cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Plasmon enhancement of luminescence upconversion

Frequency conversion has always been an important topic in optics. Nonlinear optics has traditionally focused on frequency conversion based on nonlinear susceptibility but with the recent development of upconversion nanomaterials, luminescence upconversion has begun to receive renewed attention. While upconversion nanomaterials open doors to a wide range of new opportunities, they remain too inefficient for most applications. Incorporating plasmonic nanostructures provides a promising pathway to highly efficient upconversion. Naturally, a plethora of theoretical and experimental studies have been published in recent years, reporting enhancements up to several hundred. It is however difficult to make meaningful comparisons since the plasmonic fields are highly sensitive to the local geometry and excitation condition. Also, many luminescence upconversion processes involve multiple steps via different physical mechanisms and the overall output is often determined by a delicate interplay among them. This review is aimed at offering a comprehensive framework for plasmon enhanced luminescence upconversion. We first present quantum electrodynamics descriptions for all the processes involved in luminescence upconversion, which include absorption, emission, energy transfer and nonradiative transitions. We then present a bird's eye view of published works on plasmon enhanced upconversion, followed by more detailed discussion on comparable classes of nanostructures, the effects of spacer layers and local heating, and the dynamics of the plasmon enhanced upconversion process. Plasmon enhanced upconversion is a challenging and exciting field from the fundamental scientific perspective and also from technological standpoints. It offers an excellent system to study how optical processes are affected by the local photonic environment. This type of research is particularly timely as the plasmonics is placing heavier emphasis on nonlinearity. At the same time, efficient upconversion could make a significant impact on many applications including solar energy conversion and biomedical imaging. The marriage of luminescent materials research with nanophotonics currently being initiated with plasmon enhanced upconversion research explores a new frontier in photonics that could potentially spawn many exciting new fields.
Class-size Independent Generalization Analsysis of Some Discriminative Multi-Category Classification

We consider the problem of deriving class-size independent generalization bounds for some regularized discriminative multi-category classification methods. In particular, we obtain an expected generalization bound for a standard formulation of multi-category support vector machines. Based on the theoretical result, we argue that the formulation over-penalizes misclassification error, which in theory may lead to poor generalization performance. A remedy, based on a generalization of multi-category logistic regression (conditional maximum entropy), is then proposed, and its theoretical properties are examined.
Geometric properties of semilinear and semibounded sets

We calculate the universal Euler characteristic and universal dimension function on semilinear and semibounded sets and obtain some criteria for definable equivalence of semilinear and semibounded sets in terms of these invariants. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Incorporated with Fusion Proteins Consisting of Integrase and the Designed Polydactyl Zinc Finger Protein E2C Can Bias Integration of Viral DNA into a Predetermined Chromosomal Region in Human Cells

Received 26 October 2005/Accepted 1 December 2005 In vitro studies using fusion proteins consisting of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase (IN) and a synthetic polydactyl zinc finger protein E2C, a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein, showed that integration of retroviral DNA can be biased towards a contiguous 18-bp E2C-recognition site. To determine whether the fusion protein strategy can achieve site-specific integration in vivo, viruses were prepared by cotransfection and various IN-E2C fusion proteins were packaged in trans into virions. The resulting viruses incorporated with the IN-E2C fusion proteins were functional and capable of performing integration at a level ranging from 1 to 24% of that of viruses containing wild-type (WT) IN. Two of the more infectious viruses, which contained E2C fused to either the N (E2C/IN) or to the C (IN/E2C) terminus of IN, were tested for their ability to direct integration into a unique E2C-binding site present within the 5 untranslated region of erbB-2 gene on human chromosome 17. The copy number of proviral DNA was measured using a quantitative real-time nested-PCR assay, and the specificity of directed integration was determined by comparing the number of proviruses within the vicinity of the E2C-binding site to that in the whole genome. Viruses containing IN/E2C fusion proteins had sevenfold higher preference for integrating near the E2C-binding site than those viruses containing WT IN, whereas viruses containing E2C/IN had 10-fold higher preference. The results indicated that the IN-E2C fusion protein strategy is capable of directing integration of retroviral DNA into a predetermined chromosomal region in the human genome.
Numerical analysis of electromagnetic scattering by electrically large objects using spatial decomposition technique

Apparent computational difficulties with the direct integral equation and method of moments have prompted an alternative numerical solution procedure based on the spatial decomposition technique. Using rigorous electromagnetic equivalence, the spatial decomposition technique virtually divides an electrically large object into a multiplicity of subzones. It permits the maximum size of the method of moments system matrix that needs to be inverted to be strictly limited, regardless of the electrical size of the large scattering object being modeled. The requirement on the computer resources is O(N), where N is the number of spatial subzones and each subzone is electrically small, spanning on the order of a few wavelengths. Numerical examples are reported along with comparative data and relative error estimation to expose the applicability and limitations of the spatial decomposition technique for the two-dimensional scattering study of electrically large conducting and dielectric objects. >
Microbes on mountainsides: Contrasting elevational patterns of bacterial and plant diversity

