cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimal QoS-aware Sleep/Wake Scheduling for Time-Synchronized Sensor Networks

We study the sleep/wake scheduling problem in the context of clustered sensor networks. We conclude that the design of any sleep/wake scheduling algorithm must take into account the impact of the synchronization error. Our work includes two parts. In the first part, we show that there is an inherent tradeoff between energy consumption and message delivery performance (defined as the message capture probability in this work). We formulate an optimization problem to minimize the expected energy consumption, with the constraint that the message capture probability should be no less than a threshold. In the first part, we assume the threshold is already given. However, by investigating the unique structure of the problem, we transform the non-convex problem into a convex equivalent, and solve it using an efficient search method. In the second part, we remove the assumption that the capture probability threshold is already given, and study how to decide it to meet the quality of services (QoS) requirement of the application. We observe that in many sensor network applications, a group of sensors collaborate to perform common task(s). Therefore, the QoS is usually not decided by the performance of any individual node, but by the collective performance of all the related nodes. To achieve the collective performance with minimum energy consumption, intuitively we should provide differentiated services for the nodes and favor more important ones. We thus formulate an optimization problem, which aims to set the capture probability threshold for messages from each individual node such that the expected energy consumption is minimized, while the collective performance is guaranteed. The problem turns out to be non-convex and hard to solve exactly. Therefore, we use approximation techniques to obtain a suboptimal solution that approximates the optimum. Simulations show that our approximate solution significantly outperforms a scheme without differentiated treatment of the nodes.
Histomonas meleagridis and Capillarid Infection in a Captive Chukar (Alectoris chukar)

A female, adult, pen-raised chukar (Alectoris chukar) was submitted for postmortem examination. The main gross findings were severe emaciation, coelomic cavity and pericardial edema, and a large, sharply demarcated area of necrosis in the liver. Histologically, the liver lesions were characterized by areas of severe necrosis and inflammation containing numerous protozoal organisms morphologically consistent with Histomonas meleagridis. There was necrotizing typhlitis, with few histomonads and scant Heterakis spp. worms, in the cecum. Numerous aphasmid organisms, consistent with capillarids, were present in the crop and esophageal mucosa. Histomonas meleagridis was identified from frozen samples of liver by polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-1, 5.8S, and ITS-2 regions of the ribosomal RNA gene disclosed a 95% identity to a previously sequenced ITS-1, 5.8S, and ITS-2 region of H. meleagridis.
Are Convergent and Parallel Amino Acid Substitutions in Protein Evolution More Prevalent Than Neutral Expectations

Convergent and parallel amino acid substitutions in protein evolution, collectively referred to as molecular convergence here, have small probabilities under neutral evolution. For this reason, molecular convergence is commonly viewed as evidence for similar adaptations of different species. The surge in the number of reports of molecular convergence in the last decade raises the intriguing question of whether molecular convergence occurs substantially more frequently than expected under neutral evolution. We here address this question using all one-to-one orthologous proteins encoded by the genomes of 12 fruit fly species and those encoded by 17 mammals. We found that the expected amount of molecular convergence varies greatly depending on the specific neutral substitution model assumed at each amino acid site and that the observed amount of molecular convergence is explainable by neutral models incorporating site-specific information of acceptable amino acids. Interestingly, the total number of convergent and parallel substitutions between two lineages, relative to the neutral expectation, decreases with the genetic distance between the two lineages, regardless of the model used in computing the neutral expectation. We hypothesize that this trend results from differences in the amino acids acceptable at a given site among different clades of a phylogeny, due to prevalent epistasis, and provide simulation as well as empirical evidence for this hypothesis. Together, our study finds no genomic evidence for higher-than-neutral levels of molecular convergence, but suggests the presence of abundant epistasis that decreases the likelihood of molecular convergence between distantly related lineages.
Tetracycline-Associated Transcriptional Regulation of Transfer Genes of the Bacteroides Conjugative Transposon CTnDOT

Many human colonic Bacteroides spp. harbor a conjugative transposon, CTnDOT, which carries two antibiotic resistance genes, tetQ and ermF. A distinctive feature of CTnDOT is that its excision and transfer are stimulated by tetracycline. Regulation of the genes responsible for excision has been described previously. We provide here the first characterization of the regulation of CTnDOT transfer (tra) genes. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis of the region containing the tra genes showed that these genes are regulated at the transcriptional level. Surprisingly, increased production of tra gene mRNA in tetracycline-stimulated cells was mediated by the proteins encoded by the excision genes. Previous studies have shown that expression of the excision gene operon is controlled by the regulatory protein RteC. Accordingly, it was possible that RteC was also regulating tra gene expression and that the excision proteins were only accessory proteins. However, placing the excision gene operon under the control of a heterologous promoter showed that the excision proteins alone could activate tra gene expression and that RteC was not directly involved. We also found a second level of tra gene control. The transfer of CTnDOT was inhibited by a DNA segment that included only a portion of the 3′ end of one of the excision genes (exc). This segment contained a small open reading frame, rteR. By replacing the codons encoding the first two amino acids of the putative protein product of this open reading frame with stop codons, we showed that the rteR gene might encode a small regulatory RNA. RteR acted in trans to reduce the number of tra transcripts in a way that was independent of the excision proteins. The repressive effect of RteR was not the result of decreased stability of the tra mRNA. Instead, RteR appears to be modulating the level of tra gene expression in some more direct fashion. The complex regulatory system that controls and links the expression of CTnDOT excision and transfer genes may be designed to ensure stable maintenance of CTnDOT in nature by reducing the fitness toll it takes on the cell that harbors it.
Dynamics of multiple symbiont density regulation during host development: tsetse fly and its microbial flora

