cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
User interface for FRBR user tasks in online catalogs

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) is a new conceptual model for representing the bibliographic universe with a strong user focus. Such a user focus offers opportunities for creating online catalogs that better support user information seeking. There have been a few online catalogs developed to explore effective implementations of FRBR. However, there has been a lack of user research of such prototype online catalogs. The major purpose of this study is to explore how well current FRBR-based catalogs support user tasks as defined by FRBR and how users interact with and evaluate the user interfaces in the FRBR-based catalogs. The FRBR-based online catalogs selected in this study include OCLC WorldCat.org, FictionFinder, and Libraries Australias FRBR prototype demonstration system. These three catalogs were evaluated by 75 users from both public libraries (40 participants) and academic libraries (35 participants). The user tasks for this study were designed around the four general user task categories as defined by FRBR. Users system interactions and feedback were captured through a multi-method approach, including screen captures, eye-tracking, think-aloud protocol, and survey interviews, as well as two focus groups of academic and public library users. Some preliminary findings show that there were noted differences in user success in completing various tasks in the FRBR-based catalogs. In terms of user interactions with the interface features provided in the catalogs, users chose different options for various tasks. The eye-tracking data and user input on interface features provided some helpful explanations to the user interactions and pointed to useful features and possible improvements of the individual catalog interfaces. The results of this study will help identify useful interface options for future FRBR implementation and contribute toward the development of more effective online catalogs that support various user tasks from users perspectives.
Bauxite processing in Jamaica and Guyana: An extension to aluminum smelting

Abstract Building on previous research this study utilizes static input-output analysis to estimate national income and foreign exchange impacts of hypothesized aluminum smelting in Jamaica and Guyana. Aluminum smelting is found to be consistent with very large increases in wages, operating surplus, and foreign exchange earnings. A domestic supply bottleneck in the public utilities sector, however, specifically electricity generation, is evident in both countries. It is also estimated that the vast majority of stimulated wages will be generated outside of the mining sector.
Briefing a new approach to improve the EMI immunity of DSP systems

Hereafter, we present an approach dealing to improve the reliability of digital signal processing (DSP) systems operating in real noisy (electromagnetic interference - EMI) environments. The approach is based on the coupling of two techniques: the "DSP-oriented signal integrity improvement" technique deals to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and is essentially a modification of the classic Recovery Blocks Scheme. The second technique, named "SW-based fault handling" aims to detect in real-time data- and control-flow faults throughout modifications of the processor C-code. When compared to conventional approaches using Fast Fourier Transform (FIT) and Hamming Code, the primary benefit of such an approach is to improve system reliability by means of a considerably low complexity, reasonably low performance degradation and, when implemented in hardware, with reduced area overhead. Aiming to illustrate the proposed approach, we present a case study for a speech recognition system, which was partially implemented in a PC microcomputer and in a COTS microcontroller. This system was tested under a home-tailored EMI environment according to the International Standard Normative IEC 61.0004-29. The obtained results indicate that the proposed approach can effectively improve the reliability of DSP systems operating in real noise (EMI) environments.
Statistical survey of “saturation analysis” calibration curve data for prednisolone, prednisone and digoxin

Abstract An extensive survey of radioimmunoassay calibration data for prednisolone, prednisone and digoxin indicated that the common practice of preparing calibration curves with individual subject's pre-dose plasma or serum, and using this to estimate unknown concentrations for the same subject, is not supported by statistical considerations. Preparation of calibration plots from pooled data is better because this introduces less bias in estimated concentrations. Such a method also saves a great deal of time, since it is not necessary to repeat the calibration procedure each time “unknowns” are being assayed. The data suggest that there is no optimum calibration plot for all radioimmunoassays. Rather, each antibody-drug combination should be investigated thoroughly to determine the best calibration plot for the particular combination. We found that the best calibration plots are; the logistic-logarithmic plot for prednisolone; nonlinear least squares fit to a polyexponential equation for prednisone; and a weighted least squares regression of normalized % bound versus concentration for digoxin. The error in the radioimmunoassay is usually concentration-dependent, and, in certain regions of the standard curve, is larger than the literature indicates, since, frequently, the error has been gauged from % bound values, but should be gauged from inversely-estimated concentrations.
Protonated and methylated dimethyl sulfoxide cations and dications. DFT/GIAO-MP2 NMR studies and comparison with experimental data.

