cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Computationally efficient High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells micromechanics via order-reduction techniques

Abstract The High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells (HFGMC) is a powerful technique for simulating composite materials. The HFGMC uses a higher-order approximation for the subcell displacement field that allows for accurate determination of the subcell stress/strain fields. In order to reduce computational costs associated with the solution of the ensuing system of simultaneous equations, the HFGMC global system of equations for doubly-periodic RUCs was reduced in size through the use of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. Accurate order-reduced HFGMC models were then implemented within a special-purpose finite element user material subroutine and used to perform multiscale composite analyses. A number of cases were presented that demonstrate the computational feasibility of using order-reduction techniques to solve solid mechanics problems with complex microstructures. By simulating composite materials in a more computationally efficient manner, a pathway forward is presented for performing high-fidelity multiscale analyses of composite structures.
CHAPTER 9 – Immunoassays for PTH and PTHrP: Clinical Applications

This chapter focuses on the development and clinical application of immunoassays for circulating levels of Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) and Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein (PTHrP). The accurate and precise measurement of circulating levels of PTH has revolutionized the clinical management of patients with calcium and skeletal disorders, and assays for PTHrP have comparable clinical impact for the patient with hypercalcemia, especially hypercalcemia due to cancer. This chapter also reviews the expanding information on the application of PTHrP immunoassays to clinical diagnosis and management. In contrast to PTH, assays for PTHrP are in their early stages of development are complicated by the more complex biosynthesis, secretion, and metabolism of this polypeptide. Sensitive and specific assays for PTH and PTHrP aid in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemia, hypocalcemia, and a variety of other calcium and skeletal diseases. In addition to their usefulness in clinical management, PTH and PTHrP serum assays help in elucidating the pathophysiology of many disorders of calcium and skeletal metabolism. Serum PTH immunoassays are invaluable in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemia and hypocalcemia. In general, all well-characterized PTH immunoassays can serve this function, even though studies have focused on assays of the intact PTH. With many assays available, a practical approach to the differential diagnosis of calcium disorders is to use the PTH immunoassay —that is, readily available and interpretable to the physician.
Discovering Functional ERK Substrates Regulating Caenorhabditis elegans Germline Development

The Rat Sarcoma (RAS) GTPAse-mediated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway regulates multiple biological processes across metazoans. In particular during Caenorhabditis elegans oogenesis, ERK signaling has been shown to regulate over seven distinct biological processes in a temporal and sequential manner. To fully elucidate how ERK signaling cascade orchestrates these different biological processes in vivo, identification of the direct functional substrates of the pathway is critical. This chapter describes the methods that were used to identify ERK substrates in a global manner and study their functions in the germline. These approaches can also be generally applied to study ERK-dependent biological processes in other systems.
An X-band microstrip VCO with 900MHz tuning range

A low phase-noise, microwave voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is built to operate between 7.8GHz and 8.7GHz. The circuit is built on Roger RO6002 with a thickness of 20 mils, and a dielectric constant of 2.94. The loss tangent of the substrate is 0.0009. The active element used is a dual emitter Infineon (former Siemens) BFP420 low noise bipolar transistor. It is in a SOT-343 package and used in a common collector configuration. The oscillator circuit contains both coarse and fine tune controls. An active bias circuit is used to power the oscillator. The output is loosely coupled, resulting in better phase noise. Two varactors used in the coarse tune circuit are connected back-to-back to improve the noise performance. As the coarse tune voltage is changed from −1.0Vdc to −19.0Vdc, the frequency of oscillation changes from 7.8GHz to 8.7GHz. For a fixed coarse tune voltage, when the fine tune voltage is changed from 6.5V dc to 13.5V dc, the oscillation frequency varies by about 5MHz per volt. The circuit was designed using the small signal scattering parameters (s-parameters) of the transistor provided by the manufacturer. The circuit prototype, including the impedance matching sections, was simulated using Serenade, Ansoft Ensemble, and other simulators.
Tweeting #Justice: Audio-Visual Coverage of Court Proceedings in a World of Shifting Technology

