cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-temperature phase equilibria in the system Zr–O–N

Powders of Zr, ZrO2, and ZrN were mixed and pressed to produce samples with different bulk stoichiometries in the ternary Zr–O–N systems. The samples were laser heated above melting, maintained at a high temperature, and quenched. The processed samples were cross-sectioned and studied using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The results pointed to the location of the ternary invariant point Liquid + Gas + ZrO2 + ZrN on the high-temperature portion of the Zr–ZrO2–ZrN phase diagram. The ternary liquidus in the Zr–O–N system was further constrained based on the comparison of the results obtained in this work with composition histories of zirconium particles burning in air reported earlier. Elemental analysis of nitrogen-rich inclusions found in the samples showed the existence of an extended compositional range for ternary solid Zr–O–N solutions. X-ray diffraction analysis of the quenched samples indicated that these solutions are likely to be derived from the ZrN phase. A preliminary outline of the subsolidus ternary Zr–ZrO2–ZrN phase diagram is constructed based on these findings and the interpretations of the well-known binary Zr–O and Zr–N phase diagrams.
microRNAs regulate β-catenin of the Wnt signaling pathway in early sea urchin development.

Abstract Development of complex multicellular organisms requires careful regulation at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Post-transcriptional gene regulation is in part mediated by a class of non-coding RNAs of 21–25 nucleotides in length known as microRNAs (miRNAs). β-catenin, regulated by the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, has a highly evolutionarily conserved function in patterning early metazoan embryos, in forming the Anterior–Posterior axis, and in establishing the endomesoderm. Using reporter constructs and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified at least three miRNA binding sites within the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of the sea urchin β-catenin . Further, blocking these three miRNA binding sites within the β-catenin 3′UTR to prevent regulation of endogenous β-catenin by miRNAs resulted in a minor increase in β-catenin protein accumulation that is sufficient to induce aberrant gut morphology and circumesophageal musculature. These phenotypes are likely the result of increased transcript levels of Wnt responsive endomesodermal regulatory genes. This study demonstrates the importance of miRNA regulation of β-catenin in early development.
Investigating the use of a binary ADC for simultaneous range and velocity processing in a random noise radar

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) random noise radar (RNR) implements an ultrawideband (UWB) noise waveform with a single channel receiver and a completely digital correlation processor. Velocity resolution using traditional Doppler processing is degraded as signal bandwidth increases, requiring an alternative velocity estimation technique for the AFIT UWB phase-incoherent RNR. One such technique has been developed at AFIT but is limited by its lengthy processing time and high memory usage. To mitigate the time and memory requirements, a binary analog to digital converter (ADC) is proposed to replace the current eight-bit ADC, sufficiently cutting the signal memory to enable parallel processing and drastically reduce the overall processing time required to simultaneously estimate a target's range and velocity.
A Tree-based Channel Assignment Scheme for Wireless Mesh Networks

Unlike ad hoc networks where traffic is randomly distributed among every pair of nodes, the traffic in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) is predominantly toward or from the Internet Gateways (IGWs)for Internet services. Due to this, interference and collision are more serious in the Mesh Router (MRs) closer to the IGWs and the Internet throughput of the network is limited by the number of orthogonal channels and radios of the IGW. In this paper, we propose a channel assignment scheme which exploits a tree-based topology in WMNs and implements a heuristic channel assignment algorithm, aiming to achieve the maximal Internet throughput. The channels are sequentially assigned level by level in the tree, starting from the IGW. The simulation results show that the network using this scheme achieve the Internet throughput close to the maximal capacity of IGW.
A 90-nm logic technology featuring strained-silicon

A leading-edge 90-nm technology with 1.2-nm physical gate oxide, 45-nm gate length, strained silicon, NiSi, seven layers of Cu interconnects, and low-/spl kappa/ CDO for high-performance dense logic is presented. Strained silicon is used to increase saturated n-type and p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) drive currents by 10% and 25%, respectively. Using selective epitaxial Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ in the source and drain regions, longitudinal uniaxial compressive stress is introduced into the p-type MOSEFT to increase hole mobility by >50%. A tensile silicon nitride-capping layer is used to introduce tensile strain into the n-type MOSFET and enhance electron mobility by 20%. Unlike all past strained-Si work, the hole mobility enhancement in this paper is present at large vertical electric fields in nanoscale transistors making this strain technique useful for advanced logic technologies. Furthermore, using piezoresistance coefficients it is shown that significantly less strain (/spl sim/5 /spl times/) is needed for a given PMOS mobility enhancement when applied via longitudinal uniaxial compression versus in-plane biaxial tension using the conventional Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ substrate approach.
Nutritional Value of High Lysine Corn for the Broiler Chick

