cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reliable sensory processing in mouse visual cortex through inhibitory interactions between Somatostatin and Parvalbumin interneurons

Cortical neurons often respond to identical sensory stimuli with large variability. However, under certain conditions, the same neurons can also respond highly reliably. The circuit mechanisms that contribute to this modulation, and their influence on behavior remains unknown. Here we used novel double transgenic mice, dual-wavelength calcium imaging and temporally selective optical perturbation to identify an inhibitory neural circuit in visual cortex that can modulate the reliability of pyramidal neurons to naturalistic visual stimuli. Our results, supported by computational models, suggest that somatostatin interneurons (SST-INs) increase pyramidal neuron reliability by suppressing parvalbumin interneurons (PV-INs) via the inhibitory SSTPV circuit. Using a novel movie classification task, we further show that, by reducing variability, activating SST-INs can improve the ability of mice to discriminate between ambiguous stimuli. Together, these findings reveal a novel role of the SST-PV circuit in modulating the fidelity of neural coding critical for visual perception.
Impact of network size and demand on cost performance for high- and low-quality healthcare service organizations

Healthcare networks are becoming ubiquitous, yet it is unclear how hospitals with varying quality capabilities would fare by being affiliated with large healthcare networks. The purpose of this paper is to first consider the deductive configuration perspective and distinguish high and low quality hospitals by using clinical and experiential quality as two dimensions of quality capability. Next, it examines the impact of healthcare network size on operating costs of hospitals. Additionally, the paper investigates the interaction effect of hospital demand and healthcare network size on operating costs.,The paper uses a dataset that was created by combining five separate sources. Cluster analysis technique is used to classify hospitals into four groups – holistic quality leaders (high clinical and experiential quality capability), experiential quality focusers (low clinical quality capability and high experiential quality capability), clinical quality focusers (high clinical capability and low experiential quality capability), and quality laggards (low clinical and experiential quality capability). The authors test the research hypotheses by means of regression analyses after controlling for several contextual characteristics.,The results show that affiliation with large healthcare networks reduces operating costs for quality laggards, but increases these costs for experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers. The hypothesized positive relationship between healthcare network size and costs is not supported for holistic quality leaders. The authors find that clinical quality focusers and holistic quality leaders can complement higher utilization levels in their operations due to increased demand and healthcare network size to reduce their operating costs per day.,There has been increasing evidence suggesting that hospitals must carefully manage both clinical and experiential quality. By focusing on both clinical and experiential quality, unlike experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers, holistic quality leaders are not adversely affected by the size of their network. The results suggest that experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers should either embrace holistic quality management or restrict the size of their networks to maintain their quality level and to reduce coordination costs.
Two Solitudes Lost: Comparing and Contrasting Interwar American and Canadian Isolationisms

For many Americans during the 1930s, participation in real and potential foreign conflicts was a national dilemma as serious as the Great Depression. As the decade progressed and the possibility of...
Academic Entitlement and Aversive Personality: Does the Dark Triad Predict Academic Entitlement?

Academic entitlement has attracted significant interest over the past decade. Entitlement is a well-established problem; however its causes are not well understood. This study (n = 169) investigate...
Developing a CQI Program in a Family Medicine Department

Article-at-a-Glance Background Efforts to implement continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles in ambulatory or primary care settings still lag behind efforts in the hospital setting. Many physicians view the concept of CQI with unconcealed skepticism; the process of ambulatory care is very different from that of hospital-based care; and the data necessary to guide CQI efforts are often either missing or inaccurate in the outpatient setting. Since fall 1995, the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), including approximately 35 faculty members at seven family practice sites, has been engaged in CQI projects. Planning and implementation The CQI committee had a six-month deadline to lay out a plan for educating all faculty and staff in the importance of the CQI approach to problems; design methods for all faculty and staff to buy in to the concepts; and develop a plan to address basic clinical CQI activities, administrative systems change and work environment improvement, and larger ad hoc projects in clinical care, educational programs, and research programs. Implementation CQI activities were incorporated into the routine monthly business agendas at each clinical site, each of which had a functioning local committee and had begun development of at least one CQI project. Projecting into the future and conclusions Cost cutting has further moved CQI from the sideline to center stage in the DFM's activities. An effective CQI program can be a major asset in the current competitive health care market, but designing and implementing an outpatient CQI program is a difficult and complex process. Three major problems–the ongoing resistance to change, the slow pace of adding CQI projects to already overburdened work schedules, and the need to conduct the program with ever-decreasing resources available–persist.
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in the antiphospholipid syndrome: spectrum of disease and treatment.

