cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Past, Present, and Future Drug Delivery Systems for Antiretrovirals

The human immunodeficiency virus has infected millions of people and the epidemic continues to grow rapidly in some parts of the world. Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy has provided improved treatment and prolonged the life expectancy of patients. Moreover, there is growing interest in using ARVs to protect against new infections. Hence, ARVs have emerged as our primary strategy in combating the virus. Unfortunately, several challenges limit the optimal performance of these drugs. First, ARVs often require life-long use and complex dosing regimens. This results in low patient adherence and periods of lapsed treatment manifesting in drug resistance. This has prompted the development of alternate dosage forms such as vaginal rings and long-acting injectables that stand to improve patient adherence. Another problem central to therapeutic failure is the inadequate penetration of drugs into infected tissues. This can lead to incomplete treatment, development of resistance, and viral rebound. Several strategies have been developed to improve drug penetration into these drug-free sanctuaries. These include encapsulation of drugs in nanoparticles, use of pharmacokinetic enhancers, and cell-based drug delivery platforms. In this review, we discuss issues surrounding ARV therapy and their impact on drug efficacy. We also describe various drug delivery-based approaches developed to overcome these issues.
Polyakov line actions from SU(3) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions via relative weights

We extract an effective Polyakov line action from an underlying SU(3) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions via the relative weights method. The centersymmetry breaking terms in the effective theory are fit to a form suggested by effective action of heavy-dense quarks, and the effective action is solved at finite chemical potential by a mean field approach. We show results for a small sample of lattice couplings, lattice actions, and lattice extensions in the time direction. We find in some instances that the long-range couplings in the effective action are very important to the phase structure, and that these couplings are responsible for long-lived metastable states in the effective theory. Only one of these states corresponds to the underlying lattice gauge theory.
Clostridium difficile in an Urban, University-Affiliated Long-Term Acute-Care Hospital.

OBJECTIVES To describe the characteristics and impact of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in a long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH). DESIGN Retrospective matched cohort study. SETTING A 38-bed, urban, university-affiliated LTACH. METHODS The characteristics of LTACH-onset CDI were assessed among patients hospitalized between July 2008 and October 2015. Patients with CDI were matched to concurrently hospitalized patients without a diagnosis of CDI. Severe CDI was defined as CDI with 2 or more of the following criteria: age ≥65 years, serum creatinine ≥2 mg/dL, or peripheral leukocyte count ≥20,000 cells/μL. A conditional Poisson regression model was developed to determine characteristics associated with a composite primary outcome of 30-day readmission to an acute-care hospital, or mortality. RESULTS The overall incidence of CDI was 21.4 cases per 10,000 patient days, with 27% of infections classified as severe. Patients with CDI had a mean age of 70 years (SD, 14 years), a mean Charlson comorbidity index of 3.6 (SD, 2.0), a median length of stay of 33 days (interquartile range [IQR], 24–45 days), and a median time between admission and CDI diagnosis of 16 days (IQR, 9–23 days). The most commonly prescribed antibiotic preceding a CDI diagnosis was a cephalosporin, with median duration of 8 days (IQR, 4–14 days). In multivariate analysis, CDI was not significantly associated with the primary outcome (relative risk, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.59–1.58). CONCLUSIONS Incidence of CDI in an urban, university-affiliated LTACH was high. Future research should focus on infection prevention measures to decrease the burden of CDI in this complex patient population. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:294–299
Haemophilus ducreyi Cutaneous Ulcer Strains Diverged from Both Class I and Class II Genital Ulcer Strains: Implications for Epidemiological Studies.

Background Haemophilus ducreyi has emerged as a major cause of cutaneous ulcers (CU) in yaws-endemic regions of the tropics in the South Pacific, South East Asia and Africa. H. ducreyi was once thought only to cause the genital ulcer (GU) disease chancroid; GU strains belong to 2 distinct classes, class I and class II. Using whole-genome sequencing of 4 CU strains from Samoa, 1 from Vanuatu and 1 from Papua New Guinea, we showed that CU strains diverged from the class I strain 35000HP and that one CU strain expressed β-lactamase. Recently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the genomes of 11 additional CU strains from Vanuatu and Ghana; however, the evolutionary relationship of these CU strains to previously-characterized CU and GU strains is unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings We performed phylogenetic analysis of 17 CU and 10 GU strains. Class I and class II GU strains formed two distinct clades. The class I strains formed two subclades, one containing 35000HP and HD183 and the other containing the remainder of the class I strains. Twelve of the CU strains formed a subclone under the class I 35000HP subclade, while 2 CU strains formed a subclone under the other class I subclade. Unexpectedly, 3 of the CU strains formed a subclone under the class II clade. Phylogenetic analysis of dsrA-hgbA-ncaA sequences yielded a tree similar to that of whole-genome phylogenetic tree. Conclusions/Significance CU strains diverged from multiple lineages within both class I and class II GU strains. Multilocus sequence typing of dsrA-hgbA-ncaA could be reliably used for epidemiological investigation of CU and GU strains. As class II strains grow relatively poorly and are relatively more susceptible to vancomycin than class I strains, these findings have implications for methods to recover CU strains. Comparison of contemporary CU and GU isolates would help clarify the relationship between these entities.
H/sub /spl infin//-almost disturbance decoupling with internal stability for linear systems subject to input saturation

