cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Root-locus method for systems with transport lag

A method is presented for the construction of the root-locus of feedback control systems containing transport lag or distributed lag. The method utilizes an extension of the generalized parameter-plane representation of the system characteristic equation as developed by Siljak. The technique is primarily graphical and can be applied to high or low-order feedback control systems. An example is given in which the root-locus of a linear feedback control system containing transport lag is constructed. In this example the system gain is chosen as the parameter with respect to which the first two root-loci of the system are constructed. Construction of the remaining infinite number of root-loci can easily be accomplished if necessary. An advantage of this method is that a new root-locus is easily constructed from the system parameter-plane curves for a change in value of one of the system parameters.
Treatment of Newly Diagnosed, Inner-City Multiple Myeloma Patients with Zoledronate, Dexamethasone, and Low-Dose Thalidomide: A Phase II Trial.

Background: This Phase II trial was designed to assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of low-dose thalidomide with dexamethasone and zoledronate (TDZ) in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) in an inner-city population in which AIDS is the third-leading cause of death. Although the incidence of MM is increased in HIV+ patients, guidelines for treatment of MM in this population are not yet known. The TDZ regimen was intended to be non-myelotoxic and compatible with HAART. Because zoledronate mitigates tumor growth and angiogenesis as well as bone resorption, it was expected to boost the therapeutic effect of thalidomide and dexamethasone. Method:Of 45 consecutive enrollees, 38 (27F/11M; median age = 60.4 years) were evaluable. All patients had skeletal involvement of varying severity; baseline levels of *2-microglobulin (4.3 mg/dL; SE = 0.68) and serum albumin (3.3 mg/dL; S.E.= 0.38) indicated advanced disease. Eight evaluable patients (21%) were HIV+ (7F/1M; median age = 47 years). Patients with HIV were younger (P 75% (very good partial response [VPR]), > 50–75% (partial response [PR]), or 25–50% (minor response [MR]). Results: Age-adjusted one-year survival was 74.4%, and is identical to NCI SEER data (73.7%). Mean duration of TDZ treatment was 21.4 months (range = 13–24). VPR was achieved in 32% (n = 12), PR in 39% (n = 15), and MR in 18% (n = 7). Three patients had stable disease, and one progressed. Median time to maximum response was 3.0 months. Overall cumulative survival at 24 months was 68% by Kaplan-Meier analysis, and was not affected by HIV status, age, or sex. Baseline creatinine clearance both for HIV+ and HIV− patients was within normal limits, and was not adversely affected by monthly treatment with zoledronate (P > .2 for both). Despite prophylactic ASA, thromboembolism occurred in 6 patients (16%), all of whom were successfully treated with full anticoagulation. Other toxicities ≥ Grade 2, were not observed. Skeletal events occurred in 8% of patients; osteonecrosis of the jaw was not encountered. Death occurred in 10 patients, 9 of whom were evaluable; 6 deaths were due to progression or complications of MM, and 4 were from unrelated causes. Seven patients were dropped from the study (5 moved from the area and 2 patients declined to continue). Conclusion: Thalidomide administered at less than half the standard sage in combination with zoledronate and dexamethasone provided safe and effective long-term treatment of MM both in HIV− and HIV+ patients. The modest frequency of toxicity and skeletal events under this regimen indicates improvement in quality of life as well as survival.
Sources and Framing of Fracking: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage in North Carolina, New York, and Pennsylvania

Research across several decades has mapped the way complex environmental issues with complicated policy implications are often differentially framed within the media, public, and policy agendas wit...
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis of bilateral same-day cataract surgery.

Purpose To systematically analyze potential process failures related to bilateral same-day cataract surgery toward the goal of improving patient safety. Setting Twenty-one Kaiser Permanente surgery centers, Northern California, USA. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods Quality experts performed a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) that included an evaluation of sterile processing, pharmaceuticals, perioperative clinic and surgical center visits, and biometry. Potential failures in human factors and communication (modes) were identified. Rates of endophthalmitis, toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS), and unintended intraocular lens (IOL) implantation were assessed in eyes having bilateral same-day surgery from 2010 through 2014. Results The study comprised 4754 eyes. The analysis identified 15 significant potential failure modes. These included lapses in instrument processing and compounding errors of intracameral antibiotics that could lead to endophthalmitis or TASS, and ambiguous documentation of IOL selection by surgeons, which could lead to unintended IOL implantation. Of the study sample, 1 eye developed endophthalmitis, 1 eye had unintended IOL implantation (rates, 2 per 10 000; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.1-12.0 per 10 000), and no eyes developed TASS (upper 95% CI, 8 per 10 000). Recommendations included improving oversight of cleaning and sterilization practices, separating lots of compounded drugs for each eye, and enhancing IOL verification procedures. Conclusions Potential failure modes and recommended actions in bilateral same-day cataract surgery were determined using an FMEA. These findings might help improve the reliability and safety of bilateral same-day cataract surgery based on current evidence and standards.
Cataract surgery outcomes and complications in retinal dystrophy patients.

