cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A regulation capacity reset strategy for HVAC frequency regulation control

Abstract The power grid has seen record demand for frequency regulation capacity in recent years due to the increased employment of renewable energy resources worldwide. Building thermal loads are flexible and thus, can be used as regulation reserves with proper control strategies. Previous studies have shown that building HVAC equipment can provide high-quality power grid regulation service with PJM performance scores of up to 0.98 and buildings’ participation in the regulation market could bring significant economic benefits for building owners. However, the power flexibility in buildings is not persistent and the available HVAC regulation capacity has significant hour-by-hour variation due to building load and other operating constraints. This paper presents a regulation capacity reset strategy for HVAC regulation control that identifies the available regulation capacity and baseline power on the fly with real-time load and operation data. The strategy relies on a steady-state HVAC performance model derived from manufacturer performance data and implements a pseudo-optimization that seeks the maximum regulation capacity while respecting all operating constraints. The proposed strategy was implemented on a variable-speed rooftop unit (RTU) and validated with laboratory tests in psychrometric chambers. The test results show that the proposed reset strategy is effective in providing consistent high-quality regulation service with negligible impact on the indoor temperature control; the zone temperature deviation from the setpoint was within 0.3 °C for all the performed tests. The reset strategy was also simulated with a prototypical building diurnal load model to quantify the integrated regulation capacity for a typical summer day. Simulation results indicate the integrated HVAC regulation capacity throughout a summer day equals approximately 1/4 of the daily electrical energy use; and the estimated daily regulation credit can offset up to 26% of the daily HVAC electricity cost based on PJM historical prices.
Centroid error due to non-uniform lenslet illumination in the Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor.

Images formed by individual Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor lenslets are displaced proportionally to the average wavefront slope over their aperture. This principle fails when the lenslet illumination is non-uniform. Here we demonstrate that the resulting error is proportional to the linear component of the illumination intensity, the quadratic wavefront component, and the lenslet size. For illustrative purposes, we compare the error due to centered Gaussian illumination decaying by 30% at the pupil edge against the error due to assuming the wavefront at the lenslet center being equal to the wavefront average across each lenslet. When testing up to ninth-order Zernike polynomial wavefronts and simulating nine lenslets across the pupil, the maximum centroid errors due to non-uniform illumination and sampling are 1.4% and 21%, respectively, and 0.5% and 6.7% when considering 25 lenslets across the pupil in the absence of other sources of error.
Pseudohypoaldosteronismus Typ I

Der Pseudohypoaldosteronismus Typ I ist ein seltenes Salzverlustsyndrom durch eine Aldosteronresistenz. Die systemische Form wird autosomal-rezessiv vererbt und durch Mutationen des epithelialen Natriumkanals (ENaC) verursacht. Patienten mit systemischem Pseudohypoaldosteronismus benotigen eine lebenslange Natriumsubstitution sowie engmaschige Kontrollen des Flussigkeits- und Elektrolythaushalts. In diesem Fall fiel das 9 Tage alte Neugeborene klinisch mit einer Trinkschwache auf. Laborchemisch zeigte sich die typische Konstellation eines Pseudohypoaldosteronismus Typ I mit einer ausgepragten Hyperkaliamie, metabolischen Acidose sowie Hyponatriamie bei stark erhohten Renin- und Aldosteronwerten.
A proposed new therapy of tumors deficient in methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP)

