cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Investigation of Using the Spectral Characteristics From Ground Penetrating Radar for Landmine/Clutter Discrimination

Ground penetrating radar (GPR)-based discrimination of landmines from clutter is known to be challenging due to the wide variability of possible clutter (e.g., rocks, roots, and general soil heterogeneity). This paper discusses the use of GPR frequency-domain spectral features to improve the detection of weak-scattering plastic mines and to reduce the number of false alarms resulting from clutter. The motivation for this approach comes from the fact that landmine targets and clutter objects often have different shapes and/or composition, yielding different energy density spectrum (EDS) that may be exploited for their discrimination (this information is also present in time-domain data, but in the frequency domain we can remove a phase if desired and can reveal better spatial characteristics and therefore often achieve greater robustness). This paper first applies the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling technique to establish the theoretical foundation. The method to generate EDS from GPR measurements is then described. The consistency of the frequency-domain features is examined through two different GPRs that have different spatial sampling rates and frequency bandwidths. Experimental results from several test sites, based on GPR data collected over buried mines and emplaced buried clutter objects, corroborate the theoretical development and the effectiveness of the proposed spectral feature to increase the accuracy of landmine detection and discrimination.
Metabolic differences between “demersal” and “pelagic” development of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri

Early development of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri was examined under two differ-ent culture regimes: one to simulate development near-bottom (“demersal development”) and the other to simulate the development of embryos in the water column (“pelagic development”). When embryos of both treatments reached the hatching blastula stage at 5 d post-fertilization (−1.5 °C), the blastulae that had undergone demersal development evidenced significant differences (by ANOVA or suitable non-parametric comparison) in the following: a thicker blastoderm layer (12%, P < 0.001), higher ash-free dry weights (19%, P < 0.01), lower mass-specific respiration rates (50%, P < 0.001), higher incorporation rates of 35S-methionine into protein (23%, P < 0.003), and a differential pattern of protein synthesis. When embryos developed demersally, they remained in the jelly-coat material released with the eggs at spawning. Quantitative isolation of this jelly-coat material in S. neumayeri demonstrated that it contained a significant amount of organic matter, 115 ng ash-free dry mass per egg, equivalent to 17% of the egg's initial organic mass. Uptake of external nutrients during embryogenesis may be a significant component of the physiological energetics of this polar invertebrate by allowing the utilization of jelly-coat material released by a female during spawning.
Critical Role of Striatin in Blood Pressure and Vascular Responses to Dietary Sodium Intake

Striatin is a protein regulator of vesicular trafficking in neurons that also binds caveolin-1 and Ca(2+)-calmodulin and could activate endothelial nitric oxide synthase. We have shown that striatin colocalizes with the mineralocorticoid receptor and that mineralocorticoid receptor activation increases striatin levels in vascular cells. To test whether striatin is a regulator of vascular function, wild-type and heterozygous striatin-deficient mice (Strn(+/-)) were randomized in crossover intervention to restricted (0.03%) and liberal sodium (1.6%) diets for 7 days on each diet, and blood pressure and aortic vascular function were measured. Compared with wild-type, sodium restriction significantly reduced blood pressure in Strn(+/-). On liberal salt intake, phenylephrine and high KCl caused a greater vascular contraction in Strn(+/-) than wild-type, and endothelium removal, nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME, and guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ enhanced phenylephrine contraction to a smaller extent in Strn(+/-) than wild-type. On liberal salt, acetylcholine relaxation was less in Strn(+/-) than in wild-type, and endothelium removal, L-NAME, and ODQ blocked acetylcholine relaxation, suggesting changes in endothelial NO-cGMP. On liberal salt, endothelial nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression and the ratio of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activator pAkt/total Akt were decreased in Strn(+/-) versus wild-type. Vascular relaxation to NO donor sodium nitroprusside was not different among groups. Thus, striatin deficiency is associated with salt sensitivity of blood pressure, enhanced vasoconstriction, and decreased vascular relaxation, suggesting a critical role for striatin, through modulation of endothelial NO-cGMP, in regulation of vascular function and BP during changes in sodium intake.
Comments on Cultured Human Sarcoma Cells

Human sarcoma cell populations maintained in culture reflect to the native tumor cells better if the culture retains those nonmalignant cells that comprised the tumor's microenvironment in vivo [Hu M, et al. Characterization of 11 human sarcoma cell strains. Cancer 2002; 95: 1569–76] and thus provide paracrine growth factors and protection from apoptotic death to the tumor cells. Whereas sarcoma cell cultures obtained through meticulous efforts aimed at the elimination of all non-malignant cells of the tumor's original microenvironment consist of subpopulations of tumor cells growing exclusively with the support of their own autocrine growth loops [Sinkovics JG, et al. Growth of human tumor cells in established cultures. In: Busch H, ed. Methods in Cancer Research. Vol 14. New York: Academic Press, 1978; 243–323].
Enhancement Of interferometric precision using fast light

