cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
E-Cigarette Social Media Messages: A Text Mining Analysis of Marketing and Consumer Conversations on Twitter

Background: As the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) rises, social media likely influences public awareness and perception of this emerging tobacco product. Objective: This study examined the public conversation on Twitter to determine overarching themes and insights for trending topics from commercial and consumer users. Methods: Text mining uncovered key patterns and important topics for e-cigarettes on Twitter. SAS Text Miner 12.1 software (SAS Institute Inc) was used for descriptive text mining to reveal the primary topics from tweets collected from March 24, 2015, to July 3, 2015, using a Python script in conjunction with Twitter’s streaming application programming interface. A total of 18 keywords related to e-cigarettes were used and resulted in a total of 872,544 tweets that were sorted into overarching themes through a text topic node for tweets (126,127) and retweets (114,451) that represented more than 1% of the conversation. Results: While some of the final themes were marketing-focused, many topics represented diverse proponent and user conversations that included discussion of policies, personal experiences, and the differentiation of e-cigarettes from traditional tobacco, often by pointing to the lack of evidence for the harm or risks of e-cigarettes or taking the position that e-cigarettes should be promoted as smoking cessation devices. Conclusions: These findings reveal that unique, large-scale public conversations are occurring on Twitter alongside e-cigarette advertising and promotion. Proponents and users are turning to social media to share knowledge, experience, and questions about e-cigarette use. Future research should focus on these unique conversations to understand how they influence attitudes towards and use of e-cigarettes. [JMIR Public Health Surveill 2016;2(2):e171]
Cystatin C–Guided Vancomycin Dosing in Critically Ill Patients: A Quality Improvement Project

Background The aim of the study was to determine whether a vancomycin dosing algorithm based on estimated glomerular filtration rate from creatinine and cystatin C levels (eGFR cr-cys ) improves target trough concentration achievement compared to an algorithm based on estimated creatinine clearance (eCL cr ) in critically ill patients. Study Design This prospective quality improvement project evaluated intensive care unit (ICU) patients started on intravenous vancomycin using one of 2 different strategies. Dosing regimens were selected and implemented after an individualized goal trough range was established (10-15 or 15-20mg/L). Steady-state goal trough achievement was compared between treatment arms with and without adjustment for potential confounders. Setting & Participants 3 medical and surgical ICUs at a single tertiary medical center. Quality Improvement Plan During January 2012 to October 2013, vancomycin was dosed according to eCL cr using the Cockcroft-Gault formula (control arm). During December 2013 to May 2015, a multidisciplinary quality improvement team implemented a novel vancomycin dosing algorithm according to eGFR cr-cys using the CKD-EPI equation (intervention arm). Outcome Steady-state initial goal vancomycin trough concentration achievement. Measurements & Results More patients in the intervention arm (67 of 135 [50%]) achieved therapeutic trough vancomycin levels than in the control arm (74 of 264 [28%]; OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.65-3.90; P cr , surgical admission diagnosis, presence of sepsis, and goal trough concentration range (adjusted OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.76-4.44; P Limitations Nonrandomized, incomplete algorithm compliance. Conclusions A vancomycin dosing nomogram based on eGFR cr-cys significantly improved goal trough achievement compared to eCL cr among ICU patients with stable kidney function. Further studies are warranted to characterize the relationship between use of cystatin C−guided dosing and clinical outcomes.
Synthesis of wrinkled mesoporous carbon

Abstract Wrinkled mesoporous silica was used as a template for the synthesis of carbon with the same morphology and pore structure. The resulting wrinkled mesoporous carbon not only maintains the unique conical pore structure radiating from the core to the outside surface but also exhibits an increased surface area relative to silica. The high surface area (1344 m 2 /g) and highly accessible voids make the wrinkled mesoporous carbon attractive for applications such as supercapacitors and catalyst supports.
Higher number of live births is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and adverse cardiac remodelling among US Hispanic/Latina women: results from the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos.

Introduction Female sex is a risk factor for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Previous literature suggests that some diastolic dysfunction (DD) develops during pregnancy and may persist postdelivery. Our objective was to examine the relationship between parity and cardiac structure and function in a population-based cohort. Methods Participants included 1172 Hispanic/Latina women, aged ≥45 years, enrolled in the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos from four US communities (Bronx, Miami, San Diego and Chicago). Standard echocardiographic techniques were used to measure cardiac volumes, left ventricular mass, systolic and diastolic function. Using sampling weights and survey statistics, multivariable linear and logistic regression models were constructed adjusting for age, body mass index, diabetes or prediabetes, systolic blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medications, smoking, total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Results In the target population, 5.0% were nulliparous (no live births) and 10.5% were grand multiparous (≥5 live births). Among the nulliparous women, 46% had DD as compared with 51%–58% of women with 1–4 live births and 81% of women with ≥5 live births (p Conclusions Higher parity is associated with increased cardiac mass, volumes and the presence of DD. Further studies are needed to elucidate this apparent deleterious relation and whether parity can help explain the increased risk of HFpEF in women.
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype affects cognitive control during total sleep deprivation.

