cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gain uniformity, linearity, saturation, and depletion in gated microchannel-plate x-ray framing cameras

The pulsed characteristics of gated, stripline configuration microchannel-plate (MCP) detectors used in X-ray framing cameras deployed on laser plasma experiments worldwide are examined in greater detail. The detectors are calibrated using short (20 ps) and long (500 ps) pulse X-ray irradiation and 3--60 ps, deep UV (202 and 213 nm), spatially-smoothed laser irradiation. Two-dimensional unsaturated gain profiles show < 5% percent long-range transverse variations but up to 3 dB/cm drop in gain parallel to the pulse propagation direction. Up to 50% gain enhancements due to voltage reflection from the bends of a meander stripline geometry and from the ends of conventional straight striplines are also observed. Reproducible gate profiles are obtained with either picosecond X-ray or UV bursts and FWHM extracted with 3 picosecond accuracy. A novel single-shot method for measuring local gate propagation speeds using a tilted MCP is also demonstrated. Detailed output versus input studies indicate a linear dynamic range of 300. At higher irradiances, the gradual transition from linear behavior to hard saturation is gathered over a range of 10{sup 5} in irradiation and fitted using a discrete dynode model. Finally, a pump-probe experiment quantifying for the first time long-suspected gain depletion by strong localized irradiation wasmore » performed. The mechanism for the extra voltage and hence gain degradation is shown to be associated with intense MCP irradiation in the presence of the voltage pulse, at a fluence at least an order of magnitude above that necessary for saturation. Results obtained for both constant pump area and constant pump fluence are presented. The data are well modeled by calculating the instantaneous electrical energy loss due to the intense charge extraction at the pump site and then recalculating the gain downstream at the probe site given the pump-dependent degradation in voltage amplitude.« less
Pathophysiology and management of urinary incontinence in case of distal penile epispadias.

Purpose: We evaluated boys with distal epispadias and urinary incontinence to determine the cause, and designed a simplified bladder neck reconstruction to restore urinary continence.Materials and Methods: Six boys with epispadias of the glans or distal penile shaft whose incontinence persisted after successful single stage epispadias repair were evaluated with cystoscopy and urodynamics after failed attempts at toilet training. Surgical management—simplified bladder neck reconstruction—involved suprapubic excision of an identified deformity of the roof of the bladder neck and posterior urethra, followed by reapproximation of the remaining normal bladder neck and posterior urethral tissues.Results: All boys displayed a characteristic deformity of the roof of the bladder neck and posterior urethra, which extended distally through the membranous urethral sphincter toward the urethral meatus. Five of the 6 boys were treated surgically, and promptly achieved normal continence and urinary control that remained...
Approximate Bayesian Predictive Distributions and Model Selection

Abstract An observation is assumed to arise from one of k models that may depend on parameters. A prior distribution is specified by assigning probabilities to each of the models and by assigning probability densities to the parameters of each model. If an approximate prior distribution is used, the predictive distribution of a future observation will be approximate. Bounds on the error in the predictive distribution are derived from bounds on the error in the prior distribution. A method for selecting a vague prior distribution for the parameters of each of the k models is given.
Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Food and Nutrition for Older Adults: Promoting Health and Wellness

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that all Americans aged 60 years and older receive appropriate nutrition care; have access to coordinated, comprehensive food and nutrition services; and receive the benefits of ongoing research to identify the most effective food and nutrition programs, interventions, and therapies. Health, physiologic, and functional changes associated with the aging process can influence nutrition needs and nutrient intake. The practice of nutrition for older adults is no longer limited to those who are frail, malnourished, and ill. The population of adults older than age 60 years includes many individuals who are living healthy, vital lives with a variety of nutrition-related circumstances and environments. Access and availability of wholesome, nutritious food is essential to ensure successful aging and well-being for the rapidly growing, heterogeneous, multiracial, and ethnic population of older adults. To ensure successful aging and minimize the effects of disease and disability, a wide range of flexible dietary recommendations, culturally sensitive food and nutrition services, physical activities, and supportive care tailored to older adults are necessary. National, state, and local strategies that promote access to coordinated food and nutrition services are essential to maintain independence, functional ability, disease management, and quality of life. Those working with older adults must be proactive in demonstrating the value of comprehensive food and nutrition services. To meet the needs of all older adults, registered dietitians and dietetic technicians, registered, must widen their scope of practice to include prevention, treatment, and maintenance of health and quality of life into old age.
Cloud based passive building occupancy characterization for attack and disaster response