Abstract Two experiments were conducted using broiler chicks from one to 21 days (experiment 1) or to 28 days (experiment 2) of age to compare the nutritional value of high lysine, normal hybrid and sweet corn. Comparisons were made at varying dietary protein levels with the corns being substituted on an isonitrogenous basis within protein levels in corn-soybean meal diets. In experiment 1, only slight differences in performance of chicks fed high lysine or normal corn were observed at 14, 18 and 22% protein levels except that feed conversion at the 22% protein level was improved for chicks fed normal corn. For chicks fed sweet corn at the 22% protein level growth and feed conversion were significantly (P In experiment 2, at the optimal protein level (23%), chicks fed high lysine or normal corn performed similarly while at the suboptimal protein level (17%) growth rate of chicks fed normal corn was superior. Methionine supplementation significantly (P
Implementation of neural networks using quantum well based excitonic devices-device requirement studies

The authors examine experimentally and theoretically two devices based on III-V technology, which are critical in the implementation of the Hopfield model as well as other neural type networks for associative memories. The devices are based on Stark effect of excitonic transitions. P-i (multiquantum wells)-n structures using GaAs/AlGaAs provide a controller-modulator device which has the integrating-thresholding properties required of neurons. The p-i-n structures also provide programmable modulators which can serve as a synaptic mask. Using Monte Carlo techniques, the authors examine an all-optical architecture to implement the Hopfield network. No external feedback-thresholding circuitry is required in this implementation due to special design of the controller-modulator device. Speed and stability issues of this architecture are also addressed. The computer simulation results provide insight into how the controller-modulator device should be improved for better network implementation. The basic technology now exists for such an implementation. >
Plasmonic oOptical data storage

In plasmonic data storage a femtosecond laser pulse is focused to a diffraction-limited spot over a small region of an optical disk which contains plasmonic nano-structures. The digital information stored in each bit-cell modifies the spectrum of the femtosecond light pulse, which is subsequently detected in transmission (or reflection) using an optical spectrum analyzer. We present theoretical as well as experimental results that confirm the potential of plasmonic nano-structures for high-density optical data storage applications.
A rare combination of giant right coronary artery aneurysm

Context: Giant coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) in adults is a rare clinical entity with an estimated incidence of 0.02%. CAA is commonly found in the right coronary artery with significant number of cases associated with fistula formation. Case Report: We describe a rare case of an 87 year-old man with large CAA with fistulous drainage into the right ventricle (RV) along with RV free wall vegetation as a cause of chronic weakness and lethargy. Conclusion: Giant CAA with fistulous drainage to the RV could present in the form of infective endocarditis. Early detection and surgical treatment would provide a significant benefit to these patients.
Politics in C Minor: The CDU/CSU between Germany and Europe since the Secular Sixties

In 1962, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faced an uncertain future. The governing party within the Federal Republic of Germany since the state's founding in 1949 (along with its Bavarian partner, the Christian Social Union, known collectively as the CDU/CSU or Union), the CDU had endured a bruising election campaign through the summer of 1961. The combination of a dynamic young Social Democratic challenger, Willy Brandt, and the building of the Berlin Wall had exposed frustration with the leadership style of octogenarian Chancellor and CDU Chair Konrad Adenauer, and cost the Union its absolute majority in the Bundestag. Electoral disappointment was followed by protracted coalition negotiations with the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which nearly doubled its vote totals by promising voters a coalition “with the Union but without Adenauer.” The coalition negotiations dragged on well into late autumn and exposed internal divisions. Adenauer, the only chancellor the Federal Republic had ever known, had been forced to agree to retire before 1965 to allow his successor to prepare for the next campaign.
RECONSTRUCCIÓN DE PERINÉ Y GENITALES

RESUMEN Los defectos perineales y genitales ocurren habitualmente luego de infecciones o resecciones extensas como consecuencia de patologia oncologica. Esta zona esta compuesta por estructuras especializadas, las cuales una vez comprometidas no pueden ser completamente restauradas. Los defectos pueden ser reconstruidos primariamente con colgajos locales o regionales para lograr el cierre de la herida y darle una buena apariencia. La reconstruccion debe realizarse cuando el paciente este medicamente estable, luego de traumas o infecciones graves. En cambio, en el caso de tumores malignos, se puede hacer de forma inmediata si se extirpa la lesion con margenes negativos. En este capitulo se presentan los colgajos mas utiles para la reconstruccion de esta area tan particular.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver. Structural and clinical implications.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver is a frequently encountered clinical entity. It may be found as an apparently spontaneous phenomenon having no discernible cause or significance, or it may be iatrogenically induced. Advanced forms of fatty liver can lead to liver cell necrosis and ultimately to severe cirrhosis. In addition to the more common forms of fatty liver, a less frequent and morphologically distinct subcategory, microvesicular fatty liver, can be identified in certain clinical settings. This disease is generally more acute and potentially more reversible, but the prognosis is more ominous if it is not quickly recognized and appropriately treated.
Opioid Receptor Interacting Proteins and the Control of Opioid Signaling

