cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design and performance of a simulated countercurrent moving‐bed separator

The design, construction and isothermal (298 K) operation of a continuous flow simulated countercurrent moving-bed chromatographic separator for the gas-solid separation of binary mixtures is reported. It consists of only four packed columns, with counter currency simulated by advancing the feedpoint from column to column in the direction of gas flow. The separated components have periodic concentration profiles, with a duty cycle that depends on operating parameters, and concentrations greater than in the feed stream. Test mixtures of propylene and dimethyl ether, which have retention times differing by a factor of 2 on the 60/80 mesh Chromosorb 101 packing, were successfully separated. Optimum feed advancement intervals and maximum product purity were experimentally determined as a function of feed rate. At low feed rates, when the adsorption isotherm is nearly linear, dimethyl ether was nearly completely separated from propylene, but propylene was found to contain varying amounts of dimethyl ether due to the effects of a nonlinear isotherm and heterogeneous adsorption.
3D structure and significance of the GPhiXXG helix packing motif in tetramers of the E1beta subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase from the archeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum.

As part of a structural genomics project, we have determined the 2.0 A structure of the E1β subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase from Pyrobaculum aerophilum (PA), a thermophilic archaeon. The overall ...
An experimental investigation of gas-phase combustion synthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles using a multi-element diffusion flame burner

Abstract The current work presents the results of an experimental investigation of gas-phase combustion synthesis of silica (SiO 2 ) particles using a multi-element diffusion flame burner (MEDB, a Hencken burner). Silane (SiH 4 ) was added to hydrogen/oxygen/argon (H 2 /O 2 /Ar) flames to produce SiO 2 nanoparticles at various burner operating conditions (φ = 0.47–2.16). To characterize the burner performance, temperature measurements were made using water absorption spectroscopy and uncoated, fine-wire thermocouples. The results demonstrated the non-premixed flow arrangement of the fuel tubes and oxidizer channels of the MEDB provided uniform, ∼1D conditions above the surface of the burner, with temperature variations of less than ±3% in the transverse direction (parallel to the surface of the burner) for elevations above the mixing region (z = 0–7 mm), extending to heights ≥ 30 mm. At heights above the mixing region, approximately constant axial temperatures are also observed. Silica particle formation and growth were examined for comparison with current understanding of the physical mechanisms important in combustion synthesis of SiO 2 . The particle properties were determined using transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging. Geometric mean diameters of the primary particles varied from d p = 9 to 18 nm. The current study demonstrates the utility of the MEDB in providing a controlled environment for fundamental studies of gas-phase combustion synthesis phenomena, as well as offering broad flexibility in experimental design with control over process variables such as temperature field, particle residence time, scalable reactant loading, and particle precursor selection.
The Q267E mutation in the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) causes congenital iodide transport defect (ITD) by decreasing the NIS turnover number

The Na(+)/I(-) symporter (NIS) is a key plasma membrane glycoprotein that mediates active iodide (I(-)) transport in the thyroid and other tissues. Since isolation of the cDNA encoding NIS (G. Dai, O. Levy, and N. Carrasco (1996) Nature 379, 458-460), ten mutations in NIS have been identified as causes of congenital iodide transport defect (ITD). Two of these mutations (T354P and G395R) have been thoroughly characterized at the molecular level. Both mutant NIS proteins are inactive but normally expressed and correctly targeted to the plasma membrane. The hydroxyl group at the beta-carbon of residue 354 is essential for NIS function, whereas the presence of a charged or large side-chain at position 395 interferes with NIS function. We report the extensive molecular analysis of the Q267E mutation in COS-7 cells transfected with rat or human Q267E NIS cDNA constructs. We used site-directed mutagenesis to engineer various residue substitutions into position 267. In contrast to previous suggestions that Q267E NIS was inactive, possibly because of a trafficking defect, we conclusively show that Q267E NIS is modestly active and properly targeted to the plasma membrane. Q267E NIS exhibited lower V(max) values for I(-) than wild-type NIS, suggesting that the decreased level of activity of Q267E NIS is due to a lower catalytic rate. That Q267E NIS retains even partial activity sets this ITD-causing mutant apart from T354P and G395R NIS. The presence of charged residues (of any polarity) other than Glu at position 267 rendered NIS inactive without affecting its expression or targeting, but substitution with neutral residues at this position was compatible with partial activity.
Matching phosphorylation response patterns of antigen-receptor-stimulated T cells via flow cytometry

