cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Earnings Predictability, Auditor Verification, and Financial Contracting: Evidence from Earnouts and SFAS 141(R)

We examine how auditing affects the design of financial contracts following a change in accounting standards. SFAS 141(R) requires recognition and periodic re-measurement of liabilities for contingent earnout payments incorporated in acquisition contracts. Consequently, auditors must now provide assurance on contingent earnout liabilities and directly verify whether acquiring firms are contractually obligated to make additional earnout payments to target-firm shareholders. Consistent with a financial reporting cost hypothesis, we find earnouts are used less frequently under the new standard. However, we find the presence of a high-quality auditor moderates the effects of financial reporting costs arising from earnouts under SFAS 141(R). We also document that earnout contracts are more likely to include accounting-based performance benchmarks in the presence of a high-quality auditor under SFAS 141(R). Our results provide evidence that firms trade-off expected financial reporting costs for contracting benefits which arise from expected auditor verification of accounting numbers used in financial contracts.
Code torrent: content distribution using network coding in VANET

Mobile peer-to-peer systems have recently got in the lime-light of the research community that is striving to build efficient and effective mobile content addressable networks. Along this line of research, we propose a network coding based file swarming protocol targeting vehicular ad hoc net-works (VANET). We argue that file swarming protocols in VANET should deal with typical mobile network issues such as dynamic topology and intermittent connectivity as well as various other issues that have been disregarded in previous mobile peer-to-peer researches such as addressing, node/user density, non-cooperativeness, and unreliable channel. Through simulation, we show that the efficiency and effectiveness of our protocol allows shorter file downloading time compared to an existing VANET file swarming protocol.
Preoperative PSA Velocity and the Risk of Death from Prostate Cancer after Radical Prostatectomy

Background We evaluated whether men at risk for death from prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy can be identified using information available at diagnosis. Methods We studied 1095 men with localized prostate cancer to assess whether the rate of rise in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level — the PSA velocity — during the year before diagnosis, the PSA level at diagnosis, the Gleason score, and the clinical tumor stage could predict the time to death from prostate cancer and death from any cause after radical prostatectomy. Results As compared with an annual PSA velocity of 2.0 ng per milliliter or less, an annual PSA velocity of more than 2.0 ng per milliliter was associated with a significantly shorter time to death from prostate cancer (P<0.001) and death from any cause (P=0.01). An increasing PSA level at diagnosis (P=0.01), a Gleason score of 8, 9, or 10 (P=0.02), and a clinical tumor stage of T2 (P<0.001) also predicted the time to death from prostate cancer. For men with an annual PSA vel...
Cognitive Processes, Self-Reports of Memory Functioning, and Mental Health Status in Older Adults

A battery of cognitive tasks was administered to a group of community-dwelling older adults. They also completed questionnaires assessing their cognitive and memory functioning and mental health st...
Accelerated loss of lung function and alveolitis in a longitudinal study of non-smoking individuals with occupational exposure to asbestos

Long-term asbestos workers who insulate pipes and boilers may develop interstitial lung disease associated with loss of lung function. To quantitate annual loss of lung function, 77 individuals with chest X-rays greater than or equal to 1/0 ILO category who were life-long non-smokers or ex-smokers for greater than 5 years were evaluated. Study parameters included pulmonary function tests and bronchoalveolar lavage for a mean of 3 visits over 30 +/- 2 months. The study participants were 56 +/- 1 years old and had 31 +/- 1 years' occupational exposure to asbestos. At the first visit, multiple regression analysis revealed significant associations between rales or radiographic opacities and VC, FEV1, and total lung capacity; significant associations were also found between neutrophils/ml lavage fluid with FEV1 and diffusing capacity (all p less than 0.05). Annual declines for the asbestos-exposed were VC -92 +/- 28 ml/yr and FEV1 -66 +/- 21 ml/yr. Declines in VC and FEV1 were less in those with reduced lung function at the initial visit. There were no significant associations between any of the annual declines and cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage. Compared to other asbestos-exposed cohorts followed longitudinally, asbestos insulators with radiographs greater than or equal to 1/0 and exposure greater than or equal to 20 years have larger rates of FVC and FEV1 decline for both non-smokers and ex-smokers.
Symptomatic interarticular migration of glenoid suture anchors.

