cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maternal smoking during pregnancy, urine cotinine concentrations, and birth outcomes. A prospective cohort study

Background Most studies of the reproductive consequences of cigarette smoking base exposure on self-reported smoking habits. This study examines the relationship of birth outcomes to the timing and intensity of maternal active and passive smoking estimated both from self-reports and from cotinine concentration in maternal urine during early, middle, and late gestation. Method This cohort study included 740 white and Hispanic women who obtained antenatal care at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center between 1986 and 1992. At each antenatal visit, information on maternal active and passive smoking was obtained by a detailed questionnaire, and by measurement of urine cotinine concentrations. Infant birth outcomes were obtained from hospital records. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate antenatal smoking variables on birth outcomes, with adjustment for maternal demographic characteristics, reproductive history, alcohol use, maternal weight and height, and infant gender. Results The percentage of mothers who ever smoked cigarettes during pregnancy was 55.5% for white and 10.2% for Hispanic women. A significant inverse exposure-response relationship between cotinine concentration in maternal urine and infant size at birth was demonstrated. However, the relationship was less clear between maternal self-reported smoking status and these outcomes. For the entire gestation, a 1000 ng increase in mean urine cotinine concentration was associated with a 59 +/- 9 g reduction in birthweight, a 0.25 +/- 0.05 cm reduction in length, and a 0.12 +/- 0.03 cm reduction in head circumference, respectively. For maternal passive smoking, the much smaller magnitude of effect precludes firm conclusions. Conclusions These data suggest that preventing and reducing active maternal smoking during pregnancy may have a beneficial impact on infant size at birth.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF NiO- ZrO2(CUBIC) INTERFACES

Abstract The three-dimensional atomic structure of low-energy NiO–ZrO 2 (cubic) interfaces is determined through a combination of electron imaging and spectroscopy techniques. High resolution electron microscopy, and Z-contrast STEM imaging with simultaneous electron energy loss spectroscopy are employed as complementary techniques for elucidating the structural and chemical aspects of the interface and associated interfacial relaxation mechaubic) interface. The planar interfaces show an atomically abrupt transition between the two phases which share a common oxygen plane at the boundary. Structural relaxations accommodating the lattice mismatch indicate that the boundary has relaxed to a low-energy configuration. The resulting interface structure is found to facilitate strong bonding across the boundary as is reflected in the fracture behavior of the composite system.
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Receptors: Comparison of Bovine αV Integrin Utilization by Type A and O Viruses

Three members of the αV integrin family of cellular receptors, αVβ1, αVβ3, and αVβ6, have been identified as receptors for foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in vitro. The virus interacts with these receptors via a highly conserved arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) amino acid sequence motif located within the βG-βH (G-H) loop of VP1. Other αV integrins, as well as several other integrins, recognize and bind to RGD motifs on their natural ligands and also may be candidate receptors for FMDV. To analyze the roles of the αV integrins from a susceptible species as viral receptors, we molecularly cloned the bovine β1, β5, and β6 integrin subunits. Using these subunits, along with previously cloned bovine αV and β3 subunits, in a transient expression assay system, we compared the efficiencies of infection mediated by αVβ1, αVβ3, αVβ5, and αVβ6 among three strains of FMDV serotype A and two strains of serotype O. While all the viruses could infect cells expressing these integrins, they exhibited different efficiencies of integrin utilization. All the type A viruses used αVβ3 and αVβ6 with relatively high efficiency, while only one virus utilized αVβ1 with moderate efficiency. In contrast, both type O viruses utilized αVβ6 and αVβ1 with higher efficiency than αVβ3. Only low levels of viral replication were detected in αVβ5-expressing cells infected with either serotype. Experiments in which the ligand-binding domains among the β subunits were exchanged indicated that this region of the integrin subunit appears to contribute to the differences in integrin utilizations among strains. In contrast, the G-H loops of the different viruses do not appear to be involved in this phenomenon. Thus, the ability of the virus to utilize multiple integrins in vitro may be a reflection of the use of multiple receptors during the course of infection within the susceptible host.
19‐1: A Novel Electrowetting‐based Display for Future Smart Window Application

Smart window is an emerging application for display industry. It can control the sunlight penetration and display information. In this paper, we had made 6-inch color smart window prototype by electrowetting-based technique. The ink jet process is adopted to dose various colored oil into sub-pixel to achieve color device. Without color filter, the transmittance of the device can be improved. Further, to evaluate the practicability of using the smart window device in the night, we had added luminescence substances into the colored oils and designed the cladding structure to achieve a luminous smart window.
Lithospheric flexure and the origin of the dichotomy boundary on Mars