Opioid receptors are seven-transmembrane domain receptors that couple to intracellular signaling molecules by activating heterotrimeric G proteins. However, the receptor and G protein do not function in isolation but their activities are modulated by several accessory and scaffolding proteins. Examples include arrestins, kinases, and regulators of G protein signaling proteins. Accessory proteins contribute to the observed potency and efficacy of agonists, but also to the direction of signaling and the phenomenon of biased agonism. This review will present current knowledge of such proteins and how they may provide targets for future drug design.
Jamaica Kincaid: Colonialism and the Diasporic Condition in Jewish Political Thinking

Aspects of African, Caribbean, and Jewish diasporic phenomena merge in Jamaica Kincaid’s critique of British colonialism and her experience raised as a colonial subject in Antigua. This paper focuses on the role of text to locate culture and place in a comparison of colonial and diasporic experience, highlight interesting and distinct aspects of power and resistance strategies for the colonized and those in diaspora. This discussion provides a fertile base from which to question significant options and limitations of rights as a paradigm to understand and respond to justice and varieties of the human condition.This work on Jamaica Kincaid is part of a larger study in Jewish feminist political thinking. As a component of the broader study on Kincaid, and based in a study of African Jewry and African heritage Jews in the Americas, for this paper I analyse Kincaid’s essay “On Seeing England for the First Time.” Here I utilize a comparison between Kincaid’s castigation of colonialism and the otherness of colonial subjects scattered about the empire with notions of diasporic conditions. I conduct this examination within a Jewish frame, exploring the ways Kincaid’s analysis of colonialism also, sometimes surprisingly, clarifies certain (sometimes very different) power dynamics within diasporic contexts.
Detection of enterotoxin genes of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by duplex real-time fluorescence polymerase chain method

Objective:To develop a rapid,accurate,sensitive method to detect the enterotoxin genes of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.Methods: The sequences of enterotoxin genes lt and st of ETEC were searched and blasted,then primers and TaqMan-MGB probes were designed.The primers,probes,concentrations of Mg2+,Taq DNA polymerase and dNTPs level were modified.The specificity,sensitivity and repeatability were analyzed.Results: A duplex real-time PCR assay was developed for the detection of enterotoxin genes lt and st of ETEC.Conclusion: A sensitive and specific method for the detection of enterotoxin genes of ETEC was developed.This method has widely practical application value in disease prevention and clinical laboratories.
Thrombin activity associated with indwelling central venous catheters.

Thrombotic complications are frequent with indwelling central venous catheters and result in catheter dysfunction, vascular obstruction and may also contribute to catheter-associated infections. The pathogenesis of catheter thrombosis is not well characterized but may involve vessel damage, local stasis and catheter-associated thrombin formation. We have, therefore, measured the thrombin activity associated with central venous catheters removed from patients and have also determined the ability of hirudin to inactivate catheter-associated thrombin. We obtained 48 catheters from 46 patients and removed 1 cm portions for study. These were taken from the distal end, 5 cm proximal, and 15 cm proximal from the end. Following washing, thrombin activity was measured with a chromogenic assay. Thrombin was associated with 40 of 48 catheters and with 100 of 144 segments with a mean activity of 132 +/- 27 microU/cm with a range of 0 to 2,160 microU/cm. Incubation in hirudin reduced the activity from a mean of 122 +/- 33 microU/cm to 18 +/- 6 microU/cm (p < .001). Scanning electron microscopy of selected catheters showed that some had areas of fibrin deposition which was not apparent visually. The findings indicate that indwelling central venous catheters frequently have associated thrombin activity which can be inhibited by a direct-acting thrombin inhibitor such as birudin.
Fluoride sites in aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 19F NMR results

We present here high-resolution, 19 F NMR spectra, collected with sample spinning rates to 25 kHz, for sodium and calcium silicate and aluminosilicate glasses. Several distinct fluoride ion sites are well resolved and can be assigned to various coordination environments based on clear similarities to crystalline model compounds. In aluminosilicates, fluoride with one Al and several Na or Ca neighbors predominate, but silicon-fluoride groups may also be significant. Small concentrations of the latter can also be detected in sodium silicate glasses, suggesting a possible role in reduction of viscosity. Fluoride sites with no Si neighbors are, however, predominant in Al-free sodium silicates and probably in Ca silicates as well.
From Confucianism to Marxism: A century of theme treatment in Chinese writing instruction

Theme treatment is a long neglected issue in intercultural studies of school writing. Taking a historical approach, this chapter traces theme treatment in Chinese school essay writing during the 20th century. The study shows that Chinese school writing moved from neo-Confucian topics to Socialist issues for the most part of the century and that the themes always needed to be “correct,” or in alignment with the dominant Chinese ideology. Currently, Chinese students write on diversified themes reflecting a hybrid value system emerging in Chinese society. The study further reveals that theme treatment carried equal, if not more, weight to textual organization in that it often decided the selection of types of writing and dictated the layout of text structure.
Empirical recurrence rates for ground motion signals on planetary surfaces

