cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Controlling nanoflake motion using stiffness gradients on hexagonal boron nitride

Durotaxis has been emerging as a novel technique for manipulating directional motion of nanoscale particles. Two-dimensional materials with low surface friction, such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), are well-suited to serve as a platform for solid–solid transportations or manipulations. Here we employ molecular dynamics simulations to explore the feasibility of utilizing a stiffness gradient on a large hBN substrate to control the motion of a small hBN or graphene nanoflake on it. Our attempts to systematically investigate the mechanism of durotaxis-induced transportation are centered on the fundamental driving mechanism of the motion and the quantitative effect of significant parameters such as stiffness gradient, substrate temperature, and material of the nanoflake on its motion. Simulation results have demonstrated that, while the stiffness gradient plays a pivotal role in the evolution of the motion of the nanoflake on the substrate surface, the temperature of the substrate greatly influences the behavior of the nanoflake as well. There is no significant difference in directional motion between hBN and graphene nanoflakes on the hBN substrate. An interesting relation between the effective driving force and the stiffness gradient has been quantitatively captured by employing steered molecular dynamics. These findings will provide fundamental insights into the motion of nanodevices on a solid surface due to durotaxis, and will offer a novel view for manipulating directional motion of nanoscale particles on a solid surface.
Disambiguating Author Names: Part Two

ABSTRACTAuthor identity is a challenging problem for automation systems working with bibliographic resources. ORCID author identifiers are perceived as a simple and effective way to address this problem, but in order to accomplish this, ORCID identifiers need widespread adoption by researchers, organizations, and bibliographic automation systems. This column, the second of two, surveys how some libraries, publishers, and other research organizations are using ORCID identifiers to address the problem of author identity across different systems and workflows.
A cell culture system and production of an infectious clone of Rhopalosiphum padi virus (Dicistroviridae)

Rhopalosiphum padi virus (RhPV) was first isolated from the bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi. RhPV, an icosahedral virus, belongs to the family Dicistroviridae. It has a 10 kb positive-sense RNA genome, with two viral open reading frames (ORFs). We have identified two cell lines, Z10-2 and DMII derived from the homopterans, Homalodisca coagulata and Dalbulus maidis that are permissive for RhPV. Infection, viral replication and production of virions was confirmed by northern blot hybridization, RT-PCR, western blot analysis and immunoelectron microscopy. A cell culture system that allows replication of the virus is crucial for further study of the biology of RhPV. The long term goal of this project is to produce aphid resistant transgenic plants that express RhPV. Acquisition of an infectious clone of RhPV is of primary importance for development of such an aphid resistance technology. A full-length cDNA clone of RhPV was constructed using overlapping reverse transcription PGR products. RNA transcribed from the full-length cDNA clone was infectious upon transfection into Z10-2 and DMII cells, resulting in production of progeny virus phenotypically indistinguishable from the parent virus. The in vitro transcript caused the same cytopathic effects as those caused by transfection of cells with the viral RNA. The virus-like particles (VLPs) purified from the cells transacted with the full-length transcript were infectious to Z10-2 cells and also to R. padi. The infectious cDNA clone of RhPV, together with the cell culture system, will provide valuable experimental tools for the study of replication and pathogenesis of RhPV. The recombinant baculovirus AcRhPV6, which contains the cDNA of RhPV under the control of the polyhedrin promoter, was constructed using the Bac-to-Bac baculovirus
Heart Rate Recovery: Coming Back Full-Circle to the Baroreceptor Reflex.

In the current issue of Circulation Research , McCrory et al1 report on the association of heart rate recovery after simple orthostatic challenge—otherwise known as standing up—with all-cause mortality. The authors measured heart rate changes in the first 110 seconds after standing up in 4475 participants of an Irish population–based, cohort study. Immediately after standing, heart rate, as expected, increased but in most subjects started to fall toward resting levels within 10 seconds. The rate of decline between 10 and 20 seconds post orthostatic challenge—or heart rate recovery (HRR10–20)—was lower in older subjects and in subjects with a history of vascular disease. It was also an independent predictor of 4-year mortality: the lower the HRR10–20, the greater the mortality. Article, see p 666 To put these findings in perspective, we go back 28 years, when Schwartz et al2 published a report on a series of experiments that linked baroreceptor function with cardiac response to acute stress. The investigators produced an anterior myocardial infarction (MI) in 301 dogs and …
Q-Learning-Based Vulnerability Analysis of Smart Grid Against Sequential Topology Attacks

Recent studies on sequential attack schemes revealed new smart grid vulnerability that can be exploited by attacks on the network topology. Traditional power systems contingency analysis needs to be expanded to handle the complex risk of cyber-physical attacks. To analyze the transmission grid vulnerability under sequential topology attacks, this paper proposes a Q-learning-based approach to identify critical attack sequences with consideration of physical system behaviors. A realistic power flow cascading outage model is used to simulate the system behavior, where attacker can use the Q-learning to improve the damage of sequential topology attack toward system failures with the least attack efforts. Case studies based on three IEEE test systems have demonstrated the learning ability and effectiveness of Q-learning-based vulnerability analysis.
Energy efficient cluster-based target tracking strategy

