cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of virtual fixture contact stability for telemanipulation

A forbidden-region virtual fixture (FRVF) is a constraint, implemented in software, that keeps the slave manipulator of a master/slave telemanipulation system from entering into a forbidden region of the workspace. In this paper, we consider the problem of unstable vibrations of the slave against the FRVF for a general class of telemanipulator control architectures. The master and slave equilibrium positions resulting from a constant human input force are found, and the system is evaluated around this equilibrium. We consider two methods of analyzing the stability of the system around this equilibrium point. The first method uses tools developed for analysis of two-port networks. The second method converts the system to its discrete state-space form, and then uses the position of the eigenvalues to analyze system stability. We find that the discrete state-space method agrees with simulations, and can be easily used to design and analyze the stability and transient behavior of the telemanipulator.
Alienation as Atrophied Moral Cognition and Its Implications for Political Behavior

I present a theory of alienation that accounts for the cognitive processes involved with moral thinking and political behavior in modern societies. On my account, alienation can be understood as a particular kind of atrophy of moral concepts and moral thinking that affect the ways individuals cognize and legitimate the social world and their place within it. Central to my argument is the thesis that modern forms of social integration—shaped by highly institutionalized, rationalized and hierarchical forms of social life—serve to constrain the moral- cognitive powers of subjects leading to a condition of alienation as moral atrophy. This state results from the withering of the subject’s internal powers of moral reflection and an overriding predisposition to rely on external value schemas to make sense of moral and political problems. I then present an analysis of alienated moral consciousness and its implications for modern social theory.
The Power of Stars: Do Star Actors Drive the Success of Movies?

Abstract Is the involvement of stars critical to the success of motion pictures? Film studios, which regularly pay multimillion-dollar fees to stars, seem to be driven by that belief. This article sheds light on the returns on this investment using an event study that considers the impact of more than 1200 casting announcements on trading behavior in a simulated and real stock market setting. The author finds evidence that the involvement of stars affects movies' expected theatrical revenues and provides insight into the magnitude of this effect. For example, the estimates suggest that, on average, stars are worth approximately $3 million in theatrical revenues. In a cross-sectional analysis grounded in the literature on group dynamics, the author also examines the determinants of the magnitude of stars' impact on expected revenues. Among other things, the author shows that the stronger a cast already is, the greater is the impact of a newly recruited star with a track record of box office successes or wi...
Policing in Northern Ireland: Community Control, Community Policing, and the Search for Legitimacy

This article explores the recent struggles of Northern Ireland to create a legitimate police force that is viewed as responsive to the needs of both the Catholic/nationalist community and the Protestant/unionist community. Three types of legitimacy are explored: democratic legitimacy through popular control, professional legitimacy of trained public officials, and legitimacy through responsive implementation. Based on 102 qualitative interviews with community leaders and key actors within the process of police governance and community relations conducted between 2007 and 2010, this article concludes that progress has been made in establishing all three types of legitimacy but that the remaining deep sectarian divisions within the society, combined with recent economic difficulties, present serious challenges to police/community partnerships that will enhance the legitimacy of the police.
Fractionated Serum Dialysate and Synthetic Media for Culturing 2- and 4-Cell Rabbit Embryos

Embryos in the 2- and 4-cell stage were cultured for 4 days in a simple glucose-salt solution with 1.5% crystallized bovine serum albumin (BSA) to which were added fractions of freeze-dried bovine blood serum dialysate separated on G-25 and G-10 Sephadex columns. Development of 1389 embryos was compared in 35 treatments. The fractions which promoted blastocyst formation had a molecular weight of less than 700. Most of the amino acid content of the unfractionated dialysate was found in the active fractions, thus implicating amino acids as being important additions to the simple synthetic medium. In the absence of BSA no blastocysts formed in the simple synthetic medium containing serum dialysate, or in a “complete medium” formed by adding a complement of amino acids, vitamins, and trace minerals to the simple medium. The addition of serum dialysate to the complete medium resulted in 4.5% of the embryos reaching the expanding blastocyst stage as contrasted with 69.8% when 1.5% BSA was added. The combined addition of serum dialysate and BSA to the simple medium resulted in 22.6% expanding blastocysts. These studies suggest the need for a macromolecular component (BSA) and indicate that the serum dialysate did not provide as optimum a balance of amino acids and other nutrients as were provided by the complete synthetic medium.
Parental and self-report of sleep in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Results: Children with ADHD had significantly higher (more sleep-disturbed) scores on all sleep subscales of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (parent measure) than did controls; average sleep duration as reported by parents was also significantly shorter in the ADHD group. Children with ADHD also reported their own sleep to be more disturbed than controls did on the Sleep Self-report, particularly on items relating to bedtime struggles (P range, .05-.001). There was a much higher correlation between parent and child sleep report items for the children with ADHD (mean correlation, 0.55) than for the control children. Conclusions: Sleep disturbances, particularly at bedtime, are frequently reported by both parents and children with ADHD. Children undergoing evaluation for ADHD should be routinely screened for sleep disturbances, especially symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing. The causes of sleep-onset delay in children with ADHD should be considered in designing intervention strategies for children with difficulty falling and staying asleep.
The 'Seesaw Effect' from Racial Profiling to Depolicing: Toward a Critical Cultural Theory

