cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Augmenting the Field-of-View of Head-Mounted Displays with Sparse Peripheral Displays

In this paper, we explore the concept of a sparse peripheral display, which augments the field-of-view of a head-mounted display with a lightweight, low-resolution, inexpensively produced array of LEDs surrounding the central high-resolution display. We show that sparse peripheral displays expand the available field-of-view up to 190o horizontal, nearly filling the human field-of-view. We prototyped two proof-of-concept implementations of sparse peripheral displays: a virtual reality headset, dubbed SparseLightVR, and an augmented reality headset, called SparseLightAR. Using SparseLightVR, we conducted a user study to evaluate the utility of our implementation, and a second user study to assess different visualization schemes in the periphery and their effect on simulator sickness. Our findings show that sparse peripheral displays are useful in conveying peripheral information and improving situational awareness, are generally preferred, and can help reduce motion sickness in nausea-susceptible people.
Thermal transport across high-pressure semiconductor-metal transition in Si and Si 0.991 Ge 0.009

Time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) can be applied to metallic samples at high pressures in the diamond anvil cell and provide noncontact measurements of thermal transport properties. We have performed regular and beam-offset TDTR to establish the thermal conductivities of Si and ${\mathrm{Si}}_{0.991}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{0.009}$ across the semiconductor-metal phase transition and up to 45 GPa. The thermal conductivities of metallic Si and Si(Ge) are comparable to aluminum and indicative of predominantly electronic heat carriers. Metallic Si and Si(Ge) have an anisotropy of approximately 1.4, similar to that of beryllium, due to the primitive hexagonal crystal structure. We used the Wiedemann-Franz law to derive the associated electrical resistivity, and found it consistent with the Bloch-Gr\"uneisen model.
Forensic Aspects of Biological Toxins

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the four major toxins—BoNT, ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, and C. perfringens epsilon toxin—considered to be biothreat agents. The first indication of an event involving one of these toxins is likely to be the appearance of intoxicated patients at local hospitals. Rapid appreciation that an event has occurred is dependent on astute clinicians and a reporting system that can recognize the clustering of cases with a common clinical presentation consistent with intoxication. It is important to recognize that the toxins are all proteins composed of amino acid building blocks. As such, they have a number of forensic features that distinguish them from viral or bacterial threat agents. First, they are not contagious, as the threat agent is not a living organism. For the same reason, these agents cannot be cultured routinely from either patients or the environment after exposure, making forensic detection more difficult. Because proteins are composed of amino acids and not nucleic acid, it is also not possible to amplify and detect the presence of toxins using the polymerase chain reaction or by any type of classic DNA hybridization technology. Rather, detection typically relies on the use of antibodies and serological testing. Environmental and patient sampling, followed by serological testing, is likely to provide the greatest amount of forensic information.
Band structure of CdGe As 2 near k → = 0

The structure of the conduction and valence bands near the Brillouin-zone center has been calculated for the II-IV-${\mathrm{V}}_{2}$ chalcopyrite compounds by using a model obtained by adding an anisotropic crystal potential to the Hamiltonian of the Kane model for III-V compounds. The model, reuiring only four readily obtainable parameters, is applied to CdGe${\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ to calculate effective masses and intervalence-band absorption cross sections. The theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental values.
Diagnosis of Electrical Status Epilepticus During Slow-Wave Sleep With 100 Seconds of Sleep.

Purpose:Strategies for diagnosing electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep (ESES) vary among interpreting neurologists. Our aim was to evaluate if the spike-wave index (SWI) for the first 100 seconds of sleep is reflective of the SWI when compared with a conventional method.Methods:We re
An empirical evaluation of activities and classifiers for user identification on smartphones

In the past few years, smart mobile devices have become ubiquitous. Most of these devices have embedded sensors such as GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, etc. There is a growing trend to use these sensors for user identification and activity recognition. Most prior work, however, contains results on a small number of classifiers, data, or activities. We present a comprehensive evaluation often representative classifiers used in identification on two publicly available data sets (thus our work is reproducible). Our results include data obtained from dynamic activities, such as walking and running; static postures such as sitting and standing; and an aggregate of activities that combine dynamic, static, and postural transitions, such as sit-to-stand or stand-to-sit. Our identification results on aggregate data include both labelled and unlabeled activities. Our results show that the k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm consistently outperforms other classifiers. We also show that by extracting appropriate features and using appropriate classifiers, static and aggregate activities can be used for user identification. We posit that this work will serve as a resource and a benchmark for the selection and evaluation of classification algorithms for activity based identification on smartphones.
Thomas Mann's depiction of neurosyphilis and other diseases.

