cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What Type of β-Blocker Should Be Used to Treat Chronic Heart Failure?

The success of β-blocking agents in treating mild to moderate heart failure has generated a debate over whether the salutary results are strictly a class effect caused by β1-adrenergic receptor antagonism or if additional pharmacological properties of some compounds increase the efficacy inherent in all agents that block β1-receptors. The diverse adrenergic receptor activities of β-blocking agents that have been used successfully to treat chronic heart failure, the emerging role of the various adrenergic receptor pathways in the mediation of cardiomyopathic phenotypes in model systems (recently reviewed in Circulation 1 ), and the vigor of pharmaceutical company scientific marketing all contribute to the legitimacy and decibel level of the discussion. The original, largely theoretical arguments2 3 4 have led to increasingly more rigorous tests of the hypothesis that clinically important differences exist among these agents. In this issue of Circulation , Metra et al5 report the largest of these tests to date. They provide a direct comparison of the of the β1-adrenergic-receptor–selective, “second generation” β-blocker metoprolol with the nonselective β/α-blocker, “third generation” compound carvedilol. Metra et al5 measured left ventricular (LV) functional and hemodynamic effects in 150 subjects with heart failure who were prospectively randomized 1:1 to the recommended doses of each agent. Previous, smaller studies had reported either subtle differences in favor of carvedilol4 6 or no difference7 between the 2 agents. Their data5 indicate that compared with metoprolol, carvedilol provides, as expected, a greater degree of β-blockade. Also, as expected and as previously reported in individual clinical trials,8 9 metoprolol produced a greater improvement in maximal exercise than carvedilol, which is likely related to the lower degree of β-blockade. Most importantly, carvedilol provided a greater degree of improvement in LV function, …
Currents induced in the human body for exposure to ultrawideband electromagnetic pulses

The frequency-dependent finite-difference time-domain [(FD)/sup 2/TD] method is used to calculate internal electric fields and induced current densities in a 1.31-cm resolution anatomically-based model of the human body for exposure to ultrawideband vertically polarized electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). From a single (FD)/sup 2/TD simulation, two ultrawideband pulses with frequencies up to 1500 MHz are examined using a convolution technique. The complex permittivities /spl epsiv/*(/spl tau/) for the various tissues are known to vary a great deal over the wide bandwidth of these two pulses. In the (FD)/sup 2/TD formulation, these frequency-dependent /spl epsiv/*(/spl tau/) are described by the best-fit second-order Debye equations for the sixteen tissues that are used to define the anatomically based model. The vertical currents passing through several sections of the body are compared for a shoe-wearing model standing on a perfectly conducting ground plane, and a barefoot model suspended in air. For the first pulse, currents on the order of 1 to 4 mA per V/m of incident fields are calculated with the highest values calculated for the sections through the bladder and slightly above it. For the second pulse, currents on the order of 4 mA per V/m of incident fields were calculated.
Faculty support for online teaching: instructional design issues and beyond

When a faculty member decides to use online technology for teaching, the campus' faculty development center usually becomes one of the sources of support. This presents a great opportunity for the faculty development center to address instructional design issues. However, if faculty members who have done online teaching were the source of support, what issues will they address and what advice would they provide? This presentation summarizes survey responses given by faculty members who used online features for teaching between 1999-2001 at a four-year comprehensive university.
Coordinated 3D interaction in tablet- and HMD-based hybrid virtual environments

Traditional 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) in immersive virtual reality can be inefficient in tasks that involve diversities in scale, perspective, reference frame, and dimension. This paper proposes a solution to this problem using a coordinated, tablet- and HMD-based, hybrid virtual environment system. Wearing a non-occlusive HMD, the user is able to view and interact with a tablet mounted on the non-dominant forearm, which provides a multi-touch interaction surface, as well as an exocentric God view of the virtual world. To reduce transition gaps across 3D interaction tasks and interfaces, four coordination mechanisms are proposed, two of which were implemented, and one was evaluated in a user study featuring complex level-editing tasks. Based on subjective ratings, task performance, interview feedback, and video analysis, we found that having multiple Interaction Contexts (ICs) with complementary benefits can lead to good performance and user experience, despite the complexity of learning and using the hybrid system. The results also suggest keeping 3DUI tasks synchronized across the ICs, as this can help users understand their relationships, smoothen within- and between-task IC transitions, and inspire more creative use of different interfaces.
Anticontrol of chaos via feedback

In this paper, a simple control method that combines a linear state-feedback with a nonlinear mod-operation is proposed for making an arbitrarily given, deterministic, discrete-time dynamical systems chaotic. The given system can be arbitrary in the sense that it can be either linear or nonlinear, lower or higher-dimensional, asymptotically stable, unstable, or chaotic. The resulting controlled system is chaotic in the sense that the controlled map (1) has sensitive dependence on initial conditions, (2) is topologically transitive, and (3) has a dense set of periodic points.
Knapsack problems with sigmoid utilities: Approximation algorithms via hybrid optimization