This paper proposes a cluster-based target tracking strategy for one moving object using wireless sensor networks. The sensor field is organized in 3 hierarchal levels. 1-bit message is sent when a node detects the target. Otherwise the node stays silent. Since in wireless sensor network nodes have limited computational resources, limited storage resources, and limited battery, the code for predicting the target position should be simple, and fast to execute. The algorithm proposed is simple, fast, and utilizes all available detection data for estimating the location of the target while conserving energy. This has the potential of increasing the network life time. Simulation results show that the strategy saves energy while estimating the location of the target with an acceptable error margin.
A Fixed-Point Neural Network Architecture for Speech Applications on Resource Constrained Hardware

Speech recognition and keyword detection are becoming increasingly popular applications for mobile systems. These applications have large memory and compute resource requirements, making their implementation on a mobile device quite challenging. In this paper, we design low cost neural network architectures for keyword detection and speech recognition. Wepresent techniques to reduce memory requirement by scaling down the precision of weight and biases without compromising on the detection/recognition performance. Experiments conducted on the Resource Management (RM) database show that for the keyword detection neural network, representing the weights by 5 bits results in a 6 fold reduction in memory compared to a floating point implementation with very little loss in performance. Similarly, for the speech recognition neural network, representing the weights by 6 bits results in a 5 fold reduction in memory while maintaining an error rate similar to a floating point implementation. Preliminary results in 40nm TSMC technology show that the networks have fairly small power consumption: 11.12mW for the keyword detection network and 51.96mW for the speech recognition network, making these designs suitable for mobile devices.
Techniques of Sclerotherapy: A Method to Distend Leg Veins with the Patient in a Horizontal Position Prior to Needle Insertion:

Objective:To demonstrate the efficacy of the use of a large contoured thigh cuff to distend varicose veins, with the patient in a horizontal position, prior to needle insertion for sclerotherapy.Design:Prospective study in varicose vein patients treated by injection-compression sclerotherapy.Setting:Outpatient Surgery Clinic, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.Patients:Patients presenting with varicose veins on the lower thigh and below.Interventions:Patients underwent injection-compression sclerotherapy. Needles insertion was done with the patient in a horizontal position after veins were distended using a large contoured thigh cuff.Main outcome measures:Successful vein distension and needle insertion.Results:Ninety-five percent of patients had adequate vein distension for needle insertion.Conclusion:Vein distension, prior to needle insertion for sclerotherapy can be achieved by using a large contoured thigh cuff.
Retaliatory Teacher Transfer or Meeting a District Need

After being involuntarily transferred from a suburban middle school near his home to an urban school facing many challenges, this case describes a series of events that led to a veteran teacher’s termination. Upon claiming he was wrongfully terminated, the case narrative ends just prior to the teacher’s hearing before the board of education, where the quality of two principals’ documentation serves as key evidence for both parties.
Minimax Controllers for LTI Plants Under l 1 -Bounded Disturbances

Abstract A currently popular controller design technique for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems is H ∞ -optimization, which involves the minimization of the H ∞ -norm of a certain transfer function matrix. When formulated in the time domain, using state space description, this optimum design problem can be shown to be equivalent to a linear-quadratic differential game, and this formulation provides a convenient set-up for also studying finite-horizon versions of the original infinite-horizon problem. In this differential game, the minimizer is the controller and the maximizer is the unknown disturbance which is subject to an L 2 energy constraint. The performance of interest is the upper value of the differential game, with the controller achieving that value called the minimax controller. In this paper, we formulate such a differential game problem which arises in the context of disturbance rejection, but in the discrete time and under l 1 -bounded disturbances. We study the derivation of the minimax controller associated with the game, as well as the characterization of the worst-case disturbance. We show, in the context of a two-stage design problem, that the saddle point of the game involves a random disturbance, unless the initial state exceeds a certain threshold. Another feature of the solution is that the minimax controller is generally not unique, with the linear feedback controller being outperformed by nonlinear and/or memory controllers, locally or regionally.
Planktivory by bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) on Leptodora kindti in a small North American lake

