cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Age-Related Differences in Computed Tomographic Scan Measurements

• Seventy-nine healthy men ranging in age from 31 to 87 years underwent a computed tomographic (CT) scan and were administered a neuropsychologic test battery. Midventricular, high ventricular, and supraventricular CT slices were analyzed for each individual. Computerized techniques calculated the percent of fluid volume and the mean CT density for each slice. The mean CT density of a standard tissue sample was also evaluated. The results suggest that fluid volume at the level of the ventricles is fairly stable until individuals are in their 60s, when a dramatic increase occurs. The percent of fluid volume above the level of the ventricles appears to increase slightly in the 50s and then level off. Whole slice mean CT density numbers decreased in a linear fashion with increasing age, but the mean CT density of a standard tissue sample did not. A discriminant function derived from the CT measures was significantly correlated with a discriminant function derived from the neuropsychologic test battery. Findings based on subjects whose health status has been less carefully screened may differ from those in the present study.
Effects of the thiazolidinedione medications on micro- and macrovascular complications in patients with diabetes--update 2008.

The thiazolidinedione (TZD) drugs, including pioglitazone (Actos®) and rosiglitazone (Avandia®), are commonly prescribed in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), largely due to their favorable effects on hyperglycemia, insulin sensitivity, and cardiometabolic profile. However, the data are sparse assessing the effects of TZDs on micro- and macrovascular disease risk. Although no studies have been published on microvascular clinical outcomes, both TZDs significantly reduce the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. TZDs have consistently been associated with favorable effects on atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Only one study has been published to date specifically designed to assess the effects of a TZD (pioglitazone) on macrovascular outcomes, the PROactive trial. In this trial, pioglitazone versus placebo was associated with a non-significant 10% reduction in the combined primary endpoint of mortality, coronary and peripheral vascular events, and revascularizations. No individual trial has been published specifically assessing the CVD effects of rosiglitazone, but several meta-analyses and a published interim report from an ongoing trial (RECORD) point to safety concerns regarding rosiglitazone use and the risk of myocardial infarctions (MI), leading to amplified warnings in the product labeling for rosiglitazone to reflect these concerns. All published trials and meta-analyses of TZDs have consistently shown increased risk of heart failure (HF) with both TZDs, though the actual placebo-subtracted incidence of HF is low (<0.5% per year). The initiation of either TZD is contraindicated in patients with NHYA class III or IV HF, and cautions exist for their use in any patient with heart failure. Much uncertainty remains regarding the aggregate CVD effects of the TZDs, and several trials are presently underway to further address these issues.
Deciduous Tree-Fruit Nursery-Stock Defoliation with Combination Sprays of Alanap, Depeg, and Ethrel

Abstract Alanap (200 mg·L−1, a.i.), Depeg (0.5%) and Ethrel (150 mg·L−1, a.i.), alone and in combination, were applied once or twice to nursery trees of ‘Bartlett’ or ‘Packham's Triumph’ pear and of several apple cultivars in October 1994 and 1995 to ascertain the usefulness of these chemicals in combination as a nursery stock defoliant. In 1994, the separate chemicals applied alone sometimes provided adequate commercial defoliation, but in 1995, Depeg was the only chemical that, applied alone, caused commercially-acceptable defoliation, but then only on ‘Law Red Rome’ apple. The combination of three chemicals provided acceptable defoliation in 1994 and 1995 (with the exception of ‘Red Fuji’ and ‘Braeburn’ in 1994). Regrowth during the 1996 growing season for the 1995 test trees showed no treatment effect, either positively or negatively, on four of the cultivars and no consistent trends on all others, except that the combination spray appeared to have a negative impact on growth of ‘Granny Smith’ apple. ...
Transient-performance improvement with a new class of adaptive controllers

Computable -~2 and La® performance bounds are derived for a recently proposed class of adaptive systems which show that, in addition to global stability and asymptotic tracking, a systematic improvement of transient performance can be achieved. The underlying linear nonadaptive controller is shown to possess a parametric robustness property, but for a large parameter uncertainty it requires high gain. A comparison between the adaptive and the nonadaptive performance bounds demonstrates that adaptation improves the overall performance without the undesirable effects of high gain.
Kinetic effects of non-equilibrium plasma-assisted methane oxidation on diffusion flame extinction limits

