cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Simple and Flexible Revocation Checking with Privacy

Digital certificates signed by trusted certification authorities (CAs) are used for multiple purposes, most commonly for secure binding of public keys to names and other attributes of their owners. Although a certificate usually includes an expiration time, it is not uncommon that a certificate needs to be revoked prematurely. For this reason, whenever a client (user or program) needs to assert the validity of another party’s certificate, it performs revocation checking. There are many revocation techniques varying in both the operational model and underlying data structures. One common feature is that a client typically contacts an on-line third party (trusted, untrusted or semi-trusted), identifies the certificate of interest and obtains some form of a proof of either revocation or validity (non-revocation) for the certificate in question. While useful, revocation checking can leak potentially sensitive information. In particular, third parties of dubious trustworthiness discover two things: (1) the identity of the party posing the query, as well as (2) the target of the query. The former can be easily remedied with techniques such as onion routing or anonymous web browsing. Whereas, hiding the target of the query is not as obvious. Arguably, a more important loss of privacy results from the third party’s ability to tie the source of the revocation check with the query’s target. (Since, most likely, the two are about to communicate.) This paper is concerned with the problem of privacy in revocation checking and its contribution is two-fold: it identifies and explores the loss of privacy inherent in current revocation checking, and, it constructs a simple, efficient and flexible privacy-preserving component for one well-known revocation method.
Conclusion: The Future of Rap Discourses in America’s Colonies

This book has focused on local soundtracks, which reflect and comment on past memories, current experiences, and future visions in a locale. When these local visions take a collective form, they can be broadcast to a region, nation, or even global community. Through community-informed primary sources, this book examined political claims in day-to-day protest art in Oakland, California, and compared these claims to the Billboard on the basis of political content. In the process, this book seeks to offer better tools for understanding rap music’s responses to problems such as violence, poverty, and adverse social conditions. This book’s framework could be used by future researchers to explore other scenes to form comprehensive investigations of representatives, movements, discourse banks, and the impact of these underground discourses on the local scene, domestically and worldwide.
U.S. Nursing Home Quality Ratings Associated with COVID-19 Cases and Deaths.

Abstract Objectives To inform future policies and disaster preparedness plans in the vulnerable nursing home setting, we need greater insight into the relationship between nursing homes’ (NHs’) quality and the spread and severity of COVID-19 in NH facilities. We therefore extend current evidence on the relationships between NH quality and resident COVID-19 infection rates and deaths, taking into account NH structural characteristics and community characteristics. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants 15,390 Medicaid- and Medicare-certified NHs. Methods We obtained and merged the following data sets: (1) COVID-19 weekly data reported by each nursing home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network, (2) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Five Star Quality Rating System, (3) county-level COVID-19 case counts, (4) county-level population data, and (5) county-level sociodemographic data. Results Among 1-star NHs, there were an average of 13.19 cases and 2.42 deaths per 1000 residents per week between May 25 and December 20, 2020. Among 5-star NHs, there were an average of 9.99 cases and 1.83 deaths per 1000 residents per week. The rate of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 31% higher among 1-star NHs compared with 5-star NHs [model 1: incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-1.39], and the rate of COVID-19 deaths was 30% higher (IRR 1.30, 95% CI 1.20, 1.41). These associations were only partially explained by differences in community spread of COVID-19, case mix, and the for-profit status and size of NHs. Conclusions and Implications We found that COVID-19 case and death rates were substantially higher among NHs with lower star ratings, suggesting that NHs with quality much below average are more susceptible to the spread of COVID-19. This relationship, particularly with regard to case rates, can be partially attributed to external factors: lower-rated NHs are often located in areas with greater COVID-19 community spread and serve more socioeconomically vulnerable residents than higher-rated NHs.
Bariatric surgery and total knee/hip arthroplasty: an analysis of the impact of sequence and timing on outcomes: an infographic.

There has been significant debate regarding whether patients with high body mass index should have bariatric surgery or total knee/hip arthroplasty (TKA/THA) first if they are scheduled to have both. Liu et al have published a retrospective database analysis study to help address this question.[1][1
Elizabeth I’s Mettle: Metallic/Medallic Portraits

