cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Redundancy of the Lempel-Ziv incremental parsing rule

The Lempel-Ziv codes are universal variable-to-fixed length codes that have become virtually standard in practical lossless data compression. For any given source output string from a Markov or unifilar source, we upper-bound the difference between the number of binary digits needed to encode the string and the self-information of the string. We use this result to demonstrate that for unifilar or Markov sources, the redundancy of encoding the first n letters of the source output with the Lempel-Ziv incremental parsing rule (LZ'78), the Welch modification (LZW), or a new variant is O((ln n)/sup -1/), and we upper-bound the exact form of convergence. We conclude by considering the relationship between the code length and the empirical entropy associated with a string.
Segmenting Motions of Different Types by Unsupervised Manifold Clustering

We propose a novel algorithm for segmenting multiple motions of different types from point correspondences in multiple affine or perspective views. Since point trajectories associated with different motions live in different manifolds, traditional approaches deal with only one manifold type: linear subspaces for affine views, and homographic, bilinear and trilinear varieties for two and three perspective views. As real motion sequences contain motions of different types, we cast motion segmentation as a problem of clustering manifolds of different types. Rather than explicitly modeling each manifold as a linear, bilinear or multilinear variety, we use nonlinear dimensionality reduction to learn a low-dimensional representation of the union of all manifolds. We show that for a union of separated manifolds, the LLE algorithm computes a matrix whose null space contains vectors giving the segmentation of the data. An analysis of the variance of these vectors allows us to distinguish them from other vectors in the null space. This leads to a new algorithm for clustering both linear and nonlinear manifolds. Although this algorithm is theoretically designed for separated manifolds, our experiments demonstrate its performance on real data where this assumption does not hold. We test our algorithm on the Hopkins 155 motion segmentation database and achieve an average classification error of 4.8%, which compares favorably against state-of-the art multiframe motion segmentation methods.
Leslie Mulholland on Kant's Rechtslehre

Although legal positivism is still a position to be reckoned with, the fact that philosophers of law are again talking about “natural rights” indicates that positivism is no longer to be taken for granted. One result of this movement is an incipient interest, among English-speaking philosophers, in Kant's theory of rights as presented in The Doctrine of Right, Part I of The Metaphysics of Morals. For the past two decades German Kant scholars have been analyzing and commenting on The Doctrine of Right; but Mulholland's book is, to the best of my knowledge, the first systematic treatment of the theory in English. It is, on the whole, a helpful introduction to the subject, which should be of interest not only to Kant scholars but also to contemporary legal, political and social philosophers.
A Construct Validation of the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ)

Purpose We address concerns regarding the affective-orientation of affective disposition; a personality characteristic assessed using the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ). In addition, we examine the utility of affective disposition while controlling for other affective-oriented personality characteristics.
Hypermedia: Instructional Innovation in Historic Costume

Using key principles of perceptual theory, the researchers examined new instructional methods for presenting visual images of historic costume (in three 5-year increments) to students for analysis and categorization. In addition, principles of cognitive theory provided the basis for examining the effectiveness of the stimuli for each learner. Visual images consisted of different compositions: fashion plates with five figures, single figures, or segments (close-up images of upper, middle, or lower part). The historic costume lesson was developed using hypermedia technology which combines computers and videodiscs allowing for the integration of text, visual images, and audible information. Seventy-nine undergraduate students completed a Learning Style Profile and an achievement test after using the lesson. During the lesson students chose visual images (56%) more often than written descriptions (30%) or audio messages (14%) for acquiring information about historic costume. The visual composition selected mo...
Computone Corporation: An Instructional Case in Earnings Management and Revenue Recognition

During the boom of the 1990s, Computone Corporation was a high‐tech company with viable hardware and software products. The company struggled financially, however, in this very competitive industry. This case demonstrates how the company employed earnings manipulation techniques that resulted in violations of GAAP through improper revenue recognition. Developed from SEC Enforcement Releases, the case demonstrates the SEC's willingness to prosecute corporations and individuals involved in fraudulent financial reporting. The case requires you to analyze the impact of improper revenue recognition on financial statements and to identify risk factors that may have provided incentive and opportunity to engage in fraudulent financial reporting. In addition, the case asks you to consider the potential effect of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 and discuss corporate governance issues.
Dimension of trivariate C1 splines on bipyramid cells

