cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-institutional Nomogram Predicting Survival Free From Salvage Whole-Brain Radiation After Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases

(HP pZ0.043) and increased ECOG score (OR 4.76, 95%C.I. 2.4-9.4; p<0.001). 21.9% of the patients had neurologic deficits on initial presentation, 9.7% had cognitive decline, and 8.5% had seizures. When neurologic exam findings were included in a multivariable Cox model of all HP pZ0.001), cardiac comorbidities (OR 1.77, 95%C.I. 1.2-2.6; pZ0.005), neurologic comorbidities (OR 1.79, 95%C.I. 1.0-3.1; pZ0.042), and the presence of seizures (OR 1.8, 95%C.I. 1.05-3.15) predicted worse OS (Figure 1). Neurologic exam findings were not associated with OS. Interestingly, patients with neurologic motor deficits were more likely to have undergone surgical resection (p<0.001). Conclusion: Neurologic deficits are not associated with initial overall prognosis for patients with brain metastases undergoing radiosurgery. Despite the appeal for assuming that patient’s with a worse neurologic exam will fare more poorly, our findings confirm that when encountering new patients with brain metastases of unknown primary histology or systemic disease status, their prognosis should be informed by initial historical findings that delineate performance status, past medical history, and seizures. Author Disclosure: E. Oermann: None. M.A. Knoll: None. A.I. Yang: None. B.T. Collins: None. S.P. Collins: None. M. Ewend: None. D. Kondziolka: None.
Synthetic Jet based Active Flow Control of Dynamic Stall Phenomenon on Wind Turbines Under Yaw Misalignment

One of the largest contributors to the structural failure of wind turbines is the unsteady aerodynamic loading experienced by the blades. This can arise due to yaw misalignment, wind shear, gusting or a combination of these conditions. Under these conditions, cyclic blade loading occurs and dynamic stall phenomenon is possible which in-turn results in hysteresis and causes vibrations in turbine components. Therefore, it is important to mitigate, or even fully suppress, dynamic stall. In this paper we use numerical simulations to study synthetic-jet based active flow control to mitigate dynamic stall. The goal is to achieve fast-time response control with actuators that require low energy input and are physically compact. We focus on the NREL Phase VI turbine with the S809 airfoil shape. The baseline configuration (without synthetic jets) is modeled at below rated (7 m/s), rated (10 m/s), and above rated (15 m/s) wind speeds and at a yaw angle of 30◦. It is found that the unsteady loading due to yaw misalignment can cause power fluctuations of up to 9kW or 135% for each blade during one blade revolution. Next we study active flow control on a pitching S809 airfoil with a synthetic-jet actuator, where two wind conditions are considered that correspond to the yaw angle of 30◦for two wind speeds of 10 and 15 m/s at blade span of 60% and 80%, respectively. The jet is placed at 5% chord location (i.e., x/c = 0.05) and is activated at a non-dimensional frequency of 5. Synthetic-jet based control is shown to significantly reduce the flow separation near the leading edge and thus, reduce the hysteresis by up to 73% at the rated wind speed.
The Fear of Falling Behind in Youth Sports

Many parents fear that their child or children will not be successful in sports if they do not begin early participation and in some cases, early specialization. In addition to parental pressure on children to participate, there is a youth sport industry that encourages young athletes to purchase the essential equipment for participation in specific sports. This financial investment along with early participation, and often a “win at all cost”, places extreme pressure on children to succeed at sports at an early age. This paper offers suggestions for children to participate in sports at an age-appropriate level.
Further Open to the Outside World:An Evaluation on the Effects of China’s Entry into WTO for Five Years

The paper evaluates the domestic and international benefits of China's entry into WTO for 5 years, and concludes that China should adhere to the principle of opening to the outside world, and realize the effects of overall development via comprehensive openness, comprehensive participation and comprehensive cooperation, thus to extend China's strategic national interests. China must ensure its own economic security, while at the same time it should improve its level of openness, and try to play more active and constructive role in international economic system. In a world, China should integrate current interest into its future strategic interest, and try its best to play a responsible and leading role in the international community.
Model predictive control of dynamic voltage restorer

In order to improve the dynamic response speed and steady accuracy of the dynamic voltage restorer, this paper proposes control strategies based on model predictive control (MPC) and analyzes design methods of controller parameters in detail. On the basis of analysis of the main circuit model for dynamic voltage restorer, the model is improved by the inner current controller and the one-step prediction model of controlled object needed by MPC is acquired, and then a model predictive controller is designed. The proposed control algorithm overcomes the difficulty that traditional model predictive control algorithm based on non-parametric prediction mode is difficult to be directly applied to power systems such as rapid real-time system due to complexity of the algorithm, difficulties of parameter adjustment and amount of computation. It has the merits of feedback correction and dynamic optimization of MPC. Under satisfactory steady accuracy conditions, the proposed strategy improves dynamic response speed significantly. The feasibility of the proposed controller is verified through experimental analysis compared with classic control strategy.
Educational Leadership and Racism: A Narrative Inquiry into Second-Generation Segregation:

