cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Native temperature regime influences soil response to simulated warming

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change is expected to increase global temperatures and potentially increase soil carbon (C) mineralization, which could lead to a positive feedback between global warming and soil respiration. However the magnitude and spatial variability of belowground responses to warming are not yet fully understood. Some of the variability may depend on the native temperature regimes of soils. Soils from low temperature climates may release more C than will soils from high temperature climates because soils in cold climates are often C-rich and may experience more warming. We investigated whether soils from low native temperatures respired more than did soils from high native temperatures. We collected intact soil cores from three elevational transects along a latitudinal gradient in the forests of southern Appalachian Mountains. Soil cores were incubated for 292 days at low, medium, and high temperatures (separated by 3 °C each) with diurnal temperature and light regimes that simulated realistic temperature changes likely to occur within the next century. The native temperature regimes of soils negatively influenced soil respiration, such that soils from cold climates respired more in response to experimental warming than did soils from warm climates. Conversely, soils from warm climates mineralized the largest proportion of available soil C and available soil nitrogen in response to warming. Across all soils, modest experimental warming increased soil respiration, the proportion of available soil C that was being respired (respiration/soil C), and the proportion of soil nitrogen that was mineralized (N min/soil N). Taken together, these data suggest that soils from low native temperatures have a greater potential to release C in response to climate warming because the C stocks are larger and respiration rates will be higher than those in soils from high native temperatures.
Tangential resolution improvement in thermoacoustic and photoacoustic tomography using a negative acoustic lens

We developed a novel concept of using a negative acoustic lens to increase the acceptance angle of an unfocused large-area ultrasonic transducer (detector), leading to more than twofold improvement of the tangential resolution in both thermoacoustic and photoacoustic tomography. In both thermoacoustic and photoacoustic tomography, for a given transducer bandwidth, the aperture size of the detector affects the tangential resolution greatly when the object of interest is near the detector surface. We were able to overcome such tangential resolution deterioration by attaching an acoustic concave lens, made of acrylic in front of the flat detector surface. We then quantified the tangential resolution improvement using phantom images. We also showed that the use of the negative lens preserves the shape of an object after the image is reconstructed.
Effects of short chain fatty acids on radicle emergence and root growth in lettuce

Abstract. Short chain fatty acids inhibit both radicle emergence and root growth in lettuce. The transition from ineffectual to inhibitory levels occurs abruptly. Root growth is more sensitive to lower concentrations than radicle emergence and is invariant with chain length. The effect of short chain alcohols on radicle emergence is similar to that of short chain acids, but their comparatively severe inhibition of root growth varies with chain length. Alkanes of the same chain lengths have no noticeable effect. Respiration is not altered by a representative short chain fatty acid (heptanoic). Lettuce seeds are sensitized to phytochrome-absorbed light by short chain fatty acids as found by Berrie and co-workers.
Intune: A system to support an instrumentalist's visualization of intonation

One of our most beloved music teachers emphasized the importance of “facing the music,” by which he meant listening to recordings of our playing. As with the first hearing of one’s voice on a recording, many of us were both surprised by and suspicious of this external perspective. Despite sometimes revealing more than we are ready to hear, this exercise has the long-term effect of helping us to “hear ourselves as others hear us.” Thus armed, we initiate practice habits that, perhaps over many years, move our music-making toward a state we would admire hearing from another player. The “face the music” approach begins by accepting that most of us are not born able to judge ourselves objectively, but can learn to do so when given the proper external perspective. We adopt this approach in this article, still in the service of music education, though we use visual, in addition to aural, feedback. Although a visual representation of audio is necessarily an abstraction, it has the advantage that the observer can “visit” the image at will. For instance, the observer may see a note having a certain undesirable (or desirable) property; find the same trait in another note of the same pitch; formulate a hypothesis of systematic error (or accuracy); and validate or refute this theory on subsequent notes. In contrast, audio data must be digested nearly at the rate it comes into the ear. We apply the “face the music” approach to the practice of intonation—the precise tuning of frequencies corresponding to different musical pitches. Although good intonation, “playing in tune,” is often neglected in the earliest years of musical practice, it is as essential a part of technique as the playing of fast notes or the control of emphasis. Intonation is also central to what some see as the illusion of tonal beauty—that is, for a sound to be beautiful it must (among other things) commit clearly to the “correct” pitch. We introduce
Tuning curves of the difference tone auditory nerve neurophonic.

