cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Highly sensitive multi-channel atomic magnetometer

We describe a high-sensitivity 16-channel magnetic sensor based on a spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer, the most sensitive cryogen-free magnetic field sensor. It has been developed in order to accelerate magnetic measurements in various fields, such as neuroscience and biomedical research, and improve the current technologies. The multi-channel operation is based on a single large flat pancake rubidium vapor cell, two broad laser beams (one for optical pumping and the other for optical Faraday effect detection), and a 4 by 4 photodiode matrix. In addition, a nearly parallel configuration of laser beams and multi-mode fibers facilitate the multi-channel design and the coupling of lasers, respectively. We experimentally demonstrate sensitivity in each channel of the sensor of a few tens femtotesla at low frequency. Because of its high sensitivity and parallel multi-channel detection, we anticipate that this sensor will be useful for many applications, such as magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetocardiography (MCG), and magnetic micro-particle imaging.
How to Extend Life Cycle of an Online Game

With the increasing popularity of online games, more and more studies have been undertaken to identify key factors impacting users’ acceptance of online games. However, even game designers noticed most of these key factors long time ago, the average life cycle of a game is still very low. This study is trying to research the online game from game developers’ perspectives. One of the main strategies to extend the game life cycle is to stimulate game players’ impulse purchase in the game. This study evaluate the effects of temptation on game players’ unplanned purchases. We propose that temptations in the online games associated with players’ flow experiences, and further influence their intentions of impulse purchases.
Cryo-electronics : The promise and the challenge

Electronic subsystems operating at temperatures significantly below room temperature offer a wide variety of opportunities for performance improvements at lower operational power and smaller size. Semiconducting materials operate at higher speeds with low power consumption; superconducting materials offer zero (low) resistance for interconnects, coils and filters as well as quantum properties for switching and logic elements, and electromagnetic detectors; and magnetic materials offer the possibility of spin-polarized devices. Key issues in the acceptance of cryo-electronics for commercial and military applications are: i) affordable, improved materials coupled with a viable materials integration technology, ii) total systems design which takes advantage of the improved material performance, and iii) affordable, reliable, efficient refrigerators coupled with systems integration. The first and second, (i) and (ii), focus on performance issues necessary to demonstrate the promise of cryo-electronics while the last, (iii), focuses on the challenge of acceptance by a community who does not want the “baggage” of the cryogenic environment to be noticeable.
State Supreme Court Decisions to Overrule Precedent, 1965-1996*

This article presents results from a systematic study of overruling decisions by state supreme courts in four states?Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania?over a thirty-two-year period. We find some general trends in the overruling behavior of these courts, including 1 ) overruling decisions tended to occur generally at the same rate across all four courts; 2) increases in caseload tended to increase the number of overruling decisions; 3) almost half of the overruled decisions were reversed within ten years in three of the four courts; 4) private civil cases are overruled more frequently; and 5) common law or precedent is the most frequent basis for overruling decisions, with constitutions (state or federal) among the most infrequent. When compared to recent research on the overruling behavior of the U.S. Supreme Court (Brenner and Spaeth, 1995), only the New Jersey court demonstrated behavior similar to that of the Supreme Court, suggesting the importance of judicial selection method and docket control to the stability of precedent in courts of last resort.
Filtered Backprojection Algorithms for Attenuated Parallel and Cone-Beam Projections Sampled on a Sphere

Cone-beam tomography is used in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to improve the sensitivity for imaging small organs like the brain with large field-of-view gamma cameras. However, the compensation for photon attenuation is a major challenge to quantitatively reconstruct cone-beam projections or projections sampled from any imaging geometry. In SPECT imaging of the brain, fairly accurate quantitative results have been obtained for 2D parallel-beam geometry by assuming a constant attenuator. In this paper we extend these results to derive filtered backprojection (FBP) reconstruction algorithms for 3D exponential parallelbeam projections and for 3D exponential cone-beam projections with sampling on a sphere.
CT Evaluation of the Myocardial Blood Supply: Technical Options

The purpose of this book chapter is to provide an overview of novel technical advances and persistent challenges of coronary CT imaging targeting the evaluation of myocardial perfusion.
Noise-Reducing Negative-Feedback Optogenetic Circuits in Mammalian Cells

Abstract Gene autorepression is widely present in nature and is also employed in synthetic biology, partly to reduce gene expression noise in cells. Optogenetic systems have recently been employed for controlling gene expression levels in mammalian cells, but most have utilized activator-based proteins, neglecting negative feedback. Here, we engineer optogenetic negative-feedback gene circuits in mammalian cells to achieve noise-reduction for precise gene expression control. We build a toolset of these noise-reducing Light-Inducible Tuner (LITer) gene circuits using the TetR repressor fused with a Tet-Inhibitory peptide (TIP) or a degradation tag through the light-sensitive LOV2 protein domain. These LITers provide nearly a range of 4-fold gene expression control and up to five-fold noise reduction from existing optogenetic systems. Moreover, we use the LITer gene circuit architecture to control gene expression of the cancer oncogene KRAS(G12V) and study its downstream effects through phospho-ERK levels and cellular proliferation. Overall, these novel LITer optogenetic platforms should enable precise spatiotemporal perturbations for studying multicellular phenotypes in developmental biology, oncology, and other biomedical fields of research.
Low-Temperature Phase Boundary of Dilute Lattice Spin Glasses

