cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear simulation of shape-preserving delta growth

Abstract In this paper, we demonstrate the existence of shape-preserving (self-similar) delta. We focus our study on a Gilbert-type delta growing by the sediment discharged at the river mouth. The evolving velocity of the shoreline depends on its local geometrical configuration including the water depth, repose angle, and curvature. Linear analysis of this local model suggests that when the sediment supply to the shoreline front can be maintained at a constant value, unstable growth occurs for adverse bathymetry (back-tilted basement) and there exists a critical water depth that leads to a self-similar evolution. A novel nonlinear analysis based on a rescaling idea reveals that there exists a critical flux J c at the shoreline such that a desired shoreline shape can be achieved and maintained self-similarly independent of the water depth information, though the critical flux J c may depend on the water depth. We then develop a semi-implicit numerical method to investigate the nonlinear dynamic of the shoreline. Our numerical results are in excellent agreement with the linear theory when the shape perturbation is small, and confirm that in the nonlinear regime the shoreline may evolve self-similarly under J c . In particular, we demonstrate that a prescribed shoreline morphology can be achieved by a well-designed J c . The existence of shape-preserving growing delta goes beyond the well known dynamical patterns and highlights the feasibility of shape control.
Harnessing new data technologies for nature-based solutions in assessing and managing risk in coastal zones

Abstract Responsiveness and resilience to coastal disasters is an increasingly critical need for governments, businesses, and communities as the intensity of hurricanes, coastal storms and sea level rise exacerbates flood and erosion damages. The number and severity of disasters have increased significantly over the past two decades while intense coastal development has steadily degraded the protective and other ecosystem benefits from natural habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses. Such ecosystems can provide cost-effective, long-term risk reduction and other benefits to coastal communities. Yet easy, low-cost methodologies for incorporating such natural capital values into metrics that can inform policy and investment decisions have been lacking until recently. Whereas new approaches and studies have developed ways to quantify and assess such risk reduction benefits, finding the data to assess such services in data poor environments, both for regional and local scales, remains challenging. This paper outlines how breakthroughs in data technologies can help with incorporating ecosystem benefits into real-world policy and investment applications. Specific new data and analytical technologies are increasingly being used to quantify coastal risk reduction and other ecosystem benefits. We review several case studies where ecosystem benefits were quantified based on new data technologies and used for policy and investment strategies to improve a broader suite of ecosystem benefits to coastal communities. Equipping public and private sector actors with cost-effective and accessible approaches and tools to incorporate nature-based solutions into disaster risk management and coastal zone management planning more generally can transform climate resilience strategies around the world.
Body-generated hydrodynamic flows influence male–male contests and female mate choice in a freshwater fish

The lateral line system of fishes is composed of neuromast mechanoreceptors that detect movement through vibration and changes in pressure gradients in the water. Although mechanosensory information has been shown to be important in the contexts of predator escape and foraging, little is known about the role of the lateral line system during intraspecific interactions, such as reproduction. However, many species of fish demonstrate complex courtship and aggressive repertoires that involve movement of the body and fins, resulting in local displacement of the surrounding water. This displacement has the potential to function as a signal that contains information about the sender. In this study, we conducted two behavioural experiments using fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, to test the hypothesis that the outcomes of male–male contests and male–female courtship interactions are influenced by hydrodynamic flows generated during conspecific interactions. In the first experiment, we pitted control males against those with an ablated lateral line system and assessed both overall aggression and the likelihood of territory acquisition. In the second experiment, we conducted dual-choice female mate choice experiments to determine whether control females and those without access to mechanosensory information (ablated females) differed in patterns of discrimination and the use of courtship as a criterion of choice. In experiment 1, control males won a significantly greater proportion of territorial contests than expected by chance and were more likely to use noncontact threat displays during aggressive interactions compared with ablated males. In experiment 2, females with access to the mechanosensory information channel showed enhanced mate discrimination compared to ablated females. These data are among the first to show that mechanosensory signals are an important criterion of territorial and reproductive success in fishes and are likely important contributors to multimodal communication in this group.
How data can support equity in computing education

Data has historically been a tool of oppression. But if we consider how its interpretations and uses affect minoritized groups, data-driven tools could support diversity, equity, and inclusion in computing education and beyond.
Ophthalmology Residency Match in the Covid-19 Era: Applicant and Program Director Perceptions of the 2020-2021 Application Cycle.

