cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Strengthened MILP Formulation for Certain Gas Turbine Unit Commitment Problems

In this paper, we derive a strengthened MILP formulation for certain gas turbine unit commitment problems, in which the ramping rates are no smaller than the minimum generation amounts. This type of gas turbines can usually start-up faster and have a larger ramping rate, as compared to the traditional coal-fired power plants. Recently, the number of this type of gas turbines increases significantly due to affordable gas prices and their scheduling flexibilities to accommodate intermittent renewable energy generation. In this study, several new families of strong valid inequalities are developed to help reduce the computational time to solve these types of problems. Meanwhile, the validity and facet-defining proofs are provided for certain inequalities. Finally, numerical experiments on a modified IEEE 118-bus system and the power system data based on recent studies verify the effectiveness of applying our formulation to model and solve this type of gas turbine unit commitment problems, including reducing the computational time to obtain an optimal solution or obtaining a much smaller optimality gap, as compared to the default CPLEX, when the time limit is reached with no optimal solutions obtained.
Fundamental trade-off between short-channel control and hot carrier degradation in an extremely-thin silicon-on-insulator (ETSOI) technology

Extremely thin silicon-on-insulator (ETSOI) structure has been developed to improve gate control and to suppress the short-channel effect (SCE) associated with bulk MOSFET. However, since self-heating in ETSOI may compromise both performance and reliability, a careful analysis of the trade-off between short-channel control and self-heating is needed. In this paper, we (i) characterize channel and surface self-heating of a ETSOI technology as a function of channel thickness (Tsi) and length (Lch) using electrical and optical methods, respectively; (ii) theoretically interpret the trade-off between gate controllability and self-heating effects, (iii) correlate HCI degradation to the degree of self-heating, and (vi) find distinctive universality of HCI degradation (as a function of Tsi and Lch) that enables a long term reliability projection. We conclude that the trade-off between HCI and channel control suggests that thinnest channel may not be optimum; and that the universality of HCI degradation would hold only if self-heating is accounted for.
Cereal Leaf Beetle1 Instars and Sex, Denned by Larval Head Capsule Widths

Four instars of the cereal leaf beetle, Oulema mclanopus (L.), were determined from the frequency distributions of head capsule widths of field- and laboratory-reared larvae. Linear regressions and geometric progressions inadequately described the larval growth because of the smaller ratio of growth of the 3rd-4th instar. When the width of the 4th instar head capsule and the length of the adult elytra were correlated to sex, the male had a narrower head capsule and shorter elytra than the female.
The treatment of premalignant lesions of the uterine cervix.

BACKGROUND Understanding the reasons for treatment of premalignant lesions of the cervix, as well as which lesions require therapy, is key to successful outcomes of therapy. Knowing the treatment modalities available and when to select each one is an essential part of proper patient care. When to observe and when to treat are critical decisions. CONCLUSIONS Since the two basic approaches to treatment are either local destruction or excision, it is incumbent upon the treating physician to understand the values and complications attached to each method.
Pressure-Controlled Advanced Distillation Curve Analysis of Biodiesel Fuels: Assessment of Thermal Decomposition

One of the most important properties measured for liquid fuels is the volatility, usually as expressed by the distillation curve. In previous work, we introduced the composition-explicit or advance...
Invasive modalities for the diagnosis and treatment of pain in the elderly.

Invasive modalities can help to localize the source of pain and subsequently treat the pain in a manner that does not require systemic medication. In the elderly population, this is particularly important because of the propensity to develop side effects from a systemic approach. This article reviews nerve blocks, with both local anesthetic and neurolytic agents. Other techniques such as spinal cord stimulation or neuraxially administered medication may control pain when other forms of treatment have failed and may eliminate the need for systemic medication.
Scaling laws and accurate small-amplitude stationary solution for the motion of a planar vortex filament in the Cartesian form of the local induction approximation

We provide a formulation of the local induction approximation (LIA) for the motion of a vortex filament in the Cartesian reference frame (the extrinsic coordinate system) which allows for scaling of the reference coordinate. For general monotone scalings of the reference coordinate, we derive an equation for the planar solution to the derivative nonlinear Schrodinger equation governing the LIA. We proceed to solve this equation perturbatively in small amplitude through an application of multiple-scales analysis, which allows for accurate computation of the period of the planar vortex filament. The perturbation result is shown to agree strongly with numerical simulations, and we also relate this solution back to the solution obtained in the arclength reference frame (the intrinsic coordinate system). Finally, we discuss nonmonotone coordinate scalings and their application for finding self-intersections of vortex filaments. These self-intersecting vortex filaments are likely unstable and collapse into other structures or dissipate completely.
Optimal Design and Synthesis of Shale Gas Processing and NGL Recovery Processes

