cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Delayed Unions and Nonunions of the Tibia

Delayed unions and nonunions of the tibia frequently constitute difficult therapeutic challenges. When infection occurs, the seriousness of the situation is greater and at times catastrophic. Because of the inactivity of the limb during the period of immobilization that precedes recognition of the complication the affected bone usually becomes osteoporotic, the adjacent joints stiffen, and the soft tissues atrophy (Figs. 9.1 and 9.2). Not infre-quently, a successful repair of a pseudoarthrosis leaves the patient with an extremity that is limited functionally.
Pilot Test of a Surfactant-modified Zeolite Permeable Barrier for Groundwater Remediation

Two pilot-scale tests of surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) permeable barriers were conducted at the Large Experimental Aquifer Facility of the Oregon Graduate Institute. The tests were performed in an 8.5-m-wide, 8.5-m-long, 3-m-deep concrete tank. The SMZ was installed in a 1-m-wide, 6-m-long, 2-m-deep barrier frame in the center of the tank. The rest of the tank was filled with sand to form a simulated aquifer. A three-dimensional sampling array consisting of 405 sampling points was installed in the tank. Controlled water flow across the tank was maintained using ten upgradient injection wells and ten downgradient withdrawal wells. A specific discharge of 0.17 m day−1 was imposed, resulting in an average linear groundwater velocity of approximately 0.5 m day−1 in the sand. The upgradient wells allowed injection of a three-dimensional contaminant plume composed of 10 mg L−1 (0.19 mmolL−1) Cr, in the form of chromate, and 1.8 mg L−1 (0.011 mmol L−1) perchloroethylene (PCE).
Review of Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain

Reviewed by Daniel E. Patterson and Sharon MastracciUniversity of Utah“You don’t have to choose between being scientific and being compassionate.” (Sapolsky, 2017, p. 675)In Descartes’ Error: Emoti...
Local adaptation of the MHC class IIβ gene in populations of wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) correlates with proximity to agriculture.

Abstract Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes code for membrane-embedded proteins that are involved in parasite/pathogen recognition. The link between the MHC and immunity makes these genes important genetic markers to evaluate in systems where infectious disease is associated with population declines. As human impacts on wildlife populations continue to increase, it is also essential to evaluate the role of MHC and immunity in the context of anthropogenic change. Amphibians are an ideal model to test the role of the MHC in infectious disease resistance, as parasites and anthropogenic disturbances currently threaten populations worldwide. We characterized the diversity of MHC class IIβ peptide binding region alleles, 13 microsatellite loci, and population-level trematode resistance in 14 populations of wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) in northwestern Pennsylvania with varying geographic distances to agriculture. To assess local adaptation in the MHC IIβ, we compared genetic differentiation of MHC IIβ and microsatellite markers (FST). We also tested for an effect of isolation by distance on genetic differentiation of MHC IIβ and microsatellite markers. In addition, we evaluated whether population-level MHC IIβ diversity and common allele frequencies correlate with distance to agriculture and trematode resistance. We found no evidence for genetic structure based on microsatellite analysis nor an effect of isolation by distance on neutral and immunogenetic markers. However, we did detect structure based on the MHC IIβ locus, suggesting that it is under local selection. The MHC IIβ allele Lisy-DAB*1 was more common in populations living near agricultural sites. Populations with higher MHC IIβ diversity showed increased resistance to trematodes. Our results suggest that wood frog populations experience immunogenetic differences at a small scale. In addition, agriculture may disturb natural associations between hosts and parasites through its influence on immunocompetence, underscoring the importance of examining the effects of environmental context on host-parasite interactions.
An Asymmetric Electrochemical System with ComplementaryTunability in Hydrophobicity for Selective Separations of Organics

Conducting polymers modified with redox-active moieties or amphiphilic surfactants are promising adsorbent materials for the separation of neutral organic species from water. We develop an asymmetric system combining a polyvinylferrocene–polypyrrole hybrid (PVF–PPy) and an amphiphilic surfactant dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT)-doped polypyrrole (PPy(AOT)) that have complementary hydrophobicity tunability in response to electrochemical modulations. Both materials are hydrophobic in their respective neutral states, exhibiting high affinities toward organics. Upon application of a mild potential to oxidize PVF–PPy and reduce PPy(AOT), these polymers can be simultaneously rendered hydrophilic, thereby driving desorption of organics and regeneration of the materials. The asymmetric system can be used in a cyclic fashion, through repeated electrical shorting of the two electrodes to program the capture of organics from a large volume of feed solution, and application of a potential (above 0.9 V) to stimulate the r...
Supplemental protein sources for steers fed corn-based diets: I. Ruminal characteristics and intestinal amino acid flows.

