cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Scientific Tour on Orthogonal Arrays

This paper gives a brief introduction to orthogonal arrays, including the definitions, basic questions, important theorems and applications. It establishes the connection between coding theory and orthogonal arrays. Based on coding theory, many construction methods of orthogonal arrays and linear programming bound, which is an improvement on Rao’s bound, are studied. Difference schemes and Hadamard matrices are also discussed in the paper, which contribute to the constructions of orthogonal arrays. Moreover, the paper brings in basic definitions and properties of mixed orthogonal arrays and focuses on problems and methods related to their constructions. As the main statistical application of orthogonal arrays, factorial experiments are then introduced, and ways orthogonal arrays can be used in this field is discussed. Further, the applications of orthogonal arrays in computer experiments and related structures are shown, including orthogonal Latin hypercube designs, nested orthogonal arrays, sliced orthogonal arrays, Latin squares and compound orthogonal arrays.
Durable broadband ultralow index fluoropolymer antireflection coatings for plastic optics

Durable broadband antireflection (AR) coatings remain an ongoing challenge for plastic optics used in a wide range of applications. Here, we show that glancing angle deposition of a commercial fluoropolymer can be used to fabricate extremely durable ultralow index AR coatings that reduce the solar spectrum-averaged (400<λ<1600 nm) reflectance of acrylic and polycarbonate plastic to <1% over a wide range of incidence angles up to ∼40°. The coatings feature strong adhesion and exhibit outstanding resistance to heat, humidity, dirt, ultraviolet light, outdoor exposure, solvents, acids, bases, abrasion, and repeated bend/compression cycling. They are successfully applied to f/1 curved lens surfaces as well as acrylic Fresnel lenses, where coating both sides increases the solar spectrum-averaged transmittance from 92% to 98%. These results represent a significant development for plastic optics commonly used in solar concentrators as well as more generally for broadband AR applications that demand extreme environmental, chemical, and mechanical durability.
Love's Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity

A number of prominent moral philosophers and political theorists have recently called for a recovery of love. But what do we mean when we speak of love today? Love's Enlightenment examines four key conceptions of other-directedness that transformed the meaning of love and helped to shape the way we understand love today: Hume's theory of humanity, Rousseau's theory of pity, Smith's theory of sympathy, and Kant's theory of love. It argues that these four Enlightenment theories are united by a shared effort to develop a moral psychology that can provide both justificatory and motivational grounds for concern for others in the absence of recourse to theological or transcendental categories. In this sense, each theory represents an effort to redefine the love of others that used to be known as caritas or agape - a redefinition that came with benefits and costs that have yet to be fully appreciated.
Services and Resources for People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Southcoast of Massachusetts: “Can’t Get There From Here!”

Fall River and New Bedford, two diverse and economically challenged cities in the Southcoast region of Massachusetts, are areas of substantial concern in the effort to reduce HIV incidence and to provide effective services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Commonwealth. In these two communities, HIV disparately impacts marginalized populations, with particularly high infection and prevalence rates among men who have sex with men and injection drug users in comparison to other Massachusetts localities. This project used community engaged research principles to conduct a community assessment guided by the social determinants of health. The primary goal of this study was to identify the gaps in resources and services and highlight challenges and barriers to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in Fall River and New Bedford, Massachusetts. Transportation was a major barrier in not accessing available community services and resources.
Timing for Dollars: How Option Exercisability Influences Resource Allocation:

Stock options have been advocated to encourage managers to make long-run investments like R&D and capital expenditures (CAPX) that entail upfront costs with the potential to generate favorable long-term returns. However, the effect of options on managerial decisions depends on managerial beliefs about how the stock market reacts to firm behavior. If, consistent with empirical evidence, managers believe that stock prices increase in the short term from increased R&D, but not CAPX, then stock option exercisability—which dictates when managers can receive option payouts—should influence resource allocation. We also consider the effect of changes in the value of options over time. Results from a study of more than 6,500 observations from about 1,000 manufacturing firms over 18 years show that unexercisable stock options positively influence CAPX but not R&D, while exercisable stock options positively influence R&D but not CAPX. Both patterns are consistent with behavior that increases managerial payoffs but n...
TAKS-ing students? Texas exit exam effects on human capital formation

Abstract High-stakes exit exams are pervasive in the American education system and have the ability to affect students far beyond their earned scores. This paper considers how exit exams in Texas affect student motivational responses and classroom behavior before the end of high school. Employing a regression discontinuity framework, I examine the impact of failing the exam the first time it is administered. Considering behavioral responses to the administration of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), I study the impact on students’ courses taken, attendance, and disciplinary actions after the exam in the final year of high school. I find that, in line with a model of motivation with heterogeneous effects, some students who fail respond through an increase in the number of courses taken in their senior year, and find a smaller increase in disciplinary infractions.
Impact of home versus hospital dressing on bacterial contamination of surgical scrubs in the obstetric setting: A randomized controlled trial.

