cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electrical Stability of Biocompatible Electrodes

Biocompatible electrodes were fabricated using ordinary semiconductor device processing techniques. For the purpose of identifying electrically stable electrode materials, which are biocompatible for long life, several kinds of contact metal were used. From a comparison of the metal elemental constants, it is suggested that the metal atom ionization energy, cohesive energy and the metal material conductivity may be the major factors to decide the material biocompatibility. Electrical testing shows Pd, with high atom ionization energy and low electrical conductivity, to have the best long life stability. In a test of 140 hours in saline solution with electrical power, the average maximum resistance deviation for a Pd electrode was 5%. The metal Ru, with high atom cohesive energy, has the best ability to withstand surface erosion for biocompatibility requirements. In a microscopic examination, the surface erosion for the Ru layer was invisible after 140 hours testing. The double-layer structures Pd/Ru and Mo/Ru were also tested. The maximum resistance deviations were found to be 7% and 9%, respectively.
The complex reaction kinetics of ECHO-1 virus with chlorine in water.

SummaryA fraction of the virions in a monodispersed suspension of ECHO virus is temporarily much more resistant than the rest to disinfection by chlorine (HOC1). This fraction is not genetically different. It may, however, owe its temporary resistance to a different conformation of the protein capsid that retards penetration by the HOC1.
Variations in the Cyclical Behavior of Advertising

The general pattern of cyclical fluctuations in advertising has become familiar today. But what remains less well understood is how one type of advertising may behave differently from others. A better insight into this subject will help media in reducing business instability and to assist advertisers in planning effective advertising strategies.This article demonstrates how differently advertisers of different types of products and of various sizes react to business fluctuations.
Multipass Resistive-Pulse Observations of the Rotational Tumbling of Individual Nanorods

Rotational tumbling of nanorods as they translocate through a glass nanopipet modulates the flux of charge carrying ions, generating a resistive pulse with multiple peaks. The measured times between maxima and minima in the resistive pulse correspond to an average rotation of approximately 90° and can be used to compute the rotational diffusion coefficient, Dr. Analytical expressions for the rotational diffusion coefficient (Dr) in terms of the nanorod length (L) allow the calculation of the rod length. We report experiments in which an individual Au nanorod (nominal length of 77–122 nm) is driven repeatedly through the nanopipet orifice by voltage switching at up to 30 Hz, allowing rapid measurement of Dr and L of individual nanorods with ∼15% error. Measured values of Dr between 2000 and 4000 rad2 s–1 for Au nanorods of 77–122 nm length are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.
Electronic properties of the dissimilatory sulphite reductase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Hildenborough): comparative studies of optical spectra and relative reduction potentials for the [Fe4S4]-sirohaem prosthetic centres.

The dissimilatory sulphite reductase (desulfoviridin) from the sulphate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Hildenborough) displays distinct optical and redox characteristics relative to the haem subunit of Escherichia coli assimilatory sulphite reductase. For high-spin pentaco-ordinate desulfoviridin there is minimal change in the absorbance of the oxidized chromophores both after reduction or after addition of exogenous ligands. A ligand-metal charge-transfer band approximately 702 nm is observed in both the oxidized and one-electron-reduced enzyme. E.p.r. spectroscopy has been used to define the relative reduction potentials for sirohaem and [Fe4S4] centres (delta E0 = Es0-Ec0) as a function of sirohaem axial co-ordination. Typically delta E0 lies in a range from -10 to -50 mV. These results show a correlation with the sigma-donor or pi-acceptor properties of the ligand and stand in sharp contrast with estimates for the E. coli enzyme. The electronic properties of the coupled [Fe4S4]-sirohaem redox centre common to both nitrite- and sulphite-reducing enzymes are apparently strongly dependent on the environment generated by protein side chains.
Improving face detection with depth

Face detection serves an important role in many computer vision systems. Typically, a face detector identifies faces within a grayscale or color image. Due to the recent increase in consumer depth cameras, obtaining both color and depth images of a scene has never been easier. We propose a technique that utilizes depth information to improve face detection. Standard face detection methods, such as the Viola-Jones object detection framework, detects faces by searching an image at every location and scale. Our method increases the speed and accuracy of the Viola-Jones face detector by utilizing depth data to constrain the detector's search over the image. Leveraging a Kinect camera, we are able to detect faces 3.5× faster, while greatly reducing the amount of false positives.
Practicing Internal Strengthening: Managing Your Stress Through Relaxation Training (Session 9 of the Treatment Manual)

Session 9 continues with the practice of internal strengthening by emphasizing stress management and relaxation training. In doing so, clients are provided with psychoeducation about how stress affects health and performance. Clients are also taught a number of relaxation techniques that they can choose from to help center themselves and internally strengthen. Practice is a critical component of stress management and relaxation training. Clients complete a scheduling exercise that is structured similarly to that presented in Session 8 regarding planning healthy activities. However, instead of scheduling healthy activities, they develop a realistic program for integrating relaxation exercises into their lives.
The Role of Grower Education in Biological Control

