cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Editorial: Can we meet the costs of achieving safely managed drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene services under the new sustainable development goals?

In September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution titled ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which brings universal access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) within our sights. Now, there is the opportunity to finish the half completed job from the Millennium Framework that produced the Target 7c on water supply and sanitation. This historical pronouncement should certainly be cause to be positive, considering the billions of dollars of benefit per year that will flow from universal WASH access. However, the WASH targets (SDG #6 Targets 6.1 and 6.2) are, by any standard, extremely ambitious. We will soon wake up to the Herculean challenge we have set ourselves in this new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework. In the WASH space, we have 15 years to achieve far more than what we achieved for water and did not achieve for sanitation in the 25 years of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) framework. First, the ‘safely managed’ service level for water and sanitation in the targets (see Table 1) is significantly higher than the ‘improved’ standard in the MDG Target 7c indicators, and thus more costly. Second, we have added hygiene to the scope of the WASH targets, which includes hand washing in the indicator, and in the wording of the water goal ‘for all’ can also be read to include institutional WASH (schools, health facilities, work places, prisons, etc.) and not just households. View this table: Table 1 WASH-related targets and proposed indicators and definitions in the SDG #6 on water Third, the unfinished job from the MDG period leaves us with a significant proportion of poor, vulnerable, isolated communities and other challenging environments as unserved households – which are more difficult and often more costly to reach with WASH services. Fourth, we have only 15 years, not 25, to …
Non-Archimedean Banach Spaces

In this chapter we gather some basic facts about non-archimedean Banach spaces, with a special emphasis on the so-called p-adic Hilbert space . Again the results here are well-known and will serve as background for the operator theory developed in later chapters.
Johannsen and Ottenheym (eds.), Beyond Scylla and Charybdis: European Courts and Court Residences outside Habsburg and Valois/Bourbon Territories 1500-1700 (National Museum of Denmark and University Press of Southern Denmark, 2015)

This reviews and evaluates the contents of a recent collection of essays on courts and court architecture in the early modern period.
The Valence Advantage of Presidential Persuasion: Do Presidential Candidates Use Oratory to Persuade Citizens to Vote Contrary to Ideological Preferences?

Can voters be persuaded to support a candidate based on a candidate's communication skills instead of a candidate's issue positions? Combining theoretical insights on voter decision-making drawn from valence theories of candidate-position taking with insights from theories of rhetoric and persuasion, we argue that candidate rhetoric can sway voters to a candidate's side. We examine the sophistication and style of candidate speech in U.S. presidential elections from 1976-2004 using Flesch-Kincaid grade-level measures and Diction measures of presidential speech. We find that more sophisticated campaign speech by a candidate results in a higher likelihood that a citizen will vote for that candidate, though this effect of linguistic sophistication is conditioned by voter cognition. The most highly educated voters are most likely to use the non-policy dimension of complex rhetoric in casting their vote. This finding runs contrary to the conventional wisdom that higher educated voters - because of their cognitive abilities - would be most likely to vote 'rationally' based primarily on issue preferences. We also find that candidates who present themselves using language that draws on themes of commonality, activity, and realism are more likely to win a citizen's vote in the election. These results suggest that rhetoric matters: it can sway voters, but it also suggests that soaring and powerful rhetoric can be offset when the voter perceives high ideological congruence with the rhetorically-disadvantaged candidate.
Detecting atmospheric regimes using cross-validated clustering

Low-frequency variability in geopotential height records of the Northern Hemisphere is a topic of significance in atmospheric science, having profound implications for climate modeling and prediction. A debate has existed in the atmospheric science literature as to whether or not "regimes" or clusters exist in geopotential heights, and if so, how many such clusters. This paper tells the "detective story" of how cross-validated mixture model clustering, a methodology originally described at the 1996 KDD conference (Smyth, 1996), has recently provided clear and objective evidence that three clusters exist in the Northern Hemisphere, where each of the detected clusters has a direct physical interpretation. Cross-validated mixture modeling has thus answered an important open scientific question.
Critical Error 13 Losing Composure

On Monday and Wednesday, my mother was nervous and agitated from the time she got up. At five o’clock on these days she lectured. After lunch she shut herself into her study in the Quai de Bethune, prepared the lesson, and wrote the heads of chapters of her lecture on a piece of white paper. Towards half-past four she would go to the laboratory and isolate herself in a little rest room. She was tense, anxious, unapproachable. Marie had been teaching for twenty-five years, yet every time she had to appear in the little amphitheater before twenty or thirty pupils who rose in unison at her entrance she unquestionably had “stage fright.”
High Level Design of a Home Autonomous System Based on Cyber Physical System Modeling

