cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The American Historical Association: Latin American Labor History

Several of the panels on Latin America at the December 1990 meeting of the American Historical Association took up themes and debates of concern to historians of labor and the working class. In a panel entitled "Immigrants, Not Conquistadors: The Spanish Presence in Latin America during the National Period," Diana Velez (Tinker Foundation) stressed the way shifts in Spanish government policy affected the ebb and flow of emigration toward Latin America in the pre-World War I period. While nineteenth-century governments had sought to bar or tightly restrict emigration out of national security concerns, a looser policy was adopted as officials came to perceive that permitting and regulating emigration could offer an alternative to agrarian reform, a means of widening foreign markets for Spanish exports, and a source of foreign currency income from Spaniards working abroad and sending a portion of their wages home. Birgit Sonnesson (New York University) compared Spanish chain-migration to Puerto Rico and Cuba, stressing the effects of the different social formations in the Spanish provinces where emigrants originated. Jos? Moya (University of Califor nia, Los Angeles) examined Spanish immigrants in Argentina between 1855 and 1930. Evidence from census manuscripts cast doubt on the standard two-class model of nineteenth-century Argentina, showing both an expansion of the middle class due to increasing public employment and a slow, incomplete process of proletarianization as industrial employment grew but mechanization lagged. Argentina attracted large numbers of skilled immigrants, and the labor force did not undergo deskilling in the early phases of industrialization. Indeed, the proportion of skilled workers in the labor force grew from 34 percent in 1870 to 43 percent in 1914. A panel on "Recent Research on the History of the Family in Latin America" included a paper by Mark Szuchman (Florida International University) that called for further research on changes in productive relations and the impact thereof on the proletarian family. He suggested that the Latin American experience con trasted with that of Western Europe. Whereas capitalist development weakened the patriarchal family in Europe, in Latin America it worsened the position of women by driving them back into the home. Elizabeth Ann Kuznesof (University of Kansas) pointed out that recent research on family history in Brazil has highlighted the prevalence there of nuclear and female-headed households in urban areas and among ex-slaves, thereby challenging the paradigm developed by Gilberto Freyre wherein the patriarchal extended family was considered hegemonic.
Single-crystal elasto-viscoplasticity: application to texture evolution in polycrystalline metals at large strains

Abstract This paper develops a theory for the elastic–viscoplastic response of ductile single-crystals deforming by crystallographic slip within a framework that accounts for the laws of continuum thermodynamics. A special set of constitutive equations resulting from the general theory has been implemented in a finite-element computer program. The numerical capability is used to model the large deformation response of face-centered-cubic polycrystalline aggregates in which each finite element represents a single crystal; the polycrystalline aggregate is assumed to have an isotropic initial crystallographic texture. Numerical predictions from such a model of a polycrystal are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results for the anisotropic stress–strain response and the evolution of crystallographic texture in some fundamental deformation modes on copper.
Identification of Patients with High-Risk Stage II Colon Cancer for Adjuvant Therapy

Purpose Adjuvant therapy for Stage II colon cancer remains controversial but may be considered for patients with high-risk features. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of commonly reported clinicopathologic features of Stage II colon cancer to identify high-risk patients.
Rapid Divergence of Prolamin Gene Promoters of Maize After Gene Amplification and Dispersal

Seeds have evolved to accommodate complicated processes like senescence, dormancy, and germination. Central to these is the storage of carbohydrates and proteins derived from sugars and amino acids synthesized during photosynthesis. In the grasses, the bulk of amino acids is stored in the prolamin superfamily that specifically accumulates in seed endosperm during senescence. Their promoters contain a conserved cis-element, called prolamin-box (P-box), recognized by the trans-activator P-box binding factor (PBF). Because of the lack of null mutants in all grass species, its physiological role in storage–protein gene expression has been elusive. In contrast, a null mutant of another endosperm-specific trans-activator Opaque2 (O2) has been shown to be required for the transcriptional activation of subsets of this superfamily by binding to the O2 box. Here, we used RNAi to knockdown Pbf expression and found that only 27-kDa γ- and 22-kDa α-zein gene expression were affected, whereas the level of other zeins remained unchanged. Still, transgenic seeds had an opaque seed phenotype. Combination of PbfRNAi and o2 resulted in further reduction of α-zein expression. We also tested the interaction of promoters and constitutively expressed PBF and O2. Whereas transgenic promoters could be activated, endogenous promoters appeared to be not accessible to transcriptional activation, presumably due to differential chromatin states. Although analysis of the methylation of binding sites of PBF and O2 correlated with the expression of endogenous 22-kDa α-zein promoters, a different mechanism seems to apply to the 27-kDa γ-zein promoter, which does not undergo methylation changes.
Depth-Resolved Near-Infrared Spectroscopy:

While there is substantial evidence proving the success of transdermal drug delivery, there have been few accomplishments in the area of depth-resolved prediction of drug concentration during diffusion through a matrix. Such a method for noninvasive quantification of a diffusing species could assist in the development of new drugs, dosage forms, and penetration enhancers. Near-infrared depth-resolved measurements were accomplished by strategically controlling the amount of reflected light reaching the detectors using a combination of diaphragms with different-diameter apertures. Near-IR spectra were collected from a set of cellulose and Silastic® membranes to prove the possibility of depth-resolved near-IR measurements. Principal component regression was used to estimate the depth resolution of this method, yielding an average resolution of 31 μm. Further, to demonstrate depth-resolved near-IR spectroscopy in a practical in vitro system, we determined concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) in a hydrogel matrix during diffusion experiments carried out for up to three hours. An artificial-neural-network-based calibration model was developed which predicted SA concentrations accurately (R2 = 0.993, SEP = 123 μg/mL).
Reducing the risk of requirements volatility: findings from an empirical survey

Requirements volatility is a common development project risk that can have severe impacts. An empirical survey of over 300 software project managers and other software development personnel was performed to examine effects of various software development factors on requirements volatility. This paper reports the survey data results showing relationships between a number of software development process factors and requirements volatility. Key software project factors studied for their relationship with requirements volatility include process maturity level and various process techniques used for requirements engineering activities, such as requirements elicitation, prototyping, analysis and modeling, specification, and reviews. Significant correlations between the process factors and requirements volatility resulted from the analysis of some of the factors. The use of particular requirements engineering process techniques showed correlations with lower levels of requirements volatility. Other findings indicated that projects which used some types of prototypes to elicit requirements had higher levels of requirements volatility in later phases of the development cycle than lower levels, as one might expect. The presented results can be used by software development managers to proactively address and possibly mitigate the risk of requirements volatility, and to understand the potential for increased requirements volatility when certain methods are utilized. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (An empirical survey of software development managers and other software development personnel was performed to examine the effects of a number of software development factors on requirements volatility. This paper presents key findings showing relationships between factors such as process maturity and various requirements engineering process techniques and requirements volatility. The results can be used to proactively address and possibly mitigate the risk of requirements volatility, and to understand the potential for increased requirements volatility when certain methods are utilized.)
Aging in Canada: The Challenge to Political Science

The political science discipline has been decidedly under-represented in the emergence of Canadian social gerontology over the past two decades. This is rather surprising, considering that political and governmental institutions—always a primary focus of political science attention—have played a critical role in allocating social values toward elderly persons, and that relatively large sums of public money are spent on aging programs. The discipline's relative absence in gerontological studies is explainable partly in terms of forces long at work within political science, and partly on the basis of ones external to it—all of which for some years combined to discourage work on this topic. Very recently, however, the negative influences have weakened to some degree, while new factors of a positive character have entered the picture. As a result, it is possible to offer a guardedly optimistic estimate of the potential for political science to become more involved and more committed than heretofore.
Black Loyalists and Black Slaves in Maritime Canada

We know a great deal about the Black Loyalists who achieved freedom during the Revolutionary War, settled in Maritime Canada, and those who eventually migrated to the coast of West Africa. However, what about black people who were slaves in the American colonies and remained slaves after migrating to Maritime Canada with their masters? This article examines the historiography of the Black Loyalists in Maritime Canada and attempts to address the experience of those who remained slaves. Indeed, to have a broader understanding of transnational black migration to Canada historians must look beyond the paradigm of from slavery in America to freedom in Canada and consider the experience of those who remained slaves.
MOTOR PATTERNS DURING FLIGHT AND WARM-UP IN LEPIDOPTERA

1. The patterns of muscle activity during warm-up were compared to those of flight. In the skipper Hylephila phylaeus and in the hawk moths Celerio lineata and Mimas tiliae the intervals between bursts of muscle potentials are the same as the wingbeat periods of flight at the same thoracic temperature, and the burst length is the same as in flight. In saturniids the period and burst length are both shorter during wing-vibrating than during flight. 2. During wing-vibrating the amplitude of the wing movement is small, and some of the muscles which are antagonists in flight are active simultaneously. In Hylephila phylaeus and Celerio lineata there is a phase change between some synergistic muscles, while some antagonistic pairs retain the phase relationships of flight. During wing-vibrating in Mimas tiliae and in saturniids all the motor units sampled were active at the same time. 3. In M. tiliae a variety of phase relationships intermediate between those of wing-vibrating and flight were observed, including a case of ‘relative co-ordination’ between motor units in the mesothorax. The results exclude the possibility that a single pace-making centre drives the motor neurons in the flight pattern. 4. A model of the central nervous interactions which generate the observed motor patterns is proposed. It is postulated that a small group of positively coupled neurons produces bursts of impulses at the wingbeat frequency and that these groups interact to generate the phase relationships seen during warm-up and flight.
Hierarchical analysis of colony and population genetic structure of the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, using two classes of molecular markers.