Objective. To describe clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and treatment of patients with the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) who develop diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. Methods. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is an occasionally reported manifestation of the APS. The diagnosis, however, may be overlooked or manifestations attributed to another disease process. Seven episodes in 5 patients with primary APS were identified and retrospectively reviewed for presenting symptoms and signs, laboratory findings, and response to treatment. Results. The severity of the condition varies, and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage may be the initial manifestation of APS. Patients may present with symptoms ranging from cough, dyspnea, and fever with or without hemoptysis, to symptoms of acute respiratory failure. Hypoxemia and anemia are usually present. Other causes need to be excluded. Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage with or without biopsy often aid in confirming the diagnosis. The pathologic abnormality appears to be microvascular thrombosis with or without capillaritis. Treatment with corticosteroids usually leads to marked improvement. Conclusion. Patients with APS may present with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage resulting in mild to life threatening symptoms. Prompt and thorough evaluation to confirm the diagnosis and treatment with corticosteroids usually leads to rapid improvement. The clinical setting will dictate whether other therapies such as immunosuppressive agents or intravenous immunoglobulin are required.
Autocalibrating vision guided navigation of unmanned air vehicles via tactical monocular cameras in gps denied environments

This thesis presents a novel robotic navigation strategy by using a conventional tactical monocular camera, proving the feasibility of using a monocular camera as the sole proximity sensing, object avoidance, mapping, and path-planning mechanism to fly and navigate small to medium scale unmanned rotary-wing aircraft in an autonomous manner. The range measurement strategy is scalable, self-calibrating, indoor-outdoor capable, and has been biologically inspired by the key adaptive mechanisms for depth perception and pattern recognition found in humans and intelligent animals (particularly bats), designed to assume operations in previously unknown, GPS-denied environments. It proposes novel electronics, aircraft, aircraft systems, systems, and procedures and algorithms that come together to form airborne systems which measure absolute ranges from a monocular camera via passive photometry, mimicking that of a human-pilot like judgement. The research is intended to bridge the gap between practical GPS coverage and precision localization and mapping problem in a small aircraft. In the context of this study, several robotic platforms, airborne and ground alike, have been developed, some of which have been integrated in real-life field trials, for experimental validation. Albeit the emphasis on miniature robotic aircraft this research has been tested and found compatible with tactical vests and helmets, and it can be used to augment the reliability of many other types of proximity sensors.
Engaging Stakeholders and Patient Partners

Recent advances in engagement of stakeholders and patient partners in clinical research have bridged the disconnect between researchers and stakeholders, resulting in improved research goals with relevant outcomes, increased clinical trial enrollment, and improved communication of research results. This article focuses on the mechanisms, challenges, and benefits of patient and stakeholder engagement, with strategies for improvement. The 3 stages of clinical research and key iterative steps to create a reciprocal relationship are presented. Despite recent advances in stakeholder engagement, additional investigation and improved reporting of methods will facilitate strong reciprocal relationships between researchers and stakeholders.
Identification and characterization of capa and pyrokinin genes in the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera): Gene structure, immunocytochemistry, and differential expression

CAPA and pyrokinin (PK) neuropeptides are produced from two different genes, capa and pyrokinin, respectively. In this study, we identified and characterized the capa and pyrokinin genes from the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera). The capa gene encodes two CAPA-PVK (periviscerokinin) peptides (DAGLFPFPRVamide and EQLIPFPRVamide) and one CAPA-DH (diapause hormone; NGASGNGGLWFGPRLamide). The pyrokinin gene encodes three PK2 peptides (QLVSFRPRLamide, SPPFAPRLamide, and FYAPFSPRLamide). The whole-mounting immunocytochemistry revealed the neurons contained PRXamide-like peptides throughout the cerebral ganglia (CRG), gnathal ganglia (GNG), thoracic ganglia (TG), and abdominal ganglia (AG). A pair of neurosecretory cells in the CRG and three cell clusters in the GNG were found with the axonal projections extended through the lateral side. A pair of immunostained cells were found in the TG, while three pairs of cells were present in the fused AG. Different expression patterns of capa and pyrokinin genes were observed in the CRG-GNG, TG, and AG. The capa gene was highly expressed in the AG tissue, whereas the pyrokinin gene was strongly expressed in the CRG-GNG. Interestingly, different developmental stages showed similar expressions of both genes, with the highest from the first nymph, gradually decreasing to the female adult. Comparison of peptide sequences encoded from pyrokinin genes showed the PK1 peptide is lost in Heteroptera suborders including H. halys, but retained in other suborders. The missing PK1 from the pyrokinin gene might be compensated by CAPA-DH (=PK1-like) produced by the capa gene.
Stabilization Mechanisms and Decomposition Potential of Eroded Soil Organic Matter Pools in Temperate Forests of the Sierra Nevada, California

National Fire Plan of the USDA Forest Service; Pacific Southwest Research Station of the Forest Service; Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory Project of the National Science Foundation [EAR-0725097, 1239521, 1331939]; NSF [EAR-1147977]; Graduate Research Council grant from the University of California, Merced
UFOs, Worms, and Surfboards: What Shapes Teach Us About Cell–Material Interactions

