cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ESTABLISHING A STRATEGY FOR WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ABSTRACT An increasing number of developing countries are beginning to face a range of difficult issues in wastewater managment. In some countries the problem arises from rapid industrialization and in others it arises from rapid urbanization; and in still others, it is the consequence of both industrialization and urbanization. The difficulty lies in the fact that wastewater management is related to many fragmented governmental institutions in many countries: water supply authority, environmental protection agency, industrial, agricultural and health ministries, ministry of internal affairs, etc. Another difficulty lies also in the fact that wastewater management of developed countries could not be necessarily the answer for developing countries due to different constrains of technology, financing and human resources. The ability to cope with the problem is dependent not only on financial and economic factors, but also on institutional and technical considerations, particularly the type and volume of wastes being produced, the waste assimilative capacity of the environment and the efficiency of the strategy the country may have for coping with wastes. The problem is likely to be particularly acute for those countries that are undergoing rapid industrialization in the absence of any comprehensive strategy for wastewater management. This paper discusses some fundamental aspects involved in establishing a wastewater management strategy in developing countries.
Response Function of the Superconducting Order Parameter

As the order parameter of a superconductor is bilinear in electron field operators its response function is a four-point function of the field operators. Developments in recent years involving electron tunneling have led to the experimental determination of the imaginary part of the space and time Fourier transform of the response function of superconductors despite the order parameter being off-diagonal in the number representation and not having a classical laboratory conjugate field which couples to it.1,2,3
It's scary...it's confusing...it's dull: how cybersecurity advocates overcome negative perceptions of security

Cyber attacks are on the rise, but individuals and organizations fail to implement basic security practices and technologies. Cybersecurity advocates are security professionals who encourage and facilitate the adoption of these best practices. To be successful, they must motivate their audiences to engage in beneficial security behaviors, often first by overcoming negative perceptions that security is scary, confusing, and dull. However, there has been little prior research to explore how they do so. To address this gap, we conducted an interview study of 28 cybersecurity advocates from industry, higher education, government, and non-profits. Findings reveal that advocates must first establish trust with their audience and address concerns by being honest about risks while striving to be empowering. They address confusion by establishing common ground between security experts and non-experts, educating, providing practical recommendations, and promoting usable security solutions. Finally, to overcome perceptions that security is uninteresting, advocates incentivize behaviors and employ engaging communication techniques via multiple communication channels. This research provides insight into real-world security advocacy techniques in a variety of contexts, permitting an investigation into how advocates leverage general risk communication practices and where they have security-specific innovations. These practices may then inform the design of security interfaces and training. The research also suggests the value of establishing cybersecurity advocacy as a new work role within the security field.
McGee Till—oldest glacial deposit in the Sierra Nevada, California— and Quaternary evolution of the rangefront escarpment

Abstract The McGee Till is an early Pleistocene glacial diamict as thick as 50 m, preserved over an area of 1.65 km2 on a relict low-relief Pliocene plateau that stands 900 m higher than mouths of its bounding canyons, on the rangefront of the Sierra Nevada. Although recognized 90 years ago as the oldest till in the Sierra, its age and relation to the next oldest Sierran till have remained uncertain, even controversial. This contribution seeks to clarify both. The McGee Till consists predominantly of grussy boulders and sandy-granular matrix derived largely from a distinctive Cretaceous granodiorite that walls McGee Creek canyon 4–8 km to the south. The till rests directly upon two different basaltic units that yield 40Ar/39Ar ages of 2.8 and 2.6 Ma and show little or no evidence of preglacial erosion. The basalts preserve a minimum of 165–255 m of relief on steep slopes that existed around the plateau margins at the time of their eruption. McGee Creek consists of two segments—a north-directed reach that confined the glacier that deposited the till and, now diverging at a right bend just upvalley from the till, a northeast-flowing reach that was incised later. The base of the McGee Till is at 3160 m elevation on the present-day rim of McGee Creek, 610 m above the bend. The base of the 130-ka Tahoe Till (MIS 6) is at 2550 m elevation directly downslope from the McGee Till and at 2300 m at the rangefront mouth of the canyon's northeast reach. The base of the 900–866 ka Sherwin Till (MIS 22) is at 2400 m at the nearby rangefront mouth of Rock Creek. As the canyons were cut to nearly modern depths before the Sherwin glaciation, the high-perched McGee Till is probably older than 2 Ma and possibly close in age to the 2.6 Ma basalt it overlies. Growth in rangefront relief since about 3.0–2.5 Ma owes to normal slip on the Hilton Creek and Round Valley Faults east of McGee Mountain as well as to the 767-ka collapse of Long Valley caldera to its north.
Single Photon Optical Memory With Cavityless Levitated Optomechanics

