cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of progesterone stimulated allopregnanolone on craving and stress response in cocaine dependent men and women.

Abstract Objectives Fluctuations in progesterone levels during the menstrual cycle have been shown to affect physiological and subjective effects of cocaine. Furthermore, our laboratory has demonstrated that following drug-cue exposure, cocaine dependent women with high levels of circulating progesterone display lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure responses and report lower levels of anxiety and drug craving compared to cocaine dependent women with low levels of progesterone. In the current study we examined the role of the progesterone derived neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone (ALLO) on stress arousal, inhibitory control and drug craving in cocaine dependent subjects. Methods Plasma levels of ALLO were measured using GC/MS in 46 treatment-seeking cocaine dependent men and women on day 5 of a 7-day treatment regimen of micronized progesterone (15M/8F) (400 mg/day) or placebo (14M/9F) administered in a double blind, randomized manner. As a control, levels of the testosterone derived neurosteroid androstanediol (ADIOL) were also measured. All subjects participated in laboratory sessions on days 5–7 of progesterone/placebo administration in which they were exposed to a series of 5-min personalized guided imagery of either a stressful situation, cocaine use or of a neutral setting and dependent variables including subjective craving, mood, Stroop task as a measure of inhibitory control performance and plasma cortisol were assessed. Participants were grouped by high or low ALLO level and levels of dependent variables compared between ALLO groups. Results Progesterone relative to placebo significantly increased ALLO levels with no sex differences. There were no effects of micronized progesterone on the testosterone derived ADIOL. Individuals in the high versus the low ALLO group showed decreased levels of cortisol at baseline, and a higher cortisol response to stress; higher positive mood scores at baseline and improved Stroop performance in the drug-cue and stress conditions, and reduced cocaine craving across all imagery conditions. Conclusions As expected, cocaine dependent individuals administered progesterone showed significantly higher ALLO plasma levels. High levels of ALLO appeared to normalize basal and stress response levels of cortisol, decrease cocaine craving and also contribute to improvements in positive emotion and Stroop performance in response to stress and drug-cue exposures. These findings suggest that the neuroactive steroid ALLO plays a significant role in mediating the positive effects of progesterone on stress arousal, cognitive performance and drug craving in cocaine dependence.
Risk of Procedural Hemorrhage

Patients who are critically ill and hospitalized often require invasive procedures as a part of their medical care. Each procedure carries a unique set of risks and associated complications, but common to all of them is the risk of hemorrhage. Central venous catheterization, arterial catheterization, paracentesis, thoracentesis, tube thoracostomy, and lumbar puncture constitute a majority of the procedures performed in patients who are hospitalized. In this article, the authors will discuss the risk factors for bleeding complications from each of these procedures and methods to minimize risk. Physicians often correct coagulopathy prior to procedures to decrease bleeding risk, but there is minimal evidence to support this practice.
Characterization of double-stranded RNA from Tilletia indica

Double-stranded RNA was identified in six isolates of Tilletia indica, the causal agent of Karnal bunt disease of wheat. Double-stranded RNAs ranged from 2.8 to 12.3 kbp in size, similar to sizes reported for double-stranded RNAs from other plant patho? genic fungi. The six isolates revealed diverse double- stranded RNA banding patterns; however, identical patterns were found for two isolates (one from India, one from Mexico). A random-primed cDNA probe generated from the high molecular weight double- stranded RNA segment of isolate PV-18 hybridized only to double-stranded RNA of isolate PV-18 and not to double-stranded RNA of the other five isolates,
Gender disparities in scholarly productivity of US academic surgeons

Abstract Background Female surgeons have faced significant challenges to promotion over the past decades, with attrition rates supporting a lack of improvement in women's position in academia. We examine gender disparities in research productivity, as measured by the number of citations, publications, and h-indices, across six decades. Materials and methods The online profiles of full-time faculty members of surgery departments of three academic centers were reviewed. Faculty members were grouped into six cohorts by decade, based on year of graduation from medical school. Differences between men and women across cohorts as well as by academic rank were examined. Results The profiles of 978 surgeons (234 women and 744 men) were reviewed. The number of female faculty members in the institutions increased significantly over time, reaching the current percentage of 35.3%. Significant differences in number of articles published were noted at the assistant and full but not at the associate, professor level. Women at these ranks had fewer publications than men. Gender differences were also found in all age cohorts except among the most recent who graduated in the 2000s. The impact of publications, as measured by h-index and number of citations, was not consistently significantly different between the genders at any age or rank. Conclusions We identified a consistent gender disparity in the number of publications for female faculty members across a 60-year span. Although the youngest cohort, those who graduated in the 2000s, appeared to avoid the gender divide, our data indicate that overall women still struggle with productivity in the academic arena.
The Design of Advertising Experiments Using Statistical Decision Theory: An Extension:

The comparison of classical statistics and decision theory approaches to evaluation of advertising experiments is extended beyond Blattberg's focus on incorporation of prior judgment. Explicit cons...
Natural history of recurrent and residual stenosis after carotid endarterectomy: implications for postoperative surveillance and surgical management.

