cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Introducing Uncertainty in Multidiscipline Ship Design

Mathematical formulations of reliability-based design and robust design have been developed for addressing the presence of uncertainty during optimization. When reliability is introduced in the design process, the constraints that are influenced by uncertainty are converted into probabilistic constraints. This ensures that the optimal solution will satisfy the constraints in the presence of uncertainty within a prescribed reliability level. Robustness is introduced by modifying the objective function to depend on the mean and variance of the response of the objective function. This paper presents a formulation for applying reliability-based design and robust design within a network of parallel optimizations in order to account for uncertainty in multidiscipline design optimization. The method for multidiscipline design optimization under uncertainty is applied to a conceptual ship design. The model of a bulk carrier from the literature is used in this analysis. The optimization results are compared with previous data and they demonstrate that reliable and robust optimization can be applied effectively to ship design, and that it is important to consider uncertainty during the multidiscipline ship design process.
FARM: Fault-aware resource management in NoC-based multiprocessor platforms

In this paper, we address the problem of run-time resource management in non-ideal multiprocessor platforms where communication happens via the Network-on-chip (NoCs) approach. More precisely, we propose a system-level fault-tolerant technique for application mapping which aims at optimizing the entire system performance and communication energy consumption, while considering the occurrence of permanent, transient, and intermittent faults in the system. As the main theoretical contribution, we address the problem of spare core placement and its impact on system fault-tolerance (FT) properties. Then, we investigate several metrics and provide insight into the fault-aware resource management process for such non-ideal multiprocessor platforms. Experimental results show that our proposed resource management technique is efficient and highly scalable and significant throughput improvements can be achieved compared to the existing solutions that do not consider failures in the system.
The Politics of Affirmation Theory When Group-Affirmation Leads to Greater Ingroup Bias

It has been well established in the literature that affirming the individual self reduces the tendency to exhibit group-favoring biases. The limited research examining group-affirmation and bias, however, is inconclusive. We argue that group-affirmation can exacerbate group-serving biases in certain contexts, and in the current set of studies, we document this phenomenon directly. Unlike self-affirmation, group-affirmation led to greater ingroup-favoring evaluative judgments among political partisans (Experiment 1). This increase in evaluative bias following group-affirmation was moderated by political party identification and was not found among those who affirmed a non-political ingroup (Experiment 2). In addition, the mechanism underlying these findings is explored and interpreted within the theoretical frameworks of self-categorization theory and the multiple self-aspects model (Experiments 2 and 3). The broader implications of our findings for the understanding of social identity and affirmation theory are discussed.
Photoperiod affects the expression of sex and species differences in leukocyte number and leukocyte trafficking in congeneric hamsters

Sex differences in immune function are well documented. These sex differences may be modulated by social and environmental factors. Individuals of polygynous species generally exhibit more pronounced sex differences in immune parameters than individuals of monogamous species, often displaying an energetic trade-off between enhanced immunity and high mating success. During winter, animals contend with environmental conditions (e.g. low temperatures and decreased food availability) that evoke energetic-stress responses; many mammals restrict reproduction in response to photoperiod as part of an annual winter coping strategy. To test the hypothesis that extant sex and species differences in immune surveillance may be modulated by photoperiod, we examined leukocyte numbers in males and females of two closely related hamster species (Phodopus). As predicted, uniparental P. sungorus exhibited a robust sex difference, with total white blood cells, total lymphocytes, T cells, and B cells higher in females than males, during long days when reproduction occurs, but not during short days when reproduction usually stops. In contrast, biparental male and female P. campbelli exhibited comparable leukocyte numbers during both long and short days. To study sex differences in stress responses, we also examined immune cell trafficking in response to an acute (2 h) restraint stressor. During stressful challenges, it appears beneficial for immune cells to exit the blood and move to primary immune defense areas such as the skin, in preparation for potential injury or infection. Acute stress moved lymphocytes and monocytes out of the blood in all animals. Blood cortisol concentrations were increased in P. sungorus females compared to males at baseline (52%) and in response to restraint stress (38%), but only in long days. P. campbelli males and females exhibited comparable blood cortisol and stress responses during both long and short days. Our results suggest that interactions among social factors and the environment play a significant role in modulating sex and seasonal alterations in leukocyte numbers and stress responses.
IMMUNOGLOBULIN MOLECULES ON THE SURFACE OF ACTIVATED T LYMPHOCYTES IN THE RAT