In a 1597 letter, Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, praises Elizabeth I in strikingly unconventional terms, alluding to the queen’s “body of brass” and “mind of gold.” Essex illuminates an early modern conceptual model of Elizabeth’s body natural akin to metal or even metallic in actual substance, a view reflected in the famous equestrian illustration of the queen at Tilbury depicting her wearing armor. The transmutation of the queen’s material body into the “noble” metals of gold and silver within her subjects’ imaginations documents an interesting facet of the standard early modern Galenism, here informed by the notion that organic bodies can possess an immutable metallic purity. The essay then turns to exploring a significant material cultural production of objects wrought in metal—Elizabeth’s portrait jewels, coins, and badges such as the “Phoenix” jewel and the “Dangers Averted” medal, carved out of gold and silver, as well as Nicholas Hilliard’s portraits limned with precious metal-mineral compounds. These medallic, metallic portraits and jewels not only pay tribute to the queen’s “mettle,” the essay argues, but also help to create the period’s perception of the virgin queen’s body as elemental perfection.
Explainable Boosting Machine Model with a Parallel Ensemble Design Predicts Local Failure for Head and Neck Cancer With Clinical, CT, and Delta CBCT Radiomic Features.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Local failure (LF) following chemoradiation for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is associated with poor overall survival. If machine learning techniques could stratify patients at risk of treatment failure based on baseline and intra-treatment imaging, such a model could facilitate response-adapted approaches to escalate, de-escalate, or switch therapy. Our hypothesis was that adding baseline CT (CT1) and delta CBCT radiomic features to a clinical model would improve its discriminatory ability at predicting LF. MATERIALS/METHODS Participants treated at a single institution with definitive radiotherapy (RT) for HNSCC and who failed locally in-field at a primary or nodal structure (analyzed separately) were included and matched to controls (30 cases, 60 controls) based on the site of primary, T/N stage, and p16 status. Radiomic features were extracted from CT1 and CBCT scans at fractions 1 (CBCT01) and 21 (CBCT21; where CBCT21 - CBCT01 = delta features) of RT with open-source software and were selected for by: reproducibility (intra-class correlation coefficients < 0.95), redundancy (maximal relevance and minimal redundancy), and informativeness (recursive feature elimination). Separate models predicting LF of primaries or nodes were created using the explainable boosting machine classifier with 5-fold cross-validation for (1) clinical only, (2) radiomic only (CT1 and delta features), and (3) fused models (clinical and radiomic models fused). Twenty-five iterations were performed and predicted scores were averaged with a parallel ensemble design. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were compared against each other with paired-samples T tests in a statistical software with the ROC analysis function. RESULTS The fused ensemble model for primaries achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.871 with a sensitivity of 78.3% and specificity of 90.9% at the maximum Youden J statistic, which trended towards improvement when compared to the clinical (AUC = 0.788, P = 0.134) but only reached significance when compared to the radiomic ensemble model (AUC = 0.770, P = 0.017). For nodes, the fused ensemble model achieved an AUC of 0.910 with a sensitivity of 100.0% and specificity of 68.0%, which also trended towards improvement when compared to the clinical model (AUC = 0.865, P = 0.080) but did not reach significance. The most commonly included radiomic features in the ensemble were delta shape features, with change in maximum 3D diameter and change in sphericity being the most common for the primary (69.6%) and nodal (80.8%) models. CONCLUSION The fused ensemble explainable boosting machine model achieved high discriminatory ability at predicting LF of HNSCC in independent primary and nodal structures. Although an additive benefit of delta radiomics over clinical factors could not be proven, the results trended towards improvement with the fused ensemble model, which are promising and worthy of further investigation in a larger cohort.
Social Support and Attachment to Teachers: Relative Importance and Specificity Among Low-Income Children and Youth of Color.

A growing number of researchers are examining how teacher–student relationships contribute to child and adolescent development. Much of this work is based on two distinct theoretical perspectives: ...
Earth'S Changing Atmosphere

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the earth's changing atmosphere. Nitrogen and oxygen have been known for about two centuries to compose about 4/5 and 1/5, respectively, of the earth's present atmosphere. Slowly and progressively during the 1800s and the 1900s, other chemical species have been identified—the noble gas argon, carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, ozone, ammonia, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, helium and the remaining noble gases, and of course, water vapor. The availability of gas chromatography as a separation technique has permitted the convenient isolation of a multitude of trace components. The development of some specific detection techniques capable of great sensitivity has made possible the quantitative assay of these trace components at levels far below the ppmv or ppbv limits previously applicable.
The electroretinogram and choroidal PO2 in the cat during elevated intraocular pressure.

The effects of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) on the dark-adapted standing potential (SP), b- and c-waves of the electroretinogram (ERG) and choroidal PO2 of the intact cat eye were studied. During pressure elevation the SP increased, c-wave amplitude increased and the b-wave decreased, with the SP and c-wave being considerably more sensitive to pressure elevation. Inspiration of 100% O2 reversed the effects of elevated IOP on the c-wave and SP. ERG changes were found to be more consistent when related to perfusion pressure (PP = MAP — IOP) rather than absolute IOP. Initial increases in c-wave amplitudes and SP were observed at PPs as high as 105 mm Hg. The SP was most sensitive to IOP increases; the PP at which a change was first detected averaged 84.0 ± 16.3 mm Hg (n = 7 cats). The PP at which the earliest c-wave change occurred was 78.7 ± 16.7 mm Hg (n = 12 cats). The PP at which a b-wave change was first observed was 51.5 ± 14.9 mm Hg (n = 11 cats). Choroidal PO2 was measured with an oxygen microelectrode and decreased with increasing IOP. A positive correlation was found (r = 0.78) between an increase in c-wave amplitude and decrease in choroidal PO2. From our results we can hypothesize that increased IOP led to decreased choroidal blood flow and outer retinal hypoxia measured as decreased choroidal PO2, and that this hypoxia was responsible for the c-wave and standing potential changes we observed. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 29:700707, 1988
Axial anomaly effects in finite isospin $\chi$PT in a magnetic field

