cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Shapes of geodesic nets

Let M n be a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension n. In this paper we will show that either the length of a shortest periodic geodesic on M n does not exceed .nC1/d , where d is the diameter of M n or there exist infinitely many geometrically distinct stationary closed geodesic nets on this manifold. We will also show that either the length of a shortest periodic geodesic is, similarly, bounded in terms of the volume of a manifold M n , or there exist infinitely many geometrically distinct stationary closed geodesic nets on M n .
Analog simulation of a periodically modulated laser model

We have designed an electronic circuit realization of a simple two-dimensional laser model with a periodically modulated cavity-loss parameter. The system displays a mode-locking sequence, period-doubling bifurcations, and modulation limit cycles followed by a transition to chaos. Oscillations in the unmodulated system, which exhibit only a nearly degenerate Hopf bifurcation, are weakly damped. In this paper we focus on the two principal locked modes and the bifurcation structure and make quantitative comparisons of our results with a recent theory that is due to Erneux et al. [ Phys. Rev. A35, 1165 ( 1987)]. Some dynamical behavior not considered by the theory is revealed.
Egg Flotation Estimates Nest Age for Pacific and Red-throated Loons

Abstract We used Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) and Red-throated Loon (G. stellata) nests with known ages to gauge the efficacy of egg flotation for determining nest age in coastal Alaska. Egg flotation accurately estimated nest age for both species; the mean ± 1SD difference between known age and age determined with egg flotation was -0.05 ± 2.00 d and -0.02 ± 1.63 d for Pacific and Red-throated Loons, respectively. Day of nest initiation did not influence the relationship between known nest age and nest age estimated with egg flotation, indicating incubation period was not shortened in nests initiated later in the season. Additionally, we found no difference in the ability of egg flotation to estimate nest age between two widely dispersed study sites for Pacific Loons, and only a small difference between two of three widely dispersed study sites for Red-throated Loons. Thus, our described relationships between egg flotation categories and nest age should be broadly applicable for these holarctic species....
Creation of Electrically Conducting Plastics by Chaotic Mixing

Publisher Summary This chapter reports the results of an experimental investigation aimed at creating electrically conductive polymer composites at low filler concentrations by chaotic mixing. Chaotic mixing was induced in melts containing bodies rich with conducting particles to create percolating networks and produce conducting plastic materials. In contrast to common mixing processes, the development of structures among particles and the resulting percolation conditions did not rely on chance alone but instead were an outcome of stretching and folding events that characterize chaotic motions. Micrographs of carbon black conducting structures in polystyrene matrices showed coherent small-scale structures. Measurements revealed a marked decrease in electrical resistivity, which is characteristic of a percolation threshold at carbon black (CB) concentrations significantly lower than currently achieved by conventional methods. Conducting structures can be formed at very low concentrations in contrast to current processes where thermoplastics become nearly perfect insulators as the concentration of added particles is reduced. In contrast to mixtures produced by normal compounding methods, specimens remained conducting at tiller concentrations below the percolation threshold although with significantly higher resistivity.
Evidence for time-dependent glutamate-mediated glycolysis in head-injured patients: a microdialysis study.

In the brain, lactate is not only a marker of anaerobic glycolysis due to hypoxia/ischemia, but also a neuronal energy source which is provided by glutamate-induced astrocytic glycolysis. In the present study we wanted to investigate the relationship between glutamate release and lactate production during the entire time-course and during three time periods of microdialytic monitoring in 54 severely head injured patients. Within-subject Spearman rank correlations were calculated in each period for glutamate and lactate, for each patient and the mean of all correlation coefficients were analyzed for difference from zero by a one-sample t-test. The results show a strong overall positive relationship between glutamate and lactate. However, during the first 12 hours after injury, there was no significant correlation. Thereafter, good correlation was seen. The splitting of patients into groups with good (Glasgow Outcome Scale; GOS 0–2) and poor outcome (GOS 3–4) showed a similar strong correlation for patients with good outcome, but this was lost for patients with poor outcome. The results clearly indicate that glutamate “drives” astrocytic lactate production in head-injured patients. The contribution of glutamate to overall lactate release is thus time-dependent. During the first 12 hours after injury, factors such as hypoxia, ischemia or edema overshadowed glutamate-induced glycolysis in astrocytes. In addition, the effect of glutamate is more pronounced in patients with good outcome.
/sup 12/C( p,n)/sup 12/N reaction at 99 MeV

