cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS OF LATE CRITICAL THEORY

Martin Jay's sweeping account of reason in Western philosophy provides the context for understanding the crisis that the Frankfurt School thinkers faced when they spoke of the “eclipse of reason.” In the background of the thinking of the first generation of Frankfurt thinkers such as Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse is a hankering for a more substantive conception of reason that bears affinities with what Hegel called Vernunft (reason), which he contrasted with Verstand (understanding). According to Jay, the first generation of Frankfurt thinkers never quite succeeded in elaborating this substantive concept of reason and grew increasingly pessimistic in the face of the self-destruction of reason. Habermas sought to elaborate a communicative theory of rationality that did not fall into the misleading promises of Hegelian Vernunft but could nevertheless provide a normative basis for the critique of instrumental, strategic, and systems rationality—a normative basis for critical theory. Jay presents an extremely lucid account of Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative rationality. He concludes by reviewing some of the outstanding problems and questions that have been raised about the adequacy and success of Habermas's project. I seek to do justice to the strengths and weaknesses of Jay's narrative, and I focus on a number of deep, unresolved issues that confront the future of critical theory in its attempt to develop an adequate conception of rationality. I also raise concerns about what precisely is distinctive about critical theory today.
The good bits

The Turing Omnibus: 61 Excursions in Computer Science. By A. K. Dewdney. Computer Science Press: 1989. Pp. 415. Distributed by W.H. Freeman, $24.95, £22.95.
Extracellular vesicles: Novel mediator for cell to cell communications in liver pathogenesis.

Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane derived nanometer-sized vesicles. EVs are released by normal, diseased, and transformed cells in vitro and in vivo, and carry lipids, proteins, mRNAs, non-coding RNAs, and even DNA out of cells. Transferring biological information via EVs to neighboring cells and inter-cellular communication not only maintain physiological functions, but also involve in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this review is to discuss the emerging role of EVs in viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic or alcoholic liver disease and liver cancers. We summarize what is known about exosome biogenesis, and role in liver disease progression, and discuss the potential clinical applications of EVs as predictive biomarkers and therapeutic modalities.
Introgression of a quantitative trait locus for yield from Glycine soja into commercial soybean cultivars

The value of exotic germplasm in broadening the genetic base of most crops has been demonstrated many times. However, the difficulties involved in working with exotic germplasm have limited their utility in plant breeding. Unwanted linkages often thwart the successful incorporation of beneficial exotic genes into commercial lines. Thus, the use of exotics in traditional breeding makes the process of crop improvement a tedious, time-consuming and expensive endeavor. The availability of molecular markers makes it possible to isolate specific genomic regions and transfer them into commercial varieties with minimal linkage drag. We found a yield-enhancing quantitative trait locus (QTL) from Glycine soja (Siebold and Zucc.) by evaluating a population of 265 BC(2) individuals from a cross between HS-1 and PI 407305. The yield QTL was located on linkage group B2(U26) of the soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] genetic linkage map. In a 2-year, multi-location study, individuals carrying the PI 407305 haplotype at the QTL locus demonstrated a 9.4% yield advantage over individuals that did not contain the exotic haplotype. When tested in a more uniform "HS-1-like" background in two locations, we observed an 8% yield advantage for lines that carry the PI 407305 haplotype. We further assessed the QTL effect in various elite soybean genetic backgrounds. The yield effect was consistently observed in only two of six genetic backgrounds. Individuals carrying the PI 407305 haplotype at the QTL locus had a 9% yield advantage in yield trials across locations. Despite the limited adaptability of this yield-QTL across genetic backgrounds, this study demonstrates the potential of exotic germplasm for yield enhancement in soybean.
A strategic policy framework for advancing U.S. civilian nuclear power as a national security imperative

Abstract The U.S. is at an inflection point on nuclear power with much debate revolving around the extent to which markets or policy should be leveraged to sustain nuclear. This has generated concerns about costs, grid reliability and climate. However, the national security implications must also be accounted for. Here, a strategic policy framework is presented as a means for sustaining U.S. nuclear power domestically and expanding U.S. nuclear power abroad as a national security imperative.
Parent-child health- and weight-focused conversations: Who is saying what and to whom?

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of health-focused (healthy eating, physical activity) and weight-focused (weight, dieting) parent-child conversations, and to understand who is talking and who is listening, by exploring the associations these conversations have with parent and child characteristics. The study population included 546 parents (age 27–36 years) who participated in Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults)-IV (2015–2016) and had a child aged 2–17 years. Cross-sectional prevalence ratios were calculated to identify associations between parent and child characteristics and the parent-child conversations. Conversations about healthy eating (82%) and physical activity (75%) were more prevalent than those about the child's weight (30%), and dieting (25%). In adjusted models, parents meeting physical activity recommendations had a higher prevalence of health-focused conversations (healthy eating PR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.20; physical activity PR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.24); whereas, weight-focused conversations were more common among parents who had recently dieted and perceived their child to be overweight. Health-focused and weight-focused conversations were highly common among the oldest children aged 9–17 years (health-focused = 90–93% and weight-focused = 42–53%); though, a substantial prevalence of health- and weight-focused conversations (>50% and ≥10%, respectively) also occurred with the youngest children (2–4 years). Findings suggest that parent-child health- and weight-focused conversations are common and that characteristics, including child's age and parents' physical activity, dieting, and perceptions of child weight, may be useful to consider in public health messaging, interventions, and family education that address parent-child communication.
Euler Box Diagrams to Represent Independent and Non-independent Events

