cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fuzzy tuned nonlinear rate controller for manipulators

This paper addresses the problem of controlling a class of nonlinear dynamic systems, including robots, represented by autonomous nonlinear models without functional input derivatives. Industrial and space robots are controlled with PID or PD controllers which are difficult to tune for aperiodic response over a wide range of spatial motion, since the controller gains are functions of changing plant parameters such as effective inertia. A controller which can achieve fast robot performance despite these shortcomings, and with high pay-loads, is a disclosed four stage variable-structure nonlinear rate controller (NRC). This work expands the NRC application with a fuzzy logic tuner resulting in the system's robust performance with respect to variable loads and command input. The fuzzy tuner consists of nine rules which are logical functions of the system error and its derivative. >
No Fat Persons Need Apply: Experimental Studies of the Overweight Stereotype and Hiring Preference

Two studies explored reactions to the overweight by isolating the effects of weight from other characteristics of the job applicant. The first study, which established the existence of a stereotype, shows that the overweight are viewed consistently more negatively than others on variables considered important for successful job performance. The second study experimentally investigated occupational discrimination in a simulated hiring setting. Overweight applicants were less highly recommended than average-weight persons despite objectively identical performances. The findings are discussed m the context of current research on cognitive processes.
Managing Quality in the E-Service System: Development and Application of a Process Model

In this paper, we develop a process model for assessing and managing e-service quality based on the underlying components of the e-service system and, in turn, address the growing need to look in more detail at the system component level for sources of poor quality. The proposed process model is comprised of a set of entities representing the e-service system, a network defining the linking between all pairs of entities via transactions and product flows, and a set of outcomes of the processes in terms of quality dimensions. The process model is developed using Unified Modeling Language (UML), a pictorial language for specifying service designs that has achieved widespread acceptance among e-service designers. Examples of applications of the process model are presented to illustrate how the model can be use to identify operational levers for managing and improving e-service quality.
Evolving real-time systems using hierarchical scheduling and concurrency analysis

We have developed a new way to look at real-time and embedded software: as a collection of execution environments created by a hierarchy of schedulers. Common schedulers include those than run interrupts, bottom-half handlers, threads, and events. We have created algorithms for deriving response times, scheduling overheads, and blocking terms for tasks in systems containing multiple execution environments. We have also created task scheduler logic, a formalism that permits checking systems for race conditions and other errors. Concurrency analysis of low-level software is challenging because there are typically several kinds of locks, such as thread mutexes and disabling interrupts, and groups of cooperating tasks may need to acquire some, all or none of the available types of locks to create correct software. Our high-level goal is to create systems that are evolvable: they are easier to modify in response to changing requirements than are systems created using traditional techniques. We have applied our approach to two case studies in evolving software for networked sensor nodes.
Permanent iodine-125 implants in postoperative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer with positive surgical margins.

Background. Patients with head and neck cancer treated surgically have a high local recurrence rate, unless the surgeon is able to obtain adequate margins of resection. In patients with positive margins, tumor control is suboptimal despite postoperative radiotherapy. Methods. We treated 25 consecutive patients, who were at high risk for local recurrence by virtue of positive margins, by modest dose postoperative external-beam irradiation (median 60 Gy) followed by elective iodine 125 (I-125) implantation. Results. With a median follow-up of 1.5 years (range 1-5 years), there were no instances of necrosis, and only one (4%) instance of a local recurrence. Six patients (24%) developed distant metastases. Conclusions. These results indicate that elective 1-125 implantation as a part of postoperative radiotherapy is safe enough for a phase III study in patients with positive margins. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cryogenically cooled Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated highly efficient ultra-low-photon-defect resonantly diode-pumped Er-doped cryo-cooled laser. Slope efficiency of 71.5% per cavity absorbed power was achieved at 78 degK in these initial experiments. It was shown that cryo-laser resonantly pumped by "full-width" laser diodes can be temperature tuned to achieve better optimized overall performance. Maximum quasi-CW power of over 63W is reported. Overall Er:YAG cryo-laser performance can be significantly improved by implementing the pump diode spectral narrowing, and advanced beam shaping of the existing diode bar stacks.
Expanding Marketing Curriculums to Meet Current Needs: A Case for Including Direct Marketing:

Presently, one of the fastest growing and most dynamic segments in marketing is that of direct client contact or direct marketing. Yet, most marketing curriculum planners have failed to fully acknowledge its importance in their curriculum. This article describes the scope and influence of direct marketing and presents implications for marketing educators.
MUNCHAUSEN SYNDROME BY PROXY: Diagnosis and Prevalence

A review of the literature and a survey of pediatric neurologists and gastroenterologists yield data indicating that the prevalence of Munchausen syndrome by proxy is greater than is generally estimated. This possibility is further supported by follow-up data on siblings of victims, together with wide variability among practitioners in case identification.
Reduction of noise in AVHRR channel 3 data with minimum distortion

