cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A computer program to facilitate performance assessment of underground low-level waste concrete vaults

A computer program (4SIGHT) to facilitate performance assessment of underground concrete vaults for low level waste (LLW) disposal facilities is being developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Specifically, the program predicts the hydraulic conductivity and the service life of an underground concrete vault. The hydraulic conductivity estimate is based upon empirical relations. The service life is estimated from consideration of three major degradation processes: steel reinforcement corrosion, sulfate attack, and leaching. The performance prediction is based upon ion transport equations for both diffusion and advection. Most importantly, the computer program incorporates the synergistic degradation effects of all three processes, and their effect upon the transport coefficients.
Analysis of Mobile Internet Information Security Threats and Vulnerabilities

With the convergence of communication and Internet technologies,mobile Internet develops quickly and has become the hot topic of industry and academic community. More and more smart mobile devices are produced and new mobile Internet business is created,at the same time,mobile Internet is facing more new security threats. This paper summarizes the threats to end users,enterprise information security,network infrastructure and national information security,analyses the information security vulnerabilities from aspects of network access,mobile operating system,mobile application and end users,finally emphasizes the importance of the whole industry chain for working together to maintain a secure mobile Internet ecosystem.
Histologically similar testicular neoplasms occurring in brothers.

Abstract Testieular malignancies occur rarely in closely related family members. Two young adult brothers are described who had histologically similar seminomas in the right testis. To my knowledge this is the tenth set of testicular tumors and the third set of histologically similar cell type seminomas reported in non-twin brothers.
Family Life Coaching: Building a Business, Building a Profession

This chapter focuses on the professionalism in family life coaching, highlighting the various credentialing options, training requirements, and professional associations related to family life coaching. Additionally, this chapter provides an overview on the business of family life coaching. Readers will learn about the business of coaching, from creating their business plan to identifying their target audience, marketing themselves, and covering their liabilities.
Doing the Unstuck

Writing as method is fine and dandy, but what should we do when we sit down to write and nothing comes out? Writer’s block is real. We all get it. I’m sorry to say that if you haven’t yet experienced the crippling impotence of writer’s block, you likely will at some point in your academic career.
Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry, Methods

The analytical technique named Pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) is based on direct coupling of a pyrolyser with a mass spectrometer that allows the detection and analysis on-line of that portion of the sample which may well vapourised to reach the ion source of the mass spectrometer. Under appropriate conditions, thermal degradation products reflect to a large extent the original structure of the pyrolysed material. Design and capability of Direct Probe, Curie Point and Laser Pyrolysers, moreover that of analytical systems of various on-line pyrolysis-mass spectrometry configurations are described in detail. Applications of Py-MS are cited such as analysis of natural products (proteins, soil, aerosol, natural polymers, coal), bacteria, and synthetic polymers (plastics, rubbers, additives, copolymers, blends).
Moral Absolutes and Mortal Contexts

When interviewed just 36 hours after the opening of Hapgood, Stoppard found himself being asked — again — about his political identity as a playwright. Given Hapgood’s exploration of the indeterminacies of the subatomic world and of human personality, some viewers might have expected that now, finally, Stoppard would avoid answering a political question in terms of morality. However, despite the ambiguities and indeterminacies of Hapgood, Stoppard’s response to the familiar question was neither indeterminate, nor ambiguous, nor — to anyone who has followed his career — unfamiliar. ‘I still believe’, Stoppard told Michael Billington on 10 March 1988, ‘that if your aim is to change the world journalism is a more immediate, short-term weapon. But art is important in the long-term in that it lays down some kind of matrix of moral responsibility’.1 Reiterating a view of art which he has been articulating since 1974, Stoppard continues to affirm an open and direct connection between art and morality. Looking for a bridge, a join, between the timeless realm of moral absolutes and the time-bound realm of human behaviour, Stoppard finds that the play just might be the thing. Stoppard’s affirmation of art as inherently moral continues to be far removed both from the orthodox mainstream of contemporary British playwrights and from the critical orthodoxies of academe. As a result, it has taken some time for sophisticated observers to discern the power of plays which ordinary audiences have, all along, found moving. Stoppard’s recognition of a disparity in responses to Hapgood may apply to other plays as well: ‘My impression is that your ordinary punter has less trouble with it than some of our critics.’2
Cumulative Risk on the Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) Predicts Empathic Communication by Physician Assistant Students

In the relationship between patients and health care providers, few communicative features are as significant as the providers' ability to express empathy. A robust empirical literature describes the importance of physician communication skills-particularly those that convey empathy-yet few studies have examined empathic communication by physician assistants, who provide primary care for an increasing number of Americans. The present study examines the empathic communication of physician assistant students in interactions with standardized patients. Over a 6-month period, each student conducted three clinical interviews, each of which was evaluated for empathic communication by the patients, the students' clinical instructors, and third-party observers. Students also provided saliva samples for genotyping six single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) that are linked empirically to empathic behavior. Consistent with recent research, this study adopted a cumulative risk approach wherein students were scored for their number of risky alleles on the single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Results indicated that cumulative risk on OXTR receptor gene predicted lower patient empathy scores as rated by instructors and observers, but not by standardized patients.
Parents' Perceived Discrimination and Adolescent Adjustment in Chinese American Families: Mediating Family Processes.