We show strong enhancement of interferometric precision by using fast light under critically anomalous dispersion in a dual-chamber Fabry-Perot-Interferometer with a shared mirror-pair. Enhancement as high as 109 is obtainable under realistic conditions
Advances in Quantum Computing Fault Tolerance and Testing

We study developments in quantum computing (QC) testing and fault tolerance (FT) techniques and discuss several attempts to formalize quantum logic fault models. We illustrate the inherent need for fault tolerance in QC due to the decoherence problem. Further, we examine several ideas regarding random testing and examine the viability of built-in-system-test (BIST) in future QC circuits.
Fostering Meaningful Interaction in Health Education Online Courses: Matching Pedagogy to Course Types

This research study examined the best interactive practices of effective health care education faculty from six major universities that offer online health care programs. Program directors from six major universities identified effective faculty, from which twelve faculty members were interviewed to uncover effective practices and an additional thirty faculty participated in a Delphi study to identify and prioritize effective practices. The findings for this study indicate that different types of facilitation approaches are needed to generate adequate interaction in four distinct types of health care courses, i.e., foundational classes, skills classes, analysis/synthesis classes, and hybrid type courses.
Last word on viewpoint: unresolved mysteries.

to the editor: We thank those colleagues (see Ref. 1) who have taken the time to comment on our Viewpoint. Our interpretation of these comments is that there is general agreement that there remain uncertainties about how peripheral lung structure changes with lung inflation and deflation. We focused on a simple experiment that measured a mean linear dimension in the peripheral lung, and although only Dr. Frazer found problems with the interpretation of these published data, we will briefly comment on the other letters with specific issues. We agree with Dr. Woods and Dr. Nieman, that our studies have more similarities than differences, but that the essential question remains unresolved. Dr. Weibel emphasizes the important point (with which we agree) that proper acinar inflation and deflation requires a structural and surface continuum from airways to the visceral pleura. Indeed, this fact likely will make attempts to regenerate parenchymal regions in destroyed regions of emphysematous lungs impossible. Dr. Frazer focuses on the potential role of air trapping and menisci in the recruitment process and the potential problems with inflation from very low volumes. However, in our experiments, there was no gas trapping and we observed the same results when lungs were inflated from FRC. Dr. Schittny focuses on lung development, suggesting that alveolar folding can explain recruitment in mature lungs and that opening and closing of units is a phenomenon defined by surfactant and surface tension. As we have not attempted to provide a mechanistic explanation, we are comfortable with his speculations. Finally, we hope that our Viewpoint and these letters will help stimulate further mechanistic research to explain in anatomic detail how the acinar structure expands and contracts in health and disease.
Near-capacity performance soft output sphere decoding based on short list detection and metrics combining

We introduce a low complexity iterative soft output sphere decoding algorithm for coded transmissions over multiple antenna channels. Before the iterative detection and decoding starts, a modified hard decision sphere decoder produces a short (base) list of vectors with maximum likelihood metrics. In subsequent iterative soft detections, two competing lists with a small number of vectors are further generated for each coded bit, by utilizing the base list vectors and a priori information from the channel decoder. The corresponding likelihood metrics of the vectors in each competing list are combined to produce soft detection output that approximates the optimal maximum a posteriori (MAP) solution. The performance improves as the base list size increases and a short list (hence a low number of competing vectors) can provide near-capacity performance after a few iterations. Compared with existing methods that adopt the max-log approximation and select only a single best competing vector, the proposed algorithm approaches the optimal performance better with significantly lower complexity requirements.
A study of personality preferences and emotional intelligence

Purpose – For over three decades the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a typology of personality preferences based on Jungian psychology, has been one of the most frequently used assessments in personal and managerial development. Over the last decade attention to the possibility of non‐cognitive intelligence based on emotions has attracted considerable attention in both the academic and practitioner communities. This paper aims to report on an empirical study examining the possible relationships between the dispositional factors measured by the MBTI and elements of emotional intelligence (EI) as measured by the Bar‐On's emotional quotient inventory (EQI).Design/methodology/approach – MBTI, Form G, and EQI data are collected in a population of over 500 managers and professional workers in an international manufacturing facility. Both categorical and continuous analysis of variance is utilized to test ten hypothesized relationships between personality preferences and EI constructs.Findings – Results supp...
Cache Conscious Task Regrouping on Multicore Processors

Because of the interference in the shared cache on multicore processors, the performance of a program can be severely affected by its co-running programs. If job scheduling does not consider how a group of tasks utilize cache, the performance may degrade significantly, and the degradation usually varies sizably and unpredictably from run to run. In this paper, we use trace-based program locality analysis and make it efficient enough for dynamic use. We show a complete on-line system for periodically measuring the parallel execution, predicting and ranking cache interference for all co-run choices, and reorganizing programs based on the prediction. We test our system on floating-point and mixed integer and floating-point workloads composed of SPEC 2006 benchmarks and compare with the default Linux job scheduler to show the benefit of the new system in improving performance and reducing performance variation.
Impact of Hot-Water Extraction on Acetone-Water Oxygen Delignification of Paulownia Spp. and Lignin Recovery

