cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ENDOSCOPIC OPTIC NERVE DECOMPRESSION FOR THE TREATMENT OF TRAUMATIC OPTIC NEUROPATHY

Traumatic optic neuropathy complicates approximately 2% of closed head injuries. Although sudden blindness is an infrequent presenting symptom after craniofacial trauma, its consequences are devastating for the patient, thus requiring prompt recognition. Although a uniform approach to the management of traumatic optic neuropathy is not currently available in the literature, the options for therapy consist of observation or a combination of systemic steroids and/or surgical decompression of the optic nerve by intracranial or extracranial approaches. In this article, 12 optic nerve specimens in cadavers were dissected, with anatomic landmarks delineated and measurements taken from the anterior nasal spine. The transnasal approach using endoscopic surgical technique is discussed in this article. Endoscopic optic nerve decompression can be offered as a method of treatment for traumatic optic neuropathy.
Synthesis of a pseudo-conformal multibeam K-Band array

To assess the impact of pseudo-conformal geometry in the irradiative pattern of a K-Band antenna array, a three-waveguide array was designed that allows the forward displacement of the outer waveguides in relation to the central element. The field pattern of the antenna array for different geometric configurations was simulated using the correct excitation reaching the individual waveguide through the beamformer. The variation in the number of beams, beamwidth of the main beam, and separation between beams with displacement distance of the external waveguides were calculated. Comparison of the simulated pattern with measurements is presented for this antenna to verify the accuracy of the radiation model.
Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama. By Marvin Kalb and Deborah Kalb. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2011. 355 pp.

Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama. By Marvin Kalb and Deborah Kalb. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2011. 355 pp. Thirty-seven years after the last American helicopter flew away from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, the Vietnam War still lingers in America's subconscious. Haunting Legacy begins where David L. Anderson's edited volume, Shadow on the White House: Presidents and the Vietnam War, 1945-1975 (University Press of Kansas, 1993) ended. Anderson's book argued that no president could ignore Vietnam, as Southeast Asia pulled each commander in chief, starting with Harry Truman, into its vortex, and in Haunted Legacy, the father and daughter journalist team of Marvin and Deborah Kalb conclude, "Vietnam has infiltrated the presidential DNA" (p. 3). The Kalbs establish their central thesis in the introduction and then examine each president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. They contend that beginning with Ford, all post-Vietnam presidents live with the legacy and burden of the Vietnam War--each president fears to sink into another Vietnam quagmire, by applying military force against another country, and especially hesitates to deploy ground troops into hostile territory. The authors establish two presidential foreign policy models: the Gerald Ford and the Jimmy Carter. The former consists of President Ford and both Bushes, men more aggressive and willing to use military force, while the latter model consists of Presidents Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton--men more reluctant to use military offense. The Kalbs show an interesting unwillingness to categorize the incumbent; they believe that President Obama fits both models, so far. The authors state that President Ford did his best to help South Vietnam, but Congress (and society) refused. Not wanting anyone to perceive him or the country as a "paper tiger," Ford utilized military force against the Khmer Rouge after they seized the SS Mayaguez. The authors venerate President Carter for his success with the Panama Canal Treaty, the Camp David Accords, SALT II (never ratified), and the strengthening of ties with China, but then blame bad luck rather than indecisiveness with Carter's failure to control the Iranian hostage crisis. In addition, Carter and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski receive gentle treatment for their backing of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, which would have disastrous consequences in the future, a point that the Kalbs establish well but do not unpack further. A shift in tone occurs when the Kalbs analyze President Reagan. The authors throw subtle jabs at Reagan, and present him as the Republican mythologized Cold War winner, an aloof former B-movie actor, who failed on all counts in Lebanon. They determine, "He still talked a good game, but when it was time for a decision, he punted" (p. …
Energy efficient configuration for qos in reliable parallel servers

Redundancy is the traditional technique used to increase system reliability. With modern technology, in addition to being used as temporal redundancy, slack time can also be used by energy management schemes to scale down system processing speed and supply voltage to save energy. In this paper, we consider a system that consists of multiple servers for providing reliable service. Assuming that servers have self-detection mechanisms to detect faults, we first propose an efficient parallel recovery scheme that processes service requests in parallel to increase the number of faults that can be tolerated and thus the system reliability. Then, for a given request arrival rate, we explore the optimal number of active severs needed for minimizing system energy consumption while achieving k-fault tolerance or for maximizing the number of faults to be tolerated with limited energy budget. Analytical results are presented to show the trade-off between the energy savings and the number of faults being tolerated.
Helium Scattering from Clean and Adsorbate-Covered Metal Surfaces

