cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Residential energy and demand patterns as related to weather and conservation measures

Electrical energy consumption and the peak electrical demand were measured at two similar public housing sites in Selma, North Carolina. One site, designated as Preston Street (PST), had low cost energy retrofit measures combined with education of the occupants on energy efficient life styles. The other site, Canady Courts (CC), was originally planned as a control site. Both sites are single-storey wood-frame with brick-veneer construction. The sites consisted of a combination of efficiency and 1,2,3, and 4-bedroom units. PST consisted of 30 units with a total floor area of 22,000 ft2 and CC had 26 units with a total floor area of 18,800 ft2. Originally CC was intended to be used to quantify the impact of the energy conservation project undertaken at PST. This approach proved inadequate, and consequently an alternate methodology was employed. This method used the measured historical energy at both CC and PST to develop a database that could be used to predict the energy use that would be expected to occur at either site. If there are no changes at the site, then the predicted and measured energy use should agree. When conservation measures are instituted, the difference between predicted and measured energy use is the energy saving (or increase) due to the conservation measures. The report gives a description of the methodology that was used to analyse the historical data and the results and accuracy that were obtained. In addition, the problems with using one site as a control, as originally planned, are described. The Section on results gives a comparison of the predicted and measured energy use at both CC and PST for the calendar year 1985. The last part of the report deals with the investigation of the demand profiles and demand at PST. This analysis indicates the nature of the demand profiles at PST and thus the types of conservation measures that are likely to be the most effective in reducing demand.
“That Admirable Italian Gentleman”: The View from America (and from Italy)

Review in this Article David F. Schmitz. The United States and Fascist Italy, 1922–1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. x + 273 pp
Effects of purified ferric oxalate/nitric acid solutions as a pretreatment for the NTG-GMA and PMDM bonding system.

Abstract Nitric acid, found to be a contaminant left over from the synthesis of ferric oxalate, has been shown by this in vitro study to be responsible for the cleansing effect previously associated with ferric oxalate pretreatments. When 2.5% (w/w) nitric acid solution was substituted for ferric oxalate solution and then used in conjunction with the experimental dental bonding system of NTG-GMA (the adduct of N(p-totyl)glycine and glycidyl methacrylate) and PMDM (the adduct of pyromellitic acid dianhydride and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), the result was strong adhesion of both dentin and enamel surfaces to Adaptic ® Dental Restorative. When a solution containing 3.4% (w/w) purified ferric oxalate was used with this system, the average bond strengths on both dentin and enamel decreased (p
Design and Development of a Wireless Remote Point-of-Care Patient Monitoring System

Remote patient monitoring is an alternative to regular home check-ups of patients with certain special medical conditions or the elderly who are unable to regularly visit a healthcare facility. This technology reduces the number of home visits which are now only required when special attention is needed. This paper presents the design and development of a remote point-of-care patient monitoring system which allows the patient to be monitored remotely while remaining in the comfort of their home. The system described here allows wireless data acquisition from eight patient-worn sensors. The number and type of sensors are configurable according to the subject's specific condition. The system uses the standard Bluetoothreg technology for communication with a home based monitor which in turn relays this data to the remote healthcare facility using the internet. This data can be used for real-time evaluation of the patient's conditions as well as data logging for later analysis. Since this is a configurable system, a few selected sensors are connected to demonstrate the concept of remote patient monitoring; these include Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electroencephalogram (EEG), Airflow, respiration, patient movement and body temperature. The results obtained from these tests are also presented in this paper.
Next steps for mobile entertainment portals

Mobile entertainment portals are already appearing, but game designers lack tools for designing content and services. One approach is to use argumentation for hypothesizing the consequences of actions and interactions in a game world.
Mechanical characterization of a bifunctional Tetronic hydrogel adhesive for soft tissues.

Although a number of tissue adhesives and sealants for surgical use are currently available, attaining a useful balance in high strength, high compliance, and low swelling has proven difficult. Recent studies have demonstrated that a four-arm poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer, Tetronic, can be chemically modified to form a hydrogel tissue adhesive (Cho et al., Acta Biomater 2012;8:2223–2232; Barrett et al., Adv Health Mater 2012;1–11; Balakrishnan, Evaluating mechanical performance of hydrogel-based adhesives for soft tissue applications. Clemson University, All Theses, Paper 1574: Tiger Prints; 2013). Building on the success of these studies, this study explored bifunctionalization of Tetronic with acrylates for chemical crosslinking of the hydrogel and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) for reaction with tissue amines. The adhesive bond strengths of various uni and bifunctional Tetronic blends (T1107 ACR: T1107 ACR/NHS) determined by lap shear testing ranged between 8 and 74 kPa, with the 75:25 (T1107 ACR: T1107 ACR/NHS) blend displaying the highest value. These results indicated that addition of NHS led to improvement of tissue bond strength over acrylation alone. Furthermore, ex vivo pressure tests using the rat bladder demonstrated that the bifunctional Tetronic adhesive exhibited high compliance and maintained pressures under hundreds of filling and emptying cycles. Together, the results of this study provided evidence that the bifunctional Tetronic adhesive with a proper blend ratio may be used to achieve an accurate balance in bulk and tissue bond strengths, as well as the compliance and durability for soft tissue such as the bladder. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 861–868, 2015.
Intelligent Information Lifecycle Management in Virtualized Storage Environments

