cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dollarization and Free Choice in Currency

I describe and defend the dollarization of Ecuador in 1999-2000 as a bottom-up phenomenon, an expression of consumer sovereignty by money-users, to which the government finally conceded. From that perspective I rebut common top-down (social planner) arguments against dollarization, and criticize the Ecuadorian government’s current plans to introduce a government-issued cellphone currency. I suggest legalizing private issue of paper and electronic dollar-denominated currencies as a way to neutralize the seigniorage and national-pride objections to dollarization.
Election Forecasting: Theory, Practice, Japan

We explore the principles of election forecasting and the core theory of elections, as applied to a pure test case – that of Japan. As shall be seen, in practice, systematic trial-and-error stands as an integral part of the research process. In this paper, we look at principles of forecasting, then substantive theory. We apply the lessons of theory and practice to the unexplored Japanese case. We discover that Japanese elections are amenable to forecasting. Finally, we observe the continuing cross-democracy generalizability of the core political economy model, a model that has bound together so much election forecasting work.
Optimization of Resource Allocation and Energy Efficiency in Heterogeneous Cloud Data Centers

Performance and energy efficiency are major concerns in cloud computing data centers. More often, they carry conflicting requirements making optimization a challenge. Further complications arise when heterogeneous hardware and data center management technologies are combined. For example, heterogeneous hardware such as General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) improve performance at the cost of greater power consumption while virtualization technologies improve resource management and utilization at the cost of degraded performance. In this paper, we focus on exploiting heterogeneity introduced by GPUs to reduce power budget requirements for servers while maintaining performance. To maintain or improve overall server performance at reduced power budget, we propose two enhancements: (a) We borrow power from co-located multithreaded virtual machines (VMs) and reallocate it to GPU VMs. (b) To compensate multi-threaded VMs and re-boost their performance, we propose to borrow virtual computing resources from GPU VMs and reallocate them to CPU VMs. Combining the two techniques minimizes server power budget while maintaining overall server performance. Our results show that server power budget can be reduced by almost 18% at the average cost of 13% performance degradation per virtual machine. In addition, reallocating virtual resources improves the performance of multi-threaded applications by 30% without affecting GPU applications. Combining both techniques reduces server energy consumption by 47 % with minimum performance degradation.
Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System and Perceptions of Legitimacy A Theoretical Linkage

Historically, research has shown that minorities, especially Blacks, are more likely to be arrested and sentenced to prison terms than their White counterparts. Explanations of these findings range from those claiming that minorities differentially engage in deviant and criminal behavior, to those claiming that the criminal justice system (CJS) treats minorities differently. A related line of work has shown that minorities tend to view the CJS as less just or legitimate than Whites. Most explanations for this finding center on personal experiences of unjust treatment. However, research has also shown that vicarious experiences can influence perceptions of legitimacy toward the CJS and that Blacks often have more negative attitudes even when considering the same objective event as Whites. This article reviews relevant literatures then advances a theoretical linkage between racial disparity in criminal justice contact and legitimacy toward the law. At its base, the model suggests that differential treatment...
Label-free detection of single protein using a nanoplasmonic-photonic hybrid microcavity.

Recently we reported the detection and sizing of the smallest RNA virus MS2 with a mass of 6 ag from the resonance frequency shift of a whispering gallery mode-nanoshell hybrid resonator (WGM-h) upon adsorption on the nanoshell and anticipated that single protein above 0.4 ag should be detectable but with considerably smaller signals. Here, we report the detection of single thyroid cancer marker (Thyroglobulin, Tg) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) proteins with masses of only 1 ag and 0.11 ag (66 kDa), respectively. However, the wavelength shifts are enhanced beyond those anticipated in our earlier work by 240% for Tg and 1500% for BSA. This surprising sensitivity is traced to a short-range reactive field near the surface of our Au nanoshell receptor due to intrinsic random bumps of protein size, leading to an unanticipated increase in sensitivity to single protein, which grows larger as the protein diminishes in size. As a consequence of the largest signal-to-noise ratio in our BSA experiments (S/N ≈ 13), ...
Experimental investigation of counterflow diffusion flames with oscillatory stretch

In most practical devices the aerodynamic stretch imposed on combustion zones is unsteady in nature. In this work a counterflow burner capable of inducing oscillatory stretch on nonpremixed reaction zones has been designed and constructed. Hot wire probe measurements made at the jet exits show the velocity oscillations to be nearly sinusoidal and reproducible. The effects of oscillatory stretch on flame extinction are investigated at various frequencies. Time dependent extinction measurements show that as the oscillation frequency is increased (shorter time scales), the peak strain rate can be extended further beyond the steady state extinction limit
Seeking Capital Abroad: Motivations, Process, and Suggestions for Success

