cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assisted needle guidance using smart see-through glasses

Accurate needle placement largely depends on physicians’ visuospatial skills in CT-guided interventions. To reduce the reliance on operator experience and enhance accuracy, we developed an augmented reality system using smart seethrough glasses to facilitate and assist bedside needle angle guidance. The AR system was developed using Unity and Vuforia SDK. It displays the planned needle angle on the glasses’ see-through screens in real-time based on the glasses orientation. The displayed angle is always referenced to the CT table and independent from the physical orientation of the glasses. The see-through feature allows the operator to compare the actual needle and the planned needle angle continuously. The glasses’ orientation was tracked by its built-in gyroscope. The offset between the embedded gyroscope and the glasses’ display frame was pre-calibrated. A quick one-touch calibration method between the glasses and CT frame was implemented. Hardware accuracy and guidance accuracy was evaluated in phantom studies. In the first test, a needle was inserted in the phantom and scanned with CT. The measured angle in the CT scan was set on the glasses. We took a snapshot from the lens and compared the needle vector and guideline in the saved snapshot. The hardware accuracy was within 0.98 ± 0.85 degree. In the second test, after each insertion guided by the glasses, a CT scan was taken to validate the insertion angle error. The accuracy of the guidance was within 1.33 ± 0.73 degree. Smart glasses can provide accurate guidance for needle based interventions with minimal disturbance of the standard clinical workflow.
Diagnosis of Chronic Pancreatitis

The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis (CP) is usually suspected on the basis of suggestive signs and symptoms, but the clinical presentation alone is rarely specific enough to reach a diagnosis. The diagnosis requires confirmation by diagnostic tests that measure perturbations of either pancreatic structure or pancreatic function. In the majority of patients, the disease is suspected based on the presence of abdominal pain. Although not universal, the vast majority of patients with CP develop pain (1, 2, 3). The pain may be episodic or constant and continuous. In those patients who present with acute attacks, they may be initially labeled as having acute pancreatitis (AP), until the disease progresses to a point at which the diagnosis of CP is possible. Pain is most commonly felt in the epigastrium with radiation to the back and is usually associated with nausea and vomiting. Some patients may present with more gradual onset of constant abdominal pain, and a small minority may not have pain. In other patients, the disease may be suspected based on the development of exocrine insufficiency (steatorrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition), endocrine insufficiency (diabetes mellitus), or by findings on an abdominal imaging test (e.g., computed tomography [CT]).
Combined SIMS and Electron Spectroscopy Investigation of the Chemical State of Some Ion-Implanted Transition Metals and Steels

Several transition metal substrates and steel specimens were ion-implanted with various species including nitrogen, chromium, and titanium at doses from 1016 to 1018 atoms/cm2. The purpose of the implantation study was to modify the surfaces of the materials in order to improve their resistance to wear, fatigue, and corrosion [1,2].
A procedure to increase the power of Granger-causal analysis through temporal smoothing.

Abstract Background How the human brain coordinates network activity to support cognition and behavior remains poorly understood. New high-resolution recording modalities facilitate a more detailed understanding of the human brain network. Several approaches have been proposed to infer functional networks, indicating the transient coordination of activity between brain regions, from neural time series. One category of approach is based on statistical modeling of time series recorded from multiple sensors (e.g., multivariate Granger causality). However, fitting such models remains computationally challenging as the history structure may be long in neural activity, requiring many model parameters to fully capture the dynamics. New Method We develop a method based on Granger causality that makes the assumption that the history dependence varies smoothly. We fit multivariate autoregressive models such that the coefficients of the lagged history terms are smooth functions. We do so by modelling the history terms with a lower dimensional spline basis, which requires many fewer parameters than the standard approach and increases the statistical power of the model. Results We show that this procedure allows accurate estimation of brain dynamics and functional networks in simulations and examples of brain voltage activity recorded from a patient with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Comparison with Existing Method The proposed method has more statistical power than the Granger method for networks of signals that exhibit extended and smooth history dependencies. Conclusions The proposed tool permits conditional inference of functional networks from many brain regions with extended history dependence, furthering the applicability of Granger causality to brain network science.
Technical safety: use of concept risk assessment for field development certainty

As technology advances and field development possibilities grow, the need for earlier guidance on the safety performance of concept designs is greater than ever. The SNC-Lavalin concept risk assessment (CRA) tool is a transparent and rapidly deployable model that is based on sound, industry-accepted quantitative risk assessment (QRA) principles. From the earliest stages of field development, when conceptualisation may be vague and data sparse, a wide range and variety of design options can still be assessed effectively and ranked on their safety performance. The CRA tool is proprietary software initially developed with BP and Shell. The model was first calibrated against 10 detailed QRAs, but is regularly benchmarked and updated with the most current failure rate data and has been used on nearly 50 projects globally. The database now incorporates established rule sets from hundreds of detailed QRAs performed, including floating liquefied natural gas and floating storage regasification units. This paper presents a CRA case study for a generic remote offshore field with a range of development options from conventional to minimal offshore facilities. The model calculates the associated risks for the options considered and is presented in terms of individual risk per annum, temporary refuge impairment frequency and potential loss of life. The results highlight the effects of each individual design feature on risk levels by comparison of similar options side by side, noting the main risk contributors and allowing investigation of the benefits of risk reduction measures. This enables identification of the best design features from each of the options and allows an optimised design to be carried forward.
3D printing of polyvinylidene fluoride/photopolymer resin blends for piezoelectric pressure sensing application using the stereolithography technique

