cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detector shielding design of a PET inserts in a 3T MRI system

For a PET insert to be placed inside an MR system, shielding for the detector modules is crucial as otherwise there can be mutual interference between the two modalities. In this work, we have assessed various shielding designs for both RF shielding effectiveness and gradient-induced eddy current performances. We designed six shielding configurations with various thicknesses, patterns and materials: 36, 18 and 9 urn thick solid copper; 36 urn thick segmented copper; 36 urn thick phosphor bronze mesh; and 0.8 mm thick carbon fiber composite. To evaluate the shielding performance, we performed transmission measurements (S21) and acquired the induced voltage from a MRI spin echo sequence using an RF probe. The eddy current performance was evaluated by the reflection measurement (S11) and observing the ghosting artifact and temperature rise from a MRI echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence. For the shielding effectiveness in both in/outside the MR system, the S21 magnitude for the solid copper (−43.1±1.7, −42.5±3.4, and −42.3±2.6 dB) and phosphor bronze mesh (−37.6±3.6 dB) configurations performed significantly better compared to other configurations (carbon fiber −29.2±1.5 dB and segmented copper −11.0±0.7 dB). For the eddy current performance, the phase delay acquired from the S11 measurement was less than 45° for segmented copper, phosphor bronze mesh and carbon fiber composites and significantly higher at ∼120° for the solid copper configurations. The EPI ghosting artifact and temperature measurements showed similar trends inside the MR system as seen in the outside. In summary, we have evaluated the shielding effectiveness and the eddy current performances of several shielding designs, with the phosphor bronze mesh showing the best overall outcomes.
Coaching parents to assess and treat self-injurious behaviour via telehealth

The application of telehealth technology to conduct functional analysis (FA) and functional communication training (FCT) is emerging for children with developmental disabilities and behaviour support needs. The current study was designed to extend FA + FCT for self-injurious behaviour by using telehealth in home with parents as interventionists receiving real-time remote coaching. Two families with school-aged boys with developmental disabilities associated with intellectual disability participated, one with cerebral palsy and the other with autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated that parent-implemented FA + FCT via telehealth was effective for reducing self-injurious behaviour and increasing mands (communication requests) for both children. Both families successfully implemented the FA + FCT protocol with 95% overall fidelity via telehealth-supported coaching. Results are discussed in terms of their relationship to previous research, limitations and future directions.
Consumer Perceptions of Product Quality: Made In China

Competitive pricing has made Chinese consumer goods increasingly popular in the United States, but little knowledge exists concerning the quality of these goods. Using a proposed set of consumer quality metrics, a study presents a comparison of consumer..
Rejuvenating zinc batteries

By using high-concentration salt in electrolyte, water is replaced in the zinc solvation-sheath and a zinc anode is developed with high reversibility and stability
The Empirical Approach to Superconductivity

It is interesting to consider some of the reasons why there is comparatively little discussion these days about new superconductors. First, superconductivity is a cooperative phenomenon for whose transition temperatures no quantitative answers exist. Cooperative phenomena, as you may know, are phenomena that occur only if there is a large number of individuals participating. Such phenomena are not confined to physics; they are a major occurrence in nature. Superconductivity is a cooperative phenomenon of electrical conductivity, but as long as one tries to explain superconductivity as some kind of pathological electrical conductivity, there is not much hope of predicting new superconducting materials or temperatures. Electrical conductivity is not dependent upon a cooperative phenomenon; it is abundant everywhere. Every metal has electrical conductivity, and even every insulator has some electrical conductivity. Yet superconductivity occurs only under certain conditions involving not only the conduction electrons but mostly the valence electrons.
The gel test: sensitivity and specificity for unexpected antibodies to blood group antigens.

The recently FDA-licensed anti-IgG gel test for pretransfusion antibody detection requires crossover validation before implementation. Six hundred coded samples sent for routine pretransfusion tests were used to compare GEL (ID-MTS, Ortho Diagnostic Systems Inc., Raritan, NJ) with Low and Messeter's low-ionic-strength saline (LISS). There were 456 GEL-LISS-, 97 GEL+LISS+, 45 GEL-LISS+, and 2 GEL+LISS- tests. The 144 positive tests involved 157 antibodies; 67 of these (cold auto, anti-M, -Le, etc.) were considered harmless with respect to transfusion management. GEL-LISS+ tests included seven samples containing potentially significant antibodies (assumed from specificity): anti-K(4), -Jka, -Fyb, and -S. Two potentially significant antibodies (anti- C and -D) were GEL+LISS-. Sensitivity and specificity for potentially significant antibodies were 92% and 96% for GEL, and 98% and 90% for LISS, respectively. The seven GEL-LISS+ samples associated with potentially significant antibodies were from six patients. Five of these antibodies, all detected in immune-suppressed patients, reacted predominantly as agglutinins in LISS. None of these seven antibodies were detected reliably by polyethylene glycol and LISS-additive tube methods. In light of the immune status of the patients with GEL-LISS+ agglutinins with specificity normally considered potentially significant, and because other valid methods did not detect these antibodies, their clinical importance is questionable. Excluding these questionable antibodies, GEL has the same sensitivity and better specificity than LISS. GEL is a valid method for pretransfusion antibody detection.
Characterization of novel glycosyl hydrolases discovered by cell wall glycan directed monoclonal antibody screening and metagenome analysis of maize aerial root mucilage

