cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial-temporal relationship between population mobility and COVID-19 outbreaks in South Carolina: A time series forecasting analysis

Background: Population mobility is closely associated with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) transmission, and it could be used as a proximal indicator to predict future outbreaks, which could inform proactive non-pharmaceutical interventions for disease control. South Carolina (SC) is one of the states which reopened early and then suffered from a sharp increase of COVID-19. Objective: To examine the spatial-temporal relationship between population mobility and COVID-19 outbreaks and use population mobility to predict daily new cases at both state- and county- levels in SC. Methods: This longitudinal study used disease surveillance data and Twitter-based population mobility data from March 6 to November 11, 2020 in SC and its top five counties with the largest number of cumulative confirmed cases. Daily new case was calculated by subtracting the cumulative confirmed cases of previous day from the total cases. Population mobility was assessed using the number of users with travel distance larger than 0.5 mile which was calculated based on their geotagged twitters. Poisson count time series model was employed to carry out the research goals. Results: Population mobility was positively associated with state-level daily COVID-19 incidence and those of the top five counties (i.e., Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Spartanburg, Richland). At the state-level, final model with time window within the last 7-day had the smallest prediction error, and the prediction accuracy was as high as 98.7%, 90.9%, and 81.6% for the next 3-, 7-, 14- days, respectively. Among Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Spartanburg, and Richland counties, the best predictive models were established based on their observations in the last 9-, 14-, 28-, 20-, and 9- days, respectively. The 14-day prediction accuracy ranged from 60.3% to 74.5%. Conclusions: Population mobility was positively associated with COVID-19 incidences at both state- and county- levels in SC. Using Twitter-based mobility data could provide acceptable prediction for COVID-19 daily new cases. Population mobility measured via social media platform could inform proactive measures and resource relocations to curb disease outbreaks and their negative influences.
Learning Student Interest Trajectory for MOOCThread Recommendation.

In recent years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have witnessed immense growth in popularity. Now, due to the recent Covid19 pandemic situation, it is important to push the limits of online education. Discussion forums are primary means of interaction among learners and instructors. However, with growing class size, students face the challenge of finding useful and informative discussion forums. This problem can be solved by matching the interest of students with thread contents. The fundamental challenge is that the student interests drift as they progress through the course, and forum contents evolve as students or instructors update them. In our paper, we propose to predict future interest trajectories of students. Our model consists of two key operations: 1) Update operation and 2) Projection operation. Update operation models the inter-dependency between the evolution of student and thread using coupled Recurrent Neural Networks when the student posts on the thread. The projection operation learns to estimate future embedding of students and threads. For students, the projection operation learns the drift in their interests caused by the change in the course topic they study. The projection operation for threads exploits how different posts induce varying interest levels in a student according to the thread structure. Extensive experimentation on three real-world MOOC datasets shows that our model significantly outperforms other baselines for thread recommendation.
To Reform and Help Reunite America, Conservatives Must Embrace the Natural Law of the Founders

The modern-day conservative movement has been losing on every front because of a lack of connection to the first principles of the Founding Fathers. The conservative movement must reform by grounding itself in the natural law and first principles of the Founding Fathers.
Radiologic Measurements in the Assessment of Patellar Instability: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background:Numerous diagnostic imaging measurements related to patellar instability have been evaluated in the literature; however, little has been done to compare these findings across multiple st...
Youth with Type 1 Diabetes had Improvement in Continuous Glucose Monitoring Metrics During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on glycemic metrics in children is uncertain. This study evaluates the effect of the shelter-in-place (SIP) mandate on gly...
Single cell functional genomics reveals plasticity of subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) during early postnatal development.

Abstract Objective The current study addresses the cellular complexity and plasticity of subcutaneous (inguinal) white adipose tissue (iWAT) in mice during the critical periods of perinatal growth and establishment. Methods We performed a large-scale single cell transcriptomic (scRNA-seq) and epigenomic (snATAC-seq) characterization of cellular subtypes (adipose stromal cells (ASC) and adipocyte nuclei) during inguinal WAT (subcutaneous; iWAT) development in mice, capturing the early postnatal period (postnatal days (PND) 06 and 18) through adulthood (PND56). Results Perinatal and adult iWAT contain 3 major ASC subtypes that can be independently identified by RNA expression profiles and DNA transposase accessibility. Furthermore, the transcriptomes and enhancer landscapes of both ASC and adipocytes dynamically change during postnatal development. Perinatal ASC (PND06) are highly enriched for several imprinted genes (IGs; e.g., Mest, H19, Igf2) and extracellular matrix proteins whose expression then declines prior to weaning (PND18). By comparison, adult ASC (PND56) are more enriched for transcripts associated with immunoregulation, oxidative stress, and integrin signaling. Two clusters of mature adipocytes, identified through single nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq), were distinctive for proinflammatory/immune or metabolic gene expression patterns that became more transcriptionally diverse in adult animals. Single nuclei assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (snATAC-seq) revealed that differences in gene expression were associated with developmental changes in chromatin accessibility and predicted transcription factor motifs (e.g., Plagl1, Ar) in both stromal cells and adipocytes. Conclusions Our data provide new insights into transcriptional and epigenomic signaling networks important during iWAT establishment at a single cell resolution, with important implications for the field of metabolic programming.
Opioid Prescribing to US Children and Young Adults in 2019.