A hardwood-based biorefinery process starting with hot-water extraction (HWE) is recommended in order to remove most of the hemicelluloses/xylans before further processing. HWE may be followed by delignification in acetone/water in the presence of oxygen (AWO) for the production of cellulose and lignin. In this study, the HWE-AWO sequence was evaluated for its effectiveness at removing lignin from the fast-growing species Paulownia tomentosa (PT) and Paulownia elongata (PE), in comparison with the reference species, sugar maple (Acer saccharum, SM). HWE might lead to a remarkable increase in lignin accessibility, and as a result, a greater AWO delignification degree was observed for extracted PT, PE, and SM than for unextracted ones. Organosolv lignin was recovered from the spent liquor of AWO delignification of PT with/without prior HWE and characterized to evaluate the benefits of HWE on the lignin structure and purity. The lignin recovered from the spent liquor of HWE-AWO sequence is of higher purity and lighter color than that recovered from the AWO spent liquor. These properties along with low sulfur content are desirable for lignin high-value applications.
Low-power DV encoder architecture for digital CMOS camcorder

A low-power, large-scale parallel digital video (DV) [1] encoder architecture for a single-chip digital CMOS video camera is discussed in this paper. This architecture is based on the single chip CMOS camera MPEG-2 encoder architecture proposed in [2] with an emphasis on formatting and streaming of the compressed data. The architecture proposed here supports the 625/25 format of 720/spl times/576 pixels per frame. When clocked at 40 MHz, this architecture delivers a processing performance of 1.8 billion operations per second (BOPS) capable of supporting a frame rate of 25 fps as well as additional image enhancement processing. Low power consumption is achieved by the use of a parallel architecture and low-power circuit design techniques. When implemented in a 0.2 micron CMOS technology at a 1.5 V supply voltage, the parallel architecture consumes 45 mW providing a power efficiency of 40 billion operations per second per Watt.
Inequality among American Families with Children, 1975 to 2005

From 1975 to 2005, the variance in incomes of American families with children increased by two-thirds. In attempting to explain this trend, labor market studies emphasize the rising pay of college graduates, while demographers typically highlight the implications of family structural changes across time. In this article, we join these lines of research by conceiving of income inequality as the joint product of the distribution of earnings in the labor market and the pooling of incomes in families. We develop this framework with a decomposition of family income inequality using annual data from the March Current Population Survey. Our analysis shows that disparities in education and single parenthood contributed to income inequality, but rising educational attainment and women's employment offset these effects. Most of the increase in family income inequality was due to increasing within-group inequality, which was widely shared across family types and levels of schooling.
Temperature-constrained power control for chip multiprocessors with online model estimation

As chip multiprocessors (CMP) become the main trend in processor development, various power and thermal management strategies have recently been proposed to optimize system performance while controlling the power or temperature of a CMP chip to stay below a constraint. The availability of per-core DVFS (dynamic voltage and frequency scaling) also makes it possible to develop advanced management strategies. However, most existing solutions rely on open-loop search or optimization with the assumption that power can be estimated accurately, while others adopt oversimplified feedback control strategies to control power and temperature separately, without any theoretical guarantees. In this paper, we propose a chip-level power control algorithm that is systematically designed based on optimal control theory. Our algorithm can precisely control the power of a CMP chip to the desired set point while maintaining the temperature of each core below a specified threshold. Furthermore, an online model estimator is designed to achieve analytical assurance of control accuracy and system stability, even in the face of significant workload variations or unpredictable chip or core variations. Empirical results on a physical testbed show that our controller outperforms two state-of-the-art control algorithms by having better SPEC benchmark performance and more precise power control. In addition, extensive simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of our algorithm for various CMP configurations.
The Variation of Gust Factors with Mean Wind Speed and with Height

Abstract Records from wind instruments installed on a 1000-ft tower were analyzed for gustiness characteristics. The results show that gust factors decrease with increasing wind speed, decrease with increasing height, and have no obvious relationship to the temperature lapse rate.
Organizational Implications of Exchange Theory

The lesson of early organizational theory is now painfully clear to both researchers and practitioners. Bluntly, our general theories collapsed as we discovered that they applied only in limited circumstances. Since the theories were intended to be broad in scope, they were necessarily abandoned, with interest turning toward more promising new possibilities. The wreckage of the grand motivational, leadership, and job design theories from the first half of this century provides obvious examples of this process. The overall shift from engineering, through human relations, to the present organic (organizational behavior) approach to our field is evidence of the same phenomenon.
Utility of ultrasound in noninvasive preoperative workup of neonatal brachial plexus palsy