Leptodora kindti (Crustacea: Cladocera) is a large species of zooplankton (2–18 mm length) that is exceptionally transparent. This transparency is believed to be a means by which it successfully coexists in lakes with planktivorous fishes. We investigated the gut remains of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) that had been feeding on L. kindti and Daphnia (D. galeata and D. retrocurva) in the wild (Lake Zurich, Illinois) and found that bluegill readily preyed on L. kindti as small as 3–5 mm length, and strongly selected L. kindti over Daphnia galeata and Daphnia retrocurva. The large compound eye of L. kindti is one half to one complete order of magnitude larger than Daphnia's eye, consistent with the hypothesis that eye area is an important visual cue for fishes. Moreover, the slope of the relationship between eye area and body length is an order of magnitude shallower in L. kindti than Daphnia, suggesting that eye area has been under stronger negative selection in L. kindti. Results suggest that L. kindti's large and dark eye compromises the transparent nature of its body.
Conclusions and Policy Implications

To you that want violence, this ended in shit; for the right to life, peace, and work. Ustedes que quieren violencia y esto acabo carajo; por el derecho a la vida a la paz y el trabajo. – ATCC leader's diary (1990s) This book brings a new perspective to civilian agency and civilian responses to the dangers and uncertainty of armed conflict. I focus on the civilians’ collective action problem – opposite that of armed group recruitment – of how to keep from participating in the conflict and avoid the tyranny of the relatively fewer combatants and militant extremists. It is a puzzle that some communities apparently solved this collective action problem and were able to protect themselves while others did not. This book addresses this puzzle by taking civilian institutions seriously as an explanation for violence. In doing so, it both contrasts with and complements state-based, structural explanations of civil wars and refines our understanding of the production of violence. The bottom-up approach shows that collective action for peace, and not just for violence, is possible even in settings of armed conflict. This is more than wishful thinking. Social organizations and cohesion function as an important buffer between communities and armed actors, enabling strategies to limit the fighting to only the combatants and the aggrieved. The nonviolent strategies that communities use to avoid getting caught in the crossfire are diverse and work because they are adapted to different threats of violence. However, these strategies can be difficult to observe because civilian autonomy is often a hidden behavior in rural, isolated areas. It does not always get reported as “news” – it is the dog that did not bark. This is in part because autonomy is not easy to define or identify when it occurs. The theory of civilian autonomy I developed therefore first involved the conceptual ground clearing of supplying a definition of autonomy in civil wars. The theory then posits that armed groups’ motivations and abilities to use violence vary based on the ability of civilians to impose costs on them and avoid entanglements with them, as captured by levels of civilian organization. The challenge thus became analyzing whether armed groups would have used more violence if not for civilian organizations.
Impacts of Federally Funded State Obesity Programs on Adult Obesity Prevalence in the United States, 1998-2010:

Objectives:From 2000 to 2010, the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded 37 state health departments to address...
Case 15: Postoperative Upper Airway Obstruction

A 16-year-old boy (80 kg) is scheduled for outpatient arthroscopy of his left knee. He is classified as an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I (ASA 1) and has no significant medical history. He takes no medication or illicit drugs. He is a high school wrestling champion. In the preoperative area, an intravenous (IV) infusion is started and midazolam, 1 mg, is given as a premedicant. In the operating room, his vital signs are heart rate 64 regular, blood pressure (BP) 130/70, respiratory rate (RR) 12; his chest is clear. After preoxygenation, anesthesia is induced with propofol, 150 mg, and a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is inserted atraumatically. The surgical procedure is uneventful. On awakening from the anesthetic, the patient coughs violently and develops laryngospasm. Oxygen saturation falls below 80 %. Positive pressure mask ventilation with 100 % oxygen breaks the laryngospasm after a few minutes, but a few minutes after that, he is unable to get sufficient air into his lungs. Vital signs are normal, but the oxygen saturation is 92 % on 100 % FIO2 via a Jackson Rees modification of the Ayres T-piece (see Chap. 14). Examination of the chest reveals bilateral crepitations all over his lung fields, and now he is coughing up pink frothy sputum.
Chapter 14 The Relationship Between Pantomime Expression and Recognition in Aphasia: The Search for Causes

Impairments in pantomime expression and pantomime recognition commonly occur as part of the syndrome of aphasia. Deficits in pantomime expression and recognition are highly correlated with each other and with the verbal symptoms of aphasia. To understand the interrelationships among these deficits, it is necessary to focus on the causes of pantomimic deficits. The search for these causes has been the goal of much research for over 25 years. In the first part of the chapter, we review the background and descriptions of current theories of the causes of pantomimic deficits. In the second part, we critically review some of the limitations of the research methods used in testing causal theories. and in the third part, we present a description of causal modeling, a strategy for the testing of causal theories. Seven different causal models hypothesized to explain deficits in both pantomime expression and recognition are presented and tested using path analysis, a type of causal modeling.
Isolation and Kinetic Analyses of Bacterial Strains Which Desulfurize Model Compounds Characteristic of Coal

