cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A robust processing technique for trend prognosis On Mechanical Coupling for Common Remotely Operated Weapon system (CROWS)

A robust processing technique for diagnosing and predicting a recipient fault of static components of mechanical systems is presented. In particular, we demonstrate the technique (methodology) to the loosened bolts on the elevation control motor (ECM) of the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) in order to prevent a disastrous fault or failure in the gear mechanism that loose bolts could cause. Our method, called inverse normalized energy, uses the “symlet” wavelet to de-noise non-stationary vibration signals from a tri-axial accelerometer mounted on the ECM. We calculated the inverse of the ratio of the normalized energy of the “baseline,” in which all the bolts were tightened, to cases in which the bolts were loosened to different levels of torque. The normalized energy signals were calculated from the output of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectral components at the frequency band of the residual signals?the difference between the “raw” experimental data and the de-noised data. We conducted a series of controlled experiments where we deliberately loosened the ECM bolts to demonstrate the system's diagnostic and prognostic capability. Based on the experimental data and results from our method, we showed that we can detect a fault and the trend of the loosening bolts on the weapon station. If faults are detected early enough, appropriate measures can be to taken to enhance the reliability of the weapon station. This robust technique may also be well suited for detecting the fault of components of mechanical systems in manufacturing and heavy fixed machinery.
Preferences of older and younger adults with serious mental illness for involvement in decision-making in medical and psychiatric settings.

Objectives There is a growing call for greater consumer participation in health care encounters. Prior research suggests that older age is associated with a greater preference for a more passive role in clinical decision-making, yet little is known about preferences for persons with mental illness. This pilot study compared preferences for involvement in decision-making between older and younger adults with serious mental illness. Design Cross-sectional observational survey. Participants The authors surveyed 33 older adults (≥50 years) and 32 younger adults ( Measurements Measures included the Control Preferences Scale, the Autonomy Preference Index, and the Decision Self-Efficacy Scale. Results Contrary to our primary hypothesis, older adults reported a stronger desire for involvement in decision-making compared with younger adults. However, both age groups were similar in their desire for information to aid in decision-making. The majority in both age groups also preferred a collaborative role with a psychiatrist for medication decisions, an autonomous role for decisions related to psychosocial interventions, and a passive role with their primary care provider. Older and younger adults expressed similar decision self-efficacy. Conclusion Our study suggests that older persons with serious mental illness have a stronger desire for involvement in decision-making than younger consumers. Additionally, role preference for involvement in decision-making varies across different clinical decisions and for psychopharmacological versus psychosocial interventions.
Turning Weakness into Strength: France's Post‐World War II Diplomacy

Books reviewed in this article: Hitchcock, William I. France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1955
ANALYTICAL TOOLS FOR QUANTIFYING THE MORPHOLOGY OF INVERTEBRATE TRACE FOSSILS

The analysis of trace fossils usually is performed qualitatively, which makes comparing trace fossils from different units less objective than quantitative approaches. Quantifying the shape of trace fossils enables scientists to compare trace fossils described by different people with greater precision and accuracy. This paper describes several methods for quantifying invertebrate trace fossils, including morphology dependent methods (motility index, mesh size, topology, tortuosity, branching angle, and the number of cell sides) and morphology independent methods (fractal analysis, burrow area shape, and occupied space percentage (OSP)). These tools were performed on a select group of graphoglyptid trace fossils, highlighting the benefits and flaws of each analytical approach. Combined together, these methods allow for more objective comparisons between different trace fossils.
Horizon Detection Using Machine Learning Techniques

Detecting a horizon in an image is an important part of many image related applications such as detecting ships on the horizon, flight control, and port security. Most of the existing solutions for the problem only use image processing methods to identify a horizon line in an image. This results in good accuracy for many cases and is fast in computation. However, for some images with difficult environmental conditions like a foggy or cloudy sky these image processing methods are inherently inaccurate in identifying the correct horizon. This paper investigates how to detect the horizon line in a set of images using a machine learning approach. The performance of the SVM, J48, and Na?ve Bayes classifiers, used for the problem, has been compared. Accuracy of 90-99% in identifying horizon was achieved on image data set of 20 images.
《香港与东亚新帝国主义，1941-1966》 (‘Hong Kong and the New Imperialism in East Asia, 1941-1966’)

摘要：本文旨在专门解读东亚地区的帝国主义嬗变，这是自20世纪30年代迄今为止的一个全球化现象。作者通过研究二战日本占领和冷战对作为英帝国殖民地的香港的影响，以及对香港契约和香港夹缝问题的探讨，论述了帝国主义形式的改变以及这些改变怎样使香港社会变为一个发达的资本主义社会，与此同时，经济的飞速发达并没有完全改变香港殖民社会的实质，论文从宏观上揭示了新帝国主义与传统帝国主义之间的连续性和不同性。 关键词：香港 新帝国主义 冷战 契约 香港夹缝
Thai Protestants and Local Supernaturalism: Changing Configurations

