cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Location or insolation: the importance of siting in emissions mitigation from solar photovoltaics

Achieving environmental benefits is often a primary motivation for integrating renewable energy into the grid. The magnitude of generation from a solar power project is influenced by the solar resource quality, but locations with high insolation do not necessarily yield the greatest emission reduction benefits. This study simulates the power system response to 10 identical solar projects in different regions across the United States, selected to represent a wide range of solar resource quality and power grid configurations. The power grid mix is often a key determinant in offsetting CO2 , SO2 , and NOx emissions, illustrating how lower-quality solar resources can be more effective than sunnier sites at emissions mitigation when one considers characteristics of the power grid. The analysis shows a strong relationship between emissions mitigation and the share of offset generation that is coal-fired. The strongest correlation is shown for CO2 ; the presence or absence of emissions control equipment and the sulfur content of the coal complicates the relationship of SO2 and NOx . The emissions intensity of offset generation is insensitive to whether the solar project is fixed tilt or single-axis tracking. When seeking to mitigate power sector emissions, the impacts of solar design considerations on the temporal profile of generation are less important than the overall amount of generation and the location of interconnection. Public policies that target only the magnitude of generation from renewables (e.g., many Renewable Portfolio Standards) or the installed cost (e.g., the Investment Tax Credit) will likely lead to suboptimal emissions mitigation. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
The Embodied Experience of a Football Championship Subdivision Student-Athlete

Many scholars feel that due to the intensity of college sport, student-athletes are confined to borders, being denied a well-rounded experience (Potuto & O’Hanlon, 2007). Although past research has focused on the educational experiences in regards to the general student-athlete population, few studies have focused on the culture that constructs the overall student-athlete experience. This study utilized the narrative methodology, revealing the genuine human experience and assisting in mobilizing action for progressive social change (Riessman, 2008). This study utilized semi-structured interviews and journals to examine the embodied in-season experience of an athletically gifted Cuban FCS football student-athlete. Open coding revealed two major themes that will be discussed: football, identity, social support, and stereotype. This study is one of the first to explore the experience of a FCS student-athlete and sheds light on a Cuban football student-athlete’s experience.
Linking smell to metabolism and aging

The sense of smell, or olfaction, allows animals to survey the chemical landscape of the outside world and use this information to guide behavior. Olfactory cues are particularly important for the regulation of feeding, but how odor perception influences other aspects of energy homeostasis remains poorly understood. Recent work has begun to uncover some of these connections, revealing an unexpected role for olfaction in the control of metabolism and longevity.
The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Clinical Practice Guidelines for Anal Squamous Cell Cancers (Revised 2018).

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons is dedicated to ensuring high-quality patient care by advancing the science, prevention, and management of disorders and diseases of the colon, rectum, and anus. The Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee is composed of society members who are chosen
The Vive Controllers vs. Leap Motion for Interactions in Virtual Environments: A Comparative Evaluation

In recent years, virtual reality technologies have been improving in terms of resolution, convenience and portability, fostering their adoption in real life applications. The Vive Controllers and Leap Motion are two of the most commonly used low-cost input devices for interactions in virtual environments. This paper discusses their differences in terms of interaction design, and presents the results of a user study focusing on manipulation tasks, namely Walking box and blocks, Block tower and Numbered cubes tasks, taking into account both quantitative and qualitative observations. The experimental findings show a general preference for the Vive Controllers, but also highlight that further work is needed to simplify complex tasks.
National and regional trends in gastrostomy in very low birth weight infants in the USA: 2000-2012.

To determine rates of gastrostomy (GT) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of the Kids’ Inpatient Database for the years 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012. We identified VLBW births and infants undergoing a GT, with and without fundoplication, using ICD-9-CM codes. National rates (per 1000 VLBW births) of GT increased from 11.5 GT (95% CI 10–13) in 2000 to 22.9 (95% CI 20–25) in 2012 (p < 0.001). Gastrostomy with and without fundoplication increased during the study period (p < 0.001 in both groups). VLBW survival also increased from 78.5% in 2000 to 81.1% in 2012 (p < 0.001). In all study years, the Northeast census region had the lowest GT rates, while the West had the highest rates in 4 of the 5 study years. Between 2000 and 2012, the incidence of GT in VLBW infants doubled, associated with improvements in survival in this population.
The Economics of Charter Schools

Abstract Charter schools are an educational reform that provides alternatives to the traditional public school system for students and parents. They are granted greater autonomy for management of the school but are subjected to greater accountability for results. In this chapter, we tackle four contentious policy issues surrounding these schools of choice. First, we examine the profile of students attending charter schools and how this affects the profile of students in traditional public schools. We then compare funding between charter schools and traditional public schools. Next, we review the literature on the effects charter schools have had on the achievement of their students. Lastly, we ask how charter school competition has affected the performance of traditional public schools.
Mechanisms of Tumor Cell Migration and Invasion in Lung Cancer Metastasis

