cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamics of polyisobutylene solutions. III. Thermal behavior and polymer order

Abstract Considerations based on the Maron theory show that for solutions of an amorphous polymer in a solvent the values of A obtained from heats of solution, heats of dilution, osmotic pressure, and vapor pressure should all be identical. Here λ = (aWaT)2, where μ is the Maron theory interaction parameter, T the temperature, and v2 the volume fraction. On the other hand, for solutions of a crystalline polymer in a solvent the A's obtained from heats of solution should always differ from those given by the other measurements. The difference is due to the heat of fusion involved in melting the crystalline portion of the polymer. A method is presented by means of which this heat of fusion can be found from the observed heats of solution, and this heat of fusion can either be used as a relative measure of crystallinity, or it can be converted to percent crystallinity when the heat of fusion of the completely crystalline polymer is known. The method described is very precise, and highly sensitive to low degr...
The death penalty attitudes of criminal justice students: are they different from other students?

Much research has explored why people support or oppose capital punishment. There has been little research on the death penalty views of criminal justice students and whether they differ from other students. It is important to know and understand the views of criminal justice majors. Based upon survey data from students at a public Midwestern university, the death penalty views of criminal justice majors and non‐criminal justice majors were examined along with why these two groups of students support or oppose the death penalty. Criminal justice students were more likely to feel that the death penalty deterred others and were more supportive of retributive reasons for capital punishment. Non‐criminal justice students were likely to agree with mercy/ethic of care issues and that the death penalty causes violence in society (i.e., the brutalization effect). In multi‐variate analysis, both deterrence and retributive reasons were the major reasons for supporting the death penalty and mercy/ethic of care and t...
Network prediction in a policy-based IP network

In a quality of service (QoS) enabled network, the Internet service providers (ISPs) need to define the network requirements for the customers by defining a set of policies. Every time a new customer gets added or removed or when a customer's resource requirements change, the administrator needs to modify the policies installed on the routers/servers in the network. However, these modifications will affect the traffic flowing in the network and in turn might take away some of the existing customers' resources. Therefore, there is a need to predict how changing the policies will affect the performance of the existing traffic flows in the network. We present a mechanism for predicting whether adding, removing or changing a policy will degrade the performance of the traffic flows belonging to the previous customers. The network administrator can use this information to decide whether such modifications to the policies are desired.
Mobile radio slotted ALOHA with capture, diversity and retransmission control in the presence of shadowing

In this paper, the capture performance of a random access scheme in the presence of Rayleigh fading, shadowing and diversity is studied. The conditional throughput C_n, i.e., the average number of packets which are correctly received per slot, given the number of colliding packets, n, is computed, as well as its limit as n\to\infty. Some different diversity schemes are compared. Also, retransmission control is considered as a means to enhance the system performance. The stability of the controlled system is directly proved. Finally, the effect of long-term attenuations on the system performance and stability is discussed.
The Role of the Ex-PRESS Glaucoma Filtration Device in Glaucoma Surgery

The Ex-PRESS glaucoma filtration device is a safe and effective alternative to standard trabeculectomy in the surgical management of glaucoma patients. This latest modification of glaucoma filtration surgery has been shown to be equally efficacious to trabeculectomy in lowering intraocular pressure. With its unique features of small incision surgery, consistent lumen size with more uniform filtration, and no tissue removal, this technique has been shown to reduce both intraoperative and postoperative complications. This review updates clinical outcomes of this new variation of glaucoma filtration surgery and its current role in the glaucoma surgical armamentarium.
A case report of rampant dental caries at eleven months of age

Introduction R AMPANT dental caries is rare during infancy; a review of the literature revealed that no such eases have been reported. Rapid decay of teeth at, such an early age should be detected early so that measures to prevent or control caries may be instituted during the incipient stage. The pediatrician would be the first person to recognize this condition; therefore, close attention of the pediatrician to the examination of t,he oral cavity, and early referral to the pedodontist are essential. A case report is presented that illustrates the severity of dental caries, which, though detected at, an early age, had progressed so rapidly and so far t,hat irreparable damage had occurred before the infant was referred to a pedodontist. Case Report
Susceptibility of the bedbug, Cimex lectularius, to selected insecticides and various treated surfaces