Parental discriminatory experiences can have significant implications for adolescent adjustment. This study examined family processes linking parental perceived discrimination to adolescent depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors by using the family stress model and incorporating family systems theory. Participants were 444 Chinese American adolescents (Mage.wave1 = 13.03) and their parents residing in Northern California. Testing of actor–partner interdependent models showed a significant indirect effect from earlier paternal (but not maternal) perceived discrimination to later adolescent adjustment through paternal depressive symptoms and maternal hostility toward adolescents. The results highlight the importance of including both parents and examining actor and partner effects to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how maternal and paternal perceived discrimination differentially and indirectly relate to adolescent adjustment.
Iterated prisoner's dilemma with extortionate zero-determinant strategies and random-memory opponents

We investigate Extortionate Zero Determinant (EZD) strategies for the iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD) against random memory-based strategies without mutation. These strategies are randomly-generated deterministic instructions with a predetermined average level of cooperation. While EZD strategies generally outperform any single evolutionary opponent, we show that under certain conditions EZD strategies can be taken over by a small number of randomly-generated deterministic strategies and force the EZD to extinction. We demonstrate that a major determining factor contributing to this phenomena is the maximum score among all non-EZD strategies when playing against itself. In contrast, we theoretically analyze the IPD consisting of an EZD strategy and a purely random one that cooperates each round with a predetermined probability. In this latter case, the EZD almost always prevails though the purely random player survives. In this sense, we conclude that even without mutation, it is still evolutionarily advantageous for the IPD to have a diverse initial random population.
Cell cycle‐regulated ubiquitination of tankyrase 1 by RNF8 and ABRO1/BRCC36 controls the timing of sister telomere resolution

Timely resolution of sister chromatid cohesion in G2/M is essential for genome integrity. Resolution at telomeres requires the poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase tankyrase 1, but the mechanism that times its action is unknown. Here, we show that tankyrase 1 activity at telomeres is controlled by a ubiquitination/deubiquitination cycle depending on opposing ubiquitin ligase and deubiquitinase activities. In late S/G2 phase, the DNA damage‐responsive E3 ligase RNF8 conjugates K63‐linked ubiquitin chains to tankyrase 1, while in G1 phase such ubiquitin chains are removed by BRISC, an ABRO1/BRCC36‐containing deubiquitinase complex. We show that K63‐linked ubiquitin chains accumulate on tankyrase 1 in late S/G2 to promote its stabilization, association with telomeres, and resolution of cohesion. Timing of this posttranslational modification coincides with the ATM‐mediated DNA damage response that occurs on functional telomeres following replication in G2. Removal of ubiquitin chains is controlled by ABRO1/BRCC36 and occurs as cells exit mitosis and enter G1, ensuring that telomere cohesion is not resolved prematurely in S phase. Our studies suggest that a cell cycle‐regulated posttranslational mechanism couples resolution of telomere cohesion with completion of telomere replication to ensure genome integrity. ![][1] Timely resolution of sister chromatid cohesion at telomeres by the poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase tankyrase 1 is essential for genome integrity, but its timing mechanism is unknown. Here, we describe a K63‐linked ubiquitination cycle that ensures telomeres are resolved in the G2/M window of the cell cycle. [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Liability of Parents for Conduct of Their Child Under Section 33.01 of the Texas Family Code: Defining the Requisite Standards of ‘Culpability’

Section 33.01 of the Texas Family Code uses archaic terms and needs to be updated to eliminate confusion. This section provides an expansive statutory avenue for recovering from the parent damages previously unavailable at common law for a child's acts. However, the extent of parental liability under both of the available statutory provisions—negligence and strict liability—is disputable. While section 33.01 currently uses the terms "willful" and "malicious," these terms should be excluded in favor of "intentional" and "grossly negligent conduct."In an age when tort liability is determined more from an insurance theory than a fault theory, section 33.01 of the Texas Family Code will be an anachronism unless it is construed to impose liability where fault clearly exists. The legislative limits upon parental liability for the ordinary negligence of a child seem outmoded in light of the ready availability of liability insurance. Furthermore, consideration should be given to an expansion of parental liability, and whether it should cover the criminally negligent conduct of a child.
Beam polarization asymmetry and the electromagnetic production of kaons from protons

