cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Experience of Mobile Entrapment in Daily Life

Abstract. This multistudy investigation examines how entrapment, which is the guilt, anxiety, or stress to respond and be available to others via mobile devices, shapes and is shaped by patterns of mobile use. Using structural equation modeling on cross-sectional survey responses, Study 1 (N = 300) tested relationships among offline social network size, voice and text frequency, entrapment, and well-being. Offline social network size was associated with text message frequency, and both were indirectly associated with lower subjective well-being via entrapment. Study 2 used experience sampling to confirm associations among entrapment, texting, and well-being. Participants (N = 112) reported on face-to-face, phone, and text interactions five times a day for 5 consecutive days (n = 1,879). Multilevel modeling results indicated that beginning-of-week entrapment was associated with more interactions with acquaintances and strangers, and with reporting lower affective well-being and relatedness when interacting...
Video-Based Instruction for Learners with Autism

This chapter provides background on research with practical implications for teachers and therapists who wish to use video-based instruction. The discussion is organized first around the rationale and practical considerations for using video-based instruction broadly. This includes the logic for using video as a component of instruction along with discussion about variables known to impact or theorized to impact video-based instruction. Following this, the chapter’s focus shifts to provide a concrete background on the research, application, and considerations for using video to teach social skills and functional life skills. The chapter emphasizes here how video is just another component for instruction and work well within a wide range of well-supported evidence-based instructional procedures. Within this context, the goal is for the reader to increase their understanding of why and when to use video along with an improved knowledge of how to implement video-based instruction with learners diagnosed with autism.
Can Marketing and IT Be Friends? The Impact of Information Strategy, Structure, and Processes on Business Performance: An Abstract

The management of information is critical to customer relationship management and business performance. Marketers are increasingly becoming engaging in information management from inception or being tasked with advanced technology infrastructure decisions that will effectively collect and analyze information. To address the increasing role of information and technology in marketing strategy, the focus of this research is twofold. First, we investigate the impact of uncoordinated information management on the quality of information available. Next, we explore how behavioral (e.g., trust, power, strategic alignment), relational (e.g., collaboration), and resource (e.g., data analytics skills, data decision-making culture) elements impact the role of information governance on firm performance.
Resposta a Carta ao Editor

Gostaria de agradecer o Dr. Moura Neto pela carta em que teceu comentarios sobre nosso artigo “When Kidneys Get Old- an essay on Nephro-geriatrics”. A questao discutida sobre o risco de mortalidade por todas as causas nos idosos associada a valores estimados de TFG entre 45 e 59ml/min/1,73m2 e importante e polemica. Sugerimos que tais niveis de funcao renal em individuos idosos (com mais de 70 anos de idade), quando desacompanhados de proteinuria anormal, nao estao associados a reducoes significativas [...]
Collaborative and adversarial analysis in environmental policy

This study examines two models of analysis used in attempts to resolve technically intensive policy disputes. In the adversarial form of analysis, groups opposing each other in a debate generate competing technical analyses to support their clashing policy arguments. In the collaborative form of analysis, all the groups involved in a debate work together to build a single, mutually acceptable technical analysis of the issues in question. The practical implications of these contrasting forms of analysis are explored in the context of two recent policy debates over the environmental management of the marine oil trade in Alaska. In the first case, adversarial analysis is found to cause a stalemate in the policy process. In the second case, collaborative analysis is found to facilitate the resolution of a policy dispute. In both cases, it is also found that analysis and politics interact in shaping the content of the final policy decisions.
Strategies of Biochemical Characterization of Hormonal Peptides

In the last 7 years, we have characterized a series of novel hormonal peptides exhibiting hypophysiotropic actions by complete amino acid sequence analysis [1–14, 29]. The size of these peptides varied from 9-134 amino acid residues.
Permeability and Regulation of Gap Junction Channels in Cells and in Artificial Lipid Bilayers

Many cell communities, in spite of the apparent structural individuality of their members, behave in some respects like syncytia, due to the existence of well-defined cell-to-cell channels of communication. Cooperative functions such as the synchronous spread of electrical impulse in heart, smooth muscle, and some areas of the nervous system, equilibration of ionic and metabolic pools, and coordinated responses of cell communities to hormonal or transmitter-mediated stimuli are among some of the many functions of direct cell-to-cell communication (cell coupling), a mechanism that enables tissues to respond to external and internal signals as integrated systems. Cell coupling represents the ability of cells to freely exchange with neighboring cells in direct contact with them, ions, metabolites, and messengers, while maintaining their individuality regarding macromolecules; the syncytiumlike feature being restricted to molecules smaller than M r 1000 (M r 2000 in certain invertebrates).
Generating Well-Distributed Sets of Pareto Points for Engineering Design Using Physical Programming