Energies, electronic structures, and thermodynamics of protonated and methylated dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) cations and dications were calculated using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The O-protonated structure 2 was found to be 37.0 kcal/mol more stable than the S-protonated 3. For diprotonated DMSO dication, the O,O-diprotonated form 6 was found to be the global minimum, more stable by 20.8 kcal/mol than O,S-diprotonated 7. Interestingly, for dimethylated DMSO dication, O,O-dimethylated 11 and O,S-dimethylated 12 are isoenergetic. 13C, 17O, and 33S NMR chemical shifts of the cations and dications were calculated using the GIAO-MP2 method and compared with the available experimental data.
A new class of isoquinoline alkaloids: The proaporphine-tryptamine dimers

Abstract The previously isolated Roemeria hybrida (Papaveraceae) alkaloids (-)-roehybridine and (-)-roemeridine are the first proaporphine-tryptamine dimers, and possess structures 1 and 2 , respectively.
Allogeneic bone for secondary alveolar cleft osteoplasty

The purpose of this retrospective clinical study was to determine the efficacy of allogeneic bone for secondary alveolar cleft osteoplasty. Twenty-four patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with allogeneic bone grafts were examined by a surgeon, orthodontist, and prosthodontist 20 to 47 months after surgery. Radiographic and clinical examination of the periodontal status of the teeth adjacent to the cleft and their antimeres were compared for differences with Student's t test and the Wilcoxon test. Radiographs indicated complete bone bridging in 21 patients. Two of the remaining three patients had a 1-mm radiolucent gap in the cleft site. The third patient had a 6-mm-wide radiolucency and recurrence of an oronasal fistula which was regrafted with autogenous bone. No statistically significant differences between the cleft and noncleft tooth antimeres were found for plaque, gingivitis, bleeding, sulcus depth, or level of attachment. A statistically significant difference in the amount of attached gingiva was found between the cleft and noncleft tooth antimeres. Nine patients with missing lateral incisor teeth avoided prosthetic replacement by orthodontic movement of the canine tooth into the grafted edentulous space. In those cases where the maxillary canine was unerupted at the time of the surgery, eruption into the graft occurred. Stability of the maxillary segments was sufficient to allow prosthodontic restoration with a fixed partial denture in those cases where it was indicated.
Measuring teachers' structural knowledge

Abstract Long-term effects of a teacher education program on beginning teachers' cognitive structures for classroom management, and relationships between various measures of cognitive structure were investigated. Nine elementary teachers completed an ordered tree and a concept mapping exercise of the domain classroom management one year after program completion. Comparisons of follow-up data with exit scores revealed a positive but non-significant trend toward greater organization. Correlations between the ordered tree and scores derived from concept maps revealed significant relationships between the ordered tree and the scoring procedure of Roehler, Duffy, Conley, Hermann, Johnson, and Michelson (1990). Implications for the measurement of cognitive change in teacher education students are discussed.
THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF COMBINED IRRADIATION AND THERMAL PROCESSES IN CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS WITH GAMMA SOURCES

SUMMARY —A digital computer technique is presented for studying combined effects of heat and radiation in food sterilization, using steam retorts and cylindrical gamma sources. Temperature and dose rate distributions in cylindrical containers are computed using numerical methods. Distributions due to preliminary treatments–survivor and degree of spore sensitization–are inputs to subsequent treatment. The heat-radiation sequence was studied using data available, which indicates no synergism. This additive combination served as control to demonstrate synergism for radiation-heat sequence. Synergy, as influenced by irradiation exposure time, source strength, thermal process time and retort temperature was studied.
Preamplifier Noise In Indium Antimonide Detector Systems

Voltage noise measurements have been made at temperatures from 77 to 150 K with three JFET's and a preamplifier which closely resembles one used with InSb photovoltaic detectors. noise minima were detected with the three JFET's at temperatures of 100-115 K, but the level Df voltage noise for two of the three JFET's was found to be below the noise level of InSb detector systems.
Are You Listening?: Social Roles and Perceived Value of Statements in Online Learning Communities

An important part of learning is interactions with peers, mentors, teaching assistants and the instructor. Discussions and group work allow for interactive learning and deeper understanding of class concepts. Online learning environments struggle to replicate this process. This is especially true when the scale of an online class is increased. In order to address this issue a few MOOCs solicit teaching assistants to answer questions, and through their social position, help set academic standards in discussion forums. However, little is know about how different social roles influence the attribution of value to statements in these environments. This study demonstrates that the attitudes expressed by individuals in facilitating roles influence the acceptance of information shared in a discussion board setting.
Physicians, patients, and society.

In the last few decades, physicians have become better able to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure many disorders. As this power has increased, physicians have turned their attention more and more t...
Interoceptive Fear Conditioning and Panic Disorder: The Role of Conditioned Stimulus–Unconditioned Stimulus Predictability