In the moments following natural disasters and terrorist attacks, rescue personnel are often deployed to evacuate all occupants from commercial buildings with hundreds, if not, thousands of tenants. Without a comprehensive estimate of the building occupancy, the rescue personnel are subjected to great risk with little assurance that a given search area is populated. As cloud based computing becomes more ubiquitous, commercial building occupants are utilizing cloud based solutions for managing work schedules. Consequently, the opportunity exists to exploit these whole building occupant schedules to infer occupancy levels throughout the building. In addition, when combined with data from directional passive infrared sensors, and a knowledge of the number of mobile users on Wi-Fi access points, the occupancy profiles can be adjusted based on actively sensed occupancy. This paper discusses an Inferred Occupancy Characterization (IOC) Architecture, which aims to effectively determine occupancy levels within various zones of a multi-zone structure.
The screening of endovesicular reactions by cholesterol

Abstract Hydroxide ion cleavage of p -nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate occurs at exovesicular and endovesicular sites of dihexadecyldimethylammonium ion vesicles. The endovesicular reaction can be eliminated upon alteration of the vesicle's permeability to hydroxide ions by the incorporation of cholesterol.
Collaborative systems: Evolving databases and the “conditions of possibility” - artificial life models of agency in on-line interactive art

This paper will discuss interactive on-line artworks modelled on cellular automata that employ various types of agents, both algorithmic and human, to assist in the evolution of their databases. These works constitute what will here be referred to as "Collaborative Systems" systems that evolve through the practice of inter-authorship.
Growth of radiation-induced lymphoid tumor grafts in hypophysectomized C57BL mice.

SummaryRadiation-induced lymphoid tumor grafts were able to take and grow progressively in young hypophysectomized C57BL mice. The rate of tumor growth was significantly diminished in the hypophysectomized animals. Factors influencing tumor growth have been discussed.
Recurrent hyphema secondary to anterior chamber lens implant

Ultrasound biomicroscopy, a high frequency ultrasound imaging device, allows high resolution images of the anterior segment. We report a case of recurrent hyphema secondary to anterior chamber lens implant. Corneal edema precluded visualization of the angle and lens haptic, and B-scan ultrasound provided no information about the lens implant. In contrast, ultrasound biomicroscopy precisely located the superior haptic and revealed that it was deeply embedded within the ciliary body.
Critical Care Medicine

Shock and multiple organ system failure are 2 of the most common and important problems in the intensive care unit (ICU). When tissue oxygen supply decreases in certain forms of shock, increased oxygen extraction occurs to maintain oxygen consumption. If shock continues unabated, oxygen delivery becomes inadequate and anaerobic metabolism ensues, with lactic acidosis. After this critical point, oxygen consumption is said to be delivery-dependent. The blood lactate level correlates well with the degree of perfusion failure and reflects the oxygen debt. In shock due to trauma, hypovolemia, or hemorrhage, it has long been recognized that rapid and aggressive resuscitation results in quicker repayment of this oxygen debt and improved outcome. Some critically ill patients, notably those with trauma or sepsis, are hypermetabolic and may require higher levels of oxygen delivery to maintain oxidative metabolism. Accordingly, it has been hypothesized that increasing oxygen delivery to supranormal levels may be beneficial.
Coherent Acoustic Oscillations of Nanorods Composed of Various Metals

Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy has been used to characterize coherent acoustic oscillations for a series of nanorods composed of a variety of metals. The nanorods are produced by electrochemical synthesis in polycarbonate templates with several pore diameters of 25). The measurements extend our previous studies on Au, Ni, and Pd (Sando, G. M.; et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2007, 127, 074705) as well as Al nanorods (Pomfret, M. B.; et al. Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 5945) to include those composed of Ag, Cu, Pt, Fe, Rh, and Co. The acoustic breathing mode periods measured are consistent with those predicted based on classical elastic theory using the bulk speeds of sound. The phase and damping of the oscillations are discussed in terms of the nanorod structures and excitation mechanisms.
Secondary MGUS after autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation in plasma cell myeloma: a matter of undetermined significance

Plasma cell myeloma, characterized by clonally aberrant plasma cells that produce abnormal monoclonal Igs, is the most common indication for autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (AHPCT) in North America. We observed appearance of new monoclonal gammopathies different from the original protein in the post-AHPCT setting and termed this condition 'secondary MGUS' (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance). Hence, we performed a retrospective, single institution review of serum protein electrophoresis/immunofixation electrophoresis data in 92 AHPCT recipients from the period 2000-2009. In all, 22 of 92 patients (24%) undergoing AHPCT met criteria for secondary MGUS. Contrary to previous studies, often referred to as 'abnormal protein banding,' we did not observe this condition as a favorable prognostic indicator in affected patients when compared with the control group (P=0.686). However, we did note that a subgroup of the study cohort who developed secondary MGUS after a prolonged latency (>10 months) had an improved median OS compared with the remainder of the study cohort (75 months vs 41 months, P=0.005). As there have been significant advancements in understanding the pathobiology and clinical significance of MGUS, we believe that secondary MGUS merits dedication of resources for investigation to determine its true clinical relevance, prognostic value and pathophysiology.
A simple conceptual model for the Internet topology

