cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Materials Issues in the Application of Ferromagnetic Films in Tunable High Q VHF/UHF Devices

Thin ferromagnetic films have narrow ferromagnetic resonance bandwidths, and large RF permeabilities that are attractive for tunable high Q device applications. They can also be processed at low temperatures and integrated with most RF and microwave materials. At VHF/UHF frequencies, where discrete devices can be realized, magnetic loss tangents (Q−1) less than 10−3 can be obtained, if the effects of spin resonance and eddy current losses are reduced. The material figure of merit requires a tradeoff of the permeability, and Q. The highest FOM is obtained by maximizing the magnetization, anisotropy, resistivity, and minimizing the magnetic loss. This paper discusses the interplay of these properties, and the fill factor and magnetic bias required for tunable inductors with Q>1000 in the ~50-500 MHz range. The most promising candidates for these applications are shown to be reactively sputtered nanocrystalline films. The large resistivity, magnetization, and thickness of these films can be used to attain large film permeances, and increased shape anisotropy fields from patterned film objects. The latter eliminates the need for using a large bias magnet to achieve Q’s ~1000 at VHF/UHF operating frequencies.
Adhesive functions of platelets lacking glycoprotein IV (CD36)

Glycoprotein IV (GPIV; CD36 or GPIIIb) is a cell surface glycoprotein that has been proposed as mediating a number of physiologically important processes such as the adhesion of platelets to thrombospondin (TSP) and collagen, the cytoadherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes, and the TSP-dependent interaction of monocytes with platelets and macrophages. Because platelets of the Naka-negative phenotype have recently been shown to lack detectable GPIV, their availability offered the opportunity to test directly these hypotheses regarding its adhesive functions. It has been found that Naka-negative platelets and monocytes do not support cytoadherence of P falciparum- infected erythrocytes. Naka-negative platelets are deficient in the initial stages of their adhesion to fibrillar collagen and this defect is most marked under Mg(2+)-free conditions. Finally, the ability of Naka-negative platelets to bind TSP before or after activation is unimpaired as compared with normal controls. These results do not support a role for GPIV as the TSP receptor.
Role of medulla oblongata in generation of sympathetic and vagal outflows.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the present understanding of the medullary circuits that regulate the vasomotor sympathetic outflow and cardiovagal tone. It illustrates some of the recent progress in this area of integrative neurophysiology. Most concepts are based on the results of experimentation conducted under anesthesia but several components of the circuits have also been validated by neurophysiological work in unanesthetized preparations and by studies in behaving animals based on c-fos protooncogene expression. These medullary networks may be viewed from a reductionist perspective as embedded within a hierarchy of control systems that include higher centers involved in emotional behavior. Vast areas of uncertainty remain and competing theories are mentioned. A yet unknown fraction of spinal preganglionic neurons involved in vasomotor control may receive direct inputs from structures rostra1 to the medulla; however, individual components of the medullary circuits is described in this chapter are almost certainly recruited by supramedullary structures to generate the hemodynamic patterns characteristic of specific emotions.
Role of intracellular calcium in volume regulation by rabbit medullary thick ascending limb cells.

Previous studies demonstrated that Ca2(+)-activated K+ channels in luminal membrane of rabbit medullary thick ascending limb cells (MTAL) are activated on exposure of the cells to hyposmotic solutions [J. Taniguchi and W. B. Guggino. Am. J. Physiol. 257 (Renal Fluid Electrolyte Physiol. 26): F347-F352, 1989]. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of activation of Ca2(+)-activated K+ channels in MTAL cells exposed to hyposmotic solutions. MTAL cells swell in hyposmotic medium and regulate volume back toward the starting volume. This regulatory volume decrease (RVD) is inhibited at high medium K+ concentrations or by presence of quinine or Ba2+ in extracellular medium, suggesting involvement of K+ channels. Measurements of intracellular Ca2+ concentrations with fura-2 show that intracellular Ca2+ rises in hyposmotic solutions and that this rise does not occur in absence of extracellular Ca2+. Nifedipine and verapamil also inhibit rise in intracellular Ca2+. Decreasing intracellular Ca2+ by removal of...
Reply to: Terry, J. and Goff, J. comment on “Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls” by Toomey et al. (2016), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 4 51: 73–83.

