cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coupling Magnetic Fields and ALE Hydrodynamics for 3D Simulations of MFCGS

We review the development of a full 3D multiphysics code for the simulation of explosively driven magnetic flux compression generators (MFCG) and related pulse power devices. In a typical MFCG the device is seeded with an initial electric current and the device is then detonated. The detonation compresses the magnetic field and amplifies the current. This is a multiphysics problem in that detonation kinetics, electromagnetic diffusion and induction, material deformation, and thermal effects are all important. This is a tightly coupled problem in that the different physical quantities have comparable spatial and temporal variation, and hence should be solved simultaneously on the same computational mesh.
Diverse data supports the transition of filamentous fungal model organisms into the post-genomics era.

ABSTRACTFilamentous fungi have been important as model organisms since the beginning of modern biological inquiry and have benefitted from open data since the earliest genetic maps were shared. From early origins in simple Mendelian genetics of mating types, parasexual genetics of colony colour, and the foundational demonstration of the segregation of a nutritional requirement, the contribution of research systems utilising filamentous fungi has spanned the biochemical genetics era, through the molecular genetics era, and now are at the very foundation of diverse omics approaches to research and development. Fungal model organisms have come from most major taxonomic groups although Ascomycete filamentous fungi have seen the most major sustained effort. In addition to the published material about filamentous fungi, shared molecular tools have found application in every area of fungal biology. Similarly, shared data has contributed to the success of model systems. The scale of data supporting research with ...
Impact of a Student-scheduled Child Care Program on Parents' Educational Goals

The purpose of this study is to examine what, if any, impact a Student-scheduled Child Care (SSCC) program had on the families of students completing their higher education goals at a college in the southwestern region of the United States. Student completion rate is a concern for most college and university administrators. Research conducted by the Gates foundation determined that over three quarters of former students surveyed felt that they would have graduated if the college or university had offered child care (Johnson, Ott, & DuPont, 2011). This correlational and descriptive research study revealed what student families thought about the relationship between completing their educational goals and using the child care program at the college. The knowledge gained from this project could help to initiate a broader discussion among colleges and universities of how to most effectively retain student families by meeting their child care needs.
Global scouts: youth engagement with spirituality and wellness through travel, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

This analysis of young adult backpacker experiences around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala examines the potential of travel for individual and social transformation. Although engaged in a highly patterned ...
Principles of Brain Perfusion SPECT

Brain perfusion SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) is a noninvasive molecular imaging technique in which gamma photons emitted from an injected radioactive tracer allow three-dimensional estimation of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). The technique is similar to that of a CT scan, except that the radiation source that is imaged is internal to the patient, thereby allowing for acquisition of functional data. This allows identification of regional hypoperfusion to aid in diagnosis of cerebrovascular disorders and neurologic and neurodegenerative disorders. This chapter describes the technical aspects of performing brain perfusion SPECT, as well as a brief overview of the established clinical and investigational indications for brain perfusion SPECT.
Visual scanning of male and female bodies in infancy

Abstract This study addressed the development of attention to information that is socially relevant to adults by examining infants’ (N = 64) scanning patterns of male and female bodies. Infants exhibited systematic attention to regions associated with sex-related scanning by adults, with 3.5- and 6.5-month-olds looking longer at the torsos of females than of males and looking longer at the legs of males than of females. However, this pattern of looking was not found when infants were tested on headless bodies in Experiment 2, suggesting that infants’ differential gaze pattern in Experiment 1 was not due to low-level stimulus features, such as clothing, and also indicating that facial/head information is necessary for infants to exhibit sex-specific scanning. We discuss implications for models of face and body knowledge development.
Recent Publications on Medications and Pharmacy

Hospital Pharmacy presents this feature to keep pharmacists abreast of new publications in the medical/pharmacy literature. Articles of interest will be abstracted monthly regarding a broad scope of topics.
Radiology and Pediatrics: New Relationships

Ultrasound, B scanning, computerized axial tomography, and radioisotope bone scanning have enhanced the armamentarium of the pediatric radiologist. An important question raised by some of these newer methods – and applicable to routine radiologic procedures as well – is the issue of informed consent.
Applications of Osmium and Iridium as Biogeochemical Tracers in the Environment

