cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On global transaction scheduling criteria in multidatabase systems

A theoretical basis for global transaction scheduling to maintain global serializability in multidatabase systems is presented. Three correctness criteria are formulated to utilize the intrinsic characteristics of global transactions at the global level to determine the serialization order of global subtransactions at each local site. In particular, two new types of serializability, chain-conflicting serializability and sharing serializability, are proposed, and an optimal criterion (termed hybrid serializability) combining these two basic criteria is discussed. These criteria offer the advantage of imposing no restrictions on local sites while retaining global serializability. In addition, the optimal aspect of hybrid serializability defines limits on global serializability in multidatabase systems. >
The Cerebellum and English Grammatical Morphology: Evidence from Production, Comprehension, and Grammaticality Judgments

Three neuropsychological experiments on a group of 16 cerebellar patients and 16 age- and education-matched controls investigated the effects of damage to the cerebellum on English grammatical morphology across production, comprehension, and grammaticality judgment tasks. In Experiment 1, participants described a series of pictures previously used in studies of cortical aphasic patients. The cerebellar patients did not differ significantly from the controls in the total number of words produced or in the proportion of closed-class words. They did differ to a marginally significant extent in the production of required articles. In Experiment 2, participants identified the agent in a series of aurally presented sentences in which three agency cues (subject–verb agreement, word order, and noun animacy) were manipulated. The cerebellar patients were less affected than the controls were by the manipulation of subject–verb agreement to a marginally significant extent. In Experiment 3, participants performed a grammaticality judgment task on a series of aurally presented sentences. The cerebellar patients were significantly less able to discriminate grammatical and ungrammatical sentences than the controls were, particularly when the error was of subject–verb agreement as opposed to word order. The results suggest that damage to the cerebellum can result in subtle impairments in the use of grammatical morphology, and are discussed in light of hypothesized roles for the cerebellum in language.
Balancing consciences: how our obsession with autonomy sacrifices our duty to our patients.

Healthcare in the United States is most often described and experienced as an immense, convoluted industry with a sum greater than its parts. However, it is important to remember that these parts are distinct, autonomous individuals and entities with their own beliefs, customs, and viewpoints. Moral issues surface abundantly in healthcare due to its interconnectedness with human life with enhanced proximity during life’s beginning and end. Therefore, these individual beliefs are prone to clashing as seen in three key relationships: between patient and provider, between providers, and between industry and providers. While this is both to be expected and respected, it is important to remember that all individuals and entities involved in healthcare do have one major duty in common – the welfare of the patient. Unfortunately, legislature at both the state and federal levels and organizational policies have been too willing to endanger the welfare of patients for the sake of balancing the individual consciences involved.
Design and Synthesis of Ultralow Energy Spin-Memristor Threshold Logic

A threshold logic gate performs weighted sum of multiple inputs and compares the sum with a threshold. We propose spin-memeristor threshold logic (SMTL) gates, which employ a memristive cross-bar array to perform current-mode summation of binary inputs, whereas the low-voltage fast-switching spintronic threshold devices carry out the threshold operation in an energy efficient manner. Field-programmable SMTL gate arrays can operate at a small terminal voltage of ∼50 mV, resulting in ultralow power consumption in gates as well as programmable interconnect networks. We evaluate the performance of SMTL using threshold logic synthesis. Results for common benchmarks show that SMTL-based programmable logic hardware can be more than 100 × energy efficient than the state-of-the-art CMOS field-programmable gate array.
First InP/GaAsSb/InP DHBT Ka-band MMIC Oscillator

The demonstration of the first MMIC oscillator using novel InP/GaAsSb/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) is presented. The oscillator delivered an output power of 3.2 dBm at 34.9GHz with DC to RF conversion efficiency of 10.9%. The corresponding phase noise at 1MHz offset from the carrier frequency was ?92dBc/Hz.
The Construct Validity of Student Engagement: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach.

As institutions seek to promote student engagement on campus, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is increasingly being used to chart progress and compare results using the Five Benchmark Scores. While recent research has begun to decompose the five benchmarks in a variety of ways; few research studies have sought to explore the underlying structure of these five benchmarks, their interdependence, and the extent to which the items do reflect those five dimensions. This study begins to address the instrument’s construct validity by submitting a single, first-time freshman cohort’s NSSE responses to a confirmatory factor analysis, and proposes as an alternative, eight “dimensions” of student engagement that fit this set of data slightly better and in a more useful way. Results have practical implications for institutions utilizing NSSE, but also contain conceptual implications pertaining to the application of these benchmarks.
Dynamic compression of SiO2: A new interpretation

[1] In light of recent discoveries of post-stishovite phases of SiO2, with the CaCl2 and α-PbO2 structures, we have reassigned the regimes along the Hugoniots for initial quartz, coesite, cristobalite, porous coesite, and fused silica. Calculated Hugoniots for fused silica, cristobalite and porous coesite indicate transition to stishovite, and then melt. Hugoniots for crystal quartz and coesite indicate that transition occurs to stishovite, then the CaCl2 structure and finally to melt.
Fibronectin-Binding Protein of Borrelia hermsii Expressed in the Blood of Mice with Relapsing Fever

