cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Poly(1,3-Butylene Fumerate) and Poly(1,3-Butylene Fumerate)-co-(1,3-Butylene Maleate) as Electrospun Scaffold Materials

Poly(butylene fumerate) (PBF) and poly(butylene fumerate)-co-(butylene maleate) (PBFcBM) have been synthesized from the ring opening and condensation reactions of maleic anhydride (MA) and 1,3-butanediol (BD). PBFcBM synthesized in this way contains greater than 85% maleate groups. Both PBF and PBFcBM have a glass transition temperature (Tg) below room temperature and therefore cannot be electrospun using the conventional electrospinning process as a non-porous film results. To facilitate production of nonwoven micro- and nano-fiber mats, a UV-source (λ=356 nm) was used in combination with a photoinitator loaded polymer solution to initiate the crosslinking reaction of the fumerate and maleate functional groups as the fibers were produced. The resulting non-woven fiber mats are potentially suitable scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery application.
Age-dependent Changes of CO2 Chemoreflex and Blood Pressure (BP) in Juvenile and Adult Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHRs)

Activation of central chemoreceptors by CO2 increases BP, sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), and breathing. Experiments using SHRs, a well-established neurogenic hypertensive model, have shown that ...
The Development of Morphological Awareness in Young Bilinguals: Effects of Age and L1 Background

Purpose Current understanding about the effect of first language (L1) background on morphological awareness (MA) development in those who are bilingual is largely limited to school-aged second-language learners. This study examined the development of MA in bilingual Mandarin–English (ManEngBi) and Spanish–English (SpaEngBi) children ages 4 to 7 years, whose L1 is predominated by compounding and derivation, respectively. Method We targeted specific word formation rules that develop within different developmental time frames. Forty-two ManEngBi, 30 SpaEngBi, and 27 English monolingual children divided into 4- to 5-year-old and 6- to 7-year-old age groups produced English words using compounding, the derivational agentive –er suffix, and the derivational characteristic –y suffix for both real and novel word roots. Results The characteristic –y suffix consistently elicited the poorest performance. This finding held true regardless of language group, age, or novelty of prompts. Both older SpaEngBi and English ...
Deriving characterization factors on freshwater ecotoxicity of graphene oxide nanomaterial for life cycle impact assessment

Graphene oxide (GO) nanomaterial has found wide potential industrial applications, but its life cycle environmental impact is not fully understood mainly because of lack of characterization factors (CFs) for the life cycle impact assessment. In this paper, we report the derivation of CF for freshwater ecotoxicity of GO based on the USEtox method. The CF is derived based on the toxic effect factor, fate factor, and exposure factor of GO in the aquatic environment. The toxic effect factor is extracted from mechanistic toxicity studies available in the literature. The fate factor is derived with the colloidal method, and the exposure factor is determined through Langmuir adsorption isotherm for interactions between GO and dissolve organic carbon. Additionally, both fate factor and exposure factor are re-calculated through the default mass-balanced model in USEtox. The apparent octanol-water partition coefficient (K ow) required in the mass balanced model is determined via experiment. Other parameters are calculated according to the apparent K ow. The study derives a CF of 777.5 potentially affected species (PAF) day m3 kg−1 for GO with a fate factor of 27.2 days and an exposure factor of 0.93. Sensitivity analysis suggests that variability from the effect factor is the dominant source leading changes in CF. The uncertainty of CF value can vary between ∼1 and 103 PAF day m3 kg−1. Comparison between the colloidal and the mass-balanced models indicates that heteroaggregation may be underestimated by using the apparent partition coefficient, and thus, a much higher estimate of fate factor is obtained from the mass-balanced model. Additionally, empirical formulae in the USEtox to correlate other coefficients with K ow are not proper to calculate bioaccumulation and adsorption with dissolved organic carbon since a virtually a unit exposure factor is obtained. The derived CFs can be readily incorporated into future toxicity assessment on GO. The fate factor is calculated in the colloidal model while adsorption of dissolved organic carbon onto GO surface should be derived from the Langmuir isotherm. Compared to the colloidal-based method, the conventional mass-balanced method may not be well applicable to GO due to the significant uncertainties in fate and exposure factors from applying the apparent partition coefficients. As three orders of magnitude variations in CF are caused by effect factor due to limited toxicity tests available for GO, more toxicological studies of GO on various species are needed in the future.
Inflammation in Arthritis

