cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Errors in systems approaches

Understanding and treating problems in complex systems, independent of the systems construct (i.e., socio-technical systems or socio-ecological systems), dictates the use of a formal systems approach. The systems approach may be methodological, a method, or a technique, but in each case it involves the imposition of order that ranges from the philosophical to the procedural. Independent of the philosophical construct or procedural rigor used in addressing the complex systems problem is the opportunity to commit a number of errors as part of the systems approach. This paper will discuss six classifications for problem solving errors that may be experienced during the application of a systems approach when understanding and treating complex systems problems.
Opportunistic Spectrum Sharing Schemes for CDMA-Based Uplink MAC in Cognitive Radio Networks

We consider a wireless cognitive radio network in which a set of secondary users (SUs) opportunistically utilize the wireless spectrum licensed to the primary users (PUs) to transmit packets to the secondary base station (SBS). It is challenging to maximize the spectrum utilization while limiting the interference imposed to PUs due to SUs. To achieve the optimal tradeoff between the spectrum utilization and the interference caused by SUs, we propose the adaptive spectrum sharing schemes for code division multiple access (CDMA) based cognitive medium access control (MAC) in the uplink communications over the cognitive radio networks. Our proposed schemes address the joint problems of channel sensing, data transmission, and power and rate allocations. Under our proposed schemes, the SUs can adaptively select between the intrusive spectrum sharing and the non-intrusive spectrum sharing operations to transmit data to SBS based on the channel utilization, traffic load, and interference constraints. Our proposed schemes enable the SUs to efficiently utilize the available frequency spectrum which is licensed to the PUs while stringently limiting the interference to the PUs. Also conducted are extensive simulations to validate and evaluate our proposed schemes, which show the superiority of our proposed schemes as compared with the other schemes.
Multimodal contextual car-driver interface

This paper focuses on the design and implementation of a companion contextual car driver interface that proactively assists the driver in managing information and communication. The prototype combines a smart car environment and driver state monitoring, incorporating a wide range of input-output modalities and a display hierarchy. Intelligent agents link information from many contexts, such as location and schedule, and transparently learn from the driver, interacting with the driver only when it is necessary.
Metabolic effects of acute and prolonged growth hormone deficiency in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

To determine whether endogenous GH contributes to impairments of glucose metabolism in diabetes mellitus, we examined the metabolic consequences of GH deficiency in streptozotocin (SZ)-diabetic rats. Diabetic rats were treated with a highly specific antirat GH serum (ArGH) to neutralize the activity of circulating GH, and glucose metabolism was measured in adipose tissue in vitro in the absence or presence of insulin. Short term (6-h) GH deficiency led to a 10% decrease in hyperglycemia (P = 0.002) in SZ-diabetic rats. Basal glucose oxidation and insulin responses in adipose tissue were unchanged by acute ArGH treatment. Since hyperglycemia was improved when adipose tissue metabolism was unaltered, GH-dependent changes occurring in other tissues, such as liver or muscle, most likely contribute to derangements of glucose metabolism in diabetes, even when GH is not elevated. Prolonged GH deficiency was produced by infusing ArGH into SZ-diabetic rats for 5 days. In these animals, the relative fat content (pe...
Optical Probing of Acoustic Emission Waves

Piezoelectric transducers are commonly used to monitor acoustic emission events. However, the information they yield is modified by the response characteristics of the transducers themselves, as well as by those of the medium which acoustically couples the transducer to the workpiece. Optical probing methods offer many advantages over piezoelectric transducers for monitoring acoustic emission events. Among these advantages are: (1) optical probes require no contact with the specimen and, obviously, no couplant; (2) they do not disturb the acoustic waves being detected; (3) they have broad frequency response limited only by the electronic amplifier and they are free from mechanical resonances; (4) because they can be absolutely calibrated, they measure actual acoustic displacements; and (5) they can measure the instantaneous local displacements within a few hundredths of a millimeter of a crack or other emission source. It is the purpose of the present chapter to present a comparative evaluation of optical methods for probing acoustic emission signals and to describe an acoustic emission interferometer which is superior in many respects to the other methods.
RACIALLY HOMOPHILOUS SOCIAL TIES AND INFORMAL SOCIAL CONTROL

Social disorganization theory argues that racial/ethnic heterogeneity is a key neighborhood characteristic leading to social disorganization and, consequently, higher levels of crime. Heterogeneity’s effect is argued to be a result of its fragmentation of social ties along racial/ethnic lines, which creates racially homophilous social networks with few ties bridging racial/ethnic groups. Most studies of social ties in social disorganization models, however, have examined their quantity and left unaddressed the extent to which ties are within or across different racial groups. This study goes beyond previous studies by examining the effects of both racially homophilous and interracial friendship networks on informal social control. Using multilevel models and data from 66 neighborhoods with approximately 2,300 respondents, we found that heterogeneity actually increased the average percentage of residents with interracial friendship networks, but the percentage of residents with interracial networks decreased the likelihood of informal social control. In contrast, the percentage of residents with White racially homophilous networks increased the likelihood of informal social control. Examining the microcontext of individuals’ networks, however, we found residents with interracial ties reported higher likelihoods of informal social control and that this effect was enhanced in neighborhoods with higher percentages of non-White racially homophilous networks.
Unionid mussels influence macroinvertebrate assemblage structure in streams

