cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Research progress on graphite felt for vanadium redow flow battery

Among the electrode materials, graphite felt still need to be activated to enhance the performance despite its best comprehensive performance in the vanadium redox flow battery. In this paper, the basic principle of actively treating graphite felt used for the vanadium redox flow battery was analyzed, the research progress on activation methods of graphite felt was reviewed in domestic and overseas, and characteristics of the common activation methods such as thermal, acid treatments and electrochemical oxidation was introduced in detail. Finally, future prospects of activating graphite felt were highlighted.
Some Reactor Designs

Introduction Discussions of current and future nuclear reactor designs utilize a convenient international notation based on the decades in which the designs originated. Thus Generation I reactors refer to early prototype reactors designed and built in the 1950s and early 1960s.Generation II reactors are those designed and built in the 1970s and 1980s and therefore include most of the commercial power generating reactors in operation today. Generation III reactors from the late 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s are few in number and can be characterized as advanced LWRs, evolutionary designs offering improved economics. Generation IV reactors refer to those that might be possible, given the focus of current research and development exploration. This chapter devoted to reactor designs focuses primarily on Generations II and IV. As illustrated in Figure 4.1, a nuclear power plant is similar to any other coal, gas, or oil-fired plant, except that the source of the heat creating the steam that drives the steam turbines and therefore the electrical generators is the nuclear reactor core rather than the fossil fuel furnace. The focus in this text is on that core, known as the nuclear steam supply system or NSSS . It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the rest of the equipment (known as the balance of plant ). Before proceeding with further analysis, it is useful to provide some engineering context by briefly describing the design and components of current Generation II reactors. Consequently, the focus of the first part of this chapter is on Generation II reactors and those designs used in commercial power generating reactors in operation today. The last sections briefly describe some of the ideas being explored as Generation IV reactors. Current Nuclear Reactors Typical data on some of the principal types of Generation II reactors are listed in Table 4.1.These differ primarily in terms of the nuclear fuel being utilized and therefore the nuclear fuel cycle involved (see Section 2.2), and this distinguishes the LWRs from the HWRs and the FBRs. The two LWR types are then distinguished by the strategy used to handle the possibility of the cooling water boiling and therefore by the pressure of the primary cooling water system and the corresponding safety systems. Each of these features is a focus in the sections that follow.
Studying contaminant transport and chem ical reduction in subsurface sediment by modeling flow in porous media

This paper presents imaging and modeling aspects of an interdisciplinary study of subsurface pollution and environmental remediation. F18 — FDG PET and Tc99m — NaTcO 4 SPECT studie s were performed to follow dynamic changes in the radiotracer distribution in model systems. Radioisotope solution was pumped through the test columns filled with sand or sediment in order to reproduce subsurface conditions of groundwater flow through satu rated sediment layers. Dynamic sequences of the radiotracer distribution were acquired and analyzed. The ultimate goal was to measure porosity and parameters of the sediment and, in the future, to study radiotracer immobilization in the column through reductive precipitation. In order to extract the relevant information from the dynamic images, computational fluid dynamics model of the liquid flow in porous medium were designed and implemented. Qualitative similarities between the imaged and simulated radio tracer distributions were achieved with appropriate values of the computational mesh, the local medium permeability, and other model parameters.
On predicting social unrest using social media

We study the possibility of predicting a social protest (planned, or unplanned) based on social media messaging. We consider the process called mobilization, described in the literature as the precursor of participation. Mobilization includes four stages: being sympathetic to the cause, being aware of the movement, motivation to take part and ability to participate. We suggest that expressions of mobilization in communications of individuals may be used to predict the approaching protest. We have utilized several Natural Language Processing techniques to create a methodology to identify mobilization in social media communication. Results of experimentation with Twitter data collected before and during the 2015 Baltimore events and the information on actual protests taken from news media show a correlation over time between volume of Twitter communications related to mobilization and occurrences of protest at certain geographical locations. We conclude with discussion of possible theoretical explanations and practical applications of these results.
Structure-guided development of a high-affinity human Programmed Cell Death-1: Implications for tumor immunotherapy

Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) is an inhibitory immune receptor, which plays critical roles in T cell co-inhibition and exhaustion upon binding to its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. We report the crystal structure of the human PD-1 ectodomain and the mapping of the PD-1 binding interface. Mutagenesis studies confirmed the crystallographic interface, and resulted in mutant PD-1 receptors with altered affinity and ligand-specificity. In particular, a high-affinity mutant PD-1 (HA PD-1) exhibited 45 and 30-fold increase in binding to PD-L1 and PD-L2, respectively, due to slower dissociation rates. This mutant (A132L) was used to engineer a soluble chimeric Ig fusion protein for cell-based and in vivo studies. HA PD-1 Ig showed enhanced binding to human dendritic cells, and increased T cell proliferation and cytokine production in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay. Moreover, in an experimental model of murine Lewis lung carcinoma, HA PD-1 Ig treatment synergized with radiation therapy to decrease local and metastatic tumor burden, as well as in the establishment of immunological memory responses. Our studies highlight the value of structural considerations in guiding the design of a high-affinity chimeric PD-1 Ig fusion protein with robust immune modulatory properties, and underscore the power of combination therapies to selectively manipulate the PD-1 pathway for tumor immunotherapy.
Finding cut from the same cloth: Cross network link recommendation via joint matrix factorization