Osmium (Os) and Iridium (Ir) and are among the rarest elements on the surface of the earth and ones whose applications in modern industry are quite limited. However, their environmental burden has been increasing as they occur in nature with other platinum group elements, which have a wide variety of industrial, chemical, electrical and pharmaceutical applications. This review traces the development of the analytical techniques used to precisely measure Os and Ir concentrations and Os isotope composition in the environmental samples from their roots in geochemical and cosmochemical investigations. We then examine the distribution of Os and Ir in natural samples and review recent literature applying these elements as biogeochemical tracers. The primary environmental applications of Os and Ir arise from the fact that these elements are extremely rare on the surface of the earth and their introduction into the environment leads to an increase in their concentration in surface materials. In addition, a unique isotope fingerprint is present for Os introduced into the environment in that it comes from ores mined primarily in South Africa and Russia. In particular, we examine studies where (a) Os isotopes have been utilized to track the dispersal of platinum group elements from automobile catalysts and also to assess dispersal of Os itself and (b) Ir has been introduced as an intentional tracer to evaluate soot contribution from burning of fossil fuels.
Accelerometer-based prediction of running injury in National Collegiate Athletic Association track athletes.

Abstract Running-related injuries (RRI) may result from accumulated microtrauma caused by combinations of high load magnitudes (vertical ground reaction forces; vGRFs) and numbers (strides). Yet relationships between vGRF and RRI remain unclear – potentially because previous research has largely been constrained to collecting vGRFs in laboratory settings and ignoring relationships between RRI and stride number. In this preliminary proof-of-concept study, we addressed these constraints: Over a 60-day period, each time collegiate athletes (n = 9) ran they wore a hip-mounted activity monitor that collected accelerations throughout the entire run. Accelerations were used to estimate peak vGRF, number of strides, and weighted cumulative loading (sum of peak vGRFs weighted to the 9th power) across the entirety of each run. Runners also reported their post-training pain/fatigue and any RRI that prevented training. Across 419 runs and >2.1 million strides, injured (n = 3) and uninjured (n = 6) participants did not report significantly different pain/fatigue (p = 0.56) or mean number of strides per run (p = 0.91). Injured participants did, however, have significantly greater peak vGRFs (p = 0.01) and weighted cumulative loading per run (p
Lunar and climatic effects on boar ejaculate traits.

There is evidence that phases of the moon affect wild animal behaviors including reproduction. There is, however, little evidence of moon phase effects on domestic livestock reproduction. This study investigated the effects of moon phase and climatic variables on boar ejaculate traits. Records of 4149 semen collections from boars of nine different breeds at one boar stud were used. The response variables were volume of ejaculate, concentration of sperm in the ejaculate, and number of doses obtained per ejaculate. Moon phase, greatest daily temperature (T), least daily T, average daily relative humidity (RH), temperature-humidity index (THI), season and the interaction of moon phase with season were analyzed at the day of collection and 45 days prior to date of collection as a proxy of initiation of spermatogenesis. For both dates analyzed season and the interaction of season with moon had significant effects (P < 0.05) on the volume of the ejaculate. Moon phase had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on volume of ejaculate at the day of collection. Sperm concentration was affected (P < 0.05) by the interaction of moon phase with season, high and low temperature, THI, RH and breed. Season had an effect (P < 0.01) on concentration of sperm at the initiation of spermatogenesis. For doses that could be used for AI that were obtained/ejaculate, there were effects of moon phase, season, the interaction between season and moon phase and breed (P < 0.05) at collection day and at the initiation of spermatogenesis. There was an interaction (P < 0.0001) between season and moon phase for volume of ejaculate, sperm concentration and number of doses obtained per ejaculate at date of collection and at day of initiation of spermatogenesis. The significant interaction of season and moon phase on boar semen traits suggests that to maximize productivity of modern swine production systems determining a collection schedule in some seasons relative to moon phase may be advantageous.
Entropic Moments and Domains of Attraction on Countable Alphabets

Modern information theory is largely developed in connection with random elements residing in large, complex, and discrete data spaces, or alphabets. Lacking natural metrization and hence moments, the associated probability and statistics theory must rely on information measures in the form of various entropies, for example, Shannon’s entropy, mutual information and Kullback–Leibler divergence, which are functions of an entropic basis in the form of a sequence of entropic moments of varying order. The entropicmoments collectively characterize the underlying probability distribution on the alphabet, and hence provide an opportunity to develop statistical procedures for their estimation. As such statistical development becomes an increasingly important line of research in modern data science, the relationship between the underlying distribution and the asymptotic behavior of the entropic moments, as the order increases, becomes a technical issue of fundamental importance. This paper offers a general methodology to capture the relationship between the rates of divergence of the entropic moments and the types of underlying distributions, for a special class of distributions. As an application of the established results, it is demonstrated that the asymptotic normality of the remarkable Turing’s formula for missing probabilities holds under distributions with much thinner tails than those previously known.
Design of the Swisshouse: A Physical/ Virtual Cooperative Workspace

