cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mathematical Model for Closed Head Impact

In order to understand better the head injury mechanism and to clarify the unsettled question as to whether the shear strain or the reduced pressure is the primary injury etiology during a given impact, a realistic model should be devised. The approach to such a realistic but complicated boundary value problem in biomechanics is achieved through the application of the finite element method. By use of the finite element displacement formulation the human head is modeled as a viscoelastic core bonded to a thin viscoelastic shell, which simulates the brain and the skull, respectively. For purpose of comparison, two configurations - a spherical shape and a prolate ellipsoid - have been used to describe the geometry of the human head. By applying an impact load over a small area of the shell, the head injury mechanisms-such as cavitation, caused by excessive tensile stress, and rotation, produced by large shear strain - along with their possible damage locations, are simulated. Linear viscoelastic properties are assumed for both the core material and the shell. The equations of motion for the problem are in the form of second-order matrix differential equations. Solutions are obtained through the matrix iterative method.
Simulating Language Change in the Presence of Non-Idealized Syntax

Both Middle English and Old French had a syntactic property called verb-second or V2 that disappeared. In this paper describes a simulation being developed to shed light on the question of why V2 is stable in some languages, but not others. The simulation, based on a Markov chain, uses fuzzy grammars where speakers can use an arbitrary mixture of idealized grammars. Thus, it can mimic the variable syntax observed in Middle English manuscripts. The simulation supports the hypotheses that children use the topic of a sentence for word order acquisition, that acquisition takes into account the ambiguity of grammatical information available from sample sentences, and that speakers prefer to speak with more regularity than they observe in the primary linguistic data.
Livability of Purebred vs. Crossbred Dairy Cattle

Summary The data for this study were obtained from the Illinois Dairy Cattle Crossbreeding Project. Only those causes of death were included in the analysis which were considered to reflect on the viability, or to show a possible sign of weakness of a breed group. Deaths due to ingesting hardware and poisoning were excluded. Significant differences in livability between the purebreds and the crossbreds or ¾-breds were found in first-generation heifers from birth to 1 yr. of age and cows over all lactations, and in second-generation heifers from birth to 1 yr. of age and from birth to calving age. In each of these cases, over twice as many purebreds were lost from the herds as crossbreds or criss-crosses. The over-all death losses in both generations were 32.7% for purebreds and 13.4% for the crossbreds and ¾-breds. The mean milk production of the live vs. dead cows in each breed group of the first generation was analyzed by the method of least squares. A small and nonsignificant difference was found between the production of the live and dead animals when considered over all animals regardless of breed, by breed of sire, by breed of dam, or by system of mating (purebreeding vs. crossbreeding). This indicates that there is little genetic relationship between livability and productive level and emphasizes the importance of improving the livability characteristics of dairy animals, so that more discretion can be exercised by the dairyman in culling cows. Most studies have indicated only a small or no influence of additive genetic variation on livability characteristics and, therefore, little chance of improving these characteristics by mass selection. However, this study indicates a considerable influence of nonadditive genetic factors, or heterosis, on livability and that crossbreeding dairy cattle may provide a means for immediate and marked improvement.
A simple purification procedure for monomerlc nucleosomes

Abstract The soluble chromatin fragments from nuclei of avian erythrocytes digested with micrococcal nuclease were fractionated by the addition of sodium phosphate to 0.1 m . The supernatant consisted predominantly of monomeric nucleosomes, while most dimeric and larger nucleosomes precipitated. A variable percentage of monomers also precipitated, the exact amount depending upon the extent of digestion. The solubility properties can be used for the simple preparation of fractions that are highly enriched for monomers either containing, or deplete in, lysine-rich histone.
Alcohol Use and Sexual Risk Behavior among College Students: Understanding Gender and Ethnic Differences

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to assess the role of gender and ethnicity in the relationship between alcohol use and risky sexual behavior. Method: Sexually active college students (n = 425) reported on alcohol expectancies, perceived risk of HIV, and drinking and sexual behavior in the context of a larger health behavior survey. Results: Approximately one-third of participants reported binge drinking 3 or more times in the past two weeks. African-American women reported less drinking and less positive alcohol expectancies than other women. Older men engaged more often than younger men in binge drinking and reported more sexual partners in the past year. Younger age and greater perceived risk for HIV were positively associated with condom use for both women and men. Conclusion: Collectively, these findings suggest that alcohol abuse and HIV prevention efforts among young adults need to consider gender, ethnicity, and age.
CARBURIZATION OF NIOBIUM- AND TANTALUM-BASE ALLOYS.

