cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Self-Assembled Light-Harvesting System from Chromophores in Lipid Vesicles.

Lipid vesicles are used as the organizational structure of self-assembled light-harvesting systems. Following analysis of 17 chromophores, six were selected for inclusion in vesicle-based antennas. The complementary absorption features of the chromophores span the near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared region. Although the overall concentration of the pigments is low (∼1 μM for quantitative spectroscopic studies) in a cuvette, the lipid-vesicle system affords high concentration (≥10 mM) in the bilayer for efficient energy flow from donor to acceptor. Energy transfer was characterized in 13 representative binary mixtures using static techniques (fluorescence–excitation versus absorptance spectra, quenching of donor fluorescence, modeling emission spectra of a mixture versus components) and time-resolved spectroscopy (fluorescence, ultrafast absorption). Binary donor–acceptor systems that employ a boron-dipyrrin donor (S0 ↔ S1 absorption/emission in the blue-green) and a chlorin or bacteriochlorin acc...
The effects of Dexamethasone on CD11b,ICAM-1 content in brain tissue of rats after CPR

Objective To observe the influence of Dexamethasone on the contents of CD11b,ICAM-1 in brain tissue of rats after cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) two hours later.Methods A rat model of cardiac arrest was established by clamping endotracheal tube at the end of expiration.Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into three groups(n = 10 in each): sham-operated group(control group),resuscitation group(CPR group);Dexamethasone treatment group(DXM group).After two hours of spontaneous circulation recovery,the contents of CD11b,ICAM-1 in brain tissue of rats were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay(ELISA).Results ①The contents of CD11b of CPR group increased significantly than control group,P 0.01,(620.488±38.723) ng/mg versus(453.189±121.403) ng/mg,The contents of CD11b of DXM group increased significantly than CPR group,P 0.01,(770.060±156.847) ng/mg versus(620.488±38.723) ng/mg.②The contents of ICAM-1 of CPR group increased significantly than control group,P 0.01,(207.448±37.279) ng/mg versus(113.447±31.116) ng/mg,The contents of ICAM-1 of DXM group increased significantly than CPR group,P 0.01,(283.838±96.326) ng/mg versus(207.448±37.279) ng/mg.Conclusions At the early stage of CPR,the contents of CD11b,ICAM-1 in brain tissue were higher.DXM could increase the contents of CD11b,ICAM-1.
Study on the Pear Assisted Pollination Time,Flowers Ordinal and Method

In order to improve the 'Cuiguan' pear fruit-bearing rate and fruit quality,the pollination capability of stigma,pollination temperature,pollination flowers ordinal and pollination method were studied.The results showed that when peripheral three inflorescence were pollinated,using pollination gun,from 8 a.m.to 3 p.m.within 3 flowering days without low temperature and frost weather,the pollination fruit-bearing rate,fruit comprehensive quality and economic benefit were the best.
Role of the thymus in histiocytosis-X.

An increasing number of reports have demonstrated that patients with histiocytosis-X show significant morphologic changes in the thymus gland. The changes include severe dysplasia, dysmorphia, and severe nonspecific involution. These findings are present in all children with histiocy-tosis-X who die, but can be found even when the disease is limited to one bone and is not fatal.
Socio-economic Issues Arising from Immigration in Receiving Countries

The past 30 years have seen an unpredicted and large increase in international migration that now encompasses almost all countries, to some extent, either as senders or receivers. Social scientists did not expect this pattern. Demographers claimed that the era of large-scale international migration was over; populations would be shaped in the future largely by their fertility and mortality dynamics (Davis, 1947). Sociologists abandoned their traditional studies of immigrant assimilation and integration; economists redirected attention from the relations between capital, trade and labour flows between countries towards the microeconomics of labour. But even in the 1950s and 1960s, when these shifts were under way in the social sciences, the elements of the ‘new’ pattern of international migration were unfolding. While large-scale transcontinental migrations of permanent settlers were scarce, the magnitude of temporary mobility of persons for work, business, study and other purposes was on the rise.
Phase-Specific Raman Analysis of n-Alkane Melting by Moving-Window Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy.