When a pair of tonal stimuli of different frequencies (F1 and F2, where F2 > F1) are simultaneously presented to the ear, an electrical response with a frequency of F2-F1 can be recorded from the round window (RW) of the gerbil's cochlea. By using phase-locked tones of alternating polarity, the cochlear microphonics are canceled, leaving a time-averaged difference tone-auditory nerve neurophonic (DT-ANN). When the F1 frequency ranges from 1.25 to 30 kHz and F2-F1 approximately 900 Hz, a DT-ANN audiogram can be constructed which parallels (but is at least 10 dB more sensitive than) the compound action potential (CAP) audiogram. In addition to this DT response, a smaller magnitude, higher threshold response having a frequency of 2 DT can often be measured. Both the DT-ANN and the 2 DT-ANN show non-monotonic amplitude input-output functions. The DT- and 2 DT-ANN responses can be forward masked. Masking of low level (e.g., 30 dB SPL) probe stimuli results in DT- and 2 DT-ANN V-shaped tuning curves (TC) with low tip thresholds (approximately 20-30 dB SPL) and a tip frequency close to that of F1 and F2. The Q10 dB values of the forward masked DT-ANN TCs ranges from 1.54 to 20.0 for F1 frequencies varying from 2 to 20 kHz, respectively. The V-shaped DT-ANN TCs generated with simultaneous maskers are often flanked, outside their high- and low-frequency slopes, by frequency-intensity domains where the masker enhances the amplitude of the DT-ANN response. These data (1) provide evidence that, in response to low-intensity tones, the DT-ANN is generated by a restricted population of neurons that have characteristic frequencies close to F1 and F2, and (2) provide evidence for sharply tuned, phase-locked activity occurring in response to low-intensity stimuli, by cochlear axons having characteristic frequencies as high as 20 kHz.
Stimulus similarity in learning serial verbal responses to complex nonverbal stimuli.

Sunzmary.-Serial vcrbal learning was investigated as a function of srimulus similarity and the number of responses required to each stimulus. The predicted outcome of an inverse relationship between acquisition rate and similarity was obtained and artributed to interference arising from the requirement of relatively distinct responses and interstimulus generalization of those responses. Both rate and, over the number of trials administered, terminal level of performance were lowcr with rwo responses than with one response to each stimulus. Implications of obtained dara for the theoretical viewpoint were discussed, along with possible extensions of the analysis to other human learning. Serial learning of verbal responses to complex nonverbal stimuli is conceived here in a manner similar to Hull's analyses of serial responding both in general (1930, 1931) anc in more specific situations such as mazes (1932, 1934). In Hull's analyses, organisms confront a series of stimulus complexes containing elements from several sources (external, internal, response-produced) and each comes to elicit an appropriate insrr~unental response. Concentrating in these papers on stimulus-response mechanisms for concepts like "goal direction" and "maintaining ideas," Hull gives relatively little attention to the processes whereby these successively encountered stimulus complexes, with elements from the several sources showing more or less overlap, come to elicit only the appropriate responses in chc correct order. Accordingly, emphasis is shifted here to serial acquisition pe~ se with particular attention to the processes of generalization and discrimination as they may operate in the acquisition of serial stimulus-response relationships. A more complete description of this reanalysis may be found in Healey (1963). Hull's basic paradigm is maintained, for it allows representation of, for example, nonverbal stimuli which may be definable along two or several dimensions, because it allows schematization of amount of overlap among the several stimuli and because it indicates the hierarchy of responses elicited initially by each stimulus complex. Out of the many possible variables generated by such an analysis two are examined here: similarity among the successive stimuli and the number of re'This research is a portion of a dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Ph.D. degree. The author is indebted to A. E. Gcss for his support and guidance. Work reported here was done under an NIH Pre-docco:al Fellowship. Major portions of statistical analyses were done at the Research Computing Center, University of Massachusetts. Wow at Princeton Universiry, Princeton, New Jersey.
Who Cares for the Caregiver: Strategies to Provide Support

The numbers of family members providing home care for someone with a chronic or terminal ill- ness are growing. However, not all family care- givers are capable or prepared to deal with the psychological and physical ramifications of pro- viding care. Home health practitioners have a unique opportunity to intervene with this popula- tion and assist the family member to become a healthy caregiver. This article describes criteria for evaluating the health of the caregiver and care situation and presents strategies for promoting healthy caregiving behavior.
Effects of estrogen and progesterone on pituitary response to stimulation by luteinizing hormone-releasing factor.

