cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Can SEE-2 Children Understand ASL-Using Adults?

Signing Exact English or SEE-2, is one of several invented sign systems currently being used with hearing-impaired children in the United States. The system parallels the morphology of written English and differs from American Sign Language both in terms of the configuration of many of the lexical signs and in grammatical word order. The current study investigated whether students accustomed to an invented sign system could comprehend ASL signed by deaf adults. One group of subjects was exposed to SEE-2 in their day school classrooms. The other group attended residential programs and was exposed to Signed English, PSE and ASL. Both groups observed three videotaped short stories and answered questions following each. Both groups answered approximately 25 percent of the written comprehension questions correctly; their mean scores did not differ significantly. Results of the study suggest that students exposed to SEE-2 and lacking experiences with deaf adults were able to comprehend ASL as well as their peers who attended residential schools.
Conditions for a split diffusion flame

An unusual phenomenon has been observed in a methane jet diffusion flame subjected to axial acoustic forcing. At specific excitation frequencies and amplitudes, the driven flame splits into a central jet and one or two side jets. The splitting is accompanied by a partial detachment of the flame from the nozzle exit, a shortening of the flame by a factor of 2, and a change from the common yellow color of soot radiation to a clear blue flame. Such a phenomenon may be useful for the control of soot production or product species. The splitting is intermittent in time, bifurcating between the split flame and an ordinary single jet diffusion flame. The experiment consists of an unconfined axisymmetric methane jet formed by a short length of 0.4 cm diameter pipe. The pipe is connected to a large plenum surrounding a bass reflex loudspeaker enclosure that provides the excitation. Conditions producing split and bifurcated flames are presented. The drive frequencies required to cause bifurcation correspond to the first two peaks in the system's frequency response curve. Bifurcating behavior was observed at a wide range of flow rates, ranging from very small flames of Reynolds number 240 up to turbulent lift-off, at Re = 1000, based on the inner pipe diameter. It was not sensitive to nozzle length, but the details of the nozzle tip, such as orifice or pipe geometry, can affect the frequency range.
Experimental perinatal leukemia in guinea pigs

Summary Perinatal leukemia was observed in four guinea pigs, 30, 68, 76 and 81 days after delivery from mothers experimentally inoculated with leukemic whole blood late in the course of pregnancy. Of the 33 other offspsring of the 15 pregnant strain 2 and strain 13 guinea pigs in the two series studied, there were 20 stillborn (plus one dying within 5 days), and 12 that survived 120 days. Leukemia could not be demonstrated in any of these 33. Transplacental passage of an agent and/or leukemic cells or transmission during the birth process are given etiological consideration, for spontaneous leukemia is a rare event before 24 months of age, a period beyond the usual breeding cycle of laboratory guinea pigs.
Optimizing Communication for Multi-Join Query Processing in Cloud Data Warehouses

In this paper, the authors present storage structures, PK-map and Tuple-index-map, to improve the performance of query execution and inter-node communication in Cloud Data Warehouses. Cloud Data Warehouses require Read-Optimized databases because large amount of historical data are integrated on a regular basis to facilitate analytical applications for report generation, future analysis, and decision-making. This frequent data integration can grow the data size rapidly and hence there is a need to allocate resource dynamically on demand. As resource is scaled-out in the cloud environment, the number of nodes involved in the execution of a query increases. This in turn increases the number of inter-node communications. In queries, join operation between two different tables are most common. To perform the join operation of a query in the cloud environment, data need to be transferred among different nodes. This becomes critical when there is a huge amount of data in Terabytes or Petabytes stored across a large number of nodes. With the increase in number of nodes and amount of data, the size of the communication messages also increases, resulting in even increased bandwidth usage and performance degradation. In this paper, the authors show through extensive experiments using PlanetLab Cloud that their proposed storage structures PK-map and Tuple-index-map, and query execution algorithms improve the performance of join queries, decrease inter-node communication and workload in Cloud Data Warehouses.
Replies to Gilbert Harman, Ram Neta, and Stephen Schiffer

Reply to Harman In "Epistemic Contextualism as a Theory of Primary Speaker Meaning," Gilbert Harman endorses a version of contextualism that takes the primary speaker's meaning, or utterer's meaning, of a sentence containing an instance of "know that p" to vary with epistemically relevant features of the context, such as what the speaker takes for granted in the conversation in which the utterance takes place. But, as I argue below, this construal of contextualism does not help Harman evade the detailed criticisms of contextualist positions I give in K&PI. Nevertheless, I conclude by pointing out that, given his general epistemological commitments, Harman is in fact in a better position to defend epistemic contextualism from some of my detailed criticisms than its other proponents. Why does Harman believe that his version of contextualism, in terms of primary speaker's meaning, evades the detailed criticisms of contextualism given in K&PI? Many of the criticisms I give in K&PI have to do with the mechanism that mediates between the sentence uttered and
Dependence of pesticide degradation on sorption: nonequilibrium model and application to soil reactors