Abstract A technique has been developed for carburizing niobium- and tantalum-base alloys by exposure to a gaseous benzene-hydrogen mixture. The quantity and distribution of carbon absorbed by the specimen can be controlled by varying the composition of the gas mixture and the temperature of the part to be carburized. Several specimens of Nb-1%Zr and T-III alloys were carburized and tested in creep rupture to demonstrate the strengthening effect of the carbon.
An introduction to the ASPAN obstructive sleep apnea in the adult patient evidence-based practice recommendation.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY of PeriAnesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) is committed to providing resources that enable perianesthesia nurses to implement evidence-based practice (EBP). The journey to provide relevant and timely EBP resources is under continued evaluation and revision. The provision of EBP resources for the perianesthesia nurse has been multifaceted, including clinical practice guidelines and the addition of empirical evidence, references, and practice recommendations (PRs) in the Perianesthesia Nursing Standards &Guidelines (S&G). Biannually, the S&G Strategic Work Team (SWT) completes an exhaustive review and revision of the existing S&G document, demonstrating the power of the combined ASPAN work groups: the S&G SWT, EBP SWT, and the Clinical Practice and Research Committees. This review process begins with a critical appraisal of the existing S&G document and analysis of the clinical practice questions that have been received nationally and internationally. Clinical practice questions regarding perianesthesia practice issues demand EBP guidance, and these questions assist ASPAN with the identification of trends and focal points for future research. A new means of providing evidence to guide bedside perianesthesia care was added to the S&G publication in 2009, in the form of the PR. The Perianesthesia Nursing Standards, PRs, and Interpretive Statements 2012-2014, whichwill include the Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in the
A waterborne behavioral cue for the actinotroch larva of Phoronis pallida (Phoronida) produced by Upogebia pugettensis (Decapoda: Thalassinidea).

Phoronis pallida (Phoronida) occurs as a com- mensal within the burrow of Upogebia pugettensis (Deca- poda: Thalassinidea). Upogebia-conditioned seawater (UCSW) induced an exploratory swimming behavior in competent larvae of P. pallida in a dosage-dependent manner. This behavior included a significant increase in swimming speed that was directed downward, along with the repeated prob- ing of the bottom with the sensory portion of the oral hood. The waterborne cue from the shrimp was present in the gut effluent, and the swimming behavior was not the result of the elevated ammonia concentration. Molecular weight sep- aration of the UCSW estimated that the cue was between 10 and 50 kDa. Enzymatic treatments showed that the cue's activity could be eliminated by arginase and significantly reduced by lipase. Competent larvae were also induced to metamorphose when exposed to 20 mM CsCl for 30 min. Larvae did not respond to CsCl when cultured about 4 weeks past the onset of competence. Compared with acti- notroch larvae of other phoronid species, P. pallida larvae exhibit greater behavioral specificity and neuronal differ- ences within the hood sense organ. These anatomical and behavioral differences may have been maintained through a coevolutionary process among P. pallida and species of thalassinid shrimps that share Upogebia life-history charac- teristics.
Architecting for diversity at the edge: supporting rich network services over an unbundled transport

The end-to-end nature of today's application and transport protocols is increasingly being questioned by the growing heterogeneity of networks and devices, and the emergence of rich in-network services. As a result, performance of end-to-end protocols is often poor and many in-network optimizations are hard to deploy because they do not fit into today's Internet architecture. This thesis takes a clean slate approach towards better accommodating diversity in the Internet architecture. We propose two architectural concepts: i) today's end-to-end transport is unbundled such that network specific functions, like congestion control, are implemented on a per-segment basis, where a segment spans a part of the end-to-end path that can be considered homogeneous (e.g., wired Internet or an access network) and ii) we expose applications' data units and their naming to certain elements within the network, thereby facilitating the deployment of various data oriented and higher level services inside the network. We have designed a network architecture, Tapa, that systematically combines these concepts into a coherent architecture. Tapa uses end-to-end protocols that transfer application data units (ADU) over segments; these segments appear as traditional Internet-like "links" to the end-to-end protocols and can use Internet-style protocols (e.g., TCP/IP-like protocols in the backbone) or custom solutions at the edges. We demonstrate the effectiveness of Tapa by showing how it can support: i) various wireless and mobility optimizations, ii) an in-network energy saving service that can provide up to 2-5x improvement in battery life of mobile devices, iii) improved content distribution in online social networks, and iv) higher level services with new application semantics.
Cocaine-stimulus generalization to two new designer drugs : methcathinone and 4-methylaminorex

Rats were trained to discriminate 8 mg/kg cocaine from saline vehicle for the purpose of examining the stimulus properties of two novel and structurally related drugs of abuse recently confiscated on the illicit market: (+/-)methcathinone and cis(+/-)4-methylaminorex. The stimulus properties of these controlled substance analogs were compared with those of their parent compounds (+/-)cathinone and aminorex, respectively. All agents resulted in cocaine-stimulus generalization with the following rank order of potency: aminorex (ED50 value = 0.8 microM/kg) > methcathinone (1.9 microM/kg) > cathinone (3.7 microM/kg) > 4-methylaminorex (5.2 microM/kg) > cocaine (7.6 microM/kg).
Intensive care unit safety incidents for medical versus surgical patients: A prospective multicenter study