Based on a recently developed algorithm for the exploration of ground states in bond diluted lattice spin glasses, we determine the scaling of defect energies with system size for Ising spin glasses at the bond percolation threshold p c. The results can be related by well-known scaling relations to the shape of the transition temperature T g ∼ (p − p c)φ between the paramagnetic and glassy regime for p → p c. The numerical results for in three dimensions are consistent with rather old experimental data for (FexNi1−x )75P16B6A3, suggesting that new experimental work may be able to put those numerical predictions to the test.
Salubrinal enhances eIF2α phosphorylation and improves fertility in a mouse model of Classic Galactosemia

Loss of galactose-1 phosphate uridylyltransferase (GALT) activity in humans results in Classic Galactosemia, and the GalT-deficient (GalT-/-) mouse mimics the patient condition. GalT-/- ovaries display elevated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress marker, BiP, and downregulated canonical phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Pi3k)/protein kinase B (Akt) growth/pro-survival signaling. Numbers of primordial follicles are reduced in the mutants, recapitulating the accelerated ovarian aging seen in human patients. We previously found that oral administration of the compound Salubrinal (an eIF2α phosphatase inhibitor), resulted in reduction of ovarian BiP expression, rescued Pi3k/Akt signaling, and a doubling of primordial follicles in GalT-/- adults. Here, we further characterized galactosemic stress in GalT-/- mice versus wild-type (WT) controls, and examined whether Salubrinal treatment improved broader reproductive parameters. We assessed the expression levels of factors of the unfolded protein response (UPR), and found that BiP, phospho-Perk, and phospho-eIF2α were all elevated in GalT-/- ovaries. However, neither IKK activation (NFκB pathway) nor alternative Xbp1 splicing downstream of ER membrane protein Ire1α activation was induced, suggesting an Xbp1-independent UPR in galactosemic stress. Moreover, Salubrinal treatment significantly increased the number of ovulated eggs in mutant animals after gonadotrophic superovulation. Salubrinal treatment also normalized estrus cycle stage lengths and resulted in significantly larger litter sizes than vehicle-treated mutants. Overall, we show that Salubrinal protects against galactosemia-induced primordial follicle loss in a fashion that includes suppressing the de-phosphorylation of eIF2α, and that intervention in this way significantly improves and extends ovarian function, fertility, and fecundity.
Functional Outcomes Reported by Consumers of the Independent Living Program for Older Individuals who are Blind

This study surveyed 940 elders regarding their perceptions of the services they received under the Independent Living Program for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (Title VII, Chapter 2 of the Rehabi...
Extrapolation of O-cell drilled shaft tests for load and resistance factor design (LRFD) calibration

Load tests of drilled shafts are often performed using Osterberg cell (O-cell) testing, a popular load test method for drilled shafts, which measures both side and tip resistance. However, it is common that only one of the resistance components can be fully mobilized. Therefore, extrapolation of the partially mobilized resistance is often required to determine the total resistance or the equivalent top-down curve. The extrapolation tends to introduce errors to the constructed total resistance values, which subsequently affect the calibrated resistance factors required for the LRFD design of drilled shafts. In this study, eight O-cell tests of drilled shafts with total measured resistances close to the failure criteria defined by FHWA, 5% of the shaft diameter (B), were collected among 64 drilled shaft load tests from Louisiana and Mississippi. For each of the eight cases, extrapolation was performed on both tip and side movement curves for the construction of the equivalent top-down load-settlement (ELT) curves. Data points from the measured side or tip movement curve were removed systematically to create a total of 80 cases with partially mobilized movement curves, and extrapolation exercises were performed on each fabricated case to obtain its equivalent top-down curve. The error of bias for each fabricated case was determined for statistical analyses. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the bias errors to model the bias errors caused by extrapolation. Calibrated resistance factors were determined and compared between the original database and fabricated database needing extrapolation. A correction method is proposed, based on a linear regression relationship, to estimate and minimize the extrapolation error of bias for less mobilized databases.
Abstract D051: Targeting ubiquitin receptor ADRM1 for the treatment of quadruple-negative breast cancer

