cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Secrecy Capacity of the Fast Fading SISO Wiretap Channel within 11 Bits with Only CSIR

We consider a fast fading 2-receiver Broadcast channel (BC), where one of the recievers is legitimate and the other is malicious/unintended. The instantaneous Channel State Information (CSI) is assumed to be known only at the receivers (CSIR). The secrecy capacity of this channel is characterized within 11 bits irrespective of fading statistics and Signal-to- Noise Ratios (SNRs). This is achieved by deriving a new upper bound to the secrecy capacity of the channel and two new lower bounds. The upper bound is derived by approximating Complementary Cumulative Distribution Functions (CCDFs) of the two links by corresponding staircase functions and has the desirable property of easy computability for arbitrary fading statistics. The smaller lower bound, although looser, has a form which can be analytically compared with the upper bound and facilitates the approximate secrecy capacity characterization. It is proved that, the so called Binary Expansion Signaling with Reverse Stripping (BES-RS) scheme can achieve a secrecy rate larger than both these lower bounds. This result establishes BES-RS scheme as a practically implementable coding scheme that can achieve the secrecy capacity of the FWC within a constant number of bits, where the constant is universal across all fading statistics and SNR. Explicit numerical computation of these bounds shows that the difference between the secrecy rate achievable by the BES-RS scheme and the upper bound is much smaller than the aforementioned universal constant. This in turn suggests that, much of the gap of 11 bits originates from the loosness introduced to bring the two bounds in a compatiable form.
Talking about appearances: the roles of evaluation and experience in disagreement

Faultless disagreement and faultless retraction have been taken to motivate relativism for predicates of personal taste, like ‘tasty’. Less attention has been devoted to the question of what aspect of their meaning underlies this relativist behavior. This paper illustrates these same phenomena with a new category of expressions: appearance predicates, like ‘tastes vegan’ and ‘looks blue’. Appearance predicates and predicates of personal taste both fall into the broader category of experiential predicates. Approaching predicates of personal taste from this angle suggests that their relativist behavior is due to their experience-sensitivity, rather than their evaluative meaning. Furthermore, appearance predicates hold interest beyond what they can teach us about predicates of personal taste. Examination of a variety of uses of appearance predicates reveals that they give rise to relativist behavior for a variety of reasons—including some that apply also to other types of expressions, such as epistemic modals and comparative terms. This paper thus serves both to probe the source of relativist behavior in discourse about personal taste, as well as to map out this kind of behavior in the rich and under-explored discourse about appearances.
Impact of 90Y PET gradient-based tumor segmentation on voxel-level dosimetry in liver radioembolization

The purpose was to validate 90Y PET gradient-based tumor segmentation in phantoms and to evaluate the impact of the segmentation method on reported tumor absorbed dose (AD) and biological effective dose (BED) in 90Y microsphere radioembolization (RE) patients. A semi-automated gradient-based method was applied to phantoms and patient tumors on the 90Y PET with the initial bounding volume for gradient detection determined from a registered diagnostic CT or MR; this PET-based segmentation (PS) was compared with radiologist-defined morphologic segmentation (MS) on CT or MRI. AD and BED volume histogram metrics (D90, D70, mean) were calculated using both segmentations and concordance/correlations were investigated. Spatial concordance was assessed using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and mean distance to agreement (MDA). PS was repeated to assess intra-observer variability. In phantoms, PS demonstrated high accuracy in lesion volumes (within 15%), AD metrics (within 11%), high spatial concordance relative to morphologic segmentation (DSC > 0.86 and MDA 0.99, MDA < 0.2 mm, AD/BED metrics within 2%). For patients (58 lesions), spatial concordance between PS and MS was degraded compared to in-phantom (average DSC = 0.54, average MDA = 4.8 mm); the average mean tumor AD was 226 ± 153 and 197 ± 138 Gy, respectively for PS and MS. For patient AD metrics, the best Pearson correlation (r) and concordance correlation coefficient (ccc) between segmentation methods was found for mean AD (r = 0.94, ccc = 0.92), but worsened as the metric approached the minimum dose (for D90, r = 0.77, ccc = 0.69); BED metrics exhibited a similar trend. Patient PS showed low intra-observer variability (average DSC = 0.81, average MDA = 2.2 mm, average AD/BED metrics within 3.0%). 90Y PET gradient-based segmentation led to accurate/robust results in phantoms, and showed high concordance with MS for reporting mean tumor AD/BED in patients. However, tumor coverage metrics such as D90 exhibited worse concordance between segmentation methods, highlighting the need to standardize segmentation methods when reporting AD/BED metrics from post-therapy 90Y PET. Estimated differences in reported AD/BED metrics due to segmentation method will be useful for interpreting RE dosimetry results in the literature including tumor response data.
An introduction to innate immunity in the central nervous system