Venn and Euler diagrams are valuable tools for representing the logical set relationships among events. Proportional Euler diagrams add the constraint that the areas of diagram regions denoting various compound and simple events must be proportional to the actual probabilities of these events. Such proportional Euler diagrams allow human users to visually estimate and reason about the probabilistic dependencies among the depicted events. The present paper focuses on the use of proportional Euler diagrams composed of rectangular regions and proposes an enhanced display format for such diagrams, dubbed “Euler boxes”, that facilitates quick visual determination of the independence or non-independence of two events and their complements. It is suggested to have useful applications in exploratory data analysis and in statistics education, where it may facilitate intuitive understanding of the notion of independence.
Dominant ant species in four habitats in Hawaii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

The Hawaiian Islands represent one of the few ecosystems in the world that lacks native ants and thus represents a unique environment in which to study invasion biology. In the course of a study of behavioral interactions among invasive ant species, we collected the most abundant ants from four different field sites on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. One year after the original collections, we returned to these sites and again surveyed the dominate ant fauna. We hypothesized that the species showing highest levels of aggression in laboratory assays would continue to be most abundant at their respective collection sites; and this proved to be the case at three of the four locations. Pheidole megacephala, Linepithema humile, and Wasmannia auropunctata were each most abundant in both 2005 and 2006 at their respective collection sites, while Technomyrmex albipes was more common in the second year than Anoplolepis gracilipes (the major species collected a year earlier) at the fourth location.
DTML IS LOGSPACE HARD UNDER NC1 REDUCTIONS

The Different Than Majority Labeling (DTML) problem has a simple polynomial time algorithm, but is not known to be in NC. In this paper, we show that the DTML problem is extremely unlikely to have an NC1 algorithm.
Off Target therapeutic effects of commonly used drugs to treat acute mountain sickness

IntroductionAcute mountain sickness is a syndrome that effects ~60% of individuals ascending to high altitude, yet the etiology is still unclear. It has been proposed that reactive oxygen species (...
Implementation of Pharmaceutical Quality by Design in Wet Granulation

Abstract In this chapter, we demonstrate our effort to develop and utilize a unit operation profile to help better implement the Quality by Design (QbD) paradigm in unit operation development. A unit operation profile can be created by collecting, aligning, and standardizing the drug substance's information, formulation information, and process information related to the specific unit operation from scientific documents within the same data structure. Here, profiles of fluidized bed (FB) granulation and high-shear/low-shear (HS/LS) granulation were created based on recently approved drug product applications available at agency. Based on these two profiles, we present the general operation procedures for high-shear/low-shear granulation and fluidized bed granulation, discuss the popularity of process outputs to characterize the granulation quality, quantify the importance of process parameters, and the research pattern of these parameters, identify material attributes that could interact with process parameters, and discuss the utilization of QbD tools (Risk Assessment, Design of Experiment, and Process Analytical Technology) in process development of wet granulation.
Elastic Statistical Shape Analysis of Biological Structures with Case Studies: A Tutorial

We describe a recent framework for statistical shape analysis of curves and show its applicability to various biological datasets. The presented methods are based on a functional representation of shape called the square-root velocity function and a closely related elastic metric. The main benefit of this approach is its invariance to reparameterization (in addition to the standard shape-preserving transformations of translation, rotation and scale), and ability to compute optimal registrations (point correspondences) across objects. Building upon the defined distance between shapes, we additionally describe tools for computing sample statistics including the mean and covariance. Based on the covariance structure, one can also explore variability in shape samples via principal component analysis. Finally, the estimated mean and covariance can be used to define Wrapped Gaussian models on the shape space, which are easy to sample from. We present multiple case studies on various biological datasets including (1) leaf outlines, (2) internal carotid arteries, (3) Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging fiber tracts, (4) Glioblastoma Multiforme tumors, and (5) vertebrae in mice. We additionally provide a MATLAB package that can be used to produce the results given in this manuscript.
Expression Of Mutant Spliceosomal Protein SF3B1 Results In Dysregulated Hematopoietic Maturation