Until fairly recently, the ownership of companies has remained largely with investors in home countries with stocks listed only on domestic exchanges. But a growing number of firms are now raising equity capital on foreign stock exchanges in response to opportunities created by the increasing integration of global capital markets. The authors identify several reasons why seeking capital abroad is an attractive strategy for companies, including greater access to capital, a more liquid share price, easier means of offering employees equity interests in the firm, greater opportunities to make acquisitions, and at least the potential for a stronger reputation and higher valuation, stemming in part from better governance law and greater protection for minority investors in certain jurisdictions. But along with such potential benefits, companies that raise capital abroad also inevitably face liabilities of foreignness (LOF) in their dealings with foreign investors and capital markets. The authors propose a number of ways of minimizing such liabilities, that including signalling the firm's commitment to strengthening its internal governance system, adopting host country business practices, and enlisting the help of reputational intermediaries.
Who’s Minding the Store?

Coordinated monetary policy has typically been borne out of financial calamity. Regardless of the motivation, monetary authorities have emerged as the single most effective economic players in most all of the FEW and SEW nations.
Relationship Between qacE△1-sul1 Gene and IntI1 Gene and Multidrug Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates from Children

OBJECTIVE To investigate the disinfectant-sulfanilamide resistance gene(qacE△1-sul1)and integrase gene(IntⅠ1)of Acinetobacter baumannii(ABA)isolated in pediatric clinic and analyze the relationship between these genes and multidrug resistance.METHODS Twenty eight strains of A.baumannii were collected and isolated from the sputum culture in the deep trachea of children with pneumonia during 2006.Identification of bacteria and susceptibility test by VITEK-32 automicroscan using GNI and GNS cards,were undertaken,qacE△1-sul1 gene and IntⅠ1 gene were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction(PCR).RESULTS Three of 28 strains of A.baumannii showed multidrug resistance,the positive rate was 10.71%.A.baumannii 4 strains were resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim(SXT)with the positive rate 14.29%.Eleven strains that carrying qacE△1-sul1 genes and 4 strains carrying IntⅠ1 genes were detected,the positive rate was 39.29% and 14.29%,and qacE△1-sul1 and IntⅠ1 genes positive strains of A.baumannii were resistant to SXT,the other 7 qacE△1-sul1 positive strains were sensitive to SXT.CONCLUSIONS The main drug resistance in ABA resistant to SXT is to obtain qacE△1-sul1 gene.It should be paid attention to qacE△1-suⅠ1 positive but sensitive to SXT strains.It indicates that the strain carrying integron Ⅰ may show multidrug resistance.
Anti‐Biofouling, Thermal, and Electrical Performance of Nanocomposite Coating with Multiwall Carbon Nanotube and Polytetrafluoroethylene‐Blended Polyphenylenesulfide

Corrosion, erosion, and fouling by scale deposition are detrimental to heat-exchanger tube at geothermal binary-cycle power plants. In this work, polytetrafluoroethylene was blended in a polyphenylenesulfide matrix with different concentrations of multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT) using the melt-mixed method to reduce scale deposition on the metal surface. The prepared nanocomposites with different concentrations of MWNT were characterized by various properties such as morphology, hydrophobicity, electrical, thermal, and rheological properties. The morphology of nanocomposite was changed from smooth to nano-pin-like with the addition of MWNT. The varied concentration of MWNT led to differing hydrophobicity of nanocomposite. Increasing the loaded amount of MWNT in the nanocomposite led to decreased electrical resistivity up to 3.1 × 103 Ω cm because of percolation of the MWNT in the polymer matrix. In addition, we investigated the enhancement of thermal performance (10% of lower crystallization peak) of the prepared nanocomposite. These performance results indicate that the prepared nanocomposite can be widely adopted for use in high-performance heat exchangers in geothermal industries.
Power Grid Optimization in 3D Circuits Using MIM and CMOS Decoupling Capacitors

In three-dimensional (3D) chips, the amount of supply current per package pin is significantly more than in two-dimensional (2D) designs. Therefore, the power supply noise problem, already a major issue in 2D, is even more severe in 3D. CMOS decoupling capacitors (decaps) have been used effectively for controlling power grid noise in the past, but with technology scaling, they have grown increasingly leaky. As an alternative, metal-insulator-metal (MIM) decaps, with high capacitance densities and low leakage current densities, have been proposed. In this paper, we explore the tradeoffs between using MIM decaps and traditional CMOS decaps, and propose a congestion-aware 3D power supply network optimization algorithm to optimize this tradeoff. The algorithm applies a sequence-of-linear-programs based method to find the optimum tradeoff between MIM and CMOS decaps. Experimental results show that power grid noise can be more effectively optimized after the introduction of MIM decaps, with lower leakage power and little increase in the routing congestion, as compared to a solution using CMOS decaps only, and motivate the stronger need for these decaps in 3D technology, as compared to 2D designs.
Millimeter wave transceivers with coding gain for secure high data rate communication