The crustal dichotomy between the ancient highlands of the Southern Hemisphere and the young-appearing northern lowlands is a defining feature of Mars. In the Eastern Hemisphere the dichotomy boundary is marked by a prominent scarp and extensional and compressional tectonic features. Topographic data across the boundary returned from the Mars Global Surveyor indicate lithospheric flexure of the southern highlands. The topography of the boundary can be fit by a universal lithospheric deflection profile that corresponds to an elastic thickness of ∼31–36 km. Flexure of the southern highlands may be due to late Noachian–early Hesperian vertical loading of the northern lowlands. Fracturing and normal faulting along the boundary may be in response to bending stresses, while thrust faulting may result from a combination of stresses due to flexure, erosion, and global contraction.
SEX-ROLE IDENTITY, GENDER IDENTITY, AND SELF-SCHEMATA

Forty females and 40 males were shown slides of masculine and feminine phrases controlled for social desirability, sex-linked content, syllable length, and negative semantic construction to evaluate schematic processing on the dimensions of masculinity and femininity. Their responses to the phrases were timed. The BSRI, PAQ, and SSRIQ administered subsequent to the slide presentation were used to categorize subjects into groups of masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated. Comparisons between the groups evaluated by the different scales indicated that the PAQ was the best predictor of schematic processing and that the SSRIQ and gender were not predictors of schematic processing. Correlations between the SSRIQ and the masculine and feminine scales of the BSRI and PAQ provided evidence partially supportive of Storms's (1979) theory that sex-role identity influences the development of same-sex-typed attributes but does not influence opposite-sex-typed attributes.
HIGH-QUALITY Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 THIN FILMS FABRICATED VIA LASER ABLATION

In this letter, we describe results obtained via laser ablation to fabricate Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3-O10 superconducting thin films using a two-step process. We found that the zero-resistance temperatures are up to 121 K, while the onset temperatures are up to 125 K. The Tc and Jc are mainly determined by a non-contact new technique for high-Tc films. The typical critical current density, Jc, is about 106A/cm2 at 77 K. X-ray diffraction showed that the superconducting thin films are nearly single 2223 phase and are highly oriented.
Influence of microbial deamination on ammonium pools in marine waters

Marine bacteria existing in oligotrophic waters are believed to be in a state of reduced metabolism. Metabolic activity can often be stimulated, however, by the addition of appropriate substrates. This stimulation appears to occur in estuaries, especially those colonized by macrophytes. One method of measuring the potential activity of marine bacteria is by providing useable substrates. Previous studies have indicated that seawater amended with amino acids will specifically stimulate bacterial metabolism. This study used glutamic acid as an amendment to determine potential metabolic activity of the marine microflora occurring in oligotrophic waters. The rate of deamination of glutamate-amended samples was compared with the rate of ammonium uptake in unamended samples. Atlantic waters were collected by SCUBA off the coast of San Salvador, Bahamas, near coral reef sites. Sites 1–3 ran roughly east to west, corresponding to before (Site 1), during (Site 2) and after (Site 3) channel entrainment. Ammonification rates averaged 0.08, 0.22, and 0.02 μg NH4+ l−1day−1 for unamended samples from Sites 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Potential ammonification rates averaged 0.10, 0.64, and 0.23 μg NH4+ day−1 for glutamate-amended samples for Sites 1–3 respectively. After a storm surge, ammonification rates were −0.03 μg NH4+ l−1day−1 (indicating net assimilation) for unamended and 0.66 μg NH4+ l−1day−1 for glutamate-amended samples at Site 1. Results indicate that microbial populations and metabolism, as measured by ammonification rates, increase by passage over shallow water seagrass and coral communities. Afterward, populations remain higher (potential activity) but metabolic activity quickly drops. Storm surges appear to increase microbial population levels, apparently by resuspending sediments.
What We Regret Most Are Lost Opportunities: A Theory of Regret Intensity

A recent theory (Roese & Summerville, 2005) has suggested that regret is intensified by perceptions of future opportunity. In this work, however, it is proposed that feelings of regret are more likely elicited by perceptions of lost opportunity: People regret outcomes that could have been changed in the past but can no longer be changed and for which people experience low psychological closure. Consistent with the lost opportunity principle, Study 1 revealed that regretted experiences in the most commonly regretted life domains are perceived as offering the least opportunity for improvement in the future, Study 2 indicated that people experience the most regret for outcomes that are not repeatable, and Study 3 revealed that perceptions of higher past than future opportunities and low psychological closure predict regret intensity. Discussion focuses on the hope-inducing yet ephemeral nature of perceived future opportunity and on the relationship between dissonance reduction and closure.
Thermal enhancements for a thin film chip carrier

