cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the consumption of fuel pockets via inwardly propagating flames

The extinction mechanisms of fuel pockets and the formation of uncreacted residue fuels through flamevortex interaction in turbulent flames were investigated via a computational study of inwardly propagating spherical flames (IPF) in lean and rich hydrogen/air mixtures. Results obtained assuming quasi-steady propagation show that though extinction of the Le 1, rich flame is induced by the depletion of the deficient reactant ahead of the flame and yields practically no unconsumed reactant. Results obtained for the more realistic, transient propagation show that flame propagation can actually persist almost to the center for both the lean and rich flames, and, as such, all deficient reactants are consumed upon flame extinction. Extending these results to include hydrocarbon flames within the context of stretch and nonequidiffusion, it is suggested that the formation of unreacted fuel pockets via flamevortex interaction is not expected to be a matter of serious concern because of the potential of complete consumption of the deficient reactant upon extinction of the IPF.
Team Spirit: The Search for Party in Local Politics

Canonical models of urban politics largely ignore the role of political parties. Recent empirical analyses also conclude that the partisanship of elected officials cannot explain differences in policy outcomes in American cities. In this paper, we propose a new method for identifying the influence of political parties in local government: the systematic analysis of elected officials’ behavior. In applying this method to several hundred roll call votes cast by members of the city council in San Diego, one of America’s largest cities, we conclude that parties do indeed play an important role in structuring local politics. Contrary to critiques of urban democracy, our results suggest that party labels provide significant information about candidates’ future behavior in office and can help voters make more thoroughly reasoned decisions in local elections.
Pressure-Stabilized Drop-Shaped Tanks

Considerable attention has been given to the behavior of extremely thin pressure-stabilized shells of revolution. Solution methods have been developed to treat the static pressurization and the static and dynamic in-service behavior of such shells. This note is intended to demonstrate the applicability of those methods to a particular class of shell geometries that are particularly efficient shapes for hydrostatically loaded shells. That class is the set of shapes required to provide constant stress (tension or compression) under hydrostatic pressure distributions (interior or exterior). This example of the use of inflatable membranes is considered in this note for reasons beyond that of its optimal stress characteristics. To date, the implementation of the solution methods developed by others has been limited to shapes for which an exact equation of the meridianal contour of the shell of revolution could be prescribed. Subsequent work has led to the development of a methodology to treat revolutes for which no such exact equations are available. The example treated herein has this characteristic and provided verification and error estimates for the computational improvement.
Renal cell carcinoma as an incidental finding.

AbstractWe reviewed the manner of presentation and tumor stage in 56 consecutive patients with renal cell carcinoma treated surgically between 1961 and 1973 (group 1) and compared them to 46 patients treated similarly between 1980 and 1984 (group 2). In group 1, 7 cases (13 per cent) were discovered incidentally compared to 22 cases (48 per cent) in group 2. The tumor stage was lower in the incidentally discovered cases than in cases when the diagnosis was suspected. The 5-year survival rates of the incidental cases in group 1 tended to be better. Routine use of excretory urography, computerized tomography, ultrasound, bone scans and other effective diagnostic studies has led to earlier diagnosis, lower stage and possibly better survival in incidentally found cases of renal cell carcinoma than in cases when the diagnosis was suspected.
Didymella bryoniae Isolates from Watermelon Seedlings in Florida Transplant Houses and Their Sensitivity to Boscalid

The purpose of this study was to examine why gummy stem blight was not being controlled in watermelon fields without a previous history of boscalid use and whether boscalid resistance could have or...
A New DDT-metabolizing Enzyme in the German Cockroach

A new microsomal enzyme system capable of converting DDT to a Kelthane-like product has been found in the German cockroach, Blattella qermanica (L.). Kelthane® is 4,4"-dichloro-alpha -(trichloromethyl)-benzhydrol. The system requires oxygen, reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide, magnesium ions and nicotinamide for activity. The enzyme(s) is also present in several strains of the house fly ( Musca dornestica L.) as well as in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.).
A History of the Waco, Texas Cotton Insects Research Laboratory, 1939–1973

The Blacklands Cotton Insects Investigations Laboratory, as it was named in 1969 (from March 1933 until that date known as the Waco Cotton Insects Research Laboratory), was established at Waco, TX, in March 1939, under the direction of K. P. Ewing, by consolidating 2 laboratories, 1 located at Port Lavaca and 1 at College Station, TX. Its primary objective was to develop control measures for the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), and the cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomocelis seriatus (Reuter), that could be used in the large cotton-producing area encompassing the Texas Blacklands. It continued in operation for 34 yr and was closed June 30, 1973.
Evaluation of various parts of the paw paw tree, Asimina triloba (Annonaceae), as commercial sources of the pesticidal annonaceous acetogenins