Thomas Mann (1875-1955), a Nobel Prize recipient rightly considered one of the great novelists of the twentieth century, was one of the most medically perceptive writers of recent times. His novels take place against the background of the different plagues (tuberculosis, cholera) that characterized the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of Mann's later novels, Doctor Faustus, is set against a background of syphilis. In the 500-page book, which is subtitled The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as told by a Friend, we see the theologian turned composer make a pact with the devil. He "voluntarily" contracts syphilis and, as a result of the pact and despite (or because of) the disease, Leverkuhn starts a brilliant 24-year career, becoming the greatest German composer of his time. While it is widely thought that Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) is the model for Leverkuhn, we will show that other composers of the time also inspired the fictitious musician's life and works. We will also illustrate the parallel between Leverkuhn's disease progression and political events in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s and their similarity with current political events.
Enhanced parallel bridge defect inspection using a metalens assisted off-focus scanning imaging

A near-field metalens is utilized to assist a conventional brightfield microscope for significantly enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio associated with a parallel bridge defect on a 7 nm node patterned wafer.
Synthesis and characterization of a new cubic structure in the reduced zirconium iodide chemistry

Abstract The solid-state synthesis and characterization of a new reduced zirconium iodide are reported. Black cubic-like crystals with twinning characteristics and suitable for single crystal X-ray diffraction were obtained when equimolar amounts of Zr, ZrI4 and MnI2 were reacted for the nominal composition of Zr6MnI12. The compound [Zr6MnI12]4[MnI4]3 crystallizes in the cubic space group I 4 ¯ 3 d with the lattice parameter a = 23.1879(6) A. Magnetic susceptibility measurements confirm the presence of Mn in tetrahedral cavities, making it the first compound to have the same element as interstitial and as a cation. This new compound features clusters with two different electronic configurations and with three Ia. The structural and electronic features of [Zr6MnI12]4[MnI4]3 are unprecedented in the chemistry of reduced zirconium clusters.
On-die 16nm metal critical peak current test methodology with 100ps pulse width

A new methodology to measure the product-like AC stress of metal critical peak current was implemented in 16nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) FINFET process. Traditional TLP tester can only generate minimum 1ns pulse width stress, which is still in thermal diffusion metal burn out regime. The proposed method can generate minimum pulse width of 100ps stress waveform through on-die tunable pulse-width generator and time-to-current duty detector circuits. The silicon data first demonstrated Cu critical peak current will enter the adiabatic regime under 100ps pulse width with 10X peak current than in thermal diffusion regime. This wafer-level measurable test vehicle can be put on scribe-line as Design-For-Manufacturing (DFM) DC-to-AC metal reliability monitor system.
Transparent cross-technology communication over data traffic

Cross-technology communication (CTC) techniques are introduced in recent literatures to explore the opportunities of collaboration between heterogeneous wireless technologies, such as WiFi and ZigBee. Their applications include context-aware services and global channel coordination. However, state-of-the-art CTC schemes either suffer from channel inefficiency, low throughput, or disruption to existing networks. This paper presents the CTC via data packets (DCTC), which takes advantage of abundant existing data packets to construct recognizable energy patterns. DCTC features (i) a significant enhancement in CTC throughput while (ii) keeping transparent to upper layer protocols and applications. Our design also features advanced functions including multiplexing to support concurrent transmissions of multiple DCTC senders and adaptive rate control according to the traffic volume. Testbed implementations across WiFi and ZigBee platforms demonstrate reliable bidirectional communication of over 95% in accuracy while achieving throughput 2.3x of the state of the art. Meanwhile, experiment results show that DCTC has little and bounded impact on the delay and throughput of original data traffic.
Variations in graph energy: A measure for network resilience

There are many models and metrics developed to study the resilience of networks. Eigenvalues are the roots of the characteristic polynomial for a given graph and are mathematically rigorous compared to a statistical measure such as degree distribution. The graph energy is the sum of absolute values of eigenvalues; there is a subtle difference between the adjacency, Laplacian, and normalized Laplacian graph energy calculations. Our primary objective in this paper is to understand what different graph energy mean from a network resilience point of view. We calculate the adjacency, Laplacian, and normalized Laplacian graph energies on four backbone networks under targeted node and link attack scenarios. While adjacency and Laplacian graph energy decrease with node and link attacks, the normalized Laplacian energy increases with link attacks converging to a maximum value equal to the network order. The structural similarities of physical-level topologies is revealed by the close values of adjacency and Laplacian energies.
Mission risk posture assessment for space vehicles

The mission risk posture assessment (RPA) process was developed to characterize and document the accepted space vehicles program's technical baseline (the program's tailored technical baseline). This assessment is intended to provide an effective, consistent way to compare and contrast a reference technical baseline of technical best practices against a program's tailored baseline as a means to measure and communicate the program's accepted technical baseline risk. The RPA provides insight into how a program compares to conventional best practices by identifying deviations from these best practices. The assessment is best performed in the earliest phases of the program to ensure the program's baseline is consistent with the stated risk posture and acquisition strategy of the program. The output from this assessment provides an overall mission risk posture and a systematic top-level view of the program's tailored technical practices across all core processes and supporting disciplines to communicate and inform the customer of accepted deviations that could result in risk to mission success. The RPA can be repeated periodically to document the change history of a program's risk posture over the lifecycle.
Contributions of the MMP-2 collagen binding domain to gelatin cleavage: Substrate binding via the collagen binding domain is required for hydrolysis of gelatin but not short peptides

