. However, until now routing and flooding protocols are investigated separately within the same network (i.e., a WiFi network or a ZigBee network). Moreover, further performance improvement has been hampered by the assumption of the harmful cross technology interference. In this paper, we present coexistent routing and flooding (CRF), which leverages the unique feature of physical layer cross-technology communication technique for concurrently conducting routing within the WiFi network and flooding among ZigBee nodes using a single stream of WiFi packets. We extensively evaluate our design under different network settings and scenarios. The evaluation results show that CRF i) improves the throughput of WiFi networks by 1.2 times than the state-of-the-art routing protocols; and ii) significantly reduces the flooding delay in ZigBee networks (i.e., 31 times faster than the state-of-the-art flooding protocol).
The 210Po/210Pb method to calculate particle export: Lessons learned from the results of three GEOTRACES transects

Abstract The deviation from secular equilibrium between the natural radionuclide 210Po (half-life: 138.4 d) and its radioactive grandparent 210Pb (half-life: 22.3 y) has been used to examine particle export from the surface ocean. Here we combine 210Po and 210Pb activity results from three GEOTRACES transects: two transects of the North Atlantic Ocean (GA03: 15–40°N, and GA01: 40–60°N) and one transect of the South Pacific Ocean (GP16: 10–15°S), and estimate 210Po export fluxes at the base of the primary production zone (PPZ) by assuming steady state (SS) without advection or diffusion of the isotopes. The SS 210Po flux was sometimes lower at basin margins than at the open-ocean stations along the transects. High SS 210Po flux estimations derived in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre may be associated with the atmospheric deposition of 210Pb to the surface ocean. In this paper we also question the validity of the SS assumption and discuss the influence of vertical advection and diffusion on the overall 210Po activity balance. The SS model may have underestimated the export flux of 210Po at margin stations in the GA03 and GP16 transects and along the GA01 cruise track. We found that upwelling in the Peruvian coastal region and near the Greenland shelf had a dramatic impact on the estimated 210Po flux balance. Vertical diffusion had limited influence on the 210Po export fluxes along GA03 and GA01 in the North Atlantic whereas it added 210Po export fluxes by as much as 190% in GP16 in the Pacific, especially at the shelf stations 1 and 4. Further, analysis of the partitioning coefficient suggested the importance of small particles in the scavenging of radionuclides. This suggests it is wise to sample small particles along with large particles to determine the ratio of the concentration of particulate organic carbon (POC) to 210Po activity (POC/210Po) for the lower limit of POC export flux estimations. Finally, the observation of the deficit of 210Po relative to 210Pb activity (210Po/210Pb
The Effects of Enforcement on Corporate Environmental Performance: The Role of Perceived Fairness

Several empirical studies explore the effects of regulatory enforcement on environmental behavior and performance. Within this literature, extremely little empirical research examines the role of fairness, which we interpret broadly to include multiple dimensions, e. g. similar treatment of similarly situated regulated entities. Our study empirically examines the effect of perceived enforcement fairness on the extent of compliance with wastewater limits imposed on chemical manufacturing facilities regulated under the Clean Water Act. Our study also explores the influence of perceived fairness on the effectiveness of enforcement efforts – government inspections and enforcement actions – at inducing better compliance. For our analysis, we use a subjective measure of the degree of “fair treatment” of regulated facilities by environmental regulators, as perceived by facilities and reported as survey responses. Results reveal that a more (perceived) fair enforcement approach raises compliance, but only under limited enforcement conditions; in most instances, perceived more fair enforcement lowers compliance. As important, results show that greater perceived fairness improves the effectiveness of federal inspections and informal enforcement, but undermines the effectiveness of state inspections and formal non-penalty enforcement.
Linking Mother and Offspring Depressive Symptoms: The mediating role of child appearance contingent self-worth.