When flow cytometric data on mixtures of cell populations are collected from samples under different experimental conditions, computational methods are needed (a) to classify the samples into similar groups, and (b) to characterize the changes within the corresponding populations due to the different conditions. Manual inspection has been used in the past to study such changes, but high-dimensional experiments necessitate developing new computational approaches to this problem. A robust solution to this problem is to construct distinct templates to summarize all samples from a class, and then to compare these templates to study the changes across classes or conditions. We designed a hierarchical algorithm, flowMatch, to first match the corresponding clusters across samples for producing robust meta-clusters, and to then construct a high-dimensional template as a collection of meta-clusters for each class of samples. We applied the algorithm on flow cytometry data obtained from human blood cells before and after stimulation with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, which is reported to change phosphorylation responses of memory and naive T cells. The flowMatch algorithm is able to construct representative templates from the samples before and after stimulation, and to match corresponding meta-clusters across templates. The templates of the pre-stimulation and post-stimulation data corresponding to memory and naive T cell populations clearly show, at the level of the meta-clusters, the overall phosphorylation shift due to the stimulation. We concisely represent each class of samples by a template consisting of a collection of meta-clusters (representative abstract populations). Using flowMatch, the meta-clusters across samples can be matched to assess overall differences among the samples of various phenotypes or time-points.
A Review of “Value Creation as the Aim of Education: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Soka Education”

The focus of this review is Andrew Gebert and Monte Joffee's chapter, “Value Creation as the Aim of Education: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Soka Education,” in the recently published book edited by Da...
Insurance Motives for Migration: Evidence from Thailand

Migrants often maintain important connections with their origin communities. In particular, many migrants provide support to non-migrants, usually relatives, through remittances. Remittances are often an important source of protection against adverse events for the receiving household. The prevalence and the importance of remittances from migrants both as a source of income and as insurance, suggest that migrants may consider their role as future remitters in deciding where to locate. This paper examines whether the location choices of migrants who remit are consistent with a desire to mitigate the risk faced by the remitting and the receiving households. Cross-sectional household data on the location and earnings of remitters and remittees is used together with historical rainfall and gross domestic product data at the provincial level to examine this question for Thailand. The results indicate that insurance motives play an important role in explaining migration patterns. Empirical estimates that include insurance variables perform better than estimates that only consider income maximization. I find that remitters are significantly less likely to move to Bangkok the more it covaries with the province they remit to. This is particularly true for remitters who support rural households who are likely to be poorer and to have less access to national level institutions (like banks and insurance companies) that could be used to mitigate local risk.
Getting Free: The Arts and Politics of Basketball Modernity

I employ Marshall Berman’s and Stephen Kern’s cultural analyses of modernity in late 19th-and early 20th-century Europe and the United States to examine basketball’s invention, rules, and technical...
Isolation and Characterization of Human Antioxidized LDL Autoantibodies

Abstract Autoantibodies to oxidized LDL have been reported in normal subjects and in patients with arteriosclerosis, but their possible pathogenic role is not yet well defined. One important problem is the existence of contradictory data reported by different groups concerning the associations between antioxidized LDL autoantibodies and the presence or progression of arteriosclerotic lesions. Such contradictions led us to decide to isolate and characterize antioxidized LDL antibodies by affinity chromatography with the use of oxidized LDL cross-linked to Sepharose. Antioxidized LDL antibodies were isolated from selected serum samples obtained from eight subjects. Seven of them (six patients and one control subject) had high levels of antioxidized LDL antibody during screening. The other subject, a healthy volunteer, had a low level of antibody. All purified antibodies contained IgG (of subclasses 1 and 3) as the predominant isotype and were primarily specific for oxidized LDL but showed some cross-reactivity with malondialdehyde-modified LDL and native LDL. Two of the purified antibodies cross-reacted with cardiolipin. We determined average dissociation constants for the antioxidized LDL antibodies purified from five individuals, which varied between 2.4×10−7 and 7.5×10−7 mol/L, whereas the average dissociation constant of rabbit hyperimmune anti-LDL antibody was determined to be 2.7×10−8 mol/L. In conclusion, we have purified human autoantibodies reactive with oxidized LDL that appear to be predominantly of moderate-to-low affinity and of variable cross-reactivity. The predominance of IgG1 and IgG3 antibodies is significant from the standpoint of potential pathogenicity, since these two subclasses activate the classic complement pathway system and have the highest binding affinities for Fcγ receptors on phagocytic cells.
Characterization of Bacteroides fragilis Hemolysins and Regulation and Synergistic Interactions of HlyA and HlyB