These Lecture Notes are being written only a few months after the author finished an extensive review on the use of particle diffraction as a surface crystallographic tool together with T. ENGEL [1]. It comprised detailed discussions of the particle-surface interaction potential, of the mathematical methods for calculating diffraction intensities under inclusion of resonant effects as well as of the experimental requirements and present possibilities for performing diffraction investigations. Finally, a broad survey is presented on all results obtained by the end of 1980 with clean ionic, homopolar and metallic surfaces and with adsorbate systems. Some of these topics are also discussed by other authors in the present Lecture Series. Therefore, it is certainly not appropriate to present here just another short review. It seems of much more value to treat the above-mentioned topics only briefly, but nevertheless to such an extent that an understanding without further reading is possible, and to elaborate some special points not dealt with previously in sufficient detail or for which, in the meantime, progress has been such that a comprehensive discussion becomes worthwhile. With this point of view, these Notes can be taken as both a self-contained introductory text and as a first supplement to [1], especially in connection with the contents of Chapters 2, 3 and 5.
WIN 52035-Dependent Human Rhinovirus 16: Assembly Deficiency Caused by Mutations near the Canyon Surface

Three drug-dependent mutants of human rhinovirus 16 (HRV16) were characterized by sequence analyses of spontaneous mutant isolates and were genetically reconstructed from a parental cDNA plasmid. These mutants formed plaques in the presence but not in the absence of the selecting antiviral drug, WIN 52035, which binds to the capsid of wild-type virus and inhibits its attachment to the host cell. The drug-dependent phenotype of each mutant was caused by a single amino acid substitution in the VP1 coat protein. The three independent mutations conferring drug dependence are M1103T, T1208A, and V1210A. Single-step growth experiments involving rescue of one of the three mutants (V1210A) by delayed drug addition suggested (i) that the drug dependence lesion is at the stage of virus assembly and (ii) that one or more components of the viral assembly pool decay in the absence of drug. RNA accumulation and infectivity were unaffected by the absence of drug in all three mutants, suggesting that the labile assembly component is coat protein.
Interactive imagination: Tapping the emotions through interactive story for compelling simulations

Most compassionate parents, teachers, or coaches will echo the belief that you must spark the imagination or touch the heart to teach the mind, train the body, or inspire a sense of wonder. This is also the storyteller's craft. How can we use story within interactive simulations to better teach, train, or inspire? Now that science and technology can make simulations more realistic, how can art make them more compelling through interactive fiction? The key is to use story to tap the depths of emotions, engaging the user's desire for exploration, learning, challenge, and adventure. In the new domain of training, story becomes the means more than the end. Can the compelling art of story transition from the passive media of motion pictures to the nonlinear interactivity of simulation? This is venturing beyond the reactive branching of cause-and-effect games or choose-your-own-ending adventure stories. This process is about the unpredictable expressiveness of audiences exchanging discourse with the author mediated through the digital media - the story engine.
QL3: QUALITY OF LIFE IN PRODUCT LABELING: A REVIEW OF MARKETED DRUG PRODUCTS

Increasingly over the past several years, quality of life and patient-reported outcomes data have been submitted as part of NDA and sNDA packages to US and International regulatory agencies. These data provide important information to prescribing clinicians and patients regarding therapeutic and humanistic benefits of drug therapy. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the marketed drugs with the terminology ‘quality-of-life’ in the product labeling. METHODS: A search of the Physician Desk Reference database was conducted to identify those products that included the term “quality-of-life” (QoL) within the Physician Package Insert. The Summary Basis of Approval (SBA) of each product was reviewed to evaluate the research processes followed, use of psychometrically validated instruments, and the final resulting language attained within the labeling with respect to QoL. RESULTS: Twenty-two products referencing the term “quality-of-life” in the product labeling were identified. FDA approval of these products occurred mainly in the years from 1982 to 2000 with increasing frequency of QoL inclusion in recent years. Upon SBA review we found the majority of the products (13/22) utilized a validated instrument during clinical investigations. Only one of the 22 SBAs specifically described and discussed the issue of instrument validation. In the early years approved labeling claims included more broad, sweeping terminology when describing QoL results. In more recent, cases, approved QoL labeling claims were more narrowly defined and more rigorously worded with respect to trial results and specific patient-reported instruments. CONCLUSION: Over the course of the time, the approach has become more rigorous resulting in a more refined QoL research process. These findings have demonstrated that the use of QoL descriptive data has increased, particularly a greater degree of comprehensive information pertaining to QoL instruments, research, and data can be found in the SBAs. Hence, more relevant and specific QoL information is claimed in the Physician Package Insert.
A Novel Inkjet Printed Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Substrate for the Detection of Toxic Heavy Metals

