cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multistability analysis of discontinuous dynamical systems via finite trajectory length

Multistability is a global property whereby the solutions of a dynamical system are neither stable nor unstable, but rather alternate between two or more mutually exclusive Lyapunov stable and convergent states over time. In particular, multistable systems give rise to the existence of multiple stable equilibria involving a switching-like behavior between these multiple semistable steady states. This scenario happens in many applications such as spiking neural networks, chemical reaction networks, and agent-based coordination. In this paper, we extend some previous results on the trajectory length based Lyapunov approach to address global stability properties for non-hyperbolic, discontinuous dynamical systems. In particular, the notion of multistability for discontinuous dynamical systems with Caratheory and Filippov solutions is characterized by a series of trajectory-length-based Lyapunov tests, with an interesting feature that they do not depend on a particular equilibrium, do not demand hyperbolicity of equilibria, and do not require the positive definiteness of Lyapunov functions. The results lay a rigorous mathematical foundation for discontinuous control and facilitate such control design.
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln – By Doris Kearns Goodwin

Given the vast scholarly and popular literature that treats Abraham Lincoln and his times, one would think that there would be little left to discover about the man. And it is true that the main po...
How to Get more Women in Office: The Perspectives of Local Elected Officials (Mayors and City Councilors)

Female officeholders greatly influence the paths taken by those considering running for office. A mail survey of female mayors and council members shows that the reticence of women to run is perceived by these officeholders as the major barrier to more women getting elected. Factors ranging from the method of electing council members to the timing of elections, length and structure of terms, council size, runoff requirements, and media coverage are not seen as major roadblocks. There also is no evidence that the prestige of the mayor's office makes it tougher for women to capture mayoral positions than council seats.
Temperture distribution and blood perfusion response in rat brain during selective brain cooling

A rat model was used in this study to examine the transient temperature distribution and blood flow response in the brain during selective brain cooling (SBC) and rewarming. SBC was induced by a head cooling helmet with circulating water of 18 degrees C or 0 degrees C. It has been shown that the brain temperature reductions were 1.7+/-0.2 degrees C (5 mm beneath the brain surface) and 3.2+/-1.1 degrees C (2 mm beneath the brain surface) when the temperature of the water was 18 degrees C (moderate cooling). The cooling of the brain tissue was more evident when the circulating water was colder (0 degrees C, deep cooling). The characteristic time that it took for the tissue temperatures to reach a new steady state after the initiation of cooling varied from 5 to more than 35 min and it depended strongly on the blood flow response to the cooling. We used an ultrasound flow meter to measure continuously the blood flow rate in the common carotid artery during the cooling and rewarming. The blood flow rate dropped by up to 22% and 44% during the cooling from its baseline in the moderate cooling group and in the deep cooling group, respectively. Although all brain temperatures recovered to their baseline values 50 min after the helmet was removed, the blood flow rate only recovered to 92% and 77% of its baseline values after the moderate and deep cooling, respectively, implying a possible mismatch between the blood perfusion and metabolism in the brain. The current experimental results can be used to study the feasibility of inducing brain hypothermia by SBC if the blood flow responses in the rat are applicable to humans. The simultaneous recordings of temperature and blood flow rate in the rat brain can be used in the future to validate the theoretical model developed previously.
History of digital radiology at the University of Arizona

In the early 60s, the Arizona Board of Regents recruited a national committee, all outside the state of Arizona, and asked them two questions: 1. Is it time for the state of Arizona to begin its first medical school? 2. If affirmative, where should the medical school be located? The committee spent two years evaluating the question and returned the following answers: 1. Yes, the state has the population and resources to begin its first medical school. 2. It should be located at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The primary reason for recommending the U of A was its strong base and commitment to research. To avoid state politics the Arizona Board of Regents had previously decided to accept whatever recommendations came from the neutral national committee and these, word for word, would be sent to the state legislature. There was much political discussion. The legislature finally affirmed the recommendations of the board of regents and the medical school was then located at the U of A.
EFFECT OF FAT LEVEL AND RADAPPERTIZATION DOSE LEVEL ON THE QUALITY OF PORK ROLLS

The effects of radiation processing on pork rolls with 0.75% salt and 0.3% sodium tripolyphosphate added were studied. Pork rolls were prepared with three fat levels (10, 15 and 20%) and irradiation processed at doses of 30, 45 and 60 kJ/kg, -30°× 10°C irradiation temperature. Differences in the sensory quality, consumer preference and shear press values were determined. No significant differences were determined among the ratings for the sensory characteristics or preference, although irradiation at 60 kJ/kg tended to lower product quality and preference ratings. Shear press values decreased with increasing fat levels. No decrease in shear press values was found among samples irradiated at 30, 45 and 60 kJ/kg.
Using the 360 degrees multisource feedback model to evaluate teaching and professionalism.

