cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social environment factors associated with suicide attempt among low-income African Americans: the protective role of family relationships and social support.

Suicide and suicide attempts are important public health concerns, and recent decades have witnessed a rising rate of suicide among African Americans. A history of prior attempts is a leading risk factor for completed suicide. Further research is needed into the social environment risk factors for suicide attempt among African Americans. This study focused on two important dimensions of the social environment, family relationships and social support, as well as an important person-level risk factor—depressive symptoms. Data were obtained from a case-control study of 200 African American men and women aged 18–64 years, who sought services at a large, urban, public hospital. Odds ratios adjusted for significant sociodemographic differences between groups (aORs) were calculated for environment risk factors for suicide attempt among the cases and controls. The role of depressive symptoms was also studied. Lower levels of family adaptability and family cohesion increased the relative rate of suicide attempt in the sample. The aOR associated with the lowest quartile of family adaptability was 3.90, and the aORs associated with the first and second quartiles of family cohesion were 8.91 and 5.51, respectively. Lower levels of social embeddedness and social support increased the relative rate of suicide attempt in our sample. The aOR associated with the first and second quartiles of social embeddedness were 5.67 and 4.93, respectively, and the aOR associated with the lowest quartile of social support was 6.29. A mediating role of depression was discovered when depressive symptoms were entered into the logistic regression models. Our findings indicate that social environment factors including deficits in family functioning and social support are associated strongly with suicide attempts among low-income African American men and women seeking treatment in a large, urban hospital. Thus, better family functioning and social supports can be considered protective factors in this population. The presence of depressive symptoms, a well-known risk factor for suicide attempts and suicide, appears to mediate the association between social environment factors and suicide attempt.
Manganese K-edge XANES studies of Mn speciation in Lac des Allemands as a function of depth

Abstract X-Ray absorbance near edge spectroscopy (XANES) was used to identify variations in oxidation states of Mn with depth in a core sample. The core sample was collected from a small lake (Lac des Allemands) located in southeastern Louisiana. Samples of core segments were split into subsamples, one dried prior to analysis and a second kept wet. Upper core segments in the wet subsample was found to have K-edge energies 1.5 eV below the lower core segments, suggesting the presence of Mn(II) and/or Mn(III). The dominant oxidation state in all core segments was Mn(IV), with the bottom core samples containing almost entirely Mn(IV). This change in oxidation state probably resulted from the depletion of water at depth and the presence of anaerobic conditions. Manganese oxidations states were also found to change in pre-treated (dried) samples. Significant concentrations of Mn(II)/Mn(III) were found in the wet core segments near the water/sediment interface but these states disappear after drying.
An artificial neural net employing probability data as weights and parameters

Based on the concept of virtual lateral inhibition, a two-layered connectionist model called RX is developed. The flow of activation is described by 3N differential equations, where N is the number of upper level nodes. The model uses the probabilities of the upper, given the lower level nodes, and the lower, given the upper level nodes, as weights. Thus, no learning is involved in determining the weights. The equations contain the prior probabilities of all the nodes. These equations have been programmed using an RK4 single-step method of integration, and the model has been extensively tested with character-word data. The utility of such a probability oriented model is discussed to explain reasonable qualitative conjectures concerning the evolution of intelligence. >
Virtual Prototyping and Automatic Code Generation for DSP-based Digital Control of Power Electronics Equipment

With the high level programming language introduced into DSP field, the design of digital controller for power electronics equipment is now becoming easier than ever. Nevertheless the process of coding is always error prone. We present here a new method to extend virtual best bed environment to DSP platform and allow a rapid migration of a new controller design to a DSP by providing an automatic code generation program for DSP platform. This method improves the real time performance of VTB and is finally validated on a boost converter using synergetic control law. Result of simulation on VTB environment and hardware validation are given
Functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the BRCA1 gene and risk of salivary gland carcinoma

Summary Objectives Polymorphic BRCA1 is a vital tumor suppressor gene within the DNA double-strand break repair pathways, but its association with salivary gland carcinoma (SGC) has yet to be investigated. Materials and methods In a case–control study of 156 SGC patients and 511 controls, we used unconditional logistical regression analyses to investigate the association between SGC risk and seven common functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (A1988G, A31875G, C33420T, A33921G, A34356G, T43893C and A55298G) in BRCA1 . Results T43893C TC/CC genotype was associated with a reduction of SGC risk (adjusted odds ratio = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.38–0.80, Bonferroni-adjusted p = 0.011), which was more pronounced in women, non-Hispanic whites, and individuals with a family history of cancer in first-degree relatives. The interaction between T43893C and family history of cancer was significant ( p = 0.009). The GATGGCG and AACAACA haplotypes, both of which carry the T43893C minor allele, were also associated with reduced SGC risk. Conclusion Our results suggest that polymorphic BRCA1 , particularly T43893C polymorphism, may protect against SGC.
Piezoelectric energy harvesting for bio MEMS applications