A simple and facile stereolithography 3D printing technique was utilized to fabricate piezoelectric photopolymer-based polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) blends. Different process variables, such as solvent (N,N-dimethylformamide, DMF) to PVDF ratio and PVDF solution to photopolymer resin (PR) ratio, were engineered to enhance the dispersion of the PVDF into the PR so as to achieve the maximum piezoelectric coupling coefficient. Our results demonstrate that a ratio of 1:10 (PVDF:DMF) and 2 wt%-PVDF/PR was optimal for the best dissolution of the PVDF, 3D printability, and piezoelectric properties. Under these conditions, the blend generated ±0.121 nA under 80 N dynamic loading excitation. We believe that the findings of this work would promote many further studies on the mass production of flexible piezoelectric polymer blends with higher quality finished surface and design flexibility.
Government Reward Models for Inter-Operator Spectrum Sharing

Regulatory authorities have introduced exclusive licensing to recent shared spectrum access between federal users and commercial operators to meet the demand of radio spectrum and improve users’ wireless experience. A pervasive inter-operator spectrum sharing can elevate such experience further. However, it requires incentive mechanisms to motivate the operators for spectrum sharing and serving each others’ customers. In this paper, we introduce two government reward models to serve this purpose in a shared spectrum market. They are: a) the government provides reward spectrum to the operators, e.g., access to federal bands without license fee, and b) the government gives infrastructure support, e.g., by introducing government cellular base stations. An operator gets these rewards in return of proof-of-sharing. We make a comparative analysis between these two models in terms of feasibility and potential benefits.
Thermal impact of waste emplacement and surface cooling associated with geologic disposal of high-level nuclear waste

This article is a study of the thermal effects associated with the emplacement of aged radioactive high-level wastes in a geologic repository, with emphasis on the following subjects: waste characteristics, repository structure, and rock properties controlling the thermally induced effects; thermal, thermomechanical, and thermohydrologic impacts, determined mainly on the basis of previous studies that assume 10-yr-old wastes; thermal criteria used to determine the repository waste loading densities; and technical advantages and disadvantages of surface cooling of the wastes prior to disposal as a means of mitigating the thermal impacts. Waste loading densities determined by repository designs for 10-yr-old wastes are extended to older wastes using the near-field thermomechanical criteria based on room stability considerations. Also discussed are the effects of long surface cooling periods determined on the basis of far-field thermomechanical and thermohydrologic considerations. Extension of the surface cooling period from 10 yr to longer periods can lower the near-field thermal impact but have only modest long-term effects for spent fuel. More significant long-term effects can be achieved by surface cooling of reprocessed high-level waste.
Acceptability and Usability of a Wearable Activity Tracker and Application Among Inactive Adolescent Girls

Objective: To evaluate the acceptability and usability of the Fitbit Flex 2TM activity tracker and application (app) among inactive adolescent girls. Design, Sample, and Setting: This mixed-methods study included girls in the 8th and 9th grades (N = 33) recruited from a high school in the Midwest. Participants were given the Fitbit Flex 2TM to wear for one week with access to the app. Measures: Daily steps, miles, and active minutes were measured. Girls participated in a focus group and completed a survey regarding acceptability and usability of the tracker and app. Results: Girls (14.62 ± 0.60 years) completed a daily average of 7,758.87 (SD = 1763.69) steps, 3.66 (SD = 1.98) miles, and 21.69 (SD = 13.71) minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Survey responses (scale of 0–3) indicated girls liked using the Fitbit (Mean = 2.94, SD = .25) and reported it was easy to use (Mean = 2.56, SD = .50). For girls who chose to use the app (n = 28), all but one reported that they liked it. Girls reported the tracker increased their awareness of activity, helped them set goals, and motivated them to do more steps. Some girls reported issues with usability including difficulty getting the tracker on and off the wrist and confusion regarding the green light system. Conclusion: The Fitbit and app were well received by the inactive adolescent girls. A more advanced tracker with a screen display and improved reliability for capturing MVPA is suggested for future research.
Redundancy-based Mitigation of Jamming Attacks

