cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electroweak phase transition and baryogenesis.

We give an analytic treatment of the one-Higgs-doublet, electroweak phase transition which demonstrates that the phase transition is first order. The phase transition occurs by the nucleation of thin-walled bubbles and completes as a temperature where the order parameter 〈\ensuremath{\varphi}${\mathrm{〉}}_{\mathit{T}}$ is significantly smaller than it is when the origin becomes absolutely unstable. The rate of anomalous baryon-number violation is an exponentially sensitive function of 〈\ensuremath{\varphi}${\mathrm{〉}}_{\mathit{T}}$. In very minimal extensions of the standard model it is quite easy to increase 〈\ensuremath{\varphi}${\mathrm{〉}}_{\mathit{T}}$ so that anomalous baryon-number violation is suppressed after the completion of the phase transition. Hence, baryogenesis at the electroweak phase transition is tenable in minimal extensions of the standard model with one Higgs doublet.
Preparation for Progress in the Reading Process

Dr. Lumpkin cites research to support his recommendation of an eclectic approach to the teaching of reading, and he explores various facets of an effective reading program.
Topical delivery of erythromycin from various formulations: An in vivo hairless mouse study

Topical products containing erythromycin, a macrolide antibiotic with poor aqueous solubility, are usually formulated as high alcohol content solutions or gels. In this study, we evaluated the deposition of erythromycin base into various strata of hairless mouse skin following topical in vivo application from various low- and nonalcoholic formulations. The formulations tested included a nonionic liposomal formulation composed of glyceryl dilaurate, cholesterol, and polyoxyeth-ylene-10-stearyl ether at a weight ratio of 57:15:28, two nonionic oil-in-water (o/w) liposomal emulsions containing isopropyl myristate or light mineral oil as the oil phase, a conventional o/w emulsion, a 40% hydroalcoholic solution, and two commercially available topical products. Eight hours after topical administration of these formulations, the efficiency of uptake of erythromycin into the living skin strata was in the order: liposomal isopropyl myristate emulsion ≫ liposomal mineral oil emulsion ≫ nonionic liposomes ∼ Emgel ∼ Theramycin-Z ≫ conventional emulsion ≫ hydroalcoholic solution. Alcohol-free liposomal systems are shown to be as efficient as high alcohol content products in facilitating permeation of erythromycin through the stratum corneum into living skin tissue.
A substrate‐induced growth‐response method for estimating the biomass of microbial functional groups in soil and aquatic systems

A substrate-induced growth-response (SIGR) method is presented for estimating the biomass or density of microorganisms capable of carrying out specific metabolic functions in natural and human-made systems. The biomass of active organisms can be estimated based on the concentration of substrate needed to induce the growth of the standing population. Curves of substrate mineralization or depletion are used as indirect indicators of growth. Estimates of population size are obtained by using non-linear regression techniques to fit simple models, that contain biologically relevant parameters, to the substrate mineralization curves. In the present study, the SIGR method was used to estimate the numbers of organisms capable of mineralizing 2,4-dinitrophenol in soil and in a model waste-treatment system. The SIGR approach was tested by comparison of model estimates to estimates for the same parameters obtained by independent means.
Effects of melt reprocessing on volatile emissions and structural/rheological changes of unstabilized polypropylene

Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during multiple melt reprocessing of polypropylene (PP) was studied in this research. An unstabilized commercial grade polypropylene (PP) was processed several times by injection molding to simulate multiple recycling. After each cycle, the PP was non-isothermally heated in a reactor, and the total VOCs emissions were monitored using a flame ionization detector (FID). Cumulative VOCs emissions versus cycle number showed an almost linear relationship. Corresponding structural changes were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, and the results were correlated with rheological properties via melt flow index measurement. The data showed a decrease in viscosity, particularly after the 7th processing cycle. A simulation study was performed by multiple heating and cooling of a single PP sample under static conditions, and in different gaseous (nitrogen, oxygen, air) atmospheres. The results indicate that the actual reprocessing conditions generate emissions whose levels, and the rate of generation are closer to mild thermooxidative degradation rather than a pure thermal degradation.
Time-multiplexing CNN simulator

A novel approach to simulate Cellular Neural Networks (CNN) is presented in this paper. The approach, time-multiplexing simulation, is prompted by the need to simulate hardware models and test hardware implementations of CNN. For practical size applications, due to hardware limitations, it is impossible to have a one-on-one mapping between the CNN hardware processors and all the pixels of the image. This simulator provides a solution by processing the input image block by block, with the number of pixels in a block being the same as the number of CNN processors in the hardware. The algorithm for implementing this simulator is also presented, along with some simulation results and comparisons. >
The People's Courts: Pursuing Judicial Independence in America. By Jed Handelsman Shugerman. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012. Pp. 381. $35.00.)