We investigate a protocol to upload, store and retrieve a single photon quantum state from a mechanical mode in cavityless levitated optomechanics. A high fidelity in our results indicates efficient photon-phonon-photon transfer.
Room-Temperature Quantum Sensing in CMOS: On-Chip Detection of Electronic Spin States in Diamond Color Centers for Magnetometry

In this paper, we report the first on-chip quantum sensor that combines compact and multifunctional CMOS integrated circuit technologies with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The system performs two critical functions for quantum magnetometry with NV centers: strong generation and efficient delivery of microwave for quantum-state control, and optical filtering/detection of spin-dependent fluorescence for quantum-state readout. In particular, we experimentally demonstrate on-chip optically detectable magnetic resonance (ODMR) for the first time.
Effects of Fire and Pollinator Visitation on the Reproductive Success of Asimina reticulata (Annonaceae), the Netted Pawpaw

ABSTRACT The netted pawpaw (Annonaceae, Asimina reticulata) is a widespread Florida endemic plant that produces relatively few fruits. To understand its distribution and reproductive success, we posed three questions: (a) how do time-since-fire (TSF) and pollinator visitation influence reproductive success, (b) is it pollinator dependent, and (c) does outcrossing increase reproductive success? In 2016, we studied 157 plants in three flatwoods burn units (last burned, 2015, 2012, or 2001) and one grazed pasture at Archbold Biological Station in south-central Florida. Plants in pasture and recently burned flatwoods exhibited greater flower, fruit, and seed output, suggesting that habitat openness may promote competitive release or increased pollinator visitation. Pollinator visitation was greatest on plants within the 1-yr TSF, and the hairy flower scarab (Trichiotinus viridans) was the most prevalent visitor across all sites. Autogamously crossed flowers produced no fruit, confirming that seed production ...
Black and Brown Oro-facial Mucocutaneous Neoplasms.

Black and brown-colored mucocutaneous lesions present a differential diagnostic challenge, with malignant melanoma being the primary clinical concern. The vast majority of pigmented lesions in the head and neck region are the result of benign, reactive factors such as post-inflammatory melanosis. However, it is not uncommon to discover a range of muco-cutaneous black and brown neoplasms in the oro-facial area. The majority of black/brown pigmented neoplasms are melanocytic in origin; these are neoplasms of neural crest derivation. Melanocytic nevi are a diverse group of benign neoplasms that are the result of specific oncogenic mutations. They are common on cutaneous surfaces but can manifest in mucosal sites. Currently, nevi are classified based on clinical and histological criteria. The most common cutaneous and oral mucosal nevus is the acquired melanocytic nevus; nevi do not pose an increased risk for the development of malignant melanoma. Emerging information on specific genetic differences supports the notion of biologically distinct nevi. This article will review the classic clinical and microscopic features of nevi commonly found in the head and neck region, and discuss emerging concepts in nevus pathogenesis and taxonomy. Melanoma is a malignant melanocytic neoplasm and is a result of cumulative genetic deregulation. The etiology of malignant melanoma (MM) is multifactorial and includes underlying genetic susceptibility, UV radiation, skin-type, and race. The majority of MM occurs on cutaneous surfaces and less commonly on mucosal and extra-cutaneous visceral organs. Regardless of location, MM exhibits clinical-pathological features that relate to horizontal or vertical tumor spread. Cutaneous and mucosal MM typically present as asymmetrical, irregularly bordered, large (> 0.5 cm), heterogeneous brown-black lesions with foci of erythema, atrophy or ulceration. As with melanocytic nevi, advances in melanomagenesis research have revealed primary oncogenic BRAF and NRAS mutations associated with cutaneous MM. Unlike their cutaneous counterparts, mucosal melanomas exhibit primary oncogenic alterations in c-KIT and other genes. This article will discuss the role of specific primary oncogenic and secondary/tertiary genetic defects in differential clinical presentation, anatomic distribution, future classification changes, and targeted therapy of melanoma. The clinical and microscopic features of mucosal melanomas and a summary of management guidelines will be discussed. Additionally, this article will cover the salient features of melanocytic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy, a neoplastic entity that can involve the oro-facial region, and the clinical-pathological features of selected, commonly occurring pigmented ectodermally-derived neoplasms that are often part of the clinical differential diagnosis of black–brown pigmented lesions.
Compressive air trapping in asthma: effects of age, sex, and severity

Premature airway closure during exhalation is a component of airway obstruction that is associated with asthma severity and instability. Compressive air trapping is airway closure that is more exte...
Multi-view cluster analysis with incomplete data to understand treatment effects

