cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lengths of intermediate and deep seismic zones and temperatures in downgoing slabs of lithosphere

Summary. If intermediate and deep earthquakes occur in the coldest portions of the downgoing slabs of lithosphere, then different lengths of seismic zones represent different temperatures in the slabs. As the slab descends through the aesthenosphere, it warms primarily by conduction of heat through its upper and lower surfaces. Isotherms are advected downwards to distances approximately proportional both to the rate of subduction and to the square of the thickness of the lithosphere. Consequently, the lengths of seismic zones should be approximately proportional to the product of the rates and the squares of these thicknesses. As these thicknesses are approximately proportional to the square root of the age of the lithosphere, the lengths ought therefore to be approximately proportional to the product of the convergence rates times the ages. Although there is considerable scatter, observed lengths are approximately proportional to such products, and are not simply related to the rate, the age or the thickness alone. The data crudely fit the relationship: length = rate × age/10. Using this relationship, we infer that the Philippine sea and Pacific plates move slowly, if at all, with respect to one another and that the Farallon plate may have been too young to be subducted to a great distance beneath western North America in the Palaeogene. Calculations of temperatures at the depths of the deepest events suggest that these cut-off temperatures increase from about 600 ± 100°C at 200 km to 830 ± 50°C at 650 km depth, but the cut-off potential temperature is approximately constant. Assuming that the strength is a thermally activated parameter, and using the activation energy for olivine, a crude estimate of activation volume is obtained from the dependence of the cut-off temperature on depth.
A factor-graph approach to Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics

Factor graphs are graphical models with origins in coding theory. The sum-product, the max-product, and the min-sum algorithms, which operate by message passing on a factor graph, subsume a great variety of algorithms in coding, signal processing, and artificial intelligence. This paper aims at extending the field of possible applications of factor graphs to Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics. The starting point is the principle of least action (more precisely, the principle of stationary action). The resulting factor graphs require a new message-passing algorithm that we call the stationary-sum algorithm. As it turns out, some of the properties of this algorithm are equivalent to Liouville's theorem. Moreover, duality results for factor graphs allow to easily derive Noether's theorem. We also discuss connections and differences to Kalman filtering.
Fast interior-point inference in high-dimensional sparse, penalized state-space models

We present an algorithm for fast posterior inference in penalized high-dimensional state-space models, suitable in the case where a few measurements are taken in each time step. We assume that the state prior and observation likelihoods are log-concave and have a special structure that allows fast matrix-vector operations. We derive a second-order algorithm for computing the maximum a posteriori state path estimate, where the cost per iteration scales linearly both in time and memory. This is done by computing an approximate Newton direction using an efficient forward-backward scheme based on a sequence of low rank updates. We formalize the conditions under which our algorithm is applicable and prove its stability and convergence. We show that the state vector can be drawn from a large class of prior distributions without affecting the linear complexity of our algorithm. This class includes both Gaussian and nonsmooth sparse and group sparse priors for which we employ an interior point modification of our algorithm. We discuss applications in text modeling and neuroscience.
International Diversification: Simple or Optimization Strategies?

We empirically assess a variety of portfolio construction strategies using MSCI country indices from 1998 to 2010. These strategies range from the classic mean-variance optimization strategy to simple allocation strategies, such as equally weighted and dividend-yield-weighted portfolios. We find that for a global equity portfolio consisting of country indices, the simple allocation strategies deliver better out-of-sample performance despite the addition of short-sale and over-weighting constraints. We further show that the simple allocation strategies achieve higher risk-adjusted returns than the standard portfolio optimization strategies in the four-factor model. Our results provide empirical evidence that keeping portfolio construction strategies simple is very important in practice.
A Bounding Assessment Method for Correlating Measured Gas Leaks to the Possible Loss of Particulate Contents from Radioactive Materials Packages

Presentation d'une methode de correlation du taux de fuite d'un gaz traceur au degagement potentiel de particules solides radioactives de conteneurs utilisees pour le transport de matieres radioactives
Quantitative comparison of anaerobic pitting patterns and damage risks by chloride versus Desulfovibrio vulgaris using a fast pitting-characterization method

Abstract Anaerobic carbon steel corrosion induced by chloride and a sulfate reducing bacterium (SRB) Desulfovibrio vulgaris was compared using a fast pitting-characterization method based on Infinite Focus Microscopy. This method was found to be significantly less labor-intensive and more reproducible for determination of maximum and average pit depths and pitted area percentage than manual pit identification and measurement. Graphic diagrams were developed with these parameters to show pitting patterns and compare damage risks. Results showed that this SRB was more damaging than chloride by forming deep pit clusters with larger maximum pit depths. Pit geometry and size were also compared for the two corrosion causes. The fast pitting-characterization method was validated to work well for corrosion with different pitting patterns and pit geometries induced by the chloride and D. vulgaris systems.
Aqueous Glycosylation of Unprotected Sucrose Employing Glycosyl Fluorides in the Presence of Calcium Ion and Trimethylamine

