cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Managing Phosphorus Leaching in Mid-Atlantic Soils: Importance of Legacy Sources

Application of phosphorus (P) inputs to soils saturated with legacy P can significantly increase the risk of P leaching and deteriorate water quality. Our objectives were to quantify the effect of soil type and extent of P saturation on P leaching and determine the suitability of a rapid, inexpensive soil P saturation test for use in P leaching risk assessment protocols. We collected 18 undisturbed lysimeters (30-cm diameter, 50 cm deep), using a tractor-mounted corer, from three typical mid-Atlantic soils in Delaware, where P leaching is a concern. The soils were selected on the basis of Mehlich-3 P saturation ratio (M3-PSR) of optimum ( 0.15) thresholds. Lysimeters were irrigated with the equivalent of 50 mm of water each week for a total of 16 wk. Concentrations of dissolved reactive P (DRP) and total P in leachate were not significantly different between optimum and environmental M3-PSR lysimeters before fertilizer application (Weeks 1–8). However, concentrations of DRP and total P significantly increased after fertilizer application at 85 kg P ha −1 (Weeks 9–16) in the environmental M3-PSR lysimeters. Among three soils in both M3-PSR categories, concentrations and loads of P leached were higher from the Matapeake silt loam and Pocomoke sandy loam due to preferential leaching that limited contact of flowing water and P with the soil P-fixing constituents (Fe, Al, and Ca), while P leaching was lower from Woodstown sandy loam due to matrix flow that resulted in greater interaction of water and P with the soil constituents. These results provide clear evidence of a greater risk of P leaching from P-saturated soils with preferential flow pathways and show that the M3-PSR along with information about preferential flow pathways should be used to predict the risk of P leaching.
Hypocitraturia and its role in renal stone disease.

For more than 5 0 years, low urinary citrate (hypocitraturia) has occurred in some patients with renal stones; however, only recently has more interest been generated in the role of hypocitraturia in renal stone disease and the beneficial effect of citrate therapy for the prevention and treatment of nephrolithiasis. The authors review the metabolism of citrate, the clinically relevant history of hypocitraturia, and current literature dealing with the effectiveness of citrate therapy in the management of nephrolithiasis.
The hypertrophic scar. Glycoprotein and collagen components of burn scars.

SummaryA study of the hexose hexosamine, sialic acid, uronic acid, glycogen, and collagen fractions has been made on hypertrophic scars, nonhypertrophic scars, and normal skin. Hexose, hexosamine, sialic acid, uronic acid, and glycogen levels were significantly and consistently elevated in hypertrophic scars. These same components were slightly, but significantly, higher in the nonhypertrophic scars. Salt-soluble collagen of hypertrophic scars was significantly elevated, citrate-soluble and insoluble collagen fractions were not different in the three groups. From these data it is concluded that hypertrophic scars contain more glycoprotein and mucopolysaccharide and are more active metabolically.
Analysis of serological test results of blood donators with various willingness

Objective:In order to provide basis for improving blood recruitment plan,to understand the serological test situation and the effect of blood donation ways on safety among unpaid blood donators in recent 10 years in Lanzhou.Methods: The spreadsheet data of unpaid blood donators were collected from 2002 to 2011 in Gansu red cross blood center.According to the blood donation willingness and blood donation ways,blood donators were divided into groups,individuals,friends and family mutual aid class.Then all the blood test data were carried out retrospective analysis.Results: From 2002 to 2011,the total unqualified rate of serological test was 2.48%(13234/533988),statistical significance was seen among year-to-year differences(χ2=357.129,P0.01),showing downtrend year by year.The unqualified items were anti-HCV,ALT,anti-TP,HBsAg and anti-HIV from high to low.Blood donators with various willingness exhibited different failure rates(χ2=124.258,P0.01),which was 3.77% in mutual group,higher than that in individuals(2.55%) and groups(2.15%).Conclusion: Donation willingness has certain effect on blood quality,which need more attention.
Implementing a regulation-complaint quality improvement program on a commercial laboratory information system.

Implementing a quality improvement (QI) program on an automated laboratory information system (LIS) in the current regulatory climate requires first that the QI program be defined and second that the selected LIS be able to capture important events and use flexible vendor-provided or user-defined routines to prepare reports. Reports key on specific monitors and thresholds defined in the QI program. The product of a pathology laboratory is communicated information. The QI program focuses on the accuracy, clarity and timeliness with which the whole information-generating process functions. To support peer review the LIS must be able to select reports for evaluation based on user-defined parameters, such as diagnosis keyed through Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine codes, or by random or pattern selection by accession number. Counting and review of revised reports will focus attention on accuracy and skill in communication since these indicators often reflect client satisfaction with the report. To link services--e.g., cytology with surgical pathology--the LIS must be able to gather cases from the accession lists of both services and to flag diagnostic inconsistencies. LIS transaction logging at every step in the information process allows tracking of work load, productivity and resource utilization by functional areas and by individual, thus meeting regulatory requirements. Transaction logging also provides management information, such as segmented turnaround time audits, pinpointing sources of delay by kind and location of work or individual involved. Critical data must be held on-line for at least five years.
Variance Reduction Techniques and Quasi-Monte Carlo