A novel surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate was successfully fabricated on a silicon (Si) wafer using a 400 nm inkjet printed thin film of silver (Ag) nanoparticle ink, with 150 nm particle size. The capability of the fabricated SERS substrate for detecting toxic heavy metals such as mercury sulfide (HgS), cadmium sulfide (CdS) and zinc oxide (ZnO) was demonstrated. The SERS based response of the printed substrate produced an enhanced Raman signal when compared to that of target molecules adsorbed on bare Si wafer. An amplification of the SERS intensity by an order of 3 to 5 times was observed for all test samples, due to the presence of hotspots between the metal nanoparticle aggregates. The responses demonstrated the feasibility of the novel SERS substrate to be used in applications for detection of toxic heavy metals.
Customizing painterly rendering styles using stroke processes

In this paper, we study the stroke placement problem in painterly rendering, and present a solution named stroke processes, which enables intuitive and interactive customization of painting styles by mapping perceptual characteristics to rendering parameters. Using our method, a user can adjust styles (e.g., Fig.1) easily by controlling these intuitive parameters. Our model and algorithm are capable of reflecting various styles in a single framework, which includes point processes and stroke neighborhood graphs to model the spatial layout of brush strokes, and stochastic reaction-diffusion processes to compute the levels and contrasts of their attributes to match desired statistics. We demonstrate the rendering quality and flexibility of this method with extensive experiments.
Serious myeloproliferative reactions associated with the use of thalidomide in myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia.

Current treatment in myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM) is inadequate: only a small proportion of patients derive benefit from bone marrow transplantation, splenectomy, or drug therapy.[1][1] We have recently demonstrated a prognostically detrimental increase in bone marrow microvessel
Analyzing spatial disparities in access to health care: A methodology with application in Bangladesh

This paper develops a methodology for analyzing spatial disparities in access to health care in situations where the data base is limited, and applies it in the context of Bangladesh. The proposed indirect measures of inpatient and outpatient service utilization, and of quality of available services, seem to provide reasonably accurate, consistent, and interpretable results; these indices are combined into a composite index of relative access to health care. The form of the composite index and its components permits the incorporation of Sopher's disparity index into the methodology for measuring urban-rural disparities in relative access to health care. The empirical analysis based on subdivision level data revealed that Bangladesh's health care delivery system is, in general, characterized by extremely low level of access and a high degree of disparity in favor of urban areas, especially in terms of inpatient services. Spatial patterns of relative access and urban/rural disparity were perused through cartographic and statistical analyses; although clear-cut regional patterns did not emerge, the considerable spatial variations could be explained largely with reference to urbanization and density of population. Assuming improved level of access and minimal urban/rural disparity as basic policy goals a method to prioritize spatial units for future allocation of health sector resources is recommended.
A SERIES FOR IN K

(1998). A Series for In k. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 105, No. 6, pp. 552-554.
Can they succeed? Exploring at-risk students' study habits in college general chemistry

A well-established literature base identifies a portion of students enrolled in post-secondary General Chemistry as at-risk of failing the course based on incoming metrics. Learning about the experiences and factors that lead to this higher failure rate is essential toward improving retention in this course. This study examines the relationship between study habits and academic performance for at-risk students in General Chemistry. Students who were in the bottom quartile of SAT math scores were identified as at-risk students. The study habits of General Chemistry students, both those identified as at-risk and those not identified were measured by text message inquiries. The text message asked ‘‘Have you studied for General Chemistry I in the past 48 hours? If so, how did you study?” twice a week throughout a semester. Student responses to the messages were used to calculate the frequency of studying throughout the term. The results from a multiple regression analysis showed that high frequency of studying could mitigate the difference between at-risk and non-at-risk students on final exam scores. Additionally, the quality of studying for six at-risk students was analyzed by student interviews in concert with their text message responses. The results indicated that the quality of studying is not necessarily linked to frequency of studying and both quality and frequency can play a role in at-risk students' academic performance. The results presented offer a path for at-risk students to succeed in General Chemistry and the methodology presented offers a potential avenue for evaluating future efforts to improve student success.
Affordance Perception and the Visual Control of Locomotion

When people navigate through complex, dynamic environments, they select actions and guide locomotion in ways that take into account not only the environment but also their body dimensions and locomotor capabilities. For example, when stepping off a curb, a pedestrian may need to decide whether to go now ahead of an approaching vehicle or wait until it passes. Similarly, a child playing a game of tag may need to decide whether to go to the left or right around a stationary obstacle to intercept another player. In such situations, the possible actions (i.e., affordances) are partly determined by the person’s body dimensions and locomotor capabilities. From an ecological perspective, the ability to take these factors into account begins with the perception of affordances. The aim of this chapter is to review recent theoretical developments and empirical research on affordance perception and its role in the visual control of locomotion, including basic locomotor tasks such as avoiding stationary and moving obstacles, walking to targets, and selecting routes through complex scenes. The focus will be on studies conducted in virtual environments, which have created new and exciting opportunities to investigate how people perceive affordances, guide locomotion, and adapt to changes in body dimensions and locomotor capabilities.
Toward a Common Monetary Standard Through the Regulation of Exchange Rates

