cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Individual fMRI activation in orthographic mapping and morpheme mapping after orthographic or morphological spelling treatment in child dyslexics

Abstract Four sets of word-form tasks were administered during fMRI scanning to 18 child dyslexics and 21 controls to identify unique brain activation associated with four kinds of mapping—orthographic, morpheme with and without phonological shift, and phoneme—before treatment, and to measure the effect on each kind of mapping after orthographic and morphological spelling treatment (to which dyslexics were randomly assigned). Dyslexics and/or controls showed significant pretreatment activation in group maps in 18 brain regions during one or more of the mapping tasks. Average fMRI z -scores were used to determine for each kind of fMRI mapping which of the 18 brain areas (a) differentiated dyslexics and controls before treatment; (b) showed significant pre- to post-treatment activation change in dyslexics; (c) showed post-treatment ‘normalization’ of activation; and (d) changed differently for dyslexics as a function of the kind of treatment received. Dyslexics in orthographic treatment showed reliable change, normalization, and treatment-specific response in right inferior frontal gyrus and right posterior parietal gyrus. Implications of the findings of the combined group map and individual (region of interest) analyses for neurolinguistics, including assessment, treatment and brain plasticity, and the role of different word forms in spelling at a specific developmental stage, are discussed.
Nucleation and global time scales in ecological invasion under preemptive competition

The breakdown of biogeographic barriers allows some invasive species to reshape ecological communities and threaten local biodiversity. Most introductions of exotic species fail to generate an invasion. However, once introduction succeeds, invader density increases rapidly. We apply nucleation theory to describe spatio-temporal patterns of the invasion process under preemptive competition. The predictions of the theory are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations of the underlying discrete spatial stochastic dynamics. In particular, for large enough spatial regions, invasion occurs through the nucleation and subsequent growth of many clusters of the invasive species, and the global densities are well approximated by Avrami's law for homogeneous nucleation. For smaller systems or very small introduction rates, invasion typically occurs through a single cluster, whose appearance is inherently stochastic.
The Use of Interpreters by Torture Treatment Providers

Ever more American mental health professionals rely on interpreters to bridge language and cultural gaps between themselves and clients who do not speak English. This study analyzes in-depth ethnographic interviews with 10 mental health professionals involved in a torture treatment and assessment center to examine how the use of interpreters affects mental health service delivery. The findings highlight the following factors that affect the clinical process: challenges to communication, accuracy of communication (both linguistic content and cultural context), changes in therapy dynamics, and the emotional reactions of interpreters to the stories told by clients. This study discusses the need to properly train interpreters and to safeguard against their exposure to vicarious trauma.
Adversarial legalism and American government

Compared to other economically advanced democracies, the United States is uniquely prone to adversarial, legalistic modes of policy formulation and implementation, shaped by the prospect of judicial review. While adversarial legalism facilitates the expression of justice-claims and challenges to official dogma, its costs are often neglected or minimized. A survey of existing research, together with a case study of environmental regulation in the Port of Oakland, indicates the extent to which adversarial legalism causes (or threatens) enormous dispute-resolving costs and procedural delays, which in turn distort policy outcomes. Adversarial legalism, moreover, has increased in recent decades, as Americans have attempted to implement the ambitious, socially transformative policies of activist government through political structures, forms of legislation, and legal procedures that reflect deep suspicion of governmental authority.
Ultrastructure of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and excysting sporozoites as revealed by high resolution scanning electron microscopy.

Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts isolated from calf feces were examined by scanning electron microscopy during excystation. Intact C. parvum oocysts were spheroid to ellipsoid, approximately equal to 3.5 X 4.0 micron, with length : width ratio = 1.17. The oocyst wall had a single suture at one pole, which spanned 1/3 to 1/2 the circumference of the oocyst. During excystation the suture dissolved, resulting in a slit-like opening, which the sporozoites used to exit the oocyst. Sporozoites were 3.8 X 0.6 micron and had a rough outer surface.
Brain correlates of stuttering and syllable production: gender comparison and replication.

This article reports a gender replication study of the P. T. Fox et al. (2000) performance correlation analysis of neural systems that distinguish between normal and stuttered speech in adult males...
Inhibition of neutrophil superoxide production by fanetizole

The effects on neutrophil function of the new immunomodulatory agent fanetizole mesylate were studied. Fanetizole did not affect random or stimulated migration, phagocytosis, or degranulation by normal human neutrophils. Production of superoxide in response to the chemotactic factor formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (f-Met-Leu-Phe) was markedly inhibited (41.3±3.9%) by 250μM fanetizole. This inhibition was not due to scavenging of superoxide by fanetizole, as there was no impairment of superoxide detection in a cell-free xanthine-xanthine oxidase system. Inhibition was dose dependent (no effect seen with 1 or 10μM fanetizole) and stimulus specific (no impairment of superoxide production in response to phorbol myristate acetate). Washing the cells after fanetizole treatment partially restored their superoxide response to f-Met-Leu-Phe. Suppression of neutrophil production of toxic oxygen metabolites may partially explain the antiarthritic effect of fanetizole, and study of such selective inhibitors may be useful in probing the contribution of neutrophils to inflammatory tissue damage.
Dual-Band Operation of Relativistic BWO With Linearly Polarized Gaussian Output

