cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Towards a participatory historical geography: archival interventions, volunteer service, and public outreach in research on early women pilots

Abstract Some scholars doing research set in the present time and near past seek to ground their research in community-based agendas, for example, through various forms of participatory research. Due to the contemporary nature of participatory research, historical scholarship has not fit easily into these rubrics. But what if a historical geographer wanted to contribute to the community she was studying? Here I examine what such a ‘participatory historical geography’ might look like using as brief example my efforts to forward the agendas of women pilots who flew in the US in the late 1920s and early 1930s. I seek to show how—at least when the agendas of our research communities are known, when scholars are willing to make archival interventions themselves, and when we seek to make contributions other than traditional scholarly publications—historical geography can endeavor to adopt a participatory model. In this context, archival interventions can include organizing, contributing to, and creating archives; and research contributions can include volunteer service of various sorts. Though not all historical research can be participatory, and although all forms of participatory research present (ethical) challenges, I here argue for a participatory historical geography in order to advance historical agendas in ways that facilitate contemporary engagements, and enable historical geographers to reach broader publics while helping ground our scholarship in issues relevant to our communities of the past and present.
Production of φ and ω mesons in 6.8 GeV/c K+p interactions☆

Abstract We have observed production of ∅ and ω mesons in K+p interactions at 6.8 GeV/c in the final states K+∅p, K+ωp, KOπ+∅p, and KOπ+ωp. The first two final states show low-mass enhancements K∅, Kω, and ωp combinations. The third evidences strong Δ++ production. The fourth is produced through a combination of mechanisms, but shows some evidence for K∗ (1660) production, with decay to KOω.
Robert Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS

There has been some argument over what exactly Federal Service entails in Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers, and specifically whether or not this service is exclusively military service—and...
The growth of oxide and oxygen-stabilized alpha layers in steam-oxidized zircaloy

Abstract Experimental investigations of the oxidation of Zircaloy in steam at high temperatures suggest temperature gradients exist across the oxide and oxygen-stabilized α layers even when specimens are exposed under nominally isothermal conditions. This paper presents a simple model that permits one to calculate the ratio of the thickness, of the oxide to oxygen-stabilized α layers in the presence of temperature gradients as well as under truly isothermal exposure conditions. The shape of the oxide to oxygen-stabilized α thickness ratio curve as a function of temperature was found to be in excellent agreement with oxidation kinetics data that were used to derive a scaling factor for the model. Variations in the temperature dependence of this ratio from independent measurements can be reproduced if it is assumed that temperature differences on the order of 10°C exist between the oxide layer and the oxygen-stabilized α layer. Metallographic evidence is presented that suggests the rate-controlling oxidation step occurs in the vicinity of the interface between the oxide and oxygen-stabilized a layers
Macro shocks and real stock prices

Abstract In this paper, I examine the effects of money supply, aggregate spending, and aggregate supply shocks on real US stock prices in a structural vector autoregression framework. Overall, the empirical results indicate that each macro shock has important effects on real stock prices. The real stock price impulse responses to the various macro shocks conform to the standard present-value equity valuation model, and they shed considerable light on the well-known negative correlation between real stock returns and inflation. An historical decomposition indicates that the late 1990s surge in real stock prices is due to a series of favorable structural shocks emanating from different sectors of the US economy.
The effects of evacuation on nursing home residents with dementia.

Background: In response to the hurricane-related deaths of nursing home residents, there has been a steady increase in the number of facilities that evacuate under storm threat. This study examined the effects of evacuation during Hurricane Gustav on residents who were cognitively impaired. Methods: Nursing homes in counties located in the path of Hurricane Gustav were identified. The Minimum Data Set resident assessment files were merged with the Centers for Medicare enrollment file to determine date of death for residents in identified facilities. Difference-in-differences analyses were conducted adjusting for residents' demographic characteristics and acuity. Results: The dataset included 21,255 residents living in 119 at risk nursing homes over three years of observation. Relative to the two years before the storm, there was a 2.8 percent increase in death at 30 days and a 3.9 percent increase in death at 90 days for residents with severe dementia who evacuated for Hurricane Gustav, controlling for resident demographics and acuity. Conclusions: The findings of this research reveal the deleterious effects of evacuation on residents with severe dementia. Interventions need to be developed and tested to determine the best methods for protecting this at risk population when there are no other options than to evacuate the facility. Language: en
Hybrid Energy-Aware Synchronization Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

