cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conducting Paramilitary Operations

This chapter goes into some details about how the U.S. government typically conducts PMOs, as it concerns strategic and regional partners, the logistics of PMOs (sourcing material, bases, and proprietaries), personnel used in PMOs, and financial operations related to PMOs. It is emphasized that PMOs can rarely be undertaken without at least regional partner states, which would be in control of certain aspects of a PMO, that equipment is often sourced from the ‘gray’ arms market for purposes of deniability, that U.S. personnel present in a theater usually remains very small with most personnel being contractors or mercenaries, and that unorthodox funding mechanism and financial obfuscation is used for concealing a U.S. role.
Multivariate Spatial Models

In studies involving spatial data, it is seldom the case that data for only a single process are collected. Typically, there is great expense associated with establishing spatial monitoring networks or other mechanisms of spatial data collection (e.g., satellites) and so measurements are usually made on two or more variables. Even when networks are established for purposes of monitoring a single physical process, there often exist alternative and disjoint networks that were established for monitoring related processes. Finally, it is seldom the case that a single physical process is uninfluenced by other processes, and so it would be inefficient to neglect information from these other processes even when one’s objective centers on modeling or prediction of the single process. Thus, statistical techniques for multivariate spatial data are critical for effective modeling of spatial processes. The primary objectives of this chapter are to review existing multivariate spatial modeling strategies, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and to discuss several atmospheric science problems that require multivariate spatial models. For a more thorough exposure to traditional geostatistical approaches, the reader is referred to Wackernagel [Wac95] and the review by Gotway and Hartford [Got96].
A sEMG Classification Framework with Less Training Data

Supervised machine learning algorithms, such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), have been applied to surface electromyograph (sEMG) to classify user’s muscular states. This paper introduces a novel framework to design a binary sEMG classifier to distinguish if the user performs a repetitive motion with a dumbbell. This framework enables to reduce the number of tasks required for collecting training data as it utilizes prior knowledge of sEMG. The performance of the proposed classifier is validated experimentally. Experimental results show that the proposed framework enables the design of a classifier which distinguishes the user’s state with a 95.7% success rate. This accuracy is comparable to an accuracy of ANN classifier (99.6%), but with less training data. Under the identical training conditions, the accuracy of the proposed framework outperforms the ANN classifier whose accuracy drops to 65.6%.
Head and Neck Reconstruction: History, Epidemiology, and Etiology

The practice of head and neck cancer resections and their reconstruction is a particular art and science. While a mastectomy and abdominal defect can usually be closed primarily, there are unique problems with head and neck cancer reconstruction in that there is usually a smaller opportunity for primary closure. Furthermore, when there is a bony defect, the implications on the speech, mastication, and overall appearances make it an additional challenge. There is a difficult task of not only providing coverage but restoring not only the form but the function of the face, jaw, head, and neck.
Futuristic Methods in Virus Genome Evolution Using the Third-Generation DNA Sequencing and Artificial Neural Networks

The Third-Generation in DNA sequencing has emerged in the last few years, using new technologies that allow the production of long-read sequences. Applications of Third-Generation sequencing enable real-time data production, changing the research paradigms in environmental, and facilitating medical sampling in virology. To take full advantage of the large-scale data generated from long-read sequencing, an innovation in downstream data analysis is necessary. Here, we discuss futuristic methods using machine learning approaches to analyze big genetic data. We discuss the future of twenty-first-century virology by presenting advanced approaches for virus studies using real-time data production and on-site data analysis with Third-Generation Sequencing and machine learning methods. We first introduce the basic concepts in conventional statistical models and methods in virology, building gradually into the necessity of innovating downstream data analysis to meet the advances in sequencing technologies. We argue that artificial neural networks can innovate downstream data analysis, as they can learn from big datasets without model assumptions nor feature specifications, as opposed to current data analysis in bioinformatics. Furthermore, we discuss how futuristic methods using artificial neural networks, combined with long-read sequences can revolutionize virus studies, using specific examples in supervised and unsupervised settings.
Polaronic effects in excitonic correlations in two-dimensional metal-halide perovskites (Conference Presentation)