Background Noninvasive surveillance of patients after carotid endarterectomy is practiced routinely to detect recurrent stenoses. Many authors advocate repair of asymptomatic severe stenoses so detected. The likelihood of these lesions causing neurologic symptoms is unknown. Our aims were to (1) define the incidence of lesions, (2) determine the frequency of associated neurologic symptoms, and (3) identify patient-dependent factors that might predict restenosis. Methods Data on the status of 449 carotid arteries after endarterectomy were reviewed. The number of recurrent and residual severe (greater than or equal to 80%) stenoses was identified. Interval to development of symptoms was determined by life-table analysis. Patient-dependent factors (age, gender, smoking, diabetes, and patch closure) were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis to identify possible associations with severe lesions. Results Severe (greater than or equal to 80%) stenoses were seen in 35 patients (7.9%). Residual lesions were seen in 17 cases (eight occlusions and nine stenoses); recurrent lesions were identified in 18 patients (3.9%). Symptoms developed in five cases (14%) (one residual and four recurrent) 35, 48, 68, 98, and 103 months after surgery. The likelihood of developing symptoms associated with stenosis at 5 years was 6%. No factors correlated with residual stenosis. Age less than 60 years, female gender, primary closure, and absence of diabetes were more common in patients with recurrent lesions. Conclusions Severe lesions can be found after carotid endarterectomy in at least 8% of patients and consist of residual defects, as well as recurrent stenoses. Recurrent lesions are more common in specific patient subgroups. These lesions are stable for long periods and the majority remain asymptomatic. Operation is not indicated unless symptoms develop in these patients. Intraoperative completion evaluation may be indicated to reduce the incidence of residual disease. Early noninvasive evaluation is useful as a quality-control measure. Repeated surveillance may provide data on the course of restenosis or contralateral disease progression but is of limited clinical benefit.
Empirical Evidence for Roughness-Dependent Limit in Observation of Odd–Even Effect in Wetting Properties of Polar Liquids on n-Alkanethiolate Self-Assembled Monolayers

Substrate roughness influences the wetting properties of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), but details on this dependency at the sub-nanometer level are still lacking. This study investigates the effect of surface roughness on interfacial properties of n-alkanethiolate SAMs, specifically wetting, and confirms the predicted limit to the observation of the odd–even effect in hydrophobicity. This article studies static contact angles of polar and nonpolar probe liquids on a series of n-alkanethiolate SAMs on surfaces with tunable roughness. We prepared Ag surfaces with root-mean-square roughness (Rrms) of ∼0.6–2.2 nm and compared the wetting properties of n-alkanethiolate SAMs fabricated on these surfaces. We measured the static contact angles, θs, formed between SAM and probe liquids [water, glycerol, and hexadecane]. Hexadecane showed an odd–even effect on all surfaces irrespective of the degree of roughness. Polar liquids (water and glycerol), however, showed a dependency on the roughness of the substrate...
The Fight over Abortion: Fetal Rights in the Post- Roe Era

Chapter 2 focuses on the development of the pro-life fetus-centered strategy between 1973 and 1994, analyzing both the discourse and the public policy introduced during these decades. The discourse, which emphasizes the humanity of the fetus, also using religious and scientific claims, failed to expand the movement’s base of support. In addition, attempts to pass legislation that declares the fetus as a human being—manifested mainly in the hundreds of Human Life Amendment proposals—also were unsuccessful. At the same time, this pro-life strategy influences the concept of human rights, reproductive rights, and right-wing politics. This chapter concludes with an account of reasons for this failure, which led to the development of the women-centered strategy of the 1990s.
Deformation and Motion

Based on physical considerations, the mathematical model of a micropolar continuum is introduced. Coordinates, base vectors, and shifters are presented in Art. 1.2. The concept of directors, fundamental to micropolar bodies, are discussed in Art. 1.3. The motion, deformation, strains, their measures and geometrical meaning constitute the material of Arts. 1.4. and 1.5. The rate tensors appropriate to micropolar bodies are presented in Art. 1.6. The question of compatibility necessary for the singlevaluedness of the deformation and rotation fields closes the chapter. These ideas are essential also to dislocations and disclinations within the context of dislocation theory.
The influence of the menstrual cycle on reactivity to a CO2 challenge among women with and without premenstrual symptoms.