ABSTRACT Synthetic LRF in a dose of 150 μg was injected intravenously on two successive days in eight women with secondary amenorrhea. Two of the women received LRF injections only, three were treated with estradiol benzoate (EB) and three were treated with aqueous progesterone (P), each steroid being administered four hours after the start of the first test. Pre-treatment with both steroids had a marked suppressive effect on the magnitude of the pituitary response to exogenous LRF in the second test. The results, suggest a direct effect of ovarian steroids on pituitary gonadotropin producing cells.
Characterization of selective polysilicon deposition for MEMS resonator tuning

Variations in micromachining processes cause submicron differences in the size of MEMS devices, which leads to frequency scatter in resonators. A new method of compensating for fabrication process variations is to add material to MEMS structures by the selective deposition of polysilicon. It is performed by electrically heating the MEMS in a 25/spl deg/C silane environment to activate the local decomposition of the gas. On a (1.0/spl times/1.5/spl times/100) /spl mu/m/sup 3/, clamped-clamped, polysilicon beam, at a power dissipation of 2.38 mW (peak temperature of 699/spl deg/C), a new layer of polysilicon (up to 1 /spl mu/m thick) was deposited in 10 min. The deposition rate was three times faster than conventional LPCVD rates for polysilicon. When selective polysilicon deposition (SPD) was applied to the frequency tuning of specially-designed, comb-drive resonators, a correlation was found between the change in resonant frequency and the length of the newly deposited material (the hotspot) on the resonator's suspension beams. A second correlation linked the length of the hotspot to the magnitude of the power fluctuation during the deposition trial. The mechanisms for changing resonant frequency by the SPD process include increasing mass and stiffness and altering residual stress. The effects of localized heating are presented. The experiments and simulations in this work yield guidelines for tuning resonators to a target frequency.
Discovery, Biosynthesis, and Engineering of Lantipeptides

Aided by genome-mining strategies, knowledge of the prevalence and diversity of ribosomally synthesized natural products (RNPs) is rapidly increasing. Among these are the lantipeptides, posttranslationally modified peptides containing characteristic thioether cross-links imperative for bioactivity and stability. Though this family was once thought to be a limited class of antimicrobial compounds produced by gram-positive bacteria, new insights have revealed a much larger diversity of activity, structure, biosynthetic machinery, and producing organisms than previously appreciated. Detailed investigation of the enzymes responsible for installing the posttranslational modifications has resulted in improved in vivo and in vitro engineering systems focusing on enhancement of the therapeutic potential of these compounds. Although dozens of new lantipeptides have been isolated in recent years, bioinformatic analyses indicate that many hundreds more await discovery owing to the widespread frequency of lantipeptide biosynthetic machinery in bacterial genomes.
Neural regulation of in vitro giant contractions in the rat colon.

The rat middle colon spontaneously generates regularly occurring giant contractions (GCs) in vitro. We investigated the neurohumoral and intracellular regulation of these contractions in a standard...
A closed-form criterion for dislocation emission in nano-porous materials under arbitrary thermomechanical loading

Abstract Our traditional view of void nucleation is associated with interface debonding at second-phase particles. However, under extreme dynamic loading conditions second-phase particles may not necessarily be the dominant source of void nucleation sites. A few key experimental observations of laser spall surfaces support this assertion. Here, we describe an alternative mechanism to the traditional view, namely shock-induced vacancy generation and clustering followed by nanovoid growth mediated by dislocation emission. This mechanism only becomes active at very large stresses. It is therefore desirable to establish a closed-form criterion for the macroscopic stress required to activate dislocation emission in porous materials. Following an approach similar to Lubarda and co-workers, we derive the desired criterion by making use of stability arguments applied to the analytic solutions for the elastic interactions of dislocations and voids. Our analysis significantly extends that of Lubarda and co-workers by accounting for a more general stress state, finite porosity, surface tension, as well as temperature and pressure dependence. The resulting simple stress-based criterion is validated against a number of molecular dynamics simulations with favorable agreement.
Optimization of distribution networks supplied by photovoltaic sources, using a new optimal loads distribution center method

Abstract This paper shows a new method for optimization of the general investment cost in a distribution network supplied by solar photovoltaic (PV) source. This method consists of first, determining, the optimal cross sections for electrical cables used between solar generator and loads and second, find the optimal placement of loads distribution center such that the cost sum of installation and exploitation, of the investment, are considerably reduced to its optimal value. Particular method has been presented in previous study, where the optimization of the solar generator placement, is based on network having identical cables cross sections. However, our work was performed on the general case in view of the influence of technical and economical cable cross sections, operating hours or time periods of loads and the possibility to use more than one solar generator with several separated networks. The supply point that corresponds to the lowest general investment cost is referred as the Optimal Loads Distribution Centre “OLDC” which can also be referred to the Optimal Volume Center “OVC” if the exploitation details are not known. The OLDC method was applied on several examples, one of the most general and difficult case is presented in this article. The results of the analysis are found satisfactory since the adoption of the optimal number of loads distribution centers in their optimal places, taking into account the operating hours of loads with time periods, helped reducing drastically the general cost of the investment.
Tobacco mosaic virus reconstitution using inactivated nucleic acid.

