cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Combining ambiguous evidence with respect to ambiguous a priori knowledge. Part II: fuzzy logic

Abstract This paper describes fuzzy conditioned Dempster-Shafer (FCDS) theory, a probability-based calculus for dealing with possibly imprecise and vague evidence when the underlying a priori knowledge base is itself possibly imprecise and vague. FCDS has the same general form as existing fuzzy Dempster-Shafer theories. FCDS, however, employs a finite-level Zadeh fuzzy logic and a Dempster-Shafer-like combination operator which is “conditioned” to reflect the influence of any a priori knowledge base which can be modeled by a belief measure on finite-level fuzzy sets. We show that FCDS is grounded in probability theory-specifically, in the theory of random fuzzy sets . We also show that it is a generalization of Bayesian theory to the case when both evidence and a priori knowledge are imprecise and vague. We show that FCDS is consistent with the lattice structure of Zadeh's min-max fuzzy logic and that, in particular, it possesses an analog of the familiar Mobius transform.
Chaos in piecewise-linear systems

A new class of physical systems, those which can be described by piecewise-linear equations, are found to exhibit chaotic behavior similar to that found in previously investigated nonlinear dissipative systems. The example of a damped, sinusoidally forced harmonic oscillator with two possible spring-constant values is investigated in detail. The system exhibits period doubling to chaos characterized by Feigenbaum's universal exponents for a certain range of parameters and an iterated map similar to that in the Lorenz equations for another.
Msx-2 and the Regulation of Organ Size: Epidermal Thickness and Hair Length

During organogenesis, the issue of size regulation is as important as shape and differentiation. We propose that the regulation of the dimensions of the epithelium and its appendages (length, width, thickness) are based on regulation of cell numbers in specific sites, reflecting the input and output of cells in that region. This process is in turn regulated by the flow from the domain of proliferating cells to the domain of postmitotic differentiated cells. When the homeobox gene Msx-2 is over-expressed in transgenic mice under the control of the CMV promoter, the epidermis is thickened with hyperproliferation and hyperkeratosis. Hairs are shorter and the matrix region is shrunken. We suggest that Msx-2 may be one of the regulators involved in the control of organ size, and the above phenotypes are the manifestations of an increased cellular flow from proliferation domain to differentiation domain in the tissue.
Towards a Design Method Supporting the Alignment between Business and Software Services

This paper proposes and illustrates an approach to identify and specify requirements on information-based business services and their associated derived software services. The approach proposes first to identify business services by modeling business requirements using the goal oriented modeling notation i*. Then, in a second phase, the identified services are refined according to these requirements using UML activity and class diagrams. This specification is based on a method and a supporting toolset, called "Efficient". The approach is illustrated through the handling of a case study in the tourism sector.
Pulse Doppler signature of a rotary-wing aircraft

A measurement research program was conducted to investigate rotary-wing aircraft Doppler radar signature phenomenology. Results of the data analysis program are presented with regard to classification and identification of a rotary-wing aircraft based on its Doppler radar signature. Using the return from a Doppler radar and appropriate frequency-domain signal-processing techniques, a rotary-wing aircraft's design, such as main rotor configuration (single, twin tandem, twin coaxial, etc.), rotor parity (even/odd), tail rotor configuration (cross, X, star, etc.), and hub configuration (semi-articulated/fully articulated), can be estimated. Target backscatter from the main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, or hub region of the aircraft can be utilized by the modern radar processor for target detection, acquisition, and classification of the aircraft. Configuration and blade feature estimates can further define the helicopter for identification. >
Hybrid method used to model via transitions

A hybrid approach to solve via impedance and model via transitions is presented in the paper. The method is a combination of via-plane capacitance extraction and the impedance matrices calculation of parallel plane pair. A new formulation of the integral equation method for axially symmetric geometry is used for the capacitance extraction. The method is validated with other model results.
Efficient symbolic simulation of low level software

Symbolic execution has long been a staple technique for formal hardware verification. Its application to software requires methods for dealing with software specific complexities. In this paper we elaborate methods for the efficient symbolic simulation of embedded software; some methods are new, others are improvements of existing methods. Using these techniques we have been able to symbolically execute real life microcode of thousands of lines, allowing formal methods to become an integral part of microcode validation in Intel Corporation.
Electoral Participation in the French Fifth Republic

Variations in second ballot abstention and blank and invalid ballot rates (over the cross-section of French election districts) are examined for all four legislative elections of the French Fifth Republic. Analysis was conducted primarily through a heuristic decision-making model and a spatial model developed from the theories of Riker, McKelvey, and Ordeshook, and Davis, Hinich, and Ordeshook.Abstentions appear to be primarily influenced by long-term factors and the competitiveness of the contest. Blank ballots appear to be primarily dependent upon short-term factors, especially nonvoting from the alienation that results when a candidate present on the first ballot is not present on the second. The alienation model and the heuristic model, though partly collinear, make independent contributions to the explanation of the blank ballot variance.
Corrigendum to: "PauA: a novel plasminogen activator from streptococcus uberis".

