cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Health Benefits of Fiber Fermentation.

Although fiber is well recognized for its effect on laxation, increasing evidence supports the role of fiber in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the health benefits of fiber and its fermentation, and describe how the products of fermentation may influence disease risk and treatment. Higher fiber intakes are associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Fiber may also have a role in lowering blood pressure and in preventing obesity by limiting weight gain. Fiber is effective in managing blood glucose in type 2 diabetes, useful for weight loss, and may provide therapeutic adjunctive roles in kidney and liver disease. In addition, higher fiber diets are not contraindicated in inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome and may provide some benefit. Common to the associations with disease reduction is fermentation of fiber and its potential to modulate microbiota and its activi...
Chlorhexidine-impregnated transparent dressings decrease catheter-related infections in hemodialysis patients: a quality improvement project

PurposeCentral venous catheters (CVC) are associated with increased infection rates, morbidity and mortality compared to other hemodialysis vascular access. Chlorhexidine-impregnated transparent (C...
Information Literacy and the Workforce: A Review.

This paper is a review of reports on information literacy and the workforce. There is a substantial body of literature on information literacy in K-16 educational settings, but there is much less literature on implications for the workplace and job-related lifelong learning. The topical categories of the reports are: the importance of information literacy for the workforce; how information literacy differs in work and educational settings; and barriers to information literacy in the workplace. The paper concludes with recommendations for practice and for further research.
NASPAA: The Public Administration Process and Approach Toward Accreditation

In this article, I explore the NASPAA public administration approach to accreditation and its suitability for accrediting higher education content that focuses on nonprofits and philanthropy. Several factors suggest that the NASPAA public administration approach can serve nonprofit and philanthropy programs well, including its focus on public service values, status as professional accreditor, focus on educating programs for success, and its extensive use of peer review. Resource constraints pose challenges for any accreditation approach, and these are amplified by a rising culture of assessment within institutions and by increased faculty responsibilities. Although separate accreditation through NASPAA for a nonprofit or philanthropy specialization is untenable at this time, there is promise in considering the essential nature of nonprofit and philanthropy content in graduate degrees that focus on public service under the public administration umbrella of public service.
Depressive symptoms predict cancer caregivers' physical health decline.

BACKGROUND Cancer caregiving has been associated with worsening health among caregivers themselves, yet demographic and psychosocial predictors of their long-term health decline are less known. This study examines changes in caregivers' physical health 2 to 8 years after their family members' cancer diagnosis and prospective predictors of that change. METHODS Caregivers (n = 664; mean age, 53.2 years) participated in a nationwide study at 2 (T1), 5 (T2), and 8 (T3) years after their family members' cancer diagnosis. Physical health (12-item Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Health Survey Physical Component Scale) was assessed T1 through T3 as outcome. Predictors were self-reported at T1, including caregiver demographics (age, sex, education, income, relationship to patient, and employment status), patient cancer severity (from medical records), and caregiver psychosocial factors (caregiving stress, caregiving esteem, social support, and depressive symptoms). Latent growth modeling tested predictors of caregivers' initial physical health and their physical health change across time. RESULTS At T1, caregivers reported slightly better physical health than the US population (M = 51.22, P = .002), which declined over the following 6 years (Mslope = −0.27, P < .001). All demographic factors, patient cancer severity, and T1 caregiving stress were related to caregivers' initial physical health (P ≤ .03). Higher depressive symptoms were unrelated to caregivers' initial physical health, but were the only significant predictor of caregivers' more rapid physical health decline (B = −0.02, P = .004). CONCLUSION Findings highlight the unique contribution of caregivers' depressive symptoms to their physical health decline. Assessing and addressing depressive symptoms among caregivers early in the cancer survivorship trajectory may help to prevent premature health decline among this important yet vulnerable population. Cancer 2017. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
The Role of Advanced Practice Clinicians in the Neuroscience ICU

The field of neurocritical care encompasses a broad range of neurological pathology and requires a multidisciplinary approach to provide the best patient care. At institutions across the country, physicians work alongside physician assistants and nurse practitioners to care for neurologically ill patients. This collaborative relationship serves to provide an ideal complement of specialized medical knowledge and experienced bedside care. For the purposes of this project, the term advanced practice clinician (APC) is used to encompass the commonly shared roles of physician assistants and nurse practitioners. APCs are effective in providing excellent care for the critically ill patient, including in the neuroscience ICU. The purpose of this project is to provide a practical resource for APCs engaging with the field of neurocritical care.
Validation of the eighth edition American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal cancer.