In the early 1990s the public supported the NYPD's experiment with maximum use of Terry stops and frisks to fight crime. By the end of the 1990s, the public was very critical of the NYPD for using stops and frisks to racial profile. At the 2000 New York Puerto Rican Day Parade rampaging groups of men, most of whom were racial minorities, sexually assaulted at least 57 women. The NYPD initially depoliced the Parade assaults by refusing to intervene. Some of those officers later claimed they had been afraid to assert themselves against racial minority men because of the public's criticism of their racial profiling. This chapter argues that the NYPD's swing from racial profiling to depolicing is an example of Terry doctrine's seesaw effect. We can imagine an enforcement practices continuum between maximum (racial profiling) and minimum (depolicing) police usage of stops and frisks. That is the plank in Terry's seesaw. We can also imagine a cultural context continuum spanning public favor for or criticism of using Terry stops against racial minorities. As the public places its weight heavily on one or the other end of that continuum, police officers will swing between racial profiling and depolicing. What we learn from thinking about Terry's seesaw effect in New York is that we cannot understand the practical meaning of a legal doctrine without understanding the cultural context in which it will operate. This chapter proposes enhancing our understanding of seesaw effects by synthesizing Critical Race Theory's analyses of cultural norms about identity and Law and Cultural Studies analyses of the interplay between legal and cultural discourses into a critical cultural theory.
The Moral Diversity of Polarization: Examining Intra-Party Philosophical Differences in a Polarized Political System

The polarization between American political parties is often conceptualized as unidimensional. Indeed, the liberal-conservative spectrum has strong empirical support. Since the American party system is federal in nature and the United States is culturally diverse, it is likely, however, that the observation and measurement of polarization hides both inter and intra-party variance. Recent work by social psychologists suggests that there are multiple moral foundations that capture most human judgments about morality. Social scientists have studied this question from the micro-level, but so far there are few studies of how these moral foundations might be altered by a public setting. In an exploratory study, I analyze eight state party platforms (four from each party) and find that party philosophy is articulated (grounded) in easily recognizable moral claims. I also find considerable intra-party diversity as state parties draw on different moral claims in constructing their public platforms. Importantly, the platforms indicate that parties build consensus for position by invoking multiple foundations. Since moral beliefs are both innate and acquired, studying how parties and politicians both reflect and produce the moral frames citizens use in their political evaluations can greatly illuminate the role of morality in partisan polarization.
Performance Comparison of Finemet and Metglas Tape Cores Under Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms With DC Bias

In a previous paper, we introduced a modified Steinmetz equation to account for dc-bias field effects, which requires only a simple dc permeability measurement to predict total power loss. In this paper, we expanded our investigation to include Finemet nanocrystalline material and found that our modified Steinmetz formalism was effective in predicting dc-bias-related losses for this system as well. In this paper, it was observed that Finemet cores exhibit lower losses than Metglas cores under identical test frequencies and bias fields. In addition, we show that a full characterization of the dc loss component necessitates the consideration of higher order ( $n>1$ ) harmonic components. In order to quantify these higher frequency loss components, a dc–dc converter-based test system was built to intentionally introduce inductor current harmonics by varying the filter capacitance and parasitic inductance of the test system. Both core types were evaluated under fundamental frequencies of 20 to 150 kHz and dc-bias fields of up to 1.3 kA/m, with the inclusion of distorted waveforms obtained by varying filter capacitance. At higher frequencies, the Metglas cores were found to exhibit greater loss fractions associated with the higher order harmonic components. A detailed summary of the measured core loss characteristics for both core types is included and discussed. This paper includes the details of the measurements, the modified Steinmetz relation, and the loss extraction algorithm used for analysis.
One-piece positive-pressure protective suite and its independent source of air supply system in BSL-4 laboratory

Biological safety is an important international issue. For this reason, WHO published Laboratory Biosafety Manual in 1983, 2003 and 2005. According to the concepts of Biological safety, countries all over the world have developed and established their own national codes of practice for the safe handling of pathogenic microorganism for clinical, studying and epidemiological purposes. In BSL-4 laboratories, individual biosecurity is very important for staffs when they are faced with dangerous level-4 pathogens. In this paper, individual protective equipment and correlative technical requirements for BSL-4 laboratories are introduced.
On the mstitutional Demand and Supply of China's Agricultunal Mocternization