Cancer metastasis is a multistep process that involves tumor cell migration and invasion through tumor stroma, intravasation into and extravasation out of the blood vessels, and accumulation at a distant organ site. These events arise from concomitant alterations in the genetic, chemical, and physical state of tumor cells and its microenvironment. This chapter will, however, focus on the molecular determinants of tumor cell migration and invasion, with special emphasis on the cross talk between extracellular matrix, integrin receptors, matrix metalloproteases, and Rho GTPases, all of which undergo dynamic regulation to ultimately modulate cell shape and tension and, thereby, their migratory and invasive behavior. Elucidating these molecular mechanisms will likely identify key players in the metastatic process, which can be exploited to develop novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment for lung cancer.
Pediatric traumatic brain injury and ocular injury.

Purpose Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of pediatric disability and mortality. Together with sight-threatening ocular injuries, TBIs may lead to devastating consequences in developing children and complicate rehabilitation. We sought to investigate this relationship in pediatric patients admitted with major trauma. Methods The records of pediatric patients admitted with ocular injury and concomitant TBI were reviewed retrospectively using the National Trauma Data Bank (2008-2014). Results Of 58,765 pediatric patients admitted for trauma and also had ocular injuries, 32,173 were diagnosed with TBI. Mean patient age was 12.3 ± 7 years. Most were male (69.8%) and White (61.2%). The most frequent injuries were contusion of the eye/adnexa (39.1%) and orbital fractures (35.8%). The youngest age groups had greatest odds of falls in home locations, whereas older groups were more likely to suffer motor vehicle trauma as occupants (MVTO), struck by or against (SBA) injuries, and firearms injuries in street locations (P Conclusions TBI frequently is experienced by trauma patients with concomitant ocular injury and should be considered in children admitted with major trauma. Resultant demographic patterns may help identify patients that have a higher risk of TBI leading to earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Interpolation, Regression, and Smoothing

Interpolation and regression of data and smoothing of noisy data play a significant role in many scientific disciplines. Interpolation is an estimation of an unknown variable at output points (locations) by employing the known values at surrounding input points. Regression is an estimation of a variable at both input and output points by employing the known values at the surrounding input locations. Smoothing is an estimation of a variable at only known input points by employing the known input values. Smoothing may be necessary if the input data is noisy. It is worth noting that interpolation is different than regression and smoothing; the estimation based on interpolation passes through all the known input values. In other words, there is an exact recovery of the known values of the input points. There exist several methods for such estimations.
Effect of long-term orientation on voluntary security actions

This paper aims to examine the impact an individual’s long-term orientation (a cultural dimension) has on their attitude, behavioral intention and actual voluntary security actions taken in the context of the dangers related to poor account access management.,The paper relied upon survey data and actual usage information from a culturally diverse sample of 227 individuals who were introduced to the specific security problem and the accepted solution of using a password manager application.,The paper provides empirical evidence that the effect of positive attitudes increased when individuals were more long-term oriented, but the effect was reversed for average/negative attitudes toward the voluntary security behavior. Furthermore, participants with high long-term orientation and strong positive attitudes toward the security action actually adopted password manager applications 57 per cent more than the average adoption rate across the sample.,Due to the research approach (survey data), security context and sample population, the research results may lack generalizability.,The findings suggest that security awareness messaging and training should account for differences in long-term orientation of the target audience and integrate the distinctly different types of messages that have been shown to improve an individual’s participation in voluntary security actions.,The paper addresses previous research calls for examining possible cultural differences that impact security behaviors and is the only study that has focused on the impact of long-term orientation, specifically on voluntary security actions.
Power Surge and Clock Hiccup Side-Channel Watermarking Approach for Finite State Machines