With strongly bound and stable excitons at room temperature, single-layer, two-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are viable semiconductors for light-emitting quantum optoelectronics applications. In such a technological context, it is imperative to comprehensively explore all the factors—chemical, electronic, and structural—that govern strong multiexciton correlations. Here, by means of two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy, we examine excitonic many-body effects in pure, single-layer (PEA)2PbI4 (PEA= phenylethylam- monium). Using coherent two-dimensional excitation spectroscopy, we determine the binding energy of biexcitons—correlated two-electron, two-hole quasiparticles—to be 44 ± 5meV at room temperature. The extraordinarily high values are similar to those reported in other strongly excitonic two-dimensional materials such as transition-metal dichalcogenides. Importantly, we show that this binding energy increases by ∼25% upon cooling to 5 K. Our work highlights the importance of multiexciton correlations in this class of technologically promising, solution-processablematerials, in spite ofthe strong effects of lattice fluctuations and dynamic disorder. We demonstrate that there are non-negligible contributions to the excitonic correlations that are specific to the lattice structure and its polar fluctuations, both of which are controlled via the chemical nature of the organic countercation. We present a phenomenological yet quantitative framework to simulate excitonic absorption line shapes in single-layer organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites, based on the two-dimensionalWannier formalism. We include four distinct excitonic states separated by 35 ± 5 meV, and additional vibronic progressions. Intriguingly, the associated Huang-Rhys factors and the relevant phonon energies show substantial variation with temperature and the nature of the organic cation. This points to the hybrid nature of the line shape, with a form well described by a Wannier formalism, but with signatures of strong coupling to localized vibrations, and polaronic effects perceived through excitonic correlations. We demonstrate, using high-resolution impulsive stimulated Raman spectroscopy, that the coupling of distinct excitonic resonanes to the lattice is unique, with some excitonic transition displaying lattice reorganization akin to photocarriers. Our work highlights the complexity of excitonic properties in this class of nanostructured materials.
Clinical Importance of Markers of Congestion over Time in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background In patients with heart failure, the physical examination is an important aspect of management. However, the prognostic significance of changes in physical examination markers of congestion (MOC) over time in patients with HFpEF is unclear. Objectives To describe the association of changes in physical examination MOC collected serially over time with outcomes in patients with HFpEF. Methods We analyzed serial physical examination data for 1,644 participants in the Americas cohort of the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist Trial. Multivariable adjusted proportional hazards models determined the association of serial physical examination MOC, including JVP ≥10 cm, edema, or rales, as a time-updated covariate with the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, aborted cardiac death, or heart failure hospitalization. The prevalence and standard error of the physical examination MOC per month over 2 years before this event was additionally calculated. Findings At baseline, 304 patients (18%) had jugular venous pressure ≥10 cm, 1265 (78%) had edema, and 292 (17%) had rales. The probability of having JVP ≥10 cm or rales was relatively unchanged during each month preceding the primary composite endpoint. After multivariable adjustment, each physical examination MOC was independently associated with a higher risk of the primary composite endpoint (HR for JVP ≥10 cm 1.95, 95% CI [1.51-2.51], p Conclusions When assessed over a period of time, each of the physical examination MOC was closely associated with risk. Unlike JVP and rales, the probability of the presence of edema increased prior to the primary composite endpoint. These findings underscore the importance of a careful physical examination in HFpEF.
Volume-preserving mappings between Hermitian symmetric spaces of compact type

Abstract In this paper, we establish the rigidity result for local holomorphic volume preserving maps from an irreducible Hermitian symmetric space of compact type into its Cartesian products.
Supporting an Externally Developed Model of Education in Greenland.

This study investigated the adaptation process of an externally developed model of reform in Greenland's educational system. Under investigation was how reform leaders responded to the needs of the...
Teoría de la Reproducción Social. Elementos fundamentales para un feminismo marxista

Este texto recorre los elementos fundamentales de la Teoria de la Reproduccion Social en tanto apuesta por un feminismo marxista contemporaneo. Comienza por la definicion de que es la reproduccion social bajo el capitalismo y se adentra luego en los debates sobre las relaciones entre produccion y reproduccion, cual es el rol que juega la familia, como pensar la sexualidad y los derechos reproductivos y como pueden ser leidos los procesos de desposesion neoliberal en clave de la reproduccion social. Estos topicos estan desarrollados en dialogo con otras tradiciones de la teoria feminista como el materialismo frances, la interseccionalidad, la apuesta por “los comunes” y el autonomismo.
The Paradigm of Sharing: A Unifying Conceptualization: An Abstract

Sharing economy is now a worldwide phenomenon that describes economic activities to connect interdependent economic actors as “sellers” and “buyers” in the marketplace. Despite the remarkable growth of sharing economy, a review of the academic literature and business press indicates two major gaps: (1) There is a lack of clear conceptualization of the definition and domain of sharing; and (2) there is an absence of a unified typology to explain varied sharing activities and delineate managerial guidelines from their nuanced differences.
Denial of Service in CPU-GPU Heterogeneous Architectures

Unlike the traditional CPU-GPU heterogeneous architecture where CPU and GPU have separate DRAM and memory address space, current heterogeneous CPU-GPU architectures integrate CPU and GPU in the same die and share the same last level cache (LLC), on-chip network and memory. In this paper, we demonstrate that both CPU and GPU applications can maliciously or unintentionally monopolize the shared resource such as LLC and on-chip interconnection, resulting in significant performance loss to each other.
“Now it’s all upper-class parents who are checking out schools”: gentrification as coloniality in the enactment of two-way bilingual education policies

