cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Four-Pendulum Omnidirectional Spherical Robot: Design Analysis and Comparison

This paper presents a four-pendulum design for an omnidirectional spherical robot. The robot moves by the rotation of tetrahedrally-located pendulums to change the center of mass, and can do so instantaneously in any direction. In that respect, it is omnidirectional unlike the more common single-pendulum designs. In the paper, the theoretical design is discussed and contrasted to existing theoretical center-of-mass designs in terms of directionality, torque arm, eccentricity, and radius of gyration. The torque arm comparison is based on the envelope of the dynamically-controlled mass (i.e., how far in any direction can the center of mass be moved), while the eccentricity and gyration criteria are based on homogeneity and size of the mass moment of inertia (i.e., how much does the design “wobble” while rolling; how much inertia does it have). In these regards, the four-pendulum architecture is better than some in one respect, better than many in other respects. A prototype has been built and tested to successfully implement the four-pendulum propulsion. Significance of the proposed system is presented through a comparison of results with previous work.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Does Use of a Variable Distal Femur Resection Angle Improve Radiographic Alignment in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract Background The distal femur resection in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is commonly made using a fixed angle relative to an intramedullary rod. This study's purpose was to assess if a variable distal femur resection angle technique improves femoral component alignment in TKA. Methods This was a review of primary TKAs performed by 2 surgeons. One surgeon used a fixed resection angle of 5° for varus and 3° for valgus knees ("fixed" cohort). The second used hip-knee-ankle (HKA) radiographs to measure the angle between the femoral anatomic axis and a line perpendicular to the femoral mechanical axis, which was used as the resection angle for each patient ("variable" cohort). Femoral component and HKA alignment were measured from standing HKA radiographs by 2, independent, blinded observers. Two hundred ninety patients were needed for power to detect a 15% difference in femoral component "outliers" (target of 0° ± 2°; significance = P Results Three hundred twenty consecutive patients were included with no differences in age, body mass index, or preoperative deformity ( P = .3-.8). A 5° resection angle was used in 46.3% of the variable and 80.0% of the fixed cohort patients. A total of 80.2% of femoral components in the variable and 63.1% in the fixed cohort were within 0° ± 2° ( P = .002; 84.6% of variable and 56.3% of fixed for valgus knees, P P = .001). Conclusion Use of a variable distal femur resection angle improves femoral component alignment after TKA.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO SIDE -BY -SIDE JETS IN A CROSS FLOW

Single poi nt measurements of three components of turbulent velocity and their cross moments were made downstream of a single and two side -by -side jets in a cross flow. For both cases, the ratio of jet to cross flow momentum was 3.3. The Reynolds number based on jet diameter was nearly 6200. The distance between the two side -by -side jets was two -jet diameter. The jets’ nozzles were flush with the wind tunnel surface of the working area within the turbulent boundary layer. Measurements were carried out at six different planes of x/d = 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10.7, and 15.7. Here x is the streamwise direction along the cross flow and d is the inside diameter of the jet nozzle. Results showed that for the double jets there were increased regions of high turbulence intensity, secon dary flow and turbulent shear stress, near the flat plate surface in the near field region, resulting in enhanced mixing in these areas. The trajectories of the double jets showed reduced penetrations in the near field when compared with the corresponding results for the single jet. However, in the far field, the penetration rates of the single and the double jets were nearly identical. NOMENCLATURE
Optical Imaging of Carbon Nanotubes

The macroscopic lengths of today's nanotubes make them accessible to optical imaging. The use of global Raman imaging and PL imaging for characterization and fundamental study of single nanotubes in air-suspended configurations will be described.
Antibody Coating of Bacteria Persisting in a Ureteral Stump 10 Years after Nephrectomy

Abstract We report a case of persistent bacteriuria from an infected stone in a ureteral stump without reflux following nephrectomy for pyonephrosis and a staghorn calculus 10 years previously. The significance of fluorescent antibody coating in demonstrating the site of infection, as well as other aspects of this unusual situation are discussed.
From antiquity to the Middle Ages II: rhetorical invention as hermeneutical performance

So far this book has emphasized the status and condition of exegesis, its relationship with rhetoric, and its role within vernacular translation. Now it is necessary to reverse that emphasis and to consider the fortunes of rhetoric, and specifically the role of rhetorical inventio in vernacular translation. The translations that I have discussed so far, Notker's translation of Martianus Capella, the Ovide moralise , and the Old French and Middle English versions of the Consolatio , define themselves in terms of exegetical practice. In the final chapter I will consider translations that offer themselves as forms of rhetorical invention. In order to understand this latter form of translation we must first take account of how the value of invention changes from the context of classical oratory to that of medieval poetics. My interest in this chapter will be to retrace the history of the relationship between rhetoric and hermeneutics, but this time directing my focus to how this relationship defines the meaning of rhetorical inventio for the later Middle Ages. INVENTION IN ANTIQUITY In ancient rhetoric, invention is the discovery of a plausible and persuasive argument through a system of proofs. Inventio (Greek heuresis ) literally means a “coming upon,” a discovery of that which is there, or already there, to be discovered. The term has little to do with originality or with creation ex nihilo . In all of its theoretical avatars among the ancients, invention is what Roland Barthes has aptly termed an “extractive” operation.
A multifaceted approach to decrease inappropriate antibiotic use in a pediatric outpatient clinic.