We propose two watermarking techniques, one with power side-channel detection and another with clock hiccup side-channel detection. Hidden watermarking tags will be im-plemented by merging a watermark FSM into the design FSM with a side-channel leakage component in the form of power surge or clock hiccup. In some previously proposed approaches watermark states are merged into the design FSM by utilizing the unused states and/or transitions in the design FSM. Our approach, by designing the watermark FSM separately, allows a certain degree of automation, and reduced power consumption. In our approach, the design FSM is not modified at all and it keeps operating even when the watermark FSM is triggered. The watermark FSM is triggered only when the design FSM reaches a secret designated state, and only when the entire digital signature bit sequence is accepted as the input will the final watermark matching state be reached. This state will trigger the side-channel leakage unit, thus verifying the existence of the watermark and ownership. A purely side-channel based approach will make functional analysis based attacks quite difficult.
Abstract 1773: The tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2, is involved in regulating PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), specifically those which target the T-cell surface receptor Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand, Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), have demonstrated substantial clinical benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tumoral PD-L1 expression may be important for response to therapy, but the precise mechanism of regulation has yet to be fully elucidated. It is known that PD-L1 expression is elevated in cancers harboring mutations in the RAS family of genes, specifically KRAS. Mutations in the KRAS gene are found in up to 30% of NSCLC tumors, and there are no targeted treatment options available for this subset of patients. The tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2, has been shown to be a critical regulator of the KRAS signaling cascade. Therefore, genes regulated by the RAS/MAPK signaling cascade, including PD-L1, may be modulated by SHP-2 inhibition. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impact of SHP-2 activity on PD-L1 expression in NSCLC. The allosteric inhibitor of SHP-2, SHP099, was used to ablate SHP-2 activity in KRAS-mutant NSCLC cell lines, H460, A549, H2122, and EGFR-mutant NSCLC cell line PC9. PD-L1 levels were quantified by western blot and flow cytometry analyses. PD-L1 mRNA was measured by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. SHP099 activity was confirmed by SHP-2, siRNA transfection in KRAS active cell lines. Inhibition of SHP-2 led to increased levels of PD-L1 expression in the KRAS-mutant cell lines, but not in the EGFR-mutant cells. Analysis of PD-L1 surface expression by flow cytometry confirmed that surface PD-L1 levels increased following exposure to SHP099. To determine whether SHP-2 controlled expression at the transcriptional level, mRNA quantification by qRT-PCR displayed increased levels of PD-L1 mRNA following SHP099 treatment. Together, these results suggest that SHP-2 regulates PD-L1 expression in KRAS-active NSCLC at the level of PD-L1 gene expression. It is presently unclear whether SHP-2 also has a role in controlling protein turnover. Using SHP-2 mutant constructs that mimic a constitutively active phosphatase, we hope to gain further insight into the roles of both SHP-2 catalytic and scaffolding functionality on PD-L1 expression. Citation Format: Keller Toral. The tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2, is involved in regulating PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1773.
Selective Derivatization of Hexahistidine-Tagged Recombinant Proteins.

Covalent modification of proteins is extensively used in research and industry for biosensing, medical diagnostics, targeted drug delivery, and many other practical applications. The conventional method for production of protein conjugates has changed little in the last 20 years mostly relying on reactions of side chains of cysteine and lysine residues. Due to the presence of large numbers of similar reactive amino acid residues in proteins, common synthetic methods generally produce complex mixtures of products, which are difficult to separate. An emerging alternative technology for covalent modification of proteins involves formation of a covalent bond with a hexahistidine affinity tag present in a majority of recombinant proteins without interfering with other amino acid residues. The approach is based on formation of a ternary complex of the hexahistidine sequence with a bivalent metal cation chelated by ligand bearing an electrophilic Baylis-Hillman ester group capable of subsequent formation of a covalent bond with one of the histidine residues of the tag. The reaction proceeds under mild reaction conditions in neutral aqueous solutions under high dilutions (10−5 to 10−4 M) providing a stable covalent bond between the label and an imidazole residue in a hexahistidine tag at either C- or N-terminus. Because hexahistidine affinity tag methodology is a de-facto standard for preparation of recombinant proteins our approach can be easily implemented for selective derivatization of these proteins with fluorescent groups, alkynyl groups for “click” reactions, or biotinylation.
Your Flight Data is on Us

The Flight Data Tracker (FDT) developed at SUNY Fredonia is a system for transmitting and saving flight safety data in real-time on the cloud that is otherwise only stored in an aircraft’s Flight Data Recorder (aka FDR or “black box.”). The FDT implements novel features of live radio-based transmission and flight data charting making it an affordable method of real-time flight data delivery. FDT has been granted non-provisional patent #US-20150203212-A1. Since the grant of the US patent, ADRL (Advanced Data Research Lab) was established in SUNY Fredonia and an aviation data analysis company agreed to mentor our development efforts. This year, we won a summer RSCA grant from SUNY Research Foundation to design and build a prototype FDT system using SDR (Software Defined Radio) equipment and one FDR that captured flight parameters. The prototype has been completed successfully and we are able to transmit, capture, plot and analyze the flight data in real-time. This short paper is about the FDT prototype development project stages, its challenges, its results and future directions.
A Needs Assessment for Inclusive Physical Education: A Tool for Professional Development

Current research has shown that children with disabilities often felt that their physical education teacher was not prepared to provide them with quality physical education experiences. Over 50% of...
The Study of US State Policy Diffusion: What Hath Walker Wrought?