This study describes the presence of 10 hemolysin orthologs in the genome of the opportunistic human anaerobic pathogen Bacteroides fragilis, which is currently classified as a nonhemolytic bacterium. The hemolysins were designated HlyA through HlyI plus HlyIII. All cloned hemolysin genes were able to confer hemolytic activity to a nonhemolytic Escherichia coli strain on blood agar plates. Interestingly, HlyH was found to be present in the genome of the B. fragilis NCTC9343 strain but absent in strains 638R, YCH46, and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482. The hemolysins HlyA, HlyB, and HlyIII were selected for further characterization. HlyA, HlyB, and HlyIII were cytolytic to erythrocytes on liquid hemolytic assay. When hlyA and hlyB were expressed together in a nonhemolytic E. coli strain, the strain showed enhanced hemolytic activity on blood agar plates. Further analysis revealed that HlyA and HlyB have synergistic hemolytic activity as detected by the liquid hemolytic assay. In addition, the two-component hemolysins HlyA and HlyB form a protein-protein complex in vivo as determined by bacterial two-hybrid system assay. The hlyB and hlyA genes are organized in an operon that is coordinately regulated by iron and oxygen. Northern blot hybridization analysis revealed that hlyBA were expressed as a bicistronic mRNA induced approximately 2.5-fold under low-iron conditions and repressed in iron-rich medium. The normal iron-regulated expression of hlyBA mRNA was lost in the furA mutant strain. In contrast, the hlyA gene was also expressed as a single mRNA in iron-rich medium, but its expression was reduced approximately threefold under low-iron conditions in a Fur-independent manner. This suggests that hlyA alone is regulated by an unidentified iron-dependent regulator. Moreover, the expression levels of hlyBA and hlyA were reduced about threefold following oxygen exposure and treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Taken together, these results suggest that iron and oxidative stress have an effect on the control of hlyBA and hlyA transcriptional levels. A hlyBA mutant was constructed, and its hemolytic activity was greatly diminished compared to those of the hlyIII mutant and parent strains. In addition, the hlyBA mutant had a significant modification in colony morphology and growth deficiency compared to the parent strain. The implications of these findings for the pathophysiology of B. fragilis in extraintestinal infections and competition in ecological systems for this organism are discussed.
Reply to 'Comments on 'Linearization Techniques for Nth-Order Sensor Models in MOS VLSI technology''

For the original article see IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst., vol.38, no.12, p.1439-50 (1991). The author notes that the double-MOSFET method that was discussed in the above comment by Z. Czarnul (ibid., vol.39, no.9, p.677, 1992) is a design methodology relating the four-transistor circuit to a pair of voltage-controlled floating resistors and as such provides a systematic way to convert active-RC prototypes to MOSFET-C counterparts. Furthermore, it establishes necessary topological conditions that must exist in the active-RC prototype for a successful conversion. The author takes issue with the impression given by the commenter that he did not give proper credit to the latter's work. >
Using a stochastic model and cross-scale analysis to evaluate controls on historical low-severity fire regimes

Fire-scarred trees provide a deep temporal record of historical fire activity, but identifying the mechanisms therein that controlled landscape fire patterns is not straightforward. We use a spatially correlated metric for fire co-occurrence between pairs of trees (the Sorensen distance variogram), with output from a neutral model for fire history, to infer the relative strength of top-down vs. bottom-up controls on historical fire regimes. An inverse modeling procedure finds combinations of neutral-model parameters that produce Sorensen distance variograms with statistical properties similar to those observed from two landscapes in eastern Washington, USA, with contrasting topography. We find the most parsimonious model structure that is able to replicate the observed patterns and the parameters of this model provide surrogates for the predominance of top-down vs. bottom-up controls. Simulations with relatively low spread probability produce irregular fire perimeters and variograms similar to those from the topographically complex landscape. With higher spread probabilities fires exhibit regular perimeters and variograms similar to those from the simpler landscape. We demonstrate that cross-scale properties of the fire-scar record, even without historical fuels and weather data, document how complex topography creates strong bottom-up controls on fire spread. This control is weaker in simpler topography, and may be compromised in a future climate with more severe weather events.
Lessons regarding the safety of orthopaedic patient care: an analysis of four hundred and sixty-four closed malpractice claims.

Background: An orthopaedic malpractice claim alleges that the patient sustained a preventable iatrogenic injury. The analysis of a representative series of malpractice claims provides a unique view of alleged orthopaedic adverse events, revealing what can potentially go wrong across a spectrum of practice settings and anatomic locations. The goal of this study was to identify high-impact targets in order to institute measures to reduce claims through efforts focused on patient safety. Methods: The authors investigated 464 consecutive closed malpractice claims from the nation’s largest insurer of medical liability. We analyzed the claims by anatomical site, type of care rendered, type of allegation, and payment. We calculated an “impact factor” for each claim type by dividing the percentage of total payments for each type by the percentage of total claims for that type. Results: Our analysis revealed major concerns regarding patient safety within this series of malpractice claims. One-third of the claims alleged permanent disabling injuries, including amputations, brain damage, and major nerve damage. The highest impact allegations were failure to protect structures in the surgical field (41% of total payments to plaintiffs, 15% of all claims, impact factor of 2.7) and failure to prevent, diagnose, and/or treat complications of treatment (16% of total payments, 7% of all claims, impact factor of 2.3). Spine procedures had high impact (1.9), representing 28% of dollars paid and 15% of claims, with 45% of spine claims involving death or severe permanent injury. Failure of implant positioning was commonly alleged in hip and knee arthroplasty. In claims related to fracture care, the most common allegations were related to malunions, nonunions, dislocations, failure to protect structures in the surgical field, infection, and treatment complications. Total payment for the eighty-eight claims paid was $17,917,614 (U.S. dollars adjusted to 2009). Conclusions: Regarding clinical relevance, this analysis suggests risk areas for targeted efforts to improve patient safety and reduce malpractice claims.
Phylogeny-based Species Delimitation in Philippine Slender Skinks (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae: Brachymeles): Taxonomic Revision of Pentadactyl Species Groups and Description of Three New Species

