cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contracting for general practice : another turn of the wheel of history

Series editor: Mike Pringle British general practitioners often assert their pride at being “independent contractors,” without remembering the origin of the term. Dr Ransome, pictured on his rounds as visiting physician to the local cottage hospital (box), was one of my predecessors in practice, and his extract from Kelly's 1908 directory of trade and professional people reminds us how most of our medical forebears earned their living.1 Others of my 19th century medical ancestors are entered in such directories as Surgeon to Waveney Valley Branch of Great Eastern Railway (Dr Adams, 18752), Surgeon to the Dispensary for the Poor (Dr Garneys, 18283), and Surgeon to the Rational Sick and Burial Association (Dr Johnstone, 18904). This collection of contracts included occupational and public health services, treatment and certification of subscribers to friendly societies, care of inpatients at cottage hospitals, and a very basic service to the indigent poor (whether inside workhouses or on “outdoor relief,” as the forerunner of social security payment was called). Although these arrangements initially seem to be relics of a bygone age, the modern general practitioner immunises children and adults, sees patients at the surgery or in the home, visits residential homes, and has hospital practitioner contracts at a community hospital or in a district hospital specialist department—he or she has a spectrum of work that bears a remarkable resemblance to that of Dr Ransome and his Victorian colleagues. As well as these contracts, these doctors would have undertaken private consulting practice. John Scott, a well to do local diarist, records that he consulted Dr Garneys about his feeble sister Charlotte3 and, on behalf of concerned local worthies, about the 1849 outbreak of cholera in the town5. On New Year's Eve 1828 Dr Garneys was even called on to …
Does advanced ultrasound equipment improve the adequacy of ultrasound visualization of fetal cardiac structures in the obese gravid woman

Abstract Objective This study was undertaken to determine the effect of advanced ultrasound equipment on the ability to visualize fetal cardiac structures in obese gravid women. Study design Singleton pregnancies undergoing initial ultrasound examination between 14 weeks and 23 weeks 6 days were included. Patients were classified by body mass index (BMI) (nonobese [BMI 2 ] and obese [BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ]). The rate of suboptimal ultrasound visualization (SUV) of the fetal heart (cardiac axis, cardiac position, 4-chamber, and outflow tracts views) was compared between patients examined by standard (HDI 3000) or advanced ultrasound equipment (HDI 5000) (ATL, Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, Wash). Results Over a 5-year period, 7029 singleton gestations met inclusion criteria; 2498 (35.5%) were clinically obese. There was no difference in gestational age, rate of low amniotic fluid volume, anterior placenta, or vertex fetal presentation between the groups. When the advanced ultrasound equipment was used, SUV of the fetal heart was lower in the nonobese population (20.8% vs 16.4%; P P =.27). However, obese patients who were examined by advanced ultrasound equipment after 18 weeks had less SUV of the outflow tracts (28.5% vs 23.1%, P =.04) but not of the 4-chamber view. Conclusion Despite advanced ultrasound equipment, maternal obesity significantly limits visualization of the fetal heart. However, the advanced ultrasound equipment may somewhat benefit obese gravid women examined after 18 weeks' gestation
A role for NADPH oxidase in antigen presentation.

The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase expressed in phagocytes is a multi-subunit enzyme complex that generates superoxide (O2.-). This radical is an important precursor of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) needed for microbicidal activity during innate immune responses. Inherited defects in NADPH oxidase give rise to chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a primary immunodeficiency characterized by recurrent infections and granulomatous inflammation. Interestingly, CGD, CGD carrier status, and oxidase gene polymorphisms have all been associated with autoinflammatory and autoimmune disorders, suggesting a potential role for NADPH oxidase in regulating adaptive immune responses. Here, NADPH oxidase function in antigen processing and presentation is reviewed. NADPH oxidase influences dendritic cell (DC) crosspresentation by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules (MHC-I) through regulation of the phagosomal microenvironment, while in B lymphocytes, NADPH oxidase alters epitope selection by major histocompatibility complex class II molecules (MHC-II).
Finer grained concurrency for the database cache

The database cache transaction recovery technique as proposed in [Elhard and Bayer 84] offers significant performance advantages for reliable database systems. However, the smallest granularity of locks it provides is the page. Here we present two schemes supporting smaller granularity. The first scheme allows maximal concurrency consistent with physical two-phase locking, with the same per-transaction I/O cost as original database cache scheme. The second scheme offers the same concurrency as the first, but features reduced I/O on commit, at the cost of some increase recovery time.
Incremental retiming for FPGA physical synthesis

In this paper, the authors presented a new linear-time retiming algorithm that produces near-optimal results. The implementation is specifically targeted at Altera's Stratix FPGA-based designs, although the techniques described are general enough for any implementation medium. The algorithm is able to handle the architectural constraints of the target device, multiple timing constraints assigned by the user and implicit legality constraints. It ensures that register moves do not create asynchronous problems such as creating a glitch on a clock/reset signal.
Cultural Transitions ‐ WWMD? Ethical Impulses and the Project of Ethnography in Industry

