cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Review of Characterization and Remediation Technologies for NAPL's in Groundwater

The principal legislation dealing with contaminated sites in the United States was enacted in 1980. It dealt with abandoned hazardous waste dumps; since then additional legislation has been passed to deal with corrective action from releases at operating industrial facilities, leaking underground gasoline storage tanks, and redevelopment and renewal of central urban areas thought to be contaminated (i.e. the restoration of Brown fields). As each of these programs has been implemented, the engineering community has worked with technology developers to utilize new technologies to solve these problems. This paper describes some of the major techniques and approaches that have evolved over the last 25 years and the information resources that are now available to those in other countries facing these contaminated soil and groundwater problems for the first time. This paper discusses the current technologies being used, primarily with data from the U.S. Superfund program, and then, with particular emphasis on the detection and clean up of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL’s), reviews the latest groundwater monitoring and assessment approaches as well as remediation technologies. Finally, there is a brief discussion of new and emerging approaches being explored in the U.S.
Predicting ligand binding affinity using on- and off-rates for the SAMPL6 SAMPLing challenge.

Interest in ligand binding kinetics has been growing rapidly, as it is being discovered in more and more systems that ligand residence time is the crucial factor governing drug efficacy. Many enhanced sampling methods have been developed with the goal of predicting ligand binding rates ( $$k_{\text {on}}$$ ) and/or ligand unbinding rates ( $$k_{\text {off}}$$ ) through explicit simulation of ligand binding pathways, and these methods work by very different mechanisms. Although there is not yet a blind challenge for ligand binding kinetics, here we take advantage of experimental measurements and rigorously computed benchmarks to compare estimates of $$K_D$$ calculated as the ratio of two rates: $$k_{\text {off}}/k_{\text {on}}$$ . These rates were determined using a new enhanced sampling method based on the weighted ensemble framework that we call “REVO”: Reweighting of Ensembles by Variance Optimization. This is a further development of the WExplore enhanced sampling method, in which trajectory cloning and merging steps are guided not by the definition of sampling regions, but by maximizing trajectory variance. Here we obtain estimates of $$k_{\text {on}}$$ and $$k_{\text {off}}$$ that are consistent across multiple simulations, with an average log10-scale standard deviation of 0.28 for on-rates and 0.56 for off-rates, which is well within an order of magnitude and far better than previously observed for previous applications of the WExplore algorithm. Our rank ordering of the three host–guest pairs agrees with the reference calculations, however our predicted $$\Delta G$$ values were systematically lower than the reference by an average of 4.2 kcal/mol. Using tree network visualizations of the trajectories in the REVO algorithm, and conformation space networks for each system, we analyze the results of our sampling, and hypothesize sources of discrepancy between our $$K_D$$ values and the reference. We also motivate the direct inclusion of $$k_{\text {on}}$$ and $$k_{\text {off}}$$ challenges in future iterations of SAMPL, to further develop the field of ligand binding kinetics prediction and modeling.
Placement of levonorgestrel intrauterine device at the time of cesarean delivery and the effect on breastfeeding duration

Objectives: Studies have shown that immediate postpartum initiation of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods leads to increased utilization of LARC and prevention of unintended pregnancies. It is unclear if immediate postpartum levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD) insertion has an effect on breastfeeding success. Study Design: This study was a secondary analysis of a randomized trial that compared intrauterine device (IUD) use at 6 months postpartum among women who underwent intracesarean IUD placement with women who planned for interval IUD placement at 6 or more weeks postpartum. This parallel, 1:1, nonblinded randomized trial was conducted between March 2012 and June 2014 at the University of North Carolina Women's Hospital. We recruited pregnant women aged 18-45 years who were undergoing a cesarean delivery and desired an IUD for contraception postpartum. Results: We received breastfeeding information from 63 women who desired to use a LNG-IUD. A proportion analysis demonstrated that there was no difference in the proportion of women breastfeeding at any of the three time points, 6, 12, and 24 weeks, following placement. This remained true after adjusting for age, parity, and ethnicity. Conclusion: This study adds to the existing body of evidence that shows that most women are able to successfully breastfeed after immediate postpartum LNG-IUD placement. Women should be encouraged to breastfeed, and the desire to breastfeed should not preclude the initiation of a postplacental IUD. This study provides reassurance that immediate postpartum LNG-IUD placement does not adversely affect breastfeeding; however, more high-quality data are needed on the impact of hormonal IUDs on breastfeeding outcomes.
Application of muon tomography to fuel cask monitoring