Gram positive, aerobic, non-acid fast, non-endospore forming, largely monomorphic rods which convert dibenzothiophene (DBT) or dibenzosulfone (DBTO2) to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (OH-BP) were isolated from soil samples. The identity of the product has been established by fluorometry, colorimetry, UV analysis, HPLC, and mass spectrometry. The desulfurization activity of bacteria (presumptively identified as Rhodococcus erythropolis and having a stable DbtS+ phenotype) has been characterized. With DBTO2 as a sole sulfur source, strain N1-36 has a maximum specific growth rate (μmax) of 0.235 hr−1 (corresponding to a minimum generation time 2.95 hours). The saturation constant (Ks) for DBTO2 was estimated as 0.39 μM; the yield (Yx/s) is 9 mg of biomass / μM of DBTO2. OH-BP is not a carbon source for the isolates nor is the carbon frame of OH-BP altered by the organisms. Batch and fed-batch cultures created with five percent inocula of N1-36 into media having DBT or DBTO2 as sole sulfur source have an exponential growth phase which lasts for approximately 40 hours; DBT (or DBTO2) rapidly disappears, and OH-BP accumulates to concentrations of 40 μM in cultures with DBT and 70 μM with DBTO2. The DbtS+ phenotype is inducible by DBT or DBTO2 and is repressed by SO4=. The desulfurization substrates, DBT and DBTO2, at concentrations up to 200 μM do not inhibit growth whereas the product, OH-BP, inhibits growth at 50 μM. Preliminary data show that the desulfurization activity occur on the surface of N1-36 cells.
To Myelinate or Not to Myelinate

Myelinated and non-myelinated axons co-exist in the brain. What determines whether an axon should be myelinated or not? Rushton proposed that among myelinated and non-myelinated alternatives with the same conduction velocity (CV), a thinner fiber is chosen due to its smaller volume cost. If the required CV is below a critical value, a non-myelinated axon is thinner and used. Otherwise, a myelinated axon should be used. This argument leads to the prediction of a critical axon diameter, which segregates myelinated and non-myelinated axons. We show that minimizing axonal cost does not necessarily lead to a critical diameter. By considering two optimization scenarios, we show that the appearance of an axon diameter spectrum depends on the relative unit volume cost between a myelinated and a non-myelinated axon. Both scenarios suggest that if unit volume cost of a myelinated axon were significantly less than that of a non-myelinated axon, there would be a gap between the distributions of non-myelinated and myelinated axon diameters. Otherwise, there would be an overlap between the distributions of non-myelinated and myelinated axon diameters. In addition, the second optimization scenario predicts a gap in the CV spectrum. By comparing our predictions with data from the corpus callosum, which shows overlap of the diameter distributions, we conclude that myelinated axons are costlier than non-myelinated ones. Prediction of a gap in the CV spectrum needs to be tested experimentally.
Interfaces for control components

Modern software engineering heavily relies on clearly specified interfaces for separation of concerns among designers implementing components and programmers using those components. The need for interfaces is evident for assembling complex systems from components, but more so in control applications where the components are designed by control engineers using mathematical modeling tools and used by software executing on digital computers. However, the notion of an interface for a control component must incorporate some information about timing, and standard programming languages do not provide a way of capturing such resource requirements.
The College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test: An Overview of the Mathematical Portion.

greater audience of mathematics teachers and others interested in mathematics edu cation. Topics discussed will be the origin and purpose of the SAT, the mathematical content of the SAT, test development and assembly procedures, tryout of new ques tions, score trends, curricular consid erations, and special instruction to improve SAT scores. In addition, thirty sample questions are provided in the Appendix to illustrate the present test. The process of college admission has tra ditionally relied on objective measures of aptitude and achievement, high school grades, recommendations, and personal contact. The Admissions Testing Program (ATP) of the College Board consists of the SAT, the Test of Standard Written English, the Achievement Tests, and the Student Descriptive Questionnaire. The SAT mea sures developed verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities, and fifteen subject mat ter Achievement Tests are offered to assess the skills students have developed in partic ular subjects. The Student Descriptive Questionnaire, which students answer when registering for the tests, allows stu dents to provide colleges with information concerning their strengths, weaknesses, needs, and career plans. Together, the test scores and descriptive information assist students and institutions in making reason able educational decisions.
Child maltreatment and body mass index over time: The roles of social support and stress responses

An unhealthy body mass index (BMI) trajectory can exacerbate the burdens associated with child maltreatment. However, we have yet to explain why the relationship between maltreatment and BMI trajectories exists and what allows individuals to attain healthy BMI trajectories despite adversity. Guided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, we evaluated (1) if peer friendship and adult mentors moderate, and (2) if impulsivity and depressive symptoms mediate, the relationship between maltreatment experiences and average excess BMI. We used data from four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 17,696), following adolescents from ages 13-21 (Wave I) to 24-31 years (Wave IV). We did not find evidence of significant moderation or mediation of the maltreatment experience to average excess BMI relationship. However, models did demonstrate a relationship between peer friendship quality and average excess BMI, such that higher quality protected against higher average excess BMI (B = -0.073, s.e. = 0.02, p < 0.001). Age of maltreatment onset was also associated with average excess BMI, such that maltreatment onset in adolescence was associated with a higher average excess BMI (B = 0.275-0.284, s.e. = 0.11, p = 0.01). Although we found no evidence of moderation by social support or mediation by stress responses of the relationship between maltreatment experiences and average excess BMI, peer friendship appears to protect against higher average excess BMI from adolescence to young adulthood for all adolescents. Future public health interventions should consider how to leverage friendship in obesity prevention efforts.
Freedom isn’t always free: immunoglobulin free light chains promote renal fibrosis