We present a novel Ultra Wideband (UWB) low-cost transmit/receive architecture with reduced power and hardware requirements that includes interference mitigation capabilities able to accommodate multiple users at the same time. Specifically, a novel encoding approach is used to multiplex signals. In this way, and taking advantage of the large bandwidth available, we achieve secure communications via encryption and interference mitigation through spread signals. Our study shows a reduction in the required digitizers by a factor of 8, and within this paper, we present a description of the proposed high data rate system. To assess the system performance and the impact of the encoding/decoding procedure, we conducted a noise analysis for the transmitter and receiver chains. Specifically, Bit Error Rate (BER) curves were conducted at different stages of the system. Our results show minimal degradation when using Walsh-Hadamard codes with ideal filters and a converter resolution of at least 5 bits.
Codes on graphs: Past, present and future

This paper summarizes earlier results in the theory of “codes on graphs” from a current perspective, and presents some current results.
The importance of mRNA structure in determining the pathogenicity of synonymous and non-synonymous mutations in haemophilia.

Introduction Mutational analysis is commonly used to support the diagnosis and management of haemophilia. This has allowed for the generation of large mutation databases which provide unparalleled insight into genotype–phenotype relationships. Haemophilia is associated with inversions, deletions, insertions, nonsense and missense mutations. Both synonymous and non-synonymous mutations influence the base pairing of messenger RNA (mRNA), which can alter mRNA structure, cellular half-life and ribosome processivity/elongation. However, the role of mRNA structure in determining the pathogenicity of point mutations in haemophilia has not been evaluated. Aim To evaluate mRNA thermodynamic stability and associated RNA prediction software as a means to distinguish between neutral and disease-associated mutations in haemophilia. Methods Five mRNA structure prediction software programs were used to assess the thermodynamic stability of mRNA fragments carrying neutral vs. disease-associated and synonymous vs. non-synonymous point mutations in F8, F9 and a third X-linked gene, DMD (dystrophin). Results In F8 and DMD, disease-associated mutations tend to occur in more structurally stable mRNA regions, represented by lower MFE (minimum free energy) levels. In comparing multiple software packages for mRNA structure prediction, a 101–151 nucleotide fragment length appears to be a feasible range for structuring future studies. Conclusion mRNA thermodynamic stability is one predictive characteristic, which when combined with other RNA and protein features, may offer significant insight when screening sequencing data for novel disease-associated mutations. Our results also suggest potential utility in evaluating the mRNA thermodynamic stability profile of a gene when determining the viability of interchanging codons for biological and therapeutic applications.
Revisiting the IGF-1R as a breast cancer target.

The type I insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor is a well-described target in breast cancer and multiple clinical trials examining insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor have been completed. Unfortunately, monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor failed in phase III breast clinical trials for several reasons. First, insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor antibody therapy resulted in hyperglycemia and metabolic syndrome most likely due to disruption of insulin-like growth factor-1 homeostasis and subsequent growth hormone elevation. Growth hormone elevation induces insulin resistance, hence a subsequent elevation of insulin and the potential for activation of insulin receptor. Second, the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and insulin receptor are highly homologous in amino acid sequence, structure, and function. These two receptors bind insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor-2, to regulate glucose uptake and other cellular functions. Hybrid receptors composed of one chain of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and insulin receptor also participate in signaling. Third, since all the monoclonal antibodies were specific for insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor, any pathophysiologic role for insulin receptor was not inhibited. While the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors effectively inhibited both insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and insulin receptor, these drugs are not being further developed likely due to their metabolic toxicities. Insulin-like growth factor-1/2 neutralizing antibodies are still being studied in early phase clinical trials. Perhaps a more comprehensive strategy of targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor network would be successful. For example, targeting receptor, ligand and downstream signaling molecules such as phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase or particularly the insulin receptor substrate adapter proteins might result in a complete blockade of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor/insulin receptor biological functions.
The Archaeology of Vietnam

There is archaeological evidence of human occupation in many areas of present-day Vietnam dating from the Pleistocene, with continuous occupation into the modern era. Though an appreciation of the ancient past has long existed for the Vietnamese, the professional pursuits of archaeology began during the French colonial period in the late nineteenth century. Archaeological research has undergone various phases throughout the past century, periodically interrupted by war. As with many countries, especially in Asia, the history and practice of archaeology has undergone significant transformation since the introduction of the discipline, and to some extent, changes have mirrored the political fluctuations of the past century. Accordingly, there has been an important connection between the deeper past and current notions of Vietnamese identity, civilization, and nationhood. In recent decades, history and archaeology have been an important part of both scholarly research and national agendas.
On safely ignoring hypotheses

