cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
GPU based implementation of a 64-channel polyphase channalizer

Polyphase filter bank channalizers are essential components in numerous communication systems involving signal separation and sample rate conversion. In this paper, a novel fully parallelized 64 channels polyphase channalizer has been implemented using general purposes graphic processing units (GPGPU). The implemented models have been compared with a corresponding serial implemented model. The comparison indicates that the parallel models provide a computation speed of 9–16 times faster than the serial one using Nvidia GeForce GT520M and Quadro 600 GPUs.
The Financial Crisis and Credibility of Corporate Credit Ratings

Credit ratings on certain structured finance products significantly underestimated default risk prior to the recent financial crisis. Rating agency executives acknowledge that these failures damaged the agencies’ credibility with respect to credit ratings on structured finance products. I investigate whether the agencies’ credibility with respect to corporate credit ratings also suffers as a result of the financial crisis. I document a decline in the information content of corporate credit rating changes from mid-2007 onward, accompanied by a decline in the relevance of credit ratings for debt price levels. At the same time, there is a significant increase in the information content of quarterly earnings releases. These findings are consistent with market participants placing less (more) weight on corporate ratings (accounting information) in debt pricing as corporate credit ratings are viewed as less credible in the post-crisis period. Additional tests are consistent with corporate ratings being viewed as optimistically biased as opposed to simply inaccurate. Most directly, my study provides insight as to the credibility effects of the financial crisis on the credit rating agencies. More broadly, my findings provide new empirical evidence on the relation between credit rating credibility and usage, and also inform the literature about the substitutability between corporate credit ratings and accounting information in debt pricing. ☆ I thank my dissertation chairpersons, Terry Shevlin and Mark Soliman, for their guidance and mentorship. I also appreciate the support of my other committee members, Bob Bowen, Adam Kolasinski, Dawn Matsumoto, and Ed Rice. Additional thanks to Darren Bernard, Brad Blaylock, Asher Curtis, Kristina Demek, Alex Edwards, Jared Jennings, Semi Kedia, Jennifer Koski, Todd Kravet, Sarah McVay, Shiva Rajgopal, Naomi Soderstrom (discussant), Lloyd Tanlu, Jake Thornock, and workshop participants at the University of Washington, 2012 Western AAA, 2012 AFAANZ Doctoral Symposium, and 2012 UBCOW conference. I acknowledge financial support from the Foster School of Business and the CalCPA Education Foundation. Credit ratings data were kindly provided by Standard & Poor’s. Thanks to CMA for generous assistance with their CDS data. A previous version of this paper was awarded Best PhD Paper at the 2012 AAA Western Regional Meeting. Email correspondence: edehaan@uw.edu.
The Dual Economy and Labor Market Segmentation: A Comment on Lord and Falk

A recent paper by George Lord III and William Falk, "An Exploratory Analysis of Individualist Versus Structuralist Explanations of Income," presents methodological problems that may be intrinsic to the testing of hypotheses derived from neo-Marxian analytical categories. My objections pertain as well to several other papers on the relationship between individual earnings and American industrial segmentation (e.g., Beck et al.). As Lord and Falk correctly suggest, American Marxists codified a fundamental premise of Capital, the logical tendency toward capital concentration in industry, and developed a structural representation of advanced capitalism. The resulting so-called dual economy is characterized by a monopoly sector of large, capital-intensive oligopolies; a competitive sector of smaller, more labor-intensive competing firms; and the state (Baran and Sweezy; O'Conner). With others, Lord and Falk have hypothesized that monopoly sector employment is superior in wages, benefits, and opportunities for advancement to jobs in the competitive sector, thus joining together a neo-Marxian dual economy model with a theory of labor market segmentation (see also Beck et al.; Tolbert et al.). Lord and Falk can then use NORC data on individual earnings to (1) affirm, seemingly, the existence of a two-sector economy, and (2) apparently demonstrate that structure (economic sector and class position) explains some variation in individual earnings, although less than a group of human capital variables, education, job experience, etc. The comparatively weak effect of structural variables on income was unexpected by the authors, given others' findings (Beck et al.; Bibb and Form). Among possible reasons for this result is an underlying conceptual inadequacy. I will also argue, however, that current data and sociologists' methodological preferences preclude the determination of full structural influences on earnings.
Phenylarsine oxide inhibition of endocytosis: effects on asialofetuin internalization

