cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hypertonic stress and cell death. Focus on "Multiple cell death pathways are independently activated by lethal hypertonicity in renal epithelial cells"

Programmed cell death has been synonymous with caspase-mediated apoptosis for many years, until the recent discovery of caspase-independent mechanisms of cell death. Programmed necrosis is a form of caspase-independent cell death and is currently intensively studied as mechanism of kidney cell injury. The inner core of the kidney, known as the renal medulla, is hypertonic due to a specialized counter current arrangement of tubules, vascular elements and transporters. This regional hypertonicity is critical for body fluid osmoregulation as it provides the osmotic driving force for urinary concentration. The hypertonic environment of the kidney medulla can also promote cell death, if the physiologic cell protective mechanisms are impaired (4). Hypertonic cell stress can induce several pathways that lead to cell death and the distinction between hypertonicity-induced apoptosis and necrosis is becoming increasingly complex.
SIMULTANEOUS OPTIMIZATION OF TALLIES IN DIFFICULT SHIELDING PROBLEMS

Monte Carlo is quite useful for calculating specific quantities in complex transport problems. Many variance reduction strategies have been developed that accelerate Monte Carlo calculations for specific tallies. However, when trying to calculate multiple tallies or a mesh tally, users have had to accept different levels of relative uncertainty among the tallies or run separate calculations optimized for each individual tally. To address this limitation, an extension of the Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) method, which is used for difficult source/detector problems, has been developed to optimize several tallies or the cells of a mesh tally simultaneously. The basis for this method is the development of an importance function that represents the importance of particles to the objective of uniform Monte Carlo particle density in the desired tally regions. This method utilizes the results of a forward discrete ordinates solution, which may be based on a quick coarse-mesh calculation, to develop a forward-weighted source for the adjoint calculation. The importance map and the biased source computed from the adjoint flux are then used in the forward Monte Carlo calculation to obtain approximately uniform relative uncertainties for the desired tallies. This extension is called forward-weighted CADIS, or FW-CADIS.
Discrete-Time Queueing Systems and Their Networks

Queueing systems in descrete time that can model certain computer communication systems are considered. First, a single-resource model consisting of a geometric server with feedback facility, to which packets arrive in independent bulks, is analyzed. Then, it is shown that a network of such geometric resources with packets arriving in independent Bernoulli streams (which, in a sense, is a discrete analog of Jackson's network) does not possess the independence property. A byproduct of this result is the fact that output of a geometric resource fed by two or more independent Bernoulli streams is not an independent Bernoulli stream.
Suggesting friends using the implicit social graph

Although users of online communication tools rarely categorize their contacts into groups such as "family", "co-workers", or "jogging buddies", they nonetheless implicitly cluster contacts, by virtue of their interactions with them, forming implicit groups. In this paper, we describe the implicit social graph which is formed by users' interactions with contacts and groups of contacts, and which is distinct from explicit social graphs in which users explicitly add other individuals as their "friends". We introduce an interaction-based metric for estimating a user's affinity to his contacts and groups. We then describe a novel friend suggestion algorithm that uses a user's implicit social graph to generate a friend group, given a small seed set of contacts which the user has already labeled as friends. We show experimental results that demonstrate the importance of both implicit group relationships and interaction-based affinity ranking in suggesting friends. Finally, we discuss two applications of the Friend Suggest algorithm that have been released as Gmail Labs features.
Word spotting for historical documents

Searching and indexing historical handwritten collections are a very challenging problem. We describe an approach called word spotting which involves grouping word images into clusters of similar words by using image matching to find similarity. By annotating “interesting” clusters, an index that links words to the locations where they occur can be built automatically. Image similarities computed using a number of different techniques including dynamic time warping are compared. The word similarities are then used for clustering using both K-means and agglomerative clustering techniques. It is shown in a subset of the George Washington collection that such a word spotting technique can outperform a Hidden Markov Model word-based recognition technique in terms of word error rates.
Compact representation of radiation patterns using vector spherical mode expansions

A vector spherical mode expansion (VSME) method, extended from the scalar spherical mode expansion (SSME), is presented to study the radiation properties of an arbitrarily shaped antenna structure. The important difference between VSME and SSME is their expansion coefficients, which have essentially different properties. Numerical results show that VSME coefficients converge rapidly, while still yielding accurate data with a minimum number of modes. >
How Do We Study “What Happens Next”?