The channel 3 data of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA series of weather satellites (NOAA 6-12) are contaminated by instrumentation noise. The signal to noise ratio (S/N) varies considerably from image to image and the between sensor variation in S/N can be large. The characteristics of the channel noise in the image data are examined using Fourier techniques. A Wiener filtering technique is developed to reduce the noise in the channel 3 image data. The noise and signal power spectra for the Wiener filter are estimated from the channel 3 and channel 4 AVHRR data in a manner which makes the filter adaptive to observed variations in the noise power spectra. Thus, the degree of filtering is dependent upon the level of noise in the original data and the filter is adaptive to variations in noise characteristics. Use of the filtered data to improve image segmentation, labeling in cloud screening algorithms for AVHRR data, and multichannel sea surface temperature (MCSST) estimates is demonstrated. Examples also show that the method can be used with success in land applications. The Wiener filtering model is compared with alternate filtering methods and is shown to be superior in all applications tested. >
Connectionist Models and Linguistic Theory: Investigations of Stress Systems in Languages

We question the widespread assumption that linguistic theory should guide the formulation of mechanistic accounts of human language processing. We develop a pseudo-linguistic theory for the domain of linguistic stress, based on observation of the learning behavior of a perceptron exposed to a variety of stress patterns. There are significant similarities between our analysis of perceptron stress learning and metrical phonology, the linguistic theory of human stress. Both approaches attempt to identify salient characteristics of the stress systems under examination without reference to the workings of the underlying processor. Our theory and computer simulations exhibit some strikingly suggestive correspondences with metrical theory. We show, however, that our high-level pseudo-linguistic account bears no causal relation to processing in the perceptron, and provides little insight into the nature of this processing. Because of the persuasive similarities between the nature of our theory and linguistic theorizing, we suggest that linguistic theory may be in much the same position. Contrary to the usual assumption, it may not provide useful guidance in attempts to identify processing mechanisms underlying human language.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche Is a Potential Therapeutic Target for Bone Metastatic Tumors

Despite significant improvements in therapy, the prognosis for cancer with bone metastasis is generally poor. Therefore, there is a great need for new therapeutic approaches for metastatic disease. It has been appreciated that tumor cells metastasize to bone using mechanisms similar to those of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) homing to bone marrow (e.g., CXCL12/CXCR4). It was recently found that prostate cancer cells target the bone marrow microenvironment for HSCs, or the HSC niche, during metastasis. Of importance, these disseminated prostate cancer cells can be mobilized out of the niche with the use of HSC mobilizing agents. These findings suggest that the bone marrow HSC niche is a potential therapeutic target for metastatic disease. Therefore, a hypothesis worth considering is that agents that can disrupt the interactions between tumor cells and the HSC niche may be efficacious when used in conjunction with standard chemotherapeutic agents. Although further understanding of the tumor-niche interactions is needed, the concept of targeting the niche in conjunction with chemotherapy could open up new possibilities to eradicate incurable metastatic diseases.
Dominant negative mutator mutations in the mutL gene of Escherichia coli

The mutL gene product is part of the dam-directed mismatch repair system of Escherichia coli but has no known enzymatic function. It forms a complex on heteroduplex DNA with the mismatch recognition MutS protein and with MutH, which has latent endonuclease activity. An N-terminal hexahistidine-tagged MutL was constructed which was active in vivo. As a first stop to determine the functional domains of MutL, we have isolated 72 hydroxylamine-induced plasmid-borne mutations which impart a dominant-negative phenotype to the wild-type strain for increased spontaneous mutagenesis. None of the mutations complement a mutL deletion mutant, indicating that the mutant proteins by themselves are inactive. All the dominant mutations but one could be complemented by the wild-type mutL at about the same gene dosage. DNA sequencing indicated that the mutations affected 22 amino acid residues located between positions 16 and 549 of the 615 amino acid protein. In the N-terminal half of the protein, 12 out of 15 amino acid replacements occur at positions conserved in various eukaryotic MutL homologs. All but one of the sequence changes affecting the C-terminal end of the protein are nonsense mutations.
The effect of timing of growing season drought on flowering of a dominant C4 grass.