To be successful, biological control programs need to be explained and demonstrated to farmers, the public, and governmental officials responsible for formulating agricultural and environmental policies (Van Driesche 1989a; Andrews et al. 1992). Agricultural extension employees and the public communication media play key roles in this process. This chapter considers: (1) the needs of farmers for concepts and specific information concerning biological control; (2) media resources used to train farmers and other groups; (3) improving knowledge of extension agents about biological control; (4) explaining biological control to politicians; and (5) communicating with environmental groups.
Use of the stages of change model in improving nutrition and exercise habits in enlisted Air Force men.

Thirty-nine U.S. Air Force enlisted men participated in a randomized controlled study that evaluated an experimental program designed to enhance fitness. Subjects were assigned to either a treatment (access to the program) or control (no access to program) group for 6 months. To improve treatment group fitness (as measured by VO2, subjects received individually tailored information (based on a behavior change model) via the Internet to encourage adoption of positive diet and exercise behaviors. Results showed no significant effect in improving fitness in treatment. However, significant effects were observed for secondary outcomes such as weight (controls, +1.0 kg vs. treatment, -2.2 kg, p < 0.05), body mass index (+0.3 kg/m2 vs. -0.7 kg/m2, p < 0.05), and percent body fat (+0.6% vs. -1.5%, p < 0.001). The data suggest that the individually tailored exercise information was not effective in encouraging sufficient exercise intensity to impact fitness. However, the dietary tailored information appears to have encouraged the adoption of more positive nutritional practices as demonstrated by the beneficial effects reflected in secondary outcomes.
Criteria for location of vortex breakdown over delta wings

Vortex breakdown phenomenon remains a challenging aspect of the flow over delta wings at high angle of attack. The observations of vortex breakdown and related interpretations for vortex tube experiments and delta wings are summarised in several review articles. The theoretical models of the phenomena are described in detail in References 1, 2, 3 and 7. These theoretical models are not complete enough to predict breakdown location over delta wings. The purpose of this note is to review several existing criteria and correlations for vortex breakdown over delta wings using a large database. The earliest criteria for delta wings was suggested by Lambourne and Bryer.
Tax Elasticity of Labor Earnings for Older Individuals

This paper studies the impact of income and payroll taxes on intensive and extensive labor supply decisions for workers ages 55-74 using the Health and Retirement Study. The literature provides little guidance about the responsiveness of this population to tax incentives, though the tax code is potentially an important mechanism that can alter retirement incentives. We model labor force participation decisions and labor earnings as functions of taxes, and we use the intensive margin to inform estimation of the extensive margin equation. Our method accounts for selection into labor force participation with a plausibly exogenous shock to employment. We use the results of our intensive labor supply estimation to predict the after-tax labor earnings of every person in our sample, including those that do not work. This method allows us to generate consistent estimates of the impact of taxes on employment and retirement. We find large compensated elasticities on the intensive margin. These results are imprecise, but they are statistically significant for women. On the extensive margin, we find significant effects on labor force participation and, for men, retirement decisions. Our estimates suggest that an age-targeted tax reform that eliminates payroll taxes for older workers would decrease the percentage of workers dropping out of the labor force by 1 percentage point, a 4% decrease.
Forecasting inundation from debris flows that grow volumetrically during travel, with application to the Oregon Coast Range, USA

Abstract Many debris flows increase in volume as they travel downstream, enhancing their mobility and hazard. Volumetric growth can result from diverse physical processes, such as channel sediment entrainment, stream bank collapse, adjacent landsliding, hillslope erosion and rilling, and coalescence of multiple debris flows; incorporating these varied phenomena into physics-based debris-flow models is challenging. As an alternative, we embedded effects of debris-flow growth into an empirical/statistical approach to forecast potential inundation areas within digital landscapes in a GIS framework. Our approach used an empirical debris-growth function to account for the effects of growth phenomena. We applied this methodology to a debris-flow-prone area in the Oregon Coast Range, USA, where detailed mapping revealed areas of erosion and deposition along paths of debris flows that occurred during a large storm in 1996. Erosion was predominant in stream channels with slopes > 5°. Using pre- and post-event aerial photography, we derived upslope contributing area and channel-length growth factors. Our method reproduced the observed inundation patterns produced by individual debris flows; it also generated reproducible, objective potential inundation maps for entire drainage networks. These maps better matched observations than those using previous methods that focus on proximal or distal regions of a drainage network.
Crowdsourcing backdoor identification for combinatorial optimization