Background: Student ratings have dominated as the primary and, frequently, only measure of teaching performance at colleges and universities for the past 50 years. Recently, there has been a trend toward augmenting those ratings with other data sources to broaden and deepen the evidence base. The 360 � multisource feedback (MSF) model used in management and industry for half a century and in clinical medicine for the last decade seemed like a best fit to evaluate teaching performance and professionalism. Aim: To adapt the 360 � MSF model to the assessment of teaching performance and professionalism of medical school faculty. Methods: The salient characteristics of the MSF models in industry and medicine were extracted from the literature. These characteristics along with 14 sources of evidence from eight possible raters, including students, self, peers, outside experts, mentors, alumni, employers, and administrators, based on the research in higher education were adapted to formative and summative decisions. Results: Three 360 � MSF models were generated for three different decisions: (1) formative decisions and feedback about teaching improvement; (2) summative decisions and feedback for merit pay and contract renewal; and (3) formative decisions and feedback about professional behaviors in the academic setting. The characteristics of each model were listed. Finally, a top-10 list of the most persistent and, perhaps, intractable psychometric issues in executing these models was suggested to guide future research. Conclusions: The 360 � MSF model appears to be a useful framework for implementing a multisource evaluation of faculty teaching performance and professionalism in medical schools. This model can provide more accurate, reliable, fair, and equitable decisions than the one based on just a single source.
Oscillation Theory on a Non-Compact Interval

We shall consider in this chapter the behavior of non-identically vanishing real solutions of a linear second order differential equation of the form (II.1.1), (II.1.10) or (II.1.1#) on a non-compact interval which for the major portion of the discussion will be taken to be of the form I = [a,∞), where a is a finite value. Such an equation is said to be oscillatory in case one non-identically vanishing real solution, and hence all such solutions, have infinitely many zeros on I; clearly an equivalent statement is that the equation is not disconjugate on any non-degenerate subinterval I0 = [a0,∞) of I. It is to be remarked that alternate terminologies for this concept are “oscillatory in a neighborhood of ∞”, or “oscillatory for large t”. If an equation fails to be oscillatory it is said to be “non-oscillatory”, with the corresponding qualifications “in a neighborhood of ∞” or “for large t”.
Cutting Edge: Repurification of Lipopolysaccharide Eliminates Signaling Through Both Human and Murine Toll-Like Receptor 2

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 has recently been associated with cellular responses to numerous microbial products, including LPS and bacterial lipoproteins. However, many preparations of LPS contain low concentrations of highly bioactive contaminants described previously as “endotoxin protein,” suggesting that these contaminants could be responsible for the TLR2-mediated signaling observed upon LPS stimulation. To test this hypothesis, commercial preparations of LPS were subjected to a modified phenol re-extraction protocol to eliminate endotoxin protein. While it did not influence the ability to stimulate cells from wild-type mice, repurification eliminated the ability of LPS to activate cells from C3H/HeJ ( Lps d ) mice. Additionally, only cell lines transfected with human TLR4, but not human or murine TLR2, acquired responsiveness to both re-extracted LPS and to a protein-free, synthetic preparation of lipid A. These results suggest that neither human nor murine TLR2 plays a role in LPS signaling in the absence of contaminating endotoxin protein.
Compressive sampling in fast wavelet-encoded MRI

Compressive sensing (CS) can be applied to fast wavelet-encoded MRI in order to reconstruct images from sparse sampling at sub-Nyquist sampling rates. In this paper, sparse MRI is achieved by a well-designed sampling matrix that satisfies the restricted isometry property (RIP) in CS. The wavelet-tree structure in k-space is utilized in order to reduce the RIP constant. The undersampling of k-space is implemented in a MRI simulator by spatially-selective RF excitation pulses, which are designed as Battle-Lemarie wavelet functions. The resulting undersampled k-space contains many significant wavelet-encoded samples and an improved RIP. The experimental results show that the proposed CS-MRI scheme reduced the number of necessary measurements significantly with the same reconstruction precision achieved by the current Fourier-encoded CS-MRI.
The location stack: a layered model for location in ubiquitous computing

Based on five design principles extracted from a survey of location systems, we present the location stack, a layered software engineering model for location in ubiquitous computing. Our model is similar in spirit to the seven-layer Open System Interconnect (OSI) model for computer networks. We map two existing ubiquitous computing systems to the model to illustrate the leverage the location stack provides. By encouraging system designers to think of their applications in this way, we hope to drive location-based computing toward a common vocabulary and standard infrastructure, permitting members of the ubiquitous computing community to easily evaluate and build on each other's work.
Dynamics of Berry-phase polarization in time-dependent electric fields

