cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Breaking and Mending of meso-Tetraarylporphyrins: Transmuting the Pyrrolic Building Blocks.

ConspectusNaturally occurring porphyrins and hydroporphyrins vary with respect to their ring substituents and oxidation states, but their tetrapyrrolic frameworks remain fully preserved across all kingdoms of life; there are no naturally occurring porphyrin-like macrocycles known that contain nonpyrrolic building blocks. However, the study of porphyrin analogues in which one or two pyrroles were replaced with nonpyrrolic building blocks might shed light on the correlation between structural modulation and ground and excited state optical properties of the “pigments of life”, unlocking their mechanisms of function. Also, porphyrinoids with strong absorbance and emission spectra in the NIR are sought after in technical (e.g., light-harvesting) and biomedical (e.g., imaging and photochemotherapy) applications. These porphyrin analogues, the so-called pyrrole-modified porphyrins (PMPs), are synthetically accessible using total syntheses. Alternatively—and most handily—they can also be formed by conversion of ...
Computational and Experimental Investigations of Na-Ion Conduction in Cubic Na3PSe4

All-solid-state Na-ion batteries that operate at or close to room temperature are a promising next-generation battery technology with enhanced safety and reduced manufacturing cost. An indispensable component of this technology is the solid-state electrolyte that allows rapid shuttling of the mobile cation (i.e., Na+) between the cathode and anode. However, there are very few fast Na-ion conductors with ionic conductivity approaching that of the liquid counterparts (i.e., 1 mS cm–1). In this work, we present the synthesis and characterization of a fast Na-ion conductor, cubic Na3PSe4. This material possesses a room-temperature ionic conductivity exceeding 0.1 mS cm–1 and does not require high-temperature sintering to minimize grain boundary resistance, making it a promising solid-state electrolyte candidate for all-solid-state Na-ion battery applications. On the basis of density functional theory, nudged elastic band, and molecular dynamics investigations, we demonstrate that the framework of cubic Na3PSe...
Methodology for Determining Performance Life of Hot-Mix Asphalt Mixtures

A critical component of the life-cycle cost analysis for staged design and rehabilitation of flexible pavements is to estimate the service lives of various hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures, which in some cases is carried out subjectively. This paper describes a process for using the existing data to develop an objective and data-driven process for estimating the service lives of common HMA mixtures. Spatial information along with construction records and distress and functional condition logs are merged to assess the “cradle-to-grave” service lives and deterioration patterns, statewide or regionally. One of the most challenging steps was linking separate databases to compile a comprehensive pavement performance database. The end result was an online tool that enabled the extraction of HMA service life data and descriptive statistics of several thousand road sections. The probabilistic performance life of each common mix was then estimated through an integrated approach of survivability analysis that conside...
Spectral Correlation Techniques Applied to Evaluate Noise and Safety Tradeoffs in Tire/Pavement Interaction

Relationships between pavement surface geometry, truck tire sound, and skid number are investigated to provide an understanding of the tire/pavement interaction mechanism. Correlation techniques are used to determine the relationship between each pair of the three parameters. Results show 1) the relationship between pavement profile and truck tire sound as a function of frequency, 2) a positive relationship between pavement profile spectral amplitudes, and pavement skid number, and 3) no significant relationship existing between truck tire sound and skid number.
Aluminosilicate Relatives: Chalcogenoaluminogermanates Rb3(AlQ2)3(GeQ2)7 (Q = S, Se)

The new compounds Rb3(AlQ2)3(GeQ2)7 [Q = S (1), Se (2)] feature the 3D anionic open framework [(AlQ2)3(GeQ2)7]3− in which aluminum and germanium share tetrahedral coordination sites. Rb ions are located in channels formed by the connection of 8, 10, and 16 (Ge/Al)S4 tetrahedra. The isostructural sulfur and selenium derivatives crystallize in the space group P21/c. 1: a = 6.7537(3) A, b = 37.7825(19) A, c = 6.7515(3) A, and β = 90.655(4)°. 2: a = 7.0580(5) A, b = 39.419(2) A, c = 7.0412(4) A, β = 90.360(5)°, and Z = 2 at 190(2) K. The band gaps of the congruently melting chalcogenogermanates are 3.1 eV (1) and 2.4 eV (2).
State Variation in School-Based Disability Services Financed by Medicaid:

To understand the role of Medicaid in financing health services delivered through special education, program characteristics and covered services were compared from all 50 states and Washington, D....
Inhibition of microsomal and mitochondrial Ca2+-sequestration in rat cerebellum by polychlorinated biphenyl mixtures and congeners. Structure-activity relationships.