Timing of precipitation is equally important as amount for determining ecosystem function, especially aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), in a number of ecosystems. In tallgrass prairie of the Central Plains of North America, grass flowering stalks of dominant C4 grasses, such as Andropogon gerardii, can account for more than 70 % of ANPP, or almost none of it, as the number of flowering stalks produced is highly variable. Although growing season precipitation amount is important for driving variation in flowering stalk production, it remains unknown whether there are critical periods within the growing season in which sufficient rainfall must occur to allow for flowering. The effect of timing of rainfall deficit (drought) on flowering of A. gerardii, was tested by excluding rainfall during three periods within the growing season (starting in mid-April, mid-May and mid-June). Mid-summer drought (starting in mid-June) strongly reduced the flowering rate (e.g., density and biomass) of A. gerardii (e.g., as high as 94 % compared to the control), suggesting flowering is highly sensitive to precipitation at this time. This effect appeared to be related to plant water status at the time of flowering stalk initiation, rather than an indirect consequence of reduced C assimilation. Our results suggest that increased frequency of growing season drought forecast with climate change could reduce sexual reproduction in this dominant grass species, particularly if it coincides with timing of flowering stalk initiation, with important implications for ecosystem functioning.
Heart period variability in trauma patients may predict mortality and allow remote triage.

INTRODUCTION The high frequency to low frequency ratio (HF/LF) derived from analysis of heart period variability is elevated and associated with mortality in severely injured patients monitored in a hospital. The purpose of this study was to test the utility of heart period variability measurements as indicators of injury severity in patients prior to definitive medical intervention. We tested the hypothesis that survival is associated with low relative HF/LF, and death is associated with high relative HF/LF. METHODS We performed retrospective analyses of 84 pre-hospital trauma patient records (n=42 non-survivors; n=42 survivors) collected during helicopter transport to a Level 1 urban trauma center. R-waves from 2-min segments of ECG waveforms were converted to the frequency domain with a Fourier transform. Spectral power was separated into low (LF; 0.04-0.15 Hz) and high (HF; 0.15-0.4 Hz) frequency bands for analysis and derivation of frequency ratios. RESULTS Absolute HF, LF, and HF/LF were not distinguishable statistically between groups (p > or = 0.26), but HF/LF was higher (p = 0.04) for non-survivors (140 +/- 26) than survivors (74 +/- 19). After normalization to account for large intersubject variability, HFnu (43 +/- 3 vs. 28 +/- 2) and HF/LFnu (248 +/- 50 vs. 73 +/- 19) were higher (both p < 0.001), and LFnu (42 +/- 4 vs. 64 +/- 3) was lower (p = 0.0001) for non-survivors [19 h (median) before death] compared with survivors. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that heart period variability analyses separate patients who die from patients who survive traumatic injury. We propose that such analyses could be employed for remote triage of injured patients in austere environments.
Comparative Studies on Four Strains of Typhlodromus occidentalis. III. Evaluations of Releases of Insecticide Resistant Strains into an Apple Orchard Ecosystem

Insecticide-resistant strains of Typhlodromus occidentalis Nesbitt from Washington and Utah and a native susceptible strain which failed to persist in sprayed orchards were released into a sprayed orchard ecosystem at Oak Glen, near Yucaipa, California. Density and distributional parameters were followed throughout a summer and evaluations were made on the ability of these strains to withstand chemical treatments, adapt to the local environment, and control populations of Tetranychus medanieli McGregor at low densities under the conditions specified. Resistant predators from Washingtone and Utah numerically increased, persisted in the sprayed orchards, and demonstrated an enhanced ability to control populations of the pest species at lower levels when compared to the native susceptible strain, which only numerically responded to the host after insecticide residues had dissipated. Distributional data evidenced the respective numerical increases of each strain in time and confirmed the ability of T. occidentalis as an efficient predator. Trees on which the resistant strains were released (6 replicates/released strain) required no acaricidal treatments. The potential role of a resistant natural enemy was suggested and the prospect of long-term establishment of resistant mites was favorable from evaluations of the 1st year.
Localization of chromosome 8p regions involved in early tumorigenesis of oral and laryngeal squamous carcinoma

We analysed 30 primary invasive oral and laryngeal squamous carcinomas (SC), with concurrent dysplastic lesions, for genetic alterations at 15 microsatellite loci on the short arm of chromosome 8. Overall, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was observed, in at least one informative locus, in 27% of the dysplastic lesions and in 67% of the invasive carcinomas. The highest frequency of allele losses in dysplasia (20% and 17%), and invasive carcinoma (40% and 48%) were detected in the same D8S298 and LPL-tet loci located on chromosomes 8p21 and 8p22 respectively. The minimal region with LOH was limited to 4.6 megaBases (mBs) at 8p22 and 7.1 mBs at 8p21. In addition, allelic losses in both dysplastic and corresponding invasive specimens were noted at the same loci in some tumors suggesting their emergence from a common preneoplastic clone. Allele losses correlated significantly with male gender, oral and laryngeal sites and high proliferative index. The data suggest that inactivation of tumor suppressor gene(s), within these loci, may constitute an early event in the evolution of oral and laryngeal SC.
Introducing the official leadership Journal of the Magnet Recognition Program