Adult bedbugs, Cimex lectularius, were exposed for 24 h (25 degrees C) to filter paper treated with various dilutions of the technical grade of nine insecticides dissolved in acetone to determine the concentration-response relationships. The order of toxicity, from most to least based on the LC50's was: dichlorvos, pirimiphos methyl, lambda-cyhalothrin, bendiocarb, permethrin, malathion, carbaryl, tetrachlorvinphos, and fenvalerate. The residual toxicities of commercial formulations of six of the chemicals diluted with water and applied to wood, cardboard, cloth and galvanized metal, were determined by exposing adult bedbugs at 3, 7 and 12 weeks after treatment. The formulation of bendiocarb (FICAM 76% W) had little residual activity on all surfaces at 12 weeks after treatment. The formulation of carbaryl (SEVIN 21.5% L) was toxic to bedbugs on all surfaces at 12 weeks after treatment, but required high concentrations on wood, cardboard, and cloth. The formulation of pirimiphos methyl (ACTELLIC 57% EC) had no residual activity on any of the surfaces at 12 weeks after treatment. The formulation of tetrachlorovinphos (RABON 50% W) had residual activity for 12 weeks on all surfaces except metal. The formulation of permethrin (ATROBAN 11% EC) had residual activity on only metal and wood while the formulation of lambda-cyhalothrin (KARATE 13.1% EC) had residual activity 12 weeks on all surfaces.
Which Connected Spatial Networks on Random Points have Linear Route-Lengths?

In a model of a connected network on random points in the plane, one expects that the mean length of the shortest route between vertices at distance r apart should grow only as O(r) as r!1, but this is not always easy to verify. We give a general sucient condition for such linearity, in the setting of a Poisson point process. In a L L square, dene a subnetwork GL to have the edges which are present regardless of the conguration
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of human platelet profilin complexed with an oligo proline peptide

Profilin is an actin-monomer binding protein that regulates the distribution and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. Profilin binds poly-l-proline and proline-rich peptides in vitro and co-localizes with proline-rich proteins in focal adhesions and at the site of actin tail assembly on the surface of intracellular parasites such as Listeria monocytogenes. The crystallization of the complex between human platelet profilin (HPP) and an l-proline decamer [(Pro)10] is reported here. Diffraction from these crystals is consistent with the space group P21212 with unit-cell constants a = 68.25, b = 97.64, c = 39.10 A. The crystals contain two HPP molecules per asymmetric unit and diffract to 2.2 A.
Calibration of linearly polarized polarimetric SAR data subject to Faraday rotation

A model for linearly polarized fully polarimetric backscatter measurements is used, incorporating the effects of system noise, channel amplitude, phase imbalance, crosstalk, and Faraday rotation. A step-by-step procedure is outlined for correction (or calibration) of fully polarimetric data subject to Faraday rotation, to recover the true scattering matrix. The procedure identifies steps for crosstalk removal and correction of channel imbalances that are robust in the presence of Faraday rotation. The final steps in the procedure involve a novel strategy for estimation and correction of Faraday rotation. Three approaches to estimate the (one-way) Faraday rotation angle /spl Omega/ directly from linear (quad-) polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter data obtained by a spaceborne SAR system are described. Each approach can initially be applied to the signature of any scatterer within the scene. Sensitivity analyses are presented that show that at least one of the measures can be used to estimate /spl Omega/ to within /spl plusmn/3/spl deg/ to 5/spl deg/, with reasonable levels of residual crosstalk, noise floor, channel amplitude, and phase imbalance. Ambiguities may be present in the estimates of /spl Omega/ of /spl plusmn/n/spl pi//2 - the impact of this is discussed, and several approaches are suggested to deal with this possibility. The approach described in this paper is relevant for future L-band spaceborne SARs and removes one key obstacle to the deployment of even longer wavelength SARs (e.g., an ultrahigh frequency or P-band SAR) in Earth orbit.
ConFind: a robust tool for conserved sequence identification

Summary: ConFind (conserved region finder) identifies regions of conservation in multiple sequence alignments that can serve as diagnostic targets. Designed to work with a large number of closely related, highly variable sequences, ConFind provides robust handling of alignments containing partial sequences and ambiguous characters. Conserved regions are defined in terms of minimum region length, maximum informational entropy (variability) per position, number of exceptions allowed to the maximum entropy criterion and the minimum number of sequences that must contain a non-ambiguous character at a position to be considered for inclusion in a conserved region. Comparison of the calculated entropy for an alignment of 95 influenza A hemagglutinin sequences with random deletions results in a 98% reduction in the average error in ConFind relative to the 'Find Conserved Regions' option in BioEdit. Requirements: ConFind requires Python 2.3, but Python 2.4 or an upgrade of the optparse module to Optik 1.5 is suggested. The program is known to run under Linux and DOS. Availability: ConFind is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Source code, documentation, and a precompiled DOS executable are available for download at http://www.colorado.edu/chemistry/RGHP/software/ Contact: rowlen@colorado.edu
The development of interfirm partnering competence: Platforms for learning, learning activities, and consequences of learning