BACKGROUND: Inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents is the major cause for the development of resistance. Thus, it is important to include outpatient clinics in the development of antibiotic stewardship program. METHODS: We report a multifaceted approach to decrease inappropriate antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in an outpatient pediatric clinic. The interventions included educational grand round, academic detailing, and prospective audit and feedback and peer comparison. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 3677 outpatient clinic visits for URTIs were evaluated. Of all the included patients, 12% were 5 years of age. Of the total patients, 684 (17.6%) received appropriate antibiotics, 2812 (76.4%) appropriately did not receive antibiotics, and 217 (6%) inappropriately received antibiotics. The monthly rate of prescription of inappropriate antibiotics significantly decreased from 12.3% at the beginning of the study to 3.8% at the end of the study (P CONCLUSIONS: The combination of education and academic detailing is important to improve antibiotic use.
A Mixture Model for NLOS mmWave Interference Distribution

We propose a novel model for the NLOS interference power distribution in a cellular system employing MIMO beamforming transmission in mmWave spectrum. The proposed model is a mixture of the Inverse Gaussian and the Inverse Weibull distributions, both are two-parameter medium-to-heavy tail distributions. To estimate the parameters of the mixture model, we design an expectation maximization algorithm using both analytical moment matching and maximum likelihood estimation. Further, the information-theoretic metric relative entropy is used to measure the goodness of the model by capturing the distance from the modeled distribution to a reference one. The model is tested against simulation data obtained from a stochastic geometry based cellular network and demonstrates very good fit for a wide range of practical mmWave path loss and shadowing values. The mixture model is then used to analyze the capacity of a cellular network employing joint dominant mode beamforming and again confirms a good fit with simulation.
The Use of Technology for Phone and Face-to-Face Communication After Total Laryngectomy

Purpose The purpose of this article is to describe the characteristics and experiences of individuals who use technology to support telephone or face-to-face communication after total laryngectomy....
Tight Bounds for Active Self-assembly Using an Insertion Primitive

We prove two tight bounds on the behavior of a model of self-assembling particles introduced by Dabby and Chen (SODA 2012), called insertion systems, where monomers insert themselves into the middle of a growing linear polymer. First, we prove that the expressive power of these systems is equal to context-free grammars, answering a question posed by Dabby and Chen. Second, we prove that polymers of length \(2^{\Theta(k^{3/2})}\) can be deterministically constructed by insertion systems of k monomer types in O((logn)5/3) expected time, and that this is the best possible in both the number of types and expected time.
Roles of Adenosine in Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis, the formation of new microvessels from a pre-existing vascular bed, is stimulated by tissue hypoxia. Adenosine, a key extracellular signal elicited by hypoxia, plays several roles in initiation and/or modulation of angiogenesis. Adenosine governs the angiogenesis process through its actions on endothelial cell proliferation and migration. In addition, adenosine amplifies the mitogenic signal elicited by other angiogenic mediators such as nitric oxide and vascular endothelial growth factor. Through the interplay of tissue oxygen tension, adenosine, nitric oxide and vascular endothelial growth factor, a complex physiological control system ensures the matching of vascularity and metabolic needs in a variety of organs and circumstances.
Extended LaMer Synthesis of Cobalt-Doped Ferrite

Nonstoichiometric cobalt ferrite nanoparticles have drawn interest in magnetically mediated energy delivery due to their high magnetocrystalline anisotropy and their high peak loss frequency. The use of an extended LaMer synthesis allows for size control of the doped particles up to a threshold core diameter of 18 nm. Above this diameter, particles become unstable and drop out of suspension, allowing for further nucleation events to occur. This leads to a cyclic nucleation, growth, and destabilization regime seen during the course of the reaction. Using the size control of the extended LaMer synthesis technique, we examine the specific absorption rate (SAR) as a function of particle size up to 18 nm and observe the same oscillatory behavior in the measured SAR values.
On the nature of computing science

Now this Summer School draws to a close, it seems appropriate to try to put its topic into some perspective.
The Continuous Part of L2(Г\G)

We now look at the orthogonal complement of 0 L 2(Г\G) and prove a spectral decomposition theorem following Godemenťs paper [Go 2], using the Poisson summation formula. The method works for arithmetic subgroups Г, and has the advantage of being rapid and easy. It fails for more general discrete subgroups, and the question is reconsidered by other methods in the next and last chapter. The spectral decomposition is achieved by the Eisenstein transform, which maps the orthogonal complement of 0 L 2(Г\G) and the constant functions on the L 2 space of a positive real line—with our normalization, the upper half of the imaginary line Re s = 1/2.
Compiling Rewriting onto SIMD and MIMD/SIMD Maschines