This paper considers the problem of mitigating jamming attacks. Specifically, the paper proposes a novel technique that makes a transmitter, equipped with a multichannel radio, redundantly transmit a message over multiple orthogonal channels having additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) to optimize the probability of successfully receiving at least one copy of the message at the receiver in the presence of a jammer with the communication subject to InterSymbol Interference (ISI). For analytical tractability in the presence of ISI, the paper considers bounds on the probability of successfully receiving a message at the receiver. Under such a scenario, the paper considers the transmitter-receiver pair and the jammer to be strategic entities and uses Game Theory to derive an approximate Nash Equilibrium (NE) that characterizes the energy allocations of the transmitter (for redundantly transmitting the message over the channels) and the jammer (for jamming the channels). The paper also studies the problem of minimizing the number of channels needed to satisfy a given probability of successful message reception in the proposed redundancy-based transmission scheme. Extensive simulation results are provided to gain insights into the redundancy-based mitigation technique presented in the paper.
Effect of State Immunization Information System Based Reminder/Recall for Influenza Vaccinations: A Randomized Trial of Autodialer, Text, and Mailed Messages.

Objective To evaluate the effect of different modalities of centralized reminder/recall (autodialer, text, mailed reminders) on increasing childhood influenza vaccination. Study design Two simultaneous randomized clinical trials conducted from October 2017 to April 1, 2018, in New York State and Colorado. There were 61 931 children in New York (136 practices) and 23 845 children in Colorado (42 practices) who were randomized to different centralized reminder/recall modalities—4 arms in New York (autodialer, text, mailed, and no reminder control) and 3 arms in Colorado (autodialer, mailed, and no reminder control). The message content was similar across modalities. Up to 3 reminders were sent for intervention arms. The main outcome measure was receipt of ≥1 influenza vaccine. Results In New York, compared with the control arm (26.6%), postintervention influenza vaccination rates in the autodialer arm (28.0%) were 1.4 percentage points higher (adjusted risk ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10), but the rates for text (27.6%) and mail (26.8%) arms were not different from controls. In Colorado, compared with the control arm (29.9%), postintervention influenza vaccination rates for the autodialer (32.9%) and mail (31.5%) arms were 3.0 percentage points (adjusted risk ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.12) and 1.6 percentage points (adjusted risk ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10) higher, respectively. Compared with the control arm, the incremental cost per additional vaccine delivered was $20 (New York) and $16 (Colorado) for autodialer messages. Conclusions Centralized reminder/recall for childhood influenza vaccine was most effective via autodialer, less effective via mail, and not effective via text messages. The impact of each modality was modest. Compared with no reminders, the incremental cost per additional vaccine delivered was also modest for autodialer messages. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT03294473 and NCT03246100 .
Standardized Multi-Institutional Mock Oral Examination: A Feasible and Valuable Educational Experience for General Surgery Residents.

INTRODUCTION Mock oral examinations (MOE) are used to prepare residents and assess their readiness for the American Board of Surgery Certifying Exam (ABSCE). Delivery of MOEs varies by institution and previous studies have demonstrated significant implementation barriers such as availability of faculty examiners and exam scenarios. OBJECTIVE To assess the value and participant satisfaction of a standardized multi-institutional MOE for general surgery residents. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-three general surgery residents and 37 faculty members from 3 institutions participated in a regional MOE. Residents were examined in three 20-minute sessions. Faculty examiners were given a wide selection of prescripted exam scenarios and instructed to use standardized grading rubrics during a brief orientation on the day of the exam. All participants were surveyed on their overall experience. RESULTS Of 33 participating residents, 26 (79%) passed the MOE (92% of R5, 91% R4, and 50% of R3). Response rates were 91% for residents, and 57% for faculty members respectively. Most respondents were satisfied with the overall exam experience (88%), standardized question quality (86%) and question variety (82%). A total of 92% of respondents agreed that the time, effort, and cost of the MOE was justified by its educational value to residents. Higher medical knowledge ratings assigned by faculty examiners correlated with stronger trainee performance (β = 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.29-0.66), while patient care and interpersonal communication skill ratings were not associated with trainee performance. The standardized grading rubric achieved moderate inter-rater reliability among examiner pairs with 70.6% agreement (Kappa 0.47). CONCLUSIONS General Surgery residents and faculty perceived the standardized multi-institutional MOE to be a highly satisfactory educational experience and valuable assessment tool. Developing a repertoire of scripted exam scenarios made it feasible to recruit sufficient faculty participants, and standardizing grading rubrics allowed for a consistent exam experience with moderate inter-rater reliability.
Dietary nitrate supplementation increases diaphragm peak power in old mice.