For a linear system subject to input saturation and input-additive disturbances, we show that: (1) the H/sub /spl infin//-almost disturbance decoupling problem with local asymptotic stability is always solvable via state feedback as long as the system in the absence of saturation is stabilizable, no matter where the open-loop poles are; and (2) the H/sub /spl infin//-almost disturbance decoupling problem with semiglobal asymptotic stability is solvable via state feedback as long as the system in the absence of saturation is stabilizable with all its open-loop poles located in the closed left-half plane. The results generalize those in Lin et al. (1996) by not requiring the disturbance to be bounded by a known bound, or even bounded.
NEUTRON SPIN STRUCTURE STUDY AT JEFFERSON LAB HALL A

With a high-intensity highly-polarized 6 GeV electron beam, and a high-density polarized 3He target, we have carried out a number of experiments to study the neutron spin structure at Hall A in Jefferson Lab. Taking advantage of the high luminosity of Jefferson Lab, we completed two inclusive deep-inelastic-scattering experiments this summer. In the first precision measurements were made of the spin asymmetry in the valence quark (high Bjorken x) region, and in the second higher-twist effects were studied via precision measurements of . Physics motivation and preliminary results from the first experiment will be presented and discussed. I will also present nearly final results from an earlier experiment, which measured the generalized GDH sum for the neutron in the Q2 range of 0.1 to 1 GeV2. Planned near-term experiments will be briefly discussed.
A global view of meiotic double-strand break end resection

Meiosis is a specialized double cell division that generates haploid gametes from diploid parent cells. Meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes ensures the proper segregation of chromosomes to the daughter cells. Mimitou et al. carried out a genome-wide survey of resection of the ends of DNA double strand breaks in yeast. Resection generates single-stranded tails that are vital for meiotic recombination. The Tel1 kinase promoted initiation of resection. Nucleosomes, which normally package DNA, needed to be disassembled to allow rapid and efficient resection. Science, this issue p. [40][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aak9704
Lyapunov and converse Lyapunov theorems for stochastic semistability

This paper develops Lyapunov and converse Lyapunov theorems for stochastic semistable nonlinear dynamical systems. Semistability is the property whereby the solutions of a stochastic dynamical system almost surely converge to (not necessarily isolated) Lyapunov stable in probability equilibrium points determined by the system initial conditions. Specifically, we provide necessary and sufficient Lyapunov conditions for stochastic semistability and show that stochastic semistability implies the existence of a continuous Lyapunov function whose infinitesimal generator decreases along the dynamical system trajectories and is such that the Lyapunov function satisfies inequalities involving the average distance to the set of equilibria.
Millimeter-wave tubes using the coupled cavity circuit

Two applications of the coupled cavity slow wave circuit at the 5-6 millimeter wavelengths are the subject of this paper. When considering the design of cw high-power amplifiers and oscillators for millimeter wavelengths the characteristics of the coupled cavity structure present several distinct advantages. The heat capacity of the circuit is very good and the tubes can be designed for low voltage operation. A high-power amplifier with cw output power of 150 watts and efficiency of 30 percent has been developed. Initial tubes have been operated as single stage low gain amplifiers, 14 db, with an approximate bandwidth of 8 percent. A severed amplifier with two amplifying sections producing higher saturation gain will be described. A millimeter-wave backward-wave oscillator using the coupled cavity circuit has also been developed. The general properties of this tube are 18 percent tuning bandwidth, output power in excess of 1 watt and depressed collector operation. The techniques that were evolved for the development of these tubes and their electrical performance will be described.
First Results from the Hubble OPAL Program: Jupiter in 2015

The Hubble 2020: Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program is generating new yearly global maps for each of the outer planets. This report focuses on Jupiter results from the first year of the campaign. The zonal wind profile was measured and is in the same family as the Voyager and Cassini era profiles, showing some variation in mid- to high-latitude wind jet magnitudes, particularly at +40° and −35° planetographic latitude. The Great Red Spot continues to maintain an intense orange coloration, but also shows new internal structures, including a reduced core and new filamentary features. Finally, a wave that was not previously seen in Hubble images was also observed and is interpreted as a baroclinic instability with associated cyclone formation near 16° N latitude. A similar feature was observed faintly in Voyager 2 images, and is consistent with the Hubble feature in location and scale.
Evidence for an abnormal insulin in diabetes mellitus.