We are at an early moment in the formation of an ethnographic project in and of the corporate world. I suggest that the work of ethnography in industry would benefit from being conceptualized as project in its own right. This paper seeks guidance inspired by earlier practitioners and scholars of ethnography and design as to how to think about the potential of this project and attempts to tease out some of the ethical impulses that underlie this project. This consideration is particularly timely in light of a current interest of companies in the motivations, practices and behavior of the people through which they achieve their goals. This interest is especially relevant in the context of services-an area of particular growth and attention-in that with services what is being sold or exchanged is the performance of the people, often acting with or through other resources. In light of the fact that ethnographers in industry are actors in services systems and are both subject to and influencers of the dynamics of the service economy, it is apt to explore our own practices and impulses at this point in time.
Do tocolytic agents stop preterm labor? A critical and comprehensive review of efficacy and safety.

Objective: Our aim was to determine the efficacy and safety of tocolytic agents currently used to treat premature labor. Study Design: We carried out a comprehensive review of tocolytic agents in the treatment of premature labor. Three hundred twenty-eight studies published between 1933 and 1992 were analyzed. Results: An analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trials showed that magnesium sulfate is not better than placebo in the treatment of premature labor. R-Adrenergic receptor agonists effectively stop premature labor for only 24 to 48 hours. Calcium channel blockers and oxytocin antagonists inhibit uterine contractions, but their role in stopping labor is undefined. Prostaglandin inhibitors appear to be effective in treating premature labor and have few adverse side effects. Conclusions: The only tocolytic drugs that might be effective are the prostaglandin inhibitors. Tocolytic agents should be used only between 24 and 32 completed weeks of gestation. Magnesium sulfate should not be used to treat premature labor. Oxytocin antagonists should be used only in experimental clinical trials. Calcium channel blockers and p-adrenergic receptor agonists inhibit uterine contractions but do not prolong gestation for longer than 48 hours.
On the difficulty of learning power law graphical models

A power-law graph is any graph G = (V, E), whose degree distribution follows a power law i.e. the number of vertices in the graph with degree i, yi, is proportional to i-β : yi ∝ i-β. In this paper, we provide information-theoretic lower bounds on the sample complexity of learning such power-law graphical models i.e. graphical models whose Markov graph obeys the power law. In addition, we briefly revisit some existing state of the art estimators, and explicitly derive their sample complexity for power-law graphs.
Pandemic Influenza Vaccines

Since their compositions remain uncertain, universal pandemic vaccines are yet to be created. They would aim to protect globally against pandemic influenza viruses that have not yet evolved. Thus they differ from seasonal vaccines to influenza virus, which are updated annually in spring to incorporate the latest circulating viruses, and are then produced and delivered before the peak influenza season starts in late fall and winter. The efficacy of seasonal vaccines is linked to their ability to induce virus-neutralizing antibodies, which provide subtype-specific protection against influenza A viruses. If pandemic vaccines were designed to resemble current vaccines in terms of composition and mode of action, they would have to be developed, tested, and mass-produced after the onset of a pandemic, once the causative virus had been identified. The logistic problems of generating a pandemic vaccine from scratch, conducting preclinical testing, and producing billions of doses within a few months for global distribution are enormous and may well be insurmountable. Alternatively, the scientific community could step up efforts to generate a universal vaccine against influenza A viruses that provides broadly cross-reactive protection through the induction of antibodies or T cells to conserved regions of the virus.
Chiral 1,3‐Oxathiane from (+)‐Pulegone: Hexahydro‐4,4,7‐trimethyl‐4H‐1,3‐benzoxathiin

Chiral 1,3-oxathiane from (+)-pulegone: Hexahydro-4,4,7-trimethyl-4H-1,3-benzoxathiin intermediate: cis- and trans-5-Methyl-2-[1-methyl-1-(phenylmethylthio)ethyl]cyclohexanone reactant: 202.0 g (1.33 mol) of (+)-pulegone intermediate: 2-(1-Mercapto-1-methylethyl)-5-methylcyclohexanol product: Hexahydro-4,4,7-trimethyl-4H-1,3-benzoxathiin. Keywords: addition, to CC; annulation, heterocyclic-[6]; cyclization, condensation; reduction, CO CHOH; reduction, miscellaneous; reduction, miscellaneous; mercaptans, stench; apparatus, for condensing liquid ammonia
Fibromyalgia: Time to Consider a New Taxonomy?