We use moving-window two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (MW-2DCOS) for phase-specific Raman analysis of the n-alkane (C21H44) during melting from the crystalline solid phase to the intermediate rotator phase and to the amorphous molten phase. In MW-2DCOS, individual peak-to-peak correlation analysis within a small subset of spectra provides both temperature-resolved and spectrally disentangled Raman assignments conducive to understanding phase-specific molecular interactions and chain configurations. We demonstrate that autocorrelation MW-2DCOS can determine the phase transition temperatures with a higher resolving power than commonly used analysis methods including individual peak intensity analysis or principal component analysis. Besides the enhanced temperature resolving power, we demonstrate that asynchronous 2DCOS near the orthorhombic-to-rotator transition temperature can spectrally resolve the two overlapping peaks embedded in the Raman CH2 twisting band in the orthorhombic phase, which had been only predicted but not observed because of thermal broadening near the melting temperature. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Analysis of Organic Compounds Trapped in Coal, and Coal Oxidation Products

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the techniques applied to a variety of problems and used for the study of coals and coal products. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an exceedingly useful analytical tool for the organic chemist. The chapter presents the analysis of trapped organic compounds in coals and pyrolysis products analysis of oxidation products. The identification of the aromatic units indigenous to the coal macromolecules obtained by these selective oxidative degradations is an important step in elucidation of the structures of coals. This information is very useful for understanding the chemistry in coal conversion processes and in the search for new methods for converting coal. The chapter also discusses the determination of aromaticity of coal by fluorination.
Fermilab Computing at the Intensity Frontier

The Intensity Frontier refers to a diverse set of particle physics experiments using high- intensity beams. In this paper I will focus the discussion on the computing requirements and solutions of a set of neutrino and muon experiments in progress or planned to take place at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory located near Chicago, Illinois. The experiments face unique challenges, but also have overlapping computational needs. In principle, by exploiting the commonality and utilizing centralized computing tools and resources, requirements can be satisfied efficiently and scientists of individual experiments can focus more on the science and less on the development of tools and infrastructure.
Building Inclusion: Toward an Aging- and Disability-Friendly City.

The authors reflect on place-based public health interventions, urbanization, and longevity in relation to a call for American cities to enhance the quality of life for aging and disabled individuals as of 2016. The World Health Organization's Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Livable Communities programs are examined, along with Aging and Disability Friendly San Francisco organization and disability-friendly buildings and spaces.
Anisotropic Superpixel Generation Based on Mahalanobis Distance

Superpixels have been widely used as a preprocessing step in various computer vision tasks. Spatial compactness and color homogeneity are the two key factors determining the quality of the superpixel representation. In this paper, these two objectives are considered separately and anisotropic superpixels are generated to better adapt to local image content. We develop a unimodular Gaussian generative model to guide the color homogeneity within a superpixel by learning local pixel color variations. It turns out maximizing the log-likelihood of our generative model is equivalent to solving a Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation (CVT) problem. Moreover, we provide the theoretical guarantee that the CVT result is invariant to affine illumination change, which makes our anisotropic superpixel generation algorithm well suited for image/video analysis in varying illumination environment. The effectiveness of our method in image/video superpixel generation is demonstrated through the comparison with other state-of-the-art methods.
The Plant Membrane and Its Response to Disease

Increased electrolyte leakage in numerous host-pathogen combinations has led to the concept that “changes in permeability appear to be universally characteristic of diseased plant tissue regardless of disease type or the nature of the pathogenic agent” (Wheeler, 1978). A change in membrane permeability is one of the first detectable symptoms. In some studies with toxic pathogen-produced metabolites (phytotoxins) that reproduce disease symptoms of pathogens, e.g., Cochliobolus victoriae toxin (victorin), permeability alterations were found shortly after contact with the host cells was established. It was hypothesized that all subsequent pathological changes may be triggered by this primary event (Wheeler and Luke, 1963). Because the plasma membrane is the first site of interaction between invading microorganisms and the plant protoplast, it became obvious that the plasma membrane plays an important role in disease development. This role was suggested to be even more dramatic in the case of host-selective toxins, toxins injurious only to hosts susceptible to the parental fungal species, because the plasma membrane participates in the recognition process (Daly, 1984). It is becoming more obvious, however, that massive electrolyte leakage may result from general cell injury rather than from the alterations of specific sites at the plasma membrane (e.g., damage caused by oxygen free radical-induced membrane lipid peroxidation) (Thompson et al., 1987).
The Leveraging of Corporate America: A Long‐Run Perspective on Changes in Capital Structure

In a study published recently in the Journal of Financial Economics, the authors of this article documented a substantial increase in the use of debt financing by U.S. companies over the past century. From 1920 until the mid-1940s, the aggregate leverage of unregulated U.S. companies was low and stable, with the average debt-to-capital ratio staying within the narrow range of 10% to 15%. But during the next 25 years, the use of debt by U.S. companies more than doubled, rising to 35% of total capital. And since 1970, aggregate leverage has remained above 35%, peaking at 47% in 1992. Moreover, this pattern has been observed in companies of all sizes and operating in all unregulated sectors. Changes in the characteristics of U.S. public companies during this period provide little help in explaining the increase in corporate leverage. For example, the displacement of tangible by intangible assets in many sectors of the U.S. economy during the past 50 years would have led most economists to predict, holding all other things equal, a reduction rather than an increase in aggregate corporate leverage. Instead, according to the authors' findings, the main contributors to the increases in U.S. corporate leverage since the 1940s have been external changes, including increases in corporate income tax rates, the development of financial markets and intermediaries, and the reduction in government borrowing in the decades following World War II. The authors' analysis also identifies these last two changes—the development of financial markets, including the rise of institutional investors and shareholder activism, and the post-War reduction in government debt—as having played the biggest roles in the leveraging of corporate America.
Extrapulmonary Findings and Malignancies in Participants Screened With Chest CT in the National Lung Screening Trial.