We study a class of non-convex optimization problems involving sigmoid functions. We show that sigmoid functions impart a combinatorial element to the optimization variables and make the global optimization computationally hard. We formulate versions of the knapsack problem, the generalized assignment problem and the bin-packing problem with sigmoid utilities. We merge approximation algorithms from discrete optimization with algorithms from continuous optimization to develop approximation algorithms for these NP-hard problems with sigmoid utilities.
Small-molecule inhibitor starting points learned from protein–protein interaction inhibitor structure

Motivation: Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) are a promising, but challenging target for pharmaceutical intervention. One approach for addressing these difficult targets is the rational design of small-molecule inhibitors that mimic the chemical and physical properties of small clusters of key residues at the protein–protein interface. The identification of appropriate clusters of interface residues provides starting points for inhibitor design and supports an overall assessment of the susceptibility of PPIs to small-molecule inhibition. Results: We extract Small-Molecule Inhibitor Starting Points (SMISPs) from protein-ligand and protein–protein complexes in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). These SMISPs are used to train two distinct classifiers, a support vector machine and an easy to interpret exhaustive rule classifier. Both classifiers achieve better than 70% leave-one-complex-out cross-validation accuracy and correctly predict SMISPs of known PPI inhibitors not in the training set. A PDB-wide analysis suggests that nearly half of all PPIs may be susceptible to small-molecule inhibition. Availability: http://pocketquery.csb.pitt.edu. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Metallic microstructures fabricated using photosensitive polyimide electroplating molds

A polyiimide-based process for the fabrication of thick (1-150 mu m), sharp-sidewall, high-aspect-ratio electroplated microstructures is presented. This process is a low-cost alternative to the LIGA process for microstructure fabrication. Although this process cannot match the performance of the LIGA process, it uses ordinary optical masks and ultraviolet light exposure, resulting in simple and inexpensive equipment requirements. Using this technology, structures made of a variety of electroplated metals can be fabricated. Vertically integrated structures that exploit the multilayer ability of the polyimides used can also be realized. Surface micromachining with this process can be used to fabricate movable electroplated microactuators. >
Global distribution and climate forcing of carbonaceous aerosols

The global distribution of carbonaceous aerosols is simulated online in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies General Circulation Model II-prime (GISS GCM II-prime). Prognostic tracers include black carbon (BC), primary organic aerosol (POA), five groups of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), and 14 semivolatile products of BVOC oxidation by O_3, OH, and NO_3, which condense to form secondary organic aerosols (SOA) based on an equilibrium partitioning model and experimental observations. Estimated global burdens of BC, organic carbon (OC), and SOA are 0.22, 1.2, and 0.19 Tg with lifetimes of 6.4, 5.3, and 6.2 days, respectively. The predicted global production of SOA is 11.2 Tg yr^(−1), with 91% due to O_3 and OH oxidation. Globally averaged, top of the atmosphere (TOA) radiative forcing by anthropogenic BC is predicted as +0.51 to +0.8 W m^(−2), the former being for BC in an external mixture and the latter for BC in an internal mixture of sulfate, OC, and BC. Globally averaged, anthropogenic BC, OC, and sulfate are predicted to exert a TOA radiative forcing of −0.39 to −0.78 W m^(−2), depending on the exact assumptions of aerosol mixing and water uptake by OC. Forcing estimates are compared with those published previously.
Heart-lung transplantation.

Abstract The survival rate (average, 50%) of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary transplantation falls well below that expected for cardiac transplantation alone. We give a broad overview of the various grounds upon which this difference is likely based and discuss recent advances in each area: 1) criteria for the selection of candidates and donors, 2) methods for ex-vivo preservation of donor organs, 3) technical execution of the operative procedure, and 4) prevention of postoperative infection. In connection with the prevention of postoperative infection, we discuss the potential for the development of a chronic obliterative disease that, once established, has proved inexorable. Current efforts are focused on detection when the process is in an early, reversible stage, and on research into causation. (Texas Heart Institute Journal 1987; 14:364-368)
Semiautomated Verification of Access Control Implementation in Industrial Networked Systems

Access control is a necessary building block in the security of any kind of cyber system and, in this sense, industrial networked systems (INSs) make no exception. Typically, access control policies are specified at a high implementation-independent level of abstraction and then mapped onto the real system by leveraging available policy enforcement mechanisms. Unfortunately, different from general-purpose ICT systems, enforcement mechanisms are generally very basic in INS. As a consequence, verifying the correctness of policy implementation becomes a crucial task, especially cumbersome when it needs to be carried out entirely by hand. This paper presents a new methodology, which also serves as the basis of a purposely developed software tool conceived to cope with the lack of policy enforcement mechanisms in INS and to allow semiautomatic verification of policy implementation. Our approach is based on a twofold system model that enables both the abstract specification of access control policies and the detailed description of the target physical system. These two separate views are then combined to automatically determine whether the current system implementation matches the policy specification.
Revisiting Actin's role in early centrosome separation