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to review whether the time has come to reconsider the use of the term “fibromy-algia” to describe this syndrome.Findings: The term “fibromyalgia” suggests that fibrous and muscular abnormalities are causally involved in the etiology of the syndrome or that muscle pain is the most relevant clinical finding, however, current research suggests that there are no significant structural or functional differences between fibromyalgia and normal muscles. Persons with fibromyalgia have altered nociception, hyperalgesia, allodynia, and hypervigilance. The hyperalgesia is present not only over fibromyalgia tender points but also in nonpainful regions. Several studies have suggested that fibromyalgia is due to hypersensitivity of the central nervous system rather than pathologically painful muscles.Conclusions: The etiology and symptoms of fibromyalgia are not due to structural or functional changes in muscle or fibrous tissues. Hence, the term “fibromyalgia” does not describe...
Pretest studies for a microbially enhanced oil recovery field pilot in a hypersaline oil reservoir

Abstract The ecological and physiological factors governing microbial activity in the Southeast Vassar Vertz Sand Unit (SEWSU), Payne County, OK, an oil reservoir selected for a microbially enhanced oil recovery field pilot, were studied. Analysis of the brines from the reservoir showed that the SEWSU reservoir is a hypersaline environment rich in calcium and magnesium cations, and contains most of the inorganic nutrients required for microbial growth. Substantial amounts of sulfate and sulfide were detected in the brines, indicating a potential for sulfate reduction activity. Of the various carbohydrate‐based nutrients tested, a molasses‐ammonium nitrate nutrient mixture best stimulated the metabolism and growth of the microbial communities in the brines. Sulfide was not detected in any brine samples that received high levels of nitrate, even when additional carbon sources such as molasses were added. The addition of nitrate also resulted in shorter lag times, higher maximum turbidities, and larger press...
Epidermal growth factor/TNF-α transactivation modulates epithelial cell proliferation and apoptosis in a mouse model of parenteral nutrition

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) signaling are critical for effective proliferative and apoptotic actions; however, little is known about the codependency of these signaling pathways in the intestinal epithelium. Because total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is associated with loss of intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation and increased apoptosis, we utilized a mouse model to explore these transactivation pathways in small bowel epithelium. Mice underwent intravenous cannulation and were given enteral nutrition or TPN for 7 days. Outcomes included IEC proliferation, apoptosis, and survival. To address transactivation or dependence of EGF and TNF on IEC physiology, TNF-α receptor knockout (KO) mice, TNFR1-KO, R2-KO, or R1R2-double KO, were used. Exogenous EGF and pharmacological blockade of ErbB1 were performed in other groups to examine the relevance of the ErB1 pathway. TPN increased IEC TNFR1 and decreased EGF and ErbB1 abundance. Loss of IEC proliferation was prevented by exogenous EGF or blockade of TNFR1. However, EGF action was prevented without effective TNFR2 signaling. Also, blockade of TNFR1 could not prevent loss of IEC proliferation without effective ErbB1 signaling. TPN increased IEC apoptosis and was due to increased TNFR1 signaling. Exogenous EGF or blockade of TNFR1 could prevent increased apoptosis, and both pathways were dependent on effective ErbB1 signaling. Exogenous EGF prevented increased apoptosis in mice lacking TNFR2 signaling. TPN mice had significantly decreased survival vs. controls, and this was associated with the TNFR1 signaling pathway. We concluded that these findings identify critical mechanisms that contribute to TPN-associated mucosal atrophy via altered TNF-α/EGF signaling. It emphasizes the importance of both TNFR1 and TNFR2 pathways, as well as the strong interdependence on an intact EGF/ErbB1 pathway.
DSS-13 S-band design optimization using the focal-plane method

The focal-plane (complex conjugate phase matching) method is used to select the appropriate gain and location of a feed for S-band (2.295 GHz) operation of DSS-13, the new NASA/JPL Deep Space Network (DSN) 34-m beam waveguide (BWG) antenna. It is found empirically that the focal-plane method gives a better design in terms of the G/T figure than previous S-band designs. DSS-13 was designed to work at X- and Ka-bands with 22-dBi corrugated horns placed at F/sub 3/. At S-band, a 22-dBi corrugated feed located at F/sub 3/ does not perform well. The focal-plane method suggested that a 19-dBi corrugated horn might perform better. Using physical-optics and Jacobi-Bessel computer software, this was found to be the case. Using a smaller gain horn also enabled the designer to fit the feed in a vertical position, which makes the mechanical layout of all the waveguide components easier to achieve. >
Survey and Experimental Techniques as an Approach for Agricultural Risk Analysis

The ubiquity and centrality of risk in agricultural processes helps define agricultural economics as a distinct field of study. Understanding agricultural agents’ behavioral responses to risk, and the implications of these responses for market behavior and agricultural policy, has occupied a central position in agricultural economics research. Much of this research has relied upon the analysis of agents’ behavior as observed and encoded by various public data collection agencies and private researchers. Simulation and programming techniques have also broadened our understanding of risk and extended the profession’s ability to provide prescriptive analysis to both individual decision makers and policy advisors. Such techniques often rely upon the analysis of observed behavioral responses to calibrate key parameters of the underlying models. However, calibration of individual risk preferences and identification of agents’ true behavioral objectives and constraints are often difficult, if not impossible, to obtain from observed behavior.
Photon Migration in Muscle and Brain