Arthritis is one of the most prevalent inflammatory diseases in America with higher prevalence in women and elderly. However, recent cases of arthritis have been seen in younger populations. Many factors are related with this condition, including genetics, environmental conditions, comorbidities, stress, sedentary lifestyles, and poor diet. Inflammation in arthritis can be related to an unbalanced bone homeostasis. Factors such as low vitamin D, estrogen, and high-fat diets lead to a low-grade inflammation resulting in the activation of the following: receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB)/RANKL-L, TH-1 response, bone destruction cells, osteoclasts, and proinflammatory cytokines expression. The presence of the damaged bone tissues generates a second inflammatory response, increasing the levels of proinflammatory markers in the synovial fluid of the joints, causing swelling, redness, fever, and pain. These are the symptoms of arthritis. Studies have shown elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, NFκB, cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and C-reactive protein in these patients. Another study using an in vitro (cell culture) method and mice models showed the presence of these markers as well. The role of foods and nutrients in the prevention and reduction of inflammation in arthritic disease is presented in this article. These foods and nutrients include dairy products, fats, fruits and vegetables, and nuts with special attention to omega-3 and omega-6 ratio. The consumption of phytochemicals such as flavonoids and anthocyanins among others also has positive results in reducing inflammation and preserving bone health. Adiposity also increases inflammation, so healthy weight maintenance has important benefits in prevention and treatment, as well as reduction of the risks that promote arthritis, these being sedentary life, high consumption of saturated fats, and low consumption of dairy products. A balanced diet that provides adequate calories in relation to age, height, weight, gender, and physical activity – rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy products, and high in omega-3 fatty acids – will help to reduce inflammation in arthritis.
Measuring exhaled hydrogen sulphide (eH2S) levels in asthma

Background: Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) has an important role in cell signalling and inflammation and levels in sputum are increased in asthma, as a marker of neutrophilic inflammation and chronic airflow obstruction (JACI 2013; 131: 232). Aim: To set-up an on-line measurement of eH 2 S and investigate the usefulness of measuring eH 2 S in asthmatics. Method: 11 healthy volunteers and 21 stable asthmatics were recruited. 18 patients with severe asthma attended during exacerbations. Patients exhaled into a Flex-foil plus breath gas collection bag. The collected breath was sampled using a H 2 S UV fluorescent machine (Model T101 ,Cal-Bay Control Inc). Results: Preliminary studies showed that poor dental hygiene affected eH 2 S levels and this was therefore accounted for. In 21 asthma subjects, mean eH2S was 3.6±0.6 ppb (range: 1.3 - 12.8 ppb) and in 11 normal subjects, 3.2±0.5 ppb. 18 patients with severe asthma (taking >1000mcg fluticasone propionate or equivalent daily) of whom 12 were on maintenance oral steroids, attended during and after an exacerbation. Exacerbations led to increases in ACQ (2.08 vs 3.62, p=0.0008), decreased FEV 1 (2.04 vs 1.77L, p = 0.007) and elevation of blood eosinophils (0.26 to 0.34 (10^9/L), p = 0.341), blood neutrophils (6.79 to 8.22 (10^9/L), p = 0.037), CRP (4.6 to 7.6 (mg/L) p = 0.275) and exhaled Nitric Oxide (eNO) (37.9 to 58.0 ppb, p= 0.0004). ). eH 2 S decreased (from 6.0 ± 1.1 ppb to 3.0 ± 0.3 ppb, p=0.05) at exacerbation and then rose at recovery (to 4.6 ± 0.8 ppb, p=0.08). eH2S did not correlate with eNO or any other biomarkers. Conclusions: eH2S levels may be useful in monitoring control of asthma. H2S may play a role in asthmatic inflammation. (This study was supported by NIHR BRU).
REM Sleep Atonia – A Marker of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease (P04.167)

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between REM sleep and freezing of gait (FOG) in PD. BACKGROUND: FOG is a common and disabling manifestation of PD. PD patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) have increased frequency of falls and postural instability. Despite the common networks involved in the pathophysiology of RBD and FOG, associations between RBD and FOG in PD remain poorly understood. DESIGN/METHODS: Forty, age- and gender-matched participants (RBD n=10, PD without FOG n=10, PD with FOG n=10, controls n=10) underwent polysomnography. Tonic and phasic REM sleep were qantified based on the chin EMG. The tonic EMG activity was scored across 30-second epochs when the chin EMG activity was two times greater than in N3 sleep during >50% of the epoch. The phasic EMG activity was asesssed in 3-seciond mini-epoch. Any burst of EMG activity lasting 0.1-5.0 seconds and with an amplitude exceeding twice the background EMG activity was counted. The phasic REM activity was the sum of mini-epochs with increased muscle activity, divided by the total REM sleep time. Freezing of gait was assessed by the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire. One-way ANOVAs and t test were used to compare REM activity across the groups. RESULTS: Study participants did not differ in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency and % of sleep stages. A statistically significant group effects were observed for phasic and tonic EMG activity during REM sleep, respectively (F=15.37, p=0.001; F=14.39, p=0.001). Tonic and phasic muscle activity was significantly increased relative to control subjects in the RBD and PD with FOG groups. Phasic and tonic muscle activity was significantly higher in the PD with FOG group compared with the PD without FOG group (p=0.01; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PD with co-existent FOG is associated with increased tonic and phasic muscle activation during REM sleep. REM-related muscle activity may predict FOG in PD. Supported by: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson9s Research. Disclosure: Dr. Videnovic has nothing to disclose. Dr. Marlin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Alibiglou has nothing to disclose. Dr. Planetta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Villancourt has nothing to disclose. Dr. MacKinnon has nothing to disclose.
Adherence to a Multimodal Analgesic Clinical Pathway: A Within-Group Comparison of Staged Bilateral Knee Arthroplasty Patients.