BACKGROUND Recent national data are lacking on the prevalence, safety, and prescribers of opioid prescriptions dispensed to children and young adults aged 0 to 21 years. METHODS We identified opioid prescriptions dispensed to children and young adults in 2019 in the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which captures 92% of US pharmacies. We calculated the proportion of all US children and young adults with ≥1 dispensed opioid prescription in 2019. We calculated performance on 6 metrics of high-risk prescribing and the proportion of prescriptions written by each specialty. Of all prescriptions and those classified as high risk by ≥1 metric, we calculated the proportion written by high-volume prescribers with prescription counts at the ≥95th percentile. RESULTS Analyses included 4 027 701 prescriptions. In 2019, 3.5% of US children and young adults had ≥1 dispensed opioid prescription. Of prescriptions for opioid-naive patients, 41.8% and 3.8% exceeded a 3-day and 7-day supply, respectively. Of prescriptions for young children, 8.4% and 7.7% were for codeine and tramadol. Of prescriptions for adolescents and young adults, 11.5% had daily dosages of ≥50 morphine milligram equivalents; 4.6% had benzodiazepine overlap. Overall, 45.6% of prescriptions were high risk by ≥1 metric. Dentists and surgeons wrote 61.4% of prescriptions. High-volume prescribers wrote 53.3% of prescriptions and 53.1% of high-risk prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS Almost half of pediatric opioid prescriptions are high risk. To reduce high-risk prescribing, initiatives targeting high-volume prescribers may be warranted. However, broad-based initiatives are also needed to address the large share of high-risk prescribing attributable to other prescribers.
On the performance of domain decomposition methods for modeling heterogenous materials

In this manuscript, we review the performance of domain decomposition methods (DDMs), implemented as a black-box module integrated with a finite element solver, for modeling materials with complex microstructures. In particular, we study the accuracy and computational cost associated with using the non-overlapping and overlapping Schwarz methods, together with required adjustments for each method to avoid convergence issues. Compared to conventional applications such as fluid–solid interaction, the DDM simulation of the mechanical behavior of materials with complex heterostructures could be a challenging task due to high stress concentrations along subdomain edges intersecting with multiple material interfaces. For linear elastic problems, this could lead to high local errors along sub-domain boundaries and especially at subdomain vertices, which requires meticulous updating of boundary conditions (nodal forces and displacements) along these edges to alleviate the error. However, for nonlinear (elastoplastic) problems, we show that such microstructural features prohibit the convergence of the non-overlapping Schwarz method. The remedy to such convergence difficulties is to implement the overlapping Schwarz method, with a high overlap percentage between adjacent subdomains to achieve a reasonable computational cost.
Copy Number Variations and Chronic Diseases

In the beginning of the millennium we were astounded by the publication of the haploid human genome (Lander et al. Nature 409:860–921, 2001; Venter et al. Science 291:1304–1351, 2001). Now a decade later we have moved on to routine sequencing of thousands of genomes (1000 Genomes Project Consortium et al. Nature 467:1061–1073, 2010). The publication of the reference human genome enabled a vast array of technologies, which in turn provided new discoveries. A surprising and important discovery of this era was that copy number variation (CNV) is common between individual genomes, which has generated increased interest in the role of CNVs in human disease. We have clear evidence that CNVs play a role in human disease, but the extent to which this type of genetic variation affects biological traits that are multifactorial in etiology remains undiscovered. In this chapter we lay out the fundamental discoveries that have led to our current understanding of the role of CNVs in human disease. We provide a description of copy number variation, mechanisms of formation, and potential roles in various models of the heritable component of complex disorders.
Common-Sense Philosopher and Observer of the Ways of Men

Kames’s general philosophy, that is, his view of man, society and the world about him — as distinguished from his thinking on such more specific matters as law, literary criticism, politics and religion, which will engage us in later chapters — and any contributions he may have made to thinking on such matters, must be viewed against the background of the tendencies and developments in philosophy generally in the Scotland of his day.1
Childbearing is not associated with young women's long-term obesity risk