With the emergence of online forums associated with major diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, many patients are increasingly dependent on such disease-specific social networks to gain access to additional resources. Among these patients, it is common for them to stick to one disease-specific social network, although their desired resources might be spread over multiple social networks, such as patients with similar questions and concerns. Motivated by this application, in this paper, we focus on cross network link recommendation, which aims to identify similar users across multiple heterogeneous social networks. The problem setting is different from existing work on cross network link prediction, which either tries to link accounts of the same user from different social networks, or aims to match users with complementary expertise or interest. To approach the problem of cross network link recommendation, we propose to jointly decompose the user-keyword matrices from multiple social networks, while requiring them to share the same topics and user group-topic association matrices. This constraint comes from the fact that social networks dedicated to the same disease tend to share the same topics as well as the interests of users groups in certain topics. Based on this intuition, we construct a generic optimization framework, provide four instantiations and an iterative optimization algorithm with performance analysis. In the experiments, we demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm over state-of-the-art techniques on various real-world data sets.
Insoluble Cellular Prion Protein

The detergent-soluble cellular prion protein (PrPC) and its detergent-insoluble infectious isoform (PrPSc) are two major conformers of the prion protein. Soluble PrPC has been the only isoform detected in the normal mammalian brain. In 2006, however, we identified an insoluble PrPC conformer (termed iPrPC) in uninfected human and animal brains. This article highlights the physiochemical properties of iPrPC, a conformer distinct from PrPC or PrPSc, and discusses its formation and probable pathophysiology.
Tuberculosis State Is Associated with Expression of Toll-Like Receptor 2 in Sputum Macrophages.

ABSTRACT During tuberculosis, macrophages are critical for both pathogen survival and host immune activation. Since expression of particular cell surface markers reflects cell function, we used flow cytometry to measure the abundance of surface markers associated with polarity, lipid uptake, or pattern recognition on macrophages found in induced sputum. Nine macrophage surface markers were examined from three groups of donors: infection-free, latent tuberculosis infection, and active pulmonary tuberculosis. Using a trend test, we found that expression of Toll-like receptor 2 was greater from absence of infection to latent infection and from latent infection to active tuberculosis. The results point to the possibility that innate immune cell phenotypes be used to distinguish among tuberculosis infection stages. Moreover, this study shows that readily accessible sputum macrophages have potential for tuberculosis diagnosis and prognosis. IMPORTANCE Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that parasitizes the host macrophage. While approximately two billion people are infected worldwide, only 5 to 10% become diseased with pulmonary tuberculosis, at least in the absence of comorbidities. Tuberculosis control requires development of noninvasive methods probing the host immune status to help distinguish latent infection from active tuberculosis. With such methods, high-risk individuals could be targeted for treatment before disease manifestation. Previous investigations have been based on examination of peripheral blood cells or, more rarely, lung macrophages obtained with invasive procedures, such as bronchoalveolar lavages. Here we show that differences exist in the expression of a surface protein (Toll-like receptor 2) between macrophages recovered from the sputum of individuals in different diagnostic groups: i.e., infection free, latent tuberculosis infection, and active pulmonary tuberculosis. Thus, phenotypic analysis of local macrophages obtained with noninvasive procedures can help distinguish among tuberculosis infection stages.
Governmentality, subjectivity, and the neoliberal form of life

In this paper, I argue that the appropriate answer to the question of the form contemporary neoliberalism gives our lives rests on Michel Foucault’s definition of neoliberalism as a particular art ...
Estimation of aircraft distances using transponder signal strength information

The Federal Aviation Administration has recently mandated the installation of transponders that provide position reporting (Extended Mode S) in aircraft operating in most types of domestic controll...
CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to make conditional mutants of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This disease, which primarily affects those living in tropical and subtropical regions, is caused by infection with Plasmodium parasites. The development of better drugs to combat malaria can be accelerated by improving our understanding of the biology of this complex parasite. Genetic manipulation of these parasites is key to understanding their biology, but historically, the genome of P. falciparum has been difficult to manipulate. Recently, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been utilized in malaria parasites, allowing for easier protein tagging, generation of conditional protein knockdowns, and deletion of genes. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has proven to be a powerful tool for advancing the field of malaria research. Here, we describe a CRISPR/Cas9 method for generating glmS-based conditional knockdown mutants in P. falciparum. The method is highly adaptable to other types of genetic manipulations, including protein tagging and gene knockouts.
Catheter ablation of tachyarrhythmias in small children.