Whole genome sequencing has recently revealed the prevalence of mutations in proteins directing splicing of RNA in up to half of the patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Mutations in the protein SF3B1 are particularly common in MDS patients with the phenotypic abnormality termed ring sideroblasts (dysplastic erythroid precursors with perinculear rings formed by iron-laden mitochondria). The most common SF3B1 mutation in MDS patients results in a change from lysine to glutamic acid at amino acid position 700 (K700E). Given that splicing of RNA is a ubiquitous phenomenon, it is unclear how these mutations result in clonal proliferation and dysplastic hematopoiesis; two hallmark features of MDS. Furthermore, direct experimental evidence demonstrating a causative role for SF3B1 mutations in MDS-related phenotypes is lacking. To better understand how mutations of spliceosomal proteins contribute to MDS pathogenesis, we sought to define how expression of mutant SF3B1 changes erythroid maturation in vitro and in vivo. Native SF3B1 cDNA constructs are not amenable to bacterial propagation due to toxicity of its HEAT-domain repeats. We overcame this problem by codon optimization (changing the DNA sequence while preserving the native peptide sequence). Human cord blood derived CD34+ cells were transduced with retroviral vectors to express either the wild-type or K700E mutant of SF3B1. After a week of expansion in cytokines (IL-3, SCF and IL6), cells were induced to erythroid differentiation by addition of erythropoietin (EPO) and analyzed for surface markers of erythroid differentiation (CD 71, CD117, CD105, CD45 and CD235A) at regular intervals. K700E mutant expressing cells were found to have significantly reduced expression of CD105 when compared to wild-type SF3B1-expressing cells (average 50% recuction, n =8). CD105 or endoglin is a TGF-beta receptor accessory receptor expressed at high levels during intermediate stages of erythroid maturation. A more modest reduction of CD71 expression was also noted in K700E-SF3B1 cells. MDS bone marrow is known to express low levels of both CD105 and CD71 making our results clinically relevant. To further characterize how mutant SF3B1 may cause dysplastic hematopoiesis, we studied transduced and transplanted murine progenitor cells in vivo and in colony forming assays. Murine data demonstrate significantly reduced K700E-transduced hematopoietic progenitors (as defined by flow-cytometry) in vivo and impaired erythroid colony formation in vitro. Together, our results suggest that enforced expression of K700E-SF3B1 induces aberrant erythroid maturation and impairs homeostasis of hematopoietic precursor cells. Thus, we provide direct evidence that MDS-associated SF3B1 mutations perturb normal hematopoiesis and offer rationale for using our complementary experimental approach as a platform for elucidating the molecular mechanisms through which mutations in RNA splicing factors promote hematologic disease. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Abstract 329: The Role of TIE1 in Flow Mediated Lymphatic Vessel Remodeling and Valvulogenesis

Recently, it has been shown that the mechanical stimulus of turbulent shear stress caused by onset of lymph flow is required for lymphatic remodeling, maturation, and lymphatic valve (LV) developme...
Nonlinear WEC Optimized Geometric Buoy Design for Efficient Reactive Power Requirements

This paper presents a nonlinear geometric buoy design for Wave Energy Converters (WECs). A nonlinear dynamic model is presented for an hour glass (HG) configured WEC. The HG buoy operates in heave motion or as a single Degree-of-Freedom (DOF). The unique formulation of the interaction between the buoy and the waves produces a nonlinear stiffening effect that provides the actual energy storage or reactive power during operation. A Complex Conjugate Control (C3) with a practical Proportional-Derivative (PD) controller is employed to optimize power absorption for off-resonance conditions and applied to a linear right circular cylinder (RCC) WEC. For a single frequency the PDC3 RCC buoy is compared with the HG buoy design. A Bretschneider spectrum of wave excitation input conditions are reviewed and evaluated for the HG buoy. Numerical simulations demonstrate power and energy capture for the HG geometric buoy design which incorporates and capitalizes on the nonlinear geometry to provide reactive power for the single DOF WEC. By exploiting the nonlinear physics in the HG design simplified operational performance is observed when compared to an optimized linear cylindrical WEC. The HG steepness angle $\alpha$ with respect to the wave is varied and initially optimized for improved energy capture.
Social stress is lethal in the mdx model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Abstract Background Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by the loss of dystrophin. Severe and ultimately lethal, DMD progresses relatively slowly in that patients become wheelchair bound only around age twelve with a survival expectancy reaching the third decade of life. Methods The mildly-affected mdx mouse model of DMD, and transgenic DysΔMTB-mdx and Fiona-mdx mice expressing dystrophin or utrophin, respectively, were exposed to either mild (scruffing) or severe (subordination stress) stress paradigms and profiled for their behavioral and physiological responses. A subgroup of mdx mice exposed to subordination stress were pretreated with the beta-blocker metoprolol. Findings Subordination stress caused lethality in ∼30% of mdx mice within 24 h and ∼70% lethality within 48 h, which was not rescued by metoprolol. Lethality was associated with heart damage, waddling gait and hypo-locomotion, as well as marked up-regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. A novel cardiovascular phenotype emerged in mdx mice, in that scruffing caused a transient drop in arterial pressure, while subordination stress caused severe and sustained hypotension with concurrent tachycardia. Transgenic expression of dystrophin or utrophin in skeletal muscle protected mdx mice from scruffing and social stress-induced responses including mortality. Interpretation We have identified a robust new stress phenotype in the otherwise mildly affected mdx mouse that suggests relatively benign handling may impact the outcome of behavioural experiments, but which should also expedite the knowledge-based therapy development for DMD. Funding Greg Marzolf Jr. Foundation, Summer's Wish Fund, NIAMS, Muscular Dystrophy Association, University of Minnesota and John and Cheri Gunvalson Trust.
Porn tourism: a problematic or useful concept?

