cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stationary phase Monte Carlo path integral analysis of electromagnetic wave propagation in graded-index waveguides

The stationary phase Monte Carlo (SPMC) path integral method is applied to analyze electromagnetic wave propagation in transversely inhomogeneous media. A filter, which gives a stable result with respect to various Monte Carlo parameters and thus overcomes the difficulties previously associated with the multi-dimensional SPMC technique, is constructed to evaluate the propagation field. Numerical results are presented for a graded-index waveguide, and are in good agreement with those obtained by another independent path integral approach, viz., the split-step method. >
John Stuart Mill's Asian Parable

While certainly not the first to portray Asian civilizations as stagnant societies, John Stuart Mill was quite adept at using the concept of ''Oriental despotism'' to warn the West that it might suffer a similar fate if its distinguishing features of individuality and political pluralism fell into a state of neglect. Such a state was imminent, Mill believed, because the tyranny of majority opinion had already begun to hold sway in most Western cultures, and centralized bureaucratic socialism appeared ready to take root in some of them. Also problematic was the fact that the democratic franchise had spread too far and too fast in his lifetime, as had a single-minded focus on material gain. Taken together, Mill feared, these last two features threatened to trap the West in a leaderless age of transition for decades and, perhaps, generations. In retrospect, however, it appears that they helped inaugurate a new ''natural'' state, in Mill's parlance, organized around the needs of the industrial economy, that has captivated the liberal project of human improvement central to his social and political thought.
Kane’s Libertarian Theory and Luck: A Reply to Griffith

In a recent article, Meghan Griffith (American Philosophical Quarterly 47:43–56, 2010) argues that agent-causal libertarian theories are immune to the problem of luck but that event-causal theories succumb to this problem. In making her case against the event-causal theories, she focuses on Robert Kane’s event-causal theory. I provide a brief account of the central elements of Kane’s theory and I explain Griffith’s critique of it. I argue that Griffith’s criticisms fail. In doing so, I note some important respects in which Kane’s view is unclear and I suggest a plausible way of reading Kane that makes his theory immune to Griffith’s objections.
RZWQM simulated effects of crop rotation, tillage, and controlled drainage on crop yield and nitrate-N loss in drain flow

Accurate simulation of agricultural management effects on N loss in tile drainage is vitally important for understanding hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. An experimental study was initiated in 1978 at Nashua, Iowa of the USA to study long-term effects of tillage, crop rotation, and N management practices on subsurface drainage flow and associated N losses. The Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) was applied to evaluate various management effects in several previous studies. In this study, the simulation results were further analyzed for management effects (tillage, crop rotation, and controlled drainage) on crop production and N loss in drain flow. RZWQM simulated the observed increase in N concentration in drain flow with increasing tillage intensity from NT (no-till) to RT (ridge till) to CP (chisel plow) and to MP (moldboard plow). It also adequately simulated tillage effects on yearly drain flow and yearly N loss in drain flow. However, the model failed to simulate lower corn and soybean yields under NT than under MP, CP, and RT. On the other hand, RZWQM adequately simulated lower yearly drain flow and lower flow-weighted N concentration in drain flow under CS (corn–soybean) and SC (soybean–corn) than under CC (continuous corn). The model adequately simulated higher corn yield under CS and SC than under CC. Applying the newly suggested N management practice for the Midwest of controlled drainage, the model simulated a 30% reduction in drain flow and a 29% decrease in N losses in drain flow under controlled drainage (CD) compared to free drainage (FD). With most of the simulations in reasonably close agreement with observations, we concluded that RZWQM is a promising tool for quantifying the relative effects of tillage, crop rotation, and controlled drainage on N loss in drainage flow. Further improvements on simulated management effects on crop yield and N mineralization are needed, however. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Learning in boltzmann trees

We introduce a large family of Boltzmann machines that can be trained by standard gradient descent. The networks can have one or more layers of hidden units, with tree-like connectivity. We show how to implement the supervised learning algorithm for these Boltzmann machines exactly, without resort to simulated or mean-field annealing. The stochastic averages that yield the gradients in weight space are computed by the technique of decimation. We present results on the problems of N-bit parity and the detection of hidden symmetries.
Hexagonal boron nitride thin film thermal neutron detectors with high energy resolution of the reaction products