The initial studies of highly scattering biological materials by optical means were made by David Keilin and E.F. Hartree1,2. Using the microspectroscope they observed that the cytochrome absorption bands from various microorganisms, which had been frozen in water or glycerol, were greatly enhanced by micro-recrystallization. Their samples were rapidly frozen in liquid nitrogen, and then rewarmed to a temperature at which a “red halo” was visible in the transmitted light. This produced a better definition of cytochrome absorption bands because of increased light scattering. Furthermore, Keilin showed that the low dispersion microspectroscope gave better visualization of cell and tissue absorption bands than did a higher resolution spectrograph.
The Missed Opportunities of Riley v. California

In the landmark case of Riley v. California, the Supreme Court prohibited law enforcement officers from searching a defendant's cell phone as part of a search incident to a lawful arrest. The unanimous decision was widely regarded as a major victory for defendant's rights, but in fact the Court missed two significant opportunities when deciding this case. First, the Court failed to repair the critically flawed search incident to arrest doctrine, and second, the court failed to provide useful guidance for law enforcement officers faced with emerging technologies. Like the Court’s other search incident to arrest opinions, Riley’s rationale was confused and inconsistent. And like the Court’s other Fourth Amendment technology cases, Riley’s arguments focused too much on the technical details of a specific new technology and not enough on basic Fourth Amendment principles. As a result, the true legacy of Riley is likely to be further confusion both in rules and in underlying doctrine.
Delegated isolation

Isolation---the property that a task can access shared data without interference from other tasks---is one of the most basic concerns in parallel programming. In this paper, we present Aida, a new model of isolated execution for parallel programs that perform frequent, irregular accesses to pointer-based shared data structures. The three primary benefits of Aida are dynamism, safety and liveness guarantees, and programmability. First, Aida allows tasks to dynamically select and modify, in an isolated manner, arbitrary fine-grained regions in shared data structures, all the while maintaining a high level of concurrency. Consequently, the model can achieve scalable parallelization of regular as well as irregular shared-memory applications. Second, the model offers freedom from data races, deadlocks, and livelocks. Third, no extra burden is imposed on programmers, who access the model via a simple, declarative isolation construct that is similar to that for transactional memory. The key new insight in Aida is a notion of delegation among concurrent isolated tasks (known in Aida as assemblies). Each assembly A is equipped with a region in the shared heap that it owns---the only objects accessed by A are those it owns, guaranteeing race-freedom. The region owned by A can grow or shrink flexibly---however, when A needs to own a datum owned by B, A delegates itself, as well as its owned region, to B. From now on, B has the responsibility of re-executing the task A set out to complete. Delegation as above is the only inter-assembly communication primitive in Aida. In addition to reducing contention in a local, data-driven manner, it guarantees freedom from deadlocks and livelocks.We offer an implementation of Aida on top of the Habanero Java parallel programming language. The implementation employs several novel ideas, including the use of a union-find data structure to represent tasks and the regions that they own. A thorough evaluation using several irregular data-parallel benchmarks demonstrates the low overhead and excellent scalability of Aida, as well as its benefits over existing approaches to declarative isolation. Our results show that Aida performs on par with the state-of-the-art customized implementations of irregular applications and much better than coarse-grained locking and transactional memory approaches.
Equipment for Checking Fumigation Effectiveness in Silo Bins

In 1963 experimental fumigations of wheat were carried out in silo bins ranging in size from 4,500- to 35,000-bu capacity. Fumigant effectiveness was determined on the basis of test insect mortality.
The US President’s most effective spokespeople

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether political appointees or civil servants are more effective spokespeople for the President of the United States of America (US). Design/methodology/approach – A series of rare, detailed, confidential interviews were conducted with civil servants and political appointees who worked in public affairs for the US Department of the Treasury under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as with reporters who interacted with the officials frequently. Findings – The findings suggest that civil servants more effectively advance the President’s positions in the press than political appointees. Reporters place significantly less trust in information they receive from political appointees because they assume that appointees are politically motivated – a phenomenon this study names the “appointee discount.” Appointees also have significantly less knowledge of the policies they are responsible for communicating. Civil servants are therefore positio...
Influence over Power Grid Enterprises of Saving Energy and Protecting Environment Dispatch

Based on the present situation of saving energy and reducing waste in electric power enterprises,the paper analyses the possible influence over power grid enterprises of saving energy and protecting environment dispatch,points out questions which dispatch will face,and puts forward the corresponding suggestion against the effect of dispatch.
Physicians' experiences with prehospital do-not-resuscitate orders in North Carolina.

