cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuron Specific Metabolic Adaptations Following Multi-Day Exposures to Oxygen Glucose Deprivation

Prior exposure to sub toxic insults can induce a powerful endogenous neuroprotective program known as ischemic preconditioning. Current models typically rely on a single stress episode to induce neuroprotection whereas the clinical reality is that patients may experience multiple transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) prior to suffering a stroke. We sought to develop a neuron-enriched preconditioning model using multiple oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) episodes to assess the endogenous protective mechanisms neurons implement at the metabolic and cellular level. We found that neurons exposed to a five minute period of glucose deprivation recovered oxygen utilization and lactate production using novel microphysiometry techniques. Using the non-toxic and energetically favorable five minute exposure, we developed a preconditioning paradigm where neurons are exposed to this brief OGD for three consecutive days. These cells experienced a 45% greater survival following an otherwise lethal event and exhibited a longer lasting window of protection in comparison to our previous in vitro preconditioning model using a single stress. As in other models, preconditioned cells exhibited mild caspase activation, an increase in oxidized proteins and a requirement for reactive oxygen species for neuroprotection. Heat shock protein 70 was upregulated during preconditioning, yet the majority of this protein was released extracellularly. We believe coupling this neuron-enriched multi-day model with microphysiometry will allow us to assess neuronal specific real-time metabolic adaptations necessary for preconditioning.
Flow Control of Extreme Pressure Loads Associated with Flow Separation

AbstractActive flow control is applied at different locations over a surface-mounted prism to reduce extreme pressure coefficient and loads. Different control strategies including blowing, suction, and synthetic jets are evaluated. The full unsteady Navier–Stokes equations are solved to determine the pressure coefficients. The extent of reduction when using these three strategies with different flux injections, slot locations, and angles is determined. These strategies are assessed in two flow regimes corresponding to different Reynolds numbers. It is found that for the case of R = 103, a reduction of the peak pressure, by nearly 50% is obtained. For the case of R = 104, the best reduction is about 25%.
Automated Information Aggregation for Scaling Scale-Resistant Services

Machine learning provides techniques to monitor system behavior and predict failures from sensor data. However, such algorithms are "scale resistant" $high computational complexity and not parallelizable. The problem then becomes identifying and delivering the relevant subset of the vast amount of sensor data to each monitoring node, despite the lack of explicit "relevance" labels. The simplest solution is to deliver only the "closest" data items under some distance metric. We demonstrate a better approach using a more sophisticated architecture: a scalable data aggregation and dissemination overlay network uses an influence metric reflecting the relative influence of one node's data on another, to efficiently deliver a mix of raw and aggregated data to the monitoring components, enabling the application of machine learning tools on real-world problems. We term our architecture level of detail after an analogous computer graphics technique
A domain decomposition method for a two‐phase transport model of polymer electrolyte fuel cell containing micro‐porous layer

SUMMARY In this paper, a nonlinear Dirichlet–Robin iteration-by-subdomain domain decomposition method is studied for a multidimensional, multiphysics, and multiphase model of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) containing micro-porous layer (MPL). Across the interface of gas diffusion layer and MPL in PEFC, it is well known that the capillary pressure is continuous, whereas liquid saturation is discontinuous, by which the liquid-water removal in the porous electrodes can be significantly enhanced. We design a type of non-overlapping domain decomposition method to deal with water transport in such multi-layer diffusion media, where Kirchhoff transformation and its inverse techniques are employed to conquer the discontinuous and degenerate water diffusivity in the coexisting single-phase and two-phase regions. In addition, the conservation equations of mass, momentum, charge, and hydrogen and oxygen transport are also solved by the combined finite element–upwind finite volume method (FEM/FVM) to overcome the dominated convection effect in gas channels. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the presented techniques are effective in obtaining a fast and convergent nonlinear iteration for such a 3D PEFC model within around 50 steps, in contrast with the oscillatory and nonconvergent iteration conducted by standard FEM/FVM. A series of numerical convergence tests are also carried out to verify the efficiency and accuracy of the present numerical techniques. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular Investigation of the Postantibiotic Effects of Clarithromycin and Erythromycin on Staphylococcus aureus Cells

The kinetics of recovery after inhibition of growth by erythromycin and clarithromycin were examined in Staphylococcus aureus cells. After inhibition for one mass doubling by 0.5 microg of the antibiotics/ml, a postantibiotic effect (PAE) of 3 and 4 h duration was observed for the two drugs before growth resumed. Cell viability was reduced by 25% with erythromycin and 45% with clarithromycin compared with control cells. Erythromycin and clarithromycin treatment reduced the number of 50S ribosomal subunits to 24 and 13% of the number found in untreated cells. 30S subunit formation was not affected. Ninety minutes was required for resynthesis to give the control level of 50S particles. Protein synthesis rates were diminished for up to 4 h after the removal of the macrolides. This continuing inhibition of translation was the result of prolonged binding of the antibiotics to the 50S subunit as measured by 14C-erythromycin binding to ribosomes in treated cells. The limiting factors in recovery from macrolide inhibition in these cells, reflected as a PAE, are the time required for the synthesis of new 50S subunits and the slow loss of the antibiotics from ribosomes in inhibited cells.
Long-term Improvement in Outcome After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Patients Treated with Statins