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if patient safety incidents and the system-related factors contributing to them systematically differ for medical versus surgical patients in intensive care units. Materials and Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective study of 646 incidents involving adult medical patients and 707 incidents involving adult surgical patients that were reported to an anonymous patient safety registry over a 2-year period. We compared incident characteristics, patient harm, and associated system factors for medical versus surgical patients. Results: The proportion of safety incidents reported for medical versus surgical patients differed for only 3 of 11 categories: equipment/devices (14% vs 19%; P = .02), bline, tube, or drainQ events (8% vs 13%; P = .001), and computerized physician order entry (13% vs 6%; P V .001). The type of patient harm associated with incidents also did not differ. System factors were similar for medical versus surgical patients, with training and teamwork being the most important factors in both groups. Conclusions: Medical and surgical patients in the intensive care unit experience very similar types of safety incidents with similar associated patient harm and system factors. Common initiatives to improve patient safety for medical and surgical patients should be undertaken with a specific focus on improving training and teamwork among the intensive care team.
The interactive work of prosody in the IRF exchange: Teacher repetition in feedback moves

This article examines the interactive import of prosody from a perspective of participants’ orientation to talk in interaction, taking advantage of data from institutional discourse to focus on the prosodic packaging of recurring turn sequences of the same discourse activity. The analysis focuses on the third slot of a ubiquitous three-part classroom discourse sequence, the IRF exchange (Sinclair & Coulthard 1975), a site in which teachers make repetitive feedback moves following student responses. Examination of more than 25 hours of classroom discourse and more than 300 third-turn teacher feedback types uncovered a systematic use of prosody for these teacher repetitions that coincides with a teacher’s positive assessment of the student response. Further analysis shows that more complex prosodic packaging is used by teachers in their repetitive feedback turns to index other interactive functions. (Prosody, repetition, classroom discourse.)*
Decorrelating wireless sensor network traffic to inhibit traffic analysis attacks

Typical packet traffic in a sensor network reveals pronounced patterns that allow an adversary analyzing packet traffic to deduce the location of a base station. Once discovered, the base station can be destroyed, rendering the entire sensor network inoperative, since a base station is a central point of data collection and hence failure. This paper investigates a suite of decorrelation countermeasures aimed at disguising the location of a base station against traffic analysis attacks. A set of basic countermeasures is described, including hop-by-hop reencryption of the packet to change its appearance, imposition of a uniform packet sending rate, and removal of correlation between a packet's receipt time and its forwarding time. More sophisticated countermeasures are described that introduce randomness into the path taken by a packet. Packets may also fork into multiple fake paths to further confuse an adversary. A technique is introduced to create multiple random areas of high communication activity called hot spots to deceive an adversary as to the true location of the base station. The effectiveness of these countermeasures against traffic analysis attacks is demonstrated analytically and via simulation using three evaluation criteria: total entropy of the network, total overhead/energy consumed, and the ability to frustrate heuristic-based search techniques to locate a base station.
On Preserving Structure in Stereo Seam Carving

The major objective of image retargeting algorithms is to preserve the viewer's perception while adjusting the aspect ratio of an image. This means that an ideal retargeting algorithm has to be able to preserve high-level semantics and avoid generating low-level image distortion. Stereoscopic image retargeting poses a even more challenging problem in that the 3D perception has to be preserved as well. In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on high-order two-view co-labeling to simultaneously retarget a given stereo pair and preserve its 2D as well as 3D quality. Our experimental results qualitatively demonstrate the improved ability of preserving 2D image structures in both views. In addition, we show quantitatively that our algorithm improves upon the state-of-the-art up to 85% in terms of a measurement based on depth distortion.
Cytochrome P-450 as a source of catalytic iron in minimal change nephrotic syndrome in rats.