Background and Objectives Multimodal analgesic clinical pathways for joint replacement patients often include perineural catheters, but long-term adherence to these pathways has not yet been investigated. Our primary aim was to determine adherence rate to a knee arthroplasty clinical pathway for patients undergoing staged bilateral procedures. Methods This study was performed at a hospital with a Perioperative Surgical Home program and knee arthroplasty clinical pathway using multimodal analgesia and adductor canal catheters. Data were examined for all orthopedic surgery patients over a 4-year period. We included patients who had staged bilateral knee arthroplasty electively scheduled on 2 separate dates. The primary outcome was rate of adductor canal catheter utilization as a measure of adherence to the clinical pathway. Other outcomes included rates of neuraxial anesthesia and minor and major perioperative complications. Results We analyzed data for 103 unique patients. The interval between surgeries was a median of 261 days (10th–90th percentile, 138–534 days). All 103 patients had adductor canal catheters for both the first and second surgeries (P > 0.999). Forty-one percent of patients had the same surgeon for both surgeries, but only 2% had the same anesthesiologist (P Conclusions For staged bilateral knee arthroplasty patients, 100% clinical pathway adherence including perineural catheters and multimodal analgesia is feasible despite multiple variables. We believe that patient-centered acute pain management requires consistent and reliable delivery of care.
Legislative history of the allowance of LIFO for tax purposes

The legislative history of the allowance of LIFO for tax purposes is documented. The legislative process was structured around veto points of the law and yielded an examination of the political environment out of which the LIFO tax provisions emerged. LIFO provisions were analyzed relative to alternative tax options available to firms, administrative and judicial activities, overall tax legislation including tax rates, and general economic conditions. Production processes of firms lobbying for LIFO were examined and the views of academics and practitioners were incorporated. In addition to providing the basis for a regulatory event study by identifying the critical dates in the legsilative process, insight into the timing and choice of inventory accounting methods for financial reporting as well as for tax is gained.
Algorithm of measurement information processing for hardware and software complex capture and automatic tracking of unmanned aerial vehicle

In this paper we developed the algorithm for the automatic tracking of unmanned aircraft for image sequence based on correlation filtering to improve the efficiency of conducting objective control and simulation in Matlab and C#. The measurement results showed good convergence of the theoretical and experimental data. The advantage of this approach is the possibility to use it in real-time through the application of fast direct and inverse Fourier transform; availability of the implementation in various environments for object-oriented programming such as Visual C#/C using the library of structures and algorithms EmguCV/OpenCV and the libraries of algorithms for fast discrete Fourier transform FFTWSharp/FFTW; the possibility of the approach implementing in the systems with reconfigurable integrated circuits based on programmable logic; “Field programmable gate array” (FPGA); the use of the adaptive approach in the program code design. For further improvement of the algorithm it is appropriate to work in the area of window tracking changes due to the deformation or removal of the object to reduce the computational cost.
Abstract on Evaluating Sustainability as a Core Competency: Consumer Response to Sustainable Products

Consumer product markets must confront the challenge of predicting what capabilities to bring together to ensure a valued core competency, despite continuously evolving consumer tastes and beliefs. This research evaluates the influence of the individual and combined product attributes of sustainability and innovation on consumer preference, to understand their strength of differentiation and to inform sustainability-marketing strategies. A marketing perspective is applied to the resource-based view to evaluate whether core competencies of sustainability and innovation (via a remanufactured and an innovative product) contribute to the co-creation of sustainable consumption opportunities and behaviors. Paired product survey responses were used to delineate the influence and interaction of innovative versus sustainability attributes on the consumer’s preference and intent to purchase the product. Frequency analysis, Chi-square test for equal proportions, and generalized logit regression were performed. Findings suggest that sustainability product features offer consumers a stronger reason to buy than innovative product features. However, when sustainable products are unavailable, the innovative product outperforms the undifferentiated, non-sustainable product. Contrary to expectations, the bundling of sustainability and innovation attributes does not create additional attraction for the consumer. Further, while sustainability differentiation alone creates sufficient reason to buy for the majority of consumers, stated concern for the environment alone does not affect preference for the sustainable option. There are two possible explanations for why innovation does not overshadow sustainability: first, the sustainability aspect of CSR, remanufacturing specifically, leads to higher consumer preference (and consequently, better performance) when isolated from other CSR elements or, second, sustainability may constitute innovation itself. In the isolation of sustainability attributes from innovative attributes, it was found that customers who favor sustainable products are four times more likely to favor other innovative products when sustainable products are unavailable. This suggests that there may be merit to considering sustainability attributes within the hedonic values spectrum and may explain the strength of preference for the sustainable product, in spite of stated environmental concern: customer preference for the sustainable product may originate in variety-seeking behavior, rather than personal and social values structures.
Case Report: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) associated with aseptic meningitis (P4.066)

