cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parity-time symmetry breaking in spin chains

We investigate nonequilibrium phase transitions in classical Heisenberg spin chains associated with spontaneous breaking of parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry of the system under the action of Slonczewski spin-transfer torque (STT) modeled by an applied imaginary magnetic field. We reveal the STT-driven $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry-breaking phase transition between the regimes of precessional and exponentially damped spin dynamics and show that its several properties can be derived from the distribution of zeros of the system's partition function, the approach first introduced by Yang and Lee for studying equilibrium phase transitions in Ising spin chains. The physical interpretation of imaginary magnetic field as describing the action of nonconservative forces opens the possibility of direct observations of Lee-Yang zeros in nonequilibrium physical systems.
Enhancing Children's Memory Through Cognitive Interviewing: An Assessment Technique for Social Work Practice

The cognitive interview is a memory retrieval procedure consisting of four general retrievals mnemonics which was developed for eyewitnesses. Based on a sound theoretical framework, Geiselman et al. (1984) developed this technique to assist police officers in interviewing and interrogating witnesses. The cognitive interview has been accepted as one of the most successful interview techniques used in real-life investigations. This article will provide background of the current research on cognitive interviewing and will discuss the theoretical rationale for the use of the mnemonic strategies, the enhancement in the cognitive interviewing technique, and the modifications and revisions conducted from using the cognitive interview with children ages 7 to 12 years. The major conclusions drawn from the research are that the cognitive interview can enhance the completeness and accuracy of recollections by children and can offer a valuable technique for social workers interviewing and evaluating children who are victims or witnesses to crimes.
Consensus-Based Detection Method for Visible and Thermal Videos

This paper describes an object detection method based on sample consensus. Real time frame difference was employed to get the candidate foreground pixels. Then, a joint background model storing samples of visible and thermal videos was constructed through training to verify the initial foreground. So false positives produced by frame difference were reassigned to background. There were in total four channels (red, green, blue and thermal) in the proposed joint sample consensus background model. Our method performs object detection and fusion of both sensors’ information simultaneously, which reduces the complexity of our method. Experimental results illustrate that the presented detection method can achieve accurate detection results.
What are the Recommendations to the Medical Community to Institute Hypolipidemic Therapy

For many years studies on the atherosclerotic plaque as well as animal, genetic, metabolic and epidemiologic studies have suggested a causal relationship between hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery disease. However, the best evidence which influences our thinking regarding this relationship comes from controlled research trials in man.
The Brain and Dementia

Dementia is the result of certain syndromes that alter the status of nerve cells in the brain. This alteration expresses itself in several observable behaviors, principally memory loss but also confusion and disorientation, and the effect is one of systematically “robbing” the mind. This means that there are two related but discrete elements involved: the structural integrity of the brain on the one hand and the loss of competencies deemed possible because of a mind on the other. The two need to be described separately as well as in terms of their relationships. In this chapter, there is an attempt at this task with the restriction that only the most essential elements will be highlighted.
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Paradigms: Current Status and Future Directions

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results are among the most important pieces of information a clinical microbiology lab can release and clinicians rely heavily on them to care for their patients. Due to the clinical importance of these results, it is imperative that testing is performed under optimal conditions with standardized approaches to quality control, interpretation and reporting. There are a variety of in vitro methods to determine bacterial antimicrobial susceptibilities as well as interpretive criteria and testing limitations that have been vetted through the Clinical and laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the European Committee on Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (EUCAST). The goal in Part I of this two part section is to review the general background, breakpoint development and Governance of AST testing and in Part II review the standardization of the various method of AST, their limitations and associated challenges and review the future of antimicrobial susceptibility testing using newer technologies.
Socio-economic analysis of an agroforestry system with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

40 Introduction 41 Winnebago Planning and Land Use 42 Establishing the Agroforestry Demonstration System 43 Continuing Tribal Land-use Planning 44 PRA Approaches in Land-use Plarming 44
Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Characterization Using Surface Crack Specimens Loaded in Combined Tension and Bending