Nineteenth-century Protestant missionaries in Thailand, considering local supernaturalism superstitious, called on converts to abandon it. By the late twentieth century, local spirits had been given a place in Thai Protestant cosmologies. The script seems familiar; syncretism is a common subtext in the history of Christian missions, a creative use of symbolic resources to appropriate and counter the symbolic systems of more powerful societies such as North America, Europe, and local political centres. But the supernaturalism of Thai Protestants is neither resistance nor syncretism as the concepts are usually defined, because the Thai Protestants are borrowing from North American evangelicals their master frameworks for rearticulating local notions of the spirit world. Unlike the classic case of syncretism among the Chamula of Central America, in whose early stages Christian saints took the functional place of local deities,1 in the Thai case Christians retain the local spirits' names while subordinating them to an armature of Christian meanings. This marriage of Christian universalism and local supernaturalism is not purely a local development. North American missionaries themselves tend to be supernaturalists these days. Many now theoretically believe in spirits and so are less likely than their predecessors to suppress Thai spirit beliefs. This changed attitude goes hand-in-hand with changed evangelical perspectives on the relationship between Christianity and scientific rationalism. Evangelicals still consider their teachings rational in the sense of being defensible, and they still see a natural world testifying of its Creator, but they no longer share the nineteenth-century confidence that Christianity is of a piece with the strictly empirical mindsets underlying science and technology. Distanced from Science by evolution's critique of theistic creation, and from modernism by liberal critiques of scriptural authority, fundamentalists and evangelicals made belief in the possibility of supernatural events a mark of self-identity, resisting the rationalism they once embraced but which now threatened their faith. The supernaturalism that missionaries encountered overseas provided some verification for their stance. Though evangelicals reviled witchcraft and spirit propitiation as the work of Satan, they also gleaned from these practices support for their view that there exists a reality beyond the scope of scientific mastery. Witchcraft for them did not so much explain (as concept) unfortunate events as demonstrate (as event) that God could
Restricted fence method for covariate selection in longitudinal data analysis

S UMMARY Fence method (Jiang and others 2008. Fence methods for mixed model selection. Annals of Statistics 36, 1669–1692) is a recently proposed strategy for model selection. It was motivated by the limitation of the traditional information criteria in selecting parsimonious models in some nonconventional situations, such as mixed model selection. Jiang and others (2009. A simplified adaptive fence procedure, Statistics & Probability Letters 79, 625–629) simplified the adaptive fence method of Jiang and others (2008) to make it more suitable and convenient to use in a wide variety of problems. Still, the current modification encounters computational difficulties when applied to high-dimensional and complex problems. To address this concern, we proposed a restricted fence procedure that combines the idea of the fence with that of the restricted maximum likelihood. Furthermore, we propose to use the wild bootstrap for choosing adaptively the tuning parameter used in the restricted fence. We focus on problems of longitudinal studies and demonstrate the performance of the new procedure and its comparison with other procedures of variable selection, including the information criteria and shrinkage methods, in simulation studies. The method is further illustrated by an example of real-data analysis.
Ordinary Differential Equations

We link here directly with the shrinking lemma, and this section may be read immediately after the first section of the preceding chapter.
The development and evaluation of a cost‐based composite scheduling rule

A cost-based composite scheduling rule is developed and evaluated in comparison with three other well-researched scheduling rules—SPT, S/OPN, and SST. This cost rule permits the optimization of more than one performance measure at a time. The priority number that is used for scheduling operations through each machine group is based on four separate performance measures—(1) In-process Inventory, (2) Facilities Utilization, (3) Lateness, and (4) Mean Setup Time. The factorial experimental design involved three factor levels of loads, three factor levels of cost, and three factor levels of mean time. Analysis of variance was performed on each of the five output measures to study the effects of each of the three factors on each individual rule. Rank-order comparisons between rules were also made; and, finally, general conclusions with regard to the effectiveness and flexibility of the Cost Rule were drawn.
Portrayals of Overweight and Obese Individuals on Commercial Television

Objectives. This study examined the distribution and individual characteristics of body types on prime-time television. Methods. Five episodes of each of the 10 top-rated prime-time fictional programs on 6 broadcast networks during the 1999–2000 season were quantitatively analyzed. Results. Of 1018 major television characters, 14% of females and 24% of males were overweight or obese, less than half their percentages in the general population. Overweight and obese females were less likely to be considered attractive, to interact with romantic partners, or to display physical affection. Overweight and obese males were less likely to interact with romantic partners and friends or to talk about dating and were more likely to be shown eating. Conclusions. Overweight and obese television characters are associated with specific negative characteristics.
Transient director patterns upon flow start-up of nematic liquid crystals (an explanation for stress oscillation damping)

In this work we attempt to determine the origin of damped stress oscillations upon flow start-up of a nematic liquid crystalline monodomain. These damped stress oscillations were first observed by Gu et al. (1993) in the cone-plate flow cell and have since also been observed by Mather et al. (1997) in the parallel disk cell. Although Mather's work explained the cause of the stress oscillation damping in the torsional flow cell, the origin of the damping in the cone-plate device remains a mystery. Here we report finding similar damped stress oscillations in the cylindrical Couette cell and combined with the optical experiments reported earlier by Cladis and Torza (1975, 1976) we are able to propose an explanation for the damping in this geometry. We also report new optical experiments using the cone-plate cell in hopes of determining a cause to the damping in the cone-plate cell.
Morphological and anatomical relationships of loblolly pine fine roots

