cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MO-C-BRB-06: Panel Discussion on Leadership

With the profound changes currently occurring in medicine, the role of the medical physicist cannot stagnate, but must evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities that are presented. Medical physicists must understand these changes and establish themselves not only as relevant but as leaders in this new environment. We must increase our presence in clinical settings such as tumor boards, patient rounds, and the development of new diagnosis, imaging, and treatment techniques. By establishing ourselves as competent scientists, we can and must participate in the development of technologies through research, teaching, and clinical implementation. As medical physicists we must define our roles and value to our physician colleagues, patients, referring physicians, and senior administrators. We cannot afford to be viewed solely as quality assurance technologists, but need to move forward in step with medical and practice advances, becoming recognized as having a leadership role in providing quality research, technological development, and quality patient care. In this session, four leaders in medical research and healthcare will discuss their observations on how medical physicists have contributed to advancements in healthcare and opportunities to continue leadership in providing quality medicine through the applications of physics to research, education, and clinical practice. Learning Objectives: 1.Understand the changes in the healthcare environment and how medical physicists can contribute to improving patient care. 2.Learn how medical physicists are currently leading research efforts to improve clinical imaging and diagnosis. 3.Understand the role of medical physicists in developing new technology and leading its translation into clinical care.
The Benefits of Organizational Inertia: Evidence from Franchising During the Great Recession

The recent U.S. recession (Dec 2007-Jun 2009) created an environmental crisis for organizations. Most research indicates that organizations that respond to crises by making structural changes perfo...
Does raising indigent defender pay rates improve defendant outcomes? Evidence from New York

ABSTRACTBeginning 1 January 2004, the rates paid to assigned counsel – private attorneys who defend the indigent in criminal cases when a public defender does not – were raised from a maximum of $40 per hour to $75 per hour in the state of New York. This article examines the extent to which this relatively large pay increase affects case outcomes. Efficiency wage theory would suggest paying workers higher rates can improve their productivity, and the results of this analysis are consistent with this. Using a difference-in-difference approach, I find that after the assigned counsel rate increase, case outcomes significantly improved in counties with higher poverty rates relative to those with lower poverty rates. The likelihood of conviction and the likelihood of pleading guilty both fell by more than two percentage points in high-poverty counties compared to low-poverty counties after the rate increase, and the differences in the likelihood of being convicted are especially pronounced for cases involving ...
Framing the revolution: the role of social media in Ukraine’s Euromaidan movement

The role of social media as a tool of mobilization, communication, and organization of social movements has been well documented since the Arab Spring. The public information posted on social media sites also presents researchers with a unique tool to study protests movements from within. The proposed study utilizes the theoretical foundation of issue framing literature and examines the social media framing of the Ukrainian Euromaidan protest movement. The original dataset traces the activities of the users on the social media site Facebook from 21 November 2013 to February 2014. While foreign media sources portrayed the Ukrainian crisis as a geopolitical struggle, the results of our analysis show that the participants of the protest conceptualized their movement in terms of domestic issues and an anti-regime revolution rather than a geopolitical crossroad between the EU and Russia. This study contributes to our understanding of the role social media sites play in the activities of protest movements, such...
Amake: cached builds of top-level targets

Abstract This paper describes a software-build tool named Amake, an extension of GNU Make. Its additional features solve important problems that have, until now, only been addressed by “high-end” build tools (e.g., ClearCase and Vesta). With a typical build tool, if a top-level target must be updated, intermediate targets must be built from sources, and then combined to build the top-level target. The enhancements described here allow a top-level target to be fetched from a shared cache, without building, or even fetching its intermediate-target dependencies. Thus, a developer’s workspace may need only contain sources and top-level targets. This reduces build time, reduces network traffic, and saves disk space.
Management of Severe Asthma before Referral to the Severe Asthma Specialist

Severe asthma is associated with significant morbidity and can be challenging to assess and control, due to heterogeneity of disease, complexity of diagnosis, and impact of comorbidities. A structured approach to the assessment and management of severe asthma may be helpful to the practicing clinician. First, it is important to confirm a diagnosis of asthma. In patients who are either not responding to treatment, or who require high doses of medication to control symptoms, it is highly possible that disease mimickers or comorbidities are present and can inhibit therapeutic responsiveness. The assessment and management of common comorbidities of asthma may dramatically impact disease control and thus medication requirement. Determining medication adherence and optimizing drug dose and delivery may separate out truly severe asthmatics from those not using medications regularly or properly. Next, although true personalized medicine for severe asthma is not yet realized, for those individuals with severe asthma, phenotypic characteristics of each patient may guide which therapeutic options may be most effective for that patient. Finally, evaluation and management of severe asthma at a referral center can add additional phenotyping, therapeutic, and diagnostic strategies.
Defining Healthy Schools: An Occupational Health Psychology Perspective on Healthy School Climates

Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) uses models and methods of behavioral science to understand the nature of work organization and in doing so inform organizational policies and practices that improve worker safety, health and well-being. From an OHP perspective, healthy schools have work environments that lessen employees’ exposure to health threats in order to increase workplace safety and enhance worker well-being. Many occupational health hazards reflect the organization of work – which refers to the way jobs are designed and the organizational practices that influence job design. The goal of this chapter is to provide readers with an overview of OHP, both in terms of broad dimensions of employee health and the organizational influences on health that may be modifiable through changes to work practices. Key themes in the chapter include the conceptualization of healthy schools as a set of policies and practices that define the work environment, the need to consider both physical and psychological aspects of health, the importance of not only removing hazards but also taking steps to enhance the positive aspects of work, and best practices in implementing healthy workplace programs as exemplified through the Total Worker Health Initiative of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the American Psychological Association’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace program.
Is lateral femoral nailing associated with increased intensive care unit days? A propensity-matched analysis of 848 cases

Objective The purpose of this study is to determine if lateral patient position during femoral nailing is associated with increases in intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) or ventilator days when compared with femoral nailing in a supine position. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Level 1 trauma center. Patients/participants Patients with femoral shaft fractures treated with intramedullary fixation were identified. Propensity matching was performed to minimize selection bias using factors thought to be associated with surgeon selection of supine nailing at our institution (Injury Severity Score, Abbreviated Injury Score brain, and bilateral fractures). After matching, 848 patients were included in the analysis. Intervention Femoral nailing in the lateral position compared with the supine position. Main outcome measurements Our primary outcome measure was ICU LOS. Ventilator days were the secondary outcome. Results Treating patients with femoral nailing in the lateral position was associated with a 1.88 days (95% confidence interval, 0.73-3.02; P = 0.001) reduction in ICU LOS in our adjusted model. Intramedullary nailing in the lateral position was associated with a 1.29 days (95% confidence interval, -0.12 to 2.69) decrease in postoperative time on a ventilator. However, this finding was not statistically significant (P = 0.07). Conclusion Lateral femoral nailing was associated with decreased ICU LOS (P = 0.001) even after accounting for selection bias using propensity score matching. Our data indicate that lateral femoral nailing is likely not associated with the increased risk of pulmonary complication. Level of evidence Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
α-Sn and α-Sn 1−x Ge x film growth, characterization, and stability

We report studies of α-Sn and α-Sn i-x Ge x films grown by molecular beam epitaxy to measure elastic properties and exhibit phase stability. We demonstrate single-crystal films for x ≤ 0.06, well beyond the 0.01 solubility limit for Ge in metallic s-Sn, and suggest any Sn-Ge composition is possible under the proper epitaxial constraints.
The Environment and International Society: Issues, Concepts, and Context

International environmental law is the study of the norms, means and processes to address global and regional environmental challenges. The world’s domestic and transboundary ecosystems are under enormous stress. International environmental law is the study of how international law and policy can be used to address these stresses. International law includes principles, rules, and norms that are binding on nations and sub-national actors. Environmental legal principles and policy prescriptions emerge from the use of international sources and processes to make law and to cooperate to solve problems. This section provides a brief survey of threshold principles in international law including common issues, concepts and definitions. It includes how these concepts are shaped by external and emerging notions of global trade, economics, sustainability and environmental rights.
A systematic review of the efficacy and limitations of venous intervention in stasis ulceration.

Abstract Background Surgical techniques to address various components of chronic venous disease are rapidly evolving. Their efficacy and generally good results in treating superficial venous reflux (SVR) have been documented and compared in patients presenting with pain and swelling. A growing amount of literature is now available suggesting their efficacy in patients with venous leg ulcer (VLU). This review attempts to summarize the efficacy and limitations of commonly used venous interventions in the treatment of SVR and incompetent perforator veins (IPVs) in patients with VLU. Methods A systematic review of the published literature was performed. Two different searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and EBSCOhost to identify studies that examined the efficacy of SVR ablation and IPV ablation on healing rate and recurrence rate of VLU. Results In the whole review, 1940 articles were screened. Of those, 45 were included in the SVR ablation review and 4 in the IPV ablation review. Data were too heterogeneous to perform an adequate meta-analysis. The quality of evidence assessed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation for the two outcomes varied from very low to moderate. Ulcer healing rate and recurrence rate were between 70% and 100% and 0% and 49% in the SVR ablation review and between 59% and 93% and 4% and 33% in the IPV ablation review, respectively. To explain those variable results, limitations such as inadequate diagnostic techniques, saphenous size, concomitant calf pump dysfunction, and associated deep venous reflux are discussed. Conclusions Currently available minimally invasive techniques correct most venous pathologic processes in chronic venous disease with a good sustainable healing rate. There are still specific diagnostic and efficacy limitations that mandate proper match of individual patients with the planned approach.
Treatment Trends, Complications, and Effects of Comorbidities on Distal Radius Fractures.