This study investigated factors within the firm that encourage organizational learning activities. The authors suggest that when the appropriate factors are present, the firm will more likely engage in learning activities integral in the development of interfirm partnering competence. The conditions for building partnering competence are found in the firm’s culture and climate in the form of learning intent, receptivity, and transparency. In addition, the authors suggested that learning-related activities would generate some positive influence on specific interfirm relationships (IFRs). The authors tested these ideas on data from a multiindustry mail survey. Results largely conformed to expectations. The platform variables, for the most part, enhanced learning activities in building partnering competence. In turn, learning activities focused on partnering competence led to more effective and efficient IFRs and greater commitment in the relationship. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Soil phosphorus dynamics: agronomic and environmental impacts

Abstract Phosphorus (P) related eutrophication of surface water is of increasing concern in many areas of the U.S. This concern has arisen where inputs of P in fertilizer and manure to agricultural systems have exceeded output in harvested crops for several years. As the loss of P in surface (r2 0.85 to 0.96) and subsurface drainage (r2 0.86) have been shown to be related to soil P content, measures to minimize nonpoint source losses of agricultural P are most effective when implemented at the source. To achieve this, identification of soils and management systems vulnerable to P loss and an understanding of the main factors controlling soil P bioavailability is essential. Soil P bioavailability is determined by reaction with hydrous oxides, amorphous and crystalline complexes of Al, Fe and Ca, and organic matter. The rate and extent of these reactions is influenced by soil management and drainage. In wetlands for example, Fe redox dominates P solubility, while organic P mineralization can contribute up to 25 kg P ha−1 yr−1 in temperate mineral soils and up to 160 kg P ha−1 t yr−1 in organic soils. However, it is critical that we are able to reliably determine threshold soil P values at which agronomic issues become environmental concerns. Agronomic soil P tests may target problem soils on which environmental soil tests will assess P bioavailability and P sorption capacity. Clearly, soil P dynamics are of agronomic and environmental importance, influencing both crop productivity and eutrophication and thus, must be considered in developing effective management plans.
Inflammation and Progressive Nephropathy in Type 1 Diabetes in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial

OBJECTIVE —Progressive nephropathy represents a substantial source of morbidity and mortality in type 1 diabetes. Increasing albuminuria is a strong predictor of progressive renal dysfunction and heightened cardiovascular risk. Early albuminuria probably reflects vascular endothelial dysfunction, which may be mediated in part by chronic inflammation. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —We measured baseline levels of four inflammatory biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 [sICAM-1], soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and soluble tumor necrosis factor-α receptor-1) in stored blood samples from the 1,441 participants of the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial (DCCT). We used mixed-effects regression models to determine the average annual change in urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) by tertiles of each biomarker. We also used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the relative risk of incident sustained microalbuminuria according to levels of each biomarker. RESULTS —After adjustment for baseline age, sex, duration of diabetes, A1C, and randomized treatment assignment, we observed a significantly higher 5.9 μg · min −1 · year −1 increase in AER among those in the highest compared with the lowest tertile of baseline sICAM-1 ( P = 0.04). Those in the highest tertile of sICAM-1 had an adjusted relative risk of 1.67 (95% CI 0.96–2.92) of developing incident sustained microalbuminuria ( P trend = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS —Higher baseline sICAM-1 levels predicted an increased risk of progressive nephropathy in type 1 diabetes and may represent an early risk marker that reflects the important role of vascular endothelial dysfunction in this long-term complication.
An evaluation of screening methods for cerebrospinal fluid glucose

Summary One hundred and nineteen CSF samples were screened for glucose by pediatric house officers by the 5 tube test (Benedict's) using measured quantities of CSF, and by dipstick designed originally for urine glucose. Dipstick readings of moderate or greater and color change in 3 or more tubes in the 5 tube test were similarly specific in identifying normal values. Color change in two or fewer tubes in the 5 tube test or a dipstick reading of light or less identified low glucose readings. Both screens incorrectly identified many normal values as low, compromising their value as screens. This overidentification of low readings was more marked for the dipstick than the 5 tube test. A combination of the two tests was found to be reasonably satisfactory in screening for low CSF glucose, but a more accurate screen is highly desirable.
Formation of Deprotected Fuzzy Blobs in Chemically Amplified Resists

The requirement of nanometer dimensional control in photolithographic patterning underlies the future of emerging technologies, including next-generation semiconductors, nanofluids, photonics, and microelectromechanical systems. For chemically amplified resists, dimensional control is mediated by the diffusion and reaction of photogenerated acids within a polymer-based photoresist matrix. The complex nature of the combined processes of reaction and diffusion prohibit the routine measurement of this phenomenon. Using small-angle neutron scattering, we have measured the form of the diffusion–reaction path of a photogenerated acid within a model photoresist matrix with a labeled protection group on the polymer side group. During the deprotection reaction, changes in the scattering form factor result from the shape and form of the deprotected regions. The individual volumes or blobs of reacted material are diffuse, with a fuzzy boundary between the reacted and unreacted regions. The impact of these results on the pattern quality is also discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3063–3069, 2004
Upgraded alignment control for the DIII-D Thomson scattering laser system

