cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling Ring-Vaccination Strategies to Control Ebola Virus Disease Epidemics

The 2013-15 Ebola epidemic that primarily affected Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia has become the most devastating Ebola epidemic in history [1]. This unprecedented epidemic appears to have stemmed from a single spillover event in South Guinea in December 2013 and rapidly spread to neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea in a matter of weeks. Here we employ a network-based transmission model to evaluate the potential impact of reactive ring-vaccination strategies in the context of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. We model ring-based vaccination strategies that incorporate the radius of contacts that are vaccinated for each infectious individual, the time elapsed from individual infectiousness to vaccinating susceptible and exposed contacts, and the number of available vaccine doses. Our baseline spatial transmission model in which the ring vaccination strategy is investigated has been previously shown to capture Ebola-like epidemics characterized by an initial phase of sub-exponential epidemic growth. Here we also extend this baseline model to account for heterogeneous community transmission rates that may be defined as a scalable function of the distance between an infectious individual and each member of that individual’s community. Overall, our findings indicate that reactive ring-vaccination strategies can effectively mitigate established Ebola epidemics. Importantly, we studied scenarios with varying number of weeks elapsed between the onset of symptoms and the day contacts are vaccinated and found that it is still beneficial to vaccinate contacts after the infectious period has elapsed. Our results indicate that while it is beneficial to vaccinate members of the community, the probability of extinction is not very sensitive to which contacts in the community are vaccinated unless transmission varies very steeply on the network distance between individuals. Both of these observations underscore the fact that vaccination can be effective by reducing transmission at the community level.
Finite Element Modeling of C4 Cracking in a Large Die Large Laminate Coreless Flip Chip Package

BGA substrates made of organic materials are now industry standard as they provide significant advantages over the ceramic dielectric-based predecessors in manufacturing cost and electrical performance. A typical organic laminate structure consists of one or more layers of build-up and copper on each side of a copper clad core. In recent years, the industry has also introduced the concept of organic build up laminate without a core layer, more commonly known as coreless laminates, to overcome the disadvantages of the plated through holes (PTH) in the core structures, which specifically drive restrictions in wiring capability and retard signal transmission speed. Although coreless laminates offer better opportunity for low cost and high speed transmission package designs, they are usually associated with high thermal warpage due to the lack of reinforcement provided by a rigid core layer. This becomes particularly challenging in large body size substrates. Furthermore, the composite coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of a coreless laminate is significantly higher than cored alternatives, which leads to higher chip package interaction (CPI) stresses. This paper focuses on the reliability issues of C4 bump cracking in a large die large laminate (LDLL) coreless flip chip package. C4 solder bumps are subjected to shear strains and fatigue degradation during thermal cycling and power cycling in field operation. Such shear strain is normally proportional to the DNP (distance from neutral point). Therefore solder fatigue often occurs at the corner C4's first. To further increase the reliability concern, the composite CTE's of coreless organic laminates are higher than cored laminates, which impose additional shear strain to the C4 interconnect bumps. Two coreless flip chip packages, with pad defined C4 bumps and solder mask opening defined C4 bumps, will be examined in this paper. Comparison of fail counts after 1000 cycles of deep thermal cycling (DTC) reveals that pad defined C4 bumps are more robust than solder mask opening defined C4's. Failure analysis of the cracked C4 bumps will be illustrated. The thermal-mechanical modeling methodology will be outlined and verification of simulations with experimental results will be presented. Parametric studies on the effect of C4 bump geometry, laminate material properties and other form factors on C4 fatigue will be discussed. A predictive model for C4 solder joint fatigue in coreless flip chip packages will be proposed.
New Strategy Based on Sequential Michael/Aldol Reactions for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Cardenolides