Inductive intelligence is a matter of inductive generality and computational feasibility. Efficiency can be improved with no cost in generality by a device that carefully ignores only unsuitable or redundant hypotheses. An example of this approach in the inductive inference of clausal theories is described.
Girard and Integration: Desire, Violence, and the Mimesis of Christ as Foundation for Postmodernity

Postmodern intellectual fragmentation increasingly challenges all efforts to integrate psychology and Christianity. The work of the literary and cultural theorist Rene Girard, nevertheless, suggest...
Training Community Health Professionals to Work with Vulnerable Infants and Their Families

Community-based health professionals can help provide preventive and treatment intervention services to vulnerable high-risk infants and their families. This article focuses on the selection and training of these professionals and suggests 10 principles as the core of ongoing training programs.
A Nonlinear Programming Search Technique to Locate Position and Magnitude of the Maximum Air Quality Impact from Point Sources

Environmental regulations in the USA require that the effect on ambient air quality of new air pollutant emission sources be determined prior to construction of these sources. Air quality modeling is the means by which this evaluation is performed. In the process of this evaluation, the programmer carries out many similar operations entering data for various receptor locations. The objective is to locate the region of maximum concentration by constructing ever finer receptor grids narrowing down the region with each succeeding computer run. This process can be time consuming for the computer operator and may also involve a large amount of computer time. In an effort to reduce the time required by the operator and the computer, a study was conducted using modern optimization techniques that have become routine for engineering studies of this kind. This paper describes the technique of finding the location and magnitude of maximum air quality impact from point emission sources.
Cerebrospinal fluid leaks following septoplasty.

We conducted a retrospective review to identify the characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak in patients who had undergone septoplasty and in selected patients who had experienced a sponta...
Optimisation of antibiotic therapy in cystic fibrosis patients. Pharmacokinetic considerations

Antibiotic therapy plays a central role in the medical management of patients with cystic fibrosis. While totally convincing efficacy data are lacking, antibiotics probably have a pronounced beneficial effect on both morbidity and mortality. Much has been learned in the past 20 years about antibiotic use in this population. At the same time, new antimicrobial agents with the potential to treat this condition have become available for use. The pharmacokinetics of a number of antibiotic classes, including beta-lactams, aminoglycosides and quinolones, are altered in this patient population. Increased total body clearance is a common occurrence but is not always changed enough to warrant altered dosages. Nonetheless, in light of altered pharmacokinetics in the cystic fibrosis population, appropriate dosage and monitoring parameters for a number of antibiotics have been determined.
A perspective on chemoprevention by resveratrol in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) accounts for around 6 % of all cancers in the USA. Few of the greatest obstacles in HNSCC include development of secondary primary tumor, resistance and toxicity associated with the conventional treatments, together decreasing the overall 5-year survival rate in HNSCC patients to ≤50 %. Radiation and chemotherapy are the conventional treatment options available for HNSCC patients at both early and late stage of this cancer type malignancy. Unfortunately, patients response poorly to these therapies leading to relapsed cases, which further, emphasizes the need of additional strategies for the prevention/intervention of both primary and the secondary primary tumors post-HNSCC therapy. In recent years, growing interest has focused on the use of natural products or their analogs to reduce the incidence and mortality of cancer, leading to encouraging results. Resveratrol, a component from grape skin, is one of the well-studied agents with a potential role in cancer chemoprevention and other health benefits. As an anticancer agent, resveratrol suppresses metabolic activation of pro-carcinogens to carcinogens by modulating the metabolic enzymes responsible for their activation, and induces phase II enzymes, thus, further detoxifying the effect of pro-carcinogens. Resveratrol also inhibits cell growth and induces cell death in cancer cells by targeting cell survival and cell death regulatory pathways. Growing evidence also suggest that resveratrol directly binds to DNA and RNA, activates antioxidant enzymes, prevents inflammation, and stimulates DNA damage checkpoint kinases affecting genomic integrity more specifically in malignant cells.
Perceptual Learning for Native and Non-native Speech

Abstract In order to successfully perceive a language, a listener must be able to flexibly adapt to their input; however, a listener must also maintain the stability of their perceptual system, in order to maintain its integrity. Given the competing requirements of demonstrating flexibility while maintaining stability, it is critically important to understand under what circumstances listeners will demonstrate flexibility and under what circumstances they will not. In this chapter, I address this question using three types of perceptual learning for speech: perceptual flexibility of existing speech sound categories, acquisition of novel speech sound categories, and adaptation to unfamiliar accented speakers. These types of learning highlight the importance of balancing flexibility and stability in the perceptual system. In addition to highlighting previous results, their implications for language production and language learning are explored. Further, exploring these three types of learning together underscore the importance of investigating speakers and listeners from a variety of language backgrounds.
Development of a parents' short form survey of their children's oral health.

