cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do Colleges Perform the Same Following Developmental Education Reform? The Case of Florida’s Senate Bill 1720

Developmental education (DE) reform took place among the 28 Florida College System (FCS) institutions in 2014. In this study, we examine how cohort-based passing rates in college-level English and math courses changed at different colleges for pre- and post-policy period and explore what institutional characteristics were related with various institutional trajectories of cohort-based course passing rates in the post-policy period. Employing longitudinal data analysis, we found that colleges performed similarly regarding cohort-based passing rates in both college-level English and combined math courses before DE reform and had a similar elevation in the cohort-based English course passing rates when DE reform took place in 2014. However, colleges experienced different change patterns in the years following DE reform. Specifically, colleges located in rural areas and with more White students experienced relatively lower college-level English passing rates in the post-policy period than their counterparts. Different colleges had slight differences in the trajectory of college-level math passing rates by cohort after SB 1720 in 2014, but institutional characteristics in this study did not adequately capture inter-institutional differences.
The Cost of a 70 Percent Marginal Tax Rate

Proposals for raising the maximum statutory tax rate to 70 percent, with dual objectives of generating additional revenue for new spending and curtailing inequality, are gaining attention among both academics and media commentators. While the idea might be superficially attractive, there is little reason to believe that a 70 percent marginal tax rate will generate greater revenue or help lower-income Americans — or that it will accomplish these goals with minimal effect on the economy. On the contrary, similar marginal tax increases in neighboring Canada in 2015 actually produced less revenue: high-income earners paid billions less owing to behavioral adjustment. Higher tax rates, broadly speaking, discourage people from acquiring skills that could increase income and discourage businesses from expanding. In addition, research on the effects of these tax rates shows they will lower wage growth for lower-income American workers. Comparisons to historic norms about tax rates ignore the past four decades of globalization and international tax changes. Lastly, in the context of new spending proposals, this tax change is neither sufficient nor desirable.
Management of complex surgical wounds of the back: identifying an evidence-based approach.

Background Postoperative dehiscence and surgical site infection after spinal surgery can carry serious morbidity. Multidisciplinary involvement of plastic surgery is essential to minimizing morbidity and achieving definitive closure. However, a standardized approach is lacking. The aim of this study was to identify effective reconstructive interventions for the basis of an evidence-based management protocol. Methods A retrospective review was performed at a single tertiary institution for 45 patients who required 53 reconstruction procedures with plastic surgery for wounds secondary to spinal surgery from 2010 to 2019. Statistical analysis was performed for demographics, comorbidities, and treatment methods. Primary outcomes were postoperative complications, including dehiscence, seroma, and infection. The secondary outcome was time to healing. Results The overall complication rate was 32%, with dehiscence occurring in 17%, seroma in 15% and infection in 11% of cases. Median follow-up was 10 months (interquartile range, 4-23). Use of antibiotic beads did not affect rate of infection occurrence after wound closure (P=0.146). Use of incisional negative pressure wound therapy (iNPWT) was significant for reduced time to healing (P=0.001). Patients treated without iNPWT healed at median of 67.5 days while the patients who received iNPWT healed in 33 days. Demographics and comorbidities between these two groups were similar. Conclusions This data provides groundwork for an evidence-based approach to soft tissue reconstruction and management of dehiscence after spinal surgery. Timely involvement of plastic surgery in high-risk patients and utilization of evidence-based interventions such as iNPWT are essential for improving outcomes in this population.
Association Between Opioid Use and Diabetes in Patients With Ankle Fracture Repair.

BACKGROUND Ankle fractures in patients with diabetes mellitus have long been recognized as a challenge to practicing clinicians. Ankle fracture patients with diabetes may experience prolonged healing, higher risk of hardware failure, an increased risk of wound dehiscence and infection, and higher pain scores pre- and postoperatively, compared to patients without diabetes. However, the duration of opioid use among this patient cohort has not been previously evaluated. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively compare the time span of opioid utilization between ankle fracture patients with and without diabetes mellitus. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study using our institution's TriNetX database. A total of 640 ankle fracture patients were included in the analysis, of whom 73 had diabetes. All dates of opioid use for each patient were extracted from the data set, including the first and last date of opioid prescription. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression models were employed to explore the differences in opioid use between patients with and without diabetes after ankle fracture repair. A 2-tailed P value of .05 was set as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS Logistic regression models revealed that patients with diabetes are less likely to stop using opioids within 90 days, or within 180 days, after repair compared to patients without diabetes. Female sex, neuropathy, and prefracture opioid use are also associated with prolonged opioid use after ankle fracture repair. CONCLUSION In our study cohort, ankle fracture patients with diabetes were more likely to require prolonged opioid use after fracture repair. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level III, prognostic.
Autocrine Regulation of Macrophage Differentiation and 92-kDa Gelatinase Production by Tumor Necrosis Factor-α via α5β1 Integrin in HL-60 Cells

