cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Final Technical Report DE-FG02-08ER41540. Establishing the Transport Properties of QCD With Heavy Ion Reactions

We review the results of the DE-FG02-08ER41540, "Establishing the transport properties of QCD with heavy ion reactions"
Connexin’s Connection in Breast Cancer Growth and Progression

Gap junctions are cell-to-cell junctions that are located in the basolateral surface of two adjoining cells. A gap junction channel is composed of a family of proteins called connexins. Gap junction channels maintain intercellular communication between two cells through the exchange of ions, small metabolites, and electrical signals. Gap junction channels or connexins are widespread in terms of their expression and function in maintaining the development, differentiation, and homeostasis of vertebrate tissues. Gap junction connexins play a major role in maintaining intercellular communication among different cell types of normal mammary gland for proper development and homeostasis. Connexins have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Differential expression pattern of connexins and their gap junction dependent or independent functions provide pivotal cross talk of breast tumor cells with the surrounding stromal cell in the microenvironment. Substantial research from the last 20 years has accumulated ample evidences that allow us a better understanding of the roles that connexins play in the tumorigenesis of primary breast tumor and its metastatic progression. This review will summarize the knowledge about the connexins and gap junction activities in breast cancer highlighting the differential expression and functional dynamics of connexins in the pathogenesis of the disease.
An experimental study of the orientation effect on fatigue crack propagation in rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy

Abstract Mode I fatigue crack growth (FCG) experiments were performed using compact tension (CT) specimens made of rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy in ambient laboratory air. The testing specimens were made with respect to two material orientations: a crack surface perpendicular to the rolled direction (R-T) and a crack perpendicular to the thickness or normal direction (N-T). The constant amplitude load experiments were performed at three load (R) ratios (minimum load over maximum load in a loading cycle) of 0.1, 0.5, and 0.75, respectively. Material orientation was found to affect the early crack growth stage more than the later stable growth stage. For each R-ratio, the threshold stress intensity factor range for the R-T specimens was less than that for the N-T specimens. Three sub-stages of steady crack growth were observed following the threshold stage: a low Paris law slope for the first sub-stage, a second sub-stage with a very high slope, and an intermediate slope during the third sub-stage. The R-T specimens exhibited an overall typical Mode I cracking direction, with occasional local deviation from the horizontal crack path. The N-T specimens displayed a general Mode I cracking with irregular crack pathing into the specimen away from the observation surface. Transgranular cracking was the primary cracking mode for both specimen orientations. Slip induced cleavage dominated cracking in both orientations. Few residual twins were found in the plastic zone area surrounding the crack tip, and no evidence of twin boundary cracking was found.
Influence of obesity with concurrent diseases on liver transplant survival.

Background & Aims: Diabetes and obesity affect development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increases susceptibility to hepatic injury and limits regenerative capacity, which might increase adverse outcomes in acute liver failure. There is no difference in the prevalence of diabetes in acute liver failure patients when compared with the general population, but no large studies have examined the relationship of obesity to incidence or outcome of acute liver failure. Methods: Seven hundred eighty-two adult patients with acute liver failure were prospectively enrolled from 1998-2004. Body mass index, history of diabetes, and outcome were recorded. Multivariable logistic regression was used for the analysis. Results: Compared with 30.4% of adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 29.1% of adult patients with acute liver failure were obese (P =.542). Obese patients had 1.63 times the odds of transplantation or death as nono-bese patients (1.04-2.55, P =.033). Severely obese patients had 1.93 times the odds of transplantation or death (1.02-3.62, P =.042). There were no differences in the proportion of patients listed for transplantation, with body mass index greater or less than 30, 35, or 40 (P =.264, P =.112, P =.244, respectively). Obese patients had 3.4 times the odds of dying after transplantation (1.29-8.87, P =.01). Conclusions: Obesity does not appear to be more prevalent in acute liver failure. However, obese and severely obese patients had significantly poorer outcomes when they developed acute liver failure. This difference is not explained by weight discrimination in listing patients for transplantation, despite evidence for poorer posttransplant outcomes.
Late glacial and Holocene history of the Penobscot River in the Penobscot Lowland, Maine:

When the Laurentide ice sheet retreated rapidly (~150 m/a) across the Penobscot Lowland between ~16 and ~15 ka, the area was isostatically depressed and became inundated by the sea. Silt and clay were deposited, but no significant moraines or deltas were formed. The Penobscot River was reborn at ~14 ka when ice retreated onto land in the upper reaches of the river’s East Branch. As isostatic rebound exceeded sea level rise from melting ice, the river extended itself southward. Between ~13.4 and 12.8 ka, it established a course across marine clay and underlying glacial till in the Lowland. Its gradient was low as differential rebound had not begun. Discharge, however, was higher and the river transported and deposited outwash gravel. During the cold, dry Younger Dryas, ~11 ka, eolian sand began to accumulate in dunes in the Lowland. Some of this sand, along with fluvial sediment from the headwaters, was redistributed into terraces along gentler stretches of the river and into a paleodelta in Penobscot Bay....
Neurotoxic kynurenine metabolism is increased in the dorsal hippocampus and drives distinct depressive behaviors during inflammation

The kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism has an important role in mediating the behavioral effects of inflammation, which has implications in understanding neuropsychiatric comorbidity and for the development of novel therapies. Inhibition of the rate-limiting enzyme, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), prevents the development of many of these inflammation-induced preclinical behaviors. However, dysregulation in the balance of downstream metabolism, where neuroactive kynurenines are generated, is hypothesized to be a functionally important pathogenic feature of inflammation-induced depression. Here we utilized two novel transgenic mouse strains to directly test the hypothesis that neurotoxic kynurenine metabolism causes depressive-like behavior following peripheral immune activation. Wild-type (WT) or kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO)-deficient (KMO−/−) mice were administered either lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 0.5 mg kg−1) or saline intraperitoneally. Depressive-like behavior was measured across multiple domains 24 h after immune challenge. LPS precipitated a robust depressive-like phenotype, but KMO−/− mice were specifically protected from LPS-induced immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) and reduced spontaneous alternations in the Y-maze. Direct administration of 3-hydroxykynurenine, the metabolic product of KMO, caused a dose-dependent increase in depressive-like behaviors. Mice with targeted deletion of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid dioxygenase (HAAO), the enzyme that generates quinolinic acid, were similarly challenged with LPS. Similar to KMO−/− mice, LPS failed to increase immobility during the TST. Whereas kynurenine metabolism was generally increased in behaviorally salient brain regions, a distinct shift toward KMO-dependent kynurenine metabolism occurred in the dorsal hippocampus in response to LPS. Together, these results demonstrate that KMO is a pivotal mediator of hippocampal-dependent depressive-like behaviors induced by peripheral LPS challenge.
DESIGN AND PHYSIOLOGY OF CAPILLARIES AND SECONDARY CIRCULATION | Circulatory Fluid Balance and Transcapillary Exchange

The movement of fluid between the intravascular and interstitial compartments is dependent upon the balance of pressure pushing fluid out of each compartment (hydraulic pressure) and the protein-dependent osmotic pressure (oncotic pressure) pulling fluid into the compartment. Compared to mammals, most fish capillaries are relatively permeable to proteins and transcapillary fluid balance is to a large extent dependent upon hydraulic (blood) pressure. This enables fish to rapidly mobilize fluid from the interstitium into the blood following hemorrhage and thereby survive considerable blood loss.
Performance of 20×20×5 mm 3 pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride semiconductor detectors from various anode fabrication techniques

The anode fabrication process for pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride detectors is constantly evolving. In September of 2012, Redlen Technologies began manufacturing 50 20×20×5 mm3 CdZnTe planar-cathode common-grid 11×11 pixelated detectors to determine which fabrication technique minimizes gain deficit. The anode fabrications are divided into 5 groups: standard fabrication with gold contacts on printed circuit board substrate, sputtered platinum contacts, ceramic substrate, and 2 proprietary fabrication techniques dubbed A and B. The performance of these detectors is studied and ranked by comparing gain deficit and standard parameters such as bulk and grid resistivity, energy and imaging resolution, and grid steering in order to recommend adjustments to the standard manufacturing technique and gauge the suitability of these detectors for a multi-detector array system.
Gesellschaftliche Verantwortung der Finanzwirtschaft

Finanzdienstleister sind in unser gesellschaftliches System eingebunden. Sie spielen bei der Sicherung dieses vernetzen Systems und seiner sozialen, okonomischen und okologischen Funktionsfahigkeit eine wichtige Rolle und tragen deshalb auch Mitverantwortung fur diese Funktionsfahigkeit. Sie profitieren selbst davon, von seiner sozialen Sicherheit, den qualifizierten Arbeitskraften, seiner Infrastruktur, der Rechtssicherheit usw.; sie verdanken ihre Existenz, ihre Bestandssicherung der gesellschaftlich erteilten „Licence to Operate“. Das heist, Finanzdienstleister sind dazu aufgerufen, eine aktive Rolle bei der Verantwortung fur eine sozial, okologisch und okonomisch funktionsfahige und also nachhaltige Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsform zu ubernehmen.
Scalable Medical Devices: Personal and Social

Health and well-being is poised to become more quantitative and connected, with a brand new class of devices. These personalized and population-scale health diagnostics, assessment and analysis devices will be markedly different from the current generation devices in three important attributes: (a) access, (b) affordability, and (c) required operational skill. We discuss the design principles and examples of next generation of medical devices and highlight the potential of this new class of devices to revolutionize health monitoring and eventual health outcomes.
“Mendeley”: A Review

On its website, Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/) refers to itself as a “Reference Manager and Academic Social Network”. In Wikipedia, it is categorized as a “Reference Management Tool”. Similar products, such as Papers and Colwiz, call themselves “Personal Research Libraries” or “Research Management, Collaboration and Productivity in one place”. These varying methods of classifying this new type of tool demonstrate the confusion about what Mendeley is and what it can do for the user. The answer is quite a lot.
Teen, Parent, and Clinician Expectations About Obesity and Related Conditions During the Annual Well-Child Visit.

