cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gluconate controls one-dimensional growth of tellurium nanostructures

In this paper, we show for the first time that by using sodium gluconate-assisted solution route, fine, uniform, and single-crystalline tellurium nanorods and nanowires can be synthesized. Sodium gluconate is a green and safe chemical with strong chelating function, and this property may be useful in the fabrication of nanomaterials, especially one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials. The sodium gluconate acts as both reducing agent and morphology-directing agent and by adjusting the experimental parameters, the lengths and the diameters of the tellurium nanorods could be further controlled in a certain range. This method is a simple and economical route for 1D nanostructure fabrication and might bring about a novel concept for the synthesis of 1D nanostructures with bio-ligand, sodium gluconate.
Circular Plate Electrostatic Zipping Actuator for the Application of a Tunable Electromagnetic Cavity Resonator

This paper presents a proof-of-concept design of a MEMS tunable capacitor for an electromagnetic cavity resonator, by using a circular plate electrostatic zipping actuator. The design, fabrication and mechanical testing of a device containing the actuator and the capacitor will be presented. The testing results are compared with a finite element model using coupled-field analysis with ANSYS.
Microwave imaging of multiple metallic cylinders using shape functions

A novel technique for microwave imaging of multiple metallic cylinders with E/sub z/ incident fields is presented. The novelty stems from the definition of shape functions applied to discrete subscatterers, and the technique is more versatile for general multiple metallic inverse scattering problems. In the forward problem, the scattering volume is discretized on a regular grid. Then, a set of binary shape functions is applied to the cylindrical subscatterer locations to represent the scatterers. Here, the subscatterer fields are approximated by cylindrical harmonics and the boundary conditions are enforced on each subscatterer by the T-matrix method. The resulting matrix equation can be inverted for the subscatterer harmonic amplitudes. Then, in the inverse problem, the metallic scatterers are approximated by analog shape functions and an iterative linearized optimization is done. Monochromatic superresolution is achieved to a scale of 0.1 lambda for single scatterers; multiple scatterers can be resolved at a separation of 0.42 lambda . >
Pulsed Radiofrequency Field Effects in Biological Systems

The possibility that pulsed fields produce biological responses other than those elicited by continuous-wave field of the same average power has been conjectured since the early years of research into the biological effect of radiofrequency (RF) energy. However, because of the limited availability of experimental results, few protection guides and exposure standards promulgated by various private organizations or governmental agencies attempted to specify limits to guard against potential hazards of pulsed radiofrequency fields. Indeed, available results have led some to conclude that there is no compelling evidence that pulsed microwave, of the type produced by radar transmitters, cause biological effects not found following exposure under conditions of continuous-wave radiation at the same average power density (Postow and Swicord, 1986). Nevertheless, the accumulation of recent experimental evidence on the biological effects of pulsed and modulated RF field suggests a need to put such interactions in a more meaningful context and a closer examination of the mechanism(s) of such interactions.
In Situ Visualization for Large-Scale Combustion Simulations

As scientific supercomputing moves toward petascale and exascale levels, in situ visualization stands out as a scalable way for scientists to view the data their simulations generate. This full picture is crucial particularly for capturing and understanding highly intermittent transient phenomena, such as ignition and extinction events in turbulent combustion.
Visible-light-driven reversible and switchable hydrophobic to hydrophilic nitrogen-doped titania surfaces: correlation with photocatalysis

Visible-light-responsive nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide nanorods have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method at low temperature. X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements were used to obtain the crystal structures, morphologies, visible-light absorbance, and hydrophobicity, respectively, of the prepared nanorods. The surface wettability of the samples could be reversibly tuned from hydrophobic to hydrophilic upon visible-light illumination. This switchable surface wettability is crucial since the photocatalytic activity of this nanoscaled catalyst for the decomposition of organic molecules exhibits a strong dependence on the surface wettability.
Hypoglycemia with Intensive Insulin Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Randomized Trials of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Versus Multiple Daily Injections