Bilingual education as a whole has been gentrifying, as more privileged students replace Transnational Language Learners (TLLs) in bilingual education spaces and policies (Valdez et al. in Educ Policy 30(6):849–883, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904814556750 ). We argue this is an extension of coloniality (Mignolo in Local histories/global designs: coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2000/2012): as two-way bilingual education (TWBE) policies are enacted, they are shaped by globalizing, neoliberal, and monoglossic discourses that have a history of dispossessing and erasing minoritized peoples and languages. Taking a critical constructivist grounded theory approach, this study brings together three unique data sets from the US Midwest, Southeast, and Texas to question: How does gentrification manifest in TWBE across policy scales and contexts? And how are stakeholders responding to or resisting gentrification and its underlying coloniality? Regardless of the varying state policy and local contexts, each TWBE program in our study experienced gentrification. Specifically, TLLs and their Spanish language(s) were replaced or diminished as TWBE policy enactment intersected with district and state policies, particularly those shaping enrollment, transportation, course scheduling, and teacher and student recruitment. While the analysis focuses on gentrification processes through policy enactment, we also detail spaces of consciousness where stakeholders recognized and resisted them and conclude with a discussion on how coloniality is both manifested and can be challenged in language policy enactment.
Reverberation strength perceived by normal-hearing listeners predictable based on time-varying binaural loudness.

Abstract Previous work has explored novel binaural combinations of reverberation and the resulting perceived reverberation strength (reverberance). The present study examines the perceptual effects of additional binaural combinations of reverberation with the goal of explaining reverberance in terms of basic psychoacoustic principles. Stimuli were generated using virtual space techniques simulating a speech source 3 m to the listener's right in a moderately reverberant environment. Reverberant energy at the ears was varied systematically relative to the natural level for the environment (0-dB gain). The method of magnitude estimation was used to estimate reverberance. Four experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 tested monaural listening conditions for both left and right ears at reverberation gains from -21 dB to 0 dB. Experiment 2 tested a binaural listening condition where only reverberant energy at the ear farther from the source was manipulated (-21 dB to 0 dB). Experiment 3 tested two binaural conditions over a wider range of reverberation gains (-18 dB to +24 dB). In one condition, reverberant energy was manipulated for both ears equally. In the other condition, reverberant energy was manipulated only for the ear nearer the source. In Experiment 4, reverberant tails of the stimuli were removed to test whether listeners were able to use ongoing reverberant information to judge reverberance. The results from all experiments were found to be well predicted by a model of time-varying binaural loudness that focused on “glimpses” in time with relatively high reverberant sound energy and low direct sound energy. These findings suggest that the mechanisms underlying reverberance and loudness may be similar.
Reversible gene silencing through frameshift indels and frameshift scars provide adaptive plasticity for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis can adapt to changing environments by non-heritable mechanisms. Frame-shifting insertions and deletions (indels) may also participate in adaptation through gene disruption, which could be reversed by secondary introduction of a frame-restoring indel. We present ScarTrek, a program that scans genomic data for indels, including those that together disrupt and restore a gene’s reading frame, producing “frame-shift scars” suggestive of reversible gene inactivation. We use ScarTrek to analyze 5977 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates. We show that indel frequency inversely correlates with genomic linguistic complexity and varies with gene-position and gene-essentiality. Using ScarTrek, we detect 74 unique frame-shift scars in 48 genes, with a 3.74% population-level incidence of unique scar events. We find multiple scars in the ESX-1 gene cluster. Six scars show evidence of convergent evolution while the rest shared a common ancestor. Our results suggest that sequential indels are a mechanism for reversible gene silencing and adaptation in M. tuberculosis. Bacterial adaptation through frame-shifting insertions and deletions (indels) could be reversed by secondary introduction of a frame-restoring indel. Here, the authors develop ScarTrek, a program that scans genomic data for different indels, and analyze 5977 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates for indel frequency.
WITHDRAWN: Latest advances in solid-state supercapacitors: From emerging materials to advanced applications

Abstract Solid-state supercapacitors (SSCs) hold great promise for next-generation energy storage applications, particularly portable and wearable electronics, implementable medical devices, Internet of Things (IoT) and smart textiles. This review is intended to present the broad picture of SSC technology by covering various kinds of all-solid-state and flexible solid-state supercapacitors. The review begins with introducing a brief history of the development of supercapacitors and then presents the fundamentals, charge storage mechanisms, and the performance evaluation methods of SSCs. The next chapter provides an overview of the solid-state electrolytes, notably solid polymer electrolytes, inorganic electrolytes, and redox-active solid electrolytes. In this study, a special focus is given to the electrode fabrication methods and some emerging electrode materials, such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), metal nitrides (MNs), MXenes, polyoxometalates (POMs), and black phosphorus. Subsequently, the performance of SSCs with different configurations based on the cell design (i.e., symmetric, asymmetric) and the electrode type (i.e., freestanding, fiber, interdigitated, flexible) is discussed. This review also presents a comprehensive summary of the latest innovations and state-of-the-art applications of SSCs including electrochromic, self-healing, shape memory, thermally chargeable, piezoelectric-, photo-SSCs. The final section highlights the future directions and key technological challenges in the field of SSCs.
Surgical Management of Maxillary Nerve Injuries

