cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study of π-Arene-Bridged Lanthanum Arylamide and Aryloxide Dimers. Solution Behavior, Exchange Mechanisms, and X-ray Crystal Structures of La2(NH-2,6-iPr2C6H3)6, La(NH-2,6-iPr2C6H3)3(THF)3, and La(NH-2,6-iPr2C6H3)3(py)2

Reaction of 3 equiv of 2,6-diisopropylaniline with La[N(SiMe(3))(2)](3) produces the dimeric species La(2)(NHAr)(6) (1). X-ray crystallography reveals a centrosymmetric structure, where the dimeric unit is bridged by intermolecular eta(6)-arene interactions of a unique arylamide ligand attached to an adjacent metal center. Exposure of 1 to THF results in formation of the monomeric tris-THF adduct La(NHAr)(3)(THF)(3) (2), which was shown by X-ray crystallography to maintain a fac-octahedral structure in the solid state. (1)H NMR spectroscopy illustrates that the binding of THF to 1 to form 2 is reversible and removal of THF under vacuum regenerates dimeric 1. Addition of pyridine to 1 yields the monomeric bis-pyridine adduct La(NHAr)(3)(py)(2) (3), which exhibits a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal La metal center. Solution (1)H NMR, IR, and Raman spectroscopy indicate that the pi-arene-bridged dimeric structure of 1 is maintained in solution. Variable-temperature (1)H NMR spectroscopic investigations of 1 are consistent with a monomer-dimer equilibrium at elevated temperature. In contrast, variable-temperature (1)H NMR spectroscopic investigations of the aryloxide analogue La(2)(OAr)(6) (4) show that the bridging and terminal aryloxide groups exchange by a mechanism in which the dimeric nature of the compound is retained. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out on model compounds La(2)(OC(6)H(5))(6), La(2)(NHC(6)H(5))(6), and (C(6)H(5)R)La(XC(6)H(5))(3), where X = O or NH and R = H, OH, or NH(2). The formation of eta(6)-arene interactions is energetically favored over monomeric LaX(3) (X = OPh or NHPh) with the aryloxide pi-arene interaction being stronger than the arylamide pi-arene interaction. Calculation of vibrational frequencies reveals the origin of the observed IR spectral behavior of both La(2)(OC(6)H(5))(6) and La(2)(NHC(6)H(5))(6), with the higher energy nu(C=C) stretch due to terminal ligands and the lower energy stretch associated with the bridging ligands.
A simple check valve for microfluidic point of care diagnostics

Check valves are often essential components in microfluidic devices, enabling automated sample processing for diagnostics at the point of care. However, there is an unmet need for a check valve design that is compatible with rigid thermoplastic devices during all stages of development—from initial prototyping with a laser cutter to final production with injection molding. Here, we present simple designs for a passive, normally closed check valve that is manufactured from commonly available materials with a CO2 laser and readily integrated into prototype and production thermoplastic devices. The check valve consists of a thermoplastic planar spring and a soft elastomeric pad that act together to seal against fluid backflow. The valve's cracking pressure can be tuned by modifying the spring's planar geometry and thickness. Seal integrity is improved with the addition of a raised annular boss beneath the elastomeric pad. To demonstrate the valve's usefulness, we employ these valves to create a finger-operated on-chip reagent reservoir and a finger-actuated pneumatic pump. We also apply this check valve to passively seal a device to enable portable detection of RNA from West Nile virus in a laser-cut device.
Preliminary Evaluation on Therapy on the Effectiveness of Herpes Zoster Neuralgia with Celecoxib Capsules

Objective: To explore the curative effect of celecoxib capsules on the herpes zoster neuralgia. Method: Eighty-six cases of patients with Herpes zoster neuralgia were divided into two groups, the observation group(n=46) was given celecoxib capsules, and the control group(n=40) was given Ibuprofen. Result: The clinical effective rate of the observation group and the control group were 82.6%, 62.5% respectively, and the difference between the two groups were statistically significant(P0.05). After the treatment of 2 weeks, the VAS and McGill scores between two groups had significantly difference, the curative effect of the observation group was better than the control group, and the difference between the two groups were statistically significant(P0.05). Conclusion: Celebrex contributes is an effective drug for the treatment of herpes zoster neuralgia.
Antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa isolated from different samples

[Objective]To carry out the antimicrobial susceptibility testing in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa(PA) isolated from different samples,compare the drug resistance of PA strains isolated from hospital environmental smear samples,inpatients and outside-hospital environment.[Methods]PA strains were collected from different samples,and the bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted by VITEK 2 compact automatic microbiology analysis apparatus.[Results]There were a total of 53 PA strains,including 16 strains from hospital environmental smear samples,28 strains from inpatients and 9 strains from outside-hospital environment.The rates of resistance to nitrofurantoin and piperacillin/tazobactam were 10%-20%.The rates of resistance to gentamicin,imipenem,levofloxacin,meropenem and piperacillin were 20%-30%.ALL rates of resistance to ceftriaxone,cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin were 98.11%.The rates of resistance to amikacin,ampicillin,ampicillin/sulbactam,aztreonam,cefazolin,cefepime,cefotetan,ceftazidime,cefuroxime,tobramycin and compound sulfamethoxazole were 100%.The drug resistance rate of PA to 7 antibiotics ranged from 10.0% to 30.0%.The resistance rate of PA strains isolated from outside-hospital environment was 0,and that of PA strains isolated from hospital environmental smear samples and inpatients was 18.8% and 27.6%,respectively.[Conclusion]The drug resistance rates of PA strains isolated from different samples are different.The differences in drug resistance rate among PA strains isolated from hospital environmental smear samples,inpatients and outside-hospital environment are obvious.
Java Beans and Controller Helpers