Objective: To report an adult patient with PRES associated with aseptic meningitis. Background: PRES is a clinco-radiologic syndrome first described in 1996. Clinically it presents with headache, confusion, seizures, and visual changes. MRI features extensive bilateral white-matter T2/FLAIR abnormalities suggestive of vasogenic edema, which typically fully resolve within weeks to months. PRES is usually associated with malignant hypertension, chemotherapy, renal insufficiency or immunosuppression. Systemic infection has been linked to PRES, but to our knowledge, only one pediatric case has been reported documenting PRES associated with aseptic meningitis. Design/Methods: Case report with literature review. Results: A 69-year-old gentleman presented with fever and seizure. He was found unresponsive on the ground and subsequently developed a generalized tonic-clonic seizure followed by transient right-sided weakness. He was intubated and transferred to University of Iowa Hospital. Upon arrival, he was able to follow simple commands off sedation and neurological exam was non-focal. Patient was febrile (38.9) and systolic blood pressure was increased to 170 to 200 mmHg. Infection workup including urine analysis/culture, blood culture and chest X-ray were unremarkable. CSF analysis: protein 108, glucose 91, nucleated cell 20 (neutrophil 6, lymphocyte 11, histiocyte 3), RBC Conclusions: The etiology of PRES in this case is unclear but we believe aseptic meningitis may be a contributing factor. Disclosure: Dr. Zhang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Richerson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Narayanan has nothing to disclose.
Westermann, Diedrich Hermann (1875–1956)

Diedrich Westermann was one of the principal founders of Afrikanistik—African language and culture studies—in Germany. Westermann began his career as a member of the North German Missionary Society, receiving his missionary training in Basel and Tubingen. He learned Ewe while stationed in Togo, but was not able to remain in Africa long because of illness. Carl Meinhof, another of the founders of Afrikanistik, admired Westermann's work and recommended him for a position at Berlin's Seminar for Oriental Languages. Westermann ultimately became a professor in Berlin, and over the course of an almost 50-year career distinguished himself as the leading European expert on the Nigritic or Sudanic languages of West Africa. In 1926 he became a codirector, with Henri Labouret, of the Institute for African Languages and Cultures in London. This proved that Westermann, who would also innovate a new standard orthography for phonetic transcription, was recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities in African linguistics.
Hardware validation of an adaptive optimization algorithm for tap delay wavefront

Some of the biggest investments surrounding Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers are the development and integration of adaptive nulling technology. Researchers, developers, and integrators need to understand the effects these nulling technologies have on the navigation receivers and systems using the modified RF output, and their ability to suppress undesired signals. Due to the sensitive nature of the GNSS spectrum, outdoor testing of Anti-Jam (AJ) electronics and Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) technologies are difficult, expensive, and often cause schedule delay. It is becoming more important to develop cost effective means to evaluate adaptive nulling advancements and their effects on the receivers with which they are being integrated. Aside from open air testing, this evaluation and integration is best accomplished through modeling and simulation techniques. This paper investigates a method of using a Steiner tree model to relate the per-element phase errors of a simulated wavefront and their effect at the system level. Theory developed [1] to expand the possible angle of arrival (AoA) simulation options through a series of untraditional tap selections will be implemented in a series of digital and hardware simulations.
The Impact of Ozone on Agriculture and its Consequences

Given its high level of phytotoxicity and distribution of elevated concentrations over broad geographic areas, O3 is considered the most critical air pollutant affecting vegetation in the United States. Diverse experimental methods have been used to assess the impacts of O3 on the crop yield. Comparisons of plant growth and yield in charcoal-filtered or unfiltered air and the use of chemical protectants show that ambient O3 levels will reduce the growth and yield of numerous plant species. Ozone studies in open-top field-exposure chambers have provided exposure-response functions needed to evaluate the economic impacts of O3 on agriculture. Exposure-response functions have been developed for a range of legume, grain, fiber and horticultural crops. Yield reductions (10%) were predicted for several crop species when the 7-hr seasonal mean concentration exceeded 0.04 to 0.05 ppm. for some sensitive cultivars of wheat, kidney bean and soybean, 10% yield reductions occurred at 7-hr mean concentrations of 0.028 to 0.033 ppm. Recent studies, using exposure-response functions developed in open-top chambers, have attempted to assess the national economic consequences of O3 effects on agriculture. These studies indicate that elevated O3 concentrations are costing U.S. agricultural producers and consumers between 1.2 and 2.4 billion dollars annually.
Optimum Filter Based Techniques for Data Fusion

