cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of HCI in Cross-Sector Research on Grand Challenges

Cross-sector or collaborative research between government, academia, industry, and public stakeholders is essential to find innovative solutions to 21st century grand challenges. The proliferation of cyberinfrastructure and cyber physical systems will play critical roles in managing information and large scale human machine systems. While available data, processing power, and model complexities grow at an accelerating rate, the information processing capacity of human cognition does not. Human computer interaction research is needed to bridge this gap and enable the development, operation, and analytics of emerging, integrated, large-scale, multi-user, realtime systems.
Effect of dietary sodium bicarbonate on leg structure in Duroc swine that differ genetically for leg weakness.

Two trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary replacement of .30% sodium chloride (NaCl) with a sodium-equivalent amount of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) on leg weakness in swine. Three lines of Duroc swine established by six generations of divergent selection for front leg structure were used. In the first trial, a total of 80 low-line (increased leg weakness), 75 high-line (decreased leg weakness), 80 control-line (intermediate leg weakness) and 80 high x low pigs were used. Pigs were assigned within litter to an experimental or control diet and tested from approximately 37 to 104 kg live weight. The experimental diet contained .43% NaHCO3, replacing .30% NaCl in the control diet. Pigs had ad libitum access to feed. In the second trial, 48 high- and 48 low-line pigs were fed the same diets from 29 to 104 kg. At the completion of each trial, pigs were scored for various leg traits. The model used for statistical analyses included the effects of replicate, genetic line, dietary treatment and the dietary treatment x genetic line interaction. Trials were analyzed separately. Results indicated that there was no significant improvement in clinical signs of leg weakness due to dietary supplementation with NaHCO3 for front leg structure and movement, rear leg movement or rear toe size. Rear hock angle was improved in Trial 1 (P less than .05) but was reduced in Trial 2 (P less than .10).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Protein Chemical Modification Inside Living Cells Using Split Inteins

Methods to visualize, track, measure, and perturb or activate proteins in living cells are central to biomedical efforts to characterize and understand the spatial and temporal underpinnings of life inside cells. Although fluorescent proteins have proven to be extremely useful for in vivo studies of protein function, their utility is inherently limited because their spectral and structural characteristics are interdependent. These limitations have spurred the creation of alternative approaches for the chemical labeling of proteins. We describe in this protocol the use of fluorescence resonance emission transfer (FRET)-quenched DnaE split-inteins for the site-specific labeling and concomitant fluorescence activation of proteins in living cells. We have successfully employed this approach for the site-specific in-cell labeling of the DNA binding domain (DBD) of the transcription factor YY1 using several human cell lines. Moreover, we have shown that this approach can be also used for modifying proteins in order to control their cellular localization and potentially alter their biological activity.
Attenuated nicotine-like effects of varenicline but not other nicotinic ACh receptor agonists in monkeys receiving nicotine daily.

Background and Purpose Chronic treatment can differentially impact the effects of pharmacologically related drugs that differ in receptor selectivity and efficacy. Experimental Approach The impact of daily nicotine treatment on the effects of nAChR agonists was examined in two groups of rhesus monkeys discriminating nicotine (1.78 mg•kg-1 base weight) from saline. One group received additional nicotine treatment post-session (1.78 mg•kg-1 administered 5 times daily, each dose 2 h apart; i.e., Daily group) and the second group did not (i.e., Intermittent group). Key Results Daily nicotine yielded 5,128 and 15,320 ng of cotinine per ml saliva before the first and last daily dose, respectively. The ED50 values of the nicotine discriminative stimulus were 0.67 mg•kg-1 in the Daily group and 0.40 mg•kg-1 in the Intermittent group. Mecamylamine (1 mg•kg-1) antagonized nicotine, whereas dihydro-β-erythroidine (3.2 mg•kg-1) did not. Midazolam produced 0% nicotine-lever responding. The nAChR agonists epibatidine, RTI-36, cytisine, and varenicline produced >96% nicotine-lever responding in the Intermittent group. The respective maximum effects in the Daily group were 100%, 72%, 59%, and 28%. The potency of varenicline was selectively decreased in the Daily as compared with the Intermittent group. When combined with nicotine, both varenicline (3.2 mg•kg-1) and cytisine (32 mg•kg-1) increased the potency of nicotine to produce discriminative stimulus effects. Conclusion and Implications Nicotine treatment has greater impact on sensitivity to the effects of varenicline as compared with some other nAChR agonists. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that varenicline differs from nicotine in selectivity for multiple nAChR subtypes.
Case Study: Performance and Ensiling Characteristics of Tall-Growing Soybean Lines Used for Silage1