Long-term monitoring of spent fuel stored in dry cask storage is currently achieved through the use of seals and surveillance. Muon tomography can provide direct imaging that may be useful in cases where what is known as Continuity of Knowledge (CoK) has been lost using the former methods. Over the past several years, a team from Los Alamos National Laboratory has been studying the use of muon scattering and stopping to examine spent fuel in dry cask storage. Data taken on a partially loaded Westinghouse MC-10 fuel cask have demonstrated that muon scattering radiography can detect missing fuel assemblies. A model, validated by this data, shows that tomographic reconstructions of the fuel can be obtained in relatively short exposures. Model fitting algorithms have been developed for dealing with datasets with limited angular that appear to work well. Here we show that muon tomography can provide a fingerprint of a loaded fuel cask, because of its sensitivity to both the density and atomic charge of the spent fuel, and that it is sensitive to many diversion scenarios.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.
Cardiovascular disease risk factor burden and cognition: Implications of ethnic diversity within the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

Author(s): Lamar, Melissa; Durazo-Arvizu, Ramon A; Sachdeva, Shruti; Pirzada, Amber; Perreira, Krista M; Rundek, Tatjana; Gallo, Linda C; Grober, Ellen; DeCarli, Charles; Lipton, Richard B; Tarraf, Wassim; Gonzalez, Hector M; Daviglus, Martha L | Abstract: ObjectiveHispanics/Latinos have some of the highest prevalence rates for cardiovascular disease risk factors, but stark differences exist by self-reported background. Cardiovascular disease risk factors negatively impact cognition in Hispanics/Latinos; less is known about these relationships by Hispanic/Latino backgrounds. We investigated cognitive associations with cardiovascular disease risk factor burden in a diverse cohort, the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.MethodsBaseline data from this observational study of cardiovascular disease and its antecedents was collected from 2008-2011. We included 7,121 participants 45-74 years old from Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or South American backgrounds. Dichotomous indicators for hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and smoking were evaluated and totaled, with participants grouped by lowest (0-2), middle (3) or highest (4-5) burden. Cognitive testing included the Brief Spanish English Verbal Learning Test, letter fluency, and digit symbol substitution.ResultsIn separate fully-adjusted linear regression models, lower fluency and digit symbol substitution performance were restricted to the highest compared to the lowest burden group; whereas the middle burden group displayed impaired memory performance compared to the lowest burden group (p-values≤0.05). Background interacted with burden for learning and memory performance. That is, the association of burden level (i.e., lowest, middle, or highest) with cognitive performance was modified by background (e.g., Mexicans vs Cuban).ConclusionsHispanics/Latinos with higher levels of cardiovascular disease risk factor burden displayed lower levels of cognitive performance, with learning and memory performance modified by background.
On spectral theory for Schrödinger operators with operator-valued potentials

Abstract Given a complex, separable Hilbert space H , we consider differential expressions of the type τ = − ( d 2 / d x 2 ) + V ( x ) , with x ∈ ( a , ∞ ) or x ∈ R . Here V denotes a bounded operator-valued potential V ( ⋅ ) ∈ B ( H ) such that V ( ⋅ ) is weakly measurable and the operator norm ‖ V ( ⋅ ) ‖ B ( H ) is locally integrable. We consider self-adjoint half-line L 2 -realizations H α in L 2 ( ( a , ∞ ) ; d x ; H ) associated with τ, assuming a to be a regular endpoint necessitating a boundary condition of the type sin ( α ) u ′ ( a ) + cos ( α ) u ( a ) = 0 , indexed by the self-adjoint operator α = α ⁎ ∈ B ( H ) . In addition, we study self-adjoint full-line L 2 -realizations H of τ in L 2 ( R ; d x ; H ) . In either case we treat in detail basic spectral theory associated with H α and H, including Weyl–Titchmarsh theory, Greenʼs function structure, eigenfunction expansions, diagonalization, and a version of the spectral theorem.
The Role of Reciprocity in International Humanitarian Law Training: Examples from Historical and Contemporary US Practice

While scholars assert that reciprocity is a force that influences international humanitarian law, the literature has yet to include a detailed analysis of its role in military training. This presents two limitations. First, a substantial quantity of primary source material pertaining to state practice goes underutilized. Second, the methods by which international humanitarian law are promulgated and disseminated to soldiers during training are overlooked. Thus, a potentially important factor in adherence remains under-examined. This article analyzes historical and contemporary military training material including manuals, pamphlets, circulars, and films. Research results suggest that reciprocity impacts international humanitarian law training in varied, nuanced, and dynamic ways. In particular, an emphasis on reciprocity remains a consistent message in post–Vietnam War training. Furthermore, positive reciprocity in the form of a golden rule rationale is often used to justify adherence and remains prevalent in post-9/11 training material.1
Retirement Incentives and Behavior of Private and Public Sector Workers

Over the past several decades, private sector workers in the USA with employed-sponsored pensions have experienced a dramatic shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution plans, while this trend has been less pronounced for public sector workers. In this paper, we use data from the Health and Retirement Study to explore changes in the retirement incentives and retirement behavior of public and private sector workers over the past quarter-century. We find that both groups have become less likely to report having a DB pension or any pension. Compared to their private sector counterparts, public sector workers have a higher level of retirement wealth and a larger financial gain from continued work at older ages, and these differences by sector are growing across cohorts. Both groups respond to financial incentives in making retirement decisions. However, growing differences by sector in the gain to continued work do not appear to have translated into diverging retirement behavior, as we observe similar trends in the two groups.
Phyllachora maydis ascospore release and germination from overwintered corn residue