Data or information lifecycle management (ILM) is the process of managing data over its lifecycle in a manner that balances cost and performance. The task is made difficult by data's continuously changing business value. If done well, it can lower costs through the increased use of cost-effective storage but also runs the risk of negatively impacting performance if data is inadvertently placed on the wrong device (e.g., low performance storage or on an over-utilized storage device). To address this challenge, we designed and developed the Intelligent Storage Tiering Manager (ISTM), an analytics-driven storage tiering tool that automates the process of load balancing data across and within different storage tiers in virtualized storage environments. Using administrator-generated policies, ISTM finds data with the specified performance profiles and automatically moves them to the appropriate storage tier. Application impact is minimized by limiting overall migration load and keeping data accessible during migration. Automation results in significantly less labor and errors while reducing task completion time from several days (and in some cases weeks) to a few hours. In this paper, we provide an overview of information lifecycle management (ILM), discuss existing solutions, and finally focus on the design and deployment of our ILM solution, ISTM, within a production data center.
Development of a Lipopolysaccharide-Targeted Peptide Mimic Vaccine against Q Fever

Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes acute and chronic Q fever in humans. Creation of a safe and effective new generation vaccine to prevent Q fever remains an important public health goal. Previous studies suggested that Ab-mediated immunity to C. burnetii phase I LPS (PI-LPS) is protective. To identify the potential peptides that can mimic the protective epitopes on PI-LPS, a PI-LPS-specific mAb 1E4 was generated, characterized, and used to screen a phage display library. Interestingly, our results indicate that 1E4 was able to inhibit C. burnetii infection in vivo, suggesting that 1E4 is a protective mAb. After three rounds of biopanning by 1E4 from the phage display library, a mimetic peptide, m1E41920, was identified, chemically synthesized, and conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) for examining its immunogenicity. The results indicate that the synthetic peptide m1E41920 was able to inhibit the binding of 1E4 to PI Ag, suggesting m1E41920 shares the same binding site of 1E4 with the epitopes of PI Ag. In addition, m1E41920-KLH elicited a specific IgG response to PI Ag, and immune sera from m1E41920-KLH-immunized mice was able to inhibit C. burnetii infection in vivo, suggesting that m1E41920 may specifically mimic the protective epitope of PI-LPS. Furthermore, m1E41920-KLH was able to confer significant protection against C. burnetii challenge. Thus, m1E41920-KLH is a protective Ag and may be useful for developing a safe and effective vaccine against Q fever. This study demonstrates the feasibility of developing a peptide mimic vaccine against Q fever.
Orthographic Resources Affect Reading Acquisition—If They Are Used:

This article replies to H. Stevenson (1984), who has interpreted his cross-linguistic studies as showing that differences in orthographies do not materially affect the reading-acquisition process, or the prognosis for successful learning. The reply proceeds by analyzing differences in the formatives and combinatorial principles of varying scripts, and differences in learning consequent on these. Stevenson's results are shown to derive from a faulty interpretation of comparisons among learning rates of Japanese, Chinese, and American learners.
NI-15USE OF VOLUMETRIC MR SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING AND 5-ALA FLUORESCENCE-GUIDED SURGERY FOR RESECTION OF GLIOBLASTOMA