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene is one of the early response genes induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) in human HL-60 myeloid leukemia cells. In the present study, we examined the role of the TNF-α autocrine loop in PMA-induced macrophage differentiation and gene expression of 92- and 72-kDa gelatinases (MMP-9 and MMP-2). In HL-60 cells, PMA inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell adhesion and spreading, expression of surface maturation marker OKM1 and phagocytic activity, as well as the expression of both gelatinases, which all characterize the macrophage phenotype. In contrast, TNF-α alone was only effective in inhibiting cell proliferation. Blocking the endogenous TNF-α activity with neutralizing anti-TNF-α antibodies abolished all these PMA-induced events with the exception of MMP-2 gene expression. Since fibronectin (FN)-mediated cell adhesion and spreading are prerequisite for both macrophage differentiation and MMP-9 gene expression in HL-60 cells, we hypothesized that TNF-α might be involved in modulating the expression of either the FN or its integrin receptor genes. Whereas PMA substantially enhanced the steady state mRNA and protein levels of both FN and α5β1 integrins, TNF-α alone had little effect on the expression of these genes. However, anti-TNF-α antibodies blocked PMA-induced augmentation of both α5and β1 integrin gene expression without affecting the expression of the FN gene. Our results suggest that TNF-α may regulate macrophage differentiation and critical matrix-degrading activities of myeloid progenitor cells in an autocrine manner by augmenting surface levels of the α5β1integrin, thus promoting interactions with the extracellular matrix, a key event for maturation and migration of these cells during inflammation.
Effects of the Foil Flatness on Irradiation Performance of U10Mo Monolithic Mini-Plates

Monolithic plate-type fuels comprise of a high density, low enrichment, U10Mo fuel foil encapsulated in a cladding material. This concept generates several fabrication challenges such as flatness, centering or thickness variation. There are concerns, if these parameters have implications on overall performance. To investigate these inquiries, the effects of the foil flatness were studied. For this, a representative plate was simulated for an ideal case. The simulations were repeated for additional cases with various foil curvatures to evaluate the effects on the irradiation performance. The results revealed that the stresses and strains induced by fabrication process are not affected by the flatness of the foil. Furthermore, fabrication stresses in the foil are relieved relatively fast in the reactor. The effects of the foil flatness on peak irradiation stressstrains are minimal. There is a slight increase in temperature for the case with maximum curvature. The major impact is on the displacement characteristics. Furthermore, while the case with a flat foil produces a symmetrical swelling, if the foil is curved, more swelling occurs on the thin-cladding side and the plate bows during irradiation.
Investigation of combustion control in a dump combustor using the feedback free fluidic oscillator

A feedback free fluidic oscillator was designed and integrated into a single element rocket combustor with the goal of suppressing longitudinal combustion instabilities. The fluidic oscillator uses internal fluid dynamics to create an unsteady outlet jet at a specific frequency. An array of nine fluidic oscillators was tested to mimic modulated secondary oxidizer injection into the combustor dump plane. The combustor has a coaxial injector that uses gaseous methane and decomposed hydrogen peroxide with an overall O/F ratio of 11.7. A sonic choke plate on an actuator arm allows for continuous adjustment of the oxidizer post acoustics enabling the study of a variety of instability magnitudes. The fluidic oscillator unsteady outlet jet performance is compared against equivalent steady jet injection and a baseline design with no secondary oxidizer injection. At the most unstable operating conditions, the unsteady outlet jet saw a 67% reduction in the instability pressure oscillation magnitude when compared to the steady jet and baseline data. Additionally, computational fluid dynamics analysis of the combustor gives insight into the flow field interaction of the fluidic oscillators. The results indicate that open loop high frequency propellant modulation for combustion control can be achieved through fluidic devices that require no moving parts or electrical power to operate.
Data analysis in dielectric time-domain spectroscopy

An approach for overcoming accuracy problems connected with dielectric time-domain spectroscopy is described. It is pointed out that, for an accurate analysis of data with a large dynamic range and recorded with changes in instrumental parameters such as gain switching, several steps are essential. These include (1) noise reduction, (2) adjustment for instrumental changes, called data patching, and (3) transform methods such as the Laplace transform, to bring the data into the frequency domain. The authors attempt to show how this approach can overcome accuracy problems. They explain why the common practice of interpolation on data points, e.g., with cubic or B splines, may be the worst method of noise reduction for this type of instrumental data and should be replaced by fitting the data to given functions, determined by the application. >
Using Critical Interpretive Lenses to Examine Glass Ceiling Effects through Qualitative Research.

