cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wideband dielectric metamaterial reflectors: Mie scattering or leaky Bloch mode resonance?

Metamaterials are important, as they possess properties not found in simple materials. Photonic device technology applying metamaterials supports many new and useful applications. Here, we address the fundamental physics of wideband metamaterial reflectors. We show that these devices operate because of resonant leaky Bloch modes propagating in the periodic lattice. Moreover, in contrast to published literature, we demonstrate that Mie scattering in individual array particles is not a causal effect. In particular, by connecting the constituent particles by a matched sublayer and thereby destroying the Mie cavity, we find that the resonance bandwidth actually expands even though localized Mie resonances have been extinguished. There is no abrupt change in the reflection characteristics on addition of a sublayer to any metamaterial array consisting of discrete particles. Thus, the physics of the discrete and connected arrays is the same. The resonant Bloch mode picture is supported by numerous additional examples and analyses presented herein.
Points of Maximum Analyzing Power in the \({}^3He(\vec d,p){}^4He\) Reaction

The \({}^3He(\vec d,p){}^4He\) reaction has been the first process, other than elastic scattering, in which a point (Eo,θo) of maximum possible tensor analyzing power Ayy = 1 has been proposed1). An inspection of the complete deuteron polarization data of Gruebler et al.2) at 11.5 MeV and of the i T11 measurements of Roy et al.3) at 15 MeV indicates the possibility of large positive values of both Ay and Ayy near θcm = 120° and thus of a point Ay = Ayy = 1 between these energies. The necessary but not sufficient conditions Axx = Azz =−1/2 and Axz = 0 are nearly fulfilled at 11.5 MeV1,4). Unfortunately these tensor observables are not available at higher energies. For the investigation and possible identification of such a point, the relevant conditions on the M-matrix have to be verified. Using the presentation5,6,7) $$M = \frac{1}{{\sqrt 2 }}\left( {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} { - iA - D \sqrt 2 F - iA + D - B - C \sqrt 2 E - B + C} \\ {B - C{\text{ }}\sqrt 2 E{\text{ }}B + C{\text{ }} - iA + D{\text{ }}\sqrt 2 F{\text{ }} - iA - D} \end{array}} \right)$$ .
Monitoring bromide effect on radiolytic yields using in situ observations of uranyl oxide precipitation in the electron microscope

During electron microscopy observations of uranium-bearing phases and solutions in a liquid cell, the electron beam induced radiolysis causes changes in the chemistry of the system. This could be useful for investigating accelerated alteration of UO2 and can be also used to monitor radiolytic effects. Low concentrations of bromide in aqueous solutions are known to reduce the generation rate of H2O2 during radiolysis and increase H2 production. We deduced the presence of radiolytic H2O2 by monitoring the formation of a uranyl peroxide solid from both solid UO2 and a solution of ammonium uranyl carbonate at neutral pH. Additionally, the effect of bromine on water radiolysis was investigated through chemical modelling and in situ electron microscopy. By measuring the contrast in the electron microscopy images it was possible to monitor H2O2 formation and diffusion from the irradiated zone in agreement with the models.
Stacked sequential learning

We describe a new sequential learning scheme called "stacked sequential learning". Stacked sequential learning is a meta-learning algorithm, in which an arbitrary base learner is augmented so as to make it aware of the labels of nearby examples. We evaluate the method on several "sequential partitioning problems", which are characterized by long runs of identical labels. We demonstrate that on these problems, sequential stacking consistently improves the performance of nonsequential base learners; that sequential stacking often improves performance of learners (such as CRFs) that are designed specifically for sequential tasks; and that a sequentially stacked maximum-entropy learner generally outperforms CRFs.
Buffering IO for data management in multi-physics simulations

A library for parallel IO and data management has been developed for multi-physics simulations. The goal of the library is to provide sustainable, interoperable, efficient, scalable, and convenient tools for parallel IO and data management for high-level data structures in numerical simulations, and to provide tools for the connection between applications. The high-level data structures include one- and multi-dimensional arrays, structured meshes, unstructured meshes, the meshes generated through (block-based, patch-based, and cell-based) adaptive mesh refinement, variables associated with these meshes, and data defined on particles in particle simulations. The IO mechanism can be collective and non-collective. The library is typically used for restarting files, visualization files, and files connecting different applications. The library is based on MPI-IO. Compared with the IO performance of MPI-IO, the overhead to write the explicit users' data structures are less than five percent. To further improve IO performance, in addition to the bookkeeping data, the library could buffer problem-size data before calling MPI-IO while keeping users' explicit high-level data structures. The buffering mechanism improves IO performance by a factor 10 to 20 in multi-physics simulations involving AMR and unstructured meshes.
Power sector reform in Afghanistan: Barriers to achieving universal access to electricity