Abstract Adaptive decision making is profoundly impaired by total sleep deprivation (TSD). This suggests that TSD impacts fronto-striatal pathways involved in cognitive control, where dopamine is a key neuromodulator. In the prefrontal cortex (PFC), dopamine is catabolized by the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). A functional polymorphism (Val158Met) influences COMT's enzymatic activity, resulting in markedly different levels of prefrontal dopamine. We investigated the effect of this polymorphism on adaptive decision making during TSD. Sixty-six healthy young adults participated in one of two in-laboratory studies. After a baseline day, subjects were randomized to either a TSD group (n = 32) with 38 h or 62 h of extended wakefulness or a well-rested control group (n = 34) with 10 h nighttime sleep opportunities. Subjects performed a go/no-go reversal learning (GNGr) task at well-rested baseline and again during TSD or equivalent control. During the task, subjects were required to learn stimulus–response relationships from accuracy feedback. The stimulus–response relationships were reversed halfway through the task, which required subjects to learn the new stimulus–response relationships from accuracy feedback. Performance on the GNGr task was quantified by discriminability (d′) between go and no-go stimuli before and after the stimulus–response reversal. GNGr performance did not differ between COMT genotypes when subjects were well-rested. However, TSD exposed a significant vulnerability to adaptive decision making impairment in subjects with the Val allele. Our results indicate that sleep deprivation degrades cognitive control through a fronto-striatal, dopaminergic mechanism.
On the realizability of the critical points of a realizable list

Abstract The nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem (NIEP) is to characterize the spectra of entrywise nonnegative matrices. A finite multiset of complex numbers is called realizable if it is the spectrum of an entrywise nonnegative matrix. Monov conjectured that the kth-moments of the list of critical points of a realizable list are nonnegative. Johnson further conjectured that the list of critical points must be realizable. In this work, Johnson's conjecture, and consequently Monov's conjecture, is established for a variety of important cases including Ciarlet spectra, Suleĭmanova spectra, spectra realizable via companion matrices, and spectra realizable via similarity by a complex Hadamard matrix. Additionally we prove a result on differentiators and trace vectors, and use it to provide an alternative proof of a result due to Malamud and a generalization of a result due to Kushel and Tyaglov on circulant matrices. Implications for further research are discussed.
Interim Results of a Phase II Study of Hypofractionated Radiotherapy with Concurrent Temozolomide Followed by Adjuvant Temozolomide in Patients over 70 Years Old with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma.

Objective In this phase II study, we investigate clinical outcomes and tolerability of hypofractionated radiotherapy (HRT) combined with temozolomide (TMZ) to treat elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM). Methods Patients 70 years of age or older with newly diagnosed GBM received HRT to a dose of 34 Gy given in ten fractions over 2 weeks, delivered with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ. Results In this interim analysis, ten patients were enrolled on trial from 12/1/2015 to 4/5/2017. With a median follow-up of 9 months (range 3-12 months), median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6 months. The median overall survival (OS) has not been reached. Estimated 1-year OS and PFS rates were 53.3 and 44.4%, respectively. All patients completed the full course of RT, with no patients developing grade 3 or higher adverse events from treatment. Conclusions The preliminary results of our phase II trial suggest HRT delivered over 2 weeks with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ is well tolerated in elderly patients with GBM without compromising clinical outcomes.
Skin Cancer Prevention: A Time for Action

Skin cancer is the most common malignancy in the United States accounting for more than 840,000 cases and 9,400 deaths annually. It is estimated that 90% of non-melanoma skin cancers and much of melanoma incidence can be attributed to sun exposure. The evidence suggests that regular use of sunscreen (Sun Protective Factor (SPF) of 15 or higher), wearing protective, tightly woven clothing and wide brimmed hats, and avoiding sun exposure when the ultraviolet rays are strongest (between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.) can dramatically reduce the risk of skin cancer. Interventions to promote sun-protection behaviors that target children and adults are necessary to reduce the growing incidence rate of skin cancer in the United States.
Buildings: Mitigation Opportunities with a Focus on Health Implications