The debate over whether to allow cameras into courtrooms refuses to fade away. In 2015 alone, U.S. federal courts completed a five-year experiment with cameras in courts, New Zealand published new guidelines for audio-visual coverage, and Scotland completely revised its former broadcast policy. These jurisdictions, and others around the globe, constantly struggle to design model practices that successfully balance freedom of the press, transparency, and public access to information, with rights to a fair trial and privacy. The constant need to rethink coverage policies can be attributed in large part to the advancement of technology, providing the media innovative tools to report from within courtrooms even when formal legal norms bar direct reports. These advancements often result in an unsettling disparity between formal norms and the reality of court coverage. Drawing on the Israeli example, this Article seeks to address this timely issue, illustrating how social media and technological advancements can push regulators to re-evaluate legal regimes that seem to lag behind the law in action. The Article provides a systematic analysis of both doctrinal arguments and empirical data on the policies adopted by different common law jurisdictions, aiming to devise a policy framework for audio-visual coverage of courts in the age of hyper-technology. By synthesizing lessons from these jurisdictions, the Article first traces the evolution of the doctrine on audio-visual coverage across various jurisdictions, and its constitutional framing. Moreover, the Article exposes the politicization of constitutional law: how courts adopt flexible frameworks with regard to policies on constitutional issues that affect them. Second, the Article suggests that existing empirical data are generally supportive of coverage, showing almost no adverse effects resulting from the presence of cameras in courtrooms. Third, the Article provides practical tools for reaching balanced coverage policies, offering the first analytical framework for the design of coverage policies. The Article utilizes the Israeli case study—a country with currently no audio-visual coverage policy—in order to implement the suggested framework and offers a comprehensive coverage policy within Israeli courts.
School based post disaster mental health services: decreased trauma symptoms in youth with multiple traumas

AbstractChildren exposed to disasters are at an increased likelihood for multiple trauma exposure. The objective of our study is to understand the efficacy of post disaster school based services for reducing trauma symptoms of youth exposed to multiple traumatic events. Students (N = 112) age 8–17 that were survivors of Hurricane Katrina received individual treatment for multiple traumas on site at school. We used repeated measures ANOVA to investigate the effectiveness in self-reported trauma symptoms over time. Results indicated significant reduction in overall posttraumatic stress symptoms as well as subscales assessing anxiety, anger, depression, dissociation, overt dissociation, and fantasy dissociation. The school based services for students with multiple traumas were effective at reducing trauma symptoms following disaster.
Decoding of Calcium Signal Through Calmodulin: Calmodulin-Binding Proteins in Plants

Calmodulin is the best characterized calcium sensor which is highly conserved in all eukaryotes including plants. The flexible structural features enable calmodulin to bind and regulate a broad spectrum of target proteins which are involved in diverse cellular/physiological functions in plants. Hence, calmodulin is considered to be a multifunctional regulatory protein although calmodulin itself usually has no enzymatic or biochemical functions. Plants have multiple calmodulins and calmodulin-like proteins, therefore the Ca2+/CaM-mediated signaling system in plants is considerably more complex as compared to that in animals. In this chapter we describe the structure–function relationships of calmodulin, action models of calmodulin-mediated regulation of target proteins, complexity of calmodulin-mediated regulations, and functional implications of calmodulin and target interactions in plants. Emphasis is placed on functional significance of Ca2+/CaM-mediated regulation of targets with various enzymatic/biochemical/biophysical functions during plant growth and development, and plant response to abiotic and biotic stimuli.
Combined Hybrid Microscopic and Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery: Anatomy, Instrumentation, and Technique

Surgical management of pituitary tumors has evolved considerably since the first report by Victor Horsley in the early 1900s. Made largely possible by advancing technology, various approaches have been used including a lateral rhinotomy, sublabial, transcranial, and transnasal to name a few. Presently the transnasal approach is the most popular and has evolved to rely heavily upon the endoscope for visualization though historically it was the operating microscope that made the operation possible. The merits of endoscopic-transnasal versus microscopic-transnasal have been debated much like the clip-versus-coil debate for treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Similar to the vascular debate, no one instrument or technique is superior in all regards. This chapter describes the utility of a hybrid approach combining both endoscopic and microsurgical techniques which are used as individual circumstances dictate. As no single surgical approach is perfect, surgeons should not limit themselves to only one technique or approach, but rather use all options available.
Coherent plasma-curvature radiation in FRB

Curvature radiation is a natural candidate for the emission mechanism of FRB. However, FRB spectra have structure with $\Delta \nu/\nu \sim \text{0.03--0.2}$, inconsistent with the very smooth spectrum of curvature radiation. Although this spectral structure might be attributed to chromatic scintillation or lensing, in four FRB high spectral resolution data indicate scintillation decorrelation bandwidths much narrower than the observed $\sim \text{30--300}$ MHz spectral structure. Some of the observed structure may be intrinsic to the radiation mechanism. I suggest that the observed spectral structure reflects the spatial structure of a clumpy radiating charge distribution, and that the characteristic curvature radiation frequency may be much higher than the observed frequencies. In this coupled plasma-curvature radiation process the radiated spectra are the product of the spectra of the plasma wave and that of incoherent curvature radiation. The argument applies to all coherent radiation processes, including those that produce pulsar nanoshots. The implied FRB "clump" charges are large, and produce electrostatic potentials that suggest electron Lorentz factors $\gtrsim 10^2$. The result applies generally to coherently radiating sources.
A Triangulation-Based Coverage Path Planning