Tar spot of corn, caused by Phyllachora maydis, has been reported in several upper Midwest states in the United States. This has led to expanded efforts to more thoroughly understand the biology of...
Cyber-physical system architecture for automating the mapping of truck loads to bridge behavior using computer vision in connected highway corridors

Abstract Bridges are critical components of highways ensuring traffic can efficiently travel over obstructions such as bodies of water, valleys, and other roads. Ensuring bridges are in sound structural condition is essential for safe and efficient highway operations. Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems designed to measure bridge responses have been developed to quantitatively track the health of bridges. More recently, SHM systems have also begun to integrate measurement of vehicular loads that create the responses measured. However, precise correlation of traffic loads to bridge responses remains a costly and technically difficult strategy. To address existing technical limitations, a cyber-physical system (CPS) framework is proposed to track truck loads in a highway corridor, to trigger SHM systems to record bridge responses, and to automate the linking of bridge response data with truck weights collected by weigh-in-motion (WIM) stations installed along the corridor but not collocated with the bridges. To link truck weights to bridge responses, computer vision methods based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) are used to automate the detection and reidentification of trucks using traffic cameras. The single-stage CNN object detector YOLO is trained using a customized dataset to identify trucks from camera images at each instrumentation site; high precision is obtained with the YOLO detector exceeding 95% average precision (AP) for an intersection over union (IOU) threshold of 0.75. To reidentify the same truck at different locations in the corridor, this study adopts a CNN-based encoder trained via a triplet network and a mutual nearest neighbor strategy using feature vectors extracted from images at each measurement location. The proposed reidentification method is implemented in the CPS cloud environment and obtains a F1-score of 0.97. The study also explores the triggering of bridge monitoring systems based on visual detection of trucks by a traffic camera installed upstream to the bridges. The triggering strategy proves to be highly efficient with 99% of the triggered data collection cycles capturing truck events at each bridge. To validate, the CPS architecture is implemented on a 20-mile highway corridor that has a WIM station already installed; four traffic cameras and two bridge SHM systems are installed along the corridor and integrated with a CPS architecture hosted on the cloud. In total, over 10,000 trucks are observed at all measurement locations over one year allowing peak bridge responses to be correlated to both measured truck weights and to one another.
Psychological stress of bicycling with traffic: examining heart rate variability of bicyclists in natural urban environments

Abstract Understanding how road environments stress bicyclists (and prospective bicyclists) has important implications for road design and network planning. With the rise of wearable bio-sensing technology, the potential for measuring real-time environmental acute stress is emerging. In this naturalistic cross-over field experiment, we investigate bicyclist stress through heart rate variability (HRV). We examine the relationship between HRV and the road environment through a series of multilevel statistical models. Results suggest that participants’ HRV are only certain to differ on one (the local road) of five road environments tested. The differences in participants’ HRV between two collectors and two arterials are far more tenuous. We discuss the validity of HRV and other biometrics for assessing stress and discuss how HRV and other biometrics might help improve our understanding of bicyclists’ perceptions of road environments.
Slewing Mitigation Technique for Switched Capacitor Circuits

Slewing in switched capacitor (SC) circuits reduces the available time for linear settling, and hence increases the nonlinear settling error. This transient demand in current can be supplied by making the bias currents larger in the operational transconductance amplifier (OTA). However, this increases the static power consumption significantly. In this paper a slewing mitigation technique is presented where just the right amount of charge is provided at the switching instant to the SC circuit so that OTA does not need to provide high peak current. This may eliminate slewing altogether, and allows using OTAs with less static current for the same settling accuracy. The operation of the proposed technique is illustrated by incorporating it in a second-order delta-sigma modulator (DSM). The modulator was designed and simulated in a 65nm CMOS process. Post-layout extracted simulations with optimized design show more than 12 dB improvement in signal to noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) for the same static power. Alternatively, compared to a DSM without such technique, the same performance can be achieved with 30% less power.
Validated LC-MS/MS Panel for Quantifying 11 Drug-Resistant TB Medications in Small Hair Samples

