cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spontaneous swallow frequency compared with clinical screening in the identification of dysphagia in acute stroke.

Background The aim of this study was to compare spontaneous swallow frequency analysis (SFA) with clinical screening protocols for identification of dysphagia in acute stroke. Methods In all, 62 patients with acute stroke were evaluated for spontaneous swallow frequency rates using a validated acoustic analysis technique. Independent of SFA, these same patients received a routine nurse-administered clinical dysphagia screening as part of standard stroke care. Both screening tools were compared against a validated clinical assessment of dysphagia for acute stroke. In addition, psychometric properties of SFA were compared against published, validated clinical screening protocols. Results Spontaneous SFA differentiates patients with versus without dysphagia after acute stroke. Using a previously identified cut point based on swallows per minute, spontaneous SFA demonstrated superior ability to identify dysphagia cases compared with a nurse-administered clinical screening tool. In addition, spontaneous SFA demonstrated equal or superior psychometric properties to 4 validated, published clinical dysphagia screening tools. Conclusions Spontaneous SFA has high potential to identify dysphagia in acute stroke with psychometric properties equal or superior to clinical screening protocols.
Rigid Biological Systems as Models for Synthetic Composites

Advances that have been made in understanding the mechanisms underlying the mechanical behavior of a number of biological materials (namely mollusk shells and sponge spicules) are discussed here. Attempts at biomimicry of the structure of a nacreous layer of a mollusk shell have shown reasonable success. However, they have revealed additional issues that must be addressed if new synthetic composite materials that are based on natural systems are to be constructed. Some of the important advantages and limitations of copying from nature are also described here.
Government Response to Drought in the United States:With Particular Reference to the Great Plains

Abstract Drought relief has become an expected response of the federal government to periods of widespreaddrought in the United States. A wide range of emergency, short-term and long-term drought programs wereformulated to deal with the extreme drought of the 1930's. By 1977 there were 40 separate programsadministered by 16 different federal agencies. This paper traces the development of federal drought reliefbureaucracy, including drought designation criteria and procedures. Two obvious deficiencies of past drought relief efforts in the United States are noted. First, drought relieforganizations and programs have been hastily assembled during periods of crisis. This has resulted in reducedprogram effectiveness as implementation has often been delayed pending program formulation and congressional approval. Second, previous efforts have had no adequate and systematic provision of timely information on drought conditions and impacts to persons or agencies involved in administering drought programs. The desi...
Comprehensive Framework for Planning and Assessment of Traffic Incident Management Programs

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for traffic incident management (TIM) covering major components and key elements that contribute to the success of a TIM program. The proposed framework starts with three broad categories of components—strategic, tactical, and support—and then expands with detailed elements that are essential to accomplishing the goals for each component. The strategic component focuses on establishing and promoting institutional, organizational, and financial contexts, and the support component addresses information and communication aspects of TIM. Both components are critical to the performance of the tactical component, which covers the core activities in incident clearance and traffic management. The framework builds on federal guidance for major components and strategies in TIM while adding more structured details and perspectives that serve as the basic guidelines in planning and assessment of TIM programs. The paper also presents a case study that links the Florida Dep...
Irwin Freedberg and the government.

I admired Irwin Freedberg very much. His friendship, which went well beyond our professional ties, was a great joy to me. I shared many of life's pleasures with him, and I could always count on Irwin as a sounding board and as a trusted advisor long before (and after) I became director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
Recent activities of public agencies to assure healthful diets for Americans.

Abstract In the United States, public agencies long have been involved in providing information about food and nutrition. Over the years, however, the nature of that involvement has shifted. Initially the emphasis was on practical information about agriculture and home economics. Gradually emphasis has shifted to concerns about malnutrition and, more recently, to concerns about overconsumption and associated health problems. This paper reviews some of the food and nutrition-related activities of public agencies and summarizes some recent concerns related to nutrition “recommendations”, “goals”, and “guidelines”. Two key publications related to nutrition issues are: 1) “Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” published jointly by United States Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services and 2) “Toward Healthful Diets,” from the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences. One of the guidelines in the former publication tends to encourage the dairy industry to orient toward reducing consumption of milk fat. In contrast, the analysis in the latter publication tends to encourage adoption of an approach to promote nutrition education and marketing programs without necessarily reducing consumption of milk fat. The approach of the dairy industry would differ depending upon which guidelines were adopted.
A CHALLENGE FOR ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHERS IN BILINGUAL SETTINGS: ANALYZING SPANISH/ENGLISH CLASSROOM INTERACTION