SummaryTMV-RNA inactivated by various means, in particular by reaction with propylene oxide, retains its ability to form virus-like rods with native TMV-protein. Such reconstituted inactive virus is serologically indistinguishable from the intact virus. The structural and potential practical implications of this observation are discussed.
The Structure and Manner of Division of the Nuclei in the Vegetative Mycelium of the Fungi Imperfecti

The nuclei in the germ tubes and mycelium of the imperfect fungus Phyllosticta sp. do not divide in a manner directly comparable to ordinary mitosis. A mitotic apparatus such as a spindle or metaphase plate was not observed. At the beginning of division the granular chromatin contracts usually forming a tightly packed complex of filaments. Counts of these filaments could not be made. As division proceeds this complex elongates, constricts at the midregion and at the end of division the extremities pull apart forming the chromatin portions of the sister nuclei. During division the original central body becomes separated from the dividing chromatin and progressively smaller. At the end of division the central body is either a tiny remnant of its former self or has completely disappeared. New central bodies are formed in the maturing sister nuclei.
Anilin blue and silver nitrate for staining developing insect nerve tissue.

(1976). Anilin Blue and Silver Nitrate for Staining Developing Insect Nerve Tissue. Stain Technology: Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 206-208.
Epidemiological situation of mumps and its immune prevention in China

Mumps occurs in children and adolescents,often concentrated in nurseries and schools,becoming one of the more serious public health problems in China. At present,mumps vaccine has been incorporated into the expanded programmer on immunization,but only in free charge for children of age 18 to 24 months with one dose MMR. While research and experience in abroad has shown that high coverage of two doses mumps virus contained vaccine could effectively prevent the spread of mumps,thus achieve the goal of control and even eliminating the mumps. In this paper,the epidemiological situation of mumps and its immune prevention in China were reviewed.
Physical Simulation on Mixing Time in High Efficient Copper Side-blown Smelting Reactor

Physical model experiments were carried out based on similitude principle to study mixing time in high efficient copper side-blown smelting reactor by measuring conductivity of solution.The results show that the mixing time is relatively short with No.1compact nozzle arrangement.Gas velocity drops and mixing time rises with increase of diameter of nozzles.Mixing time drops continuously with smaller amplitude with increase of gas flow.
A personal interpretation of the mental retardation scene in light of the "signs of the times".

The world is going to hell in a wheelbarrow, and this is not going to do retarded people any good
The decreased use of brachytherapy boost for intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer despite evidence supporting its effectiveness.

Purpose The Canadian Androgen Suppression Combined with Elective Nodal and Dose Escalated Radiation Therapy (ASCENDE-RT) randomized trial showed that brachytherapy boost reduces recurrence by 50% compared to dose-escalated radiation. We examined how men with identical inclusion criteria to the ASCENDE-RT trial were being treated in the United States. Methods and Materials We used the National Cancer Database to identify prostate cancer patients treated with radiation from 2004 through 2012 who met the inclusion criteria of the ASCENDE-RT trial (intermediate-/high-risk prostate cancer, excluding patients with prostate-specific antigen >40 or tumor stage T3b/T4). The Mantel–Haenszel test was used to investigate the trend for type of radiation modality used over the study period. Results A cohort of 156,411 patients was identified. Of those, 103,188 men (66%) were treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) alone, 31,129 (20%) with brachytherapy alone, and 22,094 (14%) with EBRT plus brachytherapy. EBRT plus a brachytherapy boost demonstrated a significant decrease in utilization from 2004 to 2012 in both academic and nonacademic centers, declining from 15% to 8% in academic centers and from 19% to 11% in nonacademic centers (p-Value for trend <0.0001 for both). Academic centers were significantly less likely to use brachytherapy boost than nonacademic centers (adjusted odds ratio: 0.68; 95% confidence interval: 0.66–0.70; p-Value: <0.0001). Conclusions Radiation oncology practices have demonstrated a significant reduction in the use of brachytherapy boost from 2004 to 2012, and the lowest utilization was in academic centers. In light of the superior results demonstrated for brachytherapy boost by the ASCENDE-RT trial, it is unclear whether academic centers are prepared to train the next generation of residents in this critical modality.
Monitoring the Patient in Shock: What, When, and How

Shock is a dynamic process and to treat it properly the physician must understand the underlying pathophysiology. The clinical situation often changes rapidly and it is only by continuous monitoring and physiologically oriented therapy based on the data derived, that one can successfully manage these critically ill patients.
Industry Drop Tests in Solder Joint Reliability Study of Molded Flip Chip Package