Using resistance to the action of a crude rat insulinase and the rate of incorporation of intraperitoneally administered14C glucose into rat diaphragm glycogen as indices, it has been shown that there is a difference between immunologically purified insulin from the plasma of juvenile diabetics and the pancreas from certain adult-onset diabetics on the one hand and normal insulin on the other. The difference appears to be inherited as a simple Mendelian factor.
Risk of tumor transmission after thoracic allograft transplantation from adult donors with central nervous system neoplasm-A UNOS database study.

Background We analyzed the UNOS database to better define the risk of transmission of central nervous system (CNS) tumors from donors to adult recipients of thoracic organs. Methods Data were procured from the Standard Transplant Analysis and Research dataset files. Donors with CNS tumors were identified, and recipients from these donors comprised the study group (Group I). The remaining recipients of organs from donors who did not have CNS tumors formed the control group (Group II). Incidence of recipient CNS tumors, donor-related malignancies, and overall survival were calculated and compared in addition to multivariable logistic regression. Results A cohort of 58 314 adult thoracic organ recipients were included, of which 337 received organs from donors who had documented CNS tumors (Group I). None of these recipients developed CNS tumors at a median follow-up of 72 months (IR: 30-130 months). Although overall mortality in terms of the percentage was higher in Group I than Group II (163/320=51% vs 22 123/52 691=42%), Kaplan-Meier curves indicate no significant difference in the time to death between the two groups (P=.92). Conclusions There is little risk of transmission of the common nonaggressive CNS tumors to recipients of thoracic organs.
Cross-spectral face recognition in heterogeneous environments: A case study on matching visible to short-wave infrared imagery

In this paper we study the problem of cross spectral face recognition in heterogeneous environments. Specifically we investigate the advantages and limitations of matching short wave infrared (SWIR) face images to visible images under controlled or uncontrolled conditions. The contributions of this work are three-fold. First, three different databases are considered, which represent three different data collection conditions, i.e., images acquired in fully controlled (indoors), semi-controlled (indoors at standoff distances (50m0m), and uncontrolled (outdoor operational conditions) environments. Second, we demonstrate the possibility of SWIR cross-spectral matching under controlled and challenging scenarios. Third, we illustrate how photometric normalization and our proposed cross-photometric score level fusion rule can be utilized to improve cross-spectral matching performance across all scenarios. We utilized both commercial and academic (texture-based) face matchers and performed a set of experiments indicating that SWIR images can be matched to visible images with encouraging results. Our experiments also indicate that the level of improvement in recognition performance is scenario dependent.
De)centralizing Trade

We propose a parsimonious model to evaluate the relative merits of centralized and decentralized trade when agents are asymmetrically informed about the value of an asset. In a centralized market, the seller posts one price and buyers simultaneously decide whether to pay this price for the asset. In a decentralized market, the seller sequentially contacts buyers and quotes them potentially different prices. We compare the social efficiency of trade in these two types of market when tradersâ€™ information sets are independent of the market structure as well as when the acquisition of information by traders is endogenous.
THE USE OF STEMS IN COMPLEX PRIMARY TKA: NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT – AFFIRMS

For most complex primary total knee replacement there is associated soft tissue and bone loss. A constrained condylar implant can be useful in improving the stability of the knee after revision. Augmentation is commonly used to deal with bone loss on the femoral and tibial side of the joint. Stems are known to reduce the load at the interface of the femoral and tibial component and transfer the load into the medullary canals. There are problems with using stems in the complex primary knee setting however, which include: (1) increased cost, (2) difficulty with removal should further revision be necessary, (3) violation of the intramedullary canals if infection occurs, (4) increased operating time. For these reasons a CCK implant was developed without stems in 1998. The use of this device must be very selective and it is primarily used for severe valgus deformity in elderly patients. In a revision setting where there is good preservation of femoral and/or tibial bone but the need for increased constraint is present (e.g. unicompartmental, cruciate retaining knee) a CCK without stems can be used with good results. We retrospectively reviewed 36 primary constrained condylar knee implants without stem extensions from 1998 to 2000 in 31 patients with knees in 15 degrees valgus or greater. All patients were followed up for a minimum 10 years (range, 10 to 12 years). One patient had aseptic loosening and needed to be revised with stemmed components at 9 years post surgery. Wear was found in two patients. One patient, with severe rheumatoid arthritis, had infection and required a two-stage re-implantation procedure. Patients who are very active or heavy body weight where stresses may be excessive at the implant bone interface should have stems utilised.
Separation of variables and exactly soluble time-dependent potentials in quantum mechanics.