The beam polarization asymmetry in the reaction $ep\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{e}^{\ensuremath{'}}{K}^{+}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ has been investigated in a tree-level effective Lagrangian model. The model incorporates most of the well-established baryon resonances with spins up to $\frac{5}{2}$, four less well-established nucleon resonances with larger mass, and the two kaon resonances ${K}^{\ensuremath{\star}}(892)$ and $K1(1270)$. The off-shell structure of the electromagnetic vertices was accounted for by the inclusion of electromagnetic form factors at those vertices. The free parameters of the model were fitted in a previous study to a large pool of photoproduction data from the CLAS, GRAAL, SAPHIR, and LEPS collaborations and to CLAS data for the virtual photoproduction structure functions ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{U}$, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{T}$, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{L}$, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{TT}$, and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{LT}$. Using this model, results were obtained for the beam polarization asymmetry structure function ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{L{T}^{\ensuremath{'}}}$ and compared with CLAS data. Two new fits to the combined photoproduction and electroproduction data with the ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{L{T}^{\ensuremath{'}}}$ data included were then generated. The first of these includes contributions from all of the resonances included in the previous study; the second excludes contributions from the $N(2080)$ and $N(2200)$ resonances. The results of both fits for both photoproduction and electroproduction observables are compared with the results of the previous fit and the data.
Reconsidering Nature: The Dialectics of Fair Chase in the Practices of American Midwest Hunters

In this paper, we describe an ethnographic study consisting of 14 interviews with hunters and participant observations in the American Midwest. We find that the ethos of "fair chase" serves to unite an eclectic group of hunters under a single moral compass. Fair chase posits, for example, that hunters must not have an improper advantage over animals. The actual practices of hunters in different communities (e.g., communities revolving around different weapons or professions), however, reveals a series of opposing points of view among hunters at large on what actually constitutes fair chase. We suggest that an understanding of fair chase and its dialectics can constructively problematize nature for human-computer interaction.
Stream-Dataflow Acceleration

Demand for low-power data processing hardware continues to rise inexorably. Existing programmable and "general purpose" solutions (eg. SIMD, GPGPUs) are insufficient, as evidenced by the order-of-magnitude improvements and industry adoption of application and domain-specific accelerators in important areas like machine learning, computer vision and big data. The stark tradeoffs between efficiency and generality at these two extremes poses a difficult question: how could domain-specific hardware efficiency be achieved without domain-specific hardware solutions?In this work, we rely on the insight that "acceleratable" algorithms have broad common properties: high computational intensity with long phases, simple control patterns and dependences, and simple streaming memory access and reuse patterns. We define a general architecture (a hardware-software interface) which can more efficiently expresses program with these properties called stream-dataflow. The dataflow component of this architecture enables high concurrency, and the stream component enables communication and coordination at very-low power and area overhead. This paper explores the hardware and software implications, describes its detailed microarchitecture, and evaluates an implementation. Compared to a state-of-the-art domain specific accelerator (DianNao), and fixed-function accelerators for MachSuite, Softbrain can match their performance with only 2x power overhead on average.
The relationship between workplace violence, perceptions of safety, and Professional Quality of Life among emergency department staff members in a Level 1 Trauma Centre.

Abstract Background Emergency department staff members are frequently exposed to workplace violence which may have physical, psychological, and workforce related consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between exposure to workplace violence, tolerance to violence, expectations of violence, perceptions of workplace safety, and Professional Quality of Life (compassion satisfaction – CS, burnout – BO, secondary traumatic stress – STS) among emergency department staff members. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to survey all emergency department staff members from a suburban Level 1 Trauma Centre in the western United States. Results All three dimensions of Professional Quality of Life were associated with exposure to non-physical patient violence including: general threats (CS p = .012, BO p = .001, STS p = .035), name calling (CS p = .041, BO p = .021, STS p = .018), and threats of lawsuit (CS p = .001, BO p = .001, STS p = .02). Tolerance to violence was associated with BO ( p = .004) and CS ( p = .001); perception of safety was associated with BO ( p = .018). Conclusion Exposure to non-physical workplace violence can significantly impact staff members' compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Greater attention should be paid to the effect of non-physical workplace violence. Additionally, addressing tolerance to violence and perceptions of safety in the workplace may impact Professional Quality of Life.
MISURE DIRETTE DI VAPORI IN PROCEDIMENTI DI BONIFICA: SPERIMENTAZIONI IN LOMBARDIA IN COLLABORAZIONE CON SNPA