We present a time synchronization scheme for wireless sensor networks that aims to conserve sensor battery power while maintaining network connectivity for as long as possible. The proposed method creates a hierarchical tree by flooding the sensor network from a designated source point. It then uses a hybrid algorithm derived from the Timing-sync protocol for sensor networks (TSPN) and the reference broadcast synchronization method (RBS) to periodically synchronize sensor clocks by minimizing the number of required transmissions. In multi-hop ad-hoc networks, a depleted sensor will drop information from all other sensors that route data through it, decreasing the physical area being monitored by the network. It is therefore imperative that time synchronization schemes are aware of the number of sensors being used at any given time. The proposed method uses several techniques and thresholds to maintain network connectivity. A new source point is chosen when the current one's battery power reaches a designated energy threshold. The network is also re-flooded whenever the number of used sensors drops below another threshold. We implement and show that our scheme can provide significant power savings over both TPSN and RBS; the power reduction is even more drastic in large multi-hop sensor networks. The method also improves upon these algorithms by maintaining a large area of coverage even when some sensors lose power.
Electrostatically Embedded Many-Body Expansion for Large Systems, with Applications to Water Clusters.

The use of background molecular charge to incorporate environmental effects on a molecule or active site is widely employed in quantum chemistry. In the present article we employ this practice in conjunction with many-body expansions. In particular, we present electrostatically embedded two-body and three-body expansions for calculating the energies of molecular clusters. The system is divided into fragments, and dimers or trimers of fragments are calculated in a field of point charges representing the electrostatic potential of the other fragments. We find that including environmental point charges can lower the errors in the electrostatically embedded pairwise additive (EE-PA) energies for a series of water clusters by as much as a factor of 10 when compared to the traditional pairwise additive approximation and that for the electrostatically embedded three-body (EE-3B) method the average mean unsigned error over nine different levels of theory for a set of six tetramers and one pentamer is only 0.05 kc...
An effective structure learning method for constructing gene networks

Motivation: Bayesian network methods have shown promise in gene regulatory network reconstruction because of their capability of capturing causal relationships between genes and handling data with noises found in biological experiments. The problem of learning network structures, however, is NP hard. Consequently, heuristic methods such as hill climbing are used for structure learning. For networks of a moderate size, hill climbing methods are not computationally efficient. Furthermore, relatively low accuracy of the learned structures may be observed. The purpose of this article is to present a novel structure learning method for gene network discovery. Results: In this paper, we present a novel structure learning method to reconstruct the underlying gene networks from the observational gene expression data. Unlike hill climbing approaches, the proposed method first constructs an undirected network based on mutual information between two nodes and then splits the structure into substructures. The directional orientations for the edges that connect two nodes are then obtained by optimizing a scoring function for each substructure. Our method is evaluated using two benchmark network datasets with known structures. The results show that the proposed method can identify networks that are close to the optimal structures. It outperforms hill climbing methods in terms of both computation time and predicted structure accuracy. We also apply the method to gene expression data measured during the yeast cycle and show the effectiveness of the proposed method for network reconstruction. Contact: xwchen@ku.edu
Melatonin supplementation to treat the metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Supplemental melatonin may ameliorate metabolic syndrome (MetS) components, but data from placebo-controlled trials are lacking. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, Phase II randomized pilot clinical trial to estimate the effects of melatonin supplementation on MetS components and the overall prevalence of MetS. We randomized 39 subjects with MetS to receive 8.0 mg oral melatonin or matching placebo nightly for 10 weeks. After a 6-week washout, subjects received the other treatment for 10 more weeks. We measured waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, fasting glucose, and blood pressure (BP) in each subject at the beginning and end of both 10-week treatment periods. The primary outcome was the mean 10-week change in each MetS component, and a secondary outcome was the proportion of subjects free from MetS, after melatonin versus placebo. The mean 10-week change for most MetS components favored melatonin over placebo (except fasting glucose): waist circumference -0.9 vs. +1.0 cm (p = 0.15); triglycerides -66.3 vs. -4.2 mg/dL (p = 0.17); HDL cholesterol -0.2 vs. -1.1 mg/dL (p = 0.59); fasting glucose +0.3 vs. -3.1 mg/dL (p = 0.29); systolic BP -2.7 vs. +4.7 mmHg (p = 0.013); and diastolic BP -1.1 vs. +1.1 mmHg (p = 0.24). Freedom from MetS tended to be more common following melatonin versus placebo treatment (after the first 10 weeks, 35.3% vs. 15.0%, p = 0.25; after the second 10 weeks, 45.0% vs. 23.5%, p = 0.30). Melatonin was well-tolerated. Melatonin supplementation modestly improved most individual MetS components compared with placebo, and tended to increase the proportion of subjects free from MetS after treatment. NCT01038921 , clinicaltrials.gov
To tune, to switch, or to switch and tune: adapting to constantly changing environments

Systems theory as taught in academia is methodology driven. Systems practice, on the other hand, is invariably problem driven and extremely diverse. Control problems that arise in industry are characterized by poor models, high dimensional decision spaces, nonlinearities, and rapid time variations in system dynamics due to external disturbances, parameter variations, or sensor and/or actuator failures. Conventional controllers, designed using only one of the theories mentioned earlier, do not possess the attributes needed to control systems satisfactorily in the presence of large uncertainties and time variations. The objective therefore is to determine flexible architectures for control that are computationally efficient, yield fast and accurate response, and at the same time can be analyzed within the framework of mathematical systems theory. The article examines some of the issues involved, in general and in particular types of system.
Variants of human thymidylate synthase with loop 181-197 stabilized in the inactive conformation.