Introduction Many states are implementing prehospital do-not-resuscitate (DNR) programs through legislation or by state or local protocol. There are no outcome studies in the literature regarding the utilization of, access to, or barriers to prehospital DNR programs, nor are there studies that evaluated whether they meet the patients' needs. Study objective To explore physicians' perceptions of the utilization of, access to, and barriers to a southeastern state's prehospital DNR program, and to identify key professional groups needing information about prehospital DNR issues. Methods A convenience sample survey and a descriptive review using retrospective, self-report questionnaires sent to all physicians who requested and obtained a supply of the state's out-of-facility DNR forms in 1993. Results Respondents reported that the most common terminal conditions for patients with prehospital DNR orders are cancer and multiple chronic diseases in elderly patients. More than half of the physicians recalled that enrolled patients had engaged the services of emergency medical services (EMS), most often because the patients' conditions worsened, and the families were uncertain about what to do. Most of the enrolled patients have at least one other DNR order in another health-care setting, and are at home with hospice care or home-health care at the time of the prehospital DNR order implementation. The most frequent barrier to honoring dying patients' wishes in the prehospital environment is a lack of knowledge of prehospital issues by patients, families, primary care physicians, and nursing home staff. Ninety-eight percent of the respondents support a single, universal DNR order that would apply across all health-care settings. Conclusions Patients, families, and key health-care professional groups need to be targeted with educational programs regarding prehospital DNR issues. Primary care physicians, using the current prehospital DNR program, support more comprehensive approaches to DNR orders across health-care settings.
Schematic Processing in Working Memory Tasks Relies on Learning and Long-Term Memory Resources.

This paper presents an evidence for involvement of long-term memory (LTM) resources along volatile memory (VM) resources in active management of information in a working memory (WM) task that features schematic processing of WM content. It was observed that in rehearsing frequently changing WM items in a self-paced concurrent-counting task when subjects learn and use a fixed rehearsing order across different episodes of the task they make significantly less error compared to when they adopt different rehearsing order for different episodes. This finding suggests that while retaining information in this task practically draws on volatile resources such as the phonological loop (PL), access to the corresponding item in WM relies on learning and retaining data structures in LTM. It is discussed that in this role learning and LTM resources help render schematic access to episodic information stored in less structured storage units such as PL. In this role LTM and learning plays a crucial role in execution of WM tasks that employ complex process schemas.
Participatory Design Research as a Practice for Systemic Repair: Doing Hand-in-Hand Math Research with Families

ABSTRACTSuccess and failure in formal mathematics education has been used to legitimize stratification. We describe participatory design research as a methodology for systemic repair. The analysis describes epistemic authority—exercising the right or the power to know—as a form of agency in processes of mathematical problem solving and learning. We asked: What will aid families in advocating for their children's math learning, particularly when they expressed concern about their ability to do so? Participatory design research provided a collaborative and iterative method to work with people who shape math learning: parents, children, teachers, community organizers, researchers, curriculum developers, and mathematicians. Data from four years of participant observation involved the design, facilitation, and dissemination of workshops and take-home materials and family case studies. As participating families claimed epistemic authority, institutional barriers became more visible. This tension maps where part...
Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism in Serologically Defined DR5: The Difference Between DRwll and DRw12

The development of oligonucleotide probes has improved investigations into multiple gene family-like HLA genes by eliminating the cross hybridization bands observed with cDNA probes. We therefore examined the serologically ill-defined antigen DR5 using Bam HI restriction endonuclease with an oligonucleotide probe specific for DR-β (37mer, probe site: amino acid residues 81–93) (1). The Ninth International Histocompatibility Workshop split DR5 into DRwll and DRw12 and recently, a monoclonal antibody HU-39, which recognizes DN1, has been reported as useful in typing DRw12. Therefore, we also investigated RFLP in families and donors that possess DN1 in order to understand the relationship between DN1 and DR5.
Cinematic Anti-Legalism: Recent Hollywood Movies' Rejection of the Belief in Law

Abstract:American ideology has traditionally included a belief in law, and one might understandably have expected Hollywood movies to incorporate and convey this major ideological tenet. However, the most popular law movies of recent decades reject the belief in law and instead portray law as flawed and unreliable. This decided cinematic anti-legalism derives from Hollywood cinema's standardized forms and features, its political alignment, and its financial imperatives.
A Speech Interaction System