Engineering design generally involves two, possibly integrated, phases: (i) generating design options, and (ii) choosing the most satisfactory option on the basis of some determined criteria. The depth, or lack, of integration between these two phases defines different design approaches, and differing philosophical views from the part of researchers in the field of computational design. Optimization-Based Design (OBD) covers the spectrum of this depth of integration. While most OBD approaches strongly integrate these two phases, some employ computational optimization only in the first or second phase. Regardless of where a method or researcher lies in this philosophical spectrum, some requisite characteristics are fundamental to the effectiveness of OBD methods. In particular, (i) the Aggregate Objective Function (AOF) used in the optimization must have the ability to generate all Pareto solutions, (ii) the generation of any existing Pareto solutions must be possible with reasonable ease, and (iii) even changes in the AOF parameters should yield a well distributed set of Pareto solutions. This paper examines the effectiveness of physical programming (PP) with respect to the latter, yielding favorable conclusions. Previous papers have led to similarly positive conclusions with respect to the former two. This paper also presents a comparative study featuring PP and other popular methods, where PP is shown to perform favorably. A PP-based method for generating the Pareto frontier is presented.
Navigating Through the Crowd: How Do Investors Assess Contributor Credibility and Make Investment Judgments on Social Media Platforms?

Technological innovations have created a significant shift in how investment information is created, disseminated, and reviewed. Social media platforms and other internet-based information intermediaries are now important sources of fundamental investment analysis for investors. We use an experiment to examine how investors use features of social media platforms—specifically, network oversight, contributor publication experience, and contributor ownership status—to assess contributor credibility and make investment judgments. Consistent with satisficing theory, we find the presence of one positive credibility cue is sufficient to increase investor perceptions of contributor credibility and willingness to invest. However, once a positive credibility cue is present, additional credibility cues have little influence on investors’ judgments. Our findings have important implications for investors, social media platforms, and regulators, providing evidence on how investors assess credibility for an important new information intermediary and when investors’ judgments are likely to be influenced.
Exercise Reduces Diffusion Distances in Skeletal Muscles of Rabbits Fed an Atherogenic Diet

When work demands on skeletal muscles are increased, through exercise or chronic electrical stimulation, metabolic advantage lies in adaptations that shorten or at least maintain diffusion distances for oxygen and other nutrients or metabolites. The growth of new capillaries is one means to achieve this, and the evidence for capillary proliferation in skeletal muscle in response to higher functional demands has been reviewed elsewhere (Hudlicka, 1982).
Automatic Scoring of Parkinson’s Disease Motor Symptoms Using a Smartwatch (P2.8-001)

Objective: To predict the MDS-UPDRS Part III subscore for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) based on accelerometry data collected from a smartwatch during simulated routine tasks. Background: PD motor manifestations are variable and highly dependent on the time of assessment in relation to the last dose of PD medications. Tracking these motor symptoms outside the clinic through the use of wearable devices may provide useful information for appropriately managing treatment and monitoring disease progression. Design/Methods: As part of the Clinician Input Study, a multi-center study sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, 22 participants with PD performed a series of 13 tasks, simulating routine behaviors, while wearing a smartwatch device. A trained clinician evaluated tremor and bradykinesia of both upper extremities, using a scale of 0–4. Immediately after performing the tasks, the clinician rated the participant’s motor symptoms using the MDS-UPDRS Part III assessment. Each participant performed this procedure once while off-medication and once while on-medication. Machine learning models were trained to predict the symptom scores for each task based on the smartwatch accelerometry data. Two additional models were trained to predict the Part III subscore, based on symptom scores for the motor tasks, either actual or predicted. Correlations between actual and predicted Part III subscores were evaluated. Results: Actual Part III subscore was moderately correlated with predicted subscore from clinician task scores (r=.55, p Conclusions: Accelerometry data from a smartwatch device can be used to estimate the severity of symptoms of tremor and bradykinesia in PD with reasonable accuracy. In particular, predicted scores during routine tasks are correlated with overall state of motor symptoms and could be used to monitor motor symptoms outside of the clinic. Disclosure: Dr. Shawen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Knott has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lee has nothing to disclose. Dr. Simuni has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Acadia, Adamas, Teva, UCB Pharma, Abbvie, Anavex, Allergan, Accorda, Neuroderm, Photopharmics, Revance, Sanofi, Sunovion, Voyager, US World Meds, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Dr. Simuni has received research support from Biogen, Roche, Neuroderm, Sanofi, NINDS, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and the Parkinson Foundation. Dr. Daeschler has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jayaraman has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Ekso Bionics. Dr. Jayaraman has received research support from ReWalk Robotics, Ekso Bionics.
Abstract WP138: Intermittent Fasting Prevents Ischemic Progression and Promotes Long-Term Recovery

