cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Applications of machine learning in EDA (Conference Presentation)

Machine learning has significant potential to help the human designer produce better outcomes. It can also help manage some of the complexity with chip design in advanced nodes. Projects to be discussed include the following. o Using Bayesian optimization for circuit IP reuse. Analog and custom digital IP reuse is difficult and time-consuming. Professor Franzon's group has built a Bayesian optimization approach involving statistical surrogate models. They have demonstrated by porting a number of designs between nodes, including a BJT to SOI port. The machine learning based approach produced better results than a human designer. o Using Surrogate modeling for Physical design. Professor Franzon's group has used a machine learning approach to predict Global Router and detailed router results as a function of tool input settings. These models can be used to tune the tool setup for specific outcomes. o Using Surrogate Modeling and System Identification Modeling to model digital receiver chains. Digital receiver modeling is predict BER of a receiver in the presence of an input signal with a close eye. Professor Franzon's group has used a combination of Surrogate Modeling and System Identification to build such a modeling capability. o Using deep networks for design rule checking. The team has demonstrated that deep networks can be used instead of Boolen checkers. There is significant potential to close the DFM and custom design productivity gaps.
Prep-Along Facilitated Posterior Crown Preparation in the Preclinical Dental Setting: A Multimedia Approach.

Introduction Dental students often seek visual aids and demonstrations when attempting to perform new procedures. This video resource provides an adjunctive teaching tool for a crown preparation on...
Patterns of arm position during normal driving

Left arm position was determined from movies taken by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of 1890 vehicles approaching an intersection on a normal two-lane road. The dynamics of driving were apparent as the drivers shifted their left arms from the armrest to place their hands on the steering wheel 23.8% of the time when stopping at intersections. Whereas drivers used the armrest 34.4% of the time on the open road, the armrest was used only 10.6% of the time at the intersection. The driver's left hand was on the steering wheel 69.6% of the time at the intersection. Use of the windowsill to rest the arm varied among passenger cars, trucks/vans, and sports cars primarily because of differences in shoulder and windowsill height. A lower relative position in trucks and vans promoted use of the windowsill to rest the arm. Given that serious injury in multivehicle side impacts most frequently occurs in intersection crashes, design improvements of the side interior should focus on direct loading of the che...
Flavorings-Related Lung Disease: A Brief Review and New Mechanistic Data:

Flavorings-related lung disease is a potentially disabling and sometimes fatal lung disease of workers making or using flavorings. First identified almost 20 years ago in microwave popcorn workers ...
Blending Machine Learning and Interaction Design in Audio Explorer

The results of machine learning models can often be difficult to interpret, especially for domain experts. Audio Explorer, the winning entry of the 2018 VAST Challenge, is an interactive data exploration tool that effectively communicates machine learning results using coordinated geospatial, temporal, and auditory visualizations to promote information discovery.
Social and Cultural Impact of Immigrant Retirees in Cuenca, Ecuador and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Retiree migration from northern, wealthier countries to more southerly destinations with lower living costs and a more pleasant climate has been mushrooming over the past five decades. In the latter decades of the twentieth century, the largest flow of international retirees was from northern Europe to warmer, less costly, countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, and Malta (Williams et al. 1997). More recently, aging of the baby boomers in the United States and Canada – a cohort that in earlier years has tended to push social boundaries – has led to rapid growth of international retirement migration in the Western hemisphere, particularly to destinations in Latin America (Dixon et al. 2006). This generational characteristic of lifestyle innovation, combined with income limitations and financial insecurity, has resulted in increasing interest in “amenity retirement” abroad (Hayes 2015).
A risk-based analytical framework for quantifying non-stationary flood risks and establishing infrastructure design standards in a changing environment

Abstract In a rapidly changing environment, analysis of risks associated with non-stationary hydroclimatic extremes has many important implications for resilient and sustainable water resources management, including the evaluation of risk for existing systems and the design of new infrastructure. This study develops a new risk-based analytical framework called the Non-Stationary Monte-Carlo (NSMC) to better address various problems associated with non-stationarity of hydrologic extremes. Current approaches in the literature evaluating non-stationary Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) of extremes events commonly use trend extension or multivariate analysis based on observed data, which often fail to account for larger changes in the future. To avoid these problems, NSMC explicitly accounts for the projected changes in hydroclimatic extremes by analyzing the changing PDFs of extremes for each future year based on statistically downscaled climate projections and hydrologic simulations. Using Monte Carlo techniques, NSMC generates a Super Ensemble (SE) of extremes, the statistics of which can be readily applied to various problems in non-stationary flood frequency analysis. For example, we show that the estimation of design standards based on Design Life Level (DLL) or Average Risk of Failure (ARF) metrics can be reduced to a simple look-up process of quantiles in the SE of extremes. A case study analyzing extreme high streamflow and a hypothetical levee design for the Wabash basin (IN, USA) demonstrates the applicability of NSMC to real-world flood risk problems. Furthermore, this study also shows an example case of using NSMC to identify cost-effective design standards for new infrastructure combining future changing risk of failure, project design lifespan, and present value of future replacement costs.
Elucidation of human amphotericin B pharmacokinetics : Identification of a new potential factor affecting interspecies pharmacokinetic scaling