The success of regenerative materials is dependent on the ability to elicit cell interactions. Cell–material interactions, both desired and undesired, are dictated by the physical properties of the material. Previous research has focused on surface chemistry and feature size of biomaterials. The role of shape, in particular the ability of cells to recognize and respond to shape, has not been determined. This is primarily due to the limited availability of techniques to produce materials with features of controlled and varied morphologies. To this end, we have created a diverse collection of novel polymer micro- and nano-particle shapes and studied their phagocytosis by macrophages. The macrophage immune response to biomaterials is a formidable obstacle in delivery and integration of materials for successful tissue regeneration, engineering, and drug delivery. The results show that particle shape, from the point of view of the macrophage, profoundly impacts phagocytosis, more than particle size and independent of surface chemistry. We can use this understanding to design material features that will direct desired macrophage response and, in the future, study the effects of shape on other cell functions. This work demonstrates the importance of shape in the design of biomaterials and its influence on cell–material interactions.
Ensemble learning with 3D convolutional neural networks for functional connectome-based prediction.

Abstract The specificity and sensitivity of resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) measurements depend on preprocessing choices, such as the parcellation scheme used to define regions of interest (ROIs). In this study, we critically evaluate the effect of brain parcellations on machine learning models applied to rs-fMRI data. Our experiments reveal an intriguing trend: On average, models with stochastic parcellations consistently perform as well as models with widely used atlases at the same spatial scale. We thus propose an ensemble learning strategy to combine the predictions from models trained on connectivity data extracted using different (e.g., stochastic) parcellations. We further present an implementation of our ensemble learning strategy with a novel 3D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) approach. The proposed CNN approach takes advantage of the full-resolution 3D spatial structure of rs-fMRI data and fits non-linear predictive models. Our ensemble CNN framework overcomes the limitations of traditional machine learning models for connectomes that often rely on region-based summary statistics and/or linear models. We showcase our approach on a classification (autism patients versus healthy controls) and a regression problem (prediction of subject's age), and report promising results.
Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracarida) from Japan III. The deep trenches; the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench and Japan Trench

Examination of the tanaidacean fauna of the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench and the Japan Trench, from the surrounding edges of the trench to the hadal depths, revealed 21 new species, belonging to the genera Agathotanais, Akanthophoreus , Carpoapseudes, Cryptocopoides, Fageapseudes, Larsenotanais, Leptognathia, Leptognathiella, Neotanais, Paragathotanais, Pseudotanais, and Siphonolabrum, and 15 of these new species are described in this volume. Five additional species ( Forcipatia rotundicauda, Leptognathiopsis langi, Paranarthrura vitjazi, Paranarthrura zevinae, Torquella angularis, and Typhlotanais compactus ) are re-described/re-combined. The tanaidacean species richness in the trenches was found to be remarkably higher than in shallow water, although numbers of individuals were rather small; this was compensated for by high taxonomic diversity.
Exploiting Spark for HPC Simulation Data: Taming the Ephemeral Data Explosion

In this paper, we address the challenge of analyzing simulation data on HPC systems by using Apache Spark, which is a Big Data framework. One of the main problems we encountered with using Spark on HPC systems is the ephemeral data explosion, which is brought about by the curse of persistence in the Spark framework. Data persistence is essential in reducing I/O, but it comes at the cost of storage space. We show that in some cases, Spark scratch data can consume an order of magnitude more space than the input data being analyzed, leading to fatal out-of-disk errors. We investigate the real-world application of scaling machine learning algorithms to predict and analyze failures in multi-physics simulations on 76TB of data (over one trillion training examples). This problem is 2--3 orders of magnitude larger than prior work. Based on extensive experiments at scale, we provide several concrete recommendations as state-of-the-practice, and demonstrate a 7x reduction in disk utilization with negligible increases or even decreases in runtime.
An Evaluation of On-Farm Food Loss Accounting in Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Four California Specialty Crops

Author(s): Winans, K; Marvinney, E; Gillman, A; Spang, E | Abstract: The majority of the environmental impacts associated with the agri-food supply chain occur at the production phase. Interests in using life-cycle assessment (LCA) for accounting for agri-food supply chains as well as food losses and waste (FLW) has increased in recent years. Here, for the first time, we estimate production-phase embedded resources and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California specialty crops considering on-farm food losses. We use primary, survey-derived qualitative and quantitative data to consider on-farm food loss prevention and avoided GHG emissions through two different scenarios applied in an illustrative example for processing peach at the production stage. Further, we contribute a mathematical approach for accounting for discrete, unique flows within the net flow of loss in a supply chain, in LCA. Through the detailed LCAs, we identify the hotspots for the four crops as on-farm diesel use, fertilizer application, direct water use, and electricity for irrigation pumping. Impacts from cultivation practices and the additional impacts from on-farm food losses vary significantly by crop. Including the losses in the LCAs resulted in increases in overall resource use and GHG emissions by 4–38% (percent varies depending on the crop type). We used the LCA models and a set of straightforward calculations to evaluate the environmental impacts of a prevention action (a 50% reduction in on-farm food losses) and the secondary use of end-of-life (EOL) biomass from processing peach. The results of this evaluation showed an 11% reduction in GHG emissions compared to the baseline (full harvest). In conclusion, by explicitly including the impacts of on-farm food losses in LCA, we highlight challenges and opportunities to target interventions that simultaneously reduce these losses and the associated environmental impacts in agricultural systems.
Family Context and Adolescent Risky Sexual Behavior: an Examination of the Influence of Family Structure, Family Transitions and Parenting

