cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Femtosecond time domain measurements of group velocity dispersion in diode lasers at 1.5 mu m

The authors have measured the group velocity dispersion of bulk V-groove semiconductor lasers and multiple quantum well lasers operating at a wavelength near 1.5 mu m. The data yield group velocity dispersions in the range from -0.63 to -0.95 mu m/sup -1/ and indicate that material dispersion is the dominant factor in the diodes. Cross-correlation traces of transmitted femtosecond pulses confirm the measured values of dispersion. >
Fatigue Strength as a Function of Preloading in Dynamic Fatigue Testing of Glass and Ceramics

The solution of fatigue strength as a function of preloading in dynamic fatigue testing was obtained analytically and numerically. The effect of preloading on dynamic fatigue strength decreases with increasing fatigue parameter (n), and for n ≥ 20 the effect is negligible up to a preloading of 90 %. The solution was verified by dynamic fatigue experiments conducted with soda-lime glass and alumina specimens in room-temperature distilled water. This result showed that one can apply a preloading corresponding up to 90 % of fatigue strength for most glass and ceramic materials, resulting in a dramatic saving of testing time in dynamic fatigue testing. The key feature that makes this technique feasible is that most of the slow crack growth under dynamic fatigue loading occurs close to failure time where a dynamic fatigue strength is defined.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
An Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach To Assessing The Risk Of Management Fraud

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) can be employed to assess the risk of management fraud. The paper illustrates how the AHP can be used to measure red flags on a scale of varying intensities, to aggregate various red flags, and to derive a single measure of risk of management fraud. The significant red flags identified in past empirical research are used in this study for illustrative purposes and the AHP models are implemented in Expert Choice (1997) software. The AHP allows auditors to customize their approaches in assessing the risk of management fraud for each audit engagement. Auditors can use significant red flags identified in the earlier studies, and also add or delete certain red flags if the engagement warrants it. The AHP can be used as a viable auditing tool in situations where auditors perceive the need to exercise judgment and or to arrive at a group consensus.
Delayed-feedback vibration absorbers to enhance energy harvesting

Abstract Recovering energy from ambient vibrations has recently been a popular research topic. This article is conceived as a concept study that explores new directions to enhance the performance of such energy harvesting devices from base excitation. The main idea revolves around the introduction of delayed feedback sensitization (or tuning ) of an active vibration absorber setup. To clarify the concept, the Delayed Resonator theory is reviewed and its suitability for energy harvesting purposes is studied. It is recognized that an actively tuned and purely resonant absorber is infeasible for such applications. The focus is then shifted to alternative tuning schemes that deviate from resonance conditions. Also called Delayed Feedback Vibration Absorbers, these devices may indeed provide significant enhancements in energy harvesting capacity. Analytical developments are presented to study energy generation and consumption characteristics. Effects of excitation frequency and absorber damping are investigated. The influences of time-delayed feedback on the stability and the transient performance of the system are also treated. The analysis starts from a stand-alone absorber, emulating seismic mass type harvesters. The work is then extended to vibration control applications, where an absorber/harvester is coupled with a primary structure. The results are demonstrated with numerical simulations on a case study.
Thermodynamic and conductivity properties of acetic acid — EMIMOAc ionic liquid solutions

Abstract Acetic acid (HOAc) is a typical weak Bronsted acid that has been broadly used as a reactant in esterification reactions and can be used as such in ionic liquid (IL) solutions. The nature of the HOAc molecule as a solute in the IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIMOAc) solutions was investigated with thermodynamic, vibrational spectroscopic, conductivity, and viscosity measurements. Calorimetry and vapor pressure-based thermodynamic measurements of the binary HOAc-EMIMOAc mixture were used to quantify the exothermic enthalpy of solution, ΔHsol, as ~ 3.2–4.9 kJ/mol. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy showed that the structures of the HOAc molecule and IL molecular ions are unchanged in the solutions relative to the pure liquids, indicating that the HOAc is a negligibly-dissociated weak acid in the IL solutions. Temperature-dependent conductivity measurements quantify the effects of the HOAc on the IL solution conductivity and confirm that the HOAc remains a mostly neutral molecular solute that interacts with the EMIMOAc IL via ion-dipole and hydrogen bond interactions.
Innovation Motivation, Divergent Thinking, and Creative Story Writing: Convergence and Divergence across the Torrance Tests and Tat:

Undergraduates (N = 64) completed innovation motivation inventories measuring the need to be different and innovation expectancy, took the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking–Verbal (TTCT-V), and wrote stories in response to eight Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards. The TAT stories were rated for creativity by four judges, who achieved a high level of reliability. TTCT-V standard scores correlated significantly with both the need to be different and innovation expectancy. The judged creativity of the TAT stories also correlated significantly with the need to be different. Moderate to strong correlations between TTCT-V scores and TAT-based creativity ratings indicate that the divergent thinking and creative product approaches measure closely related processes.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW IN THE VICINITY OF AN UPRIGHT WALL MOUNTED CYLINDER