Objective: To evaluate the experiences and preferences of ophthalmology residency applicants and program directors (PDs), with emphasis on the effect of COVID-19 as well as recent changes on the application process.Design: Cross-sectional, online surveyParticipants: All applicants to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute ophthalmology residency program, and all United States ophthalmology residency PDs, during the 2020-2021 application cycle.Methods: An online survey was distributed to applicants and program directors of the 2020-2021 ophthalmology residency application cycle.Main Outcome Measures: Applicant demographics, application submissions, interview experiences, financial considerations, match results, and suggestions for improvement of the application process.Results: Responses were obtained from 205 applicants (34.9% response rate) and 37 PDs (30.3%). A successful match into an ophthalmology residency was achieved by 144 (83.7%) applicants. Applicants applied to (mean ± SD) 79.7 ± 22.8 ophthalmology residency programs, received 13.1 ± 8.9 invitations to interview, and attended 11.1 ± 5.8 interviews. Most applicants (N = 126; 71.2%) and PDs (N = 22; 78.6%) expressed a preference for in-person interviews over virtual interviews. If given a choice regarding the future direction for interviews, most applicants were unsure (N = 68; 38.4%) or would prefer to hold interviews virtually (N = 62; 35.0%); PDs felt that interviews should go back to being in-person (39.3%) or were unsure (28.6%). Most PDs (N = 21; 72.4%) reported an increased number of applications received by their respective programs this year compared to previous years. While applicants (N = 108; 61.0%) mostly felt that there should not be a cap on the number of applications, 19 (67.9%) PDs supported a limit on application numbers. Applicants spent an average (SD) of $2320.96 ($1172.86) on the application process this year, which is significantly less than 2018-2019 data.Conclusions: The ophthalmology residency application process was especially complex during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many applicants and PDs were glad that interviews were held virtually this year, they were less certain regarding future years. The virtual format led to a significantly lower financial burden for applicants and may lead some to prefer this format in the future; if a hybrid model is offered for virtual/in-person interviews, these two interview modes should be compared equally.
Fabrication of PNIPAm-based thermoresponsive hydrogel microwell arrays for tumor spheroid formation.

Abstract Complex three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures are being increasingly implemented in biomedical research as they provide important insights into complex cancer biology, and cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in the tumor microenvironment. However, most methods used today for 3D cell culture are limited by high cost, the need for specialized skills, low throughput and the use of unnatural culture environments. We report the development of a unique biomimetic hydrogel microwell array platform for the generation and stress-free isolation of cancer spheroids. The poly N-isopropylacrylamide-based hydrogel microwell array (PHMA) has thermoresponsive properties allowing for the attachment and growth of cell aggregates/ spheroids at 37 °C, and their easy isolation at room temperature (RT). The reversible phase transition of the microwell arrays at 35 °C was confirmed visually and by differential scanning calorimetry. Swelling/ shrinking studies and EVOS imaging established that the microwell arrays are hydrophilic and swollen at temperatures 35 °C. Spheroid development within the PHMA was optimized for seeding density, incubation time and cell viability. Spheroids of A549, HeLa and MG-63 cancer cell lines, and human lung fibroblast (HLF) cell line generated within the PHMAs had relatively spherical morphology with hypoxic cores. Finally, using MG-63 cell spheroids as representative models, a proof-of-concept drug response study using doxorubicin hydrochloride was conducted. Overall, we demonstrate that the PHMAs are an innovative alternative to currently used 3D cell culture techniques, for the high-throughput generation of cell spheroids for disease modeling and drug screening applications.
Average Travel Time, Planning Time Index, and Buffer Time Index Thresholds for Freeway Weaving Sections, Merging Areas, and Diverging Areas

AbstractEfforts were initiated through the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) to quantify level of service (LOS) based on travel time and travel time reliability. To contribute to this goal,...
Observations on the population genetic structure of the leaf galling nematode, Ditylenchus gallaeformans

Ditylenchus gallaeformans is a plant parasitic nematode that induces galls on aboveground parts of Melastomataceae plants. It differs from most gall-inducing nematodes in that it is not an endopara...
Is assessment of oral health-related quality of life burdensome? An item nonresponse analysis of the oral health impact profile.

AIM This study aimed to investigate if in the 49-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP): (i) more missing data occurred when participants answered more questions, (ii) more missing data occurred in a particular item or set of related items, and (iii) item missingness was associated with the demographic characteristics and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) impairment level. METHODS We used OHIP data from the Dimensions of OHRQoL (DOQ) project, which consolidated data from 35 individual studies. Among these studies, we analyzed OHIP data from 19 studies (4,847 surveyed individuals, of which 3,481 were completed under supervision and 1,366 were completed unsupervised) that contained some missing information. We computed descriptive statistics to investigate the OHIP missingness. We also used logistic regression analyses, with missing information as the dependent variable, and number of questions filled in (OHIP item rank) as the independent variable for samples with and without supervision. To investigate whether missing data occurs more in a particular item or set of related items we fitted regression models with individual OHIP items and the OHRQoL dimensions as indicator variables. We also investigated age, gender, and OHRQoL level as predictor variables for missing OHIP items. RESULTS We found very low levels of missingness across individual OHIP items and set of related items, and there was no particular item or set of related items that was associated with more missing data. Also, more missing data did not depend on whether the participants answered more questions. In studies without supervision, older persons and females were 5.47 and 2.66 times more likely to have missing items than younger persons and females. However, in studies with supervision, older persons, and participants with more OHRQoL impairment were 1.70 and 2.65 times more likely to have missing items. CONCLUSION The study participants from general and dental patient populations did not find OHIP-49 burdensome. OHIP item missingness did not depend on a particular OHIP item or set of related items, or if the study participants responded to a greater number of OHIP items. We did not find a consistent pattern of the influence of sociodemographic and OHRQoL magnitude information on OHIP missingness. The amount of missing OHIP information was low making any potential influence likely small in magnitude.
Venous Insufficiency, Varicose Veins, and Perforators