With the introduction of a controller servlet, it is now possible to add all the power and convenience of Java to the development process. It is possible to create auxiliary classes in the web application that will simplify development.
EXPEDIENCE AND INCENTIVES

This chapter discusses expedience and incentives. An organizational decision-making system that is designed to work well when individuals act in an honest, ethical fashion may be highly susceptible to manipulation by knowledgeable, self-interested individuals. Rank-order voting, majority voting, market exchange of private property, determination of quantities of public goods, and the determination of optimal output of a two-division firm with cost interdependence can all be influenced by the participants to their advantage. Collective choice rules that violate assumption are objected because they permit a certain amount of non-ordinal intensity of preference to influence the organization's choice. According to Hurwicz, even markets for exchange of private property are susceptible to undetectable manipulation. Ledyard and Roberts modified Hurwicz's argument to show that economies with public goods are also open to deception, even when full free riding is not optimal.
Interplays Between Systemic Risk and Network Topology in Consensus Networks

Abstract: We consider a few notions of systemic risk measures in first-order time-invariant linear dynamic networks steered by additive noise. We establish connections between the risk measures, the connectivity properties of the communication graph and eventually the performance measure of these networks. Double inequalities are derived that bound the systemic risk measures in terms of spectral properties of the underlying graph of the network. We demonstrate that in an agreement seeking network, strengthening connectivity, decreases the risk of systemic events up to a lower limit, while in a sensor placement protocol, the possibility of systemic event can increase proportionally connectivity-which hints on emergence of an intrinsic interplay between risk and network topology.
Radiation improves gene delivery in tumors by a virus-mimicking nanostructure complex

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 2095 Efficiency and specificity of gene delivery to tumors are still major concerns in cancer gene therapy. We have previously used regional ionizing radiation to improve adenovirus uptake and to enhance gene expression in intrahepatic tumors (Zhang, M, et al . Mol Ther. 2003, 8:21-28; Qian, J, et al . Cancer Res. 2005, 65:5493-5497). However, non-specific gene expression and cytotoxicity in normal liver through systemic viral injection is still inevitable. Here, we explore the potentials of radiation in improving gene delivery by a virus-mimicking nanostructure complex, transferrin (Tf)-cationic liposome-DNA complex (Tf-lipoplex) (Liang, Xu, et al . Human Gene Ther. 2002, 13:469-481). Tf-lipoplex cocondensated with plasmid encoding CMV-GFP (Tf-lipoplex-GFP) was highly efficient in transducing various cancer cell lines of lung (LLC1, H1299), colon (CT26, LoVo), prostate (PC3), liver (HepG2) as well as normal cells including hepatocyte (WB), colon epithelium (NCM460), and macrophage (MH-S). Pre-treatment of cells with radiation significantly increased GFP expression (folds) in WB (4.09), LLC1 (3.46), H1299 (2.19), HepG2 (2.15), and CT26 (2.10) in a radiation dose-dependent manner. These inductions were most effective when Tf-lipoplex-GFP was applied immediately after radiation and were diminished mostly by a 24-h delayed transfection. In contrast, radiation failed to induce GFP expression in all cells transduced by a Tf-deficient complex (Liposome-GFP) regardless of radiation doses and time, suggesting that Tf receptor-mediated internalization of the complex may be activated during radiation. Consistently, radiation on cells pre-incubated with Tf-lipoplex-GFP had no effects on gene expression. Radiation-induced transgene expression in tumor was further investigated in mice bearing subcutaneous LLC1 tumors by using complex containing plasmid encoding CMV-LacZ gene (Tf-lipoplex-LacZ). Regional radiation followed by intravenous injection of complex markedly induced LacZ expression in tumor xenografts in a radiation dose-dependent fashion while no or minimal LacZ expression was observed in normal liver, or lung and spleen. Furthermore, LacZ-containing DNA contents in irradiated tumors were increased in correlation with increased LacZ expression, suggesting that radiation may induce complex uptake in tumors. We conclude that radiation improves Tf-lipoplex gene delivery in tumors both in vitro and in vivo . These findings should provide us insight in developing ligand-specific liposome complex for targeted gene delivery for human cancer gene therapy.
Histologic classification and grading enhances gallbladder cancer staging: A population-based prognostic score validated by the U.S. Extrahepatic Biliary Malignancy Consortium.