We have recently demonstrated an important pathogenic role for glomerular catalytic iron in the puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) induced minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS). The source of this ...
A Clinical Approach to Rare Lung Diseases

The National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) defines a rare or orphan disease as a disorder with a prevalence of fewer than 200,000 affected individuals within the United States whereas in Europe, rare diseases are defined as those disorders that affect 1 or fewer individuals per 2,000 persons. Several consortia exist for the compilation of rare lung disorders: the British orphan lung disease (BOLD) registry, the British pediatric orphan lung disease (BPOLD) registry, the French Groupe d’Etudes et de Recherche sur les Maladies Orphelines Pulmonaires (GERM”O”P”) database, and the Rare Lung Disease Consortium (RLDC) in the United States. The National Organization for Rare Diseases (http://www.raredisease.org) is a nongovernmental federation of organizations to assist individuals with rare diseases that seeks to expand recognition and treatment of individuals with these rare illnesses. This chapter presents an approach to pulmonary medicine that aims to go beyond the usual respiratory disorders to examine the evaluation and understanding of rare lung diseases that have provided extraordinary insights into not only lung function in health and disease but also human biology in general. The respiratory history, physical examination, chest imaging, and related studies are reviewed. The emphasis of this chapter is the formulation of a differential diagnosis that encompasses rare noninfectious, nonmalignant lung diseases of adults and is based on the presence or absence of associated signs and symptoms.
A Systematic Prediction of Adverse Drug Reactions Using Pre-clinical Drug Characteristics and Spontaneous Reports

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major global health concern accounting for more than two million injuries, hospitalization and deaths each year in the U.S. Alone. A reduction in both the harm to patients and cost can be archived if at prescription time, effective and accurate methods are available to predict the likelihood for a patient to develop known or potentially new adverse reactions. This can be based on known properties of drugs and patient characteristics. The detection or assessment of potential ADRs is traditionally done during the early stages of drug development. However, despite the methodological rigor of clinical trials, it is generally not possible to identify all ADRs of a drug primarily due to cost and efficiency. The size and characteristics of patient population, drug doses and duration of use, and other realistic variables frequently observed at the post-marketing phase can be impossible to model at the clinical trial phase. Thus, it is important to incorporate information on drugs observed at the post-marketing phase for more accurate identification of ADRs. This work presents a systematic and structured predictive model for ADRs generated from pre-clinical characteristics of drugs and spontaneous reports of ADRs in a distributed high performance computing (HPC) framework. The presented framework improves predictive accuracy by making use of a recent computationally efficient Bayesian graphical ensemble learning technique that incorporates hidden information transferred from distributed heterogeneous spontaneous reporting databases to improve accuracy. Implemented on HPC cloud machines, the graphical ensemble method outperformed other compared methods on a total of 800 known side-effects in terms of AUC and G-mean.
Applications of principal component analysis to pair distribution function data

Developments in X-ray scattering instruments have led to unprecedented access to in situ and parametric X-ray scattering data. Deriving scientific insights and understanding from these large volumes of data has become a rate-limiting step. While formerly a data-limited technique, pair distribution function (PDF) measurement capacity has expanded to the point that the method is rarely limited by access to quantitative data or material characteristics – analysis and interpretation of the data can be a more severe impediment. This paper shows that multivariate analyses offer a broadly applicable and efficient approach to help analyse series of PDF data from high-throughput and in situ experiments. Specifically, principal component analysis is used to separate features from atom–atom pairs that are correlated – changing concentration and/or distance in concert – allowing evaluation of how they vary with material composition, reaction state or environmental variable. Without requiring prior knowledge of the material structure, this can allow the PDF from constituents of a material to be isolated and its structure more readily identified and modelled; it allows one to evaluate reactions or transitions to quantify variations in species concentration and identify intermediate species; and it allows one to identify the length scale and mechanism relevant to structural transformations.
A spore collection apparatus for vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Hetrick, B. A. Daniels, and J. Bloom. 1983. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with native tallgrass prairie and cultivated winter wheat. Canad. J. Bot. 61: 2140-2146. , J. A. Hetrick, and J. Bloom. 1984. Interaction of mycorrhizal infection, phosphorus level, and moisture stress in growth of field corn. Canad. J. Bot. 62: 2267-2271. agules from soil. Pp. 29-37. In: Methods and i ciples of mycorrhizal research. Ed , N. C. e ck. Am. Phytopathol. Soc., St. Paul, Min, D. Gerschefske Kitt, and G. Thompson Wilson. 1986. The influence of phosphorus fertilization, drought, fungal species and soil microorganisms on mycorrhizal growth response in tallgrass prairie plants. Canad. J. Bot. 64: 1199-1203. Ross, J. P. 1980. Effect of nontreated field soil on sporulation of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with soybean. Phytopathology 70: 1200-1205. sc efske Ki t, and G. Thompson Wilson. . e influence of phosphorus fertilization, , fungal species and soil microorganisms rhizal growth response in tallgrass pra rie . a ad. J. Bot. 64: 1 9-1203.
Problems in clinical diagnosis and treatment of thalassemia

Thalassemia is one of the common hereditary hemolytic diseases in China.It is important,under the management of government,to set up a normal and rigorous system on prophylaxis and screening of thalassemia,especially premarital and prenatal examinations to reduce the possibility of omission and misdiagnosis and decrease and minimize the birth of severe thalassemia.It is important to improve the life quality of thalassemia patients,establish a more rational and complete medical care and assurance system and normative therapeutic protocol,under the current framework of medical treatment system.
Electrochemical techniques for subsecond neurotransmitter detection in live rodents.