This chapter presents an analysis of piezoelectric unimorph diaphragm energy harvesters as a potential tool for generating electrical energy for implantable biomedical devices. First the chapter discusses current and developing biomedical devices that require energy, and the need for capture of energy from the environment of the implant. Next, a general discussion of piezoelectric harvesters is presented, and a case is made for the use of 31 mode diaphragm harvesters for conversion of energy from blood pressure variations within the body. The chapter then presents derivations of available electrical energy for unimorph diaphragm harvesters, starting with general boundary conditions, and then proceeding to simply supported and clamped conditions of various piezoelectric and electrode coverage. Using these analytical results, the chapter ends with by presenting a brief set of numerical results illustrating the amount of power that could be harvested for a particular size of device, and how that power may be used as a source for a given implanted medical device. In summary, it is shown that the harvester could potencially provide enough power to operate a 10 mW device at reasonable intermittent rates. The relationships provided here may enable other optimal designs to be realized, for medical or for many other applications.
Identification of a Calmodulin-Regulated Ca2+-ATPase in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

A unique subfamily of calmodulin-dependent Ca2+-ATPases was recently identified in plants. In contrast to the most closely related pumps in animals, plasma membrane-type Ca2+-ATPases, members of this new subfamily are distinguished by a calmodulin-regulated autoinhibitor located at the N-terminal instead of a C-terminal end. In addition, at least some isoforms appear to reside in non-plasma membrane locations. To begin delineating their functions, we investigated the subcellular localization of isoform ACA2p (Arabidopsis Ca2+-ATPase, isoform 2 protein) in Arabidopsis. Here we provide evidence that ACA2p resides in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In buoyant density sucrose gradients performed with and without Mg2+, ACA2p cofractionated with an ER membrane marker and a typical "ER-type" Ca2+-ATPase, ACA3p/ECA1p. To visualize its subcellular localization, ACA2p was tagged with a green fluorescence protein at its C terminus (ACA2-GFPp) and expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis. We collected fluorescence images from live root cells using confocal and computational optical-sectioning microscopy. ACA2-GFPp appeared as a fluorescent reticulum, consistent with an ER location. In addition, we observed strong fluorescence around the nuclei of mature epidermal cells, which is consistent with the hypothesis that ACA2p may also function in the nuclear envelope. An ER location makes ACA2p distinct from all other calmodulin-regulated pumps identified in plants or animals.
Stimulated-Brillouin-scattering suppression using a single modulator in two-pump parametric architectures

We achieve synchronous phase modulation in a two-pump parametric processor using one phase modulator to provide stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression to both pumps. Simple frequency tuning controls the pump synchronization.
Body mass index and mortality: a meta-analysis based on person-level data from twenty-six observational studies.

Purpose For this report, we examined the relationships between the conditions of being overweight and obese and mortality from all causes, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Methods We defined the categories of body weight according to level of body mass index, BMI = wt ( kg ) ht ( m ) 2 , using classifications suggested by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. These classifications are as follows: “normal weight” is defined as BMI ≥ 18.5, but less than 25; “overweight” equals BMI ≥ 25, but less than 30; and “obese” individuals have BMIs ≥ 30. Our investigation is based on person-level data from 26 observational studies that include both genders, several racial and ethnic groups, and samples from the US and other countries. The database consists of 74 analytic cohorts, arranged according to natural strata including gender, race, and area of residence. It includes 388,622 individuals, with 60,374 deaths during follow-up. We use proportional hazards models to examine the relationships between the BMI categories and mortality, controlling for age and smoking status. We use random-effects models to assess summary relative risks associated with the overweight and obesity conditions across cohorts. Results The relative risks among the heaviest individuals for overall death, death caused by coronary heart disease (CHD), and death caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD) are 1.22, 1.57, and 1.48, respectively, when compared with the those within the lowest BMI category. The summary relative risk among the heaviest participants for death from cancer is 1.07. Conclusions We document once again, excess mortality associated with obesity. Our results do, however, question whether the current classification of individuals as “overweight” is optimal in the sense, since there is little evidence of increased risk of mortality in this group.
Good news on coronary computed tomographic angiography: answers that have questions!

An increasing number of studies have examined the role of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in assessing patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) relative to established evaluation approaches. The diagnostic and predictive value of stress electrocardiography, stress imaging, and invasive, selective coronary angiography (SCA) is documented by a large body of evidence, and their use to guide patient management is codified in clinical guidelines. To date, no convincing evidence suggests that the diagnostic or predictive value of CCTA is superior or even equivalent. Consequently, no first-line indications for CCTA exist.1,2 However, there may be niche applications where CCTA could be a potentially effective and cost-saving alternative to more established imaging techniques. Studies comparing CCTA with SCA have universally shown a high negative predictive value (NPV).3 As a result, a ‘negative’ CCTA excludes CAD with very high certainty if image quality is diagnostic and most coronary segments are well seen, particularly in populations with a low prevalence of CAD. A valid argument can be made that patients with low pre-test probability do not need testing at all. However, there are clinical scenarios in which SCA is often performed because proving the absence of CAD has important diagnostic or therapeutic implications, or because the diagnostic accuracy of conventional stress testing is reduced. Ghostine et al. 4 address the potential use of CCTA in one of these scenarios. The authors examined the role of 64-slice multidetector CCTA in non-invasively classifying symptomatic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction as ischaemic or non-ischaemic. They determined, in 93 consecutive heart failure patients without known CAD, the diagnostic accuracy of CCTA in predicting >50% diameter stenoses detected on SCA. Cardiomyopathy was classified as ischaemic if coronary stenoses were present in the left main coronary artery or the proximal left … *Corresponding author. Email: kantor.birgit{at}mayo.edu
Socioeconomic Status and Health: A Micro-level Analysis of Exposure and Vulnerability to Daily Stressors*