356Background: Beyond the most common adenocarcinoma type, several gallbladder cancer (GBC) histologies have been described as being associated with more favorable (papillary) or less favorable outcome (adenosquamous, mucinous, signet ring). We sought to examine the added value of histologic type and grade on the existing AJCC staging system for resected GBC. Methods: Patients who underwent resection of GBC from 1988-2013 were identified using the Surveillance Epidemiology End Results (SEER) registry. A prognostic score was created by assigning points for T stage, N stage, grade and histology based on the regression coefficient in multivariate analysis. The score was externally validated using the US Extrahepatic Biliary Malignancy Consortium (USEBMC) database (2000-2015) and compared with the AJCC staging system. Results: Of 7,915 patients identified in SEER, 83% had adenocarcinoma, 7% papillary, 4% adenosquamous, 4% mucinous, and 2% signet ring. In the USEBMC database, the frequencies of the respective ...
Empire by Consent

According to Adams, the colonial charters were contracts between the king and the colonists, spelling out in detail the terms of the relationship that the contracts created. The English parliament could only claim jurisdiction over the internal affairs of those colonies where its jurisdiction was recognized in the founding documents or was subsequently recognized by constitutional action. Parliament’s unilateral assertion of jurisdiction over the American colonies was a tyrannical imposition, the yoke, because legitimate English government required the consent of the governed something that the colonists had never been granted to Parliament.
1 H, 15 N, 13 C backbone resonance assignment of the C-terminal domain of enzyme I from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis.

Phosphoenolpyruvate binding to the C-terminal domain (EIC) of enzyme I of the bacterial phosphotransferase system (PTS) initiates a phosphorylation cascade that results in sugar translocation across the cell membrane and controls a large number of essential pathways in bacterial metabolism. EIC undergoes an expanded to compact conformational equilibrium that is regulated by ligand binding and determines the phosphorylation state of the overall PTS. Here, we report the backbone 1H, 15N and 13C chemical shift assignments of the 70 kDa EIC dimer from the thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis. Assignments were obtained at 70 °C by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. In total, 90% of all backbone resonances were assigned, with 264 out of a possible 299 residues assigned in the 1H–15N TROSY spectrum. The secondary structure predicted from the assigned backbone resonance using the program TALOS+ is in good agreement with the X-ray crystal structure of T. tengcongensis EIC. The reported assignments will allow detailed structural and thermodynamic investigations on the coupling between ligand binding and conformational dynamics in EIC.
The Nutritional Anemias

These anemias are so interwoven pathologically and biochemically they seldom can be considered in isolation. Moreover, therapy and diagnosis are inseparable. Treatment of one anemia can — and often...
An analysis of floodplain buyout memorials: four examples from central U.S. floods of 1993–1998

Floodplain property acquisition permanently alters the landscape, shifting the land use from residential to open space. These buyout sites experience loss twice—once during the initial flood, and then again through the resulting property acquisition—yet the vast majority of the sites do not display any physical markers to commemorate these losses. Engaging with the critical landscape tradition, I examine whether memorials are present at floodplain buyout sites acquired in the United States from 1993 to 1998. Although the vast majority of these sites do not display any physical markers of commemoration, I focus on the experiences of four communities that did erect memorials: San Antonio, Texas; Hartsburg, Missouri; Wakenda, Missouri; and Valymer, IL. Building from the existing literature on disasters and memorials, I analyze the memorial narratives to illuminate the ways in which people engage with the impacted landscape and explore what is being commemorated. For these four communities, residents and the values of the community are the primary focus in the memorial narratives, with only limited recognition of the flood event, former landscape/neighborhood, or buyout.
Linearly aligned single-chiral vortices in hexagonal manganites by in situ electric arc heating

Nanoscale topological defects, such as vortices and skyrmions in ferroic systems, have been intensively investigated due to their intriguing properties and behaviors. In addition to harnessing and tuning their functionalities, spatial manipulation and control of topological defects as functional elements are important for future nanotechnologies. Here, we report a linear alignment behavior of single-chiral vortices observed in thin transmission electron microscopy samples of multiferroic hexagonal manganites during an in situ heating experiment. In order to avoid chemical degradation during high-temperature heating in vacuum, we have utilized a rapid heating and quenching by $in$ situ electric arcing. Using atomic resolution electron microscopy and phase-field simulation, we found that vortices and antivortices formed near the phase transition temperature are pulled out in the opposite directions by mechanical strain to leave single-chiral vortices linearly aligned along an isothermal line formed during quenching. Our study provides important insight into spatial manipulation of the topological defects in oxide multiferroics by investigating far-equilibrium dynamics of symmetry-breaking continuous phase transitions.
Blood Pressure, Chronic Kidney Disease Progression, and Kidney Allograft Failure in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Secondary Analysis of the FAVORIT Trial