Loop 181–197 of human thymidylate synthase (hTS) populates two major conformations, essentially corresponding to the loop flipped by 180°. In one of the conformations, the catalytic Cys195 residue lies distant from the active site making the enzyme inactive. Ligands stabilizing this inactive conformation may function as allosteric inhibitors. To facilitate the search for such inhibitors, we have expressed and characterized several mutants designed to shift the equilibrium toward the inactive conformer. In most cases, the catalytic efficiency of the mutants was only somewhat impaired with values of kcat/Km reduced by factors in a 2–12 range. One of the mutants, M190K, is however unique in having the value of kcat/Km smaller by a factor of ∼7500 than the wild type. The crystal structure of this mutant is similar to that of the wt hTS with loop 181–197 in the inactive conformation. However, the direct vicinity of the mutation, residues 188–194 of this loop, assumes a different conformation with the positions of Cα shifted up to 7.2 A. This affects region 116–128, which became ordered in M190K while it is disordered in wt. The conformation of 116–128 is however different than that observed in hTS in the active conformation. The side chain of Lys190 does not form contacts and is in solvent region. The very low activity of M190K as compared to another mutant with a charged residue in this position, M190E, suggests that the protein is trapped in an inactive state that does not equilibrate easily with the active conformer.
Separation Control Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge-Induced Suction and Vortex Generation

We investigate the characteristics of vortices induced by spanwise forcing using a streamwise oriented dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with and without a boundary layer suction channel, the flow of which is also driven by a DBD. The velocity field over various regions in the vicinity of the actuator is obtained by ensemble averaging particle image velocimetry. Increased boundary layer thinning and a stronger downward motion are seen near the powered flow-exposed electrode when the DBD is used in conjunction with a suction slot. The effect of varying the applied voltage and freestream velocity on the induced flow is examined. Studies are carried out on the ability for such a structure to control separation on an inclined flat plate and ramp. We find that DBD actuation together with boundary layer suction leads to more robust separation control in these adverse pressure gradient configurations.
Effect of Hubbard interaction on solitonic excitations in polyacetylene

We have studied the effect of Hubbard interaction on solitonic excitations in the polymer trans-polyacetylene. These excitations are modeled using the Su, Schrieffer, and Heeger (SSH) Hamiltonian. Within this framework, we have calculated the full configuration interaction and restricted Hartree-Fock energies of solitonic excitations in trans-polyacetylene chains with 4–10 carbon atoms. These results are extrapolated to longer chains, and it is shown that the correlation energy for these chains approaches 3%. Thus, our calculations provide a justification, hitherto absent, of the accuracy of the Hartree-Fock calculations reported in the literature.
A rapid finite difference algorithm, utilizing successive over-relaxation to solve the Poisson-Boltzmann equation

An efficient algorithm is presented for the numerical solution of the Poisson–Boltzmann equation by the finite difference method of successive over-relaxation. Improvements include the rapid estimation of the optimum relaxation parameter, reduction in number of operations per iteration, and vector-oriented array mapping. The algorithm has been incorporated into the electrostatic program DelPhi, reducing the required computing time by between one and two orders of magnitude. As a result the estimation of electrostatic effects such as solvent screening, ion distributions, and solvation energies of small solutes and biological macromolecules in solution, can be performed rapidly, and with minimal computing facilities.
Outcomes of Patients with Portal Vein Thrombosis Undergoing Live Donor Liver Transplantation

Background: Live donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) creates several technical challenges due to severe pre-operative condition and extensive collaterals. Although deceased donor liver transplantation in patients with PVT is now routinely performed at most centers, the impact of PVT on LDLT outcomes is still controversial. Objective: To determine the outcome of patients with PVT who underwent LDLT. Methods: We reviewed the outcome of adult patients with PVT who underwent LDLT in the USA from 1998 to 2009. Results: 68 (2.9%) of 2402 patients who underwent LDLT had PVT. Comparing patients with and without PVT who underwent LDLT, those with PVT were older (53 vs 50 yrs), more likely to be male, had longer length of stay (25 vs 18 days) and higher retransplantation rate (19% vs 10.7%). The allograft and patient survival was lower in patients with PVT. In Cox regression analysis, PVT was associated with worse allograft survival (HR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.5, p<0.001) and patient survival (HR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.2–2.4, p<0.001) than patients without PVT. Conclusions: Patients with PVT who underwent LDLT had a worse prognosis than those without PVT
Homopolar motor with high temperature superconductor field windings