We report a synthetic glycosylation reaction between sucrosyl acceptors and glycosyl fluoride donors to yield the derived trisaccharides. This reaction proceeds at room temperature in an aqueous solvent mixture. Calcium salts and a tertiary amine base promote the reaction with high site-selectivity for either the 3′-position or 1′-position of the fructofuranoside unit. Because nonenzymatic aqueous oligosaccharide syntheses are underdeveloped, mechanistic studies were carried out in order to identify the origin of the selectivity, which we hypothesized was related to the structure of the hydroxyl group array in sucrose. The solution conformation of various monodeoxysucrose analogs revealed the co-operative nature of the hydroxyl groups in mediating both this aqueous glycosyl bond-forming reaction and the site-selectivity at the same time.
Chapter 7 From Cat to Cricket: The Genesis of Response Selectivity of Interneurons

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the similarities between the visual system of the cat and a mechanoreceptor system of the cricket and the possible underlying mechanisms. It compares the genesis of response selectivity and receptive field characteristics of interneurons in these systems. There is evidence (indirect for the cat and direct for the cricket) that the selectivity of neurons in sensory systems depends to a varying degree upon a framework established by the excitatory input to the cell. These excitatory connections determine the universe of stimuli to which the neurons may respond. Probably the most important step in the analysis of this aspect of neuronal organization is the determination of the mechanisms by which the orderly arrays of afferents are produced. The discovery, based on indirect evidence in the cat and direct evidence in the cricket, that experimental interruption of inputs can affect the formation of inhibitory connections suggests that this may be an important mechanism responsible for much of the sensitivity to experience of the developing nervous system.
The Electrical Characteristics of a Pd/AlN/Si Thin Film Hydrogen Gas Sensor

We have extended our previous investigation of the electrical characteristics of a Pd/AlN/Si thin film sensor for varying thicknesses of AlN, from 300–2000A. The capacitance vs. voltage, C(V), and conductance vs. voltage, G(V), measurements were utilized to investigate the presence of surface states within the Si gap at the AlN/Si interface. Our previous experiments on 500A AlN did show the presence of interface traps, with an estimated surface density between 8×1014 and 1.5×1015 m−2eV−1 [1]. In our present work we've examined the effect of AlN thickness on the density of these interface traps. The density is dependent on AlN thickness. The thinner devices, 300A, showed an interface trap density of 20-30×1015 m−2eV−1. The interface trap density decreased with increasing thickness up to 500A, where the density remained relatively constant at about 1-5×1015 m−2eV−1 for thicknesses up to 2000A. We have also shown that the interface trap density is independent of annealing.
Xanthate chemisorption at copper and chalcopyrite surfaces

�#-0)*/* Cyclic voltammetry experiments were conducted on copper and chalcopyrite (CuFeS 2) in the absence and presence of ethyl xanthate, and compared to mass-balanced E H–pH diagrams. The results for copper duplicate those found in the literature and confirm xanthate chemisorption. However, the, results indicate that chalcopyrite oxidizes to chalcocite (Cu 2S) and only afterwards is chemisorption observed due to small currents appearing with xanthate. This phenomenon suggests that the mineral's hydrophobicity is induced by more than dixanthogen and copper xanthate. Hydrophobicity was found to be pH-dependent over a range of alkaline conditions (pH 7–11) at narrow potentials (0 to –200 mV). An E H–pH diagram for chalcopyrite with xanthate is presented to illustrate the conditions under which chalcopyrite would be hydrophobic and thereby more thoroughly explain the results in the literature.
Dynamic Privacy Policy Management in Services-Based Interactions

Technology advancements have enabled the distribution and sharing of patient personal health data over several data sources. Each data source is potentially managed by a different organization, which expose its data as a Web service. Using such Web services, dynamic composition of atomic data type properties coupled with the context in which the data is accessed may breach sensitive data that may not comply with the users preference at the time of data collection. Thus, providing uniform access policies to such data can lead to privacy problems. Some fairly recent research has focused on providing solutions for dynamic privacy policy management. This paper advances these techniques, and fills some gaps in the existing works. In particular, dynamically incorporating user access context into the privacy policy decision, and its enforcement. We provide a formal model definition of the proposed approach and a preliminary evaluation of the model.
Affective Action Selection and Behavior Arbitration for autonomous Robots.

In this paper we suggest an action selection and behavior arbitration scheme for autonomous robots, called AASBA (for "affective action selection and behavior arbitration"), which uses affective states to select the robot's behavior at any given time and pass control from the currently active behavior to the newly selected one. AASBA views action selection and behavior arbitration as an integral part of the agent architecture. The major strength of the proposed scheme is that it can be employed in a variety of agent architectures and that it allows for modifications and extensions of the agent architecture without the need of restructuring the overall control system. Preliminary evaluations of the AASBA scheme are performed with a sample implementation of a two-layered architecture (based on the AASBA scheme) on an autonomous robot.
Evaluation of Raw Milk Quality Tests.