Since China entered the modern world,it has been faced with modern industral and agricultural modernization of the urgent mission,but China's super-stable structure of small-scale peasant economy can not produce a modern agricultural system,so it required the full evolution of agricultural systems,and system changes are a system of substitution,conversion and exchange process is a systematic project.Therefore,from 1912 to 1937,in order to solve the agricultural recession,Chinese successive governments slowed the trend of economic growth,from the legislation,agricultural policy,the survey,rural taxation,agricultural finance,rural areas governance mode of agricultural reform,trying to promote China's agricultural development system.However,whether the system works depends on many factors,because of the limitations of history,these efforts did not achieve significant results.
Common problems and status on drug registration application dossier(2):pharmaceutical study of chemical drugs

The dossier completeness and data traceableness of drug registration application are important preconditions for conducting technical review.Through check and analysis on 1450 applications for dosage form change and generic of Traditional Chinese Medicines and chemical drugs,common problems and status on these applications are discussed in aspects of administrative information,CMC,pharmacology and toxicology,and bioequivalence sections.We expect drug registration applicants will attach great importance at application dossier preparing.This paper focuses on pharmaceutical study of chemical drug.
Schema Management Modal for XML-Based Data Integration Application Architecture

The XML-based data integration application architecture is analyzed which provides a uniform display view and manipulated interface of XML data for users.Based on the analysis,a binary tree structured modal and its arithmetic description for the pre-existing schemas in the very architecture are introduced.
Epidural morphine or butorphanol augments bupivacaine analgesia during labor.

To determine the efficacy and the safety of epidural morphine or butorphanol combined with bupivacaine, 40 healthy parturients were studied during labor and delivery. All patients received an epidural test dose of 2 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine. Patients were then randomly assigned to receive one of four epidural regimens in a double-blind fashion: 0.25% bupivacaine + 1 mg butorphanol (Group I), 0.25% bupivacaine + 2 mg butorphanol (Group II), 0.25% bupivacaine + 2 mg morphine (Group III), or 0.25% bupivacaine alone (Group IV). Each group consisted of ten patients. All subsequent epidural injections were with plain 0.25% bupivacaine. Duration of analgesia was significantly longer for groups I, II, and III when compared to group IV (p less than or equal to .01); 139 +/- 111, 141 +/- 14, 199 +/- 29, and 96 +/- 6 minutes, X +/- SEM respectively. Quality of analgesia was significantly better in groups I, II, and III when compared with group IV. There were no differences between groups in duration of first and second stages of labor, uterine activity, or method of delivery. Thirty percent of patients in the morphine group (group III) developed mild pruritus that did not require any treatment. All neonates were vigorous at 5 minutes and had good Apgar Scores, umbilical cord acid base status, and Neurological Adaptive Capacity Scores. The authors conclude that adding small doses of either morphine or butorphanol to epidural bupivacaine during labor is effective and safe. Butorphanol may be preferable since none of the patients experienced pruritus.
Modular, Nondegenerate Polyprotein Scaffolds for Atomic Force Spectroscopy.

Atomic force spectroscopy (AFS) is a technique in which a cantilever probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to directly manipulate and pull on individual protein molecules. In an AFS experiment proteins of interest are deposited onto a surface and, after a protein comes into contact with the probe and is mechanically stretched between the surface and the probe, the forces used to unfold the proteins to an unstructured conformation can be directly determined (reviewed in refs 1-7). Such experiments can provide important insights into the energetics of that protein’s structure and protein folding or unfolding behavior.(8-14)
Enhanced Carbon Capture through Incorporation of Surfactant Additives

The CO2 absorption properties of monoethanolamine (MEA) solutions containing varying amounts of surfactant were examined using different experimental apparatus: a packed column, a stirred reactor, a wetted wall column, and a bubble column. The carbon capture efficiency in the packed column was improved by the addition of surfactant. Surface tension measurements of the different solutions were taken over a range of CO2 loadings, and the addition of surfactant was seen to lower the surface tension of the amine solvent. However, the improvement in carbon capture efficiency could not be fully correlated to the surface tension depression. The addition of surfactant improved CO2 absorption in the packed and bubble columns, while the surfactant inhibited absorption in the stirred reactor and wetted wall column experiments. Visual inspection of solvent flowing down a packed column revealed the gas to be bubbling through the liquid, which increases the gas–liquid interfacial area and thus the overall level of mass...
Attracting Graduates to Sales Positions and the Role of Recruiter Knowledge: A Reexamination

The recruiter plays a critical role in the success of recruiting students for sales positions. Yet there is ample evidence to suggest that recruiters do a poor job of meeting student information ne...
A Robot Forensic Interviewer: The BAD, the GOOD, and the Undiscovered

