cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the BioRad Variant and Primus Ultra2 high‐pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) instruments for the detection of variant hemoglobins

Summary Introduction: Hemoglobin variants are a result of genetic changes resulting in abnormal or dys-synchronous hemoglobin chain production (thalassemia) or the generation of hemoglobin chain variants such as hemoglobin S. Automated high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems have become the method of choice for the evaluation of patients suspected with hemoglobinopathies. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the performance of two HPLC methods used in the detection of common hemoglobin variants: Variant and Ultra2. Results: There were 377 samples tested, 26% (99/377) with HbS, 8.5% (32/377) with HbC, 20.7% (78/377) with other hemoglobin variant or thalassemia, and 2.9% with increased hemoglobin A1c. The interpretations of each chromatograph were compared. There were no differences noted for hemoglobins A0, S, or C. There were significant differences between HPLC methods for hemoglobins F, A2, and A1c. However, there was good concordance between normal and abnormal interpretations (97.9% and 96.2%, respectively). Conclusion: Both Variant and Ultra2 HPLC methods were able to detect most common hemoglobin variants. There was better discrimination for fast hemoglobins, between hemoglobins E and A2, and between hemoglobins S and F using the Ultra2 HPLC method.
Some observations in a northwest Greenland crevasse

A crevasse believed to be of average size, located in the coastal belt of the northwest Greenland icecap, has been studied. In 1955, it was at least 300 m long and 15 m deep. At its widest point it was three meters broad, becoming narrower at the ends, top, and bottom. It was strongly bridged by snow, firn, glazing, and porous masses of vapor crystals. Ice shelves and wide cracks in the ceiling and floor which were observed may indicate at least three periods of widening, separated by one or more seasons of surface drift-bridging and bottomwater freezing. The bottom-water level depended upon an equilibrium between supply and drainage, which fluctuated with weather. No other changes were noted during two months of observations. Some interesting analogies between this crevasse and a natural limestone cave have been noted.
One– and Three–Hour PM2.5 Characterization, Speciation, and Source Apportionment Using Continuous and Integrated Samplers

Ammonium nitrate and semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC) are significant components of fine particles in many urban atmospheres. These components, however, are not properly measured by current EPA accepted methods, such as the R&P TEOM monitor, due to loss of semivolatile material (SVM) from particles in the heated environment of the filter during sampling. The accurate determination of semivolatile material is important due to the possible effects of these species on human health, visibility, and global climate change. The concentration and composition of fine particulate material were determined using a combination of continuous and integrated samplers at the Brigham Young University–EPA Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (BYU–EPA EMPACT) monitoring site in Salt Lake City, Utah over a six–day sampling period (30 January to 4 February) during the winter of 2001. Continuous samples were collected using a RAMS (total PM2.5 mass), a TEOM monitor (nonvolatile PM2.5 mass), an ...
Metabolic Abnormalities in Children with Asthma

Rationale: Childhood asthma and obesity have reached epidemic proportions worldwide, and the latter is also contributing to increasing rates of related metabolic disorders, such as diabetes. Yet, the relationship between asthma, obesity, and abnormal lipid and glucose metabolism is not well understood, nor has it been adequately explored in children. Objectives: To analyze the relationship between asthma diagnosis and body mass in children across the entire range of weight percentile categories, and to test the hypothesis that early derangement in lipid and glucose metabolism is independently associated with increased risk for asthma. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of a representative sample of public school children from a statewide community-based screening program, including a total of 17,994 children, 4 to 12 years old, living in predominantly rural West Virginia, and enrolled in kindergarten, second, or fifth grade classrooms. Measurements and Main Results: We analyzed demographics; family history; smoke exposure; parent-reported asthma diagnosis; body mass index; evidence of acanthosis nigricans as a marker for developing insulin resistance; and fasting serum lipid profile including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. Regardless of their body mass index percentile, children diagnosed with asthma were more likely than children without asthma to have higher triglyceride levels and acanthosis nigricans after controlling for sex differences and smoke exposure. Conclusions: This study provides the first set of community-based data linking asthma, body mass, and metabolic variables in children. In particular, these findings uniquely describe a statistically significant association between asthma and abnormal lipid and glucose metabolism beyond body mass index associations.
SQL-on-Hadoop: full circle back to shared-nothing database architectures