Corrigendum to: ``PauA: a novel plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis'' [FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 178 (1999) 27^33]1 E.L. Rosey b, R.A. Lincoln a, P.N. Ward a, R.J. Yancey Jr. b, J.A. Leigh a;* a Institute for Animal Health Compton Laboratory, Compton, Newbury, Berks RG20 7NN, UK b Central Research Division, P¢zer, Animal Health Biological Discovery, Eastern Point Road, Groton, CT 06340, USA
Blunt cerebrovascular injuries in the child.

Abstract Background Although blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVIs) are a well-recognized sequela of trauma in adults, there have been few reports in children. The investigators questioned whether adult screening protocols are appropriate in the pediatric population. The purpose of this study was to describe the incidence, injury patterns, and stroke rates of pediatric patients sustaining BCVIs. Methods Pediatric patients (aged ≤ 18 years) diagnosed with BCVIs at a regional level I trauma center and a pediatric level I trauma center since 1996 were reviewed. Results Forty-five patients sustained BCVIs (60% male; mean age, 13 ± .7 years; mean Injury Severity Score, 23 ± 2). Three patients exsanguinated, and 10 presented with stroke; neurologic changes occurred 17 ± 6 hours after injury (range, 1–72 hours). Screening indications were present in 30%. Thirty-two asymptomatic patients were diagnosed. All but 1 received antithrombotic agents; 1 patient had neurologic deterioration despite heparinization. Comparing asymptomatic patients with those with stroke, there was a significant difference in age (15 vs 11 years). Conclusions More than two-thirds of patients presenting with stroke did not have screening indications according to adult protocols. With the availability of noninvasive diagnostic imaging such as computed tomographic angiography, broader screening guidelines for children should be instituted.
Update on Anti-angiogenic Treatment for Malignant Gliomas

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary brain tumor found in adults. Unfortunately, the prognosis for these type of tumors remains dismal despite aggressive treatment with surgical resection, radiation and chemotherapy. Therefore, therapeutics aimed at disrupting the angiogenesis of these tumors is being utilized in to improve survival outcomes and quality of life. This paper reviews the history of antiangiogenic agents in malignant gliomas, discusses the FDA approval of bevacizumab as monotherapy in recurrent glioblastoma and the subsequent controversy, and analyzes the most recent newly diagnosed trials of RTOG 0825 and AVAglio. Additionally, the results of the latest trials with antiangiogenic agents and possible biomarkers are reviewed. Multiple questions remain regarding the potential benefit of antiangiogenic treatments in patients with glioblastoma. Future clinical trials should be designed to learn more about these drugs, to optimize their future use.
Ruby crystal for demonstrating time- and frequency-domain methods of fluorescence lifetime measurements

We present experiments that are convenient and educational for measuring fluorescence lifetimes with both time- and frequency-domain methods. The sample is ruby crystal, which has a lifetime of about 3.5 milliseconds, and is easy to use as a class-room demonstration. The experiments and methods of data analysis are used in the lab section of a class on optical spectroscopy, where we go through the theory and applications of fluorescence. Because the fluorescence decay time of ruby is in the millisecond region, the instrumentation for this experiment can be constructed easily and inexpensively compared to the nanosecond-resolved instrumentation required for most fluorescent compounds, which have nanosecond fluorescence lifetimes. The methods are applicable to other luminescent compounds with decay constants from microseconds and longer, such as transition metal and lanthanide complexes and phosphorescent samples. The experiments, which clearly demonstrate the theory and methods of measuring temporally resolved fluorescence, are instructive and demonstrate what the students have learned in the lectures without the distraction of highly sophisticated instrumentation.
Scientific Expertise and Natural Resource Decisions: Social Science Participation on Interdisciplinary Scientific Committees.

Social scientists should seek greater involvement in interdisciplinary scientific committees, which often play important roles in natural resource management. In addition to our acknowledged areas of expertise, we have the ability to educate other disciplines about social sciences, and importantly, also about the realities of biophysical science input into policy processes. Two examples are worth noting. First, the asymmetry of scientific challenge can mean that biophysical science views/interpretations with favorable implications for organized groups’ interests may have been “accepted” with little scrutiny, relative to work having unfavorable implications. Second and paradoxically, the structure of decision-making can mean that preferences for “scientific caution” will result in resource management decisions that are anything but cautious. These and other observations need to be tested through a greater number of social scientists’ participant observation on scientific committees in the future.
Extending the utility of artiodactyl postcrania for species-level identifications using multivariate morphometric analyses