Background Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a severe type of stroke for which there is currently no specific medical therapy. We hypothesized that statins reduce immediate inflammatory injury and improve long-term recovery from increased neurogenesis and angiogenesis. We conducted a large retrospective cohort study to assess the influence of statin therapy on patient death and disability at 12 months after ICH. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database at a tertiary care medical center. Patients were grouped based on statin use, and poor outcome was assessed as dead or alive with dependency (modified Barthel Index ≤14). Results We compared outcomes in 190 patients exposed to statins to 236 patients who were not exposed to statins. Univariate analysis found that statin use was associated with decreased mortality in-hospital and at 12 months ( P = .001). Multivariable analysis found that statin use was associated with a decreased odds of death or disability at 12 months after ICH (odds ratio 0.44; 95% confidence interval 0.21-0.95). Conclusions Statin use is associated with improved long-term outcome at 12 months after ICH. This finding supports previous clinical studies that have shown the short-term benefits of statin therapy. In addition, this study correlates with animal studies supporting the possible long-term recovery benefits of statins.
Scalable large-signal device model for high power-density AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC

A scalable device model for high-power, large periphery AlGaN-GaN HEMTs on SiC has been developed which includes device self-heating. The parameterized model coefficients were evaluated using S-parameters obtained from isothermal bias contours and pulsed I-V measurements. Model scaling with device size was examined by comparing with measurements for peripheries from 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm. The scaled model showed good agreement with measured S-parameters and power sweep data.
Evolution in action: Molecular evidence for recent emergence of secotioid genera Endoptychum, Gyrophragmium and Longula from Agaricus ancestors

Phylogenetic analyses of 29 Agaricus species and one representative from genera Endoptychum, Gyrophragmium and Longula each were conducted based on sequence data of the entire internal transcribed spacers and partial large subunit of ribosomal DNA. The Agaricus species formed several distinct clades both confirming and challenging previous morphological sections in several cases. Endoptychum depressum, Gyrophragmium dunalii and Longula texensis were nested among species of the genus Agaricus. This study provides evidence for independent emergence of these secotioid fungi from Agaricus ancestors, most likely from species placed in the section Arvenses as inferred from molecular data.
Target excitation and angular momentum transfer in reactions of E/A=11.9 MeV 28Si with 181Ta from 4 pi charged particle, neutron, and gamma -ray multiplicity measurements.

The conversion of kinetic energy into target-like fragment excitation and orbital angular momentum into fragment spin has been studied in the reaction 333 MeV $^{28}\mathrm{Si}$ with $^{181}\mathrm{Ta}$. The light charged particles were detected in a small, highly segmented, 4\ensuremath{\pi} phoswich detector system placed in the spin spectrometer, a 4\ensuremath{\pi} NaI array which served as a neutron and gamma detector. Multiplicities of light charged particles and neutrons detected in coincidence with projectile-like fragments indicate that the excitation energy of the target-like fragment increases as the kinetic energy of the projectile-like fragment decreases through the quasielastic region and tends toward saturation as the kinetic energy of the projectile-like fragment approaches the kinetic energy corresponding to complete damping. Measurement of the \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray multiplicity in coincidence with the projectile-like fragments indicates that the angular momentum transferred to the target-like fragment increases with decreasing mass of the projectile-like fragment for the quasielastic energy region in contrast to the energy region corresponding to completely damped processes where the angular momentum of the target-like fragment decreases with increasing mass loss from the projectile. The influence of preequilibrium processes on both excitation energy and angular momentum transfer to the target-like fragment is discussed. These data present further evidence that l waves below the entrance-channel critical angular momentum for fusion must contribute to the nonfusing reaction channels.
Federal policy in Native American education, 1925‐1985

The history of education for native American (Indian) children has been significantly affected by the shifting policies of Republican and Democratic administrations in Washington, DC. For more than a hundred years the resources allocated to educate Indian children have increased and diminished according to the political philosophies and whims of the political party in power. The resulting confusion of policy, best described as a quagmire, has been that Indian children have been victims of a federal neglect that has led to near cultural genocide. No authority maintains that Indian children have received the educational support, health services, and vocational training necessary for them to have a chance to become productive and contributing citizens in the general society. Today, American Indians are among the most poorly educated, least vocationally trained, and most unemployed of minority groups. This paper attempts to show the relationship between political philosophies and acts of federal administratio...
A novel vector for the expression of SCR domains in insect cells