SUMMARY Fortunately, debilitating and painful syndromes are less common following maxillary injuries than after mandibular division nerve trauma. The anterior maxillary pathoses that do occur can in many cases be definitively managed microneurosurgically. In particular, patients with measurable anesthesia or hy- poesthesia, with or without pain, can be significantly helped to regain functional sensation. More intractable are the smaller number of patients who have sustained deeper maxillary injuries and now suffer from a persistent midfacial pain pattern suggestive of centralized deafferentation or dysautono- mia. This pattern, which may be linked to the proximity of nerve injury to the trigeminal ganglion and the abundant admixture of somatosensory and autonomic fibers in the maxilla, is poorly defined and in urgent need of study. At the very least the surgeon should approach each case thoroughly and with caution.
Are You Laughing at Them or with Them? Laughter as a Signal of In-Group Affiliation

Despite the wide range of theoretical explanations for human laughter, it is generally agreed to function, at least in part, as a social signal. We tested the hypothesis that laughter serves as a signal of group affiliation. Participants viewed a video clip depicting a confederate partner of unknown group affiliation displaying either a neutral expression, a smile, or laughter in response to a joke told at the expense of a member of the in-group or the out-group. Participants then decided whether to help the confederate in a fictional and incentivized economic game. When viewed in response to a joke told at the expense of the in-group member, participants were less likely to help after viewing the laughter clip in comparison to the neutral and smiling clips. However, when viewed in response to a joke told at the expense of the out-group member, participants were more likely to help after viewing the smiling clip in comparison to the neutral and laughter clips. Taken together, these findings suggest that laughter may serve to signal affiliation, albeit only among out-group members.
Containing of Regular Languages in Non-Regular Timing Diagram Languages is Decidable

Parametric timing constraints are expressed naturally in timing diagram logics. Algorithmic verification of parametrically constrained timing properties is a difficult problem known to be undecidable in most general cases. This paper establishes that a class of parametrically constrained timing properties can be verified algorithmically against finite-state systems; alternatively stated containment by a regular language is shown decidable for a class of language properties (regular and non-regular) expressible in our timing diagram logic.
POLLUTANT BURDENS IN HUMANS: A MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Pollutant burdens in humans are becoming important milestones in our effort to assure that the health of our citizens and the quality of our environment will be protected from the adverse effects attributable to an increasingly urbanized and industrialized society. Human pollutant burdens will find greatest utility as tools for the appraisal of multimedia environmental problems related to metals, pesticides, and synthetic organic compounds.1 By definition, a tissue carries a pollutant burden whenever it contains an environmental residue greater than that needed for optimum growth and development. Each of us has multiple pollutant burdens. Human pollutant burden patterns may serve as indicators of the environmental quality, as reflectors of biological response, as inputs into environmental standards, as channel, markers for research, and as safeguards for pollution control and recycling technology.
The Application of FAS 109 to S Corp Built-In Gains

In this report, the authors discuss the tax accounting issues that arise when an enterprise changes it tax status to an S corporation. In particular, they discuss the adjustments that are made to a former C corporation's deferred tax assets and liabilities to account for built-in gains and losses. In addition, they illustrate the alternative positions corporations have taken as to when to record these adjustments (that is, when has the change in tax status taken place) and offer our own interpretation of paragraph 28 of FAS 109. Finally the authors suggest the tax accounting disclosures that should accompany an election to convert from a C corporation to an S corporation.
Determination of anesthetic molecule environments by infrared spectroscopy. II: Multiple sites for nitrous oxide in proteins, lipids, and brain tissue

Abstract The presence of molecules of the general anesthetic nitrous oxide (N 2 O) in oils, esters, proteins, red cells, cream, lipid vesicles, and brain tissue upon exposure to the gas was observed by infrared spectroscopy. Analysis of the NNO antisymmetric stretch band reveals a distribution of N 2 O molecules among several sites of differing polarity in these solutions and tissues. The sensitivity of the band intensity and frequency to the number and strength of the dipoles in the solvating molecules is demonstrated by the resolution of N 2 O-ester and N 2 O-alkane interactions in acetic acid ethyl ester and oleic acid methyl ester. In all aqueous solutions and in all tissues a population of N 2 O molecules in water is observed. At least two sites of N 2 O-protein interaction are observed in purified hemoglobin A and packed red cells; multiple N 2 O sites may also be present in bovine serum albumin. Two sites of N 2 O-lipid interaction are observed in whipping cream and in an aqueous suspension of phosphatidylcholine vesicles. The sites providing the least polar immediate environment to N 2 O in hemoglobin, cream, and vesicles give similar band frequencies to those found in pure alkane solvents. Infrared spectra of bovine brain tissue, upon exposure to N 2 O, show N 2 O molecules present in water and in two less-polar environments. Analysis of spectra of N 2 O in cerebellum tissue removed from a dog under halothane-N 2 O anesthesia reveals, in addition to N 2 O in water, a single population of N 2 O molecules in an alkane-like environment. Infrared spectroscopy provides a unique means of probing the structure of the environment of N 2 O and should prove useful in correlating anesthetic potency with anesthetic environment under physiological conditions.
Climate Change and the Victim Slot: From Oil to Innocence

