cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
La escritura de la ciudad para el establecimiento de la nación, y la generación de mitos históricos en El Movimiento Literario de 1842: Bello, Lastarria, Sarmiento

En la seccion historica supimos que a raiz de las persecuciones religiosas del siglo XIII los ortodoxos buscaron amparo en las islas, donde perduran todavia sus obeliscos y donde no es raro exhumar sus espejos de piedra. La seccion idioma y literatura era breve. Un solo rasgo memorable: anotaba que la literatura de Uqbar era de caracter fantastico y que sus epopeyas y sus leyendas no se referian jamas a la realidad, sino a las dos regiones imaginarias Mlejnas y de Tlon... (J. L. Borges "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"). Desde 1840 en adelante, se comienzan a consolidar en Chile, por parte de los intelectuales, maneras, modos de pensar que se representan en un narrarse como individuos pertenecientes a un Estado. Parte de este afianzamiento escritural o discursivo se produce debido a la presencia no solo de chilenos como Lastarria, Bilbao, Sanfuentes y Jotabeche, sino que tambien por otros como Andres Bello, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento y Jose Mora. Estos escritores, que vienen escapando de las dictaduras de sus respectivos paises ­Chile mismo acababa de terminar con una­, se lanzan a la busqueda de un modelo escritural en que se refleje aquello que les da una singularidad, aquello que les enuncia desde sus propias identidades. Es un proceso de "modernidad" que pretende establecer nuevos territorios. Dentro de estos parametros es que se encuentran los escritores que tratan de fundamentar un lenguaje que sea capaz de proyectar los ideales de ciudadania, patria y escritura. Intento ver como en este proyecto discursivo se define o se encuentra el imaginario de lo que es un buen ciudadano, que lo constituye, cuales son los ideales, en fin, bajo que premisas se entiende este.
Reimbursement for teledermatology in the United States: a review

Many individuals do not have adequate access to dermatologic care. Teledermatology stands as a potential method of increasing access to dermatologic care. However, one of the biggest obstacles to the expansion of teledermatology is reimbursement. Policies for reimbursement vary based on the insurer, the state, and even the city. In general, there is a lack of federal funding for teledermatology, but various contained systems—such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Department of Corrections, and academic medical centers – have used teledermatology sustainably. Whereas live-interactive teledermatology can often qualify for federal reimbursement, store-and-forward teledermatology (with some exceptions) typically cannot. Over the past decade, the number of active teledermatology programs has significantly decreased, and reimbursement difficulty is most likely a contributing factor. More uniform policies by organizations like Medicaid and private payers would enable a greater expansion of teledermatology services.
Recent Advances and New Challenges in Child Maltreatment Research, Practice, and Policy: Previewing the Issues

Few issues are of such grave importance to society and to the science and practice of psychology as child maltreatment. Our goal in editing this issue of JSI was to inform scientists across various sub-fields of psychology about the most current knowledge in the field of child maltreatment, broadly defined. The authors of the articles have gone further, pushing past the edge of current knowledge and setting aggressive agendas for future empirical and policy-relevant work. We believe that the result will be enriched future research, practice, policy, and law, and in turn, the increased well-being of children and their families.
Endogenous Growth Factor Pathways May Regulate Epidermal Hyperplasia in Chronic Venous Wounds: Modulation by Hydrocolloid Dressings

While qualitative aspects of dermal repair differ in wounds of different types, duration, and depths, all wounds must be resurfaced by epidermal keratinocytes before they can be deemed “healed.” Epidermal keratinocytes undergo a series of activation steps in acute wound healing, which are likely to be regulated by autocrine growth control mechanims. The state of epidermal keratinocyte activation in chronic venous wounds is examined in this study in relationship to the correct expression of these changes in acute wound healing. The expression of endogenous growth factor pathways in chronic wounds is presented and changes in the growth activation associated with healing of chronic wounds are studied. The results of this study establish that growth activation of the epidermis is not defective in chronic wounds. The activation of epidermis is likely to be regulated by endogenous keratinocyte cytokine and receptor pathways, suggesting that addition of exogenous epidermal mitogens to chronic wounds is unlikely to further alter epidermal healing. In contrast, some of the therapeutic benefits of hydrocolloid dressings in promoting healing of chronic wounds may be related to their ability to suppress excessive keratinocyte proliferation and activation in chronic wounds.
Regulatory T Cells Promote Early Influx of CD8+ T Cells in the Lungs of Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Infected Mice and Diminish Immunodominance Disparities