Abstract We use data from external morphology and mitochondrial gene sequences to provide the basis for a taxonomic revision of two polytypic, pentadactyl Philippine species of scincid lizards of the genus Brachymeles. Although previous studies have noted significant morphological variation among island populations, the similarities in body size and scale pigmentation and pattern have led to the continued recognition of these two “widespread species.” A third, widespread, pentadactyl species, Brachymeles talinis, is known from Jolo Island and the central and northern Philippine islands. We evaluate both morphological and genetic data to define species limits in B. boulengeri, B. schadenbergi, and B. talinis. Our molecular and morphological data indicate each of the four subspecies of B. boulengeri, and both subspecies of B. schadenbergi, are genetically distinct, with ranges biogeographically circumscribed, differ from their congeners by numerous external morphological features, and therefore should be re...
Factors associated with patients' participation in rehabilitation services: a comparative injury analysis 12 months post-discharge.

Purpose : To determine key characteristics or factors associated with rehabilitation participation during the first year following discharge for persons with either traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), intra-articular fracture (IAF), or burn injury (BURNS). Method : Medical records and longitudinal survey [telephone questionnaire] data were collected for persons in the four injury groups and analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression procedures for each domain of factors. Results : The only significant predictors with odds ratios greater than one were those for vocational rehabilitation participation. TBI patients lacking private insurance were 2.6 times more likely to participate in vocational rehabilitation; older SCI and TBI patients are about twice as likely to participate in vocational rehabilitation; and finally those with IAF or BURNS who are married at 12 months post discharge are 11.5 and 4.4 times respectively more likely to participate in vocational rehabilitation. Concl...
Effects of Streptozocin-Induced Diabetes on Glucose Metabolism and Lactate Release by Isolated Fat Cells From Young Lean and Older, Moderately Obese Rats

Streptozocin-induced diabetes (STZ-D) was produced in male Wistar rats at two stages of development: young, lean rats, weighing 150-220 g (6-8 wk), and older, moderately obese rats, weighing 450-500 g (6-8 mo). A comparable degree of hyperglycemia (420-500 mg/dl) without ketosis was generated by injection of 50 mg/kg i.v. STZ for young, lean rats and 30 mg/kg i.v. for older, fatter rats. The animals were killed 8-11 days after injection. Insulin binding by the isolated adipocytes of both groups was not significantly altered on a per-cell basis by the presence of diabetes. Total adipocyte glucose metabolism, both basal and insulin stimulated, was reduced (63 and 88%, respectively) by the induction of diabetes in young, lean rats. In contrast, the induction of diabetes in the older, moderately obese rats had no suppressive effect on total glucose metabolism by their fat cells. Diabetes increased the relative conversion of glucose to lactate by fat cells from both groups of rats, but in absolute terms, the fat cells from the obese diabetic rats produced significantly more lactate from glucose than cells from the lean diabetic rats, both in the absence and presence of insulin. Diabetes did not alter the glucose concentration at which peak insulin response occurred in either group. We conclude that STZ-D in rats, at different stages of development and degrees of adiposity, results in quantitatively different alterations of adipocyte metabolism, which appear to be postreceptor in nature and result in an increase in glucose conversion to lactate.
Studies on poly(vinyl chloride). III. The role of the precipitated polymer in the kinetics of polymerization of vinyl chloride

In polymerization of vinyl chloride monomer, free radicals precipitate on or within aggregates of partially swollen dead polymer. Polymerization on the solid polymer is characterized by autoaccelerating rates due to a progressive reduction in termination rate. This reduction in termination rate is due to the fact that as the reaction progresses and more polymer accumulates there is a decrease in probability that chain transfer of polymer radicals to monomer will generate a mobile radical, which can readily terminate an occluded or stuck free radical. From the appearance of the particles of solid polymer in the system, it has been concluded that free radicals precipitate both on polymer particle surface and inside the open structure of polymer particles.
The use of suitable pseudo-invariant targets for MIVIS data calibration by the empirical line method