Abstract Termites (Isoptera) comprise a large and important group of eusocial insects, yet, in contrast to the eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps), the breeding systems of termites remain poorly understood. In this study, I inferred the breeding system of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes based on colony and population genetic structure as determined from microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers. Termites were sampled from natural wood debris from three undisturbed, forested sites in central North Carolina. In each site, two transects separated by 1 km were sampled at approximately 15-m intervals. A total of 1272 workers collected from 57 collection points were genotyped at six microsatellite loci, and mitochondrial DNA haplotype was determined for a subset of these individuals using either restriction fragment length polymorphism or sequence variation in the AT-rich region. Colonies appeared to be localized: workers from the 57 collection points represented 56 genetically distinct...
PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF CHLOROPLAST DNA RESTRICTION SITE DATA AT HIGHER TAXONOMIC LEVELS: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE ASTERACEAE.

Chloroplast DNA variation was examined among 57 genera of Asteraceae representing 15 currently recognized tribes. Complete cleavage maps were constructed for 11 six-base pair restriction enzymes, and a total of 927 cleavage site differences was detected, 328 of which are phylogenetically informative. The data were used to construct phylogenetic trees using both Wagner and Dollo parsimony and the resulting monophyletic groups were evaluated statistically using the bootstrap method. The level of homoplasy in the restriction site data is 54-56% (excluding autapomorphies), most of which is due to parallel site losses. The most parsimonious trees generated by both parsimony methods have nearly identical topologies at lower taxonomic levels, but differ in subfamilial circumscriptions and tribal groupings. Dollo parsimony provides support for the monophyly of two subfamilies, the Lactucoideae (excluding the Barnadesiinae) and Asteroideae, but Wagner parsimony supports the monophyly of the Asteroideae only. This incongruence is due to different assumptions of the two parsimony methods about relative rates of parallel site gains and losses. After eliminating the six most rapidly changing restriction sites or performing successive approximation, Wagner parsimony produces trees with the same subfamilial groupings as the Dollo trees. We conclude that the Dollo tree with two monophyletic subfamilies is the best estimate of phylogenetic relationships in the Asteraceae because this method more accurately reflects the evolution of restriction sites. We also demonstrate that in spite of high levels of homoplasy in chloroplast DNA restriction site data at these higher taxonomic levels, it is possible to make statistically supported estimates of phylogenetic relationships.
A Sex Pheromone for the Soybean Looper

Cis -7-dodecen-1-ol acetate, previously identified as the sex pheromone of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), has now been isolated from female soybean loopers, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker). The synthesized compound attracts male soybean loopers in the field, indicating that it is a sex pheromone of this species.
Guidelines for computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging use during pregnancy and lactation

There has been a substantial increase in the use of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pregnancy and lactation. Among some physicians and patients, however, there are misperceptions regarding risks, safety, and appropriate use of these modalities in pregnancy. We have developed a set of evidence-based guidelines for the use of CT, MRI, and contrast media during pregnancy for selected indications including suspected acute appendicitis, pulmonary embolism, renal colic, trauma, and cephalopelvic disproportion. Ultrasonography is the initial modality of choice for suspected appendicitis, but if the ultrasound examination is negative, MRI or CT can be obtained. Computed tomography should be the initial diagnostic imaging modality for suspected pulmonary embolism. Ultrasonography should be the initial study of choice for suspected renal colic. Ultrasonography can be the initial imaging evaluation for trauma, but CT should be performed if serious injury is suspected. Pelvimetry now is used rarely for suspected cephalopelvic disproportion, but when required, low-dose CT pelvimetry can be performed with minimal risk. Although iodinated contrast seems safe to use in pregnancy, intravenous gadolinium is contraindicated and should be used only when absolutely essential. It seems to be safe to continue breast-feeding immediately after receiving iodinated contrast or gadolinium. Although teratogenesis is not a major concern after exposure to prenatal diagnostic radiation, carcinogenesis is a potential risk. When used appropriately, CT and MRI can be valuable tools in imaging pregnant and lactating women; risks and benefits always should be considered and discussed with patients.
Genetics and Expression of Patchy, a Mosaic Mutant of the German Cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

The patchy ( Pch ) mutant of the German cockroach is characterized by generally large areas of dark and light pigment on the body surface of nymphs. Pch is inherited as a dominant trait, lethal as a homozygote, with full penetrance and strong expression when the stock is homozygous for yellow body ( y/y ). Expression and penetrance varied in crosses to wild type and to markers for 8 of the 11 autosomal linkage groups and, in most crosses, were reduced compared with Pch in y/y homozygotes. Analysis of the degree of expression revealed differences between regions of the abdomen and thorax of late instars. Patterns were usually different between left and right sides and discontinuous across the median line of the body. Differences tended to be greater across median or dorsoventral borders than across segmental borders. In one cockroach, Pch was expressed as a segmental mosaic.
Violence against elderly people.