Computer speeds continue to increase. At the same time, the complexity and realism of simulations also continues to increase. For example, 20 replicates of the voting systems simulation in Chap. 7 involve approximately 10 million simulated voters. Currently, a standard PC requires several minutes to yield the expected worst precinct closing time estimate. In 5 years, the identical simulation might require less than a single minute. Yet, we might choose to include in the simulation details about registration process and voter demographics so that the resulting time might require more than 10 min again.
Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control

This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S). The Trajectory Recovery System (TRS) provides a stimulus \( \to \) response interaction between the pilot and the primary flight display. This display is intended to provide directly perceivable and actionable information of the aerodynamic performance state information and the requisite recovery guidance representation. In an effort to reduce cognitive tunneling, TRS mediates the interaction between pilot and aircraft display systems by deploying cognitive countermeasures that remove display representations unnecessary to the recovery task. Reported here, are the development and initial human centered design activities of a functional and integrated TRS display in a 737 flight-training device.
Network-based application-independent time-error and direct port latency measurement

A system is proposed by which a link partner on a path with known latency and asymmetry can directly observe the time error of the attached slave PTP device, including offset from master as well as ingress and egress latency on the port. A qualified system implementing the proposed solution can provide application-independent real-time network based monitoring to assess a time sensitive networks / cyber-physical system's quality of time at the monitored slave nodes.
Age validation of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) using high-resolution stable oxygen isotope (δ 18O) chronologies in otoliths

The Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) fishery in Alaska is large and economically important; in 2014 its ex-vessel value was $203.8 million. Management relies on integrated assessments that employ survey abundance trends and fishery catches as well as age compositions from assessment surveys. However, Pacific cod age determination based on otolith growth zone counts has historically been difficult, adding to the uncertainty in biological reference points. Further, a mismatch exists where modes in fish length frequencies are larger than mean lengths at otolith-based age. To address ageing inaccuracy, we conducted an age validation study using stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O). This approach is based upon the principle that variability in marine carbonate δ18O is inversely related to water temperature, which we independently verified in Pacific cod otoliths (r2 = 0.74). We sequentially microsampled 40 Pacific cod otoliths from the core to the margin and measured the aragonite δ18O by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. This provided a detailed δ18O life history chronology for each specimen. First, we identified seasonal variation (the cyclical pattern of otolith δ18O values) and determined whether the number of δ18O maxima, considered to represent “true fish age,” was consistent with the age estimated from growth zone counts. Second, we estimated the probability of bias in the ages determined from growth zone counts. Overall, the probability of assigning an age (based on the number of counted growth zones) equal to the true age (number of δ18O maxima) was approximately 61%. However, the probabilities of over- or underestimating the age by 1 year were 25% and 13%, respectively. The probability of over- or underestimating true age by 2 or more years was very low (<2%). The probability of age misclassification was used to correct bias in mean length at age.
Giant spin Hall effect and magnetotransport in a Ta/CoFeB/MgO layered structure: A temperature dependence study

Using an optimized fabrication and magnetic thermal annealing process, we have obtained a high quality \ensuremath{\beta}-Ta/CoFeB/MgO layered structure with strong spin-orbit coupling. We have studied electron transport, magnetotransport, and magnetic properties of this system over a wide temperature range between 5 and 300 K. We present the results of resistivity, magnetization, giant spin Hall effect (GSHE), perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and magnetic switching phase diagram. \ensuremath{\beta}-Ta exhibits a large spin Hall angle of 0.14, and shows evidence of spin Hall angle's scaling with resistivity quadratically. The optimized \ensuremath{\beta}-Ta/CoFeB/MgO system displays the lowest switching current density among similar systems. Our comprehensive study will benefit applications of GSHE in spintronics.
Accounting, Reporting, and Other Standards in the JOBS Act

The Securities Act of 1933 mandates that to sell or even offer to sell securities in the United States, those securities must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC. The SEC, in turn, requires security sellers (broker/dealers) to disclose a great deal of information about the company doing the selling, the company investors are buying into (not the funding portal or broker). This set of information tries to provide, comprehensively, all relevant information about the firm’s past and future prospects. This 1933 act allows certain companies to skip the registration process under a limited number of conditions. These security registration exemptions allow a firm to sell its securities if it is selling them to “accredited investors,” generally high-income, high-net-worth people. The JOBS Act changes this.
An asynchronous Quasi-Newton method for consensus optimization