In addition to regulating autoimmunity and antitumor immunity, CD4(+) CD25(+) FoxP3(+) natural regulatory T (Treg) cells are global regulators of adaptive immune responses. Depletion of these cells with the anti-CD25 antibody PC61 prior to primary respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection was partial but had several effects on the RSV-specific CD8(+) response in a hybrid mouse model. Mediastinal lymph node and spleen epitope-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses were enhanced in Treg-cell-depleted mice at all time points following infection, but responses of Treg-cell-depleted lung show a strikingly different pattern than lymphoid organ responses, with an initial delay in the CD8(+) T-cell response. The delay in the CD8(+) T-cell response correlated with a delay both in the early phase of viral clearance and in illness in Treg-cell-depleted mice compared to isotype-treated controls. The lungs of Treg-cell-depleted mice were shown to have increased lung chemokine and cytokine levels 7 days postinfection despite lower CD8(+) T-cell responses. Following the early delay in the lung response, CD8(+) T-cell responses at later infection time points were enhanced and increased the severity of illness in depleted mice. Finally, decreasing regulatory T-cell control of the CD8(+) T-cell response had a greater effect on response of the dominant K(d)-restricted M2 epitope consisting of amino acids 82 to 90 (K(d)M2(82-90)) than on the subdominant D(b)M(187-195) epitope response, indicating that regulatory T cells modulate immunodominance disparities in epitope-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses following primary RSV infection.
Combined unsigned and two's complement saturating multipliers

In many digital signal processing and multimedia applications, results that overflow are saturated to the most positive or most negative representable number. This paper presents efficient techniques for performing saturating n-bit integer multiplication on unsigned and two's complement numbers. Unlike conventional techniques for saturating multiplication, which compute a 2n-bit product and then examine the n most significant product bits to determine if overflow has occurred, the techniques presented in this paper compute only the (n + 1) least significant bits of the product. Specialized overflow detection units, which operate in parallel with the multiplier, determine if overflow has occurred and the product should be saturated. These techniques are applied to designs for saturating array multipliers that perform either unsigned or two's complement saturating integer multiplication, based on an input control signal. Compared to array multipliers that use conventional methods for saturation, these multipliers have about half as much area and delay.
Discrepant Achievement in College as a Function of Anxiety and Repression

An entering freshman class was divided into 9 subgroups based on conjoint anxiety and repression scores (high, medium, and low) after being dichotomized by sex. Predictions of first-semester achievement (GPA) were based on SAT verbal and mathematical scores. A discrepancy score was calculated for each student by relating predicted to actual achievement. Repression (Welsh R) was found to be significantly and positively related to achievement for males. A moderate level of anxiety (Welsh A) was observed to be related to achievement for female students.
Planar edge termination for 4H-silicon carbide devices

In this paper, it is demonstrated that the edge termination for 6H-SiC based upon self-aligned implantation of a neutral species on the edges of devices to form an amorphous layer can also be applied to 4H-SiC inspite of differences in their band structures. With this termination formed using argon implantation on Schottky barrier diodes, breakdown voltages were found to exceed those reported for mesa edge terminated diodes. Based upon this, it can be concluded that nearly ideal breakdown voltage is also achievable in 4H-SiC devices by using this planar edge termination.
The Politics of Government Pricing: Political Influences on Rate Structures of Publicly‐owned Electric Utilities

. Although theoretical analysis of publicly-owned enterprises is rapidly evolving into a well established body of literature, parallel empirical work is scarce. A major cause of this imbalance is the difficulty of quantifying theoretically important concepts such as political influence or political power. The purpose of this paper is to narrow the gap in the literature by statistically testing the role of political forces in determining the price structure in the case of publicly-owned electric utilities (POEUs). The price differential between residential and commercial users is examined. Variables reflecting the relative political influence of the customer groups are discussed and their strength as determinants of the rate structure is tested. The findings are consistent with theoretical expectations; the higher the gain from favoring one group relative to the other, the greater the variance in price between groups.
Primary Care Providers' Knowledge, Practices, and Perceived Barriers to the Treatment and Prevention of Childhood Obesity

This study evaluated primary care providers' (PCPs, pediatricians, and nurse practitioners) knowledge, current practices, and perceived barriers to childhood obesity prevention and treatment, with an emphasis on first-year well-child care visits. A questionnaire was distributed to 192 PCPs in the primary care network at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) addressing (i) knowledge of obesity and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines, (ii) anticipatory guidance practices at well visits regarding nutrition and exercise, and (iii) perceived barriers to childhood obesity treatment and prevention. Eighty pediatricians and seven nurse practitioners responded, and a minority correctly identified the definition (26%) and prevalence (9%) of childhood overweight and AAP guidelines for exercise (39%) and juice consumption (44%). Most PCPs (81%) spent 11-20 min per well visit during the first 2 years, and 79% discussed diet, nutrition, and exercise for > or =3 min. Although >95% of PCPs discussed juice, fruits and vegetables, sippy cups, and finger foods during the first year, over 35% never discussed fast food, TV, or candy, and 55% never discussed exercise. Few rated current resources as adequate to treat or prevent childhood obesity. Over 90% rated the following barriers for obesity prevention and treatment as important or very important: parent is not motivated, child is not motivated, parents are overweight, families often have fast food, watch too much TV, and do not get enough exercise. In conclusion, there is much room to improve PCPs' knowledge of obesity and AAP guidelines. Although PCPs rate fast-food consumption, TV viewing, and lack of exercise as important treatment barriers, many never discussed these topics during the first year.
Optimal growth conditions for Isochrysis galbana