Ultrasound has been utilized in the evaluation of compressive and traumatic peripheral nerve pathology. To determine whether US can provide comprehensive evaluation of the post-ganglionic brachial plexus in the setting of neonatal brachial plexus palsy and whether this information can be used to guide preoperative nerve reconstruction strategies. In this retrospective cohort study, preoperative brachial plexus ultrasonography was performed in 52 children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy who were being considered for surgery. The 33 children who had surgery compose the patient cohort. The presence and location of post-ganglionic neuromas were evaluated by US and compared to the surgical findings. US evaluation of shoulder muscle atrophy was conducted as an indirect way to assess the integrity of nerves. Finally, we correlated glenohumeral joint laxity to surgical and clinical management. Ultrasound correctly identified 21 of 25 cases of upper trunk and middle trunk neuroma involvement (84% sensitivity for each). It was 68% sensitive and 40% specific in detection of lower trunk involvement. US identified shoulder muscle atrophy in 11 of 21 children evaluated; 8 of these 11 went on to nerve transfer procedures based upon the imaging findings. US identified 3 cases of shoulder joint laxity of the 13 children evaluated. All 3 cases were referred for orthopedic evaluation, with 1 child undergoing shoulder surgery and another requiring casting. Ultrasound can provide useful preoperative evaluation of the post-ganglionic brachial plexus in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy.
Nucleate Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficients and Peak Nucleate Boiling Fluxes for Pure Liquid Nitrogen and Oxygen on Horizontal Platinum Surfaces from Below 0.5 Atmosphere to the Critical Pressures

Boiling heat transfer coefficients for liquid nitrogen and/or liquid oxygen have been reported by various investigators [1–9]. The work of various investigators and in particular the work of Lyon [9] has shown that even slight changes in the chemical nature of the solid surface produce large variations in the boiling performance of the surface. Few, if any, measurements exist for different liquids on a surface of the same microscopic chemical and physical character. The results reported here are part of a program to obtain accurate, reliable data for a variety of liquids on a given surface under conditions where variations in the solid surface are eliminated and the role of liquid properties in the boiling process can be accurately identified.
Link Analysis in Web Mining: Techniques and Applications

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Knowledge Models Measures and Algorithms Applications of Link Analysis Conclusions References
Toward Clarification and Improvement of Social Work Practice

The central responsibility of a profession is to maintain and promote in all possible ways the effectiveness of its service to society. Because social work grew up in so many separate organizations, there was until recently no channel through which social work practice could be viewed and acted upon as a whole. It is true that im portant steps were taken by certain segments of the profession. Schools of social work and educators, being a more homogeneous group within a single organization, were in a position to give much-needed leadership to professional thinking. Some specific fields of practice also, such as medical and psychiatric social work, developed consist ent ongoing programs for study and im provement of their work, with standing practice committees which brought out a steady stream of studies and reports. But
Cosmological Constraints from High-Redshift Damped Lyα Systems

Any viable cosmological model must produce enough structure at early epochs to explain the amount of gas associated with high-redshift damped Lyα systems. We study the evolution of damped Lyα systems at z ≥ 2 in cold dark matter (CDM) and in cold plus hot dark matter (CDM+HDM) models using both N-body and hydrodynamic simulations. Our approach incorporates the effects of gas dynamics, and we find that all earlier estimates that assumed that all the baryons in dark matter halos would contribute to damped Lyα absorption have overestimated the column density distribution, f(N), and the fraction of neutral dense gas, Ωg, in damped Lyα systems. The differences are driven by ionization of hydrogen in the outskirts of galactic halos and by gaseous dissipation near the halo centers, and they tend to exacerbate the problem of late galaxy formation in CDM+HDM models. We include systems only up to the highest observed column density N ~ 1021.8 cm-2 in the estimation of Ωg for a fair comparison with data. If the observed f(N) and Ωg inferred from a small number of confirmed and candidate absorbers are robust, the amount of gas in damped Lyα systems at high redshifts in the Ων = 0.2 CDM+HDM model falls well below the observations.
Modulation of T cells and macrophages by cholera toxin treatment in vivo and in vitro.

Cholera toxin (CT), the enterotoxin derived from pathogenic strains of Vibrio cholerae, is a potent modulator of immune responses, both in vivo and in vitro (1, 2, 5, 6, 7). Mice injected with CT simultaneously with an agent such as sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) show markedly enhanced antibody responses, whereas mice pretreated with CT 2 or 3 days before challenge immunization show marked immunosuppression. These effects have been attributed to the influence of CT on the adenyl cyclase system. In vitro studies in this laboratory showed that CT induces only enhanced antibody responses when added to cultures of normal splenocytes, either simultaneously with antigen or 2 days earlier (3). Thus in vivo immunosuppression may be due to an indirect mechanism. In the present studies, spleen cells from CT pretreated mice were tested for effects on various cell classes and their responsiveness in vitro as compared to in vivo.
Tire Derived Aggregates as a Sustainable Recycled Material for Retaining Wall Backfills

