cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Relationship Between Livelihood Constraints of Poor Forest-adjacent Residents, and Illegal Forest Use, at Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

The relationship between livelihoods and forest use is one of the main challenges facing wildlife and habitat conservation in developing countries. Poor residents in forest-adjacent areas are typically perceived to be the main forest users, with use often deemed illegal. However, there is still a limited understanding of livelihood constraints of the poor, and how such constraints influence illegal forest use, particularly for poor residents in forest-adjacent communities. In this paper, we address this gap. First, the measures for livelihood constraints, including food access constraints and education constraints, and illegal forest use are proposed. Second, the developed measures are used in a structural equation model, to explore the relationship between livelihood constraints and illegal forest use, for poor residents in communities adjacent to Volcanoes National Park, in Rwanda. Food access constraints, a dimension of food security constraints, were found to be the strongest predicator of illegal forest use. However, food insecure residents around the park may not be the main driver of current levels of illegal forest use, supporting previous research questioning the narrative of poverty driven illegal forest use in developing countries.
Heart rate control in diabetic rabbits: blunted response to isoproterenol

To study the effects of chronic diabetes on heart rate and adrenergic responsiveness we compared unanesthetized diabetic rabbits, 10-13 mo after alloxan monohydrate injection, to age-matched controls. There were no significant differences found between groups for body or heart weight. Both resting and intrinsic heart rate (the latter obtained after atropine sulfate and propranolol HCl) were similar. In addition, serum and left ventricular epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations as well as left ventricular beta-receptor density and affinity were unchanged in diabetic animals. Heart rate responses to isoproterenol were blunted in diabetics at the three highest doses. Base-line mean blood pressure was modestly lower in diabetic rabbits, and parallel declines in pressure for both groups were observed in response to isoproterenol. The diminished heart rate response to isoproterenol in diabetic rabbits may be due to diminished myocardial sensitivity to catecholamines, possibly combined with altered baroreceptor reflexes. These experiments may provide an explanation for the blunted heart rate response to exercise described in human diabetics.
Field Testing of Environmentally Friendly Drilling System

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) program addresses new low-impact technology that reduces the footprint of drilling activities, integrates light weight drilling rigs with reduced emission engine packages, addresses on-site waste management, optimizes the systems to fit the needs of a specific development sites and provides stewardship of the environment. In addition, the program includes industry, the public, environmental organizations, and elected officials in a collaboration that addresses concerns on development of unconventional natural gas resources in environmentally sensitive areas. The EFD program provides the fundamentals to result in greater access, reasonable regulatory controls, lower development cost and reduction of the environmental footprint associated with operations for unconventional natural gas. Industry Sponsors have supported the program with significant financial and technical support. This final report compendium is organized into segments corresponding directly with the DOE approved scope of work for the term 2005-2009 (10 Sections). Each specific project is defined by (a) its goals, (b) its deliverable, and (c) its future direction. A web site has been established that contains all of these detailed engineering reports produced with their efforts. The goals of the project are to (1) identify critical enabling technologies for a prototype low-impact drilling system, (2) test themore » prototype systems in field laboratories, and (3) demonstrate the advanced technology to show how these practices would benefit the environment.« less
Infastructure Interdependencies Modeling and Analysis - A Review and Synthesis

The events of 9/11 and the occurrence of major natural disasters in recent years has resulted in increased awareness and renewed desire to protect critical infrastructure that are the pillars to maintaining what has become normal life in our economy. The problem has been compounded because the increased connectedness between the various sectors of the economy has resulted in interdependencies that allow for problems and issues with one infrastructure to affect other infrastructures. This area is now being investigated extensively after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) prioritized this issue. There is now a vast extant of literature in the area of infrastructure interdependencies and the modeling of it. This paper presents a synthesis and survey of the literature in the area of infrastructure interdependency modeling methods and proposes a framework for classification of these studies. The framework classifies infrastructure interdependency modeling and analysis methods into four quadrants in terms of system complexities and risks. The directions of future research are also discussed in this paper.
Human Recombinant Interleukin 2 Binds to Mouse Red Blood Cells via the Erythropoietin Receptor

Murine red blood cells (RBC) incubated with recombinant human interleukin 2 (rIL2) bound 10–20% of the added cytokine with 41.28 ± 4.64% of the population positive for bound cytokine as determined by fluorescence activated cell scanning (FACS) analysis. It has been well documented that a high degree of homology exists between the erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) and the IL2βR chain (based both on amino acid sequence and hydrophobicity alignment), we hypothesized that the rIL2 was binding to residual EPOR on murine RBC. Upon bioassay, it was found that reticulocytes (RET), which express a higher percentage of EPOR than normal RBC, bound 400% more rIL2 as compared to normal RBC. FACS analysis using fluorescently labeled rIL2 revealed a log higher fluorescence intensity on RET compared to RBC. Therefore, the population of immature or young RBC in circulation which are expressing residual EPOR are binding rIL2 due to cross-reactivity between the EPOR and IL2βR.
Ritual Fauna and Social Organization at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon†