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 469 (2017): 159-160, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.028.
15kV/40A FREEDM super-cascode: A cost effective SiC high voltage and high frequency power switch

High voltage wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices like the 15kV SiC MOSFET have attracted great attentions because of its potential applications in high voltage and high frequency power converters. However, these devices are not commercially available at the moment and their high cost due to expensive material growth and fabrication may limit their widespread adoption in the future. In this paper, a 15kV/40A three terminal power switch, the FREEDM Super-Cascode, is reported for the first time which is based on series connection of 1.2kV SiC power devices. The design and operation principle of the FREEDM Super-Cascode are introduced and the performance including the static blocking capability, conduction characteristics over a wide range of temperatures, and dynamic switching performances are analyzed. In addition, the thermal resistance of the FREEDM Super-Cascode is measured and the power dissipation capability is projected. The FREEDM Super-Cascode costs only one third of the estimated high voltage SiC MOSFETs, and will facilitate early applications of SiC in very high voltage and high frequency power converters.
Robust eco-cooperative adaptive cruise control with gear shifting

This research proposes a real-time implementable robust eco-cooperative adaptive cruise control (Eco-CACC) strategy with the consideration of gear shift. Vehicle acceleration is optimized in real-time to vary the vehicle power demand to improve the fuel efficiency. The effects of different gear ratios on the fuel consumption rate are explicitly considered during the optimization process. A robust optimization method is adopted to ensure the controller performance under traffic prediction uncertainties. Using this approach, the optimal solution is guaranteed to provide fuel savings and satisfy constraints at the same time for any actual traffic profile within the uncertainty set. The optimal control problem is discretized and solved using a nonlinear programming (NLP) solver for an 8-vehicle platoon scenario. The results show that the proposed controller can achieve 23.5% fuel saving with perfect traffic prediction, and 16.6% fuel saving with prediction uncertainties.
First Occurrence for the Dual Pairs U(p, q), U(r, s)

We prove a conjecture of Kudla and Rallis about the first occurrence in the theta correspondence, for dual pairs of the form U(p, q), U(r, s) � and most representations.
Role of Speaker Cues in Attention Inference

Current state-of-the-art approaches to emotion recognition primarily focus on modeling the nonverbal expressions of the sole individual without reference to contextual elements like the co-presence of the partner. In this paper, we demonstrate that the accurate inference of listeners' social-emotional state of attention depends on also accounting for the nonverbal behaviors of their storytelling partner, namely their speaker cues. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of speaker cues in attention inference, we conduct investigations into real world interactions of children storytelling with their peers. Through in-depth analysis of human-human interaction data, we first identify nonverbal speaker cues (i.e., backchannel-inviting cues) and listener responses (i.e., backchannel feedback) to later demonstrate how speaker cues can modify the interpretation of attention-related backchannels as well as serve as a means to regulate the responsiveness of listeners. We then discuss the design implications of our findings toward our primary goal of developing attention recognition models for storytelling robots. Social robots can use speaker cues to form more accurate inferences about the attentive state of their human partner.
Rationing and Price as Methods of Restricting Demand for Specific Products

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses alternative ways of allocating a scarce commodity and presents a theoretically efficient and administratively manageable method of distributing them, which would generally be regarded as equitable. Economists believe that where excess demand or supply develops at a going price in a competitive market, a new price will reestablish market equilibrium by its influence on both the amounts demanded and the amounts supplied. The lay public apparently recognizes and accepts only the role of price in inducing supply and not its role in limiting demand. A deliberate policy of raising prices to consumers for the purpose of reducing purchases, even if the proceeds of the increase do not accrue to the seller, meets positive resistance and often elicits a demand for rationing. The objection usually made to raising the price to consumers is that price increases are inequitable. The prevalence of this objection to price increases is anomalous in a society that, in general, acquiesces in the use of prices to allocate most of the goods and services that the economy produces.
The Emergence of a Discipline: Ornithology 1820–1850

European society was fundamentally altered by the combined impact of social and economic revolutions in the late eighteenth century. By 1830 the effect of the ramifications of these two movements was evident. E. J. Hobsbawm wrote that: Whichever aspect of social life we survey, 1830 marks a turning-point in it… in the history of human migrations, social and geographical, in that of the arts and or ideology, it appears with equal prominence.1
High-Magnetic-Field Behavior of the Nuclear Spin Pressure of Solid 3He

Much of the low-temperature behavior, particularly the ordering of the nuclear spins, in solid 3He is determined by a sizable exchange energy J. Hence solid 3He provides a unique system for studying the exchange energy and associated nuclear spin ordering effects. In order to gain more information about the nature of the exchange interaction and to make comparisons between theory and experiments, one has two options. The measurements can be extended down to the critical region T c ≃ 3|J|/k ≃ 2 m°K, or one can, as suggested by Goldstein,1 make measurements on the solid in the presence of strong magnetic fields at temperatures somewhat higher than T c . The latter situation is in some ways more tractable experimentally.
Towards Structural Monitoring and 3D Documentation of Architectural Heritage Using UAV

This paper describes how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may support the architectural heritage preservation and dissemination. In detail, this work deals with the long-term monitoring of the crack pattern of historic structures, and with the reconstruction of interactive 3D scene in order to provide both the scholar and the general public with a simple and engaging tool to analyze or visit the historic structure.
Exposure to bisphenol A, chlorophenols, benzophenones, and parabens in relation to reproductive hormones in healthy women: A chemical mixture approach