Studies of paleoecology are most powerful when relative abundance data are available at fine taxonomic scales and large sample sizes. Postcranial elements are abundant but seldom identified to species, reducing potential sample size. We investigate whether antilocaprid astragali, abundant in the Late Miocene deposits of the Great Basin, can be identified to species, improving sample sizes. Our analysis of African and Asian bovid data from the literature suggests species should be distinguishable using astragalar dimensions. For our case study we use three species of antilocaprids, Ilingoceros alexandrae, Ilingoceros schizoceras, and Sphenophalos nevadanus from the Hemphillian (~8 Ma) Thousand Creek Fauna of northwestern Nevada. These species are diagnosed by their horncores, but previous comparisons of their dentition have shown no clear separation between the species. Our analysis of >200 antilocaprid astragali from Thousand Creek indicates there is enough variation to tentatively reject the hypothesis of only one species, but the distribution does not allow assignment of individual astragali to species. Combined with horncore morphology, our results suggest differences in male-male competition and a slight difference in body size kept the two genera out of competition while ecological similarity and/or shared ancestry created a continuous distribution of astragalar dimensions. The data cannot resolve whether I. alexandrae and I. schizoceras are distinct species. Additionally, we explored the range of effectiveness of a published discriminant function developed to derive environmental preference from African bovid astragali. Applying this discriminant function to Antilocapra proved ineffective, likely a consequence of the distinct evolutionary histories of antilocaprids and bovids.
Idealized Flow Machines

Gas dynamic conservation equations in quasi-one dimensional form are introduced and used to classify the different types of jet propulsion engines and their performance. These are considered to be flow machines in which a fluid enters and has work and/or heat added to it prior to its exit from the machine as a jet. The propeller, in which work is done on the fluid passing through it but no heat is added, is shown to be efficient but speed limited. Conversely, the turbojet, ramjet, and scramjet, in which no work is done on the fluid passing through it, but heat is added, are shown to be less efficient but capable of good high-speed performance. The rocket, a variant of this case, carries onboard all the fluid to which heat is added and subsequently ejected as a jet. The rocket is able to operate in the vacuum of space but has lower efficiency than the others. The turbofan, in which both heat and work are added to the fluid, is a hybrid that derives some of the special benefits of the propeller and the turbojet. After illustrating the different engine types that use the principle of jet propulsion, attention is focused on the force field generated and the conditions for which maximum thrust is produced and developed.
Programming Methods for Risk-Efficient Choice

Programming models were prominent in early theoretical and empirical research on risk-efficient choices, beginning primarily with Freund’s (1956) seminal incorporation of risk into a quadratic programming (QP) model. Building on the QP formulation, subsequent model developments in agricultural economics generally dealt with introducing risk into a computationally feasible programming format, or dealt with introducing different types of risk-aversion assumptions such as safety-first, or mean-variance (EV), into a programming format. Models that incorporate risk have pertained primarily to an individual’s or a firm’s decision, although a few programming models have been proposed to apply in the aggregate.
Reducing Vendor Fraud Risk: Using the Excluded Parties List System

All organizations can use the free U.S. federal Excluded Parties List System during their procurement processes to find questionable vendors and reduce the risk of fraud. CFEs and auditors should use this little-known Internet database in fraud examinations.
An Approximate High-Energy Alpha-Particle Nucleus Collision Model

Alpha particle-nucleus collision model for nucleon energy and angular distribution prediction and residual nuclei cross sections
A Systematic Method for Extracting Structural Parameters from Low Angle X-Ray Reflectivity Measurements on Multilayers

X-ray diffraction is one of the main methods of determining the structure of multilayers. Low angle reflectivity measurements are particulary useful for multilayers containing polycrystalline or amorphous constituents, and for obtaining specific structural data. We present a method based on both kinematic and dynamic scattering calculations, and use it to extract specific structural parameters such as the roughness or diffuseness of the external surface, the thickness of the constituent layers, and the roughness or diffuseness of the internal interfaces. Results are given for a sputtered A1/A1 2 O 3 multilayer.
Preliminary Studies of CO2 Removal from Precombustion Syngas through Pressure Swing Membrane Absorption Process with Ionic Liquid as Absorbent

Using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([bmim][DCA]) as the absorbent and either hydrophobized porous ceramic tubule or hydrophobized polyether ether ketone (PEEK)-based porous hollow fiber membranes, we have carried out preliminary studies for CO2 removal from simulated precombustion syngas by a pressure swing membrane absorption process. We have used He as a surrogate for H2 (40% CO2 rest He) up to a temperature of 100 °C and a pressure of 250 psig. A novel 5-valve system was designed to improve product quality. The optimal duration for the key absorption step was determined, and the influence of helium-rich product withdrawal time was investigated. Temperature increase will degrade product quality, so adding polyamidoamine dendrimer of generation 0 to [bmim][DCA] will mitigate the temperature effect, and 15 wt % dendrimer in [bmim][DCA] showed the best performance. Feed pressure increase will degrade helium product quality, while it is beneficial for CO2 product quality, since more CO2 will be a...
Negotiating the Social Organization of School Library Work: An Institutional Ethnography