Abstract Objective To investigate intraoperative complications, postoperative findings, and visual acuity outcomes in patients with retinal dystrophy after cataract surgery. Design Retrospective chart review at an academic tertiary referral centre. Participants Thirty eyes from 18 patients with retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal dystrophies (Usher syndrome, Refsum disease, and Leber congenital amaurosis) who underwent cataract surgery were identified by searching the electronic medical record system from January 2010 to September 2015 for all patients treated by a single physician with billing codes for retinal dystrophy and cataract surgery. Methods Cases were reviewed to determine indication for surgery, intraoperative complications, postoperative findings, preoperative visual acuity, 1-month postoperative visual acuity, and patient subjective satisfaction. Results Mean best-corrected visual acuity significantly improved after cataract surgery, from 1.09 ± 0.69 preoperatively to 0.614 ± 0.448 at 1 month postoperatively, on logMAR scale (p = 0, Wilcoxon test). The most common postoperative finding was posterior capsule opacification in 20 eyes (66.7%). Visually significant cystoid macular edema occurred in 4 eyes (13.3%) despite the postoperative eye drop regimen. Patient satisfaction at 1 month postoperatively was noted as 93.3% (28 eyes) and attributed mostly to improved central vision and reduced glare symptoms. Conclusions Patients with visually significant cataract in association with retinal dystrophy have significantly improved best-corrected visual acuity after cataract surgery and report subjectively improved visual functioning. This study confirms that several risks factors are greater in patients with retinal dystrophy, including zonular weakness, posterior capsular opacification, and cystoid macular edema, compared with the general cataract population.
Strain and distortion monitoring during arc welding by 3D digital image correlation

A novel three-dimensional (3D) digital image correlation (DIC) approach using a stereovision system was developed to measure the evolution of strain and distortion near the fusion zone during the g...
The Associations of Greek and Religious Organization Participation with College Students' Social Well-Being and Purpose.

ABSTRACTTwo online-survey studies examined the associations of Greek (i.e., sorority and fraternity) and religious (i.e., church or campus ministry) organization participation with college students' social well-being and sense of purpose. In study 1 (N = 281), religious organization membership (versus no membership) was associated with connectedness and purpose, but for Greek organizations the associations held only with respect to level of organization involvement. In study 2 (N = 426), Greek and religious organization membership were both associated with most social well-being and purpose indicators, but only Greek membership was linked to lower loneliness. As in study 1, level of involvement in Greek, but not religious, organizations was linked to social well-being. Hypothesized moderators of the associations between organization membership and the purpose and social well-being variables were not supported. We discuss implications for professionals who work with college students to promote well-being, ...
Design Space Exploration of Distributed On-Chip Voltage Regulation Under Stability Constraint

Integrating multiple on-chip voltage regulators in a power delivery network (PDN) can offer promising improvements in both voltage regulation and power efficiency. However, the complex interactions between active regulators and the surrounding parasitic passive network create a large number of feedback loops and thus cause stability concern for the distributed regulation network. The recently emerged PDN design methodology based on the hybrid stability theory (HST) provides a unique opportunity for taming the complex PDN stability problem. However, the HST-based stability margin is unfamiliar to circuit designers, and therefore stability-constrained design intuitions are derivable. In this brief, our systematic analysis reveals unique design considerations which can significantly impact the system-level stability and performances. Within a large design space, a comprehensive set of design studies are conducted to shed light on the tradeoffs between the HST-based stability margin and other PDN design specifications such as the quiescent current consumption, maximum switching noise, and area overhead. Useful design insights like how regulator topology, passive decoupling capacitance, and the number of on-chip regulators may be optimized for improved tradeoffs between stability and system performance are discussed. These insights can aid circuit designers to make appropriate design choices at the beginning of the design process for improved system tradeoffs.
How Does Solvation Layer Mobility Affect Protein Structural Dynamics