An estimated 80,000-100,000 radiofrequency ablation (RFA) procedures are performed in the United States each year.1 Approximately 1% of these are performed on pediatric patients at centers that contribute data to the Pediatric Radiofrequency Registry.2 Previous reports from this registry have demonstrated that RFA can safely and effectively be performed in pediatric patients.3,4 However, patients weighing less than 15 kg have been identified as being at greater risk for complications.3,4 Consequently, there has been great reluctance to perform RFA in small children such that children weighing less than 15 kg only represent approximately 6% of the pediatric RFA experience2 despite the fact that this age group carries the highest incidence of tachycardia, particularly supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).5 Factors other than the risk of complications contribute to the lower incidence of RFA in this group, including the natural history of the most common tachycardias (SVT), technical issues with RFA in small hearts, and the potential unknown long-term effects of RF applications in the maturing myocardium. Conversely, there are several reasons why ablation may be desirable in small children, including greater difficulties with medical management,6,7,8 the higher risk for hemodynamic compromise during tachycardia in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD), and the inability of these small children to effectively communicate their symptoms thereby making it more likely that their symptoms may go unnoticed until the children become more seriously ill. Before ultimately deciding that catheter ablation is indicated in small children, one must consider which tachycardias are likely to be ablated, the clinical presentation of these tachycardias, alternatives to ablation, the relative potential for success or complications, and modifications of the procedure that might reduce the risk of ablation in this group.
Preventive healthcare-seeking behavior among poor older adults in Mexico: the impact of Seguro Popular, 2000-2012.

Abstract: Objective: Determine the effect of Seguro Popular (SP) on preventive care utilization among low-income SP beneficiaries and uninsured elders in Mexico. Materials and methods: Fixed-effects instrumental-variable (FE-IV) pseudo-panel estimation from three rounds of the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey (2000, 2006 and 2012). Results: Our findings suggest that SP has no significant effect on the use of preventive services, including screening for diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer and cervical cancer, by adults aged 50 to 75 years. Conclusions: Despite the evidence that suggests that SP has increased access to health insurance for the poor, inequalities in healthcare access and utilization still exist in Mexico. The Mexican government must keep working on extending health insurance coverage to vulnerable adults. Additional efforts to increase health care coverage and to support preventive care are needed to reduce persistent disparities in healthcare utilization.
Ongoing Challenges with Clinical Assessment of Nodal Status in T1 Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.

Background Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has emerged as an esophageal-preserving treatment for T1 esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC); however, only patients with negligible risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) are eligible. Reliable clinical diagnostic tools for LNM are lacking, as such, several risk assessment scores have been developed. The purpose of this study was to externally validate 2 previously published risk scores (Lee and Weksler) for clinical prediction of LNM in T1 EAC patients. Methods In adherence with the Lee and Weksler scores, esophagectomy patients with pathologic T1 EAC were identified. Sub-analysis was performed in patients with clinical T1 based on EMR. Predictive accuracy of the scores was evaluated by calculating the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration plots. The areas under the curves were compared using Venkatraman's test for paired receiver operating characteristic curves. Results Of 233 patients identified who met study criteria for external validation, 3 T1a and 32 T1b patients had LNM. The receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated comparable high predictive and discriminatory capabilities with areas under the curves of 0.832 and 0.824 for the Lee and Weksler scores, respectively (p = 0.750). Results were more variable for the EMR cohort. Based on the risk thresholds defined by each score, the false-positive rate compared against the pathologic LNM status were 73% and 56% for Lee and Weksler, with 3% false negatives in the latter. On EMR, the false-positive rates were 70% and 50% for Lee and Weksler, with no false negatives. Conclusions Both scoring systems demonstrated good discriminatory ability and predictive accuracy for LNM, but the defined thresholds resulted in a high false-positive rate. A better scoring system based on clinical characteristics is needed to better identify patients with local disease.
A 1.4 GHz 695 Giga Risc-V Inst/s 496-Core Manycore Processor With Mesh On-Chip Network and an All-Digital Synthesized PLL in 16nm CMOS

This paper presents a 16nm 496-core RISC-V network-on-chip (NoC). The mesh achieves 1.4GHz at 0.98V, yielding a peak of 695 Giga RISC-V instructions/s (GRVIS) and a record 812,350 CoreMark benchmark score. The main feature is the NoC architecture, which uses only 1881μm2 per router node, enables highly scalable and dense compute, and provides up to 361 Tb/s of aggregate bandwidth.
Intravenous Magnesium Sulfate to Treat Acute Headaches in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review