To identify and characterize surface proteins expressed by the relapsing fever (RF) agent Borrelia hermsii in the blood of infected mice, we used a cell-free filtrate of their blood to immunize congenic naive mice. The resultant antiserum was used for Western blotting of cell lysates, and gel slices corresponding to reactive bands were subjected to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, followed by a search of the proteome database with the peptides. One of the immunogens was identified as the BHA007 protein, which is encoded by a 174-kb linear plasmid. BHA007 had sequence features of lipoproteins, was surface exposed by the criteria of in situ protease susceptibility and agglutination of Vtp− cells by anti-BHA007 antibodies, and was not essential for in vitro growth. BHA007 elicited antibodies during experimental infection of mice, but immunization with recombinant protein did not confer protection against needle-delivered infection. Open reading frames (ORFs) orthologous to BHA007 were found on large plasmids of other RF species, including the coding sequences for the CihC proteins of Borrelia duttonii and B. recurrentis, but not in Lyme disease Borrelia species. Recombinant BHA007 bound both human and bovine fibronectin with Kd (dissociation constant) values of 22 and 33 nM, respectively, and bound to C4-binding protein with less affinity. The distant homology of BHA007 and its orthologs to BBK32 proteins of Lyme disease species, as well as to previously described BBK32-like proteins in relapsing fever species, indicates that BHA007 is a member of a large family of multifunctional proteins in Borrelia species that bind to fibronectin as well as other host proteins.
A FPGA and ASIC implementation of rate 1/2, 8088-b irregular low density parity check decoder

This paper presents an implementation of irregular low density parity check decoder using both FPGA and ASIC. The considered low density parity check code has code rate 1/2, codeword length of 8088 bits and parallel factor of 24. The partly parallel structure, memory management, message alignment and addressing generation schemes needed to realize the underlying graph connectivity will be discussed. With the target FPGA device Xilinx XC2V8000 and maximum number of 25 iterations, the information decoding throughput could achieve up to 40 Mbps. By using the same configuration and Texas Instruments' GS-40 0.11 /spl mu/m ASIC process technology, decoder data rate of 188 Mbps could be achieved for this decoder.
Aging of glass fiber reinforced nylon 6,6 automobile underhood parts

Parts used under the hood of automobiles are increasingly made from polymeric materials. These parts are often exposed to relatively high temperatures and corrosive chemicals, exposure conditions that can affect their long-term performance. This paper provides quantitative information on the combined effect of high temperatures and corrosive chemicals on the long-term performance of glass fiber reinforced nylon 6,6 parts. Glass fiber reinforced nylon 6,6 is one of the more widely used polymers in underhood applications. Parts made from this material include radiator headers, oil caps, and, more recently, intake manifolds. In this project the in-service environmental conditions imposed on an oil cap and radiator were monitored, and the exposed parts examined by dynamic mechanical analysis. Data taken from the exposed parts were compared to comparably laboratory aged samples. The basic finding was that glass fiber reinforced nylon 6,6 parts should have an excellent survival rate in the parts investigated.
Identification and Characterization of Heat Shock 70 Genes in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Heat shock genes are highly evolutionarily conserved and are expressed to varying degrees in all organisms in response to stress. Heat shock 70 (hsp70) genes have been well characterized in a number of organisms, most notably Drosophila melanogaster, but not as yet for any of the major arthropod-borne viral mosquito vectors. To identify hsp70 genes in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), basic local alignment searches of the Ae. aegypti genome were performed using D. melanogaster Hsp70 protein sequences as query. Two clusters of six previously unannotated AaHsp70 genes were identified and found to be organized into three pairs of nearly identical open reading frames, which mapped to two genomic scaffolds. Consistent with a designation as heat shock genes, no detectable level of expression of AaHsp70 genes was observed under normal rearing conditions (28°C), with robust expression observed with a heat shock of 37–39°C. Northern analysis showed heat-inducible expression of putative AaHsp70 genes at all life stages and in all tissues tested in a time- and temperature-dependent manner. Monitoring of AaHsp70 gene expression levels in field-caught Ae. aegypti may serve as a general marker for stress. In addition, promoter sequences from AaHsp70 genes may be used to control the expression of transgenes in an inducible manner.
Size-Dependent-Transport Study of $\hbox{In}_{0.53} \hbox{Ga}_{0.47}\hbox{As}$ Gate-All-Around Nanowire MOSFETs: Impact of Quantum Confinement and Volume Inversion