This chapter highlights the importance of qualitative approaches to studying the glass ceiling in contrast to exclusively quantitative measures.
The Relative Share of Labor in United States Agriculture, 1949–1968

The sources of change in the relative share of labor in the American agricultural sector are examined within the framework of neoclassical production theory. It is found that the observed decline in labor's relative share is due to the increasing capital-labor ratio adjusted for changing efficiency of factors and to the elasticity of substitution which is greater than unity. It is also found that the efficiency of capital is increasing faster than that of labor and that technological change in American agriculture has been labor-saving.
Theoretical model for myocardial trabeculation.

During the morphogenetic process of myocardial trabeculation, most of the cardiac jelly of the initially smooth-walled heart is replaced by sponge-like muscle. The mechanisms that drive and regulate this important process are poorly understood. Using a theoretical model, we examined the possible role that cytoskeletal contraction plays during the initial stages of trabeculation. The myocardium is modeled as a thin viscoelastic membrane consisting of contractile (stress) fibers embedded in an isotropic incompressible matrix, with the interaction of myocardial cells and cardiac jelly fibers providing long-range mechanical effects. The stress fibers are assumed to behave like smooth muscle and to normally operate on the descending limb of their stress-stretch curve. Mechanical instability due to the effectively negative stiffness then leads to the creation of pattern. As a first approximation, computations were carried out for a flat rectangular membrane with stress fibers aligned along a single direction. The computed deformation patterns depend strongly on the magnitude and anisotropy of the long-range effects. Given plausible assumptions about the mechanical properties of the embryonic heart, the model predicts trabecular patterns similar to those observed in the embryo, including the development of circumferential ridges and relatively thin regions (“holes”) in the trabecular sheets. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Analysis of perchlorate, thiocyanate, nitrate and iodide in human amniotic fluid using ion chromatography and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract Because of health concerns surrounding in utero exposure to perchlorate, we developed a sensitive and selective method for quantifying iodide, as well as perchlorate and other sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) inhibitors in human amniotic fluid using ion chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Iodide and NIS inhibitors were quantified using a stable isotope-labeled internal standards (Cl18O4−, S13CN− and 15NO3− with excellent assay accuracy of 100%, 98%, 99%, 95% for perchlorate, thiocyanate, nitrate and iodide, respectively, in triplicate analysis of spiked amniotic fluid sample). Excellent analytical precision (
Using Computers to Study Consistency of Cognitive Processing of Instruction.

Abstract This study examined the consistency of macroprocessing, or cognitive processing of instruction. A total of 118 students were randomly assigned to read two passages dealing with data processing and heart disease in one of three ways: with adjunct questions and required review, optional review, or without questions. Text was displayed on computers and students could use various macroprocessing options, such as review, taking notes, etc.… The results indicated that student voluntary use of macroprocessing options were highly variable and ineffective, yet paradoxically, strongly consistent across the different content domains. The implications of these findings for the study and training of macroprocesses, and for the investigation of individual differences in learning, are discussed.
The epic of personal development and the mystery of small working memory

. A partial analogy exists between the lifespan neuropsychological development of individuals and the biological evolution of species: In both of these major categories of growth, progressive emergence of wholes transcends inherently limited part-processes. The remarkably small purview of each moment of consciousness experienced by an individual may be a crucial aspect of maintaining organization in that individual's cognitive development, protecting it from combinatorial chaos. In this essay I summarize experimental psychology research showing that working memory capacity comprises the so-called magical number 7±2 items, not only for words and digits but for spatial items and other sorts of cognitive materials, and not only in humans but also in other species. This is so to such an extent that 7±2 may be a “constant of nature.” The small quantity range 7±2 independent items, which builds upon a more elementary, instantaneous working memory capacity of three or four items, is surprisingly independent of the time duration of a cognitive task. Moreover, it is largely independent of ontogeny. Explanations of these powerful facts about working memory are offered here within both a functionalistic framework and a framework of hypothetical neural processes. At the neural level, working memory dynamics may comprise certain brain wave harmonics or topological relationships in the sheetlike cortex. Within the functionalistic framework, I suggest an additional analogy, pertaining to cultural evolution, with Tom Gilbert's work on risk analysis and “the global problematic” that follows from unforeseen consequences of the expansiveness of human ambition. Several connections are drawn with ideas presented by participants in the Chicago Religion and Science Group about how theologies and sciences try to understand the possibility of adaptive exercises of human freedom in the face of the extreme finiteness of each human individual.
Cloning of an intrinsic human TFIID subunit that interacts with multiple transcriptional activators

TFIID is a multisubunit protein complex comprised of the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and multiple TBP-associated factors (TAFs). The TAFs in TFIID are essential for activator-dependent transcription. The cloning of a complementary DNA encoding a human TFIID TAF, TAFII55, that has no known homolog in Drosophila TFIID is now described. TAFII55 is shown to interact with the largest subunit (TAFII230) of human TFIID through its central region and with multiple activators--including Sp1, YY1, USF, CTF, adenoviral E1A, and human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 Tat proteins--through a distinct amino-terminal domain. The TAFII55-interacting region of Sp1 was localized to its DNA-binding domain, which is distinct from the glutamine-rich activation domains previously shown to interact with Drosophila TAFII110. Thus, this human TFIID TAF may be a co-activator that mediates a response to multiple activators through a distinct mechanism.
Perceived versus actual computer-email-web fluency