In this paper, we develop a conceptual visual model for the Internet inter-domain topology. Recently, power-laws were used to describe the topology concisely. Despite their success, the power-laws do not help us visualize the topology, ie, draw the topology on paper by hand. In this paper, we deal with the following questions: can we identify a hierarchy in the Internet; how can I represent the network in an abstract graphical way? The focus of this paper is threefold. First, we characterize nodes using three metrics of topological "importance"', which we later use to identify a sense of hierarchy. Second, we identify some new topological properties. We then find that the Internet has a highly connected core and identify layers of nodes in decreasing importance surrounding the core. Finally, we show that our observations suggest an intuitive model. The topology can be seen as a jellyfish, where the core is in the middle of the cap, and one-degree nodes form its legs.
A Hierarchical Model for Kevlar Fiber Failure

Advances in materials characterization at the submicron and the nano-scales have progressed in the last decade. At the same time, computational capability for finite element analyses are also improving through technological developments in parallel computing. However, large computational models of nanostructured materials are currently limited by the lack of validation data. The work reported in this paper describes the formulation of a representative nanoscale model for Kevlar fibers based on failure section imaging that captures its fibril and microfibril structure. In this regard, a finite element model that captures the nanoscale structure of Kevlar fibers was developed to predict their macroscale response. Experimental derivation of geometrical parameters and physical properties of fibrils and microfibrils is challenging due to the sensitive nature of polymers. There are several microfibril parameters that reflect into effective fiber response, such as the microfibril constitutive behavior, length, diameter, shape, the inter-fibril shear and normal strength, and the inter-fibril normal and tangential force decay the after peak strength is achieved. This paper investigates the effect of each of the aforementioned parameters on the initial modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength, and strain rate dependence of Kevlar fibers with 10 μm average diameter. The sensitivity of the macroscale response to each microfibril parameter can be used to identify areas where experimental information can further enable the predictive capability of the computational model. A parametric study was performed to calculate the effective macroscale fiber response. Subsequently, a local gradient sensitivity method was employed to plot the sensitivity of the fiber response to each microfibril parameter.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Prostaglandin F2α stimulation of cyclooxygenase-2 promoter activity by the FPB prostanoid receptor

We have recently shown that the FP(B) prostanoid receptor activates beta-catenin signaling through the activation of Rho in human embryo kidney (HEK)-293 cells stably expressing the FP(B) receptors. We now report that the FP(B) receptor can stimulate cyclooxygenase-2 promoter activity and may, therefore, regulate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2. This stimulation of cyclooxygenase-2 promoter activity is blocked by pretreatment with an inhibitor of Rho, but not with an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC). Potential up regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 expression by the FP(B) receptor would establish a positive feedback loop that would drive beta-catenin signaling and could be involved in cancer.
A method for the enzymatic synthesis and HPLC purification of the peptidoglycan precursor UDP-N-acetylmuramic acid

UDP-N-acetylmuramic acid (UDP-MurNAc) is a precursor for peptidoglycan biosynthesis in bacteria. A major difficulty in the study of this pathway is that UDP-MurNAc is not commercially available. We have developed an enzymatic synthesis scheme for UDP-MurNAc using two easily purified Escherichia coli polyhistidine tagged peptidoglycan biosynthesis enzymes, MurZ and MurB, followed by a single-step purification of UDP-MurNAc by high-performance liquid chromatography. The identity of the UDP-MurNAc synthesized by our method was confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Furthermore, we show that the UDP-MurNAc can support a UDP-MurNAc-L-alanine ligase reaction.
AERs and detection in tasks yielding U-shaped backward masking functions.