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a relatively common hematologic malignancy, and up to half of patients with MM present with renal dysfunction at the time of diagnosis. MM-associated renal injury has been linked to an excess level of monoclonal immunoglobulin free light chains (FLCs) in the circulation; however, it is not clear how these FLCs drive renal pathology. In this issue of the JCI, Ying et al. unravel a novel mechanism by which FLCs mediate renal injury in MM by inducing fibrotic and inflammatory pathways in the kidney. Specifically, FLC-mediated production of H2O2 was shown to activate JAK2/STAT1 signaling, increase production of IL-1β via induction of capsase-1, and promote activation of TGF-β via αvβ6 integrin. Moreover, the authors identified a tryptophan residue within a specific monoclonal FLC that was required for optimal H2O2 production and downstream signaling. A better understanding of the drivers of MM-associated renal injury has potential for the identification of promising therapeutic targets.
Structural Destabilization of Azurin by Imidazolium Chloride Ionic Liquids in Aqueous Solution.

Alkyl imidazolium chloride ionic liquids (ILs) have been used for numerous biochemical applications. Their hydrophobicity can be tuned by changing the alkyl chain length, and longer-chain ILs can f...
Towards Fluid Machine Intelligence: Can We Make a Gifted AI?

Most applications of machine intelligence have focused on demonstrating crystallized intelligence. Crystallized intelligence relies on accessing problem-specific knowledge, skills and experience stored in long term memory. In this paper, we challenge the AI community to design AIs to completely take tests of fluid intelligence which assess the ability to solve novel problems using problem-independent solving skills. Tests of fluid intelligence such as the NNAT are used extensively by schools to determine entry into gifted education programs. We explain the differences between crystallized and fluid intelligence, the importance and capabilities of machines demonstrating fluid intelligence and pose several challenges to the AI community, including that a machine taking such a test would be considered gifted by school districts in the state of California. Importantly, we show existing work on seemingly related fields such as transfer, zero-shot, life-long and meta learning (in their current form) are not directly capable of demonstrating fluid intelligence but instead are task-transductive mechanisms.
Suppression of Void Nucleation in High-Purity Aluminum via Dynamic Recrystallization

The process of ductile fracture in metals often begins with void nucleation at second-phase particles and inclusions. Previous studies of rupture in high-purity face-centered-cubic metals, primarily aluminum (Al), concluded that second-phase particles are necessary for cavitation. A recent study of tantalum (Ta), a body-centered-cubic metal, demonstrated that voids nucleate readily at deformation-induced dislocation boundaries. These same features form in Al during plastic deformation. This study investigates why void nucleation was not previously observed at dislocation boundaries in Al. We demonstrate that void nucleation is impeded in Al by room-temperature dynamic recrystallization (DRX), which erases these boundaries before voids can nucleate at them. If dislocation cells reform after DRX and before specimen separation by necking, voids nucleation is observed. These results indicate that dislocation substructures likely plays an important role in ductile rupture.
Analytic Philosophy Of Film: (Contrasted With Continental Film Theory)

This chapter contrasts the broadly empirical, pluralist, and construction device–oriented approaches to film study of analytic philosophy of film with the broadly socially hermeneutic, artistically and politically avant-gardist stances of Continental film theory. Analytic philosophy of film has tended to focus on classic Hollywood films and continuity editing, in order to explore the achievements of these films as art, while Continental film theory frequently finds such films to be regressive and technically uninteresting. I explore in detail the work of such analytically oriented film scholars as Cavell, Danto, Walton, Carroll, Wilson, Bordwell, Plantinga, and Wartenberg, among others, against the background of this broad divergence in styles of work. I conclude by suggesting possibilities of rapprochement between these two styles, possibilities that embrace both the insights of analytic philosophers concerning specific devices and effects of film construction and the insights of Continental theorists concerning human subject formation and human social, political, and artistic interests.
PROBABILISTIC METHODS OF ASSESSING RISK IN COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

ABSTRACT The licensing of nuclear power plants requires an analysis of environmental and societal impacts of alternative energy sources, sites, plant designs and the alternative of not constructing an electrical power plant at all. The evaluation of the flow of costs and benefits during a five to seven year construction period plus a thirty to forty year plant life requires forecasts to be prepared whose uncertainty of realization is itself a source of risk to societal values. This paper discusses the nature of risk and uncertainty and explores different forecasting methodologies and their application to the future supply and demand of alternative sources of energies and their diversity of impacts on public interests at the local, regional and national levels.
Early Life Poly-Victimization and Differential Development of Anxiety as Risk Factors for the Continuity of Substance Dependence in Adulthood.