The kinetic effects of low temperature non-equilibrium plasma assisted CH4 oxidation on the extinction of partially premixed methane flames was studied at 60 Torr by blending 2% CH4 by volume into the oxidizer stream of a counterflow system. The experiments showed that non-equilibrium plasma can dramatically accelerate the CH4 oxidation at low temperature. The rapid CH4 oxidation via plasma assisted combustion resulted in fast chemical heat release and extended the extinction limits significantly. Furthermore, experimental results showed that partial fuel mixing in the oxidizer stream led to a dramatic decrease of O concentration due to its rapid consumption by CH4 oxidation at low temperature. The products of plasma assisted CH4 oxidation were measured using the Two-photon Absorption Laser-Induced Fluorescence (TALIF) method (for atomic oxygen, O), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Gas Chromatography (GC). The product concentrations were used to validate the plasma assisted combustion kinetic model. The comparisons showed the kinetic model over-predicted the CO, H2O and H2 concentrations and under-predicted CO2 concentration. A path flux analysis showed that O generated by the plasma was the critical species for extinction enhancement. In addition, the results showed that O was produced mainly by direct electron impact dissociation reactions and the collisional dissociation reactions of electronically excited molecules with O2. Moreover, these reactions involving electron impact and excited species collisional dissociation of CH4 contributed approximately a mole fraction of 0.1 of total radical production. The present experiments produced quantitative species and extinction data of low temperature plasma assisted combustion to constrain the uncertainties in plasma/flame kinetic models.
Acute Septic Arthritis

Acute septic arthritis may develop as a result of hematogenous seeding, direct introduction, or extension from a contiguous focus of infection. The pathogenesis of acute septic arthritis is multifactorial and depends on the interaction of the host immune response and the adherence factors, toxins, and immunoavoidance strategies of the invading pathogen. Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Staphylococcus aureus are used in discussing the host-pathogen interaction in the pathogenesis of acute septic arthritis. While diagnosis rests on isolation of the bacterial species from synovial fluid samples, patient history, clinical presentation, laboratory findings, and imaging studies are also important. Acute nongonococcal septic arthritis is a medical emergency that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, prompt recognition, rapid and aggressive antimicrobial therapy, and surgical treatment are critical to ensuring a good prognosis. Even with prompt diagnosis and treatment, high mortality and morbidity rates still occur. In contrast, gonococcal arthritis is often successfully treated with antimicrobial therapy alone and demonstrates a very low rate of complications and an excellent prognosis for full return of normal joint function. In the case of prosthetic joint infections, the hardware must be eventually removed by a two-stage revision in order to cure the infection.
Fatigue Behavior and Nondestructive Evaluation of Full-Scale FRP Honeycomb Bridge Specimen

An experimental investigation was performed to assess the projected fatigue performance of a fiber-reinforced polymer honeycomb bridge that has recently been completed in Troupsburg, N.Y. The laboratory specimen was representative of a 305-mm-wide strip of the completed bridge. The specimen was first subjected to fatigue loading. Load, displacement, and strain were measured every 25,000 cycles. The data indicated minimum signs of degradation after 2 million cycles of fatigue loading, as reflected in slightly increased values of vertical deflection and strain at midspan. After completion of the fatigue loading, the specimen was evaluated with acoustic emission. Load was statically applied and increased incrementally until failure occurred at a load level exceeding 16 times the fatigue level loading. The results of the static testing also indicated that only minor damage occurred due to fatigue. Field load testing of the actual bridge has been completed by the New York State Department of Transportation, and the results are discussed as they pertain to the fatigue and static load testing programs described.
Modulation of HU–DNA interactions by salt concentration and applied force

HU is one of the most abundant proteins in bacterial chromosomes and participates in nucleoid compaction and gene regulation. We report experiments using DNA stretching that study the dependence of DNA condensation by HU on force, salt and HU concentration. Previous experiments at sub-physiological salt levels revealed that low concentrations of HU could compact DNA, whereas larger HU concentrations formed a DNA-stiffening complex. Here we report that this bimodal binding behavior depends sensitively on salt concentration. Only the compaction mode was observed for 150 mM and higher NaCl levels, i.e. for physiological salt concentrations. Similar results were obtained for the more physiological salt K-glutamate. Real-time studies of dissociation kinetics revealed that HU unbound slowly (minutes to hours under the conditions studied) but completely for salt concentrations at or above 100 mM NaCl; the lifetime of HU complexes was observed to increase with the HU concentration at which the complexes were formed, and to decrease with salt concentration. Higher salt levels of 300 mM NaCl completely eliminated observable HU binding to DNA. Finally, we observed that the dissociation kinetics depend on force applied to the DNA: increased applied force in the sub-piconewton range accelerates dissociation, suggesting a mechanism for DNA tension to regulate chromosome structure and gene expression.
A source-to-source transformation for increasing rule-based system parallelism