Clinically significant premenstrual symptoms (PMS) is conceptualized as a depressive disorder in DSM-5, however, it may share pathophysiological processes with anxiety- and fear-related disorders. ...
Scaling of shallow trench isolation with stress control for 65nm node and beyond

A progressive scaling of both intra- and inter-well isolation has been carried out for SoC (system on chip) with 65nm technology node and beyond, resulting in increased chip speed, increased transistor density, and lower cost performance. Shallow trench isolation (STI) with almost no encroachment, good planarity, higher isolation property, is a most promising isolation scheme for ULSI application (Faza et al., 1993; Bryant et al., 1994; Nandakumar et al., 1998). However, this rapid scaling of STI needs several difficult challenges from the viewpoints of both the process technology and the device property. In this paper, the major issues for STI scaling are described and some solutions are discussed to overcome the scaling crisis.
Event Asynchrony And Task Demands In Sustained Attention

Subjects monitored the repetitive presentation of pairs of vertical lines (events) for one of two kinds of critical signals: a) pairs in which one of the lines was longer than the other (simultaneous task), or b) pairs in which both lines were longer than usual (successive task). The events to be monitored appeared in a temporally regular manner (synchronous events) or under two conditions of temporal irregularity (event asynchrony). Perceptual sensitivity (A’) for critical signals was degraded by event asynchrony when discriminations were made in the successive mode, but not in the simultaneous mode. The results support the hypothesis that successive tasks place a greater load on attentional capacity than do simultaneous tasks.
Gait monitoring for human activity recognition using perceptive shoe based on hetero-core fiber optics

Gait monitoring system for human activity recognition is demonstrated using a perceptive shoe based on hetero-core fiber optics. The insole with hetero-core fiber monitors foot pressure without temperature dependency and constraint to human body. Monitoring test was performed by a human subject doing basic activities which are walking, walking on the spot, running, standing, and sitting on a chair. The human activities were successfully monitored by means of perceptive shoe using hetero-core fiber optics. In addition, walking on the spot and standing were identified using only front weight response.
Strain actuated solar-arrays for precision pointing of spacecraft

Next generation telescopes for space exploration are being planned with unprecedented levels of pointing and wavefront stability as science enabling capabilities - i.e., sub-milli-arcsecond class pointing, and pico-meter class RMS wave-front error). Current methodologies for attaining these levels of stability are approaching the limit of what is possible with the use of isolation, intensive and risky structural dynamic tailoring, exquisite broad-band Attitude Control System (ACS) sensors and actuators, and ultra-precise fast steering mirrors commanded to compensate for pointing errors through feedback of camera measurements. This paper explores the benefits of using Strain Actuated Solar Arrays (SASA) - currently under Research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Illinois Urbana Champagne - in new ACS architectures for applications requiring very tight precision pointing of a SC and on-board instrumentation. A strain actuated solar array has the following characteristics: (1) Strain actuation and sensing is distributed throughout the SA panels to obtain control authority and observability over the strain state of the SA–enabling SA jitter control. (2) Large motion (up to 10 degrees or relative motion) strain based mechanisms are used in between SA panels and in between the SC and the solar array–enables SC slewing and limited momentum management. (3) The mechanical (i.e., stiffness and configuration) and inertia/mass properties of the SA have been designed to optimize its ability to control its vibrations and the vibration and attitude of the host SC. This paper discusses ACS architectures that use the above SASA system while avoiding the use of the Reaction Wheel Actuator (RWA) during key science observation periods. The RWA being the dominant source of pointing jitter and wave front jitter in a telescope based observatory; hence, not flying RWAs amounts to not flying the main source of jitter! At least two architectures based on the SASA system are studied - one is an earth orbiter, the other is assumed to be in an L2 orbit. Simulation results for one of these cases are discussed along with what developments are needed going forward to enable the use of this technology.
Environmental Quinones Impair Mitochondrial Function in Human Airway Epithelial Cells

Air pollution is a global public health concern linked to cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. Quinones are components of ambient particulate matter (PM) air pollution and may contribute to health effects through oxidative mechanisms. 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NQ) is an electrophile that can adduct macromolecules and participate in single electron redox reactions to produce reactive oxygen species. We have previously shown that exposure to 1,2-NQ increases mitochondrial H2O2 production, leading to activation of inflammatory signaling. In the present study, we utilized extracellular flux analyses to characterize 1,2-NQ-induced disruption of mitochondrial function in human airway epithelial cells. 1,2-NQ caused a marked increase in the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) that was shown to be largely attributable to redox cycling in the cytosol using permeabilized-cell and isolated mitochondria preparations. In these preparations, 1,2-NQ impaired Complex I-linked substrate utilization, specifically the oxidation of pyruvate but not glutamate. Complex I activity of NADH oxidation was not blunted by 1,2-NQ exposure, suggesting inhibition of pyruvate-specific uptake and/or metabolism. In addition, 1,2-NQ exposure did not affect Complex II-linked substrate oxidation. These findings show that exposure to redox-active compounds like 1,2-NQ can elicit H2O2 production through redox cycling and mitochondrial dysfunction simultaneously. Accurate interpretation of OCR effects by xenobiotic exposures requires consideration of alternative sources of oxygen consumption. this Abstract of a proposed presentation does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.
Bargaining over fair performing dual radar and communication task