Abstract Background Little is known about the associations of bisphenol A, chlorophenols, benzophenones, and parabens with reproductive hormone levels in women. Our goal was to evaluate the associations between repeated measures of these chemicals and their mixtures with reproductive hormones in women. Methods Longitudinal urine samples from healthy, premenopausal women (n = 143 with 3–5 urine samples each) were measured for bisphenol A, five chlorophenols (2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,5-dichlorophenol, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, triclosan), two ultraviolet (UV) filters (benzophenone-1, benzophenone-3), and eight parabens and their metabolites (benzyl, butyl, ethyl, heptyl, methyl, propyl, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HB), 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHB)) over two menstrual cycles. Estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured in blood up to 8 times each menstrual cycle. Linear mixed models were used for both single and multi-chemical exposures estimated using principal component analysis. Four factors were identified including: paraben; paraben metabolites and BPA, phenols, and UV filters. Models were adjusted for creatinine, age, race, and body mass index and weighted with inverse probability of exposure weights to account for time varying confounding. Results In single-chemical models, 3,4-DHB was associated with estradiol (0.06 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.001, 0.12)), 2-4-DCP with increased progesterone 0.14 (0.06, 0.21) and decreased FSH −0.08 (−0.11, −0.04), and 4-HB was associated with increased FSH 0.07 (0.01, 0.13). In multi-chemical models, all factors were associated with increased progesterone (beta coefficient range: 0.15 for UV filter factor to 0.32 for paraben factor). The paraben factor and the paraben metabolite and BPA factor were associated with increased estradiol [0.21 (0.15, 0.28); 0.12 (0.07, 0.18)]. The phenol and UV filter factors were associated with decreased estradiol, FSH, and LH. The UV filter factor showed the strongest inverse association with estradiol −0.16 (−0.22, −0.10), FSH −0.12 (−0.17, −0.07), and LH −0.17 (−0.23, −0.10). Conclusion Mixtures of phenols were associated with changes in reproductive hormones. Such changes could contribute to adverse health in women but additional research is necessary.
Abstract 4306: JunD-induced cell proliferation requires MYC signaling in prostate cancer cells

JunD, a member of the AP-1 transcription factor family, is involved in a variety of biological processes including cell proliferation, inflammation, differentiation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis. We previously showed that JunD is essential for cell proliferation and demonstrated that the knock-down (KD) of JunD in PCa cells resulted in cell cycle arrest in G1-phase concomitant with a decrease in the levels of Id1, c-MYC, and Ki67, but an increased in p21 protein levels. Furthermore, the over-expression of JunD significantly increased proliferation in these cells suggesting that JunD regulates the expression of genes which are required for cell cycle progression. In this present study, employing gene expression profiling, quantitative proteomics, and validation approaches, we demonstrated that JunD KD is associated with distinct gene and protein expression patterns. Comparison integrative analysis by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) identified 1) cell cycle control/regulation as the top canonical pathway whose members exhibited a significant decrease in their expression following JunD KD including PRDX3, PEA15, KIF2C, and CDK2, and 2) JunD target genes are involved in cell proliferation, with MYC as the key downstream regulator. Conversely, JunD over-expression induced cell proliferation and the expression of the above JunD target genes including c-MYC. When treated with JQ1, a c-MYC inhibitor, these cells exhibited a significant reduction in cell proliferation and a decrease in JunD target genes. Our data suggest that JunD-mediated cell proliferation involves MYC signaling and inhibiting its target genes may be an effective approach to blocking prostate carcinogenesis Citation Format: Bethtrice Thompson (Elliott), Ana Cecilia Millena, Lilya Matyunina, Mengnan Zhang, Jin Zou, Guangdi Wang, Qiang Zhang, Nathan Bowen, Vanessa Eaton, Gabrielle Webb, Shadyra Thompson, John McDonald, Shafiq Khan. JunD-induced cell proliferation requires MYC signaling in prostate cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4306.
Interpreting: for whom, and why?: The Perils of Metapsychology

I applaud the Journal’s decision to publish this translation of the classic paper by Michel de M'Uzan, Interpreter, Pour Qui, Pourquoi? (Interpreting: For Whom, and Why?) and appreciate the opportu...
Sensor and Actuator Placement for Large-Scale Systems: A Projection-Based Formulation

The problem of sensor and actuator placement aims at achieving near-optimal control performance with only a small number of sensors or actuators. In this paper we present a new formulation and design for the problem of sensor and actuator placement as a structural-constrained $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ optimization. The structural constraint is defined by two projections which indicate the placement of sensors and actuators respectively. The advantage of this formulation is that the associated structural constraint always satisfies quadratic invariance condition, and allows convex reformulation for the constrained $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ optimization in model matching form. We provide an optimality gap between the constrained $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ problem with selected sensors and actuators and the unconstrained $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ problem with full feedback, and subsequently propose the minimization problem to tighten the gap. The overall computational complexity for our proposed design is shown to be $\mathcal{O}(n^{3})$ , which can be very scalable for large-scale applications. We illustrate our design with simulations of a IEEE prototype power system model.
Jugaad Thinking: Contextualized Innovative Thinking in India Through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education?