The aim of this work was to establish to what extent the concentrations over which phenylarsine oxide (PAO) inhibits oxygen consumption and decreases cellular ATP content overlap with those used to inhibit protein internalization. The effects of PAO (1-100 microM) on 125I-labeled asialofetuin internalization, oxygen consumption, ATP content, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) latency of isolated rat hepatocytes were determined. Ten micromoles/liter PAO blocked 125I-asialofetuin internalization but had no effect on ATP content up to 20 min, only a slight inhibition (18%) on oxygen consumption, and no effect on LDH latency. Higher concentrations of PAO had increasingly deleterious effects on the parameters. These results show that higher concentrations of PAO severely affect the energy stores as well as integrity of the hepatocyte. We concluded that 1) use of PAO requires careful evaluation of its effects in each experimental preparation and 2) it should be possible to establish time and concentration parameters for use of PAO as an inhibitor of endocytosis while minimizing the influence of its other cellular actions.
Limited predictability of postmortem human brain tissue quality by RNA integrity numbers

The RNA integrity number (RIN) is often considered to be a critical measure of the quality of postmortem human brains. However, it has been suggested that RINs do not necessarily reflect the availability of intact mRNA. Using the Agilent bioanalyzer and qRT-PCR, we explored whether RINs provide a meaningful way of assessing mRNA degradation and integrity in human brain samples by evaluating the expression of 3'-5' mRNA sequences of the cytochrome C-1 (CYC1) gene. Analysis of electropherograms showed that RINs were not consistently correlated with RNA or cDNA profiles and appeared to be poor predictors of overall cDNA quality. Cycle thresholds from qRT-PCR analysis to quantify the amount of CYC1 mRNA revealed positive correlations of RINs with amplification of full-length transcripts, despite the variable degree of linear degradation along the 3'-5' sequence. These data demonstrate that in postmortem human brain tissue the RIN is an indicator of mRNA quantity independent of degradation, but does not predict mRNA integrity, suggesting that RINs provide an incomplete measure of brain tissue quality. Quality assessment of postmortem human brains by RNA integrity numbers (RINs) may be misleading, as they do not measure intact mRNAs. We show that the RIN is an indicator of mRNA quantity independent of degradation, but does not predict mRNA integrity, suggesting that RINs provide an incomplete measure of brain tissue quality. Our results resolve controversial assumption on interpreting quality assessments of human postmortem brains by RINs.
Writing-to-Learn Assignments in Introductory Psychology Is There a Learning Benefit?

Students completed brief, ungraded writing assignments in several introductory psychology classes across two semesters. The assignments varied across classes with respect to type of assignment (reflective vs. generic writing) and choice of topics (student selected from specified list vs. assigned topics from list). Students performed significantly better on exam questions relating to the content of the writing assignments than to unrelated content. Writing benefits extended across both type of writing assignment and choice of topics. The results suggest that writing-to-learn assignments can bolster learning effects without adding undue burdens on instructors seeking to integrate writing-across-the curriculum objectives, even in larger introductory psychology courses.
Safety of Vaccine for A/H1N1 Influenza Split Virus

Objective To evaluate the safety of vaccine for A/H1N1 influenza split virus.Methods At surveillance spots,AEFI cases of A/H1N1 vaccine and seasonal influenza vaccine were collected through National Adverse Events Following Immunization(AEFI) Surveillance System.The data were analyzed with descriptive methodology.Results The incidence of reported AEFI cases of influenza A/H1N1 vaccination was 14.64/105,mainly general reactions with fever below 38.5℃.No serious adverse reactions and implementation of error accidents occurred.The incidence of AEFI cases of influenza A/H1N1 vaccination was 752.63/105,which were all general reactions and mostly fever.The incidence of AEFI cases of seasonal influenza vaccination was 203.14/105,which were also all general reactions of fever.Conclusion The incidence of influenza A/H1N1 vaccination was higher than that of seasonal influenza vaccination,mild fever as the dominating reaction.The influenza A/H1N1 vaccine was safe.
Association between intensive care unit transfer delay and hospital mortality: A multicenter investigation.

BACKGROUND Previous research investigating the impact of delayed intensive care unit (ICU) transfer on outcomes has utilized subjective criteria for defining critical illness. OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of delayed ICU transfer using the electronic Cardiac Arrest Risk Triage (eCART) score, a previously published early warning score, as an objective marker of critical illness. DESIGN Observational cohort study. SETTING Medical-surgical wards at 5 hospitals between November 2008 and January 2013. PATIENTS Ward patients. INTERVENTION None. MEASUREMENTS eCART scores were calculated for all patients. The threshold with a specificity of 95% for ICU transfer (eCART ≥ 60) denoted critical illness. A logistic regression model adjusting for age, sex, and surgical status was used to calculate the association between time to ICU transfer from first critical eCART value and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS A total of 3789 patients met the critical eCART threshold before ICU transfer, and the median time to ICU transfer was 5.4 hours. Delayed transfer (>6 hours) occurred in 46% of patients (n = 1734) and was associated with increased mortality compared to patients transferred early (33.2% vs 24.5%, P < 0.001). Each 1-hour increase in delay was associated with an adjusted 3% increase in odds of mortality (P < 0.001). In patients who survived to discharge, delayed transfer was associated with longer hospital length of stay (median 13 vs 11 days, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Delayed ICU transfer is associated with increased hospital length of stay and mortality. Use of an evidence-based early warning score, such as eCART, could lead to timely ICU transfer and reduced preventable death. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:757–762. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine
Determination of Histidine pKa Values in the Propeptides of Furin and Proprotein Convertase 1/3 Using Histidine Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry

Propeptides of proprotein convertases regulate activation of their protease domains by sensing the organellar pH within the secretory pathway. Earlier experimental work highlighted the importance of a conserved histidine residue within the propeptide of a widely studied member, furin. A subsequent evolutionary analysis found an increase in histidine content within propeptides of secreted eukaryotic proteases compared with their prokaryotic orthologs. However, furin activates in the trans-golgi network at a pH of 6.5 while a paralog, proprotein convertase 1/3, activates in secretory vesicles at a pH of 5.5. It is unclear how a conserved histidine can mediate activation at two different pH values. In this manuscript, we measured the pKa values of histidines within the propeptides of furin and proprotein convertase 1/3 using a histidine hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry approach. The high density of histidine residues combined with an abundance of basic residues provided challenges for generation of peptide ions with unique histidine residues, which were overcome by employing ETD fragmentation. During this analysis, we found slow hydrogen-deuterium exchange in residues other than histidine at basic pH. Finally, we demonstrate that the pKa of the conserved histidine in proprotein convertase 1/3 is acid-shifted compared with furin and is consistent with its lower pH of activation.
Congenital Hypertrophy of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE). Solitary and grouped CHRPE consist of a single layer of hypertrophied RPE cells packed with large round pigment granules consisting of macromelanosomes.
Lest Voting Also Become Theft A Polemic on Inequality and the Justice of Surplus Voting

Along with inequality in wealth, politics is increasingly divided between a very small percentage who can afford access and the vast majority who are effectively marginalized. In 2014, billionaire ...
Novel functions of Fanconi anemia proteins in selective autophagy and inflammation.

Loss-of-function mutations in 19 Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway genes result in a variety of clinical manifestations such as birth defects, cognitive impairment, bone marrow failure (in up to 90% of FA patients within the first two decades of life), increased cancer risk, and accelerated aging [1]. Following DNA damage, proteins of the FA pathway act in a complex cascade to repair interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), which are caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) or exposure to reactive aldehydes [2]. Although FA is a rare disease, somatic mutations or epigenetic silencing of several FA genes are found commonly in cancers in the general population (e.g. breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers). Furthermore, monoallelic germline mutations in at least five genes in the FA pathway, FANCD1/BRCA2, FANCS/BRCA1, BRIP1/FANCJ, PALB2/FANCN, and RAD51C/FANCO are associated with the development of cancer. Selective autophagy is a homeostatic “cellular housekeeping” pathway in which unwanted cytoplasmic cargos are targeted for lysosomal destruction. We discovered that Fanconi anemia genes represent a new class of selective autophagy factors [3, 4]. Our findings may help to explain some of the pathophysiological features of FA, particularly in regard to “environmental factors” [1] that modulate FA disease progression, and may lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets for FA. We found that, while Fancc is dispensable for starvation-induced general macroautophagy, it is required for virophagy of two genetically unrelated neuronotropic viruses, Sindbis virus and herpes simplex virus type 1, and for host defense in vivo against lethal CNS infection with these viruses. FANCC is also required for Parkin-mediated mitophagy in vitro and for mitochondrial quality control in vivo. Thus, FANCC is required for two distinct forms of selective autophagy: virophagy and mitophagy (Figure 1). Rather than playing an indirect role in selective autophagy, FANCC is likely to function as an adaptor protein in both virophagy and mitophagy. FANCC is contained within membrane-bound autophagolysosomal structures together with Sindbis viral nucleocapsids and (similar to previously identified virophagy factors p62 [5] and SMURF1 [4]) FANCC interacts biochemically with Sindbis virus capsid protein. FANCC also interacts biochemically with Parkin and colocalizes with damaged mitochondria in a Parkin-dependent manner. Thus, Editorial
Expression of survivin in canine mammary tumor

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 792 Canine mammary tumor is the commonest tumor in female dogs and a good animal model of human breast cancer. It is challenging for clinicians and pathologists because of complex histological classification and unpredictable biological behavior. Basic and translational researchers in cancer biology have converged on survivin , member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP), as a pivotal cancer gene, not simply for its sharp expression in tumors and not in normal tissues, but also for the potential exploitation of this pathway in cancer diagnosis and therapy. The objective of this study was to elucidate the expression of survivin in canine mammary tumors. Histological examination and classification of spontaneous mammary tumors from dogs (190 female and 1 male) was performed on H&E-stained sections according to WHO guidelines. In this study, we have analyzed the expression of survivin, α-SMA, vimentin and cytokeratin AE1/AE3 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples of mammary tumors of the dog by using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex immunohistochemical technique. The immunohistochemical finding implicate the expression of survivin in canine mammary tumor and interestingly, this is the first report to show the expression of survivin in canine mammary tumor. The deposition of α-SMA occurs within the stroma and myoepithelial cells of a majority of mammary tumor types. Our results demonstrate the distinct expression and localization of survivin may render further hints to diagnosis, evaluate the stages of the tumor and therapy.
Measuring the Health Literacy of the Upper Midwest

