cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of Conformist and Manipulative Behaviors on Public Opinion

A discrete-time dynamical opinion network is considered in which individuals express their opinions, modeled by scalars, about a certain subject. The reputation (rating) of the subject, herein also referred to as the public opinion, is defined as the arithmetic mean of the expressed opinions. It is assumed that the expressed opinion of an individual may differ from her actual belief due to two main opposing social behaviors, namely, conformity and manipulation . For the purposes of this paper, conformity refers to the tendency of an individual to express an opinion that matches the public opinion, whereas manipulation refers to the tendency of an individual to express an opinion in order to manipulate the public opinion toward her actual belief. The general goal is to investigate how public opinion evolves in the presence of these behaviors via a game-theoretic approach. Several single- and multistage games are introduced to address different relevant scenarios. In all games, the actual beliefs are modeled by scalars in the interval $[0,1]$ . However, the games are organized into two classes, according to the nature of the expressed opinions that represent the players’ actions: 1) binary, that is, the action set of each player is the set $\lbrace 0,1\rbrace$ , in which case the opinion network resembles a tracking opinion poll, and 2) continuous, that is, the action sets are the interval $[0,1]$ , which better captures realistic opinion dynamics in social networks. For each game, the evolution of the subject's reputation as time grows is investigated.
Hypertension, angiotensin II, aldosterone, and race

One in four Americans has hypertension. Improvements in hypertension awareness and treatment in the 1970s and 1980s have contributed to a nearly 60% decline in the age-adjusted death rates from stroke. Still, since 1993, stroke rates have risen, along with the prevalence of heart failure and end-
Organic semiconductors (OSCs) for electronic chemical sensors

This chapter discusses an assortment of organic semiconductors used as sensors. Both p- and n-channel semiconductors are used to create architectures such as field-effect transistors. Active layers of small molecules, polymers, carbon nanotubes and graphene are included. Depending on the analyte and organic semiconductor used in the active layer, different levels of responses are achieved, allowing for better selectivity. Receptors have been incorporated into the sensors to further enhance the response and selectivity to specific analytes.
Short-Term Memory Function in Alcohol Addicts During Intoxication

Excessive alcohol use has been associated with several types of impaired memory function. These range from a severe persistent amnestic disorder, Wernicke’s Korsakoff Syndrome (3,24,29), to the transient global memory loss which may accompany heavy intoxication, i.e. the alcoholic “blackout” (6,7,22) and the fragmentary absence of recall of events during drinking which has been described as a dissociative state (8,12,13,20,27). The mechanisms accounting for these alcohol-induced memory impairments are unknown. Degree of intoxication does not reliably predict the onset of the profound memory loss described as the alcoholic blackout and comparable reports of hours or days of amnesia are a less prominent feature of heroin and barbiturate intoxication.
Deep Learning, Neural Networks

Deep learning is a special branch of machine learning using a collage of algorithms to model high-level data motifs. Deep learning resembles the biological communications of systems of brain neurons in the central nervous system (CNS), where synthetic graphs represent the CNS network as nodes/states and connections/edges between them. For instance, in a simple synthetic network consisting of a pair of connected nodes, an output sent by one node is received by the other as an input signal. When more nodes are present in the network, they may be arranged in multiple levels (like a multiscale object) where the ith layer output serves as the input of the next (i + 1)st layer. The signal is manipulated at each layer, sent as a layer output downstream, interpreted as an input to the next, (i + 1)st layer, and so forth. Deep learning relies on multipler layers of nodes and many edges linking the nodes forming input/output (I/O) layered grids representing a multiscale processing network. At each layer, linear and non-linear transformations are converting inputs into outputs.
OpenMP and MPI implementations of an elasto-viscoplastic fast Fourier transform-based micromechanical solver for fast crystal plasticity modeling

Abstract We explore several parallel implementations of an elasto-viscoplastic fast Fourier transform (EVPFFT) model using Message Passing Interface (MPI), OpenMP, and a hybrid of MPI and OpenMP to efficiently predict micromechanical response of polycrystals. Performance studies using EVPFFT are performed based on domain decomposition over voxels of a periodic cell, which is a representative volume element (RVE) of polycrystalline copper. We begin by parallelizing the computationally intensive Newton–Raphson (NR) single crystal solver within EVPFFT. Next, we compare the performance of the serial and parallel FFTW (Fastest Fourier Transform in the West) using OpenMP (OpenMP-FFTW) and MPI (MPI-FFTW) with the original Numerical Recipes-based FOURN routine within EVPFFT. In the parallel environment, we find that the FFT calculations are best performed using the MPI version of FFTW. Finally, the remainder of the code, except read/write subroutines, is parallelized. Significant speedups of the original EVPFFT model are achieved using MPI on shared memory multicore workstations. Furthermore, results achieved on a distributed memory Cray supercomputer show promising strong and weak scalability and in some cases even super scalability for the single crystal NR solver in EVPFFT. MPI-FFTW also scales perfectly for microstructure RVEs larger than 643 FFT voxels. For example, the MPI-EVPFFT parallel version of the code accelerates the simulations for approximately two orders of magnitude using 64 cores over the old serial code for an RVE size of 1283. The parallel EVPFFT code developed in this work can run massive voxel-based microstructural RVEs taking the advantages of thousands of logical cores provided by more advanced clusters.
Diabetes Mellitus: Preoperative Concerns and Evaluation