&p.1: Suberized or brown roots have been traditionally considered secondary or woody tissues. The validity of using morphological features such as color to infer root anatomy for southern pines is questionable and unproven. The objectives of this study were (i) to establish relationships between root color, diameter, and developmental stage (i.e., primary or secondary tissues) for loblolly pine, (ii) to determine the percentages of primary and secondary brown roots by diameter class, and (iii) to use these percentages to make first order estimates of the amount of brown root length and surface area that is in the primary and secondary developmental stages for sampled roots of a semi-mature loblolly pine stand. “Unsectioned” roots were collected by coring to a 25-cm depth 3 times a year and measuring roots for length and surface area by diameter class. “Sectioned” roots were sampled from a one-time core and from periodic grab samples. These roots were sectioned and characterized by their color, diameter and developmental stage. Diameters of sectioned roots ( n=353) ranged from 0.21 to 8.24 mm. White and orange roots ranged from 0.23 to 2.50 mm, while brown roots spanned the range. White roots were developmentally primary, whereas orange/brown roots were either primary (from 0.21 to 2.50 mm), secondary (from 0.33 to 8.24 mm), or in transition (from 0.27 to 0.76). Total live root length of the sampled stands was estimated to be composed of 38% primary tissue, 58% secondary tissue, and 4% transition tissue. Lastly, neither root color nor diameter was a reliable predictor of developmental stage unless roots were white (primary), or orange/brown and >2.5 mm in diameter (secondary).
Engineering cytochrome P450 biocatalysts for biotechnology, medicine and bioremediation

Importance of the field: Cytochrome P450 enzymes comprise a superfamily of heme monooxygenases that are of considerable interest for the: i) synthesis of novel drugs and drug metabolites; ii) targeted cancer gene therapy; iii) biosensor design; and iv) bioremediation. However, their applications are limited because cytochrome P450, especially mammalian P450 enzymes, show a low turnover rate and stability, and require a complex source of electrons through cytochrome P450 reductase and NADPH.Areas covered in this review: In this review, we discuss the recent progress towards the use of P450 enzymes in a variety of the above-mentioned applications. We also present alternate and cost-effective ways to perform P450-mediated reaction, especially using peroxides. Furthermore, we expand upon the current progress in P450 engineering approaches describing several recent examples that are utilized to enhance heterologous expression, stability, catalytic efficiency and utilization of alternate oxidants.What the reade...
Corrections to the Prices of Derivatives due to Market Incompleteness

We compute the first-order corrections to marginal utility-based prices with respect to a ‘small’ number of random endowments in the framework of three incomplete financial models. They are a stoch...
Potential production and environmental effects of switchgrass and traditional crops under current and greenhouse-altered climate in the central United States: a simulation study

If, as many climate change analysts speculate, industrial and other emissions of CO2 can be offset by substitution of biofuels, large areas of land, including agricultural land, may be converted to the production of biomass feedstocks. This paper explores the feasibility for the Missouri‐Iowa‐Nebraska‐Kansas (MINK) region of the US of converting some agricultural land to the production of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a perennial warm season grass, as a biomass energy crop. The erosion productivity impact calculator (EPIC) crop growth model simulated production of corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor(L.) Moench), soybean (Glycine maxL.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) and switchgrass at 302 sites within the MINK region. The analysis is done for both current climatic conditions and a regional climate model-based scenario of possible climate change. Daily climate records from 1983 to 1993 served as baseline and the NCAR-RegCM2 model (RegCM hereafter) nested within the CSIRO general circulation model (GCM) provided the climate change scenario. Crop production was simulated at two atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2]) at 365 and 560 ppm to consider the CO2-fertilization effect. Simulated yields of the perennial switchgrass increased at all sites with a mean yield increase of 5.0 Mg ha 1 under the RegCM climate change scenario. Switchgrass yields benefited from temperature increases of 3.0‐8.0 C, which extended the growing season and reduced the incidence of cold stress. Conversely, the higher temperatures under the RegCM scenario decreased yields of corn, soybean, sorghum and winter wheat due to increased heat stress and a speeding of crop maturity. With no CO2-fertilization effect, EPIC simulated maximum decreases from baseline of 1.5 Mg ha 1 for corn, 1.0 Mg ha 1 for sorghum, 0.8 Mg ha 1 for soybean and 0.5 Mg ha 1 for winter wheat. Simulated yields increased for all crops under the RegCM scenario with CO2 set to 560 ppm. Yields increased above baseline for 34% of the soybean and 37% of the winter wheat farms under RegCM/[CO2] D 560 ppm scenario. Water use increased for all crops under the higher temperatures of the CSIRO scenario. Precipitation increases resulted in greater runoff from the traditional crops but not from switchgrass due to the crop’s increased growth and longer growing season. Simulated soil erosion rates under switchgrass and wheat cultivation
Inhibitory effects of substantia nigra on impulse transmission from nociceptors