Over the past decade and a half, nothing has better illustrated the conference theme of global disequilibrium than the erratic behaviour of the exchange rates and long-term interest rates of the major industrial countries. After the Bretton Woods system of pegged exchange rates broke down in the early 1970s, the essential randomness and violence of exchange rate movements surprised almost everybody at first, but they are now expected features of life, well established in the economics literature (including the publications of the principal monetary surveillance agency, the International Monetary Fund — IMF).
The EPP as Argument Structure Requirements on Functional Verbal Heads

The Problems of Projection (POP) approach to minimalist syntax (Chomsky 2013, 2014, 2015) offers no account of the basic facts of short movement, agreement, and Case in expletive sentences, and involves certain derivational mechanisms of some complexity which, if eliminated, would simplify the overall theory. The present paper addresses these issues. It is argued that Inheritance is an unnecessary complication of the theory, that each head serves as a phase head (simplifying the inventory of possible head types), and that short movement is due to the argument structure requirements of functional verbal heads rather than to labeling deficiencies, as claimed in the POP literature cited above.
Architecture in the Art Market: The Max Protetch Gallery

During the 1970s and 1980s, new networks of galleries, collectors, and institutions arose that focused on architectural representations. These networks were integral to the emergence of architectural drawings as primary objects of interest, as they shifted the general perception of architectural drawings from useful objects to aesthetic ones. This essay examines the Max Protetch Gallery in New York, and the network that developed around it, and their role in the shift. Their promotion of contemporary and historical architectural drawings and the gallery's involvement with architectural archives were significant for their impact on rethinking the boundaries of architectural discourse and practice, as well as architectural history.1
Discursive, material, vertical, and extensive dimensions of post-Cold War Arctic resource extraction

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes an integrated framework for rethinking the Arctic resource frontier that involves consideration of its discursive, material, vertical, and extensive dimensions. Such a model enables more rigorous analysis of the drivers of Arctic natural resource extraction in the post-Cold War era than contemporary pronouncements about the region as pristine, unexploited, and newly opened by climate change. Indeed, despite five centuries of extraction, state and corporate discourses position the Arctic as on the brink of unprecedented development. Yet in fact, the development of the Arctic resource frontier represents a place-based, cumulative process that builds on previous rounds of degradation, extraction, and export of commodities ranging from furs to oil. The post-Cold War Arctic resource frontier is a globally networked space of extraction that exemplifies three characteristics of resource frontiers worldwide: existing histories of environmental degradation that legitimize further extrac...
Industrial Policies, the Creation of a Learning Society, and Economic Development

Industrial policies — meaning policies by which governments attempt to shape the sectoral allocation of the economy - are back in fashion, and rightly so. The major insight of welfare economics of the past fifty years is that markets by themselves in general do not result in (constrained) Paretoefficient outcomes (Greenwald and Stiglitz, 1986).
Depositional and diagenetic controls on anomalously high porosity within a deeply buried CO2 storage reservoir—The Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone, Illinois Basin, USA

Abstract Current diagenetic models predict that sandstone porosity and reservoir quality decrease with burial depth and formation age. However, the opposite trend is true for the Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone. The lowermost section of the Mt. Simon is highly porous—it has an average log-derived effective porosity of 17.0%. To understand the possible reason(s) for this anomaly, the amount of porosity reduction due to compaction porosity loss (COPL) and cementation porosity loss (CEPL) was analyzed. The COPL and CEPL were coupled with sedimentary characteristics in order to ascertain which factors controlled porosity and reservoir quality in the Mt. Simon. The underlying Argenta sedimentary unit disconformably underlies the Mt. Simon and is included for diagenetic and depositional comparison. Similar to expected trends from other deep basin reservoirs, the COPL generally increases with depth in the Mt. Simon. The CEPL is significantly lower in the lower half of the Mt. Simon compared to the upper half of the Mt. Simon, indicating that higher porosity is attributed to having a lower volume of intergranular cement. Early episodes of diagenesis within the arkosic lower half of the Mt. Simon, such as clay infiltration and feldspar alteration, produced diagenetic grain-coating clays, which inhibited the development of quartz cements. Thus, these grain coatings assisted in porosity preservation within the Lower Mt. Simon by reducing CEPL. The upper half of the Mt. Simon is more heavily cemented as a result of changes in the depositional setting and thus changes in the lithology. Later, largely post-compaction feldspar dissolution further increased porosity in the Lower Mt. Simon Sandstone.
Er:fiber frequency comb for synthesis of optical frequencies at the 10 −18 level