Intermittent fasting (IF) showed a substantial benefit in preventing vascular complications in both humans and animal models. We currently evaluated the effect of IF on post-stroke ischemic progres...
Implications of Narcissistic Personality Disorder on Organizational Resilience

In the Fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by having feelings of self-importance, seeking for admiration, and lacking empathy. These traits map well into qualities of leadership such as having vision, having high achievement, and being able to make hard decisions. Unfortunately, narcissism often carries with it a number of negative traits such as manipulation or subversion of individuals, ethical lapses, and a need for constant change. On an organizational level, these traits may serve to undermine workers and the workplace, causing considerable damage in their wake and leaving personnel feeling helpless to intervene. This paper reviews an anonymized organizational case study of narcissistic personality disorder at a university. The dysfunction caused by a narcissistic leader directly led to the collapse of a program at the university, unusually high levels of attrition, and a diminished institutional reputation. This paper considers the implications of opportunistic leadership in eroding organizational resilience. Current research models focus on many of the factors that may erode organizational resilience, but they overlook the internal threat posed by narcissistic leaders. This paper reviews opportunities to consider narcissism as a causal factor in organizational resilience and human reliability analysis.
Translator Exposure APIs: Open Access to Data on Airborne Pollutant Exposures, Roadway Exposures, and Socio-Environmental Exposures and Use Case Application.

Environmental exposures have profound effects on health and disease. While public repositories exist for a variety of exposures data, these are generally difficult to access, navigate, and interpret. We describe the research, development, and application of three open application programming interfaces (APIs) that support access to usable, nationwide, exposures data from three public repositories: airborne pollutant estimates from the US Environmental Protection Agency; roadway data from the US Department of Transportation; and socio-environmental exposures from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Three open APIs were successfully developed, deployed, and tested using random latitude/longitude values and time periods as input parameters. After confirming the accuracy of the data, we used the APIs to extract exposures data on 2550 participants from a cohort within the Environmental Polymorphisms Registry (EPR) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and we successfully linked the exposure estimates with participant-level data derived from the EPR. We then conducted an exploratory, proof-of-concept analysis of the integrated data for a subset of participants with self-reported asthma and largely replicated our prior findings on the impact of select exposures and demographic factors on asthma exacerbations. Together, the three open exposures APIs provide a valuable resource, with application across environmental and public health fields.
Extracellular vesicles in spontaneous preterm birth

Feto-maternal communication helps to maintain pregnancy and contributes to parturition at term and preterm. Endocrine and immune factor are well-reported communication mediators. Recent advances in extracellular vesicle (EV) biology have introduced them as major communication channels between the mother and fetus. EVs are round structures with a lipid bilayer membrane. EVs are generally categorized based on their size and mode of biogenesis. The most commonly reported EVs are exosomes with a size range of 30-160 nm that are formed inside the intraluminal vesicles of multivesicular body. Microvesicles (MVs) are larger than > 200 nm and formed by outward budding of plasma membrane. Vesicles are released from all cells and carry various factors that reflect the physiologic state of cell at the time of their release. Analysis of vesicle provides a snapshot of origin cell. Recent studies in perinatal medicine have shown that exosomes are key communicators between feto-maternal units, and they can cross placenta. Fetal-derived exosomes released under term labor-associated conditions can cause parturition-associated changes in maternal uterine tissues. Exosomes carrying inflammatory cargo can cause preterm birth in animal models suggesting their functional role in parturition. A few reports have profiled differences between exosome cargos from term and preterm pregnancies and indicated their biomarker potential to predict high-risk pregnancy status. There are hardly any reports on MVs and their functional roles in reproduction. Herein, we review of EVs and MVs, their characteristics, function, and usefulness predicting adverse pregnancy complications such as preterm birth.
Evaluation of influence of pavement data on measurement of deflection on asphalt surfaced pavements utilizing traffic speed deflection device

Abstract Structural condition data is one of the critical data elements in pavement design and management for determining the needs of pavements rehabilitation. However, it is time-consuming and may raise safety concerns to use Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) for collecting pavement structure data at network-level. The traffic-speed deflection device seems to be a promising way to collect network-level structural capacity information in a safe and timely manner. To better understand the deflection collected from traffic-speed deflection devices, this paper focused on the influence of pavement data on deflection measurements. The pavement data in this study included pavement structure and surface condition data. The associations between deflection and pavement data was assessed by non-parametric rank correlation analysis. The pavement data elements that may influence deflection measurement were identified by random forest regression models. The relationship between deflection indices and surface condition indices were quantified by Tukey’s HSD test. Results indicated that D0 and SCI appeared to be more influenced by pavement type, surface roughness and distress than SCI of subgrade. IRI on the right wheel path tended to be more closely associated with SCI than other surface condition data. The change of surface condition indices appeared to be more sensitive to deflection indices on flexible pavements than on composite pavements.
A common genetic architecture enables the lossy compression of large CRISPR libraries