The flow of a three-dimensional boundary layer approaching an upright wall mounted circular cylinder has been experimentally investigated by means of instantaneous flow visualisation techniques using a laser sheet and time resolved measurements of the wall pressure, the gradients of which are related to the vorticity flux away from the wall. The mean separation point of the oncoming boundary layer is located on the plane of symmetry, 0.76 and 0.82 diameters upstream of the cylinder for the two investigated Reynolds numbers, based on the cylinder diameter, of 1.0x105 and 2.2x105, respectively. The present flow visualisation studies have shown that there is always a primary vortex present in the flow which induces an eruption of wall fluid. Very often, this eruption results in the formation of counter rotating or mushroom vortices. A secondary vortex further upstream has been observed occasionally. This vortex, as well as the vortices formed by the fast eruption of wall fluid evolve quickly in time and space and therefore cannot be obtained from time-average measurements. The primary vortex consists of several large scale structures which have originated in the oncoming boundary layer and which have acquired substantial additional vorticity. Point measurements indicate that the r.m.s. pressure fluctuations increase as separation is approached and reach a maximum near reattachment. A low degree of space-time correlation and longer integral time scales were also observed downstream of separation. A bimodal probability density function of the fluctuating pressure was observed in the vicinity of the mean separation point, close to the corner region and in the wake of the cylinder. Quasi periodic vortex shedding from the cylinder with a Strouhal number 0.13 was also observed.
Brine pH Change Resulting from Urea Hydrolysis and Implication to Brine Dewatering

In order to close the water loop, NASA will need to reclaim all the water it possible can from all sources. After the primary water recovery system has reclaimed all the water it possible can from the urine and humidity condensate, a brine waste, that still containing water, remains. To reclaim the water from the brine waste, higher temperatures may be required. The urea within the brine can undergo a temperature dependent hydrolysis. One of the products of the hydrolysis is ammonia which will neutralize the acid which was added to the brine. The resulting pH change was used to ascertain the reaction order and rate of urea thermal hydrolysis within the brine. For brine samples which were spiked with additional urea, the reaction order was found to be first order and the reaction rate coefficient of thermal hydrolysis was found to be 0.0025s -1 , 0.041s -1 , and 0.42s -1 at reflux temperatures of 50 o C, 70 o C, and 90 o C, respectively. Processing times of 375, 21, and 1.7 hours for the 50 o C, 70 o C, and 90 o C reflux temperature, respectively, were observed to reach a well defined inflection point within the pH neutralization curves. Processing for a duration longer than these times results in the brine losing acidity (pH increases from 2 to 4.5) and the ability to keep the ammonia locked up in solution as ammonium (NH3 + H + NH4 + ). The activation energy for the thermal hydrolysis of urea was also calculated and found to be 125 kJ/mol.
Astrocyte Binding of Epidermal Growth Factor

Astrocytes proliferate as a part of normal brain development; in many disease states such as infection, stroke, and trauma; and in neoplastic transformation forming a glioma. The signals involved in controlling and regulating these proliferation responses of the astrocyte are still not completely characterized. Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) is a mitogen for many target cell types including astrocytes and is found in the nervous system immunohistologically (1). It is also transcribed from a highly conserved base sequence involved in specification of nervous system ontogenic cell lineage and is a ligand for a receptor which is the proto-oncogene highly expressed in gliomas. We have studied the response of astrocytes to EGF in primary tissue culture and presently report data concerning the transduction of this mitogenic signal through binding studies using 125–Iodine radiolabelled EGF.
Adaptive Control of a Camera-Projection System using Vision-Based Feedback

This paper derives an vision based feedback control strategy for a class of uncertain projector-camera systems that are used to animate two dimensional projected images on complex, three dimensional, articulated target objects. The target object of the robotic system is articulated using an open loop control strategy that generates a desired sequence of target poses that are designed using commercially available geometric modeling software. The ideal or desired image sequences are subsequently rendered in the geometric modeling software using an ideal camera/projector pose and ideal intrinsic parameter camera model. The rendered imagery from the ideal camera and projector pose are subsequently used to de ne tracking performance for the feedback control of the camera and projector. Uncertainty in actuator models of the camera and projector actuator subsystems in this paper includes contributions due to imprecision in camera pose and intrinsic camera parameters. A feedback control strategy is derived that employs pixel coordinates of multiple tracked feature points in the target image sequence in pose estimation and tracking control problems. We establish su cient conditions that guarantee the convergence and asymptotic stability of the pose estimation and tracking control problems for the class of uncertain, nonlinear systems studied in this paper. Several numerical studies are summarized in the paper that provide con dence in the derived theoretical results and further suggest robustness of the control strategy for the considered uncertainty class.
Multiemployer Pension Plans, the PBGC, and the MPRA:

Multiemployer pension plans are negotiated between a union and two or more (usually many) employers in an industry. There are over 1,400 of them covering 10.4 million participants and they are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). In the aggregate, they are now woefully underfunded, as is the PBGC’s Multiemployer Program. Congress has enacted several laws in an effort to strengthen the financial position of multiemployer plans and to protect the PBGC. The most recent is the Multiemployer Pension Protection Act of (December) 2014 (MPRA).One of the tenets of pension law has been that retirement benefits once accrued and vested are inviolable. They cannot be curtailed or rescinded. The MPRA allows the trustees of certain distressed multiemployer plans to reduce the benefits of active and inactive participants including retirees in pay status. This paper examines the developments leading up to the MPRA and the underlying problems of multiemployer pension plans and the PBGC.
Abstract 1766: Effect of soy isoflavones on prostate cancer cell cycle regulation and apoptosis

Background: As many as one-third of all cancer deaths in the United States can be linked to diet. Significant epidemiological evidence suggests a role of a variety of dietary factors including the amount of dietary soy. In Asian countries where the average diet consists of 10 times the amount of soy products consumed compared to the average American diet there is a significantly lower incidence of prostate and breast cancer. Further supporting a dietary and environmental influence is the finding that Asian immigrants who have moved to the United States and adopt a Western diet have a prostate cancer incidence that approaches U.S. born males. These findings have been supported by other studies and, again, suggest that environmental factors such as dietary soy intake may be responsible for these differences in geographic incidence. Although there is this preclinical and epidemiological data suggesting that soy isoflavones decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer (PC), there is limited information regarding the in vivo effects of soy supplementation on human PC and benign prostate tissue. Methods: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the molecular effects of soy isoflavones on human PC cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Patients with histologically confirmed PC who had chosen radical prostatectomy (RRP) for treatment (without any other primary therapy) were randomized in double blind fashion to receive either soy supplementation or placebo. The patients in the treatment group received 4 capsules of a commercially available pure soy tablet (240 mg of total isoflavones) from time of enrollment until RRP. At the time of surgery, fresh tissue was collected from the tumor and adjacent normal tissue. Using these samples, we evaluated the status of genes essential for cell cycle regulation and apoptosis using cDNA microarray analyses. Results: In this preliminary analysis, multiple cell cycle and apoptotic genes were either down regulated or up regulated in the treatment samples compared to the placebo treated samples, including BAX, BCL-2, and Caspase-7. This effect was present in both tumor and adjacent normal tissue. Using samples from an additional four patients, we then further characterized these changes in gene expression using Western Blots analysis. Cleaved caspase-7 was up regulated in soy treated tumor and adjacent normal samples when compared to placebo, suggesting that soy mediates apoptosis though Caspace-7. The expression of BCL2L1 was down regulated in the treated compared to placebo tissue with this change being most marked in the adjacent normal samples. Conclusion: In total, our results suggest that soy isoflavones may exert a prostate cancer protective effect via a beneficial effect on cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1766.
The Role of Personal Values in Marketing and Consumer Behavior

M ARKETERS have long acknowledged the importance of attitudes and attitude change in the study of marketing and consumer behavior, but the role of values has received relatively little attention. Even though the marketing literature reflects an emerging interest in the topic,1 personal values have not been widely used to investigate the underlying dimensions of consumer behavior. This is surprising considering the importance typically assigned to values by a wide variety of social observers and businessmen alike.2 While it seems that personal values have important implications for marketing practitioners and researchers, values and the ways in which they influence the behavior of consumers who look at and choose brands, product classes, and product attributes is not clear. In order to investigate these relationships, it is necessary to operationally define what values are, and to indicate empirical methods available for examining the connections between personal values and consumer behavior.
Immunology and cellular biology of Hodgkin's disease.

Hodgkin’s disease is characterized by a persistent defect in cellular immunity with abnormalities in T lymphocytes, IL-2 production, and increased sensitivity to suppressor monocytes and to normal T suppressor cells. The cellular origin of the Reed-Sternberg cell is unknown despite extensive immunohistochemical and morphologic analysis of lymphoid tissue and cell culture lines. Using the Hodgkin’s disease cell line L428, Reed-Sternberg cells have been shown to function as stimulatory cells in mixed lymphocyte reactions, accessory cells in mitogen-induced T cell proliferation, and antigen presenting cells in HLA- DR-restricted, antigen-specific T cell activation. L428 cells express a transformation associated phosphorylated transmembrane protein, with properties of a growth factor receptor, that may play a role in tumorigenic transformation.
Personhood, Contraception and Population Control