Cross sections were measured for /sup 12/C( p,n)/sup 12/N reaction at 99.1 MeV for nine laboratory angles between 0/sup 0/ and 48.5/sup 0/. Two detector stations were used: one at 68.0 m was for angles between 0/sup 0/ and 24.5/sup 0/, the other at 76.3 m for angles between 24/sup 0/ and 48.5/sup 0/. Overall energy resolutions of 260 and 230 keV for neutrons of about 80 MeV were achieved at the first and second detector stations, respectively, with large-volume mean-timed counter assemblies. Cross sections for the /sup 12/N ground state (1/sup +/) and 0.96 MeV state (2/sup +/) are compared with a distorted-wave impulse approximation calculation using an effective nucleon-nucleon interaction derived from nucleon-nucleon scattering data. For the ground state, the magnitudes of the calculated cross sections agree with the measured cross sections at forward angles but significantly underestimate the measured values beyond about 30/sup 0/; for the 0.96 MeV state, the calculated cross sections must be reduced by 30% to obtain agreement with the cross sections measured at forward angles.
Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal

The effects of intrasexual and intersexual selection on male trait evolution can be difficult to disentangle, especially based on observational data. Male-male competition can limit an observer's ability to identify the effect of female mate choice independently from sexual coercion. Here, we use an experimental approach to explore whether an ornament, the red facial skin exhibited by male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), might be involved in both female mate choice and male-male competition. We used a noninvasive experimental approach based on the looking time paradigm in a free-ranging setting, showing images of differently colored male faces to both adult females (N = 91) and males (N = 77), as well as to juveniles (N = 94) as a control. Results show that both adult females and males looked longer at dark red faces compared with pale pink ones. However, when considering the proportion of subjects that looked longer at dark red faces regardless of preference strength, only females showed a significant dark red bias. In contrast, juveniles did not show any preferences between stimuli, suggesting that the adult bias is not a consequence of the experimental design or related to a general sensory bias for red coloration among all age-sex classes. Collectively, these results support the role the ornament plays in female mate choice in this species and provide the first evidence that this ornament may play a role in male-male competition as well, despite a general lack of observational evidence for the latter effect to date.
Toward Building Automatic Affect Recognition Machine Using Acoustics Features

Research in the field of Affective Computing on affect recognition through speech has used a “fishing expedition” approach. Although some frameworks could achieve certain success rates, many of these approaches missed the theory behind the underlying voice and speech production mechanism. In this work, we found some correlation among the acoustic parameters (paralinguistic/non-verbal speech content) in the physiological mechanism of voice production. Furthermore, we also found some correlation when analyzing their relationships statistically. Aligned with this finding, we implemented our framework using the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm. Although our work is still in its infancy, we believe this context-free approach will bring us forward toward creating an intelligent agent with affect recognition ability. This paper describes the problem, our approach and our results.
Comparison of random telegraph noise, endurance and reliability in amorphous and crystalline hafnia-based ReRAM

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) is a novel form of non-volatile memory expected to replace FLASH memory in the near future. To optimize the switching parameters of ReRAM we investigated fab-friendly HfOx based devices with an either amorphous or crystalline active layers. Our devices are fabricated with a copper bottom electrode, a 50 nm sub-stoichiometric hafnia layer, and a platinum top electrode. These devices operate according to the electrochemical metallization model. We compared endurance, reliability and random telegraph noise (RTN) with pulse-based cycling/readout. Initial endurance measurements show 4 million and 70 million consecutive cycles for the amorphous and crystalline hafnia, respectively. The transmission rate was shown to be slightly higher for the amorphous active layer with a confidence of 85%. Furthermore, it is shown that the relative difference in resistance during RTN is not dependent on the crystallinity, but increases with an increase in high resistive state. A high variety of noise patterns were observed, including transition rates from 1 s−1 up to 12000 s−1 and multi-state traps.
Oil and Gas Production Wastewater: Soil Contamination and Pollution Prevention

During oil and natural gas production, so-called “produced water” comprises the largest byproduct stream. In addition, many oil and gas operations are augmented via injection of hydraulic fracturing (HF) fluids into the formation. Both produced water and HF fluids may contain hundreds of individual chemicals, some known to be detrimental to public health and the environment. Oil and gas production wastewater may serve a range of beneficial purposes, particularly in arid regions, if managed correctly. Numerous treatment technologies have been developed that allow for injection, discharge to the land surface, or beneficial reuse. Although many papers have addressed the effects of oil and gas production wastewater (OGPW) on groundwater and surface water quality, significantly less information is available on the effects of these fluids on the soil resource. This review paper compiles fundamental information on numerous chemicals used and produced during oil and gas development and their effects on the soil environment. Additionally, pollution prevention technologies relating to OGPW are presented. An understanding of the effects of OGPW on soil chemical, physical, and biological properties can provide a foundation for effective remediation of OGPW-affected soils; additionally, sustainable reuse of oil and gas water for irrigation and industrial purposes may be enhanced.
State-Level Measures of Institutional Budgetary Influence from the American State Administrators Project: 1964–98