Environmental and nutritional growth conditions of the unicellular microalga Isochrysis galbana were studied under laboratory conditions. The information obtained was used for cultivating the alga in outdoor miniponds. Outdoor cultures stayed monoalgal and free of predators as long as the temperature did not fall below 19°C and the rate of dilution did not exceed 40 % of the culture's volume. Isochrysis galbana grown in outdoor cultures provided lipid concentrations of 24-28 % of ash free dry matter.
A Review of Convection Initiation and Motivation for IHOP_2002

Abstract The International H2O Project (IHOP_2002) included four complementary research components: quantitative precipitation forecasting, convection initiation, atmospheric boundary layer processes, and instrumentation. This special issue introductory paper will review the current state of knowledge on surface-forced convection initiation and then describe some of the outstanding issues in convection initiation that partially motivated IHOP_2002. Subsequent papers in this special issue will illustrate the value of combining varied and complementary datasets to study convection initiation in order to address the outstanding issues discussed in this paper and new questions that arose from IHOP_2002 observations. The review will focus on convection initiation by boundaries that are prevalent in the U.S. southern Great Plains. Boundary layer circulations, which are sometimes precursors to deep convective development, are clearly observed by radar as reflectivity fine lines and/or convergence in Doppler velo...
Will pre-adaptation buffer the impacts of climate change on novel species interactions?

Species are expected to alter their ranges as climates change. Climate-induced range expansions of predators could threaten evolutionarily naive prey populations, leading to high mortality at the invasion front. If prey can apply existing defenses against local predators to novel predation threats induced by climate change, mortality threats will be less than expected. Here, we examine if spotted salamander larvae Ambystoma maculatum from populations that coexist with native red-spotted newts Notophthalmus viridescens survive better when exposed to a novel predator, the marbled salamander Ambystoma opacum. We show that regional mean winter temperatures warmed 2.0°C over 116 yr in the region, and that A. opacum survival increases in ponds with higher winter temperatures. Hence as winters continue to warm, this apex predator will likely colonize ponds north of their current range limit. Next, we performed common garden experiments to determine if local adaptations to native N. viridescens and exposure to A. opacum or N. viridescens kairomones (predator chemical cues) altered A. maculatum survival in predation trials. We did not find evidence for local adaptation to N. viridescens. However, A. maculatum from high-N. viridescens ponds that were reared with A. opacum kairomones suffered significantly higher mortality from the native predator N. viridescens. This outcome suggests an unanticipated interaction between local adaptation and plastic responses to novel kairomones from a potentially range-expanding predator. Current projections of biodiversity losses from climate change generally ignore the potential for eco-evolutionary interactions between native and range-expanding species and thus could be inaccurate.
Practice of Expert Critical Care Nurses in Situations of Prognostic Conflict at the End of Life

• BACKGROUND Prolonging the living-dying process with inappropriate treatment is a profoundly disturbing ethical issue for nurses in many practice areas, including the intensive care unit. Despite the frequent occurrence of such distressing events, research suggests that critical care nurses assume a limited role in end-of-life decision making and care planning. • OBJECTIVES To explore the practice of expert critical care nurses in end-of-life conflicts and to describe actions taken when the nurses thought continued aggressive medical interventions were not warranted. • METHODS A qualitative design was used with narrative analysis of interview data that had a temporal ordering of events. Interviews were conducted with 21 critical care nurses from 7 facilities in the southwestern United States who were nominated as experts by their colleagues. • RESULTS Three recurrent narrative plots were derived: protecting or speaking for the patient, presenting a realistic picture, and experiencing frustration and resignation. Narratives of protecting or speaking for the patient concerned preventing further technological intrusion and thus permitting a dignified death. Presenting a realistic picture involved helping patients’ family members reframe the members’ sense of the potential for recovery. Inability to affect a patient’s situation was expressed in narratives of frustration and resignation. • CONCLUSIONS The transition from curative to end-of-life care in the intensive care unit is often fraught with ambiguity and anguish. The expert nurses demonstrated the ability and willingness to actively protect and advocate for their vulnerable patients even in situations in which the nurses’ actions did not influence the outcomes. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2006;15:480-491)
Estimating Interinterviewer Reliability for Interview Schedules used in Special Education Research

