cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
VLSI design of a robotic controller for a dual axis manipulator element

The overall architecture of the dual-axis manipulator element and its importance as a fundamental building block of an advanced telerobotic system are described. The design, implementation, and testing of a custom VLSI chip that provides multiaxis sensor interfacing and signal conditioning are discussed. The current chip design includes: two quadrature phase optical decoders with a 16-bit resolution, three pulse-width-modulated waveform generators with 11-bit precision, and a digital input/output microprocessor interface. Each of these components have been laid out with VLSI CAD (computer-aided design) tools and have been extensively computer simulated. A 64-pin prototype chip has been fabricated in 3- mu m SCMOS technology with an expected clock rate of 10 MHz for the pulse-width modulated waveform generators and 8 MHz for the optical decoders. The custom chip replaces over 125 standard SSI/MSI CMOS and TTL services and achieves a bit resolution far greater than what is currently available with off-the-shelf components. >
Investigating the learning effects of route guidance and traffic advisories on route choice behavior

Abstract This paper describes a study to investigate the effects of route guidance and traffic advisories on driver's route choice behavior. The study is a two-factor experiment with repeated measures on one factor where the between-subjects factor is the type of traveler information provided and the repeated, within-subjects factor is trips made between a specified origin and destination. Participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of four groups: group 1 having only a basic map of the network; group 2 having access only to route guidance, group 3 having access to traffic advisory information, and group 4 having access to both route guidance and traffic advisory information. Each participant completed 15 trips between a specified origin-destination pair on a hypothetical network. The results of this study indicate that there may be significant short-term advantages to providing in-vehicle routing and navigation information to unfamiliar drivers. However, the results also indicate that the format and amount of information provided may not be significant as the benefits to having route guidance diminish when drivers become more familiar with the travel network.
Diet-switching by omnivorous freshwater shrimp diminishes differences in nutrient recycling rates and body stoichiometry across a food quality gradient

Summary In tropical streams, omnivorous shrimp may be important nutrient recyclers, because they have a lower body P demand than fish. However, little is known about the controls on nutrient recycling by freshwater shrimp. Across a series of lowland tropical streams that range in dissolved P, we describe: (i) shrimp body stoichiometry in relation to stream P level; (ii) rates of P excretion by shrimp; (iii) shrimp trophic level using natural stable isotope values (δ15N); and (iv) the importance of shrimp as nutrient recyclers. Shrimp body elemental composition varied across the study streams, with higher shrimp %C and %N in low-P streams. P content of shrimp did not change despite large differences in P content of their likely food resources. Also, shrimp P recycling rates did not increase in high-P streams with P-enriched food resources. Stable isotope results combined with change in body nutrient content (%N and %C) suggest that shrimp show different diet choices over the P gradient, feeding at a higher trophic level in low-P streams. This dietary shift may partially compensate for the lower P content in a given food resource in the low-P streams. However, P recycling rates were more variable than predicted based on diet choice and stream P level, suggesting that other physiological or behavioural mechanisms are involved. In comparison to fish species in these same study sites, shrimp species recycle P at lower rates per unit body mass than the majority of fish species, despite their lower body P content. Diet switching may be an important strategy for omnivorous shrimp in correcting the stoichiometric imbalance between food resource and consumer biomass.
Critical rationalism and cultural traditions in African philosophy

Abstract The university has been a potent and revolutionary machine in the recent history of African culture. Throughout the continent, the university has milled the ingredients of change in African societies. These ingredients, the intellectuals, technocrats, and their knowledge, became the agents for reshaping the structures and images of their respective indigenous communities in ways that eventually led to debates on the meaning and nature of history. In this paper, I will discuss the views on “traditions” of one Samuel Onyango Ayany, a well‐known Kenyan educator and one of the pioneers of university education in East Africa spearheaded by Makerere University College.
Coupled Vibrational Modes of the SLC ARC Magnet and Support System

The magnet support system for the SLC Arcs will be a long series of pedestals with each pedestal supporting the ends of two adjacent magnets. It has been pointed out by several authors that random magnet vibrations in the Arc with amplitudes larger than 0.1 ..mu..m rms are potentially harmful for the SLC operation. In order to assess the vibrational behavior of the Arc magnet system, we need to understand: (1) the sources and characteristics of the ground disturbances, (2) the coupled vibrational modes of the composite pedestal-magnet system, and (3) the response of the system to ground disturbance. This note is an attempt to study item (2). 5 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.
Are Risk-Taking Persons Less Religious? Risk Preference, Religious Affiliation, and Religious Participation in Taiwan