Abstract This paper summarizes the ethnohistorical development of modern ethnography and assesses the potential of this research methodology for the study of bilingual classroom interactions. The focus of the summary and assessment is on the emic use of “context” as a tool for interpreting behaviour. Not until very recently did ethnographic research methods begin xo be used on the study of classroom interactions. A closer look at the ethnohistorical development of ethnographic research with the schools from the early 1950's to today reveals a common emic approach, and a highly eclectic use of diverse psychological, anthropological, sociological and linguistic theoretical frames. Ethnographic research in the classrooms does not only consist of new observational methods and new audio‐ or video‐tape based analytical techniques. In addition, these new methods and techniques are specifically designed to study the context of social interaction on the assumption that context is a crucial factor determining behav...
Relationships Among Soil Carbon and Physiochemical Properties of a Typic Albaqualf as Affected by Years Under Cultivation

Abstract Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a dynamic soil property and a key component of the quality and sustainability of agricultural soils. Predictions of SOC change often rely on correlations between SOC and other soil physical and chemical properties that are assumed to be more stable over time. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term stability of relationships between SOC, physiochemical properties, and years under cultivation in a common rice (Oryza sativa L.) soil (i.e., a fine, montmorillonitic, thermic, Typic Albaqualf) of the Mississippi Delta region of the south-central United States. The field site consisted of an undisturbed native prairie and three agricultural fields that have been cultivated for 15, 26, and 44 years, respectively, in 2001. Neither SOC concentration nor mass was significantly correlated with sand, silt, or clay content, but both were significantly correlated with pH in 1987. Soil OC concentration and mass were significantly correlated with both silt and clay, ...
A Comparison Between Fibronectin and Matrigel Pretreated ePTFE Vascular Grafts

Two distinct series of experiments were performed to compare the behavior of ePTFE vascular grafts coated with basement membrane gel to that of identical grafts coated with fibronectin. Bilateral carotid interposition grafts (10 cm long) were interposed in 16 conditioned mongrel dogs. In the first series of experiments (n = 10), each graft was seeded with radiolabeled endothelial cells and initial endothelial cell adherence was determined. Following restoration of blood flow in the grafts, endothelial cell retention was measured for 24 hours. Seeding efficiency was 66.48% (± 13.2) for fibronectin-coated grafts and 56.58% (± 13.51) for gel-coated grafts. There was a slow, constant loss of activity during the first 90 minutes of imaging, and at 24 hours of observation the activity remaining on the fibronectin-coated graft was 13.2 ±3.98% of the initial graft activity. Although the basement membrane gel had a higher mean activity at 24 hours (18.9 ± 7.22%), the difference was not statistically significant at any interval. In the second series of animals (n = 6), radiolabeled platelets were injected within 60 minutes following restoration of flow. Total platelet activity on the explanted grafts was 3.36 (± 1.35) × 105 counts per gram/0.2 minute for the fibronectin-coated grafts. The gel-coated grafts had 2.74 (± 1.33) × 105 counts per gram/0.2 minute, a difference that was not statistically significant. Thus, despite its theoretical appeal, basement membrane gel was no better than fibronectin in increasing endothelial cell adherence and retention, and the resulting flow surface of grafts treated with either compound appeared to attract platelets to an equal degree. nt]pra|Presented at the Third Symposium on Endothelial Seeding, Indianapolis, Indiana, October 20–21, 1988.
Dietary lipids and arteriosclerosis

A great deal of attention has been given to the question of whether dietary fats in general and certain fats in particular play an important part in such arteriosclerotic complications as heart attacks and strokes. Milk fats have been widely accepted as desirable nutritional fats. Cow milk fat, or butter, contains a wide variety of fatty acid derivatives, including the important, medium chain acids. The structural configuration of butter triglycerides facilitates absorption of the palmitate present in butter. However, there have been objections to the use of butter and other forms of milk fat because of the preoccupation of many investigators with the unproven lipid theory of arteriosclerosis, and because serum cholesterol levels are relatively high after the intake of milk fat. Reevaluation of the lipid theory suggests that cholesterol can hardly be an atherogenic factor. Cholesterol occurs under conditions of tissue repair, and it may well be that the high serum levels in arteriosclerotic conditions are a consequence of such processes. The low serum levels occurring after the consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable oils are often associated with high tissue levels of cholesterol. Long term clinical studies and population surveys suggest that this century’s changes in mortality and morbidity are much less related to dietary factors (other than over-eating) than is claimed. New insights in the fields of immunology and microbiology may be vastly more important for an understanding of some etiological factors in arteriosclerosis.
Community organizing and educational change: a reconnaissance

Ten years ago community organizing as a form of educational change had only begun to challenge traditional models of school reform. Yet a decade later, community organizing has led to important changes in school and community relationships that have been documented by scholars in the areas of education, sociology, social work, and political science. Current US President Barack Obama, a former organizer who worked on the South Side of Chicago, has given new visibility to community organizing. The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has approved the creation of a new Special Interest Group (SIG) on the topic of community and youth organizing. This article traces the origins, spread, and impacts of community organizing on educational change, arguing that it provides an important repertoire of practices for change leaders.
Characterizing the distribution of an endangered salmonid using environmental DNA analysis