Abstract The booming of the shale gas industry is predicted to impact North American’s energy landscape. This paper addresses the robust design and synthesis of shale gas processing and natural gas liquids (NGLs) recovery processes under uncertain feedstock compositions. The problem is addressed via three steps. First, we construct an uncertainty set for raw shale gas compositions. Second, we develop a superstructure for shale gas processing and NGLs recovery processes that includes monoethanolamine and diethanol amine absorption processes in an acid gas removal section, triethylene glycol absorption and condensation processes in a dehydration section, standalone and integrated designs of a NGLs recovery process, and a nitrogen rejection process. The proposed superstructure explicitly shows process configurations for the feedstocks in the uncertainty set. In the last step, we propose a two-stage adaptive robust mixed-integer linear programming problem based on the superstructure and a tailored solution method for the proposed model. The obtained robust optimal design is immunized against uncertainty in feedstock compositions.
Abstract 2574: Outcomes of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in relation to familial history: a decision analysis

Purpose Family history of breast cancer is associated with an increased risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) even in the absence of mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1/2. We compared quality-adjusted survival outcomes after contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) with surveillance only (no CPM) among women with breast cancer in relation to degree of family history. Methods We created a microsimulation model for women with a first-degree, second-degree and no family history treated for a stage I, II, or III estrogen receptor (ER)-positive or -negative breast cancer at the ages of 40, 50, 60, and 70 years. The model incorporated a 10-year post-treatment period for risk of developing CBC and/or dying of the primary cancer or CBC. For each patient profile, we used 100,000 microsimulation trials to estimate the quality-adjusted life expectancy for two clinical strategies: CPM and no CPM. Results CPM had a minimal improvement on quality-adjusted life expectancy among women age 50 to 60 with no or a unilateral first or second-degree family history (range -.06 to 0.31) and was unfavorable for the majority of women age 70 with stage III breast cancer regardless of degree of family history (range -.08 to -.02). Sensitivity analysis showed the highest predicted benefit of CPM with 95% risk reduction was 0.57 QALY for a 40-year-old woman with stage I breast cancer who had a first-degree relative with bilateral breast cancer. Conclusion Women age 40 years with stage I breast cancer and a first-degree relative with bilateral breast cancer have a QALY benefit from CPM similar to that reported for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. For the majority of women, having a family history does not improve the minimal effect of CPM on quality-adjusted life expectancy. Citation Format: Kalatu R. Davies, Abenaa Brewster, Isabelle Bedrosian, Patricia Parker, Melissa A. Crosby, Susan K. Peterson, Yu Shen, Robert Volk, Scott B. Cantor. Outcomes of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in relation to familial history: a decision analysis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2574.
The women who feed us: Gender empowerment (or lack thereof) in rural Southern Brazil

Abstract This article focuses on understanding the question: what do recent studies on the modernization of Brazilian agriculture tell us about the changes in gender dynamics as a traditional family farm moves to alternative strategies for reproduction and how do these respective roles empower or disempower women? To understand this issue, this article determines what kinds of roles women occupy in traditional family farms, as well as the urban roles they take on after the phenomenon of pluriactivity manifests, and evaluates these roles in an empowerment index. The analysis shows that the family farm is the least empowering option of the strategies I identified (and urban migration the most empowering), and that we can seek to emulate the empowering qualities of urban employment within family farms to maximize their future empowerment. A possible pathway to empowering women on family farms includes feminist support for the institutionalization of programs that make gender dynamics more equal within family farms.
PHENIX results on low pT direct photons in Au + Au collisions

Abstract Since soft photons are unmodified once produced in heavy ion collisions, they give information about the entire thermal evolution of the medium. Excess photon yield over the expectation from initial hard scattering has been measured by PHENIX. In addition, PHENIX has measured a large azimuthal anisotropy, v2, of these soft photons with respect to the reaction plane. The large yield and v2 have been difficult to describe quantitatively and raise important questions about the early time dynamics in the medium. It is thus important to make more differential measurements to distinguish various potential explanations for this thermal photon puzzle. In this proceedings, we present yields, v2, and v3 of direct photons from s N N = 200 GeV A u + A u collisions.
Concreteness Fading of Algebraic Instruction: Effects on Learning

Learning algebra is difficult for many students in part because of an emphasis on the memorization of abstract rules. Algebraic reasoners across expertise levels often rely on perceptual-motor strategies to make these rules meaningful and memorable. However, in many cases, rules are provided as patterns to be memorized verbally, with little overt perceptual support. Although most work on concreteness focuses on conceptual support through examples or analogies, here we consider notational concreteness—perceptual-motor supports that provide access into the dynamic structure of a representation itself. We hypothesize that perceptual support may be maximally beneficial as an initial scaffold to learning so that later static symbol use may be interpreted using a dynamic perspective. This hypothesis meshes with other findings using concrete analogies or examples, which often find that fading these supports over time leads to stronger learning outcomes. In an experiment exploring this hypothesis, we compared gai...
Density and SCB measured fracture resistance of temperature segregated asphalt mixtures