Diabetes is an important cause of morbidity in the adult population resulting in blindness, renal dysfunction, cardiovascular events, and amputation. Such morbidities may have an impact on perioperative anesthetic care and outcomes. In this review, the authors discuss the preoperative considerations in managing patients with diabetes as well as those without diabetes albeit hyperglycemic. They propose a plan for managing preoperative diabetes pharmacotherapy, including the use of a subcutaneous insulin pump to avoid both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The authors also discuss the decision whether to proceed or cancel surgery for a given hemoglobin A1c percentage or blood glucose concentration.
Reciprocal Buying of Intermeidate Goods among Vertically Integrated Firms: The case of Cable TV Industry

Using a dataset of carriage decisions by 943 cable systems for 22 start-up basic cable networks, this study tests the reciprocal carriage hypothesis: the theory that multiple cable television system operators (MSOs) tacitly collude to carry each others' vertically integrated cable networks. The research supports the reciprocal carriage hypothesis by finding that: (1) A vertically integrated MSO is more likely than a non-vertically integrated MSO to carry the start-up basic cable networks of other MSOs; and, (2) a vertically integrated MSO is no more likely than a non-vertically integrated MSO to carry independent start-up basic cable networks. These results make credible an underlying premise of a 30 percent national market share limit that the Federal Communication Commission established in 1993: namely, that MSOs may tacitly collude in their carriage decisions, having the effect of restricting market access to startup cable networks in which those MSOs have no ownership interest. The study suggests the difficulty of the entry and growth of non-vertically integrated independent start-up cable networks. More generally, this study suggests circumstances under which vertically integrated firms may tacitly collude to reciprocally buy each others' intermediate goods.
Corporate risk-taking after adoption of compensation clawback provisions

The adoption of clawbacks purports to mitigate harmful behavior to firms’ operation, including excessive corporate risk-taking at the expense of investors’ interests and firms’ long-term benefits. This study empirically examines whether corporate risk-taking declines after the adoption of clawback provisions in the compensation contracts of top executives in publicly traded US firms. Using a sample of clawback adopters and non-adopters in the Russell 3000 Index firms during the period 2005–2014, we find that the presence of clawback provisions is significantly associated with a lower level of corporate risk-taking as reflected by firms’ investment strategies and their capital structure. Additional analyses suggest that this association is stronger for small firms and for firms audited by Big 4 auditors. Robustness checks of using alternative measures for corporate risk-taking, controlling for the occurrence of financial restatements, board independence, and internal control quality, and employing a propensity matching score matching sample further support the main results. Overall, the results of this study indicate more conservative corporate risk-taking behavior after the adoption of clawbacks.
Mental Health Issues Within Latinx Populations: Evaluating the State of the Field

Despite chronic exposure to social stressors that are known to undermine health, the Latinx population within the USA is healthier than the non-Latinx White population on most indicators of mental health. However, Latinx children and youth who were born and/or raised in the USA amid a culture of anti-immigrant sentiment, racial/ethnic discrimination, and socioeconomic disadvantage are in a context that increases the risk for depression and maladaptive behaviors. In this chapter, we examine mental health within the Latinx population by summarizing extant epidemiologic data and highlighting theoretical models that are applied to the study of Latinx mental health. We also explore how culture shapes mental health outcomes and mental health disparities related to national origin and immigrant status. We conclude with a discussion of a key mental health issue, adolescent depression, through a systems dynamics approach to illustrate potential future directions.
Dimeric boroles: effective sources of monomeric boroles for heterocycle synthesis