In this paper, we present an approach to local coverage path (CP) planning for a circular mobile sensor. Our family of algorithms provides completed and overlapped coverage control, curvature and path length control, localization, choice of observer’s placement based on sensing range, and first-order differentiable CP. Our family of algorithms begins by partitioning the target region (TR) into several regular triangulations (RTs). Based on the size of the RT and the sensing range, the number and location of observers are determined for all RT. All observers found are then used as waypoints (WPs) to generate baseline CP with the Traveling Salesman Problem’s nearest neighbor algorithm. The proposed algorithm solved the problems of how to design a differentiable and collision-free CP for all sensing range, limited and sufficient, while providing completed coverage control, overlapped coverage control, curvature and path length control, localization, collision avoidance, and the choice of observer’s placement based on sensing range and the environment. The main technical contributions of the proposed approach is to provide a holistic solution that segments any TR, uses triangulation to determine the observation WPs and then compute the smooth and collision-free CP. Computer simulations are provided to validate the effectiveness and correctness of our algorithms.
Averievite: A copper oxide kagome antiferromagnet

Averievite, ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{5}{\mathrm{V}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{10}(\mathrm{CsCl})$, is an oxide mineral composed of ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{2+}$ kagome layers sandwiched by ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{2+}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{V}}^{5+}$ honeycomb layers. We have synthesized this oxide and investigated its properties from ab initio calculations along with susceptibility and specific heat measurements. The data indicate a Curie-Weiss temperature of 185 K as well as long-range magnetic order at 24 K due to the significant interlayer coupling from the honeycomb copper ions. This order is suppressed by substituting copper by isoelectronic zinc, suggesting that Zn-substituted averievite is a promising spin liquid candidate. A further proposed substitution that replaces ${\mathrm{V}}^{5+}$ by ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{4+}$ not only dopes the material but is predicted to give rise to a two-dimensional electronic structure featuring Dirac crossings. As such, averievite is an attractive platform for $S=1/2$ kagome physics with the potential for realizing novel electronic states.
Sentinels by the sea: keeping as an alternative tourism performance

ABSTRACTIn this essay, I examine how people in a preservation community perform and articulate performances of modern lighthouse keeping. I argue that keeping presents an alternative approach to metacultural agent performances and constructions of cultural memory. Keepers perform lighthouse tourism strategically in relation to heritage tourism to keep lighthouses and lighthouse culture alive, and in so doing, provide a window into tourism as performance, a critique of the heritage tourism frame, and a possibility for rethinking theorizations of authenticity, heritage, and tourism in performance studies. Keepers’ performances provide a model for theorizing the production of heritage and tourism performance.
Moving beyond “complete surgical resection” and “optimal”: Is low-volume residual disease another option for primary debulking surgery?

Objectives To examine the relationship between volume of residual disease and oncologic outcomes among patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian/fallopian tube/primary peritoneal carcinoma undergoing primary debulking surgery (PDS). For patients that did not undergo a complete surgical resection (CSR), a surrogate for volume of residual disease was used to assess oncologic outcomes. Methods Medical records of patients with FIGO stage IIIC and IV epithelial ovarian/fallopian tube/primary peritoneal carcinoma undergoing PDS between January 2010 and November 2014 were reviewed. Patient demographics, operative characteristics, residual disease, anatomic site of residual disease and outcome data were collected. Among patients who did not undergo CSR, but had ≤1 cm of residual disease, the number of anatomic sites (single location vs. multiple locations) with residual disease was utilized as a surrogate for volume of residual disease. The effect of residual disease volume on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated. Results Of 240 patients undergoing PDS, 94 (39.2%) had CSR, 41 (17.1%) had ≤1 cm of residual disease confined to a single anatomic location (≤1 cm-SL), 67 (27.9%) had ≤1 cm of residual disease in multiple anatomic locations (≤1 cm-ML) and 38 (15.8%) were sub-optimally (SO) debulked. Median PFS for CSR, ≤1 cm-SL, ≤1 cm-ML and SO-debulked were: 23, 19, 13 and 10 months, respectively (p Conclusions Following PDS, CSR and ≤ 1 cm-SL patients have the best prognosis. In contrast, despite being considered "optimally debulked", ≤1 cm-ML patients have survival similar to those SO-debulked.
TOWARD A TENSE-LOGIC-BASED MITIGATION OF THE FRAME PROBLEM