An indigenous maize landrace from the Sierra Mixe region of Oaxaca, Mexico exhibits extensive formation of aerial roots which exude large volumes of a polysaccharide-rich gel matrix or "mucilage" that harbors diazotrophic microbiota. We hypothesize that the mucilage associated microbial community carries out multiple functions, including disassembly of the mucilage polysaccharide. In situ, hydrolytic assay of the mucilage revealed endogenous arabinofuranosidase, galactosidase, fucosidase, mannosidase and xylanase activities. Screening the mucilage against plant cell wall glycan-specific monoclonal antibodies recognized the presence of carbohydrate epitopes of hemicellulosic polysaccharides like xyloglucan (both non-fucosylated and fucosylated), xylan (both substituted and unsubstituted xylan domains) and pectic-arabinogalactans, all of which are potential carbon sources for mucilage microbial residents. Mucilage metagenome annotation using MG-RAST identified the members forming the microbial community, and gene fragments with predicted functions associated with carbohydrate disassembly. Data from the in situ hydrolytic activity and monoclonal antibody screening assays were used to guide the selection of five full length genes with predicted glycosyl hydrolase function from the GenBank database that were similar to gene fragments of high relative abundance in the mucilage metagenomes. These five genes were then synthesized for recombinant production in Escherichia coli. Here we report the characterization of an α-N-arabinofuranosidase (GH51) and an oligosaccharide reducing-end xylanase (GH8) from Flavobacterium johnsoniae; an α-L-fucosidase (GH29) and a xylan β-1,4 xylosidase (GH39) from Spirosoma linguale, and a β-mannosidase (GH2) from Agrobacterium fabrum. Biochemical characterization of these enzymes revealed a β-Mannosidase that also exhibits a secondary activity towards the cleavage of galactosyl residues. We also describe two xylanases (GH8 and GH39) from underexplored glycosyl hydrolase families, one thermostable α-L-Fucosidase (GH29) and a thermostable α-N-Arabinofuranosidase (GH51).
Detecting data manipulation attacks on physiological sensor measurements in wearable medical systems

Recent years have seen the emergence of wearable medical systems (WMS) that have demonstrated great promise for improved health monitoring and overall well-being. Ensuring that these WMS accurately monitor a user’s current health state is crucial. This is especially true in the presence of adversaries who want to mount data manipulation attacks on the WMS. The goal of data manipulation attacks is to alter the measurements made by the sensors in the WMS with fictitious data that is plausible but not accurate. Such attacks force clinicians or any decision support system AI, analyzing the WMS data, to make incorrect diagnosis and treatment decisions about the patient’s health. In this paper, we present an approach to detect data manipulation attacks based on the idea that multiple physiological signals based on the same underlying physiological process (e.g., cardiac process) are inherently related to each other. We capture the commonalities between a “target” sensor measurement and another “reference” sensor measurement (which is trustworthy), by building an image reconstruction-based classifier and using this classifier to identify any unilateral changes in the target sensor measurements. This classifier is user-specific and needs to be created for every user on whom the WMS is deployed. In order to showcase our idea, we present a case study where we detect data manipulation attacks on electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor measurements in a WMS using blood pressure measurement as reference. We chose ECG and blood pressure—in arterial blood pressure (ABP) form—because both are some of the most commonly measured physiological signals in a WMS environment. Our approach demonstrates promising results with above 98% accuracy in detecting even subtle ECG alterations for both healthy subjects and those with different cardiac ailments. Finally, we show that the approach is general in that it can be used to build a model for detecting data manipulation attacks that alter ABP sensor measurements using the ECG sensor as reference.
Unforgetting Chaitanya: Vaishnavism and cultures of devotion in colonial Bengal

Few figures have been as central to Bengali cultural identity as the Vaishnava spiritual leader Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534). His call for personalized devotion (bhakti) to Krishna gained unpre...
Stable Imperatives, Shifting Strategies: Reagan and Democracy Promotion in the Republic of Korea

