cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Squashing cubes: automating deformable model construction for graphics

The vast majority of geometric meshes used in computer graphics are optimized for rendering, and not deformable object simulation. Despite tools for volume (or surface) (re)meshing of geometric models to support physical simulation, in practice, the construction of physically based deformable models from arbitrary graphical models remains a tedious process for animators. Squashing Cubes (SC) automates the construction of physically based deformable objects from arbitrary geometric models. During preprocess, the geometric model (typically a surface mesh) is voxelized into tiny elastic cubes, i.e., the squashing cubes model. Second, a generic deformable object simulator is used to deform the SC model. Finally, the resulting deformations are interpolated back onto the original model, thus producing the final animation. Such domain embedding schemes are familiar to graphics [Pentland and Williams 1989; Faloutsos et al. 1997]. SC is simple to implement, practical for complex models, supports any geometric representation, and the SC deformable models are trivial to simulate. Although SC geometry is approximate, reasonable approximations of deformation displacement fields can be obtained for many animation purposes. One practical benefit of voxelization is that geometric features and defects smaller than the voxel scale are merged; consequently, intersecting and topologically disconnected polygons (so common in graphical models) are deformed appropriately. SC is especially appealing for complex superstructures, such as the bridge, for which the geometric mesh is not “structurally sound.” For example, the bridge model contains numerous modeling shortcuts, such as improperly attached cables, intersecting geometry, small “gaps,” badly shaped (skinny) triangles, and isolated polygons. In short, Squashing Cubes allows animators to focus on animation, and less on physically based modeling details, such as the engineering of bridges using properly connected beam, truss, and shell elements.
Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of arrays of rectangular modules encountered in electronic equipment

Abstract A multi-faceted experimental investigation has been carried out to study heat transfer and pressure drop for airflow in arrays of heat generating rectangular modules deployed along one wall of a flat rectangular duct. Experiments were performed with fully populated arrays, arrays in which there are missing modules, arrays where barriers are implanted to obtain heat transfer enhancement, and arrays in which there is both a missing module and a barrier. For the fully populated array without barriers, row-independent (fully developed) heat transfer coefficients were encountered for the 5th and all subsequent rows. When there is a missing module in the array, the heat transfer coefficients at neighboring modules are increased, with the greatest enhancement (about 40%) occurring when the missing module is just upstream of the module of interest. The enhancement due to side-by-side pairs of missing modules differs very little from that induced by a single missing module. The implantation of a barrier in the array is shown to be an effective enhancement device, with the greatest effect (about a factor of two) being felt in the 2nd row downstream of the barrier but with residual enhancement persisting considerably farther downstream. Under some conditions, the enhancing effects of a missing module and a barrier were found to be mutually reinforcing. Pressure distributions were measured in arrays with and without barriers, and the barrier-induced pressure losses identified.
Interplay between protein-modified surface and functional response of osteoblasts.

The objective of the study is to elucidate the interplay between fibronectin-metal hybrid surfaces and osteoblast function. The practical relevance is that a significant initial step in the process of prosthetic integration within a physiological system is the rapid adsorption of proteins, including fibronectin, on the surface of biomedical device. Here, we compare and contrast the cell–substrate interactions on bare and protein-modified surfaces. The protein adsorption on the surface was beneficial in favorably modulating biological functions including cell attachment, proliferation, and viability. Additionally, immunofluorescence studies demonstrated stronger vinculin signals associated with actin stress fibers in the outer regions of the cells and cellular extensions on protein-adsorbed surfaces. These results support the hypothesis that protein adsorption on artificial biomedical devices can promote bioactivity and regulate biological functions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 100A:3157–3166, 2012.
Athanasius, the Psalms, and the Reformation of the Self

Shortly after his death, the influential fourth century bishop, Athanasius of Alexandria, was recognized for introducing the contemplative traditions of the Egyptian monks to the urban Christians of Alexandria and for bringing the desert monks into communion with the Alexandrian episcopacy.' Athanasius accomplished this by quite intentionally bridging the distance-physical and spiritual-between desert and city. Over time, with his tireless effort, the daily spiritual practices of the monks became those of the urban Christian and the monks came increasingly under the sway of the Alexandrian episcopacy. As a consequence of his commitment to bringing the desert closer to the city, Athanasius thoroughly integrated ascetic practice into his theology and it proved to be a decisive component of his ecclesiastical politics.2 A letter Athanasius wrote to a certain Marcellinus provides valuable insight into the shape of Athanasius's spiritual program, its relationship to previous Hellenistic philosophical traditions, and, especially, the crucial function of the psalms in the reformation of the self. Although the letter provides no details concerning Marcellinus's identity, he was, in all likelihood, one of the urban Christians adopting the ascetic practices
Low frequency noise in a coupled-cavity traveling wave tube