ABSTRACT Background Adolescents exposed to maternal depression are more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Less is known on the mediating role of children's self-worth construction processes, particularly those related to physical appearance. This study proposes and tests appearance contingent self-worth (ACSW) as a mediator linking depressive symptoms across generations. Methods Our sample included 1,420 participants of the Great Smoky Mountain Study. Offspring depressive symptoms were prospectively assessed with DSM-IV for both the adolescent period (13-16) and adulthood period (19-26). Maternal depression was screened with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire when the child was 13-16 years old. We used gender-stratified structural equation model in which offspring ACSW in adolescence and adulthood were specified as mediators linking maternal depression and offspring depressive symptoms in adolescence and adulthood, respectively. Mediation was tested using bias-corrected bootstrapped standard errors. Results ACSW is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in both adolescent and adult females and males, but the link between maternal depressive symptoms and ACSW is only significant among females. ACSW partially mediates the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent and adult depressive symptoms in girls. Limitations Measurement of maternal depression was not based on diagnosis. Generalizability is limited due to the regional sample. Conclusion Our findings provide evidence that daughters of depressed mothers may stake their self-worth on body image, which may partially explain some of their higher susceptibility to depression.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Thrombosis: A National Inpatient Sample Study.

Introduction Thrombosis is more common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients than the general population, but disease-specific correlates of thrombosis remain unclear. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of discharge data from the National Inpatient Sample between 2009 and 2014, using International Disease Classification codes to identify IBD and non-IBD patients with or without thrombosis. We used NIS-provided discharge-level weights to reflect prevalence estimates. Categoric variables were analyzed by Rao-Scott Chi-square test, continuous variables by weighted simple linear regression, and covariates associated with thrombosis by weighted multivariable logistic regression. Results Thrombosis prevalence in IBD was significantly greater than in non-IBD, 7.52 versus 4.54%, p Conclusion Thrombosis prevalence is 1.7-fold greater in IBD than non-IBD patients. Adjusting for age and comorbidity, the odds ratio for thrombosis in IBD was 73% higher with ports, 61% higher with steroids, 34% with malnutrition, and 13% with malignancy. Whether long-term anticoagulation would benefit the latter is unknown.
Entrepreneurship Group Creates Community, Shares Stories and Supports Female Students

This paper describes the development and growth of advocacy group, the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs at NC State University. An action-oriented, programmatic support group, which tackles these issues and provides building blocks towards an equitable startup experience. The mission is to support students wishing to explore entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking in a safe, supportive and non-competitive atmosphere. “X” sits within a university-wide entrepreneurship alliance; a collaborative system that supports, promotes, and advances a culture of entrepreneurship throughout the university community. The alliance itself is part of an academic/community co-working space that fosters inclusive entrepreneurial experiences through shared makerspaces, creating sustainable social and economic impact. The purpose of the paper is to provide insights into best practices that have emerged from the program for female student engagement, strong community creation and development of relevant programming topics.
Vibration Control of a Tall Benchmark Building under Wind and Earthquake Excitation

AbstractThis paper presents analysis and vibration control of tall benchmark building under wind and earthquake excitations. The study compared the most recent advanced bracing scheme (ABS) and the...
Polydopamine functionalized 3D printed scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

3D printing offers unique solutions for bone tissue regeneration with an opportunity to engineer scaffolds with the desired structure, shape, and porosity. Scaffold’s surface-to-cell interaction is critical for better tissue integration and regeneration. To achieve this, we have surface modified the 3D printed scaffolds with polydopamine (PDA) to evaluate the potential of the surface modification for bone regeneration.
Metabolomic and lipidomic characterization of an X-chromosome deletion disorder in neural progenitor cells by UHPLC-HRMS