ABSTRACT This paper describes current research regarding a tense-logic-based programming language that may be useful in at least partially mitigating the frame problem. The paper briefly reviews the major significant aspects of the frame problem, describes several relevant techniques that have been proposed for dealing with the problem (focusing on the use of state variables and frame axioms) and describes the concept of applying tense-logic for resolution of the problem. It then presents several examples of the use of tense logic, and describes a general scheme for implementing the tense-logic programming system called Chronolog
Redescription of Anovia circumclusa (Gorham) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Noviini), with first description of the egg, larva, and pupa, and notes on adult intraspecific elytral pattern variation

Anovia circumclusa (Gorham), a neotropical lady beetle, recently was recorded in North America for the first time. Previously, only the adult form of this beneficial predator had been described. This paper provides a redescription of the adult and the first descriptions of the egg, larva, and pupa. Diagnostic characters for the genus and species are given, and intraspecific color variation in Anovia adults is discussed.
Compliance with tuberculosis therapy

The treatment experience in TB control can be a very rewarding time for both the patient and the provider. If the patient is made to feel that the provider cares for him as a person, a meaningful relationship can develop and can have a positive influence on the patient's behavior in taking medications and perhaps even in the direction of his life. Noncompliance with medications unfortunately has been a "given" in the TB control program. The successful program must be patient centered and include the following components: (1) fair and equal treatment of all patients, (2) patient involvement in the plan of care, (3) the most current patient treatment and services, including the availability of DOT for patients with TB infection and disease, and (4) rewards for patients and staff for positive behavior in the completion of treatment. Given current levels of staffing and other resources, some noncompliance will continue even in the best TB programs. Caring and knowledgeable staff members who support the patient-centered approach can make TB treatment a positive experience for both the patient and themselves.
Green light drives photosynthesis in mosses

Temperate forests are characterised by variable light quality (i.e. spectral composition of light) at or near the forest floor. These understory environments have a high concentration of green ligh...
Adversarial Attacks and Defenses Against Deep Neural Networks: A Survey

Abstract Deep learning has achieved great successes in various types of applications over recent years. On the other hand, it has been found that deep neural networks (DNNs) can be easily fooled by adversarial input samples. This vulnerability raises major concerns in security-sensitive environments. Therefore, research in attacking and defending DNNs with adversarial examples has drawn great attention. The goal of this paper is to review the types of adversarial attacks and defenses, describe the state-of-the-art methods for each group, and compare their results. In addition, we present some of the top-scored competition submissions for Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) in 2017, their solution models, and demonstrate their results. This adversary competition was organized by Google Brain for research scientists to come up with novel solutions that generate adversarial examples and also defend against them. Its contribution is significant on this era of machine learning and DNNs.
MT-DADMe-ImmA: A novel MTAP inhibitor with potential for the treatment of human head and neck and prostate carcinoma

603 The polyamine biosynthetic pathway is a therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer because cellular proliferation requires an increased level of polyamine biosynthesis. Methylthioadenosine (MTA) is a by-product of the reaction catalyzed by both spermidine and spermine synthases and the only means of metabolizing MTA in mammals is phosphorolysis by methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP). Inhibition of MTAP may cause feedback inhibition of polyamine synthesis. MethylthioDADMeImmucillinA (MT-DADMe-ImmA) is a chemically stable analogue for the proposed transition state of human MTAP and is a slow onset inhibitor with a dissociation constant of 86 pM. The effects of MT-DADMe-ImmA were examined in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines (FaDu & SCC25), prostate carcinoma (PC3) and normal human fibroblast (GM02037) cell lines. The effect of drug [MTA (20 μM) + MT-DADMe-ImmA (1 μM)] was examined for cell survival (WST-1 assay), clonogenic survival, morphological analysis with Hoechst staining, cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry and apoptotic assays. Control cells were treated with the inhibitor (MT-DADMe-ImmA) alone or the substrate (MTA) alone. In contrast to controls, MT-DAD-MeImmA + MTA induced a significant G2/M arrest (60% as compared to 8% in untreated cells), followed by apoptosis in FaDu cells (30% in drug-treated vs 6% in controls) within 4-6 days. Furthermore, treatment with MTAP inhibitors induced significant mitochondrial damage as confirmed by DiOC6 staining in these cells. In contrast to FaDu cells, SCC25 and PC3 cells underwent significant growth inhibition only after 8-16 days of treatment. To determine whether the inhibition was selective for malignant cells, normal human fibroblast cells (GM02037) were treated with MT-DADMe-ImmA for several weeks. No cytotoxicity was observed. Thus, MT-DADMe-ImmA is a novel transition-state inhbitor of MTAP for the treatment of human head and neck and prostate carcinoma.
Krt5 + /Krt15 + foregut basal progenitors give rise to cyclooxygenase-2-dependent tumours in response to gastric acid stress