The American State Administrators Project is a half-century long research program surveying the attitudes and behavior of state agency leaders. The project has produced a voluminous number of publications and conference papers. At the same time it has also faced several difficulties in making its data more widely available to the scholarly community. This paper describes the Project, some of the data difficulties it has faced, and the portion of the data being distributed with this article.
The Effects of Turbulence Modelings on CFD Simulations of S76 Hovering Rotor

Helicopters are designed to operate in various flight conditions such as hover, low speed and high speed forward flights. Hovering is the most critical flight condition for helicopters, and hovering rotor wake consists of tip vortices from many rotor revolutions that form very complex helical wake structure beneath the rotor plane. This fact makes simulating flow field of the hovering rotors an extremely complicated task. An ideal hover simulation must provide sufficiently accurate flow field variables e.g. (i) tip vortex strength and structure, (ii) boundary layer definition (laminar to turbulent transitions), (iii) shedded boundary layer wake strength and location. These requirements push the limits of what the current CFD software can offer. In the current study, CFD simulations of a hovering S76 rotor will be performed with the emphasis on capturing the tip vortex strength and structure, the effects of turbulence modelings, and the tip geometry configurations. The simulations are performed using commercial CFD software to assess methodologies to capture the tip vortices structure from a hovering rotor. The hover performance results from the present study emphasize on the effects of steady-state/transient solvers, turbulence models, grid resolution (for capturing the tip vortices), and tip shape geometries.
Problematic Drinking Among Postgraduate Students: Binge Drinking, Prepartying, and Mixing Alcohol With Energy Drinks.

ABSTRACTBackground: Although problematic alcohol use has been studied extensively in undergraduate students, little is known about problematic drinking among postgraduate students. Objectives: This study examined binge drinking, prepartying, and mixing alcohol with energy drinks to determine: (1) the extent to which postgraduate students engage in these drinking behaviors, (2) how postgraduate students differ from undergraduate students in these behaviors, and (3) the demographic risk factors for these behaviors in postgraduate (and undergraduate) students. Methods: This study utilized data from n = 695 students (n = 298 postgraduate; n = 397 undergraduate) who participated in the Healthy Minds Study at a large, public university in the Midwestern US. Results: Past-two-week binge drinking, past-year and past-30-day prepartying, and past-30-day mixing alcohol with energy drinks were reported by 26.2%, 28.6%, 14.9%, and 8.1% of postgraduate students, respectively. Multivariate analyses indicated that postgr...
Wide-area generator supplementary damping controller design based on residue and identification methods

The wide area interval information has a strong observability to damp the low frequency inter-area oscillation. Wide area power system stabilizer (WAPSS) takes it as the feedback signal. The wide area interval information require the controlled object to be a high order complex power system, so the conventional PSS design methods based on one machine infinite bus system are no longer feasible to WAPSS. An innovative procedure of wide-area PSS design in large-scale power systems is presented based on identification and residue. Reduced order system model is identified first. Based on the identified model, a residue-based design method of WAPSS is proposed. This approach is simple and avoids the solution of complex matrix. The simulation results of China Southern Power Grid show that WAPSS based on the proposed design method can damp the low frequency oscillations and improve system stability efficiently under a wide range of disturbances.
Tornwaldt's cyst: incidence and a case report.

Tornwaldt's cyst is an uncommon type of nasopharyngeal cyst that may cause clinically significant symptoms. We reviewed reports of 31,855 computed tomography (CT) scans and 21,158 magnetic resonanc...
Safety and efficacy of attempted vaginal birth after cesarean beyond the estimated date of delivery.

OBJECTIVE: To provide data regarding safety and efficacy for women attempting a trial of labor following earlier cesarean birth who have reached their due date. STUDY DESIGN: A computerized data base was analyzed to identify women who were at or beyond 40 weeks of gestation between January 1, 1995, and March 31, 1996. Ninety women attempted vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) during the study period; 90 controls were matched for age, race and parity. Delivery route and complications were outcome variables identified. RESULTS: The rate of successful VBAC was 65.6% as compared to the 94.4% vaginal delivery rate among women who had not had a prior cesarean (P<.0001). Among women attempting VBAC, 62% of those who had no prior vaginal births successfully delivered vaginally, while 82% of women with one prior vaginal birth delivered vaginally (P <.0001). Women of greater parity were more successful at a trial of labor. Infectious morbidity was more common among women attempting VBAC than among those with no prior cesarean. CONCLUSION: The patient and her family can be reassured that passing her due date does not alter the efficacy or safety of a trial of labor. No change in counseling is warranted simply due to the completion of 40 weeks' gestation.
Engineering affinity agents for the detection of hemi-methylated CpG sites in DNA