Background: Distal radius fractures (DRFs) are the most common upper extremity fractures in adults. This study seeks to elucidate the impact age, fracture type, and patient comorbidities have on th...
No One Saw This Coming

February 24, 2016 was a historic day for business and the global economy. If you were only paying attention to the “news of the day,” you might have missed a ground-shaking event. Many folks were likely talking about the Grammy Awards, which were held the night before. For political junkies, the focus was on the quadrennial shouting match that is the Presidential Primary Season. Baseball fans surely were looking forward to Spring Training. Yet, as all of this was unfolding on the glowing screens we constantly seem to stare at, something else much more profound, yet subtle, was going on. That day marked the first time natural gas was exported from the USA in more than 40 years. And, while the words “natural gas” and “exports” don’t resonate with most people nearly as much as “Jay Z,” “Clinton,” “Trump,” “Cubs,” “Indians,” or “Yankees” do, the impact of the USA once again producing and exporting ever-larger amounts of natural gas amounts to a true revolution. In every sense of the word.
The Impact of Paul Erdős on Set Theory

This is a brief survey of some areas in set theory where the impact of Paul Erdős is strongly felt today. We omit topics in partition theory and graph theory, which are covered in the article by Peter Komjath in this volume.
Optimal Investment in Information Security: A Business Value Approach

With increasing level of security threats and constant budget limitations, it is critical for a company to know how much and where to invest in information security. To date, all of the studies—academia or practitioner—focus on risk reduction as the primary effect of security investments, assuming that they generate no direct business benefits. However, some potential business values such as brand reputation and data stability are not only real but also quite important. This study addresses related research questions and extends the existing model to take into account direct business benefits in optimizing security investments, filling a significant research gap. As such, this research makes contribution to both theory development in information security management and management implications in practice.
Diagnostic Percutaneous Cholecystoscopy After Nonsurgical Treatment of Gallstones

Percutaneous gallbladder endoscopy is valuable in evaluating patients after nonsurgical treatment of gallbladder stones. It can detect the residual debris that is usually missed by ultrasonography or fluoroscopy, and gives valuable information on the nature and location of such residue to aid in its elimination. Endoscopy also permits direct inspection of the gallbladder mucosa for the detection of neoplasia that may be associated with gallstone disease. In order not to dilate the percutaneous puncture of the dissolution catheter, thereby prolonging patient recovery, a 2.2 mm miniscope has been developed and used for diagnostic cholecystoscopy after automatic contact solvent litholysis.
The establishment of resident memory B cells in the lung requires local antigen encounter

Memory B cells are found in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues, suggesting that some may be tissue-resident cells. Here we show that pulmonary influenza infection elicited lung-resident memory B cells (BRM cells) that were phenotypically and functionally distinct from their systemic counterparts. BRM cells were established in the lung early after infection, in part because their placement required local antigen encounter. Lung BRM cells, but not systemic memory B cells, contributed to early plasmablast responses following challenge infection. Following secondary infection, antigen-specific BRM cells differentiated in situ, whereas antigen-non-specific BRM cells were maintained as memory cells. These data demonstrate that BRM cells are an important component of immunity to respiratory viruses such as influenza virus and suggest that vaccines designed to elicit BRM cells must deliver antigen to the lungs.
Amylin Signaling in Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease: Therapy or Pathology?

Growing evidence highlights the intimate relationship between type II diabetes (T2D) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Importantly, these two diseases share a number of pathological similarities, including amyloid accumulation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death. To date, drug therapies for AD and T2D are lacking and there is a crucial need for the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for these diseases. A number of human and rodent studies have given evidence that metabolic hormone supplementation is highly valuable for improving cognitive function and overall metabolic health in both T2D and AD. The pancreatic hormone amylin has arisen as a crucial component of the disease etiology of both T2D and AD, though the exact role that amylin plays in these diseases is not yet well understood. Here, we critically review the current literature that utilizes human amylin or its synthetic analogue, pramlintide, as well as amylin receptor antagonists for the treatment of AD.
Memo to Environmentalists: Brace for the Three Ps