The "risk-preference" thesis is a controversial topic in the sociology of religion. Thus far, cross-cultural empirical research on risk preference and religiosity has been meager. This study attempts to replicate Miller's (Miller, Alan S. 2000. Going to hell in Asia: The relationship between risk and religion in a cross cultural setting. Review of Religious Research 42(1):5-18) study for Taiwanese society, using data from the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS). Logistic regression results show that for the Taiwanese (1) risk preference has little estimated net effect on religious affiliation, but (2) the relationship between risk preference and frequency of religious participation is statistically significant.
The Orphan Seven-Transmembrane Receptor Apj Supports the Entry of Primary T-Cell-Line-Tropic and Dualtropic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) enters target cells by sequential binding to CD4 and specific seven-transmembrane-segment (7TMS) coreceptors. Viruses use the chemokine receptor CCR5 as a coreceptor in the early, asymptomatic stages of HIV-1 infection but can adapt to the use of other receptors such as CXCR4 and CCR3 as the infection proceeds. Here we identify one such coreceptor, Apj, which supported the efficient entry of several primary T-cell-line tropic (T-tropic) and dualtropic HIV-1 isolates and the simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac316. Another 7TMS protein, CCR9, supported the less efficient entry of one primary T-tropic isolate. mRNAs for both receptors were present in phytohemagglutinin- and interleukin-2-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Apj and CCR9 share with other coreceptors for HIV-1 and SIV an N-terminal region rich in aromatic and acidic residues. These results highlight properties common to 7TMS proteins that can function as HIV-1 coreceptors, and they may contribute to an understanding of viral evolution in infected individuals.
Behavior of Small Particles from Process Gas Streams in Diffusion Furnaces

The deposition of small particles in the diffusion furnace environment was examined. A 6-ft-long and 6 1/4-in diameter quartz tube furnace was used. Particles ranging from 0.5 to 10 μm in diameter were generated and the deposition rate onto 5-in wafers in the furnace was measured as a function of gas stream flow rate, furnace temperature, and pressure. The measured deposition velocity ranged from 5×10−5 to 5×10−3 cm/s. The results of this study indicate that the deposition of particles decreases with increasing furnace tern perature. In addition, deposition increases as the wafer spacing increases and decreases as the wafers are placed further away from the entrance. Particles are found to deposit preferentially on the outer portion of the wafers. Owing to the flow pattern in the diffusion furnace, deposition of particulates is higher at the top of the wafer. The electrostatic charge effects were found to be insignificant.
A hybrid human and machine resource curation pipeline for the Neuroscience Information Framework

The breadth of information resources available to researchers on the Internet continues to expand, particularly in light of recently implemented data-sharing policies required by funding agencies. However, the nature of dense, multifaceted neuroscience data and the design of contemporary search engine systems makes efficient, reliable and relevant discovery of such information a significant challenge. This challenge is specifically pertinent for online databases, whose dynamic content is ‘hidden’ from search engines. The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF; http://www.neuinfo.org) was funded by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research to address the problem of finding and utilizing neuroscience-relevant resources such as software tools, data sets, experimental animals and antibodies across the Internet. From the outset, NIF sought to provide an accounting of available resources, whereas developing technical solutions to finding, accessing and utilizing them. The curators therefore, are tasked with identifying and registering resources, examining data, writing configuration files to index and display data and keeping the contents current. In the initial phases of the project, all aspects of the registration and curation processes were manual. However, as the number of resources grew, manual curation became impractical. This report describes our experiences and successes with developing automated resource discovery and semiautomated type characterization with text-mining scripts that facilitate curation team efforts to discover, integrate and display new content. We also describe the DISCO framework, a suite of automated web services that significantly reduce manual curation efforts to periodically check for resource updates. Lastly, we discuss DOMEO, a semi-automated annotation tool that improves the discovery and curation of resources that are not necessarily website-based (i.e. reagents, software tools). Although the ultimate goal of automation was to reduce the workload of the curators, it has resulted in valuable analytic by-products that address accessibility, use and citation of resources that can now be shared with resource owners and the larger scientific community. Database URL: http://neuinfo.org
Regulation of the human cardiac/slow-twitch troponin C gene by multiple, cooperative, cell-type-specific, and MyoD-responsive elements.