1531 The MTAP gene lies on 9p21 and is often homozygously deleted, along with p16, in tumors -- especially lung and pancreatic cancer, glioma, mesothelioma, and sarcoma (frequency of deletion is 30-75%). We describe a new, selective therapy of such tumors. MTAP cleaves methylthioadenosine (MTA), a by-product of polyamine synthesis, to adenine and 5-methylthioribose-1-phosphate, which are then converted to adenine nucleotides and methionine. Tumors deficient in MTAP may therefore be sensitive to starvation for purine nucleotides or methionine; thus prior proposals had been to treat such tumors with inhibitors of de novo purine synthesis or by depletion of serum methionine. In our novel therapy, MTA and a toxic adenine analog -- e.g., 2,6-diaminopurine (DAP), 6-methylpurine (MeP), or 2-fluoroadenine -- are co-administered. The abundant adenine generated in normal (MTAP-positive) cells, from the supplied MTA, competitively blocks the adenine analog from conversion, by adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT), to its toxic mononucleotide. In MTAP-negative tumor cells, no adenine is produced; hence conversion of the analog to its mononucleotide is not blocked. As determined by clonogenic assay, this combination therapy (MTA plus adenine analog) rapidly kills MTAP-negative tumor cell lines (human lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers, and leukemias) while MTAP-positive cells (either cell lines or human fibroblasts) proliferate robustly. Selectivity of this method has also been shown with MTAP-negative cells (breast or lung cancer) growing in co-culture with human fibroblasts; there is no sign of metabolic cooperation confounding the treatment. In mice, we have demonstrated that MTA can fully protect from even lethal doses of DAP or MeP. Adding an inhibitor of de novo purine synthesis (methotrexate or L-alanosine) produces synergistic killing of MTAP-negative cells; selectivity is maintained, since the supplied MTA blocks the toxicity of these two drugs, as well, by providing purines to MTAP-positive but not MTAP-negative cells. We have also shown that 5-fluorouracil (FU) and 6-thioguanine (TG) may be used with our method. Though neither FU nor TG is activated by APRT, the adenine produced from supplied MTA in MTAP-positive cells blocks conversion of these drugs to their toxic mononucleotides by competing for their common phosphoribose-donor, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate. Use of MTA in combination with FU or TG, in the therapy of MTAP-negative tumors, may allow higher clinical doses of these drugs, thus improving therapeutic efficacy. Our method also works well with the toxic methionine analog, ethionine. The reason for selectivity is similar: the metabolic routes of methionine analogs are blocked in MTAP-positive, but not MTAP-negative cells, by the methionine derived from MTAP acting on the supplied MTA. This new selective therapy will now be studied in nude mice bearing MTAP-deficient human tumors.
GATA-1, but Not GATA-2, Antagonizes PU.1 Mediated Transcriptional Activity at the CBFA2T3 (ETO2, MTG16) Promoter through a Mechanism Dependent on GATA DNA Binding.

Abstract CBFA2T3 (ETO2, MTG16), a target of chromosomal translocation in acute myeloid leukemia, has its highest expression in hematopoietic cells compared to other tissues. This suggests that its expression is regulated by major hematopoietic transcription factors. The proximal promoter from −171 to −65 bp has greater than 90% identity between mouse and human and contains recognition sites for major hematopoietic transcription factors PU.1, GATA-1 and GATA-2. Using chromatin immuno-precipitation and the MPD hematopoietic cell-line, this segment was pulled down with endogenous PU.1, GATA-1 and GATA-2. In luciferase reporter gene assays, PU.1 and GATA-2, but not GATA-1, activated the promoter. As would be expected from these findings, CBFA2T3 levels declined during terminal erythroid differentiation of primary hematopoietic cells. GATA-1, but not GATA-2, antagonized PU.1 mediated activation but this effect of GATA-1 was abrogated by mutation of the GATA DNA binding sites. Both GATA-1 and GATA-2 have been reported to antagonize PU.1 transcriptional activity by antagonizing PU.1 interactions with c-Jun (Zhang et al, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999; 96:8705–8710); however, the DNA binding dependent mechanism reported here allows GATA-2 and GATA-1 to have contrasting relationships with PU.1 and may be the basis for the co-operation of GATA proteins with PU.1 in some contexts yet antagonism of PU.1 activity in others.
Implementing an Electric Utility Microgrid: Lessons learned

In recent years, weather events, such as hurricanes, have caused prolonged power outages and significantly impacted the economy due to the damage to the electric utility infrastructure. To increase the resiliency of the electric power grid, microgrids started to become a preferred solution. Unlike traditional generation plants that consist of synchronous-based units, the majority of recently installed generation has been in the form of inverter-connected renewables (solar, wind, battery, etc.), resulting in significant operational challenges for the distribution system due to the intermittent nature of these distributed energy resources (DERs). Traditional electric utility systems effectively control field devices, such as capacitors and voltage regulators, which have delays associated with their operation. However, due to the traditional centralized architecture of electric power systems in general, effective real-time control of renewables is challenging due to the time it takes for changed field conditions to be identified within the centralized control system. In such cases, by the time the centralized system is ready to issue the operating command, the field operating conditions have changed. The issued operating command does not optimize the performance of the subject DER, which has led to work on localized control systems and operations. To provide localized control, secure local data access, interoperability, and distributed intelligence are key enabling factors for faster adoption of DERs and optimized control.
Determining critical inter-nesting, migratory, and foraging habitats for the conservation of East Atlantic green turtles ( Chelonia mydas )