Five cannulated Holstein steers (302 +/- 23 kg) were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square design experiment with extra observations to evaluate the effect of supplemental protein source on postruminal flow and intestinal disappearance of N and amino acids (AA). Diets were formulated to contain 12.5% CP using cracked corn (70%), ground corn cobs (15%), and supplement (15%). Except for an all-urea supplemented control diet, 40% of the total dietary CP was supplied by soybean meal (SBM), a high ruminal escape soybean meal (SoyPLUS; SP), or a corn gluten meal/blood meal combination (CB; 50:50 on a CP basis). The steers were fed twice daily and DMI was restricted to 2.0% of initial BW. Supplementation with CB increased (P .10) in total N flows at the duodenum were detected among treatments. The efficiency of microbial protein synthesis was not affected by treatment but was greatest for urea/and tended to decrease when SP and CB were fed (21.8, 20.5, 19.5, and 15.7 g of N/kg of OM truly digested for urea, SBM, SP, and CB, respectively). A possible shortage of ruminally degradable N, as evidenced by low ruminal NH3 N concentrations (3.6, 4.2, 3.9, and 2.1 mg/dL for urea, SBM, SP, and CB respectively), or other factors, may have limited microbial protein synthesis. However, microbial N flows averaged 60.0% of duodenal N flow across treatments. Duodenal flow of essential, nonessential, and total AA were similar (P > .10) among treatments and averaged 293, 361, and 653 g/d, respectively). Lysine and methionine flows did not differ (P > .10) and averaged 41.6 and 13.3 g/d, respectively. The source of supplemental protein had no impact (P > .10) on small intestinal disappearance of AA or total tract N disappearance. Feeding proteins resistant to ruminal degradation may have limited microbial protein production, resulting in a shift in the proportion of metabolizable protein arriving at the small intestine from dietary and microbial origins. These results suggest that corn-based diets may be limiting in ruminally degradable N, especially when high ruminal escape protein sources are fed as supplemental CP.
Separation Anxiety Symptom Profiles and Parental Accommodation Across Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Parental accommodation refers to ways in which caregivers modify their behavior to decrease child distress in the short-term. Accommodation is prevalent among anxious youth and related to decreased treatment and functional outcomes. Although separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with increased accommodation, SAD is not a predictor of treatment response, suggesting that a diagnosis of SAD alone may not be enough to clarify the relationship between accommodation and separation anxiety symptoms within a clinical context. Participants were youth with a primary anxiety disorder (N = 186; aged 7–17) enrolled in an outpatient anxiety clinic. Latent class analysis was used to extract profiles from parent-reported SAD symptoms using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV/5. Profiles were compared on pre-treatment accommodation. Low, moderate, and interfering SAD classes emerged. Interfering SAD was associated with high accommodation. Results help to clarify the association between SAD and accommodation and has implications for personalized intervention.
5.08 – Biosynthesis and Mode of Action of Lantibiotics

Lantibiotics are ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptide antibiotics containing the thioether cross-links lanthionine (Lan) and 3-methyllanthionine (MeLan) and typically also the dehydro amino acids dehydroalanine (Dha) and (Z)-dehydrobutyrine (Dhb). These modifications are formed by dehydration of Ser/Thr residues to produce the Dha and Dhb structures and subsequent conjugate additions of Cys residues onto the unsaturated amino acids to form thioether rings. This family of natural products is rapidly expanding and the diversity in ring topology and biological activities is increasing likewise. In vivo and in vitro studies have shed light on the mechanism and substrate specificities of the enzymes that catalyze these transformations, and during these investigations, lantibiotic analogues have been generated that have been valuable for mode of action studies.
Chapter 21 – Comparison between Psychosocial and Pharmacological Treatments

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the data to date comparing pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for social anxiety disorder (SAD). It begins by briefly describing the pharmacological and psychosocial treatments of choice and support for their efficacy. The discussion is primarily of those treatments with significant empirical support. Following this, the chapter presents data from metaanalyses and individual trials comparing both treatment modalities (alone and in combination). Data on novel pharmacological and psychosocial treatment combinations that are born from learning theory and translational research are also presented. Finally, the chapter describes how these findings may affect clinical practice. In short, pharmacotherapy, psychosocial treatment, and their combination offer roughly equivalent outcomes overall. Thus, decisions to employ one strategy over the other must rely on other factors (cost, side-effects, and long-term outcome).
A phage-encoded anti-CRISPR enables complete evasion of type VI-A CRISPR-Cas immunity

The CRISPR RNA (crRNA)-guided nuclease Cas13 recognizes complementary viral transcripts to trigger the degradation of both host and viral RNA during the type VI CRISPR-Cas antiviral response. However, how viruses can counteract this immunity is not known. We describe a listeriaphage (ϕLS46) encoding an anti-CRISPR protein (AcrVIA1) that inactivates the type VI-A CRISPR system of Listeria seeligeri Using genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology, we found that AcrVIA1 interacts with the guide-exposed face of Cas13a, preventing access to the target RNA and the conformational changes required for nuclease activation. Unlike inhibitors of DNA-cleaving Cas nucleases, which cause limited immunosuppression and require multiple infections to bypass CRISPR defenses, a single dose of AcrVIA1 delivered by an individual virion completely dismantles type VI-A CRISPR-mediated immunity.
Treatment of Metaphyseal Distal Radius Fractures with a Volar Locking Plate