SQL query processing for analytics over Hadoop data has recently gained significant traction. Among many systems providing some SQL support over Hadoop, Hive is the first native Hadoop system that uses an underlying framework such as MapReduce or Tez to process SQL-like statements. Impala, on the other hand, represents the new emerging class of SQL-on-Hadoop systems that exploit a shared-nothing parallel database architecture over Hadoop. Both systems optimize their data ingestion via columnar storage, and promote different file formats: ORC and Parquet. In this paper, we compare the performance of these two systems by conducting a set of cluster experiments using a TPC-H like benchmark and two TPC-DS inspired workloads. We also closely study the I/O efficiency of their columnar formats using a set of micro-benchmarks. Our results show that Impala is 3.3X to 4.4X faster than Hive on MapReduce and 2.1X to 2.8X than Hive on Tez for the overall TPC-H experiments. Impala is also 8.2X to 10X faster than Hive on MapReduce and about 4.3X faster than Hive on Tez for the TPC-DS inspired experiments. Through detailed analysis of experimental results, we identify the reasons for this performance gap and examine the strengths and limitations of each system.
Help or Hindrance? The Impact of Harmonised Standards on African Exports

The authors test the hypothesis that product standards harmonized to de facto international standards are less trade restrictive than ones that are not. To do this, the authors construct a new database of European Union (EU) product standards. The authors identify standards that are aligned with ISO standards (as a proxy for de facto international norms). The authors use a sample-selection gravity model to examine the impact of EU standards on African textiles and clothing exports, a sector of particular development interest. The authors find robust evidence that non-harmonized standards reduce African exports of these products. EU standards which are harmonized to ISO standards are less trade restricting. Our results suggest that efforts to promote African exports of manufactures may need to be complemented by measures to reduce the cost impacts of product standards, including international harmonization. In addition, efforts to harmonize national standards with international norms, including through the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, promise concrete benefits through trade expansion.
Thalamic Control of Layer 1 Circuits in Prefrontal Cortex

Knowledge of thalamocortical (TC) processing comes mainly from studying core thalamic systems that project to middle layers of primary sensory cortices. However, most thalamic relay neurons comprise a matrix of cells that are densest in the "nonspecific" thalamic nuclei and usually target layer 1 (L1) of multiple cortical areas. A longstanding hypothesis is that matrix TC systems are crucial for regulating neocortical excitability during changing behavioral states, yet we know almost nothing about the mechanisms of such regulation. It is also unclear whether synaptic and circuit mechanisms that are well established for core sensory TC systems apply to matrix TC systems. Here we describe studies of thalamic matrix influences on mouse prefrontal cortex using optogenetic and in vitro electrophysiology techniques. Channelrhodopsin-2 was expressed in midline and paralaminar (matrix) thalamic neurons, and their L1-projecting TC axons were activated optically. Contrary to conventional views, we found that matrix TC projections to L1 could transmit relatively strong, fast, high-fidelity synaptic signals. L1 TC projections preferentially drove inhibitory interneurons of L1, especially those of the late-spiking subtype, and often triggered feedforward inhibition in both L1 interneurons and pyramidal cells of L2/L3. Responses during repetitive stimulation were far more sustained for matrix than for core sensory TC pathways. Thus, matrix TC circuits appear to be specialized for robust transmission over relatively extended periods, consistent with the sort of persistent activation observed during working memory and potentially applicable to state-dependent regulation of excitability.
Critical associated metrics on contact manifolds. II

Defining a function on the set of all Riemannian metrics associated to a contact form on a compact manifold by taking the integral of the Ricci curvature in the direction of the characteristic vector field, it is shown that on a compact regular contact manifold the only critical points of this function are the metrics for which the characteristic vector field generates a group of isometrics.
Rationalization and regionalization of treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

Purpose: In ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, conservative surgery plus radiotherapy (CS+RT) decreases risk of recurrence compared with CS alone. Although nearly one third of patients are reported as treated with CS alone, it is unclear whether this potentially "undertreated" group represents high- or low-risk patients. We evaluated national patterns of DCIS treatment from 1996 to 2001 by patient risk profile. Methods and Materials: In a retrospective cohort of DCIS patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data, patients were risk stratified on the basis of age at diagnosis, tumor grade, tumor size, and comedo histology. Treatment included CS alone, CS+RT, or mastectomy. Patients were followed for the development of ipsilateral invasive or in situ event. Results: Of 14,202 patients, 19% were low-risk, 46% moderate-risk, and 35% high-risk. A total of 28% received CS alone, 40% CS+RT, and 31% mastectomy. Overall, only 17% of high-risk patients but 44% of low-risk patients received CS alone ( p p Conclusion: Patient risk profiles rationally affect treatment choice in DCIS patients, and the vast majority of high-risk patients do not receive CS alone. Additional follow up is needed to determine whether geographic variation in care influences long-term outcomes.
Continuity clinics in psychiatric residency training

Objective This article evaluates the impact of establishing extensive continuity clinics on a psychiatry residency training program.
Switching Error Modes of QCA Circuits

The Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) model offers a novel nano-domain computing architecture by mapping the intended logic onto the lowest energy configuration of a collection of QCA cells, with two possible ground states for each cell. A four phased clocking is used to keep the computations at the ground state throughout the circuit. Computing errors in QCA circuits can arise due to the failure of the clocking scheme to switch portions of the circuit to its new ground state with change in input. To study these switching errors we need to consider low-energy state configurations of QCA circuits. However, current QCA simulators compute just the ground state configuration of a QCA arrangement. In this paper, we offer an efficient method, based on graphical probabilistic models, to compute the N-lowest energy modes of a clocked QCA circuit. The overall low-energy, excited, spectrum of multiple clocking zones is constructed by concatenating the excited spectra of the individual clocking zones. We demonstrate the use of this error model by comparing different designs of wire crossings.
Function in the country song “Tight Fittin’ Jeans”

(1990). Function in the country song “Tight Fittin’ Jeans”. Popular Music and Society: Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 27-50.
Laser beam shaping techniques

Industrial, military, medical, and research and development applications of lasers frequently require a beam with a specified irradiance distribution in some plane. A common requirement is a laser profile that is uniform over some cross-section. Such applications include laser/material processing, laser material interaction studies, fiber injection systems, optical data image processing, lithography, medical applications, and military applications. Laser beam shaping techniques can be divided into three areas: apertured beams, field mappers, and multi-aperture beam integrators. An uncertainty relation exists for laser beam shaping that puts constraints on system design. In this paper the authors review the basics of laser beam shaping and present applications and limitations of various techniques.
Adjuvant radiation therapy for pancreatic cancer: a review of the old and the new

Surgery represents the only potential curative treatment option for patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Despite aggressive surgical management for patients deemed to be resectable, rates of local recurrence and/or distant metastases remain high, resulting in poor long-term outcomes. In an effort to reduce recurrence rates and improve survival for patients having undergone resection, adjuvant therapies (ATs) including chemotherapy and chemoradiation therapy (CRT) have been explored. While adjuvant chemotherapy has been shown to consistently improve outcomes, the data regarding adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) is mixed. Although the ability of radiation to improve local control has been demonstrated, it has not always led to improved survival outcomes for patients. Early trials are flawed in their utilization of sub-optimal radiation techniques, limiting their generalizability. Recent and ongoing trials incorporate more optimized RT approaches and seek to clarify its role in treatment strategies. At the same time novel radiation techniques such as intensity modulated RT (IMRT) and stereotactic body RT (SBRT) are under active investigation. It is hoped that these efforts will lead to improved disease-related outcomes while reducing toxicity rates.
Immunohistochemical localization of epididymal secretory glycoprotein EP1 in the adult male chimpanzee

Proteins, synthesized by the epididymal epithelium, are secreted sequentially into the lumen of the ducts epididymis where they effect sperm maturation and enable functional motility and fertilizing capacity. EP1 is a major secretory glycoprotein of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) epididymis. The epididymal duct exhibits diverse histology (Smithwick & Young, 1997). Epithelia I-V of the efferent ducts show no characteristic anti-EP1 binding. The densest granules of anti-EP1 reaction product appear in epithelium VI adjacent to the basal lamina in the infranuclear region of the principal cells (PCs), in the cytoplasm of the apical half of the PCs, and in the perinuclear and perivacuolar cytoplasm of the basal cells. In epithelia VII-XIV of the ductus epididymis proper, anti-EP1 binding decreases distally and is localized in the cytoplasm of the PCs and basal cells, among the stereocilia of the luminal border, within various microvillar borders, and in the luminal fluid. Therefore, EP1 appears to be synthesized and secreted primarily in the caput region of the ductus epididymis and may be reabsorbed nonselectively across epithelia with apical microvilli, including the non-ciliated cells of efferent ducts, the distal corpus and cauda of the ductus epididymis, and the proximal ductus deferens.
THE IRON LAW OF PATERNALISM: GENDER BIAS IN ARBITRATED OUTCOMES?

We relied on 372 justice procedures in the workplace (arbitral hearings) to assess the viability of the “iron law of paternalism,” a thesis essentially arguing that women will receive more lenient outcomes. With severity of the offense invariant, these data provide no support for this thesis in the workplace.
Importance of passive diffusion in the uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls by phagotrophic protozoa.

Unicellular protozoan grazers represent a size class of organisms where a transition in the mechanism of chlorobiphenyl (CB) introduction, from diffusion through surface membranes to ingestion of contaminated prey, could occur. This study compares the relative importance of these two processes in the overall uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls by protists. Uptake rates and steady-state concentrations were compared in laboratory cultures of grazing and nongrazing protozoa. These experiments were conducted with a 10-μm marine scuticociliate (Uronema sp.), bacterial prey (Halomonas halodurans), and a suite of 21 CB congeners spanning a range of aqueous solubilities. The dominant pathway of CB uptake by both grazing and nongrazing protozoa was diffusion. Organic-carbon-normalized CB concentrations (in the protozoan cell) were equivalent in grazing and nongrazing protozoa for all congeners studied. Rate constants for uptake into and loss from the protozoan cell were independently determined by using [3,3′,4,4′-14C]tetrachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC no. 77), 0.38 ± 0.03 min−1 and (1.1 ± 0.1) × 10−5 (g of organic carbon)−1 min−1, respectively. Magnitudes of the uptake and loss processes were calculated and compared by using a numerical model. The model result was consistent with data from the bioaccumulation experiment and supported the hypothesis that diffusive uptake is faster than ingestive uptake in phagotrophic unicellular protozoa.
Polymer Brushes in Strong Shear Flow