This paper describes the design of the Swisshouse, a physical/virtual cooperative workspace to foster networking and knowledge exchange among a distributed community of Swiss scientists, with business people, lawyers, doctors and politicians. The physical ”cooperative building” of the Swisshouse, will result from the transformation of an existing 3,200 sq.ft. large retail store located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, into a wired loft-space, to be completed in December 1999. The design encompasses both a physical building and an intimately connected Internet-based web-space. In this paper, we describe our work-in-progress on the design of the interfaces between the two worlds. We present our current design of the embedded information devices that connect the virtual community, and -as architectural elements- define the physical cooperative loft space: an interactive information wall, stackable videoconferencing chairs, a knowledge cafe, a media space and a kinetic arena.
Nucleic acid stain-dependent single strand conformation polymorphisms.

Single strand conformational poly-morphism (SSCP) is a mobility shift analysis of single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) by nondenaturing polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis to detect DNA sequence polymorphisms (1). Typical SSCP protocols detect single strands by autoradiography (2–4) or by treatment with a DNA stain after electrophoresis (5–12). We report here that treatment with a nucleic acid stain before electro-phoresis reveals polymorphisms unde-tected by staining after electrophoresis.Our SSCP protocol includes four phases. In phase I, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is denatured into ssDNA by heating for 5 min at 95°C in loading buffer (95% formamide, 20 mM NaOH, 0.05% xylene cyanol , 0.05% bromphe-nol blue, 10 mM EDTA). Phase II sta-bilizes ssDNA by rapid cooling on ice. In phase III, ssDNA fragments are sepa-rated by electrophoresis in a nondena-turing gel. Phase IV is staining (if necessary) and imaging.SYBR
Detecting Phone Theft Using Machine Learning

Millions of smartphones are stolen in the United States every year, putting victims' personal information at risk since many users often do not lock their phones. To protect individuals' smartphones and the private data stored on them, we developed a system that automatically detects pickpocket and grab-and-run theft, in which a thief grabs the phone from a victim's hand then runs away. Our system applies machine learning to smartphone accelerometer data in order to detect possible theft incidents. Based on a field study and simulated theft scenarios, we are able to detect all thefts at a cost of 1 false alarm per week. Given that many smartphone users refuse to enable screen locking mechanisms over complaints that it takes too long to unlock their devices, our system could be used in conjunction with these systems in order to drastically decrease the number of times a user is asked to provide a lock code. That is, our system could be used to prompt smartphone users for PINs or passcodes only when theft events have been detected.
Phoenix Rising: HBCU Leadership During a Period of Change

Despite years of discrimination historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to educate students from underrepresented backgrounds. Far too often, pundits focus on their struggles without highlighting HBCUs’ important role in higher education. Unfortunately, higher education officials, policymakers, and researchers have failed to examine what makes some HBCUs so successful. Frequently they reinforce the narrative that the institutions are doomed to fail. Thus, developing a counter-narrative that challenges stigmas and misconceptions is critical. For this reason, this chapter will investigate (1) what steps HBCUs are taking to develop a new generation of university leaders and (2) how Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of exemplary leadership are utilized by Cheyney University President Aaron Walton to change the school’s trajectory. The chapter also includes recommendations.
Throughput and Delay Driven Access Point Placement

With higher rates and increased diversity, distributed massive MIMO systems show promise. In this work, we look at such a system with no collaboration between Access Points (APs). We address the AP placement problem with two criteria in mind: throughput and delay. While the former deals with optimal AP locations given a user distribution, the latter adds a constraint of equal user access to the APs. In this regard, we propose the Cell Equalized Lloyd Algorithm (CELA), which in addition to the steps of the Lloyd algorithm, moves users from cells with more users to cells with fewer users in order to equalize the number of users in each cell without significantly affecting user throughput. Normalized user rate and user access count metrics are employed to evaluate the system characteristics. The performance of CELA is compared with that of the traditional Lloyd algorithm, and while a slight reduction in throughput is observed, the increase in user access outweighs this reduction.
Calcareous organic matter coatings sequester siderophores in alkaline soils

