cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sumoylation Modulates the Assembly and Activity of the Pre-mRNA 3′ Processing Complex

Eukaryotic pre-mRNA 3′-end formation is catalyzed by a complex set of factors that must be intricately regulated. In this study, we have discovered a novel role for the small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO in the regulation of mammalian 3′-end processing. We identified symplekin, a factor involved in complex assembly, and CPSF-73, an endonuclease, as SUMO modification substrates. The major sites of sumoylation in symplekin and CPSF-73 were determined and found to be highly conserved across species. A sumoylation-deficient mutant was defective in rescuing cell viability in symplekin small interfering RNA (siRNA)-treated cells, supporting the importance of this modification in symplekin function. We also analyzed the involvement of sumoylation in 3′-end processing by altering the sumoylation status of nuclear extracts. This was done by the addition of a SUMO protease, which we show interacts with both symplekin and CPSF-73, or by siRNA-mediated depletion of ubc9, the SUMO E2-conjugating enzyme. Both treatments resulted in a marked inhibition of processing. The assembly of a functional polyadenylation complex was also impaired by the SUMO protease. Our identification of two key polyadenylation factors as SUMO targets and of the role of SUMO in enhancing the assembly and activity of the 3′-end-processing complex together reveal an important function for SUMO in the processing of mRNA precursors.
On the use of robotics for melt-blowing to form shaped/molded fabric structures

This paper presents an overview of research on the production of nonwoven and tailored 3D structures for protective garments (such as those worn by fire fighters) using robotics and meltblown technology. In particular, the integration of robotics and a small-scale melt-blowing unit is discussed. This paper develops the framework and general motivation for the overall study and describes in detail the novel 3D-fiber application system developed using a seven-degree of freedom system. This system will be used with control algorithms developed at the NCRC to improve uniformity of the shaped fabric structure.
Evaluating public participation in environmental decision-making: EPA's superfund community involvement program

This article discusses an 8-year, ongoing project that evaluates the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund community involvement program. The project originated as a response to the Government Performance and Results Act, which requires federal agencies to articulate program goals, and evaluate and report their progress in meeting those goals. The evaluation project assesses how effective the Superfund community involvement program is in promoting public participation in decisions about how to clean up hazardous wastes at Superfund sites. We do three things in the article: (1) share our experience with evaluating an Agency public participation program, including lessons learned about methods of evaluation; (2) report evaluation results; and (3) address a number of issues pertaining to the evaluation of public participation in environmental decision-making. Our goal is to encourage more environmental managers to incorporate evaluation into their public participation programs as a tool for improving them. We found that written mail surveys were an effective and economical tool for obtaining feedback on EPA's community involvement program at Superfund sites. The evaluation focused on four criteria: citizen satisfaction with EPA information about the Superfund site, citizen understanding of environmental and human health risks associated with the site, citizen satisfaction with opportunities provided by EPA for community input, and citizen satisfaction with EPA's response to community input. While the evaluation results were mixed, in general, community members who were most informed about and involved in the cleanup process at Superfund sites generally were also the most satisfied with the community involvement process, and the job that EPA was doing cleaning up the site. We conclude that systematic evaluation provides meaningful and useful information that agencies can use to improve their public participation programs. However, there need to be institutionalized processes that ensure evaluation results are used to develop and implement strategies for improvement.
Multi-user view integration system (MUVIS): an expert system for view integration

A description is given of the architecture and development of a knowledge-based system called MUVIS (multiuser view integration system) to support the design of distributed object-oriented databases. MUVIS is implemented using an object-oriented development environment. It assists database designers in representing user views and integrating these views into a global conceptual view. The view integration component is decoupled from the view modeling component. The underlying data model, the semantic data model, treats all parts of the design as objects, thereby reducing the complexity of the integration. >
Concurrency and Communication: Lessons from the SHIM Project

Describing parallel hardware and software is difficult, especially in an embedded setting. Five years ago, we started the shim project to address this challenge by developing a programming language for hardware/software systems. The resulting language describes asynchronously running processes that has the useful property of scheduling-independence: the i/o of a shim program is not affected by any scheduling choices. This paper presents a history of the shim project with a focus on the key things we have learned along the way.
Oral Contraceptives, Reproductive Factors, and Risk of Colorectal Cancer among Women in a Prospective Cohort Study

Previous findings on the associations between oral contraceptive (OC) use and reproductive factors and risk of colorectal cancer have been inconclusive. The authors evaluated associations of OC use and reproductive factors (including parity, age at first birth, age at menarche, and age at menopause) with risk of colorectal cancer among women in a large-scale prospective cohort study. The analysis included 39,680 participants in the Women's Health Study who had usable information on ever use of OCs and potential risk factors for colorectal cancer. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were estimated from Cox proportional hazards regression models. All p values were two-sided. During an average of 11 years of follow-up (1992-2004), 267 incident cases of colorectal cancer were documented. Ever use of OCs was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer (relative risk = 0.67, 95% confidence interval: 0.50, 0.89). Women who had used OCs for 6 months-<3 years had a relative risk of 0.61 (95% confidence interval: 0.40, 0.94) relative to never users, with little additional decreased risk being seen with longer duration of use (p for multivariate trend = 0.09). No significant association was observed between reproductive factors and colorectal cancer risk. These findings provide some support for a potential role of OCs in reducing risk of colorectal cancer.
Extrachromosomal inheritance of carbon dioxide sensitivity in the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus.