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is highly promising for solid-state thermal neutron detector applications due to its many outstanding physical properties, especially its very large thermal neutron capture cross- section (� 3840 barns for 10 B), which is several orders of magnitude larger than those of most other isotopes. The focus of the present work is to carry out studies on h-BN thin film and detector properties to lay the foundation for the development of a direct-conversion solid-state thermal neutron detector with high sensitivity. The measured carrier mobility-lifetime (μτ) product of h-BN thin films grown on sapphire substrates is 2.83 � 10 � 7 cm 2 /V for electrons and holes, which is comparable to the value of about 10 � 7 cm 2 /V for GaN thin films grown on sapphire. Detectors based on h-BN thin films were fabricated and the nuclear reaction product pulse height spectra were measured. Under a bias of 20 V, very narrow individual peaks corresponding to the reaction product energies of α and Li particles as well as the sum peaks have been clearly resolved in the pulse height spectrum for the first time by a B-based direct-conversion semiconductor neutron detector. Our results indicate that h-BN thin film detectors possess unique advantages including small size, low weight, portability, low voltage operation and high energy resolution of specific reaction products.
Continuing Trends in the Prevalence of Right-Sided Lesions Among Colorectal Carcinomas

• The shift of colorectal carcinoma location toward the proximal colon has been reported. This study documents that this statistically significant trend has continued through 1992. An increase in transverse and descending colon cancers is now apparent also. Only 59% of all large-bowel cancers occurred distal to the descending colon between 1978 and 1992. Both right-sided and distal large-bowel cancers have significantly decreased in size, yet the incidence and frequency of lymph node metastases have not changed over a 65-year interval (from 1928 to 1992). This constant proportion of lymph node metastases may suggest distinct biological subsets of cancers (lymph node avid vs lymph node avoidance). The progression from small size with fewer metastases to large size with more lymph node metastases occurs only in some of the smallest distal colorectal cancers. ( Arch Surg . 1993;128:505-509)
Eradication of pre-established lymphoma using herpes simplex virus amplicon vectors.

Herpes simplex virus amplicon vectors expressing RANTES (HSVrantes) and the T-cell costimulatory ligand B7.1 (HSVB7.1) were studied for their ability to elicit a tumor-specific T-cell response in a murine lymphoma model. HSVB7.1- and HSVrantes-transduced EL4 cells expressed high levels of B7.1 and RANTES as analyzed by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Inoculation of ex vivo HSVB7.1 transduced cells in syngeneic mice resulted in regression of both transduced cells and nontransduced cells inoculated contralaterally. Direct intratumoral injection of HSVB7.1 and/or HSVrantes alone or in combination into established EL4 tumors led to complete tumor regression in injected tumors as well as in nontransduced contralaterally implanted tumor, whereas control tumors or tumors injected with HSVlac expressing β-galactosidase did not regress. Maximal protection was achieved with combined injection of HSVB7.1 and HSVrantes; mice showing tumor regression were resistant to rechallenge with parental EL4 cells, and tumor cell-specific cytolytic T-cell activity was observed in mice demonstrating regression. HSV amplicon-mediated delivery of immune effector molecules may represent a useful strategy for immunotherapy in the setting of pre-existing tumor.
Brain Injury in Preterm Infants: Pathogenesis and Nursing Implications

Abstract Preterm infants are at higher risk for neurological alterations, with this risk increasing with decreasing gestational age due to both developmental and destructive elements. This article provides an overview of brain development and vulnerabilities in the preterm infant and examines the pathogenesis of three areas of brain injury seen in preterm infants: periventricular leukomalacia, germinal matrix hemorrhage/intraventricular hemorrhage, and cerebellar injury). Implications for nursing care of infants at risk for these disorders are discussed.
Highway Bridge Floors: A Symposium: Design of I-Beam Bridges

Recommendations are presented herein for the design of the slab and the beams of I-beam highway bridges. Con sideration is given to simple and continuous spans, to right and skew bridges, and to br...
A Review of Health and Safety Leadership and Managerial Practices on Modern Dairy Farms

As modern dairy operations around the world expand, farmers are increasingly reliant on greater automation and larger numbers of hired labor to milk cows and perform other essential farm tasks. Dairy farming is among the most dangerous occupations, with high rates of injury, illness, and employee turnover. Lower education levels, illiteracy, and limited language proficiency increase the possibility of injury or death associated with higher risk occupations such as dairy. Sustaining a healthy, productive workforce is a critical component of risk management; however, many owners and managers have not received formal training in employee management or occupational health and safety. Optimal dairy farming management should address milk production that is sustainable and responsible from the animal welfare, social, economic, and environmental perspectives. Each of these aspects is interdependent with each other and with a sustainable, healthy, productive workforce. Very few studies address the effectiveness of risk management in the dairy industry. Studies suggest that labor management practices are a potential competitive advantage for dairy farms, but the connection with efficiency, productivity, and profitability has not been clearly demonstrated. Transformational leadership has been associated with improved safety climate and reduced incidence of injury, whereas passive leadership styles have opposite effects. There is a need to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of safety-specific transformational leadership among dairy owners and managers. A systematic approach to risk management should address worker health and safety as an integral component of production, food safety, and animal welfare. A successful program must address the cultural and linguistic barriers associated with immigrant workers.
Steady IR Methodology for Leading Edge Impingement Measurements