Abstract Introduction Intellectual disorders involving deletions of the X chromosome present a difficult task in the determination of a connection between symptoms and metabolites that could lead to treatment options. One specific disorder of X-chromosomal deletion, Fragile X syndrome, is the most frequently occurring of intellectual disabilities. Previous metabolomic studies have been limited to mouse models that may not have sufficiently revealed the full biochemical diversity of the disease in humans. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to elucidate the human biochemistry in X-chromosomal deletion disorders through metabolomic and lipidomic profiling, using cells from a X-deletion patient as a representative case. Methods Metabolomic and lipidomic analysis was performed by UHPLC-HRMS on neural progenitor (NP) cells isolated from an afflicted female patient versus normal neural progenitor cells. Results Results showed perturbations in several metabolic pathways, including those of arginine and proline, that significantly impact both neurotransmitter generation and overall brain function. Coincidently, dysregulation was observed for lipids involved in both cellular structure and membrane integrity. The trends of observed metabolomic changes, as well as lipidomic profiling from identified features, are discussed. Conclusion The lipidomic and metabolomic profiles of NP cell samples exhibited significant differentiation associated with partial deletion of the X chromosome. These findings suggest that rare X-chromosomal deletion disorders are not only a mental disorder limited to alterations in local neuronal functions, but are also metabolic diseases.
Bisphosphonate Use Does Not Impact Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.

Background/aims : Bisphosphonates are increasingly recognized for their anti-neoplastic properties, which are the result of their action on the mevalonate pathway. Our primary aim was to investigate the association between bisphosphonate use and survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Since statins also act on the mevalonate pathway, we also investigated the effect of the combined use of bisphosphonates and statins on survival. Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (SEER)-Medicare linked database was used to identify patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) between 2007 and 2015. Kaplan-Meier models were used to examine the association between survival with bisphosphonate use alone and in combination with statins within 1 year prior to the diagnosis of PDAC. Propensity score matching analysis and Cox-proportional hazard models were used to determine the association between overall survival with bisphosphonate use alone and combined with statins, after adjusting for relevant confounders, such as the Charlson comorbidity index score, stage, treatment, sociodemographic characteristics, and propensity score. Results In total, 13,639 patients with PDAC were identified, and 1,203 (8.82%) used bisphosphonates. There was no difference in the mean survival duration between bisphosphonate users (7.27 months) and nonusers (7.25 months, p=0.61). After adjustment for confounders, bisphosphonate use was still not associated with improved survival (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.93 to 1.08; p=0.96). Combined bisphosphonate and statin use was also not associated with improved survival (hazard ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.07; p=0.48) after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the use of bisphosphonates, whether alone or in combination with statins, does not confer a survival advantage in patients with PDAC.
Examining social activity, need to belong, and depression among college students.

Objective: Prior research suggests that social connectedness is associated with lower levels of depression among college students. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine if an associati...
Distance Estimation Between Transceivers Over Short Distances

Three methods for determining distances between a user and a fixed coordinate system are considered. One system is based on 802.11g packet communications, another on HF radio carrier frequency interference, and the final system on a signal transmitted over a radio channel. Emphasis is placed on the use of these systems in indoor, building-sized environments. Tests are performed to examine the effectivness and potential of these methods. None of the suggested methods are determined to be usable. Reasons for their failure are examined.
A note on dealing with poultry in demand analysis

Two approaches have been taken to the modeling of poultry demand in U.S. meat demand studies. One has been to ignore turkey, and estimate demands for beef, pork, and chicken. The second has been to include turkey by combining it with chicken, and estimating demands for beef, pork, and poultry. The validity of these two approaches is examined using quarterly U.S. time-series data from 1980-96. The results indicate that either approach to the modeling of poultry demand is appropriate.
CDGPS-Based Relative Navigation for Multiple Spacecraft

This thesis investigates the use of Carrier-phase Differential GPS (CDGPS) in relative navigation filters for formation flying spacecraft. This work analyzes the relationship between the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) design parameters and the resulting estimation accuracies, and in particular, the effect of the process and measurement noises on the semimajor axis error. This analysis clearly demonstrates that CDGPS-based relative navigation Kalman filters yield good estimation performance without satisfying the strong correlation property that previous work had associated with "good" navigation filters. Several examples are presented to show that the Kalman filter can be forced to create solutions with stronger correlations, but these always result in larger semimajor axis errors. These linear and nonlinear simulations also demonstrated the crucial role of the process noise in determining the semimajor axis knowledge. More sophisticated nonlinear models were included to reduce the propagation error in the estimator, but for long time steps and large separations, the EKF, which only uses a linearized covariance propagation, yielded very poor performance. In contrast, the CDGPS-based Unscented Kalman relative navigation Filter (UKF) handled the dynamic and measurement nonlinearities much better and yielded far superior performance than the EKF. The UKF produced good estimates for scenarios with long baselines and time steps for which the EKF would diverge rapidly. A hardware-in-the-loop testbed that is compatible with the Spirent Simulator at NASA GSFC was developed to provide a very flexible and robust capability for demonstrating CDGPS technologies in closed-loop. This extended previous work to implement the decentralized relative navigation algorithms in real time.
Characteristic relations for incomplete data: a generalization of the indiscernibility relation