Background/ContextIn-school racial segregation, also called second-generation segregation, is a social dynamic that is manifest in different and complicated ways in schoolhouses across the United S...
Familial factors associated with the characteristics of nonmaternal care for infants

study when the infants were born, and information was collected about naturally occurring patterns of regular nonmaternal care over the first 15 months of the child's life. Economic factors were most consistently associated with the amount and the nature of the nonmaternal care that infants received; maternal personality and beliefs about maternal employment also were factors. Infants who began nonmaternal care between 3 and 5 months of age had mothers who scored highest on extraversion and agreeableness. Children who began nonmaternal care earlier had mothers who believed that maternal employment had greater benefits for children. More nonmaternal care was related to fewer children in the family, lower maternal education, higher maternal income, lower total family income, longer hours of maternal employment, and the mother's belief in the benefits of maternal employment. The type of care was related to the child's ethnicity, household composition, and the mother's concerns about the risks of maternal employment to children. Factors predicting the quality of care varied across different types of care. For care in the child's home or in a childcare home, family income was positively associated with quality. For care in child-care centers, children from both low- and high-income families received higher quality care than those from moderate-income families. These results define the potentially confounding factors to be considered when analyzing the effects of early experiences of nonmaternal care on child outcome.
The “Letter of the Year” and the Prophetics of Revolution

In January 2003, a group of over 800 babalaos, or Ifa divination priests, gathered together in Havana, Cuba, to read the “Letter of the Year,” an annual divination ceremony that forecasts the social, political, and economic climate for the coming year. The group of both Cuban and foreign diviners was organized by the Miguel Febles Padron Commission (CMFP), which, since 1986, has united a number of otherwise independent divination priests to annually carry out the ceremony. Although it has been performed intermittently beginning with the first generation of Cuban babalaos, knowledge of the ceremony was until recently largely confined to the island’s Ocha-Ifa (i.e., Santeria) communities. Since the late 1980s, however, the Ifa oracle’s prophecies have attracted the attention of the larger Cuban public, as well as the international press. The annual divination ceremony’s increasing public visibility and contested political meanings became clear in the CMFP’s 2003 reading. Aside from the usual predictions of natural disasters, social ills, and war, the CMFP’s reading made what some believed was a cryptic reference to Fidel Castro himself with one of the year’s slogans, “The king turns in his crown before dying.”
Lincoln at Cooper Union: Neo‐classical criticism revisited

(2001). Lincoln at Cooper Union: Neo‐classical criticism revisited. Western Journal of Communication: Vol. 65, Rhetorical Criticism: The State of the Art Revisited, pp. 232-248.
The Hexagon Gauge Anomaly in Type 1 Superstring Theory

Abstract Hexagon diagrams with external on-mass-shell Yang-Mills gauge particles are investigated in type I superstring theory. Both the annulus and the Mobius-strip diagrams are shown to give anomalies, implying that spurious longitudinal modes cannot be consistently decoupled. However, the anomalies cancel when the two diagrams are added together if the gauge group is chosen to be SO(32). In carrying out the analysis, two different regulators are considered, but the same conclusions emerge in both cases. We point out where various terms in the low-energy effective action originate in superstring diagrams.
An ocean-bottom seismometer capsule

abstract An ocean-bottom seismometer capsule containing a 1-Hz vertical seismometer and triggered digital recording system has been developed and tested off the coast of San Diego. The output of the seismometer is continuously digitized at 64, 128, or 256 samples per second. The digital data is mixed with a time code and passed through a 256 sample shift register which acts as a delay line. It is then mixed with synchronization characters, serialized, encoded, and recorded on a SONY TC800B tape recorder which is turned on when a seismic event occurs. The event trigger occurs when the seismic signal jumps to at least twice the time-averaged input signal. Data are recovered using the same recorder for playback and a decoder which provides an analog output for field data interpretation or a digital output for computer analysis. The capsule itself falls freely to the ocean bottom. After a predetermined time it is released from a 150-lb steel tripod and floats to the surface. A dual timer and explosive bolt system provides a high recovery reliability. A number of seismic events have been measured in field tests and the system has proven to be extremely simple to check out, diagnose, and deploy.
Cyber norms for civilian nuclear power plants

