cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quota Reforms in Australian Agriculture

This short paper reviews the Australian experience in reforming quotas on fluid milk, tobacco and laying hens. In these industries, quotas in at least some Australian states have been eliminated, but in every case the transition has entailed substantial compensation to at least some of the producers affected adversely by the change and the new policy has not always been afree market. Notably, the states having the greatest comparative advantage within Australia were the first to eliminate quotas on laying hens and fluid milk. L'auteur passe brievement en revue l'experience australienne dans les processus de reforme des contingents sur le lait de consommation, sur le tabac et sur les poules de ponte. Dans ces secteurs, les contingents ont eteelimines dans au mains quelques Etats, mais au prix de compensations substantielles versees a un certain nombre de producteurs que les changements avaient mis en mauvaise posture et le nouveau regime n'a pas toujours fonctionne en marche libre. Il est remarquable de noter que les Etats australiens jouissant de plus grands avantages comparatifs par rapport aux autres ont ete les premiers aeliminer le contingentement des poulaillers de ponte et du lait de consommation.
Design of Thermal Mechanical Fatigue Accelerated Life Test Criteria

Product validation tests are essential all over the design stages of product development. In the automotive industry, laboratory fatigue testing is an accelerated test that is specifically designed to replicate fatigue damage and failure modes potentially found during field driving conditions. The work presented in this paper is mainly focused on hot components of automotive turbocharger, centered on failure due to thermal mechanical fatigue (TMF). A design of experiment (DOE) was run to define the relation between load parameters and the TMF damage. This fatigue damage model is based on the stress approach (Chaboche fatigue model), widely spread in use, to allow computing the damage under a complex duty cycle. A TMF damage transfer function was identified and it is used to select smart lab test parameters and to link that lab test damage, with customer field damage. This relation allows defining accelerated lab test criteria in order to demonstrate customer field reliability requirements. The lab test is composed of an elementary cycle repeated several times and the field duty cycle is defined via the so called “median customer”. The median customer duty cycle is defined as a combination of several elementary driving patterns (country road, city, highway, ...). For each driving sequence, an instrumented turbocharger allows measuring the relevant parameters such as gas temperature, metal temperature, rotating assembly speed... Finally, a smart lab test can be designed and a criterion defined to demonstrate, with a specific confidence level, that the customer reliability requirement is met.© 2008 ASME
Optimal prepositioning of empty freight cars

The optimal utilization and distribution of empty freight cars has plagued the railroad industry in the past and will undoubt edly continue to do so in the future. In this paper we present the methodology for a simulation-optimization model, for the movement of empty freight cars in a hypothetical railroad transportation network. The freight car network is modelled in SLAM and integrated with XMP, a sophisticated and compact linear programming software package, to determine optimal movement and prepositioning of empty cars to the various nodes (terminals) in the network.The simulation model provides the required data structure for the XMP package to execute the transportation linear program and the stochastic linear program. The model is versatile and with the aid of reliable data, could prove to be a valuable tool for railroad managers and engineers.
Pollen and Seed Studies of Wisconsinan Vegetation in Illinois, U.S.A

Pollen analysis of Wisconsinan sediments from eleven localities in northern and central Illinois, combined with the results of older studies, allows a first general survey of the vegetational changes in Illinois during the last glaciation. In the late Altonian (after 40,000 B.P.), pine was already the most prevalent tree type in northern Illinois. Probably because of the influence of the last Altonian ice advance to northern Illinois, pine migrated to the south and reached south-central Illinois, which was at that time a region of prairie, with oak and hickory trees in favorable sites. Likewise in the late Altonian, spruce appeared in northern Illinois. Spruce also expanded its area to the south during the Wisconsinan, reaching south-central Illinois only after 21,000 B.P., in the early Woodfordian. Deciduous trees (predominantly oak) were present in south-central Illinois throughout the Wisconsinan. Their prevalence decreased to the north. The vegetation during the different subdivisions of the last glacial period in Illinois was approximately as follows: Late Altonian: Pine/spruce forest with some deciduous trees in northern and central Illinois; prairie and oak/hickory stands in south-central Illinois; immigration of pine. Farmdalian: Pine/spruce forest in central Illinois; deciduous trees and pine in south-central Illinois, with areas of open vegetation, perhaps similar to the present-day transition of prairie to forest in the northern Great Plains. Woodfordian: Northern and central Illinois ice covered; in south central Illinois, spruce and oak as dominant tree types, but also pine and grassland. During the Woodfordian, pine and spruce disappeared again from south-central Illinois, and oak/hickory forest and prairie again prevailed. The ice-free areas of northern Illinois become populated temporarily with spruce, but later there is proof of deciduous forest in this region. Pollen investigations in south-central Illinois have shown convincingly that deciduous trees could survive relatively close (less than 60 km) to the ice margin. Therefore the frequently presented view that arctic climatic conditions prevailed in North America during the last glaciation far south of the ice margin can be refuted for the Illinois area, confirming the opinion of other authors resulting from investigations of fossil mollusks and frost-soil features. The small number of localities investigated still permits no complete reconstruction of the vegetation zones and their possible movements in Illinois. During the Altonian and Farmdalian in Illinois, a vegetational zonation probably existed similar to that of today in North America. As the ice pushed southward as far as 39° 20′ N. lat in the early Woodfordian, this zonation was apparently broken up under the influence of a relatively moderate climate. In any case, the Vandalia area, which was only about 60 km south of the ice, was at that time neither in a tundra zone nor in a zone of boreal coniferous forest.
Experimenter's Pantomimes Influence Children's Use of Body Part as Object and Imaginary Object Pantomimes: A Replication