We demonstrate an single branch Er:fiber laser for simultaneous access to all optical standards at NIST and that enables optical measurement instabilities at an unprecedented level of less than 4 × 10−18 at 1 s averaging time, and averaging down as τ−1/2.
The developmental state in global regulation: Economic change and climate policy

What are the origins of global regulation? This article proposes that the developmental state — the state investing in economic development — can be a source of global environmental regulation. Thr...
Human skin mast cells constitutively express gp130 and functional IL-6 receptor

Mast cells, the effector cell type of allergic reactions, have been implicated in numerous traditionally non-allergic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in many of these pathologies suggesting that IL-6 could be the link that connects mast cells to these disease states. However, it had not been formally demonstrated that human primary mast cells express a functional IL-6 surface receptor. In this study, we show that human skin mast cells (hSMCs) constitutively express IL-6Ra and gp130, a common signal transducing chain shared by members of the IL-6 cytokine family that includes leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin M, ciliary neurotrophic factor, IL-11, cardiotrophin 1, IL-35 and IL-27. Whereas previous studies with mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells showed that IL-10 was required for surface expression of gp130, we found that IL-10 did not enhance expression on hSMCs although gp130 mRNA was increased. IL-6R functionality is demonstrated by the IL-6-induced phosphorylation of STAT3, and increased expression of SOCS3 mRNA. Interestingly, IL-6 gene expression was enhanced with IL-6 itself suggesting a positive feedback mechanism. Similar results were obtained with IL-27, which also utilizes gp130 together with WSX-1 for signaling. Mast cell degranulation was not induced with IL-6 or IL-27 alone, and neither cytokine affected FcɛRI-induced release of β-hexoaminidase. However, IgE-dependent TNF production was enhanced with IL-27. These data demonstrate that human mast cells can be directly activated by IL-6 or other gp130-utilizing cytokines, and support the notion that IL-6 could be a link that connects mast cells to non-allergic disease.
Information technology spending association with organizational productivity and performance: a study of the Mexican banking industry, 1982-1992

This chapter examines the relationship between IT expenditure and bank profitability, efficiency, productivity, and performance for Mexican banks. The principal research method is correlation analysis between IT expenditure and four bank performance indices: a profitability index that combines bank profits, income, operational cost, and financial cost; a performance index that includes credit and bank income market share; a productivity index consisting of the number of employees, branches, and managers; and an efficiency index that includes banks' operational cost and income. The unit of analysis is the firm. The data are from the 18 banks comprising the Mexican banking industry from 1982-1992. when Mexico's banks were owned by the federal government. The study's interpretations are supported by interviews with four bank CIOs and a CEO, in office during the period. The main findings are that bank IT expenditure ratio is positively correlated to bank performance and productivity indices, whereas IT expenditure is not correlated with bank efficiency or profitability indices. There are fluctuations in the strength of correlation during the 11-year period, which are explained. The chapter results not only reject the productivity paradox but also provide insights to explain the paradox and IT contribution to the firm performance.
The Use of Incarceration in the United States

The past two decades have produceda profound increase in imprisonment in theUnited States, resulting in a prison populationof two million and expenditures of over $35billion annually on corrections, while otherimportant government services are underfunded. Imprisonment is highest for minority maleslargely because of the War on Drugs, which hasalso dramatically increased the incarcerationof women and created nearly 1.5 millionchildren having a parent incarcerated. Inresponse to this trend, the American Society ofCriminology (ASC) directed the ASC NationalPolicy Committee (NPC) to draft a policy paperon the incarceration issue. This articleexplains the main ideas, themes, andrecommendations of the full policy paper. Itanalyzes the sources and effects of theincreased use of imprisonment, drawingattention to the negative effects of excessiveincarceration. The paper and itsrecommendations reflect a concern that the ASCneeds to set a research agenda that isindependent of the federal government andconventional wisdom. The NPC hopes this paperwill stimulate a healthy and much overduedebate on the role of the ASC in public policyin general, and the merits of widespreadincarceration in particular.
Suicide rates among patients with cancers of the digestive system.