Objective Contemporary childbearing is associated with greater gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention than in previous decades, potentially leading to a more pronounced effect of childbearing on women's long-term obesity risk. Previous work on the association of childbearing with women's long-term obesity risk mostly examined births in the 1970s and 1980s and produced mixed results. The association of childbearing and obesity incidence in a diverse, contemporary sample of 2731 US women was estimated. Methods Propensity-score (PS) matching was used for confounding control when estimating the effect of incident parity (1996-2001) on 7-year incident obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m2) (2001-2008). Results In the sample, 19.3% of parous women became obese, whereas 16.1% of unmatched nulliparous women did. After PS matching without and with replacement, the differences in obesity incidence were, respectively, 0.0 percentage points (ppts) (95% CI: −4.7 to 4.7) and 0.9 ppts (95% CI: −4.9 to 6.7). Results were similar in analyses of prevalent parity and obesity in 2008 (n = 6601) conducted to explore possible selection bias. Conclusions These results imply that, in contemporary US parous women in their late 20s and early 30s, childbearing may not increase obesity incidence.
What Is Field Theory?1

Field theory is a more or less coherent approach in the social sciences whose essence is the explanation of regularities in individual action by recourse to position vis‐a‐vis others. Position in the field indicates the potential for a force exerted on the person, but a force that impinges “from the inside” as opposed to external compulsion. Motivation is accordingly considered to be the paramount example of social structure in action, as opposed to a residue of chance or freedom. While field theory is often castigated for its necessarily tautological definition, this may be far more of an advantage than a defect. Field theory offers social scientists a combination of analytical insight and attention to the concrete; further, the implicit definition of “explanation” that it brings is one that, unlike conventional sociological definitions, is internally consistent and in accord with everyday usage.
EFFECTS OF THE ANTIFUNGAL PEPTIDE Ro 2-7758 ON MORPHOLOGY OF MUCOR CORYMBIFERA

Gale, Glen R. (Veterans Administration Hospital and Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.). Effects of the antifungal peptide Ro 2-7758 on morphology of Mucor corymbifera. J. Bacteriol. 85:833-837. 1963.-Hyphae of Mucor corymbifera grown in the presence of the antifungal peptide, Ro 2-7758, were examined in an electron microscope. The predominant change, compared with control hyphae, was a marked thickening of the cell wall, with apparent maintenance of normal structure. Cell walls of control hyphae were from 0.03 to 0.11 mu in thickness; drug-treated walls varied from 0.22 to over 0.75 mu in thickness. The possible sites and mechanisms of action, as well as the significance of a thickened cell wall in antibiosis, are discussed.
A Perspective on MoSi2 Based Composites

MoSi{sub 2} based composites represent an important new class of high temperature structural silicides,'' with significant potential for elevated temperature structural applications in the range of 1200--1600{degrees}C in oxidizing and aggressive environments. The properties of MoSi{sub 2} which make it an attractive matrix for high temperature composites are described and the development history of these materials traced. Latest results on elevated temperature creep resistance, low temperature fracture toughness, and composite oxidation behavior are summarized. Important avenues for future MoSi{sub 2} based composite development are suggested.
Cognitive and Emotional Factors Representative of Reinforcement Patterns among an Amateur Softball Team

Pre-game performance expectations, emotions, and post-game performance ratings were measured among members of an amateur Softball team. The results showed that pre-game performance expectations and reported happiness were at high levels and did not differ between won or lost games or between skilled and lesser skilled players. Reported depression was found to rise significantly among skilled players prior to lost games. Post-game performance ratings were significantly lower than pre-game performance expectations among both skilled and lesser skilled players. Post-game performance ratings of both the players and coach were significantly higher for games won than games lost, but the ratings of the coach after all games were significantly higher than those of the players. Post-game performance ratings by the coach of skilled and lesser skilled players did not differ significantly. These results indicate that cognitive (expectation) and emotional factors, as well as self-reported performance ratings, may be u...
Sensor fusion method for off-road vehicle position estimation

A FOG-aided GPS fusion system was developed for positioning an off-road vehicle, which consists of a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a Garmin global positioning system (GPS). An observation-based Kalman filter was designed to integrate the readings from both sensors so that the noise in GPS signal was smoothed out, the redundant information was fused and a high update rate of output signals was obtained. The drift error of FOG was also compensated. By using this system, a low cost GPS can be used to replace expensive GPS with a higher accuracy. Measurement and fusion results showed that the positioning error of the vehicle estimated using this fusion system was greatly reduced from a GPS-only system. At a vehicle speed of about 1.34 m/s, the mean bias in East axis of the fusion system was 0.48 m comparing to the GPS mean bias of 1.28 m, and the mean bias in North axis was reduced to 0.32 m from 1.48 m. The update frequency of the fusion system was increased to 9 Hz from 1 Hz of the GPS. A prototype system was installed on a sprayer for vehicle positioning measurement.
Steps in CH4 oxidation on Pt and Rh surfaces: High‐temperature reactor simulations