Considerable research has been devoted to understanding the influence of the family on adolescents’ risky sexual behavior, with primary focus being given to family structure, family transitions, or parenting. Using longitudinal data from the Family and Community Health Study (n = 550, 54% female, age 10.5 years at Wave 1), an African American sample, the current study goes beyond past research to examine the combined influence of all of these factors while also assessing a wider and more culturally sensitive array of family structures, family transitions, and mediators. Results demonstrated that while continuously married mother–father households were most efficacious in reducing risky sexual behavior for both males and females, mother–relative households, a common household configuration among African American families, were also beneficial for females compared to single-mother, mother–stepfather, and mother–cohabiting partner households. With regard to family transitions, mothers’ number of divorces as well as her number of cohabiting breakups were associated with an increase in adolescents’ risky sex. Family structure and family transition effects were partially mediated by hostile parenting, as well as adolescents’ sexual attitudes and affiliation with sexually active peers. Even after accounting for the impact of these mediators, however, family structure and transitions at age 13 continued to have an effect on participation in risky sex when adolescents were 18 years of age. These results indicate that an array of family factors combine to influence the probability of adolescent participation in risky sex over time.
Biopolitical Paternalism and Its Maternal Supplements: Kinship Correlates of Community Mental Health Governance in China

This article examines how the community mental health program run by the Chinese state conceptualizes, mobilizes, and molds the family. My fieldwork shows that, on the one hand, the program defines care biomedically and connects it to managing security risks in the population. The state fashions itself as paternal while displacing most responsibilities for patient care and management onto the supposedly authoritative families. On the other hand, caregivers—mostly women and the elderly—may resort to practices publicly denounced but privately enabled by the program, such as covert medication and home confinement. They do so not only to manage patients from a position of vulnerability and deprivation but also to compassionately engage with patients’ suffering and non-medical desires. These two entangled kinship correlates of state power, which I call “biopolitical paternalism” and its “maternal supplements,” prove critical for understanding the work of community governance in China and beyond.
Supply Chain Manipulation, Misrepresentation, and Magical Thinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed remarkable stress on all aspects of society, from health care and the economy to the psychological well-being of communities. While the crisis is still playing out ...
Mapping of Photochemically-Derived Dityrosine across Fe-Bound N-Acetylated α-Synuclein

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurological disease and belongs to a group of neurodegenerative disorders called synucleinopathies in which pathological aggregates of N-terminally acetylated α-synuclein (NAcα-Syn) accumulate in various regions of the brain. In PD, these NAcα-Syn aggregates have been found to contain covalent dityrosine crosslinks, which can occur either intermolecularly or intramolecularly. Cerebral metal imbalance is also a hallmark of PD, warranting investigations into the effects of brain biometals on NAcα-Syn. NAcα-Syn is an intrinsically disordered protein, and metal-mediated conformational modifications of this structurally dynamic protein have been demonstrated to influence its propensity for dityrosine formation. In this study, a library of tyrosine-to-phenylalanine (Y-to-F) NAcα-Syn constructs were designed in order to elucidate the nature and the precise residues involved in dityrosine crosslinking of Fe-bound NAcα-Syn. The structural capacity of each mutant to form dityrosine crosslinks was assessed using Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins (PICUP), demonstrating that coordination of either FeIII or FeII to NAcα-Syn inhibits dityrosine crosslinking among the C-terminal residues. We further demonstrate that Y39 is the main contributor to dityrosine formation of Fe-bound NAcα-Syn, while Y125 is the main residue involved in dityrosine crosslinks in unmetalated NAcα-Syn. Our results confirm that iron coordination has a global effect on NAcα-Syn structure and reactivity.
Extramedullary Hematopoiesis in Adrenal Incidentaloma: Case Report of an Atypical Histopathological Finding