Abstract There are thousands of ubiquitously expressed mammalian genes, yet a genetic knockout can be lethal to one cell, and harmless to another. This context specificity confounds our understanding of genetics and cell biology. 2 large collections of pooled CRISPR screens offer an exciting opportunity to explore cell specificity. One explanation, synthetic lethality, occurs when a single “private” mutation creates a unique genetic dependency. However, by fitting thousands of machine learning models across millions of omic and CRISPR features, we discovered a “public” genetic architecture that is common across cell lines and explains more context specificity than synthetic lethality. This common architecture is built on CRISPR loss-of-function phenotypes that are surprisingly predictive of other loss-of-function phenotypes. Using these insights and inspired by the in silico lossy compression of images, we use machine learning to identify small “lossy compression” sets of in vitro CRISPR constructs where reduced measurements produce genome-scale loss-of-function predictions.
Satisfaction with a rechargeable sacral neuromodulation system-A secondary analysis of the ARTISAN-SNM study.

Aim To describe factors associated with satisfaction with the Axonics sacral neuromodulation (SNM) System at 1 year. Methods This was a secondary analysis of data collected in the ARTISAN-SNM study-a single arm, prospective, multicenter trial of the Axonics r-SNM System™. ARTISAN-SNM recruited participants with urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) to undergo a single, nonstaged implant of the lead and rechargeable neurostimulator. Participants were considered therapy responders if they had ≥50% reduction in UUI episodes in a 3-day period at 1-month post-implant. Bladder diaries and satisfaction (7-point Likert scale) were assessed at 1 year. Results In all, 124 participants (110 "responders" and 14 "non-responders") had complete data at baseline, 1 month and 1 year following implant. Most participants were satisfied with Axonics at 1 year: 68.5% were "very satisfied," 25.8% were "moderately satisfied," and 2.4% were "slightly satisfied." At 1 year, treatment efficacy, as measured by electronic bladder diaries, was significantly associated with satisfaction. Participants who were "very satisfied" had a larger reduction in voids per day (p = .01), leaks per day (p = .004), urgent leaks per day (p = .04), and voids in which the urgency was desperate per day (p = .03) compared to those less satisfied. Twelve of the 14 "non-responders" continued to see improvements in symptom reduction from 1 month to 1 year; 9/14 (64%) were "responders" at 1 year with six reporting being "very satisfied" and one reporting being "moderately satisfied." Conclusion Satisfaction 1 year after implantation of Axonics SNM is extremely high and correlates with the degree of symptom improvement, which increases over time.
Surgical Management of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a spectrum of premalignant and malignant tumors that develop from placental tissue and thus are associated with pregnancy. Outcomes for GTD have significantly improved over the last few decades with overall cure rates now well over 90%. Chemotherapy is essential to the treatment of GTN and a key factor in the improved cure rates. Although surgery is not as frequently indicated or utilized in the management of GTD, there are key instances in which surgery plays an important role in improving patient outcomes. These instances include primary uterine evacuation of hydatidiform moles, primary hysterectomy for molar pregnancies and malignant GTN, secondary hysterectomy and/or other excisional procedures for chemotherapy-resistant disease, excisional procedures to improve chemotherapy response, and surgical management of disease complications. In this chapter, we will review in detail the indications for surgery in the management of GTD.
Renal Cell Carcinoma in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder in which renal manifestations are prominent. There are three major renal lesions in TSC: angiomyolipomas, cysts, and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Major recent advances have revolutionized our understanding of TSC-associated RCC, including two series that together include more than 100 TSC-RCC cases, demonstrating a mean age at onset of about 36 years, tumors in children as young as 7, and a striking 2:1 female predominance. These series also provide the first detailed understanding of the pathologic features of these distinctive tumors, which include chromophobe-like features and eosinophilia, with some of the tumors unclassified. This pathologic heterogeneity is distinctive and reminiscent of the pathologic heterogeneity in Birt–Hogg–Dube-associated RCC, which also includes chromophobe-like tumors. Additional advances include the identification of sporadic counterpart tumors that carry somatic TSC1/TSC2/mTOR mutations. These include unclassified eosinophilic tumors, eosinophilic solid cystic RCC (ESC-RCC), and RCC with leiomyomatous stroma (RCCLMS). A variety of epithelial renal neoplasms have been identified both in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and in the nonsyndromic setting associated with somatic mutations in the TSC1 and TSC2 genes. Interestingly, whether tumors are related to a germline or somatic TSC1/2 mutation, these tumors often display similar morphologic and immunophenotypic features. Finally, recent work has identified molecular links between TSC and BHD-associated tumors, involving the TFEB/TFE3 transcription factors.
Fast and Near-Optimal Diagonal Preconditioning