Multi-view cluster analysis, as a popular granular computing method, aims to partition sample subjects into consistent clusters across different views in which the subjects are characterized. Frequently, data entries can be missing from some of the views. The latest multi-view co-clustering methods cannot effectively deal with incomplete data, especially when there are mixed patterns of missing values. We propose an enhanced formulation for a family of multi-view co-clustering methods to cope with the missing data problem by introducing an indicator matrix whose elements indicate which data entries are observed and assessing cluster validity only on observed entries. In comparison with the simple strategy of removing subjects with missing values, our approach can use all available data in cluster analysis. In comparison with common methods that impute missing data in order to use regular multi-view analytics, our approach is less sensitive to imputation uncertainty. In comparison with other state-of-the-art multi-view incomplete clustering methods, our approach is sensible in the cases of missing any value in a view or missing the entire view, the most common scenario in practice. We first validated the proposed strategy in simulations, and then applied it to a treatment study of heroin dependence which would have been impossible with previous methods due to a number of missing-data patterns. Patients in a treatment study were naturally assessed in different feature spaces such as in the pre-, during-and post-treatment time windows. Our algorithm was able to identify subgroups where patients in each group showed similarities in all of the three time windows, thus leading to the recognition of pre-treatment (baseline) features predictive of post-treatment outcomes.
Challenges in an X + Y ambulatory model.

BACKGROUND Internal medicine training requires significant exposure to ambulatory practice. Ensuring continuity of patient care is challenging, especially with intermittent ambulatory resident assignments. A popular scheduling model is an X + Y block system where residents rotate for X weeks on inpatient rotations followed by Y weeks on ambulatory clinics. Although benefits exist with the X + Y model, it has drawbacks, particularly for continuity of care: residents struggle to obtain follow-up test results and return patient calls promptly. To provide patients with seamless continuity the programme assigned two Managing Clinic Continuity Care Residents (MCCCRs) to cover all tasks. The MCCCRs were soon overwhelmed by the number of tasks and became dissatisfied with the workflow, however, resulting in a low task-completion rate. METHOD In our 4 + 1 model residents are divided into five cohorts, we created mini-practice groups (MPGs) consisting of one resident from each cohort. Each week the resident in the clinic is assigned to act as the Practice Clinic Continuity of Care Resident (PCCCR) for the MPG. This individual is responsible for addressing the patient tasks of the other four residents in the MPG. For optimal performance, the previous two MCCCRs are now assigned for oversight only each week. We tracked task-completion rates weekly and surveyed residents for satisfaction. RESULTS Following the redistribution of responsibilities, the task-completion rates improved from 75 to 97%. The MCCCR satisfaction rate for the workflow increased from zero to 63%, and the on-time note completion rates increased from 21 to 67%. CONCLUSION Modification of the X + Y model using the MPG structure ensured the timely completion of patient-related tasks, and improved the overall experience for both patients and providers. Modification of the X + Y model using the MPG structure ensured the timely completion of patient-related tasks, and improved the overall experience for both patients and providers.
The fourth law of thermodynamics (LMEP) and cognition from first principles: commentary on Barrett’s “On the nature and origins of cognition as a form of motivated activity”:

Nat Barrett’s “On the nature and origins of cognition as a form of motivated activity” puts a well-focused light on the central problems, plaguing the core of enactivist, or 4E cognitive theories a...
Anticancer immunotherapy by MFAP5 blockade inhibits fibrosis and enhances chemosensitivity in ovarian and pancreatic cancer

Purpose: Recent studies demonstrate the role of the tumor microenvironment in tumor progression. However, strategies used to overcome the malignant phenotypes of cancer cells modulated by the microenvironment have not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of a newly developed mAb targeting microfibril-associated protein 5 (MFAP5), which is secreted predominately by cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF), in ovarian and pancreatic cancer models. Experimental Design: MAbs were developed using human MFAP5 recombinant protein as an antigen in mice, and antibodies from hybridoma clones were evaluated for their specificity to human and murine MFAP5. An Octet RED384 system was used to determine the kinetics of binding affinity and the specificity of the antibody clones, which were followed by epitope mapping and functional characterization by in vitro assays. The therapeutic efficacy of a lead anti-MFAP5 antibody clone 130A in tumor suppression was evaluated by ovarian tumor– and pancreatic tumor–bearing mouse models. Results: Three hybridoma clones, which produced antibodies with high affinity and specificity to MFAP5, were selected for functional studies. Antibody clone 130A, which recognizes a common epitope shared between human and murine MFAP5 protein, was further selected for in vivo studies. Results showed that clone 130A downregulated MFAP5-induced collagen production in CAFs, suppressed intratumoral microvessel leakiness, and enhanced paclitaxel bioavailability in both ovarian and pancreatic cancer mouse models. Conclusions: These data suggest that MFAP5 blockade using an immunologic approach inhibits fibrosis, induces tumor vessel normalization, and enhances chemosensitivity in ovarian and pancreatic cancer, and can be used as a novel therapeutic agent.
Pair physical computing: high school students’ practices and perceptions of collaborative coding and crafting with electronic textiles

