cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The ciliary ganglion and vitreous cavity shape

Purpose. To learn the influence of the ciliary ganglion on the postnatal growth of eyes with unimpaired visual input and of eyes beneath an image diffusing goggle.Methods. Newborn chicks received unilateral ciliary ganglion-ectomy or unilateral sham operation and were reared either with or without a goggle ipsilateral to the surgical procedure. Ocular refractions and ultrasound measurements were made on anesthetized chicks; eyes enucleated postmortem were measured in axial and equatorial dimensions with calipers and studied histologically.Results. Excessive growth of open eyes in the equatorial dimensions followed ciliary ganglionectomy and became more pronounced as the chicks grew older. There was only a modest increase in axial growth. Ganglionectomy also induced relative hyperopia; lens thinning contributed to this effect and likely was a direct result of disrupted parasympathetic input to the ciliary muscle. Ganglionectomy also slightly increased the thickness of the choroid in the posterior pole but ...
Some physicochemical and immunological properties of an avian leucosis virus (RIF)

Abstract A noncytopathic virus (RIF) which induces resistance to in vitro infection of chicken embryo cells by the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) was partially characterized. RIF could not be distinguished from RSV on the basis of ultraviolet light sensitivity, ether sensitivity, thermal stability, or ultrafiltration. An earlier report of the immunological relationship of RIF and RSV was confirmed. Cross-absorption studies showed that RIF and RSV are similar but not identical in their antigenic makeup. Neutralization studies with an array of sera failed to reveal any immunological differences between RIF and RPL12, a classic strain of visceral lymphomatosis virus. It was concluded that RIF is a strain of visceral lymphomatosis virus.
A mathematical model of post-instability in fluid mechanics

Mathematical models of continua are based on the assumption that the functions describing their states can be differentiated as many times as necessary. This artificial mathematical limitation follows neither from the principles of mechanics nor from the definition of a continuum. The price paid for such a mathematical convenience is instability (in the class of smooth functions) of the solutions to the corresponding governing equations. This instability can appear in the form of failure of hyperbolicity [1], [2], [3], [4] or in the form of “cascade instability” (stretching of vorticity in an inviscid fluid or instability of the Navier-Stokes equations [5], [6], [7]). All the cases are characterized by an unlimited decrease in the scale of the motions, in the course of which the derivatives of the corresponding functions tend to infinity, although the functions themselves remain finite. In other words, the solution tends to “go out” from the class of differentiable functions. Such an instability shows that the corresponding state of a continuum cannot be properly simulated by smooth functions. Hence, the original model must be corrected by giving up the requirement about differentiability and enlarging the class of functions. In this article postinstability in fluids is simulated by giving up the principle of impenetrability and introducing multivalued fields of velocities. The fundamental properties of enlarged model of fluid with application to turbulence are discussed.
Distance Learners: Welcome to Campus!

When Old Dominion University created a summer institute to allow adult distance learning students to enroll in accelerated on-campus courses, typical college transition issues were, at first, left off the schedule. Over the years, the institute has evolved to provide these students with the same kind of personal and academic support needed by their traditional-age peers.
Ideology and poetics in public issue construction: Thatcherism, civil liberties, and “terrorism” in Northern Ireland

This essay explores the relationship between ideological commitments, or “ideographs,”; and poetic structures of meaning in the construction of public issues through rhetorical discourse. It maintains that public issues are constructed by rhetors through the use of ideological commitments as such commitments are fused with narratives of contingencies, exigencies, and/or controversies emplotted according to familiar and powerful poetic structures. Ultimately the analysis suggests that such a rhetorical construction of public issues is central to the constitution of political unity and the configuration of collective commitments. As an illustrative example, the essay examines the rhetoric of Margaret Thatcher, indicating how Thatcherism intensified existing ideological tensions within the British context, how Thatcherism constructed the public issue of “terrorism”; in Northern Ireland as an “epic tragedy,”; and how such a construction materially shifted and ensnared commitments to “freedom”; and civil liber...
A Single-Molecule Hershey-Chase Experiment

Ever since Hershey and Chase used phages to establish DNA as the carrier of genetic information in 1952, the precise mechanisms of phage DNA translocation have been a mystery. Although bulk measurements have set a timescale for in vivo DNA translocation during bacteriophage infection, measurements of DNA ejection by single bacteriophages have only been made in vitro. Here, we present direct visualization of single bacteriophages infecting individual Escherichia coli cells. For bacteriophage λ, we establish a mean ejection time of roughly 5 min with significant cell-to-cell variability, including pausing events. In contrast, corresponding in vitro single-molecule ejections are more uniform and finish within 10 s. Our data reveal that when plotted against the amount of DNA ejected, the velocity of ejection for two different genome lengths collapses onto a single curve. This suggests that in vivo ejections are controlled by the amount of DNA ejected. In contrast, in vitro DNA ejections are governed by the amount of DNA left inside the capsid. This analysis provides evidence against a purely intrastrand repulsion-based mechanism and suggests that cell-internal processes dominate. This provides a picture of the early stages of phage infection and sheds light on the problem of polymer translocation.
Survival of Viruses in “Prosciutto di Parma” (Parma Ham)