Summary form only given, as follows. Coupled-cavity travelling wave tubes (CCTWT) are devices for producing high power amplification of microwave radiation. A large fraction of these devices suffer a problem with low frequency noise, close to the carrier frequency, which limits their performance. Current understanding of this phenomenon is that ions produced by collisions between the beam electrons and residual gas in the tube are trapped in potential scallop along the beam line, which are caused by overfocusing of the beam. Relatively low energy electrons produced in the ionization collisions also build up in the drift tube. Once sufficient ion density has built up in the beam region, the potential collapses and the ions escape in a burst. Regular build up and loss of ions in this fashion is assumed to produce the observed noise. The ion behaviour is obviously strongly influenced by the electrostatic potential in the tube. In standard systems the beam potential is negative with respect with the walls and the beam collector, so that ions can only escape back to the cathode. However, at sufficiently high ion densities the beam potential may increase enough for ions to escape to the tube walls. In some systems the beam collector is biased negatively to improve the tube efficiency, which could confine the less energetic ionization electrons, boosting plasma production and increasing the noise. The 2D PIC-MCC code XOOPIC is used to perform a series of simulations with different values of the collector potential to characterize tire mechanisms by which ions are produced, trapped and then escape from the tube, in order to confirm that ions are in fact the source of the noise, and possibly how to ameliorate the effect.
The fabM Gene Product of Streptococcus mutans Is Responsible for the Synthesis of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids and Is Necessary for Survival at Low pH

Previously, it has been demonstrated that the membrane fatty acid composition of Streptococcus mutans is affected by growth pH (E. M. Fozo and R. G. Quivey, Jr., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:929-936, 2004; R. G. Quivey, Jr., R. Faustoferri, K. Monahan, and R. Marquis, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 189:89-92, 2000). Specifically, the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids increases when the organism is grown in acidic environments; if the shift to increased monounsaturated fatty acids is blocked by the addition of a fatty acid biosynthesis inhibitor, the organism is rendered more acid sensitive (E. M. Fozo and R. G. Quivey, Jr., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:929-936, 2004). Recently, work with Streptococcus pneumoniae has identified a novel enzyme, FabM, responsible for the production of monounsaturated fatty acids (H. Marrakchi, K. H. Choi, and C. O. Rock, J. Biol. Chem. 277:44809-44816, 2002). Using the published S. pneumoniae sequence, a putative FabM was identified in the S. mutans strain UA159. We generated a fabM strain that does not produce unsaturated fatty acids as determined by gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters. The mutant strain was extremely sensitive to low pH in comparison to the wild type; however, the acid-sensitive phenotype was relieved by growth in the presence of long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids or through genetic complementation. The strain exhibited reduced glycolytic capability and altered glucose-PTS activity. In addition, the altered membrane composition was more impermeable to protons and did not maintain a normal ΔpH. The results suggest that altered membrane composition can significantly affect the acid survival capabilities, as well as several enzymatic activities, of S. mutans.
Thin filament near-neighbour regulatory unit interactions affect rabbit skeletal muscle steady-state force-Ca2+ relations

The role of cooperative interactions between individual structural regulatory units (SUs) of thin filaments (7 actin monomers : 1 tropomyosin : 1 troponin complex) on steady-state Ca(2+)-activated force was studied. Native troponin C (TnC) was extracted from single, de-membranated rabbit psoas fibres and replaced by mixtures of purified rabbit skeletal TnC (sTnC) and recombinant rabbit sTnC (D27A, D63A), which contains mutations that disrupt Ca(2+) coordination at N-terminal sites I and II (xxsTnC). Control experiments in fibres indicated that, in the absence of Ca(2+), both sTnC and xxsTnC bind with similar apparent affinity to sTnC-extracted thin filaments. Endogenous sTnC-extracted fibres reconstituted with 100 % xxsTnC did not develop Ca(2+)-activated force. In fibres reconstituted with mixtures of sTnC and xxsTnC, maximal Ca(2+)-activated force increased in a greater than linear manner with the fraction of sTnC. This suggests that Ca(2+) binding to functional Tn can spread activation beyond the seven actins of an SU into neighbouring units, and the data suggest that this functional unit (FU) size is up to 10-12 actins. As the number of FUs was decreased, Ca(2+) sensitivity of force (pCa(50)) decreased proportionally. The slope of the force-pCa relation (the Hill coefficient, n(H)) also decreased when the reconstitution mixture contained < 50 % sTnC. With 15 % sTnC in the reconstitution mixture, n(H) was reduced to 1.7 +/- 0.2, compared with 3.8 +/- 0.1 in fibres reconstituted with 100 % sTnC, indicating that most of the cooperative thin filament activation was eliminated. The results suggest that cooperative activation of skeletal muscle fibres occurs primarily through spread of activation to near-neighbour FUs along the thin filament (via head-to-tail tropomyosin interactions).
Exonuclease Removal of Dideoxycytidine (Zalcitabine) by the Human Mitochondrial DNA Polymerase