Alterations in neurotransmission have been implicated in numerous neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Unfortunately, few techniques support the measurement of real-time changes in neurotransmitter levels over multiple days, as is essential for ethologic and pharmacodynamic testing. Microdialysis is commonly used for these research paradigms, but its poor temporal and spatial resolution make this technique inadequate for measuring the rapid dynamics (milliseconds to seconds) of fast signaling neurotransmitters, such as glutamate and acetylcholine. Enzymatic microelectrode arrays (biosensors) coupled with electrochemical recording techniques have demonstrated fast temporal resolution (less than 1 s), excellent spatial resolution (micron-scale), low detection limits (≤200 nM), and minimal damage (50 to 100 µm) to surrounding brain tissue. Here we discuss the benefits, methods, and animal welfare considerations of using platinum microelectrodes on a ceramic substrate for enzyme-based electrochemical recording techniques for real-time in vivo neurotransmitter recordings in both anesthetized and awake, freely moving rodents.
Thermodynamics and historical relevance of a jetting thermometer made of Chinese zisha ceramic

Following a recent trend of scientific studies on artwork, we study here the thermodynamics of a thermometer made of zisha ceramic, related to the Chinese tea culture. The thermometer represents a boy who “urinates” shortly after hot water is poured onto his head. Long jetting distance is said to indicate that the water temperature is hot enough to brew tea. Here, a thermodynamic model describes the jetting phenomenon of that pee-pee boy. The study demonstrates how thermal expansion of an interior air pocket causes jetting. A thermodynamic potential is shown to define maximum jetting velocity. Seven optimization criteria to maximize jetting distance are provided, including two dimensionless numbers. Predicted jetting distances, jet durations, and temperatures agree very well with infrared and optical measurements. Specifically, the study confirms that jetting distances are sensitive enough to measure water temperature in the context of tea brewing. Optimization results show that longer jets are produced by large individuals, with low body mass index, with a boyhood of medium size inclined at an angle π/4. The study ends by considering the possibility that ceramic jetting artifacts like the pee-pee boy might have been the first thermometers known to mankind, before Galileo Galilei’s thermoscope.
Actionable Intelligence Provided by Pancreatic Cancer Genomic Landscape: Are Targets for Curative Therapy On The Map?

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating disease with severely debilitating comorbidities and dismal prognosis. In 2015, the worldwide incidence of new cases was estimated to be 367,000, and approximately 359,000 were expected to die from this disease (1). In the Western world, it is the 4 th leading cause of cancer deaths (1). Overall survival for newly diagnosed PDAC is usually measured in months and while modest improvements have been made in 1-year survival, now estimated at 20% overall; 5-year survival remains less than 10%. Two problems that contribute to this dismal survival are (1) that PDAC is most commonly diagnosed when it is beyond cure by surgical resection and (2) there is a general lack of effective systemic chemotherapy (1).
Ageing: Measuring our narrow strip of life

In line with previous research, a demographic analysis corroborates the presence of a limit to human lifespan, indicating that increases in life expectancy are likely to slow down or stop over the coming years. We often hear that we are living longer. In fact, many of the historical gains in life expectancy are attributable to reductions in early-life mortality, although there is recent evidence for some decline in late-life mortality. In this paper, Jan Vijg and colleagues address the vexed question of whether there is a fundamental limit to human longevity. Their demographic analysis of life expectancy and maximum reported age at death supports the idea that human lifespan has a 'natural limit'. Improvements in survival with age tend to decline after age 100, and the age at death of the world's oldest person has not increased since the 1990s.
Predicting data structures for energy efficient computing

Dynamic data structures in software applications have been shown to have a large impact on system performance. In this paper, we explore energy saving opportunities of interface-based dynamic data structures. Our results suggest that opportunities do exist in the C5 Collection, at least 16.95% and up to 97.50%. We propose an architecture for building adaptive green data structures by applying machine learning tools to build a model for predicting energy efficient data structures. Our neural network model can classify energy efficient data structures based on features such as the number of elements, frequency of operations, interface and set/bag semantics. The 10-fold cross validation results show 96.01% accuracy on the training data and 95.80% on the training validation data. Our n-gram model can accurately predict the most energy efficient data structure sequence in 19 simulated and real-world programs—on average, with more than 50% accuracy and up to 98% using a bigram predictor.
Design automation tools and libraries for low power digital design