In this monthly department, sponsored by the Magnet Recognition Program, updates will be provided on news and initiatives, research findings, Magnet Model components, and best practices among Magnet hospitals. This month, the author provides an overview of the Magnet Recognition Program.
Comparative Study of Using Streamlined Bodies as a Passive Enhancer in Combustor Dilution System

An experimental model of a combustor is used to create the hot and cold airstreams, track the changes happened due to the mixing process and measured the effectiveness of the technique conducted. The mixing section was previously designed with staggered holes on the walls and later streamlined body was introduced. The comparative study emphasizes on the insertion of different streamlined bodies to enhance interaction between the two flows. Four streamlined bodies (teardrop and American football, two sizes of each type) were used to divert the hot stream towards the cold entering through the distributed holes smoothly. Testing was done at three different flow rates, and measurements of pressure, velocity and temperature were recorded before and after the test section. Dimensionless numbers were defined (mixture fraction, f, uniformity, x, Reynolds number, Re) from the dimensional variables to acquire comparable results. Graphical and tabulated outcomes presented an improvement of 20% in the uniformity with the minor buildup of 2.1% in pressure loss by using the football of highest blockage and profile ratios (BR=0.49, PR=0.28). In the meantime, the teardrop shape of same characteristic dimensions (BR=0.49, PR=0.25) has also performed competitively (17% uniformity increase with the rise in pressure loss of 1.4%). It is clear from the study that governing the dilution process could be achieved through the proper choice of BR and PR (3 order polynomial with x%) against the designed flow conditions articulated in Re number.
Orthodontic implantology: a revolutionary approach to high-anchorage orthodontics.

Abstract Mini-implants have become a well-accepted standard in orthodontics; as a result, an increasing number of general dentists have seen or will see these anchorage devices in their patients. This article seeks to introduce general dentists to this topic and provide information about the fundamentals of this novel treatment approach.
Democracy and Economic Openness in an Interconnected System: Democracy and Conflict

INTRODUCTION Interstate military conflict as an extreme form of political exchange is a central feature of the international system and has received the enormous attention it deserves from scholars and policymakers. Currently state sovereignty and anarchy make world peace seem elusive. Chapters 2–4 in Part I modeled the effects of economic openness on democracy, the effects of democracy and economic openness on income inequality, and the reciprocal effects of economic development and democracy, respectively. These analyses ignored the possible impact of democracy and economic openness on interstate political relations. In reality, democracy and economic openness develop in and around nation-states such that they inevitably influence political relations. In fact, scholars have argued and sought to demonstrate that both democracy and economic openness affect interstate military conflict, even though they debate the nature of their effects. Part II of our book explicitly tackles the relevance of democracy (Chapter 5) and economic openness (Chapter 6) to interstate military conflict. In Chapter 5, we are particularly interested in the relationship between democracy and military conflict. This chapter speaks to two separate bodies of literature: one on democratic peace and the other on the causes of democracy. Both topics have been the subjects of voluminous research, generating two large bodies of literature. Our contribution is not to overthrow but to build on and connect these two separate bodies of literature, highlighting and analyzing the previously overlooked reciprocal causal link between democracy and conflict.
Basics of Electricity and Magnetism

This chapter provides a succinct review of the essential physics of electricity and magnetism that forms the basis for understanding how electric power systems work. Later chapters will use this foundational material to build models of power system components and systems. Electric fields, magnetic fields, and Maxwell’s equations are the topics of the three sections of this chapter. Examples are given that illustrate the basic characteristics of core electrical components and electromechanical devices.
Inductively-Coupled Frequency Tuning and Impedance Matching in HTS-Based NMR Probes

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probes based on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) resonators have demonstrated significant gains in detection sensitivity. However, the widespread acceptance of this technology has been limited by some unresolved issues including the mechanical unreliability of the moveable inductive loops used to adjust tuning and matching. In order to improve reliability, we propose to implement frequency tuning and impedance matching of HTS resonators using fixed inductively coupled loops and variable capacitors. By analyzing the loss mechanisms associated with inductive loops, we predict that using a superconducting inductive loop for tuning and matching will not only improve the reliability of HTS probes, but also provide improvements in sensitivity.
Evaluating Consistency of Snow Water Equivalent Retrievals from Passive Microwave Sensors over the North Central U. S.: SSM/I vs. SSMIS and AMSR-E vs. AMSR2