The toxicity of nucleoside analogs used for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection is due primarily to the inhibition of replication of the mitochondrial genome by the human mitochondrial DNA polymerase (Pol γ). The severity of clinically observed toxicity correlates with the kinetics of incorporation versus excision of each analog as quantified by a toxicity index, spanning over six orders of magnitude. Here we show that the rate of excision of dideoxycytidine (zalcitabine; ddC) was reduced fourfold (giving a half-life of ∼2.4 h) by the addition of a physiological concentration of deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) due to the formation of a tight ternary enzyme-DNA-dNTP complex at the polymerase site. In addition, we provide a more accurate measurement of the rate of excision and show that the low rate of removal of ddCMP results from both the unfavorable transfer of the primer strand from the polymerase to the exonuclease site and the inefficient binding and/or hydrolysis at the exonuclease site. The analogs ddC, stavudine, and ddATP (a metabolite of didanosine) each bind more tightly at the polymerase site during incorporation than normal nucleotides, and this tight binding contributes to slower excision by the proofreading exonuclease, leading to increased toxicity toward mitochondrial DNA.
The SRFR 5 Modeling System for Surface Irrigation

AbstractThe SRFR program is a modeling system for surface irrigation. It is a central component of WinSRFR, a software package for the hydraulic analysis of surface irrigation systems. SRFR solves ...
Core Level Orbital Interactions and Fast Ion Conduction

Although there has been much success in theoretical modelling of fast ion conductors with molecular dynamics simulations, there has been less attention paid to development of a chemical understanding of fast ion conduction. In this paper we explore the importance of core level interactions and the role that they play in constructing high diffusivity paths in solids. In particular, we have carried out molecular orbital calculations (using the self-consistent-field X- alpha scattered-wave method) on AgI clusters to examine the orbital interactions of the filled Ag 4d level. We hypothesize that it is the interaction of the d electrons that is responsible for fast ion conduction in AgI and other Ag and Cu binary fast ion conductors. The results of these calculations will be compared with other electronic structure calculations and XPS data.
Expression and function of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (CD162) on human basophils

Abstract Background: The endothelial cell adhesion molecule P-selectin may contribute to selective leukocyte migration in allergic diseases by binding to its ligand, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1), on eosinophils and other leukocytes. Although expression of PSGL-1 on basophils has been detected in leukocyte typing workshops, its function on basophils has not been explored. Objective: We sought to characterize the expression and function of PSGL-1 on human basophils and a basophil-like cell line (KU812) and to compare these characteristics with those for PSGL-1 on eosinophils and neutrophils. Methods: Basophils, eosinophils, and neutrophils were enriched from peripheral blood by using density gradient centrifugation and immunomagnetic negative selection. KU812 cells were cultured by using standard techniques. Indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry were used to determine surface PSGL-1 expression under various conditions, and Western blotting was used to analyze the molecular forms of PSGL-1 on each cell type. Static adhesion assays were performed by using immobilized recombinant P-selectin and relevant blocking antibodies. Histamine release assays were done by using adherent and nonadherent basophils to determine whether adhesion by means of PSGL-1 altered basophil releasability. Results: The expression of PSGL-1 on basophils was similar to that on neutrophils but was approximately 30% less bright than levels on eosinophils. Levels on basophils were 10-fold higher than on KU812 cells. Basophil activation by means of IgE cross-linking resulted in reductions in surface expression of PSGL-1 and L-selectin, as well as increased CD11b expression. Western blot analysis of PSGL-1 revealed that the molecular weights of the bands for neutrophils and basophils were similar, whereas those for eosinophils were of greater molecular weights. Static adhesion assays demonstrated that basophils bound well to P-selectin, whereas KU812 cells bound poorly. Adhesion of basophils to P-selectin was completely blocked by antibodies to either P-selectin or PSGL-1. Finally, adhesion to P-selectin did not alter the magnitude or kinetics of anti-IgE–induced histamine release. Conclusion: Expression of PSGL-1 on basophils is more similar to that on neutrophils than that on eosinophils. KU812 cells express much lower levels of this molecule but, like basophils and other cells, bind to P-selectin by means of PSGL-1. P-selectin expression at sites of allergic inflammation is likely to play an important role in human basophil recruitment, but adhesion by means of PSGL-1 does not alter IgE-dependent basophil histamine release. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2000;106:918-24.)
The influence of landscape position on lakes in northern Wisconsin