In this impressive piece of work, the author examines the history of popularly elected courts in the United States. The book is sweeping, covering debates over judicial organization and selection f...
Maximum MIMO system mutual information with antenna selection and interference

Maximum system mutual information is considered for a group of interfering users employing single user detection and antenna selection of multiple transmit and receive antennas for flat Rayleigh fading channels with independent fading coefficients for each path. In the case considered, the only feedback of channel state information to the transmitter is that required for antenna selection, but channel state information is assumed at the receiver. The focus is on extreme cases with very weak interference or very strong interference. It is shown that the optimum signaling covariance matrix is sometimes different from the standard scaled identity matrix. In fact, this is true even for cases without interference if SNR is sufficiently weak. Further, the scaled identity matrix is actually that covariance matrix that yields worst performance if the interference is sufficiently strong.
Language and Compiler Support for Adaptive Applications

There exist many application classes for which the users have significant flexibility in the quality of output they desire. At the same time, there are other constraints, such as the need for real-time response or limit on the consumption of certain resources, which are more crucial. This paper provides a combined language/compiler and runtime solution for supporting adaptive execution of these applications, i.e., to allow them to achieve the best precision while still meeting the specified constraint at runtime. The key idea in our language extensions is to have the programmers specify adaptation parameters, i.e, the parameters whose values can be varied within a certain range. A program analysis algorithm states the execution time of an application component as a function of the values of the adaptation parameters and other runtime constants. These constants are determined by initial runs of the application in the target environment. We integrate this work with our previous work on supporting coarse-grained pipelined parallelism, and thus support adaptive execution for data-intensive applications in a distributed environment. Our experimental results on three applications have shown that our combined compile-time/runtime model can predict the execution times quite well, and therefore, support adaptation to meet a variety of constraints.
Discovery and Barcoding by Analysis of Spliced Leader RNA Gene Sequences of New Isolates of Trypanosomatidae from Heteroptera in Costa Rica and Ecuador

Trypanosomatid diversity in Heteroptera was sampled using a culture-independent approach based on amplification and sequencing of Spliced Leader RNA gene repeats from environmental samples. By combining the data collected herein with that of previous work, the prevalence of parasites was found to be 22%-23%. Out of approximately 170 host species investigated nearly 60 were found to harbor trypanosomatids. The parasites found were grouped by cluster analysis into 48 typing units. Most of these were well separated from the known groups and, therefore, likely represent new trypanosomatid species. The sequences for each typing unit serve as barcodes to facilitate their recognition in the future. As the sampled host species represent a minor fraction of potential hosts, the entire trypanosomatid diversity is far greater than described thus far. Investigations of trypanosomatid diversity, host-specificity, and biogeography have become feasible using the approach described herein.
Grüneisen analysis of thermodynamic properties of δ-phase Pu–Ga alloys

We present a Gruneisen analysis of the intriguing temperature dependence of the thermal expansion and bulk modulus of delta phase plutonium alloys. This analysis exploits the thermodynamic relationship between these quantities and the heat capacity and reduces the description of complicated behaviour to the determination of a manageable number of numerical constants. We conclude from the analysis (1) that there is a small Schottky-like heat capacity anomaly at high temperatures and (2) that the size of this anomaly depends strongly on alloy concentration. Gruneisen analysis provides an economical description of the thermal expansion and bulk modulus of δ-Pu.
Achieving Environmental and Productivity Improvements Through Model-Based Process Redesign

Large-scale industrial production processes face increasingly tight environmental constraints, which can be addressed through costly but relatively simple end-of-pipe solutions, or through cheaper but more subtle pollution prevention approaches. Achieving the process improvements necessary for pollution prevention is challenging due to the inherent complexity and unpredictability of several types of processes found in the food processing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and specialty chemical industries. We propose an iterative procedure to achieve process improvements through model-based process redesign. This procedure is based on successive convex approximations of the process performance model, where product flows and process settings are optimized for a given configuration and the solution and dual variables of this optimization problem are used to update the process configuration following a greedy capacity reallocation procedure. We implemented this procedure over a five-year period at Cerestar, a major European producer of starch products, which led to a dramatic simplification in process configuration. Reduced energy and water consumption led to an estimated $3 million annual cost savings. Moreover, the reduction in environmental impacts allowed Cerestar to maintain current production levels without investing $100 million in additional wastewater treatment capacity to comply with new environmental constraints.
Management of the metabolic syndrome in patients with human immunodeficiency virus.