In this paper, we consider finite isospin chiral perturbation theory including the effects of the axial anomaly (through the Wess-Zumino-Witten term) in a strong magnetic field. We firstly prove that in a strong external magnetic field ($H_{\rm ext}$) or more precisely the Schwinger limit, where photon back-reactions are suppressed, only neutral pions can condense and the condensation of charged pions is forbidden. Secondly, we find that the $\pi^{0}$ domain wall is an example of a phase that can exist in a strong magnetic field and suggest the existence of a new phase transition line from the normal vacuum state to the $\pi^{0}$ domain wall state. This phase transition exists for non-zero pion masses if the baryon chemical potential exceeds a critical value $16\pi f_{\pi}^{2}m_{\pi}/eH_{\rm ext}$. The phase transition line persists away from the Schwinger limit when the photons can back-react to the external magnetic field.
Toward a Renewal of Critical Practice: Reflections on the Occupy Movement and Filipino Self Determination

This essay examines the significance of the developing Occupy movement within the United States, which emerged from a year of global protests (2011). It suggests that one way to broaden its vision of solidarity is to renew our critical practice (“conscientization and action” – borrowing from Brazilian educator Paulo Freire). A renewal of critical practice within the context of this essay involves examining the following more closely: 1) the dynamics of race and class in the United States and abroad, 2) the site of the academy (the politics of knowledge production), and 3.) the significance of our submerged histories of collective struggle for racial and economic justice. The essay asserts that the Filipino diasporic experience and ongoing struggle for self determination (Filipinos now constitute one of the largest—if not the largest—segment of the Asian American population) can offer useful theoretical tools for renewing our critical practice in the Occupy era. Two contemporary Filipino cultural texts, which reflect upon the dialectical relationship between Filipinos in the United States and in the Philippines, are examined: E. San Juan, Jr.’s Toward Filipino Self Determination: Beyond Transnational Globalization (2009) and Sari Lluch Dalena and Keith Sicat’s film Rigodon (2005). These texts provide theoretical concepts and methodological approaches for renewing our critical practice within and beyond the US academy: 1.) they encourage interdisciplinary fields, which have historical roots in movements for social justice from the 1960s/70s (Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies), to renew their commitment to creating social change; 2.) they shed light on the unique contributions of Filipinos to movements for social justice.
Factorization and resummation

The basic methods of perturbative quantum chromodynamics are introduced and developed through an analysis of short- and long-time dependence in time-ordered perturbation theory for quantum fields. Jet cross sections are shown to be dominated by short times, and hence to be infrared safe. Next, the factorization of short- and long-time dependence for inclusive hard cross sections involving hadrons in the initial state is discussed. The basic results of the parton model, the evolution of deeply inelastic scattering structure functions and the resummation of Sudakov corrections in e+e− annihilation are derived from factorization. The lectures conclude with a brief account of the relation between high orders in perturbation theory and power corrections in e+e− annihilation.
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPODOGRAM OF BACILLUS CEREUS ENDOSPORE.

Knaysi, Georges (Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.). Further observations on the spodogram of Bacillus cereus endospore. J. Bacteriol. 90: 453–455. 1965.—Endospore spodograms of Bacillus cereus C 3 were examined in dark contrast by use of the phase microscope with oil-immersion objectives. When the spodograms were mounted in air, their central part, or core, appeared bright; when mounted in water or oil, the central part appeared dark. The central part of the normal, unincinerated spore appeared bright in air and water, but dark in oil. This indicated that whether a body appears bright or dark when observed with the phase microscope does not depend only on its refringence relative to that of its surround, but also on its thickness and on the magnitude of the difference between its refractive index and that of its surround. Present observations showed that, contrary to a previous conclusion, mineral matter is more highly concentrated in the core than at the periphery of the endospore. Images
Bis[(4S)‐(1‐methylethyl)oxazolin‐2‐yl]methane

[131833-90-4] C13H22N2O2 (MW 238.33) InChI = 1S/C13H22N2O2/c1-8(2)10-6-16-12(14-10)5-13-15-11(7-17-13)9(3)4/h8-11H,5-7H2,1-4H3/t10-,11-/m1/s1 InChIKey = KEHOIBBPRFRZFW-GHMZBOCLSA-N (chiral ligand for enantiocontrol of metal-catalyzed reactions) Physical Data: [α]D20 −113 (c 1.08, CH2Cl2). Solubility: soluble in most organic solvents. Form Supplied in: clear, oily, low-melting solid. Preparative Methods: Bis[(4S)-(1-methylethyl)oxazolin-2-yl]methane is prepared by acylation of l-valinol followed by cyclization (eq 1).1-3 Thus, transamination of dimethyl malonate with 2 equiv of l-valinol afforded the corresponding amide in 72% yield. Chlorination with SOCl2 followed by cyclization with LiOMe in refluxing MeOH afforded bis[(4S)-(1-methylethyl)oxazolin-2-yl]methane in 79% yield. (1) Handling, Storage, and Precautions: stable at ambient temperature.
Laser probe for measuring 2-D wave slope spectra of ocean capillary waves.