Background The eighth edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging manual includes major changes in staging of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). We evaluated the new staging system in order to validate this shift in classification. Methods We used the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to identify patients with human papillomavirus-associated (HPV-positive) OPC from 2010-2013. We restaged patients using the eighth edition guidelines and compared them with those from the seventh edition. We calculated stage-specific overall survival and concordance indices. Results We identified 15 116 patients with a median follow-up period of 29.1 months. Clinical and pathological staging changed for 93.9% and 91.7% of patients, respectively. Survival concordance indices for both clinical (0.621-0.656) and pathological (0.640-0.663) staging were improved in the eighth edition compared to the seventh edition. Conclusion The eighth edition guidelines have profoundly altered staging of HPV-positive OPC and seem to demonstrate improved survival discrimination.
Fungi-Derived Pigments for Sustainable Organic (Opto)Electronics

We present on the optical and electronic properties of a fungi-derived pigment xylindein for potential use in (opto)electronic applications. Optical absorption spectra in solutions of various concentrations and in film are compared and are consistent with aggregate formation in concentrated solutions and films. In order to improve film morphology obtained by solution deposition techniques, an amorphous polymer PMMA was introduced to xylindein to form xylindein:PMMA blends. Current-voltage characteristics and hole mobilities extracted from space-charge limited currents were found to be comparable between pristine xylindein and xylindein:PMMA films. Side by side comparison of the photoresponse of pristine xylindein and xylindein:PMMA films at 633 nm revealed an increase in the photosensitivity in xylindein:PMMA films due to the improved morphology favouring enhanced charge generation.
Integrative Nutrition and Nutrition/Herbal Supplements

Nutrition is a component of supportive care that expands throughout the spectrum of cancer care. Practitioners must balance the delivery of the necessary medications for cancer treatment while maintaining growth and development. This can be challenging especially during times of malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition is common among children with cancer with previous surveys reporting that nearly 25 % of patients present with malnutrition in developed countries. This figure increases to over 50 % when developing countries are considered. Malnutrition often develops over the course of therapy and is related to the intensity of therapy and diagnosis. It was not until the late 1970s that the role of nutrition status began to be described among children with cancer. Initial studies reported increased toxicity and adverse outcomes in children who were malnourished compared to nourished children. Recent studies have confirmed some of these initial findings and have reported that poor nutrition status, either over- or undernutrition, was associated with increased therapy-related side effects and poor survival (Brinksma et al. 2012). Patients with acute myeloid leukemia who presented with either over- or undernutrition had poorer survival when compared to well-nourished patients (Lange et al. 2005. In children with osteosarcoma, malnutrition was associated with a trend toward increased slough and wound infections and arterial thrombosis (Hingorani et al. 2011; Hingorani et al. 2011). Most recently, a retrospective study exploring the effect of nutrition status at diagnosis and throughout therapy in children with high-risk ALL reported that patients who were malnourished experienced increased toxicity and reduced survival (Etan). When evaluated as a whole, these studies underscore the importance of timely and effective nutrition interventions.
Racial differences of iron deficiency anemia in gastric cancer.

e15564Background: One of the six domains of health care quality identified by the Institute of Medicine in 2001 was equitable care.1 While disparities in cancer are often expressed in terms of mort...
“We didn’t have to go through those barriers”: Culturally affirming learning in a high school affinity group

Abstract Using data from interviews, student work, and classroom observations in a “History of Race” course at a private predominantly White high school, this article examines the racialized tensions that led the teacher (first author) to create an unofficial affinity group for students of color that met outside of class. The authors argue that the teacher׳s attempt to implement a curriculum that was culturally affirming for students of color by de-centering Whiteness led to White students’ resistance that necessitated the creation of an unofficial “safe space” outside of the classroom for the students of color. The need for such a group demonstrates the difficulties inherent in presenting a more honest account of the role of race and racism in the United States that challenges narratives of historical progress. The article concludes that while students of color ideally should have access to culturally affirming knowledge inside social studies classrooms, this experience demonstrates why that kind of knowledge can only be engaged effectively within learning spaces that challenge the norms of conventional social studies education.
Study Abroad Participation: An Unintended Consequence of State Merit-Aid Programs?