Abstract An array of CNS disorders associate with an inflammatory component; however, the precise nature of that component is less well known. Distinguishing between responses that occur with tissue disturbances in homeostasis and those that represent disorders in which aberrant immune responses leads to a dysfunction of the CNS and tissue destruction may be critical to understand the local innate immune response and its associated consequences. The CNS is a highly immunologically active organ with complex innate immune processes. Immune responses can be mediated by resident microglia and astrocytes and often occur in the absence of normal peripheral immune system innate/adaptive immune interplay. Gaining an appreciation of the nature of the resident immune cells of the CNS, as compared to those that invade the tissue from the systemic immune compartment, and understanding the role that each may play in any neuroinflammatory response is an overarching goal of much of the current research. Included in this is the need to understand how the CNS innate immune response maintains a critical balance between the protective and potentially harmful effects of activation. Here we review the microglia and astrocyte as innate immune cells in the CNS, their signaling components, and how they may interact with their environment. Gaining an appreciation of the normal shifts in function and inflammatory states of immune cells of the brain, primarily microglia, will contribute to the understanding of how these cells contribute to the onset or progression of neurodegenerative disorders and how underlying genetic or environmental factors may influence this outcome.
A Correction Method for Unsteady Transonic Aerodynamics

This paper presents a new method for transonic pitching airfoils based on a RANS CFD study and the Theodorsen model of an oscillating pitching flat plate. This study quantifies the deviation of the lift coefficient predictions using CFD from that obtained using the Theodorsen model, which is based on the incompressible potential flow assumption. The present method corrects this theoretical model by modulating the Theodorsen functions by coefficient functions that depend on the reduced frequency and the Mach number. It is demonstrated that the modified theoretical model predicts lift coefficient in good agreement with the CFD results in the Mach number range from incompressible (M =0.2) to transonic (M =0.755) flow for a range of reduced frequencies typical of transonic flutter. The simulations are first validated by comparing pitching NACA0012 airfoil results with experimental results at transonic flight conditions, which establishes the requirements for a grid converged unsteady transonic solution. The hysteresis loop, Cl versus α, attains a grid independent solution that compares well with experiment. The present correction method will guide the development of a new state space model for the Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VCCTEF) system and eventually a new transfer function that will be incorporated in a new aeroelastic framework leading to an appropriate transonic flutter model for use in the future aircraft systems in development under the NASA Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) project.
Effects of supplemental Bermuda grass hay or corn on intake, digestion and performance of cattle consuming endophyte-infected fescue.

Effects of supplemental Bermuda grass hay (BG) or ground corn on intake, digestion and performance of cattle consuming endophyte-infected fescue (I) were studied. In Exp. 1, a Latin square study, five growing Holstein steers (158.1 kg) consumed I ad libitum and were offered 0, .3, .6, .9 or 1.2% body weight (BW) of BG daily. Total dry matter (DM) intake rose linearly (P less than .05) with increasing BG, although intake was numerically similar with .6, .9 and 1.2% BW of BG. Digestibility was constant with diet (P greater than .10). Six growing Holstein steers used in Exp. 2, a Latin square with a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments, ingested I or noninfected (NI) fescue hay ad libitum with 0, .5 or 1.0% BW of ground corn. Total DM intake increased linearly as the level of corn rose (P less than .05). Total intake with I increased more with the first than with the second addition of corn, and the opposite occurred with NI (interaction between fescue infection and the quadratic effect of corn level, P less than .10). Organic matter digested (g/d) was greater for NI than for I and rose linearly with increasing corn ingestion (P less than .05). Ninety-six crossbred beef heifers and steers (184.2 kg avg initial live weight) were used in a 77-d fall grazing experiment (Exp. 3) with a 2 x 3 factorial treatment arrangement. Cattle grazed I or NI paddocks and were given no supplement or .34% BW of BG or .65% BW of ground corn on a daily basis (DM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Jorge Avilés Diz, ed. Perversiones decimonónicas. Literatura y parafilia en el siglo XIX. Albatros, 2018. 347 pp. Softcover.

Con este volumen se inaugura la serie Dialogos Peninsulares de la editorial valenciana Albatros, coleccion editada, como el propio libro, por Jorge Aviles Diz, profesor titular de literatura espano...
Correlating an Ambulatory Voice Measure to Electrodermal Activity in Patients with Vocal Hyperfunction

We investigate the connection between the autonomic nervous system and the voice in patients with vocal hyperfunction and healthy-control groups. We present a methodology and preliminary results of two multi-modal measurement streams that capture this relationship. Subjects were instrumented for daily, ambulatory collection of their voice and wrist-based electrodermal activity. Measures of vocal function (e.g., fundamental frequency) were computed, as well as measures of autonomic function (e.g., skin conductance response). Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to measure the relationship between vocal and autonomic function over sliding windows throughout each observation day. We found preliminary evidence that patients with a subtype of vocal hyperfunction (non-phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction) exhibit a coupling between the autonomic nervous system and the vocal system. Understanding how the autonomic nervous system interacts with the voice may provide new insights into the etiology/pathophysiology of vocal hyperfunction and improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.
Natural Language Processing Approaches to Detect the Timeline of Metastatic Recurrence of Breast Cancer.

