cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Replicate altitudinal clines reveal that evolutionary flexibility underlies adaptation to drought stress in annual Mimulus guttatus

Summary Examining how morphology, life history and physiology vary along environmental clines can reveal functional insight into adaptations to climate and thus inform predictions about evolutionary responses to global change. Widespread species occurring over latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in seasonal water availability are excellent systems for investigating multivariate adaptation to drought stress. Under common garden conditions, we characterized variation in 27 traits for 52 annual populations of Mimulus guttatus sampled from 10 altitudinal transects. We also assessed variation in the critical photoperiod for flowering and surveyed neutral genetic markers to control for demography when analyzing clinal patterns. Many drought escape (e.g. flowering time) and drought avoidance (e.g. specific leaf area, succulence) traits exhibited geographic or climatic clines, which often remained significant after accounting for population structure. Critical photoperiod and flowering time in glasshouse conditions followed distinct clinal patterns, indicating different aspects of seasonal phenology confer adaptation to unique agents of selection. Although escape and avoidance traits were negatively correlated range-wide, populations from sites with short growing seasons produced both early flowering and dehydration avoidance phenotypes. Our results highlight how abundant genetic variation in the component traits that build multivariate adaptations to drought stress provides flexibility for intraspecific adaptation to diverse climates.
White PHOLED for Lighting

At 1,000 cd/m2, plusmn white phosphorescent OLED (0.39, 0.44) has forward EQE = 14.5%, and efficacy = 25 Im/W. At 100 cd/m2, the device has total EQE = 25% or total efficacy = 51 Im/W.
Impact Mitigation in Western Energy Boomtowns

The planning process for assessing socio-economic and environmental impacts in western boom towns and suggesting mitigation approaches is a multi-step process that begins with the collection of data on the nature and timing of these impacts. Following a discussion of three classes of impact projection models (input-output, economic base, or econometric submodels), the author discusses some of the social problems and disruptions which are difficult to quantify in a model. Later sections discuss how costs enter into decisions on the size of the mitigation effort, the need for front-end financing at the local level and for jurisdictional understanding, and the opportunities for avoiding impacts. The author sees a need for new financial innovations in mitigation and a greater emphasis on prevention. 21 references.
STUDIES OF THE HEMOLYSIS OF RED BLOOD CELLS BY MUMPS VIRUS I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUMPS VIRUS HEMOLYSIN AND ITS INACTIVATION BY CERTAIN PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL AGENTS

The conditions for the production of extra-embryonic fluids with hemolytic activity from chick embryos infected with mumps virus have been investigated. Infected fluids with strong hemolytic activity can be obtained by harvesting the fluids of 6- to 8-day-old chick embryos inoculated by the amniotic route after 5 to 6 days' incubation at 35 degrees C. Under such circumstances, the hemolytic capacity of amniotic fluids is usually much higher than that of the allantoic fluids. The hemolytic activity and infectivity of the virus have been found to be reduced or destroyed by heat, formaldehyde, and ultraviolet irradiation under conditions which leave the hemagglutinating capacity practically unchanged. Ultraviolet irradiation appeared to have a greater deleterious effect on the infectivity of the virus than on its hemolytic capacity. The marked reduction or destruction of hemolytic activity of the virus produced by certain treatments with these various agencies was not accompanied by loss of the ability of the virus to elute following its adsorption on red blood cells during the process of hemagglutination. This test for hemolytic activity, which measures a more labile property of the virus than do determinations of virus hemagglutination or virus elution, may be useful in detecting changes which occur early during degradation of the virus.
Finite Mixture Distributions, Sequential Likelihood and the EM Algorithm

A popular way to account for unobserved heterogeneity is to assume that the data are drawn from a finite mixture distribution. A barrier to using finite mixture models is that parameters that could previously be estimated in stages must now be estimated jointly: using mixture distributions destroys any additive separability of the log-likelihood function. We show, however, that an extension of the EM algorithm reintroduces additive separability, thus allowing one to estimate parameters sequentially during each maximization step. In establishing this result, we develop a broad class of estimators for mixture models. Returning to the likelihood problem, we show that, relative to full information maximum likelihood, our sequential estimator can generate large computational savings with little loss of efficiency.
The influence of flood cycle and fish predation on invertebrate production on a restored California floodplain