Abstract We determine the recurrence rates of ground motion events as a function of sensed velocity amplitude at several terrestrial locations, and make a first interplanetary comparison with measurements on the Moon, Mars, Venus and Titan. This empirical approach gives an intuitive order-of-magnitude guide to the observed ground motion (including both tectonic and ocean- and atmosphere-forced signals) of these locations as a guide to instrument expectations on future missions, without invoking interior models and specific sources: for example a Venera-14 observation of possible ground motion indicates a microseismic environment mid-way between noisy and quiet terrestrial locations. Quiet terrestrial regions see a peak velocity amplitude in mm/s roughly equal to 0.3*N(-0.7), where N is the number of “events” (half-hour intervals in which a given peak ground motion is exceeded) observed per year. The Apollo data show endogenous seismic signals for a given recurrence rate that are typically about 10,000 times smaller in amplitude than a quiet site on Earth, although local thermally-induced moonquakes are much more common. Viking data masked for low-wind periods appear comparable with a quiet terrestrial site, whereas a Venera observation of microseisms suggests ground motion more similar to a more active terrestrial location. Recurrence rate plots from in-situ measurements provide a context for seismic instrumentation on future planetary missions, e.g. to guide formulation of data compression schemes. While even small geophones can discriminate terrestrial activity rates, observations with guidance accelerometers are typically too insensitive to provide meaningful constraints (i.e. a non-zero number of “events”) on actual ground motion observations unless operated for very long periods.
An in vitro fatty acylation assay reveals a mechanism for Wnt recognition by the acyltransferase Porcupine.

Wnt proteins are a family of secreted signaling proteins that play key roles in regulating cell proliferation in both embryonic and adult tissues. Production of active Wnt depends on attachment of palmitoleate, a monounsaturated fatty acid, to a conserved serine by the acyltransferase Porcupine (PORCN). Studies of PORCN activity relied on cell-based fatty acylation and signaling assays as no direct enzyme assay had yet been developed. Here, we present the first in vitro assay that accurately recapitulates PORCN-mediated fatty acylation of a Wnt substrate. The critical feature is the use of a double disulfide-bonded Wnt peptide that mimics the two-dimensional structure surrounding the Wnt acylation site. PORCN-mediated Wnt acylation was abolished when the Wnt peptide was treated with DTT, and did not occur with a linear (non-disulfide-bonded) peptide, or when the double disulfide-bonded Wnt peptide contained Ala substituted for the Ser acylation site. We exploited this in vitro Wnt acylation assay to provide direct evidence that the small molecule LGK974, which is in clinical trials for managing Wnt-driven tumors, is a bona fide PORCN inhibitor whose IC50 for inhibition of Wnt fatty acylation in vitro closely matches that for inhibition of Wnt signaling. Side-by-side comparison of PORCN and Hedgehog acyltransferase (HHAT), two enzymes that attach 16-carbon fatty acids to secreted proteins, revealed that neither enzyme will accept the other's fatty acyl-CoA or peptide substrates. These findings illustrate the unique enzyme–substrate selectivity exhibited by members of the membrane-bound O-acyl transferase family.
Report of the Commentator Differential Games Session

Abstract This informal report in connection with reference(1) comments on the field of differential games with respect to recent progress and the papers in this session.
Optimization of pyKLIP's forward model matched filter for the GPI Exoplanet Survey

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is an adaptive optics instrument for direct imaging of young self-luminous extrasolar planets in the immediate vicinity of bright stars. Such high contrast images are often dominated by speckle artifacts, which need to be removed with sophisticated data processing. Ref. 1 introduced a new matched filter for direct detection of point sources using the KLIP speckle subtraction algorithm including a forward model of the planet PSF. We present here a much more thorough analysis of the free parameters of the implementation of this algorithm in the Python git repository pyKLIP. We perform a series of one dimensional optimization over pyKLIP parameters: the reference library exclusion criterion, the number of principal components, and the size of the sectors. We also study the effect of a spectral template mismatch between the real planets and the reduction spectrum in four GPI spectral bands (J, H, K1, K2).
A Methodology for Texture Feature-based Quality Assessment in Nucleus Segmentation of Histopathology Image