The international community agrees that the safe operation of civilian nuclear infrastructure is in every population’s best interest. One challenge each government must address is defining and agreeing to a set of acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace as they relate to these facilities. The introduction of digital systems and networking technologies into these environments has led to the possibility that control and supporting computer systems are now accessible and exploitable, especially where interconnections to global information and communications technology (ICT) networks exist. The need for norms of behavior in cyberspace includes what is expected of system architects and cyber defenders as well as adversaries who should abide by rules of engagement even while conducting acts that violate national and international laws. The goal of this paper is to offer three behavioral cyber norms to improve the overall security of the ICT and Operational Technology (OT) networks and systems that underlie the operations of nuclear facilities. These norms of behavior will be specifically defined with the goals of reducing the threats associated to the theft of nuclear materials, accidental release of radiation and sabotage of nuclear processes. These norms would also include instances where an unwitting attacker or intelligence collection entity inadvertently makes their way into a nuclear facility network or system and can recognize they are in a protected zone and an approach to ensuring that these zones are not exploitable by bad actors to place their sensitive cyber effect delivery systems.
Intersex, theology, and the Bible: troubling bodies in church, text, and society

This volume is based on papers presented at a conference held in March, 2013 as part of a project at Lincoln Christian Theological Institute, University of Manchester called “Intersex, Identity and...
Global cerebral ischemia with subsequent respiratory arrest in a cat after repeated use of a spring-loaded mouth gag.

Case summaryA 10-year-old neutered male domestic shorthair cat was evaluated because of signs of stertorous breathing and reverse sneezing of 8 months’ duration. A CT scan performed 1 week before e...
Volatility of Central Europe Exchange Rates: Reaction to Financial Contagion, and Policy Recommendations for European Union Accession

After redirecting their economies away from central planning to open-market systems during the past decade, economic policy makers in the transforming economies of Central Europe (CE) are now preparing for accession to full membership in the European Union. Among other preparatory tasks for inte gration with the European Union, these economies need to achieve a high de gree of economic stability, including stability of their currencies. They further need to develop a strong institutional foundation of their financial markets that would allow them to cushion the impacts of financial disturbances emanating from world financial markets. The key investigative question of this study is the assessment of sensitivity of Hungarian, Polish and Czech exchange rates in U.S.-dollar terms to fluc tuations of the German mark value in U.S. dollars. A close proximity of these exchange rates would imply a tighter link between Central European and EU currencies. Specifically, the study implies a gradually expanding connection of Central Europe's exchange rates to the German mark and, after January 1999, to the euro (EUR). A closer integration with the EU financial system is indispensable for the development of an effective cushion against the contagion effects of financial crises in emerging market economies. This study shows that the
Pellet-clad mechanical interaction screening using VERA applied to Watts Bar Unit 1, Cycles 1–3

Abstract The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) aims to provide high-fidelity multiphysics simulations of light water nuclear reactors. To accomplish this, CASL is developing the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA), which is a suite of code packages for thermal hydraulics, neutron transport, fuel performance, and coolant chemistry. As VERA continues to grow and expand, there has been an increased focus on incorporating fuel performance analysis methods. One of the primary goals of CASL is to estimate local cladding failure probability through pellet-clad interaction, which consists of both pellet-clad mechanical interaction (PCMI) and stress corrosion cracking. Estimating clad failure is important to preventing release of fission products to the primary system and accurate estimates could prove useful in establishing less conservative power ramp rates or when considering load-follow operations. While this capability is being pursued through several different approaches, the procedure presented in this article focuses on running independent fuel performance calculations with BISON using a file-based one-way coupling based on multicycle output data from high fidelity, pin-resolved coupled neutron transport–thermal hydraulics simulations. This type of approach is consistent with traditional fuel performance analysis methods, which are typically separate from core simulation analyses. A more tightly coupled approach is currently being developed, which is the ultimate target application in CASL. Recent work simulating 12 cycles of Watts Bar Unit 1 with VERA core simulator are capitalized upon, and quarter-core BISON results for parameters of interest to PCMI (maximum centerline fuel temperature, maximum clad hoop stress, and minimum gap size) are presented for Cycles 1–3. Based on these results, this capability demonstrates its value and how it could be used as a screening tool for gathering insight into PCMI, singling out limiting rods for further, more detailed analysis.
The effect of measurement unreliability on sleep and respiratory variables.