The cardiac troponin C (cTnC) gene produces identical transcripts in slow-twitch skeletal muscle and in heart muscle (R. Gahlmann, R. Wade, P. Gunning, and L. Kedes, J. Mol. Biol. 201:379-391, 1988). A separate gene encodes the fast-twitch skeletal muscle troponin C and is not expressed in heart muscle. We have used transient transfection to characterize the regulatory elements responsible for skeletal and cardiac cell-type-specific expression of the human cTnC (HcTnC) gene. At least four separate elements cooperate to confer tissue-specific expression of this gene in differentiated myotubes; a basal promoter (between -61 and -13) augments transcription 9-fold, upstream major regulatory sequences (between -68 and -142 and between -1319 and -4500) augment transcription as much as 39-fold, and at least two enhancer-like elements in the first intron (between +58 and +1028 and between +1029 and +1523) independently augment transcription 4- to 5-fold. These enhancers in the first intron increase myotube-specific chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity when linked to their own promoter elements or to the heterologous simian virus 40 promoter, and the effects are multiplicative rather than additive. Each of the major myotube regulatory regions is capable of responding directly or indirectly to the myogenic determination factor, MyoD.A MyoD expression vector in 10T1/2 cells induced constructs carrying either the upstream HcTnC promoter elements or the first intron of the gene 300- to 500-fold. Expression was inhibited by cotransfection with Id, a negative regulator of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. The basal promoter contains five tandem TGGGC repeats that interact with Sp1 or an Sp1-like factor in nuclear extracts. Mutational analysis of this element demonstrated that two of the five repeat sequences were sufficient to support basal level muscle cell-specific transcription. Whereas the basal promoter is also critical for expression in cardiac myocytes, the elements upstream of -67 appear to play little or no role. Major augmentation of expression in cardiomyocytes is also provided by sequences in the first intron, but these are upstream (between +58 and +1028). The downstream segment of the first intron has no enhancer activity in cardiomyocytes. A specific DNA-protein complex is formed by this C2 cell enhancer with extracts from C2 cells but not cardiomyocytes. These observations suggest that tissue-specific expression of the HcTnC gene is cooperatively regulated by the complex interactions of multiple regulatory elements and that different elements are used to regulate expression in myogenic and cardiac cells.
Remix: On-demand Live Randomization

Code randomization is an effective defense against code reuse attacks. It scrambles program code to prevent attackers from locating useful functions or gadgets. The key to secure code randomization is achieving high entropy. A practical approach to boost entropy is on-demand live randomization that works on running processes. However, enabling live randomization is challenging in that it often requires manual efforts to solve ambiguity in identifying function pointers. In this paper, we propose Remix, an efficient and practical live randomization system for both user processes and kernel modules. Remix randomly shuffles basic blocks within their respective functions. By doing so, it avoids the complexity of migrating stale function pointers, and allows mixing randomized and non-randomized code to strike a balance between performance and security. Remix randomizes a running process in two steps: it first randomly reorders its basic blocks, and then comprehensively migrates live pointers to basic blocks. Our experiments show that Remix can significantly increase randomness with low performance overhead on both CPU and I/O intensive benchmarks and kernel modules, even at very short randomization intervals.
Strengthening of Ni3Al by Ternary Additions

It is important for a number of reasons to have a basic understanding of the mechanisms by which ternary additions strengthen Ni 3 Al. First of all, since the basic strength-controlling mechanisms in pure Ni 3 Al are different from those in pure metals and substitutional solid solutions, it is expected that the mechanisms of solid solution strengthening will also be different in Ni 3 Al. Secondly, such an understanding will provide valuable insights into the properties of nickel-base superalloys in which Ni 3 Al is a key constituent. In addition, since new alloys based on an ordered Ni 3 Al matrix are being developed, it is important to understand the strengthening mechanisms in such alloys. In the present study, flow stress measurements have been performed on single crystals of Ni 3 Al containing additions of Hf and Ta, and on binary Ni rich, Ni 3 A1 used as a reference alloy. The data have been collected over a wide range of temperatures, for different orientations within the unit triangle, and as a function of the sense of the applied uniaxial stress. The effect of such additions on the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) for octahedral slip has been determined and combined with previous data. An attempt is then made to clarify whether a lattice parameter/modulus mismatch effect or a dislocation core effect is the dominant mechanism for the strength increase with compositional changes. It appears that a lattice parameter/modulus mismatch is the dominant mechanism for orientations in which the tension/compression flow stress asymmetry disappears.
CNOT Gate with Polarization and Orbital Angular Momentum of Single Photons

We propose a linear, single-photon, deterministic controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate implemented by a polarization-sensitive spatial light modulator. The polarization qubit controls the photon orbital angular momentum.
THE MAINTENANCE OF POLYGENIC VARIATION IN FINITE POPULATIONS.