Author(s): Wang, Yan; Hays, Ron; Marcus, Marvin; Maida, Carl; Shen, Jie; Xiong, Di; Lee, Steve; Spolsky, Vladimir; Coulter, Ian; Crall, James; Liu, Honghu | Abstract: BackgroundParents play an important role in their children's oral health behaviors, provide oral health access, initiate prevention, and coping strategies for health care.AimThis paper develops a short form (SF) to assist parents to evaluate their children's oral health status using Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) framework that conceptualized health as physical, mental, and social components.DesignSurveys of parents were conducted at dental clinics in Los Angeles County, together with an on-site clinical examination by dentists to determine clinical outcomes, Children's Oral Health Status Index (COHSI), and referral recommendations (RRs). Graded response models in item response theory were used to create the SF. A toolkit including SF, demographic information, and algorithms was developed to predict the COHSI and RRs.ResultsThe final SF questionnaire consists of eight items. The square root mean squared error for the prediction of COHSI is 7.6. The sensitivity and specificity of using SF to predict immediate treatment needs (binary RRs) are 85% and 31%.ConclusionsThe parent SF is an additional component of the oral health evaluation toolkit that can be used for oral health screening, surveillance program, policy planning, and research of school-aged children and adolescents from guardian perspectives.
Sonication Culture of Antimicrobial Agent-Containing Cement Spacers Removed during Staged Revisions for Arthroplasty Infection

ABSTRACT Diagnosis of persistent infection at the time of reimplantation for staged revision of infected arthroplasties is challenging. Implant sonication culture for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) has improved sensitivity compared to standard periprosthetic tissue culture. We report our experience with periprosthetic tissue culture and sonication culture of antimicrobial agent-containing cement spacers (ACSs) collected during second stages of staged revisions for arthroplasty infection. We studied 87 ACSs from 66 patients undergoing two-stage revision arthroplasty for PJI submitted for sonication culture, along with conventional periprosthetic tissue cultures. Two or more positive periprosthetic tissue cultures with the same organism were considered a positive tissue culture. For sonication culture, ≥20 CFU of bacteria per 10 ml of sonicate fluid was considered positive. The sensitivity and specificity of periprosthetic tissue and ACS sonication culture in detecting persistent infection, as well as their association with outcome, were assessed. Persistent infection occurred in 26% of cases. Periprosthetic tissue and sonicate fluid culture had specificities of 96.3 and 100% (P = 0.50), respectively, and sensitivities of 31.6 and 26.3% (P = 1.00), respectively, for the diagnosis of persistent infection. Thirteen subjects deemed not to have persistent infection at time of reimplantation and who had negative periprosthetic tissue and sonicate fluid cultures subsequently developed overt infection. Sonication culture of cement spacers identifies a similar proportion of patients with persistent infection during staged revisions, as detected by periprosthetic tissue cultures; both have low sensitivities to detect persistent infection.
Coupling telemetry and stable isotope techniques to unravel movement: Snook habitat use across variable nutrient environments

Abstract Habitat selection by organisms can be driven by a number of factors, including the availability of resources. In particular, nutrient enrichment can alter the quality of landscapes, and thus the availability of resources, with implications for consumer movement and habitat use. In coastal ecosystems, eutrophication can affect the production and distribution of resources, and thus the behaviors and space use of consumers. In this study, we coupled acoustic telemetry methods and stable isotope analyses (SIA) to examine the effects of nutrient enrichment on the movement, habitat use, and resource use of Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis), a valuable recreational fishery, across two neighboring estuarine lake systems of varying trophic state (eutrophic vs. mesotrophic), located in Florida Bay (Florida, USA). Snook had more inter-zone movement events in the mesotrophic system, suggesting higher mobility. More specifically, increased inter-zone movement events were observed in the upstream and middle zones of the mesotrophic system where salinity and submerged aquatic vegetation was lower, and Chlorophyll ɑ levels were higher. We also observed longer movement event durations in the eutrophic system, suggesting higher residency and a trend for event durations to vary across zones. Based on δ15N, δ13C and δ34S analyses, we determined that although Snook had similar trophic levels across systems, eutrophic Snook relied on a greater diversity of basal sources relative to mesotrophic Snook. When relating movement to trophic metrics, we found the relationship to be zone-dependent, with higher trophic level Snook showing more movements into the middle and downstream zones, but less movements into the upstream zones. These findings highlight the value of cross-site comparisons that pair movement and trophic measurements to improve our understanding of how animals select habitats under varying environmental conditions and production regimes.
Challenges in health-care service use among Burmese refugees: A grounded theory approach