Background and Context: Physical computing involves complex negotiations of multiple, on and off-screen tasks, which calls for research on how to best structure collaborative work to ensure equitab...
Estimates of the Uniform and Equal Property Tax Base before Exemptions

The property tax was originally intended to be a tax on the stock of wealth, in essence all property – real and personal, tangible and intangible. Estimating the property tax base without any exemptions or other legal deviations from market value is an exercise that permits the discussion to return to the original concept of a “uniform and equal” property tax on all property. Although no previous attempt to estimate this total “theoretical” property tax base (in Kansas or elsewhere) could be found, an admittedly imprecise initial estimate was derived based on a series of estimating assumptions.The results reveal that the Kansas constitution and statutes currently exempt or otherwise do not tax approximately 97.2 percent of estimated total assets.
Encephalitis and Poliomyelitis in a vaccinated 12 year old

12 y/o healthy male with altered mental status. H/o 2 days of vomiting, slurred speech, headache, progressing to altered sensorium. No seizures/rash. H/o camping in East Texas 1-week ago; playing with dogs at home. No diving in lakes/tick bites/cats/farm-animals. Patient had received all age appropriate vaccines. O/E, comatose, febrile at 39.5C. Pupils minimally reactive, gag reflex absent, hypotonic with diminished DTRs. Meningeal signs absent. …
Integrative Data Analysis and the Study of Global Health

In this chapter, we introduce Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) for use in the field of Global Health. IDA is a novel framework for simultaneous analysis of individual-level data pooled from multiple studies. This framework has been applied to address questions about substance use, cancer, HIV, and rare diseases from studies around the world. Advantages of this approach include efficiency (i.e., reuse of extant data), statistical power (i.e., large combined sample sizes), the potential to address questions not answerable by a single contributing study (e.g., combining studies with overlapping ethnicities to examine cross-cultural differences or age periods to examine longer periods of development), and the opportunity to test replicability of effects across studies in the pooled analysis. We describe the IDA methodological framework, emphasizing unique issues in measurement harmonization and hypothesis testing. We illustrate the application of the method using examples. We also describe emerging tools to handle specific harmonization challenges. Finally, we consider the potential utility of IDA in Global Health and epidemiological research.
Sarecycline: A Review of Preclinical and Clinical Evidence

Sarecycline is a tetracycline-derived oral antibiotic, specifically designed for acne, and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018 for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of non-nodular moderate to severe acne vulgaris (AV) in patients 9 years of age and older. It has been decades since a novel systemic antibiotic was approved to treat AV, a disease that affects up to 90% of teenagers and young adults worldwide and lasts well into adulthood. Sarecycline holds promise to yield fewer side effects than other commonly used broad-spectrum tetracyclines, including minocycline and doxycycline. The narrower spectrum of antibacterial activity of sarecycline, which specifically targets C. acnes and some Gram-positive bacteria with little or no activity against Gram-negative bacteria, suggests not only the potential for reduced emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains but also less disruption of the human gut microflora. Here, we review the key preclinical and clinical evidence on sarecycline.
Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

Research illustrates that student motivations influence learning engagement, persistence, and achievement in powerful ways and that positive motivations are linked to deeper learning, critical thinking, pro-social behavior, and better performance. Most studies of learner motivation, however, are conducted outside of STEM and are focused at the contextual level, which may describe why students attend college or choose a degree program, but not why they engage in classroom activities. Furthermore, there is little research that meaningfully connects learner motivations with gender identity and course pedagogy. This study addresses these gaps by examining the interconnections among course pedagogy, gender, and situational-level motivations, which reveal why learners engage in different course activities and how engagement may vary over time. This detailed perspective on learner motivations is essential for instructors to gain insights into how their pedagogical and course design choices influence students’ motivational responses and to more effectively develop interventions that support positive forms of motivation among all students. Participants in the study are undergraduate students enrolled in 72 introductory-level STEM courses across 11 institutions, and the dataset includes over 5000 unique responses to the Situational Motivation Scale, a Self-Determination Theory-based instrument that was administered weekly in each course. Analysis reveals seven typical motivational response types, ranging from a highly control-oriented to a highly autonomous response. Most students express multiple types of motivation during an academic term in a course, illustrating the dynamic nature of motivations. Cluster distributions by gender and pedagogy indicate significant differences in lecture-based learning courses, with women reporting less self-determined motivations compared to men. Motivational response profiles of women and men are both more similar, and more positive overall, in courses that employ active learning. These findings have important implications for practitioners. The concept of motivational co-expression encourages instructors to move toward a more nuanced appraisal of learner motivation. The stability analyses challenge embedded beliefs about the fixed nature of learner motivation. The gender analyses raise questions about how instructors may more effectively promote the positive motivations of all students through their course design decisions.
The Politics of Negative Ontology: Postmodernism