Context: Hypoglycemia limits the efficacy of intensive insulin therapy. The extent to which continuous insulin infusion (CSII) overcomes this limitation is unclear. Objective: The aim was to summarize evidence on the effect of CSII and multiple daily injections (MDIs) on glycemic control and hypoglycemia. Data Sources: We searched electronic databases between 2002 and March 2008. Study Selection: We selected published randomized trials of CSII vs. MDI. Data Extraction: Reviewers working in duplicate and independently extracted study characteristics and quality and differences in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and hypoglycemic events. Data Synthesis: We found 15 eligible randomized trials of moderate quality, with elevated baseline and end-of-study HbA1c levels. Patients with type 1 diabetes using CSII had slightly lower HbA1c [random-effects weighted mean difference, −0.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.3, −0.1, compared with MDI], with no significant difference in severe (pooled odds ratio, 0.48; 95%...
Requirement for Bbp1p in the proper mitotic functions of Cdc5p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The polo-box domain of the budding yeast polo kinase Cdc5p plays an essential role for targeting the catalytic activity of Cdc5p to spindle pole bodies (SPBs) and cytokinetic neck-filaments. Here, we report the isolation of Bbp1p as a polo-box interacting protein by a yeast two-hybrid screen. Bbp1p localizes to the periphery of the central plaque of the SPB and plays an important role in SPB duplication. Similarly, Cdc5p localized to the cytoplasmic periphery of the SPB. In vitro binding studies showed that Cdc5p interacted with the N-terminal domain of Bbp1p (Bbp1pΔC), but apparently not with Mps2p, a component shown to form a stable complex with Bbp1p. In addition, Bbp1p, but likely not Mps2p, was required for proper localization of Cdc5p to the SPB. The C-terminal coiled-coil domain of Bbp1p (Bbp1p^(243–385)), which is crucial for both the homodimerization and the SPB localization, could target the localization-defective Cdc5pΔC to the SPB and induce the release of Cdc14p from the nucleolus. Consistent with this observation, expression of CDC5ΔC-BBP1^(243–385) under CDC5 promoter control partially complemented the cdc5Δ defect. These data suggest that Bbp1pΔC interacts with the polo-box domain of Cdc5p, and this interaction is critical for the subcellular localization and mitotic functions of Cdc5p.
The CDC-14 phosphatase controls developmental cell-cycle arrest in C. elegans

Temporal control of cell division is critical for proper animal development. To identify mechanisms involved in developmental arrest of cell division, we screened for cell-cycle mutants that disrupt the reproducible pattern of somatic divisions in the nematode C. elegans. Here, we show that the cdc-14 phosphatase is required for the quiescent state of specific precursor cells. Whereas budding yeast Cdc14p is essential for mitotic exit, inactivation of C. elegans cdc-14 resulted in extra divisions in multiple lineages, with no apparent defects in mitosis or cell-fate determination. CDC-14 fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP-CDC-14) localized dynamically and accumulated in the cytoplasm during G1 phase. Genetic interaction and transgene expression studies suggest that cdc-14 functions upstream of the cki-1 Cip/Kip inhibitor to promote accumulation of CKI-1 in the nucleus. Our data support a model in which CDC-14 promotes a hypophosphorylated and stable form of CKI-1 required for developmentally programmed cell-cycle arrest.
Towards a discipline of geospatial distributed event based systems

A geospatial system is one in which the state space includes one, two or three-dimensional space and time. A geospatial event is one in which an event impacts points in space over time. Examples of geospatial events include floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and emission of toxic plumes. This paper discusses aspects of the theory of geospatial distributed event based systems (GDEBS). The paper describes algorithms for rapid detection of geospatial events which can be used on Cloud computing architectures, in which many servers collaborate to detect events by analyzing data streams from large numbers of sensors. Sensor noise and timing errors may result in false detection or missed detection as well as incorrect identification of event attributes such as the location of the event source. The paper presents mathematical analyses and simulations dealing with rapid event detection for geospatial events of varying speeds in the presence of substantial sensor noise and timing error. The paper also describes some of the algorithmic and machine-learning techniques for improving event detection in the Cloud with large numbers of noisy sensors. Experience with GDEBS using a seismic network is described.
Activity of norepinephrine-containing locus coeruleus neurons in behaving rats anticipates fluctuations in the sleep-waking cycle

Spontaneous discharge of norepinephrine-containing locus coeruleus (NE-LC) neurons was examined during the sleep-walking cycle (S-WC) in behaving rats. Single unit and multiple unit extracellular recordings yielded a consistent set of characteristic discharge properties. (1) Tonic discharge co-varied with stages of the S-WC, being highest during waking, lower during slow wave sleep, and virtually absent during paradoxical sleep. (2) Discharge anticipated S-WC stages as well as phasic cortical activity, such as spindles, during slow wave sleep. (3) Discharge decreased within active waking during grooming and sweet water consumption. (4) Bursts of impulses accompanied spontaneous or sensory-evoked interruptions of sleep, grooming, consumption, or other such ongoing behavior. (5) These characteristic discharge properties were topographically homogeneous for recordings throughout the NE-LC. (6) Phasic robust activity was synchronized markedly among neurons in multiple unit populations. (7) Field potentials occurred spontaneously in the NE-LC and were synchronized with bursts of unit activity from the same electrodes. (8) Field potentials became dissociated from unit activity during paradoxical sleep, exhibiting their highest rates in the virtual absence of impulses. These results are generally consistent with previous proposals that the NE-LC system is involved in regulating cortical and behavioral arousal. On the basis of the present data and those described in the following report (Aston-Jones, G., and F. E. Bloom (1981) J. Neurosci.1: 887-900), we conclude that these neurons may mediate a specific function within the general arousal framework. In brief, the NE-LC system may globally bias the responsiveness of target neurons and thereby influence overall behavioral orientation.
Autonomy in After-School Activity Choice Among Preadolescents From Taiwan and the United States:

The study examined boys’ and girls’ autonomy of choice of activities in the after-school hours with samples of children from two different countries. Preadolescent children from Taiwan (n = 289) an...
Correlation-Based Security in Time Synchronization of Sensor Networks

It is very important to monitor the water quality of lakes since any abnormal chemical components/pollutants can possibly cause health problems. Chemical Water Sensors can be used for such long-term monitoring purpose. In this paper, we propose a scalable, low-energy, delay-tolerant Water-quAlity moniToring sEnsor netwoRk (WATER) model, which has essential differences from terrestrial radio sensor networks due to its highly variable, long propagation delay and mobility nature. In the vertical direction, we propose a light-weight time synchronization mechanism that can achieve satisfactory timestamp accuracy. On the other hand, malicious people can use many network attacks (such as Sybil attacks, wormhole attacks, replay attacks, Byzantine attacks, etc.) to mislead water quality monitoring in WATER platforms. To make our time synchronization protocol dependable, we propose a correlation-based security model to detect outlier timestamp data and identify nodes generating insider attacks, which is different from external attacks due to the complete keying material disclosure. Our correlation-based security scheme can also countermeasure many insider attacks (i.e. assuming the enemies already captured the water sensors and got to know the keying materials). Detail experiments have validated the efficiency of our security approaches. The proposed secure time synchronization mechanism (we call it WATERSync) is especially important to navy/military underwater sensor systems.
Intratumoral IL-12 and TNF-α–Loaded Microspheres Lead To Regression of Breast Cancer and Systemic Antitumor Immunity

Background: Local, sustained delivery of cytokines at a tumor can enhance induction of antitumor immunity and may be a feasible neoadjuvant immunotherapy for breast cancer. We evaluated the ability of intratumoral poly-lactic-acid-encapsulated microspheres (PLAM) containing interleukin 12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in a murine model of breast cancer to generate a specific antitumor response. Methods: BALB/c mice with established MT-901 tumors underwent resection or treatment with a single intratumoral injection of PLAM containing IL-12, TNF-α, or GM-CSF, alone or in combination. Two weeks later, lymph nodes and spleens were harvested, activated with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and rhIL-2, and assessed for antitumor reactivity by an interferon γ (IFNγ) release assay. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) analysis was performed on days 2 and 5 after treatment by mechanically processing the tumors to create a single cell suspension, followed by three-color fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis. Results: Intratumoral injection of cytokine-loaded PLAM significantly suppressed tumor growth, with the combination of IL-12 and TNF-α leading to increased infiltration by polymorphonuclear cells and CD8+ T-cells in comparison with controls. The induction of tumor-specific reactive T-cells in the nodes and spleens, as measured by IFN-γ production, was highest with IL-12 and TNF-α. This treatment resulted in resistance to tumor rechallenge. Conclusions: A single intratumoral injection of IL-12 and TNF-α–loaded PLAM into a breast tumor leads to infiltration by polymorphonuclear cells and CD8+ T-cells with subsequent tumor regression. In addition, this local therapy induces specific antitumor T-cells in the lymph nodes and spleens, resulting in memory immune response.
Investigating the Hosted-Buyer Model From the Buyer Perspective: An Exploratory Study

The nature of this exploratory, qualitative research is to examine the buyer viewpoint on the implementation and effectiveness of the hosted-buyer model. In this new format, the event host or organizer schedules pre-qualified buyers and interested sellers together through coordinated, pre-arranged appointments. Notably, the buyers are “hosted” by the show organizer and/or the exhibitors (or sponsors), and some or all of their travel and accommodation expenses are covered by the host. The study explores the benefits and drawbacks of the hosted-buyer format compared to the traditional tradeshow model from the buyers’ perspective. The purpose of this study is to understand if this format meets the needs and expectations of the meeting buyers. Many event hosts are transitioning to this new hosted-buyer model for a variety of reasons, but namely to boost audience attendance and reduce costs for attendees. The results of this pilot project illustrate there are mixed reviews of this new format from buyers, but t...
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone

For the past 45 years, the EPA has set uniform national ambient air quality standards for common pollutants pursuant to the mandate of the Clean Air Act. The pollutant that has been the most difficult to control is ozone. Much of the nation’s population lives in areas that fail to meet the health-based standards for this pollutant. Ozone nonattainment areas include most of California and the Northeast corridor from Northern Virginia to New York, as well as many of the largest metropolitan areas throughout the nation. Over the years, updated ozone standards have become increasingly stringent, which is resulting in a backlash over the cost of compliance. The compliance requirements are particularly challenging for rural areas in the West, where imported pollution and less than ideal meteorological conditions make compliance difficult and costly. Costs have not been used when determining air quality standards, but this may not be the best policy decision. The EPA is ratcheting down the ozone standards and this will add many new nonattainment areas with new responsibilities for controlling air emissions. This can be expected to lead to more confrontation between the regulated states and the EPA.
Ferscnalot Differences as a Moderator of Menial Hckkload Behavior: Mental Workload Performance and Strain Reactions as a Function of Cognitive Complexity

Two groups were pre-selected on the basis of high abstraction or concreteness scores on a test for the personality trait of cognitive complexity. The groups of participants undertook four sequential phases of a fire command, computer-generated, mental workload task. Multiple measures of the mental workload were taken consisting of primary task performance, subjective estimate of relative task difficulty, and physiological response as reflected in the level of sinus arrhythmia. Abstract individuals successfully completed the initial phase of the task, judged to be intermediate in workload, and the overall task in significantly fewer trials than did the concrete individuals. The abstract group also took significantly less time to complete the task during the initial acquisition phase, a trend that was affirmed in the overall time to complete the entire task. Concrete participants perceived the task to be most difficult during the initial phase, whereas the abstract group's subjective evaluation varied direc...
Abstract 1223: Relief of feedback inhibition of RTK and RAS signaling in V600E BRAF melanomas exposed to RAF inhibitors buffers their effects on signaling

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Activation of ERK signaling causes feedback inhibition of receptor tyrosine kinase and RAS signaling by multiple mechanisms and limits the steady-state output of the pathway. The V600E BRAF mutant does not depend on RAS-dependent dimerization and is not susceptible to feedback inhibition of RAS. In V600E BRAF melanomas, ERK pathway output and the expression of ERK genes such as DUSP6 and members of the SPROUTY family are markedly elevated. In these tumors, RTK signaling and RAS activation are actively suppressed. In the context of elevated DUSP6, RAF inhibitors rapidly inhibit ERK phosphorylation and output. This relieves the feedback inhibition of various RTKs and induces RAS activity and the formation of activated wild type RAF dimers that are insensitive to RAF-inhibitors. This results in a rebound in ERK phosphorylation and output that is sensitive to MEK, but not RAF inhibitors and suggests that the latter cannot maximally inhibit ERK signaling in these tumors. In support of this idea, combined treatment with MEK and RAF inhibitors reduces ERK output and the growth of V600E BRAF melanoma xenografts to a greater degree than either alone. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1223. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1223
Stress relaxation of cell walls and the yield threshold for growth Demonstration and measurement by micro-pressure probe and psychrometer techniques

Theory predicts that, for growing plant cells isolated from a supply of water, stress relaxation of the cell wall should decrease cell turgor pressure (P) until the yield threshold for cell expansion is reached. This prediction was tested by direct P measurements of pea (Pisum sativum L.) stem cortical cells before and after excision of the growing region and isolation of the growing tissue from an external water supply. Cell P was measured with the micro-pressure probe under conditions which eliminated transpiration. Psychrometric measurements of water potential confirmed the pressureprobe measurements. Following excision, P of the growing cells decreased in 1 h by an average of 1.8 bar to a mean plateau value of 2.8 bar, and remained constant thereafter. Treatment with 10-5 M indole-3-acetic acid or 10-5 M fusicoccin (known growth stimulants) accelerated the rate of P relaxation, whereas various treatments which inhibit growth slowed down or completely stopped P relaxation in apical segments. In contrast, P of basal (nongrowing) segments gradually increased because of absorption of solutes from the cell-wall free space of the tissue. Such solute absorption also occurred in apical segments, but wall relaxation held P at the yield threshold in those segments which were isolated from an external water supply. These results provide a new and rapid method for measuring the yield threshold and they show that P in intact growing pea stems exceeds the yield threshold by about 2 bar. Wall relaxation is shown here to affect the water potential and turgor pressure of excised growing segments. In addition, solute release and absorption upon excision may influence the water potential and turgor pressure of nongrowing excised plant tissues.
Autoionization States of Li - and Na -

A multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock method has been used to compute low-lying autoionization states of ${\mathrm{Li}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${\mathrm{Na}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. The electron-detachment potentials for these systems have also been computed and agree well with a similar calculation by Weiss. The present formulation permits a simple construction of projection operators used in determining autoionization states for ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$-alkali-atom systems. For ${\mathrm{Li}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ three autoionization states have been found below the $1{s}^{2}3p$- level and four below the $1{s}^{2}3p$ level. Only one autoionization state is found for ${\mathrm{Na}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$.
Accelerating Genetic Algorithm Profile Fitting Using a Six-DOF Enhanced with GPU Coding

This paper describes a new method for running multiple simulations concurrently of aerial vehicles. A commercial Six-Degrees of Freedom simulator has been enhanced with Compute Unified Device Architecture coding and compared to original coding. The basis of this paper is to prove a new, efficient, cost effective, user friendly method that will reduce run-time of current simulators and ultimately dramatically improve efficiency for use in optimization based studies for profile fitting when using a Genetic Algorithm.
Point/Counterpoint: Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Consequences?