This study employs difference-in-differences estimation to explore the relationship between the implementation of state merit-aid programs and students’ participation in study abroad. The relationship between implementation of these financial aid programs and study abroad participation has not been tested explicitly in prior policy or education abroad literatures. While state merit-aid programs provide students with additional economic capital that might allow them to participate in educational opportunities such as study abroad, other aspects of merit-aid programs could discourage such engagement. Indeed, analyses of a panel dataset consisting of information from all 50 states suggested either no relationship between the implementation of merit-aid programs and study abroad or a situation wherein merit-aid implementation tempers students’ desires or abilities to study abroad. These findings may be the result of certain characteristics of merit-aid policies, such as a cap on the number of credit hours for which scholarship funds can be awarded or satisfactory academic progress requirements, and have important implications for state policy-makers and institutional actors. This study highlights several directions for future research on the relationship between state-level merit-aid programs and undergraduate participation in education abroad.
Macro CDSEM 2D metrology supporting advanced DRAM patterning

The growing demand for advanced DRAM technologies requires development of novel process control methodologies reflecting design rule shrinkage. The new challenges for CD SEM metrology of dense feature arrays of DRAM layers are widely considered in the literature and ITRS documents. In addition to traditional SEM metrology methods based on measurement of individual features, the development of novel measurement techniques is required for dense cell arrays at small nodes.[1-3] We considered a novel metrology of CDSEM Critical Dimension (CD) in dense arrays, formed as capacitors in advanced dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) layers. The proposed approach is based on traditional CDSEM metrology methodology with new developments providing flexibility, CD-style high precision, and large statistical sampling capabilities for advanced Statistical Process Control (SPC). The metrology challenge is solved through development of new algorithmic approaches for dense array measurements. The approach was validated on data simulation of extracting geometry (CD) parameters of actual DRAM cell structures and verified on real data.
Prethermal Phases of Matter Protected by Time-Translation Symmetry

In systems driven by time-varying fields, new phases of matter might exist that do not appear when the system is static. A mathematical formulation shows that novel phases of matter also exist in prethermal states, where the system exchanges heat with its environment very slowly.
Bilateral renal forniceal rupture due to retroperitoneal hematoma after femoral venous access.

Abstract Retroperitoneal hematoma is a potential complication of femoral venous access that rarely leads to bilateral ureteral obstruction. We present the case of a 73-year-old woman who underwent an ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation complicated by laceration of an aberrant obturator artery during femoral venous cannulation, leading to a compressive retroperitoneal hematoma, bilateral ureteral obstruction, acute renal failure, and renal forniceal rupture. The patient was successfully treated with embolization of the inferior epigastric artery and aberrant obturator artery, hematoma evacuation, and ureteral stent placement. This case illustrates a rare complication of arterial laceration during femoral venous access without ultrasound guidance.
GRooT: Proactive Verification of DNS Configurations

The Domain Name System (DNS) plays a vital role in today's Internet but relies on complex distributed management of records. DNS misconfiguration related outages have rendered popular services like GitHub, HBO, LinkedIn, and Azure inaccessible for extended periods. This paper introduces GRoot, the first verifier that performs static analysis of DNS configuration files, enabling proactive and exhaustive checking for common DNS bugs; by contrast, existing solutions are reactive and incomplete. GRoot uses a new, fast verification algorithm based on generating and enumerating DNS query equivalence classes. GRoot symbolically executes the set of queries in each equivalence class to efficiently find (or prove the absence of) any bugs such as rewrite loops. To prove the correctness of our approach, we develop a formal semantic model of DNS resolution. Applied to the configuration files from a campus network with over a hundred thousand records, GRoot revealed 109 bugs within seconds. When applied to internal zone files consisting of over 3.5 million records from a large infrastructure service provider, GRoot revealed around 160k issues of blackholing, initiating a cleanup. Finally, on a synthetic dataset with over 65 million real records, we find GRoot can scale to networks with tens of millions of records.
Routine third-trimester ultrasound in low-risk pregnancies and perinatal death: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective This study aimed to determine whether routine third-trimester ultrasounds in low-risk pregnancies decrease the rate of perinatal death compared with regular antenatal care with serial fundal height measurements. Data Sources This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials to identify relevant studies published from inception to October 2019. The databases used were Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov , and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials using a combination of key words related to “third trimester ultrasound” and “low-risk.” Study Eligibility Criteria We included all randomized control trials of singleton, nonanomalous low-risk pregnancies that were randomized to either one or more third-trimester ultrasounds (ultrasound group) or serial fundal height (fundal height group). Exclusion criteria were patients with multiple gestations, maternal medical complications, or fetal abnormalities requiring a third-trimester ultrasound. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods The primary outcome was the rate of perinatal death. The secondary outcomes were rates of fetal growth restriction, suspected large for gestational age, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios, fetal anomalies, antenatal interventions, stillbirth, neonatal death, cesarean delivery, induction of labor, and other neonatal outcomes. This meta-analysis was performed with the use of the random effects model of DerSimonian and Laird to produce relative risk or mean difference with a corresponding 95% confidence interval. Results A total of 7 randomized control trials with 23,643 participants (12,343 in the ultrasound group vs 11,300 in the fundal height group) were included. The total rate of perinatal death was similar among the groups (41 of 11,322 [0.4%] vs 34 of 10,285 [0.3%]; relative risk, 1.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.68–1.89). The rate of fetal growth restriction was higher in the ultrasound group (763 of 10,388 [7%] vs 337 of 9021 [4%]; relative risk, 2.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.86–2.39) and the rate of suspected large for gestational age (1060 of 3513 [30%] vs 375 of 3558 [11%]; relative risk, 2.84; 95% confidence interval, 2.6–3.2). Polyhydramnios was also significantly higher in the ultrasound group than the fundal height group (18 of 323 [6%] vs 4 of 322 [1%] relative risk, 3.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.4–11). The rates of the remainder of the secondary outcomes were similar among the groups. Conclusion Routine third-trimester ultrasounds do not decrease the rate of perinatal death compared with serial fundal height in low-risk pregnancies. Ideally, an adequately powered trial is warranted to determine whether perinatal mortality in the fundal height group can be reduced by one-third with third-trimester ultrasound.
Optimal Design of Tokenized Markets