InGaAs gate-all-around nanowire MOSFETs with channel length down to 50 nm have been experimentally demonstrated by a top-down approach. The nanowire size-dependent transport properties have been systematically investigated. It is found that reducing nanowire dimension leads to higher on-current, transconductance, and effective mobility due to stronger quantum confinement and the volume-inversion effect. TCAD quantum mechanical simulation has been carried out to study the inversion charge distribution inside the nanowires. Volume-inversion effect appears at a larger dimension for InGaAs nanowire MOSFET than its Si counterpart.
Living in a Material World: Defining "Materiality" in the Municipal Bond Market and Rule 15c2-12

Table of ContentsI. Introduction 1990II. Current Municipal Bond Regulatory Scheme 1994A. Municipal Bonds Primer 1994B. The Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Tower Amendment 1996C. Rule 15c2-12 1998D. Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative 2005E. Municipal Bond Context 2009III. What Does Materiality Mean? 2010A. Securities Context 2011B. Efficient Market Test 2013C. Torts Standard 2014D. Creditworthiness Test 2015IV. Materiality in the Continuing Disclosure Context: Analyzing Materiality Standards and Tests Through the Bond Market Lens 2015A. Policy Considerations 2016B. TSC Industries Standard 2024C. Efficient Market Test 2028D. Torts Standard 2029E. Creditworthiness Test 2031V. Application of a Creditworthiness Test in Rule 15c2-12 2033VI. Conclusion 2037I. IntroductionPredicting large-scale defaults in the municipal bond market,1 Warren Buffet-one of the nation's shrewdest investors-terminated Berkshire Hathaway's credit default swaps in 2012, which insured $8.25 million in municipal debt.2 Buffet's move out of the municipal bond market should signal that the once "sleepy"3 market is no longer as risk-free as it previously has been.4 Earlier, in 2010, risk analyst Meredith Whitney also forecasted that "50 to 100 sizeable defaults totaling hundreds of billions of dollars" would occur in the municipal bond market.5 These predictions were not unfounded.6 Defaults are on the rise.7 Municipal bankruptcies, like those in Jefferson County, Alabama, and Detroit, Michigan, have forced the municipal bond market into the headlines.8 The municipal bond market is no longer the "mom and apple pie of financial markets, wholesome, enduring, and unexciting."9The increase in the perceived risk of municipal securities has led to a corresponding increase in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation of the municipal securities market.10 For example, West Clark Community Schools (West Clark) made headlines in July 2013 when the SEC charged the school district with falsely claiming that it had been compliant with annual financial disclosures.11 The West Clark charges represent the SEC's first foray into punishing a municipal issuer for falsely claiming in an official offering statement that the issuer was fully compliant with previous annual disclosures.12 According to the SEC, West Clark defrauded investors by leading them to believe it complied with the disclosure requirements for a prior offering; in fact, however, the school district failed to file any annual reports or event notices for its 2005 bond offering.13Access to accurate and adequate information mitigates market risks for investors.14 Investors use information about securities to evaluate and value the securities' prices and risks.15 The need for this information raises the question, what information do investors need? …
Does Organization Sector Matter in Leading Teleworker Teams? A Comparative Case Study

Literature was reviewed to investigate the forces that are driving telework arrangements, the perceived benefits and drawbacks from teleworking, and the extent to which teleworking arrangements are utilized in the United States in both the private and public sectors. Results of a qualitative case analysis are presented, comparing the experiences of managers in both a large profit-seeking travel management corporation headquartered in a large Midwestern city in the United States and a large state governmental agency headquartered within 50 miles of that city. Organizational similarities and differences are identified in the skills and competencies which are considered key in managing teleworkers, unique challenges to supervising teleworkers, and approaches used by managers to develop self-reliance and the capacity for teamwork in teleworkers. Finally, conclusions regarding key telework manager skills and strategies which may be effective for organizations offering telework arrangements to employees are presented along with suggestions for future research.
Paradoxes in Plato's Symposium

The Symposium is perhaps the most brilliant of all Plato's achievements as a dramatic artist; perhaps for that very reason, it has been worse misunderstood than any other of his writings.These words are as true today as when they were written by A. E. Taylor over fifty years ago. Despite some very important contributions to our understanding of the dialogue, it is precisely because the dramatic aspects have either been misinterpreted or, even worse, failed to draw attention that the misunderstandings have continued until today. And, of course, Taylor himself was one of the worst in this respect. Not only did he believe that the hiccough incident was intended merely to be amusing (a view shared by many); he even attributed no purpose to Aristophanes' speech other than to be entertaining.These remarks are occasioned by the virtual neglect allotted to the dramatic action which is most important to our understanding of the dialogue, the scene which occurs at the beginning before any of the speeches are made. It is true that a few critics have sensed the significance of these episodes, and certainly the methodology of how to interpret dramatic action in Plato has been well understood; but the episode itself has never received a complete or proper interpretation.
The Direct Determination of Oxygen in Rubber. The Adaptation of the Ter Meulen Method to Rubber and Its Application to the Study of Aging