BACKGROUND In chronic kidney disease, intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) control reduces mortality at a cost of greater acute kidney injury risk. Kidney transplantation involves implantation of denervated kidneys and immunosuppressive medications that increase acute kidney injury risk. The optimal blood pressure (BP) target in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is uncertain. Prior observational studies from the Folic Acid for Vascular Outcome Reduction in Transplantation (FAVORIT) trial demonstrate associations of lower SBP levels and reduced mortality risk, but the relationship of BP with kidney allograft function remains unknown. Thus, in FAVORIT, we investigated the relationship of SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with risk of kidney allograft failure and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) slope among stable KTRs. METHODS Cox proportional hazards and multivariable linear regression models adjusted for demographics, transplant characteristics, comorbidities, baseline eGFR, and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio were used to determine associations of SBP and DBP with time to a composite kidney outcome of ≥50% eGFR decline or dialysis dependence, and with annualized eGFR change, respectively. Multivariable restricted cubic spline plots were developed to evaluate the functional form of the relationships. RESULTS Among 3,598 KTRs, mean age was 52 ± 9 years, SBP was 136 ± 20 mm Hg, DBP was 79 ± 12 mm Hg, and eGFR was 49 ± 18 ml/minute/1.73 m2. There were 369 events of ≥50% eGFR decline or dialysis dependence during a mean follow-up of 4.0 ± 1.5 years. There was no association of either SBP (compared with SBP 120 to <130 mm Hg, hazard ratio (HR) for the SBP < 110 was 1.01 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.60 to 1.70) and 130 to <140 was 0.89 (0.64 to 1.24)) or DBP (compared with DBP 70 to <80 mm Hg, HR for the DBP 60 to <70 was 1.00 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.34) and 80 to <90 was 0.90 (0.68 to 1.18)) with the kidney failure outcome or annualized eGFR slope, and, when examined using restricted cubic splines, there was no evidence of "J"- or "U"-shaped relationships. CONCLUSIONS In a large sample of stable KTRs, we found no evidence of thresholds at which lower BPs were related to higher risk of allograft failure or eGFR decline. In light of prior findings of mortality benefit at low SBP, these observational findings suggest lower BP may be beneficial in KTRs. This important question requires confirmation in future randomized trials in KTRs.
Screening polymer surfaces in crystallization

Abstract We have used shaken-jar testing to screen the influence of various commercial polymer films on the crystallization of calcium carbonate from a supersaturated mixture containing other salts. Such methodologies and data can inform designs of crystallizers and mixing devices used to increase water recovery during inland desalination, as well as, in cooling tower blowdown and other unit operations wherein sparingly-soluble salts supersaturate. We measured turbidity, surface scale deposition, crystal production, and overall Ca ion material balances to identify how surfaces appear to promote heterogeneous nucleation but not surface build-up (aka scaling). We describe our methodology and the effects from limited results varying contact time and mixing energy. Within the limits of our experiments, we found the unexpected result that polyethylene (PE) and an ethylene vinyl alcohol co-polymer (EVOH-E) equally promoted overall loss of supersaturation to crystallization, but the latter was also highly resistant to scaling.
Iterated Riesel and Iterated Sierpiński Numbers

In 1956, Riesel showed that there are infinitely many Riesel numbers—odd positive integers k with the property that \(k\cdot 2^n - 1\) is composite for all natural numbers n. A few years later, Sierpinski proved an analagous result using the expression \(k\cdot 2^n + 1\) instead. We create iterated Riesel numbers by iterating the process of multiplying by a (fixed) power of 2 and subtracting 1 from the product (or adding 1 to the product, in the case of iterated Sierpinski numbers). In this paper, we show that there are infinitely many iterated Riesel numbers, where we iterate the process 49 times. In addition, we prove an analogous result for iterated Sierpinski numbers.
Role of Dendritic Cells in Exposing Latent HIV-1 for the Kill.

The development of effective yet nontoxic strategies to target the latent human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) reservoir in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-suppressed individuals poses a critical barrier to a functional cure. The ‘kick and kill’ approach to HIV eradication entails proviral reactivation during ART, coupled with generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) or other immune effectors equipped to eliminate exposed infected cells. Pharmacological latency reversal agents (LRAs) that have produced modest reductions in the latent reservoir ex vivo have not impacted levels of proviral DNA in HIV-infected individuals. An optimal cure strategy incorporates methods that facilitate sufficient antigen exposure on reactivated cells following the induction of proviral gene expression, as well as the elimination of infected targets by either polyfunctional HIV-specific CTLs or other immune-based strategies. Although conventional dendritic cells (DCs) have been used extensively for the purpose of inducing antigen-specific CTL responses in HIV-1 clinical trials, their immunotherapeutic potential as cellular LRAs has been largely ignored. In this review, we discuss the challenges associated with current HIV-1 eradication strategies, as well as the unharnessed potential of ex vivo-programmed DCs for both the ‘kick and kill’ of latent HIV-1.
148 Sustainability of a Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Intervention with Primary Care Providers in a University-Based Community Clinic

