cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The decomposition property and equilibrium states of ferromagnetic lattice systems

We discuss classical lattice gas models with a finite number of different particles and ferromagnetic type interaction between them. We make the set of particle types into a finite abelian group and explore the algebraic structure of such a system. We present a criterion for using the Peierls argument to establish the existence of phase transitions. In the case of a cyclic group of order equal to the product of different prime numbers we obtain a complete description of all periodic Gibbs states at low temperatures.
Design and optimization on dynamic power system for self-powered integrated wireless sensing nodes

This paper presents an integrated power system for low-power wireless sensor networks with dynamic efficiency optimization technique. By adaptively resizing power transistors and adjusting switching frequency, system efficiency is enhanced significantly. Theoretical analysis is elaborated to support the proposed technique. A prototype integrated power system for self-powered photovoltaic wireless sensing node was designed and simulated with TSMC 0.35/spl mu/m CMOS process. With a power range of 0.5/spl mu/W to 10mW, power efficiency stays above 71%. Tolerance between theoretical and simulated optimal power transistor sizes is less than 6.7%, while that of optimal switching frequencies is less than 5%. The paper gives another solution to minimizing system power in the perspective of power processing.
Variability in Annual Mini-Mental State Examination Score in Patients With Probable Alzheimer Disease: A Clinical Perspective of Data From the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease

Objective To determine the variability in annual Mini-Mental State Examination scores of patients with Alzheimer disease enrolled in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Patients A total of 372 patients with probable Alzheimer disease with 1 or more years of follow-up. Setting Twenty-one CERAD clinical sites throughout the United States. Results An average annual decline of 3.4 points in CERAD patients returning for longitudinal reassessments was close to the SD of the measurement error of 2.8 points for the Mini-Mental State Examination. There was wide variability in individual rates of decline. Even with 4 years of follow-up, 15.8% of the patients had no clinically meaningful decline in Mini-Mental State Examination score (defined as a change in initial score >3, ie, 1 SD of measurement error). Validity of measurements of the rate of change in Mini-Mental State Examination scores improved with longer observation intervals and was reliable for most patients when observations were separated by 3 or more years. Conclusions Although the Mini-Mental State Examination is a useful screening instrument to assess level of cognitive function, it has limited value in measuring the progression of Alzheimer disease in individual patients for periods less than 3 years because of a large measurement error and substantial variation in change in annual score.
Crystal growth of strontium titanate SrTiO3

Abstract SrTiO3 crystals have been prepared by flame-fusion growth and from KF-LiF and K-Li-borate fluxes. The crystals are characterized by EPR, absorption spectra, chemical analyses and 7-rocking curves, and the structural perfection of flame-fusion and flux-grown crystals is compared.
Using Rapid Feedback to Enhance Student Learning in Mechanics

In this project our goal is to improve student learning in engineering mechanics courses. The aim to improve learning was accomplished by providing rapid feedback to students of their understanding of key concepts and skills being taught. The feedback system acts as a catalyst to encourage students, working in pairs, to assist each other in correcting misconceptions or deepening each other's understanding of the concept or skill at hand. Furthermore, the system allows the professor to assess the students' level of comprehension or misconception in a just-in-time fashion, and thus guide the pace of covering the material. The feedback is enabled through wireless-networked handheld computers or color-coded flashcards. In the first two years of the study, the feedback system was implemented in two sections of a lower-level, core-engineering course, Statics, as well as in follow-on courses of Dynamics and Solid Mechanics
ERASMUS: Transaction Time And Situation Awareness On The Airborne Side

This paper presents results of the airborne impact assessment with focus on time requirements and situation awareness. The assessment was conducted under the ERASMUS project which is being investigated for its potential to accommodate increased levels of aircraft operations within the EU airspace without negative impacts on controller workload or safety. In order to generate conflict-free airspace, ERASMUS proposes minor speed modifications (RTA, Required Time of Arrival, clearances) up-linked via datalink service to selected aircraft. This process is time constrained which raises a question if the aircrews will process the ERASMUS clearances within the available time. The assessment analyzed all components of the airborne transaction sequence required for ERASMUS clearances. The results of the assessment indicate that even though processing the ERASMUS clearance is time consuming, pilots are able to answer it within the needed limits. This paper also discusses the impact of ERASMUS on a pilot’s awareness of the conflicting trac.
Localization of electrical failures from the backside of the die: Failure Analysis case studies using infrared emission microscope

We demonstrate how the Infrared Emission Microscope was used to localize defects in standard I/O pins of integrated circuits and how emission images were used to verify electrical fail signatures. The paper also discusses a method that can be used to improve the localization of electrical failures.
Selling Genes, Selling Gender: Egg Agencies, Sperm Banks, and the Medical Market in Genetic Material:

Eggs and sperm are parallel bodily goods in that each contributes half of the reproductive material needed to create life. Yet these cells are produced by differently sexed bodies, allowing for a comparative analysis of how the social process of bodily commodification varies based on sex and gender. Drawing on interview and observational data from two egg agencies and two sperm banks in the United States, this article compares how staff recruit, screen, market, and compensate women and men donors. Results show how gendered norms inspire more altruistic rhetoric in egg donation than in sperm donation, producing different regimes of bodily commodification for women and men. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for debates in sociology of gender about biological differences among women and men and the cultural norms attributed to these differences; debates in economic sociology about how social factors shape the expansion of the market; and debates in medical sociology about the intersection of the market and medical practice.
MaXIMAl Benefits in the Elderly

The overall performance of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the United States has been slightly decreasing over the past 5 years [(1)][1]. Meanwhile, patients older than 75 years of age account for an increasing proportion of cases of PCI among the general population, and annual rates of
Differential Growth and Survival of Weekly Age‐0 Black Crappie Cohorts in a Florida Lake

Abstract Black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus exhibit highly variable survival to adulthood because of their varying larval and juvenile abundance, growth, and mortality during early life. We examined how growth and mortality changed with hatch date, prey density, and water temperature for 7-d cohorts of juvenile black crappies in Lake Wauberg, Florida (a 150-ha hypereutrophic natural lake) during spring and summer 1998. Fish were collected once per week from March through June and twice per month during July and August by means of an otter trawl. Based on daily otolith rings, hatching occurred over a 12-week period (1 March−18 May). The mean daily growth rate (DGR) was positively related to water temperature, which increased over the hatching season. Common prey taxa included calanoid copepods, Daphnia and Bosmina spp., and cyclopoid copepods. The total density of these taxa did not differ significantly among collection dates. Mean hatching date shifted from mid-March for fish collected in mid-April to ...
Cloning pigs as organ donors for humans

In order to overcome this shortage of organs, scientists have considered the possibility of using animals as a source of organs. Xenotransplantation, or xenografting, is the process of transplanting live organs between different species. ne choice of source animals will be of prime importance for xenotransplantation. Ideally, the donor animal would show immunological, anatomical, and physiological similarities to humans, possess organs of similar size to those of humans, would have a short generation interval, produce large litters, and show minimal risk of transmitting infectious agents to humans. Two groups of animals have been considered as potential donors: nonhuman primates and pigs. For several reasons, pigs, rather than nonhuman primates, are currently viewed as the most promising xenograft donors.
Moments or L Moments? An Example Comparing Two Measures of Distributional Shape

Abstract The shape of a probability distribution is often summarized by the distribution's skewness and kurtosis. However, alternative measures of skewness and kurtosis based on L moments quantify deviations from the Normal distribution in a way that is more concordant with the powers of goodness-of-fit tests of Normality.
CULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION IN THE FLIGHT CALL OF THE RINGNECK PARROT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Abstract I investigated geographic variation in a parrot vocalization to obtain an understanding of cultural population differentiation and exchange between hybridizing taxa. The flight calls of Ringneck Parrots (Barnardius zonarius) were tape recorded in Western Australia within and outside the zone of overlap and hybridization between the Port Lincoln (B. z. zonarius) and Twenty-eight (B. z. semitorquatus) subspecies. Measured variables distinguished the Twenty-eight call from those in the overlap populations. Although birds in typical Twenty-eight plumage were present in the overlap zone, no Twenty-eight flight calls were found, suggesting convergence by immigrants. Populations within the hybrid zone also were acoustically differentiated as dialects associated with roosting areas. Observations on the social behavior of the birds indicated that this call functions in coordination of movements of the mated pair. Roost-specific dialects might aid pairs in finding each other in the event of separation duri...
Planned Production Experiments for Cost and Energy Savings

The major portion of the anticipated 4.5 percent increase in industrial capital spending, forecast for this year, will be spent on energy saving installations. Manufacturers expect a very short pay-back period for this investment. Often, however, they overlook the more ready sources of savings obtainable from effective quality control and planned production experimentation.
Clinical Outcomes of Proton Radiotherapy for Uveal Melanoma