The growing complexity of inspection needs in the industrial workplace has contributed to an increasing interest in data fusion techniques. The interest in such methods have been fueled by a perception that classical approaches, involving the use of a single inspection methodology, are sometimes inadequate for capturing all the information necessary for characterizing the test specimen. It is often possible to employ two or more inspection techniques or measurement conditions for evaluating the specimen. Each test may provide a limited but slightly different perspective of the state the test object. Operators have traditionally combined the information from the test results “mentally” to draw conclusions. Recent developments in the field of data fusion, however, allow the information to be integrated on a more systematic basis. The use of such data fusion techniques can potentially improve the probability of detecting flaws and contribute to improved defect characterization results.
Eyelid Drive System: An Assistive Technology Employing Inductive Sensing of Eyelid Movement

This paper presents the design, development, and validation of the eyelid drive system (EDS), an assistive technology comprising a specialized pair of glasses and millimeter-sized passive resonators, attached to the user's eyelids, that transduce eyelid movement (blinking and winking) through inductive sensing. The theory of operation and design optimization with simulations are presented. A proof-of-concept prototype EDS was constructed using a pair of nonprescription glasses and commercial-off-the-shelf components. In benchtop tests with model eyelids, the EDS demonstrated basic functionality. Initial trials were performed involving six human subjects interacting with custom designed graphical user interfaces on a computer. A group mean accuracy of 96.3% was achieved using a set of four different commands at a response rate of 3 s. A mean information transfer rate (ITR) of 56.1 b/min over all subjects was achieved with a set of six different commands at a response rate of 1.5 s. This proof-of-concept device consumes 51.6 mW of power. The EDS compares favorably with related eye-interfacing assistive technologies and provides a unique combination of advantages, including high accuracy and ITR, wearability, insensitivity to lighting and noise conditions, obviation of facial electrodes, and the use of nonexaggerated gestures.
Are French Really That Different? Recognizing Europeans from Faces Using Data-Driven Learning

Travel agents and retailers are curious about where their customers come from, which would help them increase their sales and optimize their marketing strategy. In this study, we present a system to predict where people come from in the European region only using their faces. The countries that have been chosen for the study are Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France, based on diversity and representativeness. These countries have been well known for their economy, population, and political impact. First, we implement different neural network classifiers on the dataset of people's faces that we have collected from Twitter. Next, we investigate in more detail 11 different facial features that may help differentiate ethnic groups representative of those five countries. Our system achieves an accuracy of over 50%, more than twice as good as that of humans. Furthermore, we uncover and interpret using genetic anthropological evidences the various differences and similarities between people's faces across geographical distances among different contingents.
Graph Centrality Based Spam SMS Detection

Short messages usage has been tremendously increased such as SMS, tweets and status updates. Due to its popularity and ease of use, many companies use it for advertisement purpose. Hackers also use SMS to defraud users and steal personal information. In this paper, the use of Graphs centrality metrics is proposed for spam SMS detection. The graph centrality measures: degree, closeness, and eccentricity are used for classification of SMS. Graphs for each class are created using labeled SMS and then unlabeled SMS is classified using the centrality scores of the token available in the unclassified SMS. Our results show that highest precision and recall is achieved by using degree centrality. Degree centrality achieved the highest precision i.e. 0.81 and recall i.e., 0.76 for spam messages.
Spatially confined ultrasound neuromodulation via miniaturized fiber-optoacoustic converter (Conference Presentation)

Ultrasound has been recently explored as a new modality for neural modulation. However, one of the challenges in ultrasound neural modulation is that delivery of transcranial ultrasound would inevitably go through the skull, and eventually reach the cochlear through bone transduction. Moreover, the presence of skull will compromise ultrasound focus, resulting in poor spatial resolution. Here, we developed a miniaturized Fiber-Optoacoustic Converter (FOC), which has a diameter of 600 μm, and can convert nano-second laser pulses into omni-directional acoustic waves through the optoacoustic effect. The ball shaped FOC is composed of one ZnO /epoxy based diffusion layer and two graphite/epoxy based absorption layer. The radiofrequency spectrum of the generated US frequency ranges from 0.1-5 MHz, with multiple frequencies peaks at 0.5, 1 and 3MHz. Using this FOC system, we show that ultrasound can directly activate individual cortical neuron in vitro, and generate intracellular Ca2+ transient without neural damage. We next demonstrate that the FOC is activates neurons with a radius of 500 μm around the FOC tip, delivering superior spatial resolution. The stimulation effect is specific to neurons, but not glial cells. We also provide evidence of transient mechanical disturbance of neuronal membrane as the mechanism for FOC neural modulation. Finally, we combine FOC neural modulation with electrophysiology, and achieve direct and spatially confined neural stimulation in vivo.
$L^{p}$ measure of growth and higher order Hardy–Sobolev–Morrey inequalities on $\Bbb{R}^{N}$