A laser-optical instrument for use in determining the two-dimensional wave-slope spectrum of ocean capillary waves is described. The instrument measures up to a 35-deg tip angle of the surface normal by measuring the position of a refracted laser beam directed vertically upward through a water surface. A telescope, a continuous two-dimensional Schottky barrier photodiode, and a pair of analog dividers render the signals independent of water height and insensitive to laser-beam intensity fluctuations. Calibration is performed entirely in the laboratory before field use. Sample records and wave-slope spectra are shown for one-dimensional wave-tank tests and for two-dimensional ocean tests. These are presented along with comparison spectra for calm and choppy water conditions. A mechanical wave follower was used to adjust the instrument position in the presence of large ocean swell and tides.
Transition control strategy between standalone and grid connected operation of voltage source inverters

This paper proposes a smooth transition control strategy for voltage source inverters between standalone (SA) and grid connected (GC) modes of operation. In GC mode, the amount of power exchanged with the utility grid (UG) is controlled by regulating the phase currents. In the SA mode, the load voltage is regulated by the inverter with its phase dictated by the inverter control. An instant switching between SA and GC operations that will ensure continuous output power requires continuation in the phase of the system voltage. The trapezoidal, sinusoidal and staircase frequency change techniques have been analyzed to find out the optimum condition for which the total harmonic distortion (THD) become lower. We have developed a smooth frequency change technique which provides lower THD on the voltage waveforms compared to the other techniques. The new algorithm has been implemented on a 5kW single phase utility interactive inverter having the standalone operation capability.
Isomerization of epoxides to allylic alcohols using methylmagnesium N-cyclohexylisopropylamide

Abstract The scope of methylmagnesium N-cyclohexylisopropylamide promoted isomerizations of epoxides to allylic alcohols Is described.
Small silencing RNAs.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), 24–30 nucleotide long RNAs found in the germ cells of animals, are unique among small silencing RNAs in that they require neither an RdRP nor Dicer for their production (Figure 1Figure 1C). Instead, they are thought to derive from single-stranded precursor RNAs tens or hundreds of thousands of nucleotides long. piRNAs bind a distinct subclade of Argonaute proteins, the PIWI proteins, which include Piwi, Aubergine, and Ago3 in flies, Smedwi in planaria, Siwi in sea urchins, and Hiwi in humans. In vitro, Piwi can cleave a target RNA, suggesting that piRNAs regulate their targets post-transcriptionally, but other evidence suggests they promote heterochromatin assembly in the nucleus. piRNAs were first identified in 2001 in flies, where they repress selfish genetic elements such as retrotransposons.piRNAs contain 5′ monophosphate and 2′-O-methyl, 3′ hydroxy termini. The 2′-O-methyl group is added, at least in flies, by the methyltransferase Hen1. In flies, piRNAs are thought to arise from ‘master loci’ rich in transposons, then act in trans to silence dispersed copies of the selfish genetic elements present in the original trigger locus. piRNAs have also been implicated in silencing transposons early in mammalian spermatogenesis. In mammals, however, many piRNAs map to genomic clusters that do not contain repetitive sequences. The functions of these piRNAs are unknown.piRNAs may be generated by reciprocal cycles of PIWI-protein-catalyzed slicing followed by 3′ trimming by an exonuclease. In Drosophila, for example, the first 10 nucleotides of many piRNAs bound to Aubergine, most of which are antisense to transposable element transcripts, can be paired to piRNAs associated with Ago3. (Recall that all Argonaute proteins known to cleave their RNA targets cut after small RNA nucleotide 10.) Nearly all Aubergine-bound piRNAs begin with uracil, whereas Ago3-associated piRNAs, which are almost all in the sense orientation, typically contain an adenosine at nucleotide 10 — reflecting their base pairing with the first nucleotide of an antisense piRNA. Hence the suggestion that piRNAs are amplified by reciprocal rounds of cleavage, in which Ago3 sense piRNAs direct cleavage of antisense transcripts producing the 5′ monophosphate end of Aub and Piwi antisense piRNAs. A 3′-to-5′ exonuclease could then trim the 3′ end of piRNA transcripts, perhaps acting together with the Hen1 methyltransferase, which might terminate the trimming process by adding a 2′-O-methyl group to the 3′ terminus of the mature piRNA.
Some aspects of cycadeoid evolution