The development of a thermal enhancement technique targeted for single-chip, thin-film carriers is described. The test package consisted of a 7.5-mm by 7.5-mm chip bonded to a high lead count organic tape substrate using tape automated bonding (TAB). Because of high chip power requirements, a thermal enhancement consisting of a heat sink bonded to the chip with a thermally conductive epoxy was developed. The objectives were to develop the appropriate heat sink, thermal adhesive, and assembly process for the heat management system. The thermal performance of the package was evaluated in both natural and forced convection environments. Reliability measurements were taken to ensure the chip to heat sink interface and the overall package withstood the required stresses without significant performance deterioration. These stresses included standard accelerated thermal cycling (ATC), ship shock, mechanical torque and vibration, and chemical exposure. >
Computational and experimental investigation for new transition metal selenides and sulfides: The importance of experimental verification for stability

Expanding the library of known inorganic materials with functional electronic or magnetic behavior is a long-standing goal in condensed matter physics and materials science. Recently, the transition metal chalcogenides including selenium and sulfur have been of interest because of their correlated-electron properties, as seen in the iron-based superconductors and the transition metal dichalcogenides. However, the chalcogenide chemical space is less explored than that of oxides, and there is an open question of whether there may be new materials heretofore undiscovered. We perform a systematic combined theoretical and experimental search over ternary phase diagrams that are empty in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database containing cations, transition metals, and one of selenium or sulfur. In these 27 ternary systems, we use a probabilistic model to reduce the likelihood of false negative predictions, which results in a list of 24 candidate materials. We then conduct a variety of synthesis experiments to check the candidate materials for stability. While the prediction method did obtain previously unknown compositions that are predicted stable within density functional theory, none of the candidate materials formed in our experiments. We come to the conclusion that these phase diagrams are ``empty'' in the case of bulk synthesis, but it remains a possibility that alternate synthesis routes may produce some of these phases.
Linking dispositional mindfulness and positive psychological processes in cancer survivorship: a multivariate path analytic test of the mindfulness-to-meaning theory.

Background Research indicates that dispositional mindfulness is associated with positive psychological functioning. Although this disposition has been linked with beneficial outcomes in the broader mental health literature, less is known about dispositional mindfulness in cancer survivors and how it may be linked with indices of psychological and physical health relevant to cancer survivorship. Methods We conducted a multivariate path analysis of data from a heterogeneous sample of cancer patients (N = 97) to test the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory, an extended process model of emotion regulation linking dispositional mindfulness with cancer-related quality of life via positive psychological processes. Results We found that patients endorsing higher levels of dispositional mindfulness were more likely to pay attention to positive experiences (β = .56), a tendency which was associated with positive reappraisal of stressful life events (β = .51). Patients who engaged in more frequent positive reappraisal had a greater sense of meaning in life (β = .43) and tended to savor rewarding or life affirming events (β = .50). In turn, those who engaged in high levels of savoring had better quality of life (β = .33) and suffered less from emotional distress (β = −.54). Conclusions Findings provide support for the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory and help explicate the processes by which mindfulness promotes psychological flourishing in the face of cancer. Implications for Cancer Survivorship Cancer survivors may benefit from enhancing mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Validation of a collisional Lattice Boltzmann Method

In this paper, we investigate the validity of a new approach for solution of the collisional Boltzmann equation based on a lattice framework for applications to problems in fluid dynamics occurring in a broad range of Reynolds numbers and Knudsen numbers. In the proposed method, termed collisional Lattice Boltzmann Method (cLBM), the effects of spatial transport are accounted for via a streaming operator, using a lattice framework and the effects of detailed collisional interactions are accounted for using the full collision operator of the Boltzmann equation. The latter feature is in contrast to most of the conventional Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBM) where collisional interactions are modeled via simplified equilibrium based relaxation models (e.g. BGK). The underlying distribution function is represented using weights and fixed velocity abscissas according to the lattice structure. These weights are evolved based on constraints on the evolution of generalized moments of velocity according to the collisional Boltzmann equation. It can be shown that the collision integral can be reduced to a summation of elementary integrals, which can be analytically evaluated. The proposed method is validated using studies of canonical flow problems, including (i) lid-driven cavity, (ii) plane Couette flow and (iii) Poiseulle flow for different Reynolds and Knudsen numbers and the results are found to be in good agreement between those obtained from conventional LBM and experiments where available. Unlike conventional LBM, the proposed method does not involve any equilibrium based approximations and hence can also be potentially useful as a unified approach for simulation of highly nonequilibrium flows using a lattice framework.
On a nonlinear boundary value problem for fourth order equations

In this paper, we consider the fourth order ordinary differential equation together with the boundary conditions Some existence results for the problem (E)—(B) are obtained. The results here apply to more than just the sublinear and superlinear cases discussed by most other authors.
cAMP and genistein stimulate HCO3- conductance through CFTR in human airway epithelia