The study of elevational diversity gradients dates back to the foundation of biogeography. Although elevational patterns of plant and animal diversity have been studied for centuries, such patterns have not been reported for microorganisms and remain poorly understood. Here, in an effort to assess the generality of elevational diversity patterns, we examined soil bacterial and plant diversity along an elevation gradient. To gain insight into the forces that structure these patterns, we adopted a multifaceted approach to incorporate information about the structure, diversity, and spatial turnover of montane communities in a phylogenetic context. We found that observed patterns of plant and bacterial diversity were fundamentally different. While bacterial taxon richness and phylogenetic diversity decreased monotonically from the lowest to highest elevations, plants followed a unimodal pattern, with a peak in richness and phylogenetic diversity at mid-elevations. At all elevations bacterial communities had a tendency to be phylogenetically clustered, containing closely related taxa. In contrast, plant communities did not exhibit a uniform phylogenetic structure across the gradient: they became more overdispersed with increasing elevation, containing distantly related taxa. Finally, a metric of phylogenetic beta-diversity showed that bacterial lineages were not randomly distributed, but rather exhibited significant spatial structure across the gradient, whereas plant lineages did not exhibit a significant phylogenetic signal. Quantifying the influence of sample scale in intertaxonomic comparisons remains a challenge. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that the forces structuring microorganism and macroorganism communities along elevational gradients differ.
Homecare issues in rotavirus gastroenteritis.

Purpose: This article will describe the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis (RGE) and its management, highlighting educational issues that nurse practitioners can assist caregivers to enhance at-home management. Data source: A Medline search of the medical literature was used to identify articles that describe the burden, clinical presentation, and management of RGE. Conclusions: RGE is a serious medical condition characterized by diarrhea and vomiting and is a major cause of morbidity and hospitalization among children aged 5 years or younger. Proper at-home treatment can be challenging; however, improved home care may limit emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Implications for practice: Mild to moderate RGE may be successfully managed at home if caregivers are adequately educated in deciding when a child needs to be evaluated in a physician’s office and in managing dehydration at home.
COMMENT ON “MONITORING AND BUDGET MAXIMIZATION IN THE CONTROL OF POLLUTION”

Lee's model of optimal pollution taxation and costly monitoring is examined. It is argued that his conclusions regarding the nature of the optimal tax and monitoring levels need to be modified to account for the likelihood of a corner solution to his first order conditions. Additionally, the predictions of Lee's version of the budget-maximizing pollution control bureaucracy are compared to some (more or less) inconsistent facts.
An Adaptive Wide-Area Power System Damping Controller using Synchrophasor Data

This paper presents an adaptive wide-area interarea mode damping controller for power systems using synchrophasor data. A key consideration in the control design is the time delay in computing the phasor quantities and the variable communication network latency for controllers to use remote synchrophasor data. The adaptive switching controller comprises several phase compensators, each designed for a specific data latency. Based on the latency of the arriving synchrophasor data, the adaptive controller will select the appropriate compensator to use. The design is illustrated with a two-area power system. Applications to large power systems will be discussed.
Numerical Simulation of Density Current in Chicago River Using Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC)

The Chicago Waterways System (CWS) is very complex and a complete understanding of theflow and water quality phenomena is notpossiblewith current modelingtools. Amongmany interesting aspects, bi-directional flows have been observed in the Main Branch of Chicago River (MBCR) during winter time. Instead of flowing downstream into the South Branch (SB), part of the water from North Branch (NB), which usually carries runoff from a 100 square mile watershed and treated municipal sewage effluent released by the North Side Water Reclamation Plan (WRP), might flows into MBCR. This will have a huge impact on the water quality in MBCR, where the downtown Chicago is located. Physical model and field measurements of the CWS have been done to investigate the possible cause. Through these previous studies, density current has been identifiedas one of the main cause. A preliminary three dimensionalnumerical model also has been used in University of Illinois at Urbana and Champaign (UIUC) to simulate the density current. Although the bi-directional flow phenomena have been reproduced in the 3D model, the flow conditions are simplified and only very short period of time is simulated. In this paper, a three-dimensional environmental fluid dynamics code (EFDC) is used to simulate the flow in the Chicago River system (including NB, SB, and MBCR). EFDC is a public domain code which is supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has been widely used in many rivers and estuaries. It uses stretched or sigma vertical coordinate and Cartesian or curvilinear, orthogonal horizontal coordinate. Three-dimensional, hydrostatic, free surface, and turbulent flow equations are solved. Water quality models (such as sediment, temperature, toxics, dissolved oxygen, and biological oxygen demand) are also implemented. For this paper, the EFDC code is modified to simulate only the density current in CWS mainly due to the dissolved particles. The tests cases used in this paper are from the physical model work done in the hydrosystems lab in UIUC. The numerical model is validated and tested against the experiments. Good results have been achieved. More numerical simulations will be done to expand the parameter space. Water quality models will be activated in the future to see the environmental impact of different management strategies.
Efficient optimal search of uniform-cost grids and lattices