We study the dimension of trivariate C 1 splines on bipyramid cells, that is, cells with n + 2 boundary vertices, n of which are coplanar with the interior vertex. We improve the earlier lower bound on the dimension given by J. Shan. Moreover, we derive a new upper bound that is equal to the known lower bound in most cases. In the remaining cases, our upper bound is close to the known lower bound, and we conjecture that the dimension coincides with the upper bound. We use tools from both algebraic geometry and Bernstein-Bezier analysis. We introduce bipyramid cells in R 3 .We improve the lower bound on the dimension of C 1 splines for bipyramids.We derive a new upper bound that is equal to the known lower bound in most cases.We use tools from algebraic geometry and Bernstein-Bezier analysis.
Overview of Opportunities for Co-Location of Solar Energy Technologies and Vegetation

Large-scale solar facilities have the potential to contribute significantly to national electricity production. Many solar installations are large-scale or utility-scale, with a capacity over 1 MW and connected directly to the electric grid. Large-scale solar facilities offer an opportunity to achieve economies of scale in solar deployment, yet there have been concerns about the amount of land required for solar projects and the impact of solar projects on local habitat. During the site preparation phase for utility-scale solar facilities, developers often grade land and remove all vegetation to minimize installation and operational costs, prevent plants from shading panels, and minimize potential fire or wildlife risks. However, the common site preparation practice of removing vegetation can be avoided in certain circumstances, and there have been successful examples where solar facilities have been co-located with agricultural operations or have native vegetation growing beneath the panels. In this study we outline some of the impacts that large-scale solar facilities can have on the local environment, provide examples of installations where impacts have been minimized through co-location with vegetation, characterize the types of co-location, and give an overview of the potential benefits from co-location of solar energy projects and vegetation. The varieties of co-locationmore » can be replicated or modified for site-specific use at other solar energy installations around the world. We conclude with opportunities to improve upon our understanding of ways to reduce the environmental impacts of large-scale solar installations.« less
Tuning Polymer Glass Formation Behavior and Mechanical Properties with Oligomeric Diluents of Varying Stiffness

Small-molecule diluents are important tools in the control of polymers’ glass formation, transport, and mechanical properties. While recent work has indicated that these diluents can impose a more diverse range of effects than previously appreciated, use of these additives to rationally control polymer properties requires a predictive understanding of their effects. Here we employ molecular dynamics simulations to show that diluent-induced changes in a polymer’s glass transition temperature Tg can be predicted based on the diluent’s Debye–Waller factor ⟨u2⟩, a measure of picosecond time scale rattle-space, via a functional form previously found to predict nanoconfinement-induced shifts in polymer Tg. Moreover, we show that diluent-induced alterations in polymer segmental relaxation time are related to changes in modulus and ⟨u2⟩ via the Generalized Localization Model of relaxation. These results provide new design principles for the use of oligomeric diluents in achieving independent, targeted control of ...
Coping with Stigma: How Registered Sex Offenders Manage their Public Identities

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which registered sex offenders (RSOs) cope with stigmatization and manage their identities when they are subjected to or anticipate social condemnation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 RSOs. Respondents discussed methods they use to cope with and manage their stigmatized identities, including honesty, concealment, and isolation, which are addressed in prior literature on stigma management. Additional coping strategies were discussed: grouping, in which RSOs seek out other individuals who are similarly stigmatized as a source of social support and understanding, and denial, in which whereby stigmatized individuals disavow the label that society has ascribed upon them to subjectively reform their identities as separate from their sex offense conviction. Stigmatization of RSOs has negative effects on their social participation and methods of coping with their stigmatized identities may have implications for public health. Recommendations for improving the supervision of RSOs in the community are discussed.
Tailoring Chemical Composition To Achieve Enhanced Methanol Oxidation Reaction and Methanol-Tolerant Oxygen Reduction Reaction Performance in Palladium-Based Nanowire Systems

In this article, we address two key challenges in the development of electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells by rationally tailoring the morphology and chemical composition of Pd-based nanowires (NWs) for enhanced performance. First, we have examined the morphology and composition-dependent performance of Pt1–xPdx NWs toward the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Elemental Pt NWs were found to possess a significant morphology-dependent enhancement of nearly 3-fold in terms of peak MOR-specific activity over that of commercial Pt NP/C. In addition, tailoring the chemical composition in Pt1–xPdx NWs can lead to measurable increases in MOR kinetics, which can be attributed to improved oxidation of formic acid and, potentially, increased selectivity for a direct, CO-free pathway. Second, we have explored the stability of ORR performance in the presence of measurable concentrations of methanol as a function of chemical composition in Pt1–xPdx NWs and Pt-free Pd9Au NWs. In the context of the Pt1–xPdx NW...
Far Infrared Spectra of Al 2 O 3 : Cr 3 + and Al 2 O 3 : Ti 3 +