RATIONALE: Glioblastoma (GBM) resection based on neuronavigation with contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) results in a high rate of local recurrence as infiltrating tumor cells extend beyond areas of contrast enhancement. Integrating metabolic maps from magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) into neuronavigation may identify high-risk tumor infiltration zones outside of CE-MRI for surgery. Coupling MRSI with fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) may provide a means to further enhance the degree of tumor resection. METHODS: In a new Phase II trial for new and recurrent GBM patients, 3D-echo planar spectroscopic imaging was performed and processed to give full-brain metabolite volumes for import into a neuronavigation station. Patients were administered 5-ALA orally 3-5 h before surgery. To minimize error due to shift, needle biopsies were collected from tumor regions with elevated choline/NAA values within T1CE and/or T2/FLAIR hyperintense regions before tumor resection. Fluorescence intensity of fresh tissue was quantified ex vivo using a hand-held spectroscopic device. Samples were then fixed/stained with H&E and analyzed for tumor cell density and tissue infiltration using automated image analysis techniques. Quantitative tumor segmentation was used to evaluate extent of tumor resection. RESULTS: Choline/NAA values show a positive linear trend with the number of tumor nuclei per high power field and the degree of tumor infiltration. Real-time intraoperative tumor fluorescence was also confirmed ex vivo and shows a similar positive linear trend with choline/NAA ratios. CONCLUSIONS: The linear trend that Cho/NAA values exhibit with histopathology and quantitative intraoperative fluorescence of tumor tissue outside of CE-MRI regions supports its use for identifying regions of tumor infiltration. This is the first time that 5-ALA induced tumor fluorescence has been shown to correlate with MRSI-derived metabolic markers in GBM tumors. We believe the continued combination of MRSI-neuronavigation with 5-ALA FGS in this trial will result in more complete GBM resections.
Enterprise LAN trends: migrating to new technologies

This paper analyzes trends in enterprise LAN and describes solutions for IT managers considering migrating their token ring networks to other technologies. The paper examines forces influencing the decision to migrate, and offers step-by-step solutions for migration to Ethernet/Fast Ethernet and/or ATM network infrastructures. Especial emphasis is given to technology comparison and manageability issues throughout and following the migration process.
Secret key estimation in sequential steganography

We define sequential steganography as those class of embedding algorithms that hide messages in consecutive (time, spatial, or frequency domain) features of a host signal. This work presents a steganalysis method that estimates the secret key used in sequential embedding. Steganalysis is posed as the detection of abrupt jumps in the statistics of a stego signal. Stationary and nonstationary host signals with low, medium, and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) embedding are considered. A locally most powerful steganalysis detector for the low SNR case is also derived. Several techniques to make the steganalysis algorithm work for nonstationary digital image steganalysis are also presented. Extensive experimental results are shown to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed steganalysis algorithm.
A Methodology for Implementing Ontology-Driven Information Systems Using Higher Order Semantic Database Models

The eventuality of the Semantic Web offers multiple attractive features to the enterprise infrastructure in the area of improved Knowledge Management and information retrieval. Current relational database models adequately perform in the transactional processing of operational data, but do little toward the advancement of knowledge foundations for innovation. The movement from an information economy to a knowledge economy mandates that successful organizations must innovate at a faster rate than their competitors. To this end, Information Systems must extend technological infrastructures away from relational transaction systems toward higher order semantic models that can accommodate schemas based on Ontologies. This report details a methodology for mapping relational data systems to a higher order semantic model that can implement an ontology-driven information system. Additionally, this report provides conclusions about the application of ontologydriven information systems to the corporate environment.
Designer, Contractor, and Owner Views on the Topic of Design for Construction Worker Safety

The construction industry is one of the largest and most dangerous industries in the US, where in 2009 the industry accounted for 834 deaths; more than any other industry. The incidence rate of 9.9 deaths per 100,000 workers puts the construction industry in fourth place behind the Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing/Hunting, Transportation/Warehousing, and Mining sectors (BLS 2011). The cause of a large number of these construction deaths can be attributed to factors that are distant from the construction site. A European study has shown that 60% of fatal accidents in construction are caused by decisions made “upstream” from the construction site (European Foundation 1991). Similarly, an Australian study showed that 63% of fatalities and injuries are attributed to a lack of planning and design decisions (NSW Workcover 2001), while in the US, Behm found that 42% of construction site fatalities can be linked to design (Behm 2005). With such overwhelming evidence, foreign governments have initiated efforts to make designers aware of the impact of their decisions and design choices. These efforts include new legislation and improved guidelines (EEC 1992; NSW Workcover 2001) that aim to reduce the construction hazards linked to design. In the US, designers are mostly unaware of the concept of Design for Construction Worker Safety (DCWS), or even that their design decisions can affect the safety of the construction workforce. Professional organizations regularly resist change and refuse to even consider participating in the DCWS concept that would eventually assist in the improvement of construction site working conditions (Toole 2011). The research presented in this paper represents the results gathered from a survey of the opinions of the primary construction industry participants (owners, designers, and contractors) on the topic of DCWS. The population of the survey was obtained from four different groups. Contractors who responded to the survey were randomly selected from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) directory. Designers were randomly selected from two sources: the American Institute of Architects (AIA) directory and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) directory. To represent owner organizations, the researchers chose to include university representatives who participate in the construction of
The Engineering Design of Intelligent Protective Textiles and Clothing

Terrorism has been on the rise in the past decade and continues to disrupt everyday life in many parts of the world. Protection against such threats is therefore critical for preserving peace and security around the world. In particular, the safety of defense personnel engaged in confronting and responding to such threats must be ensured. Since textiles and clothing are pervasive and are always “on” the soldier, they can serve as an excellent infrastructure or platform for such individual protection systems.
Women's satisfaction with birth control.