Applications of group trajectory modeling summarize individual histories in a language that is broadly accessible to clinicians. This strength depends on the belief that a population consists, at least roughly, of a small number of subgroups whose members display similar records of behavior. In this view, the purpose of longitudinal research is to reveal the unfolding of essential differences between groups. The author offers an alternative view, in which historical records of personal behavior reflect a continuous interplay between individual action and environmental intervention. This interplay generates, for each participant, a myriad of potential trajectories. Rather than smoothing over this complexity with a small number of trajectory classes, the author proposes models that allow personal and environmental contributions to generate appropriate developmental complexity. The author illustrates this alternative approach using two examples: children's learning during the elementary years and effects of ...
Association of time-dependent changes in mu opioid receptor mRNA, but not BDNF, TrkB, or MeCP2 mRNA and protein expression in the rat nucleus accumbens with incubation of heroin craving

Responding to heroin cues progressively increases after cessation of heroin self-administration (incubation of heroin craving). We investigated whether this incubation is associated with time-dependent changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) signaling and mu opioid receptor (MOR) expression in nucleus accumbens (NAc), dorsal striatum (DS), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We also investigated the effect of the preferential MOR antagonist naloxone on cue-induced heroin seeking during abstinence. We trained rats to self-administer heroin or saline for 9–10 days and then dissected the NAc, DS, and mPFC at different abstinence days and measured mRNA and protein levels of BDNF, TrkB, and MeCP2, as well as MOR mRNA (Oprm1). In other groups, we assessed cue-induced heroin seeking in extinction tests after 1, 11, and 30 abstinence days, and naloxone’s (0–1.0 mg/kg) effect on extinction responding after 1 and 15 days. Cue-induced heroin seeking progressively increased or incubated during abstinence. This incubation was not associated with changes in BDNF, TrkB, or MeCP2 mRNA or protein levels in NAc, DS, or mPFC; additionally, no molecular changes were observed after extinction tests on day 11. In NAc, but not DS or mPFC, MOR mRNA decreased on abstinence day 1 and returned to basal levels over time. Naloxone significantly decreased cue-induced heroin seeking after 15 abstinence days but not 1 day. Results suggest a role of MOR in incubation of heroin craving. As previous studies implicated NAc BDNF in incubation of cocaine craving, our data suggest that different mechanisms contribute to incubation of heroin versus cocaine craving.
The Effects of Visual Cues to Realism and Perceived Impact Point during Final Approach

This research investigated the effect of providing three different simulations of ground terrain on the ability of subjects to accurately determine the aimpoint during a final approach. Several simulations were created to model a straight-in final approach (3 degree glideslope) to a standard FAA runway from several distances. The three levels of terrain realism ranged from a homogeneous surface to farmlands with hills. The subject's task was to estimate the aimpoint which represented an extrapolation of the flightpath to its point-of-contact with the ground as well as the altitude at nine different distances from threshold. The results indicated that increased levels of realism lead to better performance in judging altitude and predicting aimpoint during a simulated final approach.
Characterization of BshA, bacillithiol glycosyltransferase from Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis

The first step during bacillithiol (BSH) biosynthesis involves the formation of N-acetylglucosaminylmalate from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and l-malate and is catalyzed by a GT4 class glycosyltransferase enzyme (BshA). Recombinant Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis BshA were highly specific and active with l-malate but the former showed low activity with d-glyceric acid and the latter with d-malate. We show that BshA is inhibited by BSH and similarly that MshA (first enzyme of mycothiol biosynthesis) is inhibited by the final product MSH.
Capturing escape in infectious disease dynamics

Identifying the causes of interannual variability in disease dynamics is important for understanding and managing epidemics. Traditionally, these causes have been classified as intrinsic (e.g. immunity fluctuations) or extrinsic (e.g. climate forcing); ecologists determine the relative contributions of these factors by applying statistical models to time series of cases. Here we address the problem of isolating the drivers of pathogen dynamics that are influenced by antigenic evolution. Recent findings indicate that many pathogens escape immunity in a punctuated manner; for them, we argue that time series of cases alone will be insufficient to isolate causal drivers. We detail observations that can reveal the presence of punctuated immune escape, and which can be used in new statistical approaches to identify extrinsic and intrinsic regulators of disease.
Decision support for cost-efficient and logistically feasible marker-assisted seedling selection in fruit breeding