The two principal non-muscle actin isoforms found in mammalian cells are β-actin and γ-actin. Their relative localization and function are intriguing and not fully coincident.1 In general, γ-actin ...
Certain free products of operator spaces

Certain free products are introduced for operator spaces and dual operator spaces. It is shown that the free product of operator spaces does not preserve the injectivity. The linking C*-algebra of the full free product of two ternary rings of operators (simply, TRO's) is *-isomorphic to the full free product of the linking C*-algebras of the two TRO's. The operator space-reduced free product of the preduals of von Neumann algebras agrees with the predual of the reduced free product of the von Neumann algebras. Each of two operator spaces can be embedded completely isometrically into the reduced free product of the operator spaces. Finally, an example is presented to show that the C*-algebra-reduced free product of two C*-algebras may be contractively isomorphic to a proper subspace of their reduced free product as operator spaces.
Bidding for Classes: Course Allocation Under the Colorado College Auction System

Colorado College uses an economic system to allocate scarce course seats: annually during a sealed-bid auction, each student receives nontransferrable, nonbankable currency with which to bid on courses. We estimate an instrumental variables probit model to determine whether particular student populations are a) implicitly wealthier, having the ability to afford more expensive electives, or b) more risk-averse, choosing to avoid ambiguity by bidding more strongly and/or remaining in a class rather than selecting another after pre-registration. Beyond the anticipated department-specific and instructor-specific effects attributable to popular majors or charismatic instructors, we find strong evidence that students bid more strongly for courses that have perceived scarcity of seats, courses that offer a higher expected grade, courses taught by an instructor similar to themselves, or courses with special attributes like limited enrollment or field trip components. We also find evidence of some populations being more willing to “shop around” for new class experiences after the pre-registration period.
The inhibition of organic nitro-reductase by aureomycin in cell-free extracts.

Summary1. Aureomycin-HCl in concentrations of 10-100 μg/ml inhibits the reduction to arylamine of the nitro groups of chloramphenicol and p-nitrobenzoic acid by cell-free extracts of E. coli (E-26). 2. Under similar conditions, terramycin has little effect on the reduction. 3. 2,4-dinitrophenol inhibits the reduction of the organic nitro compounds to the same extent as aureomycin. 4. Studies are in progress on the possible similarity in the underlying mechanism of inhibition by aureomycin and dinitrophenol.
Interferon alpha-induced changes in Fc gamma R-specific mRNA expression and isotype-specific, Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis in C3H/OuJ (Lpsn) and C3H/HeJ (Lpsd) macrophages.

Peritoneal exudate macrophages from C3H/OuJ (Lps") and C3H/HeJ (Lps") mice were treated with in- terferon a (IFN-a), and isotype-specific phagocytosis and gene expression were measured. IFN-a selectively aug- ments phagocytosis of IgG2a, with a highly significant in- duction of Fc.�RI mRNA expression, while parallel Fc.�RIIIct measurements show a relatively small increase. J.Leukoc. Biol.51: 300-304; 1992.
The Equivalent Model Based on the Internal Friction Coefficient of Rock Mass and Its Numerical Analysis

Rock mass is made up of many complex structural planes. Fractures usually appear due to the shear failure. In order to study the regularity of fractured rock mass during the sliding process of rock blocks,the equivalent parameters of internal friction coefficient of rock mass was deeply discussed. Based on the Mohr-coulomb strength criterion,it is assumed that maximum principal stress and minimum principal stress( σ1～ σ3) were in a linear relationship,so as to deduce an equivalent model concentrating on the internal friction coefficient f. On this basis,the proposed equivalent model was embedded in the finite element analysis platform ABAQUS,to simulate the sliding state of wedge block with different dip angles and directions. With a thorough discussion and analysis of related parameters,the results were compared with the ones obtained in laboratory experiments and the conclusion was drawn that the proposed equivalent model can be used for the characterization of mechanical properties of joints. It is verified that the equivalent model is suitable for analyzing the stability of fractured rock mass. This study will provide valuable reference for the stability analysis of rock mass in engineering.
Issues in airway management--1988.