We introduce the distributed Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (D-BFGS) method as an asynchronous decentralized variation of the BFGS quasi-Newton method for solving consensus optimization problems on a penalty function in the primal domain. The D-BFGS method is of interest in problems that are not well conditioned and in which second order information is not readily available, making decentralized first or second order methods ineffective. Convergence of asynchronous D-BFGS is established formally and strong performance advantages relative to other methods are shown numerically.
Composite journal rankings in library and information science: A factor analytic approach

Abstract This study uses citation data and survey data for 55 library and information science journals to identify three factors underlying a set of 11 journal ranking metrics (six citation metrics and five stated preference metrics). The three factors—three composite rankings—represent (1) the citation impact of a typical article, (2) subjective reputation, and (3) the citation impact of the journal as a whole (all articles combined). Together, they account for 77% of the common variance within the set of 11 metrics. Older journals (those founded before 1953) and nonprofit journals tend to have high reputation scores relative to their citation impact. Unlike previous research, this investigation shows no clear evidence of a distinction between the journals of greatest importance to scholars and those of greatest importance to practitioners. Neither group's subjective journal rankings are closely related to citation impact.
A model exploring whether the coupled effects of plant water supply and demand affect the interpretation of water potentials and irrigation management

Water potential is a useful predictive tool in irrigation scheduling as it, or a component, is associated with physiological responses to water deficit. Increasing atmospheric demand for water increases transpiration and decreases water potential for the same stomatal conductance. However, based on supply by the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum, decreasing soil water potential should decrease stomatal conductance and thus transpiration but also decrease water potential. Such contradictory behavior of supply and demand responses, may limit the value of water potential as an indicator of plant water status. This work studied the relationship between plant water potential and transpiration affected by supply (soil moisture) and atmospheric evaporative demand, and has implications for interpretation of water potentials and irrigation management. Results were that plant water potential has a narrow range of sensitivity to variation in supply and demand in hydrated soils, but greatly varying sensitivity in dry soils, limiting interpretation under dry conditions. Loss of soil conductance in dry, coarse soil types affects the trajectory of plant water potential response to supply and demand. Sapflow measurements on almonds indicated that variation in reference evapotranspiration and/or soil moisture deficit led to similar variation in stem water potentials to that predicted by the model. The model indicates hypotheses that with further testing may have important repercussions on the measurement of plant water use and irrigation scheduling.
Anti-VEGF therapy - a role in obesity-related breast cancer.

Obesity increases the risk of breast cancer and decreases the survival of patients with breast cancer, particularly for postmenopausal, oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. New findings now add to the evidence for the detrimental effects of obesity in patients with breast cancer by showing that obesity can cause resistance to therapy.
Solving Vertex Cover via Ising Model on a Neuromorphic Processor

Neuromorphic architectures are characterized by a network of asynchronous computation units that resemble the behavior of neurons in the brain. With much interest devoted to how these architectures can be utilized in learning and intelligent systems, we note that the massive parallelism of neuromorphic architectures can also be leveraged to solve some NP problems more efficiently than on a von Neumann architecture. In this work, we demonstrate how a neuromorphic processor can be used to solve the classic vertex cover problem via an Ising spin model. Mapping the Ising model to a neural architecture itself requires solving two NP-hard problems at initialization, for which we use approximate solutions. The maximum fan-in and fan-out constraint, common on many neuromorphic processors, requires a graph partitioning, and solving the time-dependency constraints in updating the graph amounts to a graph coloring problem. As a result, space and time efficiency is decreased only by a constant factor without degrading solution quality.
The neuroscience of self-efficacy: vertically integrated leisure theory and its implications for theory-based programming.

The purpose of this paper is to explain and establish a link between social-psychological and biological explanations of self-efficacy theory. Specifically, the paper uses a hypothetical rock climbing program to illustrate how a practitioner could enhance the four sources of self-efficacious beliefs (enactive attainment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological state), in a way that would increase the likelihood of releasing four risk/reward brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin) while decreasing the likelihood of releasing the stress hormone cortisol. By understanding and applying self-efficacy theory at the social-psychological and biological levels—a process called vertical integration—practitioners could improve program implementation and evaluation, thereby enhancing the overall outcomes of their programs. Furthermore, adoption of a vertically integrated self-efficacy theory could help bridge the research–practice gap.Subscribe to JOREL
Materials for Large Space Optics

Materials are compared on the basis of their ability to minimize static, thermal and dynamic load induced deflections at the center of a large spherical mirror segment or panel. The analysis considers a 0,5m diameter mirror in two environmerits expected in space applications: (A) low incident radiation and low operating temperature (150°K) and (B) high incident radiation, moderate operating temperature (350°K). Although the analysis permits examination of various geometrical and loading parameters, the chief objective has been to compare twelve promising mirror construction materials, including composites, glasses, ceramics and alloys. Fused silica and carbon/graphite are prime candidates for type A and B environmerits, respectively. The ranking of the materials is sensitive to local variations in thermal expansion coefficients, possible actuator compensation for thickness changes and/or improvemerits in properties perpendicular to the mirror plane. Additional considerations in the choice of mirror materials are also discussed.
Anorganic bovine bone and ceramic analogs of bone mineral as implants to facilitate bone regeneration