Quadruple Negative Breast cancer (QNBC) is a subtype of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) with loss of Androgen receptor (AR). We determined the expression of AR and its relationship to breast cancer subtypes, using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) profiles that contained racial and clinical outcomes data totaling 1061 patients. Expression of the AR protein level was confirmed in an additional multi-institutional cohort of 197 breast cancer patients, for a total of 1258 patient evaluated. Relative to White women, African American women had higher percentage (81%) of AR-negative tumors, and, for both races, AR-negative tumors correlated with the basal subtype, a shorter time to progression, and worse overall survival (OS) compared to White women. Currently available treatments are unable to eradicate metastatic breast cancer (TNBC and QNBC), and median survival for these patients is only 2–4 years. Improving the survival rates for metastatic disease has been the subject of intense investigation, and new agents and strategies are actively being evaluated. Targeting the UPS (Ubiquitin-proteasome system) with small molecules can an effective can cancer therapy. We have developed an orally-available proteasome inhibitor bis-benzylidine piperidone (RA190), that binds to the ubiquitin receptor RPN13/ADRM1 on the 19S regulatory particle of the proteasome and directly kills cancer cells by triggering proteotoxic stress. The objective of this study is to investigate the expression of ADRM1 in QNBC patients and target ADRM1 with RA190 for the treatment of QNBC., We used forest plot analysis of TCGA patient samples to determine the expression of Ubiquitin receptor ADRM1, and invitro assays to find the sensitivity of RA190 against AR-positive and AR-Negative breast cancer cells. Our results indicate that ADRM1 is significantly elevated and in QNBC breast tumors of African American patients. Our cell culture data show that, AR-positive and AR-Negative breast cancer cells have differential sensitivity in IC50 values to inhibitor RA190. Our findings will advance our knowledge of vulnerable pathways in QNBC/TNBCs optimal control and reveal if this mechanism is more likely to occur in African American patients. Citation Format: Balasubramanyam Karanam, Ravi Anchoori, Richard Roden, Clayton Yates. Targeting ubiquitin receptor ADRM1 for the treatment of quadruple-negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D051.
Self-transcriptional repression of the Arabidopsis NAC transcription factor ATAF2 and its genetic interaction with phytochrome A in modulating seedling photomorphogenesis.

The NAC transcription factor ATAF2 suppresses its own transcription via self-promoter binding. ATAF2 genetically interacts with the circadian regulator CCA1 and phytochrome A to modulate seedling photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. ATAF2 (ANAC081) is a NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcription factor (TF) that participates in the regulation of disease resistance, stress tolerance and hormone metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. We previously reported that ATAF2 promotes Arabidopsis hypocotyl growth in a light-dependent manner via transcriptionally suppressing the brassinosteroid (BR)-inactivating cytochrome P450 genes BAS1 (CYP734A1, formerly CYP72B1) and SOB7 (CYP72C1). Assays using low light intensities suggest that the photoreceptor phytochrome A (PHYA) may play a more critical role in ATAF2-regulated photomorphogenesis than phytochrome B (PHYB) and cryptochrome 1 (CRY1). In addition, ATAF2 is also regulated by the circadian clock. The core circadian TF CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1) physically interacts with ATAF2 at the DNA–protein and protein–protein levels, and both differentially suppress BAS1- and SOB7-mediated BR catabolism. In this research, we show that ATAF2 can bind its own promoter as a transcriptional self-repressor. This self-feedback-suppression loop is a typical feature of multiple circadian-regulated genes. Additionally, ATAF2 and CCA1 synergistically suppress seedling photomorphogenesis as reflected by the light-dependent hypocotyl growth analysis of their single and double gene knock-out mutants. Similar fluence-rate response assays using ATAF2 and photoreceptor (PHYB, CRY1 and PHYA) knock-out mutants demonstrate that PHYA is required for ATAF2-regulated photomorphogenesis in a wide range of light intensities. Furthermore, disruption of PHYA can suppress the BR-insensitive hypocotyl-growth phenotype of ATAF2 loss-of-function seedlings in the light, but not in darkness. Collectively, our results provide a genetic interaction synopsis of the circadian-clock-photomorphogenesis-BR integration node involving ATAF2, CCA1 and PHYA.
Smart City Concepts Cloud-Based Learning Platform for Undergraduate IT Students

To address the long-standing urban challenges and improve city services and utilities, major cities are adopting smart city initiatives which involve cyber physical systems and emerging technologies. Nevertheless, there is a need for a high-quality workforce with adequate training and skills at different capacities. The proposed solution is to design and develop a cloud-based learning and simulation platform that includes major features and functionalities of smart cities. The scope of this platform could be limited to IoT, Sensors networking, Big Data, smart power grid, smart transportation, and cybersecurity.
The Bottom Line at Cc's Gourmet Kitchen