Abstract The electric power sector in Afghanistan suffers from numerous challenges. Roughly 70% of the population has no access to electricity, and 90% of those without electricity live in rural areas. The vast majority of its power is imported from neighboring countries, and is often subject to outages. Since 2002, more than $4 billion has been spent on Afghanistan's electrification in cooperation with international funders, yet this has not increased electrification to the level anticipated, particularly in rural areas. This study uses the Institutional Analysis and Development framework to examine the policy and institutional barriers to expanding the power grid. Looking at major laws, policies and actors that comprise the energy sector, and the patterns of interaction among them, this study finds that ambiguity, overlaps and contradiction in the scope of work of five government ministries exacerbates the current challenges. Moreover, the lack of a coordinated development agenda among the government of Afghanistan and international partners has led to fragmented planning and implementation of projects, inadequate prioritization of investments, and much of the work being done by consultants or short-term contractors. The result has been low rates of electrification, diminished institutional capacity and minimal private sector involvement in the energy sector.
Ethical Considerations When Companies Study – And Fail to Study – Their Customers

Experimentation has been a hallmark of science for 400 years, but only recently – since the advents of the computer and the Internet – have relatively quick, inexpensive experiments at scale become feasible for businesses. Today, the practice of companies studying their customers is ubiquitous. In 2011, Google ran 100–200 experiments per day on its products, services, algorithms, and designs. By 2016, it was running over 10,000 experiments per year. If you are a Bing user, on any given day, you are participating in some fifteen experiments out of the company’s 200 or so concurrent daily experiments, each of which exposes several million users to experimental conditions. And if you are a Facebook user, you are a subject in some ten experiments at any given time. Yet frameworks for thinking about the ethical conduct of research – long a mainstay of research throughout the academy and in industries whose research is subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – have lagged behind in most business contexts. This chapter provides an overview of the different ways in which businesses study their customers, users, employees, and other stakeholders, and the reasons why they do so. It argues that a complete ethical analysis of business research requires consideration not only of the purpose, nature, and effects of research but also of the business’s alternative of not studying the effects of its products, services, and practices on stakeholders. Depending on various criteria, a particular business study – even one conducted without study-specific informed consent – can be unethical, ethically permissible, ethically laudable, or even obligatory. Although business research is now ubiquitous, the fact that individual, study-specific informed consent is usually infeasible in this context means that a careful consideration of a study’s risks and expected benefits is called for. As the chapter explains, the content of federal regulations that govern risk-benefit analyses of most academic and some industry research – the so-called Common Rule – is not easily translated to the business setting. But companies should consider adopting something like the process used by institutional reviews boards (IRBs) to prospectively review and oversee research, and the chapter provides some recommendations about how such company “research review boards” might operate.
A survey of fluid and kinetic instabilities relevant to space and laboratory plasmas

This paper presents a brief survey of a variety of plasma modeling techniques applied to several space- and fusion-relevant plasma instabilities that are presently of significant interest. These in...
Development and validation of an automated algorithm for identifying patients at higher risk for drug-induced acute kidney injury.

Purpose Using information from institutional electronic health records, we aimed to develop dynamic predictive models to identify patients at high risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) among those who received a nephrotoxic medication during their hospital stay. Methods Candidate predictors were measured for each of the first 5 hospital days where a patient received a nephrotoxic medication (risk model days) to predict an AKI, using logistic regression with reduced backward variables elimination in 100 bootstrap samples. An AKI event was defined as an increase of serum creatinine ≥ 200% of a baseline SCr within 5 days after a risk model day. Final models were internally validated by replication in 100 bootstrap samples and a risk score for each patient was calculated from the validated model. As performance measures, the area under the receiver operation characteristic curves (AUC) and the number of AKI events among patients who had high risk scores were estimated. Results The study population included 62,561 admissions followed by 1,212 AKI events (1.9 events/100 admissions). We constructed 5 risk models corresponding to the first 5 hospital days where patients were exposed to at least one nephrotoxic medication. Validated AUCs of the 5 models ranged from 0.78 to 0.81. Depending on risk model day, admissions ranked in the 90th percentile of the risk score captured between 43% to 49% of all AKI events. Conclusion A dynamic prediction model was built successfully for inpatient AKI with excellent discriminative validity and good calibration, allowing clinicians to focus on a select high-risk population that captures the majority of AKI events.
Amorphization of carbon nanotubes in water by electron beam radiation

