cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-agent planning and collaboration in dynamic resource allocation

Abstract We discuss some innovative concepts for distributed resource allocation, such as Dynamic Scoping, constrained lattice-like structures, for message routing, and prioritizing the rule base of expert systems for medium-level time-critical task environments.
FINITE DIFFERENCE METHODS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF HEREDITARY CONTROL SYSTEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses finite difference methods for identification of hereditary control system. It describes the application of numerical integration schemes to the (nonlinear optimization) problem of estimating parameters in control systems governed by delay-differential equations. The idea is to approximate the differential equation model by a discrete (difference equation) model, obtained from a one-step method for the numerical solution of the delay-differential equation and then estimate the parameters in the discrete model to obtain approximating estimates for the original model. The chapter presents a system identification problem for linear systems and an approximation algorithm based on Euler's method for functional differential equations. It presents the convergence results. The chapter also highlights nonlinear systems and discusses a higher order method. It also presents a number of numerical examples that highlight the convergence of the schemes.
The academic impact of participating in college football playoff games

This study uses ten years of football team data from NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) institutions to explore the academic impact of intercollegiate football playoff particip...
USE OF APPARATUSES IN SCIENCE LABORATORY: Developmental Characteristics of Didactical Interactions

Teaching and learning through the use of tools is evolving in response to new developments in pedagogy that aim to enhance students’ high-order thinking skills. This paper presents results from part of a research project investigating innovative teaching pedagogy, engaging with active learning through students’ manipulation of apparatuses in a series of mathematics lessons conducted in a science laboratory. The findings of the study include illustration of the development of didactical interactions, a modified framework yielding multi-directional transitions of interactive activities. This serves not only to promote interactive learning activities, including various active forms of productions, but also embraces innovation in STEM education.
Circulating extracellular RNAs, myocardial remodeling, and heart failure in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background Given high on-treatment mortality in heart failure (HF), identifying molecular pathways that underlie adverse cardiac remodeling may offer novel biomarkers and therapeutic avenues. Circulating extracellular RNAs (ex-RNAs) regulate important biological processes and are emerging as biomarkers of disease, but less is known about their role in the acute setting, particularly in the setting of HF. Methods We examined the ex-RNA profiles of 296 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) survivors enrolled in the Transitions, Risks, and Actions in Coronary Events Center for Outcomes Research and Education Cohort. We measured 374 ex-RNAs selected a priori, based on previous findings from a large population study. We employed a two-step, mechanism-driven approach to identify ex-RNAs associated with echocardiographic phenotypes (left ventricular [LV] ejection fraction, LV mass, LV end-diastolic volume, left atrial [LA] dimension, and LA volume index) then tested relations of these ex-RNAs with prevalent HF (N=31, 10.5%). We performed further bioinformatics analysis of microRNA (miRNAs) predicted targets' genes ontology categories and molecular pathways. Results We identified 44 ex-RNAs associated with at least one echocardiographic phenotype associated with HF. Of these 44 exRNAs, miR-29-3p, miR-584-5p, and miR-1247-5p were also associated with prevalent HF. The three microRNAs were implicated in the regulation p53 and transforming growth factor-β signaling pathways and predicted to be involved in cardiac fibrosis and cell death; miRNA predicted targets were enriched in gene ontology categories including several involving the extracellular matrix and cellular differentiation. Conclusions Among ACS survivors, we observed that miR-29-3p, miR-584-5p, and miR-1247-5p were associated with both echocardiographic markers of cardiac remodeling and prevalent HF. Relevance for patients miR-29c-3p, miR-584-5p, and miR-1247-5p were associated with echocardiographic phenotypes and prevalent HF and are potential biomarkers for adverse cardiac remodeling in HF.
Cohort Effects in Progression Rate on Cognitive and Functional Measures in an Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Cohort.

BACKGROUND Accurate prediction of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cognitive and functional outcomes in clinical research requires consistent underlying rates of change over time. OBJECTIVE To examine cohort effects in AD progression rate over five years of follow-up using a clinical database of probable AD patients. METHODS Baseline characteristics of three cohorts enrolled from 1995-1999, 2000-2004, and 2005-2009 were compared using ANOVA and chi-square tests. Differences in 5-year decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB), the Lawton and Brody Physical Self-maintenance Scale (PSMS), and Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL) were assessed using longitudinal mixed effects regression, adjusting for age, sex, education, and other relevant clinical characteristics. RESULTS Cohorts 1 (n = 287), 2 (n = 257), and 3 (n = 374) did not differ on age, race, APOE genotype, or cognitive and functional measures. Educational attainment increased over time (13.4, 14.1, and 14.5 years, respectively, p < 0.001). Anti-dementia drug use at baseline was less common in Cohort 1 (32.2% versus 65.0%, and 66.8%, p < 0.001). The rate of decline in MMSE and CDR-SB did not differ across cohorts. ADAS-Cog scores for Cohort 2 declined more slowly than Cohort 3 (Btime ×cohort2 = -0.91 ± 0.35, p = 0.009), whereas Cohort 1 did not differ from cohort 3 (reference). Cohorts 1 and 2 differed from Cohort 3 in progression rate on the PSMS, but not the IADL. CONCLUSIONS There were no consistent temporal trends in progression rates over time. Longitudinal data over 15-20 years may be confidently pooled for outcomes analysis, but unexplained variability in rate of decline on some measures may occur.
High Altitude Thermal Wake Investigation