We demonstrate the dual-band operation of a relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO) whose output is a linearly polarized TE 11 -mode. The RBWO consists of two cylindrical sections with sinusoidal corrugations where the downstream section is axisymmetric and the upstream section has combined left- and right-single-fold spiral corrugations. We show that generation of 10 GHz is realized when the axisymmetric section operates as a BWO with the operating TM 01 -mode and the combined spiral section operates as a Bragg reflector that converts the backward TM 01 -mode to a linearly polarized forward TE 11 -mode. For the same electron beam parameters, generation of 7 GHz is realized when the combined spiral section operates as a BWO with the operating TE 11 -mode. We also present the possibility to change the duration of generation at each frequency within a microwave pulse by changing the electron beam current. In addition, one can change the output frequency by changing the values of the guide magnetic field near the region of cyclotron absorption.
Oncogenic transformation of C3H/10T1/2 cells by X-rays, fast-fission neutrons, and cyclotron-produced neutrons.

SummaryLethality and oncogenic transformation were measured in C3H/10T½ murine fibroblasts exposed to neutrons and X-rays at doses between 0·5 and 11 Gy. Transformation results with X-rays and low-energy, reactor-produced neutrons were used as a baseline to compare and evaluate the results obtained with high-energy, cyclotron-produced neutrons. The radiations were 100-kVp X-rays at 0·49 Gy min−1, reactor fission neutrons at 0·10 to 0·31 Gy min−1 with an 8 to 20 per cent gamma dose component, and cyclotron-produced neutrons at 0·51 Gy min−1 with mean energy 38 MeV and an 8 per cent gamma dose component. The radiobiological effectiveness (r.b.e.) for cell lethality was 2·4 ± 0·2 for fission neutrons and 1·7 ± 0·1 for high-energy neutrons. The maximum proportions of transformants per thousand surviving cells were, respectively, 3·7 ± 0·8, 6·5 ± 0·7, and 2·3 ± 0·6 for X-rays, fission neutrons, and cyclotron-produced neutrons. The maximum observed r.b.e. for transformation induction was 3·8 for fission neutron...
Investigation of intramolecular dynamics and conformations of α-, β- and γ-synuclein.

The synucleins are a family of natively unstructured proteins consisting of α-, β-, and γ-synuclein which are primarily expressed in neurons. They have been linked to a wide variety of pathologies, including neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (α-synuclein) and dementia with Lewy bodies (α- and β-synuclein), as well as various types of cancers (γ-synuclein). Self-association is a key pathological feature of many of these disorders, with α-synuclein having the highest propensity to form aggregates, while β-synuclein is the least prone. Here, we used a combination of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and single molecule Forster resonance energy transfer to compare the intrinsic dynamics of different regions of all three synuclein proteins to investigate any correlation with putative functional or dysfunctional interactions. Despite a relatively high degree of sequence homology, we find that individual regions sample a broad range of diffusion coefficients, differing by almost a factor of four. At low pH, a condition that accelerates aggregation of α-synuclein, on average smaller diffusion coefficients are measured, supporting a hypothesis that slower intrachain dynamics may be correlated with self-association. Moreover, there is a surprising inverse correlation between dynamics and bulkiness of the segments. Aside from this observation, we could not discern any clear relationship between the physico-chemical properties of the constructs and their intrinsic dynamics. This work suggests that while protein dynamics may play a role in modulating self-association or interactions with other binding partners, other factors, particularly the local cellular environment, may be more important.
Use of respiration pattern analysis for study of serine metabolism in vivo.

Abstract The simple and nondestructive in vivo technique of respiration pattern analysis (RPA) was used to estimate the relative importance of the formate pathway for oxidation of C 3 of L-serine in fasted mice. About 11.4 per cent of injected L-3- 14 C-serine was oxidized via formate and 4.6 per cent via alternate pathways in the first hour after injection. Thus, the formate pathway accounted for about 71 per cent of the C 3 of L-serine that was oxidized.
Brain Network Dysfunction in Late-Life Depression A Literature Review

As a common psychiatric disorder in the growing geriatric population, late-life depression (LLD) has a negative impact on the cognitive, affective, and somatic domains of the lives of the elderly i...
Efficient evaluation functions for evolving coordination