Monomeric boroles have been gaining attention as reagents for the synthesis of heterocycles due to their ability to insert atoms into the BC4 ring in a single step. Although unique boron frameworks can be accessed via this methodology, the products feature aryl substitution on the carbon centers as steric bulk is required to preclude borole dimerization. This work demonstrates that insertion chemistry is possible with Diels-Alder dimeric boroles and that such reactivity is not exclusive to monomeric boroles with bulky groups. With 1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetramethylborole dimer, the formal 1,1-insertion of a nitrene and sulfur generate the six-membered aromatic 1,2-azaborine and 1,2-thiaborine, respectively. The isolation of the 1,2-thiaborine enabled the synthesis of an η6-chromium complex. Benzophenone and diphenylketene readily insert a CO unit to generate BOC5 seven-membered rings confirming dimeric boroles can serve as monomeric synthons in 1,2-insertion reactions. An epoxide did not furnish the anticipated eight-membered BOC6 ring, instead provided a bicyclic system with a BOC3 ring. The insertion chemistry was demonstrated with two other borole dimers featuring different substitution with diphenylketene as a substrate. This work elevates borole insertion chemistry to a new level to access products that do not require bulky substitution.
One is the loneliest number: factors that affect depression in homebound adults

Date Presented 04/04/19 As the number of homebound adults increases, depression among this population is doubling to tripling. This study found significant correlation between loneliness and depression. Loneliness was correlated to limited visitors and decreased meaningful activities. OTs can impact this population through using the occupational profile to determine ways to increase meaningfulness in activities or serve as advisors to local agencies to determine ways to decrease loneliness and social isolation. Primary Author and Speaker: Alissia Garabrant
Factors influencing plasma ascorbic acid levels of pregnant women. I. Predicting second and third trimester levels.

Is it possible to identify factors which are highly associated with the change in plasma ascorbic acid levels of pregnant women following dietary instruction? That is, are there variables which may indicate the relative ability to make a positive change in intake of the vitamin?
Learning goals mitigate identity threat for Black individuals in threatening interracial interactions.

OBJECTIVE Interactions between members of different racial and ethnic groups are often stressful. These interactions are stressful, in part, because they contribute to social identity threat-the fear of being judged or treated negatively based on one's social group membership. Previous work separately suggests that the diversity of an interaction partner's friendship network and the goals that people set for themselves influence social identity threat. Bringing these two bodies of work together, the present research examines whether adopting a learning (vs. performance) goal mitigates identity threat for Black people anticipating an interaction with a White partner who had a racially homogenous (vs. diverse) friendship network (a context previously shown to arouse identity threat). METHOD Two experimental studies (N = 310) were conducted. Black adults (Mage = 29.66, 64% women) primed with either a performance or learning goal anticipated an interaction with a White partner who had either a racially diverse (Study 1) or racially homogenous (Studies 1 and 2) friendship network. After, we assessed participants' social identity threat and anticipated interaction experiences. RESULTS Black adults primed with learning (vs. performance) goals expected to be perceived more positively by their interaction partner and expected to have more positive interaction experiences when they anticipated an interaction with a White partner who had a racially homogenous network of friends. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that learning goals can mitigate threat among Black individuals within an otherwise identity-threatening interaction context, thus opening the door for positive interracial contact in the future even in the context of challenging interracial interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Simultaneous optimization of build orientation and topology for additive manufacturing

Abstract The paper presents a method to optimize build orientation and topological layout simultaneously in density-based topology optimization for additive manufacturing. Support structures are required in additive manufacturing of parts of complex shape. To eliminate or reduce support structures during the additive processes, we constrain the lower bound of the overhang angle of the optimized design. In this method, the build orientation and the density field used to represent the part are simultaneously optimized to satisfy the overhang angle constraints for part self-support. While these angle constraints are locally defined on every material point over the design domain, they are transformed into two global constraints through the Heaviside projection-based aggregations. The first directional gradient based global constraint controls the overhang angle of the solid/void interface inside the design domain to eliminate the internal supports. The second density-based global constraint controls the angle of the design domain boundary to reduce the external supports. Numerical examples on both 2D and 3D linear elastic problems are presented to demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed formulations in the build orientation optimization and in the overhang angle control.
Nistagmo infantil: uma condição inócua ou algo mais? A propósito de um caso clínico

Introducao: O nistagmo infantil pode ou nao estar associado a alteracoes visuais e/ou neurologicas e constitui uma entidade incomum e pouco observada na pratica clinica em medicina geral e familiar. Procurou-se, assim, perceber como deve o medico de familia atuar perante esta condicao. Descricao do caso: Descreve-se o caso de um lactente sem antecedentes pessoais ou familiares de relevo, tendo o medico de familia, na consulta de vigilância de saude infantil e juvenil dos quatro meses, identificado a presenca de um nistagmo bilateral, conjugado, simetrico, horizontal e continuo. Com a rapida orientacao para a consulta de oftalmologia e neurologia pediatricas foi possivel excluir a existencia de patologia neurologica concomitante. A crianca manteve seguimento no oftalmologista e no medico de familia, com vigilância da sua evolucao, de acordo com as recomendacoes atuais. Comentario: Este caso clinico demonstra a importância de uma avaliacao global e sistematizada das criancas na consulta de saude infantil e juvenil. Um exame objetivo completo nao deve ser descurado, evitando suposicoes precipitadas. Reforca ainda a necessidade de uma avaliacao oftalmologica adequada, particularmente nos primeiros meses de vida – quando a forma infantil do nistagmo habitualmente se manifesta –, bem como a importância de uma investigacao adicional perante esta condicao. Embora muitos destes casos ocorram de forma isolada, a maioria parece estar associada a defeitos visuais, tendo o medico de familia um papel primordial na identificacao, encaminhamento e acompanhamento destas criancas, devendo estar atento a eventuais perturbacoes no seu desenvolvimento e socializacao, bem como a consequencias na dinâmica e estabilidade familiar.
Transient activation of tumoral DNA damage tolerance pathway coupled with immune checkpoint blockade exerts durable tumor regression in mouse melanoma