Lewis strain rat lymphocytes were exposed in vitro to a variety of specific and nonspecific blastogenic stimuli. The surfaces of the transformed lymphocytes were examined by indirect immunofluorescence for the presence of T cell antigens and immunoglobulin molecules. More than 90% of lymphocytes that underwent blast transformation after exposure to foreign histocompatibility antigens (mixed lymphocyte reaction; in vitro allograft reaction), purified tuberculin, phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and concanavalin A (Con-A) had T cell antigenic markers on their surfaces. 70–92% of the antigen-stimulated blast cells also had readily detectable surface immunoglobulin molecules, whereas less than 3% of the PHA- and Con-A-activated cells were Ig+. Pokeweed mitogen (PWM) appeared to activate both B and T cells, but the T cells did not have detectable surface immunoglobulin molecules. Nonactivated control cultures contained T+Ig- lymphocytes almost exclusively. The results suggest that thymus-dependent rat lymphocytes express increased amounts of detectable immunoglobulin on their surface in response to specific stimulation with antigen. It is postulated that the acquisition of immunological competence by activated T cells may be related to this expression of surface immunoglobulin.
Endoscopic surgical management of inspiratory stridor in newborns and infants.

Abstract Objective Compare the incidence of endoscopic surgical treatment of patients with laryngomalacia to other aerodigestive pathology who may present with similar symptoms. Methods Consecutive case series with chart review of endoscopic surgical intervention in infants, aged 12 months or less, presenting with inspiratory stridor, in the absence of syndromic condition or prior history of intubation. Results A total of 30 patients were identified. The average age at the time of surgical intervention was 2.7 months. Endoscopic surgical management was directed at laryngomalacia (70%), vallecular cysts (23.3%), and anterior glottic webs (6.7%). All patients had nearly immediate resolution of the stridor and feeding difficulties. None required revision surgery, modified diets, or alternative means of enteric nutrition. Conclusions Laryngomalacia was the most commonly encountered surgical indication for stridulous newborns and infants with severe symptoms. Like most previous descriptions, patients responded well to supraglottoplasty. Vallecular cysts accounted for about one-quarter of the infants treated. Clinicians should carefully consider the presence of other airway pathology, which may mimic laryngomalacia, in non-syndromic infants without a previous history of intubation. Endoscopic surgical management may be safe and effective.
Simplifying OCR neural networks with oracle learning

Often the best model to solve a real world problem is relatively complex. The article presents oracle learning, a method using a larger model as an oracle to train a smaller model on unlabeled data in order to obtain: (1) a simpler acceptable model and (2) improved results over standard training methods on a similarly sized smaller model. In particular, this paper looks at oracle learning as applied to multilayer perceptrons trained using standard backpropagation. For optical character recognition, oracle learning results in an 11.40% average decrease in error over direct training while maintaining 98.95% of the initial oracle accuracy.
An immunological algorithm to predict risk of high-grade rejection in cardiac transplant recipients

Summary Background Transplant-related coronary-artery disease (TCAD) develops frequently in cardiac-allograft recipients, and limits long-term survival. We examined the relation between this disorder and cumulative frequency of high-grade rejection, and investigated whether concomitant use of three immunological factors at the time of a low-grade endomyocardial biopsy can predict progression to high-grade rejection. Methods We investigated the relation between the cumulative annual frequency of high-grade rejection and TCAD in 198 recipients of cardiac transplantation between 1992 and 1996 by means of Kaplan-Meier actuarial life-tables. Endomyocardial biopsy, lymphocyte-growth assays, and anti-HLA antibody measurements were compiled over 12 months in 102 patients during their first post-transplant year. We calculated predictive values for high-grade rejection within 90 days by χ 2 , Kaplan Meier survival curves, and by multivariable logistic regression analyses. Findings We found a direct correlation between cumulative annual frequency of rejection and TCAD onset with highest risk in those with more than 0·75 rejections per year (p=0·0002). After a low-grade endomyocardial biopsy (0 or1A), one or more donor-recipient HLA-DR matches protected against high-grade rejections (p Interpretation Use of an algorithm combining three immunological factors at the time of a low-grade endomyocardial biopsy enables prospective stratification of cardiac transplant recipients into risk categories for progression to high-grade rejection. Low-risk individuals require fewer biopsies, moderate-risk individuals require an ongoing schedule of surveillance biopsies, and high-risk individuals require rational organisation of interventional strategies aimed at preventing rejection. Additional predictive factors are needed to identify moderate-risk individuals who will progress to rejection. Ultimately, successful intervention may have an impact on the subsequent complication of TCAD.
CHAPTER 14 – Applications of Gene Transfer in the Adoptive Immunotherapy of Cancer

This chapter focuses on the applications of gene transfer to adoptive immunotherapy of malignancy. This form of cellular therapy refers to the infusion of tumor-reactive immune cells into the tumor-bearing host to mediate, directly or indirectly, regression of established tumor. This chapter reviews different methods of genetic transfer to generate immune cells into the tumor-bearing host for subsequent adoptive transfer. These include the use of gene-modified tumor to serve as immunogens to generate effector T cells, genetic manipulation of T cells to enhance antitumor reactivity, and genetic modulation of dendritic cells (DCs). The feasibility of adoptive immunotherapy for cancer is based on two fundamental observations derived from animal models. The first is that tumor cells express antigens that are qualitatively or quantitatively different from normal cells and can elicit an immune response within the syngeneic host. The second is that the immune rejection of established tumors can be mediated by the adoptive transfer of appropriately sensitized lymphoid cells.
Field Performance of 1.7 GW of Photovoltaic Systems