Satellite telemetry was used to track inter-nesting, post-nesting, and foraging movements of six green turtles that nested on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea at the end of the 2019 nesting season, as well as foraging movements of five green turtles after the 2018 nesting season (n = 11 across two seasons), from the same nesting population. These tracks were fit with a switching state-space model to characterize movements and then analyzed in relation to environmental and anthropogenic factors. Inter-nesting movements of two turtles included separate oceanic loops, in which turtles traveled > 40 km away from nesting beaches. Four complete migrations were observed to two distinct foraging grounds, with two turtles migrating west for an average of 1064 km to the coastal waters of Ghana, and two migrating south for an average of 1563 km to a newly discovered foraging ground in the coastal waters of Angola. All migrations included intermittent foraging at stopover sites, including one period of possible oceanic foraging. Turtles at both foraging grounds maintained distinct core use areas in shallow, near-shore (< 20 km from coast) waters. Spatial and depth data reveal critical habitats for this population throughout inter-nesting, post-nesting, and foraging behaviors. Tracks spanned nine countries, highlighting the need for multi-national cooperation in the development of marine conservation management plans in the area. The long distances covered by these turtles suggests that fisheries bycatch and direct harvest throughout the East Atlantic may impact this population. Additionally, spatial and dive depth data can inform zonal fishing regulations and provide the information needed to modify fishing practices and gear in ways likely to reduce sea turtle bycatch.
Late-time Observations of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2014J with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3

Recent works have studied the late-time light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) when these were older than 500 days past B-band maximum light. Of these, SN 2014J, which exploded in the nearby galaxy M82, was studied with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by Yang et al. Here, I report complementary photometry of SN 2014J taken with the HST Wide Field Camera 3 when it was ~360–1300 days old. My F555W measurements are consistent with the F606W measurements of Yang et al., but the F438W measurements are ~1 mag fainter than their F475W measurements. I corroborate their finding that, even though SN 2014J has spatially resolved light echoes, its photometry is not contaminated by an unresolved echo. Finally, I compare the F438W and F555W light curves of SN 2014J to those of the other late-time SNe Ia observed to date and show that more intrinsically luminous SNe have slower light curve decline rates. This is consistent with the correlation claimed by Graur et al., which was based on a comparison of pseudo-bolometric light curves. By conducting a direct comparison of the late-time light curves in the same filters, I remove any systematic uncertainties introduced by the assumptions that go into constructing the pseudo-bolometric light curves, thus strengthening the Graur et al. claim.
Evidence for Binary Orbital Motion of a Quasar Broad-Line Region

Analysis of spectra of the quasar 3C 390.3 covering a period of over 20 yr shows that the blueshifted peak of H beta has been changing its radial velocity at an almost constant rate during this time. The radial velocity has increased by over 1500 km/s. The lower limit to the period of radial velocity changes is 210 yr. Although very long periods cannot be excluded by the radial velocity curve alone, other considerations suggest that the period is about 300 yr. If the radial velocity changes are due to orbital motion, the radius of the orbit is about 0.3 pc and the total mass of the system is about 7 * 10**9 solar masses. In the binary black-hole model the masses of the two holes are about 2.2 * 10**9 solar masses. and about 4.4 * 10**9 solar masses. A possible third peak claimed to be present in some 1974-75 spectra is shown to be an instrumental artifact. The narrowness of the displaced peaks in 3C 390.3 objects requires that the broad line region cloud motions are not governed solely by gravity. The black hole masses derived by Koratkar & Gaskell (1991) need to be increased significantly. This probably lowers accretion efficiences to less than 1\% of the Eddington limit.
Disrupted cholinergic modulation can underlie abnormal gamma rhythms in the schizophrenia

Gamma band oscillatory neural activity, considered critical in synchronizing brain areas, appears abnormal in patients with schizophrenia. Stimulus evoked gamma band power is lower, compared with healthy subjects, but baseline gamma power is higher. Based on the observation that cholinergic modulation regulates interactions between primary auditory cortex (A1) and an association cortex in the gamma frequency bands, we hypothesize that disrupted cholinergic modulation may underlie abnormal gamma rhythms in schizophrenia. In this study we use a computational model composed with pyramidal cells, fast-spiking (FS) and non-FS inhibitory interneurons. In accordance with experimental data, we simulate the pathological condition by lowering the excitability of non-FS cells. The spectral power densities of local field potentials (LFPs) are compared between control and pathological conditions in pre-stimulus and stimulus periods, respectively. In the simulations, disrupted cholinergic modulation enhances gamma band power in the pre-stimulus period but reduces it in the stimulus period, which is consistent with the patterns of experimentally observed abnormal gamma rhythms. We further note that top-down gamma rhythms suppress A1 responses and that A1 Pyr cells respond to top-down gamma rhythms in the pathological condition. Thus, we propose that cholinergic modulation can underlie the functional dysconnectivity and that the erroneous activation of A1 induced by top-down gamma rhythms in the pathological condition can account for auditory hallucination.
Encyclopedia of mental health

Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Second Edition, tackles the subject of mental health, arguably one of the biggest issues facing modern society. The book presents a comprehensive overview of the many genetic, neurological, social, and psychological factors that affect mental health, also describing the impact of mental health on the individual and society, and illustrating the factors that aid positive mental health. The book contains 245 peer-reviewed articles written by more than 250 expert authors and provides essential material on assessment, theories of personality, specific disorders, therapies, forensic issues, ethics, and cross-cultural and sociological aspects. Both professionals and libraries will find this timely work indispensable. * Provides fully up-to-date descriptions of the neurological, social, genetic, and psychological factors that affect the individual and society* Contains more than 240 articles written by domain experts in the field* Written in an accessible style using terms that an educated layperson can understand* Of interest to public as well as research libraries with coverage of many important topics, including marital health, divorce, couples therapy, fathers, child custody, day care and day care providers, extended families, and family therapy
Personalized Feedback for Smoking and Anxiety Sensitivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disability globally. Most smokers want to quit, and most make a serious quit attempt each year. Nevertheless, more than 95% of cessat...
A Psychological-Behavioral Intervention to Improve Physical Activity in Midlife Adults With Low Baseline Physical Activity.

Background: Many midlife adults (aged 45-64 years) struggle to become physically active in the context of diminished psychological well-being and multiple concurrent stressors, despite the clear association of low physical activity with the development of chronic medical conditions. Objectives: To assess the feasibility (rates of session completion) and acceptability (participant 0-10 ratings of weekly session ease and utility) of a novel 12-week, phone-delivered, midlife-adapted positive psychology-motivational interviewing (PP-MI) intervention to promote physical activity. Secondary aims were pre-post changes in accelerometer-measured physical activity and self-reported psychological and functional measures. Methods: A single-arm proof-of-concept trial of the PP-MI intervention was conducted among 11 inactive midlife adults enrolled from the primary care practices of an urban academic medical center. Descriptive statistics were used to assess feasibility and acceptability outcomes, and mixed effects models were used to examine pre-post changes in psychological, functional, and physical activity outcomes from baseline to 12 weeks. Results: The intervention exceeded a priori thresholds for feasibility and acceptability, with 80.3% session completion across all participants and mean session ratings of 8.3/10 (SD = 2.1). Participants also had medium effect size magnitude improvements in physical activity and psychological outcomes. Conclusions: This remotely delivered, midlife-specific PP-MI intervention was feasible and well-accepted among inactive midlife adults, supporting next-step testing of this program in a randomized trial. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04745182.
A comparison of American student and faculty experiences in mathematics courses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract This study examined the experiences of mathematics students (n = 2867) and faculty (n = 81) at California State University, Fullerton during the fall 2020 semester during which all mathematics classes were taught in a synchronous virtual setting as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey results showed that faculty concerns centered around student participation, communication, and academic integrity, while student concerns focused on understanding the material, performance in the course, and commuting to campus. For both students and faculty, appreciation for increased time flexibility was accompanied by feelings of disconnectedness from the course. While student course outcomes did not affect student preference for virtual courses, there was evidence that faculty and students may have experienced virtual learning very differently. As educational institutions move forward there will need to be substantive discussions involving both faculty and students that address the role that academic departments can take to ensure equitable learning for all.
Scaling and Acceleration of Three-dimensional Structure Determination for Single-Particle Imaging Experiments with SpiniFEL.

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is an X- ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility enabling the study of the structure and dynamics of single macromolecules. A major upgrade will bring the repetition rate of the X-ray source from 120 to 1 million pulses per second. Exascale high performance computing (HPC) capabilities will be required to process the corresponding data rates. We present SpiniFEL, an application used for structure determination of proteins from single-particle imaging (SPI) experiments. An emerging technique for imaging individual proteins and other large molecular complexes by outrunning radiation damage, SPI breaks free from the need for crystallization (which is difficult for some proteins) and allows for imaging molecular dynamics at near ambient conditions. SpiniFEL is being developed to run on supercomputers in near real-time while an experiment is taking place, so that the feedback about the data can guide the data collection strategy. We describe here how we reformulated the mathematical framework for parallelizable implementation and accelerated the most compute intensive parts of the application. We also describe the use of Pygion, a Python interface for the Legion task-based programming model and compare to our existing MPI+GPU implementation.
The Structure of Polytopes in an Ordered Geometry

This chapter falls into three parts. First the theory of extreme sets and extremal linear spaces for convex sets is employed to elicit basic facial structural properties of polytopes in ordered geometries. The chief result is that a nontrivial polytope can be represented as the intersection of a certain finite family of closed halfspaces. These halfspaces have edges which are linear hulls of the maximal proper faces, or facets, of the polytope. Secondly, conditions are obtained, involving intersection properties with lines and segments, for a convex set to be the convex hull of its extreme points. Thirdly two characterizations of polytopes as types of convex set are obtained. One is based on the intersection properties mentioned above, the other on the representation of a polytope as an intersection of closed half spaces. The second characterization yields the result that two polytopes which meet intersect in a polytope.
Towards Improved Prediction of Ocean Processes Using Statistical Machine Learning