Young children asked to pretend to use a series of absent objects typically pantomime by using a body part as the object (BPO) rather than by acting as if using an imaginary object (IO). This replication of Lyons's work (1983, 1986) examines whether different pretend contexts when requesting pantomimes influence children's use of IO and BPO pantomimes. Forty-three children aged 3;6 to 6;6 were asked to pretend to use 8 objects in 1 of 3 contexts: request, request after participating in an experimenter-provided imaginary context, and request after seeing the adult model the requested pretend action. The experimenter used IO pantomimes in the last 2 contexts. Children produced, on average, the most IO pantomimes in the modeling context, fewer in the imaginary context, and the fewest in the request context. Older children overall produced more IO pantomimes than did younger children; however, when pretend contexts were examined separately, ontogenetic differences in IO pantomimes were present for the request...
The Location of Acid and Disperse Dyes in Polyamides

Assuming that nylon 66 fiber has structural elements similar to those of an imperfect crystal, it is proposed that dyeing by acid and disperse dyes occurs by filling vacancies caused primarily by chain folding. The hydrolysis during dyeing with acid dyes is assumed to take place at these folds. This leads to the concept of a maximum dye capacity determined by packing requirements for a fixed "free volume" within the fiber. In the case of acid dyes. it is proposed that additional dye can be accommodated by further hydrolysis of chains bordering the vacancies. Disperse dyes appear to have Langmuir-type adsorption isotherms on nylon 66, presumably due to the filling of the proposed sites. It is suggested that the dyeing of cellulose acetate by disperse dyes is also site-determined, with the usual linear isotherm being a Langmuir isotherm of limited extent. This partial filling of the sites would arise from a limiting dye solubility in the dyebath.
Pompeii and its material reproductions: the rise of a tourist site in the nineteenth century

Abstract Tourists represent a quest for authenticity, a modern variation on the universal human concern with the authentic nature of the sacred. The tourist is a contemporary pilgrim, seeking authenticity in other times and other places, and in this quest, he procures various tangible objects, which function as concrete reminders of the memory of his journey. The diffusion of this vicarious experience of sight, through the production, dissemination and acquisition of tangible souvenirs, is a vital step in process of a locale's rise in the tourist's consciousness. This essay examines the evolution of Pompeii as a tourist destination in the latter half of the nineteenth century as a case study on the theme of secular pilgrimage. This process is examined through the concentric lenses of the evolution of the site, Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel The Last Days of Pompeii, guidebooks, the production of souvenirs by the Chiurazzi Foundry and the creation of works of art, including Giovanni Maria Benzoni's I Pompeia...
The Effect of Maternal Hypoaminoacidaemia on Placental Uptake and Transport of Amino Acids in Pregnant Sheep

Abstract We developed a model of maternal hyperglycaemia with secondary hyperinsulinaemia and hypoaminoacidaemia in pregnant sheep (H) to determine the effect of these conditions on uterine, uteroplacental and fetal amino-acid uptake rates and fetal amino-acid concentrations [AA]. Results were compared with normal pregnant ewes (C). Plasma glucose concentrations were greater in H versus C animals: 7.7±0.3 versus 3.9±0.1 mmol/l maternal, P 0.005; 2.6±0.1 versus 1.1±0.1 mmol/l fetal, P 0.005. Maternal insulin concentrations [I] were greater in the H group (132±30 H versus 31±5 C μU/ml, P 0.005); fetal [I] were not different (15±2 H versus 16±2 C μU/mL). Maternal [AA] were lower in H than C groups except for SER ( P =ns) and GLY (approx twofold higher, P 0.01). Uterine, uteroplacental and fetal uptake rates of several AA, particularly the branch chain AA, were lower in H than C animals, producing lower total fetal nitrogen uptake rates (270±64 mg N/kg fetus/day H, 696±75 mg N/kg fetus/day C, P =0.001) and lower fetal plasma concentrations for the branch chain AA. Most fetal [AA], however, remained at control values, which could occur by relative increase in fetal amino-acid production and/or decrease in utilization, but not by increased uteroplacental transport rates.
A Philosophy for the Teacher of Foreign Languages.