Development of genetically improved new cultivars is expensive, especially for tree fruit which may take years for the organs of economic importance to appear for direct evaluation. A costly and time-consuming part of breeding programs is seedling selection, which involves identifying a few seedlings from among many thousands that have the genetic potential for desired performance levels. New DNA-based diagnostic tools exist that can assist with resource-use efficiency and prediction accuracy of seedling selection, the application of which is known as marker-assisted seedling selection (MASS). However, MASS by fruit breeders is not yet routine, partially because of the lack of decision support for identifying resource-efficient schemes. The MASS Efficiency Calculator version 1.0 described here can be used to model the costs and timing of a breeding program’s traditional operations and combine them with the costs and logistics of DNA testing operations to identify cost-efficient MASS schemes. With this tool, users can explore various possible scenarios to identify conditions in which MASS is predicted to increase cost efficiency—without the need for complicated hand calculations or de novo spreadsheet creation. Users can determine whether enough time will be available for integrating DNA testing into traditional operations. Demonstration of the spreadsheet technology identified logistically feasible and cost-efficient schemes for several scenarios described in an earlier study reported in 2001 with a more realistic complex breeding design modeled here. In these scenarios, up to 43 % of operational costs were predicted to be saved over the first 6–8 years of breeding program operations. These results indicated that MASS can often be very cost efficient, enhancing resource-use efficiency under typical breeding situations with even a single DNA test. When using multiple DNA tests, maximal cost efficiency can be achieved by deploying DNA tests in sequence rather than together. Even when up to 60 % of DNA test results must be disregarded due to technical issues such as failed DNA extractions, substantial savings in resource use can be realized if a high proportion of seedlings are culled. For long-juvenility crops such as apple and grape, breeders have considerable flexibility in choosing when to implement MASS during seedling production while still achieving increased cost efficiency.
Outdoor Air Pollution: Sources, Atmospheric Transport, and Human Health Effects

In this article, we discuss each of the major indoor and outdoor air pollutants, how these air pollutants are dispersed in the environment, and what human health effects have been associated with either short-term or long-term exposures to these air pollutants. The focus of the article is on human-derived anthropogenic emissions of air pollution (e.g., from fossil fuel combustion), rather than those from natural causes (e.g., pollens).
Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 Revives Revised MACRS Tables

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 creates a special allowance for depreciation purposes of 50 percent of an asset's cost in the year of acquisition. The rule generally applies to property acquired during 2008. Under prior legislation, a similar 50 percent allowance existed from mid-2003 through 2004. The IRS has not published MACRS (modified accelerated cost recovery system) tables that directly reflect the 50 percent bonus depreciation. This article briefly discusses the new provision and recent history of bonus depreciation and then presents MACRS tables that directly incorporate the 50 percent first-year allowance. Previously published in Tax Notes (see footnote 11), they provide taxpayers and others with a quick, practical approach to working with the 50 percent bonus depreciation.
Accelerometer assessment of physical activity and its association with physical function in older adults residing at assisted care facilities

To describe levels of physical activity among older adults residing at assisted care facilities and their association with physical function. Cross-sectional analysis. Assisted care facilities within the greater Boston, MA area. Older adults aged 65 years and older (N = 65). Physical Activity Level (PAL) as defined by quartiles from accelerometry (counts and steps), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) Score, gait speed, and handgrip strength. Participants in the most active accelerometry quartile engaged in 25 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and walked 2,150 steps/day. These individuals had an SPPB score, 400 meter walk speed, and handgrip strength that was 3.7–3.9 points, 0.3–0.4 meters/second, and 4.5–5.1 kg greater respectively, than individuals in the lowest activity quartile, who engaged in less than 5 min/wk of MVPA or took fewer than 460 steps/day. Despite engaging in physical activity levels far below current recommendations (150 min/week of MVPA or > 7000 steps/day), the most active older adults in this study exhibited clinically significant differences in physical function relative to their less active peers. While the direction of causality cannot be determined from this cross-sectional study, these findings suggest a strong association between PAL and physical function among older adults residing in an assisted care facility.
Growth of “New Form” of Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Films Synthesized by Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition

In this work, we report on next-generation hot wire chemical vapor deposition technique, we call it ceramics hot-wire CVD. Using a new concept of rectangular ceramics filament holder and “confinement of thermal radiation from the filament”, a “new form” of polycrystalline silicon thin films has been developed at low temperature (~ 250°C). The grains are found to be symmetrically distributed in array along the parallel lines, in (111) direction. On the surface of individual grains, “five-fold” and “six-fold” symmetries have been observed and we suspect that we developed “buckyball” type “giant silicon molecular solids” with different crystalline silicon lattice other than standard single-crystal silicon structure. We observed rarely found “icosaderal” symmetry in silicon thin films. This hypothesis has been supported by multiple Raman active transverse optical modes and the crystallographic structure analyzed by X-ray diffraction.
100% correlation of chaotic thermal light