Symbiotic associations often enhance hosts' physiological capabilities, allowing them to expand into restricted terrains, thus leading to biological diversification. Stable maintenance of partners is essential for the overall biological system to succeed. The viviparous tsetse fly (Diptera: Glossinidae) offers an exceptional system to examine factors that influence the maintenance of multiple symbiotic organisms within a single eukaryotic host. This insect harbours three different symbionts representing diverse associations, coevolutionary histories and transmission modes. The enterics, obligate mutualist Wigglesworthia and beneficial Sodalis, are maternally transmitted to the intrauterine larvae, while parasitic Wolbachia infects the developing oocyte. In this study, the population dynamics of these three symbionts were examined through host development and during potentially disruptive events, including host immune challenge, the presence of third parties (such as African trypanosomes) and environmental perturbations (such as fluctuating humidity levels). While mutualistic partners exhibited well-regulated density profiles over different host developmental stages, parasitic Wolbachia infections varied in individual hosts. Host immune status and the presence of trypanosome infections did not impact the steady-state density levels observed for mutualistic microbes in either sex, while these factors resulted in an increase in Wolbachia density in males. Interestingly, perturbation of the maternal environment resulted in the deposition of progeny harbouring greater overall symbiont loads. The regulation of symbiont density, arising from coadaptive processes, may be an important mechanism driving inter-specific relations to ensure their competitive survival and to promote specialization of beneficial associations.
Knowledge differentially supports memory for nutrition information in later life

We examined the extent to which prior knowledge about nutrition moderates age differences in remembering newly learned nutrition information. Younger and older adults with varying levels of knowledge read an article on fats and cholesterol and then completed a memory task. Participants responded to statements that were—or were not—presented in the text, which enabled us to examine memory accuracy overall as well as hits and memory errors. Results showed age differences were present in the low-knowledge group but not in the high-knowledge group. Findings illustrate the importance of knowledge for older adults’ memory for health information.
The effect of functional knee-braces on strain on the anterior cruciate ligament in vivo.

Functional knee-braces are widely used to protect injured or reconstructed anterior cruciate ligaments, despite the fact that few scientific data support their efficacy. We studied seven functional braces, representative of both the typical custom-fit and off-the-shelf designs. The braces were tested on subjects who had a normal anterior cruciate ligament and were scheduled for arthroscopic meniscectomy or exploration of the knee under local anesthesia. After the operative procedure, a Hall-effect strain-transducer was applied to the anterior cruciate ligament. Under low anterior shear loads, two braces provided some protective strain-shielding effect compared with no brace, but this strain-shielding effect did not occur at the higher anterior shear loads expected during the high-stress activities common to athletic events. The DonJoy, Townsend, C.Ti., and Lenox Hill braces demonstrated a strain-shielding effect on the anterior cruciate ligament with an internal torque of five newton-meters applied to the tibia. None of the braces had any effect on strain on the anterior cruciate ligament during active range of motion of the knee from 10 to 120 degrees or during isometric contraction of the quadriceps. Wearing of a brace did not produce an increase in the value for strain on the anterior cruciate ligament. For the activities that were evaluated in this study, none of the braces produced adverse effects on the anterior cruciate ligament, and there were no significant differences in the strain on the anterior cruciate ligament between the use of a custom-fit or an off-the-shelf brace design. There were no apparent advantages of the more expensive custom-made braces compared with the off-the-shelf designs.
"More than I expected": perceived benefits of yoga practice among older adults at risk for cardiovascular disease.

