cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of the experimental watershed approach to advance urban watershed precipitation/discharge understanding

Reliable methods are required to provide the detailed hydrologic information necessary to improve management of water resources and aquatic ecosystems in developing/urbanizing watersheds. A case study was implemented in a representative 230 km2 mixed-use, urbanizing watershed to advance precipitation/discharge understanding. Precipitation and streamflow were monitored in five sub-watersheds (nested-scale experimental watershed study design), partitioned by dominant land use type. Data were collected at 30-min intervals through the 2009 to 2015 water years. Individual sub-watershed area-normalized flow and runoff coefficients differed by as much as 400%. Two high density, urban sub-watersheds displayed large runoff coefficients indicating disproportionately high flow response to precipitation inputs. Regression analyses of sub-watershed land use characteristics and flow metrics showed strong (i.e. R2 > 0.9) statistically significant (p < 0.05) linear relationships for percentage developed, forest, and agriculture land cover. Observed relationships between land use and flow metrics illustrate the complexity of contrasting and intermingled land use types in urbanizing, mixed-land-use watersheds. Results highlight the variable hydrologic impacts of land use and suggest the potential for vegetation management as a tool for streamflow mediation in urban settings. The work is one of the first to utilize the experimental watershed method to isolate and quantify land use impacts in the context of a contemporary mixed-land-use watershed. Collectively, results emphasize the utility of the method for land and water resource managers seeking science-based information to guide management decisions and more effectively target remediation efforts in contemporary multiple-land-use watersheds.
Preventing Wrongful Convictions: An Analysis of State Investigation Reforms

As more innocents are exonerated and researchers learn more about the causes of wrongful convictions, criminal justice practices have been altered to reduce the number of erroneous convictions, although reforms have varied widely in scope and substance throughout the nation. In this article, we provide an analysis of state-level investigative reforms important to the production of wrongful convictions as of mid- 2016. Specifically, we collect and describe reform efforts in three investigatory areas: eyewitness identification, forensics, and interrogations. We then discuss wrongful conviction reforms and the innocence movement more generally, focusing on the importance of continued research into wrongful convictions as a critical policy issue in criminal justice.
Endocrine Immunology of Chagas Disease

The concept of immunoendocrine interactions, existing in normal and pathological conditions, is relatively recent. Accordingly, cells from the immune system and from endocrine glands share common receptors for cytokines and hormones, allowing systemic and local regulatory mechanisms. In this context, lymphoid organs are under physiological hormonal control. Disturbances in these systems, as those caused by pathogens changes the physiological profile of these interactions, with the release of proinflammatory cytokines and hormones, and one example is the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Within endocrine tissues, inflammation occurs with local increase of cytokines, extracellular matrix proteins, and influx of inflammatory cells. One example of lymphoid organ that can be influenced by pathogens and hormonal response is the thymus, with changes in the normal T-cell differentiation process. Several viruses, bacteria, and protozoa induce severe thymic atrophy with massive death of developing thymocytes. In several conditions, this is at least partially due to the activation of the HPA axis and ultimate rise in systemic glucocorticoid release. In the case of Trypanosoma cruzi infection (a protozoan that is the causative agent of Chagas disease), another stress-related hormone, prolactin can partially revert this pathogen-induced thymic atrophy and the abnormal release of immature thymocytes from the organ. Overall, our data clearly reveal that pathogens and more particularly T. cruzi, can promote an immunoendocrine imbalance, with emphasis on stress-related hormones, which can influence lymphocyte dynamics, with consequences in the system and local immune response.
Defending Against Evolving DDoS Attacks: A Case Study Using Link Flooding Incidents (Transcript of Discussion)

In this presentation I’ll talk about the evolution of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and, of course, the evolution of the adversary who launches them, and finally how to defend against them.
“You Just can’t Trust them”: Exploring the Memorable Messages Costa Rican Natives Recall about Race

AbstractThis study uses memorable messages as a framework for understanding how Costa Rican youths are socialized about race. Through semi-structured interviews, twenty-three participants identifie...
Treatment of sarcoidosis: grading the evidence.

Introduction: Treatment of sarcoidosis recommendations are often based on clinical experience and expert opinion. However, there are an increasing number of studies which are providing evid...
A Program to Teach Curriculum Development to Junior Faculty