We studied the role of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl- channel as an HCO3- conductor during adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent regulation in hu...
Examining the Link between Popular Participation and Successful Political Resistance

Recent work on campaigns of civil resistance posits a causal link between nonviolence and campaign success mediated by levels of popular participation. Formal causal mediation analysis reveals a robust null effect along this causal pathway. A separate, instrumental variables analysis of the unconditional average effect of participation on nonviolent resistance movements’ likelihood of victory casts further doubt on the notion that larger campaigns strictly outperform smaller ones. However, where resistance is led by a pre-existing socio-economic or political organization – such as a trade union, a religious community, or a political party or front – greater popular participation does appear to be beneficial.
Curative Effect of Kangfuxin Liquid Combined with Yinghua antiviral solution in The Treatment of children with Herpetic stomatitis

Objective To observe the clinical effect of Kangfuxin Liquid Combined with Yinghua antiviral solution in the treatment of children with herpetic stomatitis.Methods Ninety cases from department of stomatology in Hunan Children's Hospita from 2011-1-1 to 2012-12-30 were chosen and randomly divided into two groups.Test group was treated with Kangfuxin Liquid and Yinghua antiviral solution.Contrast group was treated with Kaihoujian liquid and pudilanxiaoyan solution.The effects of both groups were observed and analyzed for seven days.Results After seven days of treatment,the total effective rate of the test group(95.6%)was much higher than that of the contrast group(71.1%).Significant changes were observed in statistics(P0.05).There was no severe adverse reaction.Conclusion Kangfuxin Liquid Combined with Yinghua antiviral solution has good clinical effect in treatment of children with herpetic stomatitis,and it can be used extensively in clinic.
Effect of Processing of Semen on Capacitation Time of Fresh and Frozen-Thawed Boar Spermatozoa

Ovulation time of gilts was controlled by oral treatment with altrenogest (17-allyl-hydroxyestra-4,9,11-trien-3-one) followed by gonadotropic hormone injections. Gilts were laparotomized 42 to 44 h after injection of human chorionic gonadotropin. Spermatozoa were surgically placed into ligated oviducts of gilts after one of the following semen treatments: frozen and thawed in Beltsville thawing solution (F-BTS) or in seminal plasma (F-SP); unfrozen, processed like the frozen semen, but not cooled, frozen or thawed, and extended in Beltsville thawing solution (U-BTS) or in seminal plasma (U-SP). Ova were recovered 5 or 24 h after insemination and their stage of development was determined. At 5 h, F-BTS and U-BTS spermatozoa had fertilized significantly more ova (45 and 69%, respectively) than the F-SP and U-SP spermatozoa (5 and 34%, respectively). Ova fertilized by F-BTS and U-BTS spermatozoa had reached a more advanced stage of development than ova fertilized by F-SP and U-SP spermatozoa at both recovery times. Unfrozen spermatozoa (U-BTS or U-SP) fertilized more ova by 5 h after tubal deposition than F-BTS or F-SP spermatozoa (P less than .005 for each comparison). By 24 h, the percentage of fertilized ova was similar for all treatments. The results indicate that semen processing reduced capacitation time of boar spermatozoa to an extent similar to passage through the uterus. The capacitation time of frozen-thawed spermatozoa appeared to be similar to spermatozoa that were processed, but not cooled, frozen or thawed.
Subvocal mucle activity during stuttering and fluent speech: A comparison

Electromyography measurements utilizing needle electrodes, were made to compare the laryngeal muscle activity of a stutterer and a non-stutterer, (a) when they indicated anticipation of either difficulty or no difficulty speaking, (b) when they actually spoke. The stutterer exhibited the earliest and longest laryngeal activity when he anticipated difficulty and actually stuttered. The stutterer exhibited more intense muscle activity before speaking than the non-stutterer. Therapeutically, it is suggested that stutterers learn to control the muscle activity prior to the moment of speaking.
Chemical studies of luteinizing hormone from human and ovine pituitaries.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses chemical studies of luteinizing hormone (LH) from human and ovine pituitaries. These studies have found that ovine LH can be dissociated into subunits. The chapter also discusses the studies of disulfide bonds in the ovine LH. Disulfide cross linkages have been established for numerous proteins. The approach is straightforward. One simply breaks the protein into smaller peptides using the several specific cleavage procedures available to protein chemists, isolates the disulfide-containing peptides, and identifies which parts of the known sequence provided the peptide, and thus, which particular half-cysteine residues must be cross linked by disulfide bonds. The chapter also discusses various procedures in which many variants of Papkoff-Samy procedure have been taken into account to induce a separation of the human LH subunits. However, the procedures encountered several difficulties and the conclusions were somewhat subjective. The conclusions revealed that (1) the human LH appears either to dissociate less readily or reassociate more readily, (2) the human LH-α is less soluble in the lower phase of the Papkoff-Samy system than other species of LH, and (3) the insolubility of human LH-α favors co-precipitation of the human LH-β as a form of denatured LH that may have an indefinite composition ratio of the two subunits.
Abstract 2425: Genome-wide mapping of MYCN, MYC, and MAX binding across neuroblastoma cell lines identifies novel transcriptional targets

