cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long‐term recovery of a mountain stream from clear‐cut logging: the effects of forest succession on benthic invertebrate community structure

1. Changes in benthic invertebrate community structure following 16 years of forest succession after logging were examined by estimating benthic invertebrate abundance, biomass and secondary production in streams draining a forested reference and a recovering clear-cut catchment. Benthic invertebrate abundance was three times higher, and invertebrate biomass and production were two times higher in the disturbed stream. 2. Comparison of invertebrate community abundance 1, 5 and 16 years after clear-cutting indicated that the proportion of scrapers had decreased, whereas shredders had increased. Functional group percentage similarity indicated that the invertebrate community in the disturbed stream 16 years after clear-cutting was more similar to the reference than to that found earlier in the disturbed stream. 3. The five indices calculated from data collected over the past 16 years, as well as the abundance, biomass and production data collected during this study, proved to be of differing value in assessing recovery of the disturbed stream from logging. Percent dominant taxon and EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) taxon richness failed to show any initial differences between reference and disturbed streams, indicating that these indices may not be useful for measuring recovery from logging. The percentage Baetis and shredder–scraper indices showed significant differences only during the 1977 study and suggest recovery (no difference between reference and disturbed) by 1982. The North Carolina Biotic Index showed continued differences during 1982 in the riffle and depositional habitats and recovery by 1993. Total macroinvertebrate abundance, biomass and production, as well as EPT abundance, indicated continued differences between the reference and disturbed streams in the 1993 study.
The role of communication and patient handovers in pediatric cardiac care centers

Optimal care of patients with complex congenital heart disease requires multidisciplinary collaboration and clear communication amongst team members on all levels and between all disciplines. Multidisciplinary case conferences, daily rounding communication, and the cardiac care center leadership structure are all opportunities to maintain communication. Accurate and efficient handovers are also essential to preserving this communication and collaboration. The handovers from the operating room to the cardiac intensive care and from the nursing unit to hospital discharge are two especially important transitions of care in pediatric cardiac care centers.
Digital control of active magnetic bearings

Theoretical relationships are developed to relate the characteristics of a controller transfer function to the stiffness and damping properties of an active magnetic bearing for machine rotors. Both proportional and derivative feedback are shown to be necessary for closed-loop system stability, and, for the ideal case, bearing stiffness and damping properties are shown to be simple linear functions of the proportional and derivative feedback gain constants, respectively. The flexibility of a digitally controlled magnetic bearing is demonstrated by the implementation of algorithms which include second-derivative and integral feedback. Second-derivative feedback is shown to be effective at extending the usable bandwidth of the digital controller, and integral feedback rejects rotor position error in the presence of static loads. The relationship between controller sampling rate and bearing performance is investigated, and it is shown that increased sampling rate and increased amounts of second-derivative feedback have similar effects on the bearing properties. >
Multiple phytochromes are involved in red-light-induced enhancement of first-positive phototropism in Arabidopsis thaliana

The amplitude of phototropic curvature to blue light is enhanced by a prior exposure of seedlings to red light. This enhancement is mediated by phytochrome. Fluence-response relationships have been constructed for red-light-induced enhancement in the phytochrome A (phyA) null mutant, the phytochrome B- (phyB) deficient mutant, and in two transgenic lines of Arabidopsis thaliana that overexpress either phyA or phyB. These fluence-response relationships demonstrate the existence of two responses in enhancement, a response in the very-low-to-low-fluence range, and a response in the high-fluence range. Only the response in the high-fluence range is present in the phyA null mutant. In contrast, the phyB-deficient mutant is indistinguishable from the wild-type parent in red-light responsiveness. These data indicate that phyA is necessary for the very-low-to-low but not the high-fluence response, and that phyB is not necessary for either response range. Based on these results, the high-fluence response, if controlled by a single phytochrome, must be controlled by a phytochrome other than phyA or phyB. Overexpression of phyA has a negative effect and overexpression of phyB has an enhancing effect in the high-fluence range. These results suggest that overexpression of either phytochrome perturbs the function of the endogenous photoreceptor system in an unpredictable fashion.
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields

In this chapter we begin the study of a second important type of algebraic system called a ring. As we shall see, rings are sets with two suitably restricted binary compositions. Unlike the theory of groups which had essentially one source, namely, the study of sets of 1-1 transformations relative to resultant composition, the theory of rings has been fused out of a number of special theories. For this reason it will appear to be somewhat less unified than the theory of groups. In the present chapter we introduce the basic concepts of integral domain, division ring, field, ideal, difference ring, isomorphism, homomorphism and anti-isomorphism. Also we introduce some important special instances of rings such as matrix rings and quaternions. Finally we prove the analogue for rings of Cayley’s theorem on groups.
Hybrid Lyot coronagraph for WFIRST-AFTA: coronagraph design and performance metrics