Background and Objectives: Even though curriculum skills are widely acknowledged to be an important part of faculty development in family medicine, reports of outcomes of programs that teach those skills are rarely found in the medical education literature. The Curriculum Workshop Series, one part of a 1-year faculty development fellowship for recent residency graduates, was designed to teach curriculum skills to junior faculty. The Program: Developed as part of the Harbor-UCLA Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship, the Curriculum Workshop Series consisted of monthly or twice-monthly group sessions, readings, discussion, and individual projects with feedback from colleagues and the instructor. Objectives included developing an understanding of six fundamental steps of curriculum development, completion of an individual project, and giving and receiving feedback regarding projects. Outcome measures included number of projects implemented, the quality of projects, and participant satisfaction. Outcomes: Eight fellows participated in the Curriculum Workshop Series and completed projects. Six of eight were implemented, providing three new curricular opportunities and three enhancements to existing curricula for three family practice residency programs. Review of projects by outside experts showed that a majority of the six steps were addressed by most fellows but that more emphasis needed to be placed on the clarity of the written curriculum, the link between teaching strategies and specific learning objectives, and evaluation of learners and projects. Participants endorsed the relevance of curriculum skills, the practical step-by-step approach to curriculum development, and the opportunity to produce and implement an individual project. Conclusions: The Curriculum Workshop Series provides a straightforward format for teaching curriculum skills to junior faculty and demonstrates that recent graduates have the ability to make a contribution in the area of curriculum development. The format presented here could readily be adapted to other faculty development settings. Long-term outcomes of this type of faculty development remain to be studied.
Stretching Out Art Education Beyond Cruel Optimism

“Cruel optimism … keeps us going through the motions anticipating that the same ways of being, researching, and knowing will get us somewhere.”One definition of insanity (often attributed to Albert...
A comparison of matched interim analysis publications and final analysis publications in oncology clinical trials.

Background Progression-free survival is an increasingly popular surrogate end point for overall survival. The strength of correlation between the two end points varies, raising questions about the correlation between results of interim analyses that report mature progression-free survival data with the subsequent final publication that report overall survival. Methods We searched PubMed from 2005 to 2015 for randomized controlled trials that measured both progression-free survival and overall survival. We matched interim publications that reported mature progression-free survival data with their final analyses that reported overall survival. We included 25 matched pairs and 8 unmatched interim analyses whose final analyses are not published. Our primary objectives are to compare interim publications with matched final publications in terms of journal prominence and Altmetric score and to compare progression-free survival and overall survival effect sizes. Results All interim analyses (n = 33) were prespecified and there was a statistically significant progression-free survival benefit in 31 (93.9%). Only eight matched final analyses had statistically significant overall survival data. Interim analyses were more often published in top-5 general medicine journals (P < 0.01) but not in top-5 oncology journals (P = 0.26). Altmetric scores were higher in interim analyses (P < 0.01). Progression-free survival effect sizes from interim analyses were a median of 31% larger than overall survival effect sizes from final analyses. Conclusion Interim analyses with progression-free survival data may generate hype in oncology, as evidenced by journal impact factors and Altmetric scores. The cause of this hype may be due, in part, to large progression-free survival effect sizes. Regardless, in trials that investigate progression-free and overall survival, publishing interim analyses with mature progression-free survival data apart from the final analyses with mature overall survival should be cautioned.
First-principles study of thermophysical properties of interaction layer products in U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel

Abstract Thermophysical properties of interaction layer (IL) formed in U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel are important for the evaluation of its impact on the fuel performance. Binary and ternary phases observed in the IL, however, are not well studied yet. Recently we predicted the thermophysical properties of the binary U-Al compounds in U-Al system using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In this paper, we investigated the structural, elastic, electronic, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of the ternary U-Mo-Al compounds formed in IL, including (U0.75,Mo0.25)Al3, U6Mo4Al43 and UMo2Al20, using DFT calculations. The polycrystalline aggregate properties of these compounds were obtained from the predicted single crystal elastic constants. The calculated electronic density of states confirm that all of the compounds exhibit typical metallic behavior with the majority states at the Fermi level dominated by U 5f electrons. Using quasi-harmonic approximation, we predicted the thermodynamic properties of these compounds by including both electronic and lattice contributions. We also investigated the effect of density on the thermodynamic properties of (U0.75,Mo0.25)Al3 phase. The current results are expected to be helpful to the modeling of the fuel performance of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel and the thermodynamic modeling of the ternary U-Mo-Al system.
Depression care services and telehealth technology use for homebound elderly in the United States

Objectives: Despite the increasing evidence for the effectiveness of telehealth technology in screening and treating depression in older adults, they have been slowly adopted by Home Health Care (HHC) agencies. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine how HHC agencies perceive and use telehealth technology for depression care among homebound older adult patients. Methods: Five-hundred-and-sixteen staff from the National Association for Homecare & Hospice (NAHC) member home health care agencies completed the online survey. Questions were asked of HHC staff regarding performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influences, facilitating conditions, telehealth use and intention to use/continue to use telehealth. Results: The majority had a neutral or positive perception towards telehealth. However, participants from agencies that have yet to use telehealth (mean: 3.25, SD: 1.56) reported a less intention to use the technology for depression care versus those from agencies that did (mean: 4.64, SD: 1.37). This may be partially explained by the finding that only 32% perceived themselves as having the knowledge and 25% as having resources to use telehealth. Additionally, facilitating conditions and social influences were significant predictors of intention to use/continue to use telehealth for depression care (p-values < .01). Conclusion: Overall, staff had a neutral or positive perception towards telehealth. Factors such as fewer years of experience in using telehealth and a small annual budget may explain a negative perception towards telehealth. Therefore, further education and resources are needed to support telehealth use. Future studies may consider comparing telehealth programs and identifying supporting policies.
Every Hop is an Opportunity: Quickly Classifying and Adapting to Terrain During Targeted Hopping

