cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Discovery-based design of transparent conducting oxide films

The properties of TCO materials derive from the nature, number, and atomic arrangements of metal cations in crystalline or amorphous oxide structures, from the resident morphology, and from the presence of intrinsic or intentionally introduced defects. An enormous body of literature can be accessed from which empirical relationships between structure, composition, charge transport, and transparency have been developed. Previous reviews of this subject have indicated how such information may be used for engineering TCO properties; however, application of more rigorous science-based approaches to the design of materials with superior properties has only recently been tackled. This article summarizes current TCO research results, reviews processing approaches, presents a microscopic description of electronic conductivity in transparent metal oxide systems, and offers guidelines for the design and subsequent development of new materials. The review concludes with a glimpse of some recent work where impedance matching and quantum mechanical tunneling approaches would seem to provide future directions for improving transmissivity in these and similar conducting oxide systems.
Strong correlation of major earthquakes with solid-earth tides in part of the eastern United States

East of the eastern American continental divide and south of fat 42.5°N, moderate to large historic earthquakes correlate strongly with times of high and low solid-earth tides. This effect is most pronounced when solar declination lies between 17°N and 17°S. Significant correlations also exist between major earthquakes, time of day, lunar declinations, and lunar phase.
Accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy for assessment of pediatric musculoskeletal lesions.

Background CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy has been shown in adults to be an effective diagnostic tool for a large number of musculoskeletal malignancies.
The Effectiveness of Using the Instructional Strategy Diagnostic Profile to Prescribe Improvements in Self-Instructional Materials Teaching Abstract Concepts.

An important question in instructional design is how can existing materials be improved to optimize learning situations for students. Most research on instructional improvement to date has either attended to what needs to be revised and ignored how the revisions should be made or described very specific revisions that were not generalizable into principles. This study describes the success in producing improved learning, confidence, attitude, and test time (without appreciably increasing study time) by improving materials according to prescriptions of the ISDP.
Cortical Dynamics of Lateral Inhibition: Metacontrast Masking

The dynamic properties of a neural network model of visual perception, called the boundary contour system, explain characteristics of metacontrast visual masking. Computer simulations of the model, with a single set of parameters, demonstrate that it accounts for 9 key properties of metacontrast masking: Metacontrast masking is strongest at positive stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) ; decreasing target luminance changes the shape of the masking curve; increasing target duration weakens masking; masking effects weaken with spatial separation; increasing mask duration leads to stronger masking at shorter SOAs; masking strength depends on the amount and distribution of contour in the mask; a second mask can disinhibit the masking of the target; such disinhibition depends on the SOA of the 2 masks; and such disinhibition depends on the spatial separation of the 2 masks. No other theory provides a unified explanation of these data sets. Additionally, the model suggests a new analysis of data related to the SOA law and makes several testable predictions. A metacontrast masking display consists of a briefly flashed visual target (often a filled circle or a bar) followed by a masking stimulus (a surrounding annulus or two flanking bars). In such a display the target is perceptually weaker (dimmer), and in some cases participants fail to perceive the target at all. Perhaps most remarkable, in many cases the strongest masking effect occurs not with simultaneous onset of the target and mask, but at a positive stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). The effect of SOA is surprising because if simple lateral inhibition produced this type of masking, then the strongest interactions between target and mask would occur with simultaneous onset. With a positive SOA, it would seem that the information about the target would have moved (to higher visual areas) beyond any influence of the mask. For this reason metacontrast masking is also often called backward masking, thus indicating the apparent ability of the mask to influence percepts of the target by going backward in time. When the mask precedes the target (forward, or paracontrast, masking) there is little masking. Currently, the most accepted account of metacontrast masking is the one proposed in various forms by Weisstein (1972); Matin ( 1975 ) ; Weisstein, Ozog, and Szoc ( 1975 ) ; and Breitmeyer and Ganz (1976). They suggested that interactions of transientsustained inhibition explained many properties of dynamical vision, including metacontrast masking. Breitmeyer (1984) discussed how the theory is consistent with an impressive amount of psychophysical and neurophysiological data on visual masking. The theory proposes that fast-acting transient cells in visual
The Effects of Strobe Lights on Zebra Mussel Settlement and Movement Patterns

ABSTRACT We evaluated the efficacy of strobe lights as deterrents to zebra mussel settlement and migration under laboratory and field conditions. Zebra mussels preferentially settle in darker areas and, in laboratory experiments, moved away from light. Strobe lights effectively repel a number offish species but have not previously been tested on zebra mussels. If strobe lights proved effective as a zebra mussel repellant, fish repellence may be an additional advantage in some applications. In the laboratory, mussels were exposed to either strobe lights or darkness for one hour. We measured the total distance, linear distance, and direction traveled by zebra mussels by digitizing trails left in a fine layer of sand on aquarium floors. Displacement and direction traveled by the zebra mussels varied significantly with presence of strobe lights; however, total distance traveled did not. Mussels moved away from the strobe source, but moved randomly in darkness. In the field, PVC plates were exposed to strobe l...
Optimal edge ranking of trees in polynomial time