Abstract The effect of sorption on degradation of the pesticide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was studied in a soil amended with various amounts of activated carbon (AC). The relationship between sorption and decay of 2,4-D was analyzed using analytical solutions for equilibrium sorption and to a two-site nonequilibrium adsorption model coupled with two first-order degradation terms for the dissolved and sorbed pesticide, respectively. The sorption parameters in the latter model were determined based on data obtained from batch sorption experiments, while those for degradation were obtained from incubation experiments. The adsorption coefficients, ranging from 0.811 to >315 ml g −1 , increased at higher AC, and were negatively related to degradation as measured by the first-order rate constant, implying that degradation is faster from the liquid phase than from the sorbed phase. A nonlinear fit of the decay curves to the nonequilibrium model revealed that degradation rate constants were 0.157 and 0.00243 day −1 for the liquid and sorbed phases, respectively, differing by a factor of 65. Similar results were also obtained using the equilibrium model. A parameter sensitivity analysis of the nonequilibrium model indicates that nonequilibrium sorption will initially favor degradation; however, over the long term, will decrease degradation when desorption kinetics becomes the limiting factor in the degradation process. In the presence of a lag phase that allows appreciable amounts of chemical to diffuse into kinetic sorption sites, nonequilibrium sorption will only impede degradation.
Equilibrium dialysis and circular dichroic analysis of the novobiocin-human serum albumin complex

The binding of the drug novobiocin by bovine serum albumin has been analyzed by Scatchard plots at two temperatures and three ionic strengths. In all cases the nonlinearity of the plots indicates heterogeneity of the combining sites on the protein, and an analysis of the changes observed in the circular dichroic spectra of the bound drug supports this observation. By use of a three-constant model the best fit for all of the parameters is achieved by assuming the initial site on the protein to be unique, the next five sites to be homogeneous, and subsequent binding to be described by a simple distribution between two phases. The temperature variation studies reveal that the first site derives its free energy of binding totally from a favorable change in entropy while the second class of five sites derives their free energy of binding from a favorable enthalpy change. Comparisons are made between the binding of novobiocin by bovine albumin and by human albumin.
Aggressive Consultation in the Schools with Mini-consultants, College Credits: And a Show of Power.

How can a consultant or “change agent” become effective in the public schools? (a) A university instructor placed undergraduate education students in elementary classrooms every morning for a year to conduct behavioral projects. These “innocent change agents” stimulated teachers to ponder their teaching through explaining goals and procedures and collecting data. (b) Graduate students in school psychology served as “mini-consultants.” (c) The teachers were enrolled in a year-long course for college credits and salary increments and assigned behavioral projects in their classrooms. Thirteen teachers successfully changed behaviors in 60 of 70 attempts. Fifteen recommendations are presented.
Fiber Optic Chemical Sensors Using Immobilized Bioreceptors

Optrodes employing immobilized enzymes were developed using covalent attachment of sensor reagents. This development is an extension of the original application of this sensor technology in which a pH sensor was constructed with the pH sensitive dye fluorescein incorporated into a polymer covalently attached to the fiber tip. This sensor displayed significantly improved response times over previous fiber optic sensors because of reduced diffusion limitations. In addition, the signal intensities were greatly enhanced by the high concentration of fluorescent dye localized at the fiber tip. With the anticipation that these qualities would be preserved, a class of sensors based on the immobilization of biomolecules in the polymer matrix became the next goal. This paper will first describe a fiber optic probe prepared by immobilizing esterase in a crosslinked polyacrylamide matrix. The immobilized esterase converts the nonfluorescent fluoresceindiacetate into fluorescein. Both the steady state level and kinetic generation of fluorescence can be related to the concentration of fluoresceindiacetate. A fiber optic sensor for penicillin has been made by coimmobili zing penicillinase with a pH sensitive fluorescent dye. Penicillinase converts penicillin to penicilloic acid which produces a microenvironmental pH change in the dye-containing polymer matrix resulting in a concommitant change in fluorescence. The change in fluorescence is proportional to the concentration of penicillin and a 95% response is reached in 40-60 seconds. The sensor has a detection limit of 2.5 x 10-4 M. Another class of sensors using immobilized bioreceptors will be based on the principles of fluoroimmunoassay. This paper will discuss some basic principles and problems of 1) fluorescence quenching immunoassays, 2) fluorescence excitation transfer immunoassays, and 3) energy transfer immunoassays for digoxin. Both advantages and inherent problems for these sensor preparations will be addressed.
Depressive Symptoms and Longitudinal Changes in Cognition: Women’s Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging

Elevated Depressive symptoms (DS) are associated with incident mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia in postmenopausal women. We examined the association of elevated DS with domain-specific cognitive changes, and the moderating role of cardiovascular risk factor (CVRF) severity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). 2221 elderly women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging were separated into those with (N = 204) and without (N = 2017) elevated DS. DS and multi-domain cognitive outcomes were measured annually for an average follow-up of 5.04 years. Women with elevated DS showed baseline multi-domain cognitive deficits, but longitudinal declines in global cognition only. Persistent DS was related to greater global cognition, and verbal knowledge and fluency, and memory declines. Significant DS-CVD interactions were observed cross-sectionally (but not longitudinally) for figural memory and fine motor speed. Future studies should investigate the role of nonvascular mechanisms linking DS and cognitive decline.
A new algorithm for order statistic and sorting

An algorithm for rank filtering and stack filtering is presented. This algorithm is simple and results in fast and easy implementations. Various implementations of the algorithm are described, and the H-tree design is shown to be most area efficient. Also introduced is a modification of the filtering algorithm that results in better implement sorting. >
Statistical thermodynamics of oligomer-polymer interactions.

A new method for formulating partition functions for a system of particles interacting on a one-dimensional lattice has recently been developed.3,4 In this paper the method is applied to oligomer–polymer systems. The details of the connection between this method and the matrix formulation are first established. The method is then used to find expressions for the partition function of an oligomer–polymer system when the oligomers have a distribution of lengths and an alternating sequence.
Action‐Based Model of Dissonance: A Review of Behavioral, Anterior Cingulate, and Prefrontal Cortical Mechanisms

Research and theoretical developments on the theory of cognitive dissonance are reviewed. After this critical review, we present the action-based model of dissonance, which accepts the original theory’s proposal that a sufficient cognitive inconsistency causes dissonance and extends the original theory by proposing why cognitive inconsistency prompts dissonance. Finally, we present results from behavioral and physiological experiments examining predictions derived from the action-based model. In particular, this evidence converges with recent neuroscience evidence in suggesting that the anterior cingulate cortex and left prefrontal cortical region are involved in conflict detection and resolution, respectively.
Bilateral Uric Acid Nephrolithiasis and Ureteral Hypertrophy in a Free-ranging River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

We report the first case of uric acid nephrolithiasis in a free-ranging river otter (Lontra canadensis). A 7 yr old male river otter collected from the Skagit River of western Washington (USA) had bilateral nephrolithiasis and severely enlarged ureters (one of 305 examined [0.33%]). The uroliths were 97% uric acid and 3% protein. Microscopic changes in the kidney were confined to expansion of renal calyces, minor loss of medullary tissue, and multifocal atrophy of the cortical tubules. No inflammation was observed in either kidney or the ureters. The ureters were enlarged due to marked hypertrophy of smooth muscle plus dilation of the lumen. Fusion of the major calyces into a single ureteral lumen was several cm distal to that of two adult male otters used as histopathologic control specimens. This case report is part of a large contaminant study of river otters collected from Oregon and Washington. It is important to understand diseases and lesions of the otter as part of our overall evaluation of this population.
Risk and Inchoate Crimes: Retribution or Prevention?

In this book chapter we give a definition of inchoate crimes and argue that inchoate crimes, so defined, are not culpable and do not deserve punishment. Our argument against the culpability of inchoate crimes is based on several points: the ability of the actor who intends a future act that might be culpable if performed to change his mind prior to the act’s performance; the conditionality of all future-oriented intentions; uncertainty regarding the culpability-enhancing or culpability-mitigating circumstances that will exist at the future time of performance; and the roles of vacillation and duration in assessing culpability. We argue that punishment for inchoate crimes should be regarded as preventive rather than retributive.
Radial head subluxation: Epidemiology and treatment of 87 episodes

Radial head subluxation is a frequent upper-extremity injury in children. Through a prospective study of patients seen in the emergency department, the epidemiology and treatment were reviewed, and two methods of reduction were compared. During a nine-month period, there were 87 episodes of radial head subluxation in 83 children with six cases in infants 6 months old or younger. A pull mechanism of injury was not identified in 49% of the cases. Girls were seen more often than boys, the left arm was more frequently involved, and the incidence of recurrence was 26.7%. The two reduction methods did not differ significantly in their initial success rate. The presence of a click during a reduction attempt had a positive predictive value of 92% and a negative predictive value of 76%. Most children (76.8%) had return of arm use in less than ten minutes. Slow return of arm use (more than ten minutes) was not associated with delay in reduction but was associated with age of less than 2 years ( P
Warp-Edge Optimization in XPath