Abstract Co-operative studies were undertaken at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture; at the Istituto Zooprofiiattico Sperimentale, Brescia, Italy and at the Istituto Zooprofiiattico Sperimentale, Sassari, Italy to determine if the causative agents for such diseases as foot-and-mouth, African swine fever and hog cholera were inactivated by the processing and curing procedures used in preparing Parma hams. Hams were prepared from pigs infected with each of these diseases when the carcass contained the greatest amount of virus. Foot-and-mouth disease virus could not be recovered from the hams at 108 days in the U.S. experiment and 170 days in the Italian experiment. African swine fever virus was not recovered at 399 days in the U.S. experiment and 300 days in the Italian experiment. The virus of hog cholera was not recovered at 313 days in the U.S. experiment and 189 days in the Italian experiment.
Response of isolated auricles to some substances of metabolic interest.

SummaryVarious compounds of metabolic interest, both substrates (citrate, succinate, fumarate, l-malate, pyruvate, dl-lactate, acetate) and an inhibitor (malonate), produced a negative inotropic effect on isolated auricles of the rat. Of the intermediary metabolites the greatest degree of negative inotropic activity was exhibited by citrate and the least by acetate and lactate. Negative inotropic activity of these compounds did not appear to be significantly affected by temperature or addition of glucose to the medium. Results obtained following addition of calcium chloride to the medium, after effects of test compounds were established as well as results from “titration’ experiments, suggest that the effects of metabolites and antimetabolite studied may be related, at least in part, to their capacity to form complexes with calcium.
Looper: Lightweight Detection of Infinite Loops at Runtime

When a running program becomes unresponsive, it is often impossible for a user to determine if the program is performing some useful computation or if it has entered an infinite loop. We present LOOPER, an automated technique for dynamically analyzing a running program to prove that it is non-terminating. LOOPER uses symbolic execution to produce simple non-termination arguments for infinite loops dependent on both program values and the shape of heap. The constructed arguments are verified with an off-the-shelf SMT solver. We have implemented our technique in a prototype tool for Java applications, and we demonstrate our technique’s effectiveness on several non-terminating benchmarks, including a reported infinite loop bug in open-source text editor jEdit. Our tool is able to dynamically detect infinite loops deep in the execution of large Java programs with no false warnings, producing symbolic arguments that can aid in debugging non-termination.
Synergies and Distinctions between Computational Disciplines in Biomedical Research: Perspective from the Clinical and Translational Science Award Programs

Clinical and translational research increasingly requires computation. Projects may involve multiple computationally oriented groups including information technology (IT) professionals, computer scientists, and biomedical informaticians. However, many biomedical researchers are not aware of the distinctions among these complementary groups, leading to confusion, delays, and suboptimal results. Although written from the perspective of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) programs within academic medical centers, this article addresses issues that extend beyond clinical and translational research. The authors describe the complementary but distinct roles of operational IT, research IT, computer science, and biomedical informatics using a clinical data warehouse as a running example. In general, IT professionals focus on technology. The authors distinguish between two types of IT groups within academic medical centers: central or administrative IT (supporting the administrative computing needs of large organizations) and research IT (supporting the computing needs of researchers). Computer scientists focus on general issues of computation such as
A first look at wired sensor networks for video surveillance systems

High-bandwidth sensor applications such as video surveillance give rise to the need for a wired sensor network (WSN). We show IEEE 1394b FireWire to be a suitable candidate for a shared-medium WSN. We also propose a hybrid location-centric routing protocol for future WSN with store and forward nodes.
Communication Strategies and Product Line Design

When selling a product line, a firm has to consider the costs of communicating about the different products to the consumers. This may affect the product line design in general, and which products or services are offered in particular. The problem is that firms have to communicate to consumers, possibly through advertising, to make them consider buying the products that firms are selling. This results in the firm offering a smaller number of products than is optimal when advertising has no costs. This effect is greater the extent of consumer confusion about the advertising messages, and is reduced by a greater ability to target advertising. When offering vertically differentiated products (second-degree price discrimination), under general conditions it is optimal to advertise so that one has a greater proportion of sales of a lower-quality product than if advertising had no cost. This situation also allows the firm to charge a lower price for the high-quality product and offer a higher quality of the low-quality product than it would if advertising were without cost.
The Effect of Tandem Band and Amplitude Limiting on the E b /N o Performance of Minimum (Frequency) Shift Keying (MSK)