The process used to build an autonomous smart home system using Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) principles has received much attention by researchers and developers. However, there are many challenges during the design and implementation of such a system, such as Portability, Timing, Prediction, and Integrity. This paper presents a novel modeling methodology for a smart home system in the scope of CyberPhysical interface that attempts to overcome these issues. We discuss a high-level design approach that simulates the first three levels of a 5C architecture in CPS layers in a smart home environment. A detailed description of the model design, architecture, and a software implementation via NetLogo simulation have been presented in this paper.
Commercial Programs' Online Weight-Loss Claims Compared to Results from Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective To characterize weight-loss claims and disclaimers present on websites for commercial weight-loss programs and compare them with results from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods A content analysis of all home pages and testimonials available on the websites of 24 randomly selected programs was performed. Two team members independently reviewed each page and abstracted information from text and images to capture relevant content, including demographics, weight loss, and disclaimers. A systematic review was performed to evaluate the efficacy of these programs by searching MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the mean weight change from each RCT included was abstracted. Results Overall, the amount of weight loss portrayed in the testimonials was extreme across all programs examined (range median weight loss 10.7-49.5 kg). Only 10 out of the 24 programs had eligible RCTs. Median weight losses reported in testimonials exceeded that achieved by trial participants. Most programs with RCTs (78%) provided disclaimers stating that the testimonial's results were nontypical and/or gave a range of typical weight loss. Conclusions Weight-loss claims within testimonials were higher than results from RCTs. Future studies should examine whether commercial programs' advertising practices influence patients' expectations or satisfaction with modest weight-loss results.
Photoperiodic responses of Sahelian malaria mosquitoes Anopheles coluzzii and An. arabiensis.

Throughout large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, seasonal malaria transmission follows mosquito density, approaching zero during the dry season and peaking during the wet season. The mechanisms by which malaria mosquitoes survive the long dry season, when no larval sites are available remain largely unknown, despite being long recognized as a critical target for vector control. Previous work in the West African Sahel has led to the hypothesis that Anopheles coluzzii (formerly M-form Anopheles gambiae) undergoes aestivation (dry-season diapause), while Anopheles gambiae (s.s.) (formerly S-form An. gambiae) and Anopheles arabiensis repopulate each wet season via long-distance migration. The environmental cues used by these species to signal the oncoming dry season have not been determined; however, studies, mostly addressing mosquitoes from temperate zones, have highlighted photoperiod and temperature as the most common token stimuli for diapause initiation. We subjected newly established colonies of An. coluzzii and An. arabiensis from the Sahel to changes in photoperiod to assess and compare their responses in terms of longevity and other relevant phenotypes. Our results showed that short photoperiod alone and to a lesser extent, lower nightly temperature (representing the early dry season), significantly increased longevity of An. coluzzii (by ~30%, P < 0.001) but not of An. arabiensis. Further, dry season conditions increased body size but not relative lipid content of An. coluzzii, whereas body size of An. arabiensis decreased under these conditions. These species-specific responses underscore the capacity of tropical anophelines to detect mild changes (~1 h) in photoperiod and thus support the role of photoperiod as a token stimulus for An. coluzzii in induction of aestivation, although, these responses fall short of a complete recapitulation of aestivation under laboratory conditions.
The First Cohomology Group and Generation of Simple Groups

We obtain an upper bound for the dimension of the first cohomology group of a finite group acting faithfully and irreducibly on a finite dimensional module. We discuss the connection between results of this nature and generation questions for finite simple groups.
The Politics of Everyday Coalition-Building

One of the most important challenges of contemporary progressive politics is building social movements for change that take up the ways that that relations of power are shaped by the interaction an...
Review of interactions between phosphorus and arsenic in soils from four case studies

Arsenic is a non-essential element that poses risks in many environments, including soil, groundwater, and surface water. Insights into the environmental biogeochemistry of As can be gained by comparing As and P reaction processes. Arsenic and P are chemical analogues, and it is proposed that they have similar chemical behaviors in environmental systems. However some chemical properties of As and P are distinct, such as redox reactions, causing the biogeochemical behavior of the two elements to differ. In the environment, As occurs as either As(V) or As(III) oxyanions (e.g., AsO43− or AsO33−). In contrast, P occurs predominantly as oxidation state five plus; most commonly as the orthophosphate ion (PO43−). In this paper, data from four published case studies are presented with a focus on P and As distribution and speciation in soil. The goal is show how analyzing P chemistry in soils can provide greater insights into As reaction processes in soils. The case studies discussed include: (1) soil developed from shale parent material, (2) mine-waste impacted wetland soils, (3) phosphate-amended contaminated soil, and (4) plants grown in biochar-amended, mine-contaminated soil. Data show that while P and As have competitive reactions in soils, in most natural systems they have distinct biogeochemical processes that create differing mobility and bioavailability. These processes include redox reactions and rhizosphere processes that affect As bioavailability. Results from these case studies are used as examples to illustrate how studying P and As together allows for enhanced interpretation of As biogeochemical processes in soils.
Hedge fund returns and uncertainty