The purpose of this study was to compare people's perception of their computer-email-web (CEW) fluency to their actual abilities performing related tasks. A total of 61 subjects (51% female, mean age 19) participated in the research sessions. Participants completed the CEW fluency scale [Bunz, U. (2004). The computer-email-web (CEW) fluency scale - Development and validation. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 17(4), 477-504.], the computer anxiety ratings scale [Heinssen, R. K., Glass, C. R., & Knight L. A. (1987). Assessing computer anxiety: Development and validation of the computer anxiety rating scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 3, 49-59.], and an applied protocol developed for this study. Results show that the less computer anxiety subjects reported, the higher they perceived their CEW fluency to be (p=.001), but there was no significant relationship between computer anxiety and actual fluency (p=.12). There was no gender difference as to actual CEW fluency (p=.11), but women perceived their fluency lower than did men (p=.012). Overall results validate the robustness of the CEW fluency scale, help identify CEW fluency as a digital divide component, and underscore the importance of initiatives to raise women's technological self-confidence.
Omni-face detection for video/image content description

An omni-face detection scheme for image/video content description is proposed in this paper. It provides the ability to extract high-level features in terms of human activities rather than low-level features like color, texture and shape. The system relies on an omni-face detection system capable of locating human faces over a broad range of views in color images or videos with complex scenes. It uses the presence of skin-tone pixels coupled with shape, edge pattern and face-specific features to locate faces. The main distinguishing contribution of this work is being able to detect faces irrespective of their poses, including frontal-view and side-view, whereas contemporary systems deal with frontal-view faces only. The other novel aspects of the work lie in its iterative candidate filtering to segment objects from extraneous region, the use of Hausdorff distance-based normalized similarity measure to identify side-view facial profiles, and the exploration of hidden Markov model (HMM) to verify the presence of a side-view face. Image and video can be assigned with semantic descriptors based on human face information for later indexing and retrieval.
A disposable on-chip phosphate sensor with planar cobalt microelectrodes on polymer substrate.

Abstract Disposable microsensors on polymer substrates consisting of fully integrated on-chip planar cobalt (Co) microelectrodes, Ag/AgCl reference electrodes, and microfluidic channels have been designed, fabricated, and characterized for phosphate concentration measurement in aqueous solution. The planar Co microelectrode shows phosphate-selective potential response over the range from 10 −5 to 10 −2 M in acidic medium (pH 5.0) for both inorganic (KH 2 PO 4 ) and organic (adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine 5′-diphosphates (ADP)) phosphate compounds. This microfabricated sensor also demonstrates significant reproducibility with a small repeated sensing deviation (i.e. relative standard deviation (R.S.D.)
Indicators of increased breast cancer risk in humans

Specific atypical histological patterns of epithelial hyperplasia (AH) indicate a medically relevant risk of breast cancer development in 5-10% of women with otherwise benign biopsies. This risk is about four times that of similar women, i.e., of the same age and at risk for the same length of time. These relative risks are not stable with time and fall 10-15 years after detection. Absolute risk for invasive breast cancer after AH is about 10% in 10-15 years after biopsy and is most certain for perimenopausal women. Proliferative disease without atypia predicts only a slight elevation of risk with a relative risk (RR) of 1.5 to 2 times that of the general population. There is such a strong interaction between family history and AH that it is relevant to consider women with atypical hyperplasia who have a positive family history (FH) of breast cancer separately from those who do not. The absolute risk of breast cancer development in women with AH without a FH was 8% in 10 years (RR about 4), whereas those with a positive family history experienced a risk of about 20% at 15 years (RR of about 10). This interaction of AH and FH has also been observed in other recent studies. Low replacement doses of conjugated estrogen after menopause do not further elevate risk beyond that identified by histology.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The propagation of shock waves in gases with arbitrary property gradients

Ein Verfahren zur Berechnung der Zustandsgrossen hinter geraden Verdichtungsstossen in Gasen mit beliebigen Gradienten der Zustandsvariablen vor dem Stoss wird beschrieben. Mit Hilfe einer modifizierten Methode infinitesimaler Kontaktdiskontinuitaten konnte eine Losung des Problems erreicht und bisher unbekannt gebliebene Charakteristiken der Losung aufgezeigt werden. Das ist am Beispiel von Stosswellen verschiedener Starke, die in eine Standardatmosphare laufen, erlautert und mit Ergebnissen verglichen, die mit anderen weniger allgemeinen Losungsmethoden gewonnen wurden. Ein Korrekturfaktor β, der den Charakter der Losung entscheidend beeinflusst, konnte iterativ bestimmt werden.
Computing in the arts: a model curriculum

