cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Earliest Carboniferous cooling step triggered by the Antler orogeny

We report a large, positive, carbon isotope excursion in the Kinderhookian Stage of the Lower Mississippian in North America and propose that the excursion is linked to the Antler orogeny. The δ13C excursion reaches +7.1‰ in the upper part of the Joana Limestone in southeast Nevada and correlates with peaks recognized in Europe and elsewhere in North America. This isotopic shift, one of the largest known Phanerozoic δ13C events, is found within the upper part of the Siphonodella isosticha –Upper crenulata conodont Zone; its formation coincided with a time of rapid subsidence of the Joana platform within the Antler foreland basin. We interpret the large changes in δ13C values to reflect enhanced organic carbon burial rates in response to tectonic deepening followed by creation of a restricted water mass at depth in the Antler foredeep and other foredeeps of similar age. The presence of a large δ13C excursion in the upper part of the S. isosticha Zone is consistent with a late Kinderhookian (Tournaisian) glacial episode.
Numerical investigation of internal vortex structure in two dimensional, incompressible Richtmyer-Meshkov flows

Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability occurs when one fluid is impulsively accelerated into a second fluid, such that ρ1 ≠ ρ2 . This research numerically investigates RM instabilities between incompressible media, similar to the experiments reported by Niederhaus & Jacobs [1]. A two-dimensional, finite-volume numerical algorithm has been developed to solve the variable density Navier-Stokes equations explicitly on a Cartesian, co-located grid. In previous calculations, no physical viscosity was implemented; however, small scale fluctuations were damped by the numerical algorithm. In contrast, current simulations incorporate the physical viscosities reported by Niederhaus & Jacobs [1] and are explicitly used. Calculations of volume fraction and momentum advections are second-order accurate in space. Unphysical oscillations due to the higher-order advection scheme are minimized through the use of a Van Leer flux limiting algorithm. An initial velocity impulse [2] has been used to model the impulsive acceleration history found in the experiments of Niederhaus & Jacobs [1]. Both inviscid and viscous simulations result in similar growth rates for the interpenetration of one fluid into another. However, the inviscid simulations (i.e. no explicit viscosity) are unable to capture the full dynamics of the internal vortex structure that exists between the two fluids due to the absence of viscous effects.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
A threshold cherenkov counter for isotopic identification of high-energy heavy ions☆

Abstract We have developed an apparatus for isotope identification of heavy-ion projectile fragments with energies from ≃ 330 to 600 MeV/nucleon. The detector uses a Cherenkov intensity measurement inconjunction with a measurement of magnetic rigidity to determine mass. An advantage of this technique is that it allows isotope identification of projectile fragments with higher energies than are possible for “stopping type” detectors. Higher fragment energies allow the use of much thicker targets and, therefore, provide higher sensitivity to rare isotopes. In a recent test of the apparatus using a 670 MeV/nucleon 20Ne beam and a 30 g/cm2 aluminum target a mass resolution of σA=0.2 amu was obtained for projectile fragments with charges 5 ⩽ Z ⩽9.
Electro-optic and nonlinear optical polymers and devices

Early work at Hoechst Celanese1 demonstrated that methacrylate polymers with mesogenic side chains could be made with reasonably large electro-optic activity. The mesogenic side chains are polar so that a non-centrosymmetric structure can be obtained by heating a film near its Tg in a strong d.c. electric field and thus orienting the side chains. In Figure 1, the general structure of methacrylate based electro-optic polymers using polar nitro-stilbene chromophores is shown.
Incremental algorithms for digital simulation

Abstract Incremental simulation implies a simulator that runs in time proportional to the size and implications of design changes instead of the size of the circuit under simulation. The incremental property of the hardware design process is exploited to reduce the number of component evaluations, thus to achieve run-time performance improvement. To accomplish the incremental simulation, the proposed algorithms maintain a history of the circuit state transitions during simulation run and resimulate only portions of the circuit, whose structure/behavior has been modified ( incremental-in-space ) or whose activities deviate from their history ( incremental-in-time ). This paper describes and compares two incremental algorithms for digital simulation: the incremental-in-space and incremental-in-time algorithms.
Structural uniqueness of lactose operator

The represser binding capacity of λplac DNA was maximally reduced by as few as 2–5 cuts by either of two single-strand specific nucleases. But approximately 300 cuts by three nonspecific nicking agents were necessary to give the same effect.
Aggravation of postcardioversion atrial dysfunction by sotalol.