This paper presents performance data from nearly 50 000 photovoltaic systems totaling 1.7 GW of capacity installed in the USA from 2009 to 2012. Most systems without reported issues, about 90%, produced greater than 90% of the electricity predicted before installation. The data were shown to be consistent with the assumption of historical degradation rates of about 0.5% per year; excessive degradation rates such as 2% or 3% per year were not observed. Large systems showed an insolation-adjusted yield that was about 4% higher than smaller systems. Only 2-4% of the data indicated issues significantly affecting system performance. Delays and interconnections dominate project-related issues particularly in the first year, but were reported in less than 0.5% of all systems. Hardware-related issues are dominated by inverter problems as reported for less than 0.4% and underperforming modules for less than 0.1%.
The Kitchen Classroom

The kitchens I learned in taught me how to get work done. Properly speaking, my grandmother’s was the first kitchen that taught me. I remember her standing in her housedress all day, standing by the sink, peeling, slicing, and chopping. She’d slice a carrot by pulling a paring knife toward her thumb.
Civil War in Europe, 1905–1949: The Revolutionary Process in Spain

The last revolutionary process of the era, and the only one initiated in the middle of the interwar period, opened in Spain in 1931. It was unique in not having been stimulated or catalyzed by major war; it was almost exclusively the product of endogenous factors, which to that extent makes it the most singular of all the European cases under consideration. This was all the more extraordinary in that Spain had an entire century of parliamentary government behind it, even with all the limitations involved in early parliamentary development. For the second half of that period, stable and reformist constitutional monarchy had prevailed, free from any significant foreign or military pressures in Europe, complicated only toward the end by the establishment of the Spanish Protectorate in northern Morocco in 1913.
Analysis of Mixed Discrete—Continuous Structures

A flat plate reinforced by a series of parallel beams, sometimes called an orthotropic plate, is a highly efficient load carrying unit and is a good first example of a mixed discrete-continuous structure for analysis by a discrete field method (see Fig. 5). Many mixed discrete-continuous structures are multidimensional lattices with multimensional elements and so are intractable by the micro discrete field technique. With a single set of beams, however, the ribbed plate is a one dimensional lattice with two dimensional elements and so can be analyzed by either the micro or the macro field approach. A broad class of ribbed plate problems have been solved via the micro stiffness approach(*). If there are several simultaneous interactive forces between the ribs and the plates, the micro approach is attractive as the number of unknown node line displacements is independent of the number of interactive forces considered; for example, solutions that include torsional interaction between the rib and plate are now only available by the micro or difference equation approach. On the other hand, the necessity of getting an exact general boundary solution(**) for the plate strips between rib lines makes the algebra and derivation unattractive for systems with only one or two types of rib-plate interactive forces.
Linear methods for reducing EMG contamination in peripheral nerve motor decodes

Signals recorded from the peripheral nervous system (PNS) with high channel count penetrating microelectrode arrays, such as the Utah Slanted Electrode Array (USEA), often have electromyographic (EMG) signals contaminating the neural signal. This common-mode signal source may prevent single neural units from successfully being detected, thus hindering motor decode algorithms. Reducing this EMG contamination may lead to more accurate motor decode performance. A virtual reference (VR), created by a weighted linear combination of signals from a subset of all available channels, can be used to reduce this EMG contamination. Four methods of determining individual channel weights and six different methods of selecting subsets of channels were investigated (24 different VR types in total). The methods of determining individual channel weights were equal weighting, regression-based weighting, and two different proximity-based weightings. The subsets of channels were selected by a radius-based criteria, such that a channel was included if it was within a particular radius of inclusion from the target channel. These six radii of inclusion were 1.5, 2.9, 3.2, 5, 8.4, and 12.8 electrode-distances; the 12.8 electrode radius includes all USEA electrodes. We found that application of a VR improves the detectability of neural events via increasing the SNR, but we found no statistically meaningful difference amongst the VR types we examined. The computational complexity of implementation varies with respect to the method of determining channel weights and the number of channels in a subset, but does not correlate with VR performance. Hence, we examined the computational costs of calculating and applying the VR and based on these criteria, we recommend an equal weighting method of assigning weights with a 3.2 electrode-distance radius of inclusion. Further, we found empirically that application of the recommended VR will require less than 1 ms for 33.3 ms of data from one USEA.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE INTERNET OF EVERYTHING

I am often asked these days, "Is IoT really as transformative as all the buzz suggests, or is it a lot of hype?" My answer is simply, "Yes." And the road to here has been a fascinating interplay of academic research accomplishments, industry advances (often with other drivers), and standardization processes (for lack of a better term). It was predictable that today we would be poised for the "next tier" of the Internet to take off, but the endgame seems to be even messier than expected.
Toll-like receptor 4 mediates vascular remodeling in hyperhomocysteinemia