Where does ‘porn tourism’ situate within the ‘the charmed circle of sexuality’? If porn tourism is to be conceptualized, it will fall under the umbrella of sex tourism. But should it be developed a...
Exploiting Homoplasy in Genome-Wide Association Studies to Enhance Identification of Antibiotic-Resistance Mutations in Bacterial Genomes:

Many antibacterial drugs have multiple mechanisms of resistance, which are often represented simultaneously by a mixture of resistance mutations (some more frequent than others) in a clinical population. This presents a challenge for Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) methods, making it difficult to detect less prevalent resistance mechanisms purely through (weak) statistical associations. Homoplasy, or the occurrence of multiple independent mutations at the same site, is often observed with drug resistance mutations and can be a strong indicator of positive selection. However, traditional GWAS methods, such as those based on allele counting or linear regression, are not designed to take homoplasy into account. In this article, we present a new method, called ECAT (for Evolutionary Cluster-based Association Test), that extends traditional regression-based GWAS methods with the ability to take advantage of homoplasy. This is achieved through a preprocessing step which identifies hypervariable regions in the genome exhibiting statistically significant clusters of distinct evolutionary changes, to which association testing by a linear mixed model (LMM) is applied using GEMMA (a well-established LMM-based GWAS tool). Thus, the approach can be viewed as extending GEMMA from the usual site- or gene-level analysis to focusing on clustered regions of mutations. This approach was evaluated on a large collection of more than 600 clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Lima, Peru. We show that ECAT does a better job of detecting known resistance mutations for several antitubercular drugs (including less prevalent mutations with weaker associations), compared with (site- or gene-based) GEMMA, as representative of existing GWAS methods. The power of the multiphase approach in ECAT comes from focusing association testing on the hypervariable regions of the genome, which reduces complexity in the model and increases statistical power.
Attenuation of pulmonary injury by an inhaled MMP inhibitor in the endotoxin lung injury model

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by pulmonary edema and poor gas exchange resulting from severe inflammatory lung injury. Neutrophilic infiltration and increased pulmonary vascular permeability are hallmarks of early ARDS and precipitate a self-perpetuating cascade of inflammatory signaling. The biochemical processes initiating these events remain unclear. Typically associated with extracellular matrix degradation, recent data suggest matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are regulators of pulmonary inflammation. To demonstrate that inhalation of a broad MMP inhibitor attenuates LPS induced pulmonary inflammation. Nebulized CGS27023AM (CGS) was administered to LPS-injured mice. Pulmonary CGS levels were examined by mass spectroscopy. Inflammatory scoring of hematoxylin-eosin sections, examination of vascular integrity via lung wet/dry and bronchoalveolar lvage/serum FITC-albumin ratios were performed. Cleaved caspase-3 levels were also assessed. Differential cell counts and pulse-chase labeling were utilized to determine the effects of CGS on neutrophil migration. The effects of CGS on human neutrophil migration and viability were examined using Boyden chambers and MTT assays. Nebulization successfully delivered CGS to the lungs. Treatment decreased pulmonary inflammatory scores, edema, and apoptosis in LPS treated animals. Neutrophil chemotaxis was reduced by CGS treatment, with inhalation causing significant reductions in both the total number and newly produced bromodeoxyuridine-positive cells infiltrating the lung. Mechanistic studies on cells isolated from humans demonstrate that CGS-treated neutrophils exhibit decreased chemotaxis. The protective effect observed following treatment with a nonspecific MMP inhibitor indicates that one or more MMPs mediate the development of pulmonary edema and neutrophil infiltration in response to LPS injury. In accordance with this, inhaled MMP inhibitors warrant further study as a potential new therapeutic avenue for treatment of acute lung injury.
Investigating the welfare and conservation implications of alligator wrestling for American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

Wildlife tourism attractions (WTA) are popular in the United States, but they may be harmful to the individual animals involved and we question whether they provide benefits to environmental conservation. Most research on the welfare and environmental implications of WTAs focuses on charismatic mammals, with few studies investigating these issues for reptiles. Here we examine alligator wrestling, including its impact on animal welfare and environmental conservation. Using a sample of 94 relevant YouTube videos of alligator wrestling in Florida representing 16 different venues, we coded the environmental and behavioral characteristics evident in each video. We then performed a content analysis of wrestlers' narration in a subset of 51 videos to analyze the environmental awareness and educational components of alligator wrestling. Our results show systemic welfare harm: 11 venues housed adult alligators together with conspecifics, 96% of alligator wrestling performances facilitated direct contact in the form of physical restraint by one or more human wrestlers, and as many as 96% of the videos did not show a suitable water or waterside features for captive alligators. Furthermore, 12% of performances showed wrestlers flipping alligators onto their backs while 16% showed wrestlers tying alligators' jaws shut, both of which are known to be acute stressors. Finally, just under half of alligator wrestling commentary (49%) addressed environmental conservation topics, and much of this commentary included contradictory or misleading information that is not likely to benefit alligators in the wild. We argue that alligator wrestling serves no role in promoting positive relationships between humans, animals, and the environment, and instead furthers traditional notions of dominion that undermine welfare and conservation aims.
Alveolar to arterial gas exchange during constant-load exercise in healthy active men and women.