This paper presents fitness evaluation functions that efficiently evolve coordination in large multi-component systems. In particular, we focus on evolving distributed control policies that are applicable to dynamic and stochastic environments. While it is appealing to evolve such policies directly for an entire system, the search space is prohibitively large in most cases to allow such an approach to provide satisfactory results. Instead, we present an approach based on evolving system components individually where each component aims to maximize its own fitness function. Though this approach sidesteps the exploding state space concern, it introduces two new issues: (1) how to create component evaluation functions that are aligned with the global evaluation function; and (2) how to create component evaluation functions that are sensitive to the fitness changes of that component, while remaining relatively insensitive to the fitness changes of other components in the system. If the first issue is not addressed, the resulting system becomes uncoordinated; if the second issue is not addressed, the evolutionary process becomes either slow to converge or worse, incapable of converging to good solutions. This paper shows how to construct evaluation functions that promote coordination by satisfying these two properties. We apply these evaluation functions to the distributed control problem of coordinating multiple rovers to maximize aggregate information collected. We focus on environments that are highly dynamic (changing points of interest), noisy (sensor and actuator faults), and communication limited (both for observation of other rovers and points of interest) forcing the rovers to evolve generalized solutions. On this difficult coordination problem, the control policy evolved using aligned and component-sensitive evaluation functions outperforms global evaluation functions by up to 400%. More notably, the performance improvements increase when the problems become more difficult (larger, noisier, less communication). In addition we provide an analysis of the results by quantifying the two characteristics (alignment and sensitivity discussed above) leading to a systematic study of the presented fitness functions.
The American South and the Atlantic World. Edited by Brian Ward, Martyn Bone, and William A. Link. (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2013. Pp. vii, 275. $74.95.)

The editors of this volume draw upon recent research and scholarship to remedy the relative neglect of the American South in the historiography of the Atlantic world. A comparative approach, which ...
A fault management protocol for TTP/C

A new fault management protocol that makes use of native fault tolerant features of TTP/C has been developed. It can tolerate multiple node failures no matter how close in time and in minimum time. The time it takes to detect a node failure and to reconfigure the system is minimum and it is fixed by the TTP/C protocol. The protocol tolerates the fact that several nodes, including the active management node, may fail at the same time and let the spare nodes reconfigure themselves in order to substitute the failed nodes. The protocol permits that a replicate node can belong to several FTUs at the same time. This allows a higher level of dependability of the system keeping the same number of replicated nodes. Because all nodes of the system have to send a message at least once during a cluster cycle, the active management node knows the state (active, failed) of each node (regular application nodes, backup management nodes and spare application nodes).
Dosage regimens of intranasal aerosolized surfactant on otitis media with effusion in an animal model.

OBJECTIVE: To determine optimal dosage regimens of intranasal metered dose aerosolized surfactant with and without other medications in the treatment of otitis media with effusion (OME).STUDY DESIG...
The role of the kidney biopsy in the treatment of lupus nephritis.

The renal biopsy plays an important role in the clinical evaluation of patients with lupus erythematosus. From numerous studies of renal biopsies in lupus nephritis, it has become clear that although the renal lesions are quite varied, the pattern of renal involvement correlates with the clinical outcome. The broad spectrum of lesions seen in lupus nephritis has been attributed to individual differences in the immune response in different patients or in the same patient during the course of disease. Classification of lupus nephritis authorized by the World Health Organization has provided a standardized approach to the findings on renal biopsy. This classification combines all of the morphologic modalities of biopsy interpretation including light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy as well as providing a semiquantitative assessment of activity and chronicity. The clinical correlations utilizing this histologic classifications have demonstrated that the specific nature of the renal histopathology ...
Design and testing of a large airborne phased array

Two large airborne phased-array antennas were designed and built for two E-9A aircraft in support of missile testing over the Gulf of Mexico. The antenna is a one-dimensional scan, multiple-channel phased array with a length of 30 ft and a height of 30 in that operates at 2.2 to 2.4 GHz. The design approach and performance testing are described. An important measure of antenna performance is its gain-to-temperature ratio (G/T). Based on the mission requirements, the antenna had to achieve a minimum G/T of 5.1 dB over the entire scan volume (+or-60 in azimuth and altitudes from sea level to 25000 ft). Much of the antenna design and testing activities focused on meeting this G/T requirement in an airborne environment. The calculated and measured G/T values with the main beam electrically steered to broadside are compared. The G/T is about 5 dB lower at +or-60 degrees than at broadside. >
Psychological Well-Being in the Early Life Course: Variations by Socioeconomic Status, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity.

