cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Infrared determination of quartz in clay minerals

A method for the quick and reliable quantitative determination of quartz in clay by infrared spectroscopy by using the cast film technique is presented. The technique is demonstrated for two different internal standards, calcium carbonate and manganese carbonate, and is compared with a mull oil technique. The calibration curves were prepared with synthetic mixtures of standard kaolinite and quartz. Analysis of powdered samples demonstrated an absolute precision of less than 1.0% with an accuracy of less than 1.0% when using the manganese carbonate as the internal standard.
Identification of Swell in Nearshore Surface Wave Energy Spectra

An approach for routine identification of swell and sea in nominally fully developed, omnidirectional, surface water wave energy spectra measured in arbitrary water depth is developed, applied, and discussed. The methodology is an extension of earlier work with deepwater spectra and involves identifying the frequency at which wave steepness is maximized and relating this to the swell separation frequency. The TMA parameterized spectrum is employed to establish a relationship between the two frequencies so that the methodology can be used when wind data are unavailable. The methodology is developed for finite water depth and tested using a dataset that includes both acoustic Doppler current profiler and wave buoy data, recorded simultaneously at the same location. For cases where the sea and swell are clearly, visually distinguishable in the omnidirectional spectra, the new method accurately distinguishes between the two, but it can also be used to identify sea and swell in unimodal spectra.
Global earthquake forecasts

SUMMARY We have constructed daily worldwide long- and short-term earthquake forecasts. These forecasts specify the earthquake rate per unit area, time and magnitude on a 0.5 degree grid for a global zone region between 75N and 75S latitude (301 by 720 grid cells). We use both the Global Centroid Moment Tensor (GCMT) and Preliminary Determinations of Epicenters (PDE) catalogues. Like our previous forecasts, the new forecasts are based largely on smoothed maps of past seismicity and assume spatial and temporal clustering. The forecast based on the GCMT catalogue, with the magnitude completeness threshold 5.8, includes an estimate of focal mechanisms of future earthquakes and of the mechanism uncertainty. The forecasted tensor focal mechanism makes it possible in principle to calculate an ensemble of seismograms for each point of interest on the Earth's surface. We also introduce a new approach that circumvents the need for focal mechanisms. This permits the use of the PDE catalogue that reliably documents many smaller quakes with a higher location accuracy. The result is a forecast at a higher spatial resolution and down to a magnitude threshold below 5.0. Such new forecasts can be prospectively tested within a relatively short time, such as a few years, because smaller events occur with greater frequency. The forecast's efficiency can be measured by its average probability gains per earthquake compared to the spatially or temporally uniform Poisson distribution. For the short-term forecast the gain is about 2.0 for the GCMT catalogue and 3.7 for the PDE catalogue relative to a temporally random but spatially localized null hypothesis. Preliminary tests indicate that for the long-term global spatial forecast the gain is of the order 20–25 compared to the uniform event distribution over the Earth's surface. We can also prospectively test the long-term forecast to check whether it can be improved.
Re-Reading Petrarca in the Digital Era

As part of the seminar Re-reading Petrarch in the Digital Age –taught at the University of Oregon in Winter 2014– a digital close reading of Francesco Petrarca’s Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta (Rvf) led to a series of parallel and entwined activities and projects. Deeply integrated with the Oregon Petrarch Open Book Project (OPOB), the course was oriented towards the encoding of Petrarca’s masterpiece based on the implementation of a network of different themes (Poet, Laura, Metaphysics Nature Metamorphoses and Urban Culture). The various occurrences and data obtained from the encoding were collected into an online database that is still operating and updatable. The results of this qualitative data collection were also compared with a quantitative computer-based research of selected keywords extracted from the various themes. From the beginning of the seminar, the class was divided into groups and each of them read the Rvf focusing on one of themes chosen while at the same time paying attention to the others. The different groups considered these themes as interrelated and interdependent. The poet is the sphere in which all the topics emerge in their specific connotations. However, his sphere is related to, dependent on and intersected with the other four spheres. The encoding allowed measuring the different manifestations, levels and meanings of the intersecting relationships. The study of the visual interpretation of the Rvf in the Inc. Queriniano G V 15 paralleled the close reading and encoding activity and helped students to develop a visual rendering of their themes and a pointed and original and creative interpretation of Petrarca’s masterpiece.
Role of Fc receptors in herpes simplex virus infection.