This study examines the interconnections among education—as a proxy for socioeconomic status—stress, and physical and mental health by specifying differential exposure and vulnerability models using data from The National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,031). These daily diary data allowed assessment of the social distribution of a qualitatively different type of stressor than has previously been examined in sociological stress research—daily stressors, or hassles. Moreover, these data allowed a less biased assessment of stress exposure and a more micro-level examination of the connections between stress and health by socioeconomic status. Consistent with the broad literature describing socioeconomic inequalities in physical and mental health, the results of this study indicated that, on any given day, better-educated adults reported fewer physical symptoms and less psychological distress. Although better educated individuals reported more daily stressors, stressors reported by those with less education were more severe. Finally, neither exposure nor vulnerability explained socioeconomic differentials in daily health, but the results clearly indicate that the stressor-health association cannot be considered independent of socioeconomic status.
Contact with glass interferes with the Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

The sedimentation rate (sed rate), also called, the Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) is a blood test for inflammation in the body. If it is elevated, then there is an inflammatory process in the body which can be monitored. The test is broad and non-specific; however, it may determine the effectiveness of therapy for the inflammatory condition. We performed studies on human citrated whole blood by adding 100 microlitres of 1% of MethylCellulose to each of glass and plastic tubes with the blood. The samples (n=12) were incubated at 37/spl deg/ for 10 minutes. Later, the blood from each of the tubes were placed in pipettes, sealed and left undisturbed for an hour. The ESR was measured, and it was found that the sedimentation rate of the blood in plastic settled at a higher rate than the one in glass.
Nuclear receptor CAR requires early growth response 1 to activate the human cytochrome P450 2B6 gene.

The nuclear receptor CAR (constitutive active/androstane receptor) is a drug-sensing transcription factor, regulating the hepatic genes that encode various drug-metabolizing enzymes. We have now characterized the novel regulatory mechanism by which the signal molecule EGR1 (early growth response 1) determines CAR-mediated activation of the human CYP2B6 (cytochrome P450 2B6) gene. The CYP2B6 enzyme metabolizes commonly used therapeutics and also activates pro-drugs. The CAR directly binds to the distal enhancer element of the CYP2B6 promoter, which is essential in converging to its drug-sensing function onto promoter activity. However, this binding alone is not sufficient to activate the CYP2B6 promoter; the promoter requires EGR1 to enable CAR to activate the CYP2B6 promoter. Upon stimulation by protein kinase C, EGR1 directly binds to the proximal promoter and coordinates the nearby HNF4α (hepatocyte-enriched nuclear factor 4α) with CAR at the distal enhancer element to activate the promoter. Thus, synergy of drug activation and the stimulation of cellular signal are necessary for CAR to activate the CYP2B6 gene.
Different subcellular distributions of the vesicular monoamine transporter, VMAT2, in subclasses of sympathetic neurons

A subpopulation of neurons in the rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) was found to lack immunostaining for VMAT2, an isoform of the vesicular monoamine transporter that loads catecholamines into vesicles for release at the synapse. Double labeling with neuropeptide Y (NPY), a marker for vasomotor neurons, revealed selective cellular colocalization of NPY together with intense perinuclear staining for VMAT2. This implied that VMAT2-negative neurons were likely to have secretomotor and pilomotor phenotypes. We tested this by identifying peripheral noradrenergic axons by their expression of immunoreactivity for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and determining whether they also expressed NPY and VMAT2. This analysis revealed the presence of VMAT2-positive, non-vasomotor sympathetic axons in the submandibular gland and at the base of piloerector hairs. Together the results confirm earlier indications that virtually all sympathetic neurons in the rat SCG express VMAT2 and they show for the first time that functional subclasses of cells can be distinguished by different somatic levels of immunoreactivity for VMAT2.
Circulating adhesion molecules in obstructive sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease

Over 20 years of evidence indicates a strong association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiovascular disease. Although inflammatory processes have been heavily implicated as an important link between the two, the mechanism for this has not been conclusively established. Atherosclerosis may be one of the mechanisms linking OSA to cardiovascular morbidity. This review addresses the role of circulating adhesion molecules in patients with OSA, and how these may be part of the link between cardiovascular disease and OSA. There is evidence for the role of adhesion molecules in cardiovascular disease risk. Some studies, albeit with small sample sizes, also show higher levels of adhesion molecules in patients with OSA compared to controls. There are also studies that show that levels of adhesion molecules diminish with continuous positive airway pressure therapy. Limitations of these studies include small sample sizes, cross-sectional sampling, and inconsistent control for confounding variables known to influence adhesion molecule levels. There are potential novel therapies to reduce circulating adhesion molecules in patients with OSA to diminish cardiovascular disease. Understanding the role of cell adhesion molecules generated in OSA will help elucidate one mechanistic link to cardiovascular disease in patients with OSA.
Performance of lactating dairy cows fed ryegrass silage and corn silage with ground corn, steam-flaked corn, or hominy feed

Forty-eight mid-lactation Holstein cows were used in a 6-wk completely randomized block design trial with a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments to determine the effects of feeding different proportions of corn silage and ryegrass silage with supplemental ground corn (GC), steam-flaked corn (SFC), and hominy feed (HF) on the performance of lactating dairy cows. Forage provided 49% of the dietary dry matter in the experimental diets, which were formulated to meet National Research Council requirements. Ryegrass silage provided 100, 75, 50, or 25% of the total forage dry matter, with corn silage supplying the remainder. There were no interactions between the proportion of forage provided by ryegrass silage and energy supplement. Dry matter intake and milk protein percentage decreased linearly with increasing proportions of ryegrass silage, but milk protein yield was similar among forage treatments. There were no differences among forage treatments in milk yield, milk fat percentage and yield, and energy-corrected milk yield. Dry matter intake was higher and there was a tendency for increased milk fat percentage for GC compared with SFC or HF. No other differences were observed in milk yield or composition among energy supplements. Plasma urea nitrogen and glucose concentrations were similar among treatments. Under the conditions of this trial, our results indicate that feeding a combination of corn silage and ryegrass silage is more desirable than feeding ryegrass silage alone, whereas supplementation with GC, SFC, or HF supports similar levels of milk production.
Compiler Transformations to enable Synchronous Execution in an Asynchronous RIA Runtime

RIAs provide an immersive experience that blends the internet’s expansive reach with the rich performance of the desktop. These applications handle the concerns of presentation on the client enabled by sophisticated client runtimes and rendering infrastructure. The client applications typically connect to the server using asynchronous communication protocols which allows the user to continue to interact with the application without getting blocked on the server call latency. While this programming model enables high user interactivity, it increases the complexity of synchronizing multiple pieces of program logic. This increased complexity can be alleviated if synchronous program execution is enabled without causing the UI to block. We describe an innovative technique based on compiler transformations that enables synchronous execution on an asynchronous RIA programming model. Our method involves using the compiler to modify the RIA using a block chaining algorithm wherein asynchronous functions are transformed into a sequence of synchronously executing blocks.
Removal of Arg141 From the α Chain of Human Hemoglobin by Carboxypeptidases N and M

Both human plasma carboxypeptidase N (CPN) and membrane-bound carboxypeptidase M (CPM) released the C-terminal arginine (alpha-Arg141) of the alpha chain of human adult hemoglobin. An arginase contamination present in the hemoglobin preparation, which converted the released arginine to ornithine, was removed by gel filtration. CPM was about 20 times more efficient than CPN or its active subunit in hydrolyzing oxyhemoglobin and cleaved oxyhemoglobin twice as fast as deoxyhemoglobin. The hydrolysis of the peptide bond of alpha-Arg141 accelerated the dissociation rate of the tetramer deoxy-des-alpha-Arg141 hemoglobin to dimers 2500-fold over that of deoxyhemoglobin, as measured by haptoglobin binding. Moreover, the dissociation of the deoxy-des-alpha-Arg141 hemoglobin tetramer to dimers was not affected by 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid. Des-alpha-Arg141 hemoglobin had a higher oxygen affinity (P50, 5.51 mm Hg; control, 19.94 mm Hg [P50 is the partial pressure of oxygen that gives 50% of the saturation of hemoglobin]) and a lower apparent cooperativity (Hill coefficient: n, 1.02; control, 2.24) than unhydrolyzed hemoglobin. After hemoglobin was incubated in human plasma, its oxygen-binding parameters, the P50, and the Hill coefficient decreased drastically due to cleavage by CPN. In the perfused rat heart, des-alpha-Arg141 hemoglobin was a more effective coronary vasoconstrictor than hemoglobin, possibly because it dissociated to dimers in the coronary vascular bed. A covalently cross-linked hemoglobin was less active than native hemoglobin. The coronary vasoconstriction was caused by multiple factors, including interference with vasodilation by nitric oxide and eicosanoids. Thus, the hydrolysis of hemoglobin by CPM and CPN demonstrated the contribution of the alpha-Arg141 residue to sustaining the tetrameric structure of hemoglobin and its normal oxygen affinity and vasoactivity.
Charge control of parallel-plate, electrostatic actuators and the tip-in instability