Lombardy Local Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA) coordinated an experimentation with other members of the Italian National Environmental Protection System (SNPA) and some private societies working in vapour survey to estimate vapour exposure into polluted sites. The aims were to understand vapour monitoring features and to define a procedure to obtain meaningful data for risk assessment. The experiments took place in Lombardy on two hydrocarbon and aromatic polluted sites and different evidence lines were performed to evaluate vapour transport towards outdoor spaces. The first case was defined to study soil gas survey monitoring in short/medium time and to record physical parameters in the atmosphere and into the soil vapour phase because of their influence on vapor movements and behaviour. The second case involved soil gas survey, two different models of open dynamic flux chambers and a static stationary one that were located around them. Outdoor air monitoring and atmospheric parameters were also recorded to define a possible correlation between their behaviour and groundwater vapour flux from polluted source. In conclusion the study showed the relevant influence of sample collection type on analytical results; the good repeatability between soil gas survey data collected inside a short/medium time period; the univocal behaviour of the two samples for all flux chamber types; the concordant results between different dynamic chamber only for some compounds; the agreement between evaluated exposure concentration derived from soil gas survey and flux chamber, that were confirmed by air measures. The results of this experimentation have been used to define vapour monitoring procedures useful for all SNPA members that are going to be issued.
Some Observations of the Coanda Effect

A curved wall jet over a convex surface represents a complex turbulent shear flow, because it is susceptible to three types of primary instability modes: the inflectional and centrifugal instabilities in the outer region and the viscous instability near the surface. The relationship between inflectional instability and large spanwise, coherent structures in turbulent jets is well known, but the existence of large streamwise vortices in centrifugally unstable turbulent flows is still questionable. Such vortices were discovered and mapped on a “Coanda flow,” and the present investigation explores their evolution in the direction of streaming. These vortices meander, coalesce, and increase in scale as they move downstream, while the width of the flow and the equivalent turbulent Gortler Number also increase.
Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a devastating medical condition mat can happen to anyone at anytime, despite precautions. This paper provides details regarding etiology, symptoms, prognosis, and tr...
Sensemaking in Turbulent Contexts: African Student Leadership in a Postcolonial Context

This study revealed the ways that student leaders make sense of their approaches to leadership in African student organizations in the United States. Seven leaders of recognized African student org...
Threats and Deterrence

This chapter discusses the concept of threats and deterrence with respect to superpowers in terms of national security. Deterrence involves an exercise of power that may never be revealed or detected. By threatening untoward action against an opponent who initiates conflict, even at great potential cost to oneself, one seeks to deter the opponent from committing aggression in the first place. Deterrence is the cornerstone of the national security policies of the superpowers and of other nations as well. One possible resolution of the conflicting conceptions of rationality embodied in deterrence is that carrying out a threat when deterrence fails, though irrational in the single play of a game, is rational in repeated play. The reason is that a carried-out threat enhances one's credibility—because one has done the irrational thing in a single play—so that over the long run, one can develop a sufficiently fearsome reputation to deter future opponents. Thereby, while losing in the short run, one can win over time. Threats involve an attempt to influence others before taking action. For another, an ability to threaten enable players to upset outcomes in certain games that otherwise would be stable.
Thermal Physiology of Radiofrequency Radiation (RFR) Interactions in Animals and Humans

In his 1988 review of the biological effects of radiofrequency (RF) fields, Erwin1 counseled his readers that “... Protecting humans from the real hazards and allaying groundless fears requires a self-consistent body of scientific data concerning the effects of the fields, levels of exposures which cause those effects, and which effects are deleterious (or beneficial or neutral). With that knowledge, appropriate guidelines for safety can be devised, while preserving the beneficial uses of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) energy for military or civilian purposes.” Erwin’s good counsel forms the framework for the present critical review of recent data on the thermal physiology of RFR interactions in animals and humans.
Interactions between number theory and operator algebras in the study of the Riemann zeta function (d’après Bost-Connes and Connes)

This paper arose as a written version of a lecture given at the City University of New York Number Theory Seminar in April 1997. The lecture was an overview of ideas of Bost-Connes and of Connes on possible ways to approach the study of the Riemann zeta function using ideas inspired by noncommutative geometry. The work of Connes is directly aimed at a solution of the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis and has undergone substantial improvement in the intervening time. In this article we give an overview of the original work and these later developments.
The Federal Trade Commission's Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century, the Consumer Welfare Standard in Antitrust Law, Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

This comment is submitted by the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) at Scalia Law School at George Mason University to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding its hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century, The Consumer Welfare Standard in Antitrust Law. The GAI Competition Advocacy Program provides a wide range of recommendations to facilitate adoption of economically sound competition policy.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of liposomal chemophototherapy with short drug-light intervals.