Abstract The Empirical Line Method (ELM) enables the calibration of multi- and hyper-airborne/satellite image converting DN or radiance to reflectance values performed by using at ground data. High quality outcome can be reached with the selection of appropriate Pseudo-Invariant Targets (PIT). In this paper, spectral variability of “usual” (asphalt and concrete) and “unusual” (calcareous gravel, basaltic paving, concrete bricks, tartan paving and artificial turf) PITs is retrieved for ELM application. Such PITs are used to calibrate the Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer (MIVIS) airborne sensor in 12 different Runs. Firstly, processing of field spectral data enables the evaluation of pseudo-invariance of targets by studying their spectral changes in space and in time. Finally, these surfaces are used as Ground Calibration (GCT) and Validation Targets (GVT) in ELM. High calibration accuracy values are observed in Visible (VIS) range (98.9%) while a general decrease of accuracy in Near-InfraRed (NIR) (96.6%) and Middle-InfraRed (SWIR) (88.1%) are reached. Outcomes show that “usual” surfaces as asphalt and concrete and “unusual” surfaces such as tartan can be successfully used for MIVIS image calibration.
Combining p53 stabilizers with metformin induces synergistic apoptosis through regulation of energy metabolism in castration-resistant prostate cancer

Since altered energy metabolism is a hallmark of cancer, many drugs targeting metabolic pathways are in active clinical trials. The tumor suppressor p53 is often inactivated in cancer, either through downregulation of protein or loss-of-function mutations. As such, stabilization of p53 is considered as one promising approach to treat those cancers carrying wild type (WT) p53. Herein, SIRT1 inhibitor Tenovin-1 and polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) inhibitor BI2536 were used to stabilize p53. We found that both Tennovin-1 and BI2536 increased the anti-neoplastic activity of metformin, an inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, in a p53 dependent manner. Since p53 has also been shown to regulate metabolic pathways, we further analyzed glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation upon drug treatments. We showed that both Tennovin-1 and BI2536 rescued metformin-induced glycolysis and that both Tennovin-1 and BI2536 potentiated metformin-associated inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation. Of significance, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) C4-2 cells show a much more robust response to the combination treatment than the parental androgen-dependent prostate cancer LNCaP cells, indicating that targeting energy metabolism with metformin plus p53 stabilizers might be a valid approach to treat CRPC carrying WT p53.
Corelease of nitric oxide and prostaglandins mediates flow-dependent dilation of rat gracilis muscle arterioles

We have studied the mechanisms responsible for the mediation of flow (shear stress)-induced dilation of isolated arterioles of rat gracilis muscle. Active diameter of arterioles at a constant perfusion pressure (PP, 80 mmHg) was approximately 92 microns, while their passive diameter (Ca(2+)-free solution) was approximately 165 microns. At a constant PP the stepwise increase in flow of the perfusion solution (PS, 0-60 microliters/min in 10-microliters/min steps) elicited a gradual increase in diameter up to approximately 140 microns. Flow-induced dilations were eliminated by the removal of the endothelium of arterioles (by air). Dilations were significantly reduced by the cyclooxygenase blocker, indomethacin (Indo, 10(-5) M), by the nitric oxide synthase blocker, N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 10(-4) M), or by the endothelium-derived relaxing factor inhibitor, oxyhemoglobin (Hb, 10(-5) M), as indicated by the significant changes in the slope of the regression lines of the flow-diameter curves. For example, during administration of the inhibitors, dilation to 60 microliters/min perfusate flow was reduced by 41.1, 54.3, and 39.3%, respectively. Combined application of Indo and L-NNA almost completely eliminated flow-induced dilation. Arteriolar dilation maintained calculated wall shear stress close to control values (approximately 30 dyn/cm2 at 60 microliters/min) despite increases in flow, but when the dilation was inhibited by removal of the endothelium or by the combined administration of Indo and L-NNA, wall shear stress was greatly increased as a function of increases in flow of the PS (approximately 125 dyn/cm2).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Heavy Equipment Operator training via Virtual Modeling Technologies

Off-site and on-the-job training programs constitute current methods to train construction equipment operators. Being time-intensive, expensive, and potentially hazardous, these methods give novices only limited opportunity to experience real working conditions. Computer modeling technologies—Augmented Reality, Augmented Virtuality, Virtual Reality, teleoperation, and simulator—are envisaged to meet this challenge. To facilitate comparisons between different training schemes, a taxonomy is presented to identify distinctions. Skill transfer from the training program to real task performance is noted to be a critical ergonomics issue, and thus a cognitive-motor spectrum was developed for classifying categories of transferred skills prevalent in current equipment operator training schemas.
Towards Improving the``Detection" Power of Brain Imaging Experiments Using fNIRS