Abstract It is commonly assumed that carbon nanotubes (CNT's) are chemically stable in aqueous environments. Consequently, there has been significant interest in using them in applications where water is abundant, including agricultural fertilization, oil spill remediation, water treatment, food processing, and medicine. Indeed, despite outstanding questions regarding their toxicity, CNT's are already being employed commercially in some of these fields. Here, we use environmental transmission electron microscopy to show that when CNT's are subjected to electron beam radiation in the presence of water, amorphous carbon nanospheres, films, and globules can be synthesized. The type of amorphous carbon synthesized depends upon the surface functionality of the CNT's and the amount of water present. Nanospheres are formed in smaller amounts of water from unmodified CNT's, while amorphous films and globules form in large amounts of water from unmodified, polyethylene-glycol-functionalized, and carboxylic-acid-functionalized CNT's. Changes to the size, shape, and electron orbital hybridization of the CNT's due to amorphization increase their risk of toxicity to humans and the environment in applications, including all of those mentioned earlier, where CNT's are being employed alongside ionizing radiation. Our discovery of these amorphous transformations marks the first sub-atomic-resolution environmental observations of CNT's in water.
Reproductive Senescence and Ischemic Stroke Remodel the Gut Microbiome and Modulate the Effects of Estrogen Treatment in Female Rats

Our previous work has shown that reproductively senescent (or middle-aged; 10-12-month-old) Sprague-Dawley female rats, that are naturally estrogen-deficient, have worse stroke outcomes as compared to normally estrous-cycling adult (5-6-month-old) females. Paradoxically, estrogen replacement to this middle-aged group exacerbates stroke outcomes, while it is neuroprotective in adult females. Recent studies reveal an important role for the gut microbiome and gut metabolites in cardiovascular health, including stroke outcomes. To determine whether gut dysbiosis underlies stroke severity in reproductive senescent females, and underlies the anomalous effects of estrogen on stroke, we compared the gut microbiota and gut metabolites pre and post stroke in (a) gonadally intact adult and middle-aged females, (b) in ovariectomized and estrogen-treated (OVX+E) adult and OVX+E middle-aged females, and (c) in middle-aged OVX+E females after fecal microbiome transfer. Our data show significant gut dysbiosis in reproductive senescent females at baseline and after stroke as indicated by an elevated ratio of the major phyla, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F:B), reduced alpha diversity, and significant shifts in beta diversity as compared with adult females. Specific bacterial families were also altered as a result of reproductive aging, as well as gut metabolites, including elevated serum endotoxin levels and decreased short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), with a concomitant increase in IL-17A, indicating that reproductive senescence significantly affects gut communities under pathologic conditions. Despite the differences in gonadally intact adult and middle-aged females, estrogen-treated ovariectomized (OVX+E) females of either age group displayed no differences in the major phyla, but there was increased abundance in specific bacterial taxa, including Prevotella and Lactobacillus. The SCFA butyrate was significantly reduced at baseline in the middle-aged OVX+E females, while circulating endotoxin LPS were elevated in this group after stroke, suggesting that gut metabolites were differently affected by estrogen treatment in the two age groups. A fecal transfer from adult OVX+E females to middle-aged OVX+E females significantly reduced infarct volume, improved behavioral recovery and transiently reduced IL-17A expression. These data provide the first evidence that microbial gut communities and metabolites are altered by reproductive senescence in female rats at baseline and after stroke, and suggest that estrogen may impact stroke recovery differently in adult and reproductive senescent females due to an age-specific effect on gut microbiota and metabolites.
Pt-Assisted Carbon Remediation of Mo 2 C Materials for CO Disproportionation

Using the CO disproportionation (Boudouard) reaction as a probe reaction, an in-depth analysis of temperature-programmed pulse response data shows that the addition of Pt to Mo2C mitigates deactiva...
Enteral baclofen withdrawal managed with intravenous dexmedetomidine: A case report

Purpose Acute enteral baclofen withdrawal can be clinically severe if not identified and managed appropriately. Treatment of baclofen withdrawal includes supportive care and reinitiation of baclofen. There are limited pharmacotherapeutic interventions available to manage symptoms of acute enteral baclofen withdrawal, especially in nonintubated patients. Summary We describe a 61-year-old Caucasian male with a past medical history of chronic back pain and spinal stenosis who was admitted to the medical intensive care unit with confusion, insomnia, agitation, delirium, and auditory and visual hallucinations. For control of agitation, the patient was administered 10 mg of i.v. haloperidol, 1 mg of i.v. lorazepam, and 14 mg of i.v. midazolam, with minimal improvement noted; therefore, dexmedetomidine was initiated, which led to clinical resolution of his symptoms. Upon further investigation it was determined that the patient was taking approximately 10 baclofen 20-mg tablets a day. According to his pharmacy records, he had filled prescriptions for a total of 738 baclofen tablets in the previous 12 weeks. The patient's presentation and sudden discontinuation of high-dose baclofen led to a diagnosis of baclofen withdrawal. Baclofen was subsequently restarted, and dexmedetomidine was weaned over 36 hours. Conclusion Dexmedetomidine controlled this patient's agitation and delirium without suppressing his respiratory drive and should be considered for management of acute enteral baclofen withdrawal.
Exploring Designer’s Perceptions of Professional Facilitation in a User-Centered Design Scenario