Addressing building energy use is the critical first step in any strategic plan for mitigating climate change. Buildings have a direct impact on estimated global climate change due to their large carbon footprint. Energy use in the building sector is the largest man-made contributor to climate change, and coincidentally a key sector to start mitigating climate change. To avoid revisiting problems such as sick building syndrome arising from aggressive building weatherization programs in the 1970s, it is critical that policy makers, regulators, and strategic planners remember that the primary function of buildings is not saving energy. The bottom line of why we build buildings is for safety and comfort in our homes, to enhance productivity in the workplace, and to ensure an optimal learning environment in our schools. The fundamental services of improving human health, comfort, productivity, and performance should not be compromised as we strive to minimize energy use in buildings. A one-dimensional focus on energy could result in unsustainable policies and practices. Much is understood about technologies, materials, and design techniques that can reduce energy use in buildings. However, much attention must be paid to recognizing how these approaches can enhance or damage human health and productivity as well as the environment. The focus of this chapter is not existing energy sectors and conservation technologies that have been extensively understood and considered in the literature, but on underutilized mitigation techniques that both increase the sustainability of our buildings while maintaining a focus on human health and the environment. A key intersection between climate change, buildings, and human health is building materials and products, and an effective testing and information transfer program is urgently needed so that building stakeholders have the information and tools they need to make good decisions during the design, construction, operation, and renovation phases of buildings.
Model composability and execution across simulation, optimization, and forecast models

We present a novel simulation platform called Optimization, Simulation, and Forecasting (OSF) for the domain of manufacturing and logistics supply-chain systems. It supports composition of DEVS, Linear Program (LP), and forecast models using an extended Knowledge Interchange Broker (KIB). Models developed in DEVS-Suite simulator, OPL-Studio optimization, and a heuristic Inventory Strategy Forecaster (ISF) can be composed using a new set of scalable XML Schemas developed for DEVS, LP, and ISF models. The addition of forecast modeling offers new kinds of supply-chain system simulation. In particular, alternative customer demand forecast "bias correction" methods can be evaluated towards optimized operation of supply-chain processes. The OSF platform affords modeling interactions among process, optimization, and forecast models. The KIB coordinates simulation (execution) of the DEVS, LP, and ISF models in a sequential fashion. Composition of each pair of DEVS, LP, and ISF models leads to scalability for specifying model interactions. Independent execution of each model allows flexible computation platforms. They simplify defining a large number of different data transformations. The concept, basic architectural design, and implementation of this composable simulation platform are highlighted using example single-echelon and multi-echelon semiconductor manufacturing, logistics systems.
Freight Flow Modeling in the United States

This paper overviews the different approaches being used by regional planning agencies to estimate the spatial patterns of freight flows within the United States. The narrative moves from a discussion of current modeling practice to consider how on-going research efforts are moving this practice towards new, improved and increasingly involved modeling frameworks. The discussion emphasizes how data limitations have impacted past and current modeling, and how new data sources can help future efforts. Recent advances in both top-down econometric modeling and bottom-up behavioral modeling are described, both capable of contributing to increasingly complex modeling frameworks in support of broad regional and high volume freight corridor applications. How effective future modeling practice will become will depend on its ability to respond to three areas of concern: the need for improved data quality and access; an improved behavioral understanding of freight agents’ transportation choices; and changes in the nature of freight handling technologies and services as well as in the physical nature of the freight itself.
Aicardi syndrome, an unsolved mystery: Review of diagnostic features, previous attempts, and future opportunities for genetic examination

Aicardi syndrome is a rare, severe neurodevelopmental disorder classically characterized by the triad of infantile spasms, central chorioretinal lacunae, and agenesis of the corpus callosum. Aicardi syndrome only affects females, with the exception of a few males with a 47, XXY chromosome constitution. All cases are de novo and the only cases of definitive recurrence in families are in identical twins. It is now recognized that individuals with Aicardi syndrome commonly exhibit a variety of other neuronal migration defects, eye anomalies, and other somatic features, including skin, skeletal, and craniofacial systems. The etiology of Aicardi syndrome remains unknown despite an international effort exploring different genetic mechanisms. Although various technologies examining candidate genes, copy number variation, skewing of X-chromosome inactivation, and whole-exome sequences have been explored, no strong genetic candidates have been identified to date. New technologies that can detect low-level mosaicism and balanced rearrangements, as well as platforms examining changes at the DNA and chromatin level affecting regulatory regions are all potential avenues for future studies that may one day solve the mystery of the etiology of Aicardi syndrome.
Empowerment through work: the cases of disabled individuals and low-skilled women workers on the US–Mexican border

This article discusses workers at two organizations: one employing disabled individuals and another employing low-skilled Mexican-American women. Workers at both organizations show positive effects...
High Torque Density and Low Torque Ripple Shaped-Magnet Machines Using Sinusoidal Plus Third Harmonic Shaped Magnets

This paper proposes a novel shaped-magnet surface permanent magnet machine design concept featuring magnets shaped according to a sinusoid plus a third harmonic along the axial direction, and full-pole-pitched distributed stator windings with a unity winding factor to provide high torque density with essentially zero torque ripple for high-performance motor applications. The magnet thickness is uniform along the radial direction so as not to impair the magnet's ability to handle the demagnetization force. The proposed design was compared against a full-pole-pitched magnet design with maximum magnetic loading and a conventional bread-loaf magnet design. The results demonstrate that the proposed shaped-magnet design uses the magnet materials efficiently to achieve torque density comparable to that of the full-pole-pitched magnet design, and essentially zero torque ripple without compromising its resistivity against a demagnetization force, which conventional bread-loaf magnets cannot offer.
Ewige Dividende: Die absoluten Werte der Religion