We present compilation techniques for Simple Maude, a declarative programming language based on Rewriting Logic which supports term, graph, and object-oriented rewriting. We show how to compile various constructs of Simple Maude onto SIMD and MIMD/SIMD massively parallel architectures, and in particular onto the Rewrite Rule Machine (RRM), a special purpose MIMD/SIMD architecture for rewriting. We then demonstrate how to compile SIMD graph rewriting onto MIMD/SIMD architectures, and discuss mapping 3-D structures into 2-D SIMD meshes. Finally, we sketch the compilation of object-oriented rewriting into efficient MIMD/SIMD code. We thus show that Simple Maude is an efficient, machine-independent parallel programming language.
Investigation of a force hardening spring system

This paper reports on the jump phenomenon as seen in a geometrically nonlinear mass spring system. Analysis and simplification of the governing differential equation results in two coupled equations, which were solved in MATLAB using various values for mass of the oscillator (M), effective spring stiffness (K), mass of the flywheel (m), radius of gyration of the flywheel (r), and damping (C) of the system. Depending on values of the parameters used, various theoretical system responses were seen for the cart amplitude as a function of driving frequency. Based on the output of the MATLAB program, components were chosen to implement into a mass spring system that would physically illustrate the jump phenomenon. The result is a nonlinear spring system that was able to show the jump down effect, but not the jump up.
Radiation Therapy Combined With Checkpoint Blockade Immunotherapy for Metastatic Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma of the Maxillary Sinus With a Complete Response

Background: Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) of the maxillary sinus is an extremely rare malignancy of the head and neck. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for UPS; however, proximity to vital structures makes it challenging to achieve negative surgical margins. Adjuvant therapy including radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy is generally indicated. Despite advances in multimodality treatment, objective response rates to available therapies and prognosis of metastatic UPS remain dismal. Immunotherapy has become a fourth cornerstone of cancer therapy and checkpoint blockade immunotherapy is a standard of care for recurrent or metastatic cisplatin-refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy is being studied in metastatic sarcoma, including UPS, and while initial results are promising, objective response rates remain below 20%. However, adding radiation therapy to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has been shown, in both preclinical and retrospective clinical studies, to have combinatorial effects on both local and metastatic disease. Thus, further investigation into the effects of radiation therapy combined with immunotherapy in head and neck sarcomas is warranted. Case Presentation: We present a case of metastatic, chemotherapy-refractory, UPS of the maxillary sinus in a 55-year-old male treated with checkpoint blockade immunotherapy combined with radiation, which resulted in a complete response. Conclusions: This is the first report to our knowledge of metastatic UPS treated with a combination of radiation and dual agent checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. Further investigation is warranted to study the effects of this combination in patients with metastatic UPS that fail to respond to currently available therapies.
China's Missing Children: Political Barriers to Citizenship through the Household Registration System

Approximately 13 million Chinese lack hukou, the formal household registration. This prevents them from claiming full citizenship rights, including social welfare, formal identity documents and employment in the state sector. The government blames birth planning policies for the unregistered population, but this explanation ignores the role of internal migration. Because citizenship rights are locally determined and the hukou system is locally managed, migrants face significant barriers to registering their children. This article systematically analyses the political determinants of the unregistered population nationwide. Based on a logit analysis of a sample of 2.5 million children from the 2000 census, I find that children born in violation of the one-child policy do have lower rates of registration and that children born to migrant mothers are four times more likely to be unregistered than registered. Continuing government focus on the effect of birth planning ignores the more fundamental institutional barriers inherent in the hukou system.
REDUCING NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES USING RAPID SEEDING AND MULCHING

Nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water quality degradation in the United States, and construction sites are a major source of nonpoint source pollution in developing areas. Recent Federal regulations now require pollution prevention activities on many construction sites, but one of the most frequent complaints of those working to enforce these regulations is that it is difficult to get developers to apply prompt and effective temporary vegetative cover to disturbed areas. We evaluated a new approach in which temporary vegetative soil stabilization was applied rapidly and frequently to all bare areas on a construction site by a person independent of the construction process. Using field sampling of runoff from treated and untreated sites in North Royalton, Ohio, as well as computer modeling based on site condition maps, we found that rapid application of surface cover dramatically reduced both the amount of sediment generated by surface erosion and the concentration and total load of phosp...
Why Boredom is Interesting

Is boredom bad? It is certainly common: Most everybody gets bored. There is a sense that boredom sometimes causes bad things to happen (e.g., substance use, self-harm) and sometimes causes good thi...
An Engineered AAV6-Based Vaccine Induces High Cytolytic Anti-Tumor Activity by Directly Targeting DCs and Improves Ag Presentation