Abstract Determining species distributions accurately is crucial to developing conservation and management strategies for imperiled species, but a challenging task for small populations. We evaluated the efficacy of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for improving detection and thus potentially refining the known distribution of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Methow and Okanogan Subbasins of the Upper Columbia River, which span the border between Washington, USA and British Columbia, Canada. We developed an assay to target a 90 base pair sequence of Chinook DNA and used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to quantify the amount of Chinook eDNA in triplicate 1-L water samples collected at 48 stream locations in June and again in August 2012. The overall probability of detecting Chinook with our eDNA method in areas within the known distribution was 0.77 (±0.05 SE). Detection probability was lower in June (0.62, ±0.08 SE) during high flows and at the beginning of spring Chinook migration than during base flows in August (0.93, ±0.04 SE). In the Methow subbasin, mean eDNA concentration was higher in August compared to June, especially in smaller tributaries, probably resulting from the arrival of spring Chinook adults, reduced discharge, or both. Chinook eDNA concentrations did not appear to change in the Okanogan subbasin from June to August. Contrary to our expectations about downstream eDNA accumulation, Chinook eDNA did not decrease in concentration in upstream reaches (0–120 km). Further examination of factors influencing spatial distribution of eDNA in lotic systems may allow for greater inference of local population densities along stream networks or watersheds. These results demonstrate the potential effectiveness of eDNA detection methods for determining landscape-level distribution of anadromous salmonids in large river systems.
Fundamental properties of non-negative impulse response filters — Theoretical bounds II

This paper presents several fundamental frequency-domain bounds for a non-negative impulse response (NNIR) filter. Upper-bounds on power spectral attenuation and power spectral gain in geometrically spaced frequency regions are derived, when power spectral attenuation near frequency zero is limited. By analyzing the tightnesses of these bounds, the relationship between the maximally allowable power attenuation and gain is also treated. All results hold for both continuous and discrete-time domains.
Adiponectin, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: Parsing the dual prognostic implications of a complex adipokine

The recognition that adipose tissue is an endocrine organ marked a watershed in understanding the regulatory control of energy metabolism, and raised new prospects for harnessing adipose-derived hormones for the treatment of metabolic disorders and their cardiovascular complications (1). The promise of one such adipokine, the 30 kDa protein adiponectin, has loomed especially large in the wake of multiple studies demonstrating its insulin-sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, and cardiomyocyte-protective properties in experimental settings (2; 3). These findings notwithstanding, the study of adiponectin in the clinical and epidemiological spheres has produced a far more complicated picture of this adipokine’s role as a biomarker and putative mediator of cardiometabolic disease in human populations.
Smooth Ag Film Deposited Using e-beam Evaporated Ge as an Intermediate Layer for Applications in Nanoscale Devices and Optical Superlens

In this paper, we highlight a new method to obtain smoother silver (Ag) film characterized by much smaller average RMS surface roughness of ∼0.7nm, peak-to-valley separation of ∼4nm and grain-size distribution ~15nm as compared to conventionally obtainable Ag film characterized by RMS surface roughness of ∼10nm, peak-to-valley separation of ∼20nm and grain-size distribution of ∼100nm. Thin Ag films of ∼15nm (optically thin) were deposited on double-polished borosilicate glass and silicon (100) substrates with 2nm Germanium (Ge) intermediate layers. An optically thick Ag film of 60nm was also prepared with 2nm Ge. The Germanium thicknesses were also varied and similar surface morphology improvements are observable on all the samples. The AFM image analysis shows that having the evaporated Ge intermediate layer drastically changes the Ag surface morphology, namely, the surface roughness, peak-to-valley and grain size distribution. Our smooth Ag results are very promising for applications in molecular electronics interconnect, optical metamaterials, plasmonic superlens and nanophotonics.
Chronic hemodialysis in end-stage lupus nephritis: changes of clinical and serological activities

The available data on the clinical and serological activities of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in dialysis patients with end-stage lupus nephritis are limited. The clinical and serological parameters in 12 such patients prior to, at the onset of, and an average of 31 months after the institution of hemodialysis were retrospectively compared. One of the patients died of cardiopulmonary arrest within 1 week after institution of hemodialysis. All patients were clinically and serologically active prior to the onset of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). With the onset of ESRD, 2 of the 10 patients exhibited complete clinical and serological remission, and 2 patients showed clinical remission with persistent serological activity. After an average of 31 months on dialysis, the number of patients in total remission rose to 4 of 11, and the number of clinically inactive but serologically active patients was 1 of 11. Significant clinical and serological activities persisted in 6 of the 11 dialysis patients, requiring low dose steroid therapy in 3. The authors conclude that the clinical and serological activities of SLE decrease with the onset of ESRD and the institution of dialysis, leading to complete or partial remission in the majority of patients.
Text mining for pharmacogenomics