An edge ranking of a graph is a labeling of the edges using positive integers such that all paths between two edges with the same label contain an intermediate edge with a higher label. An edge ranking isoptimal if the highest label used is as small as possible. The edge-ranking problem has applications in scheduling the manufacture of complex multipart products; it is equivalent to finding the minimum height edge-separator tree. In this paper we give the first polynomial-time algorithm to find anoptimal edge ranking of a tree, placing the problem inP. An interesting feature of the algorithm is an unusual greedy procedure that allows us to narrow an exponential search space down to a polynomial search space containing an optimal solution. AnNC algorithm is presented that finds an optimal edge ranking for trees of constant degree. We also prove that a natural decision problem emerging from our sequential algorithm isP-complete.
Effect of Particle Size on the Oxidizability of Platinum Clusters

The catalytic properties of transition metal particles often depend crucially on their chemical environment, but so far, little is known about how the effects of the environment vary with particle size, especially for clusters consisting of only a few atoms. To gain insight into this topic, we have studied the oxygen affinity of free Ptx clusters as a function of cluster size (x = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10) using density functional theory (DFT) calculations (GGA-PW91). DFT-based Nose−Hoover molecular dynamics has been used to explore the configuration space of the PtxOx and PtxO2x clusters, leading to the discovery of several novel Pt−oxide structures. The formation of small Pt−oxide clusters by oxidizing the corresponding Ptx clusters is found to be significantly more exothermic than the formation of bulk Pt−oxides from Pt metal. The exothermicity generally increases as cluster size decreases but exhibits strongly nonlinear dependence on the cluster size. The nanoclusters are also structurally distinct from ...
Image informatics in systems biology applications

Digital optical microscopy, coupled with parallel processing and a large arsenal of labeling techniques, offers tremendous values to localize, identify, and characterize cells and molecules. This generates many image informatics challenges in requiring new algorithms and tools to extract, classify, correlate, and model image features and content from massive amounts of cellular and molecular images acquired. Image informatics aims to fill this gap. Coupling automated microscopy and image analysis with biostatistical and data mining techniques to provide a system biologic approach in studying the cells, the basic unit of life, potentially leads to many exciting applications in life and health sciences. In this presentation, we describe certain new system biology applications enabled by image informatics technology.
The effect of mineral oil upon fecal consistency, fecal bulk, and velocity of gastro-intestinal transport.

Objective studies have been conducted on experimental animals to determine the results of mineral oil ingestion which may explain its value as a laxative. Laboratory methods have been described.
Silicon photonic link in CMOS quilt package

A multifunction low-power, high-speed silicon photonic chip consisting of a resonant modulator and germanium detector is quilt packaged with CMOS receiver and driver electronics. Experimental data demonstrates this new route for intimate 2D-integration.
In search of compassion: a new taxonomy of compassionate physician behaviours

Background Compassion has been extolled as a virtue in the physician–patient relationship as a response to patient suffering. However, there are few studies that systematically document the behavioural features of physician compassion and the ways in which physicians communicate compassion to patients. Objective To develop a taxonomy of compassionate behaviours and statements expressed by the physician that can be discerned by an outside observer. Design Qualitative analysis of audio-recorded office visits between oncologists and patients with advanced cancer. Setting and Participants Oncologists (n = 23) and their patients with advanced cancer (n = 49) were recruited in the greater Rochester, New York, area. The physicians and patients were surveyed and had office visits audio recorded. Main Outcome Measures Audio recordings were listened to for qualitative assessment of communication skills. Results Our sensitizing framework was oriented around three elements of compassion: recognition of the patient's suffering, emotional resonance and movement towards addressing suffering. Statements of compassion included direct statements, paralinguistic expressions and performative comments. Compassion frequently unfolded over the course of a conversation rather than being a single discrete event. Additionally, non-verbal linguistic elements (e.g. silence) were frequently employed to communicate emotional resonance. Discussion and Conclusions This study is the first to systematically catalogue instances of compassionate communication in physician-patient dialogues. Further refinement and validation of this preliminary taxonomy can guide future education and training interventions to facilitate compassion in physician–patient interactions.
Overcoming endocrine resistance in breast cancer: role of the PI3K and the mTOR pathways