Objectives. This study determined the effect of sotalol on atrial function after electrical cardioversion of atrial fibrillation. Background. After electrical cardioversion of atrial fibrillation, the Doppler mitral A wave is often diminished, representing impaired atrial contractile function. Sotalol is an effective atrial antiarrhythmic drug with class III and beta-adrenergic blocking properties. Although the negative inotropic effect of sotalol on the ventricle is minimal in patients with normal ventricular function, it may manifest negative inotropy when ventricular function is impaired. We postulated that after cardioversion, when intrinsic atrial function is impaired, sotalol may have an adverse effect on the atrium. Methods. Thirty-seven patients enrolled in a randomized, double-blind study of sotalol for maintenance of sinus rhythm were studied by quantitative Doppler echocardiography within 24 h of electrical cardioversion and, for those still in sinus rhythm, again at 1 month. Doppler variables (E and A wave velocities and integrals) in patients receiving sotalol were compared with those in patients receiving placebo. Result. After electrical cardioversion, peak A wave velocity and A wave time-velocity integral in the 20 patients receiving placebo were reduced compared with normal values. In the 17 patients receiving sotalol (median dose 320 mg twice daily) these variables were further reduced (mean [±SD] peak A wave velocity 19.4 ± 5.5 vs. 38.4 ± 14.7 cm/s, p Conclusions. After electrical cardioversion, when atrial stunning is prominent, sotalol has a negative atrial inotropic effect. This effect may be temporary, as suggested by resolution at 1 month. Negative inotropic effects of antiarrhythmic drugs on the atrium should be considered in assessing Doppler variables of left ventricular filling.
Single-Cycle Bit Permutations with MOMR Execution

Secure computing paradigms impose new architectural challenges for general-purpose processors. Cryptographic processing is needed for secure communications, storage, and computations. We identify two categories of operations in symmetric-key and public-key cryptographic algorithms that are not common in previous general-purpose workloads: advanced bit operations within a word and multi-word operations. We define MOMR (Multiple Operands Multiple Results) execution or datarich execution as a unified solution to both challenges. It allows arbitrary n-bit permutations to be achieved in one or two cycles, rather than O(n) cycles as in existing RISC processors. It also enables significant acceleration of multi-word multiplications needed by public-key ciphers. We propose two implementations of MOMR: one employs only hardware changes while the other uses Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) support. We show that MOMR execution leverages available resources in typical multi-issue processors with minimal additional cost. Multi-issue processors enhanced with MOMR units provide additional speedup over standard multi-issue processors with the same datapath. MOMR is a general architectural solution for word-oriented processor architectures to incorporate datarich operations.
Measurement of nonradioactive isotopes of copper in hair with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract A method is reported for tracing dietary enriched (99.61 atom %) nonradioactive 65CU in rat hair. The method is based on the measurement of the two nonradioactive isotopes of copper (i.e., 63 Cu and 65 Cu) in rat hair by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Sodium, known to cause interferences in ICP-MS analyses, was removed by using an ion-exchange procedure. Correlation between the diet and hair element concentration levels have been reported. Controversy in the literature exists about the validity of elemental analyses of hair because elements may be incorporated in hair from the diet and body stores during growth, as well as from environmental sources. Tracing dietary elements in hair during growth would eliminate the uncertainness of this procedure. In nature, copper exists as 69.174 atom % 63 Cu and 30.826 atom % 65 Cu expressed as the 63 Cu/ 65 Cu ratio of 2.2400. Enriched (99.61 atom %) 65 Cu was obtained and used to label the dietary source of copper. Data showed that 50% of the copper in the rat hair of rats gavaged with the enriched 65 Cu isotope was due to 65 Cu and 50% was natural isotope-abundant copper.
Hemorrhagic Shock Induces a Proinflammatory Milieu in the Gut Lumen

Background Intestinal injury is a consequence of hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation. The intestinal mucosa has been shown to respond to ischemia/reperfusion injury with production of inflammatory mediators. Previous work in our laboratory indicates that intestinal epithelial cells secrete proinflammatory cytokines in the direction of both the lamina propria and intestinal lumen. The ability of the intestinal mucosa to transmit inflammatory signals into the gut lumen after hemorrhagic shock is unknown. We hypothesized that hemorrhagic shock results in secretion of proinflammatory cytokines into the gut lumen. Methods Male C57/Bl6 mice underwent femoral artery cannulation and hemorrhage to a systolic blood pressure of 20 mmHg for 1 h, then resuscitation with lactated Ringer’s (LR) solution. Sham animals were cannulated only. Mice were decannulated and sacrificed at intervals. Stool and succus were removed from intestinal segments, weighed, and placed into buffer solution. Specimens were analyzed via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Compared with sham-injured mice, hemorrhagic shock resulted in increased intestinal luminal cytokines. At 3 h after injury, elevated levels of IL-6 were found in the cecal stool. At 6 h after injury, TNFα, IL-6, and MIP-2 were significantly elevated in the cecal stool, and IL-6 and MIP-2 were significantly elevated in the distal colonic stool. Conclusions Hemorrhagic shock results in secretion of proinflammatory cytokines into the intestinal lumen. These findings suggest that the intestinal mucosa may transmit and receive signals in a paracrine fashion via the gut lumen.
Cigarette smoke-induced cell cycle arrest in spermatocytes [GC-2spd(ts)] is mediated through crosstalk between Ahr–Nrf2 pathway and MAPK signaling