Wild-type methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) proteins specifically bind symmetrically methylated DNA sequences, and assays have been developed that use these proteins for profiling DNA methylation. Here, we use directed evolution in the yeast surface display format to identify a new protein variant that binds hemi-methylated CpG dinucleotides.
GABA-Ergic Dysfunction in Succinic Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase Deficiency

Investigators at the Clinical Epilepsy and Neurorehabilitation Sections, NIH, Bethesda, MD; Albert Ludwigs University, Freiberg, Germany; and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to quantify the excitation and inhibition in primary motor cortex in 8 patients (mean age 15.4 years) with succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) deficiency.
Organized Interests in Constitutional Assemblies: Egypt and Tunisia in Comparison

How does the way organized interests are included in constitution-drafting processes effect their capacity? Two recent examples of post-revolutionary constitution drafting in Egypt and Tunisia prov...
Coupling symbolic and numerical computing in the development of an expert system for the design of mechanical systems

Artificial intelligence techniques are used to combine principles in the fields of computer science and mechanical engineering. An expert system is developed which combines symbolic and numerical computing. The expert system is developed on a microcomputer with modest hardware and software requirements and may be applied to many mechanical design problems. The expert system was tested by applying it to the design of V–belt drives. The computerised process is fast and accurate enough to establish several alternative designs in about 1/20 the time required by an experienced designer who is both familiar with the V–belt catalogue method and knowledgeable in standard V–belt design. If one has no design experience in V–belt selection, the time savings is even more significant.
St. Matthew Island colonized through multiple long-distance red fox (Vulpes vulpes) dispersal events

Expansion of red fox (Vulpes vulpes (L., 1758)) into new arctic habitat and the potential for competition with arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (L., 1758)) are of considerable conservation concern. Previ...
Abstract 350: Interaction Of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus With Endothelial Cells Increase Intercellular Permeability By Activating Vasopressin Receptor-2.

More than 700,000 people a year suffer from sepsis in the United States. From sheep studies, we reported that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sepsis is associated with vascular hyperpermeability and that vasopressin receptor-2 (V2R) might be involved in this complication. Vascular hyperpermeability is associated with high mortality and new pharmacological targets are required to design new treatments. We hypothesized that in MRSA induced vascular hyperpermeability, peroxynitrite stimulates V2R to release potent angiogenic growth factor angiopoietin-2. Methods: Human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs) were incubated with MRSA plus peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst (FeTMPyP), angiopoietin-2 antibody or tie-2 antibody as well as with MRSA only. Permeability assay (FITC-Dextran quantification across the confluent cell monolayer) was then performed after the different treatments. To strengthen the hypothesis, HMVECs were then treated with MRSA, peroxynitrite or V2R selective agonist (desmopressin). Cell lysates from each treatment were screened for levels of V2R mRNA using RT-PCR. Results: 1) Permeability was significantly higher in cells treated with MRSA compared to control. 2) Permeability was significantly lower in cells treated with MRSA plus FeTMPyP, angiopoietin-2 antibody, and tie-2 antibody compared to cells treated with MRSA only. 3) Cells treated with MRSA, peroxynitrite and desmopressin had significant higher levels of V2R mRNA compared to control. Conclusion: When MRSA interacts with endothelial cells, intercellular permeability is increased suggesting disruption of tight junctions. Peroxynitrite is a player of this phenomenon by activating V2R. Angiopoietin-2 also has an important role disrupting intercellular junctions with tie-2 receptor as the mediator. Further studies have to be performed to know whether V2R activation release angiopoietin-2.
Object classification in hyperspectral imagery based on normalized, whitened reflectance

Classification of objects, materials or terrain in hyperspectral imagery requires the definition of an appropriate measure of spectral similarity, typically expressed in terms of spectral reflectance. For many objects, absolute reflectance varies due to bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) effects or uneven illumination. Here, an appropriate similarity measure is spectral angle; however, spectral distance can be used instead if the data are amplitude normalized. Further improvement in classification can be obtained with a regularized whitening step that normalizes the data spread along leading principal component coordinates but limits the spread within trailing principal components. We demonstrate this approach using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier to identify vehicles across hyperspectral images in a time sequence. The normalization and whitening preconditioning steps lead to similar classification performance using spectral distance to the target mean, a much simpler and faster method than the SVM.
Iron·ic facts about dementia