Rule-based systems have been hypothesized to contain only minimal parallelism. However, techniques to extract more parallelism from existing systems are being investigated. Among these methods, it is desirable to find those which balance the work being performed in parallel evenly among the rules, while decreasing the amount of work being performed sequentially in each cycle. The automatic transformation of creating constrained copies of culprit rules accomplishes both of the above goals. Rule-based systems are plagued by occasional rules which slow slow down the entire execution. These culprit rules require much more processing than others, causing other processors to idle while they continue to match. By creating constrained copies of culprit rules and distributing them to their own processors, more parallelism is achieved, as evidenced by increased speed up. This effect is shown to be specific to rule-based systems with certain characteristics. These characteristics are identified as being common within an important class of rule-based systems: expert database systems. >
The Relationship Between Reported Problems Falling Asleep and Cognition Among African American Elderly

This study examined the relationship between elders' cognitive performance and self-reported trouble falling asleep. Analyses were conducted on 174 older independently living, community dwelling African Americans (M age = 72.74; range = 65 to 90). Cognitive performance was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Forward Digit Span task, Backward Digit Span task, Alpha Span task, and California Verbal Learning Test. Results suggested that individuals who reported trouble falling asleep tended to perform significantly worse than individuals who did not report trouble falling asleep on measures tapping short-term memory and working memory after controlling for age, education, gender, depression, and current health. These results demonstrate that a self-report of sleep difficulty may be a unique predictor of cognitive performance.
The anomaly of DμJμ from the Schwinger terms

Abstract We first derive a classical relation ϱ0Ga = (DμJμ)a. Then we calculate the quantum version of this relation in two dimensions. This procedure provides a method of obtaining the anomaly of DμJμ (chiral current) from the Schwinger terms of the equal time commutation relations. By this consideration we can also understand easily the difficulties in quantizing anomalous gauge theories.
Simulations and computations of nonparametric density estimates for the deconvolution problem

The nonparametric density function estimation using sample observations which are contaminated with random noise is studied. The particular form of contamination under consideration is Y = X + Z, where Y is an observable random variableZ is a random noise variable with known distribution, and X is an absolutely continuous random variable which cannot be observed directly. The finite sample size performance of a strongly consistent estimator for the density function of the random variable X is illustrated for different distributions. The estimator uses Fourier and kernel function estimation techniques and allows the user to choose constants which relate to bandwidth windows and limits on integration and which greatly affect the appearance and properties of the estimates. Numerical techniques for computation of the estimated densities and for optimal selection of the constant are given.
Thickness of the pre- and post-contact lens tear film measured in vivo by interferometry.

Purpose To evaluate an interferometric method for measuring the thickness of the pre- (PLTF) and postlens tear film (POLTF) in subjects wearing hydrogel contact lenses. The precision and accuracy of measuring postlens tear thickness is compared with a previous method based on optical pachymetry and mechanical measurement of contact lens thickness. Methods Reflectance spectra (562-1030 nm) from the front of an eye wearing a contact lens were measured at normal incidence. Interference between reflections from four surfaces--the front of the tear film, the front and back of the contact lens, and the front of the cornea--can give rise to as many as six oscillations in the reflectance spectra, three from simple layers (layer A: PLTF; B, POLTF; C, contact lens) and three from composite layers, (layer D, A+C; layer E, C+B; layer F, A+C+B). The thickness of any layer is derived from the frequency of the oscillations. The principle of the method was tested with a rigid contact lens, which was designed to give distinct thicknesses for all six layers. Twenty spectra were then recorded from each of 12 subjects wearing hydrogel contact lenses. Results The PLTF thickness averaged 2.31 microm. There was good agreement between a direct estimate from layer A and an indirect estimate: layer D minus layer C. For POLTF, an indirect estimate--layer F minus layer D--averaged 2.34 microm and was more satisfactory than the direct estimate from layer B. There was no correlation between PLTF and POLTF thickness, showing that these are independent measurements, despite the similarity of their means. Conclusions Prelens tear thickness was in reasonable agreement with prior measurements. Postlens tear thickness was much less than the 11 to 12 microm found by the pachymetric method. It is argued that the current method avoids some of the systematic errors of the pachymetric method and also has much higher precision.
Ultra-Fine ZnO Nanobelts and their Photoluminescence Emission

Ultra-Fine ZnO nanobelts are grown via thermal evaporation and condensation method without the use of any catalyst on the substrates. These nanobelts have an average width of about 5.8 nm. Photoluminescence spectra reveal that there is a blue shift in the near band edge ultra violet emission from 381 nm to 367 nm equal to 124 meV. These ultra-fine nanobelts have been studied for size induced optical and electrical properties.
Two Systems for Comprehending Literature.

(1969). Two systems for comprehending literature. Journal of the Reading Specialist: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 130-133.
Evidence of a heterogeneous tissue oxygenation: renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in a large animal model.