The prospect of extreme high-contrast astronomical imaging from space has inspired developments of new coronagraph methods for exoplanet imaging and spectroscopy. However, the requisite imaging contrast, at levels of 1 billion to one or better for the direct imaging of cool mature exoplanets in reflected visible starlight, leads to challenging new requirements on the stability and control of the optical wavefront, at levels currently beyond the reach of ground-based telescopes. We review the design, performance, and science prospects for the hybrid Lyot coronagraph (HLC) on the WFIRST-AFTA telescope. Together with a pair of deformable mirrors for active wavefront control, the HLC creates a full 360-deg high-contrast dark field of view at 10−9 contrast levels or better, extending to within angular separations of 3 λ0/D from the central star, over spectral bandwidths of 10% or more.
BigDB: Automatic Machine Learning Optimizer

In this short vision paper, we introduce a machine learning optimizer for data management and describe its architecture and main functionality.
Utilization of monolayer MoS2 in Bragg stacks and metamaterial structures as broadband absorbers

Abstract We numerically study the possibility of using atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) for applications requiring broadband absorption in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. We demonstrate that when monolayer TMDs are positioned into a finite-period of multilayer Bragg stack geometry, they make broadband, wide-angle, almost polarization-independent absorbers. In our study, we consider molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) as semiconducting and dielectric thin film of alternate high- and low- index films, respectively. By optimizing the thickness of the SiO 2 film, we find that monolayer MoS 2 based Bragg stacks can absorb 94.7% of the incident energy in the visible (350–700 nm). Similar structures can be engineered to make perfect reflectors for saturable absorption applications. We also demonstrate that bandwidth of metamaterial absorbers can be expanded using monolayer TMDs.
Comment on “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science”

A paper from the Open Science Collaboration (Research Articles, 28 August 2015, aac4716) attempting to replicate 100 published studies suggests that the reproducibility of psychological science is surprisingly low. We show that this article contains three statistical errors and provides no support for such a conclusion. Indeed, the data are consistent with the opposite conclusion, namely, that the reproducibility of psychological science is quite high.
Photo response of multi-layer graphene sheet and nanoribbons

G a single-layer of carbon atoms bonded in a 2D honeycomb structure, has recently attracted a lot of attention, owing to its unique electrical, optical and mechanical properties. In this talk, I will describe a spectral sensing system based on structured multiple layer graphene for photo detection. The device consists of a multi-layer graphene (MLG) sheet or multi-layer graphene nano ribbons (GNRs), contacted with two different metal electrodes. MLG was mechanically exfoliated from highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and GNRs were defined by electron beam and/or focused ion beam lithography. Both MLG and GNRs are chosen as photon absorption material, because of their high light absorption and photo responsivity. Electrodes with different work functions (one higher than graphene and the other lower than graphene) were chosen to form asymmetric Schottky contacts, thus to break the mirror symmetry of the internal electrical field in a metal-MLG (or GNRs)-metal device. We measured the photo response of the device under a modulated continuous wave laser (488nm), which offered a spot of ~2mm in diameter and covered all the effective device area. Photocurrent generated from incident photons is observed to initially increase and then reach a saturation level with the increasing laser power.
Withdrawing Intensive Life-Sustaining Treatment — Recommendations for Compassionate Clinical Management

Despite an ethical and legal consensus regarding the right of patients or their surrogates to refuse life-prolonging therapy, surveys show that dying patients in hospitals in the United States frequently receive unwanted interventions.1,2 One reason for this may be a lack of training among physicians and nurses in the clinical aspects of withdrawing intensive life support. Staff members are highly skilled in aggressive life-extending treatment, and some hospitals now have services specializing in palliative care for patients forgoing life-extending treatment. But there may be no one specifically trained in managing the transition from one style of care to the . . .
Experimental lineage and functional analysis of a remotely directed peptide epoxidation catalyst.