Recent studies from our laboratory indicate that polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in vitro perturbed signal transduction mechanisms including cellular Ca2+-homeostasis and protein kinase C translocation. We have now investigated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of three PCB mixtures, 24 PCB congeners and one dibenzofuran for their effects on microsomal and mitochondrial Ca2+-sequestration in rat cerebellum. Ca2+-sequestration by these intracellular organelles was determined using radioactive 45CaCl2. All three mixtures studied, Aroclor 1016, Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, were equally potent in inhibiting microsomal and mitochondrial Ca2+-sequestration with IC50 values of 6–8 μM. 1,2,3,7,8-Pentachlorodibenzofuran had no effect on Ca2+-sequestration by these organelles. The SAR among the congeners revealed: (1) congeners with ortho-/meta- or ortho-, para-chlorine substitutions were the most potent in inhibiting microsomal and mitochondrial Ca2+-sequestration (IC50=2.4–22.3 μM); (2) congeners with only para- but without ortho-substitutions were not effective in inhibiting Ca2+-sequestration by microsomes and mitochondria; (3) increased chlorination was not related to the effectiveness of these congeners. The present SAR studies indicate that the effects of most PCB congeners in vitro may be related to an interaction at specific sites having preference for low lateral substitution or lateral content (meta- or para) in the presence of ortho-substitution.
Identifying High-Cardinality Hosts from Network-Wide Traffic Measurements

Host cardinality is defined as the number of distinct peers that a host communicates with in the network. There have been several algorithms proposed to monitor network traffic and identify high-cardinality hosts at a centralized network operation center (NOC). Due to massive amounts of distributed data and limitations on transforming and processing them at the NOC, it is desirable to design mergable and reversible data structures summarizing traffic measurements in a distributed network monitoring system. A mergable data structure summarizes traffic measurements at each local monitor, and these summaries from different monitors can be merged at the NOC, while preserving the error guarantee without increasing space. A reversible data structure can report interested (high-cardinality) hosts efficiently using compressed information without querying every single host in the network. In this paper, we propose a new data streaming algorithm to identify high-cardinality hosts over the network-wide traffic measurements. Our algorithm introduces a new mergable and reversible data structure for the distributed network monitoring system, which is designed by Noisy Group Testing. We have theoretically analyzed our algorithm and evaluated it against real-world data sets.
Redox-Neutral α-Cyanation of Amines

α-Aminonitriles inaccessible by traditional Strecker chemistry are obtained in redox-neutral fashion by direct amine α-cyanation/N-alkylation or alternatively, α-aminonitrile isomerization. These unprecedented transformations are catalyzed by simple carboxylic acids.
Computing and public organizations

Author(s): Kraemer, KL; Dedrick, J | Abstract: This survey of empirical research on computing in government updates a review that appeared ten years earlier in Public Administration Review. It focuses primarily on research related to the management of computing and on differences between public and private sector management of computing because the bulk of the new research and findings are here. The impact of computing on employment, structure, worklife, decision making, organizational politics, and constitutional issues is treated briefly because there is little new research and few new findings. The authors conclude that although the use of computers in government at all levels of the federal system has increased greatly over the last decade, research on computing in government has declined precipitously.
Comparison of Ultraviolet Absorption and Chlorine Analysis Methods for Composition of Butadiene-p-Chlorostyrene Copolymers

A comparison has been made of the ultraviolet spectrophotometric and chlorine analysis methods for the composition of copolymers of butadiene and p-chlorostyrene. The results of the two methods are in good agreement.
Evolutionary assembly patterns of prokaryotic genomes

Evolutionary innovation must occur in the context of some genomic background, which limits available evolutionary paths. For example, protein evolution by sequence substitution is constrained by epistasis between residues. In prokaryotes, evolutionary innovation frequently happens by macrogenomic events such as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Previous work has suggested that HGT can be influenced by ancestral genomic content, yet the extent of such gene-level constraints has not yet been systematically characterized. Here, we evaluated the evolutionary impact of such constraints in prokaryotes, using probabilistic ancestral reconstructions from 634 extant prokaryotic genomes and a novel framework for detecting evolutionary constraints on HGT events. We identified 8228 directional dependencies between genes and demonstrated that many such dependencies reflect known functional relationships, including for example, evolutionary dependencies of the photosynthetic enzyme RuBisCO. Modeling all dependencies as a network, we adapted an approach from graph theory to establish chronological precedence in the acquisition of different genomic functions. Specifically, we demonstrated that specific functions tend to be gained sequentially, suggesting that evolution in prokaryotes is governed by functional assembly patterns. Finally, we showed that these dependencies are universal rather than clade-specific and are often sufficient for predicting whether or not a given ancestral genome will acquire specific genes. Combined, our results indicate that evolutionary innovation via HGT is profoundly constrained by epistasis and historical contingency, similar to the evolution of proteins and phenotypic characters, and suggest that the emergence of specific metabolic and pathological phenotypes in prokaryotes can be predictable from current genomes.
Moral and Cultural Awareness in Emerging Adulthood: Preparing for Multi-Faith Workplaces