This institutional ethnography starts from the standpoint of a school librarian to examine how school library work is coordinated and explained by social institutions. Areas of focus include the work of accounting for materials, the work of accounting for students, and the work of understanding and negotiating schedules. Cette ethnographie institutionnelle s'appuie sur le bibliothecaire en milieu scolaire et examine comment les institutions sociales coordonnent et justifient le travail au sein de la bibliotheque scolaire. Les points a l'etude comprennent : les efforts de justification du materiel, les efforts de representation des etudiants et les efforts de comprehension et de negociation des horaires.
Densification Technology of W/15Cu Alloy

W powders were treated by addition of stearic acid or electroless deposition of copper.W/15Cu alloy was obtained by profiling and infiltrating.Microstructures of the alloys were investigated by mean of scanning electron microscope.Density and hermeticity were measured and the relativity of forming property and density was investigated.The results show that adding stearic acid and inducing copper could improve forming property of W powder without introducing any impurity,which resulted in W/15Cu alloys with higher tightness.
Reconstruction For Limb-Sparing Procedures In Soft-Tissue Sarcomas Of The Extremities

An understanding of the biology of soft-tissue sarcomas and knowledge of refined techniques of adjuvant therapy have allowed limb-sparing procedures to become predominant in the management of these tumors. Immediate bony reconstruction with prosthetic implantation has met with consistent success largely because of the vascularized coverage provided by local and distant flaps. Microvascular reconstruction allows wound closure with vascularized tissue in one stage. The use of a distant donor site does not alter the function of an already compromised limb as would a local muscle flap, and, in selected cases, the transplant may augment the functional ability of the limb. The use of a distant site also does not require extensive dissection in regional tissue planes, which theoretically could spread the local disease.
Impacts of chiller failure on temperature change in isolation incubators for salmonids

Abstract Mechanical chillers can be used to slow the development of salmon eggs and fry. Chiller failure can result in a rapid temperature increases that may adversely impact salmon development. In this study, three types of chiller failure were simulated: (1) CF − failure of chiller, (2) PF − failure of recirculation pump, and (3) NR − chiller failure for a chiller system without a coldwater reservoir. Temperatures were monitored at 38 locations at the Burley Creek Hatchery using 4-channel loggers (Onset, Model U12-008) and Hobo pendant loggers (Onset, UA-001-64). The maximum temperature responses for 30-, 60-, and 90-min intervals were determined for both failure and restart. For the 30-min period, the maximum ΔTs were equal to 3.37 °C for NR, 2.62 °C for PF, and 1.79 °C for CF. The magnitude of the ΔTs were larger for restart compared to failure. The response of the Hobo loggers were very close to the 4-channel loggers even though their time response was significantly slower. The PF and CF failure modes were modeled as two unequal sized CFSTR (coldwater reservoir and incubator) in series and NR mode was modeled as a single CFSTR (incubator). Theoretical and measured mean hydraulic resident times were used to estimate the both deviation between the actual temperature and the modeled temperatures as well as the maximum temperature increases at 30-, 60-, and 90-min intervals. The PF-failure and NR-restart were quite good CFSTRs (stagnant regions of about 9%), while the remaining failure modes had poorer performance (stagnant regions ranging from 25 to 35%). If the theoretical mean hydraulic residence times are used for design, these values must be multiplied by the appropriate reactor correction factors to estimate the size of physical coldwater and glycol reservoirs needed.
County governing boards: where are all the women?

This research seeks to explore the extent of women representation on county governing boards and tests several hypotheses to explain variation in representation. This study evaluates a random sampl...
Hedging Benefits of Gold Futures: A Regime Switching Model Approach.

Using a regime switching model, this study analyzes the nature of gold hedging benefits from the perspective of an individual investor who may choose to invest in a portfolio of: a) Index Futures, b) T-note Futures, c) Oil Futures and d) Gold Futures. Empirical findings support the argument that two distinctive identifiable regimes of gold futures returns exist: 1) a negative return with higher volatility regime and 2) a positive return with lower volatility regime. Between the two regimes, hedging benefits of gold are more pronounced during the higher volatility regimes when compared with the index-futures that represent the overall market. When other T-bond future, AAA Bond and CCC Bond index returns are considered as benchmarks, we find similar evidence consistent with this argument. We also compare the hedge benefits for the gold futures during the 2008 financial crisis; results suggest that hedge benefits for gold futures are more pronounced in both the regimes during the financial crisis when compared with futures returns in other non-financial crisis sample.
Multi-kernel assimilation for prediction intervals in nodal short term load forecasting