A study was done to evaluate raw milk quality tests in an attempt to answer some questions regarding values or standards by which milk acceptance is determined. Initially, of 315 individual producer samples, 226 (72%) had proteolytic psychrotrophs. More than 90% of these psychrotrophs were of the genus Pseudomonas . All samples were obtained from four dairy companies processing milk in Georgia. One dairy had individual producers whose milk samples contained a large percentage of thermoduric psychrotrophs. "Bitter" flavors were more prevalent in samples collected from this dairy than in samples from the other three dairies. The degree of measurable proteolysis (Hull value) was directly correlated with the incidence of the naturally occurring "bitter" flavor. The mean Hull value for milk from this dairy (30.62 μg/ml) was 12-14 μg higher than the other three means. The mean Hull value for the "bitter" samples was 46 μg/ml.
Metformin (M), diabetes (DM), and colorectal cancer (CRC) survival among U.S. veterans.

3535 Background: Although diabetes (DM) is associated with a worse colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis, metformin (M) use has been associated with improved overall and CRC-specific survival in severa...
A Framework to Improve Hyper-resolution Hydrological Simulation in Snow-Affected Regions

Abstract Snow processes in mid- and north-latitude basins and their interaction with runoff generation at hyperresolution ( 5 km), representing land surface processes based on simplified couplings of snow thermal physics and the water cycle in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere (SVA) layers. This paper evaluates a new hydrological model capable of simulating river flows for a range of basin scales (100 km 2 to >10,000 km 2 ), and a particular focus on mid- and north-latitude regions. The new model combines the runoff generation and fully distributed routing framework of the Coupled Routing and Excess STorage (CREST) model with a new land surface process model that strictly couples water and energy balances at the SVA layer, imposing closed energy balance solutions. The model is vectorized and parallelized to achieve long-term (>30 years) high-resolution (30 m to 500 m and subhourly) simulations of large river basins utilizing high-performance computing. The model is tested in the Connecticut River basin (20,000 km 2 ), where flooding is frequently associated with interactions of snowmelt triggered by rainfall events. Model simulations of distributed evapotranspiration (ET) and snow water equivalence (SWE) at daily time step are shown to match accurately ET estimates from MODIS (average NSCE and bias are 0.77 and 6.79%) and SWE estimates from SNODAS (average correlation and normalized root mean square error are 0.94 and of 19%); the modeled daily river flow simulations exhibit an NSCE of 0.58 against USGS streamflow observations.
Power management circuit for kinetic energy harvesting from freight railcars

The proposed circuit aims to harvest energy from freight railcars, in which a three-phase electromagnetic generator (EMG) is used to harvest kinetic energy. The key idea of the proposed circuit is to extract maximum power from the EMG through impedance matching until the charge level of the battery reaches 90%. Once, the battery reaches the charge level, it switches the operation mode and regulates the output voltage to protect the battery from overcharging. In contrast to the conventional two-stage topology consisting of an impedance matching block and a voltage regulator, the proposed circuit adopts a single-stage topology based on the one-cycle control, which reduces power dissipation and hence increases the conversion efficiency. We prototyped the circuit with discrete components, which achieves peak efficiency of 74%.
HARSH ENVIRONMENT COMPATIBLE PLASMONICS BASED CHEMICAL SENSORS

Monitoring the levels of combustion gases such as H2, CO and NOx from high temperature (500°C and higher) combustion environments requires materials with high thermal stability and resilience and can withstand harsh oxidizing and reducing environments. Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown potential in plasmonic gas sensing due to their catalytic activity, high oxidation stability, and plasmonics sensitivity to changes in its surrounding environment. Encapsulation of the AuNPs in a variety of metal oxides enables both sensitivity and selectivity within multivariable sensing array studies. Au nanorods (AuNRs) embedded in metal oxides allows for a significant variation in the plasmonic wavelength region that is able to be probed as well as enabling both dipole and multipole plasmon modes to be exploited for sensing applications. Integration challenges will be highlighted and utilization of thermal energy harvesting methods enables the demonstration of spectrometer free detection of combustion gases.
Aging and an Immune Challenge Interact to Produce Prolonged, but Not Permanent, Reductions in Hippocampal L-LTP and mBDNF in a Rodent Model with Features of Delirium.