Assuming arbitrary (continuous cell sizes) we have achieved global minimization of the total transistor sizes needed to achieve a delay goal, thus minimizing dynamic power (and reducing leakage power). We then developed a feasible branch-and-bound algorithm that maps the continuous sizes to the discrete sizes available in the standard cell library. Results show that a well-designed library gives results close to the optimal continuous size results. We developed a new approach to threshold voltage selection, among options available in a cell library. This algorithm is applied after optimal gate size selection, and raises threshold voltages as much as possible while strictly maintaining the delay goal. In addition, we identified the optimal set of (just 8) combinational functions in a physical cell library. These constitute the most power efficient cells needed to implement combinational logic. On the other hand, the synthesis library is much more complex, consisting of cells that are combinations of the physical library cells. This is advantageous since the constituent cells (of a more complex synthesis cell) are placed next to each other in the layout, ensuring minimal wire length between them. Since wire delay is a significant portion of total path delay for contemporary circuits, having complex cells in synthesis is important. But, for power efficiency, the physical cells must be rather simple, with no more than two transistors in series for any cell. The entire cell size and threshold voltage selection flow is efficient, with an ability to handle multi-million-gate commercial designs. After using state-of-the-art commercial synthesis, the application of our design automation tools and library results in a dynamic power reduction of 25–35% and leakage power reduction by 50–70% for large logic blocks.
Response of understory vegetation to salvage logging following a high-severity wildfire

Timber is frequently salvage-logged following high-severity stand-replacing wildfire, but the practice is controversial. One concern is that compound disturbances could result in more deleterious impacts than either disturbance individually, with mechanical operations having the potential to set back recovering native species and increase invasion by non-native species. Following the 2002 Cone Fire on the Lassen National Forest, three replicates of five salvage treatments were applied to 15 units formerly dominated by ponderosa pine, covering a range of disturbance intensities from unsalvaged to 100% salvaged. Understory species richness and cover data were collected every two years between 2006 and 2012. Richness of both native and non-native species did not differ among salvage treatments, but both showed strong changes over time. While cover of forbs and graminoids did not differ with salvage treatment, cover of shrubs was significantly reduced at the higher salvage intensities. The three main shrub species are all stimulated to germinate by fire, potentially leaving seedlings vulnerable to any mechanical disturbance occurring immediately postgermination. Many other native perennial species emerge from rhizomes or other deeply buried underground structures and appear to be less affected by salvage harvest. Over time, the plant community in all salvage treatments shifted from dominance by shrubs and forbs to shrubs and grasses. Most of the grasses were native, except Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), which was found in 4% of measurement quadrats in 2006 and 52% in 2012. Our results indicated that understory vegetation change 4–10 years posthigh-severity wildfire appeared to be influenced more strongly by factors other than salvage logging.
Effects of rainfall, geomorphological and geometrical variables on vulnerability of the lower Mississippi River levee system to slump slides

This study investigated the importance of rainfall and various geomorphological and geometrical factors to the vulnerability of earthen levees to slump slides. The study was performed using a datab...
“This Is Your Worth”: Is the Catholic School Advantage in Urban Catholic Schools’ College Culture Disappearing in a Neoliberal Era?:

This ethnographic study of an urban Catholic high school examines its college culture, particular in regard to the Catholic School Advantage (CSA). We collected and critically analyzed multiple for...
Comparison of complications after transfemoral coronary angiography between mechanical and manual closure techniques

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States. Coronary angiography is one of the most commonly used diagnostic tools in the identification of coronary arte...
Role of Microcracking in Cortical Bones

The influence of the microdefect interactions on the stress intensity factors (SIF’s) at the tip of the macrocracks in cortical bones is considered using one of the linear fracture mechanics models developed by Tamuzs at el[1]A human bone is a living organism governed by quite complex biological processes. However, at any given moment of time a frame of the human body is a mechanical structure of composite materials (of various mechanical properties for the different types of bones). As it is established experimentally [2], microcracks and other microdefects are present in cortical bones at every stage of life of the bone. They play a vital role in the process of remodeling of the bone. With age, the distances between microcracks are decreasing [10], making “bridges” (uncracked ligament) smaller that causes increase of SIF’s and decrease of the critical fracture load. In another words , a bone fracture can occur even without extraordinary external force. The objective of this work is to provide a mechanistic interpretation of interaction of macro-and microcracks in cortical bones. The structural integrity of a composite material of the bone is obviously vital for the work of the human body frame. Traditionally, the bone quality is defined in terms of bone mineral density (BMD), namely, the amount of bone mineral per unit of volume. The fracture of the bone may occur not only as a result of a single impact but may also be caused by the microcrack interactions resulting in so called stress fracture (without a major impact). Therefore, for comprehensive understanding of the bone fracture it is necessary to study the microstructural interactions in bones. As the linear fracture mechanics is considered by most researchers an appropriate tool for investigating failure processes in bones [2], the analysis of the stress intensity factors governing the hierarchy in macro-microcrack propagation and the amplification (“intrinsic”) and shielding (“extrinsic”) effects is conducted using solutions obtained in [1,4].
Goals Based Investing for the Middle Class: Can Behavioral and Traditional Financial Policies Simplify Investing and Maximize Wealth?