Inadequate hyperventilation and inefficient alveolar to arterial gas exchange are gas exchange challenges that can limit capacity and cause exercise-induced arterial hypoxaemia (EIAH). This work evaluated if the prevalence of gas exchange inefficiencies, defined as AaDO2>25 mmHg, PaCO2>38 mmHg, and/or ΔPaO2>-10 mmHg at any point during constant-load exercise in healthy, active, but not highly trained, individuals suggested an innate sex difference that would make females more susceptible to EIAH. Sixty-four healthy, active males and females completed 18-min of cycling exercise (moderate and vigorous intensity, 9 min/stage). Arterial blood gases were measured at rest and every 3-min during exercise, while constantly assessing gas exchange. Both sexes demonstrated similar levels of AaDO2 widening until the final 3 min of vigorous exercise, where females demonstrated a trend for greater widening than males (16.3±6.2 mmHg vs. 19.1±6.0 mmHg, p=0.07). Males demonstrated a blunted ventilatory response to moderate exercise with higher PaCO2 (38.5±2.6 vs. 36.5±2.4, p=0.002) and a lower ventilation when corrected for workload (0.42±0.1 vs. 0.48±0.1, p=0.002). No significant arterial hypoxaemia occurred, but in 6 M and 5 F SaO2 dropped by ≥2%. There was no difference in prevalence of pulmonary gas exchange inefficiencies between sexes, but the type of inefficiency was influenced by sex.Abbreviations: AaDO2: alveolar-arterial oxygen difference; BP: blood pressure; EIAH: exercise-induced arterial hypoxaemia; F: females; HR: heart rate; M: males; Q: cardiac output; PaCO2: arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide; PaO2: arterial partial pressure of oxygen; ΔPaO2: change in arterial partial pressure of oxygen; PAO2: alveolar partial pressure of oxygen; RPE: rating of perceived exertion; SaO2: arterial oxygen saturation; VE: ventilation; VE/VCO2: ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide; VO2PEAK: peak oxygen consumption; WMAX: workload maximum.
Sizes of the smallest particles at Saturn's ring edges

Abstract The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) on the Cassini spacecraft observed 275 ring stellar occultations from July 2004 until August 2017. We use stellar occultation data from the UVIS High Speed Photometer (HSP) to characterize the smallest particles at ring edges by modeling observed diffraction signatures. We identify these signatures as spikes in the signal caused by particles near the ring edge diffracting light into the detector and increasing the signal above that of the star alone. The shape and amplitude of the diffraction signature depend on the size and abundance of the smallest particles and are therefore indicative of the lower limits of the particle size distribution at the edge. We analyze the outer edge of the A ring and B ring and the edges of the Encke Gap, Keeler Gap, the so-called “Strange” ringlet (R6), Huygens ringlet and Titan ringlet. Other edges do not have sufficient contrast and sharp enough edges for this analysis at UVIS wavelengths. We find minimum particle sizes ranging from 4.5 mm to 66 mm and average power law indices ranging from 3.0–3.2. Overall, we find that the edges of the narrow ringlets in the Cassini Division and C ring exhibit fewer diffraction signatures than the outer A ring region. Our results, in conjunction with previous results by Becker et al. (2016), indicate that edges directly perturbed by satellite resonances show a greater population of sub-cm particles than the sharp edges of ringlets that are confined by other mechanisms. Our results are similarly consistent with Esposito et al. (2012), who propose that regions perturbed by satellite resonances can be explained by a predator-prey model of aggregation and fragmentation. Large aggregates may form at these strong resonant locations that may in turn accelerate the ring particles and lead to more disruptive collisions producing a population of smaller particles that result in the diffraction signatures analyzed here. This is in agreement with Bodrova et al. (2012) who find that the mean ring particle radius decreases as relative collision velocity increases.
Hardware Acceleration of Nonlocal Means-Based Speckle Noise Removal Applied to SAR Imagery