Every year, more than one million older Americans are injured physically, debilitated psychologically, or exploited financially by a family member. Elderly men and women, who are from all socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and who have varying functional abilities are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Health care professionals need to develop the skills to detect both patients at risk and those actively being abused. Barriers to detection of abuse and neglect are complex and include victims' resistance to disclosure due to their own ageist attitudes or feelings of shame and guilt; isolation of victims by their abusers; and the health care professional's discomfort with the situation and hesitancy to intervene, often as a result of inadequate knowledge and training in this area. Researchers have identified specific risk factors for abuse and neglect by family members, including psychopathology among family members, a family history of transgenerational violence, the elder's dependency, the elders and the caregivers' isolation, the caregivers' stress, and living arrangements. Thorough assessment of patients at risk by a multidisciplinary team including a physician, a nurse, and a social worker and the team's subsequent development of individualized intervention strategies can have a positive impact on this devastating problem. Language: en
The manifestation of pancreatic portal hypertension on multi-rows detector CT

Objective To investigate the manifestation of pancreatic portal hypertension(PPH)with multi-rows detector CT and CT portal venography(CTPV).Methods The images of multi-slices CT and CTPV of 72 patients with pancreatic portal hypertension were analyzed retrospectively.The gastric varices' locations,types of shape and characteristics of circulation were studied.Results The majority types of the gastric varices' location and shape were isolated gastric varices(88.89%)and circuity(88.89%)respectively in PPH.The varices of gastro-epiploic veins(100%)is one of the characteristics of vein collateral circulation.Conclusion In PPH patients,valuable features can be revealed by multi-slices CTPV,which were useful in diagnosis and differential diagnosis.
On the convergence of solutions of inclusions containing maximal monotone and generalized pseudomonotone mappings

Abstract We are concerned in this paper with the existence, boundedness, and the convergence of solutions to a sequence of inclusions A k ( u ) + B k ( u ) ∋ L k , where A k is a maximal monotone mapping, B k is a generalized pseudomonotone mapping defined on a reflexive Banach space X , and L k ∈ X ∗ . We study appropriate kinds of convergence for A k and B k such that a limit of a sequence of solutions of these inclusions is also a solution of the limit inclusion.
Characterization of plasmids and formulations for non-viral gene therapy.

Analytical methods are described that provide a platform for systematically evaluating the effect of formulation variables in the development of DNA-lipid non-viral gene therapy complexes. The methods encompass those used to characterize the components, i.e., plasmid DNA and liposomes, as well as those applied to the complexes themselves. The focus is on physicochemical methods so that their parameters can be assessed in relationship to the functionality of the DNA-lipid complexes in vivo.
Linking Educational Institutions with Police Officer Training Programs

Community partnerships that are formed through Community Oriented Policing help to assist law enforcement officers with academy education and post academy education. The training offered in the academy and the post academy Field Training Officer Program traditionally places little to no emphasis on critical thinking, professional self-regulation, communication skills or problem-based learning. In the last several years a new approach has been spawned. The Police Training Officer Program (PTO) is an innovative form of education that focuses on problem based learning for post academy graduates. The PTO Program emphasizes adult education, problem solving, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution. This education is necessary to assist officers in de-escalation strategies within their communities and can lend to the reduction of civil disturbances. However, currently, relatively few agencies are offering this education to their post academy graduates and none are offering it to their academy recruits due, in part, to a lack of qualified instructors. PTO instructors must be proficient and fully trained in problem based learning techniques. Through Community Oriented Policing, law enforcement agencies can address this instructor shortage by partnering with university educational institutions to secure instructors who are competent in andragogy, critical thinking, and problem-based learning.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Lodengraf Damping Approach for String Trimmers