Using data from an individually administered interview schedule, the Consumer Satisfaction Inventory (CSI), interinterviewer reliability was estimated with several different approaches: simple percentages of agreement, kappa and weighted kappa, Pearson correlations, t tests on interviewers' means, and generalizability (G) theory techniques. The reliability estimates varied, sometimes widely. Differences and similarities among the approaches are discussed, and some suggestions are given to aid researchers in choosing estimation techniques for particular situation.
B-cell lymphomas with concurrent IGH-BCL2 and MYC rearrangements are aggressive neoplasms with clinical and pathologic features distinct from Burkitt lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

B-cell lymphomas with concurrent IGH-BCL2 and MYC rearrangements, also known as “double-hit” lymphomas (DHL), are rare neoplasms characterized by highly aggressive clinical behavior, complex karyotypes, and a spectrum of pathologic features overlapping with Burkitt lymphoma (BL), diffuse large B-cel
Rule-Based Classification Systems for Informatics

Classification of data is an important step in the knowledge evolution of sciences. Traditionally, in sciences, classification of data was performed by human experts. Human knowledge can recognize unique functional properties that are necessary and sufficient to place complex structures and phenomena into a particular class or group. However, with the growth in scientific data and rapid changes in knowledge, it is no longer feasible for humans to classify objects. Automation of the classification process is necessary to cope with the growing amount of data. Otherwise, classification will become the rate-limiting step for scientific data analysis.In this paper, we address the needs of such automation in the SciAEther project and develop ChES, a fast and reproducible framework for classifying molecules in chemical data. Our framework captures human understanding through an ontology and the diversity in classification types through a rule based system to classify complex molecular compounds. We have tested our system with molecules from PubChem repository and found that our knowledge-based, automatic classification matches, and sometimes surpasses, that of the human experts.
Aerodynamic response of structures with parametric uncertainties

Abstract Uncertainties associated with the load effects and dynamic characteristics of wind-excited structures have been identified and discussed. Based on the available experimental data from laboratory and field study measurements the variability of the parameter space categorized as wind environment and meteorological data, wind-structure interaction and structural properties has been assessed. The probabilistic dynamic response of a wind-excited structyre has been expressed in terms of uncertain parameters. The influence of uncertainty in these parameters has been propagated in accordance with the functional relationships that relate them to the structural response. In this study, the propagation of uncertainty has been obtained by employing the Second-Moment and Monte Carlo simulation techniques. The dynamic response of a chimney subjected to aerodynamic loads is presented to illustrate the treatment of uncertainty in the parameter space. The mean and coefficient of variation of the peak chimney response, in terms of top deflections and associated base bending moments, exhibit close agreement between the Second-Moment and simulation techniques. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted which delineates the relative significance of uncertainty in the several parameters, related to both load effects and structural characteristics, on the overall uncertainty in the aerodynamic response of a chimney. The uncertainty associated with both response components suggests a need for further improvement in the modeling of wind-structure interaction, prediction of natural frequencies and damping, and reduction in the variability of extreme wind estimates. There are immediate applications of the procedures discussed in this paper for a variety of wind-sensitive structures.
Dynamics of an impinging jet. Part 1. The feedback phenomenon

In a high-speed subsonic jet impinging on a flat plate, the surface pressure fluctuations have a broad spectrum due to the turbulent nature of the high-Reynolds-number jet. However, these pressure fluctuations dramatically change their pattern into almost periodic waves, if the plate is placed close to the nozzle (x0/d < 7·5). In the present study extensive measurements of the near-field pressure provide solid support for the hypothesis that a feedback mechanism is responsible for the sudden change observed in the pressure fluctuations at the onset of resonance. The feedback loop consists of two elements: the downstream-convected coherent structures and upstream-propagating pressure waves generated by the impingement of the coherent structures on the plate. The upstream-propagating waves and the coherent structures are phase-locked at the nozzle exit. The upstream-propagating waves excite the thin shear layer near the nozzle lip and produce periodic coherent structures. The period is determined by the convection speed of the coherent structures, the speed of the upstream-propagating waves as well as the distance between the nozzle and the plate. An instability process, herein referred to as the ‘collective interaction’, was found to be critical in closing the feedback loop near the nozzle lip.
A multithreaded message passing environment for ATM LAN/WAN