Major advances in cancer therapy rely on engagement of the patient's immune system and suppression of mechanisms that impede the antitumor immune response. Among the most notable is immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy that releases immune cells from suppression. Although ICB has had significant success particularly in melanoma, it eradicates tumors in subsets of patients and sequencing data across different cancers suggest that tumors with high mutational loads are more likely to respond to ICB. This is consistent with the premise that greater tumoral mutational loads contribute to formation of neoantigens that spur the body's antitumor immune response. Prompted by strong evidence supporting the therapeutic benefits of neoantigens in the context of ICB, we have developed a mouse melanoma combination treatment, where intratumoral administration of DNA-damaging drug transiently activates intrinsic mutagenic DNA damage tolerance pathway and improves success rates of ICB. Using the YUMM1.7 cells melanoma model, we demonstrate that intratumoral delivery of cisplatin activates translesion synthesis DNA polymerases-catalyzed DNA synthesis on damaged DNA, which when coupled with ICB regimen, elicits durable tumor regression. We expect that this new combination protocol affords insights with clinical relevance that will help expand the range of patients who benefit from ICB therapy.
Reporting of sexually transmitted infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social distancing guidelines and resource reallocation during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to significant disruption of sexual health clinics within the USA.1 Little is known about how this disruption has impacted STI reporting. To understand this, we analysed the number of reported cases of STIs within the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports cases of selected infectious diseases as provisional data made available throughout the year by MMWR week, an approximation of calendar week used for reporting.2 For the first 40 weeks of 2019 and 2020, we compiled weekly counts and year-to-date counts of provisional cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis. Reporting was also examined relative to national cases of COVID-19 (see figure 1).3 Figure 1 Reporting of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis during the COVID-19 pandemic. aMoving 3-week average of provisional case counts of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis as reported by the …
Chiral symmetry in SU(Nc) gauge theories at high density

SU(Nc) lattice gauge theories with Nf flavors of massless staggered fermions are studied in the presence of quark chemical potential μ. A recent exact result that in the strong coupling limit (vanishing inverse gauge coupling β) and for sufficiently large μ the theory is in a chiral symmetric phase is here extended into the finite gauge coupling region. These and similar results are obtained by means of a cluster expansion which combines a fermion spacelike hopping expansion and a strong coupling plaquette expansion. The cluster expansion is shown to converge for sufficiently large μ and small β at any temperature T. All expectations of chirally noninvariant local fermion operators vanish identically, or, equivalently, their correlations cluster exponentially within the expansion. This implies the absence of spontaneous breaking of (any part of) the global chiral symmetries in the theory. The resulting phase at low T may be described as a "quarkyonic" matter phase. There is thus absence of any superfluidity or color superconductivity in this strong coupling regime. Implications for the phase diagram of SU(Nc) theories in the region of large chemical potential are discussed.
Extended depth-of-field in holographic imaging using deep-learning-based autofocusing and phase recovery

Holography encodes the three-dimensional (3D) information of a sample in the form of an intensity-only recording. However, to decode the original sample image from its hologram(s), autofocusing and phase recovery are needed, which are in general cumbersome and time-consuming to perform digitally. Here we demonstrate a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based approach that simultaneously performs autofocusing and phase recovery to significantly extend the depth of field (DOF) and the reconstruction speed in holographic imaging. For this, a CNN is trained by using pairs of randomly defocused back-propagated holograms and their corresponding in-focus phase-recovered images. After this training phase, the CNN takes a single back-propagated hologram of a 3D sample as input to rapidly achieve phase recovery and reconstruct an in-focus image of the sample over a significantly extended DOF. This deep-learning-based DOF extension method is non-iterative and significantly improves the algorithm time complexity of holographic image reconstruction from O(nm) to O(1), where n refers to the number of individual object points or particles within the sample volume, and m represents the focusing search space within which each object point or particle needs to be individually focused. These results highlight some of the unique opportunities created by data-enabled statistical image reconstruction methods powered by machine learning, and we believe that the presented approach can be broadly applicable to computationally extend the DOF of other imaging modalities.
RNA-sequencing indicates immune cell signaling and inflammatory gene expression in cardiac fibroblasts increases with developmental age