Utilization of intelligent systems for information and decision making is of paramount significance toward implementing a smart and sustainable power grid. Nodal load forecasting is an aspect that can greatly benefit from the use of intelligent methods. In this paper, a multi-kernel method is proposed for load forecasting in power systems. In particular, the method adopts a set of kernel-modeled Gaussian process regressors that are subsequently compounded to provide a predictive distribution over the future values of a node's load. The compound predictive distribution is taken by the assimilation of the individual Gaussian processes using a genetic algorithm. In addition, the forecasting horizon varies at each step and is determined by the amount of uncertainty in the forecasted values. The proposed method is applied on a set of historical real-world load demand datasets taken from a node in US metropolitan area. Results exhibit that the assimilated models provide prediction intervals of less variance forecasts than the individual regressors. In addition, the proposed method provided forecast intervals in which a high number of actual forecasts fall within the limits of the interval.
Opportunistically collected data reveal habitat selection by migrating Whooping Cranes in the U.S. Northern Plains

ABSTRACT The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is a federally endangered species in the United States and Canada that relies on wetland, grassland, and cropland habitat during its long migration between wintering grounds in coastal Texas, USA, and breeding sites in Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada. We combined opportunistic Whooping Crane sightings with landscape data to identify correlates of Whooping Crane occurrence along the migration corridor in North Dakota and South Dakota, USA. Whooping Cranes selected landscapes characterized by diverse wetland communities and upland foraging opportunities. Model performance substantially improved when variables related to detection were included, emphasizing the importance of accounting for biases associated with detection and reporting of birds in opportunistic datasets. We created a predictive map showing relative probability of occurrence across the study region by applying our model to GIS data layers; validation using independent, unbiased locations ...
Autonomy in Rehabilitation Robotics: An Intersection

Within the field of human rehabilitation, robotic machines are used both to rehabilitate the body and to perform functional tasks. Robotics autonomy that would enable perception of the external wor...
Functional Characteristics of the Stomach

This chapter discusses the functional characteristics of the stomach. Stomach is a much more complex organ than the esophagus, and it elaborates a number of exocrine and endocrine substances that figure in digestion, immune surveillance, and intestinal absorption. In recent years, histology has been fairly closely related to function and has provided a rather clear basis for the understanding of pathophysiology in numerous diseases involving the stomach. Microscopy reveals only three histologically distinctive portions of the stomach: (1) the cardia, (2) the oxyntic or acid-pepsin-secreting area, and (3) the antral or pyloric gland area from which gastrin is secreted. Mucosa of the cardia consists of a columnar epithelium folded into convoluted glands that secrete mucus. This area includes no more than 5% of the entire mucosal surface of the stomach. Among the important substances elaborated in different parts of the stomach, some are produced exclusively or nearly exclusively in the stomach while the remainder are formed in other organs as well. Those formed exclusively or preponderantly in the stomach are hydrochloric acid, intrinsic factor, pepsinogens and gastrin, and those formed elsewhere include mucus, immunoglobulin A, histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine—serotonin, 5-HT—and prostaglandins. Each has a part to play in health maintenance, disease pathophysiology, or both.
Tomorrow's Most Challenging Practice Issues: 21st Century Surprises

Sociological practice may differ in the foreseeable future more in kind than merely in degree, so great are the changes likely in social realities. Surprises can be expected from the widespread use of the Internet, the arrival of voice-activated/voice-responsive informatics equipment, the rewards of data warehousing and data mining, conversion to a cashless society, the employ of virtual reality options, and the extraordinary advent of personal Intelligent Agents. A case study of the informatics possibilities for organized labor is offered, to better illustrate ways in which sociological practitioners can help clients prepare for the Age of Informatics. Finally, those busy striving to upgrade practice are urged to emphasize preparation for surprises.
Aging and immune function

Since it is too difficult to study aging of the organism as a whole, most investigators try to focus on a specific physiological system that exhibits age-dependent functional changes, in the hopes that elucidation (in biochemical and developmental terms) of the mechanism of senescent change will provide insight into the aging process itself. The immune system is among the most maleable of such models, in that well-defined cell types will produce well-defined molecules with predictable functions in vitro and in vivo. The increasing power of basic immunological science should, in the next decade, permit an increasingly fine appreciation of how aging leads to immune decline. This expanding conceptual framework will then suggest new ideas about the role of immunosenescence in degenerative, infectious, and neoplastic illnesses and may also generate increasingly rational strategies for therapeutic intervention.
Testing a new component ratio method for predicting total tree aboveground and component biomass for widespread pine and hardwood species of eastern US