Interoceptive fear conditioning is at the core of contemporary behavioral accounts of panic disorder. Yet, to date only one study has attempted to evaluate interoceptive fear conditioning in humans (see Acheson, Forsyth, Prenoveau, & Bouton, 2007). That study used brief (physiologically inert) and longer-duration (panicogenic) inhalations of 20% CO(2)-enriched air as an interoceptive conditioned (CS) and unconditioned (US) stimulus and evaluated fear learning in three conditions: CS only, CS-US paired, and CS-US unpaired. Results showed fear conditioning in the paired condition, and fearful responding and resistance to extinction in an unpaired condition. The authors speculated that such effects may be due to difficulty discriminating between the CS and the US. The aims of the present study are to (a) replicate and expand this line of work using an improved methodology, and (b) clarify the role of CS-US discrimination difficulties in either potentiating or depotentiating fear learning. Healthy participants (N=104) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) CS only, (b) contingent CS-US pairings, (c) unpaired CS and US presentations, or (d) an unpaired "discrimination" contingency, which included an exteroceptive discrimination cue concurrently with CS onset. Electrodermal and self-report ratings served as indices of conditioned responding. Consistent with expectation, the paired contingency and unpaired contingencies yielded elevated fearful responding to the CS alone. Moreover, adding a discrimination cue to the unpaired contingency effectively attenuated fearful responding. Overall, findings are consistent with modern learning theory accounts of panic and highlight the role of interoceptive conditioning and unpredictability in the etiology of panic disorder.
Zero‐energy determination: Confirmation of vessel and pipeline de‐energized state through noninvasive techniques with strain gauges

The objective of this research is to identify ways to reliably detect residual material and the associated energy through noninvasive methods using a portable, field-deployable system in order to prevent loss of containment and injury to workers. Leaking valves, defective pressure gauges, and blocked bleeders may cause residual liquid or gas to remain in process equipment, sometimes holding equipment at elevated pressures or allowing a toxic or flammable atmosphere to remain in spite of efforts to clear the equipment. This creates the potential for serious injury to workers when they open, enter, or begin to work on equipment unaware of the hazardous energy still present. The term, “zero energy,” has been used within the context of this research to refer to “a state characterized by the complete absence of hazardous energy.” Hazardous energy is defined as “energy that could cause injury due to the unintended motion, energizing, startup, or release of such stored or residual energy in machinery, equipment, piping, pipelines, or process systems” http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-LEG_ohsc_p15.pdf. This research examines a method to determine if a vessel has achieved zero energy, denoted by internal pressure equal to ambient pressure with no residual liquid present, using strain gauges. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 195–199, 2014
Characterization of Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT) of Normal Rhesus Macaques

This study characterizes the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) of normal healthy rhesus macaques and compares the percentages of T and B cell subsets to those of systemic lymphoid tissue. Lymphocytes from the systemic lymphoid tissue (spleen, axillary, and inguinal lymph nodes), mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), and intestinal epithelium (IEL) and lamina propria (LPL) of the jejunum, ileum, and colon were examined from both adult and juvenile, normal rhesus macaques. Lymphocytes were analyzed for expression of CD2, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, gamma delta TCR, and CD20 by two- or three-color flow cytometric analysis. Sections of jejunum, ileum, and colon were examined for CD3, CD20, and CD103 expression by immunohistochemistry. Peyer's patches were also examined for CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD20 expression by immunohistochemistry. Most IEL and LPL were CD103+, CD3+ T cells with significantly fewer CD20+ B cells. The IEL were predominantly CD3+CD8+ (63-80%), with very few CD4+ cells, whereas CD4:CD8 ratios in the LPL ranged from 0.74 to 1.3. Three to 38% of the IEL were gamma delta TCR positive, but gamma delta expression was rare in the LPL and MLN. gamma delta TCR expression was also higher in the IEL of younger animals. LPL had higher expression of CD25 compared to IEL and systemic tissues, particularly in aged animals. CD4+CD8+, double-positive and CD3+CD4-CD8- double-negative cells were also observed in GALT. These results demonstrate that GALT of rhesus macaques is remarkably similar to that of humans, further justifying the use of these animals as models for various intestinal disorders.
An unusual form of transcriptional silencing in yeast ribosomal DNA.

Generalized transcriptional repression of large chromosomal regions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs at the silent mating loci and at telomeres and is mediated by the silent information regulator (SIR) genes. We have identified a novel form of transcription al silencing in S. cerevisiae in the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) tandem array. Tyl retrotransposons marked with a weakened URA3 gene (Tyl-mURAS) efficiently integrated into rDNA. The tnURA3 marker in rDNA was transcriptionally silenced in a SIR2-dependent manner. METIS and LEU2 were also partially silenced, indicating that rDNA silencing may be quite general. Deletion of SIR4 enhanced mURA3 and METIS silencing, but deletion of SIRl or SIRS did not affect silencing, indicating that the mechanism of silencing differs from that at telomeres and silent mating loci. Deletion of SIR2 resulted in increased psoralen cross-linking of the rDNA in vivo, suggesting that a specific chromatin structure in rDNA down-regulates polymerase II promoters.
The Inertia of Affluence

Behavior is highly resistant to change in situations with large and frequent reinforcers but weak contingencies relating reinforcers to behavior. This empirical result may help us to understand why patterns of behavior are so difficult to change in the affluent society of the USA, despite the likelihood that their continuation will destroy the environment on which we depend. The argument is illustrated by fossil fuel consumption, especially by driving cars for personal transportation, where many costs are deferred or hidden but reinforcers are immediate and are experienced in a situation of general affluence. The behavioral momentum metaphor accounts for the resistance to change of driving, and of social policies that subsidize driving. Using wind power as an example, the metaphor suggests why local action on behalf of the future may be successful and how support for future-oriented projects may be gained.
Comparing Relative Rates of Pollen and Seed Gene Flow in the Island Model Using Nuclear and Organelle Measures of Population Structure