In collaboration initially with G. Saslow, R. Matarazzo, and J. Phillips and more recently with A. Wiens and others, we have been concerned since 1955 with the analysis of interview material, focusing on the formal or interactional components of communication. We assume that “the very essence of diagnostic interview and psychotherapy material—interview content—is carried by durations of communicative action (utterances) and silence. Nevertheless, only in the very recent past have investigators seemed to concern themselves with the form (and other normative characteristics) of the distributions of these two basic and highly stable interview variables” (Matarazzo, Wiens, Matarazzo, & Saslow, 1968, p. 353).
Introduction to Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing applications are an important area of study in multimedia computing and networking because it is a challenging real-time systems problem. By its nature, a videoconference is an interactive application with stringent latency and throughput requirements. In the ideal world, the video signal would be sent at full-motion video rates, with sufficient resolution to create some semblance of the illusion of presence or colocation with remote conferees. Another reason for studying videoconferencing is the fact that it has frequently been touted as the “killer app” of multimedia computing. It has long been viewed as the application that would appeal to all computer users because it would provide a richer medium for person-to-person interaction than a telephone call. Videoconferencing, or more generally, multipoint interactive video, was also envisioned as a key component of distance learning systems, remote consultation systems, and high-end gaming and teleimmersion systems. Thus solving the problems of network and operating system support for videoconferencing has implicitly been viewed as one of the linchpins for realizing the next-generation communication services and applications on the Internet.
Prediction of performance and design via optimization of ducted propellers subject to non-axisymmetric inflows

Recently developed methods at UT Austin for the analysis of open or ducted propellers are presented, and then coupled with a constrained nonlinear optimization method to design blades of open or ducted propellers for maximum efficiency satisfying the minimum pressure constraint for fully wetted case, or the specified maximum allowable cavity area for cavitating case. A vortex lattice method (named MPUF3A) is applied to analyze the unsteady cavitating performance of open or ducted propellers subject to non-axisymmetric inflows. A finite volume method based Euler solver (named GBFLOW) is applied to predict the flow field around the open or ducted propellers, coupled with MPUF-3A in order to determine the interaction of the propeller with the inflow (i.e. the effective wake) or with the duct. The blade design of open or ducted propeller is performed by using a constrained nonlinear optimization method (named CAVOPT-BASE), which uses a database of computed performance for a set of blade geometries constructed from a base-propeller. The performance is evaluated using MPUF-3A and GBFLOW. CAVOPT-BASE approximates the database using the least square method or the linear interpolation method, and generates the coefficients of polynomials based on the design parameters, such as pitch, chord, and camber. CAVOPT-BASE finally determines the optimum blade design parameters, so that the propeller produces the desired thrust for the given constraints on the pressure coefficient or the allowed amount of cavitation.
Accurate Real-Time Measurements of the Smart Grid Phasor Measurement Unit Parameters

AbstractAccurate and real-time measurement of the power system signals’ phasor is an open challenge in future smart grids. This article analyzes the performance of three recently proposed phasor estimators and compares them with the proposed estimator algorithm. The article proposes an improved recursive wavelet transform for real-time estimation of phasor and frequency in smart power systems. The proposed algorithm performance is compared with the commonly used full-cycle discrete Fourier transform (DFT), the improved discrete Fourier transform, and the wavelet transform based methods. It is shown that improved recursive wavelet transform possesses an improvement over a wide range of decaying DC components, harmonic distortions, frequency deviations, and sampling frequency. These characteristics of the improved recursive wavelet transform make it a good candidate for real-time applications in any smart power system.
Reallocation of Mental Resources over the Productive Lifespan

Changes in intelligent behavior over the working lifespan are analyzed within an information-processing framework. Methodological issues raised by previous aging research were examined in conjunction with a preliminary task analysis based on computational theory. A survey of the recent literature was first presented revealing that (a) most studies are cross-sectional; (b) few researchers systematically insure age-group comparability; and (c) all older subjects are functional volunteers, possibly unlike subjects who do not volunteer. The assumptions underlying these practices were analyzed. Their consequences are potentially serious enough to undermine most generalizations in the cognitive aging literature. A study using a broad array of cognitive tasks tested the underlying assumptions. Old and young subjects were carefully equated by drawing samples from a homogeneous population of white female schoolteachers. Non- volunteers were induced to participate by payment of a large honorarium, and their performance on a broad array of tasks included some that reflect current trends in information-processing research (metamemory, inference, world knowledge) and others that were chosen because of their popularity in the surveyed literature (WAIS subtests, recall, recognition). They were classified in a four-way ordered set reflecting evolutionary considerations and information-processing theory, into tasks involving information maintenance, location and creation, and system interrogation.
Static Techniques to Improve Power Efficiency of Branch Predictors

Current power-efficient designs focus on reducing the dynamic (activity-based) power consumption in a processor through different techniques. In this paper, we illustrate the application of two static techniques to reduce the activities of the branch predictor in a processor leading to its significant power reduction. We introduce the use of a static branch target buffer (BTB) that achieves the similar performance to the traditional branch target buffer but eliminates most of the state updates thus reducing the power consumption of the BTB significantly. We also introduce a correlation-based static prediction scheme into a dynamic branch predictor so that those branches that can be predicted statically or can be correlated to the previous ones will not go through normal prediction algorithm. This reduces the activities and conflicts in the branch history table (BHT). With these optimizations, the activities and conflicts of the BTB and BHT are reduced significantly and we are able to achieve a significant reduction (43.9% on average) in power consumption of the BPU without degradation in the performance.
Heart Performance Determination by Visualization in Larval Fishes: Influence of Alternative Models for Heart Shape and Volume.