In this paper, the author has compared the package performance of molded flip chip package in two types of industry drop test conditions namely test J and N. Drop dynamic analysis, failure mechanism and board design options were discussed in detail. High speed camera (HSC) and strain measurement analyses were used in this study. It was found that the molded package has a shorter life span when tested using drop test J as compared to drop test N; even though test N has a higher shock pulse than test J. From HSC data and strain measurement, higher board deflection and board strain were observed in test J condition. This suggested that strain metric is the key factor to determine the solder joint reliability and not the shock pulse. Further analysis with failure analysis (FA) revealed that the major failure mode at solder joint package interface is mechanical fatigue crack while at the board side is dominated by brittle fracture crack and broken board trace. Broken board trace failure was identified as the key factor which attributed to lower drop performance. Dependency of drop performance to different board pad designs such as via-off-pad (VoP) and via-in-pad (ViP) were considered. The experiment was also complemented with detail finite element analysis (FEA) to establish design sensitivity in molded flip chip package; such as recommendation of a better board trace routing design. In summary, the study found that drop test J is more stringent than drop test N and optimizing the board trace design can improve the solder joint reliability (SJR).
Transformation of a Flavin-Free FMN Reductase to a Canonical Flavoprotein through Modification of the π-Helix

The flavin reductase of the alkanesulfonate monooxygenase system (SsuE) contains a conserved π-helix located at the tetramer interface that originates from the insertion of Tyr118 into helix α4 of SsuE. Although the presence of π-helices provides an evolutionary gain of function, the defined role of these discrete secondary structures remains largely unexplored. The Tyr118 residue that generated the π-helix in SsuE was substituted with Ala to evaluate the functional role of this distinctive structural feature. Interestingly, generation of the Y118A SsuE variant converted the typically flavin-free enzyme to a flavin-bound form. Mass spectrometric analysis of the extracted flavin gave a mass of 457.11 similar to that of the FMN cofactor, suggesting the Y118A SsuE variant retained flavin specificity. The Y118A SsuE FMN cofactor was reduced with approximately 1 equiv of NADPH in anaerobic titration experiments, and the flavin remained bound following reduction. Although reactivity of the reduced flavin with o...
Electrical safe operating area of low-voltage silicon carbide NMOS transistors

The trend for wide bandgap high-density power modules is the monolithic integration of low voltage wide bandgap driver circuits with high voltage power devices into a single package to reduce the parasitic from interconnects and increase the power density. With both high voltage and low voltage components in the same package, the protections of integrated circuits and system becomes very challenging. To provide sufficient protections for wide bandgap power module, the electrical safe operating area (SOA) of wide bandgap devices under reliability stress need to be understood. In this paper, the SOAs of the low voltage silicon carbide (SiC) NMOS transistors are first reported. Low voltage (i.e., 15 V) SiC NMOS transistors were fabricated using the high-temperature silicon carbide (HiTSiC) process from Raytheon Systems Limited [1]. The channel length (L) of the devices varies from 0.8 μm to 2 μm. The width (W) of the device changes from 4 μm to 20 μm. The transmission line pulse (TLP) system was used to characterize the devices under short stress pulse (i.e., 100 ns) conditions. The effects of the channel length on the SOA and the current scalability of the SiC NMOS transistors under different gate biases are demonstrated. It is observed that the typical SiC NMOS devices have a failure current (It2) of 0.2 mA/μm for L=1μm without gate bias. The electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness of the SiC NMOS transistors is also described.
$V$ -Band High-Gain Printed Quasi-Parabolic Reflector Antenna With Beam-Steering

A novel design of printed ${V}$ -band quasi-parabolic reflector antenna is discussed. Two possible excitation methods are proposed which are used subsequently to design a more complex antenna with beam-steering capability. The radiation performance of the designed antenna is studied using full-wave simulations based on the finite-element method. The simulation results are verified experimentally.
Hispanic Residential Isolation, ADHD Diagnosis and Stimulant Treatment among Medicaid-Insured Youth.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate a conceptual framework that assessed the effect of Hispanic residential isolation on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) health service utilization among 2.2 million publicly insured youth. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Medicaid administrative claims data for ambulatory care services from a US Pacific state linked with US census data. Participants: Youth, aged 2-17 years, con­tinuously enrolled in 2009. Main Outcome Measures: The percent annual prevalence and odds of ADHD diagnosis and stimulant use according to two measures of racial/ethnic residential isolation: 1) the county-level Hispanic isola­tion index (HI) defined as the population density of Hispanic residents in relation to other racial/ethnic groups in a county ( 50%). Results: Among the 47,364 youth with a clinician-reported ADHD diagnosis, 60% re­ceived a stimulant treatment (N = 28,334). As the county level HI increased, Hispanic residents of ethnically isolated locales were significantly less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=.92 [95% CI=.88-.96]) and stimulant use (AOR=.61 [95% CI=.59-.64]) compared with Hispanic youth in less isolated areas. At the ZIP code level, a similar pattern of reduced ADHD diagnosis (AOR=.81 [95% CI=.77-.86]) and reduced stimulant use (AOR=.65 [95% CI=.61-.69]) was observed as Hispanic residential isolation increased from the least isolated to the most isolated ZIP code areas. Conclusions: These findings highlight the opportunity for Big Data to advance mental health research on strategies to reduce racial/ethnic health disparities, particularly for poor and vulnerable youth. Further exploration of racial/ethnic residential isola­tion in other large data sources is needed to guide future policy development and to target culturally sensitive interventions. Ethn Dis. 2017(2):85-94; doi:10.18865/ed.27.2.85.
Evaluation of Methods for In-Situ Calibration of Field-Deployable Microphone Phased Arrays