W E ARE all very well aware indeed that we are caught up in a crisis in foreign-language teaching. While this is not the first time in the twentieth century that teachers of foreign languages have seen their discipline attacked and its value questioned, it seems clear that this crisis is fundamentally different in one essential respect from all of the others that have preceded it: foreign languages have not been singled out and attacked by critics who question specifically the value of study of a foreign language as a requirement either for admission into college or as part of an undergraduate curriculum-the crisis in which we find ourselves enmeshed is much more general. The fundamental question being raised on all sides concerns no specific discipline or even any particular combination of disciplines. What is under attack in the colleges is the basic principle that an authority-the Faculty-has the right and obligation to establish specific curricula whose requirements students must meet in order to be graduat d with the degree of bachelor of arts. My impression is that the day is not far off when th requirements for the degree of bachelor science will be subjected to the same kind of s rutiny. Nevertheless, for the moment at least, the science curricula are not being questioned as severely and searchingly as are those leading to degrees in the arts. It is certainly not difficult to understand the reason for this state of affairs. A curriculum in science-for all the claims scientists may make about the generalizable value of t aining in one science-is a thorough-going and integrated training in a specific discipline and in closely allied disciplines for the purpose of producing a competent, trained scientist able to perform in certain specifiable ways. On the other hand, the basic claim of a liberal-arts curriculum is that it produces "educated men and women"whatever we may mean or may ever have meant by that expression. Until recently there was a consensus in the United States and in other 5
What We Buy and Who We Listen to: The Science and Art of Consumption

Social influence applications to consumer behavior and consumption themes and actions are covered in this chapter. Product reviews, incentives to buy, personality, advertising, and the mobile mind shift are discussed. The mobile mind shift refers to the expectation that desired information or service is instantly available through different devices or channels. Consumer economics is the study of how people deal with scarcity, fulfill needs and select among alternative goods, services, actions and forms of communication. Sustainability implies future, long-term, considerations. Advertisements or methods using social media are often directed to younger audiences. Mobile tech-equpped teens and young adults, called helicopter siblings, often serve as family guardians.
Additive Information Processing and the Relationship Between Expectancy of Success and Motivational Force

In this article the authors discuss research they have conducted that examines the relationship between expectancy of success and level of employee motivation. They discuss previous studies that ha...
Petroleum Refining Operations: Key Issues, Advances, and Opportunities

Enterprise-wide optimization for the petroleum refining industry involves optimization of the supply chain involving manufacturing and distribution with emphasis on integration of the different decision making levels. The key manufacturing operations include crude oil loading and unloading, mixing of crude oil, production unit operations of conversion and separation, operations of blending, and distribution of products. Other components of the petroleum supply chain network include oil explorations, crude oil procurement, and sales and distribution of products. The main issues present in the petroleum industry across various decision levels (strategic, tactical, and operational) and within oil refinery operations are discussed. This paper presents an extensive literature review of methodologies for addressing scheduling, planning, and supply chain management of oil refinery operations. An attempt is also made to identify the future challenges in efficiently solving these problems.
New Species of Scymnus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Two specimens of Scymnus have come to the author's attention in recent years that are strikingly distinct from any described North American species of the genus and are herewith described.
Learning, a theoretical perspective.

Familiarity with the principles of learning is necessary to the evaluation of the probable impact of techniques of remediation in children with learning disorders. Major concepts which have been developed over the past 50 years are reviewed, with emphasis on those which have proved particularly meaningful in the study of learning disorders.
A comparison of Pluronic F-68, low molecular weight dextran, mannitol, and saline as priming agents in the heart-lung apparatus. I. Pluronic F-68: first use as a plasma substitute.

Summary 1. In animal experiments, Pluronic F-68 in saline, mannitol in saline, low molecular weight dextran in saline, and saline were compared as priming agents in the extracorporeal circuit as a replacement for homologous blood. 2. The use of 0.4 per cent Pluronic in normal saline resulted in a high rate of flow, no impairment of oxygen consumption, a very rapid postperfusion adjustment of blood volume toward normal, and a survival rate of 93 per cent. 3. The same results were noted when perfusing with normal saline and mannitol in normal saline. 4. When low molecular weight dextran in saline was used in a similar manner, postperfusion anuria and a prolonged expanded blood volume was noted. All animals died with autopsy findings suggesting impairment of renal and splanchnic circulation. The authors wish to express their gratitude and appreciation to the following individuals: Mr. Jarl Forsman, Mr. Julian Shelton, and Mr. Oscar Haskins for technical assistance, to Mr. Reinhold Seizinger, M.S., and Irving Schmolka, Ph.D., of the Wyandotte Chemical Company for advice and technical information concerning the Pluronic Polyols, and to the Medical Illustration Department, Veterans Administration Hospital, Dearborn, Mich.
Prediction of Mortality in Nonagenarians Following the Surgical Repair of Hip Fractures