Polymers end-grafted to a surface in the presence of a shear flow are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The solvent velocity field is observed to penetrate only a short distance into the brush consistent with predictions based on self-consistent field theory. The deformation of the brush is small except when the shear rate γ is very large. In this limit, while some of the polymer chains are stretched in the direction of flow, the brush height actually decreases slightly, in contrast to several theoretical predictions. When two surfaces bearing end-grafted chains are brought into contact, the normal force increases rapidly with decreasing plate separation, while the shear force is significantly smaller. For low relative velocity vw of the two walls, the surfaces slide pass each other with almost no change in the chain's radius of gyration or the amount of interpenetration, while for very large vw, there is significant stretching and some disentanglement of the chains. The results are in qualitatively good agreement with recent experiments using the surface force apparatus.
Urban Diffusion Problems

Most of the basic concepts that are needed to make calculations of urban diffusion are summarized in other papers at this workshop. Therefore this paper is not planned to be a long review of basic techniques. Instead, emphasis will be on the factors that cause diffusion in urban areas to present special problems or to differ from diffusion in other environments.
Doing More with Less: Improved Targeting of Social Programs for Maximum Impact

Social programs are increasingly asked to do more with less, but how is this possible? In this paper we consider one such program, supported employment, which is designed to increase employment among adults with intellectual disabilities. We estimate a model which allows for heterogeneous benefits from participation which in turn is allowed to affect the individual's decision to participate. We find that the average treatment effects for the population exceed that of the treated group. The contribution of this paper is to develop alternative schemes for targeting program resources and to measure any gains that result. In our simulations, we find employment under the current program is 1.38%, and this could be increased to an upper bound of 17.1% by an omniscient program administrator who can perfectly target those who gain most. While we assume that program administrators know more about individual program participants than we do, we can consider an administrator who has only the information available to the econometrician. In this case, targeting gains based only on observable characteristics would lead to 12.4% employment. Surprisingly, a simple rule that only requires administrators to predict employment success when treated (based on observables) will achieve almost the same results.
Modal Gain and Loss Conversion Factor of Plasmonic Gap Waveguide in Near Surface Plasmon Resonance Region

We report an investigation of gain and loss enhancement of a plasmonic gap waveguide at wavelengths near surface plasmon resonant region. We investigate the physics involved in these gain and loss enhancement.
R & D of Live Line Work and Its Tools for 220kV Compact Transmission Lines

The live line work was studied for the first 220kV compact transmission line in China. The over voltage and safety distance were calculated,which made the live line work on this line become possible. According to the over voltage conditions and safety distance,the way of live line work on this line was designed,and corresponding live line tools were designed and developed. And the live line work on actual line was carried out successfully.
Highlights from 12 Months of Blogs.

This work describes an ongoing blog dataset investigation. Associated experiments and analysis are aimed at a longitudinal study of event descriptions and aggregated patterns of both information found in blogs and behaviors of bloggers.
Real-time software-defined single-carrier QAM mimo visible light communication system

Visible light communications (VLC) based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) combines lighting and data communications in applications of Internet-of-Things, ad-hoc networks and 5G networks, due to their high energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, security and reliability. We experimentally demonstrate a software-defined real-time multiple input multiple output (MIMO) visible light communication system using Single-Carrier Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (SC-QAM). The system uses two independent phosphorescent white LED transmitters with 10MHz bandwidth in the absence of blue filters, and two independent 150 MHz P-I-N photodiode optical receivers. Real-time MIMO signal processing is implemented by using the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices. Modulation formats and MIMO schemes are software-defined through USRP devices without changing the transceiver hardware. We measured and compared the constellation diagram, error vector magnitude (EVM) and bit error rate (BER) performance for single-carried M-QAM MIMO VLC using spatial diversity and spatial multiplexing. We demonstrate a real-time Single-Carrier 256-QAM 2×2 spatial multiplexing MIMO VLC link and achieve 1.81% averaged EVM, 2×10−5 BER and 12.3 b/s/Hz spectral efficiency over 2 m free space indoor transmission. The experimental results show that spatial diversity MIMO VLC improves error performance at the cost of spectral efficiency that spatial multiplexing should enhance.
The perturbation of Love wave spectra

The equations governing the variational principles for Love wave spectra are investigated. It is shown that assumptions used by earlier authors are not necessary to the validity of the variational techniques. Moreover it is demonstrated that except for a homogeneous plate, these assumptions are false for plane multilayered media and lead to incorrect expressions for group-velocity perturbations. The correct expressions are determined and examples of their use are given.
Spatial Data Management Through Metadata: Global Concepts, Formats, Tools and Requirements