Background The impact of the site where an obstetrician dresses in their surgical scrubs, home versus hospital, on total bacterial burden remains unknown. Therefore, our objective was to quantify the effect of dressing in surgical scrubs at home versus at the hospital on the bacterial contamination at the beginning of a scheduled shift. Methods This was a single blind randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants were resident physicians assigned to labor and delivery at a single institution during the study period, and participants were randomized daily to 1 of 4 arms based on the site where their scrubs were laundered (A) and where the resident dressed (B) (A/B): home/home, home/hospital, hospital/home, and hospital/hospital. At the beginning of the assigned shift, microbiologic samples from the chest pocket and pants' tie were collected with a sterile culture swab. Samples were plated on trypticase soy agar with 5% sheep blood before being incubated at 35°C-37°C for 48 hours, with observation every 24 hours. The primary outcome was total bacterial burden, defined as the sum of the colony forming units (CFUs) from the 2 sampling sites. Results There were 21 residents randomized daily for 4 days to 1 of 4 study arms, resulting in 84 observations. There were no baseline differences between the home- and hospital-dressed cohorts. Overall, 68% of sampled scrubs demonstrated some bacterial growth. There was no difference between the home- and hospital-dressed cohorts in percentage of samples demonstrating any bacterial growth after 72 hours (60% vs 76%, P = .14), nor in median bacterial burden at the beginning of a shift (2 [interquartile range, 0-7] vs 1 [interquartile range, 1-5] CFUs, P = .62). Finally, there was no difference in total bacterial burden at the beginning of a shift between the home- and hospital-dressed cohorts when stratified by site where the scrubs were laundered. Conclusions There was no significant difference in total bacterial burden of surgical scrubs at the start of a shift between cohorts who dressed at home versus at the hospital.
Extremely Divergent Haplotypes in Two Toxin Gene Complexes Encode Alternative Venom Types within Rattlesnake Species.

Summary Natural selection is generally expected to favor one form of a given trait within a population. The presence of multiple functional variants of traits involved in activities such as feeding, reproduction, or the defense against predators is relatively uncommon within animal species. The genetic architecture and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the origin and maintenance of such polymorphisms are of special interest. Among rattlesnakes, several instances of the production of biochemically distinct neurotoxic or hemorrhagic venom types within the same species are known. Here, we investigated the genetic basis of this phenomenon in three species and found that neurotoxic and hemorrhagic individuals of the same species possess markedly different haplotypes at two toxin gene complexes. For example, neurotoxic and hemorrhagic Crotalus scutulatus individuals differ by 5 genes at the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) toxin gene complex and by 11 genes at the metalloproteinase (MP) gene complex. A similar set of extremely divergent haplotypes also underlies alternate venom types within C. helleri and C. horridus . We further show that the MP and PLA2 haplotypes of neurotoxic C. helleri appear to have been acquired through hybridization with C. scutulatus —a rare example of the horizontal transfer of a potentially highly adaptive suite of genes. These large structural variants appear analogous to immunity gene complexes in host-pathogen arms races and may reflect the impact of balancing selection at the PLA2 and MP complexes for predation on different prey.
SecureMR: secure mapreduce computation using homomorphic encryption and program partitioning

In cloud computing customers upload data and computation to cloud providers. As they upload their data to the cloud provider, they typically give up data confidentiality. We develop SecureMR, a system that analyzes and transforms MapReduce programs to operate over encrypted data. SecureMR makes use of partially homomorphic encryption and a trusted client. We evaluate SecureMR on a set of complex computation-intensive MapReduce benchmarks.
Realizing Abortion Rights at the Margins of Legality in Mexico.

I analyze the alternative tactics and logics of Las Fuertes, a feminist organization that has taken an “alegal” approach to realizing the human right to abortion in the conservative Mexican state o...
An Agent-Based Model Based on Field Experiments

This chapter described the empirical calibration of a theoretical model based on data from field experiments. Field experiments on irrigation dilemmas were performed to understand how resource users overcome asymmetric collective action problems. The fundamental problem facing irrigation systems is how to solve two related collective action problems: (1) the provision of the physical and ecological infrastructure necessary to utilize the resource (water), and (2) the irrigation dilemma where the relative positions of “head-enders” and “tail-enders” generate a sequential access to the resource itself (water). If actors act as rational, self-interested, agents, it is difficult to understand how irrigation infrastructure would ever be constructed and maintained by the farmers obtaining water from a system as contrasted to a government irrigation bureaucracy. Wittfogel (1957) argued that a central control was indispensable for the functioning of larger irrigation systems and hypothesized that some state-level societies have emerged as a necessary side-effect of solving problems associated with the use of large-scale irrigation.
Innovation, education, and media