We are building the Pharmacogenetics & Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB, http://www.pharmgkb.org/) with the goal of cataloguing all knowledge about how genetic variation impacts drug response phenotypes. PharmGKB stores primary data (genotype and phenotype data) as well as more distilled knowledge in the form of pathway diagrams, annotated summaries of very important pharmacogenes (VIP genes), and annotated literature. The literature annotation efforts include both manual curation by trained curators and automatic information extraction. In this talk, I will discuss three projects relevant to our efforts in literature curation:1. The Pharmspresso project is a simple rule-based system for extracting mentions of gene, drug, disease and polymorphism interactions from text. It is based on the Textpresso system developed at Caltech, but adds specific rules about human drugs, genes and phenotypes. The initial version of Pharmspresso had good performance, but suffered from false positive extractions, and so we have been working to improve the performance, while maintaining as much generality as possible. Pharmspresso is available athttp://pharmspresso.stanford.edu/2. The PGxPipeline project builds on the gene-drug-disease associations mined both manually and automatically to do scientific discovery. A critical bottleneck in pharmacogenetics is identifying genes that are likely to be important for modifying drug response. Unless the full details of drug action and metabolism are understood, any of the ~25,000 human genes could be important for understanding action and metabolism. PgxPipeline is built to accept as input a drug and an indication for use (e.g. pain or high cholesterol). It then uses both information from the literature as well as information about chemical structure to rank order all genes in the human genome with respect to the likelihood that they interact with the drug of interest. In this way, we can prioritize the genes that are most likely to be relevant to the drug. We have found that our rank order lists are useful adjuncts to other independent sources of information, and work best in combination with these.3. Finally, we have been studying the sites in proteins that bind small molecules (such as drugs) or are important as active sites where the proteins' functions occur. We have clustered these sites based on structural similarity to discover new structural motifs associated with protein function. Very often, we have no knowledge of the function of these newly discovered structural motifs, but the literature often has substantial information about the function of the proteins to which these motifs belong. Our final project, then, is focused on gathering the literature associated with proteins that have a common motif, and determining what words/concepts are likely to describe the common functions of these proteins, and therefore be the likely significance of these shared structural motifs.
Hemoglobin Charge Dependence on Hemoglobin Concentration in Vitro

Studies have been made of the dependence of the charge of the hemoglobin molecule on hemoglobin concentration in the concentration range between 3 and 11 mmolal. The charge has been determined by measuring the distribution of 42K between a hemoglobin solution in a cellophane bag and an external solution. The pH was 6.6, the K concentration was 10 mM, and the temperature was 4°C. The charge decreased along a sigmoid curve from a value of +3 in the most dilute solutions to a value of +0.5 in the most concentrated solutions. The results were in excellent agreement with earlier studies of Gary-Bobo and Solomon in which Cl distribution was measured between human red cells and external solutions and thus give added support to the conclusion that the apparent anomalous osmotic behavior of human red cells may be attributed to concentration-dependent changes in the hemoglobin net charge. The present findings also support the view that the water in the red cell is solvent water for K and Cl and differs in no quantitatively important respect from bulk water in free solution.
Minimal intervention and arthritis treatment: Implications for patient and physician compliance

A rationale based on a public health perspective for using minimal intervention programs in the treatment of arthritis is presented. Minimal interventions are relatively inexpensive, relatively free from side effects, and produce therapeutic effects that range from statistically significant to clinically important. Empirical evidence regarding the relative efficacy of minimal intervention programs continues to accumulate in general preventive medicine. Extension to arthritis treatment and control is recommended. This will require (1) practitioners to recognize the public health perspective, (2) consensus judgment that a treatment is likely to produce therapeutic benefits at little cost and with minimal side effects, and (3) empirical validation of efficacy based on clinical trial results. It is concluded that the concept of minimal intervention could increase physicians' use of such treatments and thereby increase the therapeutic benefits to patients suffering from arthritic disease.
The absolute value of gravity at Washington

The absolute determination of gravity at the National Bureau of Standards has been practically completed, only a few weeks' work yet remaining. The value found, with all the experimental corrections made that are at present possible, is 980.087, with an average departure from the mean of 0.011. The least-square probable error would be less than this, about ±0.003, but on account of the considerable spread of the single results this is not a reliable criterion.
Assimilation of Reflectivity Data in a Convective-Scale, Cycled 3DVAR Framework with Hydrometeor Classification