The development of US policy toward South Korea from the early to late Reagan administration offers a fertile case study with which to examine the continuity but also evolution of contradictory objectives, namely, support for democratic practices and institutions alongside the imperative of anti-communist stability. Although the same essential logic (i.e. strategic stability and relative US control) underpinned policy in both early and late periods, in the latter the administration shifted toward deliberate restraint of further authoritarian rule and exerted pressure for a democratic transition, if in somewhat limited form. The result was a more deliberate focus on democracy promotion as the preferred means for preserving US hegemony, replacing earlier patterns of hierarchical and coercive forms of social control with more consensual ones.
Disasters Are Never Natural: Emerging Media to Map Lives and Territories at Risk

Disasters are never natural; they reflect and sustain social inequality. Earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, volcano eruptions, landslides, and floods, among others, put the most vulnerable populations at the greatest peril. Vulnerable individuals, families, and communities often live in territories characterized by marginality—the lack of access to basic goods for survival and of security. In these communities, a community disaster risk reduction strategy cannot be only about humanitarian interventions after a disaster occurs. Despite the unequal impact of disasters, the dominant approach to intervention is militaristic—even those that have humanitarian intentions—with professionals and institutions often focused on the emergency or the palliation of the aftereffects of an extreme event rather than in strengthening the ability of communities to develop a disaster risk strategy based on their needs. This exchange between experts and communities is also often fraught by a lack of understanding of how risk is construed in these territories. Emerging media (social networks, co-design thinking, aerial robotics, and digital cameras) offer new ways of engaging in the assessment of risk and points of resilience. This chapter explores the experiences of communities in Chile that utilize emerging media to develop and maintain rich conversations about risk and resilience.
Racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity prevalence and trends

Abstract Purpose Racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) are substantial, but little is known about whether these disparities are changing over time or the role of maternal and obstetric factors. Methods We examined disparities in SMM prevalence and trends using linked birth certificate and delivery discharge records from Californian births during 1997–2014 (n = 8,252,025). Results The prevalence of SMM was highest in non-Hispanic (NH) Black women (1.63%), lowest in NH White women (0.84%), and increased from 1997 to 2014 by approximately 170% in each racial/ethnic group. The magnitude of SMM disparities remained consistent over time. Compared with NH White women, the adjusted risk of SMM was higher in women who identified as Hispanic (RR 1.14; 95% CI 1.12, 1.16), Asian/Pacific Islander (RR 1.23; 95% CI 1.20, 1.26), NH Black (RR 1.27; 95% CI 1.23, 1.31), and American Indian/Alaska Native (RR 1.29; 95% CI 1.15, 1.44), accounting for comorbidities, anemia, cesarean birth, and other maternal characteristics. Conclusions The prevalence of SMM varied considerably by race/ethnicity but increased at similarly high rates among all racial/ethnic groups. Comorbidities, cesarean birth, and other factors did not fully explain the disparities in SMM, which remained persistent over time.
Construction of All Rectilinear Steiner Minimum Trees on the Hanan Grid and Its Applications to VLSI Design

A rectilinear Steiner minimum tree (RSMT) is a rectilinear Steiner tree connecting a given set of pins with the shortest wirelength. RSMT construction is one of the most frequently used algorithms in the physical design automation, including floorplanning, placement, routing, and interconnect estimation and optimization. Thus, efficient algorithms to construct RSMTs have been developed for many years in academia and industry. Unfortunately, RSMT construction is an NP-hard problem, so even a fast RSMT construction algorithm, such as GeoSteiner is too slow to use in physical design automation tools. FLUTE, a fast lookup-table-based RSMT construction algorithm, builds and uses a routing topology database to quickly construct RSMTs. In this paper, we present an algorithm to build a database (ARSMT DB) to construct all RSMTs on the Hanan grid for a given set of pins. ARSMT DB constructs all RSMTs in almost no time, so numerous applications could use it for various purposes. We apply the ARSMT DB to two applications, timing-driven RSMT construction and congestion-aware global routing, and show that the ARSMT DB can help reduce source-to-critical-sink lengths, source-to-critical-sink delays, and routing congestion significantly. Since the size of the original ARSMT DB is too large, we present techniques to reduce the database size.
Models estimating risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with alcohol or NAFLD-related cirrhosis for risk stratification.