Abstract The concept of uncertainty in investment returns, as an additional consideration to the traditional mean-variance framework, is receiving increased attention in the finance literature. This article examines the financial market relationship between uncertainty and hedge fund returns, finding that a readily available proxy for uncertainty (the CBOE® VVIX index) is a useful indicator of next-month hedge fund returns. Hedge funds in the highest quintile of VVIX index sensitivity outperform those in the lowest quintile of uncertainty by 5.97% annually, on average. The results of the study indicate that the use of this parsimonious measure of uncertainty compares favorably to more complex measures of uncertainty that have previously been analyzed.
The Family Check-Up Online Program for Parents of Middle School Students: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Research has established that skillful family management during adolescence protects youth from a variety of mental health and behavioral problems. Interventions associated with this research have focused on parenting skills as the mediator that links early risk factors with a profile of later behavioral risk, including problem behavior, substance use, and school failure. Fortunately, positive changes in family management skills have been linked to meaningful improvements in adolescent behavior, and these improvements have been significant across a variety of cultural groups. Objective: We describe the background, research design, and intervention components of an electronic health version of the Family Check-Up program that is targeting middle school children and is being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial for its usability, feasibility, and efficacy. Methods: We used an iterative formative research process to develop an electronic health version of the Family Check-Up program. In our ongoing randomized controlled trial, eligible families are randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: Family Check-Up Online-only (n≈100), Family Check-Up Online + Coach (n≈100), and a waitlist control condition (middle school as usual; n≈100). We are conducting assessments at baseline, 3 months following randomization (posttest), and at follow-ups scheduled for 6 months and 12 months. Results: This randomized controlled trial project was funded in 2015. Participant recruitment was completed in spring 2018 and enrollment is ongoing. Follow-up assessments will be completed in 2019. Conclusions: The innovative Family Check-Up Online program has the potential to help address many of the barriers that more traditional school-based behavioral mental health implementation strategies have yet to solve, including staffing and resources to implement family-centered support within schools. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03060291; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03060291 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/70f8keeN4) Trial Registration: RR1-10.2196/11106
Physical and Descriptive Approaches to Medium-Induced Acoustic Fluctuation

The purpose is to provide an introductory bridge between selected oceanographic concepts and their effects on the performance of sonar systems. The effect of Coriolis force and density stratification upon the motion of turbulence-produced fluid elements is examined under the steady state locally-barotropic condition. At any one point, a spectrum of density perturbations results, with a corresponding spectrum of sound- speed or delay-time fluctuations. The spatial correlation between fluctuations at two points depends on the averaging time used. Using a first-order stochastic model, two examples of fluctuation effects upon sonar system performance are given: the single receiving point mean square delay fluctuation as a function of target range, and regions of noise-dominated versus medium fluctuation-dominated sonar performance for a receiving aperture. The major conclusion is that sonar processing time, expressed in terms of oceanographic fluctuation power spectra, must be taken into account in estimating oceanographic effects upon sonar system performance.
Weak Convergence: Introduction

Up to now, we have concentrated on the convergence of {θ n } or of {θ n (·)} to an appropriate limit set with probability one. In this chapter, we work with a weaker type of convergence. In practical applications, this weaker type of convergence most often yields exactly the same information about the asymptotic behavior as the probability one methods. Yet the methods of proof are simpler (indeed, often substantially simpler), and the conditions are weaker and more easily verifiable. The weak convergence methods have considerable advantages when dealing with complicated problems, such as those involving correlated noise, state dependent noise processes, decentralized or asynchronous algorithms, and discontinuities in the algorithm. If probability one convergence is still desired, starting with a weak convergence argument can allow one to “localize” the probability one proof, thereby simplifying both the argument and the conditions that are needed. For example, the weak convergence proof might tell us that the iterates spend the great bulk of the time very near some point. Then a “local” method such as that for the “linearized” algorithm in Theorem 6.1.2 can be used. The basic ideas have many applications to problems in process approximation and for getting limit theorems for sequences of random processes.
Chitosan microparticles based polyelectrolyte complex scaffolds for bone tissue engineering in vitro and effect of calcium phosphate.

Abstract Chitosan microparticles were mixed with chitosan and carboxymethyl cellulose solution to achieve a good binding between the microparticles. Three different compositions of scaffolds were made by varying the calcium phosphate (CaP) amount: 0%, 10%, and 20%. Potassium chloride was used as salt, to make pores inside the scaffolds after leaching out when immersed in phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Compressive strength and compressive modulus of both non-porous (before leaching out), and porous (after leaching out) scaffolds were measured according to the ASTM standards. The highest compressive strength of 27 MPa was reported on 10% CaP scaffolds while 20% CaP scaffolds showed the lowest. The increasing CaP content reduces the compressive strength of the scaffolds. The highest wet state compressive strength was reported on 0% CaP scaffolds with 0.36 MPs and 0.40 MPa at day 1 and day 3 respectively. In vitro cell culture studies showed good cell adhesion and cell proliferation on 10% CaP scaffolds.
Effect of Pharmacy-Driven Bedside Discharge Medication Delivery Program on Day 30 Hospital Readmission.