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains as a silent and increasing threat to public health. More than 200 clinical trials for AD have ended with disappointing results and basically empty-handed. The amyloid hypothesis as a primary culprit of AD still centralises most of the efforts in the academic and private sectors, but we need to start to explore alternative avenues for early diagnosis and development of effective therapeutic approaches to treat or slow down the progression of neurodegeneration. Diagnosis of AD usually occurs when the symptoms of mental decline are evident. Unfortunately, AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder from which there is no return once neuronal damage starts. The desperate need for effective biomarkers for AD have driven the exploration of genomic, metabolomic and proteomic markers in blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and tissue samples. Genetic biomarkers strongly implicated in early-onset AD include amyloid-β precursor protein (AβPP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1) and presenilin 2 (PSEN2), whereas apolipoprotein E-e4 (APOE-e4), bridging integrator 1 (BIN1), clusterin (CLU), phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin assembly lymphoid-myeloid (PICALM) and complement receptor 1 are connected with late-onset AD. Blood-derived biomarkers potentially correlated with AD include proteins: ceruloplasmin, complement factor H, serum amyloid P-complement precursor …
Non-melanoma Skin Cancer with Anemia

A 75-year-old man with a history of multiple cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) presented with a rapidly growing nonscaly nodule adjacent to a site of previous Mohs surgery. Microscopic examination yielded these findings. The correct diagnosis is: (a) Rosacea (b) Perineural lymphocytic infiltrates associated with a previous history of SCC (c) Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (d) Small lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia associated with site of previous surgery and scarring
Preparing the Public Service for Working in Multiethnic Democracies: An Assessment and Ideas for Action

Successful governance of multiethnic democracies and advancement of social and political equity for minorities in Europe are well-recognized goals. As has been noted recently in the activities of the Working Group on Democratic Governance of Multi-ethnic Communities of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee),The importance of finding effective long-term solutions to the management of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic difference and reduction of conflict in the region is without question. Strengthening the capacity of the public and NGO sectors to manage diversity is an essential step to improving governance and service delivery in general. Sustained attention to issues of diversity require long term capacity building through public administration education in addition to current efforts to reform laws and intervene in existing conflicts.1The challenge has drawn attention from many sectors and is being tackled in a wide range of ways (B...
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Pathology and Pathogenesis

Influenza viruses are among the most common causes of human respiratory infections [1], and among the most significant because they cause high morbidity and mortality. Influenza outbreaks have apparently occurred since at least the Middle Ages, if not since ancient times [2]. In the elderly, in infants, and in people with chronic diseases, influenza is associated with especially high mortality. In the United States, influenza results in approximately 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in a typical endemic season [3]. In addition to annual winter outbreaks, pandemic influenza viruses occasionally emerge [4,5], as they have every eight to 41 years, for at least several centuries. Up to 50% of the population can be infected in a single pandemic year, and the number of deaths caused by influenza can dramatically exceed what is normally expected [6].
High Altitude Aircraft Measurements of Carbon Monoxide Using Tunable Diode Lasers

The Airborne Tunable Laser Absorption Spectrometer (ATLAS) instrument is being developed to measure atmospheric carbon monoxide from an ER-2 aircraft over the altitude range of 12 to 21 km. It is part of the NASA Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project (STEP) which uses CO as a tracer of tropospheric air motion across the tropopause. STEP requirements dictated a 1 second response time, 1 ppbv sensitivity and fully automatic operation for the instrument. This is achieved using a tunable diode laser operating at the R-branch of the CO fundamental (4.6 μm) combined with second harmonic detection and a 24 meter White cell.
Interstellar Chemistry in the Gas and on the Surfaces of Dust Particles

After an introduction to molecular observations pertaining to interstellar clouds, we discuss current ideas on the chemical processes occurring in the gas phase and on the surfaces of dust particles in clouds. Various pathways to the synthesis of polyatomic molecules are then illuminated. We summarize detailed gas-phase and gas-grain models of the chemistry in the cores of dense interstellar clouds and compare their results with observations. Extensions of modelling efforts to star formation regions are mentioned. We close with a discussion of current difficulties and likely directions of future activity.
Genescene: An ontology-enhanced integration of linguistic and co-occurrence based relations in biomedical texts: Research Articles