Trades in today’s financial system are inherently subject to settlement uncertainty. This paper explores tokenization as a potential technological solution. A token system, by enabling programmability of assets, can be designed to eradicate settlement uncertainty. We study the allocations achieved in a decentralized market with either the legacy settlement system or a token system. Tokenization can improve efficiency in markets subject to a limited commitment problem. However, it also materially alters the information environment, which in turn aggravates a hold-up problem. This limits potential gains from resolving settlement uncertainty, particularly for markets that depend on intermediaries.
Mid-infrared nonlinear optics in thin-film lithium niobate on sapphire

We demonstrate frequency conversion in the mid-IR using periodically poled lithium niobate thin-film ridge waveguides on sapphire. These devices are characterized by measuring both the wavelength tuning and transfer functions vs. poling period for second-harmonic and difference-frequency generation.
The Impact of Psychosocial Needs of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients: an Analysis of Clinical Trial Participation and Adherence

The treatment of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology patients requires a comprehensive understanding of the psychological and social complexity of this group. Psychosocial support is often coupled with clinical treatment, but there are still unmet needs within this population regarding relevant information, mental health counseling, practical resources, and others. A significant gap in available clinical trials and participation in clinical trials has prevented progress in clinical treatment of Adolescent and Young Adults with cancer. A review of pertinent literature on psychosocial needs and oncology clinical trials was conducted in order to examine any relationship between unmet needs and clinical trial participation. Adolescent and Young Adults with cancer who have symptoms of unmet psychosocial needs experience a lower participation rate of clinical trials. This suggests that an increase in available psychosocial resources and delivery of these resources to patients will increase clinical trial participation, furthering the clinical treatment capabilities of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncologists and increasing survival rates. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in both developed and underdeveloped countries and receives a substantial amount of attention and effort from the medical field. In oncology, the medical study of cancer, these advances have increased survivorship of pediatric patients aged one to fourteen from 28% to nearly 80% over the past 40 years. 1 The following population of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between the ages of 15 and 39, however, have not benefited from medical advancements to the extent of older and younger populations; five year survival rates of AYAs diagnosed with cancer have increased minimally between 1975 and 1997, despite having 8 times the incidence of cancer than the pediatric population. 2 Due to the gap in survival rates between these populations, a new subspecialty in oncology has emerged: Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (AYAO). Specialists in this field are conducting research that addresses the unique and markedly heterogeneous psychosocial needs of the population, and the duration and quality of life of AYA cancer patients via biological understanding. 2,3,4 In this analysis, I will examine the relevant literature and address the following question: How can AYA providers use information on the psychosocial needs of AYAs to increase survival rates for the population? By addressing the unmet psychosocial needs of the population, oncologists will be able to increase adherence rates, participation in clinical trials, and quality of life both during and after treatment.
NK Cells Preferentially Target Tumor Cells with a Cancer Stem Cell Phenotype

Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are resistant to antiproliferative therapies, able to repopulate tumor bulk, and seed metastasis. NK cells are able to target stem cells as shown by their ability to reject allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells but not solid tissue grafts. Using multiple preclinical models, including NK coculture (autologous and allogeneic) with multiple human cancer cell lines and dissociated primary cancer specimens and NK transfer in NSG mice harboring orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenografts, we assessed CSC viability, CSC frequency, expression of death receptor ligands, and tumor burden. We demonstrate that activated NK cells are capable of preferentially killing CSCs identified by multiple CSC markers (CD24(+)/CD44(+), CD133(+), and aldehyde dehydrogenase(bright)) from a wide variety of human cancer cell lines in vitro and dissociated primary cancer specimens ex vivo. We observed comparable effector function of allogeneic and autologous NK cells. We also observed preferential upregulation of NK activation ligands MICA/B, Fas, and DR5 on CSCs. Blocking studies further implicated an NKG2D-dependent mechanism for NK killing of CSCs. Treatment of orthotopic human pancreatic cancer tumor-bearing NSG mice with activated NK cells led to significant reductions in both intratumoral CSCs and tumor burden. Taken together, these data from multiple preclinical models, including a strong reliance on primary human cancer specimens, provide compelling preclinical evidence that activated NK cells preferentially target cancer cells with a CSC phenotype, highlighting the translational potential of NK immunotherapy as part of a combined modality approach for refractory solid malignancies.
Believing in Words