In this seventh and final chapter, after a review of the general tenets of the umbrella term “postmodernism,” and an examination of the main adherents to these tenets, I review the literature of the critics, ending with my own transcendental critique of postmodernism. In particular, the ultimate theme of the chapter is what postmodernism has done to political thinking by turning from political theory to a deflationary view of ontological categories such as the unified and reasoning subject. This has resulted in a devastating reduction of politics to simple identity groups. There is a better solution to political theory than these narrow views and reductionisms advocate, and I present that alternative in this chapter. It involves a return to normativity, which means a return to responsibility for one’s views, and that means the logic of evidence, and accountability not just for both our individual beliefs and actions, but for the political systems and institutions with which we live as well. But in order to have such accountability on either level, a recognition of reason and universality of principle is its necessary condition. I conclude that the best way forward is to return to reason and normativity in our political theory.
Environmental Influence on Modal Parameters: Linear and Nonlinear Methods for Its Compensation in the Context of Structural Health Monitoring

Modal-based structural health monitoring (SHM) detects damage and degradation phenomena from the variations of the modal parameters over time. However, the modal parameter estimates are also influenced by environmental and operational variables (EOVs) whose effects have to be compensated. Modeling the influence of EOVs on modal parameters is very challenging, so black-box models, such as regression models, are often adopted as an alternative. However, in many applications, the set of measured EOVs is incomplete or the factors influencing the estimates cannot be identified or measured. In these conditions, output-only techniques for compensation of environmental and operational effects are an attractive alternative. Different linear as well as nonlinear methods for the compensation of the environmental and operational influence on modal parameters in the context of modal-based SHM are reviewed in the present paper. Real datasets collected from vibration-based monitoring systems are analyzed, and the results are presented and discussed to illustrate the applicative perspectives and possible drawbacks of the selected methods.
Association between hypertension requiring medication and 30-day outcomes in head and neck microvascular surgery

BACKGROUND Hypertension has been shown to be both a protective factor and a risk factor for complications in head and neck reconstructive surgery. METHODS Retrospective analysis of microvascular free tissue transfer patients using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. RESULTS Hypertensive patients (n = 1598; 46.9%) had a significantly higher rate of complications, including pneumonia (p 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Hypertension is a modifiable risk factor for post-operative complications in head and neck free tissue transfer, in which prospective studies are required to establish causation. This study may serve as an impetus for proactive recommendations to manage hypertension before undergoing head and neck microvascular surgery.
Target dimensions in prediction of neuroleptic response: concepts and instruments

A variety of conceptual and practical issues need to be addressed in the study of neuroleptic response predictors. This paper will attempt to review some major aspects of this topic.
Life in the Cosmos

Discoveries by NASA & ESA Spacecraft provide additional evidence for present day liquid water on Mars and water/ice jets on Comets & Enceladus. Stardust mineralogical data support the Hypothesis that water-rich Comets represent parent bodies for the CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites. Undetectable Nitrogen & low O/C ratios in Filaments found in CI1 Orgueil meteorite rule out Modern Biological Contamination Hypothesis.
Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors in the Plasticity of Excitatory Responses in the Hippocampus

Excitatory connections in the hippocampal network have been shown to exhibit plasticity when subjected to specific modes of activation. These include short term and long term potentiation (STP and LTP, respectively) as well as long term depression (LTD). Ionotropic glutamate receptor (iGluR) activation, especially that mediated via NMDA receptors, is key in regulating many of these processes and is discussed in more detail in other chapters in this text. This chapter will demonstrate the participation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in the plastic processes of the hippocampal circuit and will emphasize the possible clinical relevance of these processes. I will first provide a review of the receptor classification and the actions of the various mGluR subgroups. I will briefly summarize the work to date demonstrating the different ways in which each of these subgroups participates in synaptic plasticity. I will discuss ways in which mGluR-mediated activities may influence clinical conditions such as epilepsy. And finally, I will present the results of my studies on the role of these receptors in the production of epilep-tiform activities in the in vitro hippocampus, focusing on their unique capacity for autopotentiation, providing a potential mechanism for epileptogenesis.
Finite Element Solution for Axisymmetrical Shells

Finite element approach to analysis of axisymmetric thin elastic shells, employing matrix method
Anaplastic Transformation of Papillary Thyroid Cancer in the Retroperitoneum