Current field-deployable microphone phased arrays for aeroacoustic flight testing require the placement of hundreds of individual sensors over a large area. Depending on the duration of the test campaign, the microphones may be required to stay deployed at the testing site for weeks or even months. This presents a challenge in regards to tracking the response (i.e., sensitivity) of the individual sensors as a function of time in order to evaluate the health of the array. To address this challenge, two different methods for in-situ tracking of microphone responses are described. The first relies on the use of an aerial sound source attached as a payload on a hovering small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) vehicle. The second relies on the use of individually excited ground-based sound sources strategically placed throughout the array pattern. Testing of the two methods was performed in microphone array deployments conducted at Fort A.P. Hill in 2015 and at Edwards Air Force Base in 2016. The results indicate that the drift in individual sensor responses can be tracked reasonably well using both methods. Thus, in-situ response tracking methods are useful as a diagnostic tool for monitoring the health of a phased array during long duration deployments.
Diverse modes of eco-evolutionary dynamics in communities of antibiotic-producing microorganisms

Relationships between antibiotic interactions and diversity are often examined in ecologically stable in silico models, but building in biologically realistic features is found to promote coexistence and more diversity than idealized models.
The Use of Cellular Fatty Acids for Identification of Microorganisms

Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the Public Health Service or by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Intrusion Detection in PLC-Based Industrial Control Systems Using Formal Verification Approach in Conjunction with Graphs

Vulnerability in industrial control systems (ICS) has increased radically in the past few decades. This can be accounted to reasons including accessibility of ICS through Internet, development of sophisticated attack methods, and advancement in Internet of Things (IoT). The damage that can be caused by attackers on insecure ICS could cost hundreds of human lives and a huge state economy. Therefore, having such systems every where around us makes the concern for security nothing but a priority. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are the central devices of ICS and also a target to attacks which aim at gaining access and privilege to the control logic of the controller. A successful alteration or intrusion of the control logic by attackers can have a catastrophic effect on the plant. In this paper, control logic intrusion detection methodology for PLC-based control systems is proposed. The methodology implements the detection process by comparing a potentially intruded PLC program with a trusted version of the program. In order to achieve this goal, a scheme is proposed that operates in sequence of stages by first translating the PLC program to formal models (based on previous research work), then translating the formal models to graphs followed by performing a comparison between a trusted system model graph and a potentially intruded system graph. In the last stage of the methodology, graph discrepancy analysis is made in order to identify any intrusions. For demonstration purposes, a water level control system is presented as a case study, which is modeled using UPPAAL toolbox. We have verified our methodology by developing an in-house software. Our test results prove the concept that intrusions can be shown as discrepancies in the graphs generated from the UPPAAL-based formal modeling, which can be detected utilizing the proposed graph comparison approach. The premise of our study is that logic intrusions in PLC based ICS can be identified by the changes in the PLC code, and the methodology we proposed can successfully detect those changes by observing the code’s graph model.
Population genetic diversity in zebrafish lines

Toxicological and pharmacological researchers have seized upon the many benefits of zebrafish, including the short generation time, well-characterized development, and early maturation as clear embryos. A major difference from many model organisms is that standard husbandry practices in zebrafish are designed to maintain population diversity. While this diversity is attractive for translational applications in human and ecological health, it raises critical questions on how interindividual genetic variation might contribute to chemical exposure or disease susceptibility differences. Findings from pooled samples of zebrafish support this supposition of diversity yet cannot directly measure allele frequencies for reference versus alternate alleles. Using the Tanguay lab Tropical 5D zebrafish line (T5D), we performed whole genome sequencing on a large group (n = 276) of individual zebrafish embryos. Paired-end reads were collected on an Illumina 3000HT, then aligned to the most recent zebrafish reference genome (GRCz10). These data were used to compare observed population genetic variation across species (humans, mice, zebrafish), then across lines within zebrafish. We found more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in T5D than have been reported in SNP databases for any of the WIK, TU, TL, or AB lines. We theorize that some subset of the novel SNPs may be shared with other zebrafish lines but have not been identified in other studies due to the limitations of capturing population diversity in pooled sequencing strategies. We establish T5D as a model that is representative of diversity levels within laboratory zebrafish lines and demonstrate that experimental design and analysis can exert major effects when characterizing genetic diversity in heterogeneous populations.
The distal left radial artery access for coronary angiography and intervention: A new era.