Knowledge of the airway is expanding. New conditions, modem management strategies, and a more complete understanding of the interaction between the airway and fluid flux in the lung are presented.
Recent Advances in Lentiviral Vaccines for HIV-1 Infection

The development of an effective HIV vaccine to prevent and/or cure HIV remains a global health priority. Given their central role in the initiation of adaptive immune responses, dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines are being increasingly explored as immunotherapeutic strategies to enhance HIV-specific T cells in infected individuals and, thus, promote immune responses that may help facilitate a functional cure. HIV-1-based lentiviral (LV) vectors have inherent advantages as DC vaccine vectors due to their ability to transduce non-dividing cells and integrate into the target cell genomic DNA, allowing for expression of encoded antigens over the lifespan of the cell. Moreover, LV vectors may express additional immunostimulatory and immunoregulatory proteins that enhance DC function and direct antigen-specific T cells responses. Recent basic and clinical research efforts have broadened our understanding of LV vectors as DC-based vaccines. In this review, we provide an overview of the pre-clinical and clinical LV vector vaccine studies for treating HIV to date. We also discuss advances in LV vector designs that have enhanced DC transduction efficiency, target cell specificity, and immunogenicity, and address potential safety concerns regarding LV vector-based vaccines.
Annotation of the Hidden Parts of Packages

Let us assume that at a particular stage in the design of the program, an Anna specification of an Ada package has been constructed. At some later stage it will be necessary to construct a hidden part (i. e., an Ada package private part and body) that satisfies this visible specification. When faced with this situation, a number of questions immediately come to mind.
Diseases of the liver in children

Diseases of the liver in children : , Diseases of the liver in children : , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز
Assessing the reliability of web-based statistical software

Statistical reference datasets from the National Institute of Standards and Technology were used to evaluate the accuracy and precision of two web-based statistical packages, WebStat (found at ) and Statlets (found at ). This evaluation revealed that both packages performed reasonably well in the analysis of lower difficulty datasets, with decreasing accuracy as difficulty increases. The decrease in accuracy for datasets of higher difficulty can often be contributed to the dataset storage format (which seems to be single precision in Statlets and is double precision in WebStat). For most statistical analysis needs, the level of accuracy found in Web-Stat and Statlets would likely be unsatisfactory. Limitations of the packages are discussed and comparisons of accuracy with commercially available statistical packages are presented. WebStat and Statlets are user-friendly packages that are amenable to use as teaching tools. Thus we advise that the statistics packages we evaluated be restricted to use in teaching situations. They should not be used for the analysis of datasets with higher difficulty levels.
Understanding performance interference in next-generation HPC systems

Next-generation systems face a wide range of new potential sources of application interference, including resilience actions, system software adaptation, and in situ analytics programs. In this paper, we present a new model for analyzing the performance of bulk-synchronous HPC applications based on the use of extreme value theory. After validating this model against both synthetic and real applications, the paper then uses both simulation and modeling techniques to profile next-generation interference sources and characterize their behavior and performance impact on a selection of HPC benchmarks, mini-applications, and applications. Lastly, this work shows how the model can be used to understand how current interference mitigation techniques in multi-processors work.
The Encephalophone: A Novel Musical Biofeedback Device using Conscious Control of Electroencephalogram (EEG).

A novel musical instrument and biofeedback device was created using electroencephalogram (EEG) posterior dominant rhythm (PDR) or mu rhythm to control a synthesized piano, which we call the Encephalophone. Alpha-frequency (8-12 Hz) signal power from PDR in the visual cortex or from mu rhythm in the motor cortex was used to create a power scale which was then converted into a musical scale, which could be manipulated by the individual in real time. Subjects could then generate different notes of the scale by activation (event-related synchronization) or de-activation (event-related desynchronization) of the PDR or mu rhythms in visual or motor cortex, respectively. 15 novice normal subjects were tested in their ability to hit target notes presented within a five-minute trial period. All 15 subjects were able to perform more accurately (average of 27.4 hits, 67.1% accuracy for visual cortex/PDR signaling; average of 20.6 hits, 57.1% accuracy for mu signaling) than random note generation (19.03% accuracy). Moreover, PDR control was significantly more accurate than mu control. This shows that novice healthy individuals can control music with better accuracy than random, with no prior training on the device, and that PDR control is more accurate than mu control for these novices. Individuals with more years of musical training showed a moderate positive correlation with more PDR accuracy, but not mu accuracy. The Encephalophone may have potential applications both as a novel musical instrument without requiring movement, as well as a potential therapeutic biofeedback device for patients suffering from motor deficits (e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brainstem stroke, traumatic amputation).
Synergistic Immuno Photothermal Nanotherapy (SYMPHONY) for the Treatment of Unresectable and Metastatic Cancers

Metastatic spread is the mechanism in more than 90 percent of cancer deaths and current therapeutic options, such as systemic chemotherapy, are often ineffective. Here we provide a proof of principle for a novel two-pronged modality referred to as Synergistic Immuno Photothermal Nanotherapy (SYMPHONY) having the potential to safely eradicate both primary tumors and distant metastatic foci. Using a combination of immune-checkpoint inhibition and plasmonic gold nanostar (GNS)–mediated photothermal therapy, we were able to achieve complete eradication of primary treated tumors and distant untreated tumors in some mice implanted with the MB49 bladder cancer cells. Delayed rechallenge with MB49 cancer cells injection in mice that appeared cured by SYMPHONY did not lead to new tumor formation after 60 days observation, indicating that SYMPHONY treatment induced effective long-lasting immunity against MB49 cancer cells.
Small Mammals in Anthropogenic Brome Fields as Compared to Native Tallgrass Prairie in the Northern Flint Hills of Kansas