Abstract The ter Meulen method for the direct determination of oxygen has been adapted, with modifications, to the analysis of raw and vulcanized rubbers. Raney nickel has been found to be quite effective as the reducing catalyst and to be satisfactorily resistant to sulfur poisoning. The method has been applied to the study of the aging of vulcanized rubber in the Geer oven and oxygen bomb. From this study the following conclusions may be drawn: (1) The increase in combined oxygen is greater in the oxygen bomb than in the Geer oven. (2) Deterioration of rubber in the oxygen bomb involves oxidation primarily, whereas that occurring in the Geer oven involves not only oxidation but also thermal decomposition followed by volatilization of oxidation products. (3) The effectiveness of an antioxidant in retarding the absorption of oxygen in oxygen-bomb aging agrees well with its ability to maintain the physical properties of the stock in which it is present. (4) The deterioration in physical properties of a rub...
Police organization: A longitudinal examination of job attitudes in an urban police department.

This research was supported in part by the Organizational Behavior Research Center at the University of California, Irvine and the Office of Naval Research (Contract No. N00014-69-A-0200-9001 NR 151-315). I would like to gratefully acknowledge my academic colleagues, in particular Lyman W. Porterand Mason Haire fortheir insightful suggestions and assistance during various phases of this research.
Rescuing “Diversity” from Affirmative Action and Campus Activists

ABSTRACTAlthough diversity is constantly celebrated, the word is regularly used in a distorted if not dishonest manner. In connection with Fisher v. University of Texas and the 2003 Supreme Court cases involving the University of Michigan, for example, critics of racial preferences who promote color-blindness have been portrayed as enemies of “diversity.” Scrutinizing the recent explosion of racially themed campus protests reveals tendencies that are even more alarming. First, activists are demanding rapid increases in the hiring of minority faculty and staff while ignoring the antidiscrimination mandates imposed by the Civil Rights Act. Novel dangers to academic freedom and intellectual rigor, moreover, have been surfacing as student groups assert imperious authority over university affairs, threaten to squelch criticisms of Black Lives Matter, and demand that professors be evaluated for “microaggressions.”
TQM at HCA.

HCA is a pioneer in the continuing quality movement. Its chairman/CEO/president tells why, and the specifics of the company's own brand of TQM.
MPTP-induced duodenal ulcers in rat: Prevention by reuptake blockers for serotonin and norepinephrine, but not dopamine

Abstract Abnormal activity of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine may contribute to the pathophysiology of duodenal ulcers. We therefore studied the effects of neuropharmacological manipulations on 1-methly-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced duodenal ulcers. Duodenal ulcers were produced in rats by 12 subcutaneous injections of a neurotoxin, MPTP, over 4 days. At an MPTP dose of 20 mg · kg · injection, duodenal ulcers developed in 91% (43 of 47) of animals with low mortality. When neuropharmacological agents were preadministered before MPTP, the following effects on duodenal ulcers incidence were obtained. MAO-B inhibitors (pargyline [55%], deprenyl [43%])but not MAO-A inhibitors (clorgyline [91%]) significantly decreased the frequency of duodenal ulcers suggesting that, like MPTP-induced parkinsonism, formation of a toxic metabolite, probably 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium is involved. Reuptake blockers for serotonin (fluoxetine [18%], indalpine [25%]) also decreased the frequency of duodenal ulcers. Reuptake blockers for norepinephrine (desmethylimipramine [17%], tomoxepine [31%], but not amfonelic acid [82%]) decreased the frequency of duodenal ulcers. Reuptake blockers for dopamine (benztropine [73%], amfonelic acid [82%], GBR-12909 [80%]) did not protect against duodenal ulcers. However, GBR-12909 significantly decreased the severity of those duodenal ulcers that were produced. These data suggest that abnormally low levels of synaptic transmission in serotonergic and possibly noradrenergic neurons play an important role in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer while the role of dopamine may be limited to modulation of ulcer severity.
Response to an Online Version of a PRAMS-like Survey in South Dakota

Objectives Increasing response rates for research surveys is challenging, especially in minority populations. A unique minority group in South Dakota is the American Indian (AI) representing about 9 % of the state’s population and 15 % of the births. The purpose of this study was to determine race differences among White, AI, and Other Races (OR) in contact, participation, and response rates in the South Dakota Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (SDPRAMS). We determined response rates of an online version and evaluated demographic characteristics associated with online response. Methods The SDPRAMS was sent to 1814 mothers randomly sampled from 2014 birth certificate files. Results The weighted response rate was 71.3 %, and varied significantly among the three races: 79.1 % for White race, 48.6 % for AI race, and 60.6 % for OR (p < 0.01). A higher percent of White mothers responded online than AI and OR (35, 25 and 26 %, respectively; p = 0.001); no difference between AI and OR. Online responders were more likely to be married, educated beyond high school and having annual incomes ≥$25,000 (p ≤ 0.01 for all), but only education (p < 0.001) and income (p = 0.05) remained significant in the logistic models. 26 % of White, 43 % of AI, and 46 % of OR online respondents used a smartphone to respond (p = 0.01). Conclusions Response rates differed among races. An online version of the PRAMS is a viable method of response to offer participants. Response to the online version via smartphone may increase response from minority populations, emphasizing the importance of mobile friendly formats.
Taxonomy and Clinical Features of Movement Disorders