Purpose To examine family (patient and parent/guardian) and clinician preferences for identification and management of obesity and obesity-related conditions during the well-child visit. Methods Four focus groups with teen patients (n=16), four focus groups with parents (n=15), and one focus group with providers (n=12) were conducted using a structured moderator guide tailored to each specific population. Eligible patients had a well-child visit during the past 12 months and a diagnosis of overweight, obesity, hyperlipidemia, or elevated blood pressure. Parents who attended their child's well-child visit and had a child meeting these same criteria were eligible. Teen focus groups were divided by gender (male/female) and age (14-15y/16-17y). Focus group transcripts were coded for concepts and themes using qualitative data and thematic analysis. Analysis was performed across groups to determine common themes and domains of intersect. Results Teens and parents expect weight to be discussed at well-child visits, and prefer discussions to come from a trusted clinician who uses serious, consistent language. Teens did not recognize the health implications from excess weight, and both parents and teens express the need for more information on strategies to change behavior. Providers recognize several challenges and barriers to discussing weight management in the well-child visit. Conclusion A clinician-teen-family relationship built on trust, longevity, teamwork, support, and encouragement can create a positive atmosphere and may improve understanding for weight-related messages for teens and families during a well-child visit.
Nursing care and patient outcomes: international evidence

Countries across the globe are experiencing nursing shortages. In hospitals, supportive practice environments have positive effects on both nurse and patient outcomes. However, these relationships have been established primarily in the US. International studies of the effects of nurse staffing levels and the practice environment on nurse outcomes and the quality of care mirror the findings from the US, thus raising these issues to the international level. The solutions that have been successful in the US for improving the practice environment and patient outcomes are solutions that should be successful in any country, thus putting them on a global scale. The Magnet hospital program is one model that has been shown to improve nurse and patient outcomes and is one solution to the shortage of hospital nurses.
Iterative optimization yields Mcl-1-targeting stapled peptides with selective cytotoxicity to Mcl-1-dependent cancer cells.

Bcl-2 family proteins regulate apoptosis, and aberrant interactions of overexpressed antiapoptotic family members such as Mcl-1 promote cell transformation, cancer survival, and resistance to chemotherapy. Discovering potent and selective Mcl-1 inhibitors that can relieve apoptotic blockades is thus a high priority for cancer research. An attractive strategy for disabling Mcl-1 involves using designer peptides to competitively engage its binding groove, mimicking the structural mechanism of action of native sensitizer BH3-only proteins. We transformed Mcl-1–binding peptides into α-helical, cell-penetrating constructs that are selectively cytotoxic to Mcl-1–dependent cancer cells. Critical to the design of effective inhibitors was our introduction of an all-hydrocarbon cross-link or “staple” that stabilizes α-helical structure, increases target binding affinity, and independently confers binding specificity for Mcl-1 over related Bcl-2 family paralogs. Two crystal structures of complexes at 1.4 A and 1.9 A resolution demonstrate how the hydrophobic staple induces an unanticipated structural rearrangement in Mcl-1 upon binding. Systematic sampling of staple location and iterative optimization of peptide sequence in accordance with established design principles provided peptides that target intracellular Mcl-1. This work provides proof of concept for the development of potent, selective, and cell-permeable stapled peptides for therapeutic targeting of Mcl-1 in cancer, applying a design and validation workflow applicable to a host of challenging biomedical targets.
Hydrologic and biogeochemical drivers of dissolved organic carbon and nitrate uptake in a headwater stream network

Headwater streams are foci for nutrient and energy loading from terrestrial landscapes, in situ nutrient transformations, and downstream transport. Despite the prominent role that headwater streams can have in regulating downstream water quality, the relative importance of processes that can influence nutrient uptake have not been fully compared in heterotrophic aquatic systems. To address this research need, we assessed the seasonality of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate (NO3−) uptake, compared the relative influence of hydrologic and biogeochemical drivers on observed seasonal trends in nutrient uptake, and estimated the influence of these biological transformations on watershed scale nutrient retention and export. We determined that seasonal reductions in DOC and NO3− concentrations led to decreases in the potential for the biotic community to take up nutrients, and that seasonality of DOC and NO3− uptake was consistent with the seasonal dynamics of ecosystem metabolism. We calculated that that during the post-snowmelt period (June to August), biotic retention of both dissolved organic carbon and nitrate exceeded export fluxes from this headwater catchment, highlighting the potential for biological processes to regulate downstream water quality.
Sinification as Limitation: Minh Mạng’s Prohibition on Use of Nôm and the Resulting Marginalization of Nôm Medical Texts