Using computer spreadsheets to track the finances for his restaurant—CC's Gourmet Kitchen—was one of Carl Coleman's least favorite things to do. This had been especially true at the end of each month since he opened. This evening in July 2010 was no different, as one figure in particular, the paltry $2,800 in profit, was characteristically depressing. “If I don't make some changes soon,” Coleman said to himself, “I'm not going to be able to afford this.” Excerpt UVA-ENT-0185 Rev. Jul. 23, 2019 The Bottom Line at CC's Gourmet Kitchen Introduction Using computer spreadsheets to track the finances for his restaurant—CC's Gourmet Kitchen—was one of Carl Coleman's least favorite things to do. This had been especially true at the end of each month since he opened. This evening in July 2010 was no different, and one figure in particular, the paltry $ 2,800 in profit, was characteristically depressing. “If I don't make some changes soon,” Coleman said to himself, “I'm not going to be able to afford this.” CC's Gourmet Kitchen . . .
4,7-Di­bromo­benzo­[c]­fur­azan 1-oxide–pyrene (1/1)

The 1:1 complex of 4,7-di­bromo­benzo­[c]­fur­azan 1-oxide and pyrene, C6H2N2O2Br2·C16H10, contains π stacks of alternating mol­ecules. The mol­ecules are tilted by 2.5 (1)° with respect to each other and by 22.6 (1) and 25.0 (1)°, respectively, away from being normal to the direction of the stack. The average intermolecular distances in the stack alternate between 3.45 (2) and 3.49 (2) A. There are no unusual contacts between adjacent stacks.
Laws of large numbers for D[0,1]

This paper provides a strong law of large numbers for independent and nonidentically distributed random variables taking their values in the space D[0,1], where D[0,1] is equipped with the uniform topology.
Construction of a deformable spatiotemporal MRI atlas of the fetal brain: Evaluation of similarity metrics and deformation models

The development and identification of best methods in fetal brain MRI analysis is crucial as we expect an outburst of studies on groupwise and longitudinal analysis of early brain development in the upcoming years. To address this critical need, in this paper, we have developed a mathematical framework for the construction of an unbiased deformable spatiotemporal atlas of the fetal brain MRI and compared it to alternative configurations in terms of similarity metrics and deformation models. Our contributions are twofold: first we suggest a novel approach to fetal brain spatiotemporal atlas construction that shows high capability in capturing anatomic variation between subjects; and second, within our atlas construction framework we evaluate and compare a set of plausible configurations for inter-subject fetal brain MRI registration and identify the most accurate approach that can potentially lead to most accurate results in population atlas construction, atlas-based segmentation, and group analysis. Our evaluation results indicate that symmetric diffeomorphic deformable registration with cross correlation similarity metric outperforms other configurations in this application and results in sharp unbiased atlases that can be used in fetal brain MRI analysis.
Power development and water allocation in Ohio River Basin

Widespread adoption of evaporative cooling towers will significantly increase water consumption by power plants over the coming decades. The analysis presented includes consideration of allocation issues associated with other growing competitive uses: (1) municipal; (2) industrial; (3) irrigation; and (4) in stream uses. Given hypothetical plant siting strategies suggested by the initial work of the Ohio River Basin Energy Study, consumption will represent high percentages of flows in the tributary basins of the lower Ohio River Basin, especially during 7-day, 10-yr low-flow conditions. Consumption levels are shown for tributary river basins in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Alternatives to high levels of consumption are suggested. In addition to presenting an analysis of water allocation in the Ohio Basin, the paper suggests a useful framework for analyzing water allocation in other regions.
Chapter 22 Duality Theory and Approximate Dynamic Programming for Pricing American Options and Portfolio Optimization

Abstract This chapter describes how duality and approximate dynamic programming (ADP) methods can be used in financial engineering. It focuses on American option pricing and portfolio optimization problems when the underlying state space is high-dimensional. In general, it is not possible to solve these problems exactly due to the so-called “curse of dimensionality” and as a result, approximate solution techniques are required. ADP and dual-based methods have been proposed for constructing and evaluating good approximate solutions to these problems. In this chapter we describe these methods. Some directions for future research are also outlined.
Smarter hospital communication: secure smartphone text messaging improves provider satisfaction and perception of efficacy, workflow.

Pagers, though reliable and familiar technology, can be suboptimal for facilitating healthcare team communication.1,2 Most paging systems utilize single-function pagers and only allow one-way communication, requiring recipients to disrupt workflow to respond to pages. Paging transmissions can also be intercepted, and the information presented on pager displays can be viewed by anyone in possession of the pager. Smartphones allow for instantaneous two-way and group communication through advanced technological features. Their use is widespread; over 81% of American physicians owned a smartphone in 2011.3 Previous studies demonstrate that healthcare providers rate smartphone-based email positively, and that team smartphones can facilitate communication between nurses and physicians.4,5 However, these studies specifically examined the utility of smartphone-based email and voice calls, and did not include text messaging. Limitations of traditional smartphone-based text messaging include Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) noncompliance and dependence on in-hospital cellular reception, which can be unreliable. HIPAA is a 1996 US federal law that established a set of privacy and security rules governing not only what is considered protected health information (PHI), but also minimum standards for the protection of such information. HIPAA compliance is defined as meeting these minimum standards for physical, network, and process security.6,7 Though PHI is often transmitted via paging systems and commercial carrier-based text messaging, these modalities are not secure and are thus not HIPAA-compliant. Text messaging applications that address these security and reliability issues have the potential to greatly enhance in-hospital communication. We hypothesized that a smartphone-based HIPAA-compliant group messaging application could improve in-hospital communication on the inpatient medicine service. To our knowledge, our study is the first to examine a HIPAA-compliant text messaging system, and also the first to compare a combination paging/HIPAA-compliant group messaging (HCGM) system with a paging-only system in assessing healthcare provider perception of communication efficiency.
Optimizing power converter PCB design for lower EMI