This chapter briefly explicates the cultural, social, and historical ideas related to the term Jugaad in Indian society and its integration with contemporary innovation conversations. A distinction is made between Jugaad Solutions and Jugaad thinking in the context of business and technological innovations. The author argues for integrating Jugaad thinking within formal education, specially in the STEM learning experiences of K-16 students in India, since Jugaad conversations are an integral part of living (and being) in Indian Society. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education provides affordances to integrate Jugaad thinking and may contribute to the existing cultural and social capital of school-age children. The chapter highlights implicit ideas underlying Jugaad thinking and interfaces them with the practices of science. Overlapping ideas such as creativity, innovation, and imaginative ways of thinking between Jugaad thinking and scientific practices are highlighted. Finally, the author discusses alternative and inclusive spaces for STEM learning in order to integrate Jugaad thinking into STEM education.
From Unstructured Text to TextCube: Automated Construction and Multidimensional Exploration

The real-world big data are largely unstructured, interconnected, and dynamic, in the form of natural language text. It is highly desirable to transform such massive unstructured data into structured knowledge. Many researchers rely on labor-intensive labeling and curation to extract knowledge from such data, which may not be scalable, especially considering that a lot of text corpora are highly dynamic and domain specific. We believe that massive text data itself may disclose a large body of hidden patterns, structures, and knowledge. With domain-independent and domain-dependent knowledge bases, we propose to explore the power of massive data itself for turning unstructured data into structured knowledge. By organizing massive text documents into multidimensional text cubes, we show structured knowledge can be extracted and used effectively. In this talk, we introduce a set of methods developed recently in our group for such an exploration, including mining quality phrases, entity recognition and typing, multi-faceted taxonomy construction, and construction and exploration of multi-dimensional text cubes. We show that data-driven approach could be a promising direction at transforming massive text data into structured knowledge.
Examining six modes of relationships in a social-mediated crisis in China: an exploratory study of contingent organization–public relationships (COPR)

ABSTRACTThe relationship management theory and contingency theory of conflict management, as two dominant approaches in the field of public relations, bolstered by a tapestry of literature from cro...
The Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion Positively Impacted Community Health Centers and Their Patients.

Community health centers (CHCs) provide primary care for underserved children and adults. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to strengthen the CHC network by increasing federal funds and expanding Medicaid eligibility. The ACA also aimed to boost preventive and mental health services and to reduce health and healthcare disparities. Here, we summarize our results to-date as experts in investigating the impact of ACA Medicaid expansion on CHCs and the patients they serve. We found the ACA Medicaid expansion increased access to care and preventive services, primarily in Medicaid expansion states. Rates of physical and mental health conditions rose substantially from pre- to post-ACA in expansion states, suggesting underdiagnosis pre-ACA. Disparities in health insurance coverage by race/ethnicity decreased at CHCs, yet some remain. These findings indicate that the ACA Medicaid expansion significantly helped CHCs and patients. Insurance expansion buoyed CHCs’ financial viability by increasing reimbursement. Therefore, the ACA Medicaid expansion enhanced the health of underserved patients and repeal would jeopardize these advances for CHCs and their patients.
Click-level Learning Analytics in an Online Medical Education Learning Platform

Learning in digital environments allows the collection of inexpensive, fine-grained process data across a large population of learners. Intentional design of the data collection can enable iterativ...
Beyond Six Feet: A Guideline to Limit Indoor Airborne Transmission of COVID-19

The current revival of the world’s economy is being predicated on social distancing, specifically the Six-Foot Rule, a guideline that offers little protection from pathogen-bearing aerosol droplets sufficiently small to be continuously mixed through an indoor space. The importance of airborne transmission of COVID-19 is now widely recognized. While tools for risk assessment have recently been developed, no safety guideline has been proposed to protect against it. We here build upon models of airborne disease transmission in order to derive an indoor safety guideline that would impose an upper bound on the “cumulative exposure time”, the product of the number of occupants and their time in an enclosed space. We demonstrate how this bound depends on the rates of ventilation and air filtration, dimensions of the room, breathing rate, respiratory activity and face-mask use of its occupants, and infectiousness of the respiratory aerosols. By synthesizing available data from the best characterized indoor spreading events with respiratory drop-size distributions, we estimate an infectious dose on the order of ten aerosol-borne virions. The new virus is thus inferred to be an order of magnitude more infectious than its forerunner, (SARS-CoV), consistent with the pandemic status achieved by COVID-19. Case studies are presented for classrooms and nursing homes, and a spreadsheet and online app are provided to facilitate use of our guideline. Implications for contact tracing and quarantining are considered, appropriate caveats enumerated. Particular consideration is given to respiratory jets, that may substantially elevate risk when face masks are not worn.
Reply to Letter to the Editor: Elevated Liver Biochemistries in Hospitalized Chinese Patients With Severe COVID-19: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