Segregation is a serious challenge for high quality constructions of asphalt pavements. Temperature segregation (or temperature differential) in uncompacted asphalt mats has been identified with the use of infrared thermal cameras at the paving site. Four Louisiana asphalt rehabilitation projects were selected for investigating the effects of temperature segregation on the quality and performance of asphalt pavements. A multi-sensor infrared temperature scanning bar (IR-bar) system mounted behind the paver measured the real-time thermal profile. The quality of paving mats was measured by the density of field cores while the performance was measured by the mix’s intermediate temperature fracture resistance using the semi-circular bend (SCB) test. Results showed that temperature-segregated samples generally had lower densities than the control samples, although the differences were mostly statistically insignificant. On the other hand, temperature segregated samples generally had lower fracture resistance than the control samples measured by the SCB Jc values. Four out of six comparison cases showed the differences were statistically significant. Further verification effort was recommended for confident implementation of the IR thermal imaging technology to the asphalt pavement construction specification.
Weeds of Wheat in Nepal: A Literature Review

This paper reviews publications dealing with weeds and/or their control in wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) in Nepal and enumerates 370 weed species of 210 genera in 54 families. This review shows that the Asteraceae (69 spp.), Poaceae (52 spp.), Leguminosae (25 spp.), Polygonaceae (19 spp.), Caryophyllaceae (18 spp.), Scrophulariaceae (17 spp.), Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae (14 spp. each), Brassicaceae and Cyperaceae (13 spp.), and Solanaceae (11 spp. each) were the dominant families, which accounted for 71.35% of the total weeds. This paper also documented 63 species reported as the principal or most common weeds and 4 species ( Chenopodium album, Cynodon dactylon, Phalaris minor, Polygonum plebeium) as the most commonly reported weeds of wheat in Nepal in the papers reviewed. This paper also highlighted the fact that the researchers from the Tribhuvan University, Department of Plant Resources (then Department of Medicinal Plants/HMG) and Nepal Agricultural Research Council mentioned about the deposition of their herbarium specimens in the respective organizations. This paper also analyzed the publication media in which the reviewed papers appeared. J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 27, 2013: 132-178
The Proliferation of Scoring Systems: Trying to Keep Our Heads Out of The Clouds.

![Figure][1] As many of you know, I record audio summaries and commentary for every original investigation and review article that appears in the Journal . As part of my preparation process, I thoroughly study each paper. After reading so many papers that focus on the numerous scoring
Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing To Monitor Viral Growth and Study Cellular Responses to Infection with Alphaherpesviruses in Real Time.

ABSTRACT Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) measures changes in an electrical circuit formed in a culture dish. As cells grow over a gold electrode, they block the flow of electricity and this is read as an increase in electrical impedance in the circuit. ECIS has previously been used in a variety of applications to study cell growth, migration, and behavior in response to stimuli in real time and without the need for cellular labels. Here, we demonstrate that ECIS is also a valuable tool with which to study infection by alphaherpesviruses. To this end, we used ECIS to study the kinetics of cells infected with felid herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), a close relative of the human alphaherpesviruses herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, and compared the results to those obtained with conventional infectivity assays. First, we demonstrated that ECIS can easily distinguish between wells of cells infected with different amounts of FHV-1 and provides information about the cellular response to infection. Second, we found ECIS useful in identifying differences between the replication kinetics of recombinant DsRed Express2-labeled FHV-1, created via CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering, and wild-type FHV-1. Finally, we demonstrated that ECIS can accurately determine the half-maximal effective concentration of antivirals. Collectively, our data show that ECIS, in conjunction with current methodologies, is a powerful tool that can be used to monitor viral growth and study the cellular response to alphaherpesvirus infection. IMPORTANCE Alphaherpesviruses, including those that commonly infect humans, such as HSV-1 and HSV-2, typically infect and cause cellular damage to epithelial cells at mucosal surfaces, leading to disease. The development of novel technologies to study the cellular responses to infection may allow a more complete understanding of virus replication and the creation of novel antiviral therapies. This study demonstrates the use of ECIS to study various aspects of herpesvirus biology, with a specific focus on changes in cellular morphology as a result of infection. We conclude that ECIS represents a valuable new tool with which to study alphaherpesvirus infections in real time and in an objective and reproducible manner.
Threshold Effects in Parameter Estimation From Compressed Data