Two matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-2 and MMP-9, contain each three fibronectin type II-like modules, which form their collagen binding domains (CBDs). The contributions of CBD substrate interactions to the catalytic activities of these gelatinases have attracted special interest. Recombinant (r) CBDs retain collagen binding properties and deletions of CBDs in these MMPs reduce activities on collagen and elastin. We have characterized further the requirement of the CBD for MMP-2 cleavage of gelatin. The analyses used intact rMMP-2 and rCBD to eliminate any confounding effects that might result from structural perturbations in rMMP-2 induced by deletion of the approximately 20 kDa internal CBD. In protein-protein binding assays, 2% DMSO disrupted gelatin interactions of both rCBD and rMMP-2. At this concentration, DMSO also reduced the gelatinolytic activity by approximately 70%, pointing to a central role of CBD-substrate interactions during MMP-2 cleavage of gelatin. Subsequently, soluble rCBD was determined to competitively inhibit gelatin binding of unmodified rMMP-2 to gelatin by 73% and to reduce the MMP-2 degradation of gelatin by 70-80%. The residual gelatin cleavage that was not inhibited even by molar excess rCBD could be accounted for by degradation of short substrate molecules. Indeed, rCBD inhibited rMMP-2 cleavage of an 11 amino acid collagen-like peptide substrate (NFF-1) by less than 10%. These observations were confirmed with enzyme extracts from experimental tumors in mice. In the presence of rCBD, approximately 65% of the MMP-derived gelatinolytic activity was eliminated. Together, these results demonstrate that the CBD is absolutely required for MMP-2 cleavage of full-length collagen alpha-chains, but not for short protein fragments such as those generated by hydrolysis of gelatin.
Studying the replication mechanism of the yeast retrotransposon Ty5 by molecular and computational approaches

vi CHAPTER I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Taxonomy of transposable elements 1 Retroviruses and LTR retrotransposons 2 Overview of reverse transcription 7 Retroelement proteins involved in reverse transcription 10 Diversity in priming LTR retroelements reverse transcription 12 Integration and recombination of cDNA 15 Evolution of retroelements 19 The Ty5 system 19 Dissertation organization 23 References 24 CHAPTER II. Ty5 gag MUTATIONS INCREASE Ty5 cDNA SYNTHESIS AND SUGGESTS A ROLE FOR HYDROGEN BONDING IN THE FUNCTION OF THE NUCLEIC ACID ZINC FINGER 35 Abstract 35 Introduction 36 Materials and Methods 38 Strain and plasmid construction 38 Mutagenesis and library screening 39 Assays for integration, recombination and target specificity 40 Protein preparation and immunoblot analysis 40 Assaying Ty5 cDNA 41 Calculating hydrogen bonding potential 41 Results 42 Two mutations in gag increase Ty5 transposition frequency 42 Effects of gag mutations on integration and recombination 43 Effects of gag mutations on cDNA level 44 Effects of gag mutations on protein processing and solubility 45 Effects of gag mutations on target bias 46 Features of the zinc finger important for transposition 47 Discussion 48 gag mutations increase cDNA synthesis 49 Mutations in the zinc finger implicate a role for hydrogen bonding in NCp function 52
Association of early intervention in transfusion independent (TI) patients (Pts) with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) treated with attenuated doses of hypomethylating agents (HMAs) with high response rates and long duration of response.

7001Background: HMAs are the standard of care for most pts with higher risk MDS. However, the role of the therapy is not well defined in lower risk MDS. Data from our center has indicated that atte...
Confinement effects on DNA hybridization in electrokinetic micro‐ and nanofluidic systems

Spatial confinement, within cells or micro- and nanofabricated devices, impacts the conformation and binding kinetics of biomolecules. Understanding the role of spatial confinement on molecular behavior is important for comprehending diverse biological phenomena, as well as for designing biosensors. Specifically, the behavior of molecular binding under an applied electric field is of importance in the development of electrokinetic biosensors. Here, we investigate whether confinement of DNA oligomers in capillary electrophoresis impacts the binding kinetics of the DNA. To infer the role of confinement on hybridization dynamics, we perform capillary electrophoresis measurements on DNA oligomers within micro- and nanochannels, then apply first-order reaction dynamics theory to extract kinetic parameters from electropherogram data. We find that the apparent dissociation constants at the nanoscale (i.e., within a 100 nm channel) are lower than at the microscale (i.e., within a 1 μm channel), indicating stronger binding with increased confinement. This confirms, for the first time, that confinement-based enhancement of DNA hybridization persists under application of an electric field.
ShadowBlock: A Lightweight and Stealthy Adblocking Browser