Summary Objective This study was conducted with participants from trials examining the effects of an Iyengar yoga program on cardiovascular disease risk. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the perceived benefits of yoga in a population of older, predominantly overweight adults participating in a gentle 8-week yoga program. Design This study used a constructivist-interpretive approach to naturalistic inquiry. Setting A total of 42 participants completed the intervention and met the inclusion criteria for the current qualitative study. Intervention The 8-week Iyengar yoga program included two 90-min yoga classes and five 30-min home sessions per week. Participants completed weekly logs and an exit questionnaire at the end of the study. Main outcome measures Qualitative data from weekly logs and exit questionnaires were compiled and conventional content analysis performed with the use of ATLAS.ti to facilitate the process. Results Four broad themes emerged from content analysis: practicing yoga improved overall physical function and capacity (for 83% of participants); practicing yoga reduced stress/anxiety and enhanced calmness (83% of participants); practicing yoga enriched the quality of sleep (21% of participants); and practicing yoga supported efforts toward dietary improvements (14% of participants). Conclusions These results suggest that yoga may have ancillary benefits in terms of improved physical function, enhanced mental/emotional state, enriched sleep quality, and improved lifestyle choices, and may be useful as a health promotion strategy in the prevention and management of chronic disease.
Sensitivity analysis for nonsmooth generalized equations

Results pertaining to Lipschitzian and directional differentiability properties for solutions to generalized equations under very general perturbations are obtained with the aid of new differentiation concepts for multivalued maps.
The Role of Attachment in Perceived Support and the Stress and Coping Process

Sandy, a 43-year-old married mother of three, was recently diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer. Despite having had a radical mastectomy and 6 weeks of adjunctive radiation treatment, Sandy has maintained a positive mood. She attributes her good adjustment to her resolve to “beat the disease,” her commitment to follow all her physician’s recommendations, and a husband and friends who “have been there for her” when things were at their toughest.
Restoration of vaginal anatomy after extensive posterior wall resection utilizing human acellular dermal matrix.

A 51 year old female presented with a chief complaint of hematochezia, dyschezia, tenesmus and stool incontinence. She also reported a sixmonth history of constipation and pencil thin stools. A colonoscopy demonstrated a near-circumferential friable and bulky rectal mass 4–5 cm from the anal verge (Fig. 1). Biopsy of the mass revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma presumed to be of rectal origin. Computed tomography was significant for regional lymphadenopathy without evidence of vaginal involvement. The patient's past medical history was significant for stage IB2 squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix diagnosed in her early thirties. She was treated with external beam radiation and vaginal brachytherapy, resulting in mild vaginal stenosis. In her early forties, she developed stage I breast cancer and was treated with lumpectomy with adjuvant breast radiation plus hormonal therapy. Her past medical, surgical, social and family histories were otherwise noncontributory to her current condition. On physical examination she had a patulous anus with poor resting anal tone and an easily palpable rectal mass approximately 4 cm from the anus involving about 75% of the luminal circumference. Staging
Unexpected Social Benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous for Older Women

The authors interviewed older women in Alcoholics Anonymous to explore the participants' most beneficial and meaningful experiences in the program. Findings suggested that these women obtained unexpected social benefits from their participation. These benefits are examined through the framework of Carstensen's (1993) socioemotional selectivity theory.
Environmental characterization of a coffee processing workplace with obliterative bronchiolitis in former workers

ABSTRACTObliterative bronchiolitis in five former coffee processing employees at a single workplace prompted an exposure study of current workers. Exposure characterization was performed by observing processes, assessing the ventilation system and pressure relationships, analyzing headspace of flavoring samples, and collecting and analyzing personal breathing zone and area air samples for diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione vapors and total inhalable dust by work area and job title. Mean airborne concentrations were calculated using the minimum variance unbiased estimator of the arithmetic mean.Workers in the grinding/packaging area for unflavored coffee had the highest mean diacetyl exposures, with personal concentrations averaging 93 parts per billion (ppb). This area was under positive pressure with respect to flavored coffee production (mean personal diacetyl levels of 80 ppb). The 2,3-pentanedione exposures were highest in the flavoring room with mean personal exposures of 122 ppb, followed by exposures in...
Two Studies using Circular Variance for Protein Structure Characterization

Recent work, using a protein surface definition based partially on circular variance (a measure of angular spread) and a parameter-free definition of intermolecular contact quantified the propensities of all possible residue-residue contact pairs (M. Mezei, Algorithms, 8, 92-99 (2015)). The present work will show how this result can be used for enhancing the scoring of putative protein-protein interfaces; results will be shown using protein complexes not used in the study determinimg the propensities.The sphericity of a protein is customarily defined as the ratio of the molecular surface to the surface of a sphere that has the same volume. The drawback of this definition is the need of defining and measuring the surface of the protein. An alternative proposal (M. Mezei, J. Math. Chem., 53, 2184-2189 (2015) showed that sphericity can also be characterized by the comparison of the distribution of the circular variances of the vectors drown from each atom to the rest to the distribution of the same quantity calculated for points uniformly distributed in a sphere. Various ways of comparing the distributions will be discussed.
Private banks in early Michigan, 1837–1884

Using a comprehensive new data set on private (noncorporate) banks, we examine the business and business environment of private banking and exchange brokering in the state of Michigan from 1837 to the 1880s. The Michigan experience provides an example of the effect of widespread exchange brokers in an economy. We use econometric models to explain the determinants of the numbers of private banks in the state. We find that private banks were substitutes for locally issued state bank currency and were complements with adjacent states’ bank currency. With the demise of heterogeneous currencies, private banks transitioned their core business from exchange brokering to general banking. In both the antebellum and postbellum eras, private banks tended to exist when and where larger incorporated banks did not. Following the collapse of free banking in Michigan in the antebellum years, this was virtually the entire state. During the 1860s and 1870s, corporate banks used private banks as a root source to build on.
Fast Fourier transform-based analysis of renal masses on contrast-enhanced computed tomography images for grading of tumor