Arising from the sympathetic nervous system, neuroblastoma (NBL) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children. Although the 5-year survival rate for children in the low and intermediate risk groups ranges between 90 to over 95%, children with high-risk disease have only a 40-50% likelihood of survival and relapse of high-risk disease is currently largely incurable. The best-characterized genetic determinant of high-risk disease is amplification of MYCN. Members of the MYC protein family are highly homologous and share redundant biological functions, each able to form heterodimers with MAX at consensus E-box motifs (CANNTG) to regulate transcription. While MYCN is known to transcriptionally activate genes involved in malignancy and repress expression of genes that antagonize metastases, amplification of MYCN alone is likely not sufficient for transformation. To identify MYCN and MYC DNA binding partners and ultimately, therapeutic targets in the high-risk NBL subset, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation and next-generation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) for MYCN, MYC, and MAX across three MYCN amplified and three non-MYCN amplified cell lines (n = 2 ChIPs per protein). Peak calling was performed using MACS2 and annotated using bedtools and/or ChIPseeker. MYCN displays genome-wide binding in all three amplified cell lines, suggesting global transcriptional regulation in NBL. ChIPenrich and TOPPgene were used to determine enrichment of peaks based on gene ontology. As expected, we show MYCN ChIP peaks were significantly enriched for MYC and MAX interactions, as well as DNA-binding, in the MYCN amplified subset of cell lines. Genes containing peaks within 1 kb of gene promoters were intersected with genes differentially expressed based on MYCN amplification status in high-risk NBL cases based on RNA-Seq analysis. This set of over 4000 genes was significantly enriched (p Citation Format: Jo Lynne Harenza, Robyn Sussman, Derek Oldridge, John Maris. Genome-wide mapping of MYCN, MYC, and MAX binding across neuroblastoma cell lines identifies novel transcriptional targets. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2425.
Is the Cattell–Horn–Carroll-Based Factor Structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth Edition (WISC-V) Construct Invariant for a Representative Sample of African–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian Male and Female Students Ages 6 to 16 Years?

Since the inception of testing, the examination of test bias has been discussed and debated in the literature. As new tests are developed or old tests are revised, part of the standardization process involves the examination of gender and ethnic item bias. The exploration of construct invariance across different ethnic and gender groups, however, is not part of the test construction or validation process. This study investigated factorial invariance of the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC)-based factor structure of the most recent version of the Wechsler tests—the Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children—Fifth Edition (WISC-V; Wechsler 2014a)—across a representative sample of African–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian male and female students ages 6–16 years (N = 2637). Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore whether increasing sets of equality constraints fit the underlying theoretical structure of the WISC-V equally well. Results showed that all five CHC broad abilities, in addition to the general factor g, demonstrated structural invariance for all six ethnic/gender groups. Findings from this study suggest that, despite mean score differences, neuropsychologists can be confident that the WISC-V factor structure is equivalent for the different subgroups and scores are, thus, equally meaningful for African–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian male and female students. These results are of value, given the frequent use of intelligence tests, especially of the WISC-V, when making important and, oftentimes, life-changing decisions regarding diagnosis and access or denial to special programs and classes.
Somatic symptom disorder treated with electroconvulsive therapy

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a challenging condition to treat with chronic pain, a common and disabling symptom. We present a patient who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for SSD with significant improvement in pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. We also present a brief literature review of similar cases treated with ECT. Preliminary evidence suggests that ECT should be considered for treatment of SSD comorbid with major depressive disorder, when standard treatments fail. Further research is needed to clarify whether ECT can be used for SSD without associated depression.
Plant Evolution: Repeated Loss of Floral Scent — A Path of Least Resistance?