The effective prevention of tumor initiation, especially for potentially inoperable tumors, will be beneficial to obtain an overall higher quality of our health and life. Hence, thorough understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of early tumor formation arising from identifiable cellular origins is required to develop efficient preventative and early treatment options for each tumor type. Here, using genetically engineered mouse models, we provide preclinical experimental evidence for a long-standing open question regarding the pathophysiological potential of a microenvironmental and physiological stressor in tumor development, gastric acid-mediated regional microscopic injury in foregut squamous epithelia. This study demonstrates the association of gastric acid stress with Cyclooxygenase-2-dependent tumor formation originating from tumor-competent Krt5+/Krt15+ foregut basal progenitor cells. Our findings suggest that clinical management of microenvironmental stressor-mediated microscopic injury may be important in delaying tumor initiation from foregut basal progenitor cells expressing pre-existing tumorigenic mutation(s) and genetic alteration(s).
Alterations in Retinal Oxygen Delivery, Metabolism, and Extraction Fraction During Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion in Rats

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to investigate alterations in retinal oxygen delivery, metabolism, and extraction fraction and elucidate their relationships in an experimental model of retinal ischemia. Methods We subjected 14 rats to permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion using clamp or suture ligation, or they underwent sham procedure. Within 30 minutes of the procedure, phosphorescence lifetime imaging was performed to measure retinal vascular oxygen tension and derive arterial and venous oxygen contents, and arteriovenous oxygen content difference. Fluorescent microsphere and red-free retinal imaging were performed to measure total retinal blood flow. Retinal oxygen delivery rate (DO2), oxygen metabolism rate (MO2), and oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) were calculated. Results DO2 and MO2 were lower in ligation and clamp groups compared to the sham group, and also lower in the ligation group compared to the clamp group (P ≤ 0.05). OEF was higher in the ligation group compared to clamp and sham groups (P ≤ 0.03). The relationships of MO2 and OEF with DO2 were mathematically modeled by exponential functions. With moderate DO2 reductions, OEF increased while MO2 minimally decreased. Under severe DO2 reductions, OEF reached a maximum value and subsequently MO2 decreased with DO2. Conclusions The findings improve knowledge of mechanisms that can maintain MO2 and may clarify the pathophysiology of retinal ischemic injury.
Low loss (Al)GaAs on an insulator waveguide platform

In this Letter, we demonstrate a low loss gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide on an insulator platform by heterogenous integration. The resonators on this platform exhibit record high quality factors up to 1.5×106, corresponding to a propagation loss ∼0.4 dB/cm. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the loss of integrated III–V semiconductor on insulator waveguides becomes comparable with that of the silicon-on-insulator waveguides. This Letter should have a significant impact on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and become an essential building block for the evolving nonlinear PICs and integrated quantum photonic systems in the future.
Securing Trust in Online Social Networks.

Trust in Online Social Networks (OSN) is a contentious topic. On one hand, there is an increasing reliance on them for trustworthy information and on the other, wariness to believe anything on it. Although the providers of OSNs have tried multiple ways to boost the trustworthiness of the information posted on their websites and weed out millions of fake accounts, the problem is largely unsolved and poses a formidable challenge. This paper examines the problem is some detail, discusses existing solutions to the problem using Machine Learning and other techniques and concludes by discussing some more ideas on enhancing the trustworthiness of the OSNs.
A perspective on challenges and opportunities in developing high entropy-ultra high temperature ceramics

Abstract The emergence of a new class of high entropy ultra-high temperature ceramics (HE-UHTCs) is expected to possess exceptionally superior mechanical, oxidation, and erosion resistance as compared to conventional UHTCs. The improvement in the properties of HE-UHTCs is attributed to the high configurational entropy of the multi-component system stabilized into a single-phase, but with little discussion on entropy contributions. This perspective article presents a viewpoint on the critical scientific question regarding the actual role entropy plays in stabilizing and enhancing the thermo-mechanical properties of a multi-component system. The high throughput first-principle calculations, which can provide the entropy formation ability (EFA) of thermodynamically stable HE-UHTCs, can prove to be valuable toolset to this puzzle. HE-UHTCs show enhancement in the mechanical properties much higher than the predicted rule of the mixture, which cannot traditionally be explained by a mere solid solution formation effect. Isothermal oxidation studies of HE-UHTCs limited to furnace testing state remarkable oxidation resistance which is attributed to the passivity of complex, layered structure, and composition of the oxide scale. However, whether all the constituents in the HE-UHTC system react simultaneously or preferential oxidation takes place needs to be addressed. To address all these issues, an integrated computational and experimental approach has been postulated towards designing a thermal protection system (TPS) for re-entry applications. Succeeding the approach will provide new opportunities in the compositional space of HE-UHTCs with tailored properties.
Effective Worksite-Based Disability Management Programs