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is an aggressive variant of thyroid cancer that in most cases arises from anaplastic transformation of terminally differentiated thyroid carcinomas. This process usually occurs in the thyroid or cervical lymph nodes. Anaplastic transformation in distant metastatic sites is exceedingly rare, only previously documented in a few case reports. We report a rare case of anaplastic transformation of papillary thyroid carcinoma within a large retroperitoneal metastasis in a 64-year-old male 30 years after the initial diagnosis.
California's 1943 Statute as to Directors' Litigation Expenses: An Exclusive Remedy for Idemnification of Directors, Officers and Employees

CALIFORNIA at the 1943 legislative session adopted a comprehensive and exclusive statutory provision for indemnifying directors, officers and agents of a corporation for litigation expenses when they arise out of unjustified charges against them.' In order to give adequate protection to shareholders the granting of such indemnity is made exclusively a judicial question. This is the first statute to abrogate management sponsored by-laws and charter provisions for directors' and officers' indemnity for litigation expenses. This has seemed to those who drafted this statute2 to be absolutely the only method to avoid interminable litigation as to the validity of such by-laws and provisions and also to prevent much imposition which may result from permitting the management to be judges in their own cause. In recent years many important shareholders' suits have been prosecuted against corporate directors and officials on charges of mismanagement, abuse of fiduciary powers, secret profits, misappropriation of corporate opportunities, excessive compensation and miscomputation of bonuses.3 The directors and officers of some of our largest corporations have been called upon to defend their official acts in litigation brought by shareholders on behalf of the corpora-
Panel 9 - diagnostics vs failure analysis

This work discusses about the opportunity for diagnostic tools and physical failure analysis. The failure of chip, cause for the failure, and its diagnostics are also focused. The diagnostic tools attempt to isolate the cause for the failure to a small enough area to enable identification of the physical defect that caused the chip to fail. Diagnostic tools typically work in a logic model environment. Existing ATPG technology is used to generate a test pattern that exercises a specific net repeatedly and quickly to enable data collection by a photon emission tool. This work also discusses about the virtual failure analysis, which has the capability to identify defects on failing die without the PFA lab, through the use of inline defect data, and whatever other means are possible.
Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum

Introduction 1. Roman social organization 2. Preoccupation with Honor and the Cursus Honorum 3. The Roman colony at Philippi 4. Honor and status in Philippi 5. Acts and Philippians 6. Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum 7. Summary and conclusion.
Empirical modeling of plasma sheet pressure and three-dimensional force-balanced magnetospheric magnetic field structure: 2. Modeling

[1] A three-dimensional (3-D) magnetic field configuration in force balance with a realistic plasma pressure distribution can provide more accurate evaluation of the role of magnetic field on plasma sheet dynamics and M-I coupling. We used Geotail and Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) data to establish an empirical model for nightside equatorial isotropic plasma pressure to r = 30 RE for Kp = 0–5 and for solar wind dynamic pressure (PSW) = 1.5 and 3 nPa. The model pressure is used in the companion paper for modeling a 3-D force-balanced pressure and magnetic field equilibrium. Larger convection during higher Kp drives the plasma sheet further earthward, resulting in larger increase of pressure and pressure gradient at smaller radial distance. On the other hand, magnetosphere compression by increasing PSW enhances pressure and pressure gradient mainly in the tail plasma sheet. While both pressure and radial gradients are enhanced with increasing Kp or PSW, there is no significant azimuthal pressure variation statistically under all Kp and PSW conditions. The empirical pressures well reproduce these statistical profiles with very high correlation coefficients. Additionally, comparisons with pressure gradients computed using two simultaneous measurements from two THEMIS spacecraft show reasonable agreement. Furthermore, our model provides more accurate pressure gradients than previous empirical models. The model magnetic field distributions obtained in the companion paper from requiring force balance with these empirical pressure profiles are also found to be consistent with the magnetic field observations, indicating that our equilibria well represent realistic 3-D pressure and magnetic field configurations.
On the importance of inequality in politics: duplicate bills and bill co-sponsorship in the US House of Representatives

In this paper, we attempt to provide an economic explanation for the adoption of bill co-sponsorship by the US House of Representatives in 1967. We demonstrate empirically that key features of legislative production prior to 1967 (when House members’ support for a bill was indicated by introduction of duplicate bills) and post-1967 (when political support for a bill is indicated by co-sponsorship) are strikingly similar. Specifically, the raw number of supporters of a bill, whether indicated by duplicate bills or by co-sponsorship, is not nearly as critical to advancement of that bill through the House of Representatives as is the political power of the individual who introduces it and those who support it. The relative sizes of these effects are highly consistent over time. In effect, this finding means that the underlying factors of importance in the House’s legislative production function did not change significantly when bill co-sponsorship was adopted. This suggests that the change in operating procedure may have been driven by an intra-chamber struggle to control the legislative outcomes. We present empirical evidence that is highly consistent with this hypothesis—adoption of bill co-sponsorship in 1967 coincides exactly with the post-World War II peak in a concentration ratio of legislation passed in the US House of Representatives. Prior to the 90th Congress, there was a more-or-less steady increase in concentration of legislation passed by the five busiest committees that peaked at over 0.4 in the 90th Congress and then declined precipitously to under 0.15 by the 93rd Congress.
An evaluation of standardized gutta-percha points. I. Reliability and validity of standardization.