The absorption sepctrum of ruby containing 1% ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ has been observed at 77\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K and below, over the range from 10 to 160 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, using a large grating spectrometer. Although chromium ion pairs are known to have energy-level intervals in this region, no absorption lines were observed, even in a sample 15-cm long. Thus, these spin-changing transitions are, as might be expected, quite forbidden. In ${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$:${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$, levels were observed at 37.8 and 107.5 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ with strong transitions connecting them. A broad lattice absorption was also observed. The position of the 37.8-${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ level is in reasonable agreement with predictions from earlier microwave relaxation measurements in the ground state. The infrared linewidths are large, indicating a rapid relaxation without spin flip. The level spacings are smaller than predicted by crystal-field theory, indicating that the effective trigonal field and spin-orbit coupling are reduced by a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect.
Abstract 32: P190B RhoGAP overexpression drives mammary epithelial cell proliferation by altering stromal-epithelial interactions in the developing mammary gland

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Breast cancer development and progression is enabled by alterations in the surrounding stroma originating from stromal interactions with cancerous epithelium. Rho GTPases and their regulators have been implicated as important mediators of stromal-epithelial interactions in mammary epithelial cells (MECs), and alterations in the microenvironment profoundly affect MEC morphogenesis in a Rho GTPase-dependent manner. Previously, we demonstrated that p190B Rho GTPase activating protein (RhoGAP), a major inhibitor of Rho GTPases, has pro-tumorigenic functions during MMTV-Neu induced mammary tumorigenesis. We hypothesized that p190B overexpression in the epithelium promotes mammary tumor development by altering stromal-epithelial interactions to drive MEC proliferation and disrupt tissue architecture. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined the effects of p190B overexpression in the developing mammary gland (MG) using Tet-regulatable p190B overexpressing mice. Interestingly, overexpression of p190B in the mammary epithelium during postnatal MG development causes hyperbranching and disorganization of the ductal tree. Using a combination of in vivo morphometric and immunohistochemical analyses and in vitro stromal-epithelial co-cultures, we have demonstrated that p190B overexpression in MECs activates fibroblasts in the adjacent microenvironment leading to increased extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, elevated expression of the collagen crosslinking enzyme lysyl oxidase, and increased expression of potent regulators of branching morphogenesis, including FGF and TGFβ growth factors. These stromal alterations correlated with increased proliferation of p190B overexpressing MECs in vivo. Taken together, these data suggest that p190B overexpression may contribute to mammary tumorigenesis by creating a pro-tumorigenic stromal environment leading to increased MEC proliferation and altered tissue architecture. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 32. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-32
Undistorted Froude Model for Surf Zone Sediment Transport

Small scale movable bed wave tank experiments were carried out according to undistorted Froude model laws with the sediment fall time, H/wT, as the governing parameter for scaling the model sediment. Four questions addressed in this study included: (a) the ability to reproduce larger scale model results for both erosional and accretive conditions, (b) the effects of more realistic concave upward initial beach profiles instead of the more usual planar initial slopes, (c) the criterion for onshore-offshore sediment transport, and (d) the capability of the model to simulate post-storm recovery. Based on a comparison with large scale results of Saville (1957), it was found that the model provided good agreement for erosive conditions. For accretive conditions, the results were less conclusive although the general patterns of profile change were similar. The final beach profiles resulting from concave upward initial profiles were found to be substantially different from those for an initially planar profile. It appears that the initially planar profile unrealistically affects the breaker type and results in a more pronounced longshore bar and offshore slopes that are steeper than found in nature. Tests conducted to evaluate the criterion separating onshore-offshore transport suggested a higher value of the fall time parameter, H/wT, than was originally proposed by Dean (1973); this is interpreted to be due to scale effects in most of the model data used in the original development. Tests to simulate post-storm recovery were affected by the presence of "reflection bars" associated with a partial standing wave system. The reflection bars appear to strongly affect the sediment transport limiting the post-storm profile recovery. The most effective recovery was induced by continually changing wave conditions to maintain the wave breakpoint slightly landward of the bar crest.
Literacy, Equity, and Imagination: Researching With/In Communities

This article focuses on the meaning and practice of publicly engaged scholarship. The authors use examples of research in partnership with communities to demonstrate what it means to be with or in a community, how mutuality can be established, and how trust can be earned. The article addresses how university-based researchers can be fully present in shared work with communities and stand with community partners in an effort to answer questions together. The first author discusses the idea of teaching as a form of publicly engaged scholarship that is community-centric, collaborative, humanizing, and guided by equity and justice. The second author discusses what it means to “stand” with community in the fight for justice and argues that we need to rethink what counts as knowledge production when working authentically alongside community instead of at or for them. The third author considers what it means to take seriously children’s ideas and perspectives as we imagine new possibilities for literacy, learnin...
Characteristics of Childhood Multiple Sclerosis