Various plant parts of the paw paw tree (Asimina triloba Dunal, Annonaceae) were extracted and partitioned to concentrate the mixture of acetogenins into a standardized pesticidal extract (F005). A bioassay with brine shrimp larvae (Artemia salina Leach) was used to determine the relative potencies of the various extracts. The small twigs (0-0.5 cm diameter) yielded the most potent extract (LC50 = 0.04 ppm); the stem wood (LC50 = 4.9 ppm) and leaves (LC50 = 53.7 ppm) yielded the poorest activities. The unripe fruits, seeds, root wood, root bark, and stem bark were notably potent and, generally, yielded > 2% of their dry weight as F005. The smaller diameter stems were more potent than the larger stems. We conclude that, by pollarding the trees, the entire twigs and small branches of paw paw could be processed to produce a potent acetogenin mixture; this biomass could be made available in quantities needed for commercialization of the pesticidal product and could be renewable through regrowth from the parent trunk and larger branches.
Simultaneous determination of multi-component toxic substances in workplace air by gas chromatography

[Objective]To establish a method of simultaneous determination of multi-component toxic substances in workplace air by gas chromatography.[Methods]The method was based on the adsorption of activated charcoal tube,desorption with carbon disulfide,separation by highly polar capillary column WAX,and detection by FID detector.[Results]This method had good separation effect.The detection limit ranged from 0.44 μg/ml to 1.08 μg/ml.The correlation coefficient was 0.999 2-0.999 9.The relative standard deviation was between 0.73%-1.81%.[Conclusion]This method is simple,rapid and accurate.It is suitable for simultaneous determination of various toxic organic pollutants in workplace air.
Microbial flora of the upper small bowel in Crohn's disease.

To determine the frequency and significance of bacterial overgrowth in Crohn’s disease, aerobic and anaerobic microflora were quantified in 36 patients and correlated with the location of radiological abnormality, intestinal protein loss, and absorption of d-xylose, fat, and vitamin B12. Eleven patients had jejunal colony counts of 104 per ml or greater and were designated as a high colony group. In this group 8 patients had 22 absorptive defects, seven of which were attributable to bacterial overgrowth alone, and 15 were associated with a combination of high colony counts and disease or resection of the absorptive site. Three patients in the high colony group had normal xylose, fat, and B12 absorption. Organisms isolated from this group were Escherichia coli, Clostridia, bacteroides, Propionibacterium acnes, streptococci, enterobacter, Veillonella, and Candida albicans. In the low colony group, 7 patients had no absorptive abnormality, and in the remainder there were 20 defects attributable to the location of disease or resection, and seven unexplained defects. Excess protein loss and high urinary indican values were present in 27 patients and neither correlated with bacterial colony counts. Jejunal disease and enteroenteric fistula were more frequently associated with high colony counts and may have predisposed to jejunal contamination. Quantitative small bowel culture seems indicated in patients with Crohn’s disease who have multiple absorptive defects, especially if accompanied by jejunal disease or enteroenteric fistulae.
A Framework to Infer Webpage Relevancy for a User

The Web is a vast pool of resources which comprises of a lot of web pages covering all aspects of life. Understanding a user’s interests is one of the major research areas towards understanding the web today. Identifying the relevance of the surfed web pages for the user is a tedious job. Many systems and approaches have been proposed in literature, to try and get information about the user’s interests by user profiling. This paper proposes an improvement in determining the relevance of the webpage to the user, which is an extension to the relevance formula that was proposed earlier. The current work aims to create user profiles automatically and implicitly depending on the various web pages a user browses over a period of time and the user’s interaction with them. This automatically generated user profile assigns weights to web pages proportional to the user interactions on the webpage and thus indicates relevancy of web pages to the user based on these weights.
Interactions Between Antipsychotic and Antihypertensive Drugs

Objective:To provide a comprehensive review of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between antipsychotics and antihypertensives and to provide recommendations for the selection of antihypertensives in patients receiving antipsychotic therapy.Data Sources:A MEDLINE search of the English-language literature was used to identify pertinent human and animal studies, reviews, and case reports.Study Selection:All available sources were reviewed.Data Extraction:Background information was obtained from comprehensive reviews. Individual case reports were assimilated, and pertinent data were extracted.Data Synthesis:Because hypertension is common in patients with psychiatric illness and antihypertensive agents are used for a multiplicity of indications, significant numbers of patients receive concurrent therapy with antihypertensives and antipsychotics. Many antipsychotics may block the antihypertensive efficacy of guanethidine and related drugs. The interaction between Clonidine and antipsychotics ...
Cu redistribution study during the corrosion of AZ91 using a rotating ring-disk collection experiment

Abstract Redistribution of impurities during the dissolution of AZ91 and synthesized Mg-0.5Cu alloys were studied with rotating ring-disk collection experiments and stripping voltammetry. In solution, where the potential value of both alloys is far below the equilibrium potential values of Cu oxidation reactions, nonfaradic release of Cu particles led to the production of Cu ions which were subsequently reductively collected on an outer Pt ring. The collected Cu was analyzed and confirmed with stripping voltammetry. The results of this work support the notion that isolated Cu atoms or Cu-rich particles can be oxided in aerated solutions at low potential values, and generated Cu ions can be reductively redeposited on a Mg alloy surface.
Endoscopic orbital exenteration in the treatment of acute invasive fungal sinusitis