The Thomson scattering system measures electron density and temperature with the aid of eight pulsed Nd:YAG lasers on the DIII-D tokamak. DIII-D is the United States National Fusion Facility for magnetic confinement fusion experiments. The Thomson system probes the tokamak in three separate regions. The measurements from the different regions produce density and temperature profiles during plasma discharges. The laser light must be aimed through the DIII-D vessel with 1 mm of spatial accuracy to produce correct density profiles. Recent upgrades to the alignment system reduce the effort required to perform the initial alignment before plasma operations, and improve the monitoring and control of the alignment. The upgraded hardware allows for monitoring and control of the alignment from the Thomson control room during operations and from multiple key locations along the 35 m long optical path. In future upgrades the adjustment of the mirrors will be automated by utilizing feedback from a computerized beam analysis system that relays beam position information to the control computer. The newly established methods for setting up the YAG beams using the CCD cameras instead of burn paper offer a faster and more reliable method to prepare the system for plasma-operations. The YAG lasers are aimed with repeatable accuracy and any drifts can be detected and corrected during the small warm up period before each shot.
Adult Human Olfactory Epithelial-Derived Progenitors: A Potential Autologous Source for Cell-Based Treatment for Parkinson's Disease

Human adult olfactory epithelial-derived neural progenitors (hONPs) can differentiate along several neural lineages in response to morphogenic signals in vitro. A previous study optimized the transfection paradigm for the differentiation of hONPs to dopaminergic neurons. This study engrafted cells modified by the most efficient transfection paradigm for dopaminergic neural restriction and pretransfected controls into a unilateral neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine-induced parkinsonian rat model. Approximately 35% of the animals engrafted with hONPs had improved behavioral recovery as demonstrated by the amphetamine-induced rotation test, as well as a corner preference and cylinder paw preference, over a period of 24 weeks. The pre- and post-transfected groups produced equivalent responses, indicating that the toxic host environment supported hONP dopaminergic differentiation in situ. Human fibroblasts used as a cellular control did not diminish the parkinsonian rotational deficits at any point during the study. Increased numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cells were detected in the engrafted brains compared with the fibroblast-implanted and medium-only controls. Engrafted TH-positive hONPs were detected for a minimum of 6 months in vivo; they were multipolar, had long processes, and migrated beyond their initial injection sites. Higher dopamine levels were detected in the striatum of behaviorally improved animals than in equivalent regions of their nonrecovered counterparts. Throughout these experiments, no evidence of tumorigenicity was observed. These results support our hypothesis that human adult olfactory epithelial-derived progenitors represent a unique autologous cell type with promising potential for future use in a cell-based therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease.
Space weather research: a major application of imagery and data fusion

Space weather research involves the study of the Sun and Earth from a systems viewpoint to improve the understanding and prediction of solar-terrestrial variability. There are a wide variety of solar-terrestrial imagery, spectroscopic measurements, and in situ space environmental data that can be exploited to improve our knowledge and understanding of the phenomena and processes involved in space weather.
The Role of Endoscopic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis and Management of Pancreatic Cancer

EUS with FNA is highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. However, in certain situations, such as in patients with chronic pancreatitis, this high sensitivity and specificity can significantly diminish. The use of new technology, such as EUS elastography, CE-EUS, and gene mutations detection in FNA specimens, can help to differentiate chronic pancreatitis from pancreatic cancer. EUS has evolved from a diagnostic procedure to a therapeutic intervention in pancreatic cancer. EUS-guided fiducial insertion and EUS-guided delivery of antitumor agents, in addition to celiac plexus neurolysis, are the main therapeutic applications of EUS in pancreatic cancer.
The EZ diffusion method: too EZ?

The diffusion model (Ratcliff, 1978) for fast two-choice decisions has been successful in a number of domains. Wagenmakers, van der Maas, and Grasman (2007) proposed a new method for fitting the model to data (“EZ”) that is simpler than the standard chisquare method (Ratcliff & Tuerlinckx, 2002). For an experimental condition, EZ can estimate parameter values for the main components of processing using only correct response times (RTs), their variance, and accuracy, not error RTs or the shapes of RT distributions. Wagenmakers et al. suggested that EZ produces accurate parameter estimates in cases in which the chi-square method would fail-specifically, experimental conditions with small numbers of observations or with accuracy near ceiling. In this article, I counter these claims and discuss EZ’s limitations. Unlike the chi-square method, EZ is extremely sensitive to outlier RTs and is usually less efficient in recovering parameter values, and it can lead to errors in interpretation when the data do not meet its assumptions, when the number of observations in an experimental condition is small, or when accuracy in an experimental condition is high. The conclusion is that EZ can be useful in the exploration of parameter spaces, but it should not be used for meaningful estimates of parameter values or for assessing whether or not a model fits data.
LAD Estimation with Applications in Time Series Analysis