Adrenal gland extramedullary hematopoiesis is extremely rare, and when present, imaging studies may mimic an incidentaloma suspicious of malignancy. We present a 55-year-old woman without a history of hematologic disorder or neoplasms. There was an incidental finding of a 3.2 × 2.4-cm heterogenous adrenal mass and enhanced by contrast abdominal CT scan. Suspicious of malignancy was established, and laparoscopic left adrenalectomy was performed. Histopathological examination and immunohistochemical staining exhibited myeloid and erythroid precursors, as well as megakaryocyte confirming the diagnosis of extramedullary hematopoiesis in the adrenal gland.
Rape by Malice

When people seek to reform rape law, the focus is on the actus reus — either abandoning the force element or redefining consent. This Article argues that both approaches overlook a critical opportunity for reform, which is the crime’s mens rea. Knowledge, or general intent, is the most common mens rea in rape offenses. The problem with this mental state is that proving what a defendant knew is one of the hardest parts of any criminal prosecution. Although scholars have explored reckless or negligent standards, this Article proposes that states adopt the mens rea of malice — a callous indifference towards the risk of whether the defendant had secured the consent of his sexual partner. If someone shoots a gun in a crowd and kills someone, that person had no knowledge or intent to kill. But the shooter would be liable for murder under the mens rea of malice because the person acted with callous disregard to the objective risk of harm that her conduct involved. When imported to rape, malice then effectively captures what is the precise social wrong in having unwanted sex — it is a defendant acting with callous indifference over whether his or her actions present an objective risk that he or she engaged in sexual activity without the consent of his or her partner.
Earnings Management: New Evidence From Bank Holding Companies

In this paper, we investigate the role played by the organizational structure of bank holding companies in the earnings management of bank subsidiaries. Our results suggest that bank holding companies manage their subsidiaries to optimize the reporting outcome at the consolidated level. We find that parent characteristics explain the earnings management of subsidiaries over and above the characteristics of subsidiaries. We also find that subsidiary’s integration, the public status of bank holding companies and the distance between subsidiaries and headquarters explain the proclivity of bank subsidiaries to engage in earnings management. Our results yield important insights on the drivers of earnings management within bank holding companies and highlight the need for their integration in regulatory design.
Learning about Social Justice through Literature Circles

Drawing on data from 16 teacher candidates in an elementary literacy methods course, this qualitative study seeks to understand how literature circles can help candidates critically reflect on soci...
Cell-mediated therapies to facilitate operational tolerance in liver transplantation

Cell therapies using immune cells or non-parenchymal cells of the liver have emerged as potential treatments to facilitate immunosuppression withdrawal and to induce operational tolerance in liver transplant (LT) recipients. Recent pre-clinical and clinical trials of cellular therapies including regulatory T cells, regulatory dendritic cells, and mesenchymal cells have shown promising results. Here we briefly summarize current concepts of cellular therapy for induction of operational tolerance in LT recipients.
Mitigating internal shorting to enhance battery safety with gradient-conductivity cathodes

Abstract Internal short circuits and the resulting catastrophic battery failure is difficult to detect and can occur under normal working conditions. To enable future high-energy density batteries, particularly lithium metal, an inexpensive internal short protection scheme is required. Here, we selectively remove conductive carbon from the cathode surface, creating a gradient-conductivity electrode. The process etches to a depth of only 5–10 μm and the active particles maintain electrical contact through the backside allowing for otherwise unaltered battery performance. When a lithium dendrite contacts the cathode surface, it will react with the oxide particle rather than contacting the carbon network. The active material now acts as a resistive element limiting the current. During shorting tests induced by abuse charging, cells containing conductivity-gradient cathodes saw a 2x reduction in short circuit current and accompanying temperature rise compared to cells with uniform conductivity cathodes. The reduction in short circuit current thus renders the event harmless. Postmortem analysis shows the dendrites only contact the surface oxide particles, supporting the viability of this gradient conductivity electrode design. Our approach utilizes the intrinsic resistivity of the active material to improve battery safety, is broadly applicable, and incurs no penalty in energy density.
Accelerated optimization of curvilinearly stiffened panels using deep learning

Abstract An important objective for the aerospace industry is to design robust and fuel efficient aerospace structures. Advanced manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing have allowed structural designers to make use of curvilinear stiffeners for achieving better designs of stiffened plate and shell structures. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based standard optimization methods for aircraft panels with arbitrary curvilinear stiffeners are computationally expensive. The main reason for employing many of these standard optimization methods is the ease of their integration with FEA. However, each optimization requires multiple computationally expensive FEA evaluations, making their use impractical at times. To accelerate optimization, the use of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) is proposed to approximate the FEA buckling response, computed using MSC NASTRAN. The finite element model of a plate is verified with those found in the literature. Later, a Python script is used to generate a large data-set using parallel processing. The 80%, 10% and 10% of the generated data-set are used for training, validation and testing of DNNs, respectively. The results show that DNNs, optimized using Adam optimizer, obtained an accuracy of 95% on the test set for approximating FEA response within 10% of the actual value. To compare the efficiency of the DNN, the trained DNN is used in the optimization of curvilinearly stiffened panels by replacing the conventional FEA. The DNN accelerated the optimization by a factor of nearly 200. The presented work demonstrates the potential of DNN-based machine learning algorithms for accelerating the optimization of curvilinearly stiffened panels.
Noncausality of numerical models of dynamic fracture growth