We studied small mammals in planted smooth brome (Bromus inermis) fields on Konza Prairie to assess the small mammal community associated with these frequently occurring anthropogenic grasslands in eastern Kansas. Also, we wanted to understand the impacts of land use changes resulting from this type of anthropogenic change as compared to native habitats. Relative to this latter interest, we compared the small mammal community in brome fields to that found in native tallgrass prairie, also on Konza Prairie, for the same years and seasons during the early to mid-1980s. Small mammals were trapped in brome (n = 2 study sites) and native tallgrass prairie (n = 14) in autumn (6 years), spring (5) and summer (4) during 1981–1986. Overall, 173 and 1893 individuals of rodents and shrews were captured in brome and native prairie, respectively. Across all seasons, community abundance in brome was greater in autumn than in spring and summer. Patterns of community abundance among seasons in brome were not proportional...
The Station Information System (SIS): A Centralized Repository for Populating, Managing, and Distributing Metadata of the Advanced National Seismic System Stations

Creating, maintaining, and archiving accurate station metadata is critical for successful seismic network operations, data discovery, and research. The Station Information System (SIS) is a centralized repository of seismic station equipment inventory, instrument response, and site information of stations operated by regional seismic networks (RSNs) of the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS; Filson and Arabasz, 2017). It has a web‐based user interface that enables the creation and manipulation of the corresponding metadata. The system can track the installation, maintenance, and removal of equipment from a site, which often results in the creation of new metadata epochs. SIS also computes the overall response, including gain, of a data channel by combining the responses of the underlying hardware components. SIS distributes this information in standard formats such as Federation of Digital Seismic Networks StationXML and dataless Standard for the Exchange of Earthquake Data. SIS can also be used to manage inventory of field equipment such as power, telemetry, or Global Positioning System antenna, as well as links to other site‐related repositories external to SIS to give the network operator the most complete view of a site and the overall network. This article summarizes the main features in SIS. We present its basic infrastructure, holdings, workflow, and how RSNs retrieve data from it. We also explain the reasoning to pursue one centralized repository and why it supports the goals of SIS and the ANSS. We demonstrate that by providing the ANSS network operator with a comprehensive site view, SIS enables the production of high‐quality metadata, a necessary prerequisite for producing high‐quality seismic data.
Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Mapping Arctic Vegetation Using Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Fusion

Accurate and high-resolution maps of vegetation are critical for projects seeking to understand the terrestrial ecosystem processes and land-atmosphere interactions in Arctic ecosystems, such as U.S. Department of Energy's Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment (NGEE) Arctic. However, most existing Arctic vegetation maps are at a coarse resolution and with a varying degree of detail and accuracy. Remote sensing-based approaches for mapping vegetation, while promising, are challenging in high latitude environments due to frequent cloud cover, polar darkness, and limited availability of high-resolution remote sensing datasets (e.g., ∼ 5 m). This study proposes a new remote sensing based multi-sensor data fusion approach for developing high-resolution maps of vegetation in the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. We focus detailed analysis and validation study around the Kougarok river, located in the central Seward Peninsula of Alaska. We seek to evaluate the integration of hyper-spectral, multi-spectral, radar, and terrain datasets using unsupervised and supervised classification techniques over a ∼343.72 km 2 area for generating vegetation classifications at a variety of resolutions (5 m and 12.5 m). We fist applied a quantitative goodness-of-fit method, called Mapcurves, that shows the degree of spatial concordance between the public coarse resolution maps and k-means clustering values and relabels the k values based on the best overlap. We develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach for developing high resolution vegetation maps for our study region in Arctic. We compare two CNN approaches: (1) breaking up the images into small patches (e.g., 6 x 6) and predict the vegetation class for entire patch and (2) semantic segmentation and predict the vegetation class for every pixel. We also perform accuracy assessments of the developed data products and evaluate varying CNN architectures. The fusion of hyperspectral and optical datasets performed the best, with accuracy values increased from 0.64 to 0.96-0.97 when using a training map produced by unsupervised clustering and Mapcurves labeling for both CNN models.
Antibiotic Prophylaxis for COPD Exacerbations.