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of clinically significant extrapulmonary findings on chest CT for lung cancer screening in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). Methods Prospectively acquired data on 17,309 participants who underwent low-dose screening chest CT from August 2002 through September 2007 during the NLST were retrospectively analyzed for extrapulmonary findings. NLST radiologist readers coded such findings as "minor" or "potentially significant." On the basis of review of recorded text descriptions, extrapulmonary findings were assigned to five organ groupings (cardiovascular, thyroid, adrenal, renal, and hepatobiliary). Extrapulmonary malignancies diagnosed during screening were also identified from medical and vital status records in the same population. The prevalence rates of organ-specific findings and newly diagnosed extrapulmonary malignancies were calculated. Exemption from human subjects research review was obtained. Results Extrapulmonary findings were noted in 58.7% of CT-screened participants, and 19.6% had findings coded as potentially significant. The prevalence of potentially significant abnormalities was highest for cardiovascular findings (8.5%), followed by renal (2.4%), hepatobiliary (2.1%), adrenal (1.2%), and thyroid (0.6%) findings. Sixty-seven of 17,309 participants (0.39%) had primary extrathoracic cancers diagnosed during screening. The prevalence of cancers among screened participants was 0.26% (n = 45) for kidney, 0.08% (n = 14) for thyroid, and 0.05% (n = 8) for liver cancers. Conclusions One in five patients screened with CT for lung cancer will have extrapulmonary findings potentially requiring further evaluation. Indiscriminate workups of incidental extrapulmonary findings could place a significant burden on the health care system with little benefit because extrapulmonary malignancies diagnosed during screening are uncommon. Radiologists reporting screening CT should be familiar with existing recommendations for incidental findings from the ACR white papers.
Radar Kinematic Information as a Surrogate for Isentropes in Stratiform Precipitation Systems

AbstractThis study illustrates that dual-Doppler-derived wind shear (vertical gradient of the horizontal wind) in stratiform, nonturbulent flow is structured in long, thin striations. The reason this has not been documented before is that scanning ground-based radars have inadequate vertical resolution, deteriorating with range. Here data from an airborne radar with a fine, range-independent vertical resolution are used. A comparison of the radar-derived wind shear with model output of isentropes in vertical transects in the comma head of two frontal disturbances suggests that the wind shear layers describe material surfaces. Model output itself further confirms the alignment of isentropes with wind shear in vertical transects. Thus, Doppler-radar-derived wind shear (a kinematic conserved variable) may serve as a suitable proxy for thermodynamic conserved variables such as equivalent potential temperature in stratiform precipitation. Furthermore, the presence of shear striations in vertical transects can ...
Corporate Governance: The Jack Wright Series (7) the Board-Management Relationship

There are many aspects of relationships between the board and management that are determined on a best effort basis. That is, the rules and by-laws of the company cannot prespecify the detailed workings of the intersecting interests. Our system of capitalism depends on the good faith efforts of all concerned to derive effective working relationships. This case provides for a discussion of these issues in the context of Jack Wright and Mega Corporation. Excerpt UVA-OM-1089 Rev. May 13, 2011 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: The Jack Wright Series (7) The Board–Management Relationship Wright's Perceptions of the Mega Board Jack Wright had been on the board of Mega Corporation for almost a year and was confident in his assessment of the ways in which the board and the corporate organization functioned. He recognized some pluses: a strong balance sheet, several good businesses, and some others that could be sold. He also saw, however, a number of issues that were not being addressed but needed to be. . . .
Calvarial bone development and suture closure in Dicer-deficient mice.