In precollicularly decerebrated cats immobilized with Flaxedil (2 mg/kg, i.v.), a dopamine mechanism played a role in the inhibition produced by brain stem stimulation of nociceptive activated cells in the spinal cord. Lamina V cell activity evoked by natural stimulation (pinch not touch) to the left hind limb or electrical stimulation (0.1 msec pulses at 1/sec) to the left sural nerve exposed at the popliteal fossa was recorded at levels L6 and L7. Brain stimulation consisted of 100 msec trains of either single rectangular pulses or 3 pulses/sec for 1 min. The stimulation was delivered to substantia nigra, periaqueductal gray (PAG) and dorsal raphe nucleus via concentric bipolar electrodes. Descending inhibition of the late burst of lamina V cell discharge elicited by mechanical pinch or sural shock could be demonstrated following individual stimulation of the 3 brain stem sites. Nigral-induced inhibition was abolished by injecting tetrabenazine (40 mg/kg, i.v.) or bulbocapnine (20 mg/kg, i.v.); the inhibition was re-established by L-DOPA (20 mg/kg, i.v.) or apomorphine (20 mg/kg, i.v.) indicating that a dopaminergic link has access to the descending inhibitory action on segmental transmission of “pain” impulses. Both nigral and PAG actions were sensitive to methysergide (1 mg/kg, i.v.), while the serotonergic blockade could be overcome by 5-hydroxytryptamine (70 mg/kg, i.v.). We proposed that nigral and PAG actions were relayed in part through the descending raphe system. Through this relay, they exhibit their antinociceptive effects.
Monitoring ecological processes for restoration projects

Summary Restoration of ecological processes is key to restoring the capacity of ecosystems to support social, economic, cultural and aesthetic values. The sustainability of the restored system also depends on processes associated with carbon, nutrient and hydrologic cycles, yet most restoration monitoring is limited to plant community composition. Our research has shown that short-term plant composition monitoring is a necessary but insufficient predictor of long-term restoration success. Long-term (up to 75 years) studies in the western United States show that short-term monitoring of plant community composition alone incorrectly predicted the failure of treatments that were ultimately successful, and the success of treatments that ultimately failed. We propose that vegetation composition monitoring be combined with one or more ecological process indicators reflecting changes in three fundamental ecosystem attributes on which restoration success depends: soil and site stability, hydrologic function and biotic integrity. These simple, rapid, plot-level indicators reflect changes in resource redistribution and vegetation structure. We include a case study involving restoration of mixed grass prairie on mineland in the west-central United States. Published by Elsevier GmbH.
Using banded sunflower moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) egg density to estimate damage and economic distance in oilseed sunflower.

The banded sunflower moth, Cochylis hospes Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is an important economic pest of sunflower in the Upper Great Plains of North America. Economic losses due to reductions in seed number, weight, and quality can be significant. Previously, the potential for economic losses were estimated by sampling for adult moths. However, sampling for moths can be difficult and inaccurate. An alternative is to sample for banded sunflower moth eggs, which can be accurately counted in the field by using a binocular 3.5 headband magnifier. The egg counts are used to calculate the economic injury level (EIL) (EIL = C/VWPK), where C is the cost of treatment per unit area, V is the crop market value per unit of weight, W is the slope of the regression between banded sunflower moth egg densities and weight loss per plant, P is a term for plant population per unit area, and K is the control treatment efficacy. Estimates of populations of banded sunflower moth eggs are taken from the center of 400-m spans along all field sides. From these samples and the calculated EIL, a map of the extent of the economically damaging banded sunflower moth population throughout the field is made using economic distance; ED = e(((EIL/E) − 1.458)/−0.262). Economic distance estimates the distance an economic population extends into the field interior along a transect from the sampling site. By using egg samples to calculate the EIL and mapping the distribution of economic populations throughout a field, producers can then make more effective pest management decisions.
Tax Planning for the Lobby Tax

In 1993, Congress eliminated the business deduction for lobbying. The disallowance extends to dues paid to tax-exempt trade and labor associations when those organizations conduct lobbying activities. Associations are required to notify members regarding the portion of their dues that is non-deductible or pay a flat 35% tax on their lobbying expenditures. This study examines the factors considered by associations in making the pay-or-notify decision, looking for evidence that associations consider the marginal tax rates of their members to insure that the party with the lowest marginal rate pays the tax. Data is obtained from the IRS and is supplemented by data collected in a mail survey. The evidence suggests that associations do not necessarily attempt to minimize the total tax cost to all parties. This study identifies a situation where non-profit firms might fail to implement an optimal tax planning strategy, and where the absence of a competitive market allows this inefficiency to persist.
A Survey of Retinal Remodeling.