The increasing amount of publicly available literature and experimental data in biomedicine makes it hard for biomedical researchers to stay up-to-date. Genescene is a toolkit that will help alleviate this problem by providing an overview of published literature content. We combined a linguistic parser with Concept Space, a co-occurrence based semantic net. Both techniques extract complementary biomedical relations between noun phrases from MEDLINE abstracts. The parser extracts precise and semantically rich relations from individual abstracts. Concept Space extracts relations that hold true for the collection of abstracts. The Gene Ontology, the Human Genome Nomenclature, and the Unified Medical Language System, are also integrated in Genescene. Currently, they are used to facilitate the integration of the two relation types, and to select the more interesting and high-quality relations for presentation. A user study focusing on p53 literature is discussed. All MEDLINE abstracts discussing p53 were processed in Genescene. Two researchers evaluated the terms and relations from several abstracts of interest to them. The results show that the terms were precise (precision 93p) and relevant, as were the parser relations (precision 95p). The Concept Space relations were more precise when selected with ontological knowledge (precision 78p) than without (60p). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Regional Patterns of Floristic Diversity and Composition in Forests Invaded by Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

The impacts of invasive species on native plant communities are often studied on small spatial scales but may vary across regionally heterogeneous landscapes. Comparisons of vegetation across several similar sites with and without an invasive species present can be logistically challenging but highly informative to both scientists and land managers. We examined regional geographic variation in the diversity and composition of 8 replicate northeastern forest-understory plant communities invaded by the non-native species Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard). Despite variation in underlying soil conditions and horizon development, several native species and their associated functional groups were either negatively or positively associated with Garlic Mustard invasion at the regional scale, and soil moisture and pH were higher in invaded plots across all sites. Most tree species were less common at invaded sites, but high tree-seedling abundances at some sites led to regionally higher seedling abundance in the presence of Garlic Mustard. Our study highlights the importance of species-specific responses, as well as site-specific soil conditions, for better understanding potential impacts of invasion.
GAN Lab: Understanding Complex Deep Generative Models using Interactive Visual Experimentation

Recent success in deep learning has generated immense interest among practitioners and students, inspiring many to learn about this new technology. While visual and interactive approaches have been successfully developed to help people more easily learn deep learning, most existing tools focus on simpler models. In this work, we present GAN Lab, the first interactive visualization tool designed for non-experts to learn and experiment with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), a popular class of complex deep learning models. With GAN Lab, users can interactively train generative models and visualize the dynamic training process's intermediate results. GAN Lab tightly integrates an model overview graph that summarizes GAN's structure, and a layered distributions view that helps users interpret the interplay between submodels. GAN Lab introduces new interactive experimentation features for learning complex deep learning models, such as step-by-step training at multiple levels of abstraction for understanding intricate training dynamics. Implemented using TensorFlow.js , GAN Lab is accessible to anyone via modern web browsers, without the need for installation or specialized hardware, overcoming a major practical challenge in deploying interactive tools for deep learning.
Three-Dimensional Visualization of Kinase Inhibitors as Therapeutically Relevant Examples To Reinforce Types of Enzyme Inhibitors

An activity is described that incorporates three-dimensional visualization of therapeutic agents to reinforce lecture concepts of enzyme structure and inhibition and further relate these concepts to applications for drug action. Investigational and FDA-approved kinase inhibitors developed as anticancer agents were utilized as therapeutically relevant examples of enzyme inhibitors to illustrate enzyme–inhibitor interactions and correlate mechanisms of enzyme inhibition to drug action. Student cohorts were required to answer a series of questions while visualizing the three-dimensional enzyme active site and inhibitor-bound enzyme complexes. Student impressions of the activity based on a survey were positive. Student learning for concepts covered as part of the activity was evaluated using performance on examination questions.
Development of a GIS for Environmental Assessment Incorporating Known Potential Environmental Hazards and Remote Sensing

The development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) application to evaluate potential environmental hazards within the Bushkill watershed in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, is described by the authors. Information identifying hazardous materials used by businesses within the watershed was obtained from databases of the Environmental Protection Agency. These databases were supplemented and updated by visual reconnaissance and by a review of current tax maps, zoning information and aerial photographs. Information regarding the use or storage of substances considered hazardous was collected from various agencies as well as any known violations of environmental regulations by the businesses. Geographic information including remotely sensed data and maps of surface water bodies, geology and soil types was also obtained for the study area. A GIS was used to integrate the geographic information with the hazardous substance database resulting in a tool for use in environmental site assessments, planning for subsequent site characterization, and for environmental educational purposes.
A Performance Analysis of Folding Conformal Propeller Blade Designs