We will show how human computation insights can be key to identifying so-called backdoor variables in combinatorial optimization problems. Backdoor variables can be used to obtain dramatic speedups in combinatorial search. Our approach leverages the complementary strength of human input, based on a visual identification of problem structure, crowdsourcing, and the power of combinatorial solvers to exploit complex constraints. We describe our work in the context of the domain of materials discovery. The motivation for considering the materials discovery domain comes from the fact that new materials can provide solutions for key challenges in sustainability, e.g., in energy, new catalysts for more efficient fuel cell technology.
A data-driven kernel method assimilation technique for geophysical modelling

Incorporating the quantity and variety of observations in atmospheric and oceanographic assimilation and prediction models has become an increasingly complex task. Data assimilation allows for uneven spatial and temporal data distribution and redundancy to be addressed so that the models can ingest massive data sets. Traditional data assimilation methods introduce Kalman filters and variational approaches. This study introduces a family of algorithms, motivated by advances in machine learning. These algorithms provide an alternative approach to incorporating new observations into the analysis forecast cycle. The application of kernel methods to processing the states of a quasi-geostrophic numerical model is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of the method as a proof-of-concept. The speed, efficiency, accuracy and scalability in recovering unperturbed state trajectories establishes the viability of machine learning for data assimilation.
For creative democracy

ABSTRACTEmerging commonalities between philosophical pragmatism and contemporary political thought suggest that those who find resonance in recent political theory will find in Deweyan pragmatism a fruitful source of insight and inspiration. Pragmatism’s commitments share deep affinities with parallel impulses in feminist and post-positivist thought animating engaged, activist scholarship inside and outside of geography. An ethic of radical equality applies equally, for Dewey, as a theory of democratic practice and a mode of being in the world.
The Frei Administration and the Politics of Denial

The Frei administration’s human rights policies and decisions are divided in two periods: before and after 1998, or before and after the detention of General Pinochet in London. The period between 1994 and 1998 was characterized by apathy and actual disregard for human rights and as a result the administration introduced bills geared to end the trials, maintained friendly relations with General Pinochet, and supported the military’s interpretation of the Amnesty Decree. In the aftermath of General Pinochet’s detention in London in 1998, there was new life infused into those concerned with human rights abuses, as well as creative thinking on the part of the members of the judicial branch who were willing to address the human rights crimes of the past. The chapter analyzes executive, legislative, and judicial actions, pays special attention to the Human Rights Roundtable, military-executive relations, and new judicial actions. The Human Rights Roundtable, or Mesa de Dialogo, generated in turn new actions of the part of human rights groups and others, which are analyzed in the next chapter.
Standard Internet Licensing Terms

When material is available on the Internet, and assuming such material was posted by the rightsholder or with the rightsholder's authorization, then the rightsholder does not wish to prevent any use of the material. At the very least, the rightsholder is prepared to allow users to browse the material. Many rightsholders would be prepared to allow further use of the material, sometimes depending on the type of use and/or user concerned That is where, by and large, copyright has not been able to respond adequately. It has led to the formation of rights mazes. Users wishing to reuse material posted or otherwise made available on the Internet must try to find and then decipher complex copyright terms and conditions, some of which are written by perhaps overzealous lawyers and run several pages long . A user may find such terms too labyrinthine and complex and, as a result, abandon his/her efforts. If those terms and conditions are not readily available, then the user may take the risk of using what in certain jurisdictions courts have called an implied license, but this is perilous at best and offers very little in terms of predictability. As a result of the above, millions of Internet users who would want to reuse material publicly available on the Internet cannot do so legally. They may then feel that copyright is an obstacle, while in fact the rightsholder would have been ready to authorize such use, but there was no easy way to do so. Or they may decide to use the material without proper authorization, and this tends to reduce respect for copyright and the rule of law on the Internet. This paper argues that by and large material available on the Intrnet belongs to one of four categories: free, free with restrictions, requiring a license, or not authorized beyond fair use. It then proposed to standardize copyright terms & conditions by using recognizable symbols and links to operationalize each standard set of terms.
Deep Triplet Embedding Representations for Liveness Detection

Liveness detection is a fundamental element for all biometric systems that have to be safe against spoofing attacks at sensor level. In particular, for an attacker it is relatively easy to build a fake replica of a legitimate finger and apply it directly to the sensor, thereby fooling the system by declaring its corresponding identity. In order to ensure that the declared identity is genuine and it corresponds to the individual present at the time of capture, the task is usually formulated as a binary classification problem, where a classifier is trained to detect whether the fingerprint at hand is real or an artificial replica. In this chapter, unlike the binary classification model, a metric learning approach based on triplet convolutional networks is proposed. A representation of the fingerprint images is generated, where the distance between feature points reflects how much the real fingerprints are dissimilar from the ones generated artificially. A variant of the triplet objective function is employed, that considers patches taken from two real fingerprint and a replica (or two replicas and a real fingerprint), and gives a high penalty if the distance between the matching couple is greater than the mismatched one. Given a test fingerprint image, its liveness is established by matching its patches against a set of reference genuine and fake patches taken from the training set. The use of small networks along with a patch-based representation allows the system to perform the acquisitions in real time and provide state-of-the-art performances. Experiments are presented on several benchmark datasets for liveness detection including different sensors and fake fingerprint materials. The approach is validated on the cross-sensor and cross-material scenarios, to understand how well it generalizes to new acquisition devices, and how robust it is to new presentation attacks.
Musculotendinous Injuries: Sonographic-guided Interventions