First definite remains of the order Cycadeoidales appear at the beginning of the Mesozoic, and extinction occurred at the end of the Cretaceous. Reasoning on the assumption that the characters most frequently present in a group of related plants are primitive ones, an attempt is made to determine what the most primitive cycadeoids looked like and what the probable ancestors were. Most likely the most primitive cycadeoids had slender, elongated, branched stems, with numerous leaves. Pollen was borne in compound sporangia on leaf-like structures. The most likely ancestral form, on the basis of known Paleozoic fossil plants, are the pterido-sperms. Origin of cycadeoid cones is postulated as having occurred in one of at least three ways. One suggestion is that cones are portions of leaf systems, and that ‘telescoping’ of the stems' resulted in the displacement of the cone in Cycadeoidea to the axil of another leaf. Another suggestion is that cones are fertile axillary branches. A third idea is that eones represent branches arising from leaves.
Energizing effects of combined food and water deprivation upon general activity

Following a 16-day period of habilitation to the activity wheel under conditions preventing direct reinforcement of the wheel-running response by ingestion the activity of 20 male albino rats was observed during 72 hr. of continuous food and water deprivation. Activity increased as a function of deprivation, thus supporting the notion that appetitive drive exerts a directly energizing effect upon behavior.
Analysis of Clinical, Epidemiologic, and Laboratory Data on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Much of the research conducted on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is exploratory. The researchers' overall goal is to use clinical, epidemiologic, and laboratory data to provide clues about the etiology of this syndrome. In preparation for this symposium, a review of numerous publications on CFS has indicated that the literature generally does not reflect the application of optimal statistical methods for exploration of data. Whenever the researchers' aim is to generate hypotheses, modern methods designed specifically for exploratory data analysis are likely to provide greater insights into any patterns of data than are the traditional approaches to hypothesis testing. In addition, the use of formal methods of data synthesis for ongoing and future research on CFS is a means of strengthening collaborative efforts and of improving the ability of researchers to interpret the evidence available that relates to specific etiologic factors. The inclusion on the research team of experienced biostatisticians, who would oversee the statistical methods and the development of innovative analyses, is recommended.
Differences in child symptom ratings among teachers and parents of emotionally disturbed children.

67 subjects comprising elementary school teachers, special educators, and parents of emotionally disturbed children rated each of 55 behavioral descriptors in terms of their importance for child mental health. Special educators attached significantly greater importance to personality problems than did the parents (p < .05), while parents attached significantly greater importance to socialized delinquency behaviors than did special educators (p < .05). Interpretations and implications of these findings are discussed.
On asymptotic distributions of normal theory MLE in covariance structure analysis under some nonnormal distributions

Within some classes of nonnormal distributions, we study the asymptotic distribution of the MLE in a covariance structure model based on an incorrect assumption of normality. The asymptotic covariance matrix of the MLE has a similar form as found when the sampling distribution is elliptical, though the true sampling distribution can have arbitrary marginal skewnesses and kurtoses. The asymptotic covariance of some subset of the parameter estimators can be obtained by rescaling its normal theory counterpart. Specific models are considered as examples.
Alternative algorithms for the GPS static positioning solution

The solution for the receiver's position and clock offset from four or more GPS pseudorange measurements involves nonlinear measurement-state equations. Traditionally, these equations have been solved using an iterative gradient approach. However, closed form solutions to this problem have been available in the literature for some time (Bancroft Stephen, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems AES-21 (7) (1985) 56-59 and Lloyd D. Krause, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace Electronic Systems AES-23 (2) (1987) 225-232). Each of these algorithms has various advantages and disadvantages ranging from simplicity of implementation to computational cost to auxiliary information. Two new closed form algorithms are presented in the following sections as alternative algorithms for the solution of this problem. Since efficient algorithms exist to compute auxiliary information such as the dilution of precision parameters (DOPs), the issue examined here in comparing these new algorithms to existing algorithms is computational cost. It is shown that the two new algorithms introduced below match or exceed the computational efficiency of the previously published algorithms, particularly when more than four measurements are processed.
Elective induction of labor as a risk factor for cesarean delivery among low-risk women at term.