Introduction Non-traumatic headaches comprise up to 4% of all emergency department (ED) visits. Current practice is moving toward multimodal analgesia regimens that limit narcotic use. Objective The objective of this systematic review is to address the following research question: In patients with non-traumatic headaches (Population), does administration of intravenous magnesium sulfate (Intervention) compared to placebo, corticosteroids, dopamine antagonists, ergot alkaloids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), triptans, or usual care result in better pain control, lower rate of recurrence at 24 hours, lower requirements for rescue analgesia, and less adverse medication effects (Outcomes)? Methods Scholarly databases and relevant bibliographies were searched, as were clinical trial registries and relevant conference proceedings to limit publication bias. Studies were not limited by date, language, or publication status. Inclusion criteria were: (1) randomized clinical trial (RCT), (2) patients age ≥18 years, (3) non-traumatic headache, (4) patients treated in ED or an outpatient acute care treatment center, and (5) magnesium sulfate administered intravenously (IV). Eligible comparison groups included: placebo, conventional therapy, dopamine antagonist, NSAID, corticosteroid, ergot alkaloid, or triptans. Results Out of 4018 identified references, 7 RCTs (545 participants) that treated migraine headaches (n = 6) and benign non-traumatic headaches (n = 1) met inclusion criteria. Pain intensity was improved with magnesium sulfate vs comparators at 60-120 minutes, but not at earlier time points. Result for the endpoint of pain reduction by 50% were conflicting as 3 studies reported that headache was improved, unchanged, and less with magnesium sulfate. Complete pain relief was improved with magnesium sulfate in 1 study, and in the migraine with aura (MA) subgroup in another. The need for rescue analgesia at any point was improved with magnesium sulfate in 1 study, and in the MA subgroup in another. Twenty-four-hour headache recurrence was improved with magnesium sulfate in 1 study, but unchanged in a second. The intended meta-analysis was not performed due to the clinical heterogeneity among studies. Conclusion While we cannot draw a firm conclusion on the efficacy or benefit of intravenous magnesium sulfate in the treatment of acute non-traumatic headaches, the existing evidence indicates potential benefits in pain control beyond 1 hour, aura duration, and need for rescue analgesia.
The gut microbiome and its metabolites are necessary for morphine reward

Recent evidence has demonstrated that the gut microbiome has marked effects on neuronal function and behavior. Disturbances to microbial populations within the gut have been linked to myriad models of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the role of the microbiome in substance use disorders remains understudied. Here we show that animals with their gut microbiome depleted by non-absorbable antibiotics (Abx) exhibit decreased formation of morphine conditioned place preference and demonstrate marked changes in gene expression within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in response to morphine. Replacement of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites, which are reduced by microbiome knockdown, reversed the behavioral and transcriptional effects of microbiome depletion. This identifies SCFA as the crucial mediators of microbiome-brain communication responsible for the effects on morphine reward caused by microbiome knockdown. These studies add important new behavioral, molecular, and mechanistic insight to the role of gut-brain signaling in substance use disorders.
Federated Multi-task Learning with Hierarchical Attention for Sensor Data Analytics

The past decade has been marked by the rapid emergence and proliferation of a myriad of small devices, such as smartphones and wearables. There is a critical need for analysis of multivariate temporal data obtained from sensors on these devices. Given the heterogeneity of sensor data, individual devices may not have sufficient quality data to learn an effective model. Factors such as skewed/varied data distributions bring more difficulties to the sensor data analytics. In this paper, we propose to leverage multi-task learning with attention mechanism to perform inductive knowledge transfer among related devices and improve generalization performance. We design a novel federated multi-task hierarchical attention model (FATHOM) that jointly trains classification/regression models from multiple distributed devices. The attention mechanism in the proposed model seeks to extract feature representations from inputs and to learn a shared representation across multiple devices to identify key features at each time step. The underlying temporal and nonlinear relationships are modeled using a combination of attention mechanism and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks. The proposed method outperforms a wide range of competitive baselines in both classification and regression settings on three unbalanced real-world datasets. It also allows for the visual characterization of key features learned at the input task level and the global temporal level.
Lithium in groundwater used for drinking-water supply in the United States