Tire derived aggregates (TDA) offer potential environmental, technical, and economical benefits for retaining wall applications. For example, when compared to natural soils, TDA materials offer the advantage of reduced lateral pressures and settlement due to smaller unit weight, and potentially higher drainage capacity. This paper presents a technical and economical assessment of TDA materials for retaining wall backfills. The technical assessment includes results on model retaining wall tests and also from centrifuge tests to assess the lateral pressures generated by TDA materials. The lateral pressures are compared to tests using conventional mineral soil backfills. The test results show TDA backfills generate lower lateral pressures for at- rest conditions and for active conditions. The lower lateral pressures, coupled with lower unit weights translate into substantially lower retaining wall costs due to savings from smaller wall and footing dimensions, and less steel reinforcement quantities associated with the lower loading demand.
Conceptualizing Household Distribution of Labor from Feminist Theory: Why Power Matters in Psychotherapy

ABSTRACTThis article reviews existing literature on unequal distributions of household labor among heterosexual dual-earner marriages in the United States. Specifically, this article summarizes the literature linking women’s continued performance of the majority of household labor to decreased well-being and overall functioning and situates this problem in the context of psychotherapy. Feminist theory is used to conceptualize this topic by exploring the role of equality in women’s relationships with their spouses. This article suggests that although women and men are likely to agree with the basic tenets of equality, few individuals attain this ideal in psychotherapy due to gender-based assumptions that continue to influence the perceptions and behaviors of all people (e.g., clients and psychotherapists alike). Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.
Solar Absorption by Aerosol-Bound Nitrophenols Compared to Aqueous and Gaseous Nitrophenols.

Nitrophenols are well-known absorbers of near-UV/blue radiation and are considered to be a component of solar-absorbing organic aerosol material commonly labeled brown carbon. Nitrophenols have been identified in a variety of phases in earth’s atmosphere, including the gaseous, aqueous, and aerosol bound, and these different environments alter their UV–vis absorption spectra, most dramatically when deprotonated forming nitrophenolates. We quantify the impact of these different absorption profiles by calculating the solar power absorbed per molecule for several nitrophenols. For instance, aqueous 2,4-dinitrophenol absorption varies dramatically over the pH range of cloud droplets with pH = 5.5 solutions absorbing three times the solar power compared to pH = 3.5 solutions. We also measured the UV–vis spectra of 2-nitrophenol adsorbed on several aerosol substrates representative of mineral dust, inorganic salts, and organic aerosol and compare these spectra to gaseous and aqueous 2-nitrophenol. 2-Nitrophenol...
Preparation and Characterization of CH_3 NH_3 PbI_3 /TiO_2Composite Nanowires

Heterostructured CH_3NH_3PbI_3/TiO_2 composite nanowires were prepared by the slip coating method using TiO_2 nanowires synthesized via hydrothermal method.The structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscope(SEM) and highresolution transmission electron microscope(HRTEM).Then the molecular structure and the spectral response characteristic of the samples were studied by the Raman spectrum and Ultraviolet-visible-near infrared absorption spectrum respectively.The results show that the heterostructured CH_3NH_3PbI_3/TiO_2composite nanowires,as a photocatalyst,not only can broaden the spectral response range from ultraviolet to near infrared to solve the problem of narrow spectrum band of TiO_2,but also can reduce the recombination probability of photo-generated electrons and holes,thereby it can improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO_2.
Electroporation: introduction and expression of transgenes in plant protoplasts

An optimized protocol for the electroporation-based transfection of tobacco protoplasts is described that routinely results in transgene expression frequencies approaching 90%. The overall efficiency of the procedure depends collectively on numerous key parameters, including protoplast viability; DNA concentration, purity, and topology; carrier DNA; and electrical conditions such as ionic strength of the electroporation buffer, electric field strength, pulse duration, and capacitance. Individual methodologies that address each one of these parameters are presented in sufficient detail to enable successful reproduction of this method along with notes that describe helpful tips.
Pharmacological profile of inhibition in the vestibular and ocular nuclei

There is now considerable evidence for the involvement of y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as an inhibitory (Curtis and Felix, 1971; Curtis, Duggan, Felix, Johnston and McLennan, 1971; Krnjevie and Schwartz, 1967; Straughan, Neal, Simmonds, Collins and Hill, 1971) and possibly excitatory (Davidoff, 1972; DeGroat, 1969; Shank, Pong, Freeman and Graham, 1974) transmitter in many areas of the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS). In the past few years we have strengthened the GABA hypothesis in the supraspinal areas of the mammalian vestibular and oculomotor system because they offer the unique opportunity to study identified physiological pathways by both intracellular and extracellular recordings (Ito, Highstein and Tsuchiya, 1970; Baker, Mano and Shimazu, 1969; Precht, Baker and Okada, 1973a; Precht, Schwindt and Baker, 1973b). This paper will review and present new evidence on the use of pharmacological agents to elucidate the nature of the inhibitory synaptic transmitter (s) in the ocular and vestibular nuclei.
The taphonomy of Maastrichtian inoceramids in the Basque region of France and Spain and the pattern of their decline and disappearance

