cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of compressive sensing to sparse channel estimation

Compressive sensing is a topic that has recently gained much attention in the applied mathematics and signal processing communities. It has been applied in various areas, such as imaging, radar, speech recognition, and data acquisition. In communications, compressive sensing is largely accepted for sparse channel estimation and its variants. In this article we highlight the fundamental concepts of compressive sensing and give an overview of its application to pilot aided channel estimation. We point out that a popular assumption - that multipath channels are sparse in their equivalent baseband representation - has pitfalls. There are over-complete dictionaries that lead to much sparser channel representations and better estimation performance. As a concrete example, we detail the application of compressive sensing to multicarrier underwater acoustic communications, where the channel features sparse arrivals, each characterized by its distinct delay and Doppler scale factor. To work with practical systems, several modifications need to be made to the compressive sensing framework as the channel estimation error varies with how detailed the channel is modeled, and how data and pilot symbols are mixed in the signal design.
Generalized ramsey theory VIII. The size ramsey number of small graphs

The ramsey number r(F) of a graph F with no isolates has been much studied. We now investigate its size Ramsey number ζ(F) defined as the minimum q such that there exists a graph G with q edges for which every 2-coloring of E(G) has a monochromatic F. The size ramsey number of a graph has also been studied by Chvatal, Erdős, Faudree, Rousseau and Schelp. We obtain the exact values of ζ(F) for stars, stripes and several small graphs. We conclude with a list of unsolved problems.
Stochastic joint inversion of 2D seismic and seismoelectric signals for reservoir characterization

We use the finite element method to solve both for seismic wave equation and the associated seismoelectric disturbances in a piecewise homogeneous porous material containing an oil reservoir. The seismic and seismoelectric data recorded at the top surface of the medium are jointly inverted using an adaptative Metropolis algorithm to retrieve the posterior probability distribution of the material properties. Comparison with the true material properties shows the ability of our approach to retrieve the electrical and mechanical material properties of each formation including the permeablity of the oil reservoir.
The Influence of Food Marketing on Preschool Children's Taste Preferences, Food Choices, and BMI

s / Can J Diabetes 37 (2013) S217eS289 S271 advance the entire field and to support good client outcomes in bariatric medicine.
Response of tropical sprue to vitamin B12.

These findings show that the administration of vitamin B12 to patients with tropical sprue was followed by general clinical and hematologic improvement provided the dosage was adequate. A single dose of 4 micrograms administered in case 4 produced little or no change. The larger dosage of 10-25 micrograms administered in the other cases was accompanied by striking increase in strength and vigor and a decrease in the diarrhea; however, in no instance was a maximal dose given and these patients quickly tended to relapse clinically and hematologically. They could be relieved promptly again either by another injection of vitamin B12 or by a compound of folic acid. (The conjugated compounds of folic acid used in these cases were used for experimental purposes, and they produced the same hematologic response as that of folic acid per se.) Case 3, who had an excellent hematologic response after eating one serving of 400 grams of liver, is regarded as especially significant in that it suggests that, as powerful as vitamin B12 is as a therapeutic agent, it is more effective when given with liver. It is especially noteworthy that cases 1 and 2, who had three injections of vitamin B12, have had steady clinical and hematologic improvement. The reader should have in mind that a single injection of approximately 100 micrograms of vitamin B12 probably would be needed to produce a full hematologic response in persons so ill. This tentative appraisal would suggest that this therapeutic compound, per unit of weight, is more effective in treating human disease than any compound that yet has been used. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We are very much indebted to others who have aided us in selecting cases and in observing results. Especially we wish to thank Dr. F. Hernandez-Morales, Dr. Hector Marchand, Miss Clemencia Benitez-Gautier, and Miss Sara Torres.
Safe saving measures of seeds of conventional varieties in normal temperature storehouse

In recent years,the cultivated area of conventional varieties was more than 70 percent in some main grainproduced counties of Guangxi provive,and the seed demands of conventional varieties were stable.However,seeds of conventional varieties now were mainly stored in normal temperature storehouses,their vitality were easy to be effected,and the production development was effected,too.The paper put forward some demands for seeds warehousing and outhouse according to several main facts affecting seeds safe savings of conventional varieties in normal temperature storehouses,and discussed scientific managements such as remaining the storehouse being dry,ventilation and cooling for improving seeds safe saving in normal temperature storehouse.
Validity as the evaluation of the claims based on test scores

An argument-based approach to validation involves two basic steps: (a) specify the claims that are to be based on test scores, as an interpretation/use argument, or IUA, and (b) evaluate the plausi...
Batch and time-dependent processes

So far, we have dealt exclusively with continuous processes. However, pinch analysis can also be applied to batch processes, with suitable modifications. This type of analysis has been largely neglected, because batch processes are in general less energy intensive than continuous bulk systems. However, the techniques are worth studying for several reasons: Existing batch processes often have little or no heat recovery and there can be easy energy saving opportunities.
Late Infections of the Knee Joint: Two-Stage Articulating Solutions