ABSTRACT Seven tall-growing soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) lines, including the cultivars Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone plus the experimental lines OR 5-12-1T, OR 13-12-3, OR 19-12-2, and PA 5-2-1, were harvested, ensiled, and tested for nutritive quality to evaluate the potential of these lines as silage crops. Tall-growing (or forage) soybeans were compared with a grain-type Group V soybean (Hutcheson) and forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) (Pioneer 838 F). Lines were replicated four times at sites near Fayetteville and Rohwer, Arkansas in 1995 and 1996, harvested at full seed (soybean growth stage R-6), and ensiled for 33 d. Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone produced average DM yields for both years of 5,216, 7,118, and 6,900 kg/ha at Fayetteville and 6,738, 6,398, and 6,300 kg/ha at Rohwer, respectively. The tallest entries grown in Fayetteville were Tyrone and OR 13-12-3; Derry was tallest at Rohwer. Average concentrations of NDF, ADF, CP, and IVDMD in silage from Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone were 41.8, 43.9, and 43.1%; 33.0, 33.6, and 33.2%; 12.6, 14.2, and 14.0%; and 70.4, 72.1, and 70.6%, respectively, at Fayetteville and 47.4, 49.0, and 43.1%; 33.9, 37.0, and 31.3%; 13.8, 16.0, and 13.7%; and 63.0, 66.8, and 62.5%, respectively, at Rohwer when averaged over both years. Silage for all lines was well preserved as indicated by the low final pH and a high lactic acid concentration. Of the forage soybean lines tested, PA-5-2-1 and Donegal had consistently higher nutritive values at both locations for 2 consecutive yr.
Review of API 650 Annex E: Design of large steel welded aboveground storage tanks excited by seismic loads

Abstract API 650's Annex E, which is an American Standard for designing aboveground steel storage tanks subjected to seismic loads, is reviewed by comparing the design provisions in Annex E with other well-known design documents around the world, including that of New Zealand and Japan. Several limit states such as hydrodynamic hoop stress, uplift, base plate stress, buckling, freeboard, and two stability mechanisms, shear and overturning are investigated. The design provisions for each of the documents were compared for identical tank geometries and seismic parameters for several different tank aspect ratios. The results show that API 650 is slightly under conservative in each of the material failure mechanisms compared to the New Zealand and Japanese design philosophies. The small disparity in results could be due to the fact that the approach in Annex E of API 650 is for tanks of rigid walls and a rigid foundation, whereas the New Zealand and Japanese documents consider tank and foundation flexibility. Despite some marginal differences, API 650 Annex E can be considered to adequately account for all the major failure states when compared to New Zealand and Japanese design documents for design purposes.
An Approach to Mine Business Rule Intents from Domain-specific Documents

An enterprise system enables business by providing various services that are guided by set of well-defined processes, and adhere to certain business rules and constraints. The business rules are usually written using English in operating procedures, terms and conditions, and various other supporting documents. For implementing the business rules in a software system, or expressing them as UML use-case specifications, analysts manually interpret the documents, leading to potential discrepancies, ambiguities, and quality issues in the software system that can be resolved only after testing.To minimize such errors, we propose a novel method to mine the documents automatically to extract the fundamental atomic facts in every sentence - called as business rule intents. We adopt dependency tree parser to parse the rule sentences and extract rule intents from them. Our experiments using few publicly available sample documents in the financial domain yielded very promising results, where rule intents extraction produced an average precision of 78% and recall of 80%.
Hermeneutics, Place, and the Environment

Environmental Philosophy frequently speaks of The Environment and does so in terms that indicate a unified and singular object that is in crisis. But, what is the environment really, and what is its relationship to the places of our lives? By portraying the environment, nature, or the world as being independent of human culture, the natural sciences have a tendency to reify nature and separate it from its cultural and historical dimensions. Such a separation affects the ways in which we consider responding to any kind of environmental concerns and frequently undermines local positions that might be worth preserving or at least seriously engaging. By drawing upon the work of Edmund Husserl and Hans-Georg Gadamer, I will explore what we mean by environment with an eye to suggesting an approach that does not view the environment as a unified and singular object, but that recognizes the role of the subject in the environment, the role of the environment in the subject, and the relationship between the two that calls for hermeneutics.
Methods for the specification and validation of geolocation accuracy and predicted accuracy

The specification of geolocation accuracy requirements and their validation is essential for the proper performance of a Geolocation System and for trust in resultant three dimensional (3d) geolocations. This is also true for predicted accuracy requirements and their validation for a Geolocation System, which assumes that each geolocation produced (extracted) by the system is accompanied by an error covariance matrix that characterizes its specific predicted accuracy. The extracted geolocation and its error covariance matrix are standard outputs of (near) optimal estimators, either associated (internally) with the Geolocation System itself, or with a “downstream” application that inputs a subset of Geolocation System output, such as sensor data/metadata: for example, a set of images and corresponding metadata of the imaging sensor’s pose and its predicted accuracy. This output allows for subsequent (near) optimal extraction of geolocations and associated error covariance matrices based on the application’s measurements of pixel locations in the images corresponding to objects of interest. This paper presents recommended methods and detailed equations for the specification and validation of both accuracy and predicted accuracy requirements for a general Geolocation System. The specification/validation of accuracy requirements are independent from the specification/validation of predicted accuracy requirements. The methods presented in this paper are theoretically rigorous yet practical.
Outage and spectral efficiency study in cooperative wireless heterogeneous networks

