cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Just-in-time cognitive assessment and task recommendation for individuals with cognitive impairments

For individuals with cognitive impairment (CI), the inability to effectively perform mental tasks required for independent daily living can severely limit one's functionality in their daily living. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop an online just-in-time assessment of an individual's cognitive state in a way that is the least intrusive but is situated in the relevant contexts and3asks at hand, e.g., taking medication, driving or filing in tax. This assessment is then fed into recommended tasks that the users are most likely to be able to do. The biggest challenge in this work is determining the best combination and timing of the administration of the cognitive assessments as the recommendation will be only as good as the reliability and validity of the assessment results. I will first recruit and screen individuals with CI from a stroke and disability learning center. Through standardized requirement gathering methodologies, I will assess the user needs and explore system design requirements. Furthermore, system development, user testing, and analysis will be conducted following user driven design methodologies. Long-term system deployment for user testing in natural settings and contexts will be concluded for final analysis and reporting results.
SU-D-BRF-03: Improvement of TomoTherapy Megavoltage Topogram Image Quality for Automatic Registration During Patient Localization

Purpose: To improve the quality of mega-voltage orthogonal scout images (MV topograms) for a fast and low-dose alternative technique for patient localization on the TomoTherapy HiART system. Methods: Digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) of anthropomorphic head and pelvis phantoms were synthesized from kVCT under TomoTherapy geometry (kV-DRR). Lateral (LAT) and anterior-posterior (AP) aligned topograms were acquired with couch speeds of 1cm/s, 2cm/s, and 3cm/s. The phantoms were rigidly translated in all spatial directions with known offsets in increments of 5mm, 10mm, and 15mm to simulate daily positioning errors. The contrast of the MV topograms was automatically adjusted based on the image intensity characteristics. A low-pass fast Fourier transform filter removed high-frequency noise and a Weiner filter reduced stochastic noise caused by scattered radiation to the detector array. An intensity-based image registration algorithm was used to register the MV topograms to a corresponding kV-DRR by minimizing the mean square error between corresponding pixel intensities. The registration accuracy was assessed by comparing the normalized cross correlation coefficients (NCC) between the registered topograms and the kV-DRR. The applied phantom offsets were determined by registering the MV topograms with the kV-DRR and recovering the spatial translation of the MV topograms. Results: The automatic registration technique provided millimeter accuracy and was robust for the deformed MV topograms for three tested couch speeds. The lowest average NCC for all AP and LAT MV topograms was 0.96 for the head phantom and 0.93 for the pelvis phantom. The offsets were recovered to within 1.6mm and 6.5mm for the processed and the original MV topograms respectively. Conclusion: Automatic registration of the processed MV topograms to a corresponding kV-DRR recovered simulated daily positioning errors that were accurate to the order of a millimeter. These results suggest the clinical use of MV topograms as a promising alternative to MVCT patient alignment.
Primary Lymphoma of the Prostate: Good Outcome with Doxorubicin-Based Combination Chemotherapy

AbstractPrimary lymphoma of the prostate was diagnosed in 3 patients corresponding to 0.1 percent of those with previously untreated lymphoma and 0.09 percent of those with previously untreated prostatic malignancy presenting to our cancer between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1993. All 3 patients had prostatism at presentation that caused renal failure in 2. After treatment with doxorubicin-based combination chemotherapy appropriate for the stage and the specific histological subtype, all 3 patients achieved a complete remission and remained free of disease after a minimum followup of 3 years. Our results suggest that primary prostatic lymphoma is not necessarily associated with a poor outcome. Review of the literature suggests that the poor prognosis reported for prostatic lymphoma might be explained by treatment that was acceptable at the time but would be considered suboptimal by current criteria. We recommend through staging in all patients with prostatic lymphoma and treatment with a doxorubicin-...
IRAK-M regulates chromatin remodeling in lung macrophages during experimental sepsis.

Sepsis results in a profound state of immunosuppression, which is temporally associated with impaired leukocyte function. The mechanism of leukocyte reprogramming in sepsis is incompletely understood. In this study, we explored mechanisms contributing to dysregulated inflammatory cytokine expression by pulmonary macrophages during experimental sepsis. Pulmonary macrophages (PM) recovered from the lungs of mice undergoing cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) display transiently reduced expression of some, but not all innate genes in response to LPS. Impaired expression of TNF-α and iNOS was associated with reduced acetylation and methylation of specific histones (AcH4 and H3K4me3) and reduced binding of RNA polymerase II to the promoters of these genes. Transient impairment in LPS-induced cytokine responses in septic PM temporally correlated with induction of IRAK-M mRNA and protein, which occurred in a MyD88-dependent fashion. PM isolated from IRAK-M−/− mice were largely refractory to CLP-induced impairment in cytokine expression, chromatin remodeling, recruitment of RNA polymerase II, and induction of histone deacetylase-2 observed during sepsis. Our findings indicate that systemic sepsis induces epigenetic silencing of cytokine gene expression in lung macrophages, and IRAK-M appears to be a critical mediator of this response.
Cylindrical luminescent solar concentrators with near-infrared quantum dots