We have previously shown that an AAV6-based vaccine generates high levels of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Further modifications described here led to significantly increased levels of antigen-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, enhanced formation of memory cells, and superior antigen-specific killing capacity in a murine model. By tracking reporter-gene-positive dendritic cells, we showed that they were directly targeted with modified AAV6 in vivo. Our vaccine’s anti-cancer potential was evaluated with the antigen ovalbumin against a B16F10 melanoma cell line stably expressing ovalbumin. The vaccination showed superior protection in a murine model of metastatic melanoma. The vaccination significantly delayed solid tumor growth but did not completely prevent tumor development. We show that tumors in immunized mice escaped vaccine-induced killing by losing ovalbumin expression. The vaccine induced massive tumor infiltration with NK and CD8+ T cells with upregulated PD-1 expression. Thus, a vaccination of a combination of anti-PD-1 antibodies demonstrated significant improvement in the treatment efficacy. To summarize, we showed that a bioengineered AAV6-based vaccine elicits strong and long-lasting cellular and humoral responses against an encoded antigen. To increase AAV vaccine efficiency and mitigate tumor escape through antigen loss, we intended to target several antigens in combination with treatments targeting the tumor microenvironment.
Multiscale Photonic Crystal Enhanced Core–Shell Plasmonic Nanomaterial for Rapid Vapor-Phase Detection of Explosives

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has started to attract attention in vapor sensing; however, practical applications require shorter response time and better sensitivity. Herein, we report a...
Generating Game Levels to Develop Computer Science Competencies in Game-Based Learning Environments.

Game-based learning environments hold significant potential for supporting K-12 computer science (CS) education by providing CS learning experiences embedded within engaging virtual worlds. However, many game-based learning environments do not adaptively support individual students based on their specific knowledge and skills. Often, this is because creating game levels is highly labor-intensive, which limits the number of levels created to support student learning. Procedural content generation (PCG) is a promising direction for addressing this challenge by dynamically creating game levels that address specific student needs without requiring extensive development effort. In this paper, we investigate a PCG framework driven by answer set programming (ASP), a variant of logic programming that utilizes well-formed logical rules to express constraints for valid game levels. We demonstrate how variations in CS learning objectives and game-playing skills can be incorporated into ASP-based rules to generate learner-adaptive levels in a middle-grades CS game-based learning environment. Evaluations of the generated levels suggest that the ASP-based level generator not only reliably generates desired CS educational game levels but also synthesizes a large set of diverse game levels. The findings suggest that the ASP-based PCG approach has considerable promise for creating highly engaging and adaptive game-based learning experiences for K-12 CS education.
Brief Report: HIV Testing and Risk Among Justice-Involved Youth

Justice-involved youth have a number of risk factors for HIV infection, including high rates of substance use, psychiatric comorbidities, and risky sexual behaviors. Although detained youth are likely to receive health care-which may include HIV testing-court-involved, non-incarcerated (CINI) youth may be unlikely to receive HIV testing services either before or during their justice involvement. However, the relationship between risk factors and HIV testing among CINI youth is largely unknown. We explored the association between HIV testing and factors commonly associated with both HIV testing and HIV risk among 173 CINI youth with identified behaviors that put them at risk for HIV acquisition. Only 15.6% of participants reported a lifetime history of HIV testing, despite high rates of sexual and substance use risk behaviors. Age (older), gender (female), sexual orientation (non-heterosexual), recent marijuana use, lifetime use of other drugs, history of a sexually transmitted infection, pap smear in the past year and history of mental health/substance use treatment were all significantly associated with lifetime HIV testing. The extremely low testing rates in this sample emphasize that the juvenile justice system outside of detention is not adequately addressing youths' needs related to HIV testing or ensuring access to testing services for youth at risk of contracting HIV. Results suggest that additional efforts are needed to connect justice-involved youth to healthcare more broadly and HIV testing in particular.
Automated Individual Decisions to Disclose Personal Data: Why GDPR Article 22 Should Not Apply

"The data subject shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her." This opening paragraph of Article 22 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) describes the types of automated decision-making that are subject to special restrictions and requirements under the GDPR. But despite incorporating principles that already existed in European data protection law, and despite guidance having been published by European data protection authorities, Article 22 continues to be a source of great uncertainty. Organizations of all types are increasingly adopting the tools of machine learning and artificial intelligence in a variety of applications. Such organizations must determine when and how the Article 22 restrictions on automated decision-making apply. Depending on whether Article 22 applies broadly or narrowly will have dramatic impacts on a wide range of organizations. Overly broad interpretations will likely result in less efficient and more costly operations and could lead to less accurate and reliable decision-making. A narrower interpretation, on the other hand, will apply the unique protections afforded by Article 22 to the type of decision-making for which those protections will be meaningful, while other types of decision-making continue to be subject to the full range of protections that other provisions of the GDPR afford. This paper will provide an overview of Article 22 and will examine several considerations that are important for determining its scope. It will argue that the scope of automated decision-making regulated by Article 22 is quite narrow, limited to those solely automated decisions where a legal or similarly significant effect is an inherent and direct result of the decision and where human intervention could be helpful and meaningful in protecting individual rights. It will then use those considerations and conclusions to discuss one type of automated decision-making to determine whether it should be regulated by Article 22. Specifically, it will ask whether an automated decision to disclose personal data to a third party is subject to Article 22. This paper will demonstrate that in most cases, if not virtually every case, automated decisions to disclose personal data are not of the type contemplated by, or appropriate for, the application of Article 22. While acknowledging that any decision to disclose personal data raises significant privacy and data protection concerns, this paper will argue that other protections afforded by the GDPR are better to suited address those concerns and safeguard individual rights. Thus, this paper will conclude that, as a general matter, Article 22 should be interpreted to exclude such automated decisions.
Differential sialic acid content in adult and neonatal fibrinogen mediates differences in clot polymerization dynamics.