As the popularity of adblocking has soared over the last few years, publishers are increasingly deploying anti-adblocking paywalls that ask users to either disable their adblockers or pay to access content. In this work we propose ShadowBlock, a new Chromium-based adblocking browser that can hide traces of adblocking activities from anti-adblockers as it removes ads from web pages. To bypass anti-adblocking paywalls, ShadowBlock takes advantage of existing filter lists used by adblockers and hides all ad elements stealthily in such a way that anti-adblocking scripts cannot detect any tampering of the ads (e.g., absence of ad elements). Specifically, ShadowBlock introduces lightweight hooks in Chromium to ensure that DOM states queried by anti-adblocking scripts are exactly as if adblocking is not employed. We implement a fully working prototype by modifying Chromium which shows great promise in terms of adblocking effectiveness and anti-adblocking circumvention but also more efficient than the state-of-the-art adblocking browser extensions. Our evaluation on Alexa top-1K websites shows that ShadowBlock successfully blocks 98.3% of all visible ads while only causing minor breakage on less than 0.6% of the websites. Most importantly, ShadowBlock is able to bypass anti-adblocking paywalls on more than 200 websites that deploy visible anti-adblocking paywalls with a 100% success rate. Our performance evaluation further shows that ShadowBlock loads pages as fast as the state-of-the-art adblocking browser extension on average.
Synthesis and Evaluation of 2-[(5-Methylbenz-1-ox-4-azin-6-yl)imino]imidazoline, a Potent, Peripherally Acting α2 Adrenoceptor Agonist†

We have synthesized 2-[(5-methylbenz-1-ox-4-azin-6-yl)imino]imidazoline, 3, a potent, peripherally acting α2 adrenoceptor agonist. The agent is conveniently prepared in five steps from 2-amino-m-cresol. The agent has demonstrated good selectivity for α2 adrenoceptors in binding and functional studies. When applied topically to eyes, the agent is efficacious for the reduction of intraocular pressure. The agent does not penetrate the blood−brain barrier and, as a consequence, does not lower blood pressure or induce sedation when administered topically or intravenously. We have determined the pKa and log P in water versus both octanol and dodecane of 3 and a set of related agents. The best physical parameter to explain its lack of central nervous system penetration appears to be log P measured in octanol versus water.
Ultrafast Rydberg-state dissociation in oxygen: Identifying the role of multielectron excitations

We investigated the fragmentation dynamics of highly excited states of molecular oxygen using femtosecond transient photoelectron spectroscopy. An extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse populates the autoionizing Rydberg series converging to ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{+}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}c\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{4}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{u}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, and a femtosecond near-infrared (IR) pulse was used to photoionize these states as they dissociate. Monitoring the differential photoelectron spectra as a function of time delay allowed us to obtain the relaxation lifetimes of these Rydberg states. We observed a photoelectron signal corresponding to the formation of a $4p$ excited atomic oxygen fragment, which is not an expected dissociation product of the $({\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{+}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}c\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{4}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{u}^{\ensuremath{-}})nl{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{g}$ Rydberg series. Analysis of the time-dependent photoelectron spectra and photoionization calculations indicate that this fragment results from a previously unexplored $({\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{+}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{4}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{g})4p$ repulsive state and that, contrary to expectations, this multielectron excitation pathway presents a substantial cross section. Our study demonstrates that two-color time-resolved differential photoelectron spectroscopy is an excellent tool to study the fragmentation dynamics of such multielectron excited states, which are not easily probed by other means.
Solubility and Chemical Equilibrium

Solubility, chemical equilibrium, and equilibrium constants are closely related to Gibbs free energy of reaction. Electrostatic interactions among ions decrease the activities of ions, and these interactions increase with greater ionic strength. As a result, for precise calculations related to solubility and equilibrium, ionic activities instead of measured molar concentrations must be used. For practical illustrations of principles, molar concentrations will be used in this book.
Mechanisms and Uses of Dietary Therapy as a Treatment for Epilepsy: A Review:

One-third of patients with epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic drugs and may seek complementary and alternative treatment modalities. Dietary therapies such as the ketogenic diet (KD), the modified Atkins, the medium-chain triglyceride, and the low glycemic index diet have been successfully implemented in some forms of epilepsy and are growing in utilization. The KD is a high-fat, low-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that has been used for various conditions for over a century. Insights into the mechanism of action of these diets may provide more targeted interventions for patients with epilepsy. Knowledge of these mechanisms is growing and includes neuroprotective effects on oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, potassium channels in the brain, and mitochondrial function.
Imaging the native inversion layer under buried oxide in silicon-on-insulator radio frequency device technology via scanning surface photovoltage microscopy