The timely use of health-care services is essential to achieve the best health outcomes. We explore barriers to health-care access among refugees from Burma through interviews with key community informants who serve their community as interpreters, health-care professionals, paraprofessionals, and/or representatives. The interviews with a convenience sampling of 11 leaders from Burmese and Karen ethnic communities revealed three stages of health-care use (i.e., before, during, and after doctor's appointments), in which their community members encounter difficulties in accessing health-care services. Using grounded theory analysis approach, specific difficulties and cultural considerations for each stage were emerged. This study suggests that training programs for health-care providers on refugee populations' needs, cultural expectations, attitudes, and health behaviors may ease the process for refugees during each of these three stages. Interpreters as cultural brokers have an important role in facilitating cross-cultural communications not only before and during the appointment but also after doctor's visits, such as in the pharmacy and labs.
The Contribution of Epidemiological Information in Economic Decision Making

This chapter reviewed the epidemiological basis for the application of CBA and CEA in health care management situations. The public health nature of many health care goods and services promoted the development and application of these techniques to decision making and increasingly compel their use in the private sector.
United Nations Psychology Day 2020 focused on Multilateralism

As the United Nations marks its 75th anniversary in 2020, psychologists are increasingly involved in the work of the UN since 1945. This reached new heights on May 27, 2020, as the 13th annual Psychology Day at the United Nations drew a record attendance of 1,271 participants from 104 nations, to hear four international psychologists describe different aspects of their work on “multilateralism.” This report offers a summary of the Day, including its four messages by Drs. Fathali Moghaddam, Susan Michie, Michele Gelfand, and Sarah Lyons-Padilla.
Elemental Analysis and Current-Voltage Characteristics of LiZnP and LiZnAs Samples for Solid-State Neutron Detectors

Research for a reliable solid-form semiconductor neutron detector continues because such a device would have greater efficiency, in a compact form, than present day gas-filled 3He and 10BF3 detectors. The 6Li(n,t)4He reaction yields a total Q value of 4.78 MeV, larger than 10B, and easily identified above background radiations. Hence, devices composed of either natural Li (nominally 7.5% 6Li) or enriched 6Li (usually 95% 6Li) may provide a semiconductor material for compact high efficiency neutron detectors. A sub-branch of the III-V semiconductors, the filled tetrahedral compounds, AIBIICV, known as Nowotny-Juza compounds, are known for their desirable cubic crystal structure, and were originally studied for photonic applications. Equimolar portions of Li, Zn, and P or As were sealed under vacuum (10-6 Torr) in quartz ampoules with a graphite lining, loaded into a compounding furnace, and heated to 560 °C to form the ternary compound, LiZnP or LiZnAs, and further annealed to promote crystallization. The chemical composition of the synthesized starting material was confirmed at Galbraith Laboratories, Inc. by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), which showed the compounds were reacted in equal ratios, 1-1-1, to form ternary compounds. Bulk single crystal samples were grown by a high temperature technique described elsewhere. Samples were cut, polished, and prepared for electrical characterization by depositing a Ti/Au contact onto one side of the one of the samples and using silver epoxy to form the other contact. Current-voltage curves were collected for a sample with silver epoxy for both anode and cathode contact, and for a sample with a Ti-Au anode contact and silver epoxy cathode contact. A much higher resistivity was calculated, 6.6 x 1010 Ω·cm, for the sample with a Ti-Au contact compared the high conductivity seen with the sample using silver epoxy contacts.
Keeping the Faith: A History of Northern Soul

Stephen Catterall and Keith Gildart have produced a solid and interesting academic history of northern soul, a subculture dominant in clubs and discotheques in northern English cities (though not o...
Path integrals, matter waves, and the double slit

Basic explanations of the double slit diffraction phenomenon include a description of waves that emanate from two slits and interfere. The locations of the interference minima and maxima are determined by the phase difference of the waves. An optical wave, which has a wavelength and propagates a distance accumulates a phase of A matter wave, also having wavelength that propagates the same distance accumulates a phase of which is a factor of two different from the optical case. Nevertheless, in most situations, the phase difference, for interfering matter waves that propagate distances that differ by is approximately which is the same value computed in the optical case. The difference between the matter and optical case hinders conceptual explanations of diffraction from two slits based on the matter–optics analogy. In the following article we provide a path integral description for matter waves with a focus on conceptual explanation. A thought experiment is provided to illustrate the validity range of the approximation .
Update Logging for Persistent Programming Languages: A Comparative Performance Evaluation