Abstract Although most studies of organic matter (OM) stabilization in soils have focused on adsorption to aluminosilicate and iron-oxide minerals due to their strong interactions with organic nucleophiles, stabilization within alkaline soils has been empirically correlated with exchangeable Ca. Yet the extent of competing processes within natural soils remains unclear because of inadequate characterization of soil mineralogy and OM distribution within the soil in relation to minerals, particularly in C poor alkaline soils. In this study, we employed bulk and surface-sensitive spectroscopic methods including X-ray diffraction, 57Fe-Mossbauer, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods to investigate the minerology and soil organic C and N distribution on individual fine particles within an alkaline soil. Microscopy and XPS analyses demonstrated preferential sorption of Ca-containing OM onto surfaces of Fe-oxides and calcite. This result was unexpected given that the bulk combined amounts of quartz and Fe-containing feldspars of the soil constitute ~90% of total minerals and the surface atomic composition was largely Fe and Al (>10% combined) compared to Ca (4.2%). Soil sorption experiments were conducted with two siderophores, pyoverdine and enterobactin, to evaluate the adsorption of organic molecules with functional groups that strongly and preferentially bind Fe. A greater fraction of pyoverdine was adsorbed compared to enterobactin, which is smaller, less polar, and has a lower aqueous solubility. Using NanoSIMS to map the distribution of isotopically-labeled siderophores, we observed correlations with Ca and Fe, along with strong isotopic dilution with native C, indicating associations with OM coatings rather than with bare mineral surfaces. We propose a mechanism of adsorption by which organics aggregate within alkaline soils via cation bridging, favoring the stabilization of larger molecules with a greater number of nucleophilic functional groups.
Multi-Institutional Survey of Faculty Experiences Teaching Capstones

Capstone experiences (CEs) are high-impact opportunities for students to integrate knowledge. While student perceptions of CEs are frequently evaluated, research lacks on faculty perceptions. Our m...
Relationship Between Clinical Factors and Duration of IV Antibiotic Treatment in Neonatal UTI.

OBJECTIVES: To describe practice patterns of intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment duration in term neonates ≤28 days old with a urinary tract infection (UTI). METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of term neonates ≤28 days old hospitalized for UTI at 2 academic pediatric hospitals from 2012 to 2018. Neonates who were admitted to the PICU or with known preexisting renal and/or urologic anomalies or concomitant bacteremia were excluded. We examined clinical features, complications, and duration of IV antibiotic therapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses of long duration of IV antibiotics (>48 hours) were performed by using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 310 neonates identified by diagnostic codes and chart review, 112 met criteria for inclusion. The median IV antibiotic duration was 49 hours (51% received IV antibiotics for >48 hours), and the median total antibiotic duration was 10 days. No demographic features or laboratory values correlated with IV antibiotic duration apart from age CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed the recent trend toward shorter IV antibiotic courses for healthy term neonates with UTI is inclusive of infants ≤28 days at these 2 sites. Few factors associated with neonates’ initial clinical presentation appear to influence the length of IV antibiotic treatment.
Inferencing hourly traffic volume using data-driven machine learning and graph theory

Abstract Traffic volume is a critical piece of information in many applications, such as transportation long-range planning and traffic operation analysis. Effectively capturing traffic volumes on a network scale is beneficial to Transportation Systems Management & Operations (TSM&O). Yet it is impractical to install sensors to cover a large road network. To address this issue, spatial prediction techniques are widely performed to estimate traffic volumes at sites without sensors. In retrospect, most relevant studies resort to machine learning methods and treat each prediction location independently during the training process, ignoring the potential spatial dependency among them. This paper presents an innovative spatial prediction method of hourly traffic volume on a network scale. To achieve this, we applied a state-of-the-art tree ensemble model - extreme gradient boosting tree (XGBoost) - to handle the large-scale features and hourly traffic volume samples, due to the model's powerful scalability. Moreover, spatial dependency among road segments is taken into account in the proposed model using graph theory. Specifically, we created a traffic network graph leveraging probe trajectory data, and implemented a graph-based approach - breadth first search (BFS) - to search neighboring sites in this graph for computing spatial dependency. The proposed spatial dependency feature is subsequently incorporated as a new feature fed into XGBoost. The proposed model is tested on the road network in the state of Utah. Numerical results not only indicate high computational efficiency of the proposed model, but also demonstrate significant improvement in prediction accuracy of hourly traffic volume comparing with the benchmarked models.
Examining individual variation in learner production data: A few programmatic pointers for corpus-based analyses using the example of adverbial clause ordering

This study examines the variable positioning of a finite adverbial subordinate clause and its main clause with the subordinate clause either preceding or following the main clause in native versus nonnative English. Specifically, we contrast causal, concessive, conditional, and temporal adverbial clauses produced by German and Chinese learners of English with those produced by native speakers. We examined 2,362 attestations from the Chinese and German subsections of the International Corpus of Learner English (Granger, Dagneaux, Meunier, & Paquot, 2009) and from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (Granger, 1998). All instances were annotated for the ordering, the subordinate clause type, the lengths of the main and subordinate clauses, the first language of the speakers, the conjunction used, and the file it originated from (as a proxy for the speaker producing the sentence so as to be able to study individual and lexical variation). The results of a two-step regression modeling protocol suggest that learners behave most nativelike with causal clauses and struggle most with conditional and concessive clauses; in addition, learners make more non-nativelike choices when the main and subordinate clause are of about equal length.
Radial Two-Dimensional Ion Crystals in a Linear Paul Trap.