The clinical manfestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 14 children are reported from the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Host factor PRPF31 is involved in cccDNA production in HBV-replicating cells.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) plays a central role in chronic HBV infection and replication, and is an important factor for HBV surface antigen loss indicating the endpoint of HBV treatment. However, there is a known problem that current anti-HBV drugs, including interferons and nucleos(t)ide analogues, reduce HBV replication but have a little or no effect on reducing cccDNA. Therefore, the development of new therapeutic agents is necessary to eradicate cccDNA. In this study, we identified pre-mRNA processing factor 31 (PRPF31) by siRNA screening as a factor associated with cccDNA. PRPF31 knockdown by siRNA decreased cccDNA formation without serious cytotoxicity. In rescue experiments, expression of siRNA-resistant PRPF31 recovered cccDNA formation. PRPF31 knockdown did not affect HBV core protein and HBV core DNA levels in HBV-replicating cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and immunoprecipitation assays revealed an association between PRPF31 and cccDNA. Furthermore, co-overexpression of PRPF31 and HBx enhanced cccDNA formation in HepAD38 cells. Taken together, the present findings suggest that the interaction between PRPF31 and HBx may be a novel target for anti-HBV treatment.
Opening the Patent System: Diffusionary Levers in Patent Law

The patent system is built on the premise that exclusion leads to innovation. But a mounting body of evidence calls into question the assumption that “innovation by exclusion” – innovation based on excluding rivals – is the only, or even primary, way innovation happens today: nearly 50% of manufacturers got the idea for their most important new product from an outside source that shared it with them, 45-60% of patentees acquire patents to access the technology of others, and over 1,300 companies, including five of the ten top holders of patents, have pledged to share their patents with others. But because of the patent system’s traditional focus on exclusion, policymakers have paid less attention to how patents can better support the diffusion of technology through mechanisms such as disclosure, transfer, waiver, and the pursuit of freedom to operate. This paper addresses this gap by exploring in depth the way that the patent system can encourage the diffusion of technology between rivals and innovators, revealing a surprising number of overlooked levers within the patent system for encouraging innovation. For example, making it easier to place inventions in the public domain through effective defensive publication, encouraging greater disclosure of patent-product relationships through the marking requirement, and changing the default for provisional applications to being open rather than closed, and for utility applications to publish upon filing, rather than after an 18-month delay, but with the right of inventors to opt-out of this default, would enhance patent disclosure by enabling technical information and permissions to use them to be available earlier to the world. Improving reporting and discovery of patent information, including ownership, availability for licensing, licensing status in the case of publicly funded inventions in accordance with existing law, patent licenses, and standards commitments, could boost markets for technology. Making it easier to waive patent rights and rely on waivers of patent rights, through the creation of a government registry of patent rights, and creating, e.g. an “open” or “defensive only” option that allows patentees to pay discounted maintenance fees in exchange for promising to use their patents only defensively, or to give up certain rights, akin to “license of right” schemes in the UK and Germany, would increase freedom to operate. As innovation increasingly takes place in open and closed modes, and often both, the patent system, by offering more ways for patentees to decide the fate of their inventions, can increase its relevance to “all of the above” types of innovation.
Abstract 3141: Restricting aerobic glycolysis provides functional improvement of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting CD19 has proven effective at treating hematologic malignancies, however similar success has not been observed using CARs targeting other antigens. We have observed that several CARs, including a GD2-targeted CAR, are limited in efficacy due to T cell exhaustion induced by tonic, antigen-independent signaling. This phenomenon is triggered by oligomerization of scFvs on the surface of transduced T cells, leading to chronic CAR zeta signaling and early exhaustion characterized by a diminished proliferative potential, poor cytokine production, and overexpression of inhibitory receptors including PD1, TIM3 and LAG3. Early CAR T cell exhaustion is also associated with an altered cellular metabolism that is more highly dependent on glycolysis compared to CD19 CAR T cells or untransduced, activated control cells. Using a Seahorse Extracellular Flux Analyzer, we found that the rate of glycolysis (ECAR) in GD2 CAR T cells was twice that of CD19 CAR T cells or untransduced controls, and no deficiencies in oxidative phosphorylation in GD2 CAR T cells were observed (normal OCR and spare respiratory capacity). To evaluate whether increased glycolytic metabolism contributes to the development of CAR T cell exhaustion, we sought to restrict glycolysis by culturing GD2 CAR T cells with the hexokinase inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) or in media supplemented with galactose instead of glucose. Restricting CAR T cell glycolysis was associated with decreased TIM3 and LAG3 expression and enhanced cytokine production of GD2 CAR T cells but a modest decrease in cytokine production of CD19 CAR T cells. Given the previously reported role of mTOR on promoting glycolytic metabolism, we used rapamycin (sirolimus) in the cell culture during transduction and expansion. Culturing GD2 CAR T cells with rapamycin similarly resulted in slower acidification of cell culture medium and diminished expression of TIM3 and LAG3. Rapamycin treated GD2 CAR T cells retain specific lytic ability of GD2-positive tumor cells compared to non-treated GD2 CARs as measured by chromium release, and these cells persist longer than non-treated cells in a murine xenograft model of GD2-positive 143b osteosarcoma. These results suggest that modulation of T cell metabolism may provide functional benefit and enhance antitumor activity of adoptively transferred tumor antigen specific T cells by diminishing the susceptibility of highly activated T cells to exhaustion. Citation Format: Jillian P. Smith, Adrienne H. Long, Crystal L. Mackall. Restricting aerobic glycolysis provides functional improvement of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3141. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3141
Privacy-preserving protocols for secure and reliable data aggregation in IoT-enabled Smart Metering systems