Religion benotigt Riten, um dem Verhaltnis von Diesseits und Jenseits eine verbindliche Form zu geben. In Riten wird beglaubigt, was nicht gewusst werden kann. Sie besiegeln einen Pakt zwischen Gottern und Menschen und sind der Vertrag, der uns vorschreibt, wie wir uns hoheren Machten zu nahern, mit ihnen zu kommunizieren haben.
Research-driven approaches to improving archival discovery

The National Anthropological Archives (NAA), part of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, holds some 18,000 cubic feet of materials of relevance to qualitative researchers. These archival collections—manuscripts, fieldnotes, audio recordings, drawings, maps, and still and moving images—are used by not only anthropologists, but increasingly scholars from a range of qualitative research fields. In 2016, the NAA received a grant to support a 3-year post-doctoral fellow to conduct research that would lead to the improved discovery and use of archival resources. This article discusses some of the practical ways the fellowship was designed to ask interdisciplinary research questions, and describes how that premise, as well as findings from a pilot study run in the first year, are helping to improve the research experience for our increasingly interdisciplinary users. Both the project’s preliminary findings and its overall design may provide valuable insights to qualitative researchers and their institutions.
Correlation of Physicochemical Parameters to the Hydrophobic Contribution Constants of Amino Acid Residues in Small Peptides

Purpose. This paper attempts to correlate the hydrophobic contribution constants (faa) of 21 amino acids in small peptides with commonly used physicochemical parameters. These faa constants can then be used to predict hydrophobicity change in peptides when any one of the amino acid residue is substituted with another.
Interfacial solvation and slow transport of hydrated excess protons in non-ionic reverse micelles

This work employs molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the solvation and transport properties of hydrated excess protons (with a hydronium-like core structure) in non-ionic Igepal CO-520 reverse micelles of various sizes in a non-polar solvent. Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics (MS-RMD) simulations were used to describe vehicular and hopping diffusion during the proton transport process. As detailed herein, an excess proton shows a marked tendency to localize in the interfacial region of micellar water pools. Slow proton transport was observed which becomes faster with increasing micellar size. Further analysis reveals that the slow diffusion of an excess proton is a combined result of slow water diffusion and the low proton hopping rate. This study also confirms that a low proton hopping rate in reverse micelles stems from the interfacial solvation of hydrated excess protons and the immobilization of interfacial water. The low water density in the interfacial region makes it difficult to form a complete hydrogen bond network near the hydrated excess proton, and therefore locks in the orientation of hydrated proton cations. The immobilization of the interfacial water also slows the relaxation of the overall hydrogen bond network.
Radiation-balanced tandem semiconductor/Yb3+:YLF lasers: feasibility study

A theoretical model of a tandem radiation-balanced laser is developed and applied to explore the feasibility of radiation-balanced operation. The external cavity tandem laser is composed of an optically pumped multiple quantum well InGaAs gain section that is monolithically integrated with a Yb:YLF cooling section. It is shown that performance depends critically on a number of parameters, the choice of the effective bandgap in the semiconductor being the most important one. It is established that radiation-balanced operation with efficiencies exceeding 10% can be attained provided that the active region contains a large number of quantum wells (N>10) and that an efficient multipass pump cavity can be implemented.
Thermodynamic and Kinetic Properties of Layered-CaCo2O4 for the Ca-ion batteries: A Systematic First-Principles Study

One of the more promising directions in multivalent energy storage is systems based on Ca ion intercalation due to the potential for high voltage and capacity. A major challenge for enabling such a battery is to find cathode materials capable of fast ionic diffusion and reversible insertion of Ca ions. Here, on the basis of first-principles calculations, we have demonstrated that layered CaCo2O4 exhibits favorable thermodynamic and kinetic properties that should enable topotactic Ca ion intercalation reactions. The P3-type layered CaxCo2O4 (0 10−10 cm2s−1) in conventional Li cathode materials, suggesting the feasibility of layered CaxCo2O4 as multivalent cathode materials. Finally, the structural factors that enable fast diffusion are discussed.
E-Consent: Can Informed Consent Be Just a Click Away?