Our analysis focuses on the implications of social status characteristics for children's psychological well-being. Drawing on social evaluation theories and stress-based explanations, we hypothesiz...
Thread motion: fine-grained power management for multi-core systems

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) is a commonly-used power-management scheme that dynamically adjusts power and performance to the time-varying needs of running programs. Unfortunately, conventional DVFS, relying on off-chip regulators, faces limitations in terms of temporal granularity and high costs when considered for future multi-core systems. To overcome these challenges, this paper presents thread motion (TM), a fine-grained power-management scheme for chip multiprocessors (CMPs). Instead of incurring the high cost of changing the voltage and frequency of different cores, TM enables rapid movement of threads to adapt the time-varying computing needs of running applications to a mixture of cores with fixed but different power/performance levels. Results show that for the same power budget, two voltage/frequency levels are sufficient to provide performance gains commensurate to idealized scenarios using per-core voltage control. Thread motion extends workload-based power management into the nanosecond realm and, for a given power budget, provides up to 20% better performance than coarse-grained DVFS.
Latino recruitment to cancer prevention/screening trials in the Southwest: setting a research agenda.

Abstract Examples of cancer prevention and screening trials in the Southwest are reviewed as a platform for highlighting gaps in research on Latino recruitment. Three trials are described, using “message/source/channel” categories as a framework. Each trial engaged community members to facilitate recruitment and developed tailored strategies to meet challenges emerging after recruitment began. Although we affirm that culturally relevant messages, community member referral networks, and adjustment to community realities seem important to Latino recruitment, current anecdotal and research findings do not allow evidence-based recommendations to be made. We suggest a research agenda to further illuminate critical factors for successful Latino recruitment.
Building Reliable Data Pipelines for Managing Community Data Using Scientific Workflows

The growing amount of scientific data from sensors and field observations is posing a challenge to “data valets” responsible for managing them in data repositories. These repositories built on commodity clusters need to reliably ingest data continuously and ensure its availability to a wide user community. Workflows provide several benefits to modeling data-intensive science applications and many of these benefits can help manage the data ingest pipelines too. But using workflows is not panacea in itself and data valets need to consider several issues when designing workflows that behave reliably on fault prone hardware while retaining the consistency of the scientific data. In this paper, we propose workflow designs for reliable data ingest in a distributed environment and identify workflow framework features to support resilience. We illustrate these using the data pipeline for the Pan-STARRS repository, one of the largest digital surveys that accumulates 100TB of data annually to support 300 astronomers.
Co-channel speaker segment separation

A novel approach to co-channel speaker separation is presented here. The technique uses the statistical properties of combinations of high Target-to-Interferer Ratio (TIR) speech segments, which were extracted from a 0 dB overall TIR co-channel utterance. The problem is broken down into making three simpler decisions. First, closed-set speaker identification technology is used on combinations of high TIR speech segments to determine which speakers are generating the co-channel speech. Next, the proportion of segments belonging to each speaker is estimated using a bimodal model. Lastly, a maximum likelihood decision is made as to which two combinations of segments best represent the two speakers. Using this approach at least one of the speakers could readily be identified when the speaker contributed a segment that was 160 ms or more in length. Once the speakers were determined, greater than 90% reliable speaker separation was obtained.
Determination of the cellulase activity distribution in Clostridium thermocellum and Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis cultures using a fluorescent substrate

This study took advantage of resorufin cellobioside as a fluorescent substrate to determine the distribution of cellulase activity in cellulosic biomass fermentation systems. Cellulolytic biofilms were found to express nearly four orders greater cellulase activity compared to planktonic cultures of Clostridium thermocellum and Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis, which can be primarily attributed to the high cell concentration and surface attachment. The formation of biofilms results in cellulases being secreted close to their substrates, which appears to be an energetically favorable stategy for insoluble substrate utilization. For the same reason, cellulases should be closely associated with the surfaces of suspended cell in soluble substrate-fed culture, which has been verified with cellobiose-fed cultures of C. thermocellum and C. obsidiansis. This study addressed the importance of cellulase activity distribution in cellulosic biomass fermentation, and provided theoretical foundation for the leading role of biofilm in cellulose degradation. System optimization and reactor designs that promote biofilm formation in cellulosic biomass hydrolysis may promise an improved cellulosic biofuel process.
TESTING FOR CONFLICTING AND NONADDITIVE SELECTION: FLORAL ADAPTATION TO MULTIPLE POLLINATORS THROUGH MALE AND FEMALE FITNESS