We report an experimental study on the intensity fluctuation-fluctuation correlations of chaotic-thermal light. This experiment introduced a detection protocol, which distinguishes positive and negative intensity fluctuations and lead to an intensity fluctuation-fluctuation correlation with 100% contrast from jointly measured photodetection events. This type of correlation provides a solution to achieve high visibility in thermal light ghost imaging. This study also explored other potential applications in which the higher-order coherence is necessary to be distinguished from the coexisting lower-order effects. In addition to its obvious importance in practical applications, this experiment brings us a broader vision in understanding the physical relationship between locally measured intensity fluctuations and the distant fluctuation-fluctuation correlations of chaotic-thermal light.
P5-S6.15 Social work services at New York City Health Department STD clinics

Objective To describe the introduction of social work services in New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Bureau of STD Control (NYC DOH) clinics. Background Each year the NYC DOH STD clinics serve over 120 000 patients. Services include free and confidential testing for HIV and other STDs, STD treatment, emergency contraception and the hepatitis vaccine. Social work services were introduced at the STD clinics in 2008 to address mental health and social service needs that often drive high risk sexual behaviour, such as substance abuse, domestic violence and untreated mental illness. Social work services include short-term counselling and referrals to outside agencies. Methods Patients are routinely screened for social work and mental health needs during interviews with physicians or disease intervention specialists (DIS), and are referred to a social worker or mental health counsellor assigned to the clinic. As appropriate, patients are provided with behavioural interventions utilising motivational interviewing techniques and short term counselling. Patients are also referred to local resources for additional services. Results Since July 2009, 471 patients were referred to the on-site social worker or mental health counsellor and 460 (97%) were evaluated. 40/460 patients (9%) received short-term counselling at a NYC DOH STD clinic. 200/460 patients (43%) were referred to local agencies specialising in domestic violence/sexual assault, public health benefits/health insurance to legal and housing services. 100/460 patients (22%) were referred to a health clinic and 120/460 (26%) patients were connected to mental health agencies. All 40 patients who received short term counselling at a DOH STD clinic returned for follow-up social work visits, independent of STD care. Conclusion In a busy STD clinic, social work services can be introduced and utilised by patients, allowing physicians and DIS to focus on clinical patient issues. Offering more comprehensive care may be expected to improve patient outcomes and care. Follow-up data are required to measure the long-term impact of these services on sexual risk-taking and on rates of STDs and HIV.
Infusion of solutions of pre-irradiated components in rats.

Abstract Introduction The objective of this study was to conduct a 14-day toxicology assessment for intravenous solutions prepared from irradiated resuscitation fluid components and sterile water. Methods Healthy Sprague Dawley rats (7–10/group) were instrumented and randomized to receive one of the following Field IntraVenous Resuscitation (FIVR) or commercial fluids; Normal Saline (NS), Lactated Ringer’s, 5% Dextrose in NS. Daily clinical observation, chemistry and hematology on days 1,7,14, and urinalysis on day 14 were evaluated for equivalence using a two sample t -test (p Results Equivalence was established for all observation parameters, lactate, sodium, liver enzymes, creatinine, WBC and differential, and urinalysis values. Lack of equivalence for hemoglobin (p = 0.055), pH (p = 0.0955), glucose (p = 0.0889), Alanine-Aminotransferase (p = 0.1938), albumin (p = 0.1311), and weight (p = 0.0555, p = 0.1896), was deemed not clinically relevant due to means within physiologically normal ranges. Common microscopic findings randomly distributed among animals of all groups were endocarditis/myocarditis and pulmonary lesions. Discussion These findings are consistent with complications due to long-term catheter use and suggest no clinically relevant differences in end-organ toxicity between animals infused with FIVR versus commercial fluids.
The prevention and management of stress ulcers.

Multiple, shallow erosions of the gastric mucosa occur with near universality after severe physiologic stress - e.g., burns, trauma, septic shock - and heal spontaneously after restoration of normal defense mechanisms. But in the interim, they may lead to exsanguinating hemorrhage. The key to prevention and management is maintenance of normal gastric pH, particularly in the presence of known risk factors.
Pion photoproduction on /sup 27/Al: The effect of V/sub opt/

Total cross sections for pion photoproduction to bound states in $^{27}\mathrm{Mg}$ are calculated in the distorted wave impulse approximation and compared to experiment. Particular attention is paid to the form of the optical potential used to incorporate final state effects. Substantial differences are found between results using an earlier potential and present results using potentials having different analytic forms. The latter lead to good agreement with experiment.
Momenta, Impulses, and Collisions

As a prelude to the discussion of a system of particles, the linear and angular momenta of a single particle are introduced in this chapter. In particular, conditions for the conservation of these kinematical quantities are established. This is followed by a discussion of impact problems where particles are used as models for the impacting bodies.
Comparison of direct sampling and brochoalveolar lavage for determining active drug concentrations in the pulmonary epithelial lining fluid of calves injected with enrofloxacin or tilmicosin.