Discretization of the wave operator for purposes of solving problems in the dynamics of crack growth numerically, introduces noncausality associated with the nonlinearity of the fracture criterion at the edge of the crack, i.e. with an imperfect formulation of the fracture criterion in the discretized case. The noncausality can be attributed to jumps from one inertial coordinate system to another as successive particles at the edge of a digitized crack are triggered into motion. It is shown that there is an equivalent explanation in terms of the incompatibility of the short-range edge conditions and the long-range correlations of slip on the crack in the discretized case. The noncausal effects can lead to supersonic crack growth, and in some cases to infinite crack growth velocities. A proposal for amelioration of the problem is offered.
Functioning of Photosystem II in Mutant Strains of the Cyanobacterium Anacystis Nidulans R2

A functional photosystem II is required for growth of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans R2 (Synechococcus R2, PCC 7942). Thus, if a genetically altered strain is viable, then that strain must have a photosystem II which is competent, although possibly altered in function. In this paper we examine several genetically altered strains of this cyanobacterium for their changed sensitivity to the photosystem II herbicide diuron (DCMU).
Patient-Specific Model Generation and Simulation for Pre-operative Surgical Guidance for Pulmonary Embolism Treatment

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially-fatal disease in which blood clots (i.e., emboli) break free from the deep veins in the body and migrate to the lungs. In order to prevent PE, anticoagulation therapy is often used; however, for some patients, it is contraindicated. For such patients, a mechanical filter, namely an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter, is inserted into the IVC to capture and prevent emboli from reaching the lungs. There are numerous IVC filter designs, and it is not well understood which particular IVC filter geometry will result in the best clinical outcome for a given patient. Patient-specific computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations may be used to aid physicians in IVC filter selection and placement. In particular, such computational simulations may be used to determine the capability of various IVC filters in various positions to capture emboli, while not creating additional emboli or significantly altering the flow of blood in the IVC. In this paper, we propose a computational pipeline that can be used to generate patient-specific geometric models and computational meshes of the IVC and IVC filter for various IVC anatomies based on the patient’s computer tomography (CT) images. Our pipeline involves several steps including image processing, geometric model construction, surface and volume mesh generation, and CFD simulation. We then use our patient-specific meshes of the IVC and IVC filter in CFD simulations of blood flow, whereby we demonstrate the potential utility of this approach for optimized, patient-specific IVC filter selection and placement for improved prevention of PE. The novelty of our approach lies in the use of a superelastic mesh warping technique to virtually place the surface mesh of the IVC filter (which was created via computer-aided design modeling) inside the surface mesh of the patient-specific IVC, reconstructed from clinical CT data. We also employ a linear elastic mesh warping technique to simulate the deformation of the IVC when the IVC filter is placed inside of it.
Intrusive Faculty Academic Advising for Part-Time and Commuter Graduate Students

This discussion will explore applications of undergraduate intrusive academic advising strategies to non-cohort based Higher Education programs with part-time and commuter graduate students to increase persistence and graduation rates. I analyzed program-level data as a foundation for investigating the potential role of technology to increasing graduate advising structure and efficiency.
Construction of a Novel Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Degrading Bacterium: Utilization of 3,4'-Dichlorobiphenyl by Pseudomonas acidovorans M3GY.

Pseudomonas acidovorans M3GY is a recombinant bacterium with the novel capacity to utilize a biphenyl congener chlorinated on both rings, 3,4′-dichlorobiphenyl (3,4′-DCBP), as a sole carbon and energy source. Strain M3GY was constructed with a continuous amalgamated culture apparatus (L. Krockel and D. D. Focht, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53:2470-2475, 1987) with P. acidovorans CC1(19), a chloroacetate and biphenyl degrader, and Pseudomonas sp. strain CB15(1), a biphenyl and 3-chlorobenzoate degrader. Genetic and phenotypic data showed the recipient parental strain to be P. acidovorans CC1 and the donor parental strain to be Pseudomonas sp. strain CB15. In growth experiments with 3,4′-DCBP as a sole source of carbon, cultures of strain M3GY increased in absorbance from 0.07 to 0.39 in 29 days while reaching a protein concentration of 58 μg ml -1 and 67% substrate dehalogenation. 4-Chlorobenzoate was identified from culture supernatants of strain M3GY by gas chromatography-infrared spectrometry-mass spectrometry; this would be consistent with the oxidation of the m -chlorinated ring through the standard biphenyl pathway. 4-Chlorobenzoate was converted to 4-chlorocatechol, which was metabolized through the meta -fission pathway. The construction of P. acidovorans M3GY, with the novel capability to utilize 3,4′-DCBP, thus involves the complete use of meta -fission pathways for sequential rupture of the biphenyl and chlorobenzoate rings. Images
Sex detectives: Law & Order: SVU 's fans, critics, and characters investigate lesbian desire