Abstract Aims Although clinical experience with proton beam radiotherapy (PBT) for most tumours is limited, there is relatively longstanding experience for uveal melanomas. Because of potential to reduce ocular toxicities, PBT is an attractive option for these tumours. However, summative data remain scarce. We systematically reviewed clinical outcomes of uveal melanoma patients treated with PBT, to comprehensively assess outcomes such as tumour control, survival, enucleation rates, toxicity and visual acuity preservation. Materials and methods A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, abstracts from meetings of the American Societies for Radiation Oncology and Clinical Oncology, and the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group was conducted from 2000 to 2015. Fourteen original investigations from 10 different institutions were analysed. Results Most tumours were choroidal and medium-/large-sized, and received 50–70 Cobalt Gray equivalent dose; more recent data reported lower doses. Five year local control rates exceed 90%, which persisted at 10 and 15 years. Five-year overall survival rates ranged from 70 to 85%, 5 year metastasis-free survival and disease-specific survival rates from 75 to 90%, with more recent series reporting higher values. With the removal of smaller studies, 5 year enucleation rates were consistently between 7 and 10%. Many patients (60–70%) showed a post-PBT visual acuity decrease, but still retained purposeful vision (>20/200); more recent, higher-volume series reported superior numbers. Complication rates were quite variable but showed improvements on historical plaque brachytherapy data. Only one randomised trial directly compared particle therapy (helium) with plaque brachytherapy, showing the former to be superior; this is addressed separately. Conclusions PBT is an excellent modality to treat uveal melanomas, with high survival outcomes and visual acuity preservation. Although there are low toxicity and enucleation rates, the recent development of supportive therapies for radiation toxicities can further decrease clinical adverse effects.
Conference summary and conclusions

The importance of this conference is immediately indicated by the prestige of its sponsors: the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology; the National Science Foundation; and the National Institutes of Health. Although there have been many conferences and publications on the use of computers in the Life Sciences, most notably the series of volumes on Computers in Biomedical Research (1), this is the first time that a conference has been undertaken which spans all aspects of the field from basic science through clinical medicine, with considerable attention to the costs of using computers, and with viewpoints ranging through those of life scientists, industry, scientific administrators, and the Congress. For the first time, a set of papers has been collected of sufficient breadth on which to begin to base a national policy regarding the use of computers in life science research.
School board decision-making and the elimination of sport participation fees

ABSTRACTPublic schools in the US are increasingly charging ‘pay-to-play’ fees for participating in sports. Although these fees can cause reductions in participation, particularly for children from lower-income families, pay-to-play has become a legitimate practice within the field of public education. This study examines what leads some school districts to abandon sport participation fees, despite the trend in adoption. In particular, using a qualitative, case study approach, we investigate why and how school districts eliminate pay-to-play. We found that the decision to terminate pay-to-play in the ‘Ellis’ district was shaped by the community culture and district leadership. Our findings are supported by data on surrounding school districts. This study contributes to the literatures on institutional change; privatization of health, sport and physical education; and school board decision-making. The findings also shed light on the local context of pay-to-play—a policy that has implications for social equi...
Let's Pretend that Federal Courts Aren't Hostile to Discrimination Claims

In response to Sandra Sperino, Let’s Pretend Discrimination Is a Tort, 75 Ohio St. L.J. 1107 (2014).
Quantitative comparison of spatial resolution in step-and-shoot and continuous motion digital breast tomosynthesis

This study compares the spatial resolution in step-and-shoot and continuous motion acquisition modes of digital tomosynthesis using a bench-top prototype designed for breast phantoms imaging. The prototype employs a flat panel detector with a 50 μm pixel pitch, a micro focus x-ray tube and a motorized stage. A sharp metal edge with a thickness of 0.2 mm was used to measure the modulation transfer function (MTF). The edge was rotated from −7.5° to +7.5° with 1.5° increments to acquire 11 angular projections using 40 kVp, 500 μA with 5.55 s per projection. In continuous motion mode, the motorized stage moved the test object for the whole exposure time at a speed of 0.377 mm/s. The impact of acquisition speed in continuous DBT was also investigated, and a high speed of 0.753 mm/s was used. In step-and-shoot mode, the cutoff frequencies (10% MTF) in projection view (0°) and reconstructed DBT slices were 5.55 lp/mm and 4.95 lp/mm. Spatial resolution dropped in the continuous motion mode of the DBT due to the blur caused by the rotation of the stage and the cutoff frequencies reduced to 3.6 lp/mm and 3.18 lp/mm in the projection view (0o) and reconstructed DBT slices. At high rotational speed in continuous motion mode, the cutoff frequencies in the DBT slices dropped by 17 % to 2.65 lp/mm. Rotational speed of the rotation stage and spatial resolution are interconnected. Hence, reducing the motion blur in the continuous acquisition mode is important to maintain high spatial resolution for diagnostic purposes.
On Probing Management Problems of College Part-time Teachers

The concurrent post of part-time teachers is an important part of teaching force.In the development of university,it is playing the more and more major role,but universities in external part-time teacher management has been relatively weak.From the angle of practical operation on the management of part-time teachers,the paper analyzes the existing problems,and puts forward corresponding suggestions for improvement.
Epidemiological Analysis of Measles in Qingcheng District of Qingyuan City from 2004 to 2010