Context: Image segmentation pipelines often are sensitive to algorithm input parameters. Algorithm parameters optimized for a set of images do not necessarily produce good-quality-segmentation results for other images. Even within an image, some regions may not be well segmented due to a number of factors, including multiple pieces of tissue with distinct characteristics, differences in staining of the tissue, normal versus tumor regions, and tumor heterogeneity. Evaluation of quality of segmentation results is an important step in image analysis. It is very labor intensive to do quality assessment manually with large image datasets because a whole-slide tissue image may have hundreds of thousands of nuclei. Semi-automatic mechanisms are needed to assist researchers and application developers to detect image regions with bad segmentations efficiently. Aims: Our goal is to develop and evaluate a machine-learning-based semi-automated workflow to assess quality of nucleus segmentation results in a large set of whole-slide tissue images. Methods: We propose a quality control methodology, in which machine-learning algorithms are trained with image intensity and texture features to produce a classification model. This model is applied to image patches in a whole-slide tissue image to predict the quality of nucleus segmentation in each patch. The training step of our methodology involves the selection and labeling of regions by a pathologist in a set of images to create the training dataset. The image regions are partitioned into patches. A set of intensity and texture features is computed for each patch. A classifier is trained with the features and the labels assigned by the pathologist. At the end of this process, a classification model is generated. The classification step applies the classification model to unlabeled test images. Each test image is partitioned into patches. The classification model is applied to each patch to predict the patch's label. Results: The proposed methodology has been evaluated by assessing the segmentation quality of a segmentation method applied to images from two cancer types in The Cancer Genome Atlas; WHO Grade II lower grade glioma (LGG) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The results show that our method performs well in predicting patches with good-quality segmentations and achieves F1 scores 84.7% for LGG and 75.43% for LUAD. Conclusions: As image scanning technologies advance, large volumes of whole-slide tissue images will be available for research and clinical use. Efficient approaches for the assessment of quality and robustness of output from computerized image analysis workflows will become increasingly critical to extracting useful quantitative information from tissue images. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of machine-learning-based semi-automated techniques to assist researchers and algorithm developers in this process.
Teaching Multimodal Literacy Through Reading and Writing Graphic Novels

Scholarship suggests that writing teachers and instructors looking to integrate multimodal composition into their secondary or post-secondary classrooms should consider graphic novels as a mentor text for multimodal literacy. To help those pedagogues unfamiliar with graphic novels, we offer three titles— The Photographer, Operation Ajax, and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow— students have responded positively to. Herein we offer a summary for each text, a discussion of their uses to teach multimodal literacy, a range of multimodal assignments to pair with each text, and a variety of assessment methods.
Semi-Infinite Optimization

We devote this chapter to optimality conditions and algorithms for solving semi-infinite optimization problems. In particular, we will consider semi-infinite min-max problems of the form.
Updating Bridge Deck Condition Transition Probabilities as New Inspection Data Are Collected: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation:

A Bayesian updating method is proposed to estimate a Markov chain based concrete deck deterioration model in a manner that combines condition data collected over two consecutive inspections and the...
Impact of VSL Location on Capacity Drop: A Case of Sag and Tunnel Bottlenecks

Abstract When there is upstream congestion the discharging flow-rate of a tunnel or sag bottleneck can drop, which leads to additional traffic jams. Therefore, control strategies such as variable speed limit (VSL) have been developed aiming to prevent or mitigate upstream traffic congestion. Understanding traffic dynamics at bottlenecks, especially the mechanism of capacity drop, is critical for developing such models. Many studies are centered on the control algorithm design of VSL. However, there are few studies that systematically anayze the effect that the VSL application area has on the control effectiveness. This paper extends to sag and tunnel bottlenecks the theoretical framework to analytically solve the optimal location of the speed limit application area (first developed in Martinez and Jin (2018)). Moreover, we prove that the optimization formulation can be simplified. Consequently, it can be applied to further bounded acceleration models than the constant one. Finally, for an open-loop control with a constant speed limit for the Kobotonoke tunnel bottleneck, we validate the analytic definition of optimal location by preventing capacity drop in numerical simulations.
Quantitative evaluation on the challenges and opportunities in the recruitment of young Black men who have sex with men for sexual health research in the southern US.

Background Young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) in the Deep South are at increased risk of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and HIV. The present two-phase study evaluated the recruitment of YBMSM, both HIV infected and uninfected, for a sexual health study in Birmingham (AL, USA) from 2017 to 2019 and explored alternative patient-centred recruitment methods. Methods: In Phase 1, YBMSM were recruited to participate in focus groups related to STI testing. To recruit participants, flyers were displayed in businesses, clinics and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)-friendly organisations. In addition, research staff at an HIV clinic referred participants and a recruiter attended community events. In Phase 2, YB men were asked, in an electronic survey, ‘What is the best way to recruit young, Black men for surveys about sexual health?’ and ‘If you selected ‘social media’, which social media sites or ‘apps’ do you think are best to recruit young, Black men?’. Results: In Phase 1, 38 YBMSM participated in focus groups. Twelve (32%) were recruited by referral, 9 (24%) were recruited from an HIV clinic and 11 (29%) were recruited from an LGBT organisation. The recruiter was unable to recruit any participants. In Phase 2, 55 YBMSM completed the electronic survey. Twenty-six (48%) selected social media as the best way to recruit young Black men for surveys about sexual health, and their suggested platforms included Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Kik and dating apps. Seventeen (31%) selected ‘Having young gay black men recruit from their friends and acquaintances’ as the ideal recruitment strategy. Conclusion: Challenges persist when recruiting YBMSM for sexual health research. Social media may provide better access to this vulnerable population.
Mode I Traction-Separation Relationship of Sylgard 184: Aluminum Interface Using Rigid Double Cantilever Beam Analysis