In 1969, political scientist Jack Walker published 'The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States' in the American Political Science Review. 'Walker 1969' has since become a cornerstone of political science, packed with ideas, conjectures, and suggestions that spawned multiple lines of research in multiple fields. In good Kuhnian fashion, Walker 1969 is important less for the answers it provides than for the questions it raises, inspiring generations of political scientists to use the political, institutional, and policy differences among the states to understand policymaking better. Walker 1969 is the rock on which the modern subfield of state politics scholarship was built, in addition to inspiring copious research into federalism, comparative politics, and international relations. This Element documents the deep and extensive impact of Walker 1969 on the study of policymaking in the US states. In the process, it organizes and analyzes that literature, demonstrating its progress and promise.
Promotion of Disposable Electronic Cigarette Flavors and Topics on Twitter.

Disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) became popular among youth after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented an enforcement policy to restrict the sale of cartridge-based flavored e-cigarettes starting from February 2020 in the United States (US). We aimed to examine the flavors and topics related to disposable e-cigarettes on Twitter. The Twitter dataset, which includes 1489 tweets, was collected by the Tweepy streamapplication programming interface (API) using a keyword query from March to September 2020. The disposable e-cigarette flavors were curated from both online stores and collected tweets. Topics related to disposable e-cigarettes on Twitter were manually coded. Distributions of topics were compared between tweets from the US and tweets from non-US countries. The temporal analysis results showed a slight increase in the number of discussions over the study period. Strawberry, mango, watermelon, and mint were the most popular flavors of disposable e-cigarettes mentioned on Twitter. Almost all the tweets (97.11%) were commercial tweets, which were dominated by topics related to the product and flavor promotions. The US tweets focused more on product and flavor promotions and less on price promotions compared to non-US tweets. Our results suggest that companies exploited the limitations of legislation to promote flavors on Twitter, which could undermine public health and young people’s finances if they get hooked on addictive products.
Influence of seasonal and diurnal FWD measurements on deflection-based parameters for rigid pavements

Seasonal and diurnal variations can significantly impact Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) measurements and, thus, any deflection-based parameter such as slab elastic modulus (Epcc), modulus of su...
Denosumab After Teriparatide in Premenopausal Women with Idiopathic Osteoporosis.

CONTEXT We have previously reported that teriparatide is associated with substantial increases in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (LS), total hip (TH) and femoral neck (FN) and small declines at the distal radius (DR) in 41 premenopausal women with idiopathic osteoporosis (IOP), all severely affected with low trauma fractures and/or very low BMD. Effects of teriparatide dissipate if not followed by antiresorptives. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of 12 and 24 months (M) of denosumab in premenopausal women with IOP completing 24M of teriparatide. DESIGN Preplanned phase 2B extension study. SETTING Tertiary referral centers. PATIENTS Premenopausal women with IOP. INTERVENTIONS Denosumab 60mg every 6 months for 12 and 24M. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Within-group change in BMD at the LS at 12M. Secondary outcomes include change in 12M BMD at other sites, 24M BMD at all sites, trabecular bone score (TBS) and bone turnover markers (BTM). FINDINGS After completing teriparatide, 32 participants took denosumab for 12M and 29 for 24M, with statistically significant increases in BMD at the LS (5.2±2.6% and 6.9±2.6%), TH (2.9±2.4% and 4.6±2.8%) and FN (3.0±3.8% and 4.7±4.9%). Over the entire 24M teriparatide and 24M denosumab treatment period, BMD increased by 21.9±7.8% at the LS, 9.8±4.6% at the TH and 9.5±4.7% at the FN (all p<0.0001). TBS increased by 5.8±5.6% (p<0.001). Serum BTM decreased by 75%-85% by 3M and remained suppressed through 12M of denosumab. Denosumab was generally well-tolerated. CONCLUSIONS These data support the use of sequential teriparatide and denosumab to increase BMD in premenopausal women with severe osteoporosis.
Compensation Structure of Buyer Brokers and Residential Real Estate Transactions

Excerpt] Traditionally, commission rates were set by local boards of realtors. However, shortly after the inception of the Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”), the Federal Trade Commission began requiring brokers to disclose that commissions were “not set by any governing body and [were] negotiable between the Seller and the Listing Broker.” 1 Despite this disclosure requirement, the tradition of charging a standard commission percentage and equally splitting this commission between brokers continued. While a chorus of voices alleged collusion, the standard commission rate appears to have resulted from competitive market forces pushing rates to their lowest level.2 However, in the 1990s, as Limited Service Discount Brokers (“LSDB”) started taking market share from traditional brokers, the traditional brokers began to lower their commission rates to compete with these LSDB. The market driven commission rates dropped from the standard six percent to a range between four to five percent. Although most LSDB proved to be unprofitable and unsustainable, the lower commission rates have prevailed.
Bordering on Violence: A Levinasian Critique of Ontology and Ethics in Giroux's Critical Pedagogy