Background & Aims Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk varies dramatically in patients with cirrhosis according to well-described, readily available predictors. We aimed to develop simple models estimating HCC risk in patients with alcohol-related liver disease (ALD)-cirrhosis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-cirrhosis and calculate the net benefit that would be derived by implementing HCC surveillance strategies based on HCC risk as predicted by our models. Methods We identified 7,068 patients with NAFLD-cirrhosis and 16,175 with ALD-cirrhosis who received care in the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system in 2012. We retrospectively followed them for the development of incident HCC until January 2018. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to develop and internally validate models predicting HCC risk using baseline characteristics at entry into the cohort in 2012. We plotted decision curves of net benefit against HCC screening thresholds. Results We identified 1,278 incident cases of HCC during a mean follow-up period of 3.7 years. Mean annualized HCC incidence was 1.56% in NAFLD-cirrhosis and 1.44% in ALD-cirrhosis. The final models estimating HCC were developed separately for NAFLD-cirrhosis and ALD-cirrhosis and included 7 predictors: age, gender, diabetes, body mass index, platelet count, serum albumin and aspartate aminotransferase to √alanine aminotransferase ratio. The models exhibited very good measures of discrimination and calibration and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.75 for NAFLD-cirrhosis and 0.76 for ALD-cirrhosis. Decision curves showed higher standardized net benefit of risk-based screening using our prediction models compared to the screen-all approach. Conclusions We developed simple models estimating HCC risk in patients with NAFLD-cirrhosis or ALD-cirrhosis, which are available as web-based tools (www.hccrisk.com). Risk stratification can be used to inform risk-based HCC surveillance strategies in individual patients or healthcare systems or to identify high-risk patients for clinical trials. Lay summary Patients with cirrhosis of the liver are at risk of getting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC or liver cancer) and therefore it is recommended that they undergo surveillance for HCC. However, the risk of HCC varies dramatically in patients with cirrhosis, which has implications on if and how patients get surveillance, how providers counsel patients about the need for surveillance, and how healthcare systems approach and prioritize surveillance. We used readily available predictors to develop models estimating HCC risk in patients with cirrhosis, which are available as web-based tools at www.hccrisk.com.
Quantification of platelet-bound IgG by 125I-Staphylococcal protein A in immune thrombocytopenic purpura and other thrombocytopenic disorders

In this report we describe the use of an 125I-Staphylococcal protein A (SPA) assay to measure platelet-bound IgG in the evaluation of 62 thrombocytopenic patients. Platelets from 150 normal subjects were found to bind 146 +/- 112 molecules of SPA per platelet (mean +/- 2 SD). Nineteen of 20 patients with untreated immune thrombocytopenia had platelet IgG values above this range, with 15 of 20 having values above 1,000 molecules of SPA per platelet. Patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura by clinical criteria, but who had failed conventional therapy (corticosteroids or splenectomy), had a wide range of platelet IgG levels: 4 of 20 had normal values, 6 of 20 had minimally elevated levels in the range seen with nonimmune thrombocytopenia, and 10 of 20 had much higher values. Fifteen patients with thrombocytopenia of apparent nonimmune origin and 7 others with chronic stable thrombocytopenia of unknown etiology were found to have platelet IgG levels within or only slightly above the normal range. Because of its simplicity, accuracy, and clinical correlation, the 125I- SPA assay provides an important new approach for studying platelet IgG in thrombocytopenic states. The data obtained with this technique are similar to those found in immune hemolytic anemia and suggest that the platelet-bound IgG so measured has pathophysiologic relevance in immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
Numerical investigation on ammonia co-firing in a pulverized coal combustion facility: Effect of ammonia co-firing ratio

Abstract Recently, the co-firing ammonia (NH3) with coal in boiler has been paid more and more attention. A computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation approach was built to investigate the NH3 co-firing in a pulverized coal combustion facility with a single swirling burner. The simulation accuracy was evaluated with the experimental data. The differences between coal firing and NH3 co-firing can be well reproduced with simulation. Then, the effects of NH3 co-firing ratio (CR) on the combustion characteristic and NOx emission were investigated. The flame shape is significantly affected by NH3 CR, due to the changes of momentum of NH3 jet from center of burner. When the NH3 CR exceeds 40 cal.%, the internal recirculation zone is completely penetrated by high velocity NH3 flow, which leads to a long flame and much unreacted NH3 in downstream. As the increase of NH3 CR, the overall trend is that the total heat absorbed slightly decreases due to the decrease of particle radiation, and unburnt carbon in fly ash obviously increases due to decrease of flame temperature. In the case with NH3 CR of 10 cal.%, the NO concentration at exit increases due to the more intense combustion and more fuel-NOx, compared with the case of coal-firing. When the NH3 co-firing ratio exceeds 10 cal.%, the NO concentration at exit decreases monotonously due to the DeNOx effect of unreacted NH3. However, once the NH3 co-firing ratio exceeds 40 cal.%, the unreacted NH3 concentration at exit increases rapidly, which requires careful designs of burner and furnace.
Factors Associated with Early Neonatal and First-Year Mortality in Infants with Myelomeningocele in California from 2006 to 2011