Abstract Summary: There have been numerous modifications of Bankart's initial description of glenoid labral repair to help simplify and facilitate this procedure. One of the more common devices used for this purpose has been the suture anchor. The authors report a case of interarticular migration of the suture anchor used for anterior capsular stabilization in the shoulder. Surgeons need to be aware of this potential complication, especially in patients who have had suture anchors placed and develop mechanical symptoms postoperatively. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, Vol 16, No 1 (January-February), 2000: pp 102–105
Sarcoma Botryoides in Older Adolescents

Background: Primary amenorrhea is usually categorized based on the presence/absence of endogenous estrogen and gonadotropin levels (LH, FSH). A progestin or E2/progestin challenge may assist with diagnosis. We present a case of an amenorrheic female presenting with secondary sexual characteristics, low gonadotropins, normal head MRI, and no evidence of outflow tract obstruction or congenital anomalies who did not experience a withdrawal bleed with progestin or estrogen/progestin challenges. However, after endometrial maturation with an 8-month course of estrogen, a withdrawal bleed was successfully induced.
Attitudes toward Retirement and Distance from the Event

This study examines the relationship between distance from the retirement event, both before and after, and attitudes toward retirement. Previous research indicated that attitudes become more negat...
Effect of Acculturation and Health Beliefs on Utilization of Health Care Services by Elderly Women Who Immigrated to the USA From the Former Soviet Union

In this mixed methods study, researchers explored what conditions influence women's use of professional health care services, and how sociocultural environments and acculturation affect utilization of health care services. We recruited 15 women in the Ukraine, 15 women who immigrated from the former Soviet Union, and 10 female U.S. citizens. Data include open-ended interviews, a "general information" questionnaire, and the Language, Identity and Behavioral Acculturation scale. Acculturation levels and length of residency in the United States were not consistent predictors of health-seeking behaviors for immigrants. The stronger predictor of health beliefs and health related behaviors among all participants was their mothers' health beliefs and health related behaviors.
Analysis of MMPI patterns in patients with psychogenic pseudoseizures

We performed pattern analysis of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 55 patients with pseudoseizures in order to establish whether there was any single pattern which would be sufficient to characterize the entire sample. Two published methods of pattern analysis were used. Neither method revealed a single pattern or profile code which could best characterize the sample. The Graham method revealed that the Hysteria and Schizophrenia scales were most likely to be found among the profile leads, followed by the Depression, and to a lesser extent, the Hypochondriasis scales. According to the Friedman method, 30.9% of the records could be classified as ‘spike’, ‘two-point code’ or ‘three-point code’. The most striking finding of the study is that 40% of the profiles had four or more clinical scale elevations. Furthermore, 91% of those profiles with multiple elevations had elevations on both the neurotic and psychotic scales. This suggests that a substantial proportion of MMPI profiles in this sample are complex, and the clinical picture which they reflect requires a broader scope of psychological analysis beyond that of a single psychological mechanism.
Future processors: flexible and modular

The ability to continue increasing processor frequency and single thread performance is being severely limited by exponential increases in leakage and active power. To continue to improve system performance, future designs will rely on increasing numbers of smaller, more power efficient cores and special purpose accelerators integrated on a chip. In this paper, we describe how these trends are leading to more modular, SoC-like designs for future processor chips, which can still achieve very high throughput performance while using simplified components and a cost efficient design methodology.
Epstein-Barr virus LMP2A reduces hyperactivation induced by LMP1 to restore normal B cell phenotype in transgenic mice.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latently infects most of the human population and is strongly associated with lymphoproliferative disorders. EBV encodes several latency proteins affecting B cell proliferation and survival, including latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) and the EBV oncoprotein LMP1. LMP1 and LMP2A signaling mimics CD40 and BCR signaling, respectively, and has been proposed to alter B cell functions including the ability of latently-infected B cells to access and transit the germinal center. In addition, several studies suggested a role for LMP2A modulation of LMP1 signaling in cell lines by alteration of TRAFs, signaling molecules used by LMP1. In this study, we investigated whether LMP1 and LMP2A co-expression in a transgenic mouse model alters B cell maturation and the response to antigen, and whether LMP2A modulates LMP1 function. Naive LMP1/2A mice had similar lymphocyte populations and antibody production by flow cytometry and ELISA compared to controls. In the response to antigen, LMP2A expression in LMP1/2A animals rescued the impairment in germinal center generation promoted by LMP1. LMP1/2A animals produced high-affinity, class-switched antibody and plasma cells at levels similar to controls. In vitro, LMP1 upregulated activation markers and promoted B cell hyperproliferation, and co-expression of LMP2A restored a wild-type phenotype. By RT-PCR and immunoblot, LMP1 B cells demonstrated TRAF2 levels four-fold higher than non-transgenic controls, and co-expression of LMP2A restored TRAF2 levels to wild-type levels. No difference in TRAF3 levels was detected. While modulation of other TRAF family members remains to be assessed, normalization of the LMP1-induced B cell phenotype through LMP2A modulation of TRAF2 may be a pathway by which LMP2A controls B cell function. These findings identify an advance in the understanding of how Epstein-Barr virus can access the germinal center in vivo, a site critical for both the genesis of immunological memory and of virus-associated tumors.
An algorithm to estimate mean traffic speed using uncalibrated cameras