Our earlier studies have demonstrated that the cigarette smoke in the form of cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) causes growth arrest of a mouse spermatocyte cell line [GC-2spd(ts)] through activation of the AHR-NRF2 pathway. The present study demonstrates the CSC-activated p38 and ERK MAPK signaling in GC-2spd(ts) via arylhydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Pharmacological inhibition by using AHR-antagonist, or p38 MAPK and ERK (MEK1) inhibitors significantly abrogates CSC-induced growth arrest by AHR and MAPK inactivation. QRT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence of Ahr-target of Nrf2, and stress-inducible growth suppressive Atf3 and E2f4 following treatments indicate a crosstalk among these pathways. Regulation of Atf3 by Nrf2 and Ahr through RNA interference suggests the existence of a cross-regulatory loop between the targets. CSC induction of E2f4 via Atf3 and its regulation by pharmacological inhibitors reveal a possible regulatory mechanism of growth inhibitory CSC. SiRNA silencing of Ahr, Nrf2, Atf3, and E2f4 genes and downregulation of cyclins by CSC corroborate the growth inhibitory effect of cigarette smoke. Thus, the data obtained suggest that the CSC-mediated MAPKs and AHR-NRF2 crosstalks lay the molecular basis for the growth arrest and cell death of spermatocytes.
An outbreak of adult measles by nosocomial transmission in a high vaccination coverage community.

Summary Objectives The aims of this study were to determine the mechanism of an outbreak of measles in adults and to provide scientific measures for putting forward a measles elimination program. Methods We performed a cross-sectional investigation during the measles outbreak to identify a possible communication link. Results From November 1, 2011 to January 26, 2012, the town reported 11 cases of measles in total. The case study identified an obvious propagation chain, which showed ordered and intimate exposure between cases. Conclusions Hospital exposure 1–2 weeks before infection with measles was the main cause of the measles outbreak. We must be fully aware of the possibility of nosocomial infection in an outbreak of measles; controlling nosocomial infections is a vital step in the prevention and control of the propagation of measles.
Using GPU Shaders for Visualization, Part 2

GPU shaders aren't just for special effects. Previously, I looked at some uses for them in visualization. Here, the idea continues. Because visualization relies so much on high speed interaction, we use shaders for the same reason we use them in effects programming: appearance and performance. In the drive to understand large, complex data sets, no method should be overlooked. This article describes two additional visualization applications: line integral convolution (LIC) and terrain bump-mapping. I also comment on the recent (and rapid) changes to OpenGL and what these mean to educators.
Patient perspectives on the role of weight management in type 2 diabetes.

Abstract Aims To examine issues of weight misperception, perceived importance of weight management, and patient reports of their HCP's weight-related recommendations among patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods 575 overweight adults with type 2 diabetes completed a survey that assessed perceptions about weight management and discussions with HCP's about weight issues. Results Among patients with BMI > 30, weight misperception was rare ( 85%). Among overweight patients with BMI Conclusions Most overweight patients with type 2 diabetes recognize the importance of weight management. Patient reports indicate that HCP's are actively engaged in promoting weight loss and that their recommendations, when specific, are associated with patients’ more frequent weight management efforts.
Improved Energy Capture in Series String Photovoltaics via Smart Distributed Power Electronics

This paper proposes an improved module integrated converter to increase energy capture in the photovoltaic (PV) series string. Prototypes for self-powered, high efficiency dc-dc converters that operate with autonomous control for tracking the maximum power of solar panels locally and on a fine scale are simulated, built and tested. The resulting module is a low-cost, reliable smart PV panel that operates independently of the geometry and complexity of the surrounding system. The controller maximizes energy capture by selection of one of three possible modes: buck, boost and pass-through. Autonomous controllers achieve noninteracting maximum power point tracking and a constant string voltage. The proposed module-integrated converters are verified in simulation. Experimental results show that the converter prototype achieves efficiencies of over 95% for most of its operating range. A 3-module PV series string was tested under mismatched solar irradiation conditions and increases of up to 38% power capture were measured.
Synthesis and Recognition Properties of Polymers Containing Embedded Binding Sites

We report the synthesis and guest affinities of polymers featuring a single recognition site in the middle of the polymer chain. These polymers were synthesized from difunctional initiators based o...
The Age Structures and Marital Status Differences of Married and Not Married Male Suicide Rates: 12 Developed Countries

Male suicide rates, circa 1960, specific to age and marital status for 12 developed countries show married men with lower suicide rates than not married men. This results in differences in the age structures of married and not married suicide rates. We test three explanations of lower married than not married suicide rates: 1) Gibbs and Martin's (1964) marital status integration hypothesis; 2) marital status differences in norms regarding the acceptability of suicide; and 3) Durkheim's societal integration theory. All three explanations are supported by multivariate regressions. The strongest support is for societal integration. The models explain over 80% of the variance in both married and not married male age-specific suicide rates. These regression equations generate predicted suicide rates and these predicted rates are then used to see if they account for the observed age structures of married and not married men. They do in 19 of 24 tests.
The Maximum Resource Allocation for Uncertainty Reduction in a Decision-analytic Concept Selection