Unionid mussels often occur as multispecies aggregates called mussel beds and in dense patches within the mussel beds themselves. Thus, their distributions are patchy at 2 spatial scales. We examined the association between mussel assemblage structure and macroinvertebrate assemblage structure at these 2 spatial scales in rivers of the Ouachita Highlands, Arkansas and Oklahoma, USA. We used multivariate variation partitioning techniques to relate variation in benthic macroinvertebrate distribution and abundance to variation in mussel assemblages, environmental variables, spatial variables, and overlapping or shared variation between these components. At the patch scale, total densities of macroinvertebrates and dominant groups (Oligochaeta, Chironomidae, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera) were significantly higher in patches containing mussels than where mussels were absent, and densities of macroinvertebrates were positively correlated with unionid density. In variation partitioning analyses, mussel assemblages explained almost ½ of the variation in macroinvertebrate assemblages at both spatial scales, even after removing effects of similar habitat (environmental variables) and biogeographic history (spatial variables).
Exploring Constructivist Perspectives in the College Classroom

1. Emmanuel Mensah[1][1] 1. 1University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, USA 1. Emmanuel Mensah, University of North Dakota, 3904 University Avenue, Room # 18, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7189, USA. Email: emmanuel.mensah{at}my.und.edu The study used Explanatory Sequential Design (ESD) of Mixed-Methods to investigate college students’ and instructors’ perspectives of constructivist learning environment (CLE). Students, including graduates and undergraduates from a Midwestern university, rated their preference for personal relevance, collaboration, negotiation, and autonomy as key learning experiences embodied in CLE. Results indicated that undergraduates were more likely than graduate students to prefer collaboration and negotiation experiences. Expanding on the results of students’ quantitative ratings, students’ and instructors’ perspectives of collaboration were explored. Eight participants (four students and four instructors) participated in one-on-one interview sessions. Themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis showed that the differences in students’ preference for collaboration related to students’ perceptions of unequal opportunities to collaborate, perceived benefits, and diverse backgrounds and orientations. In addition, conditions necessary for effective collaboration in the college environment were explored. Thematic analysis produced three themes: understanding collaboration process; monitoring, assessment, and evaluation system; and group composition. Implications for practice in the college classroom have been discussed. [1]: #aff-1
Fleet Oil Company: An Exercise

The exercise, which adapts a famous experiment by experimental psychologist Thomas Gilovich, is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential perils. Students are presented with a scenario in which an oil company is deciding which of two investment options it should pursue. The first focuses on a location that involves technically difficult and costly RD the name of the oil company is Fleet in the neutral case, and Raptor (named after one of Enron's many special purpose entities) in the Enron case. Students who are given the Enron problem often unconsciously associate the problem they face with the Enron debacle, which causes them to favor the technically challenging option more than do students who are given the neutral problem.Learning Objective: The exercise is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential perils.
Sodium and Potassium Effects on Adrenal-Gland Indices of Mineral Balance in Meadow Voles

We compared sodium and potassium content of plants with the dietary levels of low sodium and high potassium that stimulate hypertrophy of the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal gland of Microtus pennsylvanicus . The zona glomerulosa typically enlarges in animals subjected to severe sodium shortage or potassium overload. Among voles maintained on several low sodium diets, the relative size of the zona glomerulosa was elevated significantly only on the lowest sodium diet (0.00043 mol/kg or 10 ppm). This level of sodium is extremely low for plant sodium contents in nature. Dietary potassium levels ≥0.614 mol/kg or 24,000 ppm induced significant increases in size of zona glomerulosa; few plant species we analyzed had potassium levels below these early in the growing season. From our results, we suggest that potassium excess may play a more central role than sodium deficiency in the seasonal mineral-balance dynamics of this herbivore species.
Predictive Modeling of Costs for a Chronic Disease with Acute High-Cost Episodes

Abstract Chronic diseases account for 75% of U.S. national health care expenditures as estimated by the Centers for Disease Control. Many chronic diseases are punctuated by acute episodes of illnesses that occur randomly and create cost spikes in utilization from one year to the next. Modeling to account for these random events provides better estimates of (1) future costs and (2) their variability. A Bayesian statistical model is used to predict the incidence and cost of hospitalizations for one chronic disease. A two-part statistical model is described that separately models the utilization and cost of hospitalization. Individual demographic characteristics are included as well as a simple biological classification system to adjust for the severity of disease among individuals. Results by child, as well as by calendar year, are presented. Using a simple approach to incorporate severity, the model produces reasonable estimates of the number of hospitalizations and cost of hospitalization for the group in...
“When You Got Friends in Low Places, You Stay Low” Social Networks and Access to Resources for Female Methamphetamine Users in Low-Income Suburban Communities

