cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analyzing control system robustness

We have presented mathematical connections among three stability criteria: (1) the Nyquist stability criterion for SISO systems; (2) the small gain theorem for unstructured perturbations in MIMO systems; and (3) the structured singular value for structured perturbations in MIMO systems. This connection can provide an intuitive understanding of MIMO stability analysis using singular values for those who have had prior exposure to the Nyquist stability criterion. Singular value techniques have been extended beyond the stability analysis presented here to performance analysis and robust control system design. This approach has been successfully used for many control problems, including a magnetically levitated train, helicopter control, aero-engine control, power conversion, active sound control, aircraft control, flexible space structure control and distillation process control. In the twentieth century, control theory evolved from classical control to modem control to optimal control to intelligent control. This evolution should continue and robust control (using the singular value techniques discussed here) will become more common in practice.
Coordination chemistry of 2,2′-biphenylenedithiophosphinate and diphenyldithiophosphinate with U, Np, and Pu

New members of the dithiophosphinic acid family of potential actinide extractants were prepared: heterocyclic 2,2'-biphenylenedithiophosphinic acids of stoichiometry HS2P(R2C12H6) (R = H or (t)Bu). The time- and atom-efficient syntheses afforded multigram quantities of pure HS2P(R2C12H6) in reasonable yields (∼60%). These compounds differed from other diaryldithiophosphinic acid extractants in that the two aryl groups were connected to one another at the ortho positions to form a 5-membered dibenzophosphole ring. These 2,2'-biphenylenedithiophosphinic acids were readily deprotonated to form S2P(R2C12H6)(1-) anions, which were crystallized as salts with tetraphenylpnictonium cations (ZPh4(1+); Z = P or As). Coordination chemistry between [S2P((t)Bu2C12H6)](1-) and [S2P(C6H5)2](1-) with U, Np, and Pu was comparatively investigated. The results showed that dithiophosphinate complexes of U(IV) and Np(IV) were redox stable relative to those of U(III), whereas reactions involving Pu(IV) gave intractable material. For instance, reactions involving U(IV) and Np(IV) generated An[S2P((t)Bu2C12H6)]4 and An[S2P(C6H5)2]4 whereas reactions between Pu(IV) and [S2P(C6H5)2](1-) generated a mixture of products from which we postulated a transient Pu(III) species based on UV-Vis spectroscopy. However, the trivalent Pu[S2P(C6H5)2]3(NC5H5)2 compound is stable and could be isolated from reactions between [S2P(C6H5)2](1-) and the trivalent PuI3(NC5H5)4 starting material. Attempts to synthesize analogous trivalent compounds with U(III) provided the tetravalent U[S2P(C6H5)2]4 oxidation product.
Fatal gas embolism during ureteroscopic holmium: yttrium- aluminium-garnet laser lithotripsy under spinal anesthesia - a case report

Ureteroscopic holmium: yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser lithotripsy is an excellent treatment modality, especially for a large impacted ureteral stone. The treatment is efficient and safe. It helps surgeons to carry out a minimally invasive lithotripsy instead of an open surgery in patients with ureteral calculi. Here, we present the first report of a fatal gas embolism that occurred during ureteroscopic Ho:YAG laser lithotripsy under spinal anesthesia. When this complication occurs, the correct crisis resolution protocols, such as prevention of further air entry, reduction in the volume of air entrained, well-hydration, and rapid initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation with administering inotropic drugs, are highly effective in the critical period.
Source coding with feed-forward

In this work, we consider a source coding model with feedforward. We analyze a system with a noiseless feedforward link where the decoder has knowledge of all previous source samples while reconstructing the present sample. The rate-distortion function for an arbitrary source with feedforward is derived in terms of directed information, a variant of mutual information. The special cases of discrete memoryless sources and Gaussian sources with feedforward are further examined. We also derive a random coding error exponent which is used to bound the probability of decoding error for a source code (with feedforward) of finite block length. The results are then extended to feedforward with an arbitrary delay larger than the block length.
The timing of antibiotic administration in the management of infant dacryocystitis

Purpose To report (1) the prevalence of bacteremia among infants with dacryocystitis and (2) the influence of timing of antibiotic administration on the need for repeat probing in the management of these patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of the hospital records of 25 infants ≤6 weeks of age treated for acute dacryocystitis was conducted, including analysis of laboratory data and outcomes. Results Of 22 infants who underwent blood cultures, 5 (22.7%) were bacteremic. Twenty-one of the 25 infants underwent nasolacrimal duct probing. Infants who received preoperative antibiotics were less likely to require a repeat probing than those who did not (6% vs. 80%), and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.004). Conclusions The high rate of bacteremia in this series of patients and the significantly lower incidence of repeat probing among infants who received preprocedural antibiotics suggests that blood cultures and subsequent administration of intravenous antibiotics should be considered prior to probing of infants with dacryocystitis.
Studies of cognitive change in patients with schizophrenia following novel antipsychotic treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Novel antipsychotic medications have been reported to have beneficial effects on cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia. However, these effects have been assessed in studies with considerable variation in methodology. A large number of investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials are currently underway to determine the effect of various novel antipsychotics on cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia. The ability to discriminate between high- and low-quality studies will be required to understand the true implications of these studies and their relevance to clinical practice. METHOD: This article addresses several aspects of research on cognitive enhancement in schizophrenia, emphasizing how the assessment of cognitive function in clinical trials requires certain standards of study design to lead to interpretable results. RESULTS: Novel antipsychotic medications appear to have preliminary promise for the enhancement of cognitive functioning. However, the ...
A small portable meter for soil heat conductivity and its use in the O'Neill test