Using various temperature sensors and data loggers, we continue to investigate various thermal effects during high altitude balloon flights. Of particular interest is the thermal wake generated by ascending balloons. During daytime flights the temperature of the air directly beneath the balloon, where payloads typically are located, is warmer than the surrounding air due to solar radiation hitting the balloon which, in turn, warms the air passing close to the balloon that forms the wake. One reference suggests that this thermal effect is only significant within 25 feet of the base of the balloon. We fly a “wake boom” near the top of our payload stack, less than 25 feet from the neck of the balloon, with temperature sensors which extend horizontally from directly below the balloon to outside the predicted width of the wake. We have used different wake boom designs on multiple flights to measure temperature profiles in the wake region.
LEFT ATRIAL HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES FOLLOWING RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

More extensive radiofrequency ablation (RFA) may increase freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF). However, RFA-related scarring can lead to left atrial (LA) stiffness and worsening symptoms. We evaluated change in mean LA pressure (mLAP) and compliance after RFA and compared more versus less
Selective Caching: Avoiding Performance Valleys in Massively Parallel Architectures

Emerging general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPU) make use of a memory hierarchy very similar to that of modern multi-core processors – they typically have multiple levels of on-chip caches and a DDR-like off-chip main memory. In such massively parallel architectures, caches are expected to reduce the average data access latency by reducing the number of off-chip memory accesses; however, our extensive experimental studies confirm that not all applications utilize the on-chip caches in an efficient manner. Even though GPGPUs are adopted to run a wide range of general purpose applications, the conventional cache management policies are incapable of achieving the optimal performance over different memory characteristics of the applications. This paper first investigates the underlying reasons for inefficiency of common cache management policies in GPGPUs. To address and resolve those issues, we then propose (i) a characterization mechanism to analyze each kernel at runtime and, (ii) a selective caching policy to manage the flow of cache accesses. Evaluation results of the studied platform show that our proposed dynamically reconfigurable cache hierarchy improves the system performance by up to 105% (average of 27%) over a wide range of modern GPGPU applications, which is within 10% of the optimal improvement.
Vibrational control: A hidden stabilization mechanism in insect flight

It is generally accepted among biology and engineering communities that insects are unstable at hover. However, existing approaches that rely on direct averaging do not fully capture the dynamical features and stability characteristics of insect flight. Here, we reveal a passive stabilization mechanism that insects exploit through their natural wing oscillations: vibrational stabilization. This stabilization technique cannot be captured using the averaging approach commonly used in literature. In contrast, it is elucidated using a special type of calculus: the chronological calculus. Our result is supported through experiments on a real hawkmoth subjected to pitch disturbance from hovering. This finding could be particularly useful to biologists because the vibrational stabilization mechanism may also be exploited by many other creatures. Moreover, our results may inspire more optimal designs for bioinspired flying robots by relaxing the feedback control requirements of flight.
Critique Me: Exploring How Creators Publicly Request Feedback in an Online Critique Community

Creative workers frequently turn to online critique communities for feedback on their work. While past research has focused primarily on how to yield better feedback from providers, less is known about the strategies feedback seekers use to engage providers and request feedback. We present two studies to explore the feedback exchange dynamics between feedback requesters and providers in the subreddit community, r/design\_critiques. In Study 1, we interviewed 12 community members and found that while creators have strategies to request feedback, they expressed uncertainty about whether and how to include details about the design context, personal background, and specific feedback needs. In Study 2, through a mixed-method analysis, we identified how specific request strategies impact the quantity and quality of community feedback, and found several key, but undervalued strategies: signaling as a novice, critiquing one's own design, and providing design variants. These strategies led to better community response, but were rarely used. We offer design implications around how to leverage these insights to improve online feedback exchange
Gameful Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice, by Jonathon Reinhardt

Gameful Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice Jonathon Reinhardt Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan US $ 95 ISBN 9783030047283 (Hardback) 332 pages 2019
Research in ECMO Simulation: A Review of the Literature