AbstractAcute invasive fungal sinusitis is a rare disease with a severe and rapidly devastating course. In this report, we describe a case of Rhizopus spp. mucormycosis invading the paranasal sinuses and causing vision loss and confusion. After being biopsied and diagnosed at an outside hospital, the patient was transferred and emergently treated with antifungal therapy and surgical resection by transnasal endoscopic surgery.
Magnetic switch shows its metal

For over 50 years electronic engineers have controlled the balance between electrons and holes in semiconductors to design electronic switches. But now that material science has made the production of microscopic magnetic films possible, a new pair of charge-carrying populations is poised to make its mark in a plethora of devices based on the magnetic properties of metals, rather than the electronic properties of semiconductors. Mark Johnson of Bellcore in New Jersey has developed a switch in which currents are carried by the oppositely directed spins (magnetic moments) of electrons; the carriers are controlled by magnetic electrodes and switched by pulses of magnetic field (Science (1993) 260 320). But Johnson's most spectacular prediction is that such a switch will work better as it is made smaller - a complete reversal of the difficulties encountered in nanofabricated electronics.
Mapping of Reviews on Breastfeeding and Obesity Risk in Children

Globally, breastfeeding rates continue to decline while childhood obesity rates remain high. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between breastfeeding and obesity and the identification of gaps in the current literature is necessary to determine the next steps in research and health promotion efforts in this area. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic mapping of reviews in order to evaluate the current literature and determine the associations between breastfeeding and childhood obesity risk. Medline (1946 to present), PubMed (NLM), Embase (1947 to present), Cochrane, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched. The studies had to be review articles looking at the association between breastfeeding and obesity. Only peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1946 and May 17, 2016 with available full texts were included in the final mapping of reviews. Twenty-nine review articles were included of which nine were meta-analyses. Variation in operationalization of exposure (breastfeeding) and outcome (overweight/obesity) variables is one of the most notable findings among the various systematic reviews. Breastfeeding was classified either as ever versus never or exclusive versus not exclusive or breastfeeding versus bottle-feeding or a combination of the three. There was variability in measurement of the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, which ranged from 12 months with majority between 1 and 6 months. Overweight and obesity was also variously classified using different parameters including weight status, BMI percentile, weight for length, waist-hip circumference, skinfold thickness, and various measures of obesity (fat mass, percent fat mass, and fat-free mass). Results support a strong inverse association between breastfeeding and risk of obesity in the child. Covariates influencing this association included birth weight, socioeconomic status, maternal smoking, parental weight status, and sibling status (in twin studies). Breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity were the three ways in which breastfeeding was operationalized, while weight status and BMI were the predominant ways in which child obesity was measured. Future research focusing on a geographically and ethnically diverse population, using experimental designs, and longer duration of follow-up in the child is warranted.
Evidence of negative-resistance characteristic in thin films of Mylar at high DC fields

In this work it was originally intended to study the breakdown mechanism in thin films of Mylar (polyethyleneterephthalate) under dc voltage, but as reported earlier,1,2 it was observed that as the applied voltage V a was increased from low values, the conduction current through the film no longer remained steady, but at a threshold field abruptly became oscillatory. Later, this behavior was interpreted in terms of a specific negative resistance of the film connected in series with an adequately high resistance.3,4 This resulted from a reversible electrical breakdown of the film at a well-defined, temperature-dependent voltage drop across the sample, V B . Earlier, Mizutani5 had reported a qualitative observation of current oscillations in polyethylene, and Swan6 had reported a time-varying current and continuous current oscillations superimposed upon a large background current in iodine-doped polyethylene.
The Platelet Transcriptome: Coding RNAs

Until recently platelets were categorized as simple anucleate cytoplasts that function solely in the hemostatic arena. However, the last decade has demonstrated that platelets have roles beyond primary hemostasis and they possess complex molecular information including a rich repertoire of messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Platelet mRNAs have features that mirror transcripts produced and translated in nucleated cells, and mRNAs for approximately half of the human genome have been identified in this terminally differentiated cell. The study of platelet mRNAs has expanded tremendously with the advent of next-generation RNA sequencing (NGS) and several groups have shown that platelets are capable of translating some megakaryocyte-derived mRNAs into protein. Platelet mRNA profiles have also been used to predict cellular function and platelets are capable of transferring intact mRNAs into microparticles and other cells. This chapter reviews our current understanding of platelet mRNAs and their potential contribution to biological and pathologic processes in humans. Roles for noncoding RNAs are described in Edelstein and Bray (2017).
Everyday Words and the Character of Prose in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Everyday Words and the Character of Prose in Nineteenth-Century Britain is an original and innovative study of the stylistic tics of canonical novelists including Austen, Dickens, Trollope, Thackeray and Eliot. Jonathan Farina shows how ordinary locutions such as 'a decided turn', 'as if' and 'that sort of thing' condense nineteenth-century manners, tacit aesthetics and assumptions about what counts as knowledge. Writers recognized these recurrent 'everyday words' as signatures of 'character'. Attending to them reveals how many of the fundamental forms of characterizing fictional characters also turn out to be forms of characterizing objects, natural phenomena and inanimate, abstract things, such as physical laws, the economy and legal practice. Ultimately, this book revises what 'character' meant to nineteenth-century Britons by respecting the overlapping, transdisciplinary connotations of the category.
Expression of PD-L1 in Hormone-naïve and Treated Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Abiraterone Acetate plus Prednisone and Leuprolide