A hypodermic needle is fitted, in its bore, with an electrical heating wire and a thermocouple. With certain precautions, its temperature increase yields data of soil heat conductivity. Very large local variations of the heat conductivity λ were found in the upper centimeters of the surface by this instrument at the USAF Great Plains Turbulence Project at O'Neill, Nebraska, in 1953.
Design of Efficient Reversible Binary Subtractors Based on a New Reversible Gate

Reversible logic has extensive applications in quantum computing, low power VLSI design, quantum dot cellular automata and optical computing. While several researchers have investigated the design of reversible logic elements, there is not much work reported on reversible binary subtractors. In this paper, we propose the design of a new reversible gate called TR gate. Further, we investigate the design of reversible binary subtractors based on the proposed TR gate. The proposed TR gate is better for designing reversible binary subtractor compared to such gates discussed in literature in terms of quantum cost, garbage outputs and complexity of gates.
The hydrated electron as a hydronium ion-electron pseudoatom

i m m o n i a t e d e lect rons h a v e been the subjec t of h u n d r e d s of theore t ica l and exper i m e n t a l inves t iga t ions for m a n y years (~.a), b u t only re la t ive ly recen t ly has in te res t in t h e so lva ted aqueous e lec t ron been man i f e s t ed b y n u mero u s expe r imen ta l inves t igat ions and theore t i ca l calcula t ions and specula t ions (2). E lec t rons in l iquid He and o the r ra re gases (4), as well as in m e t h a n o l (5), f rozen aqueous solut ions (e) and in ionic c rys ta l s (E-centers) (7) h a v e also rece ived wide a t t en t ion , and t h e opt ical p roper t i e s and o the r phys ica l p rope r t i e s of t he t r a p p e d e lec t ron have been theore t ica l ly exp la ined by pot en t i a l well (bubble) models (s). This p a p e r will confine i tself to a new mode l for t he so lva ted electron in wa te r . The so-called well rad ius or (, effect ive ~ rad ius of e~ has been e s t ima ted to be in t he range 2.1 to 3.1 i b y m e a n s of var ious calcula t ions (9). F o r example , t he va lue 2.10/~ was ob ta ined f rom t h e 2 ' -center b a n d m a x i m u m , E ~ observed in var ious alkali-hal ide crys ta ls b y using the s imple par t ic le in a box mode l
Association of the Skn7 and Yap1 Transcription Factors in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Oxidative Stress Response

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Skn7p is a stress response transcription factor that undergoes aspartyl phosphorylation by the Sln1p histidine kinase. Aspartyl phosphorylation of Skn7p is required for activation of genes required in response to wall stress, but Skn7p also activates oxidative stress response genes in an aspartyl phosphorylation-independent manner. The presence of binding sites for the Yap1p and Skn7p transcription factors in oxidative stress response promoters and the oxidative stress-sensitive phenotypes of SKN7 and YAP1 mutants suggest that these two factors work together. We present here evidence for a DNA-independent interaction between the Skn7 and Yap1 proteins that involves the receiver domain of Skn7p and the cysteine-rich domains of Yap1p. The interaction with Yap1p may help partition the Skn7 protein to oxidative stress response promoters when the Yap1 protein accumulates in the nucleus.
Gated Communities for the Rich and the Poor

Sociologist Zaire Zenit Dinzey-Flores discusses how the concentration of class and racial privilege in gated communities takes place alongside the spatial concentration and confinement of the poor....
Overexpression of Human Aspartyl (Asparaginyl) {beta}-Hydroxylase Is Associated with Malignant Transformation