Practical use of robots in diverse domains requires programming for, or adapting to, each domain and its unique characteristics. Failure to do so compromises the ability of the robot to achieve task-relevant objectives. Here we describe how the learned terrain reaction force profiles of a hopping robot serve the additional objectives of classifying terrain and quickly learning control strategies to accomplish a jumping task on novel terrain. We show that the reaction forces experienced during closed-loop jumping are sufficient to discriminate between three different terrain types (granular, trampoline, and rigid) when using the learned models as discriminators. Building on this, we show that applying the classification to unknown terrain types leads to faster task completion, where the task objective is to meet a specific jump height. The classification experiments, utilizing real-world jumping data, achieve 95% prediction accuracy. The online learning experiments leverage simulation as there is more control over the terrain properties. Terrain-informed learning achieves the target hop heights more than 2x faster than without terrain knowledge when the prediction is correct, and 1.5x faster when the prediction is incorrect. Thus, applying the closest approximately known terrain knowledge facilitates low shot learning when hopping on unknown terrain.
From the Bricks to the Hall.

Situating herself on the cusp between life in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and her new world at Seton Hall University, Mellie Torres describes the painful awareness of a growing distance between herself, as the first to go to college, and her family. In so doing, she reveals the inherent losses of leaving home and the painful contrast between her own life story and that of her brother Isaac, who was denied the opportunity to thrive. In grieving the loss of her brother, Torres asks readers to honor his unrealized promise.
Relativistic Particle Beams as a Resource to Solve Outstanding Problems in Space Physics

The Sun’s connection with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere is carried out through the exchange of electromagnetic and mass flux and is regulated by a complex interconnection of processes. During space weather events, solar flares or fast streams of solar atmosphere strongly disturb the Earth’s environment. Often the electric currents that connect the different parts of the Sun-Earth system become unstable and explosively release the stored electromagnetic energy in one of the more dramatic expressions of space weather – the auroral storm and substorm. Some aspects of the magnetosphere-ionosphere connection that generates auroral arcs during space weather events are well-known. However, several fundamental problems remain unsolved because of the lack of unambiguous identification of the magnetic field connection between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. The correct mapping between different regions of the magnetosphere and their foot-points in the ionosphere, coupled with appropriate distributed measurements of plasma and fields in focused regions of the magnetosphere, is necessary to establish unambiguously that a given magnetospheric process is the generator of an observed arc. The three most important problems for which the correct magnetic field mapping would provide closure to are the substorm growth phase arcs, the expansion phase onset arcs and the system of arcs that emerge from the magnetosphere-ionosphere connection during the development of the early substorm expansion phase phenomenon known as substorm current wedge (SCW). Energetic electron beams, used as magnetic field tracers, can enable the closure needed. However, the application of beams as tracers require demonstration that the beams can be injected into the loss cone, that the spacecraft potentials induced by the beam emission are manageable, and that sufficient electron flux reaches the atmosphere to be detectable by optical or radio means after the beam has propagated thousands of kilometers under competing effects of beam spread and constriction as well as effects of beam-induced instabilities. In this communication we provide a review of the latest results of synergistic research carried out under the NSF INSPIRE program to address these challenges and discuss the next steps toward the realization of active experiments in space using relativistic electron beams.
All-solid-state Li-metal batteries: role of blending PTFE with PEO and LiTFSI salt as a composite electrolyte with enhanced thermal stability

Enhancing the ionic conductivity and the thermal stability of solid electrolytes is crucial for the development of all-solid-state batteries. Here, we report polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as an additive to improve the ionic conductivity and thermal stability of polyethylene oxide (PEO) based electrolytes. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements for composite electrolytes with varying ratios of PEO and PTFE confirm the enhancement in the ionic conductivity at both room temperature and 60 °C. From the EIS measurements of electrolytes at room temperature, PEO100 showed the lowest ion conductivity (2.25 × 10−8 S cm−1), while electrolytes with added PTFE showed a higher ion conductivity (6.62 × 10−8 S cm−1). The charge–discharge measurement confirms that adding PTFE improved the capacity from 139 mA h g−1 to 163 mA h g−1 with cycling stability. Furthermore, the thermal stability of PTFE blended PEO composite electrolyte is enhanced, resulting in lower heat liberation by a factor of two compared with PEO electrolyte. Our results show that PTFE–PEO composite has the potential to be used as a solid electrolyte in lithium metal batteries.
Recent Modifications of the Nuss Procedure: The Pursuit of Safety During the Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum.