The sensorimotor system is the primary means of interaction with the world. Incoming (sensory) information is processed in the nervous system and animals may be measured by behavioral (usually motor) responses. Central to this merging of sensory and motor function are the structures of the basal ganglia: the substantia nigra, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus. A fundamental action of the basal ganglia is modulating muscle selection and inhibition, including scaling of movement magnitude. Disturbances in the basal ganglia lead to altered amplitude, rate, or content of movement, and may produce symptoms classified as movement disorders. This manuscript will review the functional architecture of the basal ganglia from a phylogenetic standpoint, and briefly review neuronal loops involved in cognitive, affective, and motor behaviors. In addition, this chapter will cover hypokinetic and hyperkinetic movement disorders, emphasizing etiology, historical and physical findings, pathogenesis, and treatment. Parkinson disease is the prototypical movement disorder associated with hypokinesia, or slowness of movement. The major hyperkinetic movement disorders are associated with excessive or increased involuntary movements and include the dyskinesia, tremor, dystonias, choreas, ballismus, myoclonus, stereotypies, and tic disorders.
Towards Safer Seafood: What Indonesian Law Should “Say” about Mercury-Contaminated Fish

Fish is a popular culinary dish in Indonesian culture and a major economic resource on which many people depend their livelihood. However, with severe pollution in Indonesian water, including uncontrolled mercury pollution which persists in the food chain and eventually gets into humans’ body as the top predator, fish safety is particularly worrying – especially taking into account the frequency of average Indonesians’ consumption of fish. In various jurisdictions, the management tool used by lawmakers and regulators with regard to this issue is information disclosure, or known as “fish advisory warning,” to cover the failure of command and control. This paper analyses whether Indonesian laws have provided the mandate or authority to issue fish advisory warning under Fishery Law, Food Law, Environmental Protection and Management Law, and Public Information Disclosure Law. It concluded that Indonesian law implies a statutory mandate for the government to issue fish advisory warning, at least in a situation involving the threat to general life – not specifically through the Fishery Law, Food Law, or EPML, but through PIDL’s immediate information mandate.
Detection Algorithm for Multi-Vehicular Target Tracking in Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

In this paper, we introduce Algorithm for Detection of Multi-targets in Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks (ADMAN). Wireless acoustic sensors are popular in networked data fusion systems and those also can be applied to vehicular target tracking systems. Even though data association is not possible when we use acoustic sensors (because measurement signal is superimposed signals of multiple sources), we can track vehicular-targets identifiably that are detected. We detach detection part from the whole tracking procedure (usually `tracking' means by both detection and estimation with data association) and provide with detection algorithm for the variable number of vehicular-targets in wireless acoustic sensor networks. ADMAN attaches every target to specific sensor exclusively so that detected vehicular target's location can be known approximately depending on the range of the sensor during the detection procedure. Estimation step can be applied after that and completes the tracking procedure. We focus on only detection part in this paper.
Performance comparison of 10 kV#x2013;15 kV high voltage SiC modules and high voltage switch using series connected 1.7 kV LV SiC MOSFET devices

. The 10 kV to 15 kV SiC MOSFET and 15 kV SiC IGBT are state of the art high voltage (HV) devices designed by Cree Inc. These devices are expected to increase the power density of converters and are expected to replace 4.5 kV/6.5 kV Si IGBTs. However, these are not commercially available. On the other hand low voltage (LV) 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET is commercially available, and it is replacing existing 1.7 kV Si-IGBT and it can meet immediate need of medium or high voltage (MV or HV) converter applications with series connection of these devices and can replace existing 4.5 kV/6.5 kV Silicon (Si) IGBT. Therefore, 10 kV-15 kV SiC modules and series connected 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET will be competing with each other for MV and HV converter applications. Hence, to explore the capability of low voltage SiC devices for MV or HV applications, a HV switch (10 kV-15 kV) using the series connection of 1.7 kV/300 A SiC MOSFET modules has been investigated. For making HV switch using series connected 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET, a simple RC snubber method has been used for dynamic voltage sharing to offset the turn-off delays due to mismatch of device characteristics and gate signals. Experimental switching characterization with different values of RC snubbers has been carried out, and a methodology has been outlined to find the optimal RC snubber which gives minimum voltage sharing difference, snubber losses and total semiconductor losses. In addition, experimental switching characterization of 10 kV-15 kV SiC modules is presented. Furthermore, a performance comparison of HV 10 kV-15 kV SiC modules and HV switch using series connected 1.7 kV SiC MOSFETs is presented in this paper.
Clinical relevance of pulmonary amyloidosis: an analysis of 76 autopsy-derived cases