1. Using data from the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research site in northern Wisconsin, we present a series of examples illustrating how landscape setting can influence the static and dynamic aspects of many physical, chemical and biological properties of lakes. 2. One important landscape attribute is the hydrologic position of a lake within the regional flow regime. Lake position determines the relative importance of groundwater and precipitation input to a lake, with lakes high in the landscape receiving a greater proportion of their input waters from precipitation than lakes lower in the landscape. Landscape position is strongly correlated with the concentration of base cations such as calcium and magnesium. 3. Landscape position also influences how lakes respond to drought conditions. Lakes high in the landscape responded to a 4-year drought with decreases in calcium mass, whereas lakes low in the landscape increased in mass of calcium. During extended dry conditions, these differential responses of lakes suggest that lakes already low in calcium (i.e. in a high position in the flow system) will have further reductions in calcium concentrations. These reductions could decrease the number of lakes offering suitable habitat for organisms such as crayfish and snails whose distributions are limited by calcium. 4. Landscape position also affects silica concentrations in lakes, with lakes low in the landscape having silica concentrations up to three orders of magnitude greater than lakes high in the landscape. Differences in silica concentration affect robustness of freshwater sponge spicules which can potentially alter some aspects of the dynamics of littoral zone food webs. 5. Landscape position can influence the vertical distribution of primary production. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon are affected by landscape setting and can influence vertical light penetration, thus affecting the depth at which primary production can occur. 6. Lake area and fish species richness are correlated with landscape position: larger, species-rich lakes are low in the landscape, whereas smaller lakes with fewer species tend to be high in the landscape. 7. By taking a landscape-scale view, in addition to the more usual lake-specific view, it is possible to reach a more robust understanding of lake dynamics and avoid some of the problems associated with extrapolating from single lake results.
Propranolol treatment for periocular capillary hemangiomas.

I n this issue of the Journal of AAPOS, Haider and colleagues reviewed the records of 17 patients administered oral propranolol for the treatment of amblyogenic capillary hemangiomas of the eyelid. Reports of first-line treatment of hemangiomas of infancy have multiplied since the initial report of a small case series of infants who demonstrated a dramatic improvement after treatment with oral propranolol. Ironically, propranolol therapy was discovered in that case series because the corticosteroids used to treat large hemangiomas led to cardiac disease, which then created the need for propranolol therapy, which in turn led to regression of the otherwise nonresponsive hemangiomas. As the authors note, a standard of care has not been established for treatment of vision-threatening hemangiomas. A variety of corticosteroid preparations, administered by a variety of routes (topical, injected, or parenteral), have all been considered first-line options. Although corticosteroids can be effective, the optimal molecule, formulation, and dosage has not been defined. Responses are variable, corticosteroids are not well tolerated, and side effects are common. Other medications that have been used to treat hemangiomas—including interferon alpha, cyclophosphamide, and vincristine—carry an even greater risk of adverse effects. When considering any medical treatment, an important confounding variable is timing. Early initiation of treatment may be much more effective to prevent growth than delayed treatment to promote shrinking. Pediatric ophthalmologists who do not participate with or have access to a multidisciplinary, subspecialty service (such as a ‘‘vascular anomalies team’’) should be familiar with initiating treatment, to avoid delay and risk hemangioma growth, even if the long-term plan is to refer these patients to another provider for medical management. The treatment regimen prescribed by Haider and colleagues appears appropriately conservative, slowly in-
Revealing List-Level Control in the Stroop Task by Uncovering Its Benefits and a Cost

accounts, we used novel designs featuring neutral trials. In two experiments, we showed that the list-wide proportion congruence effect is accompanied by a change in neutral trial color-naming performance. Because neutral words have no item-specific bias, this pattern can be attributed to list-level control. Additionally, we showed that list-level attenuation of word reading led to a cost to performance on a secondary prospective memory task but only when that task required processing of the irrelevant, neutral word. These findings indicate that the list-wide proportion congruence effect at least partially reflects list-level control and challenge purely item-specific accounts of this effect.
Loop dependence of the stability and dynamics of nucleic acid hairpins

Hairpin loops are critical to the formation of nucleic acid secondary structure, and to their function. Previous studies revealed a steep dependence of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) hairpin stability with length of the loop (L )a s»L 8.50.5 , in 100mM NaCl, which was attributed to intraloop stacking interactions. In this article, the loop-size dependence of RNA hairpin stabilities and their folding/unfolding kinetics were monitored with laser temperaturejump spectroscopy. Our results suggest that similar mechanisms stabilize small ssDNA and RNA loops, and show that salt contributes significantly to the dependence of hairpin stability on loop size. In 2.5mM MgCl2, the stabilities of both ssDNA and RNA hairpins scale as »L 40.5 , indicating that the intraloop interactions are weaker in the presence of Mg 2+ . Interestingly, the folding times for ssDNA hairpins (in 100mM NaCl) and RNA hairpins (in 2.5mM MgCl2) are similar despite differences in the salt conditions and the stem sequence, and increase similarly with loop size, »L 2.20.5 and »L 2.60.5 , respectively. These results suggest that hairpins with small loops may be specifically stabilized by interactions of the Na + ions with the loops.
JCL roundtable: PCSK9 inhibitors in clinical practice