Understanding cardiac function in developing larval fishes is crucial for assessing their physiological condition and overall health. Cardiac output measurements in transparent fish larvae and other vertebrates have long been made by analyzing videos of the beating heart, and modeling this structure using a conventional simple prolate spheroid shape model. However, the larval fish heart changes shape during early development and subsequent maturation, but no consideration has been made of the effect of different heart geometries on cardiac output estimation. The present study assessed the validity of three different heart models (the “standard” prolate spheroid model as well as a cylinder and cone tip+cylinder model) applied to digital images of complete cardiac cycles in larval mahi-mahi and red drum. The inherent error of each model was determined to allow for more precise calculation of stroke volume and cardiac output. The conventional prolate spheroid and cone tip + cylinder models yielded significantly different stroke volume values at 56 hpf in red drum and from 56 to 104 hpf in mahi. End-diastolic and stroke volumes modeled by just a simple cylinder shape were 30-50% higher compared to the conventional prolate spheroid. However, when these values of stroke volume multiplied by heart rate to calculate cardiac output, no significant differences between models emerged because of considerable variability in heart rate. Essentially, the conventional prolate spheroid shape model provides the simplest measurement with lowest variability of stroke volume and cardiac output. However, assessment of heart function – especially if stroke volume is the focus of the study - should consider larval heart shape, with different models being applied on a species-by-species and developmental stage-by-stage basis for best estimation of cardiac output.
Guatemala: the fight for accountability and the rule of law

Guatemala’s political system has been shaken by corruption scandals over the past two years. In large part, the country’s political system has been consumed by efforts to fight impunity for corruption and human rights abuses. In 2015 voters elect­ed Jimmy Morales to the presidency on an anti-corruption platform, hopeful for change from a political outsider. Throughout 2016 some advances were achieved in the fight against corruption, and prosecutors won several high-profile convic­tions for human rights violations that occurred during the country’s civil war. But organized criminal networks continued to operate in the country, posing serious challenges to the rule of law, and both the Morales administration and the new Congress displayed some of the same shortcomings as previous governments
Hardware Obfuscation Methods for Hardware Trojan Prevention and Detection

The globalized semiconductor supply chain make integrated circuits (ICs) potentially suffer from diverse security threats. Among different hardware attacks, Trojan horse insertion has emerged as a major security concern. To mitigate the hardware Trojan insertion happened in the late stage of IC supply chain, researchers recognize that hardware obfuscation is a promising technique. This chapter first reviews the state-of-the-art hardware obfuscation methods at different levels, and then summarizes the metrics that can be used to assess the effectiveness of hardware obfuscation. At the end of this chapter, future research directions for hardware obfuscation against Trojan insertion are discussed.
A novel use of 3D printing model demonstrates the effects of deteriorated trabecular bone structure on bone stiffness and strength

Trabecular bone structure is crucial to normal mechanical behavior of bones. Studies have shown that osteoporosis negatively affects trabecular bone structure, mainly by reducing bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and thus increasing fracture risk. One major limitation in assessing and quantifying the effect of this structural deterioration is that no two trabecular structures are identical. Thus, when we compare a group of healthy bones against a different group of bones that experienced resorption (i.e. decreased BV/TV) we only discover an "average" mechanical effect. It is impossible to quantify the mechanical effect of individual structural deterioration for each sample, simply because we never have the same sample in both states (intact and deteriorated structure). 3D printing is a new technology that can assist in overcoming this issue. Here we report a preliminary study that compares a healthy 3D printed trabecular bone model with the same model after bone resorption was simulated. Since the deteriorated structural bone model is derived from the healthy one, it is possible to directly estimate (percentage wise) the decrease of tissue stiffness and strength as a result of bone resorption for this specific structure. Our results demonstrate that a relatively small decrease in BV/TV (about 8%) leads to a dramatic decrease in structural strength (24%) and structural stiffness (17%), (P < 0.01). Structural strength decreased from an average of 9.14 ± 2.85MPa to 6.97 ± 2.44MPa, while structural stiffness decreased from an average of 282.5 ± 63.4N/mm to 233.8 ± 51.2N/mm. This study demonstrates that 3D printing is a novel and valuable tool for quantifying the effect of structural deterioration on the mechanical properties of trabecular bone. In the future, this approach may help us attain better personal fracture risk assessments by CT scanning, 3D printing and mechanically testing individual bone replicas from patients suffering excessive bone resorption.
Forces and Constraints