For four decades, satellite-based passive microwave sensors have provided valuable snow water equivalent (SWE) monitoring at a global scale. Before continuous long-term SWE records can be used for scientific or applied purposes, consistency of SWE measurements among different sensors is required. SWE retrievals from two passive sensors currently operating, the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), have not been fully evaluated in comparison to each other and previous instruments. Here, we evaluated consistency between the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) onboard the F13 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and SSMIS onboard the F17 DMSP, from November 2002 to April 2011 using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) for continuity. Likewise, we evaluated consistency between AMSR-E and AMSR2 SWE retrievals from November 2007 to April 2016, using SSMIS for continuity. The analysis is conducted for 1176 watersheds in the North Central U.S. with consideration of difference among three snow classifications (Warm forest, Prairie, and Maritime). There are notable SWE differences between the SSM/I and SSMIS sensors in the Warm forest class, likely due to the different interpolation methods for brightness temperature (Tb) between the F13 SSM/I and F17 SSMIS sensors. The SWE differences between AMSR2 and AMSR-E are generally smaller than the differences between SSM/I and SSMIS SWE, based on time series comparisons and yearly mean bias. Finally, the spatial bias patterns between AMSR-E and AMSR2 versus SSMIS indicate sufficient spatial consistency to treat the AMSR-E and AMSR2 datasets as one continuous record. Our results provide useful information on systematic differences between recent satellite-based SWE retrievals and suggest subsequent studies to ensure reconciliation between different sensors in long-term SWE records.
Model-Based Analysis of Electrode Placement and Pulse Amplitude for Hippocampal Stimulation

Objective: The ideal form of a neural-interfacing device is highly dependent upon the anatomy of the region with which it is meant to interface. Multiple-electrode arrays provide a system that can be adapted to various neural geometries. Computational models of stimulating systems have proven useful for evaluating electrode placement and stimulation protocols, but have yet to be adequately adapted to the unique features of the hippocampus. Methods: As an approach to understanding potential memory restorative devices, an admittance method-NEURON model was constructed to predict the direct and synaptic response of a region of the rat dentate gyrus to electrical stimulation of the perforant path. Results: A validation of estimated local field potentials against experimental recordings is performed and results of a bilinear electrode placement and stimulation amplitude parameter search are presented. Conclusion: The parametric analysis presented herein suggests that stimulating electrodes placed between the lateral and medial perforant path, near the crest of the dentate gyrus, yield a larger relative population response to given stimuli. Significance: Beyond deepening understanding of the hippocampal tissue system, establishment of this model provides a method to evaluate candidate stimulating devices and protocols.
Unsupervised Personalized Feature Selection

Feature selection is effective in preparing high-dimensional data for a variety of learning tasks such as classification, clustering and anomaly detection. A vast majority of existing feature selection methods assume that all instances share some common patterns manifested in a subset of shared features. However, this assumption is not necessarily true in many domains where data instances could show high individuality. For example, in the medical domain, we need to capture the heterogeneous nature of patients for personalized predictive modeling, which could be characterized by a subset of instance-specific features. Motivated by this, we propose to study a novel problem of personalized feature selection. In particular, we investigate the problem in an unsupervised scenario as label information is usually hard to obtain in practice. To be specific, we present a novel unsupervised personalized feature selection framework UPFS to find some shared features by all instances and instance-specific features tailored to each instance. We formulate the problem into a principled optimization framework and provide an effective algorithm to solve it. Experimental results on real-world datasets verify the effectiveness of the proposed UPFS framework.
Absolute immature platelet counts in the setting of suspected heparin-induced thrombocytopenia may predict anti-PF4-heparin immunoassay testing results

Abstract Background Heparin-induced-thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a disease mediated by antibodies to platelet factor 4 (PF4)-heparin complexes. Immature platelet fraction (%-IPF) and absolute immature platelet count (A-IPC) measure newly-released platelets into circulation and can prove useful in differentiating patients with thrombocytopenic presentations due to consumptive or hypoproduction processes. Therefore, we evaluated utility of A-IPC in a cohort of thrombocytopenic patients suspected of HIT. Patients and Methods Twenty-six thrombocytopenic patients ( Results Sixteen patients tested anti-PF4-heparin negative and 10 tested positive. Patients with positive anti-PF4-heparin did not differ in A-IPC from normal range (7.2 ± 2.9 × 109/L vs. 7.1 ± 3.2 × 109/L respectively; p = 0.97). However, there was a significant A-IPC decrease in patients negative for anti-PF4-heparin compared to normal range and those testing anti-PF4-heparin positive (4.2 ± 3.1 × 109/L vs. 7.1 ± 3.2 × 109/L vs. 7.2 ± 2.9 × 109/L respectively, p Conclusion A-IPC measurements can complement anti-PF4-heparin testing of patients suspected of HIT while potentially predicting anti-PF4-heparin immunoassay results.
Epitaxial graphene-encapsulated surface reconstruction of Ge(110)