A simple technique is described to speed up optimal path planning on Euclidean-cost grids and lattices. Many robot navigation planning algorithms build approximate grid representations of the environment and use Djikstra's algorithm or A* to search the resulting embedded graph for an optimal path between given start and goal locations. However, the classical implementations of these search algorithms were designed to find optimal paths on arbitrary graphs with edges having arbitrary positive weight values. This paper explains how to exploit the structure of optimal paths on Euclidean-cost grids and lattices in order to reduce the number of neighboring nodes considered during a node expansion step. The result is a moderate reduction in the total nodes examined, which reduces the overall memory requirements and computational cost of the search. These improvements increase the efficiency of optimal robot navigation planning on 2D and 3D grids, and the technique generalizes to any other search problem that involves finding optimal paths on grids and lattices in higher dimensions whose edge costs obey the triangle inequality.
Localization of a Wireless Sensor Network with Unattended Ground Sensors and Some Mobile Robots

A range-free approach for adaptive localization of un-localized sensor nodes employing a mobile robot with GPS is detailed. A mobile robot navigates through the sensor deployment area broadcasting its positional estimate and the uncertainty in its estimate. Distributed computationally-inexpensive, discrete-time Kalman Filters, implemented on each static sensor node, fuse information obtained over time from the robot to decrease the uncertainty in each node's location estimate. On the other hand, due to dead reckoning and other systematic errors, the robot loses positional accuracy over time. Updates from GPS and from the localized sensor nodes serve in improving the localization uncertainty of the robot. A Continuous-Discrete Extended Kalman Filter (CD EKF) running on the mobile robot fuses information from multiple distinct sources (GPS, various sensors nodes) for robot navigation. This two-part procedure achieves simultaneous localization of the sensor nodes and the mobile robot.
Using breakeven methods to assess financial feasibility in food processing firms: A case study in pecan shelling

Linear and nonlinear cash breakeven analyses are applied to a pecan shelling firm to assess the feasibility of acquiring a long-term loan for operating capital. The linear analysis is used to find effects of varying volume under average price conditions. The nonlinear breakeven is developed and applied to capture the effects of changing margins due to aggregate production changes. Combination analyses are used to examine effects of changes in market share and aggregate production.
An Approach to Information as a Utility

Why should we attempt to consider information, or to be more precise, information systems, as a utility-type of enterprise? Generally, for two reasons: first, the nature of information problems existing at present and anticipated in the future requires solutions that are considerably more user-oriented than we have now; and second, the precedent of successful operations of public utilities as user-oriented enterprises suggests that the concepts developed in connection with utilities may be applied to operations of some information systems. Let us first consider aspects of the information problems that invite a general reorientation in our thinking about information solutions.
The Effect of Income on Health: Evidence from New Health Measures in the NLSY

While it is well known that income and health are positively associated, the critical question of whether this relationship is causal remains open. Income may cause better health, but causality could also run from health to income, or both income and health could be correlated with one or more unobserved variables. This paper attempts to overcome these problems by systematically exploiting features of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which recently added several important health measures. To account for reverse-causality, I reason that health effects income mainly by limiting labor force activities, and focus on a subpopulation that has never reported a health related work limitation. To account for omitted variables, I estimate sibling fixed-effects models to control for childhood conditions and genetic background, and include direct controls for discount rates, risk aversion and cognitive ability. I find that income has a significant causal effect on physical health and obesity, but not on mental health, smoking or heavy drinking. My preferred models predict that an individual with a permanent income of $70,000 is approximately 10% less likely to be obese than if they had a permanent income of $30,000, and reports physical health that is .25 standard deviations more favorable.
Coupled, Nonconservative Stability-Finite Element

Coupled bending-torsion instabilities in columns are investigated through application of the Ritz finite element method. Conditions for dynamic divergence and flutter instabilities generated by nonconservative follower forces are determined for columns with cross-sectional assymetry. Both inertial and stiffness coupling are considered in the formulation of nonself-adjoint eigenvalue problems. Critical loading conditions based on observation of eigenvalue trajectories are examined for a cantilevered channel and an I-beam subjected to end loading and for a simply supported beam loaded in the plane of maximum stiffness. The results clearly indicate that: (1) Critical loads can be significantly reduced by bending-torsion coupling and (2) critical load and instability mechanism (static or dynamic) calculation are sensitive to system modeling; therefore, accurate discretization procedures are essential for critical load prediction.
Enhancing Overwintering Mortality of Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) by Manipulating the Temperature of Its Diapause Habitat