The US National Greenhouse Gas Inventory uses the component ratio method (CRM), a volume conversion approach that incorporates models for tree biomass components, for forest carbon assessments. However, the performance of the CRM relative to other methods, as well as influences on its accuracy and precision, must be evaluated. We constructed a data-driven CRM (n-CRM), used it to predict total tree and component biomass for six US tree species, and compared this approach to a reference allometric model. We also assessed the influence of size, crown dynamics, and stem growth on the performance of both methods. Results show that the n-CRM was more accurate for four species, resulting from the inclusion of more predictor variables. Both methods had high uncertainty, but the precision of n-CRM predictions was two to eight times higher for small diameter trees (<10 cm) across all species. Accuracy and precision of the crown component models (i.e. branches and foliage) was low, though better for pines than for hardwoods. Species-level analysis suggests that poor precision is influenced by crown traits and the size distribution of fitting datasets. Our results highlight needed improvements to the n-CRM, and motivate further development of data that facilitate predictive evaluation of biomass models.
Jet Quenching Parameter Via Soft Collinear Effective Theory (SCET)

United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics (contract DE-FG02-94ER40818)
Space traffic management in the new space era

Abstract Major changes are expected in the space environment due to the imminent launch of NewSpace (sometimes Space 2.0) systems, particularly large low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations that will change the space operations environment. This new activity could overwhelm current space flight safety processes. However, there are many encouraging signs that government, industry, and the space community are acting to address these issues although additional steps remain. These efforts are described, and some additional steps and issues that remain to be explored are discussed.
Chaucer and Langland: The Antagonistic Tradition

Although Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland together dominate fourteenth-century English literature, their respective masterpieces, "The Canterbury Tales" and "Piers Plowman", could not be more different. While Chaucer's writings suggest that he considered himself an heir, not a begetter, the notion of him as a father-figure standing at the head of a patrilineal literary tradition was formulated within a generation of his death. John Bowers asks how Chaucer, not Langland, was granted this position. His study becomes an examination of the political, social, and religious factors that contributed to the formation of a literary canon in fourteenth-century England.The earliest complete version of "Piers Plowman" predates Chaucer's text; Langland's poem was immediately influential and widely disseminated; it was read, quoted, copied, and imitated throughout the last decades of the fourteenth century. In contrast, there is very little evidence that Chaucer's works reached any sort of wide readership in his lifetime.Yet it was Chaucer, not Langland, who was elevated as a cultural and literary progenitor early in the century after his death. He was a court poet, and he was fortunate enough to have a series of literary heirs, notably Thomas Hoccleve and John Lydgate, who vigorously promoted him as England's foundational writer. Chaucer was also a kinsman of the new Lancastrian kings, who championed his "Canterbury Tales".Langland, on the other hand, despite his contemporary popularity, was a dissenter and social critic. Linked with the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, Langland's poem espoused a brand of religious reform associated with the heretical Lollard movements.Through extensive manuscript evidence, Bowers tracks the reputations of the two writers into the fifteenth century, when studies of fourteenth-century literature became more clearly configured in terms of a double, antagonistic dynamic. Never really separate, the two literary traditions constantly interacted, with the reputation of Chaucer the court poet eclipsing that of Langland the dissenter and critic. By examining the historical and social contexts within which these traditions arose, Bowers helps us to understand how some texts and writers become canonical and how others become marginalized.
Decay of Sr 85 and Sr 8 5 m

${\mathrm{Sr}}^{85}$ (65 day) decays by $K$-capture to an excited state of ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}$ of 513-kev energy. This state is found to have a half-life of (0.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2) \ensuremath{\mu}sec. It decays to the ground state of ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}$ by an $M2$ transition, identified by its internal conversion coefficient. ${\mathrm{Sr}}^{85m}$ (70 min) decays in three ways: 14 percent by $K$-capture to an excited state of ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85}$ of 150 kev, 84.7 percent by an $E3$ transition of 7.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1 kev followed by an $M1$ transition of 225 kev, and 1.3 percent by an $M4$ crossover transition of 232.5 kev. A decay scheme for ${\mathrm{Sr}}^{85}$, ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{85m}$, and ${\mathrm{Sr}}^{85m}$ consistent with shell theory and isomer systematics is given. The existence of large $\mathrm{ft}$ values for allowed $\ensuremath{\beta}$-transitions near closed shells is interpreted as due to a rearrangement of nucleons in the even-even core of an odd $A$ nucleus.
Effects of sexual harassment on advancement of women in academic medicine: A multi-institutional longitudinal study.