Objective The aim of this study is to examine factors associated with early neonatal (death within first 7 days of birth) and infant (death during the first year of life) mortality among infants born with myelomeningocele. Study design We examined linked data from the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, vital records, and hospital discharge records for infants born with myelomeningocele from 2006 to 2011. Survival probability was calculated using Kaplan-Meier Product Limit method and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Greenwood's method; Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CI. Results Early neonatal and first-year survival probabilities among infants born with myelomeningocele were 96.0% (95% CI: 94.1-97.3%) and 94.5% (95% CI: 92.4-96.1%), respectively. Low birthweight and having multiple co-occurring birth defects were associated with increased HRs ranging between 5 and 20, while having congenital hydrocephalus and receiving hospital transfer from the birth hospital to another hospital for myelomeningocele surgery were associated with HRs indicating a protective association with early neonatal and infant mortality. Conclusion Maternal race/ethnicity and social disadvantage did not predict early neonatal and infant mortality among infants with myelomeningocele; presence of congenital hydrocephalus and the role of hospital transfer for myelomeningocele repair should be further examined. Key points · Mortality in myelomeningocele is a concern. · Social disadvantage was not associated with death. · Hospital-based factors should be further examined.
Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment Strategies for Well-Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors

The incidence of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), particularly of locoregional NETs, is increasing. Given this trend in presentation, more patients are being considered for surgical resection. Perioperative therapy in other solid tumors has become standard of care as metastatic spread or recurrence lead to reduced overall survival for patients. Currently, it is unclear whether such an approach is relevant for well-differentiated NET patients where disease recurrence may occur much later and even then, with typically an indolent disease course. Though some small retrospective studies in gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) NET patients have suggested improved outcomes in patients who receive perioperative therapy, others have not. Further, no prospective studies have been completed to validate this approach. Several prospective perioperative therapy studies for GEP NET patients are ongoing but others have been terminated due to slow accrual.
Complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) in academic programs and nursing practice: Is more education is needed?

Abstract Background and purpose Use of CAT has increased in the past decade. However, it is unclear if this has impacted nursing practice. The purpose of this study was to explore CAT use and beliefs of academic and clinical nurses. Materials and methods A cross-sectional design using an electronic survey was sent to 1000 clinical and academic nurses in the US. Results Academic and clinical nurses were more alike than different, and of the contextual factors that impacted CAT use, lack of knowledge was most cited. Faculty were most likely to teach that which they were knowledgeable about and nurses were most likely to use what was taught in school. Conclusions There is a need for a standardized CAT curriculum for schools of nursing in the US to facilitate knowledge and use of CAT, but to also train nurse scientists who can develop the clinical research needed to support practice decisions.
Surface and Thermal Characterization of Cotton Fibers of Phenotypes Differing in Fiber Length.

Cotton is one of the most important and widely grown crops in the world. Understanding the synthesis mechanism of cotton fiber elongation can provide valuable tools to the cotton industry for improving cotton fiber yield and quality at the molecular level. In this work, the surface and thermal characteristics of cotton fiber samples collected from a wild type (WT) and three mutant lines (Li1, Li2-short, Li2-long, Li2-mix, and liy) were comparatively investigated. Microimaging revealed a general similarity trend of WT ≥ Li2-long ≈ Li2-mix > Li1 > Li2 short ≈ liy with Ca detected on the surface of the last two. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric measurements also showed that Li2-short and liy were more similar to each other, and Li2-long and Li2-mix closer to WT while Li1 was quite independent. FT-IR results further demonstrated that wax and amorphous cellulose were co-present in fiber structures during the fiber formation processes. The correlation analysis found that the FT-IR-based maturity parameter was well correlated (p ≤ 0.05) to the onset decomposition temperature and all three weight-loss parameters at onset, peak, and end decomposition stages, suggesting that the maturity degree is a better parameter than crystallinity index (CI) and other FT-IR parameters that reflect the thermal stability of the cotton fiber. In summary, this work demonstrated that genetic mutation altered the surface and thermal characteristics in the same way for Li2-short and liy, but with different mechanisms for the other three mutant cotton fiber samples.
Persistence of Operant Responding for Food After Prior Cocaine Exposure in Fischer 344 But Not Lewis Rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Chronic cocaine exposure has differential neural effects in Fischer 344 (F344) vs Lewis inbred rats that may explain strain-dependent differences during acquisition vs maintenance of cocaine self-administration. We assessed whether prior cocaine exposure alters operant responding for food across various phases (acquisition, maintenance, extinction, spontaneous recovery, reinitiation) in these strains. METHODS Lewis and F344 rats (N = 12) were administered three cocaine (15 mg/kg) or saline injections at hourly intervals for 3 consecutive days. Beginning the next day for 24 days, rats had access to operant chambers in which one lever depression resulted in the delivery of a food pellet. Then, four extinction sessions were conducted in which food was no longer available, but other stimulus conditions remained the same. After a 2-day break, spontaneous recovery was assessed over four sessions. Food delivery was then restored for 3 days to test reinitiation followed by a progressive ratio session. RESULTS Lewis rats acquired the operant faster than F344 rats. F344 rats showed lower maintenance rates than Lewis rats but higher spontaneous recovery responding. Cocaine exposure caused persistence of responding during extinction in F344 but not Lewis rats. All groups reinitiated responding when food was available again and did not differ in final ratios completed under the progressive ratio schedule. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS That prior cocaine exposure led to persistence of responding in F344 rats during extinction may reflect heightened contextual conditioning that interferes with the ability to extinguish responding. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Results have implications for the genetic contribution to relapse-like behaviors. (Am J Addict 2021;00:00-00).
Third order speckle intensity frequency correlations for random media characterization

