cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decoding semantic representations from functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals.

This study uses representational similarity-based neural decoding to test whether semantic information elicited by words and pictures is encoded in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data. In experiment 1, subjects passively viewed eight audiovisual word and picture stimuli for 15 min. Blood oxygen levels were measured using the Hitachi ETG-4000 fNIRS system with a posterior array over the occipital lobe and a left lateral array over the temporal lobe. Each participant's response patterns were abstracted to representational similarity space and compared to the group average (excluding that subject, i.e., leave-one-out cross-validation) and to a distributional model of semantic representation. Mean accuracy for both decoding tasks significantly exceeded chance. In experiment 2, we compared three group-level models by averaging the similarity structures from sets of eight participants in each group. In these models, the posterior array was accurately decoded by the semantic model, while the lateral array was accurately decoded in the between-groups comparison. Our findings indicate that semantic representations are encoded in the fNIRS data, preserved across subjects, and decodable by an extrinsic representational model. These results are the first attempt to link the functional response pattern measured by fNIRS to higher-level representations of how words are related to each other.
John Heartfield’s Communism: A Review of Revolutionary Beauty: The Radical Photomontages of John Heartfield by Sabine T. Kriebel

Sabine T. Kriebel’s Revolutionary Beauty is the most thorough study to date of the Communist photomontage artist John Heartfield’s work for the Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung ( AIZ ) in the late 1920s and 1930s. Kriebel analyses Heartfield’s production through the frame of ‘suture’, a concept she derives from film theory. She argues that Heartfield’s work at once stimulated collective solidarity at the same time as it cultivated habits of visual suspicion and active political thinking in ways that may not have always coincided with official Communist aesthetic doctrine. Although Kriebel’s approach yields many valuable insights, there is nonetheless a danger that her theory of subject-formation may preclude a more critical understanding of representative politics as a form of mediation.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and infection risk in the era of targeted therapies: Linking mechanisms with infections

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia in the world. Patient with CLL are at particular risk for infections due to inherent disease-related immune dysfunction in addition to the effect of certain systemic therapies on the immune system. The advent of B-cell receptor (BCR) inhibitors such as ibrutinib and idelalisib has led to a practice change that utilizes these targeted agents in the treatment of CLL, either in place of chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) or in later line settings. In this paper, we review the pathophysiology of immune dysfunction in CLL, the spectrum of immunodeficiency with the various therapeutic agents along with prevention strategies with a focus on targeted therapies.
Asymptotically exact codimension-four dynamics and bifurcations in two-dimensional thermosolutal convection at high thermal Rayleigh number: Chaos from a quasi-periodic homoclinic explosion and quasi-periodic intermittency

Abstract Using a perturbation method, we solve asymptotically the nonlinear partial differential equations that govern double-diffusive convection (with heat and solute diffusing) in a two-dimensional rectangular domain near a critical point in parameter space where the linearized operator has a quadruple-zero eigenvalue. The asymptotic solution near this codimension-four point is found to depend on two slow-time-dependent amplitudes governed by two nonlinearly-coupled Van der Pol–Duffing equations. Through numerical approximation of the 3-dimensional Poincare map in the four-dimensional state space of the amplitude equations, we detect and analyze the bifurcations of the amplitude equations as the thermal Rayleigh number, R T , is increased (for R S ≪ R T , the solute Rayleigh number) with all other parameters fixed. The bifurcations observed include: Hopf, pitchfork and Neimark–Sacker bifurcations of limit cycles, symmetric and asymmetric saddle–node bifurcations of 2-tori, and reverse torus-doubling cascades. In addition, chaotic solutions are found numerically to emerge via two different types of routes: (1) a route involving a homoclinic explosion in the Poincare map and; (2) type-I intermittency routes near saddle–node bifurcations of 2-tori. The homoclinic explosion occurs when two unstable 2-tori form homoclinic connections with a saddle limit cycle, thereby creating a homoclinic butterfly in the Poincare map that leads to a discrete Lorenz-like attractor.
Graduates of internships and coordinated undergraduate programs—do differences exist?

Two principal routes have existed for several years for gaining credentials for dietetic practice, the dietetic internship and the coordinated program. However, com parative evaluations of the effectiveness of these programs in preparing entry-level practitioners have been limited. In this study, adequacy of educational preparation and performance of dietetic internship and coordinated program graduates was assessed at entry level and after one year of practice, using graduates' self-ratings and supervisors' evaluations. The majority of graduates who were employed in dietetic practice held clinical positions in hospitals or university medical centers. Educational preparation and level of performance of all graduates were considered to be adequate, indicating that both types of programs are preparing knowledgeable and competent entry-level practitioners. Although differences on competency measures were not reflected at entry level, intern graduates scored significantly higher than graduates of coordinated programs on administrative and clinical competencies after one year of practice. Also, at entry level and after one year, those completing internships were rated higher on two performance style measures: initiative/self-assurance and dependability. In general, supervisors' ratings tended to be higher than graduates' self-ratings.
Konvexität in nichtlinearen Optimierungsproblemen

Fur eine wesentliche Erleichterung der Theorie und fur eine enorme Ausweitung der Losungsund Berechnungsfahigkeit ist gesorgt, wenn die Zusatzeigenschaft Konvexitat gegeben ist.
Binding studies based on ultrafast affinity extraction and single- or two-column systems: Interactions of second- and third-generation sulfonylurea drugs with normal or glycated human serum albumin.