We consider the flow of polarization current $\mathbf{J}=d\mathbf{P}/dt$ produced by a homogeneous electric field $\mathsc{E}(t)$ or by rapidly varying some other parameter in the Hamiltonian of a solid. For an initially insulating system and a collisionless time evolution, the dynamic polarization $\mathbf{P}(t)$ is given by a nonadiabatic version of the King-Smith--Vanderbilt geometric-phase formula. This leads to a computationally convenient form for the Schr\"odinger equation where the electric field is described by a linear scalar potential handled on a discrete mesh in reciprocal space. Stationary solutions in sufficiently weak static fields are local minima of the energy functional of Nunes and Gonze. Such solutions only exist below a critical field that depends inversely on the density of k points. For higher fields they become long-lived resonances, which can be accessed dynamically by gradually increasing $\mathsc{E}.$ As an illustration the dielectric function in the presence of a dc bias field is computed for a tight-binding model from the polarization response to a step-function discontinuity in $\mathsc{E}(t),$ displaying the Franz-Keldysh effect.
Can Offering a Signing Bonus Motivate Effort? Experimental Evidence of the Moderating Effects of Labor Market Competition

Employers often rely on informal controls such as trust to motivate organizationally desirable behaviors from their workers by appealing to the latter’s reciprocity. Notably, trust and reciprocity can promote a “gift exchange” between employers and workers. Using an experiment, I investigate whether labor market competition moderates the emergence of a gift exchange in labor markets in which signing bonus offers serve as a potential signal of trust and the duration of the employment relationship is endogenously determined. I find that offering a signing bonus more positively affects both workers’ beliefs about the employer’s trust in them and their effort when there is an excess supply of workers than when there is an excess demand for workers. I also find that the initial effects of signing bonuses may not persist over time. Additional analyses suggest that both employers’ and workers’ expectations may affect whether and how trust and reciprocity develop over time.
ROMA: reliable overlay multicast with loosely coupled TCP connections

We consider the problem of architecting a reliable content delivery system across an overlay network using TCP connections as the transport primitive. We first argue that natural designs based on store-and-forward principles that tightly couple TCP connections at intermediate end-systems impose fundamental performance limitations, such as dragging down all transfer rates in the system to the rate of the slowest receiver. In contrast, the ROMA architecture we propose incorporates the use of loosely coupled TCP connections together with fast forward error correction techniques to deliver a scalable solution that better accommodates a set of heterogeneous receivers. The methods we develop establish chains of TCP connections, whose expected performance we analyze through equation-based methods. We validate our analytical findings and evaluate the performance of our ROMA architecture using a prototype implementation via extensive Internet experimentation across the PlanetLab distributed testbed.
Addendum to “Rapid Local Rectangular Views and Magnifications: Reduced Phase Encoding of Orthogonally Excited Spin Echoes”

Attention is called to a previous work of Feinberg et al. on inner volume MRI, a work which was not known to the present authors when preparing a recent similar manuscript on imaging local fields of view. The rationale is discussed for tandemly offsetting the reconstruction window and excited volume. © 1989 Academic Press, Inc.
Clinical and laboratory features of murine typhus in south Texas, 1980 through 1987.

Objective. —The clinical and laboratory features of patients with murine typhus have not been extensively reviewed since 1946. We have updated these findings in patients from south Texas who were examined by modern clinical and laboratory methods from 1980 through 1987. Design. —Patients were identified by serological methods in this case series, and clinical, epidemiologic, laboratory, and therapeutic data were compiled and analyzed. Setting. —The majority of patients (77 of 80) were identified in a primary care community hospital setting; the remainder (3 of 80) were ambulatory hospital outpatients. Patients. —From 1980 through 1987, a total of 345 patients were diagnosed with murine typhus; 90 of these patients were seen at four hospitals in south Texas; of these, 80 had clinical and laboratory data available for review. Main Outcome Measures. —The frequency of common clinical manifestations (eg, headache, fever, and rash) and laboratory findings (eg, leukocyte and platelet counts and serum chemistry abnormalities) of patients with infectious diseases was tabulated. Clinical severity was semiquantitatively assessed and was correlated with clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic results. Results. —Most cases (69%) occurred from April through August. Rash occurred in 54%; the triad of fever, headache, and rash was observed in only 12.5% of patients when first examined by a physician; respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms were also frequent. Multiple organ involvement was documented by frequent abnormal laboratory findings of the hematologic, respiratory, hepatic, and renal systems. Disease severity was related to older patient age, the presence of renal dysfunction, leukocytosis, and hypoalbuminemia, and previous therapy with sulfa antibiotics. Conclusions. —Infection byRickettsia typhicauses a systemic illness with clinical and laboratory abnormalities not previously recognized or described. Early clinical diagnosis and treatment are needed to avoid undue morbidity and mortality. (JAMA. 1991;266:1365-1370)
Mind the Gap: The Growing Distance between Institutional and Technical Capabilities in Organizations Performing Critical Operations

Although there are many reasons to seek to augment the capacity of crisis management and response organizations with various forms of information technology (IT), it is not clear that they will be able to adapt organizationally or institutionally to make effective use of the new capabilities. The behavior of organizations responsible for large, complex and tightly coupled systems is already known to be very difficult to predict reliably, due to their complexity, coupling, and nonlinear interactions. Historically, they are subject to a range of pathologies that are difficult to predict, ranging from self-organizing disasters to rigid and insensitive response. IT intensive organizations add to this the potential for unprecedented incoherence of tasks and task monitoring, leading to possible displacement of the locus of administration or the dissipation of task responsibility in ways that are still poorly understood, and badly in need of further intensive study.
A high-pressure Raman spectroscopic study of hafnon, HfSiO4