Large scale High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) applications (e.g. Video-on-Demand, and HPDC) would require storage and processing capabilities which are beyond existing single computer systems. The current advances in networking technology (e.g. ATM) have made high performance network computing an attractive computing environment for such applications. However, using only high speed network is not sufficient to achieve high performance distributed computing environment unless some hardware and software problems have been resolved. These problems include the limited communication bandwidth available to the application, high overhead associated with context switching, redundant data copying during protocol processing and lack of support to overlap computation and communication at application level. In this paper, we propose a multithreaded message passing system for parallel/distributed processing that we refer to as NYNET communication system (NCS). NCS, being developed for NYNET (ATM wide area network testbed), is built on top of an ATM application programmer interface (API). The multithreaded environment allows applications to overlap computations and communications and provides a modular approach to support efficiently HPDC applications with different quality of service (QOS) requirements.
Water Permeation through Elastomers and Plastics

Abstract The available data on permeability, diffusivity, and solubility of water and water vapor through elastomers and plastics have been summarized. In many ways, the last five years have been a...
Mental Health Service Use Among Immigrants in the United States: A Systematic Review

Objective:Immigrants face stressors unique to the experience of migration that may exacerbate or cause mental health problems but access care at rates far below the general population, leaving them at risk of untreated mental health conditions. This review synthesizes current findings on mental health service utilization among immigrants to inform future research efforts addressing disparities in access to care.Methods:A systematic literature search of seven databases yielded 62 articles that met inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed reports of empirical studies based in the United States with an explicit focus on immigrant mental health service use. Each article was evaluated, and information was extracted by using a structured abstracting form.Results:Studies have shown that immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Africa use mental health services at lower rates than nonimmigrants, despite an equal or greater need. Lower usage has been found to be more pronounced among men, the uninsured, and the undocumen...
Defining the autism minimum candidate gene region on chromosome 7.

Previous genetic and cytogenetic studies provide evidence that points to one or more autism susceptibility genes residing on chromosome 7q (AUTS1, 115–149 cM on the Marshfield map). However, further localization using linkage analysis has proven difficult. To overcome this problem, we examined the Collaborative Linkage Study of Autism (CLSA) data-set to identify only the families potentially linked to chromosome 7. Out of 94, 47 families were identified and 17 markers were used to generate chromosomal haplotypes. We performed recombination breakpoint analysis to determine if any portion of the chromosome was predominately shared across families. The most commonly shared region spanned a 6 cM interval between D7S501 and D7S2847. Additional markers at 1 cM intervals within this region were genotyped and association and recombination breakpoint analysis was again performed. Although no significant allelic association was found, the recombination breakpoint data points to a shared region between D7S496–D7S2418 (120–123 cM) encompassing about 4.5 Mb of genomic DNA containing over 50 genes. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Reducing Theft at Construction Sites: Lessons From a Problem-Oriented Project

A building boom in Charlotte, North Carolina led to sharp increases in the number of kitchen appliances stolen from houses under construction. This paper describes a problem-oriented policing project, extending over a period of more than two years, that was undertaken by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to address the problem. A detailed analysis of security practices and risks of theft was made for 25 builders operating in one of the police service districts north of the city. This produced the recommendation that installation of appliances should be delayed until the new owners had taken up residence, thus effectively removing the targets of theft. Twelve of the larger builders agreed to experiment with this approach for a period of six months, though systematic checks made by police throughout the period found that builder compliance was variable. Despite this, analysis showed that delayed installation was an effective policy. Appliance theft declined in the district and there was no evidence of displacement of thefts to surrounding districts. The concluding discussion of the difficulties encountered by police in undertaking problem-oriented projects focuses on the vital role of crime analysis and considers ways to strengthen analytic capacity in police departments.
PARENT-CHILD CORONARY HEART DISEASE RISK FACTOR ASSOCIATIONS

The aim of this study was to assess parent-child interactions of coronary heart disease risk factors (total cholesterol, high and low density lipoprotein cholesterols, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and relative ponderosity) in parents and their pediatric-aged children in the Princeton School study. The study population included 430 parent-child pairs from 301 families. Forty-seven of these 301 families were "nuclear" (both parents and at least one child) and included 118 parent-child pairs. Univariate analyses of covariance were used to assess parent-child risk factor interactions and interrelationships. Interdependent coronary heart disease risk factor relationships were extensively shared by parents with their children. Knowledge of parental risk factor levels and their relationships and interactions with children's risk factor levels should be useful in identifying children at presumptively increased long-term risk as adults, and should illuminate metabolic relationships between parents and children for coronary heart disease risk factors.
Designing for Music Consumption in an Internet Age

The music industry is a useful case study for a broad range of emerging digital products. Digital music can be stored and shared easily facilitating free distribution among listeners. Recording, selling, and marketing are more accessible, allowing artists to produce music independently. While these trends seem to suggest a decentralized model for music distribution, a few record labels continue to dominate the industry. In this study, we survey music consumers to better understand their needs and gauge their attitude about various aspects of the music industry. We use this information to outline the implications for the design of future music consumer products.
Subgrid combustion modeling for premixed turbulent reacting flows