In this paper, we describe Computing in the Arts (CITA), an innovative interdisciplinary major, which combines computer science with artistic theory and practice. CITA is relatively easy to implement across a variety of higher education institutions, because it repurposes existing courses and resources in computer science and the arts. CITA is relatively easy to implement across a variety of higher education institutions, because it repurposes existing courses and resources in computer science and the arts. At our institution, this involves three tracks (music, visual art, and theatre). CITA incorporates four synthesis courses, one per academic year, which help students interweave the two distinct curricular experiences into a cohesive whole in preparation for their capstone project. CITA has been fully implemented at the authors' institution. In the three years of its existence, it has increased participation in computer science by 23% mainly from an underserved population (students interested in the arts). Approximately 40% of these students are women. While these students are not necessarily strong in mathematics, they tend to be strong in design and creativity, thus enriching the pool of computing professionals with people able to envision new technologies and surprising innovations. Such people are fully versed in computer science so they can easily collaborate with more traditional computing professionals such as software engineers and scientific programmers. We discuss our successes, and provide pointers for others to establish similar degree programs, including potential challenges and lessons learned.
Assessing Fan Flutter Stability in Presence of Inlet Distortion Using One-Way and Two-Way Coupled Methods

Concerns regarding noise, propulsive efficiency, and fuel burn are inspiring aircraft designs wherein the propulsive turbomachines are partially (or fully) embedded within the airframe; such designs present serious concerns with regard to aerodynamic and aeromechanic performance of the compression system in response to inlet distortion. Previously, a preliminary design of a forward-swept high-speed fan exhibited flutter concerns in clean-inlet flows, and the present author then studied this fan further in the presence of off-design distorted in-flows. Continuing this research, a three-dimensional, unsteady, Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics code is again applied to analyze and corroborate fan performance with clean inlet flow and now with a simplified, sinusoidal distortion of total pressure at the aerodynamic interface plane. This code, already validated in its application to assess aerodynamic damping of vibrating blades at various flow conditions using a one-way coupled energy-exchange approach, is modified to include a two-way coupled timemarching aeroelastic simulation capability. The two coupling methods are compared in their evaluation of flutter stability in the presence of distorted in-flows.
Evaluation of a student-run smoking cessation clinic for a medically underserved population.

Background Smoking is common among medically underserved populations. Accessible resources to encourage and support smoking cessation among these patients are limited. Volunteer medical student-run free smoking cessation clinics may provide an effective option to help these individuals achieve smoking abstinence. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a student-run clinic, we analyzed a case series of patients receiving care in a medical student-run Smoking Cessation Clinic (SCC) at the Rochester, Minnesota Salvation Army Good Samaritan Health Clinic (GSHC).
Analyst coverage of acquiring firms and value creation in cross-border acquisitions

Abstract We analyze cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) in the context of growth options by investigating the shareholder wealth effects of acquirers and targets and changes in financial analysts’ earnings forecasts for acquiring firms announcing CBAs. Our sample of 16,435 global CBAs over the 1984–2008 period is conditional on acquirers being followed by financial analysts. We find that for developed country acquirers with developed country targets, there is a statistically significant positive announcement CAR for acquirer firms, for the combined (acquirer and target) firms, and a significant post-CBA increase in the earnings forecast for the acquiring firms. However, the announcement CARs for developed country acquirers with developing country targets, and for developing country acquirers with targets in any country are not significant. In the analysis of earnings forecasts, we find that for all acquirers, the post-CBA median consensus earnings forecast is significantly higher than the pre-CBA forecast. Our results suggest that CBAs are a means by which acquirers exercise value creating growth options, but only in the case when developed country acquirers buy developed country targets.
Mass Determination of Megadalton-DNA Electrospray Ions Using Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry

Charge detection mass spectrometry (CD-MS) has been used to determine the mass of double-stranded, circular DNA and single-stranded, circular DNA in the range of 2500 to 8000 base pairs (1.5–5.0 MDa). Simultaneous measurement of the charge and velocity of an electrostatically accelerated ion allows a mass determination of the ion, with instrument calibration determined independently of samples. Positive ion mass spectra of electrosprayed commercial DNA samples supplied in tris(hydroxymethyl)ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid buffer, diluted in 50 vol. % acetonitrile, were obtained without cleanup of the sample. A CD mass spectrum constructed from 3000 ion measurements takes 10 min to acquire and yields the DNA molecular mass directly (mass resolution = 6). The data collected represent progress toward a more automatable alternative to sizing of DNA by gel electrophoresis. In addition to the mass spectra, CD-MS generates charge versus mass plots, which provide another means to investigate the creation and fate of large electrospray ions.
Stationary corner vortex configurations