In this study, we explored if involving a professional facilitator would enhance the collaborative design experience with designers and end-users. Facilitation is not only valuable for user-centered design scenarios, but also day-to-day group management and professional activities. In this study we developed a collaborative design scenario where users work with designers to develop a product design. A facilitator was brought in to work with half of the groups. In total, there were seven design sessions with a total of 30 runners and six unique designers. The product they brainstormed was a technical shirt for runners. Three of the seven groups were professionally facilitated. The designers were interviewed after each design session about the co-design experience. Designers of facilitated groups were asked about the value of working with a facilitator. The two key findings of this study were in regard to the roles of the designer and facilitator in the group and how facilitation hindered creative flow. Regarding roles, having a facilitator allowed the designer to remain engaged with the group, however they perceived overlap in the creative lead and group manager roles which negatively influenced designer’s perception of the value of the facilitator. Regarding creative flow, the designers perceived that the techniques used by the facilitator stunted the creative flow. Particularly, designers took issue with the systematic allotment of time, typical of facilitation techniques, because they needed more flexibility in extracting good design information from users during the brainstorming process. Findings indicate that facilitators may be redundant to the role of the designer in a co-design environment. However, it may be valuable to train designers (who have a background in managing the creative process) in facilitation techniques to manage group dynamic.
The application of artificial intelligence in software engineering: a review challenging conventional wisdom

Abstract The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is witnessing a recent upsurge in research, tools development, and deployment of applications. Multiple software companies are shifting their focus to developing intelligent systems; and many others are deploying AI paradigms to their existing processes. In parallel, the academic research community is injecting AI paradigms to provide solutions to traditional engineering problems. Similarly, AI has evidently been proved useful to software engineering (SE). When one observes the SE phases (requirements, design, development, testing, release, and maintenance), it becomes clear that multiple AI paradigms (such as neural networks, machine learning, knowledge-based systems, natural language processing) could be applied to improve the process and eliminate many of the major challenges that the SE field has been facing. This survey chapter is a review of the most commonplace methods of AI applied to SE. The review covers methods between years 1975–2017, for the requirements phase, 46 major AI-driven methods are found, 19 for design, 15 for development, 68 for testing, and 15 for release and maintenance. Furthermore, the purpose of this chapter is threefold; firstly, to answer the following questions: is there sufficient intelligence in the SE lifecycle? What does applying AI to SE entail? Secondly, to measure, formulize, and evaluate the overlap of SE phases and AI disciplines. Lastly, this chapter aims to provide serious questions to challenging the current conventional wisdom (i.e., status quo) of the state-of-the-art, craft a call for action, and to redefine the path forward.
Lógica y razón

‘Logic’ is taken here exclusively as ‘formal logic’, not as ‘informal logic’. It is asserted that although logic is neutral, in the sense at least of being topic-free, it can be used in the formulation and treatment of philosophical problems. Furthermore, some philosophical problems may be raised in logic. This does not mean that logic is a part of, or a propedeutic to, philosophy. There are between logic and philosophy “special relations”. These have been particularly intense in some philosophical schools, but questions have been raised as of recent about whether patterning of philosophical thought on logical structures and/or concepts has not gone too far. It has been pointed out, moreover, that if logical has “failed” (in philosophy), reason has failed as well. The author does not think that either logic or reason has failed in philosophy. What may have failed is the idea that logic is to be equated to Reason, and the latter is to be compared to a kind of “Supreme Court” which has the power to give a final decision to all controversies. There is no reason why logic should be equated to Reason, and there is no reason why Reason should be capitalized. Rather than Reason there are “reason”, multitude of “courts” to which discussants appeal and which are not necessarily unrelated one to the other, but are not subordinated to one “Grand Court of Reason”. Formal logic is one of the ingredients in these various “courts”. Although it is not the court member that ultimately “decides”, it is the one which tends to “unify” —the degree of unification depending about the subject matter discussed. In this sense logic is a kind of “normalizer” —a point that is often made when the normalizing power of formal logic is emphasized. To be sure, there is no such thing as “the logic”, nor is any formal logic immune to changes. This, however, rather than discourage the “special relations” between philosophy and logic, should tend to intensify them.
Fast Certification of Collision Probability Bounds with Uncertain Convex Obstacles.