Two combustion models for turbulent premixed combustion in the flamelet regime are developed for unsteady simulations. The first model is a convensional G equation flamelet model and the main issues discussed are the subgrid closure. The second model is based on the Linear-Eddy Model. Both models are used in simulation of turbulent stagnation point flames. The heat release and turbulence intensity are varied. Time averaged statistics from convensional simulations show good qualitative agreement with experiments and the normalized turbulent flame speed agrees well with the experimental data. Counter-gradient scalar diffusion is observed in high heat release, low turbulence intensity flames. This raises the question about how important the gradient diffusion approximation is to these results. Preliminary results from LES-LEM simulations involving moderate heat release and high turbulence intensities are reported. The key role of the front tracking algorithm is demonstrated. Qualitative trends in the burning rates with varying turbulence intensity is also demonstrated.
A Fourier error analysis for radial basis functions and the Discrete Singular Convolution on an infinite uniform grid, Part 1

On an infinite grid with uniform spacing h, the cardinal basis Cj(x; h) for many spectral methods consists of translates of a "master cardinal function", Cj(x; h) = C(x/h - j). The cardinal basis satisfies the usual Lagrange cardinal condition, Cj(mh) = ?jm where ?jm is the Kronecker delta function. All such "shift-invariant subspace" master cardinal functions are of "localized-sinc" form in the sense that C(X) = sinc(X)s(X) for a localizer function s which is smooth and analytic on the entire real axis and the Whittaker cardinal function is sinc(X) ? sin?(πX)/(πX). The localized-sinc approximation to a general f(x) is f localized - sinc ( x ; h ) ? ? j = - ∞ ∞ f ( j h ) s ( x - j h ] / h ) sinc ( x - jh ] / h ) . In contrast to most radial basis function applications, matrix factorization is unnecessary. We prove a general theorem for the Fourier transform of the interpolation error for localized-sinc bases. For exponentially-convergent radial basis functions (RBFs) (Gaussians, inverse multiquadrics, etc.) and the basis functions of the Discrete Singular Convolution (DSC), the localizer function is known exactly or approximately. This allows us to perform additional error analysis for these bases. We show that the error is similar to that for sinc bases except that the localizer acts like a diffusion in Fourier space, smoothing the sinc error.
Selecting Communication Channels for Substance Misuse Prevention With At-Risk African-American Emerging Adults Living in the Southern United States

ABSTRACTNatural health information sources used by African-American emerging adults were investigated to identify sources associated with high and low substance-related risk. Participants (110 males, 234 females; M age = 18.9 years) were recruited using respondent-driven sampling, and structured interviews assessed substance use, sources of health information, and preferences for help. Friends and social network sites were associated with higher risk, whereas teachers/schools were associated with lower risk (ps < .025). Despite risks associated with friends, more participants preferred receiving help from friends than the other sources. The findings inform targeted prevention messages that are sensitive to contextual and audience characteristics.
Hydrogen adsorption in single-walled carbon nanotubes

This chapter is concerned with the properties of hydrogen molecules adsorbed within bundles of carbon nanotubes. A body of background information relevant to this problem is discussed in Chapter 9, which is concerned primarily with gases other than hydrogen in nanotubes. What is so unusual about hydrogen that justifies a separate discussion? The answer is the same as the reason why this particular gas has probably received more attention than all other gases combined. It is because many researchers have been investigating the possibility of storing significant quantities of hydrogen in nanotubes. This search was stimulated in large part by an experiment reported in Nature claiming to observe 5–10 wt% of hydrogen stored on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at room temperature and low pressure [1]. Such a high storage capacity, if confirmed, might well provide the basis for a vehicular fuel cell hydrogen storage technology. About the same time another experimental paper appeared, widely reported in the popular media, claiming to find more than 50 wt% hydrogen in carbon nanofibers [2, 3]. These “fantastic” results have never been confirmed by independent groups [4]. However, these reports were sufficient to start a flurry of experimental, theoretical, and simulation work on hydrogen adsorption on carbon nanotubes.
Classification Schema for Scoliosis

Scoliosis classifications serve as a guide for treatment decisions [1, 2]. An ideal classification system should be comprehensive and easy to utilize [3].
Risk assessment of coordinated cyber-physical attacks against power grids: A stochastic game approach