In an age of increasing technological abilities and access to information, metadata represents a critical element in information-sharing environments. Data management is greatly enhanced by the use of metadata standards. It provides for the foundation for data to be used by the public. Metadata assure a consistent way to display information describing datasets and other research. Consequently, the use of metadata standards in spatial data management environments also greatly facilitates data exchange processes. Metadata repositories serve as valuable tools to research data that has already been collected, analyzed, and reviewed because they give users an opportunity to evaluate existing information in order to make informed decisions. Repositories also offer an invaluable opportunity for collaboration between organizations on research projects. Furthermore, the creation of metadata provides a systematic documentation of valuable resources developed by an organization, which benefits the organization by capturing institutional knowledge to be preserved. Records provide a method for maintaining information for future use, and a standard way to share information with data catalogs and clearinghouses.
HDAC2 Plays a Role in Protecting t(14;18) Lymphoma Cells from Apoptosis by Up-Regulation of Bcl-2.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) usually cause repression of gene expression through deacetylation of histones H3 and H4. Inappropriate transcriptional repression by HDACs has been observed in some malignancies, and several HDAC inhibitors are in clinical trials to treat solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. While the transcriptional activation of genes by HDAC inhibitors has been consistently associated with increased histone acetylation, transcriptional repression by HDAC inhibitors is less well understood. Previously, we showed that two structurally unrelated HDAC inhibitors, Trichostatin A (TSA) and Sodium Butyric Acid (NaB), induced apoptosis and down-regulated bcl-2 expression in follicular lymphoma cells, in which the t(14;18) translocation results in increased bcl-2 expression and resistance to apoptosis. In the current study we further explored the mechanisms underlying the HDAC inhibitor-induced bcl-2 transcriptional repression. Transient transfection of expression vectors encoding three Class I HDACs and real-time reverse transcriptase PCR analysis showed that while overexpression of HDAC2 consistently increased bcl-2 mRNA transcription, overexpression of HDAC1 and HDAC3 did not have a significant effect on bcl-2 levels. These results indicate that HDAC2 has a functional role in the regulation of bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis showed that TSA treatment dramatically increased the acetylation of two bcl-2 promoter sequence-specific transcription factors, Sp1 and C/EBPα, which are required for bcl-2 P1 and P2 promoter transcriptional activity as well as for TSA-induced bcl-2 transcriptional repression. Increased acetylation of Sp1 and C/EBPα was accompanied by decreased association of HDAC2 but not HDAC1 with these two transcription factors. More importantly, quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed decreased binding of HDAC2 but not HDAC1 to the bcl-2 promoter regions in vivo. These results suggest that posttranslational acetylation of Sp1 and C/EBPα by TSA disrupts the association of HDAC2 with them and leads to decreased binding to the bcl-2 promoters. The current study along with our previous findings suggest that HDAC2 may be an important target of HDAC inhibitor-induced bcl-2 transcriptional repression and provide a mechanistic rationale for the use of HDAC inhibitors in the treatment of human follicular lymphoma.
High Rate of Local Recurrence and Complications Following Total Knee Arthroplasty in the Setting of Synovial Chondromatosis

Abstract Background Synovial chondromatosis is a rare, monoarticular arthropathy due to synovial metaplasia. There is a paucity of data examining the outcome of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in the setting of synovial chondromatosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcome and function in patients undergoing TKA for management of synovial chondromatosis. Methods Twenty patients who received TKA for synovial chondromatosis over a 25-year period were identified for analysis and followed for a mean of 7 years. There were 12 males and 8 females, with a mean age and body mass index of 63 years and 30.7 kg/m 2 . Seventeen patients had "active" disease at the time of surgery. Results The 5-year disease-free survival was 73%. Five patients sustained a recurrence that was treated with synovectomy and revision TKA (n = 2), observation (n = 2), and transfemoral amputation (n = 1) due to malignant degeneration to chondrosarcoma. One of the revision TKA patients underwent a transfemoral amputation 4 months later for recurrence. The overall rate of amputation was 10%. Nine patients (45%) sustained a complication, most commonly decreased knee motion (n = 7), leading to a revision TKA in 3 patients (15%). Mean preoperative knee range of motion was 73°, which improved to 97° postoperatively. The Knee Society Score and functional assessment improved from 35 and 42 preoperatively to 74 and 67 following TKA. Conclusion TKA in the setting of synovial chondromatosis improves patient function and knee range of motion; however, there is a high rate of local recurrence and complications.
Temperature Rise in Kirschner Wires Inserted Using Two Drilling Methods: Forward and Oscillation.