-After having been very abundant in the Early Maastrichtian Globotruncana gansseri zone, Inoceramus remains disappear from five stratigraphic sections in the Basque region of France and Spain in the lower Abathomphalus mayaroensis zone, 2.5 m.y. before the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that these shell fragments are preserved in place and accurately record the pattern of the decline and disappearance of the group. The dominant taphonomic process seems to have been passive disaggregation of the shell as shell proteins decayed. The resulting shell fragments were dispersed only locally by burrowing organisms. Shell fragments decline in abundance over tens of meters of section and there are subtle differences between sections which suggests Inoceramus was eliminated by gradual changes in ecological conditions that affected the basin roughly simultaneously but with some geographic variability. Kenneth G. MacLeod. Department of Geological Sciences, AJ-20, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 William N. Orr. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 Accented: December 10. 1992
Robot-assisted mechanical therapy attenuates stroke-induced limb skeletal muscle injury

The efficacy and optimization of poststroke physical therapy paradigms is challenged in part by a lack of objective tools available to researchers for systematic preclinical testing. This work repr...
Developing and Transmitting Religious Identity: Curriculum and Pedagogy in Modern Orthodox Jewish Schools

This paper argues that American modern Orthodoxy is facing a crisis caused at least in part by problems of student identity formation. A range of ethnographic research conducted over the last decade suggests that modern Orthodox students feel increasingly disengaged from religious studies classes—and that this disconnection is a factor in the movement’s decline. I argue that student disengagement may be a result of these schools’ inability to accommodate students’ own epistemological commitments to religious pluralism and autonomy, as well as the mainly secular American concerns central to their developing personal identities. Using data from fieldwork in an American modern Orthodox school that has implemented an entirely Problem Based Learning (PBL) centered curriculum, as well as from interviews and discussions with teachers participating in a PBL community of practice, I suggest that PBL may be uniquely suited to address these problems, offering a means by which modern Orthodox students can work autonomously to construct more integrated religious identities in the classroom.
Hypertension Control in the University of Chicago Primary Care Group

In Brief “Quality Improvement Success Stories” are published by the American Diabetes Association in collaboration with the American College of Physicians, Inc., and the National Diabetes Education Program. This series is intended to highlight best practices and strategies from programs and clinics that have successfully improved the quality of care for people with diabetes or related conditions. Each article in the series is reviewed and follows a standard format developed by the editors of Clinical Diabetes . The following article describes a successful project by faculty at the University of Chicago to improve blood pressure control among hypertensive patients at a general internal medicine clinic on the South Side of Chicago, Ill.
Fourier ptychographic microscopy at telecommunication wavelengths using a femtosecond laser

Abstract We report the implementation of the Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM) technique, a phase retrieval technique, at telecommunication wavelengths using a low-coherence ultrafast pulsed laser source. High quality images, near speckle-free, were obtained with the proposed approach. We demonstrate that FPM can also be used to image periodic features through a silicon wafer.
Neuropathology of HIV-1 Disease

The occurrence of opportunistic diseases and HIV-associated dementia has dramatically reduced in populations with widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Still, the milder forms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remain common. HAND is a multifactorial syndrome attributed to the extent of HIV infection in the central nervous system (CNS) and shaped by a range of comorbid factors, such as HIV-1 genetic variants, host genetic polymorphisms, chronic cART-related neurotoxicity, substance use, hepatitis C virus coinfection, brain aging, and systemic chronic inflammation and metabolic disturbance. In the cART era, new cliniconeuropathological entities have emerged, for example, immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, severe inflammatory HIV leukoencephalopathy, HIV-associated CD8 T-cell encephalitis, and burnt-out lesions. This chapter covers pathological changes commonly seen in the HIV-infected adult CNS, including HIV-specific pathology, nonspecific pathology, and opportunistic diseases, and it also discusses the potential effects of comorbid factors on HAND pathogenesis.
Enabling Remote Monitoring Using Free Apps and Smart Devices for a Free-Flap Adjunct Monitor.