Objective To evaluate whether lack of Dicer during calvaria development would lead to dysmorphology of calvaria and suture closure in mice. Materials and methods A conditional Dicer deficient under Osx promoter mouse was employed in this study. The 4- and 10-week-old conditional Dicer-deficient mice control littermates and Osx-cre transgenic mice were studied for calvarial bone morphology and suture closure. Dry skull, microcomputed tomography (μCT), histological and gene expression studies were investigated to evaluate the effect of Dicer deficiency on calvarial bone morphology and their related genes during calvaria development. Results The results elucidated that complete suture closure was observed in 10-week-old conditional Dicer-deficient mice while incomplete closure suture was observed in age-matched Osx-cre control mice. The μCT and histological sections demonstrated complete fusion of posterior frontal suture and dysmorphic calvarial bones in Dicer deficient mice compared to the ones in their littermates and age-matched Osx-cre control mice. Gene expression study demonstrated significantly increased expression of suture and calvarial bone-related genes, that is Tgf-beta family, Bmp3, Msx2, Alx4, Runx2 and Osx in Dicer-deficient mice during suture closure time. Conclusions The results suggest mature miRNAs are important for suture closure and calvarial morphology during calvaria development.
Dark Triad Personality Traits in Cyber Aggression Among College Students

Despite evidence supporting the importance of cyber aggression among early adolescents (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015), we know less about its correlates among college students. The present study examined the relationships of Dark Triad personality traits to cyber aggression in a college student sample (N = 297). Machiavellian, narcissistic (both grandiose and vulnerable forms), and psychopathic traits positively related to cyber aggression perpetration. A hierarchical multiple regression including gender, age, and Dark Triad traits found that only the erratic lifestyle component of psychopathic traits explained unique variance in cyber aggression perpetration. Gender did not moderate the relationships between Dark Triad traits and cyber aggression. These findings add to the literature on cyber aggression among college students, suggesting that psychopathic traits are a useful predictor.
Modeling of Phase-Change Memory: Nucleation, Growth, and Amorphization Dynamics During Set and Reset: Part II—Discrete Grains

We extend our finite-element model of nucleation, growth, and amorphization in phase-change memory devices to model discrete nucleation and grain boundaries, including the evolution of grains within fully crystalline material during long-term anneals. Electrothermal simulations of set and reset operations include a heat of crystallization model and an Arrhenius expression modeling thermionic emission at grain boundaries. Our simulations capture cycle-to-cycle variations due to stochastic nucleation and the interplay of crystallization, the formation of percolation paths, and thermal runaway.
Inherited dystonias: clinical features and molecular pathways

Recent decades have witnessed dramatic increases in understanding of the genetics of dystonia - a movement disorder characterized by involuntary twisting and abnormal posture. Hampered by a lack of overt neuropathology, researchers are investigating isolated monogenic causes to pinpoint common molecular mechanisms in this heterogeneous disease. Evidence from imaging, cellular, and murine work implicates deficiencies in dopamine neurotransmission, transcriptional dysregulation, and selective vulnerability of distinct neuronal populations to disease mutations. Studies of genetic forms of dystonia are also illuminating the developmental dependence of disease symptoms that is typical of many forms of the disease. As understanding of monogenic forms of dystonia grows, a clearer picture will develop of the abnormal motor circuitry behind this relatively common phenomenology. This chapter focuses on the current data covering the etiology and epidemiology, clinical presentation, and pathogenesis of four monogenic forms of isolated dystonia: DYT-TOR1A, DYT-THAP1, DYT-GCH1, and DYT-GNAL.
Improving the Efficiency of Big Forensic Data Analysis Using NoSQL

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) makes the task for digital forensic more difficult. At the same time, the data analyzing technology is also developing in a feasible pace. Where traditional Structured Query Language (SQL) is not adequate to analyze the data in an unstructured and semi-structured format, Not only Standard Query Language (NoSQL) unfastens the access to analyzing the data of all format. The large volume of data of IoTs turns into Big Data which just do not enhance the probability of attaining of evidence of an incident but make the investigation process more complex. This paper aims to analyze Big Data for Digital Forensic (DF) investigation using NoSQL. MongoDB has been used to analyze Big Forensic Data in the form of document-oriented database. The proposed solution is capable of analyzing Big Forensic Data in the form of NoSQL more specifically document oriented data in a cost-effective, efficient way as all the tools is being used are open source.
Understanding the effect of room parameters on acoustic time reversal

Time Reversal (TR) is a technique used to focus an acoustic signal at a particular point in space. Of the many variables that contribute to the quality of TR focusing, the most important are the number of sound sources, signal bandwidth. and properties of the medium. Although much research has been done to quantify the effects that the number of sound sources and signal bandwidth have on the TR process, little has been done in regard to the effect that room parameters have on TR. This is largely due to the difficulty involved with changing room acoustic parameters to measure their effects. We use the image source method (using the algorithm proposed by Allen and Berkley) to simulate the TR process in a variety of rooms with different acoustic and geometric room parameters. We define and calculate the maximum focal amplitude, the temporal focus quality and the spatial focus quality for each simulation. We compare the results and determine the effects of absorption and room volume on TR. We find that less absorption improves max response and spatial quality while it decreases temporal quality and that larger volumes have decreased max response and spatial quality while having increased temporal quality.Time Reversal (TR) is a technique used to focus an acoustic signal at a particular point in space. Of the many variables that contribute to the quality of TR focusing, the most important are the number of sound sources, signal bandwidth. and properties of the medium. Although much research has been done to quantify the effects that the number of sound sources and signal bandwidth have on the TR process, little has been done in regard to the effect that room parameters have on TR. This is largely due to the difficulty involved with changing room acoustic parameters to measure their effects. We use the image source method (using the algorithm proposed by Allen and Berkley) to simulate the TR process in a variety of rooms with different acoustic and geometric room parameters. We define and calculate the maximum focal amplitude, the temporal focus quality and the spatial focus quality for each simulation. We compare the results and determine the effects of absorption and room volume on TR. We find that less a...
Evaluation of Torque Measurement Surrogates as Applied to Grip Torque and Jaw Angle Estimation of Robotic Surgical Tools