A superconducting field winding, assembled with discrete coils wound with bismuth 2223 high temperature superconducting (HTS) wire, has been successfully operated in an electric homopolar motor designed and built by the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The motor's field winding is composed of two HTS coils fabricated by American Superconductor Corporation and two HTS coils fabricated by Intermagnetics General Corporation. These field winding coils were produced for the Navy under contracts with the Naval Research Center. At a HTS field winding operating temperature of 4.2 K, the motor produced 125 kW (167 hp) of output power. At a temperature of 28 K the motor power developed was 91 kW (122 hp). In comparison to other motor types, a homopolar motor provides an ideal operating environment for a superconducting magnet. The design, construction, and operating characteristics of this machine are described. Information describing the HTS field winding and its superconducting capabilities is presented along with that for the laboratory test facility used to measure the performance of the machine. Motor measured performance results and those predicted by computer simulation are compared and presented. An assessment of the state of the engineering development of HTS superconductors for magnet applications and recommendations for future development are made.
Enhancing the Vocabulary Knowledge of First-Grade Children With Supplemental Booster Instruction

This study examined the effects of instructional intensity on the acquisition of storybook vocabulary in first graders who were at risk of early reading failure. It also measured whether the intervention was effective for closing the vocabulary knowledge gap between students who were at risk and their average-achieving peers. A total of 66 students participated in the study, 44 identified as at risk and 22 as average-achieving peers. Students identified as at risk were randomly assigned to either a booster group, where they received explicit instruction of selected storybook vocabulary, or a no booster group, where they received vocabulary instruction in the context of read alouds through an experimental Read Aloud curriculum. A repeated measures design was employed to compare the effects of the intervention. Results indicate that students in the booster group significantly outperformed the students in the no booster and average-achieving peers groups on storybook vocabulary measures.
Role of time in self-prediction of behavior

This paper examines three specific manifestations of time—anticipation (proximal vs. distal), prior experience with the behavior, and frequency (episodic vs. repeat)—as key contingencies affecting the predictive validity of behavioral intention, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral expectation in predicting behavior. These three temporal contingencies are examined in two longitudinal field studies: (1) study 1—a 6-month study of personal computer (PC) purchase behavior among 861 households and (2) study 2—a 12-month study among 321 employees in the context of a new technology implementation in an organization. In study 1, where the episodic behavior of PC purchase was examined, we found that increasing anticipation (i.e., more distal) weakened the relationship between behavioral intention and behavior and strengthened the relationship between behavioral expectation and behavior. In contrast, increasing experience strengthened the relationship between behavioral intention and behavior and weakened the relationship between behavioral expectation and behavior. In study 2, where the repeat behavior of technology use was examined, we found two significant 3-way interactions: (1) the relationship between behavioral intention and behavior was strongest when anticipation was low (i.e., proximal) and experience was high and (2) the relationship between behavioral expectation and behavior was strongest when anticipation was high (i.e., distal) and experience was low.
Traveling mode solution of transport-theory problems by inspection

Abstract The differential neutron flux in slab geometry can be represented as a linear combination of traveling eigenmodes that propagate with exponential decay as functions of distance. The operators that serve to analyze the flux into mode amplitudes and to synthesize the flux from the mode amplitudes are determined. The particular analyzers and synthesizers it is appropriate to use in any given situation depend on the boundary conditions. These operators have an interpretation independent of any particular problem. The fluxes of interest can be written down almost by inspection in terms of these operators.
Sources of variations in total column carbon dioxide

Observations of gradients in the total CO_2 column, (CO2), are expected to provide improved constraints on surface fluxes of CO_2. Here we use a general circulation model with a variety of prescribed carbon fluxes to investigate how variations in (CO_2) arise. On diurnal scales, variations are small and are forced by both local fluxes and advection. On seasonal scales, gradients are set by the north-south flux distribution. On synoptic scales, variations arise due to large-scale eddy-driven disturbances of the meridional gradient. In this case, because variations in (CO_2) are tied to synoptic activity, significant correlations exist between (CO_2) and dynamical tracers. We illustrate how such correlations can be used to describe the north-south gradients of (CO_2) and the underlying fluxes on continental scales. These simulations suggest a novel analysis framework for using column observations in carbon cycle science.
Adverse drug events in U.S. adult ambulatory medical care.