Removal of speckle noise from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remains a challenging obstacle for onboard processing. Speckle noise is substantially harder to address than Gaussian noise due to its multiplicative nature. The probability patch-based (PPB) filter is based on the nonlocal means filter and can reduce speckle noise while preserving fine details. However, its high computational complexity inhibits its practical use in embedded applications. This is especially true for conventional space platforms, where radiation-hardened processors have significantly lower performance and energy-efficiency than their commercial-off-the-shelf counterparts. Combined with ever-increasing demands for data processing requirements and an emphasis on intelligent, autonomous systems, there is a need to enhance computing capabilities of space platforms for present and future missions. Recently, use of hybrid system-on-chip (SoC) devices in space applications has been increasingly adopted. Namely, CPU+FPGA devices present several opportunities for efficient acceleration of many applications in comparison to software-only architectures. In this paper, a detailed description of a CPU+FPGA accelerator for speckle noise removal implementing the PPB filter is presented. The proposed architecture leverages the strengths of CPUs and FPGAs to maximize performance. Studying the dataflow and computation properties of the algorithm allow for a highly parallelized and fully pipelined design. When evaluated on the Xilinx Z-7045 SoC, our proposed architecture shows a significant execution time improvement (up to ~750x) over a software-only baseline while maintaining modest FPGA resource utilization. To verify its function, filtering quality is evaluated using images artificially corrupted by simulated speckle noise as well as real SAR images. Quantitative analysis shows that use of the hardware design only introduces negligible quality loss.
Quadriceps Oxygenation During Exercise in Patients With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Context The causes of persistent muscle weakness after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are not well known. Changes in muscle oxygenation have been proposed as a possible mechanism. Objective To investigate changes in quadriceps muscle oxygenation during knee extension in ACLR-involved and ACLR-uninvolved limbs. Design Case-control study. Setting Laboratory. Patients or other participants A total of 20 individuals: 10 patients with primary, unilateral ACLR (7 women, 3 men; age = 22.90 ± 3.45 years, height = 170.81 ± 7.93 cm, mass = 73.7 ± 15.1 kg) and 10 matched control individuals (7 women, 3 men; age = 21.50 ± 2.99 years, height = 170.4 ± 10.7 cm, mass = 68.86 ± 9.51 kg). Intervention(s) Each participant completed a single data-collection session consisting of 5-second isometric contractions at 25%, 50%, and 75% of the volitional maximum followed by a 30-second maximal isometric knee-extension contraction. Main outcome measure(s) Oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) measures in the reconstructed thigh were continuously recorded (versus the uninvolved contralateral limb as well as the nondominant thigh of healthy control individuals) using 3 wearable, wireless near-infrared spectroscopy units placed superficially to the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and rectus femoris muscles. Relative changes in oxygenation were ensemble averaged and plotted for each contraction intensity with associated 90% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance occurred where portions of the exercise trials with confidence intervals on the O2Hb graph did not overlap. Effect sizes (Cohen d, 90% CI) were determined for statistical significance. Results We observed less relative change in O2Hb in patients with ACLR than in healthy control participants in the rectus femoris at 25% (d = 2.1; 90% CI = 1.5, 2.7), 50% (d = 2.8; 90% CI = 2.6, 2.9), and 75% (d = 2.0; 90% CI = 1.9, 2.2) and for the vastus medialis at 75% (d = 1.5; 90% CI = 1.4, 1.5) and 100% (d = 2.6; 90% CI = 2.5, 2.7). Less relative change in O2Hb was also noted for the vastus medialis in ACLR-involved versus ACLR-uninvolved limbs at 100% (d = 2.62; 90% CI = 2.54, 2.70). Conclusions Quadriceps muscle oxygenation during exercise differed between patients with ACLR versus healthy control individuals. However, not all portions of the quadriceps were affected uniformly across contraction intensities.
Circuit-Level Safe-Operating-Area of a High-Speed SiGe BiCMOS Wireline Driver

In this paper, the circuit-level reliability and device-level reliability mechanisms of a SiGe wireline driver circuit are investigated. The driver is a resistively degenerated and loaded differential cascode amplifier, designed in GlobalFoundries 90-nm SiGe 9HP technology. The goal of this work is to identify a performance-based, circuit-SOA (C-SOA) for a wireline driver in terms of its gain and OP1dB at 5 GHz. This paper presents the concept of performance-based C-SOA as a biasing regime where the RF performance of a circuit does not degrade over time due to applied electrical stress. A wide range of current density, Jc, and collector base voltage, V CB bias points were selected for pre-and post-aging performance assessment. A 10,000 second stress was applied for each bias point to evaluate potential performance degradation. For bias points that saw performance degradation, a device-level explanation is presented. RF circuit performance that saw no degradation was established at 2x JC at peak fT and 1.2x BVCEO, while demonstrating 5 dB of additional (untapped) OP1dB in comparison to the device-specified PDK-provided SOA operating point.
Intermediate Volatility Organic Compound Emissions from On-Road Diesel Vehicles: Chemical Composition, Emission Factors, and Estimated Secondary Organic Aerosol Production