Overcoming endocrine resistance is a 21st century hurdle in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers. Estrogen plays a role in the growth of 70% of breast cancers. There are many strategies evolved to overcome estrogen resistance. Established strategies include using drugs such as tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator to selectively block estrogen receptors and aromatase inhibitors to decrease the synthesis of estrogen. However, endocrine resistance is commonly encountered in treating patients with standard single-therapy regimens. Recently, the role of the PI3K and the mTOR pathways has been targeted to overcome resistance. The mTOR pathway is a complex pathway regulating cell metabolism, growth and apoptosis. Novel agents such as mTOR inhibitors, PI3K inhibitors and Akt inhibitors are transitioning from bench-top research to clinical application with promising results. This article reviews the common mechanisms of endocrine resistance, and combination therapies that utilize the mTOR/PI3K pathways to overcome resistance.
Kinetics of Glass Formation by Solidification and Melting

A scenario has been developed combining the glass transition (liquid to glass) with the crystal-to glass transition. If the “melting” point of a crystalline solid solution is reduced to the ideal glass transition temperature a triple point is predicted between crystal, liquid and glass. Based on extrapolations of measured specific heat data of undercooled liquid glass-forming Au-Pb-Sb alloys the excess entropy is found to vanish close to the glass transition. On the other hand, the amorphization reaction of crystalline Fe2Er-hydrides is characterized by a lambda-type anomaly in the specific heat. The logarithmic temperature-dependence of the specific heat results from local fluctuations in the crystalline phase, rather than thermally activated lattice defects. These results suggest that glass formation from the liquid as well as the crystalline state is characterized by an underlying instability.
ETHICAL DRUG INDUSTRY RETURN ON INVESTMENT

THE ETHICAL DRUG industry has been under continuous study by governmental investigators and academic researchers for some time. The focal point of many of these studies is the industry's relatively high rate of return on investment (ROI). High rates are often cited as an indication, if not proof, of noncompetitive behavior. However, there is little agreement regarding the definition of ROI, the determinants of ROI, and the proper method for making inter-industry ROI comparisons. These issues were examined and a model was developed to study the ethical drug industry's return on investment. Regression techniques were utilized to test the investment and structural characteristics as potential determinants of ROT. The hypothesized association with ROI was supported for the two risk measures and for growth in demand but rejected for the concentration ratio, average company size, and R and D intensity. The three measures of investment characteristics were combined into a cross-sectional, multiple regression equation giving a model of ROI which was used to study the drug industry's rate of return. Data for the industry were introduced into the model to obtain a forecast of rate of return with variance, skewness, and growth held constant. Comparing the forecast with the observed rate showed observed ethical drug industry average ROI to be below the rate that could result given the particular set of investment characteristics exhibited by the drug industry sample. Therefore, the hypothesis was accepted that ethical drug industry average ROI was the same as allmanufacturing industries average ROI after consideration of investment characteristics. There are several possible explanations for why this model can explain statistically the drug industry ROI: First, data were utilized only for firms primarily engaged in the manufacture of ethical drug products rather than data for both ethical and proprietary drug firms. Second, more recent data may reflect changed economic relationships, both within the drug industry and between the drug and other industries. Third, the model formulated included more variables than prior models. Fourth, explicit consideration was made of possible statistical errors in both the regression equation and in the ROI forecast.
Protective Influence of Cardiac Denervation Against Arrhythmias of Myocardial Infarction

In 10 normal awake dogs coronary occlusion produced frequent premature beats in all dogs and ventricular tachycardia in nine of the 10. After total cardiac denervation coronary occlusion failed to produce arrhythmias in eight of 10 dogs.
A novel temozolomide analog, NEO212, with enhanced activity against MGMT-positive melanoma in vitro and in vivo

The alkylating agent temozolomide (TMZ) represents an important component of current melanoma therapy, but overexpression of O6-methyl-guanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in tumor cells confers resistance to TMZ and impairs therapeutic outcome. We investigated a novel perillyl alcohol (POH)-conjugated analog of TMZ, NEO212, for its ability to exert anticancer activity against MGMT-positive melanoma cells. Human melanoma cells with variable MGMT expression levels were treated with NEO212, TMZ, or perillyl alcohol in vitro and in vivo, and markers of DNA damage and apoptosis, and tumor cell growth were investigated. NEO212 displayed substantially greater anticancer activity than any of the other treatments. It reduced colony formation of MGMT-positive cells up to eight times more effectively than TMZ, and much more potently induced DNA damage and cell death. In a nude mouse tumor model, NEO212 showed significant activity against MGMT-positive melanoma, whereas TMZ, or a mix of TMZ plus POH, was ineffective. At the same time, NEO212 was well tolerated. NEO212 may have potential as a more effective therapy for advanced melanoma, and should become particularly suitable for the treatment of patients with MGMT-positive tumors.
Capacity estimation for spectrally-overlaid WCDMA & GSM systems