In backward masking, psychophysical performance varies as a function of the interval between target and mask (stimulus onset asynchrony—SOA). Early studies of averaged evoked responses (AERs) and backward masking suggested a close, monotonic relationship, i.e., increasing psychophysical performance accompanied by increasingly larger AERs as a function of SOA. We asked what would happen to AERs if the perceptual task were designed to produce a U-shaped performance function, i.e., one in which performance initially decreased and then increased as a function of SOA? In two experiments U-shaped psychophysical performance was accompanied by monotonic AER functions. In a third experiment, comparing backward and forward masking at comparable SOAs, disparate psychophysical performances were obtained from the same subjects accompanied by similar AERs. Target AERs do not necessarily correlate with a subject's behavioral performance.
Efficient Synthesis of 11-cis-Retinoids

The light sensitivity and unstable nature of 11-cis-retinoids makes them ideal visual chromophores in nature. The synthesis of 11-cis-retinal analogues is of paramount importance in bioorganic studies of rhodopsin, the photoreceptor of the visual transduction pathway, but the instability of 11-cis-retinoids complicates their synthesis and there is no general synthetic route. Common strategies to the cis geometry have failed in the case of 11-cis-retinoids, and most often low yields and complex isomeric mixtures are obtained. Herein we report an efficient, general, and mild preparation of 11-cis-retinoids by semi-hydrogenation of 11-yne-retinoid precursors with Cu/Ag-activated zinc dust.
Physical and mechanical properties of elastomers in orthodontic positioners

Elastomers for conventional Kesling-type tooth positioners are relatively inelastic and are primarily indicated as finishing devices. However, new materials, first described in the Japanese literature, with claims of a greater range of tooth movement warrant a comparison with conventional materials. Physical and mechanical property testing of positioner elastomers has not been reported in the orthodontic literature. This investigation compared properties of a high temperature vulcanizing (HTV) Japanese silicone (Orthocon) to three traditional polyurethane and vinyl-based polymers and five experimental silicone elastomers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy established the definitive chemical composition of the urethane and vinyl materials obtained from a commercial positioner laboratory. Tear strength, tensile strength, tensile stress at selected elongations, and ultimate elongation of all materials were evaluated at 37 degrees C in an aqueous environment. Hardness and water sorption values also were determined and an in vitro force measurement apparatus was fabricated to determine force levels exerted by positioner materials at low displacements. Orthocon was statistically different (Duncan's multiple range test, p less than 0.05) from the traditional commercial urethane and vinyl materials. Orthocon had lower tear strength than the traditional materials. It also demonstrated lower stress values below 100% elongation. The parameters of tensile stress at 50% elongation and ultimate elongation were statistically identical for Orthocon and one experimental silicone material.
Structure-activity relationship studies on the toxicities of benzene derivatives: II. An analysis of benzene substituent effects on toxicity

The toxicity of benzene derivatives to fathead minnows is analyzed in terms of an additivity model. Each substituent appears to contribute a constant and additive amount to the overall toxicity of the benzene derivatives in the data set. However, the nitro group does display some unusual behavior within the additivity model. The model put forth in a previous article is reexamined with respect to the nitro group contribution. A new set of values for nitro groups is developed, giving a contribution for the mono nitro, meta dinitro and ortho/para dinitro groups. There is a modest improvement in the correlation statistics: r = 0.953, s = 0.243 and F = 81.7 for seven regression variables. Some suggestions concerning mechanism are made based on the toxicity coefficients.
Seeking Alphas from Underperforming Stocks: The Corporate Governance Perspective

When a firm’s stock is underperforming, the likelihood of recovery and what drives the recovery should be of interest to both academics and practitioners. In this article, the authors find the number of options in top executives’ compensation to be positively associated with the chance of improvement, while firm earnings management has a negative influence. Utilizing these findings, the authors create portfolios that can achieve annualized abnormal returns in the range of 5% to 23%, significantly higher than those from a simple buying-loser trading strategy.
Risk factors for depressive symptoms after mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury.

Primary objective: To determine the extent to which pre-injury psychosocial factors, injury-related variables and post-injury litigation, perceived stress, fatigue, pain and information processing speed contributed to depressive symptoms after traumatic brain injury (TBI).Research design: Cross-sectional outpatient follow-up at 1–36 months post-injury.Methods and procedures: Eighty-four adults recruited from outpatient clinics completed measures of depressive symptoms, measured with the Neurobehavioural Functioning Inventory, chronic stress and other symptoms. Hierarchial linear regression analysis was used to identify statistically significant covariates. Logistic regression analysis determined classification accuracy of these variables with regard to the presence or absence of borderline depression levels.Main outcomes: Perceived stress, pain and litigation status made independent contributions to the level of depressive symptoms, with perceived stress explaining the bulk of the variance and mediating t...
System identification using frequency domain methodology

A method for using the frequency domain methodology to identify a linear meta-model is proposed. This involves multiple frequency domain runs to eliminate the effect of gain. The method uses the Fourier transform of the output process, rather than the periodogram or smoothed periodgram estimators. The identification focuses on estimating the coefficients of the model, and is therefore similar in spirit to response surface methodology. The method is tested on two models, one with known structure and the other with unknown structure. The procedure does well as fitting the coefficients, including obtaining the correct sign. >
That zincing feeling: the effects of EDTA on the behaviour of zinc-binding transcriptional regulators