To operate reactively in uncertain environments, robots need to be able to quickly estimate the risk that they will collide with their environment. This ability is important for both planning (to ensure that plans maintain acceptable levels of safety) and execution (to provide real-time warnings when risk exceeds some threshold). Existing methods for estimating this risk are often limited to models with simplified geometry (e.g. point robots); others handle complex geometry but are too slow for many applications. In this paper, we present two algorithms for quickly computing upper bounds on the risk of collision between a robot and uncertain obstacles by searching for certificate regions that capture collision probability mass while avoiding the robot. These algorithms come with strong theoretical guarantees that the true risk does not exceed the estimated value, support arbitrary geometry via convex decomposition, and provide fast query times ($<200\mu$s) in representative scenarios. We characterize the performance of these algorithms in environments of varying complexity, demonstrating at least an order of magnitude speedup over existing techniques.
Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria Among Adult Ticks Collected in Conservation Areas and Private Lands of Adair County, Missouri

Three species of ticks have been found in Northeast Missouri, where the incidence and prevalence of tick-borne infections is among the highest in the United States of America. We collected ticks and detected the presence of Rickettsia montanensis (instead of R. rickettsii) and Ehrlichia chaffeensis and the absence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infections among adult ticks collected in conservation and private areas of Adair County, Missouri. Pathogens were detected and identified using PCR, DNA sequencing of PCR fragments and statistical sequence analysis. We found Ehrlichia chaffeensis in 10% of ticks of the species Amblyomma amercanum and Rickettsia montanensis in 7.95% of collected ticks of the species Dermacentor variabilis. These findings stress the importance of continuous monitoring and study of vector populations in the region. Such monitoring can contribute to risk assessment of ehrlichiosis, spotted fever infections, and anaplasmosis, which are considered endemic in the region.
Token-Based Platforms and Speculators

In a model of token-based platforms and cryptocurrencies (tokens), platform users hold tokens for transactions and speculators hold tokens for returns. The marginal token investor can be a user or speculator and, to maximize its dollar value, the platform caters to the marginal investor, creating conflicts of interest between the platform, its users, and speculators. Speculators affect users via two opposing effects, crowding-out and risk-sharing, and their token investments are substitutes in certain circumstances but complements in others. We also evaluate alternative platform structures, such as a fiat-based platform or a dual token structure featuring a stablecoin and governance token.
A Comparative Analysis of the Regulation of Unfair Terms in Asia

This paper examines the regulation of unfair terms in consumer contracts, as reported by consumer law experts in more than a dozen Asian countries. The comparative analysis proceeds in four parts and draws some comparisons to the regulation of unfair terms in the United States. The first part examines the role of general doctrines of unfairness, specifically the unconscionability and good faith doctrines, as a check on unfair contract terms. The second part looks at the various ways in which the reporting countries address procedural unfairness in consumer contract formation. The third part is a partial taxonomy of the wide variety of substantive terms that are deemed to be unfair in countries across the region. The fourth part discusses the available remedies when a trader includes unfair terms in consumer contracts, ranging from nullifying the unfair term to possible criminal penalties.
Measuring the effects of racism: guidelines for the assessment and treatment of race-based trauma-stress injury: by R. Carter and A. Pieterse, New York, Columbia University Press, 2020, 423 pp., $140.00 (hardcover); $35.55 (soft cover), ISBN 978-00231-19307-8

Among the most important, misunderstood, and avoided topics discussed today are race, racism, and discrimination. Increased attention in society with regards to taking sides on issues about the pol...
Role and Growth of Independent Medicare-Billing Otolaryngologic Advanced Practice Providers.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the role and growth of independently billing otolaryngology (ORL) advanced practice providers (APPs) within a Medicare population.Study DesignRetrospective cross-sectional stud...
Worriers and warriors

2020 was a year that brought a tremendous amount of worry. We worried about the pandemic. We worried about the economy. We worried about racial injustice. We worried about climate change. And for o...
Frequency of Zika Virus Immunoglobulin M Antibody in Persons with West Nile Virus Infection.

West Nile virus (WNV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) are mosquito-borne viruses in the family Flaviviridae. Residents in, and travelers to, areas where the viruses are circulating are at risk for infection,...
Will Large Dairy Herds Lead to the Revival of Metabolic Profile Testing

All techniques that monitor changes in metabolic or nutritional status could reasonably be considered part of a "metabolic profile" or MPT. This would clearly include examination of such variables as body condition score, milk composition, urine pH, and fecal consistency. These variables are monitored in many dairy herds currently and should be considered the basic MPT. The emphasis of this discussion, however, will be on blood components as variables in the MPT. We hope, however, that no one loses sight of the importance of nonhematogenous components of metabolic monitoring.
Neuropeptidergic regulation of Compulsive Ethanol Seeking in C. elegans

An improved understanding of the molecular basis of alcohol seeking despite the catastrophic consequences of alcohol abuse is likely to enrich our treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) and comorbidities. The compulsive seeking is characterized by an imbalance between the superior drive to substance and disruption in control of substance use. To model the development of compulsive engagement of alcohol seeking, we exploit two distinct behavioral programs of C. elegans in conflict, ethanol preference and avoidance of aversive stimulus, simultaneously. We demonstrate that C. elegans exhibited the recapitulation of the pivotal features of compulsive alcohol seeking in mammals, which are repeated attempts, endurance, and finally aversion-resistant ethanol seeking. We find that the neuropeptide signaling via SEB-3, CRF receptor-like GPCR, facilitates the development of ethanol preference and compels animals to seek ethanol compulsively. Furthermore, our functional genomic approach and behavioral elucidation suggest the interaction between neuropeptidergic signaling, SEB-3 and TKR-1, Neurokinin receptor orthologue, to progress compulsive ethanol seeking behavior.
Analysis on the imported Coronavirus Disease 2019 related cluster epidemic in rural areas of Chengdu