AbstractThe impact of assimilating radar reflectivity and radial velocity data with an intermittent, cycled three-dimensional variational assimilation (3DVAR) system is explored using an idealized thunderstorm case and a real data case on 8 May 2003. A new forward operator for radar reflectivity is developed that uses a background temperature field provided by a numerical weather prediction model for automatic hydrometeor classification. Three types of experiments are performed on both the idealized and real data cases. The first experiment uses radial velocity data only, the second experiment uses both radial velocity and reflectivity data without hydrometeor classification, and the final experiment uses both radial velocity and reflectivity data with hydrometeor classification. All experiments advance the analysis state to the next observation time using a numerical model prediction, which is then used as the background for the next analysis. Results from both the idealized and real data cases show that...
El cambio climático y sus efectos en el Perú

Luego de una presentacion del impacto esperado del cambio climatico en el crecimiento global, analizan las consecuencias del calentamiento y la acumulacion de gases de efecto invernadero sobre el crecimiento del pais.
A 94 GHz mm-Wave-to-Baseband Pulsed-Radar Transceiver with Applications in Imaging and Gesture Recognition

High-resolution mm-wave array beamformers have applications in medical imaging, gesture recognition, and navigation. A scalable array architecture for 3D imaging is proposed in which single-element phase coherent transceiver (TRX) chips, with programmable TX pulse delay capability, are mounted on a common board to realize the array. This paper presents the design of the enabling TRX chip: a highly integrated 94 GHz phase-coherent pulsed-radar with on-chip antennas. The TRX achieves 10 GHz of frequency tuning range and 300 ps of contiguous pulse position control, enabling its usage in the large-array imager with time-domain TX beamforming. The TRX is capable of transmitting and receiving pulses down to 36 ps, translating to 30 GHz of bandwidth. Interferometric measurements show the TRX can obtain single-target range resolution better than 375 μm (limited by equipment). Based on delay measurements, the time of arrival rms error would be less than 1.3 ps which, if used in a 3D imaging array, leads to less than 0.36 mm of RMS error in voxel size and position.
Decline of subpolar North Atlantic circulation during the 1990s

Observations of sea surface height reveal that substantial changes have occurred over the past decade in the mid- to high-latitude North Atlantic Ocean. TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data show that subpolar sea surface height increased during the 1990s, and the geostrophic velocity derived from altimeter data exhibits declining subpolar gyre circulation. Combining the data from earlier satellites, we find that subpolar circulation may have been weaker in the late 1990s than in the late 1970s and 1980s. Direct current-meter observations in the boundary current of the Labrador Sea support the weakening circulation trend of the 1990s and, together with hydrographic data, show that the mid- to late 1990s decline extends deep in the water column. Analysis of the local surface forcing suggests that the 1990s buoyancy forcing has a dynamic effect consistent with altimetric and hydrographic observations: A weak thermohaline forcing allows the decay of the domed structure of subpolar isopycnals and weakening of circulation.
New cervical approach for tracheopexy

Deficiency of the tracheal cartilage is known to occur with oesophageal atresia resulting in abnormal compressibility. It does not require treatment unless symptomatic. Symptoms comprise apnoeic or cyanotic spells, often precipitated by feeds, and recurrent chest infections. When other causes such as stricture, recurrent fistula and gastro-oesophageal reflux have been excluded, the abnormality can be diagnosed radiologically and endoscopically. Previously tracheopexy through a lateral thoracic approach has been described. We describe three patients who had a successful tracheopexy through an anterior cervical approach, which is simpler, and a fourth in whom there was partial alleviation.
Mercury Toxicity in Wildland Firefighters

Objective.—Recent studies have shown that significant levels of mercury are being released into the atmosphere by wildland fires throughout the United States. Eagle populations in the western United States are experiencing mercury toxicity in areas where many of these massive fires are occurring. We hypothesized that wildland firefighters exposed to smoke and other contaminates from these extensive fires would also reflect elevated blood levels of mercury. Methods.—Wildland firefighters in the western United States were studied during the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009. Pre- and post-fire season blood samples were tested for mercury in a cohort of firefighters and control subjects. Results.—Over the course of 3 summers, 66 firefighters were studied (41 had pre- and postseason blood draws). In 2008 and 2009 a control group was added with a total of 39 subjects (24 had pre- and postseason blood draws). Detectable blood levels of mercury were found in 6 firefighters, and 1 elevated level was found over the course of the study period. Six control subjects had detectable mercury levels, and no elevated levels were found. Conclusions.—This study did not show statistically significant elevated blood levels of mercury in our cohort of wildland firefighters. However, as forest fires continue to ignite, we recommend continued investigation to ensure the health and safety of firefighting crews.
Novel and Engineered Anti–B-Cell Monoclonal Antibodies for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Over the past decade, the safety and efficacy of the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab has resulted in its use in virtually all patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Unfortunately, many patients who initially benefit from rituximab develop resistance while others may never respond. Both the successes and limitations of rituximab have heralded an explosion in research and development of novel monoclonal antibodies. Strategies employed to improve upon rituximab have included developing antibodies to target new epitopes of CD20 and new antigens, humanizing or creating fully human antibodies, and engineering antibodies with a potentially greater capacity for interaction with the host immune system. Each of these strategies has shown varying degrees of preclinical and clinical success. In this review we discuss the rationale for various strategies and report results from clinical trials employing these agents.
Post pulse recovery of HPM generated plasma at close to atmospheric pressure