Although hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is known to promote downstream pro-inflammatory cytokine elevation, the precise mechanism is still unknown. One of the possible receptors that could have significant attention in the field of hypertension is toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4). TLR-4 is a cellular membrane protein that is ubiquitously expressed in all cell types of the vasculature. Its mutation can attenuate the effects of HHcy-mediated vascular inflammation and mitochondria- dependent cell death that suppresses hypertension. In this review, we observed that HHcy induces vascular remodeling through immunological adaptation, promoting inflammatory cytokine up-regulation (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) and initiation of mitochondrial dysfunction leading to cell death and chronic vascular inflammation. The literature suggests that HHcy promotes TLR-4-driven chronic vascular inflammation and mitochondria-mediated cell death inducing peripheral vascular remodeling. In the previous studies, we have characterized the role of TLR-4 mutation in attenuating vascular remodeling in hyperhomocysteinemia. This review includes, but is not limited to, the physiological synergistic aspects of the downstream elevation of cytokines found within the vascular inflammatory cascade. These events subsequently induce mitochondrial dysfunction defined by excessive mitochondrial fission and mitochondrial apoptosis contributing to vascular remodeling followed by hypertension.
Scheduling Products with Bills of Materials

Abstract A product that is comprised of a complex arrangement of parts and assemblies is often described by a bill of materials. The bill of materials specifies the hierarchical order in which parts and raw materials are to be assembled in order to manufacture a deliverable product. The processing of a part can be further comprised of a sequence of operations, each requiring processing by a particular resource type for a certain processing time. Since parts have complex interdependent relationships, local scheduling decisions for one part have countless repercussions on the decisions for other parts, making the scheduling process extremely difficult. In an effort to simplify this task, many practitioners attempt to decompose the scheduling problem into independent subproblems for each part which are easier to solve. The problem with this approach, however, is that bill of material constraints are often ignored, yielding schedules in which products are unnecessarily tardy. To improve the ability of a manufacturer to meet promised delivery dates for products, the bill of materials must be integrated into the part scheduling problem. This will ultimately enhance the manufacturer's credibility and competitiveness in the marketplace. In this paper, an integer programming formulation of the product scheduling problem is presented, and a combined Lagrangian relaxation and heuristic approach is used to solve the problem. The issue of integrally scheduling parts that are related through bills of materials is addressed by including part precedence constraints in the formulation, while an objective function containing penalties that reflect the hierarchical nature of parts in the bill of materials is used to avoid oscillation in the solution process. Test results using data from a real manufacturing shop show that this method can obtain near-optimal schedules efficiently with quantifiable performance. Furthermore, preliminary results indicate that the penalties in the objective function reduce solution oscillation and can provide a mechanism for reducing work-in-process inventory. Lastly, by comparing this method to another algorithm in which parts are scheduled independently, it is shown that integration of the bills of materials into the part scheduling problem can improve scheduling performance by reducing product tardiness.
A discussion on the origin and treatment of noise in industrial environments - Transformer noise

Power transformers up to 600 MVA, in a single unit weighing 350 tons, have been built for modern generating stations. Auto-transformers up to 750 MVA have been constructed for the 400 kV grid. These large units, shortly to be commissioned, will operate at efficiencies of 99.8 to 99.9 %. A minute fraction ( ~ 10~6) of the total loss of I to 2 MW is radiated as sound. The octave-band levels near such a transformer exceed the hearing damage criterion recommended by Burns (1965) for regular 8 h exposure (figure 1), but fortunately transformers do not require a driver!
Personal Pornography Viewing and Sexual Satisfaction: A Quadratic Analysis

Personal pornography viewing has been associated with lower sexual satisfaction in both experimental and observational research. The language used to hypothesize this relationship typically suggests that it is frequent viewing, rather than infrequent or only occasional viewing, that is responsible for any adverse effects. When the nature of the relationship between a predictor and a criterion depends on the levels of the predictor, a curvilinear relationship is indicated. Nevertheless, studies have assumed linearity in their analytical approach. Curvilinear relationships will go undetected unless they are specifically tested. This article presents results from a survey of approximately 1,500 U.S. adults. Quadratic analyses indicated a curvilinear relationship between personal pornography viewing and sexual satisfaction in the form of a predominately negative, concave downward curve. The nature of the curvilinearity did not differ as a function of participants' gender, relationship status, or religiosity. But the negative acceleration was slightly more pronounced for men than for women, for people not in a relationship than for people in a relationship, and for religious people than for nonreligious people. For all groups, negative simple slopes were present when viewing reached once a month or more. These results are correlational only. However, if an effects perspective were adopted, it would suggest that consuming pornography less than once a month has little or no impact on satisfaction, that reductions in satisfaction tend to initiate once viewing reaches once a month, and that additional increases in the frequency of viewing lead to disproportionately larger decrements in satisfaction.
Pulse Pressure Analysis to Guide Intraoperative Phlebotomy Prior to Cardiac Surgery