Surface cracked tension specimens of ASTM A515, Grade B steel plate were tested to failure in the ductile-to-brittle transition region. Two different specimen configurations were used: one configuration was loaded in tension except for the natural bending resulting from the presence of the surface crack, the second configuration had an offset test section and was pin-loaded to provide a strong bending component in addition to the tension load. For each configuration, at least seven repeat tests were conducted at each of two temperatures. All specimens failed by cleavage and the critical J-integral, J{sub c}, was obtained using three-dimensional finite element analysis of the specimen. The FEM analysis was validated by comparison with experimental strain gage and displacement measurements taken during the tests. The results were compared with previous fracture toughness measurements on the same plate using 2T SE(B) specimens and surface cracked bend SC(B) specimens. The present results exhibited the expected elevation in fracture toughness and downward shift in the transition temperature compared to the highly constrained, deeply cracked SE(B) specimens. The master curve approach was used to characterize the transition curves for each specimen geometry and the shift in the transition temperature was characterized by the associated reference temperature.
Too little too late? Communication with patients with congenital heart disease about challenges of adult life.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the experiences and communication preferences of adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the domains of employment, insurance, and family planning. DESIGN Patients ≥ 18 years of age completed a questionnaire about experiences and communication preferences regarding employment, health insurance, and family planning. RESULTS Of 152 patients (median age = 33 years, 50% female, 35% with CHD of great complexity), one in four reported work-related problems due to CHD and a quarter also recalled a previous gap in health insurance. Of females, 29% experienced an unplanned pregnancy. The median importance of discussion ratings (on a 0-10 scale) were 3.5 (employment), 6.0 (insurance), and 8.0 (family planning). Few patients recalled discussions about employment (19%) or health insurance (20%). Over half recalled discussions about family planning, although males were less likely to have had these discussions than females (24% vs 86%, P < .001). Across the three domains, patients identified 16-18 years as the most appropriate age to initiate discussion, although for patients who recalled discussions, they typically occurred between 20 and 25 years. CONCLUSIONS Adults with CHD commonly face employment, health insurance, and family planning challenges. However, discussions about these matters occur with less frequency than recommended and at older ages than patients would prefer. Communication about such issues should be incorporated into a comprehensive educational curriculum for adolescents during the process of transition to adult care.
Fast Transmitter and Receiver Eye Diagrams Acquisition in the MIPI D-PHY Interface

The mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) standards defines industry specification for design of mobile devices such as smartphone, tables, laptop and hybrid devices. Such standard plays a critical role in the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G mobile devices, as well as autopilot automobiles. MIPI specification has comprehensive requirements on the data storage, data transfer, display, camera, memory, power, etc on the transmitter and receiver. In the testing phase, the transmitter and receiver may not be easily directly measured. Herein, a fast transmitter and receiver eye diagrams calculation methodology is necessary to predict the RX and TX performances of those devices. The calculated RX and TX eye diagrams are evaluated by using the D-PHY protocol to identify the quality of the signals. An in-house MIPI tool is built to directly display the calculated eye diagrams as well as the MIPI D-PHY report in the PC. The validations are performed by using both simulation and measurement examples.
Patient Discharge without an Order to Void in the Outpatient Gynecologic Surgery Setting

ABSTRACT Study Objective To evaluate if there is a difference in hospital readmission when patients are required to void versus not required to void before discharge after a same-day gynecologic procedure. Design A retrospective cohort study. Setting An urban tertiary care hospital. Patients A total of 4743 patients undergoing same-day gynecologic surgery. Interventions The readmission rates of patients discharged home without an order to void were compared with those with an order to void. Chart review was performed for readmission within 30 days and time to discharge from the postanesthesia recovery unit. Measurements and Main Results There was no statistically significant difference in the readmission rate between patients with or without an order to void before discharge (0.4% vs 0.9%, p = .08). Only 3 patients were readmitted for urinary retention, all with an order to void before discharge. Compared with gynecologic surgeons treating benign conditions, gynecologic oncologists were 23% more likely to place an order to void before discharge. Patients without an order to void spent approximately 59 minutes more in the postanesthesia care unit compared with those required to void (p Conclusion Discharge without an order to void is a safe practice in patients undergoing same-day gynecologic procedures. The risk of postdischarge urinary retention is low, consistent with previously reported rates in the literature.
Why Should I Really Consider This? The Rhetoric of Patient Motives in Phase 1 Cancer Clinical Trial Consultations

Phase 1 cancer clinical trial consultations are fraught with ethical and rhetorical issues. Phase 1 trials are designed to test the toxicity, and not the efficacy, of therapeutic agents. Fewer than 5% of patients benefit from their participation in a Phase 1 trial, and over 75% of experimental drugs do not become approved cancer medicines. Bioethicists have long debated the ethics of recruitment consultations for Phase 1 trials solely in terms of the need for patients to make a rational decision based upon enough information to avoid what are called therapeutic misconceptions and/or unrealistic optimism as motivations to participate in Phase 1 trials. We argue here, however, that the ethical challenges in Phase 1 consultations go beyond providing information about the (unknown) risks and (unanticipated) benefits of a Phase 1 clinical trial. In this article, we present a rhetorically oriented case study of a Phase 1 consultation, followed by a rhetorically informed critique of the rationality of bioethics. We use Lauren Berlant’s (2011) concept of “cruel optimism” to develop a more complete account of the rhetorical and ethical nexus of patient motivations in Phase 1 consultations by creating a discursive space to explore the concerns, hopes, and motivations of cancer patients considering participation in the earliest phase of clinical research in cancer medicine. The goal of our study is to propose a framework aimed at achieving Lisa Keranen’s (2007) concept of relational integrity applied to Phase 1 consultations.
Homes of children with medical complexity as a complex work system: outcomes associated with interactions in the physical environment:

Family caregivers provide critical care for children with medical complexity (CMC) at home, yet homes are still a poorly understood healthcare setting. Home environments include diverse physical en...
CHAPTER 4-2 – VICINAL INTERPROTON COUPLING

Publisher Summary This chapter describes vicinal coupling as the interaction between nuclei bound to contiguous atoms, that is, a coupling across three bonds. The vast majority of vicinal inter-proton coupling constants involve the systems H—C—C—H and H—C = C—H. The absolute magnitude of vicinal coupling constants in saturated systems varies from 0 to 16 Hz. Dependence of the vicinal coupling constants on factors other than the dihedral angle is implicit in the original treatment. The magnitude of the other influences is such that they can be regarded as perturbations of the Karplus rule. These perturbations concern the electronegativities of substituents, the orientation of substituents, hybridization of the carbon atoms, the bond angles, and the bond lengths. The existence of an approximately linear relation between substituent electronegativities and the vicinal coupling constants in ethyl derivatives was realized in 1956. However, the analysis of a large number of data clearly showed that the effect of electronegativity, which may be expressed in the form J = A — B.E. where A and B are constants and E is the Huggins electronegativity, is different in various systems, that is, A and B are not general constants.
Density functionals combined with van der Waals corrections for graphene adsorbed on layered materials

Standard density functionals like Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) or Strongly Constrained and Appropriately Normed (SCAN) need a correction to account for long-range van der Waals (vdW) interaction. The damped Zaremba-Kohn model (dZK) [J. Tao, H. Tang, A. Patra, P. Bhattarai, and J. P. Perdew, Phys. Rev. B 97, 165403 (2018)] starts from a formula for the vdW interaction of a distant atom with a solid surface, both with known dielectric properties, damps this formula at short range, and then treats an adsorbed molecule or atomic layer as a collection of renormalized atoms. We extend this model to graphene adsorbed on semiconducting layered materials [bulk graphite and hBN, and multilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD)] by including the ${C}_{4}$ asymptotic term and multiple electrostatic image effects due to the two surfaces of the substrate slabs in the vdW calculations. The resulting SCAN-vdW-dZK and PBE-vdW-dZK give approximately the same results for the systems considered here, in agreement with available reference values. The predicted binding energies are roughly 25% lower than those from SCAN+rVV10 (revised Vydrov and Van Voorhis 2010), and $\ensuremath{\sim}15%$ lower than those from PBE+rVV10. Since SCAN+rVV10 usually overbinds, the predicted binding energies by SCAN-vdW-dZK and PBE-vdW-dZK are expected to be closer to the true values. The predicted equilibrium binding distances from SCAN-vdW-dZK and PBE-vdW-dZK are slightly larger ($\ensuremath{\sim}0.1\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\AA{}$) than those from SCAN+rVV10, and close to those from SCAN. The binding energy depends upon the number of substrate layers more strongly in vdW-dZK than in rVV10. The ${C}_{4}$-term contributions can be 40% of the total vdW interactions, and the ${C}_{5}$ term contributes about 10%. The effects of images and the back surfaces of slabs can contribute about 4--10%. The vdW interaction energy power laws from the vdW-dZK model for graphene adsorbed on multilayer $\mathrm{Mo}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ show slowly varying decay to the pairwise exponent \ensuremath{-}4 with increasing separation $D$, very similar to those obtained from the random-phase approximation and renormalization group approaches by Ambrosetti et al. Both the PBE-vdW-dZK and SCAN-vdW-dZK give a greater increase in interlayer binding energy when the TMD substrate changes from monolayer to four-layer for the graphene/TMD adsorption systems. This is consistent with the relevant electron-energy-loss spectroscopy experimental results showing increased dielectric response from the substrate with increasing substrate layer number.
Abstract 5012: Exercise as a novel method of tumor vascular remodeling