We discuss the problem of predicting ocean currents based on historical data and ocean models. This problem is relevant to navigation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and has significant scientific importance for analysis of biological processes and weather patterns. Available predictive models provide accurate prediction of these currents, but they typically do not provide confidence estimates of these predictions. We propose prediction methods based on Gaussian Process (GP) regression, which provide improved estimates of ocean currents and also have the potential to provide confidence bounds on these estimates. We demonstrate experimental validation on ocean current estimates from the Southern California Bight provided by the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) dataset, and we integrate these predictions into probabilistic planners to improve the safety of operation of a simulated AUV. While our techniques achieve modest performance improvements thus far (the work reported here is at an early stage), they show potential for significantly improving the prediction of ocean processes for environmental monitoring applications.
Wavelength Converter Placement with Shared Protection Schemes

In the previous chapters, we have investigated several protection schemes for optical meshed WDM networks, such as dedicated-path protection (1+1 and 1:1), shared-path protection and shared-link protection. It has been observed that shared-protection schemes, such as shared-path protection and shared-link protection, take advantage of the mesh connectivity and achieve better resource utilization compared to 1+1 dedicated-path protection1. In a network employing shared-protection schemes, wavelength conversion facilitates the sharing among protection resources and improves the resource utilization in a network. Chapter 4 has demonstrated that the savings of wavelength-links on backup paths can be up to 26% for shared-path protection and 18% for shared-link protection on two example networks. Therefore, wavelength-conversion is desirable in WDM mesh networks when shared-protection schemes are employed.
On Evaluating Loss Performance Deviation: A Simple Tool and Its Practical Implications

The focus of this paper is on developing and evaluating a practical methodology for determining if and when different types of traffic can be safely multiplexed within the same service class. The use of class rather than individual service guarantees offers many advantages in terms of scalability, but raises the concern that not all users within a class see the same performance. Understanding when and why a user will experience performance that differs significantly from that of other users in its class is, therefore, of importance. Our approach relies on an analytical model developed under a number of simplifying assumptions, which we test using several real traffic traces corresponding to different types of users. This testing is carried out primarily by means of simulation, to allow a comprehensive coverage of different configurations. Our findings establish that although the simplistic model does not accurately predict the absolute performance that individual users experience, it is quite successful and robust when it comes to identifying situations that can give rise to substantial performance deviations within a service class. As a result, it provides a simple and practical tool for rapidly characterizing real traffic profiles that can be safely multiplexed.
Performance of the wet radomes for phased-array weather radars: Evaluation and applications

The concept for an analytical method for evaluating the electrical performance of a flat, tilted radome for a dual-polarized phased-array antenna under rain conditions was de-voloped. Attenuation, reflections and induced cross-polarization are evaluated for different rainfall conditions, taking into account the properties of the skin surface, area, inclination, radome structure, and rainfall rate. In order to illustrate the utility of the new wet radome model, this paper evaluates four different scenarios which provides a better understanding of the model proposed.
The use of color in multidimensional graphical information display

The performance in judging values in a univariate map encoded using five different color scales was tested in eleven subjects. Digital elevation maps (DEMs) were encoded using: 1) an RGB gray scale (RGB), 2) a gray scale based on CIELAB L* (L*), 3) a L* scale with an added red hue component (Red L*), 4) an L* scale with continuous hue change (Spectral L*), and 5) a gray scale based on luminance (Luminance). Performance was tested using an Evaluation task and a Production task. For both tasks judgments were made both with and without legends for all five encoding schemes. The results show a significant effect of choice of encoding scheme, the presence or absence of a legend, and an interaction between these two factors. Performance with a legend was significantly better than without one. The Spectral L* scale led to the best performance while Luminance encoding was the worst. This experiment is a first step in using quantifiable psychophysical procedures to evaluate the effectiveness of different color encoding schemes on the interpretability of multidimensional graphical images.
Structure is informative: on mining structured information networks

Many objects in the real world are interconnected, forming complex information networks. There have been a lot of studies on mining homogeneous information networks where objects and links are either treated as of the same type, such as friends linking with friends, or treated indiscriminatively, without structural or type distinction. However, real-world objects and links often belong to distinct types, such as students, professors, courses, departments, teach and advise in a university network, and such typed networks form structured, heterogeneous information networks.
Incentive Motivation in the Mental Retardate