Objectives: Health literacy—the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information—is a major determinant of an individual’s overall health and health care utilization. In this project, the authors examined predictors of health literacy levels, including numeracy and graphic literacy, among an adult population in the Upper Midwest. Methods: The research was conducted at the Minnesota State Fair. Three previously validated scales were used to assess health literacy: Newest Vital Sign, the General Health Numeracy Test, and questions from Galesic and Garcia-Retamero’s Graph Literacy Scale. Demographic information—such as age, educational attainment, zip code, and other potential predictors and modifiers—was collected. Multivariate linear regression was conducted to examine the independent effects of educational attainment, race, ethnicity, gender, and rural or urban location on overall health literacy and scores on each of the individual instruments. Results: A total of 353 Upper Midwest residents completed the survey, with the majority being white, college-educated, and from an urban area. Having a graduate or professional degree or being under the age of 21 were associated with increased health literacy scores, while having a high school diploma or some high school education, being Asian American, or being American Indian/Alaska Native were associated with lower health literacy scores. Conclusion: Advanced health literacy skills, including the ability to calculate and compare information, were problematic even in well-educated populations. Understanding numerical and graphical information was found to be particularly difficult, and more research is needed to understand these deficits and how best to address them.
Regional Therapy for Peritoneal Surface Malignancy

Carcinomatosis has been in the past a universally fatal manifestation of gastrointestinal cancer. It has also carried a nearly lethal prognosis in ovarian cancer. It remains the major site of treatment failure with these diseases. A review of the natural history of carcinomatosis from the world literature was undertaken. The rationale, technology, and results of treatment using peritonectomy and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy represents an essential part of the treatment. Small-volume residual disease must be treatedby chemotherapy and hyperthermia. To apply these treatments properly, selection of patients using prognostic indicators is necessary. The results of treating patients who have peritoneal mesothelioma, pseudomyxoma peritonei, and carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer indicate that progress in the curative management of carcinomatosis has been made. Peritoneal surface dissemination of cancer can no longer be equated with a terminal condition. A multidisciplinary approach to treatment employing surgery and regional chemotherapy has created a new standard of care for this pattern of cancer dissemination.
Event detection on large social media using temporal analysis

Social media networks are now considered as one of the major news channels that breaks news as they fold. The problem of event detection based on social media has attracted researchers' attention recently because of the enormous popularity of social media. Existing approaches focus on features that don't reflect full characteristics of the social network. For the purpose of this research, we define an event as an occurrence that has enough force and momentum that could create an observable change of the context of a social network. Such a definition provides us with a wider perspective through which we can view the big picture of the social network. In this research, we propose a novel framework for detecting events on social media. We introduce a temporal approach to detect structural change of the social network that reflects an occurrence of an event using machine learning algorithms. In this study, we show that processing temporal social networks captures the complete complexity of the social network, which results in a higher accuracy of event detection.
A geriatrics curriculum for emergency medicine training programs.

The growing numbr of elderly in the United States will continue to increase the demand for emergency services. Although the emergency medicine core curriculum, as defined by the American College of Emergency Physicians, requires mandatory training in pediatrics, there is no mention of geriatric care. A special body of knowledge regarding normal aging as well as the special presentation of disease in the elderly is required to provide optimum care for the aged patient. We present an integrated geriatric curriculum designed to operate within a three-year emergency medicine residency program. This curriculum identifies specific educational objectives for training in geriatric emergencies that can be summarized as follows: identity those impaimrnets and functional disorders that often complicate diagnosis and therapy; acquire on understanding of how physiologic changes in aging affect normal laboratory and radiologic values; develop knowledge of drug side effects and interactions in this population; understand and treat the group of disease peculiar to the elderly; recognize diseases and injuries that present a different clinical picture in old age; and differentiate and treat common psychosocial emergencies in the elderly. These educational objectives are further defined using a specific interlinked framework of didactic presentations, journal clubs, case conferences, therapeutic audits, formal rotations, and consultants. This format will provide valuable educational experiences for the emergency medicine resident and may strengthen positive attitudes toward geriatric medicine.
The Role of Compositional Tuning of the Distributed Exchange on Magnetocaloric Properties of High-Entropy Alloys