Ensuring patient safety is a major public health challenge. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in the United States, as many as 98,000 deaths per year are attributable to preventable adverse events that occur in the hospital setting, with annual costs (lost income, disability, and health care costs) of between U.S.$17 billion and U.S.$29 billion(IOM 2000). Because the patient safety movement originated in and has focused on acute care settings (IOM 2000), less is known about safety outside the hospital setting (Wachter 2006; Sarkar et al. 2009). Adverse drug events (ADEs), defined as injuries resulting from a medication taken for medical intervention (Bates et al. 1995; Gurwitz et al. 2003; Bourgeois et al. 2009), constitute an important aspect of patient safety. Not all ADEs are preventable or can be considered medical errors; nevertheless, detection and prevention of ADEs is central to improving safety. Several studies have reported high rates of ADEs among specific populations, such as elderly patients (Gurwitz et al. 2003) and those with chronic diseases (Zhang et al. 2007), but important gaps in our current understanding of ambulatory ADEs remain. Apart from studies focused exclusively on emergency departments (EDs) (Budnitz et al. 2006, 2007), national population estimates for ADEs in the United States are lacking. Accordingly, we analyzed data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to describe the frequency and distribution of ambulatory ADEs among U.S. adults, to estimate age-specific rates for ADE visits. In addition, we explored which medication classes are most commonly reported in ADE visits, and whether demographic and clinical characteristics were associated with ADE visits.
Gender and Use of Instructional Technologies: A Study of University Faculty.

Instructional technologies have the potential to help highereducation faculty address increasing demands on their time and energy. Thisstudy investigated technology use by faculty at medium-sized, publicuniversity in the midwestern United States. Because a number of studies haveshown gender differences in technology use, survey data were analyzed alonggender lines. Results showed that males rated their knowledge and experiencewith some innovative technologies higher than did females. For frequency ofuse, no significant differences were found, with the exception of video,where females indicated slightly more frequent use. Both rated technologiesas important to instruction. For factors influencing technology use, femalesrated time to learn a technology, increased student learning, ease of use,training, and available information in discipline as more important than didmales. Such incentives as release time, merit pay, contribution to promotionand tenure, monetary rewards, and recognition by the university were ratedmore important by women, as were the barriers of lack of time and lack ofcontribution to professional advancement. These findings suggest that genderdifferences in technology use by university faculty may exist and need to beaddressed.
Converging pathways lead to overproduction of IL-17 in the absence of vitamin D signaling

Multiple pathways converge to result in the overexpression of T(h)17 cells in the absence of either vitamin D or the vitamin D receptor (VDR). CD4(+) T cells from VDR knockout (KO) mice have a more activated phenotype than their wild-type (WT) counterparts and readily develop into T(h)17 cells under a variety of in vitro conditions. Vitamin D-deficient CD4(+) T cells also overproduced IL-17 in vitro and 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D(3) inhibited the development of T(h)17 cells in CD4(+) T-cell cultures. Conversely, the induction of inducible (i) Tregs was lower in VDR KO CD4(+) T cells than WT and the VDR KO iTregs were refractory to IL-6 inhibition. Host-specific effects of the VDR were evident on in vivo development of naive T cells. Development of naive WT CD4(+) T cells in the VDR KO host resulted in the overexpression of IL-17 and more severe experimental inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The increased expression of T(h)17 cells in the VDR KO mice was associated with a reduction in tolerogenic CD103(+) dendritic cells. The data collectively demonstrate that T(h)17 and iTreg cells are direct and indirect targets of vitamin D. The increased propensity for development of T(h)17 cells in the VDR KO host results in more severe IBD.
Sex and regional differences in the incorporation of neurons born during song learning in zebra finches

In zebra finches only males sing, and several nuclei controlling song contain more neurons in adult males than in females. The ontogeny of sex differences in neuron number differs across song regions and overlaps with song learning in males. We examined the development of neuron number in several song regions in both sexes. We then determined whether neurons are born and incorporated into song nuclei as sex differences in neuron number emerge, and whether sex or regional differences in the insertion of such neurons may account for differences in the development of these areas. Males add neurons to hyperstriatum ventralis pars caudalis (HVc) and Area X between 20 and 55 d of age. In females there is no change in HVc neuron number during this time, and Area X never appears as a distinct nucleus. In both sexes, 3H-thymidine administration between 20 and 30 d results in neuronal labeling at 55 d in HVc and the region of Area X. However, in these areas the incidence of labeled neurons is higher in males than in females. In contrast to HVc and Area X, sex differences in neuron number in the robustus nucleus of the archistriatum (RA) and the magnocellular nucleus of the neostriatum (MAN) emerge because males retain neurons that are lost in females between 20 and 55 d of age. Accordingly, RA and MAN neurons are not labeled following 3H-thymidine administration between 20 and 30 d of age. These data indicate that sex and regional differences in the ontogeny of song nuclei are related to differences in the incorporation of neurons born during song learning.
VLSI architectures for stereoscopic video disparity matching and object extraction