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are an increasing subpopulation of patients seen in endocrine/ diabetes clinics. This article explores evidence-based treatment recommendations for patients with metabolic syndrome who are also positive for HIV. Patients infected with HIV may manifest metabolic abnormalities. They often present with low high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), hypertension, visceral adiposity, and insulin resistance, among other symptoms consistent with features of the metabolic syndrome. The etiologies of the metabolic abnormalities are not completely understood. The role of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and the separate effect of HIV on patients who are surviving longer may contribute to the increased incidence of the development of the metabolic syndrome. The role of the health care team is to provide patient education to patients with HIV concerning lifestyle modification in order to prevent complications related to the metabolic syndrome.
Fear of missing a lesion: use of simulated breast models to decrease student anxiety when learning clinical breast examinations

Abstract Background Medical students experience a considerable amount of discomfort during their training. The purpose of the current study was to identify sources of student anxiety when learning clinical breast examinations (CBEs) and to evaluate the effects of simulated breast models on student comfort. Methods Simulated breast models were introduced into the curriculum for 175 second-year medical students. Using surveys, students identified sources of anxiety and rated their comfort levels when learning CBE skills. Results "Fear of missing a lesion" and the "Intimate/personal nature of the exam" accounted for 73.8% of student anxiety when learning CBEs. In addition, there were significant improvements ( P Conclusions We have identified 2 of the top causes of anxiety for second-year medical students learning CBE. In addition, we found simulated breast models to be effective in increasing student comfort levels when learning CBEs.
Optimal Efficiency Control of an Induction Motor Drive

This paper describes a practical method for achieving optimal efficiency over the complete operating range of a variable speed drive. The proposed system adaptively adjusts the flux level in the motor based upon a direct measurement of the power input to the drive. An internal field orientation torque control loop and a speed regulator are employed to maintain the load speed requirements. Experimental results describing the efficiency optimization and the dynamic behavior of the drive at reduced flux are presented. The influence of the tuning of the field oriented controller on the efficiency of the drive is experimentally investigated.
The tumor suppressor microRNA let-7 represses the HMGA2 oncogene

HMGA2, a high-mobility group protein, is oncogenic in a variety of tumors, including benign mesenchymal tumors and lung cancers. Knockdown of Dicer in HeLa cells revealed that the HMGA2 gene is transcriptionally active, but its mRNA is destabilized in the cytoplasm through the microRNA (miRNA) pathway. HMGA2 was derepressed upon inhibition of let-7 in cells with high levels of the miRNA. Ectopic expression of let-7 reduced HMGA2 and cell proliferation in a lung cancer cell. The effect of let-7 on HMGA2 was dependent on multiple target sites in the 3' untranslated region (UTR), and the growth-suppressive effect of let-7 on lung cancer cells was rescued by overexpression of the HMGA2 ORF without a 3'UTR. Our results provide a novel example of suppression of an oncogene by a tumor-suppressive miRNA and suggest that some tumors activate the oncogene through chromosomal translocations that eliminate the oncogene's 3'UTR with the let-7 target sites.
Using Social-Impact Borrowing to Expand Preschool-to-Third Grade Programs in Urban Schools

Budget constraints and difficulty raising taxes limit school districts from expanding education programming even when research shows that additional expenditures would generate economic benefits that are greater than costs. Recently, coalitions of private investors, philanthropists, education practitioners, and government finance analysts have emerged to create opportunities to expand education services that promise high rates of social net benefits without raising taxes or reducing other expenditures. These collaborators have a strong interest in obtaining careful estimates of educational program effectiveness. We describe the use of social-impact borrowing to increase access to the Child-Parent Center preschool-through-third-grade intervention for at-risk students in the Chicago Public School District. The partners include the city, school district, investors, nonprofit organizations, and a university. The key to the feasibility of social-impact borrowing is the ability to document that early intervention can reduce the need for later special-education services. With the help of private investors and nonprofit organizations, it is possible for public school districts to finance services with funds from private sources and use future cost savings to repay this debt. We discuss how social-impact borrowing is being used in Chicago and in Salt Lake County as the nation's first two instances of using pay-for-performance social-impact borrowing to support early education.
Complications and oncologic outcomes following elective neck dissection with salvage laryngectomy for the N0 neck

Abstract Purpose To investigate the difference in survival and complication outcomes between patients with a clinically and radiologically N0 neck who received an elective neck dissection at the time of salvage total laryngectomy compared to those who had salvage total laryngectomy alone. Materials and methods A retrospective chart review was performed on 125 salvage total laryngectomy patients who were clinically and radiologically N0 preoperatively. Performance of an elective neck dissection and other factors were tested for associations with various postoperative complications, disease-free survival, and overall survival. Results Ninety-eight patients underwent elective neck dissection, of which ten had positive nodal pathology. Elective neck dissection was not significantly associated with complications or survival outcomes. Positive nodal disease was associated with worse disease-free and overall survival on multivariate analysis. Conclusions In patients with clinically and radiologically N0 necks undergoing salvage total laryngectomy, an elective neck dissection can provide prognostic information but does not appear to be significantly associated with increased complications or improved survival.
Effect of hycanthone, niridazole, and antimony tartrate on schistosome motility