Heterogeneous cellular network has become an important network architecture to improve network spectral efficiency. This paper works on a theoretical framework for analyzing outage probability and spectral efficiency in a two-tier heterogeneous network with joint processing cooperation. The heterogeneous network consists of high power nodes (HPNs) and low power nodes (LPNs). A range expansion association scheme is used to extend the coverage range of LPNs and to help achieve load balancing. Cooperation is applied to LPN cell edge users that are subject to strong interference from HPNs. Joint processing cooperation is formed between the serving LPN and nearest HPN and data is transmitted to the user simultaneously from these two cooperative nodes by taking radio resources from both. Study shows that cooperation can greatly improve LPN cell edge outage performance. When range expansion area increases, the average per user spectral efficiency of the whole system with cooperation remains steady while the average per user spectral efficiency without cooperation decreases.
The UMP Exact Test and the Confidence Interval for Person Parameters in IRT Models

In educational and psychological measurement when short test forms are used, the asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator of the person parameter of item response models does not hold. As a result, hypothesis tests or confidence intervals of the person parameter based on the normal distribution are likely to be problematic. Inferences based on the exact distribution, on the other hand, do not suffer from this limitation. However, the computation involved for the exact distribution approach is often prohibitively expensive. In this paper, we propose a general framework for constructing hypothesis tests and confidence intervals for IRT models within the exponential family based on exact distribution. In addition, an efficient branch and bound algorithm for calculating the exact p value is introduced. The type-I error rate and statistical power of the proposed exact test as well as the coverage rate and the lengths of the associated confidence interval are examined through a simulation. We also demonstrate its practical use by analyzing three real data sets.
Computer solution of calculus word problems

A program was written to solve calculus word problems. The program, CARPS (CAlculus Rate Problem Solver), is restricted to rate problems. The overall plan of the program is similar to Bobrow's STUDENT, the primary difference being the introduction of "structures" as the internal model in CARPS. Structures are stored internally as trees, each structure holding the information gathered about one object. It was found that the use of structures made CARPS more powerful than STUDENT in several respects. 1) CARPS is better able to recognize that two phrases describe the same object. (e.g., CONICAL PILE and PILE OF SAND) 2) Information about an object can be gathered in piecemeal fashion. In calculus word problems it is not uncommon to have two or three sentences providing information for one equation. 3) CARPS to a limited degree is able to use its knowledge to parse its input sentences. For example, in a problem about a filter, ALTITUDE was interpreted as ALTITUDE OF THE FILTER because CARPS knew that since the filter was a cone and cones have altitudes the filter had an altitude. The program has solved 14 calculus problems, most taken (sometimes with slight modifications) from standard calculus texts.
One flexible loop in OST lassos both substrates.

The crystal structure of an oligosaccharyltransferase in complex with a sugar donor and an acceptor peptide provides insight into the mechanism of protein glycosylation and reveals how lipid-linked oligosaccharides are positioned in the enzyme active site.
Cache-Oblivious Buffer Heap and Cache-Efficient Computation of Shortest Paths in Graphs

We present the buffer heap, a cache-oblivious priority queue that supports Delete-Min, Delete, and a hybrid Insert/Decrease-Key operation in O(1/B log2 N/M) amortized block transfers from main memory, where M and B are the (unknown) cache size and block size, respectively, and N is the number of elements in the queue. We introduce the notion of a slim data structure that captures the situation when only a limited portion of the cache, which we call a slim cache, is available to the data structure to retain data between data structural operations. We show that a buffer heap automatically adapts to such an environment and supports all operations in O(1/λ + 1/B log2 N/λ) amortized block transfers each when the size of the slim cache is λ. Our results provide substantial improvements over known trivial cache performance bounds for cache-oblivious priority queues with Decrease-Keys. Using the buffer heap, we present cache-oblivious implementations of Dijkstra’s algorithm for undirected and directed single-source shortest path (SSSP) problems for graphs with non-negative real edge-weights. On a graph with n vertices and m edges, our algorithm for the undirected case performs O(n + m/B log2 n/M) block transfers and for the directed case performs O((n + m/B) c log2 n/B) block transfers. These results give the first non-trivial cache-oblivious bounds for the SSSP problem on general graphs. For the all-pairs shortest path (APSP) problem on weighted undirected graphs, we incorporate slim buffer heaps into multi-buffer-buffer-heaps and use these to improve the cache-aware cache complexity. We also present a simple cache-oblivious APSP algorithm for unweighted undirected graphs that performs O(mn/B logM/B n/B) block transfers. This matches the cache-aware bound and is a substantial improvement over the previous cache-oblivious bound for the problem.
Zhu Kezhen Quanji 《竺可桢全集》 (The Complete Works of Coching Chu)

The recent publication of the twenty-four-volume Zhu Kezhen Quanji (hereafter ZKZQJ) is a historians’ dream come true and a milestone for the historical studies of science and society in modern Chi...
Dealing with geometric Variations in manufacturing