Contraception is a major component of preventive health care for women. There are indications that women are not satisfied with the methods of birth control currently available. Dissatisfaction with contraceptive methods may lead to unplanned pregnancies. Adult women visiting the family health center over a 1-year period were invited to participate in a research interview. Questions were asked about demographic variables and the womens use of and their satisfaction with contraceptive methods. Many women were displeased with the present methods of birth control. This is reflected in the numerous methods used by each women and by frequent use of permanent sterilization as a contraceptive method. Women were as dissatisfied with oral contraceptives as they were with the less efficacious methods such as condoms foams gels and rhythm. The only methods that has a greater than 70% satisfaction rate were tubal ligations and partners vasectomies. There is significant dissatisfaction with the methods of contraception currently available. Increased patient-physician discussion and education may improve satisfaction with birth control methods now used. New methods of contraception may be needed to prevent unplanned pregnancies. (authors)
Noncomplying secured creditors, deficiency judgements, and implied satisfactions under the Nebraska Uniform Commercial Code

This article covers the interplay between the UCC and Nebraska's commercial code on the questions of noncomplying secured creditors, deficiency judgments and implied satisfactions
A Practical Chinese-English Organization Name Translation Method Based on Web Assistant ⋆

In those traditional organization name translation methods, researchers usually assumed that for every organization name to be translated, its correct translation would exist somewhere on the web. And some researchers further assumed that both the organization names to be translated and their correct translations would exist somewhere on some mix-language web pages. Thus these researchers think it is appropriate to translate organization names with some web mining based methods. However, the correctness of these assumptions has never been verified. In this paper, we focus on this issue and experimentally verify the correctness of these two assumptions. And from our experimental results, we find out several useful distribution characteristics of the organization names that appears on the web. Based on these distribution characteristics, a practical Chinese-English organization name translation method is proposed. Experimental results show that our method is effective. It can improve the inclusion rate of correct translations for those Chinese organization names whose correct translations really exist on the web, and it can also improve the BLEU score and accuracy for those Chinese organization names whose correct translations rarely occur on the web.
Finding history: the locational geography of Ashokan inscriptions in the Indian subcontinent

The Mauryan dynasty of the third century BC was the first to unite the greater part of the Indian subcontinent under a single ruler, yet its demographic geography remains largely uncertain. Here, the HYDE 3.1 database of past population and land-use is used to offer insights into key aspects of Mauryan political geography through the locational analysis of the Ashokan edicts, which are the first stone inscriptions known from the subcontinent and which constitute the first durable statement of Buddhist-inspired beliefs. The known distribution of rock and pillar edicts across the subcontinent can be combined with HYDE 3.1 to generate predictive models for the location of undiscovered examples and to investigate the relationship between political economy and religious activities in an early state.
Treatment of Hypersplenism by Partial Splenic Embolization Through Gastric Collaterals

We report a case of Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with associated hypersplenism, that was referred to us for partial splenic embolization (PSE) as the patient was not a surgical candidate for splenectomy. Initially, we were not successful in catheterizing the splenic artery from the celiac trunk due to significant atherosclerotic disease. Therefore, we successfully managed to access the distal splenic artery through patent gastro-epiploic collateral circulation along the greater curvature of the stomach. Partial splenic embolization was successfully performed and resulted in improvement of the patient's peripheral blood cell count as well as 60-70% reduction in the size of the spleen on follow up. Our case highlights an alternative pathway for splenic artery embolization when catheterization of the splenic artery is not feasible. To our knowledge, the use of gastro-epiploic collaterals to embolize the spleen has not been previously reported in literature.
Fermi Surface of Mg 2 Pb