The direct oxidation of CH4 to H2 and CO in O2 and in air at high temperatures over alumina foam monoliths coated with high loadings of Pt and Rh has been simulated using a 19-elementary-step model of adsorption, desorption and surface reaction steps with reaction parameters from the literature or from fits to previous experiments. The surface reaction model for Pt is in good agreement with previously reported low-pressure(0.1 to 1 torr) reactor measurements of CH4 oxidation rates at temperatures from 600 to 1,500 K and of OH radical desorption during CH4 oxidation at 1,300 to 1,600 K over polycrystalline Pt foils. The model predictions for both catalysts are also consistent with product selectivities observed over monolithic catalysts in an atmospheric-pressure laboratory-scale reactor, and the differences between Pt and Rh can be explained by comparing individual reaction steps on these surfaces. Because of the good agreement between the model and both low-and atmospheric-pressure reactor simulations, a complete energy diagram for methane oxidation at low coverages is proposed. The model results show that under CH4rich conditions at high temperatures, H2 and CO are primary products of the direct oxidation of methane via a pyrolysis mechanism.
ACTH1–24 and lysine vasopressin selectively activate dopamine synthesis in frontal cortex

The accumulation of [3H] catecholamines from [3H] tyrosine in frontal cortical, septal, striatal and hippocampal slices was examined following intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of ACTH 1-24, lysine vasopressin (LVP) and saline. Both ACTH 1-24 and LVP (1 microgram) selectively increased the accumulation of [3H] dopamine (DA) in frontal cortical slices, but did not affect that of [3H] norepinephrine (NE). LVP but not ACTH 1-24 also inhibited the accumulation of [3H] DA in striatal slices. ACTH 1-24 did not alter the accumulation of [3H] NE in hippocampal slices, nor did LVP alter the accumulation of either catecholamine (CA) in septal slices. In vitro incubations with ACTH analogs of LVP failed to alter the rate of accumulation of [3H] CAs in striatal, substantia nigral and frontal cortical slices, except for an inhibitory effect at high doses. This effect is believed to be an artifact of precursor dilution caused by release of tyrosine following degradation of the peptides. Neither peptide modified the increased [3H] CA accumulation stimulated by 26 mM K+, nor did ACTH 1-24 modify the inhibition of [3H] CA accumulation caused by 3 X 10 -6 M haloperidol or 3 X 10 -7 M apomorphine. Selective activation of the mesocortical DA system has also been reported ot occur in response to footshock, suggesting the possibility that endogenous ACTH and/or LVP might mediate the stress-induced activation of mesocortical DA synthesis. Alternatively, i.c.v. injections of these peptides may themselves be stressful and thus indirectly elicit the response.
On minimal, strongly proximal actions of locally compact groups

Minimal, strongly proximal actions of locally compact groups on compact spaces, also known asboundary actions, were introduced by Furstenberg in the study of Lie groups. In particular, the action of a semi-simple real Lie groupG on homogeneous spacesG/Q, whereQ ⊂G is a parabolic subgroup, are boundary actions. Countable discrete groups admit a wide variety of boundary actions. In this note we show that ifX is a compact manifold with a faithful boundary action of some locally compact groupH, then (under some mild regularity assumption) the groupH, the spaceX, and the action split into a direct product of a semi-simple Lie groupG acting onG/Q and a boundary action of a discrete countable group.
A preliminary solder joint life prediction model by experiment and simulation for translation of use condition to temperature cycling test condition

This paper introduces a new preliminary solder joint fatigue model based on thermo-mechanical finite element analysis (FEA) simulation results and the use of extensive solder joint reliability (SJR) experimental data for ball grid array (BGA) packages. A comprehensive FEA modeling method for temperature cycling (TC) loading was defined based on thorough and detailed convergence studies on modeling approaches, mesh sensitivities, analysis parameters, material parameters, boundary conditions and thermal loading conditions. Extensive reliability data was collected for various package designs, form factors, board thicknesses and testing conditions to demonstrate feasibility. The result is a solder joint fatigue model derived from FEA thermal mechanical modeling results and empirical reliability data regression fitting. Next, this FEA modeling method was coupled with a transient heat transfer method to integrate thermal gradients that exist in actual product use condition (UC) duty cycles. A new UC method is demonstrated based on a common physical damage metric calculated from numerical simulations for UC (with real user behavior data and temperature gradient) and TC (uniform temperature) conditions. The derived SJR fatigue model was combined with the newly developed UC method to establish new TC test requirements based on the actual use condition duty cycling.
Effects of discrimination training on the perception of /r-l/ by Japanese adults learning English.