This very short essay, written as a memo to environmental advocates during a destabilizing moment in environmental law, advises them to (1) resist federal preemption of state regulation, (2) scrutinize the strategic deployment of property rights to block future regulation, and (3) think creatively about how to accomplish the goals of national-level policy without the benefit of federal authority. In short, it advises that advocates ensure that the campaign to dismantle federal environmental law does not spill over into displacing state and local efforts to fill the void. They also must push back against the strategic deployment of property rights to block future efforts to reinvigorate federal environmental law. Finally, advocates will need to think creatively about how to accomplish the goals of national-level environmental policy without the benefit of federal authority, drawing on some available tools for inspiration.
SEPARATIONS AND TRANSMUTATION CRITERIA TO IMPROVE UTILIZATION OF A GEOLOGIC REPOSITORY

This paper describes the results of a study that uses the thermal performance of the repository to establish chemical separations and transmutation criteria for commercial spent nuclear fuel of ben...
Compound effects of thermal stress and tissue abrasion on photosynthesis and respiration in the reef-building coral Acropora cervicornis (Lamarck, 1816)

Abstract Reef-building corals are threatened by multiple stressors, including rising ocean temperatures due to anthropogenic climate change, and tissue abrasion inflicted by increasing frequencies of recreational diving on tropical reefs. Both can impair coral growth and survival, but interactive effects of temperature and abrasion remain unknown. We conducted laboratory experiments to investigate the metabolic physiology of endangered Caribbean staghorn corals Acropora cervicornis (Lamarck, 1816) in response to both types of stressors: (1) temperature variation (22, 25, 28, and 30 °C) and (2) tissue abrasion (15% of tissue removed vs. non-abraded controls). Using flow-through respirometry, we measured net photosynthesis and respiration in 26 coral fragments (6 genotypes) exposed to 8 treatment combinations (4 temperature × 2 abrasion treatments). In non-abraded corals, net photosynthesis peaked at 25 °C but respiration increased linearly with temperature. Higher temperatures caused a decline in the ratio of photosynthesis to respiration (P:R), wherein corals were unable to meet their metabolic energy needs (P:R
Transpiration of Dominant Tree Species Varies in Response to Projected Changes in Climate: Implications for Composition and Water Balance of Temperate Forest Ecosystems

The climate is changing in many temperate forests with winter snowpack shrinking and an increasing frequency of growing season air temperatures exceeding long-term means. We examined the effects of these changes on growing season rates of transpiration (sap flow) in two snow removal experiments in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, USA. Snow was removed during early winter, resulting in greater depth and duration of soil freezing compared to untreated plots. We examined the dominant tree species at each site, Acer saccharum at Hubbard Brook, NH and Acer rubrum and Quercus rubra at Harvard Forest, MA. Trees responded to a smaller snowpack, but with distinct species-specific responses consistent with ecological traits. Snow removal decreased rates of sap flow per kPa vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in sugar maples in the early growing season and red maples throughout the growing season. In contrast, sap flow rates per kPa VPD increased for red oak with snow removal. Downscaled climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project indicate increases in heat stress days at both sites by the end of the century, leading to increased rates of whole-season transpiration across all three tree species, which will be offset in red maples and increased in red oaks with a smaller snowpack and increased frequency of heat stress days. Results of this study demonstrate that the combined effects of changes in climate during the growing season and winter will impact transpiration differently among tree species, with implications for forest water balance and tree species composition in the northeastern USA
Redrawing the Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water pathways in the North Atlantic.

Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) is a primary deep water mass exported from the Norwegian Sea into the North Atlantic as part of the global Meridional Overturning Circulation. ISOW has historically been depicted as flowing counter-clockwise in a deep boundary current around the subpolar North Atlantic, but this single-boundary-following pathway is being challenged by new Lagrangian observations and model simulations. We show here that ISOW leaves the boundary and spreads into the interior towards the central Labrador and Irminger basins after flowing through the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone. We also describe a newly observed southward pathway of ISOW along the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The partitioning of these pathways is shown to be influenced by deep-reaching eddies and meanders of the North Atlantic Current. Our results, in tandem with previous studies, call for a revision in the historical depiction of ISOW pathways throughout the North Atlantic. Global ocean circulation overturns and starts anew in the North Atlantic, propagating climate signals to the rest of the oceans. Using drifter data, Zou and colleagues re-map the spreading pattern for one of the deep water masses and show the impact of mesoscale processes on that pattern.
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Avascular Area Association With 1-Year Treatment Requirement and Disease Progression in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose To assess the association between optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)–quantified avascular areas (AAs) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity, progression, and treatment requirement in the following year. Design Prospective cohort study. Methods We recruited patients with diabetes from a tertiary academic retina practice and obtained 3-mm × 3-mm macular OCTA scans with the AngioVue system and standard 7-field color photographs at baseline and at a 1-year follow-up visit. A masked grader determined the severity of DR from the color photographs using the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy scale. A custom algorithm detected extrafoveal AA (EAA) excluding the central 1-mm circle in projection-resolved superficial vascular complex (SVC), intermediate capillary plexus (ICP), and deep capillary plexus (DCP). Results Of 138 patients, 92 (41 men, ranging in age from 26-84 years [mean 59.4 years]) completed 1 year of follow-up. At baseline, EAAs for SVC, ICP, and DCP were all significantly correlated with retinopathy severity (P Conclusions EAAs detected by OCTA in diabetic eyes are significantly associated with baseline DR severity, disease progression, and treatment requirement over 1 year.
Recent advances in the interfacial stability, design and in situ characterization of garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 solid-state electrolytes based lithium metal batteries