Exploitation of recombinant technology to study proteins containing strings of short consensus repeat (SCR) domains largely depends on expression vectors. In this paper, we describe a vector for cloning and constitutive expression of single or multiple SCR domains. The recombinant vector has unique additive features over commercially available vectors that make it a universal cloning vector for SCR domains as well as a vector suitable for expressing any protein fragment beginning and ending with cysteine residues. As a demonstration of its usefulness, the constitutive extracellular expression of five SCR-containing proteins derived from complement factor H is presented.
Blastocyst culture selects for euploid embryos: comparison of blastomere and trophectoderm biopsies.

Abstract Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and screening improves the chances of achieving a viable pregnancy, not only free of undesired single-gene defects but also aneuploidy. In addition, improvements in vitrification provide an efficient means of preserving embryos (blastocysts). By combining trophectoderm biopsy with recent improvements in vitrification methods, only those embryos that have proved themselves viable and potentially more competent are tested. Using array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) to assess all 24 chromosomes, aneuploidy rates were compared between day-3 blastomere biopsy and day-5 trophectoderm biopsy. Of those 1603 embryos, 31% were euploid, 62% were aneuploid and 7% not analysable. A significantly larger proportion of embryos were euploid on day-5 biopsy (42%) compared with day-3 biopsy (24%, P Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and screening improves the chances of achieving a viable pregnancy, not only free of undesired single-gene defects but also aneuploidy. In addition, improvements in vitrification provide an efficient means of preserving embryos (blastocysts). By combining trophectoderm biopsy with recent improvements in vitrification methods, only those embryos that have proved themselves viable and potentially more competent are tested. Using array comparative genomic hybridization to assess all 24 chromosomes, aneuploidy rates were compared between day-3 blastomere biopsy and trophectoderm biopsy. Of those 1603 embryos, 31% were euploid, 62% were aneuploid and 7% not analysable. A significantly larger proportion of embryos were euploid with trophectoderm biopsy (42%) compared with blastomere biopsy (24%, P
Independence of measurements and the mean recognition accuracy

A situation of great practical importance in pattern recognition is the case where the designer has only a finite number of sample patterns from each class and the class-conditional density functions are not completely known. Recent results indicate that in this case the dimensionality of the pattern vector, i.e., the number of measurements, should not be arbitrarily increased, since above a certain value (corresponding to the optimal measurement complexity), the performance starts to deteriorate instead of improving steadily. However, whether this phenomenon occurs in the case of independent measurements has been an open question until now. In this paper the following result of practical importance is derived. When the measurements are independent, and a Bayesian approach is taken, one can add extra measurements without fear of this peaking of performance; i.e., the optimal measurement complexity is infinite. In fact, under certain conditions, having just one sample from class 1, and none at all from class 2, can result in a recognition accuracy arbitrarily close to unity for a large enough number of measurements. The implication of these results to practice is discussed, along with the general question of dimensionality and sample size.
Mental health need and service use among Latino children of immigrants in the child welfare system

article i nfo Despite the rapid growth of the Latino population in the child welfare system and the high rate of mental health need among children involved with this system, little is known about the mental health needs or use of mental health services among Latino children of immigrants involved with this system. Further, little is known about how the need for mental health services or use of those services differs from children of U.S.- born Latinos. This study analyzes data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) to identify the need for mental health services, mental health service use, and unmet mental health needs among Latino children of immigrants involved in the child welfare system, and compares those factors to those of children in U.S.-born Latino families. Findings indicate that significant differences are present, both in the need for mental health services and the use of those services. Awareness of these differences is necessary to effectively respond to the unique needs and experiences of Latino immigrant children and families who come to the attention of the child welfare system.
The DNA transposition system of hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster can function despite defects in host DNA repair

Genetic traits associated with the hybrid dysgenesis syndrome were quantified in strains deficient in two major host-coded DNA repair pathways, post-replication and excision repair. A defect in either (or both) pathway(s) fails to influence the frequency of male recombination or sex-linked recessive lethal mutations associated with hybrid dysgenesis, suggesting that the DNA transposable elements associated with this syndrome act independently of these cellular functions. However, when the post-replication repair pathway is blocked, the recovery of second chromosomes containing factors associated with hybrid dysgenesis activity is reduced. The decrease in recovery is associated with zygotic lethality.
The benzoylarginine peptidase from Treponema denticola (strain ASLM), a human oral spirochaete: evidence for active-site carboxyl groups.