We use separation of variables as a tool to identify and to analyze exactly soluble time-dependent quantum-mechanical potentials. By considering the most general possible time-dependent redefinition of the spatial coordinate, as well as general transformations on the wave functions, we show that separation of variables applies and exact solubility occurs only in a very restricted class of time-dependent models. We consider the formal structure underlying our findings, and the relationship between our results and other work on time-dependent potentials. As an application of our methods, we apply our results to the calculation of propagators.
The low-lying Dirac eigenmodes from domain wall fermions

Abstract We calculate the low-lying eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the hermitian domain wall Dirac operator on various gauge backgrounds by Ritz minimization. The mass dependence of these eigenvalues is studied to extract the physical 4 dimensional λ, whose spectral density is related to 〈 ψ ψ〉 through the Banks-Casher relation, and δm, which represents the effects of the residual chiral symmetry breaking in domain wall formalism on a per eigenmode basis. The topological structure of the underlying gauge field is examined by measuring the Γ5 matrix elements between the low-lying eigenmodes.
JOINT EFFECT OF MATERNAL PLASMA HOMOCYSTEINE AND PREPREGNANCY OBESITY ON CHILD BLOOD PRESSURE: A PROSPECTIVE BIRTH COHORT STUDY

Joint effect of maternal plasma homocysteine and prepregnancy obesity on child blood pressure: a prospective birth cohort study
Examining the Relations between Executive Function, Math, and Literacy during the Transition to Kindergarten: A Multi-Analytic Approach.

The present study explored the bidirectional and longitudinal associations between executive function (EF) and early academic skills (math and literacy) across 4 waves of measurement during the transition from preschool to kindergarten using 2 complementary analytical approaches: cross-lagged panel modeling and latent growth curve modeling (LCGM). Participants included 424 children (49% female). On average, children were approximately 4.5 years old at the beginning of the study (M = 4.69, SD = .30) and 55% were enrolled in Head Start. Cross-lagged panel models indicated bidirectional relations between EF and math over preschool, which became directional in kindergarten with only EF predicting math. Moreover, there was a bidirectional relation between math and literacy that emerged in kindergarten. Similarly, LGCM revealed correlated growth between EF and math as well as math and literacy, but not EF and literacy. Exploring the patterns of relations across the waves of the panel model in conjunction with the patterns of relations between intercepts and slopes in the LGCMs led to a more nuanced understanding of the relations between EF and academic skills across preschool and kindergarten. Implications for future research on instruction and intervention development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Designing for the Next Generation Science Standards: Educative Curriculum Materials and Measures of Teacher Knowledge

ABSTRACTFocusing on the science knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge that teachers need to realize the vision of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their classrooms, this article presents findings from efforts to (a) adapt existing criteria and design heuristics for educative features of curriculum materials and apply them in the development of materials to support NGSS and (b) develop an authentic measure of teachers’ knowledge and practice based on an analysis of teachers’ evaluations of their students’ written explanations of phenomena. The study demonstrates that existing criteria and heuristics for designing educative features of curriculum materials can be used productively, with minor modifications, to design features that support teachers in their use of materials that support NGSS. It also provides quantitative and qualitative data to show that teachers’ analyses of the explanation task produced useful information about their understanding of the science ideas targeted in the ...
The Physical Nature of Subdwarf A Stars: White Dwarf Impostors

We address the physical nature of subdwarf A-type (sdA) stars and their possible link to extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarfs (WDs). The two classes of objects are confused in low-resolution spectroscopy. However, colors and proper motions indicate that sdA stars are cooler and more luminous, and thus larger in radius, than published ELM WDs. We demonstrate that surface gravities derived from pure hydrogen models suffer a systematic ~1 dex error for sdA stars, likely explained by metal line blanketing below 9000 K. A detailed study of five eclipsing binaries with radial velocity orbital solutions and infrared excess establishes that these sdA stars are metal-poor ~1.2 Msun main sequence stars with ~0.8 Msun companions. While WDs must exist at sdA temperatures, only ~1% of a magnitude-limited sdA sample should be ELM WDs. We conclude that the majority of sdA stars are metal-poor A-F type stars in the halo, and that recently discovered pulsating ELM WD-like stars with no obvious radial velocity variations may be SX Phe variables, not pulsating WDs.
Magnetoresistance in relativistic hydrodynamics without anomalies

We present expressions for the magnetoconductivity and the magnetoresistance of a strongly interacting metal in 3 + 1 dimensions, derivable from relativistic hydrodynamics. Such an approach is suitable for ultraclean metals with emergent Lorentz invariance. When this relativistic fluid contains chiral anomalies, it is known to exhibit longitudinal negative magnetoresistance. We show that similar effects can arise in non-anomalous relativistic fluids due to the distinctive gradient expansion. In contrast with a Galilean-invariant fluid, the resistivity tensor of a dirty relativistic fluid exhibits similar angular dependence to negative magnetoresistance, even when the constitutive relations and momentum relaxation rate are isotropic. We further account for the effect of magnetic field-dependent corrections to the gradient expansion and the effects of long-wavelength impurities on magnetoresistance. We note that the holographic D3/D7 system exhibits negative magnetoresistance.
Minimum-Cost Cloud Storage Service Across Multiple Cloud Providers