The goal of this paper is to begin a discussion of the benefits, challenges, and ethical concerns related to the use of robots as intermediaries for obtaining sensitive information from children within the human-robot interaction (HRI), criminology, sociology, legal, and psychological communities. This work examines how robots may impede disclosures from children, encourage inaccurate disclosures, facilitate unintended disclosures, provide a more reliable interviewer, decrease the likelihood of misleading children, and enhance forensic interviews through high fidelity data logging. Open research questions, proposed research studies, and pathways toward deployment of robots as forensic interviewers are provided. As HRI researchers working in an interdisciplinary team, with members trained by the National Child Advocacy Center in Child Forensic Interview Protocols, we believe sustaining a dialogue concerning the design and appropriate use of robots in this area is essential for continued progress.
New insights into the pathogenesis and prevention of tuberous sclerosis-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND)

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multi-system disorder resulting from mutations in either the TSC1 or TSC2 genes leading to hyperactivation of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. TSC is commonly associated with autism (61%), intellectual disability (45%), and behavioral, psychiatric, intellectual, academic, neuropsychological, and psychosocial difficulties that are collectively referred to as TSC-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND). More than 90% of children with TSC have epilepsy, including infantile spasms, and early onset of seizures, especially infantile spasms, is associated with greater impairment in intellectual development compared with individuals with TSC without seizures. Development of the mTOR inhibitors everolimus and sirolimus has led to considerable progress in the treatment of renal angiomyolipomata, pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and subependymal giant cell astrocytomas in the brain. However, similar therapeutic progress is needed in the treatment of TAND.
Conviviality through creativity: Appealing to the reblog in Tumblr Chat posts

Abstract Research examining linguistic creativity on the internet has tended to describe various forms of creativity found in online “chats”: that is, in technologically-mediated “conversations” taking place synchronously among multiple users interacting in the same virtual space. In this study however, we focus on a different type of “Chat”: a newer social media discourse genre, and one that is a built-in feature of popular microblogging platform, Tumblr. These “Chats” are brief, imagined dialogues, posted by a single user. Focusing on a representative selection of 90 popular (i.e., highly reblogged) Chat posts, we illustrate two common strategies used by authors of creative Tumblr Chats: intertextual references to a wide range of cultural phenomena, and those referring to “relatable” first-person situations (i.e., “Me” posts). Our qualitative, interpretive discourse analysis draws on central concepts from Bakhtin, and shows how authors of Chats rely on creative practices, such as polyvocality and double-voicing, in order to produce posts that other Tumblr users are likely to find humorous, and/or relatable.
Training for Vigilance on the Move: A Video Game-Based Paradigm for Sustained Attention

AbstractThe capacity for superior vigilance can be trained by using knowledge of results (KR). Our present experiments demonstrate the efficacy of such training using a first-person perspective movement videogame-based platform in samples of students and Soldiers. Effectiveness was assessed by manipulating KR during a training phase and withdrawing it in a subsequent transfer phase. Relative to a no KR control condition, KR systematically improved performance for both Soldiers and students. These results build upon our previous findings that demonstrated that a video game-based platform can be used to create a movement-centred sustained attention task with important elements of traditional vigilance. The results indicate that KR effects in sustained attention extend to a first person perspective movement based paradigm, and that these effects occur in professional military as well as a more general population. Such sustained attention training can save lives and the present findings demonstrate one partic...
Kerogens and Bitumens in Precambrian Uraniferous Ore Deposits: Witwatersrand, South Africa, Elliot Lake, Canada, and the Natural Fission Reactors, Oklo, Gabon

Organic matter-mineral associations in the Witwatersrand, Elliot Lake, and Oklo ore deposits help to elucidate the various roles of kerogens and bitumens in uranium metallogeny. Sedimentological observations imply that at least in the Witwatersrand, ancient mats of cyanobacteria helped initially to trap and concentrate detrital uranium minerals from low-energy water transport close to 3 Ga ago. These microbial mats were converted to kerogen during diagenesis while retaining their acquired minerals. In the 2.15–2.37 Ga old Elliot Lake ores, long after deposition apparent hydrothermal events helped bitumen to evolve in, and then move away from, thin layers of syngenetic kerogen. However, bitumen mobilization did not allow uranium migration. At the 1.82–2.1-Ga-old uranium deposits in the vicinity of Oklo, kerogen abetted the post-depositional concentration of uranium in high grade ores and the natural fission reactors. Nuclear criticality was maintained for more than a hundred thousand years when the contained water, acting as moderator, was expelled. The Oklo natural reactors are time-tested analogs of radioactive waste containment models. Consideration of the elemental, molecular compositions, maturity, graphite cryptocrystallinity and the mineral associations of Witwatersrand, Elliot Lake, and Oklo kerogens and bitumens together, helps to clarify a number of common and distinct effects of organic matter on uranium mineralization in these three Precambrian ore deposits.
A Simple Yet Effective Graph Partition Model for GPU Computing