Abstract Gutta-percha points of five brands which had been labeled with standardized sizes were evaluated with respect to size availability, size accuracy, size consistency, and rigidity. Only two of the brands studied offered a complete range of sizes, only one brand could be considered satisfactory with respect to size accuracy and consistency, and only two brands were judged to have satisfactory rigidity without excessive brittleness.
Metallurgy in the Age of Silicon

Since the Bronze Age, humans have known how to make stronger materials by mixing one metal with another. But some alloys have the puzzling property of being softer than the starting metals. In his Perspective, Chrzan discusses results reported in the same issue by Trinkle and Woodward in which solute-induced softening is studied computationally in molybdenum-rhenium and molybdenum-platinum alloys. The calculations indicate how the solutes influence the movement of dislocations in the alloy and thus its plasticity. Beyond solving one of the longstanding riddles of metallurgy, the results also show that computational materials science is maturing into a powerful tool for research.
African Children’s Right to Participate in their Own Protection: Perspectives from South Sudan

The protection of children confronting adversity has become one of the central priorities of humanitarian interventions worldwide. The array of child-focused rights and protections established by international, regional and national frameworks provides a normative foundation guiding efforts to facilitate the (re)establishment of more secure conditions. Despite a rhetorical acknowledgement of participation as enhancing children’s provision and protection rights, much of children’s rights activism in Africa continues to emphasise a protectionist approach over an empowering one. Furthermore, actualising children’s rights constitutes a formidable challenge in fragile countries like South Sudan where difficult post-war conditions are compounded by significant discrepancies regarding the treatment of children in the various applicable legal systems. Advancing the view of children’s rights as a living practice moulded by children’s everyday realities, this paper discusses the situation of South Sudan as illustrative of the dilemmas of upholding the right of conflict-affected children in Africa to participate in their own protection.
FloodwayGIS: an ArcGIS visualization environment to remodel a floodway.

Floodway modeling has been performed extensively using HECRAS in floodplain studies. The model output is typically exported in GIS format and the floodway boundaries are overlaid on other spatial data to further edit or remodel the floodway to meet FEMA and local development requirements. In this article, a tightly coupled system comprised of a commercial GIS (ArcGIS) and HECRAS is presented. FloodwayGIS provides a comprehensive visual environment to edit, remodel, spatially analyze, and map floodway boundaries. The environment uses the HECRAS executable engine for every remodeling iteration. Four different encroachment editing options are provided within FloodwayGIS, which eliminates the need for a modeler to switch between HECRAS and GIS in the floodway modeling process, and results in savings of modeling time. FloodwayGIS also provides a mapping algorithm based on TIN intersection to produce smooth floodway boundaries that can be mapped in Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs) with minor editing.
A role for xGCNF in midbrain-hindbrain patterning in Xenopus laevis.

Abstract Cells in the presumptive neural ectoderm of Xenopus are committed to neural fate through a process called neural induction, which may involve proteins that antagonize BMP signaling pathways. To identify genes that are induced by the BMP antagonists and that may be involved in subsequent neural patterning, we used a suppression PCR-based subtraction screen. Here we investigate the prospective activities and functions of one of the genes, a nuclear orphan receptor previously described as xGCNF. In animal cap assays, xGCNF synergizes with ectopic chordin to induce the midbrain–hindbrain marker engrailed-2 (En-2). In Keller explants, which rely on endogenous factors for neural induction, similar increases in En-2 are observed. Expression in embryos of a dominant interfering form of xGCNF reduces the expression of endogenous En-2 and Krox-20. These gain-of-function and prospective loss-of-function experiments, taken with the observation that xGCNF is expressed in the early neural plate and is elevated in the prospective midbrain–hindbrain region, which subsequently expresses En-2, suggest that xGCNF may play a role in regulating En-2 and thus midbrain–hindbrain identity.
A novel human parainfluenza virus type 1 (HPIV1) with separated P and C genes is useful for generating C gene mutants for evaluation as live-attenuated virus vaccine candidates