Neonates possess a molecular variant of fibrinogen, known as fetal fibrinogen, characterized by increased sialic acid, a greater negative charge, and decreased activity compared to adults. Despite these differences, adult fibrinogen is used for treatment of bleeding in neonates, with mixed efficacy. In order to determine safe and efficacious bleeding protocols for neonates, more information on neonatal fibrin clot formation and the influence of sialic acid on these processes is needed. Here, we examine the influence of sialic acid on neonatal fibrin polymerization. We hypothesized that the increased sialic acid content of neonatal fibrinogen promotes fibrin B:b knob hole interactions and consequently influences the structure and function of the neonatal fibrin matrix. We explored this hypothesis through analysis of structural properties and knob:hole polymerization dynamics of normal and desialylated neonatal fibrin networks and compare to those formed with adult fibrinogen. We then characterized normal neonatal fibrin knob:hole interactions by forming neonatal and adult clots with either thrombin or snake-venom thrombin like enzymes (SVTLEs) that preferentially cleave fibrinopeptide A or B. We determined that sialic acid content of neonatal fibrinogen is a key determinant of resulting clot properties. Experiments analyzing knob:hole dynamics indicated typical neonatal fibrin clots are formed with the release of more fibrinopeptide B and less fibrinopeptide A than adults. After the removal of sialic acid, fibrinopeptide release was roughly equivalent between adults and neonates indicating the influence of sialic acid on fibrin neonatal fibrin polymerization mechanisms. These results could inform future studies developing neonatal specific treatments of bleeding.
Using Aripiprazole to Benefit People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Critical Appraisal

Aripiprazole (Abilify) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating irritability associated with autism in young people and is widely used for that purpose. Our objectives were to summarize the conclusions of other authors who reviewed the effects of aripiprazole in people with autism spectrum disorder, to analyze critically the findings of studies that examined the behavioral effects of aripiprazole in this population, and to draw conclusions concerning what research has revealed and what future research should examine. We examined review and research articles revealed by a search of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Twelve review articles and 14 research articles met our criteria for inclusion. Those articles provided clear evidence that aripiprazole reduces “irritability” as indexed by the Irritability subscale of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and related measures, but the drug’s behavioral effects have not been examined adequately and the variables that modulate its effects are unknown. The drug sometimes produces serious adverse effects. Aripiprazole can be useful in the short-term management of challenging behavior in young people with autism spectrum disorder, but too little is known about the drug’s behavioral effects to maximize its value. Further research, with better measures of behavior and greater attention to potential modulators of drug action, is needed.
High electrical conductivity and breakdown current density of individual monolayer Ti3C2Tx MXene flakes

Summary As the scaling down of integrated circuits continues, there is a growing interest in electrically conductive materials with high current-carrying capacity for next-generation on-chip interconnects. Here, we report very high breakdown current density in Ti3C2Tx MXene, an emerging two-dimensional material. We performed electrical measurements of individual high-quality monolayer Ti3C2Tx flakes, which were prepared by an improved synthesis method, and found that they exhibit electrical conductivities of up to 11,000 S cm−1 and field-effect electron mobilities of up to 6 cm2 V−1 s−1, both representing the best values reported for Ti3C2Tx flakes so far. All flakes exhibited very similar breakdown current densities of about 1.2 × 108 A cm−2, which are comparable with the best two-dimensional materials, including graphene. The remarkable combination of high electrical conductivity and high current-carrying capacity makes Ti3C2Tx promising for nanometer-thin interconnects and warrants investigation of breakdown current densities of other materials from the large MXene family.
Novel antimicrobial ointment for infected wound healing in an in vitro and in vivo porcine model