Although floodplains are known to be tightly controlled by the flood cycle, we know comparatively little about how flooding influences predators and their consumption of secondary production, particularly in highly seasonal floodplains typical of Mediterranean climates. In this study, we investigate how the seasonal dynamics of a central California floodplain influence the timing and magnitude of fish predation and the abundance and composition of invertebrates. For 3 years (2000–2002), we compared changes in abundances and size distributions of invertebrates through the flood season (January–June) with seasonal changes in the abundance of larval and juvenile fishes. Using diet analysis of fishes and manipulative feeding experiments with fishes in field enclosures, we link specific changes in invertebrate populations directly to feeding preferences of seasonally abundant fish. Early in the flood season prior to March, we found little influence of fish predation, consistent with the near absence of larval and juvenile fishes during this period. Coinciding with the midseason increase in the abundance of larval and juvenile fishes in April, we found significant declines in zooplankton abundance as well as declines in the size of zooplankton consistent with fish feeding preferences. Our results were consistent with results from feeding enclosure experiments that showed that fish rapidly depressed populations of larger cladocerans with much less effect on smaller cladocerans and calanoid copepods. At the end of the flood season, zooplankton abundances rapidly increased, consistent with a switch in the feeding of juvenile fish to aquatic insects and subsequent fish mortality. We also found that zooplankton biomass on the floodplain reached a maximum 2–3 weeks after disconnection with the river. We suggest that floodplain restoration in this region should consider management strategies that would ensure repeated flooding every 2–3 weeks during periods that would best match the peaks in abundance of native fishes.
Secure walking GPS: a secure localization and key distribution scheme for wireless sensor networks

In many applications of wireless sensor networks, sensor nodes are manually deployed in hostile environments where an attacker can disrupt the localization service and tamper with legitimate in-network communication. In this paper, we introduce Secure Walking GPS, a secure localization and key distribution solution for manual deployments of WSNs. Using the location information provided by the GPS and inertial guidance modules on a special master node, Secure Walking GPS achieves accurate node localization and location-based key distribution at the same time. Our analysis and simulation results indicate that the Secure Walking GPS scheme makes a deployed WSN resistant to the Dolev-Yao, the wormhole, and the GPS-denial attacks, has good localization and key distribution performance, and is practical for large-scale WSN deployments.
Disk-Sphere Transformation in Mammalian Red Cells. II.The Nature of the Anti-Sphering Factor.

1. Experimental evidence has been presented showing that crystalbumin (the carbohydrate-poor fraction of serum albumin) is the factor which prevents mammalian red blood cells from becoming spherical at p H values over 9.2. 2. The amount of crystalbumin taken up from a solution of it by red cells previously freed of it is of the order of 800 mg. per 100 c.c. of red cells. If this amount is all taken up at the red cell surface, it would form a layer only a few molecules thick. 3. The electrophoretic mobility in phosphate buffer of p H 7.4 is the same for cells containing crystalbumin, cells free of crystalbumin, cells with anti-sphering activity counteracted by fatty acid, and ghosts which have been temporarily sphered by a rise in p H. The mobilities in a saline-glycine buffer solution of p H 10.1 for the first three classes of cells just mentioned are also the same. The mobility of cells sphered with lecithin in a saline-phosphate buffer solution is the same as that for untreated discoidal cells.
Drawing Lines, Spanning Boundaries: Managerial Perceptions of Innovation Value in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Despite the large and varied selection of literature on innovation, questions about the diverse organizational aspects of innovation and the differences of innovation in public and nonprofit organizations still remain. This study compares public and nonprofit organizations on their perceived innovativeness and analyzes the environmental factors and organizational practices that are presumably related to innovation. This paper uses survey data from the National Administrative Studies Project III (NASP-III) that surveyed managers in public and nonprofit organizations in Georgia and Illinois over a three wave, 10-month span, on a variety of organizational topics. Using multinomial logistic regression, the findings show that variables such as flexibility, the ability to serve the public interest, and incentives are positively related to innovation in both public and nonprofit organizations. Variables such as employee and managerial risk aversion, and red tape negatively affect innovation. Other variables, including job security, organizational pride and performance-based promotion vary by sector.
Improving Vehicle Handling and Stability under Uncertainties using Probabilistic Approach

Abstract In this paper, we consider improving vehicle handling and stability of road vehicles under model uncertainties using a probabilistic robustness approach. Model based approaches have been extensively explored to tackle the handling and stability problem. However it is known that the performance under such techniques can degrade if uncertainties in model are not taken into account. Many severe accidents result from loss of stability directly or indirectly, which may be attributed to emergency steering, tire pressure loss and different road surface adhesion in the vehicle model. One approach to cater for uncertainties is optimal guaranteed cost controller (OGCC), X. Yang, Z. Wang, and W. Peng [2008], which follows the worst case methodology of robust control design. In this paper, we aim to enhance the performance of the system by formulating the uncertainties as a stochastic phenomenon endowed with a probability measure. Inspired by recent major result in probabilistic convex optimization, we guarantee a priori probabilistic robustness while allowing for certain violation of the underlying constraints of the optimization problem. Numerical simulation results show a marked improvement in results in comparison to the optimal cost (OC) and OGCC approaches.
Planning Pitfalls in India