The use of a photoactivated, computerized monitor of schistosome motility is described. The effect of antimony tartrate, niridazole, and hycanthone on parasite activity in vitro has been determined. This effect was measured both directly and following stimulation with serotonin. It was found that accurate dose response curves to three common anti-schistosome drugs could be obtained. These show that antimony tartrate and niridazole suppress worm motility at doses from 10-3 to 10-5 M concentration. Hycanthone decreases worm activity at high dosage (10-3 to 10-4 M) but has a strongly stimulatory effect at 10-5 to 10-7 M concentration. The possibility that hycanthone acts by virtue of serotoninergic or anticholinergic functions is discussed.
Meanderings in the Bush. Natural History Explorations in Outback Australia

R. E. MacMillen, B. J. MacMillen. 2007. Meanderings in the Bush. Natural History Explorations in Outback Australia. Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana, 233 pp. ISBN 978-159858-383-0, price (paper), $15.95. Although Charles Darwin, strangely, showed little personal fondness for the small southern continent, many later naturalists have grown to love the remarkable natural history and people of Australia. Such an enthusiast is Richard E. (Dick) MacMillen, whose career-long fascination with the land, animals, and culture of Australia resulted in a personal story and a perspective that he is now sharing in the form of a book, produced with the assistance of his wife Barbara. Richard MacMillen's research and early scientific publications explored the energy and water relations of various mammals, birds, reptiles, and even semiterrestrial crabs in Australia's arid zone. The limitations imposed by the scarcity and unpredictability of food and water resources in this vast environment represent an attractive research theme for an ecophysiologist such as Dick MacMillen. His book, based on several decades of travel and work in Australia, shows an appreciation for the land, its history, and its fate. The spectacular news that Australian desert rodents derived from a Miocene lineage of the Muridae have evolved physiological and morphological …
Panels chairs

Every year so far, COMSNETS has featured heavily anticipated and well-attended panel discussions from thought leaders in industry and academia on a variety of important topics in networked systems. Continuing this tradition, this year we have three panels on diverse topics of broad interest to be held on different days of the main conference program. We hope attendees will find these panels interesting and inspiring.
Quantitative Sampling of Aquatic Insects in a Shallow-Water Habitat

In our ecological studies of mosquitoes associated with California ricefields, the dipping technique has been used to determine the relative density of the larval population. However, in most instances insects other than mosquitoes were not collected in sufficient quantity by this method to obtain information on their relative seasonal abundance. Other methods, including the use of an apron net and plankton tow net, were tried but were not successful.
The Multidisciplinary Management of Early-Stage Thoracic Esophageal Cancer

The participation and recommendations from specialists in gastroenterology, radiology, pathology, surgical oncology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology aid in the diagnostic and treatment recommendations for patients with early-stage thoracic esophageal cancer. Combined modality therapy is an effective approach in the management of patients with early-stage thoracic esophageal cancers as established by several large multi-institutional trials. Treatment strategies have evolved from single modality treatment (surgical resection or radiation therapy alone) to now include multimodality therapies consisting of preoperative chemoradiation, definitive chemoradiation therapy, postoperative chemoradiation therapy, and perioperative chemotherapy. Despite advances in staging and management, 5-year survival remains near 30 % for patients with early localized disease. Here we discuss the background literature and evidence-based approaches for the multidisciplinary management of early-stage thoracic esophageal cancer.
Temperature measurement in the adult emergency department: oral, tympanic membrane and temporal artery temperatures versus rectal temperature

Objective The objective was to compare agreement between three non-invasive measures of temperature and rectal temperatures and to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of these measures to detect a rectal temperature of 38°C or higher. Methods We conducted a study of the diagnostic accuracy of oral, tympanic membrane (TM) and temporal artery (TA) thermometry to measure fever in an urban emergency department (ED). Data were collected from adult patients who received rectal temperature measurement. Bland-Altman analysis was performed; sensitivity, specificity and 95% CIs were calculated. Results 987 patients were enrolled. 36% of the TM and TA readings differed by 0.5°C or more from rectal temperatures, 50% of oral temperatures. TM measures were most precise—the SD of the difference from rectal was 0.4°C TM, and 0.6°C for oral and TA (p Conclusions None of the non-invasive methods met benchmarks for diagnostic accuracy using the criterion of 38°C to detect rectal temperature of 38°C. A TM cutpoint of 37.5°C provides maximum diagnostic accuracy of the three non-invasive measures.
Conclusions: More is Not Always Better, Better is Knowing What is More