This paper explores the FeCoNiCuMn high-entropy alloy system, where small departures from equiatomic composition have yielded technologically interesting 300-K Curie temperatures ( $$T_{\mathrm{c}}$$ ), making them promising for magnetocaloric applications. We also demonstrate that the small deviations from equiatomic compositions do not affect the structural stability of our single-phase fcc-based solid solutions. Room-temperature Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements provide evidence for the distributed exchange interactions ( $$J_{\mathrm{ex}}$$ ) occurring between the magnetic elements, which contribute to a broadened magnetocaloric effect observed for these alloys. The average hyperfine field observed in the Mossbauer spectra decreases as the $$T_{\mathrm{c}}$$ of the alloys decrease, confirming direct current magnetic measurements. Multiple peaks in the hyperfine field distribution are interpreted considering pairwise ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic $$J_{\mathrm{ex}}$$ between all elements except the Cu diluent as contributing to overall magnetic exchange in the alloy.
Integrated resort: A review of research and directions for future study

Abstract Recently, there is increasing interest in integrated resort based destination which is a converged location for both gaming and non-gaming travel services including lodging, eating and drinking places, entertainment, retail, and convention targeted for large market segments. This paper reviews a content analysis of integrated resort papers published in the hospitality and tourism literature over the past 26 years (1991–2017). Based on a detailed examination of the contents, a database consisting of information on (1) study expansion, (2) study locations, (3) major subject domains, and (4) research methodology was developed. A series of trends that describe the growth of integrated resort research has been identified. The findings provide the first thematic overview of the integrated resort industry derived from literature. General and academic interests are discussed, along with limitations and suggested areas for future research.
Low-temperature ammonia decomposition catalysts for hydrogen generation

Abstract Catalytic decomposition of ammonia with complete conversion for generating hydrogen at low temperature (
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction! An Examination of Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Staff–Inmate Boundary Violations and Willingness to Follow Institutional Rules within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

ABSTRACTMost correctional officers adhere to strong organizational norms that emphasize the importance of following rules. Some, however, break the custodial frame and behave inappropriately with i...
Optimize cloud computations using edge computing

The IoT devices captures data and sends it to Cloud for computation but data transfer process from IoT device to Cloud can take lot of time if volume of data is large. Therefore, it makes sense to process captured data locally at IoT edge node to avoid latency. In Edge Computing, the Gateway stores data and perform computations along with traffic aggregation and routing. While Edge analytics allows pre-processing and filtering of the data closer to where it's being created but the data which falls within normal range can be stored in low cost IoT storage and abnormal readings will be sent to Data Lake or in-memory database. Edge Computing will boost traditional Cloud computing model with service nodes placed at the network edges. It will help traditional data center cloud models by reducing latency and increased bandwidth. In future computation and data processing power will slowly shift towards edge devices like sensors, drones, driverless cars etc. Playing augmented reality, 3D video games, content-based video analysis is a challenge on mobile phone due to limited processing power and battery life. Realtime analysis of massive sensor data is needed in industries like manufacturing, mining, transportation to detect anomalies and send alerts. Therefore, Edge Computing and Cloud computing are likely to follow more of a hybrid approach and complement each other. This paper talks about Edge computing architecture, computational offloading approaches, Edge Computing challenges and benefits etc.
Symptom distress in cardiac transplant candidates.

OBJECTIVE To examine symptom frequency and distress in heart transplant candidates. DESIGN Prospective, two-site study with a correlational design. SETTING Large Midwestern and large Southern medical center. SAMPLE Convenience sample of 175 adult patients (mean age 52 years, 85% men) awaiting heart transplantation. Fifty percent of the patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy and 47% had dilated cardiomyopathy. INSTRUMENTS The Heart Transplant Symptom Checklist (Grady, Jalowiec, & Grusk, 1988), a 92-item self-administered instrument that measures how much patients are bothered by symptoms on a four-point rating scale, was developed by the research team for the study. Cronbach alpha reliability for the total scale was 0.95. RESULTS The most frequent and distressing symptoms for patients awaiting heart transplantation were tiredness, difficulty breathing when walking or doing something, difficulty sleeping, and weakness in the whole body. Patients who had more symptom distress were unable to work. Higher symptom distress correlated significantly with higher stress, less life satisfaction, lower quality of life, and more functional disability. SUMMARY Heart transplant candidates experience symptoms that may affect their ability to work and are associated with more functional disability and lower quality of life. IMPLICATIONS Identification of the most frequent and distressing symptoms helps nurses and other health care providers to better assess and intervene with patients who are heart transplant candidates.
Improved Chemotherapy in Disseminated Testicular Cancer

AbstractTwo combination chemotherapy regimens for disseminated testicular cancer are described. Our present regimen of platinum vinblastine and bleomycin has been highly successful, producing 16 complete (80 per cent) and 4 partial (20 per cent) remissions. Furthermore, 2 patients have been rendered free of disease by the surgical removal of residual disease, making the effective complete remission rate in these 20 patients 90 per cent. Of these patients 16 are alive and 14 are free of disease for more than 8 to more than 20 months. Despite the significant toxicity during the first 12 weeks of this therapeutic regimen it usually was manageable and maintenance therapy produced minimal toxicity. We believe that this regimen is a major advance in the management of patients with disseminated testicular cancer.
Aligning animal models with clinical epilepsy: where to begin?