Summary form only given. We study the recovery of the low temperature plasma generated by a microsecond high power microwave, HPM, pulse in different gases at pressures approaching one atmosphere. The experiment mimics the electrical breakdown at the interface between the vacuum HPM-source environment and the radiating environment (generally held at atmospheric pressure). This low temperature plasma is generated along the surface on the atmospheric side where the high Eeff/p, or reduced effective electric field with pressure, causes high levels of ionization leading to the formation of a highly conductive plasma within the duration of the microsecond pulse. With the maximum HPM pulse repetition rate being highly dependent on the relaxation of this plasma, it is the goal of this study to determine the kinematics and chemistry of this low temperature plasma as it pertains to ion, electron, and excited species densities. For this study, a 2.85 GHz magnetron operating in the TE10 mode of a WR-284 standard waveguide is used to generate a 3 MW, 3 microsecond pulse with a rise time of less than 50 ns that is incident on the dielectric window separating the two environments. The atmospheric side is enclosed in a structure that mimics an open radiation pattern similar to that of current HPM systems. To understand the post-pulse features, two custom multi-standard waveguide couplers were designed to implement and extract a low power 10 GHz CW source into the main waveguide structure while keeping a low insertion loss for the HPM pulse. The results of this power signal (max attenuation values range -10 to -40 dB) along with a 1D plane wave excited plasma model is used to infer the temporal average electron density (specifically the longitudinal integral of the surface plasma density) at a range of pressures and different gases, typically 10-400 torr for air, N2, Ar, and He. The peak electron density and loss rates are then correlated with diffusion lengths, recombination and attachment rates given in literature to ascertain the dominant plasma relaxation path and species along with a means to extrapolate the time required to relax to a nominal background electron density. For instance, the dominant electron loss process in 90 torr air is attachment with a frequency of 121 kHz and peak electron density of ~1013 cm-3 resulting in relaxation times of a few hundred microseconds while in N2, the dominant process soon after the pulse is determined to be 2-body dissociative recombination.
Pipelining of orthogonal double-rotation digital lattice filters

The ODR (orthogonal double-rotation) digital lattice filters have desirable properties for VLSI implementation such as local connection, regularity and pipelinability. These filters are also known to exhibit good numerical behavior for finite precision implementation. Although these filters can be pipelined by the cut-set localization procedure, it should be noted that the maximum sample rate obtained by this technique is limited by the feedback computations. In this paper, a pipelining method for the ODR digital lattice filters is proposed, by which the sample rate can be increased at any desired level. The pipelining method is based on the properties of the Schur algorithm, constrained filter design methods, and the polyphase decomposition technique. >
For Better or Worse: The Impact of Upward Social Comparison on Self-Evaluations

Upward social comparison is generally regarded as ego deflating, yet people often compare themselves with those whose abilities and attributes are better than their own. Upward comparison provides useful information, which may partially account for this behavior. Furthermore, it is proposed that upw
An Ultralow-Power Dual-Band UWB Impulse Radio

In this brief, we present a dual-band ultralow-power ultrawideband (UWB) impulse radio (UWB-IR) transceiver in a 90-nm CMOS process for low-data-rate UWB on-off keying (OOK) communications. The dual-band topology enables separation of timing and data impulses for simplified synchronization and duty cycling. The receiver can dynamically switch between two 500-MHz bands centered at 3.5 and 4.5 GHz with an interband isolation of 30 dB. With a fast turn-on time of ~1-2 ns, the total power requirement of the duty-cycled receiver (Rx) block is measured to be 12 μW at 100 kb/s for a Rx sensitivity of -87 dBm and a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3. The dual-band impulse-based transmitter (Tx) is designed using a duty-cycled LC oscillator topology enabled only when a transmission is requested and consumes only 8 μW at 100 kpulse/s. For a BER of 10-3 , the instantaneous signal-to-interference ratio was measured to be better than -50 dB for a 2.4-GHz narrowband interferer. The total power for the transceiver at 20 μW is an order of magnitude better than state-of-the-art designs for comparable performance.
A new single phase AC to DC harmonic reduction converter based on the voltage-doubler circuit