Microbial contamination of wounds is a significant problem that delays healing, particularly when bacterial biofilms are present. A novel combination of pectinic acid (PG) + caprylic acid (CAP) was previously found in vitro to be highly effective in eradicating various pathogens in biofilms with minimal cytotoxicity. In this study, a novel wound ointment was formulated with PG + CAP and first assessed in vitro using a well-established biofilm eradication model. In vitro, the PG + CAP ointment was shown to be efficacious in reducing the microbial biofilms. This ointment was then tested in vivo in two pilot porcine wound healing models, with and without Staphylococcus aureus microbial challenge. Ointments were applied to each wound daily, and healing by wound closure area measurement was assessed weekly over 4 weeks. After 4 weeks, pigs were sacrificed and wounds were scored for reepithelialization, inflammation, granulation tissue, and collagen deposition. We compared PG + CAP to hydroxyethylcellulose + glycerol ointment base (control) and MediHoney (comparator). In the porcine microbial challenge model, the novel antimicrobial PG + CAP wound ointment rapidly eradicated bacterial organisms embedded in wounds, was safe and well-tolerated, and was associated with enhanced healing compared to ointment base and MediHoney. Specifically, the cumulative histopathology, reepithelialization of epidermis, and mature granulation tissue in the wound bed was significantly better with PG + CAP than with control and MediHoney treatments. This ointment warrants further study as a non-antibiotic ointment for use in treating a wide array of infected wounds.
Alcohol use and dysglycemia among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Alcohol & Metabolic Comorbidities in PLWH: Evidence Driven Interventions (ALIVE-Ex) study.

BACKGROUND At-risk alcohol use is a common and costly form of substance misuse that is highly prevalent among people living with HIV (PLWH). The goal of the current analysis was to test the hypothesis that PLWH with at-risk alcohol use are more likely to meet the clinical criteria for prediabetes/diabetes than PLWH with low-risk alcohol use. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis was performed on measures of alcohol and glycemic control in adult PLWH (n = 105) enrolled in a prospective, interventional study (the ALIVE-Ex Study (NCT03299205)) that investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on metabolic dysregulation in PLWH with at-risk alcohol use. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Timeline Followback, and phosphatidylethanol (PEth) level were used to measure alcohol use. Participants were stratified into low-risk (AUDIT score < 5) and at-risk alcohol use (AUDIT score ≥ 5). All participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test and measures of glycemic control- the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Matsuda Index - were correlated with alcohol measures and compared by AUDIT score group using mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for age, sex, race, body mass index (BMI), and viral load. RESULTS In response to the glucose challenge, participants with at-risk alcohol use (n = 46) had higher glucose levels and were five times more likely to meet criteria for prediabetes/diabetes (OR: 5.3 (1.8, 15.9)) than participants with an AUDIT score < 5. Two-hour glucose values were positively associated with AUDIT score and PEth level and a higher percentage of PLWH with at-risk alcohol use had glucose values ≥140 mg/dl than those with low-risk alcohol use (34.8% vs. 10.2%, respectively). CONCLUSION In this cohort of PLWH, at-risk alcohol use increased the likelihood of meeting the clinical criteria for prediabetes/diabetes (2-h glucose level ≥140 mg/dl). Established determinants of metabolic dysfunction (e.g., BMI, waist-hip ratio) were not associated with greater alcohol use and dysglycemia, suggesting that other mechanisms may contribute to the impaired glycemic control observed in this cohort.
Revenge of the Retaliatory Takedown: Let's Plays, Fair Use, and an Unstable DMCA

“Let’s Plays” are an internet sensation whereby content creators record themselves while playing video games and providing entertaining commentary. These recordings are subsequently posted to the internet via video sharing platforms such as YouTube, cumulating millions of views and generating thousands of dollars in advertising revenue shared among content creators and YouTube alike. While the DMCA (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and its corresponding takedown procedure is in place to control the use and distribution of copyrighted work on the internet (including the video games that these content creators utilize in Let’s Plays), how does the Act clash with the a new generation of creativity on the internet? This Note explores lingering questions related to these issues by analyzing real-world examples of rightful (and wrongful) DMCA takedowns in the context of Let’s Plays, including the takedown of PewDiePie’s Firewatch Let’s Play and the events surrounding musician Alex Mauer’s DMCA takedown abuse. Furthermore, this Note examines the scope of the prominently referenced defense to copyright infringement in the scope of Let’s Plays — the fair use doctrine — and the limits of that defense. Finally, this Note concludes with the notion that, as written and executed, the DMCA fails to live up to its intended purpose: to support creators in the modern era.
Law Firm Prestige and Performance in IPOs: Underwriters' Counsel as Gatekeeper or Turnstile

We investigate the relationship between pricing in an initial public offering (IPO) and the prestige of the participating underwriters' law firm. We hypothesize law firm quality affects how law firms perform their obligations in IPOs - more prestigious law firms acting more independently. Consistent with this hypothesis, controlling for endogeneity of choice of underwriters' counsel, we find a negative relationship between pre-IPO price adjustment and the participation of prestigious underwriters' counsel. We also find a negative relationship between the participation of prestigious underwriters' counsel and initial return, which is consistent with market trading reflecting the decreased risk associated with offerings involving prestigious underwriters' counsel. Lastly, we find certain observable characteristics indicating diminished likelihood of undisclosed negative information (venture backing and quality of the issuer's counsel) are associated with an increased likelihood use of prestigious underwriters' counsel.
A two-temperature statistical model for particle production at high energies