Objective To review standardized Nuss correction of pectus excavatum and vacuum bell treatment over the last 10 years. Summary of background data In 2010, we reported 21 years of the Nuss procedure in 1215 patients. Methods Over the last 10 years, 2008-2018, we evaluated 1885 pectus excavatum patients. Surgery was indicated for well-defined objective criteria. A consistent operation was performed by 8 surgeons in 1034 patients, median 15 years, (range 6-46); 996 were primary, and 38 redo operations. Surgical patients' mean computed tomography index was 5.46. Mitral valve prolapse was present in 5.4%, Marfan syndrome in 1.1% and scoliosis in 29%. Vacuum bell treatment was introduced for 218 patients who did not meet surgical criteria or were averse to surgery. Results At primary operation, 1 bar was placed in 49.8%; 2 bars, 49.4%; and 3 bars, 0.7%. There were no deaths. Cardiac perforation occurred in 1 patient who had undergone previous cardiac surgery. Paraplegia after epidural catheter occurred once. Reoperation for bar displacement occurred in 1.8%, hemothorax in 0.3%, and wound infection in 2.9%; 1.4% required surgical drainage. Allergy to stainless steel was identified in 13.7%. A good anatomic outcome was always achieved at bar removal. Recurrence requiring reoperation occurred in 3 primary surgical patients. Two patients developed carinate overcorrection requiring reoperation. Vacuum bell treatment produced better results in younger and less severe cases. Conclusions A standardized Nuss procedure was performed by multiple surgeons in 1034 patients with good overall safety and results in primary repairs. Vacuum bell treatment is useful.
Anti-factor IIa (FIIa) heparin assay for patients on direct factor Xa (FXa) inhibitors.

Background Direct factor Xa (FXa) inhibitors are increasingly prescribed for outpatients, and those transitioning to unfractionated heparin (UFH) for hospital admission are monitored via an anti-FXa assay. Because of assay interference, UFH results would often be critically elevated, confounding dosing. Objectives An anti-factor IIa (FIIa) UFH assay was evaluated for clinical use. Methods The BIOPHEN ANTI-IIa (Aniara Diagnostica) assay and anti-FXa INNOVANCE Heparin assay (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products GmbH) were compared on the Siemens BCS XP system. Samples included UFH controls and calibrators and specimens from patients transitioning from apixaban or rivaroxaban to UFH. Method comparison, linearity, recovery, precision, and interference by direct FXa inhibitors were evaluated. The effect of the BIOPHEN ANTI-IIa assay on the rate of critically high UFH results was retrospectively reviewed 4 months after implementation. Results Accuracy studies using 0.24 and 0.50 IU/mL UFH yielded means and standard deviations of 0.26 ± 0.01 and 0.58 ± 0.01 IU/mL, respectively. Within-run and between-run coefficients of variation were 4.6% and 15.5% for the low control, and 1.8% and 10.6% for the high control. The method comparison slope was 0.9965 (r2 = 0.9468). The linear range was 0.1 to 1.3 IU/mL. The assay measured UFH in the presence of 192 ng/mL apixaban or 158 ng/mL rivaroxaban. Introduction of the assay for clinical use reduced the monthly percentage of critically high results from 9.4% to 3.8% for admitted heparinized patients who recently discontinued apixaban or rivaroxaban. Conclusions The BIOPHEN ANTI-IIa assay is suitable for patients transitioning off apixaban or rivaroxaban.
Photochemical removal of hexavalent chromium and nitrate from ion-exchange brine waste using carbon-centered radicals

Abstract Ion-exchange (IX) is a promising technology to remove hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) and nitrate from groundwater; however, its wide application is challenged by a costly disposal of spent brine. This study developed a novel photochemical process utilizing reductive carbon-centered radicals to remove Cr(VI) and nitrate in IX spent brine. In the presence of formate or alcohol additives, photolysis of nitrate in spent brine generated highly reductive carbon-centered radicals including ·CO2−, ·CH2OH, ·CH(OH)CH3, and ·C(OH)(CH3)2. Among them, ·CO2− exhibited the highest efficiency to reduce Cr(VI) to non-toxic Cr(III) solids. Increasing the dosage of formate additive promoted ·CO2− production and accelerated Cr(VI) removal. Decreasing pH enhanced Cr(VI) removal by increasing the yield of ·CO2− and thermodynamic favorability of Cr(VI) reduction while lowering total chromium removal because of the formation of soluble Cr(III) species. High levels of chloride in spent brine scavenged HO·, suppressed ·CO2− production, and inhibited Cr(VI) reduction. With an extended reaction time, nitrate was photochemically converted to gaseous nitrogen species. The denitrification process was favored at acidic pH due to the suppressed formation of nitrite. Findings from this study provides a new photochemical treatment technology for hazardous IX spent brine management.
Peer coaching: a holistic experiential learning process in online leadership classes

This paper offers practical reflection and guiding principles on how to facilitate a holistic experiential learning process for online students with the use of peer coaching, in which two students ...
FROM LAND AND SEA: OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF DIRECTLY DATING DOG REMAINS ON POLYNESIAN ISLANDS