The human aspartyl (asparaginyl) β-hydroxylase (HAAH) is a highly conserved enzyme that hydroxylates epidermal growth factor-like domains in transformation-associated proteins. We previously reported overexpression of the HAAH gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas (L. Lavaissiere et al. , J. Clin. Investig., 98: 1313–1323, 1996). In the present study, we determined whether HAAH protein overexpression was linked to cellular proliferation or malignant transformation of bile ducts by using a human disease and rat model of bile duct proliferation. In addition, the transforming properties of the AAH genes were assessed by transient and stable transfection of NIH-3T3 cells with human and murine wild-type as well as mutant cDNA constructs that lacked hydroxylation activity. Cellular characteristics of the malignant phenotype were assessed by formation of transformed foci, growth in soft agar, and tumor development in nude mice. We found that HAAH gene expression was undetectable during bile duct proliferation in both human disease and rat models as compared with cholangiocarcinoma. Overexpression of HAAH in NIH-3T3 cells was associated with generation of a malignant phenotype, and enzymatic activity was required for cellular transformation. These findings suggest that overexpression of HAAH is linked to cellular transformation of biliary epithelial cells.
Mechanistic differences between two conserved classes of small heat shock proteins found in the plant cytosol

The small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) and α-crystallins are highly effective, ATP-independent chaperones that can bind denaturing client proteins to prevent their irreversible aggregation. One model of sHSP function suggests that the oligomeric sHSPs are activated to the client-binding form by dissociation at elevated temperatures to dimers or other sub-oligomeric species. Here we examine this model in a comparison of the oligomeric structure and chaperone activity of two conserved classes of cytosolic sHSPs in plants, the class I (CI) and class II (CII) proteins. Like the CI sHSPs, recombinant CII sHSPs from three divergent plant species, pea, wheat, and Arabidopsis, are dodecamers as determined by nano-electrospray mass spectrometry. While at 35 to 45 °C, all three CI sHSPs reversibly dissociate to dimers, the CII sHSPs retain oligomeric structure at high temperature. The CII dodecamers are, however, dynamic and rapidly exchange subunits, but unlike CI sHSPs, the exchange unit appears larger than a dimer. Differences in dodecameric structure are also reflected in the fact that the CII proteins do not hetero-oligomerize with CI sHSPs. Binding of the hydrophobic probe bis-ANS and limited proteolysis demonstrate CII proteins undergo significant, reversible structural changes at high temperature. All three recombinant CII proteins more efficiently protect firefly luciferase from insolubilization during heating than do the CI proteins. The CI and CII proteins behave strictly additively in client protection. In total, the results demonstrate that different sHSPs can achieve effective protection of client proteins by varied mechanisms.
The effect of drill trajectory on proximity to the posterior interosseous nerve during cortical button distal biceps repair.

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect that different drill trajectories across the radius have on the proximity of the drill tip to the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN). Methods In 10 cadaveric specimens, we drilled from the bicipital tuberosity across the radius using 4 different trajectories: (1) aiming across the radius at 90° to the longitudinal axis of the radius, (2) distally at 45°, (3) ulnarly, and (4) radially. We measured the distance between the tip of the drill as it exited the dorsal cortex of the radius and the PIN. Results Aiming 90° across the radius and aiming ulnarly across the radius resulted in a distance of 11.2 ± 3.2 mm (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.9 to 13.5 mm) and 16.0 ± 3.8 mm (95% CI, 13.3 to 18.7 mm), respectively, between the drill tip and the PIN. Aiming the drill 45° distally and aiming radially resulted in a distance of only 2.0 ± 2.2 mm (95% CI, 0.5 to 3.6 mm) and 4.2 ± 2.2 mm (95% CI, 2.6 to 5.8 mm), respectively. The differences were found to be statistically significant. Conclusions On the basis of the results of this anatomic study, when using the cortical button distal biceps repair technique, we recommend drilling across the radius at 90° to its longitudinal axis and aiming from 0° to 30° ulnarly, with the patient's forearm in full supination. This provides an increased margin of safety to prevent injury to the PIN compared with drilling radially or distally. Clinical Relevance By avoiding distal and radial drilling, the risks of PIN injury should be minimized during distal biceps tendon repair.
Influence of precipitation seasonality on pinon pine cellulose deltaD values.

Summary The influence of seasonal to interannual climate variations on cellulose hydrogen isotopic composition (δD) was assessed by analysing tree rings and needles of pinon pine (Pinus edulis and P. monophylla). Sites spanned a gradient of decreasing summer precipitation, from New Mexico to Arizona to Nevada. Tree rings were divided into earlywood, latewood and whole-year increments, and annual cohorts of needles were collected. The study period (1989–96) included two La Nina events (1989, 1996) and a prolonged El Nino event (1991–95). Winter and spring moisture conditions were strongly related to October–March Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) in New Mexico and Arizona, with above-average precipitation occurring in El Nino years. Wood δD values at these sites were correlated with winter and spring moisture conditions. Needle δD values were correlated with summer moisture conditions in New Mexico and with winter moisture and SOI in Arizona. Low cellulose δD values observed from 1991 to 1993 in both wood and needles occurred during wet El Nino years, whereas high δD values in needles were present during the dry, La Nina years of 1989 and 1996. North-eastern Nevada does not receive precipitation anomalies related to ENSO, and thus cellulose δD values did not reflect the ENSO pattern observed at the other sites. Cellulose δD values were strongly, inversely correlated with relative humidity variations at all sites, as predicted by a mechanistic model. Contrary to predictions from the same model and observations from more mesic areas, time series of cellulose δD values were not directly correlated with interannual or seasonal variations in precipitation δD values or temperature at any of the sites. On a regional basis, however, mean δD values in needles and wood were correlated with mean annual temperature and δD values of precipitation. This suggests that temporal averaging may bias relationships between biological systems and climate.
Distributed testing against independence with conferencing encoders