We investigate the performance of cylindrical luminescent solar concentrators (CLSCs) with near-infrared lead sulfide quantum dots (QDs) in the active region. We fabricate solid and hollow cylinders from a composite of QDs in polymethylmethacrylate, prepared by radical polymerization, and characterize sample homogeneity and optical properties using spectroscopic techniques. We additionally measure photo-stability and photocurrent outputs under both laboratory and external ambient conditions. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical calculations which demonstrate that the hollow CLSCs have higher absorption of incident radiation and lower self-absorption compared to solid cylindrical and planar geometries with similar geometric factors, resulting in a higher optical efficiency.
Kinetics of nitrate, nitrite, and Cr(VI) reduction by iron metal.

The kinetics of nitrate, nitrite, and Cr(VI) reduction by three types of iron metal (Fe0) were studied in batch reactors for a range of Fe0 surface area concentrations and solution pH values (5.5−9.0). At pH 7.0, there was only a modest difference (2−4×) in first-order rate coefficients (kobs) for each contaminant among the three Fe0 types investigated (Fisher, Peerless, and Connelly). The kobs values at pH 7.0 for both nitrite and Cr(VI) reduction were first-order with respect to Fe0 surface area concentration, and average surface area normalized rate coefficients (kSA) of 9.0 × 10-3 and 2.2 × 10-1 L m-2 h-1 were determined for nitrite and Cr(VI), respectively. Unlike nitrite and Cr(VI), Fe0 surface area concentration had little effect on rates of nitrate reduction (with the exception of Connelly Fe0, which reduced nitrate at slower rates at higher Fe0 surface areas). The rates of nitrate, nitrite, and Cr(VI) reduction by Fisher Fe0 decreased with increasing pH with apparent reaction orders of 0.49 ± 0.0...
Reasoning About a Semantic Memory Encoding of the Connectivity of Events

In artificial intelligence, human understanding of text is modeled by programs that construct representations. A critical question concerns determining the form of the representation (hence, the form of the understanding). This article explores the encoding relationship between the semantic memory and the representation/understanding. An important feature of this relationship is that semantic memory and the constructed representation share the same structure, that is, the structure of the “understanding” is a “copy” of some piece of structure taken from semantic memory. A key idea developed is the notion of conceptual roots, the basic framework of the semantic memory-encoded understanding/representation. The research reported in this article examined the twin themes of “copybased” representation/understanding and the conceptual roots by exploring their roles In several reasoning tasks: The conceptual roots can be used to explain succinctly the connection between any two concept-coherent events in an understanding. The semantic memory encoding provides a measure of importance that quantifies the conceptual emphasis of the understanding; given this measure of importance, It is easy to show that each of the important nodes is either a conceptual root or covered by one of the conceptual roots. A combination of techniques can be used to generate a description of the basic event content of the narrative (i.e., a basic summary): This last task reveals some other interesting properties of the conceptual roots.
Anion Adsorption, CO Oxidation, and Oxygen Reduction Reaction on a Au(100) Surface: The pH Effect

The effects of pH on the surface reconstruction of Au(100), on CO oxidation, and on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been studied by a combination of surface X-ray scattering (SXS), Fourier...
Reduced oncotic necrosis in fas receptor-deficient C57BL/6J-lpr mice after bile duct ligation

Neutrophils aggravate cholestatic liver injury after bile duct ligation (BDL). Recently, it was suggested that hepatocellular apoptosis might be critical for liver injury in this model. To test the hypothesis that apoptosis could be a signal for neutrophil extravasation and injury, we assessed parameters of apoptosis and inflammation after BDL using 2 different approaches: (1) wild-type and Fas receptor-deficient lpr mice of the C57BL/6J or C3H/HeJ strains, and (2) treatment with the pancaspase inhibitor z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone (z-VAD-fmk)in C3HeB/FeJ mice. After BDL for 3 days, total cell death was estimated to be between 10% and 50% of all cells evaluated. However, less than 0.1% of hepatocytes showed apoptotic morphology in all 3 strains. Processing of procaspase-3, caspase-3 enzyme activities, and immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin 18 cleavage products indicated no activation of caspases. Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed increased expression of many inflammatory mediators but no effect on proapoptotic genes. More than 50% of all accumulated neutrophils were extravasated and colocalized with foci of oncotic hepatocytes and chlorotyrosine adducts. z-VAD-fmk treatment had no effect on apoptosis or liver injury after BDL but eliminated apoptosis after galactosamine/endotoxin in C3HeB/FeJ mice. In Fas receptor-deficient lpr mice (C57BL/6J), expression of inflammatory mediators, neutrophil accumulation and extravasation, chlorotyrosine adduct formation, and liver injury were reduced. This protection was not observed in lpr mice of the endotoxin-resistant C3H/HeJ strain. In conclusion, liver injury (oncotic necrosis) after BDL correlated with the severity of the inflammatory response. The minimal amount of apoptosis had no effect on inflammation or on the overall injury.
Irregular fractal spectra underlying fractal phase boundaries in incommensurate systems