Background: The purpose of this study is to report on the mortality of nonagenarians who underwent surgical treatment for a hip fracture, specifically in regards to preexisting comorbidities. Furthermore, we assessed the effectiveness of the Deyo score in predicting such mortality. Methods: Thirty-nine patients over the age of 90 who underwent surgical repair of a hip fracture were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-six patients (66.7%) suffered femoral neck fractures, while the remaining 13 (33.3%) presented with trochanteric type fractures. Patient charts were examined to determine previously diagnosed patient comorbidities as well as living arrangements and mobility before and after surgery. Results: Deyo index scores did not demonstrate statistically significant correlations with postoperative mortality or functional outcomes. The hazard of in-hospital mortality was found to be 91% (p = 0.036) and 86% (p = 0.05) less in patients without a history of congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic pulmonary disease (CPD), respectively. Additionally, the hazard of 90-day mortality was 88% (p = 0.01) and 81% (p = 0.024) less in patients without a history of dementia and CPD, respectively. The hazard of 1-year mortality was also found to be 75% (p = 0.01) and 80% (p = 0.01) less in patients without a history of dementia and CPD, respectively. Furthermore, dementia patients stayed in-hospital postoperatively an average of 5.3 days (p = 0.013) less than nondementia patients and only 38.5% returned to preoperative living conditions (p = 0.036). Conclusions: Nonagenarians with a history of CHF and CPD have a higher risk of in-hospital mortality following the operative repair of hip fractures. CPD and dementia patients over 90 years old have higher 90-day and 1-year mortality hazards postoperatively. Dementia patients are also discharged more quickly than nondementia patients.
Digital demodulation of DTV signals for passive radar application

A new digital receiver developed at the UW Radar Remote Sensing Lab is capable of directly sampling each of four antennas at 5 GSPS. With this receiver we are able to capture all signals below 2.5 GHz in support of our passive radar efforts in the VHF and UHF radio spectrum. For passive radar applications, we must separate the strong direct path, multipath and the weak echoes of the object of interest from the total signals. Unlike conventional DTV demodulators which may use analog phase-locking techniques to align the DTV waveform for symbol extraction, our clock rate of the receiver is fixed and is different from the DTV standard rate. Furthermore, simultaneous detection of DTV and (for instance) GPS would create conflicting demands for clock phase and frequency control. So, we have developed a completely digital process to demodulate the 8VSB signal. DTV signals have a known structure which permits recovery of the original transmitted waveform from imperfect reception. With such a nearly ideal reference signal, we are able to improve the instantaneous dynamic range to over 100 dB in about one-second coherent processing, and thus detect the weak echoes from targets of interest, such as aircraft or ionospheric field-aligned irregularities, and pave the way to angle of arrival estimates or interferometric images of these scatterers.
Preparation and Timed Release Properties of Self-Rupturing Gels

Swelling of polymeric hydrogels is sensitive to their cross-link densities. Here, we exploit this principle to prepare self-rupturing gels which are based on a commonly-used, nontoxic, and inexpensive polyelectrolyte, poly(acrylic acid), and are prepared through a simple and low-cost polymerization-based technique. The self-rupture of these covalently cross-linked gels is achieved by preparing them to have highly nonuniform cross-link densities. This heterogeneity in cross-linking leads to highly nonuniform swelling, which generates stresses that are high enough to induce gel rupture. The time required for this rupture to occur depends on the difference in the cross-link densities between the adjoining gel regions, gel size, order in which the variably cross-linked gel portions are synthesized, and on the ambient pH and ionic strength. Furthermore, when these self-rupturing gels are prepared to have liquid-filled (capsule-like) morphologies, they can act as timed/delayed release devices. The self-rupture ...
Integrating External Simulations Within the Model-Based Systems Engineering Approach Using Statistical Metamodels

Abstract The Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach uses the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to express the architectural information of a system throughout different stages of its lifecycle. Within the approach, the system's structure, behavior, requirements, and parametrics are defined as elements within an integrated model. System Engineers use nine SysML diagrams to display unique views of these system elements. A significant limitation of SysML is that it is only descriptive in nature and cannot produce analytical results to inform system effectiveness. In order to achieve the full benefit of the MBSE approach the systems engineering community must also rely on external models that capture more sophisticated analysis across a wide variety of domains. These domain models include simulations that measure operational effectiveness, life cycle costing models, physics-based computational simulations, manufacturing models, and many more. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach that integrates these external simulation models with the MBSE integrated model using statistical metamodels that act as surrogates to the simulations. We demonstrate the approach using a simple system design problem and an agent-based simulation.
Teacher value for professional development, self-efficacy, and student outcomes within a digital mathematics intervention