Motivated by distributed inference over big datasets problems, we study multi-terminal distributed hypothesis testing problems in which each terminal has data related to only one random variable. Due to the restriction of one-shot communication, we consider the distributed testing against independence problem when interaction among the encoders are allowed. Subject to type 1 error probability and communication rates constraints, we first provide a scheme for the general case and then show that this scheme is optimal for some special cases.
Combination chemotherapy of head and neck cancer in the United States.

In 1973 Bertino and co-workers [3] reviewed the chemotherapy of head and neck cancer. They concluded that “several agents are effective in the treatment of epidermoid cancers of the head and neck. The time is ripe for the development of effective drug combinations and programs utilizing chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery in the treatment of these difficult neoplasms.” During the six years that have elapsed since those words were written, oncologists have been working busily along these very lines. In doing so, they have been spurred on by several factors: a resurgence of interest in methotrexate, particularly in high dose with leucovorin rescue; the identification of cis-diammine-dichloroplatinum (II) as an agent with significant activity in these tumors; and, perhaps most important, the climate of general optimism surrounding the combined-modality approach to human solid tumors. In this review we shall examine the general directions of systemic drug therapy for epidermoid carcinoma of the head and neck (ECHN) in the United States over the past few years. We shall not deal with intra-arterial chemotherapy or with the combination of single drugs and radiotherapy, both of which have been reviewed in detail elsewhere [3, 9, 20, 27].
Effect of viewing the RPE scale on the ability to make ratings of perceived exertion

7 subjects exercised while viewing and not viewing the Rating of Perceived Exertion scale during exercise to assess whether ratings of perceived exertion are influenced by viewing the scale itself. Analysis suggested that monitoring moderate to high intensity exercise without viewing the RPE scale may result in an underestimation of exertion.
Synthesis and characterization of a kind of nonisocyanate polyurethane

Nonisocyanate polyurethane(NIPU) was synthesized by aliphatic primary diamine and cyclocarbonate prepared from epoxy resin E-44.The structure of NIPU product was determined by FT-IR,1H-NMR.The factors to affect the reaction of cyclocarbonate and primary diamines were studied in different systems.The reaction conditions were optimized.The optimal conditions are:the solvent is dioxide,the catalyst is TEA,the reaction temperature is 30 ℃ and the reaction time is 9 h.
Mitigating Power Contention: A Scheduling Based Approach

Shared resource contention has been a major performance issue for CMPs. In this paper, we tackle the power contention problem in power constrained CMPs by considering and treating power as a first-class shared resource. Power contention occurs when multiple processes compete for power, and leads to degraded system performance. In order to solve this problem, we develop a shared resource contention-aware scheduling algorithm that mitigates the contention for power and the shared memory subsystem at the same time . The proposed scheduler improves system performance by balancing the shared resource usage among scheduling groups. Evaluation results across a variety of multiprogrammed workloads show performance improvements over a state-of-the-art scheduling policy which only considers memory subsystem contention.
Proliferation of guinea pig tracheal epithelial cells in coculture with rat dorsal root ganglion neural cells

White, Steven R., Allan Garland, Bruce Gitter, Ian Rodger, Linda E. Alger, Jonathan Necheles, April Raila Nawrocki, and Julian Solway. Proliferation of guinea pig tracheal epithelial cells in coculture with rat dorsal root ganglion neural cells. Am. J. Physiol. 268 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 12) : L957-L965, 1995.-Neuropeptides secreted by sensory afferent nerves in airways may modulate growth of airway epithelial cells. To determine whether airway sensory C-fiber nerves secrete neuropeptides that stimulate airway epithelial cell proliferation, we measured S-phase traversal in guinea pig tracheal epithelial (GPTE) cells after coculture with rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells. GPTE cells were grown in subconfluent culture on collagen-coated filters for 2 days. DRG cells were harvested from newborn rat pups and grown in primary culture for 7-10 days in separate wells. GPTE and DRG cells then were cocultured for 48 h, and 10 mM bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analogue, was added in the final 24 h. Control GPTE cells were grown under similar conditions but without DRG cells. Coculture with DRG cells stimulated GPTE cell traversal of S phase. BrdU labeling in cocultured GPTE cells was 42.8 ± 5.8 compared with 18.1 ± 7.2% in control GPTE cells (P < 0.001, n = 6). Coculture in the presence of either the neurokinin (NK) 1 receptor antagonists LY-297911 or CP-99,994, the NK 2 receptor antagonist SR-48,968, or the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist hCGRP-(8-37) (10 -7 M of each) during coculture attenuated proliferation of GPTE cells. Treatment with all three antagonists together during coculture decreased BrdU labeling to 2.4 ± 0.9% of labeled cells vs. 8.5 ± 0.5% of labeled cells during coculture without antagonists (n = 4, P < 0.02). DRG cells in coculture secreted substantial concentrations of CGRP [71.0 ± 11.3 (±SE) pmol/ml], substance P (1.26 ± 0.35 pmol/ml), and neurokinin A (0.45 ± 0.10 pmol/ml) (n = 19 for each). Proliferation was stimulated in GPTE cells by treatment with NK 1 , NK 2 , and CGRP 1 receptor agonists in primary culture. We conclude that rat DRG cells secrete neuropeptides that stimulate GPTE cell growth in coculture and that this effect is mediated by NK 1 , NK 2 , and CGRP 1 receptors. These data suggest that airway sensory nerves may modulate epithelial cell proliferation.
Water Quantity Law: The Legal System