Abstract Background Cardiac fibroblasts are responsible for extracellular matrix turnover and repair in the cardiac environment and serve to help facilitate immune responses. However, it is well established that they have significant phenotypic heterogeneity with respect to location, physiological conditions, and developmental age. The goal of this study was to provide an in-depth transcriptomic profile of cardiac fibroblasts derived from rat hearts at fetal, neonatal, and adult developmental ages to ascertain variations in gene expression that may drive functional differences in these cells at these specific stages of development. Results We performed RNA-seq of cardiac fibroblasts isolated from fetal, neonatal, and adult rats was performed and compared to the rat genome. Principal component analysis of RNA-seq data suggested data variance was predominantly due to developmental age. Differential expression and Gene set enrichment analysis against Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes datasets indicated an array of differences across developmental ages, including significant decreases in cardiac development and cardiac function-associated genes with age, and a significant increase in immune and inflammatory-associated functions - particularly immune cell signaling, and cytokine and chemokine production - with respect to increasing developmental age. Conclusion These results reinforce established evidence of diverse phenotypic heterogeneity of fibroblasts with respect to developmental age. Further, based on our analysis of gene expression, age-specific alterations in cardiac fibroblasts may play a crucial role in observed differences in cardiac inflammation and immune response observed across developmental ages.
Estimating Lung Capacity in Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients via Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan Data and Machine Learning

Pulmonary fibrosis affects 1 in 200 Americans. Current diagnosis methods include spirometry testing that can be difficult for patients with debilitated lung diseases. Often, CT Scans are done on patients as part of the diagnostic test panel. This paper aims to use the non-invasive CT scans of a patient to determine the lung capacity (and forced vital capacity) without the patient needing to do a spirometry test.This paper looked at 172 patients with associated CT scans and spirometry lung capacity results. Using the Hounsfield Units to identify the lung tissue, training images were produced to train machine learning models. The results of the machine learning models indicate that the Hounsfield Units were not an adequate method for determining lung tissue and lung capacity in CT scan images. The reliability and accuracy of spirometry tests were also discussed.
Unreasonable Exemptions: Analyzing the Agricultural Worker Exemptions to Workers’ Compensation Laws in Light of Rodriguez v. Brand West Dairy

This Note focuses on the role of the farm labor exemptions with a specific emphasis on the now-reformed New Mexico system. However, in each state mentioned, farm labor is exempt from the requirements to incorporate themselves under the workers' compensation code; a farmer may elect to retain workers' compensation insurance if they so choose. Though the option for election may exist, the focus of this discussion is on the exemption itself, both in practice and in theory, and not necessarily on those farms that exist at the margin that elect to provide such protective coverage.
Chapter 18 – Landsteiner-Wiener blood group system

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the Landsteiner–Wiener (LW) blood group system. The terminology, expression, database accession numbers, and the carrier molecule related to the LW blood group system are also reviewed. LW was found as an independent blood group system in 1963 and was named after Landsteiner and Wiener who made anti-LW in rabbits and guinea pigs after immunizing them with blood from Macacus rhesus. In 1982, it became a three-antigen system. The LW1, LW2, LW3, and LW4 terminology was changed when it was realized that anti-Nea (anti-LWb) detects an antigen antithetical to that recognized by anti-LW made by LW3 people. The function and disease association of the LW blood group system is also discussed. The LW glycoprotein is an intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-4) and a ligand for integrins. LW has 30% sequence identity with other ICAMs. LW antigens may be depressed during pregnancy and some diseases, for example, Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma, leukemia and sarcoma. Autoanti-LW is common in patients with warm AIHA.
Speed of retaliation and international cooperation

Many international interactions are structured like a prisoner’s dilemma because there are incentives to cooperate but also incentives to defect. In an infinitely repeated prisoner dilemma interaction, valuing the future highly enough by discounting the future less can ensure cooperation. Another factor that affects international cooperation in an infinitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma interaction is how quickly actors can respond to defection with retaliation, in other words, the speed of retaliation. Speeding up retaliation to ensure cooperation is an attractive strategy because it is flexible. It can be adapted to the particular characteristics of a dyad of cooperation and can vary with different actors and even different forms of cooperation between the same two actors. An analysis of an infinitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma interaction shows that if speeding up retaliation is costless, payoffs are constant in time, and the temptation payoff is reduced in proportion to the speed-up of retaliation, th...
Formation of the radio jet in M87 at 100 Schwarzschild radii from the central black hole