Abstract Two-parameter incommensurate systems exhibiting extended and localized states with fractal phase boundaries are studied. The energy spectra of such systems are irregular due to band crossings. However, the spectra exhibit a fractal structure which is responsible for the fractal phase boundary. The band crossings on the fractal boundary obey simple additive rules for any discommensurations. For noble discommensurations, these crossings associate a self-similar pattern of scaling indices with the fractal boundary.
Equivalence of regularity for the Bergman projection and the\(\bar \partial\)-neumann operator

A necessary and sufficient condition for regularity of the\(\bar \partial\)-Neumann operator on (0,q)-forms in a smooth bounded pseudoconvex domain in Cn is that the orthogonal projections onto\(\bar \partial\)-closed forms of degrees (0,q−1), (0,q), and (0,q+1) all be regular.
Infrared spectra of solid hydrocarbons at very low temperatures

Abstract Mixtures of various hydrocarbons with argon were condensed on a CsI window cooled with liquid helium or hydrogen and the absorption spectra recorded in the region 700–3500 cm−1.
The dilute-short ear (d-se) complex of the mouse: lessons from a fancy mutation

Abstract The dilute-short ear ( d-se ) complex of the mouse can boast of a long rich history of genetic study. Complementation analysis of many mutations within this complex has identified a number of genes in this small segment of chromosome 9 that affect diverse developmental pathways. Recently, recombinant DNA techniques applied to the analysis of the old d mutation have made this complex available for study at the molecular level.
Necessary and sufficient condition for stability robustness under known additive perturbation

A necessary and sufficient condition is derived for the stability robustness of a unity feedback closed-loop system involving a strictly proper plant P0 and a stabilizing compensator C0 under the assumption that the plant P0 is perturbed to P0 + ΔP0 where ΔP0 is a known strictly proper rational matrix.
Flows with Heat Addition

Another problem which may be treated by the present method is to determine the effects of small heat addition and area variations on the otherwise uniform flow of a perfectly conducting fluid [32]. The heat addition produces entropy variations and, since it is generally the rate of change of entropy along a trajectory that is known, it is convenient to use (u, P, B, s) as dependent variables [33]. With this choice of dependent variables, only material derivatives of the entropy appear, and the governing equations are $${{P}_{t}}+u{{P}_{x}}+\gamma P{{u}_{x}}-P\left[ \frac{{{f}^{*}}}{{{c}_{v}}}-\frac{\gamma u{{A}_{x}}}{A} \right]=0$$ (4.1.1) $$\sigma {{u}_{t}}+\sigma u{{u}_{x}}+{{P}_{x}}+\frac{B{{B}_{x}}}{\mu }=0$$ (4.1.2) $${{B}_{t}}+u{{B}_{x}}+B{{u}_{x}}=0,$$ (4.1.3) $${{s}_{t}}+u{{s}_{x}}=f*$$ (4.1.4) where f* is the rate of entropy production (due to the heat addition).
Carbonate Sediment Production by Sargassum Epibionts

ABSTRACT Sargassum and associated calcareous epibionts were collected at sea and on a Bermuda beach. The weight percent of calcium carbonate produced by epibionts averaged 9.4% for samples collected at sea and 5.3% for beached samples. This indicates that Sargassum epibionts are a major potential source of carbonate sediment. Beached Sargassum adds between 8,213 g/m2/yr and 3,431 g/m2/yr to the sampled beach and is a significant actual source of carbonate sediment.
Bodies in Sync: Interaction Ritual Theory Applied to Sacred Harp Singing

This paper applies "interaction ritual" theory (Collins 2004) to the case of "Sacred Harp" singing in the United States. We first situate the paper in a tradition of theorizing traced to Durkheim's analysis of "collective effervescence," the key to which is that instead of merely expressing social solidarity, physically intense rituals create it. Drawing on recent ethnographic literature as well as our observant participation, we depict Sacred Harp ritual. The music is sung loudly and with gusto, and singers employ their bodies both to produce the sound and to emphasize its significance. We apply Collins's theory to argue that Sacred Harp ritual produces solidarity in the absence of, or prior to, ideological consensus. Sacred Harp singers include evangelicals, atheists, and Jews, with a significant presence of gays and lesbians. Notwithstanding these differences, Sacred Harp constitutes a far-flung solidary community, an emergent shared identity that cross-cuts other, often conflicting identities. We close with suggestions for further applications of a promising theory.
Microbial Effects of Ultrasonication of Broiler Drumstick Skin