Zinc-binding proteins account for nearly half of the transcription regulatory proteins in the human genome and are the most abundant class of proteins in the human proteome. The zinc-binding transcriptional regulatory proteins utilize Zn2+ to fold structural domains that participate in intermolecular interactions. A study by Matt et al. in this issue of the Biochemical Journal has examined the transcription factor binding properties of the zinc-binding module C/H1 (cysteine/histidine-rich region 1) found in the transcriptional co-activator proteins CBP (CREB-binding protein) and p300. Their studies revealed that EDTA treatment of native C/H1 leads to irreversible denaturation and aggregation. Of particular concern is their finding that unfolded C/H1 participates in non-specific protein-protein interactions. The implications of these results are significant. EDTA is a very potent zinc-chelating agent that is used ubiquitously in protein interaction studies and in molecular biology in general. The potentially detrimental effects of EDTA on the structure and interactions of zinc-binding proteins should be taken into account in the interpretation of a sizeable number of published studies and must be considered in future experiments.
A New Application of Linear Modeling in the Prediction of College Football Bowl Outcomes and the Development of Team Ratings

This paper begins with a thorough review of previous quantitative literature dedicated to the development of ratings for college and professional football teams, and also considers various methods that have been proposed for predicting the outcomes of future football games. Building on this literature, the paper then presents a straightforward application of linear modeling in the development of a predictive model for the outcomes of college football bowl games, and identifies important team-level predictors of actual bowl outcomes in 2007-2008 using real Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) data from the recently completed 2004-2006 college football seasons. Given that Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ratings are still being used to determine the teams most eligible to play for a national championship and a playoff system for determining a national champion is not yet a reality, the predictive model is then applied in a novel method for the calculation of ratings for selected teams, based on a round-robin playoff scenario. The paper also considers additional possible applications of the proposed methods, and concludes with current limitations and directions for future work in this area.
Translating Bourdieu into the American context: the question of social class and family-school relations

Abstract This paper affirms the relevance of Bourdieu's arguments concerning schooling and inequality to the sociology of education in the US. In doing so, it eschews abstract debates about “reproduction theory” in favor of an empirically grounded treatment. We begin by noting that Bourdieu's theoretical account of the educational system's role in perpetuating inequality was tailored to an institutional arrangement which is highly distinct from that presently found in the US in at least one key respect: whereas for Bourdieu connections between the school and the domestic sphere are “hidden” or “masked,” in the contemporary US they have become the focal point of a vast amount of educational research, discourse, and policy. Indeed, numerous institutional mechanisms exist which are intended to “harmonize” the environments formed by the home and school with respect to educational goals and practices. Our paper subsequently analyzes one of the most widespread such mechanisms: the parent–teacher conference. Using a set of detailed transcriptions of conferences between teachers and parents of middle-class children, on the one hand, and working-class and poor children, on the other, we examine the interaction that occurs in such conferences at the micro-level. It is our contention that, despite the institutional arrangement which prevails in the US, Bourdieu nevertheless provides the conceptual tools necessary to understand this interaction. Thus, within our data, stark differences are apparent in the amount and quality of the information exchanged in conferences as a function of the amount of cultural capital held by the parents. Similarly, parents’ symbolic capital (relative to that of teachers) is associated with differences in the authority situation that characterizes the conference, with middle-class parents exhibiting a pronounced willingness to criticize teachers, advocate on behalf of their children, and demand customized pedagogical assistance for them. On the basis of this data, we conclude that institutional mechanisms such as parent–teacher conferences can function as an indirect avenue through which social class impacts children's school experiences.
Chemical rescue of deltaF508-CFTR mimics genetic repair in cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial cells.