Raman spectra of synthetic HfSiO4 were determined to pressures of 38.2 GPa. Changes in the spectra indicate that HfSiO4 undergoes a room-temperature phase transition from the hafnon structure (I41/amd space group) to the scheelite structure (I41/a space group) at a pressure of ~19.6 GPa. Upon release of pressure to ambient conditions, the spectra indicate that the sample retains the scheelite structure. Zircon has been classiÞ ed previously as the least compressible tetrahedrally coordinated silicate known. However, pressure derivatives of the peak positions in hafnon are smaller than those in zircon, and suggest that hafnon is more incompressible than zircon. Furthermore, the pressure derivatives also suggest that the high-pressure, scheelite-structured HfSiO4 phase is more incompressible than the scheelite-structured ZrSiO4 (reidite). Thus, the post-hafnon phase appears to be even more incompressible than hafnon, which would make it the least compressible tetrahedrally coordinated silicate known to date.
In vitro maturation of ovarian oocytes from unstimulated rhesus monkeys: assessment of cytoplasmic maturity by embryonic development after in vitro fertilization.

One-hundred and sixty-six cumulus-enclosed oocytes, obtained from ovaries of unstimulated rhesus monkeys, were subjected to six different treatments in vitro--two types of media (simple = TALP; complex = CMRL) x three levels of gonadotropins (none, FSH, FSH + hCG)--to assess their ability to undergo maturation, fertilization, and embryo development. A summary of development in culture for all experimental treatments is as follows: 58% of oocytes underwent germinal vesicle breakdown; 37% extruded a first polar body; 17% had more than one pronucleus and/or two polar bodies after insemination (i.e., were activated/fertilized); and 12% cleaved (i.e., developed) to at least the 2-cell stage in vitro. Of 45 oocytes incubated only in medium (either simple or complex) without gonadotropins, only 3 were activated/fertilized (6.7%), and only one embryo developed to at least the 2-4-cell stage (2.2%). There were no differences between oocytes incubated with only FSH and oocytes incubated with FSH + hCG. Activation/fertilization (20.7% vs. 6.7%) and embryo development (greater than or equal to 2 cells; 15.7% vs. 2.2%) were significantly higher in treatments with than without gonadotropin supplementation. There were no statistically significant differences attributable to incubation in different media during oocyte maturation. Cumulus-enclosed oocytes recovered from unstimulated ovaries of rhesus monkeys can resume maturation during culture in vitro, as shown by their ability to be fertilized and by the cleavage in vitro of the resultant zygotes.
On the cobordism and commutative monoid with cancellation approaches to conformal field theory

In the late 1980s, Graeme Segal axiomatized conformal field theory in terms of a cobordism category. In that same preprint he outlined a more symmetric trace approach, which was recently rigorized in terms of pseudo algebras over a 2-theory. In this paper, we treat the cobordism approach in the pseudo algebra context. We introduce a new algebraic structure on a bicategory, called a pseudo 2-algebra over a theory, as a means of comparison for the two approaches. The main result states that the 2-category of pseudo algebras over a fixed 2-theory is biequivalent to the 2-category of pseudo 2-algebras over a fixed theory in certain situations.
Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment in Cancer: Why Hyaluronidase Deserves a Second Look

Increased extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition is a characteristic observed in many solid tumors. Increased levels of one ECM component, namely hyaluronan (HA), leads to reduced elasticity of tumor tissue and increased interstitial fluid pressure. Multiple initial reports demonstrated that the addition of hyaluronidase to chemotherapeutic regimens could significantly improve efficacy. Unfortunately, the bovine hyaluronidase used in those studies was limited therapeutically by immunologic responses to treatment. Newly developed recombinant human hyaluronidase has recently been introduced into clinical trials. In this article, we describe the role of HA in cancer, methods of targeting HA, clinical studies performed to date, and propose that targeting HA could now be an effective treatment option for patients with many different types of solid tumors.
Determination of Tissue Penetration and Pharmacokinetics of Linezolid in Patients with Diabetic Foot Infections Using In Vivo Microdialysis