Manufacturing processes are inherently imprecise. Therefore, no two manufactured instances of the same object are geometrically identical. Engineers deal with this problem by explicitly accommodating the inevitable geometric variations in their design, and carefully controlling them in production. In mechanical design and manufacturing, such practices have evolved over many centuries and are now receiving the attention of researchers who want to put them on sound mathematical principles. On September 16, 1994 Vijay Srinivasan from IBM Research Center and Columbia University described the historic background of the problem, the evolution of engineering standards, and recent research efforts in dimensional tolerancing and metrology to solve some of the subproblems.
Lee Weights of Codes from Elliptic Curves

In [15], the second author defined algebraic geometric codes over rings. This definition was motivated by two recent trends in coding theory: the study of algebraic geometric codes over finite fields, and the study of codes over rings. In that paper, many of the basic parameters of these new codes were computed. However, the Lee weight, which is very important for codes over the ring ℤ/4ℤ, was not considered. In [14], this weight measure, as well as the more general Euclidean weight for codes over ℤ/p 1ℤ, is considered for algebraic geometric codes arising from elliptic curves. In this paper, we will focus on the specific case of codes over ℤ/4ℤ and we will show how everything works in an explicit example.
Human Papilloma Virus Specific Immunogenicity and Dysfunction of CD8+ T Cells in Head and Neck Cancer.

Human papillomavirus subtype 16 (HPV16) is the primary cause of an increasing number of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), providing strong rationale for T-cell immune therapies against HPV+ HNSCC. Here we assess immunogenicity of HPV16-specific CD8+ T cells (CTL) and characterize HPV-specific mechanisms of T-cell dysfunction. We identified 16 strong and 29 moderately immunogenic CTL-epitopes from HPV16 E2, E6, and E7 antigens restricted by 12 common HLA class I alleles. E2-specific CTL-reactivity was higher in patients with HPV+ HNSCC than in healthy controls (>3-fold; P = 0.026). Patient-derived E2, E6, and E7 peripheral CTLs exhibited heterogeneity in dysfunctional phenotypes. Immunogenomic analyses of 119 HNSCC transcriptomes revealed high T-cell infiltration and dysfunction in HPV+ HNSCC and correlation of HPV antigen expression with T-cell exhaustion gene signatures. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO-1) was strongly expressed in HPV+ HNSCC versus HPV− HNSCC (P = 0.001) and correlated with E7 expression (R2 = 0.84; P = 0.033). Combination treatment with PD-1 blockade and IDO-1 inhibition overcame profound CTL-dysfunction, enhancing HPV+ HNSCC sensitivity to CTL-cytotoxicity in vitro (up to 10-fold in E7-CTLs, P = 0.011). Our findings implicate mechanisms of T-cell escape in HPV+ HNSCC, wherein high tumoral HPV-antigen load results in high expression of immune dysfunction genes on tumor cells (e.g., IDO-1), and dysfunction of HPV-specific CTLs (e.g., E7, E2-CTLs). The HPV16 CTL-epitopes identified in this study, in combination with blockade of HPV+ HNSCC-specific PD-1/IDO-1 checkpoints, may be useful for targeted immunotherapy. Significance: This study evaluates the HPV antigen T-cell immunogenicity role of inhibitory receptors and other exhaustion markers in the cytotoxic function of HPV antigen-specific CTLs and identifies combined inhibition of PD-1/IDO-1 as a strategy to enhance CTL targeting of HPV+ HNSCC. Cancer Res; 78(21); 6159–70. ©2018 AACR.
Joining of elements fabricated by a robotized laser/wire directed energy deposition process by using an autogenous laser welding

A robotized laser/wire directed energy deposition (RLW-DED) process has been employed, specifically in applications where higher deposition rates or larger buildup envelopes are needed. However, this process might have limitations in printing certain complex shape parts. Fabricating parts with overhang sections, depending on the geometry, might cause a collision between the laser head and the buildup. Part segmentation and joining the elements back together has been presented to overcome those limitations. In this study, the welding of additively manufactured parts by RLW-DED has been proposed. Autogenous laser welding, performed at the same setup used for RLW-DED, was utilized to join the thin-walled 316LSi DED parts. Mechanical and microstructural testing were then performed on the welded samples. The results showed that the mechanical properties of welded DED parts are comparable with those of DED parts. Furthermore, a component of complex shape was fabricated to show the capability of the developed process. Therefore, the welding of RLW-DED parts can expand the application of 3D-printed parts in industry.
Generating Functions for Bessel and Related Polynomials

Krall and Frink [4] aroused interest in what they term Bessel polynomials. They studied in some detail what may, in hypergeometric form, be written as
Fully-Passive Wireless Implant for Neuropotential Acquisition: An In Vivo Validation