Introduction: Unreliability associated with scoring sleep variables is a potentially problematic issue in clinical and research studies. When scoring unreliability is unrecognized, it can contribute to the following: increase variability in the measures of interest, decrease a study's ability to detect important relationships, attenuate correlation coefficients, and increase clinical trial costs. Methods: This paper first models the relationship between scoring variability and reliability in commonly studied sleep variables. The paper then models the relationship between unreliability and sample size requirements and statistical power. Standard methods are used to model reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: The analysis shows that when scoring unreliability is minimized (i.e., scoring reliability is maximized), correlation coefficients are more robust, sample size requirements are reduced, statistical power is increased, and clinical trial costs are reduced. Discussion: When scoring unreliability is recognized, research studies can compensate by increasing the number of research subjects studied; however, it is at the cost of increasing the costs of research and exposing greater numbers of subjects to possible study risks. An effective solution is to implement rigorous initial and ongoing training efforts to maintain high inter-rater and intra-rater reliability coefficients.
Utilization of durian biomass for biorenewable applications

The utilization of tropical fruit biomass as feedstock for biorenewable resources is an attractive proposition due to its abundance and potential to reduce reliance on conventional sources as well as the overall economic gain to all stakeholders. This study aims to pave the way towards successful and viable utilization of this feedstock by exploring and examining key physical and chemical traits of durian biomass, a major tropical fruit crop in Malaysia. The study was divided into three main parts: identification of durian biomass moisture test method, characterization of physical and chemical properties of durian biomass for thermochemical conversion, and composting of durian biomass. In the first section, HORT 2 method was found to be the best available moisture content test and depending on the process optimization need, ground samples can provide the fastest accurate result, while cubed or whole samples provide easier handling but require adequate drying time and temperature. Durian biomass was found to be comparable to most biomass studied in the literature. Its low ash value and high calorific value, especially when compared to palm oil biomass which is currently used in co-firing plants, makes it an attractive option. For other thermochemical applications, high moisture and oxygen content in durian biomass requires drying and pretreatment for optimal processing. In the composting section, nutrient content observed from the analysis of the compost indicates that durian rind is suitable for greenhouse media application. However, pH conditioning, nutrient supplement, and particle size reduction are needed to amend and improve its quality.
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer: can early intervention result in durable clinical benefit?

Management of patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often relies on multimodality treatment that includes surgical resection in appropriate cases and peri-operative chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy.
Transocean and the History of Tax Inversions

ABSTRACT The first tax inversion in 1983 was followed by small waves of subsequent inversion activity, including two inversions completed by Transocean. Significant media and political attention fo...
Auditory evoked potentials of the plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus): implications for directional hearing.

ABSTRACT The plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus) is an acoustically communicative teleost fish. Here, we evaluated auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in reproductive female midshipman exposed to tones at or near dominant frequencies of the male midshipman advertisement call. An initial series of experiments characterized AEPs at behaviorally relevant suprathreshold sound levels (130–140 dB SPL re. 1 µPa). AEPs decreased in magnitude with increasing stimulus frequency and featured a stereotyped component at twice the stimulus frequency. Recording electrode position was varied systematically and found to affect AEP magnitude and phase characteristics. Later experiments employed stimuli of a single frequency to evaluate contributions of the saccule to the AEP, with particular attention to the effects of sound source azimuth on AEP amplitude. Unilateral excision of saccular otoliths (sagittae) decreased AEP amplitude; unexpectedly, decreases differed for right versus left otolith excision. A final set of experiments manipulated the sound pressure-responsive swim bladder. Swim bladder excision further reduced the magnitude of AEP responses, effectively eliminating responses at the standard test intensity (130 dB SPL) in some animals. Higher-intensity stimulation yielded response minima at forward azimuths ipsilateral to the excised sagitta, but average cross-azimuth modulation generally remained slight. Collectively, the data underscore that electrode position is an essential variable to control in fish AEP studies and suggest that in female midshipman: (1) the saccule contributes to the AEP, but its directionality as indexed by the AEP is limited, (2) a left–right auditory asymmetry may exist and (3) the swim bladder provides gain in auditory sensitivity that may be important for advertisement call detection and phonotaxis.
Inhibition of Sodium Glucose Cotransporter-2 Mitigates Heart Failure Progression in Obesity

Recent clinical outcome studies (EMPA-REG and CANVAS) have demonstrated that a novel class of anti-hyperglycemic agents, which act by inhibiting the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2i), reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the cardiovascular effects of SGLT2i in heart failure are poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that preventative SGLT2i administration attenuates the progression of heart failure in the setting of obesity. Ossabaw swine were fed a high fat/high carbohydrate diet for 3 months and chronically instrumented with a telemetry system and a pacing electrode. Following recovery from surgery, animals were randomized to treatment groups (control vs. canagliflozin (300 mg orally per day)). Canagliflozin treatment began immediately prior to initiation of high rate pacing and was continued until terminal procedure was performed. Animals in both groups (control, n = 5 and SGLT2i, n = 5) were paced at a heart rate of 182 beats/min for ∼3-4 weeks prior to terminal procedure at which time measurements were obtained. Body weights were similar between control (62 ± 4 kg) and SGLT2i treated swine (60 ± 5 kg) (P = 0.77) Chronic high rate pacing augmented left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic pressure to ∼31 ± 3 mmHg in control swine (LV end-diastolic pressure in normal swine typically
THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARVAL AND ADULT LERNAEA CYPRINACEA