Two-stage exchange is the gold standard for the treatment of chronic total knee arthroplasty (TKA) infections in North America. Cement spacers impregnated with high- dose antibiotics have successfully been utilized in the interim period of the two-stage exchange. A number of non-articulating and articulating spacers have been described. With an intact extensor mechanism, a reasonable soft-tissue envelope, and adequate bone, articulating antibiotic spacers provide several advantages. These include an infection eradication rate of approximately 90 %, a higher range of motion after reimplantation, and lower complication rates when compared with non-articulating spacers. In the appropriate patient, articulating antibiotic spacers are an effective and a safe treatment choice in the two-stage exchange process for infected TKAs.
Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Eustachian Tube Disorders in US Children and Adolescents

Objectives To describe the association between active, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and the prevalence of eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) in the U.S. pediatric population. Study Design Cross-sectional. Setting U.S. representative demographic and audiometric data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES);2005–2010. Subjects and Methods The study consisted of 2,977 children aged 12–19 years. ETD was defined as middle ear pressure <100mm H20. ETS was defined as non-active smoking in individuals with serum cotinine over the limit of detection (≥0.015 ng/mL) and <10 ng/mL(N = 1559). Results The prevalence of ETD was 6.1%. After multivariate adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, education level, ethnicity, or having a cold, sinus problem or earache during the last 24 hours, compared to unexposed children, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of ETD for those exposed to ETS ages 12–15 in the first, second and third tertile of cotinine concentrations were, respectively, 1.38 (0.53–3.60), 0.99 (0.53–3.60) and 2.67 (1.12–6.34). Similarly, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of ETD for those exposed to ETS ages 16–19 in the first, second and third tertile of cotinine concentrations were, respectively, 1.28 (0.48–3.41), 0.99 (0.40–2.48) and 2.86 (1.19–6.88). Conclusion These data suggest that children and adolescents exposed to high concentrations of ETS may have an increased prevalence of ETD.
The Effects of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor and Calpain Inhibitor Combination Therapies on Ovarian Cancer Cells.

Background: Ovarian cancer is difficult to treat due to absence of selective drugs and tendency of platinum drugs to promote resistance. Combination therapy using epigenetic drugs is predicted to be a beneficial alternative. Materials and Methods: This study investigated the effects of combination therapies using two structurally different histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors (HDACi), sodium butyrate and suberanilohydroxamic acid (SAHA), with the calpain inhibitor calpeptin on two characteristically different ovarian cancer cell lines, CAOV-3 and SKOV-3. Results: Suboptimal doses of HDACi and calpeptin produced several effects. Growth inhibition was enhanced and the epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes ARHI, p21 and RARβ2 were re-expressed. Methylation of specific CpG residues in ARHI were reduced. Cell-cycle progression was inhibited and apoptosis, as well as autophagy, were induced. The phosphorylation of ERK and Akt were differentially effected by these inhibitors. Conclusion: The re-expression of tumor suppressors may sensitize ovarian cancer cells, which then undergo apoptosis and autophagy for cell death.
Reactivity of triethylaluminum with a series of secondary amines.

Abstract The reactions of triethylaluminum with a series of 13 secondary amines (RH=HNMe2, HNEt2, HNPr2n, HNPr2i, HNBu2n, HNBu2i, HNBu2s, HNC4H8, HNC5H10, HNC6H12, HN(c-C6H11)2, HN(CH2Ph)2, and HNC4H8NMe) afford room-temperature stable, clear, colorless liquid complexes. These complexes were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, IR and elemental analyses. Trends in the NMR chemical shift data are compared with data previously reported for the analogous trimethylaluminum, -gallium, and -indium compounds in terms of the steric properties of the amines. Subsequent thermolysis of these complexes yields dimeric aminoalanes via 1,2-elimination of ethane in all cases. The dimers were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, IR, melting point, cryoscopic molecular weight determinations, and elemental analyses. The NMR chemical shift data are compared with known data for the [Me2AlR]2 and [Me2GaR]2 series. The molecular structures of [Et2AlN(c-C6H11)2]2 and [Et2AlNC4H8NCH3]2, obtained from X-ray crystal data, are presented and discussed in terms of the correlations between the structural parameters of the Al2N2 ring and the nature of the Al and N substituents.
Meeting at the crossroads: collaboration between information technology departments and health sciences libraries