Abstract Ultrafast affinity extraction was evaluated and used with microcolumns containing human serum albumin (HSA) to measure the global affinity constants and dissociation rate constants for several second- and third-generation sulfonylurea drugs with solution-phase normal HSA or glycated HSA. Glibenclamide, glimepiride and glipizide were used as model drugs for this work. Both single- and two-column systems were considered for the analysis of global affinities for the model drugs. These methods were optimized with respect to the flow rates, column sizes and sample residence times that were employed with each drug for ultrafast affinity extraction. Data acquired with single-column systems were further utilized to estimate the dissociation rate constants for normal HSA and glycated HSA with the given drugs. The binding constants obtained by the single- and two-column systems showed good agreement with each other and with values obtained from the literature. Use of a single-column system indicated that levels of glycation found in controlled or advanced diabetes resulted in a 18–44% decrease in the overall binding strength of the model drugs with HSA. Although the two-column system allowed work with smaller free drug fractions and clinically-relevant drug/protein concentrations, the single-column system required less protein, provided better precision, and was easier to use in binding studies.
Searching for character and the role of schools

ABSTRACTDespite a resurgence of interest in character education, just what ‘character’ means is contested. Two strands, while overlapping, diverge on several questions: Is character centrally about moral qualities or more inclusive? Does it consist of one or multiple traits? Does it regard virtue as independently or instrumentally good? Is character a set of dispositions or behaviors? Is it a matter of reflection and reason or habits and skills? Those aligned with the first part of each dichotomy I label purists, the second reformists. In Parts I and II the two perspectives are detailed. While some advocate merging the two camps, as reviewed in Part III, I objection to this proposal. Such a marriage blurs key distinctions and obscures the centrality of morality to character. It also questionably enlarges the role of schools. The conclusion reached is that the role of schools in teaching character is limited.
Do ultraviolet photos increase sun safe behavior expectations via fear? A randomized controlled trial in a sample of U.S. adults.

Ultraviolet (UV) photos reveal the world in a different light spectrum, including damage that is caused by UV light. In the context of skin cancer control, UV photos have the potential to communicate fear because they reveal underlying skin damage. U.S. adults (N = 2219) were assigned to a 5 (visual: UV skin damage, sun exposure, sunburn, photoaging, and mole removal) × 3 (replication: three examples of each visual condition) × 4 (efficacy: no efficacy, text only, visual, visual + text) randomized controlled trial. Compared to all other visual conditions combined, UV skin damage visuals generated greater fear which triggered increased sun safe behavior expectations. Compared with other visual conditions separately, only mole removal visuals produced equivalent fear as UV skin damage visuals. Visual efficacy conditions appeared to nullify rather than magnify the indirect path through fear. The results suggest one way UV images impact sun safe behavioral expectations is via fear and that researchers should continue to examine the position of fear in fear appeal theories.
Risk analysis

In this chapter, we discuss both quantitative and qualitative aspects of data mining, as a process for uncovering information related to risk exposure buried in large amounts of data, and its exploitation for enterprise benefit. Section 1 introduces a general foundation for the application of data mining in a risk setting. Section 2 offers some typical business problems data mining can help address. Section 3 suggests potential uses of company internal and external information in the data mining/risk analysis process. Sections 4 and 5 delve into a more technical discussion on data mining methods, tools, and applications. Finally, we focus on the most important and challenging task in data mining--implementation of results--in Section 6.
Factoring a Homography to Analyze Projective Distortion

We present an algorithm in homogeneous coordinates for factoring a homography $$\mathbf{h}$$ on $$\mathbb {R}P^2$$ as $$\mathbf{h}=\mathbf{p}\circ \mathbf{s}$$ , where $$\mathbf{p}$$ is a perspective collineation and $$\mathbf{s}$$ is a similarity. We use the factorization to derive a function that measures the local projective distortion of a non-affine homography $$\mathbf{h}$$ at ordinary points of $$\mathbb {R}P^2$$ , and discover interesting geometric structures associated with $$\mathbf{h}$$ , somewhat like the centers and axes of perspective collineations. These results reveal infinite families of circle pairs, and neighborhoods of certain points associated with $$\mathbf{h}$$ , that give the appearance of suffering no projective distortion, even though $$\mathbf{h}$$ is not a similarity. In fact, when the factor $$\mathbf{p}$$ is a perspective collineation, every non-empty subset $$\mathcal{S}$$ of $$\mathbb {R}P^2$$ has an “ $$\mathbf{h}$$ -conjugate” set $$\mathcal{S}^*$$ such that $$\mathbf{h}(\mathcal{S}\cup \mathcal{S}^*)=\mathbf{s}(\mathcal{S}\cup \mathcal{S}^*)$$ , even though $$\mathbf{h}$$ and $$\mathbf{s}$$ do not agree on $$\mathcal{S}\cup \mathcal{S}^*$$ . We include examples from photography as well as connections to Apollonian circles, Mobius transformations and stereographic projections.
Fine-Tuning the Color Hue of π-Conjugated Black-to-Clear Electrochromic Random Copolymers