Chaco Canyon served as a regional center for the Northern U.S. Southwest from AD 850–1130. Reconstructions of the social organization of great houses within the canyon have varied, with models alte...
The IBM 2009 GALE Arabic speech transcription system

We describe the Arabic broadcast transcription system fielded by IBM in the GALE Phase 4 machine translation evaluation. Key advances over our Phase 3.5 system include improvements to context-dependent modeling in vowelized Arabic acoustic models; the use of neural-network features provided by the International Computer Science Institute; Model M language models; a neural network language model that uses syntactic and morphological features; and improvements to our system combination strategy. These advances were instrumental in achieving a word error rate of 8.9% on the Phase 4 evaluation set, and an absolute improvement of 1.6% word error rate over our 2008 system on the unsequestered Phase 3.5 evaluation data.
Patronin-mediated minus end growth is required for dendritic microtubule polarity

Microtubule minus ends are thought to be stable in cells. Surprisingly, in Drosophila and zebrafish neurons, we observed persistent minus end growth, with runs lasting over 10 min. In Drosophila, extended minus end growth depended on Patronin, and Patronin reduction disrupted dendritic minus-end-out polarity. In fly dendrites, microtubule nucleation sites localize at dendrite branch points. Therefore, we hypothesized minus end growth might be particularly important beyond branch points. Distal dendrites have mixed polarity, and reduction of Patronin lowered the number of minus-end-out microtubules. More strikingly, extra Patronin made terminal dendrites almost completely minus-end-out, indicating low Patronin normally limits minus-end-out microtubules. To determine whether minus end growth populated new dendrites with microtubules, we analyzed dendrite development and regeneration. Minus ends extended into growing dendrites in the presence of Patronin. In sum, our data suggest that Patronin facilitates sustained microtubule minus end growth, which is critical for populating dendrites with minus-end-out microtubules.
Towards a Framework for Composition Design for Music-Led Virtual Reality Experiences

Virtual reality is an exciting new medium for artists and content creators, including composers. The ease of content delivery coupled with the capacity for immersive sound diffusion makes VR of particular interest to composers. However, a framework would be useful to support the composition and designing of music-led virtual reality experiences. This paper begins that process by exploring perspectives such as acoustic ecology, the phenomenology of embodiment, affordances and discoverability in design, instrument design, the techno-somatic dimension, and 20th century aleotoric compositional poetics that can help to establish a theoretical framework for composing engaging sonic experiences in virtual environments.
Tai Chi Movements for Wellbeing – evaluation of a British Lung Foundation pilot:

Aims:In breathless individuals with respiratory disease, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) can improve exercise capacity, symptoms and ability to cope with their condition. However, access is often lim...
Comparison of the Accuracy of Implant Position Using Surgical Guides Fabricated by Additive and Subtractive Techniques

Purpose To evaluate the accuracy of implant position using surgical guides fabricated by additive and subtractive techniques. Materials and methods A partially edentulous standardized mandibular implant model with different bone densities and soft tissue was duplicated and a diagnostic wax-up was performed for the #30 area. A reference radiographic guide was fabricated and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was made with the reference radiographic guide in place. A surgical guide was designed using BlueSky Plan 4 software and a reference implant was placed in the #30 region. The STL file of the surgical guide was exported and specimens (n = 15) were fabricated by two different techniques: additive (3D printing) and subtractive (milling). The standardized mandibular model was surface-scanned and duplicated with printed dental model resin (n = 30). Each surgical guide was used to place an implant in thirty duplicate printed models. Differences in implant position as compared to the reference were measured from digital scans with scan bodies in place. The angular deviations, differences in depth, coronal and apical deviations were measured using GeoMagic Control X software. Results were analyzed by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and PERMANOVA (Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance). Intraclass correlation was used to assess measurement reproducibility with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing as needed (α = 0.05). Results There were no significant differences in accuracy of implant placement using guides fabricated using additive vs subtractive techniques. The mean angular deviations between the reference and actual position of implant in mesio-distal cross-section were 0.780 ± 0.80° for printed group and 0.77 ± 0.72° for the milled group. The differences in bucco-lingual cross-section were 1.60 ± 1.22° in in printed group and 1.77 ± 0.76° in the milled group. The differences in depth (mm) were measured at the top of the scan body at four locations: mesial, distal, buccal and lingual. The mean differences in depth for the group that used printed surgical guides were (mesial) 0.37 ± 0.29 mm, (distal) 0.32 ± 0.23 mm, (buccal) 0.24 ± 0.23 mm, and (lingual) 0.25 ± 0.17 mm. The mean differences in depth for the group that used milled surgical guides were (mesial) 0.51 ± 0.33 mm, (distal) 0.40 ± 0.32 mm, (buccal) 0.22 ± 0.23 mm, and (lingual) 0.23 ± 0.12 mm in those four aspects, respectively. The mean coronal deviation showed 0.32 mm in the printed group and 0.27 mm in the milled group. For the apical deviation, the results of this study showed mean apical deviation 0.84 mm in the printed group and 0.80 mm in the milled group. Conclusions Results indicate that 3D-printed surgical guides are statistically as accurate as milled guides for guided-implant surgery with the benefits of high accuracy, ease of fabrication, less waste compared to subtractive techniques, and reduction of laboratory time thereby increasing cost-effectiveness.
Energy supply per neuron is constrained by capillary density in the mouse brain