Models of the maintenance of genetic variance in a polygenic trait have usually assumed that population size is infinite and that selection is weak. Consequently, they will overestimate the amount of variation maintained in finite populations. I derive approximations for the equilibrium genetic variance, V^G in finite populations under weak stabilizing selection for triallelic loci and for an infinite "rare alleles" model. These are compared to results for neutral characters, to the "Gaussian allelic" model, and to Wright's approximation for a biallelic locus under arbitrary selection pressures. For a variety of parameter values, the three-allele, Gaussian, and Wrightian approximations all converge on the neutral model when population size is small. As expected, far less equilibrium genetic variance can be maintained if effective population size, N, is on the order of a few hundred than if N is infinite. All of the models predict that comparisons among populations with N less than about 104 should show substantial differences in V^G. While it is easier to maintain absolute V^G when alleles interact to yield dominance or overdominance for fitness, less additivity also makes V^G more susceptible to differences in N. I argue that experimental data do not seem to reflect the predicted degree of relationship between N and V^G. This calls into question the ability of mutation-selection balance or simple balancing selection to explain observed V^G. The dependence of V^G on N could be used to test the adequacy of mutation-selection balance models.
Changes in Ocular Growth after Pediatric Cataract Surgery

The human eye undergoes extensive changes during early childhood, including axial elongation, corneal flattening and reduced lens power. Animal studies have shown that removing the crystalline lens during infancy retards axial elongation. Axial elongation has been studied in children after cataract extraction both directly and indirectly. Children with a unilateral congenital cataract generally have a shorter axial length in their cataractous eye than in their fellow eye. This difference usually persists after cataract surgery. While some studies have reported a modest reduction in axial elongation after cataract extraction, the magnitude of this effect is much less than what has been reported in animal models. Choosing an intraocular lens (IOL) power for implantation into a child's eye is complicated by continued ocular growth, the inaccuracy of IOL power calculation formulas for small eyes, and the difficulty of accurately measuring the biometrics of a child's eye. In addition, given the fixed position of an IOL in the eye, increasing elongation of the posterior segment of the eye relative to the anterior segment magnifies the myopic shift that occurs with ocular growth. The targeted refractive error in young children undergoing IOL implantation should be an undercorrection in anticipation of a future myopic shift.
Detecting the oxyl radical of photocatalytic water oxidation at an n-SrTiO3/aqueous interface through its subsurface vibration

Although the water oxidation cycle involves the critical step of O-O bond formation, the transition metal oxide radical thought to be the catalytic intermediate for this step has eluded direct observation. The radical represents the transformation of charge into a nascent catalytic intermediate, which lacks a newly formed bond and is therefore inherently difficult to detect. Here, using theoretical calculations and ultrafast in situ infrared spectroscopy of photocatalysis at an n-SrTiO3/aqueous interface, we reveal a subsurface vibration of the oxygen directly below, and uniquely generated by, the oxyl radical (Ti-O(•)). Intriguingly, this interfacial Ti-O stretch vibration, once decoupled from the lattice, couples to reactant dynamics (water librations). These experiments demonstrate subsurface vibrations and their coupling to solvent and electron dynamics to detect nascent catalytic intermediates at the solid-liquid interface at the molecular level. One can envision using the subsurface vibrations and their coupling across the interface to track and control catalysis dynamically.
Estimate of the incidence and importance of circulatory breakthrough in the surgery of cerebral arteriovenous malformations.

AbstractSevere hemorrhagic brain swelling has been described occasionally in patients with cerebral AVMs after surgical interruption for feeding arteries, surgical excision, and embolization. The proposed mechanism is an abrupt increase in perfusion pressure in the vasculature of the normal adjacent brain which has lost its capacity to autoregulate. The term circulatory breakthrough has been adopted to describe this. The authors found its incidence to be 3 in 66 patients in a surgical series, but lesser degrees of circulatory breakthrough in smaller lesions may have accounted for most of mortality and morbidity that was encountered. Its importance in embolization is less certain because of the possibility of infarction. It is proposed that better control of this problem by presurgical embolization, surgical staging, and graduated degress of induced hypotension postsurgery may be necessary if the larger cerebral AVMs are to be excised with mortality and morbidity less than the natural history.
CO Poisoning Effects on FeNC and CNx ORR Catalysts: A Combined Experimental–Computational Study