Prophylactic antibiotics may be used to reduce the overall rate of COPD exacerbations and delay their onset. However, the appropriate antibiotic regimen and target population are unclear.
Rat Models of Prenatal and Adolescent Cannabis Exposure

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) is the illicit drug most commonly used by two vulnerable populations relevant to neurodevelopment-pregnant women and teenagers. Human longitudinal studies have linked prenatal and adolescent cannabis exposure with long-term behavioral abnormalities as well as increased vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders in adulthood. Animal models provide a means of studying the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these long-term effects. This chapter provides an overview of the animal models we have used to study the developmental impact of cannabis.
Web-Based Education: Learning from Experience

During the past two decades, telecommunication and Web-enabled technologies have combined to create a new field of knowledge known as "Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies." The main objective of Web-Based Education: Learning from Experience is to learn from faculty experiences gained while implementing and utilizing these technologies. The book addresses many trends and issues associated with Web-Based Education, and explores the opportunities and problems confronting colleges and universities to effectively utilize and manage Web-Based Education in their teaching environments.
Photoaffinity Labeling of Proteins and More Complex Receptors

In the past several years affinity labeling has emerged as a powerful method for studying ligand-receptor interactions. The logic of an affinity labeling experiment (Singer, 1967) is described in Eq. (1)–(3). A reactive group, X (electrophilic or photolabile), is attached to the natural ligand, L. If the resulting modified ligand ĹX retains high affinity for the native ligand receptor site and forms a non-covalent complex, R.ĹX, [Eq. (1)], then, at low ĹX concentration, covalent attachment via the reaction in Eq. (2), a first order process, will proceed at a much faster rate than attachment via the reaction in Eq. (3), a second order process, and specific attachment to the ligand site will be achieved.
A High-Power-Density High-Efficiency Three-Level Buck Converter for Cellphone Battery Charging Applications

This paper introduces a high-power-density low-profile high-efficiency three-level buck converter for cellphone battery charging applications. This converter is designed to deliver up to 40 W across a 4:1 input voltage range, as enabled by the latest USB standard. A comprehensive methodology based on augmented state-space modeling is used to accurately predict the converter's waveforms and optimize its design. The converter's inductor is realized using a custom-shaped low-profile ferrite core., with its winding and core losses minimized using 3D finite-element analysis. To maximize efficiency, the converter is designed to achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) at light-to-medium loads. A prototype three-level buck converter with a PCB area of 358 mm2, component height of 1 mm, an input voltage range of 5 V–20 V, an output voltage range of 3 V–4.2 V, and a maximum output current of 10 A is built and tested. The prototype converter achieves a peak efficiency of 98.5% at 2:1 conversion ratio, maintains high efficiency across its entire operating range, and achieves a power density of 704 W/in3.
Using a Standardized Client Encounter to Practice Death Notification after the Unexpected Death of a Feline Patient Following Routine Ovariohysterectomy.

Death notification is an important skill for health care providers to carry out, yet few clinicians feel adequately prepared to complete this task. To address these gaps in clinical training, some ...
Learning from Limited Data in VLSI CAD

Applying machine learning to analyze data from design and test flows has received growing interests in recent years. In some applications, data can be limited and the core of analytics becomes a feature search problem. In this context, the chapter explains the challenges for adopting a traditional machine learning problem formulation view. An adjusted machine learning view is suggested where learning from limited data is treated as an iterative feature search process. The theoretical and practical considerations for implementing such a search process are discussed.
Intelligent material design for infrared optics (Conference Presentation)

One of the difficulties in designing infrared optical systems is the comparative lack of glasses from which to design lenses. In visible optical systems, the designer has a palette of hundreds of glass options with varying dispersions and mechanical properties. In contrast, the designer of infrared optical systems has perhaps a dozen materials options from which to choose. Instead, what if the infrared transparent materials were designed specifically for various applications? Using a material with a targeted index dispersion profile, the designer can complete a system using fewer lens surfaces and in many cases with increased functionality such as athermalization. Next comes the question of how to obtain such a material. One approach is somewhat scattershot: to melt series of glasses, measure each of their properties, and settle on one composition for scale-up to production volumes. This approach is both time- and resource-consuming, as the measurements for many properties require specialized equipment and sample preparation. In contrast to this scattershot method, the principle of intelligent material design allows glass scientists to design glasses with intentionally chosen mechanical and optical properties, and greatly reduces the number of test melts required to obtain a final production solution. Intelligent material design consists of leveraging the existing literature data to make informed decisions about which glass compositions are likely to exhibit the desired properties. By describing the variation of the properties over the glass family with mathematical functions, the material design problem is reduced to the simultaneous solution of a set of equations.
The Regulation of Lipokines by Environmental Factors

Adipose tissue is a highly metabolically-active tissue that senses and secretes hormonal and lipid mediators that facilitate adaptations to metabolic tissues. In recent years, the role of lipokines, which are lipid species predominantly secreted from adipose tissue that act as hormonal regulators in many metabolic tissues, has been an important area of research for obesity and diabetes. Previous studies have identified that these secreted lipids, including palmitoleate, 12,13-diHOME, and fatty acid–hydroxy–fatty acids (FAHFA) species, are important regulators of metabolism. Moreover, environmental factors that directly affect the secretion of lipokines such as diet, exercise, and exposure to cold temperatures constitute attractive therapeutic strategies, but the mechanisms that regulate lipokine stimulation have not been thoroughly reviewed. In this study, we will discuss the chemical characteristics of lipokines that position them as attractive targets for chronic disease treatment and prevention and the emerging roles of lipokines as regulators of inter-tissue communication. We will define the target tissues of lipokines, and explore the ability of lipokines to prevent or delay the onset and development of chronic diseases. Comprehensive understanding of the lipokine synthesis and lipokine-driven regulation of metabolic outcomes is instrumental for developing novel preventative and therapeutic strategies that harness adipose tissue-derived lipokines.
Detecting Asymmetric Patterns and Localizing Cancers on Mammograms.