ABSTRACT Mosquitoes from a laboratory colony of Culex quinquefasciatus from Matsu Island, China, develop irreversible paralytic symptoms after exposure to carbon dioxide at 1°. This CO 2 sensitivity is caused by an inherited infectious agent, probably a virus. Crossing studies between CO 2 -sensitive and -resistant mosquitoes showed that the sensitivity trait is inherited extrachromosomally in a fashion strictly analogous to the hereditary transmission of sigma virus in Drosophila melanogaster . Sensitivity could be maintained through maternal transmission alone, despite nine generations of backcrossing of "stabilized" CO 2 -sensitive females to males from a resistant strain. CO 2 -sensitive males crossed to resistant females transmitted sensitivity to a portion of their F 1 progeny, and only the female F 1 sensitives were capable of further hereditary transmission.—Matsu, or a very similar hereditary infectious agent, is common in natural populations of Cx. quinquefasciatus on Oahu, Hawaii. Fifty-nine percent of the families reared from field-collected egg rafts contained CO 2 -sensitive mosquitoes, and some families contained only sensitive mosquitoes.
Forward acknowledgement: refining TCP congestion control

We have developed a Forward Acknowledgment (FACK) congestion control algorithm which addresses many of the performance problems recently observed in the Internet. The FACK algorithm is based on first principles of congestion control and is designed to be used with the proposed TCP SACK option. By decoupling congestion control from other algorithms such as data recovery, it attains more precise control over the data flow in the network. We introduce two additional algorithms to improve the behavior in specific situations. Through simulations we compare FACK to both Reno and Reno with SACK. Finally, we consider the potential performance and impact of FACK in the Internet.
Recovering Concepts from Source Code with Automated Concept Identification

The complexity of the systems that software engineers build has continuously grown since the inception of the field. What has not changed is the engineers' mental capacity to operate on about seven distinct pieces of information at a time. Improvements like the widespread use of UML have led to more abstract software design activities, however the same cannot be said for reverse engineering activities. The well known concept assignment problem is still being solved at the line-by-line level of analyzing source code. The introduction of abstraction to the problem will allow the engineer to move farther away from the details of the system, increasing his ability to see the role that domain level concepts play in the system. In this paper we present a technique that facilitates filtering of classes from existing systems at the source level based on their relationship to the core concepts in the domain. This approach can simplify the process of reverse engineering and design recovery, as well as other activities that require a mapping to domain level concepts.
Uplift and subsidence reveal a nonpersistent megathrust rupture boundary (Sitkinak Island, Alaska)

We report stratigraphic evidence of land-level change and tsunami inundation along the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust during prehistoric and historical earthquakes west of Kodiak Island. On Sitkinak Island, cores and tidal outcrops fringing a lagoon reveal five sharp lithologic contacts that record coseismic land-level change. Radiocarbon dates, 137Cs profiles, computerized tomography scans, and microfossil assemblages are consistent with rapid uplift circa 290–0, 520–300, and 1050–790 cal yr B.P. and subsidence in A.D. 1964 and circa 640–510 cal yr B.P. Radiocarbon, 137Cs, and 210Pb ages bracketing a sand bed traced 1.5 km inland and evidence for sudden uplift are consistent with Russian accounts of an earthquake and tsunami in A.D. 1788. The mixed uplift and subsidence record suggests that Sitkinak Island sits above a nonpersistent boundary near the southwestern limit of the A.D. 1964 Mw 9.2 megathrust rupture.
Potential for Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) to transmit bacterial and fungal pathogens into cotton bolls.