We appreciate Gao et al. for their interest in our recent manuscript on the association between elevated liver biochemistries and severe COVID-19 infection. We would like to address their comments to further elucidate the interpretation of our findings.
Biomarkers and outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalisations: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective To evaluate association between biomarkers and outcomes in COVID-19 hospitalised patients. COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge. Biomarkers have always played an important role in clinical decision making in various infectious diseases. It is crucial to assess the role of biomarkers in evaluating severity of disease and appropriate allocation of resources. Design and setting Systematic review and meta-analysis. English full text observational studies describing the laboratory findings and outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalised patients were identified searching PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, medRxiv using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms COVID-19 OR coronavirus OR SARS-CoV-2 OR 2019-nCoV from 1 December 2019 to 15 August 2020 following Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. Participants Studies having biomarkers, including lymphocyte, platelets, D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C reactive protein (CRP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine, procalcitonin (PCT) and creatine kinase (CK), and describing outcomes were selected with the consensus of three independent reviewers. Main outcome measures Composite poor outcomes include intensive care unit admission, oxygen saturation Results 32 studies with 10 491 confirmed COVID-19 patients were included. We found that lymphopenia (pooled-OR: 3.33 (95% CI: 2.51–4.41); p Conclusion Our study found a significant association between lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia and elevated levels of CRP, PCT, LDH, D-dimer and COVID-19 severity. The results have the potential to be used as an early biomarker to improve the management of COVID-19 patients, by identification of high-risk patients and appropriate allocation of healthcare resources in the pandemic.
Graph coloring with decision diagrams

We introduce an iterative framework for solving graph coloring problems using decision diagrams. The decision diagram compactly represents all possible color classes, some of which may contain edge conflicts. In each iteration, we use a constrained minimum network flow model to compute a lower bound and identify conflicts. Infeasible color classes associated with these conflicts are removed by refining the decision diagram. We prove that in the best case, our approach may use exponentially smaller diagrams than exact diagrams for proving optimality. We also develop a primal heuristic based on the decision diagram to find a feasible solution at each iteration. We provide an experimental evaluation on all 137 DIMACS graph coloring instances. Our procedure can solve 52 instances optimally, of which 44 are solved within 1 minute. We also compare our method to a state-of-the-art graph coloring solver based on branch-and-price, and show that we obtain competitive results. Lastly, we report an improved lower bound for the open instance C2000.9.
A Possible Scriptural Precedent for Paul’s Teaching on Divorce (and Remarriage?) in 1 Corinthians 7:10-15

This paper argues that in the same way Jesus’ and the Pharisees’ positions on divorce were rooted in the Torah, so, too, Paul, a man steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures, may have been influenced by the Torah when formulating his own teaching on a believer’s freedom to remarry when abandoned by an unbelieving spouse. Here it is argued that Paul may have drawn upon the marital life of Moses, who appears to have remarried a Cushite woman after being abandoned by his wife Zipporah due to his Abrahamic faith.
Vacuum structure of periodic QED in 2+1 dimensions

We present a numerical analysis of the vacuum structure of periodic QED in 2+1 dimensions. We use a Hartree-Fock ansatz of a bilinear Gaussian wave functional on which we impose the conditions of gauge invariance and compactness. This ansatz has the correct structure in the weak-coupling limit and can be solved by employing a dilute-gas expansion. A numerical investigation substantiates the result of an exponentially increasing dynamical mass but deviates in detail from the analytic approximation. Using a Monte Carlo program we obtain agreement with the dilute-gas approximation for weak coupling, exhibit the behavior for strong coupling, and establish the viability of this form of analysis.
Rural Veterans and Access to High‐Quality Care for High‐Risk Surgeries