Background: Kirschner wires (K-wires) are commonly used in orthopedic surgery. However, the loosening of the pins can lead to delayed or improper healing or infection. Wire loosening can occur by t...
Agent-based tsunami evacuation modeling of unplanned network disruptions for evidence-driven resource allocation and retrofitting strategies

The M9 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake represents one of the most pressing natural hazard threats in the Pacific Northwest of the USA with an astonishing high 7–12% chance of occurrence by 2060, mirroring the 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Yet this region, like many other coastal communities, is underprepared, lacking a comprehensive understanding of unplanned network disruptions as a key component to disaster management planning and infrastructure resilience. The goals of this paper are twofold: (1) to conduct a network vulnerability assessment to systematically characterize the importance of each link’s contribution to the overall network resilience, with specific emphasis on identifying the most critical set of links and (2) to create an evidence-driven retrofitting resource allocation framework by quantifying the impacts of unplanned network disruptions to the critical links on network resilience and retrofitting planning. This research used the city of Seaside on the Oregon coast as a study site to create the agent-based tsunami evacuation modeling and simulation platform with an explicit focus on the transportation network. The results indicated that (1) the network bridges are not equally important and some of the critical links are counterintuitive and (2) the diverse ways of spending the limited retrofitting resources can generate dramatically different life safety outcomes. These results strongly suggest that accurate characterization and measurement of infrastructure network failures will provide evidence-driven retrofitting planning strategies and inform resource allocations that enhance network resilience.
Fast track article: A study of overheads and accuracy for efficient monitoring of wireless mesh networks

IEEE 802.11-based wireless mesh networks are being increasingly deployed in enterprize and municipal settings. A lot of work has been done on developing measurement-based schemes for resource provisioning and fault management in these networks. The above goals require an efficient monitoring infrastructure to be deployed, which can provide the maximum amount of information regarding the network status, while utilizing the least possible amount of network resources. However, network monitoring involves overheads, which can adversely impact performance from the perspective of the end user. The impact of monitoring overheads on data traffic has been overlooked in most of the previous works. It remains unclear as to how parameters such as number of monitoring agents, or frequency of reporting monitoring data, among others, impact the performance of a wireless network. In this work, we first evaluate the impact of monitoring overheads on data traffic, and show that even small amounts of overhead can cause a large degradation in the network performance. We then explore several different techniques for reducing monitoring overheads, while maintaining the objective (resource provisioning, fault management, and others) that needs to be achieved. Via extensive simulations and experiments, we validate the efficiency of our proposed approaches in reducing overheads, their impact on the quality of data collected from the network, and the impact they have on the performance of the applications using the collected data. Based on results, we conclude that it is feasible to make the current monitoring techniques more efficient by reducing the communication overheads involved while still achieving the desired application-layer objectives.
Collagen Vitrigels with Low-fibril Density Enhance Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Maturation

Structural and biochemical cues of extracellular matrix can substantially influence the differentiation and maturation of cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). In this study, thin collagen vitrigels were engineered to create collagen nanofibrillar structures of different fibril densities in an effort to evaluate the maturation of human embryonic stem cell–derived retinal pigment epithelial cells (hESC-RPE). The ultrastructure of the different collagen vitrigels was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the mechanical properties was evaluated by tensile testing. The pigmentation, and polarization of cells, in addition to key RPE marker gene and protein expression levels were analyzed to determine the differentiation of hESCs on the gels. The hESC-RPE differentiation was most significant in collagen vitrigels with low fibril density with mature collagen fibrils with diameter of around 60 nm and Young's modulus of 2.41±0.13 MPa. This study provides insight into the influence of collagen nanofibrillar structures on hESC-RPE maturation, and presents a potential bioengineered substratum for hESC-RPE for future pre-clinical and clinical applications.
The impact of retail electricity tariff evolution on solar photovoltaic deployment

Abstract This analysis explores the impact that the evolution of retail electricity tariffs can have on the deployment of solar photovoltaics. It suggests that ignoring the evolution of tariffs resulted in up to a 36% higher prediction of the capacity of distributed PV in 2050, compared to scenarios that represented tariff evolution. Critically, the evolution of tariffs had a negligible impact on the total generation from PV—both utility-scale and distributed—in the scenarios that were examined.
Neuromuscular Blocking Agents in Neurointensive Care

Introduction. Intensive care treatment of patients with severe head injury is aimed at preventing secondary injury. One of the cornerstones in this treatment is sedation and ventilation. Use of Neuromuscular Blocking Agents (NBA) has gained widespread use as part of the protocol for maintaining normal intracranial pressure values, without class 1 evidence for the efficacy of the treatment.
Argument Structure and Enthymemes