Abstract Aging increases the risk of abrupt declines in cognitive function after an event that triggers immune system activation (e.g. surgery, infection, or injury). This phenomenon is poorly understood, but rodent models may provide clues. We have previously shown that aging (24-mo-old) F344xBN rats generally do not show significant physical or cognitive impairments. However, their brains mount an exaggerated inflammatory response to signals triggered by a peripheral immune challenge (an intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli or laparotomy). Their hippocampal levels of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β are significantly elevated for at least 8 d, but generally less than 14 d, after infection or surgery. This IL-1β elevation is mirrored by prolonged deficits in a hippocampus-dependent long-term memory task. In contrast, young (3-mo-old) counterparts exhibit only transient elevations in IL-1β that drop to near baseline levels within 24 h. We previously demonstrated that theta burst–evoked late-phase long-term potentiation (L-LTP)—a BDNF-dependent form of synaptic plasticity—is impaired in hippocampal area CA1 of aged animals 4 d after infection. Also, levels of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (mBDNF)—the protein isoform required for stabilization of L-LTP—are reduced in hippocampal synaptoneurosomes of aged animals at the same time point. In this study, we investigated whether the deficits in L-LTP and mBDNF persist in parallel with the elevation in IL-1β and impairment in memory. This was the case, consistent with the idea that an exaggerated brain inflammatory response may compromise memory consolidation in part by altering availability of mBDNF to stabilize memory-related synaptic plasticity.
A population-based analysis of outcomes after repair of thoracic aortic emergencies in trauma.

Abstract Background Large-scale assessments of outcomes in thoracic endovascular repair (TEVAR) for thoracic aortic emergencies are lacking. We evaluated perioperative outcomes of TEVAR compared with open surgery among trauma patients in a large statewide database. Materials and methods We evaluated the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development 2007-2014 patient discharge database. Blunt-injured trauma patients with thoracic aortic emergencies were identified by International Classification for Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes and external cause-of-injury codes. Procedure codes were evaluated for TEVAR or open repair. Outcomes included mortality or complications during the index admission and readmission within 30 d. The association between both operative methods and each outcome was evaluated by two-level logistic regression adjusting for age, length of stay, admission year, trauma-related mortality probability, and comorbidity status. Results Among over 31 million hospitalizations, we identified 48,357 cases (0.2%) of thoracic aortic disease. Of these, 2159 (4.5%) were unique blunt-injured trauma patients of whom 336 (15.6%) underwent operative repair: 256 TEVAR (76.2%) and 80 (23.8%) open repair. Patients with open repair were older than TEVAR patients (mean age 52.0 versus 46.8, P = 0.038). There were no significant differences in race, sex, injury mechanism, mortality, or 30-d readmission by operative method. However, open repair was associated with greater odds for cardiac, spinal cord, and neurological complications. Conclusions Although mortality in trauma patients who underwent TEVAR was similar to that in patients with open repair, TEVAR was associated with fewer complications. This suggests that TEVAR offers clinical benefit over open repair in treating trauma patients with aortic disease.
Evolution of Hospital Medicine as a Site-of-Care Specialty.

Economic and patient safety concerns are driving forces in the hospitalist movement’s history. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Design and Redesign of the Desegregated School

The chances of implementing and maintaining a truly integrated school, whether the goal is harmonious, interracial relations or improved, minority group academic performance are not, at this time, high.1 This is not because such a successful school is, in principle, impossible. Rather we, as educational planners and researchers, are the victims of our own conventional and wishful thinking about the nature of the problems in this setting. We hear simplistic solutions recommended so often that they are accepted as truisms.
Physician as Double Agent - Conflicting Duties Arising from Employer-Sponsored Wellness Programs.

Physician as Double Agent Some employee wellness programs raise patients’ insurance costs on the basis of their doctors’ reports of noncompliance with treatment plans. Such demands on physicians th...
Cardiology electronic consultations: Efficient and safe, but consultant satisfaction is equivocal.

BackgroundCardiovascular electronic consultation is a new service line in consultative medicine and enables care without in-person office visits. We aimed to evaluate accessibility and time saved a...
Effects of Noncanonical Base Pairing on RNA Folding: Structural Context and Spatial Arrangements of G·A Pairs.

Noncanonical base pairs play important roles in assembling the three-dimensional structures critical to the diverse functions of RNA. These associations contribute to the looped segments that inter...
The potential of video feedback interventions to improve parent-child interaction skills in parents with intellectual disability

Abstract Parents with intellectual disability (ID) comprise a vulnerable population commonly in need of parenting support. Many parents with ID may struggle to engage in sensitive and responsive parent-child interactions due to cognitive, social, and economic challenges. Despite a large body of literature discussing parenting by people with ID, there is a concerning lack of evidence-based training programs targeting parent-child interaction skills in this population. As a growing number of parents with ID are referred for social and protective services, innovation is needed to support this group of parents. Video feedback (VF) interventions, in which parents view themselves engaging in positive, naturally-occurring interactions with their children under the guidance of a therapeutic coach, may fill this need. Here, we review challenges posed to many parents with ID, particularly those related to social information processing. We then describe key characteristics of VF interventions, explain how these characteristics accentuate the strengths and accommodate the challenges of parents with ID, and discuss population-specific adaptations of existing VF programs.
Optically Robust and Biocompatible Mechanosensitive Upconverting Nanoparticles.