The roundtable this month will involve a discussion of two new drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The Food and Drug Administration approved the first of these, alirocumab as an "adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated statin therapy for the treatment of adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, who require additional lowering of LDL [low-density lipoprotein]-cholesterol." Evolucumab has similar indications plus an indication specifically for treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. This sets the stage for their clinical use and in this roundtable, we will discuss with two experts, the implications of these indications for the practicing physician. Dr McKenney and Dr Moriarty have had extensive experience in the conduct of clinical trials that provided the evidence of safety and efficacy of these so called PCSK9 inhibitors.
Predictive Crack Growth Technique for Laser Peening Process Development

Laser peening (LP) has shown excellent fatigue life extension in numerous tests with typical treatments garnering 2-4 times the fatigue performance of an untreated component. Initially, large test programs were implemented to determine the best LP parameters for a given scenario, eventually being augmented by physics-based modeling due to the large design space available to the LP process. Approval for these processes continues to be on a case-by-case basis, contingent on multiple factors: cost, applicability, time, % fatigue life extension, and ability to track crack growth. Because LP induces compressive residual stresses in the near surface region, the compensatory tensile residual stresses are shifted sub-surface. While an axial tensile load would be mitigated by surface compressive stresses, sub-surface a crack can propagate rapidly via tensile stresses. Current predictive methods lack the ability to track this sub-surface behavior, limiting the accuracy of fatigue crack growth predictions throughout the various design stages of an LP treatment. This work demonstrates a framework that incorporates user-defined geometry, material data, crack growth data, mechanical loading, and residual stresses to predict the crack front shape evolution in 3D solids. A baseline case with no residual stresses is simulated and compared with a closed form solution.
Tartaric Acid and Its Salts

As a principal acid in grapes and wine, tartaric acid plays an important role not only in contributing to overall wine acidity but also in the maintenance of juice and wine buffer systems. As a result of this activity, juice as well as wine is maintained (buffered) at a relatively low pH, which, in turn affects the biological stability and visible color, in addition to the overall acidic taste of the product. The tartaric acid content of grape musts varies from 0.2 to 1%, with 0.1 to 0.6% being found in most grape wines.
Ethics from a Practical Business Perspective: The View from the Front Line and Sometimes the Trenches

How does a large, multi -disciplinary international professional services firm deal with ethical issues that arise, strategically and operationally? Can its structures, policies and processes withstand day-to-day business demands? How do its corporate values translate to its people? How can they maintain their personal integrity in the face of relentless pressure? We will discuss these issues candidly, describing our principles and frameworks and how we seek to embed them throughout the firm. This will be illustrated by our responses to recent real-life events and we will pose some challenges for the audience to consider.
Bootstrapping O(N ) vector models with four supercharges in 3 ≤ d ≤ 4

We analyze the conformal bootstrap constraints in theories with four super-charges and a global O(N ) × U(1) flavor symmetry in 3 ≤ d ≤ 4 dimensions. In particular, we consider the 4-point function of O(N )-fundamental chiral operators Z i that have no chiral primary in the O(N )-singlet sector of their OPE. We find features in our numerical bounds that nearly coincide with the theory of N + 1 chiral super-fields with superpotential W = X∑ = 1 Z 2 as well as general bounds on SCFTs where ∑ = 1 Z 2 vanishes in the chiral ring.
POD-based model reduction for stabilized finite element approximations of shallow water flows

The shallow water equations (SWE) are used to model a wide range of free-surface flows from dam breaks and riverine hydrodynamics to hurricane storm surge and atmospheric processes. Despite their frequent use and improvements in algorithm and processor performance, accurate resolution of these flows is a computationally intensive task for many regimes. The resulting computational burden persists as a barrier to the inclusion of fully resolved two-dimensional shallow water models in many applications, particularly when the analysis involves optimal design, parameter inversion, risk assessment, and/or uncertainty quantification.Here, we consider model reduction for a stabilized finite element approximation of the SWE that can resolve advection-dominated problems with shocks but is also suitable for more smoothly varying riverine and estuarine flows. The model reduction is performed using Galerkin projection on a global basis provided by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). To achieve realistic speedup, we evaluate alternative techniques for the reduction of the non-polynomial nonlinearities that arise in the stabilized formulation. We evaluate the schemes' performance by considering their accuracy, robustness, and speed for idealized test problems representative of dam-break and riverine flows.
Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act (ITSFEA)