The convergence rates of iterative methods for solving a linear system $\mathbf{A} x = b$ typically depend on the condition number of the matrix $\mathbf{A}$. Preconditioning is a common way of speeding up these methods by reducing that condition number in a computationally inexpensive way. In this paper, we revisit the decades-old problem of how to best improve $\mathbf{A}$'s condition number by left or right diagonal rescaling. We make progress on this problem in several directions. First, we provide new bounds for the classic heuristic of scaling $\mathbf{A}$ by its diagonal values (a.k.a. Jacobi preconditioning). We prove that this approach reduces $\mathbf{A}$'s condition number to within a quadratic factor of the best possible scaling. Second, we give a solver for structured mixed packing and covering semidefinite programs (MPC SDPs) which computes a constant-factor optimal scaling for $\mathbf{A}$ in $\widetilde{O}(\text{nnz}(\mathbf{A}) \cdot \text{poly}(\kappa^\star))$ time; this matches the cost of solving the linear system after scaling up to a $\widetilde{O}(\text{poly}(\kappa^\star))$ factor. Third, we demonstrate that a sufficiently general width-independent MPC SDP solver would imply near-optimal runtimes for the scaling problems we consider, and natural variants concerned with measures of average conditioning. Finally, we highlight connections of our preconditioning techniques to semi-random noise models, as well as applications in reducing risk in several statistical regression models.
Some Theorems on Omitting Types, With Applications to Model Completeness, Amalgamation, and Related Properties

Publisher Summary This chapter emphasizes that many superficially unrelated results of model theory are consequences of the same simple theorems on omitting types, discusses several properties of omitting types, and also illustrates their uses with a variety of example. By systematically developing certain rather elementary observations on omitting types, many known results can be known and unified, a number of new ones can be found, and some classical results can be trivialized. The chapter discusses Lindstrom's theorem showing that the model completeness is a consequence of a very simple observation on omitting types in theories that are categorical in some infinite power. The chapter also discusses The Completeness Theorem, the downward Lowenheim–Skolem theorem, existentially closed models, the amalgamation property, the omitting-types theorem, other theorems, and lemmas.
Subregion analysis and bounds check elimination for high level arrays

For decades, the design and implementation of arrays in programming languages has reflected a natural tension between productivity and performance. Recently introduced HPCS languages (Chapel, Fortress and ×10) advocate the use of high-level arrays for improved productivity. For example, high-level arrays in the ×10 language support rank-independent specification of multidimensional loop and array computations using regions and points. Three aspects of ×10 high-level arrays are important for productivity but pose significant performance challenges: high-level accesses are performed through point objects rather than integer indices, variables containing references to arrays are rank-independent, and all subscripts in a high-level array access must be checked for bounds violations. The first two challenges have been addressed in past work. In this paper, we address the third challenge of optimizing the overhead of array bounds checks by developing a novel region-based interprocedural array bounds analysis to automatically identify redundant checks. Elimination of redundant checks reduces the runtime overhead of bounds checks, and also enables further optimization by removing constraints that arise from precise exception semantics. We have implemented an array bounds check elimination algorithm that inserts special annotations that are recognized by a modified JVM. We also introduce array views, a high-level construct that improves productivity by allowing the programmer to access the underlying array through multiple views. We describe a technique for optimizing away the overhead of many common cases of array views in ×0. Our experiments show that eliminating bounds checks using the results of the analysis described in this paper improves the performance of our benchmarks by up to 22% over JIT compilation.
Iron(III)-mediated photolysis of outer arm dynein ATPase from sea urchin sperm flagella.