Recently, we showed that the southern green stink bug (SGSB), Nezara viridula (L.), can transmit Pantoea agglomerans (Ewing and Fife), an opportunistic bacterium, into green cotton bolls resulting in plant disease. Here, we hypothesized that our established model could be used to determine if the SGSB was a general, non-discriminate vector by using two other opportunistic bacterial pathogens of bolls (Pantoea ananatis [Serano] and Klebsiella pneumoniae [Schroeter]) and the known fungal pathogen Nematospora coryli (Peglion). Variants of P. ananatis (strain Pa-1R) and K. pneumoniae (strain Kp 5-1R) selected for rifampicin (Rif) resistance were used as bacterial opportunists. N. coryli was detected only from laboratory-reared SGSB directly exposed to the fungus. Both Pa-1R and Kp 5-1R were recovered from SGSB previously provided a contaminated food source (2 days), sterile food (5 days), and then harvested after being caged on bolls (2 days) at levels reaching 103 and 104 colony forming units (cfus) per insect, respectively. However, bolls caged with insects infected with Pa-1R or Kp 5-1R and with evidence of feeding did not become diseased nor were either opportunists detected from boll tissues. Insects infected with N. coryli transmitted the pathogen, which resulted in diseased bolls and fungi concentrations reached 106 cfus/g locule tissue at 2 weeks following the caging period. Notably, each of the three pathogens independently caused boll disease when mechanically inoculated using a needle puncture. Generally, these results suggest that cotton pathogen acquisition by the SGSB was not sufficient to determine whether the insects were disease vectors of the opportunists.
Soil factors influencing atrazine sorption : Implications on fate

The effects of two soil properties-soil organic carbon (SOC) content and landscape position-and a management factor (tillage) from Iowa and South Carolina soils on the sorption of the herbicide atrazine (6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) were evaluated to assess their influence on atrazine fate in the soil environment. In both Iowa and South Carolina, the magnitude of atrazine sorption was strongly and positively correlated with SOC, landscape position, and tillage. Landscape position was especially important for Iowa soils because SOC-enriched depressional areas (potholes) on the Wisconsin glacial surface could sorb more atrazine than soils in sloping positions. Our data suggest that herbicide management strategies such as application rates or herbicide selection will require some adjustments to account for the effects of SOC, landscape position, and tillage management on herbicide sorption in to augment effective weed control and prevent herbicide movement to groundwater.
Droplet impingement dynamics: effect of surface temperature during boiling and non-boiling conditions

This study investigates the hydrodynamic characteristics of droplet impingement on heated surfaces and compares the effect of surface temperature when using water and a nanofluid on a polished and nanostructured surface. Results are obtained for an impact Reynolds number and Weber number of approximately 1700 and 25, respectively. Three discs are used: polished silicon, nanostructured porous silicon and gold-coated polished silicon. Seven surface temperatures, including single-phase (non-boiling) and two-phase (boiling) conditions, are included. Droplet impact velocity, transient spreading diameter and dynamic contact angle are measured. Results of water and a water-based single-wall carbon-nanotube nanofluid impinging on a polished silicon surface are compared to determine the effects of nanoparticles on impinging dynamics. The nanofluid results in larger spreading velocities, larger spreading diameters and an increase in early-stage dynamic contact angle. Results of water impinging on both polished silicon and nanostructured silicon show that the nanostructured surface enhances the heat transfer for evaporative cooling at lower surface temperatures, which is indicated by a shorter evaporation time. Using a nanofluid or a nanostructured surface can reduce the total evaporation time up to 20% and 37%, respectively. Experimental data are compared with models that predict dynamic contact angle and non-dimensional maximum spreading diameter. Results show that the molecular-kinetic theory's dynamic contact angle model agrees well with current experimental data for later times, but over-predicts at early times. Predictions of maximum spreading diameter based on surface energy analyses indicate that these models over-predict unless empirical coefficients are adjusted to fit the test conditions. This is a consequence of underestimates of the dissipative energy for the conditions studied.
Isolation and diversity analysis of resistance gene homologues from switchgrass.

Resistance gene homologs (RGHs) were isolated from the switchgrass variety Alamo by a combination of polymerase chain reaction and expressed sequence tag (EST) database mining. Fifty-eight RGHs were isolated by polymerase chain reaction and 295 RGHs were identified in 424,545 switchgrass ESTs. Four nucleotide binding site−leucine-rich repeat RGHs were selected to investigate RGH haplotypic diversity in seven switchgrass varieties chosen for their representation of a broad range of the switchgrass germplasm. Lowland and upland ecotypes were found to be less similar, even from nearby populations, than were more distant populations with similar growth environments. Most (83.5%) of the variability in these four RGHs was found to be attributable to the within-population component. The difference in nucleotide diversity between and within populations was observed to be small, whereas this diversity is maintained to similar degrees at both population and ecotype levels. The results also revealed that the analyzed RGHs were under positive selection in the studied switchgrass accessions. Intragenic recombination was detected in switchgrass RGHs, thereby demonstrating an active genetic process that has the potential to generate new resistance genes with new specificities that might act against newly-arising pathogen races.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease latest unknown in struggle to restore faith in blood supply