Abstract It is suggested that Fc receptors which appear on the surface of cells infected by herpes-simplex virus confer a biological advantage on the virus—perhaps by binding immunoglobulin molecules or antigen-antibody complexes on the cell surface, thus blocking viral antigenic sites, or by consuming antibody directed at surface viral antigen or by modifying replication of the virus.
On greedy construction heuristics for the MAX-CUT problem

Given a graph with non-negative edge weights, the MAX CUT problem is to partition the set of vertices into two subsets so that the sum of the weights of edges with endpoints in different subsets is maximised. This classical NP-hard problem finds applications in VLSI design, statistical physics, and classification among other fields. This paper compares the performance of several greedy construction heuristics for MAX-CUT problem. In particular, a new 'worst-out' approach is studied and the proposed edge contraction heuristic is shown to have an approximation ratio of at least 1/3. The results of experimental comparison of the worst-out approach, the well-known best-in algorithm, and modifications for both are also included.
History of the Internet and its flexible future

This article relates the history of wireless communications to the history of the Internet. The early work on packet switching is traced,and then a brief description of the critical events in the growth of the Internet is provided. Then, a vision of where the Internet is heading is presented, with a locus on where user participation, flexible applications and services, and innovation are appealing. A network with extreme mobility, ubiquity, personalization, adaptivity, video addiction, and surprising applications, as yet unimagined is foreseen.
Flexibility in the patterning and control of axial locomotor networks in lamprey.

Synopsis In lower vertebrates, locomotor burst generators for axial muscles generally produce unitary bursts that alternate between the two sides of the body. In lamprey, a lower vertebrate, locomotor activity in the axial ventral roots of the isolated spinal cord can exhibit flexibility in the timings of bursts to dorsally-located myotomal muscle fibers versus ventrally-located myotomal muscle fibers. These episodes of decreased synchrony can occur spontaneously, especially in the rostral spinal cord where the propagating body waves of swimming originate. Application of serotonin, an endogenous spinal neurotransmitter known to presynaptically inhibit excitatory synapses in lamprey, can promote decreased synchrony of dorsal–ventral bursting. These observations suggest the possible existence of dorsal and ventral locomotor networks with modifiable coupling strength between them. Intracellular recordings of motoneurons during locomotor activity provide some support for this model. Pairs of motoneurons innervating myotomal muscle fibers of similar ipsilateral dorsoventral location tend to have higher correlations of fast synaptic activity during fictive locomotion than do pairs of motoneurons innervating myotomes of different ipsilateral dorsoventral locations, suggesting their control by different populations of premotor interneurons. Further, these different motoneuron pools receive different patterns of excitatory and inhibitory inputs from individual reticulospinal neurons, conveyed in part by different sets of premotor interneurons. Perhaps, then, the locomotor network of the lamprey is not simply a unitary burst generator on each side of the spinal cord that activates all ipsilateral body muscles simultaneously. Instead, the burst generator on each side may comprise at least two coupled burst generators, one controlling motoneurons innervating dorsal body muscles and one controlling motoneurons innervating ventral body muscles. The coupling strength between these two ipsilateral burst generators may be modifiable and weakening when greater swimming maneuverability is required. Variable coupling of intrasegmental burst generators in the lamprey may be a precursor to the variable coupling of burst generators observed in the control of locomotion in the joints of limbed vertebrates.
A Reappraisal of the Causes of Farm Protest in the United States, 1870–1900

Between 1870 and 1900 American farmers organized in the Grange, the Alliances, and the Peoples (Populist) Party and protested against a variety of economic ills. Economic historians have generally explained the farm organizations and the protests in the same way that the farmers themselves explained them—in terms of low agricultural prices and high costs of inputs resulting in part from the monopolistic organization of the suppliers of those inputs. However, there now exists considerable evidence indicating that the economic conditions of the time were not: as the farmers depicted them, thus raising two questions: (1) if the farmers' statements about their economic state cannot be accepted as historical fact, then why were the farmers so angry? and (2) why did they choose to protest the issues which they did?
A theoretical study of different leader roles in networks

We study synchronization conditions for distributed dynamic networks with different types of leaders. The role of a "power" leader specifying a desired global state trajectory through local interactions has long been recognized and modeled. This note introduces the complementary notion of a "knowledge" leader holding information on the target dynamics, which is propagated to the entire network through local adaptation mechanisms. Different types of leaders can coexist in the same network. For instance, in a network of locally connected oscillators, the power leader may set the global phase while the knowledge leader may set the global frequency and the global amplitude. Knowledge-based leader-followers networks have many analogs in biology, e.g., in evolutionary processes and disease propagation.
A Modifled Vortex Algorithm for Low Reynolds Number, Low Aspect-Ratio Wings