We describe mechanistic investigations of a catalyst (1) that leads to selective epoxidation of farnesol at the 6,7-position, remote from the hydroxyl directing group. The experimental lineage of peptide 1 and a number of resin-bound peptide analogues were examined to reveal the importance of four N-terminal residues. We examined the selectivity of truncated analogues to find that a trimer is sufficient to furnish the remote selectivity. Both 1D and 2D 1H NMR studies were used to determine possible catalyst conformations, culminating in proposed models showing possible interactions of farnesol with a protected Thr side chain and backbone NH. The models were used to rationalize the selectivity of a modified catalyst (17) for the 6,7-position relative to an ether moiety in two related substrates.
Parareal in Time for Fast Power System Dynamic Simulations

Recent advancements in high-performance parallel computing platforms and parallel algorithms have significantly enhanced the opportunities for real-time power system protection and control. This paper investigates application of Parareal in time algorithm for fast dynamic simulations. Parareal algorithm belongs to the class of temporal decomposition methods which divide the time interval into sub-intervals and solve them concurrently. Time-parallel algorithms face the difficulty of providing correct initial conditions for all the sub-intervals which impact the convergence rates. Parareal overcomes this difficulty by using an approximate trajectory. It has become popular in recent years for long transient simulations (e.g., molecular dynamics, fusion, reacting flows). This paper presents an approach for reliable implementation of Parareal with detailed models of power systems including saturation. Windowing approach is proposed for improving the convergence. Parareal is compared with the Newton-based time-parallel method. Effectiveness of the algorithm is analyzed by parallel emulation using extensive case studies on 10-generator 39-bus system and 327-generator 2383-bus system for various disturbances. Parareal with simulation windows of 1 s have shown convergence in 1 to 3 iterations for majority of the simulated cases, irrespective of the size of the system and nature of the disturbance. All the cases tested have converged with the proposed implementation.
Thinking about Development of China's Food Industry Based on U.S.Dietary Guidelines

This article describes the dietary criteria established by governmental and non-governmental organizations,food and beverage industries in USA,and focuses on dietary criteria in Smart Choice Program.Most of these dietary criteria are the basis of specific signs(such as whole wheat stamp) on food labels.However,only dietary criteria of nutrition claim in food nutrition labels,sugar-free foods and low sodium foods were established in China.Learning from the U.S.dietary criteria,Chinese food industries should improve the development and harmonization of the dietary criteria,strengthen the legal effect of the dietary criteria,and enhance the enforcement of food companies.
Ca2+ channels mediate protein tyrosine kinase activation by endothelin-1

To investigate the novel interaction between endothelin-1 (ET-1) and cellular protein tyrosine kinases (PTK), we asked whether Ca2+ influx links ET-1 receptors to PTK activation. In glomerular mesangial cells, ET-1 stimulated a biphasic increase in PTK activity in anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates that temporally correlated with increased tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins. ET-1 increased tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in the cytosol and in a puncture distribution consistent with focal adhesions. Addition of ionomycin to increase Ca2+ influx stimulated PTK activity, and inhibition of extracellular Ca2+ influx blocked PTK activation by ET-1. ET-1 increased autophosphorylation of pp60c-src, which was mimicked by addition of ionomycin and inhibited by chelation of extracellular Ca2+. In addition, a selective PTK inhibitor blocked induction of c-fos mRNA by ionomycin, suggesting that Ca(2+)-stimulated PTKs contribute to a signaling pathway regulating immediate early gene expression. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ET-1 stimulates nonreceptor PTK activity, including pp60c-src, by activating Ca2+ channels and subsequent influx of extracellular Ca2+.
Some Analyses of the Information Processing and Sensory Capacities of Alcoholic Korsakoff Patients

For the past five years our laboratory has focused upon the factors underlying the amnesic symptoms (i.e., anterograde and retrograde amnesia) displayed by alcoholic Korsakoff patients. Since two comprehensive reviews of these studies have now been published (Cermak and Butters, 1973; Butters and Cermak, 1974), we shall only briefly discuss these findings and then turn to the results of two recent sets of investigations. The first set involves the role of information processing disorders in the memory impairments of alcoholic Korsakoffs and chronic alcoholics. These studies indicate that chronic alcoholics have some of the same cognitive impairments that may play an important role in the Korsakoffs’ amnesic symptoms. The second set of investigations deals with the basic sensory capacities of alcoholic Korsakoff patients. Since the neural structures (n. medialis dorsalis and mammillary bodies) damaged in Korsakoff’s disease have been implicated in the olfactory system, we used psychophysical methods to study the discriminative capacities of these patients in the olfactory, visual, and auditory modalities. The findings of these studies demonstrate a very severe olfactory sensory impairment in alcoholic Korsakoff patients.
Suitability of North Dakota for Conducting Effective Hygroscopic Seeding