Renal ischemia that occurs intraoperatively during procedures requiring clamping of the renal artery (such as renal procurement for transplantation and partial nephrectomy for renal cancer) is known to have a significant impact on the viability of that kidney. To better understand the dynamics of intraoperative renal ischemia and recovery of renal oxygenation during reperfusion, a visible reflectance imaging system (VRIS) was developed to measure renal oxygenation during renal artery clamping in both cooled and warm porcine kidneys. For all kidneys, normothermic and hypothermic, visible reflectance imaging demonstrated a spatially distinct decrease in the relative oxy-hemoglobin concentration (%HbO 2 ) of the superior pole of the kidney compared to the middle or inferior pole. Mean relative oxy-hemoglobin concentrations decrease more significantly during ischemia for normothermic kidneys compared to hypothermic kidneys. VRIS may be broadly applicable to provide an indicator of organ ischemia during open and laparoscopic procedures.
Capacitive accelerometer laboratory using polymer-film rapid prototyping technology

We present a rapid prototyping substitute for silicon MEMS Fabrication, which allows students to understand the fundamental tradeoffs in designing a planar accelerometer. The laboratory uses commercially available polymer-films and a CO2 laser cutter for device fabrication and design validation.
Impairment of verbal memory and learning in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

Background: Verbal memory deficits are of interest in schizophrenia because of the potential relationship to functional and anatomic mesial temporal lobe pathology in this disorder. The goal of this study was to characterize the nature of verbal memory impairments in antipsychotic-naive schizophrenic patients early in the course of illness. Methods: Neuroleptic-naive patients with schizophrenia (n=62) and healthy individuals (n=67), matched on IQ, age, sex, and parental socioeconomic status, were administered the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Results: Schizophrenia participants performed significantly worse than healthy individuals on measures of verbal learning, short- and long-term memory, and immediate attention. Deficits in recall were related to reduced use of organizational strategies to facilitate verbal encoding and retrieval. No group differences were found in rate of forgetting or susceptibility to proactive or retroactive interference. Memory deficits had minimal relation to positive or negative symptom severity. Conclusions: Schizophrenia is characterized by significant verbal memory dysfunction early in the course of illness prior to treatment with antipsychotic medications. Deficits in consistency of learning over several trials, as well as a strong relationship between semantic organizational strategies and reduced learning capacity, implicate prefrontal dysfunction as a contributor to verbal memory deficits in schizophrenia.
Economically optimal sample size, frequency and capability indices using X¯ charts

Abstract In determining inspection plans for quality control, two important variables are the frequency of sampling and the sample size. Typical values are once per hour, with a sample of size 4 or 5. However, this may be far from the most appropriate or efficient scheme in a given setting. Also, the capability index necessary to produce zero defects under the historical maximum and average shift in the process is essential information in providing motivation for process improvement. This paper presents microcomputer-based software using readily available information for determining economically optimal sampling plans and zero-defects capability indices. Great economic benefits can result from more careful attention to sampling plans, and the attainment of zero defect process capability indices.
Biocidal Packaging for Pharmaceuticals, Foods, and Other Perishables

Many consumer goods must be protected from bacterial and fungal colonization to ensure their integrity and safety. By making these items' packaging biocidal, the interior environment can be preserved from microbial spoilage without altering the products themselves. Herein we briefly review this concept, referred to as active packaging, and discuss existing methods for constructing active packaging systems. They are based on either packaging materials that release biocides or those that are themselves intrinsically biocidal (or biostatic), with numerous variations within each category.
Self-expanding stent effects on radiation dosimetry in esophageal cancer.

It is the purpose of this study to evaluate how self-expanding stents (SESs) affect esophageal cancer radiation planning target volumes (PTVs) and dose delivered to surrounding organs at risk (OARs). Ten patients were evaluated, for whom a SES was placed before radiation. A computed tomography (CT) scan obtained before stent placement was fused to the post-stent CT simulation scan. Three methods were used to represent pre-stent PTVs: 1) image fusion (IF), 2) volume approximation (VA), and 3) diameter approximation (DA). PTVs and OARs were contoured per RTOG 1010 protocol using Eclipse Treatment Planning software. Post-stent dosimetry for each patient was compared to approximated pre-stent dosimetry. For each of the three pre-stent approximations (IF, VA, and DA), the mean lung and liver doses and the estimated percentages of lung volumes receiving 5 Gy, 10 Gy, 20 Gy, and 30 Gy, and heart volumes receiving 40 Gy were significantly lower (p-values < 0.02) than those estimated in the post-stent treatment plans. The lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40 constraints were achieved more often using our pre-stent approximations. Esophageal SES placement increases the dose delivered to the lungs, heart, and liver. This may have clinical importance, especially when the dose-volume constraints are near the recommended thresholds, as was the case for lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40. While stents have established benefits for treating patients with significant dysphagia, physicians considering stent placement and radiation therapy must realize the effects stents can have on the dosimetry.
Lipid-free Apolipoprotein A-I Structure: Insights into HDL Formation and Atherosclerosis Development