The reluctance to change on the part of educators and school systems represents a paradoxical situation. Teaching and learning consists of trying to bring about behavior changes, and the purpose of education is to develop individuals who are adaptive and creative. Therefore, the effort of the teacher and the major purpose of the educational enterprise is to bring about planned change in the individual. Why persons who are committed to this objective for all of the pupils for whom they have responsibility should reject or be neutral to planned change in their own practices as teachers is a gnawing and perplexing question.
Knowledge Flows in High-Tech Industry Clusters: Dissemination Mechanisms and Innovation Regimes

This paper explores knowledge flows, i.e., creation and dissemination of knowledge, in three types of clusters in order to lay a conceptual foundation for analysis of knowledge-based industry clusters and for technology policy. Distinction is made between two different innovation regimes: discovery-driven innovation, represented by Silicon Valley and Cambridge, UK, in semiconductors, and by Boston/Cambridge, the San Francisco Bay Area and Medicon Valley in biotechnology; and design-driven innovation as represented by Boeing in Seattle, Bombardier in Montreal, Airbus in Toulouse, and Saab in Linkoping in the aircraft industry. In each cluster, the role of universities and other creators of knowledge is examined. The nature of knowledge dissemination is also analyzed, distinguishing between market-mediated transfers of knowledge and non-market mediated and undirected transfers (“true” spillovers). The role of new start-ups versus incumbent firms in knowledge dissemination and cluster growth is also examined.
Approaches to Defining and Evaluating the Inhalation Pharmacology and Toxicology Hazards of Anticholinesterases

Publisher Summary The extensive use of anticholinesterases (anti-ChEs) as pesticides and their application in the form of dusts, land-based sprays, and by aerial spraying means that anti-ChE pesticide exposures by inhalation of the vapor and/or aerosols are frequent. Inhalation studies are designed to determine the nature, onset, and duration of adverse effects and hazards from acute, short-term repeated and long-term repeated respiratory exposure; factors influencing the development of effects; and the efficacy of antidotal treatment. They are also designed to aid in the development of protective and precautionary measures, including recommendations on appropriate airborne concentrations to ensure safe working conditions. The development of pharmacological and potential short- and long-term toxicological effects from exposure to organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CM) anti-ChEs by inhalation depends on various factors, of which the most important are the physicochemical properties of anti-ChE, whether exposure is to undiluted material or a formulation, and whether the material is physically and intentionally dispersed in the atmosphere for in-use application. Depending on the nature and required use of the material and its formulation, exposure by inhalation may be to vapor, liquid aerosol, or dust. The effects of inhaled anti-ChEs may, for descriptive purposes, be considered as local pharmacological effects on tissues within the respiratory tract, local toxicological effects on the respiratory tract, and systemic pharmacological and toxic effects that occur following absorption of anti-ChE into the systemic circulation. The nature of toxic effects also depends on whether exposure is by a single (acute) exposure or by repeated exposures.
Isolated Perfused Porcine Skin Flap Systems

The ultimate goal of an in vitro model system is to predict the behavior of the drug in the in vivo setting. Most in vitro skin models used to assess the percutaneous absorption or transdermal delivery of topically applied drugs are designed around the assumption that the stratum corneum and/or epidermis is the principal barrier to compound penetration through skin. Thus, all such models were usually avascular and, until recently, nonviable preparations. However, in vivo, this stratum corneum and living epidermal barrier resides on a well-vascularized and metabolically active dermal substrate offering ample biological targets for specific types of drugs. Drugs may be vasoactive and modulate the cutaneous microcirculation; they may serve as substrates of epidermal and dermal drug-metabolizing enzymes, or they may activate cytokine and/or other modulator receptors which result in changes in epidermal, dermal, or endothelial cell function. Therefore, the anatomical and physiological complexity of human skin is significantly greater than that modeled in existing in vitro systems, which thus do not afford the possibility of detecting these potential biologically relevant events.
Convergence of a homotopy finite element method for computing steady states of Burgers’ equation

In this paper, the convergence of a homotopy method (1.1) for solving the steady state problem of Burgers’ equation is considered. When ν is fixed, we prove that the solution of (1.1) converges to the unique steady state solution as e → 0, which is independent of the initial conditions. Numerical examples are presented to confirm this conclusion by using the continuous finite element method. In contrast, when ν = e →, numerically we show that steady state solutions obtained by (1.1) indeed depend on initial conditions.
Evaluating Support for OpenMP Offload Features