Experimental observations are reported of Landau quantum oscillations (LQO) in the electrical transport properties of the compound ${\mathrm{Mg}}_{2}$Pb in the range $H\ensuremath{\le}50$ kG and $T=1.2\ensuremath{-}4.2$ \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The results are associated with two bands of holes previously inferred in explaining the lowfield ($H\ensuremath{\le}5$ kG) field dependence of the Hall coefficient, confirming the earlier interpretation. The magnetoconductivity tensor elements derived from the nonoscillatory contributions to the Hall and transverse magnetoresistivity have been fitted with three bands of carriers labeled as light holes, heavy holes, and electrons. This establishes band overlap in ${\mathrm{Mg}}_{2}$Pb. The light-hole band (F = 0.27 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{6}$ G) is nearly spherical (\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2%) with ${m}^{*}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.04{m}_{e}$, $g\ensuremath{\simeq}11$, and contains 7.9 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{17}$ carriers/${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$. The heavy-hole band [$F=(2.8\ensuremath{-}3.7)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}$ G] is a warped sphere, whose shape has been determined from experimental extremal cross sections using the Fermi-radius inversion method developed by Mueller. The heavy-hole cyclotron effective mass has been measured as 0.35 and 0.45 electron masses for orbits perpendicular to [100] and [111], respectively. This band contains 4.2 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{19}$ carriers/${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$. These two valence bands are compared with similar valence bands in Ge via the model of Dresselhaus et al., The evidence for a Ge-like, rather than grey-Sn-like, valence-band ordering is consistent with the band calculation of Van Dyke and Herman. No LQO associated with the electron band were observed, although the analysis of classical magnetoconductivity data requires the presence of 4.1 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{19}$ electrons/${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$ in order to explain the high-field value of $H{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{12}$.
Apoptosis induced by the combination of TRAIL and doxorubicin in osteosarcoma cells

Background and purpose:TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL)is a new member of the TNF family that has recently been discovered. Its notable feature is to induce apoptosis only in tumor cells, but has no impact on normal cells. TRAIL could be a potential candidate for targeted therapy in osteosarcoma,but its efficacy was limited when used as a single agent.Doxorubicin (Dox) is a chemotherapeutic agent that is not cell cycle specific, and has intensive cytotoxic effect. Dox can imbed DNA so that it inhibits the synthesis of nucleic acid. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the apoptosis-inducing effect of TRAIL combined with Dox on osteosarcoma cell line MG-63.Methods:MTT assays were used to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of TRAIL and Dox on MG-63 cells. DNA electrophoresis and flow cytometry were used to quantitate apoptosis.Results:The cells were incubated with the combination of TRAIL(1000 ng/mL ) and DOX( 4.3 μmol/mL ) for 24 h, the apoptotic rate was 36.65% in a dose- and time-dependent manner, compared to 21.87% when treated with either 1000 ng/mL TRAIL alone or 10.25% with 4.3 μmol/mL Dox alone for 24h), P0.01. More apoptotic bodies could be observed by microscope in the combined group than the others and had the most cytotoxic effect against tumor cells in all three groups.Conclusions:TRAIL can synergistically interacted with Dox in terms of induction of apoptosis in Osteosarcoma Cells. TRAIL could be further investigated as a chemotherapy sensitizer in a clinical setting.
Analysis on Electromagnetic Interferences of High-Gradient Strong Magnetic Filed due to Steeply Dropping High Current in Intelligent Power Distribution Equipments

The forming mechanism of high-gradient magnetic field due to steep-drop of high current and the resulting strong distribution equipments is analyzed in detail.The phenomena and characterization that is generated in intelligent power distribution device is represented.That high-gradient and intense magnetic field which is formed by steep drop high-current is a great electromagnetic interference source of intelligent power distribution devices security of operation is verified through practice experiments and theoretical analysis.This paper proposes the technical measures such as analog quantity substituted by digital quantity,optic fiber transmission technology,dimensional orientation separation and technical method of time locked division,frequency division,filtration,sorption,bypass etc.,or some systems solutions that can eliminate the interference via these anti-interference measures combined optimally.
Physical and Statistical Aspects of Fatigue

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the physical and statistical aspects of fatigue. Structural fatigue has established itself as a major factor in modern aircraft design. The increase of design stresses resulting from the use of metal of increasing static strength but decreasing relative fatigue resistance has reduced the fatigue life of aircraft structures by approximately four orders of magnitude. In conventional fatigue tests, at constant stress amplitude, the range of variation of number of cycles to failure is at least one, more frequently two, occasionally even three orders of magnitude. The fatigue crack progresses quickly under a high intensity of the cyclic force, but take years to develop under low force amplitude. An inverse relation exists between the force or deformation amplitude and their specific intensities expressed in terms of nominal stress or strain and the “fatigue life”—the number of repetitions of the stress or strain cycle producing fractures at the applied amplitude. The fatigue life of a material at a given stress amplitude and mean stress is controlled by a number of variables defining the structure of the material, the geometry and size of the specimen, and the properties of its surface and of its environment.
Time-Resolved Photoluminescence and Phonon Transport in Amorphous Si:H Films

We have measured, under as nearly identical conditions as possible, both time-resolved photoluminescence and phonon emission in a-Si:H excited by a pulsed dye laser (8 ns, 4000–7500 A). PL was detected with a cooled S1 photomultiplier; phonon response was measured with a superconducting NbN bolometer. Most measurements were made at 2 K. Two films of a-Si:H were studied with thickness of ~1 and 4 µm, respectively. The films, deposited by plasma decomposition of silane onto 1 mm thick sapphire substrates, were comparable to the “NRL” samples listed in Ref. 1.
Thermal Resistance and Growth of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis in Tomato Juice.