In this article, we are concerned with least absolute deviation (LAD) estimation applied to linear regression and linear time series models. LAD estimation is widely used in statistical modeling and analysis. Compared to classical least squares (LS), LAD is a robust estimation procedure and is typically more efficient when handling heavy-tailed data. We provide a selective overview on its developments in linear regression and time series models. This overview includes a description of a basic method for establishing the asymptotic properties of the LAD estimator for finite variance autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models. Efficiency of LAD estimation relative to LS estimation as well as computational issues are also discussed. Keywords: ARMA process; asymptotic normality; consistency; LAD estimation; regression; robust estimation; time series
Connecting the Dots with Landmarks: Discriminatively Learning Domain-Invariant Features for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation

Learning domain-invariant features is of vital importance to unsupervised domain adaptation, where classifiers trained on the source domain need to be adapted to a different target domain for which no labeled examples are available. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for learning such features. The central idea is to exploit the existence of landmarks, which are a subset of labeled data instances in the source domain that are distributed most similarly to the target domain. Our approach automatically discovers the landmarks and use them to bridge the source to the target by constructing provably easier auxiliary domain adaptation tasks. The solutions of those auxiliary tasks form the basis to compose invariant features for the original task. We show how this composition can be optimized discriminatively without requiring labels from the target domain. We validate the method on standard benchmark datasets for visual object recognition and sentiment analysis of text. Empirical results show the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art significantly.
Sustainability guidelines and forest market response: an assessment of European Union pellet demand in the southeastern United States

Woody biomass from the southeast United States is expected to play an important role in meeting European Union renewable energy targets. In crafting policies to guide bioenergy development and in guiding investment decisions to meet established policy goals, a firm understanding of the interaction between policy targets and forest biomass markets is necessary, as is the effect that this interaction will have on environmental and economic objectives. This analysis increases our understanding of these interactions by modeling the response of southern US forest markets to new pellet demand in the presence of sustainability sourcing or harvest criteria. We first assess the influence of EU recommended sustainability guidelines on the forest inventory available to supply EU markets, and then model changes in forest composition and extent in response to expected increases in pellet demand. Next, we assess how sustainability guidelines can influence the evolution of forest markets in the region, paying particular attention to changes in land use and forest carbon. Regardless of whether sustainability guidelines are applied, we find increased removals, an increase in forest area, and little change in forest inventory. We also find annual gains in forest carbon in most years of the analysis. The incremental effect of sustainability guideline application on forest carbon and pellet greenhouse gas (GHG) balance is difficult to discern, but results suggest that guidelines could be steering production away from sensitive forest types inherently less responsive to changing market conditions. Pellet GHG balance shows significant annual change and is attributable to the complexity of the underlying forest landscape. The manner by which GHG balance is tracked is thus a critical policy decision, reinforcing the importance and relevance of current efforts to develop approaches to accurately account for the GHG implications of biomass use both in the United States and European Union.
Using neural networks and genetic algorithms to enhance performance in an electronic nose

Sensitivity, repeatability, and discernment are three major issues in any classification problem. In this study, an electronic nose with an array of 32 sensors was used to classify a range of odorous substances. The collective time response of the sensor array was first partitioned into four time segments, using four smooth time windowing functions. The dimension of the data associated with each time segment as then reduced by applying the Karhunen-Loeve (truncated) expansion (KLE). An ensemble of the reduced data patterns was then used to train a neural network (NN) using the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) learning method. A genetic algorithm (GA)-based evolutionary computation method was used to devise the appropriate NN training parameters, as well as the effective database partitions/features. Finally, it was shown that a GA supervised NN system (GANN) outperforms the NN-only classifier, for the classes of the odorants investigated in this study (fragrances, hog farm air, and soft beverages).
On presuppositions and (non)coreference

The central objective of this paper is to explore some as yet to be understood aspects of the status and character of Bare Output Conditions, those conditions which, in Chomsky’s Minimalist framework, are assumed to be imposed from the ‘outside’ by cognitive systems that use information from the computational (syntactic) component. I argue for a more articulated theory of the syntax-semantics interface, one which recognizes the ability of BOCs such as referential disjointness conditions to make reference to semantic information from two distinct sources, one of which uses lexically encoded material known as conventional implicature or semantic presupposition. This hypothesis accounts for why lexical elements such as even, only, emphatic anaphors, etc. seem to allow the nominal elements which they focus to freely violate the well-known disjointness requirements known as Condition B, Condition C and Weak Crossover. It also leads to the conclusion that Condition A is not a BOC and that proposals which attempt to derive its effects from movement constraints internal to the computational system are probably on the right track.
Condom skills education and sexually transmitted disease reinfection