Water quantity laws deal with the issues of ownership and the right to use water. They are some of the oldest laws of civilization. The degradation in water quality that accompanied the various water uses is ignored. The environmental values sustained by the water in the form of habitats for fish and wildlife are also ignored. With the increasing use of water, there comes an increased conflict between the different users. If economic development is not to be stifled, it is imperative that laws be set down clarifying who could use water and how much they are entitled to. Piece by piece, the complex legal structure for water resources has started emerging. Unfortunately, many of the laws evolved are ahead of common understanding of the hydrologic system, and water laws in many states still treat surface water and groundwater as being hydrologically separate and distinct. This chapter examines state law and then considers the federal legal framework.
Machine learning in the real world

Machine Learning (ML) has become a mature technology that is being applied to a wide range of business problems such as web search, online advertising, product recommendations, object recognition, and so on. As a result, it has become imperative for researchers and practitioners to have a fundamental understanding of ML concepts and practical knowledge of end-to-end modeling. This tutorial takes a hands-on approach to introducing the audience to machine learning. The first part of the tutorial gives a broad overview and discusses some of the key concepts within machine learning. The second part of the tutorial takes the audience through the end-to-end modeling pipeline for a real-world income prediction problem.
Comparison and Analysis of Greedy Energy-Efficient Scheduling Algorithms for Computational Grids

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Problem Formulation Proposed Algorithms Simulations, Results, and Discussion Related Works Conclusion References ]]>
Invariant Deletion of One Mir-34b/C Locus in CLL with del11q.

CLL with del11q constitutes a clinical syndrome characterized by a relatively aggressive disease course, short response duration to therapies and compromised overall survival. CLL with del11q carries mutations in ATM in about one third of cases, which may further negatively affect prognosis. Little is known about additional molecular changes within or due to del11q in CLL and it remains unclear what the selective advantage of acquisition of del11q is for CLL cells. To gain insights into the physiology of CLL with del11q, we have mapped this lesion using the Affymetrix 50K SNP array platform in 178 CLL cases using DNA from sorted CD19+ cells versus paired buccal DNA. Focusing on the region that spans ATM , a minimal deleted region (MDR) of approximately 8 Mb was identified, spanning approximately 106.6–114.6 Mb physical position. Scanning the MDR for genes with the potential to affect the physiology of cancerous cells uncovered invariant monoallelic deletion of the miR-34b/c gene, the only known human microRNA gene within the del11q MDR. miR-34a-c have been implicated as direct p53 target genes by a number of groups and these microRNAs have been shown to be direct regulators of pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic genes, including E2F3, Cyclin E2, Cdk6 and Bcl2. Given that ATM acts upstream of p53 in the ds-DNA damage response pathway, it appears that del11q lesions in CLL affect p53 apoptotic effector functions through two independent processes ( ATM loss or mutation and miR-34b/c loss). Work is in progress measuring miR-34 b/c expression levels in a large CLL cohort and correlating miR-34b/c levels with expression levels of critical miR-34 targets in CLL. In summary, our data implicate miR-34b/c loss as a potential contributor to the physiology of del11q in CLL and should stimulate investigations into miR-34 function as a response predictor of therapy for CLL.
Draft Genome Sequence of a Vibrio harveyi Strain Associated with Vibriosis in Pacific White Shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ).