Minimum (frequency) shift keying (MSK) is a digital modulation technique which can be viewed either as frequency-shift keying (FSK) with peak frequency deviation precisely equal to \pm(1/4)R_{L} where R L is the link bit rate or as an offset-keyed quaternary phase-shift-keyed modulation. In the absence of bandwidth or amplitude limiting between the modulator and the demodulator, the E_{b}/N_{0} performance of MSK is identical to that of coherently detected binary phase-shift keying (PSK). This paper briefly reviews and defines MSK. It then presents a system model in which a tandem assembly of a transmit band-limiting filter, a hard limiter, and a receive band-limiting filter are interposed between an ideal modulator and demodulator. This model is aimed at simulating actual links (such as spacecraft-to-ground links) in which channel bandwidth (B_{c}) constraints are important, postmodulation filtering at RF is objectionable, and transmission through efficient transmitters which operate as amplitude limiters is a requirement. An analysis then derives the E_{b}/N_{0} degradation due to both bandwidth and amplitude limiting. Band limiting alone causes intersymbol interference on the data carried by each of the quadrature phasors but no interphasor crosstalk under the set of assumptions used. With amplitude limiting also present, an interphasor crosstalk mechanism exists. The average symbol distortion, symbol energy reduction, and noise reduction are derived for several periodic waveforms. For composite systems with 3-dB bandwidth (B_{L}) -to-R L ratios of at least 0.6, the theoretical E_{b}/N_{0} degradation is less than 1 dB. Parametric experimental data are then reported on the postmodulation spectrum of a transmitter with band limiting plus subsequent hard amplitude limiting. Data are also presented on the E_{b}/N_{0} degradation measured using tandem assemblies of a bandlimiting filter, an amplitude limiter, and a second band-limiting filter. The amplitude limiter substantially increases the level of the spectral side lobes beyond the main lobe. It was found that for all significant values of transmit bandpass filtering plus subsequent amplitude limiting, 99 percent of the transmitted energy is contained within B c = 1.1 R L . Further, little E_{b}/N_{0} degradation (tenths of a decibel) was measured if B L was greater than 0.65 R L . A rapid degradation of E_{b}/N_{0} occurred when B_{L} = 0.55 R_{L} . These data apply for the band-band-amplitude-band limited system model. The amplitude limiter placed between the transmit and receive filters caused interphasor crosstalk and distortion of the data symbol shapes as predicted; however, E_{b}/N_{0} degradation caused by the amplitude-limiting effects by themselves (which are a function of B L ) never exceeded 0.3 to 0.5 dB for the cases studied.
New 750 KeV H- Beam Transport Line for LAMPF

The injector complex at LAMPF consists of three injectors with associated transport lines to deliver H+, H-, and P- beams to the linac. Early in 1984 the original H- injector (circa 1973) was replaced with one capable of producing a peak current of 20-mA, a 100X improvement. The motivation for this upgrade was the addition of a proton Storage Ring (PSR) for pulsed neutron research. To support the new operating modes associated with the PSR, the H- transport line was replaced by one having a different design that required changes to portions of the H+ and P- lines, also. This paper describes the new transport system and reports on the initial performance of the H- line.
Adjustment of Bikini Atoll to ocean waves

Atolls in the trade-wind belt withstand a continuous heavy pounding from ocean waves. Against the windward side of Bikini Atoll alone it is estimated that waves dissipate 500,000 hp, one-fourth the power generated at Hoover (Boulder) Dam. To withstand these forces the exposed reefs are moulded into a most effective natural breakwater, consisting of long narrow grooves in the seaward face of the reef, and surge channels on the reef flat. These surge channels are tuned to the prevailing wave periods. Their distribution around the reef conforms to the distribution in wave activity, which in turn is controlled by prevailing winds over the North and South Equatorial Pacific. Some of the power of the breaking waves is utilized to maintain a water level just inside the surf zone about 1.5 ft above the general sea level. The water flows downhill over the reef into the lagoon, regardless of the stage of the tide, with an average speed of 0.5 to 1.0 knot, but occasionally with speeds up to four knots. The reef as a biological community utilizes this current and maintains thereby a wave-resisting and modifying structure.
Prenatal maternal stress programs infant stress regulation