Drug resistant-tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a growing public health threat, and assessment of therapeutic drug levels may have important clinical benefits. Plasma drug levels are the current gold standard assessment, but require phlebotomy and a cold chain, and capture only very recent adherence. Our method uses hair, a matrix that is easily collected and reflective of long-term adherence, to test for 11 anti-TB medications. Previous work by our group shows that antiretroviral drug levels in hair are associated with HIV outcomes. Our method for DR-TB drugs uses 2 mg of hair (3 cm proximal to the root), which is pulverized and extracted in methanol. Samples are analyzed with a single LC-MS/MS method, quantifying 11 drugs in a 16 min run. Lower limits of quantification (LLOQs) for the 11 drugs range from 0.01 ng/mg to 1 ng/mg. Drug presence is confirmed by comparing ratios of two mass spectrometry transitions. Samples are quantified using the area ratio of the drug to the deuterated, 15N-, or 13C-labeled drug isotopologue. We used a calibration curve ranging from 0.001-100 ng/mg. Application of the method to a convenience sample of hair samples collected from DR-TB patients on directly observed therapy (DOT) indicated drug levels in hair within the linear dynamic range of nine of the eleven drugs (isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol, linezolid, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, clofazimine, bedaquiline, pretomanid). No patient was on prothionamide, and the measured levels for ethionamide were close to its LLOQ (with further work instead examining the suitability of ethionamide's metabolite for monitoring exposure). In summary, we describe the development of a multi-analyte panel for DR-TB drugs in hair as a technique for therapeutic drug monitoring during drug-resistant TB treatment.
The modern trauma pancreaticoduodenectomy for penetrating trauma: a propensity-matched analysis

Trauma pancreaticoduodenectomy (TP) remains a challenging operation with morbidity and mortality rates as high as 80% and 50%. Many trauma surgeons consider it surgical dogma to avoid performing a TP during the index operation for patients with severe pancreatic or duodenal injuries. However, there is no modern analysis evaluating this belief. Therefore, we hypothesized no difference in risk of mortality between patients with severe pancreatic or duodenal injury undergoing a TP for penetrating trauma to propensity-matched controls undergoing laparotomy without TP. The Trauma Quality Improvement Program (2010-2016) was queried for adults with severe penetrating pancreatic or duodenal injuries undergoing laparotomy. A 1:2 propensity-matching including demographics/comorbidities, injury severity score, vitals on admission, Glasgow Coma Scale and concomitant injuries for laparotomy with or without TP was performed. Risk of mortality was reported using a univariable logistic regression model. Of 2182 patients with severe pancreatic or duodenal injuries undergoing laparotomy, 54 (2.5%) underwent TP and 2128 (97.5%) underwent laparotomy without TP. There were no differences in propensity-matching characteristics. Patients undergoing TP had a similar mortality rate (20.0% vs. 28.7%, p = 0.302) but a longer length of stay (LOS) (27.5 vs. 16.5 days, p = 0.017). The TP group had a similar associated risk of mortality (OR = 0.62, p = 0.302) but higher risk of major complications (OR 3.44, CI 1.35-17.47, p = 0.015). In appropriately selected penetrating trauma patients with severe pancreatic/duodenal injuries, TP is associated with a similar risk of mortality compared to laparotomy without TP. However, TP patients did have an increased associated risk of major complications and longer LOS.
Editorial: The Vanishing Value of Evidence-based Treatments: Is Our Mental Health Expertise Irrelevant?

The article in this issue of JAACAP by the CAMELS (Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Extended Long-term Study) study team, Peris et al.1, offers 2 very important contributions. Conveniently, the first contribution is also the stated purpose of this report: to present findings detailing the extent to which children and adolescents who previously participated (averaging 6.5 years previously) in the landmark Child and Adolescent Multimodal Study of Anxiety (CAMS) multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT)2 did or did not receive follow-up services. This is not a good-news story. By and large, over the 6-year follow-up, only 35% of the previous RCT-treated children and youth received "consistent" continuing services, either through medication or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), despite ongoing issues of anxiety and significant impairment.
Using bursty announcements for detecting BGP routing anomalies

Abstract Despite the robust structure of the Internet, it is still susceptible to disruptive routing updates that prevent network traffic from reaching its destination. Our research shows that BGP announcements that are associated with disruptive updates tend to occur in groups of relatively high frequency, followed by periods of infrequent activity. We hypothesize that we may use these bursty characteristics to detect anomalous routing incidents. In this work, we use manually verified ground truth metadata and volume of announcements as a baseline measure, and propose a burstiness measure that detects prior anomalous incidents with high recall and better precision than the volume baseline. We quantify the burstiness of inter-arrival times around the date and times of four large-scale incidents: the Indosat hijacking event in April 2014, the Telecom Malaysia leak in June 2015, the Bharti Airtel Ltd. hijack in November 2015, and the MainOne leak in November 2018; and three smaller scale incidents that led to traffic interception: the Belarusian traffic direction in February 2013, the Icelandic traffic direction in July 2013, and the Russian telecom that hijacked financial services in April 2017. Our method leverages the burstiness of disruptive update messages to detect these incidents. We describe limitations, open challenges, and how this method can be used for routing anomaly detection.
Depression in multiple sclerosis: Is one approach for its management enough?