Musculotendinous injuries occur commonly in athletes of all levels and ages, leading to considerable missed game and practice time. Although most injuries heal well with conservative management, in appropriate circumstances, ultrasound-guided interventions are a safe, efficient, cost-effective, and readily available means of treatment that may help expedite return to play. This article describes the relevant anatomy and pathology of the musculotendinous unit and explains the decision-making process regarding percutaneous interventions. Through case examples, we discuss practical aspects of interventional techniques, sonographic approaches, and injectable materials including anti-inflammatory medications and platelet-rich plasma.
Unraveling the Role and Complexities of Inflammation in Hypertension.

See related article, pp 839–845 Expression and activation of inflammatory genes and pathways have been linked to several cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and high blood pressure. For example, genetic deficiency of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 (interleukin-6), IL-17, and TNFα (tumor necrosis factor-α), are associated with a blunting or lessening of the pressor response produced by angiotensin II infusion alone or in combination with a high-salt diet.1–3 Similarly, the absence of T and B lymphocytes is also associated with reductions in the hypertension produced by angiotensin II.4 Taken together, such experimental and genetic findings provide strong evidence that inflammatory gene products contribute to the development and maintenance of hypertension. Because inflammation is a finely orchestrated process involving activation of several inflammatory pathways, it stands to reason why most studies have focused on the contribution played by proinflammatory cytokines in hypertension. Although much emphasis has been devoted to uncovering the contribution of proinflammatory cytokines, much less is known about the role of anti-inflammatory molecules in regulation of blood pressure in general or the development of hypertension. Equally important as activation of inflammatory pathways is inhibition or suppression of inflammation to promote resolution of inflammation and limit tissue injury. Better understanding of the role played by anti-inflammatory cytokines can potentially lead to exploitation of these molecules as clinical therapies. IL-10 is a major anti-inflammatory cytokine belonging to the eponymous IL-10 family of cytokines, which includes IL-10, IL-19, IL-20, IL-22, IL-24, and IL-26.5 The IL-10 family shares several structural and receptor similarities, and each IL-10 family member displays unique biological properties. IL-10 is considered the most potent anti-inflammatory cytokine of the group and exerts most of its effects, namely functional suppression of immune signaling, on monocytes and macrophages. Other important effects of IL-10 include inhibition …
Gluten-free diet among school-age children in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of gluten-free diet (GFD) among school-age children in Olmsted County, Minnesota, and compare it with the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in the same age group. Methods: We performed a population-based study in Olmsted County using a survey to collect information from the six school districts in the county for the academic year 2014–2015. The survey contained questions to (1) assess the prevalence of GFD among school-age children in the public schools of Olmsted County; (2) assess the prevalence of CD among school-age children in Olmsted County; and (3) determine the indications for GFD in these children. We used the infrastructure of the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) to calculate the prevalence of CD in children aged 4–18 years in December 2014. Results: Using the REP data, we identified sixty patients with CD in the county aged 4–18 years; the prevalence of CD among school students in 2014 was 193.6/100,000. The prevalence of GFD in Olmsted County children, however, was higher, at 265/100,000 according to the survey from the school districts. The prevalence of GFD was highest in Rochester, the largest city. GFD was more common among children in secondary schools. Conclusion: According to our study, there are more children on GFD than the actual cases of CD in Olmsted County during the study period. This finding could be related to an increased number of children without CD who are following GFD for other indications.
Boycotts, buycotts, and political consumerism in America:

Anecdotal and experimental evidence suggests that at least some consumers change their purchasing behavior in response to the values, reputations, and political activity of corporations. Using two ...
Drivers of farmer satisfaction with small-scale irrigation systems