§1 Lexical Theories of the Attitudes The semantic puzzles posed by propositional attitude contexts have, since Frege, been understood primarily in terms of certain substitution puzzles. We will take as paradigmatic of such substitution puzzles cases in which two coreferential proper names cannot be intersubstituted salva veritate in the context of an attitude verb. Thus, for example, the following sentences differ in truth value: (1) Lois Lane believes Superman can fly. (2) Lois Lane believes Clark Kent can fly. despite the fact that "Superman" and "Clark Kent" pick out the same individual. Equivalently, the following sentence may be true: (3) Lois Lane believes that Superman can fly, but that Clark Kent cannot fly. despite the coreferentiality of the names. (It will at times be convenient to appeal to this conjunctive attitude report in order to fix a single context of utterance.) Substitution failures such as these create a puzzle when conjoined with the assumptions (a) that attitude reports report a binary relation between an individual and some object of that individual's attitude and (b) that that object of the attitude is determined by the content of the complement sentence in the attitude report. If all of the terms in two complement sentences (e.g., "Superman can fly" and "Clark Kent can fly") have the same semantic content, then, prima facie, they ought to generate the same object of believe and, a fortiori, materially equivalent attitude reports. Frege, famously, attempts to defuse the puzzle by positing a semantic value of sense in addition to that of reference, and thereby distinguishing the semantic contents of the two complement sentences. Our focus is on an alternative class of theories that we label lexical theories of the attitudes. Such theories can be roughly characterised as theories according to which the lexical material used in the attitude report is semantically relevant. The theories we have in mind include those proposed by Burdick (1982), Harman (1972), Higginbotham (1986), (1991), Kaplan (1990), Larson and Ludlow (1993), Larson and Segal (1996), Pietroski (1994), (1996), Richard (1990), and Segal (1989).
Kinetic and thermodynamic studies of antigen-antibody interactions in heterogeneous reaction phases--I. L-thyroxine (T4) with specific antibody immobilized on controlled pore glass.

Abstract The binding reaction of thyroxine (T 4 ) to its specific immobilized antibody (IMA) was treated as a general heterogeneous reaction and kinetic experiments were performed in order to elucidate the reaction mechanism. Except in the complete absence of serum protein, liquid phase diffusion is not the rate determining step. The T 4 binding reaction follows second-order kinetics, in which the two concentration dependent terms are the antibody concentration and the instantaneously free (unbound) T 4 . The rate of this binding reaction can be described by: rate = k [FT 4 ] [IMA]. The [FT 4 ] is a function of the total T 4 and protein concentrations. In the presence of serum protein the rate is much faster when a chemical deblocking agent (merthiolate) is used. The extent of binding does not change much with temperature indicating that the entropic change is the major contribution to the free energy change. The rate of binding, however, changes by an order of magnitude over the range 12–38°C. The apparent activation energies are 9.6 and 16.9 kcal mole in the presence and absence of merthiolate respectively, the difference (7 kcal mole ) being consistent with the binding enthalpy of T 4 to thyroxine binding globulin.
Three dimensional visual display systems for virtual environments

This paper surveys three-dimensional 3D visual display technology as it relates to realtime, interactive systems-or virtual environment systems. Five major 3D display types are examined: stereoscopic, lenticular, parallax barrier, slice-stacking, and holographic displays. The major characteristics of each display type are examined, i.e. spatial resolution, depth resolution, field of view, viewing zone, bandwidth, etc. In addition, the corresponding parameters of the human visual systems are described. The different display systems, as well as the human visual system, are compared in tabular form.
The Great LEP Forward

1987 has been truly a super year. We have seen the first nearby supernova in 383 years, not only in light but in antineutrinos, and more recently, in X-rays and gamma rays. The repercussions of this discovery are still coming: What is the mysterious companion of SN1987a seen in speckle photometry? What limits can we place on neutrino masses lifetimes, and interactions? How are axion theories constrained by the fact that the explosion took place more-or-less according to the theoretical script? Should we believe the curiously premature Mont Blanc observations? Since it was a blue giant that blew up, should we revise upwards our earlier color-blind estimates of supernova frequency? Will our community be fully prepared for the next supernova?
Red Families v. Blue Families