Venous disease affects large numbers of people in the United States. Venous disease can be due to incompetence with reflux of the deep and superficial systems, or within the superficial system itself. There are many reasons venous insufficiency develops, including pregnancy, obesity, lifestyle or job-related activities, familial/genetic factors, deep vein thrombosis, and idiopathic cases. Endoluminal treatment of venous insufficiency has rapidly gained widespread acceptance and has entered into mainstream practice. The advancement of minimally invasive techniques has enabled ambulatory clinic treatment in the majority of patients with varicose veins, getting patients back to normal activity and work more rapidly than traditional open surgical methods.
Reminiscences of an Instrumentalist

Forty years ago the methods used to detect the radiations from new elements were not very sophisticated although they did suffice. It is interesting to contrast the techniques used at that time with those available today.
An Instrumental Analysis of the Voicing Contrast in Word-Initial Stops in the Speech of Four-Year-Old English-Speaking Children:

This paper reports on an investigation of the voice-onset-time (VOT) characteristics of word-initial stops produced by four four-year-old children. Instrumental analysis of the children's spontaneo...
Quality and EDA

Summary form only given. Quality has many definitions: conformance to specifications; customer satisfaction; delivery divided by expectations; etc. EDA's sense of quality is determined by what its customers want. Do we have a virtuous cycle in the quality relationship between EDA and its customers? EDA is also the quality tools supplier to help the electronics systems and semiconductor companies to produce quality products on time. The paper examines both aspects of the quality issue from an EDA perspective.
Optimal Rocket Maneuvers in Space

The problem is addressed of optimally steering a vehicle in space, controlled by thrust vectoring, to affect a demanded change in heading and achieve maximal terminal speed. The optimal solution is explicitly derived and it is presented in a readily implementable form.
Isolation and characterization of the rat plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene.

We have reported that glucocorticoids and cyclic nucleotides regulate tissue-type plasminogen activator activity in HTC rat hepatoma cells primarily by modulating plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) gene expression. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this hormonal regulation, we have cloned the rat PAI-1 gene from an HTC genomic library. The gene is approximately 10.5 kilobases (kb) in size and is comprised of nine exons and eight introns. Comparison of this gene with the human PAI-1 gene (Bosma, P. J., van den Berg, E., Kooistra, T., Siemieniak, D. R., and Slightom, J. L. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 9129-9141) revealed strict conservation of the exon-intron structure. The start site of transcription is identical to that in the human PAI-1 gene. The complete nucleotide sequence of the rat PAI-1 gene, including 2.4 kb of 5'- and 1 kb of 3'-flanking DNA, has been determined. Two regions in the 5'-flanking sequence of the rat PAI-1 gene show a high degree of similarity to sequences in the upstream region of the human PAI-1 gene: a 60-base pair region from -90 to the TATA box (90% identical), and a more distal sequence located at -753 to -510 (greater than 80% identical). Both of these regions have been shown to be involved in the glucocorticoid regulation of expression of the human PAI-1 gene (van Zonneveld, A.-J., Curriden, S. A., and Loskutoff, D. J. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85, 5525-5529), although neither region contains the hexamer consensus sequence for glucocorticoid response elements. Five putative glucocofticoid response elements, 100% identical to the hexamer consensus sequence, were identified in the 5'-flanking region of the rat gene, none of which is present in the regions of sequence similarity. Seven putative cyclic AMP response elements that are 75% identical to the octamer consensus sequence are located upstream of the rat gene. There is only one such sequence within the 5'-flanking region of the human gene; however, that sequence, at -61, is 100% conserved in the rat gene.
Changing energy intensity in Chinese industry: The relatively importance of structural shift and intensity change