Purpose. To elucidate the pharmacokinetics of amphotericin B in rats, mice and humans, and to perform interspecies scaling to humans using allometry.
Correction: Twelve-Month Follow-Up to a Fully Automated Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy Intervention for Rural Adults With Depression Symptoms: Single-Arm Longitudinal Study

Background: Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (iCBT) interventions have the potential to help individuals with depression, regardless of time and location. Yet, limited information exists on the longer-term (>6 months) effects of iCBT and adherence to these interventions. Objective: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal (12 months) effectiveness of a fully automated, self-guided iCBT intervention called Thrive, designed to enhance engagement with a rural population of adults with depression symptoms. The secondary aim was to determine whether the program adherence enhanced the effectiveness of the Thrive intervention. Methods: We analyzed data from 181 adults who used the Thrive intervention. Using self-reports, participants were evaluated at baseline, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months for the primary outcome of depression symptom severity using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale and secondary outcome measures, namely, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7) scores, Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) scores, Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10) scores, and suicidal ideation (ninth item of the PHQ-9 scale) scores. The Thrive program adherence was measured using the numbers of program logins, page views, and lessons completed. Results: The assessment response rates for 8-week, 6-month, and 12-month outcomes were 58.6% (106/181), 50.3% (91/181), and 51.4% (93/181), respectively. By 8 weeks, significant improvements were observed for all outcome measures. These improvements were maintained at 12 months with mean reductions in severities of depression (mean –6.5; P 1) at 6 months (16.5%) and 12 months (17.2%) compared to baseline (39.8%) (P<.001). In regard to the program adherence, cumulative counts of page views and lessons completed were significantly related to lower PHQ-9, GAD-7, and WSAS scores and higher CD-RISC-10 scores (all P values <.001 with an exception of page views with WSAS for which P value was .02). Conclusions: The Thrive intervention was effective at reducing depression and anxiety symptom severity and improving functioning and resilience among a population of adults from mostly rural communities in the United States. These gains were maintained at 1 year. Program adherence, measured by the number of logins and lessons completed, indicates that users who engage more with the program benefit more from the intervention. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03244878; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03244878
Perfluoropentane-in-Water Biphasic System for Low-Power Photothermal Bubble Generation and Sensitive Immunoassay

A perfluoropentane-in-water system, capable of photothremally generating microbubbles at low power, was developed. This system enabled the bulk-to-surface concentration of protein for immunoassay with enhanced sensitivity and minimal loss in protein activity.
A scalable and distributed architecture for secure and privacy-preserving authentication and message dissemination in VANETs

Abstract With significant advances in the development of autonomous cars and Internet of Things (IoT) in recent years, Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (VANETs) have become a promising technology for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) as well. However, the wireless nature of VANET communication makes it vulnerable to a plethora of attack vectors to otherwise secure vehicles. Authenticated message dissemination plays a key role to avert such security vulnerabilities. Many of the existing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based schemes use Certificates for authentication. In such schemes, for authenticating an entity which presents its certificate, Certificate Revocation List (CRL) is used to check if the entity’s certificate has been revoked. But, as the size of the CRL grows, using CRL for authentication can incur computation and storage overhead in VANETs. To overcome this limitation of CRL-based approach for authentication, in this paper, we propose a distributed, scalable, low-overhead, privacy-preserving authentication scheme for VANETs. The proposed scheme uses a Merkle Hash Tree (MHT) for authenticating Road Side Units (RSUs) and Modified Merkle Patricia Trie (MMPT) for authenticating vehicles. We also present an informal analysis as well as formal correctness proof of the proposed scheme.
Computer Science Instruction and Academic Outcomes in Other Subjects

Participation in computer science (CS) education is growing across the K-12 spectrum. This enthusiasm for CS is driven, in part, by the belief that through CS instruction, students will learn computational thinking (CT) skills, which can also be applied to domains outside CS. We add to this literature by examining whether or not there is a relationship between receiving CS instruction and students' academic performance in non-CS subject areas. Using a fixed-effects regression methodology with course-taking records from New York City, we examine the association between CS instruction and course grades for high school students. We find small positive associations between CS instruction and end-of-year grades in English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
Wrong Tissue in Block.