Objective: To determine the effects of elective induction on the risk of cesarean delivery in a cohort of women with low-risk term pregnancies and to evaluate the costs of elective induction services within our hospital system. Methods: Records of 1135 eligible women with low-risk, singleton, vertex pregnancies at 38–41 weeks’ gestation who were eligible for vaginal delivery were analyzed retrospectively after elective induction (n = 263) or spontaneous labor (n = 872). Outcome measures included cesarean delivery and direct costs. Variables evaluated were parity, maternal age, estimated gestational age, birth weight, prior cesarean delivery, epidural anesthetic use, and provider category. Analysis was by univariable and multivariable regression modeling. Results: Elective induction placed nulliparas at a twofold higher risk for cesarean delivery (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.2, 4.9) after adjustment for birth weight, maternal age, and gestational age. We found a significantly increased risk of cesarean delivery with increased birth weight for nulliparas (2–66.7%). Increasing maternal age increased the risk of cesarean delivery in all parity groups (P < .05), but particularly among nulliparas (3–26.3%) (P < .001). Electively induced labors that ended in vaginal delivery cost $273 more and required an average of 4 hours more in the hospital before delivery than did noninduced vaginal deliveries (P < .001). Conclusion: Elective induction significantly increased the risk of cesarean delivery for nulliparas, and increased in-hospital predelivery time and costs.
Efficient mid-query re-optimization of sub-optimal query execution plans

For a number of reasons, even the best query optimizers can very often produce sub-optimal query execution plans, leading to a significant degradation of performance. This is especially true in databases used for complex decision support queries and/or object-relational databases. In this paper, we describe an algorithm that detects sub-optimality of a query execution plan during query execution and attempts to correct the problem. The basic idea is to collect statistics at key points during the execution of a complex query. These statistics are then used to optimize the execution of the query, either by improving the resource allocation for that query, or by changing the execution plan for the remainder of the query. To ensure that this does not significantly slow down the normal execution of a query, the Query Optimizer carefully chooses what statistics to collect, when to collect them, and the circumstances under which to re-optimize the query. We describe an implementation of this algorithm in the Paradise Database System, and we report on performance studies, which indicate that this can result in significant improvements in the performance of complex queries.
The effect of chloride concentration in the determination of lysozyme activity.

The phosphate buffer used in the determination of lysozyme by the method of Smolelis and Hartsell was modified by the addition of a given concentration of NaCl. This change was shown necessary in determining the lytic activity present in gastric juice, when it was observed that very low as well as high chloride concentrations in the buffer solution alter lysozyme activity considerably.
Automated structure factor refinement from convergent-beam patterns

Abstract An algorithm is described which automatically adjusts values of the low-order structure factors, crystal thickness and absorption coefficients for the best fit to experimental convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) patterns recorded in the systematics orientation. A fitting index is defined, by analogy with R factors used in neutron diffraction. A comparison of several least-squares optimization routines is made, and the “Simplex” method found to be most useful. An analysis of errors, background and noise is presented. Source-code listings of most of the program have been published elsewhere. This treats three-dimensional dynamical diffraction by the Bloch-wave method from non-centrosymmetric crystals with absorption. The use of perturbation methods for the final 33-beam refinement is found to reduce the computation time from 6 h to 30 min. An example of the use of the program is given. For MgO, we find U(200) = 0.05847 ± 0.00051 and U(400) = 0.02484 ± 0.00028. This algorithm may be used to measure and study any of the parameters (such as atomic coordinates, bonding effects or Debye-Waller factors) on which crystal structure factors depend. Similar methods allow lattice parameters to be refined to an accuracy of ∽ 0.05%.
Comment on James H. Carr and Michelle Mulcahy's “Twenty years of housing policy: what's new, what's changed, what's ahead?”

Housing policy in the post Great Recession (GR) era faces tremendous uncertainties, but clearly there will be more sensitivity around risk, quality, and transparency in capital markets. The post-GR domestic policy environment and economy are likely to impose several overarching constraints, including less access to world capital markets for financing housing, more restrictive assessments of risk, and increasing restraints on federal domestic spending particularly for non-entitlement programs. Carr and Mulcahy provide a substantial agenda of liberal-progressive policies that focus on the predatory and risky practices of loan originators and promote expansion of home ownership for low-income households. If we are indeed on the brink of an era of austerity, the housing policy debate will need to focus on priorities for contraction rather than expansion in housing programs, and on tenure-neutral policies rather than promoting home ownership.
Intra- and Inter-personal Barriers to Condom Use Among College Students: A Review of the Literature

Research indicates that a large number of youth participate in risky sexual behaviors, including: having sex with multiple partners, not participating in discussions on safer sex practices, and not using condoms consistently when engaging in sexual activities. These behaviors put college students at an increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancy. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that may act as intra- and interpersonal barriers to condom use and to provide recommendations to increase condom use among college students. A review of the literature was performed which resulted in 15 articles identifying and discussing common barriers to condom use. Multiple factors were found to serve as barriers to condom use including (a) relationship dynamics; (b) perception of risk; and (c) gender roles. These barriers are summarized and recommendations are given to improve the rate of condom use among college students.
Age at injury and long-term behavior problems after traumatic brain injury in young children.