Discovering Pleasure Ogiya Shozo Women's Life Ten Years From Now Takechi Tetsuji Pleasures for Women Only Mochizuki Yuiko The Psychology of Amusements Minami Hiroshi Creating, Savoring Okamoto Tar5 The Joys of Reading Yamamoto Kenkichi Appreciating Art Kamon Yasuo The Pleasures of Music Kimura Shigeo Temptations of the Theater Iizawa Tadasu Speaking of Movies Komori Kazuko Sports Boom Uryui Takuz6 Weekend Travel Watanabe Kohei Pleasures of Letters to the Editor Kageyama Saburo The Pleasures of the "Whilers" Tanikawa Shuntaro Enjoyment Groups Tabuse Mitsuko Pleasures of the Younger Generation Amateur Radio Suzuki Fusae Cloth Animals Osonoe Keiko Collections Kuroyanagi Tetsuko Owner-driver Amari Kazuko
Pressure Gradient Effect on Boundary Layers over Surface Excrescences: Parametric Study

It is generally known that the initiation of two-dimensional instabilities inside a laminar boundary layer under the effect of free-stream acoustic disturbances is primarily the result of streamwise variations of the baseline flow (usually occuring in the presence of surface inhomogeneities). In fact, this can be linked to streamwise variations of the mean pressure, responsible for the transfer of low wavenumbers associated with the acoustic waves to high wavenumber Tollmien-Schlighting waves residing inside the boundary layer. A step excrescence is a type of surface inhomogeneity that may disturb the mean flow, depending on the type (backward or forward) or the height of the step. In this paper, the effect of free-stream pressure gradients on the boundary layer evolving over a flat plate featuring a forward or a backward step excrescence is studied numerically. Both adverse and favorable pressure gradients obtained from Falkner-Skan type flows are imposed using a porous condition at the upper boundary of the domain. The effect of freestream acoustic disturbances with the frequency in the same range as the Tollmien-Schlighting waves frequency are also included. The numerical tool is a high-order numerical algorithm solving for the unsteady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations in body-fitted curvilinear coordinates.
Heavily-Doped n + -GaAs with Low Compensation Grown by Atmospheric OMVPE

Atmospheric OMVPE has been used, with SiH 4 as the dopant, to grow n + -GaAs with free-carrier levels upto about 9e18 cm −3 . Following a steady rise in carrier concentration with dopant pressure, the carrier concentration is seen to fall rapidly with further doping. Hall-effect and quantitative SIMS data have been used to obtain the distribution of silicon onto donor and acceptor sites. It is seen that there is negligible compensation upto free-carrier levels of about 5e18 cm −3 . The mechanism of compensation throughout the doping range is discussed.
An Experimental Study of a H 2 -O 2 Flame based Superheated Steam Generator for Coal Gasification

Chemical steam generation or direct steam generation has been extensively used over several decades for various applications including chemical processing and rocket propulsion. It carries the advantage of minimal heat loss during energy transfer between the heat source and water or steam. The hydrogen-oxygen (H2-O2) combustion reaction is one way steam has been generated chemically. Subject to availability of hydrogen and oxygen, steam generation using direct H2-O2 combustion offers advantages such as zero pollutant emissions, high thermodynamic efficiency, and high specific thermal power output. This paper is an account of the design and an experimental study of a 40 kW steam generator for application to coal and biomass gasification. Near stoichiometric combustion of H2-O2 is carried out in combustion chamber at a design pressure of 1.5 MPa and a peak vapor temperature of 3500 K. The heat of the reaction is used to produce additional steam by direct but staged injection of high pressure liquid water into the post-combustion zone to achieve a range of gasification process temperatures (1100 - 1400 K). The design of the present steam generator includes appropriate ignitor location and timing and staging and mixing of the H2, O2, and H2O streams. The experiments results of pressure and temperature obtained from the operation of the steam generator show close agreement with equilibrium calculations Steady 2-D axisymmetric calculation was performed to understand the profiles of scalars inside the steam generator. Detailed simulations show close agreement with the equilibrium calculation and experimental results.
Collisional-radiative modeling of nonequilibrium effects in nitrogen plasmas

A new kinetic model and improvements to the vibrationally specific collisional-radiative (CR) model of Ref 1 are presented for nonequilibrium nitrogen plasmas. The rate coeficients of both models are calculated with the Weighted Rate Coeficient method based on the same elementary cross-section data and depend explicitly on the different kinetic (T,, T,) and population (Teb TV, Tr) temperatures of nonequilibrium plasmas. The CR model is first exercised to study plasmas in chemical nonequilibrium and thermal equilibrium. Good agreement with measurements of vibrational level populations in the recombining Nz /Ar plasma experiment of Gessman et al2 is obtained by adjusting two controlling rates. The CR and the kinetic models are then exercised to calculate steady-state species concentrations under conditions of thermal nonequilibrium. It is shown that a transition takes place between a regime where vibrational levels are equilibrated at Ts and a regime where they are equilibrated at TV Therefore, kinetic models that only consider reactions between chemical species can be used to accurately predict steady-state concentrations in nonthermal plasmas, provided that the vibrational regime is known a priori.
Postoperative elevation in creatine kinase and its impact on renal function in patients undergoing complex partial nephrectomy