Modern power electronic equipment that use switch-mode technology are major sources of harmonic currents. Several methods of power factor improvement through harmonic elimination have been developed that use high frequency switches to actively shape the input current. In this paper, a single-phase harmonic reduction circuit based on the voltage-doubler circuit is presented that uses a switch operated on line-frequency. Significant reduction of the total harmonic distortion of the power supply current is achieved with the proposed method. Theoretical, simulation and laboratory waveforms of the input current and its harmonic components are presented. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed circuit are outlined. >
To Protect and Serve Whiteness

Critics of policing often utter the phrase ‘to protect and serve,’ in order to point out the gap between discourses of ethical policing and practices of punitive policing in black communities. However, the present analysis asserts that a more appropriate representation of the policing function is ‘to protect and serve whiteness.’ Drawing ethnographic observations, the Ferguson Report and Officer Darren Wilson’s Grand Jury Testimony, I shift the locus of critique away from the putative problems of ‘police brutality,’ ‘excessive force,’ and ‘police militarization.’ I argue that these critiques naturalize the forms of psychic violence, dehumanization and dispossession inflicted in routine and professional encounters between police and black people. Instead, I argue that anti-blackness is imbricated in policing itself. Then, by examining the ways in which modern policing and ‘order maintenance’ approaches developed from southern slave patrols, I assert that policing in the United States is always already racialized policing. It plays a foundational role assigning of racial meanings, helping to produce whiteness as a subject of protection and blackness an object of regulation.
Just How Marginal Was Machado de Assis? The Early Translations and the Borges Connection

Brazilian literature is traditionally understood to have developed in relative isolation from the literatures of Hispanophone Latin America, inhabiting a peripheral cultural space within the already peripheral sphere of Latin American literature. Perhaps the most striking example of this traditional conception is the commonly held assumption of the complete literary-historical separation of two of Latin America’s most renowned fiction writers: the Brazilian Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and the Argentine Jorge Luis Borges. Machado de Assis, in particular, is often regarded as inhabiting a double cultural periphery, as both a Latin American and a Brazilian, who, furthermore, wrote in a “minor” language, never traveled outside of his own country, and rarely ever left his native Rio de Janeiro. Another enduring belief, tangential to the tale of Brazil’s cultural isolation, is that Machado de Assis’s work went untranslated, by and large, until about half a century after his death. Yet the early translation history of Machado’s work offers a fascinating insight into the literary ties that connect his work to the dominant literary cultures of the Americas and Europe and provides an intriguing literary-historical link between Machado de Assis and Jorge Luis Borges. Curiously, the connection between Machado and Borges, whose countries share a border, follows a route of translational cultural exchange through France and Spain, and involves a prolific translator who was both the first Spanish translator of Machado’s short fiction and the mentor of a young Borges: Rafael Cansinos Assens. Thus, the early history of Machado’s fiction in translation demonstrates that Machado is a much less peripheral figure than previously imagined, and that, through Machado, Brazilian literature is more intimately intertwined with the literatures of Hispanophone Latin America and the cultural capitals of Europe than critics and scholars have recognized.
Low-Lying States in Rb 86 from ( d , p ), ( d , t ), and ( n , γ ) Reactions

The energy levels of ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{86}$ have been studied through the neutron stripping and pickup reactions ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}(d, p){\mathrm{Rb}}^{86}$ and ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{87}(d, t){\mathrm{Rb}}^{86}$, and the thermal-neutron-capture reaction ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}(n, \ensuremath{\gamma}){\mathrm{Rb}}^{86}$. Enriched targets were bombarded with 12-MeV deuterons, and proton and triton spectra were observed with a magnetic spectrograph; proton angular distributions were compared with a distorted-wave Born-approximation (DWBA) calculation. Thermal-neutron-capture $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectra from both enriched ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}$ and natural rubidium targets have been studied in the energy intervals 50-2000 keV and 5000-8500 keV with a Ge(Li) spectrometer system. 32 low-energy $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions were incorporated into a level scheme defined by the combined ($d, p$), ($d, t$), and the primary ($n, \ensuremath{\gamma}$) measurements. Tentative spin and parity assignments for 18 levels below 1505 keV are proposed on the basis of assigned orbital angular momentum transfers and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray population and decay modes. The low-lying states of ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{86}$ are discussed in terms of shell-model proton-neutron configurations; comparison is made with a zero-range spin-dependent calculation. Although correlation between the data and positive parity levels predicted by the simple model is not entirely satisfactory, reasonable agreement has been found for low-lying negative parity levels.
Teaching Generation Me

Today’s college students are significantly different from previous generations. On average, they are overconfident, have high expectations, report higher narcissism, are lower in creativity, are le...
Localism and Capital Judicial Override in Jefferson County, Alabama