Solvation is critical for protein structural dynamics. Spectroscopic studies have indicated relationships between protein and solvent dynamics, and rates of gas binding to heme proteins in aqueous solution were previously observed to depend inversely on solution viscosity. In this work, the solvent-compatible enzyme Candida antarctica lipase B, which functions in aqueous and organic solvents, was modeled using molecular dynamics simulations. Data was obtained for the enzyme in acetonitrile, cyclohexane, n-butanol, and tert-butanol, in addition to water. Protein dynamics and solvation shell dynamics are characterized regionally: for each α-helix, β-sheet, and loop or connector region. Correlations are seen between solvent mobility and protein flexibility. So, does local viscosity explain the relationship between protein structural dynamics and solvation layer dynamics? Halle and Davidovic presented a cogent analysis of data describing the global hydrodynamics of a protein (tumbling in solution) that fits a model in which the protein’s interfacial viscosity is higher than that of bulk water’s, due to retarded water dynamics in the hydration layer (measured in NMR τ2 reorientation times). Numerous experiments have shown coupling between protein and solvation layer dynamics in site-specific measurements. Our data provides spatially-resolved characterization of solvent shell dynamics, showing correlations between regional solvation layer dynamics and protein dynamics in both aqueous and organic solvents. Correlations between protein flexibility and inverse solvent viscosity (1/η) are considered across several protein regions and for a rather disparate collection of solvents. It is seen that the correlation is consistently higher when local solvent shell dynamics are considered, rather than bulk viscosity. Protein flexibility is seen to correlate best with either the local interfacial viscosity or the ratio of the mobility of an organic solvent in a regional solvation layer relative to hydration dynamics around the same region. Results provide insight into the function of aqueous proteins, while also suggesting a framework for interpreting and predicting enzyme structural dynamics in non-aqueous solvents, based on the mobility of solvents within the solvation layer. We suggest that Kramers’ theory may be used in future work to model protein conformational transitions in different solvents by incorporating local viscosity effects.
Selective Attention Controls Olfactory Decisions and the Neural Encoding of Odors.

Summary Critical animal behaviors, especially among rodents, are guided by odors in remarkably well-coordinated manners, yet many extramodal sensory cues compete for cognitive resources in these ecological contexts. That rodents can engage in such odor-guided behaviors suggests that they can selectively attend to odors. Indeed, higher-order cognitive processes—such as learning, memory, decision making, and action selection—rely on the proper filtering of sensory cues based on their relative salience. We developed a behavioral paradigm to reveal that rats are capable of selectively attending to odors in the presence of competing extramodal stimuli. We found that this selective attention facilitates accurate odor-guided decisions, which become further strengthened with experience. Further, we uncovered that selective attention to odors adaptively sharpens their representation among neurons in the olfactory tubercle, an olfactory cortex region of the ventral striatum that is considered integral for evaluating sensory information in the context of motivated behaviors. Odor-directed selective attention exerts influences during moments of heightened odor anticipation and enhances odorant representation by increasing stimulus contrast in a signal-to-noise-type coding scheme. Together, these results reveal that rats engage selective attention to optimize olfactory outcomes. Further, our finding of attention-dependent coding in the olfactory tubercle challenges the notion that a thalamic relay is integral for the attentional control of sensory coding.
Environmental Regulation and Productivity Growth: An Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing Industries

We show that traditional measures of productivity change that ignore the unproductive nature of pollution abatement capital within the production process are likely to underestimate the true productivity gains that most manufacturing industries are able to generate in any given year. While the average bias of traditional measures is not large in absolute terms,the bias can be substantial for industries with relatively large pollution abatement capital expenditures. We also find that environmental regulation has a non-trivial adverse effect on productivity change,lowering productivity growth by roughly 0.3% across all industries,and by more than 1% for some industries.
Some in Power, Some in Pain: A Symphonic Meditation on Humanity and Space

Conceived as a short symphony in four brief movements, this paper begins with a statement of optimistic confidence that, over the 21st century, humanity will move off Earth and begin the speciation of human (and transformed) intelligences throughout the solar system and beyond. This is countered by a second movement that fears that the weaponization of space and the military destruction of Earth from space may prevail instead, while a third movement argues that money spent on space should better be spent on ending world hunger and poverty, and preventing or ameliorating global climate change. The fourth movement urges the space community to use their exceptional talents to relieve hunger and avoid climate change, while also lifting humanity peacefully into the cosmos.
Organization, Structure and Activation of Plant Defence Genes

Plants exhibit natural resistance to disease which has been exploited by breeders to reduce crop losses and hence increase yield. Disease resistance involves not only static protection, but also inducible defence mechanisms including: (i) accumulation of host-synthesized phytoalexins; (ii) deposition of lignin-like material; (iii) accumulation of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins and (iv) increases in the activity of certain hydrolytic enzymes such as chitinase and glucanase [1]. Although the genetics, physiology and cytology of plant:pathogen interactions have been extensively studied, until recently relatively little was known at the biochemical level about how plants respond to infection to activate these defence responses.
Polarizable ab initio QM/MM Study of the Reaction Mechanism of N-tert-Butyloxycarbonylation of Aniline in [EMIm][BF4]