A family of dioxythiophene (DOT)-based conjugated random copolymers, capable of reversibly switching between a neutral black and an oxidized transmissive state, are reported for electrochromic (EC) applications. By replacing 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) in the previous generation of a core donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) terheterocycle with a methyl-alkylated 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT), we enhance the solubility of precursors and monomers in this new generation of broadly absorbing electrochromic polymers (ECPs). By adjusting the newly designed terheterocycle monomer feed ratio, we obtain three polymers with varying hues of color neutrality (a* and b* < ±10) throughout the entire switching voltage range and with integrated contrasts 45–49% throughout the visible region (380–700 nm). The a* values of the polymers ranged between −8 (green hue) and +5 (red hue), with their b* values ranging between −4 and −7 (blue hue) in their neutral states; additionally, the a* and b* values are all below ±8 i...
Impact of omega-3 fatty acid oral therapy on healing of chronic venous leg ulcers in older adults: Study protocol for a randomized controlled single-center trial

This trial addresses the global problem of chronic venous leg ulcers (CVLUs), wounds that cause significant infirmity for an estimated 9.7 million people annually, mainly older adults with comorbidities. Advanced therapies are needed because standard topical therapies are often ineffective or yield only short-term wound healing. Thus, we are testing a new oral therapy containing the bioactive elements of fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for targeting and reducing the high numbers of activated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in wound microenvironments that keep CVLUs “trapped” in a chronic inflammatory state. This double-blind RCT will include 248 eligible adults ≥ 55 years of age with CVLUs receiving standard care at a large Midwest outpatient wound clinic. Participants are randomized to two groups: 12 weeks of daily oral therapy with EPA + DHA (1.87 g/day of EPA + 1.0 g/day of DHA) or daily oral therapy with placebo. At 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, across the two groups, we are pursuing three specific aims: Aim 1. Compare levels of EPA + DHA-derived lipid mediators, and inflammatory cytokines in blood and wound fluid; Subaim 1a. Compare inflammatory cytokine gene expression by PMNs in blood; Aim 2. Compare PMN activation in blood and wound fluid, and PMN-derived protease levels in wound fluid; Aim 3. Compare reduction in wound area, controlling for factors known to impact healing, and determine relationships with lipid mediators, cytokines, and PMN activation. Subaim 3a. Compare frequency of CVLU recurrence and levels of study variables in blood between the randomly assigned two subgroups (continuing EPA + DHA therapy versus placebo therapy beyond week 12) within the EPA + DHA group with healed CVLUs after 3 months of therapy. Subaim 3b. Compare symptoms of pain at all time points and quality of life at first and last time points across the two groups and two subgroups. This trial will provide new evidence about the effectiveness of EPA + DHA oral therapy to target and reduce excessive PMN activation systemically and locally in patients with CVLUs. If effective, this therapy may facilitate healing and thus be a new adjunct treatment for CVLUs in the aging population. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03576989; Registered on 13 June 2018.
9 – ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Publisher Summary Environmental law has moved to front stage. The intense attention given to it on the legal scene has resulted from the spread of industrialization and urbanization in many areas of the world. Environmental problems have been emerging at an increasing pace and society has become concerned, even alarmed, about the degradation of the environment. In light of these developments, courts and legislatures have generously responded. The use of nuisance law as a deterrent to pollution and as a means to internalize the costs of land use has a long history, beginning in English case law. While nuisance law has been used effectively in environmental control, its contributions will always be limited. Nuisance litigation is cumbersome and costly for dealing with modern environmental problems, because the problems tend to be the result of multiple causes, involving scientifically complex issues and having widespread effects with many victims. In the opinion of J. Dukemenier and J. Krier, nuisance litigation is ill-suited to other than small-scale, incidental, localized scientifically uncomplicated pollution problems. Admittedly, some efforts have been made to overcome the shortcomings of nuisance litigation by using class action suits. The fact remains that alternative methods must be used in resolving most environmental issues.
Enhance CO2-to-C2+ products yield through spatial management of CO transport in Cu/ZnO tandem electrodes