Much recent interest has been focused upon third-generation cellular systems, particularly wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA). Deployments must consider scarce available spectrum, so researchers have been investigating spectral overlay, as a means of increasing capacity. Spectral overlay may also be a method used during transition from current to future systems. Based upon a method developed in Matolak (2000), we estimate capacities of WCDMA when overlaid upon the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). This method is an improvement upon the standard technique for approximating multiuser interference (MUI), and is more general than previous work in that it allows for different values of data rate within each system, an arbitrary number of overlaid CDMA systems, inclusion of outside-cell as well as outside-system interferences, and narrowband interferers. We apply the method to GSM and WCDMA, and explore via several examples the capacities achievable as a function of several system parameters, including the number of GSM frequency allocations, relative power levels, and a number of different data rates.
Unchained melody: revisiting the estimation of SF-6D values

Purpose In the original SF-6D valuation study, the analytical design inherited conventions that detrimentally affected its ability to predict values on a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scale. Our objective is to estimate UK values for SF-6D states using the original data and multi-attribute utility (MAU) regression after addressing its limitations and to compare the revised SF-6D and EQ-5D value predictions.
A Nitrilase-Like Protein Interacts with GCC Box DNA-Binding Proteins Involved in Ethylene and Defense Responses

Ethylene-responsive element-binding proteins (EREBPs) of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) bind to the GCC box of many pathogenesis-related (PR) gene promoters, including osmotin (PR-5). The two GCC boxes on the osmotin promoter are known to be required, but not sufficient, for maximal ethylene responsiveness. EREBPs participate in the signal transduction pathway leading from exogenous ethylene application and pathogen infection to PR gene induction. In this study EREBP3 was used as bait in a yeast two-hybrid interaction trap with a tobacco cDNA library as prey to isolate signal transduction pathway intermediates that interact with EREBPs. One of the strongest interactors was found to encode a nitrilase-like protein (NLP). Nitrilase is an enzyme involved in auxin biosynthesis. NLP interacted with other EREBP family members, namely tobacco EREBP2 and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) Pti4/5/6. The EREBP2-EREBP3 interaction with NLP required part of the DNA-binding domain. The specificity of interaction was further confirmed by protein-binding studies in solution. We propose that the EREBP-NLP interaction serves to regulate PR gene expression by sequestration of EREBPs in the cytoplasm.
High performance Cobotics

Cobots are a class of robots that use continuously variable transmissions to develop high fidelity programmable constraint surfaces. Cobots consume very little electrical power even when providing high output forces, and their transmissions are highly efficient across a broad range of transmission ratios. Cobotic transmissions also have the ability to act either as a brake or to become entirely free. The design and performance of the cobotic hand controller, a recently developed six-degree-of-freedom haptic display, is reviewed. This device illustrates the high dynamic range and low power consumption achievable by cobots. A thorough comparison of the power efficiency of a cobotic system versus a conventional electro-mechanical system is provided.
Chromosome pairing relationships among the A, B, and D genomes of bread wheat.

Chromosome pairing and chiasma frequency were studied in bread wheat euhaploids (2n = 3x = 21; ABD genomes) with and without the major pairing regulatorPh1. This constitutes the first report of chromosome pairing relationships among the A, B, and D genomes of wheat without the influence of an alien genome. AllPh1 euhaploids had very little pairing, with 0.62–1.05 rod bivalents per cell; ring bivalents were virtually absent and mean arm-binding frequency (c) values ranged from 0.050 to 0.086. In contrast, theph1b euhaploids had extensive homoeologous pairing, with chiasma frequency 7.5–11.6 times higher than that in thePh1 euhaploids. They had 0.53–1.16 trivalents, 1.53–1.74 ring bivalents, and 2.90–3.57 rod bivalents, withc from 0.580 to 0.629. N-banding of meiotic chromosomes showed strongly preferential pairing between chromosomes of the A and D genomes; 80% of the pairing was between these genomes, especially in the presence of theph1b allele. The application of mathematical models to unmarked chromosomes also supported a 2∶1 genomic structure of theph1b euhaploids. Numerical modeling suggested that about 80% of the metaphase I association was between the two most related genomes in the presence ofph1b, but that pairing under Ph1 was considerably more random. The data demonstrate that the A and D genomes are much more closely related to each other than either is to B. These results may have phylogenetic significance and hence breeding implications.
Constructing Connected Dominating Sets with Bounded Diameters inWireless Networks