Abstract We analysed three different sets of energy consumption and output value data using a Laspeyres index method to determine the relative roles of structural shift and real intensity change in China's industrial sector between 1980 and 1990. Contrary to prevailing views, we find that real intensity change (economic intensity of industrial subsectors, composed of physical intensity change and other non-structural factors) accounted for most of the large apparent drop in industrial energy intensity in the 1980s. Comparison of economic and physical energy intensity indicators suggests that physical intensity was not the only major cause of real intensity change.
5 Rarefied gas dynamics: A report on the third international symposium at Paris☆

Abstract The program of this symposium, which was held in Paris 26–29 June, 1962, included papers on new developments in the theory of flow of neutral and partly ionized gases at low densities, interactions between gas molecules and solid surfaces, high-speed and thermal molecular beams, measurements of drag and heat transfer in the transition and free molecule flow regime, and new experimental techniques. About 25 of the 60 papers presented are discussed in the following pages; the complete program is reproduced as Appendix I.
Mechanotransduction in bone : role of strain rate

Bone tissue can detect and respond to its mechanical environment, but there is no consensus for how bone cells detect mechanical loads. Some think that cells sense tissue deformation (strain) and respond when strain is abnormally high. However, strains in bone tissue are usually very small, and it is questionable whether bone cells are sensitive enough to detect them. Another theory suggests that mechanical loads are coupled to the bone cells by stress-generated fluid flow within the bone tissue, which is dependent on the rate of change of bone strain. We applied bending loads to the tibiae of adult rats to create equivalent peak strains in the bone tissue but with varied rates of strain. Bone formation was significantly increased in the two experimental groups when the highest strain rates were compared with lower strain rates (P < 0.01), and the amount of new bone formation was directly proportional to the rate of strain in the bone tissue. These results suggest that relatively large strains alone are not sufficient to activate bone cells. High strain rates and possibly stress-generated fluid flow are required to stimulate new bone formation.
Specificity of RNA maturation pathways: RNAs transcribed by RNA polymerase III are not substrates for splicing or polyadenylation

To analyze the specificity of RNA processing reactions, we constructed hybrid genes containing RNA polymerase III promoters fused to sequences that are normally transcribed by polymerase II and assessed their transcripts following transfection into human 293 cells. Transcripts derived from these chimeric constructs were analyzed by using a combined RNase H and S1 nuclease assay to test whether RNAs containing consensus 5' and 3' splicing signals could be efficiently spliced in intact cells, even though they were transcribed by RNA polymerase III. We found that polymerase III-derived RNAs are not substrates for splicing. Similarly, we were not able to detect poly(A)+ RNAs derived from genes that contained a polymerase III promoter linked to sequences that were necessary and sufficient to direct 3'-end cleavage and polyadenylation when transcribed by RNA polymerase II. Our findings are consistent with the view that in vivo splicing and polyadenylation pathways are obligatorily coupled to transcription by RNA polymerase II.
Effectiveness of understanding relations between community, home, and school for future educators

Como educadoras comprometidas con la formacion de maestros que ensenen de manera eficaz a ninos de diferentes culturas y lenguas, y a pesar de las diferencias, se opongan activamente a perpetuar cualquier clase de injusticia. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se encontro que el disenar oportunidades para que los maestros puedan acercarse a las comunidades de origen de los ninos, es la mejor manera de conocer la riqueza cultural existente en los hogares y para entender la importancia de incluir a los padres en la educacion de sus hijos. Para esta investigacion, los estudiantes de un programa de posgrado de una institucion publica fueron invitados a participar en la comunidad, barrio y hogares de los estudiantes para reflexionar sobre su comprension de la relacion entre la comunidad, hogar y escuela. Como resultado de estas interacciones, los estudiantes llegaron a un nuevo y mas profundo entendimiento de la importancia de integrar la comunidad, escuela y hogar para crear un entorno optimo para el exito del estudiante
Trends in Demography of Childhood Poverty and Disability

This article presents childhood disability prevalence trends and their interaction with economic status. Estimates derived from National Health Interview Survey data (1983–1996) indicate a significant increase in childhood disability rates. Increased risk for disability was among constituencies defined by poverty and single-parent families. Analysis suggests three dynamics: (a) greater risk in single-parent households, (b) no incremental risk associated with racial or ethnic status after controlling for poverty, and (c) a growing relationship between poverty and risk for disability. Implications were discussed in terms of a “new universe” of disability and the importance of educations involvement in broader national social policy and advocacy.
Towards communication-sensitive load balancing

Recent studies have shown that if the overhead associated with process migration is not high when compared to the estimated lifetime of processes, migrating isolated processes to underutilized workstations can improve system performance. However, if tightly-coupled processes from groups of communicating processes or other existing dependencies are separated, system performance can decrease due to increased communication cost. Current load balancers do not make effective use of communication dependencies in their algorithms. We have implemented a communication-sensitive load balancer for DUNES (Distributed UNix ExtenSion)-a user-level distributed operating system-that uses the run-time communication pattern between processes when balancing load. We examine communication-sensitive load balancing under different workload conditions and compare its performance against a load balancer that is not communication-aware. Our results show that a communication-sensitive load balancer performs substantially better than a load balancer that is not communication-aware under workloads that have a "good mix" of CPU-bound and I/O-bound processes.
Surveillance endoscopy is associated with improved outcomes of oesophageal adenocarcinoma detected in patients with Barrett's oesophagus