In a previous study of sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA)-responsive proteins in cystic fibrosis (CF) IB3-1 bronchial epithelial cells, we identified 85 differentially expressed high abundance proteins from whole cellular lysate (Singh, O. V., Vij, N., Mogayzel, P. J., Jr., Jozwik, C., Pollard, H. B., and Zeitlin, P. L. (2006) Pharmacoproteomics of 4-phenylbutyrate-treated IB3-1 cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial cells. J. Proteome Res. 5, 562–571). In the present work we hypothesize that a subset of heat shock proteins that interact with cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in common during chemical rescue and genetic repair will identify therapeutic networks for targeted intervention. Immunocomplexes were generated from total cellular lysates, and three subcellular fractions (endoplasmic reticulum (ER), cytosol, and plasma membrane) with anti-CFTR polyclonal antibody from CF (IB3-1), chemically rescued CF (4-PBA-treated IB3-1), and genetically repaired CF (IB3-1/S9 daughter cells repaired by gene transfer with adeno-associated virus-(wild type) CFTR). CFTR-interacting proteins were analyzed on two-dimensional gels and identified by mass spectrometry. A set of 16 proteins known to act in ER-associated degradation were regulated in common and functionally connected to the protein processing, protein folding, and inflammatory response. Some of these proteins were modulated exclusively in ER, cytosol, or plasma membrane. A subset of 4-PBA-modulated ER-associated degradation chaperones (GRP94, HSP84, GRP78, GRP75, and GRP58) was observed to associate with the immature B form of CFTR in ER. HSP70 and HSC70 interacted with the C band (mature form) of CFTR at the cell surface. We conclude that chemically rescued CFTR associates with a specific set of HSP70 family proteins that mark therapeutic interactions and can be useful to correct both ion transport and inflammatory phenotypes in CF subjects.
Hydrodynamics and Associated Morphological Variations on an Estuarine Intertidal Sand Flat

Abstract Hydrodynamics, sediment suspension, and morphological response on an estuarine intertidal sand flat in Tokyo Bay, Japan, are examined through a field experiment performed for 16 days in winter 2000 and using a bathymetry data set based on a 6-year series of surveys. Topography of the sandy flat was found to fluctuate by approximately 8 cm during the deployment, while the long-term accumulation rate is estimated with the surveyed bathymetries to be only 3.8 cm/y. Cross-spectral analysis of the measured data indicates that on the sandy tidal flat, semidiurnal or shorter-period fluctuations in current velocity are mostly attributed to semidiurnal tides and waves, whereas wind above the sea generally drives diurnal or longer-period fluctuations. The field data also confirm that suspended sediment concentrations were highly correlated with bed shear stress, which is generated by combination of tidal current, wind-induced current, and wind waves. Episodic erosion is observed on the sandy flat with high...
A Brief History of Identifying Child Maltreatment

In the 1800s, childhood and adulthood were not considered separate phases of life, and the absence of harsh guidance was considered to be child maltreatment. Now, childhood and adulthood are acknowledged as qualitatively different life phases, and government agencies aim to protect children against the harshest treatment. Despite this progress, there is still a lack of agreement on child maltreatment definitions. Different definitions are used for different purposes (e.g., across legal, medical, and research settings), within settings (e.g., different legal definitions across states, different definitions across studies), and across generations. Efforts toward greater agreement are likely to advance our understanding and prevention of child maltreatment. This chapter describes the history of our awareness of the destructive effects of child maltreatment, how we separate child maltreatment from “normal” parenting, and how we conceptualize and define different types of maltreatment.
To Trust Or Not To Trust: The Impact Of WebTrust On The Perceived Trustworthiness Of A Web Site

Despite the explosive growth of electronic commerce, many individuals are still reluc-tant to conduct business transactions on the Internet. Individuals may mistrust sending private information over the Internet or they may have concerns about the existence, performance, standing, and integrity of online businesses. In direct response to these concerns, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has developed an electronic commerce assurance service called WebTrust which is intended to improve the consumer's confidence in the process and the quality of information disclosed on vendor web sites. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of WebTrust by examining the influence of WebTrust on consumers' perceptions of a web site's trustworthiness. The question is investigated through a computer experiment. The results of this study are very encouraging for electronic commerce assurance services in general, and the WebTrust service in particular. Evidence is found that the presence of WebTrust on a web site has a positive impact on the perceived trustworthiness of the website. The results also show that knowledge of WebTrust plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and the presence of WebTrust. When subjects have prior knowledge of WebTrust they perceive a web site with WebTrust to be more trustworthy than a web site without whereas, the presence of WebTrust has no impact when subjects are uneducated about the WebTrust assurances. Also, when WebTrust is present, subjects with knowledge of WebTrust are more confident in the web site than those without knowledge of WebTrust. When WebTrust is not present, knowledge subjects are more unsure of a web site without WebTrust than those without knowledge.
Sports-related traumatic hyphema.