This paper finds new evidence that the threat of legal sanctions significantly affects the trading behavior of insiders. Specifically, I examine the effects of the Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act (ITSFEA) on insider trading around earnings announcements. Given ITSFEA's stated concern with trading on private information prior to its release, I argue that insiders may respond to the Act by shifting their trading to the post-announcement period. The evidence presented below is consistent with the argument that insiders responded to Congress' clear disdain for trading on private information prior to its release. Following the Act, insiders focus more of their trading after an earnings announcement than before one. Moreover, insiders trade less frequently and earn smaller profits on their trades around earnings announcements after the Act. Finally, the observed shift in trade timing after the Act is accompanied by a change in insider trading strategies. Specifically, insiders' pre-announcement trading was uncorrelated with earnings surprise prior to the Act, while subsequent to the Act, pre-announcement insider trading was decreasing in earnings surprise.
Not Really Gone

Not Really Gone , Blaire Sharpe, 2015, pp 262, paperback $19.95 or E-Book $3.99 from www.blairesharpe.com, AuthorHouse, ISBN 978-1-50,490,523-7 ![Graphic][1] I picked up this book with trepidation and some cynicism. Was this going to be another chronicle of self-pity, resentments and horrors with no intelligent attempt made to understand the rationale behind addictive behaviours. Not so! This is an informed, well structured book and it touched me on many levels—both professionally and personally. It is the account of the life of the author—Blaire Sharpe. The title is rather paradoxical and had me considering what was ‘Not Really Gone’ … the grandmother, the grandmother's love, or the intrusive systemic nature of chemical dependence? I have to say I struggled with remembering the title. It seems rather underwhelming and at odds with the powerful message of the book. These tales have been told before and the chemically dependent family system has been well documented. However this should not take away from the fact that the writer achieves an excellent portrayal of what is like for a child … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Modeling of Residual Stresses in Shape Memory Alloy - Ceramic Composites

Metal-ceramic composites combining Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) with MAX phase ceramics are gaining interest due to their unique combination of inelastic constituents. Specifically, these composites, intended for extreme environments, are being explored to take advantage of the reversible martensitic transformation associated with SMAs and inelastic deformations associated with kink band formation in the MAX phases. By using the combination of these mechanisms, a superior composite response may be observed. Specifically, residual stress states may be developed in these composites to take advantage of specific material responses (i.e. improved mechanical response of ceramics under compression). In this work, a microstructurally informed finite element model of this composite is used to study the effect and development of these residual stress states. A recent thermomechanical constitutive model is used for the reversible transformation of the SMA phase while an constitutive approximation is utilized to describe the response of the MAX phases. The effect of additional irrecoverable strains from another phase on the residual stress state is studied and the interaction of the different mechanisms discussed. In this way, it is shown that such deformations increase the residual stress magnitude in the ceramic phase. Furthermore, the impact of the loading path is examined and the dominance of the cooling cycle in developing the residual stresses in the composite is shown. In this context, the micromechanics of the developed residual stress states are discussed.
Olfactory and Visual Response by Black Cutworm Larvae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Locating a Bait Trap

Field studies were conducted to examine whether vision and odor are factors used by black cutworm (BCW) larvae when orienting to the modified Missouri larva bait trap (Story and Keaster 1983). The wheat bran treatments were from 52 to 121% more effective in attracting larvae than similar treatments without bran during 1981 and 1982. These results indicate that BCW larvae use odor to discriminate between attractive and unattractive hosts. In 1982, treatments with wheat seedlings and with simulated seedlings (sticks) showed that 93% more BCW larvae were captured with the wheat seedlings than with simulated wheat seedlings. The wheat seedlings attracted BCW larvae by olfactory rather than visual cues. However, the addition of vertical screens to the larva trap significantly enhanced larval BCW captures by from 30 to 82%. Therefore, the attractiveness of the modified Missouri larva trap was due to a visual response (vertical screen) and an olfactory response (wheat seedlings and wheat bran).
Natural History of Aerosol Exposure with Marburg Virus in Rhesus Macaques.

Marburg virus causes severe and often lethal viral disease in humans, and there are currently no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medical countermeasures. The sporadic occurrence of Marburg outbreaks does not allow for evaluation of countermeasures in humans, so therapeutic and vaccine candidates can only be approved through the FDA animal rule—a mechanism requiring well-characterized animal models in which efficacy would be evaluated. Here, we describe a natural history study where rhesus macaques were surgically implanted with telemetry devices and central venous catheters prior to aerosol exposure with Marburg-Angola virus, enabling continuous physiologic monitoring and blood sampling without anesthesia. After a three to four day incubation period, all animals developed fever, viremia, and lymphopenia before developing tachycardia, tachypnea, elevated liver enzymes, decreased liver function, azotemia, elevated D-dimer levels and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines suggesting a systemic inflammatory response with organ failure. The final, terminal period began with the onset of sustained hypotension, dehydration progressed with signs of major organ hypoperfusion (hyperlactatemia, acute kidney injury, hypothermia), and ended with euthanasia or death. The most significant pathologic findings were marked infection of the respiratory lymphoid tissue with destruction of the tracheobronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes, and severe diffuse infection in the liver, and splenitis.
Major histocompatibility complex (B): effect on the response of chickens to a second challenge with rous sarcoma virus.