Purpose: Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1)/programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) blockade has been unsuccessful in prostate cancer, with poor immunogenicity and subsequent low PD-L1 expression in prostate cancer being proposed as an explanation. However, recent studies indicate that a subset of prostate cancer may express significant levels of PD-L1. Furthermore, the androgen antagonist enzalutamide has been shown to upregulate PD-L1 expression in prostate cancer preclinical models. In this study, we evaluated the effect of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone and leuprolide (Neo-AAPL) on PD-L1 expression in prostate cancer.Experimental Design: Radical prostatectomy (RP) tissues were collected from 44 patients with intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer who underwent RP after Neo-AAPL treatment. Untreated prostate cancer tissues were collected from 130 patients, including 44 matched controls for the Neo-AAPL cases. Tumor PD-L1 expression was detected by IHC using validated anti-PD-L1 antibodies. Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ cells were analyzed in trial cases and matched controls. Expression of DNA mismatch repair genes was examined in PD-L1-positive tumors.Results: Neo-AAPL-treated tumors showed a trend toward decreased PD-L1 positivity compared with matched controls (7% vs. 21% having ≥1% positive tumor cells; P = 0.062). Treated tumors also harbored significantly fewer tumor-infiltrating CD8+ cells (P = 0.029). In 130 untreated prostate cancers, African American ethnicity, elevated serum PSA, and small prostate independently predicted tumor PD-L1 positivity. Loss of MSH2 expression was observed in 1 of 21 PD-L1-positive tumors.Conclusions: A subset of prostate cancer expresses PD-L1, which is not increased by Neo-AAPL treatment, indicating that combining Neo-AAPL treatment with PD-L1/PD-1 blockade may not be synergistic. Clin Cancer Res; 23(22); 6812-22. ©2017 AACR.
Monolithic MEMS + Photonics Systems

Opto-mechanical systems offer one of the most sensitive methods for detecting mechanical motion using shifts in the optical resonance frequency of the opto-mechanical resonator. Presently, these systems are used for measuring mechanical thermal noise displacement or mechanical motion actuated by optical forces. Meanwhile, electrostrictive and piezoelectric actuation and detection are the main transduction schemes used in RF MEMS resonators. In this talk, I will introduce a method for actuating an opto-mechanical resonator using MEMS transducers and sensing of mechanical motion by using the optical intensity modulation at the output of an opto-mechanical resonator. I will discuss classical applications enabled by this hybrid platform such as multi-GHz Acousto-Optic Modulators (AOM) and Opto-Acoustic Oscillators. I will conclude my talk by providing a glimpse of how we are leveraging our mastery of micromachining and MEMS to achieve coherent transduction between spin-defects, phonons and photons.
Calcium‐Responsive Liposomes via a Synthetic Lipid Switch

Liposomal drug delivery would benefit from enhanced control over content release. Here, we report a novel avenue for triggering release driven by chemical composition using liposomes sensitized to calcium-a target chosen due to its key roles in biology and disease. To demonstrate this principle, we synthesized calcium-responsive lipid switch 1, designed to undergo conformational changes upon calcium binding. The conformational change perturbs membrane integrity, thereby promoting cargo release. This was shown through fluorescence-based release assays via dose-dependent response depending on the percentage of 1 in liposomes, with minimal background leakage in controls. DLS experiments indicated dramatic changes in particle size upon treatment of liposomes containing 1 with calcium. In a comparison of ten naturally occurring metal cations, calcium provided the greatest release. Finally, STEM images showed significant changes in liposome morphology upon treatment of liposomes containing 1 with calcium. These results showcase lipid switches driven by molecular recognition principles as an exciting avenue for controlling membrane properties.
Hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase-α deficiency leads to metabolic reprogramming in glycogen storage disease type Ia