Background:Previous studies demonstrated that transitions of care bundles, which include bedside discharge medication delivery (BDMD), may be helpful in decreasing hospital readmissions.Objective:T...
Micropulse Transscleral Cyclophotocoagulation: A Look at Long-Term Effectiveness and Outcomes.

Purpose To investigate the long-term effectiveness of intraocular pressure (IOP) and medication reduction in patients who have undergone micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (mTS-CPC). Design Retrospective chart review. Participants A total of 73 eyes of 62 patients treated no more than 1 time with mTS-CPC in a practice in New York City with at least 1 year of follow-up. Methods Treatment was 100 seconds of mTS-CPC with energy titrated on the basis of visual acuity. Paired t test and multivariable analysis were performed with SAS (SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). Main Outcome Measures Visual acuity, IOP, medication burden, phthisis, and development of macular edema were followed. Results Average initial IOP was 25.5±9.4, and average number of initial medications was 3.1±1.1. At 1 year, average IOP was 13.8±7.0 (46% reduction) and average number of medications was 2.5±1.0 (19% reduction). A total of 11 of 15 patients (73.3%) initially taking an oral carbonic anhydrase inhibitor before CPC did not require the oral carbonic anhydrase inhibitor 1 year after treatment. Seventy-six percent of patients obtained at least 20% IOP reduction. Multivariate analysis found IOP reduction was associated with power used and preoperative IOP, whereas medication reduction was associated with initial medication burden. Notably, there was a 57% reduction in IOP at 2500 mW power and a 30% reduction at 2000 mW power. No patients developed macular edema or phthisis from the procedure. Some 18.8% of patients with 20/400 vision or better experienced persistent vision loss of ≥2 lines after the procedure, and 10% of patients with light perception to count finger vision progressed to no light perception (NLP) after the procedure. Of patients with 20/400 vision or better, 12.5% gained ≥2 lines of visual acuity on the Snellen chart at the postoperative year 1 visit. In addition, 15.4% of patients with count fingers to NLP vision improved at the postoperative year 1 visit after treatment. One of 6 patients (16.7%) with NLP gained vision at the postoperative year 1 visit. Conclusions This study provides evidence that mTS-CPC is a clinically useful procedure associated with good long-term medication burden reduction and IOP reduction that follows a dose-response pattern related to power used.
Use of video capsule endoscopy to identify gastrointestinal lesions in dogs with microcytosis or gastrointestinal hemorrhage

Author(s): Mabry, Kasey; Hill, Tracy; Marks, Stanley L; Hardy, Brian T | Abstract: BackgroundVideo capsule endoscopy (VCE) is a noninvasive imaging modality that can identify mucosal lesions not detected with traditional endoscopy or abdominal sonography. In people, VCE is used in diagnostic and management protocols of various gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, particularly in GI bleeding of obscure origin or unexplained iron deficiency anemia (IDA).ObjectiveTo evaluate the utility of VCE in the identification of mucosal lesions in dogs with evidence of GI hemorrhage.AnimalsSixteen client-owned dogs that underwent VCE.MethodsRetrospective case-control study. Medical records were reviewed to include dogs with microcytosis, low normal mean corpuscular volume, or clinical GI bleeding that received VCE.ResultsMedian age of dogs was 8.7 years (range, 8 months to 15 years) with a median weight of 21.7 kg (range, 6.9-62.5 kg). Abdominal ultrasound (16), abdominal radiography (4), and abdominal CT (1) did not identify a cause for GI blood loss. Gastric mucosal lesions were identified by VCE in 15 of 16 dogs and small intestinal lesions in 12 of 14 dogs, with 2 capsules remaining in the stomach. Endoscopy was performed in 2 dogs before VCE; 1 dog had additional small intestinal lesions identified through the use of VCE.Conclusions and clinical importanceVideo capsule endoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic tool that can identify GI lesions in dogs presenting with microcytosis with or without GI hemorrhage when ultrasonography is inconclusive; however, the majority of lesions identified would have been apparent with conventional endoscopy.
Choroidal mass as the first presentation of Erdheim-Chester disease.