Purpose: Evaluate the feasibility of spectral analysis, particularly fast fourier transform (FFT), to help clinicians differentiate clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tumor grades using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) images of renal masses, quantitatively, and compare their performance to the Fuhrman grading system. Materials and Methods: Regions of interest of the whole lesion were manually segmented and co-registered from multiphase CT acquisitions of 95 patients with ccRCC. Here, FFT is employed to objectively quantify the texture of a tumor surface by evaluating tissue gray-level patterns and automatically measure frequency-based texture metrics. An independent t-test or a Wilcoxon rank sum test (depending on the data distribution) was used to determine if the spectral analysis metrics would produce statistically significant differences between the tumor grades. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the usefulness of spectral metrics in predicting the ccRCC grade. Results: The Wilcoxon test showed that there was a significant difference in complexity index between the different tumor grades, p < 0.01 at all the four phases of CECT acquisition. In all cases a positive correlation was observed between tumor grade and complexity index. ROC analysis revealed the importance of the entropy of FFT amplitude, FFT phase and complexity index and its ability to identify grade 1 and grade 4 tumors from the rest of the population. Conclusion: Our study suggests that FFT-based spectral metrics can differentiate between ccRCC grades, and in combination with other metrics improve patient management and prognosis of renal masses.
Examining the construct of organizational justice: A meta-analytic evaluation of relations with work attitudes and behaviors

The nomological net for the construct of organizational justice was investigated. The estimated true score correlation between procedural and distributive justice (N = 4,696, K = 16) was 0.66. The patterns of correlations of both procedural and distributive justice with job satisfaction, OCB, commitment, and productivity were also meta-analytically estimated. Procedural justice was associated to a greater extent than distributive justice with organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors and productivity. Distributive and procedural justice correlated similarly with job satisfaction. Partial correlations and variance reduction ratios suggested that relationships between distributive justice and work attitudes and behaviors were mostly mediated by procedural justice perceptions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Kajian Keragaman Genetik Isolat Ralstonia Solanacearum BIOVAR 3 Menggunakan Penanda REP-PCR

Study of DNA fingerprinting of genomic DNA of Australian Ralstonia solanacearum biovar 3 was characterized by a DNA BOX primer that correspond with repetitive sequence using PCR amplification (rep-PCR). Based on rep-PCR DNA profiles different band mobility were observed among Australian biovar 3. Most of isolates have shown common DNA amplification product at 600 bp. Cluster analysis to the DNA profiles showed two different DNA banding patterns that correlated with geographical origins of the isolates. Subgroup A correspond well with isolates from South Queensland/New South Wales, whilst subgroup B correspond with isolates from North Queensland origin.
Osteoporosis in Rheumatologic Conditions and Inflammatory Disorders

The concept of inflammation-induced bone loss among patients with rheumatic diseases has gained increasing attention in the medical community in recent years. Osteoporosis may begin with inflammation but joint pain, relative immobilization with increasing loss of function, and glucocorticoid therapy also contribute substantially to evolving bone loss. A number of rheumatologic conditions including systemic sclerosis are considered noninflammatory, yet individuals with this condition and others of a similar nature are also at increased risk of osteoporosis. In this chapter, the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and epidemiology of inflammatory and noninflammatory-induced osteoporosis will be discussed with respect to several rheumatologic disorders: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Management approaches, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic, will be considered.
The Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Intracranial Self-Stimulation

Intracranial self-stimulation remains enigmatic. There is one view that its demonstration lies at the heart of our understanding of the brain substrates of behavior, and there is another, but quite opposite view, that suggests that it is to be dismissed as an artifact, and cannot provide any meaningful insights. Regardless of viewpoint, it does seem refractory to study with the logical building-block approach used in a variety of scientific lines of research. Perhaps the problem is that one does not know the appropriate initiation point. As a consequence, a variety of investigators have begun at quite different starting points.
Building Security Forces & Stabilizing Nations: The Problem of Agency

After fifteen years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, many now see “small-footprint” security force assistance (SFA)–training, advising, and equipping allied militaries–as an alternative to large U.S...
Check point inhibitors a new era in renal cell carcinoma treatment.