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel technique for the pre-design of a printed circuit board (PCB) of a DC-DC power converters where the placement of electric components can cancel the electromagnetic emissions through subtractive coupling and in this sense to minimize the stray magnetic and electric fields at a specific location. For this work the location of interest is a current transducer used for control purposes positioned in the center of a DC-DC Cuk converter board as a constrain. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology of design is based on the development of an interface software platform through MatLab script coding which interconnects the solution of a numerical analysis software and an optimization technique. The numerical analysis software is based on finite element calculations where quasi-static field analysis are performed to calculate the radiated electric and magnetic fields. The optimization technique is conducted by genetic algorithms (GAs). Findings – The r...
The strict Chebyshev solution of overdetermined systems of linear equations with rank deficient matrix

The Chebyshev solution of an overdetermined system of linear equations is considered, with special reference to the case when the matrix of coefficients is column-rank deficient. The procedure described is an ascent exchange algorithm in which at each iteration use is made of a numerically stable decomposition of a submatrix to evaluate its rank and null space. It is shown how results can be achieved by this method in cases where other algorithms fail.
Rad52 SUMOylation affects the efficiency of the DNA repair

Homologous recombination (HR) plays a vital role in DNA metabolic processes including meiosis, DNA repair, DNA replication, and rDNA homeostasis. HR defects can lead to pathological outcomes, including genetic diseases and cancer. Recent studies suggest that the post-translational modification by the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) protein plays an important role in mitotic and meiotic recombination. However, the precise role of SUMOylation during recombination is still unclear. Here, we characterize the effect of SUMOylation on the biochemical properties of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae recombination mediator protein Rad52. Interestingly, Rad52 SUMOylation is enhanced by ssDNA, and we show that SUMOylation of Rad52 also inhibits its DNA binding and annealing activities. The biochemical effects of SUMO modification in vitro are accompanied by a shorter duration of spontaneous Rad52 foci in vivo and a shift in spontaneous mitotic recombination from single-strand annealing to gene conversion events in the SUMO-deficient Rad52 mutants. Taken together, our results highlight the importance of Rad52 SUMOylation as part of a quality control mechanism regulating the efficiency of recombination and DNA repair.
Characterization and characteristics of a ULE glass tailored for EUVL needs

The EUVL industry has unique material requirements, which are being addressed. Implementation of metrology methods new to ULE Glass will be discussed along with material characteristics altered to meet the needs of EUVL. Metrology methods include multiple means of evaluating the striae, CTE and inclusions. Material characteristics have been altered to better meet the demands of the industry. The reduction in inclusion levels along with other improvements such as in the area of striae will be discussed here. Improvements of greater than 4x were achieved in these preliminary striae reduction trials.
Comparison of FDG-PET/CT and CT for delineation of lumpectomy cavity for partial breast irradiation.

Purpose The success of partial breast irradiation critically depends on proper target localization. We examined the use of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) for improved lumpectomy cavity (LC) delineation and treatment planning. Methods and Materials Twelve breast cancer patients underwent FDG-PET/CT on a GE Discovery scanner with a median time from surgery to PET/CT of 49 days. The LC was contoured on the CT scan by a radiation oncologist and, together with a nuclear medicine physician, on the PET/CT scan. The volumes were calculated and compared in each patient. Treatment planning target volumes (PTVs) were calculated by expanding the margin 2 cm beyond the LC, maintaining a 5-mm margin from the skin and chest wall, and the treatment plans were evaluated. In addition, a study with a patient-like phantom was conducted to evaluate the effect that the window/level settings might have on contouring. Results The margin of the LC was well visualized on all FDG-PET images. The phantom results indicated that the difference between the known volume and the FDG-PET-delineated volume was p = 0.004). The PET/CT-based PTVs were also larger than the CT-based PTV (median volume ratio, 1.16; range, 1.08–1.64; p = 0.006). In 9 of 12 patients, a CT-based treatment plan did not provide adequate coverage of the PET/CT-based PTV (99% of the PTV received Conclusion The results of our study have shown that FDG-PET/CT can be used to define the LC volume. The increased FDG uptake was likely a result of postoperative inflammation in the LC. The targets defined using PET/CT were significantly larger than those defined with CT alone. Our results have shown that treatment plans can be generated to cover these larger PET/CT target volumes with only a modest increase in irradiated tissue volume compared with CT-determined PTVs.
Unique ergodicity of the horocycle flow: Variable negative curvature case