Henry Giroux’s pedagogical theorizing has taken shape as an ethical response of a kind to the ongoing injustice in schools and society. In his most recent book, Take Back Higher Education, Giroux asserts that the “Take Back” in the title is an “ethical call to action for educators” to reclaim higher education as a “democratic public sphere.” He argues that educators need to reclaim “a sense of ethical responsibility” (TB, 84). In doing so, they may “reclaim the meaning and purpose of higher education as an ethical and political response to the demise of democratic public life” (TB, 237).
A substantive and methodological review of family‐based treatment for eating disorders: the last 25 years of research

This article provides a substantive and methodological review of all research studies published in the last 25 years that have evaluated a family-based intervention as a central component in the treatment of eating disorders (specifically anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa). While in the past 25 years there has been an increase in research exploring the efficacy of family therapy in the treatment of eating disorders, there has not been a comprehensive review of all these studies. Rather, reports of studies of family therapy and eating disorders are scattered in a wide range of journals and disciplines. Here we summarize the findings, provide a critique of the methodologies used, discuss methodological challenges and suggest next steps for research and clinical practice.
History of Actuarial Science

Actuarial science is the constantly evolving set of ideas that is the intellectual foundation of actuarial practice. Actuarial practice, in turn, is devoted to designing and managing financial security systems. The ideas in this set have roots in many basic disciplines, including the mathematical sciences, economics, demography, and business management. Keywords: collective risk theory; compound interest; financial economics; individual risk theory; utility
Towards Annotation Free License Plate Recognition

Automated license plate recognition (ALPR) is a key capability in transportation imaging applications including tolling, enforcement, and parking, among others. An important module in ALPR systems is image classification that includes training classifiers for character recognition, commonly employed after detecting a license plate in a license plate image and segmenting out the characters from the localized plate region. A classifier is trained for each character in a one-vs-all fashion using segmented character samples collected from the actual camera capture site, where the collected samples are manually labeled by an operator. The substantial time and effort required for manual annotation of training images can result in excessive operational cost and overhead. In this paper, we propose a new method to minimize manual annotation required for training classifiers in an ALPR system. Instead of collecting training images from the actual camera capture site, our method utilizes either artificially generated synthetic license plate images or character samples acquired by trained ALPR systems already operating in other sites. The performance gap due to differences between training and target domain distributions is minimized using an unsupervised domain adaptation. The efficiency of the proposed method is shown on artificially generated and actual character samples collected from CA and NY.
Effect of addition of α-, β-, and κ-casein, and Na-caseinate on viscoelastic properties of skim milk curd.

Creep compliance was used to determine the effects of the addition of α-, β-, and κ-casein, and Na-caseinate on the viscoelastic properties of skim milk curd. The results of all measurements can be represented by a six-element mechanical model. Addition of α- and β-casein, and Na-caseinate (1.80g/L) to raw skim milk reduced the instantaneous modulus of rigidity and final viscosity of the curd, while κ-casein addition at the same level increased both viscoelastic parameters. Shielding of κ-casein and depletion of serum Ca++ ions by α- and β-casein is thought to have caused the reduction of curd rigidity and viscosity. Subsequent experiments indicated that the addition of β-casein before and after rennet hydrolysis produced different curd strength with the latter producing a stronger curd.
A method for learning matching errors for stereo computation.

This paper describes a novel learning-based approach for improving the performance of stereo computation. It is based on the observation that whether the image matching scores lead to true or erroneous depth values is dependent on the original stereo images and the underlying scene structure. This function is learned from training data and is integrated into a depth estimation algorithm using the MAP-MRF framework. Because the resultant likelihood function is dependent on the states of a large neighboring region around each pixel, we propose to solve the high-order MRF inference problem using the simulated annealing algorithm combined with a Metropolis-Hastings sampler. A segmentation-based approach is proposed to accelerate the computational speed and improve the performance. Preliminary experimental results show that the learning process captures common errors in SSD matching including the fattening effect, the aperture effect, and mismatches in occluded or low texture regions. It is also demonstrated that the proposed approach significantly improves the accuracy of the depth computation.
Natural exposure of coastal river otters to mercury: relation to age, diet, and survival.