Background The effectiveness of surveillance endoscopy in patients with Barrett9s oesophagus (BE) for reducing oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC)-related mortality in patients with BE is unclear. Methods This is a cohort study of patients with BE diagnosed in the National Veterans Affairs hospitals during 2004–2009 excluding those with conditions that affect overall survival. We identified those diagnosed with EAC after BE diagnosis through 2011 and conducted chart reviews to identify BE surveillance programme, and indication for EAC diagnosis, verify diagnosis, stage, therapy and cause of death. We examined the association between surveillance indication for EAC diagnosis with or without surveillance programme and EAC stage and treatment receipt in logistic regression models, and with time to death or cancer-related death using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results Among 29 536 patients with BE, 424 patients developed EAC during a mean follow-up of 5.0 years. A total of 209 (49.3%) patients with EAC were in BE surveillance programme and were diagnosed as a result of surveillance endoscopy. These patients were more likely to be diagnosed at an early stage (stage 0 or 1: 74.7% vs 56.2, p Conclusions Surveillance endoscopy among patients with BE is associated with significantly better EAC outcomes including cancer-related mortality compared with other non-surveillance endoscopy.
A History of Hawaiian Freshwater Resources

The history of Hawaiian freshwater resources begins 1500–1600 years ago, when the first Hawaiians arrived from Polynesia. Early Hawaiian freshwater management balanced human needs with ecological sustainability through community-based taro farming. In this system, water was never diverted out of the watershed. Instead, freshwater was the lifeline that connected the mountains to the oceans. Western discovery of Hawaii brought with it privatized natural resources, cultural diversity, and a shift of agriculture from within the watersheds to sunny, but arid, landscapes. The rise of sugar cane facilitated political changes that led to the fall of the Hawaiian Monarchy and eventual statehood in the United States. However, this new agriculture was economically impossible without diverting irrigation water from the windward sides of each island, resulting in a permanent loss from the watersheds. Stream water removal eliminates habitat and disrupts a specialized life cycle of several endemic species, a life cycle that requires migration to and from the ocean. Recent petitions to enforce existing water law have sparked political debate of freshwater allocation in the face of diminished agriculture. Future management will require compromise and scientifically based strategies to bring back ecological balance and long-term sustainability. Keywords: Hawaii; freshwater; agriculture; history; amphidromy; fish; invertebrates; law
Role of School Psychologists in Violence Prevention and Intervention

Kansas school psychologists were extremely accurate in their estimates of violence in their own schools and viewed school violence prevention as an important part of their job, regardless of the rates of violence in their districts. Most had at least some involvement in their own school's violence prevention program, although many reported that they had little or no training. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents work in districts with relatively low rates of violence, over half reported that fighting, bullying, and substance abuse, early warning signs of school violence, occur a lot or a fair amount in their districts.
Prostatitis, prostatosis, and prostatodia

Revue des progres recents dans la classification, le diagnostic et le traitement des differentes formes de prostatite
Observation of Transverse Zero Sound in Normal He 3

The direct transmission of transverse zero sound between two $\mathrm{AC}$-cut quartz transducers is observed in the vicinity of 3 mK; at higher temperatures the transition to classical viscous shear-wave behavior is observed through the effect on the damping of a single transducer.
Wave-based sound propagation for VR applications

Realistic sound effects are extremely important in VR to improve the sense of presence and immersion. They augment the visual sense of the user and can help reduce simulation fatigue. Sound can provide 3D spatial cues outside eld of view and help create high-fidelity VR training simulations. Current sound propagation techniques are based on heuristic approaches or simple line-of-sight based geometric techniques. These techniques cannot capture important sound effects such as diffraction, interference, focusing. For VR applications, there is a need for high-fidelity, accurate sound propagation. In order to model sound propagation accurately, it is important to model wave-based sound propagation. We present a set of efficient wave-based propagation techniques for VR applications that can handle large scenes, directional sound sources, and generate spatial sound. Our technique has been integrated in Valve's game engine and we use it to demonstrate realistic acoustic effects such as diffraction, high-order re ection, interference, directivity, and spatialization, in complex scenarios.
The kinetics and mechanism of alkali removal from flue gases by solid sorbents