Traumatic hyphema is a common sports-related eye injury that can cause permanent visual loss. Although referral to an ophthalmologist is advised, the primary care physician is often responsible for making the diagnosis and initiating medical care. A careful history should be taken and a physical examination performed, with attention given to possible accompanying ocular injuries. Proper positioning of the patient and placement of a unilateral eye shield are the first steps in management. Therapy is aimed at preventing secondary hemorrhage, elevated intraocular pressure and corneal blood staining. Surgical intervention may be necessary to preserve vision. Prognosis depends on the size of the hyphema, the development of complications and the presence of associated injuries. Protective eye guards have been shown to be very effective in preventing traumatic hyphema. Language: en
A Single-Facility Manifold Location Routing Problem with an Application to Supply Chain Management and Robotics

The location routing problem LRP, a problem formulated for determining locations of facilities and the vehicle routes operating between these facilities, is the combination of the vehicle routing VRP and the facility location problems FLP in Euclidean space. The manifold location routing problem MLRP is an LRP in a Riemannian manifold setting as introduced in [14]. In seeking further advancements in the solution of LRP, MLRP improves the accuracy of the distance calculations by using geodesic distances. The shortest path distances on Earth's surface can be determined by calculating geodesic distances in local neighborhoods by using Riemannian geometry. In this work, we advance the theoretical results obtained for MLRP in [14] by incorporating support vector machines SVM, dynamic programming, parallel programming, data mining, and Geographic Information Systems GIS. The theory will be explained on a supply chain problem with a robotics paradigm.
Schizophrenia genetics complements its mechanistic understanding

Refinement of genetic variants within the major histocompatibility complex reveals three distinct genetic influences on schizophrenia risk and sheds light on the disease's neurobiology.
Treatment of a Metastatic Prostate Derived Tumor with Surgery and Chemotherapy

The R3327/MAT-Lu tumor is a metastasizing variant of the Dunning R3327 Copenhagen rat prostatic carcinoma which, when implanted subcutaneously in the flank or intramuscularly in the hind leg, invariably metastasizes to the lungs. We examined treatment with either single dose chemotherapy, surgical excision of the primary tumor, or a combination of tumor excision and postoperative single dose chemotherapy. All 3 regimens significantly reduced the number of lung metastases; however, only the combination of tumor excision, followed by postoperative chemotherapy substantially prolonged survival and produced cures.
The Call to Preach

During the first half of the eighteenth century English religious life generally appears to have stagnated, as though exhausted by the clamour and demands of the reformers of the previous century. With the Act of Toleration of 1689 overt persecution ended and the nonconforming groups could establish themselves within certain parameters. Most English men and women chose to remain within the Anglican fold, though nominally in many cases. It was not an era of religious agitation, but rather a time of digesting the previous changes.
Competition and the Complexity of Pricing Strategies: Evidence from Retail Gasoline Stations

I analyze sources of variation in the pricing strategies of retail gasoline stations, and the extent to which they employ simple pricing rules. Using an extensive panel data set, I investigate the degree to which gas stations change over time (i) price-cost margins, (ii) regular fuel prices, and (iii) the gap between different grades of fuel. I find substantial variation in all three measures both within and across local markets. Gas stations that offer complementary services, such as a car wash or convenience store, have more stable margins, fuel-grade price gaps, and stickier prices. I also find that premium and mid-grade fuel, relatively low demand products, are priced with less complexity than regular fuel. These results demonstrate a positive correlation between relative profitability and the incentive to invest in sophisticated pricing policies. Competition also has a positive impact on margin and price variation; however, the level of competition does not predict which firms will undertake the simplest pricing policies.
Cross-Commodity Discounting of Monetary Outcomes and Access to Leisure Activities

Behavioral economic analyses have extended and advanced our understanding of a variety of phenomena, including demand, choice, and impulsivity. An expanding body of literature shows the application of behavioral economic concepts to many real-world concerns, such as addiction, impulsivity, safety, and consumer behavior. The present study continues in this tradition by applying a discounting approach to behaviors of relevance in the workplace. A challenge for organizations is to ensure productive workplace behaviors in the face of a constantly present source of competing reinforcement available through mobile devices. Employees can have instantaneous access to a variety of activities that may effectively interfere with productivity. To quantify the degree to which access to leisure activity via mobile devices competes with monetary outcomes associated with remaining on task, participants were given a novel discounting task using a cross-commodity discounting paradigm in which they chose between amounts of mobile device usage and monetary rewards, where one was certain and the other probabilistic. The results were consistent with those of previous cross-commodity discounting studies. Specifically, participants discounted the value of both money and access to mobile devices as a function of the probability of receipt. One implication of these findings is that probability and discounting may be important determinants of how employees allocate response efforts at work under competing contingencies of reinforcement.
The noncurrency functions of Chinese wen in America

Chinese coins from western North American archaeological sites are a dramatic example of artifacts whose primary function changed completely when they changed cultural context. This article provides a review of the known uses of the wen, the most commonly recovered Chinese coin, and presents ethnographic evidence to suggest uses previously unrecognized in the archaeological literature. It is suggested that Chinese wen could not have circulated as currency after crossing the Pacific because they had use-values far exceeding their monetary exchange values.
Interfacial impedance based electrochemical detection of carbon dioxide using RTIL