To improve “detection” power, dynamical time warping averaging algorithm is introduced for averaging the hemodynamic responses across blocks. It is applied on N-back tasks and shown to offer improved performance, compared to conventional averaging.
Effect of Familiarity with Background Music on Performance of Simple and Difficult Reading Comprehension Tasks

For 64 undergraduates varied musical selections did not offset scores on Sequential Tests of Educational Progress but scores on the easier sections were higher than those on more difficult ones. Sc...
Estimation of Boundary and Area Using Aircraft with Integrated Navigation and EKPF

An algorithm was proposed to estimate the boundary and area of terrains with the quadrotor aircraft as the measuring instrument. The tightly coupled closed-loop integrated navigation system( strap-down inertial navigation system and global positioning system) was used to collect the positioning data. The Pauta criterion and EKPF( extended Kalman particle filter)were used to exclude the anomalous positioning data and dispose the remaining positioning data respectively. The boundary and area were estimated using the proposed algorithm based on the final positioning data. The front facing and bottom facing cameras of the aircraft were used to determine the flight direction and select the boundary points. This algorithm could be used to estimate irregular convex polygons,concave polygons and segmental arcs. The estimation error was limited within ± 1. 2%. The actual flight test results indicated the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed algorithm.
Tropical cyclone Ivan’s tornado cluster in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States on 17–18 September 2004

AbstractThis paper presents a case study of a cluster of tornadoes produced by tropical cyclone (TC) Ivan in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States on 17–18 September 2004. Ivan produced 118 tornadoes between 15 and 18 September, but 57 of these occurred in a period of only 10 h on the last two days. The number of tornadoes that occurred in this event is anomalous when compared to regional tornado climatology and to other TC tornado events. Furthermore, a significantly large number of the tornadoes, when compared to other TC tornadoes, were rated strong according to the Fujita Scale, and they were anomalously long- and wide-tracked. Ivan was in a synoptically favorable environment when these tornadoes were produced, and the tornadoes occurred in a favorable local-scale environment near a front with spatially overlapping shear and buoyancy.
Optimized nanostructured TiO2 photocatalysts

Titania is the most widely studied photocatalyst. In it’s mixed-phase configuration (anatase-rutile form) -as manifested in the commercially available P25 Degussa material- titania was previously found to exhibit the best photocatalytic properties reported for the pure system. A great deal of published research by various workers in the field have not fully explained the underlying mechanism for the observed behavior of mixed-phase titania photocatalysts. One of the prevalent hypothesis in the literature that is tested in this work involves the presence of small, active clusters of interwoven anatase and rutile crystallites or “catalytic “hot-spots””. Therefore, non-woven nanofibrous mats of titania were produced and upon calcination the mats consisted of nanostructured fibers with different anatase-rutile ratios. By assessing the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical properties of these samples the optimized photocatalyst was determined. This consisted of TiO2 nanostructures annealed at 500˚C with an anatase /rutile content of 90/10. Since the performance of this material exceeded that of P25 complete structural characterization was employed to understand the catalytic mechanism involved. It was determined that the dominant factors controlling the photocatalytic behavior of the titania system are the relative particle size of the different phases of titania and the growth of rutile laths on anatase grains which allow for rapid electron transfer between the two phases. This explains how to optimize the response of the pure system.
Parallel Programming Using Thread-Level Speculation

As the performance increases of single-threaded processors diminish, consumer desktop processors are moving toward multi-core designs. Thread-level speculation (TLS) increases the space of applications that can benefit from these designs. With TLS, a sequential application is divided into fairly independent tasks that are speculatively executed in parallel, while the hardware dynamically enforces data dependencies to provide the appearance of sequential execution. This thesis demonstrates that support for TLS greatly eases the task of manual parallel programming. Because TLS provides a sequential programming interface to parallel hardware, it enables the programmer to focus only on issues of performance, rather than correctness. The dissertation starts by demonstrating the parallelization of a microbenchmark to introduce a number of techniques for manual TLS parallelization. Several of the advanced techniques leverage programmer expertise to surpass the capabilities of current advanced, automated parallelizers; the research presented here can provide guidance for the future development of such tools. Following this, the use of these techniques to parallelize seven of the SPEC CPU2000 applications is described. TLS parallelization yielded an average 120% speedup on four floating point applications and 70% speedup on three integer applications, while requiring only approximately 80 programmer hours and 150 lines of non-template code per application. These strong parallel performance results generated with relatively modest programmer effort support the inclusion of TLS in future chip multiprocessor designs. For each application parallelized, a detailed description is provided of how and where parallelism was located, the impediments to extracting it using TLS, and the code transformations that were required to overcome these impediments. The results on these applications demonstrate that using advanced manual techniques is essential to effectively parallelize integer benchmarks. This leads to a discussion of common hindrances to TLS parallelization, and a subsequent description of methods of programming that help expose the parallelism in applications to TLS systems. These programming guidelines can help uniprocessor programmers create applications that can be easily ported to future TLS systems and yield good performance. In closing, the dissertation reviews the many advantages of manual TLS parallel programming and specifies potential future research areas.
Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis Management: A Review of Current and Emerging Non-Pharmacological Approaches