Abstract Climate change impacts the quantity and seasonality of rainfall, threatening Africans' ability to maintain satisfactory yields on rain-fed farms. On the semi-arid northwestern slopes of Mount Kenya, irrigation systems structured around Community Water Projects (CWPs) provide households with piped water, which helps mitigate drought impacts and enhances resilience to increasingly variable rainfall patterns. The vision of these irrigation systems is to equitably distribute water resources among CWP members both for household consumption and to maintain or improve agricultural yields. However, not all households receive equal quantities of water from their CWPs, and little is known about the impact of water provisioning on farmers' opinions or perceptions of CWP performance. In this study, we relate respondents' satisfaction with their CWPs to the quantity of water delivered. Not surprisingly, farmers who received low quantities of water from their CWPs expressed above-average rates of concern regarding drought. In contrast, satisfaction with one's CWP was unrelated to the absolute quantity of water received (log liters/minute), but it was strongly associated with relative measures of water delivery: respondents who received less water than other members of the same water project experienced high rates of dissatisfaction, as did respondents who received less water than in the past. These results suggest that Kenyan farmers may feel particularly dissatisfied—and, perhaps, particularly driven to demand improved water governance—when they perceive inadequate water delivery relative to some reference group. Because relative water quantity dictates satisfaction even after controlling for factors that can be resolved internally at the CWP level (by, for example, striving for uniformity of water flows across and within households), water project managers are limited to some degree in their ability to improve satisfaction through better governance. That said, governance actions that prevent declines in flows over time (e.g. maintaining infrastructure to reduce leaks) could ostensibly lead to meaningful improvements in member satisfaction.
Experience Report: Security Vulnerability Profiles of Mission Critical Software: Empirical Analysis of Security Related Bug Reports

While some prior research work exists on characteristics of software faults (i.e., bugs) and failures, very little work has been published on analysis of software applications vulnerabilities. This paper aims to contribute towards filling that gap by presenting an empirical investigation of application vulnerabilities. The results are based on data extracted from issue tracking systems of two NASA missions. These data were organized in three datasets: Ground mission IVaV issues, Flight mission IVaV issues, and Flight mission Developers issues. In each dataset, we identified the security related software bugs and classified them in specific vulnerability classes. Then, we created the vulnerability profiles, i.e., determined where and when the security vulnerabilities were introduced and what were the dominant vulnerabilities classes. Our main findings include: (1) In IVaV issues datasets the majority of vulnerabilities were code related and were introduced in the Implementation phase. (2) For all datasets, close to 90% of the vulnerabilities were located in two to four subsystems. (3) Out of 21 primary vulnerability classes, five dominated: Exception Management, Memory Access, Other, Risky Values, and Unused Entities. Together, they contributed from around 80% to 90% of vulnerabilities in each dataset.
Views of teenage children about the effects of a Parent's mobility disability.

Abstract Background Few U.S. studies have explored how children experience a parent's mobility disability and its effects on their daily lives. Objective We aimed to engage youth ages 13–17 who had at least one parent with mobility disability in describing their perceptions of their parent's disability and its consequences for their daily and family life. Methods Participants videoed and photographed their experiences following general guidelines from the researchers about topics of interest. Participants made their own choices about what they submitted. We used conventional content analysis to identify broad themes. Results The mean (standard deviation) age of the 10 participants was 15.2 (1.9) years; 5 were male; 9 participants were white. All 5 girls submitted multiple self-focused (selfie) videos made in their bedrooms; the 5 boys submitted more diverse data files. Several broad themes or topics emerged including: the effects of timing and trajectory of the parent's disability; perceptions of early maturity and responsibility; fears and frustrations relating to the parent's disability; support and emerging resilience; and sense of social justice. Participants generally felt their parents' disability made them become – compared to their peers – more mature, responsible, capable of performing household tasks, and aware of disability civil rights. Conclusions Participants raised many issues that health care providers should be aware of when youth have parents with mobility disability. A parent's mobility disability may be associated with resilience but also may pose challenges for youth. More research is needed to understand better adolescents' experiences and how clinicians might best assist these youth.
Dietary Fatty Acids Differentially Regulate Secretion of Adiponectin and Interleukin-6 in Primary Canine Adipose Tissue Culture.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on canine adipose tissue secretion of adiponectin, interleukin-6 (IL6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Subcutaneous and omental visceral adipose tissue samples were collected from 16 healthy intact female dogs. Concentrations of adiponectin were measured in mature adipocyte cultures, and concentrations of IL6 and TNFα were measured in undifferentiated stromovascular cell (SVC) cultures following treatment with eicosapentaenic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6), or palmitic acid (PAM, 16:0) at 25, 50, or 100 μM. Secretion of adiponectin from mature adipocytes was higher (p < 0.001) following EPA treatment at 50 μM compared to control in subcutaneous tissue, and higher following EPA treatment compared to PAM treatment at 25 μM in both subcutaneous (p < 0.001) and visceral tissues (p = 0.010). Secretion of IL6 from SVC derived from subcutaneous tissue was lower following EPA treatment and higher following PAM treatment compared to control both at 50 μM (p = 0.001 and p = 0.041, respectively) and 100 μM (p = 0.013 and p < 0.001, respectively). These findings of stimulation of adiponectin secretion and inhibition of IL6 secretion by EPA, and stimulation of IL6 secretion by PAM, are consistent with findings of increased circulating concentrations of adiponectin and decreased circulating concentration of IL6 in dogs supplemented with dietary fish oil, and show that the effect of fish oil on circulating concentrations of adiponectin and IL6 is, at least partially, the result of local effects of EPA and PAM on adipose tissue.
Experimental determination of lattice thermal conductivity and Lorenz number as functions of temperature for n-type PbTe