Reducing the magnitude of the vibrations transmitted to a user’s hands through the loop handle and grip of a string trimmer is a priority for maintaining both health and comfort. Prior work on internal-combustion (IC) powered string trimmers has indicated that Lodengraf™ damping may be effective in reducing vibration amplitude at both the loop handle and grip. Lodengraf damping utilizes lightweight, low-density particles added to a vibrating device, either as a fill in existing cavities or as a wrap surrounding the device. The mechanism for the damping is that vibrations generated by the device are absorbed into the Lodengraf particles, where the energy of the vibrations is converted to heat and released before they can be transmitted to the user. In this set of experiments performed on battery-powered string trimmers, the effectiveness of applying Lodengraf particles using specially designed 3D printed loop handles as well as a clam-shell shaft enclosure, all comprised from ABS is explored. The 3D printed parts were designed to be hollow, forming cavities to accommodate the Lodengraf materials. The Lodengraf was found to be effective at frequencies above 200 Hz. Both trimmers have a first fundamental frequency that falls below the cutoff frequency for effective Lodengraf damping, but the approach effectively reduced the amplitude of higher frequency harmonics generated.
DNA Relatedness of Frankia Isolates

A molecular genetical approach was used to examine the genetic relatedness of 19 Frankia isolates by measuring the base composition of their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the size of their genomes, the DNA-DNA homology and thermal stability of the hybrid DNA molecules. The mole % of guanine plus cytosine of Frankia DNA ranged from 66.6% to 71.4% with an average of 68.5% as measured by the thermal denaturation method and 69.4% by the buoyant density method. The mean genome size of two Frankia strains, Ar14 and Eu11, was 6.2 × 10 and 4.6 × 109 Daltons, respectively (about 1–9 times bigger than that of E.coli).
Segmental dynamics in lamellar phases of tapered copolymers.

Recent experiments have reported that the lamellar phase of salt-doped tapered copolymers exhibit higher ionic conductivity compared to those seen in similar morphologies of diblock copolymers. Such observations were in turn rationalized by invoking the corresponding glass transition temperature of the segregated copolymers. In this work we report the results of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to identify the mechanisms underlying such characteristics. Explicitly, we probe the combined influences of the degree of segregation and the disparity in mobilities of the segments of the two blocks, upon the local relaxation dynamics of tapered copolymers segregated in lamellar phases. Our results show that the local dynamics of tapered copolymers depend on two independent factors, viz., the degree of segregation of such copolymers relative to their order–disorder transition temperature, and the relative mobilities (glass transition temperatures) of the two blocks. In qualitative correspondence with experiments, we find that for appropriate combinations of mobility ratios and degree of segregation, the lamellar phases of tapered copolymers can exhibit faster local segmental dynamics compared to diblock copolymers.
Review of Novel Catalysts for Biomass Tar Cracking and Methane Reforming

A review of the literature was conducted to examine the performance of catalysts other than conventional nickel catalysts, and alkaline earth and olivine based catalysts for treating hot raw product gas from a biomass gasifier to convert methane and tars into synthesis gas. Metal catalysts other than Ni included precious metals Rh, Ru, Ir, Pt, and Pd, as well as Cu, Co, and Fe in limited testing. Nickel catalysts promoted with Rh, Zr, Mn, Mo, Ti, Ag, or Sn were also examined, as were Ni catalysts on Ce2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, SiO2, and La2O3. In general, Rh stood out as a consistently superior metal catalyst for methane reforming, tar cracking, and minimizing carbon buildup on the catalyst. Ru and Ir also showed significant improvement over Ni for methane reforming. Ceria stood out as good support material and particularly good promoter material when added in small quantities to another support material such as alumina, zirconia, or olivine. Other promising supports were lanthana, zirconia, and titania.
High-Frequency Financial Statistics Through High-Performance Computing

Financial statistics covers a wide array of applications in the financial world, such as (high-frequency) trading, risk management, pricing and valuation of securities and derivatives, and various business and economic analytics. Portfolio allocation is one of the most important problems in financial risk management. One most challenging part in portfolio allocation is the tremendous amount of data and the optimization procedures that require computing power beyond the currently available desktop systems. In this article, we focus on the portfolio allocation problem using high-frequency financial data, and propose a hybrid parallelization solution to carry out efficient asset allocations in a large portfolio via intra-day high-frequency data. We exploit a variety of HPC techniques, including parallel R, IntelⓇ Math Kernel Library, and automatic offloading to IntelⓇ Xeon Phi coprocessor in particular to speed up the simulation and optimization procedures in our statistical investigations. Our numerical studies are based on high-frequency price data on stocks traded in New York Stock Exchange in 2011. The analysis results show that portfolios constructed using high-frequency approach generally perform well by pooling together the strengths of regularization and estimation from a risk management perspective. We also investigate the computation aspects of large-scale multiple hypothesis testing for time series data. Using a combination of software and hardware parallelism, we demonstrate a high level of performance on high-frequency financial statistics.
From theoretical reaction dynamics to chemical modeling of combustion