Abstract Solid-state electrolyte (SSE) coupled with Li metal anode, is one of the very promising architecture designs to achieve all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) for advanced next-generation energy storage technology in expectation of boosted energy density, power, and increased safety. Among the reported SSEs, the garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) SSEs have attracted wide interest in terms of their relatively high ionic conductivity and good chemical stability against Li metal. However, there is an increasing amount of recent research pointing out the interfacial (electro)chemical instabilities between LLZO and electrodes (Li anode and cathode), which hinder their commercial-scale applications. In this review, we introduce the interfacial stability challenges at both LLZO/Li anode and LLZO/cathode interfaces revealed by recent works. We also review and summarize the diverse interfacial designs on mitigating such instabilities, and in situ characterization techniques to understand these interfacial issues.
Developing Social Knowledge to Support Reading Comprehension in Elementary Students With ASD

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience associated difficulties in reading comprehension. This may be due to the social nature of fictional texts, which require the reader to i...
A complete, unabridged, “pre-registered” descriptive experience sampling investigation: The case of Lena

Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) attempts to apprehend in high fidelity pristine inner experience (the naturally-occurring, directly-apprehended phenomena that fill our waking lives, including inner speaking, visual imagery, sensory awarenesses, etc.). Previous DES investigations had shown individual differences in the frequency of inner speaking ranging from nearly zero to nearly 100% of the time. In early 2020, the Internet was ablaze with comments expressing astonishment that constant internal monologue was not universal. We invited Lena, a university student who believed she had constant internal monologue, to participate in a DES analog of a pre-registered study: We would announce, on the Internet, that we would conduct a fully transparent DES investigation and roll out videos of the DES interviews (and annotated transcripts) as they occurred in (almost) real-time, something like “reality TV about inner experience,” so that spectators could examine for themselves our characterizations of Lena and how we arrived at them. We describe here the procedure and its findings: Lena did not have frequent internal monologue (contrary to her expectations); she did have frequent visual imagery (to her surprise); and we speculated about the frequent presence of two simultaneous “centers of gravity” of her experience. The entire procedure is available for inspection.
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

For a century following publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations in 1776, economic theory contained a paradoxical dissonance in its major themes. On the one hand, the classical thought of Smith, David Ricardo, James Mill and John Stuart Mill gave ideological support to economic liberalism and the free market economy. But, on the other hand, it succeeded neither in distinguishing the function of the key figure in that economy — the capitalist — from that of the entrepreneur, nor in providing a convincing rationale for the existence of the economy’s distinctive factor share — interest.
Altruism in Human Ritual

Altruism is the selfless concern for the well-being of others and is regarded as an admirable quality in most, if not all, cultures. One cross-culturally important area where it appears to occur abundantly is in the context of religious and secular rituals. Many of these are rites of passage associated with major life events, including birth, marriage, retirement, and death. Others involve aspects of religious devotion. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the altruistic qualities of one example of the Mesoamerican religious festival, or cargo, system wherein lay residents of rural communities sponsor and organize celebrations of saints in the Catholic pantheon. Altruism involves self-sacrifice in terms of time, money, or other resources with no expectation or anticipation of compensation or reward. The cargo system in San Rafael Tepatlaxco, Tlaxcala, Mexico, offers residents the opportunity to engage in such self-sacrifice. However, some individuals choose not to participate in the system while others use it to gain power and prestige. A third group participates, apparently with no personal goal other than the well-being of their neighbors in mind.
Force-Free Magnetic Fields with Constant Alpha