CO poisoning as a probe for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) active sites was examined on both iron–nitrogen coordinated catalysts supported on carbon (FeNC) and nitrogen-doped carbon nanostructures (CNx). Rotating disk electrode (RDE) experiments show a partial decrease in the ORR activity of FeNC catalysts after CO exposure and no decrease for CNx catalysts. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy experiments after exposure to CO show a peak at 2033 cm–1 (associated with linearly bound CO) on the FeNC catalysts and no peaks associated with adsorbed CO on the CNx catalyst surface. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations incorporating dispersion interactions of the adsorption energy of O2 and CO were performed on a total of 16 proposed active sites for the FeNC and CNx catalysts. On CNx, all the sites show weak CO adsorption and only O2 molecules are expected to adsorb, which matches the experimental observation of no poisoning. Several FeNC sites show CO binding energies s...
Histological transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Histological transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) rarely occurs in patients with Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM). We identified 20 patients out of a cohort of 1,466 WM patients who experienced histologic transformation. The 5, 10, and 15-year cumulative incidence rates were 1, 2.4, and 3.8%, respectively. Approximately half of the patients were naive to nucleoside analogues, and a quarter were previously untreated for WM at the time of transformation. More than 80% of patients presented with extranodal involvement, 65% with high IPI scores. DLBCL cells did not express CD10 but expressed BCL6 and BCL2. All patients were treated with chemoimmunotherapy. The median survival from histological transformation was 2.7 years. The median overall survival was shorter for transformed patients versus those who did not transform (estimated 9 vs. 16 years; P = 0.09). Histological transformation to DLBCL is rare, and is associated with inferior survival in WM. Am. J. Hematol. 91:1032-1035, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Deviation from goal pace, body temperature and body mass loss as predictors of road race performance.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between pacing, gastrointestinal temperature (TGI), and percent body mass loss (%BML) on relative race performance during a warm weather 11.3 km road race. Design: Observational study of a sample of active runners competing in the 2014 Falmouth Road Race. Methods: Participants ingested a TGI pill and donned a GPS enabled watch with heart rate monitoring capabilities prior to the start of the race. Percent off predicted pace (%OFF) was calculated for seven segments of the race. Separate linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between pace, TGI, and %BML on relative race performance. One-way ANOVA was used to analyse post race TGI (=40 °C vs 0.05). There was a trend in a slower pace (p = 0.055) and greater %OFF (p = 0.056) in runners finishing the race with a TGI > 40 °C. Conclusions: Overall, finish time was influenced by greater variations in pace during the first two miles of the race. In addition, runners who minimized fluid losses and had lower TGI were associated with meeting self-predicted goals.
Effect of Ventricular Arrhythmia Ablation in Patients With Heart Mate II Left Ventricular Assist Devices: An Evaluation of Ablation Therapy.

Background Patients with advanced heart failure (HF) are predisposed to ventricular arrhythmias (VA), particularly following implantation of an LVAD. There is minimal evidence for appropriate management strategies. Objectives This study aimed to compare the burden of VA and response to ablation performed either before or following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Methods We created a retrospective cohort of patients who underwent both VA ablation and HeartMate II (Thoratec, CA) LVAD implantation at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). Patients were stratified based on whether they underwent VA ablation before (pre LVAD) or after LVAD (post LVAD) implantation. Descriptive analyses assessed 6-month arrhythmia burden in relation to LVAD implantation and VA ablation. Results A total of 9 patients underwent both LVAD implantation and VA ablation. There were 3 and 6 patients respectively in the pre LVAD and post LVAD cohorts. Among patients in the pre LVAD cohort, the median number of VA's tended to increase after ablation (9 vs. 72) and decreased after LVAD implantation (72 vs. 63). Similarly among patients in the post LVAD cohort, the median burden of VA's increased after LVAD implantation (1 vs. 22) and the median burden decreased after ablation (22 vs. 13). Two of 6 patients had substrate related to the LVAD inflow cannula site, while other substrate was not related directly to the cannula. Conclusions In patients with progressive HF and LVAD implantation, ablation is associated with reduced VA rates. In LVAD patients, most VAs arise from substrate unrelated to the inflow cannula site. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Chapter 10. Trees have Already been Invented: Carbon in Woodlands

In the developed world, discussions of climate change mitigation and adaptation tend to focus on technological solutions such as decarbonizing electric grids and regulating emissions of methane, black carbon, and so on. However, an often overlooked strategy for reaching greenhouse gas reduction targets in much of the developing world is rooted, not in new technologies, but in vegetation management. Trees and other vegetation absorb carbon as they grow and release carbon when they are burnt, so landscapes function as carbon sinks and carbon storage sites when forests are growing, on one hand, and as carbon sources when forests are cleared, on the other. Since greenhouse gas emissions from such land use changes rival emissions from the entire transport sector, trees and vegetation are essential to efforts to slow and adapt to climate change. Under the right circumstances, vegetation recovery and its carbon uptake occur quickly. Moreover, carbon uptake can be strongly affected by human management of forests; the right kinds of management can improve rates of recovery and carbon sequestration substantially. This chapter reviews carbon dynamics in mature forests, secondary forests, agroforests and tree landscapes in urban areas to point out the variability of these systems and the potential for enhancing carbon uptake and storage. Furthermore, vegetation systems have many additional benefits in the form of other environmental services, such as improving livelihoods, subsistence insurance habitat, microclimates, and water systems. Finally, by managing forests better, we can also make significant contributions to climate justice because most global forests and forested landscapes are under the stewardship of small holders.
RF and Microwave Rapid Magnetic Induction Heating of Silicon Wafers