We describe the design and preliminary analysis of an optimization technique for XPath called warp-edge optimization. The XPath data model is a tree-like data model that has an edge from an element to each component in the content of that element. The edges are traversed in the evaluation of an XPath expression. A warp edge is an edge that is something other than a parent to child edge, i.e., an edge from an element to a sibling or to a grandchild. Warp edges can be dynamically generated and stored during query evaluation to improve the efficiency of future queries. We describe the implementation of warpedge optimization as a layer on top of Xalan, the XPath evaluation engine from Apache. Experiments demonstrate that in the evaluation of some XPath expressions, the use of warp edges results in substantial savings of time.
Redox-Linked Conformational Dynamics in Apoptosis-Inducing Factor

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a bifunctional mitochondrial flavoprotein critical for energy metabolism and induction of caspase-independent apoptosis, whose exact role in normal mitochondria remains unknown. Upon reduction with NADH, AIF undergoes dimerization and forms tight, long-lived FADH(2)-NAD charge-transfer complexes (CTC) that are proposed to be functionally important. To obtain a deeper insight into structure/function relations and redox mechanism of this vitally important protein, we determined the X-ray structures of oxidized and NADH-reduced forms of naturally folded recombinant murine AIF. Our structures reveal that CTC with the pyridine nucleotide is stabilized by (i) pi-stacking interactions between coplanar nicotinamide, isoalloxazine, and Phe309 rings; (ii) rearrangement of multiple aromatic residues in the C-terminal domain, likely serving as an electron delocalization site; and (iii) an extensive hydrogen-bonding network involving His453, a key residue that undergoes a conformational switch to directly interact with and optimally orient the nicotinamide for charge transfer. Via the His453-containing peptide, redox changes in the active site are transmitted to the surface, promoting AIF dimerization and restricting access to a primary nuclear localization signal through which the apoptogenic form is transported to the nucleus. Structural findings agree with biochemical data and support the hypothesis that both normal and apoptogenic functions of AIF are controlled by NADH.
Oncoplastic techniques in the conservative surgical treatment of breast cancer: an overview.

Abstract: Conservative surgery has become a well-established alternative to mastectomy in the treatment of breast cancer. However, in case of larger lesions or small-size breasts, the removal of adequate volumes of breast tissue to achieve tumor-free margins and reduce the risk of local relapse may compromise the cosmetic outcome, causing unpleasant results. In order to address this issue, new surgical techniques, so-called oncoplastic techniques, have been introduced in recent years to optimize the efficacy of conservative surgery both in terms of local control and cosmetic results. This article discusses the indications, advantages, and limitations of these techniques and their results in terms of local recurrence and overall survival.
Military Social Science Research and the Law

Federal courts are called upon to decide claims by individual members of the armed forces that they have been mistreated by their superiors. A court's decision will often depend on the judge's perception of the necessity of the action in maintaining morale and discipline. Recently, government lawyers have begun to justify commanders' actions on the grounds of unit cohesion. This article examines those justifications by applying models developed to evaluate the use of social science findings in law suits and concludes that cohesion arguments have no place in the courtroom.
Sedimentology and evaporite genesis in a Holocene continental‐sabkha playa basin—Bristol Dry Lake, California

Bristol Dry Lake, a 155 km2 continental-sabkha playa basin in the Mojave Desert of south eastern California, is filled with at least 300 m of interbedded terrigenous clastics, gypsum, anhydrite, and halite. Evaporite facies conform approximately to a bull's eye pattern with gypsum and anhydrite surrounding a basin centre accumulation of halite. Transects through Bristol Dry Lake, from the alluvial fan to the centre of the playa, reveal: (1) crudely-bedded, alluvial fan clastics interfingering with (2) playa-margin sand flat and wadi sand and silt, followed by (3) gypsum, anhydrite, chaotic mud halite, and clay of the saline mud flat, and (4) salt-pan halite beds. Terrigenous clastics were deposited in Bristol Dry Lake by sheetflow and by suspension settling from ponded floodwater. Some sediment has been reworked by aeolian processes to form barchan dunes around the playa margin. Thin nodular-like beds of anhydrite and several types of gypsum occur across most of the playa. Giant hopper-shaped halite cubes are suspended in saline mud flat facies, suggesting that they grew displacively in brine soaked sediment just below the surface. Thick beds (4 m) of halite, in the playa centre, may have formed through a complex alternating history of subaqueous and intrasedimentary precipitation under the influence of periodic floods, intense evaporation and brine-level lowering, and capillary discharge of brines. The stratigraphy in the playa centre is cyclic. An ideal cycle consists of: (1) chaotic mud halite at the base overlain by (2) green to red clay with abundant, giant hoppers, and at the top (3) red clay, gypsum, and anhydrite with flaser- to wavy-bedded sand and silt. This type of cycle probably records a gradual progradation of mud-flat facies over salt pans. Bristol Dry Lake sediments are nearly identical to some of the Permian evaporites of the Permian Basin region, U.S.A. and they can serve as modern analogues for ancient-sabkha facies analysis.
A new composite structure impact performance assessment program

