cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Phase Diagrams of Polymer/Clay Composites: The Role of Grafted Organic Modifiers

We combine a density functional theory (DFT) with a self-consistent field model (SCF) to calculate the phase behavior of thin, oblate colloidal particles that are coated with surfactants and dispersed in a polymer melt. These coated particles represent organically modified clay sheets. By integrating the two methods, we can investigate the effect of the surfactants' characteristics (grafting density ρgr and length Ngr) and the polymer−surfactant interaction energy on the polymer−clay phase diagram. Depending on the values of these critical parameters and the clay volume fraction, φ, the system can be in an isotropic or nematic phase (which corresponds to an exfoliated composite). The system can also form a smectic, crystal, columnar, or “house-of-cards” plastic solid, as well as a two-phase (immiscible) mixture. Using this model, we isolate conditions that lead to the stabilization of the homogeneous, exfoliated phases (the isotropic and nematic regions) and to the narrowing of the immiscible two-phase re...
The use of Stigeoclonium subsecundum (cholorophyceae) as a bioassay organism—III. Response to intermittent chlorination

Abstract The toxicity of intermittent chlorination to an attached, filamentous, green alga ( Stigeoclonium subsecundum ) was found to be related to the biomass of the alga at the beginning of the bioassay. Minimal resistant biomass (MRB) was a term used to describe the lowest biomass of algae able to survive and continue to grow when subjected to a specific level of chlorine at intervals of 6 h for a period of one week. This ability to survive was due to changes in the morphology of the algal filaments and the algal mat.
Becoming en‐wheeled: the situated accomplishment of re‐embodiment as a wheelchair user after spinal cord injury

This paper discusses the creative process of re‐embodiment experienced by physically disabled adults who become wheelchair users. Interviews and observational data of adults (rehabilitation patients and persons living in the community) who use wheelchairs show how they redefine, re‐examine or modify past experiences, abilities, lifestyles and habits in their efforts towards re‐embodiment. The aim of this paper is to document the process of learning to use a wheelchair and making it a part of one's embodied existence. The paper shows that this process involves the negotiation of past and new habits, abilities and ways of doing. It argues against conceptualizing disability as an all encompassing state of being. Rather, the competence and abilities required to achieve wheelchair embodiment are analyzed as a situated accomplishment with social and political consequences.
A World Wide Web-Based Research Project

The World Wide Web (Web) is a good source of data for class projects. In this article, I review a Web-based experimental psychology research project examining human mate preferences. Designed as a conceptual replication of Hayes's (1995) study of newspaper personal advertisements, students collected information from Internet personal advertisements to provide support for or against evolutionary (Buss, 1985) and social learning theories (Hayes) of mate selection. Students collected information from 4 personal advertisement categories: men seeking women, women seeking men, women seeking women, and men seeking men. I summarized and returned the data to students who wrote an American Psychological Association style paper on mate selection. I also review the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet.
From Maverick to Mafia to MBA: Gaming Industry Leadership in Las Vegas from 1931 through 2007

This article presents a historical analysis of three eras in the history of Las Vegas gaming industry leadership: a maverick era, a mafia era, and an MBA era. Within each period, the article highlights the roles of key figures that shaped the industry's evolving landscape. The second section examines management applications that emerged from each of these periods, with a focus on four areas: (1) operating principles, (2) government relations, (3) “backlash management,” and (4) the ways in which the mythologies of these eras have actually been used in the selling of the city itself. The article concludes by summarizing the successes and failures of this evolution.
Improvement of SC wiggler performance

Described is a methodology of improvement for good field region in a SC 2.1 T CESR's wiggler as example. The method includes a tapering, shimming and pole face winding with active field distribution correction. This technology can be applied to any wiggler, however.
Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA variation describe ecologically important genetic structure of even-year pink salmon inhabiting Prince William Sound, Alaska

– Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data were obtained from pink salmon throughout Prince William Sound, Alaska, from two hatchery, five upstream, and 20 tidal locations distributed among five management regions collected during 1994. Screening for allozymes included 66 loci for 92 to 100 fish per sample. Thirty-four loci had variant allele frequencies <0.01 in one or more collections and were used for population analyses. Eight haplotypes were detected after screening 40 fish per collection for variation at the ND5/ND6 region of mtDNA using six restriction enzymes. Significant and apparently stable differences detected by both data sets permit rejecting a null hypothesis of panmixia and support managing native populations in Prince William Sound at the regional level. Distinctions between upstream and tidal collections were detected within Lagoon Creek (allozymes) and Koppen Creek (mtDNA). Significant regional heterogeneity was detected within upstream (allozymes and mtDNA) and tidal (allozymes) collections; however, upstream collections were more divergent from each other than were tidal collections. The absence of distinction of Armin F. Koernig Hatchery from almost all regions was consistent with multiple origins of this stock. Conversely, Solomon Gulch Hatchery in the East Region was distinct from all regions but East, consistent with a more restricted origin and influence.
Performance of children under a multiple random-ratio random-interval schedule of reinforcement