A novel recombinant human parainfluenza virus type 1 (rHPIV1), rHPIV1-C+P, in which the overlapping open reading frames of the C and P genes were separated in order to introduce mutations into the C gene without affecting P, was generated. Infectious rHPIV1-C+P was readily recovered and replicated as efficiently as HPIV1 wild type (wt) in vitro and in African green monkeys (AGMs). rHPIV1-C+P expressed increased levels of C protein and, surprisingly, activated the type I IFN and apoptosis responses more strongly than HPIV1 wt. rHPIV1-C+P provided a useful backbone for recovering an attenuated P/C gene mutation (Delta 84-85), which was previously unrecoverable, likely due to detrimental effects of the deletion on the P protein. rHPIV1-C(Delta 84-85)+P and an additional mutant, rHPIV1-C(Delta 169-170)+P, were found to replicate to similar titers in vitro and to activate the type I IFN and apoptosis responses to a similar degree as rHPIV1-C+P. rHPIV1-C(Delta 84-85)+P was found to be highly attenuated in AGMs, and all viruses were immunogenic and effective in protecting AGMs against challenge with HPIV1 wt. rHPIV1-C(Delta 84-85)+P will be investigated as a potential live-attenuated vaccine candidate for HPIV1.
Perioperative topical bovine thrombin exposure is not associated with hemodialysis graft thrombosis.

Perioperative topical bovine thrombin exposure is not associated with hemodialysis graft thrombosis. Arteriovenous (AV) graft use as hemodialysis access remains highly prevalent, with a consequent high thrombosis rate. The magnitude of this problem requires that all potentially modifiable risk factors for graft thrombosis be thoroughly investigated. During graft surgery, topical bovine thrombin is often administered, which can lead to the development of antibovine thrombin antibodies and subsequent hemostatic changes. A recent study correlated the presence of plasma antibovine thrombin antibodies with graft thrombosis in hemodialysis patients. We therefore hypothesized that perioperative topical bovine thrombin exposure would lead to the development of antibovine thrombin antibodies and graft thrombosis. We screened 314 hemodialysis patients and identified 73 patients who had 74 grafts placed for whom complete data on perioperative topical bovine thrombin exposure and subsequent graft outcomes was available. Sixty-one of these patients were available for retrospective measurement of antibovine thrombin antibodies, antihuman thrombin antibodies, and the thrombin activation markers thrombin activatible fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) and thrombin precursor protein (TpP™). In these grafts, there was no significant association between topical bovine thrombin exposure and primary assisted patency ( P = 0.37). The presence of antibovine thrombin antibodies ( P = 0.13), antihuman thrombin antibodies ( P = 0.10), and increased TAFI ( P = 0.18) were associated with trends toward reduced primary assisted patency which did not reach significance. There was a correlation between antibovine thrombin antibodies and antihuman thrombin antibodies ( r = 0.30, P r = 0.30, P
Stimulus-specific contrast effects during operant discrimination learning.

In two experiments, pigeons' responding was equally reinforced in the presence of four line-orientation stimuli. Responding was then reinforced when only two of the four orientation stimuli were present; the remaining two orientations appeared during extinction. Response rates were often highest in the stimulus adjacent to the orientations presented during extinction and often lowest in that orientation adjacent to the orientations presented with reinforcement. These effects were stronger and more persistent when the stimuli were separated by a smaller angle, rendering the discrimination more difficult. These and other data suggest that discrimination training may not be accurately explained in terms of the simple effects of reinforcement and nonreinforcement associated with isolated stimuli, nor by accounts that depend upon stimulus generalization. Recent accounts of contrast that depend upon “emotionality” produced by nonreinforced responding or upon reinforcement-elicited responses are also difficult to apply to these data.
Formation of nondissociable hormone-protein complexes during the in vitro incubation of L-thyroxine and 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine with hepatic microsomes.

Incubation of hepatic microsomes with 3,5,3′-triiodo-L-thyronine or L-thyroxine labeled with 126I in the phenolic ring results in both deiodination and the formation of labeled microsomal iodoprotein which cannot be extracted with ethanol. Chromatography of Na3PO4 hydrolysates of the iodoprotein indicated that at least 20% of the radioactivity was in the form of the labeled hormone used in the incubation. Control studies with 131I-labeled hormone, which was added after completion of the incubation, indicate that the 125I-hormone recovered greatly exceeded that which could be attributed to incomplete extraction of unreacted hormone. In addition to the iodothyxonines, iodide and unidentified peaks which remained near the point of application were identified in the digests of the microsomal iodoprotein. Kinetic studies and studies using chemical inhibitors suggest that the rate of hormone-protein complex formation is proportional to the rate of deiodination. The kinetic studies also militate against the poss...
Suppression of the firehose instability by hard energy spectra

The growth rate of the relativistic firehose instability is an order of magnitude smaller, near marginal instability, for plasmas with particle energy spectraN(E)dE∞E −2.5dE than for those withN(E)dE∞E −3dE. If cosmic rays are accelerated impulsively in limited regions, with initially flat spectra, the sudden increase in the firehose growth rate could lead to release of the particles when the spectrum has steepened beyond exponent 2.5.