Native Japanese speakers learning English have difficulty perceptually differentiating the liquid consonants /r/ and /l/, even after extensive conversational instruction. Using a same-different discrimination task with immediate feedback, eight adult female Japanese were given extensive training on a synthetic “rock”-“lock” stimulus series. Performance improved gradually for all subjects over the 14 to 18 training sessions. Comparisons of pretraining and posttraining categorical perception tests with the training stimuli indicated transfer of training to the more demanding identification and oddity discrimination tasks for seven of the eight subjects. Five of seven subjects also improved in identification and oddity discrimination of an acoustically dissimilar “rake”-“lake” synthetic series. However, transfer did not extend to natural speech words contrasting initial /r/ and /V/, It was concluded that modification of perception of some phonetic contrasts in adulthood is slow and effortful, but that improved laboratory training tasks may be useful in establishing categorical perception of these contrasts.
MODELING THE DYNAMICS OF OLFACTORY CORTEX USING SIMPLIFIED NETWORK UNITS AND REALISTIC ARCHITECTURE

This report describes a three-dimensional computer model of the olfactory cortex developed for the study of cortical oscillations and their biological significance. The model was designed with the intention of investigating the relative role of network circuitry and network unit properties, resulting in a model complexity between simple Hopfield nets and detailed realistic simulations. Network connections are essentially the same as in a detailed simulation of the olfactory (piriform) cortex by Wilson and Bower (1989), but the network units are here modeled with continuous output functions and single compartments. It is shown that the present model is capable of reproducing all major results of the more complex model, corresponding to spatiotemporal patterns found in the actual cortex (Freeman 1975). This indicates that action potentials and the geometry of cells are not needed per se for explaining certain cortical activities. In contrast, connections between units, in particular feedforward and feedback inhibitory loops and long-range, excitatory-excitatory connections, are found to be crucial for the dynamical behavior of this system. The model describes intrinsic oscillatory properties of olfactory cortex and reproduces response patterns associated with a continuous random-input signal and with a shock pulse given to the cortex. In the latter case, waves of activity move across the model cortex in a way similar to the detailed simulations by Wilson and Bower, and consistent with corresponding global dynamic behavior of the functioning cortex. For a constant random input, the network is able to oscillate with two separate frequencies simultaneously, purely as a result of its intrinsic network properties. A delicate balance between inhibition and excitation, in terms of connection strength and timing of events, is necessary for coherent frequency and phase of the oscillating neural units. The analytical equations used in this model seem an adequate representation of olfactory cortex for mathematical analysis of its computational function.
On certain psychopharmacological and physiological differences between schizophrenic and normal persons.

The schizophrenic patient is generally regarded to be less responsive than the normal person to many drugs as well as to certain nonpharmacological conditions. Evidence is presented that there is not an attenuated response in the schizophrenic with all centrally acting drugs. The schizophrenic may in fact be more responsive than the normal person to some nonpharmacological conditions. These studies are reviewed and a neuropsychological hypothesis proffered which may account for some of the differences between the normal and the schizophrenic.
Generalized solutions of semistate equations and stability

In this paper, solvability and stability of nonlinear, time-varying semistate equations is discussed. It is shown that generalized solutions exist in a vicinity of an equilibrium. Moreover, results on a Liapunov-like (uniform, asymptotic) stability are given.
Air shower development simulation program for the cosmic ray study

Abstract A computer simulation program has been developed to study secondary cosmic ray particle showers in the full range of Earth’s atmosphere. This simulation program, called ECRS (earth cosmic ray shower) is based on Geant4 software package developed at CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire). A proper atmospheric air density and geomagnetic field are implemented in this simulation program. The proton trajectories with different impact parameters and normal vertical cutoff rigidities are analyzed in comparison with existing data. These results and the simulated secondary cosmic shower particle distributions near Atlanta (33.46°N, 84.25°W) region are presented in this paper.
An ancient revisits cosmology

In this after-dinner speech, a somewhat light-hearted attempt is made to view the observational side of physical cosmology as a subdiscipline of astrophysics, still in an early stage of sophistication and in need of more theoretical understanding. The theoretical side of cosmology, in contrast, has its deep base in general relativity. A major result of observational cosmology is that an expansion of the Universe arose from a singularity some 15 billion years ago. This has had an enormous impact on the public's view of both astronomy and theology. It places on cosmologists an extra responsibility for clear thinking and interpretation. Recently, gravitational physics caused another crisis from an unexpected observational result that nonbaryonic matter appears to dominate. Will obtaining information about this massive nonbaryonic component require that astronomers cease to rely on measurement of photons? But 40 years ago after radio astronomical techniques uncovered the high-energy universe, we happily introduced new subfields, with techniques from physics and engineering still tied to photon detection. Another historical example shows how a subfield of cosmology, big bang nucleosynthesis, grew in complexity from its spectroscopic astrophysics beginning 40 years ago. Determination of primordial abundances of lighter nuclei does illuminate conditions in the Big Bang, but the observational results faced and overcame many hurdles on the way.
Network congestion control: mechanisms for congestion avoidance and recovery