Abstract The described work provides an example of how the development and implementation of new synthetic strategies is enabled by the developments in the field of catalysis. Steroids belong to one of the most investigated groups of natural products, and a myriad of synthetic approaches to steroids has been developed over the past century. At the same time, the most concise ways for building these natural products are yet to be discovered, and the discovery of these new synthetic strategies will almost invariably rely on the new developments in catalysis and synthetic methodology. Our studies demonstrate that, despite being among the most investigated organic reactions, Michael reactions have significant limitations, and a simple addition of β-ketoesters to enones can greatly depend on the nature of these substrates. Bis(oxazoline)copper(II) complexes under neat conditions were found to be among the most powerful catalysts that can promote the formation of the products with vicinal tertiary/quaternary and in some instances with vicinal quaternary stereocenters. This breakthrough has enabled the subsequent studies on the intramolecular aldolization, which provided access to both natural and unnatural cardenolide scaffolds. As an outcome of these studies, a variety of steroids with natural and unnatural configuration were synthesized in a rapid and concise manner, a task that would be hard to achieve with other strategies applicable.
Effects of early-life exposure to THIP on phenotype development in a mouse model of Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused mostly by disruptions in the MECP2 gene. MECP2-null mice show imbalances in neuronal excitability and synaptic communications. Several previous studies indicate that augmenting synaptic GABA receptors (GABAARs) can alleviate RTT-like symptoms in mice. In addition to the synaptic GABAARs, there is a group of GABAARs found outside the synaptic cleft with the capability to produce sustained inhibition, which may be potential therapeutic targets for the control of neuronal excitability in RTT. Wild-type and MECP2-null mice were randomly divided into four groups, receiving the extrasynaptic GABAAR agonist 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol hydrochloride (THIP) and vehicle control, respectively. Low-dose THIP was administered to neonatal mice through lactation. RTT-like symptoms including lifespan, breathing, motor function, and social behaviors were studied when mice became mature. Changes in neuronal excitability and norepinephrine biosynthesis enzyme expression were studied in electrophysiology and molecular biology. With no evident sedation and other adverse side effects, early-life exposure to THIP extended the lifespan, alleviated breathing abnormalities, enhanced motor function, and improved social behaviors of MECP2-null mice. Such beneficial effects were associated with stabilization of locus coeruleus neuronal excitability and improvement of norepinephrine biosynthesis enzyme expression. THIP treatment in early lives might be a therapeutic approach to RTT-like symptoms in MECP2-null mice and perhaps in people with RTT as well.
Thermal stress analysis of 3D die stacks with low-volume interconnections

Silicon die stacking with low-volume interconnections is an attractive method for 3D integration. It offers such benefits as extension to fine-pitch integration, increased vertical heat transfer and hierarchy for repeated thermal processes without re-melting. The process uses low-volume solder to form joints of few microns high. The low-volume solder mostly forms intermetallic compounds with underlying metals. The fomration of intermetallic compounds increases the strength of the solder joints. However the joints formed by intermetallic compounds can be brittle and less resistant to mechanical shocks as compared to the joints mostly formed by pure solder. The joint's mechanical properties play an important role in the system's reliability. Therefore in-depth evaluations of joint's mechanical properties are crucial to further advance this technology. We considered two metallurgies with different mechanical properties for interconnections between silicon dies: Cu/Sn and Cu/Ni/In. Earlier article reported that the Cu/Sn joints has a higher shear strength than the Cu/Ni/In joints. However the Cu/Ni/In joints showed better a result in the impact shock testing. In this report, we conducted the thermal cycle tests on the silicon die stack systems with the two joint metallurgies. The thermal cycle tests showed that the Cu/Ni/In joint systems have less failures than the systems with Cu/Sn joints. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses of the solder joints after the 2250 cycles of thermal cycle tests showed that the CuSn intermetallic compounds dominate the Cu/Sn joint whereas the region of mostly pure indium region still remains in the Cu/Ni/In joints even after the tests. We also conducted a finite element analysis of the Si die stack with the Cu/Sn joints on an organic substrate. The analysis showed that increasing the Si interposer thickness can reduce stresses in the intermetallic compound joints.
Measuring influence in online social networks: With a focus on Gowalla and Brightkite

In the most basic sense, a network is any collection of objects in which some pairs of these objects are connected by links. In a network of objects, objects can be people or computers, which we refer to them as nodes of the network. Social links among friends play an important role in dictating their behavior. In online social networks (OSNs), these social links determine the flow of information in form of wall posts via shares, likes, re-tweets, mentions and more. Such flow of information determines the influence of a node. In this paper, we investigate the relative influence of a node, using large amount of data sets collected from Gowalla and Brightkite. We, initially, identify the correlated nodes in these large data sets using customized divide-and-conquer algorithm. Then, we measure the influence of each of these nodes using a linear function. Users who have more friends and who made more check-ins (an event when the time and the location of a particular user is recorded) are not necessarily having top influence to dictate friend's behavior. Also, users who have the highest influence are those whose total number of friends are closer to the average number of nodes in the network, which is the total number of friends of each node divided by the total number of nodes. We believe that these observations can help organizations to narrow down their digital marketing strategies.
The Onion and the geopolitics of satire

ABSTRACTThis article considers the representation of global events in The Onion, a satirical news publication. Drawing on a content analysis of headlines and news stories, the article offers a set of general conclusions about the publication’s geographical and topical focuses. When considered in aggregate, the headlines offer an implicit critique of the mainstream media and coverage of international events. The idea that The Onion is a critical voice is, however, subject to interrogation. The Onion should be recognized with other satirical outputs as a profit-oriented enterprise, with appeal to key demographics and growing connections to multinational corporations. Yet The Onion’s position is further complexified through its direct engagement with international actors who do not get the joke.
Fast Pyrolysis of Opuntia ficus-indica (Prickly Pear) and Grindelia squarrosa (Gumweed)

Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear) and Grindelia squarrosa (gumweed) are two exceptionally drought tolerant plant species capable of growing in arid and semiarid environments. Additionally, they have unique cell wall structures. Prickly pear contains pectin and high levels of ash (16.1%) that is predominantly Ca and K. Gumweed has high levels of extractives that contain grindelic acid and monoterpenoids. The objective of this paper was to evaluate how these unique cell wall components alter the pyrolysis performance of prickly pear and gumweed. Using a tandem micropyrolyzer with GC-MS/FID/TCD, a detailed account of the product slate is given for products generated between 450 and 650 °C. Pyrolysis of prickly pear showed that the high levels of ash increase the amount of organics volatilized and shifted product pools, making it possible to generate up to 7.3% carbonyls vs 3.8% for Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) and 10.5% hydrocarbons vs 1.8% for pine depending on reaction conditions. Pyrolysis of gumweed sho...
Gaining Support for Child and Family Policies by Raising Awareness of the Link between Physical and Mental Health and the Impact of Social Determinants on Both

Results of a pilot study examining young adults' beliefs about what factors contribute to physical and mental health are reported. Existing research and the results of the pilot study are used to argue for the need for improved education on the connection between physical and mental health, the impact of social determinants on physical and mental health, and the potential for social policies that better the lives of children and families to improve health outcomes. Benefits of and suggestions for increasing understanding of social determinants and social policies on physical and mental health are explored.
Cardiac Action Potential and Ion Channels

The initiating event in cardiac E-C coupling is the action potential (AP). The AP is the membrane potential (Em) waveform that is determined by a complex interplay of many ion channels and transporters, and the Ca transient itself. The AP is also the driving Em waveform that influences ion channels and transporters, and results in the genesis of the Ca transient. The AP is also responsible for the propagation of excitation information from cell to cell in the heart and allows the heart to function as a syncytium (electrically and mechanically). The underlying ionic currents also contribute to initiating pacemaker activity as well as arrhythmogenic delayed- and early afterdepolarizations (DADs & EADs) and conditions for re-excitation and reentry. This chapter is only a basic overview of cardiac ion channels and the cardiac AP. A comprehensive treatment of this topic could readily fill another book of this type. For additional depth and references I recommend some excellent recent reviews by Weiss (1997), Roden & George (1997), Yellen (1998), Carmeliet (1999) and Nerbonne (2000, 2001). The main focus here will be on the ventricular myocyte AP and basic understanding of the ionic currents which contribute to its shape and modulation.
COMMUNICATING WITH PICTORIAL DATABASES

This chapter presents a model and a language for specifying spatial queries: predicates involving the position on objects in a database picture. For example, “hospitals located within ten miles of a given school,” “cities adjacent to Los Angeles,” or “streets that intersect Highway 10 in downtown LA.” Most existing pictorial query languages are text oriented, e.g., GRAIN,(2) IDMS, PSQL,(11) MIM,(13) and PROBE.(10) Others such as qpe(3) and PICQUERY,(9) follow the query-by-example approach (insertion of example values in tables), but do not make use of the visual properties of pictorial data. The language presented here differs from these methods by using pictures for specifying queries. These pictures, termed query pictures, visually depict conditions to be satisfied by the results of a query. For instance, Fig. la sketches a street intersection in which the condition “automobiles and people simultaneously entering a crosswalk” is satisfied. We enable new interaction mechanisms built upon the use of visual structures to manipulate spatially related objects. The work is related to visual programming languages as defined in Ref. 4. The following discussion addresses the problem of translating query pictures into first-order predicate calculus expressions describing queries. These expressions may be used by a query-processing mechanism to identify database pictures satisfying the desired conditions.
RESPONSE: Should We Prevent Death When Death Is Preventable, or Should We Just Stand There?

Pacemakers have been in clinical use in the United States for 6 decades. Pacing is widely available in the United States and other high-income countries. We take for granted that once a patient makes it to a medical facility in complete heart block, he or she will walk out of the hospital with a
Research and Development of the Recirculating Planar Crossed-Field Amplifier

The Recirculating Planar Crossed Field Amplifier (RPCFA) is a high-power microwave device adapted from the Recirculating Planar Magnetron (RPM) 1, developed at the University of Michigan. The amplifier is designed to be driven by the Michigan Electron Long Beam Accelerator (MELBA), which is currently configured to provide a -300 kV, 1–10 kA, $0.3- 1.0 \mu \mathrm {s}$ pulse. The RF input signal will be provided by an MG5193 magnetron, which is designed to deliver microwave pulses with a peak power output of 2.6 MW at 3 GHz for up to $5 \mu \mathrm {s}$.
AUTOMATED DETECTION OF SHADOW ARTIFACTS IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY

Frequently, when imaging retinal vasculature with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in diseased eyes, there are unavoidable obstacles to the propagation of light such as vitreous floaters or the pupil boundary. These obstacles can block the optical coherence tomography (OCT) beam and impede the visualization of the underlying retinal microcirculation. Detecting these shadow artifacts is especially important in the quantification of metrics that assess retinal disease progression because they might masquerade as regional perfusion loss. In this work, we present an algorithm to identify shadowed areas in OCTA of healthy subjects as well as patients with diabetic retinopathy, uveitis and age-related macular degeneration. The aim is to exclude these areas from analysis so that the overall OCTA parameters are minimally affected by shadow artifacts.
Innate Immune Responses to Acinetobacter baumannii in the Airway.

Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging opportunistic pathogen that has risen to become a serious global threat, prevalent in health care settings and the community, which results in high morbidity ...
Replication, transcription, CpG methylation and DNA topology in V(D)J recombination.

The seven antigen receptor loci are targeted for V(D)J recombination at different times, different developmental stages, and with B or T lineage specificity by unknown mechanisms. The physical basis for the differential accessibility in this site-specific recombination reaction has been a matter of much speculation. Possibilities have included the processes of transcription (Ferrier et al., 1989; Martin et al., 1991; Schlissel et al., 1991) and DNA replication, and the structural features of DNA methylation and chromatin structure (Mather and Perry, 1983; Persiani and Selsing, 1989; Storb and Arp, 1983; Yancopoulos et al., 1986). The relevant order and hierarchy of these parameters in controlling accessibility of the V(D)J recombination activity are unknown. Although some studies have raised the possibility that transcription is a requirement for recombination, the temporal resolution of such studies has been limiting. They have not permitted determination of whether transcription and recombination are consequences of a common chromatin change or whether transcription precedes and, thereby, activates recombination.
Intracranial Aneurysms in ADPKD: How Far Have We Come?

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), the most common hereditary kidney disease, is relatively uncommon, occurring in approximately one in every 1000 people, with fewer than 300,000 diagnosed in the United States. Intracranial aneurysms are one of numerous types of vascular
Offset Locking of a Fully Integrated Optical Phase-Locked Loop Using On-chip Modulators

We demonstrate an integrated heterodyne optical phase-locked loop for potential RF remoting. Offset-locking of the two on-chip lasers is achieved by applying a RF signal to an on-chip optical phase modulator and locking to an optical sideband.
How Economics Becomes Ideology: The Uses and Abuses of Rational Choice Theory

Rational choice theory is often presented as essential to the truly scientific study of economics. To the contrary, in this paper I argue that when rational choice is treated as the key to a science of human agency, it ensnares economics in certain intractable dilemmas. Drawing on hermeneutic philosophy, I argue that economists need to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate uses of rational choice theory. Failure to do so not only leads to self-defeating research goals, but also mires the discipline in an extreme form of free-market ideology. Economists thus have not only empirical but also ethical and political reasons for rejecting the mainstream deployment of rational choice. The paper concludes by briefly sketching a philosophically defensible use of rational choice in economics – one that is more sensitive to the expressive dimensions of human agency and the limits of mechanistic causality.
Predicting the effects of microstructure on matrix crack initiation in fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites via machine learning

Abstract A reduced-order, data-driven, probabilistic predictive model to quantify damage initiation in continuous SiC ceramic fiber SiC ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) at pertinent lengths scales using machine learning tools is proposed and explored. A novel framework is developed to characterize the influence of key stochastic microstructure attributes on matrix crack initiation. The approach is illustrated for the case of transverse crack initiation in the matrix surrounding fibers oriented perpendicular to the loading direction. A variety of stochastic microstructure attributes were considered including fiber spacing, fiber diameter, and coating thickness. Statistics of a commercial CMC microstructure were digitally represented and used to instantiate microstructures. In addition, discrete digital instantiations generated over a range of the distributed microstructural attributes were considered. The statistics of the distributed microstructure attributes were quantified using n-point statistics and reduced using principal component analysis. The elastic responses of the instantiated microstructures were characterized using finite element analysis (FEA). Results from the FEA were used as the ground truth to calibrate and validate a data-driven machine learning (ML) model. The quantified stochastic microstructure attributes were correlated with the statistics of the simulated damage response. The predictive capabilities of the model for a new microstructure class were demonstrated.
Association of Electronic Cigarette Regulations With Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adults in the United States.