A numerical algorithm based on Prandtl’s lifting line theory is developed and applied to low Reynolds number aerodynamic force prediction for wings with low aspect ratio. The algorithm accounts for Reynolds number through viscous efiects on the two-dimensional section lift and drag forces. Improved low aspect-ratio behavior is achieved by allowing the trailing vortex sheet to roll up with the wing tip vortices. The results of the algorithm are compared with experimental measurements. Nomenclature Ai Planform area of wing section i Ar Wing reference area ~i spatial location of node i ci Reference chord length associated with wing section i C‘ Lift coe‐cient Cmi Airfoil pitching moment coe‐cient for section i d~i Difierential spanwise length vector of section i Lr Global reference length Nb Number of bound vortex loops Nf Number of free vortex loops Nn Number of nodes ~1 unit vector in the direction of the freestream velocity ~ij Vector distance between points i and j ti Elapsed time since creation of vortex loop i ~si Unit vector in the spanwise direction for section i ~ji Nondimensional velocity induced at location j by vortex loop i ~ Vi Local velocity at the location of node or control point i V1 freestream velocity magnitude fii Local angle of attack at section i ¢t time step ii Vortex strength of loop i 'ij Viscous correction factor for the velocity induced at j by vortex loop k ‰ Density ” Kinematic viscosity
Flexible Electrode Technology for Peripheral Nerve Interfacing

In this study, sputtered iridium oxide films were subjected to a long-term stimulation and accelerated soak procedure to determine the ability of these electrodes to maintain high level of charge injection in an in vitro environment without delaminating. Scanning electron microscopy was used after the procedure to examine the electrodes for delamination. Characterization of the electrochemical properties of reactively sputtered iridium oxide films on LCP was also performed.
Economic Judgments, Party Choice, and Voter Abstention in Cross-National Perspective

This article proposes and applies a unified model of economic voting. The central claim of this article is that economic judgments affect the decision of whether to vote as well as how to vote. An analysis of cross-national survey data supports this claim, demonstrating that previous studies of economic voting have failed to identify the full relationship by omitting abstention. In addition, the analyses support a refined version of the clarity of responsibility hypothesis, showing that institutional clarity moderates the strength and nature of economic voting, with little evidence of vote-switching among parties in low-clarity settings. These findings suggest that students of voting behavior should give greater attention to the relationship between the decisions of whether and how to vote.
With a Little Help From Your Students: A New Model for Faculty Development and Online Course Design

Institutions of higher education are faced with the challenge of developing faculty who are ready, willing, and able to teach online. Standard approaches towards faculty development often miss the dynamic and complex relationship between content, pedagogy, and technology. Our approach has faculty members and graduate students participate in a unique seminar where they work collaboratively to design online courses. We describe our “learning by design” approach and present evidence of how this approach respects the realities and complexities of teaching online. We use evidence from multiple sources (interviews, surveys, observations, and artifacts developed) to develop a model of online teaching that posits successful courses require the careful integration of three components that coconstrain each other: content, pedagogy, and technology. The late Douglas Adams (1997), author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, uncovered an important principle relevant to educational technology—The Someone Else’s Problem (SEP) field. The SEP is a fictional technology that can make something “virtually invisible” because we think it is somebody else’s problem. It is not that the object in question really vanishes. It does not. It may in fact even catch you by surprise out of the corner of your eye. The idea of the SEP is that once we consider something as being outside of the arena of our concerns, that something, for all practical
The Development of a Biologically Inspired Propulsor for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Fish are remarkable in their ability to maneuver and to control their body position. This ability is the result of the coordinated movement of fins which extend from the body and form control surfaces that can create and vector forces in 3-D. We have embarked on a research program designed to develop a maneuvering propulsor for unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) that is based on the pectoral fin of the bluegill sunfish. For this, the anatomy, kinematics, and hydrodynamics of the sunfish pectoral fin were investigated experimentally and through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. These studies identified that the kinematics of the sunfish pectoral fin are very complex and are not easily described by traditional ldquorowingrdquo- and ldquoflappingrdquo-type kinematics. A consequence of the complex motion is that the pectoral fin can produce forward thrust during both its outstroke (abduction) and instroke (adduction), and while doing so generates only small lateral and lift forces. The results of the biological studies were used to guide the design of robotic pectoral fins which were built as experimental devices and used to investigate the mechanisms of thrust production and control. Because of a design that was based heavily on the anatomy of the sunfish fin, the robotic pectoral fins had the level of control and degrees of freedom necessary to reproduce many of the complex fin motions used by the sunfish during steady swimming. These robotic fins are excellent experimental tools, and are an important first step towards developing propulsive devices that will give the next generation of UUVs the ability to produce and control thrust like highly maneuverable fish.
A new formula for predicting alterations in plasma sodium concentration in peritoneal dialysis