As hospitals continue to modernize, electronic informed-consent forms or processes-also known as e-formed consent-are becoming more prevalent. E-formed consent has already been tested and implemented in a variety of hospitals nationwide. Although it is impossible, and even unwise, to attempt to halt technology, taking time to reflect on its impact can "be seen as an investment of positive caring energy in the patient," particularly for those patients considered most vulnerable. Taking time to reflect is even more important where, as here, scholars speculate that the e-formed consent model may become more common in the primary-care setting. The increasing use of e-formed consent may negatively impact the physician-patient relationship by: (1) increasing paternalism, (2) replacing face-to-face interaction, and (3) not addressing individual needs. On the other hand, for all of the criticisms that have been levied against e-formed consent, scholars also point to potential benefits such as: (1) increasing patient knowledge, (2) improving physician-patient interaction, and (3) possibly creating a more effective doctrine of informed consent. This Essay provides an overview of the ethical and legal basis of informed consent generally. It briefly examines the laws of the fifty states, particularly as those laws concern the use of written consent forms. This Essay then focuses on problems that patients experience with written informed-consent forms. Following this, it examines scientific studies on how the brain processes material differently when that material is read on a screen versus on paper. This Essay also explores some of the e-formed consent systems being used by hospitals and health-care entities today. It concludes by examining in greater depth the promises and pitfalls of e-formed consent and advocating that best practices be identified and that informed-consent laws be harmonized to reflect the interests of health-care providers and patients, specifically patients considered most vulnerable.
Archetypal Analysis for Sparse Nonnegative Matrix Factorization: Robustness Under Misspecification.

We consider the problem of sparse nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) with archetypal regularization. The goal is to represent a collection of data points as nonnegative linear combinations of a few nonnegative sparse factors with appealing geometric properties, arising from the use of archetypal regularization. We generalize the notion of robustness studied in Javadi and Montanari (2019) (without sparsity) to the notions of (a) strong robustness that implies each estimated archetype is close to the underlying archetypes and (b) weak robustness that implies there exists at least one recovered archetype that is close to the underlying archetypes. Our theoretical results on robustness guarantees hold under minimal assumptions on the underlying data, and applies to settings where the underlying archetypes need not be sparse. We propose new algorithms for our optimization problem; and present numerical experiments on synthetic and real datasets that shed further insights into our proposed framework and theoretical developments.
Vortex dynamics, pinning, and angle-dependent motion on moiré patterns

We examine the pinning and dynamics of Abrikosov vortices interacting with pinning centers placed in a moir\'e pattern for varied moir\'e lattice angles. We find a series of locking angles at which the critical current shows a pronounced dip corresponding to lattices in which the vortices can flow along quasi-one-dimensional channels. At these locking angles, the vortices move with a finite Hall angle. Additionally, for some lattice angles there are peaks in the critical current produced when the substrate has a quasiperiodic character that strongly reduces the vortex channeling. Our results should be general to a broad class of particlelike assemblies moving on moir\'e patterns.
Experimentelle Untersuchung des Tropfenfeldes eines Einzelreifens

Im folgenden Abschnitt werden die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgefuhrten Versuche vorgestellt. Hierbei wird ein einzelner, rotierender Reifen auf einer wasserbeaufschlagten Rolle im Windkanal messtechnisch untersucht. Das dabei entstehende Tropfenfeld wird uber eine Laserebene belichtet und hinsichtlich der Tropfengrose, -anzahl und -geschwindigkeit in unterschiedlichen Messfenstern ausgewertet. Ziel der Versuche ist es, zum einen ein tieferes physikalisches Verstandnis des Tropfenaufwirbelvorganges und -entstehungsprozesses aufzubauen. Zum anderen sollen die Einflusse unterschiedlicher Parameter auf das entstehende Tropfenfeld untersucht werden, um somit eine belastbare Validierungsbasis fur die Einzelreifensimulationen zu schaffen.
The Mid-West of the Future

(1935). The Mid-West of the Future. The Journal of Health and Physical Education: Vol. 6, No. 9, pp. 3-61.
Quantitative Calculation of Parameters for a Model Sufficiently General to Capture all On-Site Correlations

Chapter 10 introduced a generalized Bose-Hubbard model that is, under appropriate circumstances, capable of describing experimentally important situations, and which is much more general than the ordinary Bose-Hubbard model. However, while we could deduce the form of the Hamiltonian, quantitatively calculating the model’s parameters is non-trivial.
System Element Models

In building a suitable model for a queueing system, we start with its elements. Of the elements mentioned in Chapter 1, number of servers, system capacity, and discipline are normally deterministic (unless, the number of available servers becomes a random variable, which is also possible in some cases). But there are uncertainties related to arrivals and service which result in the underlying processes being stochastic. This chapter introduces probability distributions normally used in modeling arrivals and service. We also discuss the process of identification of models.
High-Content Imaging Assays for Identifying Compounds that Generate Superoxide and Impair Mitochondrial Membrane Potential in Adherent Eukaryotic Cells