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability in the USA. Numerous clinical practice guidelines specify non-pharmacological strategies as the core management approach for OA. Although several of these strategies are efficacious, clinical practice remains primarily focused on analgesic use and invasive treatments such as joint replacements. This practice gap may be due to several factors such as a lack of accessibility or awareness of non-pharmacological interventions in clinical care, concentration on pain alone—which neglects other disability-related symptoms such as fatigue, and sleep difficulty, and placement of prevention and wellness with this lifelong disease as lower priority on the part of providers and payers. As referral patterns to rehabilitation for OA are scant, future research should focus on how to package established non-pharmacological interventions and increase accessibility at the point of care when patients are seeking services. Providers then would have the means to link patients to the plethora of community resources for OA management. Furthermore, a more holistic approach to symptom management that targets physical activity, diet, education, and behavior change is needed, with interdisciplinary healthcare professionals playing a larger role in tailoring non-pharmacologic interventions to individuals.
Revisiting Oxycodone Analgesia: A Review and Hypothesis

Oxycodone, a semisynthetic opioid analgesic, is widely used in clinical practice. Oxycodone and morphine seem to be equally effective and equipotent; however, morphine is 10 times more potent than oxycodone when given epidurally. This article provides an updated review of the basic pharmacology of oxycodone with a special focus on pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics properties. The controversy regarding oxycodone-mediated effects for visceral pain via agonism and the possible role of peripheral opioid analgesia are discussed in the present investigation in an attempt to propose a plausible explanation to the perplexing question of oxycodone analgesia.
The new age of pay transparency

Abstract A new age of pay transparency began on January 11, 2016, when Executive Order 13665 took effect. Applying to employers who have contracts valued over $10,000 with the U.S. government, the order prohibits them from retaliating against employees for disclosure and discussion of compensation information. This effectively increases pay transparency for an estimated 20% (28 million workers) of the labor force. As a result, the difference in pay between men and women and between white and minority employees is now under increased scrutiny. This article aids employers in this new era of heightened attention to their compensation practices. We begin with an overview of the current dimensions of pay gaps in the U.S., providing a societal level perspective. Pay transparency is emphasized as a means to help narrow earnings gaps at the firm level. Legal, regulatory, and social aspects of pay disclosure are discussed and employers currently using pay transparency are highlighted. We also present management responsibilities and practices for the new age of pay transparency.
Review article: maximising quality of life while aspiring for quantity of life in end‐stage liver disease

SummaryBackground With recent advances in the management of chronic liver disease and its complications, the long-term survival in cirrhosis has improved. Therefore, the number of individuals who will spend a significant proportion of their life with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) may continue to rise. Thus, more attention to quality of life (QOL) and its integration with traditional clinical endpoints is needed. Aims Recently, there have been many studies looking at treatment outcomes and their impact on the QOL in patients with ESLD. The aim of this review was to summarise and compare the insights gained from these intervention studies and to make concise recommendations to further promote and improve QOL in this patient population. Methods A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Web of Science. Search terms “Quality of life” “Cirrhosis” and “end-stage liver disease” were used as MeSH terms or searched in the title of the article. Results These studies uniformly show significant improvement in health-related QOL (HRQOL) with management of malnutrition, hepatic encephalopathy and ascites. Thus, early recognition and management of these complications are keys to better serve our patients. Early involvement of palliative care also leads to improved quality of end-of-life care. Conclusions Complications of cirrhosis including malnutrition, encephalopathy, ascites and variceal bleeding lead to a decrease in HRQOL. Assessment of HRQOL has an important implication for the patient. The findings of this review illuminate the importance of using consistent tools to accurately assess QOL in patients with ESLD.
What Do We Rank When We Rank Colleges? Who Determines How and Who Benefits?: Student Empowerment and the Development of Alternative College Rankings

This article describes the life-cycle thus far about how a class of undergraduates and their professor have been developing a new college ranking approach based on the college's cultivation of civic intelligence. The approach was educational in that we learned by doing what it might take to actually develop a rubric in general (although specifically for ranking colleges). We also found it to be empowering since it was largely a student inspired and directed project. it also fostered critical thinking and social critique based on a bottom-up approach to evaluating orthodox higher education.
What counts as language education policy? Developing a materialist Anti-racist approach to language activism