Management of extra-articular distal radius fractures depends on fracture characteristics, patient factors, and surgeon preference. The use of volar locking plates to address these fractures has become more popular in recent years. Indications, technical considerations, postoperative treatment, and potential complications are discussed.
Resident Memory T Cells in Regional Lymph Nodes Sustain Immunity to Cancer

While immune responses against primary tumors are critically important, T cells must also be capable of functioning at sites where cancers metastasize. Here we investigated how resident memory (TRM) and circulating memory (TCIRCM) CD8 T cells potentiate immunity to cancer in diverse tissue microenvironments. Based on a mouse model of immunity to melanoma with associated autoimmune vitiligo, we show that tumor-specific memory T cells are capable of forming a widespread network of transcriptionally distinct subsets, throughout lymphoid tissues and visceral organs. Among these, we discovered a population of TRM cells that reside durably within LNs, where they protect against invading melanoma cells. These LN-resident memory (LN TRM) cells adopt a transcriptional program that is distinct from TRM cells in other tissues, and which uniquely predicts survival in melanoma patients with regional LN metastases. This work reveals a novel role for TRM cells in durable immunity to cancer at crucial sites of metastasis.
Digital health developments and drawbacks: a review and analysis of top-returned apps for bipolar disorder

Although a growing body of literature highlights the potential benefit of smartphone-based mobile apps to aid in self-management and treatment of bipolar disorder, it is unclear whether such evidence-based apps are readily available and accessible to a user of the app store. Using our systematic framework for the evaluation of mental health apps, we analyzed the accessibility, privacy, clinical foundation, features, and interoperability of the top-returned 100 apps for bipolar disorder. Only 56% of the apps mentioned bipolar disorder specifically in their title, description, or content. Only one app’s efficacy was supported in a peer-reviewed study, and 32 apps lacked privacy policies. The most common features provided were mood tracking, journaling, and psychoeducation. Our analysis reveals substantial limitations in the current digital environment for individuals seeking an evidence-based, clinically usable app for bipolar disorder. Although there have been academic advances in development of digital interventions for bipolar disorder, this work has yet to be translated to the publicly available app marketplace. This unmet need of digital mood management underscores the need for a comprehensive evaluation system of mental health apps, which we have endeavored to provide through our framework and accompanying database (apps.digitalpsych.org).
Promoting Yourself and Your Brand

Career advancement can be a challenging path to navigate, and women in medicine face additional unique challenges. Promoting oneself is an important skill to hone early in your career but is reliant on building your brand and having a clear vision of what you want to be known for. This can be difficult for women for many reasons including lack of female mentors, cultural barriers, and imposter syndrome. Once you have built your professional brand, you need to make it known, and this is best achieved through networking. Networking is about building connections and is a mutually beneficial skill for all who participate. By acknowledging the unique challenges that woman face and in actively pursuing solutions, you can achieve the career success you have worked so hard for.
The Behavior and Timing of Corporate Buybacks: New Evidence From Repurchase Series

This study provides important new insights into the behavior and timing of actual corporate share repurchases. The key distinction from prior research is that I account for the continuance of share repurchases: almost 95% of firm-months with a repurchase are not individual repurchase events but rather occur as part of a series of repurchase events in close proximity. Abnormal returns are two to three times as large surrounding repurchase series versus individual repurchases, and negative (positive) abnormal returns are concentrated before (after) repurchase series begin (end). These findings have important implications for future research on actual share repurchases.
Elucidating zinc-ion battery mechanisms in freestanding carbon electrode architectures decorated with nanocrystalline ZnMn2O4

Rechargeable zinc-ion batteries represent an emerging energy-storage technology that offers the advantages of low cost, use of abundant and nontoxic materials, and competitive energy content in lightly packaged forms. Nanoscale manganese oxides are among the most promising positive-electrode materials for zinc-ion cells, and their performance is further enhanced when these oxides are expressed as conformal deposits on porous carbon architectures, such as carbon nanfoam paper (CNF). We describe an “in-place” conversion of nanometric birnessite Na+-MnOx@CNF to crystalline spinel ZnMn2O4@CNF, a manganese oxide polymorph that nominally contains sites for Zn2+ insertion. The ZnMn2O4@CNF cathodes are electrochemically conditioned in two-terminal cells and ex situ characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Despite specific Zn2+ insertion sites in ZnMn2O4, we demonstrate that the predominant discharge mechanism involves coupled insertion of protons and precipitation of Zn4(OH)6SO4·xH2O; upon recharge, protons deinsert and Zn4(OH)6SO4 dissolves.
Psychosocial functioning associated with prescription stimulant and opioid misuse versus illicit drug use among college students.