The OpenMP language features have been evolving to meet the rapid development in hardware platforms. DOE applications tend to push the bleeding edge of features ratified in the OpenMP specification and tend to expose the rough edges of the features' implementations. The software harness on DOE supercomputers such as Titan and (upcoming) Summit include Cray, Clang, Flang, XL and GCC compilers. It is critical, especially for Summit, that the compilers support OpenMP offloading features. This paper focuses on evaluating support for OpenMP 4.5 target offload directives across compiler implementations on Titan and Summitdev, an early access system, which is one generation removed from Summit's architecture enabling application teams to test the systems' architecture. Our tests not only evaluate the OpenMP implementations but also expose ambiguities in the OpenMP 4.5 specification. We also evaluate compiler implementations using kernels extracted from production DOE applications. This helps in assessing the interaction of different OpenMP directives independent of other application artifacts. We are aware that the implementations are constantly evolving and are advertised as having only partial OpenMP 4.x support. We see this as a synergistic effort to help identify and correct features that are required by DOE applications and prevent deployment delays later on. Going forward, we also plan to interact with standard benchmarking bodies like SPEC/HPG to donate our tests and mini-apps/kernels for potential inclusion in the next release versions of SPEC OMP and SPEC ACCEL benchmark suites.
Quantified Comparison of Landscape Urbanism and New Urbanism: Applying Mean Depth and Connectivity Measures in Space Syntax to Two Toronto Case Studies

ABSTRACT: Landscape Urbanism and New Urbanism are two of the most recent and most relevant paradigms in contemporary urbanism. The two offer some major differences (such as density and approach towards urban sprawl, transportation mode choice, urban block size and arrangement, etc.) as well as some similarities (such as ecological sensibility, natural resource preservation, and connectivity of the urban fabric), causing them to become interested in similar urban contexts (such as post-industrial and brownfield sites), and making them comparable. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion around the conceived ideological, theoretical, and physical differences of these two paradigms, where proponents of each have brought forth arguments aimed at proving the superiority of their side and refuting the other. Despite the extent of these arguments, no quantitative comparison has been offered. To this date, the majority of these discussions have remained quite superficial. This paper proposes the use of Space Syntax as a methodology that can help fill this literature gap for meaningful quantitative comparison between the two paradigms. For the purpose of this study, a comparable Landscape Urbanist and a New Urbanist project were selected. The Lower Don Lands (Landscape Urbanist) and the West Don Lands (New Urbanist) projects are both located in downtown Toronto, Canada. They are both very recent projects and are of comparable sizes. A common claim between Landscape Urbanism and New Urbanism, and a relevant issue in contemporary urbanism, is the connectivity of the urban fabric. This characteristic was selected to be quantitatively compared between the two case studies through measures of the Space Syntax methodology. As such, the two case studies were compared using "connectivity” and "mean depth” measures. Results were then assessed to determine which project performed more successfully in making a connection between its site and the surrounding urban fabric. KEYWORDS: Landscape Urbanism, New Urbanism, Space Syntax, Integration, Mean Depth
Deep Multi-Sensory Object Category Recognition Using Interactive Behavioral Exploration

When identifying an object and its properties, humans use features from multiple sensory modalities produced when manipulating the object. Motivated by this cognitive process, we propose a deep learning methodology for object category recognition which uses visual, auditory, and haptic sensory data coupled with exploratory behaviors (e.g., grasping, lifting, pushing, etc.). In our method, as the robot performs an action on an object, it uses a Tensor-Train Gated Recurrent Unit network to process its visual data, and Convolutional Neural Networks to process haptic and auditory data. We propose a novel strategy to train a single neural network that inputs video, audio and haptic data, and demonstrate that its performance is better than separate neural networks for each sensory modality. The proposed method was evaluated on a dataset in which the robot explored 100 different objects, each belonging to one of 20 categories. While the visual information was the dominant modality for most categories, adding the additional haptic and auditory networks further improves the robot’s category recognition accuracy. For some of the behaviors, our approach outperforms the previous published baseline for the dataset which used handcrafted features for each modality. We also show that a robot does not need the sensory data from the entire interaction, but instead can make a good prediction early on during behavior execution.
Design and Characterization of Meshed Microstrip Transmission Lines

Advancements in manufacturing techniques have enabled the ability to create micro-mesh conductive structures which have applications in a variety of electrical engineering technologies. This paper presents the theoretical analysis verified with simulated results and laboratory measurements of a 2.4 GHz micro-mesh transmission line over a solid ground plane. As expected, the reduction in conductive area results in a decrease in capacitance per unit length, and the mesh structure results in an increase in inductance per unit length leading to an overall increase in characteristic impedance and increase in electrical length. Results show that the mesh implementation to reduce the conductive material to 16% on a microstrip transmission line using FR-4 must get 44% wider than its solid metal counterpart to maintain 50 Ω impedance. Length must be similarly increased by a factor of 4% to maintain the same electrical length.
The role of drought as a determinant of hemorrhagic disease in the eastern United States.