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the incentive motivation in the mental retardate. The study of incentive motivation in the mentally retarded is plagued, with the problems of experimental control, more than most other areas of psychological inquiry. One of the richest sources of confounding resides in the social interaction that so often takes place between the experimenter and the subject. A comprehensive theory of incentive motivation must accommodate the following primary phenomena: (i) the likelihood, vigor, and persistence of behavior is in substantial measure, governed by the characteristics of rewards, reinforcers, or broadly, the events occurring at the terminus of a chain of behavior; (ii) in exercising influence upon the behavior, the capacity of the reward relates to both its magnitude and its “quality;” (iii) preference value, in turn, relates to needs, learned and unlearned, and temporary and more or less permanent; and (iv) needs may be highly idiosyncratic. This chapter discusses the segment of the literature that bears directly on mental retardation. It specifically reviews the experimental studies that have manipulated the contingencies or consequences of action variously termed “rewards,” “punishments,” “incentives,” ‘‘lures,’’ “reinforcers,” and “goal-objects” and have recorded some concomitantly varying aspect of behavior in one or more groups of subjects bearing the clinical diagnosis of mental retardation.
Optimal Protein Segregation Strategies for Wheat Growers

A technology that can measure wheat grain protein concentration and then segregate grain based on measurements during harvesting is on the horizon. This new technology provides wheat growers with opportunities to segregate grain that can be directed to premium markets. In this article, we identify an individual grower's optimal segregation and blending strategies under non-uniformly curved price schedules. When price schedules are three-step shaped, we show that the optimal segregation and blending strategies can be obtained by solving a specified non-linear programming problem. Based on cash price and protein distribution data for wheat in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region over 1991–2011, an application of our theoretical model shows that on average a Hard Red Winter (respectively, Hard Red Spring) wheat grower should be willing to pay about 17.7 (respectively, 30.8) cents for segregating one bushel of wheat. We also study how growers’ net returns would be affected were the technology to be adopted. Une technologie capable de mesurer la teneur en proteines du grain de ble et d'effectuer la segregation des grains a partir des mesures recueillies pendant la recolte pourrait bientot voir le jour. Cette nouvelle technologie permettrait aux producteurs de ble d'effectuer la segregation des grains en vue des marches valorisant la qualite. Dans le present article, nous determinons les strategies optimales de segregation et de melange qu'un producteur peut utiliser en fonction des baremes de prix non uniformes. Lorsque les baremes de prix sont etablis en trois paliers, nous demontrons qu'il est possible d'obtenir des strategies de segregation et de melange optimales en resolvant un probleme de programmation non lineaire. A partir des donnees sur les prix au comptant et sur la distribution des proteines du ble recueillies dans le Pacifique nord-ouest au cours de la periode 1991–2011, une application de notre modele theorique montre que, en moyenne, un producteur de ble de force rouge d'hiver et de ble de force roux de printemps serait pret a payer environ 17,7 et 30,8 cents respectivement pour la segregation d'un boisseau de ble. Nous avons egalement examine l'augmentation du revenu net prevu chez les producteurs qui adoptent cette technologie.
Methodological synthesis of research on the effectiveness of corrective feedback in L2 writing

Abstract Despite an abundance of research on corrective feedback (CF) in L2 writing, answers to fundamental questions of whether and to what extent various types of CF can promote accuracy remain inconclusive. Reviewers have pointed to the methodological limitations and inconsistencies in the domain; nevertheless, such arguments are largely anecdotal rather than based on systematic inquiry of primary empirical studies. Driven by the gap, this methodological synthesis reviews the state-of-the-art research on the effectiveness of CF in L2 writing. Thirty-two published studies and twelve dissertations were retrieved and coded following meta-analytic procedures. Results revealed a number of methodological limitations such as (a) inadequate reporting of research context, methodology, and statistical analyses; (b) designs of low ecological validity (e.g., “one-shot” treatment and predominantly timed in-class writing tasks); (c) mixed kinds of feedback as treatment for a single group rendering it impossible to tease apart efficacy of an individual feedback method; and (d) a wide array of outcome accuracy measures, making it difficult to compare results across studies. We compare our findings with results in general L2 study meta-analytical research and offer suggestions to guide future written CF studies in the hopes of advancing methodological and reporting practices in the domain.
Finding signals that regulate alternative splicing in the post-genomic era

Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs is central to the generation of diversity from the relatively small number of genes in metazoan genomes. Auxiliary cis elements and trans-acting factors are required for the recognition of constitutive and alternatively spliced exons and their inclusion in pre-mRNA. Here, we discuss the regulatory elements that direct alternative splicing and how genome-wide analyses can aid in their identification.
Response of surface water chemistry to reduced levels of acid precipitation : comparison of trends in two regions of New York, USA