Objective: The purposes of this survey were to determine the nature and extent of collaboration between health sciences libraries and their information technology (IT) departments, to identify strengths and issues connected to this relationship, and to provide examples demonstrating exceptional collaborative success. Methods : A fourteen-question survey was sent to a broad selection of health care and academic libraries through a variety of email discussion lists and was limited to one response per institution. Convenience sampling was used to collect the responses. Results: An overwhelming majority of libraries described the relationship with their IT departments as good or excellent, and there were a variety of creative joint initiatives underway. Opportunities exist for continued and expanded library/IT collaboration. Conclusions: Good quality relationships between libraries and their IT departments are essential due to the interconnected nature of their services, and fortunately, this appears to be the norm at a variety of institutions. Mutual respect, open communication, realization of each department’s mission, and responsiveness to each other’s needs are part of what makes these relationships successful, which in turn leads to successful collaborative ventures that bode well for the future of both services.
Algae Concentration Analysis by Computer

Abstract Since 1945 the Illinois State Water Survey, in cooperation with the Champaign District Office of the U. S. Geological Survey, has maintained a program designed to assess the mineral quality of selected surface waters in Illinois. The results of this continuing program have been reported in Water Survey Bulletins 45, 54, and 56. A new dimension was added to the program in October 1971. Samples were collected at monthly intervals from the waters of 35 streams at 41 locations and were examined for algal density and type as well as mineral quality. Besides the stream sampling program for special studies, algae data has been collected from over 100 other sites throughout the State of Illinois' lakes, impoundments, strip mine pits, and small creeks. The biologist must look into the microscope and identify the algae, but this new procedure with the aid of the computer reduces the time between the identification stage and the publishing of the results. The methodology of collecting the samples, identifying the algae, coding the data, and processing the information is described. The analysis step has been standardized so results are uniformly reported from one study to the next. The data is coded systematically so a compatible data base can be maintained and augmented as more data is collected. The system was designed to eliminate repetitive steps and to be open ended in nature. The overall goal of the system or procedure was to eliminate errors, and shorten the time period between data collection and reporting of the results.
Energy Transfer and Spectra in Simulations of Two-dimensional Compressible Turbulence

We present results of high-resolution numerical simulations of compressible 2D turbulence forced at intermediate spatial scales with a solenoidal white-in-time external acceleration. A case with an isothermal equation of state, low energy injection rate, and turbulent Mach number \(M\approx 0.34\) without energy condensate is studied in detail. Analysis of energy spectra and fluxes shows that the classical dual-cascade picture familiar from the incompressible case is substantially modified by compressibility effects. While the small-scale direct enstrophy cascade remains largely intact, a large-scale energy flux loop forms with the direct acoustic energy cascade compensating for the inverse transfer of solenoidal kinetic energy. At small scales, the direct enstrophy and acoustic energy cascades are fully decoupled at small Mach numbers and hence the corresponding spectral energy slopes comply with theoretical predictions, as expected. At large scales, dispersion of acoustic waves on vortices softens the dilatational velocity spectrum, while the pseudo-sound component of the potential energy associated with coherent vortices steepens the potential energy spectrum. Open image in new window
Relating the multi-functionality of cytochrome c to membrane binding and structural conversion

Cytochrome c is known as an electron-carrying protein in the respiratory chain of mitochondria. Over the last 20 years, however, alternative functions of this very versatile protein have become the focus of research interests. Upon binding to anionic lipids such as cardiolipin, the protein acquires peroxidase activity. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that this requires a conformational change of the protein which involves partial unfolding of its tertiary structure. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of how cytochrome c interacts with cardiolipin-containing surfaces and how this affects its structure and function. In this context, we delineate partially conflicting results regarding the affinity of cytochrome c binding to cardiolipin-containing liposomes of different size and its influence on the structure of the protein and the morphology of the membrane.
Principles of Mass Spectrometry

The term “mass spectrometry” did not appear in the scientific literature until around 1920, when F. W. Aston reported for the first time the precise atomic weights of neon-20 and neon-22. This was a decade later than the discovery of these, the first, isotopes by Sir J. J. Thomson, confirming an earlier suggestion by F. Soddy that such entities should exist. These far-reaching discoveries resulted in the award of Nobel prizes, and led to the establishment of a vast new field of science which was eventually to affect each and every one of us. While the discovery of isotopes led to the development of some of the most horrendous weapons known to man, it has indisputably enriched our lives in many ways.
The CMUnited-99 small-size robot team

One of the necessary steps in entering a small-size RoboCup team is the actual construction of the robots. We have successfully built robots for RoboCup-97 and RoboCup-98, leading to two champion teams, namely CMUnited-97 [2] and CMUnited-98 [1].
Recent advances in management of acalculous cholecystitis.