We describe a method for comparing nuclear and organelle population differentiation (F(ST)) in seed plants to test the hypothesis that pollen and seed gene flow rates are equal. Wright's infinite island model is used, with arbitrary levels of self-fertilization and biparental organelle inheritance. The comparison can also be applied to gene flow in animals. Since effective population sizes are smaller for organelle genomes than for nuclear genomes and organelles are often uniparentally inherited, organelle F(ST) is expected to be higher at equilibrium than nuclear F(ST) even if pollen and seed gene flow rates are equal. To reject the null hypothesis of equal seed and pollen gene flow rates, nuclear and organelle F(ST)'s must differ significantly from their expected values under this hypothesis. Finite island model simulations indicate that infinite island model expectations are not greatly biased by finite numbers of populations (>/=100 subpopulations). The power to distinguish dissimilar rates of pollen and seed gene flow depends on confidence intervals for fixation index estimates, which shrink as more subpopulations and loci are sampled. Using data from the tropical tree Corythophora alta, we rejected the null hypothesis that seed and pollen gene flow rates are equal but cannot reject the alternative hypothesis that pollen gene flow is 200 times greater than seed gene flow.
Rotordynamics of a Mechanical Face Seal Riding on a Flexible Shaft

A mechanical face seal is a triboelement intended to minimize leakage between a rotating shajft and a housing, while allowing the shajft to rotate as freely as possible. All dynamic analysis to date have concentrated on the seal itself. In reality, however, especially in high speed turbomachinery, shafts are made flexible and the dynamics of seals must be coupled with the dynamics of shafts. (Perhaps the dynamics of other triboelements, such as gears, bearings, etc., have to be included as well)
A deficiency of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) in Harlequin mouse heart mitochondria paradoxically reduces ROS generation during ischemia-reperfusion

Background and Aims: AIF (apoptosis inducing factor) is a flavin and NADH containing protein located within mitochondria required for optimal function of the respiratory chain. AIF may function as an antioxidant within mitochondria, yet when released from mitochondria it activates caspase-independent cell death. The Harlequin (Hq) mouse has a markedly reduced content of AIF, providing an experimental model to query if the main role of AIF in the exacerbation of cell death is enhanced mitochondrial generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or the activation of cell death programs. We asked if the ROS generation is altered in Hq heart mitochondria at baseline or following ischemia-reperfusion (IR). Methods: Buffer perfused mouse hearts underwent 30 min ischemia and 30 min reperfusion. Mitochondrial function including oxidative phosphorylation and H2O2 generation was measured. Immunoblotting was used to determine the contents of AIF and PAR [poly(ADP-ribose)] in cell fractions. Results: There were no differences in the release of H2O2 between wild type (WT) and Hq heart mitochondria at baseline. IR increased H2O2 generation from WT but not from Hq mitochondria compared to corresponding time controls. The complex I activity was decreased in WT but not in Hq mice following IR. The relocation of AIF from mitochondria to nucleus was increased in WT but not in Hq mice. IR activated PARP-1 only in WT mice. Cell injury was decreased in Hq mouse heart following in vitro IR. Conclusion: A deficiency of AIF within mitochondria does not increase ROS production during IR, indicating that AIF functions less as an antioxidant within mitochondria. The decreased cardiac injury in Hq mouse heart accompanied by less AIF translocation to the nucleus suggests that AIF relocation, rather than the AIF content within mitochondria, contributes to cardiac injury during IR.
Colonic adaptation to daily lactose feeding in lactose maldigesters reduces lactose intolerance.

We conducted blinded, controlled crossover studies to determine the effect of daily lactose feeding on colonic adaptation and intolerance symptoms. The initial study with nine lactose maldigesters showed a threefold increase in fecal beta-galactosidase activity after 16 d of lactose feeding. To determine the effects of this adaptation on breath hydrogen and intolerance symptoms, 20 lactose-maldigesting adults were randomly assigned to lactose or dextrose supplementation for 10 d (days 1-10), crossing over to the other period for days 12-21. The sugar dosage was increased from 0.6 to 1.0 g.kg-1.d-1, subdivided into three equal doses, by adjusting the dose every other day. Symptoms during lactose supplementation and comparison of symptoms during the lactose and dextrose feeding periods showed no significant differences. On days 11 and 22, challenge doses of lactose (0.35 g/kg) were administered after an overnight fast, and breath hydrogen and intolerance symptoms (abdominal pain, flatulence, and diarrhea) were carefully monitored for 8 h. Frequency of flatus passage and flatus severity ratings after the lactose challenge decreased 50% when studied at the end of the lactose period compared with the dextrose period. The sum of hourly breath-hydrogen concentrations (1-8 h) was significantly reduced after the lactose feeding period (9 +/- 38 ppm.h) compared with after the dextrose period (385 +/- 52 ppm.h, P < 0.001). We conclude that there is colonic adaptation to regular lactose ingestion and this adaptation reduces lactose intolerance symptoms.
Meiotic recombination and sporulation in repair-deficient strains of yeast.