Language activism has been at the core of language education policy since its emergence as a scholarly field in the 1960s under the leadership of Joshua Fishman. In this article, we seek to build on this tradition to envision a new approach to language activism for the twenty-first century. In particular, we advocate a materialist anti-racist approach to language activism that broadens what counts as language education policy to include a focus on the broader racial and economic policies that impact the lives of language-minoritized communities. In order to illustrate the need for a materialist anti-racist framing of language education policy we provide portraits of four schools in the School District of Philadelphia that offer dual language bilingual education programs. We demonstrate the ways that larger societal inequities hinder these programs from serving the socially transformative function that advocates for these programs aspire toward. We end by calling for a new paradigm of language education policy that connects language activism with other movements that seek to address societal inequities caused by a myriad of factors including poverty, racism, and xenophobia.
Unpacking “Active Learning”: A Combination of Flipped Classroom and Collaboration Support Is More Effective but Collaboration Support Alone Is Not

Much evidence shows that instruction that actively engages students with learning materials is more effective than traditional, lecture-centric instruction. These “active learning” models comprise an extremely heterogeneous set of instructional methods: they often include collaborative activities, flipped classrooms, or a combination of both. To date, it is unclear whether active learning is more effective if it combines collaboration support with flipped classroom methods. We conducted a quasi-experiment as part of an advanced general chemistry course with 413 undergraduate students. We tested whether active learning is more effective than traditional instruction if it includes collaboration support only or a combination of collaboration support and flipped classrooms. Further, we explored effects on students’ attitude. Our results show that only the combination of collaboration support and flipped classroom methods led to significantly higher learning outcomes than traditional instruction. Furthermore, ...
Perspectives from the Solution-focused Community

In this chapter, eleven solution-focused therapists graciously share their responses to the author’s request for their thoughts on solution focused anxiety management. Through interview or written comments, they describe how they have seen clients transform anxiety to courage, coping, appropriate caution, and choice. They discuss how they use and trust the basic solution-focused process. The therapists note whether they add other tools to the treatment; some do so, whereas others do not. They also comment on strengths their clients have shown and what these clients have taught them. The chapter summarizes the common themes and the diversity that emerged in the respondents’ comments.
Modelling Consumers' Attitude and Intention to use Fashion and Beauty Subscription-Based Online Services (SOS): A TRA Approach

A subscription-based online service (SOS) refers to an e-business that provides periodic delivery of a customized box of merchandise directly to the consumer's home for a weekly/monthly fee. Though the SOS industry has grown rapidly, virtually no research exists to explore the factors influencing consumers' intention to use SOS. This study aims at predicting consumers' attitude and intention to use SOS by applying Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). A structural model of 385 respondents' utilitarian and hedonic motivations, fashion consciousness, consumer innovativeness, desire for unique products, online transaction self-efficacy, attitude, subjective norm and intention to use SOS was developed and tested. The findings revealed that consumers who seek utilitarian and hedonic benefits, and are fashion conscious, with online transaction self-efficacy, will have positive attitudes towards fashion and beauty SOS, leading to an intention to use fashion and beauty SOS. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
NSTX-U In-Vessel Control Coils’ Design Concept

A successful conceptual design was completed to develop in-vessel control coils [non-axisymmetric control coils (NCCs)]. The NCCs are a series of saddle coils that are intended to satisfy a number of physics criteria including magnetic breaking, error field control, fast resistive wall mode (RWM) control, and edge-localized-mode stabilization. Customized mineral-insulated cable (MIC) was selected for the conductor material. The MIC was made from oxygen-free copper conductor, high purity magnesium oxide powder insulation, and 304 stainless steel sleeve cover. Sample MIC was purchased from an outside supplier, and various tests were conducted for design and performance verification including high-voltage testing, which necessitated the development of special test terminations. A concept design was also developed for terminating the MIC ends using the nonconductive and vacuum-sealed technique. Two alternative designs were proposed for joints inside the vacuum vessel (VV). The NCCs are designed to be mounted in front of the primary passive plates and underneath the plasma-facing component (PFC) tiles. The passive plates will be modified to accommodate the coils. A new PFC tile design concept was developed using high-Z materials. New designs for the penetrations through the VV wall were developed. One port per coil was planned. A new power patch panel will be required to provide the ability for various combinations of connections between the NCC, the existing RWM coils, and the existing switching power amplifier power suppliers.
Interval Matrices in Knowledge Discovery

In this chapter, we study the concepts of interval matrices and related strategies for knowledge discovery. Section 4.1 introduces interval matrices. Section 4.2 discusses representations of an interval matrix. Section 4.3 investigates approximate solutions for interval linear systems of equations. Section 4.4 examines interval versions of singular value decompositions (SVD) and principal component analysis (PCA). Section 4.5 presents a case study, and we draw conclusions in Section 4.6.