In wireless networks, due to the lack of fixed infrastructure or centralized management, a connected dominating set (CDS) of the graph representing the network is an optimum candidate to serve as the virtual backbone of a wireless network. However, constructing a minimum CDS is NP-hard. Furthermore, almost all of the existing CDS construction algorithms neglect the diameter of a CDS, which is an important factor. In this paper, we investigate the problem of constructing a CDS with a bounded diameter in wireless networks and propose a heuristic algorithm, connected dominating sets with bounded diameters (CDS-BD), with constant performance ratios for both the size and diameter of the constructed CDS.
A computational load-pull system for evaluating RF and microwave power amplifier technologies

A computational load-pull system has been developed. This system uses technology CAD to predict the large-signal performance of semiconductor power amplifier technologies. The input to the system is a matrix of simulated time-domain current and voltage waveforms for different RF input and output voltages. These waveforms may also be supplied by circuit simulation, and could in principle be measured. The waveform data is processed, modeled and interpolated to obtain large-signal quantities such as input power, output power, gain, power-added efficiency and linearity. These quantities are displayed in load-pull and/or source-pull form. The system is used for technology assessment, for device optimization, and to assist circuit design.
A Metric-based Framework for Automatic Taxonomy Induction

This paper presents a novel metric-based framework for the task of automatic taxonomy induction. The framework incrementally clusters terms based on ontology metric, a score indicating semantic distance; and transforms the task into a multi-criteria optimization based on minimization of taxonomy structures and modeling of term abstractness. It combines the strengths of both lexico-syntactic patterns and clustering through incorporating heterogeneous features. The flexible design of the framework allows a further study on which features are the best for the task under various conditions. The experiments not only show that our system achieves higher F1-measure than other state-of-the-art systems, but also reveal the interaction between features and various types of relations, as well as the interaction between features and term abstractness.
Finite strain analysis for biaxial isotropic flexible cell culture membranes

Anchorage dependant cells can be deformed on silicone membranes. These cells can respond to strain stimulus, and have been shown to differentiate, proliferate, and express different phenotypes. The purpose of this study was to characterize the membrane substrate on which cells attach to. Lagrangian strain analysis was conducted with fluorescence emitting microspheres, having a diameter of 0.02 /spl mu/m. Stretch ratios were calculated for a deformed membrane surface at different positions and at different strains. The goal was to establish that uniform biaxial, isotropic strain exists for membranes deformed in a StageFlexer/spl reg/ chamber. Data indicates that uniform biaxial strain does occur. However, exact finite deformation characterization on the silicone membrane proves illusive as to the high degree of data variability.
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in deep-sea sediments off the Washington margin

The significance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) for nitrogen removal in deep continental margin sediments was studied with 15N amendments to suboxic sediments collected from 2800–3100-m water depth at eight sites in the Cascadia Basin (eastern North Pacific Ocean). Consistent with earlier data from deep continental margin sediments, pore-water distributions of inorganic N indicated NH z removal from suboxic zone sediments, likely due to reaction with nitrate. Anammox rates estimated from suboxic sediment incubations with 15N-labled substrates ranged between 0.065 and 1.7 nmol N mL21 h21 (wet sediment), which suggested that anammox was responsible for the observed NH z removal. Anammox and denitrification rates derived from NH z and NO { pore-water profiles were 32–82 mmol N m 22 d21 and 50–110 m mol Nm 22 d21, respectively. The average contribution of anammox to total N2 production was 40% (15N-amended sediment incubations) to 42% (flux from pore-water inorganic N), which does not support earlier reports that suggested that the relative importance of anammox increased with water depth and thereby should dominate over denitrification at depths greater than 1000 m.
Multiple reputation domains and cooperative behaviour in two Latin American communities

Reputations are a ubiquitous feature of human social life, and a large literature has been dedicated to explaining the relationship between prosocial reputations and cooperation in social dilemmas. However, humans form reputations in domains other than prosociality, such as economic competency that could affect cooperation. To date, no research has evaluated the relative effects of multiple reputation domains on cooperation. To bridge this gap, we analyse how prosocial and competency reputations affect cooperation in two Latin American communities (Bwa Mawego, Dominica, and Pucucanchita, Peru) across a number of social contexts (Dominica: labour contracting, labour exchange and conjugal partnership formation; Peru: agricultural and health advice network size). First, we examine the behavioural correlates of prosocial and competency reputations. Following, we analyse whether prosocial, competency, or both reputation domains explain the flow of cooperative benefits within the two communities. Our analyses suggest that (i) although some behaviours affect both reputation domains simultaneously, each reputation domain has a unique behavioural signature; and (ii) competency reputations affect cooperation across a greater number of social contexts compared to prosocial reputations. Results are contextualized with reference to the social markets in which behaviour is embedded and a call for greater theory development is stressed.
Modeling Child Divergences from Adult Grammar