It is well established that microwaves can heat ceramics for processing applications, but considerably less attention has been given to the use of high frequency radiation for the processing of silicon wafers. There are many aspects of semiconductor processing that require heating, including dopant or ohmic contact interdiffusion, implantation damage annealing, and wafer bonding. Conventionally, the wafers are heated in furnaces or halogen lamp Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) chambers. An alternative, electromagnetic induction heating (EMIH), uses radio (RF) and microwave radiation to rapidly (125C/s) and volumetrically heat silicon wafers to temperatures in excess of 1000C. In contrast to conventional (heat lamp) RTP, which heats through surface absorption, EMIH has the advantage of heating throughout the material. The presence of insulating layers, most notably thick oxides (several hundred nanometers) on the surface of the wafer, do not inhibit rapid heating since the wave transmits through the insulator and directly into the silicon. Conventional RTP, due to its dependence on surface absorption, may have trouble rapidly heating through this insulating layer. Furthermore, the volumetric nature of the heating makes it attractive for low thermal budget microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications [1] which may require rapid heating well below the wafer surface. Because of this, EMIH has found applications in ultra shallow junction formation [2], direct silicon bonding for MEMS applications [1], and direct silicon bonding for silicon on insulator technology [1].
Patient Experience and End-of-Life Care: A Discussion and Analysis of Four Patients

Person-centered, family-oriented care is recognized nationally as a key component of end-of-life (EOL) care. A recent Institute of Medicine report, “Dying in America,” emphasizes the role of patient-centered, family-oriented care in harmonizing medical care with psychosocial and spiritual support for individuals of all ages as they approach the EOL. In this chapter, we identify some common clinical situations in EOL care and describe ethical challenges inherent in the care of these patients. We then apply selected bioethical principles to offer potential strategies for optimizing care outcomes, utilizing a patient-centered, family-oriented care approach. The chapter is not meant to be exhaustive in nature, but rather to enhance awareness of issues that may arise and potential approaches for their prevention and/or resolution. Authentic care of this type has the potential to proactively prevent and/or defuse some of the ethical challenges that arise in these complex circumstances.
Active Learning for Large-Scale Entity Resolution

Entity resolution (ER) is the task of identifying different representations of the same real-world object across datasets. Designing and tuning ER algorithms is an error-prone, labor-intensive process, which can significantly benefit from data-driven, automated learning methods. Our focus is on "big data'' scenarios where the primary challenges include 1) identifying, out of a potentially massive set, a small subset of informative examples to be labeled by the user, 2) using the labeled examples to efficiently learn ER algorithms that achieve both high precision and high recall, and 3) executing the learned algorithm to determine duplicates at scale. Recent work on learning ER algorithms has employed active learning to partially address the above challenges by aiming to learn ER rules in the form of conjunctions of matching predicates, under precision guarantees. While successful in learning a single rule, prior work has been less successful in learning multiple rules that are sufficiently different from each other, thus missing opportunities for improving recall. In this paper, we introduce an active learning system that learns, at scale, multiple rules each having significant coverage of the space of duplicates, thus leading to high recall, in addition to high-precision. We show the superiority of our system on real-world ER scenarios of sizes up to tens of millions of records, over state-of-the-art active learning methods that learn either rules or committees of statistical classifiers for ER, and even over sophisticated methods based on first-order probabilistic models.
Privacy Policy and Contextual Harm

This paper describes a way to make social theories of privacy useful and relevant for policy guidance. Privacy as a human right draws on the well-developed rhetoric and style of argumentation of the international human rights movement. Privacy as harm prevention plausibly draws on the utilitarian tradition of assessing the costs and benefits of privacy protections versus their economic costs. A social theory of privacy cannot draw on these familiar policy frameworks. This paper attempts to remedy that defect. It first examines theories that treat privacy as an element of social structure including the views of Nissenbaum, Merton, Foucault, Bloustein, Post, Regan, Steeves, and Benkler. I develop a notion of harm to a social context which arises when individuals avoid engaging in certain social practices. I examine the contextual harm basis for several witness privileges: priest-penitent, attorney-client, psychotherapist-patient, reporter-source, and doctor-patient. I apply the notion of contextual harm to genetic privacy, student privacy, and to privacy in online social networks. I recommend a policy principle that privacy restrictions should be considered whenever an information flow causes or is likely to cause significant contextual harm. I contrast this principle with familiar privacy principles such as purpose specification and respect for context. I also seek to understand how to resolve cross-contextual conflicts where gains in one context mean losses in others, an ever-more urgent task in light of big data’s capacity to aggregate and decontextualize information. While the principle of contextual harm is useful in providing a basis for many privacy restrictions, it is not complete. An information flow that causes no contextual harm might still be objectionable. Other normative bases for privacy restrictions, drawn from the considerations of human rights and utilitarianism, will need to be invoked for a full privacy theory.
The prognostic impact of a negative confirmatory biopsy in men on active surveillance for prostate cancer.