Apolipoprotein A-I is the major protein in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and plays an important role during the process of reverse cholesterol transport (RCT). Knowledge of the high-resolution structure of full-length apoA-I is vital for a molecular understanding of the function of HDL at the various steps of the RCT pathway. Due to the flexible nature of apoA-I and aggregation properties, the structure of full-length lipid-free apoA-I has evaded description for over three decades. Sequence analysis of apoA-I suggested that the amphipathic α-helix is the structural motif of exchangeable apolipoprotein, and NMR, X-ray and MD simulation studies have confirmed this. Different laboratories have used different methods to probe the secondary structure distribution and organization of both the lipid-free and lipid-bound apoA-I structure. Mutation analysis, synthetic peptide models, surface chemistry and crystal structures have converged on the lipid-free apoA-I domain structure and function: the N-terminal domain [1–184] forms a helix bundle while the C-terminal domain [185–243] mostly lacks defined structure and is responsible for initiating lipid-binding, aggregation and is also involved in cholesterol efflux. The first 43 residues of apoA-I are essential to stabilize the lipid-free structure. In addition, the crystal structure of C-terminally truncated apoA-I suggests a monomer-dimer conversation mechanism mediated through helix 5 reorganization and dimerization during the formation of HDL. Based on previous research, we have proposed a structural model for full-length monomeric apoA-I in solution and updated the HDL formation mechanism through three states. Mapping the known natural mutations on the full-length monomeric apoA-I model provides insight into atherosclerosis development through disruption of the N-terminal helix bundle or deletion of the C-terminal lipid-binding domain.
Large deletions partially external to the human hyrt gene result in chimeric transcripts

We postulated that gene fusions sometimes occur in normal cells as a result of gene rearrangements as have been observed involving oncogene loci in tumours. To test this, we searched for fusion-gene transcripts in selected human T-lymphocyte large deletion mutations of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) gene using the 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. Aberrant hprt-containing transcripts were observed in seven out of 19 mutants (approximately 36%) indicating that a surprising number of these rearrangements code for processed mRNAs. RNA splicing and polyadenylation occurred downstream of the non-deleted hprt sequence in chimeric transcripts and the majority resulted from mutants with fusions of hprt into regions containing a repetitive element (Alu, LINE or microsatellite).
Identification of Genes Influencing a Spectrum of Externalizing Psychopathology

Alcohol dependence, drug dependence, childhood conduct disorder, and adult antisocial behavior commonly occur in combination. Data from multiple literatures, including twin/family studies and electrophysiological studies, suggest that the overlap of these disorders is largely due to a shared genetic liability that contributes to a spectrum of externalizing psychopathology. These findings suggest that some genes will not be specific to any one externalizing disorder but will predispose individuals broadly to a spectrum of externalizing psychopathology. Here we review evidence for specific, identified genes, GABRA2 and CHRM2, that follow this pattern and confer risk for a spectrum of externalizing disorders. These findings confirm the etiological structure of psychopathology suggested by psychological research and suggest exciting new roles that psychologists can play in understanding the pathways underlying associations between genes and behavior.
Active Piezoelectric Shell Continua

It has been over 111 years (1880–1991) since the discovery of piezoelectric phenomena by the Curie brothers. Over the years, sophisticated piezoelectricity theories have been proposed and refined. Novel piezoelectric devices were invented and applied to a variety of engineering applications (Tzou, 1990; Mason, 1981; Sessler, 1981; Dokmeci, 1983). In the recent development of active smart structures and systems, active piezoelectric and elastic/piezoelectric structures (elastic materials integrated with piezoelectric sensors/actuators and control electronics) are very promising in both static and dynamic applications, e.g., aerospace/aircraft structures, robot manipulators, vibration controls and isolations, high-precision devices, micro-sensors/actuators, micro-mechanical systems, micro-actuation and control, etc (Tzou & Fukuda, 1991). This has driven a renewed and widely spread interest in piezoelectricity related researches.
Trends in Oral Antibiotic, Proton Pump Inhibitor, and Histamine 2 Receptor Blocker Prescription Patterns for Children Compared With Adults: Implications for Clostridium difficile Infection in the Community

The use of antibiotics, proton pump inhibitor (PPI), and histamine 2 receptor blocker (H2B) was compared between children and adults in the community from 2005 through 2011. Antibiotic prescription rates remained stable for children, but increased significantly for adults, P = .03. PPI prescription rates increased for children, P = .02 and for adults, P = .009. H2B prescription rates increased for children, P = .03, but not for adults. Antibiotic prescription rates were significantly higher in children than adults in all 7 years, P < .0001. In contrast, PPI prescription rates were significantly higher in adults than children in all 7 years, P < .0001. H2B prescription rates were significantly higher in adults than children 1 to 18 years old P < .0001; however, H2B prescription rates were highest in children <1 year old, P = .0001. The high use of oral antibiotics, PPI, and H2B among outpatients may be a contributing factor to the rise of Clostridium difficile infection in the community.
Assessing the Flexibility Provided by Fractionated Spacecraft