Summary The benzoylarginine peptidase of Treponema denticola (strain ASLM; a human oral spirochaete) was progressively and irreversibly inactivated by 1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-2-ethoxy-1, 2-dihydroquinoline, a carboxyl-group reagent. At acidic pH values, reaction of one mole of the modifier per active site of the enzyme resulted in total inactivation of the enzyme. Assuming that this modifier is a specific carboxy) reagent, the data suggest that the inactivation of the T. denticola benzoylarginine peptidase was caused by the modification of one carboxyl group located close to the active site of the enzyme. Results obtained with Woodward's reagent K (N-ethyl-5-phe nylisoxazolium 3' -sulphonate) supported these findings. Carbethoxylation with diethylpyrocarbonate effectively inactivated the enzyme, and addition of hydroxylamine at pH 7.0 restored the activity almost totally, suggesting that the pyrocarbonate had reacted with tyrosyl or histidyl residues.
Acute Retinal Necrosis Syndrome Presenting with Papillitis and Arcuate Neuroretinitis

Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome is a diffuse uveitis characterized by a peripheral necrotizing retinitis and retinal vasculitis. The authors document and discuss a case of ARN syndrome that initially presented with remarkable changes in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer that they have termed arcuate neuroretinitis. These changes consisted of a well-defined arcuate band of retinitis paralleling the course of a parafoveal nerve fiber bundle. Evaluation of serial serum antibody titers suggests HSV-2 as a possible causative agent in this unique presentation of ARN syndrome.
Iconic programming for teaching the first year programming sequence

Research has been undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of using iconic (as opposed to visual) programming environments in teaching the first two computer programming courses. The co-authors have developed a Windows-based iconic programming language named BACCII. BACCII allows the user to program with icons representing all the major programming constructs and data structures within a syntax-directed environment. The user can then generate syntactically correct code for any one of several text-based languages. This system has previously been used as a supplement to teach a Pascal-based introductory computer science (CSI) course required of both computer science and electrical engineering majors; the empirical results showed a significant increase in learning and comprehension, despite the fact that there were virtually no supplemental teaching materials for BACCII available at that time. Additional research has supplied object-oriented extensions to BACCII for use in the data structures/object-oriented programing (CS2) course. Current research concerns the development of a complete set of course material for the use of BACCII in teaching both CSI and CS2 using C++. Lecture notes, text, and lab manuals are under development. An experiment will be run using the new teaching materials at Texas Tech during the 1995-96 school year. Future research hopes to extend this program to series of pilot programs at other institutions.
Regulation of hemopoiesis by bone marrow stromal cells and their products

Hemopoietic precursors can be identified in a number of tissues, but the bone marrow is the only site in normal adult mammals in which myelopoiesis, erythropoiesis, and lymphopoiesis proceed simultaneously (1). When intrave ' nous injection of hemopoietic precursors occurs as in experimental or clinical bone marrow transplantation, long-term hemo­ poiesis still establishes only in the bone marrow. Local tissue influences critical for hemopoiesis thus appear to operate primarily in the medullary cavity (2). Such observations have led to considerable interest in understand­ ing the nature of these influences. A cellular basis for these tissue-specific effects evolved from morphologic studies that demonstrated a close association between blood cells and fixed tissue elements, collectively referred to as stromal cells (3-5). The ability to grow nonhemopoietic, connective tissue cells of marrow origin in vitro and the demonstration that these supported hemopoiesis upon transplantation to ectopic sites in vivo strengthened this premise (6, 7). The application of modern experimental techniques to problems in stromal cell biology has begun to define the mech­ anisms by which stromal cells mediate their effects. One major advance in the last decade has been the development of cell culture techniques that make it possible to grow selected stromal cells, to study their hemo­ poietic support capabilities, and to identify and clone genes that encode novel, stromal cell--derived growth and differentiation factors (8, 9). Stro-
Integrated simulation: A teaching strategy to prepare prelicensure nursing students for professional practice—the students' perspective

Abstract To prepare associate degree nursing students for the increasing demands of professional practice, we designed an integrated simulation to allow the students to assess their perceived readiness to assume the role of the registered nurse in today's ever-changing health care system. The simulation integrated 2 levels of medical–surgical students caring for a complex patient. This collaboration facilitated the upper-level students' evaluation of their confidence in critical situational analysis, prioritization, delegation, and professionalism.
Electromagnetic System Design Using Genetic Algorithms

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Genetic Algorithms Selected Applications in Electromagnetics Conclusions Acknowledgments References
Raising Expectations on Sin

Since Vatican II, moral theologians have revisted the topic sin time and again. After considering the treatment by the manualists of moral theology of sin, and especially sins in violation of the s...
Flame Extinction Dynamics of Lean Premixed Bluff-Body Stabilized Flames