We evaluated effects of location (i.e., Jackpot Bay, a naturally contaminated site, and Herring Bay, reference site), diet as determined by stable isotopes, and age on mercury concentrations in individual river otters (Lontra canadensis) from Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. We also investigated the effects of mercury accumulation on survival of river otters from these two locations. Our results indicated that mercury concentrations in fishes from Jackpot Bay were significantly higher than those in fishes from Herring Bay and those in pelagic fishes. In addition, a predominant intertidal fish diet in both areas influenced the accumulation of mercury concentrations in otters. Concentrations of mercury in fur of river otters from Jackpot Bay were significantly higher than those of animals from Herring Bay. Nonetheless, we did not detect significant differences in survival between otters inhabiting the two areas, suggesting that this natural contamination was not high enough to impair survival. Our ability to investigate the effects of various factors such as location, diet composition, and age on mercury accumulation and subsequent survival of individuals offers an example for a link between individual-based captive studies and population-level field investigations.
Inculcating invariants in introductory courses

One goal of introductory software engineering courses is to motivate and instill good software engineering habits. Unfortunately, practical constraints on typical courses often lead to student experiences that are antithetical to that goal: instead of working in large teams and dealing with changing requirements and maintaining programs over many years, courses generally involve students working alone or in small teams with short projects that end the first time the program works correctly on some selected input. Small projects tend to reinforce poor software engineering practices. Since the programs are small enough to manage cognitively in ad hoc ways, effort spent more precisely documenting assumptions seems wasteful. It is infeasible to carry out full industrial software development within the context of a typical university course. However, it is possible to simulate some aspects of safety critical software engineering in an introductory software engineering course. This paper describes an approach that focuses on thinking about and precisely documenting invariants, and checking invariants using lightweight analysis tools. We describe how assignments were designed to emphasize the importance of invariants and to incorporate program analysis tools with typical software engineering material and report on results from an experiment measuring students understanding of program invariants.
A local orbital description of the Cl− + CH3ClSN2 reaction

We have studied theoretically the C3v reaction path of the Cl− + CH3Cl SN2 reaction, using the ab-initio FSGO method. We find that the departure of the leaving group begins at an early stage in the reaction. This observation is significant in that Cl− is a “good” leaving group; previous theoretical investigations of SN2 mechanisms noted a late departure of the anion but involved poorer leaving groups. The calculations suggest that the transition state should be viewed as a tight “ion triplet”, Cl−[CH+3] Cl−, rather than as a carbon with five distorted covalent bonds.
Antioxidant-Mediated Reversal of Ultraviolet Light Cytotoxicity

Several antioxidants were tested for their protective effect in Chinese hamster embryo cells against ultraviolet light (UVL)-irradiation. Ascorbic acid, DL-α-tocophero1, butylated hydroxytoluene, and reduced glutathione were all shown to reverse UVL-induced cytotoxicity. At concentrations tested, no protective effect was detected when any of these antioxidants were added prior to UVL irradiation.
The earliest temperature observations in the world: the Medici Network (1654–1670)

This paper presents the earliest temperature observations, scheduled every 3–4 h in the 1654–1670 period, which have been recovered and analysed for the first time. The observations belong to the Medici Network, the first international network of meteorological observations, based on eleven stations, the two main ones being Florence and Vallombrosa, Italy. All observations were made with identical thermometers and operational methodology, including outdoor exposure in the shade and in the sunshine to evaluate solar heating, state of the sky, wind direction and precipitation frequency. This paper will consider only the regular temperature series taken in the shade. The observations were made with the newly invented spirit-in-glass thermometer, also known as Little Florentine Thermometer (LFT). The readings have been transformed into modern units of temperature (°C) and time (TMEC). The LFT has been analysed in detail: how it was made, its linearity, calibration and performances. Since the middle of the LIA, the climate in Florence has shown less than 0.18°C warming. However, although the yearly average showed little change, the seasonal departures are greater, i.e. warmer summers, colder winters and unstable mid seasons. The temperature in the Vallombrosa mountain station, 1,000 m a.m.s.l, apparently rose more, i.e. 1.41°C. A discussion is made on the interpretation of this finding: how much it is affected by climate change or bias. A continuous swinging of the temperature was observed in the Mediterranean area, as documented by the long instrumental observations over the 1654–2009 period. However, changes in vegetation, or exposure bias might have contributed to reduce the homogeneity of the series over the centuries.
Flux of Particulate Matter in the Tidal Marshes and Subtidal Shallows of the Rhode River Estuary

There was a net influx of suspended particulate matter to the uppermost part of the Rhode River estuary during the several years of this study. Most of the influx was due to episodic discharges of suspended sediment from the watershed during heavy rains. In contrast, tidal exchange of particulate matter was not related to rainstorms. Sediment composition data and historical records indicate that marsh accretion accounts for only 13% of the sediment trapping although marshes occupy 60% of the study area. Influx of particulate matter to the marshes is directly related to the amount of time they are submerged during tidal cycles.
Multiplexed molecular profiling of prostate cancer specimens using semiconductor quantum dot bioconjugates