College students’ prescription stimulant and opioid misuse (PSM and POM) share psychosocial risks with other substance use. We sought to extend a prior study of these issues. Methods: National Coll...
AllAboard: a system for exploring urban mobility and optimizing public transport using cellphone data

The deep penetration of mobile phones offers cities the ability to opportunistically monitor citizens’ interactions and use data-driven insights to better plan and manage services. In this context, transit operators can leverage pervasive mobile sensing to better match observed demand for travel with their service offerings. With large scale data on mobility patterns, operators can move away from the costly and resource intensive transportation planning processes prevalent in the West, to a more data-centric view, that places the instrumented user at the center of development. In this framework, using mobile phone data to perform transit analysis and optimization represents a new frontier with significant societal impact, especially in developing countries.
Effect of NaCl, Myoglobin, Fe(II), and Fe(III) on Lipid Oxidation of Raw and Cooked Chicken Breast and Beef Loin

Chicken breast was more resistant to various exogenous oxidative factors than beef loin: addition of NaCl did not increase TBARS values and nonheme content of raw chicken breast, but significantly increased those of raw beef loin patties during storage. Addition of NaCl+Mb did not affect lipid oxidation in raw chicken breast patties, but decreased the TBARS of beef loin during storage. Addition of NaCl+Fe(III) or NaCl+Fe(II) increased the TBARS values of both raw chicken breast and beef loin during storage, but the increase was greater in beef loin than in chicken breast. The TBARS values of all cooked chicken breast and beef loin increased during 7-day storage, but the increases in cooked chicken patties were significantly smaller than those of cooked beef loin patties with the same treatments. Addition of NaCl and cooking caused severe degradation of myoglobin, leading to a significant increase in free ionic iron content in beef loin. It is suggested that free ionic iron is the major catalyst for lipid oxidation, and the high “storage-stable” ferric ionic reducing capacity and “heat-stable” ferric ion reducing capacity in chicken breast were responsible for the high oxidative stability for raw and cooked chicken breast compared with beef loin under prooxidants, cooking and storage conditions.
Coupling of vinyl aziridines and phenyl isocyanate

Thermal coupling of vinyl aziridines and phenyl isocyanate was evaluated. Although oxazolidinone products were predominant, some reactions afforded a seven-membered ring heterocycle. When Ni/IMes was employed as a catalyst, a wider array of vinyl aziridines underwent coupling reactions. The Ni catalyzed reactions generally afforded vinyl imidazolidinones as major products.
An approach to real-time scan conversion *

Scan conversion—that is, the transformation of line segment endpoint coordinates into a collection of scanline segments suitable for raster display—is important because raster displays have many advantages over random-scan, or calligraphic, displays. The calligraphic displays require extensive special-purpose hardware to generate line segments, or "vectors," and to drive the beam deflection circuits of the CRT. Furthermore, by its very nature, the calligraphic display is subject to damage caused by software defects; a program which directs the beam to the same portion of the CRT face for too long can damage the phosphors, creating a permanent dark spot.
An efficient LR parser generator for tree-adjoining grammars

In this chapter we discuss practical LR-like parser generator models for Tree Adjoining Grammars (TAGs) and propose a new algorithm. The algorithm has been implemented and applied to two large coverage TAGs for English: the XTAG English grammar, and a grammar automatically extracted from the Penn Treebank. The generated tables have very favorable characteristics compared to an existing approach by Nederhof, undermining earlier beliefs that LR parsing for TAGs would be inadequate for parsing natural language. Indeed, our parser generator has been used to build fast accurate best-parse parsers for natural language, as reported in (Prolo, 2002a).
Results of Field Testing Mobile Phone Shielding Devices

This paper is based on thesis research from the authors. Mobile phones are increasingly a source of evidence in criminal investigations. The evidence on a phone is volatile and can easily be overwritten or deleted. There are many devices that claim to radio isolate a phone in order to preserve evidence. There has been little published research on how well these devices work in the field despite the escalating importance of mobile phone forensics. The purpose of this study was to identify situations where the devices used to protect evidence on mobile phones can fail. These devices were tested using mobile phones from three of the largest services providers in the U.S. Calls were made to contact the isolated phones using voice, SMS, and MMS at varying distances from the provider’s towers. In the majority of the test cases the phones were not isolated from their networks.
Galaxy Clusters Associated with Short GRBs. II. Predictions for the Rate of Short GRBs in Field and Cluster Early-Type Galaxies