I address the contested question of whether sex crimes detective Olivia Benson (a character on TV's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played by Mariska Hargitay) is a lesbian, and the ways in which both fans and TV scholars approach this mystery. That is, I investigate not what we "know" about lesbians on/and television, but how we frame the very processes of this knowing. In both critical and fan discourse, debates about where to locate the queerness of television oscillate irresolvably between three sites: the text itself, audience interpretations, and the surrounding metatexts and contexts. With a primary theoretical framework drawn from Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet, I analyze the cultural and televisual traditions that shape SVU's portrayal of deviant sexuality, and I assess how these resonate with fan interpretations in today's context of media convergence.
Solar Proton Event Forecasts

The Sun, although some 93,000,000 miles away, is the source of all life on Earth, and solar activity generally is harmless to its inhabitants. In space, however, the environment is not so benign; the effects of some solar events can be hazardous to biological systems. In particular, large solar flares can accelerate particles which can significantly alter the particulate radiation levels in space and consequently increase the radiation dose of space travelers [Rust, 1982 and Kovalev, 1983]. A single anomolously large (AL) Solar Particle Event (SPE) can be the dominant part of the dose received during an entire mission. Knowledge of these events, therefore, is an important input in assessing the risks to manned space flight, especially for those space missions that leave the magnetic shielding of the Earth.
Centenary of the Anglo-American high-altitude expedition to Pikes Peak

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most important early research expeditions to high altitude. The principal participants were J.S. Haldane and C.G. Douglas from Oxford, Y. Henderson from Yale, and E.C. Schneider from Colorado College. Pikes Peak just outside Colorado Springs proved to be an excellent venue because of its substantial altitude of 4300 m, convenient access via a cog railway, and comfortable living accommodation. The expedition had a classical design with measurements made first at sea level, then on the summit for five weeks, and then at sea level again. The extensive scientific program included descriptions of acute mountain sickness, many measurements of partial pressures in alveolar gas and arterial blood, changes in ventilation including periodic breathing, exercise measurements, and a large number of blood studies. One error was the conclusion that the arterial PO2 could considerably exceed the alveolar value implying oxygen secretion by the lung, but this should not detract from the other important advances. Mabel FitzGerald was invited to be a member of the expedition but did not join the men on the summit. Instead she visited various mining camps in Colorado at somewhat lower altitudes and carried out classical studies of alveolar gas partial pressures and hemoglobin values. Indeed her results of alveolar PO2 and PCO2 are frequently cited today. The Pikes Peak expedition was a model and it had an extensive influence on later studies.
Thermal expansion of single crystal Gd/sub 5/(Si/sub 2/Ge/sub 2/) showing unusual first-order phase transformation

Summary form only given. Alloys based on rare earth with group IV elements have been intensively investigated since the Gd/sub 5/(Si/sub x/Ge/sub 1-x/)/sub 4/ system was found to have a giant magnetocaloric effect in 1997. However, the thermal expansion of this system has seldom been studied. In this paper, the thermal expansion of single crystal Gd/sub 5/(Si/sub 2/Ge/sub 2/) along the principal axis was measured in a closed cycle He-refrigerator system. The results show that there is an abrupt change in strain when the sample was cooled down or heated up through the phase transition temperature. The phase change has the character of a first order transition. It shows a hysteresis associated with the cooling and heating cycle. It is believed that this strain anomaly is due to an unusual magnetic-martensitic phase transformation in which the material is paramagnetic and has monoclinic crystal structure above the transition temperature and is ferromagnetic and has orthorhombic crystal structure below the transition temperature. An applied magnetic field was observed to shift the transition temperature. A 10kOe magnetic field applied along the a-axis direction while cooling raised the transition temperature by about 5 K.
The correlation between swelling and radiation-induced segregation in iron-chromium-nickel alloys.

The magnitudes of both void swelling and radiation-induced segregation (RIS) in iron-chromium-nickel alloys are dependent on bulk alloy composition. Because the diffusivity of nickel via the vacancy flux is slow relative to chromium, nickel enriches and chromium depletes at void surfaces during irradiation. This local composition change reduces the subsequent vacancy flux to the void, thereby reducing void swelling. In this work, the resistance to swelling from major element segregation is estimated using diffusivities derived from grain boundary segregation measurements in irradiated iron-chromium-nickel alloys. The resistance to void swelling in iron- and nickel-base alloys correlates with the segregation and both are functions of bulk alloy composition. Alloys that display the greatest amount of nickel enrichment and chromium depletion are found to be most resistant to void swelling, as predicted. Additionally, swelling is shown to be greater in alloys in which the RIS profiles are slow to develop.
Legitimate Violence or Agoraphobia? Re-Examining the Legitimate Violence Index