The increase in usage of smart phones and extension of wireless technology to non-human interactions (e.g., Machine to machine communications) has made avoidance and recovery from congestion a priority, both for network operators and network vendors. With the advent of 4G, which provides higher data rate and new age applications like video, user plane congestion in Radio and backhaul is possible. With applications like machine to machine communications, the signaling load on the network can also increase exponentially. Therefore both User plane and Control Plane congestion needs to be addressed.The current mechanisms for Congestion Control rely on statically allocating different priorities for UEs. This allows calls from high priority UEs to be allowed in the network, during disasters. However any call made by the UE is considered as high priority. This is not sufficient as non-necessary data service may hog the bandwidth during emergency blocking important services. In this paper we discuss dynamic priority for individual calls. Specifically, in this paper we discuss the solutions using back off timer mechanism based on the device type and the priority of the access to recover from congestion scenario.The control and user plane congestion in the core network can be alleviated by usage of intelligent node selection and mobility using DNS based mechanism. This helps to distribute traffic to lightly loaded nodes, thereby alleviating congestion in a single node. This is especially useful when there is regional congestion due to some unforeseen events like natural disasters.The user plane congestion can occur in the radio or in the backhaul. The radio congestion is caused due to high number of users trying to access the network which causes most requests to be rejected. We propose a solution in which the rejection can be based on the subscription profile and type of application. This allows only high priority applications to access the network during time of disaster while rejecting all low priority accesses even from high priority user. During non-disaster time, the mechanism has the advantage of allowing the revenue of the operators to be maximized and also fair resources to be provided to everybody.We focus on 3GPP Network as an example to demonstrate the usage of these mechanisms.
Experimental results of a sensible heat storage system for residential and light commercial application

This paper presents the performance results for a sensible heat storage system. The system under study operates as an air source heat pump which stores the compressor heat of rejection as domestic hot water or hot water in a storage tank that can be used as a heat source for providing building heating. Although measurements were made to quantify space cooling, space heating, and domestic water heating, this paper emphasizes the space heating performance of the unit. The heat storage system was tested for different indoor and outdoor conditions to determine parameters such as heating charge rate, compressor power, and coefficient of performance (COP). The thermal storage tank was able to store a full charge of heat. The rate of increase of storage tank temperature increased with outdoor temperature. The heating rate during a charge test, best shown by the normalized rate plots, increased with evaporating temperature due to the increasing mass flow rate and refrigerant density. At higher indoor temperature during the discharge tests, the rate of decrease of storage tank temperature was slower. Also, the discharge heating rate decreased with time since the thermal storage tank temperature decreased as less thermal energy became available for use.
Colorado's Near-Infrared Camera (a.k.a. NIC-FPS) Commissioning on the ARC 3.5M Telescope

A second generation near-infrared instrument was built by the University of Colorado for the ARC 3.5 meter telescope and is being commissioned at the Apache Point Observatory. An initial engineering run, first light, commissioning observations, and initial facility science operations have been accomplished in the last year. Instrument imaging performance was good to excellent from first light and consortium observers began to employ the instrument on a shared-risk basis immediately after commissioning operations. Instrument optical and mechanical performance during this testing and operations phase are discussed. Detector system (Rockwell Hawaii-1RG 1024x1024 HgCdTe focal plane array with Leach controller) characteristics during these early operations are detailed along with ongoing efforts for system optimization. High resolution (R~10,000) spectroscopy is planned employing a Queensgate (now IC Optical) cryogenic Fabry-Perot etalon, though mechanical difficulties with the etalon precluded a system performance demonstration. The Consortium has decided that the instrument will retain the name NIC-FPS (Near Infrared Camera and Fabry-Perot Spectrometer) after commissioning.
First-Trimester Down Syndrome Screening: Component Analytes and Timing for Optimal Performance

The most effective first-trimester Down syndrome screening protocol in current use employs three independent markers: maternal serum levels of PAPP-A and free βhCG, and measurement of fetal nuchal translucency (NT). Eleven weeks appears to be the optimum gestational age for performing first trimester DS risk assessment. Although the discrimination of free βhCG improves with increasing gestational age and is greatest at 13 weeks, PAPP-A and NT perform optimally at 10 and 11 weeks, respectively. In addition to accurate pregnancy dating, first trimester screening performance is improved by using a consistent NT measurement technique, NT cut-offs adjusted for gestational age or crown-rump length, and possibly center- or operator-specific NT medians. Whether or not absence or presence of the nasal bone adds to screening accuracy is a matter of some debate. Finally, because enlarged NT has been associated with cardiac defects and other structural anomalies, even in euploid fetuses, its presence should prompt a targeted second trimester ultrasound examination.
Effects of partially fluorinated hydrogen donors on ESR spectra in studies of hydrogen-bonded transient solvent-solute complexes