In the United States, the estimated number of new cases of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is approximately 65,000 case with about 15,000 deaths in the year of 2018 (Siegel et al. in CA Cancer J Clin 68(1):7, 2018). RCC as an immunogenic malignancy is supported by many theories and facts which include tumor richness of lymphocytes infiltrate, the occurrence of spontaneous tumor regression, and the proved effect of traditional immunotherapy (Finke et al. in J Immunother 11(1):1-11, 1992), all these factors support the potential therapeutic effect of the novel immunotherapeutic agents in RCC. Historically, complete tumor regression in metastatic RCC is achievable in a minority of patients through traditional immunotherapies such as high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) (Fyfe et al. in J Clin Oncol 13(3):688, 1995) and interferon-alfa (IFNa) (Negrier et al. in N Engl J Med 338(18):1272, 1998); however due to the significant rate of toxicities and low efficacy; accordingly the targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and vascular endothelial growth factor-antibodies (VEGF) became the standard and prevalent treatment approach for advanced RCC both in front and subsequent lines of therapy (Escudier et al. in Ann Oncol. 25(Suppl 3):iii49-iii56, 2014). A new avenue of immunotherapy utilizing novel strategy to block immune checkpoints has emerged in a new era for RCC treatment (Ascierto et al. in J Transl Med 12:291, 2014). Results from clinical trials are encouraging in both front-line and second-line settings, in a phase III trial (CheckMate 025) nivolumab compared to everolimus improved overall survival in previously treated metastatic RCC who had progressed on prior treatment with targeting agents (Motzer et al. in N Engl J Med 373:1803, 2015). CheckMate 214, a phase III trial, demonstrated superior overall survival and objective response with combined checkpoint inhibitors compared to sunitinib in Treatment-Naive Advanced RCC among intermediate- and poor-risk group (Motzer et al. in N Engl J Med. 378(14):1277-1290, 2018). In this review, we discuss the systemic Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors that have been approved or are currently being investigated in RCC, clinical experience with these agents, and its future development.
Dietary selenate versus selenite for cattle, sheep, and horses.

Food and Drug Administration regulations currently permit addition of .3 mg of Se per kilogram of diet for chickens, turkeys, ducks, swine, sheep, and cattle. However, field reports indicate that this level may not be adequate for ruminants in all situations. Because sodium selenite is the most common supplemental form and is known to be readily absorbed to particles or reduced to insoluble elemental Se or selenides in acid, anaerobic environments, studies were conducted with dairy cattle, sheep, and horses fed sodium selenate to determine whether Se from this source was more bioavailable than Se from sodium selenite. A 2-wk period of no Se supplementation was followed by 49 or 56 d of Se supplementation at .3 mg/kg of dietary DM. Serum Se concentrations and glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) activities measured initially and periodically thereafter revealed no difference between Se forms in sheep and horses and only a small (P less than .05) advantage for selenate in supporting serum Se concentration in dairy cattle. Selenium concentrations in skeletal muscle and liver of sheep were not different between Se forms. Serum Se, but not GSHPx, increased with time, and .3 mg of supplemental Se per kilogram of dietary DM from either sodium selenate or sodium selenite supported normal serum Se concentrations in sheep, dairy cattle, and horses.
A New Phase Space Product for Light Beams of any State of Coherence

To date, many papers have been published which deal with the second-order moments of the spatial and angular intensity distributions of partially coherent beams [see, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14]. A possible choice for the appropriate phase-space product of a beam, which involves the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function, has been introduced and measured [2]. Later, the term M 2 quality factor for this product was coined by Siegman [3]. However, the beam cross-section in the source plane has been generally introduced in terms of a second-order moment of the intensity distribution [1, 2, 3, 4 8, 9, 10, 11]. Defined in this way, the cross-section does not depend on the coherence properties of the source. In order to examine the influence of the state of coherence of the source on the value of the phase-space product of the beam generated by the source, one has to define the effective cross-section and the effective angular spread so that these quantities contain information about both the intensity of the source and its coherence properties.
Optimization on Graphs and Networks

Natural gas is soon to be available in Scenic Valley (SV). There are 10 towns in the SV area. One town, Geyser Town (GT), contains the wellhead. The SV Gas Company (SVGC) has the task of designing a supply system so that there is a path of pipes from GT to every other town. The manager of SVGC wishes to lay the smallest amount of pipe possible. His team of engineers have drawn up Table 3.1 showing the length of pipe (in kilometers) required for a connection between each pair of towns. Connections at points other than towns are prohibited. This is shown in Fig. 3.1, based on a map of SV.
NEARLY OPTIMAL ROBUST SUBSPACE TRACKING: A UNIFIED APPROACH

In recently submitted work, we studied the robust subspace tracking (RST) problem and obtained one of the first two provable guarantees for it. The goal of RST is to track sequentially arriving data vectors that lie in a slowly changing low-dimensional subspace, while being robust to corruption by additive sparse outliers. It can also be interpreted as a dynamic (time-varying) extension of robust PCA (RPCA), with the minor difference that RST also requires a short tracking delay. We proposed a recursive projected compressive sensing (ReProCS) based algorithm called Nearly Optimal RST via Re-ProCS (ReProCS-NORST) because it could track a changing subspace with near-optimal delay. We proved that it solves both the RST and the dynamic RPCA problems under weakened standard RPCA assumptions, two simple extra assumptions (slow subspace change and most outlier magnitudes lower bounded), and a few minor statistical assumptions. In earlier work, we studied another ReProCS based algorithm that needed a stronger slow subspace change assumption (allowed only one subspace direction to change at each change time), but a weaker lower bound on outlier magnitudes. In this work, we prove a generalization of our earlier guarantee for NORST that includes both the previous guarantees as special cases.
Analysis and Output Voltage Control of a High-Efficiency Converter for DC Microgrids