Many cloud service providers (CSPs) provide data storage services with datacenters distributed worldwide. These datacenters provide different get/put latencies and unit prices for resource utilization and reservation. Thus, when selecting different CSPs’ datacenters, cloud customers of globally distributed applications (e.g., online social networks) face two challenges: 1) how to allocate data to worldwide datacenters to satisfy application service level objective (SLO) requirements, including both data retrieval latency and availability and2) how to allocate data and reserve resources in datacenters belonging to different CSPs to minimize the payment cost. To handle these challenges, we first model the cost minimization problem under SLO constraints using the integer programming. Due to its NP-hardness, we then introduce our heuristic solution, including a dominant-cost-based data allocation algorithm and an optimal resource reservation algorithm. We further propose three enhancement methods to reduce the payment cost and service latency: 1) coefficient-based data reallocation; 2) multicast-based data transferring; and 3) request redirection-based congestion control. We finally introduce an infrastructure to enable the conduction of the algorithms. Our trace-driven experiments on a supercomputing cluster and on real clouds (i.e., Amazon S3, Windows Azure Storage, and Google Cloud Storage) show the effectiveness of our algorithms for SLO guaranteed services and customer cost minimization.
Information rate of some classes of non-regular languages: An automata-theoretic approach

Abstract We show that the information rate of the language accepted by a reversal-bounded deterministic counter machine is computable. For the nondeterministic case, we provide computable upper bounds. For the class of languages accepted by multi-tape deterministic finite automata, the information rate is computable as well.
Incorporating an Optical Clock Into a Time Scale

This paper discusses the results of a simulation of a time scale based on continuously operating commercial hydrogen masers and an optical frequency standard that does not operate continuously as a clock. The simulation compares the performance of this time scale with one that is based on the same commercial devices but incorporates a continuously operating cesium fountain instead of the optical standard. The results are independent of the detailed characteristics of the optical frequency standard; the only requirement is that the optical device be much more stable than the masers in the ensemble. We discuss two methods for realizing the results of this simulation in an operational time scale.
Metabolic Teamwork in the Stem Cell Niche

Nearby cells can support stem cell differentiation, but the metabolic activities in stem cell niches are unknown. A recent study (Rodriguez-Colman et al., 2017) reveals a metabolic partnership in the intestinal stem cell niche: glycolysis in niche Paneth cells provides lactate to drive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in intestinal stem cells.
Economic persistence, earnings informativeness, and stock return regularities

We propose a simple framework for understanding accounting-based stock return regularities. A firm’s accounting reports provide noisy information about hidden economic states that evolve according to a Markov process. In response to the accounting reports, a representative Bayesian investor forms beliefs about the underlying state and hence the value of the firm. For a population of such firms, the model provides predictions consistent with two sets of well-documented regularities: (i) the market reaction to an earnings announcement that ends a string of consecutive earnings increases and (ii) the return predictabilities based on accruals and book-tax differences. The model also yields novel cross-sectional predictions about the distinct roles of economic persistence and earnings informativeness. We confirm these predictions through empirical tests.
Prime movers: Advanced practice professionals in the role of stroke coordinator.

Background and purpose Following a stroke quality improvement clustered randomized trial and a national acute ischemic stroke (AIS) directive in the Veterans Health Administration in 2011, this comparative case study examined the role of advanced practice professionals (APPs) in quality improvement activities among stroke teams. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted at 11 Veterans Affairs medical centers annually over a 3-year period. A multidisciplinary team analyzed interviews from clinical providers through a mixed-methods, data matrix approach linking APPs (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) with Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research constructs and a group organization measure. Conclusion Five of 11 facilities independently chose to staff stroke coordinator positions with APPs. Analysis indicated that APPs emerged as boundary spanners across services and disciplines who played an important role in coordinating evidence-based, facility-level approaches to AIS care. The presence of APPs was related to engaging in group-based evaluation of performance data, implementing stroke protocols, monitoring care through data audit, convening interprofessional meetings involving planning activities, and providing direct care. Implications for practice The presence of APPs appears to be an influential feature of local context crucial in developing an advanced, facility-wide approach to stroke care because of their boundary spanning capabilities.
The relationship between error production when performing motor skills in high and low-stakes situations

ABSTRACTConflicting viewpoints regarding the role of errors produced during practice of motor skills raise questions regarding errors in low-stakes simulation of high-stakes performance contexts. Current knowledge regarding the relationship between errors in practice and later sport performance is based on novice performers and relatively simple, drill-like sport skills. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between errors produced during volleyball scrimmage in practice (low-stakes simulation) and in gameplay (high-stakes performance). These contexts represent ecologically valid, complex sport situations. Results indicated that players with high error scores during scrimmage were more likely to produce high error scores in gameplay, even when player skill, position and sex were accounted for.
An asynchronous parallel stochastic coordinate descent algorithm