Family valuues are at the center of contemporaneary culture wars. The book shows how families in different parts of the USA are leading diffente lives dipending on blue-state or red-state
The Dynamics of Cadmium Telluride Etching

CdTe etching was investigated using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and glancing angle x-ray diffraction. Treatment with HNO 3 :H 3 PO 4 (NP) based etches was shown to form amorphous-Te surface films which spontaneously crystallize following etching. Br 2 /methanol (BM) etching forms very thin amorphous-Te films. NP-etched surfaces are stable in ambient air for ∼1 hr before beginning to oxidize, while BM etched films oxidize immediately following treatment. CdTe grain boundary etching by NP was minimized using more acidic etches. Device analysis suggests that a higher Te content produces more stable back contacts by attenuating Cu diffusion. Mechanistic details of NP etching are discussed.
Voltage Matching and Optimal Cell Compositions for Microsystem-Enabled Photovoltaic Modules

In this paper, we calculate optimal cell compositions and voltage-matching considerations for independently connected junctions, such as those proposed for microsystem-enabled photovoltaic modules. The calculations show that designs using voltage-matched independent junctions can achieve better yearly efficiency across temperature and spectrum than traditional monolithic cells. Voltage matching is shown to be relatively insensitive to temperature and spectrum but is dependent on open-circuit voltage as a measure of cell efficiency. If the efficiencies and, hence, maximum power point voltages are known a priori , voltage matching can usually yield yearly efficiencies of 98–99% of the efficiency of a system with each cell operating at its own maximum power point.
Cyberways and Waterways Family Project

A collaborative endeavor between Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi and Miller High School resulted in the Cyberways and Waterways Family Project, a unique partnership of educators, families and high school students. University and high school faculty engaged ninth grade biology students and their parents in water testing of Corpus Christi Bay, while the younger siblings participated in an on–site “writer's camp.” The families' shared learning experiences were recorded in PowerPoint presentations produced by the parents and students. The project created new school–university networks and will serve as a springboard for future collaborative action research.
Sources, Sinks, and the Distribution of OH in the Lower Stratosphere†

Extensive measurement campaigns by the NASA ER-2 research aircraft have obtained a nearly pole-to-pole database of the species that control HO_x (OH + HO_2) chemistry. The wide dynamic range of these in situ measurements provides an opportunity to demonstrate empirically the mechanisms that control the HO_x system. Measurements in the lower stratosphere show a remarkably tight correlation of OH concentration with the solar zenith angle (SZA). This correlation is nearly invariant over latitudes ranging from 70° S to 90° N and all seasons. An analysis of the production and loss of HO_x in terms of the rate determining steps of reaction sequences developed by Johnston and Podolske and Johnston and Kinnison is used to clarify the behavior of the system and to directly test our understanding of the system with observations. Calculations using in situ measurements show that the production rate of HOx is proportional to O3 and ultraviolet radiation flux. The loss rate is proportional to the concentration and the partitioning of NO_y (reactive nitrogen) and the concentration of HO_2. In the absence of heterogeneous reactions, the partitioning of NO_y is controlled by O_3 and HO_x and the concentration of HO2 is controlled by NO_y and O_3, so that the removal rate of OH is buffered against changes in the correlation of O_3 and NO_y. The heterogeneous conversion of NO_2 to HNO_3 is not an important net source of HO_x because production and removal sequences are nearly balanced. Changes in NOy partitioning resulting from heterogeneous chemistry have a large effect on the loss rates of HO_x, but little or no impact on the measured abundance of OH. The enhanced loss rates at high NO_2/HNO_3 are offset in the data set examined here by enhanced production rates resulting from increased photolysis rates resulting from the decreased O_3 column above the ER-2.
A CASE FOR SERVICE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

A case is made for further developing a branch of systems engineering that focuses on problems and issues which arise in the service sector. We promulgate this special focus not only because of the size and importance of the service sector but also because of the unique opportunities that systems engineering can exploit in the design and joint production and delivery of services. We begin by considering the economic, technological and demographic contexts within which the service sector has flourished; we then address both services, especially emerging services, and systems engineering, followed by a discussion of how to advance the field of service systems engineering, and concluding with several remarks. In particular, a number of service systems engineering methods are identified to enhance the design and production/delivery of services, especially taking advantage of the unique features that characterize services — namely, services, especially emerging services, are information-driven, customer-centric, e-oriented, and productivity-focused.
Expanding zero-waste design practices: a discussion paper