After a full journey through the SPF universe, the essential point of our argument should be clear. If you look closely enough, there are easily distinguishable differences in the environments within which firms manage their knowledge assets. Any strategist will tell you that the best course of action is heavily dependent on circumstances. That could go double or triple for knowledge development, knowledge protection, and competitive knowledge acquisition.
Optical Link Budgets

This chapter will examine the technical requirements for designing fiber optic data communication systems. We begin with an introduction to basic link budget design techniques, suitable for practitioners such as network designers, followed by a more detailed review of optical link design considerations. Optical link design concepts discussed include transmitter output power, receiver sensitivity, and properties of optical connectors, couplers, and splices. Figures of merit including bit error rate and signal-to-noise ratio are defined. Both worst case and statistical techniques are presented, including test and validation methods for the completed link. Optical power penalties are discussed, including dispersion (modal and chromatic), intersymbol interference, mode partition noise, mode hopping, extinction ratio, relative intensity noise, multipath interference, wavelength-dependent attenuation, bending loss, timing jitter, radiation-induced darkening, modal noise, and stimulated Raman and Brillouin scattering.
Choosing between responsive-design websites versus mobile apps for your mobile behavioral intervention: presenting four case studies

Both mobile apps and responsive-design websites (web apps) can be used to deliver mobile health (mHealth) interventions, but it can be difficult to discern which to use in research. The goal of this paper is to present four case studies from behavioral interventions that developed either a mobile app or a web app for research and present an information table to help researchers determine which mobile option would work best for them. Four behavioral intervention case studies (two developed a mobile app, and two developed a web app) presented include time, cost, and expertise. Considerations for adopting a mobile app or a web app-such as time, cost, access to programmers, data collection, security needs, and intervention components- are presented. Future studies will likely integrate both mobile app and web app modalities. The considerations presented here can help guide researchers on which platforms to choose prior to starting an mHealth intervention.
Successful treatment of a patient with statin-induced myopathy and myotonic dystrophy type II with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor, alirocumab (Praluent)

Presently there are limited treatment options for hypercholesterolemia in patients with statin intolerance and myotonic dystrophy. A 74 year-old male presented to endocrine clinic with hypercholesterolemia (serum LDL-C 210 mg/dL), hypogonadism, insulin-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, and minimally elevated serum creatine kinase (CK) levels (184 U/L, ref. range 38-174). Shortly after simvastatin treatment, patient developed severe myalgias in the proximal lower and upper extremities; and serum CK increased to 317 U/L. Subsequently patient was treated with various statins including rosuvastatin with similar outcomes. Patient was also treated with bile acid binding resin and ezetimibe without improvement. At this time, a diagnosis of myotonic dystrophy type 2 was confirmed. Patient was then treated with alirocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor 75 mg subcutaneously every 2 weeks with significant improvement in LDL-C (90 mg/dL) and myalgias. In conclusion, PCSK9 inhibitors such as alirocumab may be an excellent lipid lowering agent in patients with statin intolerance and myotonic dystrophy.
Reclaiming the “Third Sector” from “Civil Society”: A New Agenda for Development Studies

Civil society is one of the most widely used—and widely maligned—concepts in development studies. In this paper, we argue that much confusion regarding civil society stems from the omnibus nature of its conceptualization. We consider civil society to be an omnibus concept because it has been imbued with several distinct meanings—a normative meaning (civil society as civilized), a functional meaning (civil society as democratizing), and a structural meaning (civil society as a third sector). Using the example of humanitarian NGOs, we demonstrate how the omnibus nature of civil society resists systematization and requires scholars to make problematic assumptions when designing empirical research. As a solution, we propose replacing “civil society” in empirical research with the structural “third-sector” concept. This move narrows the gap between the actors that scholars study and the theoretical construct that they are supposed to represent; it brings the third sector into conceptual alignment with our understanding of the first and second sectors (the market and the state); and it improves our efforts to compare findings across cases and build generalized theories. It also enables scholars to consider questions of power, resources, and influence when studying development NGOs—questions that are difficult to ask when notions of “civil society” are defined as actors that understand, represent, and advocate on behalf of their “constituents.” We conclude that “civil society” as a concept should be maintained for theoretical analyses of what makes society civil but that empirical studies of development are best served by a third-sector approach.
Object Recognition in Cortex: Neural Mechanisms, and Possible Roles for Attention