We describe an asynchronous parallel stochastic coordinate descent algorithm for minimizing smooth unconstrained or separably constrained functions. The method achieves a linear convergence rate on functions that satisfy an essential strong convexity property and a sublinear rate (1/K) on general convex functions. Near-linear speedup on a multicore system can be expected if the number of processors is O(n1/2) in unconstrained optimization and O(n1/4) in the separable-constrained case, where n is the number of variables. We describe results from implementation on 40-core processors.
A spatio-temporal assessment of simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) evolution reveals a highly dynamic process within the host

The process by which drug-resistant HIV-1 arises and spreads spatially within an infected individual is poorly understood. Studies have found variable results relating how HIV-1 in the blood differs from virus sampled in tissues, offering conflicting findings about whether HIV-1 throughout the body is homogeneously distributed. However, most of these studies sample only two compartments and few have data from multiple time points. To directly measure how drug resistance spreads within a host and to assess how spatial structure impacts its emergence, we examined serial sequences from four macaques infected with RT-SHIVmne027, a simian immunodeficiency virus encoding HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT), and treated with RT inhibitors. Both viral DNA and RNA (vDNA and vRNA) were isolated from the blood (including plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells), lymph nodes, gut, and vagina at a median of four time points and RT was characterized via single-genome sequencing. The resulting sequences reveal a dynamic system in which vRNA rapidly acquires drug resistance concomitantly across compartments through multiple independent mutations. Fast migration results in the same viral genotypes present across compartments, but not so fast as to equilibrate their frequencies immediately. The blood and lymph nodes were found to be compartmentalized rarely, while both the blood and lymph node were more frequently different from mucosal tissues. This study suggests that even oft-sampled blood does not fully capture the viral dynamics in other parts of the body, especially the gut where vRNA turnover was faster than the plasma and vDNA retained fewer wild-type viruses than other sampled compartments. Our findings of transient compartmentalization across multiple tissues may help explain the varied results of previous compartmentalization studies in HIV-1.
Optimal Pulse Processing, Pile-Up Decomposition, and Applications of Silicon Drift Detectors at LCLS

Silicon drift detectors (SDDs) revolutionized spectroscopy in fields as diverse as geology and dentistry. For a subset of experiments at ultrafast, X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs), SDDs can make substantial contributions. Often the unknown spectrum is interesting, carrying science data, or the background measurement is useful to identify unexpected signals. Many measurements involve only several discrete photon energies known a priori , allowing single-event decomposition of pile-up and spectroscopic photon counting. We designed a pulse function and demonstrated that the signal amplitude (i.e., proportional to the detected energy and obtained from fitting with the pulse function), rise time, and pulse height are interrelated, and at short peaking times, the pulse height and pulse area are not optimal estimators for detected energy; instead, the signal amplitude and rise time are obtained for each pulse by fitting, thus removing the need for pulse shaping. By avoiding pulse shaping, rise times of tens of nanoseconds resulted in reduced pulse pile-up and allowed decomposition of remaining pulse pile-up at photon separation times down to hundreds of nanoseconds while yielding time-of-arrival information with the precision of 10 ns. Waveform fitting yields simultaneously high energy resolution and high counting rates (two orders of magnitude higher than current digital pulse processors). At pulsed sources or high photon rates, photon pile-up still occurs. We showed that pile-up spectrum fitting is relatively simple and preferable to pile-up spectrum deconvolution. We developed a photon pile-up statistical model for constant intensity sources, extended it to variable intensity sources (typical for FELs), and used it to fit a complex pile-up spectrum. We subsequently developed a Bayesian pile-up decomposition method that allows decomposing pile-up of single events with up to six photons from six monochromatic lines with 99% accuracy. The usefulness of SDDs will continue into the X-ray FEL era of science. Their successors, the ePixS hybrid pixel detectors, already offer hundreds of pixels, each with a similar performance to an SDD, in a compact, robust and affordable package.
Human Intervention in Supervisory Control

Abstract In this paper we describe the results of experiments on supervisory control of a simulated automated pasteurisation plant which could be run under either manual or automatic control. By varying the probability and nature of faults in the system we have been able to discover the “transfer functions” which describe the development of trust in the automated system and self confidence in operators’ ability to exercise manual control. We have developed a quantitative model which predicts when an operator will intervene to take control of the plant. Our results suggest that operators may be suboptimal in their self-allocation of control. There is “inertia” in the dynamics of trust and self confidence, and there is some evidence that some operators have a bias towards manual control which may lead to suboptimal strategies of intervention.
Deep peat warming increases surface methane and carbon dioxide emissions in a black spruce-dominated ombrotrophic bog.