76Background: Active surveillance (AS) is increasingly used in managing low-risk and favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer. To mitigate the risk of unsampled higher risk disease, most institutional AS protocols call for a confirmatory prostate biopsy within 12-18 months following initial diagnostic biopsy. Here, we investigate whether the results of confirmatory biopsy impact the outcomes of men on AS. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our institutional database of men enrolled in AS between 1997-2014 with a minimum follow-up of 6 months (n = 974). Biopsies with any prostate cancer were considered positive. Biopsies containing only benign prostatic tissue, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) were considered negative. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: At diagnosis, median age was 67 years (IQR 62-72) and median PSA was 5.1 ng/mL (IQR 3.9-6.8). The vast majority of p...
Abstract 14589: Characterization and High-Throughput Drug Screening of a Cardiomyopathy Using Cardiomyocytes From Patient-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Danon disease is an untreatable and severe X-linked form of cardiomyopathy that leads to profound cardiac hypertrophy, causing death or a need for cardiac transplantation in males by the third decade. Danon disease is known to be caused by loss of the lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (LAMP-2) protein, which is a membrane glycoprotein likely involved in lysosome-autophagosome fusion and vesicle trafficking during autophagy. However, it is unknown how LAMP-2 protein deficiency leads to the development of Danon disease. To better characterize the molecular and cellular pathogenic mechanisms involved and enable high-throughput screening (HTS) of compound libraries, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from patients with Danon disease and differentiated into cardiomyocytes. RNA transcription levels from the Danon iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) were analyzed using RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) and expression of key genes confirmed via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The data show significant upregulation of genes involved in cellular respiration and sarcomere expression in Danon iPSC-CMs compared to unaffected control iPSC-CMs. The upregulation of cellular respiration transcripts in our data align with published data suggesting mitochondrial function is affected in these cells, including increased levels of mitochondrial oxidative stress. Our RNA-Seq findings of potentially impacted molecular pathways in the Danon iPSC-CM model have been used to identify biomarkers, such as the sarcomeric protein troponin T type 2, for conducting HTS drug discovery. Following development and validation of a primary HTS assay, a pilot HTS using a library of 355 kinase inhibitors and then a HTS drug discovery using a custom designed diversity library of 20,000 compounds will be performed and hits confirmed using secondary and tertiary assays. These confirmed hits may offer novel potential therapeutic treatments for individuals with this currently devastating and untreatable cardiomyopathy.
The need and options available for permanent CO{sub 2} disposal

Inexpensive, readily available energy is the cornerstone of modern society and the basis of a decent standard of living. The high probability of future restrictions on CO{sub 2} emissions has put in question the use of fossil fuels, the largest, most convenient, and most cost-effective energy resource available. The rapidly growing world population, the need for an improved standard of living worldwide, and the nearly linear dependence of the standard of living on energy consumption, all coupled with the magnitude of today`s CO{sub 2} emissions point to an impending crisis. The authors briefly review the problem and look at the available options. They conclude that for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will continue to dominate the world energy market, but that CO{sub 2} disposal will be required. Of the possible disposal options, mineral sequestration of CO{sub 2} appears as an extremely promising, permanent, and environmentally benign disposal option.
A supramolecular red to near-infrared fluorescent probe for the detection of drugs in urine

Water-soluble and fluorescent perylene dyes PMI1 and PMI2 with red to near-infrared (red-NIR) emission and a large Stokes shift were designed and synthesized. These dyes were designed to have two binding units (an aromatic perylene-core and a cationic side group) that allow PMI1 and PMI2 to form strong host-guest complexes with cucurbit[8]uril (CB8) through hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. As a result, the binding constant of the resulting complexes was determined to be in the range of 106 M-1 which increased about 2 orders of magnitude compared to the previously reported perylene dye with only one binding unit. The results also revealed that the fluorescence emission of PMI1 or PMI2 only in aqueous solution is very low due to the aggregation effect. Upon complexation with CB8, the fluorescence intensity increased about 10-fold while the red-NIR emission and the large Stokes shift were preserved. These host-guest complexes can serve as red-NIR fluorescent displacement probes for the detection of CB8 binding guests. The successful detection of addictive drugs in urine was further demonstrated using the host-guest CB8·PMI1 complex and the interference of autofluorescence from the urine sample was successfully eliminated.
Journal of Chemical Education Call for Papers: Special Issue on Chemical Security