For radio frequency (RF) wireless integrated circuits and devices fabricated on silicon-on-insulator technologies, there has been indirect evidence of the presence of a parasitic native inversion layer, due to an effective trapped charge, “Q+,” at the interface of the buried oxide (BOX) and the underlying high resistivity p-type Si substrate in production level wafers. This inversion layer can have adverse implications for the RF performance of active devices fabricated for use in wireless technologies, notably the “RF switch.” In this study, the authors characterize the complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect RF transistor used in such a switch. The FET is built on the active epitaxial silicon layer on top of the BOX layer; its purpose is to control input and output RF signals in integrated wireless circuitry. Using scanning surface photovoltage microscopy, the authors present the first data to show quantitatively the extent of this inversion layer into the substrate. They also present device electrical performance data proving the effectiveness of the processes used to suppress the effects of Q+.For radio frequency (RF) wireless integrated circuits and devices fabricated on silicon-on-insulator technologies, there has been indirect evidence of the presence of a parasitic native inversion layer, due to an effective trapped charge, “Q+,” at the interface of the buried oxide (BOX) and the underlying high resistivity p-type Si substrate in production level wafers. This inversion layer can have adverse implications for the RF performance of active devices fabricated for use in wireless technologies, notably the “RF switch.” In this study, the authors characterize the complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect RF transistor used in such a switch. The FET is built on the active epitaxial silicon layer on top of the BOX layer; its purpose is to control input and output RF signals in integrated wireless circuitry. Using scanning surface photovoltage microscopy, the authors present the first data to show quantitatively the extent of this inversion layer into the substrate. They also present devic...
Revisiting approximate analytical solutions of estimating low permeability using the gas transient transmission test

Abstract The approximate analytical solution, which is a shortened version of the complete analytical solution, serves as a fast approach of calculating low permeability using the measured parameters during the gas transient transmission in pulse-decay experiments. However, there are several practical issues that need to be clarified for better implementations of the approximate analytical solution in routine pulse-decay experiments. These issues include whether the equilibrium pressure or the mean value of the initial upstream and downstream pressure should be applied in the formula of estimating permeability and how valid the analytical solutions is in estimating permeability when the upstream and downstream reservoir volumes are small, etc. In this work, we set up the numerical model as a benchmark to evaluate the accuracy of two widely used approximate analytical solutions. In terms of accuracy, we found that Dicker and Smits' solution is superior to the Brace et al.'s solution and quantified the difference for the first time. Our findings recommend the usage of equilibrium pressure after the pulse-decay experiment instead of the mean value between the initial upstream and initial downstream pressure in the final formula of calculating permeability. Otherwise, the percentage error increases as the pulse size increase. Dicker and Smits' analytical solution fails when the pore volume of the core is larger than the upstream reservoir volume and the downstream reservoir volume. We put forward a modified version of the analytical solution, which can be readily adopted by the readers in their measurements, to overcome this failure. The inapplicability of solution by Dicker and Smits when pore volume is large is resolved with our proposed analytical solution which significantly extends the capacity of the analytical approach and is validated numerically and experimentally.
State Visits and Leader Survival

Why do political leaders travel abroad? In this article, we propose an informational mechanism linking in‐person diplomacy to leader survival. A foreign power visits an incumbent in order to reap a future policy concession; the visit is only worth the effort if the incumbent remains in power long enough to deliver on the deal. A diplomatic visit thus provides a visible and credible signal of the visitor's high confidence in the incumbent's stability in office. Domestic opponents, facing incomplete information as to the incumbent's strength, observe the signal and are deterred from mounting a challenge. Using data on U.S. diplomatic visits from 1960 to 2013, we find strong empirical support for our predictions: A visit with the U.S. president substantially reduces the risk of a leader's removal from office.
Performing Search with a Quantum Computer

Although Grover’s algorithm offers only a polynomial speedup over what we can do classically, it is nevertheless extremely versatile and has inspired several other quantum algorithms. Moreover, by nesting one quantum search algorithm within another, even more impressive speedups appear to be possible, and a better-than-classical exponential time quantum algorithm for NP-Hard problems appears to be within reach.
Enumerative Branching with Less Repetition

We can compactly represent large sets of solutions for problems with discrete decision variables by using decision diagrams. With them, we can efficiently identify optimal solutions for different objective functions. In fact, a decision diagram naturally arises from the branch-and-bound tree that we could use to enumerate these solutions if we merge nodes from which the same solutions are obtained on the remaining variables. However, we would like to avoid the repetitive work of finding the same solutions from branching on different nodes at the same level of that tree. Instead, we would like to explore just one of these equivalent nodes and then infer that the same solutions would have been found if we explored other nodes. In this work, we show how to identify such equivalences—and thus directly construct a reduced decision diagram—in integer programs where the left-hand sides of all constraints consist of additively separable functions. First, we extend an existing result regarding problems with a single linear constraint and integer coefficients. Second, we show necessary conditions with which we can isolate a single explored node as the only candidate to be equivalent to each unexplored node in problems with multiple constraints. Third, we present a sufficient condition that confirms if such a pair of nodes is indeed equivalent, and we demonstrate how to induce that condition through preprocessing. Finally, we report computational results on integer linear programming problems from the MIPLIB benchmark. Our approach often constructs smaller decision diagrams faster and with less branching.
Spin-Crossover Effects in Reversible O2 Binding on a Dinuclear Cobalt(II) Complex