[Objective]To understand the epidemiological characteristics of measles in Qingcheng district of Qingyuan city from 2004 to 2010,discuss the control strategy.[Methods]The monitoring data of measles from 2004 to 2010 were collected,and were analyzed descriptively.[Results]From 2004 to 2010,934 cases of measles were reported in Qingcheng district with the annual average incidence rate of 22.77/lakh.Most of patients were children under 10 years old.The peak season was from April to August.The incidence rate of measles showed an increasing trend during 2004-2008.After the massive measles vaccination in children during 2009-2010,the epidemic situation has been controlled effectively,and the incidence rate of measles in 2009 and 2010 was 4.04/lakh and 1.03/lakh respectively.[Conclusion]In order to control the outbreak and the incidence of measles,it is important to improve the coverage rate and quality of measles vaccination.
Fractured Relationships: Exploring Municipal Defiance in Colorado, Texas, and Ohio

Municipalities are on fracking’s front lines. Unlike the extraction techniques of the past, many of today’s operations are located within a mile or two of residential areas. Yet, little scholarly a...
Spatial patterns of recent Antarctic surface temperature trends and the importance of natural variability: lessons from multiple reconstructions and the CMIP5 models

The recent annually averaged warming of the Antarctic Peninsula, and of West Antarctica, stands in stark contrast to very small trends over East Antarctica. This asymmetry arises primarily from a highly significant warming of West Antarctica in austral spring and a cooling of East Antarctica in austral autumn. Here we examine whether this East–West asymmetry is a response to anthropogenic climate forcings or a manifestation of natural climate variability. We compare the observed Antarctic surface air temperature trends over two distinct time periods (1960–2005 and 1979–2005), and with those simulated by 40 models participating in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). We find that the observed East–West asymmetry differs substantially between the two periods and, furthermore, that it is completely absent from the forced response seen in the CMIP5 multi-model mean, from which all natural variability is eliminated by the averaging. We also examine the relationship between the Southern Annular mode (SAM) and Antarctic temperature trends, in both models and reanalyses, and again conclude that there is little evidence of anthropogenic SAM-induced driving of the recent temperature trends. These results offer new, compelling evidence pointing to natural climate variability as a key contributor to the recent warming of West Antarctica and of the Peninsula.
Proximal humerus malunion

Abstract The ideal treatment for malunions of the proximal humerus is prevention by proper ­management of acute injuries. However, despite proper management, symptomatic malunion may occur and can be disabling due to pain, loss of motion, and lack of function. Surgical management of a symptomatic malunion can include both open and arthroscopic techniques, as well as operative fixation versus shoulder arthroplasty. Surgical treatment is based on the type and degree of malunion, with optimal results achieved by restoring the patient's bony anatomy and correcting the associated soft-tissue pathology. In this chapter, the appropriate evaluation and management of patients with proximal humeral malunions will be addressed, with a focus on surgical decision making and surgical treatment for the various types of proximal humerus malunions. Each malunion type will be presented separately with surgical indications, techniques, and outcomes covered.
Requirements are the New Code

Unforeseen safety and security failures in complex software-intensive systems arise due to hidden dependencies between system components and artifacts. These stem from stakeholder misunderstanding of system artifact and component interactions. In most systems, artifacts are defined and described, and components are designed, implemented, and combined by engineers in multiple disciplines. Also, artifacts are described in places separated by hundreds of pages or files and in different domain and description languages, including natural, graphical, and domain-specific languages. Hence, it is of primary importance, but also currently extremely difficult, to discover these hidden dependencies. To help engineers find these dependencies, and hence better foresee erroneous interactions, an approach that enables and promotes a holistic, hierarchical, and incremental description of a system is needed. In this article, we introduce EXMPLRAD. EXMPLRAD is a human-centered language that enables the description and integration of informal and formal requirements, architectural and design descriptions, source code, and configuration artifacts, and their relationships in a format that resembles code. A holistic system model described using EXMPLRAD enables the creation and application of methods for the automatic discovery of hidden dependencies. We demonstrate this with a case study that analyzes the seL4 microkernel's Inter- Process Communication subsystem including the modeling of its requirements, architecture, and source code in C.
Assessment of the PrPc amino-terminal domain in prion species barriers