Abstract Chemophototherapy (CPT) merges photodynamic therapy with chemotherapy and can substantially enhance drug delivery. Using a singular liposomal formulation for CPT, we describe a semi-mechanistic pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model to investigate observed antitumor effects. Long-circulating, sterically-stabilized liposomes loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) stably incorporate small amounts of a porphyrin-phospholipid (PoP) photosensitizer in the bilayer. These were administered intravenously to mice bearing low-passage, patient-derived pancreatic cancer xenografts (PDX). Dox PK was described with a two-compartment model and tumor drug disposition kinetics were modeled with first-order influx and efflux rates. Tumor irradiation with 665 nm laser light (200 J/cm2) 1 h after liposome administration increased tumor vascular permeabilization and drug accumulation, which was accounted for in the PK/PD model with increased tumor influx and efflux rates by approximately 12- and 4- fold, respectively. This modeling approach provided an overall 7-fold increase in Dox area under the curve in the tumor, matching experimental data (7.4-fold). A signal transduction model based on nonlinear direct cell killing accounted for observed tumor growth patterns. This PK/PD model adequately describes the CPT anti-PDX tumor response based on enhanced drug delivery at the short drug-light interval used.
Pseudogenization, genome streamlining and specific gene repertoire landmark the genomes of Carnobacterium maltaromaticum isolated from diseased sharks

Abstract Carnobacterium maltaromaticum is a well-known pathogen of bony fish. More recently, C. maltaromaticum have been isolated from the brain and inner ear of disorientated and stranded common thresher (Alopias vulpinus) and salmon shark (Lamna ditropis). While thresher shark strandings are recent, salmon sharks have been stranding for decades, suggesting a long-term association between C. maltaromaticum and sharks. Interestingly, some strains of C. maltaromaticum are used by the food industry for their probiotic and antimicrobial activity. Here, we sequenced the genome of 9 C. maltaromaticum strains (SK-isolates) from diseased common thresher and salmon sharks and compared them to other C. maltaromaticum strains in order to identify the genomic signatures that differentiate the disease-associated from the innocuous C. maltaromaticum isolates. SK strains formed a monophyletic clade, with a conserved gene repertoire, and shared a high degree of pseudogenization even though isolates were from different shark species, locations, and across years. In addition, these strains displayed few virulence associated genes and unique genomic regions, some resulting from horizontal gene transfer. The association of diseased sharks and SK strains suggests their role as potential pathogens. Although the high degree of pseudogenization suggests a transition to a host-adapted lifestyle, a set of conserved functional genes highlights the need of essential functions required for a host-independent life style. Globally, this work identifies specific genomic signatures of C. maltaromaticum strains isolated from infected sharks, provides the framework to elucidate the role of SK strains in the development of the disease in sharks, and further investigate the dissemination of SK strains in populations of wild fish.
Canonical Equation K21 for Random Matrices with Independent Pairs of Entries with Zero Expectations. Circular and Elliptic Laws

In this chapter, we establish the canonical equation K 21, which is in remarkable relationship with the so-called elliptic and circular laws discovered in 1982 in [Gir27].
System Design of Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer for Automated Highways

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) has been proposed as a solution to power electric vehicles (EVs)on future electrified highways. However, there has been little consideration of how the coordination of electric connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) could impact DWPT system designs in future scenarios. In this paper, a DWPT system design is optimized for a future highway where CAVs travel in coordinated groups, with each CAV in the group powered by the same DWPT section. As the distribution of smaller light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and larger heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) in each group is varied, the DWPT system power level, transmitter length, and the equivalent receiver loads are adjusted to minimize the infrastructure requirements and energy losses of the DWPT system. The outputs from this analysis are used to determine the optimal groupings of vehicles for a given DWPT system. The analysis suggests that CAV coordination could aid the deployment of DWPT systems and reduce the overall infrastructure and energy losses of DWPT systems.
Liberty to Subordinate

This essay, responding to Opt-Out Education: School Choice as Racial Subordination by Professor Osamudia James, considers whether the Supreme Court’s substantive due process jurisprudence has been misconstrued to absolve privileged Americans of the moral consequences of the decision to opt-out of public schools.
Experimental modeling of hydrogen evolution rates from surfaces with exposed aluminum in contact with containment sprays in pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants

Containment spray solutions recommended for application by the Tennessee Valley Authority contain boric acid buffered with either sodium hydroxide or trisodium phosphate. These solutions react with aluminum to produce aluminum compounds and gaseous hydrogen. Rates of hydrogen evolution from aluminum surfaces immersed in spray solution containing boric acid and sodium hydroxide (pH = 9.8) and solution containing boric acid, hydrazine, and trisodium phosphate (pH = 7.5) can be correlated within experimental error, respectively, by the equations: log/sub 10/R = -3.4 X 10/sup 3/T/sup -1/ + 9.2 and log/sub 10/R = -4.2 X 10/sup 3/T/sup -1/ + 10.2. Significant reduction in hydrogen evolution rate is obtained if the sodium hydroxide buffered solution is modified by the addition of sodium silicate. Correlating equations for the modified solutions are, respectively: log/sub 10/R = -1.9(10/sup 3/)T/sup -1/ + 2.0 and log /sub 10/R = -3.9(10/sup 3/)T/sup -1/ + 9.5.
Estimating PM2.5 from photographs

Abstract Accurate determination of the impact of aerosol particles on human health is made challenging by the lack of high-resolution air quality data. Globally, PM2.5 monitoring sites are limited in number, as they require extensive manpower and equipment to operate. Here, we take a physics-based approach to estimate PM2.5 from analysis of photographs at different locations. We develop a governing equation that relates camera signal to the properties of aerosol, the incident light, and the object being imaged. From inversion of this integral equation, we establish an expression for turbidity. Analyzing 3-years of images captured from a camera at a fixed location (downtown Chicago), we calculate turbidity and compare the values against PM2.5 values estimated from nearby EPA monitoring sites. Our calculated photograph-based turbidity values are seen to have a statistically significant positive linear correlation to the estimated PM2.5 values with p-value less than 0.01 and an average binned R2 greater than 0.50. We show that calculation of turbidity is possible from a single photograph, when it contains objects with the same albedo and that are identically illuminated. Our analysis suggests that camera-based PM monitoring could be a relatively low-cost, alternative approach to obtain global air quality data.
Are the Goals of Sustainability Interconnected? A Sociological Analysis of the Three E’s of Sustainable Development Using Cross-Lagged Models with Reciprocal Effects

Conceptual discussions of sustainability emphasize the interdependent relationship between relevant social and environmental factors. Yet, traditional quantitative analyses of the topic have tended to estimate the exogenous or direct/indirect effects a predictor variable has on a particular measure of sustainability. We examine the endogenous, interdependent relationship between the three E’s of sustainability (economy, equity, and ecology), incorporating country-level data for 1990 through 2015 into cross-lagged structural equation models with reciprocal and fixed effects. Results from these longitudinal models suggest that over time, at the country level, increasing economic inequality reduces renewable energy consumption, with no evidence of reciprocal feedback. Keeping in mind the limitations of the analysis, we tentatively argue that the modern form of development has constrained the potential for the sustainability goals to feed back into each other.
Chapter 11 – Decontamination

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on decontamination, which is the safe removal or inactivation of any hazardous contaminant that adheres to or is otherwise in contact with personnel, protective clothing, protective equipment, and any other incident-related equipment, vehicles, materials, or debris. Potential contaminants include physical, chemical, or biological agents. Several basic objectives to decontamination procedures are to protect on-site response personnel from direct bodily exposure to contaminants adhering to or absorbed into protective clothing or equipment , prevent the mixing of incompatible or synergistic chemical contaminants derived from different response activities involving exposure of the same personnel and/or equipment to different chemical hazards, protect off-site personnel from exposure in the process of treating victims, servicing equipment, or handling and transporting incident-related debris or other materials, protect the families of response personnel from “carry-home contamination,” and protect environmental resources and the general public from the incident-related release of contaminants.
A mixed methods study describing the self-care practices in an older working population with cardiovascular disease (CVD): Balancing work, life and health.

Abstract Background Self-care is essential to cardiovascular disease (CVD) health outcomes, but may be challenging for older working adults. Objective Describe self-care and the relationship of work-related characteristics to self-care among older workers with CVD. Methods Convergent mixed methods design (n = 108) assessed self-care, organization of work, job-level and clinical factors; qualitative data (n = 40) explored self-care and working. Data integrated in the final analytic phase. Results Sixty-eight percent reported adequate self-care maintenance (SC-CHDI maintenance ≥70); only 22% had adequate self-care management (SC-CHDI management ≥ 70). Controlling for physical capacity, work-related factors explained 22% variance in self-care maintenance; physical capacity was only significant determinant of self-care management. Individuals with poor self-care described low job control, job stress and work-life imbalance that interfered with routine self-care. Individuals with poor self-care management reported “feeling stressed out” and “extreme fatigue” attributed to their job. Conclusions Interventions targeting self-care, stress management and work-life balance among older workers with CVD are needed.
Joshua D. Sarnoff Answers to Questions for the Record of Senator Richard Blumenthal, Submitted to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Hon. Lindsay O. Graham June 4, 2019 Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Hearing on 'The State of Patent Eligibility in America: Part I'