The study evaluates a pilot course designed to respond to findings from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) and similar findings reporting changes in U.S. life course development and religious participation through an intervention based on sociological theories of morality. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impacts of a business course in a public university designed to prepare emerging adults for culturally and religiously diverse workplaces. The intended outcomes are for students to better identify their personal moral values, while also gaining cultural awareness of the moral values in six different value systems: five major world religions and secular humanism. The study response rate was 97 percent (n = 109). Pre- and post-test survey data analyze changes in the reports of students enrolled in the course (primary group) compared to students in similar courses but without an emphasis on morality (controls). Qualitative data include survey short answer questions, personal mission statements, and student essays describing course impacts. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate reported increases in identification of personal moral values and cultural awareness of other moral values, providing initial evidence that the course helps prepare emerging adults for multi-faith workplaces.
Common Reasons That Asymptomatic Patients Who Are 65 Years and Older Receive Carotid Imaging

Importance National guidelines do not agree on the role of carotid screening in asymptomatic patients (ie, patients who have not had a stroke or transient ischemic attack). Recently, several physician organizations participating in the Choosing Wisely campaign have identified carotid imaging in selected asymptomatic populations as being of low value. However, the majority of patients who are evaluated for carotid stenosis and subsequently revascularized are asymptomatic. Objective To better understand why asymptomatic patients who undergo revascularization receive initial carotid imaging. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cohort study of 4127 Veterans Health Administration patients 65 years and older undergoing carotid revascularization for asymptomatic carotid stenosis between 2005 and 2009. Main Outcomes and Measures Indications for carotid ultrasounds were extracted using trained abstractors. Frequency of indications and appropriateness of initial carotid ultrasound imaging for patients within each rating category after the intervention were reported. Results The mean (SD) age of this cohort of 4127 patients was 73.6 (5.9) years; 4014 (98.8%) were male. Overall, there were 5226 indications for 4063 carotid ultrasounds. The most common indications listed were carotid bruit (1578 [30.2% of indications]) and follow-up for carotid disease (stenosis/history of carotid disease) in patients who had previously documented carotid stenosis (1087 [20.8% of indications]). Multiple vascular risk factors were the next most common indication listed. Rates of appropriate, uncertain, and inappropriate imaging were 5.4% (227 indications), 83.4% (3387 indications), and 11.3% (458 indications), respectively. Among the most common inappropriate indications were dizziness/vertigo and syncope. Among the 4063 patients, 3373 (83.0%) received a carotid endarterectomy. Overall, 663 procedures were performed in patients 80 years and older. Conclusions and Relevance Carotid bruit and follow-up for carotid disease accounted for approximately half of all indications provided by physicians for carotid testing. Strong consideration should be given to improving the evidence base around carotid testing, especially around monitoring stenosis over long periods and evaluating carotid bruits. Targeting carotid ultrasound ordering with decision support tools may also be an important step in reducing use of low-value imaging.
Features that define the best ChIP-seq peak calling algorithms

Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) is an important tool for studying gene regulatory proteins, such as transcription factors and histones. Peak calling is one of the first steps in the analysis of these data. Peak calling consists of two sub-problems: identifying candidate peaks and testing candidate peaks for statistical significance. We surveyed 30 methods and identified 12 features of the two sub-problems that distinguish methods from each other. We picked six methods GEM, MACS2, MUSIC, BCP, Threshold-based method (TM) and ZINBA] that span this feature space and used a combination of 300 simulated ChIP-seq data sets, 3 real data sets and mathematical analyses to identify features of methods that allow some to perform better than the others. We prove that methods that explicitly combine the signals from ChIP and input samples are less powerful than methods that do not. Methods that use windows of different sizes are more powerful than the ones that do not. For statistical testing of candidate peaks, methods that use a Poisson test to rank their candidate peaks are more powerful than those that use a Binomial test. BCP and MACS2 have the best operating characteristics on simulated transcription factor binding data. GEM has the highest fraction of the top 500 peaks containing the binding motif of the immunoprecipitated factor, with 50% of its peaks within 10 base pairs of a motif. BCP and MUSIC perform best on histone data. These findings provide guidance and rationale for selecting the best peak caller for a given application.
Survivors in leader election algorithms

We consider the number of survivors in a broad class of fair leader election algorithms after a number of election rounds. We give sufficient conditions for the number of survivors to converge to a product of independent identically distributed random variables. The number of terms in the product is determined by the round number considered. Each individual term in the product is a limit of a scaled random variable associated with the splitting protocol. The proof is established via convergence (to 0) of the first-order Wasserstein distance from the product limit. In a broader context, the paper is a case study of a class of stochastic recursive equations. We give two illustrative examples, one with binomial splitting protocol (for which we show that a normalized version is asymptotically Gaussian), and one with power distribution splitting protocol. This is an extended abstract of [11].
Not all right-sided hearts are the same—the importance of identifying the correct diagnosis