To examine access to needed resources among low-income methamphetamine-using females, we conducted interviews with 30 women living in poor suburban communities of a large southeastern metropolis. As an invisible population in the suburbs, underserved by social services, the women remain geographically and socially anchored to their poor suburban enclaves as transit, treatment, and education remain out of reach. The longitudinal study included three interviews over a two-year period. Resources needed by the women were identified in the first interview and a list of available services was provided to them. In subsequent interviews, we asked how they accessed the services or barriers encountered and discussed these further in focus groups. Using a social capital framework in our qualitative analysis, we identified three processes for accessing needed resources: formal, informal, and mediated. Implications for policymakers and social service providers are suggested, and models for future development proposed.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

RHEUMATOID arthritis remains the major chronic and progressive crippling disease of childhood. In the United States alone, there may be as many as 175,000 cases, but this is only a rough estimate, since no survey of any chronic children's disease has ever been undertaken. Recent investigations, though chiefly descriptive, have added greatly to therapeutic judgment in the management of this disease. Yet as management has improved, certain basic problems, especially concerning etiology, seem no closer to being understood than they were some decades ago. The Etiologic Puzzle The cause of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis remains unknown, although infection, autoimmunity, trauma or . . .
Analysis of Results of Monitoring Quality of disinfection in Medical Institutions of Zhongshan City

[Objective]To investigate the quality of disinfection in medical institutions of Zhongshan city,and analyze the problem in the disinfection to provide scientific evidence for the development of effective prevention measures. [Methods]5 years of continuous supervision was conducted in medical unit air,the surface of objects,the medical staff hands,disinfectant solutions in use,sterile medical supplies. [Results]The total eligible rates from 2003 —2007were 91.86%,95.74%,95.79%,96.72%,96.78%; that of medical institutions of city,town,private and community levels were 97.64%,94.63%,97.19%,93.26%. Among all detected items,the eligible rate of sterile medical supplies was highest and medical unit air is lowest. [Conclusion]Although the eligible rate of disinfection efficacy appears with increasing trend in medical institutions in Zhongshan,the disinfection quality of medical unit air is still weaken,that requests medical institutions and CDCs to enhance the surveillance and further improvement of disinfection.
Research on working status of examining vaccination certificates of children before entering the nursery/primary schools in Yuecheng district

Objective To Lean about the current working status in examining vaccination certificates of children before entering nursery/primary schools; To find problems during the examining process in time; To suggest corresponding strategies for further carrying out of vaccination examination. Methods Collected statistical report forms on examining vaccination certificates of children entering nursery/primary school of Yuecheng District during 2012. As to method of data analysis, Excel was preferred. Results Entirely,99 kindergartens and 27 primary schools were examined within the whole district, which comprised 93.40% of total nursery schools and 100% of total primary schools, respectively. 10 291 children were examined. Inspection rate of nursery and primary school children was 98.24% and 99.74%, respectively; Furthermore, the total rate of vaccination certificate holder was 98.56%; 135children needed to make up the missed certificates. Supplementary certificate rates for children entering the nursery and primary school was 83.33% and 98.77%. 2 070 children caught up supplementary vaccination and supplementary vaccination rates was respectively86.56% and 93.45%; Inspection rate for resident children and for migrant children was 99.92% and 95.87%, Rate of vaccination certificate holder among resident and migrant children was 99.58% and 95.87%; Supplementary certificate rate of resident and migrant children was 100.00% and 89.47%. Supplementary vaccination rate of resident and migrant children was 95.91%and 85.44%. Unsuccessfulness in achieving supplementary vaccination was mainly due to wrong inspection, with a rate of37.38%.Conclusion Nursery schools without a license are serious obstacles for examining vaccination certificates of children before entering the nursery/primary schools. Migrant children are the focus group in surveillance work. Moreover, educational institutions without professional doctors also have significant influence in carrying out vaccination examination.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in childhood

AbstractExtracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is the treatment of choice for the majority of upper urinary calculi in adults. Technical limitations, including patient size and concerns over post-treatment stone fragment passage, have made the application of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in children less clearly defined. We report the successful application of the Dornier lithotriptor in the management of 18 children (22 kidneys) with upper urinary calculi.
Iconicity in Peirce’s Semiotics