In this paper, we investigate threshold effects associated with the swapping of signal and noise subspaces in estimating signal parameters from compressed noisy data. The term threshold effect refers to a sharp departure of mean-squared error from the Cramer–Rao bound when the signal-to-noise ratio falls below a threshold SNR. In many cases, the threshold effect is caused by a subspace swap event, when the measured data (or its sample covariance) is better approximated by a subset of components of an orthogonal subspace than by the components of a signal subspace. We derive analytical lower bounds on the probability of a subspace swap in compressively measured noisy data in two canonical models: a first-order model and a second-order model. In the first-order model, the parameters to be estimated modulate the mean of a complex multivariate normal set of measurements. In the second-order model, the parameters modulate the covariance of complex multivariate measurements. In both cases, the probability bounds are tail probabilities of $F$ -distributions, and they apply to any linear compression scheme. These lower bounds guide our understanding of threshold effects and performance breakdowns for parameter estimation using compression. In particular, they can be used to quantify the increase in threshold SNR as a function of a compression ratio $C$ . We demonstrate numerically that this increase in threshold SNR is roughly $10\log_{10} \ C$ dB, which is consistent with the performance loss that one would expect when measurements in Gaussian noise are compressed by a factor $C$ .
Thermal Evaluation of 2.5-D Integration Using Bridge-Chip Technology: Challenges and Opportunities

In this paper, 2.5-D integrated circuits (ICs) using bridge-chip technology are thermally evaluated to investigate thermal challenges and opportunities for such multi-die packages. To this end, the objectives of this paper are twofold. First, thermal benchmarking of a number of 2.5-D integration approaches is performed and compared to 3-D ICs for completeness. Thermal modeling shows that the evaluated 2.5-D integration approaches exhibit similar thermal characteristics, but show significant improvements compared to 3-D IC solutions with the same power consumption. Second, this paper explores bridge-chip-based 2.5-D integrated systems as a function of bridge-chip thickness, thermal interface material properties, microbump properties, die thickness, die thickness mismatch, and die-to-die spacing along with transient analysis to investigate time-domain thermal coupling. Results suggest that a die thickness mismatch of 100 $\mu \text{m}$ can increase the maximum temperature by 25.8% Therefore, the die thickness mismatch should be kept as small as possible, and the hottest die should be the thickest. Moreover, reducing die-to-die space from 1 to 0 mm increases thermal coupling, and the low-power dice, such as DRAM, can have a temperature increase of 6.1%.
A 365nW −61.5 dBm sensitivity, 1.875 cm 2 2.4 GHz wake-up receiver with rectifier-antenna co-design for passive gain

A 2.4 GHz 365nW wake-up receiver (WuRX) with RF envelope detection using rectifier-antenna co-design for passive voltage gain and RF filtering is presented. The RF frequency-tunable WuRX uses a programmable 32-bit OOK wake-up signature, achieving sensitivity of −61.5dBm for 2.5 kb/s without any off-chip matching components between IC and antenna. RF filtering in the high-Q rectifier-antenna interface results in 10−3 BER even with interferer-to-carrier ratio of 19.1 dB for CW blocker at 3MHz offset. The 65-nm CMOS WuRX IC occupies 1.1mm2, while the WuRX (including antenna) occupies 1.875cm2.
Subsequent Surgery and Prevalence of Osteoarthritis Following Arthroscopic Meniscus Posterior Root Repair: Association with Patient Age and Body Mass Index

Objectives:Posterior meniscus root tears disrupt the tibial plateau attachment, leading to a loss of hoop stresses and significant increases in tibiofemoral contact forces. As a result, there is growing interest in surgical repair of these tears. The purpose of this study is to report rates of recurrent surgery and prevalence of osteoarthritis following posterior meniscus root repairs, and associated patient factors, in a North American population.Methods:Arthroscopic posterior meniscus root repair using a pullout trans-tibial suture method was performed by a single surgeon in the United States. Eligible patients d the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and reported any subsequent surgeries at minimum two-year follow-up. Patients were categorized as having clinical OA based on their KOOS score. When available, post-operative radiographs were evaluated for radiographic OA using the Kellgren-Lawrence classification and the OA Research Society International (OARSI) atlas. The association of ...
Template edge similarity graph clustering for mining multiple gene expression datasets

High throughput technologies have enabled the acquisition of large amounts of genomic data, including gene expression and RNA sequencing data for multiple species under various biological and environmental conditions. Recently, researchers have proposed methods for mining biological modules from gene co-expression networks. Biological inference from a single expression dataset suffers from spurious co-expression. Integrating multiple gene expression datasets is a promising strategy to alleviate the challenges of protein functional annotation and biological module discovery based on single gene expression data. We propose an integrative mining algorithm that constructs a template edge similarity graph whose nodes are the co-expression edges and a weighted edge connecting the two nodes corresponds to the structural similarity of the two edges across the co-expression graphs. Clustering the weighted edge similarity graph yields recurrent co-expression link clusters (modules). Experimental results on Human gene expression datasets show that the reported modules are functionally homogeneous as evident by their enrichment with biological process GO terms.
Passive protection against anthrax in mice with plasma derived from horses hyper-immunized against Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain

In this study, equine source polyclonal anti-Bacillus anthracis immunoglobulins were generated and utilized to demonstrate passive protection of mice in a lethal challenge assay. Four horses were hyper-immunized with B. anthracis Sterne strain for approximately one year. The geometric mean anti-PA titer in the horses at maximal response following immunization was 1:77,936 (Log2 mean titer 16.25, SEM ± 0.25 95% CI [15.5 -17.0]). The geometric mean neutralizing titer at maximal response was 1:128 (Log2 mean titer 7, SEM ± 0.0, 95% CI 7). Treatment with hyper-immune plasma or purified immunoglobulins was successful in passively protecting A/J mice from a lethal B. anthracis Sterne strain challenge. The treatment of mice with hyper-immune plasma at time 0 h and 24 h post-infection had no effect on survival, but did significantly increase mean time to death (p < 0.0001). Mice treated with purified immunoglobulins at time 0 h and 24 h post-infection in showed significant increase in survival rate (p < 0.001). Bacterial loads in lung, liver and spleen tissue were also assessed and were not significantly different in mice treated with hyper-immune plasma from placebo treated control mice. Mice treated with purified antibodies demonstrated mean colony forming units/gram tissue fourfold less than mice receiving placebo treatment (p < 0.0001). Immunotherapeutics harvested from horses immunized against B. anthracis Sterne strain represent a rapidly induced, inexpensive and effective expansion to the arsenal of treatments against anthrax.
Thermal Analysis of Montmorillonite/Graphene Double-Layer Coating as a Potential Lightning Strike Protective Layer for Cross-Linked Epoxy by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Nonreactive molecular dynamics simulations were performed to determine the thermal conductivities and through-thickness temperature profiles of unprotected cross-linked epoxy, as well as protected epoxy with graphene (Gr) and montmorillonite (MMT)/Gr surface coatings against lightning strike damage. Three representative hot surface temperatures of 500, 1000, and 10000 K were used for thermal analysis. The MMT/Gr double-layer coating provided the most efficient thermal shielding of the epoxy sublayer, and the epoxy/MMT/Gr system exhibited a 55% lower thermal conductivity than the neat epoxy. The results imply that the MMT/Gr double-layer coating may be used for lightning strike protection.
Implementation of electronic charting is not associated with significant change in physician productivity in an academic emergency department.

Objectives To compare physician productivity and billing before and after implementation of electronic charting in an academic emergency department (ED). Materials and methods This retrospective, blinded, observational study compared the 6 months pre-implementation (January to June 2012) with the 6 months post-implementation 1 year later (January to June 2013). Thirty-one ED physicians were recruited, with each physician acting as his/her own control in a before-after design. Productivity was measured via total number of encounters and "productivity index" defined as worked relative value units divided by the clinical full-time equivalent. Values for charges, encounters, and productivity index were determined during each study period and separately for procedures, observational stays, and critical care. Results No differences were found for total productivity index per month (758 [623-876] pre-group vs. 756 [673-886] post-group; P = 0.30). There was, however, a 9% decrease in total encounters per month (138 [101-163] pre-group vs. 125 [99-159] post-group; P = 0.01). Significant decreases were seen across all observation stay categories. Conversely, significant increases were seen across all critical care categories. There was no difference in total charges per month. Discussion This is one of few studies to demonstrate minimal disruption in physician productivity after transitioning to electronic documentation. The reasons for these findings are likely multi-factorial. Conclusion In this study, implementation of electronic charting was not associated with decreases in productivity or billing for total ED care, but may be associated with increases for critical care and decreases for observational stays.
Populations That Are Not Age-Dependent

Demographers, actuaries, and vital statisticians, like others who use empirical materials, require models for the interpretation of their data. Their work begins with simple assumptions, necessarily highly abstract, and then proceeds to more realistic models that cannot avoid being more complex. This book starts with problems in which age, as well as most other features of real populations, is disregarded, and in which outcomes are taken as deterministic rather than stochastic. A brief introduction presents some of the mathematical concepts of this first preliminary chapter and defines the notation in which the problems are expressed.
The Thas-Fisher Generalized Quadrangles

Using a flock of a quadratic cone discovered by J. C. Fisher, J. A. Thas has recently shown the existence of a new generalized quadrangle of order (q 2 , q), q an odd prime power, q ≥ 5. Here we give a very explicit description of Fisher's flock and show that up to isomorphism there arises just one new generalized quadrangle for each q.
Innovations in Family Therapy Strategies for Overcoming Resistance to Treatment

Regardless of their theoretical orientation or mode and place of practice, every therapist has had the disappointing and frustrating experience of “resistance to therapy” in the form of missed or canceled first appointments. For the family therapist, this becomes an even more common and complex issue because more than one individual needs to be engaged to come to treatment.
Ventilator circuits, humidification and ventilator-associated pneumonia