One goal of the Polarimetric Cloud Analysis and Seeding Test (POLCAST) project is to determine if North Dakota clouds created by surface-base convection are suitable for treatment with hygroscopic flares to enhance surface rainfall amounts. The suitability evaluation examines the processes involved in the hygroscopic seeding conceptual model to determine how supportive North Dakota's environment is to conducting an effective rain enhancement program. POLCAST field measurements are used to determine if important environmental factors support an increase in cloud precipitation efficiency from hygroscopic seeding. Current scientific theories and modeling results indicate that the most important environmental factors are cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations, droplet size distribution, and cloud base temperature and height. North Dakota's high CCN concentration supports the conclusion that releasing large hygroscopic particles at cloud base produces more collector droplets which increases precipitation efficiency. North Dakota's cloud base temperatures and several kilometer thick clouds indicates that ice phase hydrometeors are important in the precipitation formation process. Hence, increases in precipitation efficiency is not a simple warm rain process but involves more graupel production in the cold cloud region. North Dakota's low cloud base heights indicate that increases in precipitation would increase rain at the surface. All environmental factors examined indicate North Dakota's suitability for conducting hygroscopic seeding to enhance precipitation; however, some cloud processes are impossible to fully evaluate with the current POLCAST data set. A complete aerosol/cloud physics data set would provide a valuable resource for further understanding physical processes and help in constructing a more accurate regional precipitation forecast model. Development, validation, and use of a precipitation forecast model with a known uncertainty would be an effective method for determining precipitation increases from hygroscopic seeding.
A Modular Testing Environment for Implementation Attacks

Implementation attacks, including side-channel, fault, and probing attacks, have received significant attention in both research and commercial communities. Successful attacks have been demonstrated against standard cryptographic algorithms implemented on a wide variety of common platforms. In order to protect against these attacks, designers must incorporate complex countermeasures into the implementation of sensitive operations. Validating the effectiveness of implementation attack countermeasures requires specialized expertise and techniques not commonly used in other types of security and functional testing. We propose a modular testing environment for use in verifying the implementation attack resistance of secure systems. The proposed environment is an open-source solution that allows implementation attack testing to be independent of the system platform, implementation details, and type of attack under evaluation. These key features make the environment suitable for use with an implementation attack security standard in which standard test procedures are published openly and used to evaluate cryptographic systems. We use the proposed test environment to demonstrate a successful side-channel attack on AES, which illustrates the practical usefulness of our design for analyzing implementation attack security. Our open-source design is available at \url{http://rijndael.ece.vt.edu/iameter}.
Effects of sampling unit resolution on the estimation of spatial autocorrelation

Sensitivity of Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation coefficient in estimating the magnitude of autocorrelation of species abundance data is examined when different quadrat sizes and shapes are employe...
The threat of comprehensive overstimulation in modern societies

Members of modern, digital societies experience a tremendous number and diversity of stimuli from sources such as computers, televisions, other electronic media, and various forms of advertising. In this paper, I argue that the presence of a wide range of stimulating items in modern societies poses a special risk to the welfare of members of modern societies. By considering the set of modern stimuli in a more comprehensive way than normative theorists have done so far--as part of a complex system with which members of modern societies cannot reasonably avoid interacting--we can see why the perceptual and informational spaces in which modern life occurs can be sources of disvalue for members of modern societies. This seems true even though the technological innovations that produce these stimuli add great value to the lives of members of modern societies.
Forceps Size Does Not Determine Fighting Success in European Earwigs

Male European earwigs (Forficula auricularia) possess substantially larger forceps than females and use these forceps to batter rivals in intrasexual contests to determine dominance. Although previous investigations have shown that male fighting and mating success increases with forceps size, it is not clear that sexual selection acts directly on forceps size per se; increased forceps size may be a correlated response to selection for some other trait. We experimentally reduced forceps length of males and paired them with unmanipulated males in staged encounters. Although apparent (postmanipulation) forceps length did not affect contest outcomes, original (premanipulation) forceps length did: males with longer original forceps won more contests. These results suggest that weapon size itself does not determine success in contests between male European earwigs. Thus, sexual selection may operate on forceps size in some other context or may act on some other trait that covaries with forceps size.
Surface ECG f Wave Analysis at Initial Onset of Paroxysmal and Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.