Abstract We examined teacher self-efficacy within the context of a suite of mathematics learning games, Spatial Temporal Mathematics (ST Math) to analyze the associations between teacher value for professional development and self-efficacy, and the associations of both with student achievement outcomes. We found that higher teacher valuing of ST Math professional development was associated with higher self-efficacy for teaching ST Math, and that teacher self-efficacy had a small positive association with student achievement, although the latter result was not replicated in a subdivision of the sample. These associations provide information on how teacher perceptions and self-beliefs about interventions and professional development may drive implementation and student outcomes.
Comparison of thrust line analysis, limit state analysis and distinct element modeling to predict the collapse load and collapse mechanism of a rammed earth arch

Abstract This paper assesses the suitability of two analytical and one numerical analysis techniques to determine the collapse load and the collapse mechanism of a rammed earth arch. The first method, based on thrust line analysis, is a graphic statics based approach that can predict collapse relying only on material properties of density and compressive strength, assuming that rammed earth has no tensile strength. The second method, limit state analysis, is based on a virtual work formulation to predict the collapse assuming the same set of material properties. Both analytical methods have been adapted from masonry analysis to take into account the limited compressive strength of rammed earth to better predict the rammed earth arch’s behavior and can be generalized to any material without tensile strength. The third method is based on a distinct element modeling technique. It is shown through a comparison with a load testing experiment of a 2 m span rammed earth arch that thrust line analysis is an excellent tool to predict the collapse load, but that it cannot provide decisive information regarding collapse mechanisms. Limit state analysis, in contrast, is very suitable to determine the collapse mechanism but may underestimate the ultimate load capacity if the location where cracks can form is not known in advance. Distinct element modeling can provide accurate information on both collapse mechanism and collapse load, but is more computationally demanding and requires a comprehensive characterization of material properties. The application of these techniques to rammed earth is motivated by the rise of the design of new arched and curved rammed earth structures, while appropriate analysis tools are lacking.
Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 Score and Psoriasis Quality of Life Assess Complementary Yet Different Aspects of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.

Background Psoriasis Quality of Life (PQoL-12) is a validated composite tool assessing patients' quality of life (QoL) with psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3), measuring physical function, pain, and patient global assessment, is used for rheumatoid arthritis. Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 has not been used to assess PsO/PsA patients' QoL. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between PQoL-12 and RAPID3 in PsO and PsA patients in a cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Methods Data came from PsO and PsA patients seen from 2008 to 2015 at Oregon Health & Science University (n = 558: 393 with PsO and 165 with PsA). Nonlinear least squares regressions modeled PQoL-12 with functions of RAPID3, controlling for time since first visit. Nonparametric ROC determined RAPID3 scores best correlating with PQoL-12 cutoffs. Results Among the PsO cohort, PQoL-12 was explained by RAPID3, the square of RAPID3, time since first visit, and the square of time since first visit; adjusted R = 0.414. For the PsA cohort, PQoL-12 was explained by RAPID3, change in slope of RAPID3 at 2.28, time since first visit, the square of time since first visit; adjusted R = 0.340. Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 cutoffs for PQoL-12 scores of 48 and 96 (mild and moderate QoL impairment) in PsO were 1.55 and 5.72 and in PsA were 1.89 and 6.34. Conclusions Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 weakly correlated with PQoL-12, indicating these indices assess different aspects of PsO and PsA. Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 fails to capture mental health information that greatly impacts patients' QoL, whereas PQoL-12 fails to capture the physical and functional aspects of the disease. Results indicate the importance of capturing mental health assessment in order to create a comprehensive tool to measure how psoriatic disease affects patients' QoL.
Understanding activity participation among individuals with Wolfram Syndrome.

IntroductionWolfram syndrome is a rare genetic disease associated with a variety of progressive metabolic and neurologic impairments. Previous research has focused on Wolfram syndrome-related impai...
Water maser and optical variability for V778 CYG and EU and 1987–1991

The water maser spectra of V778 Cyg show periodic variations with the same period as the optical carbon star (P=302d). However, a phaselag of 0.23 is present. The central velocity of the features may show long term variability. The 22 GHz spectra of EU And and the optical light curve show semi-periodic variations with periods ranging between 140 to 175 days.
A Comparison Theorem on Moment Inequalities Between Negatively Associated and Independent Random Variables