This paper introduces the concept of spacecraft fractionation, which transforms a traditional monolithic spacecraft into a network of elements where a free-flying payload module is supported by nearby free-flying infrastructure modules supplying communications, data handling, power, etc. Models were developed from a customercentric perspective to assess different fractionated spacecraft architectures relative to traditional spacecraft architectures using multi-attribute analysis. Along with traditional attributes of mass and cost, non-traditional attributes of maintainability, scalability, flexibility, and responsiveness were included in the assessment. A framework was created to clearly define and evaluate these non-traditional attributes, and appropriate metrics were constructed. This study demonstrates that if those non-traditional attributes are valued enough, customers would choose fractionated spacecraft rather than traditional ones. I. Introduction Traditional spacecraft are designed for one-time use. They are typically monolithic and have a tailored design. Because of the long development and manufacturing times, designers tend to increase the lifetime of traditional spacecraft and as a result spacecraft tend to grow larger and more complex. This tendency creates large costs and risks associated with a single mission and prevents use of most advanced technologies and reuse of launched elements. Moreover, these traditional architectures have a major drawback in that they limit the possible adaptations of spacecraft to the likely changes in their requirements or environment during their life cycle. The use of modular and standard components was a first step to reduce costs, risks, and development, manufacturing, and testing times. Reconfigurable spacecraft are now being developed to improve flexibility and decrease time constraints. Such new systems are based on standard modules that would be docked and undocked depending on the requirements. Taking modularity a step further means considering a spacecraft made of several smaller building blocks instead of a monolithic one. The technologies recently developed for distributed and cooperative space systems made conceivable this idea of fractionating spacecraft. The concept of fractionated spacecraft transforms a traditional monolithic spacecraft into a network of elements: a free-flying payload is supported by free-flying modules forming an on-orbit infrastructure. Those modules can be reconfigured, added, or exchanged independently from the others, and be reused over several missions. The lifetime of space assets would be extended by building those reusable and smaller components, which would be a first step toward sustainable space utilization.
Privacy-aware stochastic control with a “snoopy” adversary: A game-theoretic approach

We consider a scenario in which a controller and an adversary dynamically act on a system over a finite or infinite horizon. The controller and the adversary do not want to reveal their actions to each other, and at the same time, the controller acts to minimize an expected cost, and the adversary acts to maximize it. We model this scenario as a dynamic zero-sum game, prove the existence of a unique saddle-point equilibrium, and devise an algorithm to compute the equilibrium for finite and infinite horizon settings.
Factors predictive of venous thromboembolism in bariatric surgery.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of patient characteristics, payer type, comorbi...
Resident and user support for urban natural areas restoration practices

Abstract Public support is important to the success of natural areas restoration programs. Support can be especially critical in urban settings where stakeholders recreate in or reside near natural areas but may lack familiarity with practices for managing ecological processes. Surveys of on-site recreationists and nearby residents (N = 888) of 11 Chicago metropolitan natural areas were used to assess support for eight different practices commonly used in oak woodland restoration. Support generally ranged in relation to the level or intensity of management intervention, from more than 90% of the sample supporting the planting of native seeds and plants to just 32% supporting the use of herbicides to control undesired vegetation. On-site users and nearby residents who believed that a restoration practice was being used at the site they visited and/or lived near were much more likely to support the use of that practice than those who did not believe or did not know whether it was being used. These belief variables were the most important predictors in binary logistic regression models of restoration support, though gender (female) also significantly decreased the likelihood of supporting most high-intervention practices. Beyond these findings, results also suggest that support should be viewed as a multidimensional concept that involves perceptual, demographic, and structural components which often differ for different practices. Managers can use the information provided here to increase their understanding of the relative nature of restoration support and devise holistic social-ecological strategies to achieve restoration success.
Medicaid and Insuring the Poor — Where Are We Heading?