Two independent studies converge on similar causes for olfactory loss-of-function mutants in evolutionary transitions to scentless flowers. This molecular deja vu may reflect selection to minimize negative pleiotropy in a complex biosynthetic pathway.
Soil moisture background error covariance and data assimilation in a coupled land‐atmosphere model

This study characterizes the space-time structure of soil moisture background error covariance and paves the way for the development of a soil moisture variational data assimilation system for the Noah land surface model coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The soil moisture background error covariance over the contiguous United States exhibits strong seasonal and regional variability with the largest values occurring in the uppermost soil layer during the summer. Large background error biases were identified, particularly over the southeastern United States, caused mainly by the discrepancy between the WRF-Noah simulations and the initial conditions derived from the used operational global analysis data set. The assimilation of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) soil moisture data notably reduces the error of soil moisture simulations. On average, data assimilation with space-time varying background error covariance results in 33% and 35% reduction in the root-mean-square error and the mean absolute error, respectively, in the simulation of hourly top 10 cm soil moisture, mainly due to implicit reductions in soil moisture biases. In terms of correlation, the improvement in soil moisture simulations is also observed but less notable, indicating the limitation of coarse-scale soil moisture data assimilation in capturing fine-scale soil moisture variation. In addition, soil moisture data assimilation improves the simulations of latent heat fluxes but shows a marginal impact on the simulations of sensible latent heat fluxes and precipitation.
Watching the astonishment of the native: early audio-visual technology and colonial discourse

AbstractIn this paper, I give an overview of early exhibitions of phonographs, kinetoscopes and cinematographic devices in colonial Singapore. Beyond giving an overview of the different exhibitions, the paper also sets them in the context of the colonial discourse prevalent in Singapore and many parts of the world. In the newspaper discourse these new technologies from Europe and United States were depicted as an illustration of ‘Western’ progress and civilisation. These technologies, be it railways, roads, steamships, telegraphs or cinematographs, were used to impress and astonish the colonised, and functioned as a way to signal Western power in colonial territories, something Brian Larkin calls the colonial sublime. Newspaper reports frequently commented on the amazement and perplexity of the local, ‘native’ population when encountering public exhibitions of phonographs, kinetoscopes and cinematographs. This was largely a constructed narrative as it helped create and emphasise differences between coloni...
Re-Examining the Role of Engaging in Activities: Does its Effect on Mortality Change by Age among the Chinese Elderly?

Engaging in activities has been found beneficial overall to individuals’ well-being. What has not been systemically tested with large sample data is whether such benefits diminish at very old ages. This study uses the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS) between 2002 and 2008 to test how the effect of engaging in activities on mortality changes by age among the elderly. Approximately half of the 16,064 people aged 65 and over interviewed in 2002 died within the following six-years. Two types of activities are examined: customary physical activities, such as such as doing housework and gardening, and social activities, such as playing cards and attending organized activities. The Cox model is applied to analyze the hazards of mortality. Both physical and social activities are found to reduce the hazards of mortality for the whole sample and both activities showed a negative interaction effect with age. As age increases, their beneficial effects decrease. These patterns are also evident in the sub-sample analysis by age and gender. Although many studies have shown the beneficial effect of engaging in activities for individuals’ well-being, as is well reported in the media, these results suggest a diminishing effect at old ages.
Analysis of decade-long time series of GPS-based polar motion estimates at 15-min temporal resolution

We present results from the generation of 10-year-long continuous time series of the Earth’s polar motion at 15-min temporal resolution using Global Positioning System ground data. From our results, we infer an overall noise level in our high-rate polar motion time series of 60 $$\upmu \hbox {as}$$ (RMS). However, a spectral decomposition of our estimates indicates a noise floor of 4 $$\upmu \hbox {as}$$ at periods shorter than 2 days, which enables recovery of diurnal and semidiurnal tidally induced polar motion. We deliberately place no constraints on retrograde diurnal polar motion despite its inherent ambiguity with long-period nutation. With this approach, we are able to resolve damped manifestations of the effects of the diurnal ocean tides on retrograde polar motion. As such, our approach is at least capable of discriminating between a historical background nutation model that excludes the effects of the diurnal ocean tides and modern models that include those effects. To assess the quality of our polar motion solution outside of the retrograde diurnal frequency band, we focus on its capability to recover tidally driven and non-tidal variations manifesting at the ultra-rapid (intra-daily) and rapid (characterized by periods ranging from 2 to 20 days) periods. We find that our best estimates of diurnal and semidiurnal tidally induced polar motion result from an approach that adopts, at the observation level, a reasonable background model of these effects. We also demonstrate that our high-rate polar motion estimates yield similar results to daily-resolved polar motion estimates, and therefore do not compromise the ability to resolve polar motion at periods of 2–20 days.
Adolescent use of opioids and stimulants: testing the influence of peers, self-control, and sports participation

AbstractOver 15% of adolescents in the US have used opioids or stimulants in the past year without a prescription. Research suggests that sports participation is a predictor of adolescent illicit opioid and stimulant use; however, these studies are atheoretical. This study fills this gap by using a national sample to use social learning theory and self-control theory, to examine adolescent use of nonmedical opioids and stimulants. The study also examines the relationship between sports participation and drug use. Findings indicate social learning and low self-control predicts adolescent use of stimulants and opioids; however, sports participation was not significant. The manuscript concludes by discussing the finding’s implications.
Creating a University Driven "Ingepreneurial" Ecosystem in West Baltimore: A Strategy for Rust Belt Revitalization.