This article addresses a procedure to identify the maximum resource allocated to uncertainty reduction activity in a decision-analytic product concept selection. Concept selection is one of the most important decisions in product development. Success of a new product depends on the goodness of a concept chosen in the concept selection stage. At the same time, it is one of the most challenging decisions, because engineers need to select a concept facing large degrees of uncertainties about future customer preferences, competitions, economic situations, feasibilities of new technologies, and product costs. Information on a particular uncertain event is sought in order to reduce uncertainty; however, information gathering is meaningful only if the benefit of additional information outweighs the cost of the effort. In decision analysis, the maximum resource allocated to an information gathering effort is defined by the expected value of perfect information (EVPI), which is calculated by assuming that the info...
Displaced persons: symbols of South Asian femininity and the returned gaze in U.S. media culture

The media's showcasing of nose rings, mehndi, and bindis in U.S. fashion is contemporary appropriation of South Asian symbols by Western popular culture. This paper employs a critical analysis of media images of White women adorned in the symbols of Indian femininity to explore the circulating economy of seeing and representation. The theoretical intervention offered here turns on the notion of the Third Eye - the potential for the object of ethnographic spectacle to return the gaze. The analysis reveals that the contemporary ‘ethnic chic’ preserves power hierarchies by locating the White woman as sexual object, and the Indian woman as the disembodied fetish that supports White female sexuality. The implications for South Asian American women include the need to re-imagine sexuality with reference to critical race theory and the potential to return an oppositional gaze.
Culture of endothelial cells isolated from maternal blood using anti‐CD105 and CD133

Objectives We hypothesized that fetal cells in maternal blood that do not respond to hematopoietic culture conditions represent endothelial cells. We investigated whether endothelial progenitor cells of fetal origin may be selected from maternal blood on the basis of their expression of CD133 or CD105 and expanded in culture. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 16 pregnant women (gestational age: 11 to 24 weeks) were labeled with magnetic beads coupled to anti-CD133 or anti-CD105. Selection of labeled cells was performed using MACS. Resulting CD133+, CD105+, and CD133−/CD105− cell fractions were placed in culture in conditions favoring endothelial cells for 7 days (positive fractions) to 30 days (depleted fractions). Cells from women carrying male fetuses were analyzed by conventional PCR (SRY primers) for detection of male cells. Results Expansion of cells isolated from all subjects occurred in each of the cell fractions. No PCR products consistent with the presence of male cells were detected in women carrying male fetuses. Conclusion CD133+ and CD105+ cells isolated from maternal blood can be expanded in vitro under endothelial conditions. These cells appear to be of maternal, rather than fetal, origin. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Postsecondary Correctional Education Recognizing and Overcoming Barriers to Success

Postsecondary programs offering vocational training and college credit to eligible inmates have had difficulty finding a place in the U.S. correctional system. Politically motivated restrictions preventing inmates from receiving federal funds for college resulted in drastic program closures. Although new laws restored funding to select inmates, enrollment in postsecondary correctional education only recently reached pre-cutback levels (established in the late 1980s). This is set in contrast to the significant increases in U.S. prison populations and spending that have occurred since the early 1990s. Contextual issues specific to the correctional system and ideological conflicts between the prison educator and prison staff may further impair enrollment and program completion. Through review of the political and contextual issues influencing the modern design of postsecondary prison education, this work seeks to propose best practices that may support the unique learning needs of the adult learner in the co...
A Novel Prioritized Control Scheme Using Random Access Period Control for Wide Area Ubiquitous Wireless Networks

In wide area ubiquitous wireless networks, most wireless terminals (WTs) will transmit small amounts of data at comparatively long intervals. Therefore, each AP must be capable of accommodating a great many WTs. Moreover, this network is required to accommodate a variety of services; some services need to be prioritized. In this paper, we propose a novel prioritized control scheme that applies random access to wide area ubiquitous wireless networks. Two kinds of priority classes are considered; high priority (HP) class and low priority (LP) class. The transmission performance of HP class must be guaranteed regardless of LP class traffic situation. To meet this requirement, the proposed scheme isolates the random access (RA) periods of the two classes and controls the RA period for HP class according to the HP class traffic situation, which is predicted from the HP event notification history (event here means that a WT has HP traffic to send). This paper also clarifies the problems of the conventional scheme and reveals the transmission performance of the conventional and proposed scheme by computer simulation.
CCL2 Expression in Primary Ovarian Carcinoma Is Correlated with Chemotherapy Response and Survival Outcomes