H. Furstenberg showed that horocycle flows on compact manifolds of constant negative curvature are uniquely ergodic. This paper generalizes his result to the case of variable negative curvature, in the more general context of flows whose orbits are the unstable manifolds of certain Anosov flows.
Substance Abuse by Elders and Self-Enhancement Bias

Human service professionals regularly do not recognize the symptoms of substance abuse in older populations and are unlikely to provide intervention. In this study, human service students (N = 242) were given one of three vignettes in which the main character was an 80-year-old man, an 80-year-old woman, or they were asked to imagine themselves at 80. The vignette character was described as living alone, smelling of alcohol, and whose garbage was filled with empty beer and wine containers. Respondents were asked whether they believed the character had a substance abuse problem, if intervention was appropriate, if the character was depressed or suffering from self-neglect, and if the neighbors should express their concerns to the character. The largest number of respondents perceived that the vignette character may have a drinking problem, may be lonely, and would benefit from professional help. Most did not believe neighbors should express concern or that the character was suffering from self-neglect. Tho...
Photoluminescence of manufactured 1-D crystalline Si gratings☆

Abstract An innovative fabrication process for forming 1-D, nanoscale linewidth grating and wire structures in (100) Si is reported. Scanning electron microscope and Raman scattering measurements demonstrate crystalline structures with widths as small as ∼ 1.5 nm. For structures ≲ 10 nm, room temperature photoluminescence measurements (257 nm excitation) show spectral peaks ∼ 380–500 nm. In contrast to the Raman scattering rsults, which show a definite correlation with structure widths, the PL spectra are relatively invariant as structure widths are reduced below 10 nm.
Quasi-optical solid-state microwave sources

Quasi-optical power-combining offers the most promising method for extracting large amounts of power from solid-state devices in the microwave and millimeter-wave range. This technique can be applied to a variety of devices. The difficulties associated with traditional waveguides power-combiners such as skin-effect losses are eliminated because the signals are combined in free-space. The solid-state devices are embedded in a two-dimensional grid configuration and placed in a Fabry-Perot cavity. In this respect, the quasi-optical power-combiner is analogous to a laser oscillator in which the active medium of the laser is replaced with an array of active devices. The grid presents a reflection coefficient to an incident plane wave which is larger than unity and the resonator provides feedback to couple the devices together. The two-dimensional structure of the grid is amenable to modern photolithographic processing and potentially allows thousands of devices to be integrated monolithically.
Photophysics of GaSe nanoparticles and nanoparticle aggregates

Polarized femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and time-resolved polarized emission spectroscopy have been employed to study the spectroscopy and dynamics of charge carriers in GaSe nanoparticles and nanoparticle aggregates. Transient absorptions in the visible and near infrared spectral regions are assigned in terms of a simple effective mass, particle-in-a-cylinder model. A particle size independent, z-polarized hole intraband transition maximizing at 600-650 nm is resolved from a particle size dependent x,y-polarized electron transition involving transfer of electrons from the conduction band to surface states. For the small (2.7 nm) and mid-sized (5.1 nm) particles, the electron charge transfer transition decays relatively rapidly (≈15 ps timescale) due to a direct to indirect (Γ to M) electron momentum relaxation. The hole intraband transition decays relatively slowly (400 - 900 ps) due to hole trapping. The same decay components are also present in the emission kinetics. Particle aggregation significantly shifts the lowest energy allowed transition in the small particles, thereby changing the nature (Γ versus M) of the initially excited state and altering the observed transient absorption spectra. For the large (11.8 nm) particles, the relative energetics of the electron Γ and M states are reversed and the fast decay of the electron transition is not observed.
NEED-FOR-APPROVAL AND PEER PRESENCE IN GOAL SETTING

To investigate interactive effects of need-for-approval and peer presence on caution in goal-setting, 16 male and 11 female introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to treatments, i.e., female E only or female E plus a male and female "peer." Ss were assembled in a waiting room and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirabiliry Scale was administered. E asked for rwo "volunteers" to serve as judges and scorers for the experimental task, whereupon the two previously trained "peers" were chosen. Ss individually participated in the Barthel (1763) dart-throwing task. Ss were instructed to choose from among 6-ft., 7-ft., and 14-ft. distances for five throws at a dartboard. Cautiousness was defined as distance chosen for the block of five throws. For E-only condition, E retrieved darts, recorded distance, and tallied score. For E-and-wo-peer condition, the "peers" performed these tasks. "Peers" were trained not to show approval or disapproval of S's behavior or to exhibit overt verbal behavior. High need-for-approval persons were expected to be more cautious than lows in the E-and-two-peers condition, but highs and lows should not be differentially cautious in the E-only condition. Ss were post-experimentally dichotomized on the Marlowe-Crowne Scale to ensure approximately equal splits into sex and treatment combinations. Scores for all Ss ranged beween 7 and 27, with a score of 17 or above resulting in high categorization (M = 15.20; SD = 5.31). A three-factor analysis of variance yielded no significant over-all effects (a 4 .05) but planned comparison tests of the hypotheses (Table 1) supported both hypotheses for males. The hypothesis for low need-for-approval females was supported, whereas the hypothesis for high females was not. The findings suggest usefulness of further exploration of effects of need-for-approval, E and peer presence, and sex on goal-setting behavior.
Are 99mTc leukocyte scintigraphy and SBFT studies useful in children suspected of having inflammatory bowel disease