Neuronal densities vary enormously across sites within a brain. Does the density of the capillary bed accompany the presumably larger energy requirement of sites with more neurons, or with larger neurons, or is energy supply constrained by a mostly homogeneous capillary bed? Here we find evidence for the latter across various sites in the mouse brain, such that the ratio of capillary cells per neuron, and thus presumably blood and energy supply per neuron, decreases uniformly with increasing neuronal density across sites. These findings suggest that it is not that larger neurons demand more energy, but simply that larger (and thus fewer) neurons have more energy available per cell than smaller (and thus more numerous) neurons due to competition for limited resources supplied by capillaries.
Real Positive Maps and Conditional Expectations on Operator Algebras

Most of this article is an expanded version of our talk at the Positivity X conference. It is essentially a survey, but some part, like most of the lengthy Sect. 5, is comprised of new results whose proofs are unpublished elsewhere. We begin by reviewing the theory of real positivity of operator algebras initiated by the author and Charles Read. Then we present several new general results (mostly joint work with Matthew Neal) about real positive maps. The key point is that real positivity is often the right replacement in a general algebra A for positivity in C∗-algebras. We then apply this to studying contractive projections (‘conditional expectations’) and isometries of operator algebras. For example we generalize and find variants of certain classical results on positive projections on C∗-algebras and JB algebras due to Choi, Effros, Stormer, Friedman and Russo, and others. In previous work with Neal we had done the ‘completely contractive’ case; we focus here on describing the real positive contractive case from recent work with Neal. We also prove here several new and complementary results on this topic due to the author, indeed this new work constitutes most of Sect. 5. Finally, in the last section we describe a related part of some recent joint work with Labuschagne on what we consider to be a good noncommutative generalization of the ‘characters’ (i.e. homomorphisms into the scalars) on an algebra. Such characters are a special case of the projections mentioned above, and are shown to be intimately related to conditional expectations. The idea is to try to use these to generalize certain classical function algebra results involving characters.
Placement of chronically homeless into different types of permanent supportive housing before and after a coordinated entry system: The influence of severe mental illness, substance use disorder, and dual diagnosis on housing configuration and intensity of services

AIMS Permanent supportive housing (PSH) is designed to house people who experience chronic homelessness with one or more of the following: serious mental illness (SMI), substance use disorders (SUD) or human immunodeficiency virus. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has required major metropolitan areas to develop a coordinated entry system (CES) to prioritize access to PSH to those who need it the most. The aim of this paper is to determine whether PSH residents with SMI, SUD, or dual diagnosis were more likely to be housed after implementation of CES and were more likely to be housed in housing models with more intensive services provided. METHODS A cross-sectional survey with 855 residents of different PSH models. RESULTS Those with SMI, SUD, or dual diagnosis were not more likely to be housed using the CES but were more likely to be housed in higher intensity service programs. CONCLUSIONS Those with SMI are more likely to be housed in PSH with high-intensity services.
The toxic duo: Bullying involvement and adverse childhood experiences as factors associated with school disengagement among children

Abstract Although studies have examined the effects of bullying victimization and adverse childhood experiences on health and mental health outcomes, few studies have examined bullying involvement and adverse childhood experiences as factors associated with school disengagement among children in the US. The objective of this study is to examine bullying involvement and adverse childhood experiences as factors associated with school disengagement among children in the US. Data for this study came from the 2016–2017 National Survey of Children’s Health. A sample of 45,041 children ages 6–17 years was analyzed using binary logistic regression with school disengagement as the outcome variable. Based on parent reports, we found that about one-third of the children were disengaged from school, 23% were involved in bullying, and 49.5% experienced at least one childhood adversity. Children who were victims of bullying, were bullies, or were bully-victims were more likely to be disengaged from school. Odds of school disengagement were 1.32 times higher for children with one ACE (95% CI = 1.24–1.40), 1.5 times higher for children with two ACEs (95% CI = 1.38–1.62), and 1.77 times higher for children with three or more ACEs (95% CI = 1.63–1.92). Understanding the association between bullying involvement and adverse childhood experiences as factors associated with school disengagement could help educators utilize supportive and caring relationships to engage students. Such an understanding could also help in developing proactive and preventive interventions to curb bullying in schools and make students feel safe and engaged in classrooms.
Changing the Nature of Quantitative Biology Education: Data Science as a Driver