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus and other Gram-positive organisms, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, continue to be the predominant pathogens associated with diabetic foot infections. Consequently, linezolid is often used to treat these infections. The purpose of the current study was to describe the pharmacokinetic profile and determine the level of penetration of linezolid into healthy thigh tissue and infected wound tissue of the same extremity in 9 diabetic patients with chronic lower limb infections by use of in vivo microdialysis. Hourly plasma and dialysate samples were obtained over a 12-h dosing interval following 3 to 4 doses of linezolid (600 mg intravenously every 12 h). Plasma protein binding was also assessed at 1, 6, and 12 h postdose. The means ± standard deviations (SD) for the maximum concentration in serum ( C max ), the volume of distribution at terminal phase ( V z ), and the half-life ( t 1/2 ) for linezolid in plasma were 11.99 ± 3.67 μg/ml, 0.71 ± 0.25 liters/kg of body weight, and 4.71 ± 1.23 h, respectively. Mean protein binding was 14.78% (range, 3.85 to 32.03%). The mean areas under the concentration-time curves from 0 to 12 h for the free, unbound fraction of linezolid ( f AUC 0–12 values) ± SD for plasma, wound tissue, and thigh tissue were 51.24 ± 12.72, 82.76 ± 59.01, and 92.52 ± 60.44 μg · h/ml, respectively. Tissue penetration ratios (tissue f AUC to plasma f AUC) were similar for thigh (1.42; range, 1.08 to 2.23) and wound (1.27; range, 0.86 to 2.26) tissues ( P = 0.648). With the currently approved dosing regimen, linezolid penetrated well into both healthy thigh tissue and infected wound tissue in these diabetic patients.
Challenges to the classroom authority of women of color

Two women of color professors use the themes of authority, mastery, voice, and positionality to examine the theoretical and practical underpinnings of feminist pedagogy.
The Study and Development of Teaching With Implications for the Advancement of Special Education

The study and development of teaching according to a natural science-technical model is examined. The major aim of this model has been to achieve law-like prediction and control in teaching. The natural science-technical model is found to limit the way teaching is studied and developed and to have distorting effects within both general and special education. The basis for an alternative approach is described which, it is claimed, can promote a genuine tradition of inquiry and practice for teaching.
Climate Change and Allocation Institutions in the Colorado River Basin

Climate change has profound implications for allocation institutions in the Colorado River Basin. After providing an overview of current and projected hydrological conditions within the basin, this chapter analyzes salient issues posed by climate change for the Colorado River Compact, Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, Supreme Court decree in Arizona v. California, and water rights held by American Indian tribes. Apparent from the analysis are two overarching policy and management priorities: (1) a compelling need for clarity regarding the specific boundaries of water use entitlements established by the allocation institutions, and (2) an associated need for parties holding these entitlements to foster measures and commitments aimed at facilitating levels of water use that realistically align with their respective water budgets.
Determinants of business success: an examination of Asian-owned businesses in the USA

Using confidential microdata from the US Census Bureau, we investigate the performance of Asian-owned businesses. Using regression estimates and a special non-linear decomposition technique, we explore the role that class resources, such as financial capital and human capital, play in contributing to the relative success of Asian businesses. We find that Asian-owned businesses are more successful than white-owned businesses for two main reasons—Asian owners have high levels of human capital and their businesses have substantial start-up capital. Using detailed information on both the owner and the firm, we estimate the explanatory power of several additional factors.
Shear Effects on Energy Dissipation From an Elastic Beam on a Rigid Foundation

This paper describes the energy dissipation arising from microslip for an elastic shell incorporating shear and longitudinal deformation resting on a rough-rigid foundation. This phenomenon is investigated using finite element (FE) analysis and nonlinear geometrically exact shell theory. Both approaches illustrate the effect of shear within the shell and observe a reduction in the energy dissipated from microslip as compared to a similar system neglecting shear deformation. In particular, it is found that the shear deformation allows for load to be transmitted beyond the region of slip so that the entire interface contributes to the load carrying capability of the shell. The energy dissipation resulting from the shell model is shown to agree well with that arising from the FE model, and this representation can be used as a basis for reduced order models that capture the microslip phenomenon.
Current Hypotheses in Cardiac Surgery: Biofilm in Infective Endocarditis

Despite recent advances in diagnostics and treatments, infective endocarditis is still associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Even prolonged courses of broad-spectrum antimicrobials often fail to eradicate the infection, making surgical intervention necessary in many cases. In this review, we present recent advances in molecular microbiology techniques that have uncovered a plausible explanation for this resistance to treatment: the recently discovered social behavior of some microbes, in which colonies form a nearly impenetrable barrier around themselves called a biofilm. These biofilm structures isolate the colony from the body׳s immune response and antimicrobial drugs. We also present current thinking about possible ways biofilms can be destroyed.
Fragmentation patterns of jets in pPb collisions in CMS

Abstract The nuclear parton distribution function and flavor composition of hard scattering processes can be accurately studied using the jet fragmentation functions. Recent measurements of the pPb nuclear modification factor ( R pPb ), with diverging values for inclusive jets and charged hadrons, have raised question on jet fragmentation properties in pPb collisions. These spectra measurements are performed with pp reference at 5.02 TeV constructed by interpolation or extrapolation from different s , and on steeply falling power-law spectra. As the jet fragmentation function is only evolving logarithmically with s , this further underscores the importance of a direct measurement. Together with the CMS results in pPb inclusive jets and charged hadron R pPb , we introduce the new CMS measurement of fragmentation function in pPb collisions, where within our uncertainties, jets in pPb is found to have identical fragmentation property vs. pp jets. We will further discuss the consistency and tension among the results, and their possible origins. This measurement also gives important reference for the interpretation of the fragmentation function in PbPb collisions.
Synthesis and Characterization of Collagen Grafted Poly(hydroxybutyrate–valerate) (PHBV) Scaffold for Loading of Bovine Serum Albumin Capped Silver (Ag/BSA) Nanoparticles in the Potential Use of Tissue Engineering Application