A number of approaches have directed toward the development of a substance that can substitute for allogeneic bone for grafting procedures. Synthetic HA ceramic materials are limited in being able to serve as analogs of bone mineral for use as implants to facilitate bone regeneration. HA ceramics do not replicate the chemistry and crystalline structure of natural bone mineral. An alternative approach has been to deorganify bovine bone to produce bone mineral in forms that can be employed as implants.
Generating Quadratic Pseudo-Anosov Homeomorphisms of Closed Surfaces

In this note, we show that given a closed, orientable genus-g surface Sg, any hyperbolic toral automorphism has a positive power which induces a quadratic, orientable pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism on Sg. To show this, we lift Anosov toral automorphisms through a ramified topological covering and present the lifted homeomorphism via a standard set of Lickorish twists. This construction provides a general method of producing pseudo-Anosov maps of closed surfaces with predetermined orientable foliations and quadratic dilatation. Since these lifted automorphisms have orientable foliations, this construction is a sort of converse to that of Franks and Rykken [Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 1999], who established that one can associate to a quadratic pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism with oriented unstable foliation a hyperbolic toral automorphism.
Xylanases from the fungal maize pathogen Cochliobolus carbonum.

The fungal pathogen Cochliobolus carbonum secreted xylanase into the culture medium when grown on xylan or isolated maize cell walls. When the fungus was grown on maize cell walls, sucrose at 0·2% stimulated xylanase production but at 0·8% or above completely suppressed production. The activity could be assayed by either reduction in viscosity of a xylan solution or by the release of reducing sugars from xylan. One major and two minor xylanase enzymes were resolved by cation exchange high pressure liquid chromatography. The major enzyme, xylanase I, was purified 28-fold to homogeneity by ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The three xylanases had Mrs by sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis of 22000 to 24000 but by gel filtration behaved as molecules of Mr 8500. All three xylanases had pIs of greater than 9·3 and cleaved xylan in an endo manner. While all three were optimally active at pH 5·0. they differed in their activity above pH 5·5. The activity of xylanase I was fully maintained between pH 4·0 and 8·0. However, the activity of the minor xylanase II and to a lesser extent the minor xylanase III dropped at pH 6·0 and above. Xylanase I was digested with trypsin and the resulting peptides separated and sequenced. One peptide of nine residues showed 89% identity to four bacterial endo-xylanases.
POTENTIAL DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE HEARTS OF PRIMATES ARISING FROM 60 Hz LIMB-TO-LIMB BODY CURRENTS

ABSTRACT A series of in vivo invasive tests were conducted on baboons to develop a noninvasive way of determining the electric fields or current densities near the human heart arising from 60 Hz body currents. An electrode in the form of a catheter was implanted in the heart of a baboon and the potential of this electrode was compared to the potential of other electrodes implanted on the surface of the baboon's thorax. A four-probe resistance measurement method was also used to develop the differential resistivity in various portions of the thorax. The current densities were developed from the electric fields and differential resistivity measurements. Several different limb-to-limb 60 Hz current flow conditions were used. Electrodes on the surface of the chest directly adjacent to the heart (just above the heart if the primate is lying flat) were found to be nearly identical in potential with the heart catheter electrode for 60 Hz currents flowing through the body. The noninvasive, four-probe method was also confirmed in tests on baboons which allowed development of the gross resistivity and calculation of current density. These findings are highly significant inasmuch as current densities and potential gradients in the immediate vicinity of the human and test animal hearts can now be approximately developed by noninvasive measurements made on the surface of the thorax. This method might also permit a more scientific extrapolation of test results conducted on nonhuman animals (such as quadrupeds) to the human situation.
Effects of Coping and Noncoping with Stressful Events on the Immune System

All men and animals are continuously exposed to stressful events (stressors) which can affect and change the homeostasis of an organism. A change in homeostasis is usually called stress. Although man must have encountered stressful events and experienced stress from prehistoric times, a scientific concept of stress did not emerge until relatively late in history. Milestones in early stress research include the recognition of the “milieu interior” by C. Bernard as well as the response of the sympathetic-adrenal medullary system (epinephrine) by W.B. Cannon (1) and that of the pituitary-adrenal cortical system (steroids) by H. Selye (2) to stressful events.
RESIN QUALITY AS A FACTOR IN THE RESISTANCE OF PINES TO BARK BEETLES