KEY POINTS Respiratory muscle function declines with ageing, contributing to breathing complications in the elderly. Here we report greater in vitro respiratory muscle contractile function in old mice receiving supplemental NaNO3 for 14 days compared with age-matched controls. Myofibrillar protein phosphorylation, which enhances contractile function, did not change in our study - a finding inconsistent with the hypothesis that this post-translational modification is a mechanism for dietary nitrate to improve muscle contractile function. Nitrate supplementation did not change the abundance of calcium-handling proteins in the diaphragm of old mice, in contrast with findings from the limb muscles of young mice in previous studies. Our findings suggest that nitrate supplementation enhances myofibrillar protein function without affecting the phosphorylation status of key myofibrillar proteins. ABSTRACT Inspiratory muscle (diaphragm) function declines with age, contributing to ventilatory dysfunction, impaired airway clearance, and overall decreased quality of life. Diaphragm isotonic and isometric contractile properties are reduced with ageing, including maximal specific force, shortening velocity and peak power. Contractile properties of limb muscle in both humans and rodents can be improved by dietary nitrate supplementation, but effects on the diaphragm and mechanisms behind these improvements remain poorly understood. One potential explanation underlying the nitrate effects on contractile properties is increased phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins, a downstream outcome of nitrate reduction to nitrite and nitric oxide. We hypothesized that dietary nitrate supplementation would improve diaphragm contractile properties in aged mice. To test our hypothesis, we measured the diaphragm function of old (24 months) mice allocated to 1 mm NaNO3 in drinking water for 14 days (n = 8) or untreated water (n = 6). The maximal rate of isometric force development (∼30%) and peak power (40%) increased with nitrate supplementation (P < 0.05). There were no differences in the phosphorylation status of key myofibrillar proteins and abundance of Ca2+-release proteins in nitrate vs. control animals. In general, our study demonstrates improved diaphragm contractile function with dietary nitrate supplementation and supports the use of this strategy to improve inspiratory function in ageing populations. Additionally, our findings suggest that dietary nitrate improves diaphragm contractile properties independent of changes in abundance of Ca2+-release proteins or phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins.
Plasma Amyloid Beta Concentrations in Aged and Cognitively Impaired Pet Dogs.

Longevity-associated neurological disorders have been observed across human and canine aging populations. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) represent comparable diseases affecting both species as they age. Translational diagnostic and therapeutic research is needed for these incurable diseases. The amyloid β (Aβ) peptide family are AD-associated peptides with identical amino acid sequences between dogs and humans. Plasma Aβ42 concentration increases with age and decreases with AD in humans, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration decreases in AD and correlates inversely with the amyloid load within the brain. Similarly, CSF Aβ42 concentrations decrease in dogs with CDS but there is limited and conflicting information on plasma Aβ42 concentrations in aging dogs and dogs with CDS. We measured plasma concentrations of Aβ42 and Aβ40 with an ultrasensitive single-molecule array assay (SIMOA) in a population of healthy aging dogs of different life stages (n = 36) and dogs affected with CDS (n = 11). In addition, the ratio of Aβ42/β40 was calculated. The mean plasma concentrations of Aβ42 and Aβ40 increased significantly with age (r2 = 0.27, p = 0.001; and r2 = 0.42, p < 0.001, respectively) and with life stage: puppy/junior group (0.43–2 years): 1.23 ± 0.95 and 38.26 ± 49.43 pg/mL; adult/mature group (2.1–9 years): 10.99 ± 5.45 and 131.05 ± 80.17 pg/mL; geriatric/senior group (9.3–14.5 years): 18.65 ± 16.65 and 192.88 ± 146.38 pg/mL, respectively. Concentrations of Aβ42 and Aβ40 in dogs with CDS (11.0–15.6 years) were significantly lower than age-matched healthy dogs at 11.61 ± 6.39 and 150.23 ± 98.2 pg/mL (p = 0.0048 and p = 0.001), respectively. Our findings suggest the dynamics of canine plasma amyloid concentrations are analogous to that found in aging humans with and without AD.
The Histone Methyltransferase Gene G9A Is Regulated by Nuclear Receptor 4A1 in Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells

The histone methyltransferase G9A (EHMT2) gene catalyzes methylation of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9), and this gene silencing activity contributes to the tumor promoter–like activity of G9A in several tumor types including alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). Previous studies show the orphan nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1, Nur77) is overexpressed in rhabdomyosarcoma and exhibits pro-oncogenic activity. In this study, we show that knockdown of NR4A1 in ARMS cells decreased expression of G9A mRNA and protein. Moreover, treatment of ARMS cells with several bis-indole–derived NR4A1 ligands (antagonists) including 1,1-bis(3′-indolyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)methane (CDIM8), 3,5-dimethyl (3,5-(CH3)2), and 3-bromo-5-methoxy (3-Br-5-OCH3) analogs also decreased G9A expression. Furthermore, NR4A1 antagonists also decreased G9A expression in breast, lung, liver, and endometrial cancer cells confirming that G9A is an NR4A1-regulated gene in ARMS and other cancer cell lines. Mechanistic studies showed that the NR4A1/Sp1 complex interacted with the GC-rich 511 region of the G9A promoter to regulate G9A gene expression. Moreover, knockdown of NR4A1 or treatment with NR4A1 receptor antagonists decreased overall H3K9me2, H3K9me2 associated with the PTEN promoter, and PTEN-regulated phospho-Akt. In vivo studies showed that the NR4A1 antagonist (3-Br-5-OCH3) inhibited tumor growth in athymic nude mice bearing Rh30 ARMS cells and confirmed that G9A was an NR4A1-regulated gene that can be targeted by NR4A1 receptor antagonists.
The COVID-19 pandemic and follow-up for shoulder surgery: The impact of a shift toward telemedicine on validated patient-reported outcomes.