To identify the risk factors associated with development of postoperative elevation of creatine kinase (CK) and study its effect on renal function in patients who underwent complex multifocal partial nephrectomy (PN). Patients who underwent PN at National Cancer Institute between January 2007 and December 2012 were included in the study. Elevated serum CK was defined as >2000 U/L. Kidney function was assessed using serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Changes were reported as percent change from preoperative values and compared using the Wilcoxon test. Regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of elevation in CK and decline in eGFR. From 407 total cases, 207 had adequate CK data for analysis. Median number of tumors removed was 3 (1–70). Median peak CK was 1458 (82–36,788). Forty-two percent developed CK elevation >2000 U/L. Factors associated with postoperative elevation of CK > 2000 were young age (p = 0.009), high BMI (p = 0.003) and operating room time (p 2000 was associated with significantly greater decline in eGFR (37.4 vs. 20.3 %, p 2000 U/L. While patients with elevated CK had more decline in eGFR in immediate postoperative period, postoperative elevations of CK did not appear to impact overall long-term renal function in patients undergoing PN.
TCTAP A-118 A Comparison of Combined Balloon Expandable and Self-Expandable Nitinol Stent vs Double Self-Expandable Nitinol Stents for Long Aorto-Iliac Disease

The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of balloon-expandable/self-expandable initial stent and double self-expandable nitinol stents) for long aorto-iliac (AI) disease. From November 2005 to March 2015, 1160 patients (915 male, 1555 limbs) underwent endovascular therapy for AI lesion.
Bitumen Prices and Structural Changes in North American Crude Oil Markets

In an earlier report, changes in bitumen prices at Hardesty, Alberta, Canada, were modeled as the responses to changes in monthly prices of Hardesty light/medium crude oil for the period 2000–2006 with a simple error correction econometric model. This note re-examines that price relationship for the period 2009–2014. Over the period 2006–2014, there was also rapid growth in North American light oil production from low-permeability carbonate, sandstone, and shale reservoirs. During that period, Canadian raw bitumen production grew by more than 12% per year and there was significant geographical diversification in its markets. Results of the statistical analysis showed that the change in the dynamic relationships between bitumen prices and Hardesty light oil prices probably reflected, in part, the maturation of bitumen markets and closer integration with North American light oil markets. The analysis also examines the dynamic relationships between bitumen prices and West Texas Intermediate and Brent international benchmark crude oil prices. Ideally, if bitumen prices are found to be closely related to a widely traded benchmark crude oil, the benchmark crude oil price forecasts could be used as a basis for predicting bitumen prices. However, neither of international benchmark crude oils tested had high explanatory power.
Acute aortic dissection.

Acute aortic dissection is the most lethal complication affecting the aorta. The use of two-dimensional echocardiography and computed tomography has greatly expanded the physician’s ability to establish this diagnosis through noninvasive techniques. Surgery is the definitive treatment for type I and II dissection, whereas medical management with drugs that reduce cardiac output remains the treatment of choice in type III dissection. With improvements in surgical techniques, including cardiopulmonary bypass and composite grafting, immediate and long-term morbidity and mortality have been significantly reduced.
Muslims in the Western Imagination, by Sophia Rose Arjana, New York, Oxford University Press, 2015, 280 pp., $29.95 (hardback), ISBN 978 0 1993 2492 7

Sophia Rose Arjana is Visiting Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the Iliff School of Theology (Denver, CO, USA), where she earned her PhD in religious studies through a joint doctoral progr...
Set&Motion: Tool for Authoring Interactive Stories with Sensors and Actuators

Children participating in animatronic puppet show workshops are tasked with hands-on activities that exercise both creative and technical skills culminating in a unique learning experience. In this paper, we describe Set&Motion, an authoring tool that supports the creation of animatronic puppet shows. It supports capturing sound and describing the puppet's animation for any animatronic show. In addition, users can create more complex story flows and allow viewers to interact with the show using sensors embedded in the puppet or its surroundings. It promotes the use of a state diagram to describe non-linear storylines, and may be useful for Computer Science education.
RF power potential of 90 nm CMOS: device options, performance, and reliability

This paper presents the first detailed comparative study of the RF power potential of the various device options offered in a state-of-the-art 90 nm CMOS foundry technology. We show that at a constant voltage of 1 V, the nominal 90 nm thin gate-oxide logic devices offer the best performance, at V/sub dd/ = 1 V and 2.2 GHz showing over 20 dBm of output power and 59% PAE, as well as a power density of 34 mW/mm and 59% PAE at 8 GHz. If the operating voltage can be selected, 250 nm long thick gate-oxide I/O devices offer the highest power and efficiency at 2.5 V. However, when reliability considerations are included, the 90 nm digital devices outperform the 250 nm I/O devices. Overall, we find that the RF power performance of 90 nm CMOS exceeds the requirements for power amplifiers in a large variety of wireless high volume applications.
A review of the carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity.