The objective of this study is to synthesize and characterize collagen grafted poly(3-hydroxylbutyrate-co-3-hydroxylvalerate) (PHBV) film for loading of BSA capped silver (Ag/BSA) nanoparticles. Thermal radical copolymerization and aminolysis methods were used to functionalize macroporous PHBV, followed by collagen grafting so as to formulate collagen-g-poly(hydroxyethylmethyl acrylate)-g-poly(3-hydroxylbutyrate-co-3-hydroxylvalerate) [collagen-g-PHEMA-g-PHBV] and collagen-g-aminated-poly(3-hydroxylbutyrate-co-3-hydroxylvalerate) [collagen-g-NH2-PHBV] films, respectively. Spectroscopic (FTIR, XPS), physical (SEM), and thermal (TGA) techniques were used to characterize the functionalized PHBV films. The amount of collagen present on grafted PHBV film was quantified by the Bradford method. The Ag/BSA nanoparticles were then loaded on collagen grafted and untreated PHBV films, and the nanoparticles loading were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The amount of nanoparticles loaded on collagen graft...
Analysis of 35kV Shunt Capacitor Banks Explosion Accident

In this paper,based on the structure,operation condition and on-site monitoring video of the capacitor bank,the explosion accident of the 35kV shunt capacitor bank is analyzed and summarized through diagnostic test,theoretical deduction and video image analysis.The experience is summarized for how to assure safe and stable operation of the capacitor bank in the future,how to find out in advance the existed defect with advanced live detection technology and prevent the accident.The preventive measures on the influence of grid harmonic generation as well as the safe operation of capacitor bank are proposed,so to void reoccurrence of the similar accident.
Isolation and some chemical properties of human factor VIII (antihemophilic factor).

Abstract Human factor VIII has been isolated in a highly purified form with the use of an extract of plasma cryoprecipitate as starting material. Successive adsorptions with aluminum hydroxide, fuller's earth, and Wyoming bentonite were followed by ammonium sulfate fractionation. Further separation was accomplished by differential polyethylene glycol precipitations. The final step utilized agarose-gel filtration and concentration of appropriate fractions. Preparations about 10,000 times purified may be obtained in quantities permitting validation of purity and chemical characterization. Factor VIII proves to be a compound protein containing about 76 per cent amino acids, 10 per cent carbohydrates, and 11 per cent of total lipids. The preparation is largely homogeneous by electrophoretic, ultracentrifugal, and immunochemical examination.
Some Applications of a New Stochastic Method in Lattice Theories

Some applications of a new stochastic method for the numerical study of lattice models are presented. The method is directly applicable to lattice path integrals in the presence of fermionic degrees of freedom. It is also relevant for the evaluation of the partition function of lattice spin systems. We shall describe here the method briefly and present some recent results. The numerical study of Quantum Chromodynamics in the presence of fermionic vacuum polarization and the calculation of the largest eigenvalue of the transfer matrix in the three-dimensional Ising model are the most important applications.
SnapShot: Brown and Beige Adipose Thermogenesis

Brown and beige adipose tissues have been identified as potential therapeutic targets for combating diet-induced obesity and metabolic disease. Here, we present transcriptional and developmental regulation of brown and beige adipose tissue, as well as critical physiological and pharmaceutical activators of thermogenesis in both tissues.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Receptor 1 (TNFR1) Knockdown in Subfornical Organ (SFO) Attenuates Central Expression of Excitatory Mediators and Ameliorates Peripheral Manifestations of Heart Failure in Rats after Myocardial Infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI)-induced heart failure (HF) is a systemic inflammatory state characterized by increased circulating proinflammatory cytokines (PICs). Circulating PICs up-regulate inflamma...
Corrosion chemistry of magneto-optic data storage media

ABSTRACT Environmental stability is particularly important for thin film materials since smallchanges in surface structure and chemistry may result in significant degradation of themagnetic or optical properties. Two aspects of the corrosion chemistry of these materialsare discussed. Dealloying processes may be important for rare earth/transition metalsystems due to the thermodynamic driving force for selective dissolution of the rare earthelements. Corrosion resistance of many metals and alloys is related to the formation of aninterfacial oxide layer. The formation and stability of these films are important for bothalloy and multilayer systems. 1. INTRODUCTION Corrosion processes are characterized by coupled oxidation and reduction reactions. Underopen circuit conditions, in the absence of any externally applied potential, the rates of theoxidation and reduction reactions are equal and there is no net current flow. Corrosion is aself-driven process since the reduction reaction is the electron sink for the oxidation reaction.As a result, the overall rate of a corrosion process is kinetically limited by either the oxidationor reduction reaction. In most instances, the oxidation reaction is a metal dissolution reaction,resulting in material removal. The most important reduction reactions for corrosion processesare the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction. The metal dissolutionand reduction reactions can be summarized according to:
Electron-Lattice Heating from Avalanche Ionization in Silicon with Near Infrared Ultrafast Laser Pulses