Three children, aged 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 years, pressed telegraph keys under a two-component multiple random-ratio random-interval schedule of reinforcement. In the first condition, responses on the left key were reinforced under a random-interval schedule and responses on the right key were reinforced under a random-ratio schedule. In the second condition, the schedule components were reversed. In the third condition, the original arrangement was reinstated. For all subjects, rates of responding were higher in the random-ratio component despite higher rates of reinforcement in the random-interval component. The average interreinforcement interval of the random-interval component was increased in the fourth condition, resulting in more similar rates of reinforcement for both schedule components, and then returned to its original value in the fifth condition. In both conditions, all subjects continued to exhibit higher rates of responding in the ratio component than in the interval component. Although these observations are consistent with results from studies with pigeons, it is argued that the response-rate differences between the interval and ratio schedule components are sufficient to demonstrate schedule sensitivity.
Real-Time Implementation of a Kinematic Optimization Scheme for Seven-Degree-of-Freedom Redundant Robots with Spherical Wrists

A computationally efficient, kinematic optimization scheme is presented for seven-degree-of-freedom robots with spherical wrists. This scheme uses the gradient projection method, and it does not require the generalized inverse of the Jacobian. An efficient formulation for determining joint velocities is obtained. Thus, this control scheme is well-suited for real-time implementation, which is essential if the end-effector trajectory is continuously modified based on sensory feedback. A comparison of the computational complexity with previously available schemes is presented. Implementation of this scheme on a Motorola 68020 VMEbus-based controller of the seven-degree-of-freedom manipulator at the ORNL Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research (CESAR) is described.
Real-time hybrid model predictive control of a boost converter with constant power load

In this paper, a model predictive control method is implemented for improved performance of a boost converter sourcing a constant power load (CPL). The method applies results of recently developed hybrid optimal model predictive control to determine switching through real-time minimization of a user-defined performance index tailored to CPLs. In contrast to many controllers designed for boost converters, the proposed method does not utilize small-signal average value models in its development. Therefore, the controller design is not equilibrium-point specific. In addition, since the optimization is performed online, the control is more flexible than many recently proposed controllers that utilize the hybrid model to determine optimal switching strategies offline and subsequently apply utilizing a look-up table. The result is a robust, high bandwidth control that has been validated in hardware.
Search for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Perseus molecular cloud with the Green Bank Telescope

ABSTRACT Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are believed to be the small-size tailof the interstellar carbonaceous dust grain population. Their vibrational emissionis the most widely accepted source of the aromatic near-infrared features, andtheir rotational radiation is a likely explanation for the dust-correlated anomalousmicrowave emission (AME). Yet, no individual interstellar PAH molecule has beenidenti ed to date. It was recently recognised that quasi-symmetric planar PAHs oughtto have a well identi able comb-like rotational spectrum, and suggested to search forthem in spectroscopic data with matched- ltering techniques. We report the resultsof the rst such search, carried out with the Green Bank Telescope, and targetingthe star-forming region IC348 in the Perseus molecular cloud, a known source ofAME. Our observations amounted to 16.75 hours and spanned a 3 GHz-wide bandextending from 23.3 to 26.3 GHz. Using frequency switching, we achieved a sensitivityof 0.4 mJy per 0.4 MHz channel (1˙). The non-detection of comb-like spectra allowedus to set upper bounds on the abundance of speci c quasi-symmetric PAH molecules(speci ed uniquely by their moments of inertia) of approximately 0.1% of the totalPAH abundance. This bound generically applies to PAHs with approximately 15 to100 carbon atoms.Key words: ISM: dust, molecules, lines and bands
Declarative visitors to ease fine-grained source code mining with full history on billions of AST nodes

Software repositories contain a vast wealth of information about software development. Mining these repositories has proven useful for detecting patterns in software development, testing hypotheses for new software engineering approaches, etc. Specifically, mining source code has yielded significant insights into software development artifacts and processes. Unfortunately, mining source code at a large-scale remains a difficult task. Previous approaches had to either limit the scope of the projects studied, limit the scope of the mining task to be more coarse-grained, or sacrifice studying the history of the code due to both human and computational scalability issues. In this paper we address the substantial challenges of mining source code: a) at a very large scale; b) at a fine-grained level of detail; and c) with full history information.To address these challenges, we present domain-specific language features for source code mining. Our language features are inspired by object-oriented visitors and provide a default depth-first traversal strategy along with two expressions for defining custom traversals. We provide an implementation of these features in the Boa infrastructure for software repository mining and describe a code generation strategy into Java code. To show the usability of our domain-specific language features, we reproduced over 40 source code mining tasks from two large-scale previous studies in just 2 person-weeks. The resulting code for these tasks show between 2.0x--4.8x reduction in code size. Finally we perform a small controlled experiment to gain insights into how easily mining tasks written using our language features can be understood, with no prior training. We show a substantial number of tasks (77%) were understood by study participants, in about 3 minutes per task.
Optimization and predication of leakage current characteristics in wide domino OR gates under PVT variation