Acalculous cholecystitis is a life-threatening gallbladder infection that typically affects the critically ill. A late diagnosis can have devastating outcomes because of the high risk of gallbladder perforation if untreated. The diagnosis is not straightforward as Murphy’s sign is difficult to illicit in the critically ill and many imaging findings are either insensitive or non-specific. This article reviews the current imaging literature to improve the interpretation of findings. Management involves a percutaneous cholecystostomy, surgical cholecystectomy, or more recently an endoscopically placed metal stent through the gastrointestinal tract into the gallbladder. This article reviews the current literature assessing the outcomes of each treatment option and suggests a protocol in determining the modality of choice on the basis of patient population. Specifically, endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage is a novel drainage approach for patients who are poor candidates for surgery and obviates the need for a percutaneous drain and all its complications. It has promising results but has caveats in its uses.
Effects of Phantom Electrode Stimulation on Vocal Production in Cochlear Implant Users.

Objectives Cochlear implant (CI) users suffer from a range of speech impairments, such as stuttering and vocal control of pitch and intensity. Though little research has focused on the role of auditory feedback in the speech of CI users, these speech impairments could be due in part to limited access to low-frequency cues inherent in CI-mediated listening. Phantom electrode stimulation (PES) represents a novel application of current steering that extends access to low frequencies for CI recipients. It is important to note that PES transmits frequencies below 300 Hz, whereas Baseline does not. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of PES on multiple frequency-related characteristics of voice production. Design Eight postlingually deafened, adult Advanced Bionics CI users underwent a series of vocal production tests including Tone Repetition, Vowel Sound Production, Passage Reading, and Picture Description. Participants completed all of these tests twice: once with PES and once using their program used for everyday listening (Baseline). An additional test, Automatic Modulation, was included to measure acute effects of PES and was completed only once. This test involved switching between PES and Baseline at specific time intervals in real time as participants read a series of short sentences. Finally, a subjective Vocal Effort measurement was also included. Results In Tone Repetition, the fundamental frequencies (F0) of tones produced using PES and the size of musical intervals produced using PES were significantly more accurate (closer to the target) compared with Baseline in specific gender, target tone range, and target tone type testing conditions. In the Vowel Sound Production task, vowel formant profiles produced using PES were closer to that of the general population compared with those produced using Baseline. The Passage Reading and Picture Description task results suggest that PES reduces measures of pitch variability (F0 standard deviation and range) in natural speech production. No significant results were found in comparisons of PES and Baseline in the Automatic Modulation task nor in the Vocal Effort task. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that usage of PES increases accuracy of pitch matching in repeated sung tones and frequency intervals, possibly due to more accurate F0 representation. The results also suggest that PES partially normalizes the vowel formant profiles of select vowel sounds. PES seems to decrease pitch variability of natural speech and appears to have limited acute effects on natural speech production, though this finding may be due in part to paradigm limitations. On average, subjective ratings of vocal effort were unaffected by the usage of PES versus Baseline.
Gaussian‐Pareto overbounding of DGNSS pseudoranges from CORS

This paper presents a novel approach for overbounding unknown distribution functions called the Gaussian-Pareto overbounding. This extends the current practice of using Gaussian distributions for overbounding, but combines it with methods from Extreme Value Theory for modeling tails. Hence, this approach uses a Gaussian distribution to overbound the core of the distribution and generalized Pareto distributions for the tails. Furthermore, this approach is applied toDifferential GlobalNavigation Satellite System (DGNSS) pseudorange data collected from two Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) and compared to Gaussian overbounding. It is shown that Gaussian-Pareto Overbounding more closely matches the empirical distribution than the simpler Gaussian overbounding approach in the case where there is significant heavy-tailedness of DGNSS data. This approach also highlights the ability of the flexible Gaussian-Pareto model to become less conservative in the tail region as more data is collected.
Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

Patients with intellectual disability (ID) are not immune to suffering from the trauma- and stressor-related disorders. These disorders are unique in their diagnostic requirement to identify exposure to stressful, traumatic, or unusual events as part of the etiology of the symptoms. For those with ID, the trauma must be defined by the individual and may include everyday events such as feeling isolated or marginalized. This chapter will describe the factors implicated in these disorders, the keys to evaluation, and the treatments for trauma- and stress-related disorders for patients with ID.
Compositional Dataflow Circuits

We present a technique for implementing dataflow networks as compositional hardware circuits. We first define an abstract dataflow model with unbounded buffers that supports data-dependent blocks (mux, demux, and nondeterministic merge); we then show how to faithfully implement such networks with bounded buffers and handshaking. Handshaking admits compositionality: our circuits can be connected with or without buffers, and combinational cycles arise only from a completely unbuffered cycle. While bounding buffer sizes can cause the system to deadlock prematurely, the system is guaranteed to produce the same, correct, data before then. Thus, unless the system deadlocks, inserting or removing buffers only affects its performance. We demonstrate how this enables design space to be explored.
High proportions of bacteria and archaea across most biomes remain uncultured.