There is a crucial need to improve energy conversion efficiencies and minimize the environmental impact of turbulent combustion systems for energy production. Lean premixed turbulent combustion operation will significantly reduce efficiency-based thermal losses and combustion emissions. However, the performance of lean turbulent combustion technology is inevitably limited by the effects of flame extinction. Flames operating at lean conditions are susceptible to stabilization dynamics caused by local reaction extinction; this leads to global flame blowout and termination of the combustion energy production process. An improved understanding and prediction of flame extinction and stability will guide strategies to enhance efficiency, reduce emissions and improve performance of turbulent combustion systems. This research is focused on understanding the physical mechanisms of flame extinction using a newly-developed physics-based model. The novelty of this model is that it interactively couples the physics of the turbulent flow through a dynamic Lagrangian vortex method and the strained flame reaction kinetics using a one-dimensional opposed-jet flame. This innovative modeling strategy effectively captures the dynamic flame stability and extinction for turbulent premixed combustion.
Formant manipulations in voice disguise by mimicry

The human voice can be disguised in many ways. The purpose of disguise could either be to impersonate another person, or to conceal the identity of the original speaker, or both. On the other hand, the goal of any biometric analysis on disguised voices could also be twofold: either to find out if the originator of the disguised voice is a given speaker, or to know how a speaker�s voice can be manipulated so that the extent and type of disguise that the speaker can perform can be guessed a-priori. Any analysis toward the former goal must rely on the knowledge of what characteristics of a person's voice are least affected or unaffected by attempted disguise. Analysis towards the latter goal must use the knowledge of what sounds are typically most amenable to voluntary variation by the speaker, so that the extent to which given speakers can successfully disguise their voice can be estimated. Our paper attempts to establish a simple methodology for analysis of voice for both goals. We study the voice impersonations performed by an expert mimic, focusing specifically on formants and formant-related measurements, to find out the extent and type of formant manipulations that are performed by the expert at the level of individual phonemes. Expert mimicry is an extreme form of attempted disguise. Our study is presented with the expectation that non-expert attempts at voice disguise by mimicry will fall within the gold standard of manipulation patterns set by an expert mimic, and that it is therefore useful to establish this gold standard.
On the Inverse Scattering of the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation and the Associated Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (I) Equation

The Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation, a two-spatial-dimensional analogue of the Korteweg-deVries equation, arises in physical situations in two different forms depending on a certain sign appearing in the evolution equation. Here we investigate one of the two cases. The initial-value problem, associated with initial data decaying sufficiently rapidly at infinity, is linearized by a suitable extension of the inverse scattering transform. Essential is the formulation of a nonlocal Riemann-Hilbert problem in terms of scattering data expressible in closed form in terms of given initial data. The lump solutions, algebraically decaying solitons, are given a definite spectral characterization. Pure lump solutions are obtained by solving a linear algebraic system whose coefficients depend linearly on x, y, t. Many of the above results are also relevant to the problem of inverse scattering for the so-called time-dependent Schrodinger equation.
Stochastic Simulation of a CumSum Knock Controller

Abstract Single time-history simulations of knock control strategies cannot provide repeatable measures of closed loop performance because such responses are strongly dependent on the random arrival of knock events during the specific simulation or experiment. Stochastic simulation algorithms address this issue by computing the probability distribution of the closed loop response as a function of time from any given initial distribution. In this paper, a new algorithm is presented for stochastic simulation of a Cumulative Summation-based knock control strategy. The stochastic simulator is then used to assess the performance of this strategy in a scenario in which feedback sensitivity is also enhanced through the use of an optimized knock threshold. The results are compared to those for a traditional knock controller operating using a more conventional knock threshold level.
Clinical Trials and the Genomic Evolution: Some Statistical Perspectives

During the past four decades, clinical trials, having their genesis in biometric and epidemiologic studies, have been going through an evolutionary transition from simple biometric type to (randomized) multiphase placebo-controlled trials to active controlled equivalence trials to adaption of dynamic treatment regimens, all generally relating to symptomatic diagnostics. In this scenario, a newcomer is bioinformatics with its battery of thousands of genes, interacting with the disease/disorder complexities as well as with environmental Stressors of diverse types. Although the impact of genomics is not yet totally clear, statistical challenges are mounting, and there is a dire need for development of novel and largely nonstandard methodology to cope with the basic statistical modeling and inference tasks. Some of these perspectives are appraised here with due consideration of their impact on modern clinical trials.
Law and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy: From the Gilded Age to the New Era