In goals based investing, the client defines his goals and a portfolio is designed to meet each goal. This contrasts with traditional portfolio planning which relies on a risk tolerance questionnaire to design an optimal overall return for the client’s risk tolerance. The goals-based approach is designed to address behavioral issues like loss aversion and counter-cyclical movement and to make the risk of a portfolio more relatable. Some of the mental accounting tricks that support goal based investing support increased savings and improved risk understanding. However, separating the portfolio into different buckets poses issues as well. Returns may be sub-optimal, individuals may still turn to credit instead of savings when faced with an unplanned expense, and goals change. Accounts that are specifically designed for a goal, like 529 plans for college savings, are not always the best method for a middle class investor to save for the goal. The purpose of this paper is to identify research opportunities to combine goals based investing and traditional finance to encourage wealth attainment for the middle class. Replicating the analytical methods used in retirement research to ascertain safe savings rates, withdrawal rates, and guardrails can form a baseline policy for asset allocation and location. Reframing goals and using different terminology may help the middle class investor obtain wealth and respond appropriately to adverse financial situations.
‘Our interests matter’: Puerto Rican older adults in the age of gentrification:

Gentrification scholarship often focuses on the vulnerability of long-term residents in general (for example homeowners, renters, and low-income older adults) to displacement, though not necessaril...
Investigation of spaceborne polarimetric GNSS-R using the SMAP radar instrument

GNSS-R (Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry) is being increasingly used in Earth remote sensing applications; however, up until now, dual-polarized data from spaceborne instruments has not been available. Recently, the radar aboard the SMAP satellite has provided raw received signal data on the GPS L2C frequency band. This data is simultaneously received from two high-gain (36 dBi), dual-polarized channels with excellent cross-polarization isolation. It is currently the only instrument capable of providing high-quality, dual-polarized GNSS-R measurements from space and represents a unique opportunity to study polarimetric scattering properties of geophysical phenomena. This paper presents dual-polarized GPS L2C reflection measurements made using the SMAP data over different ocean (including tropical cyclones) and land surface types. A full, high-fidelity forward SMAP GNSS-R model has been developed and applied in order to interpret scattering properties from the complex Delay-Doppler Map (DDM) data.
BTI-Induced Statistical Variations

In this section, we discuss the statistics of BTI shift. It is now well known that the BTI mechanism will alter both mean and variance of the threshold voltage VT (as well as that of other device parameters) of a group of MOSFETs under stress. There are two parts—extrinsic and intrinsic—to the induced variations, just as there are to the variations of the unstressed device characteristics. The extrinsic part is key to understanding the variations of BTI-induced shifts of performance (such as FMAX [maximum product clock frequency]) among a population of chips. With deep scaling, the intrinsic contribution to chip-to-chip performance shift variations is increasing. Intrinsic variations will induce device mismatch shift, a potential concern for analog circuits. In addition, it turns out that this random fluctuation component has become extremely important to the problem of random SRAM bit reliability failures due to cell stability degradation.
Does the Ohio River Flow All the Way to New Orleans

Rivers were among the first geographical features in the United States (U.S.) to receive official names, often initially stemming from Native American heritage. Today river titles portray both cultural and physical origins. These naming conventions provide a descriptive connotation driven by social perceptions. At present, most people accept that the Mississippi River is the largest river and “mother river” in the U.S. Our investigation explored this river's prominence in the U.S. by identifying and comparing various hydrologic, biological, and cultural metrics. We used six variables to determine the magnitude of river importance: 30-year average discharge, length, drainage area, fish richness, fish endemism, and river-specific song lyrics. The Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River Basins were evaluated using data from nine selected U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations and ranked using the six metrics. Using an average for the rankings across the three rivers, the Ohio is ranked highest for three individual metrics (discharge, fish richness, and fish endemism), and highest across the average for all six metrics, and for an average of five metrics, including hydrology and biodiversity metrics. Thus, our results suggest that the Ohio River could be considered the most prominent river in the U.S. and that the river itself should have the same name (Ohio or Mississippi) from New Orleans to at least Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Type 2 Diabetes in Relation to the Risk of Renal Cell Carcinoma Among Men and Women in Two Large Prospective Cohort Studies.