The leakage current characteristics of wide dual Vt domino OR gates is studied and gate-level models for estimating sub-threshold leakage and gate leakage current with two different sleep states are developed to determine the optimal sleep state. Results demonstrate that the developed models are robust and exhibit maximum error of 4% with respect to device-level BSIM4 models based HSPICE simulations. Furthermore, PVT variation aware leakage current characteristics of domino OR gates is analyzed and the optimal sleep state is obtained.
Permeability of a cell membrane junction. Dependence on energy metabolism.

The ion permeability of the membrane junctions between Chironomus salivary gland cells is strongly depressed by treatments that are generally known to inhibit energy metabolism. These treatments include prolonged cooling at 6°–8°C, and exposure to dinitrophenol, cyanide, oligomycin, and N-ethylmaleimide. Intracellular injection of ATP appears to prevent depression of junctional permeability by dinitrophenol or to reverse it. Ouabain, azide, p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid, reserpine, and acetazolamide fail to depress junctional permeability. Thus the ion permeability of the junctional membranes appears to depend on energy provided by oxidative phosphorylation. Possible energy-linked processes for maintaining junctional permeability are discussed, including processes involving transport of permeability-modifying species such as Ca++.
An intermediate conductance K+ channel in the cell membrane of mouse intestinal smooth muscle.

Single channel currents were recorded from cell-attached and inside-out patches in smooth muscle cells of the mouse ileum in order to identify TEA-sensitive Ca2+-dependent K+ channels. Cells were bathed in high-K+ (150 mM) solution with [Ca2+] buffered to 80-150 nM with EGTA and patch pipettes were filled with low-K+ (2.5 mM) physiological solution. Two distinct TEA-sensitive unitary outward current levels were identified at a holding potential (Vh) of 0 mV, corresponding to intermediate conductance (IK, approximately 40 pS) and large conductance (BK, >200 pS) K+ channels. The open probability (Po) of IK channels increased with depolarization, the voltage for half-maximal activation averaging +12 mV in 80 nM Cabath2+. Raising the [Ca2+] in the high-K+ solution from 80 nM to 150 nM increased the Po of IK channels at Vh=0 mV from 0.078 to 0.21. Likewise, the open probability of BK channels at 0 mV was increased from 0.003 to 0.026. Unlike BK channels, IK channels inactivated with maintained depolarization with a voltage for half-maximal inactivation of -66 mV. IK channels were blocked by 2-5 mM external TEA and were sensitive to both charybdotoxin (100 nM) and apamin (500 nM). Our results suggest that IK channels contribute significantly to the Ca2+-dependent K+ conductance in visceral smooth muscle.
Testing the Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire-II.

Objective: To revise and test a 34-item self-administered questionnaire that measures health practices important to pregnancy outcome. Design: Three studies were conducted: a content validity study with nurse experts, a content validity study with pregnant women, and a cross-sectional study using mailed surveys to test the reliability and construct validity of the Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire–II (HPQ-II). Settings: Nurse-midwifery and obstetric physician practices. Participants: Clinical experts (n = 8) and pregnant women (n = 10 for Study 2; n=312 for Study 3). Main Outcome Measure: The HPQ-II, a selfreport instrument that measures pregnancy health practices. Results: Content validity was established with two reviews of the HPQ-II conducted by clinical experts and pregnant women and by a satisfactory Content Validity Index. Construct validity was supported by statistically significant correlations with a measure of prepregnancy health practices, scores on individual prepregnancy health practice items, and a theoretically related measure of women's attitudes toward their pregnancies and babies. Reliability (internal consistency) was satisfactory. Conclusions: This instrument promises to be useful in research and practice involving health practices during pregnancy.
Leptin Regulates Bone Formation via the Sympathetic Nervous System

We previously showed that leptin inhibits bone formation by an undefined mechanism. Here, we show that hypothalamic leptin-dependent antiosteogenic and anorexigenic networks differ, and that the peripheral mediators of leptin antiosteogenic function appear to be neuronal. Neuropeptides mediating leptin anorexigenic function do not affect bone formation. Leptin deficiency results in low sympathetic tone, and genetic or pharmacological ablation of adrenergic signaling leads to a leptin-resistant high bone mass. beta-adrenergic receptors on osteoblasts regulate their proliferation, and a beta-adrenergic agonist decreases bone mass in leptin-deficient and wild-type mice while a beta-adrenergic antagonist increases bone mass in wild-type and ovariectomized mice. None of these manipulations affects body weight. This study demonstrates a leptin-dependent neuronal regulation of bone formation with potential therapeutic implications for osteoporosis.
Chronic sorrow in caregivers of school age children with sickle cell disease: a grounded theory approach.