Alterations in the plasma water sodium concentration ([Na+]pw) result from changes in the total exchangeable sodium (Nae), total exchangeable potassium (Ke), and total body water (TBW). The empiric...
The Historical Realization of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Athletes with Disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 has been one of the most powerful tools used by persons with disabilities in the fight for access and equality. Significant case law demonstrates the impact of the ADA on disability sport participation and access, but little is known regarding how the ADA has impacted athletes with disabilities. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain the perspective of elite athletes with disabilities who competed before and after the ADA’s enactment. Participants were interviewed, and the data were transcribed and analyzed. Findings indicated that participants generally felt physical barriers were most problematic before the ADA and improved greatly after the ADA. Economic barriers, social barriers, and barriers of legitimacy were challenging to athletes before the ADA, but views differed on whether these issues improved and to what extent improvement occurred following the implementation of the ADA.
Misleading Results with a Bar Phantom Image

A bar phantom was imaged in an attempt to measure the resolution of a scintillation camera with a high energy collimator. The image obtained was actually a Moire pattern but it caused some confusion; it resembled a bar phantom image because it had the appearance of different sized bands in different quadrants. On closer examination the image was found to be due to interference patterns between the lead bars and the array of holes in the collimator.
Religion and politics

Contemporary democratic states tend to be highly secular, even as, in some of them, religious fundamentalism is growing. This article takes a secular state to be roughly one whose legal and institutional frameworks exhibit separation between the state and the church—meaning religious institutions. Religious citizens commonly see secular states as unfriendly toward religion. This article addresses the question of how secular governments can provide for the liberty of all in a way that observes a reasonable separation of church and state and minimizes the alienation of religious citizens. Achieving the optimal balance between an appropriate secularity in the state—which in practice implies governmental neutrality toward religion—requires both institutional principles, such as those appropriate to a constitution, and principles of civic virtue that apply to individual conduct.
TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF ENTREPRENEURS: THE CURRENT STATE OF THE LITERATURE

ABSTRACT A review of the literature in entrepreneurship and small-business management training shows that both the quantity and quality of publications are increasing. Documents were selected from 18 journals as well as conference proceedings and government documents. The Journal of Small Business Management and small-business conference proceedings were the most fruitful sources. The major findings of the review were a need for a stronger empirical focus, increased attention to evaluating the effects of training and education, more careful profiling of target audiences, and greater cross-fertilization with theory, and practice in the related fields of education and instructional design. Future reviews in this area can refine the methodology and draw on a growing literature base.
Pressure Development in the Hyperthrophied Heart.

SummaryThe degree of pressure produced by isovolumetric contraction in the left ventricle of rat hearts hypertrophied either by exercise or hypoxia was measured. The rats were anesthetized and artificial respiration administered. Following thoracotomy an 18 gauge needle, attached to a transducer, was placed into the left ventricle. The aorta was occluded and the maximum pressure between the control and experimental animals was not significant, except in the male hypoxic group, which group showed a signncantly lower value. The data suggest that hearts hypertrophied by exercise or by hypoxia have a decreased isometric pressure development on a per gram of heart muscle basis when compared to control animals.
Systematic Design and Demonstration of Flat-band Finite- size Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguides

Using techniques in LC circuit filters, a systematic method for the design of flat-band finite-size coupled-resonator-optical-waveguides (CROWs) are developed. Based on this theory, finite-size CROWs with flat-band spectrum on silicon-on-insulator platform are fabricated and demonstrated.
Human Mitochondrial Transcription Initiation Complexes Have Similar Topology on the Light and Heavy Strand Promoters

Transcription is a highly regulated process in all domains of life. In human mitochondria, transcription of the circular genome involves only two promoters, called light strand promoter (LSP) and heavy strand promoter (HSP), located in the opposite DNA strands. Initiation of transcription occurs upon sequential assembly of an initiation complex that includes mitochondrial RNA polymerase (mtRNAP) and the initiation factors mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and TFB2M. It has been recently suggested that the transcription initiation factor TFAM binds to HSP and LSP in opposite directions, implying that the mechanisms of transcription initiation are drastically dissimilar at these promoters. In contrast, we found that binding of TFAM to HSP and the subsequent recruitment of mtRNAP results in a pre-initiation complex that is remarkably similar in topology and properties to that formed at the LSP promoter. Our data suggest that assembly of the pre-initiation complexes on LSP and HSP brings these transcription units in close proximity, providing an opportunity for regulatory proteins to simultaneously control transcription initiation in both mtDNA strands.
The failed quest-romance: Lucía Etxebarria's Nosotras que no somos como las demás

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the short story “Desiderata” found in Lucia Etxebarria's 1999 work Nosotras que no somos como las demas. The article analyzes Etxebarria's use of the quest-romance in “Desiderata” and concludes that the quest fails. I explain the concept of the original quest-romance and its feminized version and then relate those concepts to “Desiderata” through a textual analysis of the story. I suggest that Etxebarria writes a failed quest-romance story to illustrate the limits of the quest as a feminist tool of self-discovery. Whereas the experiences of the quest suggest change and freedom, a closer reading shows how the narrative structure reinforces confinements that women face by consistently allowing the female protagonist a taste of change and then using the mirror as a tool to undermine her experiences.
Connecting Protein Structure to Intermolecular Interactions: A Computer Modeling Laboratory