Abstract The thermal conductivity of materials, κ, consists of two components, i.e. the lattice contribution from phonon transport, κL, and the electrical contribution from electron/hole transport, κE, and κ = κL + κE. The Lorenz number (L) relates κE to electrical conductivity, σ, and temperature, T, as L = κE/σT. In the analyses of thermoelectric properties on non-degenerate semiconductors, L has commonly been adopted as 2.44 × 10−8 W/S-K2 to derive the lattice thermal conductivity from the measured thermal and electrical conductivity. However, this value was obtained using a model of free electron gas and, thus, is only valid for metals or degenerate semiconductors. In this study, the thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity have been measured at 13 different temperatures between 37 and 615°C on about 100 n-type doped PbTe samples processed by melt growth of directional solidification, which resulted in the wide ranges of data values. By analyzing the plot of thermal conductivity vs. electrical conductivity with linear regression, the lattice thermal conductivity and Lorenz number have been experimentally determined from the intercept and slope at each temperature for n-type PbTe. The former values represent the intrinsic case for the lattice thermal conductivity, i.e. the heat conduction of an ideal PbTe lattice without any extrinsic electrical contribution, and the latter values give the relationship between electrical conductivity and its contribution to thermal conductivity for the n-type PbTe material.
Surgical Management of Post-Esophagectomy Tracheo-Bronchial-Esophageal Fistula

Background Post-esophagectomy tracheo-bronchial-esophageal fistula (PETEF) most often develops after anastomotic disruption or gastric conduit necrosis. Ideal surgical management and outcomes for this complication are uncertain. Methods A retrospective review of 11 patients undergoing surgical repair of PETEF was performed. Results The median time between esophagectomy and surgical repair of PETEF was 61 days (range, 7 days to 28 years). Anastomotic leak or gastric conduit necrosis was responsible for PETEF in 6 patients (54.5%), whereas other causes were erosion of a tracheal appliance (n = 2), gastric conduit staple line erosion (n = 1), anastomotic stricture dilation (n = 1), and recurrent esophageal cancer (n = 1). Membranous airway defects were repaired primarily and buttressed with muscle or omental flaps in 8 patients (72.7%), whereas two (18.2%) were repaired with bio-prosthetic patches and one (9.1%) was repaired with a sleeve resection of the bronchus. Anastomotic and neo-esophageal conduit defects were repaired primarily in 3 patients (27.3%), whereas 7 patients (63.6%) underwent conduit take-down and esophageal or pharyngeal diversion, and 1 patient (9.1%) underwent simultaneous fistula repair and colon interposition. Two patients (18.2%) had recurrent fistulas, with 1 patient dying after second fistula closure and the other was discharged with no further attempt at repair. Three patients (27.3%) died postoperatively. Only 3 patients (27.3%) resumed an oral diet after fistula repair. Conclusions Surgical treatment is effective for most patients undergoing operative repair of PETEF, notwithstanding a considerable risk of postoperative morbidity and death. Although fistula repair is life saving and prevents further respiratory deterioration, return to oral alimentation is not ensured.
Serine proteases as luminal mediators of intestinal barrier dysfunction and symptom severity in IBS

Objective The intestinal lumen contains several proteases. Our aim was to determine the role of faecal proteases in mediating barrier dysfunction and symptoms in IBS. Design 39 patients with IBS and 25 healthy volunteers completed questionnaires, assessments of in vivo permeability, ex vivo colonic barrier function in Ussing chambers, tight junction (TJ) proteins, ultrastructural morphology and 16 s sequencing of faecal microbiota rRNA. A casein-based assay was used to measure proteolytic activity (PA) in faecal supernatants (FSNs). Colonic barrier function was determined in mice (ex-germ free) humanised with microbial communities associated with different human PA states. Results Patients with IBS had higher faecal PA than healthy volunteers. 8/20 postinfection IBS (PI-IBS) and 3/19 constipation- predominant IBS had high PA (>95th percentile). High-PA patients had more and looser bowel movements, greater symptom severity and higher in vivo and ex vivo colonic permeability. High-PA FSNs increased paracellular permeability, decreased occludin and increased phosphorylated myosin light chain (pMLC) expression. Serine but not cysteine protease inhibitor significantly blocked high-PA FSN effects on barrier. The effects on barrier were diminished by pharmacological or siRNA inhibition of protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2). Patients with high-PA IBS had lower occludin expression, wider TJs on biopsies and reduced microbial diversity than patients with low PA. Mice humanised with high-PA IBS microbiota had greater in vivo permeability than those with low-PA microbiota. Conclusion A subset of patients with IBS, especially in PI-IBS, has substantially high faecal PA, greater symptoms, impaired barrier and reduced microbial diversity. Commensal microbiota affects luminal PA that can influence host barrier function.
A Sliding Window Based Monitoring Scheme to Detect and Prevent DDoS Attack in Data Center Networks in a Dynamic Traffic Environment