The carbohydrate–insulin model of obesity theorizes that diets high in carbohydrate are particularly fattening due to their propensity to elevate insulin secretion. Insulin directs the partitioning of energy toward storage as fat in adipose tissue and away from oxidation by metabolically active tissues and purportedly results in a perceived state of cellular internal starvation. In response, hunger and appetite increases and metabolism is suppressed, thereby promoting the positive energy balance associated with the development of obesity. Several logical consequences of this carbohydrate–insulin model of obesity were recently investigated in a pair of carefully controlled inpatient feeding studies whose results failed to support key model predictions. Therefore, important aspects of carbohydrate–insulin model have been experimentally falsified suggesting that the model is too simplistic. This review describes the current state of the carbohydrate–insulin model and the implications of its recent experimental tests.
Low plasma glucose limits glucose metabolism by RBCs and heart in some species of teleosts.

Within teleosts there is a species range in plasma glucose levels from undetectable to 20 mM. At low plasma glucose levels the gradient from the extracellular to the intracellular space is decreased. The impact of this on glucose metabolism by RBCs and heart from species with different steady state levels of plasma glucose (Atlantic cod ~ 5 mM; Atlantic salmon ~ 5 mM, cunner ~ 1 mM, lumpfish < 1 mM; short-horned sculpin < 1 mM) is the subject of this review. Under normoxia, at physiological levels of extracellular glucose, RBCs and heart produce lactate although the contribution of anaerobic metabolism to ATP production is small. Sustained lactate production from extracellular glucose appears to be the primary fate of extracellular glucose. In many cases, glycogen is not mobilized and the rate of glucose metabolism = two times the rate of lactate production. As such, alternative metabolic sources are required to fuel oxidative metabolism. Under hypoxia, hearts from Atlantic cod and rainbow trout increase rates of both glucose metabolism and lactate production, partially supported by glycogen reserves. But in lumpfish and short-horned sculpin hearts there is no change in rates of glucose metabolism. The most likely explanation is that glucose uptake is compromised in lumpfish and short-horned sculpin hearts due to a low diffusion gradient. Under these conditions rates of lactate production are well below that of Atlantic cod or rainbow trout. Energy demand must be reduced under hypoxia in lumpfish and short-horned sculpin hearts in order to maintain ATP balance.
Survey of the prevalence and methodology of quality assurance for B‐mode ultrasound image quality among veterinary sonographers

Image quality in B-mode ultrasound is important as it reflects the diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic information provided during clinical scanning. Quality assurance programs for B-mode ultrasound systems/components are comprised of initial quality acceptance testing and subsequent regularly scheduled quality control testing. The importance of quality assurance programs for B-mode ultrasound image quality using ultrasound phantoms is well documented in the human medical and medical physics literature. The purpose of this prospective, cross-sectional, survey study was to determine the prevalence and methodology of quality acceptance testing and quality control testing of image quality for ultrasound system/components among veterinary sonographers. An online electronic survey was sent to 1497 members of veterinary imaging organizations: the American College of Veterinary Radiology, the Veterinary Ultrasound Society, and the European Association of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging, and a total of 167 responses were received. The results showed that the percentages of veterinary sonographers performing quality acceptance testing and quality control testing are 42% (64/151; 95% confidence interval 34-52%) and 26% (40/156: 95% confidence interval 19-33%) respectively. Of the respondents who claimed to have quality acceptance testing or quality control testing of image quality in place for their ultrasound system/components, 0% have performed quality acceptance testing or quality control testing correctly (quality acceptance testing 95% confidence interval: 0-6%, quality control testing 95% confidence interval: 0-11%). Further education and guidelines are recommended for veterinary sonographers in the area of quality acceptance testing and quality control testing for B-mode ultrasound equipment/components.
Nanopatterning Hexagonal Boron Nitride with Helium Ion Milling: Towards Atomically-Thin, Nanostructured Insulators

In this report, we demonstrate the use of helium ion milling for the controllable fabrication of nanostructures in few-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Using the direct-write lithographic capabilities of a scanning helium ion microscope (HIM), nanopores with diameters as small as 4 nm and nanoribbons with widths of 3 – 10 nm are etched from suspended h-BN sheets. This ability to pattern h-BN sheets with high-throughput and sub-10 nm precision paves the way for future studies that make use of atomically-thin, nanostructured insulators such as those needed for nanopore sequencing and patterned van der Waals heterostructures.
Microdynamics of Lightweight Precision Deployable Spacecraft Structures

Low cost, precision deployable structures have become required components of future spacecraft missions. The design of precision deployable structures must inevitably rely on understanding their mechanics with a resolution from a few microstrain down to nanostrain levels. At this level of resolution, the mechanics are dominated by pre-sliding (microslip) friction in joints, material microplasticity, and milli-degree Kelvin thermodynamics. Such mechanics are referred to collectively as microdynamics.
Whiteness as Collective Memory in Student Publications at Midwestern Liberal Arts Colleges, 1945-1965.