Few clinical issues have polarized the oncology community as much as screening for prostate cancer, with advocates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing vocal on one side and skeptics just as vocal on the other. At the NCCN 19th Annual Conference, Dr. Peter R. Carroll and Dr. Andrew J. Vickers tackled the controversy surrounding early detection of prostate cancer, focusing attention on the randomized trial results at the heart of the matter; over-detection (the Achilles' heel of screening); and the rationale behind the new, streamlined 2014 NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Prostate Cancer Early Detection, which emphasize selective early detection and treatment and are tightly aligned with the NCCN Guidelines for Prostate Cancer.
Analysis on Monitoring Results of Food Additive in Shijiazhuang

[Objective] To know the food additive content of main foods in Shijiazhuang market from 2005 to 2007, analyze quantitatively the health risk hazards caused by benzoic acid, sorbic acid, sulfur dioxide residue, formaldehyde and pigment.[Methods]According to the task from Hebei Center for Disease Control and Prevention, contaminants in foods were detected by national standard testing method (GB/T5009) and the related documents from Ministry of Health.[Results]1987 data have been obtained from 7 kinds of food in the past 3 years. In pickle foods, the contents of sodium benzoate, sodium saccharin, sodium cyclamate and sulfur dioxide were 23.40%, 15.38%, 6.82% and 15.15% higher than national standard, respectively. Sudan red, a kind of non-edible dye, was found in pickles. And the average content of nitrate reached 579.8 mg/L. For candied food, the content of sulfur dioxide was 9.38% higher than national standard. In bean products, the positive rate of formaldehyde was 47.8%, the detection rate of sulfur dioxide was 10.5%, and the content of benzoic acid was 23.5% higher than national standard. The over standard rate of benzoyl peroxide in flour was 9.52%.[Conclusion]The status of food additives abuse in Shijiazhuang is not optimistic, it is suggested that health management and supervision for pickles, candied food and bean products should be strengthened. Moreover, the contamination of sulfur dioxide and benzoic acid in foods may induce more health risk hazards.
Right ventricular involvement in feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate right ventricular (RV) wall thickness and chamber dimensions in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Animals One hundred fifty-one healthy control cats and 200 cats with HCM. Methods Retrospective, observational, clinical cohort study. Two-dimensional echocardiograms from all cats were analyzed. Right atrial diameter, RV free wall thickness, and RV chamber diameter were quantified using multiple imaging views. Conventional (mean ± 2 standard deviations) and allometrically scaled ( Y = a × M b ) reference values were determined in normal cats and compared to values found in cats with HCM. Linear and logistic regression, multivariate regression, and mixed model analysis were performed to identify associations between RV wall thickness and severity of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, clinical severity of HCM, and presence of pleural effusion. Results Mean RV wall thickness was increased in HCM ( p p p R 2 0.08–0.17, p p >0.05) in control cats. Conclusions Increased RV wall thickness is common in cats with HCM and relates to severity of LV hypertrophy and clinical status.
Compressed-sensing recovery of images and video using multihypothesis predictions

Compressed-sensing reconstruction of still images and video sequences driven by multihypothesis predictions is considered. Specifically, for still images, multiple predictions drawn for an image block are made from spatially surrounding blocks within an initial non-predicted reconstruction. For video, multihypothesis predictions of the current frame are generated from one or more previously reconstructed reference frames. In each case, the predictions are used to generate a residual in the domain of the compressed-sensing random projections. This residual being typically more compressible than the original signal leads to improved reconstruction quality. To appropriately weight the hypothesis predictions, a Tikhonov regularization to an ill-posed least-squares optimization is proposed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed reconstructions outperform alternative strategies not employing multihypothesis predictions.
A theoretic comparison of JNC 7 and the 2014 Guidelines for high blood pressure initial therapy recommendations based on community health screening event results

• Utilizing the 2014 Guidelines less patients would have been categorized for initiation of therapy vs JNC 7.
The Stochastic Container Relocation Problem