Analytical evaluation and voltage control method of a cascaded step-up switched-capacitor converter (CSU–SCC) under zero current switching (ZCS) operation and continuous conduction mode is studied in this paper. The ZCS condition, which means operation below resonant frequency, makes the soft-switching operation of switching devices. Therefore, it increases the converter efficiency. In addition, due to operating in higher range of switching frequency, the size of proposed converter can be reduced (i.e., higher power density). Compared with the competitive topology of SCCs, it enables the output voltage regulation of the converter under ZCS. The proposed CSU–SCC provides a higher range of output voltage and power by proposing an exponential structure of an SCC. An analytical study is developed to calculate the output current and voltage characteristics of the converter. Based on the derived output voltage characteristic, a closed–loop voltage controller is proposed to regulate the output voltage of the CSU–SCC under different conditions. The simulation results for an input voltage 110 V-160 V and 500 W CSU–SCC converter verify the proposed analysis and the proposed voltage controller.
Late quaternary fluvial history of Santa Cruz Island, California, USA.

The geologic history of fluvial systems on Santa Cruz Island (SCI) is complex, involving responses to both allogenic and autogenic forcings. During periods of low or lowering sea level, canyons on the island were eroded and sediment was transported off the island onto the exposed marine shelf. When sea level rose, streams aggraded, building a sedimentary wedge that progressed from the shelf upstream into the canyons. This cycle of erosion and aggradation in response to glacial–interglacial sea-level cycles was likely repeated numerous times during the Quaternary, although clear evidence of only the most recent cycle is present in the island’s alluvial sequences. Christy, Sauces, and Pozo Canyons contain thick packages of fine-grained sediments that were deposited as a result of the interaction between autogenic depositional processes and allogenic forcing of continuous base-level rise. Other canyons on the island either have little alluvial fill due to their steep gradients or are filled with coarse-grained, recent (likely late Holocene) alluvium that covers the older alluvial deposits. Differences in the nature and extent of the alluvial exposures on SCI relative to those on neighboring Santa Rosa Island reflect differences in the local topography, geology, and ranching histories of the 2 islands.
Probabilistic Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Pavements Based on Simulation Optimization:

Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a way to evaluate the long-term cost effectiveness of different pavement designs or treatment actions. Owing to the existence of uncertainties, many probabilistic...
Low Angle Scanning Phased Arrays With Greater Than 50:1 Bandwidth

An Extremely Wideband (EWB) antenna array is presented that covers the entire UHF to C bands (0.13-7.63 GHz). The array has dual-linear polarization and is capable of wide-angle scanning. This array achieves an impressive 58:1 contiguous bandwidth at broadside and 42:1 bandwidth when scanning down to 60° in both E and H planes using a VSWR < 3 metric. In addition to building on the tightly coupled dipole array concept, the enabling novelty of this extremely wide bandwidth array is the use of a Frequency Selective Surface within the substrate that acts as a multistage narrowband notch filter to suppress periodic ground plane interference. Also, a highly improved impedance matching feed is employed. A 12×12 array prototype was fabricated and tested to verify the bandwidth and gain performance. The overall radiation efficiency was demonstrated to be 73% on average.
Delivery of bioactives using biocompatible nanodelivery technologies

Abstract Encapsulating bioactive compounds and drugs in polymeric nanoparticles is an effective technique for the targeted and timely delivery of these compounds, since the polymeric layers protect the bioactive compounds from the stomach’s harsh environment, and provide more controlled release profiles. This chapter summarizes recent studies on the fabrication of nanodelivery systems from natural origins, such as animal or plant-sourced proteins and carbohydrates, for the delivery of bioactives and drug compounds. Fundamental studies are also summarized and reviewed for comprehension of the thermodynamic mechanisms of nanoparticulation methods: nanoprecipitation, complex coacervation, and layer-by-layer assembly for spherical and tubular nanoparticle formations. Also detailed in this chapter are the effects of fabrication parameters (e.g., pH, temperature, zeta potentials, ionic strength, and the mass and molar ratios of polyelectrolytes and solvents) on particle size and morphology, encapsulation efficiency, particle stability, and release profiles.
Virtual mine design paradigm for underground mining

The paper specifies requirements necessary to develop a smart mine design system that could guide the engineer in the design process through the integration of various pieces of mining software with harmony with components and systems making up the mine. Its intent is to emulate the way the engineers perform complex design tasks. Its framework is structured as a 4D-fractal flowchart representing the virtual design process. This new design paradigm is an open proposition to re-engineer mine design software to address the future needs of the mining industry.
Mortality Trends of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in the United States From 2004 Through 2017.