Abstract As the Internet of Things (IoT) gets more pervasive, its areas of usage expands. Smart Metering systems is such an IoT-enabled technology that enables convenient and high frequency data collection compared to existing metering systems. However, such a frequent data collection puts the consumers’ privacy in risk as it helps expose the consumers’ daily habits. Secure in-network data aggregation can be used to both preserve consumers’ privacy and reduce the packet traffic due to high frequency metering data. The privacy can be provided by performing the aggregation on concealed metering data. Fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) and secure multiparty computation (secure MPC) are the systems that enable performing multiple operations on concealed data. However, both FHE and secure MPC systems have some overhead in terms of data size or message complexity. The overhead is compounded in the IoT-enabled networks such as Smart Grid (SG) Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). In this paper, we propose new protocols to adapt FHE and secure MPC to be deployed in SG AMI networks that are formed using wireless mesh networks. The proposed protocols conceal the smart meters’ (SMs) reading data by encrypting it (FHE) or computing its shares on a randomly generated polynomial (secure MPC). The encrypted data/computed shares are aggregated at some certain aggregator SM(s) up to the gateway of the network in a hierarchical manner without revealing the readings’ actual value. To assess their performance, we conducted extensive experiments using the ns-3 network simulator. The simulation results indicate that the secure MPC-based protocol can be a viable privacy-preserving data aggregation mechanism since it not only reduces the overhead with respect to FHE but also almost matches the performance of the Paillier cryptosystem when it is used within a proper sized AMI network.
Detection of Enzyme Activity and Inhibition during Studies in Solution, In Vitro and In Vivo with CatalyCEST MRI

The detection of enzyme activities and evaluation of enzyme inhibitors have been challenging with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To address this need, we have developed a diamagnetic, nonmetallic contrast agent and a protocol known as catalyCEST MRI that uses chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) to detect enzyme activity as well as enzyme inhibition. We synthesized a diamagnetic MRI contrast agent that has enzyme responsive and enzyme unresponsive CEST signals. We tested the ability of this agent to detect the activity of kallikrein 6 (KLK6) in biochemical solutions, in vitro and in vivo, with and without a KLK6 inhibitor. The agent detected KLK6 activity in solution and also detected KLK6 inhibition by antithrombin III. KLK6 activity was detected during in vitro studies with HCT116 colon cancer cells, relative to the detection of almost no activity in a KLK6-knockdown HCT116 cell line and HCT116 cells treated with antithrombin III inhibitor. Finally, strong enzyme activity was detected within an in vivo HCT116 tumor model, while lower enzyme activity was detected in a KLK6 knockdown tumor model and in the HCT116 tumor model treated with antithrombin III inhibitor. In all cases, comparisons of the enzyme responsive and enzyme unresponsive CEST signals were critical for the detection of enzyme activity. This study has established that catalyCEST MRI with an exogenous diaCEST agent can evaluate enzyme activity and inhibition in solution, in vitro and in vivo.
Stability of Granular Materials

Results of studies made for the purpose of developing a theory of stability for granular materials, based directly on fundamental laws of behavior, are presented in this paper. Some elementary line...
Impedance-model-based MIMO analysis of power synchronization control

Abstract This paper presents impedance-model-based stability analyses of power synchronization control (PSC) and two types of vector controls used in voltage source converter-based high voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) systems. The impedance model of a VSC with PSC is first derived. Stability analysis is then carried out using multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system analysis. As a comparison, power and angle transfer function-based analysis is also conducted. The impedance model-based stability analysis results are validated by the time-domain simulations. Impedance models of two types of vector controls are also derived for comparison. Effects of short circuit ratio (SCR), power transfer level, high-pass filters, and the PSC gain are demonstrated through analysis and real-time digital simulations in RT-LAB.
Tension Independence of Lipid Diffusion and Membrane Viscosity.