Massive galaxies often are the source of well collimated jets of material that flow outwards for tens to hundreds of kiloparsecs from the regions surrounding the presumed black holes at their centres. The processes by which the jets are formed and collimated have been important problems for many years1, and observations have hitherto had insufficient spatial resolution to investigate the length scales associated with these processes2,3. Here we report observations at 43 GHz of the inner regions of the nearby active galaxy M87. The data show a remarkably broad jet having an ‘opening angle’ of ∼60° near the centre, with strong collimation of the jet occurring at ∼30–100 Schwarzschild radii (rS) from the black hole: collimation continues out to ∼1,000 rS. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that jets are formed by an accretion disk around the central black hole, which is threaded by a magnetic field4.
A solder self-assembled torsional micromirror array

Although numerous single micromirror designs have been demonstrated in the literature, some applications require a mirror array with the individual mirrors integrated into a single frame. This approach helps provide uniform device performance by keeping the mirror-electrode alignment and gap height constant across the array. It also provides a high optical fill-factor, which is necessary when a high power laser is distributed over an array to reduce the power incident on each mirror. Here, just such a novel, foundry fabricated, solder self-assembled micromirror array is presented.
The Tragedy of Unemployment

The world faces an unemployment crisis. Across the globe, an estimated 210 million people are unemployed, an increase of more than 30 million since 2007. The problem is particularly severe in the United State - the epicenter of the Great Recession and the country with the highest increase in the number of unemployed people. The article presents evidence on the extent to which this increase is cyclical or structural. But regardless of the source, unemployment exerts a heavy human toll and calls for a decisive policy response.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act & Government Contractors: Compliance Trends & Collateral Consequences

As Government contractors expand their business overseas, they expose themselves to the risk of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the high sanctions that accompany those violations. Given the nature of a Government contractor’s business, they are naturally at greater risk of violating the FCPA than those companies that do not interact with Government officials on a regular basis. This article begins by providing an overview of the FCPA and a review of recent FCPA enforcement trends, and then considers the collateral consequences of a violation of the FCPA by Government contractors. In addition to fines, penalties, and possible incarceration, Government contractors have additional concerns, including the risk of suspension or debarment from the U.S. procurement regime. Exclusion from contracting with foreign governments and international organizations, including the World Bank and EU member states, is also an increasing risk. This article is an essential primer for any Government contractor that may be exposed to FCPA liability and seeks to avoid or limit the potential collateral consequences.
Climate change impacts on overstory Desmarestia spp. from the western Antarctic Peninsula

This study examines climate change impacts (increased temperature and pCO2) on canopy-forming Desmarestia anceps and D. menziesii from the western Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer–winter of 2013. These are ecologically important species that play a role functionally equivalent to kelp forests in this region. Two-way factorial microcosm experiments with treatments reflecting near-future ocean conditions were run with these species and include increased temperature alone (3.5 °C × pH 8.0), reduced pH alone (1.5 °C × pH 7.6), and both factors combined (3.5 °C × pH 7.6). Phlorotannin concentration, chlorophyll a concentration, growth, and photosynthetic parameters (slope to saturation of photo centers (α), saturating irradiance (Ek), maximum electron transport rate (ETRmax), and maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm)) were used to assess the physiological responses of the individuals to the different climate change treatments. Few significant impacts were observed: In D. menziesii,Ek at the midpoint (after 39 days) was significantly higher in the 3.5 °C × pH 7.6 treatment and phlorotannin concentration was significantly higher in the 1.5 °C × pH 7.6 treatment than others at the end point of the experiment (79 days). All individuals in the experiment grew quickly through the midpoint, but growth declined thereafter. The photosynthetic apparatus of these species acclimated to microcosm conditions, and photo-physiological parameters changed between initial, midpoint, and end point measurements. Results indicate that D. menziesii is the more sensitive of the two species and that climate change factors can have a synergistic effect on this species. However, neither species responds negatively to climate change factors at the level of change used in this study, though the observed shifts in phlorotannin concentration and photosynthetic characteristics may have an unforeseen impact on the community dynamics in this geographic area.
Market share of imported cars: A model of geographic and demographic determinants

Abstract This study models the market penetration of imported cars using two diverse data bases, 1975 State aggregates and 1978 individual households, using both linear and nonlinear estimation techniques. All of the major results replicate across the different data bases and the different estimation techniques. A model of import market shares is obviously of interest in its own right, and it is also of interest for what it says about the reasons why people buy small, fuel efficient cars in general, whether they are imported or domestic. The major explanatory factors found are proximity to the east or west coast, and a variety of family characteristics, principally education and number of vehicles owned; all of which exert a positive influence on the probability of buying an imported car. After exploration of a number of alternative explanations, it is tentatively concluded that the coastal-nearness variables are acting as proxies for the variation in manufacturer's marketing effort between states.
Structural and functional studies of the Rap1 C-terminus reveal novel separation-of-function mutants