There was considerable medical interest in a recent Toronto conference on prion disease--and in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in particular--because of the recent tainted-beef controversy in Britain. Although there is no proven link between a newly recognized variant form of CJD and "mad cow disease," and no evidence that CJD can be spread through the blood supply, the theoretical risk has scientists scrambling to understand how the disease is spread and policymakers struggling with the thorny issue of whether to notify persons who have received blood or blood products that may place them at risk. Until the mysteries of prion diseases and their transmission are unravelled, Dr. Peter Vaughan reports, physicians and their patients will have to live with uncertainty.
Modeling flocculation processes of fine-grained particles using a size-resolved method: Comparison with published laboratory experiments

Abstract The transport of fine-grained particles in estuarine and coastal waters is influenced by flocculation processes (aggregation and floc breakup). As a consequence, the particle size varies with time in the water column, and can be orders of magnitude larger than those of primary particles. In this study the variations in floc size is simulated using a size-resolved method, which approximates the real size distribution of particles by a range of size bins and solves a mass balance equation for each bin. To predict the size distribution both aggregation and breakup processes are included. The conventional rectilinear aggregation kernel is used which considers both turbulent shear and differential settling. The breakup kernel accounts for the fractal dimension of the flocs. A flocculation simulation is compared to the settling column lab experiments of Winterwerp [1998. A simple model for turbulence induced flocculation of cohesive sediment, Journal of Hydraulic Research, 36, 309–326], and a one-dimensional sediment transport model is verified with the observed variations in floc size and concentration over tidal cycles in a laboratory flume experiment of Bale et al. [2002. Direct observation of the formation and break-up of aggregates in an annular flume using laser reflectance particle sizing. In: Winterwerp, J.C., Kranenburg, C. (Eds.), Fine Sediment Dynamics in the Marine Environment. Elsevier, pp. 189–201]. The numerical simulations compare qualitatively and quantitatively well with the laboratory measurements, and the analysis of the two simulation results indicates that the median floc size can be correlated to the sediment concentration and Kolmogorov microscale. Sensitivity studies are conducted to explore the role of settling velocity and erosion rate. The results are not sensitive towards the formulation of settling velocity, but the parameterization of erosion flux is important. The studies show that for predicting the sediment deposition flux it is crucial to include flocculation processes.
Analysis of Ankle Range of Motion and Functional Outcome Following Total Ankle Arthoplasty

The success of ankle joint replacement has primarily been reviewed with respect to patient morbidity and survivorship rather than patient satisfaction. A retrospective review was performed of 95 patients who had undergone a total ankle replacement and who had completed both postoperative range of motion fluoroscopy and a subjective patient score sheet. Collected data included age, body mass index, length of follow-up, presence of complications, performance of adjunctive procedures, range of motion, and the etiology of the end-stage arthritis. These variables were then compared with patient satisfaction to see if there were any predictive conditions of successful outcomes. Patients older than 60 years and those with a body mass index (BMI) less than 30 demonstrated a significant positive association with subjective satisfaction scores (P = .0023 and .0008, respectively). The amount of postoperative range of motion did not appear to correlate with patient satisfaction. Furthermore, there were no significant associations of patient satisfaction with a patient age younger than 60 years, a BMI greater than 30, additional procedures, perioperative complications, the length of time after surgery, and the presenting etiology.
Identification of an autoantibody panel to separate lung cancer from smokers and nonsmokers

Sera from lung cancer patients contain autoantibodies that react with tumor associated antigens (TAAs) that reflect genetic over-expression, mutation, or other anomalies of cell cycle, growth, signaling, and metabolism pathways. We performed immunoassays to detect autoantibodies to ten tumor associated antigens (TAAs) selected on the basis of previous studies showing that they had preferential specificity for certain cancers. Sera examined were from lung cancer patients (22); smokers with ground-glass opacities (GGOs) (46), benign solid nodules (55), or normal CTs (35); and normal non-smokers (36). Logistic regression models based on the antibody biomarker levels among the high risk and lung cancer groups were developed to identify the combinations of biomarkers that predict lung cancer in these cohorts. Statistically significant differences in the distributions of each of the biomarkers were identified among all five groups. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves based on age, c-myc, Cyclin A, Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1, CDK2, and survivin, we obtained a sensitivity = 81% and specificity = 97% for the classification of cancer vs smokers(no nodules, solid nodules, or GGO) and correctly predicted 31/36 healthy controls as noncancer. A pattern of autoantibody reactivity to TAAs may distinguish patients with lung cancer versus smokers with normal CTs, stable solid nodules, ground glass opacities, or normal healthy never smokers.
Microcomputed tomography provides high accuracy congenital heart disease diagnosis in neonatal and fetal mice.