N-t e r t-butoxycarbonylation of amines in solution (water, organic solvents, or ionic liquids) is a common reaction for the preparation of drug molecules. To understand the reaction mechanism and the role of the solvent, quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical simulations using a polarizable multipolar force field with long–range electrostatic corrections were used to optimize the minimum energy paths (MEPs) associated with various possible reaction mechanisms employing the nudged elastic band (NEB) and the quadratic string method (QSM). The calculated reaction energies and energy barriers were compared with the corresponding gas-phase and dichloromethane results. Complementary Electron Localization Function (ELF)/NCI analyses provide insights on the critical structures along the MEP. The calculated results suggest the most likely path involves a sequential mechanism with the rate–limiting step corresponding to the nucleophilic attack of the aniline, followed by proton transfer and the release of CO 2 without the direct involvement of imidazolium cations as catalysts.
Postgrowth Imaginaries: New Ecologies and Counterhegemonic Culture in Post-2008 Spain - Part 1, Chapter 1

This chapter introduces the main tenets of postgrowth economics and the degrowth movement, in order to familiarize the reader with these notions. The first part of the chapter provides an overview of the cultural and ecological situation in Spain in the twenty-first century, focusing on cultural scholars’ responses to the Spanish neoliberal crisis and showing how such critical interventions might be significantly enriched by paying attention to the ongoing ecocritical transnational debate. The next section studies a number of recent Iberian socioecological essays that have adopted a cross-disciplinary perspective to critique the unsustainable social and environmental degradation caused by global capitalism and its addiction to growth. The last part of the chapter makes the case for the value of advancing a degrowth-inspired ecocriticism within a Euro-Mediterranean context. Degrowth provides an alternative to mainstream Euro-American reform environmentalism. The latter is infused with a neoliberal rhetoric, rationality, and sensibility that promotes technical fixes to avoid engagement in the social and political changes needed to avert ecological collapse. While degrowthers advocate radical cultural change to achieve environmental justice, reform environmentalism only supports minor modifications to the existing order, such as sustainable development, green growth, and ecological modernization.
Discovery of a 3,4,5-trisubstituted-1,2,4-triazole agonist with high affinity and selectivity at the somatostatin subtype-4 (sst4) receptor.

A series of compounds containing a 1,2,4-triazole moiety were synthesized, targeting the somatostatin receptor subtype-4 (sst4). Compounds were developed in which the Phe6/Phe7/Phe11, Trp8, and Lys9 mimetic groups were interchanged at positions 3, 4, and 5 of the 1,2,4-triazole ring. The 1,2,4-triazoles containing an 2-(imidazol-4-yl)ethyl substituent at position-3 demonstrated moderate binding affinity at sst4. 1,2,4-Triazoles containing an (indol-3-yl)methyl substituent at position-5 lacked affinity at sst4. The 1,2,4-triazoles containing an aminopropyl group at position-4 showed enhanced binding affinity compared to the 3-position. One compound with an 3-(imidazol-4-yl)propyl group at position-4 (compound 44) imparted high affinity and selectivity at sst4 (sst2A = >10 000 nM; sst4 = 19 nM), acting as an agonist (EC50 = 6.8 nM). Docking 44 into a model-built structure of sst4 pointed to differences in its binding versus the other low-affinity compounds and was also in line with one of the two previously reported binding modes. A virtual screening (VS) experiment, employing two separate docking algorithms, was able to score 44 among the top-ranked poses. In summary, compound 44 represents a novel and promising lead structure towards the development of a clinically viable sst4 agonist for the treatment of conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to chronic pain.
An Ecocultural Perspective on Eating-Related Routines Among Low-Income Families With Preschool-Aged Children.

Eating-related routines, such as regular mealtimes, can protect against obesity. Little is known about eating-related routines among preschoolers or the factors that shape those routines. Ecocultur...
The Unfulfilled Promise of Collaborative Governance: The Case of Low-Income Housing in Jiangsu

In this chapter, we explore the development of urban community governance in China, specifically the interaction of local government, social organizations, community, and citizens in urban community governance. To explore this interaction, we selected the case of collaborative governance in urban housing, because by the 2000s the cost of housing was one of the top concerns of urban residents across the country. Based on evidence from affordable housing (AH) policy in Jiangsu, we find that the state continues to dominate the policy process. Despite state rhetoric encouraging collaborative governance, non-state actors (NSAs), such as businesses and community organizations, tend to be excluded from AH policymaking and implementation. We suggest several ways that NSAs could be involved to improve AH policy in the future.
A Novel Passive RFID Temperature Sensor Using Liquid Crystal Elastomers

A passive RFID temperature sensor is presented. This sensor design utilizes a patch antenna integrated with a customized slot. Using a novel Liquid Crystal Elastomer (LCE) switch, the slot is shorted when the temperature reaches a specified threshold. When the temperature decreases below this threshold, the switch retracts to the original position. As a result, the antenna operates at one of two states corresponding to a controlled shift in frequency within the RFID band. Additionally, a single impedance matching network is designed to accommodate a favorable match between the two antenna states and the RFID IC.
Relational barriers and benefits of peer mentoring programs: Focusing on international social work students in australia