Abstract The effects of five protonated and eight partially fluorinated hydrogen donors on observed hyperfine coupling constants of TMPO have been determined. Correction of the observed splitting for changes in the polarity of the medium leads to values of the hyperfine coupling constants for the donor:radical complex and of the association constants for complex formation that follow the trend in acidities of the donors. The behavior of partially fluorinated donors, which give more pronounced relaxation effects in NMR studies and more varied polarization effects in dynamic nuclear polarization studies, is consistent with the trend in acidities of the donors. Association constants range from 0.68 ± 0.04 M −1 for n -C 4 H 9 0H with TMPO to 6.20 ± 0.01 M −1 for C 3 F 7 COOH with TMPO at room temperature.
Varnish Removal and Control in Turbine Lubrication Systems

Varnish deposits on metal surfaces in turbine lube system results in a number of adverse operational issues, especially the restriction and sticking of moving mechanical parts such as servo or directional control valves. The oil has limited solvency for the material, hence a typical turbine will have the majority of the material as deposits and a relatively small portion as suspended material in the oil phase in quasi-equilibrium with the deposits. The lube system needs to be cleaned by removing the suspended varnish precursors from the oil phase, which allows the deposits to re-entrain into the oil phase, until the majority of the transferable deposits from internal surfaces are removed and the oil carries no significant amount of the material to have any adverse effect. The methods used for the removal of varnish from turbine lube oil systems include chemical cleaning - flushing, and electrostatic charge induced agglomeration - retention and the adsorption of the oil suspended varnish on an adsorbent medium. The paper discusses an absorption based removal method that utilizes a fibrous medium that has pronounced affinity for the removal and retention of the varnish forming material from the oil and the deposits from surfaces that are in quasi-equilibrium with the varnish precursors in the oil. The filtration medium is composite cellulose with specially formulated, temperature cured binder resins. The absorptive medium that exhibits high structural and chemical integrity has been thoroughly tested on operating turbines, showing reduction in varnish levels from critical range to below normal range in a relatively short time. The experiences with the utilization of the absorptive medium in laboratory tests and in two operating turbines are presented.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Well-being in residency: effects on relationships with patients, interactions with colleagues, performance, and motivation.

Abstract Objective Previous studies about resident well-being have focused on negative aspects of well-being. We conducted this study to explore residents’ conceptions of well-being and how it affects their work. Methods One investigator conducted semi-structured interviews with residents at two hospitals during February–June 2005. Through random sampling stratified by program and gender, we invited 49 residents from internal medicine, psychiatry, surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesia, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. Using an editing analysis style, three investigators independently coded transcripts. Results 26 residents participated in 45-min interviews. Residents acknowledged that well-being affected four elements of their work: relationships with patients, interactions with colleagues, performance, and motivation. Residents described higher quality discussions with patients when their well-being was high and inappropriate exchanges when well-being was low. Residents attributed conflict with colleagues to lower states of well-being. Residents felt they had improved decision-making when their well-being was higher. Residents’ motivation in their daily work and career varied with fluctuating well-being. Five residents initially denied that their well-being affects their work, voicing concerns that this would be unprofessional. Conclusions Most residents felt that both high and low levels of well-being affected their work, particularly their work relationships. Practice implications The educational and patient care goals of residency training may be enhanced through interventions that promote resident well-being.
Painless aortic dissection: An unusual cause of syncope

Presented is a case of syncope as the initial sign of a painless aortic dissection. The patient was stabilized by percutaneous drainage of a hemopericardium, and then underwent angiography and successful operative repair. Although uncommon, painless aortic dissection should be included in the differential diagnosis of a syncopal episode.
Do infants see objects or retinal images? Shape constancy revisited

Although earlier research by Bower on the spatial constancies indicated that 2-month-olds perceive a veridical three-dimensional world, recent evidence based on distance-appropriate behavior suggests that infants may be responding to differential depth cues per se, devoid of spatial significance. To shed light on this apparent contradiction, a test of the infant's ability to perceive real shape-at-a-slant was conducted using recovery from habituation as an index of discrimination. Groups of 80-day-old babies (total N = 120) were each exposed to one of six treatment conditions. The same figure in the fronto-parallel plane served as the recovery stimulus in all conditions. The to-be-habituated stimulus differed between groups according to whether it deviated from the standard in terms of various combinations of objective shape, projective shape, and slant. While the results were consistent with Bower's conclusion that the momentary retinal projection plays no role in infant perception, they were discrepant from Bower's findings in that subjects appeared to respond exclusively to variation in slant and gave no evidence of perceiving constant shape across changing slant. Whether the ability to perceive real shape was present but masked by salient slant cues or whether infants can detect only the proximal retinal cues specifying slant could not be conclusively determined. A second experiment involving 60-day-olds (N = 20) and an additional 80-day-old group (N = 18) indicated that the findings could not be attributed to sampling error, the age differential between Bower's subjects and our own, or tendencies to view the slanted figures projectively.
A unifying probabilistic Bayesian approach to derive electron density from MRI for radiation therapy treatment planning.