A recent paper by Martiny argues that “high proportions” of bacteria in diverse Earth environments have been cultured. Here we reanalyze a portion of the data in that paper, and argue that the conclusion is based on several technical errors, most notably a calculation of sequence similarity that does not account for sequence gaps, and the reliance on 16S rRNA gene amplicons that are known to be biased towards cultured organisms. We further argue that the paper is also based on a conceptual error: namely, that sequence similarity cannot be used to infer “culturability” because one cannot infer physiology from 16S rRNA gene sequences. Combined with other recent, more reliable studies, the evidence supports the conclusion that most bacterial and archaeal taxa remain uncultured.
Can Technology Support Democracy

The utopian optimism about democracy and the internet has given way to disillusionment. At the same time, given the complexity of today's wicked problems, the need for democracy is critical. Unfortunately democracy is under attack around the world, and there are ominous signs of its retreat. How does democracy fare when digital technology is added to the picture? Weaving technology and democracy together is risky, and technologists who begin any digital project with the conviction that technology can and will solve “problems” of democracy are likely to be disappointed. Technology can be a boon to democracy if it is informed technology. The goal in writing this essay was to encourage people to help develop and cultivate a rich democratic sphere. Democracy has great potential that it rarely achieves. It is radical, critical, complex, and fragile. It takes different forms in different contexts. These forms are complex and the solutionism promoted by the computer industry and others is not appropriate in the case of democracies. The primary aim of technology in the service of democracy is not merely to make it easier or more convenient but to improve society's civic intelligence, its ability to address the problems it faces effectively and equitably.
Reinforcement Learning Interpretation Methods: A Survey

Reinforcement Learning (RL) systems achieved outstanding performance in different domains such as Atari games, finance, healthcare, and self-driving cars. However, their black-box nature complicates their use, especially in critical applications such as healthcare. To solve this problem, researchers have proposed different approaches to interpret RL models. Some of these methods were adopted from machine learning, while others were designed specifically for RL. The main objective of this paper is to show and explain RL interpretation methods, the metrics used to classify them, and how these metrics were applied to understand the internal details of RL models. We reviewed papers that propose new RL interpretation methods, improve the old ones, or discuss the pros and cons of the existing methods.
A hierarchical model for estimating the exposure-response curve by combining multiple studies of acute lower respiratory infections in children and household fine particulate matter air pollution.

Adverse health effects of household air pollution, including acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs), pose a major health burden around the world, particularly in settings where indoor combustion stoves are used for cooking. Individual studies have limited exposure ranges and sample sizes, while pooling studies together can improve statistical power. Methods We present hierarchical models for estimating long-term exposure concentrations and estimating a common exposure-response curve. The exposure concentration model combines temporally sparse, clustered longitudinal observations to estimate household-specific long-term average concentrations. The exposure-response model provides a flexible, semiparametric estimate of the exposure-response relationship while accommodating heterogeneous clustered data from multiple studies. We apply these models to three studies of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ALRIs in children in Nepal: a case-control study in Bhaktapur, a stepped-wedge trial in Sarlahi, and a parallel trial in Sarlahi. For each study, we estimate household-level long-term PM2.5 concentrations. We apply the exposure-response model separately to each study and jointly to the pooled data. Results The estimated long-term PM2.5 concentrations were lower for households using electric and gas fuel sources compared with households using biomass fuel. The exposure-response curve shows an estimated ALRI odds ratio of 3.39 (95% credible interval = 1.89, 6.10) comparing PM2.5 concentrations of 50 and 150 μg/m3 and a flattening of the curve for higher concentrations. Conclusions These flexible models can accommodate additional studies and be applied to other exposures and outcomes. The studies from Nepal provides evidence of a nonlinear exposure-response curve that flattens at higher concentrations.
Africanity and Decolonizing Discourses: Ubuntu Emerging Perspectives

I began this book by asking what Ubuntu means to those people living in southern Africa, specifically in Eastern Cape, and those who are southern African immigrants now living in the northeastern United States. As a student of society, I was compelled to explore Ubuntu for myself, in the places of my own social location, to see whether Ubuntu is that foundational philosophy of life that would permit its adherents to challenge universalized corporate power to commodify everything on the planet and the hijacking of state power by corporations to deny protections to the world’s 99% and to the environment (Monbiot 2011). I engaged Ubuntu in select texts and images, to highlight some of the public discourses. For us to engage Ubuntu as decolonizing discourse several ideas are emerging here, for example, awareness of the sociopolitical context and environments shaping narratives of Ubuntu, unmasking our positionalities of power in our evocations of Ubuntu and being attentive and self-critical to how our versions of universal responsibility through Ubuntu catalyze actions against oppressions. In meaning, Ubuntu emerges as a multidimensional. Drawing humanistic ideas like “becoming more humanely human” in community with others, recognizing the life force in humans as part of nature, plant life, animal life, in the waters, in the galaxy, and in all things on the universe. Also, recognizing the expansiveness of the world through the lens of infinite consciousness—that as humans we are only partially conscious, hence a need to extend knowledges. Further, Ubuntu is seen in relational consciousness, which embodies the idea Masihlalisane (let us live well together) embodying an understanding of harms, injustices, and oppressions inflicted on each other. In that relational consciousness Ubuntu as a regeneration of Isintu—living the practice of Ubuntu, which highlights principles of living well together beyond the qualities of being an individual. Thus, conceptualized Ubuntu as part of decolonizing discourse extends human rights in its attentiveness to the interconnectedness of individuality to community and the responsibilities to the other.
Secure-Stor: A Novel Hybrid Storage System Architecture to Enhance Security and Performance in Edge Computing