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the effect of temperature on the development of larval and adult Lernaea cyprinacea. Successful laboratory rearing of Lernaea cyprinacea provided an opportunity to study the effect of temperature on larval and transforming females. Studies with larvae were performed over the temperature range 20–36°C. Transformed females and their hosts were exposed to IOC. Mean time of the occurrence of the molt to metanaupliar stage increased from 23 h in the 26–28°C range to 44 h at 20°C. It decreased to 16 h at 36°C. At temperatures below 20°C, mortality was exceedingly high, but a few individuals always succeeded in surviving for long periods. Neither a significant morphological change nor molting occurred before death ensued. In contrast, the mean time of the occurrence of the molt to first copepodid stage was approximately the same duration over the temperature range 28–36°C. At 26°C, the mean time increased to 92 h and continued to rise to 170 h at 20°C.
Parametrically Robust Mutual Inductance Estimation based Adaptive Control Architecture for Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG)

This paper demonstrates a method for adaptive speed sensorless control of DFIG considering machine parameter variations. Proposed architecture overrides the issues related to speed and position sensors by estimating it from measured machine parameters. The adaptive control proposed here is based on system identification using Recursive Least Square identification (RLS) technique and Extended Minimum Variance Controller (EMVC). Addition of terminal voltage control loop considering the rotor current component improves the performance during dynamic system conditions and machine parametric variations. The proposed EMVC based control architecture makes the system parametrically robust along with improving dynamic stability when compared to classical minimum variance control (MVC). The proposed framework is validated both in MATLAB Simulink and Opal RT’s Real Time simulation platform for a 1.5MW Doubly Fed Induction Machine setup.
Funding Peyronie's disease: funding sources for primary research literature.

The objective was to describe funding sources and publication trends for the primary literature on Peyronie’s disease (PD), including direct industry research support. A search of EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was performed to identify articles published from 2006 to 2018. Articles not published in English, reviews, case reports, editorials, guidelines, and meta-analysis were excluded from analysis. Data collected included year and journal of publication, major focus, and funding sources. The US Federal Open Payments database was searched for direct industry research payments to authors. Four hundred thirty-seven articles met criteria. The median number of yearly publications was 31. The most frequent publications were Journal of Sexual Medicine (25.6%), Urology (8.9%), BJU International (7.3%), and Journal of Urology (5.7%). Plaque excision/grafting was the most common topic (16.5%) followed by pathophysiology (15.3%), and intralesional therapy (14.9%). Only 15.1% (n = 66) of articles had a funding source with only 2.3% (n = 10) articles receiving any National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. In total, 4.1% (n = 18) of the articles were industry funded, 61.1% (n = 11) of these from Xiaflex manufacturer Endo/Auxilium. Remaining articles appeared self-funded. There were 1524 unique authors and just 13 received any direct industry funds, totaling US$718,426. Most PD research is self-funded with only a small percentage from NIH or industry.
The Lymphoid Tissue Pharmacokinetics of Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and Tenofovir alafenamide in HIV-infected Persons.

The secondary lymphoid tissues (LT), lymph nodes (LN) and gut-associated lymphoid tissue are the primary sites of HIV replication and where the latent pool of virus is maintained. We compared the pharmacokinetics of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) in LT of 13 HIV-infected persons receiving a TDF-containing antiretroviral regimen who subsequently switched to a TAF-containing regimen. Study participants were on stable antiretroviral therapy for ≥12 months with plasma HIV-RNA 300 cells/µL. Intracellular concentrations of tenofovir-diphosphate (TFV-DP) and emtricitabine-triphosphate (FTC-TP) were quantified in PBMCs and in mononuclear cells obtained from LN, ileum and rectal tissues. With TAF, the TFV-DP concentrations in PBMCs and LN were 7.3-fold and 6.4-fold higher (ratios of geometric means of TAF to TDF), respectively, compared with TDF; ileal and rectal concentrations, however, were lower with geometric mean ratios of 0.14 and 0.18, respectively. A statistically significant relationship was observed between PBMC and LN concentrations of TFV-DP. During TDF-containing therapy, the expected effect of cobicistat to increase TFV plasma concentrations was observed, as were higher TFV-DP concentrations in PBMCs and mononuclear cells from LN, ileum and rectal tissues. The higher TFV-DP concentrations achieved with TAF in the LN provides the first human correlate of the observation in animals that TAF produced higher tenofovir LN concentrations. The ability to increase LN concentrations allows investigations of whether antiretroviral regimens with improved LN pharmacokinetics elicit a more complete virologic response in that compartment.
Testing-optimal kernel choice in HAR inference