A steady-state IR measurement is described and demonstrated for a leading edge crossover impingement configuration. Thin-walled leading edge models are used, with a constant heat flux boundary condition generated. This approach allows for rapid and low-cost hardware manufacture while simultaneously providing improved measurement quality. Test time is heavily reduced relative to traditional liquid crystal tests, and data processing is substantially simplified from transient methodologies. The thin walls minimize the impact of lateral conduction and simplify the conduction corrections. The methodology is demonstrated on a test for a blade-relevant leading edge impingement geometry, with a detailed uncertainty analysis provided.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Genomic instability driven by the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) oncoprotein, Tax

The importance of maintaining genomic stability is evidenced by the fact that transformed cells often contain a variety of chromosomal abnormalities such as euploidy, translocations, and inversions. Gene amplification is a well-characterized hallmark of genomic instability thought to result from recombination events following the formation of double-strand, chromosomal breaks. Therefore, gene amplification frequency serves as an indicator of genomic stability. The PALA assay is designed to measure directly the frequency with which a specific gene, CAD, is amplified within a cell's genome. We have used the PALA assay to analyse the effects of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) oncoprotein, Tax, on genomic amplification. We demonstrate that Tax-expressing cells are five-times more likely to undergo gene amplification than control cells. Additionally, we show that Tax alters the ability of cells to undergo the typical PALA-mediated G(1) phase cell cycle arrest, thereby allowing cells to replicate DNA in the absence of appropriate nucleotide pools. This effect is likely the mechanism by which Tax induces gene amplification. These data suggest that HTLV-I Tax alters the genomic stability of cells, an effect that may play an important role in Tax-mediated, HTLV-I associated cellular transformation.
Choice Set Generation for Modeling Scenic Route Choice Behavior with Geographic Information Systems

Finding a scenic route between two locations is a common trip-planning task, in particular for tourists and recreational travelers. For the automated computation of a scenic route in a trip-planning system to function, it is necessary to understand which attributes of a route and its surroundings are associated with attractive scenery. One way to find this information is with a route choice model framework, which requires a choice set of realistic paths for traveling a scenic route. This paper proposes a constrained enumeration type algorithm for computing scenic alternatives with a branch-and-bound approach and a labeling algorithm in combination with link elimination to generate a scenic route choice set. These algorithms use volunteered geographic information—shared, geotagged photos (photos to which geographical identification metadata have been added) from Panoramio—to generate path alternatives. The results show that the proposed branch-and-bound algorithm replicated observe travel behavior better t...
Processing of AtBAG6 triggers autophagy and fungal resistance

ABSTRACTThe Bcl-2–associated athanogene (BAG) family is an evolutionarily conserved, multifunctional group of cytoprotective co-chaperones. Using structural bioinformatic approaches we identified 7 homologs of the Arabidopsis BAG family. Evaluating knockouts in Arabidopsis of individual BAG family members, we noted that Arabidopsis BAG6 (AtBAG6) knockout lines exhibited a pronounced enhancement of susceptibility to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Moreover, we identified a single predicted caspase-1 site that was cleaved by an aspartyl protease (AtAPCB1). Finally, we showed AtBAG6 forms a complex with AtAPCB1 via coupling to a C2 GRAM domain protein (AtBAGP1). This complex and its activation is necessary for triggering pathogen mediated autophagic cell death and host resistance.
Research on main vector in urban area of Yichang city

Objective To investigate the population and density of main vector in urban area of Yichang city.Methods The rat density was monitored by night traps,mosquito density by the light traps,fly density by cage traps and cockroach density by the glue traps.Results Major rat species were Rattus norvegicus(67.44%) and Mus musculus(27.91%),major mosquito species were Culex pipens quinquefasciatus(40.78%),Armigeres subalbatus(25.22%)and Aedes albopictus(18.07%),major fly species were Musca domestica(39.66%),Lucilia sericata(15.76%) and Aldrichina grahami(13.55%),major cockroach species were Blattella germanica(59.17%) and Periplaneta americana(25.00%).The density of main vector was rather higher from May to September.Conclusion It is necessary to take scientific method for controlling vector according to different season and environment.
Effect of the Incidence of Children Anaphylactic Disease on Purchasing and Inventory of Drugs in Shenzhen

Objective:Throughout analysis of the seasonal fluctuations of children common anaphylactic disease in Shenzhen area and its impact on drug purchasing and inventory,to improve the hospital management of drug purchasing and inventory.Methods:Using ratio moving average method(CensusⅡmethod)to calculate the person-time of children common anaphylactic diseases from December 2005 to November 2009.The relation between the incidence and drug requirement was found out by analyzing drug statistics of outpatient prescriptions.Results:During the period,the most used drugs were loratadine tablets,cetirizine hydrochloride drops,budesonide suspension for inhalation,sodium cromoglicate eye drops and calamine lotion,among which the first three drugs reached the usage peak in December,while the latter two drugs reached in October.This was coincident with the peak of seasonal incidence of those diseases,respectively.Conclusions:The application amount of drugs for common allergic diseases fluctuates with season change,and is coincident with the disease incidence time.Understanding the basic incidence principle of common allergic diseases can help the hospital set up reasonable annual schedule for drug purchasing and inventory.
Excavations at Betatakin and Keet Seel