Research in manikin-based ECMO simulation has emerged only in the last 15 years. Early studies in ECMO simulation focused on the development of equipment and models for ECMO simulation as well as the feasibility and effectiveness of new ECMO simulation programs (Allan CK, Thiagarajan RR, Beke D, Imprescia A, Kappus LJ, Garden A, et al. Simulation-based training delivered directly to the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit engenders preparedness, comfort, and decreased anxiety among multidisciplinary resuscitation teams. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2010;140(3):646–52. Anderson JM, Boyle KB, Murphy AA, Yaeger KA, LeFlore J, Halamek LP. Simulating extracorporeal membrane oxygenation emergencies to improve human performance. Part I: methodologic and technologic innovations. Simul Healthc. 2006;1(4):220–7. Thompson JL, Grisham LM, Scott J, Mogan C, Prescher H, Biffar D, et al. Construction of a reusable, high-fidelity model to enhance extracorporeal membrane oxygenation training through simulation. Adv Neonatal Care. 2014;14(2):103–9). Research in ECMO simulation has expanded to include validation of training methods and assessment of the impact of ECMO simulation on patient outcomes. Effective models and innovative educational programs have been developed but this work has been limited primarily to single-center, observational studies (Allan CK, Pigula F, Bacha EA, Emani S, Fynn-Thompson F, Thiagarajan RR, et al. An extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation curriculum featuring a novel integrated skills trainer leads to improved performance among pediatric cardiac surgery trainees. Simul Healthc. 2013;8(4):221–8. Burkhart HM, Riley JB, Lynch JJ, Suri RM, Greason KL, Joyce LD, et al. Simulation-based postcardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation crisis training for thoracic surgery residents. Ann Thorac Surg. 2013;95(3):901–6. Su L, Spaeder MC, Jones MB, Sinha P, Nath DS, Jain PN, et al. Implementation of an extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation simulation program reduces extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation times in real patients. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2014;15(9):856–60). Future efforts are needed to develop and assess simulation scenarios for sources of validity evidence. To allow for standardization of content amongst programs for initial training and maintenance of competency, collaboration between ECMO centers and across specialties will be critical. Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) may provide a means by which to connect centers and ECMO providers. An important future area of research will be evaluating the effect of ECMO simulation training on patient outcomes. This chapter will summarize the current research in ECMO simulation and highlight potential areas for new investigation.
CRISPR/Cas9 disruption of glucan synthase in Nannochloropsis gaditana attenuates accumulation of β-1,3-glucose oligomers

Abstract Nannochloropsis species have garnered significant interest for biofuel production due to their ability to accumulate high levels of triacylglycerols (TAGs), especially following nitrogen-starvation. However, the first response to nutrient starvation is the synthesis of chrysolaminarin, a soluble β-1,3-glucan with β-1,6-branching. We employ CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out two key enzymes responsible for the synthesis of this oligosaccharide: a beta-glucan synthase (BGS) gene putatively responsible for the glucose β-1,3-linkages, and a transglycosylase (TGS) which putatively catalyzes β-1,6-branching. Analysis of the biomass from the generated mutants confirmed an ~5-fold decrease in the accumulation of soluble carbohydrate following nitrogen starvation, without an observed growth defect in a diel light-cycling regime compared to CRISPR-expressing controls.
Parallel operation of Standalone Inverters with Online Parameter Update

In this paper, a parameter estimation strategy of individual parallel connected inverter is presented based on a novel model reference adaptive system architecture has been proposed. Two fictitious quantities with no physical significance has been chosen and are given by X = u•ϕ* and Y = u* × ϕ where u is the steady state voltage difference from the inverter poles to the load and ϕ is the change in flux from the inverter poles to the load. Using these two models, a closed loop estimation architecture is developed to estimate the parameters of each of the parallel inverters. A droop control with an inner voltage and current controller based on Lyapunov energy function has been utilized in this paper. A parameter estimation architecture is proposed to online update the controller parameters which change during the operation. The proposed control come estimation architecture is verified via computer simulations based on MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS domain and various case study results are presented to prove the efficacy of the system.
Exploring the Scalability of OpenCL Coarse Grained Parallelism on Cloud FPGAs

OpenCL programming ability combined with FPGAs pipelined parallelism have enabled high-performance execution and power-efficient solutions for massively parallel applications. This paper provides an exhaustive study on the scalability of OpenCL coarse-grain parallelism, Compute Unit (CU) replication on cloud FPGAs. This work demonstrates that for many applications there is an optimum number of CUs to achieve the maximum performance benefits with respect to memory bandwidth, memory conflicts introduced by CU replication and available FPGA resources. At the same time, the paper provides a source-code template and an optimized front-end design tool to explore and identify the optimum CU number for a given application, while hiding the programming and exploration difficulties from programmers. Our experimental results on 15 applications taken from the Xilinx SDAccel v2017.4 suite and the Rodinia Benchmark Suite v3.1 show a speedup of 6.2X, bandwidth improvement of 3.5X with a mere 1.04X power and less than 10% resource utilization on average. In addition, our tool results in a 31% improvement in the total design synthesis time for an illustrative Histogram application.
Single-Institution Learning Curve for Management of Mega-Fistulae Revision.