Abstract The paper investigates the optimal kernel choice in heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation robust tests based on the fixed-b asymptotics. In parallel with the optimality of the quadratic spectral kernel under the asymptotic mean squared error criterion of the point estimator of the long run variance as considered in Andrews (1991) , we show that the optimality of the quadratic spectral kernel continues to hold under the testing-oriented criterion of Sun, Philips and Jin (2008) which takes a weighted average of the probabilities of type I and type II errors of the fixed-b asymptotic test.
When parenting is a longer road than anticipated: a journey examining parents’ experience and engagement at a therapeutic day school

This study explored the issues around parents’ engagement in services at a therapeutic day school. The study site is located within an urban, Midwestern medical center in the United States (US) ser...
Spatial patterns of nineteenth century fire severity persist after fire exclusion and a twenty-first century wildfire in a mixed conifer forest landscape, Southern Cascades, USA

Spatial patterns of fire severity are influenced by fire-vegetation patch dynamics and topography. Since the late nineteenth century, fire exclusion has increased fuels and recent fire severity patterns may diverge from historical patterns. We used data from a 2008 wildfire burning in a landscape with known nineteenth century fire severity patterns to answer the following questions: (1) Were the spatial patterns of fire severity and fire effects after the 2008 fire similar to those in the late nineteenth century? (2) What factors were most important in controlling spatial patterns of fire severity in 2008? Fire severity patterns in the late nineteenth century were identified by Beaty and Taylor (J Veg Sci 18:879, 2001) using dendroecology. Plots were remeasured after the 2008 fire and geospatial layers of vegetation type, topography, fire weather, daily fire extent and fire severity were used to identify controls on 2008 fire severity. Fire severity in 2008 varied in ways similar to the nineteenth century. Tree mortality and bark char in plots were lowest on lower slopes and southwest facing slopes, intermediate on middle slopes, and highest on upper slopes and northeast slopes. At the landscape scale, vegetation type, elevation, slope aspect, slope position and weather were the variables controlling fire severity. Spatial patterns of fire severity persisted, despite more than a century of fire exclusion. Our findings suggest that wildfires burning under moderate conditions even with a warming climate can help reduce the fire deficit and promote forest resilience in fire prone landscapes.
Kritik der Kritik

Gibt es nicht schon seit der Fruhen Neuzeit einen lebhaften Dialog zwischen Schriftstellern uber Europa, seine kulturelle Besonderheit und Identitat?
Scalability analysis of partitioning strategies for finite element graphs: a summary of results

The authors present a scalability analysis of three partitioning strategies, namely striped partitioning, binary decomposition, and scattered decomposition. The analysis is performed using the Isoefficiency metric, which helps in predicting the performances of these schemes on a range of processors and architectures. The performance of each of these schemes is related to the various problem characteristics such as mesh geometry and density. Isoefficiencies are presented for hypercube and mesh connected architectures. Theoretical results are verified through simulations.
Toward a New Paradigm for the Unification of Radio Loud AGN and its Connection to Accretion

We recently argued [21J that the collective properties. of radio loud active galactic nuclei point to the existence of two families of sources, one of powerful sources with single velocity jets and one of weaker jets with significant velocity gradients in the radiating plasma. These families also correspond to different accretion modes and therefore different thermal and emission line intrinsic properties: powerful sources have radiatively efficient accretion disks, while in weak sources accretion must be radiatively inefficient. Here, after we briefly review of our recent work, we present the following findings that support our unification scheme: (i) along the broken sequence of aligned objects, the jet kinetic power increases. (ii) in the powerful branch of the sequence of aligned objects the fraction of BLLs decreases with increasing jet power. (iii) for powerful sources, the fraction of BLLs increases for more un-aligned objects, as measured by the core to extended radio emission. Our results are also compatible with the possibility that a given accretion power produces jets of comparable kinetic power.
Synthesis and Characterization of Atomically Flat Methyl-Terminated Ge(111) Surfaces.

Atomically flat, terraced H–Ge(111) was prepared by annealing in H2(g) at 850 °C. The formation of monohydride Ge–H bonds oriented normal to the surface was indicated by angle-dependent Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Subsequent reaction in CCl3Br(l) formed Br-terminated Ge(111), as shown by the disappearance of the Ge–H absorption in the FTIR spectra concomitant with the appearance of Br photoelectron peaks in X-ray photoelectron (XP) spectra. The Br–Ge(111) surface was methylated by reaction with (CH3)2Mg. These surfaces exhibited a peak at 568 cm–1 in the high-resolution electron energy loss spectrum, consistent with the formation of a Ge–C bond. The absorption peaks in the FTIR spectra assigned to methyl “umbrella” and rocking modes were dependent on the angle of the incident light, indicating that the methyl groups were bonded directly atop surface Ge atoms. Atomic-force micrographs of CH3–Ge(111) surfaces indicated that the surface remained atomically flat after methylation. Electroc...
The Comparison of Alcohol Concentrations in Postmortem Fluids and Tissues