People change the climate. Ethnography, however, tends to look past these perpetrators and see only victims. In such accounts, parties vulnerable to climate change suffer, adapt, or do both. To varying degrees, their societies are resilient and may soon make themselves more so. These comparatively cheerful keywords overlook an entire moral field of responsibility, complicity, and culpability. High emitters of carbon dioxide bear the bulk of responsibility for the unfolding catastrophe. How do such people interpret and justify their actions? What ethics and mentalities with respect to the environment are high emitters, their firms, and their governments fabricating? In this article, I address these questions in the context of a society both complicit and vulnerable: the petrostate of Trinidad and Tobago. There, an overlapping set of environmental policymakers and environmentally minded industrialists consider Trinidad—including its oil industry—to be only vulnerable. Their “victim slot” relies on cultural constructions of insular geography, performances in diplomatic fora, and planning rubrics for hazards. In each instance, the slot allows Trinidadian institutions and corporations—including oil firms—to skirt accountability for carbon emissions. Nevertheless, some Trinidadian public figures are beginning to reconsider hydrocarbons in ways both painful and humane.
Approximating optimal state feedback using neural networks

The training and usage of multilayer neural networks on discontinuous (e.g. bang-bang) feedback control problems are discussed. Training sets are created from optimal open loop trajectory information and a heuristic for trimming the base data set is presented. A priori knowledge about solution trajectories is seen to improve the training process. >
Also Sprach Homo mutans

Shrinking the Cat Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes. Sue Hubbell. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2001. 191 pp. $25. ISBN 0-618-04027-7. To provide a background for considering possible benefits and drawbacks of genetic engineering, Hubbell discusses the successes and failures from centuries of selective breeding and tinkering with corn, silkworms, cats, and apples.
A packet dropping mechanism for efficient operation of M/M/1 queues with selfish users ✩

Abstract We consider a fundamental game theoretic problem concerning selfish users contributing packets to an M/M/1 queue. In this game, each user controls its own input rate so as to optimize a desired tradeoff between throughput and delay. We first show that the original game has an inefficient Nash Equilibrium (NE), with a Price of Anarchy (PoA) that scales linearly or worse in the number of users. In order to improve the outcome efficiency, we propose an easily implementable mechanism design whereby the server randomly drops packets with a probability that is a function of the total arrival rate. We show that this results in a modified M/M/1 queueing game that is an ordinal potential game with at least one NE. In particular, for a linear packet dropping function, which is similar to the Random Early Detection (RED) algorithm used in Internet Congestion Control, we prove that there is a unique NE. We also show that the simple best response dynamic converges to this unique equilibrium. Finally, for this scheme, we prove that the social welfare (expressed either as the summation of utilities of all players, or as the summation of the logarithm of utilities of all players) at the equilibrium point can be arbitrarily close to the social welfare at the global optimal point, i.e. the PoA can be made arbitrarily close to 1. We also study the impact of arrival rate estimation error on the PoA through simulations.
Dosimetric impact of density variations in Solid Water 457 water-equivalent slabs

The purpose of this study was to determine the dosimetric impact of density variations observed in water-equivalent solid slabs. Measurements were performed using two 30 cm × 30 cm water-equivalent slabs, one being 4 cm think and the other 5 cm thick. The location and extent of density variations were determined by computed tomography (CT) scans. Additional imaging measurements were made with an amorphous silicon megavoltage portal imaging device and an ultrasound unit. Dosimetric measurements were conducted with a 2D ion chamber array, and a scanned diode in water. Additional measurements and calculations were made of small rectilinear void inhomogeneities formed with water-equivalent slabs, using a 2D ion chamber array and the convolution superposition algorithm. Two general types of density variation features were observed on CT images: 1) regions of many centimeters across, but typically only a few millimeters thick, with electron densities a few percent lower than the bulk material, and 2) cylindrical regions roughly 0.2 cm in diameter and up to 20 cm long with electron densities up to 5% lower than the surrounding material. The density variations were not visible on kilovoltage, megavoltage or ultrasound images. The dosimetric impact of the density variations were not detectable to within 0.1% using the 2D ion chamber array or the scanning photon diode at distances 0.4 cm to 2 cm beyond the features. High-resolution dosimetric calculations using the convolution-superposition algorithm with density corrections enabled on CT-based datasets showed no discernable dosimetric impact. Calculations and measurements on simulated voids place the upper limit on possible dosimetric variations from observed density variations at much less than 0.6%. CT imaging of water-equivalent slabs may reveal density variations which are otherwise unobserved with kV, MV, or ultrasound imaging. No dosimetric impact from these features was measureable with an ion chamber array or scanned photon diode. Consequently, they were determined to be acceptable for all clinical use.
A synthesis of the γ-secretase inhibitor BMS-708163