Pulmonary involvement was common in amyloidosis but was not the immediate cause of death in most of these patients http://ow.ly/WK3N307cbE6
Sensitivity analysis of the effect of airflow velocity on the thermal comfort in underground mines

Abstract Displeasure in respect to air volumes and associated airflow velocities are well-documented complaints in underground mines. The complaints often differ in the form that there is too little airflow velocity or too much. In hot and humid climates such as those prevailing in many underground mines, convection heat transfer is the major mode of heat rejection from the human body, through the process of sweat evaporation. Consequently, the motion of the mine air plays a pivotal role in aiding this process. In this paper, a method was developed and adopted in the form of a “comfort model” to predict the optimum airflow velocity required to maintain heat comfort for the underground workforce at different activity levels (e.g. metabolic rates). Simulation analysis predicted comfort limits in the form of required sweat rate and maximum skin wetness. Tolerable worker heat exposure times were also predicted in order to minimize thermal strain due to dehydration. The results indicate that an airflow velocity in the range of 1–2 m/s is the ideal velocity in order to provide a stress/strain free climate and also guarantee thermal comfort for the workers. Therefore, an optimal airflow velocity of 1.5 m/s for the miners' thermal comfort is suggested.
Preference, opportunity, and choice: A multilevel analysis of diverse friendship formation:

Diverse friendships offer many benefits for individuals and for intergroup relations, yet similarity is a powerful predictor of attraction and relationship formation. The current study examined how...
Liver tissue metabolically transformed by alcohol induces immune recognition of liver self-proteins but not in vivo inflammation

This study shows that the metabolites of ethanol and lipid breakdown produce malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde adducts in the precision-cut liver slice model system. Additionally, precision-cut liver sl...
“What Do I Lack as a Woman?”: The Rhetoric of Megawati Sukarnoputri

After serving as Indonesia9s first female president from 2001 to 2004, Megawati Sukarnoputri remains one of Indonesia9s most influential politicians. However, Indonesian rhetoric in general and Megawati9s rhetoric in particular have been largely inaccessible to Western rhetorical scholarship because of barriers in language and culture. This essay extends scholarly access to Megawati9s rhetoric by transcribing, translating, and evaluating key portions of her May 27, 2014 address at the Rakernas Partai Nasdem (National Democratic Parties Convention). Contextualized within the Indonesian political-rhetorical situation, Megawati9s rhetoric embodies the necessity of paradox for negotiating identity as a powerful woman within a historically androcentric system.
Clinical considerations in the use of thermal and epithermal neutron beams for neutron capture therapy.

Two important developments in the field of neutron capture therapy (NCT) in recent years have been the ultra-wide thermal neutron beam1 and the epithermal neutron beam.2,3 Both these maneuvers improve the depth in tissue at which the therapeutic advantage falls to unity, often referred to as the “advantage depth”.3,4 Both neutron beams have contaminating dose components, i.e., those that are not tumor-cell specific. These include: incident gamma rays (those originating in the reactor core and those produced by neutron capture in the beam line’s structural materials); induced gamma rays (produced mainly by thermal neutron capture by hydrogen within the target tissue itself); background thermal neutrons (which interact mainly with tissue nitrogen by neutron capture, producing proton emission); and incident epithermal and fast neutrons (producing mainly recoil protons by scattering with tissue hydrogen). Whereas incident gammas and epithermal and fast neutrons (above about 30 keV) can be reduced to acceptably low levels by judicious beam design, the induced gamma and background thermal neutron doses are largely irreducible, although higher concentrations of 10 B in tumor diminishes their magnitude on a relative basis. Incident epithermal neutrons of 0.5 eV–30 keV, however, are the desirable components of an epithermal neutron beam. Such neutrons thermalize at depth in tissue, thereby producing the desired B reactions. Very simplistically, an epithermal beam may be considered equivalent to a thermal beam “injected” at a couple of centimeters depth in tissue.
Effect of adding fat and(or) milk products to the weanling pig diet on performance in the nursery and subsequent grow-finish stages.

Six experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of fat in diets containing a high level of milk products for weanling pigs. In Exp. 1, 192 pigs (6.6 kg and 23 d) were used to determine whether milk products ( 0 or 40%) in the diet influenced the utilization of fat ( 0 or 10%). No fat × milk product interactions were found. Adding milk products to the diet improved ( P < .01) ADG, ADFI, and gain/feed (G/ F). Adding fat to the diet did not influence perfor- mance. In Exp. 2, 3, and 4, 576 pigs (6.0 kg and 20 d) were used to determine the influence of fat level on performance. Adding soybean oil (0, 3, 6, or 9%) to the diet from d 0 to 14 after weaning had no influence on growth performance. Increasing soybean oil (0, 2, 4, or 6%) in the diet from d 14 to 35 had no influence on ADG; however, G/F improved linearly ( P < .001). In Exp. 5, 196 pigs (7.5 kg and 26 d) were used to determine the influence of fat source (soybean oil, corn oil, or tallow) on performance. Pig performance was not different among fat sources. In Exp. 6, 240 pigs (5.4 kg and 21 d) were used to determine the influence of fat and(or) milk product inclusion in the nursery diet on subsequent grow-finish performance. Adding milk products, but not fat, to the nursery diet improved ( P < .08) overall performance to market weight. These results indicate adding fat to the diet from d 0 to 14 after weaning had no influence on performance. Adding fat to the diet from d 14 to 35 improved G/F; however, it did not improve ADG or overall performance to market. Diet composition during the nursery period can affect subsequent performance.
Optimizing renal transplant Doppler ultrasound