IntroductionThe emergence of COVID-19 and its ensuing restrictions on in-person healthcare has resulted in a sudden shift towards the utilization of telemedicine. The purpose of this study is to as...
Data on Criminal Accountability in Post-Civil War Societies: Implications for Sri Lanka

For or decades, the so-called ‘peace versus justice’ debate has been central to post-conflict policy discussions. Both positions rest on reasonable logic and have anecdotal support. In fact, the main differences between the two camps are theoretical rather than epistemic. In this chapter, we explain our theory of peace and justice that is grounded in the implicit difference between these perspectives. Stated simply, we theorise that far-reaching retributive justice policies are peace promoting if practiced over time. At the same time, peace deals that emphasise immediate political compromise over justice are effective in extraordinary situations, but not if they become a habit. We hypothesise about the implications of differences in time horizon on the prospects for peace, in the presence and absence of trials and amnesties. Using Sri Lanka as an illustration, we conclude that concerns about the destabilising potential of prosecuting state agents for civil war-era human rights abuses is likely overblown.
Characterizing Massively Parallel Polymorphism

GPU computing has matured to include advanced C++ programming features. As a result, complex applications can potentially benefit from the continued performance improvements made to contemporary GPUs with each new generation. Tighter integration between the CPU and GPU, including a shared virtual memory space, increases the usability of productive programming paradigms traditionally reserved for CPUs, like object-oriented programming. Programmers are no longer forced to restructure both their code and data for GPU acceleration. However, the implementation and performance implications of advanced C++ on massively multithreaded accelerators have not been well studied. In this paper, we study the effects of runtime polymorphism on GPUs. We first detail the implementation of virtual function calls in contemporary GPUs using microbenchmarking. We then propose Parapoly, the first open-source polymorphic GPU benchmark suite. Using Parapoly, we further characterize the overhead caused by executing dynamic dispatch on GPUs using massively scaled CPU workloads. Our characterization demonstrates that the optimization space for runtime polymorphism on GPUs is fundamentally different than for CPUs. Where indirect branch prediction and ILP extraction strategies have dominated the work on CPU polymorphism, GPUs are fundamentally limited by excessive memory system contention caused by virtual function lookup and register spilling. Using the results of our study, we enumerate several pitfalls when writing polymorphic code for GPUs and suggest several new areas of system and architecture research that can help alleviate overhead.
Black adolescents’ anticipatory stress responses to multilevel racism: The role of racial identity.

Black adolescents face the stressful experience of racism in their everyday lives, which has negative implications for their health and well-being. In the current study, we explored experiences of individual, institutional, and cultural racism in relation to anticipatory racism-related stress responses (e.g., prolonged negative thinking, arousal in expectation of future racism) among Black adolescents (N = 442). We also examined whether three dimensions of racial identity, centrality, private regard, and public regard, moderate those relationships. We found that more experiences of racism at each level were related to greater anticipatory racism-related stress responses, measured as more cognitive activation of racial stressors, appraisal of coping strategies, and anticipation of future racism. We also found that some relationships between experiences of racism and anticipatory stress varied by regard. The positive relation between individual racism and perseverative cognition was stronger for those with low public regard. Similarly, the positive association between cultural racism and psychological anticipation was stronger for those with low public regard. The positive association between institutional racism and physiological anticipation of future racism was stronger for those with higher private regard. These findings contribute to the growing literature on the pervasiveness of racism in the lives of Black youth and the utility of racial identity to reduce harm from racism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Conflict of Laws

This essay on choice of law (private international law) appears in the second edition of the Blackwell Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, edited by Dennis Patterson. It is a revision of an entry on the same topic in the first edition of the book. The essay focuses on the epic battle over the course of the last century between two very different traditions - classical choice of law, articulated most completely by Joseph Beale in the 1930s, and modernist choice of law, which inspired a massive and still controversial revolution in choice of law thinking. The essay isolates eight distinct jurisprudentially significant premises of classicism, including territorialism, a commitment to a regime of rules, and a conception of law and legal rights that I have called “vestedness.” It then discusses the modernist challenges to most, but significantly not all, of those premises. It also emphasize, however, the degree to which the eight pillars of the classical tradition are actually conceptually independent, and could, at least in principle, be mixed and matched in various combinations and in the service of very different account of choice of law enterprise. Finally, the essay turns to other debates, both within the classical and modernist traditions separately and transcending the differences between them.
Parallel Network Mapping Algorithms