Abstract While previous researchers have conducted their study on the relative impact performance of composite structures from a force or an energy standpoint only, this proposed Composite Structure Impact Performance Assessment Program (CSIPAP) suggests a multi-parameter methodology to gain further insight in the impact behavior of composite structures. These are peak and critical force; critical and dissipated energy; contact duration and coefficient of restitution (COR), which is direct indication of effective structural stiffness; and residual stiffness (normalized contact duration) which yields a plot that bears a striking resemblance with the normalized Compression After Impact (CAI) strength. Using a determinate impactor/target system as baseline configuration, the program is applied toward the understanding of the role played in an impact event by fundamental impactor and target parameters. The equations previously derived for the prediction of the force–energy and residual stiffness curves are shown to apply to the configurations tested, thus confirming their general validity. A modification to the existing effective structural stiffness formulation, which does not account for impactor characteristics, is proposed, and it comprises the impactor material, size and mass characteristics.
Ruminations on Tuttle lamellae (fluid inclusion planes) in Carboniferous strata from Bellsund and St Jonsfjorden, Western Svalbard

Of numerous post-depositional microstructures that exist in Carboniferous quartz sandstones. Tuttle lamellae (healed microcracks of microfractures, planar arrays of fluid inclusions) are potentially the most informative. Universal stage orientation analysis and the stratigraphic position of relict and consistent post-depositional Tuttle lamellae populations indicate a polyphase history of formation with at least three events : a pre-Carboniferous event, a Carboniferous event (perhaps associated with basin extension), and a post-Triassic event―very likely Tertiary in age. Since Carboniferous macrostructures are scarce, Tuttle lamellae provide a promising avenue for future kinematic analyses of somewhat cryptic Carboniferous deformation events
Anti-Spam Legislation Setbacks

Current estimates are that 90% of all e-mail traffic is unsolicited bulk e-mail, or spam. Another report suggests that spam costs U.S. businesses up to $17 billion in lost productivity and anti-spam efforts, notwithstanding the widespread use of spam filters. The law’s response to the proliferation of spam has been checkered. As the problems of spam shifted from its origins in the USENET environment in the 1980's and early 90's, to the e-mail environment by the late 1990's, courts and legislatures struggled to craft a response. Unfortunately, that struggle continues on today.
Lower-extremity amputations and prosthetics. Surgical considerations. I.

A patient must be prepared for a prosthesis before the surgeon amputates. This includes selecting a proper bed, instructions on how to exercise, explaining precisely what will be done, allaying anxiety about aftereffects, and describing types of prostheses. Good postoperative care—bandaging, stump shrinking, exercising—are also essential before the prosthesis is fitted.
Excitation Spectrum and Thermodynamic Properties of Liquid He 4

Hohenberg and Martin (1) have pointed out that the theory of liquid helium has been developed on three different levels. We have already discussed two of these levels, the first being the phenomenological theory of London and Tisza. Here, a comparison with the condensation of a free BE gas leads to a two-fluid model and predicts a macroscopic occupation of a single quantum state, the ground state, which is identified with the superfluid particles. Through this analogy, the unusual transport properties of He II as well as the transition at the λ-point find an appealing approximation. The second level is the semiphenomenological excitation picture due to Landau, in which a two-fluid description for He II follows from an examination of the energy states permissible for the liquid and the subsequent calculation of the thermal properties in terms of these states.
Accurate Evaluation of Field Interactions Between Cable Harness and Vehicle Body by a Multiple Scattering Method

Interactions between cable harness and vehicle body can be calculated using the full-wave method-of-moments (MoM) formulation. Although the full-wave MoM formulation can help us to calculate these interactions with great accuracy, it can be fairly time consuming when dealing with complex wire structures. On the other hand, the conventional multiconductor transmission-line theory can be used to obtain a simple model of the interactions, but only the effect of the transmission-line (TL)-mode current can be accounted for in this method. Starting with the complete electrical field integral equations, the current on a two-conductor thin wire structure due to incident field illumination can be decomposed into TL and antenna modes. Both modes can be solved using a SPICE solver in the form of Telegrapher's equations. A proposed multiple scattering (MS) method based on a hybrid of TL and surface MoM can then be used to calculate interactions between thin wire structures, such as cable harness, and conductive surfaces, such as vehicle body. A test case shows that wire current computation using the proposed MS method takes less time but reaches the same accuracy compared to the full-wave MoM.
Timing of Operative Debridement in Open Fractures

The optimal treatment of open fractures continues to be an area of debate in the orthopedic literature. Recent research has challenged the dictum that open fractures should be debrided within 6 hours of injury. However, the expedient administration of intravenous antibiotics remains of paramount importance in infection prevention. Multiple factors, including fracture severity, thoroughness of debridement, time to initial treatment, and antibiotic administration, among other variables, contribute to the incidence of infection and complicate identifying an optimal time to debridement.
Aspirin for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Colorectal Cancer: New Recommendations from the USPSTF.