MRI significantly improves the accuracy and reliability of target delineation in radiation therapy for certain tumors due to its superior soft tissue contrast compared to CT. A treatment planning process with MRI as the sole imaging modality will eliminate systematic CT/MRI co-registration errors, reduce cost and radiation exposure, and simplify clinical workflow. However, MRI lacks the key electron density information necessary for accurate dose calculation and generating reference images for patient setup. The purpose of this work is to develop a unifying method to derive electron density from standard T1-weighted MRI. We propose to combine both intensity and geometry information into a unifying probabilistic Bayesian framework for electron density mapping. For each voxel, we compute two conditional probability density functions (PDFs) of electron density given its: (1) T1-weighted MRI intensity, and (2) geometry in a reference anatomy, obtained by deformable image registration between the MRI of the atlas and test patient. The two conditional PDFs containing intensity and geometry information are combined into a unifying posterior PDF, whose mean value corresponds to the optimal electron density value under the mean-square error criterion. We evaluated the algorithm's accuracy of electron density mapping and its ability to detect bone in the head for eight patients, using an additional patient as the atlas or template. Mean absolute HU error between the estimated and true CT, as well as receiver operating characteristics for bone detection (HU > 200) were calculated. The performance was compared with a global intensity approach based on T1 and no density correction (set whole head to water). The proposed technique significantly reduced the errors in electron density estimation, with a mean absolute HU error of 126, compared with 139 for deformable registration (p = 2 × 10−4), 283 for the intensity approach (p = 2 × 10−6) and 282 without density correction (p = 5 × 10−6). For 90% sensitivity in bone detection, the proposed method achieved a specificity of 86%, compared with 80, 11 and 10% using deformable registration, intensity and without density correction, respectively. Notably, the Bayesian approach was more robust against anatomical differences between patients, with a specificity of 62% in the worst case (patient), compared to 30% specificity in registration-based approach. In conclusion, the proposed unifying Bayesian method provides accurate electron density estimation and bone detection from MRI of the head with highly heterogeneous anatomy.
Manufacturing carbon nanofibers toughened polyester/glass fiber composites using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding for enhancing the mode-I delamination resistance

Abstract Polymer composite materials reinforced by continuous fibers have excellent in-plane strength but are usually weak against delamination. This paper presents an experimental study of using carbon nanofibers (CNF) to improve the interlaminar fracture properties of polyester/glass fiber composites. Surfactant-treated CNF were dispersed in polyester resin and then the CNF-resin suspension was infused to impregnate a glass fiber preform using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). The manufacturability of using VARTM for thick and large CNF toughened composite parts has been experimentally investigated. The influence of CNF concentration on the CNF filtration in the glass fiber preform, the resin viscosity, and the micro-void formation has been examined. By choosing appropriate manufacturing parameters, we were able to use VARTM process to infuse the surfactant-treated CNF/resin matrix into the glass fiber preform and successfully manufactured the CNF toughened polyester/glass fiber composite specimens for mode-I delamination tests. The critical energy release rates of mode-I delamination ( G IC ) were characterized for several composite specimens with 1 wt% CNF concentrations and for those with pure resin. Significant improvement in the G IC was consistently observed as 1 wt% CNF were added to toughen the polyester resin. Microscopy pictures showed that the fracture surfaces of the 1 wt% CNF toughened polyester/glass fiber composite samples were more complex than the fracture surfaces of regular polyester/glass fiber composites.
Low-temperature effective electromagnetism in superfluid 3He-A

A general low-temperature effective action for the order parameter in the superfluid phase A of helium 3 is derived. In a symmetric case, when the Fermi velocity equals the transverse velocity of low energy fermionic quasiparticles, the action is the standard relativistic electromagnetic action.
Antihypertensive therapy for the prevention of stroke in the aging population

Recent evidence concerning strategies for controlling hypertension and reducing morbidity and mortality in the elderly is presented in this review. This evidence is based on current treatment guidelines and randomized clinical trials. The treatment approach to hypertension in the elderly is generally similar to that of younger patients. The achievement of the target blood pressures in the elderly, which is associated with a substantial reduction in risk of stroke, typically requires the use of combinations of antihypertensive agents. The current armamentarium of antihypertensive drugs is adequate to control most elderly hypertensive patients. Bridging the gap between what has been accomplished in clinical trials and what actually occurs in clinical practice remains a major challenge.