Pre-chill broiler drumsticks were exposed to ultrasonic energy in water at 25 and 40°C for 15 and 30 min to study the effect on skin microbial counts. Aerobic plate counts (APC) after 0, 7, and 14 days at 4°C indicated no significant effects (p>0.05) due to ultrasonication. In another experiment, post-chill broiler drumsticks were treated with ultrasonic energy in 1% lactic acid at pH 2 and 4 for 0.5, 2, and 3.5 min. After 0 and 10 days at 4°C there was no significant effect (p>0.05) of ultrasonication on APC.
Maximally localized Wannier functions for entangled energy bands

We present a method for obtaining well-localized Wannier-like functions (WF's) for energy bands that are attached to or mixed with other bands. The present scheme removes the limitation of the usual maximally localized WF's method [N. Marzari and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. B 56, 12 847 (1997)] that the bands of interest should form an isolated group, separated by gaps from higher and lower bands everywhere in the Brillouin zone. An energy window encompassing N bands of interest is specified by the user, and the algorithm then proceeds to disentangle these from the remaining bands inside the window by filtering out an optimally connected N-dimensional subspace. This is achieved by minimizing a functional that measures the subspace dispersion across the Brillouin zone. The maximally localized WF's for the optimal subspace are then obtained via the algorithm of Marzari and Vanderbilt. The method, which functions as a postprocessing step using the output of conventional electronic-structure codes, is applied to the s and d bands of copper, and to the valence and low-lying conduction bands of silicon. For the low-lying nearly-free-electron bands of copper we find WF's which are centered at the tetrahedral-interstitial sites, suggesting an alternative tight-binding parametrization.
A randomized controlled evaluation of the effect of community health workers on hospitalization for asthma: the asthma coach.

Objective To test whether community health workers are able to reach low-income parents of African American children hospitalized for asthma and to reduce rehospitalization among them. Design A randomized controlled evaluation of usual care vs 2-year asthma coach intervention. Setting An urban children's hospital and the surrounding community. Participants A population-based sample of 306 children hospitalized for asthma met the inclusion criteria of being 2 to 8 years of age, of African American ethnicity, and having Medicaid coverage. Of these, 200 were contacted and 191 recruited with commitment to evaluation activities but, in order to assess reach, no commitment to participating in intervention. Interventions Coaches reinforced basic asthma education and encouraged key management behaviors through home visits and phone calls tailored to parent's readiness to adopt management practices and emphasizing a nondirective supportive style (cooperative and accepting of feelings and choices). Outcome Measures The reach of intervention to parents, contacts with coaches, and rehospitalization over 2 years based on hospital records. Results Within 3 months of randomization to the asthma coach group, 89.6% of parents had at least 1 substantive contact with the coach, with an average of 21.1 contacts per parent over the 24-month intervention. The proportion of children rehospitalized was 35 of 96 (36.5%) in the asthma coach group and 55 of 93 (59.1%) in the usual care group ( P Conclusions An asthma coach can reach low-income parents of African American children hospitalized for asthma and reduce rehospitalization among the children.
ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED ECONOMIES

Open and closed economies have been assumed to produce opposite relations between responding and the programmed density of reward (the amount of reward divided by its cost). Experimental procedures that are treated as open economies typically dissociate responding and total reward by providing supplemental income outside the experimental session; procedures construed as closed economies do not. In an open economy responding is assumed to be directly related to reward density, whereas in a closed economy responding is assumed to be inversely related to reward density. In contrast to this predicted correlation between response-reward relations and type of economy, behavior regulation theory predicts both direct and inverse relations in both open and closed economies. Specifically, responding should be a bitonic function of reward density regardless of the type of economy and is dependent only on the ratio of the schedule terms rather than on their absolute size. These predictions were tested by four experiments in which pigeons' key pecking produced food on fixed-ratio and variable-interval schedules over a range of reward magnitudes and under several open- and closed-economy procedures. The results better supported the behavior regulation view by showing a general bitonic function between key pecking and food density in all conditions. In most cases, the absolute size of the schedule requirement and the magnitude of reward had no effect; equal ratios of these terms produced approximately equal responding.
Behavior Modification in the Correctional Setting

The review of the literature has been written in three parts. The first reviews the questions and issues raised about the utility of behavior modification and corrections. The second portion of the...
IMMEDIATE AND POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS OF TRANSURETHRAL PROSTATECTOMY IN THE 1990s