Implantable systems are often employed to perform continuous high-resolution recordings of neural activity. These systems frequently require invasive procedures when implanting and maintaining effective operation. This causes major interruptions to daily life. Previous work demonstrated an in vitro minimum detectable signal of 15 μ V in amplitude and RF sensitivity down to –135 dBm. This suggests the possibility of detecting diminutive biopotentials in a wireless fully passive manner. Here, for the first time, we validate the wireless neurosensing system through a series of in vivo electrophysiological recordings including both spontaneous cardiac activity and sensory evoked neural activity, with amplitudes ranging from a few microvolts to millivolts and across a spectrum of frequencies. We also present design considerations and the development of probes for neurosensing to accomplish detectability of biopotentials in the tens of microvolts in rats. The developed probes show improved impedance matching with the neurosensing system. Specifically, the new probes showed an impedance several orders of magnitude lower than those commercially available, thereby significantly improving signal detection. Notably, the presented in vivo validation of this technology has great future clinical implications in neuroscience as it offers a wireless and unobtrusive device for neurological research, monitoring, and therapeutic purposes.
The Incarcerated Parent: Examining Mother-Child Conflict at the Margins through a Bio-Ecological Lens

This study examined conflict, parenting communication style, and attitudes regarding the parent-child relationship for a marginalized special population: incarcerated mothers and their children. Br...
Persistent opioid use after radiation therapy in opioid-naive cervical cancer survivors.

Objectives Opioids are first-line therapy for cancer-related pain, but their use should be minimized in disease-free survivors. We sought to describe rates and identify predictors of persistent opioid use among previously opioid-naive cervical cancer survivors treated with radiation. Methods Opioid-naive cervical cancer patients treated primarily with radiation and chemosensitization at a single institution, between January 2011 and December 2015, were identified. Charts were reviewed for demographics, disease, and treatment characteristics, and opioid prescriptions. Primary outcome was persistent opioid use, defined as continued opioid prescription use, 6 months after radiation; patients recurring within 6 months were excluded. Groups were compared using χ2 or Fisher’s exact test. Multivariable logistic regression identified predictors of persistent opioid use. Results A total of 96 patients were included, with a median age of 49 years (range 27–84). Most patients (59%) at diagnosis had International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I or II cervical cancer. The most common histology was squamous cell carcinoma (72%) and most (94.7%) patients received radiation with chemosensitization. Rates of persistent opioid use at 3 and 6 months after treatment were 29% and 25%, respectively. Persistent users were more likely to be Conclusion Our study showed that 25% of patients with cervical cancer were still using opioids 6 months after radiation. History of substance abuse and depression or anxiety, all known risk factors for opioid misuse, were associated with persistent use. The goal in the disease-free survivor population should be opioid independence.
Platelet-Delivered Factor VIII (FVIII) Decreases Thrombus Stability.

FVIII is normally not expressed by developing megakaryocytes. We have previously developed a transgenic mice in whom human B-domainless FVIII (hbdFVIII) was expressed specifically within developing megakaryocytes and stored in α-granules. This platelet (p) FVIII was especially potent in correcting bleeding in a FeCl3 carotid artery injury model. In FVIIInull mice, ~5% pFVIII plasma equivalency was as effective as a >25% plasma correction in normalizing thrombosis in this model. One concern with our observation was whether this enhanced efficacy would lead to an arterial prothrombotic state. We, therefore studied the details of pFVIII-dependent thrombosis using the cremaster arteriole/venule laser injury model, simultaneously monitoring platelet accumulation and fibrin clot growth at the site of injury (>30 injuries per study). Baseline studies in FVIIInull mice show that these mice had a decrease in platelet plug growth to ~50% of WT mice after either arteriole or venule injury. Fibrin accumulation was decreased after arteriole injury to ~20% of WT and was barely detectable after venule injury at ~3% of WT. Time to onset of fibrin clot formation on the arteriole side was delayed from the normal 30 sec to >50 secs and on the venule side from the normal of 40 secs to >60 secs. Stepwise improvement in platelet plug size, and size and time to onset of fibrin clot was seen with increasing amounts of hbdFVIII infusions. pFVIII/FVIIInull mice had decreased platelet plug formation compared to WT mice on both the arterial side (~10% of WT) and venule side (~25%). Fibrin accumulation was similar to the FVIIInull animals after arterial injury, but time to onset of clot was normalized. On the venule side, fibrin accumulation was 2–3 times that of the FVIIInull mice and again time to onset was normalized. Individual films of the pFVIII/FVIIInull suggested that these animals showed more clot instability than WT mice or FVIIInull mice. Indeed, quantitative analysis of downstream embolization showed that the pFVIII/FVIIInull mice had a significant increase in detectable emboli per 3 min study compared to WT mice (7.3 vs. 5.0 arterial and 6.3 vs. 0.5 venule, ns arterial and p
Scalable validation of binary lifters

Validating the correctness of binary lifters is pivotal to gain trust in binary analysis, especially when used in scenarios where correctness is important. Existing approaches focus on validating the correctness of lifting instructions or basic blocks in isolation and do not scale to full programs. In this work, we show that formal translation validation of single instructions for a complex ISA like x86-64 is not only practical, but can be used as a building block for scalable full-program validation. Our work is the first to do translation validation of single instructions on an architecture as extensive as x86-64, uses the most precise formal semantics available, and has the widest coverage in terms of the number of instructions tested for correctness. Next, we develop a novel technique that uses validated instructions to enable program-level validation, without resorting to performance-heavy semantic equivalence checking. Specifically, we compose the validated IR sequences using a tool we develop called Compositional Lifter to create a reference standard. The semantic equivalence check between the reference and the lifter output is then reduced to a graph-isomorphism check through the use of semantic preserving transformations. The translation validation of instructions in isolation revealed 29 new bugs in McSema – a mature open-source lifter from x86-64 to LLVM IR. Towards the validation of full programs, our approach was able to prove the translational correctness of 2254/2348 functions taken from LLVM’s single-source benchmark test-suite.
Mechanical Ventilation of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Patients in the Prehospital Setting.