Many veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) also obtain health care from non-VA providers (Wright et al. 1997, 1999; Weeks et al. 2005a, 2002, 2003, 2006), particularly if they live far from VA care (Lahiri and Xing 2004; Hynes et al. 2007) or have alternative health care insurance, such as Medicare (Veterans’ Health Care 1994; Shen et al. 2005). Since the VA's reorganization a decade ago, its high-technology and high-cost specialty services now are provided through regional referral centers, usually located in metropolitan areas. Rural patients often must travel much farther than urban patients to access this care, and therefore rely on it less (Burgess and DeFiore 1994; Mooney et al. 2000; Weeks et al. 2005a; Weeks, Mahar, and Wright 2005b; Wallace et al. 2007); on the other hand, rural residents often have less access to high-quality non-VA care, as well (Heady 2007). Most VA patients 65 years or older also are enrolled in Medicare (Fisher and Welch 1995; Hynes et al. 2007), and their reliance on Medicare over VA hospitals has grown with time (Wright et al. 1999; Shen et al. 2005); their use of Medicare hospitalizations is at least two to three times higher than their VA utilization (Weeks et al. 2003, 2006; Hynes et al. 2007). Recently, we found (Weeks et al. 2007) that elderly VA enrollees who received any of 14 high-risk surgeries were about six times more likely to obtain them in non-VA hospitals, under Medicare, than in the VA. The non-VA hospitals performing these surgeries varied widely on historical volumes and mortality rates, and if those veterans who went to lower performance hospitals had gone instead to high-performance hospitals, 376–584 deaths in a 2-year period might have been avoided, with minimal additional travel burden. We found, however, no evidence that past performance determined the hospitals chosen for these high-risk surgeries. Here, we report additional analyses to assess whether rural VA enrollees are at a disadvantage in obtaining this care because of greater travel burden, limited choice, or lack of knowledge about hospital quality, which may lead to obtaining high-risk surgeries in hospitals with higher mortality rates.
Tagscape: navigating the tag landscape

Recent years have seen an explosion in online collaborative tagging, the most prevalent visualization of which are tag clouds. Despite their popularity, tag clouds suffer from limitations of separation from tagged items, lack of relational information between tags and a less-than-fully interactive experience. In this paper we introduce Tagscape, a tag system interface that attempts to address these issues. Tagscape uses a magnet analogy to represent relationships between tags and tagged items as attractions and repulsions. Preliminary informal evaluations of the interface were positive and revealed avenues for future work.
The neutral-pion decay and the gamma radiation from our galaxy

Neutral pion decay and galactic gamma radiation from demodulated cosmic ray spectrum, discussing neutral pion meson production
Will Workers Have a Voice in China's "Socialist Market Economy"? The Curious Revival of the Workers Congress System

China -- like most of the developed world, and unlike the U.S. -- maintains officially sanctioned institutions beyond the trade unions through which workers are represented within the workplace. The Staff and Worker Representative Congresses (SWRCs) were meant to enable workers to exercise their authority as “masters of the enterprise” in the planned economy. With the liberalization and opening of China's economy, the SWRCs’ role was radically curtailed in the “corporatized” state sector, and largely absent in the growing non-state sector. More recently, however, the SWRCs appear to be experiencing a modest revival. Following the organization of official trade union chapters in the larger private, and especially foreign, enterprises, policymakers have begun to press for the introduction of SWRCs into those enterprises as well. The move might prove to be little more than symbolic; for now at least, China's SWRCs are generally seen as feeble and ineffectual. But change may be in the air. This article briefly traces the evolution of the SWRCs, and highlights some key features, partly by comparison to German works councils. Whether the SWRCs will become meaningful vehicles of worker participation depends on future developments in China's employment laws, in the trade unions, and in the posture of the state toward workplace conflict. But it is worth asking now what the apparent revival of the SWRCs might tell us about the emerging shape of the “socialist market economy.” The SWRCs might be seen as helping to resolve labor-management conflict within the enterprise, to contain worker activism within official channels; and to improve regulatory compliance. More broadly, the SWRCs might be intended to give workers and the state a larger role in enterprise governance. Having first “corporatized” the enterprises of the planned economy to resemble the capitalist enterprises of the world’s developed market economies, some in China might now aim to “socialize” those capitalist enterprises to a degree that is worth watching.
Achieving Invisibility of Homogeneous Radially Anisotropic Cylinders by Effective Medium Theory

In this paper, we establish the full-wave electromagnetic scattering theory to study the electromagnetic scattering from infinitely long cylinders with radially anisotropic coatings. We show that the total effective scattering width can be dramatically reduced by the suitable adjustment of the dielectric anisotropy of the shell, while it is not the case for tuning the dielectric anisotropy of the core. Furthermore, we could make the cylindrical objects invisible when both dielectric and magnetic anisotropies are adjusted. In the long wavelength limit, we develop effective medium theory to derive the effective isotropic permittivity and permeability for the anisotropic coated cylinders, and the invisibility radius ratio derived from the full-wave theory for small coated cylinders can be well described within the effective medium theory.
Novae as Tevatrons: prospects for CTA and IceCube