When the growth at infinity of a function $u$ on $\Bbb{R}^{N}$ is compared with the growth of $|x|^{s}$ for some $s\in \Bbb{R},$ this comparison is invariably made pointwise. This paper argues that the comparison can also be made in a suitably defined $L^{p}$ sense for every $1\leq p$ < $\infty$ and that, in this perspective, inequalities of Hardy, Sobolev or Morrey type account for the fact that sub $|x|^{-N/p}$ growth of $\nabla u$ in the $L^{p}$ sense implies sub $|x|^{1-N/p}$ growth of $u$ in the $L^{q}$ sense for well chosen values of $q.$ By investigating how sub $|x|^{s}$ growth of $\nabla ^{k}u$ in the $L^{p}$ sense implies sub $|x|^{s+j}$ growth of $\nabla ^{k-j}u$ in the $L^{q}$ sense for (almost) arbitrary $s\in \Bbb{R}$ and for $q$ in a $p$-dependent range of values, a family of higher order Hardy/Sobolev/Morrey type inequalities is obtained, under optimal integrability assumptions. These optimal inequalities take the form of estimates for $\nabla^{k-j}(u-\pi _{u}),$ $1\leq j\leq k,$ where $\pi _{u}$ is a suitable polynomial of degree at most $k-1,$ which is unique if and only if $s$ < $-k.$ More generally, it can be chosen independent of $(s,p)$ when $s$ remains in the same connected component of $\Bbb{R}\backslash \{-k,\ldots,-1\}.$
Adjustment to hearing impairment I: description of a heterogeneous clinical population.

To obtain data on adjustment to hearing impairment and its potential predictors, a consortium of five audiology clinics was established. clinical records generated over 19–27 months were reviewed, ...
Characterizing osmolyte chemical class hierarchies and functional group requirements for thermal stabilization of proteins.

Abstract Osmolytes are naturally occurring organic compounds that protect cellular proteins and other macromolecules against various forms of stress including temperature extremes. While biological studies have correlated the accumulation of certain classes of osmolytes with specific forms of stress, including thermal stress, it remains unclear whether or not these observations reflect an intrinsic chemical class hierarchy amongst the osmolytes with respect to effects on protein stability. In addition, very little is known in regards to the molecular elements of the osmolytes themselves that are essential for their functions. In this study, we use differential scanning fluorimetry to quantify the thermal stabilizing effects of members from each of the three main classes of protecting osmolytes on two model protein systems, C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Our data reveals the absence of a strict chemical class hierarchy amongst the osmolytes with respect to protein thermal stabilization, and indicates differential responses of these proteins to certain osmolytes. In the second part of this investigation we dissected the molecular elements of amino acid osmolytes required for thermal stabilization of myoglobin and C-reactive protein. We show that the complete amino acid zwitterion is required for thermal stabilization of myoglobin, whereas removal of the osmolyte amino group does not diminish stabilizing effects on C-reactive protein. These disparate responses of proteins to osmolytes and other small molecules are consistent with previous observations that osmolyte effects on protein stability are protein-specific. Moreover, the data reported in this study support the view that osmolyte effects cannot be fully explained by considering only the solvent accessibility of the polypeptide backbone in the native and denatured states, and corroborate the need for more complex models that take into account the entire protein fabric.
Usability evaluation of attitude control for a robotic wheelchair for tip mitigation in outdoor environments

Abstract Tips and falls are the most prominent causes of wheelchair accidents that occur when driving on uneven terrains and less accessible environments. The Mobility Enhancement Robotic Wheelchair (MEBot) was designed to improve the stability of Electric Powered Wheelchairs (EPW) when driving over these environments. MEBot offers six independently height-adjustable wheels to control attitude of its seat over uneven and angled terrains. Its attitude control application uses an inertial measurement unit to detect seat angles changes to adjust each wheel-height accordingly. MEBot was compared to commercial EPWs in terms of EPW performance (seat angle changes and response time) and participant perception (satisfaction and task-load demand) towards each device. Ten participants drove their own EPW and MEBot for five trials each through driving tasks that replicated outdoor environments. Results showed less change in the pitch angle when driving up and down a 10° slope using MEBot (5.6 ± 1.6°, 6.6 ± 0.5°) compared to the participants’ own EPW (14.6 ± 2.6°, 12.1 ± 2.6°). However, MEBot required 7.8 ± 3.0 s to self-adjust to the minimum angle when driving over the tasks. Participants reported no difference in satisfaction and task load demand between EPWs due to similarities in comfort and ease-of-use. Improving the speed and efficiency of MEBot's attitude control application will be addressed in future work based upon participants’ feedback.
Application of pool-based active learning in reducing the number of required response history analyses

Abstract A step by step method is presented for reducing the need for a large number of response history analyses (RHAs) in developing surrogates to predict the structural responses. These surrogates, which map ground motions features and characteristics of the structural systems into structural responses, are used in deriving fragility curves; and mostly are developed using machine learning algorithms. A machine learning algorithm, depending on the complexity of the model, requires a sufficient amount of training data to predict the outputs accurately. For complicated structural models, generating training data can be computationally demanding. Therefore, there is a need to generate the least amount of training data while preserving the accuracy of the prediction models. Towards this goal, a pool-based query-by-committee active learning (AL) algorithm is applied to choose probably the most informative data samples for surrogate training. A pool of unlabeled GM data samples is generated and a committee of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is defined to choose the smallest subset of the data that would be the most informative training data. The selected data samples meet informativeness, representativeness, and diversity criteria. The results of the applied case study show that implementing AL, can considerably reduce the size of required training data and consequently the amount of RHAs while improving the performance of the prediction models. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that AL improves the average F-scores of ANNs by about 10% and significantly reduces their variations, which indicates its stable behavior.
Comparative Assessment of Extracranial-to-Intracranial and Intracranial-to-Intracranial In Situ Bypass for Complex Intracranial Aneurysm Treatment Based on Rupture Status: A Case Series.