Abstract Background Major depression disorder (MDD) and severe depression symptoms are highly prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS). Depression can worsen symptoms of MS and is associated with significantly reduced quality of life and increased risk of suicide. Currently, there is no gold-standard, single treatment available for depression in MS. Pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and exercise training individually are moderately, yet incompletely, efficacious for managing depression in the general population and MS. Purpose This review provides an overview of evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews for current treatments of depression in persons with MS. This review further develops the rationale for using a combinatory treatment approach in persons with MS. Methods We performed a narrative review of meta-analyses and systematic reviews regarding the current state of evidence for the three most common treatments of depression in persons with MS (i.e., antidepressant medication, cognitive-behavior therapy, and exercise training). We provide a concise assessment of the overall effect of these treatments on depression in the general population and then persons with MS. We further note short-comings of research on these treatments for depression. Conclusion There is no single, gold-standard treatment for depression in MS, and we proposed that combinatory treatments should be considered for the management of depression in MS. However, there is a paucity of evidence for the use of combinatory therapy on depression and its outcomes in persons with MS, and this supports direct examination of the feasibility and efficacy of such combinatory approaches for MDD in MS.
Perceived Adequacy of Tangible Support during Stay-at-Home Orders in Chicago and New York.

Objectives:Physical distancing precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic may challenge the provision of tangible support many middle age and older adults receive in managing their health. We examine...
RAISE: A Resistive Accelerator for Subject-Independent EEG Signal Classification

State-of-the-art deep neural networks (DNNs) for electroencephalography (EEG) signals classification focus on subject-related tasks, in which the test data and the training data needs to be collected from the same subject. In addition, due to limited computing resources and strict power budgets at edges, it is very challenging to deploy the inference of such DNN models on biological devices. In this work, we present an algorithm/hardware co-designed low-power accelerator for subject-independent EEG signal classification. We propose a compact neural network that is capable to identify the common and stable structure among subjects. Based on it, we realize a robust subject-independent EEG signal classification model that can be extended to multiple BCI tasks with minimal overhead. Based on this model, we present RAISE, a low-power processing-in-memory inference accelerator by leveraging the emerging resistive memory. We compare the proposed model and hardware accelerator to prior arts across various BCI paradigms. We show that our model achieves the best subject-independent classification accuracy, while RAISE achieves 2.8× power reduction and 2.5× improvement in performance per watt compared to the state-of-the-art resistive inference accelerator.
Transition cow metabolites and physical traits influence days to first postpartum ovulation in dairy cows.

Abstract Physical activities are associated with the health of transition dairy cows and pregnancy outcomes are positively related to early resumption of postpartum estrous cycles. The objective was to assess key metabolites and patterns of prepartum and postpartum physical activity as they relate to the onset of first postpartum ovulation in lactating dairy cows. Close-up dry Holstein cows (n = 82) and late gestation heifers (n = 78) were enrolled beginning 3 wk before expected calving date (Day 0). Cows were fit with Cow SensOor ear tags to assess transitional changes in eating, resting, rumination, high activity, and ear-surface temperatures. Rectal temperatures were assessed and blood samples were collected on Days 0, 3, 7, and 14 to measure concentrations of glucose, free fatty acids (FFA), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), calcium, and haptoglobin. Body condition scores (BCS) and body weights (BW) were measured weekly, and blood samples were collected weekly from Day 21 ± 3 through 70 ± 3 to quantify changes in progesterone to detect luteal function after ovulation. Cows first ovulating before median Day 33 were classified as early (n = 76), whereas those first ovulating after Day 33 were classified as late (n = 84). Early ovulating cows first ovulated earlier (P
Estimating the Number of Illnesses Caused by Agents Transmitted Commonly Through Food: A Scoping Review

Estimates of the overall human health impact of agents transmitted commonly through food complement surveillance and help guide food safety interventions and regulatory initiatives. The purpose of ...
Fracture roughness effects on slickwater proppant slurry settling attenuation

Abstract This study evaluates and quantifies fracture roughness effects on proppant particle settling in fractures utilizing coupled, resolved computational fluid dynamics (i.e., simulation of carrier fluid behavior) and the discrete element method (i.e., simulation of proppant particle behavior). This work focuses specifically on “slickwater” based proppant slurries. Rough fracture geometries are generated using a spectral-based algorithm with surficial roughness varied by adjusting fractal dimension and root-mean-square asperity heights descriptive parameters. This work also considers particle volumetric concentration and influence from flowing conditions on particle settling. Results indicate that the attenuation of quiescent settling rates is more pronounced in rough fractures as the aperture narrows. The degree of quiescent slurry settling attenuation corresponds to fractal dimension and root-mean-square asperity height values. A formulation to describe the average settling rate of quiescently settling slurries in rough fractures is proposed and evaluated. Fracture roughness causes erratic settling velocities of flowing slurries, with some cases having upward proppant velocity, specifically at narrow apertures at or below two times the particle size for the condtions considered in this work. The onset of this behavior is dependent on degree of roughness, with erratic velocities occurring at narrower relative apertures for smoother fractures compared to rougher fractures. Preferential flow pathways formed in rough fractures at narrower apertures, are noted to cause these erratic settling behaviors. The overall findings provide a greater understanding of particle settling behavior in rough rock fractures, aiding in the design process for fracture enhancement projects.
Thermodynamic Studies of β-Ga2O3 Nanomembrane Field-Effect Transistors on a Sapphire Substrate