Controlling the charge, rather than the voltage, on a parallel-plate, electrostatic actuator theoretically permits stable operation for all deflections. Practically, we show that, using charge control, the maximum stable deflection is limited by 1) charge pull-in, in which the actuator snaps due to the presence of parasitic capacitance and 2) tip-in, in which the rotation mode becomes unstable. This work presents a circuit that controls the amount of charge on a parallel-plate, electrostatic actuator. This circuit reduces the sensitivity to parasitic capacitance, so that tip-in is the limiting instability. A small-signal model of the actuator is developed and used to determine the circuit bandwidth and gain requirements for stable deflections. Four different parallel-plate actuators have been designed and tested to verify the charge control technique as well as to verify charge pull-in, tip-in, and the bandwidth requirements. One design travels 83% of the gap before tip-in. Another design can only travel 20% of the gap before tip-in, regardless of whether voltage control or charge control is used.
A Comprehensive Self-Management Irritable Bowel Syndrome Program Produces Sustainable Changes in Behavior After 1 Year.

Background & Aims We developed a comprehensive self-management (CSM) program that combines cognitive behavioral therapy with relaxation and dietary strategies; 9 sessions (1 hour each) over 13 weeks were shown to reduce gastrointestinal symptoms and increase quality of life in a randomized trial of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), compared with usual care. The aims of this study were to describe strategies patients with IBS selected and continued to use, 12 months after the CSM program began. Methods We performed a cohort study to continue to follow 81 adults with IBS (87% female; mean age, 45 ± 15 years old) who received the CSM program in the previous clinical trial. During the last CSM session, participants selected strategies they intended to continue using to manage their IBS. CSM strategies were categorized into subthemes of diet (composition, trigger foods, meal size or timing, and eating behaviors), relaxation (specific relaxation strategies and lifestyle behaviors), and alternative thoughts (identifying thought distortions, challenging underlying beliefs, and other strategies). Twelve months later, participants were asked how often they used each strategy (not at all or rarely, occasionally, often, very often, or almost always). Results At the last CSM session, 95% of the patients selected the subthemes of specific relaxation strategies, 90% selected diet composition, and 90% identified thought distortions for continued use. At 12 months, 94% of the participants (76 of 81) were still using at least 6 strategies, and adherence was greater than 79% for all subthemes. Conclusions We developed a CSM program to reduce symptoms and increase quality of life in patients with IBS that produced sustainable behavioral changes in almost all patients (94%) after 1 year of follow-up.
RECOGNITION OF STREPTOCOCCAL DNA BY A MUTANT PNEUMOCOCCUS UNABLE TO DISCRIMINATE AMONG MARKERS IN PNEUMOCOCCAL DNA

A mutant strain of pneumococcus which fails to discriminate against low-efficiency markers during transformation by homospecific pneumococcal donor DNA retains the wild-type capacity to discriminate against heterospecific (streptococcal) donor DNA. We conclude that discrimination against heterospecific DNA must differ from that against low-efficiency markers by the kind or number of elements being recognized.
New Molecular Insight into Mechanism of Evolution of Mammalian Synthetic Prions.

Previous studies established that transmissible prion diseases could be induced by in vitro -produced recombinant prion protein (PrP) fibrils with structures that are fundamentally different from that of authentic PrP scrapie isoform (PrP Sc ). To explain evolution of synthetic prions, a new mechanism referred to as deformed templating was introduced. Here, we asked whether an increase in expression level of the cellular form of PrP (PrP C ) speeds up the evolution of synthetic strains in vivo . We found that in transgenic mice that overexpress hamster PrP C , PrP C overexpression accelerated recombinant PrP fibril-induced conversion of PrP C to the abnormal proteinase K-resistant state, referred to as atypical PrPres, which was the first product of PrP C misfolding in vivo . However, overexpression of PrP C did not facilitate the second step of synthetic strain evolution-transition from atypical PrPres to PrP Sc , which is attributed to the stochastic nature of rare deformed templating events. In addition, the potential of atypical PrPres to interfere with replication of a short-incubation time prion strain was investigated. Atypical PrPres was found to interfere strongly with replication of 263K in vitro ; however, it did not delay prion disease in animals. The rate of deformed templating does not depend on the concentration of substrate and is hence more likely to be controlled by the intrinsic rate of conformational errors in templating alternative self-propagating states.
“Why Infer”? What the New Institutional Economics Has to Say About Law-Supplied Default Rules

A central question of contract law remains: when should the law supply a term not expressly agreed to? Many scholars have addressed that question, yet the justification for law-supplied terms often remains unconvincing. Because many proposals to supply terms do not incorporate a comparative framework for assessing the costs and benefits of legal interventions, they are incompletely justified. This Article proposes that a comparative net benefit approach (developed in institutional economics to explain private arrangements) be adapted and expanded to resolve the fundamental issues of legal intervention. The Article uses that framework to critique the hypothetical bargain and Ayres/Gertner penalty default rule approaches to law-supplied terms. Finally, this Article illustrates the benefits of the comparative framework for resolving questions of law-supplied rules in the pre-contractual negotiation and subcontractor bidding contexts.
Corporate Information Technology Governance Under Fire