Doppler ultrasound is routinely used for the post-operative evaluation of renal transplant patients. Knowledge of the surgical anatomy and application of a robust technique are important for appropriate evaluation of a transplanted kidney. In this review article, we discuss the surgical anatomy of renal transplantation, techniques to optimize image acquisition, as well as commonly associated pitfalls with Doppler ultrasound evaluation of renal grafts.
Hemodynamic and neuronal responses to cocaine differ in awake versus anesthetized animals: Optical brain imaging study

Abstract Cocaine is a highly addictive drug with complex pharmacological effects. Most preclinical imaging studies investigating the effects of cocaine in the brain have been performed under anesthesia, which confounds findings. To tackle this problem, we used optical imaging to compare the effects of cocaine in the awake versus the anesthetized states. For this purpose, we customized an air floating mobile cage to fit the multi-wavelength spectral and laser speckle optical imaging system and implanted a multi-layer cranial window over the mouse somatosensory cortex. Results showed significant differences in neuronal activity and hemodynamics at baseline and in response to cocaine between the awake and the anesthetized states (isoflurane anesthesia). Specifically, 1) at baseline isoflurane dilated cerebral vessels, increased cerebral blood flow and depressed neuronal Ca2+ activity compared to the awake state; 2) acute cocaine (1 mg/kg iv) vasoconstricted blood vessels (arteries and veins) and decreased cerebral blood flow and oxygenated hemoglobin in the anesthetized state but not in the awake condition; 3) cocaine increased the accumulation of mean intracellular Ca2+ in neurons in the anesthetized state but not in the awake condition; and 4) in the awake state acute cocaine increased neuronal activities (increased the frequency of Ca2+ transients) and increased neuronal synchronization. We also corroborated that in the awake state cocaine also disrupted neurovascular coupling. These findings indicate that both vascular and neuronal responses to cocaine are influenced by isoflurane anesthesia, which highlights the importance of imaging awake animals when studying the effects of cocaine or other drugs in the brain.
Toward Edge-Based Deep Learning in Industrial Internet of Things

As a typical application of the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial IoT (IIoT) connects all the related IoT sensing and actuating devices ubiquitously so that the monitoring and control of numerous industrial systems can be realized. Deep learning, as one viable way to carry out big-data-driven modeling and analysis, could be integrated in IIoT systems to aid the automation and intelligence of IIoT systems. As deep learning requires large computation power, it is commonly deployed in cloud servers. Thus, the data collected by IoT devices must be transmitted to the cloud for training process, contributing to network congestion and affecting the IoT network performance as well as the supported applications. To address this issue, in this article, we leverage the fog/edge computing paradigm and propose an edge computing-based deep learning model, which utilizes edge computing to migrate the deep learning process from cloud servers to edge nodes, reducing data transmission demands in the IIoT network and mitigating network congestion. Since edge nodes have limited computation ability compared to servers, we design a mechanism to optimize the deep learning model so that its requirements for computational power can be reduced. To evaluate our proposed solution, we design a testbed implemented in the Google cloud and deploy the proposed convolutional neural network (CNN) model, utilizing a real-world IIoT data set to evaluate our approach. 1 Our experimental results confirm the effectiveness of our approach, which cannot only reduce the network traffic overhead for IIoT but also maintain the classification accuracy in comparison with several baseline schemes. 1 Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this article in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.
Neurohumor Substances as Neural Growth Factors

Neural growth and differentiation is regulated by genetic and epigenetic factors. Although genetic regulation is only recently beginning to be explored, intrinsic epigenetic control of neural growth has been the focus of research for several investigators. The regulatory role of hormones such as thyroid hormones and steroid hormones in neural growth and differentiation has been well documented. More recently, we (Vernadakis and Gibson, 1974) and others (Lauder, 1979) have proposed that neurohumor substances such as acetylcholine, catecholamines and indolamines are involved in cellular processes including neuro-genesis before their involvement in neurotransmitter processes. As it has been abundantly demonstrated with hormones, it is probably the combination of actions and interaction of several neurohumor substances that influence cellular growth. Moreover, neuronalglial interrelationships and the influence of neurohumor substances thereon are important factors in neural growth and differentiation. Lauder and associates will discuss in this symposium their work with serotonin on neurogenesis. We will discuss primarily the role of norepinephrine in neural growth. We have used the chick embryo as an animal model to study maturational processes at the organismic level and neural culture to characterize differential responses of neurons and glial cells to neurohumor substances.
Cognitive Nihilism, Affective Nihilism, and Their Interplay