We present a novel approach to estimate traffic speed using a sequence of images from an uncalibrated camera. We assert that exact calibration is not necessary to estimate speed. Instead, we use: 1) geometric relationships inherently available in the image, 2) some common-sense assumptions that reduce the problem to a one-dimensional geometry, 3) frame differencing to isolate moving edges and track vehicles between frames, and 4) parameters from the distribution of vehicle lengths to estimate speed.
Growth factors and growth control

Polypeptide growth factors are thought to govern a variety of physiological processes such as cell growth, differentiation, embryogenesis, hematopoiesis, and wound repair. Although it is well documented that growth factors are required for cell proliferation in tissue-culture systems, current knowledge of their in uivo functions is still meager. A number of oncogenes have been found to encode mutated forms of growth factors, growth factor receptors, proteins involved in signal transduction, and proteins encoded by growth-factor-inducible genes. These findings support the notion that the biochemical consequences of growth factor-receptor interactions are key events in cell growth control. Although often identified for their activities on a particular cell type, many growth factors are in fact multifunctional proteins with a rather broad range of target-cell specificity. Moreover, many of them can have either proliferative or antiproliferative activities depending on the target-cell type or the presence of other hormonal molecules (reviewed by Spom and Roberts, Nature 1988,332:217-219).
Role of the Matrix Metalloproteinase and Plasminogen Activator–Plasmin Systems in Angiogenesis

Extracellular proteolysis is an absolute requirement for new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis). This review examines the role of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and plasminogen activator (PA)-plasmin systems during angiogenesis. Specifically, a role for gelatinases (MMP-2, MMP-9), membrane-type 1 MMP (MMP-14), the urokinase-type PA receptor, and PA inhibitor 1 has been clearly defined in a number of model systems. The MMP and PA-plasmin systems have also been implicated in experimental vascular tumor formation, and their role during this process will be examined. Antiproteolysis, particularly in the context of angiogenesis, has become a key target in therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting tumor growth and other diseases associated with neovascularization.
Fear and Feeding in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell: Rostrocaudal Segregation of GABA-Elicited Defensive Behavior Versus Eating Behavior

This study examined localization of positive versus negative motivational functions mediated by GABA circuits within the accumbens shell. Microinjections of a GABA(A) agonist (0, 25, 75, and 225 ng/0.5 microl muscimol) in rostral shell sites elicited appetitive increases in eating behavior. In contrast, microinjections in caudal shell sites elicited defensive burying or paw-treading behavior. Rats whose microinjections landed bilaterally outside of the accumbens shell did not display either behavior. Defensive treading elicited by caudal shell muscimol microinjection appeared to be a negative motivated response to threat (similar in parameters and orientation to normal defensive burying of a threatening electrified shock prod). The nucleus accumbens shell thus appears functionally heterogeneous in coding motivational valence. The demonstration that muscimol elicits positive eating behavior from rostral shell versus negative defensive behavior from caudal shell suggests in particular that GABAergic substrates of positive and negative types of motivated behavior in the nucleus accumbens shell are segregated along a rostrocaudal gradient.
Cell division in Dictyostelium with special emphasis on actomyosin organization in cytokinesis

This study focuses on the dynamic reorganization of actin and myosin (“conventional” myosin, or myosin-II) during cytokinesis in D. discoideum. This is the first study identifying the birefringence of the spindle microtubules as well as three sets of microfilamentous structure in Dictyostelium. The change of organization in these fibrillar structures was followed in real-time with video microscopy, using a Universal Polarizing Microscope equipped with polarized-light (POL) and differential interference contrast (DIC) optics combined with digital image processing. High-frequency mitotic cells were obtained by semi-synchronous culture, and high-resolution observations were made by utilizing the agar-overlay method (Yumura et al.: Journal of Cell Biology 99:894–899, 1984). The molecular identity of the birefringent structures was determined by fluorescence microscopy. Through-focus observations were performed with an axial resolution of 0.3 μm depth of field. The actomyosin fibrils show a dramatic reorganization throughout mitosis. The fibrils at the leading lamellipodia disappear, and there is a striking assembly of the cortical actomyosin in pro-metaphase, which is accompanied by a decrease in cell volume. The cortical actomyosin gradually increases through anaphase. After late anaphase, very active polar lamellipodia, with an average life of less than 1 minute, are formed. We confirmed that the polar lamellipodia include actin, but not myosin-II. At the cleavage furrow, the microfilaments form two distinctive structures: circular contractile ring at the equator, and a cortical filament array parallel to the polar axis. Myosin is localized in the contractile ring, but not associated with the axial array of F-actin. Actomyosin in the contractile ring gradually transforms into cortical network at the posterior region of daughter cells. The constriction of the furrow is accompanied by a drastic efflux of water as evidenced by highly active contractile vacuole formation and turbulent motion of minute vesicles connected to the furrow. This study demonstrates the presence of a new microfilament structure, as well as the dynamic property of the contractile ring, and sheds new light on the contractile mechanisms underlying cytoki-nesis.
The making of a software engineer