The container relocation problem (CRP) is concerned with finding a sequence of moves of containers that minimizes the number of relocations needed to retrieve all containers, while respecting a given order of retrieval. However, the assumption of knowing the full retrieval order of containers is particularly unrealistic in real operations. This paper studies the stochastic CRP, which relaxes this assumption. A new multistage stochastic model, called the batch model, is introduced, motivated, and compared with an existing model (the online model). The two main contributions are an optimal algorithm called Pruning-Best-First-Search (PBFS) and a randomized approximate algorithm called PBFS-Approximate with a bounded average error. Both algorithms, applicable in the batch and online models, are based on a new family of lower bounds for which we show some theoretical properties. Moreover, we introduce two new heuristics outperforming the best existing heuristics. Algorithms, bounds, and heuristics are tested i...
A neuronal mechanism for recall of bad events

Hippocampal place cells are traditionally thought to represent locations where animals currently are or predict where they are headed. However, new results reveal that place cells also represent distant places that are actively avoided.
A Matheuristic Approach for Solving the Dynamic Facility Layout Problem

Abstract The Dynamic Facility Layout Problem (DFLP) is designing a facility over a multi-period planning horizon where the interdepartmental material flows change from one period to the next one due to changes in product demands. The DFLP is used while designing manufacturing and logistics facilities over multiple planning periods; however, it is a very challenging nonlinear optimization problem. In this paper, a zone-based block layout is used to design manufacturing and logistics facilities over multiple planning periods. A zone-based block layout inherently includes possible aisle structures, which can easily be adapted to different material handling systems. The unequal area DFLP is modeled and solved using a zone-based structure where the dimensions of the departments are decision variables, and the departments are assigned to flexible zones with a pre-structured positioning. A matheuristic approach, which combines concepts from Tabu Search (TS) and mathematical programming, is proposed to solve the zone-based DFLP on the continuous plane with unequal area departments. The TS determines the relative locations of departments and their assignments to zones while their exact locations and shapes are calculated by the mathematical programming. Numerical results for a set of test problems from the literature showed that our proposed matheuristic approach is promising.
Gold Redox Catalysis through Base-Initiated Diazonium Decomposition toward Alkene, Alkyne, and Allene Activation.

The discovery of photo-assisted diazonium activation toward gold(I) oxidation greatly extended the scope of gold redox catalysis by avoiding the use of a strong oxidant. Some practical issues that limit the application of this new type of chemistry are the relative low efficiency (long reaction time and low conversion) and the strict reaction condition control that is necessary (degassing and inert reaction environment). Herein, an alternative photo-free condition has been developed through Lewis base induced diazonium activation. With this method, an unreactive Au(I) catalyst was used in combination with Na2CO3 and diazonium salts to produce a Au(III) intermediate. The efficient activation of various substrates, including alkyne, alkene and allene was achieved, followed by rapid Au(III) reductive elimination, which yielded the C-C coupling products with good to excellent yields. Relative to the previously reported photo-activation method, our approach offered greater efficiency and versatility through faster reaction rates and broader reaction scope. Challenging substrates such as electron rich/neutral allenes, which could not be activated under the photo-initiation conditions (<5% yield), could be activated to subsequently yield the desired coupling products in good to excellent yield.
The rice cities of the Khmer Rouge: an urban political ecology of rural mass violence

Over the last 20 years, urban political ecology has made substantial contributions to the study of urban ‘socionatures’, part of the field's aim of applying political ecology to urban space. At the same time, urban political ecology has been limited by a perspective that tends to confine urbanisation to urban spatial forms; a conflation of process and site. The city is seen to be made by and for urban metabolism, disconnected from both rural and global socionatures. This paper offers a small, empirical corrective, based on a case study of Cambodian re-urbanisation under the Khmer Rouge. The Cambodian genocide began with the capture of the capital, Phnom Penh, by Khmer Rouge forces in April 1975. According to the standard narrative, the subsequent destruction of urban infrastructure and forced evacuation of residents is a historical case of ‘urbicide’ and reflects a broader interpretation of the Khmer Rouge as ideologically ‘anti-urban’. Using documentary evidence, this paper reconstructs the functional role of Cambodia's network of cities under the Khmer Rouge. Contrary to the narrative, we find that cities were not destroyed. Rather, urban sociospatial practices, forms and rural–urban relations were reorganised to support the demands of rice production for foreign exchange and facilitate the administration of violence. This pragmatic reconstruction challenges claims of urbicide and contradicts the narrative of ‘dead cities’ and ‘ghost towns’. Most importantly, it challenges urban political ecology's city-centrism: the processes that reanimated Cambodia's cities were the same ones that transformed rural space and motivated the evacuation of cities in the first place. Cambodian re-urbanisation accompanied re-ruralisation, a dialectic propelled by the transition to state capitalism. In this light, we encourage an urban political ecology that looks beyond the city's cadastral limits and engages those political ecologies within which the urban is situated.
Federal travel restrictions to prevent disease transmission in the United States: An analysis of requested travel restrictions