Recent archaeological excavations on Rakahanga Atoll, Northern Cook Islands, produced one of the earliest examples of dog (Canis familiaris) remains found on East Polynesian atolls. Direct dating of these and other Pacific Island fauna by AMS is complicated by a number of factors. (1) The animals’ diets may consist of marine and terrestrial protein. (2) Marine 14C is itself a mix of carbon pools with localized offsets that vary over time and space. (3) The region is potentially impacted by inter-hemispheric mixing of atmospheric 14C. Stable isotope analysis of gelatin extracted from dog teeth was used to estimate marine/terrestrial dietary components and paired terrestrial and marine samples were used to constrain local atmospheric and marine carbon offsets. The dates were modeled as a phase in a Bayesian chronological framework using mixed calibration curves. The resulting models confirm the presence of dogs on Rakahanga shortly after the initial colonization of the region and suggest that dogs were among the species that accompanied voyagers as they discovered and settled new islands. These methods can be applied to accurately date any marine-influenced terrestrial vertebrate remains in Remote Oceania.
Imaging findings of immune checkpoint inhibitor associated pancreatitis

Abstract Purpose To describe contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT), 18-Fluorine (18F)-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) associated pancreatitis in patients undergoing immunotherapy for solid malignant tumours. Method In this retrospective study, 25 patients with clinical and/or biochemical evidence of pancreatitis who underwent CECT, MRI and 18F-FDG-PET/CT while being treated with ICIs were included. Imaging features of acute pancreatitis included: pancreatic enlargement, heterogeneous enhancement, peripancreatic stranding, fluid collection, pseudocyst, necrosis, atrophy and calcification. 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging was reviewed for pattern of abnormally increased pancreatic FDG uptake. ICI-associated pancreatitis diagnosis was based on clinical, imaging and biochemical findings. Results Imaging findings of ICI-associated pancreatitis included diffuse (n = 14) or focal (n = 11) pancreatic enlargement; heterogenous enhancement (n = 21); focal (n = 9) or diffuse (n = 15) peripancreatic infiltration on CECT and MRI. A pattern consistent with acute interstitial pancreatitis was present in 20/25 (80 %) patients, and a pattern consistent with autoimmune pancreatitis in 4/25 (16 %). A mixed pattern was present in one patient (4%). No patient developed necrotizing pancreatitis or a pseudocyst. The CT severity index was Conclusions ICI-associated pancreatitis typically presents as either focal or diffuse acute interstitial pancreatitis. Post-pancreatitis atrophy is common. The ICI-associated pancreatitis cases in our study were mild, managed conservatively and did not result in local acute complications.
Republican Liberty As Liberty within Rights

What is the relationship between republican liberty and rights? The received view is that although rights play an important role in republican theory, non-domination is conceptually distinct from rights enjoyment; like liberty as non-interference, republican liberty is a stand-alone conception of liberty that we can understand and perhaps even promote without invoking rights at all. I argue that this is a confusion, one that has left our view of republican liberty, and indeed the entire liberty debate, substantially out of focus. Republican liberty is not, like liberty as non-interference, an account of liberty that is conceptually independent of rights and which may (or may not) stand in relationships of varying importance to rights. To the contrary, republican liberty just is liberty within rights; to enjoy all of one’s rights is to enjoy full non-domination, and to enjoy full non-domination is to enjoy all of one’s rights. Rights enjoyment, we may say, is necessary and sufficient for republican liberty. It is necessary for republican liberty because there is no way to specify the range within which independence from others’ unconstrained wills matters without specifying particular rights that people may claim against one another. And it is sufficient for republican liberty because to enjoy a right is to possess securely a valid claim against one or more other people, where security is a function of institutional sanctions sufficient to dissuade others from violating that right. Thus, ‘R is a right and so requires entrenchment against others’ arbitrary power’ adds nothing to ‘R is a right.’ Once it becomes clear that republican liberty is liberty within rights, the liberty debate reappears as a contest that is fundamentally about whether there is conceptual daylight between liberty and rights.
Luck versus Skill in the Cross-Section of Mutual Fund Returns: Reexamining the Evidence

Both Kosowski et al. (2006) and Fama and French (2010) evaluate whether mutual funds outperform, but their conclusions are very different. We reconcile their findings. We show that the Fama and French method suffers from an undersampling problem that leads to a failure to reject the null hypothesis of zero alpha, even when some funds generate economically large risk-adjusted returns. In contrast, Kosowski et al. substantially over reject the null hypothesis, even when all funds have a zero alpha. We present a novel bootstrapping approach that should be useful to future researchers who are choosing between the two approaches. The Internet Appendix follows the main text of the paper.
A theoretical analysis on the separation of mixtures by extractive adsorption