Objective: This study examined the effects of age at injury on the persistence of behavior problems and social skill deficits in young children with complicated mild to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: A concurrent cohort/prospective research design was used with repeated assessments of children with TBI (n = 82) or Orthopedic Injury (OI) (n = 114). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions, and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales or the Home and Community Social and Behavior Scales shortly after injury to assess preinjury functioning, and at an extended follow-up an average of 38 months postinjury. Generalized linear modeling was used to examine the relationship of age at injury to the maintenance of behavior problems, and logistic regression was used to examine the persistence of clinically significant behavior problems. Results: At the extended follow-up, severe TBI was associated with significantly greater anxiety problems relative to the Group OI. With increasing time since injury, children who sustained a severe TBI at an earlier age had significantly higher levels of parent-reported symptoms of ADHD and anxiety than children who were older at injury. Conclusions: Findings suggest that longer-term treatment for behavior problems may be needed after severe TBI, particularly for those injured at an earlier age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Reliability Analysis Based on Improved Bayes Method of AMSAA Model

Aiming at the defects that failure samples of five-axis NC machine tools is small, traditional reliability analysis is not accurate, this paper presents reliability analysis mode based on improved Bayesian method for AMSAA model. Firstly, we obtain the failure model of NC machine tools meets the AMSAA model according to goodness-of-fit test, and in order to meet the requirements of simplifying engineering calculations, this paper adpots a method of Coefficient equivalent which converts failure Data into index-life data; then using Bayesian methods to estimate reliability parameters for the Index-life data; for the last we proceed point estimation and interval estimation for the MTBF of the machine. Take High-speed five-axis NC machine tools t of VMC650m for example, the result proved that the method can take advantage of a small sample of the equipment to proceed point estimation and interval estimation for MTBF failure data, and provide a reference for the optimization of maintenance strategies and Diagnostic work of the NC machine tools.
Business History: Retrospect and Prospect

Business history as a separate field of academic study and research came into being twenty years ago this autumn. At its beginning it was little more than a name, but in those twenty years notable progress has been made in the development of research and teaching in the history of business. Basic research in business records has created a considerable fund of information. Wide preliminary explorations of the field have been made and a systematic concept of business genesis and evolution has been formulated. Courses of instruction in business history, whether nominal or real, have been established in several American universities. And increasingly over the years business men have been taking an interest in the subject.
Influence of the gap anisotropy on superconducting properties

Abstract Some consequences of the gap anisotropy are considered: the ratio 2Δ(0)/ T c , the shape of the tunneling conductance curve, and the influence of impurities on T c . It is demonstrated that anisotropy could be the cause of properties usually attributed to other origins.
Time-delay analysis of LISA gravitational wave data: Elimination of spacecraft motion effects

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a proposed mission which will use coherent laser beams exchanged between three remote spacecraft to detect and study low-frequency cosmic gravitational radiation.
Symptom expression and trauma variables in children under 48 months of age

The present study compared the severity of posttraumatic symptomatology and the differential expression of the PTSD symptom clusters with six child and trauma-related variables. The independent variables were gender, age at time of trauma, acute versus repeated traumas, injured versus not injured, witnessed versus experienced, and threat to caregiver versus no threat to caregiver. The dependent variables were presence of the diagnosis of PTSD, the overall symptom severity score, and four PTSD diagnostic cluster scores. Forty-one traumatized subjects under 48 months of age were studied. The diagnosis of PTSD was present more often when traumas involved threats to the caregivers. When traumas involved threats to the caregivers, the subjects expressed fewer numbing symptoms, more hyperarousal symptoms, and more new fears and aggression. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed, including the need for increased awareness that very young children can be affected severely when involved in situations that threaten their caregivers. Cette etude a compare la severite de la symptomatologie posttraumatique et de l'expression difftrentielle des groupes a symptǒme PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder en anglais) avec des variables dans les characteristiques de l'enfant et du trauma. Les variables independantes consistaient en le sexe, 1'ǎge au moment du trauma, les traumas seveAres contre les traumas repetes, blesses contre non blesses, vus contre experimentes, et la menace a l'encontre du mode de soin contre pas de menace a l'encontre du mode de soin. Les variables dependantes etaient la presence du diagnostic de PTSD, le score de severite du symptǒme, et les scores de groupe. Quarante-et-un sujets de moins de 48 mois ont ete etudies. Lorsque le trauma impliquait des menaces a l'encontre des modes de soin les sujets exprimaient moins de symptǒmes d'engourdissement, plus de symptǒmes &excitation, plus de nouvelles peurs et d'agressions et les enfants avaient plus tendance a ěre diagnostiques comme atteints de PTSD. Les implications pour la pratique clinique et la recherche seront discutees.
Effect of a wheat amylase inhibitor on canine carbohydrate digestion, gastrointestinal function, and pancreatic growth.