The growing number of international students in Australia calls for increased attention to these students' adjustment to ensure their transition experiences are smooth and supported. This study investigates the impact of peer mentoring on international student transitional experiences by focusing on a pilot Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) which was implemented in a social work graduate program in Australia. Data obtained from focus groups with students revealed that differences in cultural backgrounds and languages caused relational challenges in peer mentoring groups. Additionally, it was found that the PMP is beneficial for both mentors and mentees. Through peer mentoring relationships mentors not only reflected on their social work profession principles, learning and values, but also developed their social work skills.
Integrative Virtue Ethics for the Planet: Organizational Implications of Laudato Si

Integrative and Inclusive Virtue Ethics for the Planet: Organizational Implications of Laudato Si ABSTRACT When arguments are made for environmental sustainability and the need to take action again...
Electron-Withdrawing Effect of Native Terminal Groups on the Lattice Structure of Ti3C2Tx MXenes Studied by Resonance Raman Scattering: Implications for Embedding MXenes in Electronic Composites

MXenes comprise a class of 2D materials with attractive properties for use in electronically functional composites. However, a fundamental understanding of these properties at the scale of individu...
GPU-SFFT: A GPU based parallel algorithm for computing the Sparse Fast Fourier Transform (SFFT) of k-sparse signals

The Sparse Fast Fourier Transform (MIT-SFFT) is an algorithm to compute the discrete Fourier transform of a signal with a sublinear time complexity, i.e. algorithms with runtime complexity proportional to the sparsity level k, where k is the number of non-zero coefficients of the signal in the frequency domain. In this paper, we propose a highly scalable GPU-based parallel algorithm called GPU-SFFT for computing the SFFT of k-sparse signals. Our implementation of GPU-SFFT is based on parallel optimizations that leads to enormous speedups. These include carefully crafting parallel regions in the sequential MIT-SFFT code to exploit parallelism, and minimizing data movement between the CPU and the GPU. This allows us to exploit extreme parallelism for the CPU-GPU architectures and to maximize the number of concurrent threads executing instructions. Our experiments show that our designed CPU-GPU specific optimizations lead to enormous decrease in the run times needed for computing the SFFT. Further we show that GPU-SFFT is 38x times faster than the MIT-SFFT and 5x faster than cuFFT, the NVIDIA CUDA Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) library. The source code for GPU-SFFT is available at https://github.com/pcdslab.
Research on Simulation Accuracy of Ultra-low Frequency Oscillation in Power System with High Proportion of Hydropower

The ultra-low frequency oscillation (ULFO) is one of typical operational issues in power system with high proportion of hydropower. In this paper, the issue of ULFO in the Southwest China Power Grid (SCPG), which is a typical hydro-dominant power system, is introduced. Then, influencing factors of ULFO are studied, including load level, unit-operation capacity, spinning reserve capacity and proportion of thermal unit-operation capacity. The results provide a reference for the simulation accuracy of ULFO. The reproduction of tests in SCPG verify the accuracy of the simulation.
Waiting for Wakanda: Activists challenge Black exclusion from the construction industry

The national economic position of Black Americans has for decades included unemployment rates that are double those of Whites and a racial wealth gap of 13 to 1. Barriers to employment in the const...
A Survey of Incorporating Affective Computing for Human-System Co-adaptation

Affective computing is considered one of the important areas in the field of human and computer interaction where software systems can recognize and understand human's behaviour and emotions. Affective computing integrates a variety of modalities of inputs that are used to recognize users' emotions and consequently respond to these emotions accordingly. In this paper, we first conducted a broad survey of the varieties of modalities that are used for incorporating affective computing in software systems. We then discussed, classified, and critically analyzed the different approaches in this field that can be used and incorporated in order to detect, analyze, and respond to users' inputs efficiently. The contribution of this paper is providing an up-to-date review about the current literature and discussing the current challenges that lead to some insights into the future work that can be done to make affective computing more effective.
Efficient Incorporation of Multiple Latency Targets in the Once-For-All Network.

Neural Architecture Search has proven an effective method of automating architecture engineering. Recent work in the field has been to look for architectures subject to multiple objectives such as accuracy and latency to efficiently deploy them on different target hardware. Once-for-All (OFA) is one such method that decouples training and search and is able to find high-performance networks for different latency constraints. However, the search phase is inefficient at incorporating multiple latency targets. In this paper, we introduce two strategies (Top-down and Bottom-up) that use warm starting and randomized network pruning for the efficient incorporation of multiple latency targets in the OFA network. We evaluate these strategies against the current OFA implementation and demonstrate that our strategies offer significant running time performance gains while not sacrificing the accuracy of the subnetworks that were found for each latency target. We further demonstrate that these performance gains are generalized to every design space used by the OFA network.
Melancholy, gender, and genius in the art of Thomas Eakins

This essay analyses the visual representation of melancholy and related themes in the work of American artist Thomas Eakins (1844–1916). Its particular focus is Home Scene (1870–1871), an intimate ...
Contemporary methods in delayed discounting: Applications for suicidology with simulation.