Abstract The chemical modeling of combustion treats the chemical conversion of hundreds of species through thousands of reactions. Recent advances in theoretical methodologies and computational capabilities have transformed theoretical chemical kinetics from a largely empirical to a highly predictive science. As a result, theoretical chemistry is playing an increasingly significant role in the combustion modeling enterprise. The accurate prediction of the temperature and pressure dependence of gas phase reactions requires state-of-the-art implementations of a variety of theoretical methods: ab initio electronic structure theory, transition state theory, classical trajectory simulations, and the master equation. In this work, we illustrate the current state-of-the-art in predicting the kinetics of gas-phase reactions through sample calculations for some prototypical reactions central to combustion chemistry. These studies are used to highlight the success of theory, as well as its remaining challenges, through comparisons with experiments ranging from elementary reaction kinetics studies through to global observations such as flame speed measurements. The illustrations progress from the treatment of relatively simple abstraction and addition reactions, which proceed over a single transition state, through to the complexity of multiwell multichannel reactions that commonly occur in studies of the growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition to providing high quality rate prescriptions for combustion modelers, theory will be seen to indicate various shortcomings in the foundations of chemical modeling. Future progress in the fidelity of the chemical modeling of combustion will benefit from more widespread applications of theoretical chemical kinetics and from increasingly intimate couplings of theory, experiment, and modeling.
22. Preliminary observations of point sources at 12·5 and 15·5 Mc./S.

At frequencies much below 30 Mc./s. radio astronomy is substantially affected by the earth's ionosphere. The principal effects of the ionosphere are to absorb signals from extra-terrestrial sources, and to propagate earthbound interfering signals over long distances. Successful observation at these relatively low frequencies requires (1) a clear observing channel, or (2) operation during the interval immediately preceding sunrise when the maximum usable frequency for oblique-incidence ionospheric propagation has fallen below the operating frequency. Since early attempts to locate a clear channel between 10 and 20 Mc./s. were fruitless, we accepted the condition in (2) realizing that ionospheric absorption would also be minimized, since the observing frequency, under these conditions, is more than three times greater than the ionospheric critical frequency at vertical incidence.
How useful are pharmacological treatments in eating disorders

The eating disorders anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are multifactorial syndromes of unknown origin which occur typically in female adolescents or young women. Nowadays, AN and BN are most often triggered by dietary restriction. Both are treatable conditions. As in other psychiatric disorders, a lower comorbidity, a shorter duration of illness, less familial psychopathology, and, in AN, a higher minimal weight have been shown to be associated with a better outcome. So far, no abnormalities specific to AN or BN that would shed light on their etiology have been identified. Controlled and uncontrolled studies testing antipsychotic, antidepressant, weight-promoting, and prokinetic drugs have demonstrated that the core symptoms of AN are refractory to currently available psychotropic medication. For relapse prevention, however, antidepressant medication may be useful. Renutrition, psychotherapy, and family therapy remain the cornerstones of treatment for AN. Placebo-controlled studies with antidepressant drugs have been far more promising for treating BN in the short term. Recent studies have found that lasting symptomatic improvement and remission require the addition of psychological treatments in the form of cognitive and interpersonal psychotherapy. The steady stream of newly identified peptides and other molecules involved in appetite and body weight control may ultimately provide cues to better targeted treatments of eating disorders.
Epidural spinal cord compression: Treatment options

Abstract The appropriate management of patients with metastatic disease to the spine demands a comprehensive evaluation and decision-making process on the part of the orthopedic surgeon. Each patient must be considered separately, taking into consideration all possible factors, especially the individual's medical status and longevity. While the classification systems presented are far from encompassing, they may serve as treatment guidelines. As the medical treatment of cancer improves, more patients are surviving longer, and, therefore, developing an increasing number of metastatic complications. Surgical intervention should be reserved for those cases in which nonoperative measures have little chance of succeeding or already have failed. When warranted, decompressive procedures are best accomplished by first assessing the location of compression. The indiscrimate use of laminectomy in the past has lead to poor results reported in earlier surgical series. Anterior vertebral body resections with stabilization techniques have led to improved satisfactory outcome. An aggressive approach to these patients remains justifiable in those individuals with an expected longevity of more than 3 to 6 months in order to assure an improved quality of remaining time.
Evaluating center performance in the competing risks setting: Application to outcomes of wait-listed end-stage renal disease patients

Summary It is often of interest to compare centers or healthcare providers on quality of care delivered. We consider the setting where evaluation of center performance on multiple competing events is of interest. We propose estimating center effects through cause-specific proportional hazards frailty models that allow correlation among a center's cause-specific effects. Estimation of our model proceeds via penalized partial likelihood and is implemented in R. To evaluate center performance, we also propose a directly standardized excess cumulative incidence (ECI) measure. Therefore, based on our proposed methods, practitioners can evaluate centers either through the cause-specific hazards or the cumulative incidence functions. We demonstrate, through simulations, the advantages of the proposed methods to detect outlying centers, by comparing the proposed methods and existing methods which assume uncorrelated random center effects. In addition, we develop a Correlation Score Test to test the null hypothesis that the competing event processes within a center are correlated. Using data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, we apply our method to evaluate the performance of Organ Procurement Organizations on two competing risks: (i) receipt of a kidney transplant and (ii) death on the wait-list.
Iterative Image Processing for Early Diagnostic of Beta-Amyloid Plaque Deposition in Pre-Clinical Alzheimer's Disease Studies.