What is the proper relationship between law and American foreign policy? Can or should law and legal institutions shape international relations? Although today these questions have become the source of considerable debate, there was a time in American history when a relationship between law and foreign policy was actually assumed. Lawyers dominated American foreign policy at the turn of the twentieth century; every Secretary of State from 1889 to 1945 was a lawyer, and the chief foreign policy thinker in the Republican Party, Elihu Root, was also the foremost lawyer in the country. In this article, Professor Jonathan Zasloff argues that this relationship between law and foreign policy had real consequences for the shape of American diplomacy during that period. Focusing on Elihu Root, Professor Zasloff argues that classical legal ideology - the prevailing ideological framework among elite lawyers in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries - profoundly influenced the direction and nature of American foreign policy. Classical legal ideology taught that law does not derive its effectiveness from the coercive state but rather from popular custom, social norms, and the gradual development of consensual arbitration mechanisms. Moreover, it held that law could be effective without state coercion because it stood as a neutral, apolitical source of order that could find solutions satisfying widely varying social groups. These two beliefs implied that international law could form a basis for a legally-regulated world order and that traditional balance-of-power methods were either unnecessary or harmful. As policymakers debated the shape of the post-World War I world order, classical legal ideology told lawyer-statesmen like Root that they did not need to make strategic commitments to ensure global stability. Lawyers imbued with classical legal ideology concentrated on international law and institutions and neglected realpolitik foreign policy. In doing so, they unwittingly contributed to global catastrophe.
Interactive Excel-Based Gantt Chart Schedule Builder

Many scheduling dispatching rules are intuitive processes used in every day life. For example, when faced with a variety of tasks due at different times one often implements the earliest due date scheduling rule: The next task worked on is the one with the earliest due date. Other common scheduling dispatching rules are easily understood, thereby enabling one to devise the rule when given the opportunity to experiment via trial and error. In this paper, we present an interactive Excel-based Gantt Chart Schedule builder that enables students to experiment with building schedules for different single and parallel machine problem examples. Instead of explicitly telling students these common scheduling rules, the schedule builder enables students to gain intuition about the rules on their own. Herein we describe the interactive schedule builder we created, explain how instructors and students can use this tool, perform a small preliminary assessment on the student perception metric, and provide supplemental teaching materials enabling use of the schedule builder in a variety of classroom environments.
Supply-Side Responses to Public Quality Ratings: Evidence from Medicare Advantage

AbstractSince 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has distributed quality star ratings for Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts to better inform Medicare-eligible individuals of...
Online dating and courtship among Muslim American women: Negotiating technology, religious identity, and culture:

This research examines how online dating technology affects the experience of mate selection and courtship among Muslim American women. Sixteen individuals who (1) self-identified as Muslim American women and (2) were actively using online dating websites participated in interviews about their experiences. Qualitative data analysis suggests that these women balance the perceived advantages of online dating (e.g. increased individual agency in initiating romantic relationships, increased control over interaction, greater confidentiality and privacy) with their desire to maintain their cultural and religious courtship practices. Additionally, participants identified challenges they faced with online dating, including social stigma, fear of others’ misrepresentation, and frustrations with technology. This study contributes toward a deeper understanding of how new technologies integrate with existing religions and cultures and gives insights into the nature of technological change and adaptation in society mo...
Flow Batteries - Storing Energy on the Grid

The demand for electricity produced from renewable sources, such as wind and solar has considerably increased in the past decade, largely owing to the need for clean energy with no environmental impact and carbon sequestration. The energy generated from intermittent sources: wind and solar is dependent upon various climatic and geographical conditions, serves as the driving force for storing energy on grid in suitable energy packing systems to be utilized at peak hours. Consequently, the capacity to store vast amounts of energy is rising. Flow batteries have gained significant importance during the recent years owing to the performance and ability to store vast amounts of energy. This paper reviews popular types of flow batteries, current trends, and future measures to optimize the performance for long-term durability of these flow based energy storage devices.
Synthesis of descriptive sensory attributes and hedonic rankings of dried persimmon (Diospyros kaki sp.)

This work aimed to characterize the sensory attributes of hot air-dried persimmon (Diospyros kaki) chips, correlate these attributes with consumer hedonic information, and, by doing so, present recommendations for cultivars that are most suitable for hot-air drying. A trained sensory panel evaluated dried persimmon samples (representing 40 cultivars) for flavor, taste/aftertaste, and texture. In addition, in each of two tests conducted in different years, more than 100 consumers provided hedonic evaluations of 21 unique samples in a ranking task with a balanced incomplete block design. A partial least squares regression model correlating the mean hedonic ranking to the trained panel data was developed using the data from the first consumer panel. The predictions from the model were correlated with the second panel to verify the model. It was found that including taste, aftertaste, and texture data (but not specific flavor attribute data) produced a predictive model (Spearman's ρ=0.83). This indicates that flavor is likely secondary to taste and texture in dried persimmon chips. Using the validated predictive model, 6 of the 40 persimmon cultivars tested are recommended for a dried chip product; these cultivars are ‘Fuyu’, ‘Lycopersicon’, ‘Maekawa Jiro’, ‘Nishimura Wase’, ‘Tishihtzu’, and ‘Yotsumizo’.
Phase-shift expansions for approximate radiation forces on solid spheres in inviscid-acoustic standing waves