In this paper, the risk assessment of coordinated cyber-physical attacks against power grids is investigated using a novel game-theoretic framework. In particular, to address the dynamic nature of the power grid protection, a stochastic budget allocation game is proposed to analyze the strategic interactions between a malicious attacker and the grid defender while factoring in the attack and defense budget limitations. In this game, the attacker intends to maximize the physical impacts of coordinated attacks on the grid while the defender aims to minimize these impacts. An optimal load shedding problem is formulated to measure such physical impacts under successful attacks, and these impacts are then incorporated into a learning algorithm as inputs for finding the Nash equilibrium of the game. The two players' optimal strategies at Nash equilibrium, in terms of attacking/protecting the critical grid elements, can be used to assess the risk faced by the grid at various states. In addition, the optimal defense budget allocation strategy is expressed in terms of the corresponding risk. The proposed stochastic game framework is tested on the IEEE 9-bus system for illustrative purpose, and risk sensitivity to the attack/defense budget variation is analyzed.
Household Labor, Gender Roles, and Family Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison

Data from the 2002 International Social Survey Program: Family and Changing Gender Roles (III) are analyzed for 25,750 married or cohabiting adults from 31 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America,...
Pressure Tuning of Thermoelectric Materials

It is widely believed that significant improvements in the performance of thermoelectric materials are possible.1,2The development of such improved materials could lead to revolutionary advances in many important technologies, such as refrigeration, electric power generation, and cooling of both superconducting and conventional electronic components.2,3Because device efficiency depends critically on the product of the thermoelectric figure of merit, Z, and the temperature, T, the key issue is the identification of materials that exhibit enhanced values of ZT. Though there are currently many niche applications for thermoelectrics, no bulk materials are yet known that exhibit values of ZT (~4) necessary for thermoelectric refrigeration to be competitive with small refrigerant-based systems and thus to see widespread technological application. However, even more modest increases in ZT above the current best values (ZT~1) should lead to many more applications.1-3
Alexandria, 1898: Nodes, Networks, and Scales in Nineteenth-Century Egypt and the Mediterranean

In October 1898, the Italian vice-consul in Alexandria charged a group of Italians with participating in an anarchist plot to attack German Emperor Wilhelm II during his planned tour through Egypt and Palestine. This collective arrest produced unexpected outcomes, left a trail of multi-lingual documents, and illuminated specific forms of late nineteenth-century Mediterranean migration. Anarchists were among those who frequently crossed borders and they were well aware of and connected to what was happening elsewhere: they sent letters, circulated manifestos, raised and transported money, and helped fugitive comrades. They maintained nodes of subversion and moved along circuits of solidarity. Similarly, diplomats of Europe, Cairo, Istanbul, and local consular officials operated across borders and cooperated to hunt anarchists down. By following people who were on the move on boats, in post offices, and in taverns, I make a methodological and historiographical argument. First, I examine the Mediterranean as a space of flows and show how the Maghreb/Mashreq divide in Middle Eastern history has concealed webs and connections. Because anarchists and authorities acted on multiple fronts simultaneously, so must scholarship of this part of the world take account of several histories at once. Second, I look beyond the micro-macro binary to emphasize the interconnections and mutual implications of the micro, the macro, and everything in between. I highlight competing, intersecting, and even contradictory trajectories of some of these anarchist migrants’ belonging. As the affair of the bombs unfolded, all of these contradictions and scales of analysis became visible at once.
Swimming abilities of juvenile estuarine fishes: implications for passage at water control structures

The capability of early life history stage fishes to access nursery habitat within managed salt marshes is dependent on their ability to negotiate water control structures (WCSs). Knowledge of swimming ability and hydrodynamic preferences is essential to assess the impact of WCSs on fish movement in managed marshes. These data, however, are lacking for many common estuarine fishes, and the utility of the data for the few species examined thus far is limited. We examined critical swimming speeds and derived linear relationships between fish size and swimming speed for juveniles of six common estuarine fish species of the southeast U.S. and northern Gulf of Mexico coasts. White mullet Mugil curema displayed the greatest swimming ability among these six species and was able to swim against currents ≥ 30 cm s−1 higher than the other species examined at the same size. The remaining species displayed lower critical swimming speeds and were classified into groups of moderate (pinfish Lagodon rhomboides, striped mullet Mugil cephalus) or slow (silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura, spotfin mojarra Eucinostomus argenteus, spot Leiostomus xanthurus) swimmers. Our results suggest that high-flow conditions at WCSs would likely preclude the passage of all but the largest juvenile fishes, and passage for most juveniles would occur under low-flow conditions; these flows at WCSs are dictated largely by site-specific tidal and weather conditions.
Cataract Surgery Complications in Uveitis Patients: A Review Article.