It has become apparent that newly-disclosed attacks on Information Technology infrastructure have reached crisis proportions. Therefore, a focus on IT governance must be a major priority of management and every corporate board. Issues involving Information Technology are uniquely complex and involve engineering skills that quickly become obsolete in this era of rapid technological change. Here, suggestions are offered about the value of a Chief Information Security Officer and recommendations are made for improving cybersecurity. An examination of recent threats will hopefully assist in bringing a greater understanding of their nature and increased focus on IT governance to the agenda in every boardroom.
Using a Domain Specific Language for Lightweight Model-Driven Development

Model-driven development (MDD) emphasizes platform-independent models. Approaches such as the Object Management Group’s Model Driven Architecture (MDA) are built on a foundation of standards and specifications, but require significant effort to encode and interpret the models during the transformation to the final application. A second approach to MDD uses domain-specific languages (DSLs) as a means of simplifying the models and transformations for applications within that domain. In this paper we look at AXIOM, a DSL for mobile application development, and how it allows for platform-independent models to be used to generate native code in a lightweight manner.
Reaching out and holding on: Bacteria use flagella to improve attachment to micro- patterned surfaces.

Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous multicellular communities, which form at interfaces or on surfaces. Their prevalence in the environment often results in contamination of industrial processes and devastating infections in medical settings. Since bacterial adhesion is a prerequisite for initiation and development of these microbial communities on surfaces, identifying effective antifouling methods is a critical preventative measure against damage imposed by biofilms. A recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences takes an exciting new look at the bacterial adhesion response to variations in microtopography. In the present study, Friedlander and colleagues predicted that polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) patterned surfaces in the form of posts separated by sub-micron crevices would decrease E. coli attachment relative to a smooth PDMS surface due to a substantial decrease in available surface area. While this hypothesis held true for wild-type E. coli at early time points (< 4 hours), an unexpected observation revealed a reversal in adhesion behavior on a patterned substrate at longer incubation times. The observed increase in cell adhesion beyond 4 hours was accompanied by a dense matrix of fibrous material, identified in this work as flagellar filaments. Is it possible that bacteria utilize the flagella as a means to reach into submicron spaces to anchor the cell? The authors addressed this question by exploring adhesion behavior with flagellar mutants.
Cephalosporins and related antibiotics: an overview.

With the release of cefotaxime and, more recently, moxalactam, there are now 13 cephalosporin drugs available in the United States, and close to another half dozen are under investigation. Commercial competition is steep, and every new product is being praised as superior to its predecessor. In general, it is necessary to become familiar with one formulation that can be given parenterally and one that is available for oral use. For certain patients, primarily those with nosocomial infections, one of the extended-spectrum cephalosporins must be considered, but these drugs should be employed only when specifically indicated. Certainly, cefotaxime has good stability to many beta-lactamases and possesses a wider spectrum of activity against gram-negative bacilli than any other clinically available cephalosporin. Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of cefotaxime in diverse infections, including those associated with E. coli, indole-positive and indole-negative species of Proteus, and species of Klebsiella and Serratia. Strains of Enterobacter species, P. aeruginosa, and B. fragilis are only moderately susceptible to cefotaxime, and enterococci are frequently resistant. Although the antibacterial activity and wide spectrum of cefotaxime, coupled with its apparent safety and tolerability, make it a useful antibiotic for the treatment of serious nosocomial infections, it will frequently have to be employed with another agent--i.e., an aminoglycoside--until the precise identification and in vitro susceptibility of the infecting organism is known.
Control Synthesis for Large Collections of Systems with Mode-Counting Constraints

Given a large homogeneous collection of switched systems, we consider a novel class of safety constraints, called mode-counting constraints, that impose restrictions on the number of systems that are in a particular mode. We propose an approach for synthesizing correct-by-construction switching protocols to enforce such constraints over time. Our approach starts by constructing an approximately bisimilar abstraction of the individual system model. Then, we show that the aggregate behavior of the collection can be represented by a linear system, whose system matrices are induced by the transition graph of the abstraction. Finally, the control synthesis problem with mode-counting constraints is reduced to a cycle assignment problem on the transition graph. One salient feature of the proposed approach is its scalability; the computational complexity is independent of the number of systems involved. We illustrate this approach on the problem of coordinating a large collection of thermostatically controlled loads while ensuring a bound on the number of loads that are extracting power from the electricity grid at any given time.
§ 5 Wirtschafts- und Währungspolitik