Remote monitoring capability does not currently exist for Periflux (Perimed AB, Jarfalla, Sweden) laser Doppler and other perfusion monitors. Two simple adaptations using free apps (applications) and smart devices can enable transmission of the perfusion readout to the surgeon's smartphone. A literature review was conducted to identify reports relating to remote free flap monitoring. In addition, 2 wireless methodologies are devised: One method uses a free app that converts a smart device into a camera, stationed next to the perfusion monitor, to stream live video of the laser Doppler readout to the surgeon's smartphone; a second method uses a free app installed on a bedside laptop computer, which is connected to the laser Doppler flowmeter via a data cord. A live feed of the computer's desktop as a teleconference host is transmitted to the surgeon's smart device over the Internet. These 2 methodologies were employed on 9 and 8 free flaps, respectively, as a pilot study. All free flaps were monitored remotely for 4-6 days with near 100% reliability. The Internet connectivity became disrupted only on several occasions, requiring simple Wi-Fi and software reset. Minor mechanical issues were encountered with the video streaming method. Literature review identified very few articles describing remote monitoring of free flaps. The 2 methodologies reported here provided reliable continuous transmission of quantitative data of flap perfusion to smart devices via Internet connection, which can revolutionize the microsurgeon's practice if his/her adjunctive perfusion monitor with display does not yet have Wi-Fi capability.
Thematic Affinities in Shelley and Tagore

(2006). Thematic Affinities in Shelley and Tagore. South Asian Review: Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 48-71.
Maternal blood-pressure trends throughout pregnancy and development of pre-eclampsia in women receiving first-trimester aspirin prophylaxis

OBJECTIVES To study women who initiated aspirin in the first trimester for high risk of pre-eclampsia, and compare blood-pressure trends throughout pregnancy between those with normal outcome and those who subsequently developed pre-eclampsia. METHODS Women were enrolled into a prospective observational study at 9-14 weeks' gestation. This was a secondary analysis of those who started daily doses of 81 mg of aspirin before 16 weeks for increased risk of pre-eclampsia based on maternal history and bilateral uterine artery notching. Enrollment characteristics and blood-pressure measurements throughout gestation were compared between women who did and those who did not develop pre-eclampsia. RESULTS Of the 237 women who initiated first-trimester aspirin prophylaxis, 29 (12.2%) developed pre-eclampsia. A total of 2881 serial blood-pressure measurements obtained between 4 and 41 weeks' gestation (747 in the first trimester, 1008 in the second and 1126 in the third) showed that women with pre-eclampsia started pregnancy with higher blood pressure and maintained this trend despite taking aspirin (mean arterial blood pressure in women with pre-eclampsia = (0.13 × gestational age (weeks)) + 93.63, vs (0.11 × gestational age (weeks)) + 82.61 in those without; P 74 mmHg, the odds ratio for pre-eclampsia was 6.5 (95% CI, 2.8-15.1; P 125 mmHg, the odds ratio for pre-eclampsia was 9.4 (95% CI, 4.1-22.4; P < 0.001) and that for early-onset disease was 34.6 (95% CI, 4.1-296.4; P = 0.004). CONCLUSION In women treated with prophylactic aspirin from the first trimester, those who develop pre-eclampsia have significantly and sustained higher blood pressure from the onset of pregnancy compared with those who do not develop pre-eclampsia. This raises the possibility that mildly elevated blood pressure predisposes women to abnormal placentation, which then acts synergistically with elevated blood pressure to predispose such women to pre-eclampsia to a degree that is incompletely mitigated by aspirin. Copyright © 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Daily Perceptions of Relationship Quality with Leaders: Implications for Follower Well-being

We examined how a key relationship at work, an employee’s relationship with their leader, affects employee daily well-being. In a study of 129 employees across a variety of industries, we examined ...
CRT-700.15 Impact of Severity of Renal Dysfunction on 30-Day Readmission Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement with Contemporary Valves

The impact of chronic renal disease on outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is not well known. Moreover, readmission rates following TAVR have not been adequately studied in the era of contemporary newer generation valves. We aimed to evaluate the impact of moderate and
Average and Local Tg Shifts of Plasticized PVC from Simulations

The effects of plasticizers on the dynamics of polymer/plasticizer blends are practically important and theoretically interesting. Although it is well-known that plasticizers alter the glass transition of polymers, a microscopic view of the interplay between polymers and plasticizers and consequently the Tg shifts is not completely clear. In this work, we perform atomistic simulations on plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plasticized by varying concentrations of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). After validating the model by comparing simulated thermodynamic and mechanical properties with experimental values, we obtain both average and local Tg shifts from short-time segmental dynamics from data collapse. We find the average Tg determined from fast dynamics decreases substantially with increasing plasticizer concentration, consistent with volumetric Tg obtained from the temperature dependence of density. Furthermore, the local Tg reduction of PVC similarly obtained decays exponentially as a function ...
Using the Student-Edited Law Review to Teach Critical Professional Skills

At a time when law schools are being urged to add experiential learning opportunities to their curricula, law reviews may have been overlooked because the need is so obvious. Producing a journal is a professional endeavor requiring leadership by student editors who are in the process of forging their professional identity. Law schools have a responsibility to teach critical professional skills as part of the pedagogy to shape future lawyers. This article summarizes the need for law schools to provide experiential learning opportunities, unpacks the criticism faculty authors have heaped on student-led law reviews, and the describes a symposium-style training session for student editors to identify and build the leadership skills that foster the values the legal profession strives to uphold.
Borophene as a prototype for synthetic 2D materials development