The Journal of Chemical Education announces a call for papers for an upcoming special issue on Chemical Security.
A Wideband on-Chip Radiator Driven by a Traveling-Wave Photodetector

An integrated broadband Vivaldi antenna driven by an on-chip traveling-wave photodetector is reported. The silicon photonic chip radiates between 21 and 67 GHz with −65 dBm coupled power at 44 GHz. © 2019 The Author(s)
Can Posterior Pericardiotomy Reduce the Incidence of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Background Posterior pericardiotomy (PP) is a simple surgical technique that may reduce the risk of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) by allowing for drainage of pericardial fluid into the left pleural space, reducing the incidence of pericardial effusion that may trigger POAF. Methods This systematic review sought to determine the impact of posterior pericardiotomy on incidences of POAF, pericardial effusion, and the length of hospital stay after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Electronic searches on PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, EBSCO, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases from inception through December 15, 2018 were performed. The primary outcome of our study was reduction in POAF following PP. Secondary outcomes were reductions in pericardial effusion and length of hospital stay. A Mantel-Haenszel random effects model was used to summarize data across treatment arms. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using the chi square test and was considered significant for p values 50%. Results A total of 11 randomized controlled trials consisting of 2,462 patients undergoing CABG were included in the meta-analysis. Patients who underwent PP demonstrated significant reduction in POAF (OR 0.34; 95% CI 0.21-0.55, p Conclusion Posterior pericardiotomy is a simple intraoperative technique that can reduce the risk of post-operative atrial fibrillation. These results should be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity between the studies.
The modern and fossil record of farming behavior

Farming is a behavior in which an organism promotes the growth and reproduction of other organisms in or on a substrate as a food source. A number of trace fossils have been suggested to record the occurrence of farming behavior. These include the deep-sea graphoglyptid trace fossils, proposed to be microbial farms on the seafloor, and terrestrial fossil social insect nests thought to represent fungicultural behavior. The presumed farming behavior of graphoglyptids is the basis of the ethological category agrichnia. Four criteria have been proposed as diagnostic of farming behavior, and these can be applied to both observed modern and proposed trace fossil examples of farming behavior. The evidence for farming behavior in the social insect trace record is strong but is much weaker in the case of graphoglyptids. The use of agrichnia as an ethological category should be limited to well-supported cases.
Air Quality Monitoring System Modeling and Closed-loop Real-time Control Framework

This research investigates a low-cost real time air quality monitoring and closed loop control system framework, i.e., an air purifier system. The air quality monitoring process is formulated as the closed loop control system operation, with the potential air particles are considered as the disturbance signal and the desired reference level is considered to be the safe air particle level in the environment. The actual sensor detects and measures the environmental particle levels that are then fed back to the system input where the control system compares the feedback as well as the reference levels in the controller that generates proper control actions for the air pump to maintain the desired air particle levels during the real-time air purification operations. The proposed control system architecture was developed and implemented by using relevant components and the experimental results clearly demonstrate the viability of the controller synthesis for closed loop real-time autonomous air quality operations.
Enabling performance and security simulation studies of intelligent traffic signal light control with VENTOS-HIL

Abstract Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) simulators have gained widespread adoption in the research community given the fact that they can simulate near real life scenarios to evaluate driver-safety applications without endangering human lives. In this paper, we present the VEhicular NeTwork Open Simulator (VENTOS), a closed-loop VANET simulator that combines the capabilities of both communication network (OMNET++) and vehicular traffic simulators (SUMO). As an alternative to current proprietary VANET simulators, VENTOS is a free, open-source simulator that is designed for vehicular traffic flow analysis and can incorporate new control logic, such as intelligent traffic controller, collaborative driving, dynamic routing, and self-driving capability. VENTOS supports V2X (Vehicle-to-Vehicle or Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) communication through dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) integration. This paper will give an overview of the VENTOS architecture and its extension, VENTOS-HIL, which supports hardware-in-the-loop emulation using physical devices such as On-Board Units (OBUs) or Roadside Units (RSUs). We then demonstrate how VENTOS can be utilized to simulate and evaluate the performance of multi-modal, adaptive traffic signal control (TSC) as well as to illustrate the security vulnerability of intelligent TSC in the presence of falsified data attacks.
Reproducibility and variable precision computing

Recently some scientific computing users have discovered that they can replace 64-bit with 32-bit operations for carefully selected portions of the computation, and still retain acceptable accuracy...