Background The burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)-related mortality in the United States in recent years is not well characterized. Research Question What are the trends in IPF-related mortality rates in the United States from 2004 through 2017? Study Design and Methods We used the Multiple Cause of Death Database available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, which contains data from all deceased US residents. IPF-related deaths were identified using International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, codes. We examined annual trends in age-adjusted mortality rates stratified by age, sex, race, and state of residence. We also evaluated trends in place of death and underlying cause of death. Results From 2004 through 2017, the age-adjusted mortality decreased by 4.1% in men (from 75.5 deaths/1,000,000 in 2004 to 72.4 deaths/1,000,000 in 2017) and by 13.4% in women (from 46.3 deaths/1,000,000 in 2004 to 40.1 deaths/1,000,000 in 2017). This overall decrease was driven mainly by a decline in IPF-related mortality in patients younger than 85 years. The decreasing trend also was noted in all races except White men, in whom the rate remained stable. The most common cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis. The percentage of deaths occurring in the inpatient setting and nursing homes decreased, whereas the percentage of deaths occurring at home and hospice increased. Interpretation From 2004 through 2017, the IPF age-adjusted mortality rates decreased. This may be explained partly by a decline in smoking in the United States, but further research is needed to evaluate other environmental and genetic contributors.
Monolithic Zirconia Partial Coverage Restorations: An In Vitro Mastication Simulation Study.

Purpose To evaluate the survival rate (fatigue resistance), bonding efficiency and marginal integrity of monolithic zirconia partial and full coverage single restorations adhesively bonded to the tooth structure using air-particle abrasion, a primer with 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate and a composite-resin cement (APC) protocol. Materials and methods Extracted human premolars (N = 32) were randomly divided into four groups of eight specimens each. Premolars were prepared for the following restorations: full crown (group 1, control), mesial-occlusal-distal-facial onlay (MODF, group 2) preserving 2 mm facio-lingual functional cusp width, mesial-occlusal-distal-lingual onlay (MODL, group 3) preserving 2 mm facio-lingual nonfunctional cusp width, mesial-occlusal-distal-buccal-lingual onlay (MODBL, group 4), overlay preparation. All restorations were milled from monolithic 3 mol% yttria (3Y) zirconia blocks (ZirCad, A1 LT, Ivoclar Vivadent) with CAD/CAM software presets at minimum occlusal and axial thicknesses of 1 mm. The intaglio surface of the restorations was air-particle abraded (50 µm Al2 O3 , 2-Bar pressure, 15 s, 10 mm distance) and primed. An adhesive cement system was used to bond the restorations. Each group was subjected to thermomechanical loading for 1.2 million cycles (force = 70 N, 1.4 Hz) with simultaneous thermocycling (5-55°C, 30 s dwell time) using a mastication simulator. All specimens were examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis (30, 100, and 150×) to evaluate cracks and marginal defects. Fracture of restoration and/or fracture within tooth structure, and debonding were considered modes of failure. Results One specimen from group 2 debonded at 632,000 cycles. None of the specimens failed due to fracture. SEM analysis at 30× indicated marginal integrity issue of the remaining seven intact specimens of group 2 in the area of antagonist contact. No specimens from group 1, 3, and 4 demonstrated marginal integrity issue at 30×. None of the specimens demonstrated any microcrack at 100× and150×. Conclusions Due to its fatigue resistance, 3Y-zirconia is a viable option for partial and full coverage single restorations. Following a strict bonding protocol, zirconia demonstrated durable adhesion to the tooth structure. Occlusal contact on restoration margins should be avoided.
Online Service Providers and Surveillance Law Transparency

The Snowden disclosures, and others that followed, illuminated a troubling feature of surveillance law: examining the statute books and other public sources of law can paint a radically incomplete or even misleading picture of how the government actually construes its legal authority to conduct surveillance. This observation raises profound anxieties about public democratic control of the surveillance state. These anxieties make a hard question very salient: how can we ensure a measure of transparency about how surveillance laws have been interpreted in practice?This Essay argues that online service providers and other companies that mediate our digital communications are in a special position to enhance surveillance transparency. Because these private companies are subject to surveillance orders, they (or some of their employees) are privy to information that the rest of public is not: they know what kinds of information the government demands of them under a given surveillance law, and how those laws are being used.If these companies could win the right to speak about the kinds of records the government is ordering them to disclose, they would be able to provide the public with crucial information about how the surveillance laws have been interpreted and applied in practice. This kind of limited disclosure would do much to allay democratic anxieties about secret reinterpretations of surveillance laws, and it need not reveal truly sensitive operational detail like the targets of surveillance, the circumstances in which particular surveillance tools are used, or other sensitive investigatory matters.The law currently forbids companies from engaging in this kind of speech, because gag orders routinely prevent companies from disclosing nearly everything about the surveillance orders they receive. It need not remain so. This Essay offers a First Amendment strategy that online service providers (and others subject to surveillance orders) could pursue to reclaim their right to speak and to inform their customers and the public about how surveillance laws have been interpreted in practice.
Implementation and effectiveness of the National Incident Management System's Incident Command System in law enforcement since 2003.