Up to 15 years ago, bibliographic searches based on keywords such as “photoreceptor degeneration, inner retina” or “photoreceptor degeneration, second order neurons” returned only a handful of papers, as the field was dominated by the general assumption that retinal degeneration had direct effects on the sole populations of rods and cones. Since then, a number of studies have been dedicated to understanding the process of gradual morphological, molecular and functional changes arising among cells located in the inner retina (comprising neurons, glia and blood vessels), that is to say “beyond” photoreceptors. General aspects of this progression of biological rearrangements, now referred to as “remodeling”, were revealed and demonstrated to accompany consistently photoreceptor loss, independently from the underlying cause of degeneration. Recurrent features of remodeling are summarized here, to provide a general frame for to the various analytical descriptions and reviews provided by the articles in the issue (among others, see Stasheff; Goo et al., Puthussery et al.; Fernandez-Sanchez et al.; Euler and Schubert; Jones et al.; this issue).
Improved method for determination of plasma polysaccharides with tryptophan.

SummaryA method to measure the concentration of sugars in solution, particularly of polysaccharides in biological fluids such as plasma, is presented. It is a modification of a tryptophan method already described and utilizes boric acid in the reaction medium. The color intensity is increased and the color quality modified to give maximum absorption at a longer wave length where interference by non-specific brown produced by reagent blanks and proteins is diminished.
Quillen's solution of Serre's Problem

In this note we recall the history of Serre's problem and its beautiful solution given by D. Quillen in 1976
Influence of the Metal (Al, Cr, and Co) and the Substituents of the Porphyrin in Controlling the Reactions Involved in the Copolymerization of Propylene Oxide and Carbon Dioxide by Porphyrin Metal(III) Complexes. 2. Chromium Chemistry

The reactivities of chromium(III) complexes LCrX, where L = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (TFPP), and 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin (OEP) and X = Cl or OH, have been studied with respect to their ability to homopolymerize propylene oxide (PO) and copolymerize PO and CO(2) to yield polypropylene oxide (PPO) and polypropylene carbonate (PPC) or propylene carbonate (PC), respectively, with and without the presence of a cocatalyst, namely, 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) or PPN(+)Cl(-) (bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium chloride). The homopolymerization is notably faster (TOF ≈ 2000 h(-1) at room temperature) than copolymerization, which commonly leads to ether-rich polymers. Studies of kinetics reveal that for TPPCr(OH) with DMAP (1 equiv) the propagation reaction rate is first order in [Cr] with excess PO. With PPN(+)Cl(-) as a cocatalyst the reaction order in [Cr] and [Cl(-)] is complicated by the presence of two growing chains, and the presence of excess [Cl(-)] facilitates the formation of PC by two different backbiting mechanisms. The fixation of CO(2) is promoted by [Cl(-)] but is not greatly influenced by CO(2) pressure (1-50 bar). The reactions and polymers have been monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy, react-IR, GPC, ESI, and MALDI TOF, and NMR ((1)H, (13)C{(1)H}) spectroscopy. Notable differences are seen in these reactions when compared with earlier studies by Darensbourg et al. with salen chromium(III) systems and related aluminum(III) porphyrins.
OSTEOCHONDRITIS OF THE CUBOID ASSOCIATED WITH TUBERCULOSIS OF ADJACENT TARSAL BONES

1. A case of osteochondritis of the cuboid, with co-existing tuberculosis of the third cuneiform bone, is reported. 2. The possible relationship between osteochondritis and tuberculosis is discussed.
An improved, rapid procedure for the determination of amniotic fluid bilirubin and its use in the prediction of the course of Rh-sensitized pregnancies.

A simple, rapid chloroform extraction method for analyzing amniotic fluid samples in Rh sensitization is presented. It consists of the extraction of the unconjugated bilirubin into chloroform and the determination of the bilirubin concentration in the CHCl 3 layer. The values show excellent correlation with those obtained by the method of Liley for estimating the 450 mμ peak. No interference occurs in samples containing excessive heme pigments, meconium, and turbidity. The retrospective evaluation of 137 pregnancies from which 276 amniotic fluid specimens were analyzed with the chloroform extraction technique is presented. The patients are grouped according to clinical severity of the disease in the infant at birth. A prediction graph has been constructed which can be used to aid in the management of individual Rh-sensitized pregnancies. The importance of serial amniotic fluid samples is emphasized.
Doctors and Public Authorities: The Trend toward Collaboration