Graph edge partition models have recently become an appealing alternative to graph vertex partition models for parallel and distributed computing due to their flexibility in balancing loads and their performance in reducing communication cost [1, 3]. In this paper, we introduce a simple yet effective graph edge partitioning model for GPU computing. In practice, our model yields high partition quality (better than or the same as the state-of-the-art edge partition approaches, at least for power-law graphs) with low partition overhead. In theory, previous work [1] showed that an approximation factor of O (dmax √log n log k) apply to the graphs with m = Ω(k2) edges (k is the number of partitions). Our model extends this result to all graphs.We demonstrate how graph edge partition model can be applied to GPU computing. We draw our examples from GPU program for locality enhancement both over time and (processor) space. For the first time, we demonstrate the effectiveness of edge partition for modeling data reuse in a many-core processors, both in theory and in practice.
Evaluation of the Statewide Variability in the Current Role of Different Specialties in Lower Extremity Endovascular Revascularization for Medicare Beneficiaries.

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the statewide variability in the role of different specialties in lower extremity endovascular revascularization (LEER) and associated submitted charges of care and actual reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries. Methods The 2015 “Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Physician and Other Supplier” data includes provider-specific information regarding the type of service, submitted average charges of care, and actual average Medicare reimbursements per Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code per provider. All HCPCS codes related to LEER were identified. The role of vascular surgery (VS), interventional cardiology (IC), and interventional radiology (IR) in each HCPCS-specific intervention was investigated. Results In 2015, 4113 providers submitted claims for iliac (n = 13,659), femoropopliteal (n = 52,344), and tibioperoneal (n = 32,688) endovascular revascularizations. In the facility setting, VS performed most of these procedures (52%), followed by IC (32%) and IR (8%). In the outpatient-based lab setting, the proportions were 46%, 36%, and 13%, respectively. Substantial statewide variability in the role of different specialties in LEER was noted. In Maine, Vermont, and Hawaii, all facility claims were submitted by VS, while more than 70% of the claims in Arizona and Utah were submitted by IC. The highest share of LEER for IR was observed in Montana and North Dakota (50%). There was substantial statewide variability in the submitted charges. Conclusion Currently, less than 10% of LEER procedures are being performed by IR. The statewide variability in the submitted charges of care by providers and actual reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries were investigated in this study.
Simulation of laboratory experiments for vortex dynamics at shallow tidal inlets using the fine resolution environmental hydrodynamics (Frehd) model

In this paper, we present the results of numerical simulations matched to laboratory experiments of tidal, starting-jet vortices forming at idealized, barotropic inlets. The laboratory experiments are for sinusoidally varying inflow/outflow along a wide, flat basin. Inlet configurations include simple inlets with negligible channel length as well as a longer inlet channels through a long barrier island and jettied inlet. Laboratory observations are made using particle image velocimetry, and we analyze the laboratory and numerical model velocity fields to compare starting-jet trajectory, diameter, and total circulation. The numerical simulations use the Fine Resolution Environmental Hydrodynamic model, solving the three-dimensional, hydrostatic, barotropic equations of motion. Our goal is to identify the minimum model attributes necessary to match the vortex properties. This is accomplished using a third-order upwind scheme for advection, a constant bottom friction drag coefficient, and a one-equation turbulence model for transport of turbulent kinetic energy. The optimal value of the bottom drag coefficient matches the time-average value at the basin inflow/outflow boundaries, and the optimal dissipation coefficient, $$C_{me}$$, was an order of magnitude smaller than literature values for a steady open-channel flow. We show that the drag coefficient mainly affects the advection speeds of the outer coastal waters, which control the penetration of the tidal vortices away from the inlet, and the lower turbulence dissipation rate results from the low turbulent dissipation in the large, shallow starting-jet vortices.
The Ceremony of Innocence: Science and Ethics

Although the world-view of classical physics allowed the physicist to presume that communion with the essences of physical reality via mathematical laws and associated theories was possible, it otherwise made no provisions for the knowing mind. Nature in classical physics was viewed as forces acting between mass points in the abstract background of space and time. Thus the universe became a vast machine in which collections of mass points interacted with one another in terms of external forces dependent only upon the masses and the effective dynamics between them. In this model the knowing self was separate, discrete, atomized, and achieved its knowledge of physical reality from the “outside” of physical systems, without disturbing the system under study.
Abscisic acid deficiency caused by phytoene desaturase silencing is associated with dwarfing syndrome in citrus.