ABSTRACTPurpose: We compare the morbidity, mortality, hospitalization and urethral catheter time of contemporary transurethral prostatectomy to historical series, and evaluate recent trends in hospitalization and urethral catheter time during the last 8 years.Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of 520 consecutive patients who underwent transurethral prostatectomy between 1991 and 1998 at a single institution for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia was performed. Inpatient and outpatient charts, clinic records, operative reports and discharge summaries were reviewed. For each patient 43 data points were collected. Telephone followup was performed when data were lacking. All retrieved data were compiled in a computer database. Perioperative and late postoperative morbidity and mortality, hospitalization and urethral catheter time were analyzed.Results: A total of 520 patients were identified with an average age of 67 years (range 44 to 89). Significant co-morbidity (2 or more co-morbid ...
Tight results for clustering and summarizing data streams

In this paper we investigate algorithms and lower bounds for summarization problems over a single pass data stream. In particular we focus on histogram construction and K-center clustering. We provide a simple framework that improves upon all previous algorithms on these problems in either the space bound, the approximation factor or the running time. The framework uses a notion of "streamstrapping" where summaries created for the initial prefixes of the data are used to develop better approximation algorithms. We also prove the first non-trivial lower bounds for these problems. We show that the stricter requirement that if an algorithm accurately approximates the error of every bucket or every cluster produced by it, then these upper bounds are almost the best possible. This property of accurate estimation is true of all known upper bounds on these problems.
Multimedia communications over cognitive radio networks for smart grid applications

Wireless networks play a major role in smart grid applications such as automatic meter reading, remote system monitoring, remote home/customer site monitoring, and equipment fault diagnosing. Many smart grid applications face harsh environmental conditions but have high reliability and low latency requirements. Many communication challenges posed by the smart grid applications require careful research and customized communication and networking solutions. For example, huge amount of data related to monitoring and control will be transmitted across smart grid wireless communication infrastructures, with intensive interference and increasing competition over the limited and crowded radio spectrum for the existing wireless networking standards. The opportunistic spectrum access with cognitive radios is a promising wireless technology to improve the frequency/spectrum utilization by detecting unoccupied spectrum holes of primary users and assigning them to secondary users. The versatile features of cognitive radio technology satisfy the requirements of smart grid communications. On the other hand, there are growing needs of multimedia applications via smart grid communication infrastructures that require large bandwidth and network resources. To meet the requirements of this important paradigm in smart grid communications, in this paper, we investigate the technical challenges and the solutions of cognitive radio networking with multimedia applications for smart grid communication infrastructures, and present a guideline for future smart grid multimedia communication infrastructure design.
Dissipation at tidal and seismic frequencies in a melt-free, anhydrous Mars

[1] The measured inward motion of Phobos provides a constraint on the tidal dissipation factor, Q, within Mars. We model viscoelastic dissipation inside a convective Mars using a modified Burgers model based on laboratory experiments on anhydrous, melt-free olivine. The model tidal Q is highly sensitive to the mantle potential temperature and grain size assumed but relatively insensitive to the bulk density and rigidity structure. Q thus provides a tight constraint on the Martian interior temperature. By fitting the observed tidal Q and tidal Love number (k2) values and requiring present-day melt generation, we estimate that for a grain size of 1 cm the current mantle potential temperature is 1625±75 K, similar to that of the Earth. This estimate is consistent with recent petrologically derived determinations of mantle potential temperature but lower than estimates in some thermal evolution models. The presence of water in the Martian mantle would reduce our estimated temperature. Our preferred mantle grain size of ≈1 cm is somewhat larger than that of the Earth's upper mantle. The predicted mantle seismic Q is about 130 and is almost independent of depth. The Martian lithosphere represents a high seismic velocity lid, which should be readily detectable with future seismological observations.
Occurrence of nonmelanoma skin cancers on the hands after UV nail light exposure.

Background Exposure to tanning beds, which contain mostly high-dose UV-A emitters, is a known cause of photoaging. Evidence is also accumulating for an association between tanning bed use and the development of skin cancer. Another source of high-dose UV-A is UV nail lights, available for use in the home and in beauty salons. Observations Two healthy middle-aged women with no personal or family history of skin cancer developed nonmelanoma skin cancers on the dorsum of their hands. Both women report previous exposure to UV nail lights. Conclusions It appears that exposure to UV nail lights is a risk factor for the development of skin cancer; however, this observation warrants further investigation. In addition, awareness of this possible association may help physicians identify more skin cancers and better educate their patients.
Photonlike particles, Compton scattering and sum rules in the dual-resonance model

An analogy is drawn between the real photons appearing in electrodynamics and the photonlike particle appearing in the dual-resonance model with unit intercept. Sum rules for the Compton scattering of these particles are derived and, by employing the analogy, interpreted in terms of low-energy theorems. In particular we rederive the «universal» property of magnetic moments and the lack of anomalous moments in the dual model. We also show that the Beg-type sum rule exists and is saturated by relatively few states. This is a direct result of the simplicity of the collinear algebra appearing in the dual model.
A checklist of the moray eels of the world (Teleostei: Anguilliformes: Muraenidae)