If persistent programming languages are to be accepted they must provide many of the standard features of traditional database systems, including resilience in the face of system failures in which the volatile database (in-memory databasebuffers) is lost. Ensuring the consistency of the database requires the generation of recovery information sufficient to restore the database to a consistent state after a crash. This paper examines a range of schemes for the efficient generation of recovery information in persistent programming languages, and evaluates their relative performance within an implementation of Persistent Smalltalk.
Fast near neighbor search in high-dimensional binary data

Numerous applications in search, databases, machine learning, and computer vision, can benefit from efficient algorithms for near neighbor search. This paper proposes a simple framework for fast near neighbor search in high-dimensional binary data, which are common in practice (e.g., text). We develop a very simple and effective strategy for sub-linear time near neighbor search, by creating hash tables directly using the bits generated by b-bit minwise hashing. The advantages of our method are demonstrated through thorough comparisons with two strong baselines: spectral hashing and sign (1-bit) random projections.
Focal waveform of a prolate‐spheroidal impulse‐radiating antenna

[1] This paper develops some analytical approximations for the transient focal waveform produced at the second focus of a prolate-spheroidal reflector due to a pulse TEM wave launched from the first focus. This is extended to consider the spot size of the peak field near the second focus.
Limbless locomotors that turn in place

Our research group has started a collaboration that analyzes data collected from biological snakes to provide insight on how to better program snake robots. Most data collected on biological snakes views the snakes from above and thus can only detect motion in the horizontal plane. However, both our robots and biological snakes are capable of generating motions both in the horizontal and vertical planes. Vertical waves naturally play a major role in limbless locomotion in that they simultaneously provide thrust motion and make-and-break contact between the mechanism and environment. Analysis on the data, collected from sidewinder rattle snakes, revealed that disparate modes of locomotion emerged from different contact patterns. We conclude that the same horizontal undulation can cause dramatically different motions for both the biological and robotic snakes depending upon the choice of contacts. With this knowledge, we introduce contact scheduling, a technique that plans positions of contacts along the body to design gaits for snake robots. Contact scheduling results in a novel turning gait, which can reorient a snake robot more than 90 degrees in one gait cycle.
Pressure induced by thermal fluctuation of an elastic filament confined within a narrow channel

Abstract Consider a flexible macro-molecule that is immersed in water at or above room temperature. As a result of thermal motion within the water, the filament is driven to undergo random fluctuations in shape. These fluctuations are a consequence of uncoordinated motion of water molecules. If the range of filament motion is restricted by nearby surfaces, the phenomenon becomes more complex. In this study, it is presumed that the filament is restricted to lie within a plane so that the motion is two dimensional. Furthermore, the range of the planar motion of the filament is confined to the region between inflexible straight boundaries lying in the plane of motion. A result of thermal fluctuation of the filament is that, when in close proximity to a boundary, a normal pressure is induced between the filament and that confining boundary. In the present development, frictional interaction of the filament with either confining boundary is presumed to be negligible. The goal is to determine the dependence of the induced pressure on the separation distance between the confining boundaries in terms of prevailing thermal conditions and physical characteristics of the system.
A fuzzy logic controller with fuzzy scaling factor calculator applied to a nonlinear chemical process

A combined fuzzy controller, consisting of a conventional fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with a fuzzy output scaling factor calculator that modifies the scaling factor of the FLC, is proposed. The performance of this controller is compared to the performance of a PID controller and a conventional FLC for disturbance rejection in a nonlinear chemical process. The proposed controller maintains its robustness under conditions at which performance of the other controllers decay.
Emission spectroscopy of clay minerals and evidence for poorly crystalline aluminosilicates on Mars from Thermal Emission Spectrometer data

[1] To understand the aqueous history of Mars, it is critical to constrain the alteration mineralogy of the Martian surface. Previously published analyses of thermal infrared (λ = 6–25 μm) remote sensing data of Mars suggest that dark regions have ∼15–20% clay minerals. However, near-infrared (λ = 1–3 μm) spectral results generally do not identify widespread clay minerals. Thermal infrared detections of clays on Mars are difficult to interpret owing in part to the relative paucity of published spectral analyses of clay minerals and clay-bearing materials using similar spectra (thermal infrared emission spectra). In this study, we present an analysis of the thermal emission spectral features (λ = ∼6–25 μm or 400–1650 cm−1) of a suite of clay mineral reference materials and clay-bearing rocks, linking their spectral features to the crystal chemical properties of the clays. On the basis of this context provided by the emission spectral analysis of clay minerals and clay-bearing rocks, we reconsider the evidence for clay minerals on Mars from Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) results. We propose that global-scale clay abundances determined from TES probably represent a geologically significant surface component, though they may actually correspond to poorly crystalline aluminosilicates with similar Si/O ratios to clay minerals (0.3–0.4), rather than well-crystalline clays. If clay minerals or clay-like materials on Mars are poorly crystalline and/or dessicated, they may be detectable in the thermal infrared, but not easily detected with near-infrared data sets.
Mixed micelles made of poly(ethylene glycol)–phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate and d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate as pharmaceutical nanocarriers for camptothecin