The legacy of deindustrialization and associated underemployment continues to plague many former industrial communities. In these spaces, universities serve as anchors providing gateways for individual economic empowerment, and as ‘brain centers’ charged with generating solutions for societal problems. This paper explores the development of The Center for Strategic Ingepreneurship (CSI) at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Strategic Ingepreneurship is seen here as a practical, innovative, solution-based approach to address under-performing job creation. The Center will serve as a university-based entity to facilitate the development and dissemination of ingepreneurial knowledge and skills through research, teaching, and practice.
Development of the Trauma-Related Anger Scale:

Anger is a pervasive problem following traumatic events. Previous research has demonstrated a moderate relationship between anger and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet findings also highlight that anger has not been rigorously measured in the context of PTSD. Thus, this study concerns the development of a complimentary measure to assess anger in the context of PTSD. Participants were 435 undergraduate students. The participants were given a battery including the proposed scale and measures of trauma exposure, PTSD, anger, depression, anxiety, and social desirability. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a hierarchical, four-factor model provided the best fit to the data. The scale appeared psychometrically sound, with excellent internal consistency, good evidence of validity, and good model fit. This scale may provide implications for clinical work, specifically for the assessment and tracking of anger symptoms connected to PTSD. Additionally, this scale may assist with research by predicting treatment outcomes, aggression, and PTSD.
Measuring, Assessing, and Certifying Healthy Places

To know whether a community can be considered a healthy place and how it can be improved, tools are needed to measure and analyze health-risk and health-protective factors and to convey such information to decision makers. Instruments such as walkability audits can be used to measure the health components of a community’s physical environment and to predict the potential positive and negative impacts of changes to that environment. Tools such as health impact assessments can be used to assess the potential health outcomes of proposed projects and policies and to provide recommendations to promote healthy aspects and mitigate adverse aspects of proposals. Criteria such as those in LEED for Neighborhood Development can be used to certify that the design of a community reaches certain standards in sustainability, energy efficiency, and health-promoting components.
Short-range indoor localization using a hybrid doppler-UWB system

This paper presents a novel hybrid indoor localization solution that combines a wearable K-band trajectory-tracking Doppler radar with an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning system. A K-band Doppler radar aided with a three-axis digital gyroscope is used to capture the Doppler frequency and the change in the heading direction, thus constantly tracking the trajectory by integrating speed into position change. In order to remove the error accumulated during the integration process, UWB positioning is adopted in a fixed region. Every time a subject walks into the region that is reliably monitored by the UWB positioning system, the location of the subject and the heading direction are calibrated by the UWB measurement result. Details of the tracking theory is presented. Experiments were carried out to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed Doppler-UWB system for short-range indoor localization.
Non-Monosex Research Publication in U.S.-Based Social Work Journals Between 2008-2016.

ABSTRACTAn estimated 4% of men and 9% of women identify as non-monosex, a term for sexual identities outside of the heterosexual/homosexual binary, such as bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, and asex...
Entity identity, performance, and storage

When a database designer needs to model an entity that exists in a domain that does not have a global name authority, the designer must resort to using surrogate identifiers. Traditionally, these entities were referred to as Weak-Entities in Entity-Relationship models. There are many choices available to a database modeler, but each choice comes with sacrifices. This paper documents an experiment that evaluates several of these choices and hypothesizes the best solution from both a performance and a storage perspective. We then apply the suggested best algorithm to a production system and discover tremendous savings in disk space requirements and execution time on certain queries.
An IoT Platform for Civil Infrastructure Monitoring

IoT technology can have a huge impact in engineering by leveraging state-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICT). In practice, however, it is challenging for IoT platforms to handle domain-specific engineering information (e.g., geometric model, engineering simulation model, etc.) along with sensor data of different types. Engineering information and sensor data need to be integrated for effective data utilization and shared and interoperable among a wide variety of software tools. This paper describes an IoT platform that is tailored to engineering applications and adopts an information modeling approach to facilitate data interoperability and to integrate engineering information with sensor data. In addition, a decentralized data management framework is employed so that the data owned by different project participants can be shared among authorized users and software agents. The IoT platform is demonstrated using a civil infrastructure monitoring scenario which involves various types of sensor data, as well as engineering models. The result shows that the IoT platform can facilitate information sharing and data utilization, in particular, for the civil infrastructure monitoring application.
Hermite Operator on the Heisenberg Group

In this article, we first introduce a new geometric method based on multipliers to compute heat kernels for operators with potentials. Using the heat kernel, we may compute the fundamental solution for the Hermite operator with a singularity at an arbitrary point on the Heisenberg group. As a consequence, one may obtain the fundamental solutions for the sub-Laplacian in H n and the Grusin operator in ℝ n .
Aerodigestive dysbiosis in children with chronic cough.