OBJECTIVES Maintaining specimen identity during surgical pathology tissue processing is critical. Epic Beaker Laboratory Information System requires sequential scanning of specimen label and grossed blocks (block confirmation) to ensure specimen identity. We report our institution's experience with wrong tissue in block (WTIB) grossing errors before and after adopting block confirmation. METHODS During the first 18 months of Beaker implementation, block confirmation was not required. We then mandated block confirmation for a 3-month period. To ensure compliance, we then built a "hard stop" feature that prevents scanning any unconfirmed blocks onto a packing list. We reviewed WTIB incidents pre- and postimplementation of these solutions. RESULTS Before using block confirmation, we had WTIB incidents involving 17 (0.043%) of 38,848 cases. When we mandated block confirmation use, we had WTIB involving 2 (0.043%) of 4,646 cases. After implementing the hard stop feature, we had WTIB incidents involving 2 (0.005%) of 42,411 cases. Overall, there was an 88.4% (0.043% vs 0.005%; P < .001) reduction in WTIB incidents using block confirmation with a hard stop. CONCLUSIONS Beaker is a customizable platform that can be tailored to a laboratory's workflow. By using barcoding, implementing custom-built features, and improving workflow protocols, we significantly reduced WTIB errors.
Soil microbial diversity in organic and non-organic pasture systems.

Understanding the effects of organic pasture management on the soil microbiome is important for sustainable forage production since soil microbiome diversity contributes to improved nutrient cycling, soil structure, plant growth, and environmental resiliency; however, the soil microbiome response to pasture management is largely unknown. This study assessed the soil microbial diversity, richness, and community structure following 10 years of pasture management (organic or non-organic) of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Soil samples were collected from 0-15 cm in July and August from 2017-2018 and soil nutrient properties (nutrients, carbon, nitrogen, and pH) quantified and correlated with soil microbial diversity. Overall, greater soil bacterial species richness (P ≤ 0.05) occurred in organic relative to non-organic (conventional) systems. Management affected bacterial species richness (Chao1), with greater richness occurring in organic pasture soils and less richness occurring in non-organic systems (P ≤ 0.05). Similarly, management affected bacterial evenness (Simpson's index), with a more diverse community occurring in organically managed soils relative to non-organic pastures (P ≤ 0.05). Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis showed statistically significant and biologically consistent differences in bacterial taxa in organic compared with non-organic soils. Therefore, there was a shift in bacterial community structure in organic relative to non-organic soils (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally, soil nutrients (Fe, Mg, Ni, S, Al, K, Cd, and Cu), pH, C, and N were correlated with one or more dominant bacterial phyla (Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria). Overall, pasture management affected soil microbial diversity, with greater diversity occurring in organic than non-organic systems, likely owing to applications of organic poultry litter in organic systems compared to non-organic management (use of inorganic-fertilizers and herbicides). Results indicate that when pastures are converted to organic production systems, soil microbial richness and diversity may increase, thereby resulting in enhanced soil microbiome diversity and overall ecosystem services.
Ein Ort der Abwesenheit: Serhij Bukovs’kyjs Film Spell Your Name. Serhiy Bukovsky’s Film Spell Your Name

Babi Yar is regarded as being of great importance in the history of Ukraine, yet for a long time, the massacre was hardly anchored at all in the collective memory of the country. One milestone in the way in which events were viewed was the film Spell Your Name, which is based on interviews from the archives held by Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust Foundation. In his film, Serhiy Bukovsky reflects on the distance that separates us from historical events. At the heart of the film are memory, forgetting and repression. Spell Your Name circles around Babi Yar as a blank spot in the Ukrainian national memory. Here, the focus is not on reconstructing the past, but on how history is treated in the present day.
Metaphysics, Reason, and Religion in Secular Clinical Ethics.

I concur with Brummett’s (2021) argument that there is a need for secular clinical ethics to acknowledge that various positions typically advocated for by ethicists, concerning both bedside decisio...
Clinical macroeconomics and differential diagnosis

The 2008 financial crisis laid bare several deficiencies of mainstream macroeconomic analysis, most importantly the failure to engage in systematic differential diagnosis. Mainstream macroeconomics, following Keynes, has unduly privileged aggregate demand shocks in both analysis and policy prescription, whereas actual macroeconomic crises emerge from a much more diverse set of causes: demand, supply, panic, coordination failures, and, of course, even pandemic disease. The systematic application of differential diagnosis of underlying sources of shocks would improve system resilience and policy responses.
Proving the proverbial gadfly: situating the historical and racial context of Southern medical works by Mary Louise Marshall

Health sciences librarianship has historically benefited from avoiding critical conversations around the role of race in the profession, reflected through a select few number of articles on the topic. The purpose of this study was to add to this body of literature and apply a critical librarianship framework on the early scholarly record of health sciences librarianship and the legacy of integration within the Medical Library Association (MLA). Three Southern medical works and the integration views of Mary Louise Marshall, the longest-serving president of MLA from 1941 to 1946, were thematically and textually analyzed to redress the profession’s long-standing legacy with Whiteness and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) representation. In reframing the historic past of MLA both through Marshall’s works and her views, the goal is to acknowledge ways in which the profession has impeded progress and present steps to remedy appropriate outreach for the future.
Videojuegos y arte: Primeras manifestaciones de Game Art en Argentina