Abstract Background Individuals with certain communicable diseases may pose risks to the health of the traveling public; there has been documented transmission on commercial aircraft of tuberculosis (TB), measles, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Federal public health travel restrictions (PHTR) prevent commercial air or international travel of persons with communicable diseases that pose a public health threat. Methods We described demographics and clinical characteristics of all cases considered for PHTR because of suspected or confirmed communicable disease from May 22, 2007, to December 31, 2015. Results We reviewed 682 requests for PHTR; 414 (61%) actions were completed to place 396 individuals on PHTR. The majority (>99%) had suspected (n = 27) or confirmed (n = 367) infectious pulmonary TB; 58 (16%) had multidrug-resistant-TB. There were 128 (85%) interceptions that prevented the initiation or continuation of travel. PHTR were removed for 310 (78%) individuals after attaining noninfectious status and 86 (22%) remained on PHTR at the end of the analysis period. Conclusions PHTR effectively prevent exposure during commercial air travel to persons with potentially infectious diseases. In addition, they are effective tools available to public health agencies to prevent commercial travel of individuals with certain communicable diseases and possibly reconnect them with public health authorities.
Alzheimer’s Disease: Dawn of a New Era?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive decline in cognition and memory, leading to significant impairment in daily activities and ultimately death. It is the most common cause of dementia, the prevalence of which increases with age; however, age is not the only predisposing factor. The pathology of this cognitive impairing disease is still not completely understood, which has limited the development of valid therapeutic options. Recent years have witnessed a wide range of novel approaches to combat this disease, so that they greatly increased our understanding of the disease and of the unique drug development issues associated with this disease. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the history, the clinical presentation and diagnosis, and we undertake a comprehensive review of the various approaches that have been brought to clinical trials in recent years, including immunotherapeutic approaches, tau-targeted strategies, neurotransmitter-based therapies, neurotropic and hematopoietic growth factors, and antioxidant therapies, trying to highlight the lessons learned from these approaches. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW . Registered readers (see “For Readers”) may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue’s contents page.
Ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones do not reveal occult B- cell clones

An indolent variant of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) lacking massive splenomegaly has been described as an incidental finding in spleens removed for rupture or hypersplenism. We studied traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones (MZs) to assess the incidence of occult monoclonal B-cell populations in this setting. Ninety-one ruptured or lacerated spleens removed from 1984 to 1995 were classified as to whether they had expanded MZs (> 12 cell layers thick). When available, paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue from cases with expanded MZs was examined for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and stained for CD20, CD43, and kappa and lambda light chains. Splenectomies were performed for blunt (70 patients) and penetrating (7 patients) trauma, surgical misadventure (13 patients), or spontaneous rupture (1 patient). There were 58 men and 33 women in our study, ranging in age from 17 to 87 years (mean, 40 yr). Average spleen weight was 183 g (range, 44-505 g). Twenty-seven (30%) of 91 patients had expanded MZs. There were no significant differences in age, sex, spleen weight, or reason for excision between those cases with and without MZ expansion. Germinal centers varied from absent to inactive to floridly reactive. Paraffin blocks were available in 24 cases; the 20 with amplifiable DNA were polyclonal by PCR. Follow-up was available for 25 of the 27 patients with expanded MZs (range, 1-85 mo; median, 6 mo); lymphoma did not develop in anyone, although one patient's spleen was morphologically suspicious for lymphoma, showing involvement of red pulp by MZ-type B-cells; PCR revealed a polyclonal pattern. This patient's 3-year follow-up revealed no evidence of lymphoma. Traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded MZs do not seem to harbor occult B-cell clones, as detected by PCR. Although a few cases of incidentally removed spleens have been reported to contain low-stage SMZL, this seems to be an infrequent event.
Abstract WP430: Endothelial Cell Collection from Ipsilateral Middle Cerebral Artery in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Introduction: The cerebrovascular endothelium plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of and response to acute ischemic stroke (AIS). To date, techniques to study its function have relied on anim...
Co-offending, violence, and situational moderators

•Crime incidents perpetrated by multiple offenders tend to be more violent.•The influence of accomplices on violence is susceptible to situational pressures.•The relationship is weaker in crimes with a financial motivation.•The relationship is stronger in crimes with less perceived risk to the offender.
Multimodality Imaging of Right Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm Caused by Blunt Chest Trauma