Lithium concentrations in untreated groundwater from 1464 public-supply wells and 1676 domestic-supply wells distributed across 33 principal aquifers in the United States were evaluated for spatial variations and possible explanatory factors. Concentrations nationwide ranged from <1 to 396 μg/L (median of 8.1) for public supply wells and <1 to 1700 μg/L (median of 6 μg/L) for domestic supply wells. For context, lithium concentrations were compared to a Health Based Screening Level (HBSL, 10 μg/L) and a drinking-water only threshold (60 μg/L). These thresholds were exceeded in 45% and 9% of samples from public-supply wells and in 37% and 6% from domestic-supply wells, respectively. However, exceedances and median concentrations ranged broadly across geographic regions and principal aquifers. Concentrations were highest in arid regions and older groundwater, particularly in unconsolidated clastic aquifers and sandstones, and lowest in carbonate-rock aquifers, consistent with differences in lithium abundance among major lithologies and rock weathering extent. The median concentration for public-supply wells in the unconsolidated clastic High Plains aquifer (central United States) was 24.6 μg/L; 24% of the wells exceeded the drinking-water only threshold and 86% exceeded the HBSL. Other unconsolidated clastic aquifers in the arid West had exceedance rates comparable to the High Plains aquifer, whereas no public supply wells in the Biscayne aquifer (southern Florida) exceeded either threshold, and the highest concentration in that aquifer was 2.6 μg/L. Multiple lines of evidence indicate natural sources for the lithium concentrations; however, anthropogenic sources may be important in the future because of the rapid increase of lithium battery use and subsequent disposal. Geochemical models demonstrate that extensive evaporation, mineral dissolution, cation exchange, and mixing with geothermal waters or brines may account for the observed lithium and associated constituent concentrations, with the latter two processes as major contributing factors.
KDM2B Overexpression Facilitates Lytic De Novo KSHV Infection by Inducing AP-1 Activity Through Interaction with the SCF E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Complex

It is still largely unknown what host factors are involved in controlling the expression of the lytic viral gene RTA during primary infection, which determines if Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) establishes latent or lytic infection. We have recently identified the histone demethylase KDM2B as a repressor of RTA expression during both de novo KSHV infection and latency based on an epigenetic factor siRNA screen. Here, we report that surprisingly, KDM2B overexpression can promote lytic de novo infection by using a mechanism that differs from what is needed for its repressor function. Our study revealed that while the DNA-binding and demethylase activities of KDM2B linked to its transcription repressive function are dispensable, its C-terminal F-box and LRR domains are required for the lytic infection-inducing function of KDM2B. We found that overexpressed KDM2B increases the half-life of the AP-1 subunit c-Jun protein and induces the AP-1 signaling pathway. This effect is dependent upon the binding of KDM2B to the SKP1-CUL1-F-box (SCF) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex via its F-box domain. Importantly, the inhibition of AP-1 reduces KDM2B-mediated lytic de novo KSHV infection. Overall, our findings indicate that KDM2B may induce the degradation of some host factors by using the SCF complex resulting in the enrichment of c-Jun. This leads to increased AP-1 transcriptional activity, which facilitates lytic gene expression following de novo infection interfering with the establishment of viral latency.SignificanceThe expression of epigenetic factors is often dysregulated in cancers or upon specific stress signals, which often results in a display of non-canonical functions of the epigenetic factors that are independent from their chromatin-modifying roles. We have previously demonstrated that KDM2B normally inhibits KSHV lytic cycle using its histone demethylase activity. Surprisingly, we found that KDM2B overexpression can promote lytic de novo infection, which does not require its histone demethylase or DNA-binding functions. Instead, KDM2B uses the SKP1-CUL1-F-box (SCF) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex to induce AP-1 transcriptional activity, which promotes lytic gene expression. This is the first report that demonstrates a functional link between SFCKDM2B and AP-1 in the regulation of KSHV lytic cycle.
Lanthanide-Protein Interactions and their Use in Determination of Protein Structure, Function, and Dynamics

Lanthanide-tagged proteins (LTPs) are invaluable and versatile tools for investigating protein structure, function, and dynamics. The properties of LTPs are employed in a variety of experimental te...
Development of a Novel Mouse Model of Spontaneous High-Risk HPVE6/E7-Expressing Carcinoma in the Cervicovaginal Tract.

Current pre-clinical models for cervical cancer lack important clinical and pathological features. To improve upon these models, we aimed to develop a novel, spontaneous HPV16-expressing carcinoma model that captures major aspects of HPV-associated cancer in the female genital tract. This novel pre-clinical model features 1) expression of HPV oncogenes E6 and E7 in the tumors in female reproductive tract of mice, 2) spontaneous progression through high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) to carcinoma, and 3) flexibility to model cancers from different high-risk HPV genotypes. This was accomplished by injecting plasmids expressing HPV16 E6/E7-Luciferase, AKT, c-myc, and Sleeping Beauty transposase into the cervicovaginal tract of C57BL/6 mice followed by electroporation. Cell lines derived from these tumors expressed HPV16 E6/E7 oncogenes, formed tumors in immunocompetent mice, and displayed carcinoma morphology. In all, this novel HPV-associated cervicogenital carcinoma model and HPV16E6/E7-expressing tumor cell line improves upon current HPV16-E6/E7-expressing tumor models. These tumor models may serve as important pre-clinical models for the development of therapeutic HPV vaccines or novel therapeutic interventions against HPV E6/E7-expressing tumors.
Anomalies in bosonic symmetry-protected topological edge theories: Connection to F symbols and a method of calculation