Introduction Dominant frequency (DF) analysis of electrocardiograms (ECGs) from patients with paroxysmal (PAF) and persistent (PeAF) atrial fibrillation has identified higher DFs in PeAF. We therefore hypothesized that among patients initially presenting to the emergency department (ED) with new onset AF, surface ECG features could differentiate PeAF from PAF. Methods and results Initial 12-lead ECGs from patients presenting to the ED with a first episode of symptomatic AF were analyzed. Following QRS-T subtraction, fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of the AF fibrillatory waves was performed to measure DF and organization index (OI). Median DF of all leads and the DF in the lead with maximum OI were determined. Maximum f wave amplitude and vector magnitudes were measured. One hundred sixty-one patients (age 59 ± 16 years, 68% men) were included in this analysis, of whom 96 (58%) spontaneously converted to sinus rhythm within 7 days (PAF group). The remaining 65 patients underwent cardioversion or remained in AF (PeAF group). ECG features (DF, OI, f wave amplitude, and vector magnitude) did not differ among PAF and PeAF patients. Conclusions ECG features (DF, OI, amplitude, vector magnitude) do not differ among patients with PAF versus PeAF when the ECGs are obtained at the initial onset of symptoms. Thus, prior data showing higher DF in PeAF likely reflect electrophysiologic remodeling rather than a marker for any specific type of AF or extent of underlying substrate.
Abstract 489: Differential Phosphoproteomic Analysis of Platelet Activation by Specific Oxidized Phospholipids and Thrombin Reveals Mechanisms of Platelet Activation in Hyperlipidemia

We previously showed that specific oxidized phospholipids (oxPC CD36 ) activate platelets via the scavenger receptor CD36 and promote platelet hyper-reactivity in hyperlipidemia, however the signaling pathway(s) induced in platelets by oxPC CD36 are not defined. We employed mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics for the unbiased analysis of changes in protein phosphorylation induced by oxPC CD36 and thrombin, a strong platelet agonist, in human platelets. oxPC CD36 induced changes in phosphorylation of 148 unique phosphorylation sites (116 proteins) while thrombin induced changes of 297 unique sites (181 proteins). Most of the changes in phosphorylation induced by oxPC CD36 and thrombin identified in our study have never been reported before in platelets and include high- and low-abundant proteins with diverse molecular functions located in the plasma membrane, cytosol, or cytoskeleton. Analysis using multiple bioinformatic tools identified protein interaction networks, signaling pathways, activated kinases, and enriched phosphorylation motifs. Comparison between platelet agonists revealed multiple differences including the specific activation of a signaling pathway involving Src-family kinases (SFK), SYK kinase, and PLCγ2 by oxPC CD36 . Subsequent biochemical studies in human platelets demonstrated that this pathway is critical for platelet activation by oxPC CD36 and is downstream of CD36. In conclusion, systematic analysis of platelet activation pathways provided novel insights into the mechanism of platelet activation and specific signaling pathways induced by oxidized phospholipids that modulate platelet function in vivo in hyperlipidemia.
Abstract 2891: Retinoic acid directs breast cancer cell state changes through regulation of TET2-aPKC pathway

The key molecular mechanism governing the cancer cell state (stem cell-like state vs. differentiation state) to control the cancer stem cell (CSC) pool remains elusive. This study provides the first evidence showing that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induces the interaction and chromatin recruitment of a novel RARB-TET2 complex to epigenetically activate a specific cohort of gene targets, including MiR-200c. TET2-activated miR-200c further targets and suppresses aPKC, a cell polarity protein that plays a pivotal role in directing asymmetric division of mammalian stem cells to sustain the stem cell pool. Our data reveals that pharmacological concentration of ATRA effectively down-regulates aPKC through activation of miR-200c, leading to a decrease of the stem cell-like populations from non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cells and non-aggressive breast cancer cells. However, aggressive breast cancer cells that manifest TET2-miR200c dysregulation sustain a CSC pool highly resistant to ATRA, where inhibition of aPKC directs the resistant CSCs to the luminal cell-like state and sensitization to Tamoxifen, resulting in abrogation of mammary tumor growth and progression. Together, these findings elucidate a novel RARB-TET2-miR200c-aPKC signaling pathway that directs cancer cell state changes and also provide previously unidentified therapeutic implications for aPKC inhibitors in diminishment of breast CSCs to eradicate breast cancer. Citation Format: Meng-Ju Wu, Chun-Ju Chang. Retinoic acid directs breast cancer cell state changes through regulation of TET2-aPKC pathway [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2891. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2891
Geometric Constraints on Long-Term Barrier Migration: From Simple to Surprising