This paper shows that attribute-value pair blocks, used for many years in rule induction, may be used as well for computing indiscernibility relations for completely specified decision tables. Much more importantly, for incompletely specified decision tables, i.e., for data with missing attribute values, the same idea of attribute-value pair blocks is a convenient tool to compute characteristic sets, a generalization of equivalence classes of the indiscernibility relation, and also characteristic relations, a generalization of the indiscernibility relation. For incompletely specified decision tables there are three different ways lower and upper approximations may be defined: singleton, subset and concept. Finally, it is shown that, for a given incomplete data set, the set of all characteristic relations for the set of all congruent decision tables is a lattice.
The Trouble with Two-Factor Conceptual Role Theories

Two-Factor conceptual role theories of mental content are often intended to allow mental representations to satisfy two competing requirements. One is the Fregean requirement that two representations, like public language expressions, can have different meanings even though they have the same reference (as in the case of ’morning star‘ and ’evening star‘). The other is Putnam‘s Twin-earth requirement that two representations or expressions can have the same conceptual role but differ in meaning due to differing references. But I argue that the hidden agenda behind these theories is to make misrepresentation possible. A simple, one-factor conceptual role theory (like the "crude causal theory" Fodor describes) falls prey to the disjunction problem. If every use or application of a concept is meaning-determining, then there can be no misuse of that concept. Each use will partially determine its meaning, and, use which is covered in the meaning cannot be a misuse, error, or misrepresentation. I argue that the referential factor in two-factor conceptual role theories is what is supposed to make misrepresentation possible. But it fails to do so, because when the two factors do not determine the same meaning, there is no non-question-begging way to have one of them take precedence and force meaning to align with one factor and deviate from the other.
Assessment of trace element impacts on agricultural use of water from the Dan River following the Eden coal ash release.

Catastrophic events require rapid, scientifically sound decision making to mitigate impacts on human welfare and the environment. The objective of this study was to analyze potential impacts of coal ash-derived trace elements on agriculture following a 35 000-tonne release of coal ash into the Dan River at the Duke Energy Steam Station in Eden, North Carolina. We performed scenario calculations to assess the potential for excessive trace element loading to soils via irrigation and flooding with Dan River water, uptake of trace elements by crops, and livestock consumption of trace elements via drinking water. Concentrations of 13 trace elements measured in Dan River water samples within 4 km of the release site declined sharply after the release and were equivalent within 5 d to measurements taken upriver. Mass–balance calculations based on estimates of soil trace-element concentrations and the nominal river water concentrations indicated that irrigation or flooding with 25 cm of Dan River water would increase soil concentrations of all trace elements by less than 0.5%. Calculations of potential increases of trace elements in corn grain and silage, fescue, and tobacco leaves suggested that As, Cr, Se, Sr, and V were elements of most concern. Concentrations of trace elements measured in river water following the ash release never exceeded adopted standards for livestock drinking water. Based on our analyses, we present guidelines for safe usage of Dan River water to diminish negative impacts of trace elements on soils and crop production. In general, the approach we describe here may serve as a basis for rapid assessment of environmental and agricultural risks associated with any similar types of releases that arise in the future. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2015;X:000–000. © 2015 SETAC
The Minimum Drag of Thin Wings at Supersonic Speed According to Kogan's Theory

In the theory of thin lifting surfaces the minimum drag consistent with a given total lift occurs when the downwash, averaged between forward and reversed motion of the wing, has the same value at all points of the wing planform. In Kogan's theory the conditions for minimum drag are determined on the forward sloping characteristic surface touching the trailing edge of the wing and it is shown that such a surface plays the role of the Trefftz plane familiar in subsonic wing theory. This paper shows how Kogan's theory may be applied to determine the drag of elliptic wings at supersonic speed. It appears that such wings have lower drag than the conventional “delta” wing.
A positional marker for the dorsal embryonic retina is homologous to the high-affinity laminin receptor.