Abstract A concise, convergent racemic synthesis of BMS-708163 is reported. Two fragments consisting of N-4-chlorophenylsulfonyl-3,3,3-trifluorpropylglycine and a 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivative of 2-fluorobenzyl alcohol were prepared in separate pots and then coupled together via a Mitsunobu reaction. Since a convenient chiral synthesis of optically pure ( d )-3,3,3-trifluoropropyl glycine methyl ester was developed using Schollkopf reagent alkylation, this methodology can also be adopted for the enantioselective synthesis of BMS-708163.
Empirical evaluation of a model of global psychophysical judgments: III. A form for the psychophysical function and intensity filtering

Abstract In part I, a concept of ratio estimation is defined and it is shown that if such estimates depend only upon the physical ratio of the signal to the reference signal, the psychophysical function must be a power function. Assuming the same exponents for each component, an invariance condition, equivalent to a sum of power functions, is studied empirically for binaural loudness. It is fully or partially sustained for 19 of 22 respondents. Since failures may be attributable to different exponents in the two ears, the ratio of the two exponents is estimated but that fails to explain the failures. Other possible explanations are suggested. In part II, an intensity filtering model is presented, accounting for the phenomenon where monaural loudness matches show a bias depending on the matching ear. We show (a) that the existence of such a bias does not alter the prior experimental results; and (b) assuming the power function, that five respondents attenuate the opposite ear and two enhance it.
Functional partnership of the copper export machinery and glutathione balance in human cells.

Cells use the redox properties of copper in numerous physiologic processes, including antioxidant defense, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, and angiogenesis. Copper delivery to the secretory pathway is an essential step in copper utilization and homeostatic maintenance. We demonstrate that the glutathione/glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG) pair controls the copper transport pathway by regulating the redox state of a copper chaperone Atox1. GSSG oxidizes copper-coordinating cysteines of Atox1 with the formation of an intramolecular disulfide. GSH alone is sufficient to reduce the disulfide, restoring the ability of Atox1 to bind copper; glutaredoxin 1 facilitates this reaction when GSH is low. In cells, high GSH both reduces Atox1 and is required for cell viability in the absence of Atox1. In turn, Atox1, which has a redox potential similar to that of glutaredoxin, becomes essential for cell survival when GSH levels decrease. Atox1+/+ cells resist short term glutathione depletion, whereas Atox1−/− cells under the same conditions are not viable. We conclude that GSH balance and copper homeostasis are functionally linked and jointly maintain conditions for copper secretion and cell proliferation.
Hysterectomy for benign disease

Hysterectomy is the second most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States. The indications for hysterectomy have changed little over the last decade. In spite of a large number of potential alternatives to hysterectomy for the management of benign disease, hysterectomy rates have remained relatively stable. The informed consent process for hysterectomy requires discussion of several important considerations, such as the risks and benefits of prophylactic oophorectomy and the need for removal of the cervix. The preponderance of studies on hysterectomy outcomes has shown improvement of pelvic symptoms and quality of life. Attention to perioperative details such as prophylactic antibiotics and prevention of venous thromboembolic events are important to assure a safe outcome. Laparotomy is still the most common route for hysterectomy. Large prospective controlled trials and a Cochrane review have clearly shown that vaginal hysterectomy is the surgical route of choice for hysterectomy. In our experience, previous cesarean delivery, large uterus, or request for removing the ovaries are not valid reasons for excluding vaginal hysterectomy as an approach.
A systematic study of the oxygen K edge in the cubic and less common monoclinic phases of the rare earth oxides (Ho, Er, Tm, Yb) by electron energy loss spectroscopy

Transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) were used to distinguish structural details for the cubic and uncommon monoclinic crystal phases of heavy metal rare earth oxide nanoparticles synthesized by a combustion process. Specifically, we systematically examined the EELS oxygen K edge for Ho, Tm, Er, and Yb sesquioxides in both phases. This work presents, to our knowledge, the first EELS study of the monoclinic phase in these materials and the first systematic comparative study between the monoclinic and cubic phases across a range of rare earth sesquioxides. For both phases, we observed the usual double-peak structure of the oxygen K edge typically seen for oxygen atoms tetrahedrally surrounded by metal atoms, but we found the details of the energy loss near-edge structure to differ substantially between the two phases. Our results indicate a greater peak separation for the cubic than for the monoclinic phase. Furthermore, a trend of increasing peak separation with increasing atomic number was also noted for both phases in the series of rare earth oxide nanoparticles. Our results show that the fine structure in EELS can be utilized to determine differences on the nanoscale between the common cubic structure and the less common monoclinic structure.
Trace metal concentrations in the ocean by atomic absorption spectroscopy