Fluid-tissue/blood alcohol ratios were calculated for a number of cases. The use of such factors to determine the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) becomes important when a blood specimen is not available or is contaminated. It was shown that estimates of blood alcohol concentrations derived from other physiological fluids or tissues can only be expressed as lying within a wide concentration range. Estimations of the BAC can be improved by using the stomach alcohol concentrations to determine if the decreased was in an absorption or postabsorption phase at the time of death.
Preparing for fieldwork: Students' perceptions of their readiness to provide evidence-based practice.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceptions of their confidence to use research evidence to complete a client case analysis assignment in preparation for participation in fieldwork and future practice. PARTICIPANTS A convenience sample of 42 entry-level occupational therapy Masters students, included 41 females and one male, ages 24 to 35. METHODS A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used. Students participated in a problem-based learning approach supported by educational technology. Measures included a pre- and post-semester confidence survey, a post-semester satisfaction survey, and an assignment rubric. RESULTS Based on paired t-tests and Wilcoxin Signed Ranks Tests, statistically significant differences in pre- and post-test scores were noted for all 18 items on the confidence survey (p< 0.001). Significant increases in students' confidence were noted for verbal and written communication of descriptive, assessment, and intervention evidence, along with increased confidence to effectively use assessment evidence. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that problem-based learning methods were significantly associated with students' perceptions of their confidence to use research evidence to analyze a client case. These results cannot necessarily be generalized due to the limitations of using non-standardized measures with a convenience sample, without a control group, within the context of a single course as part of one academic program curriculum.
Trauma and Recovery

* Introduction Traumatic Disorders * A Forgotten History * Terror * Disconnection * Captivity * Child Abuse * A New Diagnosis Stages of Recovery * A Healing Relationship * Safety * Remembrance and Mourning * Reconnection * Commonality * The Dialectic of Trauma Continues
Interface Stability of Metal Barrier and low K Dielectrics

It is known that the interface between a refractory metal barrier and a dielectric material is stable against thermal treatment at a conventional IC interconnect processing temperature. However, the interface may not be stable against thermal and electrical stress called the bias temperature stress (BTS) at moderate conditions of 150 °C and 0.5 MV/cm. Massive refractory metal ions are seen to drift into low K dielectric materials that contain a mixture of organic and inorganic elements. It is argued that the oxidation of the metal at the interface creates unstable metal ions that are ready to drift into the dielectric film under an electric filed during the BTS test. Dielectric or dielectric capping materials that do not contain oxygen can prevent metal oxidation and are desirable to create a stable metal and dielectric interface.
Thermal history of reef-associated environments during a record cold-air outbreak event

Several polar continental air masses intruding into the south Florida/northern Bahama Bank region during January 1981 caused record low air temperatures and rapid chilling of extensive shallow-water carbonate systems. Numerous “coral kills” along the Florida reef tract and massive fish mortalities in Florida Bay were attributable to unusually cold waters generated at this time. Thermal evolution of Florida Bay/Florida reef tract and northern Bahama Bank waters from 8 to 21 January was assessed from thermal infrared data acquired by the NOAA-6 environmental satellite, in situ water temperatures, local meteorological data, and a computerized heat flux model. Field observations and laboratory experiments identify 16°C as a thermal stress threshold for most reef corals (Mayor 1915; Davis 1981). Temperaturecorrected digital satellite data indicated that water temperatures below 16°C were generated in Florida Bay and on Little and Great Bahama Banks during a 10-day period in January. Lowest temperatures on the Florida reef tract resulted from offshelf transport of Florida Bay water through major tidal channels. Offshelf movement of bay water is driven primarily by strong northerly winds, density gradients, and tidal pumping. Absence of reef development opposite major tidal passes along the Florida reef tract (Ginsburg and Shinn 1964) and aperiodic coral kills along bank margins can be attributed to this process, which has probably had a limiting influence on Holocene reef development in these areas.
Critical periods of susceptibility to short-term energy challenge during pregnancy: Impact on fertility and offspring development.

Abstract In female mammals, reproduction is tightly regulated by energy status and food availability. Although acute energetic challenges inhibit female reproductive behavior and gonadotropin secretion, less attention has been given to the effects of short-term energetic challenge on pregnancy and gestation. Furthermore, species differences in pregnancy physiology necessitate more detailed analyses of specific pregnancy models. Here, we studied musk shrews, which display induced ovulation and obligate delayed implantation, and whose reproductive physiology is tightly linked to metabolic status. We tested whether acute energetic challenges of varied degrees given at specific pregnancy stages (including before and after delayed implantation) have different effects on gestational outcome and offspring postnatal development. We found that 48 h of either 40% or 50% food restriction, which reduced body weight and strongly inhibited sexual behavior, had minimal effects on pregnancy success and litter dynamics when administered early in gestation (pre-implantation). However,
Age-related differences in reliance behavior attributable to costs within a human-decision aid system.