Abstract Purpose To describe a choroidal mass that proved to be histiocytic choroidal infiltration in Erdheim-Chester disease. Observations A 54-years-old Caucasian male presented to our Retina Clinic with a suspect of choroidal melanoma in the left eye. Dilated fundus exam of the left eye showed a yellow-grey lesion along the inferior arcade, with sub-retinal fluid clinically visible. Enhanced depth imaging-OCT (EDI-OCT) showed a dome-shaped choroidal lesion with hyperreflective exudation present between the inner retina and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). On fundus autofluorescence the lesion appeared to have a diffuse speckled hyper-autofluorescent pattern secondary to the exudative subretinal material. On ultrasound, the lesion appeared hyper-echoic and dome-shaped, with a baseline thickness of 6.13 mm. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) was performed and showed hypocyanescence of the lesion from the early phases that persisted through the whole exam. Chest CT with contrast showed an abnormal, non-calcific, eccentric thickening of segments of the aorta (“coated aorta”) and PET an abnormally strong labeling of the distal ends of the long bones. An additional proximal tibial biopsy was performed to confirm the diagnosis on histology of Erdheim-Chester disease and the patient was started on oral prednisone. The choroidal mass progressively shrunk and the subretinal exudative material on top partially reabsorbed. Conclusions and importance Intraocular involvement in Erdheim-Chester disease is extremely rare but as a result of recent better awareness the number of new diagnosis is increasing. Erdheim-Chester disease should be considered in the differential of every choroidal mass.
Kecenderungan dan Faktor Penyebab Deforestasi di Way Pemerihan, Taman Nasional Bukit Barisan Selatan, Lampung Barat

Trend and Causal Factor of Deforestation in Way Pemerihan, Bukit BarisanSelatan National Park, West Lampung. Deforestation of low land tropical forestis one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park(BBSNP), where this area is the third-largest protected area on Sumatra. Our study is thefirst in BBSNP as integrate between remote sensing and socio-economic survey to demonstratethat the area and rate of forest loss in Way Pemerihan (Cawangaro andSumbersari). The data demonstrated that deforestation activity has been started since1965 in Cawangaro and 1977 in Sumbersari. Forest cover of 1.232ha had already beenlost by deforestation activity, i.e: 579 ha in Cawangaro and 653ha in Sumbersari. Forestloss is increasingly by average rate of 1.2%/year (0.28m2/minute) in the meantime averagerate of regeneration only 0.09%/year. The highest increased of deforestation hasoccurred after politics reformation in 1998. The result of socio-economic survey demonstratedtwo causal factor include internal factor and external factor. Internal factor that islandlessness, price of outside BBSNP land is relatively high and not productive becauseof that low production. External factor of the processes which drives farmer to deforestationis social gap to illegal logging activity, declined of BBSNP forest control and lawenforcement capacity, and boundary conflict between BBSNP with traditional lands.Political reformation forms is the basis for increase external factor.
Hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy via the medtronic pump-assessing dose delivery, response rates and toxicity.

e16007Background: Due to the termination of the Codman pump, in order to administer hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy, the Medtronic pump has been used with the Codman catheter at MSKCC ...
An exploratory and descriptive study of destructive leadership in U.S. higher education

A host of scandals related to poor leadership in higher education has been reported in recent years, ultimately leading to leader turnover at the highest levels of the organization. But just how co...
Autonomous Vehicle Design Anti-Patterns: Making Emerging Transportation Technologies Inaccessible by Design:

Fully autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles represent a potentially transformative shift in personal mobility. Given the emerging nature of self-driving vehicle technologies, however, guidance for ...
An Operational Semantics for TOOPLE: A Statically-Typed Object-Oriented Programming Language

In this paper we present an operational semantics for the language TOOPLE, a statically-typed functional object-oriented programming language which has a number of desirable properties. The operational semantics, given in the form of a natural semantics, is significantly simpler than the previous denotational semantics for the language. A “subject reduction” theorem for the natural semantics provides a proof that the language is type-safe. We also show that the natural semantics is consistent with the denotational semantics of the language.
Diode pumped 1.94 /spl mu/m Tm:YALO laser

A Tm:YALO laser end-pumped by a 794-nm laser diode array is reported. The output power is 1.2 watts when the quasi-cw diode array is operated at a 50 Hz repetition rate (5% duty cycle). The Tm:YALO laser operates at 1.94/spl mu/m with an output coupling of 2.5%, and at 1.945/spl mu/m and 1.99/spl mu/m simultaneously with an output coupling of 2.0%. The dependence of laser wavelength on output coupling is consistent with a previously reported Tm:YALO laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser.
Water‐Soluble Polymers

Water-soluble polymers find application in a wide variety of areas that include polymers as food sources, plasma substitute, and as diluents in medical prescriptions. Other areas of importance for water-soluble polymers include detergents, cosmetics, sewage treatment, stabilizing agents in the production of commodity plastics, rheology modifiers in the various processes for petroleum textile, paper, and latex coatings production. This article discusses the general features of polymers that influence their water solubility and solution properties. Carbohydrate polymers, cellulose, synthetics, cationic polymers, inorganic polymers, new commercial polymers, and hydrophobe-modification polymers are discussed. Keywords: Water-soluble polymers; Carbohydrate polymers; Cellulose; Synthetic water-soluble polymers; Inorganic water-soluble polymers; Cationic water-soluble polymers; Commercial polymers; Hydrophobe modification
Plug and play approach to validation of particle-based algorithms

We present a new approach for code validation. The approach is based on using particle-based algorithms to simulate different levels of physical complexity. We consider here heat and mass transfer in a multicomponent plasma at the kinetic and fluid level. By representing both levels using particle methods we can design a component based software package, Parsek, to conduct validation using a plug and play approach. With the plug and play paradigm, different components representing different physical descriptions but all based on a common particle algorithm can be interchanged without altering the overall software architecture and the overall algorithm. The advantage of the plug and play approach is that validation can be conducted for each component and switching between physical descriptions requires the validation of just the affected components, not entire codes.
Predictors of arthritis in pediatric patients with lupus.