Since we regard material warrants not as suppressed premises but as inference rules, we disagree in many cases with the standard approach to reconstructing enthymemes by supplying alleged non-explicit premises. Why is our approach preferable? We appeal first to Hitchcock’s phenomenological argument: People reasoning according to enthymemes are not aware of holding non-explicit premises in the mind. In addition, if one is not aware of a non-explicit premise, how can one be sure that a reconstruction properly formulates that premise? Furthermore, as Hitchcock points out, we need not be conscious of the inference rules in accordance with which we reason, but we could expect to be conscious of the premises from which we reason. Finally, counting the warrant as a non-explicit premise misconstrues its function in the argument. It is not a ground for the conclusion but an indication of why the grounds have a bearing on the conclusion. However, we do not follow Hitchcock in holding that virtually no arguments have non-explicit premises. With each argument we may identify an associated generalization, the counterpart of a warrant. Regarding the function of that generalization as an inference rule and not as a non-explicit premise is well-motivated for first-order enthymemes. Applying this interpretation to second-order enthymemes is problematic, generating on occasion unreliable inference rules. We argue that the associated conditional of an argument can be construed as an warrant only if it asserts a true nomic generalization. Hence if the associated general conditional is an accidental universal, it should be understood as a non-explicit premise. If the accidental universal is logically equivalent to a singular statement, it is straightforward to construe that statement as the non-explicit premise. We conclude the chapter by pointing out various other advantages of our approach.
Assays for Serodiagnosis of Prostate Cancer

In this study, five serologic assays for prostate cancer were compared: immunoenzymometric assay for prostate-specific antigen (PSA-E), immunoradiometric assay for prostate-specific antigen (PSA-R), immunoenzymometric assay for prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP-E), immunoradiometric assay for prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP-R), and a traditional colorimetric assay for prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP-C). Precision, linearity, and analytical sensitivity for all the assays were good. There was excellent correlation between the two PSA assays (r=0.973), good correlation between the two immunologic tests for PAP (r=0.785), and poor correlation with the colorimetric test for PAP (r=0.041). Sera from 200 healthy male subjects were assayed, and reference intervals and decision values were established. Sera from 519 patients were assayed in a random-blind manner. The results were correlated with diagnoses which were established histologically. Samples included 189 patients with prostate cancer, 252 with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and 78 with miscellaneous genitourinary pathologies. Using the selected decision values, the diagnostic efficiencies for the assays were established as: PSA-E, 67.2%; PSA-R, 66.9%; PAP-E, 68.2%; PAP-R, 58.5%; and PAP-C, 42.9%. We eliminated from the study 94 patients who were receiving cancer therapy, so the recalculated diagnostic efficiencies were: PSA-E, 81.4%; PSA-R, 81.4%; PAPE, 81.2%; PAP-R, 74.2%; and PAPC, 57.9%.
Introducing New International Students to Privilege in Information Access

Abstract Students, faculty, and staff at DePauw University have recently, like many in the United States, been actively engaged in conversations about privilege, power, and diversity (PPD). DePauw provides a two-week Summer English Immersion Institute for incoming international students, but students' lack of familiarity with American history and culture and the context for current conversations about PPD made it even harder for them to get the most out of course readings and to participate in class discussions and other campus activities. The Library created an orientation program that centered around the ACRL threshold concept “Information Has Value” to introduce international students to the library, its resources, and the critical information skills they would need in their college careers.
CPLink: Interference-Free Reuse of Cyclic-Prefix Intervals in OFDM-Based Networks

In this paper, we propose a method to reuse the cyclic-prefix (CP) intervals of an ongoing OFDM link, by another link, without degrading the OFDM link performance. We label the link that reuses the CP-intervals as CPLink, as they use only the CP-intervals of the ongoing link labeled, MainLink. We leverage the fact that the most commonly used OFDM receivers discard the samples in CP-intervals to design the CPLink that ensures below-noise-floor interference at every MainLink-receiver. The key contribution in this paper is the design and study of zero-knowledge CPLink, in which the CPLink-transmitter ensures below-noise-floor interference at every MainLink-receiver with no knowledge about the locations or the number of MainLink-receivers. We analytically show that the zero-knowledge CPLink capacity is positive. For LTE frame structure with 20-MHz bandwidth and 2-km cell-radius, we evaluate the CPLink for two kinds of CPLink-receivers: full-duplex base-station and a half-duplex device. Even for the cell-edge CPLink-transmitters, full-duplex zero-knowledge CPLink data rates can be up to 20 Mbps (60 Mbps) when the CP duration is ~7% (25%) of the data-symbol duration. The half-duplex CPLink rate is 5–40 Mbps when the CPLink-transmitter is within 250 m of CPLink-receiver. CPLink capacity is found to increase near-linearly with the CP duration, thus mitigating CP overhead.
The Institutional Determinants of Internationalization: The Cases of Study Abroad Participation and International Student Enrollment