ABSTRACTUveitis is a leading causes of blindness worldwide, and the development of cataracts is common due to both the presence of intraocular inflammation and the most commonly employed treatment with corticosteroids. The management of these cataracts can be very challenging and often requires additional procedures that can compromise surgical results. The underlying disease affects a relatively young population at higher risk of complications. Preoperative control of inflammation/quiescent disease for at least three months is generally accepted as the minimum amount of time prior to surgical intervention. Phacoemulsification with intraocular lens is the preferred method for surgery, with some studies showing improvement in visual acuity in over 90% of patients. The most common postoperative complications include macular edema, posterior capsule opacification, recurrent or persistent inflammation, glaucoma, epiretinal membrane and IOL deposits, or dislocation. Despite the potential complications, catarac...
A Flexible Valuation Model Incorporating Declining Growth Rates

A new model is developed in this paper which demonstrates a flexible method for modeling a cash flow stream with a declining growth rate that asymptotically approaches a mature long-term growth rate. This model can be applied when the initial growth rate in cash flows is temporarily larger than the required rate of return. A simple closed form equation of the valuation model is presented along with an example to illustrate the valuation of future cash flows with a declining growth rate. A comparison is made with the valuation from multi-stage models that have constant growth segments, the H-Model, and the Ohlson-Juettner Model. This highlights the difference in valuation that results from using this new model. An example is also included to illustrate how to match a decline curve to a specific forecast of future cash flows. This new declining growth model provides a flexible and practical approach for valuing equities.
The Virtual Piano Action: Design and Implementation

The design of a virtual piano action composed of a keyboard of motorized keys and a realtime mechanical system simulation is presented. Using this simulator, we have re-created certain aspects of the feel of the grand piano by numerically integrating the equations of motion of a simpli ed piano action in real time in a human-in-the-loop simulation scheme. In this paper, the simulation of the release and catch of the hammer is used to introduce the simulator architecture. The structure of a software module which manages the simulation of models with changing kinematic constraints is discussed, including a nite state machine driver which allows for the simulation of rigid-body systems which may take on various constraint conditions in a sequence dependent on run-time interaction.
Exposure to the Abused Inhalant, Isobutyl Nitrite, Compromises both Antibody and Cell-Mediated Immunity

Isobutyl nitrite is a drug of abuse popular among male homosexuals (1). Frequent abuse of nitrite inhalants has been correlated with seropositivity to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (2) and with the incidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma among AIDS patients (3). Inhalation studies by Lynch, Lewis, and collaborators (4, 5) and by McFadden and Maickel (6) using animals showed that isobutyl nitrite at occupational exposure levels, 300–400 ppm 7–8 hr/day, had little toxic or immunotoxic consequences. Abusers, however, expose themselves to doses in excess of 1500 ppm for shorter duration (10–20 inhalations over several hours, often on a daily basis (1, 7). We previously reported (8, 9) that mice exposed to isobutyl nitrite in an inhalation chamber for 45 min per day for 14 days to 900 ppm isobutyl nitrite had severely compromised T-dependent antibody responses. In the present study, this was extended to examine dose effects and the time to recovery. In addition, it is reported that such exposure also severely compromised cell-mediated immunity.
Region-specific alterations in tyrosine hydroxylase activity in rats exposed to lead.

Previous studies from our laboratory showed that subchronic exposure to low levels of Pb resulted in significant decrease in dopamine (DA) content, attenuation of stimulus-induced release of DA in the dopaminergic projection area of nucleus accumbens (NA), and alterations in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity in rat whole brain homogenates. The present study reported here was conducted to assess the functional integrity of DA synthesis in different brain regions of rats subchronically (90-days) exposed to 50 ppm Pb by measuring the activity of the rate limiting enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase, in seven brain regions. In Pb-exposed rats, TH activity was reduced in two of the seven brain regions investigated, i.e., nucleus accumbens (42% reduction) and frontal cortex (61% reduction) when compared to controls. In contrast, Pb exposure did not affect the TH activity in cerebellum, brainstem, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum. The changes in TH activity in nucleus accumbens (NA) and frontal cortex (FC) in Pb-exposed rats were further confirmed by Western blot analysis using TH polyclonal antibody. Collectively, these results indicate that low level subchronic Pb exposure may affect TH protein in these brain regions.
The Itô Equation and a General Stochastic Model for Dynamical Systems

Activity in stochastic differential activities has been based heavily on the well known work of K. Ito who introduced stochastic integrals (Ito, 1942) to rigorously formulate the stochastic differential equation that determines Kolmogorov’s diffusion process (Kolmogorov, 1931). The Ito stochastic differential equation dxt = f(xt) dt + g(xt) dwt has long been used as a model for a dynamical system perturbed by white noise. We have assumed a basic probability space (Ω, F, µ) and that a generic point of Ω is represented by ω. The stochastic process x = (xt (ω), 0 ≤ t < ∞) represents the “solution” of the above equation. We need not refer here to the considerable and well-documented work in stochastic calculus which has followed this pioneering work. More recently a new “input-output” point of view has developed in which (1) is regarded as a mapping taking an “input” w into an “output” which means any continuous process w is defined without the need for stochastic integration.