Abstract Mega-fistulae are generalized aneurysmal dilations of a high flow (1500-4000 mL/min) autogenous arteriovenous (AV) access which may result in hemorrhage and/or high-output cardiac failure. Current treatment options for mega-fistula include ligation with and without prosthetic jump graft, aneurysmorrhaphy, aneurysmectomy with vein transposition, and imbrication. These options may not be suitable for advanced disease; may leave the patient without working AV access, poor cosmetic results, and possible recurrence. We describe our early experience with a technique of complete mega-fistula resection and replacement with an early use prosthetic graft that both maintains existing AV access and eliminates the need for long-term catheter placement; including lessons learned.
COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among College Students at a Midwest University.

COVID-19 is responsible for over 750,000 Americans deaths. Despite efforts to vaccinate, many college students are hesitant. Hesitancy has hindered efforts to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination rates. Students at a Midwest university completed an online survey. Questions included COVID-19 vaccination intent and behavior. Over 1600 students participated. Half reported being vaccinated. Of those not vaccinated, 49% did not intend to get vaccinated, and 22% were undecided. Reasons for hesitancy included not trusting the vaccine was fully tested (85%), fear of potential side effects (78%), not trusting the vaccine is safe (72%), not trusting the US government (61%), and having read negative reports from the media about the vaccine (60%). Additionally, students were concerned the vaccine was not safe (B = - 0.902; 95% Χ2 = 11.68; p = 0.001) and that it could not protect them from COVID-19 (B = - 0.834; Χ2 = 12.43; p < 0.001). Students' religious beliefs (B = - 1.245; Χ2 = 4.61; p = 0.032) and having unvaccinated family members (B = - 0672; Χ2 = 11.50; p = 0.001) also contributed to intention not to receive the vaccine. Unexpectedly, students reporting fear of potential side effects (B = 1.26; Χ2 = 12.86; p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to indicate intention to get vaccinated than students who did not report this fear. College students may be more hesitant to receive the vaccination than others. Targeted messaging addressing concerns/fears may be a way to influence those who are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
CHAPTER 5 – The PC

A computer is the heart of any contemporary data acquisition system. Today, PCs are commonplace throughout the scientific and engineering communities. The typical high-end engineering desktop computer is the workstation that runs the UNIX operating system or a version of Windows NT. Apart from the workstation there are several popular classes of computers that are useful as platforms for data acquisition systems. The IBM PC/XT computer is based on the Intel 8088 CPU. It has an external data bus 8 bits wide and an address bus 20 bits wide, for an address range of 1 Mbyte. The IBM PC/AT used Intel's 80286 CPU, which employed a true 16-bit architecture, a 16-bit external data bus, and a 24-bit address bus for a 16-Mbyte address range. One of the major components of PC is motherboard. It contains the CPU and the system's memory, timing, and control functions, as well as external interface capabilities. The chapter also discusses some PC peripheral components. Almost all PC systems use at least one floppy drive and a hard-disk drive. It is strongly recommended that a PC-based data acquisition platform have at least a 10 Gbyte or larger hard drive for storage of raw and analyzed data.
Rapid Population Growth Saps Development

Population Matters Demographic Change, Economic Growth, and Poverty in the Developing World. Nancy Birdsall, Allen C. Kelley, and Steven W. Sinding, Eds. Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 456 pp. $72, £45. ISBN 0-19-924407-3. Relying heavily on data from the 1980s and 1990s, the contributors examine the effects of population changes on economic development.
Stellar populations and mergers.

Our Galaxy has four stellar populations: the disk, the thick disk, the bulge, and the halo. Did they form out of a single proto-Galactic nebula, with each population being but a different stage in the process? Or have at least some of them nothing to do with the origins and evolution of the others, as expected from mergers? In the context of this meeting, we will look particularly at the latter possibility, and will discuss briefly the data supporting this model.
Efficiency optimization in a CARM amplifier

Computer simulations were used to examine the detailed physics of magnetic field tapering and frequency detuning in a cyclotron autoresonance maser (CARM) amplifier and the dependence of its efficiency on electron beam current and input wave intensity. It was found that, depending on the initial frequency mismatch, tapering the magnetic field with either a negative or a positive gradient can enhance the efficiency over that of the resonantly tuned CARM. The ability of tapering to enhance the efficiency depends on the initial frequency mismatch. For a given set of parameters, the efficiency increases with beam current up to a critical current beyond which the efficiency decreases with increasing current. The decrease in efficiency results from the dominance of force bunching over inertial bunching in the electron-wave interaction. In the force-bunching regime, neither magnetic field tapering nor frequency detuning is effective in enhancing the efficiency. >
Geostationary Earth Observatories - Key Elements of NASA's “Mission to Planet Earth”

The scientific rationale, required instrumentation, observatory configuration, and data system of the Geostationary Earth Observatory (GEO) element of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program are discussed. Physical characteristics of GEO candidate instruments are listed.
Rationing without government: the West Coast gas famine of 1920