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of effective worksite-based disability management programs. The basic principles of disability management are reviewed, emphasizing the direct involvement of the employer, the disabled worker, and other worksite representatives. The importance of “early intervention” as a key to effective disability management outcome is emphasized. The merits of the “therapeutic” worksite are discussed and contrasted with traditional clinical interventions and rehabilitation programs. Disability management is conceptualized at the clinical, organizational, and statutory levels. Each of these three levels is reviewed in terms of its relative importance to the injured worker, the employer, and the community.
Staying with the trouble of collegiality, professionalism and care: Fertilities in academia:

Collegiality and professionalism are touted as crucial in academic career success and security, and as required for participation in academic spaces. Conversely, care, essential to well-being and s...
Evaluation of tobacco screening and counseling in a large, midwestern pediatric emergency department.

Introduction The study objective was to assess tobacco screening and cessation counseling practices of pediatric emergency department (PED) and urgent care (UC) nurses and physicians, and factors associated with these practices. Secondarily, we assessed factors associated with performing tobacco smoke exposure reduction and tobacco cessation counseling. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 30 PED/UC nurses and physicians working at one large, urban, Midwestern children's hospital. Measures included current practices of performing the 5 As of tobacco counseling (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange), and attitude and practice factors that may influence practices. Results Overall, 90.0% of participants had not received recent tobacco counseling training, 73.3% were unaware of the 5 As, and 63.3% did not have a standardized, routine screening system to identify patients exposed to secondhand smoke. The majority of participants reported that they: asked about patients' secondhand smoke exposure status (70.0%) and parents' tobacco use status (53.3%), and advised parental smokers to not smoke around their child (70.0%) and to quit smoking (50%). One in five participants reported they assessed smokers' interest in quitting smoking, and 16.7% talked with smokers about cessation techniques and tactics; of these, 10% referred/enrolled smokers to the Tobacco Quitline or cessation program, and 6.7% made a quit plan or recommended nicotine replacement therapy medication. Conclusions Key findings identified are the need for professional tobacco counseling training, standardizing efforts during visits, and emphasizing pediatric patients' potential health benefits. This information will be used for developing a PED/ UC-based parental tobacco cessation and child tobacco smoke exposure reduction intervention.
‘Life should be based on affairs of the heart’. Reflections on congenital heart disease care at Green Lane hospital

Abstract The vast majority of New Zealanders who were diagnosed with significant congenital heart disease (CHD) from the 1950s found themselves sent to Green Lane Hospital for evaluation and potentially surgery. The Cardiothoracic centre at Green Lane in Auckland grew up adjacent to a large park around the base of Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill, one of Auckland's many volcanic maunga or cones. Since 1960, largely through immigration, New Zealand's population has doubled to a heady 5 million. The majority of our patients however are still those who were originally evaluated and operated here. We are fortunate to have access to their original documents, describing in detail symptoms and signs at presentation and thereafter how a diagnosis was determined, often with earlier ingenious techniques. The surgical reports detail the operative findings and techniques of repair and (hopefully) thereafter discharge letter and clinic reports describe gradual recovery and an unfolding life. Overall survival from earlier years has been excellent and as current clinicians we are aware each day of the legacy we have inherited from pioneering colleagues, patients and families. This paper reflects on the past of Green Lane Hospital and the experiences of staff and patients in those earlier days and how these influence our Service in the present. We recognise that understanding this history will better enable (and inspire) us to improve the care we deliver to new arrivals and to the cohorts surviving from earlier eras, many now well into middle age and beyond.
A system for multiplexed selection of aptamers with exquisite specificity without counter-selection

Aptamers have proven to be valuable tools for the detection of small molecules due to their remarkable ability to specifically discriminate between structurally similar molecules. Most aptamer selection efforts have relied on counter-selection to eliminate aptamers that exhibit unwanted cross-reactivity to interferents or structurally similar relatives to the target of interest. However, because the affinity and specificity characteristics of an aptamer library are fundamentally unknowable a priori, it is not possible to determine the optimal counter-selection parameters. As a result, counter-selection experiments require trial-and-error approaches that are inherently inefficient and may not result in aptamers with the best combination of affinity and specificity. In this work, we describe a high-throughput screening process for generating high-specificity aptamers to multiple targets in parallel, while also eliminating the need for counter-selection. We employ a platform based on a modified benchtop sequencer to conduct a massively-parallel aptamer screening process that enables the selection of highly-specific aptamers against multiple structurally similar molecules in a single experiment, without any counter-selection. As a demonstration, we have selected aptamers with high affinity and exquisite specificity for three structurally similar kynurenine metabolites that differ by a single hydroxyl group in a single selection experiment. This process can easily be adapted to other small-molecule analytes, and should greatly accelerate the development of aptamer reagents that achieve exquisite specificity for their target analytes.
Identifying UiO-67 Metal-Organic Framework Defects and Binding Sites through Ammonia Adsorption.