We experimentally study two-dimensional (2D) Coulomb crystals in the ``radial-2D'' phase of a linear Paul trap. This phase is identified by a 2D ion lattice aligned entirely with the radial plane and is created by imposing a large ratio of axial to radial trapping potentials. Using arrays of up to 19 $^{171}{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ions, we demonstrate that the structural phase boundaries of such crystals are well described by the pseudopotential approximation, despite the time-dependent ion positions driven by intrinsic micromotion. We further observe that micromotion-induced heating of the radial-2D crystal is confined to the radial plane. Finally, we verify that the transverse motional modes, which are used in most ion-trap quantum simulation schemes, are well-predictable numerically and remain decoupled and cold in this geometry. Our results establish radial-2D ion crystals as a robust experimental platform for realizing a variety of theoretical proposals in quantum simulation and computation.
“OK, Google, why do I use you?” Motivations, post-consumption evaluations, and perceptions of voice AI assistants

Abstract Voice-activated, artificial intelligence–based assistants (voice AI assistants) have become an integral part of everyday life because they can be easily activated to complete numerous tasks. However, little is known about what motivates people to use them or how these motivations influence users’ post-consumption evaluations and perceptions. This study develops measures to capture uses and gratifications related to voice AI assistants. It identifies five primary motivations for use—social interaction, personal identity, conformity, life efficiency, and information. Results show that the utilitarian motivations of life efficiency and information influence all post-consumption evaluations and behavioral intentions positively (i.e., users’ attitudes, satisfaction, and intentions to continue using voice AI assistants). However, social motivations are also important. Social interaction and conformity motivations also influence user satisfaction, and the conformity motivation shapes individuals’ intentions to continue using voice AI assistants. The findings further demonstrate that users’ motivations influence perceptions of their voice AI assistants’ roles. In keeping with the “Computers Are Social Actors” (CASA) paradigm, users motivated by social interaction are likely to perceive a voice AI assistant as socially attractive and as a friend, whereas users motivated by life efficiency are likely to perceive it as an assistant. Users motivated by information are more likely to perceive a voice AI assistant as technology, while those motivated by social interaction are less likely to do so. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.
Microscopic Origins of Macroscopic Behavior

This article is mostly based on a talk I gave at the March 2021 meeting (virtual) of the American Physical Society on the occasion of receiving the Dannie Heineman prize for Mathematical Physics from the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society. I am greatly indebted to many colleagues for the results leading to this award. To name them all would take up all the space allotted to this article. (I have had more than 200 collaborators so far), I will therefore mention just a few: Michael Aizenman, Bernard Derrida, Shelly Goldstein, Elliott Lieb, Oliver Penrose, Errico Presutti, Gene Speer and Herbert Spohn. I am grateful to all of my collaborators, listed and unlisted. I would also like to acknowledge here long time support form the AFOSR and the NSF.
Depression, Quantified Medication Adherence, and Quality of Life in Renal Transplant Candidates and Recipients.

Like patients with many chronic illnesses, ESRD patients experience psychological challenges with greater incidence of depression and reduced quality of life (QoL). A series of 139 transplant candidates’ depression and QoL, and a subset of 82 candidates’ medication adherence were monitored, revealing heterogenous patterns of depression and adherence and reduced QoL. Twenty-eight patients who received kidney transplants were re-evaluated 6 months post-transplant revealing mixed patterns. Mean depression and quantitated adherence decreased and QoL increased. Some patients improved whereas others declined in depression and adherence. Pre-transplant depression was negatively correlated with post-transplant adherence but positively correlated with post-transplant depression. Nevertheless, the ability to predict individuals’ post-transplant adherence and depression, principal objectives of pre-transplant psychological evaluations, is limited. Consequently, it is important to provide periodic screening of ESRD patients for depression and adherence pre- and post-transplant as they reflect changing states, rather than static traits, with variable patterns across patients.
THz-induced nonlinear responses monitored in THz through x-ray spectral ranges

This document was not made available for publication as part of the conference proceedings.
A Longitudinal, Geographical, and Descriptive Analysis of Political Contributions of Plastic Surgeons.