The estimation of grip force for surgical tools such as the da Vinci has been shown to be valuable in possible applications such as haptics, tissue identification, and surgical training. Successful estimation attempts have been previously demonstrated, but utilize customized sensors; this letter aims to provide an estimate considering only typical sensor streams already present in commercially available surgical robots. The objective of this letter is to evaluate three proximal-end torque surrogate methods in their abilities to estimate distal-end states. The estimates are compared with previously reported results found in literature and the percent difference between the customized sensor approach and previous standards is reported. The most effective surrogates for proximal-end torque were commanded motor current and measured motor current. The jaw angle estimate resulted in 0.37 degree root mean square error, and the distal-end torque estimate resulted in 4.42 mNm RMSE, which compares favorably to existing literature approaches.
Thomas Jech: The Axiom of Choice

This chapter discusses a theorem by Jech on a finitary version of the Axiom of Choice. A bootstrapping trick for constructing finite choice functions may have other applications in theory.
Management and Environmental Influences on Mammary Gland Development and Milk Production

The vast majority of mammary growth occurs postnatally. For example, in dairy cows mammary parenchymal mass increases approximately 10,000-fold, from less than 0.5 g per gland at birth to approximately 5.5 kg during lactation, and the mammary epithelium differentiates from a primitive branching ductal network to a fully differentiated lobuloalveolar network that is capable of synthesising copious quantities of milk. These growth and developmental processes are hormonally regulated, but also involve extensive interactions among cell types (e.g. stromal, epithelial, myoepithelial, stem and progenitor cells) and local regulation by paracrine/autocrine factors. Appropriate nutrient intake and balance is important for mammary growth and development, and these processes may be influenced by under- or over-nutrition. Because of interactions between the environment and the endocrine system, mammary development and differentiation can be influenced by additional factors such as bioactive substances in feed and by photoperiod. Ultimately, milk yield is determined by the number of fully differentiated mammary epithelial cells and by homeorhetic mechanisms that regulate functions of other organs to support milk production.
Capturing the variable reactivity of goethites in surface complexation modeling by correlating model parameters with specific surface area

Abstract The development of predictive tools capable of simulating adsorption behavior on goethite (α-FeOOH) surfaces has evolved over the past several decades. Recent research has focused on capturing the variation of surface reactivity and adsorption behavior for different preparations of synthetic goethites. In this research, an approach to estimate modeling parameters based on the specific surface area (SSA) of goethites was established and combined with a Charge Distribution – Multi-site Complexation (CD-MUSIC) surface complexation model. It was assumed that differences in crystal face contributions (CFC), inner-Helmholtz capacitances (C1), and protonation constants of surface oxygens (pKa’s) among different preparations of goethite contribute to the variation of surface reactivity. Thus, correlations of these modeling parameters with the SSA of a range of goethites were identified by comprehensively combining microscopic, macroscopic, and modeling data reported in literature along with adsorption data collected from macroscopic experiments conducted as part of this study. A CD-MUSIC model shown to be capable of accurately predicting adsorption for several metal ions and oxyanion selenite on a 62.9 m2/g SSA goethite served as the basis for the development of the adsorption modeling approach described in this paper. The predictive capability of the newly developed modeling approach was verified by comparing predictions of protons, SeO32−, and Cd2+ adsorption with experimental data from goethites with SSAs ranging between 21.3 and 105 m2/g; in total, 40 adsorption data sets from 13 different goethites were used for model verification. The results from this study indicate that the variation of surface reactivity of goethites can be successfully simulated by changing CFC, C1, and pK2,singly (i.e. second protonation constant of singly-coordinated oxygens on the goethite surface) based on the SSA, which implies that self-consistent adsorption parameters can be applied to predict adsorption behavior over a range of goethite preparations.
Contemporary Treatment of Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) affects 2.4% of the adult population in the United States and is associated with high health care costs. Medical and device therapy delay disease progression and improve survival in HF with reduced ejection fraction. Stage D HF is characterized by significant functional limitation, frequent HF hospitalization for decompensation, intolerance of medical therapy, use of inotropes, and high diuretic requirement. Advanced therapies with left ventricular assist devices and cardiac transplantation reduce mortality and improve quality of life, and early referral to specialized centers is imperative for patient selection and success with these therapies.
Home study course: Spring 2002.