Bluetongue virus and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (HD) virus are globally distributed, vector-borne viruses that infect and cause disease in domestic and wild ruminant species. The forces driving increases in resulting HD may be linked to weather conditions and increasing severity has been noted in northerly latitudes. We evaluated the role of drought severity in both space and time on changes in HD reports across the eastern United States for a recent 15 year period. The objectives of this study were to: (a) develop a spatiotemporal model to evaluate if drought severity explains changing patterns of HD presence; and (b) determine whether this potential risk factor varies in importance over the present range of HD in the eastern United States. Historic data (2000-2014) from an annual HD presence-absence survey conducted by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study and from the United States Drought Monitor were used for this analysis. For every county in 23 states and for each of 15 years, data were based on reported drought status for August, wetland cover, the physiographic region, and the status of HD in the previous year. We used a generalized linear mixed model to explain HD presence and evaluated spatiotemporal predictors across the region. We found that drought severity was a significant predictor of HD presence and the significance of this relationship was dependent on latitude. In more northerly latitudes, where immunological naivety is most likely, we demonstrated the increasing strength of drought severity as a determinant of reported HD and established the importance of variation in drought severity as a risk factor over the present range of HD in the eastern United States. Our research provides spatially explicit evidence for the link between climate forces and emerging disease patterns across latitude for a globally distributed disease.
Betacoronavirus binding dynamics relevant to the functional evolution of the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant N501Y

ABSTRACT Comparative functional analysis of the binding interactions between various Betacoronavirus mutant strains and their potential multiple human target proteins is crucial for a more complete understanding of zoonotic spillovers of viruses that cause diseases like COVID-19. Here, employing hundreds of replicate sets of nanosecond scale GPU accelerated molecular dynamics simulations, we statistically compare atom motions of ACE2 and CD26 target proteins in both the presence and absence of different strains of the viral receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S spike glycoprotein. In all strains, we demonstrate a universally conserved functional binding signature of the viral RBD with the N-terminal helices of ACE2. We also identify a second more dynamically transient interaction of the viral N501 with the previously confirmed ACE2 K353 and two nearby novel sites, Q325 and the AAQPFLL 386-92 motif. We propose a model of the functional evolution of SARS-type zoonotic spillovers involving both (A) a conserved binding interaction with the N-terminal helices of ACE2 that is preadapted from viral interaction of the Tylonycteris bat coronavirus progenitor strain HKU4 with the SAMLI 291-5 motif in protein CD26 and (B) a more promiscuous and likely more evolvable interaction between viral N501 and the above-mentioned multiple regions of ACE2 that is preadapted from the bat viral interaction at the CD26 SS 333-4 motif. Our analysis of the highly transmissible N501Y B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants in SARS-CoV-2 supports this functional evolutionary two-touch model, identifying progression towards more stable viral binding of the ACE2 N-terminal helices and the ACE2 K353 region.
Achieving Short Circuit Capability for 600 V GaN FETs Using a Gate-Source-Shorted Si Depletion-Mode MOSFET in Series with the Source

Gallium Nitride FETs have poor short-circuit withstand capability at high DC bus voltages with on-state gate drive voltage. In this paper, the BaSIC(DMM) topology that employs a low voltage Si depletion-mode MOSFET (DMM) in series with source of the GaN FET is demonstrated to suppress the peak short-circuit current and extend the SC withstand time. Experimental results are provided for commercially available 600 V Cascode GaN FETs. The SC withstand time was increased from 0.33 $\mu$ s to 4.35 $\mu$ s at a drain bias of 400 V with gate bias of 8 V, an improvement by a factor of 13x. Under normal power circuit operating conditions, the BaSIC(DMM) topology produces a 29 % increase in on-resistance and almost no change in switching losses.
Mammography use and breast cancer incidence among older U.S. women.

The death rate for female breast cancer increases progressively with age, but organizations differ in their mammography screening recommendations for older women. To understand current patterns of screening mammography use and breast cancer diagnoses among older women, we examined recent national data on mammography screening use and breast cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis among women aged ≥ 65 years. We examined breast cancer incidence using the 2016 United States Cancer Statistics dataset and analyzed screening mammography use among women aged ≥ 65 years using the 2018 National Health Interview Survey. Women aged 70–74 years had the highest breast cancer incidence rate (458.3 cases per 100,000 women), and women aged ≥ 85 years had the lowest rate (295.2 per 100,000 women). The proportion of cancer diagnosed at distant stage or with unknown stage increased with age. Over half of women aged 80–84 years and 26.0% of women aged ≥ 85 years reported a screening mammogram within the last 2 years. Excellent/very good/good self-reported health status (p = .010) and no dependency in activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living (p < .001) were associated with recent mammography screening. Breast cancer incidence rates and stage at diagnosis vary by age. Many women aged ≥ 75 years receive screening mammograms. The results of this study point to areas for further investigation to promote optimal mammography screening among older women.
Hemodynamic effects of left atrial appendage occlusion.

Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) devices have emerged as alternatives to anticoagulation for embolic stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The left atrial appendage is known to produce vasoactive neuroendocrine hormones involved in cardiovascular homeostasis. The hemodynamic impact of LAA occlusion on cardiac function remains poorly characterized. This is a single-center, retrospective study of sixty-seven consecutive patients who received LAAO utilizing the WATCHMAN device from May 2017 to June 2019. All patients received a comprehensive 2D transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) prior to the procedure and a post-procedural TTE. 2D echocardiographic pre-/post-procedural measurements including left ventricular ejection fraction, tricuspid regurgitation, estimated pulmonary artery pressure, diastolic parameters, and left atrial and right ventricular strain were statistically analyzed using the paired t-test. Seventy percent of study patients were male with an overall mean age of 73.0 ± 9.0 years. Analysis of post-procedural LAAO revealed statistically significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (52.4 ± 12.6 vs. 56.7 ± 12.7, p < 0.001), an increase in mitral E/e′ (14.1 ± 6.5 vs. 18.3 ± 10.8, p < 0.001), and a decrease right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS) (− 17.5 ± 4.6 vs. − 19.6 ± 5.7, p = 0.027) as compared to pre-procedural TTE. Peak left atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) improved post-LAAO (20.6 ± 12.2 to 22.9 ± 12.9, p = 0.040) with adjustment for cardiac arrhythmias. Post-LAAO, heart failure hospitalizations occurred in 23.9% of patients. Percutaneous LAAO results in real-time atrial and ventricular hemodynamic changes as assessed by echocardiographic evaluation of LV filling pressures (E/e′), PALS, RVGLS, and LVEF.
Econometric Market or Industry Models

This chapter emphasizes the major econometric approaches to modeling mineral and energy markets. The first two sections feature forms of market models. The presentation then continues with what have become known as econometric demand and supply models. Energy conservation models are discussed in the closing section.
Hatchobaru Power Station, Oita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan

The islands of Japan lie directly along a section of the Pacific Ring of Fire. There are abundant geothermal resources having a wide range of temperatures and applications. The enjoyment of thermal spas is a well-known part of Japanese culture. Extensive surveys were begun in 1918 to identify promising areas for geothermal development and the following year saw the successful drilling of a steam well—the Tsurumi well—in the Bozu-Jigoku district of the famous hot spring city of Beppu on the island of Kyushu. The Hatchobaru geothermal resource is a high-temperature system that is currently host to three power units having a total installed capacity of 112 MW. It has experienced difficulty in avoiding interference between its reinjection and production wells owing to the close coupling of the wells along the fluid-controlling faults. A new model that does just that predicts a 4% annual decline in power output, amounting to about 20 MW over five years, without any new wells. However, the simulation indicated that by drilling one new production well per year aimed at the NE4 fault the power could be stepped back up to full capacity in five years. It is predicted that the cooling of the reservoir will nevertheless continue unabated in the interim periods between the new well additions.
Medicaid at 50: Time for a Major Overhaul

JAMA: What has the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) accomplished in the past few years? DR BERWICK: [T]he center has really stimulated I think an unprecedented amount of activity around the country in the localities, very local activities, to come up with new ways to give and support care. A great example has been the Partnership for Patients. That was a program that I established when I was administrator, a $1 billion investment in reducing unnecessary readmissions to hospitals and in preventing so-called hospital-acquired conditions. These are injuries in hospital care like bedsores and central-line infections and medication errors. The interim results of the partnership were just reported a couple of months ago, and they’re quite stunning. We have doubledigit improvements—reductions in complications in hospitals, readmission rates the lowest they have been on record, I think... and a lot of progress in the nation on patient safety, and that’s just one contribution of CMMI. It also has fostered experiments with new payment systems like the pioneer accountable care organizations, like the big bundle-payment experiment that is showing some pretty good results, so I think it’s been a very, very wise investment in reinventing care.
IMT2000 3G terrestrial standards with applications to airport and terminal air traffic communications

The International Mobile Telecommunications IMT2000 terrestrial standards are investigated as a potential alternative for communications to aircraft mobile users in airport and terminal domains. Specifically, its application to air traffic management (ATM) communication needs is considered. The various specifications of the IMT2000 standards are outlined. It is shown via a system research analyses that it is possible to support most air traffic communication needs via the use of 3G technologies. This technology can compliment existing or future digital aeronautical communications technologies such as VHF digital links mode 2, 3, 4 (VDL2, VDL3, VDL4).
Probabilistic analysis and extraction of video content