A checklist of the currently recognized species of moray eels (Muraenidae) is presented. One hundred ninety seven speciesare considered to be valid, in 15 genera, and two subfamilies. The account for each valid species contains bibliographicinformation for that species and all synonyms, including primary type specimens and type locality. Also given for eachspecies is the number of vertebrae, the mean vertebral formula (MVF), the general geographic distribution, and any ex-planatory remarks that may be needed. A list of nominal genera and species is given, with the current status of each. Separate lists are provided for names that cannot be assigned to known species (incertae sedis) and those that are unavailable.
PROTEOLYTIC ENZYMES III. FURTHER STUDIES ON PROTEIN, POLYPEPTIDE, AND OTHER INHIBITORS OF SERUM PROTEINASE, LEUCOPROTEINASE, TRYPSIN, AND PAPAIN

1. Serum proteinase precursor was found in plasma protein fractions I and III of Cohn. Inhibitors of serum proteinase, leucoproteinase, trypsin, and papain were found in fractions IV-1 and IV-4, and to a lesser extent in fractions V and I. 2. Pancreatic, soy bean, lima bean, and egg white inhibitors inhibited trypsin stoichiometrically. Pancreatic inhibitor had comparable inhibitory activity against serum proteinase; soy bean inhibitor had somewhat less, lima bean inhibitor even less, and egg white inhibitor very little. None of these inhibitors appreciably inhibited leucoproteinase or papain. 3. Serum and fractions IV - 1 and IV - 4 had marked inhibitory activity against trypsin and leucoproteinase, and somewhat less against serum proteinase and papain. The inhibitory activity of the plasma proteins against trypsin and leucoproteinase was due almost entirely to fractions IV - 1 and IV - 4; against serum proteinase and papain fraction V was slightly more important. The "reconstituted plasma proteins" accounted for 8 to 25 per cent of the proteinase-inhibitory activity of whole serum or plasma. 4. The proteinase-inhibitory activity of serum, plasma protein fractions, and soy bean inhibitor was heat labile, while that of pancreatic, lima bean, and egg white inhibitors was relatively heat stable. 5. Reducing and oxidizing agents, in very high concentration, inhibited serum proteinase, as well as trypsin and leucoproteinase. These proteinases were not influenced by mercurial sulfhydryl inhibitors, indicating that free sulfhydryl groups do not play an important part in their activity.
Economic Behavior in Student Ratings of Teaching: Revenge or Reward?

In this paper, we apply economic behavior analysis to the issue of grades and student ratings of teaching, and develop econometric models (both OLS and 2SLS methods) to test the hypothesis that students rate their professors primarily based upon their midterm grades. Our findings reveal that students' midterm grades are positively and significantly related to professors' overall evaluations, indicating that the hypothesis is accepted. Moreover, two implied issues are discussed. We found that a number of students have ever used student ratings of teaching for revenge on or to reward professors, and professors who teach at low-ranked institutes and receive low salaries have more incentives to lower their grading standards and inflate students' grades.
The production of monodisperse explosive particles with piezo-electric inkjet printing technology

We have developed a method to produce discrete microparticles from compounds dissolved in nonpolar or polar solvents using drop-on-demand inkjet printer technology. A piezoelectric inkjet printhead located atop a drying tube produces precise droplets containing defined quantities of analyte. Droplets solidify into microparticles with known composition and size as they traverse down the drying tube. Because this is a drop-on-demand printing process, a known number of droplets are produced providing quantitative particle delivery to a variety of substrates. Particular emphasis is placed on the development and characterization of the drying tube in this work. The drying tube was modeled using computational fluid dynamics and experimentally evaluated using laser-based flow visualization techniques. A notable design feature of the drying tube is the ability to push heated air through the tube rather than the need to pull air from the exit. This provides the ability to place a known number of well-defined particles onto almost any substrate of interest, rather than having to collect particles onto a filter first and then transfer them to another surface. Several types of particles have been produced by this system, examples of which are pure particles of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine ranging from 10 μm to 30 μm in diameter, and ammonium nitrate particles of 40 μm diameter. The final particle size is directly related to the solute concentration of the printing solution and the size of the initial jetted droplet.
DS/DH Start-Ups: A Library Model for Advancing Scholarship through Collaboration

ABSTRACTNot all digital scholarship or digital humanities centers are created equal. Some focus on service, while others conduct research and analysis or are more experimental with research and development applications. All of these usually claim an important component of collaboration, whether that is the sharing of ideas, resources, tools, or staff expertise. However, collaboration is often talked about but not practiced, whether in the library or across campus. This article highlights how cross-campus collaboration is not just a phrase but an underlying foundation for the development and success of a digital scholarship lab at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). The start-up framework includes defining digital scholarship, leadership roles, steps to success, investing in partnerships, and the foundational documentation that has led to the successful establishment of the library as the digital scholarship hub of the university.
Increasing the use of 'smart' pump drug libraries by nurses: a continuous quality improvement project.