Although conflicting selection from different resources is thought to play a critical role in the evolution of specialized species, the prevalence of conflicting selection in generalists is poorly understood. Plants may experience conflicting selection on floral traits by different pollinators and between genders. Using artificial selection to increase phenotypic variation, we tested for conflicting and nonadditive selection on wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) flowers. To do this, we measured selection by each of the major pollinator taxa through both male and female fitness, and tested for a single-generation response to selection by a subset of these pollinators. We found some evidence for conflicting selection on anther exsertion—-sweat bees exerted stabilizing selection and larger bees selected for increased exsertion. Stamen dimorphism was only under selection by honey bees, causing a response to selection in the next generation, and flower size was under similar selection by multiple pollinators. Selection differed significantly between genders for two traits, but there was no evidence for stronger selection through male fitness or for conflicting selection between genders. Our results suggest wild radish flowers can adapt to multiple pollinators, as we found little evidence for conflicting selection and no evidence for nonadditive selection among pollinators.
Primacy-Recency Effects in Impression Formation and Congruity-Incongruity of Stimulus Material:

To assess the effects of congruity of stimulus material upon subsequent impression formations 120 students in introductory psychology were tested in either a congruent, incongruent or a comparison ...
CO2 digital subtraction splenoportography with the "skinny" needle: experimental study in a swine model.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and the effectiveness of CO2 splenoportography with the “skinny” needle. Methods: A flexible, 22 gauge needle (“skinny” needle) was introduced into the exteriorized spleens of five pigs. After checking the intrasplenic positioning with CO2 injection, increasing doses of CO2 (10 –6 0 cm 3 ) were injected using a dedicated CO2 injector with digital imaging. The puncture sites were observed during and after CO2 injections, and after removal of the needle. The spleens were then removed for gross and microscopic examination. Results: In all animals digital subtraction CO2 splenoportograms showed the splenic, extra- and intrahepatic portal veins, and the most distal portion of the superior mesenteric vein. No CO2 extravasation occurred in the spleen. There was no significant bleeding from the puncture site after removal of the needle. Gross and microscopic examination revealed no evidence of splenic rupture or intrasplenic hematoma. Conclusion: CO2 splenoportography with the “skinny” needle is a safe and simple method of visualizing the portal vein and its branches. Careful appraisals of the clinical usefulness of the method will be needed in various clinical settings.
Nanotechnology in the development of future computing systems

Nanoelectronics based on carbon nanotubes and organic molecules as the conducting material has been receiving increasing attention as an alternative to silicon CMOS based computing technology. These new device technologies require development of novel circuits and architectures to be technically feasible and economically viable. We provide an overview of this subject along with opportunities and challenges.
Totipotency, pluripotency and nuclear reprogramming.

Mammalian development commences with the totipotent zygote which is capable of developing into all the specialized cells that make up the adult animal. As development unfolds, cells of the early embryo proliferate and differentiate into the first two lineages, the pluripotent inner cell mass and the trophectoderm. Pluripotent cells can be isolated, adapted and propagated indefinitely in vitro in an undifferentiated state as embryonic stem cells (ESCs). ESCs retain their ability to differentiate into cells representing the three major germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm or ectoderm or any of the 200+ cell types present in the adult body. Since many human diseases result from defects in a single cell type, pluripotent human ESCs represent an unlimited source of any cell or tissue type for replacement therapy thus providing a possible cure for many devastating conditions. Pluripotent cells resembling ESCs can also be derived experimentally by the nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells. Reprogrammed somatic cells may have an even more important role in cell replacement therapies since the patient’s own somatic cells can be used for reprogramming thereby eliminating immune based rejection of transplanted cells. In this review, we summarize two major approaches to reprogramming: (1) somatic cell nuclear transfer and (2) direct reprogramming using genetic manipulations.
Thin film cracking modulated by underlayer creep

In devices that integrate dissimilar materials in small dimensions, crack extension in one material often accompanies inelastic deformation in another. In this paper we analyze a channel crack advancing in an elastic film, while an underlayer creeps. The film is subject to a tensile stress. As the underlayer creeps, the stress field in the film relaxes in the crack wake, and intensifies around the crack tip. In a blanket film, the crack can attain a steady velocity, set by two rate processes: subcritical decohesion at the crack tip, and creep in the underlayer. In a thin-film microbridge over a viscous stripe, the crack cannot grow when the bridge is short, and can grow at a steady velocity when the bridge is long. We use a two-dimensional shear lag model to approximate the three-dimensional fracture process, and an extended finite element method to simulate the moving crack with an invariant, relatively coarse mesh. On the basis of the theoretical findings, we propose new experiments to measure fracture toughness and creep laws in small structures. As a byproduct, an analytical formula is found for the growth rate per temperature cycle of a channel crack in a brittle film, induced by ratcheting plastic deformation in a metal underlayer.
Assessing multiple endpoints of atrazine ingestion on gravid northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) and their offspring