We live in a data-rich world with rapidly growing databases with zettabytes of data. Innovation, computation, and technological advances have now tremendously accelerated the pace of discovery, providing driverless cars, robotic devices, expert healthcare systems, precision medicine, and automated discovery to mention a few. Even though the definition of the term data science continues to evolve, the sweeping impact it has already produced on society is undeniable. We are at a point when new discoveries through data science have enormous potential to advance progress but also to be used maliciously, with harmful ethical and social consequences. Perhaps nowhere is this more clearly exemplified than in the biological and medical sciences. The confluence of (1) machine learning, (2) mathematical modeling, (3) computation/simulation, and (4) big data have moved us from the sequencing of genomes to gene editing and individualized medicine; yet, unsettled policies regarding data privacy and ethical norms could potentially open doors for serious negative repercussions. The data science revolution has amplified the urgent need for a paradigm shift in undergraduate biology education. It has reaffirmed that data science education interacts and enhances mathematical education in advancing quantitative conceptual and skill development for the new generation of biologists. These connections encourage us to strive to cultivate a broadly skilled workforce of technologically savvy problem-solvers, skilled at handling the unique challenges pertaining to biological data, and capable of collaborating across various disciplines in the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. To accomplish this, we suggest development of open curricula that extend beyond the job certification rhetoric and combine data acumen with modeling, experimental, and computational methods through engaging projects, while also providing awareness and deep exploration of their societal implications. This process would benefit from embracing the pedagogy of experiential learning and involve students in open-ended explorations derived from authentic inquiries and ongoing research. On this foundation, we encourage development of flexible data science initiatives for the education of life science undergraduates within and across existing models.
Unmet Health Need and Perceived Barriers to Health Care among Adolescents Living in a Rural Area

This study investigated the perceived health care needs, unmet health need, and barriers to health care in 224 rural-dwelling adolescents. A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used to survey adolescents attending a public high school in a low-resource, rural Indiana community. One in five adolescents reported an unmet health need. The most common barriers to health care were related to access, apathy, anxiety, and parenting issues. Implications include confidentiality protocols in family healthcare practices, school-based health centers, and intervention research targeting adolescents' communication skills and healthcare consumer skills.
Adherent cell remodeling on micropatterns is modulated by Piezo1 channels

Abstract Adherent cells utilize local environmental cues to make decisions on their growth and movement. We have previously shown that HEK293 cells grown on the fibronectin stripe patterns were elongated. Here we show that Piezo1 function is involved in cell spreading. Inhibiting the Rho-ROCK pathway also reversibly inhibited cell extension indicating that myosin contractility is involved. Piezo1 expressing HEK cells plated on fibronectin stripes elongated, while a knockout of Piezo1 eliminated elongation. Inhibiting Piezo1 conductance using GsMTx4 or Gd3+ blocked cell spreading, but the cells grew thin tail-like extensions along the patterns. Images of GFP-tagged Piezo1 showed plaques of Piezo1 moving to the extrusion edges, co-localized with focal adhesions. Surprisingly, in non-spreading cells Piezo1 was located primarily on the nuclear envelope. The growth of thin extrusion tails did not occur in Piezo1 knockout cells suggesting that Piezo1 may have functions besides acting as a cation channel.
Group selection silviculture for converting pine plantations to uneven-aged stands

Abstract Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in managing and restoring southern pine stands using uneven-aged silvicultural strategies, that rely on natural regeneration. Group selection harvests are regarded as an effective approach to induce natural regeneration and convert pine plantations to uneven-aged stands. In a wet flatwoods site in north-west Florida, we characterized natural regeneration (density, size, spatial distribution, hot spots) of slash pine (Pinus elliottii Englm.) eight years following group selection harvests and one year following prescribed fire in mature slash pine plantations. Our study utilized a long-term, operational scale experiment consisting of circular harvest group openings of four different sizes (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 ha), each replicated three times. In all group openings, we stem mapped all regeneration > 1.37 m in height and measured their diameter at breast height (dbh) and total height. We also estimated understory shrub cover in the group openings. Overall, slash pine regeneration response was highly variable across group opening sizes and ranged between 150 (in 0.1 ha group openings) to 670 stems ha−1 (in 0.8 ha group openings). On average, 468 ± 105 (mean ± standard error) stems ha−1 were found in the group openings. Group opening size had no significant effect on regeneration density or size (ɑ =0.05). Position within group opening, however, had a significant effect on regeneration density and height, with higher density occurring in group opening centers and taller stems in northern positions. Shrub cover decreased with increasing group opening size and was lowest in northern positions. Dense shrub cover (60–100%) was associated with greater regeneration density. The areas with dense shrub cover appeared to have escaped prescribed fire and experienced lower seedling mortality. Spatial point pattern analysis showed aggregation of regeneration for all group sizes across all distances. Regeneration hotspots were mostly central and southern positions in group openings. Earlier observations of our study suggest that the group selection harvesting may be a suitable approach to regenerate slash pine and add an age-class (regeneration cohort) to even-aged stands in wet flatwoods sites.
Modification of CO2 capture and pore structure of hardened cement paste made with nano-TiO2 addition: Influence of water-to-cement ratio and CO2 exposure age