Abstract The electrochemical reduction of CO2 into C2+ products is a promising route to store renewable electricity in the form of chemical energy. The current barrier to this technique is the low efficiency of C-C coupling through dimerization of adsorbed *CO or coupling of *CO with its hydrogenated derivatives over the Cu catalyst. Tandem catalysts, which integrate Cu with another CO-generation catalyst (e.g., ZnO), can enhance the C-C coupling kinetics by increasing the local concentration of the key intermediate of CO. However, the degree of enhancement is strongly dependent on the spatial manipulation of supplementary CO transport. Herein, inspired by the reactant species concentration profile in a plug flow reactor, Cu/ZnO tandem electrodes are designed by spatially adding a ZnO catalyst layer on top of the Cu catalyst layer, in which the ZnO catalyst layer fed CO concentration progressively decreases over the Cu catalyst layer. Such a spatial management of CO transport dramatically increases the CO utilization efficiency, leading to an enhancement of Faradaic efficiency and partial current density of C2+ products by 1.2 and 3.4 times, respectively, compared to the bare Cu electrode, while by 1.3 and 1.8 times, respectively, compared to the Cu&ZnO mixed electrode.
Comparison of early diagnostic value between plasma microRNA-1 and cardiac troponin T in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Objective To detect the level of plasma microRNA-1 (miR-1) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and compare the diagnostic values of it with that of cardiac troponin T (cTnT).Methods During 2011-05 to 2012-05,there were fifty-six plasma samples taken from patients with AMI and twenty-eight plasma specimens got from non-AMI controls were analyzed.The expression of plasma miR-1 was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR),and the level of plasma cTnT was measured by using electrochemiluminescence-based methods on the Elecsys 2010 Immunoassay Analyzer.Then,the SPSS 16.0 was used for the statistical analysis.Data were presented as means ± standard deviation unless otherwise described.The differences about clinical characteristics between AMI patients and controls were tested using Student' s t-test or Fisher' s exact test.The Mann-Whitney test was conducted to compare the expression of microRNAs between the AMI patients and controls.The comparison of microRNAs expression between different intervals of AMI patients was done using Wilcoxon signed rank test.The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to discriminate AMI patients from controls.Results The expression of plasma miR-1 was significantly increased in AMI patients (P ＜ 0.01) compared with healthy controls.The contents of the plasma miR-1 in AMI patients fell down nearly to the normal level at 14 days (P ＞ 0.05).There was no relevance between the expression of plasma miR-1 and the clinical characteristics of the study population (P ＞ 0.05).Moreover,ROC curve analyses demonstrated that miR-1 had the specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of early AMI,but was not superior to cTnT.Conclusions Our results showed that plasma miR-1 had the capacity in early diagnosis of early AMI,and can be biomarker for AMI,however,miR-1 is not superior to cTnT for the diagnosis of AMI. Key words: MicroRNA-1; High sensitive cardiac troponin T; Acute myocardial infarction; Biomarker; Early diagnosis; Specificity; Sensitivity
Machine Learning-Based Approach for Hardware Faults Prediction

Hardware failures are undesired but a common problem in circuits. Such failures are inherently due to the aging of circuitry or variation in circumstances. In critical systems, customers demand the system never to fail. Several self-healing and fault tolerance techniques have been proposed in the literature for recovering a circuitry from a fault. Such techniques come to the rescue when a fault has already occurred but they are typically uninformed about the possibility of an impending failure (i.e., fault prediction), which can be used as a pre-stage to fault tolerance and self-healing. This paper presents an approach to early fault prediction of circuits. The proposed method uses Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to get the fault frequency signature, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to get the most important data with reduced dimension, and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to learn and classify the fault. The proposed method is validated for working in different circuits by testing it using two circuits: comparator and amplifier. The comparator and amplifier are implemented using 45 nm technology on HSPICE to extract the failures dataset in terms of voltage, current, temperature, noise, and delay. This extracted data is used for training the proposed approach using Tensorflow. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work of fault prediction at the transistor level for hardware system. The proposed approach considers aging, short-circuit, and open-circuit faults, and it provides a fault prediction accuracy of 98.93% and 98.91% for comparator and amplifier circuits, respectively. The proposed method is tested for two different circuits for its validation, and it consumes 1.08 W for Altera Arria 10 GX FPGA device.
D0 measurement of the dijet azimuthal decorrelations

We present the D0 measurement of correlations in the azimuthal angle between the two largest transverse momentum jets produced in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy 1.96 TeV in the central rapidity region. The results are based on an inclusive dijet event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 150/pb. Data is in good agreement with next-to-leading order pQCD calculations, and with tuned Pythia, Herwig, Alpgen and Sherpa event generators.
Detecting Regime Shifts: The Causes of Under- and Overreaction

Many decision makers operate in dynamic environments in which markets, competitors, and technology change regularly. The ability to detect and respond to these regime shifts is critical for economic success. We conduct three experiments to test how effective individuals are at detecting such regime shifts. Specifically, we investigate when individuals are most likely to underreact to change and when they are most likely to overreact to it. We develop asystem-neglect hypothesis: Individuals react primarily to the signals they observe and secondarily to the environmental system that produced the signal. The experiments, two involving probability estimation and one involving prediction, reveal a behavioral pattern consistent with our system-neglect hypothesis: Underreaction is most common in unstable environments with precise signals, and overreaction is most common in stable environments with noisy signals. We test this pattern formally in a statistical comparison of the Bayesian model with a parametric specification of the system-neglect model.
Clinical application of the small I-Loc interlocking nail in 30 feline fractures: A prospective study.