During the course of first language acquisition, children produce linguistic forms that do not conform to adult grammar. In this paper, we introduce a data set and approach for systematically modeling this child-adult grammar divergence. Our corpus consists of child sentences with corrected adult forms. We bridge the gap between these forms with a discriminatively reranked noisy channel model that translates child sentences into equivalent adult utterances. Our method outperforms MT and ESL baselines, reducing child error by 20%. Our model allows us to chart specific aspects of grammar development in longitudinal studies of children, and investigate the hypothesis that children share a common developmental path in language acquisition.
Security, Privacy and Politics in India: A Historical Review

Much is discussed about privacy laws in developed economies such as The US, EU, Japan, Canada, and Australia. However, not many studies have focused on privacy laws that are evolving in emerging economies such as India. As the economy becomes global and companies resort to global outsourcing, much of the data of clients, customers and common citizens are slowly being dispersed around the world for processing, analyzing and simple storage. Therefore, developing countries that handle such data are no longer exempt from the privacy concerns associated with them. This paper studies and critically analyzes the evolution of privacy laws in India. India, being a democracy of 1.2 billion people, is an especially interesting 'subject' to study in this regard. The study offers an illustration of the interactions of security, privacy and politics of its citizens, interest groups, security agencies and politicians - as they all mash together, constantly reposition themselves, pressure and compromise with each other to arrive at ways to define and protect privacy while not compromising on security.
Structure-Based Derivation of Protein Folding Intermediates and Energies from Optical Tweezers

Optical tweezers (OTs) measure the force-dependent time-resolved extension of a single macromolecule tethered between two trapped beads. From this measurement, it is possible to determine the folding intermediates, energies, and kinetics of the macromolecule. Previous data analysis generally has used the extension as a reaction coordinate to characterize the observed folding transitions. Despite its convenience, the extension poorly describes folding in the absence of force. Here, we chose the contour length of the unfolded polypeptide as a reaction coordinate and modeled the extensions of protein structures along their predicted folding pathways based on high-resolution structures of the proteins in their native states. We included the extension in our model to calculate the total extensions, energies, and transition rates of the proteins as a function of force. We fit these calculations to the corresponding experimental measurements and obtained the best-fit conformations and energies of proteins in different folding states. We applied our method to analyze single-molecule trajectories of two representative protein complexes responsible for membrane fusion, the HIV-1 glycoprotein 41 and the synaptic SNARE proteins, which involved transitions between two and five states, respectively. Nonlinear fitting of the model to the experimental data revealed the structures of folding intermediates and transition states and their associated energies. Our results demonstrate that the contour length is a useful reaction coordinate to characterize protein folding and that intrinsic extensions of protein structures should be taken into account to properly derive the conformations and energies of protein folding intermediates from single-molecule manipulation experiments.
Degenerative systems

The purpose of this short paper is to provide motivation for the further theoretical development of system and control theory for a class of systems termed degenerative systems - systems that eventually terminate, cease to exist, or self-destruct. Following some practical motivation - to the effect that such systems are actually of industrial interest, a brief overview of some relevant existing system concepts is provided, and then some open questions are posed.
Radiative reactions in halo effective field theory

In this article we review the recent progress in radiative reaction calculations in halo effective field theory. We look at radiative capture and breakup processes that involve a halo nucleus with a single valence neutron or proton. Looking at 7Li(n,γ) 8Li,14C(n,γ)15C and related reactions, the dominant source of theoretical uncertainty in s- and p-wave halo nuclei reaction calculations is quantified in a model-independent framework. The analysis for neutron halos is extended to proton halo systems. The effective field theory results quantify which observable parameters of the strong interaction at low energy need to be determined more precisely for accurate cross-section calculations.
Disabilities, Enhancements, and the Meanings of Sports

What, if anything, do organized sports owe individuals who are seeking to be the best [they] can possibly be? This article explores that question in two dimensions. First, it examines the consequences for organized sports of statutory rights given to persons with disabilities. It then looks at the legal and policy issues raised by individuals' attempts to enhance their athletic success in various ways. It then urges that neither the questions posed by disability nor those posed by enhancement can be answered without addressing deeper questions about the various meanings we put on fair competition in sports. As to disability, it concludes that the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to sports in the Casey Martin case was generally appropriate, although the Supreme Court's decision does leave open some hard questions. As to enhancement, it questions whether a strong case can be made for singling out for negative treatment performance-enhancing drugs from among all the ways in which top athletes enhance themselves. It suggests we may want to think harder about other ways to deal with such pharmacological enhancements.
Freezing/Melting Transition of Physically Restricted n-Decane