In this paper, the problem of fairly balancing the radar and communication performance in a dual communication and radar system is studied. To gain insight into the problem, a simple model of such a system using OFDM-style waveforms with SNR as the radar's objective and throughput as the communication's objective is explored. As a criteria for balancing the performance of both objectives, α fairness is used. First, the optimal strategy for this problem for each fixed α is found in water-filling form. Then, we show that the maxmin solution is the most fair one out of the continuum of obtained α-fair solution (a solution per an α) since its Jain's index is equal to one. Then, as an alternative method, we show how one can use a bargaining approach to find the most fair solution having an inner value for fairness coefficient.
Adhesive force between graphene nanoscale flakes and living biological cells

We report on a measurement technique that quantifies the adhesive force between multi-layers of graphene flakes and the cell wall of live Escherichia coli cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in-fluid Peak Force- Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping mode. To measure the adhesive force, we made use of the negative charge of E. coli cells to allow them to stick to positively charged surfaces, such as glass or silicon, that were covered by poly-L-Lysine. With this approach, cells were held in place for AFM characterization. Both pristine graphene (PG) flakes and functionalized graphene (FG) flakes were put on the E. coli cells and measurements of lateral size, flake thickness, and adhesion were made. Using this approach, the measured values of the adhesive force between multi-layers of graphene flakes (total thickness of 50 nm) and E. coli was determined to be equal or greater than 431 ± 65pN for (PG) and 694 ± 98pN for the (FG). More interestingly, the adhesive force of a graphene flake (thickness 1.3 nm) with the cell is determined to be equal or greater than 38.2 ± 16.4pN for the (PG) and 34.8 ± 15.3pN for the (FG). These interaction values can play an important role in determining and understanding the possible toxicity of graphene flakes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of a Computer Database for Vegetative Propagation of Trees and Shrubs

Abstract Rooting data from more than 40 different publications for the last 60 years were collected and organized into a computer database. The database contains 1400 records representing 300 genera, 700 species and 750 cultivars. Information can be retrieved from the database using keywords common to rooting literature including genus, type of cutting, time of year, rooting medium, time to root and location. The information in the database details specific propagation techniques which is retrieved using the MS-DOS software askSam™.
Abstract 1900: Collateral Circulation and Hemodynamics of Severe Intracranial Atherosclerosis: Angiography and Clinical Correlates at Baseline in the SAMMPRIS Trial

Background: Severe intracranial atherosclerosis, in excess of 70% luminal stenosis, is an established cause of recurrent stroke. Collateral circulation and the hemodynamic effects of such stenoses,...
Distress Intolerance Moderation of Attention to Emotion: An Eye-Tracking Study

Distress intolerance (DI) is an important individual difference reflective of the inability to endure aversive affective states and is relevant to multiple clinical populations, but underlying emotional processing mechanisms remain unclear. The current study used eye-tracking to examine biased attention towards emotional stimuli at baseline and in the context of acute stress in a non-clinical sample (N = 165). We hypothesized that DI would incrementally predict greater stressor-elicited increases in sustained/delayed disengagement, but not initial orientation/facilitated engagement negative (i.e., threat, dysphoric) attention biases, and that DI’s association with maladaptive stress regulation would depend on these increases. Partially consistent with predictions, DI was only independently associated with stressor-elicited increases in sustained negative bias and, unexpectedly, decreases in sustained positive bias. Further, DI and change in sustained threat bias marginally interacted to predict cardiovascular but not subjective anxious mood recovery. Theoretical implications are discussed.
Informed Strategies of Political Action in IP-Based Social Media

Political campaigning involves the intense usage of all possible media that the campaigners can afford to reach as many potential supporters as possible. Networked information technologies provide an endless source of applications and means of communication. When using computer technologies as a campaigning medium, it is essential to carefully assess the efforts concerning infrastructural and social requirements in consideration of the benefits gained. Therefore, the intertwined dimensions of political campaigning – content, infrastructure, community, protection of activists, planning, and archiving – are discussed as related to the involvement of IP-based media.
A New Coding Procedure for Morphometric Data with an Example from Periodical Cicada Wing Veins

Although members of the Homopteran family Cicadidae are world wide in distribution, only the North American genus Magicicada exhibits a perfectly synchronized life cycle 13 or 17 years long. All but four weeks of this long life cycle is spent underground as nymphs.
Global New Product Development