Insuring a population and managing its money require a comprehensive health care financing system. Many issues must be resolved, particularly the roles of the medical profession and its relationship with organizations of laymen in insurance carriers and in government. The spread of society-wide, third-party reimbursement produced conflicts with doctors over admission to practice, work rules, and pay in all countries. Eventually new arrangements were made to settle conflicts of interest and to ensure the harmonious operation of health care services. Policymakers and financial managers came to realize that the medical profession as a whole must be motivated to ensure the success of the system. Recently countries with statutory health insurance and direct public financing created new systems for negotiation and for joint decision making. Even some governments now agree to collaborate with doctors as virtual peers rather than to dictate rules and finance. The only exception is the United States, which will continue to have periodic conflicts until it crafts a joint decision-making system. The evidence comes from the author's first-hand field research over thirty years in the principal developed countries in Europe and North America. He interviewed informants, collected reports, and observed events for these topics primarily in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
Case for fMRI data repositories.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology for studying the human brain is the result of considerable efforts of distinguished physicists and engineers (1, 2). Despite concerns about some of its conclusions (3), it is now a common tool in neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry. In these applications, statistical methods provide many of the tools for both the preprocessing of fMRI signals and the analysis of those processed data (4). These statistical procedures are implemented in software packages whose algorithms are rather involved, typically using parametric models for the error distribution and the spatial autocorrelation function. They are used to study both individual voxels and clusters of voxels. As a result, there are many thousands of fMRI-based publications. In PNAS, Eklund et al. (5) report on their studies of the statistical aspects of fMRI studies. In particular, they assess the performance of three software packages on datasets made available through sharing agreements. They tell a sobering tale: Family-wise error (FWE) rates that should be about 5% can be much higher, there was a bug in software that led to inflated error rates for 15 y, and a survey of 241 recent fMRI papers indicates that about 40% did not report using well-known methods for correcting for multiple testing. These findings cast a shadow of doubt on those earlier publications. However, their work also … [↵][1]1Email: ssi{at}pitt.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Visual capture of a stereo sound: Interactions between cue reliability, sound localization variability, and cross-modal bias

Multisensory interactions involve coordination and sometimes competition between multiple senses. Vision usually dominates audition in spatial judgments when light and sound stimuli are presented from two different physical locations. This study investigated the influence of vision on the perceived location of a phantom sound source placed in a stereo sound field using a pair of loudspeakers emitting identical signals that were delayed or attenuated relative to each other. Results show that although a similar horizontal range (+/−45°) was reported for timing-modulated and level-modulated signals, listeners' localization performance showed greater variability for the timing signals. When visual stimuli were presented simultaneously with the auditory stimuli, listeners showed stronger visual bias for timing-modulated signals than level-modulated and single-speaker control signals. Trial-to-trial errors remained relatively stable over time, suggesting that sound localization uncertainty has an immediate and long-lasting effect on the across-modal bias. Binaural signal analyses further reveal that interaural differences of time and intensity—the two primary cues for sound localization in the azimuthal plane—are inherently more ambiguous for signals placed using timing. These results suggest that binaural ambiguity is intrinsically linked with localization variability and the strength of cross-modal bias in sound localization.
Clinical Management of Non-Testicular Intrascrotal Tumors

AbstractOur 10-year experience with non-testicular intrascrotal tumors has been combined with an extensive survey of the literature. The over-all incidence of malignancy affecting intrascrotal structures is high: 1) 25 per cent of epididymal neoplasms are malignant, 2) excluding cord lipomas, 56 per cent of cord tumors are malignant and 3) 59 per cent of scrotal tunic neoplasms are of malignant origin. Because of the high incidence of malignancy and because tumors of these structures are often misdiagnosed, a clinical approach to the diagnosis and management of non-testicular intrascrotal masses is presented.
Optimal Timing for Elective Early Primary Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot: Analysis of Intermediate Term Outcomes.

Background We have previously demonstrated that early primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary stenosis (TOF) can be safely performed without increase in hospital resource utilization or compromise to surgical technical performance scores (TPS). We sought to identify the optimal timing for elective early primary repair of TOF with respect to intermediate-term reintervention. Methods Retrospective review of all patients with TOF undergoing elective primary repair between September 2004 and December 2013 was performed. Patients were stratified into reintervention group or no reintervention group. Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified independent predictors of reintervention. Youden's J-index in receiver operating characteristic analysis identified optimal age cutoff predictive of reintervention. Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test compared reintervention rates stratified by age and TPS. Results A total of 129 patients with median (interquartile range) age and weight of 78 days (56 to 111) and 5 kg (4.1 to 5.7), respectively, underwent primary repair. After a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 2.3 years (0.1 to 4.6), 18 patients (14%) required a total of 22 reinterventions. Youden's J-index revealed significantly lower risk of intermediate-term reintervention when repaired after 55 days of age (8% for >55 days old versus 31% for ≤55 days of age). Multivariable Cox regression identified age 55 days and younger (hazard ratio [HR] 4.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 12.8, p = 0.004), valve sparing repair (HR 15.3, 95% CI 1.8 to 128.5, p p p Conclusions Elective repair in patients greater than 55 days of age, irrespective of size of the patient, can be safely performed without any increase in reintervention rates. Both residual peak RVOT gradient and TPS are effective in identifying patients at increased risk of reintervention.
On the existence and uniqueness of solution to a stochastic 2D Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes model

Abstract We study in this article a stochastic version of a coupled Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes model in a two dimensional bounded domain. The model consists of the Navier–Stokes equations for the velocity, coupled with a Cahn–Hilliard model for the order (phase) parameter. We prove the existence and the uniqueness of a variational solution.
Noncontact tomography and a pH-sensitive nanocomposite for monitoring osseointegrated prosthesis interfaces