Given a stable configuration of point vortices for steady two dimensional inviscid, incompressible fluid flow in a domainD, it is shown that there is another stable configuration of stationary point vortices inD with vortices near the original vortices plus additional vortices near any of the convex corners ofD. It follows that there are steady flows which have a finite sequence, of arbitrary length, of vortices of alternating sign descending into any convex corner ofD. Several computed examples are given.
Doped C60 Study from First Principles Simulation

We have performed first principles density functional theory method simulations on electronic structures of B, N, Co, P, and Bi doped C60 solids. Our electronic structure simulations show that boron, phosphorous, and cobalt doped face-centered cubic (FCC) C60 solids have the electronic structures of n-type semiconductors. Nitrogen doped FCC C60 solid has an electronic structure similar to those of a p-type semiconductor. P doped C60 is a potential good candidate in thermoelectric application. For Bi doped C60, a transformation from n-type to p-type semiconductor and gradually to metal, which corresponding to the Bi:C60 dopant ratio at 1:60, 2:60, and 3:60, respectively, can be seen from our electronic density of states (DOS) analysis. There are volume contraction and charge transfer increasing in the 2:60 of Bi doped C60 results compared with those of 1:60 Bi doped C60 case. The charge transfer at a tetrahedral site is as three times larger as that of octahedral site. For the concentration of Bi doped C60 higher than 3:60, the system is expected to be a superconductor.
Shear thinning and antithixotropic behavior of a heated cross‐linked waxy maize starch dispersion

Abstract Cross‐linked waxy maize (CWM) starch dispersions (2.6%, w/w) were heated in the range 60°C to 80°C and in a retort at 120°C. All the heated dispersions exhibited shear‐thinning behavior except for that heated for 15 min at 60°C which showed slight shear‐thickening. The consistency index (K) increased with heating time and was exponentially correlated to the granule size and the notional volume fraction. CWM starch dispersions heated for 8, 15 and 30 min at 120°C exhibited counterclockwise (antithixotropic) shear rate‐shear stress hysteresis loops. Similar behavior was observed when dispersions were sheared in three continuous cycles and they became more viscous with each shear cycle. Clusters of granules were found in sheared retorted dispersions that may have been shear induced. Gelatinized granules viewed with SEM appeared to have folds and crevices which may have aided in cluster formation.
The Effect of Feedback on Alternans Formation in the Heart

A beat-to-beat alternation in the duration of the action potential (APD) of myocytes, i.e. alternans, is believed to be a direct precursor of ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the whole heart. A common technique for the prediction of alternans uses the restitution curve, the nonlinear functional relationship between the APD and the preceding diastolic interval (DI). It was proposed that alternans appears when the magnitude of the slope of the restitution curve exceeds one, known as the restitution hypothesis. However, this restitution hypothesis was derived in the presence of feedback, i.e. the partial dependence of the DI on the immediate preceding APD. Physiologically, the heart rate exhibits substantial variations, known as heart rate variability (HRV), which might affect the feedback relationship. In this manuscript, we aim to investigate the effect of feedback on alternans formation in the heart.© 2012 ASME
Dietary uptake and blood transport of Vargula (crustacean) luciferin in the bioluminescent fish, Porichthys notatus

Abstract 1. 1. Only very small amounts of Vargula luciferin are required in the diet to induce bio- luminescence capability in non-luminescent Porichthys . 2. 2. Porichthys possesses a preferential mechanism for absorbing Vargula luciferin from the gut. 3. 3. Both naturally luminescent and induced Porichthys maintain a low steady-state level of luciferin in the blood. 4. 4. Vargula luciferin binds non-specifically to Porichthys erythrocytes and plasma components, preventing its rapid autoxidation. 5. 5. Long-lasting bioluminescence capability in Porichthys is due to the fish's ability to turn over luciferin.
Changes of Opinion by Students as a Result of a Course in Public Finance

(1962). Changes of Opinion by Students as a Result of a Course in Public Finance. The Social Studies: Vol. 53, No. 7, pp. 249-253.
Changes in regional myocardial blood flow and variable development of hypertrophy after aortic banding in puppies