ABSTRACT Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle are prion diseases that are caused by the same protein-misfolding mechanism, but they appear to pose different risks to humans. We are interested in understanding the differences between the species barriers of CWD and BSE. We used real-time, quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) to model the central molecular event in prion disease, the templated misfolding of the normal prion protein, PrP c , to a pathogenic, amyloid isoform, scrapie prion protein, PrP Sc . We examined the role of the PrP c amino-terminal domain (N-terminal domain [NTD], amino acids [aa] 23 to 90) in cross-species conversion by comparing the conversion efficiency of various prion seeds in either full-length (aa 23 to 231) or truncated (aa 90 to 231) PrP c . We demonstrate that the presence of white-tailed deer and bovine NTDs hindered seeded conversion of PrP c , but human and bank vole NTDs did the opposite. Additionally, full-length human and bank vole PrP c s were more likely to be converted to amyloid by CWD prions than were their truncated forms. A chimera with replacement of the human NTD by the bovine NTD resembled human PrP c . The requirement for an NTD, but not for the specific human sequence, suggests that the NTD interacts with other regions of the human PrP c to increase promiscuity. These data contribute to the evidence that, in addition to primary sequence, prion species barriers are controlled by interactions of the substrate NTD with the rest of the substrate PrP c molecule. IMPORTANCE We demonstrate that the amino-terminal domain of the normal prion protein, PrP c , hinders seeded conversion of bovine and white-tailed deer PrP c s to the prion forms, but it facilitates conversion of the human and bank vole PrP c s to the prion forms. Additionally, we demonstrate that the amino-terminal domain of human and bank vole PrP c s requires interaction with the rest of the molecule to facilitate conversion by CWD prions. These data suggest that interactions of the amino-terminal domain with the rest of the PrP c molecule play an important role in the susceptibility of humans to CWD prions.
Kinetic Isotope Effects and Transition State Structure for Human Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase

Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) catalyzes the S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-dependent conversion of norepinephrine to epinephrine. Epinephrine has been associated with critical processes in humans including the control of respiration and blood pressure. Additionally, PNMT activity has been suggested to play a role in hypertension and Alzheimer’s disease. In the current study, labeled SAM substrates were used to measure primary methyl-14C and 36S and secondary methyl-3H, 5′-3H, and 5′-14C intrinsic kinetic isotope effects for human PNMT. The transition state of human PNMT was modeled by matching kinetic isotope effects predicted via quantum chemical calculations to intrinsic values. The model provides information on the geometry and electrostatics of the human PNMT transition state structure and indicates that human PNMT catalyzes the formation of epinephrine through an early SN2 transition state in which methyl transfer is rate-limiting.
Quasi-Monte Carlo particle filters: the JV filter

We describe a new particle filter that uses quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) sampling with product measures rather than boring old Monte Carlo sampling or QMC with or without randomization. The product measures for QMC were recently invented by M. Junk and G. Venkiteswaran, and therefore we call this new nonlinear filter the "JV filter". Standard particle filters use boring old Monte Carlo sampling and suffer from the curse of dimensionality, and they converge at the sluggish rate of c(d)/√N in which N is the number of particles, and c(d) depends strongly on dimension of the state vector (d). Oh's theory and numerical experiments (by us) show that for good proposal densities, c(d) grows as d 3 , whereas for poor proposal densities c(d) grows exponentially with d. In contrast, for certain problems, QMC converges much faster than MC with N. In particular, QMC converges as k(d)/N, in which k(d) is logarithmic in N and its dependence on d is an interesting story.
A Conjugate Model for Dimensional Analysis

ABSTRACTDimensional analysis (DA) is a methodology widely used in physics and engineering. The main idea is to extract key variables based on physical dimensions. Its overlooked importance in statistics has been recognized recently. However, most literature treats DA as merely a preprocessing tool, leading to multiple statistical issues. In particular, there are three critical aspects: (a) the nonunique choice of basis quantities and dimensionless variables; (b) the statistical representation and testing of DA constraints; (c) the spurious correlations between post-DA variables. There is an immediate need for an appropriate statistical methodology that integrates DA and the quantitative modeling. In this article, we propose a power-law type of “DA conjugate” model that is useful for incorporating dimensional information and analyzing post-DA variables. Adapting the similar idea of “conjugacy” in Bayesian analysis, we show that the proposed modeling technique not only produces flexible and effective result...
27 – Shock Models: Hemorrhage

Hemorrhagic shock, defined as life-threatening blood loss, is a common complication of traumatic injury arising from soft-tissue or bone injuries. With respect to traumatic shock, it has been reported that up to 50% of the deaths occur from exsanguinations or central nervous system complications within the first hour, and another 30% are lost to major internal organ injury during the next 1–2 hr. Of those who survive the initial insult, approximately 50% succumb to infections and multiple organ failure. Intensive experimental efforts will continue to be needed if one is to understand the effect(s) of hemorrhagic and/or hypovolemic shock alone or in the presence of various forms of traumatic tissue injury and if he/she is to understand the pathophysiologic changes manifested in these patients. Advantages to using rats and mice over other animal species include rapid reproduction, the low cost of surgical instrumentation/monitoring, low acquisition and per diem animal costs, and the ability to manipulate/regulate inheritable genetic backgrounds (primarily with respect to mice). Compared to traumatically injured or shocked patients, animals offer direct access to a wide array of tissues and organs that cannot be readily studied in humans. Comparative costs of assessment and/or isolation of organs and/or tissues from rodents are substantially lower than they are for larger animals. With respect to mice, the most significant advantages are the availability of a wide number of inbred strains (many of which exhibit various defined genetic alterations that have arisen spontaneously) and the burgeoning number of mice that carry various induced mutations/deficiencies (knockouts) or express various transgenes (transgenic mice).
Collaboration between an Academic Library and Campus Partners to Connect with Military and Veteran Students