OBJECTIVE: An empirical investigation was done to determine if there are age-related differences attributable to costs in reliance on a decision aid. BACKGROUND: Costs of reliance on a decision aid may affect reliance on the aid. Older and younger adults may not perceive and respond to a dynamic cost structure equally or objectively. METHOD: Sixteen older adults (65-74 years) and 16 younger adults (18-28 years) performed a counting task with an imperfect decision aid. Two types of costs were manipulated: (a) cost of error (CoE) and (b) cost of verification (CoV). The percentage of trials in which participants agreed with the decision aid and did not perform the task manually was recorded as reliance. Results: Participants decreased their reliance as the CoE increased and increased their reliance with a lower CoV; however, they tended to underrely on the decision aid. Younger adults tended to change their reliance behavior more than older adults did with the changing cost structure. CONCLUSIONS: Older and younger adults appear to interpret costs differently, with older adults being less responsive to changes in costs. Older adults may have been less able to monitor the changing costs and hence not adapt to them as well as younger adults. APPLICATION: Designers of decision aids should consider explicitly stating costs associated with reliance on the aid, as individuals may differ in how they interpret and respond to changing costs. Language: en
Highly cited works in skull base neurosurgery.

Objective Citation analysis can be used to evaluate an article's impact on its discipline. This study characterizes the most-cited articles related to skull base surgery. Methods The 100 most-cited skull base neurosurgery articles in all journals were examined. A separate listing of the top 100 most-cited articles in dedicated skull base journals was also examined. The following information was recorded for each article: number of authors, country of origin, citation-count adjusted for number of years in print, topic, and level of evidence. Results The 100 overall most-cited articles appeared in 25 journals. The top 100 most-cited articles in dedicated skull base journals appeared in 3 journals. Publication dates ranged from 1965–2006 for the overall list and 1993–2010 for the dedicated skull base list. Citations ranged from 11–59 (mean, 19) for the dedicated skull base list and 115–487 for the overall list (mean, 175). The average time-adjusted citation count was 8.4 for the overall list and 2 for the dedicated skull base journal list. Conclusions An original article in a nondedicated skull base journal related to the subspecialty of skull base with a citation count of 150 or more and time-adjusted citation count of 10 can be considered a high-impact publication. An original article in a dedicated skull base periodical having a total citation count of 20 or more and an average citation count of 2 per year or more can be considered a high impact publication.
Contributions from linguistics to an understanding of affect in diagnosis and treatment

A brief overview of classical psychoanalytic theory about affect is provided, noting a current recognition of a need for better understanding of this important factor in treatment. A developmental approach to both language usage and affective expression is proposed as useful in diagnosis and treatment, especially with persons with severe ego deficits. Illustrative material from cases and a research project are provided to highlight the usefulness for clinical social workers of the growing knowledge about language acquisition.
Leveling and aligning: Challenges and solutions

Abstract Levelling and aligning is usually the first step in the mechanical execution of an orthodontic treatment plan. Most often, this is achieved by inserting wires of increasing stiffness into the brackets of malaligned teeth. The force systems generated by placing straight wires into crooked brackets may or may not result in favorable tooth movement depending on the geometric relationships among the brackets and the outcome desired. Analysis of the relationships between adjacent teeth will show whether the force systems produced by insertion of a straight wire will be desired or not. Alternative treatment strategies, including the use of extraoral, interarch, or auxiliary appliances, may be indicated when the anticipated side effects of straight wire alignment are unfavorable. Evaluation of the force systems produced during orthodontic leveling and aligning can improve treatment efficiency and help avoid unexpected tooth movements.
The presence of transforming growth factor e in bovine mammary gland.

Transforming growth factor e (TGFe) was demonstrated immunohistochemically in the bovine mammary gland, mainly in the glandular and ductal epithelium. In the teat, its expression was largely limited to the skin keratinocytes, ductal epithelium and ductal glands. It is suggested that this growth factor plays a role in lactation.
Neuropsychiatry of Persistent Symptoms After Concussion

A minority of individuals will continue to experience debilitating symptoms for more than several months after sustaining a concussion. These problems may have multiple causes, including persistence of the original concussion symptoms, but they also may be due to factors such as depression and anxiety, physical problems, and psychological issues (including coping with an adverse insurance and legal system). This article reviews the differential diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients with chronic symptoms that persist after a concussion. Language: en
Personality characteristics of women in intercollegiate competition.

21 women participating in team sports were compared with 21 women involved in individual sports on the 15 personality measures of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. No significant differences were found. Crucial variables to consider in the design of like studies are discussed.