espanolA partir de indagaciones precedentes sobre cuestiones como la interactividad y la interfaz presentes en obras realizadas con tecnologia digital, este texto realiza una exploracion sobre los videojuegos como objetos populares interactivos y sus posibilidades artisticas, procurando contribuir a la construccion de la teoria y practica en este campo emergente en el contexto local. La perspectiva que articula este trabajo, procura hacer visibles obras de arte producidas en Argentina plausibles de ser ubicadas bajo el campo denominado Game Art, el cual aglutina diferentes producciones en torno al videojuego, reflexionando sobre este como medio y objeto cultural. EnglishFrom deepening into topics such as interactivity and interface present in artistic works done in the digital arts, this text explores videogames as interactive popular objects and it's artistic possibilities, trying to contribute to the theoretical and practical backgrounds in this emerging feld in a local context. portuguesA partir da pesquisa sobre interactividade e a interfaz presentes em obras feitas com tecnologia digital, este artigo faz uma exploracao sobre os videojogos como objetos populares interativos e suas posibilidades artisticas, procurando contribuir a construcao da teoria y pra-tica ente campo emergente no contexto local.
Coronary flow limitation during the development of ischemia. Effect of atrial pacing in patients with left anterior descending coronary artery disease

Atrial pacing-induced tachycardia causes increased myocardial oxygen demand and leads to the development of angina in patients with significant coronary arterial narrowing, when the ability to augment coronary flow is limited. This study evaluated the response of coronary flow in a single coronary bed as that bed was rendered ischemic by progressive increases in oxygen demand. Thermodilution measurements of great cardiac vein flow, representing the efflux from the territory of the left anterior descending coronary artery, were obtained in 20 patients as heart rate was increased by incremental atrial pacing until the maximal heart rate was reached or angina developed. Ten of the 20 patients had no significant coronary narrowing on angiography, and 10 had a lesion obstructing more than 50 percent of the diameter of the left anterior descending coronary artery but no other significant coronary narrowing. No significant difference was found between the two groups in resting heart rate, aortic pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure or great cardiac vein flow. With each increment in heart rate throughout the pacing test, the patients without significant coronary stenosis showed a steady increase in great cardiac vein flow. During all submaximal pacing increments, the increase in great cardiac vein flow per increment in heart rate was similar in those with and without significant stenosis (mean ± standard deviation 1.05 ± 0.48 ml/beat versus 0.79 ± 0.31 ml/beat, respectively). However, over the final pacing increment, the patients with coronary stenosis had no increase in great cardiac vein flow, whereas those without disease continued to have increased flow (Δ = 0.10 ± 0.19 ml/beat versus 1.3 ± 0.69 ml/beat, respectively, p < 0.001). This flow limitation phenomenon was observed in all 10 patients with coronary stenosis and was accompanied by angina or S-T segment changes, or both, in all 10. This striking difference in coronary flow patterns between patients with and without significant left anterior descending coronary artery disease may prove useful in (1) further studies of the pathophysiology and therapy of myocardial ischemia in human beings, and (2) clinical evaluation of the hemodynamic importance of left anterior descending coronary arterial lesions in selected patients.
Context and structure in automated full-text information access

This dissertation investigates the role of contextual information in the automated retrieval and display of full-text documents, using robust natural language processing algorithms to automatically detect structure in and assign topic labels to texts. Many long texts are comprised of complex topic and subtopic structure, a fact ignored by existing information access methods. I present two algorithms which detect such structure, and two visual display paradigms which use the results of these algorithms to show the interactions of multiple main topics, multiple subtopics, and the relations between main topics and subtopics. The first algorithm, called {\it TextTiling}, recognizes the subtopic structure of texts as dictated by their content. It uses domain-independent lexical frequency and distribution information to partition texts into multi-paragraph passages. The results are found to correspond well to reader judgments of major subtopic boundaries. The second algorithm assigns multiple main topic labels to each text, where the labels are chosen from pre-defined, intuitive category sets; the algorithm is trained on unlabeled text. A new iconic representation, called {\it TileBars} uses TextTiles to simultaneously and compactly display query term frequency, query term distribution and relative document length. This representation provides an informative alternative to ranking long texts according to their overall similarity to a query. For example, a user can choose to view those documents that have an extended discussion of one set of terms and a brief but overlapping discussion of a second set of terms. This representation also allows for relevance feedback on patterns of term distribution. TileBars display documents only in terms of words supplied in the user query. For a given retrieved text, if the query words do not correspond to its main topics, the user cannot discern in what context the query terms were used. For example, a query on {\sl contaminants} may retrieve documents whose main topics relate to nuclear power, food, or oil spills. To address this issue, I describe a graphical interface, called {\it Cougar}, that displays retrieved documents in terms of interactions among their automatically-assigned main topics, thus allowing users to familiarize themselves with the topics and terminology of a text collection.
Virus transfer between fingerpads and fomites.