Importance Millions of Americans use electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). A growing number of state and local governments have started to draft and implement laws regarding the sale, marketing, and use of e-cigarettes. The association of US state regulations regarding e-cigarettes with e-cigarette use remains unknown. Objective To examine the association of US state regulations regarding e-cigarettes with current e-cigarette use among adults in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included adults aged 18 years or older from the 2016 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which is a nationwide, telephone-administered survey that collects state-representative data on health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Data analysis was performed from February 1, 2019, to April 31, 2019. Exposures United States state laws regulating e-cigarette use, including prohibiting e-cigarette use in indoor areas of private workplaces, restaurants, and bars; requiring retailers to purchase a license to sell e-cigarettes; prohibiting self-service displays of e-cigarettes; prohibiting sales of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to persons younger than 21 years; and e-cigarette taxes. Main Outcomes and Measures Current use of e-cigarettes. Results Among 894 997 participants aged 18 years or older (503 688 women [51.3%], 679 443 non-Hispanic white [62.6%], 71 730 non-Hispanic black [16.3%], 69 823 Hispanic [11.4%], and 74 001 non-Hispanic other races [9.8%]), 28 907 (weighted prevalence, 4.4%) were currently using e-cigarettes. The age-standardized weighted prevalence of current e-cigarette use varied across US states and territories, from 1.0% in Puerto Rico to 6.2% in Guam. After adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors, including conventional cigarette use, the odds ratios of current e-cigarette use were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.83-0.98) for state laws prohibiting e-cigarette use in indoor areas of private workplaces, restaurants, and bars; 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85-0.95) for state laws requiring retailers to purchase a license to sell e-cigarettes; 1.04 (95% CI, 0.99-1.09) for state laws prohibiting self-service displays of e-cigarettes; 0.86 (95% CI, 0.74-0.99) for state laws prohibiting sales of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to persons younger than 21 years; and 0.89 (95% CI, 0.83-0.96) for state laws applying taxes to e-cigarettes. Conclusions and Relevance These findings suggest that several state regulations regarding e-cigarettes may be associated with reduced e-cigarette use among US adults.
De compras para salud: Granos integrales

Los granos incluyen alimentos como el pan, la pasta, la avena, y las galletas. Cualquier alimento hecho con trigo, avena, arroz, maiz, cebada u otro cereal es considerado un grano. Sustituir los productos refinados por los de granos integrales puede ayudar con el manejo del peso y a disminuir el riesgo de enfermedades cronicas. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Wendy J. Dahl and Lauren Foster and published by the UF Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, January 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fs217
Disability Nondiscrimination: An Urgent Issue for Pandemic Justice

Plans such as Alabama's, which explicitly excluded disability-based categories such as severe or profound mental retardation, were challenged by disability rights groups as violating antidiscrimination law and were withdrawn 1 Left unstated in the bulletin issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services at the time was whether triage could consider individualized assessments of survival prospects beyond the immediate episode of illness 2 A resolution agreement reached between OCR and the state of Tennessee in late June 2020 takes a far-reaching antidiscrimination stance The resolution also may be stronger than the policy statement of the American Geriatrics Association that some degree of benefit to patients may be considered in the form of short-term survival up to six months 5 The resolution agreement applies to Tennessee;how further hospital or state plans may be evaluated by OCR will surely continue to unfold Calling attention to the many aspects of disability discrimination in pandemic times, as Sabatello et al do, reminds us that disability nondiscrimination has implications for social justice that reach far beyond a single group 4jPI-l Leslie P Francis, JD, PhD CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose
Choosing Specialized Vocabulary to Teach with Data-Driven Learning: an Example from Civil Engineering

Abstract This paper presents a three-part methodology for identifying special-purposes words to teach in data-driven learning (DDL) vocabulary activities. Previous methods have focused on either identifying important words for an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context or identifying learner vocabulary gaps—and little or no research has addressed how to determine whether specific words are well suited to teaching through DDL rather than through a more traditional, deductive approach. The system in this study used a corpus-based approach to identify words that are (1) important to the ESP context, (2) difficult for students, and (3) well suited to teaching through DDL. This study applied the system to the context of civil engineering and found that it was overall effective in identifying 18 words that are prevalent in civil engineering writing, that were problematic for the students whose writing was examined, and that showed indications of being well suited to DDL. This paper discusses a drawback of the system—the time required to apply it—and discusses two valuable strengths: revealing how the words functioned in civil engineering discourse and identifying words not overtly connected to engineering (e.g., existing or using) that could be easily overlooked by an instructor.
Reanalysis of Very Large Telescope Data for M83 with Image Subtraction—Ninefold Increase in Number of Cepheids