ABSTRACTRecent excavations in the Middens at Beta takin and Keet Seel, together with material excavated at Keet Seel in 1934, complement recent tree-ring analysis of these two villages. Ceramics from Betatakin comprise a typical Tsegi Phase profile, as expected from the post-A.D. 1260 tree-ring dates. Pottery from the Keet Seel midden indicates three periods of occupation: 1) a Pueblo I occupation dating from approximately A.D. 950 to A.D. 1050; 2) a Pueblo II occupation from approximately A.D. 1050 to A.D. 1150; and 3) the standing village of Keet Seel, dating from A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1290. Stratified deposits in the Keet Seel midden are tentatively correlated with the development of the 13th century village. Rim form attributes suggest innovations during this period which may be due to immigration into the village. Rim forms, gray ware decoration and sandal types suggest cultural separation between the two villages; it is suggested that this separation relates to differences in regional affiliation, commu...
Numerical modeling of subsurface release and fate of benzene and toluene in coastal aquifers subjected to tides

Abstract A numerical study was undertaken to investigate subsurface release and fate of benzene and toluene in a tidally influenced beach. The simulations were conducted by using a numerical model BIOMARUN, which coupled a multi-Monod kinetic model BIOB to a density-dependent variably saturated groundwater flow model MARUN. The fate and transport of the contaminant plume were characterized by computing its centroid trajectory, spreading area and percentage of biodegradation in beach saturated and unsaturated zone, respectively. Key factors likely affecting this process were investigated, including tide amplitude, capillarity and hydraulic conductivity. It was found that aerobic biodegradation was the major fate of the contaminant plume in the beach. Tidal action twisted the centroid of the contaminant plume during its migration in the beach, which increased the residence time of the plume in the beach. High tidal range significantly altered the spatial distribution of the contaminant biodegradation in the beach. In contrast, the capillary fringe had impacts on the percentage of benzene biodegraded in the saturated and unsaturated zone of the beach. The increase in capillary fringe enhanced the percentage of the contaminant biodegraded in the unsaturated zone, up to 40%, which is comparable to that in the saturated zone. Hydraulic conductivity seemed to have large impacts on the biodegradation rate of the contaminant in the beach. Higher hydraulic conductivity induced faster contaminant biodegradation in the beach.
Recent advances in acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Reactivators: an update on the patent literature (2012-2015).

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the major enzyme that hydrolyzes acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter for synaptic transmission, into acetic acid and choline. Mild inhibition of AChE has been shown to have therapeutic relevance in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), myasthenia gravis, and glaucoma among others. In contrast, strong inhibition of AChE can lead to cholinergic poisoning. To combat this, AChE reactivators have to be developed to remove the offending AChE inhibitor, restoring acetylcholine levels to normal.Areas covered: This article covers recent advances in the development of acetylcholinesterase modulators, including both inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase for the efforts in development of new chemical entities for treatment of AD, as well as re-activators for resurrection of organophosphate bound acetylcholinesterase.Expert opinion: Over the past three years, research efforts have continued to identify novel small molecules as AChE inhibitors for both CNS and peripheral diseases...
Anesthesia for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) is the most common cardiac operation performed in adults. It has a very broad clinical scope, from elective single vessel CABG in a stable patient, to a highly complex multi-vessel operation in a patient in cardiogenic shock. Patients being considered for CABG need to have an assessment of their operative risk, undergo appropriate investigations and discuss their surgical plan and perioperative management with both cardiac surgeons and anesthesiologists. For the cardiac anesthesiologist, appreciating the relevance of coronary anatomy on angiography, the echocardiographic examination of the heart, as well as understanding the conduct of CABG surgery is are all essential skills. Evidence-based practice, blood use and conservation, cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioprotection, specialized monitoring devices and many other areas of modern critical care medicine are commonly encountered. Providing safe anesthesia for CABG requires a comprehensive knowledge of cardiac physiology and pharmacology. Increasingly, competency in the safe performance and interpretation of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography is also required. Nontechnical skills are essential, including an awareness of what is happening at specific stages of the operation, a high level of vigilance and effective communication with the surgical and perfusion teams. Although undertaken in a consistent manner that may appear systematic and routine, the complexities of CABG surgery and the opportunity to work within a highly skilled and cohesive team ensures providing anesthesia for CABG remains a rewarding and intellectually stimulating experience.
Model Predictive Real-Time Monitoring of Linear Systems