Background:: The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of the LiDCO-rapid™ during intraoperative phlebotomy in anesthetized children prior to surgery for congenital heart disease. Methods:: After the induction of general anesthesia and endotracheal intubation, baseline vital signs were recorded, along with pulse pressure variability (PPV) and stroke volume variability (SVV) from the LiDCO-rapid™ and cerebral oxygenation (rSO 2 ) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Phlebotomy was performed over 5 - 10 min with the volume of blood removed calculated to achieve a hematocrit of 24-28% on cardiopulmonary bypass. The primary outcome was a decline in rSO 2 ≥ 5 between the baseline value and the end of phlebotomy. At that time, the correlation of the starting and ending values of SVV and PPV with the NIRS was determined. Results:: The study cohort included 30 patients (mean age of 21 ± 11 years). Statistically significant changes during the study period were observed in rSO 2 , but not in the LiDCO-rapid™ parameters. In analysis of continuous NIRS data, the change in NIRS did not correlate with either baseline (r = 0.10, P = 0.644) or final (r = 0.02, P = 0.914) SVV. Likewise, the change in NIRS did not correlate with baseline (r = 0.01, P = 0.953) or final (r = 0.00, P = 0.982) PPV. Conclusion:: Baseline values as well as changes in the PVV and SVV from the LiDCO-rapid™ did not predict or correlate with changes in cerebral oxygenation measured by NIRS during intraoperative phlebotomy. Our preliminary data suggest that these parameters (PVV and SVV) are not useful in monitoring patient stability or the need for volume replacement during intraoperative phlebotomy prior to cardiac surgery. Cardiol Res. 2017;8(6):276-279 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/cr634w
The Tradition Industry: Hofstadter and Santayana on Politics, Culture and Capitalism

Richard Hofstadter’s provocative interpretation of what he called The American Political Tradition has long interested students and scholars. Often read as a response to the crisis times of the depression 1930s and interventionist 1940s, the book’s origins are actually rooted in deeper cultural changes in the United States. This paper argues that George Santayana’s earlier essay, “The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy” (1911), anticipated several key aspects of Hofstadter’s argument and proved to more accurately foresee the ideological course of twentieth century American politics.
Electric-Field Induced Orientation of Polynucleotides

Transient dichroism produced by the orientation of a linear polyelectrolyte is shown to be related to the polarization of condensed counter-ions by demonstrating that the changes in alkali counter-ion concentration with degree of protonation of poly(A) predicted by current models of such polyelectrolytes is proportional to the field-induced orientation.
Phenological variation in height and diameter growth in provenances and families of loblolly pine.

The phenology of 5- and 6-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees was studied over two different growing seasons (1993 and 94) in southwest Georgia. These trees were from 7–9 open-pollinated families from each of four different provenances planted at two locations. The provenances were: Atlantic Coastal Plain (eastern SC), Gulf Hammock (north FL), Lower Gulf (south AL, MS) and Upper Gulf (north AL, MS). Provenances did not vary as to when height growth started in spring, but showed very significant differences for the date of growth cessation in fall. The Gulf Hammock source grew the most and also had the longest height growth period, while the Upper Gulf source was first to stop height growth and had the least annual height increment. Provenances were also significantly different for the date of cessation of diameter growth (a difference of 22 days between Gulf Hammock and Upper Gulf), and the order of cessation was the same as for height. Families within provenances were significantly different for date of cessation of height growth and diameter growth. When family means were considered across provenances, there was a correlation of 0.69 (p-value = 0.0001) between annual height increment and date of height growth cessation. There was a weaker association between faster growth and a longer growing season within provenances.
Management und Controller

Das Management eines Unternehmens basiert auf einer hierarchischen Struktur von Personen, die zu einer der drei Gruppen gehoren: die untere Managementgruppe, bestehed aus Vorarbeitern und Meistern, die mittlere Managementgruppe, bestehend aus Gruppenleitern, Abteilungsleitern, und Filialleitern, die obere oder Gipfel-(top-)Managementgruppe, bestehend aus Prasident, Vizeprasident und den Direktoren, verantwortlich fur Einkauf, Verkauf, Technik, Produktion, Finanz, und Rechnungswesen.
Sentinel Animals (Dogs) as Predictors of Childhood Exposure to Environmental Lead Contamination: Observations on Preliminary Results

Childhood lead poisoning is perhaps the most common environmentally caused disease of children in the United States and in the developing world. In concept, it is a preventable disease-remove the lead from the child’s environment and the disease will disappear. In practice, however, eliminating childhood lead poisoning is a complex public health problem (ATSDR, 1988; Lin-Fu, 1980).
Detachment in Buddhist and Stoic Ethics: Ataraxia and Apatheia and Equanimity