Abstract Background Sexual harassment of women in academic medicine may impede advancement and productivity. This study analyzes the longitudinal effects of sexual harassment on academic advancement and productivity among women. Methods We undertook a longitudinal analysis to predict effects of sexual harassment reported in 1995 on career outcomes measured in 2012–13, among a sample of women in academic medicine (N = 1273) recruited from 24 U.S. medical schools. Measures included survey data from 1995 on sexual harassment (predictor), and 2012–2013 data on retention in academic medicine, rank, leadership positions, and refereed publications (outcomes), captured from surveys and public records. We used multivariable models to test effects of sexual harassment on study outcomes, adjusting for socio-demographics, employment-related variables, and gender discrimination. Findings In 1995, 54% of women reported any workplace sexual harassment, and 32% of women reported severe harassment (e.g., threats or coercive sexual advances) in the workplace. Multivariable regression models showed no significant effects of sexual harassment. However, severe sexual harassment was associated with higher odds of attaining full professorship by 2012–2013 (AOR: 1·70; 95% CI 1·03, 2·80; p = 0·04). Interpretation Contrary to our hypothesis, women reporting severe workplace harassment in 1995 were more rather than less likely to advance to full professor. Women seeking advancement may be more vulnerable to sexual harassment in academic medicine vis a vis greater exposure to those who abuse their position of authority. Funding NIvH R01GM088470; Doris Duke Foundation 2016D007145; BMGF OPP1163682
Obesity and Child Cognitive Achievement

Growing rates of childhood obesity and its adverse health consequences have focused public attention on identifying the causes of and solutions to the obesity problem. While the health consequences of obesity are serious, obesity may also adversely affect other dimensions of child well-being that have long-term consequences. Specifically, obesity may reduce educational achievement. There is a large literature on the stigma and discrimination associated with obesity and these social consequences may adversely affect educational achievement because of peer and teacher actions. Discriminatory behavior towards obese children may also bring on depression and cause children to adopt coping mechanisms that further harm educational achievement. Moreover, obesity may directly reduce cognitive achievement because of physiological consequences (energy and sleep reductions) of obesity. Little research has investigated this potentially important consequence of obesity. The purpose of this research is to address this shortfall of knowledge and to provide evidence on the effect of obesity on child educational achievement.
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Relapsed and Refractory Philadelphia Negative B Cell ALL in the Era of Novel Salvage Therapies.

ABSTRACT Introduction of novel salvage therapies and expansion of the donor pool within the past decade have allowed more patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) to receive allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). The impact of each salvage therapy on transplant outcomes have not been compared. Our primary objective was to determine post-HCT relapse-free survival (RFS) in adult patients with r/r Philadelphia-chromosome negative (Phneg) B-ALL. We retrospectively studied alloHCT outcomes in 108 adult patients with r/r Phneg B-ALL transplanted in morphological remission achieved by salvage therapy. Salvage therapies were chemotherapy-based combination (n = 45, 42%), blinatumomab (n=43, 40%), inotuzumab (n = 14, 13%), or CAR T cells (n = 6, 6%). The 2-year RFS and overall survival (OS) were 44% and 50%, respectively. In multivariable analysis, conditioning with reduced-intensity or non-myeloablative regimens (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.23, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-3.80; P = .003), having received ≥3 lines of therapies prior to transplant (HR = 2.66, 95% CI, 1.56-4.54; P
A Distributed Software Correlator at the Rapid Prototyping Array

The Rapid Prototyping Array (RPA) is a toy radio telescope located 30 miles from U. C. Berkeley in Lafayette, CA. It serves primarily as a software development test bed for the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). We have developed a minimally functional prototype of the ATA control system founded on C++, Java, and a CORBA-based distributed architecture. The system controls RPA pointing, electronics, and data processing, culminating in a real-time software correlator (i.e. an imaging system). This system has helped us characterize our preliminary design of the ATA control system. Overall, the distributed architecture provided successful, versatile control supporting a wide range of experiments from satellite tracking to beam characterization to celestial observation. However, some weaknesses in the CORBA communications layer were identified, and the synergies of mixing C++ and Java were balanced by paradigm mismatch between the languages. We learned that Java was as fast as C++ and supported more ready-made libraries. Based on these experiences, we changed our design to eliminate CORBA and build a pure Java system at the ATA, which is now under development.
Toward a Single European Sky

To meet rising traffic projections over the next 20 years, Eurocontrol must develop Europe's first uniform air traffic control standards. This case illustrates the usefulness of management science methods for obtaining agreement and commitment among stakeholders. Excerpt UVA-QA-0736 March 26, 2010 Toward a Single European Sky On the journey toward an integrated air traffic management system in Europe by 2020, the key date was January 24, 2007. On that day, the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program held a stakeholder forum in Geneva to encourage the entire air transport community to commit to performance targets for future European air traffic management (ATM) systems. For the first time in European air traffic management history, the SESAR consortium brought together all major stakeholders in European aviation, including airspace users, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airport operators, safety regulators, military organizations, and research centers. In all, the forum comprised 76 people representing 30 stakeholder groups. Eurocontrol The primary objective of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic management (ATM) organization, was the development of a seamless, pan-European ATM system. Eurocontrol developed, coordinated, and planned the implementation of European ATM strategies and their associated operational plans in collaboration with national authorities, air navigation service providers (ANSP), civil and military airspace users, airports, manufacturers, professional organizations, and relevant European institutions. Eurocontrol's core activities spanned the entire range of gate-to-gate air navigation service operations, from strategic and tactical-flow management to controller training, from regional control of airspace to the development of leading-edge technologies and procedures. In 2007, Eurocontrol had 38 member states and was headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The agency had approximately 2,400 staff located in seven European countries and reported to the transport and defense ministers in the European Commission. . . .
The Cultural Origin of CEOs’ Attitudes toward Uncertainty: Evidence from Corporate Acquisitions