We undertook differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements at 170 K < T < 300 K on n-decane, physically confined in 8 nm (= diameter D) porous silica derivatized with various functional groups, to understand how surface structure of the confining media affects the freezing or melting transition of the n-decane. Though we observed a typical depression (ΔT) in the freezing or melting transition temperature of the physically confined decane, our results failed to manifest usual linear dependence of ΔT on D−1 when the expected contraction in D, due to the presence of aminopropyl-, hexyl-, phenyl- or trimethyl-groups on the silica surface, was taken into account. However, it is worth noting that a linear behavior was observed between ΔT and D−1 if only alkane-chain derivatized hosts were considered. Our results also indicate that a large fraction of physically confined n-decane (35 to 70 %), depending on the host silica, does not participate either in the melting or freezing transition. The most interesting behavior observed in the present study is the occurrence of the unusual two peaks associated with the freezing transition of physically confined decane. This bimodal behavior is strongly dependent on the chemistry of the confining silica host’s surface.
Low Torque Pulsation and High Power Control of Parmanent Magnet Motor with Distorted Electromotive Force

This paper describes low torque pulsation and high power control of parmanent magnet synchro-nous motor (PM motor) with distorted electromotive force (emf).The experimental model of PM motor is 40kW, 190r/min, salient-pole, six-phase machine. An individual single-phase transistor inverter is connected to each phase of PM motor as a power source. By adopting full pitch and concentrated winding in the armature of the motor, the rate of flux utilization and output torque per mass can be increased. This winding causes trapezoidal distortion in the phase voltage waveform at no load. For realization of high peformance control of PM motor, the current waveform should be determined so as to minimize torque pulsation and maximize the output torque of the motor under the rated current.This paper proposes the method to determine the optimum current waveform. The currents and emf's are expressed as N-dimensional vectors (N: the number of phase). Due to the characteristics of the paticular structure of the motor, the armature reaction is small enough to be neglected. In this case, the optimum current vector can be derived under two conditions; (1) the direction of the current vector always agrees with that of the emf vector, and (2) the scalar product of the two vectors is held constant. Supplying the optimum current vector provides no torque pulsation and the nearly maximum output torque under the rated current. This method also can derive the new optimum current corresponding to open-phase operation.Validity of the method is experimentally confirmed. The characteristics of the experimental model of PM motor is also described in this paper.
Room-Temperature Carbonization of Poly(diiododiacetylene) by Reaction with Lewis Bases

Poly(diiododiacetylene) (PIDA) is a conjugated polymer containing an all-carbon backbone and only iodine atom substituents. Adding a Lewis base to the blue PIDA suspension at room temperature leads first to rapid disappearance of the absorption peaks attributed to PIDA, followed more slowly by release of free iodine. The resulting solid material gives a Raman scattering spectrum consistent with graphitic carbon, and it has a much higher conductivity than PIDA itself. Further investigation has led to the discovery of a previously unreported transformation, the reaction of a Lewis base such as pyrrolidine with a trans-diiodoalkene to form the corresponding alkyne. The generality of this iodine elimination further suggests that reaction of PIDA with Lewis bases dehalogenates the polymer, presenting a new method to prepare carbon nanomaterials at room temperature under very mild conditions.
Interventions for Varicose Veins: Beyond Ablation

Minimally invasive endothermal treatments have replaced surgical ligation and stripping in the management of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and are now considered the standard of care. Newer techniques have emerged in the last few years in an attempt to further minimize the procedural discomfort associated with endothermal procedures. These new techniques are designed to avoid tumescent anesthesia (TA). These new non-thermal, tumescentless techniques are well tolerated and are shown to result in equivalent outcomes when compared to the thermal ablations. Since there is no data to support the argument that one of these therapies is truly superior to another, selection of a particular thermal or non-thermal technique is dependent on patient and physician preferences. Adoption of a particular non-thermal procedure is also dependent on other factors such as the learning curve, initial setup costs, overall cost-effectiveness and reimbursement. Once the reimbursement issues are resolved and durability is confirmed, these techniques have the potential to become the new standard of care for the management of CVI.
Asymmetric effect of institutional distance: MNE subsidiaries' bribery in transition economies

I examine how the corruption distance affects MNE subsidiaries' bribing patterns in 24 transition economies. This study challenges the conventional conceptualisation of institutional distance in prior research by adopting asymmetric features of corruption distance. The study finds that the higher the corruption difference, the less likely an MNE subsidiary is to bribe government officials when the subsidiary comes from less corrupt countries, but the more likely the subsidiary is to bribe when it comes from more corrupt countries than the host countries. It indicates that the distance effect of corruption distance is not symmetric but asymmetric.
Presence of Toxic Factors in Urine from Schizophrenic Subjects