Background—Mice are well suited for modeling human congenital heart disease (CHD), given their 4-chamber cardiac anatomy. However, mice with CHD invariably die prenatally/neonatally, causing CHD phenotypes to be missed. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of noninvasive microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) to screen for CHD in stillborn/fetal mice. These studies were performed using chemically mutagenized mice expected to be enriched for birth defects, including CHD. Methods and Results—Stillborn/fetal mice obtained from the breeding of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenized mice were formalin-fixed and stained with iodine, then micro-CT scanned. Those diagnosed with CHD and some CHD-negative pups were necropsied. A subset of these were further analyzed by histopathology to confirm the CHD/no-CHD diagnosis. Micro-CT scanning of 2105 fetal/newborn mice revealed an abundance of ventricular septal defects (n=307). Overall, we observed an accuracy of 89.8% for ventricular septal defect diagnosis. Outflow tract anomalies identified by micro-CT included double outlet right ventricle (n=36), transposition of the great arteries (n=14), and persistent truncus arteriosus (n=3). These were diagnosed with a 97.4% accuracy. Aortic arch anomalies also were readily detected with an overall 99.6% accuracy. This included right aortic arch (n=28) and coarctation/interrupted aortic arch (n=12). Also detected by micro-CT were atrioventricular septal defects (n=22), tricuspid hypoplasia/atresia (n=13), and coronary artery fistulas (n=16). They yielded accuracies of 98.9%, 100%, and 97.8%, respectively. Conclusions—Contrast enhanced micro-CT imaging in neonatal/fetal mice can reliably detect a wide spectrum of CHD. We conclude that micro-CT imaging can be used for routine rapid assessments of structural heart defects in fetal/newborn mice. (Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2013;6:551-559.)
Requirement of TGF-β receptor-dependent activation of c-jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs)/stress-activated protein kinases (Sapks) for TGF-β up-regulation of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor

We have previously demonstrated that activation of the Ras/Mapk pathways is required for transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) induction of TGF-beta(1) expression. Here we examined the role of the Ras/Mapk pathways in TGF-beta induction of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) expression in untransformed intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). TGF-beta activated the stress-activated protein kinases (Sapk)/c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) within 5-10 min, an effect that preceeded TGF-beta induction of uPAR expression in these cells. TGF-beta induction of both JNK1 activity and JunD phosphorylation was blocked by expression of a dominant-negative mutant of the type II TGF-beta receptor (DN TbetaRII), a dominant-negative mutant of MKK4 (DN MKK4), or a dominant-negative mutant of Ras (RasN17), or by the addition of the JNK inhibitor SP600125. TGF-beta also induced AP-1 complex formation at the distal AP-1 site (-184 to -178) of the uPAR promoter within 2 h of TGF-beta addition, consistent with the time-dependent up-regulation of uPAR expression. The primary components present in the TGF-beta-stimulated AP-1 complex bound to the uPAR promoter were Jun D and Fra-2. Moreover, addition of SP600125, or expression of DN MKK4 or DN TbetaRII, blocked TGF-beta up-regulation of uPAR in IECs. Accordingly, our results indicate that TGF-beta activates the Ras/MKK4/JNK1 signaling cascade, leading to induction of AP-1 activity, which, in turn, up-regulates uPAR expression. Our results also indicate that the type II TGF-beta receptor (RII) is required for TGF-beta activation of JNK1 and the resulting up-regulation of uPAR expression.
The Ombudsman: Reaping Benefits from Management Research: Lessons from the Forecasting Principles Project

It is often claimed that managers do not read serious research papers in journals. If true, this neglect would seem to pose a problem because journals are the dominant source of knowledge in management science. By examining results from the forecasting principles project, which was designed to summarize all useful knowledge in forecasting, we found that journals have provided 89 percent of the useful knowledge. However, journal papers relevant to practice are difficult to find because fewer than three percent of papers on forecasting contain useful findings. That turns out to be about one useful paper per month over the last half century. Once found, papers are difficult to interpret. Managers need low-cost, easily accessible sources that summarize advice (principles) from research; journals do not meet this need. To increase the rate of progress in developing and communicating principles, researchers, journal editors, textbook writers, software developers, Web-site designers, and practitioners should make some changes. We offer some examples: Researchers should directly study forecasting principles. Journal editors should actively solicit papers; invited submissions were about 20 times better than standard submissions at producing useful findings that were often cited, and they do so at lower cost. Textbook writers should focus on principles so that readers can apply knowledge. Web-site and software developers should provide practitioners with low-cost ways to use principles. Practitioners should apply the principles that are currently available.
Mobile‐IT Education (MIT. EDU): m‐learning applications for classroom settings

In this paper, we describe the Mobile-IT Education (MIT.EDU) system, which demonstrates the potential of using a distributed mobile device architecture for rapid prototyping of wireless mobile multi-user applications for use in classroom settings. MIT.EDU is a stable, accessible system that combines inexpensive, commodity hardware, a flexible sensor/ peripheral interconnection bus, and a powerful, light-weight distributed sensing, classification, and inter-process communications software architecture to facilitate the development of distributed real-time multi-modal and context-aware applications. We demonstrate the power and functionality of this platform by describing a number of MIT.EDU application deployments in educational settings. Initial evaluations of these experiments demonstrate the potential of using the system for real-world interactive m-learning applications.
Spin Transfer Induced Magnetization Switching in CoGd|Cu|CoFe Spin Valves