Abstract Background/Aims: Chronic amylase inhibition might be useful to treat diabetes mellitus and obesity. Duodenal and ileal cannulas were placed in 8 dogs to determine if long-term ingestion of a wheat amylase inhibitor maintained amylase inhibition or affected gastrointestinal or metabolic function or pancreatic growth. Methods: Five dogs were fed and 3 were not fed 1.5 g of the inhibitor with meals for 9 weeks. Postprandial and cholecystokinin octapeptide stimulated pancreatic secretion, and fecal balance studies were performed at intervals. After the experiment, the pancreas was analyzed. Results: Weight loss was similar in both groups. Amylase inhibition persisted throughout the 9 weeks; it declined from 91% to 37% from the first to the sixth postprandial hour. Amylase inhibition decreased plasma glucose levels during the first hour ( P P = 0.002), and increased cholecystokinin octapeptide-stimulated amylase secretion. However, amylase inhibition did not significantly change plasma concentrations of insulin, peptide YY or neurotensin, postprandial pancreatic secretion, gastrointestinal transit or pancreatic weight, and protein or DNA content. Conclusions: Prandial ingestion of 1.5 g of the inhibitor for 9 weeks reduces postprandial amylase levels enough to delay carbohydrate digestion and absorption and lower plasma glucose levels without altering pancreatic growth. This dose may be effective to treat diabetes mellitus but not obesity.
Fully Integrated Unequal Wilkinson Power Divider with PBG CPW on a GaAS Substrate

In this paper, two different approaches are proposed for obtaining CPW with high impedance such as an air-stacked coupled meander line and a PBG CPW structure. After evaluating the characteristic impedance of the proposed structure geometries, they will be applied for designing and fabricating the Unequal Wilkinson Power Divider. The Unequal Wilkinson Power Divider with power ratio of 1 to 3 is newly designed, simulated, and measured. The air-stacked coupled meander line and the PBG-CPW with 10 um in line width have same impedance characteristic as CPW with a line width of 4.5 um and 2.5 um, respectively. The insertion and return losses of the fabricated Power Divider are less than ?0.7dB and ?15dB, respectively. It also has excellent isolation characteristics with more than ?20dB. The measurement is good agreement with the simulation.
A Self-Biasing Pulsed Depressed Collector

Depressed collectors have been utilized successfully for many years to improve the electrical efficiency of vacuum electron devices. Increasingly, pulsed, high-peak power accelerator applications are placing a premium on electrical efficiency. As RF systems are responsible for a large percentage of the overall energy usage at accelerator laboratories, methods to improve upon the state-of-the-art in pulsed high-power sources are desired. This paper presents a technique for self-biasing the stages in a multistage depressed collector. With this technique, the energy lost during the rise and fall times of the pulse can be recovered, separate power supplies are not needed, and existing modulators can be retrofitted. Calculations show that significant cost savings can be realized with the implementation of this device in high-power systems. In this paper, the technique is described along with experimental demonstration.
Methods for visual mining of genomic and proteomic data atlases

As the volume, complexity and diversity of the information that scientists work with on a daily basis continues to rise, so too does the requirement for new analytic software. The analytic software must solve the dichotomy that exists between the need to allow for a high level of scientific reasoning, and the requirement to have an intuitive and easy to use tool which does not require specialist, and often arduous, training to use. Information visualization provides a solution to this problem, as it allows for direct manipulation and interaction with diverse and complex data. The challenge addressing bioinformatics researches is how to apply this knowledge to data sets that are continually growing in a field that is rapidly changing. This paper discusses an approach to the development of visual mining tools capable of supporting the mining of massive data collections used in systems biology research, and also discusses lessons that have been learned providing tools for both local researchers and the wider community. Example tools were developed which are designed to enable the exploration and analyses of both proteomics and genomics based atlases. These atlases represent large repositories of raw and processed experiment data generated to support the identification of biomarkers through mass spectrometry (the PeptideAtlas) and the genomic characterization of cancer (The Cancer Genome Atlas). Specifically the tools are designed to allow for: the visual mining of thousands of mass spectrometry experiments, to assist in designing informed targeted protein assays; and the interactive analysis of hundreds of genomes, to explore the variations across different cancer genomes and cancer types. The mining of massive repositories of biological data requires the development of new tools and techniques. Visual exploration of the large-scale atlas data sets allows researchers to mine data to find new meaning and make sense at scales from single samples to entire populations. Providing linked task specific views that allow a user to start from points of interest (from diseases to single genes) enables targeted exploration of thousands of spectra and genomes. As the composition of the atlases changes, and our understanding of the biology increase, new tasks will continually arise. It is therefore important to provide the means to make the data available in a suitable manner in as short a time as possible. We have done this through the use of common visualization workflows, into which we rapidly deploy visual tools. These visualizations follow common metaphors where possible to assist users in understanding the displayed data. Rapid development of tools and task specific views allows researchers to mine large-scale data almost as quickly as it is produced. Ultimately these visual tools enable new inferences, new analyses and further refinement of the large scale data being provided in atlases such as PeptideAtlas and The Cancer Genome Atlas.