An understanding of protein folding relies on a solid foundation of a number of critical chemical concepts, such as molecular structure, intra-/intermolecular interactions, and relating structure to function. Recent reports show that students struggle on all levels to achieve these understandings and use them in meaningful ways. Further, several reports show that the visualization techniques employed to help students understand protein structure often lead to confusion and propagate further misconceptions. Here, we report on a lab exercise using computer-based modeling to support student proficiency in using and making models and understanding H-bonding and the hydrophobic effect in the context of protein folding. We analyzed student drawings and explanations of protein structure and found significant improvements from pre- to postlab, indicating that students improved their understanding of protein folding. Further, we report on how we systematically refined our laboratory materials based on student work.
Chapter IX Manipulator Mechanics

A simple and comprehensive menu-driven computer-based method for trajectory planning and force analysis in a planar robot is developed in the first paper. The robot designer is able to vary parameters and study their effect on the robot performance. In the second paper, a simple method to analyze the effect of torque and force on the first three links of a PUMA robot has been determined. Minimum time trajectory and bang-bang control with discontinuity points and knot points smoothed by parabolic blend are used. The workspace of a robotic arm using the Articulated Total Body model is calculated in the third paper. Computation of the workspace of the end effector is important in determining the effectiveness of a robot.
Riding for the Lone Star: Frontier Cavalry and the Texas Way of War, 1822–1865. American Military Studies Series. By Nathan A. Jennings

Riding for the Lone Star: Frontier Cavalry and the Texas Way of War, 1822–1865 . American Military Studies Series. By Nathan A. Jennings. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2016. vi + 402 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $32.95, cloth; $26.36, e-book.) The martial history of Texas is not a new topic for historians to explore, especially Texans’ predilection for cavalry service. Despite the numerous books examining Texas, Nathan A. Jennings finally and definitely answers some of our basic understandings of early Texas military history. He is the first to take what historians already suspected about the uniquely cavalry military tradition of Texas and researched it to definitively explain for the first time why Texans typically fought from horseback. Jennings starts his book with Moses and Stephen F. Austin and the settlers they eventually brought onto the Mexican frontier. The geography, great distances between settlements, … charles.grear{at}ctcd.edu
Familial Spinal Neurofibromatosis

The clinical features and genetic linkage analysis of two pedigrees with familial spinal neurofibromatosis (NF) are described from the Divisions of Neurology and Medical Genetics, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA; the Neurofibromatosis Institute, Pasadena, CA; and Department of Medical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
Detecting Localized Categorical Attributes on Graphs

Do users from Carnegie Mellon University form social communities on Facebook? Do signal processing researchers tightly collaborate with each other? Do Chinese restaurants in Manhattan cluster together? These seemingly different problems share a common structure: an attribute that may be localized on a graph. In other words, nodes activated by an attribute form a subgraph that can be easily separated from other nodes. In this paper, we thus focus on the task of detecting localized attributes on a graph. We are particularly interested in categorical attributes such as attributes in online social networks, ratings in recommender systems, and viruses in cyber-physical systems because they are widely used in numerous data mining applications. To solve the task, we formulate a statistical hypothesis testing problem to decide whether a given attribute is localized or not. We propose two statistics: Graph wavelet statistic and graph scan statistic, both of which are provably effective in detecting localized attributes. We validate the robustness of the proposed statistics on both simulated data and two real-world applications: High air-pollution detection and keyword ranking in a coauthorship network collected from IEEE Xplore. Experimental results show that the proposed graph wavelet statistic and graph scan statistic are effective and efficient.
Comparison of extracorporeal photopheresis and alemtuzumab for the treatment of chronic lung allograft dysfunction.

Background Survival after lung transplantation is limited by chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). Immunomodulatory therapies such as extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) and alemtuzumab (AL) have been described for refractory CLAD, but comparative outcomes are not well defined. Methods We retrospectively reviewed spirometric values and clinical outcomes after therapy with ECP, AL, or no treatment (NT) in patients with CLAD who underwent transplant between January 2005 and December 2014. We used inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) to adjust for potential confounders affecting treatment choice. Results Of 267 patients, 31 received immunomodulatory therapies for CLAD, and 78 received NT. The slope of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) decline significantly improved after treatment with AL and with ECP compared with pre-treatment FEV 1 slope; however, there was no significant change in slope of forced vital capacity (FVC). Comparison with NT was limited because of clinical differences in treatment groups. After IPWRA, we found no significant difference in mean difference of FEV 1 slope (ml/month) when comparing treatment with NT, suggesting stabilization of lung function in the treatment group. We found no difference between the 2 immunomodulatory therapies 1, 3, and 6 months post-treatment (−49.9 [95% CI −581.8, +482.0], p = 0.85; +27.7 [95% CI −167.6, +223.0], p = 0.78; −9.6 [95% CI −167.5, +148.2], p = 0.91). We found no difference in mean FVC slope or differences between ECP and AL in infection rates or survival after treatment. Conclusions Immunomodulatory therapy for CLAD with ECP or AL was associated with a significant change in FEV 1 slope post-treatment compared with pre-treatment slope, with minimal effect on FVC. There was no difference between the 2 therapies in their effect on pulmonary function.
THYROID AND AGING.