Previously acoustic radiation forces on spheres have been expressed using scattering phase shifts associated with the corresponding traveling wave scattering situation. That approach is applied here to spheres in inviscid standing waves that are solid, fixed-rigid, or movable-rigid of finite density. Low frequency truncated expansions of the phase shifts result in expressions for radiation forces that have simple forms. The expansion expresses the leading finite-size correction to the common low-frequency approximation associated with Rayleigh scattering in which the radiation force is proportional to the solid sphere's volume.
DESIGN OF A SYSTEM TO SIMULATE THE FLUID MECHANICS OF THE HUMAN LEFT VENTRICLE

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the design of a system to simulate the fluid mechanics of the human left ventricle. Simulation of left ventricular fluid mechanics is particularly difficult because of the complexities of left ventricular geometry and flow conditions. The left ventricular chamber consists of stationary and moving parts that are similar to those of the Davila et al. test chamber. However, instead of a postmortem heart, the left atrium and ventricle are constructed from rectangular blocks of plexiglas that are machined internally according to specifications reported by Wieting. These chambers are assembled in a vertical plane with the atrium directly above the ventricle. Pumping is accomplished by displacing a diaphragm at the base of the ventricle. Flow exits from the left ventricle through the aortic branch that is located adjacent to the mitral valve at the top of the ventricle and offset from the center of the chamber as in the normal human heart. This provides for a pattern of flow within the left ventricular chamber that is similar to that of a natural heart in that the flow must turn nearly 180 degrees before leaving the ventricle through the aortic valve. The system is also provided with capacitance, resistance and an elevated main reservoir to enable adjustment of pressure readings to physiological values. Other features of the system include a weir in the main reservoir, a siphon tube leading to the left atrial chamber and a diffuser located directly below the diaphragm. The function of the siphon tube is to help maintain the mean left atrial pressure at a reasonable level since if the atrial reservoir were placed above the left atrial chamber the mean atrial pressure would be too high.
Complications of Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection

AbstractWe reviewed the surgical morbidity in 235 patients who underwent retroperitoneal dissection for testis cancer. Of these patients 95 had stage I, 91 had stage II and 49 had stage III disease, and underwent a secondary or primary cytoreductive operation. In the early postoperative period there were 19 major complications in 13 patients (5.5 per cent) and 19 minor complications in 15 patients (6 per cent). There also were 3 late postoperative complications, 2 of which required re-hospitalization. Therefore, the over-all rate of 38 early major and minor complications in 28 patients (11.9 per cent) compares favorably to other reports. These complications generally are treated easily and successfullyHowever, there is a striking increase in the incidence of operative difficulties and postoperative complications in patients with advanced disease (stage III). Of 49 such patients there were 13 complications. One patient had multiple complications. Also, all patients who had an extensive primary cytoreductiv...
Representing Vague Opinion

Current supervaluation models of opinion, notably van Fraassen's (1984; 1989; 1990; 1998; 2005; 2006) use of intervals to characterize vague opinion, capture nuances of ordinary reflection which are overlooked by classic measure theoretic models of subjective probability. However, after briefly explaining van Fraassen's approach, we present two limitations in his current framework which provide clear empirical reasons for seeking a refinement. Any empirically adequate account of our actual judgments must reckon with the fact that these are typically neither uniform through the range of outcomes we take to be serious possibilities nor abrupt at the edges.
Time Stretch and its Applications in Nonlinear Dynamics, Biomedicine, and Computational Imaging

Measurements of non-repetitive and rare signals that occur on short timescales requires fast real-time measurements that exceed the speed, precision, and record length of digitizers. Time-stretch is an optical hardware accelerator that overcomes the speed limitations of photodetectors and electronic digitizers and enables ultrafast single-shot spectroscopy, imaging and other measurements at refresh rates reaching billions of frames per second with continuous recording spanning trillions of consecutive frames. The technology has opened a new frontier in measurement science and has led to discovery of several new scientific phenomena in nonlinear optics, laser dynamics and diagnostics of relativistic electron beams. It has also created a new class of instruments that have been integrated with artificial intelligence for sensing and biomedical diagnostics. We review the fundamental principles and applications of time stretch including a spin-off technology known as the phase stretch transform, a new computational imaging algorithm that is emerging as the best edge and texture feature extractor for digital images.
A history of the Five Eyes Alliance: Possibility for reform and additions

At the end of World War II, the United States and the United Kingdom continued their intelligence-sharing efforts by signing the British-U.S. Communication Agreement, later renamed UKUSA. The purpo...
Blood pressure extremes and severe IVH in preterm infants.