Scimitar syndrome is characterized by an anomalous venous return with the characteristic chest roentgenogram (CxR) appearance of the anomalous vein draining into the inferior vena cava (IVC). This appears as a curvilinear opacity paralleling the right border of the heart resembling a curved sword or Scimitar. A 27-year-old white woman with a reported history of dextrocardia was admitted after a drug overdose. Examination demonstrated an obtunded woman with tachycardia and right sided heart sounds. Her CxR revealed a right sided heart image with two curvilinear opacities in the retrocardiac area. Chest computed tomography (CT) demonstrated that these opacities join to represent an anomalous vein draining into IVC. Furthermore, an anomalous systemic artery arising from the abdominal aorta was seen to supply the right lower lobe. The patient was eventually diagnosed with Scimitar syndrome. This syndrome affects 1–3 in 100,000 live births while nearly half of the patients remain asymptomatic with some initially being misdiagnosed as dextrocardia, such as in our case. Correctly diagnosing these patients is of paramount importance as some can develop severe pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular failure. In turn, close ongoing echocardiographic monitoring can help identify those that may benefit from surgical interventions to prevent them from developing these complications.
A scalable strategy for high-throughput GFP tagging of endogenous human proteins

A central challenge of the postgenomic era is to comprehensively characterize the cellular role of the ∼20,000 proteins encoded in the human genome. To systematically study protein function in a native cellular background, libraries of human cell lines expressing proteins tagged with a functional sequence at their endogenous loci would be very valuable. Here, using electroporation of Cas9 nuclease/single-guide RNA ribonucleoproteins and taking advantage of a split-GFP system, we describe a scalable method for the robust, scarless, and specific tagging of endogenous human genes with GFP. Our approach requires no molecular cloning and allows a large number of cell lines to be processed in parallel. We demonstrate the scalability of our method by targeting 48 human genes and show that the resulting GFP fluorescence correlates with protein expression levels. We next present how our protocols can be easily adapted for the tagging of a given target with GFP repeats, critically enabling the study of low-abundance proteins. Finally, we show that our GFP tagging approach allows the biochemical isolation of native protein complexes for proteomic studies. Taken together, our results pave the way for the large-scale generation of endogenously tagged human cell lines for the proteome-wide analysis of protein localization and interaction networks in a native cellular context.
Finding Cures for Tropical Diseases: Is Open Source An Answer? *

Tropical diseases affect more than 500 million people, one tenth of the world’s population.1 Malaria, for example, kills more than one million people each year.2 And yet, only about one percent of new drugs treat tropical diseases.3 For diseases prevalent in rich countries, patent incentives and commercial pharmaceutical houses have created health innovation systems that are the envy of the world. However, the patent system does not work for diseases in developing countries, where companies cannot sell enough patented products to cover their research and development (R&D) costs. Proposed solutions to address this problem fall into two categories: charitable adjustments to the patent system and non-profit venture capital firms. Proposals for charitable adjustments to the patent system generally involve using subsidies to prop up drug prices and
Emotions at work.

Health-care organizations are just beginning to recognize the importance of developing a manager's emotional quotient, or interpersonal skills.
THE USE LOW INTENSITY PULSED ULTRASOUND (LIPUS) IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED NON UNION IN OPEN FRACTURES

Gold standard for the management of non-union is open surgical debridement, stabilisation, and autologous bone grafting. LIPUS is becoming more popular, yet the evidence is still inconclusive. LIPUS involves the use of ultrasound at the fracture site with little risk to the patient. The purpose of this study was to assess effectiveness and cost benefit of LIPUS in the management of non-unions post sustaining an open fracture. We retrospectively reviewed 29 patients with open fractures with established non-union undergoing LIPUS since 2010 (4 females, mean age 48) range 3–27 months, mean 9 months, either post injury or last intervention. All were tertiary referrals, sustaining injuries to the following areas; Tibial 21, Femur 6, Humerus 2, Radius 1. Definitive fixation being; 9 TSF9s, 11 IMN9s, 9 plates. (undergoing a mean 2.4 procedures). Aside from sustaining an open fracture, 7 had risk factors for non-unions 5 smokers, 2 NSAID9s. Failure of treatment was based on undertaking bone grafting. In 28 patients (1 lost to follow up) union was achieved in 71% (mean 157 days). All were screened for infection, 4 had organisms on enrichment culture. 8 (5 Gustillo Anderson Grade 3A/B) injuries did not show evidence of callus formation, LIPUS was discontinued and grafting performed. Open fractures were graded as; 7 Grade 1, 4 Grade 2, 8 Grade 3A, 10 Grade 3B being received. Of these; 20 underwent primary closure, 6 free flaps and 3 SSG. The cost of LIPUS is approx £2500, compared bone grafting using autologous iliac crest graft with no medical comorbidities of £3715. This case series further supports union rates after LIPUS. Cost and morbidity benefit of utilising LIPUS over opting for bone grafting initially is £1215 per patient. Whilst autologous bone grafting is currently the gold standard, it is not without morbidity. We achieved union rates of 71% despite a number of patients having recognised risk factors, showing that LIPUS is a useful resource in the management of non-union.
A DIRECT SUPERIOR THA: BETTER, SAFER, FASTER