Prenatal exposure to inappropriate levels of glucocorticoids (GCs) and maternal stress are putative mechanisms for the fetal programming of later health outcomes. The current investigation examined the influence of prenatal maternal cortisol and maternal psychosocial stress on infant physiological and behavioral responses to stress. The study sample comprised 116 women and their full term infants. Maternal plasma cortisol and report of stress, anxiety and depression were assessed at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 36 + weeks' gestational age. Infant cortisol and behavioral responses to the painful stress of a heel-stick blood draw were evaluated at 24 hours after birth. The association between prenatal maternal measures and infant cortisol and behavioral stress responses was examined using hierarchical linear growth curve modeling. A larger infant cortisol response to the heel-stick procedure was associated with exposure to elevated concentrations of maternal cortisol during the late second and third trimesters. Additionally, a slower rate of behavioral recovery from the painful stress of a heel-stick blood draw was predicted by elevated levels of maternal cortisol early in pregnancy as well as prenatal maternal psychosocial stress throughout gestation. These associations could not be explained by mode of delivery, prenatal medical history, socioeconomic status or child race, sex or birth order. These data suggest that exposure to maternal cortisol and psychosocial stress exerts programming influences on the developing fetus with consequences for infant stress regulation.
Row similarity in binary-valued matrices

An algorithm is developed for calculating the probability distribution of the number of matches between two specified rows of a matrix of zeroes and ones. Cases covered include row totals fixed, column totals fixed, and column totals and the two specified rows' totals fixed. The results are applied to presence-absence data on six species of ground finches on 23 Galapagos islands and two constructed examples.
Anomalous Output Conductance in N-Polar GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors

An anomalous output conductance that resembled short-channel effects was observed in long-channel N-polar GaN-channel/AlGaN-back-barrier/GaN-buffer high electron mobility transistors. The phenomenon could not be reasonably explained by drain-induced barrier lowering, leakage currents, or impact ionization events. We propose that the output conductance was caused by the ionization of a donorlike hole trap state at the negatively polarized AlGaN-back-barrier/GaN-buffer interface that shifted the threshold voltage at the drain side of the gate, where a high-field depletion region developed beyond current saturation. No evidence of increased output conductance or related device performance degradation was apparent under small-signal high-frequency conditions. The output conductance was suppressed by introducing photogenerated holes that compensated the traps. The effect of several typical back-barrier designs on the dc output conductance was examined.
Final commentary on the special volume of articles from the National Survey of Children's Health.

This Pediatrics supplemental issue heralds new findings from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). This survey of >100000 children was designed to provide a unique source of state and nationally representative data on the health and well-being of children, their families, and their communities. The articles in this supplement all address timely epidemiologic and public health issues. Consequently, they provide critical information for policy makers and others concerned with ensuring the best care and health outcomes for children. Most of the articles were prepared by multidisciplinary teams of academics. Some involved collaborations of state Maternal and Child Health Bureau staff and university faculty. Others were prepared by teams of researchers working across federal agencies. This blending of skills … Address correspondence to Peter C. van Dyck, MD, MPH, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18-41, Rockville, MD 20857. E-mail: pvandyck{at}hrsa.gov
How to build a useful thousand-core manycore system?

Current hardware roadmaps call for doubling the number of on-chip cores approximately every two years. If this trend materializes, in at most a decade and a half, we will reach one thousand cores. This scenario has mind-boggling consequences for the IPDPS research community. There are many questions to answer. For example, at the architecture level, how are we going to power these chips and provide the required bandwidth? At the software level, how are we going to manage possibly-heterogeneous resources with low overhead, efficiently compile for these machines, and provide programmer-friendly programming models? At the application level, what kinds of applications and algorithms will we use? This panel will provide an opportunity for the conference attendees to discuss all of these topics.
Using percentage accuracy to measure neural network predictions in Stock Market movements

Abstract A speculator on a Stock Market, aside from having money to spare, needs at least one other thing — a means of producing accurate and understandable predictions ahead of others in the Market, so that a tactical and price advantage can be gained. This work demonstrates that it is possible to predict one such Market to a high degree of accuracy. For the purpose, the Financial Times — Stock Exchange (F.T.-S.E.) 100 Share Index in the UK, known as ‘The Footsie’, was selected. Neural network predictions were obtained for the daily Market close 5 days ahead, and 25 days ahead, as measured in mean square error and in root mean square error. To measure percentage accuracy, each individual test case prediction was compared with the actual market outcome, and total percentage accuracy for the whole test set was similarly calculated. Comparisons were also drawn with predictions for the same test cases using four types of Multiple Linear Regression. The neural network results indicated that predictions based upon the lowest mean square error bear little relationship to the same test cases, when measured in terms of overall percentage accuracy. For the lay person, or a Stock-Market speculator, it was also shown that predictions can be produced to a high level of accuracy, in a readily understandable format.
Evaluation of minimally invasive indices for predicting ascites susceptibility in three successive hatches of broilers exposed to cool temperatures