Abstract Background Patients' intra and post procedural comfort, quick recovery, as well as procedure success, are key elements for choosing the right arterial access site. Radial artery access has been of increasing interest since it was first described. Advanced treatments of coronary lesions, from primary percutaneous interventions during ST elevation myocardial infarction cases to chronic total occlusion cases, have been increasingly done through the radial access. Distal left trans radial artery (dlTRA) is a new technique first described by Kiemineij. We report the first documented US experience of the left distal radial artery access for coronary angiography and interventions. Methods dlTRA was attempted on 22 consecutive patients, consented for a cardiac catheterization . 7 patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. The left hand is prepped in the usual fashion, exposing the anatomical snuff box. Under ultrasound guidance, the artery is punctured and the sheath is inserted carefully. The cardiac catheterization is completed using standard diagnostic and guiding catheters, that are typically chosen for femoral artery access. Hemostasis was achieved with a radial band. Patients had the ability to use the right hand as well as bend their left wrist post procedure. Results dlTRA was successful in all 22 patients. 7 patients underwent PCI through this approach. Two patients required a multivessel complex PCI with multiple stents and additional equipment. There were no conversions to the right radial or femoral approach. All patients had excellent hemostasis with a radial band, with no complications. Pre discharge radial pulses were intact in the wrist as well as in the anatomical snuff box. Conclusion Distal left trans radial access is feasible and safe in patients that are carefully selected and are deemed good candidates. There is a learning curve for developing such program, as is the case with conventional radial access.
Status of the Space Station water reclamation and management subsystem design concept

A development status report is presented for the NASA Space Station's water reclamation and management (WRM) system, for which the candidate phase change-employing processing technologies are an air evaporation subsystem, a thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation subsystem, and the vapor compression distillation subsystem. These WRM candidates employ evaporation to effect water removal from contaminants, but differ in their control of the vapor/liquid interface in zero-gravity and in the recovery of the latent heat of vaporization.
Morphology and Mechanical Behavior of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks

The synthesis and morphology of IPN’s are compared to the several other methods of preparing blends of distinguishable polymer pairs. Both components of IPN’s are continuous throughout, the very finely divided phase domain dimensions being controlled by the crosslink density.
Stability of phenobarbital N-glucosides: identification of hydrolysis products and kinetics of decomposition

The two diastereomers of l-(l-β-D-glucopyranosyl)phenobarbital, (1A) and (1B), decompose to l-(l-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-3-(2-ethyl-2-phenylmalonyl)urea (2A or 2B) followed by decarboxylation to l-(l-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-3-(2-phenylbutyryl)urea (3A and 3B) under physiological conditions of temperature and pH. The sigmoidal pH–rate profile and the Arrhenius parameters indicate that degradation takes place by hydroxide ion attack on the undissociated and monoanion forms of 1A and 1B. The rates of hydrolysis of the nonionized species of 1A and 1B are more than two orders of magnitude faster than those of common 5,5-disubstituted or 1,5,5-trisubstituted barbiturates. Molecular modeling studies suggest that rate enhancement is due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding in the transition state of the C2′ hydroxyl with the tetrahedral hydrated C6 carbonyl as well as hindered rotation around the N1–C1′ of phenobarbital and glucose. Based on these studies it is recommended that any data related to the quantitation of 1A and 1B be reevaluated depending on how the samples were collected, stored, and analyzed.
Negative Capacitance, n-Channel, Si FinFETs: Bi-directional Sub-60 mV/dec, Negative DIBL, Negative Differential Resistance and Improved Short Channel Effect

We report on negative capacitance (NC) FinFETs with ferroelectric Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) as gate dielectric on fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) substrate with various channel length (L CH ) of 450 nm to 30 nm and multiple fin widths (W FIN ) of 200 nm to 30 nm. We demonstrate all signature characteristics expected from NCFET: nearly hysteresis free operation (~3 mV), D and to the best of our knowledge, for the first time in Si MOSFETs, negative Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) and Negative Differential Resistance (NDR). Remarkably, we observe significant improvement in the short channel effect compared to control FinFETs: both SS and DIBL are substantially lower for the NCFET for the same L ch /W Fin ratio. Importantly, these benefits become increasingly larger for shorter channel lengths.
Titan’s climate patterns and surface methane distribution due to the coupling of land hydrology and atmosphere