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising tools for background-free imaging and sensing. However, their usefulness for in vivo applications depends on their biocompatibility, which we define...
Fatigue and creep-fatigue crack growth in alloy 709 at elevated temperatures

ABSTRACTFatigue crack growth (FCG) and creep-fatigue crack growth (CFCG) in austenitic stainless-steel Fe-25Ni-20Cr (Alloy 709) were measured experimentally and simulated using the finite element m...
Effectiveness of a Lay Navigation Program in an Academic Cancer Center.

PURPOSE:A navigation program with lay navigators that targets patients with cancer who are receiving multiple treatment modalities was launched with the goal of improving care coordination.PATIENTS...
High Throughput Vehicular Communication Using Spatial Multiplexing MIMO

Vehicular communication is emerging more and more to make a safer and more comfortable transportation system. To improve road safety and convenient transport facilities, lots of information like traffic congestion, navigation data, traffic status on the road, accident updates need to be shared among vehicles to alert drivers. Only by doing so fully autonomous vehicles can operate in a more feasible way. Sharing information accurately is not an easy task due to the presence of fading in the channel and mobility of the vehicles. Thus a more robust communication system is necessary to make the existing transportation system more efficient. Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) is an existing approach for vehicular communication under the IEEE 802.11p standard yet not feasible to transfer real-time data with the high data rate. In this paper, we propose a modified PHY layer of the existing IEEE 802.11p standard to employ spatial multiplexing MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) for higher throughput while keeping the bit error rate lower than currently what we have now. Spatial multiplexing MIMO can provide high throughput while supporting real-time data transfer in a non-line-of-sight environment. So, this work employed spatial multiplexing MIMO on top of DSRC to achieve improved throughput. The results show that the proposed PHY layer model achieves more than twice throughput compared to the existing model.
Twitter A11y: A Browser Extension to Make Twitter Images Accessible

Social media platforms are integral to public and private discourse, but are becoming less accessible to people with vision impairments due to an increase in user-posted images. Some platforms (i.e. Twitter) let users add image descriptions (alternative text), but only 0.1% of images include these. To address this accessibility barrier, we created Twitter A11y, a browser extension to add alternative text on Twitter using six methods. For example, screenshots of text are common, so we detect textual images, and create alternative text using optical character recognition. Twitter A11y also leverages services to automatically generate alternative text or reuse them from across the web. We compare the coverage and quality of Twitter A11y's six alt-text strategies by evaluating the timelines of 50 self-identified blind Twitter users. We find that Twitter A11y increases alt-text coverage from 7.6% to 78.5%, before crowdsourcing descriptions for the remaining images. We estimate that 57.5% of returned descriptions are high-quality. We then report on the experiences of 10 participants with visual impairments using the tool during a week-long deployment. Twitter A11y increases access to social media platforms for people with visual impairments by providing high-quality automatic descriptions for user-posted images.
That Woman from Michigan: How Gender Resentment Shapes the Efficacy of Stay-at-Home Policies

The United States has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, yet many Americans have responded indifferently towards policies designed to combat the spread of the virus While nearly all 50 states have implemented some type of stay-at-home policy to encourage social distancing, there has been high variation in the degree of compliance We argue this variance is in part driven by gender resentment Gender resentment reduces trust in female political leaders, and thus decreases compliance with government policy and recommendations Using data from SafeGraph and the 2016 American National Election Study, we demonstrate the effect of stay-at-home policies on social distancing is reduced when gender resentment increases in states with female leaders However, when gender resentment is low, there is no difference in the effect of policies on behavior This research has important implications for understanding unseen barriers that can mediate the efficacy of female political leaders © 2020 BMJ Publishing Group All rights reserved
Smallholder farmers’ perceptions of agricultural extension in adoption of new technologies in Kakamega County, Kenya

This exploratory study assesses factors that harness agricultural technology adoption among smallholder farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya by evaluating the key variables that influence sustainable adoption of agricultural innovations in the area. A survey was randomly administered in June and July 2018 among smallholder farming households in seven sub-counties (N=78) of Kakamega County. A logistic regression model, capturing factors presumed to influence the adoption of agricultural innovations, was estimated. Results suggest that even in smallholder farms, the farm size is important in adoption of innovations. Results also indicate limited or no farmer interaction (55%) with extension services. Farmers reported application of fertilizer and use of push-pull technology as less important in maintaining soil health. The regression model findings suggest that variables typically presumed to influence adoption in the literature are insignificant in this case study. The statistical significance of the farm size variable implies that agricultural extension messages can be tailored to a variety of farmer audiences for suitable adoption based on farm size. The diffusion of innovation theory remains a valid and relevant framework in studying adoption. This study reiterates the critical role that farmers or their environment play in the adoption process.
Ambient moisture causes methomyl residues on corn plants to rapidly lose toxicity to the pest slug, Arion subfuscus, Müller (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora)