Background Comparative outcomes of extracranial-to-intracranial (EC-IC) and intracranial-to-intracranial (IC-IC) bypass for complex aneurysm treatment based on rupture status are not well described in the literature. In this study, we compare outcomes of EC-IC and IC-IC bypass for complex intracranial aneurysm treatment based on rupture status. Methods A prospective neurosurgical patient database was retrospectively reviewed. Sixty-three consecutive patients with aneurysm managed with revascularization were identified between July 2014 and December 2018. Results During the study period, 41 patients with aneurysm underwent EC-IC bypass (65%; 24 [58.5%] ruptured, 17 [41.5%] unruptured) and 22 patients with aneurysm underwent IC-IC bypass (34.9%; 13 [59.1%] ruptured, 9 [40.9%] unruptured). Graft spasm occurred in 4 patients (9.8%) in the EC-IC group (all ruptured aneurysms) and all anastomoses were patent on immediate postoperative imaging. Perioperative mortality occurred in 5 patients who underwent EC-IC bypass (12.2%; 3 ruptured, 2 unruptured) EC-IC and 2 patients who underwent IC-IC bypass (9.1%; both ruptured); (P = 0.709). Bypass-related complications occurred only in patients with ruptured aneurysm (2 [8.3%] in the EC-IC group and 0 [0%] in the IC-IC group; P = 0.285). For unruptured aneurysms, the overall complication rate was lower in IC-IC compared with the EC-IC group (P = 0.006). Modified Rankin Scale scores on discharge were significantly lower in IC-IC compared with EC-IC bypass for unruptured aneurysms (P = 0.008). There was a trend for shorter temporary occlusion and hospitalization times and overall better outcomes with IC-IC compared with EC-IC bypass. Conclusions Although often considered riskier than EC-IC bypass, IC-IC in situ bypass showd a favorable technical and safety profile for the treatment of complex, unruptured aneurysms.
Techno-economic Optimization of ORC for Gas Engine Waste Heat Recovery

In this paper organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was introduced for gas engine waste heat recovery. The ORC system plan to build in National Energy Distributed Energy Technology R&D Center, use two 315kW MJI GS6R2-PTK gas engine jacket water as heat source. The components' model and economic model for ORC system were established. Then 20kW ORC system was designed and optimized by fast and elitist multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA II). Both system efficiency and total cost were optimized during the design process. The optimization results show ORC system without recuperator is more profitable for commercial applications. Besides ORC system tend to operate with lower superheating temperature.
A steroid hormone regulates growth in response to oxygen availability

In almost all animals, physiologically low oxygen (hypoxia) during development slows growth and reduces adult body size. The developmental mechanisms that determine growth under hypoxic conditions are, however, poorly understood. One hypothesis is that the effect of hypoxia on growth and final body size is a non-adaptive consequence of the cell-autonomous effects of hypoxia on cellular metabolism. Alternatively, the effect may be an adaptive coordinated response mediated through systemic physiological mechanisms. Here we show that the growth and body size response to moderate hypoxia (10% O2) in Drosophila melanogaster is systemically regulated via the steroid hormone ecdysone, acting partially through the insulin-binding protein Imp-L2. Ecdysone is necessary to reduce growth in response to hypoxia: hypoxic growth suppression is ameliorated when ecdysone synthesis is inhibited. This hypoxia-suppression of growth is mediated by the insulin/IGF-signaling (IIS) pathway. Hypoxia reduces systemic IIS activity and the hypoxic growth-response is eliminated in larvae with suppressed IIS. Further, loss of Imp-L2, an ecdysone-response gene that suppresses systemic IIS, significantly reduces the negative effect of hypoxia on final body size. Collectively, these data indicate that growth suppression in hypoxic Drosophila larvae is accomplished by systemic endocrine mechanisms rather than direct suppression of tissue aerobic metabolism.
Analyzing GDPR compliance of named data networking

The popularity of social media platforms, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and the myriad smartphone applications have created opportunities for companies and organizations to collect individuals' personal data and monetize its sharing at a high rate. A standout example was the Facebook--Cambridge Analytica data-sharing arrangement (2018), which allowed Cambridge Analytica to harvest millions of Facebook users' personal data without their consent for political advertisement. In response to such overreach and privacy violations, the European Union introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which mandates data collectors to protect individuals' data privacy and provide the user more control over their personal data. Motivated by this growing interest in personal privacy, we analyze GDPR articles in the context of Named Data Networking (NDN). The context of interest is NDN as the network architecture in a service provider and we investigate GDPR-pertinent NDN features, including naming, caching, forwarding plane, and its built-in trust, for GDPR compliance and present insights on how such compliance can be built, when lacking. We also present experimental results showing compliance overheads and conclude by identifying potential future work.
Quantifying Spatial Relationships in Ice Penetrating Radar Measurement Uncertainty Through Clutter Simulation