Software engineering is foremost an engineering discipline. Engineering in general and software engineering specifically has to balance many factors to achieve viable tradeoffs–an understanding of the factors as well as the viability criteria is at the heart of the educational challenge. All engineering has one ultimate goal: the delivery of artifacts (products, commercial or not) that meet the needs of those using such artifacts. All engineering lives in the intersection of people, technology, domain, and opportunity aspects. Software engineering, however, is laden with its own specific difficulties. Software as an engineering medium fills a space between the fluidity of digital content, with which software shares the representation, and the nature of machines, with which software shares the flexible and repeatable application. This brief article covers some of the author's personal observations and suggestions with a hope to inspire (and provoke) those striving to improve software-engineering education.
A Fiber-Fed Imaging Spectrometer

We report a novel, imaging, low-energy (.1-10 MeV) gamma-ray spectrometer. This device has excellent position resolution ({approximately}2 mm {at} 350 keV), near unity quantum efficiency, and alkali halide-type energy resolution at an extremely low cost per unit area. This is possible through the separation of the energy and position sensing functions in an alkali halide-based gamma-ray detector. 5 refs., 6 figs.
The Resonance Modes in the Vibrational Spectrum of a Chain with Light Impurities

The configurations associated with the resonance modes in the main band of a randomly disordered chain with dilute concentrations of light impurities are identified using Green's function method. By examining the eigendisplacements of the atoms in these configurations, the underlying physical reason for the existence of the resonance mode is discussed. Les configurations associete avec les modes resonances observe dans la bande principal de la chaine en desordre au hasard avec concentrations dilues de impuretes legeres sont identifie usant la methode de fonction Green. Par examinant de deplacement caracteristique des les atomes dans ces configurations, la raison physique pour l'existence de le mode resonance est discute.
Hymenoptera-Sting Hypersensitivity

Anaphylactic reactions after a hymenoptera sting should be treated promptly with intramuscular epinephrine. Patients who have had such a reaction should carry injectable epinephrine and be referred to an allergist for insect-specific testing and subcutaneous immunotherapy if indicated.
Ultrastrong, Chemically Resistant Reduced Graphene Oxide-based Multilayer Thin Films with Damage Detection Capability

Multilayer thin films of graphene oxide (GO) and poly(vinylamine) (PVAm) were deposited via layer-by-layer assembly. Poly(vinylamine) pH was used to tailor film thickness and GO layer spacing. Graphene oxide concentration in the films was controlled through simple pH adjustment. Thermal reduction of the PVAm/GO multilayer thin films rendered them electrically conductive, which could be further tailored with PVAm pH. These reduced films also exhibited exceptionally high elastic modulus of 30 GPa and hardness of 1.8 GPa, which are among the highest of any graphene-filled polymer composite values ever reported. Cross-linking of these films with glutaraldehyde improved their chemical resistance, allowing them to survive strongly acidic or salty solutions. Additionally, scratches in the films can be instantaneously detected by a simple electrical resistance measurement. These films are promising for a variety of packaging and electronic applications.
Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals in the Us-Mexico Borderlands: A Regional Assessment of the Situation

Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic materials are a special group of chemicals and heavy metals that are both synthetic and natural in origin. As pesticides, industrial wastes, and mining by-products, they have contaminated air, water, and land, and they are biomagnified. Recent national, regional, and international agreements have targeted approximately two dozen contaminants for evaluation, control and elimination from the environment. This paper is a review and evaluation of the current and future impacts of 27 toxic materials in the US-Mexican border region. Because of economic development, population growth, and unique environmental conditions in the region, concern about them should be much higher. Evidence from research conducted within 100 kilometers of the border shows that though the effort is ongoing, there are not enough data upon which to confidently conclude that efforts to reduce contamination have been successful. In a few cases, investigators have detected a reduction of some materials in some biota, but the paucity of information, particularly in Mexico, leaves little hope that the health and welfare of the borderland's occupants will be preserved. The environmental practitioner can contribute by focusing efforts on cross-border collaboration, on coordinated ecosystem or watershed-based analyses, and on the development of methods to accurately identify sources of contaminants for locations that lack detailed accounting.
Black Carbon Emissions from the Bakken Oil and Gas Development Region