In this paper we present a probabilistic framework for mapping low-level visual features into a specific set of semantic descriptors. Specifically, we employ hidden Markov models (HMMs) and Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) at various stages to characterize content domains and extract the relevant semantic information. HMMs are utilized at the shot and sequence levels to model the sequentially-varying structure of video sequences and delineate the video stream in terms of the constituent shots. BBNs, on the-other hand, act on and within each shot, to provide more detailed descriptions of shot content using the physical features of video objects. The semantic content extraction problem is thus addressed at all physical (shot and object) levels, within a consistent representation and processing framework.
Wideband echo control challenges

Some of the significant factors that drive the use of different types of echo cancellation algorithms in wideband telecommunication are discussed. There are two types of echo sources, such as electrical and acoustic where electrical echo is caused by the hybrid found in the public switched telephone network. Acoustic echo is present when the signal from the loudspeaker is picked up by the microphone. The acoustic echo impulse response can vary significantly during a call as compared with the electrical echo impulse response. There are many types of acoustic echo canceller (AEC) algorithms that can be categorized as time-domain or frequency-domain. An input signal x(n) is filtered by an adaptive filter in a time-domain adaptive filter AEC. The output from this filtering operation is subtracted from a desired signal to produce the error signal.
Bullying in the Workplace: Lessons from the United Kingdom

This comparative article explores how the United Kingdom has tackled the problem of workplace bullying with the goal of drawing lessons for the emerging U.S. workplace bullying movement. In stark contrast to the U.S., the U.K. has been actively identifying and tackling workplace bullying since 1997 at the grassroots, political, organizational, and legislative levels. This article describes the development of the notion of a "dignitarian workplace" in the U.K. even in the absence of a dignity tradition, and argues that the U.K. provides useful insight for the U.S. at this formative stage of U.S. workplace bullying law. The most useful lesson is that the U.S.'s lack of a dignity tradition need not be fatal to the workplace bullying movement. In the U.K., employees have successfully utilized anti-stalking legislation to obtain legal relief against their employers for workplace bullying. This potential for litigation has, in turn, spurred organizational change. In addition, recognition of the societal as well as individual costs, not surprisingly, appears to have been another impetus behind trade union and government-funded initiatives to tackle the problem of workplace bullying in the U.K. Learning from that experience, this article suggests that governmental and management recognition of the widespread nature of the problem is the first step in tackling workplace bullying. This article proposes that employer self-regulation and new workplace bullying legislation would have a better chance of success in the U.S. if preceded by efforts to educate legislators and employers on the individual and societal costs of workplace bullying. This article further proposes that legislative efforts can be bolstered by advocating for bills authorizing studies of the effects of workplace bullying. This approach therefore advocates more effective engagement of trade unions, management groups, and legislators to survey and define the problem of workplace bullying as an initial step in tackling workplace bullying in the U.S.
Ten Lessons I wish I Had Been Taught

Allow me to begin by allaying one of your worries. I will not spend the next half hour thanking you for participating in this conference, or for your taking time away from work to travel to Cambridge.
Use of isotope effects to characterize intermediates in mechanism-based inactivation of dopamine beta-monooxygenase by beta-chlorophenethylamine.

A mechanism for beta-chlorophenethylamine inhibition of dopamine beta-monooxygenase has been postulated in which bound alpha-aminoacetophenone is generated followed by an intramolecular redox reaction to yield a ketone-derived radical cation as the inhibitory species (Mangold, J.B., and Klinman, J.P. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 7772-7779). Based on the assumption that the ketone radical is the inhibitory intermediate, an analogous system was predicted and verified (Bossard, M.J., and Klinman, J.P. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 16421-16427). In the present study, the role of alpha-aminoacetophenone as the proposed intermediate in the inactivation by beta-chlorophenethylamine was examined in greater detail. From the interdependence of tyramine and alpha-aminoacetophenone concentrations, ketone inactivation is concluded to occur at the substrate site as opposed to potential binding at the reductant-binding site. Using beta-[2-1H]- and beta-[2-2H]chlorophenethylamine, the magnitude of the deuterium isotope effect on inactivation under second-order conditions has been found to be identical to that observed under catalytic turnover, D(kappa inact/Ki) = D(kappa cat/Km) = 6-7. By contrast, the isotope effect on inactivation under conditions of substrate and oxygen saturation, D kappa inact = 2, is 3-fold smaller than that seen on catalytic turnover, D kappa cat = 6. This reduced isotope effect for inactivation is attributed to a normal isotope effect on substrate hydroxylation followed by an inverse isotope effect on the partitioning of the enol of alpha-aminoacetophenone between oxidation to a radical cation versus protonation to regenerate ketone. These findings are unusual in that two isotopically sensitive steps are present in the inactivation pathway whereas only one is observable in turnover.
Viewer Ethnicity Matters: Black Crime in TV News and Its Impact on Decisions Regarding Public Policy