A condom skills educational program emphasizing how to use a condom was presented to groups of patients waiting to be seen in a public health sexually transmitted disease clinic. Compared to controls, patients exposed to the intervention were approximately half as likely to return within the subsequent 12 months with a new sexually transmitted disease. Other predictors of reinfection included previous infection and age less than 25.
The Wait is Over: Chevron as the Stealth Vermont Yankee II

This comment responds to articles by Professors Beerman and Lawson and by Professor Pierce that discuss the continuing relevance of Vermont Yankee as a technique to rein in substantive and procedural review of the agency rulemaking process. I suggest that proper case to exercise restraint is no longer Vermont Yankee but Chevron itself which should be applied to modify the hard look dimensions of State Farm. In making this connection I emphasize the significance of the Congressional Review Act and raise concerns that the agency reasoning process is increasingly being performed by consultants.
Measurement of body water by multifrequency bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy in a multiethnic pediatric population

Background: Bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) may provide a noninvasive, rapid method for the assessment of total body water (TBW), extracellular water (ECW), and intracellular water (ICW). Few studies, however, have examined the accuracy of BIS in pediatric populations. Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy ol BIS for the measurement of TBW, ECW, and ICW in healthy children. Design: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), total body potassium (TBK), and BIS measurements were performed in 347 children (202 males and 145 females aged 4-18 y). The reference values for TBW, ECW, and ICW were defined by using a DXA+TBK model. BIS values were evaluated by using the method of Bland and Altman. A randomly selected calibration group (n = 231) was used to derive new BIS constants that were tested in the remaining group (n = 116). Results: BIS values were highly correlated with the reference values (r 2 = 0.94-0.97, P < 0.0001), but differences between the BIS and DXA+TBK models for individuals were significant (P < 0.001). Use of new BIS constants reduced the mean differences between the BIS and DXA+TBK models; the SDs of the mean differences were improved (1.8 L for TBW, 1.4 L for ICW and 1.0 L for ECW) for the total population. Conclusions: On a population basis, BIS can be calibrated to replace the DXA+TBK model for the assessment of TBW, ECW and ICW in healthy children. The accuracy of the BIS measure ment in individual children may be refined further by using age-and sex-specific adjustments for the BIS calibration constants.
Lump-Sum Distributions

This paper focuses on the decisions that workers make upon receipt of a lump-sum payment from an employment-based retirement plan: rolling the account balance over to another tax-qualified savings vehicle, spending the assets, or investing the assets in another manner. The number and amounts of lump-sum distributions are estimated, followed by a discussion of what individuals are doing with these distributions and analysis of important determinants of the decision to roll over the distribution versus using the assets for other reasons. These results are derived from recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau - the Pension and Retirement Plan Coverage Topical Module 7 of the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) - which includes lump-sum data for individuals through 2003. This paper updates prior studies on lump-sum distributions done by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Effect of Functional Group Topology of Carbon Nanotubes on Electrophoretic Alignment and Properties of Deposited Layer

Thin films of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have several interesting properties including the ability to transport ions, electrons, and thermal energy. The current study employed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to determine the effect of varying functionalization topologies of CNTs on their deposition characteristics under applied electric fields of varying strength. The results indicate that the dynamics of CNT alignment along the direction of applied electric field is relatively faster and smoother in case of pristine CNTs compared to that of functionalized CNTs. Considering CNTs of identical length, pristine CNTs are aligned the closest to the direction of the electric field followed by side-functionalized and end-functionalized CNTs with the total alignment time being roughly similar. With increase in the strength of electric field, E, total alignment time decreases and is inversely proportional to E2. The final alignment angle (θ∞) and extent of oscillatory response in the case of side- and end...
Trade Barriers in Central Europe

THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN economic policy of the years I919-39 may be considered to be a major cause of the downfall of Europe. It was not in itself the main reason for the evolution of Naziism and for the subsequent disaster: the forces underlying the development of these political ideas were not economic ones. But Naziism could not have won its victories if the small nations had not been worn down by the economic depression, and the depression might have been checked in time if economic cooperation had been a reality rather than a slogan. The characteristic feature of Central European economics was the disruption of the economic unit which had been the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. Its political dismemberment was probably inevitable since the empire was unable to satisfy the non-economic needs of its population. But the new governments failed to solve the economic problems which emerged after the political freedom had been achieved. The monarchy had been an almost self-sufficient unit, depending on the exchange of the Western industrial and Eastern agricultural products. The trade between the socalled states of succession was, for all economic purposes, to be treated' as domestic rather than as foreign: for instance, Austria exported as late as I93I, in spite of all the new trade barriers, about 25 per cent of her total output and 45 per cent of her industrial production. However, the new rulers insisted on an autarchistic policy as if economic interdependence had been a threat to political freedom. There were many reasons for this attitude. First, the nationalism of the liberated races who hated their old enemies, their neighbors, more than they loved their own well-being: they paid gladly twice as much for goods provided they were produced by fellow Czechs, Magyars, Austrians, Yugoslavs, Poles, r Roumanians, rather than by the despised Roumanians, Poles, Yugoslavs, Austrians, Magyars, or Czechs, respectively. Secondly, the socialism of the emerging working classes who did not want foreign trade to interfere with their domestic experiments: well-meant but costly achievements in social security had to be protected by excluding the products of cheaper labor from less developed countries, or industrialization was to be promoted by preventing imports from more advanced communities. The conservative farmers who remained comparatively free from nationalistic and socialistic ideas, but insisted on planting wheat in steep mountain valleys and lacked capital for modern equipment, needed protection from foreign competition, too. All parties combined to erect barriers against the outside world while the economists, brought up in the tradition of the Austrian school of economics, talked of the blessings of free trade. These nations were not satisfied with the traditional means of tariffs and subsidies. During the period immediately following the first world war, the governments resorted to super-inflation in order to build up their new machinery. In the resulting monetary chaos, their resources were necessarily concentrated on the task of getting the most urgent food and fuel, and all other imports were sup-
Thermal evaluation of dry-type transformer insulation systems

The concept of accelerated functional testing of insulation materials and systems got great emphasis near the start of the second half of this century. This interest was spurred on when Dr. Dakin1 illustrated that insulation deterioration conformed to the Arrhenius chemical rate equation. The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), recognizing the importance of this concept, organized the working groups to develop test procedures for the thermal evaluation of insulation materials and systems. One such group was the Working Group on Life of Insulating Materials of the AIEE Transformer Committee. This Working Group was assigned the task of developing functional test methods for evaluating the permissible operating temperature of insulating structures in dry-type transformers. A subgroup of this Working Group published a proposed test procedure 2 for trial use in 1956. This test procedure primarily covers high voltage transformers of the core-form type. Most of the work with this procedure was reported prior to the time the test procedure was published.
Understanding Ocular Discomfort and Dryness Using the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire.

Author(s): Li, Wing; Graham, Andrew D; Lin, Meng C | Abstract: PurposeTo utilize the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) to assess the influence of pain sensitivity on perceptions of ocular discomfort and dryness.MethodsSubjects completed a battery of questionnaires, including history of ocular and general health, contact lens wear history, the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, visual analog scale (VAS) 100-point rating scales to assess severity and frequency of average and end of day (EOD) discomfort and dryness, and the PSQ to assess pain sensitivity level. Masked subjects were then instructed to wear one inverted and one normally oriented soft contact lens contralaterally for 30 minutes to induce an inter-eye difference in comfort and dryness sensations. Subjects rated comfort and dryness in each eye on VAS every 5 minutes during contact lens wear. A slit lamp examination was performed to evaluate ocular surface health and to assess contact lens fit.ResultsOne hundred and fifty-three subjects (111 females, 42 males) completed the study. In separate models, a higher PSQ score was significantly associated with higher OSDI score (p = 0.002), lower average and EOD comfort (p = 0.005 and 0.001, respectively), and greater EOD dryness (p = 0.04). The minimum (0.14) and maximum (7.14) PSQ scores observed in our subject cohort (i.e., from the subjects who were the least and most sensitive to pain, respectively) corresponded to an estimated difference of 11 points on the OSDI, 20 points on the VAS scale for average comfort, 31 points for EOD comfort and 17 points for EOD dryness. In a mixed effects model, a higher PSQ score was significantly associated with a greater inter-eye difference in comfort (p = 0.013) and dryness (p = 0.010) during CL wear.ConclusionsPain sensitivity influences perceptions of ocular discomfort and dryness, and should be taken into account when evaluating subjective assessments of these symptoms.
2013 children aged 8-10 Tongling City urinary iodine test results analysis

Objective In order to understand the nutritional status of Tongling City, Anhui Province, 8-10 years old schoolchildren iodine, was to provide a scientific basis for prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders. Methods1 to 3 Tongling County District 400 school-age children 8-10 years old collected urine, according to WS/T107-2006 method, the sample for testing. Results Tongling City in 2013 schoolchildren aged 8-10 median urinary iodine 273.6μg /L, greater than 100 μg /L for 377, accounting for 94.25 %; urinary iodine differences between age and gender were not statistically significant.Conclusions Urinary iodine status of school-age children 8-10 years old in Tongling generally good standard has reached the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders, but some children have high levels of iodine nutrition, there is a risk of excess iodine.
The 9/11 Attacks and U.S. Grand Strategy: The Peril or Prudence of the Bush Doctrine