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this retrospective study was to assess whether 99mTc-white blood cell (WBC) scintigraphy and upper gastrointestinal small bowel follow-through (UGI-SBFT) could exclude inflammation in children suspected of having inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Of a population of 313 children who had a 99mTc-WBC scan, 130 children were studied exclusively to rule out IBD. Sixty-nine colonoscopies with biopsies were done within a short time interval of the 99mTc-WBC scans. There were also 51 controls studied with 99mTc-WBC scintigraphy. RESULTS: Of the 130 children studied to exclude IBD, the final diagnosis was Crohn’s disease in 27, ulcerative colitis in nine, miscellaneous colitis in 13, probably normal in 42, and normal in 39. The 99mTc-WBC scans were positive in all but three newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or miscellaneous colitis children. The false-negative 99mTc-WBC studies were seen in children with mild inflammation on biopsies and normal UGI-SBFT studies. In the 46 children with a true-positive 99mTc-WBC scan, 81% (17/21) of UGI-SBFT studies were normal. In five children with equivocal UGI–SBFT studies, the 99mTc-WBC scan correctly predicted if inflammation was present in the terminal ileum. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that 99mTc-WBC is useful as an initial screening modality to exclude IBD, and is more sensitive than UGI-SBFT studies.
A finite element modeling of a multifunctional hybrid composite beam with viscoelastic materials

The multifunctional hybrid composite structure studied here consists of a ceramic outer layer capable of withstanding high temperatures, a functionally graded ceramic layer combining shape memory alloy (SMA) properties of NiTi together with Ti2AlC (called Graded Ceramic/Metal Composite, or GCMeC), and a high temperature sensor patch, followed by a polymer matrix composite laced with vascular cooling channels all held together with various epoxies. Due to the recoverable nature of SMA and adhesive properties of Ti2AlC, the damping behavior of the GCMeC is largely viscoelastic. This paper presents a finite element formulation for this multifunctional hybrid structure with embedded viscoelastic material. In order to implement the viscoelastic model into the finite element formulation, a second order three parameter Golla-Hughes-McTavish (GHM) method is used to describe the viscoelastic behavior. Considering the parameter identification, a strategy to estimate the fractional order of the time derivative and the relaxation time is outlined. The curve-fitting aspects of both GHM and ADF show good agreement with experimental data obtained from dynamic mechanics analysis. The performance of the finite element of the layered multifunctional beam is verified through experimental model analysis.
Specific down-regulation of interleukin-12 signaling through induction of phospho-STAT4 protein degradation

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) plays a critical role in modulating the function of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. IL-12 has potent antitumor effects in animal models, mediated primarily by its ability to enhance cytolytic activity and secretion of interferon-γ (IFN-γ). Unfortunately, the antitumor effect of IL-12 has not been demonstrated in clinical trials. Repeated administration of IL-12 in humans results in decreasing levels of IFN-γ secretion. To understand the mechanism underlying this loss of responsiveness, the effect of IL-12 on its own signaling in activated human T cells was examined. These experiments demonstrate that the level of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) protein, a critical IL-12 signaling component, is dramatically decreased 24 hours after IL-12 stimulation, whereas levels of STAT4 messenger RNA are not affected. The decrease of STAT4 protein appears to be due to specific degradation of phospho-STAT4, possibly through the proteasome degradation pathway. Decreased levels of STAT4 protein lead to decreased STAT4 DNA-binding activity and reduced proliferation and secretion of IFN-γ. This down-regulation of STAT4 is specific for IL-12 signaling, presumably owing to the prolonged activation of STAT4 induced by IL-12. IFN-α stimulation, which leads to transient phosphorylation of STAT4, does not reduce the level of STAT4 protein. These findings provide new insights into the regulation of IL-12 signaling in human T cells, where IL-12 promotes TH1 responses, but persistent IL-12 stimulation may also limit this response. The cellular depletion of STAT4 following prolonged IL-12 stimulation may also explain the loss of responsiveness following the repeated administration of IL-12 in clinical trials.
Reinventing the round wheel: Insurgency, counter‐insurgency, and peacekeeping post cold war