For soft adhesives, a Rigid Double Cantilever Beam (RDCB) experiment has recently been shown to be a convenient way for extracting traction-separation (σ-δ) relationships. An implicit expression of the σ-δ relationship is derived by Brock et al. (J. Adhesion, 2018) assuming small rotation of the beams and a linear traction separation relationship in the compressive zone. In this work, an explicit expression of the σ-δ relationship for a Rigid Double Cantilever beam (RDCB) for large deformation of the adhesive including the effect of a compressive zone ahead of the cohesive zone is used for direct extraction of σ-δ relationship. The expression for the σ-δ relationship is in terms of quantities that can be directly measured using the full-field deformation measurement technique, StereoDIC. Using RDCB analysis, the traction at the Sylgard 184-aluminum interface where adhesive failure occurs is obtained by simultaneous measurement of separation of the adherends at the crack tip, separation at the end of the compressive zone (far end of the beam ahead of the crack tip) and load. The true separation of the crack surfaces at the interface is obtained by measuring δ, the relative displacement of two points separated by 0.05 mm across the interface. It is shown that the compressive zone in the adhesive has a significant effect on the σ-δ relationship. The maximum traction and maximum separation are found to be 0.33 MPa and 5.5 μm respectively. The energy release rate obtained by calculating the area under the σ-δ curve is 1.13 J/m2.
Interventions to enhance affective engagement

Educators have the ability to strategically and intentionally improve student affective engagement in school through supports that (a) induce more positive emotional experiences to broaden and build students’ academic engagement and performance, (b) mitigate negative emotional experiences that undermine affective engagement (e.g., bullying and punitive experiences), and (c) equip students with the skills to regulate their emotions in the face of the social and academic demands of school. This chapter provides a general overview of the need for and nature of interventions that promote student academic engagement, as well as discusses specific universal prevention programs and intensive interventions that can be organized and delivered through a multitiered framework to promote student affective engagement.
Conservation and divergence of DNA replication control in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

ABSTRACT We recently isolated temperature-sensitive cell cycle mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for which the causative mutations were located in genes annotated for potential involvement in DNA replication. Chlamydomonas has a very long G1 period during which cells grow up to ~10-fold without division, followed by rapid cycles of DNA replication and mitosis (‘multiple fission’). All of the candidate DNA replication mutants tested were defective in completion of the first round of DNA replication, and also failed to produce mitotic spindles. For a subset of the mutants, we rescued temperature-sensitive lethality with tagged transgenes and used the resulting strains to analyze abundance and localization control of the tagged protein. All of the DNA replication proteins tested were essentially undetectable until late G1, accumulated during the period of multiple fission and then were degraded as cells completed their terminal divisions. MCM4 and MCM6 were localized to the nucleus during the division cycle except for transient cytoplasmic localization during mitosis. CDC45 showed strict protein location to the nucleus and co-localized to spindles during mitosis. In contrast, CDC6 was detected in the nucleus only transiently during early divisions within the overall multiple fission cycle. Cdc6 protein levels were very low, but increased upon treatment with MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. We also tested if these DNA replication proteins are regulated by cyclin dependent kinase (CDK). There are two main CDKs in Chlamydomonas, CDKA1 and CDKB1. We found that CDC6 protein level was severely reduced in a cdka1 mutant, but not in a cdkb1 mutant. MG132 did not detectably increase CDC6 levels in the cdka1 mutant, suggesting that CDKA1 upregulates CDC6 at the transcription level. Since MCM4, MCM6 and CDC6 were all essentially undetectable during the long G1 before DNA replication cycles began, we speculate that loading of origins with the MCM helicase may not occur until the end of the long G1, unlike in the budding yeast system. These results provide a microbial framework for approaching replication control in the plant kingdom.
Korean Suicide Protest as Anomic Response to Labour Disempowerment

The article argues that the growth of worker protest suicide in the 2000s in South Korea is relatedto current neo-liberal political-economic conditions in Korea, including: 1) the growing crisis facingincreasingly irregular and part-time workers, and 2) the construction of an anti-labour legal regimegiving Korean workers few legal options for collective engagement in workplace actions. Legalobstacles facing labour activists include both business and state actors increasingly usingcompensation lawsuits and provisional seizure tactics to seize the assets of unions and strikingworkers. As the Korean labour movement finds itself increasingly marginalised by the cripplinganti-labour legal innovations of the last two decades, labour resistance has increasingly manifestedin extreme forms of individualistic protests, such as worker suicide. Though products of anomicdespair, these suicides retain the capacity to inspire collective labour action and to leverage change.KEYWORDS: labour movement; protest suicide; provisional seizure; neo-liberalism; Korea
Role of Consumer Targeting in E-commerce Marketplaces:Sponsored versus Organic Product Listing