The yeast Rap1 protein plays an important role in transcriptional silencing and in telomere length homeostasis. Rap1 mediates silencing at the HM loci and at telomeres by recruiting the Sir3 and Sir4 proteins to chromatin via a Rap1 C-terminal domain, which also recruits the telomere length regulators, Rif1 and Rif2. We report the 1.85 A resolution crystal structure of the Rap1 C-terminus, which adopts an all-helical fold with no structural homologues. The structure was used to engineer surface mutations in Rap1, and the effects of these mutations on silencing and telomere length regulation were assayed in vivo. Our surprising finding was that there is no overlap between mutations affecting mating-type and telomeric silencing, suggesting that Rap1 plays distinct roles in silencing at the silent mating-type loci and telomeres. We also found novel Rap1 phenotypes and new separation-of-function mutants, which provide new tools for studying Rap1 function. Yeast two-hybrid studies were used to determine how specific mutations affect recruitment of Sir3, Rif1, and Rif2. A comparison of the yeast two-hybrid and functional data reveals patterns of protein interactions that correlate with each Rap1 phenotype. We find that Sir3 interactions are important for telomeric silencing, but not mating type silencing, and that Rif1 and Rif2 interactions are important in different subsets of telomeric length mutants. Our results show that the role of Rap1 in silencing differs between the HM loci and the telomeres and offer insight into the interplay between HM silencing, telomeric silencing, and telomere length regulation. These findings suggest a model in which competition and multiple recruitment events modulate silencing and telomere length regulation.
Obesity-associated hypertension. Hyperinsulinemia and renal mechanisms.

Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance have been postulated to link obesity and hypertension. Evidence supporting this concept derives mainly from epidemiological studies showing a correlation between insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and blood pressure and from short-term studies suggesting that insulin has renal and cardiovascular actions that, if sustained, could elevate blood pressure. However, a cause-and-effect relation between insulin and hypertension has not been clearly established. Recent studies indicate that chronic hyperinsulinemia, similar to that found in obese hypertensive patients, did not raise blood pressure in normal dogs, even when renal excretory capability was reduced by prior removal of kidney mass. Chronic insulin infusion also failed to elevate blood pressure in dogs maintained on a high sodium intake and did not potentiate the long-term blood pressure responses to angiotensin II or norepinephrine. The presence or absence of insulin resistance may not be a major factor in determining the blood pressure response to hyperinsulinemia since chronic insulin infusion also failed to cause hypertension in obese, insulin-resistant dogs. Although hyperinsulinemia causes transient sodium retention, sustained decreases in renal excretory capability sufficient to cause chronic hypertension did not occur in dogs. In rats, insulin infusion causes small increases in blood pressure, although several characteristics of the hypertension (e.g., salt-sensitivity) differ from those observed in obese human hypertensive patients. Whether humans more closely resemble dogs or rats with respect to their long-term cardiovascular responses to insulin remains to be determined. However, very high insulin levels in humans with insulinoma do not cause hypertension, and several studies suggest that there is only a weak correlation between plasma insulin concentration and blood pressure in normal humans. Therefore, additional factors besides hyperinsulinemia per se may be responsible for a major component of obesity-associated hypertension.
Convergent Calculation of Nonleptonic K Decay in the Intermediate-Boson Model

The nonleptonic decay amplitudes of the $K$ mesons are calculated using current algebra and the spectral-function sum rules. The result is convergent in the intermediate-boson model, but not for a direct current-current interaction. Comparison with the observed rate for ${{K}_{1}}^{0}$ decay shows that the intermediate-boson mass is about 8 BeV.
Functional correlates of Na+,K+-ATPase in lean and obese (ObOb) mice☆

Concentrations of Na+,K+-ATPase enzyme units are lower in skeletal muscle and liver of adult obese (obob) mice than in their lean counterparts. The present studies were designed to provide information on functional correlates of Na+,K+-ATPase in obob mice. Obese mice had lower potassium (K+) content in muscle and liver and higher sodium (Na+) content in muscle than lean counterparts. The calculated intracellular Na+K+ ratio in muscle of obese mice was approximately twice as high as in muscle of lean mice. Oxygen consumption was measured in mice maintained at 14°, 25°, or 33° for 40 min and injected with 0.3 or 0.9 μg ouabain per g body weight. Ouabain, a specific inhibitor of Na+,K+-ATPase, decreased oxygen consumption less in obese mice (12%–25%) than in lean mice (19%–38%). These results suggest that Na+ pump activity may be reduced in obese mice.
Physical model for the latent heat of fusion