ABSTRACT Early work, particularly that of Person, Miller, and Callaham, is reviewed. The California Pine Risk Rating System and oleoresin exudation pressure studies are briefly covered. Recent studies on toxicity of resins to adult bark beetles are reviewed in more detail. Lack of definitive procedures prevent conclusions on stomach and contact toxicity, though feeding seems to be reduced or inhibited after contact with nonhost resin. Suitable procedures were developed to determine toxicity of resin vapors to adult bark beetles. Results indicate an association of resin vapor toxicity with the host specificity of Dendroctonus brevicomis D., monticolae, and D. jeffreyi . Resin vapors of hybrids of host X nonhost pines usually were toxic to, or inhibited the feeding of, adult beetles. A difference was found between broods of D. brevicomis in their reaction to resin vapors. Three recent studies suggest that intraspecific variation in monoterpene composition might be a factor in resistance: (a) The monoterpenes of ponderosa pine differ in their vapor toxicity to adult D. brevicomis ; (b) a difference was indicated in the monoterpene composition between unattacked ponderosa pines and those fatally attacked by D. brevicomis ; (c) a wide range was found in the monoterpene composition of ponderosa pine.
Designing digital circuits for FPGAs using parallel genetic algorithms (WIP)

Multicore processors are becoming common whereas current genetic algorithm-based implementation techniques for synthesizing Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuits do not fully exploit this hardware trend. Genetic Algorithm (GA) based techniques are known to optimize multiple objectives, and automate the process of digital circuit design. In this paper, parallel GA algorithms are proposed for the synthesis of digital circuits for LUT-based FPGA architectures. Parallel modes of the GA such as Master-Slave and the Island model are compared to see which scheme results in better speedup and quicker convergence for effective utilization of current multicore hardware. Speedup of about five over the sequential single-threaded implementation is achieved with both the schemes on a six-core machine. Convergence is also found in fewer number of generations. The methods described here-in can be employed in Evolvable Hardware Systems as well as FPGA CAD tools.
Understanding the Benefits of Urban Density

A denser and more compact city increases efficiencies in urban infrastructure and services through shorter distribution networks. Higher density cities encourage reduced transit through shorter trip lengths, since most amenities and public transport are more closely located. Can we reverse the impact of urban sprawl?
How to Have an Intelligent Conversation About Digital Conversion: Advice for Curators

ABSTRACT This article provides advice to curators and reference staff on how to discuss digital conversion projects that include Slavic materials with technical staff who will implement the project.
Books Across Borders: Translation and Cheap Books

This chapter explores UNESCO’s approaches to encouraging the growth of a global market of affordable, appealing, and informational books in a broader spectrum of languages. It sought to establish a global, collaborative, quality translation program, including through its Catalogue of Representative Works and publication of what originally was a League of Nations periodical, the Index Translationum. UNESCO also encouraged the production and publication of affordable and appealing books modeled on the groundbreaking example of the mass market series produced beginning between the wars by publishers such as Penguin and Modern Library. A second path to making books more affordable led to UNESCO’s foray into official conversations regarding international tariff, customs, and transportation regulations regarding the movement of books and other printed materials.
Using a Computer-Based Strategy to Teach Self-Advocacy Skills to Middle School Students With Disabilities:

We examined the effects of a computer-based strategy to develop self-advocacy skills for 15 middle school students with mild and moderate disabilities. A pre- and posttest experimental design with ...
Solid-state hydrogen rich boron–nitrogen compounds for energy storage

Boron compounds have a rich history in energy storage applications, ranging from high energy fuels for advanced aircraft to hydrogen storage materials for fuel cell applications. In this review we cover some of the aspects of energy storage materials comprised of electron-poor boron materials combined with electron-rich nitrogen elements with the goal of moderate temperature release of hydrogen. The parent compounds of ammonium borohydride, ammonia borane, and diammoniate of diborane provide approaches for storing high gravimetric and volumetric densities of hydrogen. Here we provide a review with a historical perspective and current developments in the area of solid state B and N containing compounds. This review highlights developments in synthesis of ammonia borane and its derivatives over the last 80 years. Thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen release in the solid state are discussed. By changing either substituents on the boron and nitrogen atoms or the physical environment by embedding in mesoporous scaffolds, the thermodynamics can be modified to reduce the exothermicity of hydrogen release and minimize formation of volatile impurities. Several mechanistic studies are reviewed identifying the key distinctions between homopolar and heteropolar H2 release. Strategies for economical and efficient regeneration of the hydrogen storage materials via chemical transformation are critically reviewed. The limited efficiency of these chemical regeneration has limited some of the potential applications.
Patterns of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) establishment in wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana) understories.