OBJECTIVE To describe medium-term functional outcome after nail osteosynthesis in feline traumatology and report clinically relevant recommendations for I-Loc angle-stable interlocking nail use in cats. STUDY DESIGN Prospective clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION Client-owned cats (n = 29). METHODS Consecutive cases with femoral, tibial, or humeral fractures were included. Outcome measures included fracture and surgical procedure description, limb alignment, nail size vs body weight (BW), percentage of nail medullary canal (MC) fill, time to limb function at clinical union (CU), and complications. Descriptive statistics were reported and compared with historical data. RESULTS Bone distribution was 53.3% femora, 30% tibiae, and 16.7% humeri. There were six epimetaphyseal and 24 diaphyseal fractures. Overall, 67% of fractures were comminuted. Open reduction and minimally invasive techniques were used in 73% and 27% of cases, respectively. Seventeen I-Loc 3 (cat mean BW 4.4 ± 2.2 kg) and 13 I-Loc 4 (cat mean BW 5.2 ± 1.2 kg) nails were placed with mean MC fill of ≤50%. Average time to CU was 7.2 weeks. At CU, lameness had resolved or was mild in every cat, and all cats ultimately regained full limb function. No major complications were encountered. CONCLUSION Because of improved CU times, excellent functional outcomes, and low complication rate, our results provide evidence that I-Loc nails are safe and effective for feline traumatology. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE The I-Loc may be advantageous for fixation of epimetaphyseal fractures. Because of feline bone specific dimensional constraints, I-Loc 3 is likely appropriate for all feline humeri and most tibiae, while I-Loc 4 is well sized for feline femora.
SWOT Applications for WRF-Hydro Modeling in Alaska

The Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, launching next year, will provide high-spatial resolution measurements of terrestrial surface water, including global rivers with widths greater than 50–100 m. SWOT measurements are naturally suited for stream hydrology, and many previous studies have worked to quantify the impact of SWOT observations on the modeling of channel flow. This work highlights the application of SWOT for WRF-Hydro modeling in Alaska for data assimilation and model calibration to support ongoing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Water Model development. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of using SWOT discharge estimates to calibrate WRF-Hydro in ungauged basins, and quantifies the impact of SWOT data assimilation on WRF-Hydro performance.
Foreign Bank Entry: Experience, Implications for Developing Economies, and Agenda for Further Research

In recent years foreign banks have expanded their presence significantly in several developing economies. In Argentina and Chile in Latin America and in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in Eastern Europe, foreign controlled banks now hold more than half of total banking assets. In other regions trend is similar, through foreign banker entry has been slower. Despite the growing number of countries embracing foreign bank entry, important questions are still debated: what draws foreign banks to a country? Which banks expands abroad? What do foreign banks do once they arrive? How do foreign banks mode of entry and organizational form affect their behavior? This article summarizes current knowledge on these issues. Because the existing literature focuses heavily on developed economies, it also puts forth an agenda for further study of the causes and effects of foreign banks entry in developing economies.
Ultra-safe nuclear thermal rockets using lunar-derived fuel

Abstract Rocket launch failure rate is slightly higher than five percent. Concerned citizens are likely to protest against private-sector launches involving fission reactors. Yet, fission reactors can power long-duration lunar operations for science, observation, and in situ resource utilization. Furthermore, fission reactors are needed for rapid transport around the solar system, especially considering natural radiation doses for crews visiting Mars or an asteroid. A novel approach is to create nuclear fuel on the Moon. In this way, a rocket launched from the earth with no radioactive material can be fueled in outer space, avoiding the risks of spreading uranium across Earth's biosphere. A solution is to harvest fertile thorium on the lunar surface, then transmute it into fissile uranium using the gamma ray fog which pervades the deep sky. It is only at lunar orbit, at the very edge of cislunar space, that the Earth-launched machine becomes a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR). Thorium is not abundant, but can be concentrated by mechanical methods because of its very high specific density relative to the bulk of lunar regolith. Thorium dioxide (ThO2) has an extremely high melting point, such that skull crucible heating can be used to separate it from supernatant magma. When filled into a graphite-lined beryllium container (brought from Earth) and set out on the lunar surface, high-energy gamma rays will liberate neutrons from the Be. After moderation by the graphite, these thermal neutrons are captured by the thorium nucleus, which is transmuted into protactinium (Pa91). This element can be extracted using the THOREX process, and will then decay naturally into U-233 within two or three lunar days. The uranium is oxidized and packed into fuel pellets, ready to be inserted into a non-radioactive machine, which now becomes an NTR. Additionally, hydrogen can be extracted from deposits in permanently-shadowed regions on the Moon, providing reaction mass for the NTR. A novel method of solid-state hydrogen storage, which can be entirely fabricated using in situ resources, can deliver said hydrogen to the fission reactor to provide high and efficient propulsive thrust. These combined operations lead to an ultra-safe (for the Earth) means for private sector, commercial transport and power generation throughout the Solar System. With the hydrogen storage material used as radiation shielding for crewed spacecraft, and greatly-reduced transit times relative to chemical rocketry, this innovative approach could fundamentally transform how humans work, play, and explore in outer space.
Adaptive Bid Shading Optimization of First-Price Ad Inventory