Disparity matching and object extraction of stereoscopic video are critical procedures for many computer vision applications. Current research in this area is mostly focused on algorithm design for software implementation, and the coding efficiency is not acceptable for many real-time applications. To overcome the problems and further improve efficiency, several hardware oriented methods and architectures are proposed. First, an improved disparity matching method, referred to as two-level hybrid disparity estimation, is proposed; it is designed for stereoscopic video and has low computational complexity and good performance. Then, a new segmentation algorithm for the depth map previously obtained, referred to as average but keep boundary (ABKB), is proposed. Both of these algorithms are combined with an existing mean shift color segmentation algorithm to design a high speed video object extraction unit.
The future of CV risk prediction: multisite imaging to predict multiple outcomes

Despite decades of observations establishing atherosclerosis as a systemic disease associated with multiple adverse outcomes, most risk assessment tools are designed to predict just one atherosclerosis-related condition: coronary heart disease (CHD). Thus, the most notable change in the new American
Low-Back Pain and Sciatica: Diagnosis and Indications for Treatment

Protruded intervertebral disc, the most common cause of low-back pain, must be excluded from various conditions and diseases which cause similar symptoms. The characteristic features of the the typical protruded intervertebral-disc syndrome, as well as some of the less common manifestations of the protruded disc, are presented. The most effective treatment for the patient with a protruded disc is rest in bed until the pain subsides. The sudden appearance and progressive development of a neurological deficit is an indications for prompt surgical treatment. A lack of improvement after an adequate trial of rest in bed is a second, but less absolute, indication for surgical treatment.
A Second Look at Geometric Porosity as Revealed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

We report on the results of a series of CFD simulations aimed at calculating a parachute’s geometric porosity. This is achieved with a definition of the coefficient of discharge adapted for use with CFD-generated flow speed and pressure data inside and outside a parachute canopy. The approach is illustrated with the calculations of the porosity and discharge coefficients of seven parachute-like solid shells based on hemispheres and cylinders (pillboxes), all outfitted with apex vents, and many with an additional concentric annular gap. The apex vent openings have radii equal to 5% of the projected diameter and the annular gaps have widths equal to 5% of the same diameter. The overall shell/canopy size and freestream speeds are typical of those encountered in personnel parachute applications. The discharge coefficients are found to be in the range 95 97% for apex vents and 92-94% for annular gaps. It is found that the fluid viscosity effects that reduce the mass flow rate near the edges of vents and gaps are most important over distances that are about 10% of the vent and gap span.
X-Ray Double Crystal Diffraction Characterization of Epitaxial Magnetic Transiton Metal Difluorides

Epitaxial films of a variety of magnetic transition metal difluoride films have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy techniques. The structural quality of these films have been characterized using X-ray double crystal rocking curve analysis. The observed rocking curve linewidths were compared to their intrinsic values as calculated by dynamical diffraction theory. The degree of crystalline perfection as judge by the rocking curves have been correlated with the amount of lattice mismatch between the various epitaxial films and substrates. In the well lattice match case (Δa/a < 0.2%) of epitaxial films of FeF2 and CoF2 grown on (001) ZnF2 substrates, the rocking curve line widths approached their intrinsic limit indicative of extremely high quality material. This work represents some of the best epitaxial magnetic insulating films grown to date.
Replication of tobacco mosaic virus. I. Isolation and characterization of double-stranded forms of ribonucleic acid.

Abstract Two species of double-stranded RNA (DS RNA) were isolated from TMV-infected leaf tissue with the aid of cellulose chromatography. They have characteristics of replicative form (RF) and replicative intermediate (RI) found in other RNA virus infected tissue. Their buoyant densities in Cs 2 SO 4 are, respectively, 1.615 and 1.630 g/ml, whereas TMV-RNA has a buoyant density of 1.640 g/ml. DS RNA displays a sharp thermal transition at 68° in 10 −3 M potassium phosphate buffer containing 10 −3 M Na 2 EDTA and is detected in appreciable amount only in a cell fraction sedimenting with mitochondria. RF and RI have estimated molecular weights, respectively, of 4 × 10 6 and 5.0 × 10 6 daltons as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. DS RNA is not infectious but becomes so upon thermal denaturation. It is probably composed of TMV-RNA and its complementary strand on the basis of the above evidence and because tritium-labeled TMV-RNA becomes partially resistant to nuclease action upon incubation with denatured DS RNA under annealing conditions.
Generalized Data Management Model of Smart Grid Based on Ontology Theory