Zero-waste design is a sustainable way of manufacturing products. While sustainability can be an outcome of such designing, in fashion, zero-waste design can also be a tremendously creative patternmaking challenge by uniting the roles of designer and patternmaker in a holistic approach to creating garments, considering aesthetics and function simultaneously. The authors investigated zero-waste design for apparel through practice-based research. This discussion paper shares the results of the investigation, guided by Holly McQuillan's four ‘design practices’ for zero-waste apparel design outlined in Shaping Sustainable Fashion (McQuillan, 2011): tessellation, jigsaw, embedded jigsaw, and multiple cloth approach. The authors discuss McQuillan's practices and provide examples of their own designs. The authors propose a fifth ‘design practice’, one of draping the whole cloth with minimal cutting, called ‘minimal cut’. Designs created with minimal cut are shown and their design development also discussed.
Design, development, and performance of a fieldable chemical and biological agent detector

A detector based on an ion trap mass spectrometer is being developed for the U.S. Army for battlefield detection of both chemical and biological weapons (CW/BW). The primary operating modes for this instrument are selected via a multiport valve that directs the sample flow into the detector from one of several inlets designed to admit volatilized chemical agents, liquid chemical agents on the ground, or aerosolized particles that may contain a biological agent. The instrument is designed to be highly sensitive in order to minimize false negatives; it therefore makes use of an ion trap mass spectrometer as the detector. Significant effort is also being placed on efficient sample transmission using deactivated sample transport lines and in situ derivatization of the less volatile BW biomarkers. In addition to being sensitive, the instrument must be highly selective in order to minimize false positives. Particle-size discrimination, chemical ionization, and MS/MS experiments combine to provide a high degree of chemical selectivity. Fatty-acid standards, gamma-killed bacteria, dimethylmethylphosphonate, and methyl salicylate have been analyzed with the use of a preproduction instrument to demonstrate the primary operating modes of this instrument.
Evaluation of Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth

Small bowel bacterial overgrowth historically has been associated with malabsorption syndrome attributed to deconjugation of bile acids in the upper small intestine. Recent reports raise the possibility that bacterial overgrowth may be a cause of watery diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome. Quantitative culture of jejunal contents has been the gold standard for diagnosis, but a variety of indirect tests have been developed (and mostly discarded) over the years in an attempt to facilitate the diagnosis of small bowel bacterial overgrowth. These include breath tests and biochemical tests based on bacterial metabolism of various substrates. Problems with these indirect tests include rapid transit, which may cause substrate to reach the luxuriant bacterial flora in the colon, producing false positives and vagaries of the tests themselves, which may produce falsely negative results. The perfect test for small bowel bacterial overgrowth is yet to be devised.
Low-noise optical frequency multicasting using multi-mode phase-sensitive interaction

The principle, implementation scheme and recent experimental progress of low noise optical frequency multicasting are reviewed, relying on four-mode phase-sensitive process in fiber-based parametric mixer with normal dispersion.
INFANTILE GASTROENTERITIS ASSOCIATED WITH EXCRETION OF PESTIVIRUS ANTIGENS

Faeces from children under 2 years old who had gastroenteritis that could not be attributed to recognised enteric pathogens were examined with a monoclonal-antibody-based immunoassay for Pestivirus antigens. Such antigens were detected in 30 of 128 episodes of gastroenteritis. Children without diarrhoeal disease and children infected with rotaviruses had little evidence of Pestivirus infection (faeces positive in 1 of 28 and 1 of 31, respectively). The diarrhoeal disease in children excreting Pestivirus antigens resembled that in other children except that it was more commonly associated with signs and symptoms of respiratory inflammation.
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES

This paper reviews economic development trends, for the 1965–1975 period, in the 173 daily urban systems identified by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Changes in employment, earnings, and non-earnings sources of personal income are reported. Growth in the South and West was found to be relatively independent of linkages with the northeastern industrial heartland. Exports of services from all of the nation's largest cities have become significant components in their economic bases, helping to offset declines in manufacturing.
The 1,2-diphenylethyl cation via carbene fragmentation

Abstract 2,2-Diphenylethoxychlorocarbene fragments with k frag =2.1×10 6 s −1 in MeCN, largely with 1,2-phenyl migration and the formation of rearranged products. Related chemistry is observed for the 2,2-diphenylethyldiazonium cation.
A comparative study of neural network and mechanistic models for surface complexation

Abstract This paper demonstrates the use of a feed-forward neural network model to quantify the partitioning of phosphate onto water treatment residual (WTR) as a function of pH. Reasonably good results were obtained with a limited amount of experimental data. The neural network models were essentially as good as the specific mechanistic model used. Comparison of the neural network models with simple models obtained from statistical regression shows the neural network models to be superior. Quantification of the distribution of phosphate in this system may allow accurate prediction of available phosphate in a land application scenario. In surface complexation studies where mechanistic models are not available, it is recommended that neural network models be used.
Estimates of primary productivity over the Thar Desert based upon Nimbus-7 37 GHz data - 1979-1985