Summary One in eight women develops invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. The frontline protection against this disease is mammography. While computer-assisted diagnosis algorithms have made great progress in generating reliable global predictions, few focus on simultaneously producing regions of interest (ROIs) for biopsy. Can we combine ROI-oriented algorithms with global classification of cancer status, which simultaneously highlight suspicious regions and optimize classification performance? Can the asymmetry of breasts be adopted in deep learning for finding lesions and classifying cancers? We answer the above questions by building deep-learning networks that identify masses and microcalcifications in paired mammograms, exclude false positives, and stepwisely improve performance of the model with asymmetric information regarding the breasts. This method achieved a co-leading place in the Digital Mammography DREAM Challenge for predicting breast cancer. We highlight here the importance of this dual-purpose process that simultaneously provides the locations of potential lesions in mammograms.
A Control-Theoretic Linear Coding Scheme for the Fading Gaussian Broadcast Channel with Feedback

This paper proposes a linear coding scheme for the two-user fading additive white Gaussian noise broadcast channel, under the assumptions that: (i) perfect Channel State Information (CSI) is available at the receivers; and (ii) unit delayed CSI along with channel output feedback (COF) is available at the transmitter. The proposed scheme is derived from a control-theoretic perspective that generalizes the communication scheme for the point-to-point (P2P) fading Gaussian channel under the same assumptions by Liu et al. [1]. The proposed scheme asymptotically achieves the rates of a posterior matching scheme, from the same authors, for a certain choice of parameters.
Impact of Wave Propagations on Figures of Merit in Millimeter-Wave Transistors

The effects of wave propagations on gain and cut-off frequency of millimeter-wave transistors are studied based on a new modeling approach. This model is developed based on the electron transport in semiconductor layers and transmission line properties of the electrodes in high-frequency transistors. In this approach, no small- or large-signal equivalent circuit is required for the analysis of the device. The electrodes of the transistor are considered as coupled multi-conductor transmission lines to represent the effect of non-uniform voltage and current distributions along the gate and drain conductors. A finite-difference time-domain solver is utilized to solve the governing equations of the distributed model. The achieved excellent agreement between the simulation and measurement results for a fabricated GaN-HEMT over a broad frequency range validates the accurate performance of the wave-electron-transport model in finding the figures of merit in W-band and beyond.
Examining transdisciplinarity in iSchools dissertations (2010-2011)

Two defining characteristics of the iSchools are that they are interdisciplinary and aim to address societal problems (Dillon & Rice-Lively, 2006; Thomas, von Dran, & Sawyer, 2006). This study examines what “interdisciplinary” means in the iSchools context and the extent to which “societal problems” are being addressed through iSchools dissertation research. With this emphasis on broader societal impacts, the vision for the iSchools closely aligns with the concept of transdisciplinarity (Thompson Klein, 2008). Drawing from the literature about the continuum of cross-disciplinary approaches (unidisciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary), this study adapts and extends a transdisciplinary dissertation assessment tool created by Mitrany and Stokols (2005). This poster presents preliminary results from an assessment of 175 dissertations completed in 2010 and 2011 by students in the 21 iSchools as of 2009 (according to Wiggins and Sawyer, 2011). The purpose is to establish a snapshot of the level of transdisciplinarity among the iSchools.
Theories of Truth and Learnable Languages

By far the most interesting and successful recent theories of meaning have been truth conditional. The paradigm of such theories is usually taken to be Tarski’s recursive characterization of truth for certain formal languages.1 Donald Davidson has both practiced truth-conditional theorizing in the semantics of natural languages, and has pleaded for the general importance of truth-conditional semantics.2 What is even more interesting and more unique to him, Davidson has sought to give a deeper motivation — perhaps a foundation — for truth-conditional semantics of the kind pioneered by Tarski. This deeper foundation Davidson has sought in the requirement of the learnability of the language in question.3
Randomized Comparison of Guglielmi Detachable Coils and Cellulose Acetate Polymer for Treatment of Aneurysms in Dogs