Aims: Virus transfer between individuals and fomites is an important route of transmission for both gastrointestinal and respiratory illness. The present study examines how direction of transfer, virus species, time since last handwashing, gender, and titre affect viral transfer between fingerpads and glass. Methods and Results: Six hundred fifty-six total transfer events, performed by 20 volunteers using MS2, ϕX174, and fr indicated 0·23 ± 0·22 (mean and standard deviation) of virus is readily transferred on contact. Virus transfer is significantly influenced by virus species and time since last handwashing. Transfer of fr bacteriophage is significantly higher than both MS2 and ϕX174. Virus transfer between surfaces is reduced for recently washed hands. Conclusions: Viruses are readily transferred between skin and surfaces on contact. The fraction of virus transferred is dependent on multiple factors including virus species, recently washing hands, and direction of transfer likely because of surface physicochemical interactions. Significance and Impact of the Study: The study is the first to provide a large data set of virus transfer events describing the central tendency and distribution of fraction virus transferred between fingers and glass. The data set from the study, along with the quantified effect sizes of the factors explored, inform studies examining role of fomites in disease transmission.
Systemically Induced Encephalopathies: Newer Clinical Applications of MRS

The sections in this article are 1 Systemically Induced Encephalopathies 2 Subclinical Hepatic Encephalopathy 3 Contribution of NMR to Assessment of Clinical Hepatic Encephalopathy 4 Other Systemic Encephalopathies 5 Hypoxic Encephalopathy and ‘Brain Attack’ 6 Other Focal Brain Disorders 7 Advances in Multinuclear Clinical Neurospectroscopy 8 Conclusions 9 Acknowledgements 10 Biographical Sketch Related Articles
Low-leakage WSe 2 FET gate-stack using titanyl phthalocyanine seeding layer for atomic layer deposition of Al 2 O 3

The fabrication of top-gated transition metal dichalchogenide (TMD) field-effect transistors (FETs), requires a uniform and pinhole-free gate dielectric. For realization of TMD tunnel FETs (TFETs) a high-k gate dielectric with subnanometer equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) is required. However, deposition of a thin, uniform high-k dielectric on a TMD surface without functionalization is challenging [1]. This is due to the lack of dangling bonds on the TMD surface. In this report, titanyl (TiO) phthalocyanine (C 32 H 18 N 8 ), TiOPc, is used successfully as a seeding layer on WSe 2 to enable the atomic layer deposition of Al 2 O 3 . TiOPc is an organic semiconductor with a band gap of approximately 2 eV in air [2]. We demonstrate the first top-gated TMD FET with an EOT as low as 2.2 nm (e Al2O3 = 9) and a gate leakage current density of 0.2 pA/µm2 at 1 V gate bias. The best prior report we have found, by Liu [3] on MoS 2 , achieved an EOT of 6.9 nm with a gate leakage current density of 2 pA/µm2. As a point of reference the ITRS [4] targets an ultimate EOT for CMOS approaching 0.4 nm with a current density below 0.25 pA/µm2. Here, we compare the electrical characteristics of top-gated TiOPc-seeded Al 2 O 3 WSe 2 FETs against the characteristics of the same transistor with an ALD Al 2 O 3 back gate. We also report the improvements obtained by post-deposition high vacuum annealing.
Colyseus: a distributed architecture for online multiplayer games

This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of Colyseus, a distributed architecture for interactive multiplayer games. Colyseus takes advantage of a game's tolerance for weakly consistent state and predictable workload to meet the tight latency constraints of game-play and maintain scalable communication costs. In addition, it provides a rich distributed query interface and effective prefetching subsystem to help locate and replicate objects before they are accessed at a node. We have implemented Colyseus and modified Quake II, a popular first person shooter game, to use it. Our measurements of Quake II and our own Colyseus-based game with hundreds of players shows that Colyseus effectively distributes game traffic across the participating nodes, allowing Colyseus to support low-latency game-play for an order of magnitude more players than existing single server designs, with similar per-node bandwidth costs.
Nonlinear analyses of interactive power-electronics networks: illustrations

The applications of interactive power-electronics networks (IPNs) are on the rise. The successful operation of multimodule IPNs relies heavily on a stable design. In this paper, we illustrate the stability of three classes of DC-DC power-electronics systems, which are some of the building blocks of an IPN, The primary focus of the paper is to illustrate the differences between the new and existing approaches and mechanisms for stability analysis of power-electronics systems using some interesting results.
Material property correlations for uranium mononitride: III. Transport properties