PURPOSEElectronic medical records (EMRs) and population-based cancer registries contain information on cancer outcomes and treatment, yet rarely capture information on the timing of metastatic canc...
"I Love Science": Opinions of Secondary School Females toward Science and Science Careers.

How to address the gender gap in STEM has been widely debated. Among the ways to encourage females to pursue STEM careers are outreach programs offered by schools and universities. This manuscript reviews the implementation of a novel program, the Women in Science Experience (WISE), a STEM-focused residential summer camp for high school females, located on the campus of a small university in the USA. Upon the conclusion of WISE, participants were asked to respond to a series of open-ended questions about their perceptions of science and science careers. Using thematic analysis, responses were coded and organized. Three themes emerged from this analysis. Love of Science showed how WISE participants appreciate science. Aspirations for Success resulted from career and life interests. Impact of WISE demonstrated how students’ experiences at WISE affected future goals. The findings from this article speak to ongoing debates about how to maintain interest in STEM fields by females in secondary and post-secondary education.
Governance networks and local economic development policy during the Great Recession in the US

Research shows that US cities increased their use of business incentives during the Great Recession. Drawing from governance-based theories’ emphasis on mutual resource dependency and the resourcef...
Autoimmune Connective Tissue Diseases

Autoimmune connective tissue diseases (CTD) include a variety of chronic autoimmune disorders that may affect one or multiple organ systems, with the skin being frequently involved. Accurate diagnosis of this category of diseases is critically dependent on careful correlation amongst clinical features, laboratory studies, histopathologic findings, and clinical course, with no single feature being pathognomonic. Often, patients are best served by a multidisciplinary care team, with representatives from rheumatology, dermatology, and other subspecialists as directed by each patient’s pattern of disease. Generally, affected patients require ongoing follow-up for monitoring of disease activity and treatment response, as well as surveillance for evolution of their disease. This chapter will provide a general overview of key systemic features of each major CTD, with particular emphasis to the dermatologic and dermatopathologic manifestations.
The relationship between mucosal inflammatory cells, specific symptoms, and psychological functioning in youth with irritable bowel syndrome

Both mucosal inflammation and psychologic dysfunction have been implicated in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While some relationships between inflammation (mast cells and eosinophils) and depression have been reported in adults with IBS, relationships between inflammation and psychologic function have not been studied in children and adolescents. The aims of the current study were to: (1) assess densities of colonic mast cells, eosinophils, and TH17 cells in youth with IBS; and, (2) explore relationships between these cells and specific IBS symptoms and psychologic functioning. Utilizing previously obtained biopsies from the descending and rectosigmoid colons, densities were determined for mast cells, eosinophils, and TH17 cells, respectively, in 37 youth with IBS and 10 controls. In IBS patients, densities were assessed in relation to specific IBS symptoms and in relation to self-report anxiety and depression scores. In both the descending and rectosigmoid colons, densities of mast cells, eosinophils, and TH17 cells were higher in IBS patients as compared to controls. In IBS patients, rectosigmoid mast cell density was higher in those reporting pain relief with defecation. Also, in IBS patients, rectosigmoid eosinophilia was associated with higher anxiety scores and eosinophil density correlated with depression scores. In the descending colon, eosinophil and mast cell densities both correlated with depression scores. In conclusion, mucosal inflammation (mast cells and eosinophils) is associated with pain relief with defecation and with anxiety and depression in youth with IBS.
Old Order Amish Family Management of Children With Genetic Conditions.

Families who raise children with genetic conditions manage health care within the context of cultural communities. For Amish families, although genetic conditions are prevalent and have been well r...
Definiteness in Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic

This paper offers an exploration of a European linguistic area at the dawn of history and of shifting convergence zones (Sprachbunde) in Europe since prehistoric times. Its main focus is on the dev...
Endocrine and Body Composition Changes Across a Competitive Season in Collegiate Speed-Power Track and Field Athletes.

ABSTRACT Mangine, GT, Eggerth, A, Gough, J, Stratton, MT, Feito, Y, and VanDusseldorp, TA. Endocrine and body composition changes across a competitive season in collegiate speed-power track and field athletes. J Strength Cond Res 35(8): 2067-2074, 2021-Maintaining lean mass is important for track and field (TF) athletes who compete in speed-power events, but little is known about how lean mass and related hormones might change over an 8- to 10-month collegiate season. Therefore, to monitor changes in free testosterone (T), cortisol (C), and body composition in TF athletes across their entire competitive season, 9 female (20.3 ± 1.2 years, 169 ± 5 cm, and 67.6 ± 8.5 kg) and 7 male (21.1 ± 2.0 years, 181 ± 9 cm, and 77.3 ± 5.9 kg) Division I TF athletes provided resting and fasted blood samples at the onset of their indoor season (baseline), before and on returning from the indoor conference championships (ICCs), at the beginning and end of a heavy midseason training week (HVY), and before leaving for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships. Body composition was also assessed at each of these periods using a 4-compartment model. Except for a 20% reduction (p = 0.030) from ICCs to the onset of HVY in men only, linear mixed models with repeated measures did not reveal any changes in hormone concentrations. Compared with baseline, an overall increase in fat-free mass was observed at HVY (∼2.74%, p = 0.023) before it reduced by 3.81% before the NCAA Championships (p = 0.022). Despite variations in training and competition, resting concentrations of hormones indicative of anabolic status remained relatively consistent over the course of an entire season in speed-power TF athletes. Coaches and athletes may consider monitoring these variables to assess the athlete's response to the changing demands of a competitive season.
On the Distribution of Murder in Chicago