Abstract This paper studies the effects of nano-TiO2 in CO2 sequestration of hardened cement paste depending on the water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and the pore structure. Twelve cement paste mixtures were prepared with four different percentages of nano-TiO2 (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%) and three w/c (0.45, 0.50, 0.55). Samples were exposed for 24 h to a CO2 environment at two different ages (14 and 28 days). Thermogravimetric analysis and 3D X-Ray scans of the pore structure were performed on exposed and unexposed samples. Results showed that nano-TiO2 produces an improvement in the CO2 uptake until a certain percentage. This maximum percentage depends on exposure age and w/c. Nano-TiO2 produces a reduction in porosity and an increment of calcium hydroxide (CH) reactivity, which have opposite effects on CO2 uptake. These two competing mechanisms may explain why nano-TiO2 can be beneficial or detrimental for the CO2 uptake as a function of w/c ratio and age.
Experimental Validation of a Three-Dimensional Heat Transfer Model Within the Scala Tympani With Application to Magnetic Cochlear Implant Surgery

Magnetic guidance of cochlear implants is a promising technique to reduce the risk of physical trauma during surgery. In this approach, a magnet attached to the tip of the implant electrode array is guided within the scala tympani using a magnetic field. After surgery, the magnet must be detached from the implant electrode array via localized heating, which may cause thermal trauma, and removed from the scala tympani. Objectives: The objective of this work is to experimentally validate a three-dimensional (3D) heat transfer model of the scala tympani which will enable accurate predictions of the maximum safe input power to avoid localized hyperthermia when detaching the magnet from the implant electrode array. Methods: Experiments are designed using a rigorous scale analysis and performed by measuring transient temperatures in a 3D-printed scala tympani phantom subjected to a sudden change in its isothermal environment and localized heating via a small heat source. Results: The measured and predicted temperatures are in good agreement with an error less than 6 $\%$ ( ${p}=$ 0.84). For the most conservative case where all boundaries of the model except the insertion opening are adiabatic, the power required to release the magnet attached to the implant electrode array by 1 mm $^3$ of paraffin is approximately half of the predicted maximum safe input power. Conclusions: A 3D heat transfer model of the scala tympani is successfully validated and enables predicting the maximum safe input power required to detach the magnet from the implant electrode array. Significance: This work will enable the design of a thermally safe magnetic cochlear implant surgery procedure.
Intersection Mobility for Polaris Car

Autonomous Vehicles society is blooming and evolving as driving safety is expected to improve by autonomous vehicles (AVs) compared with human driving. Intersection mobility is one of the challenging tasks for AVs; thus, this paper proposes two algorithms. The first proposed algorithm uses a driving space to generate a motion trajectory based on LiDAR data and road geometry. The other algorithm provides C2 smooth path Bezier curve by joining two cubic Bezier curve segments. Information pieces from Polaris car’s position during turning are utilized to compute the intersection road’s corner radius. The proposed algorithms have been tested in multiple simulation environments with different traffic conditions in Gazebo using Polaris car. Simulation results show that Polaris car can turn continuously and smoothly through the intersection square, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
The Optical Field: A Stochastic Vector Field or, Classical Theory of Optical Coherence

Light is an electromagnetic phenomenon. According to classical electromagnetic theory, an electromagnetic field consists of an electric vector field and a magnetic vector field, both being functions of space and time. These fields have to satisfy a set of partial differential equations, Maxwell’s equations, which govern their generation by accelerated electric charges as well as their propagation through media that have different electric and magnetic properties. All optical phenomena can be explained by solving Maxwell’s equations under the proper boundary conditions.
Glycolytic activation at the onset of contractions in isolated Xenopus laevis single myofibres.