Background: Abuse of psychoactive substances may lead to physical and/or physiological dependence on said substances. While a great deal of research has focused on risk factors predicting onset, th...
Phytosanitary irradiation: Does modified atmosphere packaging or controlled atmosphere storage creating a low oxygen environment threaten treatment efficacy?

Abstract Phytosanitary irradiation treatment is used to control insects in fresh commodities so that the commodities can be safely exported to pest-free areas. The goal of phytosanitary irradiation is to prevent reproduction. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere (CA) storage creating a low oxygen environment are used to preserve the quality of fruits and vegetables. Low oxygen is known to be radioprotective in insects and other organisms. This raises the question of whether MAP or CA may reduce the efficacy of phytosanitary irradiation treatments. IPPC regulations prohibit the application of phytosanitary irradiation for fruits and vegetables under modified atmospheres. Studies used to support this restriction have typically used unrealistic conditions, particularly with the use of severe hypoxia or anoxia and short duration exposures after irradiation (≤2 h hold time under low oxygen). Results from these studies have been extrapolated to suggest phytosanitary irradiation may be compromised by MAP or CA. Although low oxygen radioprotection in insects has been demonstrated for various biological parameters such as adult emergence, flight ability, mating success, and fertility, to date no studies have shown that irradiation of insects at approved doses under modified atmospheres results in treatment failure, i.e., allows successful reproduction. Recent studies using commercially relevant conditions show that MAP may improve control due to the toxic effect of extended exposures to low O2 and high CO2 to insects. Regulatory restrictions on the use of MAP and CA during irradiation treatment should be reviewed and reconsidered. In the absence of data showing treatment failure due to modified atmospheres, current regulatory restrictions are not scientifically justified.
Silicon Photonics for Microwave Applications: Programmable Filters and Beamformers

The past few decades have shown great advancements in wireless communication systems; however, today's explosive increase in data traffic demands even further improvement in such systems toward next-generation platforms. Current 4G mobile systems provide stationary users with data speeds up to 1 Gbit/s and high-mobility users with speeds up to 100 Mbit/s for mobile online access and multimedia applications such as TV streaming, video conferencing, navigation, high-end gaming, high-definition video streaming, and high-performance imaging [1].
Focused ultrasound blood brain barrier opening mediated delivery of MRI-visible albumin nanoclusters to the rat brain for localized drug delivery with temporal control

There is an ongoing need for noninvasive tools to manipulate brain activity with molecular, spatial and temporal specificity. Here we have investigated the use of MRI-visible, albumin-based nanoclusters for noninvasive, localized and temporally specific drug delivery to the rat brain. We demonstrated that IV injected nanoclusters could be deposited into target brain regions via focused ultrasound facilitated blood brain barrier opening. We showed that nanocluster location could be confirmed in vivo with MRI. Additionally, following confirmation of nanocluster delivery, release of the nanocluster payload into brain tissue can be triggered by a second focused ultrasound treatment performed without circulating microbubbles. Release of glutamate from nanoclusters in vivo caused enhanced c-Fos expression, indicating that the loading capacity of the nanoclusters is sufficient to induce neuronal activation. This novel technique for noninvasive stereotactic drug delivery to the brain with temporal specificity could provide a new way to study brain circuits in vivo preclinically with high relevance for clinical translation.
Dynamic Predictive Coding with Hypernetworks