Abstract Objective Suboptimal ventilation may impact outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study compares the incidence of eucapnia between manually and mechanically ventilated patients with severe TBI during helicopter transport. Methods This retrospective chart review included consecutive intubated adults with severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale score Results Of 1,070 trauma patients intubated and transported, 93 met the inclusion criteria with full data. The mean age was 43 years, 81 of 93 were white, and 70 of 93 were men. The mean Injury Severity Score was 29, and 26 of 93 were mechanically ventilated. Hypocapnia occurred in 4 of 93 and hypercapnia in 56 of 93. There was no difference in the rate of eucapnia in manually ventilated compared with mechanically ventilated patients (36% vs. 35%, P = 1.00). Conclusion Eucapnia at emergency department arrival occurred in 36% of patients and was unaffected by whether ventilation was manually or mechanically controlled. Few patients were hypocapnic, indicating a low incidence of hyperventilation during helicopter transport.
Electronic cigarettes induce mitochondrial DNA damage and trigger toll-like receptor 9-mediated atherosclerosis

Abstract Objective Both electronic cigarette (e-cig) use and toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) activation have been implicated in promoting atherosclerosis. In this study we aimed to investigate the causative relationship of e-cig exposure on TLR9 activation and atherosclerosis development. Approach and Results Eight-week-old ApoE-/- mice fed normal chow diet were exposed to e-cig vapor (ECV) for 2 h/day, 5 days/week for 16 weeks. We found that ECV exposure significantly induced atherosclerotic lesions as examined by Oil Red O staining of aortic root and greatly upregulated TLR9 expression in classical monocytes and in the atherosclerotic plaques, which the latter was corroborated by upregulated TLR9 expression in human femoral artery atherosclerotic plaques in e-cig smokers. Intriguingly, we found a significant increase of damaged mitochondria DNA level in the circulating blood of ECV exposed mice. Furthermore, administration of TLR9 antagonist prior to ECV exposure not only alleviated atherosclerotic lesion and the upregulation of TLR9 in plaques, but also attenuated the increase of plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines, reduced the accumulation of lipid and macrophages, and decreased the frequency of blood CCR2+ classical monocytes. Surprisingly, we found that the cytoplasmic mtDNA isolated from ECV extract-treated cells can greatly enhance the expression of TLR9 in reporter cells. Conclusion E-cig induces mtDNA damage and the mtDNA in circulating blood stimulates the expression of TLR9, which elevate the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in monocyte/macrophage and consequently lead to atherosclerosis. Our results raise the possibility that intervention of TLR9 activation is a potential pharmacologic target of ECV-related inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.
Current-Driven Insulator-To-Metal Transition in Strongly Correlated VO 2

Electric current can induce an ultrafast phase transition in vanadium dioxide that completely changes the material's conductivity, offering potential device applications such as memristors for information technology. This transition is thought to be induced by strong correlation among electrons, not by Joule heating, though the situation remains murky. The authors use phase-field modeling to investigate the possible mechanism of a current-induced nonthermal transition, and construct the temperature-current phase diagram for VO${}_{2}$. They also show that domain walls can be moved by the current. These findings should help to guide the design of VO${}_{2}$-based electronics.
The effect of intensive lifestyle intervention on renal function in patients with diabetes and obesity in real-world practice: A 5-years longitudinal study

Abstract Aim This study was designed to investigate the long-term effects of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) and weight loss (WL) on renal function in patients with DM and obesity in real-world clinical practice. Method We evaluated 104 patients with obesity and type 1 (13.4%) or type 2 DM (86.6%) with a mean age of 53.8 ± 10.0 years and mean diabetes duration of 10.7 ± 9.8 years who enrolled in a 12-week ILI program. We stratified participants according to WL at one year into: group A, maintained ≥7% WL (49.1%) and group B, maintained Results At 5 years, group A had lost, on average, 8.3 ± 11.5 kg (7.5 ± 10.1%, p Conclusion A12 week period of ILI for improves eGFR and serum creatinine for the subsequent 5 years irrespective of maintenance of weight loss, weight regain, or changes in HbA1c and SBP.
Robotic-assisted surgery for bilateral synchronous ovarian teratoma and cystadenoma: A case report

Abstract Reports of different synchronous tumors involving both ovaries are rare, and most fall in the malignant category. This is the case of a 15-year-old female with an unremarkable past medical history who presented with acute onset lower abdominal pain. Imaging studies demonstrated a large complex cystic and solid mass in the midline pelvis. During robotic pelvic mass excision, she was found to have two separate masses, one involving each ovary. The patient underwent successful bilateral ovarian-sparing mass excision. Pathology examination of the specimens revealed mature cystic teratoma of the right ovary and left ovarian serous cystadenoma. We present this case for the uniqueness of the bilateral ovarian pathology as well as to show that robotic-assisted resection of ovarian tumors in certain children is safe and feasible.
Energy-Efficient Ultrasonic Water Level Detection System with Dual-Target Monitoring