Current challenges in CO 2 gas sensors include stable signal to noise ratio (SNR), drifting sensor performance due to environmental factors, selectivity of sensing element in varying test matrices. We performed an evaluation of materials and sensor element design to address these challenges. We report effective utilization of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) in developing electrochemical CO2 sensors offering unique value for commodity applications. In this study, we have characterized RTILs with different anionic groups for varying concentrations of CO 2 from 400 ppm to 1000 ppm using gold electrodes and carbon paste electrodes (CPE) on printed circuit board (PCB) substrates. This analysis was carried out using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and helped in identification of robust performing combination of RTIL and electrode material for environmental CO 2 sensing.
Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring: Types, Regulation, and Patterns of Practice

An important component of corporate governance is the regulation of significant transactions – mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring. This paper (a chapter in Oxford Handbook on Corporate Law and Governance, forthcoming) reviews how M&A and restructuring are regulated by corporate and securities law, listing standards, antitrust and foreign investment law, and industry-specific regulation. Drawing on real-world examples from the world’s two largest M&A markets (the US and the UK) and a representative developing nation (India), major types of M&A transactions are reviewed, and six goals of M&A regulation are summarized – to (1) clarify authority, (2) reduce costs, (3) constrain conflicts of interest, (4) protect dispersed owners, (5) deter looting, asset-stripping and excessive leverage, and (6) cope with side effects. Modes of regulation either (a) facilitate M&A – collective action and call-right statutes – or (b) constrain M&A – disclosure laws, approval requirements, augmented duties, fairness requirements, regulation of terms, process and deal-related debt, and bans or structural limits. The paper synthesizes empirical research on types of transactions chosen, effects of law on M&A, and effects of M&A. Throughout, similarities and differences across transaction types and countries are noted. The paper concludes with observations about what these variations imply and how law affects economic activity.
Damage-tolerant metallic composites via melt infiltration of additively manufactured preforms

Abstract A356/316L interpenetrating phase composites were fabricated by infiltrating additively manufactured 316L lattices with molten A356. Measurements of the thermal conductivity of the composites showed an inverse rule-of-mixtures dependence on the 316L volume fraction. Compression tests revealed that the stress-strain response of the composites can be tailored by adjusting both the volume fraction and the topology of the 316L reinforcement. Tension tests on composites with 39 vol% 316L showed a strain to failure of 32%, representing an order of magnitude improvement over the strain to failure of monolithic A356. Inspection of the as-tested tensile specimens suggested that this exceptional damage tolerance is a result of the interpenetrating structure of the constituents. These results together demonstrate that this infiltration processing route avoids problems with intermetallic formation, cracking, and poor resolution that limit current fusion-based additive manufacturing techniques for printing metallic composites.
Accelerated sparse optimization for missing data completion

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for missing value recovery of visual data such as image or video. These missing values may result from the corruption in acquisition process, or user-specified unexpected outliers. This problem exists in wide range of applications. We use the nuclear norm (NN) regularization to enforce the global consistency of the image, while the total variation (TV) regularization is used to encourage the locally consistent in image intensity domain. This model can be applied in very challenging scenarios, where only very small amount of data is available. However, it is very difficult to efficiently solve these two regularizations simultaneously by convex programming due to its composite structure and non-smoothness. To this end, we propose an efficient proximal-splitting algorithm for joint NN/TV minimization. The proposed algorithm is theoretically guaranteed to achieve a convergence rate of O(1/N) for N iterations, which is much faster than O(1/√N) by the black-box first-order method for solving the non-smooth optimization problem. In our experiments, we demonstrate the superior performance of our algorithm on image completion compared with seven state-of-the-art algorithms.
Predicting Output Performance of a Petascale Supercomputer

In this paper, we develop a predictive model useful for output performance prediction of supercomputer file systems under production load. Our target environment is Titan---the 3rd fastest supercomputer in the world---and its Lustre-based multi-stage write path. We observe from Titan that although output performance is highly variable at small time scales, the mean performance is stable and consistent over typical application run times. Moreover, we find that output performance is non-linearly related to its correlated parameters due to interference and saturation on individual stages on the path. These observations enable us to build a predictive model of expected write times of output patterns and I/O configurations, using feature transformations to capture non-linear relationships. We identify the candidate features based on the structure of the Lustre/Titan write path, and use feature transformation functions to produce a model space with 135,000 candidate models. By searching for the minimal mean square error in this space we identify a good model and show that it is effective.