CCL2, a chemokine, is expressed in normal human ovarian epithelium but down-regulated in ovarian adenocarcinomas. The association of CCL2 expression with chemotherapy response, invasion and survival outcomes was studied in patients with primary ovarian cancer (OC) and in ovarian cancer cell lines (OCCLs). Tumor specimens (>80% tumor) from patients with primary, advanced serous OC obtained at the time of cytoreductive surgery was used to isolate total RNA. The CCL2 gene expression evaluated by RT-PCR was investigated in relation to chemo-response/clinical outcomes in the OC patients and to sensitivity to cisplatin/paclitaxel in the OCCLs. In vitro invasion was measured by matrigel invasion and matrixmetallo-proteinase-9 (MMP-9) zymogram assays. Thirty-seven patients were included. In multivariable analyses that adjusted for the impact of debulking status, the CCL2 mRNA expression was correlated with objective complete response (p = 0.01), chemosensitivity (p = 0.04), and progression-free survival (PFS; p = 0.006). These findings were corroborated in vitro in the OCCLs. The cells expressing higher levels of CCL2 were more sensitive to paclitaxel and cisplatin as compared to those lines expressing lower levels of this chemokine. Up-regulation of CCL2 in the PAT-7 cell line further enhanced the response of these cells to paclitaxel (p = 0.0001) and led to decreased invasion (p = 0.0009). Increased ovarian tumoral expression of CCL2 is associated with improved chemoresponse and survival outcomes, and higher levels of CCL2 in ovarian cancer cell lines are associated with increased chemosensitivity and decreased invasion in vitro.
A Characterization of separable polynomials over a skew polynomial ring

The characterization of a separable polynomial over an indecomposable commutative ring (with no idempotents but 0 and 1) in terms of the discriminant proved by G. J. Janusz is generalized to a skew polynomial ring R [ X, ρ] over a not necessarily commutative ring R where ρ is an automorphism of R with a finite order. 1980 Mathematics subject classification (Amer. Math. Soc.): 16 A 05.
Sex-specific effects of an insulin secretagogue in stroke-prone hypertensive rats

Glyburide, an insulin secretagogue and an insulin-sensitizing agent, lowers blood pressure in normal male and female dogs when administered acutely. Because insulin resistance may contribute to spontaneous hypertension in rats, we sought to determine if long-term administration of glyburide (5 mg/kg per day by diet, age 5 weeks to 5 months) would lower blood pressure in male and female stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. Arterial (aortic) rings from these rats were incubated with insulin in vitro (100 mU/mL) 1 hour before and during phenylephrine-induced contraction to determine if long-term glyburide administration improves vascular sensitivity to the intrinsic vasodilator action of insulin. Glyburide, however, significantly increased blood pressures and ratios of heart weight to body weight in 5-month-old female rats (+20 mm Hg diastolic, P < .05), with no significant change noted in male rats (+4 mm Hg diastolic). Glyburide increased plasma insulin levels (twofold, P < .04) in female but not in male rats. Glyburide did not affect plasma glucose or catecholamine levels. After incubation with insulin, aortic to rings from glyburide-treated female rats demonstrated more than 40% greater contractile responsiveness the phenylephrine compared with aortic rings from control female rats (P < .04). This insulin-dependent increase in phenylephrine-induced contraction consisted of a reversal in the in vitro action of insulin, from attenuation to accentuation of such contraction (P < .05). This change was not seen in male rats. Neither gender, glyburide, nor insulin influenced acetylcholine-induced relaxation of phenylephrine-induced contraction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fatty Acid Regulation of Gene Transcription

Dietary fat has a dual role in human physiology: a) it functions as a source of energy and structural components for cells; b) it functions as a regulator of gene expression that impacts lipid, car...
Postgraduate year does not influence operating time in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background. Surgical resident education may contribute to increased operating time, thus increasing costs at teaching institutions. It is possible that junior residents, in particular, with less experience could contribute to longer operating times for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We hypothesized that all general surgery residents, regardless of level of training and with proper supervision, could complete a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a safe and timely fashion. Materials and methods. A retrospective study was performed using data collected from laparoscopic cholecystectomies completed under the supervision of one attending surgeon over a 2-year period. Operating times were recorded, the operating surgeon was identified, and cases were assigned an acuity level based on pathologic findings. Operative times were compared after dividing surgeons into three groups (junior residents, senior residents, and staff). Results. Seventy-one cases were entered into the study. There were no differences when comparing mean operating times among the three groups (P = 0.2, analysis of variance). The pathologic acuity in each group was similar (P = 0.8, Fisher's exact test). There was a difference when evaluating the operating times for the pathologic level of acuity (P = 0.002, Kruskal–Wallis test). Conclusions. Resident level does not affect the operating time in performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The pathologic acuity of the gallbladders was distributed similarly for all three groups. There was a difference in mean operating time based on pathologic acuity. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed in a safe and efficient manner at a teaching institution.
Awareness of subtle emotional feelings : A comparison of long-term meditators and nonmeditators