Objective To present an approach for integrating recently developed methods in behavioral economics into suicidology research. At present, existing applications of delay discounting in suicidology have focused predominantly on hypothetical choices related to monetary value as a proxy to "risky" choices linked to unsafe or suicidal behavior. In this report, we outline a more targeted approach that directly indexes choices related to treatment in suicide prevention initiatives and incorporates the strengths afforded by multi-level modeling. This more targeted approach precludes the need for multi-step comparisons (improving power), avoids compressing choice variability across delays into individual values (improving precision), and better accommodates decision-making at the upper and lower extremes (improving reliability). Method We present this analytical approach within the context of a Hypothetical Firearm Decision-making Task with simulated participants. A simulated study is provided to illustrate how this approach can be used to evaluate how individuals make temporally delayed decisions related to treatment for suicidal behavior (i.e., temporarily limiting their access to firearms while undergoing treatment). Results and conclusions The results of this simulated study are provided to illustrate how more advanced behavioral decision-making models can be used to supplement existing research methods in suicidology.
Climate Preferences, Obesity, and Unobserved Heterogeneity in Cities

Some sources of heterogeneity among cities, i.e. age, gender, race, income, and education, have been the object of substantial inquiry. The reasons are obvious. These differences are easily observed and may have important implications for economic activity. This study considers another potentially important population characteristic, obesity. Descriptive statistics reveal that the intercity variance in obesity rates is substantial. Empirical results demonstrate that demographic and regional amenity variables all help to explain intercity differences in obesity. Because obesity is important for climate preferences, health, and productivity, its omission from previous studies and its correlation with amenity and demographic characteristics could create problems for empirical research.
Social touch and allostasis

Interoception, the sense of the body’s physiological state, incorporates information from the skin. Both interoceptive input and social/affective touch are conveyed to the central nervous system through small diameter, unmyelinated afferent fibers that ultimately converge on the posterior insula. This relation is traceable developmentally to the heavy reliance of the fetus and infant on their mother/caregiver for autonomic regulation. Caregiving alleviates homeostatic/allostatic imbalances such as cold, hunger, and pain, and is delivered in the context of social touch. The predictive sensorimotor loops that characterize the interplay between interoceptive and visceromotor signals are initially a shared system between infant and caregiver. With development, autonomic regulation becomes more autonomous, but with residual dependence on social contact to continue to maintain allostasis.
Water masers associated with two carbon stars: EU Andromedae and V778 Cygni

We observed the 22.2 GHz H2O maser line from the two C stars EU And and V778 Cyg. The intensity of the line has varied by more than a factor of 5 over several month and the line has shown additional weaker components. We interpret the system as being binary with a C and an M star component with a thick shell.
On reasoning about other agents

Drawing on on our work in the area of Distributed Artificial Intelligence, we propose the rudiments of an approach to reasoning about other agents. We attempt to relate current philosophical intuitions to theoretical foundations, and concentrate on the issue of modeling. The philosophical position we have put forth is a combination of Daniel Dennett's philosophy of the ladder of agenthood (consisting of rationality, intentionality, stance, reciprocity, communication, and consciousness) on one hand, and the utilitarian philosophy of selfish utility maximization on the other hand. Dennett's notion of a stance is fundamental to the issue of modeling other agents, and in interesting special cases ti leads to nesting of models. Our own framework, the Recursive Modeling Method (RMM), represents this nesting and lets an agent coordinate its actions with the actions of other agents, cooperate with them when appropriate, and rationally choose an optimal form of communication with them.
Conceptual Design for Superconducting Planar Helical Undulator

A preliminary consideration was made on a short‐period superconducting planar helical undulator (SCHU) for circularly polarized radiation. The SCHU consists of coils and iron poles/yokes. There is no magnetic structure in the horizontal plane of the electron orbit. The SCHU would provide the large horizontal aperture needed to allow injection into the storage ring. The expected field strength is at least 30% larger than that by an APPLE‐type permanent‐magnet device with the same gap and the same period.
Creating Stop-Motion Videos with iPads to Support Students' Understanding of Cell Processes: "Because You Have to Know What You're Talking about to Be Able to Do It".