Let {X i, 1≤i≤n} be a negatively associated sequence, and let {X* i , 1≤i≤n} be a sequence of independent random variables such that X* i and X i have the same distribution for each i=1, 2,..., n. It is shown in this paper that Ef(∑ n i=1 X i)≤Ef(∑ n i=1 X* i ) for any convex function f on R 1 and that Ef(max1≤k≤n ∑ n i=k X i)≤Ef(max1≤k≤n ∑ k i=1 X* i ) for any increasing convex function. Hence, most of the well-known inequalities, such as the Rosenthal maximal inequality and the Kolmogorov exponential inequality, remain true for negatively associated random variables. In particular, the comparison theorem on moment inequalities between negatively associated and independent random variables extends the Hoeffding inequality on the probability bounds for the sum of a random sample without replacement from a finite population.
Grain growth at the free surface of WC-Co materials

The grain growth rate at the free surface of a WC-Co material was measured at different high temperatures and the microstructure and elemental composition of the material were characterized at various stages of the grain growth process. It was found that free surface grains grew at an abnormally fast rate, and this fast growth rate coincided with the vaporization of the binder phase from the free surface. It is suggested that this abnormal rate of growth is related to a change in the growth mechanism from interfacial reaction limited growth in the bulk of the material to a surface diffusion rate limited growth at the free surface. It is shown that the contact points between grains provide bridges for atomic transport from the high free-energy regions (the small grains) to the low free-energy regions (the large grains); hence, the contiguity of the material strongly influences the rate of growth. It is believed that vaporization of the binder phase allows for an increased atomic mobility at the surface, a reduction in the energy barrier to chemisorption and consequently an accelerated grain growth.
The Nature of Arguments Provided by College Geometry Students with Access to Technology while Solving Problems.

Prior research on students' uses of technology in the context of Euclidean geometry has suggested it can be used to support students' development of formal justifications and proofs. This study examined the ways in which students used a dynamic geometry tool, NonEuclid, as they constructed arguments about geometric objects and relationships in hyperbolic geometry. Eight students enrolled in a college geometry course participated in a task-based interview that was focused on examining properties of quadrilaterals in the Poincare disk model. Toulmin's argumentation model was used to analyze the nature of the arguments students provided when they had access to technology while solving the problems. Three themes related to the structure of students' arguments were identified. These involved the explicitness of warrants provided, uses of technology, and types of tasks.
Apps and Autonomy: Perceived Interactivity and Autonomous Regulation in mHealth Applications

Thousands of smartphone apps geared toward monitoring health behaviors are released regularly. Even as developers flood the market with mHealth apps, consumers seem overwhelmed with choices and rep...
The Story of an Emerging Energy Issue: National Television News Coverage of Fracking in the United States

ABSTRACTThis is a narrative analysis that documents how the issue of fracking emerged in national television evening news programs in the United States from 2010 to 2013. Four features of narrative...
What soldiers can teach therapists who work with trauma: A qualitative examination of contemporary American war writing

Abstract Eight contemporary memoirs and biographies focused on American soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were used as data sources for a qualitative investigation of war and its aftermath. Coding of these texts produced 6 themes that captured the experiences of soldiers in combat: Two Worlds (Away and Home); Teach you with Pain; the Ideal of Hero/ Be a Man; Male Intimacy/ Belonging; Old Me, New Me; and the Inevitability of Death. These themes are discussed as they inform an understanding of how soldiers are both similar to and unique from other traumatized populations. Clinical ramifications for trauma-focused psychotherapy are discussed, as are the potential for arts-based approaches in the treatment of soldiers.
Characterization of the recombinant (R)‐ and (S)‐hydroxypropyl‐coenzyme M dehydrogenases: A case study to augment the teaching of enzyme kinetics and stereoselectivity

A homologous pair of stereospecific NAD-dependent enzymes, (R)- and (S)-hydroxypropyl-coenzyme M dehydrogenase, are part of a bacterial pathway of short-chain alkene and epoxide metabolism. Their discovery and study, which spans multiple publications over more than a decade, is a data rich story that combines both classical and contemporary experimental biochemistry. A subset of the data for characterization of the recombinant enzymes was used as a case study to augment the teaching of enzyme kinetics and stereoselectivity in an undergraduate biochemistry course at California State University-Chico. © 2018 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 47(2): 124-132, 2019.
Privacy: Recognition of a Consumer Right:

This paper presents an overview of consumer privacy that integrates the public policy and behavioral literatures. Consumer privacy is defined in terms of control over information disclosure and the...
Teacher Tenure in Tennessee: An Examination of Principal Perceptions Post–Race to the Top:

This quantitative study examined perceptions of K-12 public school principals toward the Tennessee teacher tenure law under Senate Bill 1528 and how principals perceived that the law has affected t...
How to Stabilize a Competitive Mobile Edge Computing Environment: A Game Theoretic Approach