Mini-posterior technique advantages: Familiar anatomy; Widely applicable; Predictable (and thus preventable) sources of errors; Demonstrated functional advantages over the 2-incision THA in recent prospective randomised trials and in direct comparison studies Familiar anatomy: A substantial number of surgeons routinely use the posterior approach; With careful attention to skin incision placement and leg positioning intraoperatively it is relatively easy for most surgeons to shorten the skin incision; With the addition of specialised retractors, offset reamers and offset cup and stem inserters many THA can be done with a skin incision of 10cm or less; Easily converted to standard posterior approach if intraoperative concerns arise; Formal posterior capsular repair substantially lowers historical risk of dislocation. Widely applicable: With relatively little variation this approach can be used for a broad range of THA patients; Several variations of the mini-posterior technique exist (Sculco, Dorr, Swanson, Goldstein); Dorr technique has been used in my practice and we have studied it extensively in direct comparison studies against the 2-incision technique.
The Detection of Stellar Systems by Lunar Occultations

A few examples of the resolution of very close multiple stars by the method of lunar occultation are described. In this way both the power and some of the limitations of this technique may be demonstrated.
Semi-Automated SVG Programming via Direct Manipulation

Direct manipulation interfaces provide intuitive and interactive features to a broad range of users, but they often exhibit two limitations: the built-in features cannot possibly cover all use cases, and the internal representation of the content is not readily exposed. We believe that if direct manipulation interfaces were to (a) use general-purpose programs as the representation format, and (b) expose those programs to the user, then experts could customize these systems in powerful new ways and non-experts could enjoy some of the benefits of programmable systems.In recent work, we presented a prototype SVG editor called Sketch-n-Sketch that offered a step towards this vision. In that system, the user wrote a program in a general-purpose lambda-calculus to generate a graphic design and could then directly manipulate the output to indirectly change design parameters (i.e. constant literals) in the program in real-time during the manipulation. Unfortunately, the burden of programming the desired relationships rested entirely on the user.In this paper, we design and implement new features for Sketch-n-Sketch that assist in the programming process itself. Like typical direct manipulation systems, our extended Sketch-n-Sketch now provides GUI-based tools for drawing shapes, relating shapes to each other, and grouping shapes together. Unlike typical systems, however, each tool carries out the user's intention by transforming their general-purpose program. This novel, semi-automated programming workflow allows the user to rapidly create high-level, reusable abstractions in the program while at the same time retaining direct manipulation capabilities. In future work, our approach may be extended with more graphic design features or realized for other application domains.
Nucleon Form Factors with 2+1 Flavors of Domain Wall Fermions and All-Mode-Averaging

We report recent progress in the calculations of the isovector nucleon electromagnetic form factors using 2+1 flavors of domain wall fermions at pion masses of 170 MeV and 250 MeV. The lattice size is fixed at 323 × 64 with a lattice cutoff scale of 1.37(1) GeV. For the calculations with Mπ = 170 MeV, we employed the All-Mode-Averaging (AMA) technique, which led to roughly a factor of 20 improvement in computational efficiency and has reduced the statistical errors in our results significantly. We were also able to do calculations at two different source-sink separations, at roughly 1.3 fm and 1.0 fm, without much additional cost by reusing the low eigenmodes stored for the AMA calculations. We will present results for the isovector form factors and their derived quantities, including the Dirac and Pauli radii, anomalous magnetic moment and discuss the effects of possible excited-state contaminations. Connected contributions to the isoscalar Dirac and Pauli form factors will also be shown.
The Post-Internet Order Broadband Sector: Lessons from the Pre-Open Internet Order Experience

A significant component of the contentious debate over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2015 Open Internet Order (OI 2015) has been its effects on future broadband investment and the development of Internet content and other applications. Although such debate can advance understanding of the potential consequences of the OI 2015, much of it, albeit informed by economics, is of necessity speculative. It may be useful to see how experience up to OI 2015 might be informative. That experience is notably thin, with the FCC’s citing two to four instances in ten years that would have violated OI 2015. After explaining why the OI 2015 order and its predecessor may be largely non-binding, we look at the four examples for lessons in what kinds of behavior OI 2015 might prevent. This experience suggests that non-economic concerns should have been more explicit in OI 2015.
Polyphosphate and associated enzymes as global regulators of stress response and virulence in Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni), a Gram-negative microaerophilic bacterium, is a predominant cause of bacterial foodborne gastroenteritis in humans worldwide. Despite its importance as a major foodborne pathogen, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying C. jejuni stress survival and pathogenesis is limited. Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P) has been shown to play significant roles in bacterial resistance to stress and virulence in many pathogenic bacteria. C. jejuni contains the complete repertoire of enzymes required for poly P metabolism. Recent work in our laboratory and others have demonstrated that poly P controls a plethora of C. jejuni properties that impact its ability to survive in the environment as well as to colonize/infect mammalian hosts. This review article summarizes the current literature on the role of poly P in C. jejuni stress survival and virulence and discusses on how poly P-related enzymes can be exploited for therapeutic/prevention purposes. Additionally, the review article identifies potential areas for future investigation that would enhance our understanding of the role of poly P in C. jejuni and other bacteria, which ultimately would facilitate design of effective therapeutic/preventive strategies to reduce not only the burden of C. jejuni-caused foodborne infections but also of other bacterial infections in humans.
Energies of Formation Reactions Measured for Adsorbates on Late Transition Metal Surfaces