Ecosystem community structure and function is shaped in part by intra- and inter-specific interactions among plants. Facilitative interactions, wherein one plant benefits another's fitness, can strongly influence plant community dynamics. We investigated the potential of an endemic, perennial bunchgrass, wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana), to function as a nurse plant for longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) seedlings in fire-maintained pine savannas of the southeastern U.S.A. We documented significantly more pine seedlings growing close to established wiregrass bunchgrasses in a site burned one year prior to sampling. Pine seedlings growing close to wiregrass were also significantly taller than those growing further away. This positive spatial association between wiregrass and pine seedlings suggests that wiregrass facilitates early longleaf pine establishment in flatwoods environments, at least within the first year after fire.
Rapid Application Development (RAD) model method for creating an agricultural irrigation system based on internet of things

The development of the internet of things has penetrated in several lines, including in agriculture. To respond to the development of this IoT requires rapid technological adaptation as well. To build a system quickly, one can utilize the Rapid Application Development (RAD) method. RAD is a model that allows non-experts to benefit from high-performance computing, while allowing expert programmers to take full advantage of the underlying hardware. This enables rapid prototyping, retargeting, and reuse of existing software, while allowing hardware-specific optimization if needed. The RAD system emphasizes the fast development cycle that is designed and high-quality results from other methods such as waterfall, agile, scrum and others. The system was built using the minimum NodeMCU system with the help of a soil moisture sensor. The use of the RAD method in building an IoT-based agricultural irrigation system gives good results in testing all functions and equipment controls. The average delay level on testing IoT devices is around 4.6 seconds so that the RAD method can be used as a reference in the construction of an IoT-based system.
Bolus versus continuous feedings following treatment for medical necrotizing enterocolitis.

Background Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious, often fatal, disease of neonates. Minimal data exists regarding the optimal method for reintroducing feeds after successful treatment. This study aims to compare outcomes in patients reintroduced to bolus or continuous feeds after treatment for medical NEC. Methods A retrospective review of infants treated for medical NEC in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from 2011-2018 was performed. Demographics, information about initial feeds, clinical diagnosis data, and information about reintroduction of feeds were recorded. Patients with significant congenital heart disease or those who required procedures for treatment were excluded. Results Sixty-one patients were analyzed; 45 were reintroduced to bolus feeds and 16 to continuous feeds. There were no differences between the two groups. Bolus-fed patients reached goal feeds quicker (p = 0.007), required fewer days of parenteral nutrition (p = 0.002), had shorter hospital stays (p = 0.013) and were discharged faster from diagnosis to discharge (p = 0.002). Differences were confirmed with multivariate regression. Conclusion Infants given bolus feeds reached goal feeds faster, required less time on PN, and were discharged quicker than those fed continuously. This suggests that, compared to continuous feeding, bolus feeding is associated with superior clinical outcomes among patients treated for medical NEC.
2021 Internet Perspectives

Four and half years ago, Erik Nygren posted a blog at Akamai [1] on the likelihood that IPv6-only mobile networks might drive IPv6 deployment. So far, that speculation has not proven dispositive, but a 5G initiative toward IPv6-only could mark a turning point. Six months ago, Geoff Huston, chief scientist of APNIC, published an in-depth evaluation of the state of IPv6 play in the Internet [2]. Despite a number of attempts to stimulate IPv6 provision, it is still on average only about 30 percent available on a global scale although this can vary from 0 percent to 100 percent depending on which Internet Service Provider is considered. Of course, access to IPv6 can depend on local router implementation, to say nothing of Wi-Fi access points and end-user equipment configuration. Most end-user devices are equipped to use IPv6 if an address is assigned, but whether that assignment takes place and whether traffic is successfully routed to its intended destination depends a great deal on what happens in between.
Urinary excretion of pregnanediol after intravenous administration of progesterone in threatened abortion.

Abstract 1. 1. Twenty-one women were rapidly given 200 mg. of progesterone intravenously and the per cent of urinary pregnanediol recovered at various intervals was recorded. Four of these patients were not pregnant and 17 were pregnant. Of the 17 pregnant patients, 13 exhibited symptoms and signs of threatened abortion at the time the drug was administered. 2. 2. Urinary pregnanediol excretion in control specimens showed less excretion in the nonpregnant than in the pregnant women. However, women with threatened abortion who either retained the pregnancy or did not abort within two weeks of the determination had a higher average excretion than the woman with normal pregnancies. 3. 3. About 9 per cent of the progesterone was converted to pregnanediol. The nonpregnant patients converted more than the pregnant ones. The more progesterone converted to pregnanediol, the less likely the patient was to abort. An explanation for these results is presented. 4. 4. Conversion of progesterone to pregnanediol is still taking place in most instances 48 hours after injection. 5. 5. Abortion occurred in 64.2 per cent of the patients with diagnoses of threatened abortion. 6. 6. In our hands pregnanediol excretion and per cent of progesterone conversion are not useful tools for predicting abortion, or for determining which patients need progesterone therapy to prevent abortion. 7. 7. Progesterone administration is probably of value in a small number of patients with threatened abortion, but should be used in doses of 100 mg. per day or more, and continued only if there is clinical improvement.
Reclaim Your Practice, Reclaim Your Life