With the assumption of two characteristic temperatures, one associated with the transverse momentum distribution, the other with the longitudinal, the differential cross-section, d2 N/dpdΩ, is calculated from the relativistic quantum statistical mechanical number density. Good agreement with experimental data for pions, kaons and antiprotons is obtained by the fitting ofT 0, the transverse temperature,T, the longitudinal temperature, andV 0, the interaction volume. The model is related to a simple physical interpretation.
Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Confining Materials 3 Deuterium NMR of Confined Liquid Crystals 4 Probing Nematic Director Configurations 5 Detection of Surface Ordering 6 Summary 7 Biographical Sketches Related Article
Gamma Ray Induced Low Temperature in Situ Polymerization of Vinyl Chloride and Copolymfrization of Vinyl Chloride‐Vinyl Acetate in Taiwan‐Produced Woods

Gamma radiation induced polymerization of vinyl chloride (VC) and copolymerization of vinyl chloride (VC)-vinyl acetate (VAc) in Taiwan cedars have been investigated at low temperatures. The polymerization-rate of VC and the copolymerization-rate of VC-VAc system in wood were found to be proportional to the n powers of the dose-rate, where n became close to the value of 1 as the polymerization temperature being lowered below 0°C. The oxygen in air was recognized to induce the delay of the induction period due to its retardation on the polymerization. The apparent activation energies of VC and VC-VAc for the polymerization and the copolymerization in wood were determined by use of the Arrhenius plotting as 4.0 Kcal/mole and 3.4 Kcal/mole respectively at the temperature-range of —15°C∼20°C. The degree of polymerization of VC was greatly affected by the polymerization temperature, although it was observed to be independent on the total gamma dose within 1 Mrad and the kinds of wood. No graft reaction of PVC polymer and PVC-PVAc copolymer onto the wood cellulose was found, while low graft percentage of about 3% being obtained at 20° C in the case of using swelling agents. However, this value was found to be decreased to 0.1% at the temperature of —15°C. Based on the above-mentioned experimental results, the radiation induced low temperature polymerization of VC or copolymerization of VC-VAc system in Taiwan produced cedars are considered to proceed with radical polymerization mechanism.
ALPHA‐1 ANTITRYPSIN DEFICIENCY IN A PATIENT WITH WIDESPREAD PRURIGO NODULARIS

SUMMARY Skin lesions associated with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency are becoming better defined and understood. Deficiency in this major antiproteinase, which neutralizes multiple proteolytic enzymes ranging from collagenases and elastases to trypsin and chymotrypsin, thus results in significant tissue autodigestion. This anti-proteinase is secreted by activated lymphocytes and macrophages, suggesting the existence of homeostasis which titrates the release of proteolytic enzymes by these cells, and the adequate neutralization of these proteases in order to prevent excessive tissue autodigestion each time these inflammatory cells are activated. We report a patient with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency who, following insect bites and cellulitis developed widespread itching and scratching, leading to widespread lesions of prurigo nodularis. The colonization of his multiple skin lesions with Staphylococcus aureus and the release of potent T cell mitogens, such as Protein A and enterotoxin A from the bacterial cell membrane may have resulted in the release of additional proteolytic enzymes by the activated lymphocytes and macrophages, without the concomitant secretion of alpha1-antitrypsin with subsequent aggravation of his pruritus. These concepts are supported by electron microscopic evidence of excessive tissue autodigestion, and by immunocytochemical data identifying the presence of T helper and T cytotoxic/suppressor lymphocytes as well as macrophages within the upper dermis.
A Study of Undergraduate Education in Chemistry by the Delphi Technique.

Conclusions drawn from a series of questionnaires submitted to a national panel of chemistry department faculty regarding the nature of undergraduate chemistry.
Purification and characterization of a low-molecular-weight acid phosphatase--a phosphotyrosyl-protein phosphatase from bovine heart.