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is the most common type of attack faced by today's data centers (DC). Such attacks can have a devastating impact on the system as it consumes resources like network bandwidth, hard disk storage, and CPU processing resources. As a consequence, the legitimate customers face more service blocking due to a major portion of the resources being occupied by the illegitimate traffic generated by the attackers. In this paper, we proposed a novel monitoring scheme based on the sliding window to detect and prevent the DDoS attack in DCs that serve enterprise customers that has low computational complexity. Compared to a benchmark scheme (without attack monitoring and preventing), our scheme ensures service provisioning for the legitimate customers with no false alarm. We also measure the robustness of our scheme in terms of the time taken to detect and prevent attack traffic by varying the traffic intensities of illegitimate traffic. Simulation results show that our scheme can successfully detect the attack even if the attack traffic intensity is not too much higher than the projected legitimate traffic intensity.
Essential domains of phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase III β required for enterovirus replication

Phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase III β (PI4KB) is a host factor that is required for enterovirus (EV) replication. In this study, the importance of host proteins that interact with PI4KB in EV replication was analyzed by trans complementation with PI4KB mutants in a PI4KB-knockout cell line. Ectopically expressed PI4KB mutants, which lack binding regions for ACBD3, RAB11, and 14-3-3 proteins, rescued replication of poliovirus and enterovirus 71. These findings suggest that interaction of PI4KB with these host proteins is not essential for EV replication once PI4KB has been expressed and that PI4KB is functionally independent from these host proteins regarding EV replication.
Flu or a Bug

Of late, apart from the four calendar seasons, there is yet another season referred to as the “flu season.” During this time of the year, we routinely hear the phrase “the flu is going around.” I was surprised last week when I heard my 6-year-old son mention to me that there is some bug going around in his class and that his best friend was sick. I asked him to define the bug and he said it causes stuffy nose. The word “bug” is used so callously by adults that it has been registered wrongly in the minds of the little ones.
Impact of mineralogy and wettability on pore-scale displacement of NAPLs in heterogeneous porous media

Subsurface formations often contain multiple minerals with different wettability characteristics upon contact with nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs). Constitutive relationships between microstructure heterogeneity and NAPL fate and transport in these formations are difficult to predict. Several studies have used pore-scale network models with faithful representations of rock pore space topology to predict macroscopic descriptors of two-phase flow, however wettability is usually considered as a spatially random variable. This study attempts to overcome this limitation by considering more realistic representations of rock mineralogy and wettability in these models. This is especially important for heterogeneous rocks where properties vary at the pore-scale. The work was carried out in two phases. First, pore-fluid occupancy maps during waterflooding were obtained by X-ray microtomography to elucidate the impact of pore wall mineralogy and wettability on water preferential flow paths and NAPL trapping within a heterogeneous aquifer sandstone (Arkose). Then, microtomography images of the rock were used to generate a hybrid pore network model (PNM) that incorporated both pore space topology and pore wall mineralogy. In-situ contact angles (CA) measured on the surface of different minerals were assigned to the network on a pore-by-pore basis to describe the exact wettability distribution of the rock (Pore-by-pore model). The equivalent network was used as input in a quasi-static flow model to simulate waterflooding, and the predictions of residual NAPL saturation and relative permeabilities were compared against their experimental counterparts. To examine the sensitivity of the model to the underlying fluid-solid interactions, we also used traditional methods of wettability characterization in the input data and assigned them randomly to the PNM. Wettability in this case was assessed from macroscale CA distribution of oil droplets on the surface of unpolished Arkose substrates released by spontaneous imbibition of water (Arkose model) and from pendant drop measurements on polished quartz (Quartz model). Our results revealed that the Pore-by-pore model predicted waterflooding with the highest accuracy among all three cases. The Arkose model slightly overestimated NAPL removal whereas the Quartz model failed to predict the experiments. More in-depth analysis of the Pore-by-pore and Arkose models showed that macroscopic transport quantities are less dependent to microstructure heterogeneity if minerals are distributed uniformly across the rock. The predictions herein indicate the importance of incorporating mineralogy and wettability maps to improve the prediction capabilities of PNMs especially in systems with high mineral heterogeneity, where minerals are nonuniformly distributed, or selective fluid-mineral interactions are targeted.
Screen Printing to 3D Printing of Solar Cells—An Overview