Arthritis is one of the most common manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although typically non-erosive and non-deforming, children with SLE arthritis can have significant morbidity with decreased quality of life. Our goal was to identify potential clinical and laboratory predictors of arthritis in a cohort of pediatric patients with SLE. We performed a cohort study of incident and prevalent patients with SLE aged ≤ 19 years. In cross sectional analysis, we compared demographic and clinical characteristics at initial clinic presentation between patients with arthritis noted at any time during follow-up and those without arthritis. We performed time to event analysis using Cox proportional hazard ratios to identify predictors of arthritis, clustering for repeated measures. Forty seven children and adolescents with SLE were followed in the cohort, 91 % female and 68 % Black. In cross-sectional analyses, presence of malar rash was associated with arthritis. In longitudinal analyses, controlling for gender and race, increased age (HR: 1.4, 95 % CI: 1.1–1.7), malar rash (HR: 2.1, 95 % CI: 1.1–3.6), and presence of RNP antibodies (HR: 1.9, 95 % CI: 1.1–3.4) were predictive of arthritis. When controlling for gender, race, and medication use, anemia (HR: 8.5, 95 % CI: 2.9–24.2) and thrombocytopenia (HR: 6.1, 95 % CI: 2.4–15.6) were associated with increased risk of arthritis. We identified markers predictive of arthritis in a longitudinal cohort of children with SLE. The recognition of these markers may help clinicians identify patients at risk for arthritis before its onset thus improving quality of life in children with SLE.
Apoptosis induced by the toll-like receptor adaptor TRIF is dependent on its receptor interacting protein homotypic interaction motif.

TLRs detect specific molecular features of microorganisms and subsequently engage distinct signaling networks through the differential use of Toll/IL-1R (TIR)-domain-containing adapter proteins. In this study, we investigated the control of apoptosis by the TIR domain-containing adapter proteins MyD88, TIR-domain containing adapter protein (TIRAP), TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing IFN-β (TRIF), TRIF-related adapter molecule (TRAM), and sterile α motifs and β-catenin/armadillo repeats (SARM). Upon overexpression, TRIF was the sole TIR-adapter to potently engage mammalian cell death signaling pathways. TRIF-induced cell death required caspase activity initiated by the Fas/Apo-1-associated DD protein-caspase-8 axis and was unaffected by inhibitors of the intrinsic apoptotic machinery. The proapoptotic potential of TRIF mapped to the C-terminal region that was found to harbor a receptor interacting protein (RIP) homotypic interaction motif (RHIM). TRIF physically interacted with the RHIM-containing proteins RIP1 and RIP3, and deletion and mutational analyses revealed that the RHIM in TRIF was essential for TRIF-induced apoptosis and contributed to TRIF-induced NF-κB activation. The domain that was required for induction of apoptosis could activate NF-κB but not IFN regulatory factor-3, yet the activation of NF-κB could be blocked by superrepressor IκBα without blocking apoptosis. Thus, the ability of TRIF to induce apoptosis was not dependent on its ability to activate either IFN regulatory factor-3 or NF-κB but was dependent on the presence of an intact RHIM. TRIF serves as an adaptor for both TLR3 and TLR4, receptors that are activated by dsRNA and LPS, respectively. These molecular motifs are encountered during viral and bacterial infection, and the apoptosis that occurs when TRIF is engaged represents an important host defense to limit the spread of infection.
A low-reflection flat-lens design for microwave imaging system

Parabolic reflectors and, to some extent, dielectric lenses are typical candidates for high-gain microwave and millimeter wave antenna systems. The latter are sometimes used as alternatives to reflectors in situations where the aperture blockage caused by the feed antenna becomes a problem. Conventional dielectric lenses have curved profiles, typically convex or plano-hyperbolic, and they suffer from limitations of relatively high weight and transmission losses. In addition, it is not easy to fabricate them in a cost-effective manner.
Constructing the Postwar Art Novel: Paul Bowles, James Laughlin, and the Making of The Sheltering Sky