The diffusion of biomolecules at lipid membranes is governed by the viscosity of the underlying two-dimensionally fluid lipid bilayer. For common three-dimensional fluids, viscosity can be modulated by hydrostatic pressure, and pressure-viscosity data have been measured for decades. Remarkably, the two-dimensional analogue of this relationship, the dependence of molecular mobility on tension, has to the best of our knowledge never been measured for lipid bilayers, limiting our understanding of cellular mechanotransduction as well as the fundamental fluid mechanics of membranes. Here we report both molecular-scale and mesoscopic measures of fluidity in giant lipid vesicles as a function of mechanical tension applied using micropipette aspiration. Both molecular-scale data, from fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, and micron-scale data, from tracking the diffusion of phase-separated domains, show a surprisingly weak dependence of viscosity on tension, in contrast to predictions of recent molecular d...
Parametric Optimality in Semi-infinite Fractional Programs

Based on the second-order generalized (\(\phi ,\) \(\eta ,\) \(\zeta ,\) \(\rho ,\) \(\theta ,\) \(\tilde{m}\))-invexity, a set of generalized second-order parametric necessary optimality conditions and several sets of second-order sufficient optimality conditions for a semi-infinite discrete minmax fractional programming problem applying various generalized second-order (\(\phi ,\) \(\eta ,\) \(\zeta ,\) \(\rho ,\) \(\theta ,\) \(\tilde{m}\))-invexity constraints are presented.
Interactive Visual Displays for Interpreting the Results of Clinical Trials: Formative Evaluation With Case Vignettes.

Background: At the point of care, evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is underutilized in helping clinicians meet their information needs. Objective: To design interactive visual displays to help clinicians interpret and compare the results of relevant RCTs for the management of a specific patient, and to conduct a formative evaluation with physicians comparing interactive visual versus narrative displays. Methods: We followed a user-centered and iterative design process succeeded by development of information display prototypes as a Web-based application. We then used a within-subjects design with 20 participants (8 attendings and 12 residents) to evaluate the usability and problem-solving impact of the information displays. We compared subjects’ perceptions of the interactive visual displays versus narrative abstracts. Results: The resulting interactive visual displays present RCT results side-by-side according to the Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) framework. Study participants completed 19 usability tasks in 3 to 11 seconds with a success rate of 78% to 100%. Participants favored the interactive visual displays over narrative abstracts according to perceived efficiency, effectiveness, effort, user experience and preference (all P values <.001). Conclusions: When interpreting and applying RCT findings to case vignettes, physicians preferred interactive graphical and PICO-framework-based information displays that enable direct comparison of the results from multiple RCTs compared to the traditional narrative and study-centered format. Future studies should investigate the use of interactive visual displays to support clinical decision making in care settings and their effect on clinician and patient outcomes.
The path between supply chain efficacy and performance: testing a secure route

ABSTRACTIn periods of heightened competition and uncertainty in business, firms have responded by forming positive supply chain relationships. A growing body of literature calls for research to exp...
Evaluating School Principals: Supervisor Ratings of Principal Practice and Principal Job Performance:

Numerous studies investigate high-stakes personnel evaluation systems in education, but nearly all focus on evaluation of teachers. We instead examine the evaluation of school principals at scale using data from the first 4 years of implementation of Tennessee’s multiple-measure administrator evaluation system. We focus specifically on the rubric-based practice ratings given by principals’ supervisors that constitute one half of principals’ overall evaluation scores. We find that supervisors’ ratings are internally consistent, relatively stable over time, and predictive of other performance measures, such as student achievement growth and teachers’ ratings of school leadership quality. However, raters fail to differentiate dimensions of principal practice, and ratings may be biased by factors, such as school poverty, outside the principal’s control.
Transportation Regulations of Hazardous Waste; U.S.A. and International Developments

I appreciate the opportunity that has been provided me today to discuss the transportation of hazardous waste. When I was asked to make this presentation, I was not very familiar with the CCMS pilot study on the disposal of hazardous waste, and, to my knowledge, the July 1977 report dealing with transportation has not been forwarded to the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods for their consideration. Since preparation of the report, a number of actions, which I would like to discuss today, have been taken concerning the transportation of hazardous waste.
What are high l modes, if anything?