Irradiation of outer arm dynein ATPase from sea urchin sperm tail flagella at 365-410 nm in the presence of Fe(III)-gluconate complex and ATP produces photolytic cleavage at two distinct sites on the beta heavy chain, located approximately 250 and approximately 230 kDa from its amino terminus. The former cut is close to or identical with the V1 site of the vanadate-mediated photocleavage (Gibbons, I.R., Lee-Eiford, A., Mocz, G., Phillipson, C. A., Tang, W.-J.Y., and Gibbons, B.H. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2780-2786. The rate of photolysis shows a hyperbolic dependence on Fe(III)-gluconate concentration with half-maximal rate occurring at 23 microM at pH 6.3. In the presence of 0.1-0.5 mM Fe(III)-gluconate-ATP, approximately 58% of the beta chain becomes cleaved with a half-time of about 34 s; the remainder of the beta chain and almost all of the alpha chain are resistant to cleavage. This photolytic cleavage of the beta chain is accompanied by an approximately parallel loss of the dynein latent ATPase activity, whereas the Triton-activated ATPase is lost to a somewhat greater extent. Mg2+ concentrations above approximately 3 mM inhibit photolysis. Substitution of ADP for ATP changes the pattern of cleavage so that both the alpha and beta heavy chain undergo scission but at the 250-kDa site only. AMP, adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate and Fe(II) do not support cleavage at either site. Trivalent rhodium-ATP complexes, as models of MgATP, can also catalyze photolysis of the beta chain at the 250-kDa site. These results suggest that photolysis results from the activation of an Fe(III)-ATP complex bound to the hydrolytic ATP binding site of the beta chain and that both Fe(III) cleavage sites are located close to the nucleotide binding site in the tertiary folding of the beta heavy chain. The cleavage reaction possibly involves initial photoreduction of Fe(III) bound at the Mg2+ binding site in the dynein.Fe.ATP complex, followed by covalent modification of an amino acid side chain that leads to eventual peptide scission.
Chapter 3 The Quantum SI: A Possible New International System of Units

Abstract The International System of Units is a widely used system of measurement standards that provide the basis for expressing physical quantities, such as the kilogram for mass. This paper will describe a proposed modernization of some of the unit definitions that would provide a system that is more stable over time and more suitable for expressing the values of many fundamental constants.
Glucocorticoids Antagonize RUNX2 During Osteoblast Differentiation in Cultures of ST2 Pluripotent Mesenchymal Cells

The efficacy of glucocorticoids (GCs) in treating a wide range of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions is blemished by severe side effects, including osteoporosis. The chief mechanism leading to GC-induced osteoporosis is inhibition of bone formation, but the role of RUNX2, a master regulator of osteoblast differentiation and bone formation, has not been well studied. We assessed effects of the synthetic GC dexamethasone (dex) on transcription of RUNX2-stimulated genes during the differentiation of mesenchymal pluripotent cells into osteoblasts. Dex inhibited a RUNX2 reporter gene and attenuated locus-dependently RUNX2-driven expression of several endogenous target genes. The anti-RUNX2 activity of dex was not attributable to decreased RUNX2 expression, but rather to physical interaction between RUNX2 and the GC receptor (GR), demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation assays and co-immunofluorescence imaging. Investigation of the RUNX2/GR interaction may lead to the development of bone-sparing GC treatment modalities for the management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Chemical Identity Crisis: Glass and Glassblowing in the Identification of Organic Compounds

SummaryThis essay explains why and how nineteenth-century chemists sought to stabilize the melting and boiling points of organic substances as reliable characteristics of identity and purity and how, by the end of the century, they established these values as ‘Constants of Nature’. Melting and boiling points as characteristic values emerge from this study as products of laboratory standardization, developed by chemists in their struggle to classify, understand and control organic nature. A major argument here concerns the role played by the introduction of organic synthesis in driving these changes. Synthetic organic chemistry vastly increased the number of known organic substances, precipitating the chemical identity crisis of my title. Successful natural product synthesis, moreover, depended on chemists’ ability to demonstrate the absolute identity of synthetic product and natural target – something late nineteenth-century chemists eventually achieved by making reliable, replicable melting and boiling p...
High-resolution reconstruction of dynamic PET image sequences using a low-order approximation

ABSTRACT Positron emission tomography (PET) is a medical imaging modality which produces valuable functional informa-tion, but is limited by the poor image quality it provides. Considerable attention has been payed to the problemof reconstructing images in a way that produces better image resolution and noise properties. In dynamic imagingapplications PET data are particularly noisy, thus preventing successful recovery of spatial resolution by signalprocessing applications. In this paper we show that smoothing of image data using a low-order approximationalong the time axis can greatly enhance restoration performance.Keywords: image reconstruction, dynamic images, projections onto convex sets, principal component analysis 1 INTRODUCTION PET has been widely recognized for its ability to produce quantitative images of in vivo radiotracer distri-butions, from which physiologically important parameters can be readily derived. However, the image qualityand quantitative performance of PET are limited by PET's poor spatial resolution and low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR). Considerable attention has been payed to incorporate knowledge on the physics and statistics of PET dataacquisition into image reconstruction methods to produce images having better resolution and noise properties.In previous studies Wernick e al. [1 ,2] demonstrated the use of pre-reconstruction sinogram restoration to im-prove the spatial resolution and quantitative accuracy of PET images obtained by ordinary filtered backprojection(FBP). This approach has the advantages offered by signal recovery while avoiding the impractical computationalburden of iterative reconstruction methods, such as maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization (ML-EM) andBayesian algorithms. Unfortunately, recovery of spatial resolution by the pre-reconstruction restoration approachdescribed in [1,2] was unsuccessful in dynamic imaging applications in which PET data are particularly noisy.In this paper we show that restoration performance can be greatly enhanced by smoothing the image dataalong the time axis using a low-order approximation. Principal component analysis (PCA) has been demonstratedby Yap ei al. [3] and Barber [4] to be effective in extracting the statistically significant temporal variations from
Assessment of NAND based ring oscillator for hardware Trojan detection