Ecotoxicological studies that focus on a single endpoint might not accurately and completely represent the true ecological effects of a contaminant. Exposure to atrazine, a widely used herbicide, disrupts endocrine function and sexual development in amphibians, but studies involving live-bearing reptiles are lacking. This study tracks several effects of atrazine ingestion from female Northern Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) to their offspring exposed in utero. Twenty-five gravid N. sipedon were fed fish dosed with one of the four levels of atrazine (0, 2, 20, or 200 ppb) twice weekly for the entirety of their gestation period. Endpoints for the mothers included blood estradiol levels measured weekly and survival more than 3 months. Endpoints for the offspring included morphometrics, clutch sex ratio, stillbirth, and asymmetry of dorsal scales and jaw length. Through these multiple endpoints, we show that atrazine ingestion can disrupt estradiol production in mothers, increase the likelihood of mortality from infection, alter clutch sex ratio, cause a higher proportion of stillborn offspring, and affect scale symmetry. We emphasize the need for additional research involving other reptile species using multiple endpoints to determine the full range of impacts of contaminant exposure.
On Communicating the Value of Basic Physics Research to the Public

The Argument that basic scientic research is of value is a strong one, but may not be always communicated very well to the public. As a result, even though the public overwhelmingly supports science, it may not always support important basic physics research projects. This can have denite consequences on policy decisions, as happened when the superconducting supercollider was shut down after pouring 2 billion dollars into it. This article makes six recommendations, directed primarily at physicists, but also more generally applicable to all scientists, to help communicate the value of basic physics research to the public more eectively. Doing this is especially important now, as we nd ourselves at a juncture at which the United States appears to be on the verge of abdicating its leadership role in many areas of science and technology.
Per capita invasion probabilities: an empirical model to predict rates of invasion via ballast water.

Ballast water discharges are a major source of species introductions into marine and estuarine ecosystems. To mitigate the introduction of new invaders into these ecosystems, many agencies are proposing standards that establish upper concentration limits for organisms in ballast discharge. Ideally, ballast discharge standards will be biologically defensible and adequately protective of the marine environment. We propose a new technique, the per capita invasion probability (PCIP), for managers to quantitatively evaluate the relative risk of different concentration-based ballast water discharge standards. PCIP represents the likelihood that a single discharged organism will become established as a new nonindigenous species. This value is calculated by dividing the total number of ballast water invaders per year by the total number of organisms discharged from ballast. Analysis was done at the coast-wide scale for the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, as well as the Great Lakes, to reduce uncertainty due to secondary invasions between estuaries on a single coast. The PCIP metric is then used to predict the rate of new ballast-associated invasions given various regulatory scenarios. Depending upon the assumptions used in the risk analysis, this approach predicts that approximately one new species will invade every 10-100 years with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) discharge standard of ,10 organisms with body size .50 lm per m 3 of ballast. This approach resolves many of the limitations associated with other methods of establishing ecologically sound discharge standards, and it allows policy makers to use risk-based methodologies to establish biologically defensible discharge standards.
Sources of Stress and Support and Maternal Resources of Homeless Teenage Mothers

PROBLEM: Homeless families headed by young mothers are increasing. This preliminary study describes the characteristics of 17 homeless teenage mothers (HTM). METHODS: HTMs completed questionnaires researching depression, self-esteem, maternal competence, and sources of stress and support. FINDINGS: HTMs had positive maternal competence and self-esteem scores. When compared to housed mothers, HTMs were younger, had more depressive symptoms and negative life events, and fewer social supports. CONCLUSIONS: HTMs represent a high-risk group with fewer available supports and many complex life stressors. School-based programs can benefit HTMs by offering support, helping them continue their education, and assisting with on-site school-based childcare.
An Imaging Ammeter for Electrochemical Measurements

A method for imaging local electrochemical current density uses light scattered from probe particles proximate to an electrode. A 5.5 μm particle near a working electrode (WE) scattered light more intensely or less intensely as a function of local current density. The light intensity correlated with the measured current. A current density of 1 A/m 2 was easily resolved. Fair agreement between the measured superficial current density and current density calculated from the light scattering intensity was achieved. The results demonstrate a method for imaging spatially varying electrochemical reaction rates with high resolution.
Flicker: an execution infrastructure for tcb minimization

We present Flicker, an infrastructure for executing security-sensitive code in complete isolation while trusting as few as 250 lines of additional code. Flicker can also provide meaningful, fine-grained attestation of the code executed (as well as its inputs and outputs) to a remote party. Flicker guarantees these properties even if the BIOS, OS and DMA-enabled devices are all malicious. Flicker leverages new commodity processors from AMD and Intel and does not require a new OS or VMM. We demonstrate a full implementation of Flicker on an AMD platform and describe our development environment for simplifying the construction of Flicker-enabled code.
Region segmentation and shape characterisation for tessellated CAD models