ABSTRACT Objective: Review physiologic thyroid function changes with aging and emphasize careful interpretation of tests in the aging population. Methods: Literature review. Results: Using age-specific thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) reference ranges should minimize or avoid the unnecessary diagnosis of thyroid disease in elderly patients. Subclinical thyroid dysfunction and abnormal TSH with normal thyroid levels may improve with time, so careful monitoring of thyroid function is recommended. Overt thyroid disease should always be treated. Conclusion: Clinical judgement is always warranted to decide how and when to treat subclinical thyroid disease in the elderly. Abbreviations: FT4 = free thyroxine; rT3 = reverse triiodothyronine; T3 = triiodothyronine; T4 = thyroxine; TFT = thyroid function test; TSH = thyroid-stimulating hormone
Effects of additional capacity on vehicle kilometers of travel in the U.S.: Evidence from National Household Travel Surveys

Abstract Adding capacity is one policy mechanism to alleviate congestion. However, the empirical evidence strongly suggests that additional capacity only makes congestion worse. This study analyzes the differential effects of additional freeway capacity versus additional arterial capacity on vehicle kilometers of travel (VKT) in metropolitan areas across the U.S. The analysis uses vehicle data and household data from the 2001 and the 2009 National Household Travel Surveys (NHTS) and includes stock and flow measures of road capacity, road congestion, commuter demand, and economic growth for metropolitan areas. Taking into account differences between metropolitan areas on each measure, the study adopts a novel multilevel model approach to estimate how additional capacity affects VKT. Results indicate that adding more arterial capacity slightly decreases VKT over a lag period from six years (1995 to 2001) to eight years (2001 to 2009), probably because adding arterials shortens routes between origins and destinations more so than adding freeways. Consistent with expectations, VKT is lower in more congested metropolitan areas, and in metropolitan areas that got more congested. Results also indicate that rebound effects (higher fuel-economy vehicles are driven much more than lower fuel-economy vehicles) will at least partially offset the demand management benefits of (gasoline) price sensitivity (higher gasoline prices decrease VKT).
Diminished Survival in Patients with Bile Leak and Ductal Injury: Management Strategy and Outcomes.

Background The increased incidence of bile duct injuries (BDIs) after the adoption of laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been well documented. However, the longitudinal impact of bile leaks and BDIs on survival and healthcare use have not been studied adequately. The aims of this analysis were to determine the incidence, long-term outcomes, and costs of bile leaks and ductal injuries in a large population. Study Design The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development database was queried from 2005 to 2014. Bile leaks, BDIs, and their management strategy were defined. Survival was calculated by Kaplan-Meier failure estimates with multivariable regression and propensity analyses. Cost analyses used inflation adjustments and institution-specific cost-to-charge ratios. Results Of 711,454 cholecystecomies, bile leaks occurred in 3,551 patients (0.50%) and were managed almost exclusively by endoscopists. Bile duct injuries occurred in 1,584 patients (0.22%) with 84% managed surgically. Patients with a bile leak were more likely to die at 1 year (2.4% vs 1.4%; odds ratio 1.85; p Conclusions The 0.22% incidence of BDIs observed in California is lower than reported in the first decade after the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Bile leaks are 2.3 times more common than BDIs. Patients with a bile leak or BDI have diminished survival. Surgical repair of a BDI leads to enhanced survival and reduced cumulative cost compared with endoscopic management.
A compact, low-cost, quantitative and multiplexed fluorescence detection platform for point-of-care applications.