Arguing that the beliefs that there were no energy shortages in the US before the 1970s and that large-scale rationing requires government price controls are clearly wrong, the authors analyze the extent of the shortage, the nature of the rationing program, and the structure of the petroleum industry. They argue that regional isolation, industry concentration, and the vertical integration of the larger firms made rationing possible. In the absence of laws requiring rationing or setting prices, they focus on the hypothesis that the oil companies held prices down because they were afraid of hostile government actions. 22 references, 2 figures, 1 table.
Children and Divorce

For several decades now, divorce has been a topic of intensive concern to researchers from various disciplines, to mental health clinicians, to child development specialists, and to those involved with the construction of social policy. As our knowledge base has expanded and evolved, so has our appreciation of the complexity of the tasks of studying and comprehending the divorce experience. Demographers indicate that despite the recent leveling-off of the divorce rate, a decline in the rate is not expected, and large numbers of children will continue to be effected. Current statistics highlight this in terms of predicting that 60% of children will spend at least some portion of their developing childhood or adolescent years in a single-parent situation (Norton & Glick, 1986). Among black children, some predictions are as high as 94% who will experience a single-parent situation (Hofferth, 1985). “Growing up divorced has become an alternative developmental path for a substantial number of children in the country” (Kalter, 1987, p. 587). Among the theses of this chapter is that our focus needs to be upon various alternative developmental paths along which divorce might be an event. Further, divorce is better conceptualized as one element in a complex series of events or experiences that may influence the course of these alternative developmental paths.
Teaching in the cracks: Student engagement through social action curriculum projects

Dorothy Schmidt Normal.dotm 0 0 2011-12-16T03:49:00Z 2011-12-16T03:49:00Z 1 178 963 Notheastern Illinois University 14 2 1248 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false As hyper-standardization becomes more pronounced in our educational climate, schooling that neither captures the attention nor engages students through traditional classroom teaching is unsurprising. Amidst such high-stakes pressures associated with the current “reform” movement, critical educators concerned with providing meaningful curriculum and transferable skills for everyday life are forced to teach “under the radar.” Oftentimes, such teachers search for openings within official curricula to “teach in the cracks,” connecting students with issues relevant to their lives. This in-between pedagogy demonstrates the complexities of teaching: rather than ignore top-down expectations, the approach seeks opportunities within such mandates to engage immediate classroom participants in worthwhile curricula. Teaching in the cracks begins to address the ongoing dilemma between following an expected curricula and seeking organic student engagement beyond the classroom with community problems. Through narrative inquiry, this article examines one teacher’s willingness to exploit such openings through a curricular approach called a Social Action Curriculum Project (SACP).
Hardware techniques to reduce communication costs in multiprocessors

This dissertation explores techniques for reducing the costs of inter-processor communication in shared memory multiprocessors (MP). We seek to improve MP performance by enhancing three aspects of multiprocessor cache designs: miss reduction, low communication latency, and high coherence bandwidth. In this dissertation, we propose three techniques to enhance the three factors: shared non-uniform cache architecture, coherence decoupling, and subspace snooping. As a miss reduction technique, we investigate shared cache designs for future Chip-Multiprocessors (CMPs). Cache sharing can reduce cache misses by eliminating unnecessary data duplication and by reallocating the cache capacity dynamically. We propose a reconfigurable shared non-uniform cache architecture and evaluate the trade-offs of cache sharing with varied sharing degrees. Although shared caches can improve caching efficiency, the most significant disadvantage of shared caches is the increase of cache hit latencies. To mitigate the effect of the long latencies, we evaluate two latency management techniques, dynamic block migration and L1 prefetching. However, improving the caching efficiency does not reduce the cache misses induced by MP communication. For such communication misses, the latencies of cache coherence should be either reduced or hidden and the coherence bandwidth should scale with the number of processors. To mitigate long communication latencies, coherence decoupling uses speculation for communication data. Coherence decoupling allows processors to run speculatively at communication misses with predicted values. Our prediction mechanism, called Speculative Cache Lookup (SCL) protocol, uses stale values in the local caches. We show that the SCL read component can hide false sharing and silent store misses effectively. We also investigate the SCL update component to hide the latencies of truly shared misses by updating invalid blocks speculatively. To improve the coherence bandwidth, we propose subspace snooping, which improves the snooping bandwidth with future large-scale shared-memory machines. Even with huge optical bus bandwidth, traditional snooping protocols may not scale to hundreds of processors, since all processors should respond to every bus access. Subspace snooping allows only a subset of processors to be snooped for a bus access, thus increasing the effective snoop tag bandwidth. We evaluate subspace snooping with a large broadcasting bandwidth provided by optical interconnects.
Impact of inpatient diabetes management, education, and improved discharge transition on glycemic control 12 months after discharge

Aim To determine whether inpatient diabetes management and education with improved transition to outpatient care (IDMET) improves glycemic control after hospital discharge in patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes (T2DM).
A fast approximate algebraic factor rotation method to maximize agreement between loadings and predetermined weights