The predictive monitoring problem asks whether a deployed system is likely to fail over the next T seconds under some environmental conditions. This problem is of the utmost importance for cyber-physical systems, and has inspired real-time architectures capable of adapting to such failures upon forewarning. In this paper, we present a linear model-predictive scheme for the real-time monitoring of linear systems governed by time-triggered controllers and time-varying disturbances. The scheme uses a combination of offline (advance) and online computations to decide if a given plant model has entered a state from which no matter what control is applied, the disturbance has a strategy to drive the system to an unsafe region. Our approach is independent of the control strategy used: this allows us to deal with plants that are controlled using model-predictive control techniques or even opaque machine-learning based control algorithms that are hard to reason with using existing reachable set estimation algorithms. Our online computation reuses the symbolic reachable sets computed offline. The real-time monitor instantiates the reachable set with a concrete state estimate, and repeatedly performs emptiness checks with respect to a safety property. We classify the various alarms raised by our approach in terms of what they imply about the system as a whole. We implement our real-time monitoring approach over numerous linear system benchmarks and show that the computation can be performed rapidly in practice. Furthermore, we also examine the alarms reported by our approach and show how some of the alarms can be used to improve the controller.
Human rights and basic needs: Jimmy Carter’s North-South dialogue, 1977–81

AbstractThis paper reinterprets Jimmy Carter’s human rights policy from the perspective of North–South economic relations. It finds that the Carter Administration used the social and economic right...
The location discrimination reversal task in mice is sensitive to deficits in performance caused by aging, pharmacological and other challenges:

Deficits in hippocampal-mediated pattern separation are one aspect of cognitive function affected in schizophrenia (SZ) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To develop novel therapies, it is beneficial to ...
Multiparametric slice culture platform for the investigation of human cardiac tissue physiology.

Abstract Human cardiac slices have emerged as a promising model of the human heart for scientific research and drug testing. Retaining the normal tissue architecture, a multi-cell type environment, and the native extracellular matrix, human cardiac slices faithfully replicate organ-level adult cardiac physiology. Previously, we demonstrated that human cardiac tissue slices cultured for 24 h maintained normal electrophysiology. In this project, we further optimized the organotypic culture condition to maintain normal electrophysiology of the human cardiac slices for 4 days. The prolonged culture of human cardiac tissue slices demonstrated here enables the study of chronic drug effects, gene therapies, and gene editing. To achieve greater control of the culture environment, we have also developed an automated, self-contained heart-on-a-chip system. The culture system supports media circulation, oxygenation, temperature control, electrical stimulation, and static mechanical loading. The culture parameters can be individually adjusted to establish the optimal culture condition to achieve long-term culture and to minimize tissue dedifferentiation. The development of the heart-on-a-chip technology presented here further encourages the use of organotypic human cardiac slices as a platform for pre-clinical drug testing and research in human cardiac physiology.
Pharmionics in dermatology: a review of topical medication adherence.

The objective of this article was to review patient adherence to topical medications and its relationship to health outcomes in dermatologic disease. To this end, MEDLINE searches from January 1966 through June 2006 and EMBASE searches from January 1974 through June 2006 were conducted. Relevant human efficacy studies, including randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and case-control studies, were selected on the basis of the key words ‘compliance,’ ‘adherence,’ ‘pharmionics,’ ‘topical,’ ‘medication,’ or ‘dermatology.’ Studies were included and reviewed on the basis of their experimental design, controls, and statistical analysis. Analysis revealed that suboptimal adherence to topical medications is a common cause of minimal response or lack of response to drugs and is linked with poor dermatologic outcomes in diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and acne. It is concluded that non-adherence to topical medications is as common as non-adherence to oral medications, and its relationship to poor health outcomes is clear. Several barriers to topical medication adherence and predictors of non-adherence are similar to those for oral medications, while other barriers and predictors are unique to topical medications and the nature of dermatologic disease. Further studies of effective interventions to increase adherence are necessary to improve health outcomes in dermatology.
ADAPTIVE HIGH RESOLUTION SPATIAL DISCRIMINATION OF PASSIVE SOURCES

Increased spatial resolution over conventional beamformer by adaptive arrays is limited by the weakness of signal to noise ratios usually available in passive listening. It is shown here that a more complete modelization of the noise field and particularly of the background noise spatial coherence allows to define an asymptotically infinite spatial resolution method by using an algebraic property of the spectral density matrix. Its robustness is checked against measurement noise and modelization errors. Results obtained from field records are presented.
Optimization of Prehospital Triage of Patients With Suspected Ischemic Stroke.

Background and Purpose— Prehospital routing algorithms for patients with suspected stroke because of large vessel occlusions should account for likelihood of benefit from endovascular therapy (EVT)...
A Comparison of Holographic Versus Lens Type Acoustic Image Systems by Computer Simulation

Ideal image systems of holographic or lens type should have similar performance, given similar aperture/wavelength ratios. However, practical acoustic image systems introduce amplitude and phase nonlinearities, noise, and geometric distortion at different points in the system. Computer simulation of a holographic and a lens type system of limited aperture/wavelength ratios has been made to emphasize the differences in subjective image quality introduced by such effects as diffraction, undersampling, saturation, and system noise.
Synthesis of a Fluorescent Cytidine TNA Triphosphate Analogue.