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the potential of using an artificially mulched trap crop to arrest adult dispersal of Colorado potato beetle, Leptino-tarsa decemlineata Say, in the fall in a location that could be disturbed easily to expose adults to thermal shock and increased overwintering mortality. Four overwintering treatments were established in a trap crop of late-planted potatoes: mulched with wheat straw and not disturbed until spring, mulched but mulch and snow removed during an intense cold front and mulch either replaced or not after 3 d, and unmulched control. Colorado potato beetles were excavated in the spring and survival was assessed. Eighty percent were recovered in the top 25 cm soil strata. Removal of mulch covers rapidly depressed soil temperatures at all depths. In the 0-15 cm soil strata, where most of the adults overwintered, temperatures dropped from 0 to −11.7°C, whereas in undisturbed plots, temperature remained close to O°C. Adult survival was significantly higher in snow-covered, unmulched controls and mulched habitats (≈26%) than in disturbed habitats (≈7%).
Looking beyond translation--integrating clinical research with medical practice.

To accelerate the pace and spread of scientific discovery, we must look beyond translation and integrate clinical research with medical practice, creating a patient-centered, science-driven health care enterprise. But there are barriers to doing so.
Bandwidth control in 5-μm pulse generation by double-chirped optical parametric amplification

We simulate and experimentally demonstrate a versatile and efficient method to control the spectral bandwidth of short mid-infrared pulses produced by optical parametric amplification.
Formation Design and Sensitivity Analysis for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS)

MMS is a NASA mission to study the Earth’s magnetosphere scheduled to launch in 2014. The mission will employ 4 spacecraft that must maintain a near-regular tetrahedron in a region centered about apoapsis of a highly elliptic orbit. This paper contains a sensitivity analysis that illustrates which error sources and perturbations are drivers of formation degradation. The sensitivity to navigation and control errors is performed by comparing the semimajor axis errors due to position and velocity knowledge errors and errors in maneuver direction, magnitude, and location. Sensitivity to perturbations is investigated by comparing the magnitudes of the monodromy matrix at apoapsis for different dynamics models. We also present several design techniques to mitigate or remove the effects of perturbations. The design techniques combine numerical methods with analytic conditions designed to eliminate or reduce effects of the J2 perturbation.
Sonidegib for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma: a comprehensive review of sonidegib and the BOLT trial with 12-month update

The Hedgehog inhibitors are promising alternative for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma that are not amenable to radiotherapy or surgery. Sonidegib, also known as LDE225, is an orally available SMO antagonist that was recently approved by the US FDA for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma. This article will provide an overview of the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of sonidegib and in-depth analysis of the BOLT trial with additional data from the 12-month update. The present challenges associated with Hedgehog inhibitors will also be discussed.
Quantitative Analyses of Choice in Rat and Pigeon

Studies of choice in nonhuman animals that presented concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules of reinforcement were quantitatively reviewed. Empirical parameters representing bias and sensitivity in the generalized matching equation were calculated across studies and compared. Undermatching was the most common relationship observed. No consistent bias was shown. An analysis of moderating variables also revealed that the laboratory in which an experiment was conducted, and the year of publication were related to the sensitivity parameter. This reanalysis confirms that a proportional relationship between the ratios of response rates and ratios of reinforcement rates is not an accurate description of concurrent VI VI performance.
Nanostructure Fabrication Using Biomolecular Templates

Metal structures with features on the l0nm length scale (nanostructures) have been fabricated in a parallel process employing two-dimensional monolayer protein crystals as patterning templates. These nanostructures have been assayed on thin film substrates using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and on thick (bulk) substrates using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Compound structures (nanoheterostructures) have also been fabricated in which adsorbates selectively self-assemble onto a nanostructure. Such nanoheterostructures have been created using both nanometer scale clusters of metal atoms and biological macromolecules as selective adsorbates.
Atomic and electronic structure of Ti substitution in Ca3Co4O9

We examine the role of Ti doping in the incommensurately layered thermoelectric oxide material Ca3Co4O9 (CCO). The measured Seebeck coefficient of S = 135 μV/K in Ti-doped CCO thin films of composition Ca3Co3.8Ti0.2O9 indicates no significant enhancement of S compared to pristine CCO, thus confirming prior experimental results. Using a combination of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy-loss spectroscopy and first-principles computations, we determine the atomic and electronic structures of Ti-doped CCO, including the preferred location of Ti dopants and valence states of Ti and Co atoms. Our findings on the structural, electronic, and transport properties of the Ti-doped CCO are discussed in light of the previously published results.
Ethical Issues Regarding rAAA

Critical care is an integral part of the care of a patient with a ruptured AAA, and the intensive care unit (ICU) is the setting where these patients receive some of the most technologically advanced life-sustaining treatments. The ICU is, however, also a setting where death is common and many patients receive end-of-life care. Identifying patient goals and how healthcare teams can help achieve them can be very challenging, particularly as they may change during an ICU stay. Regardless of whether the goal is to pursue aggressive life-sustaining care or quality end-of-life care, the basic ethical principles remain the same, as does the need for constant, effective, and clear communication between the interdisciplinary medical team, the patient, and their loved ones.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Patient-Centered Educational Mailer Designed to Improve Statin Adherence: A Pragmatic Trial.