We determine the relative rates of short GRBs in cluster and field early-type galaxies as a function of the age probability distribution of their progenitors, P(τ) ∝ τn. This analysis takes advantage of the difference in the growth of stellar mass in clusters and in the field, which arises from the combined effects of the galaxy stellar mass function, the early-type fraction, and the dependence of star formation history on mass and environment. This approach complements the use of the early- to late-type host galaxy ratio, with the added benefit that the star formation histories of early-type galaxies are simpler than those of late-type galaxies, and any systematic differences between progenitors in early- and late-type galaxies are removed. We find that the ratio varies from Rcluster/Rfield ~ 0.5 for n = -2 to ~3 for n = 2. Current observations indicate a ratio of about 2, corresponding to n ~ 0-1. This is similar to the value inferred from the ratio of short GRBs in early- and late-type hosts, but it differs from the value of n ≈ -1 for neutron star (NS) binaries in the Milky Way. We stress that this general approach can be easily modified with improved knowledge of the effects of environment and mass on the build-up of stellar mass, as well as the effect of globular clusters on the short GRB rate. It can also be used to assess the age distribution of Type Ia supernova progenitors.
Student experiences with information technology and their relationship to other aspects of student engagement

Colleges and universities have made considerable effort to get students to use information technology productively. This study uses data from the 2003 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to investigate the relationships between student uses of information technology and other forms of student engagement. There appears to be a strong positive relationship between using information technology for educational purposes and involvement in effective educational practices such as active and collaborative learning and student–faculty interaction. The results also point to the prospect that particular areas of involvement with information technology could be viewed as forms of engagement in and of themselves. In addition, when students use information technology it may increase their opportunities for other types of engagement.
Production of Cl2O2 from the self-reaction of the ClO radical

The species Cl2O2 has been generated in a gaseous flow system at 220-240 K by reacting Cl atoms with one of three different ClO precursors: O3, Cl2O, or OClO. The infrared spectra of the reactive mixture indicate that at least two different dimers are produced: a predominant form with bands centered at 1225 and 1057/cm attributed to ClOOCl, and a second form with a band at 650/cm attributed to ClOClO. The UV spectrum of the predominant form shows a maximum absorption cross section of about 6.5 x 10 to the -18th sq cm/molecule around 270 nm, with a wing extending beyond 300 nm. The implications of these results for the chemistry of the stratosphere are discussed.
Virtual worlds as fuzzy cognitive maps

Fuzzy cognitive maps FCM can structure virtual worlds that change with time. An FCM links causal events, actors, values, goals, and trends in a fuzzy feedback dynamical system. An FCM lists the fuzzy rules or causal flow paths that relate events. It can guide actors in a virtual world as the actors move through a web of cause and effect and react to events and to other actors. Experts draw FCM causal pictures of the virtual world. They do not write down differential equations to change the virtual world. Complex FCMs can give virtual worlds with “new” or chaotic equilibrium behavior. Simple FCMs give virtual worlds with periodic behavior. They map input states to limit-cycle equilibria. An FCM limit cycle repeats a sequence of events or a chain of actions and responses. Limit cycles can control the steady-state rhythms and patterns in a virtual world. In nested FCMs each causal concept can control its own FCM or fuzzy function approximator. This gives levels of fuzzy systems that can choose goals and causal webs as well as move objects and guide actors in the webs. FCM matrices sum to give a combined FCM virtual world for any number of knowledge sources. Adaptive FCMs change their fuzzy causal web as causal patterns change and as actors act and experts state their causal knowledge. Neural learning laws change the causal rules and the limit cycles. Actors learn new patterns and reinforce old ones. In complex FCMs the user can choose the dynamical structure of the virtual world from a spectrum that ranges from mildly to wildly nonlinear. We use a simple but adaptive FCM to model an undersea virtual world of dolphins, fish, and sharks.
Computer Control of Immobilized Product Fermentations

Abstract A generalized engineering approach has been shown to improve final concentration and productivity of a fermentation process through in-situ product removal. Feedback regulation and permeability control are typical biological control mechanisms in which microbial cells prevent the over-production of the synthesized products. A computer coupled extractive fermentation system has been built to carry out automatic control and optimization of various fermentation processes. Our experimental results indicate that in-situ product removal will increase the final product yield and productivity of a fermentation. Additional advantages of this extractive fermentation include reduced processing time and induced partial purification inside the fermentor.
A Fair Share Law for Connecticut and Other Northeast Dairy States: A State Level Solution to Retail Milk Price Gouging and the Dairy Farm Crisis

Price gouging is commonly perceived to be a consumer issue, however it also is a farmer issue. Currently, retail fluid milk prices in New England are as much as a dollar per gallon above supply costs (Cotterill et al. 2002; Mohl 2002). Yes, consumers are paying too much; but farmers are also receiving too little. They are experiencing the lowest milk prices in 25 years. Similar problems have persisted in the Northeast dairy industry for at least a decade. In 1991 the New York State Legislature passed two laws that aim to redress the pricing power imbalance that farmers and consumers face. We will discuss and compare those laws to the law proposed here. In New England, but for the Dairy Compact era (1997-2001), there is little relationship between raw farm level and retail consumer level fluid milk prices (Wang et al. 2001, Cotterill and Franklin 2001, Cotterill et al. 2002). It is especially true that when the raw fluid milk price has dropped, retail prices have not fallen in a commensurate fashion.
Agricultural Contracting and Agrifood Competition