Do you procrastinate on a regular basis?Feel trapped in your practice?Or, too often remain disengaged from your loved ones?Such common problems for lawyers result from long-term dysfunctional patterns of behavior. Among these behaviors are skill deficits that concerned work overload, time famine, and maintaining healthy relationships. The deficits eventually lead to greater career dissatisfaction, and an abandonment of intrinsic motivation and personal values. As a result, lawyers then develop clinically high levels of depression and alcohol abuse. Many also suffer from chronically elevated levels of hostility, cynicism and aggression. The data have shown that being plagued by such conditions during the practice of law can lead to a lower survival rate (a shorter life). How can your regain your perspective and act congruently toward long held values that were subsumed by the practice of law? What can you do to maximize your health and well-being, and minimize the possibility that you will suffer from depression, problem drinking, or other emotional or psychological distress? The article describes how to reclaim you life.
A Genetic Analysis of Sow Productivity Traits

Genetic and phenotypic parameters for sow productivity traits were derived from analyses of records for 999 purebred Duroc and Yorkshire litters at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Included were 682 spring-farrowed litters and 317 fall-farrowed litters. Primary traits examined were number of pigs born alive in the litter (NA), litter size at 21 d of age (N21), litter weight at 21 d (W21) and an index (I21) combining the three traits. Also analyzed were total number of pigs farrowed alive or stillborn, litter weight of pigs born alive and litter size and litter weight at 42 d of age (weaning). Selection was based mainly on the sow productivity index among litters in the spring season and mainly on performance traits among fall-farrowed pigs. Select and control lines were maintained in both breeds in both seasons. Yorkshires started at higher levels of productivity than Durocs in spring 1975, showed more fluctuation and ended in spring 1982 at about their starting levels. Durocs started at lower productivity levels and recorded generally significant increases by 1982, with comparable selection differentials for the two breeds. Heritabilities, estimated from daughter-biparental (mid-dam, paternal granddam) regressions using records expressed as deviations from contemporary breed-line means, varied widely among the breed-line groups. Suggested composite heritability estimates were 5, 10 and 20% for NA, N21 and W21, respectively. Genetic correlations, computed from daughter-biparental covariances, were high and positive (.7 or above) among all traits. Based on estimated genetic gains, it was proposed that W21, alone or in combination with N21 and(or) NA in an index, be used as the primary selection criterion to bring about genetic improvement in sow productivity traits.
Minimum distribution of subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the U.S. Beaufort Sea continental shelf

[1] Starting in Late Pleistocene time (∼19 ka), sea level rise inundated coastal zones worldwide. On some parts of the present-day circum-Arctic continental shelf, this led to flooding and thawing of formerly subaerial permafrost and probable dissociation of associated gas hydrates. Relict permafrost has never been systematically mapped along the 700-km-long U.S. Beaufort Sea continental shelf and is often assumed to extend to ∼120 m water depth, the approximate amount of sea level rise since the Late Pleistocene. Here, 5,000 km of multichannel seismic (MCS) data acquired between 1977 and 1992 were examined for high-velocity (>2.3 km s−1) refractions consistent with ice-bearing, coarse-grained sediments. Permafrost refractions were identified along <5% of the tracklines at depths of ∼5 to 470 m below the seafloor. The resulting map reveals the minimum extent of subsea ice-bearing permafrost, which does not extend seaward of 30 km offshore or beyond the 20 m isobath.
The Power of the Myth of Self-Interest

Self-interest is the cardinal human motive, or so many of the most influential theories of human behavior would have us believe. Theories as diverse as evolutionary biology, neo-classical economics, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis all assume that people actively and single-mindedly pursue their self-interest, whether it be embodied in reproductive fitness, utility maximization, reinforcement, or wish fulfillment (Schwartz, 1986). On the other hand, much of the most interesting social science research of the last twenty years points to inadequacy of self-interest models of behavior (for reviews, see Batson, 1991; Etzioni, 1988; Kohn, 1990; Lerner, 1980; Mansbridge, 1990; Sears & Funk, 1990; Sen, 1977; Tyler & Dawes, 1993). We now know that people often care more about the fairness of the procedures they are subjected to than about the material outcomes these procedures yield (Tyler, 1990), that they often care more about their group’s collective outcomes than about their personal outcomes (Dawes, van de Kragt & Orbell, 1988), and that their attitudes toward public policies are often shaped more by their values and ideologies than by the impact these policies have on their material well-being (Sears & Funk, 1990).
A 14-b 32 MS/s pipelined ADC with fast convergence comprehensive background calibration

This paper presents the first aggressively calibrated 14-b 32 MS/s pipelined ADC. The design uses a comprehensive digital background calibration engine that compensates for linear and nonlinear errors as well as capacitor mismatch in multi-bit DAC. Background calibration techniques that estimate the errors by correlating the output of ADC with the calibration signal have a very slow convergence rate. This paper also presents a fully digital technique to speed up the convergence in the error estimation procedure. By digitally filtering the input signal during the error estimation, the convergence rate of the calibration has been improved significantly. Implemented in TSMC 0.25 μm technology, the pipelined ADC consumes 75 mA from 2.5 V and occupies 2.8 mm2 of active area. Measurement results show that calibration significantly improved dynamic (SNDR, SFDR) as well as static (DNL, INL) performance of the ADC.
Fast "Wittig-like" reactions as a consequence of the inorganic enamine effect.