We apply the image-subtraction method in order to reanalyze the ESO Very Large Telescope data on M83 (NGC 5236), obtained and analyzed by Thim et al. Whereas Thim et al. found 12 Cepheids with periods between 12 and 55 days, we find 112 Cepheids with periods ranging from 7 to 91 days as well as ~60 other variables. These include two candidate eclipsing binaries, which, if confirmed, would be the first optically discovered outside the Local Group. We thus demonstrate that the image-subtraction method is much more powerful for detecting variability, especially in crowded fields. However, Hubble Space Telescope observations are necessary to obtain a Cepheid period-luminosity distance not dominated by blending and crowding. We propose a "hybrid" approach, in which numerous Cepheids are discovered and characterized using large ground-based telescopes and then followed up with the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain precise distances.
Materials to Systems Co-Optimization Platform for Rapid Technology Development Targeting Future Generation CMOS Nodes

Design technology co-optimization (DTCO) has been a workhorse in optimizing logic technology innovations for a few generations now. With increased complexity associated with each new node and the growing number of technological innovations, it is time to expand the conventional DTCO flows. In this article, we present a novel materials to systems co-optimization (MSCO) platform, expanding the boundaries of traditional DTCO to encompass materials modeling to all the way to system design. To demonstrate the application of our MSCO platform, we discuss various front-end-of-line (FEOL) and middle-of-line (MOL)/back-end-of-line (BEOL) technologies and show their impact on device and circuit performance.
Beyond the cis gays’ cis gaze: The need for a trans linguistics

Trans and other nonnormatively gendered subjectivities served a foundational role in queer linguistics, but it is only recently that a wave of trans researchers have begun to carve out distinctively trans approaches to the study of language. This commentary explores the question of why this shift has taken so long and how certain disciplinary norms have made linguistics a less-than-attractive home for trans scholars, namely an apoliticised ideology of descriptivism, the flippant indulgence of linguistic curiosity and claims to linguistic authority. Importantly, these processes are vulnerable to furthering not only transphobia but also racism, colonialism, ableism and linguistic subjugation. These convergences present opportunities for coalition-based responses to the maintenance of social hierarchies in linguistics and allied disciplines, and underscore the importance of community-based approaches to research on language and gender alterity.
Advanced Glycation End-Products in Skeletal Muscle Aging.

Advanced age causes skeletal muscle to undergo deleterious changes including muscle atrophy, fast-to-slow muscle fiber transition, and an increase in collagenous material that culminates in the age-dependent muscle wasting disease known as sarcopenia. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) non-enzymatically accumulate on the muscular collagens in old age via the Maillard reaction, potentiating the accumulation of intramuscular collagen and stiffening the microenvironment through collagen cross-linking. This review contextualizes known aspects of skeletal muscle extracellular matrix (ECM) aging, especially the role of collagens and AGE cross-linking, and underpins the motor nerve’s role in this aging process. Specific directions for future research are also discussed, with the understudied role of AGEs in skeletal muscle aging highlighted. Despite more than a half century of research, the role that intramuscular collagen aggregation and cross-linking plays in sarcopenia is well accepted yet not well integrated with current knowledge of AGE’s effects on muscle physiology. Furthermore, the possible impact that motor nerve aging has on intramuscular cross-linking and muscular AGE levels is posited.
Subculture, Critical Mass, and Technology Use

This study investigated the use of an information communication technology (ICT) system by organizational members in a higher education institution. Besides providing empirical support to critical mass theory in predicting technology use in organizations, the findings of this study revealed a cultural foundation of the theory. More specifically, this study found that technology use by supervisors and task interdependence contribute to technology use, and that organizational members from different subcultures perceive technology use by supervisors and task interdependence differently.
Beyond Singular Propositions

Propositional attitudes, like believing and asserting, are relations between agents and propositions. Agents are individuals who do the believing and asserting; propositions are things that are believed and asserted. Propositional attitude ascriptions are sentences that ascribe propositional attitudes to agents. For example, a propositional attitude ascription α believes, or asserts, that S is true iff the referent of a bears the relation of believing, or asserting, to the proposition expressed by s. The questions I will address have to do with the precise nature of propositions, and the attitudes, like belief, that we bear to them. I will assume both that propositions are the semantic contents of sentences, and that the proposition expressed by a sentence is a structured complex made up of the semantic contents of the parts of the sentences that express it.
Factors Impacting Library Visibility on Academic Institution Home Pages

Abstract This study identifies factors affecting the placement of the library on post-secondary academic institution home pages. The study is a mixed method research project, consisting of content analysis of 357 home pages from all types of institutions and 15 interviews with web librarians and institution webmasters. Institution home pages were coded according to an author-developed library visibility scale. Quantitative analysis of the results indicated that financial status (public, private, or for-profit), highest degree offered, and institution size were potential factors influencing library link placement. Interviews confirmed that financial status and degree offered influenced library visibility in relation to the home page's function and the institution's marketing efforts. Additional local factors such as advocacy, engagement in web decision-making or technology, institutional understanding of the library's role, and accreditation were found to influence link placement.
Factor IX complex for the correction of traumatic coagulopathy.