Objective The Home Study Course is intended for the practicing colposcopist or practitioner who is seeking to develop or enhance his or her colposcopic skills. The goal of the course is to present colposcopic cases that are unusual or instructive in terms of appearance, presentation, or management or that demonstrate new and important knowledge in the area of colposcopy or pathology. Participants may benefit from reading and studying the material or from testing their knowledge by answering the questions. Accme accreditation The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. The ASCCP designates this continuing medical education activity for 1 credit hour in Category I of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. Credit is available for those who choose to apply. The Home Study Course is planned and produced in accordance with the ACCME's Essential Areas and Elements.
Economic and Hierarchical Control Multi-Thermal Load for Bidding Ancillary Service

This paper proposes an economic and hierarchical control approach for multi-thermal loads, such as commercial buildings, to participate the ancillary service market. In the first control layer, the commercial building envelopes are produced by resistance and capacitance (RC) model. The building heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption are controlled based on the outdoor air temperature, zone temperature constrains and electrical market clearing price (MCP). The Second control layer formulates an optimal bidding strategy based on PJM dynamic regulation signal (RegD) and HVAC power signal from first layer. As the HVAC energy model is highly non-linear and the energy response speed of building thermal mass is slow, a decoupling method is developed to balance both hourly-planning energy capacity and secondly-performance frequency regulation capacity. The multi-thermal building HVAC system is the load for power system and its air flow subsystem is designed as a fast response and flexible control source for bidding regulation service. Finally, the proposed control approach is tested based on simulation for a 20-thermal zone building. At the same time, the HVAC air system performance is tested based on the 2014 PJM ancillary service clearing price and 2014 PJM RegD signal.
Production of Charm with a Photon at $p\bar{p}$ Colliders

The two particle inclusive cross section for the reaction $p\bar{p}\rightarrow \gamma+c+X$ is studied in perturbative quantum chromodynamics at order $O(\alpha_s^2)$. Differential distributions are provided for various observables, and a comparison is made with preliminary data from the CDF collaboration.
Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) risk variant toxicity depends on the haplotype background

The Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) risk variants G1 and G2 are associated with high rates of kidney disease in African Americans in genetic studies. However, our understanding of APOL1 biology has lagged far behind. Here we report that engineering G1 and G2 mutations on unnatural haplotype backgrounds instead of on the specific G1 and G2 haplotype backgrounds that occur in nature profoundly alters APOL1-mediated cytotoxicity in experimental systems. Thus, in addition to helping resolve some important controversies in the APOL1 field, our demonstration of the critical influence of haplotype background may apply more generally to the study of other genetic variants that cause or predispose to human disease.
Beyond Energy Metabolism: Exploiting the Additional Roles of NAMPT for Cancer Therapy

Tumor cells have increased requirements for NAD+. Thus, many cancers exhibit an increased reliance on NAD+ production pathways. This dependence may be exploited therapeutically through pharmacological targeting of NAMPT, the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD+ salvage pathway. Despite promising preclinical data using NAMPT inhibitors in cancer models, early NAMPT inhibitors showed limited efficacy in several early phase clinical trials, necessitating the identification of strategies, such as drug combinations, to enhance their efficacy. While the effect of NAMPT inhibitors on impairment of energy metabolism in cancer cells has been well-described, more recent insights have uncovered a number of additional targetable cellular processes that are impacted by inhibition of NAMPT. These include sirtuin function, DNA repair machinery, redox homeostasis, molecular signaling, cellular stemness, and immune processes. This review highlights the recent findings describing the effects of NAMPT inhibitors on the non-metabolic functions of malignant cells, with a focus on how this information can be leveraged clinically. Combining NAMPT inhibitors with other therapies that target NAD+-dependent processes or selecting tumors with specific vulnerabilities that can be co-targeted with NAMPT inhibitors may represent opportunities to exploit the multiple functions of this enzyme for greater therapeutic benefit.
Quarter Wavelength Surface Structures for Improved Operation in Unipolar Capacitive Power Transfer