Abstract The influence of B genotype on the formation of a second RSV-induced tumor was studied. Line 63 (B2/B2) and (61 × 151) F3 and F4B2/B2 and B5 / B5 chickens were challenged with RSV in the left wingweb at 6 weeks of age. Tumor-bearing animals then were rechallenged with RSV in the right wingweb at either 10, 11, or 12 days post primary inoculation. Most B2/B2 hosts resisted development of a second tumor compared to none of the B5/B5 hosts. Failure of a second tumor to develop in B2/B2 hosts was not explained by humoral neutralization of RSV in vivo, since sera from 83% of B2/B2 and 100% of B5/B5 tumor bearing chickens failed to neutralize virus prior to 12 days post primary inoculation. Humoral antiviral immunity appeared later in B5/B5 than in B2/B2 hosts. Humoral antiviral immunity appears to play little if any role in resistance to early RSV-induced tumor development, but likely both humoral and cell-mediated antitumor immunity do.
Safety and tolerability of desvenlafaxine in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess long-term safety and tolerability of desvenlafaxine (administered as desvenlafaxine succinate) in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: An 8 week, multicenter, open-label, fixed-dose study of children (ages 7–11 years) and adolescents (ages 12–17 years) with MDD was followed by a 6 month, flexible-dose extension study. Patients were administered desvenlafaxine 10–100 mg/day (children) or 25–200 mg/day (adolescents) for a total of 8 months. Treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs), withdrawals because of AEs, laboratory tests, vital signs, and the Columbia Suicide-Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) were collected. Eight month safety results from the lead-in plus extension studies are reported for extension study participants, using lead-in study day −1 as baseline. Results: Forty patients were enrolled in both studies (20 children; 20 adolescents). Of those, four children and three adolescents withdrew because of AEs. ...
A Digital-Analog Hybrid Simulation System for Sending out Massive Thermal-Generated Power Bundled With Wind Power via HVDC Transmission System

To research the feasibility of long-distance massive power transmission from large-scale new energy base via HVDC transmission system to load center and the technical problems possibly occur during the transmission,an effective simulation platform is essential.Combining respective advantages of digital realtime simulation and physical simulation and taking electromagnetic transient digital realtime simulation system HYPERSIM as the research platform,the physical simulation device of DC power transmission is utilized to simulate the UHVDC power transmission system,via which the wind power is sent out,and the digital-analog hybrid simulation based on bi-directional power connection is utilized to simulate the power exchange between digital and physical models,thus a digital-analog hybrid simulation system to research sending out large-scale wind power via UHVDC transmission system is established.Through transient and steady-state simulation the dynamic response characteristics of the established simulation system is validated,therefore,the technological problem of accurately simulating the dynamic response characteristics of UHVDC transmission system,via which the wind power is transmitted,when the grid-connection of large-scale wind farms is being simulated is solved.The established simulation system is suitable for the researches on grid-connection of large-scale wind farms,the adaptability of UHVDC power transmission to large-scale wind farms and AC/DC coordinated control.
Dental hygiene students' and practitioners' resolution of professional issues.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among verbal ability, extent of education and professional experience, level of cognitive development, and age (separately and in combination) and dental hygiene students' and practitioners' ability to resolve professional issues. Forty-five dental hygiene students and graduates participated in this cross-sectional study (15 associate-degree subjects with no professional experience; 15 associate-degree subjects with professional experience; and 15 baccalaureate-degree subjects with professional experience). Ability to resolve professional issues was measured using two professional issues cases developed by the investigator. Protocols were rated separately and blindly by two raters, resulting in high interrater reliability (r = .69) and agreement estimates (80%). Results revealed that subjects with higher levels of education and professional experience achieved higher scores on the professional issues cases. Multiple regression and part correlation analyses revealed that the independent variables, in combination and separately, were of questionable value in predicting ability to respond to professional issues. While no single variable was overwhelmingly predictive, the combination variable extent of education and professional experience appeared to be the best predictor.
What is the best treatment for mild to moderate acne

For mild comedonal acne, monotherapy with topical retinoids is the treatment of choice (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A). For moderate comedonal and mild to moderate papulopustular acne, combination therapy with either benzoyl peroxide or topical retinoids (adapalene [Differin], tazarotene [Tazorac], tretinoin [Retin-A]) plus topical antibiotics (erythromycin or clindamycin) is proven most effective (SOR: A). Six to 8 weeks should be allowed for most treatments to work before altering the regimen (SOR: A).
TU-B-201-02: Accounting for KV Imaging Dose