The hypothesis of the mathematician is always the conception of a system of relations. In order that they may be reasoned about mathematically, these relations must be conceived as embodied in some kind of objects; but the character of the objects, apart from the relations, is utterly immaterial. They are always made as bare, skeleton-like, or diagrammatic as possible. With mathematicians not born blind, they are always visual objects of the simplest kind, such as dots, or lines, or letters, and the like. The mathematician often passes from one mode of embodiment to another. Such a change is no change in the hypothesis but only in the diagrammatic embodiment of the hypothesis. The hypothesis itself consists in the system of relations alone.
An e-textile antenna for body area network

This paper provides details on an e-textile spiral antenna used in a Body Area Network application. The system senses heart rate, has provisions for fall detection using an inertial measurement unit, and measures ambient temperature. An Arduino microcontroller collects and processes the data and interfaces with a low-energy Bluetooth (BLE) transceiver to transmit data via an e-textile antenna. Data is received via BLE on a custom built Android application running on a Nexus 5 Smartphone. Power received measurements were performed to compare the e-textile spiral antenna with a traditional inset-fed patch antenna.
Medical Metaphor, Simile, and Onomatopoeia

Chapter 6 discusses medical metaphor, simile, and onomatopoeia, the latter often called echoic words. Health-care professionals use metaphoric words and similes often, both in clinical discourse and in speaking with patients: words such as “train wreck,” “biological clock,” “orphan drug,” “thunderclap headache,” and “ichthyosis.” Also discussed are echoic words, terms that imitate the sounds they describe, such as: cough, sneeze, hiccup, murmur, and borborygmus, all with interesting background stories.
Faxén form of time-domain force on a sphere in unsteady spatially varying viscous compressible flows

An explicit expression for the time-dependent force on a stationary, finite-sized spherical particle located in an unsteady inhomogeneous ambient flow is presented. The force expression accounts for both viscous and compressible effects. Towards this end, a time-harmonic plane travelling wave of a given frequency propagating in a viscous compressible flow over a sphere is considered. Linearized compressible Navier–Stokes equations are solved to obtain an analytical expression for the force exerted on the particle in the frequency domain. The force obtained in the Laplace space due to a travelling wave of a given frequency and wavenumber is then generalized to any arbitrary incoming flow. This is achieved by relating the radial and tangential velocity components in the Laplace space to the surface-averaged radial velocity and volume-averaged velocity vectors respectively in the time space. Moreover an expression relating the surface-averaged radial velocity and volume-averaged velocity vector has been provided. The total force is written as a summation of the undisturbed and disturbed force (quasi-steady, inviscid-unsteady and viscous-unsteady) contributions. The force contributions thus obtained are expressed as comprising of two parts – that arising due to spatial variation in the ambient flow and the other arising due to temporal variation. The current formulation is applicable to inhomogeneous ambient flows, however in the limit of negligible Reynolds and Mach numbers. The results are applicable even for particles of sizes larger than the acoustic wavelength. The accuracy of the explicit time-domain force expression is first tested by computing the force on an 80 mm diameter particle due to a weak planar expansion fan. Extension of this formulation when nonlinear effects become important is also proposed and tested by considering strong expansion fans. The results thus obtained are compared against corresponding axisymmetric numerical simulations.
Efficient neural network architecture for topology identification in smart grid

Identifying arbitrary power grid topologies in real time based on measurements in the grid is studied. A learning based approach is developed: binary classifiers are trained to approximate the maximum a-posteriori probability (MAP) detectors that each identifies the status of a distinct line. An efficient neural network architecture in which features are shared for inferences of all line statuses is developed. This architecture enjoys a significant computational complexity advantage in the training and testing processes. The developed classifiers based on neural networks are evaluated in the IEEE 30-bus system. It is demonstrated that, using the proposed feature sharing neural network architecture, a) the training and testing times are drastically reduced compared with training a separate neural network for each line status inference, and b) a small amount of training data is sufficient for achieving a very good real-time topology identification performance.
Instruments, Apparatuses and Uterine Manipulators for Hysterectomy with Special Focus on Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It may also involve removal of the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and other surrounding structures. Hysterectomy is the most common procedure performed for gynecological disorders. It is expected that the frequency of hysterectomies for non-malignant indications will decrease as there are good alternatives in many cases. However, hysterectomy will remain as the definitive treatment of uterine pathology. Vaginal hysterectomy, is the original method of minimally invasive hysterectomy while abdominal hysterectomy is the most invasive method of hysterectomy. The introduction and rapid advancement of the laparoscopy has allowed for the development of alternative minimally invasive approaches to hysterectomy in order to avoid the morbidity associated with an abdominal approach when the vaginal approach is not feasible. Initially, laparoscopy was added to aid assessment and treatment of adnexal pathology or endometriosis in combination with a vaginal hysterectomy. As tools and techniques advanced, a greater proportion of the hysterectomy procedure was undertaken using the laparoscopic approach leading to the first total laparoscopic hysterectomy successfully completed via laparoscopy in 1989. Following this, the development of tools that facilitated dissecti on, vessel sealing and suturing were developed in order to simplify and improve the procedure. The many advantages of the minimally invasive approach for the patient led to the desire to utilize this approach even in complex hysterectomy procedures, obese patients, and cancer surgeries. This motivated surgeons and the industry as whole to push the limits of the surgery, and to develop and explore other laparoscopic approach es such as single port surgery, mini-laparoscopy, natural orifice surgical procedures (NOT ES). The most advanced and expensive tool used to date for the performance of minimally invasive hysterectomy procedures is the daVinci (TM) surgial robot which received FDA approval for the procedure in 2005, after which the frequency of daVinci robotic assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy has exponentially increased. This chapter will review many of the tools utilized in hysterectomy, including uterine manipulators, with a focus on the specialized tools utilized in robotic assisted procedures.
Investigating the Trajectory of Global Education Policy