The industrialization of agriculture is associated with tighter supply chains where vertical coordination between farmers and processors is facilitated by the use of agricultural contracts. An overview is provided on the recent trends in the use and structure of agricultural contracts followed by an examination of how the competition among processors may affect agricultural contracts. Many reasons exist for using agricultural contracts, including improved risk management and reduced transaction cost. On the other hand, the growing use of agricultural contracts and processor concentration raises concerns that processors may exercise market power, for example by offering lower contract prices in absence of local competition. Previous studies using the new empirical industrial organization models show that processing industries are not perfectly competitive but the price distortions are very small. The focus here is on examining price competition from a farmer’s instead of an industry’s point of view. Recent studies using farm-level data that show that the absence of other contractors or spot markets in producers’ areas does not lead to statistically significant price differences in agricultural contracts for most commodities. These findings provide evidence that most agricultural processors do not exercise market power by reducing prices when other local buyers are not available. Therefore, the recent trends of industrialization and increased vertical coordination in agriculture are likely occurring for reasons other than processors exercising market power.
User Interface Design

The design of computer interfaces that are usable and easily learned by humans is a non-trivial problem for software developers. As information technologies mediate many of the activities we now perform routinely, the process of human–computer interaction is of fundamental importance. Keywords: human–computer interaction; applied cognitive science; design; computer
Not All DDGS Are Created Equal: Nutrient-Profile-Based Pricing to Incentivize Quality

This study finds that distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a dominant feed ingredient in hog finishing rations, despite variability in the product's nutritional content. The optimal inclusion rate has remained at the maximum allowable limit of 20%, suggesting that when a particular DDGS product has low nutrient content, feed compounders simply supplement with corn and soymeal, whatever deficits in nutrients are created as a result. The study examines DDGS products from 40 different ethanol plants and finds that, relative to the DDGS product with the lowest feed ration cost, the optimal feed ration costs of DDGS products from the other 39 ethanol plants are $0.002 to $0.42 more per cwt of feed. The implied price discount from this cost differential ranges from a low of 0.10% to a high of 25.55%. For an ethanol plant with 50 million gallons in capacity, this price discount amounts to revenue losses of $0.03 million to $6.27 million per year. The study also found that feed compounders generate $7.51 per ton more in DDGS feed cost savings when they eliminate inter-plant variability and face only intra-plant sources of variability. By including nutritional content variability information in the pricing of DDGS, proper price signals are communicated to ethanol plants so that they can make their own assessments on quality control initiatives to reduce variability in their DDGS products. When the market does not reward better DDGS quality or penalize low product quality, stakeholders do not have any incentive to improve product quality.
Gauge Invariant Perturbation Theory in Spatially Homogeneous Cosmology

Abstract Lie group harmonic analysis is applied to the solution of tensor equations on LRS class A spatially homogeneous spacetimes. The techniques developed are used to discuss the Hamiltonian dynamics of the linearized vacuum Einstein equations and Moncrief's orthogonal decomposition of the linearized phase space adapted to the linearized gauge transformations. This leads to what Moncrief has called “gauge invariant perturbation theory” for the class of spacetimes under consideration.
Data-Oblivious Graph Algorithms in Outsourced External Memory

Motivated by privacy preservation for outsourced data, data-oblivious external memory is a computational framework where a client performs computations on data stored at a semi-trusted server in a way that does not reveal her data to the server. We give new efficient data-oblivious algorithms in the outsourced external memory model for a number of fundamental graph problems.
Completing Markets in a One-Good, Pure Exchange Economy Without State-Contingent Securities

Pareto-efficient consumption in a pure-exchange, one good economy varies over states of nature with respect to only two factors: real aggregate supply and individual utility shocks. One’s optimal contract receipts vary with respect to only these two factors and the ratio of one’s endowment to real aggregate supply. How one’s Pareto-efficient consumption varies with real aggregate supply depends solely on how one’s relative risk aversion compares to the average. Complete markets can be approximately achieved by four contracts dealing with these factors. This has implications concerning central banking, efficient insurance contract design, and a possible new financial innovation.
Values of zeta functions at negative integers, Dedekind sums and toric geometry

In the present paper, we study relations among special values of zeta functions of real quadratic fields, properties of generalized Dedekind sums and Todd classes of toric varieties. The main theme of the paper is the use of toric geometry to explain in a conceptual way properties of the values of zeta functions and Dedekind sums, as well as to provide explicit computations. Both toric varieties and zeta functions associate numerical invariants to cones in lattices, with different motivations and applications. Though we will focus on the case of two-dimensional cones in the present paper, we introduce notation and definitions that are valid for cones of arbitrary dimension. The reason for this added generality is clarity, as well as preparation for the results of a subsequent publication.
Integration of Fraud Risk in the Risk of Material Misstatement and the Effect on Auditors' Planning Decisions