Considerations of mass conservation, sediment budgets, and geometry lead to insights regarding how barriers respond to sea-level rise. We begin with relatively simple insights, which facilitate more surprising conclusions as more complicated cases are considered. The simplest case assumes: (1) a constant depth beyond which sediment transport is negligible; (2) a lack of gradients in net long-term alongshore sediment flux that add or remove sediment; (3) shoreface erosion into a substrate that produces sediment which is all sufficiently coarse to remain in the nearshore system; and (4) a spatially uniform slope across which a barrier migrates (i.e., the substrate slope). In this case, the migration trajectory for the barrier shorelines—the ratio between the rates of sea-level rise and landward transgression—parallels the average slope of the barrier and shoreface profile (the surface over which active sediment transport occurs). In the next simplest case, substrates composed partly of fine sediment (which is lost to the nearshore system when the substrate is eroded) cause a reduction of the slope of the migration trajectory, because more landward migration is required for each increment of sea-level rise in this case. Gradients in net alongshore sediment transport also cause adjustments to the migration trajectory (although the adjustment depends on the rate of relative sea-level rise). Analysis shows that even with a gradient in net alongshore sediment transport, in the long term, barrier geometry adjusts until the trajectory parallels the (spatially uniform) slope of the substrate. When a barrier is eroding into material that was deposited in back-barrier bay or marsh environments, surprising results come from considerations of geometry and conservation of mass. In this case, the effects of substrate slope on barrier migration trajectory become indirect and time-lagged. In addition, depending on the relative compositions of marsh and bay deposits, feedbacks tend to either produce a stable bay/marsh width and barrier geometry, or a runaway widening or narrowing of the back-barrier environment. When substrate slope (or alongshore-transport gradients or substrate composition) varies as the barrier migrates landward, numerical investigation is required to determine how the migration trajectory varies with time.
Does a Satisfied Customer Care about Price? The Link between Customer Satisfaction and Price Sensitivity in the Commercial Martial Arts Industry

ABSTRACTExtensive research has shown that customer satisfaction is an important driver of profitability. However, academic understanding of pricing outcomes associated with customer satisfaction ev...
10-Fold-Stack Multilayer-Grown Nanomembrane GaAs Solar Cells

Multilayer-grown nanomembrane GaAs represents an enabling materials platform for cost-efficient III–V photovoltaics. Herein we present for the first time 10-fold-stack ultrathin (emitter + base: 300 nm) GaAs solar cells. Photovoltaic performance of 10-fold-stack GaAs solar cells exhibited promising uniformity, with only slight efficiency degradation, where comparatively poor short-wavelength response was mainly responsible for the slightly reduced performance in early grown materials. Secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed the concentration of p-type dopant has been changed due to the out-diffusion of beryllium, while the extent of diffusion increasingly diminished in early grown stacks because of the reduced concentration gradient as well as the decrease of beryllium diffusivity at longer annealing times. It is therefore concluded that the performance degradation in 10-fold-stack GaAs solar cells does not develop continuously throughout the growth, but instead becomes spontaneously saturated at longer ...
The interaction of ribonuclease with metal ions. I. Studies of cupric and zinc ions and the effect of cytidylic acid.

Abstract The interaction of ribonuclease A with cupric and zinc ions has been studied spectrophotometrically and by potentiometric titration in the presence and absence of cytidylic acid derivatives. In the absence of cytidylic acid, the results suggest that each cupric ion distributes among a set of approximately four spectrally similar sites; each site appears to consist mainly of a single imidazole side chain and its adjacent peptide bond nitrogen atoms at neutral pH. No evidence for the preferential chelation of a single cupric or zinc ion between histidines-12 and -119 has been found. In the presence of 3'-cytidylate, binding of both cupric and zinc ions is strengthened. In addition, spectrophotometric studies indicate that cupric ion-binding sites are altered in the presence of 3'-cytidylate. These data are compatible with formation of a ternary complex between a cupric or zinc ion, 3'-cytidylate, and ribonuclease. By contrast, 2'-cytidylate does not alter the type of ligand to which cupric ion binds, but appears to diminish very slightly the affinity of ribonuclease for cupric ion; these results suggest that 2'-cytidylate may compete for one of the sites usually available to cupric ion. Several possible mechanisms for the inhibition of ribonuclease by cupric and zinc ions are suggested. These include blocking of the active site by bound metal ions and conformational changes induced by binding of metal ions elsewhere in the protein. The importance of cooperative interactions between 3'-cytidylate and metal ions in binding to ribonuclease is particularly stressed as a mechanism of inhibition.
Grid Computing Communication Strategies for Cross Cluster Job Execution

With the advent of grid computing, some jobs are executed across several clusters. In this paper, we show that (1) cross cluster job execution can suffer from network contention on the Inter-cluster links and (2) how to reduce traffic on the Inter-cluster links. With our new all-to-all communication strategtes and host file mapping. It is possible to reduce the volume of data between two clusters from(n/2, for a job with size n. Our measurements confirm this reduction in data volume on the inter-cluster link and show a reduction in runtime. With these improvements it is possible to increase the size of grids without significantly comparomtsing performance.
Computational urban flow predictions with Bayesian inference: Validation with field data