ABSTRACT Vibrio harveyi is a Gram-negative bacterium associated with vibriosis in penaeid shrimp. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a V. harveyi strain isolated from Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) during a vibriosis outbreak. The availability of this genome will aid future studies of vibriosis in shrimp aquaculture.
Methods for characterization of nanoparticles

Nanoparticle manufacturing industries use well-established synthesis protocols or methodology as much as possible. The nanomaterials have unique physical and chemical properties at the atomic and molecular levels which often interfere with the standardized methods and compromise the reproducibility of the results. This chapter provides details of the challenges and associated problems which usually arise during the characterization of the nanomaterials and ways to resolve the issues with an emphasis on minimizing the associated interferences.
Diffusion in Multicomponent Alloys

Abstract Most commercially available engineering materials contain three or more components. The diffusion behavior in these materials is important since phenomena such as phase transformations, nucleation and growth, precipitation, surface modification, etc., are controlled and influenced by the rate of diffusion. In this chapter, phenomenological description of diffusion in ternary and higher order multicomponent alloys is presented to bring out the diffusional interactions among the diffusing species and discuss the methods to calculate diffusion coefficients. Diffusional interactions become more complicated with an increase in the number of components. The physical meaning of the diffusion coefficients also becomes obscure since more parameters are involved in order to completely describe the systems. The main difference between binary and higher-order diffusion is that the diffusional interactions among the various ( n − 1 ) independent diffusing species need to be considered in the complete description of the interdiffusion process in multicomponent systems. Much of the current research aims to circumvent the overwhelming diffusion parameters and potentially simplify the understanding and calculation in multicomponent alloys. In this chapter, we present and discuss the main approaches adopted in the phenomenological description and measurement of diffusion coefficients incorporating such diffusional interactions among the components.
Regulation at 40

Regulation magazine celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, which is also roughly the anniversary of the beginning of the deregulation era in federal domestic policy. This article reviews the history of the rise of federal regulation in the United States, the intellectual and political reasons for deregulation, and the subsequent expansion of federal regulation so far in the 21st century. It concludes with a discussion of what antecedents might produce a second wave of deregulation.
Impeding phonon transport through superlattices of organic–inorganic halide perovskites

Superlattice structures present a strategy to impede lattice thermal transport through organic–inorganic halide perovskites and improve their potential for thermoelectric applications. We investigate the phonon characteristics of such novel configurations and compare against predictions of the simple perovskite lattices using first principle calculations. Our results show the existence of structural instabilities due to distortions in the octahedral cage surrounding the methylammonium ion. In the superlattices, a strong phonon incoherence reduces the group velocities while interfacial resistance enhances scattering and limits the phonons impeding heat conduction. Although heat transfer is anisotropic in these perovskites, the interfaces in the superlattice obstruct phonon transport along all directions.
State Minority Health Officers' Perceptions of their Successes and Barriers to Reducing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Minimal research has been conducted to examine the impact and reach of state offices of minority health (SOMH) and their role in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities within their states. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to describe the shared experiences of SOMH officers to provide context for why these individuals believe that state organizational efforts have not yielded much success in reducing racial and ethnic health disparity gaps. Using a telephone interview guide, the investigators conducted telephone interviews with SOMH officers. Data were analyzed thematically based on emergent patterns in participant responses. A total of 47 of 50 state officers (94%) completed the interview. Though many officers were encouraged by increased awareness regarding health disparities, nearly every officer listed inadequate resources as the most impactful barrier impeding the success of their offices’ missions. SOMH continue to be severely underfunded and are concerned about their potential for success, leaving them with minimal ability to engage in activities beyond educational awareness campaigns. For SOMH officers to be successful in eliminating disparities, legislators must provide them with adequate funding so they can engage in wider-reaching interventions targeting the social determinants of health.
SUPERCAPACITIVE IONTRONIC NANOFABRIC SENSING

The study of wearable devices has become a popular research topic recently, where high-sensitivity, noise proof sensing mechanisms with long-term wearability play critical roles in a real-world implementation, while the existing mechanical sensing technologies (i.e., resistive, capacitive, or piezoelectric) have yet offered a satisfactory solution to address them all. Here, we successfully introduced a flexible supercapacitive sensing modality to all-fabric materials for wearable pressure and force sensing using an elastic ionic-electronic interface. Notably, an electrospun ionic fabric utilizing nanofibrous structures offers an extraordinarily high pressure-to-capacitance sensitivity (114 nF kPa-1 ), which is at least 1000 times higher than any existing capacitive sensors and one order of magnitude higher than the previously reported ionic devices, with a pressure resolution of 2.4 Pa, achieving high levels of noise immunity and signal stability for wearable applications. In addition, its fabrication process is fully compatible with existing industrial manufacturing and can lead to cost-effective production for its utility in emerging wearable uses in a foreseeable future.
Characteristics of patients undergoing bronchial thermoplasty for severe asthma in the United Arab Emirates