AbstractThe purpose of this qualitative case study is two-fold: (a) describe the implementation of a stop-motion animation video activity to support students’ understanding of cell processes, and (b) present research findings about students’ beliefs and use of iPads to support their creation of stop-motion videos in an introductory biology course. Data indicated that students used the devices extensively to access, seek, and share information related to cell processes, which led to their increased familiarity with using the iPad to support their learning. Using iPads and apps enriched students learning experiences by providing them with a creative way to demonstrate their understanding of content, enhanced their communication skills, and provided them with an alternative means for gathering and sharing supplementary resources.
Finite elements scheme in enriched subspaces for singularly perturbed reaction–diffusion problems on a square domain

In this article, we discuss reaction-diffusion problems which produce ordinary boundary layers and elliptic corner layers. Using the classical polynomial Q1-finite elements spaces enriched with the so-called boundary layer elements which absorb the singularities due to the boundary and corner layers we are able to attain high numerical accuracies. We essentially obtain � -uniform approximation errors in a weighted energy norm with significant simplifications in the numerical implemen- tations; here we do not use mesh refinements.
Small Drusen and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Beaver Dam Eye Study.

We tested the hypothesis that large areas of small hard drusen (diameter 9086 µm²)) of only small hard drusen, and intermediate drusen, was used. The five-year incidence of AMD was 3% in eyes at the start of the interval with no, minimal, small, and moderate areas of only small drusen and 5% and 25% for eyes with large area of only small drusen and intermediate drusen, respectively. Compared to eyes with a moderate area of small drusen, the odds ratio (OR) of developing AMD in eyes with a large area of only small drusen was 1.8 (p < 0.001). Compared to eyes with large area of only small drusen, eyes with intermediate drusen had an OR of 5.5 (p < 0.001) of developing AMD. Our results are consistent with our hypothesis that large areas of only small drusen are associated with the incidence of AMD.
Temperature dependence of ferrobielastic switching in quartz

Abstract Using the piezoelectric effect, the variation of coercive stress with temperature for ferrobielastic switching in synthetic quartz crystals has been measured under unaxial load applied in a direction favoring Dauphine twinning. It is found that the coercive stress decreases with increasing temperature from about 4×108 Pa at room temperature to less than 107 Pa near 300°C.
To “Re-Hatch” Public Employees or Not? An Ethical Analysis of the Relaxation of Restrictions on Political Activities in Civil Service

This study examines the ethical content of legislation regulating the political activities of civil servants. The analysis is done using the “ethics triangle,” a tool that encompasses the interdependence of results-based utilitarian ethics, rule-based duty ethics, and virtue-based character ethics. The discussion begins with the importance of the problem, followed by its evolution and current status. After describing the methodology, the central section investigates the values at stake. The conclusion provides a synthesis of the findings, explores the implications of the study, and attempts to answer the question posed in the title of the paper.
Pressure-induced Softening of Shear Modes in ZnO

The room-temperature elastic moduli ${C}_{\mathrm{IJ}}$ corresponding to the pure longitudinal and transverse modes in single crystals of the wurtzite phase of ZnO have been determined from ultrasonic wave velocities measurements as a function of pressure up to 10 GPa. All the moduli exhibit a linear dependence on pressure, with positive values for the longitudinal moduli ${(dC}_{11}/dP=5.32$ and ${\mathrm{dC}}_{33}/dP=3.78)$ but negative values for the shear moduli ${(dC}_{44}/dP=\ensuremath{-}0.35$ and ${\mathrm{dC}}_{66}/dP=\ensuremath{-}0.30).$ All modes exhibit anomalous travel time above ${P}_{\mathrm{Tr}}=7.5\mathrm{GPa},$ indicating the onset of a transition to the rocksalt $(B1)$ phase. Using recent improvements for ultrasonic measurements in multianvil apparatus, this experimental study on the phase-transformation mechanism is extended to simultaneous high pressures and high temperatures. At high temperatures, ${P}_{\mathrm{Tr}}$ decrease and the pressure derivatives of the elastic shear modes become more negative. Thus, the elastic shear softening observed at room temperature is enhanced at elevated temperatures.
A new isolated-phase metal-enclosed bus

THE DESIGN of bus runs for high capacity generating stations always has received considerable attention in order to insure freedom from faults of any type. A metal-enclosed nonventilated isolated-phase bus has been developed which combines a high degree of reliability with immediate accessibility for inspection or maintenance. By questioning operating, construction, and consulting engineers the following specifications were established to guide the development of the new design: 1. Ultimate design is to permit shipment of complete factory-assembled sections to reduce field installation time to a minimum.
Determination of retinal blood velocity with respect to the cardiac cycle using laser-triggered release of liposome-encapsulated dye