Several states expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are doing so through demonstrations that alter the terms of Medicaid coverage. Will such efforts destroy our ability to effectively cover the poor and respond flexibly to emerging population health needs?
Effects of Increasing Concentrations of Corn Dried Distiller’s Grains with Solubles on the Egg Production and Internal Quality of Eggs

Four diets were formulated to contain 0, 17, 35 or 50% corn DDGS. A total of 240 54-week-old single-comb White Leghorn laying hens were assigned to one of four dietary treatments and fed for a 24-week experimental period. Two sets of the experimental diets were formulated and each diet was fed for 12 weeks. Egg production, feed consumption, egg component, yolk color, Haugh unit during storage times, and shell breaking strength were measured. Egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, and feed efficiency were adversely affected by the highest level of DDGS in the diet (50%) during the first 12-week period. Once diets were reformulated to include an increased concentration of both lysine and methionine, differences among the dietary treatments were reduced, as the performance of the 50% DDGS diets was greatly improved. Over the last 6 weeks of study, no differences in egg production, egg weight and feed intake among the DDGS treatments were found. DDGS diets positively affected the internal quality of eggs during storage. Improved yolk color and Haugh unit were observed as the dietary DDGS levels increased, but the increase in Haugh unit was significant only when the DDGS level was 50%. Shell weight percentage was increased in 50% DDGS diet. It was suggested that up to 50% of DDGS could be included in the layer’s diet without affecting egg weight, feed intake, egg mass, fee efficiency, and egg production as long as digestible amino acids were sufficient in DDGS-added diets.
Is Rational Psychotherapy Rational

Rational psychotherapists have stressed correcting the irrational assumptions and incorrect beliefs which underlie their clients’ behaviors, but they have not dealt adequately with the influence of their own biases on therapy. Ellis, for example, has been inculcating in clients a logically—and empirically—unverifiable hedonistic doctrine and a contradictory, illogically derived rationale for treating others with kindness. That irrationally practiced rational psychotherapy can be successful suggests that factors other than the therapist’s logicality per se might be crucial for therapeutic success.
Evaluating the efficacy of genetically engineered Escherichia coli W (ATCC 9637) to produce limonene from industrial sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.)

Abstract There is an increasing need for renewable fuels and chemicals from sustainable feedstocks to decrease the negative global impacts caused by the rampant use of fossil fuels. Juice from industrial sugar beets is a sucrose-rich substrate with potential as a biofuel and chemical feedstock. In this study, juice from sugar beets was utilized as a novel feedstock to produce the cyclic hydrocarbon limonene by genetically engineered E. coli W (ATCC 9637). To optimize this process, limonene production, E. coli viability, pH, and residual sucrose in the media were evaluated in aerobic trials in bioreactors using various concentrations of beet juice diluted in lysogeny broth. Limonene production in these trials ranged from 0.95–3.13 mg/L/d, however sucrose from beet juice was not catabolized. Cultivation media supplemented with beet juice can be utilized to produce limonene, however further optimization is needed for the E. coli strains to effectively metabolize sucrose from beet juice.
Adaptive control for a class of uncertain nonlinear dynamical systems in the presence of high-order actuator dynamics

Adaptive control is a powerful design methodology to achieve closed-loop system stability in the face of uncertainties resulting from modeling inaccuracies, degraded modes of operation, and changes in system dynamics. Yet, it is well known that the presence of actuator dynamics can seriously limit closed-loop system stability of any adaptive control framework. To address the problem of adaptive control design in the presence of actuator dynamics, we recently introduced a linear matrix inequalities-based adaptive control framework. The key feature of this approach is to reveal the fundamental stability interplay between the parameters of a given actuator dynamics model and the allowable uncertainties in the feedback loop. The contribution of this paper is to generalize our recent work for a class of uncertain nonlinear dynamical systems. Specifically, for a given high-order, linear time-invariant actuator dynamics model, we utilize tools and methods from Lyapunov stability and linear matrix inequalities for the computation of closed-loop system stability limits of adaptive control laws. An illustrative numerical example is also provided to demonstrate the efficacy and the practicality of the proposed design architecture.
Using Event-related Potentials to Inform the Neurocognitive Processes Underlying Knowledge Extension through Memory Integration

To build a general knowledge base, it is imperative that individuals acquire, integrate, and further extend knowledge across experiences. For instance, in one episode an individual may learn that George Washington was the first president. In a separate episode they may then learn that Washington was the commander of the Continental Army. Integration of the information in memory may then support self-derivation of the new knowledge that the leader of the Continental Army was also the first president. Despite a considerable amount of fMRI research aimed at further elucidating the neuroanatomical regions supporting this ability, a consensus has yet to be reached with regards to the precise neurocognitive processes involved. In the present research, we capitalized on the high temporal resolution of event-related potentials (ERPs) to inform the time course of processes elicited during successful integration and further extension of new factual knowledge. Adults read novel, related stem facts and were tested for self-derivation of novel integration facts while ERPs were recorded. Consistent with current theoretical models, memory integration was first triggered by novelty detection within 400 msec of experience of a second, related stem fact. Two additional temporally staged encoding processes were then observed interpreted to reflect (1) explicit meaning comprehension and (2) representation of the integrated relation in memory. During the test for self-derivation, a single ERP was elicited, which presumably reflected retrieval and/or recombination of previously integrated knowledge. Together, the present research provides important insight into the time course of neurocognitive processing associated with the formation of a knowledge base.
Culture and Negotiation Strategy: A Framework for Future Research