The self-heating effect is a severe issue for high-power semiconductor devices, which degrades the electron mobility and saturation velocity, and also affects the device reliability. On applying an ultrafast and high-resolution thermoreflectance imaging technique, the direct self-heating effect and surface temperature increase phenomenon are observed on novel top-gate β-Ga2O3 on insulator field-effect transistors. Here, we demonstrate that by utilizing a higher thermal conductivity sapphire substrate rather than a SiO2/Si substrate, the temperature rise above room temperature of β-Ga2O3 on the insulator field-effect transistor can be reduced by a factor of 3 and thereby the self-heating effect is significantly reduced. Both thermoreflectance characterization and simulation verify that the thermal resistance on the sapphire substrate is less than 1/3 of that on the SiO2/Si substrate. Therefore, maximum drain current density of 535 mA/mm is achieved on the sapphire substrate, which is 70% higher than that o...
History of Global Surgery

Over time the field of “global surgery” has evolved and emerged as a clear and necessary component of global health. This chapter attempts to document the history of this evolution. In the early years of global surgery, we saw the proliferation of faith-based initiatives, non-governmental organizations, and various individual institutional efforts. More recently, over the last thirty years, we have seen an increase in academic partnerships and a focus on ethics in global surgery. Since 2015, key policy milestones including the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, the World Health Assembly Resolution 68.15, and Disease Control Priorities Essential Surgery have helped place an emphasis on the importance of developing regional and national strategies to increase access to surgical care worldwide.
Overcoming Obstacles to Classroom Based Cross-Border Environmental Education in Universities

Solving issues of global environment importance depends upon cross-boundary and cross-cultural cooperation. The Global Liberal Arts Alliance is an organization of 27 liberal arts colleges and universities, located in 15 nations, whose purpose is to strengthen education in the tradition of the liberal arts through the exchange of experience and the development of mutually beneficial programs. The Alliance encourages and facilitates classroom partnerships between professors in different countries around the globe. Professors submit potential courses to an international coordinator who then finds suitable matching courses in other countries. Faculty then meet for planning in the summer prior to teaching to coordinate activities, syllabi, and student-to-student interactions. The authors have engaged Allegheny College students (Pennsylvania, USA) in four different environmental courses with students in parallel courses in Bulgaria, Pakistan, and Morocco. Many students expressed frustration with difficulties in communication, while faculty complained of issues pertaining to technology. Issues of cross-cultural understanding were still achieved, although sharing environmental perspectives was less successful. This paper will describe the many challenges and benefits of having undergraduate environmental students cooperate across time zones and radically distinct cultures.
AN EPIDEMIC OF ASEPTIC MENINGITIS SYNDROME DUE TO ECHO VIRUS TYPE 6 I. Correlation of Enterovirus Isolation with Illness

An epidemic of aseptic meningitis occurred during the summer and fall of 1955 in the western part of New York State. A total of 305 cases of central nervous system disease and 40 cases of other illness were studied. ECHO virus type 6 was the predominant enterovirus associated with aseptic meningitis, as demonstrated by virus isolation and neutralizing antibody studies. In addition to the predominant type, other enteroviruses played a minor role. In those cases with viral isolates, 85% were ECHO 6, 2.2% were ECHO 14, 1.4% were ECHO 2, 0.7% were ECHO 18, 2.8% were Coxsackie viruses (A9, B3, B4), 4.3% were unidentified viruses and only 4.3% were polioviruses. Aseptic meningitis associated with the variety of enterovirus serotypes could not be clinically differentiated. Stool was the best source of virus, with a recovery rate of 74%. Rectal swabs yielded 34%, throat swabs 50% and cerebrospinal fluid 8% virus recovery. Cases of paralytic poliomyelitis, as defined by the presence of residual asymmetric paralysis, were associated with poliovirus infection and not with Coxsackie or ECHO viruses. Other central nervous system syndromes, such as encephalitis, were infrequently associated with enteroviruses.
Sulfur Deposition in Asia: Seasonal Behavior and Contributions from Various Energy Sectors