In the age of ubiquitous internet bandwidth, the development of a global market, coupled with rapid development of what once were underdeveloped countries and regions has led to many companies thinking and acting globally. This phenomenon has brought many new challenging facets of globalization to the surface in today’s business world. These new challenges have to be managed effectively to succeed in the rapidly changing world. The areas of Technology Management and New Product Development have long been a significant area of interest for academic researchers and corporations, for fairly obvious reasons. New products are the key to continued profitable existence and growth for companies and exceptional versus ordinary technology management can be the difference between thriving and extinction. A perceived trend in new product development has become more prevalent in recent times; the trend of globalization of the development process. Stemming from efforts to develop better products faster, cheaper, and with greater market success, companies have looked to globalize their product development efforts. If a corporation is to start a global product development strategy, other more general issues in management related to management of technology in general must also be considered and understood to have a reasonable chance of success. This chapter will focus heavily on New Product Development in a global context while also addressing some larger issues related to Global Technology Management. Specifically this text will include (1) An overview of recent articles on Global New Product Development a framework to access the motivations and reasons to proceed on New Product Development Globalization Method as well as an assessment on the effectivity of its implementation; (2) an overview of articles on some aspects of Technology Management in a global context and a framework to evaluate addressing potential issues in this arena; (3) A review of a few product development cases at Xerox, a large multinational corporation who has globalized some of their product development efforts, and an evaluation of these case studies with the frameworks that have been created. The end result of this exercise will be an evaluation of current practice related to Global New Product development at Xerox, more specifically products with design responsibility residing at the Wilsonville, Oregon site, and identification of gaps between current practice and best practices identified through papers published in academia. Additionally, a discussion touching on the more generalized issues that can become relevant to global technology management in general will also be presented.
Band structure and absorption properties of (Ga, In)/(P, As, N) symmetric and asymmetric quantum wells and super-lattice structures: Towards lattice-matched III-V/Si tandem

Quaternary dilute nitride compound semiconductors like Ga As y P 1 − x − y N x and Ga 1 − z In z P 1 − x N x are lattice matched with silicon when y = 4.7 * x − 0.1 and z = 2.2 * x − 0.044 and also have direct bandgaps (with N > 0.6%), thus allowing for monolithic integration of III-V optoelectronics with silicon technology as well as III-V/Si tandem junction solar cells. By applying an eight-band k.p strained (tensile or compressive) Hamiltonian and a Band Anti-crossing model (to account for small amounts of nitrogen impurities) to the conduction band, the electronic band structure and the dispersion relation of these alloys can be determined near the center of Brillouin Zone. In this work, by minimizing the total mechanical energy of the stack of alternating layers of Ga P 1 − x N x and Ga As 1 − x N x, we have evaluated the ratio of thickness of the respective layers for a strain-balanced superlattice Ga As 1 − x N x / Ga P 1 − x N x structure on silicon. We calculated the confinement energies and the corresponding states of the respective carriers inside a quantum well (with and without resonantly coupled) or in the miniband of a superlattice structure as a function of the nitrogen composition using a transfer matrix approach under the envelope function approximation. Incorporating only a small amount of nitrogen (<5%), the bandgap of these lattice matched structures fulfils the optimum bandgap requirement of (1.65–1.8) eV for III-V/Si tandem solar cells and optoelectronic devices. The optical-absorption coefficient, in both symmetric and asymmetric quantum wells, is then evaluated with respect to nitrogen composition and temperature by using the Fermi-golden rule for both TE and TM polarization of incident light, including the effect of excitons and thermal broadening.
Optimization of Cyber System Survivability Under Attacks Using Redundancy of Components

In this paper, we consider a mission critical system (MCS) that is meant to serve a mission for a certain time while facing cyber attacks launched against it. We propose a mission critical system that employs component redundancy under a prescribed budget constraint to maximize the system’s survivability during a specific mission time with attacks against the system modeled as a stochastic process. To determine the optimal set of system components, we provide an efficient algorithm to solve the system survivability optimization problem along with comprehensive case studies and analysis. Simulation results are provided that show the advantage of using redundancy of components in optimizing the survivability of cyber systems under attacks. The proposed work can help the MCS designers to optimally utilize the component redundancy under a cost constraint for many crucial applications, such as military systems.
Two new species of Sierola Cameron (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from New Zealand and Australia

ABSTRACTThe bethylid genus Sierola is large and widespread, but largely undescribed. Two new species are described from New Zealand, the endemic Sierola houdiniae sp. nov. and presumed adventive S....
Voltage Slope-sensing Based Zero Voltage Switching Detection for 6.78 MHz Wireless Power Transfer Application

Zero voltage switching (ZVS) has been widely implemented to improve the efficiency and robustness of high switching frequency converters. However, once the converter loses ZVS, the abrupt increase in switching loss decreases efficiency and may damage the converter. In this paper, a voltage slope-based detection method is proposed to detect ZVS status and prevent the converter from continuously hard switching. This detection circuit converts the voltage slope of the switching node to a dc voltage, which is compared with a reference voltage for the ZVS criterion. When hard switching occurs, two actions can be chosen: either shutting down the converter or adjusting the dead time to regain ZVS. The detection is achieved with simple circuitry and little control effort. A 6.78 MHz inverter for WPT application is used to verify this detection method. Experimental results show that ZVS status is detected effectively.
An IEEE1451.7 Based WSN Design for V2I Localization Services in Smart Cities