The tungsten alkylidyne [CF3–ONO]W≡CC(CH3)3(THF)2 (3) {where CF3–ONO = (MeC6H3[C(CF3)2O])2N3–} supported by a trianionic pincer-type ligand demonstrates enhanced nucleophilicity in unusually fast “Wittig-like” reactions. Experiments are designed to provide support for an inorganic enamine effect that is the origin of the enhanced nucleophilicity. Treating complex 3 with various carbonyl-containing substrates provides tungsten-oxo-vinyl complexes upon oxygen atom transfer. The rates of reactivity of 3 are compared with the known alkylidyne (DIPP)3W≡CC(CH3)3 (DIPP = 2,6-diisopropylphenoxide). In all cases (except acetone), complex 3 exhibits significantly faster overall rates than (DIPP)3W≡CC(CH3)3. New oxo-vinyl complexes are characterized by NMR, combustion analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Treating 3 with acid chlorides provides the tungsten oxo chloride species [CF3–ONO]W(O)Cl (4) and disubstituted alkynes. In the case of acetone the oxo-vinyl complex results in two rotational isomers 10syn...
Molecular Detection and Identification of Bartonella Species in Xenopsylla cheopis Fleas (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) Collected from Rattus norvegicus Rats in Los Angeles, California

Of 200 individual Xenopsylla cheopis fleas removed from Rattus norvegicus rats trapped in downtown Los Angeles, CA, 190 (95%) were positive for the presence of Bartonella DNA. Ninety-one amplicons were sequenced: Bartonella rochalimae-like DNA was detected in 66 examined fleas, and Bartonella tribocorum-like DNA was identified in 25 fleas. The data obtained from this study demonstrate an extremely high prevalence of Bartonella DNA in rat-associated fleas.
Dynamic Simulation on a Broken Test of Conductors

Abstract Dynamic simulation on the broken conductors for an experimental line section under different load cases was carried out. A finite element model of three span conductors was established in the general software ANSYS. The broken load case can be realized by the birth-death element method in ANSYS. The damping coefficients by the experimental identification were applied to the FEA model. Effect of the damping property of the conductors was considered by the Rayleigh damping method. Dynamic responses of the tensions of the conductors were obtained. Both the residual static tensions and the first peak tensions by the numerical simulations were well agreed with the experimental values. The impact effect is more significant for the location nearer to the broken point. The dynamic impact factors decrease with the increasing of the ice thickness, and the impact factors of conductors without accreted ice are much higher than those of conductors with accreted ice.
Mediastinal lymph node detection on thoracic CT scans using spatial prior from multi-atlas label fusion

Lymph nodes play an important role in clinical practice but detection is challenging due to low contrast surrounding structures and variable size and shape. We propose a fully automatic method for mediastinal lymph node detection on thoracic CT scans. First, lungs are automatically segmented to locate the mediastinum region. Shape features by Hessian analysis, local scale, and circular transformation are computed at each voxel. Spatial prior distribution is determined based on the identification of multiple anatomical structures (esophagus, aortic arch, heart, etc.) by using multi-atlas label fusion. Shape features and spatial prior are then integrated for lymph node detection. The detected candidates are segmented by curve evolution. Characteristic features are calculated on the segmented lymph nodes and support vector machine is utilized for classification and false positive reduction. We applied our method to 20 patients with 62 enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. The system achieved a significant improvement with 80% sensitivity at 8 false positives per patient with spatial prior compared to 45% sensitivity at 8 false positives per patient without a spatial prior.
A cephalometric study of 32 North American black patients with anterior open bite

The purpose of this research project was to investigate a group of 32 North American black patients with anterior open bite and compare them to the North American black norms established by Altemus and Drummond and to white population norms established by Steiner. In addition, values were established for black patients by use of the overbite depth indicator of Kim. The method involved the tracing of lateral cephalometric radiographs of 32 patients with anterior open bite using the analyses of Tweed, Steiner, and Kim. The resulting angles were added and the means and standard deviations calculated. On the basis of the criteria used for this study, the significant findings were as follows: (1) the maxilla was normally positioned to the cranial base; (2) the upper and lower incisors were procumbent with an acute interincisal relationship; (3) the mandibular position tended to be retrusive to the cranial base; (4) the lower facial height was greater and the mandibular plane angle (GoGn-SN) was smaller than white population standards; and (5) the overbite depth indicator of Kim was smaller for this group than for the white population studied.