In pediatric patients with chronic cough, respiratory culture techniques commonly yield negative results. Studies using culture-independent methods have found a high relative abundance of oral microbes in the lower airways, suggesting that the topographical continuity, and dynamics of the intraluminal contents of the aerodigestive system likely influence the lower airway microbiota. We hypothesize that in subjects with chronic cough, clinical diagnosis will correlate with distinct microbial signatures detected using culture-independent methods. Study design and methods We enrolled 36 pediatric subjects with chronic cough in a cross-sectional study. Subjects were categorized into four clinical groups: asthma, bacterial bronchitis, neurologically impaired-orally fed, and neurologically impaired enterally fed. Samples from the aerodigestive tract were obtained through bronchoscopy and upper endoscopy. 16S rRNA gene sequencing compared the microbiota from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), tracheal, supraglottic, esophageal, gastric, and duodenal samples. Results We observed that the lower airway microbiota of asthma subjects had higher α diversity as compared with the other groups. β diversity analysis of BAL samples revealed significant differences between the groups. Among the taxonomic differences found, most differentially enriched taxa were upper airway organisms such as Rothia, Gemellaceae (u.g. or uncharacterized genus), and Granulicatella in asthma, Prevotella in bacterial bronchitis, and Veillonella in neurologically impaired orally fed subjects. Greater dissimilarity between the upper airway and lower airway microbiota was associated with increased neutrophilic airway inflammation. Conclusions Distinct dysbiotic signatures can be identified in the lower airway microbiota of pediatric subjects with chronic cough that relates to the degree and type of inflammation.
Properties and reactions of atomic nuclei, radioactivity, and ionizing radiation

The physical properties, chemical reactions, toxicity, carcinogenicity, and other properties of an element or compound present in the environment are determined by the electronic configuration of the atom, ion, or molecule of interest. However, there are certain properties of the atomic nucleus such as radioactivity that can have small but measurable effects on the physical properties and chemical behavior of an element or its compounds. This chapter provides an overview of the quantitative aspects of radioactivity and nature, properties, and effects of ionizing radiations. The composition, types, and selected properties of the atomic nucleus such as isotopes, isobars, and isomers are discussed with examples. Isotope fractionation and its temperature coefficient are used to study the mechanisms of a wide variety of biological, chemical, and physical processes in the environment. A radioactive decay may result in a change in either the atomic number or mass number, or no change in either atomic or mass number, depending upon the type of decay. Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are types of thermonuclear reactions that result in ionization radiations. The chapter also entails the effects of ionizations on biological cells depending upon the radiation dosage and exposure time to radiation; they can damage or destroy healthy tissue, producing a variety of undesirable effects including cancer; but it can also be used to destroy malignant tissue.
Sanskrit: Discovery by Europeans

The discovery of Sanskrit by Europeans played a determinant role in the development of comparative Indo-European linguistics. This process was neither rapid nor linear. The similarity between Sanskrit and Western languages, Greek and Latin in particular, was first noted by travelers and missionaries in India in the late 16th century. Common origin was definitively established in the late 18th century by British colonials in Bengal. The tradition of rigorous analysis by Pānini and other Indian grammarians and phoneticians, according to which Westerners first learned Sanskrit from pandits in India, provided a framework for comparison. Sanskritocentrism long dominated comparative Indo-European linguistics.
Insights into Memory and Control in Motor Behavior Through the Study of Context Effects: A Discussion of Mathews Et Al. and Shea and Zimny

The study of context effects is considered as a means of gaining insights into learning, memory, and control processes in motor behavior. To illustrate this, four issues are discussed in terms of how specific context manipulations can shed light on these processes. These four issues relate to: (a) memory representation; (b) the acquisition-test relationship; (c) motor control models; and (d) the use of stored information in memory.
The Effect of Damage Cap Reforms on Medical Malpractice Insurance Market Conditions During Periods of Crises

This article evaluates whether and how tort reform, specifically damage caps, stabilizes medical malpractice insurance markets. We examine state‐level medical malpractice insurance market performance in the United States for the period 1994–2010, a period characterized by a significant variation across states in their legal environments. First, we find that states with damage caps are less likely to have a crisis. Second, we find that the magnitude of crisis events is attenuated in states with damage caps, while the volatility of performance is not significantly different across states with and without damages caps. Finally, conditional on a state entering a crisis, we find that states with damage caps improve more quickly following the crisis than states without damage caps. Overall, our results suggest that damage caps stabilize medical malpractice insurance markets.