Abstract Concentrations of the trace metals Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn in the ocean have been measured by the new analytical technique of atomic absorption spectroscopy. The method is probably the most sensitive and simplest available. Concentrations of a part in ten billion and less can be measured in a few seconds using less than a cubic centimetre of ocean water directly as it comes from the sampling mechanism. Results are reported from a number of positions and depths in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The following concentration ranges were observed in μg-atom/l. units: Cu 0.018–0.035; Fe 0.10-0.13; Mn 0.054–0.080; Ni 0.0022-0.0063; Zn 0.0091-0.011.
Dietary ortho phenols that induce glutathione S-transferase and increase the resistance of cells to hydrogen peroxide are potential cancer chemopreventives that act by two mechanisms: the alleviation of oxidative stress and the detoxification of mutagenic xenobiotics

Oxidative stress is implicated in the etiology of cancer, hence compounds that alleviate oxidative stress by inducing enzymes that defend against free radical damage might be useful as cancer chemopreventives. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) has been suggested to be a candidate for a critical enzyme in protecting cells against free radical damage, in part, because its level of induction correlates with protection of the cell line IMR-32 against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. The present study identified dietary ortho phenols that both induce GST and protect the cell line IMR-32 against hydrogen peroxide-caused oxidative stress. The ortho phenol (o-phenol) inducers were better protectors against oxidative stress than a number of GST inducers that did not bear phenolic groups, possibly because the phenol residues of the ortho phenols allowed their action as antioxidants as well as inducers of GST. GST has previously been thought to protect cells against cancer by detoxifying mutagenic xenobiotics. The present results suggest that ortho phenol inducers of GST might be useful as cancer chemopreventives that act by two independent mechanisms, the alleviation of oxidative stress and the detoxification of mutagenic xenobiotics.
Inhibition of diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase activity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by isonicotinic acid hydrazide.

SummaryDAP decarboxylase activity has been detected in cell-free extracts of Myco. tuberculosis. Enzyme activity was inhibited by INH and this inhibition could be overcome by pyridoxal phosphate.
Auto-constructing dataflow models from system execution traces

This paper presents a method and tool named the Dataflow Model Auto-Constructor (DMAC). DMAC uses frequent-sequence mining and Dempster-Shafer theory to mine a system execution trace and reconstruct its corresponding dataflow model. Distributed system testers then use the resultant dataflow model to analyze performance properties (e.g., end-to-end response time, throughput, and service time) captured in the system execution trace. Results from applying DMAC to different case studies show that DMAC can reconstruct dataflow models that cover at most 94% of the events in the original system execution trace. Likewise, more than 2 sources of evidence are needed to reconstruct dataflow models for systems with multiple execution contexts.
Mapping of international protein index to Affymetrix probe-set identifier for correlating genomics and proteomics expression profiles in multiple myeloma

Affymetrix microarrays are widely used in genomics studies. Likewise, International Protein Index (IPI) hosted at European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and UniProtKB protein databases are commonly used in proteomics studies, more so in mass spectrometry based proteomics. However, a complete mapping from these protein identifiers (Ids) to Affymetrix Ids is currently unavailable resulting in loss of critical information while inter-converting between proteomics and genomics data-sets. This in turn has the potential to result in inaccurate downstream data analysis. Our objective is to maximize the mapping of IPI protein Ids to their corresponding Affymetrix probe set Id(s) to enable correlation of proteomics and genomics expression datasets. Thus, we have created mapping tables to link IPI Ids to their corresponding Affymetrix probe-set identifier(s). These mappings were obtained by parsing publicly available standard mapping annotations for IPI, Affymetrix, and Ensembl in order to establish a link between IPI and Affymetrix Id(s) using all possible identifier types that are common to both respective databases. A web-based tool, ‘IPI2Affy’ was created to enable querying and retrieval of these Id conversions (http://binfapp.host.ualr.edu/∼shweta/ipi2affy.html).
Complex decapod burrows and ecological relationships in modern and Pleistocene intertidal carbonate environments, San Salvador Island, Bahamas