Abstract The carbamate insecticide methomyl is sometimes used to control slugs in field corn and soybean by foliar applications, but control outcomes in research trials and commercial operations have been mixed. In this study, laboratory bioassays were conducted on dusky slug, Arion subfuscus Muller, a common pest of corn and soybean in the Mid-Atlantic United States, to evaluate residual toxicity of Lannate LV (methomyl) at low and high concentrations corresponding to label recommended field rates, and if toxicity may be affected by ambient moisture or repellency to treated plants. Without wetting events, methomyl residues on corn plants caused 90–100% mortality of A. subfuscus for two days and 70–90% mortality for six days. When corn plants were briefly misted with ca. 0.3 cm of water 6 h after methomyl application, mortality was 36% 12 h after treatment, and 0 to 5% 24 h after treatment for both low and high rates. Repellency of A. subfuscus to corn plants treated with the high rate of methomyl was narrowly significant (P = 0.04) and low rate was not significant. These results suggest that high ambient moisture needed to elicit slug activity in the field also abates toxicity of methomyl residues, explaining why field control is usually poor despite high mortality in the lab.
Total evidence phylogenetic analysis supports new morphological synapomorphies for Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)

Advances in gene sequencing technology have made it easier to generate large molecular datasets with novel DNA sequences for phylogenetic analysis. Because morphological data are difficult to collect and not required for molecular phylogenetic analyses, they are often excluded in studies of the systematic relationships of extant taxa. This fact is especially apparent in the Bovidae, the highly diverse, widespread clade of hoofed mammals most often characterized by the presence of permanent bony horn cores covered with keratin sheaths. Analyses of molecular data have reconstructed well-supported phylogenetic relationships within the clade. However, morphological data are also required to integrate fossil taxa into these studies, and may support different topologies when they are included in total evidence phylogenies. In this study, I performed a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of a total evidence dataset including mitochondrial genomes, nine nuclear genes, and 196 morphological characters. The dataset comprises 156 species, 13 of which are fossil taxa, one of the most complete analyses of the family to date, and the first time many of the fossil species have been included in a total evidence analysis. Character optimizations on this topology produced seven synapomorphic morphological characters for Bovidae and multiple characters for each tribe. These analyses support the use of total evidence phylogenetics as a means of uncovering morphological characters that may serve as new synapomorphies and elucidate the systematic relationships of fossil species.
Homelessness during COVID-19: challenges, responses, and lessons learned from homeless service providers in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare some of the United States' most devastating health and social inequities faced by people experiencing homelessness. Homeless populations experience disproportionate rates of underlying health conditions, stigma and marginalization that often disenfranchise them from health and social services, and living conditions that potentiate the risk of COVID-19 transmission and adverse outcomes. Methods Guided by the socio-ecological model, this community-based participatory research study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 public health crisis on people experiencing homelessness in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and the ways in which homeless service providers prepared for, experienced, and responded to the pandemic. Eighteen (18) semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 15 community-based organizations, including shelters and other homeless service providers. Results Qualitative content analysis revealed myriad challenges at the individual and interpersonal levels faced by people experiencing homelessness as a result of the pandemic, and multilevel responses for COVID-19 impact mitigation in this community. Many of the emergency measures put in place by homeless service providers in Tippecanoe County, Indiana created opportunities for innovative solutions to longstanding challenges faced by homeless populations that are informing better service delivery moving forward, even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Community-based organizations, including homeless shelters, are uniquely qualified to inform pandemic response and disaster risk mitigation in order to respond appropriately to the specific needs of people experiencing homelessness. The lessons learned and shared by homeless service providers on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic have important implications to improve future disaster response for homeless and other vulnerable populations.
Feasibility and longitudinal effects of repeated participation in an annual, brief and intense exercise program in individuals with Parkinson's disease: A case report.