In a search for determinants of positional information in the embryonic eye, we isolated two monoclonal antibodies that label strongly the dorsal part of the undifferentiated embryonic retina in mammals, bird and cold-blooded vertebrates. In the chick, the optic tectum is labeled in a corresponding fashion, the ventral tectum more heavily than the dorsal tectum. Through biochemical and molecular analysis both antibodies were found to recognize a protein that has been cloned repeatedly, first in a screen with antibodies to the ‘68K-laminin receptor’ (Wewer et al. (1986) Cancer Res. 47, 5691–5698), a name that may not exhaustively describe its function. Western blots show the protein to be present in most or all tissues, and Western and Southern blots reveal a high degree of conservation in the detected signals up to invertebrates and bacteria. Despite the very strong and selective labeling of the dorsal retina in conventional immunohistochemical preparations, the protein and its mRNA are present in even amounts throughout the embryonic retina, as demonstrated by Western and Northern blots of bisected retinas, and immunohistochemically in retinas fixed with ethylene glycole bissuccinimide (EGS), an NH2-group crosslinker with very long spacer arm. This indicates that the dorsoventral asymmetry in the embryonic retina is not in the amount but in the configuration of this protein; whether this difference relates to laminin binding is not known.
DeBeers’ “Fighting Diamonds” Recruiting American Consumers in World War II Advertising

In the 1940s, the advertising agency, N.W. Ayer, created for then-client, DeBeers Consolidated Mines, a campaign that wedded the values of patriotism, American citizenship, and luxury consumerism through advertising copy. The text and accompanying images touted what they termed “Fighting Diamonds.” While most American military and labor propaganda of World War II encouraged civilians to sacrifice, ration, and save, “Fighting Diamonds” ads assured would-be buyers that their wartime gemstone diamond and jewelry splurges supported the Allied Forces. This article examines the connections between American military recruitment history and DeBeers’ “Fighting Diamond” advertisements via a series of archival materials from the N.W. Ayer and Son Advertising Agency Records at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives Center. I argue that “Fighting Diamonds” were part of a growing trend within advertisement propaganda that positioned American political participation and civic duties increasingly as...
Is Empathy Gendered and, If So, Why? An Approach from Feminist Psychological Anthropology

Difference feminists have argued that women have special virtues. One such virtue would seem to be empathy, which has three main components: imaginative projection, awareness of the other's emotions, and concern. Empathy is closely related to identification. Psychological research and the author's own study of women's and men's talk about poverty and welfare use in the United States demonstrate women's greater empathic concern. However, some cross-cultural research shows greater sex differences in empathy in the United States than elsewhere. This combination of findings (women tend to demonstrate greater empathic concern, but this typical difference varies cross-culturally) requires a complex biocultural explanation, drawing on cognitive, psychoanalytic, and feminist theories. Explanation, and not just description, is a prerequisite for change.
Activity of Quinolones against Mycobacteria

The fluoroquinolones have been shown to be highly active in vitro against many mycobacterial species, including most strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. fortuitum, and some strains of M. kansasii, M. avium-intracellulare (MAI) complex and M. leprae. Ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and sparfloxacin are the best studied of this class of drugs to date, and they are among the most active of these against M. tuberculosis and other mycobacteria. The use of ofloxacin in the treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis has resulted in the selection of quinolone-resistant mutants in a few patients. Many strains of MAI, however, are resistant to fluoroquinolones, and structure-activity relationship studies have been undertaken to identify the moieties associated with activity and inactivity. The most important features determining activity against MAI were found to be a cyclopropyl ring at the N1 position, fluorine atoms at positions C6 and C8, and a C7 heterocyclic substituent. On the basis of these structural requirements, a series of compounds were tested, and many did indeed show good activity against MAI in vitro. Application of these data to macrophage and animal models is in progress. Clinical evaluation of some of these new fluoroquinolones is also being undertaken in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and MAI and M. leprae infections. Although the development of resistance and the influence of host factors may limit their use, they have considerable potential if prudently used.
Consequences of block number on the order-disorder transition and viscoelastic properties of linear (AB) n multiblock copolymers