Chronic illness affects over 1 million children in the United States annually. One such illness prominent in the African-American population is sickle cell disease (SCD), which affects approximately 1 in 375 African Americans in the United States. This potentially life-threatening disease requires caregivers to carefully monitor and supervise children with SCD. Monitoring and caring for children with SCD places heavy burdens, demands, and responsibilities on these caregivers. The psychological stressors and unpredictable nature of the disease could cause caregivers to experience a variety of emotions, with one being chronic sorrow. The purposes of this study were to examine the process of chronic sorrow in caregivers of school age children with SCD, identify the characteristics of chronic sorrow, and generate a substantive theory of chronic sorrow. The methodology used was grounded theory, and data were generated through two interview sessions, a demographic questionnaire, field notes, and memos. Data analyses were performed following the principles of grounded theory. Data suggested these caregivers move through three overlapping stages: learning about and incorporating SCD into their daily lives; experiencing the sorrow; and doing what one has to do and moving on. The diagnosis was the initial trigger to evoke feelings, including sorrow. As time progressed, other internal and external triggers began to evoke feelings of sorrow that eventually became chronic. A process of repatterning began as caregivers learned to live with the unpredictable consequences of SCD, which produced the feelings of chronic sorrow. Repatterning behaviors enabled caregivers to "do what you have to do and move on."
THE EARLY BUDDHIST NOTION OF THE MIDDLE PATH

The relationship between the earliest form of Buddhism and the various traditions that developed later has been a perennial problem in the history of Buddhist thought. As is well known to students of Buddhist philosophy, the different schools of the Abhidharma or scholastic tradition, in spite of rather significant doctrinal variations among themselves, all claimed to preserve the Buddha-word in its pristine purity. The Mahāyāna schools, adopting philosophical standpoints very different from those of scholasticism, upheld the view that theirs represent the true teachings of the Buddha. Many a modern scholar, after aligning himself with one or the other of these later philosophical developments, has endeavored to draw a close relationship between the school he has accepted and early Buddhism. In the present paper, I propose to show that early Buddhism, as embodied in the Pali Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas, which are recognized by all the different schools as representing the earliest sources for the study of Buddhism, is radically different from all these schools, at least as far as their philosophical content is concerned.
Power optimal MTCMOS repeater insertion for global buses

This paper addresses the problem of power-optimal repeater insertion for global buses in the presence of crosstalk noise. MTCMOS technique by inserting high-Vth sleep transistors to reduce the leakage power consumption in the idle mode is used. We simultaneously calculate the repeater sizes, repeater distances, and the size of the sleep transistors to minimize the power dissipation. The effect of crosstalk coupling capacitance on propagation delay and (switching and short circuit) power dissipation is considered. Experimental results show that depending on the activity factor of the circuit, the proposed technique can significantly reduce the power consumption of the global bus interconnects.
Psychophysics of reading. III. A fiberscope low-vision reading aid

Existing reading aids providing magnification in excess of 6X (24 diopters) are awkward to use, expensive, or not portable. The authors have developed a new type of reading aid, a low-resolution fiberscope, that provides magnification up to 40X (160 diopters), and is easy to use, inexpensive, and portable. The fiberscope consists of an objective-lens assembly, a flexible bundle of optical fibers, and an eyepiece that together transmit an image from the page to the reader's eye. Complete construction details are included. The design is based on the authors' previous findings that reading requires a field of only four characters and a resolution of only 2 cycles/character. After only half an hour of training, a diverse group of low-vision readers read with the fiberscope at rates between 12 and 95 words/minute. Low-vision readers with central field loss had a median reading rate of only 18 words/min, whereas those with intact central fields had a median reading rate of 67 words/min, not far short of the median rate of 73 words/min for normal readers using the fiberscope. This is consistent with the authors' previous findings that low-vision readers with central field loss read much more slowly than those with intact central fields, even when optimal magnification is provided. The authors conclude that the fiberscope may be very useful as an inexpensive portable reading aid for people requiring high magnification.
Fast Galerkin BEM for 3D-potential theory

This paper is concerned with the development of a fast spectral method for solving direct and indirect boundary integral equations in 3D-potential theory. Based on a Galerkin approximation and the Fast Fourier Transform, the proposed method is a generalization of the precorrected-FFT technique to handle not only single-layer potentials but also double-layer potentials and higher-order basis functions. Numerical examples utilizing piecewise linear shape functions are presented to illustrate the performance of the method.
Nested saturation with guaranteed real poles