The Internet of Things (IoTs) is attracting the attention of scientists worldwide. With its explosive growth along with applications that require real-time computing power, a new technology called edge computing has emerged. As a result, edge computing has changed the way data are processed and handled back and forth for millions of devices worldwide, such as autonomous vehicles and electric cars. The confinement of cloud computing technology, such as a content delivery network (CDN), contributed significantly to edge computing development. Currently, this technology can meet the demands of ever-growing mobile devices and the IoTs. This paper describes a novel secure framework consisting of a hybrid storage architecture consisting of CDN, edge computing, and centralized storage. Centralized storage consists of multilevel storage systems that comprise solid-state drivers (SSDs) and hard disk drivers (HDDs), which provide optimal data storage solution for a wide variety of real-time data processing applications. Transforming the data back and forth between SSDs and HDDs is crucial for achieving high performance while meeting the edge device request deadline. Additionally, a new dynamic solid-state disk partitioning mechanism is introduced to optimize security for the proposed framework among hard disk drives. A partition from the solid-state disks to hard disk drives is assigned based on hard disk drive workloads.
Implementing Quality Function Deployment

Offers an integrative perspective of quality function deployment (QFD), including its benefits and shortcomings. By developing a model that includes within it the antecedents as well as the components of QFD and the potential gains accruing to an organization from QFD, clarifies this competitive tool and helps businesses to realize its importance to compete successfully in the global marketplace. Describes companies that have used QFD.
Interaction of Lysozyme with α-N-Acetyl-d-glucosamine

Abstract Association of α-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine with lysozyme has been studied over the pH range 4.5 to 8.0, at 4.9° and 22°, Γ/2 = 0.2. Measurements were made under conditions whereby the concentration of β-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine was relatively negligible. Experimental values of the apparent binding constant, Kap, are essentially temperature-independent above pH 7, but become markedly temperature-dependent at lower pH. Kap is much more strongly pH-dependent at 4.9° than at 22°, where the pH dependence is barely significant. The pH dependence of the binding constants may be quantitatively accounted for by assuming that at least two ionizable groups on the enzyme are intimately involved in the binding process. Unique pK values for these groups cannot be assigned, however. The pH dependence of Kap is strikingly different from that observed for the binding of β-d-1-O-methyl-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine to lysozyme, a molecule which competes for the same site on the enzyme (Biochemistry, 7, 3277 (1968)). It is argued that this difference in the pH dependence of Kap reflects a subtle difference between the geometric orientations of the monosaccharides at the binding site.
Quantization and coding for decentralized LTI systems

We study the communication rate requirements for centralized and decentralized control schemes when the plant and the controller are connected via a noiseless bandlimited channel. We introduce recursive quantizers that achieve monotonic boundedness and exponential stability of the worst-case state estimation error with minimum rate. Rate requirements for centralized schemes are shown to be lower than those for decentralized schemes. A quantification of the information sharing between the controllers, such as full, instant, and one-step delayed information sharing, is shown to crucial for communication requirements and complexity. Slepian-Wolf coding argument is used to show that information sharing by the controllers, and not by the plants, is sufficient to achieve the lower bound on the rate, and schemes confirming this efficiency are constructed. It is also shown that delay in communication between the controllers leads to higher rate requirements between the controllers and the plants.
Lattices and Cryptography

The security of all of the public key cryptosystems that we have previously studied has been based, either directly or indirectly, on either the difficulty of factoring large numbers or the difficulty of finding discrete logarithms in a finite group. In this chapter we investigate a new type of hard problem arising in the theory of lattices that can be used as the basis for a public key cryptosystem. Lattice-based cryptosystems offer several potential advantages over earlier systems, including faster encryption/decryption and so-called quantum resistance. The latter means that at present there are no known quantum algorithms to rapidly solve hard lattice problems; see Sect. 8.11. Further, we will see that the theory of lattices has applications in cryptography beyond simply providing a new source of hard problems.
Neuroimaging features of neurenteric cysts: analysis of nine cases and review of the literature.