An epidemiological investigation was carried out on a local cluster of outbreak caused by imported cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in rural areas of Chengdu in December 2020, to find out the source of infection and the chain of transmission. According to Prevention and Control Protocol for COVID-19 (Version 7), field epidemiological investigation was adopted, combined with big data technology, video image investigation, gene sequencing and other methods to carry out investigation into COVID-19 cases and infections source tracing, analyze the epidemiological association, and map the chain of transmission. From December 7 to 17, 2020, 13 local COVID-19 confirmed cases and 1 asymptomatic case were diagnosed in Chengdu, of which 12 cases (85.71%) had a history of residence and activity in the village courtyard of Taiping (TP), Pidu (P) District, Chengdu. From November 8, 2020 to November 28, 2020, a group of inbound people form Nepal were transferred to the designated entry personnel quarantine hotel of P District which was adjacent to the TP village. During quarantine, there were 5 cases who tested positive for COVID-19. Through gene sequencing alignment, genes of local cases and Nepalese imported cases from the same period are homologous, all belong to the lineage of L2.2.3 (B.1.36 according to Pangolin lineage typing method). According to the results of field epidemiological investigation and gene sequencing analysis, the index case was most likely infected by contact with household waste of quarantine site. Under the situation of normalization prevention and control of COVID-19, sentinel monitoring of fever clinics in primary medical institutions is the key to early detection of the epidemic. The multi-department joint epidemiological investigation and the application of gene technology are the core links of the investigation and traceability of modern infectious diseases. The allocation of public health resources in rural areas needs to be strengthened. We need to improve the capacity for early surveillance and early warning of the epidemic in rural areas.
3-D Ultrasonic Sensing in Air with a Narrowband Transmitter and a Receiver Microphone Array

This paper leverages phased array techniques to determine the positions of multiple reflectors in 3-D space using ultrasonic sensing. The design of a low-cost sensor, consisting of a single narrowband ultrasonic transducer and a receiver array consisting of a small number of MEMS microphones, is discussed. Aspects of system design related to the sensor, analog signal chain, and digital processing are presented. A processing algorithm is described to simultaneously determine the 3-D positions of all the reflectors present in the sensor’s workspace. Further, the processing algorithm is implemented on a low-cost microcontroller and requires low memory resources (64-70 kilobytes). Experiments demonstrate the performance achieved and the detection of multiple objects in the sensor’s workspace. A computation cost analysis is performed exhibiting the rapid execution of the algorithm. High processing throughput (20-45 Hz) is achieved making the sensor suitable for applications such as workspace mapping and the tracking of multiple reflectors.
The Autoimmune Diseases

Evolution has provided chordates an immunological system capable of responding to virtually any antigenic determinant. There is one striking exception to this generality—the immunological system usually fails to respond to antigenic determinants of the host itself. This ability to avoid immunological responses to self is a general property of the immunological system of all animal species. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms would greatly deepen our knowledge of immunological regulation.
Risk‐Taking Behavior

Taking risks is an important and, indeed, valuable part of the human experience; from playing the stock market to traveling to unexplored lands to skydiving, people routinely engage in risk taking. But what are the psychological phenomena behind risk-taking behavior? And how can we make sense of self-destructive risk taking that potentially endangers people's lives? This article presents a brief introduction to the psychological study of risk-taking behavior. First, emerging research in brain structures, neurotransmitters, and genetics is described to capture the biological bases and substrates of risk-taking behavior. Next, we review basic research in the domain of judgment and decision making (JDM) to explore the connection between the human brain's perception of risk and an individual's resulting risk-taking behavior. We also cover the complex role of affect and emotion on these judgments. Finally, we discuss risk perception from within the broader framework of models of health behavior, with a specific focus on interventions to increase health behavior. For the purposes of this presentation, we adopt a definition of risk taking as a lack of ability to inhibit an automatic or prepotent response or to self-regulate one's behavior, resulting in limited delay of gratification and risky decision making. Keywords: risk-taking; risk perception; health models; biological substrates of risk
Multistrata Subsurface Laser-Modified Microstructure With Backgrind-Assisted Controlled Fracture for Defect-Free Ultrathin Die Fabrication