Emissions of intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) from five on-road diesel vehicles and one off-road diesel engine were characterized during dynamometer testing. The testing evaluated the effects of driving cycles, fuel composition and exhaust aftertreatment devices. On average, more than 90% of the IVOC emissions were not identified on a molecular basis, instead appearing as an unresolved complex mixture (UCM) during gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry analysis. Fuel-based emissions factors (EFs) of total IVOCs (speciated + unspeciated) depend strongly on aftertreatment technology and driving cycle. Total-IVOC emissions from vehicles equipped with catalyzed diesel particulate filters (DPF) are substantially lower (factor of 7 to 28, depending on driving cycle) than from vehicles without any exhaust aftertreatment. Total-IVOC emissions from creep and idle operations are substantially higher than emissions from high-speed operations. Although the magnitude of the total-IVOC emissions can vary widely, there is little variation in the IVOC composition across the set of tests. The new emissions data are combined with published yield data to investigate secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. SOA production from unspeciated IVOCs is estimated using surrogate compounds, which are assigned based on gas-chromatograph retention time and mass spectral signature of the IVOC UCM. IVOCs contribute the vast majority of the SOA formed from exhaust from on-road diesel vehicles. The estimated SOA production is greater than predictions by previous studies and substantially higher than primary organic aerosol. Catalyzed DPFs substantially reduce SOA formation potential of diesel exhaust, except at low speed operations.
Integrated delivery of primary health care for humans and animals

Partially because of the high cost of developing and maintaining cold chains, systems needed to keep heat-labile vaccines under adequate refrigeration from their points of manufacture to their administration in the field, the Joint WHO/FAO Expert Committee on Zoonoses (i.e., the approximately four fifths of all described human infections that people share with other vertebrate animals) recommended in 1982 operation of common cold chains by health and veterinary services in rural areas. Following this recommendation, a 1984 pilot level initiative in medical-veterinary intersectoral cooperation should be regarded as a practical way to deliver human primary health care to currently neglected African pastoralists, and as a potential core program for development efforts overall within arid and semiarid areas of the African continent.
Physical studies of lysogeny. II. Some properties of segments of parental lambda DNA found on large pieces of DNA in lysogenizing populations of bacteria.

High molecular weight (150 to 200 million a.m.u.) intracellular bacterial DNA was extracted from sensitive Escherichia coli cells infected with bromodeoxy-uridine-labeled lambda; 70 to 90% of the cells were destined to become lysogenic. The CsCl density-gradient profile of the intracellular DNA indicated that the parental phage label banded in three positions corresponding to heavy-, hybrid- and light-density class of parental λ DNA. The presence of parental DNA banding near the light-density position of the bacterial DNA was explained by an association of a segment of λ DNA with a fragment of light DNA the size of which was relatively large compared to the size of the λ DNA segment. The size and composition of this light-density parental DNA was studied using CsCl and sucrose gradient techniques. This parental phage DNA was composed of at least two size classes: 70% consisted of a large-size class calculated to be in the range 10 to 60 million a.m.u., and 30% consisted of a very small but undetermined size-class. The composition of the large-size class of parental DNA was influenced by the multiplicity of infection. At high multiplicities, incorporation of both parental strands was favored relative to the incorporation of duplexes containing only one parental strand.
Eager Evaluation of Partial Tree-Pattern Queries on XML Streams

Current streaming applications have stringent requirements on query response time and memory consumption because of the large (possibly unbounded) size of data they handle. Further, known query evaluation algorithms on streaming XML documents focus almost exclusively on tree-pattern queries(TPQs). However recently, requirements for flexible querying of XML data have motivated the introduction of query languages that are more general and flexible than TPQs. These languages are not supported by known algorithms. In this paper, we consider a language which generalizes and strictly contains TPQs. Queries in this language can be represented as dags enhanced with constraints. We explore this representation to design an original polynomial time streaming algorithm for these queries. Our algorithm avoids storing and processing matches of the query dag that do not contribute to new solutions (redundant matches). Its key feature is that it applies an eager evaluation strategy to quickly determine when node matches should be returned as solutions to the user and also to proactively detect redundant matches. We experimentally test its time and space performance. The results show the superiority of the eager algorithm compared to the only known algorithm for this class of queries which is a lazy algorithm.
Applying the Bootstrap Technique to Real Estate Appraisal: An Empirical Analysis

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate a statistical technique, bootstrapping, and its application in estimating overall capitalization rates in real estate appraisal. This study compares b...
Some properties of five new Salmonella bacteriophages.

Abstract Five bacteriophages were isolated from lysogenic strains of Salmonella potdam. On the basis of plaque morphology, thermostability, serology, host range, one-step growth parameters, and phage morphology, they were divided into three groups: group A, phages P4 and P9c; group B, phages P3 and P9a; and group C, phage P10. Group A phages had a hexagonal head 55 nm in diameter with a short tail 15 nm long. These phages were particularly characterized by high thermostability, lack of serological relationship with any of the other phages, and restriction of lysis to other Salmonella strains of Kauffmann-White group C1. Group B phages had a head identical in size and shape to that of the A phages, but they possessed a tail 118 nm long with a contractile sheath. A unique feature was the occurrence of tail fibers at the end of the core rather than at the base of the sheath. These phages were considerably less thermostable, had extended host ranges, and were serologically distinct from each other but unrelated to the A phages. The group C phage, P10, had a head identical to that of the A and B phages. It had a tail 95 nm in length, with tail fibers attached to a base plate at the end of a contractile sheath. P10 was highly sensitive to heat, lysed only smooth strains of Salmonella, and showed a degree of serological relationship to both B phages. The relationship of these phage groups to previous Salmonella phage grouping schemes is discussed.
Dynamic capacity allocation and hybrid multiplexing techniques for ATM wireless LANs