Motivated from parallel network mapping, we provide efficient query complexity and round complexity bounds for graph reconstruction using distance queries, including a bound that improves a previous sequential complexity bound. Our methods use a high-probability parametric parallelization of a graph clustering technique of Thorup and Zwick, which may be of independent interest.
A Novel Two-Step Flux Linkage Identification for PMSMs Considering Magnetic Saturation and Spatial Harmonics

Accurate identification of flux linkages through experimental tests is important for both motor design validations and the development of advanced control techniques for permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs). This paper proposes a novel two-step flux linkage identification method for PMSMs considering both magnetic saturation and spatial harmonics. In step one, an offline estimation of the flux linkages considering magnetic saturation based on genetic algorithm is proposed, while the spatial harmonics effect has been mitigated compared with the existing method. In the second step, the Kalman filter is employed to estimate the spatial harmonics online based on the proposed state-space observer with the estimated offline data in step one. Therefore, the proposed method achieves to consider both magnetic saturation and spatial harmonics for PMSM flux linkage identification. The proposed model and approach are tested on both interior PMSM and surface-mounted PMSM using the finite element analysis (FEA) supported co-simulation and show good performance compared with the FEA results.
Novel Mechanisms for Regulation of Mammalian Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors

Numerous studies have demonstrated that steroid hormone receptors serve as mediators of hormone-induced gene expression (1–9). In general, an increase in occupied receptor levels and the retention of these receptors by chromatin binding sites (acceptor sites) (10–18) is required for specific induction of gene products. Although estrogen-dependent stimulation of estrogen receptor (Re) (19–21) and progesterone receptor (Rp) (22–27) synthesis appears to follow accepted models for hormone-dependent protein induction, the mechanism for progesterone-dependent decreases is Re and Rp levels is not understood. In this chapter, we will present and discuss recent findings from our laboratory concerning estrogen and progesterone modulation of intracellular Re and Rp levels, and from our results formulate a hypothesis for the mechanism of progesterone-induced Re down-regulation.
The management of ductal carcinoma in situ in North America and Europe. Results of a survey.

BACKGROUND The goal of the current study was to understand and document contemporary treatment approaches in the management of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). METHODS An original questionnaire was designed to assess radiation oncologists' management of breast carcinoma, including 26 questions specifically addressing DCIS. A postal survey was conducted of members of the American and European Societies of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. The results of 702 responses from North America were compared with 435 responses from Europe, to determine treatment recommendations and variability by type of institution and geographic region. RESULTS There were strong correlations between the grade of DCIS and/or the margin status and the use of radiotherapy (RT; P < 0.0001). For Grade 3 DCIS, RT was recommended regardless of the margin status. Opinions were split in the treatment of low-grade DCIS with 10-mm margins. North American respondents were more likely to recommend RT for low-grade DCIS than their European counterparts (P < 0.0001). Within the United States, there were significant regional variations in physician recommendations for tamoxifen (P < 0.001), but not in the tendency to recommend RT. North American academic physicians were less likely to recommend RT for favorable DCIS than nonacademic physicians (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS There were marked differences in physician opinions regarding the management of DCIS, with significant international differences in patterns of care. The survey quantified and highlighted areas of agreement and controversy regarding the use of RT and tamoxifen in the management of DCIS. It provided support for large international trials to evaluate the optimal management of DCIS in the areas identified as most controversial. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
Exhumation of the Inyo Mountains, California: Implications for the Timing of Extension along the Western Boundary of the Basin and Range Province and Distribution of Dextral Fault Slip Rates across the Eastern California Shear Zone

[1] New geologic mapping, tectonic geomorphologic, 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide, and (U-Th)/He zircon and apatite thermochronometric data provide the first numerical constraints on late Cretaceous to late Quaternary exhumation of the Inyo Mountains and vertical slip and horizontal extension rates across the eastern Inyo fault zone, California. The east-dipping eastern Inyo fault zone bounds the eastern flank of the Inyo Mountains, a prominent geomorphic feature within the western Basin and Range Province and eastern California shear zone. (U-Th)/He zircon and apatite thermochronometry yield age patterns across the range that are interpreted as indicating: (1) two episodes of moderate to rapid exhumation associated with Laramide deformation during the late Cretaceous/early Tertiary; (2) development of a slowly eroding surface during a prolonged period from early Eocene to middle Miocene; (3) rapid cooling, exhumation, and initiation of normal slip along the eastern Inyo fault zone, accommodated by westward tilting of the Inyo Mountains block, at 15.6 Ma; and (4) rapid cooling, exhumation, and renewed normal slip along the eastern Inyo fault zone at 2.8 Ma. Fault slip continues today as indicated by fault scarps that cut late Pleistocene alluvial fan surfaces. The second episode of normal slip at 2.8 Ma also signals onset of dextral slip along the Hunter Mountain fault, yielding a Pliocene dextral slip rate of 3.3 ± 1.0 mm/a, where a is years. Summing this dextral slip rate with estimated dextral slip rates along the Owens Valley, Death Valley, and Stateline faults yields a net geologic dextral slip rate across the eastern California shear zone of 9.3 + 2.2/–1.4 to 9.8 + 1.4/–1.0 mm/a.
Spatial Representations and Spatial Updating