Black carbon (BC) emission rates from the Bakken oil-producing region of North Dakota have been quantified with a NOAA airborne single-particle soot photometer (SP2). Flights in May 2014 led to six measurements of the BC emission rate in the region. Oil and gas operations (associated flaring, diesel engines associated with pumping and drilling, and oil production-related transport), limited agricultural burning, and sparse urban/transport sector activity contribute to these emissions. The BC emission rate was 1400 ± 360 t year–1, implying that Bakken production activities are unlikely to contribute to large-scale biases in estimates of BC emissions. An upper limit on the BC emission factor from flaring based on these observations is 0.57 ± 0.14 g/m–3. Flaring BC was not associated with optically significant internally mixed non-BC material or with significant emissions of non-BC-containing primary aerosol. BC in the outflow from the region was also generally externally mixed.
Felice Batlan, Women and Justice for the Poor: A History of Legal Aid, 1863–1945

Felice Batlan, Women and Justice for the Poor: A History of Legal Aid, 1863–1945 (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Pp. xv + 238 pages. $32.99 paperback. ISBN 978-1-1074-4641-0. In 1950, Margaret K. Rosenheim, who was a lawyer but not a credentialed social worker, joined the faculty of the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. For decades, she taught a legendary course about “Enduring Issues in Poor Relief” that relied on volumes of primary sources ranging from medieval tracts about poverty to modern mediations on the welfare state. The course helped generations of social workers to understand how the evolution of public policy informed their complicated relationship to their clients as well as the legal community. If Rosenheim were still with us, she would have required her students to read Felice Batlan’s important new book about the origins and contested meanings of legal aid in the United States because … david.tanenhaus{at}unlv.edu
Vector Competence of Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 2 Strains from Canada and Florida

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), an Orbivirus transmitted by Culicoides spp. vectors, is represented by seven serotypes and numerous strains worldwide. While studies comparing vector competence between serotypes exist, studies between viral strains are lacking. In this study, we examined the rates of infection, dissemination, and transmission of two strains of EHDV-2 orally fed to the known vector, Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones. Culicoides sonorensis cohorts were fed an infectious blood meal containing EHDV-2 strains from either Alberta, Canada (Can-Alberta) or Florida (5.5 log10 PFUe/mL) and tested for the vector’s susceptibility to infection and dissemination. In addition, transmission rates of the virus were assessed and compared using capillary tube and honey card methods. Our results show that the Florida strain had higher infection and dissemination rates than the Can-Alberta strain in spite of the Florida strain having significantly lower viral titers in C. sonorensis bodies, legs, and saliva than the Can-Alberta strain. Overall transmission rates were not significantly different between the two strains but varied significantly between the methods used. These findings suggest that the consequences of EHDV infection in C. sonorensis vary between virus strains and have huge implications in future vector competence studies involving Culicoides species and Orbiviruses.
The need for a system approach to sustainable agriculture

Abstract Differences between conventional and sustainable paradigms of agriculture are much more a matter of differences in farming philosophy than of farming practices or methods. The conventional model of agriculture is fundamentally an industrial development model which views farms as factories and considers fields, plants, and animals as production units. The goal of industrial development is to increase human well-being by increasing production of material goods and services and simultaneously increasing aggregate employment and incomes. The underlying assumption of the industrial model is that a higher quality of life can be derived from increases in income and consumption of goods and services. A fundamental strategy for industrial development has been to specialize, routinize, and mechanize agricultural production in order to achieve the economic effeciencies that are inherent in large-scale industrial production. New technologies are designed to remove physical and biological constraints to production and, thus, make unlimited progress possible. Sustainable agriculture, on the other hand, is based on a holistic paradigm or model of development which views production units as organisms that consist of many complex interrelated suborganisms, all of which have distinct physical, biological, and social limits. People are viewed as part of the organisms or systems from which they derive their well-being. Quality of life is considered to be a consequence of interrelationships among people and between people and the other physical and biological elements of their environment. Fundamental strategies for sustainable development include diversification, integration, and synthesis. Whole systems have qualities and characteristics that are not contained in their individual parts or components. The same set of components or parts may be rearranged spatially or sequentially resulting in a unique system or whole for each new arrangement. People increase their well-being by using information and knowledge to manage or rearrange the components of systems, resources, processes, and technologies in ways that enhance the productivity or ‘well-being’ of those systems. Human progress is limited only by our ability to enhance the social, biological, and physical systems of which we are a part. Sustainable agriculture requires a holistic systems approach to farm resource management. A component approach focusing on individual farming practices, methods, and enterprises may have been appropriate for the era of agricultural industrialization. However, a systems approach which focuses on knowledge-based development of whole farms and communities will be required to address the environmental, economic, and social challenges of the post-industrial era of agricultural sustainability.
Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problems and Group Invariance