E-commerce marketplaces have been slowly replacing organic product listing with sponsored product listing in prominent positions of consumer search results. Marketplaces receive listing fees in addition to sales commission in sponsored listings, whereas they receive only the latter in organic listings. Moreover, marketplaces have access to vast amounts of consumer data which enables the marketplaces to target consumers profitably. We demonstrate that consumer targeting plays a central role in how the listing type affects various stakeholders. We show that marketplaces indeed have an incentive to switch to sponsored product listing from organic product listing, even though such a switch intensifies the price competition between sellers and reduces the marketplaces’ sales commission. The more intense price competition between sellers benefits consumers, but it, along with the listing fees, hurts sellers. The marketplace’s switch to the sponsored product listing hurts the social welfare by increasing the mismatch between preferred and purchased products for some consumers. The primary driver of these impacts is that the marketplaces’ incentive to precisely target consumers diminishes if they switch to sponsored product listing. An improvement in the targeting precision softens the price competition between sellers as well as the competition between them for the desirable slot in sponsored product listing; while the former effect increases the marketplace’s sales commission,the latter effect decreases listing fees. Therefore, when sales commission is the sole revenue source, as in the case of organic product listing, marketplaces have a higher incentive to improve targeting precision compared to when listing fees is also a revenue source, as in the case of sponsored product listing.
Early Childhood Outcomes Among Infants Born by Vaginal Birth After Cesarean and Repeat Cesarean Delivery in the Military Health System.

OBJECTIVE This study examines whether children delivered by repeat cesarean section experience higher incidences of otitis media, respiratory infections, and allergic diseases than children delivered by vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) in the Military Health System. STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective cohort study from the Military Health System Data Repository of women who underwent repeat cesarean section or VBAC between 2006 and 2012 and their offspring through 2014. RESULTS About 11,659 infants with 2 years of follow-up were identified. Infants delivered by VBAC had lower odds of developing respiratory illness (P < .000), otitis media (P < .001), and allergies (P = .022) compared with infants born by repeat cesarean section. There were no differences in the development of food allergies. CONCLUSION Emerging data regarding early childhood health are additional factors that can influence the mother's decision on mode of birth after a primary cesarean section.
Design and performance of low shrinkage UHPC for thin bonded bridge deck overlay

Abstract The service life of bonded overlay materials used for bridge deck rehabilitation is affected by shrinkage of the overlay and bond between the overlay and substrate. There is a growing interest in using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) for thin bonded overlays. However, UHPC can exhibit high autogenous shrinkage leading to cracking under restrained conditions. This study investigated the synergistic effect of using pre-saturated lightweight sand (LWS) and a CaO-based expansive agent (EA) to mitigate shrinkage of UHPC. Five non-proprietary UHPC mixtures, a latex-modified concrete (LMC), and a conventional concrete (CC) were tested for material properties, including pore-size distribution, hydration kinetics, and bond strength. The mixtures were used to cast 16 bonded overlay slab specimens measuring 1 × 2 m with overlay thicknesses of 25, 38, and 50 mm. In-situ variations of strain, temperature, and relative humidity of overlay materials as well as cracking and overlay-substrate bond strength were monitored for 27 months. Test results indicated that the optimum UHPC made with 5% EA and 35% LWS had a relatively low autogenous and drying shrinkage of 190 and -310 μe, respectively, at 28 d and the highest bond strength (3.1 MPa at 28 d). Such values were −520 and −520 μe and 2.35 MPa, respectively, for UHPC made without any EA and LWS, and 20 and -475 μe and 2.75 MPa, respectively, for the mixture prepared with 35% LWS. No cracking was observed in UHPC overlay slab specimens, whereas the CC and LMC overlays started cracking after approximately half a year. The increase in overlay thickness reduced crack density of the CC and LMC slabs. The optimum UHPC mixture made with 35% LWS and 5% EA had positive in-situ strain of 45 and 200 μe over the 27-month testing period, indicating that the overlay was in compression. Direct pull-off strength of the UHPC was higher that of the LMC and CC mixtures and failure occurred in the CC substrate compared to the interface for the CC and LMC overlays.
The Achilles Heel of Firm Strategy: Resource Weaknesses and Distinctive Inadequacies