Study Objectives: In light of the opioid crisis, less attention has been focused on the long-term misuse of benzodiazepines (BZD) for anxiety and sleep disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the sustainability of positive results (an 80% decrease in BZD prescribing) following a deprescribing intervention with primary care providers working with a low-income population at a Midwestern university-based community clinic. Method: All de-identified BZD prescriptions written by providers at the community clinic were captured using the electronic medical record. A BZD equivalency chart was used to compare the relative potencies of BZD commonly prescribed by the clinic. Each prescription was converted to a single number: the diazepam equivalent (DE). This number takes into account the potency of the drug (using diazepam as the standard), the dose of the drug, number of tablets dispensed and number of refills. The number of DE prescribed was tallied every 30 days for 6 months following the completion of a quality improvement BZD deprescribing intervention. The original intervention was implemented in 2018, with the goal of decreasing the prescription of BZD by clinic primary care providers to outpatients for insomnia or anxiety. The brief intervention combined academic detailing and pharmaceutical company detailing with a deprescribing message. Providers were given current evidence about alternatives to BZD, deprescribing schedules, and brain-storming opportunities about the management of patient concerns and resistance to change. Posters with alternatives to BZD were hung in the main provider office at the clinic. Food and “No Benzo” logo merchandise (mugs, pens) were provided to attendees of the intervention and clinic nurses. Thirty days after the intervention, the number of DE prescribed decreased by 80%. Results: Benzodiazepine prescribing (measured in DE) continued to decrease every 30 days for six months to 92-93% of pre-intervention numbers. Conclusions: Follow up of a 2018 intervention revealed sustainability of the effect of a significant decrease in benzodiazepine (BZD) prescribing in a community clinic. A brief BZD deprescribing intervention using a combination of academic detailing and pharmaceutical company detailing designed to persuade prescribers to change their behavior was effective in influencing providers to decrease the amount of BZD they prescribe. The desired result (an 80% decrease in BZD prescribing) was achieved following the original 30-day intervention. Prescription numbers continued to decrease over the next six months (to 92-93% of pre-intervention numbers), which indicates that the deprescribing intervention may have had a sustainable positive effect on provider prescribing behavior. This intervention is easy to implement and may decrease BZD prescribing, which addresses the overuse/misuse of BZD, a significant public health concern in the United States. Funding Acknowledgements: Personal funds only
Assessment of the correlation between pulmonary parenchymal inflammation and pulmonary function test indices in COPD patients using partial volume corrected FDG-PET/CT parameters

518 Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a condition characterized by progressive expiratory airflow limitation, unregulated chronic inflammation, and structural destruction of the lungs. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) can detect COPD even before symptoms and signs of the disease become apparent. PFTs can also be used to track the progression of disease and to monitor how well treatment is working. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the degree of pulmonary parenchymal inflammation measured from FDG-PET/CT with PFT indices. Methods: 41 heavy smoker subjects (39 male; median age 64y; range: 51-81y), with variable amounts of centrilobular emphysema, who had prior PFTs and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) were retrospectively studied. We measured lung parenchymal volume (L), emphysema volume (E) based on a -910 HU threshold, and non-emphysematous lung parenchyma mean attenuation (A) (in HU) from CT images using image analysis software 3DVIEWNIX, and lung uncorrected maximum standardized uptake value (USUVmax) from fused PET/CT images. The fraction of lung emphysema was calculated as F=E/L. A first level of partial volume correction of lung SUVmax was calculated as CSUVmax=USUVmax/(1-F) to account for the presence and degree of macroscopic emphysematous air space. A second level of correction was then calculated as CCSUVmax=CSUVmax/(A+1000/1040) to account for the mixture of air and lung parenchyma at the microscopic level. Pearson correlation and linear regression statistical tests were applied to test the correlations of USUVmax, CSUVmax, and CCSUVmax with FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio. Results: Lung CSUVmax and CCSUVmax were significantly negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC ratio (r=-0.35, p=0.02 and r=-0.53, p Conclusions: These data demonstrate that patients with lower levels of FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio have greater degrees of pulmonary parenchymal inflammation based on FDG-PET/CT quantitative assessment. These correlations are more statistically significant when pulmonary FDG uptake is corrected for the partial volume effect, which shows the importance of partial volume correction.
Role of anions on electrochemical exfoliation of graphite into graphene in aqueous acids

Abstract Anodic electrochemical exfoliation of graphite is one of the promising methods for the fast production of graphene with moderate quality at low cost. Sulfate-containing aqueous solutions have been identified as the most efficient electrolyte condition for anionic exfoliation process of graphite into graphene. However, the origin of the high exfoliation efficiency of sulfate-containing electrolytes remains unanswered. In this study, we study the role of anions in anodic exfoliation of graphite by comparing different dilute acid systems (sulfuric, nitric, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acids). Using the combination of in-situ mass spectrometer, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory computation modeling, we reveal that only the sulfate anions allows reversible intercalation behavior upon cycling voltammetry cycles, probably due to the highest repulsive binding energy between graphene sheets compared to those of other anions. Therefore, the easy access of sulfate anion into the graphite layer facilitates the diffusion of water molecules into the bulk of the graphite during the anodic process, and the subsequent water oxidation enables efficient exfoliation of graphite into graphene. These results highlight the importance of understanding the interactions between electrolyte ion and graphite for the electrochemical manufacturing of graphene.
Slavery, mobility, and networks in nineteenth-century Cuba

In the midst of a major economic restructuring known as Second Slavery, which included important debates between abolitionist and proslavery interests, Cuba experienced the emergence of new forms o...
The distribution network of Amazon and the footprint of freight digitalization.