In the transition from linear to nonlinear functional analysis, a very special position is occupied by the spectral theory of self-adjoint operators in Hilbert space. Its most important nonlinear generalization occurs in the framework of the topological theory of variational problems the Morse theory and the theory of Lusternik-Schnirelmann two of the many topics that have been gathered together in recent literature under the general title of global analysis or analysis on manifolds. Although the Morse theory has played an exceptionally important role in the development of topology and geometry in the past two decades, from the point of view of analytical problems and particularly problems on the exisience of solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations, it seems clear that the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory must play a more important role The decisive reason for this is that the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory yields existence results for critical points of given variational problems while in most analytic contexts, the Morse theory yields such results only for generic problems; and while in the context of differential topology, the usual problem is one of a class of essentially equivalent ones, for the proof of existence of eigenfunctions of a given partial differential operator it is not satisfactory to obtain results for similar or nearby problems
Fault Analysis in a Flexible Manufacturing Cell

This paper discusses the on-line quality control in a Flexible Manufacturing Cell. A vision system is being used to compute a 3-dimensional image of a manufactured component (in this case produced by hot open-die forging). The algorithm which converts the visual information into a 3-dimensional representation of the part has been developed. Once the data have been collected and reconstructed, measurements are taken and correlated with possible error conditions. The goal of the research is to relate discrepancies in these two 3-dimensional images, obtained and desired, to the plastic deformation processes occurring during the hot open-die forging process. Thus of particular interest is that the fault analysis and correction will draw on the traditional theory of plasticity, in particular slip line field theory, in order to approximately predict component shape. An industrial application of this work is briefly outlined.
Review of U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Find a Health Center Locator

In addition to questions about diagnoses, wellness guidelines, and treatment concerns, librarians are sometimes confronted with questions about access to care from uninsured clients. The U.S. Healt...
The Effects of Vibration Patterns of Take-Over Request and Non-Driving Tasks on Taking-Over Control of Automated Vehicles

Automated vehicles offer the possibility of significantly increasing traffic safety, mobility, and driver comfort, and reducing congestion and fuel emissions. Current automation technology, however...
A Socially Constructed Human Right to the Self‑determination of Indigenous Peoples

Propongo un derecho humano a la autodeterminacion de los pueblos indigenas como algo a desarrollar en cada caso por el pueblo indigena y valido solo si es aceptado por ese pueblo. Es decir, abordo los derechos humanos como constructos sociales para (1) defender la construccion social de los propios pueblos indigenas, (2) con ciertos limites a los derechos indigenas a la autonomia y a la diversidad incluso cuando construyen derechos colectivos para ellos mismos; (3) logrando asi la autodeterminacion interna de los pueblos indigenas, mediante la cual un pueblo indigena disenaria su propio derecho humano a la autodeterminacion sin minar los derechos individuales, (4) por medio de un movimiento social y politico que yo concibo como un metaforico «Estado de derechos humanos». Recibido : 25 julio 2016 Aceptado : 30 noviembre 2016 Publicacion en linea : 11 diciembre 2017
INTRODUCTION TO AS PREDATOR AND AS PREY

There are very few animals that are not either predator or prey. Eating and avoiding being eaten are clearly of central importance to Darwinian fitness
Chebyshev Ω-Splines of the Half-line ℝ+

Relying on the results of the previous chapter, we apply the limiting procedure to construct the extremal function of the problem $$ \begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{{{\left\| {{{f}^{{(m)}}}} \right\|}}_{{{{\mathbb{L}}_{\infty }}({{\mathbb{R}}_{ + }})}}}{\mkern 1mu} \to \sup ,} & {f{\mkern 1mu} {\mkern 1mu} \in {\mkern 1mu} {\mkern 1mu} {{W}^{r}}{{H}^{\alpha }}({{\mathbb{R}}_{ + }}),} & {{{{\left\| f \right\|}}_{{{{\mathbb{L}}_{\infty }}({{\mathbb{R}}_{ + }})}}}{\mkern 1mu} \leqslant B,} \\ \end{array} $$ (0.0) and describe the corresponding multiplicative Kolmogorov inequalities associated with the problem (0.0).
Coordinating situated identities in mathematics classrooms with sociohistorical narratives: a consideration for design