The primate visual system can rapidly and with great accuracy recognize a large number of diverse objects in cluttered scenes under widely varying viewing conditions. Recent data (Thorpe et al., 1996; Li et al., 2002) have suggested that complex object recognition tasks can be performed in one feedforward pass without the need for attention, providing strong constraints for models of object recognition in cortex. I will review a “Standard Model” that is an extension of the original model of simple and complex cells of Hubel and Wiesel. Despite its simplicity, this feedforward model can already explain a number of experimental findings, and has been shown to be able to perform object detection in natural images. Moreover, the model can be extended in a straightforward way to investigate how “top-down” attention can modulate “bottom-up” processing to improve its performance. This leads to constraints on the scenarios in which attention can aid object recognition, and to experimental predictions on how attention and feedforward processing might interact.
Mixed Effects Logistic Model to Address Demographics and Neighborhood Environment on Pedestrian Injury Severity

This paper examines the effects of demographics and neighborhood environment on pedestrian injury severity to inform proactive countermeasures for improving pedestrian safety. A mixed effects logistic model addressing unobserved heterogeneity was developed from 3,948 pedestrian-involved crashes that occurred in Florida from 2011 to 2014. Six normally distributed random parameters were identified to reflect random effects on the pedestrian injury severity. The heterogeneity of two demographic factors (older and male pedestrians) suggested the need for more customized education programs to improve pedestrian safety awareness and knowledge, especially for older pedestrians. Relative to low-income areas, 67.7% of pedestrians involved in crashes in higher-income areas were less likely to sustain severe injury. Analysis of sample data also indicated that low-income areas tended to have had more unsafe behaviors by pedestrians related to higher injury severity (e.g., crossing at dark in unlighted areas). Higher-...
The probability of indolent versus aggressive histology based on renal tumor size: Implications for surveillance and treatment.

704Background: While the probability of benign versus malignant histology based on renal tumor size has been described, this alone does not sufficiently inform decision-making in the modern era since indolent malignant tumors can be surveilled. Thus, we sought to characterize the probability of indolent versus aggressive histology based on radiographic tumor size. Methods: We evaluated patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy at Mayo Clinic for a pT1-2, pNx/0, M0 solid renal tumor between 1990-2010. Pathology was reviewed by one genitourinary pathologist. Benign tumors, low grade (1-2) clear cell and papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and any chromophobe, clear cell papillary, mucinous tubular and spindle cell, SDH-B deficient, and tubulocystic RCC were considered indolent. All other histologies were considered aggressive, as were any malignancies with necrosis or sarcomatoid differentiation. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was estimated using the Kaplan Meier method. Logistic regression mo...
Development of a paper-based vertical flow SERS assay for citrulline detection using aptamer-conjugated gold nanoparticles

Research toward development of point-of-care (POC) technologies is emerging as a means for diagnosis and monitoring of patients outside the hospital. These POC devices typically utilize assays capable of detecting low level biomarkers indicative of specific diseases. L-citrulline, an α-amino acid produced in the intestinal mucosa cells, is one such biomarker typically found circulating within the plasma at physiological concentrations of ~40 μM. Researchers have found that intestinal enterocyte malfunction causes its level to be significantly lowered, establishing it as a potential diagnostic biomarker for gut function. Our research group has proposed the development of a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based assay, using vertical flow paper fluidics, for citrulline detection. The assay consists of a fluorescently active, Raman reporter labeled aptamer conjugated on gold nanoparticles. The aptamer changes its confirmation on binding to its target, which in turn changes the distance between the Raman active molecule and the nanoparticle surface. These particles were embedded within a portable chip consisting of cellulose-based paper. After the chips were loaded with different concentrations of free L-citrulline in phosphate buffer, time was given for the assay to interact with the sample. A handheld Raman spectrometer (638 nm; Ocean Optics) was used to measure the SERS intensity. Results showed decrease in intensity with increasing concentration of L-citrulline (0-50μM).
Normal tissue doses from MV image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) using orthogonal MV and MV-CBCT

Purpose The aim of this study was to measure and compare the mega-voltage imaging dose from the Halcyon medical linear accelerator (Varian Medical Systems) with measured imaging doses with the dose calculated by Eclipse treatment planning system. Methods An anthropomorphic thorax phantom was imaged using all imaging techniques available with the Halcyon linac - MV cone-beam computed tomography (MV-CBCT) and orthogonal anterior-posterior/lateral pairs (MV-MV), both with high-quality and low-dose modes. In total, 54 imaging technique, isocenter position, and field size combinations were evaluated. The imaging doses delivered to 11 points in the phantom (in-target and extra-target) were measured using an ion chamber, and compared with the imaging doses calculated using Eclipse. Results For high-quality MV-MV mode, the mean extra-target doses delivered to the heart, left lung, right lung and spine were 1.18, 1.64, 0.80, and 1.11 cGy per fraction, respectively. The corresponding mean in-target doses were 3.36, 3.72, 2.61, and 2.69 cGy per fraction, respectively. For MV-MV technique, the extra-target imaging dose had greater variation and dependency on imaging field size than did the in-target dose. Compared to MV-MV technique, the imaging dose from MV-CBCT was less sensitive to the location of the organ relative to the treatment field. For high-quality MV-CBCT mode, the mean imaging doses to the heart, left lung, right lung, and spine were 8.45, 7.16, 7.19, and 6.51 cGy per fraction, respectively. For both MV-MV and MV-CBCT techniques, the low-dose mode resulted in an imaging dose about half of that in high-quality mode. Conclusion The in-target doses due to MV imaging using the Halcyon ranged from 0.59 to 9.75 cGy, depending on the choice of imaging technique. Extra-target doses from MV-MV technique ranged from 0 to 2.54 cGy. The MV imaging dose was accurately calculated by Eclipse, with maximum differences less than 0.5% of a typical treatment dose (assuming a 60 Gy prescription). Therefore, the cumulative imaging and treatment plan dose distribution can be expected to accurately reflect the actual dose.
Flat Tax, Equity and Politics