Abstract Broilers from three consecutive hatches were exposed to cool temperatures to amplify the incidence of pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS, ascites). The largest apparently healthy individuals on Day 42 were evaluated using minimally invasive diagnostic indices [percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen, hematocrit (HCT), heart rate, electrocardiogram (ECG) Lead II, body weight), then they were subjected to the ongoing pressures of fast growth and cool temperatures to determine which of these indices are predictive of the subsequent onset of PHS. Approximately 20% of the males and females evaluated on Day 42 subsequently developed PHS by Day 51. When data for all hatches were pooled and broilers that subsequently developed ascites were compared with those that did not (nonascitic), body weights, heart rates, and percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen were lower on Day 42 for ascitic than for nonascitic males, and HCT was higher in ascitic males and females than in nonascitic males and females, respectively. Comparisons of the ECG Lead II wave amplitudes for all hatches pooled indicated that RS-wave amplitude was larger in ascitic than in nonascitic males, and that S-wave amplitude was more negative in ascitic males and females than in nonascitic males and females. Necropsies conducted on Day 51 revealed higher right:total ventricular weight ratios in ascitic than in nonascitic broilers, whereas normalizing the left ventricle plus septum weight for differences in body weight generated similar values for ascitic and nonascitic males and females, respectively. These results support a primary role for pulmonary hypertension but not cardiomyopathy in the pathogenesis of ascites triggered by cool temperatures. Values obtained for minimally invasive diagnostic indices on Day 42 also establish predictive thresholds that can be used to evaluate the PHS susceptibility of large and apparently healthy male and female broilers.
Comparison of scintillation measurements from a 5 km communication link to standard statistical models

As part of a free-space optical communications experiment over a 5km horizontal path, an extensive database of tilt-stabilized receiver data was collected for C 2 n conditions ranging from benign to very strong. This paper focuses on the scintillation measurements made during those tests. Ensemble probability distributions are compiled from these results, and are subsequently compared with standard channel models such as the log-normal and gammagamma distributions. Statistical representations of temporal behavior are also developed from this database. Accurate statistical models of atmospheric channel effects have proved to be invaluable in the development of high-performance free-space transceivers.
“Inequality in Work Time: Gender and Class Stratify Hours and Schedules, Flexibility, and Unpredictability in Jobs and Families”

Work time is deeply stratified by gender and class. In this review, we first summarize the research discussing the number of hours that people work, the scheduling or timing of those hours as well as the flexibility and unpredictability of work time, discussing the ways all three are stratified. Second, we examine research on the ways work time is mandated, negotiated and contested. This part focuses on the processes, institutions and relations that explain inequality in hours and schedules—beginning with a discussion of relations at the work place, then turning to relations outside the workplace, especially family dynamics, and finally examining policies and politics about work time.
Interpopulation variation in predator avoidance behavior of a freshwater snail to the same predator

The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum (J.E. Grey, 1843)) responds to the presence of predatory fish by moving to a safer environment. These experiments attempted to determine if predator detection by the snail results in specific responses to light and (or) gravity by the snail and if snails respond more or less to fish from their native lake compared with fish from a foreign lake. Snails and fish (Gobiomorphus cotidianus McDowall, 1975) were collected from lakes Alexandrina and Peorua from the South Island of New Zealand. Snails were placed in behavioral chambers and tested for their responses to the direction of light, vertical orientation with respect to gravity, and rate of movement in light and dark conditions. Snails from each lake were exposed to one of three treatments: plain water, water from fish from Lake Alexandrina, and water from fish from Lake Peorua. Results showed no effect of direction of light on behavior. Snails from Lake Alexandrina were not found to alter their up or do...
Do Firms Use Dividends to Signal Large Future Cash Flows

We find that firms poised to experience large, permanent cash flow increases after four years of flat cash flow tend to boost their dividends before their cash flow jumps. These firms also have a high frequency of relatively large dividend increases prior to the cash flow shock. Investors appear to interpret the dividend changes as signals about future profitability: firms that sharply increase their dividends earn large market-adjusted stock returns in the year before their cash flow rises. This direct link between positive cash flow shocks, dividend decisions, and stock returns supports the hypothesis that dividend changes signal positive information about permanent future cash flow levels. However, our results also suggest that signaling plays a relatively minor role in corporate dividend policy.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Affects the Outcome of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection.

Background & Aims A significant fraction of patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can break the cycle of CDI recurrence and can be performed without evaluation of the colon. We evaluated the efficacy of colonoscopic FMT in patients with and without IBD, and whether we could identify IBD in patients during this procedure. Methods We collected clinical meta-data and colonoscopy results from 272 consecutive patients that underwent FMT for recurrent CDI at the University of Minnesota from 2008 through 2015. Patients had at least 2 spontaneous relapses of CDI following their initial episode and did not clear the infection after 1 extended antibiotic regimen. We collected random mucosal biopsies from patients' right colons to identify lymphocytic or collagenous colitis during the FMT procedure. Failure or success in clearing CDI was determined within or at 2 months after the FMT. Results Of patients undergoing FMT, 15% had established IBD and 2.6% were found to have IBD during the FMT procedure. A single colonoscopic FMT cleared CDI from 74.4% of patients with IBD and 92.1% of patients without IBD ( P = .0018). Patients had similar responses to FMT regardless of immunosuppressive therapy. More than one-quarter of patients with IBD (25.6%) had a clinically significant flare of IBD after FMT. Lymphocytic colitis was documented in 7.4% of patients with endoscopically normal colon mucosa; only 3 of these patients (20%) required additional treatment for colitis after clearance of CDI. Conclusions Based on an analysis of 272 patients, FMT is somewhat less effective in clearing recurrent CDI from patients with IBD, compared with patients without IBD, regardless of immunosuppressive therapy. More than 25% of patients with IBD have a disease flare following FMT. Lymphocytic colitis did not affect the outcome of FMT, but a small fraction of these patients required pharmacologic treatment after the procedure.
Family Planning Program Effects: A Review of Evidence from Microdata