There are two fundamental purposes in mobile edge computing, i.e., performance enhancement and cost reduction. By offloading computation tasks to a mobile edge cloud (MEC), a user equipment (UE), also called mobile user, mobile subscriber, or mobile device, can possibly reduce its average response time, which is the main performance measure, and can possibly reduce its average power consumption. Optimizing both performance and cost may be conflicting requirements. In this paper, we optimize the cost-performance ratio (CPR), i.e., the power-time product, which combines performance (average response time) and cost (average power consumption) into one quantity. A unique feature in mobile edge computing is the competitiveness of mobile users, who are selfish in competing for resources in a mobile edge cloud. We take a game theoretic approach to the stabilization of a competitive mobile edge computing environment. The main contributions of the paper are summarized as follows. 1) We consider a mobile edge computing environment with multiple UEs and a single MEC. We establish an M/G/1 queueing model for the UEs and an M/G/m queueing model for the MEC. The UEs are entirely heterogeneous in terms of task characteristics, computation and communication speeds, and power consumption models for both computation and communication. 2) We analytically derive the average response time and the average power consumption of each UE and the MEC, so that cost-performance ratio optimization can be studied mathematically and rigorously. 3) We establish a non-cooperative game framework to systematically study the stabilization of a competitive mobile edge computing environment. Our framework includes a set of seven non-cooperative games among the UEs and the MEC, each attempts to minimize its payoff function, i.e., its cost-performance ratio. These games are different in terms of the number of variables to play and which variables to play. 4) We develop efficient algorithms for each player to find the best response in each game. All these algorithms are the poly-log time in the length of an initial search interval and the accuracy requirement. We also develop an iterative algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium of the games. 5) We demonstrate the numerical examples of our algorithms and performance data of our games for the idle-speed model and the constant-speed model respectively.
The use of smartphone in measuring stance and gait patterns in patients with orthostatic tremor.

Orthostatic tremor (OT) is a rare movement disorder characterized by a fast tremor (13–18 Hz) in the lower extremities during stance. Patients with OT typically complain of instability while standing/walking. However, due to the geographical limitation, the standing instability or gait problems in patients with OT cannot be assessed and monitored frequently. The increasing popularity of using smartphone-based accelerometers could be a solution to eliminate this limitation. This study examined the feasibility of using smartphone-based accelerometers to identify the changes in body movement in different standing and locomotor tasks. Twenty patients with OT and seven healthy controls were consented to participate in this study. Subjects stood with eyes open or eyes closed for 20 seconds. They also performed four different locomotor tasks (normal walking, tandem walk, walking on an elevated surface, and obstacle negotiation). When performed different locomotor tasks, patients with OT had a larger acceleration of body movement than controls in the medial-lateral direction (tandem walk: p = 0.026, walking on an elevated surface: p = 0.002, and stepping over the obstacle: p = 0.028). Patients with OT had smaller acceleration of body movement than controls while standing with eyes open in the vertical direction (p = 0.012), in the anterior-posterior direction (p = 0.013) and in the medial-lateral direction (p = 0.011). This study provides objective evidence of balance instability in patients with OT not only while standing but also during different challenging locomotor tasks by using smartphone-based accelerometers.
Estrategias esenciales de producción de los turnos de apoyo verbales en estudiantes de ELE. Resultados preliminares

Conversation is an interactional achievement which involves speaker and listener collaboration. The present study was designed to examine the role of the listener in conversation and point out the fact that in conversational interaction, both the speaker and listener play an important role, because conversation is a cooperative effort. To carry out research on listener behavior could help raise the awareness of the importance and complexity of conversation phenomenon. In any conversation the interlocutors reach a point where one speaker will take the floor and the other will focus on listening. Through verbal and nonverbal listener responses those listening to another’s speaking indicate that they are listening, they acknowledge that the other speaker has the floor and they want the interaction to continue in this vein. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the listener verbal responses mechanisms engaged in Taiwanese non-advanced Spanish foreign language learners in natural dyadic Spanish conversations. Empirical methodology based on the theoretical framework of Conversation Analysis will carry out. It is noteworthy that many studies have been conduced to understand the listener responses strategies in American English and Japanese conversations, but few studies have been carried out to analyze the listener responses in Spanish. Besides, no study has been carried out to determine the mechanism involving Taiwanese Spanish foreign language learners. In this regard our project has some important features that make it especially relevant: (1) The corpus data and results of this project should become a valuable linguistics resource and tool of understanding for some caveats in Conversation Analysis. (2) Researchers underline the knowledge of listener responses as pedagogical resource and its application in the foreign language classroom. Our interest is in enhancing teaching and learning by applying CA and listener responses to the foreign language classroom.
Intravascular lithotripsy to treat an ostial left main coronary artery stenosis due to porcelain aorta in a patient with congenital high-density lipoprotein deficiency.