Sulfur transport and deposition in Asia, on an annual andseasonal basis, is analyzed using the ATMOS model. Calculationsare performed for two complete years (1990 and 1995). Deposition amounts in excess of 0.5 g S m-2 yr-1 are estimated for large regions in Asia, with values as high as 10 g S m-2 yr-1 in southeastern China. Annual averaged SO2 concentrations in excess of 20 μg SO2 m-3 are calculated for many urban and suburban areas ofeastern China and S. Korea, with an average of 5 μg SO2 m-3 over most of the emitter regions. Sulfur deposition by major source categories is also studied. Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore)receives ∼25% of its sulfur deposition from shipping activities. Sulfur deposition from bio-fuel burning is significant for most of the underdeveloped regions in Asia. Volcanoes are a major source of sulfur emissions in the PacificOcean, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Southern Japan. Sulfur deposition is shown to vary significantly throughout the year.The monsoons are found to be the largest factor controlling sulfur transport and deposition in the Indian sub-continent andSoutheast Asia. India receives over 35% of its total depositionduring the summer months. In East Asia, sulfur deposition isestimated to be 10% higher during summer and fall than winterand spring. Model results are compared with observations from a number of monitoring networks in Asia and are found to be generally consistent with the limited observations.
Carbon-doped p-type In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As and its application to InP/In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As heterojunction bipolar transistors

P-type carbon-doped In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As grown by various epitaxial techniques is reviewed. High hole concentrations in In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As can be achieved by using CCl/sub 4/ or CBr/sub 4/ as the carbon doping source. The highest hole concentration so far is 9 /spl times/ 10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/ by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy with CBr/sub 4/. Results of InP/In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/A single and double heterojunction bipolar transistors are summarized. >
Day - night rhythm in plasma melatonin in a mammal lacking a distinct pineal gland, the nine-banded armadillo.

Abstract A melatonin radioimmunoassay was validated for plasma in the nine-banded armadillo ( Dasypus novemcinctus ). A distinct diurnal rhythm of circulating melatonin was found. This rhythm was coupled to the photoperiod, with scotophase levels being approximately three times greater than photophase levels. The rhythm could be entrained to a photoperiod, and appeared to be coupled with the activity, body temperature, and metabolic rhythms. In addition, the melatonin rhythm was maintained under constant low-intensity illumination. Because this species naturally lacks a distinct pineal gland, it is suggested that the circulating melatonin is produced by one or more extrapineal sources.
Seasons and Life Cycles

An apparent contradiction has arisen in studies of plant phenological response to climatic warming: Field and satellite data at the community and biome levels indicate a lengthening of the growing season across much of the Northern Hemisphere ( 1 – 6 ) and—where data exist—in the Southern Hemisphere ( 5 , 7 , 8 ), yet life history observations of individual species suggest that many species often shorten their life cycle in response to warming ( 9 – 12 ). Here, we pair evolutionary and ecological viewpoints to resolve this conundrum.
Coupling of dry matter and nitrogen accumulation in ryegrass

The logistic model has proven very useful in relating dry matter production of warm season perennial forage grasses to applied nitrogen. A recent extension of the model coupled dry matter and plant N accumulation through a common response coefficient c. The objective of this analysis was to apply the extended logistic model to cool season Gulf annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and to establish a common response coefficient c between accumulation of dry matter and plant N. Analysis of variance established the validity of this hypothesis. The model accurately described response of dry matter, plant N removal, and plant N concentration to applied N, with an overall correlation coefficient of 0.9954. Furthermore, the model closely described the relationship between yield and plant N removal, as well as between plant N concentration and plant N removal. The logistic equation is well-behaved and simple to use on a pocket calculator. It can be used to estimate yields and plant N removal in evaluation of agricultural production and environmental quality.
Genetic and biochemical resolution of the chromophoric polypeptide of halorhodopsin

Retinal-binding proteins in bacteriorhodopsin-deficient membranes of Halobacteriumhalobium have been separated on polyacrylamide gels after labeling with (3H)retinal. Four labeled polypeptides are observed: one at an Mr of 19,000, two distinct bands near 25,000, and one at 94,000. Comparing halorhodopsin-containing and halorhodopsin-deficient mutants and using ion translocation measurements and flash spectroscopy to test for the photoactive retinal pigments, we show that the lower of the two radiolabeled bands at 25,000 is the retinal-binding polypeptide of halorhodopsin. The identities of the other three polypeptides are not known, but one of them, probably the upper of the two 25,000 bands, is likely to be s-rhodopsin.
Optimal artificial neural network architecture selection for performance prediction of compact heat exchanger with the EBaLM-OTR technique

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been used in the past to predict the performance of printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHE) with satisfactory accuracy. Typically published literature has focused on optimizing ANN using a training dataset to train the network and a testing dataset to evaluate it. Although this may produce outputs that agree with experimental results, there is a risk of over-training or overlearning the network rather than generalizing it, which should be the ultimate goal. An over-trained network is able to produce good results with the training dataset but fails when new datasets with subtle changes are introduced. In this paper we present EBaLM-OTR (error back propagation and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithms for over training resilience) technique, which is based on a previously discussed method of selecting neural network architecture that uses a separate validation set to evaluate different network architectures based on mean square error (MSE), and standard deviation of MSE. The method uses k-fold cross validation. Therefore in order to select the optimal architecture for the problem, the dataset is divided into three parts which are used to train, validate and test each network architecture. Then each architecture is evaluated according to their generalization capability and capability to conformmore » to original data. The method proved to be a comprehensive tool in identifying the weaknesses and advantages of different network architectures. The method also highlighted the fact that the architecture with the lowest training error is not always the most generalized and therefore not the optimal. Using the method the testing error achieved was in the order of magnitude of within 10{sup -5} - 10{sup -3}. It was also show that the absolute error achieved by EBaLM-OTR was an order of magnitude better than the lowest error achieved by EBaLM-THP.« less
An inverse problem in agglomeration kinetics