ABSTRACT A genetic system designed to monitor recombination and sporulation in various repair-deficient yeast strains was constructed. Variously heterozygous at seven or eight sites distributed across the genome, the system facilitated sensitive detection of changes in frequency or pattern of meiotic recombination. Ten rad mutants sensitive primarily to UV-irradiation and without terminal blocks in the sporulation process were studied. Seven were defective in excision repair ( rad1, rad2, rad3, rad4, rad10, rad14 and rad16 ), and three were defective in mutagenic repair ( rad5, rad9 and rad18 ). Individually, each mutant displayed behavior consistent with an orthodox meiosis including a wild-type meiotic recombination profile with respect to gene conversion, PMS and intergenic map distances. Accordingly, we conclude that these mutants are without major effect on meiotic heteroduplex formation or correction. However, certain combinations of excision-defective mutants with rad18 exhibited marked ascosporal inviability. Tetraploids homozygous for rad1 and rad18 produce a large proportion of diploid spores containing a recessive lethal.
Effect of carbadox on net absorption of ammonia and glucose into hepatic portal vein of growing pigs.

Chronic cannulas were placed into the hepatic portal vein, ileal vein and carotid artery of growing pigs trained to consume their daily allowance of 1.2 kg of feed (16% protein corn-soybean meal basal diet) in a single meal. The average preoperative BW of pigs was 44.7 kg for Trial 1 (three pigs) and 35.3 kg for Trial 2 (seven pigs). In Trial 1, net absorption of ammonia (NH3) and glucose into the portal vein was determined three times at weekly intervals. The net portal absorptions were derived by multiplying the porto-arterial plasma concentration difference of NH3 and glucose by portal vein plasma flow rate estimated with the p-aminohippuric acid indicator-dilution technique. Differences in the net portal absorptions of NH3 and glucose among the three weekly measurements were small (P greater than .05). In Trial 2, the first sequence of net portal absorption measurements was conducted when pigs were fed the basal diet, and the second sequence of measurements was conducted after the pigs had been fed the diet supplemented with 55 ppm of carbadox for 7 d. Carbadox supplementation reduced (P less than .05) plasma NH3 concentration in portal plasma during the 2.5-h to 5-h postprandial period and decreased (P less than .05) net portal absorption of NH3 during the 2.5-h to 4-h postprandial period. Carbadox, however, did not affect (P greater than .05) net portal absorption of glucose. We suggest that carbadox suppresses the production of cell-toxic NH3 by intestinal microorganisms and, thus, reduces the injury and turnover of intestinal cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An efficient compressive sensing MR image reconstruction scheme

Compressive sensing (CS) has great potential to reduce imaging time. It samples very few linear projections, and exploits sparsity or compressibility to reconstruct images from the measurements. Medical and most natural images usually contain various fine features, details and textures. Widely used total variation (TV) and wavelet sparsity are not so effective in reconstructing these images. We propose to incorporate total generalized variation (TGV) and shearlet transform to efficiently produce high quality images from compressive sensing MRI data, i.e., incomplete spectral Fourier data. The proposed model is solved by using split Bregman and primal-dual methods. Numerous numerical results on various data corresponding to different sampling rates and noise levels show the advantage of our method in preserving various geometrical features, textures and spatially variant smoothness. The proposed method consistently outperforms related competitive methods and shows greater advantage as sampling rate goes lower.
A SOA Based Software Engineering Design Approach in Service Engineering

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is for flexibility and reuse, and enables organizations to easily integrate systems, data, applications and processes through the linking of services. SOA also addresses the critical security and privacy issues. This paper focuses on the investigation and studies on SOA based software engineering methods in the service engineering environment. Among the various SOA related software design and development methods available, service-oriented modeling and architecture (SOMA) service architectural environment is chosen as the target platform in the study. A web based service oriented ubiquitous Healthcare (u-Healthcare) software system was designed and implemented using the set of the software engineering methods developed in the study to gain empirical knowledge and experience on applying the approach to construct SOA service software.
FBEM: A filter bank EM algorithm for the joint optimization of features and acoustic model parameters in bird call classification

This paper extends the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to estimate not only optimal acoustic model parameters, but also optimal center frequencies and bandwidths of the filter bank used in cepstral feature extraction for bird call classification. The search is done using the gradient ascent method. Filter bank and model parameters are optimized iteratively. Experiments are conducted on a large noisy corpus containing Antbird calls from 5 species. It is shown that features extracted using the optimized filter bank result in a lower classification error rate than those extracted using a Melscaled filter bank.
QoT-aware Grooming, Routing, and Wavelength Assignment (GRWA) for Mixed-Line-Rate translucent optical networks