Goal: To summarizes the characteristics of patients who have undergone Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) in the past year at our institution. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent BT at our center to date. Results: Sixteen patients underwent BT procedure from February 2015 to date. The majority of patients were females (12/16). The mean age was 40.8 (range 29 to 62) years. The mean BMI was 29.3 (range 21.2 to 42.9). Eleven patients were UAE local citizens and the remaining were expatriate UAE residents. The mean FEV1 was 67.9 (range 40 to 90) % of predicted. Fourteen of the 16 patients had eosinophil counts more than 150 x10*9/mL. The mean IgE level was 491.7 (range 13.2 to 2050) IU/mL, with 7 patients on omalizumab therapy. The mean ACT score prior to BT was 13.18 (range 5 to 20) points. All patients were on combination LABA/ICS therapy with 13 also on LAMA. Fourteen patients were on montelukast and three on continuous daily maintenance oral corticosteroids. Conclusions: There is predominance of females in their 4th and 5th decade of life in our cohort of patients requiring BT in the UAE. Most patients were overweight or mildly obese and had allergic asthma with the majority considered for or receiving omalizumab therapy. Most patients had moderate airway obstruction. ACT scores were consistent with uncontrolled disease despite being compliant with optimal pharmacological therapy.
1450 Outcomes of an innovative train-in-place occupational medicine residency program

Introduction Physicians making a mid-career change in specialty may find options for formal training limited. We describe a train-in-place program, with measureable outcomes, created to meet the challenge of training mid-career physicians desiring formal training in the field of Occupational Medicine. Our objective is to evaluate educational outcomes from a novel residency program for mid-career physicians seeking formal training and board certification in Occupational Medicine. Methods Physicians train-in-place at select Clinical Training Sites where they practice, participating in eighteen visits to Philadelphia over a two year period. Program components include competency-based training structured around Subject Area Rotations, mentored trainee projects and periodic auditing visits to the Clinical Training Sites by program faculty. The main outcome measures are achievement of Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education milestones and American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine competencies, performance on the American College of Preventive Medicine examinations, diversity in selection and placement of residents after training, and the number of graduates who remain in the field. Results Graduates, 113 to date, comprised 7.5% of new American Board of Preventive Medicine diplomates over the past decade, score competitively on the certifying examination, achieve all milestones, express satisfaction with training, and are geographically dispersed representing every region of the United States. Most practice outside of the 25 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Over 95% remain in the field. Conclusions Training-in-place is an effective approach to provide mid-career physicians seeking comprehensive skills and Board certification in occupational medicine formal training, and may be adaptable to other fields.
Interactions Between NGF Receptors, TrkA and p75

Publisher Summary Neurotrophin binding to tropomyosin-receptor-kinase (Trk) family members is required for neurite outgrowth and cell survival. The mechanism by which receptor tyrosine kinases carry out signal transduction has become well understood. A predominant mechanism is the activation of Ras through guanine nucleotide exchange factors coupled to the autophosphorylation of Trk. Since the majority of neuronal cells that display nerve growth factor (NGF) responsiveness expresses both p l40 Trk or TrkA and p75, the significance of a two-receptor system for neurotrophin signaling becomes an important question. Both receptors bind to NGF individually with similar affinities; however, they give rise to a higher affinity site when co-expressed at appropriate levels. Therefore, it is likely that expression of two different receptor-binding components can lead to alternative ligand binding properties at the cell surface and to differential responsiveness. The identification of the immune-precipitated species is made on the basis of the characteristic mobility of p75 and pl40 Trk bound to NGF. As these cross-linking protocols are known to be relatively inefficient, with at most 1%–2% of the receptors linked to the radiolabeled ligand, it has been very difficult to quantify the levels of the two receptors by Western blot analysis after the affinity cross-linking procedure.
Stamping of a Cross-shaped Part with 5052, 5754 and 6016 Aluminum Alloy Sheets – Experimental and Finite Element Analysis Comparison

The application of aluminum alloys is continuing to increase in automotive and aerospace industries. In this study, the stamping of a cross-shaped part, representing typical deep drawn automotive parts, was attempted with three different types of aluminum alloy sheets. To characterize the anisotropic properties of the material, uniaxial tensile tests were performed with ASTM standard dog-bone specimens cut from AA5052, AA5754 and AA6016 T4 alloy sheets. The stamping of the cross-shaped parts was conducted using a high capacity servo press with a servo-cushion system. Deformation strains developing in stamped parts were measured with the ARGUS system for comparison with finite element simulation results. Formed parts were also cut in two different directions using a water-jet machine, and thickness variations along the length of the cut section were measured. The measured surface strains and thickness distributions were compared with finite element simulations results obtained with LS-Dyna explicit code using the Yld2000-2D and Hill's 48 yield functions. Overall, experimental and numerical results correlated well, especially with the Yld2000-2D yield function, implying that this yield function is well suited for the modeling of the complex cross-shaped parts with aluminum alloys.
Per-Application Power Delivery