We report the development of multistrata subsurface IR ( $1.342~\mu \text{m}$ ) nanosecond pulsed laser die singulation [stealth dicing (SD)] on high backside reflectance (up to 82%) Si wafers. We study the microstructural properties and formation mechanisms of the subsurface Si dislocation belt layer with respect to laser scanning speed, pulse laser energies, and interstrata distances. We optimize and exploit the multistrata interactions between generated thermal shock waves and the preceding dislocation belt layers formed to initiate frontal crack fractures that separate out the individual dies from within the interior of the wafer. A new partial-SD before grinding (p-SDBG) integration scheme based upon the tandem use of three-strata SD for controlled crack fracture toward the frontside of the wafer followed by static loading from backgrinding to complete full kerf separation is demonstrated. The optimized three-strata SD process and p-SDBG integration scheme can be used to compensate for the high backside reflectance wafers to produce defect-free eight die stacks of 25- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick mechanically functional and 46- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick electrically functional 2-D NAND memory dies.
Keeping Swaying Bridges from Falling Down

In the Wake of Tacoma Suspension Bridges and the Quest for Aerodynamic Stability. Richard Scott. ASCE Press, Reston, VA, 2001. Paper, 314 pp. $69. ISBN 0-7844-0542-5. Scott offers a narrative of trends in the design and construction of suspension bridges through the decades following the catastrophic 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows span.
Maimonides and Peace for Our Time

Resumen es: The topics Maimonides addresses in the Guidefor the Perplexed are still relevant for us today, especially his ideas concerning how to achieve and maintai...
Studies on polynucleotides. CXX. On the transcription of a synthetic 29-unit long deoxyribopolynucleotide.

The single-stranded 29 nucleotide unit long deoxyribopolynucleotide served as a template for the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of Escherichia coli. RNA synthesis did not begin at the 3′ end of the template and initiation began with both ATP and GTP. Thus the RNA product was heterogeneous. Fractionation of the product by gel filtration at elevated temperature followed by nearest neighbor analysis showed that RNA chains started at the 5th, 7th, or 9th nucleotide units of the template. The amount of the RNA product did not exceed the amount of the template and the product was present as a hybrid duplex with the template. In order to control the point of initiation, a short ribo-oligonucleotide complementary to a region near the 3′-hydroxyl end of the template was used as a primer. Addition of the primer accelerated the reaction, abolished the de novo chain initiation, and the primer was shown to be incorporated into the RNA chains. The RNA formed was again present as a hybrid with the template and attempts to obtain extensive synthesis failed. Rifampicin, while completely inhibiting transcription of the deoxyribopolynucleotide in the absence of the primer, permitted the primer-dependent RNA synthesis to proceed. Products of the primer reaction were separated and subjected to complete nucleotide sequence analysis. A number of products were characterized. The multiplicity of products arose (a) from the fact that the primer could hybridize to the template molecules at two different sites and (b) because termination occurred at more than one point prior to the end of the template chain.
Comparison of the full potential and Euler formulations for computing transonic airfoil flows

A study involving four transonic airfoil computer codes, two FP and two Euler, has been performed. The major conclusions of the study are as follows: (1) the FP codes are faster than the Euler codes by about an order of magnitude based on CPU time on the Cray XMP; (2) the FP formulation loses accuracy as transonic flow develops, but entropy corrections yield FP solutions comparable to those of the Euler; (3) grid coarseness and type can be significant in affecting both accuracy and convergence characteristics; (4) the FP formulation must be more tightly converged than the Euler formulation for comparable levels of accuracy in the lift coefficient; and (5) in general, good accuracy for adequate meshes can be obtained with both formulations, irrespective of the solution method.
The concept of revolutionary terrorism

A recent article by Sartori stresses the importance for comparative politics of the construction of basic concepts which are discriminatory and "classificatory," enabling one to study "one thing at a time and different things at different times" (1970, p. 1040). Sartori emphasizes the need for precise conceptual connotation; only by making the definitional attributes of a concept more exact, rather than by increasing their number to extend the range of the concept, does one retain the possibility of empirically testing the concept. The article concludes that the most needed concepts are on a middle-level of abstraction, combining high explanatory power with precise descriptive content (p. 1052). Although the contemporary importance of the phenomenon of insurgent terrorism in internal war is undeniable, a review of theoretical literature on the subject reveals the absence of a concept of terrorism, defined in accordance with Sartori's requirements.
La convención americana de derechos humanos y la protección de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas

Numero 127 Enero - Abril 2010 ISSN 0041 8633 LA CONVENCION AMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS Y LA PROTECCION DE LOS DERECHOS DE LOS PUEBLOS INDIGENAS * THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Ludovic HENNEBEL ** The paper aims at establishing to what extent the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has established, through the dynamic interpretation of the American Convention, a legal regime of protection of the human rights of the indegenous people that takes into account its specificities. The first part of the paper deals with the sociological interpretation of the American Convention, which goes beyond the internal legalisms in the matter of the protection of the indigenous people. The second part explains how this legal interpretation was elevated as a valid response to the challenge of the heterogeneity of the Latin American societies. Finally, the last part analyzed how the Court, through this dynamic jurisprudence, provides the required foundations of a platform for regional reconciliation. Descriptors: human rights, Inter-American Court, American Convention, indigenous people. * Articulo recibido el 22 de enero de 2009 y aceptado para su publicacion el 14 de octubre de 2009. ** New York University. Se agradece especialmente la colaboracion de Jose Antonio Alfaro y de Yildiz Atis. * Nota: Debido que la traduccion es automatica podra ser inexacta o contener errores.
Preparing for Mars: Evolvable Mars Campaign “Proving Ground” approach