For Vietnamese scholars in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries reading and writing ability in both Chinese and Nom (an ideographic writing system used to write Vietnamese) was considered an essential tool of scholarship and literary expression.
Structure & Microstructure of Interfaces in Ceramic Materials

The present understanding of internal interfaces in ceramic materials is reviewed by considering several recent studies. The emphasis of the review is experimental with illustrations, obtained using transmission electron microscopy, of interfaces in alumina, spinel and MgO/NiO. The structure of twin boundaries are discussed in some detail emphasizing the different types of interface which are commonly grouped together under this topic. Some of these interfaces do not involve any major distortion of the anion sublattice while others are more closely related to twin boundaries in metals or semiconductors. In the first group, the position of the interface is determined solely by the distribution of the cations. This feature makes these interfaces similar, in important respects, to certain heterophase boundaries, which are therefore also discussed.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and suicidality in a healthcare setting.

OBJECTIVES: To present a clinical case report and provide a review of the available literature on fetal alcohol syndrome and the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and suicidality to highlight important implications for providers. STUDY DESIGN: A case report and literature review. RESULTS: Almost 6% of adolescents evaluated by the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders diagnostic clinic at the Alaska Native Medical Center had been seen for self-harm related consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with the fetal alcohol syndrome and the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, as a result of their disability, demonstrate characteristics or features that are commonly thought to be risk factors for suicide-such as mental illness, alcohol and other drug abuse, impulsivity, history of trauma or abuse, and employment and relationship/social difficulties. These persons may experience mental health problems, including suicidal ideation and attempts, over the course of their life times. Language: en
PANDAS and PANS: An Inflammatory Hypothesis for a Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorder

Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) are recently described conditions that refer to the acute and dramatic onset of specific neuropsychiatric symptoms in children in the setting of infection. PANDAS is defined by obsessive-compulsive and tic symptoms as well as inattention, hyperactivity, food restriction, and separation anxiety in association with Group A streptococcal infection. Pathogenesis is not yet known but is suspected to include subcortical structures such as the basal ganglia nuclei. It is a diagnosis that is still actively being researched and defined. PANDAS and PANS have been controversial for a variety of reasons. One significant objection by some is that symptoms are due not to inflammatory or autoimmune etiology but rather the same multifactorial causes hypothesized as underlying classical obsessive-compulsive and tic disorders. This is the case of a 9-year-old girl whose presentation, diagnostic, and treatment courses follow those classically characterized as PANDAS. This case allows for a discussion of the evidence basis for the disorder as well as work-up, evidence-based treatment options, pathophysiology, and outcomes.
DNNBuilder: an automated tool for building high-performance DNN hardware accelerators for FPGAs

Building a high-performance EPGA accelerator for Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) often requires RTL programming, hardware verification, and precise resource allocation, all of which can be time-consuming and challenging to perform even for seasoned FPGA developers. To bridge the gap between fast DNN construction in software (e.g., Caffe, TensorFlow) and slow hardware implementation, we propose DNNBuilder for building high-performance DNN hardware accelerators on FPGAs automatically. Novel techniques are developed to meet the throughput and latency requirements for both cloud- and edge-devices. A number of novel techniques including high-quality RTL neural network components, a fine-grained layer-based pipeline architecture, and a column-based cache scheme are developed to boost throughput, reduce latency, and save FPGA on-chip memory. To address the limited resource challenge, we design an automatic design space exploration tool to generate optimized parallelism guidelines by considering external memory access bandwidth, data reuse behaviors, FPGA resource availability, and DNN complexity. DNNBuilder is demonstrated on four DNNs (Alexnet, ZF, VGG16, and YOLO) on two FPGAs (XC7Z045 and KU115) corresponding to the edge- and cloud-computing, respectively. The fine-grained layer-based pipeline architecture and the column-based cache scheme contribute to 7.7x and 43x reduction of the latency and BRAM utilization compared to conventional designs. We achieve the best performance (up to 5.15x faster) and efficiency (up to 5.88x more efficient) compared to published FPGA-based classification-oriented DNN accelerators for both edge and cloud computing cases. We reach 4218 GOPS for running object detection DNN which is the highest throughput reported to the best of our knowledge. DNNBuilder can provide millisecond-scale real-time performance for processing HD video input and deliver higher efficiency (up to 4.35x) than the GPU-based solutions.
Online Pricing Mechanisms for Electric Vehicle Management at Workplace Charging Facilities