This study presents a developed ultrasonic water level detection (UWLD) system with an energy-efficient design and dual-target monitoring. The water level monitoring system with a non-contact sensor is one of the suitable methods since it is not directly exposed to water. In addition, a web-based monitoring system using a cloud computing platform is a well-known technique to provide real-time water level monitoring. However, the long-term stable operation of remotely communicating units is an issue for real-time water level monitoring. Therefore, this paper proposes a UWLD unit using a low-power consumption design for renewable energy harvesting (e.g., solar) by controlling the unit with dual microcontrollers (MCUs) to improve the energy efficiency of the system. In addition, dual targeting to the pavement and streamside is uniquely designed to monitor both the urban inundation and stream overflow. The real-time water level monitoring data obtained from the proposed UWLD system is analyzed with water level changing rate (WLCR) and water level index. The quantified WLCR and water level index with various sampling rates present a different sensitivity to heavy rain.
Hyperbolicity-Preserving and Well-Balanced Stochastic Galerkin Method for Two-Dimensional Shallow Water Equations.

Stochastic Galerkin formulations of the two-dimensional shallow water systems parameterized with random variables may lose hyperbolicity, and hence change the nature of the original model. In this work, we present a hyperbolicity-preserving stochastic Galerkin formulation by carefully selecting the polynomial chaos approximations to the nonlinear terms of $(q^x)^2/h, (q^y)^2/h$, and $(q^xq^y)/h$ in the shallow water equations. We derive a sufficient condition to preserve the hyperbolicity of the stochastic Galerkin system which requires only a finite collection of positivity conditions on the stochastic water height at selected quadrature points in parameter space. Based on our theoretical results for the stochastic Galerkin formulation, we develop a corresponding well-balanced hyperbolicity-preserving central-upwind scheme. We demonstrate the accuracy and the robustness of the new scheme on several challenging numerical tests.
Recombinant Human MG53 Protein Protects Against Alkaline-Induced Corneal Injuries in Mice.

Introduction The current study was designed to test the potential role of recombinant human MG53 (rhMG53) protein on protecting against alkaline-induced corneal injury in mice. Materials and methods A round filter paper with 2-mm diameter was soaked in 1 mol/L of NaOH solution. The mouse alkaline injury was generated by placing the filter paper directly on the cornea for 30 seconds and washed with 30-mL saline; 10 µL of rhMG53 solution (20 µg/mL) or saline control was topically administrated on the mouse corneas (twice per day for 10 days). Re-epithelialization was measured by fluorescein staining and imaged by a slit lamp equipped with a digital camera. Clinical neovascularization and opacity scores were measured every day after injury. Ten days after injury, mice were sacrificed and corneas were dissected out for flat mount staining of CD31 for neovascularization. Results MG53 was present in both dog aqueous humor and human tears. mg53-/- corneas were more susceptible to alkaline-induced corneal injury. Topical treatment of rhMG53 improved re-epithelialization, suppressed neovascularization, and fibrosis induced by alkaline injury. Conclusions rhMG53 may be an effective means to treat corneal wounding.
Protein Blotting By Centrifugation

Centrifuge blotting is an efficient and convenient method for elution and transfer of proteins from a polyacrylamide gel to a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane centrifugation. This chapter provides the method detailed by Jinny Paul in earlier work.
Clinically significant incidental findings discovered on nuclear medicine imaging

1039 Learning Objectives 1. Highlight the importance of reviewing all aspects of the study (to include those regions outside the area of clinical concern). 2. Review several cases of clinically significant incidental findings that may be encountered in clinical practice. 3. Highlight importance of further investigating possible clinically significant findings. As advances in technology result in improved spatial and contrast resolution, the frequency of incidentally detected abnormalities on diagnostic imaging studies likewise increases. This problem has been extensively evaluated in the radiology literature, particularly when dealing with incidental lesions detected in adrenal glands. In response to the clinical dilemma incidentalomas can pose, the American College of Radiology recently formed the Incidental Findings Committee to create management strategies and guidelines for these lesions. Fortunately, many incidental findings are of little clinical importance and not detrimental to the patient’s health. Some incidental findings, however, are of great clinical significance. When recommending further evaluation of these findings, one must consider associated medical costs, radiation exposure from additional radiologic studies, potential complications from invasive procedures, medicolegal issues and overall clinical outcome. In many cases, clinical information from the referring provider is essential in determining further guidance. Although incidentaloma detection is a familiar topic in diagnostic radiology, it is not as ubiquitously discussed in the nuclear medicine literature. This poster was created to demonstrate potential nuclear medicine incidentalomas and highlight the importance of looking at all aspect of the exam, to include those areas outside the region of interest
Isoform‐Selective Probe Substrates for In Vitro Studies of Human UDP‐Glucuronosyltransferases