Antibiotic distribution to interstitial fluid (ISF) and pulmonary epithelial fluid (PELF) was measured and compared to plasma drug concentrations in eight healthy calves. Enrofloxacin (Baytril® 100) was administered at a dose of 12.5 mg/kg subcutaneously (SC), and tilmicosin (Micotil® 300) was administered at a dose of 20 mg/kg SC. PELF, sampled by two different methods-bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and direct sampling (DS)-plasma, and ISF were collected from each calf and measured for tilmicosin, enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed on the concentrations in each fluid, for each drug. The enrofloxacin/ciprofloxacin concentration as measured by AUC in DS samples was 137 ± 72% higher than in plasma, but in BAL samples, this value was 535 ± 403% (p < .05). The concentrations of tilmicosin in DS and BAL samples exceeded plasma drug concentrations by 567 ± 189% and 776 ± 1138%, respectively. The enrofloxacin/ciprofloxacin concentrations collected by DS were significantly different than those collected by BAL, but the tilmicosin concentrations were not significantly different between the two methods. Concentrations of enrofloxacin/ciprofloxacin exceeded the MIC values for bovine respiratory disease pathogens but tilmicosin did not reach MIC levels for these pathogens in any fluids.
Pressure Dependence of Phase Transitions in Bis (4’-n-Alkoxybenzal) -1,4-Phenylenediamines

The multiple smectic states in homologs of bis(4’-n-alkoxybenzal)-1,4-phenylenediamine show several interesting features. The variation in transition temperature with pressure is consistent for each compouna but not smoothly varying. Superheating is also observed in some transitions.
Rapid decline in lung function is temporally associated with greater metabolically active adiposity in a longitudinal study of healthy adults

Rationale Adiposity is associated with low lung function, but the longitudinal relationship between lung function and adiposity is inadequately studied. Objective To examine the bidirectional longitudinal associations between rapid decline in lung function and adiposity phenotypes in healthy adults. Methods This secondary analysis used a 25-year longitudinal dataset from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study that enrolled 5115 participants. Measurements In the first analysis, metabolic syndrome at or before CARDIA year (Y) 10 (Y10) was the predictor, and subsequent rapid decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) or forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) between Y10 and Y20 was the outcome. In the second analysis, rapid decline was the predictor, and incident metabolic syndrome at Y20 and/or Y25 was the outcome. In the third analysis, rapid decline was the predictor, and subsequent CT-assessed regional fat depots at Y25 were the outcome. Results Metabolic syndrome at or before Y10 is temporally associated with rapid decline in FVC between Y10 and Y20 (adjusted p=0.04), but this association was explained by body mass index (BMI) at Y10. Rapid decline in FVC or FEV 1 is temporally associated with greater incident metabolic syndrome at Y20 and/or Y25 (adjusted OR 2.10 (1.69, 2.61); p Conclusions Healthy adults with rapid decline in lung function are at risk for developing metabolic syndrome and for disproportionate accumulation of intrathoracic visceral fat. Metabolic abnormalities may be an early extrapulmonary manifestation of lung impairment that may be preventable by improving lung health.
How Can Liberal Democracies Defend Themselves against Tyranny

Tyranny in the modern era turned toward totalitarianism through the idea that human nature needed to be “perfected”; communism's enemy was a matter of class, Nazism's a matter of race. Democracy wo...
Combustion synthesis and the electric field: A review

This brief review discusses principles and some latest developments in electrically activated combustion synthesis. Processes discussed include field-activated combustion synthesis (FACS), field-activated pressure-assisted synthesis (FAPAS), reactive spark plasma sintering (R-SPS), electrothermal explosion (ETE), and electrostatic-field-activated combustion synthesis (EFACS). These processes have demonstrated clear benefits to the process of combustion synthesis through the application of electric field. Although a significant amount of works have been published in the area, there still remain some directions within the field where sustained research may provide even more scientific reward.
Extracting Interface Absorption Effects from First-Principles

The focus of this dissertation now switches from the introduction of analytical techniques to the actual application of those techniques in study of nanoscale optical properties. In this chapter, first-principles DFT calculations of the dielectric function are used to determine the effects of an interface on the absorption of a multilayer heterostructure. This results and figures in this chapter are reproduced from Ref. [1] with permission from AIP Publishing.
Defect and damage evolution during spallation of single crystal Al: Comparison between molecular dynamics and quasi-coarse-grained dynamics simulations