The topic of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is of great interest for researchers and the public. This report describes an investigation of the vehicle ad hoc networks (VANET) topic of ITS. The work focuses on roadway safety innovations, which, in-turn, may save lives and reduce property losses. We propose to use RFID-based and infrared-based vehicle localization techniques and protocols with descriptions and illustrations of how these technologies can produce end-to-end communications as a part of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) design. This localization design can be used to produce safe and accurate autonomous vehicle communications for navigation of urban and sub-urban roadways in Smart Cities. This highway infrastructure model and simulation utilizes the IEEE1451 standards with embedded transducer electronic data sheets (TEDS) as its middleware and cloud computing with the goal to complement all ITS that supports autonomous vehicles.
Optimality of dynamic voltage/frequency scaling in many-core systems with voltage-frequency islands

Abstract In today’s multicore systems, depending on an application’s computational demand, cores are either operated individually at different Voltage/Frequency (V/F) levels or grouped into multiple Voltage-Frequency Islands (VFIs) to reduce system energy consumption. This paper formulates a task scheduling and VFI partitioning problem whose optimization goal is to minimize the task set (application) execution time (makespan) for a given energy budget. First, the constrained optimization problem is formulated with integer Linear Programming (ILP) to obtain per-core, per-task dynamic V/F levels in a fine-grain VFI-based system with single-core islands. Next, static task scheduling on coarse-grain VFI-based systems, where an island can contain several cores operated at the same V/F level, is formulated with Mixed integer Linear Programming (MILP), considering the energy budget and task set’s precedence constraints. As an extension of this work and to address varying computational workload of the applications at runtime, this paper proposes a DVFS-enabled VFI system, which forms the VFIs based on the cores’ workload similarities and dynamically adjusts the VFIs’ V/F levels over the applications’ execution phases. The experimental results show that under different energy budget constraints, fine-grain, dynamic task allocations provide on average 1.35x speedup over static coarse-grain scheduling and partitioning methods. Also, the results show that while our dynamically tuned VFI system’s performance is comparable to the fine-grain V/F assignment technique, compared to the static task scheduling/VFI partitioning method, it achieves on average 1.5x speedup across the applications considered in this study.
Experience in treatment of complex congenital intestinal atresia in children

OBJECTIVE To summarize experience in the treatment of complex congenital intestinal atresia in children, so as to investigate the key points and effect of the operation. METHODS Medical notes of 49 children with complex intestinal atresia treated between January 2012 and January 2018 were reviewed. The information of age, sex, age at operation, full-term or premature, birth weight, clinical manifestation, auxiliary examination, preliminary diagnosis, treatment process, discharge diagnosis, pathological results and prognosis of patients were analyzed. RESULTS All patients underwent surgical treatment, including 42 cases with laparotomy (85.7%) and 7 with laparoscopic surgery (14.3%); 1 case undergoing laparoscopic surgery was converted to laparotomy due to meconium peritonitis. The mean operation time was (147±43) min (70-270 min); the mean fasting time after surgery was (8±3) d (4-16 d); the mean parenteral nutrition time was (12±6) d (3-30 d). Eleven cases were discharged against medical after operation and lost to follow-up. Among rest 38 children, 1 child (2.6%) received intestinal resection and ostomy five days after operation due to gastrointestinal perforation; 1 child (2.6%) received conservative treatment one month later due to adhered intestinal obstruction and left hospital with cure; 1 child (2.6%) received enterodialysis and ileostomy eight days after operation due to anastomotic leak, and received the operation for the closure of fistula after three months; 4 children had complications including fluid and electrolyte disorders, anemia, hypoproteinemia and so on, and recovered after conservative treatments. Postoperative follow-up showed that 1 child with duodenal atresia had lower body weight at 6 month after operation, but the body weight returned to normal when the child was one year old; 1 child with preterm labor of 32 weeks was treated with enteral nutrition, and gradually restored the normal diet after 6 months. Growth retardation was not observed in other children. CONCLUSIONS With active treatment and reservation of normal bowel tube as much as possible during the operation, the prognosis of children with complex intestinal atresia is usually favorable.
Hormone Therapy as a Protective Factor for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) is related to the development of neovascular (NV) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), geographic atrophy (GA) and/or early/intermediate AMD.Methods: A case-control study was conducted from patients prospectively recruited from July 2014 to June 2019. Cases were females with AMD recruited into a registry and controls were females with age-related cataract and no AMD. Age-related macular degeneration was categorized into NV-AMD, GA, and early/intermediate. Hormone therapy (historic and current) was self-reported by the patient and categorized as ever/never use. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) from multinomial logistic regressions are presented for each AMD group.Results: Female AMD case patients (n = 409) and controls (n = 132) were included in the analytic database. Almost half (45.5%) of the female AMD patients had NV-AMD, 14.9% had GA, and 39.6% had early/intermediate AMD. Among all study participants, 285 (52.7%) reported historic and/or current use of HT. Controls were significantly more likely to have any HT use (71.2%), compared to 43.0% (p ≤ 0.001) of NV-AMD patients, 47.5% (p = .002) of GA patients, and 50.6% (p ≤ 0.001) of early/intermediate AMD patients. Adjusted for potential confounders of age and Caucasian race, cases were significantly more likely to have lower HT use compared to controls: NV-AMD, OR = 0.31 (95%CI: 0.18-0.54), GA, OR = 0.40 (95%CI: 0.20-0.80), and early/intermediate AMD, OR = 0.36 (95%CI: 0.22-0.61).Conclusion: Our case-control study found that the use of HT was associated with a lower odds of all AMD stages studied: NV-AMD, GA and early/intermediate.
Visible light optical coherence tomography angiography (vis-OCTA) and local microvascular retinal oximetry in human retina