Malicious inclusion inside integrated circuits (ICs) is a recently evolved concept in the semiconductor industry. This has become a matter of concern with the increase in outsourcing of semiconductors which are used both in military and commercial sectors. To facilitate the detection of Trojans using power based analysis, NOT gate based ring oscillator (RO) network models have been suggested in the past. It has been observed that due to the presence of process variation, environmental variation and measurement noise, a stealthy Trojan may go undetected. In this paper we study the NAND based RO as a power monitor which is more sensitive to voltage fluctuation. A RO network constituting 7 ROs is implemented using the ISCAS'85 c2670 benchmark on several Xilinx Spartan-3E FPGAs. The results demonstrate that the impact of Trojans on the frequency of nearby ROs is noticeably larger for NAND based structure compared to the NOT one, which is helpful in detection of the Trojan.
Variation in circadian rhythms is maintained among and within populations in Boechera stricta

Circadian clocks have evolved independently in all three domains of life, and fitness benefits of a functional clock have been demonstrated in experimental genotypes in controlled conditions. Still, little is known about genetic variation in the clock and its fitness consequences in natural populations from heterogeneous environments. Using Wyoming populations of the Arabidopsis relative Boechera stricta as our study system, we demonstrate that genetic variation in the clock can occur at multiple levels: means of circadian period among populations sampled at different elevations differed by less than 1 h, but means among families sampled within populations varied by as much as 3.5 h. Growth traits also varied among and within populations. Within the population with the most circadian variation, we observed evidence for a positive correlation between period and growth and a negative correlation between period and root-to-shoot ratio. We then tested whether performance tradeoffs existed among families of this population across simulated seasonal settings. Growth rankings of families were similar across seasonal environments, but for root-to-shoot ratio, genotype × environment interactions contributed significantly to total variation. Therefore, further experiments are needed to identify evolutionary mechanisms that preserve substantial quantitative genetic diversity in the clock in this and other species.
Prevalence of children's exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment: Implications for prevention and intervention

The purpose of this paper is to review research on the prevalence of children's exposure to domestic violence, to consider the available literature on the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment, and to gain more understanding about the impact of exposure on children. There is clear evidence indicating that both severe and moderate violence occurs frequently in homes among family members and that children are exposed to this violence. However, because of differing definitions of what constitutes domestic violence and variability in research methodologies for collecting the data, there are significant discrepancies in prevalence reports across studies. Of great concern is the immediate impact on the children and the long-term consequences for their later relationships. Fewer studies have been done on the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment. However, it is likely that children who live in homes where domestic violence occurs are more likely to be abused and neglected. On the basis of available research, there is little doubt that vast numbers of children are exposed to domestic violence and that children's responses vary widely depending on their risk and vulnerability, as well as the structure of their environments. A developmental risk and protective factors framework will be used to integrate the information on children's exposure to violence.
Polyhedral analysis and decompositions for capacitated plant location-type problems

We study the polyhedral structure of two primal relaxations of a class of specially structured mixed integer programming problems. This class includes the generalized capacitated plant location problem and a production scheduling problem as special cases. We show that for this class of problems two polyhedra constructed from the constraint sets in two different primal relaxations are identical. The results have the following surprising implications; with linear or nonlinear objective functions, the bounds from two a priori quite different primal relaxations of the capacitated plant location problem are actually equal. In the linear case, this means that a simple Lagrangean substitution yields exactly the same strong bound as the computationally more expensive Lagrangean decomposition introduced in Guignard and Kim (1987) and studied in Cornuejols et al. (1991).
Iterative estimation maximization for stochastic linear programs with conditional value-at-risk constraints