These written responses to Senator Hirono’s questions followed the testimony of Joshua D. Sarnoff, Professor of Law, DePaul University submitted to the Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee following its hearing on June 4, 2019 to revise patent eligible subject matter. The responses address: (1) ”whether Congress needs to revise or to address inconsistency in the application of current eligibility doctrine; (2) how to understand a “field of technology,” what we can learn from other jurisdictions that apply a technology test, and how to amend the bill if it continues to focus on technology; (3) clarifying what kinds of inventions or what fields of technology should be explicitly excluded from patent eligibility; (4) how to clarify standards for disclosure and functional claiming under Section 112; (5) whether to codify obviousness-type double patenting and how the doctrine relates to pharmaceutical pricing; and (6) the lack of due process or takings concerns should Congress codify current exemptions or expand eligibility, and the potential concern for a constitutional taking should Congress restrict eligibility and apply the change retrospectively to issued patents.
An Explanation of In-context Learning as Implicit Bayesian Inference.

Large pretrained language models such as GPT-3 have the surprising ability to do in-context learning, where the model learns to do a downstream task simply by conditioning on a prompt consisting of input-output examples. Without being explicitly pretrained to do so, the language model learns from these examples during its forward pass without parameter updates on "out-of-distribution" prompts. Thus, it is unclear what mechanism enables in-context learning. In this paper, we study the role of the pretraining distribution on the emergence of in-context learning under a mathematical setting where the pretraining texts have long-range coherence. Here, language model pretraining requires inferring a latent document-level concept from the conditioning text to generate coherent next tokens. At test time, this mechanism enables in-context learning by inferring the shared latent concept between prompt examples and applying it to make a prediction on the test example. Concretely, we prove that in-context learning occurs implicitly via Bayesian inference of the latent concept when the pretraining distribution is a mixture of HMMs. This can occur despite the distribution mismatch between prompts and pretraining data. In contrast to messy large-scale pretraining datasets for in-context learning in natural language, we generate a family of small-scale synthetic datasets (GINC) where Transformer and LSTM language models both exhibit in-context learning. Beyond the theory which focuses on the effect of the pretraining distribution, we empirically find that scaling model size improves in-context accuracy even when the pretraining loss is the same.
(Mis)Conceptualising Empowerment: Flaws in Community-driven Development Project Design:

Development institutions have adopted models of community development that prioritise empowerment. However, many of these models have transformed a collective, process-oriented understanding of emp...
Metroplasty to treat chronic pelvic pain resulting from outflow tract müllerian anomalies.

Chronic pelvic pain can result from noncommunicating uterine cavities in patients with mullerian anomalies. Traditional management has been to resect the noncommunicating uterine horn. Two cases are described. One had a unicornuate uterus with noncommunicating left uterine horn (American Fertility Society [AFS] classification IIb) and the other had a normal external uterine contour with noncommunicating left uterine cavity that did not fit any category of the AFS classification of mullerian anomalies. Attempts at connecting the noncommunicating cavities hysteroscopically failed in both cases. Successful unification of the cavities was subsequently achieved in the first case using the classic Strassman metroplasty with the assistance of the robot. The unification of uterine cavities was achieved using a modified Strassman metroplasty in the second patient, as there was no uterine horn for landmark. Robot assistance was utilized in this case as well. Both patients are symptom free after surgery. We conclude that laparoscopic Strassman metroplasty, with or without robot assistance, is a viable alternative to resection of uterine horns in patients with hematometra, chronic pelvic pain, and noncommunicating uterine cavities.
Feminist Media History: Suffrage, Periodicals and the Public Sphere

One might ask, on seeing the subtitle of this book, why we need another study of woman suffrage. As the authors themselves note, it “seems a well-traveled path” (p. 15), particularly in light of ca...
Stream microbial diversity in response to environmental changes: review and synthesis of existing research

The importance of microbial activity to ecosystem function in aquatic ecosystems is well established, but microbial diversity has been less frequently addressed. This review and synthesis of 100s of published studies on stream microbial diversity shows that factors known to drive ecosystem processes, such as nutrient availability, hydrology, metal contamination, contrasting land-use and temperature, also cause heterogeneity in bacterial diversity. Temporal heterogeneity in stream bacterial diversity was frequently observed, reflecting the dynamic nature of both stream ecosystems and microbial community composition. However, within-stream spatial differences in stream bacterial diversity were more commonly observed, driven specifically by different organic matter (OM) compartments. Bacterial phyla showed similar patterns in relative abundance with regard to compartment type across different streams. For example, surface water contained the highest relative abundance of Actinobacteria, while epilithon contained the highest relative abundance of Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes. This suggests that contrasting physical and/or nutritional habitats characterized by different stream OM compartment types may select for certain bacterial lineages. When comparing the prevalence of physicochemical effects on stream bacterial diversity, effects of changing metal concentrations were most, while effects of differences in nutrient concentrations were least frequently observed. This may indicate that although changing nutrient concentrations do tend to affect microbial diversity, other environmental factors are more likely to alter stream microbial diversity and function. The common observation of connections between ecosystem process drivers and microbial diversity suggests that microbial taxonomic turnover could mediate ecosystem-scale responses to changing environmental conditions, including both microbial habitat distribution and physicochemical factors.
NWS Marine Observation Network and the Integrated Sustained Ocean Observing System (IOOS)