The global stabilization of asymptotically null-controllable linear systems with bounded controls has been studied extensively. An early contribution was by Teel who proposed a set of nested saturators to globally asymptotically stabilize the special case of n-integrators with one input. Using this law however, the closed loop system pole locations depend on the choice of coordinate transformation used to arrive at the control law. In this paper we suggest an approach that allows the designer to pick transformations that facilitate the placement of the closed loop poles on the negative real axis.
An X-Y Hydraulic/Thermal Model for Estuaries

A two-dimensional time dependent numerical model for partially stratified estuaries is described. The model is based on a coupled solution to the continuity, momentum, and salinity equations in the longitudinal (x) and vertical (z) directions. The hydrostatic approximation is used, and the vertical exchange of momentum, mass and energy is modeled with an eddy viscosity using empirical modifications for stable and unstable stratification. The numerical method is a time and space staggered scheme with the vertical direction treated implicitly. Convection terms in the transport equations are treated with upwind differencing. The model results show good agreement with observed tidal phase lag, current and salinity data. At low freshwater flows, the model predicts a large density-induced circulation (DIC), which strongly influences the dilution of thermal discharges. An important result is that the DIC is not monotonic, being much larger in the deep sections of the river due to recirculation.
Pacific Revisions of Blackness: Blacks Address Race and Belonging in Hawai'i

Hawai'i is heralded as a model of U.S. multiculturalism due to its demographic diversity, yet those wishing to invalidate Barak Obama's “Americanness” and his “blackness” depict the state as extranational. Local debates over sovereignty, however, can divide islanders into Hawaiians and colonial settlers. These national and local discourses of Hawai'i curiously neglect Blacks, who are an absent presence and a present absence in the islands: despite the disproportionate influence that Black cultural forms (particularly hip hop and reggae) exercise on the islands’ culture, Hawai'i's Blacks and their histories remain virtually unknown. Hawai'i's colonial and immigrant history, imported U.S. racist thinking, and indigenous Hawaiian ideologies have shaped ideas of belonging and difference in which culture, race, and ancestry are intertwined. The biologization of race developed on the continent and is rooted in the notion of blood purity that benefits Whites. The quantification of blood and a hierarchical sortin...
Unsteady Seepage toward Narrow Ditch

A linearized solution is obtained for the unsteady, free surface seepage toward a ditch in an infinitely deep aquifer. The complex potential is defined to be the solution of a first order, linear, partial differential equation, and examination of the general solution for this equation reveals that a seepage surface cannot be imposed along the ditch boundary in the linearized model. A numerical example is treated, and it is pointed out that the same results can be used to describe the unsteady recharge of an aquifer under similar boundary conditions.
A Critical Appraisal of Current Wholesaling

THE very title of this article suggests content of a critical and therefore not always complimentary nature. Moreover, space limitations call for a treatment of highlights in broad sweeps rather than either comprehensive coverage or a detailed consideration of selected items. Finally, by the nature of things the concluding article of a series must of necessity overlap in some measure the material covered in preceding articles.
Child Trafficking: A Concept Analysis

Child trafficking is often intertwined within the public discussion of human trafficking as owning the same properties and attributes as adults who are trafficked. Yet, as the concept of trafficking is inductively explored with the specific focus related to children and youth, the published literature provides us with an increased understanding of the unique qualities that not only create an at-risk population of youth, but the descriptors of traffickingi¯s effect on children as its own population of victims. This article follows an evolutionary analytical process in its inductive exploration of the holistic understanding of child trafficking through a systematic search of the current literature. Through a qualitative examination of the literature, surrogate terms, attributes, antecedents, and consequences and their associated themes are identified and discussed. Finally, a theoretical definition of the concept of child trafficking is provided for the examination and discussion of continued theoretical development.
Detecting Influence Relationships from Graphs.

Graphs have been widely used to represent objects and ob- ject connections in applications such as the Web, social net- works, and citation networks. Mining influence relationships from graphs has gained interests in recent years because pro- viding influence information about the object connections in graphs can facilitate graph exploration, graph search, and connection recommendations. In this paper, we study the problem of detecting influence aspects, on which objects are connected, and influence degree (or influence strength), with which one graph node influences another graph node on a given aspect. Existing techniques focus on inferring either the influence degrees or influence types from graphs. We propose two generative Aspect Influence Models, OAIM and LAIM, to detect both influence aspects and influence de- grees. These models utilize the topological structure of the graphs, the text content associated with objects, and the con- text in which the objects are connected. We compare these two models with one baseline approach which considers only the text content associated with objects. The empirical stud- ies on citation graphs and networks of users from Twitter show that our models can discover more effective results than the baseline approach.
Facilitating effect of CCK on nicotinic neurotransmission in cat pancreatic ganglion

Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of cholecystokinin (CCK)-like peptides in nerve terminals surrounding ganglion neurons of the cat pancreas. The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) on ganglionic transmission. Recordings were made intracellularly in vitro from ganglion neurons in isolated pieces of the pancreas. Sulfated CCK-8 (S-CCK-8) and nonsulfated CCK-8 initiated or increased ongoing fast excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) activity, an effect antagonized by hexamethonium. Superfusion of S-CCK-8 in concentrations ranging from 10(-11) to 10(-8) M significantly augmented the amplitude of nerve-evoked subthreshold fEPSPs without a significant change in either membrane potential or membrane input resistance. S-CCK-8 (10(-8)M) also increased the quantal content and quantal size of nerve-evoked fEPSPs and increased the response to exogenously applied acetylcholine (ACh). Concentrations of S-CCK-8 higher than 10(-8)M caused depolarization and an increase in membrane input resistance, an effect unaltered by a low-Ca+, high-Mg2+ solution. It was concluded that S-CCK-8 potentiated nicotinic transmission by facilitating release of ACh from preganglionic nerve terminals and by increasing the postsynaptic membrane sensitivity to ACh.
Japanese Whaling in the Pacific Ocean: Defiance of International Whaling Norms in the Name of “Scientific Research,” Culture, and Tradition

Japanese whaling practices have always sparked controversy among the international community. Japan's recent defiance of international environmental norms, however, risks a full-scale trade war led by U.S. demands to reform Japan's whaling practices or suffer trade sanctions. Although the species' endangered status may support sanctioning measures under international law, the United States must exercise caution in imposing restraints on international trade in light of its commitments under international trade agreements. The future of Japanese whaling remains unclear, but the international condemnation and call for restrictions is well-founded on international whaling and environmental norms.
Spiritual Care: An Essential Aspect of Cancer Care

Spirituality is a universal part of the end-of-life experience. Spirituality is considered a primary part of hospice and palliative care. The meaning of spirituality and how it affects the quality of the end of life and dying are explored.
Conclusion: “To Do” List

Given the research we have surveyed together in this book, it seems clear that it is time to set a new national agenda for the community college in America. There is significant evidence to suggest that, at the moment, the community college may be in danger of becoming a “neo-liberal college” (Levin 2007; Levin 2013, 233). A new national agenda is required to strengthen this important American institution, which has done so much to promote equity, opportunity, and social justice in our nation.
Array Termination Impacts in Advanced SRAM

An essential goal of the static random access memory (SRAM) array termination design is to both terminate as well as maintain a homogeneous environment for the active edge cells in the array. Local layout effects (LLEs) in the array termination design can exert influence on the active array SRAM devices in close proximity to the termination region, which can lead to undesirable inhomogenuities in the array. The impact of LLEs, originating from the array termination design, on SRAM read performance and $V_{\min }$ fail count, are examined using a 14-nm FinFET technology. Large-scale SRAM read performance statistics are analyzed to identify elevated read currents and low-voltage fail counts associated with the array termination. The root cause and modulating factors are explored, and potential solution paths are discussed.
The promises of computational ethnography: Improving transparency, replicability, and validity for realist approaches to ethnographic analysis:

This article argues the advance of computational methods for analyzing, visualizing and disseminating social scientific data can provide substantial tools for ethnographers operating within the bro...
Communication: Coordinate-dependent diffusivity from single molecule trajectories

Single-molecule observations of biomolecular folding are commonly interpreted using the model of one-dimensional diffusion along a reaction coordinate, with a coordinate-independent diffusion coefficient. Recent analysis, however, suggests that more general models are required to account for single-molecule measurements performed with high temporal resolution. Here, we consider one such generalization: a model where the diffusion coefficient can be an arbitrary function of the reaction coordinate. Assuming Brownian dynamics along this coordinate, we derive an exact expression for the coordinate-dependent diffusivity in terms of the splitting probability within an arbitrarily chosen interval and the mean transition path time between the interval boundaries. This formula can be used to estimate the effective diffusion coefficient along a reaction coordinate directly from single-molecule trajectories.
LACTATION AND MATERNAL SUBCLINICAL CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AMONG WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT A HISTORY OF HYPERTENSIVE DISORDERS OF PREGNANCY

Women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy have an increased risk of later life cardiovascular disease (CVD). Lactation may be cardioprotective; we sought to determine whether lactation was associated with an improved CVD profile similarly in women with normotensive and hypertensive pregnancies
SUPERIOR VENA CAVA SYNDROME CAUSING RECURRENT INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE BY VENOUS CONGESTION (P1.293)