BACKGROUND Political contributions from healthcare providers are essential to shaping healthcare policy and allow physicians to expand their influence on a national level. Political Action Committees in particular provide a useful avenue for unifying contributions for the interest of a specific community. This study examined the geographical distribution, temporal pattern, and overall nature of the political contributions made by plastic surgeons. METHODS The Federal Election Commission was analyzed for political contributions made by plastic surgeons from 2003 to 2021 using the search terms "plastic surgeon," "microsurgeon," and "craniofacial" as well as physician contributions to PlastyPAC. Contributions were categorized based on political parties (Democratic, Republican, and independent parties), and further analyzed based on state distribution and year of contribution. Spatial distribution data were then visualized using heatmaps for each state. RESULTS The total sum of contributions between 2003 and 2021 from plastic surgeons was $5,306,605, with $1,737,178.51 for the Republican party, $962,773.26 for the Democratic party, and $2,604,149.86 for independent parties. Political funding of PlastyPAC consisted of 47.3% of the overall political contributions. There was no significant trend through the years in the overall contribution amount. The states with the most political contributions were California, New York, Florida, and Texas. CONCLUSIONS The temporal stagnation of total political contributions and decline in recent PlastyPAC funding from plastic surgeons support an increased political awareness for new plastic surgeons. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .
Elixir of Emigration: Soda Water and the Making of Irish Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City

Archaeologists at a few sites in the United States have uncovered numerous soda-water bottles in features associated with the dwellings of 19th-century Irish immigrants. This study focuses particularly on findings from the Five Points, New York City’s most notorious 19th-century working-class neighborhood, and offers explanations for what may potentially be a more widespread pattern of soda-water usage among Irish immigrants. Based on information gathered from historical and folkloric archives and attention to the materiality of soda water, it is argued that soda water resonated with Irish immigrants, evoking varied Irish traditional understandings of water, and offering new possibilities to address new Irish concerns in the U.S. By purchasing, selling, and consuming soda water, Irish immigrants managed issues including health, nostalgia, temperance, Irish nationalism, status, and identity. Soda water acted as a fluid substance providing relief for sickness and homesickness, and facilitated the creation of new Irish American identities.
En bloc mobilization of the inferior vena cava and large hypervascular right renal tumors with or without inferior vena cava thrombus: Posterior ligation of the renal artery

We describe our approach of posterior ligation of the renal artery during resection of large hypervascular right renal tumors. This technique uses en bloc mobilization of the inferior vena cava and renal tumor to ligate the renal artery at its origin from the aorta. In our experience, the use of this posterior approach for renal artery ligation is safe and effective, even with large renal tumors with multiple collaterals and/or lymph nodes making the identification of the renal artery difficult.
Mixed responses of farmland birds to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was initiated in 2000 and within 4 years, 40,000 ha of conservation grasslands were established in southern Pennsylvania. We determined whether CREP habitat has benefitted farmland and grassland bird populations during the 10 years since the program began. From 2001 to 2010, bird surveyors conducted road-side point counts in a 20-county area in south-central Pennsylvania. We observed positive CREP effects on the abundances (in 2009–2010) and changes in abundance (from 2001–2002 to 2009–2010) of 5 species, including eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna); negative CREP effects for 3 species, including vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus); and no CREP effects for 2 species, including grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum). We additionally observed changes in the size and direction of the local CREP effects (within 250 m of count locations) depending on the amount of CREP grassland or field cover in the surrounding landscape (within 5,000 m of survey routes). For example, the local CREP effect on the change in abundance of eastern meadowlarks was 15 times greater at points nested within landscapes with 9% CREP cover compared to landscapes with 1% CREP cover, indicating the potential for greater benefits of adding new CREP grasslands to areas with more CREP habitat already in the surrounding area. We conclude that more careful spatial targeting of CREP enrollment could improve the benefits of the program for farmland and grassland bird populations. © The Wildlife Society, 2013
Gripping mechanisms for industrial robots: An overview

Abstract The objective of this paper is to provide an up-to-date overview of gripping mechanisms for industrial robots. A brief description of a variety of conventional gripping devices used for industrial robots is first given. By means of classification according to kinematic pairs, many gripping mechanisms containing linkages, gears, cams, screws and flexible bands scattered from various sources or even unmentioned in the literature are presented. Several types of versatile grippers including the mouldable grippers, the inflatable grippers, the soft fingers, and the anthropomorphic three-finger grippers are also presented.
Learning to Take Turns

Learning to take turns in repeated game situations is a robust phenomenon in both laboratory experiments and in everyday life. Nevertheless, it has received little attention in recent studies of learning dynamics in games. We investigate the simplest and most obvious extension of fictitious play to a learning rule that can recognize patterns, and show how players using this rule can spontaneously learn to take turns.
Probing the pore of the auditory hair cell mechanotransducer channel in turtle.