NASA’s X-57 Maxwell flight demonstrator has a high-lift system that includes 12 fixed- pitch high-lift propellers located upstream of the wing leading edge for lift augmentation at low speeds. These high-lift propellers are only required at low speeds, and to reduce drag, the propeller blades are folded conformally along the nacelles at other operating conditions. The method of designing the high-lift blades permits several variations of blade cross-section placement along the nacelle surface and a comparative performance analysis was needed to determine if any particular design showed significant benefits. We analyzed the performance of three conformal high-lift propeller designs and compared them to that of a non-conformal baseline propeller to establish both the benefit of stowable blades and the value of each variation. In this study, we first performed a drag analysis of each design in the stowed configuration at the X-57 cruise speed and altitude to determine the drag benefits of each conforming method. Then, among blade designs we compared the thrust, power, and lift for a given input shaft speed to establish any performance losses from the baseline. This analysis shows that the conformal blade designs do not have any appreciable performance losses compared to the baseline blades. Moreover, although the drag in the cruise condition is significantly less than for the non-folding baseline, the drag benefits of each conforming blade approach are similar and the value of each approach largely depends on the ease of integration into the nacelle. This paper presents the results of these studies and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of implementing the conformal blade designs. Specifically, we demonstrate that folding, conformal propeller blades contribute significantly less to cruise drag when compared to windmilling, with an increase relative to a. We also show a less than 1% difference in performance formal, folding propellers and the non-conforming baseline propeller.
APPLICATION OF THE CHANNEL COUPLING ARRAY THEORY TO SOME ATOMIC THREE-BODY SYSTEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the application of the channel coupling array theory to a few atomic three-body systems. The channel coupling array method is a procedure for deriving sets of coupled integral equations with connected kernels for the T operators whose on-shell matrix elements give the amplitudes for transitions from an initial state of n distinguishable particles in channel k to states in the various final channels. In a study presented in the chapter, the initial calculations were performed for low energy scattering and unitary results were obtained using the integral equation. Although variational principles have been derived for the T operator integral equations, it was decided to use a differential equation form of as a means for performing variational calculations for phase shifts. To this end, the variational wave function was used as the trial function. The object of the variational calculation was threefold, which includes setting up a Kohn-type variational principle for multichannel scattering using the W-array formalism and testing the accuracy of a simple wave function.
Eosinophilia and risk of incident end stage kidney disease

Eosinophils in kidney disease are poorly understood and are often incidental findings on kidney biopsy. Eosinophilia in blood and renal biopsy tissue is associated with a host of immune and non-immune kidney diseases. The significance of eosinophilia in renal diseases has not been well addressed. We evaluated the presence of peripheral eosinophilia (> 4% of blood leukocytes) with biopsy tissue eosinophilia and their association with end-stage-kidney-disease (ESKD). A nested case-control (2:1) of patients who underwent kidney biopsies at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical University of South Carolina from 2004 to 2018 were included in the study. From the 616 eligible patients, 178 patients were identified through the registry of kidney biopsies as 18 years or older without missing biopsy reports or hematology results. Controls (n = 154) had no ESKD at the time of case (n = 24) designation and were assembled using incident density sampling and matched on age and sex. The association of peripheral eosinophilia (> 4% of peripheral blood leukocytes) with the risk of progression to ESKD was evaluated using conditional logistic model after adjusting for clinical demographics. Among 178 patients, 65 (37%) had peripheral eosinophilia and 113 (63%) had no eosinophilia. Compared to patients without eosinophilia, patients with peripheral eosinophilia were notably male and had a higher serum creatinine at the time of their biopsy. Peripheral eosinophilia was associated with higher risk of ESKD (OR 15.9 [1.9, 134.7]) adjusted for patient demographics including hypertension, proteinuria and eGFR at the time of kidney biopsy. Peripheral eosinophilia had a significant linear association with kidney tissue eosinophils, 22 (standard deviation [SD] 20) per high power field (hpf) in 4–10% peripheral eosinophilia, 19 (SD 18) per hpf in ≥10% eosinophilia and 3 (SD 7) per hpf in no eosinophilia (P < 0.001). Peripheral eosinophilia is an independent predictor of tissue eosinophilia and subsequent progression to ESKD. Peripheral eosinophilia may be an early biomarker for underlying inflammation and disease, but further studies to investigate this clinical association are warranted.
Computational and experimental investigation of bio-inspired 3D printed prototypes