Abstract A low-molecular-weight acid phosphatase that is representative of a group recently shown to be phosphotyrosyl protein phosphatases was purified to homogeneity from bovine heart. The enzyme was a monomer with a molecular mass of 18 kDa and had an isoelectric point of 7.0. The absorption coefficient, E1cm1% was 9.65 at 280 nm. The enzyme had pH optima of 5.3 and 6.0 with the substrates p-nitrophenyl phosphate and tyrosine phosphate, respectively. When measured at pH 5 and 37 °C, the enzyme had specific activities of 114 and 86 μmol min−1 mg−1 for p-nitrophenyl phosphate and tyrosine O-phosphate, respectively, while the Km values were 0.38 and 14 m m . The enzyme was highly specific for aryl monophosphate esters and showed little or no activity toward aliphatic phosphate esters, with the remarkable exception of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and certain of its structural analogs. As shown by 31P NMR data, the activity toward FMN was due to the hydrolysis of one of the eight components present in the (commercial) sample. Both molybdate and vanadate were potent inhibitors, with inhibition constants of 37 and 29 μ m , respectively; tartrate and fluoride had little effect on enzymatic activity. A two-stage reversible denaturation of the enzyme by guanidine HCl was observed with midpoints of 0.25 and 1.75 m , respectively. The amino acid composition was homologous to the lowmolecular-weight acid phosphatases from other tissue. The enzyme showed immunological cross-reactivity against low-molecular-weight human liver acid phosphatase. There were 7 or 8 accessible cysteines on the monomeric protein and at least one was essential for enzyme activity. The enzyme also had phosphotransferase activity, for example transferring phosphate from p-nitrophenyl phosphate to a wide variety of alcohol acceptors.
A high performance phase change memory with fast switching speed and high temperature retention by engineering the Ge x Sb y Te z phase change material

Phase change memory has long suffered from conflicting material properties between switching speed and thermal stability. This study explores the engineering of GeSbTe ternary alloys along an isoelectronic tie line and the Ge/Sb 2 Te 3 tie line with the hope of finding a high performance material. Our efforts resulted in a new material that considerably outperforms the conventional GST-225. The switching speed is similar to undoped GST-225, with ∼ 30% lower reset current, and nearly 100°C higher T x , thus much better thermal stability. The promising properties of this new material are demonstrated in a 128Mb chip and tested both at wafer level and as packaged dies. These devices showed 1E8 cycling endurance and withstood 190 °C testing.
Effect of image uncertainty on the dosimetry of trigeminal neuralgia irradiation

Objective: Our objective was to quantify the uncertainty in localization of the trigeminal nerve (TGN) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) and to determine the effect of this uncertainty on gamma-knife dose delivery. Methods: An MR/CT test phantom with 9, 0.6-mm diameter, copper rings was devised. The absolute ring positions in stereotactic space were determined by the angiographic module of the LGP software. The standard deviation, σ, in the difference between the absolute and MR-measured or CT-measured coordinates of the rings was determined. The trigeminal nerve in 52 previously treated patients was contoured and expanded by 1σ and 2σ margins to model the uncertainty in the location of the nerve. For gamma-knife treatment, a single isocenter was used and was located at the distal cisternal portion of the trigeminal nerve root. Irradiation methods included a 4-mm collimator, 90 Gy to isocenter and a 4&8-mm collimator, 70 Gy to isocenter. A patient outcome survey that sampled pain relief and morbidity was done. Results: The MR coordinate σ was 0.7 mm left-right, 0.8 mm anterior-posterior, and 0.6 mm superior-inferior, and the CT coordinate σ was 0.4 mm left-right, 0.2 mm anterior-posterior, and 0.2 mm superior-inferior. A 45% higher dose line covered the TGN with the 4&8-mm method. No significant increase in pain reduction or morbidity occurred. Conclusions: The uncertainty of target location by MRI is more than twice that found in CT imaging. The 4&8-mm collimator method covers the trigeminal root cross section with a higher isodose line than does the 4-mm method. This higher dose did not significantly reduce pain or increase morbidity.
Deconstructing Galbraith: A Geostatistical Analysis of Cartographic Intent

This study uses cartometric techniques to reveal cartographic design considerations operative in Frank H. Galbraith’s 1897 railway mail service training maps. Galbraith’s maps make extensive use of humorous cartouches intended to serve as mnemonic devices for learning railway mail service routes. Poisson and quadrat point pattern analyses are performed on all eight maps in the series to determine whether the mimetic symbols are clustered along the railway mail routes or dispersed throughout the mapped spaces to achieve better graphic balance. Evidence overwhelmingly indicates that the placement of the mnemonic symbols was primarily driven by design considerations. The study therefore proves that it is possible to use cartometric techniques to deconstruct the map document to determine the cartographic design principles operative during the map's construction.
Terrorism Research: The Record

Looking back at the beginnings of academic research on terrorism just over 40 years ago, it is extraordinary to see that what was once a marginal subject for social science has developed into a ful...
Effect of Interface Structure on Mechanical Properties of Advanced Composite Materials

This paper deals with the effect of interface structures on the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced composite materials. First, the background of research, development and applications on hybrid composite materials is introduced. Second, metal/polymer composite bonded structures are discussed. Then, the rationale is given for nanostructuring the interface in composite materials and structures by introducing nanoscale features such as nanopores and nanofibers. The effects of modifying matrices and nano-architecturing interfaces on the mechanical properties of nanocomposite materials are examined. A nonlinear damage model for characterizing the deformation behavior of polymeric nanocomposites is presented and the application of this model to carbon nanotube-reinforced and reactive graphite nanotube-reinforced epoxy composite materials is shown.