Homicide statistics per police district in the city of Chicago from the years 1964-2018 are demonstrated to fit a logarithmic distribution, which may have consequences regarding how police departments should allocate resources. In particular, it may be that police departments should not investigate homicides on a district level, but instead on a citywide basis. Moreover, the fact that homicide statistics are subject to mathematical analysis may have consequences for the production of social science itself.
Media Paratext and Constitutional Interpretation

In the fields of media studies and fan studies, the concept of paratext is an analytical paradigm for understanding how audiences consume and interpret media texts, such as a novel or movie. Amid today’s media-rich society, it is all but impossible to encounter a media text in isolation. Rather, we also invariably interact with a wide variety of associated paratexts, from official materials like trailers or marketing to unofficial materials like reviews or fan reactions, which play a role in shaping our interpretation of the core media text. This concept of media paratext provides a compelling analogy for constitutional interpretation. We likewise do not interpret the U.S. Constitution in isolation, but always in association with related texts that inform our understanding of its meaning, such as legal precedent, historical materials, and scholarly work in relevant disciplines. Moreover, in both instances the determination of the meaning of the core text readily can be a contestable and contested endeavor. Ultimately, the comparison between constitutional interpretation and media paratext refutes the proffered objective of originalism by demonstrating the impossibility of any aspiration to sever the interpretation of an iconic text from the full range of paratextual materials that inform our understanding of it.
Life-history strategy and extinction risk in the warm desert perennial spring ephemeral Astragalus holmgreniorum (Fabaceae)

This study of Astragalus holmgreniorum examines its adaptations to the warm desert environment and whether these adaptations will enable it to persist. Its spring ephemeral hemicryptophyte life-history strategy is unusual in warm deserts. We used data from a 22-year demographic study supplemented with reproductive output, seed bank, and germinant survival studies to examine the population dynamics of this species using discrete-time stochastic matrix modeling. The model showed that A. holmgreniorum is likely to persist in the warm desert in spite of high dormant-season mortality. It relies on a stochastically varying environment with high inter-annual variation in precipitation for persistence, but without a long-lived seed bank, environmental stochasticity confers no advantage. Episodic high reproductive output and frequent seedling recruitment along with a persistent seed bank are adaptations that facilitate its survival. These adaptations place its life-history strategy further along the spectrum from "slower" to "faster" relative to other perennial spring ephemerals. The extinction risk for small populations is relatively high even though mean λs > 1 because of the high variance in year quality. This risk is also strongly dependent on seed bank starting values, creating a moving window of extinction risk that varies with population size through time. Astragalus holmgreniorum life-history strategy combines the perennial spring ephemeral life form with features more characteristic of desert annuals. These adaptations permit persistence in the warm desert environment. A promising conclusion is that new populations of this endangered species can likely be established through direct seeding.
Understanding Guatemala’s Cultural Heritage: Extending Protection to Colonial Art in the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and Guatemala

The UNESCO Convention of 1970 was a watershed for the protection of cultural property around the world. In 1983 the United States enacted implementing legislation, and it committed to enforce the Convention on a case-by-case and nation-by-nation basis. The United States has passed statutes, issued executive orders and entered into 14 bilateral treaties to meet its obligations. The President enters renewable treaties to protect a foreign nation’s cultural property after receiving advice from the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. One of those treaties protects pre-Colombian objects originating in Guatemala, but it is incomplete in that it fails to protect colonial art. This article sets forth the risk to which colonial art is exposed in Guatemala, analyzes other bi-lateral treaties negotiated in the Latin American region and concludes that when the Guatemalan treaty is next up for renewal that the Cultural Property Advisory Committee should recommend that it be expanded to cover colonial art – and the President and Guatemala should implement that recommendation.
Bankruptcy Law Differences Across Countries, Managerial Incentives and Firm Value