Working with the Duquesne University School of Nursing and Office of Military and Veteran Students, Duquesne’s Gumberg Library used grant funds to purchase a collection of resources that address the social, economic, physical, and psychological issues veterans face in the transition to civilian and student life. The library collaborated with campus partners to select materials that fit the needs of students and faculty, and purchased approximately 170 new books, ebooks, DVDs, and streaming videos. As a result of the project the library also increased programming and outreach to veteran students on campus. This article discusses the methods used to select materials, the marketing efforts to promote the new collection, usage to date, and the library’s plans to further enhance veteran student engagement with both the library and the university.
Lung Cancer Epidemiology and Demographics

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and worldwide with a survival rate of only approximately 10–20%. Lung cancer incidence is tied closely to tobacco smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, and varies by country with the history of tobacco use. Although cigarette smoking is the greatest risk factor for lung cancer, only 10% of tobacco smokers develop lung cancer, and other factors must be involved. Other agents are believed to increase lung cancer risk but less often than cigarette smoking.
Image processing to extend effective OCT penetration depth in tissue

Innovative approaches in tissue imaging in an in vivo setting have included the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a substrate for providing high resolution images at depths approaching 1.5 mm. This technology has offered the possibility of analyzing many tissues that are presently only evaluated using histologic methods after excision or biopsy. Despite the relatively high penetration depths of OCT, it is unclear whether the images acquired approximately 0.5 mm beyond the tissue surface maintain sufficient resolution and signal-to-noise ratio to provide useful information. Furthermore, there are relatively few studies that evaluate whether advanced image processing can be harnessed to improve the effective depth capabilities of OCT in tissue. We tested a tissue phantom designed to mimic the prostate as a model system, and independently modulated its refractive index and transmittance. Using dynamic focusing, and with the aid of an image analysis paradigm designed to improve signal detection in a model of tissue, we tested potential improvements in the ability to resolve structures at increasing penetration depths. We found that co-registered signal averaging and wavelet denoising improved overall image quality. B-spline interpolation made it possible to integrate dynamic focus images in a way that improved the effective penetration depth without significant loss in overall image quality. These results support the notion that image processing can refine OCT images for improved diagnostic capabilities to support in vivo microscopy.
Topological superconductivity in Dirac honeycomb systems

We predict two topological superconducting phases in microscopic models arising from the Berry phase associated with the valley degree of freedom in gapped Dirac honeycomb systems. The first one is a topological helical spin-triplet superconductor with a nonzero center-of-mass momentum that does not break time-reversal symmetry. We also find a topological chiral-triplet superconductor with Chern number $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ with equal-spin pairing in one valley and opposite-spin-triplet pairing in the other valley. Our results are obtained for the Kane-Mele model in which we have explored the effect of three different interactions, onsite attraction $U$, nearest-neighbor density-density attraction $V$, and nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange $J$, within self-consistent Bogoliubov--de Gennes theory. Transition metal dichalcogenides and cold atom experiments are promising platforms to explore these phases.
Der eosinophile Leukozyt

Die Eosinophilen mit ihrer Vielzahl an Granula im Zytoplasma haben lange die Aufmerksamkeit der Mikroskopiker angezogen, aber erst in letzter Zeit hat man im Verstehen ihrer Funktion einige Fortschritte gemacht. Die vorliegende elektronenmikroskopische Aufnahme zeigt die Struktur eines Eosinophilen, der, obwohl er noch im Knochenmark liegt, sich doch im Endstadium der Entwicklung befindet. Der Schnitt trifft einen Grosteil des auffallend zweilappigen Kerns (N). Im peripheren Zytoplasma sieht man einige Zisternen des endoplasmatischen Retikulum (ER), die ein amorphes Material von geringer Dichte umschliesen und an ihren Oberflachen mit zahlreichen Ribosomen besetzt sind. In diesem Leukozyten liegt ein breiter Golgi-Komplex eng dem Kern an, ist jedoch im vorliegenden Schnitt nicht getroffen.
HIV serostatus disclosure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a systematic review