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are constantly produced in cells as a result of aerobic metabolism. When there is an excessive production of ROS and the cell's antioxidant defenses are overwhelmed, oxidative stress occurs. The superoxide anion is a type of ROS that is produced primarily in mitochondria but is also generated in other regions of the cell including peroxisomes, endoplasmic reticulum, plasma membrane, and cytosol. Here, a high-content imaging assay using the dye dihydroethidium is described for identifying compounds that generate superoxide in eukaryotic cells. A high-content imaging assay using the fluorescent dye tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester is also described to identify compounds that impair mitochondrial membrane potential in eukaryotic cells. The purpose of performing both assays is to identify compounds that (1) generate superoxide at lower concentrations than they impair mitochondrial membrane potential, (2) impair mitochondrial membrane potential at lower concentrations than they generate superoxide, (3) generate superoxide and impair mitochondrial function at similar concentrations, and (4) do not generate superoxide or impair mitochondrial membrane potential during the duration of the assays.
Principal Component Analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a data reduction technique formalized by Hotelling (1933) and later characterized statistically by Anderson (1963), although the concept goes back as far as Pearson (1901). PCA, as well as factor analysis, is used in the social sciences mainly to characterize underlying latent variables, or factors, that are represented as weighted combinations of the observed variables. The most common use of PCA in the social sciences is in the form of scale construction (psychometrics), although it can also be used to summarize any set of related variables and has more recently been applied to high-dimensional data problems in both imaging and genetics. Keywords: psychometrics; factor analysis; data reduction; latent variable
Advanced Generalist Practice

Abstract An enormous challenge faces social work educators as we prepare for the twenty-first century. Most significant is the scramble to understand and respond to contemporary challenges, notably managed health care and welfare reform. The authors present the conceptualization and implementation of an advanced generalist concentration curriculum. Teaching strategies and assignments in a MSW academic and field curriculum are used to illustrate the integration of knowledge necessary to a three-tiered model of practice at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. Finally, results of an alumni survey are presented that lend credence to our contention that graduates are well-prepared to function effectively in today's practice environment.
The Impact of Health Risk Information on Food Demand: A Case Study of Alar and Apples

One method used for overcoming the problem of preference revelation for safety improvements is to infer willingness-to-pay from consumer choice of private goods (Blomquist 1979, Dardis 1980, Hammitt 1986, Ippolito and Ippolito 1984). This strategy may be useful for estimating willingness-to-pay for food safety because in recent years information on risks from food additives has been widely reported by the news media and these reports have been found to affect food demand (Brown 1969, Brown and Folsom 1983, Johnson 1988, Shulstad and Stoevener 1978, Smith et al. 1988, Swartz and Strand 1981).
GloudSim: Google trace based cloud simulator with virtual machines

In 2011, Google released a 1-month production trace with hundreds of thousands of jobs running across over 12,000 heterogeneous hosts. In order to perform in-depth research based on the trace, it is necessary to construct a close-to-practice simulation system. In this paper, we devise a distributed cloud simulator or toolkit based on virtual machines, with three important features. 1 The dynamic changing resource amounts such as CPU rate and memory size consumed by the reproduced jobs can be emulated as closely as possible to the real values in the trace. 2 Various types of events e.g., kill/evict event can be emulated precisely based on the trace. 3 Our simulation toolkit is able to emulate more complex and useful cases beyond the original trace to adapt to various research demands. We evaluate the system on a real cluster environment with 16×8=128 cores and 112 virtual machines constructed by XEN hypervisor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to reproduce Google cloud environment with real experimental system setting and real-world large scale production trace. Experiments show that our simulation system could effectively reproduce the real checkpointing/restart events based on Google trace, by leveraging Berkeley Lab Checkpoint/Restart tool. It can simultaneously process up to 1200 emulated Google jobs over the 112 virtual machines. Such a simulation toolkit has been released as a GNU GPL v3 software for free downloading, and it has been successfully applied to the fundamental research on the optimization of checkpoint intervals for Google tasks. Copyright © 2014 © Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Wellness Councils Build Capacity for School-Based Obesity Prevention in Harlem and Washington Heights, New York City:

Schools experience barriers when implementing wellness policies, and there is a dearth of research detailing how district wellness policies are implemented at the school level. Wellness councils were established in 7 elementary schools in Harlem and Washington Heights, New York City (NYC), to help these schools implement the NYC district wellness policy. Data on 4 wellness council process indicators and wellness council self-evaluation scores were correlated with obesity prevention process outcomes using Kendall tau correlations. An average of 8.9 (standard deviation = 0.7) wellness council meetings were held per school throughout the 10-month academic year. The average attendance at each meeting ranged from 7.1 to 15.2 members. There was a positive relationship between wellness council attendance and the number of participant encounters at staff physical activity events (r = .71, P = .02). Higher self-evaluation scores on staff wellness initiatives were associated with more student nutrition encounters (...
On Lyapunov stability of a family of nonlinear time-varying systems

Investigates several types of Lyapunov stability of an equilibrium of a family of finite dimensional dynamical systems determined by ordinary differential (difference) equations. By utilising the extreme systems of the family of systems, the authors establish sufficient conditions, as well as necessary conditions (converse theorems) for several robust stability types. The authors' results enable them to realize a significant reduction in the computational complexity of the algorithm of Brayton and Tong in the construction of computer generated Lyapunov functions. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate the applicability of the present results by analyzing robust stability properties of equilibria for Hopfield neural networks and by analyzing the Hurwitz and Schur stability of interval matrices. >
Interadministrative Challenges in Managing DNSKEYs