Reversible and selective binding of O2 has been demonstrated previously in a series of experiments with di-nuclear and tetra-nuclear cobalt(II) complexes, including materials containing the redox-a...
Trading Off the Income Gains and the Inequality Costs of Trade Policy

This paper characterizes the trade-off between the income gains and the inequality costs of trade using survey data for 54 developing countries. Tariff data on agricultural and manufacturing goods are combined with household survey data on detailed income and expenditure patterns to estimate the first-order effects of the elimination of import tariffs on household welfare. The paper assesses how these welfare effects vary across the distribution by estimating impacts on the consumption of traded goods, wage income, farm and non-farm family enterprise income, and government transfers. For each country, the income gains and the inequality costs of trade liberalization are quantified and the trade-offs between them are assessed using an Atkinson social welfare index. The analysis finds average income gains from import tariff liberalization in 45 countries and average income losses in nine countries. Across countries in the sample, the gains from trade are 1.9 percent of real household expenditure on average. We find overwhelming evidence of a trade-off between the income gains (losses) and the inequality costs (gains), which arise because trade tends to exacerbate income inequality: 45 countries face a trade-off, while only nine do not. The income gains typically more than offset the increase in inequality. In the majority of developing countries, the prevailing tariff structure thus induces sizable welfare losses.
Racial/Ethnic Differences In The Prevalence Of Medical Complexity Or Death Among A National Cohort Of VLBW Infants

Background With advances in obstetrical and neonatal care, very low birthweight (VLBW, 1 year and involving several organ systems or 1 system severely enough to require specialty care and hospitalization, and/or reliance on a medical technology or device (technology dependence; (TD)). Racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of CCC or TD in VLBW infants are not known. Thus, we sought to estimate the racial/ethnic difference in the prevalence of …
Adverse events following mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among U.S. nursing home residents.

Abstract Background The devastating impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted the development and emergency use authorization of two mRNA vaccines in early 2020. Vaccine trials excluded nursing home (NH) residents, limiting adverse event data that directly apply to this population. Methods To prospectively monitor for potential adverse events associated with vaccination, we used Electronic Health Record (EHR) data from Genesis HealthCare, the largest NH provider in the United States. EHR data on vaccinations and pre-specified adverse events were updated daily and monitored for signal detection among residents of 147 facilities who received the first dose of vaccine between December 18, 2020 and January 3, 2021. For comparison, unvaccinated residents during the same time period were included from 137 facilities that started vaccinating at least 15 days after the vaccinating-facilities. Results As of January 3, 2021, 8553 NH residents had received one dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and by February 20, 2021, 8371 residents had received their second dose of vaccine; 11,072 were included in the unvaccinated comparator group. No significant associations were noted for neurologic outcomes, anaphylaxis, or cardiac events. Conclusions No major safety problems were detected following the first or second dose of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 in the study cohort from December 18, 2020 through March 7, 2021.
Variability in urinary biomarkers of human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and its association with oxidative stress.

Abstract Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants. Urinary concentrations of mono-hydroxylated metabolites of PAHs (OH-PAHs) have been used as biomarkers of these chemicals’ exposure in humans. Little is known, however, with regard to intra- and inter-individual variability in OH-PAH concentrations and their association with oxidative stress. We conducted a longitudinal study of measurement of urinary concentrations of 15 OH-PAHs and 7 oxidative stress biomarkers (OSBs) of DNA damage [8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)], lipid [malondialdehyde (MDA) and F2-isoprostanes (PGF2α)] and protein [o,o′-dityrosine (diY)] peroxidation in 19 individuals for 44 consecutive days. Metabolites of naphthalene (OHNap), fluorene (OHFlu), phenanthrene (OHPhe), and pyrene (OHPyr) were found in >70% of 515 urine samples analyzed, at sum concentrations (∑OH-PAH) measured in the range of 0.46–60 ng/mL. After adjusting for creatinine, OHNap and ∑OH-PAH concentrations exhibited moderate predictability, with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.359 to 0.760. However, ICC values were low (0.001–0.494) for OHFlu, OHPhe, and OHPyr, which suggested poor predictability for these PAH metabolites. Linear mixed-effects analysis revealed that an unit increase in ∑OH-PAH concentration corresponded to 4.5%, 5.3%, 20%, and 21% increase in respective urinary 8-OHdG, MDA, PGF2α, and diY concentrations, suggesting an association with oxidative damage to DNA, lipids, and proteins. The daily intakes of PAHs, calculated from urinary concentrations of OH-PAHs, were 10- to 100-fold below the current reference doses. This study provides valuable information to design sampling strategies in biomonitoring studies and in assigning exposure classifications of PAHs in epidemiologic studies.
Disruptive Innovation: Designing a Shifting Pedagogy for Creative Disciplines in Higher Education Learning