Threose nucleic acid (TNA) is refractory to nuclease digestion and capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution, which together make it a promising system for diagnostic and therapeutic applications that require high biological stability. Expanding the sequence/chemical diversity of TNA would enable the development of functional TNA molecules with enhanced physicochemical properties. Recently, we have reported the synthesis and polymerase activity of a fluorescent cytidine TNA triphosphate analogue (1,3-diaza-2-oxo-phenothiazine, tCfTP) that maintains Watson-Crick base pairing with guanine. It not only improves TNA synthesis by enabling an engineered TNA polymerase to read through sequential G-repeats in a DNA template but it also introduces new physicochemical properties, such as increased hydrophobic character and fluorescence. Here, we describe the synthesis protocol for tCfTP, which includes three silica gel purifications, two precipitations, and one HPLC purification. Starting from protected threofuranosyl sugar, desired TNA nucleoside was obtained in a Vorbruggen glycosylation reaction. After deprotection, nucleoside was further converted to 3'-monophosphate, activated by 2-methylimidazole, and subsequently treated with pyrophosphate to afford the desired 3'-triphosphate (tCfTP).
Accessing the state: Executive constraints and credible commitment in dictatorship:

When do executive constraints provide credible commitment power in dictatorships, and under what conditions do leaders establish such constraints? This article argues that institutions successfully...
Genomic pedigree reconstruction identifies predictors of mating and reproductive success in an invasive vertebrate.

The persistence of an invasive species is influenced by its reproductive ecology, and a successful control program must operate on this premise. However, the reproductive ecology of invasive species may be enigmatic due to factors that also limit their management, such as cryptic coloration and behavior. We explored the mating and reproductive ecology of the invasive Brown Treesnake (BTS: Boiga irregularis) by reconstructing a multigenerational genomic pedigree based on 654 single nucleotide polymorphisms for a geographically closed population established in 2004 on Guam (N = 426). The pedigree allowed annual estimates of individual mating and reproductive success to be inferred for snakes in the study population over a 14-year period. We then employed generalized linear mixed models to gauge how well phenotypic and genomic data could predict sex-specific annual mating and reproductive success. Average snout-vent length (SVL), average body condition index (BCI), and trappability were significantly related to annual mating success for males, with average SVL also related to annual mating success for females. Male and female annual reproductive success was positively affected by SVL, BCI, and trappability. Surprisingly, the degree to which individuals were inbred had no effect on annual mating or reproductive success. When juxtaposed with current control methods, these results indicate that baited traps, a common interdiction tool, may target fecund BTS in some regards but not others. Our study emphasizes the importance of reproductive ecology as a focus for improving BTS control and promotes genomic pedigree reconstruction for such an endeavor in this invasive species and others.
Shale gas produced water management using membrane distillation: An optimization-based approach

Abstract A linear programming (LP) model is presented to investigate optimal shale gas wastewater management strategies for Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania (PA) focusing on membrane distillation (MD) as the treatment technology. The optimization framework established in this study incorporates (1) detailed treatment cost obtained from techno-economic assessment (TEA) of MD, (2) cost of wastewater transportation from shale gas sites to treatment or disposal facilities, and (3) cost of injection into salt water disposal (SWD) wells. The optimization model is applied to four case study areas with significant shale gas extraction: Greene and Washington counties in Southwest PA and Susquehanna and Bradford counties in Northeast PA. The results reveal that onsite treatment in combination with shale gas wastewater treatment at natural gas compressor stations (NG CS) where available waste heat can be utilized for the treatment process are the most economically advantageous management options. The optimal solution could result in over 60% benefit over direct disposal in SWD, which translates to over $16 million/year savings in the counties in Northeast PA. Furthermore, the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that transportation cost is a major contributor to the overall cost of shale gas wastewater management.
Meeting a Brilliant but Quirky Mind: Insights Offered by Infant Research

This paper focuses on the “moving along process” toward “moments of meeting” identified in the Boston Process of Change Study Group’s “Something More” paper. Insights from infant research–Tronick’s...
Specific learning disorder

Specific learning disorder (SLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders with a biological origin manifested by difficulties in the acquisition or use of academic skills.The onset is usually during the years of formal schooling and may occur across the life span with profound and extensive influences.The purpose of this article is to review the prevalence, etiological factors, neuropsychological mechanism, clinical manifestation, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, comorbidity and treatment of SLD. Key words: Specific learning disorder; Neuropsychological mechanism; Clinical manifestation; Diagnosis; Treatment
Worst-Case Eye Analysis of High-Speed Channels Based on Bayesian Optimization