With a state preference model, we illustrate how differences in bankruptcy code across countries affect managerial incentives and firm value. We examine bankruptcy codes of the G-7 countries in some detail and tie differences to model outcomes. We substantiate the economic effect of these differences by contrasting outcomes of specific bankruptcies and with the pre-filing performance of bankrupt firms from different countries. We then use a constrained optimization model to show that code differences also affect managers of financially healthy firms. These code-induced incentives and empirical evidence raise implications for bankruptcy policies, financial research, and policies affecting economic growth.
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopic Photoconversion: A New Method to Stabilize Fluorescently Labeled Cellular Elements for Electron Microscopic Analysis

Photoconversion, the method by which a fluorescent dye is transformed into a stable, osmiophilic product that can be visualized by electron microscopy, is the most widely used method to enable the ultrastructural analysis of fluorescently-labeled cellular structures. Nevertheless, the conventional method of photoconversion using widefield fluorescence microscopy requires long reaction times and results in low resolution cell targeting. Accordingly, we have developed a photoconversion method that ameliorates these limitations by adapting confocal laser scanning microscopy to the procedure. We have found that this method greatly reduces photoconversion times as compared to conventional wide field microscopy. Moreover, region of interest scanning capabilities of a confocal microscope facilitate the targeting of the photoconversion process to individual cellular or subcellular elements within a fluorescent field. This reduces the area of the cell exposed to light energy, thereby reducing the ultrastructural damage common to this process when widefield microscopes are employed.
Abstract 11947: Unraveling the Mechanism for the Stimulatory Role of Platelet GPIb-IX-V in Thrombin-Induced Platelet Activation

Numerous reports indicate that the platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX complex (GPIb-IX) binds directly to the potent platelet agonist thrombin and is important for promoting thrombin-induced platelet activation. However, how GPIb-IX contributes to thrombin-induced platelet activation is unclear. It has been suggested that thrombin binding to GPIb facilitates the cleavage, and thus activation, of the protease-activated receptors (PAR). Our data indicate that GPIb-IX promotes thrombin signaling through a GPIb-IX signaling mechanism. Pretreatment of human platelets with MPalphaC, an inhibitory peptide based on a critical 14-3-3 signaling protein binding site on the cytoplasmic domain of the GPIb alpha chain, inhibited thrombin-induced platelet activation. MPalphaC-treatment inhibited thrombin-induced activation of Rac1 and LIMK1, both of which are known to play essential roles in GPIb signaling. To more specifically determine the role of GPIb-IX, we reconstituted GPIb-IX-facilitated thrombin signaling in Chine...
Implosion and Staging Systems for a Scyllac Fusion Test Reactor

The implosion heating and adiabatic compression processes will be separated in future theta pinch devices. The circuit to achieve the fast implosion heating and power crowbar (staging) for the Scyllac Fusion Test Reactor is described here. The plasma is very tightly coupled to the circuit and presents a varying inductive load. Computer-aided circuit designs which achieve a programmed magnetic field waveform are described. The field approximates a two-step waveform, on-off-on, which is ideal for achieving the large initial plasma radius needed for stability. The components for the circuits have been developed and are being tested in experiments at Los Alamos.
Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation Using an Irrigated‐Tip Catheter: Open or Closed?

Since the advent of radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias, innovations in catheter design and technology have provided the operator with a growing selection of ablation catheters. In contrast to ablation of common supraventricular arrhythmias, where ablation of a well-defined single site results in excellent clinical outcomes, ablation of complex arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter, and ventricular tachycardia often requires multiple and larger lesion sets. Because recovery of conduction plays a key role in recurrence of these arrhythmias, it also is important to create transmural lesions that are likely to be permanent. In this issue of the Journal ,G olden et al., 1 report clinical outcomes using a closed-irrigatedtip catheter for ablation of AF. RF catheter ablation was performed in 195 patients with paroxysmal (56%) or persistent AF (44%) with a closed-irrigated-tip catheter that had a 3.5-mm tip electrode (Chilli II, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA). RF energy was delivered in a temperature-controlledmodewithatargettemperature of 40 ◦ C at a maximum power of 35‐40 W (25 W along the posterior wall). First, pulmonary vein isolation was performed during AF, followed by a stepwise approach of linear ablation, ablation of complexfractionatedelectrograms,coronarysinus isolation, and superior vena cava isolation until AF terminated and was not inducible, or the steps were completed with a substantial decrease in AF cycle length. After a 6-week blanking period, recurrence of AF was defined as any symptomatic episode longer than 5 minutes in duration or any documented episode of AF on an electrocardiogram, Holter monitor, or device interrogation for >30 seconds. Patients with a recurrence were offered repeat ablation or antiarrhythmic drug therapy. Follow-up visits were performed at 6, 12, 24, and 36 weeks and at the physician’s discretion
DIASTOLIC FOURTH AND FIFTH PHASE BLOOD PRESSURE IN 10–15-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN: THE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT BLOOD PRESSURE PROGRAM