Abstract A new approach to the separation of chemical mixtures by way of extractive adsorption is proposed. The approach relies on the use of adsorbents with single file pores, for which clusters of aligned dipoles can result in a 1D ferroelectric phase. To study this class of separations, a new theory is developed for the adsorption of polar species in single file pores based on a 1D approximation of classical density functional theory (CDFT). The theory is applied to pure, binary and ternary mixtures composed of hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde and ethylene. It is demonstrated that adsorbing polar molecules in single file channels do undergo ferroelectric transitions, under certain conditions. These transitions result in step like isotherms with wide hysteresis loops. It is then shown that inclusion of the adsorbate solvent hydrogen cyanide, can extract formaldehyde from a hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, ethylene mixture.
Dynamic predictive coding across the left fronto-temporal language hierarchy: Evidence from MEG, EEG and fMRI

Abstract Predictive coding has been proposed as a unifying theory of brain function. However, few studies have examined this theory during complex cognitive processing across multiple time-scales and levels of abstraction. We used MEG, EEG and fMRI to ask whether dynamic, hierarchical predictive coding can account for the timecourse of evoked activity at multiple cortical levels during language comprehension. Unexpected words produced increased activity in left temporal cortex (lower-level prediction error). Critically, violations of high-precision event predictions produced additional activity within left inferior frontal cortex (higher-level prediction error). Furthermore, the successful resolution of higher-level prediction error led to later feedback to temporal cortex (top-down sharpening), while a failure to resolve these errors led to sustained activity at still lower levels (reanalysis). These findings suggest that fundamental principles of dynamic hierarchical predictive coding –– suppression of prediction error, precision-weighting, delayed top-down sharpening –– can explain the dynamics of neural activity during human language comprehension.
New insights into ice multiplication using remote-sensing observations of slightly supercooled mixed-phase clouds in the Arctic.

Secondary ice production (SIP) can significantly enhance ice particle number concentrations in mixed-phase clouds, resulting in a substantial impact on ice mass flux and evolution of cold cloud systems. SIP is especially important at temperatures warmer than − 10 ○ C, for which primary ice nucleation lacks a significant number of efficient ice nucleating particles. However, determining the climatological significance of SIP has proved difficult using existing observational methods. Here we quantify the long-term occurrence of secondary ice events and their multiplication factors in slightly supercooled clouds using a multisensor, remote-sensing technique applied to 6 y of ground-based radar measurements in the Arctic. Further, we assess the potential contribution of the underlying mechanisms of rime splintering and freezing fragmentation. Our results show that the occurrence frequency of secondary ice events averages to
Arqueología amazónica: : Antiguas interacciones de las sociedades humanas y naturaleza

Este trabajo presenta algunos ejemplos de manejo del paisaje a partir de diferentes grupos etnicos actuales y evidencias arqueologicas. El principal objetivo es apuntar algunos aspectos de la dinamica de alteracion del medio ambiente que sociedades actuales o pre-colombinas llevaron a cabo. El articulo intenta reflejar, a traves de importantes trabajos en Amazonia interconectados a la arqueologia, distintas estrategias de domesticacion del paisaje por diferentes grupos y sus sucesos logrados, asi como tambien presentar parte de la realidad socio-politica actual, envolviendo cuestiones indigenas.
Mr. Plotter: Unifying Data Reduction Techniques in Storage and Visualization Systems.

As the rate of data collection continues to grow rapidly, developing visualization tools that scale to immense data sets is a serious and ever-increasing challenge. Existing approaches generally seek to decouple storage and visualization systems, performing just-in-time data reduction to transparently avoid overloading the visualizer. We present a new architecture in which the visualizer and data store are tightly coupled. Unlike systems that read raw data from storage, the performance of our system scales linearly with the size of the final visualization, essentially independent of the size of the data. Thus, it scales to massive data sets while supporting interactive performance (sub-100 ms query latency). This enables a new class of visualization clients that automatically manage data, quickly and transparently requesting data from the underlying database without requiring the user to explicitly initiate queries. It lays a groundwork for supporting truly interactive exploration of big data and opens new directions for research on scalable information visualization systems.
Improving Brain Computer Interfaces Using Deep Scale-Invariant Temporal History Applied to Scalp Electroencephalogram Data

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) applications employ machine learning to decode neural signals through time to generate actions. One issue facing such machine learning algorithms is how much of the past they need to decode the present. DeepSITH (Deep Scale-Invariant Temporal History), is a deep neural network with layers inspired by how the mammalian brain represents recent vs. less-recent experience. A single SITH layer maintains a log-compressed representation of the past that becomes less accurate with older events, unlike other approaches that maintain a perfect copy of events regardless of how far in the past they occurred. By stacking layers of this compressed representation, we hypothesized that DeepSITH would be able to decode patterns of neural activity from farther in the past and combine them efficiently to guide the BCI in the present. We tested our approach with the Kaggle "Grasp and Lift challenge" dataset. This motor movement dataset has 12 subjects, 10 series of 30 grasp and lift trials per subject, with 6 classes of events to decode. We benchmark DeepSITH performances on this dataset against another common machine learning technique for integrating features over extended time scales, long short-term memory (LSTM). DeepSITH reproducibly achieves higher accuracy in predicting motor movement events than LSTM, and also takes significantly fewer epochs and less memory to train, in comparison to LSTM. In summary, DeepSITH can efficiently process more data, with increased prediction accuracy and learning speed. This result shows that DeepSITH is an advantageous model to consider when developing BCI technologies.
The impact of site selectivity and disorder on the thermoelectric properties of Yb21Mn4Sb18 solid solutions: Yb21Mn4−xCdxSb18 and Yb21−yCayMn4Sb18