HIV status disclosure among people living with HIV/AIDS has been shown to have a number of both personal and public health benefits, but rates of HIV status disclosure remain low in many African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This systematic review uses the Disclosure Process Model to examine the factors involved in serostatus disclosure and nondisclosure to various persons in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the DRC, as well as the specific outcomes of their disclosure or nondisclosure. MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Global Health, and PsycINFO were searched and research studies were included if: (i) the study discussed disclosure of HIV status; (ii) the study population included HIV-infected people in DRC; and (iii) the study was published in English. Fourteen articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Factors contributing to nondisclosure were generally associated with high stigma of HIV in adults and concern for emotional wellbeing when disclosing to HIV positive minors. Factors contributing to disclosure among adults were increased social support and religion. In disclosing to HIV positive minors, increasing age and health benefits were identified as approach goals that supported disclosure. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the avoidance and approach goals involved in HIV status disclosure among populations living in the DRC. Interventions and future research directed at increasing HIV disclosure among Congolese PLWHA should move beyond individual-level to consider multilevel factors including circumstantial social behaviors.
Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Perpetration Among Sexual Minority Women: A Latent Class Analysis:

This study explored patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration in 150 sexual minority women (SMW): 25.3% had been sexually victimized, 34% physically victimized, 76%...
OceanMesh2D 1.0: MATLAB-based software for two-dimensional unstructured mesh generation in coastal ocean modeling

Abstract. OceanMesh2D is a set of MATLAB functions with preprocessing and post-processing utilities to generate two-dimensional (2-D) unstructured meshes for coastal ocean circulation models. Mesh resolution is controlled according to a variety of feature-driven geometric and topo-bathymetric functions. Mesh generation is achieved through a force balance algorithm to locate vertices and a number of topological improvement strategies aimed at improving the worst-case triangle quality. The placement of vertices along the mesh boundary is adapted automatically according to the mesh size function, eliminating the need for contour simplification algorithms. The software expresses the mesh design and generation process via an objected-oriented framework that facilitates efficient workflows that are flexible and automatic. This paper illustrates the various capabilities of the software and demonstrates its utility in realistic applications by producing high-quality, multiscale, unstructured meshes.
Defining the Scholarly Record

This chapter provides a conceptualization of the scholarly record. I propose that items that belong indisputably to the scholarly record meet six hallmarks: the Knowledge, Authorship, Publication, Library, Database, and Discipline conditions. Books issued by scholarly presses and articles appearing in established journals have been the traditional formats for presenting research findings, and such items clearly meet these six conditions. Advances in technology, however, have occasioned new modes for recording and disseminating knowledge, and they create challenges to the long-standing conceptualizations of the scholarly record. Online post-publication review venues, open-access initiatives, interactive scholarly websites, online document repositories, and other venues invite a reconsideration of the precise boundary of the published literature. I distinguish between synchronic and diachronic approaches to the scholarly record. Separating these two allows one to isolate the scholarly record as a present system from past versions that have operated under different parameters and also from future versions that are only anticipated.
Democratic or cultural peace? Examining the joint democratic peace proposition through the lens of shared emancipative values

Is it joint democracy or state similarity that has a pacifying impact on interstate relations? This study explores the complementarity of the two propositions and demonstrates the potential of a particular kind of shared emancipative culture embracing values of autonomy, equality, choice, and voice to amplify the impact of joint democracy on interstate conflict. The data on cultural values, which comes from the World Values Survey, was integrated with the data from the Correlates of War Project to test the impact of joint democracy and cultural similarity on militarised interstate disputes (1981–2010). We find that culturally similar dyads are less likely to be involved in conflict with each other than culturally dissimilar dyads. Although, cultural similarity does not wash out the pacifying effect of democracy, it offers a complementary explanation to the democratic peace. We also find that states that are democratic and share higher than average scores on the emancipative values are less likely to engage in militarised interstate disputes than democratic states, which are culturally dissimilar or score low on the emancipative dimensions. This provides support for an additional normative/cultural impact on democratic peace.
A predictive Stein's eect even in the low-dimensional case

In this work, we are concerned with the estimation of the pre- dictive density of a Gaussian random vector where both the mean and the variance are unknown. In such a context, we prove the inadmissibility of the best equivariant predictive density under the Kullback-Leibler risk in a nonasymptotic framework. Our result stands whatever the dimension d of the vector is, even whend 2, which can be somewhat surprising compared to the known variance setting. We also propose a class of priors leading to a Bayesian predictive density that dominates the best equivariant one. Throughout the article, we give several elements that we believe are use- ful for establishing the parallel between the prediction and the estimation problems, as it was done in the known variance framework. AMS 2000 subject classications: Primary 62C20; secondary 62C10, 62F15.
Managing fertility with animal waste to promote arthropod pest suppression