We examine the role of cultural heritage in shaping U.S. CEOs’ attitudes toward uncertainty, in the context of their corporate acquisition decisions. We find that CEOs with a more uncertainty-avoiding cultural heritage are less likely to engage in acquisitions. Conditional on making an acquisition, uncertainty-averse CEOs prefer targets in familiar industries and targets that can be more easily integrated. The emphasis on cultural identity by CEOs’ parents and the ethnic composition of CEOs’ early life environment significantly influence the cultural transmission process. Cultural differences about uncertainty attitudes persist over multiple generations, but become less pronounced over time. (JEL G34, G4, G40, G41)
Coral microbiome changes over the day–night cycle

Coral-associated microbiomes play important roles in host health and metabolism. It is therefore critical to understand the factors that shape microbiome taxonomic composition and function. Little is known about the stability of coral microbiomes over hourly fluctuations in environmental conditions. For parameters such as temperature and pH, the magnitude of day–night fluctuations can exceed those observed in mean values over seasons, especially on shallow reefs. Such short-term heterogeneity can affect longer term trends, possibly by influencing the extent to which corals acclimate to stress and increase resilience. This study examined diel dynamics of microbiomes (Bacteria and Archaea) in three species of stony coral (Porites lutea, Porites cylindrica, and Pocillopora damicornis) from a shallow reef in Mo’orea (French Polynesia). We assessed microbiome composition and relative transcriptional activity by analyzing 16S rRNA gene and transcript sequences from six timepoints over 48 h for each species. Both the composition and transcription of microbiome members changed significantly over the diel cycle. Most changes did not exhibit clear diel periodicity but were instead stochastic, a pattern potentially influenced also by microspatial variation within a coral colony. However, a subset of taxa, notably the dinoflagellate-associated bacterium Porticoccus and bacteria of the ubiquitous coral-associated Endozoicomonas genus, exhibited cyclic changes in relative frequency over the 2 d sampling period in the DNA dataset of Porites lutea. These patterns raise the possibility that ecological functions of the microbiome may vary substantially over hourly timescales, notably between day and night. Further studies are needed to compare temporal change in the coral microbiome with that due to other factors, such as spatial distance within and among colonies.
State budget balancing strategies: COVID-19 and the Great Recession

Abstract This research compares state budget balancing strategies taken during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Recession of 2007?2009. Distinguishing features of the two crises, as well as differences among the states, lead them to engage such strategies in similar and dissimilar ways. Federal aid during both fiscal disasters is also distinctive. During the Great Recession, federal stimulus funds to states supported budget balancing efforts. In contrast, until the COVID-19 relief bill of March 2021, federal assistance was primarily funneled directly to individuals and businesses and for pandemic-specific spending. This left states on their own to close budget gaps fueled by COVID-19.
Renewable Energy Basics

This chapter explores the basics of power, energy, their units, fossil fuels vs. renewable energy, and provides a short introduction to the various renewable energy technologies available today. The chapter concludes with a case study on some nations that have achieved or are very close to achieving a 100% renewable energy-powered energy profile, which means that they derive most of their energy from renewable energy sources.
Exponential tightness of a family of Skorohod integrals.

Exponential tightness of a family of Skorohod integrals is studied in this paper. We first provide a counterexample to illustrate that in general the exponential tightness with speed $\epsilon$ similar to Ito integral does not hold, even for any speed $\epsilon^\alpha$ with $\alpha > 0$. Then, some characterizations of this subject are given. Application is also provided to illustrate the proposed results.
Toxic effects of a chlorothiazide-diazoxide combination on adipose tissue and kidneys of intact rats.

In order to explore effects of chlorothiazide (CTZ) and diazoxide (DZX) on rat adipose tissue, as being possibly related to previously reported hyperglycaemia in man, intact rats fedad lib were given daily injections of CTZ (200 mg/kg), DZX (50 mg/kg), or both for 14 days. They were then killed and their fat pads were incubated in buffer with and without insulin (250 μ units/ml). DZX (but not CTZ) and the combination significantly decreased baseline glucose oxidation and incorporation into lipids; response to insulin was significantly impaired by either drug alone and especially by the CTZ-DZX combination. An unexpected effect of the drug combination was severe renal disease with azotaemia and death as early as the fourth day. Histologically, the primary change seemed to be epithelial hyperplasia in the collecting tubules suggestive of the effect of potassium depletion. This in turn produced tubular obstruction with proximal dilatation and focal, acute, interstitial inflammation in both cortex and medulla.