Background: Patients with high total cholesterol have increased risk of cardiovascular disease. National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and American Hearth Association (AHA) guidelines recommend cholesterol lowering with statin medications; however, statin adherence remains poor. We hypothesized that patient-centered education on the 10-year risk for each of the major constituents of Cardiovascular Disease would increase statin adherence and achievement of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal. Methods: Veterans within the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center initiating statin therapy during October 2008 to December 2011 were randomized in a pragmatic design to either receive an educational mailer or usual care. The mailer outlined their 10-year global cardiovascular risk, separated into coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure. The study was unblinded and followed an intention-to-treat analysis where outcome measures were obtained during normal care process. The primary outcome measure was achievement of LDL-C goal during the 12-month follow-up. Results: Two hundred and seven patients were randomly assigned to either the intervention arm (95) or control arm (112). No differences in the proportion of patients meeting LDL-C goal were detected during 12-months [Relative Risk (RR): 0.95 (95%CI: 0.77-1.17)] or 18-months [RR: 1.03 (95%CI: 0.84, 1.25)]. Patients in the intervention arm had higher adherence on average, e.g., intervention patients were more likely to have 70% or more days of statin therapy compared to patients who received standard care though this did not reach statistical significance. [RR: 1.33(95%CI: 1.00, 1.78)] There were no statistical differences in cardiovascular outcomes or mortality. Conclusion: Patient education mailers sent to patients starting statin treatment did not have a clear impact on LDL-C goal achievement or adherence to statin therapy.
Infant Deaths and Mortality from Gun Violence: Causal or Casual?

Abstract Objective Describe trends in non-Hispanic black infant mortality (IM) in the New York City (NYC) counties of Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Manhattan and correlations with gun-related assault mortality. Methods Linked Birth/Infant Death data (1999-2013) and Compressed Mortality data at ages 1 to ≥85 years (1999-2013). NYC and United States (US) Census data for income inequality and poverty. Pearson coefficients were used to describe correlations of IM with gun-related assault mortality and other causes of death. Results In NYC, the risk of non-Hispanic black IM in 2013 was 49% lower than in 1995 (rate ratio: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.61). Yearly declines between 1999 and 2013 were significantly correlated with declines in gun-related assault mortality (correlation coefficient (r) = 0.70, p = 0.004), drug-related mortality (r = 0.59, p = 0.020), major heart disease and stroke (r = 0.85, p Conclusions In NYC, non-Hispanic black IM declined significantly despite increasing income inequality and was strongly correlated with gun-related assault mortality and other major causes of death. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that activities related to overall population health, including those pertaining to gun-related homicide, may provide clues to reducing IM. Analytic epidemiological studies are needed to test these and other hypotheses formulated from these descriptive data.
Signal Processing Techniques for Nonlinear Identification of Structures Using Transient Response

In this work, an alternate method for the nonlinear system identification of vibrating structures is investigated. This method makes use of transient vibrations in combination with advanced signal processing techniques to determine hardening or softening effects and strength of nonlinearity. In order to demonstrate this method’s practicality and how transient vibrations can be used to determine nonlinearity, an experiment involving a cantilever beam has been subjected to vibratory analysis. Furthermore, a novel signal tracking technique, known as the Harmonics Tracking Method, has been used in conjunction with experimental data for signal analysis and compared to another widely known signal processing tool called the Hilbert-Huang Transform. The nonlinear characteristics of a structure can play a significant role in its behavior or response to stimuli. Thus, knowing these characteristics can lead to better design analysis and predictions of system responses.
Assessment of the Subchannel Code CTF for Single- and Two-Phase Flows

As part of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, the subchannel code CTF is being used for single-phase and two-phase flow analysis under light water reactor operating con...
Fluopyram Sensitivity and Functional Characterization of SdhB in the Fusarium solani Species Complex Causing Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome

The succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicide, fluopyram, is used as a soybean seed treatment to manage Fusarium virguliforme, the casual agent of sudden death syndrome (SDS). More recently, other species within clade 2 of the Fusarium solani species, F. tucumaniae in South America and F. brasiliense in America and Africa, have been recognized as additional agents capable of causing SDS. To determine if fluopyram could be used for management of SDS caused by these species, in vitro sensitivity tests of the three Fusarium species to fluopyram were conducted. The mean EC50 values of F. brasiliense and F. virguliforme strains to fluopyram were 1.96 and 2.21 μg ml-1, respectively, but interestingly F. tucumaniae strains were highly sensitive (mean EC50 = 0.25 μg ml-1) to fluopyram compared to strains of the other two species. A sequence analysis of Sdh genes of Fusarium strains revealed that the F. tucumaniae strains contain an arginine at codon 277 in the SdhB gene instead of a glycine as in other Fusarium species. Replacement of glycine to arginine in SdhB-277 in a F. virguliforme wild-type strain Mont-1 through genetic transformation resulted in increased sensitivity to two SDHI fungicides, fluopyram and boscalid. Similar to a F. tucumaniae strain, the Mont-1 (SdhBG277R) mutant caused less SDS and root rot disease than Mont-1 on soybean seedlings with the fluopyram seed treatment. Our study suggests the amino acid difference in the SdhB in F. tucumaniae results in fluopyram being efficacious if used as a seed treatment for management of F. tucumaniae, which is the most abundant SDS causing species in South America. The establishment of baseline sensitivity of Fusarium species to fluopyram will contribute to effective strategies for managing Fusarium diseases in soybean and other pathosystems such as dry bean.
The national landscape of deceased donor kidney transplantation for the highly sensitized: Transplant rates, waitlist mortality, and posttransplant survival under KAS.

Deceased donor kidney transplantation (DDKT) rates for highly sensitized (HS) candidates increased early after implementation of the Kidney Allocation System (KAS) in 2014. However, this may represent a bolus effect, and a granular investigation of the current state of DDKT for HS candidates remains lacking. We studied 270 722 DDKT candidates from the SRTR from 12/4/2011 to 12/3/2014 ("pre-KAS") and 12/4/2014 to 12/3/2017 ("post-KAS"), analyzing DDKT rates for HS candidates using adjusted negative binomial regression. Post-KAS, candidates with the highest levels of sensitization had an increased DDKT rate compared with pre-KAS (cPRA 98% adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR]:1.27 1.772.46 P = .001, cPRA 99% aIRR:3.18 4.365.98 P < .001, cPRA 99.5-99.9% aIRR:16.91 24.2934.89 P < .001, and cPRA 99.9%+ aIRR:8.79 11.5815.26 P < .001). To determine whether these changes produced more equitable access to DDKT, we compared DDKT rates of HS to non-HS candidates (cPRA 0-79%). Post-KAS, cPRA, 98% candidates had an equivalent DDKT rate (aIRR:0.65 0.941.36 , P = .8) to non-HS candidates, whereas 99% candidates had a higher DDKT rate (aIRR:1.19 1.682.38 , P = .02). Although cPRA 99.5-99.9% candidates had an increased DDKT rate (aIRR:2.46 3.504.98 , P < .001) compared to non-HS candidates, cPRA 99.9%+ candidates had a significantly lower DDKT rate (aIRR:0.29 0.400.56 , P < .001). KAS has improved access to DDKT for HS candidates, although substantial imbalance exists between cPRA 99.5-99.9% and 99.9%+ candidates.
Genome-Guided Identification of Organohalide-Respiring Deltaproteobacteria from the Marine Environment

Organohalide compounds are widespread in the environment as a result of both anthropogenic activities and natural production. The marine environment, in particular, is a major reservoir of organohalides, and reductive dehalogenation is thought to be an important process in the overall cycling of these compounds. Deltaproteobacteria are important members of the marine microbiota with diverse metabolic capacities, and reductive dehalogenation has been observed in some Deltaproteobacteria In this study, a comprehensive survey of Deltaproteobacteria genomes revealed that approximately 10% contain reductive dehalogenase (RDase) genes, which are found within a common gene neighborhood. The dehalogenating potential of select RDase A-containing Deltaproteobacteria and their gene expression were experimentally verified. Three Deltaproteobacteria strains isolated from marine environments representing diverse species, Halodesulfovibrio marinisediminis, Desulfuromusa kysingii, and Desulfovibrio bizertensis, were shown to reductively dehalogenate bromophenols and utilize them as terminal electron acceptors in organohalide respiration. Their debrominating activity was not inhibited by sulfate or elemental sulfur, and these species are either sulfate- or sulfur-reducing bacteria. The analysis of RDase A gene transcripts indicated significant upregulation induced by 2,6-dibromophenol. This study extends our knowledge of the phylogenetic diversity of organohalide-respiring bacteria and their functional RDase A gene diversity. The identification of reductive dehalogenase genes in diverse Deltaproteobacteria and confirmation of their organohalide-respiring capability suggest that Deltaproteobacteria play an important role in natural organohalide cycling.IMPORTANCE The marine environment is a major reservoir for both anthropogenic and natural organohalides, and reductive dehalogenation is thought to be an important process in the overall cycling of these compounds. Here we demonstrate that the capacity of organohalide respiration appears to be widely distributed in members of marine Deltaproteobacteria The identification of reductive dehalogenase genes in diverse Deltaproteobacteria and the confirmation of their dehalogenating activity through functional assays and transcript analysis in select isolates extend our knowledge of organohalide-respiring Deltaproteobacteria diversity. The presence of functional reductive dehalogenase genes in diverse Deltaproteobacteria implies that they may play an important role in organohalide respiration in the environment.
Globally Stable Attitude Control of a Fixed-Wing Rudderless UAV Using Subspace Projection