Understanding and engineering the properties of crystalline surfaces has been critical in achieving functional electronics at the nanoscale. Employing scanning tunneling microscopy, surface x-ray diffraction, and high-resolution x-ray reflectivity experiments, we present a thorough study of epitaxial graphene (EG)/Ge(110) and report a Ge(110) ``6 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} 2'' reconstruction stabilized by the presence of epitaxial graphene unseen in group-IV semiconductor surfaces. X-ray studies reveal that graphene resides atop the surface reconstruction with a 0.34 nm van der Waals (vdW) gap and provides protection from ambient degradation.
Coarsening Dynamics of Roll Waves

Our community will be forever grateful to Steve Davis for exposing us to the myriad of fascinating interfacial dynamics that exist on thin films. One of us (HCC) entered the field after reading Steve’s clear exposition of the Benney equation for falling films. Due precisely to the film’s thinness, which Benney exploited in his longwave lubrication simplification, thin-film or shallow-water waves are typically dissipative and strongly nonlinear. As such, they are distinctly different from deep-water waves and their rich dynamics are beyond the classical inverse scattering and inviscid wave theories. Fortunately, their strongly nonlinear and dissipative nature allows a completely different coherent-structure approach that exploits the prevalence of robust and localized solitary wave structures. Here, we demonstrate this new approach on roll waves that appear on inclined shallow-water channel flow.
The Early Modern Revolution in Science and Philosophy

The early modern revolution in science and philosophy has been arduously studied and discussed for at least two centuries now.1 Contemporary scholars and publicists2 are everywhere continuing, with undiminished vigor, to explore archives3, plumb sources, and to dispute one another’s interpretations.4 Nonetheless, few would claim that the roots and outcomes of the 17th-century ‘breakthrough’ had been reliably established.5 Indeed, many of the central issues are hardly more clear to us than are the circumstances and ideas which explain the breathless ‘take-off’ of our own century.6
Long-term efficacy and safety of intra-articular sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan) in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Objective This prospective cohort study evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of 5 weekly intra-articular (i.a.) injections of sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan) in 76 patients (92 knees) with moderate to severe osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee whose pain was not controlled by conventional measures. Results Thirteen patients had a repeat treatment course. A total of 72% of patients achieved > 50% improvement (defined by physical examination and assessment of pain using a visual analog scale [VAS]) for 1 year or longer; 9% of patients failed to achieve > 50% improvement for any period of time. The duration of response exceeded 2 years in some patients. Total knee replacement surgery was avoided or significantly delayed in 15 of 19 patients who were considering surgery prior to the injections. Ten of 15 (67%) knees improved after a repeat treatment course. Local adverse events were minor and infrequent. Conclusion Intra-articular sodium hyaluronate was an effective and safe treatment for pain in difficult-to-treat patients with moderate to severe OA of the knee.
Sustainable management of hypersaline brine waste: Zero liquid discharge via Joule-heating at supercritical condition

Abstract Supercritical water desalination is an increasingly attractive alternative treatment methodology for hypersaline brine (produced water) waste streams generated by oil/gas wells. The Joule-heating method provided in this study allows for internal heating of high conductivity fluids, reducing thermal lag and heat losses endemic to external heating methods. This study directly compares the aforementioned method for treating field-derived produced water from a Utica-Point Pleasant Shale well located in Noble County, Ohio with previous results using simulated brines. Experimental results from a prototype process are provided at operating pressures of 230 and 250 bar. At these pressures, a clean vapor was produced with total dissolved solids (TDS) levels of 608.73 ± 57.36 and 1174.52 ± 131.3 mg·L−1, respectively. The liquid outlet was processed through an additional flash vessel to assess further water recovery, producing an additional clean product with a TDS level of 618.0 ± 34.2 mg·L−1. A two-stage flash system model was assessed for the desalinator outlet, introducing a workable design for a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system at all appropriate brine salt concentrations.
Investigating C2H2 Sorption in α-[M3(O2CH)6] (M = Mg, Mn) Through Theoretical Studies

Simulations of C2H2 sorption were performed in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6] and α-[Mn3(O2CH)6], two isostructural metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) that consist of a network of M2+ ions coordinated to formate linkers. Previous experimental studies revealed that both MOFs display high low-pressure uptake and isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) for C2H2 [Samsonenko, D. G. et al. Chem. Asian J. 2007, 2, 484−488]. Simulations using two recently developed potential energy functions for the sorbate in both MOFs yielded sorption isotherms and Qst values that are in reasonable agreement with the corresponding experimental measurements. Electronic structure calculations revealed that the metal ions are more positively charged in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6] than in α-[Mn3(O2CH)6], which in turn led to greater partial negative charges on the linker O atoms in the Mg variant. This resulted in the former displaying a higher calculated C2H2 uptake than the latter for all state points considered, which is consistent with what was observed experiment...
ON MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS OF A NONLINEAR DIRICHLET PROBLEM