The use of infusion pumps that incorporate "smart" technology (smart pumps) can reduce the risks associated with receiving IV therapies. Smart pump technology incorporates safeguards such as a list of high-alert medications, soft and hard dosage limits, and a drug library that can be tailored to specific patient care areas. Its use can help to improve patient safety and to avoid potentially catastrophic harm associated with medication errors. But when one independent community hospital in Massachusetts switched from older mechanical pumps to smart pumps, it neglected to assign an "owner" to oversee the implementation process. One result was that nurses were using the smart pump library for only 37% of all infusions.To increase pump library usage percentage-thereby reducing the risks associated with infusion and improving patient safety-the hospital undertook a continuous quality improvement project over a four-month period in 2009. With the involvement of direct care nurses, and using quantitative data available from the smart pump software, the nursing quality and pharmacy quality teams identified ways to improve pump and pump library use. A secondary goal was to calculate the hospital's return on investment for the purchase of the smart pumps. Several interventions were developed and, on the first of each month, implemented. By the end of the project, pump library usage had nearly doubled; and the hospital had completely recouped its initial investment.
Mechanisms of short incubation period in brood-parasitic cowbirds

Field estimates of incubation periods of brood parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus spp.) indicate that they are unusually short given the sizes of their eggs. As a consequence, cowbirds usually hatch before host young, even though cowbird eggs are frequently larger. Field-estimated incubation periods, however, have an inherent uncertainty because of in- termittent attendance by incubating birds, and the mechanisms for early hatching are un- known. I report incubation periods of Shiny Cowbird (M. bonariensis) eggs under controlled conditions in the laboratory, and test the hypothesis that cowbirds exhibit accelerated rates of embryo development, by exploring two possible mechanisms for shortening the incubation period of cowbird eggs: (1) cowbird eggs may have a low energy content, which results in a short incubation period because yolk reserves are depleted earlier; or (2) cowbird embryos may have elevated growth rates, which would be reflected in their metabolic rates. Energy content of cowbird eggs was 23.8% lower than expected from egg mass. Mean incubation period in the laboratory was 11.7 days, which is 28.8% shorter than expected from egg mass, but close to the expected from energy content. Similarly, yolk-free, dry hatchling mass was lower than expected from egg mass, but not significantly different from the expected from egg energy content. These results support the hypothesis that cowbirds shorten incubation period by reducing the energy content of the egg, although it results in a slightly smaller hatchling. The hypothesis that cowbird embryos have elevated growth rates, in contrast, was not supported because embryos did not have higher metabolic rates than expected from their size. Although the evidence presented here is correlational, there is experimental evidence that reducing yolk reserves may act as a proximate cue for early hatching in other vertebrates. Received 7 June 1993, accepted 13 November 1993.
Hot-Channel Stability of Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactors—I: Steady-State and Sliding Pressure Startup

The drastic change of fluid density in the reactor core of a supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) gives rise to a concern about density-wave stability. Using a single-channel thermal-hydraulic...
Seasonal phenology and abundance of Leucopis argenticollis, Leucopis piniperda (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae), Laricobius nigrinus (Coleoptera: Deridontidae) and Adelges tsugae (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) in the Pacific Northwest USA

Adelges tsugae infested western hemlock trees were sampled periodically for 1 year at two locations in Oregon and Washington to compare the phenology and abundance of three associated predators (Leucopis argenticollis, Leucopis piniperda, and Laricobius nigrinus) and their host. On each sample date, two 3-10 cm long terminal twigs were collected from each tree and brought to the laboratory to count all life stages of A. tsugae and the three predators. Peak larval abundance of Leucopis spp. and La. nigrinus coincided with the presence of A. tsugae adults and eggs. Leucopis spp. larvae were present for a much longer period of time than were La. nigrinus larvae. Furthermore, Leucopis spp. larvae were present during both the progrediens and sistens egg stages, while La. nigrinus larvae were only present during the progrediens egg stage. Overall, we collected 2.3-3.5 times more Leucopis spp. of all life stages than La. nigrinus. These results support the continued study of Leucopis spp. from the Pacific Northwest as biological control agents for A. tsugae in the Eastern USA.
All I Really Need to Know About Semiconductors, Research and More, I Learned as a Graduate Student of Cardona

The author Robert Fulghum published in 1988 a book with a rather humorous title: “All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten”. The book became an instant success and was on the New York Times bestsellers list for 2 years.
SU‐G‐BRC‐10: Feasibility of a Web‐Based Monte Carlo Simulation Tool for Dynamic Electron Arc Radiotherapy (DEAR)