Current-induced-magnetization-switching (CIMS) has engendered considerable interest in recent years due to its potential for spintronic applications, for example, for the writing of memory cells in magnetic random access memory (MRAM). To date, most work has focused on the CIMS effect in spin valves or tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic electrodes. In this paper, the authors report a CIMS effect in spin valves with ferrimagnetic Co-Gd electrodes.
Multiscale contact mechanics model for RF–MEMS switches with quantified uncertainties

We introduce a multiscale model for contact mechanics between rough surfaces and apply it to characterize the force–displacement relationship for a metal-dielectric contact relevant for radio frequency micro-electromechanicl system (MEMS) switches. We propose a mesoscale model to describe the history-dependent force–displacement relationships in terms of the surface roughness, the long-range attractive interaction between the two surfaces, and the repulsive interaction between contacting asperities (including elastic and plastic deformation). The inputs to this model are the experimentally determined surface topography and the Hamaker constant as well as the mechanical response of individual asperities obtained from density functional theory calculations and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. The model captures non-trivial processes including the hysteresis during loading and unloading due to plastic deformation, yet it is computationally efficient enough to enable extensive uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis. We quantify how uncertainties and variability in the input parameters, both experimental and theoretical, affect the force–displacement curves during approach and retraction. In addition, a sensitivity analysis quantifies the relative importance of the various input quantities for the prediction of force–displacement during contact closing and opening. The resulting force–displacement curves with quantified uncertainties can be directly used in device-level simulations of micro-switches and enable the incorporation of atomic and mesoscale phenomena in predictive device-scale simulations.
Nutrition in the PICU

Nutritional therapy is recognized as an important cornerstone in the management of the critically ill child. However, optimal nutrient delivery in the PICU is challenging and results in nutritional deterioration and negatively impacts on clinical outcomes. There is increasing evidence that energy and protein intake in the PICU are far lower than their estimated requirement during critical illness. Recent data show an association between decreased macronutrient intake and mortality in mechanically ventilated children. Hence, optimal energy and protein intake in the PICU needs to be prioritized.
Decision-making experiences of public library CEOs: A study exploring the roles of interpersonal influence and evidence in everyday practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the decision-making practices of public library managers in the context of interpersonal influence and evidence-based information sources, and to investigate the relationship between models of evidence-based practice and interpersonal influence in the decision-making process of public library managers. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through short audio blog posts participants made about their everyday decisions and coded considering the facets of three existing evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) models as well as the facets of interpersonal influence. Findings – The findings show that public library CEOs decision-making behaviours reflect the use of a variety of practices from analytical to intuitive as is expected of managers in any sector; however, a stronger reliance on gathering objective information may be present than in other sectors. Seeking multiple sources of information and a tendency towards ...
Bibliography of Warren Herbert Wagner, Jr

Abstract This bibliography contains 395 entries, all the scientific publications of Warren H. Wagner, Jr. The bibliography is based on a list maintained by Prof. Wagner, with additional comments and entries by Dr. Florence S. Wagner and Dr. Richard Rabeler. It includes abstracts, ephemera, reports, and reviews. The bibliography is in rough chronological order of publication. Exact publication dates were found for most journal articles. However, month or estimated dates were used for other publications, especially books, which usually are not datable within a year. All the entries are contained in a searchable database now maintained by Florence S. Wagner. The database categorizes the publications according to their subject matter and includes the more or less exact publication dates that are the basis for the chronological list.
Marine biogeochemistry: Phytoplankton in a witch's brew

Natural seafloor hydrocarbon seeps are responsible for roughly half of the oil released into the ocean. As these oils and gases rise to the surface, they transport nutrients upwards, benefiting phytoplankton in the upper sunlit layer.
Reputation Incongruence and the Preference of Stakeholder: In the Context of MBA Ranking

In this paper, we examine the effect of an organization's multi-dimensional reputation on the external stakeholders' preference for an organization in the notions of reputation incongruence. We pro...
Advantages of reusable accessories.