Abstract The emergence of e-commerce as a dominant retail paradigm is associated with a rapid shift in the commercial footprint towards distributional-based consumption. Through the analysis of the geographical expansion, market coverage, and functional specialization of Amazon's distribution network, the research underlines that digitalization has a pronounced physicality. E-commerce is favoring a transition from the conventional retail freight landscape towards a new physicality of freight distributions involving purpose-designed facilities, modes, and channels. The case of Amazon underlines a consistent locational behavior to achieve a distributional hierarchy of facilities granting logistical access to consumer markets. The distributional hierarchy is organized in three stages, which are procurement and fulfillment, distribution, and last-mile.
Evaluating ignition propensity of high cycloparaffinic content alternative jet fuel by a chemical functional group approach

Abstract The molecular components typically found in today's jet fuels that meet ASTM specification are almost entirely alkanes and (mostly alkyl) aromatics with cycloalkyl contents seldom exceeding 40%. Aromatics and cycloalkyl contents are both important for achieving desirable jet fuel energy density, but it is well recognized that significant reductions in aircraft particulate emissions can be achieved by reducing fuel aromatic content (increasing hydrogen content). New jet fuels derived from non-petroleum and sustainable resources composed of much larger fractions of cycloalkanes spanning the entire molecular weight range are a potential path to maintaining high volumetric energy density even in the absence of aromatics. In this paper, the ignition characteristics of individual cycloalkanes of varying ring carbon number, alkyl side chain structure, and their mixtures with other molecular classes (n- and iso-alkanes) are investigated through experimentally determining their Derived Cetane Numbers (DCNs). The measurement reveals cycloheptane to have the highest DCN compared to other saturated cycloalkanes, which can be attributed to the conformal steric structure, previously discussed. A chemical functional group approach is extended to analyze chemical structural effects on the resulting DCN data and prior literature results by separately considering the roles of CH2 groups in cyclo ring, (CH2)cyclo, in comparison to CH2, (CH2)n, CH3, and benzyl-type groups utilized in the earlier work as chemical functional descriptors. A quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) regression model is constructed that well emulates the DCN database and is shown to predict a priori the DCN value of a recently proposed jet fuel composed mostly of cycloalkanes (Shell CPK POSF 13690) and a (previously studied) gas-to-liquid alternative jet fuel (Shell SPK POSF 5729). Feature sensitivity analyses show that the relative significance of (CH2)cyclo on determining DCN is substantially less than that derived from the cycloalkane side-chain structural properties. Finally, the ignition and sooting propensities of these two alternative jet fuels are discussed in a function of their blending ratios with petroleum-derived jet fuel.
Modeling and simulation of transitional Taylor-Green vortex flow with partially averaged Navier-Stokes equations

We propose a partially-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (PANS) closure to predict the Taylor-Green vortex (TGV) flow. The results confirm the ability of the model to efficiently predict this problem. Yet, the physical resolution of the model should guarantee that only phenomena amenable to modeling are represented by the closure. This requires resolving the vortex-reconnection process of the TGV flow.
When Entity Resolution Meets Deep Learning, Is Similarity Measure Necessary?

In Entity Resolution (ER), more and more unstructured records impose challenge to the traditional similarity-based approaches, since existing similarity metrics are designed for structured records. Now that similarity is hard to measure for unstructured records, can we do pairwise matching without similarity measure? To answer this question, this research leverages deep learning’s artificial intelligence to learn the underlying record matched pattern, rather than measuring records similarity first and then making linking decision based on the similarity measure. In the representation part, token order information is taken into account in word embedding, and not considered in Bag-of-Words (Count and TF-IDF); in the model part, multilayer perceptron (MLP), convolutional neural network (CNN), and long short-term memory (LSTM) are examined. Our experiments on both synthetic data and real-world data demonstrate that, surprisingly, the simplest representation (Count) and the simplest model (MLP) together get the best results both in effectiveness and efficiency. An F-measure as high as 1.00 in the pairwise matching task shows potential for further applying deep learning in other ER tasks like blocking.
Coupled finite/boundary element solution of magnetothermal problems