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the basic properties of spatial representations for navigation, spatial reasoning, and object/scene recognition. Contrary to the traditional models of allocentric cognitive maps, recent findings suggest that spatial representations for navigation, real world object and scene recognition, and spatial reasoning are primarily egocentric, and these egocentric representations are updated as the viewer moves. The chapter highlights three observations of spatial representations. The first observation focuses on the reference frame used for encoding spatial information and reviews evidence arguing for allocentric representations in traditional models of navigation, spatial reasoning, and object recognition, and discusses recent findings supporting an alternative, egocentric updating model. The second observation focuses on the structure of spatial representations and discusses the traditional hierarchical models and two recent studies suggesting that spatial representations of nested environments learned through navigation are fragmented by nature, rather than integrated hierarchical networks. The last observation summarizes findings on both the reference frame and the structure of spatial representations. The nature of spatial representations is a central issue in many areas of cognitive psychology—for example, object recognition depends on how an object's geometric structure is encoded; navigation is determined by the nature of the underlying spatial representation of the environment; spatial inference and reasoning depend on how spatial relationships are represented; and so on.
Elegia Septima and Milton’s Erotic Temporalities

This essay examines Milton’s Elegia Septima within the context of his larger poetic canon to trace a pattern of thought connecting erotic desire with queer temporalities, thus complicating previous readings of the seventh elegy that frame the poem as simplistic and solely focused on heteroerotic attraction. Instead, the elegy positions erotic encounters as profoundly queer, especially in the sense that they collapse not only multiple objects of desire but also multiple moments in time. Such an approach allows readers to see a lacuna in the critical reception of the poem that has overlooked various forms of homoerotic and heteroerotic modes of relation, as well as how the elegy can be contextualized within the larger body of Milton’s early Latin poems and in relationship to later poems such as Paradise Lost.
Phantom model of transcutaneous electrical stimulation with kilohertz signals

Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) of nerve fibers may be optimized by overcoming the impedance of the skin using high-frequency (HF) stimulation signals. The excitation properties of nerve fibers depend on the spatiotemporal distribution of the extracellular field, and therefore quantifying the potentials during HF-TES is warranted. We present a physical phantom of TES that includes elements representing the skin and underlying tissue, and incorporates dispersion of the electrical conductivity as required during HF stimulation. We used both agar-based gels and biological materials, and doped the gels with graphite to add dispersion. We measured the dielectric properties of the materials, which we modified by adjusting the concentration of sodium chloride and graphite. We assembled up to three layers of material, and quantified the impedance as a function of frequency and depth. The impedance at any depth decayed with frequency, which suggests that HF signal may reach deeper structures in TES.
On species related to Elachista pollutella Duponchel (Lepidoptera, elachistidae), with descriptions of four new Palaearctic species.

The taxonomy of the relatives of Elachista ( Aphelosetia ) pollutella Duponchel, 1843 is clarified. The following species are described as new: Elachista jubarella sp. n. from Russian Caucasus, Elachista rutjani sp. n. from Russia: South Ural and Tuva, and Ukraine, Elachista enochra sp. n. from Turkmenistan, and E. cretula sp. n. from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. E. pollutella , previously only known from Central and Southern Europe, is recorded for the first time from Asian part of Russia in Altai Mts. and Mongolia. The identity of Elachista ilicrina Falkovitsh, 1986 is discussed.
Sb and Bi surfactant effects on homo-epitaxy of GaAs on (0 0 1) patterned substrates

Anisotropic lateral growth during GaAs (001) epitaxy can have dramatic effects on the evolution of patterned features and surface morphology. Many new opto-electronic devices require growth on patterned or non-ideal surfaces. Controlling lateral growth will be essential for the production of these devices. In this study, GaAs epilayers were grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy on patterned GaAs (001) wafers. During these growth experiments, trimethylantimony and trimethylbismuth were used as surfactant precursors to investigate the effects of Sb and Bi on GaAs lateral growth rates. Both surfactants were found to enhance the [110] lateral growth rate by nearly 300 %, while having a negligible effect on the lateral growth rate in the orthogonal direction. Kinetic simulations assisted in determining a plausible surfactant mechanism: The enhanced [110] lateral growth rate is due to an increase in the frequency of [110] diffusion events (decreased hop barrier).
Mortality of Juvenile Brown Shrimp Penaeus aztecus Associated with Streamer Tags