The management of calcified coronary lesions remains a challenge in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) may be an innovative helpful option.
Beyond the Kodak Fixation: Contexts, Situations, and Backgrounds

John Dewey, articulating the central idea of his naturalistic yet non-reductive pragmatism, places the ultimate thresholds of sense within dynamic systems of transactions that enable human beings to adjust to and to cope with the changing contexts and situations of action guided by affect-laden perception. Meaning or significance, in the most rudimentary senses of those words, arises through different types of transactions that occur within circuits or dynamic frameworks with distinctive qualities or tones. They expand in a widening gyre or spiral. These frameworks are indwelt and make up complex felt backgrounds and atmospheres whose complex nature generates severe tensions by reason of the tendency of human beings to resort to violence when the contexts of their lives become opaque or incoherent.
Impact of Therapy with Anti-Thymocyte Globulin in Heart Transplant Recipients on Acute Cellular Rejection and Readmission for Infection - A Single Center Retrospective Study

Background Approximately 20% of all orthotropic heart transplant (OHT) recipients in the US receive anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) post-transplant to prevent acute rejection, however use varies between centers. There is lack of prospective multi center clinical trials assessing long-term survival benefit of early ATG treatment including readmission for infections compared with no induction in OHT patients. We aim to review the role of ATG use during the index hospitalization for OHT to prevent acute cellular rejection (ACR) and evaluate the impact of ATG in readmission rates for infection at our center. Hypothesis We hypothesize that therapy with ATG improves freedom from ACR but may result in higher readmission rates for infection. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of 98 adults who underwent OHT at a single center from January 2014 to December 2019. Patients without one year follow up and those who underwent heart-kidney transplant were excluded. We compared baseline characteristics and analyzed outcomes between patients with and without ATG administration using standard statistical methods. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier curves were used to study differences in ACR and hospitalization for infection between patients with and without ATG administration. Results 53 OHT patients received ATG and 45 patients did not. There was no significant difference in death at one year (p=1.0), ACR (p=0.17) or readmission for infection (p=0.35) between the two groups. Patients receiving ATG had delayed date to first ACR (p=0.038), with a median time of first ACR of 100 days versus 26 days post-OHT in the non-ATG group. Conclusion Treatment with ATG during the index hospitalization for OHT delayed the time of first ACR but not the overall burden of rejection in the first year. The rate of freedom from infection was similar in both groups along with overall mortality. As this is a retrospective observation we will analyze the use of ATG in selected patients at high risk for rejection or for renal sparing.
Opponent Hand Estimation in the Game of Gin Rummy.

In this article, we describe various approaches to opponent hand estimation in the card game Gin Rummy. We use an application of Bayes' rule, as well as both simple and convolutional neural networks, to recognize patterns in simulated game play and predict the opponent's hand. We also present a new minimal-sized construction for using arrays to pre-populate hand representation images. Finally, we define various metrics for evaluating estimations, and evaluate the strengths of our different estimations at different stages of the game.
Oxygen-Tension and the VHL-Hif1α Pathway Comprise a Developmental Switch Controlling the Onset of Neuronal Polarization and Germinal Zone Exit

Postnatal brain circuit assembly is driven by temporally regulated intrinsic and cell-extrinsic cues that organize neurogenesis, migration, and axo-dendritic specification in post-mitotic neurons. Despite studies implicating cell polarity as an intrinsic organizer of morphogenetic events, the nature of cues instructing neuron polarization and their coupling during postnatal development is unclear. We found a link between oxygen tension, which rises after birth, the von Hippel– Lindau(VHL)–hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (Hif1α) pathway, and the polarization regulating the maturation of post-mitotic cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). At postnatal stages with low GZ vascularization, Hif1α modulates CGN-progenitor cell-cycle exit. Unexpectedly, the VHL-Hif1α pathway also delays the timing of CGN differentiation, germinal zone exit, and migration initiation by regulating newborn neuron niche interactions via transcriptional repression of the partitioning-defective(Pard) complex. As vascularization proceeds, these inhibitory mechanisms recede, implicating oxygen fluctuation as a developmental switch regulating neuronal polarization and a key shaper of the nascent steps of circuit formation.
Computing over the Reals (or an Arbitrary Ring)

Classically, the theories of computation and computational complexity deal with discrete problems, for example over the integers, about graphs, etc.. On the other hand, most computational problems that arise in numerical analysis and scientific computation, in optimization theory and more recently in robotics and computational geometry have as natural domains the reals, or complex numbers. A variety of ad hoc methods and models have been employed to analyze complexity issues in this realm, but unlike the classical case, a natural and invariant theory has not yet emerged. One would like to develop theoretical foundations for a theory of computational complexity for numerical analysis and scientific computation that might embody some of the naturalness and strengths of the classical theory.