Quantifying uncertainty in subglacial topography measured with airborne radio-echo sounding (RES) is important for studying ice sheet dynamics and constraining future ice sheet behavior. Measurement accuracy is influenced by bed geometry. However, measurement uncertainties from off-nadir reflections are insufficiently characterized for quantifying topographic measurement uncertainty from off-nadir reflections. In this paper, we use a clutter simulator to quantify this source of uncertainty. We find that measurement uncertainty from clutter is spatially correlated and is strongly dependent on topographic roughness. This method could be used to estimate measurement uncertainty in RES measurements and enable more robust uncertainty quantification in bed topography.
Aggression and Crimes Against Peace

In this volume, the third in his trilogy on the philosophical and legal aspects of war and conflict, Larry May locates a normative grounding for the crime of aggression - the only one of the three crimes charged at Nuremberg that is not currently being prosecuted - that is similar to that for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He considers cases from the Nuremberg trials, philosophical debates in the Just War tradition, and more recent debates about the International Criminal Court, as well as the hard cases of humanitarian intervention and terrorist aggression. His thesis refutes the traditional understanding of aggression. At Nuremberg, crimes against humanity charges were only pursued if the defendant also engaged in the crime of aggression. May argues for a reversal of this position, contending that aggression charges should be pursued only if the defendant's acts involve serious human rights violations.
Infrared spectra of seeded hydrogen clusters: (paraH2)N - OCS, (orthoH2)N - OCS, and (HD)N - OCS, N = 2 - 7.

Infrared spectra of hydrogen–carbonyl sulfide clusters containing paraH2, orthoH2, or HD have been studied in the 2060 cm−1 region of the C–O stretching vibration. The clusters were formed in pulsed supersonic jet expansions and probed using a tunable infrared diode laser spectrometer. Simple symmetric rotor type spectra were observed and assigned for clusters containing up to N=7 hydrogen molecules. There was no resolved K structure, and Q-branch features were present for orthoH2 and HD but absent for paraH2. These characteristics can be rationalized in terms of near symmetric rotor structures, very low effective rotational temperatures (0.15 to 0.6 K), and nuclear spin statistics. The observed vibrational shifts were compared with those from recent observations on the same clusters embedded in helium nanodroplets. The observed rotational constants for the paraH2 clusters are in good agreement with a recent quantum Monte Carlo simulation. Some mixed clusters were also observed, such as HD–HD–He–OCS and paraH2–orthoH2–OCS.Infrared spectra of hydrogen–carbonyl sulfide clusters containing paraH2, orthoH2, or HD have been studied in the 2060 cm−1 region of the C–O stretching vibration. The clusters were formed in pulsed supersonic jet expansions and probed using a tunable infrared diode laser spectrometer. Simple symmetric rotor type spectra were observed and assigned for clusters containing up to N=7 hydrogen molecules. There was no resolved K structure, and Q-branch features were present for orthoH2 and HD but absent for paraH2. These characteristics can be rationalized in terms of near symmetric rotor structures, very low effective rotational temperatures (0.15 to 0.6 K), and nuclear spin statistics. The observed vibrational shifts were compared with those from recent observations on the same clusters embedded in helium nanodroplets. The observed rotational constants for the paraH2 clusters are in good agreement with a recent quantum Monte Carlo simulation. Some mixed clusters were also observed, such as HD–HD–He–OCS and p...
Circuit Complexity before the Dawn of the New Millennium

The 1980's saw rapid and exciting development of techniques for proving lower bounds in circuit complexity. This pace has slowed recently, and there has even been work indicating that quite different proof techniques must be employed to advance beyond the current frontier of circuit lower bounds. Although this has engendered pessimism in some quarters, there have in fact been many positive developments in the past few years showing that significant progress is possible on many fronts. This paper is a (necessarily incomplete) survey of the state of circuit complexity as we await the dawn of the new millennium.
The social formation of youth leadership

In recent years policymakers and educators have called for greater youth voice in school reform and neighborhood revitalization. Few studies, however, have examined adult assistance strategies that enable youth to assume responsibility for complex campaigns or formulate policy proposals. Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in an urban after-school leadership group, this article examines how adults and youth jointly created a "youth-led" environment, in which youth took responsibility for making decisions and monitoring their work. Data analysis focuses on the cultural tools that youth appropriated in order to assume leadership of the project, including group agreements, group organizing routines, and a youth empowerment ideology. The paper concludes that to support youth voice adults must do more than just fade into the background, but must also seed the learning community with tools. Implications address how adults can help young people lead efforts to improve their schools and neighborhoods.