Tessellated computer aided design CAD models are extensively used in CAD/computer aided manufacturing applications. One challenge in manipulating tessellated CAD models is to segment the facets of a tessellated model into different groups that carry distinct geometrical properties. In this article a method is proposed that can automatically detect convex and concave regions on a tessellated CAD model and further to characterise their shapes. The method starts at clustering triangular facets based on local convexity of each facet with its neighbourhood. It classifies triangular facets on an STL file into local convex group, local concave group and mixed group, based on the relation of each facet normal with its neighbouring facets. Subsequently, shape recognition on the detected regions is conducted using Gaussian Image formation and Point Distribution distance algorithm. Examples are shown to demonstrate the capability of the algorithm in characterising basic shapes out of those segmented facet clusters.
A Fidelity Adaptive Modeling Framework for Combustion Systems Based on Model Trust-Region

In numerical predictions of turbulent reacting flows, the selection of a particular combustion model remains an area where there is no well-established systematic procedures. Often, expert knowledge and even experimental measurements are required to make an informed decision on the particular choice of a combustion model. Furthermore, the computational cost that is associated with a combustion model is another constraint in the selection process. To date, there has yet to be a general high fidelity combustion model that is computationally tractable for a large class of realistic combustion devices. In this work, a fidelity adaptive modeling (FAM) framework for combustion problems is developed to alleviate some of these issues. With minimal user input, this modeling framework is designed to automatically utilize the most appropriate combustion model locally in reacting flow simulations. This framework is demonstrated in an application to steady tribrachial flame, representing a challenging test case to single-regime reaction-diffusion manifold models. By utilizing reaction-diffusion manifold models in regions where they are accurate for a user-defined threshold, simulations with the FAM approach are able to reproduce results comparable to the detailed chemistry simulation. ∗Research Assistant, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University, AIAA Member. †Research Assistant, Flow Physics and Computational Engineering, Stanford University, AIAA Member. ‡Professor, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University, AIAA Member.
Length-Dependent Contractile Dynamics are Blunted Upon Ablation of Cardiac Myosin Binding Protein-C

Enhanced cardiac contractile function due to increased sarcomere length (SL) is, in part, mediated by a decrease in the radial distance between myosin heads and actin. The radial disposition of myosin heads relative to actin is modulated by cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C), suggesting that cMyBP-C contributes to the length-dependent activation (LDA) in the myocardium. However, the precise role of cMyBP-C in modulating cardiac LDA is unclear. To determine the impact of cMyBP-C on LDA, we measured isometric force, myofilament Ca2+-sensitivity (pCa50) and length-dependent crossbridge (XB) contractile dynamics in skinned ventricular muscle fibers isolated from the hearts of wild-type (WT) and cMyBP-C knockout (KO) mice, at SL's 1.9µm or 2.1µm. Our results show that maximal force was not significantly different between KO and WT fibers. pCa50 was not significantly different between WT and KO fibers at long SL (5.82±0.02 in WT vs. 5.87±0.02 in KO), whereas pCa50 was significantly different between WT and KO fibers at short SL (5.71±0.02 in WT vs. 5.80±0.01 in KO; p<0.05). The rate of force redevelopment (ktr), measured at submaximal Ca2+-activation, was significantly accelerated at short SL in WT fibers (8.74±0.43s-1at 1.9µm vs. 5.71±0.40s-1at 2.1µm, p<0.05). Furthermore, the rates of stretch-induced XB relaxation (krel) and XB recruitment (kdf) were accelerated by 32% and 70%, respectively at short SL in WT fibers. In contrast, ktr was not significantly different between both SL's in KO fibers (8.03±0.54s-1at 1.9µm vs. 8.90±0.37s-1at 2.1µm). Furthermore, KO fibers did not exhibit length-dependent differences in krel and kdf -suggesting that LDA is severely depressed in KO fibers. Collectively, our data indicate that cMyBP-C plays a central role in modulating cardiac LDA.
Water consumption: Emotionally produced facilitation or suppression?

Four groups of rats were tested for water consumption following exposure to novel or noxious stimuli. Facilitation of drinking was obtained if the Ss were given four novel or shock experiences prior to drinking whereas suppression was obtained if only one novel or noxious experience preceeded the drinking test.
Control effect of emulsifiable concentrate of JWX-I against mosquitoes and flies

Objective To evaluate the control effect of emulsifiable concentrate of JWX-Ⅰagainst mosquitoes and flies.Methods Bioassay,simulated field test,field test and stability test.Results The KT50s of JWX-Ⅰwere 5.15 and 3.33 min against Culex pipiens pallens and Musca domestica when diluted 100 times with water at the spraying dose of 1.43 ml/m3.The mortality rates of 24 h and knockdown rates of 1 h in lab bioassay and simulated field test were 100% to both insects.In the army encampments,the application of 1.8 mg ai/m2 JWX-Ⅰ controlled 95.45% of mosquitoes.Stored at room temperature for two years,JWX-Ⅰstill had good control effect against Culex pipiens pallens and Musca domestica.Conclusion JWX-Ⅰis a formulation of high effect,quick-acting and good stability,suitable for army use.
Inverse regression-based uncertainty quantification algorithms for high-dimensional models