Scholars who take a situative perspective on mathematics identity have focused on different kinds of resources and mechanisms that are available for identity development, particularly for students from minoritized backgrounds. Although these approaches are generally not contradictory, they are not always consistent. Differences in what is foregrounded and backgrounded in these studies mean that at times it can be difficult to develop a comprehensive picture of identity as it develops in the mathematics classroom. Our goal in this paper is to connect these literatures with an eye towards offering a design heuristic for mathematics educators interested in accounting for students’ identity development in mathematics teaching and learning. To do so, we present a model of mathematical identities as they are realized in the classroom, articulate the elements involved in the development of such an identity, and then use the model to analyze approaches to intervene in classroom systems by focusing on different elements as starting points.
Disparities in Oral Cancer Screening Among Dental Professionals: NHANES 2011-2016.

Introduction As early detection of oral cancers is associated with better survival, oral cancer screening should be included in dental visits for adults. This study examines the rate and predictors of oral cancer screening exams among U.S. adults with a recent dental visit. Methods Individuals aged ≥30 years who received a dental visit in the last 2 years, in the 2011–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed in December 2018. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models examined the likelihood of intraoral and extraoral oral cancer screening exams, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, poverty income ratio, health insurance, tobacco smoking, and alcohol consumption. Subgroup analyses were conducted among races/ethnicities, smokers, and alcohol consumers. Statistical significance was set at p Results A total of 37.6% and 31.3% reported receiving an intraoral and extraoral oral cancer screening exam, respectively. Minority racial/ethnic groups versus white, non-Hispanics, less-educated versus more-educated, uninsured and Medicaid-insured versus privately insured, and low-income versus high-income participants were less likely to have received intraoral or extraoral oral cancer screening exams. There was no difference in the likelihood of being screened based on smoking status. Alcohol consumers were more likely to be screened. Among subgroups, less-educated and low-income individuals were less likely to be screened. Conclusions A significantly higher proportion of minority race/ethnicity and low SES individuals report not receiving an oral cancer screening exam, despite a recent dental visit. This selective screening by dental professionals is incompliant with guidelines and concerning because these groups are more likely to present with an advanced stage of oral cancer at diagnosis. An understanding of the reasons for discriminatory oral cancer screening practices could help develop effective interventions.
Simulation of the Nondestructive Assay of 237Np Using Active Neutron Multiplicity Counting

AbstractIn this work, an epithermal neutron multiplicity counter (ENMC) and an organic scintillator multiplicity counter (OSMC) are compared in the assay of 237Np, a potentially weapons-usable isot...
The Underground Railroad and the Geography of Violence in Antebellum America

As runaway slaves fled from the South to escape bondage, slave catchers followed in their wake. The arrival of fugitives and slave catchers in the North set off violent confrontations that left participants and local residents enraged and embittered. Historian Robert H. Churchill places the Underground Railroad in the context of a geography of violence, a shifting landscape in which clashing norms of violence shaped the activities of slave catchers and the fugitives and abolitionists who defied them. Churchill maps four distinct cultures of violence: one that prevailed in the South and three more in separate regions of the North: the Borderland, the Contested Region, and the Free Soil Region. Slave catchers who followed fugitives into the North brought with them a Southern culture of violence that sanctioned white brutality as a means of enforcing racial hierarchy and upholding masculine honor, but their arrival triggered vastly different violent reactions in the three regions of the North. Underground activists adapted their operations to these distinct cultures of violence, and the cultural collisions between slave catchers and local communities transformed Northern attitudes, contributing to the collapse of the Fugitive Slave Act and the coming of the Civil War.
Screening for Hepatitis B Virus in Pregnant Women.

A 33-year-old U.S.-born pregnant clinician comes to your office for a first prenatal visit. Her most recent menstrual period was six weeks ago, and she has been taking prenatal vitamins for the past eight weeks. She was pregnant once more than two years ago, and at the time she screened negative for the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Re-examining Dust Chemical Aging and Its Impacts on Earth’s Climate

ConspectusThe impact of atmospheric particulate matter (i.e., aerosols) on Earth’s radiative balance has been and continues to be the leading source of uncertainty with respect to predictions of fu...
DeepRobust: A PyTorch Library for Adversarial Attacks and Defenses.