Chemotherapy efficacy is reliant upon access to tumor cells. One method of increasing chemotherapy response is to enhance delivery of chemotherapy to the tumor by vascular normalization. Tumor vasculature is largely dysfunctional, leading to poor delivery of chemotherapy. Vascular normalization, the remodeling of tumor vessels to increase functionality, has been shown to improve drug delivery and response in patients with glioblastoma, ovarian and colorectal cancers. Current normalization strategies using anti-angiogenic agents have a narrow dose and time therapeutic window. Therefore, it is imperative to identify other methods of inducing tumor vessel normalization to enhance the delivery and efficacy of chemotherapy. Vascular development, and endothelial cell (EC) signaling, is controlled by shear stress. Shear stress is the mechanical force exerted on ECs by blood flow through the vessel lumen. The role of shear stress in tumor vessel development is poorly understood. Tumors have heterogeneous, low levels of vascular shear stress. Heterogeneous, low shear stress causes hyper-permeable vessels that inefficiently deliver blood throughout the tumor. Aerobic exercise is a well-studied method for increasing vascular shear stress. We demonstrated in mouse models of Ewing sarcoma and melanoma that increasing shear stress via moderate exercise caused improved tumor vascular function including reduced hyper-permeability. This correlated with significantly increased chemotherapy delivery and efficacy; doxorubicin was significantly more effective against both tumor models when combined with exercise. The molecular mechanisms of tumor vascular remodeling in response to exercise, particularly the decrease in vessel permeability leading to better drug delivery, are unclear. Vascular permeability is regulated in part via Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptors 1 and 2 (S1PR1, S1PR2) on ECs, which have contrasting effects on angiogenesis. S1PR1 signaling increases adherens junctions, decreasing vascular permeability. In contrast, S1PR2 signaling increases vessel permeability. We found that S1PR1 was increased while S1PR2 was decreased on tumor endothelium of exercised mice. We have now identified the novel regulator of tumor endothelial permeability, ERK5, as a key mediator of improved tumor vascular function in response to exercise. Pharmacologic activation of S1PR1 by SEW2871 or activation of ERK5 signaling by p90RSK decreased tumor vascular hyper-permeability and increased doxorubicin efficacy, mimicking the exercise effect. Ongoing work using inducible S1PR1 or ERK5 knockout mice will determine whether this pathway is essential for exercise-induced tumor vascular remodeling and improved chemotherapeutic efficacy. Citation Format: Hannah Savage, Enrica Marmonti, Claudia Bedoya, Miriam Garcia, Keri Schadler. Exercise as a novel method of tumor vascular remodeling [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5012.
Reflective acoustic holograms for arbitrary pressure patterning and focusing

Monolithic passive holographic lenses (MPHLs) are being proposed as an alternative technology to phased array transducers (PATs) and subwavelength structured metamaterials due to their unprecedented spatial control over the sound field. These new capabilities enable precise focusing of acoustic energy or high resolution elaborate pressure patterning without the limitations associated with the aforementioned techniques. In particular, PATs and metamaterials require either an impractical high number of active elements or face fabrication limitations when operated at ultrasonic frequencies, especially underwater or inside the human body. MPHLs do not have such limitations and are being utilized in a wide range of crucial ultrasonic applications such as medical imaging and therapy, ultrasonic contactless energy transfer and nondestructive testing. In this work, we introduce a 3-D-printed metal reflective acoustic hologram. We will present the modeling and design process of such holograms as well as their capabilities for constructing single and multifocal spatial distributions of acoustic energy in a target plane. The effects of operating frequency, hologram material and propagation distance will also be highlighted. The results are verified using finite element multiphysics simulations in COMSOL as well as experimental investigations. [This work was supported by NSF Grant Nos. ECCS—1711139 and IIP-1738689, which are gratefully acknowledged.]
A coupled finite volume and material point method for two-phase simulation of liquid–sediment and gas–sediment flows

Abstract Mixtures of fluids and granular sediments play an important role in many industrial, geotechnical, and aerospace engineering problems, from waste management and transportation (liquid–sediment mixtures) to dust kick-up below helicopter rotors (gas–sediment mixtures). These mixed flows often involve bulk motion of hundreds of billions of individual sediment particles and can contain both highly turbulent regions and static, non-flowing regions. This breadth of phenomena necessitates the use of continuum simulation methods, such as the material point method (MPM), which can accurately capture these large deformations while also tracking the Lagrangian features of the flow (e.g. the granular surface, elastic stress , etc.). Recent works using two-phase MPM frameworks to simulate these mixtures have shown substantial promise; however, these approaches are hindered by the numerical limitations of MPM when simulating pure fluids. In addition to the well-known particle ringing instability and difficulty defining inflow/outflow boundary conditions, MPM has a tendency to accumulate quadrature errors as materials deform , increasing the rate of overall error growth as simulations progress. In this work, we present an improved, two-phase continuum simulation framework that uses the finite volume method (FVM) to solve the fluid phase equations of motion and MPM to solve the solid phase equations of motion, substantially reducing the effect of these errors and providing better accuracy and stability for long-duration simulations of these mixtures.
The Joint Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination and Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Infections, Hospitalizations, and Mortality: An Agent-Based Simulation

Background: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to significantly reduce transmission and morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. This modeling study simulated the comparative and joint impact of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and coverage with and without non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on total infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Methods: An agent-based simulation model was employed to estimate incident SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and deaths over 18 months for the State of North Carolina, a population of roughly 10.5 million. Vaccine efficacy of 50% and 90% and vaccine coverage of 25%, 50%, and 75% (at the end of a 6-month distribution period) were evaluated. Six vaccination scenarios were simulated with NPIs (i.e., reduced mobility, school closings, face mask usage) maintained and removed during the period of vaccine distribution. Results: In the worst-case vaccination scenario (50% efficacy and 25% coverage), 2,231,134 new SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred with NPIs removed and 799,949 infections with NPIs maintained. In contrast, in the best-case scenario (90% efficacy and 75% coverage), there were 450,575 new infections with NPIs maintained and 527,409 with NPIs removed. When NPIs were removed, lower efficacy (50%) and higher coverage (75%) reduced infection risk by a greater magnitude than higher efficacy (90%) and lower coverage (25%) compared to the worst-case scenario (absolute risk reduction 13% and 8%, respectively). Conclusion: Simulation results suggest that premature lifting of NPIs while vaccines are distributed may result in substantial increases in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Furthermore, as NPIs are removed, higher vaccination coverage with less efficacious vaccines can contribute to a larger reduction in risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to more efficacious vaccines at lower coverage. Our findings highlight the need for well-resourced and coordinated efforts to achieve high vaccine coverage and continued adherence to NPIs before many pre-pandemic activities can be resumed.
Children, Kin and Court: Designing Third Party Custody Policy to Protect Children, Third Parties and Parents