BACKGROUND:Damage control resuscitation advocates correction of coagulopathy; however, options are limited and expensive. The use of prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC), also known as factor IX complex, can quickly accelerate reversal of coagulopathy at relatively low cost. The purpose of this stu
Volcanic Tuffs: Deep Subsurface Microbiology of

Pilot Investigation Sample Collection Microbial Characterization of Tunnel Systems Storage-Related Phenomena Long-Term Survival of Subsurface Bacteria Keywords: subsurface microbiology; volcanic tuffs
Devaluation and liberalization in the presence of tariff and quota restrictions: An equilibrium model

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the effects of devaluation and trade liberalization policies on a monetary economy which uses quotas in contrast to an economy which uses tariffs. This is done in a general equilibrium framework. The paper also investigates the reasons for coupling liberalization policies with a devaluation.
A microsomal endopeptidase from liver with substrate specificity for processing proproteins such as the vitamin K-dependent proteins of plasma.

The microsomal fraction of rabbit liver contains an endopeptidase that cleaves synthetic peptides that mimic the amino acid sequences of the processing sites of many proproteins, including the vitamin K-dependent proteins. The endopeptidase (M(r) 69,000) was extracted from liver microsomes with 1% Lubrol and purified about 2,700-fold. The substrate employed for isolation and characterization of the enzyme was the decapeptide acetyl-Ala-Arg-Val-Arg-Arg-Ala-Asn-Ser-Phe-Leu (prothrombin peptide), in which hydrolysis occurred on the carboxyl side of the paired Arg-Arg residues. The purified enzyme, whose activity was enhanced 1.8-fold by 0.1 mM CoCl2, has a Km = 80 microM and Vmax = 21,000 nmol.min-1.mg-1 and a pH optimum of 8.7. Proteolytic cleavage of decapeptide substrates was dependent on an arginine residue at positions P1 and P4. The enzyme was completely inhibited by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline as well as by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid and Hg2+. Inhibitors of serine proteases and cysteine proteases had no effect. Based on the substrate preference, the endopeptidase appears to be a good candidate for the enzyme responsible for the precursor processing of the vitamin K-dependent proteins and a number of other proproteins that are synthesized via the secretory pathway in liver and other tissues.
Influence of varying tidal prism on hydrodynamics and sedimentary processes in a hypertidal salt marsh creek

Recent initiatives directing tidal power development in the Bay of Fundy have raised questions about far-field environmental impacts related to energy extraction. It is understood that commercial scale tidal power installations in the Minas Passage will result in an overall decrease in tidal amplitude in the Minas Basin. Corresponding changes in sedimentation patterns may or may not be within the natural range of variability, and it is hypothesized that intertidal sedimentation rates will demonstrate a non-linear response to modification of the tidal energy regime. This research considers acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) and optical backscatter sensor (OBS) data from a sheltered tidal creek in the Minas Basin, for analysis of tidal characteristics in a hypertidal creek environment over spring and neap tidal cycles. Sediment deposition in the creek was also measured. Results show a first-order control of topography on flow magnitude in the tidal creek, which impacts net sediment deposition through resuspension and removal of newly introduced material. This study demonstrates that tides which peak around the bankfull level show reduced early ebb stage turbulence and flow velocity and encourage an extended depositional period. The dynamics of marshfull tides may be responsible for the maximum sediment deposition in tidal creeks, providing large amounts of material that is eventually distributed to and deposited on marsh surfaces. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tools for automated verification of Web services

Web-based software applications which enable user interaction through web browsers have been extremely successful. Nowadays one can look for and buy almost anything online using such applications, from a book to a car. A promising extension to this framework is the area of web services, web-accessible software applications which interact with each other using the Web. Web services have the potential to have a big impact on business-to-business applications similar to the impact interactive web software had on business-to-consumer applications.
Estimating the direct and indirect costs for community‐dwelling patients with schizophrenia

Aim To estimate the schizophrenia-related direct and indirect costs for community-dwelling Americans sampled in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from the societal perspective. Methods Patients diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder (International Classification of Disease 9th Revision (ICD-9) code 295) or other non-organic psychoses (ICD-9 code 298) between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2008 were identified from the MEPS database. The following categories were included in calculating the schizophrenia-related direct medical costs: inpatient hospitalizations, prescription medications and hospital outpatient, emergency department, physician office, and home healthcare visits. The indirect costs were calculated using the human capital approach and included lost productivity due to missed work, reduced employment, premature death and caregivers’ costs. To account for the complex multistage sampling design of the MEPS, all statistical analyses were conducted using the survey procedure of SAS version 9.2. Results We identified 348 patients who represent 3.03 million community-dwelling schizophrenia patients in the USA between 2005 and 2008. The estimated direct cost from 2005–2008 was US$17.1 billion, or approximately US$4 billion per year, with a mean annual cost per patient of US$5984. The indirect costs over the same 4-year period amounted to US$74.74 billion, or approximately US$18.68 billion per year, with a mean annual cost per patient of US$24 664. Assuming equal utilization each year, the annual total costs were approximately US$23 billion. Discussion The financial burden imposed by schizophrenia was disproportionately high. The mean annual prevalence of schizophrenia in the community was about 0.25% while the annual costs were about US$23 billion.
Efficient inverted polymer solar cells