Radiotherapy is in the era of image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) in which imaging procedures are routinely performed for patient positioning, and target localization. The additional imaging dose delivered may increase risk to the patient and therefore needs to be managed. This lecture provides an overview of the AAPM TG-180 which is charged with: providing an overview on imaging dose including megavoltage electronic portal imaging (MV EPI), kilovoltage digital radiography (kV DR), Tomotherapy MV-CT, megavoltage cone-beam CT (MV-CBCT) and kilovoltage cone-beam CT (kV-CBCT) as well as providing general guidelines for commissioning and managing imaging dose calculations. The dose to radiotherapy (RT) patients resulting from different image guidance procedures is reviewed and recommendations for managing the imaging dose are provided. Different techniques for reducing the image guidance dose are summarized. A recommended threshold beyond which imaging dose should be considered in the treatment planning process is discussed. This lecture also discusses kilovoltage imaging dose determination by calculation and estimation, and inclusion in treatment planning as well as accounting for MV imaging dose and the future of MV imaging. Learning Objectives: 1.Learn the different image guidance modalities, typical organ doses resulting from different image procedures, and techniques to reduce the imaging dose; 2.Understand the imaging dose threshold and rationale for accounting for the imaging dose; 3.Learn how to account for kV imaging dose 4.Learn how to account for MV imaging dose and understand the future of MV imaging
Visible Type Application

The Hindley-Milner HM type system automatically infers the types at which polymorphic functions are used. In HM, the inferred types are unambiguous, and every expression has a principal type. Type annotations make HM compatible with extensions where complete type inference is impossible, such as higher-rank polymorphism and type-level functions. However, programmers cannot use annotations to explicitly provide type arguments to polymorphic functions, as HM requires type instantiations to be inferred. We describe an extension to HM that allows visible type application. Our extension requires a novel type inference algorithm, yet its declarative presentation is a simple extension to HM. We prove that our extended system is a conservative extension of HM and admits principal types. We then extend our approach to a higher-rank type system with bidirectional type-checking. We have implemented this system in the Glasgow Haskell Compiler and show how our approach scales in the presence of complex type system features.
Analysis of system performance for differentiated handling of SIP requests

The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) relies on the session initiation protocol (SIP) protocol for call management and signaling. The SIP protocol defines several types of request messages for its operation. A call setup, for instance, involves SIP INVITE request, which often generates message exchanges across multiple SIP proxies before the call is established. While requests such as INVITE are initiated by end users (referred herein as user-triggered requests), other SIP requests are system-triggered, wherein the user equipment (UE) automatically generates certain SIP requests for addressing and other housekeeping purposes. In particular, the SIP REGISTER requests are required to allow the UEs to register themselves with designated SIP registrar servers. Also, UEs are required to refresh their registrations by means of fresh REGISTER requests, at regular intervals. Consequently, a SIP server can experience a significant amount of load, even if the user call rates are low. In this paper, we suggest that the performance of SIP based systems can be improved by differentiated handling of the user-triggered and system-triggered requests. For instance, since the user-triggered requests have more direct impact on response time experienced by end users, these type of requests can scheduled with a higher priorities on the server. Moreover, the system-triggered requests can be delayed or even curtailed, in order to ldquosmoothenrdquo the request arrival rates at the server. We also attempt to quantify the impact of user-triggered and system-triggered requests, on the performance of an IMS system. In particular, we compute the performance of IMS by means of simulations, driven by real-world traffic statistics. We further propose and analyze a simple heuristic algorithm for controlling the rate of generation of REGISTER requests. In our simulation experiments, we find that the average server load, as measured by its job queue size, decreased by 50% when the algorithm was applied.
Impulsivity and aggression mediate regional brain responses in Borderline Personality Disorder: An fMRI study

Fronto-limbic brain networks involved in regulation of impulsivity and aggression are abnormal in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, it is unclear whether, or to what extent, these personality traits actually modulate brain responses during cognitive processing. Using fMRI, we examined the effects of trait impulsivity, aggression, and depressed mood on regional brain responses in 31 female BPD and 25 control subjects during a Go No-Go task using Ekman faces as targets. First-level contrasts modeled effects of negative emotional context. Second-level regression models used trait impulsivity, aggression and depressed mood as predictor variables of regional brain activations. In BPD, trait impulsivity was positively correlated with activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex (OFC), basal ganglia (BG), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with no areas of negative correlation. In contrast, aggression was negatively correlated with activation in OFC, hippocampus, and BG, with no areas of positive correlation. Depressed mood had a generally dampening effect on activations. Effects of trait impulsivity on healthy controls differed from effects in BPD, suggesting a disorder-specific response. Negative emotional context and trait impulsivity, but not aggression or depression, diminished task performance across both groups. Negative emotional context may interfere with cognitive functioning in BPD through interaction with the neurobiology of personality traits.