We report herein the first visible light optical coherence tomography angiography (vis-OCTA) for human retinal imaging. Compared to the existing vis-OCT systems, we devised a spectrometer with a narrower bandwidth to increase the spectral power density for OCTA imaging, while retaining the major spectral contrast in the blood. We achieved a 100 kHz A-line rate, the fastest acquisition speed reported so far for human retinal vis-OCT. We rigorously optimized the imaging protocol such that a single acquisition takes <6 seconds with a field of view (FOV) of 3x7.8 mm2. The angiography enables accurate localization of microvasculature down to the capillary level and thus enables oximetry at vessels < 100 m in diameter. We demonstrated microvascular hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO2) at the feeding and draining vessels at the perifoveal region. The longitudinal repeatability was assessed by <5% coefficient of variation (CV). The unique capabilities of our vis-OCTA system may allow studies on the role of microvascular oxygen in various retinal pathologies.
The Role of the Legal System in the Flint Water Crisis

Policy Points A major factor explaining government actors' failure to mitigate or avert the Flint, Michigan, water crisis is the sheer complexity of the laws regulating how governmental agencies maintain and monitor safe drinking water. Coordination across agencies is essential in dealing with multiple legal arrangements. Public health legal authority and intervention mechanisms are not self-executing. Legal preparedness is essential to efficiently navigating complex legal frameworks to address public health threats. The Flint water crisis demonstrates the importance of democracy for protecting the public's health. Laws responding to municipal fiscal distress must be consistent with expected norms of democracy and require consideration of public health in decision making. Context The Flint, Michigan, water crisis resulted from a state-appointed emergency financial manager's cost-driven decision to switch Flint's water source to the Flint River. Ostensibly designed to address Flint's long-standing financial crisis, the switch instead created a public health emergency. A major factor explaining why the crisis unfolded as it did is the complex array of laws regulating how governmental agencies maintain and monitor safe drinking water. Methods We analyzed these legal arrangements to identify what legal authority state, local, and federal public health and environmental agencies could have used to avert or mitigate the crisis and recommend changes to relevant laws and their implementation. First, we mapped the legal authority and roles of federal, state, and local agencies responsible for safe drinking water and the public's health-that is, the existing legal environment. Then we examined how Michigan's emergency manager law altered the existing legal arrangements, leading to decisions that ignored the community's long-term health. Juxtaposed on those factors, we considered how federalism and the relationship between state and local governments influenced public officials during the crisis. Findings The complex legal arrangements governing public health and safe drinking water, combined with a lack of legal preparedness (the capacity to use law effectively) among governmental officials, impeded timely and effective actions to mitigate or avert the crisis. The emergency manager's virtually unfettered legal authority in Flint exacerbated the existing complexity and deprived residents of a democratically accountable local government. Conclusions Our analysis reveals flaws in both the legal structure and how the laws were implemented that simultaneously failed to stop and substantially exacerbated the crisis. Policymakers need to examine the legal framework in their jurisdictions and take appropriate steps to avoid similar disasters. Addressing the implementation failures, including legal preparedness, should likewise be a priority for preventing future similar crises.
Experimental Landau-Zener Tunneling for Wave Redirection in Nonlinear Waveguides

We present an acoustic analog of the Landau--Zener-tunneling (LZT) quantum-mechanical effect and apply it for irreversible wave redirection in weakly coupled nonlinear waveguides under impulse excitation. Due to nonlinearity, LZT-induced wave redirection is passively self-tunable with energy, being realized only in a certain energy band, which can be precisely predicted by theoretical models. Apart from the macroscale experimental validation of the classical quantum LZT effect, the findings apply to a broad class of acoustical systems with nonlinearity, disorder, and weak coupling.
Connection-Free Reliable and Efficient Transport Services in the IP Internet