A method of rotating a set of orthogonal axes into a reference frame on which loadings are as nearly proportional to a predetermined set of weights as possible is presented. The method, an approximate algebraic solution, often requires some additional graphical refinement but eliminates most of the rotations involved in usual graphical solutions. Its primary value is speed and ease of calculation, involving only one matrix multiplication and solution of a simple formula to determine the rotation cosines.
Interfacial interaction between low-energy surfaces

Abstract This review is concerned primarily with the correlation between the interfacial interactions and the constitutive properties of low-energy organic surfaces. It starts with a discussion on the estimation of the surface free energy of organic solids from contact angles, followed by a review of the surface energetics and adhesion. The experimental measurements of surface free energy, in most cases, are themselves dependent upon the specific models of interfacial energetics and therefore are indirect. A direct method of estimating adhesion and surface free energy is based on contact mechanics, which measures the deformation produced on contacting elastic semispheres under the influence of surface forces and external loads, Since the equilibrium is described by the balance of the elastic and surface forces of the system, the load-deformation data can be translated directly to estimate the adhesion and surface free energies. In most cases however, the contact deformations obtained from the loading and unloading cycles exhibit hysteresis, which are sensitive to the structure and chemical compositions of the interfaces. For non-hysteretic systems, the surface free energies obtained from these contact deformations compare well with the values obtained from contact angles. The application of this method to the studies of dispersion and hydrogen-bonding interaction is reviewed.
A fusion nuclear science facility for a fast-track path to DEMO

An accelerated fusion energy development program, a fast-track approach, requires proceeding with a nuclear and materials testing program in parallel with research on burning plasmas, ITER. A Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) would address many of the key issues that need to be addressed prior to DEMO, including breeding tritium and completing the fuel cycle, qualifying nuclear materials for high fluence, developing suitable materials for the plasma-boundary interface, and demonstrating power extraction. The Advanced Tokamak (AT) is a strong candidate for an FNSF as a consequence of its mature physics base, capability to address the key issues, and the direct relevance to an attractive target power plant. The standard aspect ratio provides space for a solenoid, assuring robust plasma current initiation,and for an inboard blanket, assuring robust tritium breeding ratio (TBR) >1 for FNSF tritium self-sufficiency and building of inventory needed to start up DEMO. An example design point gives a moderate sized Cu-coil device with R/a = 2.7 m/0.77 κ = 2.3, BT= 5.4 T, IP = 6.6 MA, βN = 2.75, Pfus = 127 MW. The modest bootstrap fraction of fBS = 0.55 provides an opportunity to develop steady state with sufficient current drive for adequate control. Lastly,more » proceeding with a FNSF in parallel with ITER provides a strong basis to begin construction of DEMO upon the achievement of Q ~ 10 in ITER.« less
Post-operative infection after minimally invasive versus open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF): literature review and cost analysis.

Introduction Surgical site infection (SSI) in the setting of lumbar fusion is associated with significant morbidity and medical resource utilization. To date, there have been no studies conducted with sufficient power to directly compare the incidence of SSI following minimally invasive (MIS) vs. open TLIF procedures. Furthermore, studies are lacking that quantify the direct medical cost of SSI following fusion procedures. We set out to determine the incidence of SSI in patients undergoing MIS vs. open TLIF reported in the literature and to determine the direct hospital cost associated with the treatment of SSI following TLIF at our institution. Methods A systematic Medline search was performed to identify all published studies assessing SSI after MIS or open TLIF. The cumulative incidence of SSI was calculated from all reported cohorts and compared between MIS vs. open TLIF. In order to determine the direct hospital costs associated with the treatment of SSI following TLIF, we retrospectively reviewed 120 consecutive TLIFs performed at our institution, assessed the incidence of SSI, and calculated the SSI-related hospital costs from accounting and billing records. Results To date, there have been 10 MIS-TLIF cohorts (362 patients) and 20 open-TLIF cohorts (1 133 patients) reporting incidences of SSI. The cumulative incidence of reported SSI was significantly lower for MIS vs. open-TLIF (0.6% vs. 4.0%, p=0.0005). In our experience with 120 open TLIF procedures, SSI occurred in 6 (5.0%) patients. The mean hospital cost associated with the treatment of SSI following TLIF was $ 29,110 in these 6 cases. The 3.4% decrease in reported incidence of SSI for MIS vs. open-TLIF corresponds to a direct cost savings of $ 98,974 per 100 MIS-TLIF procedures performed. Conclusions Post-operative wound infections following TLIF are costly complications. MIS vs. open TLIF is associated with a decreased reported incidence of SSI in the literature and may be a valuable tool in reducing hospital costs associated with spine care.
Effect of noradrenaline, dopamine, and beta-alanine on phenylalanine and glucose catabolism in Drosophila melanogaster☆