Bacillus species are common contaminants of soil and can be found with tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits. This research was done to assess the thermal stability of spores of acid tolerant Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis in tomato juice. The D values at 90, 95, and 100°C were 29.5, 15.8, and 5.7 min for B. subtilis and 29.9, 12.2, and 5.9 min for B. licheniformis , respectively. The z value for B. subtilis was 14°C and for B. licheniformis was 14.2°C. Aerobically, B. subtilis spores could germinate and outgrow in tomato juice (pH 4.4) within 4 d at 35°C at inoculum levels as low as 1 spore per ml; however, B. licheniformis spores could only germinate and outgrow if levels were 104 spores per mi or higher. Both Bacillus species could raise the pH of tomato juice to above 4.8 when grown aerobically. Neither B. licheniformis nor B. subtilis could germinate and outgrow anaerobically in tomato juice (pH 4.4).
Securing Property Rights from the Grabbing Hand of the State: The Merchant Guild

One of the central questions about the institutional foundations of markets concerns the power of the state. The simplest economic view of the state – as an entity that enforces contracts and property rights and provides public goods – poses the following problem: a state with sufficient coercive power to do these things also has the power to withhold protection or confiscate private wealth, undermining the foundations of the market economy. In the medieval era, before a trading center was established a ruler might pledge that foreign merchants would be secure and their rights respected. Once trade was established, however, the ruler faced the temptation to renege on his pledge – by failing to provide the promised protection or by using his coercive power to abuse the merchants' property rights. Before the emergence of the nation-state, foreign merchants could expect little military or political aid from their countrymen. Without something tangible to secure the ruler's pledge, foreign merchants were therefore not likely to frequent a trading center – an outcome that could be costly for both the ruler and the merchants. What institutions, if any, mitigated this problem? Trade relationships between a particular merchant and ruler consist of a potentially long sequence of trading visits, during each of which the merchant may pay tax to the ruler. Intuitively, one might conjecture that a particular reputation-based institution could have enabled the ruler to commit himself.
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONTROL AND DISEASE SURVEILLANCE

In a workshop of the Biological Weapons Prevention Project (BWPP) held at the South African Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town on 12 October 2004, a presentation was made by ILIAAD (International Lookout for Infectious Animal & Anthropo-zoonotic Disease) entitled ‘Animal disease outbreaks as a metaphor for managing biological weapons attacks on human populations’. The presentation explored the crucial role of strict quarantine in the successful containment of the outbreak of an exotic type of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa in 2000, and argued that strict quarantine could be similarly effective in controlling disease outbreaks caused by the intentional use of pathogens. Thus emerging disease outbreaks were linked with the threat of biological weapons. This commentary will review the origin of that linkage, how it evolved, and what lessons the media and information strategies of that evolution may have for current efforts in preventing the development, production and use of biological weapons.
Temperature-Dependent Detectivity of Near-Infrared Organic Bulk Heterojunction Photodiodes

Bulk heterojunction photodiodes are fabricated using a new donor–acceptor polymer with a near-infrared absorption edge at 1.2 μm, achieving a detectivity up to 1012 Jones at a wavelength of 1 μm and an excellent linear dynamic range of 86 dB. The photodiode detectivity is maximized by operating at zero bias to suppress dark current, while a thin 175 nm active layer is used to facilitate charge collection without reverse bias. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the dark current and spectral response demonstrates a 2.8-fold increase in detectivity as the temperature was lowered from 44 to −12 °C, a relatively small change when compared to that of inorganic-based devices. The near-infrared photodiode shows a switching speed reaching up to 120 μs without an external bias. An application using our NIR photodiode to detect arterial pulses of a fingertip is demonstrated.
Acquired uterine arteriovenous fistula following dilatation and curettage: an uncommon cause of vaginal bleeding

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is a common presentation of women in the emergency department. We describe the case of a 33-year-old female who presented with intermittent spotting due to an acquired uterine AVF. The patient underwent a transvaginal pelvic ultrasound as well as a CT angiogram. The patient was treated conservatively and elected to undergo uterine artery embolization in an effort to preserve fertility. She successfully delivered a healthy baby boy at 39-week gestation via an emergent caesarian section due to a prolapsed umbilical cord 17 months after undergoing the uterine artery embolization.
Outcomes Along the HIV Care Continuum Among Undocumented Immigrants in Clinical Care