Despite scant evidence supporting the use of disposable accessories, these devices have been widely disseminated. Manufacturers and governmental regulators, the most devout proponents of onetime use accessories, have framed the issue in economic terms— parsimonious practitioners reusing disposable accessories at the risk of cross-contamination, mechanical failure and product liability. This simplistic view represents revisionist history and ignores the long tradition of reusing these devices. This article reviews the numerous studies that support the safe and cost effective reuse of disposable and reusable accessories.
Efficient, radiation-hardened, 400 and 800-keV neutral beam injection systems

The authors present designs for two negative-ion based neutral beam lines with reactor-level power output. Both beam lines make use of such technologically advanced features as high-current-density surface-conversion ion sources, transverse-field-focussing (TFF) acceleration and transport, and laser photo detachment. For the second of these designs, detailed beam and vacuum calculations are presented, as well as a brief description of a proof-of-principle test system currently under development.
Climate science: Unexpected fix for ocean models.

Computational models persistently underestimate strong currents that redistribute ocean heat. This problem is solved in models in which ocean eddies are damped by coupling of the atmosphere with the sea. See Letter p.533 Ocean currents are considerably stronger on the western sides of ocean basins than on the eastern sides, owing to an ocean-dynamic process known as western intensification. Western boundary currents convey tremendous amounts of heat towards the poles and drive extensive ocean mixing. Yet most coupled climate models systematically underestimate these currents. Ping Chang and colleagues now show that this problem can be addressed by resolving not only ocean mesoscale eddies, but also their interaction with the atmosphere, a factor that is unresolved in current-generation climate models. Strong coupling between the ocean and the atmosphere ensures that eddy energy is efficiently dissipated in high-resolution models, producing an appropriately vigorous current, in this case for the Kuroshio Extension Jet.
The role of ice stream dynamics in deglaciation

Since the mid-Pleistocene transition, deglaciation has occurred only after ice sheets have grown large while experiencing several precession and obliquity cycles, indicating that large ice sheets are more sensitive to Milankovitch forcing than small ice sheets are. Observations and model simulations suggest that the development of ice streams in the Laurentide Ice Sheet played an as yet unknown role in deglaciations. In this study, we propose a mechanism by which ice streams may enhance deglaciation and render large ice sheets more sensitive to Milankovitch forcing. We use an idealized configuration of the Parallel Ice Sheet Model that permits the formation of ice streams. When the ice sheet is large and ice streams are sufficiently developed, an upward shift in equilibrium line altitude, commensurate with Milankovitch forcing, results in rapid deglaciation, while the same shift applied to an ice sheet without fully formed ice streams results in continued ice sheet growth or slower deglaciation. Rapid deglaciation in ice sheets with significant streaming behavior is caused by ice stream acceleration and the attendant enhancement of calving and surface melting at low elevations. Ice stream acceleration is ultimately the result of steepening of the ice surface and increased driving stresses in ice stream onset zones, which come about due to the dependence of surface mass balance on elevation. These ice sheet simulations match the broad features of geomorphological observations and add ice stream dynamics that are missing from previous model studies of deglaciation.
A Comprehensive Study of Security of Internet-of-Things

Internet of Things (IoT), also referred to as the Internet of Objects, is envisioned as a transformative approach for providing numerous services. Compact smart devices constitute an essential part of IoT. They range widely in use, size, energy capacity, and computation power. However, the integration of these smart things into the standard Internet introduces several security challenges because the majority of Internet technologies and communication protocols were not designed to support IoT. Moreover, commercialization of IoT has led to public security concerns, including personal privacy issues, threat of cyber attacks, and organized crime. In order to provide a guideline for those who want to investigate IoT security and contribute to its improvement, this survey attempts to provide a comprehensive list of vulnerabilities and countermeasures against them on the edge-side layer of IoT, which consists of three levels: (i) edge nodes, (ii) communication, and (iii) edge computing. To achieve this goal, we first briefly describe three widely-known IoT reference models and define security in the context of IoT. Second, we discuss the possible applications of IoT and potential motivations of the attackers who target this new paradigm. Third, we discuss different attacks and threats. Fourth, we describe possible countermeasures against these attacks. Finally, we introduce two emerging security challenges not yet explained in detail in previous literature.
High-Throughput Radix-4 logMAP Turbo Decoder Architecture

Turbo codes are one of the most powerful error correcting codes. This paper presents a high-throughput radix-4 logMAP turbo decoder architecture based on the Lucent's radix-4 logMAP turbo decoder architecture. It increases the throughput by 76% as compared to a radix-2 logMAP turbo decoder. Compared with Lucent's radix-4 architecture, it increases the throughput by 32% with only a moderate increase in area.
A Model where Anesthetic Effects on Ion Channels are Mediated by a Critical Membrane