Feedback control and decentralized optimization have become increasingly important in online programmatic advertising systems, e.g., to deal with campaign budget pacing and performance optimization. The solutions typically involve an auction-based allocation of ad inventory, which historically was implemented using a second-price cost model. In recent years the industry has rapidly transitioned to predominantly a first-price cost model. This has important implications on what is the optimal bidding strategy for advertisers. In particular, bids have to be shaded (discounted) to avoid overpaying. This paper proposes an adaptive scheme for online learning of optimal bid shading. The scheme involves segmentation, a two-parametric nonlinear shading mechanism, and an online learning algorithm for parameter optimization. The learning algorithm employs a recursive least squares estimation of a log-quadratic model of the relationship between the surplus and the parameters, and a Newton-like gradient descent update scheme to find the surplus maximizing shading parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated with experiment results from Verizon Media Demand Side Platform (DSP).
Watershed Loading Functions for Nonpoint Sources

A modeling procedure has been developed to estimate nonpoint source pollution from agricultural runoff in large watersheds. The procedure is based on simple equations for runoff and soil loss prediction. It is designed for use in situations where resources are not available for extensive water quality sampling or more sophisticated modeling efforts. The simple models or loading functions were tested by comparing predicted and observed nitrogen and phosphorus mass fluxes in streamflow from a 391-km² Pennsylvania watershed for a 16-month period. The comparisons indicated that loading functions provided reasonable estimates of dissolved nitrogen, solid-phase nitrogen and total phosphorus mass fluxes in runoff from the watershed. Rather, these simple methods are most suitable as screening devices to: (1)Identify the approximate magnitudes of nonpoint source loading of pollutants in agricultural runoff; and (2)evaluate the likely changes in loadings associated with alternative agricultural management practices.
The Effects of Hearsee/Say and Hearsee/Write on Acquisition, Generalization, and Retention

This study examined the effects of training in 2 yoked learning channels (hearsee/say and hearsee/write) on the acquisition, generalization, and retention of learning. Four 5th-grade participants were taught the lowercase letters of the Greek alphabet; 12 letters were taught in the hearsee/say channel and 12 letters were taught in the hearsee/write channel for equal amounts of time. The hearsee/say channel reached higher frequencies at the end of training and showed higher acquisition celerations than the hearsee/write channel. However, the hearsee/write channel showed higher accuracy and retention than the hearsee/say channel. The hearsee/write channel also showed greater generalization across learning channels including the see/say, think/say, think/write, and see-name/draw-symbol channels. This research has implications for the design of instruction.
The Political Economy of Shipping US Food Aid Under the Cargo Preference Regime

We are concerned with the way in which US agricultural cargo preference that regulates the international transportation of US Government generated goods may affect food aid provision. It considers specifically the efficiency of the current arrangements whereby 50 percent of food aid has to be moved by US registered ships, and the potential implications of changing this. It does this within a much broader critique of the ways in which such policies tend to be evaluated. The findings are that, when its opportunity costs are netted out, there are likely to be fewer quantifiable benefits to the US economy of the cargo preference structure than are often posited. In particular, many of the estimates of the economic gains to the US found in prior studies often involve those of vested interests and are frequently gross calculations based on not only a weak underlying methodology, but also a distorted use of that methodology.
Constructing Analytical Energy Functions for Transient Stability Models

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Energy Functions for Lossless Network-Reduction Models Energy Functions for Lossless Structure-Preserving Models Nonexistence of Energy Functions for Lossy Models Existence of Local Energy Functions Concluding Remarks
Mitral stenosis. Auscultatory and phonocardiographic findings.

Abstract The auscultatory and phonocardiographic characteristics of mitral stenosis are reviewed. This includes our experience with over 150 patients with mitral stenosis with minimal or no regurgitation proved at operation. The following features are considered to be characteristic of mitral stenosis: 1. 1. The mitral component of the first heart sound is accentuated and delayed and gives rise to a palpable shock over the apex and precordium. With atrial fibrillation the intensity of the mitral component may or may not vary inversely with the length of the preceding diastole. 2. 2. The second sound at the pulmonary area is normal or accentuated. Splitting of the second sound is not a conspicuous finding and is usually normal. 3. 3. An opening snap is invariably present. It is maximal inside the apex and may be transmitted over the entire precordium. 4. 4. A third heart sound is never audible but rarely may be recorded on the phonocardiogram. 5. 5. A pulmonary ejection sound occasionally is audible but more commonly is recorded on the phonocardiogram. It signifies dilatation of the pulmonary artery and hypertension in the pulmonary circulation. 6. 6. The diastolic murmur is low-pitched and rumbling in quality. It starts with or shortly after the opening snap and may continue through the entire diastolic phase or end before the first sound. In patients with sinus rhythm a presystolic (atriosystolic) murmur was invariably present. 7. 7. A pulmonary diastolic decrescendo murmur which commenced with the pulmonary second sound was much more commonly audible than was recorded on the phonocardiogram. 8. 8. A pansystolic apical murmur was rare and always less than grade 2 in intensity. Marked pulmonary hypertension caused the greatest change in the findings described herein. These included a normal or only slightly accentuated first heart sound, an absent opening snap or a faint or even absent diastolic murmur. Calcification of the mitral valve also modified the auscultatory findings, producing muffling of the first heart sound, a frequent systolic murmur and disappearance of the opening mitral snap.
A Simple, Memory-Efficient Bounded Concurrent Timestamping Algorithm