A computational methodology, based on the coupling of the finite element and boundary element methods, is developed for the solution of magnetothermal problems. The finite element formulation and boundary element formulation, along with their coupling, are discussed. The coupling procedure is also presented, which entails the application of the LU decomposition to eliminate the need for the direct inversion of matrices resulting from FE‐BE formulation, thereby saving computation time and storage space. Corners for both FE‐BE interface and BE regions, where discontinuous fluxes exist, are treated using the double flux concept. Numerical results are presented for three different systems and compared with analytical solutions when available. Numerical experiments suggest that for magnetothermal problems involving small skin depths, a careful mesh distribution is critical for accurate prediction of the field variables of interest. It is found that the accuracy of the temperature distribution is strongly dependent upon that of the magnetic vector potential. A small error in the magnetic vector potential can produce significant errors in the subsequent temperature calculations. Thus, particular attention must be paid to the design of a suitable mesh for the accurate prediction of vector potentials. From all the cases examined, 4‐node linear elements with adequate progressive coarsening of meshes from the surface gave the results with best accuracy.
A proposed application of artificial neural networks using genetic algorithms to measuring corporate social performance

The corporate social audit is a systematic assessment of a corporation's social performance. Business enterprises can then be held more responsible for their social actions in a reasonably accurate manner. It has thus far proven difficult to do rigorous social audits. However, it may now become more feasible to conduct rigorous social audits by using a type of artificial neural network trained by a team of experts. A novel application of genetic algorithms to speed the learning process is also presented. >
Observation of superdeformation in 192Hg.

A \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray cascade in $^{192}\mathrm{Hg}$ consisting of seventeen members is reported. The transition spacing is characteristic of a superdeformed band, and we propose it to be the second instance of superdeformation in the Hg region. We find the lowest spin in the band likely to be 8\ensuremath{\Elzxh} using a new method for obtaining spins in some superdeformed nuclei.
Adherence of Helicobacter pylori to cultured human gastric epithelial cells

Experiments were performed to demonstrate that adherence of Helicobacter pylori to gastric epithelial cells causes alterations in the cell cytoskeleton. H. pylori intimately attached to cultured human gastric epithelial cells on small cellular projections, while there was no intimate association of H. pylori with cultured human esophageal epithelial cells. Fluorescein-conjugated phalloidin staining of gastric epithelial cells showed that H. pylori adherence stimulated actin polymerization; this stimulation was not observed with esophageal cells. Also, this organism's selectivity for gastric mucosa was supported by rare binding of bacteria to esophageal epithelial cells and gastric fibroblasts.
Mental effort and elaboration-a developmental analysis of accessibility effects

Abstract Third- and seventh-grade children performed two simultaneous tasks—associative learning and finger-tapping—so that the mental effort demands of elaborating noun pairs that varied in knowledge-base accessibility could be estimated. Finger-tapping interference declined between grades. Sentence elaboration of inaccessible pairs interfered more with finger tapping than accessible pairs. A Grade by Accessibility interaction indicated that the accessibility difference was limited to the third grade. Findings support a knowledge-base interpretation of developmental differences in elaboration effort.
Ligand Influences on Copper Molybdate Networks: The Structures and Magnetism of [Cu(3,4‘-bpy)MoO4], [Cu(3,3‘-bpy)0.5MoO4], and [Cu(4,4‘-bpy)0.5MoO4]·1.5H2O

The reactions of a Cu(II) salt, MoO3, and the appropriate bipyridine ligand yield a series of bimetallic oxides, [Cu(3,4‘-bpy)MoO4] (1), [Cu(3,3‘-bpy)0.5MoO4] (2), and [Cu(4,4‘-bpy)0.5MoO4]·1.5H2O (3·1.5H2O). The structures of 1−3 exhibit three-dimensional covalent frameworks, constructed from bimetallic oxide layers tethered by the dipodal organoimine ligands. However, the {CuMoO4} networks are quite distinct. For structure 1, the layer consists of corner-sharing {MoO4} tetrehedra and {CuN2O3} square pyramids, while the layer of 2 is constructed from {MoO4} tetrehedra and binuclear {Cu2O6N2} units of edge-sharing copper square pyramids. The oxide substructure of 3 consists of {MoO4} tetrahedra corner-sharing with tetranuclear clusters of edge-sharing {CuO5N} octahedra. Crystal data: C10H8N2O4CuMo (1), orthorhombic Pbca, a = 12.4823(6) A, b = 9.1699(4) A, c = 19.5647(9) A, V = 2239.4(1) A3, Z = 8; C5H4NO4CuMo (2), triclinic P1, a = 5.439(1) A, b = 6.814(1) A, c = 10.727(2) A, α = 73.909(4)o, β = 78.839(...
Assessment of regurgitant fraction and right and left ventricular function at rest and during exercise a new technique for determination of right ventricular stroke counts from gated equilibrium blood pool studies