Abstract Fertility management is key to maintaining soil quality in crop systems and can have important implications for plant growth and insect pest populations. Organic fertility amendments, particularly animal manures, are hypothesized to simultaneously promote plant vigor, herbivore resistance, and top-down pest suppression. Animal-waste fertilizers influence pest control in at least two ways: first, they can affect prey suppression from the bottom up by changing macro- and micronutrient concentrations in the plant, shaping the rhizosphere community, elevating production of defensive chemicals and altering herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). Second, animal-waste fertilizers can affect conservation biological control from the top down by improving the soil-surface habitat for predators through altered soil tilth, organic matter, water retention, and by supporting decomposers communities that also feed soil-dwelling predators as non-pest prey. However, while animal-waste fertilizers may enhance pest suppression when applied correctly, when manure is overused there are also costs of excess fertility pest management and water quality. In this review of the existing body of research on interactions between animal-waste fertilizers, herbivores, and natural enemies, we summarize trends, report costs and benefits, and identify research opportunities for future studies.
The cicada genus Selymbria Stå1, 1861 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Tibicininae: Selymbrini): redescription including ten new species and a key to the genus.

The cicada genus Selymbria Stal, 1861 is redescribed along with ten new species. Selymbria boliviaensis n. sp. is described from Bolivia, S. chevauxensis n. sp. and S. guianensis n. sp. are described from French Guiana, S. cinctifera n. sp. is described from Panama and Costa Rica, S. ecuadorensis n. sp. is described from Ecuador, S. guatemalensis n. sp. is described from Guatemala, S. iguazuensis n. sp. is described from Argentina and Brazil, S. loretoensis n. sp. and S. madredediosensis n. sp. are described from Peru, and S. puntarenasensis n. sp. is described from Costa Rica. The current sixteen species of Selymbria are listed along with their synonymies and the known distribution of each species. A key to the species of Selymbria is provided.
Learning stateful preconditions modulo a test generator

In this paper, we present a novel learning framework for inferring stateful preconditions (i.e., preconditions constraining not only primitive-type inputs but also non-primitive-type object states) modulo a test generator, where the quality of the preconditions is based on their safety and maximality with respect to the test generator. We instantiate the learning framework with a specific learner and test generator to realize a precondition synthesis tool for C#. We use an extensive evaluation to show that the tool is highly effective in synthesizing preconditions for avoiding exceptions as well as synthesizing conditions under which methods commute.
A Third Option: Understanding and Assessing Non-binary Gender Policies in the United States

Our fundamental understandings and treatments of gender and gender identity within the United States are evolving. Recently, a few countries and several U.S. states have moved away from the binary ...
Development and Validation of a Google Street View Pedestrian Safety Audit Tool.

Background Assessing aspects of intersections that may affect the risk of pedestrian injury is critical to developing child pedestrian injury prevention strategies, but visiting intersections to inspect them is costly and time-consuming. Several research teams have validated the use of Google Street View to conduct virtual neighborhood audits that remove the need for field teams to conduct in-person audits. Methods We developed a 38-item virtual audit instrument to assess intersections for pedestrian injury risk and tested it on intersections within 700 m of 26 schools in New York City using the Computer-assisted Neighborhood Visual Assessment System (CANVAS) with Google Street View imagery. Results Six trained auditors tested this instrument for inter-rater reliability on 111 randomly selected intersections and for test-retest reliability on 264 other intersections. Inter-rater kappa scores ranged from -0.01 to 0.92, with nearly half falling above 0.41, the conventional threshold for moderate agreement. Test-retest kappa scores were slightly higher than but highly correlated with inter-rater scores (Spearman rho = 0.83). Items that were highly reliable included the presence of a pedestrian signal (K = 0.92), presence of an overhead structure such as an elevated train or a highway (K = 0.81), and intersection complexity (K = 0.76). Conclusions Built environment features of intersections relevant to pedestrian safety can be reliably measured using a virtual audit protocol implemented via CANVAS and Google Street View.
Perceived barriers to the implementation of site-based management

The purpose of this study was to identify perceived barriers to the implementation of site-based management for administrators in the Region XII Service Center area in Texas.
Opportunity Barriers and Promising Practices for Supporting Individuals with Complex Communication Needs

It is well established that individuals with complex communication needs (CCN) can increase their ability to communicate efficiently and effectively. However, many individuals with CCN experience opportunity barriers with regard to the development of communication skills. This paper will review promising practices and research implications for addressing opportunity barriers for individuals with complex communication needs. Individuals with CCN may experience opportunity barriers to the development of communication skills, including barriers related to policies, practices, knowledge/skills of professionals or communication partners, and attitudes. Research suggests that promising practices exist for addressing these barriers. Additional research should be conducted in order to further our understanding of efficient and effective ways to address opportunity barriers. Although often discussed separately, it is important to note that opportunity barriers are interrelated and therefore changes to one barrier may have a collateral impact on other barriers. This paper summarized research related to opportunity barriers for individuals with CCN as well as promising practices for addressing barriers.