An empirical relationship has been determined between the difference of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures noted at the 37 GHz frequency of the Nimbus-7 SMMR and primary productivity over hot arid and semiarid regions of Africa and Australia. This empirical relationship is applied to estimate the primary productivity over the Thar Desert between 1979 and 1985, giving an average value of 0.271 kg/sq m per yr. The spatial variability of the productivity values is found to be quite significant, with a standard deviation about the mean of 0.08 kg/sq m per yr.
A scheduling policy with maximal stability region for ring networks with spatial reuse

A slotted ring that allows simultaneous transmissions of messages by different users is considered. Such a ring network is commonly called ring withspatial reuse. It can achieve significantly higher throughput than standard token rings but it also raises the issue of fairness since some nodes may be prevented from accessing the ring for long time intervals. Policies that operate in cycles and guarantee that a certain number (quota) of packets will be transmitted by every node in every cycle have been considered before to deal with the fairness issue. In this paper we address the problem of designing a policy that results in a stable system whenever the end-to-end arrival rates are within the stability region of the ring with spatial reuse (the stability region of the ring is defined as the set of end-to-end arrival rates for which there is a policy that makes the ring stable). We provide such a policy, which does not require knowledge of end-to-end arrival rates. The policy is an adaptive version of the quota policies and can be implemented with the same distributed mechanism. We use the Lyapunov test function technique together with methods from the theory of regenerative processes to derive our main results.
The Women's Recovery Group Study: a Stage I trial of women-focused group therapy for substance use disorders versus mixed-gender group drug counseling.

The aim of this Stage I Behavioral Development Trial was to develop a manual-based 12-session Women’s Recovery Group (WRG) and to pilot test this new treatment in a randomized controlled trial against a mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling (GDC), an effective manual-based treatment for substance use disorders. After initial manual development, two pre-pilot groups of WRG were conducted to determine feasibility and initial acceptability of the treatment among subjects and therapists. In the pilot stage, women were randomized to either WRG or GDC. No significant differences in substance use outcomes were found between WRG and GDC during the 12-week group treatment. However, during the 6-month post-treatment follow-up, WRG members demonstrated a pattern of continued reductions in substance use while GDC women did not. In addition, pilot WRG women with alcohol dependence had significantly greater reductions in average drinks/drinking day than GDC women 6 months post-treatment (p < .03, effect size = 0.81). While satisfaction with both groups was high, women were significantly more satisfied with WRG than GDC (p < .009, effect size = 1.11). In this study, the newly developed 12-session women-focused WRG was feasible with high satisfaction among participants. It was equally effective as mixed-gender GDC in reducing substance use during the 12-week in-treatment phase, but demonstrated significantly greater improvement in reductions in drug and alcohol use over the post-treatment follow-up phase compared with GDC. A women-focused single-gender group treatment may enhance longer-term clinical outcomes among women with substance use disorders. © 2007 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Satisfaction of patients attending an arthritis clinic in a county teaching hospital

Objective. To gather information about the satisfaction of medically indigent arthritis patients with their health care. Methods. Patients attending a university-affiliated county hospital arthritis clinic were surveyed using a questionnaire about their satisfaction with various aspects of the clinic. Results. Two hundred thirty-two out of 283 questionnaires were completed. Patients were most satisfied with the care given by doctors, and least satisfied with the waiting times; accessibility, environment, and information received intermediate responses. Although most patients said that they were satisfied with their overall care, only 53% would continue to attend the clinic if they had full insurance. Conclusion. A number of aspects of health care delivery were sources of dissatisfaction for medically indigent arthritis patients. Attention to these concerns could increase overall satisfaction and perhaps improve compliance in this group of patients.
Block Control Principle for Mechanical Systems

In this paper, a generalized design procedure for sliding mode control of nonlinear mechanical systems is proposed. The design approach combines the essential idea of the block control principle, utilizing some of the components of the state vector as a virtual control, with the basic concept of zero dynamics. For mechanical systems governed by a set of interconnected second-order equations, the block control principle cannot be directly applied. To facilitate the controller design, we assume that control systems can be transformed into a regular form consisting of second-order equations. The proposed design approach consists of reducing the original plant into the regular form, constructing a switching manifold, and enforcing sliding mode in the manifold such that the reduced order system in sliding mode has desired dynamics. Stabilization of the mechanical system with unstable zero dynamics is taken into consideration. It is shown that the approach has the advantage of decomposing the original problem into subproblems of lower dimensions, and each of them can be handled independently. As an example, control of a rotational inverted pendulum system is examined. The performance of the proposed approach is validated by both numerical and experimental results.