Abstract The experimental data for the tracer diffusion coefficients of nitrogen (DNinUN) and uranium (DNinUN) in uranium mononitride (UN), electrical resistivity (ρ), and thermal conductivity (k) of UN have been collected and reviewed. Empirical correlations for these properties as functions of temperature (T, in K), nitrogen partial pressure (PN, in atm), grain size (g, in μm), and porosity (P, as a volume fraction) were developed and are given as: D N in UN (rmcm 2 /s) = 2.252 × 10 −5 P N 0.4134 g −0737+2.179×10 −4 T exp{ −19214.7 T } , D N in UN (cm 2 /s) = 2.252 × 10 −11 P N 0.6414 exp{ −7989.3 T } , ρ(μΩ cm) = 71.49 e 2.14P (T) 0.125 , k(W/mK) = 1.864 e−2.14P(T)0.361. The nitrogen diffusion coefficient correlation was constructed from experimental data in the range of 0.001 ≤ PN ≤ 2.0 atm, 25 ≤ g ≤ 5000 μm, and 1503 ≤ T ≤ 2273 K; similarly, the uranium diffusion coefficient correlation incorporated an experimental database in the range of 2.6×10−5 ≤ PN ≤ 0.66 atm and 1873 ≤ T ≤ 2133 K. The electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity correlations are applicable for temperatures of 298 ≤ T ≤ 1600 K and 298 ≤T ≤ 1923 K, respectively, and both correlations were developed from data representing porosities of 0–20%.
Human Mitochondrial Diseases: Answering Questions and Questioning Answers

Since the first identification in 1988 of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, the mitochondrial diseases have emerged as a major clinical entity. The most striking feature of these disorders is their marked heterogeneity, which extends to their clinical, biochemical, and genetic characteristics. The major mitochondrial encephalomyopathies include MELAS (mitochondrial encephalopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes), MERRF (myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibers), KSS/CPEO (Kearns-Sayre syndrome/chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia), and NARP/MILS (neuropathy, ataxia, and retinitis pigmentosum/maternally inherited Leigh syndrome) and they typically present highly variable multisystem defects that usually involve abnormalities of skeletal muscle and/or the CNS. The primary emphasis here is to review recent investigations of these mitochondrial diseases from the standpoint of how the complexities of mitochondrial genetics and biogenesis might determine their varied features. In addition, the mitochondrial encephalomyopathies are compared and contrasted to Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, a mitochondrial disease in which the pathogenic mtDNA mutations produce a more uniform and focal neuropathology. All of these disorders involve, at some level, a mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction. Because mitochondrial genetics differs so strikingly from the Mendelian inheritance of chromosomes, recent research on the origin and subsequent segregation and transmission of mtDNA mutations is reviewed.
Extraction Time of Kidneys from Deceased Donors and Impact on Outcomes

Cold ischemia time (from flush to out-of-ice) and warm ischemia time (from out-of-ice to reperfusion) are known to impact delayed graft function (DGF) rates and long-term allograft survival following deceased donor kidney transplantation. We propose an additional ischemia time, extraction time, beginning with aortic cross-clamp and perfusion/cooling of the kidneys, and ending with removal of the kidneys and placement on ice on the backtable. During this time the kidneys rewarm, suffering an additional ischemic insult, which may impair transplant function. We measured extraction times of 576 kidneys recovered and transplanted locally between January 2006 and December 2008, then linked to Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data for outcomes. Extraction time ranged from 14 to 123 min, with a mean of 44.7 min. In SRTR-adjusted analyses, longer extraction time and DGF were statistically associated (odds ratio [OR] = 1.19 per 5 min beyond 60 min, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.39, p = 0.03). Up to 60 min of extraction time, DGF incidence was 27.8%; by 120 min it doubled to nearly 60%. Although not statistically significant (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 0.96-1.49, p = 0.11), primary nonfunction rate also rose dramatically to nearly 20% by 120 min extraction time. Extraction time is a novel and important factor to consider when evaluating a deceased donor kidney offer and when strategizing personnel for kidney recovery.
High-Voltage Thin-Layer Electrophoretic Method for Detecting Histidinemia

A high-voltage thin-layer electrophoretic method is described for separating urinary histidine and imidazoleacetic, imidazolelactic, and imidazolepyruvic acids. The procedure provides a reliable confirmation of the diagnosis of histidinemia.
A DHT-Aided Chunk-Driven Overlay for Scalable and Efficient Peer-to-Peer Live Streaming

Internet-based video streaming applications are becoming more and more popular, attracting millions of online viewers every day. The incredible growth of viewers, dynamics of participants, and high video quality of service (QoS) requirement pose scalability, availability, and low-latency challenges to peer-to-peer (P2P) live video streaming systems. Tree-based systems have low-delay but are vulnerable to churn, while mesh-based systems are churn-resilient but suffer from high delay and overhead. Also, both structures cannot make full utilization of the bandwidth in the system. To tackle the challenges, we propose a DHT-aided chunk-driven overlay (DCO). It introduces a scalable DHT ring structure into a mesh-based overlay to efficiently manage video stream sharing. DCO includes a two-layer hierarchical DHT-based infrastructure, a chunk sharing algorithm, and a video provider selection algorithm. It selects stable nodes to form a scalable DHT-based infrastructure. The nodes in the DHT serve as distributed matchmakers between video providers and requesters. To motivate stable nodes to serve as the DHT nodes, we introduce an incentive mechanism based on the game theory. Aided by DHT, DCO guarantees stream chunk availability and assigns to a chunk requester a provider among all available providers in the system so that stream chunks are transmitted along a dynamic tree with top-down decreasing node bandwidth. In this way, DCO takes full advantage of available bandwidth in the system and, at the same time, provides high scalability and low latency. Experimental results show the superior performance of DCO compared with mesh-based and tree-based systems, and the effectiveness of the incentive mechanism and provider selection algorithm.
International distance-learning outreach: the APEC EINet experience.