We describe a systematic procedure for determining the identity of a 2D bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase from the properties of its edge excitations. Our approach applies to general bosonic SPT phases with either unitary or antiunitary symmetries, and with either continuous or discrete symmetry groups, with the only restriction being that the symmetries must be on-site. Concretely, our procedure takes a bosonic SPT edge theory as input, and produces an element ω of the cohomology group H 3 ( G , U T ( 1 ) ) . This element ω ∈ H 3 ( G , U T ( 1 ) ) can be interpreted as either a label for the bulk 2D SPT phase or a label for the anomaly carried by the SPT edge theory. The basic idea behind our approach is to compute the F symbol associated with domain walls in a symmetry-broken edge theory; this domain-wall F symbol is precisely the anomaly we wish to compute. We demonstrate our approach with several SPT edge theories, including both lattice models and continuum field theories.
Electronic structure of high-k transition-metal and rare-earth gate dielectrics for aggressively-scaled silicon devices

The transition from thermally-grown SiO/sub 2/ to alternative gate dielectrics is proceeding in two steps, initially to Si oxynitride alloys, and then high-k dielectrics. The author defines a classification scheme based on Pauling bond-ionicity that defines three different amorphous morphologies for non-crystallization gate oxide gate dielectric materials. This approach to local bonding identifies an important relationship between oxygen atom bonding coordination and i) dielectric constant, ii) stability against chemical phase separation and crystallization, and iii) stability against hydrophobic chemical degradation. A molecular orbital ab initio approach for obtaining the local electronic structure at T-M and R-E earth atoms that bond to O-atoms of the elemental or alloy oxide is described. This approach generates a universal energy band scheme that is applicable to non-crystalline as well as crystalline dielectrics. The results of these calculations are compared with local density function (LDF) calculations employing the local density approximation (LDA). The agreement between these two different methods confirms that the lowest band-gap for T-M and R-E oxides and oxide alloys are determined by the atomic energy states of the T-M or R-E atom, and its immediate O-atom neighbors, yielding important scaling relations for band-gaps and band-offset energies. The results of spectroscopic studies of transition metal oxides, silicates and aluminates are presented. These results establish the validity of the electronic structure calculations and provide a basis for interpretation of electrical data on device structures. Device performance issues are addressed, and the relationship between electronic structure and ultimate performance limitations of the high-k gate dielectrics in aggressively-scaled silicon devices is discussed.
Conversion of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate to androst-5-enediol-3-sulfate by soluble extracts of rat testis

Abstract 3H-Androst-5-ene-17-one-3β-y1 sulfate is converted to 3H-androst-5-ene-17β-o1-3β-y1 sulfate by soluble extracts of rat testis in the presence of added NADH2 or NADPH2.The conversion was approximately 4 times greater than the conversion of 3H-androst-5-ene-17-one-3β-o1 to 3H-androst-5-ene-3β, 17β-diol under similar incubation conditions. The same extracts converted 3H-androst-5-ene-17-one-3β-o1 to 3H-androst-5-ene-17-one-3β-y1 sulfate in the presence of added ATP and Mg++.
Opportunities for materials modeling in microelectronics: Programmed rate chemical vapor deposition

Two case studies are presented in order to highlight the status of materials modeling in semiconductor materials processing, as well as some opportunities in the area. Both case studies involve programmed rate chemical vapor deposition (PRCVD), which is a CVD process in which conditions are systematically changed during deposition in order to enhance either processing properties or resulting film properties. In the tungsten study, quantitative simulations, based on fundamental transport and reaction modeling and a continuum film representation, are used to guide experiments that demonstrate how PRCVD can provide significantly greater throughput than conventional, constant rate CVD (CRCVD). We start the deposition process at a much higher temperature, compared to a CRCVD process, then decrease the temperature during deposition. We achieve throughput increases of about a factor of three, with more improvement clearly obtainable. In addition to the increase in throughput, the properties of the PRCVD films are equal to, or superior to, CRCVD films. The aluminum PRCVD case study demonstrates some opportunities for materials modeling. The protocols used are based upon qualitative models of nucleation and film growth, as there are no simulators that predict microstructure and film properties. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that the PRCVD processes, designed using qualitative models, can yield films with better properties than CRCVD processes. PRCVD films can have higher nuclei densities, higher fractions of (111) orientated Al, lower surface roughnesses, higher reflectivities, and resistivities closer to that of bulk aluminum. In general, PRCVD protocols provide degrees of freedom that can be used to improve processing or film properties. PRCVD may become much more important as films get thinner and interfaces become more important.
Tryptophan Transport in Neurospora crassa I. Specificity and Kinetics