Summary form only given. Techniques for characterizing random media are motivated in part by recent interest in important applications such as optical imaging in biological tissue. We show for the first time that the third order frequency correlation of measured speckle intensities using coherent light enables the temporal response of a random medium to be obtained. In particular, we present experimental results for a random medium in the weak scattering limit and the diffusive regime, where the field statistics are circular complex Gaussian.
An Exploration into Louisiana Enclosed Estate Doctrine

Keeping property in commerce is a stated goal of every jurisdiction’s property law and Louisiana is no exception. Much of Louisiana’s property law aims, at least in part, to keep property easily transferable on the open market. One of the clearest examples of this is the state’s regime for land cut off from any public road or what the Louisiana Civil Code refers to as enclosed estates. Similar to the common law doctrine of easement by necessity, Louisiana law provides that all estates without access to a public road have a right to obtain passage over neighboring property to reach the nearest public road. Louisiana law further carves out two exceptions to the default rule: an estate that was enclosed upon, be it by partition or alienation, is entitled to gratuitous passage to the public road, and an estate that encloses upon itself by an act or omission is not automatically entitled to a right of passage to a public road over a neighboring estate. Louisiana’s law on enclosed estates is designed to ensure that land is kept in commerce by keeping land physically accessible. The overarching structure of the current law attempts to achieve this goal, but unclear rules and differing jurisprudential interpretations of those rules have created a series of negative externalities. This article explores Louisiana’s enclosed estate law and suggests modest reforms to keep landlocked properties in commerce without creating unintended adverse consequences.
Multidisciplinary Management of Severe Traumatic Hepatic Injury Involving Interventional Radiology Embolization, Trauma Laparotomy, and Liver Transplantation:

This report describes liver transplantation as a successful strategy in the management of a young man who presented to a local emergency room following catastrophic traumatic hepatic vascular injur...
GUARDIAN AND WARD Guardianship Over Property: Revise Reporting Requirements

The Act requires that certified copies of the orders of creation and termination of a guardianship over real property of a ward be filed in the county in which the real property is located.
Paleo Constraints on Future Sea-Level Rise

Sea-level rise predicted for the twenty-first century and beyond will become increasingly hazardous to coastal populations, economies, static infrastructure, and ecosystems. Accurately predicting the magnitude and rate of future sea-level rise at local, regional, and global scales is necessary to effectively plan for and manage this growing hazard. Sea-level reconstructions show how high and how fast sea level rose when Earth’s climate regime was similar to that anticipated in the immediate future. We draw upon examples from the past three million years, including the Pliocene (∼3 million years ago), the Last Interglacial period (Marine Isotope Stage 5e, ∼125,000 years ago), and the Common Era (last ∼2000 years) to provide a synopsis of what is known about sea-level rise during these past warm periods and highlight some of the benefits and challenges of using paleo sea-level data to predict future changes.
Trafficking of signaling modules by kinesin motors

The human genome has more than 40 kinesin genes whose protein products organize intracellular traffic along microtubules. Research during the past two years has begun to elucidate the cargoes carried by kinesins and the nature of the kinesin-cargo linkage. Modular protein-protein interactions connect kinesins to diverse cellular molecules, which, apart from their other functions, serve as kinesin-cargo linkers. Many of these newly identified linkers are scaffolds for signaling pathways, and mounting evidence now indicates that kinesins transport pre-assembled signaling modules as vesicular cargo. These findings bring together two fields, signal transduction and molecular motors, and lead to a deeper understanding of the interplay between trafficking, localization and intercellular communication.
User Acceptance of E-Commerce Technology: A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Competing Models

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) are widely used in the information systems (IS) literature to explain and predict user technology acceptance behavior. Although these models have been utilized separately in the earlier studies, to increase the richness and predictive power of their studies, scholars have combined both theories in more recent studies. However, few studies have compared these models directly using the same empirical data. The justification for using various hybrid models is mostly anecdotal and convenient rather than based on strong theoretical arguments. Thus the question remains: when studying user technology acceptance behavior, which model offers the best fit to empirical evidence? This study compares four different models (TAM, TPB and two combined TAM-TPB) in terms of their predictive power and model fit to empirical data using meta-analysis methodology. The data for this study is gathered from metaanalytic calculations of 32 studies found in the technology acceptance literature. Our findings demonstrate that when used separately TAM and TPB models offers not only theoretical parsimony and clarity, but also better fit with empirical data than the two combined TAM-TPB models. Implications of our findings are discussed and future research directions are presented.
Modeling student performance to enhance the pedagogy of autotutor