Boreal peatlands contain approximately 500 Pg carbon (C) in the soil, emit globally significant quantities of methane (CH4), and are highly sensitive to climate change. Warming associated with global climate change is likely to increase the rate of the temperature-sensitive processes that decompose stored organic carbon and release carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4. Variation in the temperature sensitivity of CO2 and CH4 production and increased peat aerobicity due to enhanced growing-season evapotranspiration may alter the nature of peatland trace gas emission. As CH4 is a powerful greenhouse gas with 34 times the warming potential of CO2, it is critical to understand how factors associated with global change will influence surface CO2 and CH4 fluxes. Here, we leverage the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climactic and Environmental Change (SPRUCE) climate change manipulation experiment to understand the impact of a 0-9°C gradient in deep belowground warming (‘Deep Peat Heat’, DPH) on peat surface CO2 and CH4 fluxes. We find that DPH treatments increased both CO2 and CH4 emission. Methane production was more sensitive to warming than CO2 production, decreasing the C-CO2:C-CH4 of the respired carbon. Methane production is dominated by hydrogenotrophic methanogensis but deep peat warming increased the δ13C of CH4 suggesting an increasing contribution of acetoclastic methanogenesis to total CH4 production with warming. Although the total quantity of C emitted from the SPRUCE Bog as CH4 is 50% of seasonal C emissions in the highest-warming treatments when adjusted for CO2 equivalents on a 100-year timescale. These results suggest that warming in boreal regions may increase CH4 emissions from peatlands and result in a positive feedback to ongoing warming. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Evaluation of Silicone Elastomer Catheters for Long-Term Intravenous Chemotherapy

• We evaluated the efficacy and the complications of 65 silicone elastomer catheters inserted percutaneously for long-term venous access for administration of chemotherapy, antibiotics, and blood products in patients with metastatic cancer. Treatments were administered either in the hospital or in the outpatient clinic, using a portable infusion pump. The median indwelling time of catheters was 238 days (range, two to 521). The projected duration of catheter function, when the electively removed catheters were censured, was 310 days. Twenty-three catheters were removed because of malfunction, while the remaining either were discontinued electively (20) or were functioning at the conclusion of the study (22). The problems necessitating removal of 23 catheters were inadvertent dislodgement from loose sutures (eight), mechanical damage to the catheters (four), sepsis (four), phlebitis (four), intraluminal blockage with a clot (two), and cellulitis (one). We conclude that silicone elastomer catheters are safe and reliable for extended venous access for cancer chemotherapy. They are easy to insert and remove and can be replaced with a guide wire without requiring surgical intervention. ( Arch Intern Med 1985;145:1208-1211)
The tip-of-the-tongue state and curiosity

Theories of study time allocation and of curiosity suggest that people are most engaged with and want to devote their time to materials that are not completely mastered but also are not so difficult that they might be impossible. Their curiosity is thought to be triggered by items that are almost known, or are in what is sometimes called the region of proximal learning. Answers that are on the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT)—not immediately recallable but nevertheless evoking a feeling of imminent recall—seem, intuitively, to be materials that have this characteristic of being almost, but not quite, fully known. We therefore, hypothesized that people would be particularly curious to see the answers to questions for which the answers were on the tips of their tongues. To test the TOT curiosity hypothesis, we gave participants 82 general information questions and quickly asked whether the answers were or were not on the tips of their tongues and whether they wanted to see the answers later. Overwhelmingly, items that were accompanied by a TOT feeling were those which evoked participants’ curiosity, regardless of whether the feeling occurred in conjunction with an error of commission, an error of omission, or even with the correct answer.
Monozygotic Siblings Discordant for Neuroblastoma: Etiologic Implications

Although rarely reported, neuroblastoma in monozygotic siblings merits attention because study of its features may aid in elucidating mechanisms of tumorigenesis. We describe disseminated neuroblastoma in one of monozygotic triplets, including both documentation of monozygosity and long-term follow-up of the unaffected co-twins. Information from reports of monozygotic twins concordant and discordant for neuroblastoma reinforces the hypothesis that hereditary factors may be predominant in neuroblastoma diagnosed in infants, whereas nonheritable random mutational genetic events may be more important in neuroblastoma diagnosed after infancy.
Multiaxis atom interferometry with a single-diode laser and a pyramidal magneto-optical trap

Atom interferometry has become one of the most powerful technologies for precision measurements. To develop simple, precise, and versatile atom interferometers for inertial sensing, we demonstrate an atom interferometer measuring acceleration, rotation, and inclination by pointing Raman beams toward individual faces of a pyramidal mirror. Only a single-diode laser is used for all functions, including atom trapping, interferometry, and detection. Efficient Doppler-sensitive Raman transitions are achieved without velocity selecting the atom sample, and with zero differential AC Stark shift between the cesium hyperfine ground states, increasing signal-to-noise and suppressing systematic effects. We measure gravity along two axes (vertical and 45° to the vertical), rotation, and inclination with sensitivities of 6 μm/s2/Hz, 300 μrad/s/Hz, and 4 μrad/Hz, respectively. This work paves the way toward deployable multiaxis atom interferometers for geodesy, geology, or inertial navigation.
Behavioral responses and welfare reform: Evidence from a randomized experiment