Abstract The links between loading orientation of single crystal Al and the dynamic evolution of defects (dislocations, twins, stacking faults etc.) during spallation are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The microstructural evolution during the shock compression of single crystal Al is observed to be primarily guided by the nucleation and evolution of Shockley partials and twin partials. The shock response and spallation behavior of single crystal Al is observed to be anisotropic and is influenced by the density of various types of dislocations during shock compression and void nucleation at the spall plane. The capability of the “quasi-coarse-grained dynamics” (QCGD) method to reproduce the MD predicted nucleation, interaction and evolution of dislocations during shock compression and spallation of single crystal Al is discussed. The QCGD method retains the relative contribution of different types of dislocations during propagation of shock compression wave, interactions of the wave and spallation of single crystal Al as predicted by MD using a fraction of representative atoms allowing the modeling of of larger sized systems for larger times.
Computational Approaches to the Study of Biochemical Pathways and Metabolic Control

Metabolic control analysis as developed by Kacser & Burns (1973) and Heinrich & Rapoport (1974) and further developed by many others (reviewed ten years ago in this series, Cornish-Bowden & Cardenas, 1990) is concerned mainly with providing a quantitative measure of the control exerted by each step of a pathway on a system variable, such as a flux. Metabolic control analysis is much more successful in describing control than the older theory of rate-limiting steps Blackman, (1905) or the crossover theorem Chance et al., (1958). Metabolic control analysis is based on quantifying the change in a pathway property of interest as a function of variation in a manipulated parameter—the sensitivity of the pathway to that parameter. One of the strengths of metabolic control analysis is that it is exact, due to its formulation based on infinitesimal changes. In its most popular formalism it uses relative changes and so its coefficients are dimensionless. This is important, as it allows one to compare the properties of the same pathway under different environmental conditions and even, to some extent, different pathways.
Time, Money, and Students with Visual Limitations:

□ Although all that has been said above may seem rather complicated and expensive, an application of these ideas should substantially simplify the task of learning effectively from college assignme...
Sustainability Metrics for Inverter-based Voltage Regulation Methods in PV-rich Low Voltage Grids

Increasing distributed solar installations in low voltage distribution grids tend to increase the feeder voltage. Rise in voltage is only acceptable to a certain limit, and control strategies are required to keep voltage within defined bounds for equipment safety and system reliability. PV inverter control strategies are effective tools to prevent overvoltage. Different inverter control strategies have different social, economic, and environmental impacts. Three different sustainability metrics are proposed to quantity these impacts for inverter-based voltage control strategies. Five different PV inverter control strategies are implemented in a radial distribution feeder and power flow is analyzed for one year in a one minute resolution to compute and compare the proposed sustainability metrics. It is shown that the use of reactive power improves sustainability compared to just using active power curtailment. The trade-off of the three objectives were compared using multi-objective optimization for the highest solar irradiance day. Results showed that economic and environmental sustainability are positively correlated, and both are negatively correlated with social sustainability, indicating a required trade-off for voltage control strategies.
2266. Management of Ertapenem-Resistant, Meropenem-Susceptible Enterobacteriaceae

Background Carbapenemases are the most frequent mechanism of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. However, alternative mechanisms such as loss of porin channels or up-regulation of efflux pumps can cause intermediate- to high-level resistance to ertapenem (ERTA) and possibly reduced susceptibilities to meropenem (MERO) leading to discordant phenotypic profiles. Clinical implications of discordant carbapenem susceptibilities and optimal therapy options are yet unknown. We sought to describe our experience with carbapenem-discordant Enterobacteriaceae (CDE).
Socio-economic Determinants of Infant and Child Mortality in Haiti

The socio-economic determinants of infant and child mortality in Haiti were identified as maternal education, age, residence and income, by a logistic regression analysis of Haiti’s Demographic Health and Survey data for 2000. Incremental increase in education, by itself, was statistically significant in reducing the likelihood of the incidence of childhood mortality by 20.8%. With the inclusion of residence and controlling for age, an incremental increase in education results in an 18.6% decrease in the probability of childhood mortality, while incremental increase in age leads to a 15.5% increase in childhood mortality. Possession of a composite of consumer items, durables and utilities access was used as a proxy for income. This proxy income variable indicated that an incremental increase in income could reduce childhood mortality by 29.9%
Eventual Consistency Today: Limitations, Extensions, and Beyond: How can applications be built on eventually consistent infrastructure given no guarantee of safety?