Thermoelectric materials can convert heat into electricity. They are used to generate electricity when other power sources are not available or to increase energy efficiency by recycling waste heat. The Yb21Mn4Sb18 phase was previously shown to have good thermoelectric performance due to its large Seebeck coefficient (∼290 μV K−1) and low thermal conductivity (0.4 W m−1 K−1). These characteristics stem respectively from the unique [Mn4Sb10]22− subunit and the large unit cell/site disorder inherent in this phase. The solid solutions, Yb21Mn4−xCdxSb18 (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5) and Yb21−yCayMn4Sb18 (y = 3, 6, 9, 10.5) have been prepared, their structures characterized and thermoelectric properties from room temperature to 800 K measured. A detailed look into the structural disorder for the Cd and Ca solid solutions was performed using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction and pair distribution function methods and shows that these are highly disordered structures. The substitution of Cd gives rise to more metallic behavior whereas Ca substitution results in high resistivity. As both Cd and Ca are isoelectronic substitutions, the changes in properties are attributed to changes in the electronic structure. Both solid solutions show that the thermal conductivities remain extremely low (∼0.4 W m−1 K−1) and that the Seebeck coefficients remain high (>200 μV K−1). The temperature dependence of the carrier mobility with increased Ca substitution, changing from approximately T−1 to T−0.5, suggests that another scattering mechanism is being introduced. As the bonding changes from polar covalent with Yb to ionic for Ca, polar optical phonon scattering becomes the dominant mechanism. Experimental studies of the Cd solid solutions result in a max zT of ∼1 at 800 K and, more importantly for application purposes, a ZTavg ∼ 0.6 from 300 K to 800 K.
Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase type-1 synthesizes retinyl esters in the retina and retinal pigment epithelium.

Retinyl esters represent an insoluble storage form of vitamin A and are substrates for the retinoid isomerase (Rpe65) in cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The major retinyl-ester synthase in RPE cells is lecithin:retinol acyl-transferase (LRAT). A second palmitoyl coenzyme A-dependent retinyl-ester synthase activity has been observed in RPE homogenates but the protein responsible has not been identified. Here we show that diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase-1 (DGAT1) is expressed in multiple cells of the retina including RPE and Muller glial cells. DGAT1 catalyzes the synthesis of retinyl esters from multiple retinol isomers with similar catalytic efficiencies. Loss of DGAT1 in dgat1(-/-) mice has no effect on retinal anatomy or the ultrastructure of photoreceptor outer-segments (OS) and RPE cells. Levels of visual chromophore in dgat1(-/-) mice were also normal. However, the normal build-up of all-trans-retinyl esters (all-trans-RE's) in the RPE during the first hour after a deep photobleach of visual pigments in the retina was not seen in dgat1(-/-) mice. Further, total retinyl-ester synthase activity was reduced in both dgat1(-/-) retina and RPE.
Models of Large Networks: Analytic Approaches

Chapter 8 on neuromimes described models for simulating the activities of single or small numbers of neurons, say, less than about 20, while Chapter 11 considered techniques for analyzing up to hundreds or thousands of interconnected cells. In this and the next chapter we consider techniques for predicting the activity of vast numbers of interconnected neurons, say, from tens of thousands to millions or more. We will find that the various existing techniques fall into two categories: those that are essentially analytic in character, and those that are explicitly or primarily appropriate for realiza¬tion on large-scale, high-speed computers. Corresponding to these two categories, there are two main germinal contributions which have greatly influenced most subsequent work in their respective categories. The primary starting point for the analytic studies is a paper published in 1956 by Beurle, while that for the computer-oriented approaches is a classic paper by McCulloch and Pitts which appeared in 1943. In this chapter we take up the analytic approaches to large neural networks which stem largely from the work of Beurle.
Role of Rna in the regulation of gene expression

The recent elucidation of the role of small RNAs in controlling gene expression, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006, generated a significant paradigm shift in molecular biology. While the majority of work to date has centered on the role of small RNAs in modulating post-transcriptional silencing (i.e., the targeted degradation of mRNAs), there is a growing and relatively unrecognized field of study in which small RNAs have been shown to suppress gene expression at the transcriptional level (i.e., through targeting epigenetic changes to gene promoter loci).1 First discovered in plants and later defined in yeast, Candida elegans , and Drosophila , small RNAs have been shown to operate in the nucleus to direct stable long-term gene-silencing events.1 Recently, it has also become apparent that these same regulatory events can be exogenously controlled in human …
Time-dependent structural phenomena at room temperature in quenched YBa2Cu3O6.41: Local oxygen ordering and superconductivity