Millions of American children are primarily raised by people other than their parents, and millions more will be raised by third parties for some period of their childhood. In most such situations, informal arrangements negotiated by family members provide for these kinship networks to care for children effectively. But many cases require some formal legal arrangement. To enable third parties to obtain necessary services and benefits for children in their care whose parents are absent and to protect children from an abusive or neglectful parent, third parties need the opportunity to seek formal legal custody. States currently have widely varying means of adjudicating child custody disputes between parents and third parties. This article argues that states should enact statutes that follow three primary points. First, due to the wide range of situations, described in the article, in which a third party custody order may be necessary, states should permit a broad set of individuals to seek custody. Concerns that broad standing provisions would lead to a flood of meritless lawsuits are not borne out by actual data in states that have had nearly unlimited standing. Second, recognizing the constitutional primacy of the parent-child relationship, states must hold third parties to a high substantive standard, and require them to prove that parental custody would harm the child in some way. Any lesser standard - such as a best interests of the child standard applied in some states - insufficiently protects relationships between parents and children. Third, recognizing that the core parental right of the care, custody and control of a child is at stake, states should generally hold third parties to a clear and convincing burden of proof. Most states apply a preponderance burden or have not specified a burden. One exception should apply: When a third party has acted as a parent for a significant time and a child's birth parent has not done so, then that parent's constitutional rights are diminished, society's interest in maintaining the long-term bond between the parent and third party is enhanced, and a lower burden of proof should apply.
Prospects for Surrogate Neutron Capture Measurements with Radioactive Ion Beams and GODDESS

Neutron capture reactions are responsible for the synthesis of almost all of the elements heavier than iron through s-process and r-process nucleosynthesis. Uncertainties in (n,γ) rates on neutron-rich nuclei can have significant impact on the predictions of observed r-process abundances for different astrophysical scenarios. The (d,pγ) reaction has recently been demonstrated to be a valid surrogate for (n,γ). This reaction has been measured in inverse kinematics with Gammasphere ORRUBA: Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies (GODDESS) where the Gammasphere array of Compton-suppressed HPGe detectors is coupled to the Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array (ORRUBA) of position-sensitive silicon-strip detectors. Preliminary results from the (d,pγ) measurement with 134Xe beams are reported.
Structural Insights into Retinal Guanylate Cyclase Activator Proteins (GCAPs)

Retinal guanylate cyclases (RetGCs) promote the Ca2+-dependent synthesis of cGMP that coordinates the recovery phase of visual phototransduction in retinal rods and cones. The Ca2+-sensitive activation of RetGCs is controlled by a family of photoreceptor Ca2+ binding proteins known as guanylate cyclase activator proteins (GCAPs). The Mg2+-bound/Ca2+-free GCAPs bind to RetGCs and activate cGMP synthesis (cyclase activity) at low cytosolic Ca2+ levels in light-activated photoreceptors. By contrast, Ca2+-bound GCAPs bind to RetGCs and inactivate cyclase activity at high cytosolic Ca2+ levels found in dark-adapted photoreceptors. Mutations in both RetGCs and GCAPs that disrupt the Ca2+-dependent cyclase activity are genetically linked to various retinal diseases known as cone-rod dystrophies. In this review, I will provide an overview of the known atomic-level structures of various GCAP proteins to understand how protein dimerization and Ca2+-dependent conformational changes in GCAPs control the cyclase activity of RetGCs. This review will also summarize recent structural studies on a GCAP homolog from zebrafish (GCAP5) that binds to Fe2+ and may serve as a Fe2+ sensor in photoreceptors. The GCAP structures reveal an exposed hydrophobic surface that controls both GCAP1 dimerization and RetGC binding. This exposed site could be targeted by therapeutics designed to inhibit the GCAP1 disease mutants, which may serve to mitigate the onset of retinal cone-rod dystrophies.
Weak Interaction Physics at TwinSol