According to Taylor’s conjecture (1986), the force-free field with constant α is a final state of a magnetic configuration after reconnection and subsequent relaxation.This conjecture is based on the assumption of existence and completeness of the set of eigenfunctions of the operator ∇×, i.e., the set of force-free solutions with constant α. It turns out, however, that the existence of solutions is very sensitive to the geometry of the plasma configuration. Actually, only for a boundary with high degree of symmetry the solutions are found. If the shape of the boundary possesses only axial symmetry, the force-free fields are presumably axisymmetric as well. Therefore, the set of eigenfunctions is not complete in that case. For a body with a “bad” shape force-free fields with constant α may not exist at all. As a result, the question of the final state of a magnetic configuration inside the body remains open. As pointed out by Moffatt (1985), there is an analogy between magnetostatic equilibria and steady Euler flows. According to this analogy, constant-alpha force-free fields are equivalent to Beltrami flows. Additionally, only this latter class of fields may be stochastic, so that magnetic surfaces do not exist (Arnold, 1973). According to Moffatt (1985), the relaxation of an initially ergodic field (in some domain) under topological constraints has to end up as a constant-alpha force-free field. In addition to Moffatt’s conclusion, we would suggest that the relaxation of the field under topological constraints is accompanied by a change of the shape towards a more symmetric geometry of the domain.
Change in our MIDST: Toward detection and analysis of urban land dynamics in North and South America

We describe a new approach to monitoring urban land dynamics—the MIDST (Multiple Indicators Detecting Significant Trends) system—that we are in the process of building. One of the main foci of the project are the megacities and major conurbations of both North and South America. Here we look at the result of a simple nonparametric trend analysis applied to a MODIS NBAR NDVI image time series of southeastern interior Brazil.
Stimulus–responsive ultrasound contrast agents for clinical imaging: motivations, demonstrations, and future directions

Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents allow imaging of the vasculature with excellent resolution and signal-to-noise ratios. Contrast in microbubbles derives from their interaction with an ultrasound wave to generate signal at harmonic frequencies of the stimulating pulse; subtracting the elastic echo caused by the surrounding tissue can enhance the specificity of these harmonic signals significantly. The nonlinear acoustic emission is caused by pressure-driven microbubble size fluctuations, which in both theoretical descriptions and empirical measurements was found to depend on the mechanical properties of the shell that encapsulates the microbubble as well as stabilizes it against the surrounding aqueous environment. Thus biochemically induced switching between a rigid 'off' state and a flexible 'on' state provides a mechanism for sensing chemical markers for disease. In our research, we coupled DNA oligonucleotides to a stabilizing lipid monolayer to modulate stiffness of the shell and thereby induce stimulus-responsive behavior. In initial proof-of-principle studies, it was found that signal modulation came primarily from DNA crosslinks preventing the microbubble size oscillations rather than merely damping the signal. Next, these microbubbles were redesigned to include an aptamer sequence in the crosslinking strand, which not only allowed the sensing of the clotting enzyme thrombin but also provided a general strategy for sensing other soluble biomarkers in the bloodstream. Finally, the thrombin-sensitive microbubbles were validated in a rabbit model, presenting the first example of an ultrasound contrast agent that could differentiate between active and inactive clots for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis.
Current Surgical Management

For the majority of brain tumors in children, the extent of resection is the most important factor predicting long-term outcome. This conclusion has led many neurosurgeons to be as aggressive as possible during the initial surgical procedure in an effort to achieve gross total resection (GTR; Pollack 1999; Albright et al. 2000). It should be recognized that GTR is not the primary goal for tumors where sensitivity to adjuvant therapy is high (e.g., germinoma), or where there is clear extension into eloquent regions (e.g., brainstem and thalamic glioma). Fortunately, these latter groups represent a minority of pediatric brain tumors (Pollack 1994).
Evolution of neuropsychological issues in HIV-1 infection during the HAART era.

This chapter summarizes the neuropsychological (NP) findings from the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and pre-HAART eras, including a discussion of the impact that impairment has on “real-world” functioning. Reports from a number of cohorts suggest that, in the HAART era, a subset of individuals transition in and out of impairment over time, raising the possibility that neurocognitive dysfunction in HIV-1 infection may be neither static nor chronically progressive but in the mildest forms may exhibit a fluctuating, relapsing/remitting course, similar to demyelinating disorders. HIV-1 infection of the brain is characterized by HIV encephalitis (HIVE), or the presence of multinucleated giant cells, microglial nodules, astrocytosis, and myelin pallor. Importantly, in the Heaton and coworkers study, both the NP and functional batteries were independent predictors of “real-world” functional status, based on complaints of cognitive difficulties, level of dependence/independence in instrumental activities of daily living, and employment status. Several brief cognitive screening techniques have been developed for situations in which a full or focused NP evaluation is not indicated or not feasible. Most research studies of NP function in HIV-1 infection utilize between-group mean comparisons of test scores on individual measures. Some controversy still exists regarding whether affective/ mood disorders, such as major depression and anxiety, interact with neurocognitive impairment. Ivnik and coworkers showed that large positive and negative test score changes were not uncommon for individuals across time, even though test-retest means stay relatively stable across the entire sample.
Large spin-orbit effects in small interacting quantum dots