Intracellular pH (pHi) was measured in isolated Xenopus laevis single myofibres at the onset of contractions, with and without glycolytic blockade, to investigate the time course of glycolytic activation. Single myofibres (n= 8; CON) were incubated in 2′,7′-bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein acetoyxmethyl ester (10 μm; for fluorescence measurement of pHi) and stimulated for 15 s at 0.67 Hz in anoxia in the absence (control condition; CON) and presence of a glycolytic inhibitor (1 mm iodoacetic acid; IAA). Intracellular pHi and tension were continuously recorded, and the differences in pHi between conditions were used to estimate the activation time of glycolysis. An immediate and steady increase in pHi (initial alkalosis) at the onset of contractions was similar between CON and IAA trials for the first 9 s of the contractile bout. However, from six contractions (∼10 s) throughout the remainder of the bout, IAA demonstrated a continued rise in pHi, in contrast to a progressive decrease in pHi in CON (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate, with high temporal resolution, that glycolysis is activated within six contractions (10 s at 0.67 Hz) in single Xenopus skeletal muscle fibres.
“Somaesthetics,” Education, and Disability

Pleasure is as integral to learning as effort. It is an emotive sign of achievement and a source of motivation for further learning. Learners do not exist separate from their bodies; they are biological entities with basic needs for sustenance and stimulation. John Dewey understood this in his writings on aesthetics. In Art as Experience, Dewey refers to a person as a “live creature” interacting with an enveloping environment. Dewey argued that all qualities of the live creature’s experiences have aesthetic roots, combining sensory perception with cognitive function. Hence, an aesthetically pleasing experience interweaves the body and the mind with the environment. If pleasure is critical to learning, it is no less important to persons with disabilities who are also live creatures. Yet, persons with disability may experience environment, in its broadest sense, as presenting obstacles to pleasure. This poses an educational question, since some pleasures may be especially useful for the most basic learning of persons with disabilities. Through the sensory modes that inhere in the body — touch, smell, and proprioception (that is, the neuroanatomical feedback necessary for movement and balance) — the live creature takes stock of itself and the surrounding world.
Exploring the Geographic Consequences of Public Policies Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Abstract Public policies with geographical consequences are often difficult to analyze because they affect multiple stakeholders with competing objectives. While such problems fall conceptually into the domain of multiobjective evaluation, associated analytical techniques often search for a single optimum solution. Within the context of geographical problems, optimality often means different things to different stakeholders and, thus, an optimum optimorum may not exist. In this article, we present a new technique based on an evolutionary algorithm (EA) that produces a large number of optimal and near-optimal solutions to a large class of land management problems. As implemented for this article, solutions represent landscape patterns that produce services that meet stakeholder needs to varying degrees. The construction of curves that illustrate the trade-offs among various services given limited resources is central to this approach. Decision makers can use these curves to help find solutions that strike ...
Balloon animals, guitars, and fewer blood draws: applying strategies from pediatrics to the treatment of hospitalized adults.

This commentary discusses how patients in adult hospitals could benefit from the health care approach found in pediatric wards, which includes being sensitive to stressinducing procedures and offer...
Hybrid Capital Structures and the Governance of State-Owned Companies: The Case of SABESP

This paper develops a case study about a Brazilian company with a very interesting governance and capital structure that mixes public and private elements: SABESP, a monopolist water supplier controlled by the state of Sao Paulo that is now listed and traded in the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. With a reputation for efficiency, it is considered a corporate benchmark for efficiency and a success story. It was the first Brazilian state-controlled company to be listed in the Novo Mercado segment of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA). The decision to go public and abide by more strict corporate governance rules without, however, being privatized led to a very interesting case of a company with hybrid ownership structure that, albeit being a colossus that deals with huge sums of money and implements very sensitive public policies, has been kept relatively well isolated from negative incentives, is turning profits, and has had a good performance in the stock exchange. To present the analysis, the paper will also try to provide a theoretical framework that would allow one to understand how state ownership and hybrid ownership forms can help to solve more general governance problems. The claim the study advances is that, since private ownership and state ownership lead to different governance arrangements that are more or less efficient and generate more or less surplus for the actors involved, there may be governance problems that would be easier to overcome if the state owned the firm or, at least, if it places itself amongst the residual claimants. Thus hybrid forms of ownership may appear or be adopted as a response to the environment under which a corporation operates, which means that they may not necessarily be inefficient. The proposed analytical framework will blur two traditional dichotomies. First, it will dissolve the strict separation between state-owned and private-owned companies. The intuition behind this is that governance forms are more flexible and varied than this pair of opposite classifications may imply. On the one hand governments can control private assets and private organizations in many degrees, whether they own directly such corporations or not. On the other hand, corporations that are supposedly state-owned may be at the mercy of private interests, or they may be dependent on external shareholders. In consequence, finding an optimal ownership structure for the firm becomes a problem of institutional design. The second one is that the framework to be proposed will soften the separation between “inside” and “outside” the company. In this sense, instead of seeing the firm as a dark monolith, the paper will identify it with a governance structure composed by public and private relationships.
Photoinduced Cycloadditions in the Diversity-Oriented Synthesis Toolbox: Increasing Complexity with Straightforward Post-Photochemical Modifications