This article is an analysis of capital judicial override in Alabama through localist theories of capital punishment, with special focus on Liebman and Clarke’s arguments about parochialism and libertarianism. We suggest that localism is related to high rates of death sentencing in one county even when the sentencing agent is a judge, not a jury. We begin with a review of Liebman and Clarke’s analysis, then proceed with a description of the law on override in Alabama, and conclude with a qualitative content analysis of sentencing opinions from Jefferson County, Alabama (which has the highest number of overrides to death). After finding evidence of parochialism and libertarianism in all of the sentencing opinions, we suggest that localism may be related to high death sentencing in Jefferson County and urge scholars to study this phenomenon in other high death penalty active counties.
FitPlay Games: Increasing Exercise Motivation Through Asynchronous Social Gaming

Many factors contribute to people's physical inactivity, but among the leading factors is a lack of motivation. Fitness trackers have been shown to encourage an increase in exercise, but they are frequently abandoned within a few short months. We developed our asynchronous-play social gaming platform, FitPlay Games, to fill the gap in motivation left by current fitness trackers. By providing users with a variety of asynchronous cooperative and competitive gaming styles, we enable them to find a motivation technique that works best for their lifestyle and fitness prowess. The platform encourages prolonged use of fitness trackers, helping users to have more healthy lifestyles. Individual games are designed to allow both the novice and the maven to have a chance at winning, leveling the playing field, and increasing motivation to win. The effectiveness, usability, and enjoyability of the social games will be assessed, with an emphasis on understanding differences in play habits due to gender and lifestyle.
Application of Performance Management in State-owned Enterprises Management

The main problems existing in performance management in state-owned enterprises are analyzed and discussed, as well as the effective methods to implement performance management in state-owned enterprises are put forward.
HPLC-FLD method for determination of 9 biogenic amines in rice wine

Objective To establish HPLC- FLD method for determiantion of 9 biogenic amine including tryptamine,phenylethylamine,putrescine,cadaverine,tyramine,octopamine,histamine,spermidine and spermine in rice wine. Methods Biogenic amines and internal standard 1,7- Diaminoheptane reacted with dansyl chloride under certain conditions to form derivatives which were then extracted with ether. Then the extracts were blown to dryness by N2,dissolved with 1 ml acetonitrile,filtered through 0. 45 μm microporous membrane,separated on C18 column at 30℃ with acetonitrile- water as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml / min for gradient elution,and detected by FLD. The sample quantification was carried out by internal standard method,while the qualitative analysis was carried out by retention time. Results The 9 biogenic amines showed good linearity in range of 1. 0 mg / L ~ 75. 0 mg / L. The detection limit was 0. 06 mg / kg ~ 0. 71 mg / kg,the recoveries were between 80% ~ 121%,the RSDs were between 0. 69% ~ 2. 36%. Conclusion This method is simple,accurate,reliable and it can simultaneously determine the content of nine biogenic amines in yellow rice wine.
Combined hormonal contraceptive use among obese women and risk for cardiovascular events: A systematic review

Abstract Context Combined hormonal contraceptive (CHC) use may modify the risk of cardiovascular events in obese [body mass index (BMI) ≥30kg/m 2 ] women. Objective The objective was to evaluate from the literature whether CHC use modifies the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) in obese women and to evaluate evidence for a dose–response relationship between BMI and VTE. Methods We searched PubMed for all articles published between database inception and February 2016 providing direct evidence on BMI, CHCs, and cardiovascular outcomes. We also searched for indirect evidence related to a dose–response relationship between BMI and risk of VTE in the general population, as these data were lacking for CHC users. The quality of each individual study was assessed using the system for grading evidence developed by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. Results The direct evidence search yielded 3 pooled analyses, 11 case–control studies and 1 cohort study. There was conflicting evidence about the risk of AMI or stroke among obese combined oral contraceptive (COC) users compared to obese nonusers, with one study finding no increased risk for AMI or stroke for COC users overall or stratified by BMI. A second study found significantly increased risk of AMI and stroke for COC users, with the highest risk estimates for high-BMI COC users. A single study suggested that obese COC users may be at higher risk for CVT compared with normal-weight nonusers. For VTE, obese COC users consistently had a risk that was 5 to 8 times that of obese nonusers and approximately 10 times that of nonobese nonusers. Five prospective cohort studies were identified as indirect evidence, and all found increased risk for VTE as BMI increased, suggesting a dose–response relationship between BMI and risk for VTE. No studies on the contraceptive patch or vaginal ring were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion Limited evidence of Level II-2, fair quality, concerning whether CHC use modifies the risk of AMI and stroke in obese women is inconclusive, while a single study of Level II-2, poor quality, found that obese COC users may be at higher risk for CVT compared with normal-weight nonusers. Both COC use and higher BMI increase risk for VTE, and the greatest relative risks are for those with both risk factors based on a body of evidence graded as Level II-2, fair to poor quality. It is not possible to estimate absolute risk of VTE among women with both of these risk factors; however, the absolute risk of VTE in healthy women of reproductive age is small.