Globalization, global citizenship, and cross-cultural competence are central to the mission of post-secondary institutions. In this paper, we examined study abroad participation rates and international student enrollments to understand the determinants that drive critical components of campus internationalization. We identified possible explanatory variables for study abroad participation and international student enrollment, conducting regression analyses to assess the relationships between variables. We found that several explanatory variables were significantly related to study abroad participation and international student enrollment. Models showed differences in how variables could be used to predict study abroad participation and international enrollment at different kinds of schools.
Tomographic Cherenkov-excited luminescence scanned imaging with multiple pinhole beams recovered via back-projection reconstruction

Cherenkov-excited luminescence scanned imaging (CELSI) is achieved with a clinical linear accelerator during external beam radiotherapy to map out molecular luminescence intensity or lifetime in tissue. In order to realize a deeper imaging depth with a reasonable spatial resolution in CELSI, we optimized the original scanning procedure to complete this in a way similar to x-ray computed tomography and with image reconstruction from maximum-likelihood expectation maximization and multi-pinhole irradiation for parallelization. Resolution phantom studies showed that a 0.3 mm diameter capillary tube containing 0.01 nM luminescent nanospheres could be recognized at a depth of 21 mm into tissue-like media. Small animal imaging with a 1 mm diameter cylindrical target demonstrated that fast 3D data acquisition can be achieved by this multi-pinhole collimator approach to image high-resolution luminescence through a whole animal.
How Oxygen Availability Affects the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Host Defense Peptides: Lessons Learned from Studying the Copper-Binding Peptides Piscidins 1 and 3.

The development of new therapeutic options against Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection is a critical public health concern, as the causative bacterium is highly resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. Antimicrobial host-defense peptides (HDPs) are highly effective at simultaneously modulating the immune system function and directly killing bacteria through membrane disruption and oxidative damage. The copper-binding HDPs piscidin 1 and piscidin 3 have previously shown potent antimicrobial activity against a number of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species but have never been investigated in an anaerobic environment. Synergy between piscidins and metal ions increases bacterial killing aerobically. Here, we performed growth inhibition and time-kill assays against C. difficile showing that both piscidins suppress proliferation of C. difficile by killing bacterial cells. Microscopy experiments show that the peptides accumulate at sites of membrane curvature. We find that both piscidins are effective against epidemic C. difficile strains that are highly resistant to other stresses. Notably, copper does not enhance piscidin activity against C. difficile. Thus, while antimicrobial activity of piscidin peptides is conserved in aerobic and anaerobic settings, the peptide–copper interaction depends on environmental oxygen to achieve its maximum potency. The development of pharmaceuticals from HDPs such as piscidin will necessitate consideration of oxygen levels in the targeted tissue.
Thermal behavior, solvatochromic parameters, and metal halide solvation of the novel water-based deep eutectic solvents

Abstract High viscosity of a deep eutectic solvent (DES) is one of the biggest challenges to their commercial use. In this study, two novel water-based low-viscosity DESs were formulated and could be easily applicable in many areas of research and industry, such as pharmaceuticals, waste management, and biorefinery. To formulate the DESs, water was used as a sole hydrogen bond donor, while the hydrogen bond acceptor was choline chloride. Melting points of 1:3 and 1:4 choline chloride: H2O were found to be significantly low, −79.21 and − 79.25 °C, respectively. TGA showed the stability of the DES over a wide temperature range. For example, in the TGA thermogram of 1:3 ChCl: H2O, was found to be crystalline up to 148.64 °C and the onset point was 193.75 °C. The solvent selectivity triangle from Kamlet-Taft parameters proved that the DESs possess similar solvatochromic properties to ionic liquids. Therefore, solvatochromism helped to understand the solvation of the DESs. A simple analytical method was developed employing ion chromatography and atomic absorption spectroscopy to investigate the solubility of sodium halides, alkali chlorides, and cobalt chloride in the studied DESs. Solubility trends of the metal halides in both DESs were NaCl > NaBr > NaI > NaF for sodium halides and LiCl > NaCl > KCl for alkali metal chlorides. Among all the studied metal halides, solubilities of the CoCl2 and LiCl were the highest. These findings indicate that the formulated DESs could be a good metal extraction media for the recycling process of spent Li-ion battery.
Addressing Longevity Risk: How Best to Annuitize Defined Contribution Assets?

Unlike defined benefit pensions, 401(k) plans provide little guidance on how to turn accumulated assets into income. The key risk that retirees face is outliving their assets. Insurance against such risk is available through several routes, including immediate annuities, deferred annuities, and additional Social Security through delayed claiming. Under this Social Security bridge option, participants would tap their 401(k) for payments equal to their Social Security to delay claiming. This paper compares these three options in simulations against a baseline in which no assets are used to obtain lifetime income. In each option, assets not allocated to purchasing lifetime income are consumed following the Required Minimum Distribution rules. The analysis finds that, when market and health shocks are included alongside longevity uncertainty, the Social Security bridge option is generally the best for households with median wealth. Wealthier households can benefit from combining the bridge option with a deferred annuity. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Economics of Aging Interest Group.