Abstract Immature brown shrimp were marked with plastic streamer tags, then observed in large tanks for the effect of tags on mortality under a variety of pre- and post-tagging treatment regimes. Except where tagged animals were held at low density (9 animals/m2) and with few untagged conspecifics (2/m2), mortality was about 50% higher among tagged animals than among untagged controls. Differences among treatment groups in the number of handling steps, the wound caused by the tagging needle, the duration of high-density holding prior to release, and the sex of test animals were independent of mortality. The identity of the tagger and the size and condition of animals selected for tags were associated with small differences in survival in certain trials. Evidence from direct observation and from damage to tags suggested that mortality was higher among tagged animals because tags evoked attacks from untagged conspecifics and (in one trial) fish. In light of contrary evidence from some earlier studies, the c...
Inverse multiple dipole solutions from body surface Laplacian maps

We have developed a new technique to estimate inverse multiple dipole solutions from body surface Laplacian maps (BSLMs). The surface Laplacian of the body surface potential has been employed to estimate equivalent dipoles. It is found, through computer simulations, that the inverse multiple dipole solutions using the BSLMs have much greater spatial resolution than those using body surface potential maps (BSPMs).
Assessing genetic diversity in plasmids from Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica using a mixed-plasmid microarray.

Aims: To compare genetic composition of plasmids using microarrays composed of randomly selected fragments of plasmid DNA. Methods and Results: Separate shotgun libraries were constructed from plasmid DNA pooled from Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. Cloned fragments were used as probes for microarrays. Plasmid targets were labelled, hybridized overnight, and bound targets were imaged after enzymatic signal amplification. Control hybridizations demonstrated significantly higher signal when probes and targets shared >95% sequence identity. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the assay was 95 and 99%, respectively. Cluster analysis showed close matches for replicate experiments with a high correlation between replicates (r = 0·91) compared with the correlation for nonreplicates (r = 0·09). Analysis of hybridization data from 43 plasmids generated five distinct clusters, two for known serovar-specific plasmids, one for enterohemorrhagic E. coli plasmids, and two for plasmids harboring a recently disseminated antibiotic resistance gene (blaCMY-2). Conclusion: Mixed-plasmid microarrays are suitable for comparing genetic content of wild-type plasmids and hybridization results from this study suggest several novel hypotheses about plasmid gene exchange between E. coli and S. enterica. Significance and Impact of Study: Mixed-plasmid microarrays permit rapid, low cost analysis and comparison of many plasmids. This ability is critical to understanding the source, fate, and transport of plasmids amongst commensal and pathogenic bacteria.
Functional Maturation of Mouse Thymus Cells

SummaryOntogeny of thymus cell function in humoral antibody response was studied in vitro using cells from different embryonic stages and neonates of BDF1 mice. As early as the sixteenth day of embryonic development, the thymus contained cells that were readily activated in vitro by con A to function as helper cells in an antibody response against sheep erythrocytes. The helper function of embryonic thymocytes increased rapidly, reaching adult levels before birth. It has also been shown that con A-treated thymus cells are less susceptible to anti-O serum and correspondingly more susceptible to anti-H-2 serum; the implication of this finding in thymus cell maturation has been discussed.The author is grateful to Professor Robert Auerbach for his encouragement and criticisms during the course of this work. This study was supported in part by Research Grant CA 13548 from the National Institute of Health.
C-erbB-2, p53, and nm23 gene product expression in breast cancer in young women: Immunohistochemical analysis and clinicopathologic correlation

Abstract We studied c- erb B-2, p53 , and nm23 gene products in 112 primary breast carcinomas. Fifty patients were aged 35 years or younger, and 62 were aged 36 to 50. Clinicopathological criteria including clinical stage, hormone receptor status, histological types, histological grades, and lymph node status, were reviewed. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Immunohistochemical findings were assessed semiquantitatively. Correlation between clinicopathological criteria, survival data, and immunohistochemical findings have been made. Patients aged younger than 35 years with stage I to II disease had a shorter DFS ( P = .03) than older patients. However, no other clinicopathological finding was associated with age. Neither was there association between age and c-erbB-2, p53, or nm23 patterns of expression. p53 positivity was associated with high histological grade ( P = .003) and with progesterone receptor negativity ( P = .045). Nm23 nuclear positivity was associated with early clinical stages ( P = .011) and with absence of axillary lymph node metastasis ( P = .007). p53 and c-erbB-2 overexpression were associated with shorter OS while nm 23 nuclear positivity was associated with longer OS in univariate and multivariate analyses. Univariate analyses showed that c-erbB-2 or nm23 were potentially important prognostic factors in women aged 35 years or younger while p53 was associated with prognosis in women aged 36 to 50. Cox model analysis indicated that c-erbB-2 alone was associated with prognosis in women 35 years and younger, whereas p53 alone was associated with prognosis in 36-to 50-year-old women. These results suggest that breast cancer in the youngest women has some biological specificity.