The discovery of novae as sources of ~GeV gamma-rays highlights the key role of shocks and relativistic particle acceleration in these transient systems. Although there is evidence for a spectral cut-off above energies ~1-100 GeV at particular epochs in some novae, the maximum particle energy achieved in these accelerators has remained an open question. The high densities of the nova ejecta (~10 orders of magnitude larger than in supernova remnants) render the gas far upstream of the shock neutral and shielded from ionizing radiation. The amplification of the magnetic field needed for diffusive shock acceleration requires ionized gas, thus confining the acceleration process to a narrow photo-ionized layer immediately ahead of the shock. Based on the growth rate in this layer of the hybrid non-resonant cosmic ray current-driven instability (considering also ion-neutral damping), we quantify the maximum particle energy, Emax, across the range of shock velocities and upstream densities of interest. We find values of Emax ~ 10 GeV - 10 TeV, which are broadly consistent with the inferred spectral cut-offs, but which could also in principle lead to emission extending to higher energies >100 GeV accessible to atmosphere Cherenkov telescopes, such as the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Detecting TeV neutrinos with IceCube in hadronic scenarios appears to be more challenging, although the prospects are improved if the shock power during the earliest, densest phases of the nova outburst is higher than is implied by the observed GeV light curves, due to downscattering of the gamma-rays by electrons within the ejecta. Novae provide ideal nearby laboratories to study magnetic field amplification and the onset of cosmic ray acceleration, because other time-dependent sources (e.g. radio supernovae) typically occur too distant to detect as gamma-ray sources.
Dilute acid pretreatment and fermentation of sugar beet pulp to ethanol

Abstract Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is the residue of beet sugar processing and is a promising feedstock for fuel ethanol production. Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects of temperature, acid concentration and solid loading on dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of SBP. Mass balances on cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and protein were performed and sugar degradation products such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), furfural and acetic acid were monitored. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study changes in the physical structure of SBP upon pretreatment. Acid pretreatment increased the enzymatic digestibility of SBP from 33% (raw) to 93% (treated). Pretreatment at optimum conditions (temperature = 120 °C, acid concentration = 0.66% and solid loading = 6%) resulted in 93% enzymatic hydrolysis yield and 62% total reducing sugar yield. The ethanol yield from pretreated SBP under the optimum conditions was 0.4 g ethanol/g dry matter in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process employing Escherichia coli KO11.
Performance Characterization and Vibration Testing of 30-cm Carbon-Carbon Ion Optics

Carbon-based ion optics have the potential to significantly increase the operable life and power ranges of ion thrusters because of reduced erosion rates compared to molybdenum optics. The development of 15-cm and larger diameter grids has encountered many problems, however, not the least of which is the ability to pass vibration testing. JPL has recently developed a new generation of 30-cm carbon-carbon ion optics in order to address these problems and demonstrate the viability of the technology. Perveance, electron backstreaming, and screen grid transparency data are presented for two sets of optics. Vibration testing was successfully performed on two different sets of ion optics with no damage and the results of those tests are compared to models of grid vibrational behavior. It will be shown that the vibration model is a conservative predictor of grid response and can accurately describe test results. There was no change in grid alignment as a result of vibration testing and a slight improvement, if any change at all, in optics performance.
Field-based safety guidelines for solid fuel household cookstoves in developing countries

The burning of solid fuels for cooking creates significant adverse health, social, and economic consequences for more than three billion people worldwide. Recognizing this issue, many groups have worked to develop improved stoves that increase fuel efficiency, decrease fuel use, and reduce particulate emissions. Less attention has been given to developing a standardized process for rating cookstove safety and reducing cookstove hazards. This paper identifies common cooking hazards and seeks to reduce cooking injuries by proposing ten field-based safety guidelines for solid fuel stoves. Each guideline describes an underlying safety principle and is accompanied by a test protocol and a metric to rate stove safety. This incremental rating system enables stove designers, donors, and consumers to track and promote stepwise safety improvements. The protocols use low-cost equipment to allow the many manufacturers of handcrafted cookstoves to assess safety without using sophisticated testing facilities and expensive equipment.
Effect of maternal age on intercellular adhesion of embryonic chick liver cells.

IN appropriate conditions single cells obtained by dissociation of embryonic tissues form organised cell masses resembling tissues. We wish to present results indicating that the adhesive properties of chick embryonic cells depend on maternal age. These unexpected observations were made in studies on the mechanism of intercellular adhesion. The formation of initial aggregates between chick embryonic liver cells is a two-step process1; cells rapidly and reversibly bind to each other to form aggregates in a step that is not inhibited by metabolic poisons. The reversibly bound cells are then converted into stably bound cells in a process requiring metabolic energy.
Financial Reporting for Financial Instruments

Introduction. Background on Financial Instruments, Financial Institutions, and their Risks. Banks' Loan Loss Accruals. Fair Value versus Amortized Cost Accounting. Balance Sheet Presentation of Risk-Concentrated Instruments. Risk Disclosures
ADVANCES IN AUTOMATIC EBSP SINGLE ORIENTATION MEASUREMENTS