There are two ways in which the contraceptive and population control movements devalue the person. First by destroying the integrity of the person and, as a result, the interpersonal relationship of marriage, and second, by their approach to the social problem of population. This paper will deal primarily with population control. The paper is not designed to give a comprehensive account of the population control movement but to highlight certain key aspects to show how both the values publicly promoted and the methods adopted to achieve their goals have diminished the person. According to a Christian personalist view of man, the person is a whole in himself and as such can never be treated simply as a part of society. Jacques Maritain has applied the philosophic distinction made by St. Thomas between individuality and personality to evaluate contemporary materialist philosophies. A social philosophy that ignores man's spirit leaves him with only material individuality and not true personality. Either anarchy tak~ uvt:r ur sUl:h a phiiosophy fWUU:S iht: pt:rson iu a mt:rt: numbt:r, all eOOIiOilUC statistic or a racial or ethnic entity.l John F. Crosby explains the difference in approach to the human being in terms of numbering. The quantitative relations oflarger and smaller are so merely because of comparison with other numbers. For example, 5 can become larger by hPino rnmn!lrpri tn ~ !Inri F. hPrnmp~ ~m!ll1pr whpn rllmn!lrPfl tn 1? If ~ vp.rv l~rQP'
Purification and properties of two forms of human α-l-fucosidase

Abstract High (100 000) and low (50 000) molecular weight forms of α- l -fucosidase (α-fucosidase I and II) were purified to apparent homogeneity from human spleen, liver brain and kidney on the basis of differential affinity for ϵ-aminocaproyl fucosamine-agarose bead columns. α-Fucosidase I (the “bound” form) consisted of two 50 000 dalton monomers; however, both forms can aggregate to tetramer and hexamer forms. Most previous studies on α-fucosidase have been carried out on this form of human α-fucosidase although the bound and unbound forms of the enzyme were present in equal amounts in human spleen. The bound (100 000) form is a sialoglycoprotein whereas the unbound (50 000) form, is a neutral mannose-rich glycoprotein. Other differences with respect to amino acid composition, pH optimum, electrophoretic mobility, K m , thermal stability, and natural substrate specificities were observed. All preparations stability, and natural substrate specificities were observed. All preparations hydrolysed 4-methylumbelliferyl-α- l -fucoside, fucosyllactose, and lacto -N- fucopentaose I, but the unbound fraction (α-fucosidase II) preferentially hydrolysed lacto -N- focupentaose II. The unbound (mannose-rich) α-fucosidase II was taken up by human skin fibroblasts with higher affinity (5% per 2 h per 2 · 10 5 cells) than the bound (sialo-) α-fucosidase I ( 5 cells). Uptake was inhibited by other lysosomal hydrolases, fetal calf serum, mannose 6-phosphate and phosphomannans and to a lesser extent by heparins. Our studies suggest that α-fucosidase I is not a simple dimer of α-fucosidase II and represents a less-biologically active form of the enzyme.
PTOX Mediates Novel Pathways of Electron Transport in Etioplasts of Arabidopsis.

Abstract The immutans ( im ) variegation mutant of Arabidopsis defines the gene for PTOX (plastid terminal oxidase), a versatile plastoquinol oxidase in chloroplast membranes. In this report we used im to gain insight into the function of PTOX in etioplasts of dark-grown seedlings. We discovered that PTOX helps control the redox state of the plastoquinone (PQ) pool in these organelles, and that it plays an essential role in etioplast metabolism by participating in the desaturation reactions of carotenogenesis and in one or more redox pathways mediated by PGR5 (PROTON GRADIENT REGULATION 5) and NDH (NAD(P)H dehydrogenase), both of which are central players in cyclic electron transport. We propose that these elements couple PTOX with electron flow from NAD(P)H to oxygen, and by analogy to chlororespiration (in chloroplasts) and chromorespiration (in chromoplasts), we suggest that they define a respiratory process in etioplasts that we have termed "etiorespiration". We further show that the redox state of the PQ pool in etioplasts might control chlorophyll biosynthesis, perhaps by participating in mechanisms of retrograde (plastid-to-nucleus) signaling that coordinate biosynthetic and photoprotective activities required to poise the etioplast for light development. We conclude that PTOX is an important component of metabolism and redox sensing in etioplasts.
Functional Independence following Endovascular Treatment for Basilar Artery Occlusion despite Extensive Bilateral Pontine Infarcts on Diffusion-Weighted Imaging: Refuting a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Background and Purpose: Extensive brainstem diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensity has been associated with poor outcomes. We aim at documenting a series of patients with extensive DWI pontine lesions who achieved independence following endovascular therapy and aggressive medical therapy in the setting of posterior circulation basilar artery occlusion (BAO). Methods: This is a retrospective endovascular database review of a single-operator experience over a 9-year period for patients with (1) complete BAO, (2) extensive bilateral pontine DWI changes and (3) 90-day modified Rankin scale 0-2. Results: Three out of a total of 40 patients met the inclusion criteria. Case 1 was an 18-year-old male with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 32 on admission, treated 25 h after symptom onset. Case 2 was a 56-year-old male with NIHSS 19, treated 10 h after onset. Case 3 was a 73-year-old male with NIHSS 29, treated 6 h after onset. Full endovascular reperfusion was achieved in all 3 patients. A literature review identified 9 additional cases of extensive pontine DWI changes and good outcome. These patients were young (32 ± 22 years), mostly males (69%), presented with a relatively low posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score (6 ± 1), were treated relatively late from last known normal (13 ± 10 h) and were mostly (84%) treated with endovascular intervention. Conclusion: Extensive bilateral pontine DWI lesions among patients with BAO are not an unequivocal indicator of poor prognosis. We advise strong caution when considering these findings in the treatment decision algorithm.
MINIMUM PRINCIPLES AND POSITIVE SOLUTIONS FOR A CLASS OF NONLINEAR DIFFUSION PROBLEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses minimum principles and positive solutions for a class of nonlinear diffusion problems. The minimum or maximum principle is a powerful and widely used instrument in the study of differential equations and inequalities. A function that satisfies a differential inequality in a domain and consequently takes its minimum on the boundary of the domain is said to satisfy a minimum principle. In the theory of ordinary and partial differential equations, such principles have been used to discover a variety of qualitative features of solutions, including a priori bounds and positivity.
White ring sign for uneventful lenticule separation in small-incision lenticule extraction.