HIV-infected undocumented immigrants face unique barriers to care yet little is known about their clinical outcomes. We performed a retrospective cohort study of HIV-infected adults in clinical care from 2006 to 2014 at a large academic medical center in a setting where medical insurance is available to HIV-infected undocumented immigrants. Undocumented status was assessed based on Social Security number and insurance status and verified through medical chart review. Using Poisson regression models, we compared undocumented and documented patients with respect to retention in care (≥2 HIV-related laboratory tests ≥90 days apart), antiretroviral therapy (ART) prescription (≥3 active antiretroviral agents prescribed in a year), and viral suppression (HIV RNA <200 copies/ml for the last measured viral load) for each year in care. Of 7,551 patients included in the analysis, we classified 173 (2.3%) as undocumented. For each year of the analysis, higher proportions of undocumented patients were retained in care, prescribed ART, and virally suppressed. In adjusted models, undocumented status was associated with increased probability of retention in care [risk ratio (RR) 1.05, confidence interval (95% CI) 1.01-1.09], ART prescription (RR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.08), and viral suppression (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.08-1.19) compared to documented status. Undocumented patients achieved clinical outcomes at modestly higher rates than documented patients, despite entering care with more advanced disease. In a setting where insurance is available to undocumented patients, similar outcomes along the HIV care continuum may be achieved regardless of immigration status.
MR Imaging of the Fetal Chest and Abdomen: How to Provide Value-Added Imaging

In this article, recent literature on MRI of the fetal chest and abdomen is presented, with review of the growing area of fetal interventions. Emerging imaging techniques, the increasing trend toward 3 T in fetal imaging, as well as imaging protocols designed to optimize efficient evaluation of specific disease conditions will be discussed. Prenatal MRI has been shown to contribute to accurate diagnoses of intrapulmonary lesions, and is anticipated to play an increasingly important role in cardiac disease. While the role of prenatal MRI in evaluation of the fetus with congenital diaphragmatic hernia is well known, there is now more concise information available in predicting postnatal outcomes; it plays a central role in planning and assessment of fetoscopic endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO). Complex congenital abdominal abnormalities also benefit from multiplanar imaging and the ability to delineate meconium distribution. MRI contributes meaningfully to evaluation of the fetus, providing information beyond what is obtained from advanced ultrasound (US). This allows for more nuanced prenatal counseling, a tailored multidisciplinary approach to prenatally diagnosed diseases and improved postnatal management.
Building Reflection with Word Clouds for Online RN to BSN Students

Reflection allows students to integrate learning with their personal context, developing deeper knowledge and promoting critical thinking. Word clouds help students develop themes/concepts beyond traditional methods, introducing visual aspects to an online learning environment. Students created word clouds and captions, then responded to those created by peers for a weekly discussion assignment. Students indicated overwhelming support for the use of word clouds to develop deeper understanding of the subject matter. This reflection assignment could be utilized in asynchronous, online undergraduate nursing courses for creative methods of building reflection and developing knowledge for the undergraduate RN to BSN student.
Enhancing the real-time detection of phase changes in lithium–graphite intercalated compounds through derivative operando (dOp) NMR cyclic voltammetry

Robust and reliable diagnostic tools that can be employed under operating conditions are crucial to understanding performance and failure mechanisms in battery processes. The operando spectrum of a battery often consists of a strongly overlapping mixture of time dependent and independent resonances due to the compositional complexity. Here we report a new method called derivative operando (dOp) that improves the resolution of operando nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra by removing time independent signals and further distinguishes between time dependent signals associated with the formation and removal of species. This approach not only provides better resolution but also more clearly reveals correlations between resonances and the chemical transformations occurring at a specific potential. With the dOp-NMR method we detect the formation of lithium graphite intercalation compounds (GICs), including the signatures of LiC72 and its precursors, which have been previously undetected. We also observe a clear correlation of the dOp 7Li NMR spectra of lithium metal dendrites on the counter electrode with the chemistry of the working electrode.
A RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY APPROACH TOWARDS A CAUSAL MODEL OF ONLINE ADVERTISING INTRUSIVENESS AND IRRITATION

Internet advertising has grown substantially, and represents the second-largest destination of advertising dollars in the USA. While those data are more difficult to find in other countries, it is expected that the future is similarly bright for the online advertising industry world-wide. This study proposed and tested a causal model that predicts (1) both intentions to return to the host site and recommend the site to others and (2) performance in successfully completing information retrieval tasks on a website. Those two ultimate dependent variables are, in turn, predicted by a user’s feelings of irritation and ad intrusiveness, which are, in turn, predicted by attitude toward the ad and repeated exposure of the ad. In a study involving 420 students, six of the eleven hypothesized relationships were supported: attitude toward the ad predicted intrusiveness; intrusiveness predicted irritation, intentions, and task performance; and both irritation and performance predicted intentions. The model explains 50% of the variance in irritation, 5% of the variance in intrusiveness, 1% of the variance in performance, and 21% of the variance in intentions, providing mixed support for the model.
The Sierra Club Immigration Debate: National Implications