Several constructions have been proposed for implementing a Bounded Concurrent Timestamp System (BCTS). Some constructions are based on a recursively defined Precedence Graph. Such constructions have been viewed as hard to understand and to prove correct. Other constructions that are based on the Traceable Use abstraction first proposed by Dwork and Waarts have been regardedas simple and have therefore been preferred. The Dwork-Waarts (DW) algorithm, however, is not space-efficient. Haldar and Vitanyi (HV) gave a more space-efficient construction based on Traceable Use, starting with only safe and regular registers as building blocks. In this paper, we present a new algorithm by making simple modifications to DW. Our algorithm is simple and is more memory-efficient than the DW and HV algorithms.
Origins of life. Buried beginnings.

Did life begin on Earth near the surface, where sunlight can be harvested? Or at subsurface hydrothermal systems? Contributions from both environments might have been required, according to a study that shows how ammonia could have been produced in large quantities at hydrothermal vents.
Localized fault-tolerant event boundary detection in sensor networks

This paper targets the identification of faulty sensors and detection of the reach of events in sensor networks with faulty sensors. Typical applications include the detection of the transportation front line of a contamination and the diagnosis of network health. We propose and analyze two novel algorithms for faulty sensor identification and fault-tolerant event boundary detection. These algorithms are purely localized and thus scale well to large sensor networks. Their computational overhead is low, since only simple numerical operations are involved. Simulation results indicate that these algorithms can clearly detect the event boundary and can identify faulty sensors with a high accuracy and a low false alarm rate when as many as 20% sensors become faulty. Our work is exploratory in that the proposed algorithms can accept any kind of scalar values as inputs, a dramatic improvement over existing works that take only 0/1 decision predicates. Therefore, our algorithms are generic. They can be applied as long as the "events" can be modelled by numerical numbers. Though designed for sensor networks, our algorithms can be applied to the outlier detection and regional data analysis in spatial data mining.
The Proverb as Embedded Microgenre in Chaucer and The Dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf

AbstractBecause current genre theory lays such heavy emphasis on fluid mixing among and within genres, this essay asks what might be learned by attending closely to a set of sharply delineated generic boundaries, those created when small but complete and recognizable genres (“microgenres”) are embedded within longer genres, a nearly universal and yet under-theorized practice in medieval literature. Focusing on the proverb and drawing upon Bakhtin’s spectacularly ambitious outline for a final major work, “The Problem of Speech Genres,” the article uses examples from The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, and the anonymous Middle English Dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf to demonstrate that the proverb’s brevity and its clearly defined, yet voice-permeable, boundaries enable a variety of important effects. Embedded in longer works, medieval proverbs act as generative miniature theories that transform the situations to which they are applied. They indicate courses of action, encapsulate worldviews, consol...
Electroencephalography in Children With and Without Sensory Processing Disorders During Auditory Perception

OBJECTIVE. We sought to determine whether children with sensory processing disorder (SPD) differ from typically developing children on a neurophysiological measure, the P300 component of event-related potentials produced in response to brief auditory stimulation. METHOD. We used electroencephalographic measures (i.e., N200 and P300 components) to examine auditory processing in 20 children with SPD and 71 typically developing children, ages 5�10 yr. RESULTS. Children with SPD demonstrated significantly smaller P300 amplitudes and shorter N200 latencies than typically developing children. Brain activity correctly distinguished children with SPD from typically developing children with 77% accuracy. We also found a significant relationship between the neurophysiological measures and functional performance on sensory and motor tasks. CONCLUSION. This study presents empirical evidence that children with SPD display unique brain processing mechanisms compared with typical children and, therefore, provide further evidence for the neural deviations associated with SPD
The short- and long-term efficacy of empirical esophageal dilation in patients with nonobstructive dysphagia: a prospective, randomized study

The short- and long-term efficacy of empirical esophageal dilation in patients with nonobstructive dysphagia: a prospective, randomized study
Chromosome aberrations in vitro related to cytotoxicity of nonmutagenic chemicals and metabolic poisons