In this study, I investigated how student publications portrayed whiteness as the dominant feature of the campus environment between 1945 and 1965 among the member institutions of a consortium of e...
The Keyboard Letters QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM (Diane Glancy)

Diane Glancy titles her book with the exceptional title The Keyboard Letters QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM . This innovative collection includes poems, notes, short prose (preface and backmatter are essential to the whole), allusions to paintings, and texts. The sum is a cartographer’s manual to the 21 st century. Pieces calibrate backroads of Texas, their trajectory, with stopover points at the New Bedford Whaling Museum to see exhibits of the Pequod (or did Melville mean Pequot?) and the Mideast country of Jordan. Christopher Columbus’s ship is a moving point/target. In the acknowledgements, Glancy writes about some of her influences: “A visit to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. A list of the most important discoveries of the world. A PBS television program on mathematics. A stormy day in North Texas. . .” (66). These are very personal to her experience, so the book has a journal-like quality; this is a log of her physical and imaginative explorations.
Creative tensions in progressive higher education

In a rapidly changing context, US institutions of higher education are struggling amidst myriad pressures related, for example, to funding, accountability, standardisation and technology. In partic...
Activity of Hospital Disinfectants against Vegetative Cells and Spores of Clostridioides difficile Embedded in Biofilms.

Clostridioides difficile spores can survive in the environment in either mono- or mixed-species biofilms. However, no previous studies have investigated chemical disinfection of C. difficile spores embedded in biofilms. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the in vitro effectiveness of hospital disinfectants against C. difficile spores embedded within biofilms. Five unique C. difficile strains embedded in three different biofilm types grown for 72 or 120 h were exposed to seven different hospital disinfectants. C. difficile abundance [as log(number of CFU/milliliter)] was calculated after manufacturer-determined contact times along with biofilm biomass and microscopy. The primary analysis compared differences between C. difficile vegetative cell and spore counts as well as amounts of biomass after exposure to disinfectants. C. difficile vegetative cells and spores were recovered from biofilms regardless of the type of biofilm growth or biofilm growth time. No disinfectant was able to completely eliminate C. difficile from the biofilms. Overall, Clorox, ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA), and Virex were most effective at killing C. difficile spores regardless of biofilm age, ribotype, or wash conditions (whether biofilms are washed or unwashed) (P = 0.001, each). Clorox and OPA were also effective at killing total vegetative cell growth (P = 0.001, each), but Virex was found to be ineffective against vegetative cell growth in biofilms (P = 0.77). Clorox and Virex were most effective in reducing biomass, followed by Nixall, OPA, and Vital Oxide. No disinfectant was able to completely eliminate C. difficile embedded within biofilms although differences among disinfectants were noted. Future research will be required to determine methods to eradicate this persister reservoir.
Second order parallel tensors on singular quasi-constant curvature manifolds

Extending the result for the regular case (i.e. Ricci curvature along the generating vector field does not vanish) to the singular case, we have presented a classification of second order parallel tensors on a non-flat manifold of quasi-constant curvature manifolds and applied it to classify parallel and affine Killing vector fields on those manifolds.
Using a Three-step Social Media Similarity (TSMS) Mapping Method to Analyze Controversial Speech Relating to COVID-19 in Twitter Collections

Addressing increasing calls to surface hidden and counter-narratives from within archival collections, this paper reports on a study that provides proof-of-concept of automatic methods that could be used on archived social media collections. Using a test collection of 3,457,434 unique tweets relating to COVID-19, China and Chinese people, it sought to identify instances of Hate Speech as well as hard-to-pinpoint trends in anti-Chinese racist sentiment. The study, part of a larger archival research effort investigating automatic methods for appraisal and description of very large digital archival collections, used a Three-step Social Media Similarity (TSMS) mapping method that aggregates hashtag mapping, TF-IDF Similarity Selection, and Emotion Similarity Calculation on the test collection. Compared to using a purely lexicon-based method to identify and analyze controversial speech, this method successfully expanded the amount of controversial contents detected from 21,050 tweets to 212,605, and the detection rate from 0.6% to 6.1%. We argue that the TSMS method could be similarly applied by archives in automatically identifying, analyzing, describing other controversial content on social media and in other rapidly evolving and complex contexts in order to increase public awareness and facilitate public policy responses.
A Charging-as-a-Service Platform for Charging Electric Vehicles On the Move: New Vehicle Routing Model and Solution