Theoretical analyses of the pulsational instability of compact objects indicate that pulsation modes of high spherical harmonic index,l, are expected to be unstable. The amplitudes of the observed, presumably low l,modes with 1>3 will bring them below the observable threshold for ground based photometry. We point out, however, that observations with a space telescope should reveal the presence of modes of 1 4-5 simply because the absence of scintillation noise does not limit the amplitude sensitivity. We also point out that rotational splitting has been identified in a large number of the compact pulsators; in principle, this generates a set of (21+1) modes for each k and l, and we show that the beating together of these modes may have observable consequences. We examine the prospects for observing the beating of the pulsation modes with high spherical harmonic index,l. We show that in some cases this beating may result in something which would look essentially like a flare. We discuss the prospects for observing this effect, and the very real possibility that it has already been observed.
Rehabilitation Following Meniscus Repair

Comprehensive, individualized rehabilitation after meniscal repair is imperative to maximize function and return each patient to his or her prior level of function. Rehabilitation can be divided into time-based phases, each with distinct goals and objectives, while respecting tissue healing. Rehabilitation phases are simultaneously considered criteria based, which allows each patient’s program to be individualized to his or her needs and rate of progress. With all patients, avoidance of active hamstring contraction is paramount, especially in the case of medial meniscal repair. Potential tensile forces are applied to the meniscal repair with hamstring firing due to the intimate insertion of the semimembranosus onto the posterior medial joint. As with all surgical interventions, patients who have undergone concurrent procedures should be progressed per the most restrictive protocol, and all patients should be carefully monitored for concerning symptoms or “red flags.”
A Two-Step Approach to Optimal Selection of Alerts for Investigation in a CSOC

A Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) is responsible for investigating all the alerts generated from the intrusion detection systems to identify suspicious activities in a timely manner. There exists a critical gap between the time needed (demand) and the time available (limited analyst resource) for alert investigation at a CSOC. Hence, alert prioritization is important, for which CSOCs employ ad-hoc filtering methods to prune and triage the alerts that are presented to the analysts for investigation. One of the major drawbacks of the ad-hoc methods is that they do not comprehensively take into consideration the organization-specific factors such as mission and asset criticality, CSOC resource availability, demand variations, and the desired CSOC performance metrics. Hence, an ad-hoc triaging (or prioritization) method is insufficient, and an intelligent method for optimal selection of alerts that considers the above-mentioned organization-specific factors must be developed, which is described as a two-step process in this paper. First, a composite risk score of each alert is determined using a quantitative value function hierarchy process, which takes into account several organization-specific factors. Second, an optimization model selects a list of alerts for investigation that optimizes the CSOC performance metrics for a given demand subject to its resource constraints. Experimental results show that the alerts that pertain to mission criticalities are handled in a timelier manner as compared to current practices at the CSOCs. The average persistence time of an alert in the CSOC system is also shown to significantly reduce with this new approach, which is a paradigm shift in providing a stronger cyber-defense system by protecting the critical constituents of an organization.
Men’s Lived Experiences with Breast Cancer: The Double Consciousness of Marginal Men

The present study investigated men’s experiences with their breast cancer diagnosis and post-mastectomy lives. It is based on the sociological tradition of investigating the “marginal man” who lives in two not merely different but incompatible cultures (e.g., the pink ribbon culture of breast cancer and the everyday ideals of masculinity and the male body). Seventeen mature and aging U.S. men who all lived with a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, including a mastectomy, were interviewed. The principle finding reveals that they saw themselves as men and remain seen by others in terms of their gender, not their atypical illness. Two meta-themes underlying men’s breast cancer stories were identified: body talk and embodiment of their breast. Each of these themes had subthemes. Noticeable was how the historical era when diagnosed and men’s aging experiences influenced their illness journey and stories. For all, even the recently diagnosed, their journey was a lonely one. No man had known another man with breast cancer to consult. Only a few men felt their breast cancer was a stigma, and they too did not feel emasculated. Instead, in the process of embodying their breast cancer, they amended their identities and practiced softer, hybrid forms of masculinities.
The Influence of Systems Analysis on Criminal Law and Procedure: A Critique of a Style of Judicial Decision-Making

This draft analyzes the birth and emergence of the idea of the “criminal justice system” in the 1960s and the fundamentally transformative effect that the idea of a “system” has had in the area of criminal law and criminal procedure. The manuscript develops a critique of the systems analytic approach to legal and policy decision making. It then discusses how that critique relates to the broader area of public policy and contemporary cost-benefit analysis. The draft identifies what it calls “the systems fallacy” or the central problem with approaching policy questions from a systems analytic approach: namely, the hidden normative dimension of the choice of scope of the metaphorical system. It argues that the systems analytic approach flips the proper relationship between method and substance, or to be more exact, between policy making and politics. Instead of the decision-making method serving to further the preferences of society, the decisional procedure silently imposes values on society.
Strong Laws of Large Numbers and Martingale Theory

This chapter presents a large class of convergence theorems that are developed with the aid of martingale theory. It highlights several basic results on convergence of sequences of random variables and the problem of random signs. It also presents an assumption that the X n are independent random variables each with finite mean m and finite variance σ 2 , then S n /n →m . If the X n are independent and all have the same distribution, in other words, for each Borel set B ⊂ R , P { X n ∈ B } is the same for all n , a version of the strong law of large numbers may be proved under a hypothesis on the mean of the X n but no assumptions about higher moments. The uniform integrability concept has important application to martingale theory and to integration theory.
ZBP1 and TAK1: Master Regulators of NLRP3 Inflammasome/Pyroptosis, Apoptosis, and Necroptosis (PAN-optosis).