The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), a part of the National Weather Service, operates and maintains the NWS's Marine Observation Network (MON). The NWS MON is an integrated, sustained ocean observation and information delivery system that serves all U.S. coastal waters, the off-shore waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. The NWS MON is a major component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Backbone for Marine Observations. The system consists of headland and moored buoy data acquisition platforms, real-time processing and information delivery systems, as well as drifters, floats, and voluntary observing ships. These stations, which often provide the only in situ measurements in remote region, help NOAA achieve its mission responsibilities and strategic goals, serve the NWS storm warning and forecast mission, and support research and operational requirements of other federal state, regional, local, academic and private sponsors. Congressionally mandated expansions of the NWS MON, the introduction of new technologies, and the establishment of strategic alliances have increased NOAA's contribution to the U.S. Integrated Sustained Ocean Observing System. This paper presents an overview of the NWS MON capability, discusses new operational improvements, highlights recent regional, national and international partnerships.
Discrimination of light intensity by rats with inherited retinal degeneration: a behavioral and cytological study.

Abstract RCS rats with inherited retinal degeneration suppressed lever-pressing behavior in response to onset of light at ages from about 6 months to more than 2 years. A threshold for light intensity was demonstrated. Control experiments established that the rats were responding to light rather than to some other stimulus, and that the response was mediated by the eyes. Electron microscopic examination of the retinas demonstrated numerous surviving photoreceptor cells which lacked outer segments but which did make synaptic contact with presumed bipolar and/or horizontal cell processes. Counts of conventional and ribbon synapses in the inner plexiform layer showed that the circuitry through the retinas was relatively well preserved. Pigment epithelial cells made tight and gap junctions with Muller cell processes, which in turn were apposed to the photoreceptor cells. Possible cellular mechanisms mediating visual behavior in RCS rats are discussed.
Blood coagulation and fibrinolytic enzyme studies during cyclic and continuous application of progestational agents

Abstract In 10 volunteers two different oral progestational agents and one placebo were employed for three cycles. Blood was taken on 9 different days during each cycle and subjected to blood coagulation and fibrinolytic enzyme studies. The statistical evaluation did not reveal any changes. However, when patients were taking progestational agents in continuous high doses for treatment of endometriosis an increase in Factor VII, fibrinogen, and plasminogen was illicited. It is assumed that increase in coagulable proteins due to steroids is a dose-time response problem.
Time Value Of Money And Its Applications In Corporate Finance: A Technical Note On Linking Relationships Between Formulas

Time Value of Money (TVM) is the most important chapter in the basic corporate finance course. It is imperative to understand TVM formulas because they imply important TVM concepts. Students who really understand TVM concepts and formulas can learn better in chapters of TVM applications. This technical note intends to present more complete TVM formulas and link their relationships from the growing annuity perspective to assist instructors in teaching and students in learning. Although TVM formulas are already available in the textbooks, this technical note provides another perspective of presenting and summarizing TVM formulas. The simplification or extension of the growing annuity formula to reach other TVM formulas is discussed in this note.
A generalized procedure to obtain first integrals for nonconservative dynamics systems: application to power systems

A technique for constructing first integrals for nonconservative dynamical systems based on Noether's principle is reviewed and presented. The technique, which provides a systematic approach, is applied to power systems with nonnegligible transfer conductances, and a first integral is derived. The result is shown to be identical to that obtained by an ad-hoc procedure that has provided excellent practical results. The techniques also provides an avenue to obtain other infinitesimal transformations, which may lead to a more general first integral. Various results available on the variational behavior of nonconservative systems in nonlinear mechanics are introduced to the engineering community. >
Pfaffian and decomposable numerical range of a complex skew symmetric matrix

In the literature it is known that the decomposable numerical range of is not necessarily convex. But it is not known whether is star-shaped. We construct a symmetric unitary matrix such that the decomposable numerical range is not star-shaped and hence not simply connected. We then consider a real analog and show that is star-shaped if is skew symmetric. Such a star-shapedness result is also true for the Pfaffian numerical range .