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) is caused by a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphatase-α (G6Pase-α or G6PC), a key enzyme in endogenous glucose production. This autosomal recessive disorder is characterized by impaired glucose homeostasis and long-term complications of hepatocellular adenoma/carcinoma (HCA/HCC). We have shown that hepatic G6Pase-α deficiency-mediated steatosis leads to defective autophagy that is frequently associated with carcinogenesis. We now show that hepatic G6Pase-α deficiency also leads to enhancement of hepatic glycolysis and hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) that can contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis. The enhanced hepatic glycolysis is reflected by increased lactate accumulation, increased expression of many glycolytic enzymes, and elevated expression of c-Myc that stimulates glycolysis. The increased HMS is reflected by increased glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and elevated production of NADPH and the reduced glutathione. We have previously shown that restoration of hepatic G6Pase-α expression in G6Pase-α-deficient liver corrects metabolic abnormalities, normalizes autophagy, and prevents HCA/HCC development in GSD-Ia. We now show that restoration of hepatic G6Pase-α expression normalizes both glycolysis and HMS in GSD-Ia. Moreover, the HCA/HCC lesions in L-G6pc-/- mice exhibit elevated levels of hexokinase 2 (HK2) and the M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) which play an important role in aerobic glycolysis and cancer cell proliferation. Taken together, hepatic G6Pase-α deficiency causes metabolic reprogramming, leading to enhanced glycolysis and elevated HMS that along with impaired autophagy can contribute to HCA/HCC development in GSD-Ia.
Information Priorities for Deciding on Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to elicit information priorities from women considering treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). STUDY DESIGN This is a cross-sectional study of women before and after treatment of stage II or higher POP. Women were recruited either at the conclusion of their initial evaluation (before treatment) or at postoperative or pessary maintenance visits (after treatment). Women completed a written survey that used a Likert scale to rank potentially frequently asked questions (FAQs) that could be important information to use in decision making for POP. RESULTS Among the 100 women surveyed, 32 women wanted to pursue surgical options and 18 women wanted to pursue nonsurgical treatment options in the before treatment group. In the after treatment group, 35 women had undergone surgery and 15 women were using a pessary.Overall, women ranked FAQs about treatment success (overall Likert score, 1.11±0.35), quality of life after treatment (1.18±0.41), and complications and side effects (1.20±0.57) as the most important information when making a decision. Women were least concerned with FAQs regarding cost (2.39±1.48), impact on sexual function (2.21±1.4), and impact on hormones (2.20±1.27). CONCLUSIONS Women with POP identified the most important FAQs related to treatment success and complications, quality of life, and understanding how the treatment works. This information will be used to develop a comprehensive decision aid for women considering treatment options for POP.
An implicit energy-conservative 2D Fokker-Planck algorithm: II. Jacobian-free Newton—Krylov solver

Energy-conservative implicit integration schemes for the Fokker-Planck transport equation in multidimensional geometries require inverting a dense, non-symmetric matrix (Jacobian), which is very expensive to store and solve using standard solvers. However, these limitations can be overcome with Newton-Krylov iterative techniques, since they can be implemented Jacobian-free (the Jacobian matrix from Newton's algorithm is never formed nor stored to proceed with the iteration), and their convergence can be accelerated by preconditioning the original problem. In this document, the efficient numerical implementation of an implicit energy-conservative scheme for multidimensional Fokker-Planck problems using multigrid-preconditioned Krylov methods is discussed. Results show that multigrid preconditioning is very effective in speeding convergence and decreasing CPU requirements, particularly in fine meshes. The solver is demonstrated on grids up to 128 x 128 points in a 2D cylindrical velocity space ({upsilon}{sub r}, {upsilon}{sub p}) with implicit time steps of the order of the collisional time scale of the problem, {tau}. The method preserves particles exactly, and energy conservation is improved over alternative approaches, particularly in coarse meshes. Typical errors in the total energy over a time period of 10{tau} remain below a percent.
Restoring Host Antitumoral Immunity: How Coregulatory Molecules Are Changing the Approach to the Management of Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a tumor whose past is filled with failed treatments and unpreventable patient death. Fortunately, science is progressing at an ever increasing rate and novel discoveries are bringing new possibilities for patients with RCC. The future of RCC treatment is bright, and we believe that immunotherapy will realize much of its potential within the next decade.
Proteins and Protein Structure

Protein molecules are the gene products that regulate and perform the essential tasks of the living organism. They provide and transmit the biological signals that control gene expressions, cell growth and division, cell differentiation, and programmed cell death. In animals, proteins perform muscle contraction, provide the matrix for bone and skin, and give elasticity to blood vessels. There exists an enzyme protein to catalyze each of the chemical reactions of a biological system. A mammalian cell expresses 10 000–20 000 proteins simultaneously at widely disparate concentrations to give the cell its properties and functions.
Fan-Out Wafer-Level Chip-Scale Package

The concept of fan-out is hardly new for semiconductor packaging. Ever since the early days of semiconductor industry, fan-out scheme that expands the tight lead pitch on semiconductor to coarse lead pitch on package is the dominant form in all chip packages, for example, leadframe package fan-out from chip to leads via bonding wires and flip chip package fan-out from chip to BGA via inner metal layers in the substrate (Fig. 3.1a, b).
Attendance and Public Participation in the Performing Arts: A Review of the Empirical Literature