Technical issues in the care of mechanically ventilated patients include those related to the ventilator circuit, humidification and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Principal issues related to ventilator circuits include leaks and compression volume. Circuit compression volume affects delivered tidal volume as well as measurements of auto-positive end-expiratory pressure and mixed expired PCO2. Resistance through the ventilator circuit contributes to patient-ventilator dyssynchrony during assisted modes of mechanical ventilation. Adequate humidification of inspired gas is necessary to prevent heat and moisture loss. Common methods of humidification of inspired gas during mechanical ventilation include use of active heated humidifiers and passive artificial noses. Artificial noses are less effective than active humidifiers and are best suited to short term use. With active humidifiers, the circuit can be heated to avoid condensate formation. However, care must be exercised when heated circuits are used to avoid delivery of a low relative humidity and subsequent drying of secretions in the artificial airway. Although pneumonia is a complication of mechanical ventilation, these pneumonias are usually the result of aspiration of pharyngeal secretions and are seldom related to the ventilator circuit. Ventilator circuits do not need to be changed more frequently than weekly for infection control purposes, and the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia may be greater with more frequent circuit changes.
Improved performance of mid-infrared superlattice light emitting diodes grown epitaxially on silicon

Abstract InAs/GaSb mid-infrared superlattice light emitting diodes (SLEDs) were grown and fabricated on miscut (1 0 0) Si. Compared to growth on lattice-matched GaSb substrates, SLEDs performed better at typical operating conditions due to improved thermal management and substrate transparency, and in spite of decreased minority carrier lifetime due to defects, as determined through spectrally resolved photoluminescence and ultrafast differential transmission measurements on comparable photoluminescence samples. For the smallest device sizes, this benefit was negated due to increased device failure at high current densities.
A Case of Cobalamin Deficiency and Macrocytic Anemia Secondary to Sunitinib

Sunitinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) commonly used in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Among a broad range of toxicities, anemia and macrocytosis are common in patients treated with sunitinib. Correlation between sunitinib-associated macrocytosis and cobalamin deficiency has been reported in small case series and retrospective analyses, although others have not found an association. Here, we present a case of transfusion-dependent macrocytic anemia with cobalamin and folate deficiency in a patient with RCC treated with sunitinib.
Research as a Basis for Assessment and Curriculum Development for Visually Impaired Infants.

The need for research-based assessment and curriculum for early intervention with visually impaired infants is discussed. The author presents relevant research findings from various disciplines rel...
Hydrate Phase Equilibria of Phosphonate Scale Inhibitors, Amines, and Ethylene Glycol

Hydrate formation is a serious concern in the production and transportation of natural gas. While there exist numerous hydrate inhibitors, there are a plethora of other chemicals that are also pres...
Use of neuraxial anesthesia for hybrid lower extremity revascularization is associated with reduced perioperative morbidity.

Abstract Objective Recent advances in endovascular technology have allowed complex peripheral arterial disease (PAD) to be treated with less invasive hybrid procedures under neuraxial anesthesia. This study investigates the perioperative outcomes of hybrid lower extremity revascularization (LER) performed under neuraxial anesthesia (NAA) vs general anesthesia (GA). We hypothesize that the use of NAA is associated with improved outcomes. Methods The 2005-2017 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program dataset was used to identify patients who underwent hybrid LER for PAD. Based on the primary anesthetic technique, patients were divided into two groups: GA and NAA, which included spinal or epidural anesthesia. Baseline characteristics of the two groups were compared. A group of patients treated under GA were matched (2:1) to patients in the NAA group based on gender, age, race, functional status, transfer status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, wound infection, American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, emergent surgery, preoperative sepsis, indication, and type of hybrid procedure. Patient characteristics and 30-day outcomes were compared. Results Of 9430 patients who underwent hybrid LER, only 452 (4.8%) received NAA. Patients who received NAA were older (mean age, 68 ± 8.4 vs 72.3 ± 9.2; P = .004) and were more likely to be white (70.9% vs 85.6%; P Conclusions NAA is an infrequently used anesthesia technique during hybrid LER and is primarily used for older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. NAA is associated with decreased perioperative morbidity and length of hospital stay compared with GA and may be considered in this sicker patient population.
Freedom as an End in Itself: Fichte on Ethical Duties

Fichte’s System of Ethics was written independently of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals, although inspired by Kant’s general approach to moral philosophy. Thus Fichte’s system of ethical duties parallels Kant’s rather than responding to it. They are naturally similar in many ways, but the chief difference is that for Fichte all individuals are to be treated as means to the end of freedom (self-sufficiency) as such, while for Kant the freedom of each individual is to be treated as an end in itself. This does not always lead to substantive differences, but in some cases it does; one notable example is Fichte’s treatment of the membership of individuals in the “estates.”
A nonlocal physics-informed deep learning framework using the peridynamic differential operator