The issue of methods is commonly overlooked—or under-addressed—in studies on global education policy. Lack of discussion in this area is a serious issue because the investigation of global education policies is not a straightforward matter. Conceptually, global education policies are slippery subjects, which makes discussion about how to research them all the more important. Casual readers, fellow researchers, and policymakers will wonder about the basis on which claims are made and the gravity that they should give to those claims. Thus, in the present chapter, significant space is dedicated to addressing the issue of how we can investigate the phenomenon of interest in this book, namely, the trajectory of global education policy. Although the present approach is not without its limitations, it is hoped that this discussion will generate or will contribute to methodological dialogue more generally.
A Review of Glucose Transport in the Lens

The transport of glucose into the lens is reviewed against a background of data on glucose transport in muscle and the red blood cell. In muscle, sorbitol does not penetrate tlie cell membrane and is limited to the extracellular space. On the other hand, 3-0-methijlglucose is distributed in most of the tissue water. Similar results are obtained in lens. The glucose that is found in muscle and lens can be accounted for on the basis of the glucose that would be expected to be in the extracelhdar space. Thus, transport is a limiting step in glucose metabolism and the rate of utilization of glucose may be equated with the rate of inward transport. Mediated transport is considered as taking place at the fiber membrane. The kinetics of glucose transport in the lens are similar to those in muscle and the red blood cell. All three have Km values of about 7.0 mM. and Qw values of 2.0. Glucose competes with 3-0-methylglucose for the transport system in the lens. Glucose transport in the lens, as it is in muscle, is enhanced by respiratory poisons and inhibited by glycolytic poisons and phlorizin. It is concluded that the process of glucose transport in the lens is similar to that in tissues such as muscle and the red blood cell.
Progressive Diaphragm Atrophy in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Failure.

Objectives Diaphragm atrophy is associated with delayed weaning from mechanical ventilation and increased mortality in critically ill adults. We sought to test for the presence of diaphragm atrophy in children with acute respiratory failure. Design Prospective, observational study. Setting Single-center tertiary noncardiac PICU in a children's hospital. Patients Invasively ventilated children with acute respiratory failure. Measurements and main results Diaphragm thickness at end-expiration and end-inspiration were serially measured by ultrasound in 56 patients (median age, 17 mo; interquartile range, 5.5-52), first within 36 hours of intubation and last preceding extubation. The median duration of mechanical ventilation was 140 hours (interquartile range, 83-201). At initial measurement, thickness at end-expiration was 2.0 mm (interquartile range, 1.8-2.5) and thickness at end-inspiration was 2.5 mm (interquartile range, 2-2.8). The change in thickness at end-expiration during mechanical ventilation between first and last measurement was -13.8% (interquartile range, -27.4% to 0%), with a -3.4% daily atrophy rate (interquartile range, -5.6 to 0%). Thickening fraction = ([thickness at end-inspiration - thickness at end-expiration]/thickness at end-inspiration) throughout the course of mechanical ventilation was linearly correlated with spontaneous breathing fraction (beta coefficient, 9.4; 95% CI, 4.2-14.7; p = 0.001). For children with a period of spontaneous breathing fraction less than 0.5 during mechanical ventilation, those with exposure to a continuous neuromuscular blockade infusion (n = 15) had a significantly larger decrease in thickness at end-expiration compared with children with low spontaneous breathing fraction who were not exposed to a neuromuscular blockade infusion (n = 18) (-16.4%, [interquartile range, -28.4% to -7.0%] vs -7.3%; [interquartile range, -10.9% to -0%]; p = 0.036). Conclusions Diaphragm atrophy is present in children on mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure. Diaphragm contractility, measured as thickening fraction, is strongly correlated with spontaneous breathing fraction. The combination of exposure to neuromuscular blockade infusion with low overall spontaneous breathing fraction is associated with a greater degree of atrophy.
Chapter 7 – Vitamin D

Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin,” is a hormone produced from sterols in the body by the action of ultraviolet light on the skin, although most people require the vitamin through the diet. Vitamin D is the generic descriptor for steroids exhibiting the biological activity of cholecalciferol. Sources of vitamin D include biosynthesis through the actions of ultraviolet light in the skin and through the diet as ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) or cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Primary sources include fatty fishes and fortified foods, such as milk. Vitamin D is fat soluble and requires micellularization for absorption. Vitamin D supports bone health by promoting calcium absorption, and it also confers function as a regulator of gene expression. It may also function in immunity, cardiovascular health, and antioxidant regulation. Poor vitamin D status results in rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.
Role of Edamame (Glycine max) Seed Size in Early-Season Crop–Weed Interactions

Edamame [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] differs from grain-type soybean in several aspects, one being that edamame seeds are 65% to 100% larger than grain-type soybean seed. Crop seed size has implications for weed management in grain-type soybean; however, the extent to which this observation holds true for edamame is unknown. Because weed interference continues to be a barrier to domestic edamame production, the objective was to quantify the effect of edamame seed size on the crop's ability to tolerate weed interference (CT) and the crop's ability to suppress weeds (WSA). Five edamame cultivars plus one grain-type cultivar were each sorted to create “small” and “large” seed size classes. Seed lots were included in a split–split plot design, whereby an additional experimental factor was presence or absence of velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medik.). Crop and weed emergence and growth were monitored through 8 wk after emergence (WAE). Crop plants from large seed had higher tolerance to A. theophrasti than plants from small seed, as evidenced by crop height, area, and biomass. Edamame seed size had little effect on WSA; however, crop cultivars differentially reduced A. theophrasti leaf area and biomass at 4 and 8 WAE. While both seed size and edamame cultivar influence early-season crop competitive ability, the magnitude of these factors on CT and WSA underscores the importance of considering them not as stand-alone tactics but rather as useful additions to a more comprehensive integrated weed management system.
Tip-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering with ultra-high-aspect-ratio tips and confocal polarization Raman spectroscopy for evaluation of sidewalls in Type II superlattices FPAs

Actoprobe team had developed custom Tip Enhancement Raman Spectroscopy System (TERS) with specially developed Ultra High Aspect Ratio probes for AFM and TERS measurements for small pixel infrared FPA sidewall characterization. Using this system, we report on stimulated Raman scattering observed in a standard tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) experiment on GaSb materials excited by 637-nm pump laser light. We explain our results by TERS-inherent mechanisms of enormous local field enhancement and by the special design and geometry of the ultrahigh-aspect-ratio tips that enabled conditions for stimulated Raman scattering in the sample with greatly enhanced resonance Raman gain when aided by a microcavity to provide feedback mechanism for the Raman emission. The approach has great potential for further, orders-of-magnitude, progress in TERS enhancement by significantly increasing its nonlinear component. We report development of novel class of probes for atomic force microscopy (AFM active optical probe - AAOP) by integrating a laser source and a photodetector monolithically into the AFM probe. The AAOPs are designed to be used in a conventional AFM and would enhance its functionality to include that of the instruments (NSOM, TERS, hybrid AFM).
Dissecting Comorbidity between Parkinson’s Disease and Melanoma in a Cell Culture Model

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a fatal, common, neurodegenerative disorder that affects up to 10 million people worldwide, and lacks disease altering treatment or prevention. It is the second most com...
Effect Of Cold Plasma Processing On Sweet Basil And The Biochemistry Of Its Essential Oils

This interdisciplinary research project, which focuses on the emerging field of plasma agriculture, seeks to better understand the chemical and physical effects of cold plasma processing on plants and their essential oils. Cold plasma processing has been shown to be a rapid, economical, and pollution-free method to improve plant seed performance and crop yield [1]. Essential oils are aromatic oily liquids extracted from different parts of plants, such as the leaves, flowers, and roots. Among the various beneficial properties of essential oils is their demonstrated antioxidant effect [2], [3] directly applicable to foods that are prone to oxidative consequences such as poor flavor, bad odors, and spoilage. Antioxidants, either synthetic (e.g., butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT) or natural (e.g., Vitamin C), are routinely added to processed foods to inhibit or delay oxidation. Essential oils are examples of natural antioxidants. Although synthetic antioxidants like BHT and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) are very effective, they have been shown to be potentially harmful to human health with demonstrated evidence of causing cancer in laboratory animals [3]. As a result, food scientists have been seeking alternative natural compounds as substitute antioxidants, such as essential oils. We have observed a growth effect in our preliminary studies treating basil plants with cold plasmas. We have also observed that plasma treatment increases the antioxidant activity of essential oils. Our preliminary work further revealed a difference in the composition of individual antioxidant components between the plasma-treated and non-plasmatreated basil. Following up on our preliminary research, our present investigation sought to better understand cold plasma's physical and biochemical-molecular effects on basil plants. These latter findings are the focus of this presentation.
Pattern recognition in hyperspectral persistent imaging