Objective Previous studies have suggested that suicide rates are elevated among cancer patients relative to the general population. In this analysis, we comprehensively evaluated characteristics associated with higher suicide rates among patients with cancers of the digestive system. Methods Using the United States Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we identified all patients diagnosed with digestive system cancers during 2000 to 2014. Patients were classified as having died of suicide if their cause of death in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results was listed as "suicide and self-inflicted injury." Suicide rates were compared to age-, sex-, and race-adjusted rates in the general population. Results A total of 881 suicides were identified among 856 293 patients diagnosed with digestive system cancers. The suicide rate in this population was 32.8 per 100 000 person-years and was nearly twice that in the general population (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.79-2.04). Suicide rates were significantly elevated for all cancer sites but were highest for esophageal (SMR = 5.03), pancreatic (SMR = 5.28), stomach (SMR = 2.84), and liver (SMR = 2.14) cancers. Standardized mortality ratios for suicide were highest within the first 5 years of diagnosis and increased with age at diagnosis for all sites except colon and stomach. Conclusions Patients with cancers of the digestive system have a higher incidence of suicide than the general population. Suicide rates among esophageal and pancreatic cancer patients are more than 5 times general population rates. The involvement of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals may be a critical component of cancer care for these high-risk patient subgroups.
Principles of Medialization Laryngoplasty

Medialization laryngoplasty is designed to address problems of glottic insufficiency by shifting the vocal fold towards the midline. Its principal advantages include intraoperative flexibility to tailor implant size and position to the particulars of each patient’s glottic insufficiency, guided by the immediate assessment of the effect of each change on the voice. The result is durable and generally satisfactory, although certain pitfalls of technique and strategy exist. A thorough knowledge of relevant laryngeal anatomy and phonatory physiology is necessary to navigate these and avoid the unsatisfactory voice result and other complications, regardless of the specific technique and medialization substance used.
A DISTURBANCE ESTIMATOR FOR MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL

Abstract A new method for disturbance prediction in model predictive control is presented. The disturbance predictor is based on a linear model representation over all future points from the current operating point, but is easily used in a nonlinear MPC formulation. The disturbance prediction algorithm is applied to a SISO system and a MIMO drug delivery system. Simulation results show the improvement in regulatory performance provided by the disturbance predictor compared to the constant additive disturbance assumption of “classical” model predictive control.
Strategy and Theory for Intrapersonal Development in Public Administration Education

In an earlier writing, Denhardt and Aristigueta (1996) discussed the need for the development of intrapersonal skills based on the demands being placed on employees in today's ever-changing environ...
An Ontology Framework for Generating Discrete-Event Stochastic Models

Discrete-event stochastic models are a widely used approach for studying the behavior of systems that have not been implemented or that it would be too costly to examine directly. Valuable analysis depends on carefully constructed, well-founded models, which are very difficult for humans to create. To address this problem, we propose a framework for generating detailed, low-level models from high-level, block-diagram-style graphical models. Our approach uses extensible, collaborative ontology libraries that contain information about the types of components in a system, the types of relationships that connect those components, and fragments of low-level models that can be constructed together based on the definition of a high-level system model. This framework has been implemented and used in several case studies. We describe the framework and how model generation works by examining its use to generate complex ADversary VIew Security Evaluation (ADVISE) models.
Radio Frequency Interference due to Gigahertz On-die Clock and Package/Board-level Mitigation in Mobile Computer Applications

WiFi radio frequency interference (RFI) caused by a 5.76-GHz on-die clock is investigated. It is demonstrated that gigahertz on-die clocks that have no conductive connections to the package and board can introduce significant radio performance degradation to mobile devices. Conventional RFI mitigation approaches focus on megahertz and below GHz. The 5.76-GHz RFI noise mitigation solutions are investigated in package and board levels. The package solution utilizes self-resonance and minimum impedance characteristics of a capacitor in consideration of parasitic components of package. The board solution uses high-frequency ferrite bead that has high resistive and impedance properties at the frequency of the clock noise. The optimum characteristics of the 5.76-GHz filter components proved to provide> 10-dB RFI noise reduction. This work provides good understanding on gigahertz on-die noise propagation and mitigation guideline for designers to develop low-RFI platforms and also may help to debug/reduce such noise.
Anthidium manicatum, an invasive bee, excludes a native bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, from floral resources.

Anthidium manicatum is an invasive pollinator reaching widespread distribution in North America. Male A. manicatum aggressively defend floral territories, attacking heterospecific pollinators. Female A. manicatum are generalists, visiting many of the same plants as native pollinators. Because of A. manicatum’s rapid range expansion, the territorial behavior of males, and the potential for female A. manicatum to be significant resource competitors, invasive A. manicatum have been prioritized as a species of interest for impact assessment. But despite concerns, there have been no empirical studies investigating the impact of A. manicatum on North American pollinators. Therefore, across a two-year study, we monitored foraging behavior and fitness of the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) in response to A. manicatum presence. We found that B. impatiens avoided foraging near A. manicatum in both years; but despite this resource exclusion, we found no evidence of fitness consequences for B. impatiens. These results suggest A. manicatum pose as significant resource competitors, but that B. impatiens are likely able to compensate for this resource loss by finding available resources elsewhere.
Exploring Alignment Between Engineering Students’ Job Plans and Post-Graduation Outcomes