We present a new algorithm, iterative estimation maximization (IEM), for stochastic linear programs with conditional value-at-risk constraints. IEM iteratively constructs a sequence of linear optimization problems, and solves them sequentially to find the optimal solution. The size of the problem that IEM solves in each iteration is unaffected by the size of random sample points, which makes it extremely efficient for real-world, large-scale problems. We prove the convergence of IEM, and give a lower bound on the number of sample points required to probabilistically bound the solution error. We also present computational performance on large problem instances and a financial portfolio optimization example using an S&P 500 data set.
Autonomic Dysregulation During Sensory Stimulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity during sensory stimulation was measured in 59 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ages 6-9 in comparison to 30 typically developing controls. Multivariate comparisons revealed significant differences between groups in the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (parasympathetic measure) vector of means across sensory stimuli (p = 0.02) and in change from domain to domain (p = 0.01). Sympathetic activity, measured by pre-ejection period, did not differ significantly between groups, although it was higher in ASD participants. Findings suggest that participants with ASD demonstrated a different pattern of parasympathetic activity during sensory stimulation. Findings are discussed in relation to the biological mechanisms of sensory processing in autism, insight into the autism phenotype, and the utility of ANS activity as an outcomes marker.
Developing skills for employability at the secondary level: Effective models for Asia

Globally, enormous gains have been made towards the goal of universal primary education, leading to increased demands for secondary education. Consequently, more youth and young adults are now entering the formal and informal labour markets from the secondary level, which makes it important to ensure that secondary schools teach skills relevant to the world of work. This article reports on a Results for Development Institute (R4D) study that explored whether secondary education systems are adequately preparing young people for the workplace, and identified innovative models for delivering relevant skills at the secondary level. It found that employers are looking for three key types of skills: cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical. While technical and basic cognitive skills are still important in the workplace, transferrable and non-cognitive skills such as communication, problem-solving, punctuality, and flexibility are increasingly important, particularly for the informal economy. The article describes several innovative and effective models for skills development at the secondary level, and core principles for their success. These include innovative use of information and communications technology (ICT), multi-stakeholder partnerships, innovative financing mechanisms, and ensuring teacher and trainer preparedness. Moreover, a supportive policy environment is critical to ensure that such models are efficiently financed, effectively implemented, and sustainable over the long term.
Septal choline acetyltransferase immunoreactive neurons: dose-dependent effects of AF64A.

Abstract Two experiments were performed. In the first, the cholinotoxin. AF64A (0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 nmol/ventricle), or vehicle (3.0 μl) was injected (ICV) bilaterally into male rats ( n = 23). Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoreactive (IR) perikarya in the four subgroups of the septal complex were visualized by immunocytochemistry (PAP method) 28 days postinjection, and counted using a microprojector (× 40). The 0.5 nmol/ ventricle dose of AF64A significantly reduced (31%) the number of ChAT-IR cell bodies in the intermediate subgroup (rostral extension of the nucleus basalis/substantia innominata). Higher doses did not produce additional reductions. The highest dose (1.5 nmol/ventricle) of AF64A resulted in significant decreases in ChAT-IR cell bodies in the dorsal (51%) and midline (35%) subgroups (medial septum), but did not affect the number of ventral subgroup (diagonal band of Broca) ChAT-IR neurons. In the second experiment, electrolytic lesions were placed in the corpus callosum, cingulum and overlying cingulate gyrus, in order to simulate the nonselective damage seen following the 1.5 nmol/ventricle dose of AF64A. In comparison to the surgical controls ( n = 3), the electrolytic lesions ( n = 6) failed to significantly affect the number of ChAT-IR perikarya in any of the septal subdivisions. Thus the distinct subgroups of septal ChAT-IR neurons are differentially sensitive to the toxic effects of ICV administered AF64A: intermediate 》 dorsal 》 midline 》 ventral subgroup.
Distributed Coordinated Tracking With Reduced Interaction via a Variable Structure Approach

A distributed coordinated tracking problem is solved via a variable structure approach when there exists a dynamic virtual leader who is a neighbor of only a subset of a group of followers, all followers have only local interaction, and only partial measurements of the states of the virtual leader and the followers are available. In the context of coordinated tracking, we focus on both consensus tracking and swarm tracking algorithms. In the case of first-order kinematics, we propose a distributed consensus tracking algorithm without velocity measurements under both fixed and switching network topologies. In particular, we show that distributed consensus tracking can be achieved in finite time. The algorithm is then extended to achieve distributed swarm tracking without velocity measurements. In the case of second-order dynamics, we first propose two distributed consensus tracking algorithms without acceleration measurements when the velocity of the virtual leader is varying under, respectively, a fixed and switching network topology. In particular, we show that the proposed algorithms guarantee at least global exponential tracking. We then propose a distributed consensus tracking algorithm and a distributed swarm tracking algorithm when the velocity of the virtual leader is constant. When the velocity of the virtual leader is varying, distributed swarm tracking is solved by using a distributed estimator. For distributed consensus tracking, a mild connectivity requirement is proposed by adopting an adaptive connectivity maintenance mechanism in which the adjacency matrix is defined in a proper way. Similarly, a mild connectivity requirement is proposed for distributed swarm tracking by adopting a connectivity maintenance mechanism in which the potential function is defined in a proper way. Several simulation examples are presented as a proof of concept.