Kaolinite, bauxite and emathlite have been found suitable for alkali removal from hot flue gases in coal conversion systems. The effect of temperature on the kinetics and mechanism of alkali adsorption/reaction on these sorbents was studied under a simulated flue gas atmosphere. Kaolinite and emathlite reacted irreversibly with the alkali; however for bauxite, 10% of the total weight gained was due to physisorption. Kaolinite was found to have the highest capacity and the largest activation energy for alkali removal. The overall sorption process is not just physical and non-selective, but rather a combination of physical and chemical processes, which are dependent on the temperature and sorbent chemistry. The reaction product of alkali with emathlite has a melting point of approximately 1270 K, while kaolinite and bauxite form compounds with a melting point of about 1870 K. Consequently, kaolinite and bauxite are more suitable for in situ removal of alkali, while all three can be used for downstream alkali removal.
Generalized coherent-potential method for disordered systems

A tractable way to generalize the coherent-potential method beyond the coherent-potential approximation (CPA) is presented. Explicit expressions are derived for a single-band tight-binding-approximation model including the correlations between first nearest neighbors. The potential change when one atom type is replaced by another at a given site is assumed to extend beyond that site so as to satisfy perfect shielding and include hopping-term variations. By considering the restrictions imposed by perfect shielding throughout the whole concentration range, two more conditions on the potential are found in addition to that corresponding to the Friedel sum rule. It is shown how to modify the CPA so as to satisfy perfect shielding. The main effect of this modification is to rigidly shift the CPA density-of-states curve so as to maintain the Fermi energy fixed for all concentrations. The modified CPA is limited in the possible number of physical alloys that it can hope to accurately describe. When the hopping perturbation is large, correlations between first neighbors are important and the CPA is not adequate.
Left atrial Lasso catheter thrombus aspiration

Sheath- and catheter-associated thrombi have become increasingly identified with the use of intracardiac echocardiography during left-sided ablation procedures. Despite adequate anticoagulation, these thrombi are found in ∼10% of cases. Management of these thrombi includes withdrawal of the sheath and catheter when the thrombi are felt to be firmly attached. In our case, we show another management technique, aspiration.
Effect of Heating, Cooling, and Storing Milk on Casein and Whey Proteins

Abstract Cottage cheese yields increase as a result of heating (74°C, 10s), cooling (3°C), and storing (7 days) milk prior to cheese making. Protein analysis of milk indicated that casein was higher and whey proteins lower in experimental heated, cooled, stored milk as compared with unheated, fresh ( β -casein decreased with heat treatment and cold storage of milk. Pretreating raw milk with nitrogen-ethylmaleimide or ethylenetetraacetic acid prior to heat treatment and storage and subjecting these samples to electrophoresis indicated little or no decrease of whey proteins compared with milk heated without added nitrogen-ethylmaleimide or ethylenetetraacetic acid. Heat-treating, cooling, and storing milk seemed to cause part of the β -casein to be trapped physically in the casein micelle. These treatments also caused portions of whey proteins to associate with casein micelles via disulfide bridging and calcium linkages.
Vision and the weather

Current vision systems are designed to perform in clear weather. Needless to say, in any outdoor application, there is not escape from 'bad' weather. Ultimately, computer vision systems must include mechanisms that enable them to function in the presence of haze, fog, rain, hail and snow. We begin by studying the visual manifestations of different weather conditions. For this, we draw on what is already known about atmospheric optics, and identify effects caused by bad weather that can be turned to our advantage. Since the atmosphere modulates the information carried form a scene point to the observer, it can be viewed as a mechanism of visual information coding. We exploit two fundamental scattering models and develop methods for recovering pertinent scene properties, such as 3D structure, from one or two images taken under poor weather conditions. Next, we model the chromatic effects of the atmospheric scattering gand verify it for fog and haze. The, based on this chromatic model we derive several geometric constraints on scene color changes caused by varying atmospheric conditions. Finally, using these constraints we develop algorithms for computing fog or haze color, depth segmentation , extracting 3D structure, and recovering 'clear day' scene colors, from two or more images taken under different but unknown weather conditions.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evidence for community structure and habitat partitioning in coastal dune stiletto flies at the Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes system, California