A program to investigate the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark-mixing matrix by studying super-allowed mixed mirror β decays has been initiated at the TwinSol facility at Notre Dame. These mixed Fermi/Gamow-Teller (F-GT) decays, occurring between T=1/2 isospin doublets in mirror nuclei, provide a complimentary check on the data from super-allowed pure Fermi decays from 0+ to 0+ states. The first part of the program, involving the measurement of the lifetimes of the relevant nuclei to the required accuracy of one part in 103 or better, has nearly been completed. However, the additional complication introduced by F-GT mixing requires the use of an ion trap to measure the mixing ratio ρ with similar accuracy. The lifetime measurements, as well as progress in installing an ion trap at TwinSol , will be discussed. In addition, since the ion trap will require a dedicated beam line for its operation, an opportunity presented itself to greatly improve the performance of TwinSol for reaction studies with exotic nuclei. This took the form of an added dipole switching magnet coupled to a third solenoid to form the new TriSol facility currently under construction. The expected properties of TriSol , and its application to reaction studies of interest for nuclear astrophysics, will also be discussed.
The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics

Contents: Preface Introduction PART I: ESSAYS ON THE CHICAGO SCHOOL 1. The Development of Postwar Chicago Price Theory J. Daniel Hammond 2. Chicago Economics and Institutionalism Malcolm Rutherford 3. Adam Smith and the Chicago School Steven G. Medema 4. The Economic Organization: A Reader's Guide Ross B. Emmett 5. The Chicago School of Welfare Economics H. Spencer Banzhaf 6. Chicago Monetary Traditions David Laidler 7. On the Origins of a Monetary History Hugh Rockoff 8. Chicago and Economic History, by David Mitch 9. Chicago and the Development of Twentieth-century Labor Economics Bruce E. Kaufman 10. Human Capital: A Reading Guide Pedro Nuno Teixeira 11. Chicago Law and Economics Steven G. Medema 12. Friedman, Positive Economics and the Chicago Boys Eric Schliesser 13. Neoliberalism and Chicago Robert Van Horn and Philip Mirowski 14. Armen Alchian on Evolution, Information, and Cost: The Surprising Implications of Scarcity Daniel K. Benjamin 15. The Chicago Roots of the Virginia School Gordon L. Brady PART II: SOME CHICAGO ECONOMISTS 1. Gary S. Becker Pedro Nuno Teixeira 2. Ronald Harry Coase Steven G. Medema 3. Aaron Director Robert van Horn 4. Paul H. Douglas Glen G. Cain 5. Berthold Frank Hoselitz David Mitch 6. Frank H. Knight Ross B. Emmett 7. J. Laurence Laughlin William J. Barber 8. Edward P. Lazear Morley Gunderson 9. H. Gregg Lewis Jeff E. Biddle 10. Deirdre N. McCloskey Steve T. Ziliak 11. Richard A. Posner Steven G. Medema 12. Albert Rees Orley Ashenfelter and John Pencavel 13. Margaret Gilpen Reid Evelyn Forget 14. Sherwin Rosen Hao Li 15. Henry Schultz D. Wade Hands 16. Theodore William Schultz Pedro Nuno Teixeira 17. Henry Calvert Simons Sheryl D. Kasper 18. George J. Stigler Edward Nik-Khan 19. Jacob Viner William J. Barber
Technological innovations and economic prosperity: A time series analysis

Using a univariate decomposition of per capita real GDP into its permanent trend and irregular components, the objective of this paper is to measure, rank, and compare the relative importance of the major technological innovations of the past two centuries as measured by their contribution to the growth rate of real per capita GDP. The paper uses the growth model and Beveridge and Nelson’s (1981) univariate decomposition method to measure and to compare the economic impact of random technological shocks, as measured by the average increase in real per capita GDP during sub-periods of major technological advancements.
Carbohydrate and nitrogen sources affect respectively in vitro germination of immature ovules and early seedling growth of Impatiens platypetala Lindl.

In vitro germination of 20-day old immature ovules of Impatiens platypetala Lindl. was inhibited at concentrations as low as 50 mM sucrose or mannitol and 100 mM glucose. Younger ovules (12, 14, and 16 days old) were similarly inhibited at 100 mM sucrose.
An integrated reconfigurable tuner in 45nm CMOS SOI technology

An integrated reconfigurable tuner based on a 4-mm long coplanar waveguide transmission line (CPW) loaded periodically with switched capacitors is demonstrated in a standard 45nm CMOS Silicon on insulator (SOI) technology. The tuner is designed with 10 switchable capacitors controlled by a series-in parallel-out shift register, that allows on-the-fly programming, leading to a large Smith chart coverage at 2 GHz with 1024 unique impedance points. The total area of the tuner is 4.4 x0.42 mm2 including DC and RF pads.
Do Rocks Listen

This essay attempts to show the competing cultural frameworks involved in the (e)valuation of Aboriginal work in the context of the Dreaming and development, juxtaposing Western and Belyuen ways of understanding what happens when humans act in the natural environment and their economic and politico-jural consequences. To do so, it critically opposes political-economic assumptions about the alleged divide between human subject-agents, nonintentional animal appropriators, and objects, and between cultural belief and economic-ecological reality. In this way we can begin to apprehend Aboriginal labor without aiding and abetting the state on the dispossession of Aboriginal lands and delegitimization of Aboriginal beliefs.
Magnesium Sulfate Treatment Decreases N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Binding in the Rat Brain: An Autoradiographic Study:

Objective We determined the effect of peripherally administered magnesium sulfate on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor binding capacity in various regions of the rat brain. Methods Three separate experiments were performed. 1) Six rats were injected intraperitoneally with 270 mg/kg of magnesium sulfate, followed by 27 mg/kg every 20 minutes for 4 hours; controls (n = 6) received saline. 2) Six rats received intraperitoneal injections of magnesium sulfate (270 mg/kg) every 4 hours for 24 hours, while six received saline. 3) Six rats received intraperitoneal magnesium sulfate (270 mg/kg) every 12 hours for a total of 2 weeks, and six received saline. Rats were subsequently perfused and sacrificed, and their brains were dissected, rinsed, and frozen. Cryostat sections were taken, labeled by in vitro [3H]-CGP 39653, assayed autoradiographically, and mounted on Ultrofilm for 4 weeks. Optical density measurements of binding on each section were performed using an image analyzing system. Eleven brain regions were sampled: 1, 2) frontal and occipital cortex; 3-7) hippocampus--CA-1, CA-3, stratum radiatum, stratum oriens, dentate gyrus; 8) thalamus; 9) hypothalamus; 10) caudate nucleus; and 11) cerebellum. Results The NMDA receptor binding density in the hippocampus was significantly higher than in all other brain regions in all three experiments. In experiment 1, there was no significant effect on NMDA receptor binding. However, prolonged systemic administration of magnesium sulfate for 24 hours resulted in significantly reduced [3H]-CGP binding in all brain regions sampled. After chronic magnesium sulfate administration (2 weeks), the [3H]-CGP binding was still reduced in the cortex and some regions of the hippocampus; however, there was no significant change in other regions. Conclusions Peripheral treatment with magnesium sulfate results in a significant reduction in the NMDA receptor binding capacity in the rat brain. These results support the hypothesis that magnesium central activity is mediated, at least in part, via the NMDA receptor.
The role of glycosaminoglycans in anuran pigment cell migration

The migratory pathways of neural crest-derived pigment cells were examined in two anurans, Xenopus laevis and Discoglossus pictus, and correlated with the distribution of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of these pathways. In Xenopus, melanophores in the trunk reach the dermis by initially migrating ventrally, between the neural tube and somites, and then by migrating through the somites to reach the subectodermal space. In Discoglossus, melanophores, iridophores, and xanthophores migrate laterally over the dorsal margin of the somites to reach the dermis. GAG was identified in the light microscope using alcian blue staining and in the electron microscope using ruthenium red staining. The ECM at the dorsal entrance to the lateral pathway in Xenopus and in young Discoglossus (at a stage prior to invasion by pigment cells) is filled with 25-50 nm chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan aggregates. When this ECM in Xenopus is digested in vivo with chondroitinase ABC, melanophores enter the lateral pathway. In older Discoglossus embryos, the migration of pigment cells into the lateral pathway is correlated with increases in the space between the ectoderm and somites and in the number of hyaluronate microfibrils. These observations suggest that chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan in the subectodermal ECM restricts the migration of pigment cells into the lateral pathway by limiting the amount of space for migration and possibly by acting as a less adhesive migratory substratum than the ventral pathway, and that in Discoglossus hyaluronate opens spaces permitting the migration of pigment cells directly over the dorsal margin of the somites.
Prognostic factors and the significance of cytologic grading in invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva: a clinicopathologic study.

Abstract Clinical staging, tumor size, histologic differentiation, cytologic grading, depth of stromal invasion, and vascular channel involvement by tumor cells were studied in 42 patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva who were treated with radical vulvectomy and inguinal-femoral lymphadenectomy. All parameters were found to correlate well in predicting groin node metastasis. Cytological grading was found to be more significant compared to histologic grading in regard to nodal metastasis ( P
MicroRNA biogenesis: Regulating the Regulators

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as 21-24 nucleotide guide RNAs that use partial base-pairing to recognize target messenger RNAs and repress their expression. As a large fraction of protein-coding genes are under miRNA control, production of the appropriate level of specific miRNAs at the right time and in the right place is integral to most gene regulatory pathways. MiRNA biogenesis initiates with transcription, followed by multiple processing steps to produce the mature miRNA. Every step of miRNA production is subject to regulation and disruption of these control mechanisms has been linked to numerous human diseases, where the balance between the expression of miRNAs and their targets becomes distorted. Here we review the basic steps of miRNA biogenesis and describe the various factors that control miRNA transcription, processing, and stability in animal cells. The tremendous effort put into producing the appropriate type and level of specific miRNAs underscores the critical role of these small RNAs in gene regulation.
THE PATHOGENESIS OF INFECTION WITH A VIRULENT (CG 179) AND AN AVIRULENT (B) STRAIN OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS IN THE CHICKEN I. COMPARATIVE RATES OF VIRAL MULTIPLICATION