Both Stoic and Buddhist ethics are deeply concerned with the ethical dangers of attachment, including (i) the destructive consequences of overwhelming emotionality, brought on by attachment, both for oneself and others, (ii) the dangers to one’s agency posed by strongly held, but ultimately unstable, attachments, and (iii) the threat to virtuous emotional engagement with others caused by one’s own attachment to them. The first two kinds of moral danger – overwhelming emotionality and threatened agency – have informed Stoic models of detachment, as illustrated in their concepts of ataraxia (freedom from disturbance) and apatheia (freedom from strong emotionality). In this paper I draw on Buddhist texts to present a third model of detachment, which responds primarily to the third moral danger of attachment, the danger of not loving well. On this model, detachment enables and enhances proper love and compassion and is conceived of as a tool for virtuous emotional engagement. This model challenges some influential interpretations of Buddhist conceptions of detachment that reduce them to one of the Stoic models, either the extirpation of emotions or resilience to threat to agency.
Treatment utilization and overall survival in patients receiving radical nephroureterectomy versus endoscopic management for upper tract urothelial carcinoma: evaluation of updated treatment guidelines.

While radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) is the gold standard treatment for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC), select patients may benefit from endoscopic treatment (ET). European Association of Urology guidelines recommend ET for patients with low-risk (LR) disease: unifocal, < 2 cm, low-grade lesions without local invasion. To inform the utility of ET, we compare the overall survival (OS) of patients receiving ET and RNU using current and previous guidelines of LR disease. Patients with non-metastatic, cT1 or less UTUC diagnosed in 2004–2012 were collected from the National Cancer Database. OS was analyzed with inverse probability of treatment weighted Cox proportional hazard regression. Analyses were conducted for LR disease under updated (size < 2 cm) and previous guidelines (size < 1 cm). Patients who were older, healthier, and treated at an academic facility had higher odds of receiving ET. In 851 identified patients with LR disease, RNU was associated with increased OS compared with ET (p = 0.006); however, there was no difference between ET and RNU (p = 0.79, n = 202) under the previous guidelines (size < 1 cm). In, otherwise, LR patients, the largest tumor size with no difference between ET and RNU was ≤ 1.5 cm (p = 0.07). RNU is associated with improved survival when compared with ET in the management of LR UTUC using current guidelines with a size threshold of < 2 cm. In appropriately selected LR patients, we find no difference between RNU and ET up to a tumor size of ≤ 1.5 cm. However, in the absence of prospective studies, the usage of ET is best left up to clinician discretion.
Industrial Power Systems with Distributed and Embedded Generation

Energy for today's complex electrical power systems is increasingly being generated and distributed locally using small-scale, renewable energy sources. The addition of renewables to the grid requires new tools and operation methods, both for suppliers and industrial consumers. This book describes the supporting technologies that can turn conventional passive electricity delivery networks into the active networks of the future, with a focus on electricity utilization in the industrial environment. It examines the integration of the new, dispersed sources with the legacy systems of centralised generation, as well as how the new technologies can operate effectively in isolated systems. Industrial power distribution, lighting, motor control and protection are discussed in detail. The presentation of the details of the enabling technologies makes this book a valuable reference for researchers, students and engineers involved in the planning, design and installation of new systems or the upgrading of existing ones.
Prevalence and correlates of probable depression diagnosis and suicidal ideation among patients receiving HIV care in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Background Depression and suicide ideation among people living with HIV (PLHIV) can threaten the success of HIV care and treatment programs, particularly within high HIV prevalence settings. We describe the prevalence and correlates associated with depression and suicidal ideation among PLHIV receiving HIV care in Lilongwe, Malawi. Methods From July to September 2013, 206 HIV clinic patients, who were ≥18 years of age and either pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) or established on ART for ≥6 months prior to study, participated in a survey to assess the prevalence of a likely depressive disorder and suicidal ideation using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We explored factors associated with depression using bivariable linear regression and suicidal ideation using bivariable log-binomial regression. Results The prevalence of a likely depressive disorder and suicidal ideation was 12% (95% CI: 8%, 17%) and 16% (95% CI: 11%, 21%), respectively. Pre-ART patients (β=1.17, 95% CI: 0.03, 2.30, p-value=0.04) and those with problematic alcohol use (β=0.49, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.92, p-value=0.02) were associated with a higher depression severity. Suicidal ideation was relatively common (8%, 95% CI: 5%, 13%) among those without a likely depressive disorder and significantly correlated with having no primary, secondary, or tertiary education (β=-1.52, 95% CI: -2.46, -0.59, p-value<0.01). Conclusions Interventions that enhance identification and management of depressive disorders and suicidal ideation should be integrated within HIV care clinics in Malawi.
Additive manufacturing of patterned 2D semiconductor through recyclable masked growth