Objective: Report a case of Superior Vena Cava Syndrome (SVCS) causing cerebral venous infarcts and hemorrhage likely from venous congestion; and review literature on intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in SVCS. Background: SVCS causes increased venous pressure which can cause intracerebral manifestations including headaches, papilledema and rarely, cerebral edema. The literature on SVCS causing increased intracranial pressure (ICP) resulting in ICH is sparse. Design/Methods: Retrospective chart review. Results: 85 year old gentleman known to have atrial fibrillation on Apixaban with a pacemaker presented with dyspnea, headache and malignant hypertension. CT head (CTH) demonstrated ICH in the superior right parietal lobe with surrounding vasogenic edema, without any vascular malformations. CTA chest showed pulmonary embolus and incidental goiter with mild tracheal compression. Three months later, he presented with new left arm weakness, dysarthria and headache. Though normotensive, CTH showed a new ipsilateral ICH with surrounding vasogenic edema. He developed abrupt respiratory failure with marked head/neck swelling and purplish discoloration. Repeat CT chest demonstrated marked tracheal compression and vascular compromise from known goiter necessitating urgent thyroidectomy for SVCS. Abnormal upper limb venous collaterals were noted on both CTAs of the chest, with bilateral subclavian vein occlusion by the goiter, leading to a SVCS with Pemberton Sign. The ICHs were more consistent with a venous infarction etiology given significant vasogenic edema, making venous congestion from SVCS a plausible etiology. Animal models have shown that SVC occlusion can cause elevated ICP and hemorrhagic infarcts secondary to venous congestion. Rare cases of ICH have been described in SVCS, but not conclusively linked to venous congestion due to the presence of confounding factors like anticoagulation and traumatic brain injury, until now. Conclusions: SVCS is an important cause of raised ICP. Patients with SVCS on anticoagulation have increased incidence of ICH, which could also be due to venous congestion. Disclosure: Dr. Attar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mathur Kumaraswamy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Miller has nothing to disclose. Dr. De Georgia has nothing to disclose.
Excess Cost and Predictive Factors of Esophagectomy Complications in the SEER-Medicare Database.

Background Postoperative complications result in significantly increased health care expenditures. The objective of this study was to examine 90-day excess costs associated with inpatient complications after esophagectomy and their predictive factors, by using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database. Methods The study examined patients older than 65 years of age with a diagnosis from 2002 to 2009 and who were undergoing esophagectomy for cancer in the SEER-Medicare database. Quantile regression models were fit at 5% intervals for excess 90-day cost associated with perioperative complications while controlling for baseline characteristics. Excess cost was defined as the difference in total cost for patients with versus without the complication. Analyses were stratified by patients' characteristics to identify factors predictive of excess cost. Results A total of 1,462 patients were identified in the cohort; 51% had at least one complication. Significant excess cost was associated with pulmonary and mechanical wound complications across all quantiles (p 0, living in a nonmetropolitan area or poorer community, or treated in larger hospitals; no such difference was identified in patients without complications. Conclusions Complications after esophagectomy result in significant excess 90-day cost. Efforts at cost reduction and quality improvement will need to focus on reducing complications, in particular pulmonary and infectious, as well as risk factors for higher complication costs.
Social Skills Instruction as Adjunctive/Alternative to Psychotherapy

It has often been stated that there are many “schools” of psychotherapy, as well as many variations of the several major viewpoints regarding psychotherapy. It is my contention that there are only two major subdivisions of psychotherapy — those that locate the variables in the “psyche” and those that locate the variables in the environment (or in the person-environment interaction). If I am correct, the implications of this subdivision for psychotherapy and for social skills type of intervention, in place of or in conjunction with psychotherapy, are numerous and compelling — when the variables promoting change are located in the environment. The purposes of this paper will be to review some empirical support for use of social skills training in a variety of behaviour change situations, and for the contention that social skills intervention works well with, and sometimes in place of, psychotherapy. I will propose some conceptual notions as to why social skills intervention in coping with anxiety is a promising development.
Single-Cell Neuronal Dissociation for Electrophysiological Studies

Since the patch-clamp technique was initially applied about 35 years ago, it has been thought to be a powerful method for studying electrical properties of ion channels and cell excitability in the varied excitable cells including peripheral and central neurons. Although we understand that many factors can affect the patch-clamp recording, the viability of the peripheral and central neurons is an essential point for the success of the patch-clamp experiments. In this chapter, I introduce (1) acute dissociation procedures of the peripheral neurons from ganglia and the central neurons from brain (such as equipment, materials, preparation of tissues, enzymatic treatment of the tissues, mechanical agitation of the tissue fragments, and preservation of the isolated cells), (2) explanatory notes for the whole procedure of the acute neuronal isolation, and (3) advantages and disadvantages of the isolated peripheral and central neurons for the electrophysiological studies.
Impact of Chronic Steroid Use on Plastic Surgery Outcomes: Analysis of 94,140 Cases.