In a July 2000 conference keynote, Eric Brewer, now VP of engineering at Google and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, publicly postulated the CAP (consistency, availability, and partition tolerance) theorem, which would change the landscape of how distributed storage systems were architected. Brewer’s conjecture--based on his experiences building infrastructure for some of the first Internet search engines at Inktomi--states that distributed systems requiring always-on, highly available operation cannot guarantee the illusion of coherent, consistent single-system operation in the presence of network partitions, which cut communication between active servers. Brewer’s conjecture proved prescient: in the following decade, with the continued rise of large-scale Internet services, distributed-system architects frequently dropped "strong" guarantees in favor of weaker models--the most notable being eventual consistency.
Central Banks as Bankers to Each Other: Overview, Trends, and Future Directions in Global Official Sector Service Provision

The choice of custodial and banking relationships is an underappreciated but important consideration for reserve managers in managing their overall risk profile. The major reserve currency central banks have long served as correspondent banks, transactional agents, and custodians for the safekeeping of foreign reserves for each other and the global central banking community. The ability of central banks to provide each other with safe, confidential, and reliable banking and custody services (BCS) has provided important public benefits, aiding in central banks’ execution of foreign reserve management, monetary policy implementation, financial stability operations, and other mission-critical central bank activities. In the decade since the global financial crisis, and demonstrating the continued strong policy rationale for the inter-central bank provision of BCS, official BCS volumes have continued to grow, reflecting broader global reserve accumulation patterns, the impact of regulatory reforms, counterparty risk perceptions, correspondent bank de-risking, official cross-border financial stability initiatives, and other trends. More recently, the increasingly dangerous cyber threat to wholesale payments security has led central bank providers of BCS and their central bank clients to adapt in order to better protect foreign reserve assets from criminal actors.
The Specc Language

In Chapter 2, we explained how a system level design methodology is essentially a set of design tasks manipulating design models. The system level design languages therefore have to be able to capture the necessary design models in an appropriate syntax which is easily understood by both humans and tools. Without the support of system level design in mind, the traditional languages fall short of the requirements detailed in Chapter 2, Section 2.3. This chapter describe SpecC, a new system level design language which is designed to satisfy the system level design requirements.
The Energy Justice Stakes Embedded in the Net Energy Metering Policy Debates

The fundamental shift in the economic structure of the energy system, spurred by the rapid adoption of rooftop solar power and policies that support it, has given rise to contentious regulatory and political debates concerning the value such customer-generators should receive in exchange for producing electricity. These debates, waged around the country in disparate jurisdictions such as Nevada and Minnesota, focus on the narrow question of the valuation of customer-produced electricity; however, this chapter argues that framing the disruption caused by customer-sited electricity generation solely as a debate regarding its monetary value masks the true stakes embedded in the current energy transition: the wholesale transformation of the energy system from one that is inherently unequal to one that is more just, equitable, and clean. Using principles of energy justice as a framework to view the larger dynamics within the NEM policy debate unmasks these tremendous stakes and reveals a remarkable opportunity to transform the existing energy system. This chapter proceeds in several parts, including an overview of the rapidly changing regulatory and policy landscape concerning net energy metering (NEM), the policy framework that compensates electricity customers for the electricity they generate from their own rooftop solar panels. This overview examines the key issues raised by utilities concerning fairness of NEM programs as well as the range of responses thus far offered by regulators and scholars exploring the contours of NEM policies. Following the overview, this chapter then argues that the narrow issues that have become the heart of the NEM debates—namely, the value of distributed energy generation to the electricity grid and unfairness to utility customers who do not participate in NEM programs—obfuscate the deeper equity concerns embedded within the current energy system, and mask the broader transformative potential of rooftop solar power.
Periodic Changes in the Circulation during Athletic Training as Reflected by a Step Test

Abstract A one-minute step test at 36 steps per minute on a 17-in. bench was given to 17 varsity basketball players each three weeks during 16 weeks of training and after 10 and 20 weeks of detraining. The results indicated that the recovery pulse rate made significant changes in three weeks (.05 level) and highly significant changes in six weeks (.01 level). This level of conditioning was maintained throughout the season to reach a maximum change in 16 weeks. In 10 weeks of detraining significant reversal changes had occurred so that conditioning was not maintained when the season ended.
Measuring Children's Milk Acceptance under New School Nutrition Regulations

In anticipation of USDA's new school nutrition regulations, many school districts began offering fat-free flavored milk (FM) prior to July 2012. To comply with new calorie limits at meals, milk pro...
The incentives to invest in job training : do strict labor codes influence this decision?

This paper studies the link between labor market regulations and the incentives of firms to invest in the human capital of their employees. The author's explore a firm level data set across several developing countries and compare the supply of formal training programs for firms exposed to different degrees of de facto labor regulations. The author's findings show that a more flexible labor code tends to be associated with a smaller investment in job training. However, this effect is small and heterogeneous. Reforms that simultaneously accelerate the diffusion of temporary contracts and increase the protection of permanent workers tend to generate negative effects on the firm's investment in human capital.
Chronic renal failure and atherogenesis--Serum factors stimulate the proliferation of human arterial smooth muscle cells.