The energies of adsorbates containing H, N, C, O, and halogens that are of interest as intermediates, poisons, and promoters in catalytic reactions have been measured on well-defined single-crystal surfaces by equilibrium adsorption isotherms, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and single-crystal adsorption calorimetry (SCAC). Here we tabulate a large collection of those experimental adsorption energies which we consider to be particularly reliable based on reproducibility by other groups, comparisons to results for closely related systems, and/or reliability of other results reported by the same group. Specifically, we list the enthalpies and energies of 81 molecular and dissociative adsorption reactions that were measured on 26 different metal single-crystal faces of 12 different late transition metals, and we extract from these the standard enthalpies of formation of the adsorbates thus produced. These can serve as benchmarks for validating computational methods for estimating surface reaction en...
Buoyancy-induced, columnar vortices

A buoyancy-induced, columnar vortex is deliberately triggered in the unstably stratified air layer over a heated ground plane and is anchored within, and scales with, an azimuthal array of vertical, stator-like planar flow vanes that form an open-top enclosure and impart tangential momentum to the radially entrained air flow. The columnar vortex comprises three coupled primary flow domains: a spiraling surface momentum boundary layer of ground-heated air, an inner thermally driven vertical vortex core and an outer annular flow that is bounded by a helical shear layer and the vanes along its inner and outer edges, respectively, and by the spiraling boundary layer from below. In common with free buoyant columnar (dust devil) vortices that occur spontaneously over solar-heated terrain in the natural environment, the stationary anchored vortex is self-sustained by the conversion of the potential energy of the entrained surface-heated air layer to the kinetic energy of the induced vortical flow that persists as long as the thermal stratification is maintained. This conversion occurs as radial vorticity produced within the surface boundary layer is tilted vertically near the vortex centreline by the buoyant air to form the core of the columnar vortex. The structure and dynamics of the buoyant vortex are investigated using high-resolution stereo particle image velocimetry with specific emphasis on the evolution of the vorticity distributions and their effects on the characteristic scales of the ensuing vortex and on the kinetic energy of the induced flow.
Single-Image RGB Photometric Stereo with Spatially-Varying Albedo

We present a single-shot system to recover surface geometry of objects with spatially-varying albedos, from images captured under a calibrated RGB photometric stereo setup—with three light directions multiplexed across different color channels in the observed RGB image. Since the problem is ill-posed point-wise, we assume that the albedo map can be modeled as piece-wise constant with a restricted number of distinct albedo values. We show that under ideal conditions, the shape of a non-degenerate local constant albedo surface patch can theoretically be recovered exactly. Moreover, we present a practical and efficient algorithm that uses this model to robustly recover shape from real images. Our method first reasons about shape locally in a dense set of patches in the observed image, producing shape distributions for every patch. These local distributions are then combined to produce a single consistent surface normal map. We demonstrate the efficacy of the approach through experiments on both synthetic renderings as well as real captured images.
Waypoint navigation for a micro air vehicle using vision-based attitude estimation

Missions envisioned for micro air vehicles may require a high degree of autonomy to operate in unknown environments. As such, vision is a critical technology for mission capability. This paper discusses an autopilot that uses vision coupled with GPS and altitude sensors for waypoint navigation. The vision processing analyses a horizon to estimate roll and pitch information. The GPS and altitude sensors then command values to roll and pitch for navigation between waypoints. A flight test of a MAV using this autopilot demonstrates the resulting closed-loop system is able to autonomously reach several waypoints. The vehicle actually uses a telemetry link to a ground station on which all vision processing and related guidance and control is performed. Several issues, such as estimating heading to account for slow updates, are investigated to increase performance.
Small polarons and point defects in barium cerate