Supravalvar aortic banding was performed in 6 to 12 week puppies. Sixteen animals were studied 7.3 (3.5 to 10) months later, closed-chested under morphine-chloralose, catheters being positioned in the great vessels and heart, including the left atrium for microsphere injection. Compared with 11 controls, eight dogs developed biventricular hypertrophy, four isolated left ventricular hypertrophy and four had no hypertrophy. The left ventricular systolic pressure was similar (P > 0.05) in these 3 banded groups (mean, 30 ± 2 |SEM] kPa, [222 ± 16 mmHg], n = 16|. The left ventricle was divided into three coronal slices with approximately 59 samples being taken from subendocardial, midwall, and subepicardial layers and additional samples from the atria and right ventricle for regional myocardial flow measurement. As left ventricular hypertrophy increased, the subendocardial/subepicardial flow ratio decreased (r = −0.8). Heterogeneity of left ventricular regional myocardial flow, including a base-to-apex decrease in flow, present in controls, was markedly reduced in the banded dogs. Analysis of variance was found to be the most sensitive test for detecting left ventricular perfusion abnormalities since in banded dogs without hypertrophy, total and regional subendocardial/subepicardial flow ratios were not significantly different from control values, whereas the subendocardial circumferential flow pattern determined by analysis of variance was significantly different from control in these dogs (P < 0.05).
Unipolar transport and interface charge transfer in nanostructured CdTe/polymer hybrid films

We report detailed photoconductance measurements on hybrid semiconductor films consisting of CdTe nanoparticles in a poly[2-methoxy-5-(${2}^{\ensuremath{'}}$-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene (MEH-PPV) matrix. Our results show that a staggered band alignment between organic and inorganic semiconductors produces an efficient separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs and promotes a unipolar transport in each of the semiconductors. Hole drift mobilities in the MEH-PPV film and electron drift mobilities in the CdTe nanoparticle network are determined. We find clear evidence for the transport in the two phases of the hybrid film to be electrically uncoupled, and we conclude that these properties can lead to improved electron transport properties.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Abstract The prognosis for adult and pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with chemotherapy alone is extremely poor. An overview of the biology and clinical features of Ph+ ALL is presented in this review. The experience with chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) is summarized. Allogeneic SCT offers a curative option for patients who have an appropriately matched donor. Variables affecting outcome after allogeneic SCT, including age, stage of disease, source of stem cells, preparatory regimen, and molecular and cytogenetic details, are analyzed. The City of Hope/Stanford University experience with fractionated total body irradiation and high-dose etoposide is described, and future directions for monitoring and treating minimal residual disease are discussed. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2000;6(6):597-603.
Toward a unified object storage foundation for scalable storage systems

Distributed object-based storage models are an increasingly popular alternative to traditional block-based or file-based storage abstractions in large-scale storage systems. Object-based storage models store and access data in discrete, byte-addressable containers to simplify data management and cleanly decouple storage systems from underlying hardware resources. Although many large-scale storage systems share common goals of performance, scalability, and fault tolerance, their underlying object storage models are typically tailored to specific use cases and semantics, making it difficult to reuse them in other environments and leading to unnecessary fragmentation of datacenter storage facilities. In this paper, we investigate a number of popular data models used in cloud storage, big data, and high-performance computing (HPC) storage and describe the unique features that distinguish them. We then describe three representative use cases-a POSIX file system name space, a column-oriented key/value database, and an HPC application checkpoint-and investigate the storage functionality they require. We also describe our proposed data model and show how our approach provides a unified solution for the previously described use cases.
Explaining Impossible High-Level Robot Behaviors

A key challenge in robotics is the generation of controllers for autonomous, high-level robot behaviors comprising nontrivial sequences of actions, including reactive and repeated tasks. When constructing controllers to fulfill such tasks, it is often not known a priori whether the intended behavior is even feasible; plans are modified on the fly to deal with failures that occur during execution, often still without guaranteeing correct behavior. Recently, formal methods have emerged as a powerful tool to automatically generate autonomous robot controllers that guarantee desired behaviors expressed by a class of temporal logic specifications. However, when the specification cannot be fulfilled, these approaches do not provide the user with a source of failure, making the troubleshooting of specifications an unstructured and time-consuming process. This paper describes an algorithm to automatically analyze an unsynthesizable specification in order to identify causes of failure. It also introduces an interactive game to explore possible causes of unsynthesizability, in which the user attempts to fulfill the robot specification against an adversarial environment. The proposed algorithm and game are implemented as features within the LTLMoP toolkit for robot mission planning.
Esther Shub: Cinema is my life

(1978). Esther Shub: Cinema is my life. Quarterly Review of Film Studies: Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 429-448.
On the ring of differentially-algebraic entire functions

Let be the ring of all entire functions of one complex variable, and let DA be the subring of those entire functions that are differentially algebraic (DA); that is, they satisfy a nontrivial algebraic differential equation. where P is a non-identically-zero polynomial in its n + 2 variables. It seems not to be known whether DA is elementarily equivalent to . This would mean that DA and have exactly the same true statements about them, in the first-order language of rings. (Roughly speaking, a sentence about a ring R is first-order if it has finite length and quantifies only over elements (i.e., not subsets or functions or relations) of R .) It follows from [NAN] that DA and are not isomorphic as rings, but this does not answer the question of elementary equivalence.
Bacterial motility, collisions, and aggregation in a 3-μm-diameter capillary