Abstract Wiley, W. R. (Battelle Memorial Institute, Richland, Wash.), and W. H. Matchett. Tryptophan transport in Neurospora crassa. I. Specificity and kinetics. J. Bacteriol. 92:1698–1705. 1966.—The transport of tryptophan in Neurospora crassa is mediated by a distinct stereospecific system which is chemically specific for a family of neutral amino acids. The process shows typical saturation kinetics and a sharp decrease in the rate of tryptophan uptake at low temperatures. The Q10 for the process is approximately 2 between 20 and 30 C. The apparent Km for uptake is 5 × 10−5m. Leucine and phenylalanine competitively inhibit the rate of tryptophan transport; the Ki values are 1.1 × 10−4m and 4.0 × 10−5m, respectively. These data are interpreted as evidence that these amino acids are transported by the same transport site(s). Inhibition studies with amino acids and other compounds structurally related to leucine and phenylalanine suggest that an uncharged side chain and an α amino group, next to a carboxyl, represent three attachment points for the uptake site.
Hamilton Circuits in Graphs and Directed Graphs

We give polynomial-time algorithms for obtaining hamilton circuits in random graphs, G, and random directed graphs, D. If n is finite, we assume that G or D contains a hamilton circuit. If G is an arbitrary graph containing a hamilton circuit, we conjecture that Algorithm G always obtains a hamilton circuit in polynomial time.
The Role of TCA Cycle Anaplerosis in Ketosis and Fatty Liver in Periparturient Dairy Cows

The transition to lactation period in dairy cattle is characterized by metabolic challenges, negative energy balance, and adipose tissue mobilization. Metabolism of mobilized adipose tissue is part of the adaptive response to negative energy balance in dairy cattle; however, the capacity of the liver to completely oxidize nonesterified fatty acids may be limited and is reflective of oxaloacetate pool, the carbon carrier of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Alternative metabolic fates of acetyl-CoA from nonesterified fatty acids include esterification to triacylglycerides and ketogenesis, and when excessive, these pathways lead to fatty liver and ketosis. Examination of the anaplerotic and cataplerotic pull of oxaloacetate by the tricarboxylic acid cycle and gluconeogenesis may provide insight into the balance of oxidation and esterification of acetyl-CoA within the liver of periparturient dairy cows.
The zebrafish midblastula transition

The zebrafish midblastula transition (MBT) begins at cycle 10. It is characterized by cell cycle lengthening, loss of cell synchrony, activation of transcription and appearance of cell motility. Superceding a 15 minute oscillator that controls the first nine cycles, the nucleocytoplasmic ratio appears to govern the MBT. This timing mechanism operates cell autonomously: clones of labeled cells initiate cell cycle lengthening independently of neighbors but dependent on immediate lineal ancestors. Unequal divisions, when they occur, produce asymmetric cell cycle lengthening based on the volume of each daughter. During the several cycles after the MBT begins, cycle length is correlated with the reciprocal of the blastomere volume, suggesting a continuation of cell cycle regulation by the nucleocytoplasmic ratio during an interval that we term the 'MBT period'.
Kernel Inspired Factorizations of Partial Differential Operators

Abstract It is elementary to factor an ordinary differential operator given a nonzero function in its kernel. Here a higherdimensional generalization of this fact is developed and utilized to determine nontrivial factorizations of constant coefficient partial differential operators. Through Darboux transformations, this result is applied to the solution of linear partial differential equations, commutativity, quantum integrability and the “bispectral problem.”
Same-Sex Marriage and the 2004 Presidential Election

Immediately after the 2004 election, with overwhelming majorities in 13 states voting to amend their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage and exit polls showing large numbers saying “moral values” were the most important determinant of their vote, many analysts emphasized religious and cultural divides in the electorate and the importance of the religious right and same-sex marriage in motivating President George W. Bush's base to get out and vote (e.g., Chinni 2004; Cooperman and Edsall 2004; Dao 2004; Manly 2004; McGough 2004; Testa 2004). With more analysis, the consensus seems to have shifted to an emphasis on incumbency, terrorism, and perceptions of character. Both voter turnout and support for Bush rose across a wide array of groups; evangelical Protestants and voters in states with same-sex marriage amendments on the ballot did not disproportionately increase their numbers or their preference for Bush; white women, married women, and Latinos may have played a bigger role in the shift toward Bush (e.g., Abramowitz 2004; Burden 2004; Freedman 2004; Nordhaus 2004; Sherrill 2004; Signorile 2004).
MO-A-BRB-01: Planning, QA, and the Role of Imaging of Localization for Pelvis Treatments