In April 2016, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated its recommendation on the use of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Because emerging evidence suggested that aspirin may also be useful for the prevention of cancer, for the first time, the USPSTF developed a recommendation that assessed the use of aspirin for prevention of both CVD and cancer.
Cortical Correlates of Binaural Temporal Processing Deficits in Older Adults

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to evaluate binaural temporal processing in young and older adults using a binaural masking level difference (BMLD) paradigm. Using behavioral and electrophysiological measures within the same listeners, a series of stimulus manipulations was used to evaluate the relative contribution of binaural temporal fine-structure and temporal envelope cues. We evaluated the hypotheses that age-related declines in the BMLD task would be more strongly associated with temporal fine-structure than envelope cues and that age-related declines in behavioral measures would be correlated with cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) measures. DESIGN Thirty adults participated in the study, including 10 young normal-hearing, 10 older normal-hearing, and 10 older hearing-impaired adults with bilaterally symmetric, mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Behavioral and CAEP thresholds were measured for diotic (So) and dichotic (Sπ) tonal signals presented in continuous diotic (No) narrowband noise (50-Hz wide) maskers. Temporal envelope cues were manipulated by using two different narrowband maskers; Gaussian noise (GN) with robust envelope fluctuations and low-noise noise (LNN) with minimal envelope fluctuations. The potential to use temporal fine-structure cues was controlled by varying the signal frequency (500 or 4000 Hz), thereby relying on the natural decline in phase-locking with increasing frequency. RESULTS Behavioral and CAEP thresholds were similar across groups for diotic conditions, while the masking release in dichotic conditions was larger for younger than for older participants. Across all participants, BMLDs were larger for GN than LNN and for 500-Hz than for 4000-Hz conditions, where envelope and fine-structure cues were most salient, respectively. Specific age-related differences were demonstrated for 500-Hz dichotic conditions in GN and LNN, reflecting reduced binaural temporal fine-structure coding. No significant age effects were observed for 4000-Hz dichotic conditions, consistent with similar use of binaural temporal envelope cues across age in these conditions. For all groups, thresholds and derived BMLD values obtained using the behavioral and CAEP methods were strongly correlated, supporting the notion that CAEP measures may be useful as an objective index of age-related changes in binaural temporal processing. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate an age-related decline in the processing of binaural temporal fine-structure cues with preserved temporal envelope coding that was similar with and without mild-to-moderate peripheral hearing loss. Such age-related changes can be reliably indexed by both behavioral and CAEP measures in young and older adults.
Connectivity profiles of the insular network for speech control in healthy individuals and patients with spasmodic dysphonia

The importance of insula in speech control is acknowledged but poorly understood, partly due to a variety of clinical symptoms resulting from insults to this structure. To clarify its structural organization within the speech network in healthy subjects, we used probabilistic diffusion tractography to examine insular connectivity with three cortical regions responsible for sound processing [Brodmann area (BA) 22], motor preparation (BA 44) and motor execution (laryngeal/orofacial primary motor cortex, BA 4). To assess insular reorganization in a speech disorder, we examined its structural connectivity in patients with spasmodic dysphonia (SD), a neurological condition that selectively affects speech production. We demonstrated structural segregation of insula into three non-overlapping regions, which receive distinct connections from BA 44 (anterior insula), BA 4 (mid-insula) and BA 22 (dorsal and posterior insula). There were no significant differences either in the number of streamlines connecting each insular subdivision to the cortical target or hemispheric lateralization of insular clusters and their projections between healthy subjects and SD patients. However, spatial distribution of the insular subdivisions connected to BA 4 and BA 44 was distinctly organized in healthy controls and SD patients, extending ventro-posteriorly in the former group and anterio-dorsally in the latter group. Our findings point to structural segregation of the insular sub-regions, which may be associated with the different aspects of sensorimotor and cognitive control of speech production. We suggest that distinct insular involvement may lead to different clinical manifestations when one or the other insular region and/or its connections undergo spatial reorganization.
Consumer Engagement in Health Care Among Millennials, Baby Boomers, and Generation X: Findings from the 2017 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey

The EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS) is an online survey that examines issues surrounding consumer-driven health care, including the cost of insurance, the cost of care, satisfaction with health care, satisfaction with health care plans, reasons for choosing a plan, and sources of health information. It is co-sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald & Associates, with support from seven private organizations. The 2017 survey was conducted online Aug. 10 to Sept. 1, 2017, using the Ipsos’ consumer panel. Over 3,560 adults ages 21−64 who had health insurance provided through an employer, purchased directly from a carrier, or purchased through a government exchange participated in the survey. However, most survey participants (82 percent) received coverage through an employer. The sample was weighted to reflect the actual proportions in the population ages 21–64 with private, health-insurance coverage. This Issue Brief focuses on differences in consumer engagement in health care by generational cohorts – i.e., Millennials, Baby Boomers, and Gen Xers. Key findings: • Millennials are more satisfied than other generational cohorts with various aspects of their health coverage. More than other generational cohorts, Millennials are satisfied with their health coverage, out-pocket costs, and health plan choices. • Millennials and Generation X engage with health care providers differently than Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are more likely than Gen Xers and Millennials to have a primary care provider (PCP). Among those with a PCP, Baby Boomers are more likely than Generation X and Millennials to report that they make healthier lifestyle choices after seeing a PCP; that it is important that their PCP knows them and their medical history personally; that their PCP is aware of all of the other medical care that they receive; and that they are comfortable telling their PCP about their health issues. Both Millennials and Generation X are more likely than Baby Boomers to report that they have used a walk-in clinic. • Millennials have the highest rates of wellness program participation. Millennials are nearly across the board more likely than Baby Boomers to participate in various aspects of wellness programs. They are more likely to report that they have visited an on-site clinic; made a tobacco-free pledge or participated in a smoking cessation program; participated in counseling or stress management training; participated in activity-based wellness challenges; received reimbursement for fitness club memberships; attended free seminars; and received financial wellness resources. Millennials are less likely than Baby Boomers to have completed a health risk assessment or biometric screenings.
Study of the Effect of Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Extract Activity as Antibiotic from UTI

Escherichia coli bacterial cells have been collected and selected from(30) patients (most found strain) in urine samples 25 (83.3 %) suffering from infection of urinary tract laid down in Hashimiyaha teaching hospital, Babylon during a period from Novembertwo thousand sixty to February two thousand seventy. The isolated strain diagnosis is confirmed withVitek2 system apparatus which performed to identify species level ofEscherichia coli isolates.To evaluate the antimicrobialaction of the ethanol extract of Carob (CeratoniasiliquaL.) podsonlyas well as in mixture with certain drugs (64µg /ml ampicillin, 32µg /ml gentamicin, 128µg /ml amikacin,8µg /ml clindamycin.) as the wide usageantibiotics in the treatment of UTI bacterial infectionswhich has led to the emergence and spread of resistant strains. Many studies showed that the efficacy of antimicrobials can be improved by combining them with crude plant extracts. The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of pods of Carob(CeratoniasiliquaL.)alone as well as in mixture with some standard antimicrobials has been evaluated using well diffusion methodwhich demonstrates an in-vitro antibacterial activity of the tested extracts against E. Coli bacteria. A combination of the tested extracts( concentration 100%,50%) with antibacterial has increased that activity of the tested antimicrobials.The results revealed the importance of Carob plant extracts when associated with antibiotics to regulatorresistance E. Coli bacteria that developed as adanger to human health
Understanding aerosol–cloud interactions through modeling the development of orographic cumulus congestus during IPHEx

Abstract. A new cloud parcel model (CPM) including activation, condensation, collision–coalescence, and lateral entrainment processes is used to investigate aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) in cumulus development prior to rainfall onset. The CPM was applied with surface aerosol measurements to predict the vertical structure of cloud development at early stages, and the model results were evaluated against airborne observations of cloud microphysics and thermodynamic conditions collected during the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) in the inner region of the southern Appalachian Mountains (SAM). Sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the model response to variations in key ACI physiochemical parameters and initial conditions. The CPM sensitivities mirror those found in parcel models without entrainment and collision–coalescence, except for the evolution of the droplet spectrum and liquid water content with height. Simulated cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNCs) exhibit high sensitivity to variations in the initial aerosol concentration at cloud base, but weak sensitivity to bulk aerosol hygroscopicity. The condensation coefficient ac plays a governing role in determining the evolution of CDNC, liquid water content (LWC), and cloud droplet spectra (CDS) in time and with height. Lower values of ac lead to higher CDNCs and broader CDS above cloud base, and higher maximum supersaturation near cloud base. Analysis of model simulations reveals that competitive interference among turbulent dispersion, activation, and droplet growth processes modulates spectral width and explains the emergence of bimodal CDS and CDNC heterogeneity in aircraft measurements from different cloud regions and at different heights. Parameterization of nonlinear interactions among entrainment, condensational growth, and collision–coalescence processes is therefore necessary to simulate the vertical structures of CDNCs and CDSs in convective clouds. Comparisons of model predictions with data suggest that the representation of lateral entrainment remains challenging due to the spatial heterogeneity of the convective boundary layer and the intricate 3-D circulations in mountainous regions.
Numerical Flow Analysis and Heat Transfer in Spirally Grooved Tubes in Heat Exchangers