In light of recent reductions in sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions mandated by Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, temporal trends and trend coherence in precipitation (1984–2001 and 1992–2001) and surface water chemistry (1992–2001) were determined in two of the most acid-sensitive regions of North America, i.e. the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains of New York. Precipitation chemistry data from six sites located near these regions showed decreasing sulphate (SO42−), nitrate (NO3−), and base cation (CB) concentrations and increasing pH during 1984–2001, but few significant trends during 1992–2001. Data from five Catskill streams and 12 Adirondack lakes showed decreasing trends in SO42− concentrations at all sites, and decreasing trends in NO3−, CB, and H+ concentrations and increasing trends in dissolved organic carbon at most sites. In contrast, acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) increased significantly at only about half the Adirondack lakes and in one of the Catskill streams. Flow correction prior to trend analysis did not change any trend directions and had little effect on SO42− trends, but it caused several significant non-flow-corrected trends in NO3− and ANC to become non-significant, suggesting that trend results for flow-sensitive constituents are affected by flow-related climate variation. SO42− concentrations showed high temporal coherence in precipitation, surface waters, and in precipitation–surface water comparisons, reflecting a strong link between S emissions, precipitation SO42− concentrations, and the processes that affect S cycling within these regions. NO3− and H+ concentrations and ANC generally showed weak coherence, especially in surface waters and in precipitation–surface water comparisons, indicating that variation in local-scale processes driven by factors such as climate are affecting trends in acid–base chemistry in these two regions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Deficits in plasma oxytocin responses and increased negative affect, stress, and blood pressure in mothers with cocaine exposure during pregnancy

In animals, oxytocin enhances maternal behavior and lowers blood pressure (BP) and negative affect, while parturitional cocaine disrupts oxytocin activity and increases maternal neglect and aggression. Thus, we compared oxytocin, BP, maternal behavior, and affect in mothers of infants who used cocaine (cocaine, n=10) or did not (no drug, n=25) during pregnancy. Laboratory BP and circulating oxytocin, catecholamines, and cortisol were examined before and during a speech stressor on 2 days, with vs. without prestress baby holding. Ambulatory monitoring assessed BP, urinary norepinephrine, and cortisol for 24 h at home. The cocaine group had lower oxytocin levels, greater hostility and depressed mood, less support from others and mastery over life events, higher BP during all events of testing without the baby, and higher ambulatory BP and urinary norepinephrine at home, while cortisol and epinephrine responses were blunted. Although they tended to hold their babies less often at home, baby holding in the laboratory led to decreased BP in cocaine mothers who then did not differ from no-drug mothers in BP or observed affect.
Counseling Parents of Handicapped Children: An Empathic Approach

Counseling is often perceived as a process one reluctantly goes through when life's problems become too overwhelming to handle alone. One such situation frequently occurs when parents become aware that they have a handicapped child. Prescott and Hulnick hold that essentially all of life's experience, including parenting a handicapped child, can be perceived as an opportunity for personal growth. Given this orientation, the truly empathic counselor assists parents in learning the skills and attitudes needed to deal effectively with their child and to learn to transform their own pain into caring and love.
Characterization of Chinese, American and Estonian oil shale semicokes and their sorptive potential

The primary byproduct of current oil shale oil extraction processes is semicoke. Its landfill deposition presents a potential threat to the environment and represents a waste of a potentially useable byproduct. Here we examine the sorptive characteristics of oil shale semicoke. Oil shale samples from Estonia, China and the United States were pyrolyzed at 500 and 1000 C and their products analyzed for organic char content, surface area and porosity. Pyrolysis of the oil shales at temperatures of 500–1000 C yields semicokes with organic char contents from 1.7% to 17.5% and BET surface areas of 4.4–57 m 2 g � 1 , corresponding to 100–550 m 2 g � 1 of organic char. For comparison, the BET surface areas of class F coal fly ashes (combustion byproducts of bituminous coals) typically range from 2 to 5 m 2 g � 1 , corresponding to 30– 60 m 2 g � 1 of carbon while class C fly ash (from low rank coals) have carbon BET surface areas comparable
A carbon cycle model with latitude dependence

A two-dimensional carbon cycle model is divided into three zones representing equatorial, middle and high latitude regions. The three zones are coupled together by a deep ocean meridional convective cell and atmospheric transport terms. The model is applied to the calculation of the dispersion of radiocarbon and tritium from nuclear weapons tests, to the calculation of the atmospheric record of bomb radiocarbon and to the calculation of the Mauna Loa record of atmospheric CO2. Calibrating on the basis of the Northern hemisphere bomb test data yields a model which has approximately twice the CO2 ocean uptake of the one-dimension box diffusion models calibrated on the basis of deep water equilibrium carbon 14.
Speaker‐independent isolated word recognition using n‐segment label histogram method

A simplified version of a hidden Markov model (HMM), referred to as the N-segment label histogram (NLH) method, is proposed for speaker-independent isolated word recognition. The NLH method can be considered as an HMM with a uniform duration for each state. It can also be treated as a statistical pattern recognition approach using linear compander and probabilistic measures. During the training, the label histograms are computed for N equal segments of the input. The probability associated with each label is computed after normalization. During the recognition, the input is partitioned into N equal segments, the corresponding label that maximizes the label probability of the input word determines the recognition result. Since the NLH method requires only about one-tenth the computation of the HMM method, it is more suitable for implementation on small computers. Furthermore, it does not require alignment along the time axis as do the HMM and DP matching techniques. The utterance fluctuation along the time axis is handled statistically and is applicable to a large data set. Experimental results indicated that the NLH method rendered almost the same recognition rate as the other two methods while requiring much less computation. The linear approximation of the likelihood function enables the implementation of the proposed algorithm on the IBM PC/AT for real time speech recognition.
Intracranial Multimodal Monitoring for Acute Brain Injury: A Single Institution Review of Current Practices