Publisher Summary In the second-order case, if the nonlinearity of a nonlinear Dirichlet problem is replaced by a more general one, which need not be odd, and if λ 2 3 , where λ 2 and λ 2 are two eigenvalues of the elliptic operator, then the problem has more than three solutions. This chapter presents a short proof of an extension of Berger's theorem. Berger's approach is to apply the bifurcation theory and results on proper mappings to an abstract equation. The chapter presents a calculation of the Leray–Schauder indices of the zeros of a certain vector field and an application of a global theorem concerning the sum of these indices. How an abstract result due to Clark can be used to give a lower bound on the number of solutions of a class of boundary value problems is also described in the chapter. This bound is expressed in terms of the number of eigenvalues of L that are strictly less than λ.
Bitter-Induced Salivary Proteins Increase Detection Threshold of Quinine, But Not Sucrose

Exposures to dietary tannic acid (TA, 3%) and quinine (0.375%) upregulate partially overlapping sets of salivary proteins which are concurrent with changes in taste-driven behaviors, such as rate of feeding and brief access licking to quinine. In addition, the presence of salivary proteins reduces chorda tympani responding to quinine. Together these data suggest that salivary proteins play a role in bitter taste. We hypothesized that salivary proteins altered orosensory feedback to bitter by decreasing sensitivity to the stimulus. To that end, we used diet exposure to alter salivary proteins, then assessed an animal's ability to detect quinine, using a 2-response operant task. Rats were asked to discriminate descending concentrations of quinine from water in a modified forced-choice paradigm, before and after exposure to diets that alter salivary protein expression in a similar way (0.375% quinine or 3% TA), or 1 of 2 control diets. Control animals received either a bitter diet that does not upregulate salivary proteins (4% sucrose octaacetate), or a nonbitter diet. The rats exposed to salivary protein-inducing diets significantly decreased their performance (had higher detection thresholds) after diet exposure, whereas rats in the control conditions did not alter performance after diet exposure. A fifth group of animals were trained to detect sucrose before and after they were maintained on the 3% TA diet. There was no significant difference in performance, suggesting that these shifts in threshold are stimulus specific rather than task specific. Taken together, these results suggest that salivary proteins reduce sensitivity to quinine.
An Approach to Compensate for Capacitor Mismatches in SAR ADC using Multiple Comparisons

This paper presents a new approach to compensate for mismatches in capacitor array of a successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The proposed approach employs multiple comparisons per bit cycle before making a decision. Instead of taking the majority vote as has been done in existing work, different threshold values are used to compensate for the transition level reference voltage errors caused by capacitor mismatches. A closed-form expression of the effective comparator noise as a function of different threshold value shifts and number of votes is derived. Simulation results of an 8-bit SAR ADC show that the proposed scheme achieves near ideal ENOB and SFDR performance.
Control of Osteoblast Transcription

Abstract During osteoblast differentiation, gene expression must be precisely controlled both to regulate initial lineage commitment from stem cells and to modulate cellular activity in mature cells. Patterning of bone formation is controlled by Hox genes and diffusible signals. Subsequent differentiation of chondrocytes, osteoblasts and osteocytes requires the coordinated activity of several transcription factors including SOX proteins, RUNX2, OSX, DLX5 and ATF4. These factors function by binding to specific enhancer sequences in chromatin where they cooperate with other nuclear factors to initiate epigenetic changes necessary for transcription. In addition to be regulated at the transcriptional level, osteoblast transcription factors are controlled by posttranscriptional mechanisms including microRNA inhibition and covalent modifications such as phosphorylation.
Genetic Background Modifies the Topography of a Fitness Landscape, Influencing the Dynamics of Adaptive Evolution

Understanding the forces that drive the dynamics of adaptive evolution is a goal of many sub-fields and applications of evolutionary biology, including in evolutionary computation. The fitness landscape analogy has served as a useful abstraction for addressing these topics across many systems, and recent treatments have revealed how different environments can frame the particulars of adaptive evolution by changing the topography of fitness landscapes. In this study, we examine how the larger, ambient genetic context in which a protein is embedded affects fitness landscape topography and subsequent evolution. Using simulations on empirical fitness landscapes, we discover that the genetic background - genetic variability in regions outside of the locus under study (in this case, an essential bacterial enzyme target of antibiotics) - influences the speed and direction of evolution in several surprising ways. These findings have implications for how we study the evolution of drug resistance in nature, and for presumptions about how biological evolution might be expected to occur in genetically-modified organisms. More generally, the findings speak to theory surrounding how “difference can beget difference” in adaptive evolution (whether biological, computational, or technological): that small differences in environmental or genetic background can greatly alter the specifics of how evolution occurs, which can rapidly drive even slightly diverged populations further apart.
A new patient-centered classification system for adverse drug reactions