Range anxiety has been the main challenge for the mass-adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The emerging mobile electric-vehicle-to-electric-vehicle (mE2) charging technology, which allows an EV with the extra battery to charge the other EV on the move, offers a promising solution. Even though the physical feasibility of this new technology has been confirmed, we still face many operation problems. For example, how can we efficiently pair and route an electricity provider (EP) to a demand (ED) without introducing an extra detour? Motivated by this view, this study develops a Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform, which seeks to dispatches the commercial EPs to serve the EDs, for cultivating this emerging charging service towards the low EV penetration environment. Mathematically, the CaaS platform is modeled as a vehicle routing problem (i.e., mE2-VRP), which optimally dispatches the EPs to approach and serve the EDs on the move while minimizing the EP fleet size and fulfilling all service requests. To adapt the CaaS platform to the online application in practice, we develop the Clustering-aided Clarke and Wright Savings (CCWS) algorithm to efficiently decompose and then solve the large-scale mE2-VRP by parallel computing. Our numerical experiments built upon citywide (Chicago) and statewide (Florida) found that the CCWS algorithm outperforms existing commercial solvers, and it enables us to investigate the performance of the CaaS platform under a realistic large-scale setup in a city or state. The CaaS performs better in low EV penetration markets while traffic congestion is mild and EDs require energy earlier. We can improve the performance by developing proper pricing strategies according to the EDs' energy requests and trip lengths.
Accounting for Attribute Non-Attendance in Three Previously-Published Choice Studies of Coastal and Marine Resources

We revisit three recently-published papers that apply discrete-choice experiment methods to coastal and marine ecosystem goods and services, in light of attribute non-attendance (AN-A). We find that accounting for AN-A does not always improve model fit, but when it does, the improvement can be substantial. Estimated price and attribute coefficients change, but these changes do not follow a consistent pattern, either in direction or magnitude. Mean attribute increment value (i.e., willingness to pay, WTP) estimates change, but also with no discernible pattern. However, in several cases, generally in those cases where accounting for AN-A improves model fit, we observe substantial improvements in the confidence intervals on WTP, i.e., accounting for AN-A appears to produce much more precise WTP estimates. In short, we find that accounting for AN-A is not always warranted, but when it is, the key payoff appears to be more precise WTP estimates.
Mountain lions reduce movement, increase efficiency during the Covid-19 shutdown

Abstract Wildlife strongly alter behaviour in response to human disturbance;however, fundamental questions remain regarding the influence of human infrastructure and activity on animal movement. The Covid-19 pandemic created a natural experiment providing an opportunity to evaluate wildlife movement during a period of greatly reduced human activity. Speculation in scientific reviews and the media suggested that wildlife might be increasing movement and colonizing urban landscapes during pandemic slowdowns. However, theory predicts that animals should move and use space as efficiently as possible, suggesting that movement might actually be reduced relative to decreased human activity. We quantified space use, movement, and resource-selection of 12 GPS-collared mountain lions (eight females, four males) occupying parklands in greater Los Angeles during the Spring 2020 California stay-at-home order when human activity was far below normal. We also tested the hypothesis that reduced traffic on Los Angeles area roadways increased permeability of these barriers to animal movement. Contrary to expectations that wildlife roamed more widely during pandemic shutdowns, resident mountain lions used smaller areas and moved shorter distances relative to their historical behaviour in greater Los Angeles. They also relaxed avoidance of anthropogenic landscape features such as trails and development, which likely facilitated increased travelling efficiency. However, there was no detectable change in road-crossing, despite reduced traffic volume. Our results support the theoretical prediction that animals maximize movement efficiency and suggest that carnivores incur energetic costs while avoiding humans. While mountain lions may restrict movement at the landscape level relative to barriers, they appear to increase distances moved at finer scales when avoiding human activity ? highlighting the scale-dependent nature of animal responses to human disturbance. Avoiding humans can reduce direct mortality of large carnivores and is often suggested to be an important mechanism promoting coexistence in shared landscapes. However, energetic costs incurred by increased movement and space-use while avoiding human activity may have important consequences for population viability, predator?prey interactions, community structure, and human?wildlife conflict. Management providing sufficient wild prey and education regarding best practices for protection of domestic animals are important for conserving large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes.
Impact Of Employee Reaction And Turnover Rates On The Successful Implementation Of An Information System: A Game Theory Approach

A perusal of the literature on Management Information Systems reveals 2 important issues that the field continues to investigate. First is the role of user reaction (resistance or acceptance) in the successful implementation and working of a new information system (IS). Second is the issue of the continued high rate of turnover of employees in MIS careers. These two branches establish two facts -that user reaction plays a crucial role in determining system success, and that a high rate of turnover in careers is a problem for any organization. In this paper, I ask whether these 2 issues are related. Using game theory, I develop a theoretical framework to assess whether employee turnover rates interact with employee reaction to influence the successful implementation of a new IS in any firm. In other words, if there is a high turnover rate, does this increase the users’ resistance to the implementation of a new information system? The answer depends on several factors such as the initial cost of implementation, the rate of turnover, relative compensation of the players, and the personal rates of discounts of the players.
Systematic Literature Review of Nuclear Safety Systems in Small Modular Reactors