The share of photovoltaics (PV) in the global energy market has been steadily increasing in the last decade. The PV industry has been innovative in the use of technology and resources in developing advanced cell designs. This work will focus on the evolution of printing techniques from contact lithography to 3D printing of solar cell components. Printing techniques face unique challenges as solar cells become thin (<90 μm), lighter, larger size, with demands on increased manufacturing throughput and lower manufacturing costs. Inefficient printing techniques can limit higher cell throughput. An overview of the range of printing techniques such as screen printing, stencil printing, light-induced plating, and ink jet printing will be presented. This study will also discuss the market share of various printing technologies. Recent advances in the use of additive manufacturing of solar cells will be discussed.
Technology Transfer Evaluation: Driving Organizational Changes Through a Hierarchical Scoring Model

Innovation is seen today as an indispensable practice if an organization wishes to achieve competitive advantage and sustainable success in the marketplace. The development of new products and services and new technologies that enable those products and services seem to be the crown jewel of innovation. The management of these technologies, more specifically the process through which technologies are transferred, has been the focus of scholarly debates and studies for several decades. Currently, there are no quantitative, comprehensive, and easily applicable models in the literature that researchers and practitioners can use to assess organizations’ technology transfer capabilities. This article has sought to delineate important factors and perspectives applicable to technology transfer, and to use those in order to assess an organization's capabilities, through the application of a hierarchical decision modeling model to create a technology transfer score. The research model is applied to a utility company in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the results provide insights on how to measure and interpret technology transfer capabilities as well as a starting point for technology managers to improve those capabilities.
John Wayne Clinical Research Lecture: New Avenues for Uplifting the Global Quality of Care in Surgical Oncology

Health care equality is an idealistic goal that is difficult to achieve. However, uplifting the quality of care in surgery for cancer is achievable through several means, the most important of which is training of surgeons through properly structured training programs. However, such programs vary greatly, and no uniformity of curriculum exists throughout the world. On the other hand, several avenues are available for uplifting the quality of care through education and dissemination of knowledge at an individual level, an institutional level, a national level, and an international level. Efforts to uplift the quality of surgical care at an individual level can be by direct delivery of care or by dissemination of knowledge and experiences through personal interactions, lectures, and published works. Conferences, webinars, and travel grants are effective means offered by several institutions and national professional organizations. At an international level, however, much more can be done. For example, in the specialty of head and neck surgery, the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) has done extraordinary work through world congresses, world tour programs, master courses on operative techniques, and its most impactful program, the Global On Line Fellowship in head and neck surgery and oncology. The programs offered by IFHNOS have had a huge impact on the quality of surgical care for head and neck cancer worldwide. This prototype can be used in many other specialties of surgical oncology to uplift the quality of care globally.
Analysis of IFTTT Recipes to Study How Humans Use Internet-of-Things (IoT) Devices

With the rapid development and usage of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and smart-home devices, researchers continue efforts to improve the "smartness" of those devices to address daily needs in people's lives. Such efforts usually begin with understanding evolving user behaviors on how humans utilize the devices and what they expect in terms of their behavior. However, while research efforts abound, there is a very limited number of datasets that researchers can use to both understand how people use IoT devices and to evaluate algorithms or systems for smart spaces. In this paper, we collect and characterize more than 50,000 recipes from the online If-This-Then-That (IFTTT) service to understand a seemingly straightforward but complicated question: "What kinds of behaviors do humans expect from their IoT devices?" The dataset we collected contains the basic information of the IFTTT rules, trigger and action events, and how many people are using each rule.
Del Nido Cardioplegia in Ascending Aortic Surgery.

Del Nido cardioplegia offers equivalent myocardial protection and clinical outcomes to blood cardioplegia in adult isolated CABG and valve patients, but the safety and efficacy of del Nido in complex cases with prolonged aortic cross-clamp times is still unknown. 443 patients at our center underwent replacement of the ascending aorta using either del Nido (n=182) or blood (n=261) cardioplegia. Two surgeons used del Nido exclusively and six used blood exclusively over the study period. Propensity matching of pre-operative characteristics yielded 172 well matched pairs. Emergency and re-operative cases were included. Clinical data were extracted from our local database. Troponin levels were drawn at 12 hours post-op in all patients. Rates of peri-operative mortality (4.7% vs. 5.2%), stroke (5.8% vs. 7.0%), renal failure (11.6% vs. 12.2%), atrial fibrillation (36.0% vs. 31.4%), intra-aortic balloon pump insertion (2.3% vs.1.2%), and extra corporeal membrane oxygenation use (4.7% versus 4.1%) did not differ between blood and del Nido groups. Post-op Troponin T levels were 0.50[0.35, 0.86] ng/ml and 0.40[0.20, 0.70] ng/ml for blood and del Nido, respectively (p