Mice injected intraventricularly with toxic substances extracted from urine exhibited differential behavioral changes of novel character. Extracts from schizophrenics showed significantly more toxicity than those from nonschizophrenics. Further purification by a chromatographic procedure indicated that at least two currently unidentified active components are present.
Calculations for reproducible autologous skin cell-spray grafting

Non-cultured, autologous cell-spray grafting is an alternative to mesh grafting for larger partial- and deep partial-thickness burn wounds. The treatment uses a suspension of isolated cells, from a patient's donor site skin tissue, and cell-spray deposition onto the wound that facilitates re-epithelialization. Existing protocols for therapeutic autologous skin cell isolation and cell-spray grafting have defined the donor site area to treatment area ratio of 1:80, substantially exceeding the coverage of conventional mesh grafting. However, ratios of 1:100 are possible by maximizing the wound treatment area with harvested cells from a given donor site skin tissue according to a given burn area. Although cell isolation methods are very well described in the literature, a rational approach addressing critical aspects of these techniques are of interest in planning clinical study protocols. We considered in an experimental study the cell yield as a function of the donor site skin tissue, the cell density for spray grafting, the liquid spray volume, the sprayed distribution area, and the percentage of surface coverage. The experimental data was then used for the development of constants and mathematical equations to give a rationale for the cell isolation and cell-spray grafting processes and in planning for clinical studies.
Influence of Surgeon Volume on Inpatient Complications, Cost, and Length of Stay Following Total Ankle Arthroplasty.

Background:Increased surgeon volume may be associated with improved outcomes following operative procedures. However, there is a lack of information on the effect of surgeon volume on inpatient adverse events and resource utilization following total ankle arthroplasty (TAA).Methods:A retrospective cohort study of TAA patients was performed using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2003 to 2009. High-volume surgeons were considered as those with volume ≥90th percentile of surgeons performing TAA. Multivariate regression was used to compare the rates of adverse events, hospital length of stay, and total hospital charges between surgeon volume categories.Results:A total of 4800 TAA patients were identified. The 90th percentile for surgeon volume was 21 cases per year. Mean length of stay was 2.8 ± 2.3 days and mean hospital charges were $45 963 ± $43 983. On multivariate analysis, high-volume surgeons had decreased overall complications (OR 0.5, P = .034) and rate of medial malleolus fracture (OR 0.1,...
Electronic and nuclear contributions to time-resolved optical and X-ray absorption spectra of hematite and insights into photoelectrochemical performance

Ultrafast time-resolved studies of photocatalytic thin films can provide a wealth of information crucial for understanding and thereby improving the performance of these materials by directly probing electronic structure, reaction intermediates, and charge carrier dynamics. The interpretation of transient spectra, however, can be complicated by thermally induced structural distortions, which appear within the first few picoseconds following excitation due to carrier–phonon scattering. Here we present a comparison of ex situ steady-state thermal difference spectra and transient absorption spectra spanning from NIR to hard X-ray energies of hematite thin films grown by atomic layer deposition. We find that beyond the first 100 picoseconds, the transient spectra measured for all excitation wavelengths and probe energies are almost entirely due to thermal effects as the lattice expands in response to the ultrafast temperature jump and then cools to room temperature on the microsecond timescale. At earlier times, a broad excited state absorption band that is assigned to free carriers appears at 675 nm, and the lifetime and shape of this feature also appear to be mostly independent of excitation wavelength. The combined spectroscopic data, which are modeled with density functional theory and full multiple scattering calculations, support an assignment of the optical absorption spectrum of hematite that involves two LMCT bands that nearly span the visible spectrum. Our results also suggest a framework for shifting the ligand-to-metal charge transfer absorption bands of ferric oxide films from the near-UV further into the visible part of the solar spectrum to improve solar conversion efficiency.
Identifying Effective Strategies in Occupational Therapy to Support Persons With Alzheimer’s Disease and Their Caregivers

Date Presented 4/1/2017This thematic synthesis revealed effective strategies found to improve the quality of life for persons with Alzheimer's disease, reduce caregiver burden by implementing caregiver training, enhance functional performance through environmental modifications, and support engageme
Radialization of the Ulnar Component During Revision Total Elbow Arthroplasty: A Case Report.

Case: Revision total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) is becoming more common. Revision of a failed total elbow prosthesis requires implant removal and replacement. With implant removal, substantial damage to the distal part of the humerus or the proximal part of the ulna can occur. Therefore, reconstruction may require special or custom implants with bone augmentation (e.g., allograft bone graft). This report describes the 9-year follow-up of a man who underwent revision TEA with placement of the ulnar component into the proximal part of the radial shaft (radialization) instead of into the proximal part of the ulnar shaft. Conclusion: Radialization of the ulnar component is a viable reconstruction option for the ulnar component during revision TEA.