PURPOSE To gain a better understanding of neurenteric (NE) cysts via correlation of imaging findings and surgical and pathologic data. METHODS The medical records, imaging studies, surgical information, and pathologic material were retrospectively reviewed in nine patients with NE cysts, including seven proved and two very probable cases. RESULTS NE cysts occurred in the cerebellopontine angle in one case and extended from the cerebellopontine angle to the C2 level in a second. In the latter patient and the remaining seven with intraspinal lesions, the NE cyst was always located anterior to the spinal cord. The most common myelographic and CT myelographic appearance was that of a lobulated intradural extramedullary (IDEM) mass. Two patients had an intramedullary NE cyst with a somewhat unusual appearing exophytic IDEM-appearing expansion that can be a characteristic feature of these lesions. MR imaging demonstrated the NE cyst to be isointense to hyperintense relative to cerebrospinal fluid on long TR sequences and isointense or slightly hyperintense to cerebrospinal fluid on T1-weighted images. These signal characteristics correlate with the high-protein-content fluid within the cysts, usually described at surgery as milky or mucinous in character. CONCLUSION The diagnosis of NE cyst should be considered when imaging studies reveal the presence of a lobulated IDEM or an exophytic intramedullary cystic mass, especially in association with anterior spina bifida or other vertebral anomalies. MR can uniquely confirm the cystic nature of these masses and is the method of choice for their imaging investigation. Because cyst recurrence can occur, MR should also be used for long-term patient follow-up.
Diverse Effects of a Familial Atrial Fibrillation (FAF)-Related KCNE2 Mutation, R27C, on Cardiac Voltage-Gated Potassium (Kv) Channels

Background: KCNE2 (E2) is expressed in human heart and can potentially associate with all major cardiac Kv channels to modulate their current amplitude and/or gating kinetics. An E2-R27C mutation was identified in fAF patients, and shown to have a gain-of-function effect on E2/(KCN)Q1 channel complex. However, it is not clear whether/how E2-R27C affects E2 modulation of other cardiac Kv channels, and the biophysical nature of its gain-of-function phenotype when associated with Q1. Methods: We express E2-WT or E2-R27C with partner Kv channel α-subunits (E2:α-subunit = 3:1), and record currents using TEVC. Results: Coexpressing E2-WT with Kv4.3 (pore-forming subunit of Ito channels) reduces peak current amplitude and induces a depolarizing shift in V0.5 of inactivation (from −45+5 to −37+5 mV). Relative to E2-WT/Kv4.3, E2-R27C reduces the current-suppressing effect and shifts V0.5 of inactivation in the hyperpolarizing direction (to −41+5 mV). Relative to E2-WT/hERG (pore-forming subunit of IKr channels), E2-R27C induces a modest current suppressing effect along with a hyperpolarizing shift in V0.5 of activation (from 10+4 to −8+1 mV). Relative to E2-WT/Q1 (pore-forming subunit of IKs channels), E2-R27C markedly increases the estimated fully-available current amplitude and induces a hyperpolarizing shift in V0.5 of activation (from −7+2 to to −41+5 mV). Conclusion: E2-R27C affects how E2 modulates the current amplitude and voltage-dependence of gating of Kv4.3 and hERG channels. The net results can be gain-of-function or loss-of-function, depending on the resting membrane potential (RMP, depolarizing RMP exacerbates Kv4.3 inactivation by E2-R27C) and action potential plateau voltage (APPV, loss of APPV favors currents through E2-R27C/hERG channels). E2-R27C exerts a strong gain-of-function effect on E2/Q1 channels by 2 mechanisms: increasing the fully-available current amplitude and shifting the voltage range of activation in the hyperpolarizing direction.
Gelation kinetics of an organically modified silicate

The gelation of solutions containing mixtures of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) with isopropanol, H2O, and HCl as the catalyst was studied at various temperatures in closed systems. Large variations in the gelation rates were observed with varying temperatures, and different acid and water contents. The gelation rates were found to increase with increasing temperature as well as with HCl, content. However, decreasing the water concentration (the molar ratio H2O∶TEOS<3) had a more significant effect in decreasing the gelation rate. Apparent activation energies were obtained from Arrhenius plots of gelation time against temperature and they were shown to change with acid content. The microstructural evolution in the final, dried gels appeared to be related to the degree of network linkage in the present system.
Potential energy calculations on conformations of puromycin and 3'-terminal aminoacyl adenosines of transfer RNAs.