This paper reviews empirical evidence on the micro-level consequences of family planning programs in middle- and low-income countries. In doing so, it focuses on fertility outcomes (the number and timing of births), women’s health and socio-economic outcomes (mortality, human capital, and labor force participation), and children’s health and socio-economic outcomes throughout the life cycle. Although effect sizes are heterogeneous, long-term studies imply that in practice, family planning programs may only explain a modest share of fertility decline in real-world settings (explaining 4-20% of fertility decline among studies finding significant effects). Family planning programs may also have quantitatively modest - but practically meaningful - effects on the socio-economic welfare of individuals and families.
Fine Tuning of Polymer Properties by Incorporating Strongly Electron-Donating 3-Hexyloxythiophene Units into Random and Semi-random Copolymers

Two series of copolymers containing varying percentages of strongly electron-donating 3-hexyloxythiophene units (3HOT), namely the random poly(3-hexylthiophene-co-3-hexyloxythiophene)s (P3HT-co-3HOTs) and the semi-random poly(3-hexylthiophene–thiophene–3-hexyloxythiophene–diketopyrrolopyrrole)s (P3HTT-HOT-DPPs), were synthesized via Stille polymerization. The influence of 3HOT content on UV–vis absorption, HOMO energy levels, polymer crystallinity, and polymer:PC61BM solar cell performance, especially the open-circuit voltage (Voc), was investigated. Importantly, introduction of the strong donor 3HOT results in regularly decreased band gaps and broadened absorption compared to the corresponding parent polymers, regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and semi-random poly(3-hexylthiophene–thiophene–diketopyrrolopyrrole) (P3HTT-DPP). The HOMO energies of both random P3HT-co-3HOT and semi-random P3HTT-HOT-DPP copolymers increase significantly with 3HOT incorporation, from −5.2 eV to around −4.95 eV with h...
Bioclogging and Permeability Alteration by L. mesenteroides in a Sandstone Reservoir: A Reactive Transport Modeling Study

Selective bioclogging targets the biofilm growth in highly permeable zones of reservoirs or aquifers to divert water into low permeability zones. It alters the hydrodynamics of the subsurface flow systems to favorable performance conditions. Applications may include microbial-enhanced-hydrocarbon-recovery (MEHR) and bioremediation. Despite its success at the laboratory scale, application of bioclogging at the reservoir scale is hindered by the lack of understanding and advanced modeling and prediction tools. To understand controls of bioclogging processes at the reservoir scale, a Reactive Transport Model (RTM) has been developed in this work for in situ biostimulation of L. mesenteroides. This fermenting bacterium produces the biopolymer dextran in the presence of sucrose. As a first step, we considered the flow, transport, and bacterial growth and dextran production reactions in a single phase fluid (water) system, because most reactions occur either in the water phase or at the watersolid interface. Parameters for biomass growth and dextran production were obtained from column experimental data. The numerical experiments were carried out using the spatial distribution of porosity and permeability extracted from open-hole well logs collected at a characterization well near the King Island gas field in Southern Sacramento basin in California. The numerical experiments suggest that there exists an optimum range of injection rates (between 543 and 1,195 bbls/day). The volumetric injection rates need to be sufficiently fast to overcome microbial growth and clogging at the vicinity of the bore wells. They also need to be low enough to allow sufficiently long residence times for dextran production. Results show significant dextran formation and the associated porosity and permeability alterations to divert water into low permeability zones. The bioclogging effectiveness, measured by the percentage of the water diverted into the low permeability zones, varied between 10 to 75% depending on injection conditions. With the same total mass injection rates of sucrose, increasing flow rate is more effective in selectively bioclogging highly permeable zones than increasing sucrose concentration. Other processes, including the attachment of biomass to the solid surface without being washed out, are also important. The developed model offers a powerful tool to optimize injection conditions for effective bioclogging in naturally heterogeneous reservoirs.
Exploring seasonal accumulation bias in a west central Greenland ice core with observed and reanalyzed data