Barium cerate (${\mathrm{BaCeO}}_{3}$) is a well-known ionic conductor of both hydrogen and oxygen. In applications, it is frequently doped (for instance with Y) to increase stability and promote diffusion. However, the effects of doping and native defects are not fully understood. Computational studies have been stymied by the nature of the conduction band, which is made up of cerium $4f$ states. These states present a challenge to ab initio techniques based on density functional theory within the standard approximations for exchange and correlation. Using a hybrid functional, we investigate the effects of hydrogen impurities and native defects on the electrical and optical properties of ${\mathrm{BaCeO}}_{3}$. We discuss the tendency of excess electrons or holes to localize in the form of small polarons. We also explore the interactions of polarons with hydrogen impurities and oxygen vacancies, and their impact on luminescence properties.
Minimal hypersurfaces and bordism of positive scalar curvature metrics

Let (Y, g) be a compact Riemannian manifold of positive scalar curvature (psc). It is well-known, due to Schoen–Yau, that any closed stable minimal hypersurface of Y also admits a psc-metric. We establish an analogous result for stable minimal hypersurfaces with free boundary. Furthermore, we combine this result with tools from geometric measure theory and conformal geometry to study psc-bordism. For instance, assume $$(Y_0,g_0)$$ and $$(Y_1,g_1)$$ are closed psc-manifolds equipped with stable minimal hypersurfaces $$X_0 \subset Y_0$$ and $$X_1\subset Y_1$$ . Under natural topological conditions, we show that a psc-bordism $$(Z,{\bar{g}}) : (Y_0,g_0)\rightsquigarrow (Y_1,g_1)$$ gives rise to a psc-bordism between $$X_0$$ and $$X_1$$ equipped with the psc-metrics given by the Schoen–Yau construction.
Some remarks on the classification of global solutions with asymptotically flat level sets

We simplify some technical steps from Savin (Ann Math. (2) 169(1):41–78, 2009) in which a conjecture of De Giorgi was addressed. For completeness we make the paper self-contained and reprove the classification of certain global bounded solutions for semilinear equations of the type $$\begin{aligned} \triangle u=W^{\prime }(u), \end{aligned}$$ where W is a double well potential.
What Drives State Tax Reforms

State tax reform is fundamentally different than federal tax reform. States are continually modifying their taxes to meet revenue challenges and to cope with the changing structure of the national and regional economy. Most state tax reforms are modest affairs and not major rewrites of the tax codes. Reforms must consider the existing institutional structure of the state, state economic policies, and current state politics. Nonetheless, there are some common themes in reforms across the states, including an expansion of the sales tax base to include services and a broadening of the base for income taxation.
Presidential Appointments and Policy Priorities

Objective Previous studies of presidential appointments have consistently found that presidents place their most competent appointees into agencies responsible for policy issues high on their agendas. We examine here whether public opinion responds accordingly. Method Using a survey with an embedded experimental manipulation, we examine whether members of the public, when given the backgrounds of fictional presidential appointees, are able to infer the president's policy priorities based on the perceived competence of the appointees. Results Results suggest that perceived policy importance is positively associated with perceptions of competence, and negatively associated with perceptions of favoritism or patronage—characterized here as the nomination of campaign fundraisers. Moreover, these same factors are associated with increased levels of support for the president's policy positions in the policy areas for which the nominees are responsible. Conclusions Our findings suggest presidential appointments can influence perceptions of—and support for—policy priorities.
High-speed real-time data acquisition for vector measuring current meters

The authors describe an integrated hardware and software approach used to provide real-time acquisition and display of vector measuring current meter (VMCM) data at high sample rates (0.5 Hz) with supporting data from other instruments of somewhat slower rates. The hardware component consisted of a new circuit board for the VMCM that captured the VMCM data output, stored it, and transmitted it at high speed in response to a request from the data acquisition computer. The data acquisition software ran on a Masscomp 5600 computer under the UNIX operating system. A central control program provided timing information to several software processes that handled serial data acquisition, display, and storage for one or more instruments. Deployed as a part of the Surface Waves Processes Program (SWAPP) experiment, the integrated data acquisition system successfully collected, processed, stored, and displayed data from 19 VMCMs and four other instruments over a 22-day period in February and March of 1990. >
Magnitude and Speed of Consecutive Market Crashes in a Diffusion Model

In this paper, in a time-homogeneous diffusion setting, we study a sequence of last passage times of generalized drawdown processes before the first passage time of another monitoring generalized drawdown process. These quantities are closely related to consecutive small market downward movements before a final big market crash modeled by the first passage time of the monitoring generalized drawdown process. Our theoretical framework simultaneously incorporates the first passage time, the absolute and relative drawdown times, and generalizes the scope of (Zhang and Hadjiliadis Methodol Comput Appl Probab 14(8):739–752 2012). We explicitly determine the path decompositions bridging these random times, the stochastic differential equations (SDE) governing each of the path fragments, and derive the Laplace transform of durations between any two of these random times. Applications include designing various risk measures summarizing several market information (e.g. historical maximum/minimum, absolute drawdown, relative drawdown) altogether. They allow us to study, in a microscopic way, a sequence of smaller drawdowns (signals) before a big drawdown (market crash) actually realizes. They can have applications to the detection of a potential market crash from signals of market drawdowns. We illustrate our results using a drifted Brownian motion.
Stabilizing Fluid-Fluid Displacements in Porous Media Through Wettability Alteration