Diverse molecules induce general anesthesia with potency strongly correlated both with their hydrophobicity and their effects on certain ion channels. We recently observed that several n-alcohol anesthetics inhibit heterogeneity in plasma membrane derived vesicles by lowering the critical temperature (Tc) for phase separation. Furthermore, rare treatments that reverse anesthetic effects, including high hydrostatic pressure, actually raise Tc, reversing anesthetic effects on membrane critical temperatures (Machta et. al., Biophys J , 111:3, (2016)). We will present a model in which ion channels are regulated by the nearly critical membrane in which they are embedded, and where anesthetics interfere with and mimic this regulation. In our model, ion channels are allosterically coupled to Ising composition modes. We use a mix of Monte-Carlo and exact numerical techniques to show that this type of regulation has several surprising features (Kimchi et. al., ArXiV 1607.06836, (2016)). Owing to diverging generalized susceptibilities, such a channel's activity becomes strongly influenced by perturbations that influence the critical temperature, in a manner that can, in principle, quantitatively account for changes in channel gating that accompany addition of anesthetics. In addition, the channel's kinetics acquire a range of time scales from its surrounding membrane, naturally leading to non-Markovian dynamics.
Interaural Time Processing When Stimulus Bandwidth Differs at the Two Ears

Advances in the design of cochlear implants (CIs), as well as improved CI surgical techniques, have led to an increase in the number of patients who retain some residual low-frequency acoustic hearing in the implanted ear. Many of these patients also possess some hearing in the unimplanted ear. Although their low-frequency audiometric configurations will likely be asymmetrical across ears, they may nevertheless be able to process interaural time differences (ITDs) which might aid them in localizing sound sources and achieving a spatial release from masking. We recently published research (Brown and Yost 2011) showing how sensitivity to ITD differences was affected when the stimulus bandwidths were varied between the ears, to simulate asymmetrical hearing loss in the low-frequency region. We showed that ITD discrimination thresholds decreased as the bandwidth of the noise presented to one ear increased beyond that presented to the other ear. In the current experiment, we expand upon those conditions to ­further explore ITD processing in the presence of interaural spectral differences. ITD sensitivity was measured when a fixed band of noise was presented to one ear and the center frequency of a spectral band of the same width was moved upward in frequency in the other ear. The data suggest that listeners have difficulty attending to ITD differences in one spectral region when there are other spectral regions that contain conflicting or inconsistent spatial information, which is likely to be the case for many CI patients who possess bilateral residual hearing.
Testing for measurement invariance in engineering identity constructs for first-generation college students

This work-in-progress research study examines the response patterns of first-generation college students (FGCS) to the engineering identity measures compared to non-first-generation college students (non-FGCS). This work answers the following research question, “Do FGC and non-FGC engineering students interpret the engineering identity measurement items in a conceptually different manner?” We explore if FGCS respond to engineering identity items similarly to non-FGCS and the fairness of using these instruments for FGCS to make claims about this group. The data for this work are from a survey instrument completed by 2,916 first-year engineering college students from four U.S. institutions. We hypothesize that quantitative measures constructed for the general engineering student population (non-FGCS) may not function the same for a FGCS subpopulation in engineering. Using extensions to the confirmatory factor analysis, we tested for measurement invariance of engineering identity constructs between FGCS and non-FGCS. Our comparative analysis of FGCS and non-FGCS found weak measurement invariance within the engineering identity constructs (i.e. interest, recognition, and performance/competence) indicating a similar factor structure and factor loadings, but different uses of the identity item scale. This research raises questions on the use and fairness of normative measures in engineering education for populations that fall outside the majority engineering student population.
REDESIGNING THE STUDENT INTEREST GROUP IN NEUROLOGY (SIGN) CHAPTERS (P1.058)

Objective: To describe innovative changes in student interest group in neurology (SIGN) and its impact on student enrollment in the chapter and faculty participation. Background: SIGN chapters across the country provide opportunities for medical students to participate in clinical, research, and service activities in neurology. Despite these, enrollment in SIGN chapters has been traditionally low (including the author’s institute). Design/Methods: Student enrollment, class distribution, faculty involvement, number of activities planned, number of activities conducted, number of students interested in neurology residency, number of research projects involving students were collected prior to changes and compared to values after changes were introduced. Results: The enrollment in the SIGN chapter prior to changes were 15 faculty involvement was to 2, number of activities planned was 14 and number executed was 3, number of students interested in neurology residency was 2, number of research projects done was 1. Following changes were introduced: an open board style SIGN chapter executive committee with greater active engagement of first and second year students, three types SIGN chapter activities including journal club articles, hands on workshop (example EMG), celebration/cause events (example ALS walk). In addition a SIGN chapter run free clinic was introduced. Activities were planned in consultation with office of medical education, and were organized during ‘down times’. Post these changes the enrollment is up to 60 (50% first and second year students, p Conclusions: An open chapter with early engagement and involvement of first and second year medical students, creating a variety of chapter activities with greater hands on involvement, planned in conjunction with office of medical education as reinvigorated our SIGN chapter. Disclosure: Dr. Al-Lozi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Richmond has nothing to disclose. Dr. McQueen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Alqadri has nothing to disclose. Dr. Govindarajan has nothing to disclose.