One of the favorable tools for signal integrity evaluation is eye diagram analysis. This is traditionally performed with a lengthy transient simulation, which can be prohibitively time consuming for complex high-speed channels with a low bit error rate. Methods for eye estimation exist; however, they are either only applicable to linear time-invariant systems or have lack in accuracy or efficiency. In this article, an optimization-based approach is proposed to quickly obtain the worst-case eye diagram characteristics. This approach focuses on the inter-symbol interference since its effect can span over many symbols and include crosstalk, making it challenging to model. In this article, the data patterns leading to the lowest voltage corresponding to a high symbol, the highest voltage corresponding to a low symbol, and the times of minimum and maximum level crossing points are calculated. Then, eye height, eye width, and the worst-case eye opening are estimated using these points. To reduce complexity, the proposed approach includes a mapping algorithm that exploits the Gray code. Additionally, Bayesian optimization is used because of its efficiency and good performance on non-linear and non-convex problems. Finally, the application of the proposed approach to high-speed SerDes channels, and channels in system-on-package designs is evaluated with numerical examples, where the results show its accuracy and efficiency.
Toward Equitable Participatory Design: Data Feminism for CSCW amidst Multiple Pandemics

CSCW, like many other academic communities, is reckoning with its roles, responsibilities, and practices amidst 2020's multiple pandemics of COVID-19, anti-Black racism, and a global economic crisis. Reviewing our work with data and communities demands we address harms from overexposure caused by surveillance or algorithmic bias and from underexposure caused by design that is insufficiently participatory and equitable. This workshop will elicit narratives of good and bad design and data work with communities, apply the lenses of equitable participatory design and data feminism to current CSCW projects and our global context, and develop practical outputs for supporting academics and practitioners in pursuit of democratic and just partnerships.
Performance in Real World- and Virtual Reality-Based Spatial Navigation Tasks in Patients With Vestibular Dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated whether vestibular dysfunction is associated with reduced spatial navigation performance. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Otolaryngology Clinic in the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center and an analogous virtual reality (VR) environment. PATIENTS Eligible patients had diagnosis of unilateral or bilateral vestibular loss. Matched healthy controls were recruited at 1:1 ratio. INTERVENTIONS The navigation task involved a route-based or place-based strategy in both real world and VR environments. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Navigation performance was measured by distance travelled relative to optimal distance (i.e., path ratio) and the Judgments of Relative Direction (JRD) task, whereby participants had to recall relative angular distances between landmarks. RESULTS The study sample included 20 patients with vestibular loss (mean age: 61 yrs, SD: 10.2 yrs) and 20 matched controls (mean age: 60 yrs, SD: 10.4 yrs). Patients with vestibular loss travelled significantly greater distance using both route-based (path ratio 1.3 vs. 1.0, p = 0.02) and place-based (path ratio 2.6 vs. 2.0, p = 0.03) strategies in the real world. Overall, participants performed worse in virtual reality compared to real world in both path ratio (2.2 vs. 1.7; p = 0.04) and JRD error (78° vs. 67°; p < 0.01). Furthermore, while controls exhibited significant positive correlations between real world and VR performance in place-based (β = 0.75; p < 0.001) and JRD tasks (β = 0.70; p < 0.001), patients with vestibular loss exhibited no similar correlations. CONCLUSIONS The vestibular system appears to play a role in navigation ability during both actual and virtual navigation, suggesting a role for static vestibular signals in navigation performance.
Similarities and Differences Among Alternatives to Skinner's Analysis of Private Events

While the consideration of private events is central to Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism, Skinner’s perspective on the topic of private events is not universally accepted within the behavioral community. At least 3 alternatives to Skinner’s position have been purported, among them Baum’s molar perspective, Rachlin’s teleological perspective, and Hayes and Fryling’s interbehavioral position. This paper considers the similarities and differences among these alternatives to Skinner’s analysis of private events from the perspective of interbehaviorism and interbehavioral psychology. The implications of this analysis for philosophical and conceptual progress in behavior analysis are considered.
The Role of Lawyers in the Global War on Terrorism