The original predictive coding model of Rao & Ballard (1999) focused on spatial prediction to explain spatial receptive fields and contextual effects in the visual cortex. Here, we introduce a new dynamic predictive coding model that achieves spatiotemporal prediction of complex natural image sequences using time-varying transition matrices. We overcome the limitations of static linear transition models (as in, e.g., Kalman filters) using a hypernetwork to adjust the transition matrix dynamically for every time step, allowing the model to predict using a time-varying mixture of possible transition dynamics. We developed a single level model with recurrent modulation of transition weights by a hypernetwork and a two-level hierarchical model with top-down modulation based on a hypernetwork. At each time step, the model predicts the next input and estimates a sparse neural code by minimizing prediction error. When exposed to natural movies, the model learned localized, oriented spatial filters as well as both separable and inseparable (direction-selective) space-time receptive fields at the first level, similar to those found in the primary visual cortex (V1). Longer timescale responses and stability at the second level also emerged naturally from minimizing prediction errors for the first level dynamics. Our results suggest that the multiscale temporal response properties of cortical neurons could be the result of the cortex learning a hierarchical generative model of the visual world with higher order areas predicting the transition dynamics of lower order areas.
MRI Visualization of Polyethylene Post Fractures in Posterior Stabilized Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Polyethylene post fracture is a recognized complication of posterior stabilized total knee arthroplasty. Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed MRI examinations of 19 reported post fractures in ...
Regional Variation in Treatment for Highest-Risk Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND Non-small cell lung cancer patients with multiple high-risk socioeconomic factors experience treatment and survival disparities. We aim to assess whether disparities in treatment and survival vary by region for patients with 3 or more high-risk socioeconomic factors. METHODS The National Cancer Database was queried for patients with clinical stage I-IIA non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed between 2010 and 2015. Patients were categorized into 3 groups: standard treatment, nonstandard treatment, and no curative treatment. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate regional differences in treatment. Cox proportional hazards regression and the Kaplan-Meier method were used for survival analysis. All statistical tests were 2-sided. RESULTS A total of 93,211 patients met inclusion criteria. For patients with 3 or more high-risk socioeconomic factors, the odds of nonstandard treatment were significantly greater in 6 regions compared with New England, greatest in West North Central (odds ratio 2.09, P < .001). The odds of no curative treatment were significantly greater in 7 regions compared with New England, greatest in West South Central (odds ratio 3.56, P < .001). West North Central was associated with the highest risk of all-cause mortality compared with New England (hazard ratio 1.10, P < .001), and Middle Atlantic was associated with the lowest (hazard ratio 0.86, P < .001). The 5-year overall survival was longest in Middle Atlantic (60.8%) and shortest in Mountain (36.8%). CONCLUSIONS Patients with 3 or more high-risk socioeconomic factors experience treatment and survival disparities across the United States, though disparities are more pronounced in certain regions. Regional interventions may help mitigate disparities among highest risk non-small cell lung cancer patients.
Prevalence and patterns of gestational parent's own milk feeds among infants with major congenital surgical anomalies in the NICU.

To describe the prevalence and patterns of gestational parent’s own milk (GPOM) feedings among infants undergoing major surgery during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. We analyzed de-identified electronic medical records of all infants admitted to a regional NICU 2014–2015 who underwent surgery for a gastrointestinal, cardiac, or other major organ system defect(s). Of 79 infants, 85% received any GPOM during the NICU hospitalization. The median proportion of GPOM feeds was 66%. There was a trend toward decreassing proportions of GPOM with progressive months in NICU. The rate of any and exclusive GPOM feeds at NICU discharge was 49% and 29%, respectively. Infants who had a GI anomaly were more likely than infants with a cardiac anomaly to be discharged from NICU receiving GPOM. Barriers to the exclusive and continued provision of GPOM in this population require further study and intervention.
THE LICON WHEEL VELOCITY SENSOR--AN APPLICATION OF FERRITE CORE TECHNOLOGY

The wheel velocity sensor is an active, proximity sensor developed to be used with a variety of exciter rings and tone wheels in anti-skid systems, or as a tachometer sensor, a crankshaft position sensor, or in similar applications where the speed of a rotating vane is to be monitored. The sensor provides an output signal with amplitude independent of the rotation rate of the vane, down to "zero speed". The development of the senor is discussed, and the performance characteristics of the sensor and the interface integrated circuit are described.
Debating Slavery: Economy and Society in the Antebellum American South

Author's preface 1. The contours of the debate 2. Slaveholders and plantations 3. Yeoman and non-slave-owners 4. Slaves 5. The profitability of slavery as a business 6. The profitability of slavery as a system 7. New directions, toward consensus Bibliography.
The Performance of Voluntary Climate Programs: Climate Wise and 1605(b)

Despite serving as the principal basis of U.S. climate policy over the past two decades, corporate voluntary environmental programs have been subject to quite limited evaluation. The self-selection of participants—an essential element of such initiatives—poses particular challenges to researchers because the decision to participate may not be random and, in fact, may be correlated with the outcomes. The present study is designed to overcome these problems by gauging the environmental effectiveness of two early voluntary climate change programs with established track records, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Wise program and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, or 1605(b). Both programs provide quite flexible criteria for firms to participate. Particular attention is paid to the participation decision and how various assumptions affect estimates of program outcomes using propensity score matching methods applied to plant-level Census data.Overall, we find quite modest effects: the reductions in fuel and electricity expenditures from Climate Wise and 1605(b) are no more than 10 percent and probably less than 5 percent. Virtually no evidence suggests a statistically significant effect of either Climate Wise or 1605(b) on fuel costs. Some evidence indicates that participation in Climate Wise led to a slight (3–5 percent) increase in electricity costs that vanished after two years. Stronger evidence suggests that participation in 1605(b) led to a slight (4–8 percent) decrease in electricity costs that persisted for at least three years.
Photochemistry of Chlorophyll in Vivo