Background: The Emerging Infections Network is a mature electronic network that links Public Health professionals in the Asia Pacific through regular e-mail bulletins and an extensive Web site (http://www.apec.org/infectious). Emerging infections is a new area of study; learning materials help foster education. Our objective is to quantify the response of the network to the introduction of distance-learning materials on the Web site. Methods: Distance-learning materials, developed by the University of Washington School of Public Health, were field tested and launched on the site. Publicity was carried out prior to the launch of the materials. Access was tracked prospectively using server counts of page downloads. Results: Web access increased substantially during the month after the materials were launched, especially among Asia based computers. The effect was isolated to the distance-learning pages, and not general to the site. Conclusions: This Web site appears to be responsive to the advertisement and to the materials. Prospective Web-site monitoring proved useful.
Accessing collision welding process window for titanium/copper welds with vaporizing foil actuators and grooved targets

Abstract A method for accurate, low-cost, lab-scale determination of the optimal collision angles and velocities for collision welding of a given combination of materials has been introduced. 0.508 mm thick grade 2 CP Ti sheets were launched at various velocities toward a Cu 110 target with grooves of angles ranging from 8° to 28°, machined on the collision side. Capacitor bank-driven aluminum vaporizing foil actuators operated at input energy levels up to 12 kJ and currents up to 140 kA were used to launch the flyer sheets. Velocity was measured with high temporal resolution using a photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) system. Collision velocities ranged from 440 m/s to 860 m/s. The welded assemblies were sectioned and the weld interfaces were observed via scanning electron microscopy. For each collision angle there were certain collision velocities which yielded a wavy interface. Welding velocity for transition from smooth to wavy interfaces for each collision angle was used to determine the corresponding transition Reynolds number and was compared to existing results in literature. The uniqueness of this process lies in its small scale and ease of implementation.
Determining the Critical Particle Size to Induce Enhanced Emission in Aggregates of a Highly Twisted Triarylamine

Towards highly luminescent aggregates: A highly twisted triphenylamine displays aggregation-induced enhanced emission. A solvent-specific critical molecular aggregate size, once reached, gives rapid onset of enhanced emission in polar solvent mixtures that favor quenching of solvated individual molecule excited states.
The contribution of non-Brownian motion to transport properties in C5H6NAg5I6, RbAg4I5 and αAgI

Abstract The effect of non-Brownian motion on transport properties in RbAg 4 I 5 , C 5 H 6 NAg 5 I 6 and αAgI has been assessed through a mathematical formalism which compares the measured Hall mobility with the square of the Ohmic mobility. It is found that the two “double salts” behave qualitatively differently than αAgI.
Social anxiety and self-consciousness in binge eating disorder: associations with eating disorder psychopathology.

Abstract Objective Research has consistently shown that anxiety disorders are common among individuals with eating disorders. Although social phobia has been found to be highly associated with eating disorders, less is known about social anxiety in individuals with binge eating disorder (BED). The present study examined associations between social anxiety and self-consciousness with body mass index (BMI) and eating disorder psychopathology in BED. Methods Participants were 113 overweight or obese treatment-seeking men and women with BED. Participants were administered semistructural diagnostic clinical interviews and completed a battery of self-report measures. Results Social anxiety was positively and significantly correlated with shape and weight concerns and binge eating frequency. After accounting for depressive levels, social anxiety and self-consciousness accounted for significant variance in eating, shape, and weight concerns and overall eating disorder global severity scores (Eating Disorder Examination). Social anxiety also accounted for significant variance in binge eating frequency after covarying for depressive levels. Social anxiety and self-consciousness were not significantly associated with BMI or dietary restraint. Discussion Our findings suggest that greater social anxiety and heightened self-consciousness are associated with greater eating disorder psychopathology, most notably with greater shape and weight concerns and binge eating frequency in patients with BED. Social anxiety and self-consciousness do not appear to be merely functions of excess weight, and future research should examine whether they contribute to the maintenance of binge eating and associated eating disorder psychopathology.
Spin trapping and its application in the study of lipid peroxidation and free radical production with liver microsomes.