We study a simple flat tax proposal that combines the federal income tax and the payroll tax. This tax reform may have a higher probability of political acceptance by treating the large middle income classes more favorably than other flat tax reform proposals. Our analysis compares the distribution of marginal and average tax rates across income groups for the current system, and two revenue neutral flat tax alternatives. Replacing the current federal income tax rate structure and the payroll tax with a flat 36 percent tax on personal and business income above a generous threshold offers significant tax relief for the lowest income classes, offers middle income earners lower average tax rates and spreads the burden of the present regressive payroll tax to the highest income classes.
New Anthracyclines — A Comparative Analysis of Efficacy and Toxicity

The anthracyclines doxorubicin and daunorubicin have been a mainstay for the treatment of hematologic and solid tumors for approximately twenty-five years. While daunorubicin has played a major role in the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemias (AML), doxorubicin has been a key component in the chemotherapy of Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL), breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, as well as a series of other solid tumors. Other than myelotoxicity, one of the major dose limiting side effects of the anthracyclines is cardiotoxicity. Since the mid-1970s, structurally similar compounds such as the anthracene-diones, and analogues of both daunorubicin and doxorubicin have been synthesized and a few of these compounds have been demonstrated to have improved therapeutic index and have been incorporated into primary and salvage therapy regimens for leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumors. This presentation gives a brief overview on the relative merits of the most commonly used new anthracyclines, idarubicin and epirubicin, as well as mitoxantrone, an anthracene-dione.
A New Modular Micro-inverter with Sinusoidal Output Voltage Using GaN Switches for PV Modules

A new Interconnected Modular Multilevel Converter (IMMC) for photovoltaic (PV) applications is proposed in this paper. The proposed IMMC is a high power density converter that produces a sinusoidal output voltage. The sinusoidal output voltage and high power density of the converter makes it suitable to be proposed as a micro-inverter for PV applications. The IMMC has the following advantages: low EMI; sinusoidal output voltage; low voltage GaN switches can be employed due to its multilevel structure. The proposed system is modular in construction employing high frequency L-C components. Simulation results of a single-phase grid-connected IMMC micro-inverter including the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) operation and grid-tie control. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed micro-inverter.
Characterizing land cover/land use from multiple years of Landsat and MODIS time series: A novel approach using land surface phenology modeling and random forest classifier

Abstract Over the last 20 years, substantial amounts of grassland have been converted to other land uses in the Northern Great Plains. Most of land cover/land use (LCLU) assessments in this region have been based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Cropland Data Layer (USDA - CDL), which may be inconsistent. Here, we demonstrate an approach to map land cover utilizing multi-temporal Earth Observation data from Landsat and MODIS. We first built an annual time series of accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) from MODIS 8-day composites of land surface temperatures. Using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) derived from Landsat Collection 1's surface reflectance, we then fit at each pixel a downward convex quadratic model to each year's progression of AGDD (i.e., EVI = α + β × AGDD − γ × AGDD2). Phenological metrics derived from fitted model and the goodness of fit then are submitted to a random forest classifier (RFC) to characterize LCLU for four sample counties in South Dakota in three years (2006, 2012, 2014) when reference point datasets are available for training and validation. To examine the sensitivity of the RFC to sample size and design, we performed classifications under different sample selection scenarios. The results indicate that our proposed method accurately mapped major crops in the study area but showed limited accuracy for non-vegetated land covers. Although all RFC models exhibit high accuracy, estimated land cover areas from alternative models could vary widely, suggesting the need for a careful examination of model stability in any future land cover supervised classification study. Among all sampling designs, the “same distribution” models (proportional distribution of the sample is like proportional distribution of the population) tend to yield best land cover prediction. RFC used only the most eight important variables (e.g., three fitted parameter coefficients [α, β, and γ]; maximum modeled EVI; AGDD at maximum modeled EVI; the number of observations used to fit CxQ model; and the number of valid observations) have slightly higher accuracy compared to those using all variables. By summarizing annual image time series through land surface phenology modeling, LCLU classification can embrace both seasonality and interannual variability, thereby increasing the accuracy of LCLU change detection.
Observed Relationship between Tornado Intensity and Pretornadic Mesocyclone Characteristics