This letter extends recent work on globally asymptotically stable nonlinear attitude control of fully actuated vehicles to underactuated vehicles, specifically, a rudderless fixed-wing airplane. Previous work uses a quaternion attitude representation and Lyapunov theory to establish global asymptotic stability for attitude tracking in a fully actuated fixed-wing airplane, beginning from arbitrary initial conditions. Many small unmanned aerial vehicles are, however, heavily constrained with respect to sensor and actuator resources. A common situation is a flying wing configuration with a pair of elevons that serve the purpose of both the elevator as well as the ailerons. While it is not possible to track an arbitrary attitude in the three-dimensional (3-D) attitude space, we show that it is still possible to track a 2-D subspace of the unit quaternion space. Projecting a desired attitude onto a 2-D subspace is achieved by solving an optimization problem in the quaternion attitude formulation. The resulting controller is verified using simulations that demonstrate satisfactory performance.
Approaching the Human-Environment Nexus Beyond Conflict: A Peace and Coviability Perspective

The perception of the natural environment in terms of resources to meet anthropogenic ‘needs’ may stimulate competition among actors, which could eventually lead to conflict, especially in times of scarcity. Based on this core assumption, a great number of studies have investigated the human-environment nexus from a conflict and security perspective. Later on, many researchers have critically questioned the relevance of this literature and alternatively envisioned the environment as an incentive for cooperation rather than for violence. Accordingly, the concept of ‘environmental peacebuilding’ has been developed to investigate the evolution of environmental cooperation into a conflict transformation tool. Against such a background, this work aims at reviewing and discussing the relevance of both research trends with a focus on their ability to appropriately approach the human-environment nexus and to provide a useful theoretical and policy-making framework. Regarding the literature on environmental conflict, the analysis shows that its core assumptions remain questionable and its empirical and theoretical conclusions are contested. In respect to environmental peacebuilding, despite its attractiveness, more systematic research is still needed to make it a robust framework. Therefore, the analysis suggests the coviability of social-ecological systems as an alternative to properly perceive the human-environment nexus. This is based on the belief that the viability of human societies depends intimately on the living components of natural and managed systems, and that the coviability approach has the potential to adjust our perception with regard to the position of humans in the biosphere. A position which should be mainly oriented towards ensuring solidarity between humans to maintain viable ecosystems instead of conflict or limited, pragmatic cooperation driven schemes. This may raise hopes that future targets can be achievable and that human societies and ecosystems are sufficiently resilient and better prepared for a world of universal ecological change.
Block Alternating Optimization for Non-convex Min-max Problems: Algorithms and Applications in Signal Processing and Communications

The min-max problem, also known as the saddle point problem, can be used to formulate a wide range of applications in signal processing and wireless communications. However, existing optimization theory and methods, which mostly deal with problems with certain convex-concave structure, are not applicable for the aforementioned applications, which oftentimes involve non-convexity. In this work, we consider a general block-wise one-sided non-convex min-max problem, in which the minimization problem consists of multiple blocks and is non-convex, while the maximization problem is (strongly) concave. We propose two simple algorithms, which alternatingly perform one gradient descent-type step for each minimization block and one gradient ascent-type step for the maximization problem. For the first time, we show that such simple alternating min-max algorithms converge to first-order stationary solutions. We conduct numerical tests on a robust learning problem, and a wireless communication problem in the presence of jammers, to validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
Promoting reactivity of photoexcited hot electrons in small-sized plasmonic metal nanoparticles that are supported on dielectric nanospheres

Plasmonic metal nanoparticles (NPs) represent a promising class of photocatalysts to drive chemical transformations by the photoexcited hot electrons in the NPs. In this work, the dependence of photon-to-chemical conversion efficiency on the size of plasmonic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has been comprehensively studied with the use of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue as a probe reaction. Comparison of Ag NPs with two different sizes (6 nm and 13 nm in diameter) highlights that the smaller sized Ag NPs favor the photocatalytic activity by positively translating the high efficiency of hot electron generation to the hot-electron-driven chemical reaction on the surface of the Ag NPs. Loading the small Ag NPs to the dielectric silica nanospheres (SiOX NSs, average diameter of 400 nm) with high surface coverage increases the light absorption power in the Ag NPs due to the surface light scattering resonances of the SiOX NSs and interparticle plasmon coupling of the adjacent Ag NPs. The enhanced light absorption can also be rendered to the improved photocatalytic activity. This design principle of plasmonic photocatalysts provides a promise of utilizing solar energy to drive desirable chemical reactions with high photon-to-chemical conversion efficiency.
Statistical Delay/Error-Rate Bounded QoS Provisioning Across Clustered MmWave-Channels Over Cell-Free Massive MIMO Based 5G Mobile Wireless Networks in the Finite Blocklength Regime