This Research-to-Practice Full Paper investigates engineering students’ career goals and intentions regarding organizational settings, and how their goals and intentions relate to their background, learning and contextual measures. Moreover, despite vocational choice and turnover having been heavily studied in the literature, few studies have examined how students’ career goals relate to change in their organizational settings over time and how these perceptions then influence their turnover intentions. To fill in this research gap, this paper explores how organizational setting and respondent aspiration to be in that setting relate to turnover intentions.The paper is based on the nationally-representative, longitudinal Engineering Majors Survey and has a sample size of 350 respondents, characterized as employed and recently graduated (<2y) from an undergraduate engineering program. Respondents are categorized in three different alignment groups (Aligned, Fluid, Unaligned) according to their career goal achievement. Respondents who are currently employed in the type of organization, they had imagined being employed at a year earlier are called Aligned. Respondents who are actually employed in the type of organization (e.g., small versus large firm) to which they stated “Might or might not” be employed a year earlier are classified as Fluid. Finally, respondents, who work in the organizational setting, which they did not want to work in one year prior, are called Unaligned. The paper also determines respondents turnover intentions (Stay, Flexible, Go) related to organizational settings, such as small companies or medium and large companies. Alignment and turnover groups were then compared with each other in relation to background, learning, and contextual measures. Background measures are gender, underrepresented minority status, and first generation to college status. Learning measures are internship experience, and contextual measures are job satisfaction and grade point average.The findings suggest that most of these recent graduates are Aligned and want to Stay in their organizational setting. Employees in small companies are relatively less Aligned and are more likely to Go and leave the organizational setting than are employees in large companies. Respondents who have done an internship are more often Aligned and less likely want to Go and leave their organizational setting than those who have not done an internship. These results suggest that many respondents decide before graduation on an organizational setting and continue to desire the same organizational setting after being employed for some time. Future longitudinal research should compare organizational settings-based turnover intentions with turnover intentions related to specific companies, -as a complement to much of the in literature on turnover intentions mostly refers to leaving specific organizations.
Comprehensive Care Services for the Young Child who is Visually Impaired

The preschool visually impaired child and his family are in need of a variety of services in areas such as health and medicine, psychological and social services, and education. The purpose of a pr...
Scalable tensor-product preconditioners for high-order finite-element methods: Scalar equations

Abstract We present a tensor-product-based preconditioner for high-order discontinuous-Galerkin (DG) discretizations. The preconditioner is based on approximating the block diagonal of the Jacobian matrix corresponding to element-wise coupling with the sum of tensor products of small one-dimensional matrices. The preconditioner is obtained through an algebraic procedure which minimizes the error between the tensor-product approximation and the exact elemental block Jacobian. Inverting the full elemental block Jacobian requires O ( N d ) memory storage and O ( N 2 d ) operations, while applying its inverse requires O ( N d ) operations per degree of freedom, where N is the solution order and d is the dimension of the problem. Thus, traditional block preconditioners become impractical with increasing dimension, d, and order, N. The cost of forming, storing, or applying the current tensor-product-based preconditioner scales linearly with solution order ( O ( N ) ) per degree of freedom for arbitrary number of dimensions. Furthermore, the tensor-product-based preconditioner recovers the exact block-Jacobi preconditioner in the case of constant-coefficient scalar problems on right parallelepiped elements. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the preconditioner for solving 4D (3D-space+time) DG discretizations of scalar advection-diffusion problems up to 32nd order.
Human retrovirus pHEV-W envelope protein and the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) (1). We have learned much about the pathogenesis of different stages of the disease, including involvement of both the white matter, rich in myelin, and cortical and deep gray matter. Based on histologic and immunohistologic examination of brain and spinal cord, there is evidence for different immunopathogenic mechanisms in different areas of the CNS as well as in different stages of the disease (2⇓⇓–5). While the etiology is still unclear, the current view is that MS develops as a result of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers, with infections, smoking, childhood obesity, and deficiency of vitamin D and/or other factors related to deficient sunshine among the most likely triggers. Infections, particularly viral infections, have long been suspected as being triggers for MS and have included myxoviruses, paramyxoviruses, herpes viruses including Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), and human retroviruses (6, 7). Over 30 y ago, infection with exogenous human lentiviruses was suspected (8), but differences in the presence of retroviral genome between MS and controls (9) or antibodies (10) to several retroviruses were not confirmed. It appears that, if a human retrovirus is involved, it is more likely to be through activation of retroviral genes that have been incorporated into the human genome (7, 11, 12). The current study by Kremer et al. (13) in PNAS is important, for it does not just look at the association of pHERV-W envelope protein and … [↵][1]1Email: rlisak{at}med.wayne.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
FIRST STEPS–DENTITION, KINSHIP, SOCIAL GROUPS, AND STATUS IN THE UPPER BELIZE RIVER VALLEY: SMALL SAMPLE INSIGHTS INTO CLASSIC MAYA SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN CENTRAL WESTERN BELIZE