The seasonality of accumulation in west central Greenland is investigated to determine whether a summer bias exists in a multi-century ice core recovered from Crawford Point (CP). Such a bias would negatively affect the ice core’s potential for reconstructing the history of winter circulation patterns including the North Atlantic Oscillation. An automatic weather station (AWS) installed at the CP site in 1995 records sub-daily surface heights and affords a unique opportunity to assess the seasonal distribution of accumulation and test the performance of five gridded reanalysis datasets and a regional climate model. Simulated accumulation compares remarkably well with in situ measurements from both the AWS and CP ice core, demonstrating their potential to accurately represent accumulation in this region. Seasonal accumulation exhibits no summer maximum, indicating that any concurrent precipitation maximum is likely offset by melt and/or sublimation effects. The lack of a strong seasonal accumulation bias implies that the CP ice core is well suited for future investigations of the history of winter circulation patterns.
THE RIESZ REPRESENTATION THEOREM REVISITED

(1983). The Riesz Representation Theorem Revisited. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 90, No. 4, pp. 277-280.
Structural and Electronic Property Study of (ZnO)n, n ≤ 168: Transition from Zinc Oxide Molecular Clusters to Ultrasmall Nanoparticles

Global minimum energy structures of (ZnO)n, n ≤ 168, were determined by using a hybrid genetic algorithm followed by a local geometry optimization at the density functional theory level. New “magic number” structures were found for the (ZnO)n clusters and ultrasmall nanoparticles. Particles with morphologies of single-, double-, and triple-layered octahedral cages exhibit higher stability than particles with other morphologies. (ZnO)132 and (ZnO)168 are found to be triple-layer cages with a diameter of ∼2 nm in each dimension. The normalized clustering energies (average cohesive energies) of the multilayered zinc oxide cages can be extrapolated to provide an estimate of the bulk limit. The surface energy densities of the ultrasmall nanoparticles are almost constant. The relatively high stability of the multilayered particles is attributed to the lack of terminal surface atoms and the effective interlayer stacking of hexagonal cells, as the layers in the particles are intact and hexagonally tiled. The epit...
Position paper: Assessing knowledge in blocks-based and text-based programming languages

Assessing student knowledge of programming concepts is a long studied, but many would say unsolved, problem. From the initial Empirical Studies of Programmers series [1] to McCracken's study [2] to Elliott-Tew's validated assessment of fundamental CS knowledge [3] many have attempted to precisely measure the knowledge and skills of students learning to program. All of the previous efforts have been centered on text based languages. Now we have another element to add to the mix — block-based programming languages. Can any of the existing assessment instruments work for both text and block based programming languages? Do we believe they will measure the same knowledge? Can existing assessments be modified and tailored for block-based languages? Are the two approaches equivalent, and would we even want to assess the same knowledge outcomes for both? These are but a few of the questions I will address in this position paper.
Biofiltration of Chloroform in a Trickle Bed Air Biofilter Under Acidic Conditions

In this paper, the application of biofiltration is investigated for controlled removal of gas phase chloroform through cometabolic degradation with ethanol. A trickle bed air biofilter (TBAB) operated under acidic pH 4 is subjected to aerobic biodegradation of chloroform and ethanol. The TBAB is composed of pelleted diatomaceous earth filter media inoculated with filamentous fungi species, which served as the principle biodegrading microorganism. The removal efficiencies of 5 ppmv of chloroform mixed with different ratios of ethanol as cometabolite (25, 50, 100, 150, and 200 ppmv) ranged between 69.9 and 80.9%. The removal efficiency, reaction rate kinetics, and the elimination capacity increased proportionately with an increase in the cometabolite concentration. The carbon recovery from the TBAB amounted to 69.6% of the total carbon input. It is postulated that the remaining carbon contributed to excess biomass yield within the system. Biomass control strategies such as starvation and stagnation were employed at different phases of the experiment. The chloroform removal kinetics provided a maximum reaction rate constant of 0.0018 s−1. The highest ratio of chemical oxygen demand (COD)removal/nitrogenutilization was observed at 14.5. This study provides significant evidence that the biodegradation of a highly chlorinated methane can be favored by cometabolism in a fungi-based TBAB.
Substrate-aware mixed-signal macro-cell placement in WRIGHT