Unipolar capacitive power transfer is a unique technique that enables power transmission over single conducting surfaces. The counter electrode is generally an earth ground that is physically isolated from users. This improves safety and alleviates many short-circuiting issues that a bipolar (two plate) capacitive system might encounter. Recent work has shown that by designing the unipolar capacitive receiver to operate in a standing wave resonance mode, surface voltages can be significantly lower with greater power transfer capacity and efficiency. One major challenge to this approach is the influence of surrounding objects which detune the receiver when in close proximity - ceasing power transfer to the receiver's attached load. Here we present a method to mitigate the detuning effect by incorporating a network of quarter wave structures under the power transfer surface. The quarter wave structures create a “wave-shaped” electric field distribution that is confined to a 0.3 m distance surrounding the surface. This greatly reduces the open-ended field emissions while lessening the detuning effect of the receiver from nearby objects. The efficiency and power transfer of the system is analyzed based on the operation of a 10 W LED filament lamp. The effects on the output parameters of the power supply in conjunction with the delivered power as the receiver is spatially varied is explored.
Chapter 18 – Excitotoxic neuronal damage and neuropsychiatric disorders

Publisher Summary This chapter describes excitotoxic neuronal damage and neuropsychiatric disorders. Glutamate (Glu) and related excitatory amino acids (EAA) serve as the primary fast excitatory neurotransmitters in the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS) to participate in several forms of synaptic plasticity. Glu is the most likely native transmitter at EAA receptors and among the proposed transmitter candidates, has the highest affinity for N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In addition to NMDA-mediated delayed toxicity, non-NMDA agonists also damage neurons in a Ca2+-dependent fashion during prolonged agonist exposures. This damage can be at least partially attenuated by voltage-gated Ca2+ channel blockers suggesting that the depolarization produced by non-NMDA agonists provides a stimulus for activation of these channels. Metabotropic receptors are associated with neurotoxicity that results from either activation or inhibition of receptors. If the toxins leaked from dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra or from dopaminergic terminals in the striatum into the extracellular space they could promote neuronal degeneration.
Geometry-independent microstructure optimization for electron beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Abstract The ability to manipulate the formation of microstructure is one of the potential advantages of additive manufacturing. Yet, the additive manufacturing process is riddled with complex interactions between processing parameters, geometry, and spot melting sequence which makes the task of controlling microstructure challenging. This paper proposes a method to solve the microstructure texture optimization problem by leveraging established optimization techniques and increasingly fast and accurate analytical heat transfer models. Respectively, we apply two different optimization algorithms, genetic algorithm and concurrent greedy line search, in order to induce arbitrarily shaped microstructure regions and we use a heat transfer model to evaluate the fitness of solutions in an iterative approach that is far more efficient than pure trial and error. The objective of the optimization algorithm is to control local thermal conditions – hence microstructure formation – during the melting process by manipulating the order and the dwell time of all the points of the infill pattern sequence. We then analyze the optimized sequence to determine important path characteristics that affect the microstructure formation. Through examples, we show that relative order and frequency, as measured by weighted average and variance of spot order, are important factors that influence the final characteristics.
The Clot Thickens: Diagnosing Acute Pulmonary Embolism as a Trigger for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation in the Setting of Anticoagulation Failure

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are most commonly triggered by infections, but up to 25% of those that require hospitalization are thought to be triggered by acute pulmonary embolism. We present the case of a 71-year-old patient with a history of unprovoked pulmonary embolisms on anticoagulation therapy hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation. The exacerbation was triggered by an acute pulmonary embolism, representing anticoagulation failure. LEARNING POINTS Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an important trigger of COPD exacerbations and should be considered, especially when there is an unexplained abrupt or recurrent increase in the frequency or severity of exacerbations.Therapeutic anticoagulation does not preclude the presence of PE.Clinical risk stratification is a crucial component of medical decision-making.
Experimental and numerical failure analysis of horizontal axis water turbine carbon fiber-reinforced composite blade

High-performance composites are used in many applications due to their design flexibility, corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, and many other excellent mechanical properties. In this study, the location and magnitude of failure initiation in horizontal axis water turbine carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) blades with different lay-up orientations were investigated. Unidirectional [0°]4 and cross-ply [0°/90°]S layups were selected to study the effect of the buildup direction on the failure of the composite water turbine blades. A finite element analysis (FEA) model was generated to examine the stresses along blade span under both flexural and hydrodynamic loads. Flexural destructive tests were conducted to validate the results obtained from the numerical simulations. In addition, a blade element momentum theory model was created to calculate the hydrodynamic forces acting along the span to determine the maximum loading radial location, which was used for the fixture design and FEA simulation input. Both unidirectional and cross-ply composite blades were tested for failure. There was a general agreement between the experiments and simulations, which validated the results. Moreover, FEA simulations were performed to apply the load to the samples with different pitch angles (−10°, −5°, 0°, 5°, and 10°). Even though the unidirectional CFRP composite blades showed higher strength at 0° pitch angle than the cross-ply blades, the strength of the unidirectional blade dropped significantly when the load was applied with different pitch angles other than 0°, while the strength of the cross-ply blades was less responsive to this pitch angle variation.
Surpassing the resolution limit of adaptive optics imaging in the living human eye by combining annular pupil illumination with sub-Airy disk confocal pinhole detection