Die industrielle Revolution in Deutschland war stark gepragt durch den Wirtschaftsliberalismus in England, den Ausgangspunkt der Lehren eines Adam Smith und eines David Ricardo. Der Beginn der rechtlichen Gestaltung der Wirtschaftspolitik bzw. nach der damaligen Terminologie der Wirtschaftslenkung kann in den Staatseingriffen des 19. Jahrhunderts gesehen werden. Diese waren entgegen den liberalen herrschenden Vorstellungen von Staat und Gesellschaft wegen der sozialen Spannungen in Folge der wachsenden Industrialisierung notwendig geworden. Der fortschrittlich freiheitliche Deutsche Zollverein von 1834 war ein Niederschlag dieses Denkens. Erst nach der Reichsgrundung erfuhren das Postulat der Freiheit der Wirtschaft vom Staat und der Glaube an die Selbstregulierung der Wirtschaft eine entscheidende Schwachung. Verstarkte Auslandskonkurrenz, nationalwirtschaftliche Rivalitaten und der Druck des Grosgrundbesitzes zwangen Reichskanzler Bismarck 1876 zur Aufgabe seiner liberalen Handelspolitik. Zunehmend setzten sich staatswirtschaftliche Tendenzen durch: Post und Bahn, Telegraf und Telefon, umfangreiche land- und forstwirtschaftliche Domanen und zahlreiche Bergwerke waren in der Hand des Staates, wobei uber die Halfte seiner Einnahmen aus eigenen Wirtschaftsbetrieben kam. Den Umbruch vom Liberalismus zu einem gemasigten Staatsinterventionismus verdeutlicht die Gewerbeordnung von 1869 (→ § 9 Rn. 1). Sie bekennt sich zum Prinzip der Gewerbefreiheit, behalt aber gleichzeitig dem Staat Eingriffs- und Aufsichtsbefugnisse vor. Die Rechtswissenschaft des 19. Jahrhunderts blieb trotz mancher Ansatze hinter der theoretischen Bewaltigung des Interventionismus durch die Nationalokonomie zuruck. Auf der Basis der durch einen siegreichen Liberalismus geschaffenen Rechte erkannte die Opposition aus wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischen Erwagungen die Lenkungsproblematik. In seiner „Grundlegung der politischen Okonomie“ aus dem Jahr 1892 stellte Adolph Wagner die Grundfrage, wie Freiheitssphare und Eigentum beschaffen sein mussen, um den Bedingungen des gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Zusammenlebens zu genugen. Insgesamt gesehen gab es in Deutschland bis 1914 bemerkenswerte Ansatze fur eine rechtlich eingehegte Wirtschaftspolitik. Die Sorgen der gesamten Volkswirtschaft um sozial benachteiligte Gruppen und um den Missbrauch wirtschaftlicher Macht hatten im Zeitalter des Liberalismus durchaus ihren juristischen Niederschlag gefunden.
Classifying Skewed Data: Importance Weighting to Optimize Average Recall.

Promoted in part by its use in the Interspeech Challenges in 2009-2012, Average Recall has emerged as an attractive evaluation measure of classifier performance where the data has a skewed class distribution. In this paper, we show that importance weighting can be used to optimize Average Recall directly. We compare this approach to sampling techniques that have been previously used to classify skewed data. We demonstrate the use of this approach on the Interspeech 2009 Emotion Challenge tasks, and prosodic analysis tasks.
Extending functional dependency to detect abnormal data in RDF graphs

Data quality issues arise in the Semantic Web because data is created by diverse people and/or automated tools. In particular, erroneous triples may occur due to factual errors in the original data source, the acquisition tools employed, misuse of ontologies, or errors in ontology alignment. We propose that the degree to which a triple deviates from similar triples can be an important heuristic for identifying errors. Inspired by functional dependency, which has shown promise in database data quality research, we introduce value-clustered graph functional dependency to detect abnormal data in RDF graphs. To better deal with Semantic Web data, this extends the concept of functional dependency on several aspects. First, there is the issue of scale, since we must consider the whole data schema instead of being restricted to one database relation. Second, it deals with multi-valued properties without explicit value correlations as specified as tuples in databases. Third, it uses clustering to consider classes of values. Focusing on these characteristics, we propose a number of heuristics and algorithms to efficiently discover the extended dependencies and use them to detect abnormal data. Experiments have shown that the system is efficient on multiple data sets and also detects many quality problems in real world data.
Low power clock generator using charge recycling

A major portion of the power consumed in today's systems is due to the clock distribution network. Solutions attempted to reduce clocking power result in low efficiency systems or systems with high complexity control schemes. In this work, a low power clock generator is introduced that can reduce switching power of the clock by almost 75%. This circuit uses the charge recycling concept to achieve such power reduction while utilizing a simple control technique.
A POMDP formulation of Proactive Learning

We cast the Proactive Learning (PAL) problem—Active Learning (AL) with multiple reluctant, fallible, cost-varying oracles—as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). The agent selects an oracle at each time step to label a data point while it maintains a belief over the true underlying correctness of its current dataset's labels. The goal is to minimize labeling costs while considering the value of obtaining correct labels, thus maximizing final resultant classifier accuracy. We prove three properties that show our particular formulation leads to a structured and bounded-size set of belief points, enabling strong performance of point-based methods to solve the POMDP. Our method is compared with the original three algorithms proposed by Donmez and Carbonell and a simple baseline. We demonstrate that our approach matches or improves upon the original approach within five different oracle scenarios, each on two datasets. Finally, our algorithm provides a general, well-defined mathematical foundation to build upon.
Automatic distribution network reconfiguration: An event-driven approach