Planetary surfaces beyond Earth’s are impacted by surface hydrology, and exhibit fluvial and lacustrine features. Titan in particular harbours a rich hydroclimate replete with valley networks, lakes, seas and putative wetlands, all of which are pronounced in the lower-elevation polar regions. However, understanding of Titan’s global climate has heretofore neglected the hydraulic influence of Titan’s large-scale topography. Here we add a surface hydrology model to an existing Titan atmospheric model, and find that infiltration, groundmethane evaporation, and surface and subsurface flow are fundamental to simultaneously reproducing Titan’s observed surface liquid distribution and other aspects of its climate system. We propose that Titan’s climate features infiltration into unsaturated low- and mid-latitude highlands and surface or subsurface flow into high-latitude basins, producing the observed polar moist climes and equatorial deserts. This result implies that a potentially massive unobserved methane reservoir participates in Titan’s methane cycle. It also illustrates the importance of surface hydrology in Titan climate models, and by extension suggests the influence of surface hydrology in idealized models of other planetary climates, including the climates and palaeoclimates of Earth, Mars and exoplanets. Coupling a global surface hydrology model to an existing atmospheric model of Titan reproduces the observed variable climate and distribution of surface liquid, with possible implications for an unobserved methane reservoir on Titan.
Gelatinization, pasting and retrogradation properties of hydroxypropylated normal wheat, waxy wheat, and waxy maize starches

Abstract Normal wheat starch (NWS), waxy wheat starch (WWS), and waxy maize starch (WMS) were hydroxypropylated with 3–9% propylene oxide (PO). The objectives of this study were to correlate morphology changes to pasting properties of hydroxypropylated starches and establish the relationship between molar substitution (MS) and degree of retrogradation of the hydroxypropylated starches. Gelatinization temperatures and enthalpy of the starches decreased after hydroxypropylation, and the extent of decrease was positively correlated to MS. Hydroxypropylation reduced retrogradation of the gelatinized starches during cold storage as determined by differential scanning calorimetry, but the effects varied among the starches. For the same level of PO (3 and 5%) reaction, hydroxypropylated WWS retrograded less than WMS. WWS and WMS had no retrogradation after reacted with 6% PO. However, a higher level of PO (9%) was needed to react with NWS, an amylose containing starch, to achieve no retrogradation. Hydroxypropylation promoted the swelling of the starch granules as observed by light microscopy, and Micro Visco-Amylograph results showed that hydroxypropylated starches had lower pasting temperatures and improved hot and cold viscosities.
A Reconsideration of Stress and Other Factors in the Kinetics of Densification

Experimental factors which are important in describing the kinetics of densification during hot pressing or sintering are considered, and evidence from the literature is presented to demonstrate that strain energy introduced into a material by premilling or explosively shocking the material has a significant effect on densification kinetics. An empirical model similar in form to the Zener-Holloman kinetic expression for deformation by creep is proposed to describe the rate of densification in terms of temperature, remnant porosity, remnant surface area, applied stress, and the excess internal energy available from annealable defects, and an experimental approach for testing the validity of the model is described.
Prediction for Γ(H → τ + τ - )/Γ(H → μ + μ - ) from Non-Abelian Flavor Symmetry

It is shown that the ratio of branching ratios in Higgs boson decay r = Γ(H → τ+τ-)/Γ(H → μ+μ-) in a simplified (T' × Z2) model is (r)T' × Z2 ≃ 0.001. This prediction is on a footing with the successful one in (s, d) mixing, . This value for r differs from that of the minimal standard model by a very large factor (over 250,000) and can provide a smoking gun for (T' × Z2) flavor symmetry.
Association of AI quantified COVID-19 chest CT and patient outcome.

Severity scoring is a key step in managing patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. However, manual quantitative analysis by radiologists is a time-consuming task, while qualitative evaluation may be fast but highly subjective. This study aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods to quantify disease severity and predict COVID-19 patient outcome. We develop an AI-based framework that employs deep neural networks to efficiently segment lung lobes and pulmonary opacities. The volume ratio of pulmonary opacities inside each lung lobe gives the severity scores of the lobes, which are then used to predict ICU admission and mortality with three different machine learning methods. The developed methods were evaluated on datasets from two hospitals (site A: Firoozgar Hospital, Iran, 105 patients; site B: Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, 88 patients). AI-based severity scores are strongly associated with those evaluated by radiologists (Spearman’s rank correlation 0.837, $$p<0.001$$ ). Using AI-based scores produced significantly higher ( $$p<0.05$$ ) area under the ROC curve (AUC) values. The developed AI method achieved the best performance of AUC = 0.813 (95% CI [0.729, 0.886]) in predicting ICU admission and AUC = 0.741 (95% CI [0.640, 0.837]) in mortality estimation on the two datasets. Accurate severity scores can be obtained using the developed AI methods over chest CT images. The computed severity scores achieved better performance than radiologists in predicting COVID-19 patient outcome by consistently quantifying image features. Such developed techniques of severity assessment may be extended to other lung diseases beyond the current pandemic.