In the United States, it is estimated that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate, and 1 in 39 women will be diagnosed with cancer of the corpus and uterus, NOS, during their lifetime based on SEER Incidence rates from 2005–2007. Whether the medical physicist is employed in a stand‐alone, private clinic or in a large, multi‐disciplinary academic center, pelvic irradiation is one of the most common therapies offered. The intent of this talk is to provide material to further the medical physicist's understanding of the planning, QA, and role of imaging of localization for pelvis treatments. Target and avoidance structures and different treatment plans for external beam modalities will be presented. Discussion of quality assurance will include the patient‐specific treatment plan as well as patient‐specific treatment delivery. A few treatment machine and imaging specific quality assurance tests will be highlighted. Lastly, imaging techniques for patient setup, localization and re‐planning will be discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. Treatment plans for male and female pelvic sites 2. General and patient‐specific quality assurance for pelvis treatments 3. Use of imaging for pelvic localization
Radiation oncology medical student clerkship: Implementation and evaluation of a Bi-institutional pilot curriculum

Purpose To develop and evaluate a structured didactic curriculum to complement clinical experiences during radiation oncology clerkships at 2 academic medical centers. Methods and Materials A structured didactic curriculum was developed to teach fundamentals of radiation oncology and improve confidence in clinical competence. Curriculum lectures included: ( 1 ) an overview of radiation oncology (history, types of treatments, and basic clinic flow); ( 2 ) fundamentals of radiation biology and physics; and ( 3 ) practical aspects of radiation treatment simulation and planning. In addition, a hands-on dosimetry session taught students fundamentals of treatment planning. The curriculum was implemented at 2 academic departments in 2012. Students completed anonymous evaluations using a Likert scale to rate the usefulness of curriculum components (1 = not at all, 5 = extremely). Likert scores are reported as (median [interquartile range]). Results Eighteen students completed the curriculum during their 4-week rotation (University of Chicago n=13, Harvard Longwood Campus n=5). All curriculum components were rated as extremely useful: introduction to radiation oncology (5 [4-5]); radiation biology and physics (5 [5-5]); practical aspects of radiation oncology (5 [4-5]); and the treatment planning session (5 [5-5]). Students rated the curriculum as "quite useful" to "extremely useful" ( 1 ) to help students understand radiation oncology as a specialty; ( 2 ) to increase student comfort with their specialty decision; and ( 3 ) to help students with their future transition to a radiation oncology residency. Conclusions A standardized curriculum for medical students completing a 4-week radiation oncology clerkship was successfully implemented at 2 institutions. The curriculum was favorably reviewed. As a result of completing the curriculum, medical students felt more comfortable with their specialty decision and better prepared to begin radiation oncology residency.
Current status of therapeutic apheresis in rheumatoid arthritis.

Evidence developed over the years has suggested that lymphocyte depletion and removal of plasma factors can ameliorate rheumatoid arthritis. In our studies of 40 patients, a subset of patients that respond best to 20 therapeutic lymphaplasmapheresis over 11 weeks has emerged. These are functional Class III patients with seropositive, erosive progressive disease who have little deformity. They must be on long-acting agents or cytotoxic drugs during pheresis to prevent antibody rebound. Other studies have since confirmed our work. The major side effects of pheresis are elucidated. Technologic developments will enable selective pheresis procedures to be in widespread use within a few years.
Reliability of Pass and Fail Decisions on Tests Employing Cut Scores

The study evaluated the reliability of pass and fail classifications for several teacher certification tests. Since these tests are used in the context of a cut score to classify examinees as pass and fail, evaluating the accuracy and consistency of these classifications is important. The classification accuracy and consistency statistics were estimated using the RELCLASS software. Results indicated the following. (1) The 29 teacher certification tests that were examined had a relatively high classification accuracy (0.827 to 0.999) and consistency (0.760 to 0.999). (2) Both classification accuracy and consistency increased as the difference between the mean and cut score increased. (3) Classification accuracy and consistency was higher for multiple-choice (MC) as compared to tests consisting of only constructed-response (CR) items or a combination of CR and MC items.
Surface-Induced Transients in Gallium Nitride Nanowires

Traps responsible for gate-induced current transients and rate-dependent transport properties in gallium nitride nanowire field-effect transistors have been investigated. Our results suggest these traps are acceptor states located ∼0.85 eV above the valence band and are at or near the nanowire surface. Deposition of a 40 nm SiNx passivation layer reduces trap density by a factor of ∼4 resulting in a lower limit estimate of surface state density of 1.2 × 1011 cm−2/eV.
Determining the Origin of Ultrahigh-Pressure Lherzolites

The occurrence of coesite and diamond in regional ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks requires that rocks formed at pressures of 3 to 4 GPa (100 to 120 km below the Earth's surface) have been transported back to the surface ([1][1]). L. Dobrzhinetskaya et al . suggest that garnet lherzolite from
Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A–B, A–D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A–B, A–B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A–B, C–D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A–B, A–D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information.