The 2D van der Waals crystals have shown great promise as potential future electronic materials due to their atomically thin and smooth nature, highly tailorable electronic structure, and mass production compatibility through chemical synthesis. Electronic devices, such as field effect transistors (FETs), from these materials require patterning and fabrication into desired structures. Specifically, the scale up and future development of "2D"-based electronics will inevitably require large numbers of fabrication steps in the patterning of 2D semiconductors, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). This is currently carried out via multiple steps of lithography, etching, and transfer. As 2D devices become more complex (e.g., numerous 2D materials, more layers, specific shapes, etc.), the patterning steps can become economically costly and time consuming. Here, we developed a method to directly synthesize a 2D semiconductor, monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), in arbitrary patterns on insulating SiO2/Si via seed-promoted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and substrate engineering. This method shows the potential of using the prepatterned substrates as a master template for the repeated growth of monolayer MoS2 patterns. Our technique currently produces arbitrary monolayer MoS2 patterns at a spatial resolution of 2 μm with excellent homogeneity and transistor performance (room temperature electron mobility of 30 cm2 V-1 s-1 and on-off current ratio of 107). Extending this patterning method to other 2D materials can provide a facile method for the repeatable direct synthesis of 2D materials for future electronics and optoelectronics.
Normal Aging and Its Role in Cancer Metastasis

Metastasis is the most common cause of death, with treatments failing to provide a durable response. Aging is a key prognostic factor in many cancers. Emerging data suggest that normal age-related changes in the tumor microenvironment can contribute to metastatic progression. These changes encompass secreted factors, biophysical changes, and changes in both stromal and immune cell populations. These data also highlight the importance of conducting studies in preclinical models of appropriate age. Ultimately, therapies may also need to be tailored to reflect patient age, as markers of metastatic disease differ in young and aged populations. In this review, we will discuss some of the changes that occur during aging that increase the metastatic capacity of tumor cells.
The Effects of Disc Self-Gravity and Radiative Cooling on the Formation of Gaps and Spirals by Young Planets

We have carried out two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations to study the effects of disk self-gravity and radiative cooling on the formation of gaps and spirals. (1) With disk self-gravity included, we find stronger, more tightly-wound spirals and deeper gaps in more massive disks. The deeper gaps are due to the larger Angular Momentum Flux (AMF) of the waves excited in more massive disks, as expected from the linear theory. The position of the secondary gap does not change, provided that the disk is not extremely massive ($Q \gtrsim 2$). (2) With radiative cooling included, the excited spirals become monotonically more open (less tightly-wound) as the disk's cooling timescale increases. On the other hand, the amplitude and strength of the spirals decrease when the cooling time increases from a small value to $\sim 1/\Omega$, but then the amplitude starts to increase again when the cooling time continues to increase. This indicates that radiative dissipation becomes important for waves with $T_{cool}\sim$ 1. Consequently, the induced primary gap is narrower and the secondary gap becomes significantly shallower when the cooling time becomes $\sim 1/\Omega$. When the secondary gap is present, the position of it moves to the inner disk from the fast cooling cases to the slow cooling cases. The dependence of gap properties on the cooling timescale (e.g. in AS 209) provides a new way to constrain the disk optical depth and thus disk surface density.
DEAF-1 is a transcription factor and potential tumor suppressor from 11p15.5 with reduced expression in prostate cancer

830 DEAF-1 is a transcriptional regulator that maps to human chromosomal region 11p15.5, a region that undergoes loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in many types of human cancers including breast, ovarian, Wilms’, and prostate tumors. The high frequency with which LOH of 11p15.5 occurs in these cancers indicates a shared molecular mechanism in their initiation and/or progression. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine 81 prostate tumors and decreased DEAF-1 levels were observed in 41 of the tumors. Decreased DEAF-1 staining was statistically correlated with increased Gleason and nuclear grades and decreased patient survival. Decreased DEAF-1 staining was also correlated with decreased staining for the tumor suppressor PTEN. The human transcriptional promoter for PTEN was fused to a CAT reporter gene and in transient transfections of HEK293 cells, DEAF-1 produced transcriptional activation of the reporter gene. Thus, loss of DEAF-1 expression may contribute to decreased PTEN expression in prostate tumors. Cell extracts from the prostate cancer cell line PC3 contain DEAF-1 interacting proteins identified by mass spectrometry as components of DNA protein kinase. DEAF-1 was found to increase Bax-mediated apoptosis in transiently transfected cells by a transcription-independent mechanism. The rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD was stably transfected using a tetracycline-inducible DEAF-1 gene, and the proapoptotic affects of DEAF-1 on UV-induced apoptosis was confirmed. PC3 cells stably transfected with DEAF-1 showed increased DEAF-1 levels following treatment with agents that produce DNA damage and genotoxic stress. These data suggest that DEAF-1 may be a potential tumor suppressor from 11p15.5 that normally functions as a proapoptotic factor in response to cellular stress and that is eliminated in prostate and perhaps other cancers.
The impact of global budget payment reform on systemic overuse in Maryland