A system of selective angiography has been developed for measuring blood velocity in retinal arteries and veins. It uses a lipo-some-encapsulated fluorescent dye that is released by application of laser energy in a specific retinal vessel. The method is shown to be able to distinguish between peak systolic velocity and minimum diastolic velocity. In the cynomolgus monkey, the two values were found to differ by approximately a factor of three. It is known that many ocular and systemic diseases affect retinal circulation, and therefore a method of blood velocity measurement with such sensitivity may prove highly valuable in the practice of ophthalmology. As an example, the velocity in a retinal vein was measured before and after partial occlusion by pho-tocoagulation. The two values obtained were significantly different, and the blood velocity was found to return to the value prior to occlusion when measured at 18 days.
A randomized trial comparing the effects of self-help materials and proactive telephone counseling on teen smoking cessation

We conducted a 2-arm randomized trial to test the efficacy of self-help materials with or without proactive telephone counseling to increase cessation among teen smokers. Teen smokers (N = 402) recruited from 11 shopping malls and 1 amusement park in the southeastern United States were randomized to 1 of 2 groups: written self-help material plus video; or written self-help material, video, and telephone counseling. Cessation rates based on 7-day point-prevalent abstinence for the self-help and counseling arms were 11% and 16%, respectively (p = .25), at 4 months postbaseline and 19% and 21%, respectively (p = .80), at 8 months postbaseline. Sustained abstinence, reflecting 7-day abstinence at both time points, in the self-help and counseling arms was 7% and 9% (p = .59). Results suggest that minimal self-help cessation approaches that target youth have comparable success to that shown among adult smokers. However, refinements in telephone-counseling approaches may be needed to achieve the success observed in adult populations.
Pediatric residents' perspectives on relationships with other professionals during well child care

This study aimed to examine pediatric residents' perspectives of primary care professional relationships. Using a longitudinal qualitative study design, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with five second-year pediatric residents who elected to participate in a one-year intervention, facilitating group well child care (GWCC). Pediatric residents described a spectrum of professional relationship types including: ignorant, transactional, workaround, educational and equitable. Residents described ignorant, transactional and workaround relationships with feelings of frustration, and they described educational and equitable relationships with feelings of satisfaction and humility. While residents described optimal relationships in both traditional WCC and GWCC, they described suboptimal relationships in only traditional WCC. Further study is needed to assess if our model of GWCC may create a scaffolding upon which optimal relationships in interprofessional teams are likely to flourish.
Studies on the Effect of Particle Size and Copolymer Polydispersity on the Adsorption of a PEO/PPO/PEO Copolymer on PS Latex Particles

A commercial block copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)−poly(propylene oxide)−poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO−PPO−PEO) sold under the trade name of Pluronic F108 was adsorbed on polystyrene (PS) latex particles. The adsorption isotherm of the copolymer on the PS latex particles was measured using an indirect method (colorimetric depletion). Factors such as the diameter and the concentration of the PS latex particles as well as the concentration of the copolymer were investigated. The presence of a copolymer fraction with a small molecular weight in the F108 copolymer modified significantly the adsorption isotherms: a slanted linear domain appeared in the intermediate range of copolymer concentration. This change was in accordance with the predictions of previously described models. Contrary to previous findings, there was no apparent effect of particle size on F108 surface density and layer thickness. This result was confirmed by measurements performed with a direct method (sedimentation field-flow fractionation). H...
TSIL: a program for the calculation of two-loop self-energy integrals

Abstract TSIL is a library of utilities for the numerical calculation of dimensionally regularized two-loop self-energy integrals. A convenient basis for these functions is given by the integrals obtained at the end of O.V. Tarasov's recurrence relation algorithm. The program computes the values of all of these basis functions, for arbitrary input masses and external momentum. When analytical expressions in terms of polylogarithms are available, they are used. Otherwise, the evaluation proceeds by a Runge–Kutta integration of the coupled first-order differential equations for the basis integrals, using the external momentum invariant as the independent variable. The starting point of the integration is provided by known analytic expressions at (or near) zero external momentum. The code is written in C, and may be linked from C/C++ or Fortran. A Fortran interface is provided. We describe the structure and usage of the program, and provide a simple example application. We also compute two new cases analytically, and compare all of our notations and conventions for the two-loop self-energy integrals to those used by several other groups. Program summary Title of program: TSIL Version number: 1.0 Catalogue identifier: ADWS Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADWS Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Programming language: C Platform: Any platform supporting the GNU Compiler Collection (gcc), the Intel C compiler (icc), or a similar C compiler with support for complex mathematics No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 42 730 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 297 101 Distribution format: tar.gz Nature of physical problem: Numerical evaluation of dimensionally regulated Feynman integrals needed in two-loop self-energy calculations in relativistic quantum field theory in four dimensions. Method of solution: Analytical evaluation in terms of polylogarithms when possible, otherwise through Runge–Kutta solution of differential equations. Limitations: Loss of accuracy in some unnatural threshold cases that do not have vanishing masses. Typical running time: Less than a second.