Although the visible deployment of domain name system security extensions is growing at a tremendous rate, evidence suggests that managing cryptographic keys is deceptively complex. Here, the authors outline the problem of managing DNSKEYs and present a survey comparison of existing proposed solutions.
Characterization of colored products formed during irradiation of aqueous solutions containing H2O2 and phenolic compounds

Abstract Irradiation of aqueous (pH = 5) mixtures containing hydrogen peroxide (1 mM) and phenolic compounds (10 mM) were found to produce visible light absorbing solutions over the course of several hours. The kinetics and products of these reactions were studied by UV–VIS absorbance, electrospray mass spectrometry, FTIR, fluorescence, and NMR and compared to humic-like substances commonly found in atmospheric particulate matter. It was determined the reactions leading to formation of color are quite general to this compound class, and the reactions proceeded more rapidly with hydroxyl or methoxy substitution ortho to the phenolic OH. However, para substitution generally slowed formation of colored compounds compared to the unsubstituted form. Mass spectrometry confirms compounds of several hundred Da formed in the reaction mixtures. The IR spectra of the reaction products bear similarity to that observed for authentic aerosol humic-like substances. The results indicate radical coupling of phenols and methoxylated phenols in tropospheric waters may contribute to humic-like particulate matter.
An automation laboratory for MBA education in advanced manufacturing management

Abstract Our approach to education in advanced manufacturing management is an integration of classroom instructions in advanced manufacturing system management, and a laboratory facility for Operations Management. Manufacturing laboratories in universities generally reside only in engineering schools. This paper presents a laboratory that is designed to help operations management students understand the vast potential of computers and operations research techniques in the manufacturing environment. It includes a factory emulator which uses programmable controller hardware and IBM AT-compatible microcomputers for control and emulation of the signals emanating from simulated machining centers. The system hardware includes a host computer, a cell controller, and a display unit. It provides real-time operation and evaluation of the FMS technology.
Gender Differences of Popular Music Production in Secondary Schools

In this case study, the author inv estigated how students’ gender affected their participation in a secondary popular music class in which participants wrote and performed original music. Three same-gendered rock groups and two mixed-gendered rock groups were observ ed. Would students of different genders rehearse and compose differently? How would same-gendered processes compare to mixed-gendered processes? Research suggests that girls learn differently from boys and that gender—as distinct from sex—is formed in social env ironments. In research on popular music education, howev er, the participation of girls has been under-documented and under-theorized. This study found that boys and girls rehearsed and composed differently: Whereas the boys combined musical gestures and nonv erbal communication into a seamless sonic process, the girls separated talk and musical production. In the mixed-gendered groups, tensions arose because participants used different learning styles that members of the opposite gend...
Management of actic keratoses

Actinic keratoses are quite common. Since they represent the initial stage in the evolution of squamous cell carcinoma, recognition and treatment are important. Recently, new treatment modalities have become available including immune modulators, photodynamic therapy, and topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
Nutrient deficiencies and toxicities in plants: Nitrogen

Current literature review and discussion of the N status of plants as related to their growth and yield and quality of produced product.
PCR-based markers for detection of Colletotrichum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides in flowering dogwood ( Cornus florida )

Two fungi, Colletotrichum acutatum (=Glomerella acutata) and C. gloeosporioides (=G. cingulata) were isolated from flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and characterised by molecular PCR-based markers. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) universal primer pair ITS1-F/ITS4 produced fragments of 622 bp and 613 bp in C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides, respectively. The two sequences were 91.1% identical in a 626 bp region. Six ITS specific primer pairs were designed that produced PCR fragments only for C. acutatum. The 18S small subunit rRNA universal primer pair NS1/NS2 produced fragments of 570 bp and 560 bp for C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides, respectively. The two fragments were 97.4% identical in a 497 bp region. Two specific primer pairs were designed that produced PCR fragments only for the laccase or pectate lyase B gene of C. gloeosporioides. Two additional primer pairs were designed that produced specific PCR fragments only for the glutamine synthetase or a key lime pathogenicity gene of C. acutatum. These results provide useful tools to identify and distinguish C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides in limb dieback of flowering dogwood, and this research also provides an approach for further characterisation of pathogenicity related genes.
Synthesis and characterization of a series of rubidium alkoxides and rubidium-titanium double alkoxides.