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the photochemistry of chlorophyll in vivo technique. Chlorophyll functions in photosynthesis by virtue of its ability to produce and maintain a charge separation in the highly ordered lamellar structure of the chloroplast. This charge separation initially involves chlorophyll and some other molecule complexed to it but is subsequently evidenced in discrete biochemical entities other than chlorophyll, which become either reduced or oxidized after reaction with photoexcited chlorophyll. The major chlorophylls are Chl a and Chl b. Some algae do not contain Chl b, but all photosynthetic plant cells contain Chl a, which sets it apart as the essential photoactive pigment in plant photosynthesis. Complexing to different proteins and lipids would suffice to alter the absorption and photochemical properties of Chl a. However, it is reported that the different forms observed in the intact chloroplasts are because of chemically different chlorophyll molecules, which can be physically separated in the purified state. Light energy absorbed by any chlorophyll molecule in the unit is transferred with high efficiency to the reactive chlorophyll, which initiates the photochemistry. As extraction of chloroplasts with organic solvents yields only one Chl a, the reaction-center chlorophyll must differ only in its environment in the chloroplast, being more available to adjoining redox agents.
Stimulation of mixed-function oxidation by NADPH in perfused mouse livers. Studies with saponin-permeabilized tissue.

Abstract In perfused livers from fed and fasted β-naphthoflavone-treated C57BL/6J mice, maximal rates of p -nitroanisole O-demethylation were 30–40 μmoles/g/hr and 15–20 μmoles/g/hr respectively. The detergent saponin, at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 0.005%, was infused between 2 and 30 min to establish optimal conditions to permeabilize plasma membranes. Permeabilization was assessed by release of lactate dehydrogenase and stimulation of p -nitroanisole O-demethylation by citrate. Saponin (0.005% for 5 min) alone had little effect on the rates of p -nitroanisole O-demethylation or conjugation of p -nitrophenol by perfused livers. Further, dicarboxylates or NADPH had no effect on rates of monooxygenation by perfused mouse liver in the absence of saponin. In saponin-treated livers from fasted mice, however, rates of monooxygenation were increased rapidly by infusion of dicarboxylates (10 mM malate, citrate, or isocitrate) or an NADPH-generating system (60 and 110% respectively), over a 6–8 min period. During this time period, cellular energetics were not comprised as reflected by normal rates of glucuronidation of p -nitrophenol. Thus, non-permeable metabolites can enter saponin-permeabilized cells in the perfused liver. Rates of monooxygenation were increased 40–60% in livers from fed mice by citrate, NADPH (200 μM) or an NADPH-generating system. In contrast, saponin decreased mixed-function oxidation assayed in isolated microsomes incubated with an NADPH-generating system. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that maximal rates of monooxygenation in intact hepatocytes from fed as well as fasted mice is limited by the availability of NADPH.
Investigation of series DC active filter and hybrid AC active filter performance in medium voltage DC amplfier

To further improve energy management, the US navy is exploring medium-voltage DC as the power supply of choice for next generation integrated power systems (NGIPS). Using the mature technology of multi-pulse thyristor bridge rectifiers, viable topologies are proposed that meet power density expectations. However, due to the non-linear ripple associated with thyristor commutations in such active front-ends (AFEs), a high bandwidth series AC active filter is used to smooth out the current harmonics. Similarly, a high bandwidth hybrid DC active filter is used for DC bus smoothing and improved dynamic performance. This paper will investigate the combined performance and consequential interactions of both active filters.
A systems biology approach for understanding the collagen regulatory network in alcoholic liver disease

Summary Among the pathogenesis and risk factors of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are the source of dietary fat, obesity, insulin resistance, adipokines and acetaldehyde. Translocation of Gram-negative bacteria from the gut, the subsequent effects mediated by endotoxin, and the increased production of matricellular proteins, cytokines, chemokines and growth factors, actively participate in the progression of liver injury. In addition, generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and the activation of non-parenchymal cells also contribute to the pathophysiology of ALD. A key event leading to liver damage is the transition of quiescent hepatic stellate cells into activated myofibroblasts, with the consequent deposition of fibrillar collagen I resulting in significant scarring. Thus, it is becoming clearer that matricellular proteins are critical players in the pathophysiology of liver disease; however, additional mechanistic insight is needed to understand the signalling pathways involved in the up-regulation of collagen I protein. At present, systems biology approaches are helping to answer the many unresolved questions in this field and are allowing to more comprehensively identify protein networks regulating pathological collagen I deposition in hopes of determining how to prevent the onset of liver fibrosis and/or to slow disease progression. Thus, this review article provides a snapshot on current efforts for identifying pathological protein regulatory networks in the liver using systems biology tools. These approaches hold great promise for future research in liver disease.