This paper considers the story of the making of Paul Bowles's novel The Sheltering Sky as a case study for the emergence of the art novel as a commercial niche after World War II. Bowles's novel expresses disdain for American culture and depicts its characters' flight to the Sahara, but its subject matter contrasts with the story of the novel's creation: an unlikely collection of American mass-culture and high-culture institutions, including Doubleday, the William Morris Agency, and the avant-garde publisher New Directions, collaborated in the production and promotion of The Sheltering Sky. The story of the novel's making and of its immediate commercial success, the product of a New Directions marketing campaign that effectively advertised Bowles's distance from American culture, exemplifies a neglected aspect of postwar cultural history, when institutions from across the cultural spectrum recognized the existence of a growing market for avant-garde detachment. (EB)
Hobbes’s Self-effacing Natural Law Theory

This paper investigates the structure of Hobbes's normative theory and argues that he developed a self-effacing natural law theory that diverges in interesting ways from both positivist and natural law conceptions of law. In the process, it proposes and defends a new way of understanding how it is that Hobbes's laws of nature require civil obedience, as well as a new understanding of the relationship between natural law and the right of nature in Hobbes.
The Effect of Preslaughter Dietary Electrolyte Treatment on Carcass Yield and Turkey Meat Quality Characteristics

Abstract One hundred and twenty hen turkeys at 21 weeks of age were equally randomized into the following four electrolyte treatments given 3 days prior to slaughter: 1) control group; 2) electrolyte at .05%; 3) .10%; and 4) .15% in drinking water. The birds were processed, chilled in an unagitated ice slush for 24 hr, packaged, and frozen at −20 C until analysis. Carcass yield, proximate composition in the breast muscle, mineral levels in the breast muscle, and various carcass characteristics were measured. Results indicated that electrolyte administration up to .10% via drinking water seemed to improve weight gain and percent water picked up, but this was not significant. However, this water gain was subsequently lost during thawing. Electrolyte levels did not significantly affect the postmortem meat quality. A level of .15% was found to be detrimental to feed intake and growth. No differences were observed in the proximate and mineral composition of the muscle tissue under different levels of electrolyte treatment.
Growth of hydrodynamic perturbations in accretion disks: Possible route to non-magnetic turbulence

We study the possible origin of hydrodynamic turbulence in cold accretion disks such as those in star-forming systems and quiescent cataclysmic variables. As these systems are expected to have neutral gas, the turbulent viscosity is likely to be hydrodynamic in origin, not magnetohydrodynamic. Therefore, MRI will be sluggish or even absent in such disks. Although there are no exponentially growing eigenmodes in a hydrodynamic disk because of the non-normal nature of the eigenmodes, a large transient growth in the energy is still possible, which may enable the system to switch to a turbulent state. For a Keplerian disk, we estimate that the energy will grow by a factor of 1000 for a Reynolds number close to a million.
Improved Cardiopulmonary Resucitation Device

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) plays an important role in the outcome of sudden cardiac arrest, where survival rates continue to be very low, about 5%. CPR has evolved significantly from the days when it was standard practice to flap the arms of victimes, or roll their bodies back and forth over a wooden barrel. Today, many people know the standard technique of giving chest compressions. Others may know about enhancement devices (e.g., ResQPOD) that use a basic mechanics concept of creating negative thoracic pressure during the decompression phase of CPR. This is done by adding inflow resistance to the patient's airway, such that a vacuum is created at each chest decompression. The vacuum pulls blood into the thorax, in effect “priming the pump” with more blood, which is then ejected in the next compression phase. We present an enhancement to the above proven concept of airway restriction during CPR by further adding total airway occlusion to the inflow and outflow of air at appropriate times, by use of a CPR enhancement device (CED). With a face mask and electronic airway valve, maximal vacuum and positive pressures are created in the thorax to enhance blood circulation during cardiac arrest. A CPR cycle is proposed with five phases including two for free air exchange, without the need to interrupt compressions, and adhering to AHA guidelines of 100 compressions per minute. To test the CED, a human cardiopulmonary model is described that allows blood pressure changes to be measured with the various forms of CPR, new and conventional. Preliminary data from testing both CED and standard CPR on the thorax model were found in terms of mean, systolic and diastolic pressure. T-tests evaluated statistical significance. During normal CPR, average systolic pressure was found to be 35.3±0.6 mmHg. When the CED was applied, the average systolic pressure was found to be 62.9±4.5 mmHg (p=0.0002). Average diastolic pressure for normal CPR was found to be 30.4±0.4 mmHg while that of the CED was observed to be 28.6±1.2 mmHg (p=0.095,NS). The MAP calculated from standard CPR resulted in an average of 32.0±0.4 mmHg, while that using the CED was 40±2.1 mmHg, (p=0.002). Based on this preliminary testing and data analysis, the CED shows a significant improvement in systolic and mean arterial pressure in comparison to standard CPR. This supports the CED five phase method that provides positive pressure and vacuum in the cardiopulmonary system during resuscitation. Future work will compare the CED to other CPR enhancement devices.
In situ Wafer Monitoring For Plasma Etching