Critical care management of patients with severe acute brain injury has undergone tremendous advances. Neurosurgeons and neurointensivists have a large armamentarium of invasive monitoring devices available to help detect secondary brain injury and guide therapy. No consensus exists regarding patient specific selection of monitoring devices, the placement of devices in relation to injured brain tissue, or the preferred insertion technique. Here we review our experience in a consecutive series of acutely brain injured patients who underwent multimodality monitoring. Sixty-one patients admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit underwent multimodality intracranial monitoring between January 2005 and October 2008. Patient demographics, hospital length of stay, types of monitoring devices and modalities monitored, insertion techniques, device placement location relative to injury, and complications are reported. Monitored modalities included brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2) in 97% (N = 59), microdialysis (MD) in 79% (N = 48), intracranial electroencephalography in 31% (N = 19), brain temperature in 18% (N = 11), and cerebral blood flow in 11% (N = 7). On average, monitoring started within 2 days (0–8) of admission and was continued for 7 days (1–17). The majority of probes (56%; N = 35) were placed into patients with focal brain injuries, while in 43% N = 26 the injury was diffuse. Among those with focal injury, probe placement was categorized as peri-lesional in 46% (N = 16), and within a clot or infarct in 17% (N = 6). The most frequent complication of multimodality brain monitoring was device malfunction or dislodgement (43%; N = 26). Rates of hematoma and infection were 3 and 5%, respectively. Average NICU length of stay was 17 days (3–48) and 26% (N = 16) of patients were dead at discharge. Collaboration among institutions is necessary to establish practice guidelines for the choice and placement of multimodal monitors. Further advancement in device technology is needed to improve insertion techniques, inter-device compatibility, and device durability. Multimodality data needs to be analyzed to determine the preferable device location.
Architecture Exploration of a Heterogeneous Embedded Processor for the Smart Grid

Implementing the smart grid will require intelligent interaction between the power generating and consuming devices, which is achieved by installing devices capable of processing data and communicating it to various parts in the grid. The role of embedded processors will be to achieve high performance in the given real time situations. The embedded processors carry out tasks similar to security encryption, signal processing, power flow calculation etc. which are essential for data analysis and proper data transmission. Depending on where the embedded processor is in the smart grid hierarchy, the application running on the processor will be different. We show by qualitative analysis that there is a need for a new design in the micro-architecture of the processors. The method to develop this processor for the smart grid applications is discussed, this includes identifying the benchmarks, customizing the architecture for them and then finding the optimized configuration for the processor. We come up with a possible design for the embedded processor, for which performance is measured and optimized using a cycle accurate processor architecture simulator.
Orbital-free density functional theory study of crystalline Li–Si alloys

Abstract Li–Si interactions are of great interest currently due to the potential use of silicon anodes in Li-ion batteries. As a first step toward eventual nanoscale characterization of lithiation of silicon, here we study the crystalline Li–Si alloys LiSi, Li 12 Si 7 , Li 7 Si 3 , Li 13 Si 4 , Li 15 Si 4 , and Li 22 Si 5 using orbital-free density functional theory (OFDFT). The recently proposed Wang–Govind–Carter decomposition (WGCD) and Huang–Carter (HC) kinetic energy density functionals (KEDFs) are used to evaluate the electron kinetic energy. Both KEDFs predict accurate cell lattice vectors, equilibrium volumes, bulk moduli, and ground-state densities when compared to Kohn–Sham density functional theory (KSDFT) benchmarks. Elastic constants and alloy formation energies calculated with the WGCD KEDF also agree reasonably well with KSDFT. Finally, Li atom adsorption energies on the Si(100) − 2 × 1 surface are calculated as a simple initial test of the Li–Si mixing process during lithiation of silicon. The OFDFT adsorption energies again are fairly close to KSDFT values. The results in this work demonstrate the accuracy of the WGCD and HC KEDFs for materials with mixed covalent-metallic character and their considerable transferability under different chemical environments. Because of its quasilinear scaling, coupled with the level of accuracy shown here, OFDFT appears quite promising for large-scale simulation of such materials phenomena.
A Tale of Two Students: Building a Culture of Engagement in the Community College:

Enrolling in a community college may be as intimidating for those students who eventually succeed as it is for those who don't. Why, then, do some persevere while others leave before they meet thei...