In this paper, we design posted price mechanisms for assigning electric vehicles (EVs) to electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSEs) to maximize the smart charging potential of a workplace parking facility. Our approach can accommodate diverse smart charging objectives for the facility, e.g. minimize electricity costs from time-of-use rates, maximize behind-the-meter solar integration, or provide ancillary services. We also accommodate individual users’ preferences for specific charging spots. To optimize the assignment of EVs to EVSEs, we develop three different pricing heuristics that allow each arriving EV to solve for its own optimal (i.e., cost minimizing) EVSE assignment. The first approach is based on the use of online convex optimization (OCO) to learn the EVSE prices and performs price updates after each arrival. We discuss performance guarantees for the OCO approach compared to the optimal offline solution. The second and third approaches make use of Lagrangian relaxation to decompose a modified multi-user problem into many single-user problems of small dimension. These two approaches provide EVSE prices that are only updated once per day. The second approach uses a stochastic supergradient based method to converge to optimal daily EVSE prices and can only accommodate stationary charge statistics. The third approach makes use of a one-shot learning technique to learn the prices each day, which allows for non-stationary charge request statistics.
Thickness matters: Influence of dolerite sills on the thermal maturity of surrounding rocks in a coal bed methane play in Botswana

Abstract Global studies suggest that igneous intrusions usually have thermal aureole thicknesses between 30% and 250% of the intrusion thickness. Here, we discuss data and 1D thermal maturity models from nine coreholes (wells) drilled in Botswana to explore for coal bed gas. The coreholes penetrated multiple dolerite sills with thicknesses ranging from 1.2 m to 73.4 m. The sills intruded the sedimentary rocks in the Jurassic period and significantly affected the rank, properties and thermal maturity of Permian coals. The thermal influence of the sills extends for >5–53 m away from their contacts with surrounding rocks. The relatively thick (>13 m) sills have thermal aureole thicknesses of >31–137% of the sill thickness, in line with global observations. However, the relatively thin ( 1000% of the sill thickness, significantly larger than previously reported from most other locations affected by igneous intrusions. Thin sill intrusions in coals and organic-rich shales may lead to the generation of larger volumes of CH4, other hydrocarbon gases, and CO2 than previously thought, affecting the safety in coal mines and gas resources.
Virtual Collaboration in Distance Learning Environments: A Case Study

This case study compares technology tools and communication practices of two virtual groups to understand how these vary between academia and the workplace. A group of professionals working virtually is compared to a group of distance learning graduate students, and conclusions are drawn regarding how to better prepare students like these for the future of virtual work. Task-based conversations within the groups are examined. Results may help distance educators understand what tools students should have access to depending on the tasks required in an assignment. It may also help determine what kinds of transferable technology skills our students need prior to entering the workforce. Findings include suggestions for educators regarding how to approach group work in online educational environments, such as making considerations for multiple technologies that serve various purposes and support collective collaboration. A technology matrix is provided for determining which collaboration technology tools to use along with guidelines for making such decisions.
Biosimilar Filgrastim Uptake And Costs Among Commercially Insured, Medicare Advantage

In 2015 the Food and Drug Administration approved filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio), the first US biosimilar. Following rapid uptake, by March 2018 filgrastim-sndz accounted for 47 percent of filgrastim adm...
The use of social–communicative cues to interpret ambiguous pronouns: Bilingual adults differ from monolinguals

We examine the interpretation of ambiguous pronouns in Spanish–English bilingual adults, in contexts in which social–communicative cues (looking-only or looking-and-pointing) are used. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that pronoun interpretation is guided by the first-mention bias, which is modulated by the presence of the social–communicative cues both in monolinguals and in bilinguals. In Experiment 2, we show that if the speaker using the social–communicative cues is a non-native speaker of English, bilinguals rely more strongly on the social–communicative cues than monolinguals. Experiment 3 shows that stronger reliance on social–communicative cues in bilinguals’ interpretations is not the result of more accurate speech comprehension. Our results demonstrate that the ability to utilize the looking-only and looking-and-pointing cues is not driven by a superior ability to accurately read social cues in bilingual adults. In addition, monolinguals show lower sensitivity to the speaker’s intent when the speaker is a non-native speaker of English.
Robert Bork's Controversial Legacy

Judge Robert Bork was undeniably one of the towering figures in antitrust history. He advanced the field positively in many respects, articulating a serious critique of excesses of an earlier social-political approach to antitrust. But as one of the conservative movement’s intellectual godfathers he also shares responsibility for many of their own excesses that have transformed our nation in harmful ways. This short essay explores some of the effects of his overall approach to antitrust: his preoccupation with economic efficiency.
Monitoring Neutron Radiation in Extreme Gamma/X-Ray Radiation Fields