We consider digital wireless multimedia LANs and time-varying traffic rates. To deal effectively with the dynamics of the time-varying traffic rates, a Traffic Monitoring Algorithm (TMA) is deployed to dynamically allocate channel capacities to the heterogeneous traffics. The TMA is implemented as a higher level protocol that dictates the capacity boundaries within two distinct framed transmission techniques: a Framed Time Domain-Based (FTDB) technique and a Framed CDMA (FCDMA) technique. The performance of the TMA in the presence of the FTDB technique is compared to its performance in the presence of the FCDMA technique for some traffic scenarios. The performance metrics used for the TMA-FTDB and TMA-FCDMA combinations are channel capacity utilization factors, traffic rejection rates, and traffic delays. It is found that the TMA-FTDB is superior to the TMA-FCDMA when the speed of the transmission links is relatively low and the lengths of the transmitted messages are relatively short. As the speed of the transmission links and the length of the transmitted messages increase, the TMA-FCDMA eventually outperforms the TMA-FTDB.
Estimating a Polya frequency function$_2$

We consider the non-parametric maximum likelihood estimation in the class of Polya Frequency functions, viz. the densities with a concave logarithm. This is a subclass of unimodal densities and fairly rich in general. The NPMLE is shown to be the solution to a convex programming problem in the Euclidean space and an algorithm is devised similar to the Iterative Convex Minorant algorithm by Jongbleod (1999). The estimator achieves Hellinger consistency when the true density is a PFF itself.
The Imbedding Sum of a Graph

The automorphisms of a graph act naturally on its set of labeled imbeddings to produce its unlabeled imbeddings. The imbedding sum of a graph is a polynomial that contains useful information about a graph's labeled and unlabeled imbeddings. In particular, the polynomial enumerates the number of different ways the unlabeled imbeddings can be vertex colored and enumerates the labeled and unlabeled imbeddings by their symmetries.
Monks, Sovereigns, and Malign Spirits: Profiles of Tengu in Medieval Japan

The most significant development in tengu images of medieval Japan is their association with ma (skt. Māra)—an evil that is specific to Buddhism, defined as a force that defies Buddhism or disturbs Buddhist monks and hinders them from attaining enlightenment. They appear as malign spirits that seek to disturb the Buddhist Law and thereby bring chaos to the society, or as enemies of Buddhism that harass the monks and delude the people with their magic tricks. Monks who failed to attain enlightenment could also become a tengu, as they fell into the “realm of tengu” because of their conceit and worldly attachment. While most tengu are simply referred to as “tengu,” we find several outstanding tengu from this period. This essay surveys various images of tengu prominent during the medieval period, particularly between the 12th and 15th centuries, in an effort to critically explore and understand the meanings attributed to these mythical creatures.
Poloidal flux profile reconstruction from pointwise measurements via extended Kalman filtering in the DIII-D Tokamak

The accuracy of the internal states of a tokamak, which usually cannot be measured directly, is of crucial importance for feedback control of the plasma dynamics. A first-principles-driven plasma response model could provide an estimation of the internal states given the boundary conditions on the magnetic axis and at plasma boundary. However, the estimation would highly depend on initial conditions, which may not always be known, disturbances, and non-modeled dynamics. In this work, a closed-loop state observer for the poloidal magnetic flux is proposed based on a very limited set of real-time measurements by following an Extended Kalman Filtering (EKF) approach. Comparisons between estimated and measured magnetic flux profiles are carried out for several discharges in the DIII-D tokamak. The experimental results illustrate the capability of the proposed observer in dealing with incorrect initial conditions and measurement noise.
Effect of taper on pressure recovery during flow boiling in open microchannels with manifold using homogeneous flow model

Abstract Flow boiling in microchannels is considered an attractive cooling option due to its small hydraulic diameter, latent heat effect and relative uniformity of coolant temperature. Although various techniques have been successfully employed to provide stable boiling operation in microchannels, it suffers from poor heat transfer performance with low critical heat flux (CHF) and low heat transfer coefficient (HTC). The tapered manifold with open microchannel (OMM) geometry provides stable operation with high heat transfer performance coupled with a very low pressure drop (less than 10 kPa). In this study, the pressure drop components from friction, acceleration and area changes during flow boiling of water at atmospheric pressure in the OMM geometry are evaluated using homogeneous flow model. Pressure recovery resulting from area change due to the taper is identified as a major factor in the extremely low pressure drops observed in this geometry. Seven viscosity averaging schemes are used to predict the frictional pressure drop. The best performing viscosity models are able to predict the pressure drop for the tapered configurations with a microchannel chip within an average MAE of less than ±30%. High speed visualization of the boiling phenomenon supports the applicability of the homogeneous flow model in the open microchannel geometry.