Absorption and redistribution of ultrafast pulsed laser energy in silicon is examined with 800 nm radiation for pulse durations ranging from 80 fs to 7 ns. The results are successfully interpreted in terms of an avalanche ionization process. Thresholds for vaporization are measured and compared to a theoretical model that incorporates a two temperature electron-lattice heating process. Ionization layer thickness and time-resolved melting and vaporization events are described in terms of a thermodynamic process involving the absorption of ionized electron energy by the lattice and its subsequent phase transformation to the liquid and vapor state. An average solid density plasma heating layer of 78 nm is extracted from the model and used to fit threshold fluence data. More detailed experimental results are found to provide close agreement with, and continuation of, the avalanche ionization coefficient curve of silicon [1] for electric field strengths extending to 4 × 107 volts/cm.
CHAPTER 11 – Introduction to Chemical Weed Control

Chemical weed control has both advantages and disadvantages. This chapter discusses the history of herbicides and their classifications based on their chemical structure and mechanism (site/mode) of action. Because there is no one comprehensive way to classify herbicides, each classification system should be learned for appropriate use.
The Aker site (23PL43) : Lithic economy and ritual aggregation among the Kansas City Hopewell

The Aker site (23PL43) is a Kansas City Hopewell village site situated on the floodplain at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. This unusual placement and evidence for periodic flooding raise questions about site use. Traditional models for Hopewell settlement in the East suggest that regional exchange centers were placed in such precarious locations to facilitate the movement of trade goods along major waterways. More recent models focus on sacred landscapes and the necessity of periodic aggregation among middle range societies. The present study examines the possibility that the Aker site played a role in one of these systems, with particular reference to the site's lithic assemblage.
Integrating Pharmacokinetics Knowledge into a Drug Ontology As an Extension to Support Pharmacogenomics

The newly developed U.S. Common Medication Information Infrastructure was used as a basis to capture and formally express the properties of drugs relevant to research and the clinical application of pharmacogenomics. Two associated taxonomies within the model, Mechanism of Action and Physiologic Effect, were enriched to accommodate pharmacogenomic use-cases; the 4,000 active ingredients in the VA NDF-RT drug file were related to the enhanced taxonomies. Pharmacokinetics were independently modeled for pharmacogenomics and tested against thirty-one high-profile drugs to demonstrate our approach.
Online Matrix Completion for Signed Link Prediction

This work studies the binary matrix completion problem underlying a large body of real-world applications such as signed link prediction and information propagation. That is, each entry of the matrix indicates a binary preference such as "like" or "dislike", "trust" or "distrust". However, the performance of existing matrix completion methods may be hindered owing to three practical challenges: 1) the observed data are with binary label (i.e., not real value); 2) the data are typically sampled non-uniformly (i.e., positive links dominate the negative ones) and 3) a network may have a huge volume of data (i.e., memory and computational issue). In order to remedy these problems, we propose a novel framework which {i} maximizes the resemblance between predicted and observed matrices as well as penalizing the logistic loss to fit the binary data to produce binary estimates; {ii} constrains the matrix max-norm and maximizes the F-score to handle non-uniformness and {iii} presents online optimization technique, hence mitigating the memory cost. Extensive experiments performed on four large-scale datasets with up to hundreds of thousands of users demonstrate the superiority of our framework over the state-of-the-art matrix completion based methods and popular link prediction approaches.
Use of CXCR4 as a prognostic marker for disease-specific survival and pattern of recurrence following resection of hepatic colorectal metastases

11081 Background: Expression of the chemokine receptors CXCR4 and CCR7 has been associated with metastases and poor prognosis in primary tumors but their relevance in colorectal liver metastases (CLM) is unclear. This study examines the relationship between tumor chemokine receptor expression, pattern of recurrence and outcome after resection of hepatic metastases.Methods: Eighty patients with metastases from colon or rectal primary tumors who underwent a R0 partial hepatectomy from February 2002 to April 2004 were studied prospectively. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of hepatic metastases using antibodies specific for CXCR4, CXCL12 and CCR7. The correlation between the CXCR4, CXCL12 and CCR7 expression and clinicopathological factors was evaluated.Results: Median follow-up was 42.9 months. Positive expression of CXCR4, CXCL12 and CCR7 was seen in 49 (61%), 23 (29%) and 48 (60%) of tumor specimens, respectively. Clinical risk score greater than ...
Ultralow Interface Recombination Velocity (∼1 cm/s) at CdTe/MgxCd ${}_{1\hbox{-}}$xTe Heterointerface