Background Functional decline is expected over time in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). Intense exercise (RPE ≥ 5-7/10), incorporating motor learning principles, may be beneficial. Purpose:The purpose of this case report is to describe the feasibility and longitudinal effects after individuals with PD participated in multiple, 3.5-day, intensive exercise programs called Movement Camp (Camp). Methods Developed based on the principles of skill, capacity, and motivation, the Camp was offered four times (spring 2014-spring 2017) over the course of three years. Camp consisted of 3.5 days, with approximately 5.5 hours of exercise per day. The four participants on whom we are reporting were selected because they participated in three or more Camps, thus providing longitudinal data. Participants rotated through high-intensity, one-hour exercise stations targeting balance, endurance, gait, upper extremity function and three 30-minute group training sessions. Balance (Mini-BESTest), endurance (six-minute walk test), gait speed, and function (five times sit-to-stand) were examined. Results Testing was completed prior to, post, and six weeks post intervention. Over three years, participants maintained or improved performance on most measures. Conclusion The outcomes of this case report suggest that brief, intensive exercise based on motor learning principles is feasible and may maintain or improve function in persons with PD over three years.
Savings and outcomes under Medicare's bundled payments initiative for skilled nursing facilities

Background Model 3 of Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) was a voluntary alternative payment model that held participating skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) accountable for 90-day costs of care. Its overall impact on Medicare spending and clinical outcomes is unknown. Methods Retrospective cohort study using Medicare claims from 2012 to 2017. We used an interrupted time-series design to compare participating vs matched control SNFs on total 90-day Medicare payments and payment components (initial SNF stay, readmissions, and outpatient/clinician), case mix (volume, proportion Medicaid, proportion black, number of comorbidities), and clinical outcomes (90-day readmission, mortality and healthy days at home, and length of initial SNF stay), overall and among key subgroups with frailty or dementia, for 47 of the 48 conditions in the program (excluding major lower extremity joint replacement). Results Our sample included 1001 participating and 3873 matched control SNFs. At baseline, total Medicare institutional payments were increasing at BPCI SNFs at a rate of $121 per episode per quarter; during the intervention period, payments decreased at a rate of -$398/episode/quarter. Among controls, payments were stable in the baseline period (+$17/episode/quarter) but decreased at -$424/episode/quarter during the intervention period, yielding a nonsignificant difference in slope changes of -$79/episode/quarter (95% confidence interval [CI] -$188, $31, p = 0.16). However, among patients with frailty, spending declined by $620/episode/quarter in the BPCI group, compared with $330/episode/quarter in the non-BPCI group, for a difference in slope changes of -$289 (95% CI -$482, -$96, p = 0.003). There were no differences in the change in slopes in case selection or clinical outcomes overall or in any clinical subgroup. Conclusions SNF participation in BPCI was associated with no overall differential change in total Medicare payments per episode, case selection, or clinical outcomes. Exploratory analyses revealed a decrease in Medicare payments in patients with frailty that may warrant further study.
Effects of Integrated Literacy and Content-area Instruction on Vocabulary and Comprehension in the Elementary Years: A Meta-analysis

This study synthesized impacts of integrated literacy and content-area instruction (i.e., science, social studies) on vocabulary and comprehension outcomes in the elementary years (i.e., kindergart...
Artificial Intelligence in Rehabilitation Targeting the Participation of Children and Youth With Disabilities: Scoping Review.

Background: In the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in research on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve child and youth participation in daily life activities, which is a key rehabilitation outcome. However, existing reviews place variable focus on participation, are narrow in scope, and are restricted to select diagnoses, hindering interpretability regarding the existing scope of AI applications that target the participation of children and youth in a pediatric rehabilitation setting. Objective: The aim of this scoping review is to examine how AI is integrated into pediatric rehabilitation interventions targeting the participation of children and youth with disabilities or other diagnosed health conditions in valued activities. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using established Applied Health Sciences and Computer Science databases. Two independent researchers screened and selected the studies based on a systematic procedure. Inclusion criteria were as follows: participation was an explicit study aim or outcome or the targeted focus of the AI application; AI was applied as part of the provided and tested intervention; children or youth with a disability or other diagnosed health conditions were the focus of either the study or AI application or both; and the study was published in English. Data were mapped according to the types of AI, the mode of delivery, the type of personalization, and whether the intervention addressed individual goal-setting. Results: The literature search identified 3029 documents, of which 94 met the inclusion criteria. Most of the included studies used multiple applications of AI with the highest prevalence of robotics (72/94, 77%) and human-machine interaction (51/94, 54%). Regarding mode of delivery, most of the included studies described an intervention delivered in-person (84/94, 89%), and only 11% (10/94) were delivered remotely. Most interventions were tailored to groups of individuals (93/94, 99%). Only 1% (1/94) of interventions was tailored to patients’ individually reported participation needs, and only one intervention (1/94, 1%) described individual goal-setting as part of their therapy process or intervention planning. Conclusions: There is an increasing amount of research on interventions using AI to target the participation of children and youth with disabilities or other diagnosed health conditions, supporting the potential of using AI in pediatric rehabilitation. On the basis of our results, 3 major gaps for further research and development were identified: a lack of remotely delivered participation-focused interventions using AI; a lack of individual goal-setting integrated in interventions; and a lack of interventions tailored to individually reported participation needs of children, youth, or families.
Review of Basic Engineering Concepts