ABSTRACT Prior research finds that although auditors assess fraud risk accurately, they generally fail to adjust audit procedures appropriately. The most recent Public Company Accounting Oversight ...
Tutorial on extreme programming

The methodology known as Extreme Programming will be presented, beginning with its reason for existence, philosophy, and a detailed exposition of the twelve practices that define it. There will also be a discussion of its strengths and weaknesses as a software design methodology.
EcoFlow: An Economical and Deadline-Driven Inter-datacenter Video Flow Scheduling System

As video streaming applications are deployed on the cloud, cloud providers are charged by ISPs for inter-data enter transfers under the dominant percentile-based charging models. In order to minimize the payment costs, existing works aim to keep the traffic on each link under the charging volume (i.e., 95th percentile traffic volume from the beginning of a charging period up to current time). However, these methods cannot fully utilize each link's available bandwidth capacity, and may increase the charging volumes. To further reduce the bandwidth payment cost by fully utilizing link bandwidth, we propose an economical and deadline-driven video flow scheduling system, called EcoFlow. Considering different video flows have different transmission deadlines, EcoFlow transmits videos in the order of their deadline tightness and postpones the deliveries of later-deadline videos to later time slots so that the charging volume at current time interval will not increase. The flows that are expected to miss their deadlines are divided into sub flows to be rerouted to other underutilized links in order to meet their deadlines without increasing charging volumes. Experimental results on Planet Lab and EC2 show that compared to existing methods, EcoFlow achieves the least bandwidth costs for cloud providers.
A generic packaging technique using fluidic isolation for low-drift implantable pressure sensors

This paper reports on a generic packaging method for reducing drift in implantable pressure sensors. The described technique uses fluidic isolation by encasing the pressure sensor in a liquid-filled medical-grade polyurethane balloon; thus, isolating it from surrounding aqueous environment that is the major source of baseline drift. In-vitro tests using commercial micromachined piezoresistive pressure sensors show an average baseline drift of 0.006 cmH 2 O/day (0.13 mmHg/month) for over 100 days of saline soak test, as compared to 0.101 cmH 2 O/day (2.23 mmHg/month) for a non-fluidic-isolated one soaked for 18 days. To our knowledge, this is the lowest reported drift for an implantable pressure sensor.
Bayesian learning of markov network structure

We propose a simple and efficient approach to building undirected probabilistic classification models (Markov networks) that extend naive Bayes classifiers and outperform existing directed probabilistic classifiers (Bayesian networks) of similar complexity. Our Markov network model is represented as a set of consistent probability distributions on subsets of variables. Inference with such a model can be done efficiently in closed form for problems like class probability estimation. We also propose a highly efficient Bayesian structure learning algorithm for conditional prediction problems, based on integrating along a hill-climb in the structure space. Our prior based on the degrees of freedom effectively prevents overfitting.
Exploring Cultural Variation in Eye Movements on a Web Page between Americans and Koreans

This study explored differences in eye movement on a Web page between members of two different cultures to provide insight and guidelines for implementation of global Web site development. More specifically, the research examines whether differences of eye movement exist between the two cultures (American vs. Korean) when viewing a Web page, and if so, whether their eye movements are affected according to the level of Web page complexity. This study employed eye tracking methods and several eye movement metrics were measured.
Aromaticity of Six-Membered Rings with One Heteroatom

Six-membered rings with one heteroatom are aromatic when there is a continuous conjugation involving six delocalized electrons. The main-group heteroatom from groups 16–13 of the periodic system can be (ordered approximately according to decreasing electronegativity): O+, S+, Se+, Te+, NR+, N+–O−, N, P, PR2, As, Sb, Bi, SiR, GeR, BR−, and GaR−. Among elements that give rise to aromatic metallabenzenes, so far most investigations have concentrated on Os, Ir, Pt, and Rh. Various qualitative and quantitative aspects of aromaticity are reviewed, such as chemical reactivity, molecular geometry, energetics, and magnetic features.
Why do we need foundations for modelling uncertainties

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights various aspects related to uncertainty models. There are a number of difficulties with the soft friendly world of relativism. Unbounded proliferation, the proliferation of private languages applicable, to all intents and purposes to private worlds, is clearly counterproductive. There are other ways of thinking about foundations that involve looking carefully at ready-made systems. For example, authors often argue that other systems are special cases of their own. Different people have different ideas of the goal of modeling uncertainty. Some people are mainly concerned with the representation of human cognition. Others want machines that will handle an uncertain environment with efficiency and grace. The space of possible foundational theories is very large. There is a lot more to be thought about than is involved in any particular engineering development. Finding a common framework within which many of the current ideas concerning the representation and updating of uncertainty can be related need not inhibit the proliferation of ideas.
Decomposing the effects of CCTs on entrepreneurship