Safety in nuclear power plants is an important area in the realm of engineering safety [1]. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are an emerging form of nuclear technology with widespread application, notably in austere or remote communities. SMRs are defined as power plants that produce 300 MWe or less [2], designed with modular fabrication technology for ease of onsite construction. Historically, nuclear power plants have maximized large economies of scale and been constructed with ample resources for safety regulation concerns, such as access to reliable water tables. SMRs will be deployed to remote locations without the resources normally afforded to a large power plant, and so the safety systems of these new designs must be innovative and still be able to meet the stringent safety specifications set forth by regulatory bodies [3]. This is a very important aspect of SMR design and is critical for licensing and production. This paper outlines a systematic literature review of scientific papers concerned with nuclear safety systems of SMRs. To further expound upon this topic, literature analyses were completed using keyword searches for, “nuclear safety systems,” and “small modular reactor” and then evaluating trends between articles. The databases used for this research were Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, and Mendeley. The analyses were completed by use of the following literature review software: VOSViewer, Publish or Perish, MAXQDA and Vincinitas. The results are presented in the form of trend analyses, keyword cluster analysis, co-author clusters analysis, co-citation analysis, word clouds and emergence analyses. The results show a strong correlation between the study of this material and the rising interest in green energy, as well as the particular safety systems necessary for the development of SMRs.
Social Work Method: Karl Popper "Justified," Induction (Justification) Falsified-A Response to Eileen Munro

Point/Counterpoint between Bruce Thyer and myself on the role of theory in the research of social work practice is welcomed. She makes many constructive comments, most of which either expand on individual points of agree ment between Thyer and myself or selectively support some elements of our differing posi tions, and makes some arguments for the legitimacy of "intuitive reasoning" in social work practice. Finally and most importantly, she uses the oft-preferred approach of social work, consensus seeking, in an attempt to reconcile two alternate approaches, in this instance two irreconcilable logical proce dures, induction and deduction. I will concentrate on her discussion of
On Fuzzy Lattice

The notion of lattice has a wide variety of applications in the areas of physical sciences, communication systems, and information analysis. Fuzzy set theory, with its proximity to a a multitude of areas closely related to AI, provides an alternative to the traditional concept of set membership. Nanda[4] proposed the concept of fuzzy lattice, using the notion of fuzzy partial ordering. But after a critical study, it has been observed that his definition contains some redundency. As a consequence of this observation, we present a modified definition of fuzzy lattice in this paper.
Kinetics of Mixed Microbial Assemblages Enhance Removal of Highly Dilute Organic Substrates

Our experiments with selected organic substrates reveal that the rate-limiting process governing microbial degradation rates changes with substrate concentration, S, in such a manner that substrate removal is enhanced at lower values of S. This enhancement is the result of the dominance of very efficient systems for substrate removal at low substrate concentrations. The variability of dominant kinetic parameters over a range of S causes the kinetics of complex assemblages to be profoundly dissimilar to those of systems possessing a single set of kinetic parameters; these findings necessitate taking a new approach to predicting substrate removal rates over wide ranges of S.
Grating-coupled surface emitting quantum well semiconductor lasers

The design and operation of the grating coupled surface emitting lasers with strained quantum wells for the active and the grating sections are described. Schematic presentation of coupled grating surface emitting (CG-SE) DBR and unstable resonator surface emitting (UR-SE) DBR lasers is shown. A strained quantum well structure was used for both the gain and grating regions. The feedback resonance is obtained using first-order (or second-order) Bragg grating, while surface emission is achieved by chirped or detuned second order gratings. The laser with focusing capability is fabricated by combining first order Bragg grating with chirped circular grating outcoupler.
Regional Urbanization and the End of the Metropolis Era

A fundamental and far-reaching change in the very nature of the urbanization process has been taking place over the past 30 years. Efforts to capture its essential features have generated a substantial literature on urban restructuring [15, 20] and many defining terms such as postmodern, postindustrial, post-Fordist, neo-liberal, informational, flexible, and global. My objective here is to present a convincing argument that what has been happening to cities all over the world in the past three decades is best described as a shift from a distinctively metropolitan mode of urban development to an essentially regional urbanization process. Regional urbanization is still in its early stages of development but has advanced far enough in some metropolitan regions for its defining features to be analyzed and understood – and for urban scholars to begin to recognize that the era of the modern metropolis may be ending.
User Study Techniques in the Design and Evaluation of a Ubicomp Environment

To be successful, ubicomp applications must be designed with their environment and users in mind and evaluated to confirm that they do not disrupt the users' natural workflow. Well-established techniques for understanding users and their environment exist, but are not specifically designed to assess how well the computing and physical task environments blend. We present strengths and weaknesses of several qualitative and quantitative user study techniques for ubicomp. We applied these techniques to the design and evaluation of a ubicomp application for cell biology laboratories (Labscape). We describe how these techniques helped identify design considerations that were crucial for Lab-scape's adoption and demonstrate their ability to measure how effectively applications blend into an environment.