In citrus, abscisic acid-deficiency was associated with a dwarfing phenotype, slow growth, small leaves, decreased fresh weight, and faster water loss. ABA supplementation reversed the dwarfing phenotype and enhanced growth. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a ubiquitously distributed phytohormone, which is almost produced by all living kingdoms. In plants, ABA plays pleiotropic physiological roles in growth, development, and stress responses. We explored the hidden relationship between ABA deficiency, and citrus dwarfing. We used targeted-HPLC, targeted-GC–MS, molecular genetics, immunoassays, and gene expression techniques to investigate the effects of the silencing of phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene on the ABA-biosynthetic pathway, endogenous ABA content, and other phytohormones. Silencing of PDS directly suppressed the carotenoids compounds involved in ABA biosynthesis, altered phytohormonal profile, and caused phytoene accumulation and ABA deficiency. The reduction of ABA presumably due to the limited availability of its precursor, zeaxanthin. The ABA-deficient citrus cuttings displayed photobleaching, a dwarf phenotype with impaired growth characteristics that included slow growth, small leaves, decreased fresh weight, and faster water loss. ABA supplementation enhanced the growth and reversed the dwarfing phenotype of the ABA-deficient cuttings. Our data demonstrate that ABA-deficiency may lead to dwarfing phenotype and impaired growth in citrus cuttings. The negative influence of ABA-deficiency on growth rate is the result of altered water relations. Addition of ABA to the CTV-tPDS roots restored shoot growth and reversed the dwarfing phenotype.
Wire-Aware Architecture and Dataflow for CNN Accelerators

In spite of several recent advancements, data movement in modern CNN accelerators remains a significant bottleneck. Architectures like Eyeriss implement large scratchpads within individual processing elements, while architectures like TPU v1 implement large systolic arrays and large monolithic caches. Several data movements in these prior works are therefore across long wires, and account for much of the energy consumption. In this work, we design a new wire-aware CNN accelerator, WAX, that employs a deep and distributed memory hierarchy, thus enabling data movement over short wires in the common case. An array of computational units, each with a small set of registers, is placed adjacent to a subarray of a large cache to form a single tile. Shift operations among these registers allow for high reuse with little wire traversal overhead. This approach optimizes the common case, where register fetches and access to a few-kilobyte buffer can be performed at very low cost. Operations beyond the tile require traversal over the cache's H-tree interconnect, but represent the uncommon case. For high reuse of operands, we introduce a family of new data mappings and dataflows. The best dataflow, WAXFlow-3, achieves a 2× improvement in performance and a 2.6-4.4× reduction in energy, relative to Eyeriss. As more WAX tiles are added, performance scales well until 128 tiles.
Silk-CNT Mediated Fibroblast Stimulation toward Chronic Wound Repair.

Background: Diabetic patients suffer from chronic wounds partly due to altered function of fibroblasts. Fibroblasts of diabetic patients synthesize collagen I (COLI) at a much higher level than collagen III (COLIII), resulting in delayed tissue granulation and, consequently, a delay in the overall wound healing process. Methods: We aimed to revive the matrix protein productivity of diabetic fibroblasts by employing aligned, electrically conductive and biocompatible spider silk-CNT fibers as a cell culture matrix to mediate the electrical stimulation of fibroblasts to induce cell polarization and activation. Results: A 5.2 and 42.7 fold increase in COLI and COLIII production was induced in diabetic fibroblasts. The stimulated cells synthesized a substantially high level of COLIII to reduce the abnormally high COLI/COLIII ratio, and the matrix metalloproteinases expression was markedly suppressed. The protein expression profile was consistent with favorable wound healing. The modulation effect was also demonstrated in normal fibroblasts of healthy individuals, suggesting that the developed method can be utilized generally for connective tissue repair. Silkworm silk-CNT fibers corroborated similar effects on restoring the function of diabetic fibroblasts. Conclusions: The approach of using an engineered biopolymer matrix to remedy dysfunctional fibroblasts of patients offers the opportunity of developing personalized cell therapy for noninvasive treatments and inspires the design of multi-functional biometrics for effective tissue regeneration.
Early Childhood Professional Culture: Social Networks and Beliefs Among Pre-Kindergarten Educators

As efforts are made in the United States for public school districts to implement pre-kindergarten programs and centers, there is a growing need to attend to the aspects of the local context that m...
Improving ABSITE scores - A meta-analysis of reported remediation models.