Nonmetric (morphological) and metric analyses of dental traits and dentition are an established and effective, but still much underutilized, means of determining biological relationships among the individuals comprising a population over several generations. Combining such dental analyses, a social organizational typology adapted from social psychology, and small sample statistics, this study hazards a trial examination of the evidence for biological affinity within and between three archaeologically perceived social groups represented in the Classic-period Belize Valley community of Buenavista del Cayo. The groups comprise traditional high elite and commoner categories, and a putative middle level of intermediate elites. Findings suggest a dichotomous kinship structure of elites and non-elites, but one within which there had emerged an emically and archaeologically distinct “middle” status group of intermediate elites or subelites that remained affined by blood to the subordinate non-elite commoners and peasantry. The study differs from previous examinations of ancient Maya social organization in employing a truly integrated bioarchaeological approach to the topic rather than what have generally been intrinsically insular archaeological or osteometric approaches.
Adult bone marrow progenitors become decidual cells and contribute to embryo implantation and pregnancy

Decidua is a transient uterine tissue shared by mammals with hemochorial placenta and is essential for pregnancy. The decidua is infiltrated by many immune cells promoting pregnancy. Adult bone marrow (BM)-derived cells (BMDCs) differentiate into rare populations of nonhematopoietic endometrial cells in the uterus. However, whether adult BMDCs become nonhematopoietic decidual cells and contribute functionally to pregnancy is unknown. Here, we show that pregnancy mobilizes mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to the circulation and that pregnancy induces considerable adult BMDCs recruitment to decidua, where some differentiate into nonhematopoietic prolactin-expressing decidual cells. To explore the functional importance of nonhematopoietic BMDCs to pregnancy, we used Homeobox a11 (Hoxa11)-deficient mice, having endometrial stromal-specific defects precluding decidualization and successful pregnancy. Hoxa11 expression in BM is restricted to nonhematopoietic cells. BM transplant (BMT) from wild-type (WT) to Hoxa11−/− mice results in stromal expansion, gland formation, and marked decidualization otherwise absent in Hoxa11−/− mice. Moreover, in Hoxa11+/− mice, which have increased pregnancy losses, BMT from WT donors leads to normalized uterine expression of numerous decidualization-related genes and rescue of pregnancy loss. Collectively, these findings reveal that adult BMDCs have a previously unrecognized nonhematopoietic physiologic contribution to decidual stroma, thereby playing important roles in decidualization and pregnancy.
Tabletop Human Computer Interface to Assist Elderly with Tasks of Daily Living

Old age is associated with declines in vision, hearing, sensory function, motor function, and cognition. These declines make managing activities of daily living harder. Computer mobile devices could help, but many elderly people find the interface too small and navigation too complex. A larger computer interface in a natural setting, such as a tabletop, could provide a more usable interface and be able to provide better assistance for some elderly people. The purpose of this project was to develop a prototype human computer interface that projects images onto a tabletop, uses an imaging system to identify hand position over the tabletop in relation to the projected image, detects menu selections of the hand over projected buttons, and takes actions, such as displaying the selected next menu. A prototype was developed using custom LabView programs for generation of images of menu selections to be projected, image processing and control of the system. Hand recognition was simplified by having the user wear a white glove with a black square on the back for the imaging system to search for. Button selection was recognized by holding the hand over a projected menu button for several seconds. The prototype function showed promise. Further testing and development will be necessary toward wider implementation. Such a projected tabletop human computer interface may improve computer derive assistance for elderly people compared to mobile or computer display interfaces.
Spreading the Influence of Interactive Staff Training

Thus far, interactive staff training (IST) has been used to assist program committees, comprised of staff, who are developing user-friendly rehabilitation programs within their agency for consumers with psychiatric disabilities. We believe, however, that IST has even greater potential for facilitating the development of psychosocial services. Some of the potentials include: Using the program committee as the point of entry for future, yet unforeseen, psychosocial innovations. Helping teams from different agencies work together to provide an integrated rehabilitation program. Helping staff members join with consumers and family members to develop user-friendly and consumer-relevant programs. Helping rehabilitation teams that serve other populations (e.g., persons with developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury, or physical disabilities).