The Tutoring Research Group from the University of Memphis has developed a pedagogically effective Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), called Auto Tutor, that implements conversational dialog as a tutoring strategy for conceptual physics. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is used to evaluate the quality of student contributions and determine what dialog moves Auto Tutor gives. By modeling the students' knowledge in this fashion, Auto Tutor successfully adapted its pedagogy to match the ideal strategy for students' ability.
Comments on Symmetry Breaking Terms in Quark Mass Matrices

It is discussed how the symmetry breaking terms in the fermion mass matrices are related to the charges of a U(1) x horizonal symmetry beyond the standard model (SM). Then, we discuss anomaly cancellation through Green Schwarz mechanism and mention an approach to find many solutions to the anomaly constraints.
Developing understanding of hacker language through the use of lexical semantics

The need for more research scrutinizing online hacker communities is a common suggestion in recent years. However, researchers and practitioners face many challenges when attempting to do so. In particular, they may encounter hacking-specific terms, concepts, tools, and other items that are unfamiliar and may be challenging to understand. For these reasons, we are motivated to develop an automated method for developing understanding of hacker language. We utilize the latest advancements in recurrent neural network language models (RNNLMs) to develop an unsupervised machine learning technique for learning hacker language. The selected RNNLM produces state-of-the-art word embeddings that are useful for understanding the relations between different hacker terms and concepts. We evaluate our work by testing the RNNLMs ability to learn relevant relations between known hacker terms. Results suggest that the latest work in RNNLMs can aid in modeling hacker language, providing promising direction for future research.
A Part but Apart: Discursive Explorations of the University as Contested Space in Kenya.

Despite increasing interest in education and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about how universities and their constituents experience and make meaning of violence. This paper sought to capture university participants’ sense of belongingness and attachment to the university space resulting from experiences with ethnic conflict in Western Kenya. This paper uses discourse analysis to elicit linguistic constructions of context, contestation, and identity. Three discourses emerged from interview transcripts when treated as text: the regulation of identities, being a part but apart, and campus as contested space. These discourses are characterized by descriptions of perceptions and symbolic norms, belongingness and non-belongingness, and place-work strategies employed by community constituents, both within and without the university. The findings have important implications for understanding the politicization of identity and place in times of conflict.
Layered video over IP networks by using selective drop routers

With the better Internet infrastructure nowadays, the demand for delivering streaming or live video over IP-network via either unicast or multicast is getting higher. While packet loss is inevitable under heterogeneous best-effort IP networks, it is highly desirable to be able to control the dropping behavior within routers along the transmission path to achieve the best video quality at receivers. We propose a packetization scheme for baseline MPEG-4 fine granularity scalable (FGS) system as well as a novel queue management for routers, i.e., selective drop mechanism, to allow a router intelligently drop the less important packets at congestion while keeping the fairness between traffic of different transmission protocols.
Cytomegalovirus Activates Interferon Immediate-Early Response Gene Expression and an Interferon Regulatory Factor 3-Containing Interferon-Stimulated Response Element-Binding Complex

Interferon establishes an antiviral state in numerous cell types through the induction of a set of immediate-early response genes. Activation of these genes is mediated by phosphorylation of latent transcription factors of the STAT family. We found that infection of primary foreskin fibroblasts with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes selective transcriptional activation of the alpha/beta-interferon-responsive ISG54 gene. However, no activation or nuclear translocation of STAT proteins was detected. Activation of ISG54 occurs independent of protein synthesis but is prevented by protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Further analysis revealed that HCMV infection induced the DNA binding of a novel complex, tentatively called cytomegalovirus-induced interferon-stimulated response element binding factor (CIF). CIF is composed, at least in part, of the recently identified interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), but it does not contain the STAT1 and STAT2 proteins that participate in the formation of interferon-stimulated gene factor 3. IRF3, which has previously been shown to possess no intrinsic transcriptional activation potential, interacts with the transcriptional coactivator CREB binding protein, but not with p300, to form CIF. Activating interferon-stimulated genes without the need for prior synthesis of interferons might provide the host cell with a potential shortcut in the activation of its antiviral defense.
Triaxial testing of dry, cohesive powder and its application to a modified Cam-clay constitutive model

Abstract Triaxial tests were performed on wheat flour to determine the constitutive parameters for a modified Cam-clay model. This elastoplastic model consists of three critical-state parameters: λ, κ, and M . Additionally, there are two parameters representing the initial conditions of a material: e 0 and p c . All critical-state parameters were determined directly from four different triaxial tests: drained compression, undrained compression, constant mean effective stress and hydrostatic compression. The material parameters for the tested wheat flour, following standard statistical techniques, were: λ=0.13, κ=0.022 and M =2.1. The model was tested by comparing model-calculated deformation under triaxial loading conditions identical to those used to determine the parameters. The comparisons between the modified Cam-clay model calculated values and measured values showed that drained triaxial compression tests and constant mean effective stress tests were within the 95% confidence interval. The investigation proved that (1) standard triaxial tests and constitutive models can be successfully applied to dry, cohesive powders, and (2) constitutive parameters defined in soils models can be determined for dry powders by modifying the parameter determination procedure.
Life from an RNA World: the ancestor within