To support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) for time-sensitive multimedia 5G wireless services, several advanced techniques, including statistical delay-bounded quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning and finite blocklength coding (FBC), have been developed to upper-bound both delay and error- rate. On the other hand, millimeter wave (mmWave) cell-free (CF) massive multi-input multi-output (m-MIMO) techniques, where a large number of distributed access points (APs) jointly serve all users at millimeter wave frequencies using the same time- frequency resources, has emerged as one of the key promising candidate techniques to significantly improve QoS performance in 5G networks. Leveraging the sparse scattering characteristics of mmWave wireless channels, the arrival traffic can be partitioned into parallel substreams using scattering-clusters based mmWave wireless channel model to reduce queuing delay. However, due to the complexity of analyzing queueing dynamics across clustered mmWave wireless channels for CF m-MIMO schemes, it is challenging to statistically guarantee QoS performance in terms of upper-bounding delay and error-rate. To overcome the above- mentioned problems, in this paper we propose a novel analytical model to quantitatively characterize stochastic QoS performance of delay and error-rate across clustered mmWave channels for CF m-MIMO schemes. In particular, we develop CF m-MIMO system models across clustered mmWave wireless channels. We also apply the Mellin transform to derive an upper bound on the delay violation probability using the spatial multiplexing queue model. Our simulation results validate and evaluate our proposed FBC based mmWave CF m-MIMO schemes under statistical delay/error-rate bounded QoS constraints.
Transdermal delivery of drugs with microneedles: Strategies and outcomes

Abstract Transdermal drug delivery has a number of advantages. These include avoidance of presystemic metabolism, absence of gastric irritation and enzymatic degradation, convenience, painlessness, non-invasiveness and improved patient compliance [3–6]. Despite these advantages, it is challenging to deliver molecules across the skin. Researchers have used external force to drive compounds through the skin. Several strategies are used to achieve this goal including chemical penetration enhancers, sonophoresis, iontophoresis and microneedles. Microneedles are micrometer-sized needles that are used to porate the skin for drug delivery. These needles are long enough to penetrate the stratum corneum but too short to stimulate pain receptors that are located in the dermis. Considerable progress has been made in the design and development of microneedles. Several strategies have been adopted for the fabrication of different types of microneedles. This paper reviews the strategies used in developing micorneedles and outcomes from clinical trials.
Using Equivalence Testing to Evaluate Goodness of Fit in Multilevel Structural Equation Models

Multilevel structural equation models (MSEM) are typically evaluated on the basis of goodness of fit indices. A problem with these indices is that they pertain to the entire model, reflecting simul...
Scintillation properties of strontium iodide doped with europium for high-energy astrophysical detectors: nonproportionality as a function of temperature and at high gamma-ray energies

Strontium iodide doped with europium [SrI2(Eu2+)] is a new scintillator material being developed as an alternative to lanthanum bromide doped with cerium [LaBr3(Ce3+)] for use in high-energy astrophysical detectors. As with all scintillators, the issue of nonproportionality is important because it affects the energy resolution of the detector. We investigate how the nonproportionality of SrI2(Eu2+) changes as a function of temperature from 16 to 60°C by heating the SrI2(Eu2+) scintillator separate from the photomultiplier tube. In a separate experiment, we also investigate the nonproportionality at high energies (up to 6 MeV) of SrI2(Eu2+) at a testing facility located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We find that the nonproportionality increases nearly monotonically as the temperature of the SrI2(Eu2+) scintillator is increased, although there is evidence of nonmonotonic behavior near 40°C, perhaps due to electric charge carriers trapping in the material. We also find that within the energy range of 662 keV to 6.1 MeV, the change in the nonproportionality of SrI2(Eu2+) is ∼1.5 to 2%.
Understanding the impact of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic on hospitalized patients with substance use disorder.

BACKGROUND The SARS-COV-2 pandemic rapidly shifted dynamics around hospitalization for many communities. This study aimed to evaluate how the pandemic altered the experience of healthcare, acute illness, and care transitions among hospitalized patients with substance use disorder (SUD). METHODS We performed a qualitative study at an academic medical center in Portland, Oregon, in Spring 2020. We conducted semi-structured interviews, and conducted a thematic analysis, using an inductive approach, at a semantic level. RESULTS We enrolled 27 participants, and identified four main themes: 1) shuttered community resources threatened patients' basic survival adaptations; 2) changes in outpatient care increased reliance on hospitals as safety nets; 3) hospital policy changes made staying in the hospital harder than usual; and, 4) care transitions out of the hospital were highly uncertain. DISCUSSION Hospitalized adults with SUD were further marginalized during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Systems must address the needs of marginalized patients in future disruptive events.