This paper deals with the heat transfer enhancement due to groove formation in a metallic tube. A detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed on helical groove tubes with three geometries (obtained from a published article) to validate the results, and three other geometries, randomly selected, with variable pitch length apart from experiment. The range of Reynolds number was from 4000 to 10,000. Performance criterion through CFD was based on the heat transfer via Nusselt number as well as the friction factor. The friction factor and Nusselt number comparison with experimental data was found to be in good agreement with the experimental data, with an average deviation of 2 and 7%, respectively. Numerical experimentation was extended by examining the performance of three more tubes of varying pitch lengths. The new tubes had pitch length of 51 mm (GT02), 102 mm (GT04) and 152 mm (GT06). The performance was evaluated in terms of thermal enhancement factor. It was found that the all tubes have enhancement factor greater than unity which means that tubes are efficient in terms of heat transfer. Among the tubes studied, the maximum thermal enhancement factor was also obtained for GT02 (51 mm pitch length).
1.26 – Down-Shifting of the Incident Light for Photovoltaic Applications

Decreasing the cost of renewable energy and enhancing the performance of solar cells have become a great challenge for the twenty-first century. Down-shifting has proven to be an interesting principle to improve the efficiency of solar cells. In this chapter, after a brief description of the down-shifting process, a review of the most common down-shifting elements and their use in solar cells will be presented. To conclude, an overview of patent filing and commercial applications will be given.
Radiation Therapy of Prostate Cancer at Stanford University: An Experience of 36 Years

Radiotherapy for prostatic cancer was started in 1910 by Paschkis and Tittinger in Austria who used a radium source attached to a cysto-scope. At about the same time Pasteau in France irradiated the prostate with a radium source carried within a urethral catheter. These techniques were brought to the U.S. between 1915 and 1920 by Hugh Young at Johns Hopkins, Barringer at Memorial Hospital in New York and Bumpus at the Mayo Clinic. Our interest at Stanford was stimulated most directly by the successful reports of Rubin Flocks who, in the early 1950s, injected radioactive colloidal gold (192Au) solutions directly into the prostate and regional lymph nodes. By then, it had been generally conceded that androgen deprivation was palliative, even though initially Huggins had thought it would be curative. Radical prostatectomy, both perineal and retropubic, while well developed, was not widely used for two significant reasons.
Experimental Applications of Multi-Attribute Utility Models

Most complex decisions require the decision maker to make trade-offs between competing value objectives. This paper begins by reviewing the experimental studies which have attempted to model this subjective trade-off process. For the most part, these studies have found that this trade-off process can be excellently approximated using additive utility models. Other studies, however, have found evidence of significant interactions; and still others have supported the hypothesis that people employ non-compensatory heuristics such as the satisficing, lexicographic, or elimination-by-aspects rules. The next section of the paper reviews the literature devoted to the goal of developing procedures which can be used to improve the subjective evaluation process. Formal models, for both riskless and risky choice, are discussed. Then, some practical scaling procedures are briefly outlined. Finally, results from experimental attempts to validate these scaling techniques are discussed. Again, most normative approaches to the multi-dimensional trade-off problem have focused on simple additive models, and, in general, validation studies have generated strong support for these procedures. Non-additive evaluation procedures have been developed, however, and there is limited evidence that these techniques are both practical and possibly superior to additive evaluation methods.
Ecological Speciation in Corals

The ocean is generally a homogenous environment with few geographic barriers that allow populations to connect over hundreds of kilometers, increasing gene flow and slowing down diversification and the formation of species. However, biodiversity in the ocean is vast across thousands of kilometers and even within single individuals (e.g., coral colonies). Species diversity peaks at coral reef ecosystems, which house at least one quarter of the marine biodiversity. Why are these systems so diverse? How do species differentiate despite rampant genetic connectivity? One possibility to explain biodiversity hotspots in the ocean, along with physical barriers, is through ecological factors. Populations can diverge if they specialize ecologically, reducing interbreeding, which can lead to reproductive isolation. We reviewed cases of speciation in coral reefs with emphasis on those driven by ecological factors. We find few studies in coral research using genomic approaches to understand the genetics of reproductive isolation. We propose the cases of the coral Orbicella spp. and the octocoral Eunicea spp. as ideal examples to study ecological speciation in corals.
Visiting Chutchui: The making of a colonial counterstory on an elementary school field trip

ABSTRACTChildren in the United States live in a land of many nations, with nearly 600 federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native sovereign tribal nations and hundreds more not recognize...