Abstract Urban areas are projected to expand at a rapid pace. In the context of supporting sustainable design of cities and buildings, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to provide detailed information on the urban flow field. However, the complexity and natural variability of atmospheric boundary layer flows can limit the predictive performance of CFD. In this paper, we present a validation study for a Bayesian inference method that estimates the inflow boundary conditions for Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations of urban flow by assimilating data from urban sensor measurements. The method employs the ensemble Kalman filter to iteratively estimate the probability density functions of the incoming wind and improve the subsequent RANS prediction. The measurements used in this study were obtained during a full-scale experimental campaign on Stanfords campus. Six sonic anemometers were deployed at roof and pedestrian level; a subset of the sensors was used for data assimilation while the remaining ones were used for validation. The accuracy of the proposed inference method is compared to the conventional approach that defines the boundary conditions based on weather station data. The hit rates increased by a factor of two when using the inference method, and the predicted mean values were ∼ 20% more likely to be within the 95% confidence interval of the experimental data. An analysis of the impact of the number of sensors and their location indicates that the assimilation approach can consistently improve the predictions, as long as the inlet flow properties are identifiable from the sensor measurements.
Diversified local CRISPR-Cas immunity to viruses of Sulfolobus islandicus

The population diversity and structure of CRISPR-Cas immunity provides key insights into virus-host interactions. Here, we examined two geographically and genetically distinct natural populations of the thermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus islandicus and their interactions with Sulfolobus spindle-shaped viruses (SSVs) and S. islandicus rod-shaped viruses (SIRVs). We found that both virus families can be targeted with high population distributed immunity, whereby most immune strains target a virus using unique unshared CRISPR spacers. In Kamchatka, Russia, we observed high immunity to chronic SSVs that increases over time. In this context, we found that some SSVs had shortened genomes lacking genes that are highly targeted by the S. islandicus population, indicating a potential mechanism of immune evasion. By contrast, in Yellowstone National Park, we found high inter- and intra-strain immune diversity targeting lytic SIRVs and low immunity to chronic SSVs. In this population, we observed evidence of SIRVs evolving immunity through mutations concentrated in the first five bases of protospacers. These results indicate that diversity and structure of antiviral CRISPR-Cas immunity for a single microbial species can differ by both the population and virus type, and suggest that different virus families use different mechanisms to evade CRISPR-Cas immunity. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The ecology and evolution of prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems'.
First year medical student performance on weekly team-based learning exercises in an infectious diseases course: insights from top performers and struggling students

In Team-Based Learning (TBL) preparation of relevant coursework during self-directed learning time is evaluated by the individual readiness assurance test (iRAT). We recently reported that student performance on iRATs is strongly correlated with final examination scores in an infectious diseases (ID) course. We now investigated how student preparation for each individual iRAT exercise relates to course performance. Two-hundred and sixty medical students were enrolled in this three-year study. Student TBL iRAT scores were collected and correlated with final examination scores using Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA and Newman-Keul’s statistical methods. Students performing in the upper and middle 33rd percentile on the final examination showed highly significant (p < 0.01) weekly improvements in their iRAT scores. However, students performing in the lower 33rd percentile did not show improvement in their iRAT scores until the last week of the course. Although there was a highly significant correlation between final examination and iRAT scores amongst all students participating in the study, this correlation was stronger in students performing in the lower 33rd percentile. Our data suggest that students who do not consistently prepare for TBL, as evidenced by low iRAT scores, exhibit poorer performance on the final examination. This lack of preparation likely interferes with the efficacy of this learning method. iRAT scores can also be used for early identification of struggling students in need of additional supports. Additionally, changes in TBL incentive structure may provide more tangible rewards for pre-class preparation in particular for struggling students.
Driving Simulator Validation for In-Vehicle Human Machine Interface Assessment:

Driving simulator validation is an important and ongoing process. Advances in in-vehicle human machine interfaces (HMI) mean there is a continuing need to reevaluate the validity of use cases of dr...
Innovative Technologies for Advancement of WHO Risk Group 4 Pathogens Research