Abstract Potential energy calculations taking into account van der Waals, electrostatic and torsional interactions have been carried out on puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, resembling the terminal 3′-aminoacyl adenosine moieties of charged transfer RNAs and comprising of an adenosine and an amino acid residue of tyrosine. The results reveal that the number of energetically favorable conformations for puromycin are strikingly limited and that the flexibility in the purpomycin molecule resides mainly in the rotation about the C α -C β bond of the amino acid residue while the favored rotational angles about the other bonds fall into their respective single domains. Three possible conformations which correspond to the three staggered orientations about the C α -C β bond, viz. 60°, 180° and 300° have been predicted for puromycin. These results have been found to be in excellent agreement with the X-ray data on puromycin and carbocyclic puromycin. The salient conformational features obtained for the amino acid portion in puromycin are very similar to those found in free amino acids and amino acid residues in proteins indicating that the nucleoside portion has virtually no significant influence on the preferred conformations of the amino acid moiety. It is likely that all the 20 different 3′-terminal aminoacyl adenosine moieties of charged transfer RNAs would exhibit conformational features very similar to that of puromycin with the amino acid portions displaying conformations characteristic of their own.
Homological dimension in semigroup algebras

Abstract If S is a semigroup with identity and k is a commutative ring with identity, let kS be the semigroup algebra. For M a left kS -module, let d kS ( M ) be the projective dimension of M . Then D ( kS ) = l.gl.dim( kS ) = sup{ d kS ( M ): M is a left kS-module }. For S a finite regular semigroup, we obtain an upper bound for D ( kS ) in terms of properties of the composition factors of S and of { D ( kG ): G ⊂ S a maximal subgroup}. Using this we find that if k is a field of characteristic relatively prime to the orders of the maximal subgroups of S , then D ( kS ) is finite, and that if S is completely 0-simple, this bound is attained. We can also use this to show that if S is a finite, regular, combinatorial semigroup, then the cohomology groups H n ( S ,−) vanish for sufficiently high dimension.
Determination of maximum allowable strain for polysilicon micro-devices

Abstract Polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) is a material commonly used for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) for which reliable mechanical properties data is not available, especially for devices that have dimensions on the order of microns. This paper proposes a method for using test data that accounts for the uncertainties in mechanical properties and presents data from tests of polysilicon that may be used in the future design of polysilicon MEMS. The testing of 161 micro-devices to failure, results in a recommendation for design that the nominal strain be maintained below 0.0055. 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Culture, Data and Algorithmic Organization

Abstract The author presents his interactive digital installations of the past decade, featured in museums, media arts festivals and galleries, that engage the audience to contribute data that is then transformed into content and visually projected large scale in the exhibition space. Collected over time, the data occasions further data-mining, algorithmic processing, with visualization of the results.
The second-order procedure: exact vs approximate results for isotropic, two-phase composites

Abstract Estimates for the effective behavior of statistically isotropic, two-phase, nonlinear elastic (or viscous) composites were given by Ponte Castaneda (1996; J. Mech. Phys. Solids 44 , 827), making use of the ‘second-order procedure’, also introduced in that reference. The actual computation of these estimates took advantage of a simplifying hypothesis consisting of taking the average strain deviators in the phases to be proportional to the macroscopic strain deviator. In this paper, a more general analysis is presented that shows that while the ‘proportional strain’ hypothesis does hold for some special cases, it does not in general. In fact, the average strain deviators in the phases are found to be only co-axial with the macroscopic strain deviator. On the other hand, the proportional strain hypothesis, together with an approximate form of the relevant P tensor, is found to lead to fairly small errors, relative to the exact solution of the problem. The largest errors, which occur for large phase contrast and nonlinearity, are less than about two percent. Because of this, and given the significant simplifications achieved, the use of the proportional strain hypothesis and of the approximate form of the P tensor are recommended. Certainly, these approximations are much more accurate than the isotropic-type approximations that have been used in the past in the context of other homogenization procedures.
Stress and the developing limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

The postnatal limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis in the rodent is remarkably different from the adult, both in structure and function. The first 2 weeks postnatally are characterized by a 'silent period' during which the developing animal is hyporesponsive to stress (stress hyporesponsive period-SHRP), followed by a new and unique phase of stress responsiveness when the animal fails to swiftly terminate glucocorticoid secretion. In this review, we summarize our work which focuses on the regulatory biology of the components of the LHPA system and the consequences of its disruption on the adaptive responses of the developing organism. We find that the animal during the first 2 weeks of life responds to an intermittent chronic challenge increasing anterior pituitary POMC post-translational events, while the adult increases genomic events. The result for both the mature and the developing animal is the same, an increase in corticosterone (CS) levels. In addition, we have found evidence of impaired rate sensitive feedback in the weanling animal, as well as changes in ACTH clearance. Similar to the young animal emerging from SHRP, maternally deprived pups during the first week of life exhibit a substantial and sustained ACTH and CS response to stress. In the deprived animal these changes are accompanied by decreases in mineralocorticoid receptor gene expression in the hippocampus, suggesting that changes in mineralocorticoid to glucocorticoid receptor ratios may be important in this phenomena. What has become evident from our studies is that mechanisms underlying normal LHPA development are dynamic, age dependent and distinct to the strategies used by the mature organism to cope with stress.