Rapid growth of complexity and unprecedented molecular architectures is realised via the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in o-acylamidobenzaldehydes and ketones followed by [4+2] or [4+4] cycloadditions with subsequent post-photochemical modifications. The approach is congruent with diversity-oriented synthesis, whereby photoprecursors are synthesised in a modular fashion allowing for up to four diversity inputs. The complexity of the primary photoproducts is further enhanced using straightforward and high-yielding post-photochemical modification steps such as reactions with nitrile oxides and nitrones, and Povarov and oxa-Diels–Alder reactions.
Principal component filter banks for optimum wavelet analysis

Optimality issues are addressed when multiresolution methods are applied to random signals. An optimal P-band perfect reconstruction filter bank is derived, which decomposes the input signal into its lower-resolution principal components. Results are developed for stationary processes and a class of nonstationary processes, which includes cyclostationary signals. FIR designs are discussed and some examples presented. >
Transmesocolic Herniation of Small Bowel Following Colonic Interposition

This report focuses on iatrogenic transmesocolic hernia causing small bowel obstruction following colonic interposition. Of 45 patients undergoing visceral esophageal substitution using colon, three developed small bowel obstruc-. tion due to internal herniation of a loop of small bowel through a defect in the mesocolon. Awareness of this unique cause of small bowel obstruction following colonic interposition and institution of early surgical treatment will prevent irreparable intestinal damage associated with internal Hernias.
Absorption-Interferometric Technique For Mapping Temperature And Concentration Profiles During Crystal Growth From Solution

Two-dimensional mapping of a solution's temperature and concentration profiles is possible in principle by pointwise combination of data from simultaneous absorption and interferometric images. Preliminary feasibility analysis and experiments indicate that adequate precision is attainable for selected solution crystallization systems.
Fast White Light Interferometry Demodulation Algorithm for Low-Finesse Fabry–Pérot Sensors

Over decades, the signal demodulation techniques of low-finesse Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) sensors have been either slow with wide dynamic range and absolute measurement capability, or fast with narrow dynamic range and relative measurement capability. The tradeoff between the speed and the measurement capability has greatly limited the application of FPI-based sensors. In this letter, a novel high-speed white light interferometry (WLI) demodulation algorithm for low-finesse FPI has been developed. By realizing high-speed absolute demodulation utilizing full spectra, the new algorithm has the advantage of spectral drift immunity, high precision, and simultaneous ac and dc signal measurement capability, such as acoustic and temperature. A 70-kHz real-time WLI demodulation experiment was conducted in lab, in which the speed was limited only by the spectrometer hardware.
Using Molecular Simulations to Understand Allosteric Inhibition of the Hepatitis C Virus RNA Polymerase

The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) affects more than 100 million people around the world. About a quarter of infected individuals will eventually contract chronic liver ailments and may suffer severe complications such as liver failure. There is no known cure for this disease and few effective treatments exist. The HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is currently a target for small molecule therapeutics due to its importance in replicating the viral genome. Several allosteric inhibitors of RdRp have been identified which bind to the enzyme outside of the active site at which nucleotides are incorporated into newly synthesized RNA. While their mechanism is as yet unknown, these inhibitors have been suggested to act by preventing a conformational change in RdRp which is necessary to initiate RNA replication. We hypothesize that one can understand the nature of allosteric inhibition by using molecular simulations to study the dynamics of the enzyme, both in a free state and bound to different inhibitors. We seek to delineate the link between ligand binding and functionally important conformational fluctuations of RdRp by observing the structural coupling which results from the internal motions of the enzyme. In addition to answering fundamental questions regarding the mechanism by which allosteric effects can occur, these studies may provide information which can aid in the development of novel and more effective RdRp inhibitors.
Hyponatremia associated with tolterodine therapy

Purpose. The case of a patient who developed hyponatremia after recent initiation of tolterodine is reported. Summary. An 86-year-old woman arrived at the hospital due to an acute change in her mental status. The patient’s daughter found her mother slumped over and stated that she was unresponsive for approximately four minutes. The admitting diagnosis was transient ischemic attack or syncope. Baseline laboratory tests revealed an abnormal basic metabolic panel, including a serum sodium concentration of 125 mmol/L and a serum chloride concentration of 88 mmol/L. The results of a complete blood count and thyroid function tests were within normal limits. Unsuccessful attempts at sodium correction included initial fluid restriction and, later, the administration of 0.9% sodium chloride injection over 24 hours. Physiological causes of hyponatremia were ruled out. The attending physician and team pharmacist reviewed the patient’s medication profile for potential causes of hyponatremia. Hydrochlorothiazide, a home medication for the patient, was discontinued at hospital admission and ruled out as a cause of her hyponatremia. A documented association between lisinopril, mirtazapine, or omeprazole and hyponatremia exists in various case reports. However, per the patient’s primary care physician, tolterodine was the only modification of an otherwise stable medication profile at an outpatient office visit approximately four weeks prior to admission. Once tolterodine was discontinued, the patient’s hyponatremia quickly resolved. Tolterodine was discontinued on hospital day 5, and the hyponatremia was corrected by the next day. Conclusion. An 86-year-old woman developed hyponatremia after recent initiation of tolterodine therapy.
Microstructure of AI2O3 fiber-reinforced superalloy (INCONEL 718) composites