This report investigates the structural aspects of the products isolated from the reactions of a series of titanium alkoxides {[Ti(OR)4]n n = 2, OR = OCH2C(CH3)3 (ONep) (1); n = 1, OC6H3(CH3)2-2,6 (DMP) (2)} with rubidium alkoxides {[Rb(OR)]∞ where OR = (ONep) (3), (DMP) (4), and OC6H3(CH(CH3)2)2-2,6 (DIP) (5)}. The resultant double alkoxides were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction to be [Rb(μ-ONep)4(py)Ti(ONep)]2 (6), [Rb(μ-DMP)Ti(DMP)4]∞ (7), and [Rb(μ-DMP)2(μ-ONep)2Ti(ONep)]∞ (8). Compound 1 is the previously reported dinculear species with trigonal bipyramidal Ti metal centers whereas compound 2 is a monomer with a tetrahedral Ti center. Suitable X-ray quality crystals of 3 were not isolated. Compounds 4 and 5 demonstrate extended polymeric networks with Rb coordination ranging from two to five utilizing terminal μ- and μ3-OR ligands and π-interactions of neighboring OAr ligands. The double alkoxide 6 revealed a simple tetranuclear structure with μ-ONep acting as the bridge, terminal ONep ...
Cellulase: a perspective

Cellulose, a polymer of |3-1,4-linked D-glucose residues, is the World’s most abundant natural polymer. It occurs predominantly in plants, forming their main structural component, but also occurs widely in other organisms, such as bacteria, algae, fungi and animals. With annual production of around 1.8 x 10 12 tonnes, it has attracted considerable study encompassing its synthesis, biodegradation and utilization in several recent reviews (M. P. Goughian Biotechnol. Genetic Engng Rev. 3, 39-109 (1985); B. S. Montenecourt & D. E. Eveleigh in Gene manipulations in fungi (ed. J. M. Bennett & L. L. Lasure), pp. 491- 512, New York: Academic Press (1985); J. N. Saddler Microbiol. Sci . 3, 84-87 (1986)). With this wealth of data at hand, a perspective of fungal cellulase is presented with consideration of current models of action, nature of the enzyme complex, analytical methods and approaches for enhanced production.
SOLUTION OF A DETOUR PROBLEM BY RATS IN ELEVATED AND GROUND MAZES

Tolman and Honzik (1930) have purported to demonstrate that rats are capable of seeing partially hidden relationships among the parts of a maze. Their rats obtained food by going against a well-learned habit to take a long path, previously avoided, b~~t the only one left unobstructed during the test trial. Recent textbooks on learning theory (Hilgard, 1956, pp. 194-195) and on mechodology (Lyons, 1965, pp. 152-153 ) cite this "insight" generalization without noting certain restrictions specified in the original Tolman-Honzik report. Tolman himself (1951, pp. 73-75) fails to specify these restrictions in one of his later theoretical articles. Using a grozbnd maze, Tolman and Honzik obtained insightful detour behavior in only 5 out of 11 rats. The strucnire of this maze is represented in Fig. 1. In switching to an elevated maze, having no walls and no mesh top, they obtained "insight" in 7 out of 10 rats. A chi-square test (see Table 1) yields no
Phase I study of concomitant gemcitabine and IMRT for patients with unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head.

Purpose: We hypothesized that dynamic intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) would protect normal tissues enough to allow the escalation of either the gemcitabine or radiotherapy dose in unresectable pancreatic cancer patients.
An investigation of an estrogen-binding component in the liver and plasma of brook char, Salvelinus fontinalis.

Abstract 1. 1. Estrogen-binding activity was investigated in liver nuclear and cytosolic preparations of sexually mature female brook char, Salvelinus fontinalis . Nuclear salt extracts of estrogen-injected fish were found to contain high affinity binding sites ( K d = 1.6nM, capacity = 2.8 fM μ g DNA). 2. 2. Low levels of high-affinity specific binding activity were found in the cytosol of both injected and untreated fish ( K d = 7.5 nM, capacity = 16.1 fM/mg protein). 3. 3. Binding sites in both preparations were specific for estrogens with no significant competition by 5α-dihydrotestosterone, progesterone, or cortisone. 4. 4. A plasma-binder was found to have distinctive differences with regard to structural specificity compared to the estrogen-binding component in liver. It was found to have no affinity for diethylstilbestrol while having some affinity for both 5α-dihydrotestosterone and progesterone. 5. 5. The brook char liver estrogen-binding component was observed to have characteristics in common with estrogen receptors found in other vertebrates.
Shape registration via the wavelet transform

We present a system for the automatic global registration of voxelized data using the wavelet transform. The huge size of current data sets makes such multi-resolution techniques appealing; however, the traditional discrete wavelet transform has the drawback of variance with translation and rotation. We employ the dual-tree complex wavelet transform (Kingsbury, 2003), which carefully adds near invariance to translation and reduced sensitivity to rotation in computationally efficient ways, thus enabling the object matching application. We employ the wavelet transform to accomplish registration by extracting features in a multi-resolutional format, thus rapidly detecting and matching feature points. The method is robust to occlusion, clutter and noise. The efficacy of the algorithm is demonstrated through examples from solid modeling and biomedical applications.