Datacenter servers are often under-provisioned for peak power consumption due to the substantial cost of providing power. When there is insufficient power for the workload, servers can lower voltage and frequency levels to reduce consumption, but at the cost of performance. Current processors provide power limiting mechanisms, but they generally apply uniformly to all CPUs on a chip. For servers running heterogeneous jobs, though, it is necessary to differentiate the power provided to different jobs. This prevents interference when a job may be throttled by another job hitting a power limit. While some recent CPUs support per-CPU power management, there are no clear policies on how to distribute power between applications. Current hardware power limiters, such as Intel's RAPL throttle the fastest core first, which harms high-priority applications. In this work, we propose and evaluate priority-based and share-based policies to deliver differential power to applications executing on a single socket in a server. For share-based policies, we design and evaluate policies using shares of power, shares of frequency, and shares of performance. These variations have different hardware and software requirements, and different results. Our results show that power shares have the worst performance isolation, and that frequency shares are both simpler and generally perform better than performance shares.
Re-erection of Rhinodrilidae Benham, 1890, a senior synonym of Pontoscolecidae James, 2012 (Annelida: Clitellata)

The recently published family name Pontoscolecidae James, 2012 is synonymous with the much older but largely forgotten Rhinodrilidae Benham, 1890. I bring attention to this error and two other minor lapses. The Rhinodrilidae is just part of the complex history of the earthworm family generally known as the Glossoscolecidae. This history is explained and an emended definition of the Rhinodrilidae is provided.
NME1 Drives Expansion of Melanoma Cells with Enhanced Tumor Growth and Metastatic Properties

Melanoma is a lethal skin cancer prone to progression and metastasis, and resistant to therapy. Metastasis and therapy resistance of melanoma and other cancers are driven by tumor cell plasticity, largely via acquisition/loss of stem-like characteristics and transitions between epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes (EMT/MET). NME1 is a metastasis suppressor gene that inhibits metastatic potential when its expression is enforced in melanoma and other cancers. Herein, we have unmasked a novel role for NME1 as a driver of melanoma growth distinct from its canonical function as a metastasis suppressor. NME1 promotes expansion of stem-like melanoma cells that exhibit elevated expression of stem cell markers (e.g., Sox2, Sox10, Oct-4, KLF4, and Ccnb-1), enhanced growth as melanoma spheres in culture, and enhanced tumor growth and lung colonizing activities in vivo. In contrast, NME1 expression did not affect the proliferation of melanoma cell lines in monolayer culture conditions. Silencing of NME1 expression resulted in a dramatic reduction in melanoma sphere size, and impaired tumor growth and metastatic activities of melanoma sphere cells when xenografted in immunocompromised mice. Individual cells within melanoma sphere cultures displayed a wide range of NME1 expression across multiple melanoma cell lines. Cell subpopulations with elevated NME1 expression were fast cycling and displayed enhanced expression of stem cell markers. IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest the current model of NME1 as a metastasis-suppressing factor requires refinement, bringing into consideration its heterogeneous expression within melanoma sphere cultures and its novel role in promoting the expansion and tumorigenicity of stem-like cells.
Growth of NbO2 thin films on GaN(0001) by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract We report on the growth of epitaxial NbO2 thin films by molecular beam epitaxy on GaN (0001). The combination of these two materials is of interest in resistive switching devices that can operate at high temperature. We show that direct deposition of Nb metal on GaN under an oxygen environment results in a substantial interfacial reaction layer. We perform detailed spectroscopic and structural analyses of the film and interface and describe their implications for the growth of this materials system.
Contouring of the Trunk

Liposuction is currently the second most common aesthetic surgical procedure reported by board certified plastic surgeons in the latest procedural statistics of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The trunk is the most common anatomical area for which patients seek liposuction. With few exceptions, circumferential contouring of the trunk typically yields a more harmonious aesthetic result than spot liposuction. The author’s preferred method for contouring the trunk involves VASER-assisted liposuction (VAL), which is associated with less postoperative bruising and edema. Lipoabdominoplasty is a surgical procedure with its own distinct set of technical components: extensive sub-Scarpa’s liposuction throughout abdomen and flanks, limited paramedian dissection in the upper abdomen, and dissection at Scarpa’s fascia level lateral to the rectus muscle fascia. The procedure is associated with lower seroma rates and better overall postoperative contour than standard abdominoplasty techniques.
Radiochemical Approaches to Imaging Bacterial Infections: Intracellular versus Extracellular Targets

The discovery of penicillin began the age of antibiotics, which was a turning point in human healthcare. However, to this day, microbial infections are still a concern throughout the world, and the rise of multidrug-resistant organisms is an increasing challenge. To combat this threat, diagnostic imaging tools could be used to verify the causative organism and curb inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs. Nuclear imaging offers the sensitivity needed to detect small numbers of bacteria in situ. Among nuclear imaging tools, radiolabeled antibiotics traditionally have lacked the sensitivity or specificity necessary to diagnose bacterial infections accurately. One reason for the lack of success is that the antibiotics were often chelated to a radiometal. This was done without addressing the ramifications of how the radiolabeling would impact probe entry to the bacterial cell, or the mechanism of binding to an intracellular target. In this review, we approach bacterial infection imaging through the lens of bacterial specific molecular targets, their intracellular or extracellular location, and discuss radiochemistry strategies to guide future probe development.