The effect of block number on the order−disorder transition (ODT) and viscoelastic properties were studied for linear (AB)n multiblock copolymers. A series of symmetric poly(styrene-b-isoprene)n mu...
Randomised clinical trial: Lactobacillus GG modulates gut microbiome, metabolome and endotoxemia in patients with cirrhosis.

SummaryBackground Safety of individual probiotic strains approved under Investigational New Drug (IND) policies in cirrhosis with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is not clear. Aim The primary aim of this phase I study was to evaluate the safety, tolerability of probiotic Lactobacillus GG (LGG) compared to placebo, while secondary ones were to explore its mechanism of action using cognitive, microbiome, metabolome and endotoxin analysis in MHE patients. Methods Cirrhotic patients with MHE patients were randomised 1:1 into LGG or placebo BID after being prescribed a standard diet and multi-vitamin regimen and were followed up for 8 weeks. Serum, urine and stool samples were collected at baseline and study end. Safety was assessed at Weeks 4 and 8. Endotoxin and systemic inflammation, microbiome using multi-tagged pyrosequencing, serum/urine metabolome were analysed between groups using correlation networks. Results Thirty MHE patients (14 LGG and 16 placebo) completed the study without any differences in serious adverse events. However, self-limited diarrhoea was more frequent in LGG patients. A standard diet was maintained and LGG batches were comparable throughout. Only in the LGG-randomised group, endotoxemia and TNF-α decreased, microbiome changed (reduced Enterobacteriaceae and increased Clostridiales Incertae Sedis XIV and Lachnospiraceae relative abundance) with changes in metabolite/microbiome correlations pertaining to amino acid, vitamin and secondary BA metabolism. No change in cognition was found. Conclusions In this phase I study, Lactobacillus GG is safe and well-tolerated in cirrhosis and is associated with a reduction in endotoxemia and dysbiosis.
discursive practices and power structure: person‐referring forms and sociopolitical struggles in colonial Vietnam

This study examines the diverse pragmatic implications of identical Vietnamese person-referring forms in relation to class-structured opposition in colonial Vietnam. In relation to social theory, it is proposed that, at least in the Vietnamese case, the diversity of discursive practices not only indexes social differentiation, but also constitutes an integral part of class-structured ideological opposition, and that class struggle is intricately linked to the struggle over discursive practices and linguistic meanings. The diverse pragmatic implications of identical linguistic forms underlies the ambiguity in both the use and meanings of these forms, not merely in the native speaker's extra-linguistic information but also in his/her knowledge of language.
A 10 GHz 4:1 MUX and 1:4 DEMUX implemented by a Gigahertz SiGe FPGA for fast ADC

This paper describes the implementation of a scalable SiGe FPGA that serves as an interleaving and deinterleaving block in a high-speed reconfigurable data acquisition system. In this paper, the different generations of SiGe configurable blocks (Basic Cells(BC)) evolved from the Xilinx 6200 are presented and measured. The latest generation has a 94% reduction in power consumption (from 71 to 4.2mW) and an 82.5% reduction of the propagation delay (from 238 to 42 ps) compared to the first generation design. To demonstrate the SiGe FPGA's capabilities of handling gigahertz signals, the SiGe FPGAs configured as the 4:1 multiplexer and 1:4 demultiplexer were designed to run at 10 Gbps. The comparisons between the SiGe and CMOS FPGAs are also provided. With these design results, the SiGe FPGA is able to process gigahertz signals such as S and K microwave bands.