In which we say something about generalized forces and discuss constraints and how to apply them, introduce Lagrange multipliers for common nonholonomic constraints and take a quick look at one-sided constraints…
Homogeneous catalytic hydroformylation of propylene in propane-expanded solvent media

Abstract We demonstrate that refinery-grade propane/propylene mixtures, rather than polymer-grade propylene, can be used for industrial propylene hydroformylation with Rh/BiPhePhos catalyst complexes. Because propylene hydroformylation is selective, an enriched propane stream is produced, which may be recycled for producing more propylene. In addition to the potential energy savings and associated economic/environmental benefits, the mixed propane/propylene feed also provides reaction benefits by volumetrically expanding the reaction mixture to yield gas-expanded liquids (GXLs) with tunable physicochemical properties. Unlike conventional reaction media, the H2/CO ratio in GXL media can be enhanced by simply increasing the partial pressure of propane. For rhodium/triphenylphosphine catalyzed propylene hydroformylation in propane-expanded liquids, performed between 343.15 K and 363.15 K and pressures up to 2.0 MPa, the n/i aldehyde ratio is increased by up to 45% (corresponding to an increase in n-aldehyde selectivity from 71% to 78%). This is attributed to the increased H2/CO ratio in the GXL phase. At identical operating conditions, such enhancements are not seen in the case of bidentate ligands wherein electronic effects likely exert more influence on the n/i ratio.
Influence of Turbulent Fluctuations on Cloud Droplet Size Dispersion and Aerosol Indirect Effects

AbstractCloud droplet relative dispersion, defined as the standard deviation over the mean cloud droplet size, is of central importance in determining and understanding aerosol indirect effects. In...
Modulation of arrhythmias by isoproterenol in a rabbit heart model of d-sotalol-induced long Q-T intervals.

Sympathetic influences have been implicated in arrhythmias associated with both congenital and acquired long Q-T intervals. We recorded epicardial electrograms, a left ventricular endocardial monop...
Microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties of continuously cast gamma TiAl

Microstructural and texture analyses have been conducted on two gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) sheets produced via the melt overflow rapid solidification technique. For both alloy compositions relatively weak {101}γ type fiber textures (≤3 × random) were observed which are indicative of solidification from a prior α phase field with rapid growth parallel to the \({\bar 1}\)α direction. The strengths of the strips were comparable to conventionally processed sheets however tensile ductility was low. The results are discussed with respect to recent studies of the influence of cooling rate on the solidification microstructure of cast titanium aluminides.
Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase. Subunit structure of the protomeric form of the avian liver enzyme.

Abstract Chicken liver acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase is a polymeric filamentous structure of 4 to 10 million daltons and is composed of linearly aggregated protomers. The protomeric form can be dissociated with sodium dodecyl sulfate and resolved into polypeptide chains of three weight classes (117,000, 129,000, and 139,000 daltons) by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in urea-dodecyl sulfate at pH 7.2. The molar stoichiometry based upon relative staining intensity is approximately 2:1:1 for the 117,000-, 129,000-, and 139,000- dalton subunits, respectively, and is consistent with a tetrameric structure of the protomer. Covalently bound biotinyl prosthetic group is associated with only one of the 117,000 molecular weight subunits. The protomeric form of the carboxylase was cross-linked using the bifunctional reagent, dimethylsuberimidate. Analysis of the cross-linked mixture of polypeptide chains using a low resolution dodecyl sulfate-acrylamide gel electrophoresis system yielded a maximum of four protein bands all of which contain biotin. The molecular weights of these four cross-linked species correspond to those of a monomer (117,000), dimer (234,000), trimer (350,000), and tetramer (470,000). By varying the concentration of dimethylsuberimidate and time of reaction, the distribution of cross-linked polypeptides can be shifted either toward the monomeric or the tetrameric species. These results and the biotin content of the enzyme (1.0 mole per 488,000 g of protein) show the protomeric form to be a tetramer having a molecular weight of 470,000 to 500,000.
DECISION OF PREDICATES BY TURING MACHINES

This chapter presents decision of predicates by Turing machines. It highlights large number of closure properties of the Turing-defined classes of predicates and functions, and proves the second half of the equivalence between two rather divergent concepts: the recursively enumerable and the existentially definable predicates, and the recursive and the μ -rudimentary functions. The chapter describes the tools and techniques for constructing complex Turing machines from simple ones using subroutines and flow charts, which are borrowed from computer programming. The use of subroutines makes it possible to use previously defined machines as elementary components of new machines. Flow charts are merely diagrammatic versions of programs, and are used mainly because the structure of the Turing algorithms is much more evident when displayed in two-dimensional form. A flow chart is a two-dimensional diagrammatic form of a program, in which labels are omitted as much as possible, and arrows are used to indicate jumps. The standard Turing-decidable predicates are closed under the S-rudimentary operations, and establish several other closure properties.