The purpose of this paper is to report a technique, based on scalar diffraction, which can be applied to the problem of real-time in situ wafer monitoring for plasma etching. This paper briefly outlines the theory motivating the use of diffraction as the basis for the monitoring technique. In addition, a simplified model is presented which utilizes the theory to show the unique correlation between surface topography and the diffraction images. Experimental and theoretical results demonstrate the usefulness of this technique for applications in the manufacture of semiconductors. In particular, the critical dimensions and sidewall profiles of rectangular and trapezoidal structures are investigated. For the trapezoidal structures submicron resolution on the order of 0.16 μm is easily obtained at a distance of 100mm in under 200 ms. Sidewall profiles ranging from 12.5° to 90° are also compared and shown to be clearly discernable using this technique.
Quark liberation in (1 + 1)-dimensions☆

Abstract The theory of a massive vector field (gluon) coupled to a massive fermion (quark) is studied in (1 + 1)-dimensions. The model is shown to be equivalent to a theory of two interacting scalar bosons. In the limit of strong coupling the particle spectrum is found to possess a free heavy quark and light quark-antiquark bound state mesons. Perturbative analysis of gluon effects indicates the absence of quark-meson bound states.
Adolescent pregnancy: A review

Abstract Adolescent pregnancy represents a critical social and health problemfor our society today. This article examines the effects of pregnancy on the teenagers’ health, educational attainment, vocational opportunities and marriage status. The health risks and developmental consequences of infants born to teenage mothers are also examined. A review of intervention programs shows that adequate prenatal care for the pregnant adolescent can reduce medical risk to both mother and child; and educational and psychosocial programs can increase her use of contraceptives in the future, increase the number of school years completed after delivery, and enhance her adjustment to the parenting role. Easily accessible, truly comprehensive services are needed both to prevent the unplanned pregnancy and to prevent consequent social and health risks to the mother and child if the pregnancy occurs.
Chromatin dynamics. Fast and slow modes of nucleosome movement revealed through psoralen binding and repair.

Abstract Psoralen adducts, when formed in DNA at low frequencies that permit extensive survival of normal and repair-deficient cells, are found in both linker and core regions of nucleosomes, but are slightly enriched in the linker sites. The relative frequencies of adducts obtained with 5-methylisopsoralen and angelicin, which form only monoadducts, and 8-methoxypsoralen and trimethylpsoralen, which form monoadducts and cross-links, represent an enrichment in linker DNA that is approx. 2–3-fold higher per nucleotide than in core DNA. 5-Methylisopsoralen monoadducts, which are initially in linker DNA, become randomized during 12 h of growth. This suggests a slow lateral movement of nucleosomes with respect to DNA and implies that linker and core regions of DNA are not permanent assignments. Randomization of 5-methylisopsoralen adducts is independent of the synthesis of DNA, RNA, protein, or poly(ADP-ribose) and is also independent of DNA repair. Excision repair of these adducts, in contrast, causes rapid local changes in nucleosome conformation and an initial increase in staphylococcal nuclease sensitivity that reverts to the sensitivity of bulk chromatin in less than 1 h. Chromatin, therefore, can undergo at least two distinct dynamic changes under physiological conditions: a slow randomization of the nucleosomes with respect to DNA, and a rapid but transient local rearrangement to facilitate repair.
Peripheral blood findings in erythrodermic patients: Importance for the differential diagnosis of Sézary syndrome

Although Sezary syndrome (SS) represents an advanced stage of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, this diagnosis presents a challenge even for the most experienced dermatologic clinicians. SS is characterized clinically by erythroderma, but can also be identified in the presence of specific histologic and peripheral blood findings. Erythrodermic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma can mimic a number of nonmalignant disorders with erythroderma, including pityriasis rubra pilaris, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and graft-versus-host disease. The diagnosis is made even more challenging because the histology of SS is often nonspecific and rarely pathognomonic. As a result, peripheral blood studies in patients with erythroderma are frequently informative in the diagnosis of SS. Peripheral blood abnormalities including elevated CD4/CD8 ratio, aberrant CD26, CD27 and CD7 expression, and T-cell clonality can all be used to help arrive at a diagnosis. This review evaluates current data on the usefulness and limitations of specific peripheral blood markers detected by flow cytometry and T-cell receptor gene rearrangement polymerase chain reaction.
Population Synthesis with Subregion-Level Control Variable Aggregation

This paper details the development of a fully customizable population synthesis program designed to be used for almost any geographic area or input variable. The design addresses several important issues that have been raised regarding other population synthesis methods, including the false-zero cell problem. To address this problem, a routine was developed that allows for the aggregation of control variable categories during execution at the subregional level based on a user-controlled aggregation threshold parameter input, which reduces the areas where false-zero cells are most likely to occur. This procedure also greatly eases the task of data preparation. As part of the study, new validation methods were developed and used to compare the new procedure against other procedures and known test variable distributions. Finally, detailed analysis regarding the trade-off between complexity and computational effort was also undertaken. The use of these new routines and validation methods along with an understanding of the trade-off between complexity and computational effort will allow for the development of more realistic synthetic populations.