While audience and participation surveys, as well as econometric demand studies,generally confirm that performing arts audiences are relatively elite, there are surprises. Education (despite conflicting causal interpretations) is a stronger determinant than income, but that evidence is more reliable from survey results than from econometric estimation, and arts training is often distinguished from formal education. The arts as luxury goods can only be confirmed by those rare studies controlling for the value of time, and price elasticities are often higher than expected, especially when more disaggregated data are examined. Price inelastic demand is more likely the result of low pricing strategies of non-profit arts managements rather than any inherent result of an acquired taste for the arts, while cross-price elasticity evidence is relatively weak, even within the performing arts. Arts demand cannot adequately be estimated without also considering "life-style" variables, or non-standard socioeconomic factors such as sexual orientation, gender and socialization processes, and even the role of age has been notably complex. Quality of arts performance or organization seems important, but the econometric results are mixed. Habit formation must be distinguished from learning-by-consuming and rational addiction in examining dynamic determinants. Sociologists,psychologists, and marketing specialists, as well as economists, have contributed to this literature, which remains unusually enigmatic despite about forty years of increasingly sophisticated analysis.
PACAP-Induced PAC1 Receptor Internalization and Recruitment of Endosomal Signaling Regulate Cardiac Neuron Excitability

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP, Adcyap1) activation of PAC1 receptors (Adcyap1r1) significantly increases excitability of guinea pig cardiac neurons. This modulation of excitability is mediated in part by plasma membrane G protein-dependent activation of adenylyl cyclase and downstream signaling cascades, as well as by endosomal signaling mechanisms. PACAP/PAC1 receptor-mediated activation of plasma membrane adenylyl cyclase (AC) and the resulting increase in cellular cAMP enhances a hyperpolarization-induced nonselective cationic current Ih, which contributes to the PACAP-induced increase in cardiac neuron excitability. Further, PACAP-mediated AC/cAMP/PKA downstream signaling also appears to enhance cardiac neuron IT to facilitate the excitatory responses. PACAP activation of PAC1 receptors rapidly stimulates receptor internalization, and reducing ambient temperature or treatments with the clathrin inhibitor Pitstop2 or the dynamin I/II inhibitor dynasore to block endocytic events can suppress PACAP-enhanced neuronal excitability. Thus, endocytosis inhibitors essentially eliminate PACAP-enhanced excitability suggesting that endosomal platforms represent a primary signaling mechanism. Endosomal signaling is associated canonically with ERK activation and in accord, PACAP-enhanced cardiac neuron excitability is reduced by MEK inhibitor pretreatments. PACAP activation of MEK/ERK signaling can enhance currents through voltage-dependent Nav1.7 channels. Hence, PACAP-induced PAC1 receptor internalization/endosomal signaling, recruitment of MEK/ERK signaling, and modulation of Nav1.7 are implicated as key mechanisms contributing to the PACAP-enhanced neuronal excitability. PACAP/PAC1 receptor-mediated endosomal ERK signaling in central circuits can play key roles in development of chronic pain and anxiety-related responses; thus, PAC1 endosomal signaling likely participates in a variety of homeostatic responses within neuronal circuits in the CNS.
A Distributed Algorithm for Achieving the Conservation Principle

A distributed and continuous update is proposed for multi-agent networks to achieve the conservation principle, in which each agent can only communicate with its nearby neighbors. The information known to each agent is part of the overall conservation constraint, which is determined by states of its neighbors. Different from achieving consensus, agents in the networks control states that might not necessarily be in the same dimension. Given the underlying network to be undirected and connected, the proposed update drives all agents' states to converge asymptotically to constants satisfying the nonlinear conservation principle, under mild assumptions. The assumption is relaxed when the conservation principle is linear, for which the convergence is exponentially fast. Both analytical results and numerical simulations are provided, followed by applications in achieving least square solutions in a distributed way.
Zebrafish as a Model for Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity and diabetes now considered global epidemics. The prevalence rates of diabetes are increasing in parallel with the rates of obesity and the strong connection between these two diseases has been coined as "diabesity." The health risks of overweight or obesity include Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), coronary heart disease and cancer of numerous organs. Both obesity and diabetes are complex diseases that involve the interaction of genetics and environmental factors. The underlying pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes are not well understood and further research is needed for pharmacological and surgical management. Consequently, the use of animal models of obesity and/or diabetes is important for both improving the understanding of these diseases and to identify and develop effective treatments. Zebrafish is an attractive model system for studying metabolic diseases because of the functional conservation in lipid metabolism, adipose biology, pancreas structure, and glucose homeostasis. It is also suited for identification of novel targets associated with the risk and treatment of obesity and diabetes in humans. In this review, we highlight studies using zebrafish to model metabolic diseases, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of studying pathologies associated with obesity and diabetes in zebrafish.
Atrial Cardiopathy and Stroke Prevention