This study provides empirical evidence for habitat selection by North American species of stiletto flies (Diptera: Therevidae), based on local distributions of adults and immatures, and the first hypothesis of community assemblages proposed for a stiletto fly community. Sites at three localities within the Guadalupe-Nipomo dune system were sampled for stiletto flies in 1997 and 2001 by sifting sand, malaise trapping, and hand netting. Nine species were collected from four ecological zones and three intermediate ecological zones: Acrosathe novella (Coquillett), Brachylinga baccata (Loew), Nebritus powelli (Webb and Irwin), Ozodiceromyia sp., Pherocera sp., Tabudamima melanophleba (Loew), Thereva comata Loew, Thereva elizabethae Holston and Irwin, and Thereva fucata Loew. Species associations of adults and larvae with habitats and ecological zones were consistent among sites, suggesting that local distributions of coastal dune stiletto fly species are influenced by differences in habitat selection. In habitats dominated by the arroyo willow,Salix lasiolepsis, stiletto fly larvae of three species were collected in local sympatry, demonstrating that S. lasiolepsis stands along stabilized dune ridges can provide an intermediate ecological zone linking active dune and riparian habitat in the Guadalupe-Nipomo dune system. Sites dominated by European beach grass, Ammophilia arenaria, blue gum, Eucalyptus globulus, and Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, are considered unsuitable for stiletto flies, which emphasizes the importance of terrestrial habitats with native vegetation for stiletto fly species. The local distributions of stiletto fly species at the Guadalupe-Nipomo dune system allow the community to be divided into three assemblages; active dune, pioneer scrub, and scrub-riparian. These assemblages may be applicable to other coastal dune stiletto fly communities, and may have particular relevance to stiletto fly species collected in European coastal dunes. The results from this study provide a descriptive framework for studies testing habitat selection in coastal dune stiletto fly species and inform conservation of threatened dune insects.
Medium reorganization and electronic coupling in long-range electron transfer

Abstract Two quantities crucial in controlling long-range electron transfer (ET) kinetics are the medium (or solvent) reorganization energy E r and the donor/acceptor (D/A) electronic coupling integral H DA . Detailed theoretical models for E r and H DA are exploited in a variety of calculations, which include either continuum or molecular-level representations of solvent. The ability of different types of interactions (covalent, hydrogen-bonded and non-bonded) in mediating effective D/A coupling are evaluated, and new procedures for defining diabatic states, including a generalization of the Mulliken-Hush model, allow applications to optical and excited state as well as ground state ET in a many-state framework.
Analysis of a new intra-disk redundancy scheme for high-reliability RAID storage systems in the presence of unrecoverable errors

Today's data storage systems are increasingly adopting low-cost disk drives that have higher capacity but lower reliability, leading to more frequent rebuilds and to a higher risk of unrecoverable media errors. We propose a new XOR-based intra-disk redundancy scheme, called interleaved parity check (IPC), to enhance the reliability of RAID systems that incurs only negligible I/O performance degradation. The proposed scheme introduces an additional level of redundancy inside each disk, on top of the RAID redundancy across multiple disks. The RAID parity provides protection against disk failures, while the proposed scheme aims to protect against media-related unrecoverable errors.We develop a new model capturing the effect of correlated unrecoverable sector errors and subsequently use it to analyze the proposed scheme as well as the traditional redundancy schemes based on Reed-Solomon (RS) codes and single-parity-check (SPC) codes. We derive closed-form expressions for the mean time to data loss (MTTDL) of RAID 5 and RAID 6 systems in the presence of unrecoverable errors and disk failures. We then combine these results for a comprehensive characterization of the reliability of RAID systems that incorporate the proposed IPC redundancy scheme. Our results show that in the practical case of correlated errors, the proposed scheme provides the same reliability as the optimum albeit more complex RS coding scheme. Finally, the throughput performance of incorporating the intra-disk redundancy on various RAID systems is evaluated by means of event-driven simulations. A detailed description of these contributions is given in [1].
Randomized trial of exercise effect on intrahepatic triglyceride content and lipid kinetics in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common complication of obesity, and is associated with abnormalities in hepatic very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) metabolism and increased serum triglyceride (TG) concentration (1, 2). Lifestyle modification involving diet-induced weight loss and regular physical activity reduces intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG) content and improves the metabolic derangements associated with NAFLD (3-17). Very small amounts of weight loss can cause marked decreases (20%-60%) in IHTG content (18-20). In fact, we have found that even 48 h of calorie restriction caused a 20% decrease in IHTG content in obese subjects (21). However, few studies have evaluated the effect of regular physical activity, independent of weight loss, on NAFLD. Current guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the American Heart Association, recommend that adults perform at least 150 min, but preferably 300 min of moderate-intensity physical activity per week; or at least 75 minutes, but preferably 150 minutes, of vigorous physical activity per week to achieve health benefits (22, 23). Data from two studies have recently shown that 4-12 weeks of vigorous intensity exercise training caused a small decrease in IHTG content (24, 25). However, obese people are more likely to adhere to a moderate intensity than a vigorous intensity exercise program (26), in part, because obese persons have lower levels of pleasure after high intensity exercise (27), and exercise intensity is perceived to be higher in obese than lean subjects (28). The potential benefits of regular moderate intensity exercise on IHTG content and hepatic metabolic function in obese people with NAFLD has not been carefully studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the recommended exercise guidelines for moderate intensity endurance exercise training (150-300 min per week) on IHTG content and VLDL kinetics in obese subjects with NAFLD. We hypothesized that exercise training would result in decreased IHTG content and hepatic VLDL-TG and VLDL-apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) secretion rates. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to assess IHTG content and stable isotopically labeled tracer techniques were used to assess VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB-100 kinetics in our study subjects before and after 16 weeks of supervised exercise training.
Sex differences in the conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine

Several recent reports have demonstrated sex differences in the behavioral and neurochemical response to cocaine. However, it is not clear whether differences exist in cocaine reward or the extent to which adrenal hormones regulate cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in either sex. To address these questions, side-by-side comparisons were conducted to determine the effects of conditioning length, cocaine dose and adrenalectomy on cocaine CPP in male and female rats. Female rats demonstrated cocaine CPP after four pairing sessions, while male rats required eight pairing sessions to develop CPP for cocaine. Also, female rats developed CPP at cocaine doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg while male rats required higher cocaine doses (20 mg/kg). Overall, females had higher blood serum levels of corticosterone. Furthermore, a dose-dependent effect on serum levels of corticosterone was observed only in female rats, where rats conditioned with 20 mg/kg cocaine had significantly higher serum levels of corticosterone than rats conditioned with 5 mg/kg cocaine. However, adrenalectomy did not affect CPP for cocaine in either sex. These results suggest that a female's higher sensitivity to cocaine's rewarding effects is not completely mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Therefore, sex differences in the acquisition and/or expression of cocaine CPP may be regulated by other mechanisms, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Decorum: Quintilian’s Reflections on Rhetorical Humor

This study examines ancient Roman ideas about humor’s boundaries in public culture. In particular, I analyze book 6, chapter 3 of the Institutio Oratoria, which covers Quintilian’s reflections on the subject. Following Cicero, Quintilian engages the tensions between humor and decorum in his political context, using urbanitas to refine the former and to loosen the latter’s strictures. In this process, the use of urbanitas implicitly points readers toward factors that can make humor rhetorical. Quintilian thus answers Cicero’s question about the degree to which humor should be used and furthers inquiry into how much rhetorical humor can or should be taught.
Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, the retail environment, and alcohol consumption: A multilevel analysis

Abstract Background The neighborhoods where people live can influence their drinking behavior. We hypothesized that living in a neighborhood with lower median income, higher alcohol outlet density, and only liquor stores and no grocery stores would be associated with higher alcohol consumption after adjusting for individual demographic and lifestyle factors. Methods We used two self-report measures to assess alcohol consumption in a sample of 9959 adults living in a large Midwestern county: volume of alcohol consumed (count) and binge drinking (5 or more drinks vs. Results Retail mix was associated with binge drinking. Individuals living in census tracts with only liquor stores had a 46% higher risk of binge drinking than individuals living in census tracts with food stores only after controlling for demographic and lifestyle factors. Conclusion Census tract characteristics such as retail mix may partly explain variability in drinking behavior. Future research should explore the mix of stores, not just the over-concentration of liquor stores in census tracts.
Phosphorus Loading Effects on Extracellular Enzyme Activity in Everglades Wetland Soils

The impact of P loading to the northern Florida Everglades has been implicated in changing vegetation patterns, peat accretion rates, and other soil physico-chemical properties. This investigation focused on determining the influence of P loading on the activities of various extracellular enzymes along a P-enrichment gradient and relating measured enzyme activities to soil physico-chemical parameters. Alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) was the only enzyme affected by P loading and was negatively related to soil P concentrations and microbial biomass C and P. Arylsulfatase, β-d-glucosidase, protease, and phenol oxidase were not affected by P loading and were not related to measured soil C, N, S, and P physical and chemical parameters. All enzyme activities were highest in the surface detritus layer and decreased with soil depth. Due to significant relationships between APA and soil and microbial P parameters, APA appears to be a useful indicator for assessing impacts of P enrichment in wetland soils.
Property modifications in poly(p‐phenylene benzobisthiazole) fibers with high‐tension and high‐temperature drying versus postprocessing heat treatment

Modifications in the structure and mechanics of poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBT) fibers have been attempted through high-tension and hightemperature drying and subsequent postprocessing heat treatment experiments. High-tension drying results in an enhancement in tensile properties by offsetting compressive shrinkage stresses during the drying process and improving the molecular alignment within the fiber. Elevated temperature drying under tension further improves the extent and perfection of the lateral molecular order. The increased molecular ordering and improved tensile properties are believed to result from the removal of water and residual acid at elevated temperatures. The final fiber properties after subsequent postprocessing heat treatment are independent of the drying conditions. These results suggest that the ultimate fiber properties are a function of the total strain imposed in all the processing operations (dry jet stretch region, coagulation and drying process, postprocessing heat treatment). The attainment of the fiber's theoretical highmodulus/high-strength properties appears limited by defects such as voids and internal stresses which, in turn, restrict the amount of strain imposed during the fiber process.