Purpose: To test and evaluate an efficient iterative image processing strategy to improve the quality of sub-optimal pre-clinical PET images. A novel iterative resolution subset-based method to reduce noise and enhance resolution (RSEMD) has been demonstrated on examples of PET imaging studies of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) plaques deposition in mouse brains.Materials and Methods: The RSEMD method was applied to imaging studies of non-invasive detection of beta-amyloid plaque in transgenic mouse models of AD. Data acquisition utilized a Siemens Inveon® micro PET/CT device. Quantitative uptake of the tracer in control and AD mice brains was determined by counting the extent of plaque deposition by histological staining. The preclinical imaging software inviCRO® was used for fitting the recovery PET images to the mouse brain atlas and obtaining the time activity curves (TAC) from different brain areas. Results: In all of the AD studies the post-processed images proved to have higher resolution and lower noise as compared with images reconstructed by conventional EM methods. In general, the values of SNR reached a plateau at around 10 iterations with an improvement factor of about 2 over sub-optimal PET brain images.Conclusions: A rapidly converging, iterative deconvolution image processing algorithm with a resolution subsets-based approach RSEMD has been used for quantitative studies of changes in Alzheimer’s pathology over time. The RSEMD method can be applied to sub-optimal clinical PET brain images to improve image quality to diagnostically acceptable levels and will be crucial in order to facilitate diagnosis of AD progression at the earliest stages.
Clinical Interviews: Assessing and Designing Mathematics Instruction for Students With Disabilities:

Mathematics assessment is integral in enabling teachers to implement specially designed instruction for students with disabilities. This article presents an overview of an underutilized form of ass...
Bin-Free Fitting of Probability Distributions Emphasizing DNA Histograms

It is often challenging to find the right bin size when constructing a histogram to represent a noisy experimental data set. This problem is frequently faced when assessing whether a cell synchronization experiment was successful or not. In this case the goal is to determine whether the DNA content is best represented by a unimodal, indicating successful synchronization, or bimodal, indicating unsuccessful synchronization, distribution. This choice of bin size can greatly affect the interpretation of the results; however, it can be avoided by fitting the data to a cumulative distribution function (CDF). Fitting data to a CDF removes the need for bin size selection. The sorted data can also be used to reconstruct an approximate probability density function (PDF) without selecting a bin size. A simple CDF-based approach is presented and the benefits and drawbacks relative to usual methods are discussed.
Enhanced Second-Harmonic Generation Using Broken Symmetry III-V Semiconductor Fano Metasurfaces

All-dielectric metasurfaces, two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength low loss dielectric inclusions, can be used not only to control the amplitude and phase of optical beams, but also to generate new wavelengths through enhanced nonlinear optical processes that are free from some of the constraints dictated by the use of bulk materials. Recently, high quality factor (Q) resonances in these metasurfaces have been revealed and utilized for applications such as sensing and lasing. The origin of these resonances stems from the interference of two nanoresonator modes with vastly different Q. Here we show that nonlinear optical processes can be further enhanced by utilizing these high-Q resonances in broken symmetry all-dielectric metasurfaces. We study second harmonic generation from broken symmetry metasurfaces made from III–V semiconductors and observe nontrivial spectral shaping of second-harmonic and multifold efficiency enhancement induced by high field localization and enhancement inside the nanoresonators.
A Grounded Theory Investigation Into Data Interoperability In Healthcare

Clinicians and hospital administrators rely on healthcare information systems (HIS) for decisionmaking. Typically, HIS need to aggregate data from a network of geographically dispersed healthcare facilities and specialized departments of medical practice. However interoperability issues in the data arise from the diversity of infrastructure, specialized practices, underlying systems, procedures and personnel in healthcare facilities. Silos of medical practice create both systemic and semantic interoperability issues. Using grounded theory, this research draws on interviews with HIS stakeholders in a large single provider nationalized healthcare network in the USA to formulate a model that explores how knowledge management practices coupled with technology can establish data interoperability standards. Additionally, increased knowledge sharing across the traditional silos of healthcare practices enhances the interoperability of patient data by supporting standards as well as data collection and abstraction procedures and processes.
Planning Sessions, Note Taking, and Data Management