Background Chronic steroid use suppresses inflammation, edema, and autoimmunity, and delays wound healing. Using data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, this study characterizes the risk of perioperative chronic steroid use for complications in plastic surgery cases. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 94,140 plastic surgery cases from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database for the years 2006 to 2015. CPT codes were used to categorize operations. Patients were separated into two cohorts based on chronic steroid use status. Univariate analysis was performed using chi-square, Fisher's exact, or Wilcoxon rank sum test. Logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the association between chronic steroid use and postoperative complications. Total hospital length of stay was compared. Odds ratios were computed at the 95 percent confidence interval. Results Chronic steroid users were more likely to develop surgical complications (OR, 1.3; p = 0.0452) and medical complications (OR, 1.8; p = 0.0002) compared with nonusers. Among the 10 most frequent procedures performed on chronic steroid users, steroid use was a significant risk factor for postoperative complications after reduction mammaplasty (OR, 2.2; p = 0.001); delayed insertion of breast prosthesis following mastopexy or mastectomy or during reconstruction (OR, 2.2; p = 0.049); and in trunk muscle, myocutaneous, or fasciocutaneous flap surgery (OR, 7.2; p = 0.0029). Conclusion With this information in hand, plastic surgeons will be better equipped to counsel patients and adequately design perioperative protocols for chronic steroid users. Clinical question/level of evidence Therapeutic, III.
“Microaggressions: A Kantian Account”

In this paper, I offer an explanation of the moral significance of microaggressions, seemingly minor incidents in which someone is demeaned in virtue of an oppressed social identity, often without the full awareness of the perpetrator. I argue for a broadly Kantian account of the wrongs of microaggressions and the moral responsibilities of various actors with respect to these incidents.
Chapter 10 – Companion Computer Programs

In this chapter several computer programs for calculating two-dimensional laminar and turbulent incompressible flows are described. First, computer programs and sample calculations based on integral methods are described; then a program based on the differential method, applicable to both laminar and turbulent flows for a given external velocity distribution and transition location is presented, along with sample calculations for an airfoil with the external velocity distribution obtained from a panel method. Computer programs for incompressible laminar and turbulent flows with heat transfer and for infinite-swept wing flows, respectively, are then discussed, followed by another differential method for two-dimensional incompressible turbulent flows with Cebeci-Smith and k-e models. The chapter concludes with programs and subroutines relevant to Problems and discussions in previous chapters.
Africa’s persistent struggles for development and democracy in a multipolar world

Ever since the emergence of the modern world system more than half a millennium ago, developments within Africa have always been connected to and affected by global dynamics and forces. This local-...
“The Problem isn’t Yourself Overcoming, it’s Other People Overcoming You:” A Decolonizing Mental Health DSE Curricular Cripstemology Reading of Daniel and Luna’s Intersectional Dis/ability Experiences

This study brings together 2 case studies to interrogate the intersectional experiences of historically marginalized youth at the intersections of power and identity from a decolonizing mental heal...
Gamifying blackness: from slave records to Playing History: Slave Trade

The video game Playing History: Slave Trade has been deemed controversial due to its content, particularly its gamification of racial slavery. Yet, the game also holds a materiality largely underex...
Dosimetric Evaluation and Comparison Between Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) Plan in Head and Neck Cancers

Aim To evaluate and compare the dosimetric parameters between volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in head and neck cancers (HNCs). Material and methods A total of 30 patients newly diagnosed with Head and Neck cancers planned for radiotherapy were enrolled in the study. Two plans were made for each patient, one VMAT plan with two complete arcs (one clockwise and another counter clockwise ranging from 181° to 179° (clockwise) and 179° to 181° (counter clockwise) and other seven field IMRT dynamic Plan with beam angles at 0°, 50°, 100°,150°, 210°, 260°, 310°. All plans were generated with 6 MV photons. Optimization and calculations were done in Varian Eclipse planning system. Results VMAT plan achieved a better Conformity Index 95% with value of 1.016 ± 0.014 compared to 1.033±0.012 in IMRT. D2%, D5%, D50% were higher in VMAT compared to IMRT. Homogeneity Index was higher for the plans in IMRT with value of 0.035 ± 0.003 compared to 0.058 ± 0.008 with VMAT. The dose to the surrounding organs-at-risk (OARs) are better in VMAT and in particular for brainstem and spinal cord (statistically significant). The monitor units were significantly lower with VMAT (610±70) compared to IMRT (1079± 149). Conclusion VMAT achieved acceptable planning target volume coverage with high conformity to the primary tumor and better sparing effect on organs-at-risk particularly spinal cord and brain stem. Statistically significant reduction in monitor units was achieved in VMAT than in IMRT. VMAT should be preferred wherever feasible with due consideration to cost and availability.