Hair cell mechano-electric transducer (MET) channels play a pivotal role in auditory and vestibular signal detection, yet few data exist regarding their molecular nature. Present work characterizes the MET channel pore, a region whose properties are thought to be intrinsically determined. Two approaches were used. First, the channel was probed with antagonists of candidate channel subtypes including: cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, transient receptor potential channels and gap-junctional channels. Eight new antagonists were identified. Most of the effective antagonists had a partially charged amine group predicted to penetrate the channel pore, antagonizing current flow, while the remainder of the molecule prevented further permeation of the compound through the pore. This blocking mechanism was tested using curare to demonstrate the open channel nature of the block and by identifying methylene blue as a permeant channel blocker. The second approach estimated dimensions of the channel pore with simple amine compounds. The narrowest diameter of the pore was calculated as 12.5 ± 0.8 A and the location of a binding site ∼45% of the way through the membrane electric field was calculated. Channel length was estimated as ∼31 A and the width of the pore mouth at < 17 A. Each effective antagonist had a minimal diameter, measured about the penetrating amine, of less than the pore diameter, with a direct correlation between IC50 and minimal diameter. The IC50 was also directly related to the length of the amine side chains, further validating the proposed pore blocking mechanism. Data provided by these two approaches support a hypothesis regarding channel permeation and block that incorporates molecular dimensions and ion interactions within the pore.
Distributing the Benefits from the Commons: A Square-Root Formula

What should be the distribution of the benefits of a fishery (or common-pool resource) where a group of fishers catch fish and sell it to consumers? I propose that, for each person i, where i is a fisher or a consumer, i's returns should be proportional to i's contributions. Unexpectedly, this implies that the fraction of benefits accruing to consumers must be √value of total output of fish/√value of total outputs of fish+√value of total fishers' labor.
Supervised clustering with structural svms

Supervised clustering is the problem of training clustering methods to produce desirable clusterings. Given sets of items and complete clusterings over these sets, a supervised clustering algorithm learns how to cluster future sets of items in a similar fashion, typically by changing the underlying similarity measure between item pairs. This work presents a general approach for training clustering methods such as correlation clustering and k-means/spectral clustering able to optimize to task-specific performance criteria using structural SVMs. We empirically and theoretically analyze our supervised clustering approach on a variety of datasets and clustering methods. This analysis also leads to general insights about structural SVMs beyond supervised clustering. Specifically, since clustering is a NP-hard task and the corresponding training problem likewise must make use of approximate inference during training of the parameters, we present a detailed theoretical and empirical analysis of the general use of approximations in structural SVM training.
HighLight: a file system for tertiary storage

HighLight, a file system combining secondary disk storage and tertiary robotic storage that is being developed as part of the Sequoia 200 Project, is described. HighLight is an extension of the 4.4BSD log-structured file system (LFS), which provides hierarchical storage management without requiring any special support from applications. The authors present HighLight's design and various policies for automatic migration of file data between the hierarchy levels. The performance of HighLight was compared with that of the 4.4BSD LFS implementation. The initial results indicate that HighLight's performance is comparable to that of 4.4BSD LFS for disk-resident data, and the overhead associated with accessing data from the tertiary cache is negligible. >
Social exclusion and land administration in Orissa, India

The authors report on the first empirical study of its kind to examine - from the perspective of transaction costs - factors that constrain access to land for the rural poor and other socially excluded groups in India. They find that: a) Land reform has reduced large landholdings since the 1950s. Medium size farms have gained most. Formidable obstacles still prevent the poor from gaining access to land. b) The complexity of land revenue administration in Orissa is partly the legacy of distinctly different systems, which produced more or less complete and accurate land records. These not-so-distant historical records can be important in resolving contemporary land disputes. c) Orissa tried legally to abolish land-leasing. Concealed tenancy persisted, with tenants having little protection under the law. d) Women's access to and control over land, and their bargaining power with their husbands about land, may be enhanced through joint land titling, a principle yet to be realized in Orissa. e) Land administration is viewed as a burden on the state rather than a service, and land records and registration systems are not coordinated. Doing so will improve rights for the poor and reduce transaction costs - but only if the system is transparent and the powerful do not retain the leverage over settlement officers that has allowed land grabs. Land in Orissa may be purchased, inherited, rented (leased), or - in the case of public land and the commons - encroached upon. Each type of transaction - and the State's response, through land law and administration - has implications for poor people's access to land. The authors find that: 1) Land markets are thin and transaction costs are high, limiting the amount of agricultural land that changes hands. 2) The fragmentation of landholdings into tiny, scattered plots is a brake on agricultural productivity, but efforts to consolidate land may discriminate against the rural poor. Reducing transaction costs in land markets will help. 3) Protecting the rural poor's rights of access to common land requires raising public awareness and access to information. 4) Liberalizing land-lease markets for the rural poor will help, but only if the poor are ensured access to institutional credit.
A Game Theoretic Economics Framework to understanding Information Security Oursourcing Market