Abstract An effective method of combating infectious diseases is the deployment of hand-held devices at the point-of-care (POC) for screening or self-monitoring applications. There is a need for very sensitive, low-cost and quantitative diagnostic devices. In this study, we present a low-cost, multiplexed fluorescence detection platform that has a high sensitivity and wide dynamic range. Our system features inexpensive 3 × 3 mm interference filters with a high stopband rejection, sharp transition edges, and greater than 90% transmission in the passband. In addition to the filters, we improve signal-to-noise ratio by leveraging time for accuracy using a charge-integration-based readout. The fluorescence sensing platform provides a sensitivity to photon flux of ∼ 1 × 10 4 photons / mm 2 sec and has the potential for 2–3 orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over standard colorimetric detection that uses colored latex microspheres. We also detail the design, development, and characterization of our low-cost fluorescence detection platform and demonstrate 100% and 97.96% reduction in crosstalk probability and filter cost, respectively. This is achieved by reducing filter dimensions and ensuring appropriate channel isolation in a 2 × 2 array configuration. Practical considerations with low-cost interference filter system design, analysis, and system performance are also discussed. The performance of our platform is compared to that of a standard laboratory array scanner. We also demonstrate the detection of antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV16) E7 protein, as a potential biomarker for early cervical cancer detection in human plasma.
In Proximity to Professionalism: A Regional Analysis of Master of Public Administration Programs and Local Government Management

Differences in the status of professionalism in local government management among U. S. states may be attributed to various cultural, regional, and institutional factors. The prominence of the Mast...
Pre- and post-operative counseling for laryngectomees and their spouses: An update

This survey was developed to determine if pre-operative counseling services have improved since the 1978 Keith, Linebaugh, and Cox study. The questions were aimed to obtain information on the quality and quantity of support services available to laryngectomees and their spouses. Questions addressed the type, amount, and content of information received. In addition, questions regarding post-operative counseling services for laryngectomees and spouses of laryngectomees also were included. Results indicated that 21% of the laryngectomees were not aware that laryngectomy surgery would result in loss of voice. In addition, not all speech rehabilitation options were explained to the patients. Pre- and post-operative counseling services for laryngectomees continue to be inadequate. It appears that little change has been made to improve this situation.
Initial Value Problems for ODEs: Multistep Methods

We saw in Chap. 5 that (explicit) one–step methods are increasingly difficult to construct as one upgrades the order requirement. This is no longer true for multistep methods, where an increase in order is straightforward but comes with a price: a potential danger of instability. In addition, there are other complications such as the need for an initialization procedure and considerably more complicated procedures for changing the grid length. Yet, in terms of work involved, multistep methods are still among the most attractive methods.We discuss them along lines similar to one– step methods, beginning with a local description and examples and proceeding to the global description and problems of stiffness. By the very nature of multistep methods, the discussion of stability is now more extensive.
Social dominance orientation: Cause or 'mere effect'? Evidence for SDO as a causal predictor of prejudice and discrimination against ethnic and racial outgroups

Abstract The question of whether SDO is a cause or mere effect of intergroup attitudes and behaviors has been the subject of heated debate. Much of the research brought to bear on the question, however, has used cross-sectional data that is not best-suited for making causal inferences. Using data from a panel study that tracked UCLA undergraduates over several years, we find support for the notion that SDO is a cause, rather than ‘mere reflection’ of prejudice and discrimination against outgroups. Specifically, using cross-lagged analyses among White students, we show that SDO measured in 1996 has significant marginal utility for predicting prejudice against a series of ethnic outgroups, as well as self-reported ingroup friendship preference, four years later, controlling for their 1996 levels. Conversely, outgroup affect and ingroup friendship preference measured in 1996 fail to predict SDO levels in 2000 once 1996 SDO levels are taken into account. Implications of these analyses for the debate on the interpretation of SDO as a relatively stable orientation towards group-based hierarchy in society are discussed.
Interventional Trials to Prevent Diabetes: Diabetes Prevention Program

The largest randomized controlled clinical trial in diabetes prevention is the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), funded by the US National Institutes of Health. By design, the DPP is the most diverse prospective study to date in diabetes prevention.
Methods for Protein Quantitation

Numerous methods for determining the amount of protein present in a sample have been devised over the years. Gravimetric methods for lyophilized (freeze dried) proteins have been used, as well as methods based on elemental analysis, such as the Kjeldahl nitrogen assay (Kjeldahl, 1983). These methods have largely been replaced by colorimetric and spectroscopic methods which offer convenient and reasonably accurate estimations of protein content in solution. Since these are the most commonly used methods for protein quantitation, we shall discuss them in detail here. The reader who wishes to pursue other methods for protein concentration determinations is referred to the excellent review by Darbre (1986). A comparison of the most common methods for protein concentration analysis has recently been made by Bio-Rad Laboratories, and is summarized in table 3.1.
Electronic Structure, Fermi Liquid and Excitonic Superconductivity in the High Tc Cu-Oxides