The authors explored whether meditation training to enhance emotional awareness improves discrimination of subtle emotional feelings hypothesized to guide decision-making. Long-term meditators and nonmeditators were compared on measures of self-reported valence and arousal, skin conductance response (SCR), and facial electromyography (EMG) to masked and nonmasked emotional pictures, and on measures of heartbeat detection and self-reported emotional awareness. Groups responded similarly to nonmasked pictures. In the masked condition, only controls showed discrimination in valence self-reports. However, meditators reported greater emotional clarity than controls, and meditators with higher clarity had reduced arousal and improved valence discrimination in the masked condition. These findings provide qualified support for the somatic marker hypothesis and suggest that meditation may influence how emotionally ambiguous information is processed, regulated, and represented in conscious awareness.
Self-referencing: a scalable side-channel approach for hardware Trojan detection

Malicious modification of integrated circuits (ICs) in untrusted foundry, referred to as "Hardware Trojan", has emerged as a serious security threat. While side-channel analysis has been reported as an effective approach to detect hardware Trojans, increasing process variations in nanoscale technologies pose a major challenge, since process noise can easily mask the Trojan effect on a measured side-channel parameter, such as supply current. Besides, existing side-channel approaches suffer from reduced Trojan detection sensitivity with increasing design size. In this paper, we propose a novel scalable side-channel approach, named self-referencing, along with associated vector generation algorithm to improve the Hardware Trojan detection sensitivity under large process variations. It compares transient current signature of one region of an IC with that of another, thereby nullifying the effect of process noise by exploiting spatial correlation across regions in terms of process variations. To amplify the Trojan effect on supply current, we propose a region-based vector generation approach, which divides a circuit-undertest (CUT) into several regions and for each region, finds the test vectors which induce maximum activity in that region, while minimizing the activity in other regions. We show that the proposed side-channel approach is scalable with respect to both amount of process variations and design size. The approach is validated with both simulation and measurement results using an FPGA-based test setup for large designs including a 32-bit DLX processor core (∼ 105 transistors). Results shows that our approach can find ultra-small (<0.01% area) Trojans under large process variations of up to ± 20% shift in transistor threshold voltage.
Optimal Spacing of a Linearly Interpolated Complex-Gain LUT Predistorter

Modern spectrally efficient modulation techniques produce radio-frequency signals with varying envelopes. Transmitting these signals through nonlinear amplifiers results in spectral regrowth and degradation of the bit error rate. Lookup table (LUT) predistorters have been widely used to mitigate the effects of nonlinear amplifiers. This paper theoretically proves that the use of linearly interpolated LUT predistorters results in superior rejection of residual nonlinear distortions, as compared with conventional noninterpolated LUT predistorters. The refinement of LUT performance with linear interpolation results in 12-dB additional rejection for every bit of precision, as opposed to 6 dB for noninterpolated LUTs. It is also shown that linearly interpolated LUT predistorters benefit more from optimal spacing than their noninterpolated counterparts. Besides improved mapping fidelity, potential benefits also include reduced gate count and faster convergence of adaptive LUT training algorithms.
Teaching Transgressive Representations of LGBTQ People in Educator Preparation: Is Conformity Required for Inclusion?

AbstractOne strategy used to teach about diverse populations is to edit their -curricular representations to minimize their transgressive nature in an effort to gain more acceptance among students. This article explores the implications of these -assimilationist narratives when used in educator preparation programs to -represent LGBTQ people. It examines the potential advantages of teaching more diverse and transgressive representations in the interest of inclusion and educator -preparation.
The Rhizosphere Microbiome: A Playground for Natural Product Chemists

The threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an ongoing battle that continues to confound scientists and doctors alike. Reinvestigation of past methods has led to the interrogation of natural microbiomes with the goal of identifying the survival mechanisms employed by its local inhabitants. One such example is that of the rhizosphere; home to many microorganisms capable of producing a variety of essential compounds, such as cyclic lipopeptides, siderophores, quorum sensing molecules, and antibiotics. The intricacies of this ongoing battle inspired our synthetic efforts toward a species-specific natural product, promysalin, isolated from the rhizosphere of a rice plant in Sri Lanka. Recently, our group completed the total synthesis, absolute structural assignment, and identified unique bioactivity. These efforts have informed our insights toward its mechanism of action and role within the rhizosphere.
Posttest risk calculation following positive noninvasive prenatal screening using cell-free DNA in maternal plasma

Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for fetal chromosome defects has high sensitivity and specificity but is not fully diagnostic. In response to a desire to provide more information to individual women with positive NIPS results, 2 online calculators have been developed to calculate posttest risk (PTR). Use of these calculators is critically reviewed. There is a mathematically dictated requirement for a precise estimate for the specificity to provide an accurate PTR. This is illustrated by showing that a 0.1% decrease in the value for specificities for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 can reduce the PTR from 79-64% for trisomy 21, 39-27% for trisomy 18, and 21-13% for trisomy 13, respectively. Use of the calculators assumes that sensitivity and specificity are constant for all women receiving the test but there is evidence that discordancy between screening results and true fetal karyotype is more common for older women. Use of an appropriate value for the prior risk is also important and for rare disorders there is considerable uncertainty regarding prevalence. For example, commonly used rates for trisomy 13, monosomy-X, triploidy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome can vary by >4-fold and this can translate into large differences in PTR. When screening for rare disorders, it may not be possible to provide a reliable PTR if there is uncertainty over the false-positive rate and/or prevalence. These limitations, per se, do not negate the value of screening for rare conditions. However, counselors need to carefully weigh the validity of PTR before presenting them to patients. Additional epidemiologic and NIPS outcome data are needed.
Colony stimulating factors secreted by irradiated autologous tumor cell vaccines inhibit immunity

Meeting abstracts Autologous tumor cell-based vaccines (ATCVs) have a number of potential advantages including multivalency and patient specificity. ATCVs contain many potential antigens, both known and unknown which potentiate polyclonal responses capable of responding to a more diverse population
Nano-scale context-sensitive semantic segmentation

Nano-scale imaging technologies make it possible to visualize objects at nanometer resolutions. To investigate structures and functions of interest, there is an intrinsic demand for explicit models to extract them from nano-scale data. Segmentation is one of the most critical steps in processing pipelines. However, existing segmentation methods often fail due to extremely low signal-to-noise ratio, low contrast and large data size. In this paper we propose a new context-sensitive method for segmenting three-dimensional volumes. As our method efficiently narrows the search space by using robust context cues, we achieve tractable and reliable nano-scale semantic segmentation. We demonstrate our method on a tomogram of microvilli spikes, for which our method is able to yield accurate spike segmentation and in comparison the state-of-the-art semantic segmentation methods fail due to their inability to handle signal-to-noise ratio and low contrast volumes.
Activating mutations of N- and K-ras in multiple myeloma show different clinical associations: analysis of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Phase III Trial

Mutations of members of the ras family are among the most common oncogene mutations found in multiple myeloma (MM). We have examined the mutational status of the N- and K-ras genes at codons 12, 13, and 61 in 160 newly diagnosed MM patients enrolled on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) phase III clinical trial E9486. The total incidence of ras mutations was found to be 39% of the samples analyzed. Five patients showed evidence of more than one mutation. We obtained 22 marrow samples from patients at the time of disease progression or relapse, for whom a ras mutation was identified at diagnosis. In all cases, the ras mutation of the disease progression sample was identical to that found at diagnosis. In contrast, three of 25 patients who did not show any ras mutation at diagnosis acquired a ras mutation at the time of disease progression. No significant association was observed between any ras mutation and stage of disease, beta 2-microglobulin levels, labelling index, or protein type. The mean tumor burden and median survival for patients with mutations of N-ras was indistinguishable from patients with no ras mutations. However, patients with K-ras mutations had a significantly higher mean bone marrow tumor burden at diagnosis than patients with no ras mutations (57% v 36%, P < .02); and the median survival of patients with a K-ras mutation was significantly shorter (2.0 v 3.7 years, P < .02). To determine if the status of ras mutations could affect treatment response, we examined patient survival on the three treatment arms of E9486. Although the presence of a ras mutation in the multidrug treatment, VBMCP alone, showed a marginal significance, neither the VBMCP, nor the addition of interferon-alpha showed statistically significant survival differences between mutant and wildtype ras status. Interestingly, there appeared to be a statistically significant difference in survival of patients treated with VBMCP and alternating high doses of cyclophosphamide + prednisone. Patients with ras mutations had a median survival of 2.1 years; patients with wild-type ras had a median survival of 4.0 years (P < .01).
Bi-material assembly subjected to thermal stress: propensity to delamination assessed using interfacial compliance model

It is shown that an engineering stress model suggested about 30 years ago for the approximate evaluation of the interfacial stresses in adhesively bonded or soldered bi-material assemblies experiencing thermal loading and based on the concept of interfacial compliance can be employed also for the assessment of the assembly’s propensity to delamination. The analysis is limited to the shearing mode of failure and to the elastic stresses. A probabilistic extreme value distribution (EVD) approach can be used to consider the random nature of both the actual and the critical stress-energy-release-rates (SERR). The step-wise nature of the typical failure oriented accelerated test (FOAT) loading in the electronics reliability field (such as, e.g., temperature cycling) is addressed. The general concepts are illustrated by numerical examples.
Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin

There is no question that anthropogenic processes have had planetary effects, in inter/intraaction with other processes and species, for as long as our species can be identified (a few tens of thousand years); and agriculture has been huge (a few thousand years). Of course, from the start the greatest planetary terraformers (and reformers) of all have been and still are bacteria and their kin, also in inter/intra-action of myriad kinds (including with people and their practices, technological and otherwise). 1 The spread of seed-dispersing plants millions of years before human agriculture was a planet-changing development, and so were many other revolutionary evolutionary ecological developmental historical events. People joined the bumptious fray early and dynamically, even before they/we were critters who were later named Homo sapiens. But I think the issues about naming relevant to the Anthropocene, Plantationocene, or Capitalocene have to do with scale, rate/speed, synchronicity, and complexity. The constant question when considering systemic phenomena has to be, when do changes in degree become changes in kind, and what are the effects of bioculturally, biotechnically, biopolitically, historically situated people (not Man) relative to, and combined with, the effects of other species assemblages and other biotic/abiotic forces? No species, not even our own arrogant one pretending to be good individuals in so-called modern Western scripts, acts alone; assemblages of organic species and of abiotic actors make history, the evolutionary kind and the other kinds too. But, is there an inflection point of consequence that changes the name of the “game” of life on earth for everybody and everything? It's more than climate change; it's also extraordinary burdens of toxic chemistry, mining, depletion of lakes and rivers under and above ground, ecosystem simplification, vast genocides of people and other critters, etc, etc, in systemically linked patterns that threaten major system collapse after major system collapse after major system collapse. Recursion can be a drag. Anna Tsing in a recent paper called “Feral Biologies” suggests that the inflection point between the Holocene and the Anthropocene might be the wiping out of most of the refugia from which diverse species assemblages (with or without people) can be reconstituted after major events (like desertification, or clear cutting, or, or, …). 2 This is kin to the World-Ecology
Threshold effects in parameter estimation from compressed data

In this paper, we investigate threshold effects associated with swapping of signal and noise subspaces in estimating signal parameters from compressed noisy data. The term threshold effect refers to a catastrophic increase in mean-squared error when the signal-to-noise ratio falls below a threshold SNR. In many cases, the threshold effect is caused by a subspace swap event, when the measured data (or its sample covariance) is better approximated by a subset of components of an orthogonal subspace than by the components of a signal subspace. We derive analytical lower bounds on the probability of the subspace swap in compressively measured noisy data. These bounds guide our understanding of threshold effects and performance breakdown for parameter estimation using compression. As a case study, we investigate threshold effects in MUSIC estimation of direction of arrivals of two closely-spaced sources using Gaussian random compression and co-prime subsampling. Our results show the impact of compression on threshold SNR.
Bone deficit and bone health.

cover a broad range of clinical situations that pre-dispose the patient to bone deﬁcit, such as criticalcare, prolonged parenteral nutrition (PN), treat-ment in rehabilitation programs, and patients withestablished osteoporosis. Many of the articles alsoincorporate state of the art recommendations tooptimize vitamin D and calcium status.The critical role of vitamin D and calcium inbiologic states other than bone metabolism is dem-onstrated in reports on the role of vitamin D incancer and immunity
Prophylactic and Curative Effects of Certain Sulfonamide Compounds on Exoerythroeytic Stages in Plasmodium Gallinaceum Malaria.

Summary and ConclusionsA method is described for obtaining biopsied brain tissue containing exoerythrocytic stages of Plasmodium gallinaceum throughout their course of development in individual chicks. With this method it is feasible to examine individual animals repeatedly without appreciable harm, thus making it a valuable technic for any study on exoerythrocytic schizogony. Earlier studies made from autopsies have been confirmed. In addition it has been shown that in occasional animals exoerythrocytic stages were encountered which spontaneously disappeared, although this finding is infrequent. From the standpoint of chemotherapy, it has been found that sulfadiazine will prevent the appearance of these forms. Likewise this same drug or sulfapyrazine will effect a cure and cause a disappearance of exoerythrocytic schizonts even after they have made their appearance. Quinine and atebrin have no prophylactic or curative action. Plasmochin has a questionable therapeutic effect. The implications of this stud...
The Political Morality of Liberal Democracy: Liberal Democracy and Religious Faith

[The] affirmation of universal human rights [that characterizes] modern liberal political culture [represents an] authentic development[] of the gospel.… – Charles Taylor One sometimes encounters the ignorant sentiment that persons of deep religious faith cannot truly embrace liberal democracy. Again, my principal focus in this book is the liberal democracy of which I am a citizen: the United States. Most citizens of the United States are religious believers, and for most of them, their religious faith gives them a powerful reason to hold liberal democracy within their embrace: It is a part of the content of the religious faith of most citizens of the United States that every human being has inherent dignity and is inviolable. A liberal democracy is, as such – as a liberal democracy – committed to the proposition that every human being has inherent dignity and is inviolable. So the religious faith of most citizens of the United States gives them a powerful reason to embrace liberal democracy. Let me elaborate. The morality of human rights is as close to a global morality as we human beings have ever achieved (or probably will ever achieve); and, relatedly, the language of human rights has become the moral lingua franca . Nonetheless, this fundamental question remains: Is the morality of human rights true? Recall from the preceding chapter that the morality of human rights consists of two connected claims: Every human being has (equal) inherent dignity. […]