Abstract Background The ABSITE is an annual formative assessment of residents’ knowledge. This study examines the effects of remediation models on performance in the ABSITE. Methods A systemic literature review, qualitative content analysis and a quantitative meta-analysis were performed on studies from 1980 to 2018. Study quality and bias was also assessed. Main outcome measures were extracted to calculate effect sizes using a random effect model. Results Seventy-one percent of the studies considered to have acceptable quality and 79% were considered to have a low risk of bias. On qualitative content analysis, the interventions grouped into the following themes: mandatory multimodality remediation program, structured reading program, establishing a passing benchmark, problem-based learning, mandatory didactic conference attendance, learning management system and/or social media, and self-directed learning. Remediation models with the most positive effects were mandatory multimodality remediation programs (SMD 0.78, 95% confidence interval [0.27–1.28] p = 0.003) and the use of learning management systems/social media (0.74, [0.32–1.16] p = 0.001). Conclusion Establishment of mandatory multimodality remediation programs and the use of a learning management systems/social media appear to be the most effective measures.
Consumer Shopping Time in Poland: Some Insights from Contemporary Polish Research

Recent research conducted in Poland provides unique insights into the Polish consumers’ lengthy shopping-time requirements. Demands made by shopping queues and search-time impact upon perceived shortages of goods, time away from work, and reduced leisure time. The research also offers evidence of opportunities for field investigation within the comparitively less hospitable research environment of socialist Eastern Europe.
A complete grain-level assessment of the stress-strain evolution and associated deformation response in polycrystalline alloys

Abstract Polycrystalline alloys are used pervasively across structural applications contingent upon extensive experimental testing. A statistically representative number of tests are necessary to expose the variability in the material's performance, as a result of non-uniform microstructures and associated micromechanical fields. In a more direct means of capturing this pertinent information, multi-modal experimental techniques are presented to measure and track the complete micromechanical state, evolving during loading, of each and every grain within the regions of interest. Specifically, a combination of high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy and digital image correlation coupled with electron backscatter diffraction are conducted on a specimen for each of the alloys, Haynes 282 and Ti7Al. The results of the multi-modal analysis definitively demonstrate that the degree of heterogeneity increases with deformation level and is used to assess the number of grains necessary for a representative volume element description of the stress state for each of these materials. Moreover, higher resolution imaging is used for identification of the slip system activity and subsequently used to study slip transmission events. An accurate knowledge of the resolved shear stress in adjacent grains (grain interactions) is demonstrated to be a key descriptor of the slip transmission events.
Tsunami simulations along the Eastern African coast from mega-earthquake sources in the Indian Ocean

The catastrophic 2004 Indonesian tsunami reached the shores of Eastern Africa, where it affected at least 12 countries and caused several hundred casualties, principally in Somalia. Significant variations in run-up were documented by various post-tsunami surveys (note that the latter remain incomplete, especially in Southern Tanzania and Mozambique). In a previous study, Okal et al. (S Afr J Geology 112:343–358, 2009) suggested that these variations could depend on the precise location of the tsunami sources, as a result of the combined effect of source directivity and refraction by irregular bathymetry. In this context, we present the results of a significantly enhanced study, which considers a total of twelve potential sites of mega-earthquakes, along both the Sunda Arc, and the Makran subduction zone. Numerical simulations are carried out at a total of 35 virtual gauges, spanning the East African coast from Socotra in the North to Port Elizabeth in the South, as well as adjoining islands (Madagascar, Comoros, Mascarenes), the Gulf of Aden, and distant islands in the far Southern Indian Ocean, from Amsterdam to Prince Edward. We conclude that at many locations, in particular in Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, and the Mascarenes, the 2004 tsunami (which to a large extent awakened the awareness of the continent to tsunami danger) may not have represented a worst case scenario. For tsunamis originating in the Makran, amplitudes larger than in 1945 require the simultaneous rupture of several blocks of the plate boundary, a scenario which, although not impossible, remains at this stage speculative.
Formal Metaeconomics: Recycling Choices

Metaeconomics sees non-allocable inputs and goods as the norm. A figure shows a set of self-interest indifference curves overlapping with a set of other-interest indifference curves, with payoffs in the dual interest at every point. Goods are non-allocable across the dual interest: payoffs are joint, interdependent, and inseparable. The same is true in producer supply, with two sets of overlapping Self-interest and Other-interest isoquants. Inputs are nonallocable across the dual interest. The Other-interest (shared with others, but internal to the own-self) represents the connection of the self to the other in both the community and the Spaceship Earth System. Empirical test demonstrates how self-control to bring the shared other-interest in recycling and buying recycle content goods works to temper the Self-interest in not recycling.
Marvell’s Maps: Reading Empire through Microcosm at Nun Appleton