The authors experimentally identify the stabilizing effect of wettability in a porous matrix during the immiscible displacement of a viscous fluid (such as oil) by a much less viscous one (such as water). By altering the wettability of the medium from drainage (contact angle $\ensuremath{\theta}$ = 5\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}) to imbibition ($\ensuremath{\theta}$ = 120\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}), the classical viscous-fingering instability is stabilized and even completely suppressed at low capillary numbers (i.e. low injection rates), making the invading fluid better at pushing out the defending fluid. These results have implications for improving oil recovery, CO${}_{2}$ sequestration, and fuel-cell design.
Rover-to-Orbiter Communication in Mars: Taking Advantage of the Varying Topology

In this paper, we study the communication problem from rovers on Mars’ surface to Mars-orbiting satellites. We first justify that, to a good extent, the rover-to-orbiter communication problem can be modeled as communication over a $2 \times 2$ X-channel with the network topology varying over time. For such a fading X-channel where transmitters are only aware of the time-varying topology but not the time-varying channel state (i.e., no CSIT), we propose coding strategies that code across topologies , and develop upper bounds on the sum degrees-of-freedom (DoF) that is shown to be tight under certain pattern of the topology variation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed scheme approximately achieves the ergodic sum-capacity of the network. Using the proposed coding scheme, we numerically evaluate the ergodic rate gain over a time-division-multiple-access (TDMA) scheme for Rayleigh and Rice fading channels. We also numerically demonstrate that with practical orbital parameters, a 9.6% DoF gain, as well as more than 11.6% throughput gain can be achieved for a rover-to-orbiter communication network.
Preliminary support for the role of alcohol cues in food cravings and attentional biases.

This study examined whether alcohol odors, in isolation or when combined with pictures, would influence food attentional biases and cravings. Participants’ cravings and attentional biases to food and alcohol pictures were assessed after exposure to alcohol or water odors (n = 77; mean age = 30.84 years, 51.9% female, 83.1% Caucasian). Food attentional biases were increased by alcohol odors, but food cravings were increased only by a combination of alcohol odors and food pictures. These effects were related with self-reported problematic food consumption. These findings support a research program for further examining the effect of alcohol cues on problematic food consumption.
Combustion Chamber Fluid Dynamics and Hypergolic Gel Propellant Chemistry Simulations for Selectable Thrust Rocket Engines

This paper describes the development and application of high performance computing for the acceleration of tactical missile hypergolic propulsion system development. Computational fluid dynamics is employed to model the chemically reacting flow within a system?s combustion chamber, and computational chemistry is employed to characterize propellant physical and reactive properties. Accomplishments from the past year are presented and discussed.
A robust biomarker of large-scale network failure in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Introduction Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology have been developed that focus on various levels of brain organization. However, no robust biomarker of large-scale network failure has been developed. Using the recently introduced cascading network failure model of AD, we developed the network failure quotient (NFQ) as a biomarker of this process. Methods We developed and optimized the NFQ using our recently published analyses of task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging data in clinically normal (n = 43) and AD dementia participants (n = 28) from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The optimized NFQ (oNFQ) was then validated in a cohort spanning the AD spectrum from the Mayo Clinic (n = 218). Results The oNFQ ( d = 1.25, 95% confidence interval [1.25, 1.26]) had the highest effect size for differentiating persons with AD dementia from clinically normal participants. The oNFQ measure performed similarly well on the validation Mayo Clinic sample ( d = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [1.43, 1.44]). The oNFQ was also associated with other available key biomarkers in the Mayo cohort. Discussion This study demonstrates a measure of functional connectivity, based on a cascading network failure model of AD, and was highly successful in identifying AD dementia. A robust biomarker of the large-scale effects of AD pathophysiology will allow for richer descriptions of the disease process and its modifiers, but is not currently suitable for discriminating clinical diagnostic categories. The large-scale network level may be one of the earliest manifestations of AD, making this an attractive target for continued biomarker development to be used in prevention trials.
THE DOWN SYNDROME PATIENT: NOT A DOWNER

There is an increased incidence of dislocation, dysplasia, slipped epiphysis, Perthes’ disease, and avascular necrosis leading to degenerative arthritis which occurs in up to 28% of Down9s syndrome patients. As the life expectancy for patients with Down9s syndrome has increased, so has the presence of hip disease. Hip replacement has been shown to have good results in this population. Special considerations include a high risk of postoperative dislocation and leg length inequality which often require large head THR or dual mobility type reconstruction to reduce these risks. Numerous spine deformities including scoliosis and C1-2 subluxation need to be taken into account-anesthesia consult.