The monitoring of neutron radiation in extreme high ≈1014 (#/cm2-s) neutron/photon fields and at extremely-low (≈10−3 #/cm2-s) levels poses daunting challenges—important in fields spanning nuclear energy, special nuclear material processing/security, nuclear medicine (e.g., photon-based cancer therapy), and high energy (e.g., dark-matter) research. Variably proportioned (neutron, gammas, X-ray) radiation, spanning 10−2–109 eV in energy, is omnipresent from ultra-low (Bq) activity levels (e.g., cosmic rays/ bananas), to extreme high (>1020 Bq) levels. E.g., in nuclear reactor cores; in spent nuclear fuel bearing nuclear-explosive-relevant safeguard-sensitive isotopes, such as Pu-239; and in cancer therapy accelerators. The corresponding high to low radiation dose range spans a daunting 1016:1 spread—alongside ancillary challenges such as high temperatures, pressure, and humidity. Commonly used neutron sensors get readily saturated even in modest (<1 R/h) photon fields; importantly, they are unable to decipher trace neutron radiation relative to 1014 times greater gamma radiation. This paper focuses on sensing ultra-low to high neutron radiation in extremely high photon (gamma-X ray) backgrounds. It summarizes the state-of-art compared to the novel tensioned metastable fluid detector (TMFD) sensor technology, which offers physics-based 100% gamma-blind, high (60–95%) intrinsic efficiency for neutron-alpha-fission detection, even under extreme (≈103 R/h) gamma radiation.
Gradient-enhanced continuum plasticity-damage theory for finite deformations under high velocity impact loading

Abstract The thermodynamically consistent formulation of geometrically nonlinear gradient-enhanced viscoinelasticity and the corresponding finite element solution are presented. The proposed integration algorithms are extensions of the classical rate-independent return mapping algorithms to the rate-dependent problems. The proposed finite deformation scheme is based on hypoelastic stress–strain representations and the proposed elastic predictor and coupled viscoplastic–viscodamage corrector algorithm allows for the total uncoupling of geometrical and material nonlinearities. A simple and direct computational algorithm is also used for calculation of the higher-order gradients. Model capabilities are preliminarily illustrated for the dynamic localization of inelastic flow in adiabatic shear bands and the perforation of a 12 mm thick Weldox 460E steel plates by deformable blunt projectiles at various impact speeds. Consequently, the introduced implicit and explicit length-scale measures are able to predict size effects in localization failures.
Design of 1500V/200kW 99.6% Efficiency Dual Active Bridge Converters Based on 1700V SiC Power MOSFET Module

High efficiency, high density and galvanically isolated power converters are attractive for medium voltage high power applications. This paper presents a 1.5kV/200kW bidirectional Dual Active Bridge (DAB) converter using a newly developed 1.7kV SiC MOSFET module. The intended application is megawatt scale solid state transformer (SST) and 1500V PV inverter application using modular architecture. One novel model to estimate the turn-off loss using snubber capacitors is proposed and experimentally verified. An optimized PCB-based busbar design is introduced to reduce the voltage overshoot across the SiC device, making the design suitable for 1.5kVdc applications. The mechanism of how the optimized PCB-based busbar can reduce the voltage overshoot is quantitatively interpreted and experimentally verified. The DAB converter achieved an efficiency of 98.85% at 200kW and a maximum of 99.53% at 60kW. The maximum efficiency for series-resonant mode is 99.6% at 85kW and 99.3% at 200kW. The power density is 26W/inch3 (1.6MW/m3) which is much higher than traditional industry products.
Stable QTL for malate levels in ripe fruit and their transferability across Vitis species

Malate is a major contributor to the sourness of grape berries (Vitis spp.) and their products, such as wine. Excessive malate at maturity, commonly observed in wild Vitis grapes, is detrimental to grape and wine quality and complicates the introgression of valuable disease resistance and cold hardy genes through breeding. This study investigated an interspecific Vitis family that exhibited strong and stable variation in malate at ripeness for five years and tested the separate contribution of accumulation, degradation, and dilution to malate concentration in ripe fruit in the last year of study. Genotyping was performed using transferable rhAmpSeq haplotype markers, based on the Vitis collinear core genome. Three significant QTL for ripe fruit malate on chromosomes 1, 7, and 17, accounted for over two-fold and 6.9 g/L differences in ripe fruit malate, and explained 40.6% of the phenotypic variation. QTL on chromosomes 7 and 17 were stable in all and in three out of five years, respectively. Variation in pre-veraison malate was the major contributor to variation in ripe fruit malate (39%) and their associated QTL overlapped on chromosome 7, indicating a common genetic basis. However, use of transferable markers on a closely related Vitis family did not yield a common QTL across families. This suggests that diverse physiological mechanisms regulate the levels of this key metabolite in the Vitis genus, a conclusion supported by a review of over a dozen publications from the past decade, showing malate-associated genetic loci on all 19 chromosomes.
Solar-geothermal power plants