Background and Purpose—Endovascular treatments for aneurysms are being used more frequently in patients in the absence of a large body of information on their histopathological effects. This study determined the efficacy and histopathological effects of treatment of experimental aneurysms with Guglielmi detachable coils (GDC) or cellulose acetate polymer (CAP). Methods—Fourteen dogs had 13 terminal and 30 sidewall aneurysms created with venous pouches sutured to the cervical carotid arteries. Two weeks later, dogs had angiography followed by randomization to no treatment (n=2) or to aneurysm occlusion with GDC (n=4) or CAP (n=6). Two months later, angiography was repeated, animals were killed, and aneurysms were excised, fixed, photographed, and examined by light and electron microscopy. Results—Two dogs were excluded because of common carotid artery occlusion at 2-week angiography. There were 11 terminal and 16 sidewall aneurysms available for treatment. The rate of spontaneous thrombosis of untreated an...
International Law in the Chinese Domestic Context

The effectiveness of international law depends on its implementation and enforcement by nation-states, including those within the domestic domain. In recent years, the United Nations (hereinafter “UN”) called on its member states to achieve rule of law at both the national and international levels. As a rising power, China has recently been the subject of international attention. In particular, because China is now seen as a responsible stakeholder for the world community, the attention has concerned China’s behaviour and acts under international law. This Essay examines China’s practice in international law at the national level through its legislature, administration, and judiciary and also explores the gaps and inconsistencies, with reference to the implementation and application of international human rights law in China.
Correlations of Auroral Kilometric Radiation with Visual Auroras and with Birkeland Currents

The first satellite measurements of intense radio emissions from the earth’s magnetosphere were made seventeen years ago by Benediktov et al. (1965, 1968). They observed 725 kHz and 2.3 MHz radio emissions with the Elektron satellite receivers during geomagnetic storms. Five years later Dunkel et al. (1970) reported OGO 1 observations of strong radio wave intensities at frequencies below 100 kHz also related to magnetic disturbances. Brown (1973), using the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) radio astronomy experiment on the IMP 6 satellite, observed earth related radio emissions in the frequency range 150–300 kHz. It was not, however, until the University of Iowa plasma wave experiments, on the IMP 6 and IMP 8 satellites, had measured intense electromagnetic radiation (in the frequency range of 50–500 kHz) that the first complete observational study of terrestrial kilometric radiation was produced. Gurnett (1974) was able to present a comprehensive documentation of the location of the radio source near the earth because his instruments afforded him directional resolution, dynamic range, high sensitivity, and broad frequency range. Other authors contributing to the completion of the picture of radio emissions from the earth’s magnetosphere were Stone (1973) and Frankel (1973).
Log 2 : a cost-aware logging mechanism for performance diagnosis

Logging has been a common practice for monitoring and diagnosing performance issues. However, logging comes at a cost, especially for large-scale online service systems. First, the overhead incurred by intensive logging is non-negligible. Second, it is costly to diagnose a performance issue if there are a tremendous amount of redundant logs. Therefore, we believe that it is important to limit the overhead incurred by logging, without sacrificing the logging effectiveness. In this paper we propose Log2, a cost-aware logging mechanism. Given a "budget" (defined as the maximum volume of logs allowed to be output in a time interval), Log2 makes the "whether to log" decision through a two-phase filtering mechanism. In the first phase, a large number of irrelevant logs are discarded efficiently. In the second phase, useful logs are cached and output while complying with logging budget. In this way, Log2 keeps the useful logs and discards the less useful ones. We have implemented Log2 and evaluated it on an open source system as well as a real-world online service system from Microsoft. The experimental results show that Log2 can control logging overhead while preserving logging effectiveness.
Effect of prolonged coldness on survival and fertility of Drosophila melanogaster.

The laboratory fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is used widely in biological research, but the requirement to maintain stocks with a roughly biweekly generation time imposes substantial burdens of labor, potential cross-contamination and mutation accumulation. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of prolonged cold stress or milder cooling on survivorship and fertility. The hypothesis was that cold storage would result in postponement of reproduction and a longer generation time. Flies of several genotypes were maintained continuously at 4–11°C; recovery rates and subsequent yields of adult progeny were recorded. Adults and pupae of a relatively long-lived y w lineage were more resistant to severe cold stress than embryos and larvae. Adults exhibited minimal mortality up to at least 5 d at 4°C, 20 d at 8°C and 12 weeks at 11°C. Reproduction did not occur at these temperatures, but progeny were obtained after recovery at 25°C. At all temperatures, chilling caused a rapid, severe and progressive decrease in fertility during the first 2 d of recovery. The impact on fertility during the subsequent 2–4 d was much milder and it occurred only after prolonged incubation at low temperatures. The total reproductive output during the first 6 d of recovery was sufficient to replace the parental population after 12 weeks at 11°C. Food spoilage had an unexpectedly low impact on survivorship and fertility, and the reproductive output of F1 progeny was not affected by storing parental flies at 11°C for 8–10 weeks. In the case of w1118 flies, replacement of the parents within 6 d of recovery was possible for up to 60 d at 11°C. Among less fertile genotypes, replacement of the parents was possible within 18 d after 4–10 weeks at 11°C. These results show that the 2-week maintenance interval of stocks of D. melanogaster can be extended 3–7 fold, at least for 1 generation, by storing adult flies at 11°C.