The synthesis of 2D materials with no analogous bulk layered allotropes promises a substantial breadth of physical and chemical properties through the diverse structural options afforded by substrate-dependent epitaxy. However, despite the joint theoretical and experimental efforts to guide materials discovery, successful demonstrations of synthetic 2D materials have been rare. The recent synthesis of 2D boron polymorphs (that is, borophene) provides a notable example of such success. In this Perspective, we discuss recent progress and future opportunities for borophene research. Borophene combines unique mechanical properties with anisotropic metallicity, which complements the canon of conventional 2D materials. The multi-centre characteristics of boron-boron bonding lead to the formation of configurationally varied, vacancy-mediated structural motifs, providing unprecedented diversity in a mono-elemental 2D system with potential for electronic applications, chemical functionalization, materials synthesis and complex heterostructures. With its foundations in computationally guided synthesis, borophene can serve as a prototype for ongoing efforts to discover and exploit synthetic 2D materials.
Low-socioeconomic Status Students Organizing around Class on Campus:

While scholars have developed stronger understandings of challenges facing low-socioeconomic status (SES) students, there has been very little examination of students’ advocacy on their own behalve...
Intracellular Sterol Binding Proteins: Cholesterol Transport and Membrane Domains

Regulation intracellular cholesterol transport is not well understood. Part of the difficulty is that not only is the intracellular distribution of cholesterol not uniform, but even within membranes cholesterol has an asymmetric transbilayer and lateral distribution. Although both vesicular and protein mediated pathways for cholesterol movement are recognized, the role of intracellular cholesterol binding proteins in cytosolic cholesterol trafficking remains largely unresolved. Recent work from this and other laboratories demonstrates that these cholesterol binding proteins are involved in cholesterol uptake and intracellular trafficking. Immunocytochemical evidence supports the presence of significant amounts of proteins such as the sterol carrier protein-2 outside of peroxisomes.
Building design-space exploration through quasi-optimization of life cycle impacts and costs

Abstract To aid the design of buildings with lower environmental impacts, it is important to be able to rapidly compare the predicted impacts and costs of design alternatives at early stages of the design process when many influential decisions are made. At the same time, it is also important to preserve design flexibility in order to better accommodate diverse project constraints and goals. This paper presents the first use of an early-design, probabilistic life cycle assessment (LCA) method to identify and summarize the characteristics of buildings with near-optimum or “quasi-optimum” life cycle impacts and costs. Two design guidance methods are explored: sequential specification – in which influential attributes are iteratively identified and specified – and genetic optimization. The efficiency of these methods are compared using information entropy to quantify the flexibility of the probabilistic design as it is refined. Genetic optimization is found to be more efficient than sequential specification because it leads to more optimal solutions with greater flexibility. Quasi-optimum designs are identified and analyzed to determine which attributes must be specified in a particular way and which attributes have more flexible ranges to achieve a given percentage of the optimum reduction in impacts and costs. It is found that quasi-optimum designs representing 75% of these optimum reductions can be associated with a 40% increase in design flexibility over optimized designs. Twelve cases are presented that explore the influence of climate, analysis period, energy-related impact factor variability, and optimization weighting of impacts and costs on quasi-optimum designs.
Comparative effectiveness of treatment of actinic keratosis with topical fluorouracil and imiquimod in the prevention of keratinocyte carcinoma: A cohort study

Background The effectiveness of 5-fluorouracil compared with that of imiquimod for preventing keratinocyte carcinoma is unknown. Objective To compare the effectiveness of 5-fluorouracil and that of imiquimod in preventing keratinocyte carcinoma in a real-world practice setting. Methods We identified 5700 subjects who filled prescriptions for 5-fluorouracil or imiquimod for treatment of actinic keratosis in 2007. An intention-to-treat analysis controlling for potential confounding variables was used to calculate 2- and 5-year cumulative risk differences for subsequent keratinocyte carcinoma overall and in field-treated areas. Results 5-Fluorouracil was associated with a statistically significant decreased risk of any keratinocyte carcinoma compared with imiquimod (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.97), but there were no significant differences in risk by tumor subtype (for squamous cell carcinoma: aHR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.74-1.07; for basal cell carcinoma: aHR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.74-1.03) or site-specific keratinocyte carcinoma (aHR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.81-1.14). There were no significant differences in 2- or 5-year cumulative risk of keratinocyte carcinoma among those treated with 5-fluorouracil versus with imiquimod. Limitations Generalizability to other practice settings may be limited. Conclusions Whereas 5-fluorouracil was more effective in reducing keratinocyte carcinoma risk overall, we found no differences in the short- or long-term risk of subsequent site-specific keratinocyte carcinoma in a real-world practice setting.