The main objective of this research is to develop a noncontact and noninvasive method for monitoring infections at the interface of human tissue and osseointegrated prostheses. The technique used here is centered on the theory of a noncontact permittivity imaging technique known as electrical capacitance tomography (ECT). This work is divided into two main parts. First, an ECT electrical permittivity reconstruction software and hardware system was developed. Second, a carbon nanotube-polyaniline nanocomposite thin film was designed and fabricated such that its electrical permittivity is sensitive to pH stimuli. The dielectric properties of this thin film were characterized as it was exposed to different pH buffer solutions. It is envisioned that osseointegrated implants can be pre-coated with the pH-sensitive nanocomposite prior to implant. When infection occurs and alters the local pH of tissue at the human-prosthesis interface, the dielectric property of the film would change accordingly. Then, ECT can interrogate the cross-section of the human limb and reconstruct its permittivity distribution, revealing localized changes in permittivity due to infection. To validate this concept, a prosthesis phantom was coated with the nanocomposite pH sensor and then immersed in different pH buffer solutions. ECT was conducted, and the results showed that the magnitude and location of subsurface, localized, pH changes could be detected. In general, noncontact tomography coupled with stimuliresponsive thin films could pave way for new modalities of noninvasive human body imaging, in particular, for patients with osseointegrated implants and prostheses.
Beyond the Technology: Attribution and Agency in Treatments for Mental Disorders

Goering and colleagues (2017) discuss what is indeed a very heated debate within neuroethics, namely, the potential implications of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for identity and agency. Their parti...
Piezoelectric Plate Sensor (PEPS) for Analysis of Specific KRAS Point Mutations at Low Copy Number in Urine Without DNA Isolation or Amplification

We have examined in situ detection of single-nucleotide KRAS mutations in urine using a (Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3)0.65(PbTiO3)0.35 (PMN-PT) piezoelectric plate sensor (PEPS) coated with a 17-nucleotide (nt) locked nucleic acid (LNA) probe DNA complementary to the KRAS mutation without DNA isolation and amplification. In situ mutant (MT) DNA in urine in a wild type (WT) background was carried out at a flow rate of 4 mL/min and at 63 °C with the PEPS vertically situated at the center of the flow. Both the temperature and the impingement flow force discriminated the wild type. Under these conditions PEPS was shown to specifically detect KRAS MT in situ within 30 min with an analytical sensitivity of 60 copies/mL in a clinically relevant background of WT with concentrations 1000-fold greater than that of MT without DNA isolation, amplification, or labeling. For validation, detection was performed in a mixture of blue MT fluorescent reporter microspheres (FRMs) (MT FRMs) that bound to only the captured MT, and orange WT FRMs that bound to only the captured WT. The captured blue MT FRMs still outnumbered the orange WT FRMs by a factor of 4-1 even though WT was 1000-fold of MT in urine, illustrating the specificity of the point mutation detection.
Adenosine Administration With a Stopcock Technique Delivers Lower-Than-Intended Drug Doses.

Study objective Adenosine administration with a stopcock is the recommended treatment for pediatric patients with acute supraventricular tachycardia. Recent reports suggest that many infants do not respond to the first dose of adenosine administered. Our aim is to determine whether administration of adenosine with a stopcock delivers lower-than-expected drug doses in patients weighing less than 10 kg, corresponding to weights of infants. Methods We developed an in vitro model of adenosine delivery. Doses of adenosine corresponding to weights 2 to 25 kg were calculated, using a dose of 0.1 mg/kg, and administered through one port of a stopcock. Distilled water was administered through the second port. The adenosine concentration of the output was measured with mass spectrometry and results were confirmed with spectrophotometry of Evans blue. Results The mean doses of adenosine delivered through the stopcock increased as weight increased. The mean dose of adenosine delivered was 0.08 mg/kg for weights 2 to 9 kg and 0.1 mg/kg for weights 10 to 25 kg (95% confidence interval for difference of means –0.03 to –0.009). The median dose of adenosine delivered was 0.07 mg/kg (interquartile range [IQR] 0.06 to 0.07 mg/kg), 0.09 mg/kg (IQR 0.08 to 0.09 mg/kg), and 0.1 mg/kg (IQR 0.09 to 0.1 mg/kg) for weights 2 to 5, 6 to 9, and 10 to 25 kg, respectively (rank difference=100; P Conclusion Administration of adenosine through a stopcock delivers doses lower than intended in patients weighing less than 10 kg, which may account for the decreased response of infants to the first dose of adenosine.
Interconnection Networks Efficiency in System-on-Chip Distributed Computing System: Concentrated Mesh and Fat Tree