Measurement of diastolic blood pressure is complicated by the presence of two diastolic Korotkoff phases (fourth phase and fifth phase) in many children and adults. In the present study, diastolic fourth phase and diastolic fifth phase were evaluated in 1986-1987 in 19,274 Minneapolis-St. Paul school children aged 10-15 years. Approximately 50 percent of the children had no difference between fourth phase and fifth phase (i.e., fourth phase - fifth phase = 0) and 15 percent had a difference of only 1-4 mmHg. However, the fourth phase - fifth phase difference was 5-10 mmHg in 20 percent, 11-20 mmHg in 11 percent and greater than 21 mmHg in 3 percent of the children. Statistical analyses showed that the fourth phase - fifth phase difference tended to be greater in boys than girls and in older than younger children, was positively related to height, systolic blood pressure and fourth phase blood pressure, and negatively related to body mass index and fifth phase blood pressure. Using fifth phase instead of fourth phase in 10-12-year-old children and fourth phase instead of fifth phase in 13-15-year-old children to define diastolic blood pressures significantly changed the prevalence for significant diastolic hypertension by 2-3 percent.
Robotic-assisted single-site cholecystectomy in children.

Abstract Background Though single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) is cosmetically appealing, it is technically a difficult operation. The recent introduction of robotic single-site cholecystectomy (RSSC) has made single incision cholecystectomy easier to perform. While a few papers have reported its application in adults, it has not been documented in children. Methods Data on seventeen consecutive children who underwent RSSC by a single surgeon over a ten-month period were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, total operative time, console time, hospital stay, complications and reasons for procedural delay were recorded. Results Sixteen operations were completed robotically using the single incision robotic platform. No major postoperative complications were noted. Median total operative time was 94 minutes with interquartile range (IQR) being 81.5–119.5 minutes. The median console time was 39 minutes (IQR: 30–72 minutes). The median total operative time for the first eight cases was 118 minutes (IQR: 103–127 minutes) and for the next nine cases 90 minutes (IQR: 76–93 minutes). Common causes for procedural delay were slipped clips, bile spillage, bleeding and leaking Single-Site® port. Conclusions This unique series of RSSC documents its feasibility and safety in children. A short learning curve and operative times comparable to RSSC in adults and SILC in children were observed. Being technically easier, RSSC becomes an attractive alternative to SILC to sustain its cosmetic benefit.
LOW THYROID ACTIVITY IN PREMATURES WITH RDS

Thyroid function was compared in prematures with RDS (PROS) and healthy prematures (controls) with EGA from 30 to 37 weeks, to determine how long the reported differences in cord blood persist. Compared to controls, PRDS had lower serum T4, T3 and free T4 index (FT4I) during the first 20 days. Sick prematures without RDS had Intermediate values. TSH at 1 to 3 hrs was lower in 6 PRDS (22.1 ± 4.1 μU/ml)** than In 9 controls (53.6 ± 6.4 μU/ml). TSH and FT4I were lowest tn PRDS with birth asphyxia, suggesting that early stress depresses these hormones. Injection of TRH increased TSH in 4 PRDS, ruling out pituitary unresponsiveness. It is important to determine whether early depression of thyroid function has adverse consequences, since 4 prematures with low T4 and T3 had symptomatic improvement (less apnea, better intestinal motllity and weight gain) in association with temporary T4 or T3 administration.
Plasticity of Addiction: A Mesolimbic Dopamine Short‐Circuit?

The development of drug addiction progresses along a continuum from acute drug use to compulsive use and drug seeking behavior. Many researchers have focused on identifying the physiological mechanisms involved in drug addiction in order to develop effective pharmacotherapies. Neuroplasticity, the putative mechanism underlying learning and memory, is modified by drugs of abuse and may contribute to the development of the eventual addicted state. Innovative treatments directly targeting these drug-induced changes in brain reward components and circuits may be efficacious in reducing drug use and relapse.
PACKAGING AND WIDE-PULSE SWITCHING OF 4 MM × 4 MM SILICON CARBIDE GTOs

The U. S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is investigating compact, energy-dense electronic components to realize high-power, vehicle-mounted survivability and lethality systems. These applications require switching components that are low in weight and volume, exhibit reliable performance, and are easy to integrate into the vehicles' systems. The devices reported here are 4 mm × 4 mm silicon carbide GTOs rated for 3000 V blocking. These devices were packaged at ARL for high pulse current capability, high voltage protection, and minimum package inductance. The GTOs were switched in a 1-ms half-sine, single-pulse discharge circuit to determine reliable peak current and recovery time (or Tq). The GTOs were repeatedly switched over 300 A peak (3.3 A/cm2 and an action of 60 A2s) with a recovery time of 20 µs. The switches were also evaluated for dV/dt immunity up to an instantaneous slope of 3 kV/ µs.
Emerging cyberworld attack vectors: Modification, customization, secretive communications, and digital forensics in PC video games