“Fluid dynamics” implies fluid flow and associated forces described by vector equations, while convective heat transfer and species mass transfer are described by scalar transport equations. Specifically, this chapter reiterates some basic definitions and continuum mechanics concepts with an emphasis on how to describe standard fluid flow phenomena. Readers are encouraged to occasionally jump ahead to specific sections of Chaps. 2 and 3. After refreshing his/her knowledge base, the student should solve the assigned Homework Problems independently (see Sect. 1.5) in conjunction with Appendix A (see Table 1.1 for acquiring good study habits).
Does loss of spasticity matter? A 10‐year follow‐up after selective dorsal rhizotomy in cerebral palsy

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method Nineteen children (four females, 15 males; mean age 4y 7mo, SD 1y 7mo) with bilateral spastic CP, were prospectively assessed at baseline and 18 months, 3 years, and 10 years after SDR. Assessments included the Modified Ashworth Scale for spasticity, the Gross Motor Function Measure 88 (GMFM-88) and the Wilson gait scale for ambulation, neurological investigations, and passive joint range of motion assessment. A 10-year retrospective chart review was added for orthopaedic surgery after SDR. Results Baseline muscle tone at the hip, knee, and ankle level displayed a high degree of spasticity that normalized after SDR. After 10 years there was a slight recurrence of spasticity at the knee and ankle. Joint range of motion declined from a maximum at 3 years after SDR to the 10-year follow-up. Median ambulatory status was best 3 years after SDR and then declined. The GMFM-88 score increased from the median baseline value of 51 to 66 (p=0.002) and 76 (p<0.001) at the initial follow-ups. After 10 years there was a decline in gross motor function with a reduction in the GMFM-88 score to 62 (p=0.022). Within 10 years, 16 out of 19 patients had a mean of three orthopaedic surgeries (SD 2.8), soft tissue surgery being the most common. Interpretation The spasticity-reducing effect of SDR, although pronounced, did not seem to improve long-term functioning or prevent contractures. This suggests that contracture development in CP is not mediated by spasticity alone.
Equidistribution and generalized Mahler measures

If K is a number field and \(\varphi: {\mathcal{P}}_{K}^{1}\rightarrow {\mathcal{P}}_{K}^{1}\) is a rational map of degree d > 1, then at each place v of K, one can associate to φ a generalized Mahler measure for polynomials F ∈ K[t]. These Mahler measures give rise to a formula for the canonical height h φ(β) of an element \(\beta\in \overline{K}\); this formula generalizes Mahler’s formula for the usual Weil height h(β). In this paper, we use Diophantine approximation to show that the generalized Mahler measure of a polynomial F at a place v can be computed by averaging log | F | v over the periodic points of φ.
Information Monitoring on the Web: A Scalable Solution

This paper presents WebCQ, a continual query system for large-scale Web information monitoring. WebCQ is designed to discover and detect changes to Web pages efficiently, and to notify users of interesting changes with personalized messages. Users' Web page monitoring requests are modeled as continual queries on the Web and referred to as Web page sentinels. The system consists of five main components: a change detection robot that discovers and detects changes, a proxy cache service that reduces the communication traffics to the original information provider on the remote server, a trigger evaluation tool that can filter only the changes that match certain thresholds, a personalized change presentation tool that highlights Web page changes, and a change notification service that displays and delivers interesting changes and fresh information to the right users at the right time. This paper describes the WebCQ system with an emphasis on the general issues in designing and engineering a large-scale information change monitoring system on the Web. There are two main contributions. First, we present the mechanisms that WebCQ provides to support various types of Web page sentinels for finding and displaying interesting changes to Web pages. The large collection of sentinel types allows WebCQ to efficiently locate and monitor a wide range of changes in Web pages. The second contribution is the development of sentinel grouping techniques for efficient and scalable processing of large number of concurrently running triggers and Web page sentinels. We report our initial experimental results showing the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
Music in American Religious Experience

Reviewed Medium: book Year: 2005 Pages: 336 Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0-19-517303-1 (hard cover). Prices: $74.00 USD(hard cover).
Treatment of temper tantrum behavior by means of noncontingent positive attention

(1979). Treatment of temper tantrum behavior by means of noncontingent positive attention. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology: Vol. 8, Primary Prevention, pp. 140-140.
Selective Hydroboration of a 1,3,7‐Triene: Homogeraniol

Selective hydroboration of a 1,3,7-triene: homogeraniol intermediate: geranial solvent: 200 mL of petroleum ether intermediate: 13.0 g (86.7 mmol) of (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene product: homogeraniol intermediate: 1–2% of the Z isomer. Keywords: addition, to CC; addition, to CO; condensation, carbonyl-ylide condensation; hydroboration; oxidation, CHOH CO; assay methods, for diborane solutions; dichloromethane (methylene chloride); dimethyl sulfoxide; 2-methyl-2-butene; methyltriphenylphosphonium iodide; tetrahydrofuran