The interface recombination velocity (IRV) at the interfaces in CdTe/Mg x Cd ${}_{1\hbox{-}}$ x Te double heterostructures (DHs) is studied using time-resolved photoluminescence. It is found that both thermionic emission and tunneling effects can cause photogenerated carrier loss over or through the Mg x Cd ${}_{1\hbox{-}}$ x Te barriers, either due to the low barrier potential or the thin barrier thickness. Thus, carrier lifetime measurements reveal only an effective IRV. The thermionic emission induced interface recombination can be distinguished by conducting temperature-dependent carrier lifetime measurements, and the tunneling induced IRV can be quantified by comparing samples with different barrier thicknesses. When both thermionic emission and tunneling effects are suppressed or even eliminated, the actual IRV (due to the recombination at the DH interface trap states) is measured to be ∼1 cm/s, with a very long carrier lifetime of 3.6 μ s achieved in the DHs.
Twenty years of experience with intraoperative pulmonary artery stenting

Objectives To describe our 20-year experience with intraoperative pulmonary artery (PA) stent placement and evaluate long-term patient outcomes, specifically the need and risk factors for reintervention. Background Intraoperative PA stent placement is an alternative to surgical patch arterioplasty and percutaneous angioplasty or stent placement to treat branch PA stenosis. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all intraoperative PA stents placed at our institution from 1994-2013. Patient and stent characteristics and outcome data were collected. Risk factors associated with reintervention were identified using univariate cox regression analysis. Results Eighty-one PA stents were placed in 68 patients. The procedural complication rate was 4.4%. During a median follow-up period of 6 years (interquartile range [IQR] 0.9-12.7), 30 patients (44%) underwent reintervention on the stented PA with a median time to first reintervention of 2.6 years (IQR 0.7–4.4 years). The first reintervention was surgical in 30% and catheter-based in 70%. Risk factors for reintervention included age < 18 months (Hazard ratio [HR] 2.97, P = 0.005) and body surface area < 0.47 m2 (HR 3.20, P = 0.003) at the time of stent implantation, and the presence of multiple aortopulmonary collaterals in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (HR 4.61, P = 0.003). Conclusions Intraoperative PA stent implantation is a safe and effective alternative to percutaneous stent implantation and offers several advantages, including the ability to implant adult-size stents in small patients while avoiding injury to peripheral vessels, to position stents to facilitate future percutaneous stent redilation, and to access the PAs directly, which eliminates radiation exposure. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Noise-Tolerant Interactive Learning Using Pairwise Comparisons

We study the problem of interactively learning a binary classifier using noisy labeling and pairwise comparison oracles, where the comparison oracle answers which one in the given two instances is more likely to be positive. Learning from such oracles has multiple applications where obtaining direct labels is harder but pairwise comparisons are easier, and the algorithm can leverage both types of oracles. In this paper, we attempt to characterize how the access to an easier comparison oracle helps in improving the label and total query complexity. We show that the comparison oracle reduces the learning problem to that of learning a threshold function. We then present an algorithm that interactively queries the label and comparison oracles and we characterize its query complexity under Tsybakov and adversarial noise conditions for the comparison and labeling oracles. Our lower bounds show that our label and total query complexity is almost optimal.
Febrile Seizures and Cognitive Outcome

The association between febrile seizures and cognitive function in young adulthood was examined in a population-based study of Danish conscripts at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
MQCT. I. Inelastic Scattering of Two Asymmetric-Top Rotors with Application to H2O + H2O

A mixed quantum/classical theory (MQCT) for the inelastic collision of two asymmetric-top rotor molecules is developed. In this method, the quantum state-to-state transitions between the rotational states of molecules (internal) are treated quantum mechanically using the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, whereas their relative translational motion (responsible for scattering) is treated classically, using the average trajectory approach. Two versions of the formula for transition matrix elements are presented: a straightforward approach that uses numerical multidimensional quadrature over all the internal degrees of freedom and a more standard analytic approach that uses the expansion of the PES over the basis set of spherical harmonics. Adaptation to the case of identical molecules scattering is presented and is applied to the rotational excitation of two water molecules, H2O + H2O, using the PES from recent literature. Calculations of collisional excitation from the ground state of the system into a ...
A review and research trends in alternate frying technologies

Deep-fat frying is a century-old process which is still being used for preparation of various food products in our regular diet. Increase in the consumer health awareness has motivated more research in development of healthy and safe fried products. Recent strategies to attain this goal have been focused on reduction in oil uptake by fried products and increasing the stability of frying medium. Another approach includes development of alternative frying technologies such as pressure frying, microwave frying, vacuum frying and radiant frying or their combinations. Among all the alternative frying technologies, only vacuum frying have shown acceptance and commercial utilization by the food industries. Pressure frying and radiant frying have also shown some promising potential, but need further exploration.
Hypertensive Urgency: A Focus on Oral Therapy:

Hospital Pharmacy welcomes contributions to this column. Articles originally published in pharmacy department newsletters are reprinted here. Material is selected because of its educational value t...