Risk Group 4 pathogens are a group of often lethal human viruses for which there are no widely available vaccines or therapeutics. These viruses are endemic to specific geographic locations and typically cause relatively infrequent, self-limiting, but often devastating human disease outbreaks (e.g. Ebola virus, Kyasanur Forest disease virus, Lassa virus). The overall rarity of disease outbreaks with the associated lack of clinical data and the requirement for research on Risk Group 4 pathogens to be performed in maximum (biosafety level 4) containment necessarily impede progress in medical countermeasure development. Next-generation technologies may aid to bridge the current gaps of knowledge by increasing the amount of useful data that can be gleaned from individual diagnostic samples, possibly even at point-of-care; enable personalized medicine approaches through genomic virus characterization in the clinic; refine our comprehension of pathogenesis by using ex vivo technologies such as organs-on-chips or organoids; identify novel correlates of protection or disease survival that could inform novel medical countermeasure development; or support patient and treatment response monitoring through non-invasive techniques such as medical imaging. This chapter provides an overview of a subset of such technologies and how they may positively impact the field of Risk Group 4 pathogen research in the near future.
Hidden representations in deep neural networks: Part 1. Classification problems

Abstract Deep neural networks have evolved into a powerful tool applicable for a wide range of problems. However, a clear understanding of their internal mechanism has not been developed satisfactorily yet. Factors such as the architecture, number of hidden layers and neurons, and activation function are largely determined in a guess-and-test manner that is reminiscent of alchemy more than of chemistry. In this paper, we attempt to address these concerns systematically using carefully chosen model systems to gain insights for classification problems. We show how wider networks result in several simple patterns identified on the input space, while deeper networks result in more complex patterns. We show also the transformation of input space by each layer and identify the origin of techniques such as transfer learning, weight normalization and early stopping. This paper is an initial step towards a systematic approach to uncover key hidden properties that can be exploited to improve the performance and understanding of deep neural networks.
Chapter 3 – Addressing Modes

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on 6812's addressing modes, providing the tools that make handling the most useful data structures so easy on this machine. Learning the rich set of addressing modes makes it easier to learn about the common data structures. There are four general themes in addressing modes: the use of page zero, the use of index registers, the use of relative addressing for position independence, and the use of stack addressing for reentrancy and recursion. The inherent and page zero addressing are useful for improving static and dynamic efficiency over direct addressing. Index registers may be used efficiently to handle addresses that require several accesses and may be useful for data structure accesses. Index addressing is the fastest and shortest index addressing option. Index addressing using 5-bit offsets is available for locations close to that pointed to by the register, whereas 16-bit offsets are available for all accesses. The program counter is used as a kind of index register and the steps used to carry out index addressing are the same that are used to carry out relative addressing making use of the program counter in place of an index register. The stack pointer can be used with an offset to access local variables and parameters passed on the stack.
Access Type for Endovascular Repair in Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Does Not Affect Major Morbidity or Mortality

Background There are limited data on access type when treating ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) with endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Our study's objective was to evaluate if the type of access in ruptured AAAs affected outcomes. Methods The Vascular Quality Initiative was queried from 2009 to 2018 for all ruptured AAAs treated with an index EVAR. Procedures were grouped by access type: percutaneous, open, and failed percutaneous that converted to open access. Patients with iliac access, both percutaneous and open access, and concurrent bypass were excluded. Baseline characteristics, procedure details, and outcomes were collected. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed. Results There were 1,206 ruptured AAAs identified—739 (61.3%) was performed by percutaneous access, 416 (34.5%) by open access, and 51 (4.2%) by failed percutaneous that converted to open access. Percutaneous access, compared with open access and failed percutaneous access, respectively, had the shortest operative time (min, median) (111 vs. 138 vs. 180, P Conclusions Access type for ruptured AAAs was not independently associated with major morbidity or mortality but did have a differential effect on length of stay. Access during these emergent procedures should be based on surgeon preference and experience.
Ações de prevenção primária e secundária relacionadas aos fatores de risco para osteoporose

Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) test for primary and secondary prevention related to risk factors for osteoporosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the interior of Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the Osteoporosis Prevention Campaign carried out in October 2016. 400 people, selected at random, interviewed according to the IOF one-minute osteoporosis risk test, participated. Statistical analysis used the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson's chi-square test, Mann-Whitney, and multivariate analysis for risk factors associated with osteoporosis using the binary logistic regression model. The results were presented in odds ratios, with a 95% confidence interval. Results: The sample consisted of 260 women and 140 men, with a median of 57 years, and 95% indicated having some risk factor. The questions with the highest positivity index indicated that both sexes are exposed to low exposure to the sun, low intake of foods rich in vitamin D (p=0.140), and the habit of physical activities for less than 30 min (p=0.657 ). The body mass index (BMI) less than 19 kg/m2 (p=0.336) indicated less positivity. Logistic regression showed an association between four risk factors (bone densitometry, fall due to weakness, change in height after 40 years and sex) and the study population over 60 years. Conclusion: The IOF test proved to be a functional tool in promoting health and primary care, and can bring socioeconomic benefits.