A Mixed Line Rate (MLR) optical network is a good candidate for a core backbone network because of its ability to provide diverse line rates to effectively accommodate traffic demands with heterogeneous bandwidth requirements. Because of the deleterious effects of physical impairments, there is a maximum transmission reach for optical signals before they have to be regenerated. Being expensive devices, regenerators are expected to be sparsely located and used in such a network, called a translucent optical network. In this paper, we consider the Grooming, Routing, and Wavelength Assignment (GRWA) problem so that the Quality of Transmission (QoT) for connections is satisfied, and the network-level performance metric of blocking probability is minimized. Cross-layer heuristics to effectively allocate the sparse regenerators in MLR networks are developed, and extensive simulation results are presented to demonstrate their effectiveness.
Addressing Covert Channel Attacks in RFID- Enabled Supply Chains

RFID technology can help competitive organizations optimize their supply chains. However, it may also enable adversaries to exploit covert channels to surreptitiously spy on their competitors. We explain how tracking tags and compromising readers can create covert channels in supply chains and cause detrimental economic effects. To mitigate such attacks, the authors propose a framework that enables an organization to monitor its supply chain. The supply chain is modeled as a network flow graph, where tag flow is verified at selected key nodes, and covert channels are actively sought. While optimal taint checkpoint node selection is algorithmically intractable, the authors propose node selection and flow verification heuristics with various tradeoffs. The chapter discusses economically viable countermeasures against supply chain-based covert channels, and suggests future research directions.
Improvements to the Whoosh Bottle Rocket Car Demonstration

The whoosh bottle rocket car has been redesigned to be more reusable and more robust, making it even easier to use as a demonstration. Enhancements of this demonstration, including the use of heat sensitive ink and electronic temperature probes, enable users to find warmer and cooler regions on the surface of the whoosh bottle.
The Unintended Consequences of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Each fall, the Washington Business Group on Health hosts a disability management conference that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and practices between employers, educators, policy specialists, insurers, consumers, health care providers, and other stakeholders in workplace disability. On October 29, 1999, Dr. Peter Blanck, Kierscht Professor and Director of the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa engaged in an exchange of views with Walter Olson, Senior Fellow at The Manhattan Institute, regarding the Unintended Consequences of the ADA. The Debate begins by discussing where the ADA came from and what Congress was trying to accomplish when it passed the ADA in 1990. During the Debate, both Dr. Blanck and Mr. Olson discuss the intended and unintended consequences and benefits of the ADA.
UV curable bismaleimides films with functionalized colliodal silica

Abstract Four acrylated bismaleimides were formulated with PDMS functionalized silica colloids and UV-cured. The acrylated bismaleimides were synthesized via a two-step procedure. The first step involved the solution imidization of 2,2′-Bis[4-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]propane dianhydride (BPADA), with 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA) or Bisaniline M (BIS M), 2,2-Bis(amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane (BIS-AP-AF) and maleic anhydride (MA) to form hydroxylated bismaleimide. In the second step, the hydroxylated bismaleimide was reacted with acryloyl chloride to form an acrylated bismaleimide. Then, the acrylated bismaleimide was formulated with acryloyl morpholine (AMP) and photoinitiator with or without the addition of PDMS-silica nanoparticles and UV-cured. The curing kinetics were investigated by real-time FTIR and photo-DSC. The kinetic data revealed that the PDMS-silica particles accelerated the photocure rate. The dispersion of PDMS-silica nanoparticles on the film surface was investigated by SEM. Abrasion properties were evaluated using a Taber Abraser. The optimal abrasion resistance was achieved with 3.0 wt% PDMS-silica loading.
A Tuboovarian Abscess Associated with a Ruptured Spleen

We report the first case of a tuboovarian abscess complicated by a ruptured spleen. Our patient was a 27-year-old female with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who presented to the emergency department (ED) with complaints of urinary symptoms and diarrhea. After being diagnosed with a tuboovarian abscess (TOA), she received antibiotics and was admitted to the gynecology service. Shortly thereafter she developed hemorrhagic shock, necessitating a splenectomy and salpingooophorectomy from a ruptured spleen.
Predicting environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior of future apparel industry professionals: The role of environmental apparel knowledge, environmentalism and materialism

AbstractThe present study explored several critical constructs related to environmentally responsible apparel consumption, which include environmentalism, materialism and knowledge of environmental issues pertaining to apparel products. The research focused on apparel merchandising and design students (n = 233) as future industry professionals who will soon be driving industry decisions in apparel production and consumption. A proposed research model was subject to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The model explained 58% of the variance in environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior. Environmental apparel knowledge positively influenced environmentalism, and, in turn, environmentalism had a significant positive influence on environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior. On the contrary, environmental apparel knowledge did not significantly influence materialism, and, in turn, materialism was not related to environmentally responsible apparel consumptio...
Specific language impairment.