AbstractTrapp et al. (2017) used idealized model simulations of supercell thunderstorms to demonstrate support of their hypothesis that wide, intense tornadoes should form more readily out of wide,...
Lie theory for nilpotent L∞-algebras

The Deligne groupoid is a functor from nilpotent differential graded Lie algebras concentrated in positive degrees to groupoids; in the special case of Lie algebras over a field of characteristic zero, it gives the associated simply connected Lie group. We generalize the Deligne groupoid to a functor γ from L ∞ -algebras concentrated in degree > -n to n-groupoids. (We actually construct the nerve of the n-groupoid, which is an enriched Kan complex.) The construction of gamma is quite explicit (it is based on Dupont's proof of the de Rham theorem) and yields higher dimensional analogues of holonomy and of the Campbell-Hausdorff formula. In the case of abelian L ∞ algebras (i.e., chain complexes), the functor γ is the Dold-Kan simplicial set.
Implications of the log-normal distribution for updating estimates of the time remaining until ready for phase I post-anesthesia care unit discharge

Abstract Background : Multiple managerial decisions on the day of surgery depend on estimating how much longer each patient will remain in the phase I post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). We apply statistical methods developed for the time remaining in long-running surgical cases to the PACU. Methods : We use a previously published historical cohort of N = 765 patients from one large teaching hospital who underwent gynecological surgery with time from operating room entrance to end of surgery of at least 4 hours and were admitted to the PACU. Results : The times until patients were ready for discharge followed a two-parameter log-normal distribution (e.g., Lilliefors’ test P = 0.18 and best three-parameter fit with no shift). Because the estimated coefficient of variation was 42%, there was an approximately constant percentage of the patients ready for discharge for each period longer than average. For example, half the patients stayed longer than 2.0 hours. Twenty minutes later, approximately 1/3rd of the patients were ready for discharge, and 2/3rd were not. Twenty minutes later, among the 2/3rd originally remaining, there were 1/3rd since ready for discharge, and so forth. The expected time remaining in the PACU for patients staying longer than the median time was relatively unchanging, independent of the amount of time that they had already been in the PACU. Conclusions : It is imprudent to rely on a certain expected duration of time until PACU discharge because any one time is unreliable. What is dependable is the probabilistic interpretation that, during any one period, there is a relatively unchanging percentage of the patients who will be ready for discharge during the period. Use this mathematical relationship for contacting hospital wards in advance of transfer, optimizing the use of porters, answering queries from families, and forecasting PACU occupancy in real-time.
The Main and Interactive Effects of Maternal Interpersonal Emotion Regulation and Negative Affect on Adolescent Girls' Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms.

The transaction of adolescent’s expressed negative affect and parental interpersonal emotion regulation are theoretically implicated in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Although problem solving and support/validation are interpersonal strategies that foster emotion regulation, little is known about whether these strategies are associated with less BPD severity among adolescents. Adolescent girls (age 16; N = 74) and their mothers completed a conflict discussion task, and maternal problem solving, support/validation, and girls’ negative affect were coded. Girls’ BPD symptoms were assessed at four time points. A 3-way interaction of girls’ negative affect, problem solving, and support/validation indicated that girls’ negative affect was only associated with BPD severity in the context of low maternal support/validation and high maternal problem solving. These variables did not predict changes in BPD symptoms over time. Although high negative affect is a risk for BPD severity in adolescent girls, maternal interpersonal emotion regulation strategies moderate this link. Whereas maternal problem solving coupled with low support/validation is associated with a stronger negative affect-BPD relation, maternal problem solving paired with high support/validation is associated with an attenuated relationship.
A Solutions to 'Too Few' Working Down on the Farm - The Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture Initiative

This paper des cribes and analyses how a labour and skills shortage in agriculture (used in the generic and inclusive sense) emerged here in New Zealand towards the end of the twentieth century and how it has been responded to by the industry and government. It delineates a collaborative response to a type of problem affecting many sectors of the New Zealand economy at the present time. A serendipitous conjunction of improved industry economics, productive policy provision, and ministerial and industry will facilitated the creation of a new pan primary industry organisation with the somewhat unwieldy title Human Capability in Agriculture and Horticulture. A picture of what happened has been built up using a range of methodologies (historical- both documentary and oral; case studies; participant observation: and action research) to explain what led to its formation and sub sequent progress. Prospects for the future are reviewed with a view to isolating critical features which may be of benefit to other industries experiencing similar labour and skills shortages.