Composites of INCONEL 718 alloy reinforced with either single-crystal (SAPHIKON) or polycrys-talline (Du Pont's FP) A12O3 fiber were fabricated by pressure casting. Optical and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the microstructure of the composites and to determine the nature of the fiber/matrix reaction. The widely dispersed fibers in the SAPHIKON-fiber-reinforced composite had no influence on the solidification of the matrix. Six phases, γ-Ni3Al, γ'-Ni3Nb, δ-Ni3Nb, TiC, NbC, and Laves, were present in the matrix of the composite. The last three phases were formed during solidification and the others precipitated during subsequent cooling. The high density of fibers in the FP-fiber-reinforced composite led to a more uniform microstructure within the matrix. Only three phases,γ″-Ni3Nb, NbC, and Laves, were identified. Diffusion of Ti into the A12O3 fiber resulted in preferential grain growth in the FP fiber in areas adjacent to the fiber/matrix interface. The fiber/matrix bond strength in shear in the SAPHIKON-fiber-reinforced composite was in excess of 150 MPa.
Electronic structure study of N, O related defects in GaP for photoelectrochemical applications

It is known that the stability of GaP as a photocatalyst in electrolytes can be enhanced by nitrogen doping, GaP:N. However, both GaP (indirect gap) and GaP:N (direct gap) have poor optical absorption properties across their fundamental band gap. To enhance optical absorption as well as the photocurrent, we have examined by density functional theory the favorability of oxygen and hydrogen impurities in conjunction with N doping in bulk GaP. It has been found here that O-related defects are more favorable, whereas H with N substitution is not very favorable. These O–N related defects create a global effect in the GaP lattice by both volume and band gap reduction. Enhancement of optical absorption was also found due to these types of complex doping.
Soil metal concentrations and vegetative assemblage structure in an urban brownfield

Anthropogenic sources of toxic elements have had serious ecological and human health impacts. Analysis of the soil samples from a brownfield within Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ, USA, showed that arsenic, chromium, lead, zinc and vanadium exist at concentrations above those considered ambient for the area. Accumulation and translocation features were characterized for the dominant plant species of four vegetative assemblages. The trees Betula populifolia and Populus deltoides were found to be accumulating Zn in leaf tissue at extremely high levels. B. populifolia, P. deltoides and Rhus copallinum accumulated Cr primarily in the root tissue. A comparison of soil metal maps and vegetative assemblage maps indicates that areas of increasing total soil metal load were dominated by successional northern hardwoods while semi-emergent marshes consisting mostly of endemic species were restricted primarily to areas of low soil metal load.
Small-sample comparisons of confidence intervals for the difference of two independent binomial proportions

This paper compares the exact small-sample achieved coverage and expected lengths of five methods for computing the confidence interval of the difference of two independent binomial proportions. We strongly recommend that one of these be used in practice. The first method we compare is an asymptotic method based on the score statistic (AS) as proposed by Miettinen and Nurminen [1985. Comparative analysis of two rates. Statist. Med. 4, 213-226.]. Newcombe [1998. Interval estimation for the difference between independent proportions: comparison of seven methods. Statist. Med. 17, 873-890.] has shown that under a certain asymptotic set-up, confidence intervals formed from the score statistic perform better than those formed from the Wald statistic (see also [Farrington, C.P., Manning, G., 1990. Test statistics and sample size formulae for comparative binomial trials with null hypothesis of non-zero risk difference or non-unity relative risk. Statist. Med. 9, 1447-1454.]). The remaining four methods compared are the exact methods of Agresti and Min (AM), Chan and Zhang (CZ), Coe and Tamhane (CT), and Santner and Yamagami (SY). We find that the CT has the best small-sample performance, followed by AM and CZ. Although AS is claimed to perform reasonably well, it performs the worst in this study; about 50% of the time it fails to achieve nominal coverage even with moderately large sample sizes from each binomial treatment.
Atom-molecule reactive collisions: A combined experimental and theoretical research project

A joint experimental and theoretical project has been set up to study the basic mechanisms of atom--molecule reactive collisions. Research will be coordinated in four areas, all relevant to the overall project, but traditionally undertaken as separate disciplines. These areas are reactive collision experiments, collision theory, computation of potential surfaces, and theoretical quantitative spectroscopy. Projects and current research in these areas are described. (auth)