This chapter reviews the steps a fieldworker should take to successfully plan, execute and document fieldwork sessions. To ensure success, each fieldwork session needs to be well thought out. We suggest the following steps: Create a flexible plan for each session, with clear objectives and a list of planned activities or tasks Find a convenient time and space for the session Prepare necessary equipment and other materials needed to meet the stated objectives Capturing session data for further analysis by appropriate note-taking, recording, data organization, and archiving practices The primary responsibility for the success of a scheduled fieldwork session lies with the fieldworker.
Simulating Motion of an Operator-Controlled Gantry Crane in a Cluttered Work Environment

Manipulating payloads with overhead gantry cranes can be challenging due to the oscillations induced by the crane motion and by external disturbances. The problem gets increasingly difficult when the work environment is cluttered with obstacles that must be avoided. This paper examines this problem and investigates the role of the operator actions. To do this, simple mathematical models of the operator behavior and crane dynamics are developed. Furthermore, the effect of adding an input shaping controller to reduce oscillations is
Optimizing the most specific concept method for efficient instance checking

Instance checking is considered a central tool for data retrieval from description logic (DL) ontologies. In this paper, we propose a revised most specific concept (MSC) method for DL $\mathcal{SHI}$, which converts instance checking into subsumption problems. This revised method can generate small concepts that are specific-enough to answer a given query, and allow reasoning to explore only a subset of the ABox data to achieve efficiency. Experiments show effectiveness of our proposed method in terms of concept size reduction and the improvement in reasoning efficiency.
Hormonal Regulation of Casein Gene Expression in Normal and Transformed Mammary Cells

The mammary gland provides an excellent model system in which to study the mechanisms by which both steroid and peptide hormones regulate gene expression. Both glucocorticoids and prolactin are required for maximal expression of the milk protein genes, while progesterone antagonizes the inductive effects of these lactogenic hormones. As a necessary prerequisite for elucidating the mechanism of action of these hormones, we have isolated a series of recombinant cDNA and genomic DNA clones encoding three members of the casein multigene family and a fourth, abundant rat milk protein, the whey acidic protein. Complete nucleic acid sequences have been determined for all four of these milk protein mRNAs and for portions of the large and complex, split genes encoding these mRNAs. Comparison of these sequences has revealed three regions of unusual conservation among the rapidly diverging members of the casein gene family. These include the 5' noncoding regions of the mRNAs, the major sites of casein phosphorylation and calcium binding, and the signal peptide sequences. The 5' noncoding region and the signal peptide sequence each appear to be encoded by a separate exon, while the site of phosphorylation is generated by an RNA splicing event. Analysis of the 5' flanking regions of the casein genes revealed several structural features which may represent potential progesterone and glucocorticoid receptor binding sites. All 3 casein genes contain a 16-nucleotide consensus sequence which constitutes part of a palindrome and is homologous with a chicken ovalbumin gene 5' sequence involved in progesterone receptor binding and induction of ovalbumin gene expression. Preferential binding of the chicken progesterone receptor and a 5' flanking DNA fragment of the mammalian γ-casein gene has been demonstrated. Casein genes also contain short nucleotide sequences which share 90% homology with viral transcriptional enhancer core elements. These results will be briefly illustrated in the following presentation.
Differences in the trophic ecology of micronekton driven by diel vertical migration

Author(s): Romero-Romero, Sonia; Choy, C Anela; Hannides, Cecelia CS; Popp, Brian N; Drazen, Jeffrey C | Abstract: Many species of micronekton perform diel vertical migrations (DVMs), which ultimately contributes to carbon export to the deep sea. However, not all micronekton species perform DVM, and the nonmigrators, which are often understudied, have different energetic requirements that might be reflected in their trophic ecology. We analyze bulk tissue and whole animal stable nitrogen isotopic compositions (δ 15N values) of micronekton species collected seasonally between 0 and 1250 m depth to explore differences in the trophic ecology of vertically migrating and nonmigrating micronekton in the central North Pacific. Nonmigrating species exhibit depth-related increases in δ 15N values mirroring their main prey, zooplankton. Higher variance in δ 15N values of bathypelagic species points to the increasing reliance of deeper dwelling micronekton on microbially reworked, very small suspended particles. Migrators have higher δ 15N values than nonmigrators inhabiting the epipelagic zone, suggesting the consumption of material during the day at depth, not only at night when they migrate closer to the surface. Migrating species also appear to eat larger prey and exhibit a higher range of variation in δ 15N values seasonally than nonmigrators, likely because of their higher energy needs. The dependence on material at depth enriched in 15N relative to surface particles is higher in migratory fish that ascend only to the lower epipelagic zone. Our results confirm that stark differences in the food habits and dietary sources of micronekton species are driven by vertical migrations.