Abstract The atomic movement induced on melting has to overcome a viscous drag resistance. It is suggested that the latent heat of fusion supplies the required energy for this physical process. The viscosity model introduced here allows computation of the latent heat from viscosity, molar volume, melting temperature, and atomic mass and diameter. The correlation between these parameters and the latent heat was calculated for monoatomic melts formed from body and face centered cubic structure. The correlation coefficients are 0.97 and 0.95 respectively.
Effect of deposition angle on fiber axis tilt in sputtered aluminum nitride and pure metal films

Abstract We show that the fiber axis orientation in sputtered aluminum nitride (AlN) responds strongly to deposition angle as compared with pure metal films. Fiber axis tilt was measured in films deposited at angles from 0° to 68° from the substrate normal. For pure metal films of Al and Ag, the strong (111) texture has a fiber axis tilt of c -axis texture responds strongly to the deposition direction, with the fiber axis tilt almost following the deposition angle.
Linearization modeling for non-smooth dynamical systems with approximated scalar sign function

Traditionally, one typical way to deal with the sign function constrained non-smooth system is to divide the state space into two or more subspaces based on the direction of sign function. The resulting piecewise model is with complicated structure, leading to the difficulty in controller design as well as stability analysis. In this paper, an innovative concept of approximated scalar sign function is introduced. Through the proposed methodology, the non-smooth dynamical system model can be transformed into a universal and smooth model. Thus, the following optimal linearization can be applied to obtain the local linear model at any operating point. Finally, two illustrative examples, representing hysteresis and friction, respectively, are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Igneous microstructures from kinetic models of crystallization

During crystallization, a variety of competing kinetic processes determine the evolution of the igneous microstructure, yet, the relative contribution of each process remains elusive. To this end, a stochastic algorithm is developed to yield a detailed spatial representation of the igneous microstructure during progressive crystallization. This algorithm is used to test a variety of kinetic models for nucleation and crystal growth that yield realistic igneous microstructures. The algorithm itself relies on a theoretical model of crystallization (the Avrami method) and can therefore be internally validated in addition to being verified against natural microstructures using crystal size distributions (CSDs). The most realistic simulated igneous microstructure, in which the CSDs remain approximately log-linear throughout the crystallization interval, is produced using a kinetic model involving exponential nucleation rate and constant growth rate. An extension of the algorithm is used to simulate multiply saturated mineral growth, emulating basalt crystallization through simultaneous nucleation and growth of plagioclase and clinopyroxene. A fundamentally important feature of this procedure is the numerical production of detailed 3D representations of the microstructure that can be interrogated to study many physical and chemical processes. For example, the critical crystallinity necessary for the onset of a finite yield strength and the interstitial melt flow within the igneous microstructure depend on the percolation of the solid and melt phases, respectively. Bounds on the percolation thresholds, the critical crystallinity at which the phase of interest is connected or contiguous such that it extends across the full microstructure from one face to the opposite face, are determined for the simulated igneous microstructure and are comparable with previously published results for the percolation threshold of both the melt phase and solid network. The simulated igneous microstructure can also be used as input into other physical models to ascertain the physical properties of partially molten magmas that are otherwise difficult to estimate by experiment. In a real sense, these computed microstructures are equivalent to 3D microtomographic images of partially molten basalt within a solidification front.
Phase-Aware Remote Profiling

Recent advances in networking and embedded device technology have made the vision of ubiquitous computing a reality; users can access the Internet's vast offerings any-time and anywhere. Moreover, battery-powered devices such as personal digital assistants and web-enabled mobile phones have successfully emerged as new access points to the world's digital infrastructure. This ubiquity offers a new opportunity for software developers: users can now participate in the software development, optimization, and evolution process while they use their software. Such participation requires effective techniques for gathering profile information from remote, resource-constrained devices. Further, these techniques must be unobtrusive and transparent to the user; profiles must be gathered using minimal computation, communication, and power. Toward this end, we present a flexible hardware-software scheme for efficient remote profiling. We rely on the extraction of meta information from executing programs in the form of phases, and then use this information to guide intelligent online sampling and to manage the communication of those samples. Our results indicate that phase-based remote profiling can reduce the communication, computation, and energy consumption overheads by 50-75% over random and periodic sampling.
Use of atomic force microscopy in particle science and technology research

Abstract The atomic force microscopy, because of its unique features, can be used for a variety of applications and provides excellent research opportunities in the area of particulate science and technology. Most importantly, AFM is emerging as a major analytical tool for the characterization of interfacial behavior by measuring interparticle and intermolecular forces for a wide range of particulate and fibrous materials that are often encountered in mineral processing, ceramic processing, colloid and polymer science, and in biological systems. In this paper, the principles and applications of the AFM in the area of particulate processing are illustrated. Results from interparticle force measurements involved in selected systems are presented. Also, the application of AFM for the determination of the point of zero charge and for the characterization of polymer surfaces is discussed.