Abstract The superconducting transition temperature, T c , of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.41 quenched from 500°C into liquid nitrogen increases from 0 to 20 K while annealing at room temperature during the first few days following the quench. Using neutron powder diffraction and Rietveld refinement we show that this time-dependent increase of T c is accompanied by changes in the structural properties. The a -and c -axes contract by 0.04%, while the percentage shortening of the b -axis is three times smaller. We attribute this behavior to charge transfer between the chains and planes, with the smaller contraction along the b -axis arising from oxygen ordering in the chains. Clear evidence for this charge transfer is seen in the relevant Cu-O and Cu-Cu distances. No significant changes in the average occupancies of oxygen sites are observed. We attribute the increase in T c to local ordering of oxygen atoms around the Cu(1) atoms with no change in the average site occupancies.
Wafer level high temperature reliability study by backside probing f or a 50um thin TSV wafer

Wafer level reliability of TSV has been studied with respect to FEOL (Front end of line) and BEOL (Back end of line) reliability aspects. TSV keep out zone (KoZ) study has been done with varying gate length and width of transistor. Voltage ramp stress (VRS) analysis has been done by varying gate voltage for different KOZ for both SG and EG oxide devices and found not significant impact to device performance. Testing is done for both thick and thin (50um) wafer and found little effect due to wafer thinning. Wafer level FEOL reliability tests are done at 125 deg C and for a 50um thin wafer, a new methodology by probing the device from back side through TSV with a carrier wafer is demonstrated. Probing of the device from the backside of the device eliminate the thin wafer de-bonding from the carrier wafer and mounting onto a dicing tape. With new methodology reliability of the wafer is improved by eliminating thin waferde-bonding and also able to test the thin wafer at higher temperature 125degC which was not possible with wafer on a dicing tape which can withstand only temperature up to 60degC.
Effects on Performance of Analytical Tools for Visually Demanding Tasks through Direct and Indirect Touch Interaction in an Immersive Visualization

In this paper, we present an investigation on the performance effects of analytical tools through visual and non-visual interaction in an immersive visualization. We explored two types of touch-based input device (with a display screen as direct and without a display screen as indirect), and compared these two touch-based input devices with a 6-degrees of freedom (DOF) tracked input device and a 2DOF input device, where a user could interact in 6DOF spatial context but the degrees of freedom were constrained. The results revealed that for visually demanding tasks, touch input is comparable to 6DOF, however it is important to use physical means to constrain degrees of freedom to retain performance levels using analytical tools involving selection. Furthermore results revealed that precision can be negatively affected by the design of the direct touch interface. Our results will have implications on touch-based interface design as well as design considerations when reducing degrees of freedom control.
Mechanisms-based failure laws for AS4/3502 graphite/epoxy laminates under in-plane biaxial compression

Abstract Failure mechanisms and stress–strain behaviors have been investigated for [±30] 12s and [±45] 12s graphite-epoxy (AS4/3502) laminates under in-plane biaxial compression by using a cruciform biaxial test frame and microscopy of load-interrupted samples. The loading confinement ratio R was varied from 0.24 to nearly 1.0 to measure the sensitivity of sample failure mechanisms and stress–strain behavior to different stress states. Failure modes with an increasing loading confinement ratio for both fiber orientations transitioned from the uniaxial failure mode of in-plane shearing to out-of-plane shearing and massive delamination. The shear failures were on one or more planes that traversed the entire sample thickness and thus encompassed alternate plies in which fibers were aligned and misaligned with respect to the shear plane. The local failure was found to be triggered either by the matrix shear in fiber-aligned plies or fiber-shear in the fiber-misaligned plies. A standard classical laminate theory in combination with the standard rule of mixture theory for composites was used to calculate the maximum matrix and fiber shear stresses. The failure data conformed nicely with a Mohr–Coulomb-type shear failure law. Most interestingly, both types of failures correlated rather remarkably to a single shear failure law when the stresses were smeared and expressed on the scale of the laminae. This latter failure law should have widespread use because of its simplicity.
A Note on the Newsboy Problem with an Emergency Supply Option

In this note, we solve a newsboy problem with an emergency supply option. We solve the new problem with the objectives of maximizing expected profit and maximizing the probability of achieving a target profit. The new optimal order quantity is smaller than the optimal order quantity without emergency supply.
Testing the Linkages Among the Organization–Public Relationship and Attitude and Behavioral Intentions

Abstract This research tested a model that posits the linkages among perceptions of the organization–public relationships, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward an organization among members of a key public. Among the 6 relationship indexes proposed by Hon and J. E. Grunig (1999), perceptions of satisfaction and control mutuality were the best predictors of a positive attitude toward the organization. In this study we also found that positive attitude was a precursor to supportive behavioral intentions toward the organization.