The Internet Transport Protocol (ITP) is introduced to support reliable end-to-end transport services in the IP Internet without the need for end-to-end connections, changes to the Internet routing infrastructure, or modifications to name-resolution services. Results from simulation experiments show that ITP outperforms the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Named Data Networking (NDN) architecture, which requires replacing the Internet Protocol (IP). In addition, ITP allows transparent content caching while enforcing privacy.
Optical SETI: A Spectroscopic Search for Laser Emission from Nearby Stars

We have searched for nonastrophysical emission lines in the optical spectra of 577 nearby F, G, K, and M main-sequence stars. Emission lines of astrophysical origin would also have been detected, such as from a time--variable chromosphere or infalling comets. We examined ~20 spectra per star obtained during four years with the Keck/HIRES spectrometer at a resolution of 5 km/s, with a detection threshold 3% of the continuum flux level. We searched each spectrum from 4000-5000 angstroms for emission lines having widths too narrow to be natural from the host star, as well as for lines broadened by astrophysical mechanisms. We would have detected lasers that emit a power, P>60 kW, for a typical beam width of ~0.01 arcsec (diffraction-limit from a 10-m aperture) if directed toward Earth from the star. No lines consisstent with laser emission were found.
La conciencia moral y la conciencia moderna en Nuestro Padre San Daniel y El obispo leproso

In Nuestro Padre San Daniel and El obispo leproso, Miro employs the two meanings of conciencia, conscience and consciousness to establish a progression of the two until they fuse at the end of the second novel to reflect the state of Oleza, a city that maintains is Catholic traditions while at the same time modernizing through the recently built railroad. Key concepts of Jean Paul Sartre’s existentialism -the Other, the look or regard, and bad faith- help uncover strategic moments in this progression towards modernity.
Properties of Cu-based Oxygen Carrier Used for Chemical Looping Oxygen Production

The optimal reaction temperatures were investigated via the temperature programmed thermogravimetry,and the effects of particle size,gas flow rate and reaction temperature on reduction and oxidation reactions were studied via isothermal thermogravimetry by using STA409PC thermal analyzer.BET,SEM and XRD were also used to analyze the specific surface area,surface morphology and phases of the prepared oxygen carriers.The results show that the Cu/Si oxygen carrier has the high reactivity of releasing and adsorbing oxygen when the temperatures are higher than 850 ℃ and 400 ℃.The reaction rates have increased with gas flow rate increase and particle size decreasing,but the increase tendency is not apparent.The reaction rates increase greatly with the temperature increase.The oxygen carrier has excellent stability under 900 ℃ oxygen reduction and 700 ℃ oxygen oxidation conditions.Phases and surface morphology of oxygen carriers were measured by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope before and after experiments.The main phases of oxygen carrier are composed of CuO and SiO2 in fresh and oxidized samples,Cu2O and SiO2 in reduced samples,which reveal that the oxygen carrier is stable when using the preparation process and under the operation conditions.The porous structure of cycled oxygen carrier is much more apparent than fresh samples and particles do not appear to disintegrate after 23 cycles.
mTOR Regulation of AGC Kinases: New Twist to an Old Tail.

The family of AGC kinases not only regulate cellular biology by phosphorylating substrates, but are themselves controlled by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation generally occurs at two conserved regions in these kinases: a loop near the entrance to the active site, termed the activation loop, that correctly aligns residues for catalysis, and a C-terminal tail whose phosphorylation at a site termed the hydrophobic motif stabilizes the active conformation. Whereas phosphorylation of the activation loop is well established to be catalyzed by the phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1), the mechanism of phosphorylation of the C-tail hydrophobic motif has been controversial. For a subset of AGC kinases, which includes most protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes and Akt, phosphorylation of the hydrophobic motif in cells was shown to depend on mTORC2 over 15 years ago, yet whether by direct phosphorylation or by another mechanism has remained elusive. The recent identification of a novel and evolutionarily conserved phosphorylation site on the C-tail termed the TOR-Interaction Motif (TIM) has finally unraveled the mystery of how mTORC2 regulates its client kinases. mTORC2 does not directly phosphorylate the hydrophobic motif, rather it converts kinases such as PKC and Akt into a conformation that can ultimately autophosphorylate at the hydrophobic motif. Identification of the direct mTOR phosphorylation that facilitates auto-regulation of the C-tail hydrophobic motif revises the activation mechanisms of mTOR-regulated AGC kinases. This new twist to an old tail opens avenues for therapeutic intervention. Significance Statement The enzyme mTORC2 has been an enigmatic regulator of AGC kinases such as protein kinase C (PKC) and Akt. The recent discovery of a motif named the TOR Interaction Motif in the C-tail of these kinases solves the mystery: mTORC2 marks these kinases for maturity by, ultimately, facilitating autophosphorylation another C-tail site, the hydrophobic motif.