Quantum dots (QDs) are light emitting semi-conductor nanocrystals with novel optical properties including superior photostability, narrow emission spectra with continuous excitation spectra. These properties make QDs especially suitable for multiplexed fluorescent labeling, live cell imaging, and in vivo animal imaging. The multiplexing potential has been recognized but real applications of biological/clinical significance are few. In this study, we used quantum dots to study epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important process involved in the bone metastasis of prostate cancer. Two prostate cancer cells lines with distinct molecular profiles, representing the two ends of the EMT process, were selected for this study. Four EMT-related biomarkers including E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, and RANKL were stained with QD-antibody conjugates with elongation factor 1alpha as the internal control. Morphological information of the QD-stained cells was obtained by digital-color imaging and quantitative information obtained by spectra analysis using a spectrometer. Two types of analysis were performed: abundance of each biomarker in the same cell line relative to the internal control; and the relative abundance of these markers between the two cell lines. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of QDs for multiplexed profiling of FFPE cells/tissue of clinical significance; however, the standardization and quantification still awaits optimization.
Incidence of mechanical malfunction in low-profile subcutaneous implantable venous access devices in patients receiving chemotherapy for gynecologic malignancies

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of mechanical complications associated with low-profile subcutaneous implantable venous access devices in gynecologic oncology patients. Methods Gynecologic oncology patients with low-profile Port-a-Caths implanted between March 2005 and July 2006 were identified into a computerized database. Patient demographics, operative complications, number of chemotherapy cycles, duration of implantation, and mechanical complications were collected. Primary outcomes included port leakage, catheter fracture, and catheter embolization. Results 112 patients underwent 115 Port-a-Cath placements with low profile single-lumen plastic ports with Groshong-valved catheters. Mean Port-a-Cath indwelling duration was 197days (range: 4–395) with a mean number of 12 chemotherapy cycles (range 0–64). The cumulative complication rate necessitating removal or replacement was 15%. Of the 14 Port-a-Caths removed, ten (8.7%) were secondary to mechanical malfunction: one for leakage at the port site, two for catheter fracture, and seven for fracture with catheter embolization to the heart or pulmonary vasculature—most commonly the right ventricle. Patients with embolization were asymptomatic and all embolized catheters were successfully retrieved by interventional radiology without complications. Conclusions The rates of catheter fracture and embolization have previously been reported to be low in patients with subcutaneous Port-a-Caths, and have not been studied in patients receiving low-profile subcutaneous Port-a-Caths. This study suggests that catheter fracture may be more common (8.7%) and must be considered in patients with malfunctioning low-profile Port-a-Caths. Embolized catheters can be removed by interventional radiology without significant adverse affects.
Thermal and magnetic properties of praseodymium ethylsulphate below 1°k

Abstract Single crystals of praseodymium ethylsulphate have been cooled below 1°K by adiabatic demagnetization and the susceptibility, expressed in terms of the magnetic temperature T∗, was measured as a function of T, using cerium magnesium nitrate as a thermometer. The specific heat was measured by electrically heating the sample. A systematic departure of the susceptibility from Curie's law and an anomaly in the specific heat were found. The results were interpreted and confirmed the existence of a variable splitting of the ground doublet, as predicted from paramagnetic-resonance experiments, with a root-mean-square value of Δ0 = (0.53±0.04)°K, which is much larger than the one in the diluted salt.
Financial disruption and bank productivity: The 1994 experience of Turkish banks

Abstract Turkey experienced a severe financial crisis in 1994 that resulted in a record level of contraction in its economy and banking. Employing a non-parametric approach, we measured the efficiency and productivity of the Turkish banking sector between 1992 and 1996. We also decomposed the productivity growth into its mutually exclusive and exhaustive components (technological change and efficiency change) to understand the impact of the crisis on different aspects of bank productivity. Our results suggest that there was a substantial productivity loss (17%) in 1994, which was mainly attributable to technical regress (10%) rather than efficiency decrease (7%). We also examined the effect of the crisis on different groups of banks operating in Turkey. We found that while foreign banks suffered the most from the crisis, public banks apparently passed through the crisis unharmed. State banks’ relative immunity could be explained with their respectively low open positions in foreign exchange in the advent of the crisis and with their relative soundness and safety in the event of the crisis. We also explored the relationship between bank size, productivity and crisis. Our results indicate that even though the crisis affected all sizes of banks dramatically, its adverse impact on small banks was overwhelming. However, measures undertaken by the government and banks’ own efforts seem to have helped the financial sector recover and attain its pre-crisis productivity and efficiency levels within the following 2 years.
A note on Bertsekas' small‐label‐first strategy