The literature on the use and effectiveness of negotiation strategies reveals intriguing yet unexplained patterns of cultural differences. Negotiators in some regions of the world rely on the quest...
Li-ZnO nanowire carpet as a micro-newton force sensor with nanometer resolution

ZnO nanowires offer nanometer resolution with high piezoelectric coefficient as force sensors. There is, however, much room to improve the sensitivity with addition of substitutional impurities. Here, the effect of p-type Li doping on vertically-aligned crystalline piezoelectric ZnO nanowires (NWs) is investigated. The NWs are used as an elementary material to fabricate micro-Newton force sensors based on undoped and Li-doped ZnO nanostructures. The novelty of this work lies on the doping of ZnO NWs with Li that improves its performance by altering the physical and material properties. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images illustrate that the force sensors can realize nanometer scale resolution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy depict that most of the Li atoms are incorporating into the ZnO structure as substitutional dopants, thus improving the piezoelectric properties. An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is operated in contact mode to apply pN range mechanical force to the nanowires. It is shown that the sensitivity of ZnO NW sensor increases from 0.033 mV/pN to 0.102 mV/pN when doped with Li.
Dr. Bush Fathers a Foundation

World War I, with its poison gases, had been the chemists’ war; World War II, with its radar and atom bombs, would become known as the physicists’ war. And as Paul Forman of the Smithsonian Institution has quoted physicist Jerrold Zacharias, “World War II was in many ways a watershed for American science and scientists. It changed the nature of what it means to do science and radically altered the relationship between science and government.”1
Role of Carbon Dioxide in Modifying the Plant Response to Ozone

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the potential responses of plants to interacting effects of Ozone (O 3 ) and elevated Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Both CO 2 and O 3 have direct effects on the growth and vitality of plants. Carbon dioxide is a limiting factor to photosynthesis in C3 plants. Therefore, increases in ambient CO 2 concentrations can result in increased rates of photosynthesis and stimulate growth and biomass production. O 3 is potentially damaging for plants and, therefore, may counteract or prevent positive responses to enhanced atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. With respect to carbon fluxes, the interactive effects of elevated CO 2 and O 3 on growth and vitality of plants are important because vegetation is a major sink for CO 2 . Its sink strength, particularly the maintenance of enhanced growth under elevated CO 2 concentrations, depends on a range of edaphic, climatic, and species-inherent factors. Further limitations to the sink strength of the vegetation are imposed by man-made environmental constraints, including O 3 as an important air pollutant. Primary reactions of O 3 in plants initially cause subtle biochemical changes, which may initiate a sequence of reactions leading to reductions in photosynthesis, changes in carbon allocation patterns, symptoms of visible injury on leaves, accelerated senescence, reduced growth, and loss of yield.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis in Central Nervous System Cancer

Traditional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis has been of limited value in the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) cancer.92 Abnormalities of biochemical and cellular composition have, with certain exceptions, been nonspecific and of limited diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic significance. The development of more sophisticated methods of CSF analysis offers the hope that more useful information can be gained by judicious application of these methods to the CSF of patients with brain cancer.
Exploiting Inherent Error Resiliency of Deep Neural Networks to Achieve Extreme Energy Efficiency Through Mixed-Signal Neurons

Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the brain, promises extreme efficiency for certain classes of learning tasks, such as classification and pattern recognition. The performance and power consumption of neuromorphic computing depend heavily on the choice of the neuron architecture. Digital neurons (Dig-N) are conventionally known to be accurate and efficient at high speed while suffering from high leakage currents from a large number of transistors in a large design. On the other hand, analog/mixed-signal neurons (MS-Ns) are prone to noise, variability, and mismatch but can lead to extremely low-power designs. In this paper, we will analyze, compare, and contrast existing neuron architectures with a proposed MS-N in terms of performance, power, and noise, thereby demonstrating the applicability of the proposed MS-N for achieving extreme energy efficiency (femtojoule/multiply and accumulate or less). The proposed MS-N is implemented in 65-nm CMOS technology and exhibits $> 100\times $ better energy efficiency across all frequencies over two traditional Dig-Ns synthesized in the same technology node. We also demonstrate that the inherent error resiliency of a fully connected or even convolutional neural network can handle the noise as well as the manufacturing nonidealities of the MS-N up to certain degrees. Notably, a system-level implementation on CIFAR-10 data set exhibits a worst case increase in classification error by 2.1% when the integrated noise power in the bandwidth is $\sim 0.1 ~\mu $ V2, along with $\pm 3\sigma $ amount of variation and mismatch introduced in the transistor parameters for the proposed neuron with 8-bit precision.