Abstract The Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) framework introduced recently incorporates physics into deep learning, and offers a promising avenue for the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) as well as identification of the equation parameters. The performance of existing PINN approaches , however, may degrade in the presence of sharp gradients, as a result of the inability of the network to capture the solution behavior globally. We posit that this shortcoming may be remedied by introducing long-range (nonlocal) interactions into the network’s input, in addition to the short-range (local) space and time variables. Following this ansatz, here we develop a nonlocal PINN approach using the Peridynamic Differential Operator (PDDO)—a numerical method which incorporates long-range interactions and removes spatial derivatives in the governing equations. Because the PDDO functions can be readily incorporated in the neural network architecture , the nonlocality does not degrade the performance of modern deep-learning algorithms. We apply nonlocal PDDO-PINN to the solution and identification of material parameters in solid mechanics and, specifically, to elastoplastic deformation in a domain subjected to indentation by a rigid punch, for which the mixed displacement–traction boundary condition leads to localized deformation and sharp gradients in the solution. We document the superior behavior of nonlocal PINN with respect to local PINN in both solution accuracy and parameter inference, illustrating its potential for simulation and discovery of partial differential equations whose solution develops sharp gradients.
The effects of neighborhood factors, maternal depression and parental emotional support on social – behavioral outcomes of children involved in the child welfare system

Children involved in the child welfare system (CWS) are exposed to various negative neighborhood and family-level factors contributing to their poor developmental outcomes, including poor social-be...
A Fast Algorithm for Simultaneous Sparse Approximation

Simultaneous sparse approximation problems arise in several domains, such as signal processing and machine learning. Given a dictionary matrix X of size \(m {\times } n\) and a target matrix Y of size \(m {\times } N\), we consider the classical problem of selecting k columns from X that can be used to linearly approximate the entire matrix Y. The previous fastest nontrivial algorithms for this problem have a running time of O(mnN). We describe a significantly faster algorithm with a running time of \(O(km(n+N))\) with accuracy that compares favorably with the slower algorithms. We also derive bounds on the accuracy of the selections computed by our algorithm. These bounds show that our results are typically within a few percentage points of the optimal solution.
Self-supervised Speckle Reduction GAN for Synthetic Aperture Radar

In this work, we present a novel generative adversarial network (GAN) for speckle reduction in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery that requires only knowledge of the noise statistics. Speckle is ubiquitous in SAR and can cause problems both for human interpretability and for automated processing such as automated target recognition. The speckle reduction GAN presented in this paper does not require image pairs to train on. Instead we take the output of a smoothing CNN, subtract it from the noisy input and compared the residual noise with simulated speckle drawn using well known SAR noise characteristics. This directly encourage the smoothing CNN to remove those image features that match our simulated speckle. For smoothing and discrimination network, we utilize a simple CNN with a small number of residual network blocks, and unchanging size from layer to layer. We train and show good performance on MSTAR radar data, as well as analyzing performance on a simulated test set. We will compare our results with other methods in the literature including the self-supervised deep image prior algorithm as applied SAR data.
Evolution of Surface Morphology of Spin-Coated Poly(methyl methacrylate) Thin Films.

The morphology of sub-micron poly(methyl methacrylate) films coated to glass supports by spin coating from toluene is examined using surface profilometry. Wrinkled surfaces with local quasi-sinusoidal periodicity were seen on the surfaces of films with thicknesses of larger than 75 nm. The surface wrinkles had large aspect ratios with wavelengths in the tens of microns and amplitudes in the tens of nanometers. Wrinkles that formed during spin-coating are attributed to surface perturbations caused by Rayleigh–Benard–Marangoni convective instabilities. The effects of film thickness, coating solution concentration, and drying rate on the thin film surface morphology are investigated. The results can be used to prepare surfaces with controlled morphology, either smooth or with periodic wrinkles.
Employee Ownership: Structuring Opportunities for Racial Wealth Building and Family Well-Being

Policies and practices of the 19th and 20th centuries have had a lasting impact into this century. This is most evident when examining racialized wealth inequality between Black and White families....
On the Statistical Theory of Turbulence

In the following section a method is given of determining the distribution function of turbulent velocities. The distribution function P(u) of a component turbulent velocity u{t) is defined as the probability that u shall have the value between u and u -fdu. The part Pe(u) of P(u) which is an even function of u can be determined by first measuring the mean with respect to time of cos zu(t) for all values of z. If this function be denoted by ^(z), then Pe(u) is given by Peiu) cos uz \f/(z)dz In a similar fashion, the part PQ(U) of P(u) which is odd in u can be determined by measuring V( cos zudz = 1, u a u(t), a]dt, therefore gives the fraction 2Ti of the total t ime interval 2T over which u < a. I t follows t ha t Q(a) = Lim 2 7 V : (p[u(t), a]dt (2) If we subst i tute in (1) and change the order of integration, we obtain Q(a) = Lim 7 W o o 2 f^sin az 1 f r / A 1 , I — — az I cos|s^(/)J dt =• irjo z 2TJ-T / : sm az~ co$[zu(t)] dz (3) where the bar indicates the mean with respect to t. Assuming t h a t the differentiation is permissible, we get from (3) P(a) = TM Q(a) 2 da -f cos az \f/(z)dz (4) where we have written \//(z) for cos [zu(t)]. The la t ter function has an interesting development in terms of the moments of u. If we expand cos[zu{t)] into a power series and then take the mean, we obtain z2 — «4 f(z) = 1 u + u* 2' 4! — u 6! (5) so t ha t \f/(z) determines the even moments of u and with that , necessarily, the even par t of the distribution function. As an example we might taken a Gaussian distribution for which p(«) = i V27T ( M 2 / 2 M ! ) (6)
Influence of glucagon on the metabolism of xylitol and dihydroxyacetone in the isolated perfused rat liver.