Many patients with ischemic stroke have a stroke syndrome and neuroimaging findings consistent with embolism, but no evidence of atrial fibrillation. Recent data suggest that the pathological atrial substrate, or atrial cardiopathy, that underlies atrial fibrillation, rather than atrial fibrillation itself, may be an important cause of unexplained strokes. This paper will review the literature on the rationale and data behind the concept of atrial cardiopathy, its pathophysiology, suggested biomarkers of atrial cardiopathy, and therapeutic implications. Several lines of evidence suggest that patients can have strokes associated with disorders of the atrium, even without frank atrial fibrillation. Even in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, cardiac emboli may occur temporally disassociated from episodes of atrial fibrillation, and the left atrial appendage flow patterns associated with increased thromboembolic risk may occur even when the surface electrocardiogram demonstrates normal sinus rhythm. Biomarkers of left atrial structural and electrophysiological abnormalities have been associated with stroke risk, even in the absence of atrial fibrillation. Atrial cardiopathy, as determined by the presence of biomarkers of left atrial dysfunction, may provide a therapeutic target to reduce the risk of cardioembolic stroke in the absence of atrial fibrillation. Clinical trials are currently ongoing to test this hypothesis.
Black box analysis of android malware detectors

Abstract If a malware detector relies heavily on a feature that is obfuscated in a given malware sample, then the detector will likely fail to correctly classify the malware. In this research, we obfuscate selected features of known Android malware samples and determine whether these obfuscated samples can still be reliably detected. Using this approach, we discover which features are most significant for various sets of Android malware detectors, in effect, performing a black box analysis of these detectors. We find that there is a surprisingly high degree of variability among the key features used by popular malware detectors.
Isolated spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea as a rare presentation of idiopathic intracranial hypertension: Case reports with comprehensive review of literature

Isolated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea as a sole presenting symptom of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is extremely rare. IIH typically presents with headache, pulsatile tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbance. We report two cases which presented with acute onset spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea without any other symptom. In addition, we discuss in detail imaging features of IIH with review of its literature.
SOAP Bubbles: Robust Scheduling Under Adversarial Noise

A great many scheduling policies for the M/G/1 queue are so-called SOAP policies [1], meaning they assign each job a priority based on its age, the amount of service it has received so far. Perhaps the most notable example is the Gittins policy, which minimizes mean response time when job sizes are unknown. However, in some computer systems even job ages, let alone job sizes, are not precisely known by the scheduler. This can occur when scheduling in a time-shared system or over a network. Given that the Gittins policy relies on knowing exact job ages, it is not clear how to minimize mean response time in such settings.In this paper we study scheduling for the M/G/1 when the scheduler knows only approximate job ages. We find that naively using the traditional Gittins policy is not robust, meaning that introducing even an infinitesimal amount of noise in job ages can cause a large jump in mean response time. By examining the ways in which this naive policy fails, we construct a simple variation of the Gittins policy, called the shift-flat Gittins policy, which is indeed robust to noise and therefore has near-optimal mean response time. Moreover, we show that our shift-flat construction generalizes, yielding a robust variation of any SOAP policy.
A Descriptive Study of Hospital- and Community-acquired Pressure Ulcers/Injuries.

Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers/injuries (HAPU/I) have been a major focus of research, but information about community-acquired pressure ulcer/injuries (CAPU/I) is limited. Purpose The aim of this study was to compare HAPU/I and CAPU/I in a 620-bed academic medical center in the western United States. Methods This descriptive study involved prospective/retrospective data collected from the National Data for Nursing Quality Indicators, including pressure ulcer stage (January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2017); the hospital's incident reporting system (January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017); electronic medical records (EMR) as needed for verification; and the hospital's pressure ulcer registry (January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2017), developed by both EMR and manual extraction. Data regarding point prevalence, length of stay (LOS), source of admission, ulcer stage, and frequency of hospital encounters from patients at least 18 years of age with a pressure ulcer/injury documented in their records were abstracted. Data from pregnant or incarcerated persons and persons with missing or incomplete information on staging or origin of admission were excluded. Variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results The number of patients with data reviewed for point prevalence was 1787 for 2015, 1989 for 2016, and 1917 for 2017. For 2015, the average CAPU/I and HAPU/I point prevalence was 6.6% and 0.8%, respectively; for 2016, 6.0% and 1.5%, respectively; and for 2017, 6.9% and 0.9%, respectively. The average LOS for patients analyzed for 2017 admitted with a CAPU/I or HAPU/I was 10.5 days and 38.9 days, respectively. Hospital encounters were more frequent in the CAPU/I than in the HAPU/I group, with 821 CAPU/encounters compared to 45 HAPU/I encounters. The majority of patients with a HAPU/I (80%) or CAPU/I (65.4%) were admitted from home. Conclusion In this study, CAPU/I were more prevalent than HAPU/I and most patient encounters originated from home. More descriptive research that includes staging and source of admission is needed to document the rate of CAPU/I and characteristics of HAPU/I compared to CAPU/I in order to optimize pressure ulcer/injury practices across the continuum of care.
Controlling chemistry with vibrational polaritons

I will describe conditions under which strong-coupling of molecular excitations to infrared cavity modes can alter the chemistry of large ensembles of molecules despite the lack of external photon pumping.
Warfarin Resistance Due to a Val29Leu Mutation in the VKORC1 Protein.