Abstract Beta-alanine, injected into the haemocoel of ebony Drosophila melanogaster, inhibits 14CO2 excretion from 1-14C-phenylalanine, tyrosine, or DOPA. Dopamine or noradrenaline are more strongly inhibitory in vivo and virtually completely inhibit phenylalanine decarboxylase enzyme activity in vitro. The in vivo inhibition is correlated with increased levels of phenylalanine-derived 14C in the bodies of the flies. Injection of noradrenaline or dopamine leads to rapid melanization of normal tan flies, converting the cuticles to a dark colour. Injected beta-alanine inhibits 14CO2 excretion from 1-14C- dl -aspartic acid. 14CO2 excretion from 1-14C-beta-alanine is strongly inhibited by injected beta-aminoisobutyric acid. Injected noradrenaline accelerates, whereas dopamine or beta-alanine inhibits, 14CO2 excretion from 1-14C- d -glucose.
SOLUBILIZATION OF GELLAN GELS BY CHELATION OF CATIONS

Chelation solubilization of gellan under mild conditions has been accomplished for the first time by exposure to either 10 mM sodium citrate buffer (pH 6.0) or to 1 mM sodium hexametaphosphate (pH 6.6). The citrate system was preferred for most applications since its is a ubiquitous cellular component, its solutions are autoclavable, and because viable plant tissues, fungi, and bacteria could be recovered from culture. Such recovery is not possible from more commonly used media such as agar.
BRCA1-IRIS inactivation sensitizes ovarian tumors to cisplatin

Ovarian cancer is the first in mortalities among gynecologic cancers in the United States, often due to late diagnosis and/or acquired platinum-resistant recurrences. This study investigates whether BRCA1-IRIS is a novel treatment target for ovarian cancers and in platinum-resistant recurrences. Here we show that more than half of the ovarian cancer samples analyzed showed BRCA1-IRIS and survivin overexpression and lacked nuclear FOXO3a expression. Normal ovarian epithelial cells overexpressing BRCA1-IRIS formed metastasis in mice when injected in the peritoneal cavity, whereas aggressive ovarian cancer cell lines failed to form tumors or metastases in mice when BRCA1-IRIS was silenced in them. We show that BRCA1-IRIS activates two autocrine signaling loops, brain-derived neurotrophic factor/tyrosine kinase B receptor (BDNF/TrkB) and neuregulin 1 (NRG1)/ErbB2. These loops are involved in anoikis resistance and metastasis promotion. These loops operate in several ovarian cancer cell lines, and BRCA1-IRIS silencing or inactivation using a novel inhibitory peptide renders both non-functional and promoted cell death. In a mouse xenograft model, BRCA1-IRIS inactivation using this novel inhibitory peptide resulted in significant reduction in ovarian tumor growth. More importantly, this treatment sensitized ovarian tumors to low cisplatin concentrations. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that BRCA1-IRIS and/or BDNF/TrkB and NRG1/ErbB2 could serve as rational therapeutic targets for advanced ovarian cancers.
Theory of peierls instability in tight-binding quasi one-dimensional solids

Abstract The effect of short ranged Coulomb interaction on the Peierls dimerised state is examined and the existence of a new low temperature phase involving spin density wave formation in the Peierls state is shown. Thus the effect of charge and spin density waves associated with short range Coulomb interactions cannot be described by a renormalisation of the electron-phonon interaction. We observe that some recent attempts to describe the Peierls state in a half filled band are in fact a description of a quite different charge ordered state.
Does the Source of a Calling Matter? External Summons, Destiny, and Perfect Fit:

This study examined the endorsement of three different sources of a calling—external summons, destiny, and perfect fit—and how the endorsement of these sources related to levels of living a calling, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. With a sample of 200 employed adults, participants were asked to select a source group that best described where their calling originated. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant differences among the three primary source groups on levels of living a calling, job satisfaction, or life satisfaction. However, group membership was a significant moderator in the relation of living a calling to life satisfaction. Specifically, the relation of living a calling to life satisfaction was more pronounced for participants endorsing a destiny belief than for those endorsing other sources. Overall, results indicate that as long as workers feel they are living out their calling, the source of their calling matters little in terms of how calling links to job and li...
High-temperature space-stable selective solar absorber coatings

There are several uses in space for high-temperature coatings which selectively absorb solar energy but do not radiate much infrared energy. The most successful method of preparing highly efficient solar absorbers is to evaporate multilayer optical coatings on highly reflective substrates. These multilayer coatings consist of semitransparent metal films between nominally one quarter-wave thick dielectric spacer layers. Four such coating systems with 540°C space-stable properties ranging from a solar absorptance of 85% and emittance of 6% to a solar absorptance of 91% and emittance of 16% are presented.
Should all adults with acute lymphocytic leukemia receive allogeneic stem cell transplantation in first remission

SUMMARY The role of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHCT) in patients with Philadelphia-chromosome negative acute lymphocytic leukemia (Ph- ALL) in first remission is controversial. Some studies suggest that AHCT in first remission yields a statistically significant small improvement in overall survival. However, novel therapies and monitoring strategies may tip the balance away from immediate consolidation with AHCT for a majority of adults with Ph- ALL. Here we compare data for AHCT with recent therapeutic and diagnostic advances for patients with newly diagnosed and with relapsed and refractory Ph- ALL. We conclude that AHCT remains appropriate for a specific group of these patients, but that a majority will do as well if not better with an initial nontransplant-based consolidation strategy.
New Opportunities in Existing Thermoelectric Materials: Grain Boundary Engineering in Pulverized p-Bi 2 Te 3 System