OBJECTIVE We assessed whether type 2 diabetes is associated with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), independent of key potential confounders, in two large prospective cohorts with biennially updated covariate data. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 117,570 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and 48,866 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) were followed from 1976 and 1986, respectively, through 2014. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for associations between type 2 diabetes and pathology-confirmed RCC, overall and by stage, grade, and histologic subtype. RESULTS During 38 years of follow-up in the NHS, we confirmed 418 RCC case subjects, including 120 fatal cases. Over 28 years in the HPFS, we confirmed 302 RCC case subjects, including 87 fatal cases. Women with type 2 diabetes had a significantly increased risk of RCC compared with women without type 2 diabetes (multivariable HR 1.53; 95% CI 1.14–2.04), with some evidence that the association was stronger for ≤5 (HR 2.15; 95% CI 1.44–3.23) than >5 (HR 1.22; 95% CI 0.84–1.78) years’ duration of type 2 diabetes ( P difference 0.03). Among men, type 2 diabetes was not associated with total RCC (HR 0.89; 95% CI 0.56–1.41) or with RCC defined by stage, grade, or subtype. Sample sizes for analyses by stage, grade, and subtype were limited. CONCLUSIONS We found that type 2 diabetes was independently associated with a greater risk of RCC in women but not in men.
Mitigation of Target Tracking Errors and sUAS Response Using Multi Sensor Data Fusion

Developing tactical or strategic methods to counter the small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) threats is effectively pacing up. With the advent of unprecedented proliferation of malicious or unintended intrusion from drones, the national infrastructure could be at risk and can become vulnerable if detection, tracking and disruption of these sUAS employed with electronic counter measures are at stake. Anticipating the boom in counter UAS technology, this paper presents methods and state estimation techniques based on multi sensor data fusion to mitigate position errors caused by electronic counter measures. A complete mathematical modeling and simulation of the proposed system for further research is presented. Two sensors namely RADAR and FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) and their mathematical models are considered in this paper. A state variable approach to describe the motion characteristics of the target and sensor measurement model is utilized and performance evaluation of tracking filters are investigated. The experimental results in MATLAB show fusion architectures that demonstrate better tracking results with less residual errors. Also, for a nonlinear target motion the robust particle filter proves its nature and achieves desired response.
Animal Models of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the most common cause of postneonatal infant mortality in the developed world. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, defined as the sudden and unexplained death of an infant between 1 month and 1 year of life. Examination of specific pathology may be possible only in an animal model. The three animal models most commonly used in SIDS research to examine risk factors are the piglet, neonatal rabbit, and neonatal rat. We also describe a developmental rat model of sudden unexplained death in response to viral and bacterial infections. This model offers a unique way to evaluate the role of immune development and its relationship to potential risk factors believed to be important in the etiology of SIDS.
The physiological response to capture and handling stress in the Atlantic sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae

Secondary effects of capture and handling stress in the Atlantic sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, were investigated in this study. Twenty-four sharks were serially bled and changes in several hematological parameters were monitored over a 1-h time period, following capture by hook-and-line. Blood samples were obtained from each shark at 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 min. All 0-min (initial) blood samples were obtained within 3 min of capture. Blood glucose (9.2–13.1 mmol l−1), lactate (1.5–28.9 mmol l−1), and plasma osmolality (871–929 mOsm kg−1) all increased after capture, whereas blood pH (6.86–6.78) declined. Hematocrit values (initial = 25.1%) remained unchanged throughout the 1-h stress period. Due to the short amount of time it took to obtain the initial sample and the lack of a significant relationship between the initial time and the initial parameter levels, all initial samples are considered the best approximation of the predisturbance resting levels. The use of repeated measures in this study enables us to describe the dynamics of the secondary stress response in the Atlantic sharpnose shark.
Bulwark: Securing implantable medical devices communication channels

Abstract Implantable medical devices (IMDs) have been used to manage a broad range of diseases and ailments. They are convenient for patients due to their small sizes, unobtrusiveness and portability using wireless monitors or controllers. However, the wireless communication between these devices and their controllers often lacks security features or mechanisms. This lack of security makes the use of these devices a fertile ground for passive and active attacks. Unlike other cyber attacks which target victims’ information or property, attacks on medical devices can threaten a victim’s life. Currently, there are very few efficient solutions to these attacks which balance security, reliability, and power consumption. Therefore, in this work, we propose a robust approach for guarding against existing and potential communication-based attacks on IMDs while keeping the added hardware and power consumption low. In addition, we introduce a secure and efficient protocol for authorizing third-party medical teams to access the IMDs in the case of an emergency.
Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico

With a scope that includes land reform, water engineering, political activity and state bureaucracy, Wolfe’s panoramic Watering the Revolution highlights management: by what means, to what ends, an...
Scale and Ambition in the Engagement of Private Providers for Tuberculosis Care and Prevention

The tuberculosis (TB) community knows the importance of engaging private providers to reach critical TB targets, and knows how to engage successfully. The next challenge is to transition such efforts to government stewardship and financing in order to reach scale.