Content analyses have consistently documented the disproportionate portrayal of Black Americans as criminals in the news. This experiment examines the impact of such portrayals on consumers by investigating the relationship between viewer ethnicity, viewing Black criminal suspects in the news, and beliefs related to public policy. Participants viewed a 30-minute local newscast containing crime stories featuring a majority of Black suspects, White suspects, or no crime stories. Those exposed to crime stories featuring a majority of Black suspects were more likely to rate a nondescript inmate as personally culpable (i.e., unable to be rehabilitated). An interaction between participant ethnicity and treatment condition revealed that ethnic minority group members who view a majority of Black criminals demonstrated significantly lower police support than other participants. These data suggest a complex relationship between exposure to Black crime, racial/ethnic-group membership, and crime-related perceptions and have implications for priming and spreading activation.
Time and space resolved spectroscopy of X-ray laser experiments

We report experimental data from one of the first of this new generation of instruments designed specifically for laboratory x-ray laser diagnosis. Representative TGSS-EM data are presented from three different x-ray laser inversion schemes: collisional excitation of neon-like selenium (lambda approx. = 206, 209A); resonant photoexcitation of hydrogen-like fluorine (lambda = 81A); and recombination of hydrogen-like magnesium (lambda approx. = 130A). The data illustrate the measurement capabilities of the TGSS-EM and provide insight to the dynamics and emission characteristics of this new class of laser produced plasmas.
Categories of ACSA Conference Papers

Abstract This paper critically assesses current architectural research, as represented in a sampling of papers presented at ACSA conferences, through the lens of research typologies related to peop...
New Jersey's water supply demand and needs

This paper discusses the needs in the New Jersey water supply infrastructure, which are necessary to provide safe drinking water over the next 20 years. Three aspects of the state's water system—resources, treatment, and distribution—are investigated. The latest data on water withdrawals are provided on three different bases: statewide, by county, and by aquifer for both surficial and groundwater sources. Recommendations are made on both product delivery and system performance levels. The available data suggest that, at present, there is an ample supply of good quality water in the state of New Jersey but that State's regulations and monitoring must be strengthened as well as scientific research and remediation of existing polluted areas boosted.
Effect of erythrocytapheresis on arterial oxygen saturation and hemoglobin oxygen affinity in patients with sickle cell disease

An important purpose of blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease is to improve arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and thereby reduce red cell sickling. To investigate the degree of improvement in SaO2 by blood transfusion, we determined the hemoglobin oxygen affinity, transcutaneous oxygen saturation (Tc-SO2), and pulse rate before and after automated partial exchange transfusion (erythrocytapheresis). In 13 patients with sickle cell disease who underwent 24 erythrocytapheresis procedures, the mean oxygen tension at half saturation (P50) was significantly reduced from 30.4 +/- 2.2 to 26.0 +/- 1.6 mm Hg (P< 0.01) immediately after exchange transfusion. Mean Tc-SO2 values increased from 96.2 +/- 2.8 to 98.5 +/- 2.1% (P< 0.01). Approximately 50% of the increase in Tc-SO2 after erythrocytapheresis could be explained by the increase in hemoglobin oxygen affinity. An increase in arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) following erythrocytapheresis, suggested by the calculated PaO2 in this study, may explain some of the increase in Tc-SO2. We conclude that improvement in Tc-SO2 in patients with sickle cell disease resulted from changes in hemoglobin oxygen affinity as well as blood oxygen pressure following erythrocytapheresis.
Effect of clonidine on aqueous humor flow in normal human eyes

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effect of topical 0.125% clonidine, a relatively specific alpha 2-adrenergic agonist, on the rate of aqueous humor flow in the eyes of 24 normal human subjects was performed with fluorophotometry. The effect of clonidine on intraocular pressure, anterior chamber volume, pupil size, pulse, and blood pressure was also studied. Clonidine-treated eyes had a 2 mmHg decrease in intraocular pressure which was statistically significant. Fellow placebo-treated eyes had a smaller but significant decrease in pressure. However, between clonidine and fellow placebo-treated eyes, no significant difference was found in intraocular pressure. Aqueous humor flow was 21% lower in clonidine-treated eyes as compared to fellow placebo-treated eyes, 1.9 microliter min-1 as compared to 2.4 microliters min-1. No significant difference was found in anterior chamber volume, blood-aqueous barrier diffusion constant, and apparent resistance between clonidine and fellow placebo-treated eyes. Clonidine produced a significant miosis of 0.4 mm in treated eyes and miosis of 0.2 mm in fellow eyes. Topical 0.125% clonidine significantly decreased systolic blood pressure by 3 mmHg, but did not affect diastolic blood pressure or pulse.