Abstract Warfarin resistance is a common clinical problem encountered by physicians of all subspecialities. Medical noncompliance and dietary indiscretions are felt to be the usual causes of a subject's “resistance” to anticoagulation with coumarin derivatives. Warfarin's target is the vitamin K epoxide reductase complex (VKOR). This complex functions within the vitamin K dependent γ-carboxylase system to recycle oxidized vitamin K. Until recently, the genetic sequence of components of this complex remained a mystery (Li et al., Nature 2004). Mutations in a subunit of this complex named vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (VKORC1) were isolated in human subjects with warfarin resistance (Rost et al., Nature 2004). Knowledge of this coding sequence has enabled us to study individual subjects suspected to have a genetic source for their warfarin resistance. Our study subject is a 24-year-old Caucasian female who received warfarin after developing bilateral pulmonary emboli. She required 30 mg of warfarin daily to achieve an international normalized ratio greater than 2.0. After institutional review board approval and with the patient's informed consent, genomic DNA was extracted from the subject's peripheral blood. The three exons comprising the VKORC1 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR primers were designed using the published sequence and online Primer3 software. Prolonged extension times were required to obtain good amplification of all three exons. After purification, the PCR products were sequenced and analyzed. The sequence analysis demonstrated a heterozygous G→T mutation in exon 1 at base pair 85. This results in a Val29Leu substitution, which has been described in a warfarin resistant patient by Rost et al. The second and third exons matched completely with the published sequence. The gene frequency of the mutation was then determined by examining 400 random, discarded DNA samples. The HypCH4 IV restriction enzyme cleaves at 2 positions in exon 1 in the wild-type genotype, but at just one position if our known mutation is present. The mutation was not identified in any sample. In conclusion, we have identified a second patient with a Val29Leu substitution in vitamin K epoxide reductase resulting in warfarin resistance. Our analysis of 400 random samples has not identified any other example of this mutation, indicating that this is a rare occurrence. Genetic analysis of patients requiring more than 20 mg of warfarin daily would likely reveal more mutations in the VKORC1 protein. The identification of such mutations would provide valuable insight into the structure-function relationships of this protein complex.
Identifying New Partnerships for Innovation: Governance and Policy Challenges

Science, technology, and innovation are critical to national competitiveness, security, domestic and international policy, governance, politics, economic growth, culture, and human well-being. One course of action is to only collaborate with known, established partners. But this approach comes with the risk of missing out on the next “up and coming” player, losing the beneficial products that could arise if collaboration had been established earlier. Newcomers are nations that are developing competency and breakthroughs in specific disciplines but have not yet attained global recognition for their expertise and capacity. This article explores the practical policy and governance challenges associated with identifying and partnering with lesser-known countries, with the goal of providing an advantage to both newcomer nations and more established partners.
The application of synchrotron micro-computed tomography to characterize the three-dimensional microstructure in irradiated nuclear fuel

Abstract This research demonstrated the first time that synchrotron X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) was utilized to analyze the three-dimensional (3-D) morphology of the microstructure of irradiated nuclear fuel. Both absorption contrast and propagation-based phase contrast enhanced μ-CT techniques were evaluated. Porosity and phase region volumes were determined in neutron irradiated uranium 10 wt% zirconium (U–10Zr) using propagation-based phase contrast enhanced μ-CT. Volumes were calculated using image processing software and algorithms, with the porosity volume subsequently compared to the ASTM E562 method. The 3-D porosity of a small region (∼8 × 105 μm3) located in the intermediate fuel redistribution zone that was removed via a focused ion beam was determined to be 7.2% via image processing. A detailed 3-D analysis of the porosity with respect to volume and morphology was provided. Five growth stages of pore evolution were observed including: nucleation, growth, coalescence, interconnected porosity, and extended/interconnected porosity. Four distinct phase regions were identified, including the pores, via both absorption contrast and propagation-based phase contrast enhanced μ-CT. A quantitative comparison of fuel swelling between this localized microscopic U–10Zr fuel region that was previously irradiated in the Fast Flux Test Facility, and historic U–10Zr fuels irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), was conducted. It was determined that for similar burnups, the localized swelling in this microscopic fuel region was 7.7%, which was approximately one-half of the value of the macroscopic swelling reported in EBR-II irradiated fuel. With the advent of new specimen preparation tools for irradiated materials, as well as advances in characterization techniques, researchers can now obtain previously inaccessible microstructural insight into irradiated fuels. This possibility naturally lends itself to improved fuel performance models for the nuclear community.