Abstract Burrowing by thalassinidean shrimp in modern tropical, shallow-subtidal to intertidal carbonate environments is widespread and a powerful agent of bioturbation, particularly within sandy substrates. Deep and intense burrowing by callianassids commonly occurs along the intertidal margins of hypersaline lagoons throughout the Bahamas, such as Pigeon Creek on San Salvador Island, where the sediments of extensive sand flats are thoroughly bioturbated by Glypturus acanthochirus . In addition to dominating the deep-tier infauna, G. acanthochirus is a true ecosystem engineer, and its prodigious burrowing activity results in a highly mounded topography. On sand flats, individual sediment cones commonly coalesce with time to form large composite mounds with surfaces stabilized by the development of microbial mats. This unique, biogenetically produced topography sets the stage for colonization by shallow-tier burrowers, particularly the upogebiid shrimp Upogebia vasquezi and several species of fiddler crabs. Burrow systems of U. vasquezi are distinctive and complex. They typically consist of a pair of U-shaped burrows in close proximity or criss-crossing, with knobs or short tunnels at their bases. The entire U-burrow pair is lined by a thick, externally pelleted wall. Inside burrow diameters range from 0.2 to 1 cm, and burrow depths are 10–15 cm, in contrast to the much deeper callianassid burrows. These complex upogebiid burrows also occur as trace fossils in late Pleistocene lagoon-margin facies of the Grotto Beach Formation on San Salvador. Initially reported as fragmentary burrow fills, whole burrow systems virtually identical to the modern upogebiid burrows recently have been found at several localities. These fossil burrows are most abundant in beds lying immediately below a terra rossa paleosol that marks the late Pleistocene–Holocene stratigraphic boundary, and the beds likely were deposited with sea-level stillstand and regression associated with the onset of Wisconsinan glaciation. With their high potential for preservation, these complex upogebiid trace fossils may prove useful as both paleoenvironmental and sea-level position indicators in the study of Quaternary carbonate sequences throughout the Bahamas and other geologically similar regions.
Decorous bodies and disordered passions: representations of emotion among the Classic Maya

The Classic Maya (AD 250-850) represented emotion via the human body in stylized ways that reflected their categories of 'affect', the subjective states attributed by one person to another through empathy. Such displays, although rare, served as negative contrasts to a more ordered, restrained and controlled state that operated as an ideal for elite comportment. Control equated to morally appropriate behavior, the lack of it to non-human, supernatural or pre-human conduct. In anthropological terms, affect was 'hypercognated'—elaborated and explicitly highlighted—through both its presence and its absence in Maya images. The inclination of the Classic Maya to display overt affect increased dramatically by the seventh century AD, and was facilitated by the representational conventions of the time, which emphasized close correspondences to a perceived, external world.
The Determination of the Co‐ordinates of a Meteor by Orthographic Projection*

A graphical method of solving the PZM or astronomical triangle is presented —one adapted particularly to observations of meteors.
Reciprocity conditions for a quasilinear uniform barrier

We consider the steady flow of $K$ interacting currents through a uniform barrier composed of material satisfying a linear flow equation ${J}_{m}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{mn}}(\ensuremath{\beta})(\frac{d{\ensuremath{\beta}}_{n}}{\mathrm{dx}})$. ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{k}$ is the affinity associated with the current ${J}_{k}$. Using nonlinear reciprocity relations previously derived from microscopic time reversibility we derive a set of nonlinear constraints involving the derivatives of the conductivity matrix ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}$ with respect to the affinities ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1},\dots{},{\ensuremath{\beta}}_{K}$. The constraints are verified with the use of a model of ideal-gas flow through a porous plug.
Effects of REM time on what is recalled.

To test the effects of RIM sleep on the amount and kind of material recalled after a 7-hr interval, the groups of 10 student subjects were tested fur immediate and delayed recall of 70 adjectives before and after varying amounts of REM time. There were no significant between group differences in total amount of delayed recall but there were differences in the number of new words retrieved. Following a KIM present condition subjects recalled more new words than following a KKM absent condition. The properties associated with words recalled later differed following different conditions. The new words available to recall only after REM absent sleep were self affirming items. Those which became available following REM present sleep were items of personal discomfort. The nature of the intervening psychophysiological states appeared to affect the kind of material recalled.
Silicon Photonics: A New Paradigm in Multiplexed Biosensing

Silicon photonic technologies are poised to revolutionize clinical diagnostics. This talk describes the development of silicon photonic biosensors as a rapid, multiplexed, and cost-effective platform to detect disease-related biomarkers for applications in personalized medical diagnostics.
The AAPM/RSNA Physics Tutorial for Residents: Physics of SPECT

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) provides three-dimensional (3D) image information about the distribution of a radiopharmaceutical injected into the patient for diagnostic purposes. By combining conventional scintigraphic and computed tomographic methods, SPECT images present 3D functional information about the patient in more detail and higher contrast than found in planar scintigrams. A typical SPECT system consists of one or more scintillation cameras that acquire multiple two-dimensional planar projection images around the patient. The projection data are reconstructed into 3D images. The collimator of the scintillation camera has substantial effects on the spatial resolution and detection efficiency of the SPECT system. Physical factors such as photon attenuation and scatter affect the quantitative accuracy and quality of SPECT images, and various methods have been developed to compensate for these image-degrading effects. In myocardial SPECT, an important application of SPECT, rece...