This paper proposes an event-driven approach for reconfiguring distribution systems automatically. Specifically, an optimal synchrophasor sensor placement (OSSP) is used to reduce the number of synchrophasor sensors while keeping the whole system observable. Then, a wavelet-based event detection and location approach is used to detect and locate the event, which performs as a trigger for network reconfiguration. With the detected information, the system is then reconfigured using the hierarchical decentralized approach to seek for the new optimal topology. In this manner, whenever an event happens the distribution network can be reconfigured automatically based on the real-time information that is observable and detectable.
Temperature dependence of Young's modulus and internal friction of a two-phase zirconium-hydrogen alloy

Abstract Thermal expansion and dynamic Young's modulus of a two-phase ( δ + γ ) zirconium-hydrogen alloy, containing 53.6 at.% (1.26 wt.%) hydrogen, were determined from 20° to 410°C. Young's modulus at 20°C was 13.7 × 10 6 lb./in. 2 , decreasing non-uniformly to 13.2 × 10 6 lb./in. 2 at 410°C. The average linear thermal expansion coefficient was 8.9 × 10 −6 ° C for the temperature range 20°–400°C. The average bulk density was 5.87 g/cm 3 at 20°C. The shear modulus was 5.31 × 10 6 lb./in. 2 at 20°C. Internal friction values are reported from 20° to 225°C. Room temperature data for a two-phase ( δ + γ ) alloy containing 55.3 at.% (1.35 wt.%) hydrogen are compared.
Abstract WP303: Stability of High-Quality Warfarin Anticoagulation in a Community-Based Atrial Fibrillation Cohort: The ATRIA Study

Introduction: Warfarin reduces stroke risk in atrial fibrillation (AF), but increases bleed risk. Frequent testing with dose adjustment is needed to maintain INR levels in the therapeutic range of ...
Readoxreaktionen – Elektronenübergang zwischen Atomen

Kohlefeuer, Eisenkorrosion und die Verstoffwechslung von Glucose basieren auf chemischen Redoxreaktionen. Redoxreaktionen ermoglichen auch den Antrieb von Elektroautos, die Herstellung von Metallen aus Erzen (Abb. 11.1), das Starten von Verbrennungsmotoren und die Photosynthese von Kohlenhydraten aus Kohlendioxid und Wasser.
Selected birth defects among males following the United States terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

Background The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (hereafter referred to as 9/11) preceded an increase in male fetal deaths and reduced male live births among exposed gestational cohorts across several geographic locations in the United States, including California. We analyze whether the extreme stressor of 9/11 may have selected against frail males in utero by testing if the prevalence of male births with selected defects in California fell among cohorts exposed to the stressor during gestation. Methods We used data from the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program from July 1985 to January 2004 (223 conception cohorts). We included six birth defects that as a group of phenotypes disproportionately affect males. We applied time-series methods and defined as “exposed to 9/11” the cohorts conceived in February, March, April, May, June, July, and August 2001. Results Three of the seven monthly conception cohorts exposed to 9/11 in utero show lower than expected odds of live born males with the studied defects: February 2001 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.21–0.71), May 2001 (OR = 0.36; 95% CI, 0.16–0.81), and August 2001 (OR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.28–0.93). Conclusion The population-wide stressor of 9/11 precedes a reduction in the risk of live born males with selected birth defects. Our analysis contributes to the understanding of adaptation to stress among pregnant women exposed to large and unexpected ambient stressors. Results further support the notion that the prevalence of live born defects may reflect temporal variation in cohort selection in utero against frail males. Birth Defects Research 109:1277–1283, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparison of Patient Reported Outcomes using PROMIS in Patients with Shoulder Pain

Objectives:Compare a disease specific questionnaire (American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons [ASES]) and a multidimensional global health scale (Patient reported outcome measurement system [PROMIS]) across a variety of shoulder conditions.Methods:The ASES (Pain subscore, Function subscore, and total score) and PROMIS Physical Function (PF), Pain Interference (PI), and Depression Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) were collected on all clinic visits for two high volume shoulder surgeons over a 12-week period between 1/26/16 and 4/20/16. Data included all (n=123) records for new patient visits of patients over 18 years old for shoulder diagnoses of Impingement (M75.41, n=50), Pain (M25.11, n=30), Rotator Cuff Tear (M75.10, M75.12; n=12), Arthropathy (M12.9, n=12), Instability (M75.02, n=6), Adhesive Capsulitis (M75.02, n=4), and miscellaneous (n=9). Excluding diagnoses with small samples (n<10) Two way ANOVA’s (Diagnosis by Outcome Measure Domains) with age and gender as covariates were used to determine if specif...