Ammonia is a widely used toxic industrial chemical that can cause severe respiratory ailments. Therefore, understanding and developing materials for its efficient capture and controlled release is necessary. One such class of materials is 3D porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with exceptional surface areas and robust structures, ideal for gas storage/transport applications. Herein, interactions between ammonia and UiO-67-X (X: H, NH2 , CH3 ) zirconium MOFs were studied under cryogenic, ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions using temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPD-MS) and in-situ temperature-programmed infrared (TP-IR) spectroscopy. Ammonia was observed to interact with μ3 -OH groups present on the secondary building unit of UiO-67-X MOFs via hydrogen bonding. TP-IR studies revealed that under cryogenic UHV conditions, UiO-67-X MOFs are stable towards ammonia sorption. Interestingly, an increase in the intensity of the C-H stretching mode of the MOF linkers was detected upon ammonia exposure, attributed to NH-π interactions with linkers. These same binding interactions were observed in grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Based on TPD-MS, binding strength of ammonia to three MOFs was determined to be approximately 60 kJ mol-1 , suggesting physisorption of ammonia to UiO-67-X. In addition, missing linker defect sites, consisting of H2 O coordinated to Zr4+ sites, were detected through the formation of nNH3 ⋅H2 O clusters, characterized through in-situ IR spectroscopy. Structures consistent with these assignments were identified through density functional theory calculations. Tracking these bands through adsorption on thermally activated MOFs gave insight into the dehydroxylation process of UiO-67 MOFs. This highlights an advantage of using NH3 for the structural analysis of MOFs and developing an understanding of interactions between ammonia and UiO-67-X zirconium MOFs, while also providing directions for the development of stable materials for efficient toxic gas sorption.
Extending Entity-Relationship Models with Higher-Order Operators

The concept of Generalized Quantifier (GQ) was introduced to query languages in [9] and, independently, in [10]. The present paper shows how GQs can be used in Conceptual Modeling, specifically how they can be incorporated into Entity-Relationship diagrams ([4]) to increase their expressive power. A language to express E-R models is defined and given formal semantics. It is them shown how GQs can be easily added to this framework. Several GQs that have natural, intuitive interpretations in the context of conceptual modeling are defined; their use is shown through examples.
The necessity of syntactic parsing for semantic role labeling

We provide an experimental study of the role of syntactic parsing in semantic role labeling. Our conclusions demonstrate that syntactic parse information is clearly most relevant in the very first stage - the pruning stage. In addition, the quality of the pruning stage cannot be determined solely based on its recall and precision. Instead it depends on the characteristics of the output candidates that make downstream problems easier or harder. Motivated by this observation, we suggest an effective and simple approach of combining different semantic role labeling systems through joint inference, which significantly improves the performance.
Enzyme-catalyzed free radical reactions with nicotinamide-adenine nucleotides: I. Lactate dehydrogenase-catalyzed chain oxidation of bound NADH by superoxide radicals

The radiation-induced oxidation of NADH by Superoxide radicals proceeds in the presence of lactate dehydrogenase by a chain mechanism. The reaction is initiated by O2− radicals, and propagated by O2. The chain length is a function of [NADH]/[lactate dehydrogenase], the concentration of O2, the dose rate, and pH. The chain reaction can be inhibited by addition of ascorbic acid.
Phrenic Nerve Injury Following Cardiac Surgery, with Emphasis on the Role of Topical Hypothermia

Phrenic nerve dysfunction that develops after cardiac surgery has generally been attributed to the topical hypothermia used for myocardial preservation and protection. Although studies relying on postoperative radiographic findings to establish the diagnosis reveal an incidence as high as 73%, investigations employing electrophysiological assessment indicate a 10% incidence. Most patients who sustain phrenic injury during cardiac surgery do not suffer major respiratory morbidity; those who do generally recover. In addition to the role of topical hypothermia as a major etiological factor, physical trauma or compromise of the vascular supply to the phrenic nerve and diaphragm may also be important factors. Although a number of measures have been advocated to lower the incidence of the problem, none have been evaluated in a prospective, randomized study using electrophysiological techniques. This review focuses on the incidence, underlying mechanisms, and clinical and electrophysiological recognition of phre...
A Comparison of Reputation, Certification, Warranties, and Information Disclosure as Remedies for Information Asymmetries: Lessons from the On-Line Comic Book Market