Treatment of the epilepsies have benefitted immensely from study of animal models, most notably in the development of diverse anti-seizure medications in current clinical use. However, available drugs provide only symptomatic relief from seizures and are often ineffective. As a result, a critical need remains for developing improved symptomatic or disease-modifying therapies – or ideally, preventive therapies. Animal models will undoubtedly play a central role in such efforts. To ensure success moving forward, a critical question arises, namely “How does one make laboratory models relevant to our clinical understanding and treatment?” Our answer to this question: It all begins with a detailed understanding of the clinical phenotype one seeks to model. To make our case, we point to two examples – Fragile X syndrome and status epilepticus-induced mesial temporal lobe epilepsy – and examine how development of animal models for these distinct syndromes is based upon observations by astute clinicians and systematic study of the disorder. We conclude that the continuous and effective interaction of skilled clinicians and bench scientists is critical to the optimal design and study of animal models to facilitate insight into the nature of human disorders and enhance likelihood of improved therapies.
Investigating bio-rejuvenation mechanisms in asphalt binder via laboratory experiments and molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract Oxidative aging can have a detrimental impact on the asphalt binder’s thermo-mechanical properties and consequently the performance of the pavement. This paper investigates effects of three modifiers (one petroleum-based and two bio-based) on thermo-mechanical properties of an oxidized asphalt binder. Rheological tests and chemical characterization analyses were performed to examine whether oxidized asphalt binder properties could be restored. Accordingly, physiochemical and rheological characteristics of oxidized and rejuvenated asphalt binder were examined via a combined experimental and modeling approach. The effect of rejuvenators was evidenced by the rejuvenators’ ability to successfully reduce large molecular size ratio of asphalt that was increased due to oxidation. Moreover, colloidal stability evaluation showed that rejuvenators were effective in improving the stability of the asphalt matrix, which was disturbed due to oxidation. Study of intermolecular interactions using molecular dynamics simulation further showed that amide groups in bio-rejuvenators interact with asphaltene molecules increasing the stacking distance of asphaltene dimers while changing their conformational packing. This, in turn, may explain some of the observed improvements in rheological properties. Experimental results showed that the rejuvenators were effective in restoring oxidized asphalt’s thermo-mechanical properties as reflected in the reduction of viscosity and stiffness as well as an increase of stress relaxation capacity and fracture energy.
Design and Calibration of a Portable 24-GHz 3-D MIMO FMCW Radar with a Non-uniformly Spaced Array and RF Front-End Coexisting on the Same PCB Layer

This paper presents a portable 24-GHz multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar with 16 transmit (Tx) channels and 16 receive (Rx) channels. The radar is intended for short-range localization and three-dimensional (3-D) imaging by detecting the ranges, azimuth angles, and zenith angles of targets in front of the radar. The radar is capable of two-dimensional (2-D) beamforming achieved using a non-uniformly spaced planar array. A prototype of this 16×16 radar has been built to demonstrate its short-range localization capability.
Hair Harassment in Urban Schools and How It Shapes the Physical Activity of Black Adolescent Girls

Hair harassment can be defined as the direct or indirect unwanted, unwelcomed, and offensive behavior made either explicitly or implicitly typically towards women or girls of African descent, based on the texture, look, or subjective assumptions of their hair. The purpose of this investigation is to explore the hair experiences of adolescent girls of African descent in physical education class, and how these experiences shape their decision to participate in physical education class. Thirty-seven adolescent girls of African descent attending school in an urban, low-income community participated in focus groups and follow-up interviews relating to hair experiences. Strong themes of hair harassment emerged occurring socially via peers, physical touching of hair, and verbal comments regarding their hair during physical education class, and society-imposed harassment stemming from pressures to constantly have straight or neatly styled, non-sweaty hair. During the stage of adolescence, girls are exploring their identity and making decisions about who they will be, how they should look, and behave. Findings from this study suggests harassment and bullying policies in schools should extend to include hair harassment for its propensity to influence the self-image of girls and their decisions to participate in physical education class.
Room-temperature spin-to-charge conversion in sputtered bismuth selenide thin films via spin pumping from yttrium iron garnet