September 11, 2001, transformed the consciousness of this generation of Americans, just as December 7, 1941, did for what became the World War II generation. The attacks homicide bombers perpetrated on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon shattered the illusions of the 1990s: that the collapse of the Soviet Union spelled the end of history, with democracy irrevocably triumphant and catastrophic wars a relic of the past. Instead, Americans rudely discovered that the United States faced another existential threat to its freedom, reminiscent of the threats fascism and communism posed during the twentieth century.
Readmissions for Heart Failure in Children.

Objective To assess the frequency of inpatient 30-day readmission for heart failure in children with cardiomyopathy discharged after an admission for heart failure and the impact of discharge pharmacotherapy on readmissions. Study design The Pediatric Health Information System Database was queried for patients ≤18 years of age with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code for heart failure (428.xx) or cardiomyopathy (425.xx) discharged from 2004 to 2013. Patients were excluded if they had congenital heart disease, expired on the initial admission, or underwent cardiac surgery. Patient admission characteristics were documented and discharge medications were captured. Frequency of 30-day readmission for heart failure was identified, and mixed effects multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors significant for readmission. Results A total of 2386 patients met study criteria (52.1% male, median age 8.1 years [IQR 1.2-14.6 years]). Vasoactive medications were used in 70.3% of patients on initial admission, the most common of which was milrinone (62.8%). Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers were given at discharge to 67.4% and 35.9%, respectively. Frequency of 30-day readmission for heart failure was 12.9%. Duration of milrinone or beta-blocker use at discharge and institutional heart failure patient volume were associated with a greater odds of 30-day readmission, whereas mechanical ventilation on initial admission was associated with decreased odds of readmission. Conclusions Pediatric patients with cardiomyopathy and heart failure have a high frequency of heart failure-related 30-day readmission. Outpatient pharmacotherapy at discharge does not appear to influence readmission.
Session-to-Session Transfer in Detecting Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials with Individual Training Data

The information transfer rate ITR of steady-state visual evoked potential SSVEP-based brain-computer interfaces BCIs has been significantly improved in the past few years. Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of advanced signal processing methods, which incorporate preliminarily recorded individual training data in SSVEP detection. However, conducting experiments for collecting training data from each individual is cumbersome because it is time-consuming and may cause visual fatigue. To simplify the training procedure, this study employs a session-to-session transfer method, which uses transfer templates obtained from datasets collected from the same subjects on a different day. The proposed approach was evaluated with a 40-class SSVEP dataset from eight subjects, each participated in two sessions on two different days. Study results showed that the proposed transfer method achieved significantly higher performance than conventional method based on canonical correlation analysis CCA. In addition, by employing online adaptation, the proposed method reached high performance that is comparable with the most efficient approach in previous studies. These results indicate the feasibility of a high-performance SSVEP-based BCI with no or little training.
Live demonstration: FPAA Demonstration Controlled through Android-Based Device

This document describes the live demonstration of FPAA Demonstration Controlled through Android-Based Device1. This demonstration requires no additional resources other than the basic resources (power plug, a table and pin wall) to be provided to each demonstration 2. The demonstration will use a Google Nexus 7 tablet and a RASP 3.0 board (most likely multiple boards), which the authors will transport. The demonstration application to interface with the board runs on the tablet, as well as laptops, to show the relevant design tools to interested users. This application could be downloaded to individual devices (our long term plan), although it is harder to predict if these options will be ready during the demonstration.
Food Security Status is Related to Mental Health Quality of Life Among Persons Living with HIV.

This study evaluated the association between health related quality of life and food security among persons living with HIV (PLHIV). We studied 167 PLHIV who completed questionnaires assessing food security, disease symptomatology, and several domains of the SF-36 health related quality of life survey. HIV disease state was assessed from medical records. Associations between independent and outcome variables were determined through linear regression models. Compared to food security, very low food security was significantly associated with lower mental component summary scores, [average difference −4.98 (95 % CI −9.85, −0.10)]; mental health, [average difference −5.44 (95 % CI −10.08, −0.81)]; and general health, [average difference −5.13 (95 % CI −9.65, −0.65)] after adjusting for covariates. About a fourth of participants experienced severe food insecurity, which negatively influenced their mental health and general wellbeing. The inclusion of resources for food assistance in HIV treatment programs may help ameliorate mental health challenges faced by PLHIV.