It need not be stressed to this audience that the discovery of the high Tc superconductors La2-xMxCuO4 [1] and YBa2Cu3O7-δ [2] has generated excitement among scientists and technologists on an unprecedented scale. The recent discoveries [3–5] of superconductivity above 85 K in Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O and above 120 K in Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O, which do not have a rare-earth element, have added a new dimension to the important subject of high Tc. A particularly exciting aspect of having added a third and fourth oxide superconducting material lies in the opportunity for seeking out common features in all four materials which may be relevant to determining the mechanism of their high Tc. One of the starting points is certainly a detailed picture of the electronic structure of the compound, a goal which is achievable by present day supercomputers in combination with highly precise numerical methods to solve the local density functional (LDF) Kohn-Sham equations in a self-consistent way. Even today, the origin of superconductivity in the new metallic oxides remains a challenge despite some intriguing hints obtained from experiment and electronic structure calculations.
Non Invasive Monitoring of Blood Glucose Using Saliva as a Diagnostic Fluid

Recently, saliva has been investigated as a possible diagnostic tool for glucose estimation. This paper presents a novel noninvasive method for the use of saliva for monitoring blood glucose. The present study tries to estimate the change in dielectric permittivity of saliva with blood glucose. A microwave biosensor was used at the microwave frequency to measure the shift in resonant frequency of the resonator. The change in the resonant frequency of the resonator is related to the change in the saliva permittivity and hence to amount of glucose variation in blood.
Modeling the binding and diffusion of receptor-targeted nanoparticles topically applied on fresh tissue specimens

Nanoparticle (NP) contrast agents targeted to cancer biomarkers are increasingly being engineered for the early detection of cancer, guidance of therapy, and monitoring of response. There have been recent efforts to topically apply biomarker-targeted NPs on tissue surfaces to image the expression of cell-surface receptors over large surface areas as a means of evaluating tumor margins to guide wide local excision surgeries. However, diffusion and nonspecific binding of the NPs present challenges for relating NP retention on the tissue surface with the expression of cancer cell receptors. Paired-agent methods that employ a secondary 'control' NP to account for these nonspecific effects can improve cancer detection. Yet these paired-agent methods introduce multidimensional complexity (with tissue staining, rinsing, imaging, and data analysis protocols all being subject to alteration), and could be greatly simplified with accurate, predictive in silico models of NP binding and diffusion. Here, we outline and validate such a model to predict the diffusion, as well as specific and nonspecific binding, of targeted and control NPs topically applied on tissue surfaces. In order to inform the model, in vitro experiments were performed to determine relevant NP diffusion and binding rate constants in tissues. The predictive capacity of the model was validated by comparing simulated distributions of various sizes of NPs in comparison with experimental results. The regression of predicted and experimentally measured concentration-depth profiles yielded <15% error (compared to ~70% error obtained using a previous model of NP diffusion and binding).
On the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Microstructure-Property Effects in Cast Aluminum Alloys

The metallurgy of cast aluminum alloys has been thought to be different from that of wrought alloys. It has been widely accepted that mechanical properties are controlled by dendrite arm spacing, the presence of Fe-bearing particles, and the size of Si particles in Al–Si alloys, which fracture and debond during deformation, leading to premature failure. Whether these effects are intrinsic or mere correlations because of the structural quality of the castings is questioned in this study. By comparing with ideal properties, it is shown that the effect of dendrite arm spacing on elongation, precipitation, and subsequent fracture of β-Al5FeSi platelets and finally Si particle fracture and debonding are all extrinsic.
Avatars for Inclusion: Innovative mathematical approaches for students with autism

The number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in elementary mathematics classrooms today is on the rise and educators around the world are seeking innovative methods for teaching them....
A homeostatic adaptive response to alpha-methyl-dopa in conscious dogs.

Repeated daily administration of an oral dose of 1000 mg of alpha-methyl-dopa (methyl dopa) to conscious dogs produced a conditioned adaptive hypertensive systolic and diastolic arterial pressure response along with the direct hypotensive pharmacological effect. The lower dose of 500 mg/day appeared to be devoid of direct or adaptive response effects, while the higher dose of 2000 mg/day only produced a blood pressure lowering response. The abrupt drug withdrawal unmasking the homeostatic state resulted in a marked systolic and diastolic pressor response which endured for about 10-days with peak effect reached at 17-days after termination of drug treatment. Comparable results were obtained whether the dogs were evaluated while in their normal horizontal body position or in a repositioned upright condition.
Rapid adiabatic gating for capacitively coupled quantum dot hybrid qubits without barrier control

We theoretically examine the capacitive coupling between two quantum dot hybrid qubits, each consisting of three electrons in a double quantum dot, as a function of the energy detuning of the double dot potentials. We show that a shaped detuning pulse can produce a two-qubit maximally entangling operation in $\ensuremath{\sim}50\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}$ without having to simultaneously change tunnel couplings. Simulations of the entangling operation in the presence of experimentally realistic charge noise yield two-qubit fidelities over 90%.