High-resolution imaging is essential for understanding retinal diseases. Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) achieves cellular-level resolution through correction of the optical aberrations of the eye. However, the resolution of AOSLO is still limited by the diffraction of light. Here, we combine annular pupil illumination with sub-Airy disk confocal pinhole detection to surpass the diffraction limit. With the improved resolution, both rod photoreceptor and foveal cone mosaics were more readily identifiable in the living human eye.
Invasive Earthworms Alter Forest Soil Microbiomes and Nitrogen Cycling

Abstract Northern hardwood forests in formerly glaciated areas had been free of earthworms until exotic European earthworms were introduced by human activities. The invasion of exotic earthworms is known to dramatically alter soil physical, geochemical, and biological properties, but its impacts on soil microbiomes are still unclear. Here we show that the invasive earthworms alter soil microbiomes and ecosystem functioning, especially for nitrogen cycling. We collected soil samples at different depths from three sites across an active earthworm invasion chronosequence in a hardwood forest in Minnesota, USA. We analyzed the structures and the functional potentials of the soil microbiomes by using amplicon sequencing, high-throughput nitrogen cycle gene quantification (NiCE chip), and shotgun metagenomics. Both the levels of earthworm invasion and soil depth influenced the microbiome structures. In the most recently and minimally invaded soils, Nitrososphaera and Nitrospira as well as the genes related to nitrification were more abundant than in the heavily invaded soils. By contrast, genes related to denitrification and nitrogen fixation were more abundant in the heavily invaded than the minimally invaded soils. Our results suggest that the N cycling in forest soils is mostly nitrification driven before earthworm invasion, whereas it becomes denitrification driven after earthworm invasion.
Person-dependent seizure detection using statistical CUSUM detector: Preliminary results

Abstract Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder, and for at least one- third of epilepsy patients, medications do not adequately control seizures and surgery is the only potential cure. An automated seizure detector that requires a short period of normal EEG would shorten the seizure monitoring durations, decrease the need for manual assessment of large amount of recorded EEG data, and accordingly assist the neurologists focus on improving quality of care. In this work, we propose a novel approach based on the extended cumulative sum test to detect seizures using intracranial EEG. Different than the existing machine learning approaches, this method requires only a short period of normal EEG for training. In addition to a new proposed feature based on partial directed coherence and random graph theory, in this work, previously developed features used to characterize seizures are used as features in cumulative sum test for seizure detection. A total of 33 intracranial EEG recordings collected from a total of 9 patients corresponding to three different datasets have been used for the analysis purposes: (i) the first dataset includes 11 recorded EEG files (~12.5 min) from 4 patients; (ii) the second dataset includes 20 recorded EEG files (~30 min) from 4 patients; and (iii) two 24-hour long EEG files from a single patient. The proposed detector achieved a mean sensitivity and mean specificity for the first (0.77, 0.86), second (0.88, 0.9) and third datasets (0.92, 0.94) respectively. Statistical detection of seizures has shown success in detecting seizures without the need for highly customizable parameters or previously labelled EEG data. The proposed method could be used in real-time at hospital settings with a minimum requirement of training data.
The Design and Evaluation of User-Interface Prototypes for a Next-Generation Dishwasher Mobile Application

Dishwashers have become an integral part of most American households and with the advent of technology, there is an opportunity to integrate smart features such as Wi-Fi connectivity, new user interfaces, and autonomous operation. The focus of our work is to inform the design of a next generation dishwasher. Here we provide research on how the smart technologies may change the paradigm in which users interact with their dishwasher and present an initial mobile prototype based on our research to improve the dishwashing experience. This study included three phases. For phase 1, we gathered data to inform the design of a mobile application prototype that included data information gathering from 31 user interviews, seven user daily-use diary interviews, and 164 questionnaires. For phase 2, we developed a mobile application prototype. For phase 3, we evaluated the mobile application prototype with 10 users. Our results thus far have shown that users are frustrated with the lack of transparency and understanding of all the functions available with their dishwasher, but have positively responded to using a mobile application to improve their understanding of their dishwasher. Overall, we believe that smart technologies have a potential to revolutionize the dishwashing experience; however, we believe that an effective UI design is critical towards that goal.
Compression for recognition and content-based retrieval

Most compression algorithms developed to date aim at achieving the best perceptual quality of the decoded media for the given rate. In this paper we consider several scenarios where the end user of the compressed data is not a human viewer or listener, but rather a known classifier or recognizer. Drawing from applications in speech recognition and image classification, as well as from simple examples, we discuss the new requirements that are imposed on the encoders under these circumstances. Our goal is to motivate the importance, and describe the associated design challenges, of achieving compression optimized for classification/recognition, rather than perceptual quality.