Many uncertainty quantification (UQ) approaches suffer from the curse of dimensionality, that is, their computational costs become intractable for problems involving a large number of uncertainty parameters. In these situations, the classic Monte Carlo often remains the preferred method of choice because its convergence rate O ( n - 1 / 2 ) , where n is the required number of model simulations, does not depend on the dimension of the problem. However, many high-dimensional UQ problems are intrinsically low-dimensional, because the variation of the quantity of interest (QoI) is often caused by only a few latent parameters varying within a low-dimensional subspace, known as the sufficient dimension reduction (SDR) subspace in the statistics literature. Motivated by this observation, we propose two inverse regression-based UQ algorithms (IRUQ) for high-dimensional problems. Both algorithms use inverse regression to convert the original high-dimensional problem to a low-dimensional one, which is then efficiently solved by building a response surface for the reduced model, for example via the polynomial chaos expansion. The first algorithm, which is for the situations where an exact SDR subspace exists, is proved to converge at rate O ( n - 1 ) , hence much faster than MC. The second algorithm, which doesn't require an exact SDR, employs the reduced model as a control variate to reduce the error of the MC estimate. The accuracy gain could still be significant, depending on how well the reduced model approximates the original high-dimensional one. IRUQ also provides several additional practical advantages: it is non-intrusive; it does not require computing the high-dimensional gradient of the QoI; and it reports an error bar so the user knows how reliable the result is.
Transglutaminases and Neurological Diseases

Transglutaminases, and predominantly transglutaminase 2 (TG2), have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of neurological conditions. In the context of older-age onset neurodegenerative diseases that are characterized by protein aggregates, it was initially postulated that transglutaminases contributed to the pathogenic process by crosslinking and facilitating aggregate formation. However, more recent studies have provided evidence that although TG2, and possibly other transglutaminases, likely contribute to the progression of certain neurodegenerative diseases, this probably does not involve crosslinking and the formation of insoluble protein aggregates. Indeed, there is growing evidence that TG2 could be a contributing factor in neurological diseases through mechanisms such as modulating transcriptional events, affecting cell migration and adhesion, or altering cellular differentiation processes. In this chapter, neurological diseases in which transglutaminases have been implicated as a contributing factor are discussed. The chapter will conclude with a discussion about cystamine, a non-specific in vitro inhibitor of transglutaminases, as a neuroprotective agent.
Physics of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) are delivered by complicated systems with advanced treatment and imaging capabilities. Therefore, clinical validation of treatment planning, linac delivery, and imaging systems must be validated rigorously, both by performing end-to-end measurements and also by using third-party phantoms, such as that provided by IROC (Imaging and Radiation Oncology Corte), before using the system clinically. Routine quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) must be strictly maintained to ensure delivery accuracy and patient safety.
Identification of non-reported bupropion metabolites in human plasma

Bupropion and its three active metabolites exhibit clinical efficacy in the treatment of major depression, seasonal depression and smoking cessation. The pharmacokinetics of bupropion in humans is highly variable. It is not known if there are any non-reported metabolites formed in humans in addition to the three known active metabolites. This paper reports newly identified and non-reported metabolites of bupropion in human plasma samples. Human subjects were dosed with a single oral dose of 75 mg of an immediate release bupropion HCl tablet. Plasma samples were collected and analysed by LC-MS/MS at 0, 6 and 24 h. Two non-reported metabolites (M1 and M3) were identified with mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios of 276 (M1, hydration of bupropion) and 258 (M3, hydroxylation of threo/erythrohydrobupropion) from human plasma in addition to the known hydroxybupropion, threo/erythrohydrobupropion and the glucuronidation products of the major metabolites (M2 and M4-M7). These new metabolites may provide new insight and broaden the understanding of bupropion's variability in clinical pharmacokinetics. © 2016 The Authors Biopharmaceutics & Drug Disposition Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Study of QFN Pre-tape Material Characteristics & Impacts to Assembly Performance

QFN leadframe is laminated with adhesive tape on the exposed pads side to prevent resin bleed during encapsulation. The material characteristics of three major adhesive types: silicone-based, acrylic and thermoplastic were studied in this project. This paper discusses the differences of the three tapes in terms of material properties and correlation to their assembly performance. The impact of laminated tape to assembly process is of interest as the primary goal of this study is to identify the most suitable material that guarantees desirable process yield at semiconductor backend assembly process ( from die attached process to molding), product quality and at the same time without introducing extra cost in cleaning the adhesive residue after tape removal.