U.S. population doubled during the past 50 years with nary a notice by anyone, why expect anything different during the next doubling? The relationship between U.S. population size and environment suddenly became newsworthy for six months in 1997–98, thanks to a bruising battle within the Sierra Club. Whether or not you are a Sierra Club member, please consider becoming involved in a rare opportunity to publicize connections between U.S. population growth and the state of the environment.
Training and Career Development Grants

For those applying for training or career development grants, the natural inclination is to focus on the scientific portions of the proposal. After all, the research project is the path to discover the unknown, and that is the motivation for doing research and pursuing a research career. However, one must keep in mind that the purpose of such grants is supporting the candidate’s learning to do research rather than the actual research results. Indeed, if NIH wanted the most scientific knowledge for its grant money, then it would make more sense to award all grants to senior investigators who have a proven track record of productivity.
Personal Epistemology and Culture

The role that personal epistemology plays in intellectual development, learning, and education has been investigated for several decades in the USA (see Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002) and has recently been pursued in other cultural environments. Research suggests that epistemological understanding has important implications for learning: for example, beliefs about the nature of knowledge may influence strategy use, comprehension, cognitive processing, and conceptual change learning. However, the primary constructs regarding students’ conceptions of knowledge and knowing were all developed with US college students, and the initial research on which most models are based was conducted with white males at an elite institution in the 1950s and 1960s (Perry, 1970). Furthermore, measurement of epistemic beliefs has typically been formulated and validated in the USA and then applied in other cultures by translating existing instruments and presuming similar factor structures. In recent years, however, research on epistemic beliefs and development has been expanding in its comprehensiveness, particularly in regard to research in multiple cultures, providing potential challenges and possible expansion of existing models. In this introductory chapter, I will provide a brief overview of personal epistemology from multiple paradigms (Hofer, 2004b), review examples of research conducted across cultures, and suggest implications of a more culturally informed personal epistemology both for multicultural education and for future research.
Consumer interest in upcycling techniques and purchasing upcycled clothing as an approach to reducing textile waste

This study investigates the constructs of environmental concern, consumer creativity, and fashion consciousness and examines the relationships between these variables and consumer interest in learn...
Assistive technology transfer and the NSF bioengineering research to aid the disabled (BRAD) program

Since 1988 the National Science Foundation has funded the Bioengineering Research to Aid the Disabled (BRAD) program. This program supports university engineering design programs in which the students design and fabricate devices or systems to assist people with disabilities. Universities typically establish an association with a number of rehabilitation or education professionals (REPs) who have a pool of clients. The students collaborate with the REPs, the engineering faculty, and the clients in designing and fabricating assistive devices. Participants in the BRAD program identify a technology and effect its development, evaluation, and delivery to a client, but the technology transfer rarely proceeds beyond these stages. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.
Do Decision Aids Benefit Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain? A Systematic Review

Objective To review the effect of patient decision aids for adults making treatment decisions regarding the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of adults using patient decision aids to make treatment decisions for chronic musculoskeletal pain in the outpatient setting. Results Of 477 records screened, 17 met the inclusion criteria. Chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions included osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, or trapeziometacarpal joint and back pain. Thirteen studies evaluated the use of a decision aid for deciding between surgical and nonsurgical management. The remaining four studies evaluated decision aids for nonsurgical treatment options. Outcomes included decision quality, pain, function, and surgery utilization. The effects of decision aids on decision-making outcomes were mixed. Comparing decision aids with usual care, all five studies that examined knowledge scores found improvement in patient knowledge. None of the four studies that evaluated satisfaction with the decision-making process found a difference with use of a decision aid. There was limited and inconsistent data on other decision-related outcomes. Of the eight studies that evaluated surgery utilization, seven found no difference in surgery rates with use of a decision aid. Five studies made comparisons between different types of decision aids, and there was no clearly superior format. Conclusions Decision aids may improve patients' knowledge about treatment options for chronic musculoskeletal pain but largely did not impact other outcomes. Future efforts should focus on improving the effectiveness of decision aids and incorporating nonpharmacologic and nonsurgical management options.
Time series: a data analysis approach using R: by Robert H. Shumway and David S. Stoffer. Chapman & Hall/CRC Press. 2019. 259 pp. $63.96 hardcover, ISBN 978-0-367-22109-6.

This lucid and structured book is devoted to present modern time series analysis as a tool for analyzing data in different applications. The authors use the open source programing language R and it...