(1993). Reinventing the round wheel: Insurgency, counter‐insurgency, and peacekeeping post cold war. Small Wars & Insurgencies: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 228-262.
The Effects of Litigation Risk on Board Oversight and CEO Incentive Pay

Various commentators have praised the WorldCom and Enron settlements for holding outside directors personally liable, arguing that heightened director liability will induce greater board oversight. This paper shows that the connection between director liability and board behavior is more subtle, because directors have multiple means to respond to an increase in liability exposure: They can increase oversight to prevent accounting manipulation and/or reduce performance-based CEO pay to mitigate the CEO's ex ante incentive to engage in manipulation. These two decisions are interrelated, implying that the effects of director liability on board oversight and CEO incentive pay are ambiguous. In particular, the model predicts that, for firms in which board oversight is difficult and costly (e.g., large firms with complex business operations), a stricter legal environment for directors leads to a lower level of board oversight, lower CEO incentive pay, and lower shareholder value.
Parser Combinators: A Practical Application for Generating Parsers for NMR Data

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a technique for acquiring protein data at atomic resolution and determining the three-dimensional structure of large protein molecules. A typical structure determination process results in the deposition of a large data sets to the BMRB (Bio-Magnetic Resonance Data Bank). This data is stored and shared in a file format called NMR-Star. This format is syntactically and semantically complex making it challenging to parse. Nevertheless, parsing these files is crucial to applying the vast amounts of biological information stored in NMR-Star files, allowing researchers to harness the results of previous studies to direct and validate future work. One powerful approach for parsing files is to apply a Backus-Naur Form (BNF) grammar, which is a high-level model of a file format. Translation of the grammatical model to an executable parser may be automatically accomplished. This paper will show how we applied a model BNF grammar of the NMR-Star format to create a free, open-source parser, using a method that originated in the functional programming world known as "parser combinators". This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a principled approach to file specification and parsing. This paper also builds upon our previous work [1], in that 1) it applies concepts from Functional Programming (which is relevant even though the implementation language, Java, is more mainstream than Functional Programming), and 2) all work and accomplishments from this project will be made available under standard open source licenses to provide the community with the opportunity to learn from our techniques and methods.
Transport of small molecules through mechanically elongated polymeric membranes

This contribution presents an analysis of the problem of diffusion through membranes, incorporating a realistic downstream boundary condition. The analysis can be applied to operations involving geomembranes. Graphs are presented to show the effect of the various dimensionless parameters. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 1200–1203, 2005
Validating and troubleshooting ocular in vitro toxicology tests

In vitro organotypic models for testing ocular irritants have warranted sufficient interest as methods to replace in vivo ocular testing. The in vitro organotypic models claim to maintain short-term normal physiological and biochemical functions of the mammalian cornea in an isolated system. In these test methods, damage by the test substance is assessed by quantitative measurements of changes in corneal opacity and permeability using opacitometry and spectrophotometry, respectively. Both measurements are used quantitatively for irritancy classification for prediction of the in vivo ocular irritation potential of a test substance. Examples of organotypic models that incorporate these criteria include: the bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) assay, the isolated chicken eye (ICE) test method and the isolated rabbit eye (IRE) assay. A fourth method, the hen's egg test-chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) assay, differs in the evaluation criteria but is also normally included among this class of in vitro protocols. Each of these protocols is discussed in detail as representative candidate in vitro methods for assessing ocular irritation and corrosion. The methodologies, protocol details, applications, and their validation status are discussed. A brief historical perspective of the development of original in vitro ocular testing models is also mentioned. More importantly, improving and troubleshooting the current techniques, in order to present the models as stand-alone in vitro tools for ocular toxicity assessment, is emphasized.
Malignant mesothelioma: current status of histopathologic diagnosis and molecular profile

Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura is a relatively rare neoplasm that has been estimated to account for 20 deaths per million males per year in North America and Europe. A causative association has been well established with asbestos exposure. Paradoxically, the incidence of this tumor continues to rise despite public efforts to reduce, contain or eliminate exposure to asbestos fibers over the past few decades. Another paradoxical feature of the disease is that the majority of malignant mesotheliomas represent morphologically low-grade, well-differentiated neoplasms, yet they follow a relentlessly aggressive and virtually uniformly fatal outcome. For this reason, identification of clinical, morphologic, immunohistochemical or molecular genetic parameters is of extremely limited value for prognostication. Surprisingly, for a disease that currently has no known cure, one of the major problems still lies in establishing the correct diagnosis. Diagnosis acquires a particular relevance in light of the medicolegal ramifications of this disease, and diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is still fraught with difficulties. Despite the advances in modern diagnostic techniques, no specific markers or morphologic features exist that are exclusive to these tumors. Herein, the current status of malignant mesothelioma diagnosis is reviewed, including the possible contributions of modern molecular techniques for their diagnosis.