This paper investigates the use of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)’s Incident Command System (ICS) in law enforcement since Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 was issued in 2003. It attempts to answer the following questions: (a) To what degree has law enforcement adopted the NIMS style ICS?; (b) To what degree has the NIMS / ICS framework been applicable to law enforcement?; and (c) Is the NIMS style ICS effective in the law enforcement response environment? The research includes a review of relevant case studies and literature and also includes the analysis of a survey instrument sent to 1,220 current and former law enforcement practitioners across the United States. The survey includes both open- and closed-ended questions. The data from closed-ended questions were compiled and displayed. Data from open-ended questions were grouped thematically. Responses were then assessed and compared with information gleaned from the literature review. Results indicate the system has been widely adopted by law enforcement, and its use is applicable and effective in some law enforcement responses. Its use in the highly chaotic initial phase of incidents, however, remains an open question.
Emergency management in neurocritical care

List of Contributors vi Series Foreword viii Preface ix PART I: ACUTE MANAGEMENT OF NEUROLOGICAL EMERGENCIES 1 Hypertensive Emergency 3 Laurie McWilliams 2 Airway Management in the Neurological and Neurosurgical Patient 12 Michael J. Souter 3 Traumatic Brain Injury and Intracranial Hypertension 21 Iain J. McCullagh and Peter J.D. Andrews 4 Critical Care Management of Acute Spinal Cord Injury 32 Edward M. Manno 5 Subarachnoid Hemorrhage 37 Muhammad A. Taqi and Michel T. Torbey 6 Acute Management of Cerebral Ischemia 45 Leonid Groysman and Gene Sung 7 Neurocritical Care of Intracerebral Hemorrhage 55 James M. Gebel Jr 8 Acute Management of Status Epilepticus 63 Jan Claassen PART II: CEREBROVASCULAR CRITICAL CARE 9 Post-procedural Management of Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage 73 Tomoko Rie Sampson and Michael N. Diringer 10 Care of the Neurointerventional Patient in the Neurointensive Care Unit 84 Rishi Gupta 11 New Treatment Strategies in the Management of Large Hemispheric Strokes and Intracerebral Hemorrhages 92 Edward M. Manno 12 Presentation and Management of Acute Cerebral Venous Thrombosis 99 Patrycia Canhao and Jose M. Ferro PART III: INFECTIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 13 Infections in the Neurocritical Care Unit 111 Denise H. Rhoney, Karen J. McAllen, and Dennis Parker 14 Diagnosis and Management of Bacterial and Viral Meningitis 123 Maxwell S. Damian 15 Encephalitis: Presentation and Management 132 Ali E. Elsayed and Barnett R. Nathan PART IV: NEUROMUSCULAR COMPLICATIONS ENCOUNTERED IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 16 Practical Management of Guillain Barre Syndrome and Myasthenic Crisis 143 Alejandro A. Rabinstein PART V: NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS AND CONSULTATIONS IN GENERAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS 17 Metabolic Encephalopathies 155 Edward M. Manno 18 Delirium and Sedation in the ICU 162 Jennifer A. Frontera 19 Neurologic Complications of Cardiac Surgery 174 Cathy Sila 20 Neurological Complications of Medical Illness: Critical Illness Neuropathy and Myopathy 182 Edward M. Manno 21 Hypothermia: Application and Use in Neurocritical Care 188 Edward M. Manno 22 Etiologies of Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome and Forms of Osmotic Demyelination Syndrome 197 J. Javier Provencio PART VI: ACUTE NEUROIMAGING AND NEUROMONITORING IN NEUROCRITICAL CARE 23 Application of MR Diffusion, CT Angiography and Perfusion Imaging in Stroke Neurocritical Care 207 Carlos Leiva-Salinas, Wade Smith and Max Wintermark 24 Advanced Monitoring of Brain Oxygenation and Metabolism 214 Bharath R. Naravetla and J. Claude Hemphill III Index 225 The color plate can be found facing page 54.
A Turbulent Entrainment Model for Spark-Ignition Engine Combustion

A turbulent entrainment model for the turbulent combustion process in spark-ignition engines is described. The model uses the basic quantities of turbulent flow, i.e., the integral length scale, micro length scale, and turbulent intensity. The characteristic reaction time for a large eddy tau was calculated using the characteristic reaction time tau/sub c/ for the microscale, lambda/S/sub l/, where S/sub l/ is the laminar flame speed and propagation of ignition sites within a coherent turbulent structure. Tau is related to the flame kernel development time and shows similar trends to the ignition delay time. The combustion model is demonstrated by calculations showing the typical trend behavior of combustion duration with equivalence ratio, exhaust gas recirculation, spark timing and engine speed.