Abstract Recent studies have used a distributional analysis of welfare reform experiments suggesting that some individuals reduce hours in order to opt into welfare, an example of behavioral-induced participation. Using data on Connecticut’s Jobs First experiment, we find no evidence of behavioral-induced participation at the highest conditional quantiles of earnings. We offer a simple explanation for this: women assigned to Jobs First incur welfare participation costs to labor supply at higher earnings where the control group is welfare ineligible. Moreover, as expected, behavioral components and costs of program participation do not seem to play a differential role at other conditional quantiles where both groups are eligible to participate. Our findings show that a welfare program imposes an estimated cost up to 10 percent of quarterly earnings, and these costs can be heterogeneous throughout the conditional earnings distribution. The evidence is obtained by employing a semi-parametric panel quantile estimator for a model that allows women to vary arbitrarily in costs of participating in welfare programs.
Changing world extreme temperature statistics

We use the Global Historical Climatology Network – daily database to calculate a nonparametric statistic that describes the rate at which all-time daily high- and low-temperature records have been set in nine geographic regions (continents or major portions of continents) during periods mostly from the mid-20th century to the present. This statistic was defined in our earlier work on temperature records in the 48 contiguous United States. In contrast to this earlier work, we find that in every region except North America all-time high records were set at a rate significantly (at least 3σ) higher than in the null hypothesis of a stationary climate. Except in Antarctica, all-time low records were set at a rate significantly lower than in the null hypothesis. In Europe, North Africa and North Asia the rate of setting new all-time highs increased suddenly in the 1990s, suggesting a change in regional climate regime; in most other regions there was a steadier increase.
Physics of fracture

Abstract This article first presents introductory material which should make it possible for the person unfamiliar with fracture to read the papers of this series. Then material of a basic physical nature regarding cracks in materials is presented. Emphasis is placed on the effects of chemical attack of bonds at a crack tip, and on the basic physical cause for a material to exhibit a tough (desirable) or a brittle (undesirable) overall aspect.
Young Spanish-English speaking children’s reading attitudes in relation to language skills

Background: Reading attitudes are recognised as an influencing factor on the language and literacy achievement of school age monolingual English-speaking children. The relationship between reading ...
Automatic Driver Head State Estimation in Challenging Naturalistic Driving Videos

Driver distraction represents a major safety problem in the United States. Naturalistic driving data, such as SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) data, provide a new window into driver behavior that promises a deeper understanding than was previously possible. Unfortunately, the current practice of manual coding is infeasible for large data sets such as SHRP 2 NDS, which contains millions of hours of video. Computer vision algorithms have the potential to automatically code SHRP 2 NDS videos. However, existing algorithms are brittle in the presence of challenges such as low video quality, underexposure and overexposure, driver occlusion, nonfrontal faces, and unpredictable and significant illumination changes, which are all substantially present in SHRP 2 NDS videos. This paper presents and evaluates algorithms developed to quantify high-level features pertinent to driver distraction and engagement in challenging videos like those in SHRP 2 NDS. Specifically, a novel three-stage video analysis system ...
All-Materials-Inclusive Flash Spark Plasma Sintering.

A new flash (ultra-rapid) spark plasma sintering method applicable to various materials systems, regardless of their electrical resistivity, is developed. A number of powders ranging from metals to electrically insulative ceramics have been successfully densified resulting in homogeneous microstructures within sintering times of 8–35 s. A finite element simulation reveals that the developed method, providing an extraordinary fast and homogeneous heating concentrated in the sample’s volume and punches, is applicable to all the different samples tested. The utilized uniquely controllable flash phenomenon is enabled by the combination of the electric current concentration around the sample and the confinement of the heat generated in this area by the lateral thermal contact resistance. The presented new method allows: extending flash sintering to nearly all materials, controlling sample shape by an added graphite die, and an energy efficient mass production of small and intermediate size objects. This approach represents also a potential venue for future investigations of flash sintering of complex shapes.
When Does Functional Encryption Imply Obfuscation

Realizing indistinguishablility obfuscation (IO) based on well understood computational assumptions is an important open problem. Recently, realizing functional encryption (FE) has emerged as a promising direction towards that goal. This is because: (1) compact single-key FE (where the functional secret-key is of length double the ciphertext length) is known to imply IO [Anath and Jain, CRYPTO 2015; Bitansky and Vaikuntanathan, FOCS 2015] and (2) several strong variants of single-key FE are known based on various standard computation assumptions.