We describe the white ring sign, which differentiates the posterior and anterior lenticular planes in small-incision lenticule extraction. The sign identifies the plane of dissection by the anteroposterior relationship between the dissecting instrument and the circular white light reflected from the lenticular side cut. Differentiating the planes enables the surgeon to dissect the anterior plane before the posterior plane, which facilitates smooth lenticule extraction and prevents complications such as cap tears, partial lenticule dissection, and a torn lenticule. Financial Disclosure None of the authors has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Endovascular Management of Chronic Type B Thoracic Aortic Dissection

The natural progression of chronic type B dissection is to dilate over time. In close to 85% of patients1 with chronic type B dissection, there is partial to full patency of the false lumen with the risk of progressive dilatation to aneurismal formation in 35% of patients2 with cause of late mortality related to rupture. Surgical aortic replacement is required in these patients to avoid aortic rupture and is still associated with a relatively high mortality of 4–17%.3,4 Endoluminal graft treatment of chronic dissection is primarily aimed at covering the entry tear to prevent false lumen flow and subsequent aneurysmal dilatation of the thoracic aorta and for treatment of aneurismal dilatation of the false lumen to prevent aortic rupture. Remodeling of the aorta can occur at mid-term follow-up with shrinkage of false lumen and expansion of true lumen. The remodeling of the aorta is not as conspicuous as in acute aortic dissection.5
Operative Strategies to Minimize Complications Following Resection of Pituitary Macroadenomas.

Introduction We sought to identify factors associated with increased length of stay (LOS) and morbidity in patients undergoing resection of pituitary macroadenomas. Methods We reviewed records of 203 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic endonasal resection of a pituitary macroadenoma (mean age = 55.7 [16-88]) years, volume = 11.3 (1.0-134.3) cm3. Complete resection was possible in 60/29.6% patients. Mean follow-up was 575 days. Multivariate logistic regression was performed using MATLAB. Results Mean LOS was 4.67 (1-66) days and was associated with CSF leak (p = 0.025), lumbar drain placement (p = 0.041; n = 8/3.9% intraoperative, n = 20/9.9% postoperative), and any infection (p = 0.066). Age, diabetes insipidus (n = 17/8.37%), and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (n = 12/5.9%) were not associated with increased LOS (p > 0.2). Postoperative CSF leak in the hospital (n = 21/10.3%) was associated with intraoperative CSF leak (p = 0.002; n = 82/40.4%) and complete resection (p = 0.012). There was no significant association (p > 0.1) between postoperative CSF leak in the hospital following surgery and the use of a fat graft (n = 61/30.1%), nasoseptal flap (155/76.4%), or perioperative lumbar drain placement (n = 8/3.94%). Conclusion Complete resection is associated with increased risk of CSF leak and LOS. Operative strategies including placement of fat graft, nasoseptal flap, or intraoperative lumbar drain placement may have limited value in reducing the risk of postoperative CSF leak.
Measurement of residual strains in boron-epoxy and glass-epoxy laminates

Embedded-strain-gage techniques were developed and used for measuring strains in composite angle-ply laminates during curing and thermal cycling. The specimens were 2.54 by 22.9 cm eight-ply boron-epoxy and S-glass-epoxy laminates. Unidirectional specimens were used for control purposes. Strain readings were corrected for the purely thermal output of the gages obtained from an instrument quartz reference specimen. The strains measured during the cooling part of the curing cycle were in agreement with those recorded during subsequent thermal cycling, indicating that residual stresses induced during curing are primarily caused by differential thermal expansions of the various plies. Restraint strains were computed for the 0-deg and 45-deg plies of the angle-ply laminates tested, and the residual stresses obtained using the anisotropic constitutive relations and taking into account the temperature dependence of stiffnesses and strains.
Development of a Specification for Low-Cracking Bridge Deck Concrete in Virginia