We investigated spin-to-charge current conversion in sputtered Y3Fe5O12 (YIG)/granular bismuth selenide (GBS) bi-layers at room temperature. The spin current is pumped to the GBS layer by the precession of magnetization at ferromagnetic resonance in the YIG layer. The spin-mixing conductance is determined to be as large as (13.64 ± 1.32) × 1018 m−2, which is larger than that of YIG/Pt and comparable or better than that of YIG/crystalline bismuth selenide indicating that GBS is a good spin-sink. The figure of merit of spin-to-charge conversion, the inverse Edelstein effect length ( λIEE), is estimated to be as large as (0.11 ± 0.03) nm. λIEE shows GBS film thickness dependence, and its value is three times as large as in crystalline bismuth selenide. The λIEE value larger than that of crystalline bismuth selenide and other topological insulators indicates that the spin-to-charge conversion is due to the spin-momentum locking. As the thickness of GBS increases, λIEE decreases, which means the figure-of-merit of spin-to-charge conversion is influenced by grain size.
Misperceiving Mechanisms: Imperfect Perception and the Failure to Recognize Dominant Strategies

Because of cognitive constraints, individuals may not perfectly perceive a mechanism's payoff structure, and thus may not realize that the mechanism they face has a dominant strategy. We study the link between misperception of mechanisms and the use of dominant strategies by applying standard techniques from the literatures on imperfect perception, rational attention, and contingent thinking to a widely-used single agent mechanism. For this mechanism, we provide a novel Bayesian model of limited game form recognition and contingent thinking, and by taking this model to experimental data, we find that misperception of this mechanism appears to respond in line with the incentives to perceive the mechanism better.
The Laplace transform

Abstract The Laplace transform and its inverse are introduced and applied to linear differential equations and systems of linear equations. Transforms of discontinuous functions and impulse functions are treated, as is the convolution of two functions. Finally, there is a discussion of linear equations with variable coefficients.
Dutch disease and the oil boom and bust

This paper examines the impact of the oil price boom in the 1970s and the subsequent bust on non-oil economic activity in oil-dependent countries. During the boom, manufacturing exports and output increased significantly relative to non-oil countries. These measures decreased gradually during the bust and subsequent period of low prices, displaying a positive relationship with oil prices. However, exports of agricultural products sharply decreased during the boom. Imports of all types of goods displayed strong pro-cyclicality with respect to oil prices. The results suggest that increased local demand and investment spillovers from the windfall resulted in increased manufacturing activity.
Hardware Considerations in Ultra High Field MRI

Ultra high field MRI systems present a number of unique challenges to the system designer and integrator beyond simply scaling up the performance of a lower field system. The primary areas of concern are the magnet, gradient coils and drivers, and RF coils and coil interface. The art of system integration lies in identifying sufficiently clear performance targets for each of the subsystems and ensuring that those targets are met in a way that preserves the overall performance of the system. The following discussion identifies for each of these areas the key performance requirements that are changed at higher field strengths, methods to address those requirements, and how those methods affect the rest of the system. As this is an area of ongoing research and development, many of the specific solutions presented here are likely to be superseded in the future, but the general approach to the problem should remain valid. While a complete description of every aspect of system design and integration of UHFMRI systems is beyond the scope of this chapter, the following is intended to provide practical guidance in addressing the more common problems in siting or operating a UHFMRI system.
International Protection of Human Rights

Few things are as important to international peace and stability as respect for human rights. When the basic rights and freedoms of a people are repeatedly violated, they eventually feel compelled to rise against their oppressors, choosing violence and possible death to an existence which denies their very humanity. In an interdependent world, denial of human rights and the resulting possibility of revolt have international repercussions.
Reliable and Efficient Computation of Optical Flow

In this paper, we present two very efficient and accurate algorithms for computing optical flow. The first is a modified gradient-based regularization method, and the other is an SSD-based regularization method. For the gradient-based method, to amend the errors in the discrete image flow equation caused by numerical differentiation as well as temporal and spatial aliasing in the brightness function, we propose to selectively combine the image flow constraint and a contour-based flow constraint into the data constraint by using a reliability measure. Each data constraint is appropriately normalized to obtain an approximate minimum distance (of the data point to the linear flow equation) constraint instead of the conventional linear flow constraint. These modifications lead to robust and accurate optical flow estimation. We propose an incomplete Cholesky preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm to solve the resulting large and sparse linear system efficiently. Our SSD-based regularization method uses a normalized SSD measure (based on a similar reasoning as in the gradient-based scheme) as the data constraint in a regularization framework. The nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm in conjunction with an incomplete Cholesky preconditioning is developed to solve the resulting nonlinear minimization problem. Experimental results on synthetic and real image sequences for these two algorithms are given to demonstrate their performance in comparison with competing methods reported in literature.
A Tale of Two Davids: Commentary on David Weisbach's "Implementing Income and Consumption Taxes: An Essay in Honor of David Bradford"