Grain boundary scattering provides an effective avenue to lower the thermal conductivity in polycrystalline thermoelectric materials, but it is hard to do this without simultaneously degrading the power factor that is the product of electrical conductivity and thermopower. An immediate question arises as to whether one can fabricate a thermoelectrically favorable grain boundary? In this paper we present a proof-of-principle grain boundary engineering study in the pulverized p-Bi2Te3 system. Utilizing the lately developed hydrothermal nano-coating technique, we fabricated an Alkali-metal(s)-containing surface layer with few tens of nm thick on the p-Bi2Te3 bulk reference grain, where it becomes part of the grain boundary upon hotpressing densification. The electrical resistivity, thermopower, thermal conductivity and Hall coefficient measurements constitute solid evidence that this heterogeneous layer helps decouple the otherwise inter-related resistivity, thermopower and thermal conductivity. To optimize the figure of merit ZT, we carefully varied the ratio between Na, K and Rb concentrations. It was found that the sample treated in the solution with Na/Rb =1:2 achieved a ZT comparable with that of the commercial ingot; in the mean time, the compatibility factor and robustness of device were considerably improved. In principle this technique can be applied to other existing polycrystalline thermoelectric materials as a new “tuning knob”.
ATYPICAL CASE OF BECKER'S MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY : EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT

A case of a child with Becker's muscular dystrophy is presented. Because of the genetic and clinical similarity with the more common Duchenne muscular dystrophy, these two diseases are compared. Since muscular dystrophy often initially presents with toe walking, flat-foot, and waddling gait, podiatrists may be the first physicians to see the child and provide early diagnosis.
Competitive vs. noncompetitive styles: Which is most valued in courtship?

Although competitiveness has been stereotypically associated with masculinity and noncompetitiveness with femininity, recent research (M. R. Laner, “Competition in Courtship,” Family Relations, 1986, Vol. 32, pp. 275–279) has shown very high rates of certain kinds of competitive behaviors experienced by courtship partners of both sexes. This study was designed to test (1) whether competitive or noncompetitive interaction is the preferred mode, and (2) whether competitive tactics are clearly distinguishable from noncompetitive tactics. Findings indicate that noncompetitive styles are preferred by majorities of both women and men. For the most part, respondents of both sexes are able to distinguish between competitive and noncompetitive behaviors. Discussion focuses on the differential outcomes of competition and cooperation, and on why persons behave differently from the mode they claim to prefer.
Cohort comparisons in the timing of life events

Cohort effects have been variously treated as sources of error, dimensions of generalization, and theoretically important process variables in studies of human development. While the first two perspectives can be logically justified in studies of ontogenetic development, cohort comparisons are essential to understand the timing of events in the lives of individuals. Several methods of conducting cohort comparisons are described in this paper. Each method explicitly considers the behavioral differences among cohorts while taking into account the age relatedness of the behaviors, and the effects of time-period-specific social structural conditions. The methods require different sorts of data, with one being especially well suited to analyses which use event history data and a life-course perspective on the timing of life events.
MCNPX characterization of the secondary neutron flux at the Los Alamos Isotope Production Facility

Abstract The spallation neutron flux produced from proton irradiation of rubidium chloride and gallium targets at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Isotope Production Facility (IPF) was investigated using the activation foil technique and computational simulation. Routine irradiations have been found to produce fluxes as high as 1012 n cm−2 s−1, with approximately 50% of the total flux having energy in excess of 1 MeV. Measurements of activation foils are compared with the predicted radionuclide yield using nuclear excitation functions from MCNPX event generators, evaluated nuclear data, and the TALYS nuclear code. Practical application of the secondary neutron flux in the realm of radioisotope production is considered.
Isocyanate Intermediates in Ammonia Formation over Noble Metal Catalysts for Automobile Exhaust Reactions

Isocyanate species have been detected on the surface of noble metal catalysts during the reactions of carbon monoxide with nitric oxide. The intensity of the surface isocyanate infrared band correlates with the known ammonia-forming tendencies among the noble metals. The discovery of this isocyanate species suggests a new mechanistic pathway to the ammonia formed during catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides in automobile exhaust.
Characterization of 2.5 micron HgCdTe VIRGO/VISTA detector array

With the introduction of the Raytheon 2.5 micron HgCdTe VIRGO detector array, some astronomy programs, such as the VISTA Program, are turning to Raytheon for near infrared detector arrays. We characterize one VIRGO detector array and provide results of measurements at low backgrounds including dark current, read noise, total noise, quantum efficiency, and operability. The Raytheon VIRGO HgCdTe detector arrays are excellent candidates for many low background astronomical programs, including space-borne telescope missions.