Cracking continues to be the number one concern about bridge deck construction. Rarely is a deck without cracks constructed. Transverse cracking mainly attributable to drying shrinkage is common in bridge decks and has been observed in many bridge decks newly constructed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT). Shrinkage-reducing admixtures (SRAs) in concrete reduce shrinkage and are one of the most effective ways of reducing shrinkage cracking. A low modulus of elasticity and high creep also help minimize cracking. Lightweight concrete (LWC) has a lower modulus of elasticity, higher inelastic strains, a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, a more continuous contact zone between the aggregate and the paste, and more water in the pores of aggregates for continued internal curing than normal weight concrete: all these factors help reduce cracking in LWC. Drying shrinkage can also be counteracted with the use of shrinkage-compensating concrete (SC). When properly restrained by reinforcement, SC...
Impact of Incident Heart Failure on Body Composition Over Time in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study Population

Background:Prevalence of heart failure (HF) increases significantly with age, coinciding with age-related changes in body composition that are common and consequential. Still, body composition is r...
Oliver Parker's Filmed Othello: Desdemona and Design

This essay examines the 1995 filmed version of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Oliver Parker and starring Laurence Fishburne. For the first time in a big-budget movie, Othello was played by a bl...
Synthesis of Unsymmetric Trisulfides from 9-Fluorenylmethyl Disulfides

A convenient method for the preparation of unsymmetrical trisulfides using 9-fluorenylmethyl (Fm) disulfide as the precursors is reported. This method gives the desired trisulfides in good yields under mild conditions.
Nontraumatic Exertional Rhabdomyolysis Leading to Acute Kidney Injury in a Sickle Trait Positive Individual on Renal Biopsy

A 26-year-old African American male with a history of congenital cerebral palsy, sickle cell trait, and intellectual disability presented with abdominal pain that started four hours prior to the hospital visit. The patient denied fever, chills, diarrhea, or any localized trauma. The patient was at a party at his community center last evening and danced for 2 hours, physically exerting himself more than usual. Labs revealed blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level of 41 mg/dL and creatinine (Cr) of 2.8 mg/dL which later increased to 4.2 mg/dL while still in the emergency room. Urinalysis revealed hematuria with RBC > 50 on high power field. Imaging of the abdomen revealed no acute findings for abdominal pain. With fractional excretion of sodium (FeNa) > 3%, findings suggested nonoliguric acute tubular necrosis. Over the next couple of days, symptoms of dyspepsia resolved; however, BUN/Cr continued to rise to a maximum of 122/14 mg/dL. With these findings, along with stable electrolytes, urine output matching the intake, and prior use of proton pump inhibitors, medical decision was altered for the possibility of acute interstitial nephritis. Steroids were subsequently started and biopsy was taken. Biopsy revealed heavy deposits of myoglobin. Creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels drawn ten days later after the admission were found to be elevated at 334 U/dl, presuming the levels would have been much higher during admission. This favored a diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) secondary to exertional rhabdomyolysis. We here describe a case of nontraumatic exertional rhabdomyolysis in a sickle cell trait (SCT) individual that was missed due to findings of microscopic hematuria masking underlying myoglobinuria and fractional excretion of sodium > 3%. As opposed to other causes of ATN, rhabdomyolysis often causes FeNa < 1%. The elevated fractional excretion of sodium in this patient was possibly due to the underlying inability of SCT positive individuals to reabsorb sodium/water and concentrate their urine. Additionally, because of their inability to concentrate urine, SCT positive individuals are prone to intravascular depletion leading to renal failure as seen in this patient. Disease was managed with continuing hydration and tapering steroids. Kidney function improved and the patient was discharged with a creatinine of 3 mg/dL. A month later, renal indices were completely normal with persistence of microscopic hematuria from SCT.
Formation of NOx and N2O in the fluidized-bed combustion of high- and low-rank coals

Abstract Fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) of coal is a technology which affords the opportunity for significant reduction of sulfur emissions from burning coal due to the incorporation of lime as a sorbent material. However, during the FBC of coal, nitrogen is released as oxides of nitrogen, both NO x (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide combined) and N 2 O (nitrous oxide). As well as being a greenhouse gas, N 2 O, like NO x , also interferes with the ozone chemistry in the upper atmosphere. Typically, in FBC systems, as the NO x level is lowered by utilizing lower-temperature regimes, the N 2 O level is correspondingly increased. This paper will describe a pilot plant investigation of the emission behavior of oxides of nitrogen from the combustion of seven coals, ranging from bituminous to lignite, including high-sulfur coals. The coals were burned in a 1-MWth circulating FBC over the temperature range of 730° to 930°C, excess air of 0% to 100%, superficial velocity of 3.6 to 7.0 m/s, and coal particle size of 125 to 500 microns. Continuous in situ monitoring of O 2 , CO, CO 2 , NO x , and N 2 O was conducted. A chemiluminescence technique was used for NO x , whereas N 2 O was detected by a nondispersive infrared analyzer. Nitrous oxide emissions are influenced most by the nature of the coal, with bituminous coals giving the highest emissions and subbituminous coals the lowest. Temperature is the next most influential parameter on emission levels–the higher the temperature, the lower the emission. Typical N 2 O emissions range from 10 to 180 ppm. Nitric oxide emissions, on the other hand, show the reverse trend with respect to temperature. The level of NO x typically ranges from 50 to 250 ppm. Coal type and temperature are also both influential factors in NO x generation. Other factors influencing the formation of NO x and N 2 O will also be discussed, along with possible mitigating factors for controlling the emissions. One interesting feature is the role of sulfur in the N 2 O-NO x chemistry, with respect to sorbent interaction. The interrelation between N 2 O and NO x formation presents some difficulties and challenges in selecting procedures to minimize the level of nitrogen oxides.
Examining Sentencing Patterns and Outcomes for White-Collar and Property Crime Offenders