As several variations of in situ bioremediation and biorestoration are increasingly tested for clean-up of contaminated soils and river-bed sediments, it becomes more important to control bacterial transport through porous media. Motility of Escherichia coli K-12 cells was studied in a capillary tube with an inside diameter of 3 {micro}m, which is comparable to the size of the cells` body. The extreme restriction, imposed by the capillary on the bacterial motility, caused a series of phenomena such as cell aggregation, swimming as a cluster, and break-up of aggregates, which were observable for the first time, and which are reported.
SODIUM COLISTIMETHATE DOSAGE IN RENAL FAILURE

Excerpt To the Editor:The recent article by Goodwin and Friedman, "The Effects of Renal Impairment, Peritoneal Dialysis, and Hemodialysis on Serum Sodium Colistimethate Levels" (Ann. Intern. Med. 6...
Threshold of LDPC-coded BICM for Rayleigh fading

We analyze the threshold and convergence of LDPC coded bit interleaved coded modulation over Rayleigh fading channels. We compute the system threshold using the discretized density evolution and the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart, and verify its effectiveness by simulation. Simulated detector output pdf is used to compute the variable node EXIT curve. It is shown that the convergence SNR observed from the transfer curves matches the density evolution threshold perfectly, and the EXIT chart actually provides a more computational efficient approach to estimate the threshold. An irregular code design example using the EXIT chart is given.
Results of the 2012-2013 Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) Job Search and Career Planning Survey of Graduating Residents in the United States

Purpose/Objective(s) To determine the timeline used by postgraduate year (PGY)-5 radiation oncology residents during the job application process and the factors most important to them when deciding on a first job. Methods and Materials In 2012 and 2013, the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology conducted a nationwide electronic survey of PGY-5 radiation oncology residents in the United States during the final 2 months of their training. Descriptive statistics are reported. In addition, subgroup analysis was performed. Results Surveys were completed by 180 of 314 residents contacted. The median time to start networking for the purpose of employment was January PGY-4; to start contacting practices, complete and upload a curriculum vitae to a job search website, and use the American Society of Radiation Oncology Career Center was June PGY-4; to obtain letters of recommendation was July PGY-5; to start interviewing was August PGY-5; to finish interviewing was December PGY-5; and to accept a contract was January PGY-5. Those applying for a community position began interviewing at an earlier average time than did those applying for an academic position (P=.04). The most important factors to residents when they evaluated job offers included (in order from most to least important) a collegial environment, geographic location, emphasis on best patient care, quality of support staff and facility, and multidisciplinary approach to patient care. Factors that were rated significantly different between subgroups based on the type of position applied for included adequate mentoring, dedicated research time, access to clinical trials, amount of time it takes to become a partner, geographic location, size of group, starting salary, and amount of vacation and days off. Conclusions The residents' perspective on the job application process over 2 years is documented to provide a resource for current and future residents and employers to use.
Global Mapping of Transcription Factor Binding Sites by Sequencing Chromatin Surrogates: a Perspective on Experimental Design, Data Analysis, and Open Problems

Mapping genome-wide binding sites of all transcription factors (TFs) in all biological contexts is a critical step toward understanding gene regulation. The state-of-the-art technologies for mapping transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) couple chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) or tiling array hybridization (ChIP-chip). These technologies have limitations: they are low-throughput with respect to surveying many TFs. Recent advances in genome-wide chromatin profiling, including development of technologies such as DNase-seq, FAIRE-seq and ChIP-seq for histone modifications, make it possible to predict in vivo TFBSs by analyzing chromatin features at computationally determined DNA motif sites. This promising new approach may allow researchers to monitor the genome-wide binding sites of many TFs simultaneously. In this article, we discuss various experimental design and data analysis issues that arise when applying this approach. Through a systematic analysis of the data from the Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, we compare the predictive power of individual and combinations of chromatin marks using supervised and unsupervised learning methods, and evaluate the value of integrating information from public ChIP and gene expression data. We also highlight the challenges and opportunities for developing novel analytical methods, such as resolving the one-motif-multiple-TF ambiguity and distinguishing functional and non-functional TF binding targets from the predicted binding sites.
On the durability of retrieval-induced forgetting

Information retrieved from memory becomes more recallable in the future than it would have been otherwise. Competing information associated with the same cues, however, tends to become less recallable, at least for a while. Whether the latter effect—referred to as retrieval-induced forgetting—is persistent, or only transient, is the question that motivated the present research. Participants studied category-exemplar pairs, practised retrieving other exemplars of half the categories, and, finally, were tested for their ability to recall initially studied exemplars after a 5-min delay (half the items) and after 1 week (the remaining items). In addition, for half the categories, opportunities to restudy the exemplars were provided between cycles of retrieval practice. The results demonstrate that retrieval-induced forgetting can persist for as long as a week, but that such forgetting is eliminated when participants are intermittently reexposed to unpractised items during retrieval practice.