Abstract Calculation of accurate stroke count ratios for the assessment of valvular regurgitation from equilibrium blood pool images has been difficult and did not permit computation of regurgitant fractions (RF) because of contamination of right ventricular (RV) stroke counts by right atrial activity. We describe a new approach to correct for this contamination by subtracting one half of the right atrial counts from the RV counts, assuming that in the standard or "modified" left anterior oblique projection commonly used about one half of the right atrial activity is superimposed to the RV. This new method was tested in 20 patients without valvular disease or shunts. Left ventricular (LV) to RV stroke count ratio approached unity (1.01 ± 0.14). RV ejection fractions (EF) derived by this technique agreed well with those obtained by gated first-pass studies recorded in the right anterior oblique projection. In 9 normals and 17 patients with moderate severe or severe aortic (12 patients or mitral (7 patients) regurgitation, LVEF, RVEF, and RF were determined at rest and maximum exercise. In patients at rest, LVEF (56.0 ± 6.4%) and RVEF (49.0 ± 7.3%) did not differ significantly from LVEF (59.6 ± 4.2%) and RVEF (52.5 ± 6.4%) in normals. The calculated RF was negligible in normals (1.9 ± 8.6%), but averaged 51.8 ± 9.8% in patients with valvular disease. During exercise, LVEF fell significantly ( p p > 0.001). In both patient subsets RF decreased with exercise to 25.4 ± 15.0% in aortic and 39.1 ± 12.7% in mitral regurgitation. The results indicate that this new approach permits assessment of RVEF and RF from gated equilibrium blood pool studies and is suitable to evaluate the hemodynamic response to physiologic and therapeutic interventions in patients with valvular regurgitation.
Finding progression stages in time-evolving event sequences

Event sequences, such as patients' medical histories or users' sequences of product reviews, trace how individuals progress over time. Identifying common patterns, or progression stages, in such event sequences is a challenging task because not every individual follows the same evolutionary pattern, stages may have very different lengths, and individuals may progress at different rates. In this paper, we develop a model-based method for discovering common progression stages in general event sequences. We develop a generative model in which each sequence belongs to a class, and sequences from a given class pass through a common set of stages, where each sequence evolves at its own rate. We then develop a scalable algorithm to infer classes of sequences, while also segmenting each sequence into a set of stages. We evaluate our method on event sequences, ranging from patients' medical histories to online news and navigational traces from the Web. The evaluation shows that our methodology can predict future events in a sequence, while also accurately inferring meaningful progression stages, and effectively grouping sequences based on common progression patterns. More generally, our methodology allows us to reason about how event sequences progress over time, by discovering patterns and categories of temporal evolution in large-scale datasets of events.
Interaction of catechin with poly(L-proline)

Catechin binds strongly to both poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and poly(L-proline) in dilute aqueous solution, inducing a collapse of the more flexible poly(vinylpyrrolidone) chains, but forming a microgel with the more extended poly(L-proline) chains. Low concentrations of poly(L-proline) inhibit the discoloration of aqueous solutions of catechin, thereby implicating the ortho hydroxyyl groups in the catechol moiety in the binding process. Modeling shows that the likely binding sites on poly(L-proline) arise from two minor local conformations. These minor conformations are less frequent in poly(γ-hydroxy-L-proline) than in poly(L-proline), which may explain why catechin interacts more strongly with poly(L-proline) than with poly(γ-hydroxy-L-proline).
The Brownies' Book (1920–1921): Exploring the Past to Elucidate the Future of Instructional Design

This article investigates culture-based instructional design in its purest form through The Brownies' Book, a children's periodical produced from 1920 to 1921. Methodologies of examination include historical analysis and critical discourse analysis grounded in a Foucaultian framework. The findings extrapolated from the design of The Brownies' Book and the philosophies of its designers reveal a treasure of cultural remnants. Cultural remnants are the racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, political, social, historical, educational, and economic artifacts embedded in discourses. The cultural remnants provide evidence of how culture was manifested in this historical artifact. Insights are offered for creating contemporary instructional products that integrate culture.
Flicker masking in spatial vision

Abstract The effects of uniform field masking at a 6 Hz temporal rate were studied on visual reaction times, response persistence and contrast sensitivity for sinusoidal gratings. The differences in performance between unmasked and masked conditions allowed an analysis of the temporal response properties of spatial frequency channels in human vision. The results of the experiments showed that (a) the temporal sensitivity of high and low spatial frequency channels differs markedly, so that rapid flicker selectively masks low spatial frequencies with little effect on high spatial frequencies; (b) the shift in the distribution of reaction times from a biphasic to a monotonie distribution during masking may be explained by assuming a dichotomy in the response characteristics of transient and sustained mechanisms; (c) transient channels' reponse persistence is shorter than that of sustained channels, and (d) whereas sustained channels preferably respond to the pattern component of gratings, transient channels preferably respond to the transient (on, off) or flicker component; (e) there appears to be considerable overlap in the spatial frequency response characteristics of sustained and transient channels.
On energy interpretations of the Neuber's rule

Abstract In this paper, three interpretations of the Neuber’s rule in terms of the total, strain and deviatoric energy densities formulations are presented and discussed. It is found that the proposed deviatoric energy interpretation of Neuber’s rule results in inelastic strains at notch-root that correlate fairly well with published experimental and FEA results. Attained correlations are between estimations obtained from the traditional Neuber’s rule and the equivalent strain energy density (ESED) method of Molski and Glinka. It can be noted, that the Neuber’s rule in terms of deviatoric energy has a consistent formulation independent of axial, shear or multiaxial state of stress.