Abstract The combination of different renewable energy sources has been proved to be a reliable solution in providing energy, even in small electrical grids with or without the convenience of conventional power generators. One of the promising solutions to the future energy challenge is the exploitation of geothermal energy in countries with high potential. The combination of geothermal power with solar thermal energy in areas with both resources can further increase the reliability of geothermal plants in many ways, for example, brine preheating to increase the efficiency of the power block or brine reheating to reduce the energy degradation of the geothermal field. In this regard, this chapter provides an extensive analysis of the different methods of combining geothermal power with solar energy in electricity generation plants. The reader will be able to understand the processes by which solar energy can contribute to improving the reliability and the long-term energy efficiency of the plants.
Additively Manufactured Hollow Conductors Integrated With Heat Pipes: Design Tradeoffs and Hardware Demonstration

This article investigates the design of a 250 kW permanent magnet (PM) machine used for aircraft propulsion. The focus is to pursue high specific power (>20 kW/kg), high efficiency (>95%), and low thermal resistance direct-cooling design for the demanding aerospace applications. The proposed key-enabling technology is additively manufactured hollow conductors integrated with heat pipes. Compared to the existing high specific power PM machines for aerospace applications, the proposed design features a much lower speed – 5000 r/min without any torque amplifier, which helps promote the specific power of the overall system. Based on parametric finite-element analysis, tradeoff studies on a variety of winding configurations as well as geometrical parameters have been carried out, highlighting their impact on specific power, winding ac losses, and efficiency. AlSi10Mg coil samples printed by direct metal laser sintering as well as thermal management system have been demonstrated to show the feasibility of the concepts.
Facilitated synthesis of proteins containing modified dipeptides

The elaboration of peptides and proteins containing non-proteinogenic amino acids has been realized using several complementary strategies, including chemical synthesis, ribosome- or non-ribosome-mediated elaboration, intein-mediated polypeptide rearrangements, or some combination of these strategies. All of these have strengths and limitations, and significant efforts have been focused on minimizing the effects of limitations, to improve the overall utility of individual strategies. Our laboratory has studied ribosomally mediated peptide and protein synthesis involving a wide variety of non-proteinogenic amino acids, and in recent years we have described a novel strategy for the selection of modified bacterial ribosomes. These modified ribosomes have enabled the incorporation into peptides and proteins of numerous modified amino acids not accessible using wild-type ribosomes. This has included d-amino acids, β-amino acids, dipeptides and dipeptidomimetic species, as well as phosphorylated amino acids. Presently, we have considered novel strategies for incorporating non-proteinogenic amino acids in improved yields. This has included the incorporation of non-proteinogenic amino acids into contiguous positions, a transformation known to be challenging. We demonstrate the preparation of this type of protein modification by utilizing a suppressor tRNACUA activated with a dipeptide consisting of two identical non-proteinogenic amino acids, in the presence of modified ribosomes selected to recognize such dipeptides. Also, we demonstrate that the use of bis-aminoacylated suppressor tRNAs, shown previously to increase protein yields significantly in vitro, can be extended to the use of non-proteinogenic amino acids.
Death and taxes: Examining the racial inequality in premature death across neighborhoods.

Legacies of residential segregation have led to deep inequities felt in communities of color across the nation and have been established as a fundamental cause of health disparities. Historical practices such as the redlining of majority Black neighborhoods in cities have led to long term consequences on these communities, including concentrated poverty and disadvantage. Research shows a strong connection between living in a poor neighborhood and poorer health outcomes, including early death, but questions remain about what characteristics of poor neighborhoods drive these disparities. We combined data from the American Community Survey with administrative data from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to examine the difference in premature death in Black and white neighborhoods (N = 87) using measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and less commonly studied neighborhood features including vacancy, tax delinquency, and property sales and conditions. Results suggest that features of abandonment, particularly the percent of tax delinquent properties in a neighborhood, may capture an important structural difference between majority Black and majority white neighborhoods with impacts beyond socioeconomic disadvantage on community health. We discuss implications of these findings for research and practice.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in arts and cultural planning

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are increasingly referenced as goals in general or master plans, yet we know little about how these concepts shape topical arts and cultural plans, which have becom...
Topics in varieties of group representations

This book is devoted to the theory of group representations, a young and promising area of modern algebra. It provides a detailed exposition of several central topics in the field, leading to the most current advances and developments. Much of the included material has never been available in book form before. It is intended for a broad audience of researchers and graduate students, working in abstract algebra and its many applications.
Do pragmatic signals affect conventional metaphor understanding? A failed test of deliberate metaphor theory