Guided by the focal concerns perspective, the authors examine effects associated with sentencing predictors on incarceration and sentence length decisions for offenders convicted of white-collar an...
Sexual function of women taking antihypertensive agents: a comparative study.

Objective:To develop a method to evaluate the effects of clonidine and prazosin on sexual function in hypertensive women. Design:Crossover, active-drug controlled pilot study. Setting:Community recruitment to a university-based teaching hospital. Patients:Ten premenopausal and eight postmenopausal women with mild hypertension and unimpaired sexual function. Intervention:Periodic, self-administered daily diaries assessed the sexual arousal and desire and orgasmic function of women receiving placebo, clonidine, and prazosin. Measurements and main results:Using analysis of variance for orgasmic characteristics and comparison of the percentages of yes responses to the sexual function questions, no significant difference in the levels of sexual function of women receiving placebo, clonidine, and prazosin was found. However, there was a suggestion that clonidine and prazosin affected some aspects of sexual function. Of the women who received clonidine first, fewer were receptive to partner approach during medication therapy (49%) than during placebo (61%). Fewer women wished for their partners to approach them (WISH) during therapy (41% and 53% for clonidine and prazosin, respectively) than during placebo (60%). In the group that received prazosin first, WISH was affected (32% for prazosin, 31% for clonidine, 45% for placebo). Orgasmic strength increased from 2.1 on placebo to 2.7 on clonidine (second medication), measured on a four-point Likert scale. Conclusions:This pilot study developed a method using self-administered daily diaries for evaluating the effects of antihypertensive agents on sexual function in hypertensive women. These potential effects need to be evaluated in larger studies.
Management of Choroidal Hemangioma

Choroidal hemangioma, a benign vascular tumor, exists in two clinically distinct forms as either a circumscribed or a diffuse lesion and typically involves the posterior pole. Most patients present with decreased visual acuity secondary to subretinal fluid (SRF). In addition to exam, optical coherence tomography (OCT), ultrasonography, fluorescein (FA) and indocyanine green (ICGA) angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) all play a role in the diagnosis of choroidal hemangioma. This chapter explores various approaches to therapy, both historical and current, used to treat this choroidal tumor and secondary exudative retinal detachment (ERD). Treatment modalities include laser photocoagulation, transpupillary thermotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), intravitreal anti-VEGF or steroid injection, systemic beta-blockers, plaque brachytherapy, proton beam irradiation, external beam radiotherapy, and gamma knife irradiation. There are many considerations to treatment which include size of the tumor, presence or absence of exudative retinal detachment, prior treatment failures, patient’s ability to undergo surgery, and other comorbidities. Time between onset of symptoms and treatment has been shown to affect visual prognosis.
A Geospatial Analysis of Factors Affecting Access to CT Facilities: Implications for Lung Cancer Screening.

Abstract Objective The association between access to CT facilities for lung cancer screening and population characteristics is understudied. We aimed to determine the relationship between census tract–level socioeconomic characteristics (SEC) and driving distance to an ACR-accredited CT facility. Methods Census tract–level SEC were determined from the US Census Bureau. Distance to nearest ACR-accredited CT facility was derived at the census tract level. Census tract–level multivariable regression modeling was used to determine the relationship between driving distance to a CT facility and census tract SEC, including population density (a marker of rural versus urban), gender, race, insurance status or type, and education level. Results In an adjusted multivariable model, census tract–level population density was the greatest relative determinant of distance to a CT facility. Namely, rural census tracts had relatively longer distances to CT facilities than urban census tracts ( P P P Discussion Rural populations have relatively less geographic access to CT facilities. Furthermore, other vulnerable populations, such as the uninsured, those on Medicaid, and the undereducated, may also have relatively less access to CT imaging facilities. These variations in access to CT may affect the uptake and utilization of lung cancer screening.
Evidence for blatant dehumanization of mental illness and its relation to stigma.