In this paper we describe a set of algorithms for handling substrate-coupled switching noise in an iterative placement framework. Our model for switching noise uses a coarse resistive grid method for analyzing the coupling of digital switching noise into the analog macros on the chip. The noise effects determined through these models are incorporated into a constrained, simulated annealing based macro cell placement flow. Our results indicate that these substrate-aware algorithms support efficient mixed signal placement optimization. >
Variations in Facebook Posting Patterns Across Validated Patient Health Conditions: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Social media is emerging as an insightful platform for studying health. To develop targeted health interventions involving social media, we sought to identify the patient demographic and disease predictors of frequency of posting on Facebook. Objective: The aims were to explore the language topics correlated with frequency of social media use across a cohort of social media users within a health care setting, evaluate the differences in the quantity of social media postings across individuals with different disease diagnoses, and determine if patients could accurately predict their own levels of social media engagement. Methods: Patients seeking care at a single, academic, urban, tertiary care emergency department from March to October 2014 were queried on their willingness to share data from their Facebook accounts and electronic medical records (EMRs). For each participant, the total content of Facebook posts was extracted. Using the latent Dirichlet allocation natural language processing technique, Facebook language topics were correlated with frequency of Facebook use. The mean number of Facebook posts over 6 months prior to enrollment was then compared across validated health outcomes in the sample. Results: A total of 695 patients consented to provide access to their EMR and social media data. Significantly correlated language topics among participants with the highest quartile of posts contained health terms, such as “cough,” “headaches,” and “insomnia.” When adjusted for demographics, individuals with a history of depression had significantly higher posts (mean 38, 95% CI 28-50) than individuals without a history of depression (mean 22, 95% CI 19-26, P=.001). Except for depression, across prevalent health outcomes in the sample (hypertension, diabetes, asthma), there were no significant posting differences between individuals with or without each condition. Conclusions: High-frequency posters in our sample were more likely to post about health and to have a diagnosis of depression. The direction of causality between depression and social media use requires further evaluation. Our findings suggest that patients with depression may be appropriate targets for health-related interventions on social media. [J Med Internet Res 2017;19(1):e7]
Characteristics of high risk breast cancer patients with mutations identified by multiplex panel testing.

1511 Background: Multiplex panel testing studies evaluating cancer susceptibility in breast cancer (BC) patients suggest that between 4-11% of BRCA1/2 negative individuals have a deleterious mutati...
Maternal Antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis and Risk of Gastroschisis

Background Gastroschisis, a birth defect of the abdominal wall, is increasing in prevalence. The largest increase in prevalence has been observed among young mothers (<20 years). The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection is highest among young women and has also been increasing over time. The objective was to investigate the association between immunoglobulin G antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) (anti-CT) and Chlamydial heat shock protein 60 (anti-CHP60) during pregnancy, and risk of gastroschisis among offspring. Methods We conducted a nested case–control study of 292 gastroschisis cases identified from the Congenital Malformations Register and 826 live born controls matched on age and birth year within the Finnish Maternity Cohort. Early pregnancy serum samples were used to categorize women by seropositivity to anti-CT and anti-CHP60. Women seronegative for anti-CT and anti-CHP60 served as the reference. We used conditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Effect measure modification by maternal age (<25 years, ≥25 years) was also assessed. Results Seropositivity to anti-CT (17.8% of cases vs. 16.0% of controls) or anti-CHP60 (23.6% of cases vs. 22.0% of controls) was not associated with gastroschisis. Although, the OR for seropositivity to anti-CT alone was slightly elevated (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.73–1.94), specifically among young mothers (<25 years) (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 0.81–3.37), the results were imprecise. Conclusion Chlamydia infection, as measured by immunoglobulin G antibodies to CT and CHP60, is not associated with gastroschisis, however, our assays were not able to distinguish recent infection.Birth Defects Research 109:543–549, 2017.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Control System Design to Meet Weighted l ∞ Specifications 1

Abstract Two performance specifications based on l ∞ measures of weighted disturbance and error signals are defined. Both allow the treatment of magnitude, rate, and acceleration bounds on disturbances and errors. One is "incremental", requiring that errors satisfy a constraint for as long (in time) as disturbances satisfy a similar constraint. The other considers only disturbances satisfying a constraint for all time, and requires that errors do as well. System stability and gain are defined for each case and the gains are shown to be different. Each gain can be computed by solving a standard or slightly modified l 1 problem and compensator synthesis in each case is equivalent to a linear program.
Mechanisms of Furfural Reduction on Metal Electrodes: Distinguishing Pathways for Selective Hydrogenation of Bioderived Oxygenates

Electrochemical reduction of biomass-derived platform molecules is an emerging route for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. However, understanding gaps between reaction conditions, underlying mechanisms, and product selectivity have limited the rational design of active, stable, and selective catalyst systems. In this work, the mechanisms of electrochemical reduction of furfural, an important biobased platform molecule and model for aldehyde reduction, are explored through a combination of voltammetry, preparative electrolysis, thiol-electrode modifications, and kinetic isotope studies. It is demonstrated that two distinct mechanisms are operable on metallic Cu electrodes in acidic electrolytes: (i) electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) and (ii) direct electroreduction. The contributions of each mechanism to the observed product distribution are clarified by evaluating the requirement for direct chemical interactions with the electrode surface and the role of adsorbed hydrogen. Further anal...