Conditional cash transfers boosted a major reduction in poverty and a significant decrease in inequality in developing countries over the past decade. However, their success in promoting economic development is challenged by the claim that they deal with short-term poverty relief without providing the poor with the tools for breaking away from poverty by their own means. This claim, however, could be dismissed if conditional cash transfers had an effect on entrepreneurship. This paper assesses whether Bolsa-Familia increases the probability of starting a new venture in Brazil, decomposing its potential effects into three channels: alleviation of the wealth constraint, insurance against negative outcomes of risky activities, and reduction of the labor supply of children (through the effect of the conditionality). The effect of each of these channels is separately estimated using data from National Household Surveys in 2004 and 2006, for which the households of transfer beneficiaries can be identified. The results indicate that entrepreneurship is indeed stimulated by the program in urban areas throughout the insurance and wealth constraint alleviation effects, notwithstanding that new ventures are typically secondary sources of income. Finally, the conditionality seems not to have an impact on the level of entrepreneurship.
Deeply virtual Compton scattering on longitudinally polarized protons and neutrons at CLAS

This paper focuses on a measurement of deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) performed at Jefferson Lab using a nearly-6-GeV polarized electron beam, two longitudinally polarized (via DNP) solid targets of protons (NH{sub 3}) and deuterons (ND{sub 3}) and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Here, preliminary results for target-spin asymmetries and double (beam-target) asymmetries for proton DVCS, as well as a very preliminary extraction of beam-spin asymmetry for neutron DVCS, are presented and linked to Generalized Parton Distributions.
On Delay Constrained Multicast Capacity of Large-Scale Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

This paper studies the delay constrained multicast capacity of large-scale mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). We consider a MANET that consists of $n_{s}$ multicast sessions. Each multicast session has one source and $p$ destinations. Each source sends identical information to the $p$ destinations in its multicast session, and the information is required to be delivered to all the $p$ destinations within $D$ time-slots. Assuming the wireless mobiles move according to a 2-D independently and identically distributed mobility model, we first prove that the capacity per multicast session is $O(\min \{1, (\log p)(\log (n_{s}p)) ({{D}/{n_{s}}})^{1/2}\})$ . 1 We then propose a joint coding/scheduling algorithm achieving a throughput of $\Theta (\min \{1,{({D}/{n_{s}})}^{1/2}\})$ . Our simulation results suggest that the same scaling law also holds under random walk and random waypoint models. 1 Given non-negative functions $f(n)$ and $g(n)$ : $f(n)=O(g(n))$ means there exist positive constants $c$ and $m$ such that $f(n) \leq cg(n)$ for all $ n\geq m;~f(n)=\Omega (g(n))$ means there exist positive constants $c$ and $m$ such that $f(n)\geq cg(n)$ for all $n\geq m;~f(n)=\Theta (g(n))$ means that both $f(n)=\Omega (g(n))$ and $f(n)=O(g(n))$ hold; $f(n)=o(g(n))$ means that $\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty } f(n)/g(n)=0$ ; and $f(n)=\omega (g(n))$ means that $\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty } g(n)/f(n)=0$ .
Medical Management of Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction

A consecutive series of 113 infants seen with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction were treated with local massage and topical antibiotic ointment. In 107 of the infants the obstruction was resolved within 8 months of initiation of this form of management. Nearly all of the infants were spared a surgical procedure that probably would have been performed if early probing of the nasolacrimal system had been advocated.
Scalability of Linux Event-Dispatch Mechanisms

Many Internet servers these days have to handle not just heavy request loads, but also increasingly face large numbers of concurrent connections. In this paper, we discuss some of the event-dispatch mechanisms used by Internet servers to handle the network I/O generated by these request loads. We focus on the mechanisms supported by the Linux kernel, and measure their performance in terms of their dispatch overhead and dispatch throughput. Our comparative studies show that POSIX.4 Real Time signals (RT signals) are a highly efficient mechanism in terms of the overhead and also provide good throughput compared to mechanisms like select() and /dev/poll. We also look at some limitations of RT signals and propose an enhancement to the default RT signal implementation which we call signalper-fd. This enhancement has the advantage of significantly reducing the complexity of a server implementation, increasing its robustness under high load, and also potentially increasing its throughput. In addition, our results also show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, even a select() based server can provide high throughput, even though it has high overhead, if its overhead is amortized by performing more useful work per
Time-average stochastic optimization with non-convex decision set and its convergence

This paper considers time-average stochastic optimization, where a time average decision vector, an average of decision vectors chosen in every time step from a time-varying (possibly non-convex) set, minimizes a convex objective function and satisfies convex constraints. This formulation has applications in networking and operations research. In general, time-average stochastic optimization can be solved by a Lyapunov optimization technique. This paper shows that the technique exhibits a transient phase and a steady state phase. When the problem has a unique vector of Lagrange multipliers, the convergence time can be improved. By starting the time average in the steady state, the convergence times become O(1/e) under a locally-polyhedral assumption and O(1/e1.5) under a locally-non-polyhedral assumption, where e denotes the proximity to the optimal objective cost.