The optimal upper and lower limits of blood pressure in preterm infants are not known. Exceeding these thresholds may contribute to intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Preterm infants born ≤30 weeks GA were identified. Infants had continuous measurement of mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) for 7 days and cranial ultrasound imaging. IVH was classified as severe IVH (grade 3/4), no severe IVH (no IVH; grade 1/2), or no IVH. Mean ± SEM MABP values from hours 1–168 were calculated and sorted into bins 2 mm Hg wide. The normalized proportion of each recording spent in each bin was then calculated. Candidate limits were identified by comparison of MABP distribution in those with severe IVH vs. those without severe IVH. Eighty-five million measurements were made from 157 infants. Mean EGA was 25.2 weeks; mean BW was 749 g; 65/157 female; inotrope use in 59/157; grade 3/4 IVH in 29/157. Infants with severe IVH spent significantly more time with extreme MABP measurements ( 46 mm Hg) compared to those without severe IVH (12% vs. 8% of recording, p = 0.02). Infants who developed severe IVH had substantially more unstable MABP and spent a significantly greater period of time with MABP outside of the optimal range.
Health Fog for Smart Healthcare

Internet of Things (IoT) and sensing have led to significant improvements in the delivery of healthcare. IoT can extend its scope by accessing cloud resources. Cloud, on the other hand, can also enhance its services from the data collected from healthcare IoTs. However, IoT and the cloud are generally physically distant from each other making it a challenge to provide services with specific requirements (such as fast response time, less compute-intensive processing). To address these requirements, we need some type of middleware technology such as a fog which resides between the cloud and IoT ecosystem. We describe how fog enables cloud-IoT convergence and can be deployed to achieve smart healthcare. We present a few use cases where the use of fog can improve healthcare delivery. Finally, we discuss relevant issues and opportunities that must be considered in the future in order to realize the smart healthcare vision.
DHEAS and Human Development: An Evolutionary Perspective

Adrenarche, the post-natal rise of DHEA and DHEAS, is unique to humans and the African Apes. Recent findings have linked DHEA in humans to the development of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDPFC) between the ages of 4-8 years and the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) from 7 to 12 years of age. Given the association of the LDLPFC with the 5-to-8 transition and the rTPJ with mentalizing during middle childhood DHEA may have played an important role in the evolution of the human brain. I argue that increasing protein in the diet over the course of human evolution not only increased levels of DHEAS, but linked meat consumption with brain development during the important 5- to-8 transition. Consumption of animal protein has been associated with IGF-1, implicated in the development of the adrenal zona reticularis (ZR), the site of DHEAS production. In humans and chimps, the zona reticularis emerges at 3-4 years, along with the onset of DHEA/S production. For chimps this coincides with weaning and peak synaptogenesis. Among humans, weaning is completed around 2 ½ years, while synaptogenesis peaks around 5 years. Thus, in chimpanzees, early cortical maturation is tied to the mother; in humans it may be associated with post-weaning provisioning by others. I call for further research on adrenarche among the African apes as a critical comparison to humans. I also suggest research in subsistence populations to establish the role of nutrition and energetics in the timing of adrenarche and the onset of middle childhood.
Band structure properties, phonons, and exciton fine structure in 4 H -SiC measured by wavelength-modulated absorption and low-temperature photoluminescence

Owing to its hexagonal symmetry, indirect band gap, and relatively large unit cell, the electronic band structure of $4H$-SiC is comprised of a complicated series of anisotropic valence and conduction band extrema even very near to the uppermost valence band maximum and lowest conduction band minimum. This has presented a difficult challenge to those experiments which have attempted to resolve the small energy separations between these band extrema. To overcome this challenge, we have measured the wavelength-modulated absorption (WMA) spectrum of $4H$-SiC over a broader wavelength range (3500--3800 \AA{}) and at a higher resolution ($l0.1$ \AA{}) than in previous work. By comparing these measurements with the low-temperature photoluminescence spectrum in ultrapure $4H$-SiC, we have identified several features, which we attribute to a $56\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3$ meV crystal-field splitting of the valence band maximum or a $136\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3$ meV separation between the two lowest conduction band minima. We also show that the spin-orbit split-off valence band, which has been observed in previous measurements of $4H$-SiC, contributes to nonparabolic dispersion near the valence band maximum, and this is responsible for several previously misidentified features in the WMA spectrum. Finally, we report the first experimental measurement of fine structure splittings in the free exciton ground state, which manifests as four small ($0.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1$ meV) splittings in the WMA spectrum due to mass anisotropy and electron-hole exchange interaction.