DeepRobust is a PyTorch adversarial learning library which aims to build a comprehensive and easy-to-use platform to foster this research field. It currently contains more than 10 attack algorithms and 8 defense algorithms in image domain and 9 attack algorithms and 4 defense algorithms in graph domain, under a variety of deep learning architectures. In this manual, we introduce the main contents of DeepRobust with detailed instructions. The library is kept updated and can be found at this https URL.
Real-Time Distributed Control of Smart Inverters for Network-level Optimization

The limitations of centralized optimization methods in managing electric power distribution systems operations have led to the distributed paradigm of computing and decision-making. Unfortunately, the existing distributed optimization algorithms are limited in their applicability to managing fast varying phenomena such as those resulting from highly variable Distributed Energy Resource (DER) generation patterns. They require a large number of communication rounds (in the order of 102 to 103 ) among the computing agents to solve one instance of the optimization problem. Related real-time distributed control methods are equally limited in their applications to power distribution systems with fast-changing DER generation; they require hundreds of rounds of communication and thus are slow in tracking the network-level optimal solutions. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed voltage controller that provides a fast-tracking of rapidly varying DER generation profiles while simultaneously converging to network-level optimal solutions within a few communication rounds. The proposed control algorithm leverages the radial topology of the system, which reduces the required communication rounds to reach the network-level optimum solution by order of magnitude. The novelty lies in carefully reducing the electrical network model from the perspective of each distributed controller and enabling appropriate data sharing among upstream and downstream nodes to achieve fast convergence. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in minimizing the feeder losses while maintaining the node voltage within the pre-specified limits.
Tremor Syndromes: An Updated Review

Tremor is the most commonly encountered movement disorder in clinical practice. A wide range of pathologies may manifest with tremor either as a presenting or predominant symptom. Considering the marked etiological and phenomenological heterogeneity, it would be desirable to develop a classification of tremors that reflects their underlying pathophysiology. The tremor task force of the International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Society has worked toward this goal and proposed a new classification system. This system has remained a prime topic of scientific communications on tremor in recent times. The new classification is based on two axes: 1. based on the clinical features, history, and tremor characteristics and 2. based on the etiology of tremor. In this article, we discuss the key aspects of the new classification, review various tremor syndromes, highlight some of the controversies in the field of tremor, and share the potential future perspectives.
A bioinspired hybrid light-trapping structure and its fabrication for thin-film solar cells

A novel hybrid of quasi-random nanostructures and Archimedean spiral arrangement light trapping coating, and its low-cost, fast-production technique are presented here. Both numerical simulations and experiments confirmed the superiority of efficiency enhancement and omnidirectional light-trapping capacity when coating the created nanostructures on thin-film solar cells.
Influence of Environmental Variables on the Susceptibility of Alloy 22 to Environmentally Assisted Cracking

In its current design, the high-level nuclear waste containers include an external layer of Alloy 22 (NO6022). This material was selected to provide long-term corrosion resistance since if water enters in contact with the containers, they may undergo corrosion. The model for the degradation of the containers includes three modes of corrosion, namely general corrosion, localized corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). The objective of the current research was to quantify the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to EAC in several environmental conditions with varying solution composition, temperature and electrochemical potential. The susceptibility to EAC was evaluated using constant deformation (deflection) U-bend specimens in both the wrought and welded conditions. Results show that after more than five years exposure in the vapor and liquid phases of alkaline (PH {approx} 10) and acidic (pH {approx} 3) multi-ionic environments at 60 C and 90 C, Alloy 22 was free from EAC.
Effect of environmental factors on failure rate of overhead distribution feeders

Summary form only given. Distribution system reliability relates to performance of distribution system in delivering power to customers without failure. Since a very large part of the distribution systems in the US consist of overhead feeders with radial configuration, failures on distribution systems are responsible for most of the interruptions experienced by customers. Distribution system reliability has been of prime importance to the utilities and now it has become more important due to restructuring and competition in the electric utility industry. The presentation discusses methodologies for mapping various environmental features to failure rates of overhead lines. Another goal of the presentation is to discuss issues related to collecting data needed for implementing these models. The models allow utilities more accurate forecast reliability of their systems.
Problems in Measuring Contrarian Performance with Jensen's Alpha: A Reconciliation of Real-Time and Event-Time Tests

Much of the early research on contrarian performance adjusts for risk using a Jensen's alpha estimated with in-sample returns in either real time or event time. The use of in-sample returns means that beta is estimated with the same observation period returns it is intended to risk adjust. This results in attributing systematic sources of overreaction to beta-risk and understates contrarian performance. Several later papers find mixed results when they attempt to correct for this problem using alternative Jensen's alpha-based methods, the relative merits of which are not well understood. In this paper, we identify the sources of bias that arise from these alternative methods. Our analysis indicates that the methods are all biased against detecting contrarian performance. The event-time Jensen's alpha is the most heavily biased, regardless of whether its beta is estimated in-sample, or conditional on formation period market returns. A real-time Jensen's alpha conditioned on formation period returns is the least biased against contrarian performance. We reject a joint hypothesis of the CAPM and market efficiency because this conditional real-time alpha detects significant long-horizon contrarian performance.