Complexity of customization in video games threatens to provide people with malicious intent a new vector for the secretive transmission of messages as well as data. This paper explores six different games including some of the most popular games of early 2013: World of Warcraft (WoW), League of Legends (LoL), Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2), StarCraft 2 (SC2), Battlefield 3 (BF3), and Garry's Mod (GMod). Our research has shown that each of these games have at least one feature that an attacker may exploit in order to transfer information. Since video game forensics is still in an infantile stage, an investigator may not suspect video games and their data files as accomplices to crime. Within this paper, we will describe methods and methodology for hiding, displaying, and transferring data in video games and their related applications. Additionally, we will offer recommendations on how an investigator might search for any hidden data such as comparing hashes of unaltered game files to the altered game files on a suspect's machine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic research on the modification and forensics of popular games.
Ab initio modeling of clean and Y-doped grain boundaries in alumina and intergranular glassy films (IGF) in β-Si3N4

Based on large and relaxed grain boundary (GB) models in alumina and intergranular glassy film (IGF) models in polycrystalline β-Si3N4, ab initio modeling and theoretical tensile experiments were carried out for both clean and Y-doped models. It is shown that the increased covalent bonding between Y and O or N through the participation of the Y-4d and Y-3p orbitals is the mechanism by which Y ions enhance the mechanical and elastic properties of the Y-doped GB and IGF models. In alumina, this explains the improved creep behavior in the presence of Y doping. Preliminary results on the electronic structure and bonding of a specific GB model (Σ37) in α-Al2O3 is presented. For the IGF models, the distribution patterns of Y ions in the glassy region were investigated by total energy calculations. Y ions prefer to be at the interfacial region between the IGF and bulk crystal. Defect-like states of different origin can be identified near the valence band and the conduction band edges. These theoretical predictions obtained from the calculation of the fundamental electronic structure of the materials can be used to derive local strain fields of dissimilar “particles” that may be linked to continuum level theories via finite element methods.
The inhibition of trypsinogen activation by low concentrations of urea

Abstract Urea, at concentrations well below those generally associated with the denaturation of proteins and specifically below concentrations known to interfere with tryptic activity, markedly inhibits the activation of trypsinogen by trypsin. The inhibitory effect of urea is directly associated with a retardation of the peptide bond cleavage Lys 6 -Ile 7 . While a definite conclusion regarding the mechanism cannot be drawn, the data favor the interpretation that the effect of urea is directed toward the zymogen substrate (trypsinogen) rather than toward the activating enzyme (trypsin).
System performance, degradation, and reliability assessment

Degradation test and analysis provide the information to assess the reliability of a system. On-line degradation monitoring can be adopted for real-time system performance reliability or survival prediction. This paper discusses the concepts of system performance, degradation, and system performance reliability assessment. The off-line degradation data analysis for estimating time-to-failure distributions with asymptotic variances, and the on-line performance degradation for reliability assessment and prediction with time series are reviewed and discussed. The off-line method is useful to the estimation of time-to-failure distributions for those components with extremely high reliability, whereas the on-line method can be applied to those systems in which degradation may result in a sudden catastrophic system failure. The statistical methods in the two situations are discussed.
Magnetization behavior of scandium-substituted barium hexaferrite films having uniaxial axis in the film plane

Abstract Highly oriented films of ( 1 0 1 0 ) BaSc0.6Fe11.4O19 having the magnetic easy axis (crystallographic [0 0 0 1] axis) in the film plane were deposited by pulsed laser deposition onto a-plane ( 1 1 2 0 ) sapphire (Al2O3) substrates. Magnetometry and torque magnetometry measurements showed in-plane permanent magnet (magnetic dipole) behavior below a coercive field value of 450 Oe, while high field measurements yielded a uniaxial anisotropy field value of 10 kOe. Measurements at temperatures from 123 to 650 K showed the uniaxial anisotropy field was insensitive to temperature for T
Investigation of the martensitic-like transformation from Mg2GeO4 olivine to its spinel structure polymorph

A coherent mechanism for the transformation of olivine to its spinel structure polymorph has been investigated in Mg 2 GeO 4 olivine at conditions ranging from 6 GPa to 18 GPa at 300 to 1250 °C using a multi-anvil apparatus. This transformation mechanism, which produces plates of spinel lying parallel to the (100) planes in olivine, becomes increasingly important above 10 GPa at temperatures between 300 and 400 °C. The primary effect of temperature above 400 °C is to increase the length of the lamellae. The primary effect of pressure is to increase the number of lamellae that have nucleated. The distribution of transformation is very inhomogeneous. Lamellae first appear in patches associated with grain edges and corners. As the degree of transformation increases, patches become more extensive and more heavily populated until the majority, if not all grains, contain large numbers of lamellae that span large portions of their host grains. The mechanism that produces the lamellae requires three factors, high pressure overstep of the equilibrium boundary, some level of differential stress (either microscopic or macroscopic), and high enough temperature to facilitate rearrangement of the cations. It is most consistent with a martensitic-like transformation mechanism. The results of this study suggest that olivine may exhibit similar behavior in cold, rapidly subducting lithospheric slabs. If conditions are too cold for olivine to transform by reconstructive nucleation and growth, it could instead progressively transform by the martensitic-like mechanism as conditions deviate further and further from the equilibrium phase boundary.
Preservation of bone graft vascularity with the University of Wisconsin cold storage solution