Two separately developed views within the strategic management literature elucidate the source of a firm's competitive advantage based on the internal attributes of the firm: the resource-based view (Wernerfelt, 1984) and the distinctive competence view (Selznick, 1957). As developed in the literature, however, both views neglect important dimensions which inhibit the achievement of competitive advantage. These dimensions are resource weaknesses and distinctive inadequacies. Accounting for weaknesses and inadequacies exposes important choice-sets confronting management in making resource investments, and of time-related dimensions in developing sustainable advantage. Considering the effects of weaknesses and inadequacies provides insight on the limits to firm growth and to sustainability of competitive advantage. Theory on developing competitive advantage may lack explanatory and predictive power if it excludes these perspectives, which if included may also improve prescription for practitioners.
Targeting Dietary and Microbial Tryptophan-Indole Metabolism as Therapeutic Approaches to Colon Cancer

Tryptophan metabolism, via the kynurenine (Kyn) pathway, and microbial transformation of tryptophan to indolic compounds are fundamental for host health; both of which are altered in colon carcinogenesis. Alterations in tryptophan metabolism begin early in colon carcinogenesis as an adaptive mechanism for the tumor to escape immune surveillance and metastasize. The microbial community is a key part of the tumor microenvironment and influences cancer initiation, promotion and treatment response. A growing awareness of the impact of the microbiome on tryptophan (Trp) metabolism in the context of carcinogenesis has prompted this review. We first compare the different metabolic pathways of Trp under normal cellular physiology to colon carcinogenesis, in both the host cells and the microbiome. Second, we review how the microbiome, specifically indoles, influence host tryptophan pathways under normal and oncogenic metabolism. We conclude by proposing several dietary, microbial and drug therapeutic modalities that can be utilized in combination to abrogate tumorigenesis.
Expression of cancer stem cell markers in tall cell variant papillary thyroid cancer identifies a molecular profile predictive of recurrence in classic papillary thyroid cancer.

Abstract Background Tall cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma is an aggressive subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma. We examined expression of cancer stem cell markers in tall cell variant compared with other well-differentiated thyroid cancers. Methods Expression of cancer stem cell markers was examined in 572 thyroid tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas Thyroid Cancer database and tall cell variant and papillary thyroid carcinoma tumors by immunohistochemistry. Results Expression of the PROM1 gene, encoding the cancer stem cell marker CD133, was elevated in tall cell variant compared to classic papillary thyroid carcinoma in a large cohort of unmatched samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas Thyroid Cancer database (P Conclusion Tall cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma has increased expression of cancer stem cell markers compared to classic papillary thyroid carcinoma. The tall cell variant-like cancer stem cell gene signature identified a molecular subtype of classic papillary thyroid carcinoma that has a worse recurrence-free survival.
Handbook of Management Information Systems: A Managerial Perspective

Information Systems Basics: Information Systems: An Overview. Hardware and Software Concepts. Database Concepts. Organizational, Social and Legal Impacts of Information Systems. Data Communications and the Internet: Data Communications Concepts. Security Issues and Measures. The Information Superhighway and Global Information Systems. The Intranet: The Internet of Your Own. Building and Utilizing Effective Information Systems: Tools and Techniques for Building Information Systems. Total Quality Management and Information Systems Reengineering. Building Effective Information Systems in Functional Areas. Information Systems in Action: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): A New Strategic Tool. Decision Support and Executive Information Systems. Group Support Systems: Collaborative Computing Has Started. Geographic Information Systems. Multimedia and Virtual Reality Information Systems. Emerging Technologies and Applications in the Information Systems Environment: Applied Artificial Intelligence: What is Really Involved? Expert Systems Development: Putting Theory to Work. Fuzzy Logic and Hybrid Systems: Managing Imprecise Data. Neural Networks: Computers that Learn by Doing. Natural Language Processing: The Ultimate User/System Interface. Index.
CERVICAL FACET JOINT MECHANICS: ITS APPLICATION TO WHIPLASH INJURY

Epidemiological and clinical studies have identified the cervical facet capsule as a potential site of whiplash injury and prerotation of the head and neck as a risk factor for whiplash injury. However, biomechanical data related to the cervical facet capsule and its role in whiplash injury remain limited in the literature. In this study cervical spine motion segments were tested in a pure moment test frame and the full field strains were determined throughout the facet capsule. Motion segments were tested with and without a pretorque in pure bending. Bending tests were followed by isolated facet elongation tests to failure. Maximum principal strains during bending were compared to failure strains. Statistically significant increases in principal capsular strains were observed in the facet, which was contralateral to the pretorque. In contrast, no significant differences were present in the ipsilateral facet when large flexion-extension moments were applied. Capsular strains during bending were significantly less than strains at catastrophic joint failure. The same was true for subcatastrophic failures, except in the presence of a contralateral pretorque. The results of this study indicate that pretorque of the head and neck increases facet capsular strains, supporting the role of this joint in the whiplash injury mechanism. The facet capsule does not appear to be at risk for gross injury during pure bending through an angular range of motion similar to the range of motion experienced in experimental studies of whiplash. However, the findings of this study indicate that a small portion of the population may be at risk for subcatastrophic injury when exposed to these loads.