Summary To assess the role of serum factors in the genesis of accelerated vascular disease in chronic renal failure, human arterial smooth muscle cells (SMC) and dermal fibroblasts were grown in culture and the effects of serum from chronic dialysis patients on cell proliferation was studied. Exposure to serum from these renal failure patients was associated with significantly greater growth of both SMC and fibroblasts than that observed with control serum. A portion of this mitogenic effect appears to be related to the presence of a factor(s) which is heat stable, dialysable, and is contained in the lipoprotein deficient fraction of plasma of density greater than 1.25 g/dl. These findings suggest that circulating substances which stimulate the proliferation of SMC may contribute to accelerated cardiovascular disease in patients undergoing chronic dialysis treatment.
A Historical Essay on the Conservation Provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill: Sodbusting, Swampbusting, and the Conservation Reserve

In this article, Linda Malone examines the conservation provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill. The bill passed three important conservation measures for farmland, including: swampbusting, conservation reserve, and sodbusting. The bill aimed at restraining the quickly declining quantity and quality of the nation’s topsoil.
Peering through the FoG: visual manipulations shed light on freezing of gait.

Freezing of gait (FoG) – the intermittent and usually brief interruption of forward progression despite intention to walk – is poorly understood, in part because its episodic and unpredictable nature makes it notoriously difficult to study in the laboratory.1, 2 This issue of Movement Disorders includes descriptions of two promising new methods for eliciting and quantifying FoG or the slowing that may be a precursor to FoG in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Both methods exploit the known association of FoG with visual stimuli, most classically the precipitation of FoG by doorways and narrow spaces.3
BaTiO/sub 3/ synthesis technique and its effect on BME dielectric formulations

Within the worldwide capacitor industry there is a wide range of synthesis techniques for producing the starting BaTiO/sub 3/ precursor, which is the primary component for X7R capacitor formulations. The intention of this study was to draw some inherent conclusions about advantages or disadvantages of certain synthesis techniques. Several dielectric compositions for high capacitance BME multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) applications have been examined. These formulations are based on BaTiO/sub 3/ precursors that were synthesized from solid state as well as two oxalate methods. The focus of this work was to identify the influence that the host BaTiO/sub 3/ had on the reliability of the MLCC. The model proposed by Prokopowitz and Vaskas was used to characterize the reliability behavior. Analysis of the data shows that it is very difficult to predict how a particular BaTiO/sub 3/ precursor will work in a given BME formulation without actually producing the formulation and performing the appropriate testing. For the solid state based formulation the value obtained for /spl eta/ was much higher than expected where the E/sub a/ was comparable to the values found in the literature. However, while the two oxalate based formulations behaved very differently from the solid state system, they behaved very similar to one another. For these systems, the /spl eta/ was in agreement with the values found in the literature but the E/sub a/ was much higher than expected.
The role of retained placental fragments in immediate and delayed postpartum hemorrhage.

Abstract Though the healthy obstetric patient is usually considered beyond threat to life and health after the first days of the puerperium, she and her physician are occasionally surprised some days or weeks later by the occurrence of uterine hemorrhage of sufficient quantity to constitute an acute emergency requiring hospitalization and active therapy. The frequent finding of retained placental tissue in such cases has been stressed in a few reports. 1,2 The work of Wolfe and Pedowitz is particularly informative; in their series placental fragments caused delayed bleeding in 32 patients, an incidence of once in 1,005 deliveries, and accounted for two-thirds of their cases of late puerperal hemorrhage. Though many cases seem unavoidable, few obstetric complications can be less satisfactorily explained to the patient and more often cause loss of faith in the physician. Incomplete expulsion of the placenta also accounts for some hemorrhages following soon after delivery. This statistical study was undertaken to determine the incidence of retained placental fragments, to evaluate the factors underlying their occurrence, to learn the details of their fate during the puerperium, and thus to draw some conclusions regarding their prevention and management.
Ultrametric Embedding: Application to Data Fingerprinting and to Fast Data Clustering

We begin with pervasive ultrametricity due to high dimensionality and/or spatial sparsity. How extent or degree of ultrametricity can be quantified leads us to the discussion of varied practical cases when ultrametricity can be partially or locally present in data. We show how the ultrametricity can be assessed in text or document collections, and in time series signals. An aspect of importance here is that to draw benefit from this perspective the data may need to be recoded. Such data recoding can also be powerful in proximity searching, as we will show, where the data is embedded globally and not locally in an ultrametric space.