Abstract Lipid peroxidation in microsomes was studied using a spin-trapping technique. Free radical adducts of phenyltertiarybutylnitrone (PBN) were produced as detected by electron spin resonance during induced lipid peroxidation of microsomes with a system consisting of NADPH, Fe 2+ , and pyrophosphate. The adducts were identified as intermediates of the substrates added to the microsomal system and not OH · or HO 2 radicals. The production of the adduct parallels the NADPH-dependent formation of malondialdehyde (MDA). Analyses of the electron spin resonance hyperfine splitting constants allowed in some instances identification of the adducts. Purified preparations of cytochrome P -450 mimic the results of the microsomes. The carcinogens dimethyl and diethylnitrosoamine were metabolized in this system yelding reactive free radicals and free NO, suggesting an alternate mechanism for the activity of these compounds as ultimate carcinogens.
Levels of trkA and BDNF mRNA, but not NGF mRNA, fluctuate across the estrous cycle and increase in response to acute hormone replacement

Abstract Recent studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy can help to reduce the risk and severity of Alzheimer's-related dementia in postmenopausal women. We have hypothesized that these effects are due, in part, to the ability for estrogen and progesterone to enhance hippocampal function, as well as the functional status of cholinergic projections to the hippocampus and cortex, by influencing the expression of specific neurotrophins and neurotrophin receptors. In the present study, quantitative in situ hybridization techniques were used to determine whether the levels of trkA mRNA in the basal forebrain, and nerve growth factor (NGF) mRNA and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA in the hippocampus, are significantly affected by physiological changes in circulating gonadal steroids. Gonadally intact animals were sacrificed at different stages of the estrous cycle and ovariectomized animals were sacrificed at different times following the administration of either estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone. In gonadally intact animals, significant fluctuations in the levels of trkA mRNA in the medial septum (MS), and BDNF mRNA in regions CA1 and CA3/4 of the hippocampus, were detected across the estrous cycle. In animals that received hormone replacement, a significant increase (30.4%) in trkA mRNA was detected in the MS of animals sacrificed 24 h following estrogen administration. Levels of trkA mRNA in the MS declined to control levels over the next 48 h; however, a single injection of progesterone administered 48 h after estradiol appeared to prevent any further decline in trkA mRNA over the next 24 h. In addition, significant increases in BDNF mRNA were detected in the dentate granule cell layer (73.4%), region CA1 (28.1%), and region CA3/4 (76.9%) of animals sacrificed 53 h after receiving estrogen and 5 h after receiving progesterone. No significant changes in trkA mRNA were detected in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, and no significant changes in NGF mRNA were detected in the hippocampus. These data demonstrate that levels of trkA mRNA in the MS, and BDNF mRNA in the hippocampus, are affected by physiological changes in the levels of circulating gonadal steroids and are elevated in response to acute hormone replacement. The relevance of these effects to the ability for estrogen replacement to enhance cholinergic activity and hippocampal function, and thereby reduce the risk and severity of Alzheimer's-related dementia in postmenopausal women, is discussed.
Phytoplankton pigment distribution in relation to silicic acid, iron and the physical structure across the Antarctic Polar Front, 170°W, during austral summer

In order to study the factors controlling the phytoplankton distribution across the Antarctic Polar Frontal Region (PFR), surface pigment samples were collected during austral summer (January/February 1998) near 170°W. Both the Polar Front (PF) and the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) were regions of enhanced accumulation of phytoplankton pigments. The mesoscale survey across the PF revealed two distinct phytoplankton assemblages on either side of the front. The phytoplankton community was dominated by diatoms south of the PF and by nanoflagellates (primarily by prymnesiophytes) to the north. Surprisingly, chlorophyll a concentrations did not correlate with mixed-layer depths. However, an increase of the dominance of diatoms over prymnesiophytes was observed with decreasing mixed-layer depths. Despite this relationship, we conclude that the average light availability in the mixed layer was not an important factor influencing the shift in phytoplankton composition across the PF. Although no correlation was found between the surface distribution of the major phytoplankton taxa and dissolved iron or silicic acid concentrations, the location of the strongest vertical gradient in silicic acid and iron concentration coincides with the maximum abundance of diatoms. We conclude that the difference in taxonomic composition is a result of increased silicic acid and iron flux to the upper mixed layer as a result of the increased vertical gradient of these key nutrients south of the front.
General Method for the Synthesis of Hierarchical Nanocrystal-Based Mesoporous Materials

Block copolymer templating of inorganic materials is a robust method for the production of nanoporous materials. The method is limited, however, by the fact that the molecular inorganic precursors commonly used generally form amorphous porous materials that often cannot be crystallized with retention of porosity. To overcome this issue, here we present a general method for the production of templated mesoporous materials from preformed nanocrystal building blocks. The work takes advantage of recent synthetic advances that allow organic ligands to be stripped off of the surface of nanocrystals to produce soluble, charge-stabilized colloids. Nanocrystals then undergo evaporation-induced co-assembly with amphiphilic diblock copolymers to form a nanostructured inorganic/organic composite. Thermal degradation of the polymer template results in nanocrystal-based mesoporous materials. Here, we show that this method can be applied to nanocrystals with a broad range of compositions and sizes, and that assembly of ...