Abstract Glucagon stimulates glucose synthesis from xylitol and dihydroxyacetone in the isolated perfused rat liver. In addition to increasing the initial rate of glucose production from these substrates, the hormone also increases the efficiency of gluconeogenesis causing at least 90% of the substrate consumed by the liver to be converted to glucose. These effects of glucagon on gluconeogenesis are observed even when quinolinate is added to block entry of compounds through phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. The formation of lactate from xylitol and oxidation of xylitol to CO2 are inhibited approximately 80% and 70%, respectively, by glucagon. Measurement of the steady-state concentrations of the gluconeogenic intermediates accompanying the stimulation of gluconeogenesis from xylitol and dihydroxyacetone show that the hormone markedly decreases the concentration of fructose 1,6-diphosphate. The mechanism by which glucagon causes the drastic fall in fructose-1,6-P2 cannot be explained in terms of the known allosteric regulation of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase and phosphofructokinase. The observations reported in this communication suggest that the effect of glucagon on gluconeogenesis and glycolysis is the result of a complex interaction rather than regulation of one particular enzyme of the gluconeogenic-glycolytic pathway.
Voyager-Neptune Telemetry: The DSN 70 Meter Antenna Upgrade

The Deep Space Network (DSN) is responsible for the acquisition of in-situ science and engineering measurements and navigation data from spacecraft exploring the Solar System. Key characteristics of the DSN design approach, the costs to upgrade performance over the past several decades, and some fundamental constraints on performance are discussed. The specific 70-meter upgrade task and the resulting overall benefits to Voyager-Neptune and the mission set are addressed.
Frequency and phase tuning of continuous-time integrated filters using common-mode signals

A system for frequency- and Q-factor tuning resulting in a self-tuned filter is proposed. The method uses a common-mode (CM) signal as reference. No master filter is required since CM reference signals are directly applied to the main filter built as two separate but identical single-ended paths. Since the two filters are built as cascade designs the tuning signal can be conveniently applied to the inputs of the two highest-Q biquads. By summing the outputs of these biquads the differential signals cancel and the resulting CM tuning signal is used in classical frequency- and Q-tuning schemes. CM tuning signals are rejected at the output of the filter by a differential buffer. For a monolithic realization, a 7th-order equiripple delay filter with cut-off frequency tunable from 5 MHz to 40 MHz and the maximum and of 2 has been selected. It is built with a single-ended double-input CMOS triode transconductor (GM) and a "lossy biquad" which requires no common-mode feedback (G/sub M/) circuitry. The filter operates from a single 5 V power supply and dissipates 200 mW. The simulated signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio equals 70 dB for an input range of 1 V/sub pp/. The advantages of the proposed approach include on-line tuning, simpler circuitry by eliminating the master filters and CMF circuits as well as reduced power, noise and die area. >
Ecology of Terrestrial Fungal Entomopathogens

Fungal pathogens are capable of causing sensational levels of mortality in insect populations. As early as about 1000 AD, sericulturists in Asia reported Beauveria bassiana infections in silkworms (Steinhaus, 1956). The “germ theory of disease,” the concept that microbes can cause disease, was first experimentally proven by Agostino Bassi in 1834 working with B. bassiana and silkworms. From the late 1800s through 1925, research on the potential use of fungi for insect control was conducted. In recent years, largely due to our present knowledge of the hazards and inefficiencies of dependence on synthetic chemical pesticides for insect control, interest in developing fungal pathogens for control purposes has increased dramatically (Roberts and Hajek, 1992; Vandenberg, 1993). Although abundant research on use of entomopathogenic fungi for control has been conducted, there are major gaps in our understanding of the basic ecology of these fungal species, in part due to the complexity of host/pathogen/environment interactions and the diversity of host/pathogen systems to be studied. Lack of successful control in some systems and difficulties in adapting some species for typical control practices has promoted a shift in research emphasis. At present, some research efforts are directed toward understanding the factors leading to fungal infection in insects in order to investigate the potential for manipulating these systems to enhance levels of infection and promote development of epizootics (disease outbreaks).