Abstract Different signals, or tuning devices, in language, including certain discourse markers, comparatives, intensifiers and semantic meta-language, sometimes accompany verbal metaphors. Some scholars have claimed that these signals give evidence of “deliberate metaphor” use on the part of speakers and writers. So, understanding these particular uses of metaphor requires people to infer deliberation, which leads them to pay greater notice to these figures and enhances their understanding of the cross-domain mappings motivating metaphorical utterances. Many linguistic analyses argue that deliberate metaphor is a critical part of metaphor use, yet no empirical study has explored whether people really infer greater deliberation and cross-domain mappings when encountering so-called pragmatic signals of metaphor. The present study tested this idea and did not find evidence in support of the deliberate metaphor proposal. This conclusion raises serious doubts about the psychological validity of the idea that some metaphors are produced and understood as being deliberate.
Reactive Ambient Particles

One of the major causative factors for adverse human health outcomes following exposure to ambient airborne particulate matter (PM) is oxidative stress. Thus, it is necessary to examine how particles can induce oxidative stress and since oxidizing species typically react quickly, it then points toward particles that are chemically reactive that are likely to be important as drivers of health effects. Reactive particles can provide oxidants in two ways. There can be exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are formed through the formation mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and be transported as part of the particle into the respiratory system. Alternatively, particles can include reactive species that can form oxidant in situ (endogenous ROS) that then react with the lung tissues to induce inflammation and stress. This chapter will review the formation chemistry of both exogenous and endogenous ROS and what is known about the potential of ambient PM to induce oxidative stress.
Exploring Theories with a Model-Finding Assistant

We present an approach to understanding first-order theories by exploring their models. A typical use case is the analysis of artifacts such as policies, protocols, configurations, and software designs. For the analyses we offer, users are not required to frame formal properties or construct derivations. Rather, they can explore examples of their designs, confirming the expected instances and perhaps recognizing bugs inherent in surprising instances.
Solution nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of peptide folding.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterization of peptide folding.. The usually convoluted circular dichroism (CD) trace represents a weighted conformational average over all backbone positions, whereas NMR has the capability of reporting weighted averages at specific backbone positions. Much has been learned concerning basic principles of protein folding from studies on synthetic peptides derived from native protein sequences. This information has been almost immediately incorporated into the de novo design of novel peptides with a desired fold. NMR is the only technique that provides detailed information regarding peptide conformational distributions and preferred structures in solution. Although most NMR peptide conformational studies have been done on peptides derived from globular proteins containing more traditional α-helical, β-sheet, and turn motifs, triple helices represent another major structural motif. A number of NMR conformational analyses also have been performed on collagen-derived telopeptides—that is, nonhelical peptides (20–30 residues) found at the N- and C-terminal ends of collagen.
PI-PI-SCATTERING AND CHIRAL LAGRANGIANS

We analyze results on ..pi..-..pi.. scattering using a framework based on nonlinear chiral Lagrangians both at the tree level and at one-loop order. Overall the data can be well understood up to energies of 0.7--0.8 GeV, as well as at threshold, and some of the Lagrangian parameters are well determined. As a side comment, we note that the Skyrmion solution is stable given this experimental fourth-order Lagrangian, but its mass is about 70% too high.
Co-inference for multi-modal scene analysis

We address the problem of understanding scenes from multiple sources of sensor data (e.g., a camera and a laser scanner) in the case where there is no one-to-one correspondence across modalities (e.g., pixels and 3-D points). This is an important scenario that frequently arises in practice not only when two different types of sensors are used, but also when the sensors are not co-located and have different sampling rates. Previous work has addressed this problem by restricting interpretation to a single representation in one of the domains, with augmented features that attempt to encode the information from the other modalities. Instead, we propose to analyze all modalities simultaneously while propagating information across domains during the inference procedure. In addition to the immediate benefit of generating a complete interpretation in all of the modalities, we demonstrate that this co-inference approach also improves performance over the canonical approach.
The Horizontal E‐region Experiment: Evidence for inertial instability on the evening side of the auroral oval?

[1] The Horizontal E-region Experiment (HEX) sounding rocket experiment deployed a nearly horizontal trimethyl aluminum trail over a horizontal distance that extended more than 200 km in the meridional direction. The trail was released in the upper part of the E region between 135 and 150 km during quiet conditions with a pair of narrow auroral arcs located near the northern end of the trail. A surprising result was that large zonal winds, exceeding 250 m s−1, were present over most of the southern half of the region in spite of the fact that the auroral forcing was very localized in meridional extent. We show that the flow was inertially unstable and suggest that the instability can account for the observed winds by significantly broadening the meridional extent of the winds generated within narrow channels in the auroral oval. The analysis focuses on the HEX observations but has broader implications since it suggests that narrow discrete arcs can generate channels of enhanced flow that are much wider than the arcs themselves. Narrow arcs can therefore have a much larger effect on the neutral circulation than would otherwise be expected.