We investigate the effect of interfacial buffer layers—vanadium oxide (V2O5) and cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3)—on the performance of polymer solar cells based on regioregular poly-(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl C60 butyric acid methyl ester blend. The polarity of solar cells can be controlled by the relative positions of these two interfacial layers. Efficient inverted polymer solar cells were fabricated with the structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)/Cs2CO3/polymer blend/vanadium oxide (V2O5)/aluminum (Al). Short-circuit current of 8.42mA∕cm2, open-circuit voltage of 0.56V, and power conversion efficiency of 2.25% under a AM1.5G 130mW∕cm2 condition were achieved. The interfacial layers were also used to fabricate polymer solar cells using ITO and a thin gold (Au) layer as the transparent electrodes. The thickness of V2O5 layer (10nm) makes it an effective protective layer for the active layer so that ITO can be used for both the electrodes, enabling highly efficient transparent polymer solar cells (i.e., p...
Expression of Pseudomonas phosphotriesterase activity in the fall armyworm confers resistance to insecticides.

The gene encoding for the phosphotriesterase (opd) fromPseudomonas diminuta has been subcloned into a baculovirus expression system. Functional enzyme is produced when the recombinant baculovirus is used to infect either culturedSpodoptera frugiperda sf9 cells or the larval stage of the fall armyworm. The LD50 for paraoxon toxicity was found to increase 280-fold in the larvae after infection with the recombinant baculovirus and expression of the functional phosphotriesterase.
Native astrocytes do not migrate de novo or after local trauma.

While transplanted astrocytes migrate in specific patterns in therecip-ient brains, it is not known whether native astrocytes behave similarly. The ability of normal astrocytes to migrate under non-transplant condition was therefore explored. Native astrocytes were labelled in situ with fluorescent latex beads. These latex spheres were actively endocytosed by astrocytes in vitro, and it was therefore anticipated that these spheres would also be endocytosed by native astrocytes exposed to them. Labelling was accomplished by dissecting the pia mater away from a small region of the cerebral cortex and overlaying the area with Gelfoam containing fluorescent beads. After 2–4 h, the Gelfom was removed and the wound was cloesd. At the end of 2–4 weeks, manipulated brains were harvested for fluorescence microscopy. In this analysis, fluorescent polyspheres had been taken up by both pial fibroblasts and astrocytes at the pial-glial margin. Labelled astrocytes [identified by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining] were neither hyperplastic nor hypertrophic. They were confined to the area of the original labelling site, and did not migrate either laterally across the pial margin or ventrally into the cortical layers. Knife wounding at the time of label application, either in the region of the label or distant from it, produced reactive astrocytes that were hypertrophic. These cells also did not migrate from the label site. These results suggest that astrocytes labelled by this method do not migrate in the absence of some transplant-derived stimulus even when stimulated by local wounding. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Isolation of Isoeugenitin as a Fruiting Body Inducer for Stigmatella aumntiaca from a Soil Fungus Papulaspora sp

A myxobacterium, Stigmatella aurantiaca, requires light for the efficient formation of its fuiting body. Isoeugenitin was isolated from a culture of the fungus as a regulatory substance that induces morphological development in S. aurantiaca. At a concentration of about 1–40 μm, the compound induced development of stalks on which myxospore-containing sporangia are formed without light irradiation.
Visualizing morphological changes of clear corneal cataract incisions with optical coherence tomography

Dynamic morphological changes of clear corneal cataract incisions are studied with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Two opposite types of dynamic incision wound behaviors are documented. A stable incision angle range is found to be existent for single-planed, clear corneal cataract incisions. When well pressurized, incision angles within this stable range result in well-apposed incision edges that resist gapping while incision angles falling outside this range have a larger tendency for wound leakage. It is also shown that a two-planed incision can effectively expand the stable range. For incision angles outside the stable range, the farther the incision angle is away from stable range, the larger the gap between incision wound edges when well pressurized. Thus, incision construction method has a major impact on the self-sealing capability of the incision wounds. In this investigation, OCT has been demonstrated as an effective modality for imaging and monitoring corneal surgery.
How resilient is your country

Extreme events are on the rise. Governments must implement national and integrated risk-management strategies, says Erwann Michel-Kerjan.