People with mental illness face stigma, and due to their low social status, they may also face blatant dehumanization that denies their status as fully evolved human beings. In the current research...
Unintended Consequences: Review of New Artifacts Introduced by Iterative Reconstruction CT Metal Artifact Reduction in Spine Imaging

Metal hardware serves as a common artifact source in spine CT imaging in the form of beam-hardening, photon starvation, and streaking. Postprocessing metal artifact reduction techniques have been developed to decrease these artifacts, which has been proved to improve visualization of soft-tissue structures and increase diagnostic confidence. However, metal artifact reduction reconstruction introduces its own novel artifacts that can mimic pathology.
Fast Kernel Collaborative Representation for Hyperspectral Image Classification

This paper proposes efficient kernel collaborative representation-based classifiers for hyperspectral image classification. The original collaborative classifier is very fast; however, its classification performance is limited for hyperspectral image classification. Although the traditional kernel methods have been widely applied to improve the classification performance, they usually suffer from high computational cost. We propose to adopt explicit kernel mapping to reduce the time complexity for kernel collaborative representation-based classifiers. The experimental results show our approach can remain high classification accuracy with low computational cost.
Partnering with Data Analytics to Promote Survivorship Care Plan Success

In 2016 there were an estimated 15.5 million cancer survivors living in the United States. This number is expected to grow to more than 20 million before 2026. During the past 20 years, patient sur...
On Asymptotic Expansions and Error Bounds in the Derivation of Two-Dimensional Shell Theory

Known results on asymptotic two-dimensional equations for circular cylindrical shells, including the effects of transverse shear and normal stress deformation, are supplemented by upper- and lower-bound determinations of influence coefficients, using minimum-potential and complementary energy principles in conjunction with asymptotic-expansion results. The new bound analysis shows that the consequences of the asymptotic two-dimensional theory are in exact agreement, except for terms which are small of higher order, with the corresponding consequences of three-dimensional theory, for some classes of edge conditions. The analysis also shows the nature of the differences between results of two- and three-dimensional theory, as a function of geometrical and elastic parameters, where this difference is of importance because of the effect of a St. Venant boundary layer.
Co-Diffusion of Technologies in Social Networks

This paper studies the diffusion process of two complementary technologies among people who are connected through a social network. It characterizes adoption rates over time for different initial allocations and network structures. We are particularly interested in the following question: Suppose we want to maximize technology diffusion and have a limited number of units of each of the two technologies to initially distribute. How should we allocate these units among people in the social network?
Negotiating Frameworks for Children’s ‘Free’ Time in the City

This research explores ideas and practices around children’s free time in an urban context, as mediated by parents. The aim is to engage with and provide a contribution to the discussion of changing nature of children’s free time in the last decade, underlining a decline in free play, by looking at parental ideas and organization at the everyday level. Interviews with ten parents are analyzed together with the organizational documents they interact with in a socio-ecological context. Findings point to parents’ ambivalence towards free play, showing a fluctuation between an acknowledgment of free play as essential and an ongoing effort to enroll and keep children in structured activities that they believe provide children with qualities that cannot be provided by ‘just play’. Play advocates must not only address the parental values that might unintentionally undermine children’s desire to play but also the spatial, temporal, logistical, and financial concerns of parents, that in most circumstances surpass the focus on activities as enrichment opportunities.
Crisis of Sovereignty: Anti-psychologism in Alps, Attenberg, Chevalier and Dogtooth

This chapter begins with an overview of the academic literature on the democratic deficits of neoliberal governance, which are reflected in the petty tyranny of authority figures in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth (2009) and Alps (2011). The impersonal, officious and miscommunicative dialogue in these films is scrutinized in relation to the organizational gothic genre and the technocratic language used to legitimate neoliberalism. There is an analysis of the way framing, editing and narrative design are used in Lanthimos’s films and Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg (2010) to portray the political disenfranchisements of the neoliberal era. The diffuse and disciplinary mechanisms of disempowerment in these films are related to Michel Foucault’s theorization of power and contrasted to the psychological realism associated with traditional art cinema. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the critique of neoliberal competitiveness and proceduralism in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier (2015).
Consumer Protection after Consumer Sovereignty

Analysis of consumer protection law and policy still largely uses a consumer sovereignty framework: actual markets are compared to an ideal in which consumer choices amidst competitive sellers maximize an aggregation of consumers’ subjective welfare functions. This ideal serves as both a descriptive starting point and normative end point even for analysts who think consumers are frequently irrational and “market failures” are pervasive. Its continued influence has held back recent efforts to account for inequalities and structural problems in consumer markets. This Article argues that it is time to reconsider this approach—to replace the consumer sovereignty framework with a “moral economy” alternative. Instead of treating consumers as welfare maximization machines that sometimes malfunction and markets as deviations from an ideal of perfect competition, we ought to conceptualize consumers as bundles of socially influenced habits and markets as socially constructed and reproduced institutional forms. Instead of treating the goal of consumer markets as having consumer choice drive all outcomes, we ought to interpret the purpose of consumer markets in accordance with their role in contributing to (a contestable account of) human flourishing. Consumer markets are collectively created spaces to serve social ends. Over the course of the argument, the Article considers its implications across a variety of areas of consumer protection, including data governance, disability accommodations, predatory lending, and advertising regulation.