The 2020 pandemic caused an unexpected digital shift in education and professional practices all throughout the world. For higher education faculty to effectively teach the second half of the semester, teaching strategies had to transfer from brick-and-mortar classrooms and studios to the virtual classroom. Transitioning from an entirely face-to-face (f2f) format to an entirely online synchronous format disrupted curriculum and required an immediate pedagogical redesign.
A View from the Top

The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality Projections in $\mathbb{R}^3$--The elephant makes an appearance Projections in four dmensions Projections and cubes Incidences and matrices Basics of grids over finite fields Besicovitch-Kakeya conjecture in two dimensions A gentle entry into higher dimensions Some basic counting, probability and a few twists A more involved taste of probability Oscillatory integrals and fun that lies beyond Integer points and a crash course on Fourier analysis Return of the Fourier transform It is time to say goodbye Bibliography.
An Actress Prepares: Women and "the Method"

Acknowledgments 1. The "Given Circumstances" 2. Emotional Control: Lee Strasberg as "Big Daddy" of the Method 3. Script Analysis: Stella Adler's Feminist Subtext 4. Exercises in Repetition: Sanford Meisner and "Instinct" 5. Respect for the Actress: Uta Hagen on Playing Female Roles 6. The "Magic If": Forward-Looking Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index
The role of multisite phosphorylation in the regulation of RNA polymerase II activity.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses (a) the relationship between the state of carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) phosphorylation and the progression of RNAP II through the transcription cycle; (b) the enzymes involved in modulating the state of CTD phosphorylation; and (c) the potential consequences of modifications that occur within the CTD. RNA polymerase (RNAP) II is structurally distinct from both RNAP I that transcribes heavy ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and RNAP III that transcribes a variety of small RNAs, including 5-S rRNA and transfer RNA (tRNA). RNAP II transcribes the greatest diversity of genes, and hence must be able to assemble into preinitiation complexes on a variety of different promoters. The largest subunit of RNAP I1 contains at its c-terminus an unusual domain, consisting of multiple heptapeptide repeats of the consensus sequence, Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. This c-terminal domain (CTD) is conserved in evolution and is essential for cell viability. The functions for the CTD is regulated by reversible phosphorylation that include: (a) mediating the interaction of RNAP II, with the preinitiation complex; (b) mediating the release of RNAP I1 from the initiated complex; (c) facilitating the progression of RNAP II through nucleosomes (X); (d) affecting cotranscriptional splicing, by facilitating the association of splicing factors, with the elongation complex; and (e) influencing the specificity of pausing and termination.
Hydrogen Atom—The Quantum-Mechanical Kepler Problem

The classical Kepler problem is described in Section VI.2, where the Lenz vector is introduced. Section VI.3 gives the algebra of angular momentum and the Lenz vector, and Section VI.4 describes the representation of this algebra. In Section VI.5 we present the algebraic derivation of the hydrogen spectrum and discuss, at the end, fine-structure effects.
Salicylic Acid Inhibits Ultraviolet- and cis-Platinum-induced Human Immunodeficiency Virus Expression

Previous studies have shown that exposure of HeLa cells stably transfected with an HIV-long terminal repeat-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (HIV-LTR-CAT) construct to many DNA-damaging agents (such as UV light) induces expression from the HIV LTR. By culturing the cells with salicylic acid we demonstrated dose-dependent repression of this UV- or cis -platinum ( cis -Pt)-induced HIV expression. While salicylic acid treatment, indomethacin treatment, UV exposure, or cis -Pt treatment alone decreased viability by up to 50%, equal numbers of viable cells were used for the CAT assays. Repression was evident if salicylic acid was administered 2 h before, at the same time as, or up to 6 h after exposure to the DNA-damaging agent. The kinetics were similar for UV- and for cis -Pt-induced HIV expression, and induction was dependent on the UV dose or cis -Pt concentration added to the culture. pH changes of the media alone in the absence of salicylic acid did not affect HIV expression. Indomethacin (100 µm) did not affect UV- or cis -Pt-induced HIV expression. These results suggest a role for the prostaglandins or the cyclooxygenase pathway or both in HIV induction mediated by DNA-damaging agents.
The design of multiuser detectors for guaranteed bit error rate in CDMA