Introduction: Long term medication adherence is often determined by patients’ perceptions of a drug’s effectiveness and potential adverse reactions. Adverse drug reactions are now listed in manufacturing package inserts in a manner that does not emphasize either the expected incidence or risk level. Aims and Objectives: We discuss and propose a new format for listing adverse drug reactions to be in a more patient centered classification system. Methods: We explored a variety of communication methods observed for illustration of risk in medical literature. Results: We found the methodology of risk disclosure used by many institutional review boards designed for full disclosure of potential presenting adverse effects in research may be generalized to clinical communication of approved medications. This takes the form of grid with risk and probability as the axis (Table1). Providers and patients should be more aware of what adverse reactions would be expected or likely to occur versus a simple listing of reactions with incidences. This allows to focus on discussing interventions to protect against the likely/expected adverse effects, while allaying fears of occurrence of less likely effects. Conclusions: We believe this would lead to improved provider and patient understanding of a medications adverse reactions and ultimately to improved patient adherence and outcomes.
Dendriform Algebras Relative to a Semigroup

Loday's dendriform algebras and its siblings pre-Lie and zinbiel have received attention over the past two decades. In recent literature, there has been interest in a generalization of these types of algebra in which each individual operation is replaced by a family of operations indexed by a fixed semigroup $S$. The purpose of this note is twofold. First, we add to the existing work by showing that a similar extension is possible already for the most familiar types of algebra: commutative, associative, and Lie. Second, we show that these concepts arise naturally and in a unified manner from a categorical perspective. For this, one simply has to consider the standard types of algebra but in reference to the monoidal category of $S$-graded vector spaces.
Neural Networks for Authenticating Integrated Circuits Based on Intrinsic Nonlinearity

This work presents a machine learning approach to identify integrated circuits based on intrinsic nonlinearity arising out of random variations introduced during device fabrication. The random variations ensure that each integrated circuit has a distinct nonlinearity signature which can be analyzed by a machine learning model to distinguish between chips fabricated from the same mask. We have analyzed multiple samples of two analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) - a continuous-time ΔΣ oversampled ADC and a discrete-time nyquist ADC. The two ADCs have different dominant nonlinearity contributors - inter-symbol interference for the oversampled ADC and static mismatch for the nyquist ADC. A 3-layer artificial neural network can identify the different sample chips for each ADC with a worst-case mean accuracy of 95.97%.
Managerial Stock Ownership and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt

This study documents that managerial stock ownership plays an important role in determining corporate debt maturity. Controlling for previously identified determinants of debt maturity and modeling leverage and debt maturity as jointly endogenous, we document a significant and robust inverse relation between managerial stock ownership and corporate debt maturity. We also show that managerial stock ownership influences the relation between credit quality and debt maturity, and growth opportunities and debt maturity.
Gideon's Legacy: Taking Pedagogical Inspiration from the Briefs that Made History

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Gideon decision, this article guides the rhetorical study of the party briefs as a strategy for cultivating individual voice in legal writing. It is a rhetorical study of the party briefs filed in Gideon v. Wainwright, a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the constitutional right to counsel in state criminal proceedings and provides specific lessons to be used in the classroom setting to enhance students’ understanding of advanced persuasive techniques such as logos, ethos, pathos, and storytelling. Each lesson has been created through the lens of cognitive theory, in particular the concept of categories as organizers of perception. This article proposes that categories can either be reinforced or redefined to accomplish rhetorical purposes, and having a meta-cognitive understanding of that power is essential effective advocacy.
The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Medication Adherence: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Medication adherence (MA) is critical to successful chronic disease management. It is not clear how social determinants of health (SDH) impact MA. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence on the relationship between SDH and MA. We conducted a systematic review of the literature using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) format. A literature search was performed using three databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Clinical Trials Register in December of 2018. Included studies were completed in the USA, included adults aged 18 years and older, measured at least one social determinant of health, and medication adherence was the primary outcome measure. Data from included full texts were independently extracted using a standardized data extraction form. We then conducted a meta-analysis and pooled the odds ratios from the included studies for each social determinant as well as for all SDH factors collectively. A total of 3137 unduplicated abstracts were identified from our database searches. A total of 173 were selected for full text review after evaluating the abstract. A total of 29 articles were included for this systematic review. Economic-related SDH factors and MA were mostly commonly examined. The meta-analysis revealed a significant relationship between food insecurity (aOR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.42–0.7), housing instability (aOR = 0.64; 95% CI 0.44–0.93), and social determinants overall (aOR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.65–0.88) and medication adherence. Food insecurity and housing instability most consistently impacted medication adherence. Although included studies were heterogenous and varied widely in SDH and MA measurements, adverse social determinants overall were significantly associated with lower MA. The relationship between SDH and MA warrants more attention and research by health care providers and policymakers.