We give updates on a persistent imaging experiment dataset, being considered for public release in a foreseeable future, and present additional observations analyzing a subset of the dataset. The experiment is a long-term collaborative effort among the Army Research Laboratory, Army Armament RDEC, and Air Force Institute of Technology that focuses on the collection and exploitation of longwave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral imagery. We emphasize the inherent challenges associated with using remotely sensed LWIR hyperspectral imagery for material recognition, and show that this data type violates key data assumptions conventionally used in the scientific community to develop detection/ID algorithms, i.e., normality, independence, identical distribution. We treat LWIR hyperspectral imagery as Longitudinal Data and aim at proposing a more realistic framework for material recognition as a function of spectral evolution through time, and discuss limitations. The defining characteristic of a longitudinal study is that objects are measured repeatedly through time and, as a result, data are dependent. This is in contrast to cross-sectional studies in which the outcomes of a specific event are observed by randomly sampling from a large population of relevant objects in which data are assumed independent. Researchers in the remote sensing community generally assume the problem of object recognition to be cross-sectional. But through a longitudinal analysis of a fixed site with multiple material types, we quantify and argue that, as data evolve through a full diurnal cycle, pattern recognition problems are longitudinal in nature and that by applying this knowledge may lead to better algorithms.
Oscillatory Dynamics of Feedback Processing in Adolescents with Prenatal Cocaine Exposure

Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) has ramifications for feedback processing. Measuring neural oscillatory dynamics (during electroencephalography) provides insight into the time signatures an...
A Spatio-Temporal Model of Seizure Propagation in Focal Epilepsy

We propose a novel Coupled Hidden Markov Model (CHMM) to detect and localize epileptic seizures in clinical multichannel scalp electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Our model captures the spatio-temporal spread of a seizure by assigning a sequence of latent states (i.e. baseline or seizure) to each EEG channel. The state evolution is coupled between neighboring and contralateral channels to mimic clinically observed spreading patterns. Since the latent state space is exponential, a structured variational algorithm is developed for approximate inference. The model is evaluated on simulated and clinical EEG from two different hospitals. One dataset contains seizure recordings of adult focal epilepsy patients at the Johns Hopkins Hospital; the other contains publicly available non-specified seizure recordings from pediatric patients at Boston Children’s Hospital. Our CHMM model outperforms standard machine learning techniques in the focal dataset and achieves comparable performance to the best baseline method in the pediatric dataset. We also demonstrate the ability to track seizures, which is valuable information to localize focal onset zones.
Glioma progression through synaptic activity.

Two new studies show that gliomas can manipulate normal elements of neuronal development and plasticity to create neuron–glia synapses, activation of which leads to glioma proliferation. Interventions that target the AMPA receptor could slow down tumour growth by altering this synaptic transmission.
The Olfactory System

Chemicals provide a rich source of information about the environment, and many animals trust their sense of smell with their most important tasks: finding prey, avoiding predators, identifying mates, marking territory, navigating their environment, recognizing kin, and establishing social hierarchies. How the olfactory system detects and discriminates a vast number of odors, however, is poorly understood. The mammalian olfactory system consists of a variety of subsystems distributed throughout the nasal cavity. In the periphery, a variety of receptor families detect chemicals in the environment and transduce them into neural signals. The majority of these signals pass first through the olfactory bulb where the odor is believed to be encoded as a spatiotemporal code. Higher brain areas may then pair different receptor-activation profiles into a single olfactory percept or associate the odor with nonolfactory information. Here, we examine how the olfactory system carries out these tasks, as well as disorders that disrupt this encoding, resulting in olfactory dysfunction.
Viele Wege, um eine quadratische Gleichung zu lösen

Eine Art, um den Reichtum der Mathematik und die verschiedenen Starken von DERIVE zu erkennen, besteht darin, ein Problem auf verschiedene Weisen zu losen. Als Beispiel werden wir das folgende, harmlos wirkende Problem auf verschiedene Arten behandeln: Losen Sie die Gleichung x2−5x+6=0 nach x auf. Bevor wir beginnen, uberlegen wir, wieviele Wege wir kennen, um diese Gleichung zu losen.
Kalkulationen zur Vorbereitung von Führungsentscheidungen