The majority of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT), like other drug-metabolizing enzymes, display broad and often overlapping substrate specificities, complicating evaluation of the function of individual UGT isoforms within human tissues. Despite this, there have been recent advances in identifying UGT-selective probes--UGT substrates that are primarily glucuronidated by a single isoform. Such probes can be used to (1) facilitate identification of UGT isoforms mediating a particular glucuronidation activity in human liver through activity correlation analysis; (2) evaluate the role of particular UGTs in drug-drug interactions through either enzyme induction or inhibition; and (3) elucidate the functional significance of genetic polymorphisms associated with the gene encoding the UGT of interest. UGT-selective probes currently being used in our laboratory for the evaluation of glucuronidation activities in human liver tissues include estradiol (3OH-glucuronidation; UGT1A1), trifluoperazine (UGT1A4) serotonin (UGT1A6), propofol (UGT1A9), 3'-azidothymidine (UGT2B7), and S-oxazepam (UGT2B15). In vitro incubation protocols and the HPLC analysis methods used to determine each of these activities are described in detail. Future work is needed to elucidate more highly selective probes than those in current usage, as well as probes for the extrahepatic UGT isoforms.
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE VIOLENCE?

BENJAMIN VALENTINO'S masterful book, Final Solutions, explores the process by which governments during the twentieth century managed deliberately to kill masses of people. Most of the lessons that ...
3mil Copper wire bonding capability study in 4um Al top metal by thermosonic bonding

The heavy copper wire with 1.2 to 2mil diameter in thermosonic bonding are already widely used in high power devices at different packages throughout semiconductor industry as part of low cost, better mechanical properties and better electrical performance with lower resistivity. Thus, this capability study intended to evaluate more heavy copper of 3mil diameter by thermosonic bonding in DFN (Dual Flat No-leads) package using Mosfet device. This paper discussed the challenges in development of 3mil copper wire in terms of bondability, workability and reliability with 4μm Al pad thickness. The study consists of machine platform selection with heavy copper wire capability, capillary design and copper wire material type. Technical Risk Assessment was considered for each wire bonding step or cycle process from FAB (Free Air Ball) Formation till 2nd bond (Stitch on lead) thru Wire Tail Cutting sequence. A CTQ (Critical To Quality) requirements for copper bonding were identified as responses for this study such as ball shear test, wire pull test, ball dimension, stitch dimension, cratering test, PMD (Pad Metal Displacement) or Al remain through ball cross section, ball flatness and Ball Shear Strength. Machine stoppages were monitored during evaluation run. The FAB characterization showed the main EFO (Electronic Flame-Off) parameter of EFO Current and EFO Time is significantly higher than existing heavy wire setting in order to achieving the free air ball diameter target. Bonding integrity test were achieved with high ball shear and wirepull test without pad metal damage. In part of robustness test, no cratering or crack on pad was seen in several unit samples and good PMD (pad metal displacement) remain were measured and no underlying metal was collapsed or damage was observed. In this study, 3 evaluation lots and 1 control lot were used and completely passed HTSL, Temperature Cycle, High Humidity High Temperature Reverse Bias; up to extended read points based on standard heavy copper wire reliability requirements. This study results showed that 3mil heavy copper wire with 4 μm and above AL pad thickness could be used for thermosonic bonding in power Mosfet devices for future D/QFN packages of ON semiconductor.
Environmental Attorneys and the Media: Guidelines for Effectiveness

It is often difacult for a public interest advocate to compete with wealthy interests that have vastly greater resources at their disposal and opposing policy preferences. In order to level this playing aeld, advocates can effectively employ media strategies that allow the public to participate in the public policy debate. This public awareness can often be very effective in inouencing the course of the debate and sensitizing policy makers to the competing interests at stake. Accordingly, media tools and goals should be considered at the outset of strategy development, and should inform everything from a project’s title to its budget. Public involvement, made possible through media coverage, can play a pivotal role in inouencing policymaking proceedings in the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government.
Optimistic lookup of whole NFS paths in a single operation

VFS lookup code examines and translates path names one component at a time, checking for special cases such as mount points and symlinks. VFS calls the NFS lookup operation as necessary. NFS employs caching to reduce the number of lookup operations that go to the server. However, when part or all of a path is not cached, NFS lookup operations go back to the server. Although NFS's caching is effective, component-by-component translation of an uncached path is inefficient, enough so that lookup is typically the operation most commonly processed by servers. We study the effect of augmenting the VFS lookup algorithm and the NFS protocol so that a client can ask a server to translate an entire path in a single operation. The preconditions for a successful request are usually but not always satisfied, so the algorithm is optimistic. This small change can deliver substantial improvements in client latency and server load.
Splicing bioinformatics to biology.

A report on the 2nd Symposium on Alternative Transcript Diversity, Heidelberg, Germany, 21-23 March 2006.
The Basics of Financial Econometrics: Tools, Concepts, and Asset Management Applications

Econometrics has traditionally been the application of statistical methods to the building of models for economic policy and forecasting and for the empirical verification of economic theories. Whe...