Distributed Processing Systems (DPS) take sophisticated tasks as input, divide them into smaller chunks and process in a distributed manner using spread resources. There are many well-known DPS that operate on geographically distributed nodes, but the operating scale for such systems spans till also on-chip architectures. In this paper, we present a concept of distributed processing system for System-On-Chip scale and define the assumptions, architecture, components and show how to build the DPS over SoC. Using the proposed concept, we evaluate the low-level interconnection architectures: concentrated mesh and fat tree &#x2013; and compare their efficiency with a well-known one &#x2013; 2D mesh. The proposed DPS is formulated as MIP-style mathematical description, along with energy consumption metric. The properties of each object, abstraction layers and system operation are comprehensively defined. Proposed ideas and solutions are implemented in an experimentation system that is used to research their quality. Research results show that the concentrated mesh is a promising interconnection network suitable to handle the needs of distributed processing systems on a SoC.
Improving Stroke Rehabilitation with Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Stroke is a leading cause of neurological damage, with an estimated 795,000 cases reported in the United States each year. A large percentage of patients who suffer a stroke exhibit long-term impairments in motor function. Poststroke rehabilitation in part aims to promote adaptive changes in neural circuits to support recovery of function, but insufficient or maladaptive plasticity often limits benefits. Adjunctive strategies that support plasticity in conjunction with rehabilitation represent a potential means to improve recovery after stroke. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has emerged as one such targeted plasticity strategy, providing phasic activation of neuromodulatory nuclei associated with plasticity. Repeatedly pairing brief bursts of VNS with motor training drives robust, specific plasticity in neural circuits. A number of studies in animal models of stroke and neurological injury demonstrate that VNS paired with rehabilitative training improves recovery of motor function. Moreover, emerging evidence from clinical trials indicates that VNS delivered during rehabilitation promotes functional recovery in stroke patients. Here, we provide a discussion of the existing literature of VNS-based targeted plasticity therapies in the context of stroke and outline challenges for clinical implementation.
Development of antibrowning and antimicrobial formulations to minimize Listeria monocytogenes contamination and inhibit browning of fresh-cut “Granny Smith” apples

Abstract In recent years, there have been a number of Listeria monocytogenes recalls involving fresh-cut apples treated with antibrowning solutions. In the present study, we used response surface methodology to develop and optimize formulations for reducing L. monocytogenes populations in the solutions and for maintaining cutting surface color of apple slices. The following two sets of three chemicals at various levels were combined: citric acid + calcium ascorbate+ N-acetyl- l -cysteine (NAC), and citric acid + ascorbic acid +NAC. The survival of a 4-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes cells (F2365, serotype: 4b; NRRL 33857, serotype: 1/2a; NRRL 33723, serotype: 1/2a; NRRL 33230, serotype: 4c) in the solutions prepared from the combinations was evaluated, and the changes in cutting surface color parameters (L*, a* and b*) and skin edge browning of “Granny Smith” apple slices dipped in the solutions for 3 min were assessed during 21 d of storage at 4 °C. Results showed that combinations of citric acid, calcium ascorbate and NAC were ineffective in achieving 5 log reduction of L. monocytogenes. However, formulations comprised of 4.0–4.5 % citric acid, 3–4% ascorbic acid and 1.5–2.0% NAC achieved more than 5 log reduction of L. monocytogenes in the solutions, and the cutting surface of apple slices treated with these formulations maintained L* values of > 70, and a* values of
Text-Based Analytics for Biosurveillance

The ability to prevent, mitigate, or control a biological threat depends on how quickly the threat is identified and characterized. Ensuring the timely delivery of data and analytics is an essential aspect of providing adequate situational awareness in the face of a disease outbreak. This chapter outlines an analytic pipeline for supporting an advanced early warning system that can integrate multiple data sources and provide situational awareness of potential and occurring disease situations. The pipeline includes real-time automated data analysis founded on natural language processing, semantic concept matching, and machine learning techniques, to enrich content with metadata related to biosurveillance. Online news articles are presented as a use case for the pipeline, but the processes can be generalized to any textual data. In this chapter, the mechanics of a streaming pipeline are briefly discussed as well as the major steps required to provide targeted situational awareness. The text-based analytic pipeline includes various processing steps as well as identifying article relevance to biosurveillance (e.g., relevance algorithm) and article feature extraction (who, what, where, why, how, and when).
Los dos primos Bernard Berenson: la interacción de inmigración, cultura y narcisismo

Se estudia, desde las perspectivas historica y psicodinamica, usando el metodo psicobiografico, la vida de dos primos del siglo XIX que cambiaron sus nombres para Bernard Berenson. Ambos judios, emigraran separadamente a Boston desde Lituania, en 1875 y 1882. Uno de ellos, que mas tarde llamo a si mismo simplemente de B.B., se torno un historiador del arte de renombre mundial. El otro Bernard se convirtio en un misantropo luego de sentirse profundamente humillado por la familia de su primo en Boston. Se escribieron muchas biografias del famoso B.B. Las unicas historias de su primo Bernard fueron relatos familiares, mientras era el bisabuelo de la autora. Se analizan las vidas cruzadas de estos dos hombres. Ambos enfrentaron los problemas de la inmigracion asi como el intenso antisemitismo y los prejuicios en cada pais en el que vivieron. Estas condiciones culturales e historicas interactuaron con las vulnerabilidades narcisistas de los primos. Sus vidas demostraron diferentes manifestaciones de sufrimient...