An example is presented to show that the worst-case complexity of Bertsekas' small-label-first strategy for the shortest path problem is exponential. It becomes polynomial if, when scanning a node i, its successors j ∈ Γ(i) are examined in the nondecreasing order of d ij , the distance between i and j.
Almost sure asymptotic optimality for online routing and machine scheduling problems

In this article, we study algorithms for online routing and machine scheduling problems. The problems are “online” because the problem instances are revealed incrementally. We first study algorithms for the online Traveling Repairman Problem (TRP), where a single server is to visit a set of locations in a network with the objective of minimizing the sum of weighted completion times. We then analyze well-known online algorithms for a variety of machine scheduling problems, which are appropriate models for many network optimization problems; in the scheduling notation of Graham et al. [18], we consider 1|rj,pmtn|∑jwjCj, 1|rj|∑jwjCj, Q|rj,pmtn|∑jCj, P|rj|∑jCj, Q|rj,pmtn|∑jwjCj and Q|rj|∑jwjCj. We introduce general probabilistic assumptions about the problem data as a tool to study the online algorithms for these online combinatorial problems. The algorithms do not utilize the underlying probabilistic assumptions in any way. We prove that these online algorithms are almost surely asymptotically optimal. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, 2010
Return of Vision Following Orbital Decompression After 36 Hours of Postoperative Blindness

A 43-year-old woman undergoing repair of an orbital floor fracture had no light perception postoperatively. Computed tomography showed a normal optic nerve and there was no optic canal fracture, intraorbital hematoma, or intraconal expansion. After a two-wall orbital decompression, visual acuity recovered to 20/70 although only an inferior nasal island of vision remained. Ductions were full and there was no blepharoptosis but a 2+ afferent pupillary defect persisted.
Carnivore coexistence: America's recovery.

In their Report “Recovery of large carnivores in Europe's modern human-dominated landscapes” (19 December 2014, p. [1517][1]), G. Chapron et al. attribute the return of predators in Europe to a “coexistence” model for conservation, in which carnivores and humans inhabit shared landscapes.
Information and Attitudes Toward Mental Health Care Facilities: Implications for Addressing the NIMBY Syndrome:

Human service providers and scholars have often touted education and information awareness strategies as necessary elements in overcoming community rejection of human services. However, information...
Determination of cobalt in samples containing cobalt and tungsten carbide by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method has been developed to determine the amount of cobalt (Co) in atmospheric dust samples which include free and sintered Co. Cobalt and tungsten carbide (WC) mixtures ranging from 0-100% Co were prepared for atomic absorption analysis by dissolving the Co in aqua regia. Using this method, the amount of Co in the samples assayed ranged from 90.9-100.1% of that gravimetrically added to the mixtures. The results of this aqua regia dissolution procedure for Co were compared to a hydrofluoric acid method which solubilized both the Co and the WC. Application of the aqua regia dissolution method to samples of sintered WC and Co dust resulted in complete recovery of the Co from these materials. These results were supported by x-ray analysis of the samples before and after dissolution of the Co with aqua regia. The described procedure is advantageous because it avoids the use of highly-caustic hydrofluoric acid and the results are quickly available.
The computerized rounding report: implementation of a model system to support transitions of care.

Objectives In response to ACGME work-hour restrictions, residency programs that require continuous inpatient clinical care for educational objectives will be forced to increase the proportion of junior resident experience involved in shift work. Maintaining the balance of education over service at these levels will be a challenge, where a considerable amount of time must be spent gathering data for morning rounds and signing out patients at shift change. Patient safety is an issue with this new paradigm. We hypothesized that computerized sign-out would improve resident efficiency. Materials and Methods A multidisciplinary clinical team collaborated to design a computerized rounding and sign-out (CSO) program to automate collection of clinical information in addition to a brief narrative describing ongoing care issues. Residents returned a self-administered questionnaire before ( n = 168) and after implementation ( n = 83) examining: pre-rounding time, missed patients, handoff quality, and duty hours. Results Residents reported spending 11 fewer min/d pre-rounding ( P = 0.006). After implementation, residents missed fewer patients on rounds ( P = 0.01). A majority (70%) of responders stated that the new program helped them with duty hours. Conclusion The current study demonstrates the reproducibility of the University of Washington model system for rounding and sign-out at an independent site, using basic infrastructure and leadership common to all residency programs. Developing a CSO was associated with a modest reduction in pre-rounding time and fewer patients missed on rounds. Although automating resident tasks may improve workflow in an increasingly complex hospital environment, structured handoff education and other institutional changes are necessary.