This brief commentary on David Weisbach's essay (available on ssrn at http://ssrn.com/abstract=911604) first identifies Weisbach's contribution as stating an Equivalence Theorem: putting aside matters affecting the taxation of the pure riskless rate of return, any method of implementing an income tax has an equivalent consumption tax implementation method, and vice versa. Stated thus, the Theorem, like the Coase Theorem, follows from definitions: if the only real difference between an income tax and a consumption tax is the taxation of the pure, riskless rate of return, then there are no other differences between income and consumption taxes. But this is not to say that Wesibach's formulation of the idea is not interesting and important, like Coase's theorem. Weisbach illustrates the Equivalence Theorem with four major areas of implementation detail: cash method versus basis accounting; individual versus business level remission of taxes; open versus closed transactional accounting systems; and international coordination mechanisms. After reviewing this briefly, the Commentary goes on to situate the Equivalence Theorem in a wider intellectual history of the analytics of tax, noting four "waves" in the understanding of broad-based income versus consumption taxes, in which David Bradford played a central role; to comment on the normative implications of the analytics of tax; and, finally, to note what is, and what is not, at stake in understanding equivalent "implantation methods." The Commentary concludes by asking for more work in the spirit and manner of both Davids, Weisbach and Bradford.
Interaction between Atoms and Quantized Fields

In Chaps. 1 – 11, we consider the interactions of atoms with optical fields in the semiclassical approximation, a treatment which gives good agreement with many experiments. Nevertheless several significant experiments show strong disagreements with such semiclassical theories. The present Chapter treats the atom-field interaction fully quantum mechanically, providing a basic understanding of spontaneous emission and laying the foundations for the treatment of more advanced problems in quantum optics such as resonance fluorescence, squeezed states and the laser linewidth that are developed in the remaining chapters in the book. Basically all we need to do in laying the foundations for these treatments is to combine the knowledge we have gained from the semiclassical theory of the atom-field interactions with the quantized field treatment of Chap. 12.
Correcting for Sample Contamination in Genotype Calling of DNA Sequence Data

DNA sample contamination is a frequent problem in DNA sequencing studies and can result in genotyping errors and reduced power for association testing. We recently described methods to identify within-species DNA sample contamination based on sequencing read data, showed that our methods can reliably detect and estimate contamination levels as low as 1%, and suggested strategies to identify and remove contaminated samples from sequencing studies. Here we propose methods to model contamination during genotype calling as an alternative to removal of contaminated samples from further analyses. We compare our contamination-adjusted calls to calls that ignore contamination and to calls based on uncontaminated data. We demonstrate that, for moderate contamination levels (5%–20%), contamination-adjusted calls eliminate 48%–77% of the genotyping errors. For lower levels of contamination, our contamination correction methods produce genotypes nearly as accurate as those based on uncontaminated data. Our contamination correction methods are useful generally, but are particularly helpful for sample contamination levels from 2% to 20%.
Lattice Path Enumeration and Umbral Calculus

The Umbral Calculus is an excellent tool for solving systems of difference equations with given initial values. Many lattice path enumeration problems can be formulated as such systems. Examples are paths underneath a boundary of straight lines, path inside a diagonal band, weighted paths, paths with several step directions, and paths crossing some line a given number of times.
Estrogen Protects against Obesity-Induced Mammary Gland Inflammation in Mice

Obesity is a risk factor for the development of hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Obesity causes subclinical inflammation in white adipose tissue (WAT), characterized by macrophages surrounding dead or dying adipocytes forming crown-like structures (CLS). Estrogen synthesis is catalyzed by aromatase. Previously, we demonstrated CLS and elevated levels of proinflammatory mediators and aromatase in the mammary glands of obese mice and breast tissue of obese women. Here, we tested the hypothesis that supplemental estrogen could prevent or reverse WAT inflammation (WATi) and related molecular changes in the mammary gland. C57BL/6J mice were ovariectomized (OVX) to simulate the postmenopausal state. Supplementation with 17β-estradiol (E2) protected against high fat diet (HFD)-induced weight gain and mammary glands WATi. Expression of proinflammatory mediators (Cox-2, TNFα, IL1β) and aromatase were also reduced in the mammary glands of mice that received supplemental E2. Next, to determine whether E2 supplementation can reverse WATi, obese OVX mice were treated with E2 or placebo and then continued on HFD. E2 supplementation induced weight loss, reversed mammary gland inflammation, and downregulated expression of proinflammatory mediators and aromatase. Finally, we determined whether the protective effects of E2 were mediated by estrogen receptor-α (ERα). Knocking out ERα in ovary intact mice fed a HFD led to weight gain, WATi and elevated levels of proinflammatory mediators and aromatase mimicking the effects of OVX. Taken together, our findings indicate that estrogen via ERα protects against weight gain, WATi and associated increases in proinflammatory mediators and aromatase in the mammary gland.