Life from an RNA World: The Ancestor Within is a great place to find all of the arguments for the existence of an “RNA World” neatly compiled in a short and fluid book. I read this pithy work in only a few days while commuting back and forth on public transit. Consequently my first reaction regarding the best audience for the book was that it was for non-scientists, or for those with a basic knowledge of biology but not getting paid to be a scientist. For me it was a smooth, easy read, and I imagine that many of my fellow passengers on the bus or the train saw me nodding my head spontaneously on many occasions.
Measurement of safrole and isosafrole in ham.

Safrole, isosafrole, and mixtures of the two compounds were added to boiled or cooked ham at the 100 ppm level to simulate products that might be obtained in a smoking process in which sassafras wood is used. Samples of the ham were extracted with mixtures of hex-anetethyl acetate by a modified “dry column” procedure and were freed from the bulk of the accompanying neutral lipids by HPLC or by preparative TLC. Quantitation was by capillary GC with FID detection. Recoveries ranged from 85-95% depending on the procedure used.
To Think or Not to Think: A Preliminary Investigation into the Effects of Teaching Thinking.

Opinion may be unnecessarily divided as to whether it is possible to teach skills such as critical and creative thinking as subjects in their own right or whether students would more usefully develop such skills within the context of their curriculum subjects. A study was undertaken into the effects of teaching a 25-lesson ‘thinking skills’ syllabus to a group of Year 5 pupils. The results suggested that pupils’ curiosity, inventiveness, discussion skills, ability to think laterally about given situations, and understanding of the decision-making process can all be enhanced through specific skills teaching. This would imply that a longer-term programme could have a significant impact. A two-pronged approach is proposed, where thinking skills - rather like reading and writing - are taught initially in a child friendly, exam-free context and then are integrated throughout the curriculum.
Robust temporal processing of news

We introduce an annotation scheme for temporal expressions, and describe a method for resolving temporal expressions in print and broadcast news. The system, which is based on both hand-crafted and machine-learnt rules, achieves an 83.2% accuracy (F-measure) against hand-annotated data. Some initial steps towards tagging event chronologies are also described.
Evaluating Consumer Protection Programs: Part I. Weak But Commonly Used Research Designs

In this two-part article, current methodological approaches to the evaluation of consumer protection reforms are critically reviewed. In Part I, three quasi-experimental research designs commonly used to evaluate consumer protection initiatives are examined. It is shown that these designs are inherently incapable of yielding strong conclusions about the effects of a law or regulation. In Part II, which will be published in the next issue, research designs which allow stronger causal inferences about the effects of a reform proposal are reviewed. Implications of the review are then discussed in terms of future public policy and evaluation research in the consumer protection area.
Steam reforming of methanol over CeO2- and ZrO2-promoted Cu-ZnO catalysts supported on nanoparticle Al2O3

Abstract Methanol steam reforming was studied over several ZrO2- and CeO2-promoted catalysts prepared by deposition of copper and zinc oxide precursors onto nanoparticle Al2O3 and ZrO2 supports. The catalysts were characterized using temperature programmed reduction (TPR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurements, N2O decomposition, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the results were compared to a commercially available Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. It was found that the catalyst activities and CO selectivities are very dependent on both the catalyst preparation method and the ZrO2 precursor. The best performing catalyst was prepared by co-impregnating Cu and ZnO precursors onto a physical mixture of nanoparticle ZrO2 and nanoparticle Al2O3. This catalyst resulted in a highly active reforming catalyst which also suppressed CO production. The turnover frequencies of catalysts containing ZrO2 nanoparticles were notably higher than those of similar catalysts which contained impregnated ZrO2, and dramatically higher than the commercially available reference catalyst. This indicates that the presence of ZrO2 nanoparticles promotes a highly active copper surface. Addition of high surface area alumina was necessary to assure a reasonable Cu surface area. However, the catalytic activities of the catalysts in this study did not correlate with Cu surface area, total surface area, or reduction temperature. It is therefore postulated that the presence of a monoclinic ZrO2 phase, which is a result of using a monoclinic nanoparticle ZrO2 precursor, promotes methanol reforming and also suppresses methanol decomposition, both of which are desired in methanol reforming catalysts.
EFFECT OF NOTE-TAKING PREFERENCE AND TYPE OF NOTES TAKEN ON MEMORY

To study the effect of note taking, type of notes taken, and review on recall, 112 male and female college students were randomly assigned to four treatment groups using different combinations of n...