The following article is edited remarks from Attorney General Mukasey’s Commencement address at Boston College Law School on May 23, 2008. His remarks focus on the role and ethics of lawyers in the Global War on Terrorism. Attorney General Mukasey contends that lawyers must faithfully adhere to the law, especially in the national security context where the questions are complex, the stakes are high and the pressures to do something other than adhere to the law are great. Attorney General Mukasey argues that political and public pressure on national security lawyers can lead to “cycles of timidity and aggression,” and that scrutiny of their work, given the threats facing the country following September 11, 2001, must be conducted responsibly, with an appreciation of its institutional implications. Boston College Law School has a history of inviting commencement speakers who reflect diverse views on important legal and public policy issues. Of course, this has meant speakers with whom some faculty members and students have strongly disagreed—including, most recently, me. That history is consistent with what elevates American legal education above mere indoctrination and makes it worthy of being called higher education; that history includes a hearty welcome to open discourse on vital questions of the day. Many of those questions in today’s world revolve around the terrorist threat to the civilization we all treasure. It should be no surprise that questions about how we should confront that threat have generated vigorous debate at this law school, and at others around the country. Those questions are among the most complex and consequential that a democratic government can face. How we as a nation should seek to protect ourselves; whether the steps we take are proportional to the threat and consistent with our history and principles; where the legal lines are in this new and very different conflict; and, * The author delivered the Commencement address at Boston College Law School on May 23, 2008. Attorney General Michael B. Muksaey served as a federal district judge in the Southern District of New York from 1988 until 2006, and served as Chief Judge from 2000 until 2006. In 2007, he was confirmed as the eighty-first Attorney General of the United States.
Mu- and kappa-opioid receptors selectively reduce the same transient components of high-threshold calcium current in rat dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons

Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were used to examine the regulation of voltage-dependent calcium channels by mu- and kappa-opioid receptors in acutely isolated rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons. Agonists selective for either mu- (Tyr-Pro-NMePhe-D-Pro-NH2, PLO17) or kappa-opioid receptors (dynorphin A, U69,593) inhibited high-threshold calcium currents in a reversible and naloxone-sensitive manner, whereas administration of D-Pen2,5-enkephalin, a delta-selective agonist, was without effect. However, none of the opioids reduced low-threshold T-type currents. The inhibitory effects of PLO17 were blocked by the irreversible mu-opioid antagonist beta-funaltrexamine but not the kappa-opioid antagonist nor-binaltorphimine, while responses to kappa-opioid agonists showed the opposite pattern of antagonist sensitivity. In addition, many cells responded to both PLO17 and dynorphin A (or U69,593), and in these neurons the inhibitory response to one agonist was occluded when tested in the presence of the other. These data suggest that mu- and kappa-opioid receptors are coexpressed on at least some DRG neurons and appear to be functionally coupled to a common pool of calcium channels. Both rapidly inactivating (transient) and sustained components of high-threshold current, arising from pharmacologically distinct types of calcium channels, were identified in our neurons. Activation of mu-opioid receptors selectively reduced the transient component of currents evoked at +10 mV from Vh = -80 mV, while sparing the sustained component. The transient component was irreversibly blocked by the N-type channel antagonist omega-conotoxin GVIA (omega-CgTx), and in one-half of the neurons there was a concomitant loss of the response to PLO17. In the remaining neurons, PLO17 continued to reduce a small fraction of omega-CgTx-insensitive current and subsequent administration of the L-type channel blocker nifedipine in saturating concentrations failed to reduce the opioid-induced inhibitory effect. These data demonstrate that mu-opioid receptors are negatively coupled to several pharmacologically distinct types of calcium channels in DRG sensory neurons, one that was blocked by omega-CgTx and thus likely to be N-type, and a second that was resistant to blockade by N- and L-type channel blockers.
Transcutaneous Magnetic Coupling of Power and Data

Since the invention of the first implantable pacemaker in 1958, wireless implantable microelectronic devices (IMDs) have been significantly improved by going through many generations. They have made it possible to treat a wide range of ailments and disabilities from bradycardia and chronic back pain to epilepsy and deafness. IMDs have the potential to alleviate more challenging types of disabilities such as blindness and paralysis. These devices need to transmit and receive information wirelessly across the skin barrier as breaching the skin with interconnect wires would be a source of morbidity for the patient and significantly increases the risk of infection. IMDs can be divided in autonomous and sensory devices which, in turn, results in different requirements for the wireless telemetry system. Autonomous devices such as pacemakers, cardioverters, and deep-brain stimulators usually have a small number of stimulating sites (<5), low stimulus pulse rates (<500/s), and low power requirements. The anatomical location of implantation for most autonomous devices in the body allows them to be large enough to contain an energy source that would last for several years. Their autonomous operation limits the need to communicate with the external world to only occasional adjustments and interrogations, which can take place at low data rates. On the other hand, in sensory prosthetic devices—those that interface with the central nervous system (CNS) to restore a sensory function such as hearing or vision—the quality of perception enhances with the number of stimulating sites/electrodes and the rate of stimulation. These latter devices may stimulate the neural tissue by means of tens to hundreds of stimulating channels and, consequently, they generally require considerably more power and communication bandwidth than autonomous devices. Future visual prostheses might even go beyond one thousand sites to better provide the most important visual functions to the blind such as mobility without a cane, face recognition, and reading. Thus, sensory prosthetic devices usually require an inductive link between two (or more) magnetically couple coils for the transmission of power and data to the implanted device. Keywords: implantable microelectronic devices; neuroprostheses; sensory devices; telemetry; coupling coefficient; transactaneous data transmission; modulation schemes