Purpose: DEAR is a radiation therapy technique utilizing synchronized motion of gantry and couch during delivery to optimize dose distribution homogeneity and penumbra for treatment of superficial disease. Dose calculation for DEAR is not yet supported by commercial TPSs. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of using a web-based Monte Carlo (MC) simulation tool (VirtuaLinac) to calculate dose distributions for a DEAR delivery. Methods: MC simulations were run through VirtuaLinac, which is based on the GEANT4 platform. VirtuaLinac utilizes detailed linac head geometry and material models, validated phase space files, and a voxelized phantom. The input was expanded to include an XML file for simulation of varying mechanical axes as a function of MU. A DEAR XML plan was generated and used in the MC simulation and delivered on a TrueBeam in Developer Mode. Radiographic film wrapped on a cylindrical phantom (12.5 cm radius) measured dose at a depth of 1.5 cm and compared to the simulation results. Results: A DEAR plan was simulated using an energy of 6 MeV and a 3×10 cm2 cut-out in a 15×15 cm2 applicator for a delivery of a 90° arc. The resulting data were found to provide qualitative and quantitative evidence that the simulation platform could be used as the basis for DEAR dose calculations. The resulting unwrapped 2D dose distributions agreed well in the cross-plane direction along the arc, with field sizes of 18.4 and 18.2 cm and penumbrae of 1.9 and 2.0 cm for measurements and simulations, respectively. Conclusion: Preliminary feasibility of a DEAR delivery using a web-based MC simulation platform has been demonstrated. This tool will benefit treatment planning for DEAR as a benchmark for developing other model based algorithms, allowing efficient optimization of trajectories, and quality assurance of plans without the need for extensive measurements.
Quantification of the kinetic differences between communities isolated from completely mixed activated sludge systems operated with or without a selector using a novel respirometric method

This study quantified the kinetic differences in microbial communities isolated from completely mixed activated sludge (CMAS) systems that were operated either with or without an aerobic selector preceding the main reactor. A new respirometric method was employed that allowed the determination of biodegradation kinetics from single oxygen consumption curves, thereby minimizing physiological changes to the examined communities during the assay. Results indicated that increased values for K s and μ max for acetate, phenol, and 4-chlorophenol degradation were measured in the CMAS system operated with a selector. The biomass yields on acetate, phenol, and 4-chlorophenol were very similar in both systems. These findings indicate that the operation of CMAS systems with aerobic selectors may result in the selection for degrading populations with higher K s and μ max values for both biogenic and xenobiotic organic compounds, and that substrate storage in the selector only partially contributes to increased substrate removal rates.
Role of an Endogenous Retrovirus in ALS Pathophysiology and Effect of Anti-Retrovirals In Vitro (P5.203)

Objective: Determine if reactivation of an endogenous retrovirus can cause neuronal injury and if viral replication can be impacted by anti-retroviral therapy Background: Previous reports of detection of reverse transcriptase in blood and brain of patients with ALS and the response to antiretroviral therapy in some patients with HIV infection and motor neuron disease prompted us to explore the role of endogenous retroviruses in the pathogenesis of ALS. Methods: Using quantitative real time PCR, we determined the expression levels of human endogenous retrovirus-K (HERV-K) transcripts in frontal cortex of patients with ALS and controls. This was further confirmed by immunostaining for env protein in brain. HERV-K was expressed in human neuronal cultures and a transgenic mouse model was developed using the HERV-K env gene using a neuronal promoter. A panel of FDA approved antiretroviral drugs were tested for their ability to block HERV-K replication in vitro. Results: ALS patients had significantly higher expression levels of HERV-K genes compared to controls. The expression of three HERV-K genes correlated with each other. Immunostaining showed that the expression was in cortical neurons. Expression of HERV-K or its env in neurons in culture caused retraction of neurites and cell death. The transgenic mouse model developed progressive upper and lower motor neuron deficits as determined by behavioral testing, MRI of brain and detailed histopathology of brain, spinal cord and muscle. Reverse transcriptase inhibitors and integrase inhibitors had similar effects against HERV-K as compared to HIV but protease inhibitors were only partially effective. Based on these results a pilot clinical trial has been initiated to determine the effect of these drugs on HERV-K replication in a select population of ALS patients. Conclusion: Activation of HERV-K could potentially drive the pathophysiology of ALS and it needs to be determined if blocking the virus will alter its course. Disclosure: Dr. Nath has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lee has nothing to disclose. Dr. Henderson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bachani has nothing to disclose. Dr. Steiner has nothing to disclose. Dr. Von Geldern has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pak has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mammen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ostrow has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rothstein has received personal compensation for activities with Psyadon Pharmaceuticals, Cytokinetics, and Vertex. Dr. Li has nothing to disclose.