On information security outsourcing market, an important reason that firms do not want to let outside firms(usually called MSSPs-Managed Security Service Providers) to take care of their security need is that they worry about service quality MSSPs provide because they cannot monitor effort of the MSSPs. Since MSSPs action is unobservable to buyers, MSSPs can lower cost by working less hard than required in the contract and get higher profit. In the asymmetric information literature, this possible secret shirking behavior is termed as moral hazard problem. This paper considers a game theoretic economic framework to show that under information asymmetry, an optimal contract can be designed so that MSSPs will stick to their promised effort level. We also show that the optimal contract should be performance-based, i.e., payment to MSSP should base on performance of MSSP's security service period by period. For comparison, we also showed that if the moral hazard problem does not exist, the optimal contract does not depend on MSSP's performance. A contract that specifies constant payment to MSSP will be optimal. Besides these, we show that for no matter under perfect information scenario or imperfect information scenario, the higher the transaction cost is, the lower payment to MSSPs will be.
A critical analysis of the term "universal health coverage" under post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals

Attaining universal health coverage (UHC) is a common aspiration for many countries across the world. We examine the term UHC in the existing literature, which could help the global community to achieve access to quality health services for all. The term universal necessitates aiming for equity to urge the country to provide quality health services, especially to those who are currently unreached. Likewise, the term health must focus on social determinants and express an individual's perceived need without any harm to individual values and belief systems. The term coverage must make the transition from a measurement of access to quality in terms of coverage, appropriateness of care, and service utilization. Therefore, UHC, one of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), involves health targets that must be redesigned and unpacked with doubled governmental efforts to strengthen primary healthcare, the close-to-client service for equitable health outcomes.
New conditioning procedures derived from operating experience with the common DIII-D neutral beam ion source

The DIII-D neutral beam system utilizes an 80 kV version of the Common Long-Pulse Ion Source designed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories (LBL) and originally built by RCA. Eight of these ion sources are mounted on four beamlines to provide a total of 20 MW of injected deuterium neutral power to the DIII-D tokamak. To support the DIII-D one-shift operation, neutral beams must be readied in a relatively short period of time each day, typically one hour. During non-operating periods conditioning time for the ion sources is limited, due to the costs of associated support services and the need to perform corrective and preventive maintenance. The experience gained over a six year period has resulted in finely tuned procedures for the conditioning and operation of these ion sources. Recently, an ion source was conditioned which had been accidentally filled with water for several days, resulting in surface corrosion and deconditioning of the grids and surfaces. The method of successful recovery along with data, experience and procedures derived from this event and normal operations will be detailed and discussed.
Is the signal from the mesophyll to the guard cells a vapour‐phase ion?

Previous studies have suggested that the red light and CO2 responses of stomata are caused by a signal from the mesophyll to the guard cells. Experiments were conducted to test the idea that this signal is a vapour-phase ion. Stomata in isolated epidermes of Tradescantia pallida were found to respond to air ions created by an electrode that was positioned under the epidermes. Anthocyanins in the epidermes of this species were observed to change colour in response to these air ions, and this change in colour was attributed to changes in pH. A similar change in lower epidermal colour was observed in intact leaves upon illumination and with changes in CO2 concentration. Based on the change in epidermal colour, the pH of the epidermis was estimated to be approximately 7.0 in darkness and 6.5 in the light. Stomata in isolated epidermes responded to pH when suspended over (but not in contact with) solutions of different pH. We speculate that stomatal responses to CO2 and light are caused by vapour-phase ions, possibly hydronium ions that change the pH of the epidermis.
The State of the Art of Collaboration on Behalf of Students With Disabilities

The need for effective collaboration on behalf of students with disabilities has never been greater. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disa...
Characteristics of males at a public health department contraceptive service.

Abstract To effectively confront teenage pregnancy, the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of males, along with females, need to be better understood. This pilot study examined young males who visited the family planning clinic of a public health department to obtain free condoms. Questionnaires were distributed over a 4-week period. Nearly 30% of males reported having sex 11+ times a month. However, an equal proportion reported having sex three or fewer times in the same interval. Most males reported using condoms during sex, although one quarter reported use as "seldom." The health department was a major source of condoms and was positively evaluated because condoms were free and there were "no questions asked." Only one third of the males reported using another method of contraception. Results suggest a major role of the health department in condom availability and the potential need for contraceptive services for males.