The preservation of the microcirculation of bone has been evaluated with use of an in vitro canine tibia perfusion model. The production of relaxing factors by the osseous vascular endothelium was used as a metabolic marker for viability. This endothelial eccrine function was preserved for 5 days (120 h) by cold storage without continuous perfusion after a washout with the University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. This synthetic perfusate was superior to Krebs Ringer solution (p < 0.05), but storage without perfusion failed to prevent a significant rise in vascular resistance. Two techniques were effective for the preservation of bone vascularity for 24 h: washout with UW solution followed by nonperfusion cold (4 degrees C) storage, and vascular washout with mannitol solution followed by continuous hypothermic (5 degrees C) microperfusion (0.03 ml/min) with UW solution. The most consistent, and lowest, vascular resistance was produced by the microperfusion technique. However, UW solution does not consistently prevent an increase in vascular resistance with hypothermic ischemia. This technique may prove useful for the preservation of vascularized bone grafts, but it needs to be evaluated in a transplantation model.
Desiccation of the Aral Sea: A Water Management Disaster in the Soviet Union

The Aral Sea in the Soviet Union, formerly the world's fourth largest lake in area, is disappearing. Between 1960 and 1987, its level dropped nearly 13 meters, and its area decreased by 40 percent. Recession has resulted from reduced inflow caused primarily by withdrawals of water for irrigation. Severe environmental problems have resulted. The sea could dry to a residual brine lake. Local water use is being improved and schemes to save parts of the sea have been proposed. Nevertheless, preservation of the Aral may require implementation of the controversial project to divert water from western Siberia into the Aral Sea basin.
Layered Communication Protocol for Macro to Nano-Scale Communication Systems

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems provide a feasible method of efficiently delivering drugs in-vivo. These drug delivery systems could greatly benefit from a robust method of nano-scale communication. Additionally, there are numerous naturally occurring nano-scale communication systems and the opportunity to develop a system based on these principles is highly promising. A layered communication protocol provides a simple, succinct method of understanding macro to nano-scale communication systems. This protocol may be used to expand and eventually apply commonly used telecommunications techniques to nanoparticle signalling. Such a protocol may begin to pave the way for future communication systems at a nano-scale.
Sterility of the personal protection system in total joint arthroplasty.

Background Bacteria shed by operating room personnel is a source of wound contamination and postoperative infections. The personal protection system (PPS) was designed to decrease airborne bacteria and intraoperative contamination in total joint arthroplasty.
‘…Men famous in combat and battle…’: Common soldiers and the siege of Bruges, 1127

The siege of Bruges in 1127 tells us many things about warfare in the High Middle Ages. The major sources, including Galbert of Bruges, are overlooked by virtually all military historians. These sources provide one of the most detailed examples of any siege fought in Western Europe during the twelfth century. The conflict at Bruges illustrates the role of common soldiers and non-combatants in warfare — that they participated in large numbers, and were essential to the conduct of siege operations. Archers and crossbowmen performed valuable services for both attack and defence, while engineers or men with specialized skills built and operated sophisticated machinery. The siege of Bruges drew common soldiers from all over Flanders, including ‘men famous in combat and battle’ that a later generation would call routiers. Knightly warfare was virtually nonexistent in siege warfare. The factional strife that plagued Bruges was not that of class or military function but of locale, respective authority and dispara...
New Eras and Stock Market Bubbles

Abstract This paper shows that stock market Bubbles can arise from rational learning with stock prices following fundamentals. A New Era, modeled as a non-ergodic change in regime with an unknown growth rate, is shown to create a particular time pattern of uncertainty. When this uncertainty is wedded to a standard asset pricing model a Bubble results. The Bubble mimics many real-world Bubbles in that it reaches a maximum at the time of the regime change and then crashes in the New Era.
Coordination Chemistry and Redox Processes in Siderophore-Mediated Iron Transport

In this mini-review we present an environmental iron mobility/transport scheme consisting of inter-related controls, whereby the first coordination shell of iron modulates the iron redox potential (E1/2), and the oxidation state of iron controls the chemistry of the first coordination sphere and therefore the immediate chemical environment of the iron. Siderophores (microbially generated iron specific chelators) may be viewed as iron redox mediators. Siderophore chelation of environmental iron in a reduced (Fe(II)) oxidation state results in facile air oxidation of iron due to the negative redox potentials observed for Fe-siderophore complexes. This solubilizes the iron and locks it into a specific coordination environment, thereby preventing hydrolysis and precipitation. The high-spin Fe3+ → Fe+ electron transfer process may be viewed as a switch that controls the thermodynamic stability and kinetic lability of the first coordination shell. Reduction of iron(III)-siderophore complexes to iron(II)-siderop...