A completely automated system which couples automatic analysis of electron backscatter diffraction patterns (EBSPs) with precise movement of the sample in the SEM is described. The Hough transform is implemented into an existing technique for identifying lattice orientation through automatic analysis of EBSPs. The ability of the Hough transform approach to correctly identify diffraction bands is quantitatively compared with the Burns algorithm. Both methods were tested on 1000 EBSPs from well annealed oxygen-free, electrical grade (OFE) copper, 120 patterns from as-cast commercially pure aluminum and 106 patterns from 40% channel-die compressed aluminum. Only slight differences were found in the ability of the methods to correctly identify bands in the sample EBSPs. The three test runs resulted in 95-99% (OFE Cu), 97.5-99% (as-cast AI) and 81-85% (deformed AI) correctly determined orientations (less than 5° off the manually determined reference orientations). The limits in the ability of the band detection algorithms to fix the bands exactly are discussed. To obtain the orientation which satisfies the detected bands most completely, a method of averaging solutions obtained from different triplets of bands is introduced.
Reasoning about Data: Bits, bit vectors, or words

Summary form only given. Many techniques for test generation and verification require reasoning about data using automated mathematical or logical techniques. Classical methods for specifying and reasoning about programs consider each word to be an arbitrary numeric value. This has carried over into many program analysis tools, where decision procedures for integer or real arithmetic are used to reason about program behavior. At the other extreme, most automatic methods for reasoning about hardware operate at the bit level, viewing each signal as an independent Boolean function of the input and state bits. In between these extremes, data can be modeled by finite-precision arithmetic and bit-wise operations on fixed-width data words. A decision procedure for such a bit-vector model can accurately capture the behavior of actual systems, while also exploiting abstraction techniques that are difficult to recognize when the system is modeled purely at the bit level. Until recently, the best way to reason about bit vectors was to simply expand formulas into their bit-level representations and apply Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers. Several newer decision procedures have improved on this approach by combining SAT solving with word-level abstractions. Work in this area is already having major impact in both program analysis and hardware testing and verification.
Measurement of glasslike and crystalline elasticity in quasicrystals.

We have measured the Young's modulus and internal friction of several families of aluminum-based quasicrystals from 0.01 to 300 K and from 200 Hz to 8 kHz with a vibrating-reed technique. In the metastable aluminum\char21{}transition-metal quasicrystals we see a unique large linear temperature dependence of the internal friction in the 1\char21{}100-K range; this is one of the very few measured properties of quasicrystals that differ from metallic glasses or alloys. We do not see the large linear dependence in quasicrystals from the stable families, providing an observable difference in the physical properties of the stable and metastable families. We see glassy behavior in some of the quasicrystals that is as large as that observed in metallic glasses. Finally, we will present low-temperature speed-of-sound data that cannot be explained by standard models of glasses and alloys.
Does prescribed fire facilitate fire ant invasions in coastal prairies or aid management by improving mound search efforts

Abstract We established a high-intensity prescribed-fire experiment in shrub-dominated coastal prairie to quantify (1) the proportion of Red Imported Fire Ant mounds that are likely to be missed by applicators of individual mound-based chemical treatments in prairie, based on the number of mounds found in unburned prairie compared to recently burned areas, and (2) to track changes in the densities of Red Imported Fire Ant and native Red Harvester Ant mounds in response to growing-season prescribed fires conducted during drought. First, our data suggest insecticide applicators are likely to miss 48% of Red Imported Fire Ant mounds when applying individual mound treatments in shrub-infested prairie. Second, fire treatments did not increase Red Imported Fire Ant or decrease Red Harvester Ant populations. Prescribed fire may therefore provide an advantageous management option for prairie managers that does not increase densities of Red Imported Fire Ants, and maintains mound densities of Red Harvester Ants, w...
Characteristics of Administrative Decisions About Regulatory Form: A Case Analysis

Attempts to reform regulation by introducing economic incentives raise questions about how admimstrative agencies choose regulatory forms. The Environmental Protection Agency's emissions trading program provides one of the few opportunities to explore such questions. Analysis of data from interviews with individuals who participated in developing the program reveals that professional background, support for key environmentalist values, and political ideology played varying roles in shaping policymakers' decisions about air pollution regulatory form. One possible argument that links these factors is that professional paradigms and social movements provide the conceptual schema for ideologically based decisions about regulatory form. The potential role of ideology in administrative decisions about regulatory form points to further avenues for research on administrative policymaking.
Finite element simulation of recirculating flows with heat transfer

The finite element method was investigated as a means of simulating incompressible laminar and turbulent flow with heat transfer. Governing equations include the complete, two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations expressed in terms of primitive variables. The turbulent viscosity is determined by a two-equation (k-ϵ) model of turbulence. Both high Reynolds' number and low Reynolds' number forms of the two-equations model were considered. The formulation was first tested in laminar recirculating flows as well as in a fully developed turbulent channel flow. The code was then applied successfully to flow past a confined backward facing step and to a backward facing ramp. Although the high Reynolds' number turbulence model was found to be incompatible with the current numerical scheme, good results were obtained using the low Reynolds' number model. Results of the current calculations are compared with experimental data and a variety of other computational results.