Abstract Background Medical overuse is a leading contributor to the high cost of the US health care system and is a definitive misuse of resources. Elimination of overuse could improve health care efficiency. In 2014, the State of Maryland placed the majority of its hospitals under an all-payer, annual, global budget for inpatient and outpatient hospital services. This program aims to control hospital use and spending. Objective To assess whether the Maryland global budget program was associated with a reduction in the broad overuse of health care services. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of deidentified claims for 18–64 year old adults from the IBM MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters Database. We matched 2 Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to 6 out-of-state comparison MSAs. In a difference-in-differences analysis, we compared changes in systemic overuse in Maryland vs the comparison MSAs before (2011–2013) and after implementation (2014–2015) of the global budget program. Systemic overuse was measured using a semiannual Johns Hopkins Overuse Index. Results Global budgets were not associated with a reduction in systemic overuse. Over the first 1.5 years of the program, we estimated a nonsignificant differential change of −0.002 points (95%CI, −0.372 to 0.369; p = 0.993) relative to the comparison group. This result was robust to multiple model assumptions and sensitivity analyses. Conclusions We did not find evidence that Maryland hospitals met their revenue targets by reducing systemic overuse. Global budgets alone may be too blunt of an instrument to selectively reduce low-value care.
A Distributed GNE Seeking Algorithm Using the Douglas-Rachford Splitting Method.

We consider a generalized Nash equilibrium problem (GNEP) for a network of players. Each player tries to minimize a local objective function subject to some resource constraints where both the objective functions and the resource constraints depend on other players' decisions. By conducting equivalent transformations on the local optimization problems and introducing network Lagrangian, we recast the GNEP into an operator zero-finding problem. An algorithm is proposed based on the Douglas-Rachford method to distributedly find a solution. The proposed algorithm requires milder conditions compared to the existing methods. We prove the convergence of the proposed algorithm to an exact variational generalized Nash equilibrium under two different sets of assumptions. Our algorithm is validated numerically through the example of a Nash-Cournot production game.
An Overview of Energy-Optimal Impedance Control of Cooperative Robot Manipulators

An impedance-based control scheme is introduced for cooperative manipulators grasping a rigid load. The position and orientation of the load are to be maintained close to a desired trajectory, trading off tracking accuracy by low energy consumption and maintaining stability. To this end, the augmented dynamics of the robots, their actuators and the load is formed, and an impedance control is adopted. A virtual control strategy is used to decouple torque control from actuator control. An optimization problem is then formulated using energy balance equations. The optimization finds the damping and stiffness gains of the impedance relation such that the energy consumption is minimized. Furthermore, L2 stability techniques are used to allow for time-varying damping and stiffness in the desired impedance. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the results.
Wordcraft: a Human-AI Collaborative Editor for Story Writing

As neural language models grow in effectiveness, they are increasingly being applied in real-world settings. However these applications tend to be limited in the modes of interaction they support. In this extended abstract, we propose Wordcraft, an AI-assisted editor for story writing in which a writer and a dialog system collaborate to write a story. Our novel interface uses few-shot learning and the natural affordances of conversation to support a variety of interactions. Our editor provides a sandbox for writers to probe the boundaries of transformer-based language models and paves the way for future human-in-the-loop training pipelines and novel evaluation methods.
MRI and PET of Brain Tumor Neuroinflammation in the Era of Immunotherapy, From the AJR Special Series on Inflammation.

With the emergence of immune-modulating therapies, brain tumors present significant diagnostic imaging challenges. These challenges include planning personalized treatment and adjudicating accurate monitoring approaches and therapeutically specific response criteria. This has been due, in part, to the reliance on nonspecific imaging metrics, such as gadolinium-contrast-enhanced MRI or FDG PET, and rapidly evolving biologic understanding of neuroinflammation. The importance of the tumor-immune interaction and ability to therapeutically augment inflammation to improve clinical outcomes necessitates that the radiologist develop a working knowledge of the immune system and its role in clinical neuroimaging. In this article, we review relevant biologic concepts of the tumor microenvironment of primary and metastatic brain tumors, these tumors' interactions with the immune system, and MRI and PET methods for imaging inflammatory elements associated with these malignancies. Recognizing the growing fields of immunotherapeutics and precision oncology, we highlight clinically translatable imaging metrics for the diagnosis and monitoring of brain tumor neuroinflammation. Practical guidance is provided for implementing iron nanoparticle imaging, including imaging indications, protocol, interpretation, and pitfalls. A comprehensive understanding of the inflammatory mechanisms within brain tumors and their imaging features will facilitate the development of innovative non-invasive prognostic and predictive imaging strategies for precision oncology.