Wahrend die Kostentragerrechnung fur wesentliche, krankenhausspezifische Bereiche sich erst in einer Vorstufe der Planung (Hinweis auf den in der KHG-Novelle vorgesehenen Auftrag zur Entwicklung von Kriterien fur die Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung) befindet, ist die Kostentragerrechnung in anderen Bereichen des Krankenhauses zur Vorbereitung von Fuhrungsentscheidungen uber den Betriebsablauf wie auch fur die Betriebsplanung mit guten Ergebnissen anwendbar, wie die folgenden Beispiele nachweisen.
Purification of calmodulin and preparation of immobilized calmodulin.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the purification of calmodulin and preparation of immobilized calmodulin. Calmodulin is an acidic, low molecular weight, calcium-modulated protein, which has been isolated from a diverse number of sources, and characterized in terms of its amino acid sequence and biochemical activities. The protein is highly conserved in both structure and function, although, there are quantitative differences in some activator activities among calmodulins. As a consequence, it may be important that functional studies of calmodulin-binding proteins be carried out with calmodulins from the appropriate biological sources. Because calmodulin is a member of a family of closely related calcium-binding proteins that can coexist in the same cell, purification procedures designed to give proteins of high purity are also necessary for many studies. Purification procedures for calmodulins from different sources have appeared in preceding volumes of this series and in the literature. Recent advances in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and protein sequence analysis, however, have allowed a more detailed characterization of calmodulins.
Guía para los modelos multisectoriales del mercado de trabajo en los países en desarrollo

Los mercados de trabajo son importantes porque la mayoria de la gente, sobre todo los pobres, obtienen todo su ingreso, o la mayor parte de el, del trabajo que realizan. Este ensayo estudia los mercados de trabajo por medio de los modelos sectoriales. La primera seccion sustantiva presenta la esencia de la modelacion multisectorial, en particular el papel del dualismo del mercado de trabajo. Dado que los mercados de trabajo se componen a menudo de segmentos muy distintos, un enfoque analitico util y perspicaz consiste en empezar con solo dos segmentos interrelacionados, el formal y el informal. En consecuencia, las secciones presentan modelos de salarios y empleo en la economia formal, la economia informal y las relaciones intersectoriales, respectivamente. La ultima seccion sustantiva muestra las contribuciones de estos modelos al entendimiento y el analisis de la politica en los mercados de trabajo. No deberia esperarse que el mismo modelo se aplique a Africa Oriental y Asia Oriental, o a Sudafrica y Corea del Sur. Sin duda, el modelo “correcto” es especifico del contexto. La combinacion de la observacion empirica y la modelacion analitica ha generado grandes avances. Las politicas solidas para el mercado laboral requieren modelos solidos del mercado de trabajo.
VLSI design challenges for gigascale integration

VLSI system performance increased by five orders of magnitude in the last three decades, made possible by continued technology scaling, improving transistor performance to increase frequency, increasing integration capacity to realize complex architectures, and reducing energy consumed per logic operation to keep power dissipation within limit. The technology treadmill will continue, providing integration capacity of billions of transistors; however, power and energy consumption will be the barriers. Performance at any cost will not be an option in the future; VLSI systems will have to emphasize performance delivered in a given power envelope, with complexity limited by energy efficiency. This paper discusses potential solutions in process technology, circuits, and microarchitectures to exploit future gigascale integration capacity. The system on a chip (SOC) concept will help integrate diverse functional blocks, providing valued performance. The paper concludes with recommendations to the VLSI system designers on how to exploit these emerging paradigms.
Axonal Transport and Neurodegenerative Diseases

A typical neuron consists of a cell body, multiple dendrites, and a single axon. Because the cell body is the primary site of protein synthesis, materials required for axonal growth and maintenance are synthesized in the perikarya and undergo axonal transport, often traversing enormous distances to reach their destination. This intricately regulated process of axonal transport is vulnerable to injury, and morphologic changes consistent with transport deficits are commonly seen in many neurodegenerative diseases. Disrupted axonal transport is also well-documented in many animal models of neurodegeneration, where it can be directly evaluated. In this article, we first review basic principles of axonal transport, highlighting recent advances in our understanding of fundamental transport mechanisms. We then discuss some specific molecular defects linking axonal transport and neurodegenerative diseases.
Micromachined porous polymer for bubble free electro-osmotic pump

A novel porous polymer was microfabricated to serve as a porous plug for a new device, the porous plug electro-osmotic pump (pp-EOP). The plug eliminates any back pressure effects while enhances electro-osmotic flow in a channel. The pp-EOP was batch fabricated by surface micromachining on top of a silicon wafer. The pp-EOP device is driven by a periodic, zero-average injected current signal at low frequencies producing bubble-free electro-osmotic flow with reversible net movement. Testing of the device produced an average water-air interface velocity of 1.8 /spl mu/m/s at 0.8 Hz. The velocity was increased to 4.8 and to 13.9 /spl mu/m/s by necking the channel size.
Conic Optimization Software

We give an overview of cone optimization software, with special attention to the differences between the existing packages. We assume that the reader is familiar with the theory and algorithms of cone optimization, thus technical details are kept at a minimum. We also outline current research trends and area of potential improvement. Keywords: conic optimization; interior-point method; benchmarking; COIN-OR; Lorentz cone; semidefinite matrix