We consider the design of code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems in which the users are each guaranteed some quality-of-service (QoS) threshold that is given in terms of a bit error rate (BER). In long-code CDMA systems for which the load (defined as the ratio of the number of users in the system to the processing gain) is less than or equal to unity, we show that a multiuser linear receiver with appropriately designed powers does well at meeting the BER requirements with reasonable power consumption. In fact, the design significantly surpasses a recent approach from the literature both in terms of increased user capacity and reduced power requirements. For short-code CDMA systems, we investigate the effects of erroneous feedback in multiuser decision-feedback detectors in overloaded systems (i.e., more users than processing gain). An exact analysis of systems designed for a load ratio of two indicates that feedback errors are deleterious at lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). In this regime significant increases in SNR have almost no effect on the error rate. However, above a certain SNR threshold the error rate is found to decrease as it would in a single-user channel, but with a SNR penalty of approximately 4.6 dB.
Buxus steroidal alkaloids: chemistry and biology.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the structures of alkaloids and their biological activities, isolated from various plants of the genus Buxus during the period 1992–2008. Additionally, the semisynthesis and structural modifications of these alkaloids are also discussed. The genus Buxus is composed of various species including Buxussempervirens, B. papillosa, B. microphylla, B. hildebrandtii, and B. hyrcana. The crude extracts of these plants have been reported to have applications in traditional medicine to cure fatigue, rheumatism, malaria, depression, and skin infections. The ethanolic extract of B. sempervirens has been reported to exhibit anti-HIV activity, and it has also exhibited delayed progression in HIV-infected asymptomatic patients. Phytochemical studies on various plants of the genus Buxus have resulted in the isolation of over 200 new steroidal alkaloids. A few of these alkaloids have shown interesting biological activities, including antibacterial, antimyco-bacterial, antimalarial, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities. B. longifolia, commonly known as ‘‘English Box,’’ is widely distributed in Europe and Turkey. The crude extract of this plant has shown inhibition against serum cholinesterase of human and horse blood. Studies on structure-activity relationships of moderately bioactive compounds can be worthwhile in the discovery of new pharmaceuticals.
A phase 1 study of weekly everolimus (RAD001) in combination with docetaxel in patients with metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin with everolimus may improve the efficacy of taxanes. Everolimus and docetaxel are both metabolized by CYP3A4, which could result in a pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction. METHODS: Fifteen patients with metastatic breast cancer were treated with docetaxel (doses of 40-75 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1 of a 21-day cycle) in combination with everolimus (doses ranging from 20 to 50 mg orally on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle) in a phase 1 trial using the continuous reassessment method to determine maximum tolerated dose. The first 2 patients developed a dose-limiting toxicity (neutropenic infection), prompting a mandatory dose reduction and PK evaluation of both everolimus and docetaxel for patients enrolled in subsequent dosing cohorts. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were treated. Dose-limiting toxicity included grade 3 mucositis (n = 1), prolonged grade 4 neutropenia (n = 1), and grade 3 infection/febrile neutropenia (n = 3). Day 8 of everolimus was commonly held for neutropenia despite a dose reduction in docetaxel to 40 mg/m2. Eleven patients underwent complete PK evaluation for everolimus, and 9 patients underwent complete PK evaluation for both everolimus and docetaxel. Widely variable changes in clearance were seen for both drugs, and the study was terminated because of lack of efficacy and concerns regarding toxicity seen with the combination. CONCLUSIONS: Weekly everolimus in combination with docetaxel every 3 weeks was associated with excessive neutropenia and variable clearance of both drugs, making combination therapy unpredictable, even at low doses of both drugs. Cancer 2012. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Osmotic Regulation of Invertase Formation and Secretion by Protoplasts of Saccharomyces

Osmotic regulation of invertase formation and secretion by protoplasts of Saccharomyces was examined using sorbitol, KCl, NaCl, or magnesium sulfate as the osmotic support. The synthesis and secretion of the enzyme is remarkably sensitive to the osmolarity of the supporting medium irrespective of the particular support employed. Invertase formation was inhibited at high osmolarity and was maximal at 0.65 to 0.75 osmolal, even though some leakage of the intracellular enzyme α-glucosidase and of ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing materials occurred under these conditions. The reduction of invertase formation and secretion due to high osmolarity was eliminated promptly when protoplasts were transferred into a medium of lower osmolarity. The rate of fructose uptake and of threonine incorporation into protein was decreased by high osmolarity; also reduction of invertase formation could be partially reversed by increasing the level of sugar supplied as energy source. Thus changes in the permeability of the plasma membrane (and presumably also in its structure) are important factors in the response of protoplasts to high osmolarity, though certainly not the complete explanation. Protoplasts suspended in 0.8 m sorbitol, with 10mm fructose as the energy source, increased their invertase level 5- to 10-fold during a 2-hr incubation without substantial release of α-glucosidase or UV-absorbing materials. Both the large and small forms of invertase were present in the protoplasts, but only the large form was released into the medium when enzyme was being actively synthesized. Formation and secretion of newly formed invertase and the release of enzyme initially present were inhibited by cycloheximide.