(1990). Legitimate Violence or Agoraphobia? Re-Examining the Legitimate Violence Index. The Sociological Quarterly: Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 613-618.
Constructing a Near Real‐time Space‐time Cube to Depict Urban Ambient Air Pollution Scenario

This study adopts a near real-time space-time cube approach to portray a dynamic urban air pollution scenario across space and time. Originating from time geography, space-time cubes provide an approach to integrate spatial and temporal air pollution information into a 3D space. The base of the cube represents the variation of air pollution in a 2D geographical space while the height represents time. This way, the changes of pollution over time can be described by the different component layers of the cube from the base up. The diurnal ambient ozone (O3) pollution in Houston, Texas is modeled in this study using the space-time air pollution cube. Two methods, land use regression (LUR) modeling and spatial interpolation, were applied to build the hourly component layers for the air pollution cube. It was found that the LUR modeling performed better than the spatial interpolation in predicting air pollution level. With the availability of real-time air pollution data, this approach can be extended to produce real-time air pollution cube is for more accurate air pollution measurement across space and time, which can provide important support to studies in epidemiology, health geography, and environmental regulation.
Constructing a low-cost seed moisture tester and seed dryer

Accurately determining seed moisture and efficiently drying seeds is a critically needed capacity for seed management. In this article, instructions are provided to make a moisture test chamber for easily assessing seed moisture content with a handheld hygrometer. In addition, I provide instructions for assembling a relatively inexpensive pressurized seed drier from readily available components using simple hand tools. Basic instructions for using the hygrometer and test chamber and the dryer are also provided.
Investigation of an Aerosol Deposition Technique for Sample Introduction for the Determination of Manganese by Electrothermal Atomization Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract An aerosol deposition technique for sample introduction for the determination of manganese by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry is described and evaluated. A calibration between deposit time and injected volume of sample can be constructed. The analytical charecteristic concentration can be increased significantly by increasing the deposition time for samples of low matrix concentration.
The aging of man and society.

Abstract The author takes the main themes of an International Colloquium held in Toulouse on 15 June 1984 as a starting point to present some reflections on aging. In particular the need for aged societies to face important problems regarding dynamism is stressed, in order to maintain a confrontation with other, younger, societies and to provide people with the same levels of welfare. Moreover, in the future, towns will be more compact with less space so that within a limited environment the elderly individual — whose degree of mobility is ever-decreasing — can carry out his daily activities independently and with ease. From now on, collective savings — adequately invested in production — can assure economic development and a pension system worthy of a progressively aging society.
Polynomial Acceleration Of Gummel's Method

We successfully employ polynomial acceleration of Gummel's method for decoupling the equations describing steady state semiconductors. We present numerical results which demonstrate that the speed of convergence has been increased up to a factor of four. The polynomial acceleration is based on an analysis of Gummel's method as a non linear fixed point mapping T. The accelerating polynomials are determined from the location in the complex plane of the eigenvalues of the derivative T' of T. We present these complex eigenvalue spectra which have been obtained both computationally and theoretically. We discuss the choice of polynomials from these spectra. Moreover, we examine the implications of the nonlinearity of T for polynomial acceleration.
Magnetic Moment of a Magnetized Fermi Gas

Induced magnetic moment of magnetized Fermi gas, noting change in magnetic nature with variations in electron density
Antihypertensive Effects of a New Sustained-Release Formulation of Nifedipine

The blood pressure response to a new sustained-release formulation of nifedipine was evaluated in an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Twenty-nine patients with mild essential hypertension were randomized to receive placebo (N = 9), 30 mg nifedipine (N = 10), or 60 mg nifedipine (N = 10). During treatment, 30-mg and 60-mg doses of nifedipine administered once daily decreased office blood pressures from 137/98 +/- 8/2 mm Hg and 141/98 +/- 15/2 mm Hg at baseline, respectively, to 126/89 +/- 9/7 mm Hg and 126/86 +/- 6/7 mm Hg (P less than .005). Noninvasive automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitoring demonstrated a marginally significant (P less than .10) reduction in the mean 24-hour blood pressure of 2/6 +/- 8/8 mm Hg and 5/6 +/- 9/9 mm Hg for patients taking 30 mg and 60 mg nifedipine once daily, respectively. Diastolic blood pressure load (the percentage of ambulatory diastolic blood pressure readings greater than 90 mm Hg) during 24 hours was decreased by 41% and 35%, with 30 mg and 60 mg nifedipine administered once daily, respectively. No significant dose response to nifedipine at these dose levels was observed. Although the once-daily formulation of nifedipine achieved effective control of office blood pressure, similar control was not observed in awake and 24-hour periods in all patients.