Cell death is central to development, organismal homeostasis, and immune responses. The cell death field has experienced tremendous progress by delineating the molecular programs specific to each of the apoptotic and inflammatory cell death pathways. Moreover, the discovery of the inflammasomes and pyroptosis and necroptosis pathway regulators have provided the genetic basis for the programmed inflammatory cell death pathways. Earlier research highlighted the unique regulation of each of these pathways, but emerging studies discovered co-regulation and crosstalk between these seemingly different cell death complexes. The progress in this area has led to an idea that master regulators play central roles in orchestrating multiple cell death pathways. Here, we provide a brief review of the master regulators, the innate immune sensor ZBP1 and the essential cell survival kinase TAK1, that play vital roles in the regulation of RIPK1/RIPK3–FADD–caspase-8 cell death complex assembly and its versatility in executing Pyroptosis, Apoptosis, and Necroptosis, which we dubbed here as PAN-optosis. Furthermore, we discuss the implications and therapeutic potential of targeting these master regulators in health and disease. One Sentence Summary ZBP1 and TAK1 regulate PAN-optosis.
Pilot study of the safety and feasibility of immediate adjuvant chemotherapy (IAC) in nonmetastatic colonic adenocarcinoma (nmCC).

150Background: The optimal timing of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in nmCC is poorly defined. Delays in AC result in decreased survivalbut fear of postoperative complications often causes long interva...
A Method Integrating Q-Learning With Approximate Dynamic Programming for Gantry Work Cell Scheduling

This article formulates gantry real-time scheduling in a gantry work cell, where the material transfer is driven by gantries, as a Markov decision process (MDP). Classical learning methods and planning methods for solving the optimization problems in MDP are discussed. An innovative method, called “Q-ADP,” is proposed to integrate reinforcement learning (RL) with approximate dynamic programming (ADP). Q-ADP uses model-free Q-learning algorithm to learn state values through interactions with the environment, meanwhile, planning steps during the learning process opt for ADP to keep updating state values through several sample paths. A model of one-step transition probabilities is built based on the machines’ reliability model, and serves the ADP algorithm. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, a numerical study is performed to show the production performance, compared to a standard Q-learning algorithm. The simulation results show that Q-ADP outperforms standard Q-learning under the same length of training process. It is also shown that with the benefit of repeated updating state values through sample paths, Q-ADP requires less data for gantry policy to converge, which makes the method promising when real data are limited. Note to Practitioners —The goal of this work is to find a near optimal gantry assignment policy to realize real-time control of material handling gantry/robot movements in gantry work cells. Properly assigning gantries based on real-time situations of the production system can avoid machines’ stoppage due to material shortage, and consequently improve production performance. This gantry scheduling is a sequential decision-making problem and can be presented by Markov Decision Process (MDP). To solve the MDP problem, an algorithm integrating model-free Q-learning and model-based approximate dynamic programming (ADP) is proposed. By learning directly from the interaction with the environment, the method avoids bias problem from any model designing. Meanwhile, a planning process during learning can efficiently speed up the learning for convergence of the policy, and this particularly benefits to the scenario when the real data are insufficient.
Theorization Human-Computer Interaction in the All-Digital Car: Mediatized Driver Experiences

It is a common behavior to enrich the automotive driving experience with various media services and applications. However, the effects of this habit are examined mostly from a safety perspective; there is a lack of scientific tools and methods to examine the joint media and driving experience. Therefore, to address Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) while driving from an experience perspective, the model of Mediatized Driver Experiences (MDX) is introduced. It offers a new framework to classify driving and media experiences. In focus are not (only) negative conjunctions (such as distractions), it is rather a holistic approach to the joint experience of the driving and media situation. Therefore, findings from both vehicle safety and communication science were incorporated to develop the MDX model. The model addresses the formation of subjective experiences through influencing factors including the driver as well as the driving, media and social situation. Enjoyment, agency and perceived safety form the subjective experience, hence, the MDX core. Each dimension underlies processes of self-regulation, cognitive processes and affective effects of the driver. The measured core dimensions are then used to classify and aggregate the individual experiences on a higher level.