Given the heterogeneity of forms of will-weakness Nietzsche ascribes to the affective nihilist, I insist in this chapter that “affective nihilism” should be understood as an umbrella term with a variety of life-denying psychophysiological configurations as its referents. In this chapter, then, I more clearly establish the scope of the term “affective nihilism.” Although the majority of individuals Nietzsche designates as nihilists suffer from one of the varieties of nihilism described above, there are also individuals Nietzsche designates as nihilists who are not affective nihilists. After establishing the scope of affective nihilism in Nietzsche, I then go on to describe the relationship between affective nihilism and cognitive nihilism in detail.
Semantically Diverse Path Search

Location-Based Services are often used to find proximal Points of Interest PoI – e.g., nearby restaurants and museums, police stations, hospitals, etc. – in a plethora of applications. An important recently addressed variant of the problem not only considers the distance/proximity aspect, but also desires semantically diverse locations in the answer-set. For instance, rather than picking several close-by attractions with similar features – e.g., restaurants with similar menus; museums with similar art exhibitions – a tourist may be more interested in a result set that could potentially provide more diverse types of experiences, for as long as they are within an acceptable distance from a given (current) location. Towards that goal, in this work we propose a novel approach to efficiently retrieve a path that will maximize the semantic diversity of the visited PoIs that are within distance limits along a given road network. We introduce a novel indexing structure – the Diversity Aggregated R-tree, based on which we devise efficient algorithms to generate the answer-set – i.e., the recommended locations among a set of given PoIs – relying on a greedy search strategy. Our experimental evaluations conducted on real datasets demonstrate the benefits of proposed methodology over the baseline alternative approaches.
Early Prediction of Length of Stay After Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Abstract Background Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an evidence-based clinical pathway designed to standardize and optimize care. We studied the impact of ERAS and sought to identify the most important recommendations to predict shorter length of stay (LOS) after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients undergoing PD at our institution between January 2014 and June 2018. We compared clinicopathologic outcomes for patients before and after ERAS implementation. We defined “A-recommendations” as those that were graded “strong” and had “moderate” or “high” levels of evidence. We then compared outcomes of the ERAS group with adherence to “A-recommendations” and performed a subset analysis of “A-recommendations” over the first 72 h after surgery, which we termed “early factors”. Results A total of 191 patients underwent PD during the study period. We excluded 87 patients who had minimally invasive PD (22), vascular reconstruction (53), or both (12). Of the 104 patients studied, 56 (54%) were pre–ERAS and 48 (46%) were ERAS. There were no differences in comorbidities or demographics between these groups, and morbidity, mortality, and readmission rates were also similar (P > 0.6). Median LOS was 3.5 d shorter in the ERAS group (7 versus 10.5 d, P 5 “early factors” had a median LOS of 6 d, whereas patients with Conclusions ERAS is an effective protocol that standardizes care and reduces LOS after PD. Implementation of ERAS resulted in a 3.5-day reduction in our LOS with no change in morbidity, mortality, or readmissions. Adherence to ERAS protocol “A-recommendations” and ≥5 “early factors” may be predictive of shortened LOS.
Role of Runx2 in prostate development and stem cell function.

Background RUNX2, a critical transcription factor in bone development, is also expressed in prostate and breast where it has been linked to cancer progression and cancer stem cells. However, its role in normal prostate biology has not been previously examined. Methods Selective growth of murine prostate epithelium under non-adherent conditions was used to enrich for stem cells. Expression of runt domain transcription factors, stem cell and prostate marker messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Effects of Runx2 loss and gain-of-function on prostate epithelial cells were assessed using cells isolated from Runx2loxp/loxp mice transduced with Adeno-Cre or by Adeno-Runx2 transduction of wild type cells. Cellular distribution of RUNX2 and prostate-associated proteins was assessed using immunofluorescence microscopy. In vivo Runx2 knock out was achieved by tamoxifen treatment of Nkx3.1CreERT; Runx2loxp/loxp mice. Results Prostate epithelium-derived spheroids, which are enriched in stem cells, were shown to contain elevated levels of Runx2 mRNA. Spheroid formation required Runx2 since adenovirus-Cre mediated knockout of Runx2 in prostatic epithelial cells from Runx2loxp/loxp mice severely reduced spheroid formation and stem cell markers while Runx2 overexpression was stimulatory. In vivo, Runx2 was detected during early prostate development (E16.5) and in adult mice where it was present in basal and luminal cells of ventral and anterior lobes. Prostate-selective deletion of Runx2 in tamoxifen-treated Nkx3.1CreERT; Runx2loxp/loxp mice severely inhibited growth and maturation of tubules in the anterior prostate and reduced expression of stem cell markers and prostate-associated genes. Conclusion This study demonstrates an important role for Runx2 in prostate development that may be explained by actions in prostate epithelial stem cells.