The comparative growth rates of a virulent (CG 179) and an avirulent (B) strain of NDV in the chicken were analyzed. Following intramuscular inoculation, the CG 179 and B strains both increased at the same rate in the extraneural tissues, i.e. the blood, lung, rectum, and spleen, but the CG 179 strain showed an accelerated growth rate in the brain. The CG 179 strain also multiplied more rapidly in the brain than the B strain following intracerebral administration of minimal inocula. Recovery with the B strain was associated with a decline in virus titer, first in the circulating blood, then in the visceral organs, and lastly in the central nervous system. Certain neuropathological observations were correlated with the pattern of virus growth.
EXPERIMENTAL HYPERTENSION : THE EFFECTS OF UNILATERAL RENAL ISCHEMIA COMBINED WITH INTESTINAL ISCHEMIA ON THE ARTERIAL BLOOD PRESSURE.

Unilateral renal ischemia superimposed upon intestinal ischemia has resulted in a prolonged elevation in the arterial blood pressure in a high percentage of the animals which were studied.
Streptococcal intertrigo: an underrecognized condition in children.

Group A β-hemolytic streptococci have been implicated in a variety of common childhood cutaneous infections. Infants and young children may be particularly susceptible to a form of streptococcal intertrigo that has heretofore been underrecognized in this population. Manifesting as intense, fiery-red erythema and maceration in the intertriginous folds of the neck, axillae, or inguinal spaces, the condition is characterized by a distinctive foul odor and an absence of satellite lesions. Specific clinical features help differentiate this condition from its clinical mimics. Topical and oral antibiotic therapy with or without concomitant low-potency topical steroid application is generally curative.
Quality configurable reduce-and-rank for energy efficient approximate computing

Approximate computing is an emerging design paradigm that exploits the intrinsic ability of applications to produce acceptable outputs even when their computations are executed approximately. In this work, we explore approximate computing for a key computation pattern, Reduce-and-Rank (RnR), which is prevalent in a wide range of workloads including video processing, recognition, search and data mining. An RnR kernel performs a reduction operation (e.g., distance computation, dot product, L1-norm) between an input vector and each of a set of reference vectors, and ranks the reduction outputs to select the top reference vectors for the current input. We propose two complementary approximation strategies for the RnR computation pattern. The first is interleaved reduction-and-ranking, wherein the vector reductions are decomposed into multiple partial reductions and interleaved with the rank computation. Leveraging this transformation, we propose the use of intermediate reduction results and ranks to identify future computations that are likely to have low impact on the output, and can hence be approximated. The second strategy, input similarity based approximation, exploits the spatial or temporal correlation of inputs (e.g., pixels of an image or frames of a video) to identify computations that are amenable to approximation. These strategies address a key challenge in approximate computing — identification of which computations to approximate — and may be used to drive any approximation mechanism such as computation skipping and precision scaling to realize performance or energy improvements. A second key challenge in approximate computing is that the extent to which computations can be approximated varies significantly from application to application, and across inputs for even a single application. Hence, quality configurability, or the ability to automatically modulate the degree of approximation at runtime is essential. To enable quality configurability in RnR kernels, we propose a kernel-level quality metric that correlates well to application-level quality, and identify key parameters that can be used to tune the proposed approximation strategies dynamically. We develop a runtime framework that modulates the identified parameters during execution of RnR kernels to minimize their energy while meeting a given target quality. To evaluate the proposed concepts, we designed quality-configurable hardware implementations of 6 RnR-based applications from the recognition, mining, search and video processing application domains in 45nm technology. Our experiments demonstrate 1.06X-2.18X reduction in energy consumption with virtually no loss in output quality (<0.5%) at the application-level. The energy benefits further improve up to 2.38X and 2.5X when the quality constraints are relaxed to 2.5% and 5% respectively.
Unpalatability of viceroy butterflies (Limenitis archippus) and their purported mimicry models, Florida queens (Danaus gilippus)

Understanding the dynamics of defensive mimicry requires accurately characterizing the comparative palatability of putative models and mimics. The Florida viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus floridensis) is traditionally considered a palatable Batesian mimic of the purportedly distasteful Florida queen (Danaus gilippus berenice). I re-evaluated this established hypothesis by directly assessing palatability of viceroys and queens to red-winged blackbirds in a laboratory experiment. Representative Florida viceroys were surprisingly unpalatable to red-wings; only 40% of viceroy abdomens were entirely eaten (compared to 98% of control butterfly abdomens), and nearly one-third were immediately tasterejected after a single peck. In fact, the viceroys were significantly more unpalatable than representative Florida queens, of which 65% were eaten and 14% taste-rejected. Thus, viceroys and queens from the sampled populations exemplify Mullerian rather than Batesian mimicry, and the viceroy appears to be the stronger model. These findings prompt a reassessment of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of this classic mimicry relationship.