In order to automatically acquire generalized data,a kind of generalized data management model used for intelligent processing is studied.Confronted with the multiple types and complex structure of generalized data,the management model achieves its purpose by establishing the internal relations between different generalized data,while the storage,analysis and use of generalized data are handed over to the corresponding application systems.As the relationship between the generalized data is complex and varied,the existing power grid knowledge modeling methods are incapable of meeting its requirements.Based on the ontology theory and semantic web technology,the logical basis of the model structure and various components,and the ways of modeling and application are discussed.The effect of using the model is shown through a case study to be applicable to many kinds of heterogeneous power grid data resource management and retrieval and easily expanded.
Enhancing Rice Blast Resistance of Hybrid Rice Restorer Lines through Marker Assisted Selection of the Pi-9 Gene

Rice blast resistance gene Pi-9(t) has a broad spectrum of strong resistance.Oryza minuta that has Pi-9(t) gene was used as the anti-source,and excellent recovery system LH17 and LH 602 for the recipient parent.Through hybridization and resumption of diplomatic relations,PB8,which tightly linked to Pi9(t) was used for marker assisted selection in the separate groups.Combined with selection of the agronomic traits,five recovery materials with homoigous genes and good agronomic traits was obtained.Resistance of these five materials were identified using 32 blast isolates collected in Sichuan province,the resistance frequency reached 81.25% ~87.50%.High temperature nesistance and combining alility were tested for these materials.Eventually,the recovery lines R102 and R105 which have strong blast and heat resistance and high combining ability were developed.
On the Construction of Jus in rem Ordinance System

The author thinks that the three main aspects regulated by jus in rem ordinance determine its systematic construction. Drawing something from advanced legislation in German and Swedish Civil Codes, we should construct our jus in rem ordinance system in accordance with our reality: a body of proprietorship, two wings of jus in rem for benefit and guaranty, and an additional possession and registration.
Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Baseball Pitch Prediction

Major League Baseball, a professional baseball league in the US and Canada, is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. Partially because of its popularity and the wide availability of data from games, baseball has become the subject of significant statistical and mathematical analysis. Pitch analysis is especially useful for helping a team better understand the pitch behavior it may face during a game, allowing the team to develop a corresponding batting strategy to combat the predicted pitch behavior. We apply several common machine learning classification methods to PITCHf/x data to classify pitches by type. We then extend the classification task to prediction by utilizing features only known before a pitch is thrown. By performing significant feature analysis and introducing a novel approach for feature selection, moderate improvement over former results is achieved.
Spectroscopic and Theoretical Study of the Intramolecular π-Type Hydrogen Bonding and Conformations of 2-Cyclohexen-1-ol.

The infrared and Raman spectra of 2-cyclohexen-1-ol have been recorded and analyzed. The experimental work has been complemented by ab initio and density functional theory computations. The calculations show that in the vapor phase the conformations with the π-type hydrogen bonding are the lowest in energy, and these findings are supported by the experimental spectra, which agree well with the theoretical predictions. The six conformers predicted result from differences between the direction on the ring-twisting angle and the −OH internal rotation angle. The lowest-energy conformer has the hydrogen of the OH group pointing to the middle of the C═C double bond. The other conformers are calculated to be 72 cm–1 (0.21 kcal/mol) to 401 cm–1 (1.15 kcal/mol) higher in energy. In the liquid phase, only two conformers can be identified in the spectra, and these correspond to different directions of the ring-twisting.
Moderately nonlinear diffuse-charge dynamics under an ac voltage

The response of a symmetric binary electrolyte between two parallel, blocking electrodes to a moderate amplitude ac voltage is quantified. The diffuse charge dynamics are modeled via the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations for a dilute solution of point-like ions. The solution to these equations is expressed as a Fourier series with a voltage perturbation expansion for arbitrary Debye layer thickness and ac frequency. Here, the perturbation expansion in voltage proceeds in powers of V_{o}/(k_{B}T/e), where V_{o} is the amplitude of the driving voltage and k_{B}T/e is the thermal voltage with k_{B} as Boltzmann's constant, T as the temperature, and e as the fundamental charge. We show that the response of the electrolyte remains essentially linear in voltage amplitude at frequencies greater than the RC frequency of Debye layer charging, D/λ_{D}L, where D is the ion diffusivity, λ_{D} is the Debye layer thickness, and L is half the cell width. In contrast, nonlinear response is predicted at frequencies below the RC frequency. We find that the ion densities exhibit symmetric deviations from the (uniform) equilibrium density at even orders of the voltage amplitude. This leads to the voltage dependence of the current in the external circuit arising from the odd orders of voltage. For instance, the first nonlinear contribution to the current is O(V_{o}^{3}) which contains the expected third harmonic but also a component oscillating at the applied frequency. We use this to compute a generalized impedance for moderate voltages, the first nonlinear contribution to which is quadratic in V_{o}. This contribution predicts a decrease in the imaginary part of the impedance at low frequency, which is due to the increase in Debye layer capacitance with increasing V_{o}. In contrast, the real part of the impedance increases at low frequency, due to adsorption of neutral salt from the bulk to the Debye layer.
Re-Collections of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Biopsychosocial Perspective