Signaling strategies which sellers of high quality securities, goods, or services employ to differentiate their securities or products from those of lower quality include: (1) developing a reputation for high quality, (2) certification by a respected third party (e.g., underwriters, bond rating agencies, and auditors, for securities, and testing laboratories for goods), (3) warranties (for goods), and (4) information disclosure (such as financial statements for securities and specifications and test results for goods). These signaling strategies are compared using data from the online comic book auction market. This market has a number of important advantages: (1) the information asymmetry is substantial, (2) good measures of reputation are available, and (3) there are many sellers employing different combinations of the four strategies. Of the four strategies, we find certification by a respected third party sends the strongest signal. On average certified comics sell for over 50% more than otherwise equivalent uncertified comics. Moreover it appears that part of this price premium is due to risk reduction, i.e., not all is due to differences in the expected quality of certified and uncertified books. We find that both how positive or negative the seller's reputation is and how well established that reputation is significantly impact the price though reputation is less important than certification. We find no evidence that warranties in the form of money-back guarantees impact the price. Apparently buyers reason that sellers of truly high quality books should seek certification so discount the presence of both warranties and positive reputations. Virtually all sellers disclose information in the form of scans and failure to do so lowers the price a modest amount. Since for a single sale, the seller's reputation is exogenous while the other three strategies are endogenous, we explore how a seller's strategy choices depend on her reputation.
The Effects of Dietary Fiber Feeding on Cholesterol Metabolism in Rats

The flux through the sterol biosynthetic pathway was studied in hepatocytes isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats fed diets containing one of four fiber sources: cellulose, pectin, oat bran and wheat bran. Sterol synthesis measured by the incorporation of tritiated water or [2-14C]mevalonic acid was not inhibited in hepatocytes isolated from animals fed diets containing cellulose, pectin, oat bran or wheat bran when compared to animals fed a fiber-free diet. Based on these results, it is concluded that the intake of fiber has no inhibitory effect on endogenous sterol synthesis. In fact, in comparison to that in fiber-free controls, sterol synthesis was markedly elevated in pectin- and wheat bran-fed animals. In the case of the pectin-treated animals, the higher synthetic rate corresponded to an increase in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity.
Analytical and numerical accuracy analysis of ADI-FDTD methods

A dispersion analysis of ADI-FDTD (alternating-direction implicit finite-difference time-domain) and higher order ADI-FDTD methods is presented. Both analytical and numerical dispersion analysis are performed to investigate the accuracy related to the ADI-FDTD schemes. Based on our analysis, a guideline for choosing an appropriate time step size for practical ADI-FDTD applications is provided.
Increasing Urban Students' Engagement with School: Toward the Expeditionary Learning Model.

This paper documents the findings of a case study of one K-10 urban expeditionary learning (EL) school. Drawing on theoretical perspectives consistent with the sociocultural theory, data were collected from a variety of sources that included a survey, interviews, field notes from classroom observations and other school activities. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data. The study revealed that expeditionary learning in York school was successful because of the school culture, structure, teachers’ commitment, and community engagement. This implies that urban school reform hinges on choosing the right reform model, committed teachers and an engaging curriculum.
States of Credit: Size, Power, and the Development of European Polities. By David Stasavage. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011. Pp. xiv, 192. $39.95.)

The core argument of this fascinating study is that city‐states in the late medieval and early modern periods typically had readier access to credit than did territorial states and that their relat...
Pseudo-holonomic behavior of planar space robots

The angular momentum of a free-flying space robot is a conserved quantity. This conservation law acts as a nonholonomic constraint and manifests itself when cyclic motion of the joints of the space robot produces a change in the orientation of the whole system. Consequently closed trajectories in the joint space of the robot usually fail to produce closed trajectories in the workspace. In this paper the authors first show that there exist some closed paths that are "holonomic loops" in the sense that the nonholonomic space robot exhibits holonomic behavior globally on these trajectories. When the joints of the space robot move along these trajectories, the end-effector traces a closed curve in the workspace. In this paper, the authors present a simple method to plan such trajectories that produce repeatable motion of the space robot. >
Integrated software: the use of the Asyst programming environment in science and engineering

The Asyst programming environment for the IBM PC, which greatly simplifies software development for both data acquisition and data analysis, is described. Asyst communicates with numerous data acquisition and GPIB cards, making data acquisition and control of laboratory instruments a straightforward and easy task. Asyst contains a wide variety of analytical routines for data manipulation and theoretical modeling. Data acquisition, graphics, and advanced mathematical routines are integrated into a single programming environment to facilitate development of user-specific software. An automatic code generator has been added to the latest available version of Asyst to provide a novice user with easy access to advanced acquisition, graphics, and analysis routines. A menu generator allows easy development of menu-driven programs. A language interface can be used to incorporate routines written in other languages directly into Asyst programs. >