Micelles from the mixture of poly(ethylene glycol)-phosphatidyl ethanolamine conjugate (PEG-PE) and D-α-tocopheryl polyetheyene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) were prepared loaded with the poorly soluble anticancer drug camptothecin (CPT). The solubilization of CPT by the mixed micelles was more efficient than with earlier described micelles made of PEG-PE alone. CPT-loaded mixed micelles were stable upon storage and dilution and firmly retained the incorporated drug. The cytotoxicity of the CPT-loaded mixed micelles against various cancer cells in vitro was remarkably higher than that of the free drug. PEG-PE/TPGS mixed micelles may serve as pharmaceutical nanocarriers with improved solubilization capacity for poorly soluble drugs.
Laboratory studies of stratified convection with multiple states

Abstract A simplified box model of the cooling of a salt-stratified ocean has been constructed in the laboratory to test a theory that predicts multiple equilibria if certain conditions exist. An isothermal basin of water had a thin layer of fresh water over salt water. Beside this was a smaller basin connected to the large basin by horizontal tubes at the top, middle and bottom. The small basin was cooled from above. If the top tube has more flow resistance than the bottom tubes, theory indicates that as cooling temperature T * is made colder, there is a sudden transition between two flow states. The velocities in the tubes jump to greater values, while salinity and temperature in the small basin jump to another value. These multiple states are found in the laboratory experiments along with some states that oscillate. Laboratory measurements and layered model calculations for hysteresis and the jump of temperature and salinity agree qualitatively, but there is only rough quantitative agreement.
Harvest and storage of adult human retinal pigment epithelial sheets.

PURPOSE. To describe a method for the harvesting and storing of intact viable sheets of adult human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS. Adult human RPE cells were harvested as intact sheets from 21 cadaver eyes, using the enzyme Dispase. The sheets were embedded in 50% gelatin containing 300 mM sucrose and stored at 4°C. The viability of the cells, as well as their ability to proliferate in vitro, was studied for 96 hours after harvesting. Light microscopy (LM), transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed to determine the integrity and ultrastructural features of the cells. Microbiologic culture of the harvested sheets was performed to exclude contamination. RESULTS. LM, TEM and SEM showed intact RPE cells with well-developed microvilli, basal infoldings and intercellular connections. The initial viability of intact RPE sheets was 86%, with a progressive decline in viability with increased storage time. Cells harvested within 24 hours after death maintained greate...
The Mobile School Health Information Initiative: Creating and Sustaining a Free Curriculum for P-12 Staff to Find Credible Health Information

Three health sciences librarians created a curriculum to connect pre-school - grade 12 (P-12) personnel with credible health information. The course focuses on MedlinePlus® and KidsHealth.org®. They obtained external funding to deliver a revised curriculum for free throughout the metropolitan area. The funded portion of the project reached 93 people at 8 sites. Efforts to sustain the program beyond its funded cycle have reached another 33 people. Evaluations indicate the curriculum successfully equips staff to be health information champions within their schools. Participants report increased confidence locating credible health information. Written comments indicate both short-term gains and sustained use of the knowledge.
MEASURABILITY, COMPARABILITY AND SOCIAL WELFARE

If everyone were indifferent between more and less and between this and that, the problems of allocating scarce resources would be trivialized. The necessity of choice, whether social or individual, would seem absurd. However, people persist in preferring certain “states of the world” to others. As a society is made up of individuals, it seems reasonable that a society's preferences should be “made up” of the preferences of its members. Therefore, any social welfare function, W, should be a function of the individual welfare functions, wi. That is,
First Report of Laurel Wilt Disease Caused by Raffaelea lauricola on Silk Bay in Florida

Silk bay (Persea humilis Nash) is a member of the Lauraceae precinctive to the scrub forests of central and southern Florida and a sister species to the primary laurel wilt host, redbay (P. borbonia (L.) Spreng), which is generally not found in these ecosystems. In November 2011, observations of silk bay mortality near Lake Placid in Highlands County, FL, were reported to Florida Forest Service agents. A subsequent visit to roadside and homeowners' properties in the area revealed many dead and dying silkbays with characteristic laurel wilt symptoms, including wilted crowns with brown persistent foliage, frass accumulated at tree bases, sapwood with dark streaking, and ambrosia beetle entrance holes (1). Twig samples were taken and later confirmed as silk bay by the Florida Division of Plant Industry in Gainesville. Trunk samples were taken from four trees for fungal isolation. Stem sections with vascular discoloration were surface disinfested for 30 s in a 5% sodium hypochlorite solution and then plated o...