A number of theories—biological, psychological, and sociological—inform clinical practice with adults who report memories of childhood sexual abuse. However, each of these theories is inadequate in and of itself. This has several, potentially damaging clinical implications. Therapists might doubt the validity of their clients' reports of traumatic incidents, they may place too heavy an emphasis on the recollection of traumatic events, or they may shy away from discussing these events. Any of these responses can jeopardize the helping relationship, leaving clients without professional assistance in managing a most difficult emotional situation. This paper provides a review of the biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives that lie at the foundation of current practice. These perspectives are then integrated via social work's biopsychosocial perspective. This holistic view provides an empirical base for effective, ethical social work. Specific practice implications are discussed.
Coherent ultra-violet to near-infrared generation in silica ridge waveguides

Short duration, intense pulses of light can experience dramatic spectral broadening when propagating through lengths of optical fibre. This continuum generation process is caused by a combination of nonlinear optical effects including the formation of dispersive waves. Optical analogues of Cherenkov radiation, these waves allow a pulse to radiate power into a distant spectral region. In this work, efficient and coherent dispersive wave generation of visible to ultraviolet light is demonstrated in silica waveguides on a silicon chip. Unlike fibre broadeners, the arrays provide a wide range of emission wavelength choices on a single, compact chip. This new capability is used to simplify offset frequency measurements of a mode-locked frequency comb. The arrays can also enable mode-locked lasers to attain unprecedented tunable spectral reach for spectroscopy, bioimaging, tomography and metrology.
Functional results of bilateral reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.

Background The purpose of this study was to analyze a population of patients with bilateral reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) to evaluate their ability to perform activities of daily living and personal hygiene tasks. Methods At a minimum 2-year follow-up, we retrospectively reviewed 50 patients (100 shoulders) with a mean age of 72 years who underwent staged bilateral RTSA. The average follow-up period was 61 months (range, 24-121 months), with a minimum 2-year follow-up after the second surgical procedure. Functional outcomes were assessed with American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, Simple Shoulder Test, and Short Form 12 (SF-12) scores. In addition, a unique questionnaire regarding personal hygiene habits and activities of daily living reliant on shoulder rotation was administered to all patients. Results Patients showed significant improvements in pain (mean improvement in visual analog scale score from 5.7 to 1.0, P P P P P P P P Conclusions Bilateral RTSA provides predictable pain relief and improved function. Hygiene practices are unaltered for most patients, and the other patients rapidly develop simple compensatory strategies and retain independence in activities of daily living.
Versatile Platform for the Synthesis of Orthogonally Cleavable Heteromultifunctional Cross-Linkers

Cleavable and heteromultifunctional cross-linkers have proven critical in a wide range of biological applications. Traditional approaches for synthesizing these linkers suffer from various synthetic and functional limitations. In this work, an efficient sequence-defined synthetic methodology, developed for the assembly of oligothioetheramides, was used to address many of these limitations. Four heterotrifunctional cross-linkers with up to two orthogonal internal cleavage sites were synthesized. These linkers were conjugated to a pair of fluorophores that undergo Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and a model protein—human transferrin. Orthogonal bond cleavage was validated by mass spectrometry, fluorescent gel electrophoresis, and confocal microscopy. These studies demonstrate the versatility and biological utility of oligothioetheramides as a new class of multifunctional chemical cross-linkers and biologically relevant fluorescent probes.
Secure provenance in Wireless Sensor Networks - a survey of provenance schemes

Data in wireless sensor networks are produced at sensor nodes and it is processed by multiple intermediate nodes until reaches at the base station. The diverse nature of data also highlights its associated security concerns. So, it is very important to assess trustworthiness of data to ensure that only reliable information is used in decision making process. Provenance is the effective technique to assess the trustworthiness of data, since it considers a detailed history of the ownership of data and operations performed on data. Many secure provenance schemes have been proposed in the domain of database, cloud, and workflow systems. A very few such schemes have been proposed in the wireless sensor networks. To best of our knowledge, this is the very first survey that explores the secure provenance schemes in context of addressed challenges, security properties, and detected attacks.
Introduction to Special Issue on media capture

This introduction discusses the idea of ‘media capture’. It argues that media capture is a useful concept for understanding today’s state of the media. Media capture refers to a situation in which ...