Critics have long been attuned to Andrew Marvell’s virtuosic manipulations of scale and space in his early country-house poem, 'Upon Appleton House'. Marvell’s meanings are irrepressibly expansive, signifying outward from the Fairfax family and its estates to the English nation as a whole. This essay extends those meanings yet further, arguing that the poem’s paradoxically aligned techniques of compression and expansion—that is, its reliance on microcosmic figures—lend it an imperial dimension. The poem’s miniaturizations permit Marvell to depict national concerns as household ones, but they also allow the poet’s spatial imagination to expand beyond insular boundaries, to attain global reach even while rooted in an explicitly local setting.
The Energy Essential: Physical Forces Animate All Things

Technology purposely channels, concentrates, and transforms energy, matter, and information to improve the human condition. Continuous energy-rich fossil fuel use is the root cause of environmental degradation. Since matter is embodied energy and humankind’s demand for stuff is at an all-time high, energy sources directly affect future ecological prospects. The proposed solution of shifting to 100% renewable energy is complicated by the need for high embodied energy industrial processes. Understanding abstract concepts of energy is critical to finding solutions for unintended consequences at the root of environmental problems. This chapter demystifies energy terms and establishes conceptual foundations for designers to consider as they work through the primary challenges of consumption.
How to count your bugs

Abstract Ability to estimate local population density of an insect is critical in many fields, from pest management to conservation. No method currently exists that reliably connects trap catch with the insect population density, including the corresponding uncertainty. Here we report a simple and universal predictive relationship for a probability of catching an insect located a given distance away from the trap. This relationship allows to estimate, from a single catch, the most likely population density along with its statistical upper and lower bounds. To test the generality of this equation we used 10 distinct trapping data sets collected on insects from 5 different orders and major trapping methods: chemical-baited and light. For all of the datasets the equation faithfully describes the relationship between location of an insect and probability to catch it. The ability to estimate absolute population density from a single trap catch will significantly improve our understanding of insect population dynamics and allow for more effective research, management, and conservation programs.
USP13 Deficiency Aggravates Cigarette-smoke-induced Alveolar Space Enlargement

Alveolar enlargement is a pathological feature of emphysema. Long-term exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) is a high-risk factor for the development of emphysema. Abnormal protein ubiquitination has been implicated to regulate the development of human disorders, however, the role of protein ubiquitination in emphysema has not been well-studied. In this study, we attempted to investigate if a deubiquitinase, USP13, regulates the development of emphysema. Under a mild CS exposure condition, USP13-deficient mice show significant increases in alveolar chord length, indicating that USP13-deficient mice are susceptible to CS-induced alveolar enlargement. It has been shown that USP13 knockout reduced fibronectin expression in lungs. Here, we found that collagen levels were reduced in USP13 siRNA-transfected lung fibroblast cells. This suggests that a loss of extracellular matrix in connective tissues contributes to alveolar enlargement in USP13-deficient mice in response to CS exposure. Further, we investigated the role of USP13 in the expression of oxidative stress markers TXNIP and HMOX1. An increase in HMOX1 abundance was observed in USP13 knockdown lung fibroblast and epithelial cells. Overexpression of USP13 reduced HMOX1 protein levels in lung fibroblast cells, suggesting that modulation of USP13 levels may affect oxidative stress. Knockdown of USP13 significantly reduced TXNIP levels in lungs or lung fibroblast cells. A protein stability pulse-chase assay showed that TXNIP is instable within USP13 knockdown lung fibroblast cells. Further, the reduction of TXNIP was observed in USP13 inhibitor-treated lung epithelial cells. USP13-deficient mice also show higher levels of IgG in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. This study provides evidence showing that USP13 deficiency plays a role in alveolar space enlargement.
Health Houses in Mississippi: Alternative Care for the Needy and the Affordable Health

In this study, I examine the effectiveness of health houses in rural communities. I conduct a large N study on preventable hospitalizations for the 82 counties in Mississippi. I pay particular attention counties with health houses. I analyze the recent application of a [healthcare] model derived from Iran, a country with similar health indicators and demographics (i.e. high levels of poverty). Using the current health house as a baseline, I observe the degree to which health houses affect changes in various measures of health outcomes. I expect my findings to aid in the overall discussion of the Affordable Health Care Act and how alternative policy instruments could be used to attend to those in need.
Beyond Millennium Development Goals: Funding Quality Education Through Building Local Capacity: A Sample from Tanzania

This paper examines how local farmers in Central Tanzania can develop economic initiatives that will significantly impact their ability to participate in cost sharing measures of financing quality education in the region. This chapter offers suggestions on how post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could enhance their international development framework through social capital theories and social entrepreneurial concepts to build local capacity in hard to reach areas. I reflect critically on the effects of postcolonial theories that have impeded the construction of a more responsible and accountable system of subsidizing education at the grassroots level, the role of international aid, and alternative methods for funding quality education reform. The findings in this discussion provide an overview of current social and educational policy conditions in Central Tanzania and explore how the community can become social entrepreneurs empowered to invest in their own education development.