AbstractRight ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a rare but fatal complication of blunt chest trauma. Different imaging modalities including transthoracic echocardiogram, gated-CT angiography and cardia...
The Impact of the New Hypertension Guidelines to Low-Dose Aspirin Prophylaxis Eligibility for the Prevention of Preeclampsia: A Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Objective American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) published new guidelines which lower the cut-off for hypertension. We sought to evaluate the impact of these guidelines to cost and benefit of various low-dose aspirin prophylaxis approaches. Study Design Decision tree analysis was created using R software to evaluate four approaches to aspirin prophylaxis in the United States: no aspirin, United States Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) with Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7) hypertension guidelines, USPSTF with ACC/AHA hypertension guidelines, as well as universal aspirin prophylaxis. This model was executed to simulate a hypothetical cohort of 4 million pregnant women in the United States. Results The new guidelines would expand the aspirin eligibility by 8% (76,953 women) in the USPSTF guidelines. Even with this increased eligibility, the USPSTF guidelines continue to be the approach with the most cost savings ($386.5 million) when compared with universal aspirin and no aspirin prophylaxis. The new hypertension guidelines are projected to increase the cost savings of the USPSTF approach by $9.4 million. Conclusion Despite the small change in aspirin prophylaxis, using ACC/AHA definition of hypertension still results in an annual cost-saving of $9.4 million in the United States when compared with JNC7.
The potential for increasing carbon storage in United States unreserved timberlands by reducing forest fire frequency : An economic and ecological analysis

In this paper, we link the impact of fire damage on forests with an economic model of the United States forest sector in order to determine if a reduction in forest fire frequency will increase the projected storage of carbon in United States forests. We first develop a model of forest mortality following fire. We then link this model to an inventory model of United States forests, which allows us to determine how changes in the frequency of fires will impact forest inventories. Changes in inventory levels can be used to project both the amount of carbon stored and an economic response. If fire frequency is reduced from its current level, measured as the average from 1984 to 1990, we find that carbon storage can be increased in unreserved U.S. timberlands over the period 1990 to 2040.
The Idea of Israel as a Jewish State

Israel is often described as a Jewish state and as the locus of Jewish self-determination. How should these phrases be understood? How can they be squared with a commitment to equal citizenship for non-Jewish Israelis? This Article distinguishes between descriptive and normative answers to these questions. The descriptive answer interprets the phrases as referring to the fact that a majority of Israelis are Jewish. The normative answer reads into the phrases a special obligation to promote the common good of the Jewish people. The Article argues that the phrases are unobjectionable when taken in the descriptive sense, but problematic when understood in the normative sense. A state that is guided by the normative answer would offer inadequate protection to key interests of minorities. The critique of the normative answer also points to the more positive conclusion that Israel should foster an Israeli civic identity amongst all its citizens.
Perturbing HIV-1 genomic RNA subcellular localization inhibits virus particle production

mRNA subcellular localization is a crucial determinant of eukaryotic gene expression. For retroviruses including HIV-1, the unspliced genomic RNA (gRNA) serves both as the mRNA encoding Gag/Gag-Pol capsid proteins and the genetic material packaged by Gag into virions assembling at the plasma membrane. Gag is sufficient to drive the assembly of virus-like particles in the absence of gRNA binding. Thus, what role gRNA cytoplasmic trafficking plays during assembly is unknown. Here we demonstrate that aberrantly tethering HIV-1 gRNAs to membranes or the actin cytoskeleton alters Gag subcellular distribution and reduces virus particle production. This block was restricted to gRNAs competent for Gag synthesis and mapped to the Rev response element; a cis-acting RNA structure that regulates gRNA nuclear export. These results expose an unexpected mechanistic link between HIV-1 gRNA nuclear history, cytoplasmic trafficking, and Gag assembly. Perturbing viral mRNA subcellular distribution could represent a novel antiviral strategy.
Automated digital elevation model (DEM) generation from very-high-resolution Planet SkySat triplet stereo and video imagery

Abstract The Planet SkySat-C SmallSat constellation can acquire very high resolution (0.7 m to 0.9 m) triplet stereo and video imagery with short revisit times, providing an exciting opportunity for global, on-demand 3D mapping of dynamic surface features. However, a lack of suitable processing software, limited geolocation accuracy, and scene-to-scene offsets currently limit the potential for accurate SkySat digital elevation model (DEM) production. We developed an open-source workflow to refine the SkySat-C camera models and improve absolute image geolocation using external reference DEMs, without manual ground control point (GCP) selection. The refined camera models are used to generate accurate and self-consistent DEMs with 2-m posting and orthoimages at native resolution. We present sample DEM products for a triplet stereo collection over Mt. Rainier, USA and two video collections over Mt. St. Helen’s, USA. The output DEMs display 1 to 2 m relative and 2 to 3 m absolute vertical accuracy when compared to DEMs generated with stereo image pairs acquired by the DigitalGlobe/Maxar WorldView satellites and airborne LiDAR. Differencing the two SkySat-C video DEMs over Mt. St. Helen’s shows elevation change of ~ 5 to 15 m due to melting of seasonal snow and glacier flow. Our workflow can be scaled for batch processing of SkySat stereo imagery, and extended to other frame camera systems with limited initial geolocation accuracy.