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prepares to extend human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit, we are in the early stages of planning missions within the framework of an Evolvable Mars Campaign. Initial missions would be conducted in near-Earth cis-lunar space and would eventually culminate in extended duration crewed missions on the surface of Mars. To enable such exploration missions, critical technologies and capabilities must be identified, developed, and tested. NASA has followed a principled approach to identify critical capabilities and a “Proving Ground” approach is emerging to address testing needs. The Proving Ground is a period subsequent to current International Space Station activities wherein exploration-enabling capabilities and technologies are developed and the foundation is laid for sustained human presence in space. The Proving Ground domain essentially includes missions beyond Low Earth Orbit that will provide increasing mission capability while reducing technical risks. Proving Ground missions also provide valuable experience with deep space operations and support the transition from “Earth-dependence” to “Earth-independence” required for sustainable space exploration.
Aortoplasty for Management of the Dilated Distal Ascending Aorta During Proximal Aortic Reconstruction

When aneurysms of the ascending aorta extend into the arch, the conventional approach is replacement with a Dacron graft, including a distal beveled hemiarch anastomosis with the patient under hypothermic circulatory arrest. For certain cases, we propose an alternative strategy combining replacement of the proximal and middle segments of the ascending aorta with external wrapping aortoplasty for the distal segment. This "turtleneck" aortoplasty achieves successful complete repair of the ascending aorta without the risks associated with circulatory arrest.
A novel route for solid phase synthesis of polynucleotides using phosphite chemistry

Abstract A new route leading to a simple and rapid procedure employing Methyl Phosphoroditetrazolide (MPDT) as condensing agent for polynucleotide synthesis is described.
A quark model of $bar Lambda Lambda production in bar Lambda Lambda $ interactionsinteractions

A quark model which includes both scalar and vector contributions to the reaction mechanism is used in a DWBA calculation of total and differential cross-sections, polarizations, and spin correlation coefficients for the reaction\(\bar pp \to \bar \Lambda \Lambda \) at laboratory momenta from threshold to 1.92GeV/c. The free parameters of the calculation include the scalar and vector strengths, a quark cluster size parameter, and six parameters in the unknown\(\bar \Lambda \Lambda \) interaction. Excellent agreement with experiment is found for a constructive interference of scalar and vector terms, and for a\(\bar \Lambda \Lambda \) potential which differs from that suggested by several authors on the basis ofSU(3) arguments. The fit to the data is better than that obtained by other quark models, which use only scalar or vector annihilation terms. The agreement with experiment is as good as that found in meson exchange models, which use more parameters than the present calculation.
Tumor-specific antibody-mediated targeted delivery of Doxil reduces the manifestation of auricular erythema side effect in mice.

Abstract A mucocutaneous reaction in mice associated with Doxil® treatment was identified as auricular erythema (AE). Given that the immuno-targeting of Doxil® to tumors was found to influence also its systemic biodistribution pattern, the attempt was made to exploit a specific targeting of Doxil® to reduce the manifestation of this adverse reaction. This problem is of general significance, since cutaneous reactions often lead to alterations of Doxil® dosing regimen in patients and might subsequently compromise the therapeutic outcome of cancer treatment. Tumor-bearing mice were used to study the biodistribution and skin–tissue accumulation effects of the tumor-targeted Doxil® (the clinically used anti-cancer formulation) coupled with the anti-cancer monoclonal 2C5 antibody (mAb 2C5) as well as AE caused by Doxil® application. The modification of Doxil® with mAb 2C5 resulted in a significant decrease in the normal skin accumulation of doxorubicin compared to original Doxil® and substantially reduced AE. The frequency of AE was decreased by three to fourfold with the mAb 2C5-modified doxorubicin-loaded long-circulating liposomes. Thus, targeting of Doxil® with the anti-cancer mAb 2C5 not only can increase the tumor-specific accumulation of the drug, but also diminishes the cutaneous side effect of the original Doxil® therapy.
China's foreign trade policy and world trade organization membership

This paper provides an overview of China's major economic reforms and how they impacted certain key domestic economic indicators such as income, production, employment, and prices. More importantly, the paper concentrates on China's foreign trade focusing on such issues as import and export policies, exchange rate controls, foreign investments, balance of payments, traded commodities, and major trading partners. China's chance of becoming a member of the World Trade Organization is also addressed.