We consider small ballistic quantum dots weakly coupled to leads in the chaotic regime and look for significant spin-orbit effects. We find that these effects can become quite prominent in the vicinity of degeneracies of many-body energies. We illustrate the idea by considering a case where the intrinsic exchange term $\ensuremath{-}J{\mathbf{S}}^{2}$ brings singlet and triplet many-body states near each other, while an externally tunable Zeeman term then closes the gap between the singlet and one of the triplet states (with spin projection parallel to the external field). Near this degeneracy, the spin-orbit coupling leads to a striking temperature dependence of the conductance, with observable effects of order unity at temperatures lower than the strength of the spin-orbit coupling. Under favorable circumstances, spelled out in the paper, these order-unity effects in the conductance persist to temperatures much higher than the spin-orbit coupling strength. Our conclusions are unaffected by the presence of nonuniversal perturbations. We suggest a class of experiments to explore this regime.
Ten Years of iCTF: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Author(s): Vigna, Giovanni; Borgolte, Kevin; Corbetta, Jacopo; Doupe, Adam; Fratantonio, Yanick; Invernizzi, Luca; Kirat, Dhilung; Shoshitaishvili, Yan | Abstract: Security competitions have become a popular way to foster security education by creating a competitive environment in which participants go beyond the effort usually required in traditional security courses. Live security competitions (also called “Capture The Flag,” or CTF competitions) are particularly well-suited to support hands-on experience, as they usually have both an attack and a defense component. Unfortunately, because these competitions put several (possibly many) teams against one another, they are difficult to design, implement, and run. This paper presents a framework that is based on the lessons learned in running, for more than 10 years, the largest educational CTF in the world, called iCTF. The framework’s goal is to provide educational institutions and other organizations with the ability to run customizable CTF competitions. The framework is open and leverages the security community for the creation of a corpus of educational security challenges.
Ultra‐Low Frequency Waves at Comets

Theory and observational results on ultralow frequency (ULF) waves or turbulence upstream of comets are reviewed. The ULF wave characteristics of comets Giacobini-Zinner and Halley are described and the cyclotron resonance condition is discussed. Theoretical work on the contribution of instabilities to ULF wave excitation is addressed. The quasi-linear evolution of the ULF wave spectrum is examined, and the nonlinear evolution of the ULF waves is examined.
On-chip stochastic communication [SoC applications]

As CMOS technology scales down into the deep-submicron (DSM) domain, the costs of design and verification for systems-on-chip (SoCs) are rapidly increasing due to the inefficiency of traditional CAD tools. Relaxing the requirement of 100% correctness for devices and interconnects drastically reduces the costs of design but, at the same time, requires that SoCs be designed with some system-level fault-tolerance. In this paper, we introduce a new communication paradigm for SoCs, namely stochastic communication. The newly proposed scheme not only separates communication from computation, but also provides the required built-in fault-tolerance to DSM failures, is scalable and cheap to implement. For a generic tile-based architecture, we show how a ubiquitous multimedia application (an MP3 encoder) can be implemented using stochastic communication in an efficient and robust manner. More precisely, up to 70% data upsets, 80% packet drops because of buffer overflow, and severe levels of synchronization failures can be tolerated while maintaining a low latency.
Glutamate neurotoxicity in vitro: antagonist pharmacology and intracellular calcium concentrations.

There is now convincing evidence that excessive accumulation of the excitatory amino acid glutamate (GLU) in the extracellular space is toxic to central mammalian neurons. However, the role of different GLU receptors in producing this toxicity has not been adequately ascertained. There is also no adequate information about the correlation of free intracellular calcium concentration with eventual excitotoxic death. We have used cultured rat hippocampal neurons to address these issues. Approximately 75% of our neurons died after a 20- min GLU exposure. The potent kainate/quisqualate receptor antagonist 6- cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione did not significantly ameliorate the GLU toxicity, while the selective noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist methyl-10,11-dihydro-5-H-dibenzocyclohepten-5,10- imine (MK-801) blocked the GLU toxicity for periods of at least 2 hr. Interestingly, kainate was very toxic to the hippocampal neurons, but this toxicity was markedly attenuated by MK-801. These results suggest that the major toxicity of GLU is mediated by NMDA receptors and that under some conditions kainate toxicity reflects nonspecific opening of NMDA channels. The intracellular calcium concentrations in these neurons at the end of exposure to GLU and kainate (in the presence and absence of different antagonists) correlated poorly with eventual survival. Antagonists that limited the rise in calcium were still ineffective in preventing death. These results confirm earlier observations that stressed the importance of NMDA receptors in mediating GLU toxicity. However, they indicate that the relationship between toxicity and neuronal calcium concentration may be very complicated. An unexpected finding of these experiments was that MK- 801, unlike competitive antagonists of GLU, elevated intracellular calcium.
Bayesian Joint Hierarchical Model for Prediction of Latent Health States with Application to Active Surveillance of Prostate Cancer