Abstract An inverse problem is formulated for agglomerating particle populations with a view toward determining the agglomeration frequencies from measurements of particle size distributions. The methodology is developed for the case where the agglomeration frequency is homogeneous and where self-preserving distributions exist. Since the inverse problem is ill-posed, regularization techniques have been used to facilitate inversion. The method has been successfully employed to recover known agglomeration frequencies from self-preserving distributions obtained from forward computation for the cases of approximate Brownian, continuum Brownian, and free-molecular Brownian agglomerations as well as diffusion-controlled growth of supported metal crystallites. Accurate measurements of size distributions are required for satisfactory inversion to obtain agglomeration frequencies.
Advances in malaria genomics since MIM Arusha, 2002.

Abstract The promise of new interventions against malaria and other infectious diseases of global health importance derived from pathogen genomic sequence data may only be realized through the coordinated effort of genomic and post-genomics scientists, vaccine and drug developers along with lab- and field-based investigators. With the availability of the Plasmodium falciparum genome and the genomes of related species, post-genomics research can now be applied to the development of new interventions against malaria and may provide a more complete understanding of complex parasite biology. The vast amount of data that are generated through these new approaches must be organized, assembled and made accessible in a useful manner. By establishing a set of “credentials” for each gene in the genome, which captures information about gene expression, diversity, function and other information, the time and resources needed to test and evaluate candidate drugs and vaccines can be substantially reduced and a more complete picture of parasite biology can be created.
Nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma and the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation

We consider here the nonlinear development of ion-acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma, and give a further discussion of the analytical properties of the Zakharov-Kuznestov equation that governs the latter problem. First we discuss the solitary-wave solutions and show that they give a good description of recent experimental results about the manner in which the magnetic field influences the solitary waves. We then exhibit recurrence and Lagrange stability of solutions of the Zakharov-Kuznestov equation.
Single-Shot Measurement of the Full Spatio-Temporal Field of Ultrashort Pulses with Multi-Spectral Digital Holography

We present a single-shot, simple technique for measuring the full spatio-temporal electric field of ultra-short laser pulses by measuring multiple digital holograms in a single camera frame. We experimentally demonstrate this technique using femtosecond pulses.
Depletion Attraction versus Steric Repulsion in a System of Weakly Adsorbing PolymerEffects of Concentration and Adsorption Conditions

Interaction forces were measured between surfactant-coated mica surfaces in tetradecane containing polyethylene−propylene. Two molecular weights, Mw = 5800 and 33 000 g/mol, were studied on two different surfactant layers at 15, 25, and 35 °C. At low polymer concentration, the force curves exhibited two maxima and two minima. On approach, a very weak repulsion at a separation of D = 6−10Rg was followed by an attractive regime down to a minimum at D ≈ Rg, where Rg is the radius of gyration. At smaller separations we found a second repulsive maximum, followed by a second attractive minimum at a separation of a few polymer segment widths. At the overlap concentration, a similar force profile, but with an additional depletion attraction, was measured under partial adsorption conditions, while equilibrium adsorption gave a monotonic steric repulsion for both Mw. Only monotonic repulsion was measured in tetradecane containing a polyethylene−propylene with an amino end group, which appeared to have bound to the ...
Leading Corporate Transformation: A Blueprint for Business Renewal

The article reviews the book “Leading Corporate Transformation: A Blueprint for Business Renewal,“ by Robert H. Miles.
The role of human fetal adrenals in steroidogenesis: effect of adrenocorticosterone on urinary excretion of estrogens in pregnancy.

Abstract In 7 healthy women in late pregnancy the urinary excretion of estriol increased considerably following intramuscular injection of 40 IU adrenocorticotropin (ACTH-Z). No increase of estriol after ACTH administration was found in 4 women in whom intrauterine fetal death occurred. The results obtained confirm those found by other workers. In 3 women with pregnancies of twins the urinary estriol increased remarkably after ACTH administration, though the excretions of estrone and estradiol did not rise to comparable extents. Four women in 9th and 10th months of pregnancy, each with a live anencephalic fetus, showed a low level of estriol in the urine after ACTH administration. However, one case in whom the adrenal gland of the anencephalic fetus had a thin but distinct fetal area showed a certain increase of urinary estriol excretion after ACTH administration. These results indicate that the human fetal adrenal plays an important role in estriol synthesis by the feto-placental unit.