Roger Brown considered how children come to attach a word to things and categories of things in the world. Attaching words or names to things and categories is basic to human language—the label Specific Language Impairment(SLI) is one example. Children with SLI have deficits in working memory that may underlie their language deficits. Children with phonological disorders are routinely excluded from studies of SLI in order to avoid including children whose speech production limitations might be the result of apparent nonlinguistic limitations in language production. Pragmatics is a heterogeneous category of language abilities including presuppositions about the knowledge and social status of the listener, the communicative intent or function of utterances, the structure of narratives and discourse and conversation, as well as the more global use of language and nonlinguistic means of communication. Children with SLI also have deficits in conversation that may reflect either social deficits or structural language deficits.
The Use of Laboratory Studies of Three Hymenopterous Parasites to Evaluate Their Field Potential

Estimates of the temperature tolerances and competitive interactions of 3 introduced parasites of the spotted alfalfa aphid, Therioaphis trifolii (Monell) (= T. maculata (Buckton)), derived from laboratory investigations, are discussed relative to their distribution, abundance, and effectiveness in alfalfa fields in California. The parasites Praon exoletum (Nees), Trioxys complanatus (Quilis), and Aphelinus asychis (Walker) are solitary and endoparasitic in habit. Such factors as developmental rate, reproductive potential, and innate capacity for numerical increase calculated at various constant temperatures were considered in an effort to analyze each parasite bioclimatically. In addition, the competitive characteristics of each were considered from the standpoint of mutual interference. It was concluded that although all 3 parasite species possess certain exclusive bioclimatic features which adapt each to slightly different conditions, by and large T. Complanatus should be the most effective parasite over a wide range of climatic conditions. A scrutiny of the competitive interactions among the three did not modify this conclusion. Field studies conducted in California by other investigators have shown that although P. exoletum was prevalent shortly after the introduction of the 3 species, T. Complanatus has more recently become the most widely distributed, the most abundant, and clearly the most effective parasite. These observations suggest the value of using laboratory studies as a basis for: (1) the advanced prediction of the geographic distribution and relative effectiveness of a parasite to be introduced, and (2) examining the possibilities that several parasite species may interfere with one another in their capacities to control the pest insect.
Keeping Users in the Flow: Mapping System Responsiveness with User Experience☆

Abstract User immersion in computing happens not only in entertainment, gaming, and virtual reality but whenever users are “in the flow”, completing their work and communication without thought to the technology that is making it possible. When a user is in the flow, and poor performance brings attention back to the technology, the user is pulled from that immersive experience to focus on computer performance in a negative way. System response time (SRT) is the amount of time that elapses from when a user submits a request until the result is returned from an interactive computing device. Empirical and theoretical literature has repeatedly demonstrated that SRT is a key factor that can dramatically affect user satisfaction. Although it has been suggested that SRT issues would become obsolete with the technological advancements in hardware and software, the amount of literature in this field and its effect on user experience (UX) is a clear reminder that SRT continues to be problematic. Specifically, there is a lack of comprehensive metrics that quantitatively correlates user satisfaction to SRT. This paper will discuss SRT and its influence on user-perceived performance. It will describe how the concept of flow is an essential factor influencing user satisfaction, especially with highly interactive devices. In addition, it will explore how time perception, attention, and feedback can impact users’ perception of flow. It describes why the little things (seemingly small or short-duration characteristics of the experience) have the most impact on users’ perception of flow. Finally, a new framework for categorizing and mapping UX and SRT's will be presented along with the three guiding principles that dictate this relationship. This new framework provides a systematic approach to enable the objective measurement of flow, and hence, a new user-centric approach to computer performance evaluation.
Etiology analysis of hand- foot- mouth disease in Ningbo in 2012

Objective To explore the etiology characteristics of hand foot and mouth disease( HFMD) in Ningbo. Methods Fluorescent quantitative RT- PCR was used to detect viral nucleic acid of enterovirus 71,Coxakivirus 16 and other enteroviruses in samples from HFMD cases,who were clinically diagnosed in sentinel surveillance hospitals in Ningbo. Results Nine hundred and ten cases were detected enterovirus in total 1136 specimens,the total positive rate was 80. 11%,including 288 enterovirus 71 cases( 31. 65%),330 Coxakivirus 16 cases( 36. 26%) and 292 other enteroviruses cases( 32. 09%). The composition of pathogens was different among different months,both the total enterovirus positive rates and proportion of enterovirus types had no statistical significance in different age groups( P 0. 05). Male- female sex ratio in laboratory diagnosis cases was 1. 54∶1. In 61 other enterovirus cases,most were Coxakivirus 6 and Coxaki- virus 10,accounting for 44. 26% and 18. 03% respectively. Conclusion The major pathogen of HFMD was Cox A16 in Ningbo in 2012,followed by EV71,and other enteroviruses show a rising trend,so further typing detection should be strengthened in HFMD cases.
Lung cancer. The diagnostic workup.