In this article, we present a Bayesian joint hierarchical model for predicting a latent health state from longitudinal clinical measurements. Model development is motivated by an application to active surveillance of low risk prostate cancer. Existing joint latent class modeling approaches are unsuitable for this context as they do not accommodate measurement error-- cancer state determinations based on biopsied tissue are prone to misclassification-- nor do they allow for observations to be missing not at random. The proposed model addresses these limitations, enabling estimation of an individual's underlying prostate cancer state. These individualized predictions can then be communicated to clinicians and patients to inform decision making. We demonstrate the model with data from a cohort of active surveillance patients at Johns Hopkins University and assess predictive accuracy among a subset with eventual observation of true cancer state. Simulated data and R code is available at this https URL
Molybdenum, (hexamethylphosphoric triamide ‐κO)oxoperoxy[2,6‐pyridinedicarboxylato(2‐)‐κN1,κO2,κO6]‐

[67584-07-0] C13H21N4O8PMo (MW 488.26) InChI = 1S/C7H5NO4.C6H18N3OP.Mo.O2.O/c9-6(10)4-2-1-3-5(8-4)7(11)12;1-7(2)11(10,8(3)4)9(5)6;;1-2;/h1-3H,(H,9,10)(H,11,12);1-6H3;;;/q;;+2;;/p-2 InChIKey = ZWSVYYBRQBXNOD-UHFFFAOYSA-L (used as a catalyst for the synthesis of nitrosobenzenes from aromatic amines; oxidizes organopalladium complexes to form aryl ethers and alkyl ethers) Alternate Names: oxoperoxo-(2,6-pyridinedicarboxylato-O,N,O)(hexamethylphosphortriamide)molybdenum-(VI). Physical Data: 1H NMR (δ, CDC13): 2.31 [d, JH-P = 9 Hz, 11H, HMPA (bound)], 2.63 [d, JH-P = 9 Hz, 7H, HMPA (free)], 8.3–8.5 [m, 3H, (C5H3N)]. Form Supplied in: orange solid,commercially not available. Preparative Method: prepared in two steps from commercially available molybdenum trioxide and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid in 70% yield (eq 1).1 Product precipitates out in the reaction and needs no further purification and can be used as such after filtration and drying. (1) Handling, Storage, and Precautions: use under fume hood with proper PPE.
The mutability of rhetoric: Haydar ‘Abd Al‐Shafi's Madrid speech and vision of Palestinian‐Israeli rapprochement

This essay draws from Edwin Black's Rhetorical Questions to illuminate the role of mutability in rhetoric, consciousness, and social idioms as it is displayed in Haydar ‘Abd al‐Shafi's speech delivered at the Madrid conference on October 31, 1991. Shaft's speech represents a significant mutation in Palestinian discourse. In this speech, the symbolic mold and the hereditarian social idioms that had controlled the Palestinian narrative until the intifada yielded to a mixed idiom that retained the hereditarian values essential for Palestinian identity but opened up space for the convictional values necessary for negotiation and rapprochement with Israel. This essay demonstrates that rhetorical critical theory could benefit from a close reading and application of the themes in Rhetorical Questions.
A monthly effect in stock returns

Abstract The mean return for stocks is positive only for days immediately before and during the first half of calendar months, and indistinguishable from zero for days during the last half of the month. This ‘monthly effect’ is independent of other known calendar anomalies such as the January effect documented by others and appears to be caused by a shift in the mean of the distribution of returns from days in the first half of the month relative to days in the last half.
The role of Chironomidae in energy flow of a lotic ecosystem

Chironomid secondary production was estimated on a species-specific basis for 14 dominant taxa in a third-order woodland stream. Results from this study were used to provide an expalanation for the common observation that benthos secondary production in streams is insufficient to account for levels of fish production,i.e., the ALLEN paradox. Annual chironomid secondary production was 29.7 g dry mass m−2 and accounted for 80% of the total aquatic insect secondary production. A contribution by chironomids this high has not been reported previously from similar streams and indicates that chironomids are an energetically important group available for fish consumption. Most studies examining chironomid secondary production group all taxa at the family level and calculate secondary production for the entire family using the size-frequency method. This approach violates assumptions of the size-frequency method and will result in inaccurate and unpredictable estimates of chironomid secondary production. The species-specific approach to estimate chironomid production used in this study, combined with non-chironomid production, yielded a benthos annual production rate that exceeded consumption necessary to support fish production.