Many bio-structures, such as the paddlefish rostrum, owe their remarkable resistance to permanent deformation to an optimized arrangement of hard and soft materials. This study utilizes the unique characteristics seen in biological systems to determine the optimized composition of hard and soft materials to develop an enhanced damping mechanism for dynamic load resistance. This work develops novel 3D printed prototypes inspired by the material composition of the paddlefish rostrum. The design-test-build cycle of the prototypes will consist of numerical analyses to inform the experimental boundary conditions and multi-material configuration. In biological systems, the boundary conditions determine an optimized material configuration. This study consists of quasi-static flexure experiments under different load and displacement boundary conditions to determine the optimized configuration for the given boundary condition. This investigation compares the prototypes' deformation, load transfer distribution, shear capacity, and the optimized material configuration per specific load and displacement boundary conditions against other samples with single material properties. When compared to isotropic materials currently in use, bio-inspired, multi-material structures demonstrate an enhanced stress to deformation performance . The study also determined the best material layup for the 3D printed prototype for each of the load and displacement boundary conditions.
Force production during the sustained phase of Rugby scrums: a systematic literature review.

Since World Rugby changed the laws regarding scrums in the 2013–2014 season, the sustained push phase of the scrum has increased in tactical importance. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine the biomechanical demands during the sustained push phase of individual, unit, and full pack scrummaging. Pubmed, EBSCO (specifically and simultaneously searching Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus), and Google Scholar were searched for any research that presented force production in a live or simulated rugby scrum. Study quality was appraised using the National Institute of Health’s Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Recorded scrum forces, positioning of players including joint angles, and testing procedures were extracted and narratively synthesized. Twenty six studies were included in the review. 50% of included studies were rated good, 31% fair, and 19% poor. Major limitations included not reporting any effect size, statistical power, or reliability. Reported group mean values for average sustained forces against a machine generally ranged from 1000 to 2000 N in individual scrums and 4000–8000 N for full packs of male rugby players older than high school age. Individuals seem to optimize their force generation when their shoulders are set against scrum machine pads at approximately 40% of body height, with feet parallel, and with knee and hip angles around 120°. A 10% difference in pack force seems to be necessary for one pack to drive another back in the scrum, but little data exist to quantify differences in force production between winning and losing packs during live scrums. Data collection within studies was not standardized, making comparisons difficult. There is a lack of data in live scrums, and the current research indicates that machine scrums may not replicate many of the demands of live scrums. There is a lack of data for female rugby players. This review indicates an optimal individual body position for players to strive to achieve during scrummaging, consisting of a low body height (40% of stature) and large extended hip and knee angles (120° each).
Socioenvironmental Risk Factors for Adolescent Marijuana Use in a United States-Mexico Border Community

Purpose:We examined how socioenvironmental risk factors unique to the United States-Mexico border, defined as border community and immigration stress, normalization of drug trafficking, and perceiv...
Biennial Taxes – A Simple Solution to Rising Tax Non-Compliance, Shrinking IRS Budgets, and Increasing Taxpayer Burden

Each year, individual tax non-compliance causes billions of dollars of lost tax revenue. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conducts examinations of select returns, the audit rate fell precipitously in past decades. Meanwhile, the number of individual returns grew and return complexity rose. Individuals face a dauntingly complex tax code that requires the assistance of paid preparers. More than ever, the IRS experiences greater demands for assistance from taxpayers but fewer resources to fulfill these demands. Instead of the oft-proposed IRS budget increase, we propose a simple and pragmatic, but transformative, solution: biennial filing and collection of taxes, which would minimize taxpayer and paperwork burdens, free up IRS funding, and result in a de facto doubling of the audit rate. In aggregate, the plan is estimated to save $74 – $83 billion for the IRS and the American public.
Audio-visual based non-line-of-sight sound source localization: A feasibility study

Abstract This paper examines the feasibility of using an audio-visual methodology for sound source localization of acoustic sources hidden from direct view. A four channel microphone array is used in conjunction with LiDAR and 2D/3D mapping to merge estimated angles of arrival with room parameters for sound source localization. The time difference of arrival (TDOA) approach is used to estimate the angle(s) of arrival from an unknown sound source and a reverse ray-tracing approach is used to identify a possible source location behind a barrier/obstacle. Using a single-source zone approach based TDOA algorithm, a variety of estimated source directions are identified, each arising from multiple sound sources due to reflections in the room. Results are combined with a three-dimensional map of the space acquired from a ground robot equipped with a 2D SICK LMS LiDAR, and a reverse ray tracing approach is used to triangulate the likely position of the source. Tests were performed in both controlled and uncontrolled environments and the method was capable of finding the hidden source to within 0.5 m accuracy, which is approximately 10% of the length of an automobile. It is proposed that a methodology like this could be used to add sound source localization capabilities on autonomous vehicles to detect the position of emergency/warning sounds in traffic that may be shielded from the direct field of view.