Chromosome aberrations can occur by secondary mechanism(s) associated with cytotoxicity, induced by chemicals that do not attack DNA. Aberrations are formed from DNA double-strand breaks, and DSBs are known to be induced by nonmutagenic (Ames test negative) noncarcinogens at toxic levels [Storer et al. (1996): Mutat Res 368:59-101]. Here, 8 of 12 of these chemicals caused aberrations in CHO cells at cytotoxic doses, and often only when cell counts (survival) at 20 hr approached < or =50% of controls. Five of eight noncarcinogens (2,4,-dichlorophenol, dithiocarb, menthol, phthalic anhydride, and ethionamide) and one of two equivocal carcinogens (bisphenol A) caused aberrations, usually over a narrow dose range with steeply increasing cytotoxicity. Phthalic anhydride and ethionamide were positive only at doses with precipitate. Phenformin was negative even at toxic doses and ephedrine and phenylephrine were negative and gave little toxicity. Aberrations were also induced by metabolic poisons, 2,4-dinitrophenol, (uncouples oxidative phosphorylation), and sodium iodoacetate, (Nal; blocks ATP production). Five of the chemicals that induced aberrations in CHO cells were tested in human TK6 cells and four were positive, the fifth being equivocal. Stable aberrations (translocations) were induced in human cells by Nal. Clearly, chemicals can give "false-positive" results in the chromosome aberration assay at cytotoxic levels, though cytotoxicity does not always produce aberrations, so that further information (e.g., DNA reactivity) is needed to determine whether a result is a "false-positive." Primary DNA-damaging chemicals such as alkylators are also cytotoxic, but give strong increases in aberrations without marked initial toxicity by the measures used here, although the aberrations they induce do reduce long-term survival in colony-forming assays.
Extension contracture of the wrist: A case report

Progressive extension contracture of the wrist of a 19-year-old female patient was noted at operation to be due to shortening of the extensor carpi radialis longus and extensor carpi radialis brevis. Satisfactory wrist motion was restored with Z-plasty tendon lengthening of these two muscles. There was no apparent abnormality of the muscle bellies and no identifiable cause of the muscular contracture. A review of the literature revealed no previously reported cases of this kind.
Takeuchi repair of anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery

Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare form of congenital heart disease that has been successfully palliated for decades. Prior to coronary reimplantation, the Takeuchi repair was the most common operative palliation. The Takeuchi repair is still seen today at less experienced congenital centers or when reimplantation is not possible. Patients who have had the Takeuchi repair are at risk of having subsequent complications related to this repair. Unfortunately, due to the surgical rarity, the post surgical anatomy is often poorly understood by cardiologists leading to inadequate risk factor assessment and compromised patient care. Coronary computed tomography angiography is a useful imaging modality to follow patients who have had the Takeuchi repair.
Attentional modulation of startle in psychosis-prone college students

Attentional modulation of startle eyeblink was studied in college students putatively at risk for psychosis and in normal controls. At-risk subjects had extreme scores on scales for either anhedonia or perceptual aberration-magical thinking (per-mags). Subjects were presented with to-be-attended and to-be-ignored tones; white noise startle probes were presented at lead intervals of 60, 120, 240, or 2,000 ms following the onset of attended and ignored tones and during intertone intervals. Controls showed greater inhibition of startle blink at 120 ms and greater facilitation at 2,000 ms during to-be-attended than to-be-ignored tone, demonstrating attentional modulation of prepulse inhibition and facilitation. Both at-risk groups showed normal overall levels of early inhibition and late facilitation. However, per-mags failed to show attentional modulation of either inhibition at 120 ms or facilitation at 2,000 ms; anhedonics showed no modulation of inhibition and modulation of facilitation was delayed in development. The results for the per-mags are strikingly similar to those observed in schizophrenic patients and suggest that these deficits index a trait-linked vulnerability to disorders in the schizophrenic spectrum.
Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics in Single ZnO Nanowire and Nanoribbon Lasers

Time-resolved second-harmonic generation (TRSHG) and transient photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy are utilized to probe the ultrafast creation and subsequent relaxation of excited carriers immediately following band-gap excitation in single ZnO nanowire and nanoribbon lasers. The TRSHG signal consists of a 1−5 ps recovery present only during strong lasing and a 10−80 ps intensity-dependent component. The transient PL response from single structures exhibits an 80 ps decay component independent of pump power (free exciton PL), and a < 10 ps power-dependent component (stimulated emission) that shifts to earlier delay by ca. 10 ps at high pump fluence.
On the Nature of the Antiagreement Effect: Evidence from Wh-in-Situ in Ibibio

The Ibibio language displays an antiagreement effect (AAE), in which φ-feature agreement on the verb is suppressed in subject questions, even when the wh-phrase remains in situ. I discuss why this fact is problematic for existing theories of the AAE. I then suggest that the AAE arises when the deletion process that applies to copies in a movement chain removes the φ-features of a copy along with its semantic features. This formulation applies equally well to overt and covert wh-movement. It also generalizes to explain why quantified subjects do not trigger an AAE in Ibibio, whereas subjects in negative clauses do.