tal Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposures and Assessing Health Effects, Washington, DC, National Academy Press, 1986. 6. Fielding, J. E. Smoking: health effects and control. Part II. N.Engl.J.Med. 313:555-561, Aug. 29,1985. 7. Wynder, E. L. Preventive approach to tobacco-related diseases. Cancer Detect.Prev. 5(4):457-460,1982. 8. US Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking for Women. A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD, The Department, 1980, pp. 115ff.
Community programs and resources for persons with multiple sclerosis

MS is an unpredictable disease. Individuals with MS need to identify community programs and resources that will enhance their ability to cope effectively with the variability of the disease. Health care providers can serve as a primary link to these needed resources. In addition to providing resource information, the health care provider should also educate the person with MS on how to be a self-advocate. This article discusses and shares resources on a variety of questions commonly asked by persons with MS. Topics include general information/research, treatments, self-help groups, exercise, equipment/aids, insurance, employment, emotional aspects, and home care. The resource section contains a general listing of information sources, agencies/organizations, and publishing companies that specialize in issues relating to health and disability.
Golay Code classifier approach for medical diagnosis

As Precession Medicine applications have led to various forms of new treatment and discoveries, medical data classification problem became a notable data mining challenge. Clinical diagnostic employing machine learning systems is a complicated process as it requires high accuracy and speed. Although, several researchers have tackled this problem, big data poses some difficulties on achieving the desire accuracy and speed. This challenge increases substantially as the multidimensional datasets loaded several hurdles on the current computational model. We suggest using a hash coding method to tackle this problem. In this work, an innovated supervised method that reverses the error-correction Golay Code to classify large scale datasets and predict individual patient outcomes or risks based on a chosen number of features (i.e. medical finding) is presented. While some classifiers are very flexible, with many user-adjustable parameters, the proposed algorithm is almost automatic. Its cost to classify unseen pattern is on average O(1). To support our theoretical arguments, empirical evidence is considered. Different classification algorithms are also discussed and reviewed for their similarity. Our experiment results show that the proposed approach is able to achieve a good generalization performance, compared to the results of other classifiers.
Restricting the Range

Let X be a Markov chain with state space I,stationary standard transitions P,and smooth sample functions. For simplicity, suppose I forms one recurrent class of states relative to P. Let J be a finite subset of I. Let X J be X watched only when in J; namely, X J is obtained from X by ignoring the times t with X(t) ∉ J. Call X J the restriction of X to J. This operation has been considered by Levy (1951, 1952, 1958) and Williams (1966). The process X J is defined formally in Section 5. The idea is to introduce γ J (t),the rightmost time on the X-scale to the left of which X spends time t in J. Then X J (t)= X[γ J (t)]. Suppose J and K are finite subsets of I,with J ⊂ K. Then X J = (X K ) J as shown in Section 5. The process X J is Markov with stationary standard transitions, say P J on J. This is proved in Section 6. The semigroups {P J :J ⊂ I} are equicontinuous; consequently, X J converges to X in probability and in q-lim† with probability 1 as J increases to I ; in particular, P J converges to P as J increases to I. These results are proved in Section 7.
Early Meiji Manga: The Political Cartoons of Kanagaki Robun and Kawanabe Kyôsai

The origins of manga are intimately linked to non-sanctioned narratives of contemporary political and cultural history. Shimizu Isao has called Kanagaki Robun’s and Kawanabe Kyosai’s Eshinbun nipponchi (1874, 絵新聞日本地 Illustrated Japan News) the “first” manga magazine (Shimizu 2006). Shimizu defines early or “first” manga as demarcated by a combination of graphic and textual elements, and distinguished by their connection to current events and politics. Manga of the Meiji period (1868–1912) thus shares an intertwined history with the development of newspapers and periodicals in late nineteenth-century Japan. Theorizing the major difference between what he terms “Edo manga” and modern manga, Shimizu claims that the defining difference arises from the use of contemporary issues as modern manga’s subject matter (Shimizu 1986:1). It is precisely its engagement with history that defines Meiji manga.
The Use of Patient and Family Advisory Councils to Improve Patient Experience in Radiology

OBJECTIVE. Rising costs and widespread inefficiencies in current practices have prompted a paradigm shift in American health care from volume- to value-based care with patients and families assuming a central role. Patient and family advisory councils (PFACs) are particularly compelling as a strategy for using patient and family engagement for process improvement. Although relatively new in the radiologic community, PFACs can be a powerful tool in improving patient experience. CONCLUSION. PFACs are a particularly powerful method of patient and family engagement that can be used in effecting meaningful change in practice. This valuable resource resides within most hospitals and is generally readily accessible. In the era of value-based care, it is essential that radiologists actively engage with patients to improve efficiency, reduce expenditures, and maximize patient satisfaction.